The loneliness of the long-distance singer

By GRAHAM REID

Michelle Shocked's Short Sharp Shocked (Shock), her terrific first studio album from 88 - the one with Anchorage - gets a long overdue reissue, this time with a 21-track bonus disc of intimate and rowdy live cuts, radio sessions and outtakes, some pretty lo-fi. Plenty of evidence why she was one of the most vital, tough-minded and funny folk-rock acts of the 90s ...

Colin Hay's Man @ Work (Compass) finds the former Men at Work singer going through his back-pages and revisiting material in an acoustic manner. Yes, Who Can It Be Now and Down Under are here but don't let that put you off. Some new songs, and strong and intelligent writing, shine in stripped-back settings ...

Jesse Cook' Nomad (Elite) is an impressive fusion of flamenco guitar with West African and Egyptian musicians. It walks all over the Gipsy Kings and nuevo flamenco man Ottmar Liebert for sheer excitement, and acts as a persuasive inducement to see him when he plays solo at Sky City Theatre on October 25.