Various artists: "Ghostland" (Warners).

Pop music has become too predictable, packaged and sold like soap powder, neatly placed on its individual shelf in your local record-mart. But now and then an album such as Ghostland bursts through these boundaries, mixing musical styles such as rock, Arabic, classical, Celtic and trance in a way that shouldn't work yet ends up sounding totally organic. And soulful. Ghostland is a positively inspired multi-cultural mix, made up of producer/drummer John Reynolds, cellist Caroline Dale and guitarist Justin Adams, with guest vocalists Sinead O'Connor and Natacha Atlas. A seamless suite of songs - meaning that, for once, to say there are "standouts" would be a criticism. Magical from beginning to end, and beyond. Joe Jackson

Dr John: "Anutha Zone" (EMI)

You've seen Dr John: he's the guy who sings "Oh it's such a poy-fect day!" in the all-star version of the Lou Reed classic. The psychedelic bluesman has been wielding that old, black magic for more than 30 years, and in Anutha Zone, the good doctor gets together with Paul Weller and Spiritualized, whipping up a voodoo cocktail which conjures up his original "Night Tripper" persona. Here the Modfather pays homage to his hero on the raucous Party Hellfire and the gentle, soulful I Don't Wanna Know. Jason Pierce, no stranger to Zombierock himself, joins the Doc on Hello God and John Gris. Other eminent guests include Damon Minchella from Ocean Colour Scene, Gaz Coombes from Supergrass, Jools Holland and The London Gospel Community Choir, but it's the shamanic presence of the 58-year-old Dr John which gives Anutha Zone its potency. Kevin Courtney

Aslan: "Shame About Lucy Moonhead - The Best Of Aslan" (EMI)

Shame about Aslan - they never really got the breaks, and their catalogue of career disasters is well documented in Damien Corless's biography, Aslan's Crazy World. Since the release of their debut single, This Is, 12 years ago, Aslan have been Irish rock's noble failures, missing out on the chance to bring their people's music to a wider audience.

This retrospective features tracks from their three albums, Feel No Shame, Good- bye Charlie Moonhead and Here Comes Lucy Jones, and serves as a sober reminder that making solid, reliable rock'n'roll is no guarantee of Oasis-style glory. Tracks such as Rainman, Hurt Sometimes and Where's The Sun are unremarkable, rock-steady songs, while the revamped version of This Is comes a little too late for redemption. Kevin Courtney