POP
The Kinks
Picture Book
(Sanctuary, six discs)
***
While their status as greats of the Sixties remains unimpeachable, The Kinks limped on until 1996, leaving behind 25 increasingly mediocre albums for the hardened completist. The 138 songs on this six-disc set are slightly more manageable but Picture Book mistakenly places equal weight on each phase of the Muswell Hill band's career. The first two CDs are virtually flawless (You Really Got Me, See My Friend, Sunny Afternoon). Most can live without later throwaways such as 1977's Father Christmas and 1982's Come Dancing. As with a lot of box sets, listening to all their music in one go does more harm to their reputation than good.
DAVID SMYTH

Genesis
The Beginning (1970-1975)
(Virgin/EMI, 13 discs)
***
In their early days, Genesis played a free, weekday lunchtime concert at the Lyceum. I was there and they were so popular that three encores were demanded, all of which were versions of The Knife, because they'd run out of songs. The Knife is here on Trespass, the group's second LP and the first of five in this box set that covers the period of Peter Gabriel's stint as vocalist and show-off. There is much here to charm, for Genesis were musically eclectic, knew a melody when they heard one and could play a bit. The problem, and it started early, was never knowing when to leave well alone. Over-elaboration and twiddling abounds. The Knife, now, that's great.
PETE CLARK

Ry Cooder
The UFO Has Landed: The Anthology
(Warner Bros/Rhino, two discs)
****
Distilling a wildly eclectic 38-year solo career into just 34 tracks is an impossible task but Ry Cooder's compiler and son Joachim has done a sterling job here. There's soundtrack work, most beautifully Paris, Texas; there's brass on I Got Mine and there's a marvellous version of Leadbelly's On a Monday. The common thread, of course, is Cooder himself, an underrated vocalist, a magical slide guitarist and, as Going Back to Okinawa ought to remind us, a consummate songwriter.
JOHN AIZLEWOOD

JAZZ
Dominic Alldis
Scenes We Once Knew
(Canzone)
****
In his early nights as a song-and-piano man, Dominic Alldis discovered Shirley Horn in Paris and played opposite other American topliners, including Blossom Dearie, Steve Ross and Dave Frishberg, in London. This is his appreciative salute to these and other artists who helped shape his style. Tenorist Iain Ballamy and trumpeter Gerard Presencer add lustre to sophisticated arrangements by the man whose group, cool vocals and nimble keyboard touch return to the Pizza on the Park tonight and tomorrow.
JACK MASSARIK

WORLD
Omara Portuondo
Gracias
(World Village)
**
Omara Portuondo was the only woman on the Buena Vista Social Club album and is one of the few veteran artists still busy with her musical career in Cuba. Her duets with the late Ibrahim Ferrer are some of the most memorable of the Buena Vista recordings. This is a new recording but a retrospective.The best songs are those that delve into her lower register such as Cuento para un Nino. Others are dreadful — but Omara is always better live and worth catching at the Union Chapel on Sunday.
SIMON BROUGHTON