Edwyn Collins & Orange Juice: A Casual Introduction: 1981 to 2001

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * * )

This career mop-up collection joins the dots between Collins' days as the frontman for Orange Juice (early labelmates of the then expatriate Go-Betweens on Scotland's Postcard Records) and a solo career which spectacularly broke out of cultdom a few years ago with the hit A Girl Like You. Apparently even Rod Stewart covered it and Collins spent the vast royalties setting up a studio for himself.

A Casual Introduction's 18 tracks are an enjoyable reminder that Collins was always a man apart. A quiffed, guitar-toting Scot with a singing voice that suggests a caped bloke from Transylvania, he's remained one funny, funky pop guy throughout.

Those Orange Juice tunes (hits like Rip It Up and What Presence?) have aged far better than many of the group's 80s peers', and there is plenty of evidence that Collins has more of where that Very Big Hit came from. Though his cover of Sinatra's Witchcraft, rightly shoved down the end, seems a blackmail note to loyal fans: buy this album or I'm off to do cabaret.

Label: Setana/Sony