Various

Rough Trade Shops Counter Culture 05

(Rough Trade/V2)

Each year the fabled Rough Trade shop in West London releases its staff’s selection of the previous year’s music. Inevitably, it favours their enthusiasms over fashion, hence the standard varies from the shabby (Erol Alkan’s pointless Franz Ferdinand loop) to the sublime (the inexplicably overlooked Brakes). What they do best, though, is uncover unknowns, such as the powerful string-led Matson Jones, or the soon-to-sign-a-monster-deal Spinto Band, as well as oddities such as the Katzenjammers’ steel drum take on Gary Numan’s Cars.

Unsurprisingly, new folk and student disco music feature strongly. But think of it as a patchy John Peel show and it makes perfect sense. The naive sleevenotes only add to the erratic charm.

STEVE JELBERT