Phantom Limb The Pines What modern pop has lacked recently is a band that fuses country and soul. Led by the wonderful Yolanda Quartey, Bristolians Phantom Limb do the job with a mix of poignancy and sensuality. Caroline Sullivan
Richard Thompson Waltzing's for Dreamers The passing of this incarnation of Film&Music has to be marked with a favourite weepie. And there's no tear-jerker quite like a sad waltz. Robin Denselow
Pet Shop Boys Friendly Fire A new B-sides collection, Format, collects together hi-NRG and high melancholy from pop's northern masters. This track from their 2001 musical Closer to Heaven presents an ageing icon, looking back at the "insanity and pagan profanity" of fame. Sung here by Neil Tennant (right), it becomes eerily, profoundly moving. Jude Rogers Ahmad Jamal Blue Moon – The New York Session This is a fine new take on what the pianist prefers to call "American classical music" rather than jazz, recorded last year. Standards like the title track and Dizzy Gillespie's Woody 'n You sit alongside originals and the pianist's unique evocations of his life and travels. John Fordham
Milagres Gentle Beast Hot off the Brooklyn production line of perfect pop, Kyle Wilson's terrific, keyboard-driven quintet are a blissful fusion of Morrissey, Wild Beasts and Sparks, with songs full of imagery to lose yourself in. Dave Simpson
Shawnna ft Twista & Ludacris RPM New, promising material from the most undervalued rapper of the last decade has me going back to Worth tha Weight, her Bangladesh-produced 2004 high-water mark; the way her voice pops and bangs against the beat is one of my favourite things in rap. Alex Macpherson
Crybaby I Cherish the Heartbreak More Than the Love That I Lost The lead track from Bristolian Danny Coughlan's debut album – out in April – is a wonderful blend of Roy Orbison, the Smiths, Phil Spector and the Jesus & Mary Chain. An utterly charming debut. Rob Fitzpatrick
The Mock Turtles Can You Dig It? Back in my brain thanks to a much-aired CBeebies trailer, this glorious slice of baggy pop remains the finest song to have been written between courses at a dinner party. Chris Salmon
