POP
The Beatles
In Mono (EMI)
*****
When it comes to repackaging, as in all else in pop, The Beatles remain the benchmark. There's always enough attention to detail to make the new formats and collections must-own artefacts every time.

This year only the wealthiest obsessive can have everything Fab Four-related, as a four-year-long remastering project produced three of the most desirable box sets of 2009. There's a Mono collection (10 albums and two discs of non-album tracks for £199.99), a Stereo collection (13 albums and the extras for £169.99) and an apple-shaped USB stick with the same contents as the stereo box for £200.

The true aficionado may well go for the Mono box. First, this is how The Beatles really sounded. “We just weren't that interested in stereo. It wasn't where we were from,” said Paul McCartney recently. The violent punch of early rockers such as It Won't Be Long and Twist and Shout can really be felt here. Second, it comes with drool-inducing replicas of the original album sleeves. Yet another reason to give more money to the world's biggest band.
DAVID SMYTH

AC/DC
Backtracks
(Columbia)
**
Spawned by AC/DC's admirable but self-defeating stubbornness in refusing to countenance a greatest-hits collection, Backtracks is a three-disc folly featuring nothing from later than 2000. One disc is “studio rarities” (ie mostly B-sides) including the shockingly gentle Love Song, another is “live rarities” (ie material not considered good enough for proper live albums) and the third is randomly selected videos with a couple of “making of…” featurettes tagged on. Naturally it rocks like a dervish and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap is always welcome, but there's an obvious trick (and treat) being missed here.
JOHN AIZLEWOOD

Florence + the Machine
Lungs (Island)
****
The Mercury judges may have felt differently but for most of us with ears Lungs was 2009's best album and Florence Welch its most interesting artist. If the 13 lung-busting songs from her debut have left you gasping for more, this box set includes enough added extras to satisfy any fanatic. The four discs cover Flo's performance from Abbey Road, where she lends her billowing voice to The Beatles' Oh! Darling, a DVD of intimate acoustic numbers and an essay on Lungs by Welch's new favourite author, David Vann. The original album remains the highlight; the rest offer a glance into Welch's wacky, wonderful world.
RICK PEARSON

Spiritualized
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
(Sony Music)
****
Many people's favourite record of 1997 is repackaged for 2009 with two extra CDs of demos, alternative takes and other nonsense that is of no conceivable interest to anyone except Jason Pierce's shrink. The intriguing original remains a landmark heartbreak record — the heart belonging to Pierce, the break administered by his girlfriend, Spiritualized's keyboard player Kate Radley, who had snuck off to marry Richard Ashcroft. The title track still seduces with its now fully approved mingling of original Pierce and I Can't Help Falling in Love. There are still failings but, magnificent title and all, it's still the best narcotic in town.
PETE CLARK

JAZZ
Various Artists
Highlights of Blue Note
(Blue Note)
*****
The Rolls-Royce of jazz labels has been test-driven many times but this eight-disc set is hard to overtake not only for quality but quantity. Parker, Rollins and Coltrane head a comprehensive list of greats in its two-disc saxophone section, while similarly golden trumpet (Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard), piano, organ, band, group and vocal compilations all get an album each. Producer Hans Mantel's party-groove slant is aimed as much at dancers as listeners, so a cool yule is guaranteed. And at less than £50 from Amazon, this most acceptable Christmas parcel ticks the value box too.
JACK MASSARIK

WORLD
Kroke
Out of Sight
(Oriente)
****
Kroke are a trio — viola, accordion and double-bass — from Krakow in Poland. Trained as classical musicians, they started in 1992 mostly playing Jewish klezmer music but they've evolved into a powerful folk group drawing on a range of influences. They are probably best known for their collaboration with Nigel Kennedy on East Meets East in 2003. What comes over here is the lyricism of their compositions. There's an aching nostalgia in Medinet and Moondowner, a Balkan flavour to Janitsa and something transcendental about Mecalakuku. A sophisticated and welcome break from all those Christmas songs.
SIMON BROUGHTON