This is the perfect way to hear Madonna: no album filler, just one hit after another. As a singles artist, she works wonders: quick, danceable tunes that are occasionally "controversial" but never set out to change the world (and don't). The Immaculate Collection begins with her earliest work ("Holiday", "Borderline") and matures from there ("Papa Don't Preach", "Like A Prayer"), ending in 1990. The highlight is the inclusion of "Justify My Love", a track recorded specifically for this compilation. One caveat: since Madonna is a true video artist, it'd be even nicer to "see" these songs. -Rob O'Connor.

If you're the defeatist sort that doesn't tend to believe in second (or indeed third) chances, you could do worse than to look to Aussie-pop femme-fatale Sia and for hard evidence Some People Have Real Problems, her third solo effort. Originally celebrated as one of the voices of Zero 7, and also with a solo hit of her own (the pre-Stefani-esque "Taken for Granted"), at the turn of the century, Sia's subsequent career and two solo records failed to make an equal mark in spite of fetching flourishes, which seemed a plain waste of an assured talent. But she re-emerges here three years after her last record in sleek, aerodynamic fettle and a fine form in which to slot into a world where Amy Winehouse (see the smoky jazz of "Lentil" and beautiful soaring ballad "Soon We'll Be Found"), Corinne Bailey Rae (the moreish modern soul of "Little Black Sandles" and "Day Too Soon"), Feist (the haunting and cinematic "I Go to Sleep") and Alison Goldfrapp (the slinky heat of "Playground") command instant mainstream attention. The feistiness of Pink and immediacy of Natasha Beddingfield also pervade her work, propping up songs that sound hard crafted and kitting her out with all the tools she should need for lasting impact. If the Natasha Bedingfield comparison doesn't swing you, perhaps the involvement of alt-rock crown-prince Beck will, hovering gruffly in the shadows as he does on the perky, orchestral "Academia". Either way, Sia doesn't have any real problems. -James Berry.

If there's one thing that's proved consistent about Beck Hansen, it's that every fresh record will be a curveball, and so it is with Modern Guilt. If 2006's The Information felt like a return to familiar Odelay territory, a gleaming beats-and-raps record with an eerie futuristic twist perhaps inspired by its maker's interest in Scientology, its follow-up feels like a step out again into uncharted territory. Recorded with the help of hip-hop beat-maker turned multi-talented producer Brian `Danger Mouse' Burton, Modern Guilt is a foggy, sometimes distant-sounding affair apparently inspired by canyon-dwelling psychedelic rock, conspiracy theories, and end-of-the-world angst. "You and me hit by a test of white evil/Watching the jet planes go by", he strains, urgently, on "Chemtrails", eyes fixed to the sky. "Orphans" and "Walls", two songs recorded with Cat Power's Chan Marshall feel like a bit of a missed opportunity, Chan's vocals pushed too far back in the mix. But Danger Mouse's beats are a delight, giving what could be quite morose numbers like "Gamma Ray" a skippy, vintage beat group feel. All in all, it's not Beck at his most engaging or playful, but there's a thoughtful, mature quality to Modern Guilt that you don't find when he's playing postmodern prankster, and it's got much to recommend it. -Louis Pattison.

It's been a slightly tumultuous but hugely successful ride to the top for UK superstars The Sugababes. They've lost not one, but two band members since forming in 1998, but have nonetheless achieved three Brit Awards, an ESKA, a slew of chart hits (including four number ones), four well-received LPs and - more recently - an inclusion in the Guinness Book Of Records for 'Best Female Act Of The Century'. Overloaded, their fifth official album, is a Greatest Hits package, bringing together most of their main singles so far. Beginning with their Richard X produced hit "Freak Like Me" (their first number one), the album profiles most of their hits, including all their most addictive moments - such as "Hole In The Head", "Round, Round" and "Push The Button" - but excluding more lukewarm releases like "New Year", "Soul Sound", "Angels With Dirty Faces" and "Follow Me Home". There's some new material too, notably "Easy", the band's lascivious collaboration with Californian rock band Orson, and the catchy "Good To Be Gone", which is slated to be the second single from the album. -Danny McKenna.

