Kings of Leon Because Of The Times RCA (50m 31s) . . . .

After two fine albums, Kings of Leon do the unthinkable, and don't change. Their compositions of dark, fighting lyrics from their strange guarded universe, and licks and riffs that attack with originality and zeal, has developed quickly since their debut just four years ago and culminated in this excellent record. It's full of ham-fisted love on 'Knocked Up' and peculiar anger on 'My Party'. The jewel is 'On Call', a staggering synthy mess that sounds like nothing any other indie band is doing. Much of the album, like the band, is strange; changes in tone spring from nowhere.

Download: 'Knocked Up', 'Fans', 'On Call'

Una Mullally

Jenny Lindfors When The Night Time Comes Independent . . .

Lindfors' debut album puts a lid on a lengthy period of touring and well, just presence, that earned her fans and respect along with a substantial space on the fading singer-songwriter scene. Here, she sticks to an organic formula, making a night-time collection of 12 melancholic and very listenable tracks. There is a slight overdependence on the minimal, and there are only so many fine enough tracks you can listen to with a lone acoustic guitar and sparse African drum tapping, even if the vocal is beautiful. Overall though, a well thought-out, atmospheric record.

Download: 'Night Time', 'Lovestage' UM

Maximo Park

Our Earthly Pleasures Warp (42m 22s) . . . .

Regret and reading are the dominant themes on this follow-up to 'A Certain Trigger', with singer Paul Smith one of those people who measures out his life by his changing taste in literature. "I buy books I never read, " he admits on single 'Our Velocity', a frantic guitar rocker with Devo-esque synth figures, while 'Books From Boxes' finds him preparing to move on again, performing one of those periodic stock-checks of possessions that serve as lifemarkers. Throughout, Smith's Geordie brogue lends the songs a flinty authenticity that spikes their more fancifully literate aspects.

Download: 'Our Velocity' Andy Gill

El-P I'll Sleep When You're Dead, Definitive Jux . . . . .

El-P is the only true heir of Public Enemy's pioneering Bomb Squad team, creating cacophonous hiphop backing tracks whose samples, scratches, synths and breakbeats collide with a weird, chaotic logic. Joining El-P in his bilious crusade are Def Jux stalwarts including Mr Lif and Aesop Rock, alongside rock guitarists from Zwan and The Mars Volta on 'Tasmanian Pain Coaster', Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor on 'Flyentology', and most surprising of all, the femme fatale charm of Cat Power in 'Poisenville Kids No Wins'.

Download: 'Smithereens', 'The Overly Dramatic Truth'

AG

Jazz Gonzalo Rubalcaba Solo Blue Note . . . .

Gonzalo Rubalcaba is increasingly recognised as the finest of a new generation of Cuban pianists, successor to great virtuosi like Chucho Valdes and Peruchin. But while Rubalcaba has the chops to follow in their footsteps, he is more likely to underplay. Thus, this solo offering does not so much take off as gently flutter into the air. A mix of standards, some classically inspired compositions, and pure improvisation, 'Solo' is a quiet but powerful statement by a consummate pianist with nothing to prove.

Download: 'Here's that Rainy Day'; 'Prologo' Cormac Larkin Classical Richard Hickox/ Collegium Musicum 90 Haydn: Complete Mass Edition Chandos (8 disc set) . . . . .

Haydn's 14-masses-in-one box set, accompanied by the two C major Te Deum settings and his first major work, the Salve Regina in E major, all performed by the UK's finest baroque collective and soloists and directed by the masterful Richard Hickox . . . a dream CD for which, surprisingly, you will not have to pay exorbitantly.

Hickox entices the ensemble into the most nerve-tinglingly refreshing of performances, the level of ardent commitment to every musical nuance a true joy to listen to. A great Easter gift . . . for yourself.

Karen Dervan