I've made a bunch of additions to the CD collection the last few weeks. A few highlights:

Brinsley Schwarz, Nervous on the Road/The New Favourites of…. (1972/1975/2002, Beat Goes On). Two albums by the great 1970s British pub rock band on one CD. Features a young Nick Lowe and the original version of “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?”

Various artists, War Child Presents Heroes (2009, Astralwerks). A fundraiser for a fine charity, this one had veteran artists pick younger musicians to do covers of their works. The Kooks turn in a fine rendition of The Kinks’ “Victoria,” mostly respectful of the original but with a reworked bridge. Duffy takes all of the explosions out of “Live and Let Die” and turns it into an extended session of foreplay. The Clash’s “Straight to Hell” is revived yet again, this time in a sweet version by Lily Allen with the help of Mick Jones.

Various artists, Nigeria Rock Special (2008, Soundway). This anthologizes recordings made by bands popular in Nigeria in the early 1970s. You hear strains of prog-rock, acid blues, pop, Afro-beat, funk, and who knows what else: very intriguing….

Alan Price, Between Today and Yesterday (1974/2008, Collector’s Choice). A lost classic finally reissued on CD. Price was the original keyboardist for The Animals, but in the 1970s released a series of fine, intelligent pop albums for grown ups, including this wry (and semi-autobiographical) song cycle.

[Note: For this and any other entry here that features an image, to leave comments you must first log in at http://360.yahoo.com/; entries without an image don't require this extra step. It's a quirk of Yahoo's webhosting software.]