Reykjavík-based noise quartet Sigur Ros are the biggest band in their native Iceland, which should say much, much more about the collective insanity of that earthquake-ridden, blizzard-beaten crag of an island than anything to do with Sigur Ros' sound. But in their music, Sigur Ros reflect all the breathtaking glory of the Icelandic wastes-a fairy-tale explosion of unhinged elemental majesty that's finally crystalised here, their debut European release. Poised somewhere between the haunting soundscapes of Labradford and the lilting Celtic falsetto of Enya, Agaetis Byrjun is a truly breathtaking listen. Frontman Jon Por Birgisson sings in a language that Sigur Ros dub Hopelandic-an otherworldly mutation of Icelandic, sung in the falsetto cadence of angels; similarly, he plays his guitar with a violin bow, opening the floodgates for brilliant waves of feedback. And while it's the opening "Svefn-G-Englar" that's Sigur Ros' defining moment to date, there's far more that Agaetis Byrjun has to offer; the pomp and flourish of a full orchestra on "Flugufrelsarinn", or the awe-inspiring near-religious mantra of "Ny Batteri". -Louis Pattison.

Beautiful Future-a hopelessly optimistic moniker for their ninth album, no matter which way you approach it, since Primal Scream are almost universally accepted to have strutted past their zenith around the same time they helpfully mislaid their vowels (on 2000's unrelentingly anarchic Xtrmntr). To claim any future, especially after the all-too-brief successes of 2006's turgid Riot City Blues, let alone a handsome one is foolhardy to say the least. But, you see, they're actually being cuttingly sarcastic, or so we ascertain from Bobby Gillespie's ham-fisted sloganeering on the title track's tirade against modern ills ("you live by the sword, you die by the sword, you're only free to buy things you can't afford", etc. ). If anything in particular is exposed as a spent force here it is he and his pen, sense disregarded to the point of parody, words drifting like flotsam amid the band's systematic attempts to reinvent themselves. The small miracle is that they just about manage. "Beautiful Future" leads into the album with a curious and eventually overwhelming infectiousness, gleaming like CSS delivering a Shirelles pastiche complete with cheesy bell-ringing and an effeminate vocal delivery that almost clouds over the lyrical content. "I Love to Hurt (You Love to Be Hurt)" actually features CSS's Lovefoxx as this album's Kate Moss and holds its own with some minimalist malevolence. As an album it jerks and it stumbles, lacking a definitive identity, but it at least ensures they'll live to see another day. A future of some sort is assured. [+]

The Best of Groove Armada charts the success of one of the UK's most popular dance acts. Featuring the biggest hits from their last three albums, this anthology of their time on the Jive label is packed with downbeat and upbeat anthems, and an array of music as heard in film, television and radio. The subdued intro and trombone melody of "Superstylin" opens the collection softly with the now legendary bassline kicking in for a perfect euphoric moment. Other upbeat anthems include the piano house of "If Everybody Looked the Same", the Fatboy Slim mix of Gramma Funk's "I See You Baby" (both of which have been used to sell cars) and the more recent disco hit, "Easy". However, although Tom Findlay and Andy Kato pack dance floors every weekend, it's their downbeat soul that receives most attention, partly due to the "chillout" explosion of 2000 that made "At the River" a classic of the genre. With their last album Lovebox, GA showed a more versatile, band-influenced side with songs like the Status Quo sampling "Purple Haze", the rocky "Madder" and fun-loving ska of "But I feel Good". The Best of Groove Armada is a great selection of songs showing the diversity and musical progression of the band, a perfect introduction for the un-initiated and a good collection for those already converted. -Georgina Collins.