SOME more ace new releases to check before compiling your end of year charts - you never know, they might make the cut...

BUCK 65 'SITUATION' (WARNER BROS)

By definition, Buck 65 is a rapper, but certainly shouldn't be lazily pigeonholed as such. He's no Rakim or Chuck D - you know, proper rappers who sound menacing and force you to pay attention - but nor is he a whiney goon like Eminem or Cypress Hill.

Buck 65 tells stories, often outside of tired, standard hip hop subject matter but a damn sight more refreshing for it.

'Situation' very much picks up where superlative last album 'Secret House Against The World' left off, with a collection of brilliantly articulated modern day tales that are wholly engaging, riddled with classic pop hooks and often funny without being wacky (or indeed wack) - with a dash of Beck-style low-slung folk funk thrown in on occasion. At times he sounds more like he's narrating a Western screenplay than making hip hop.

There's no machismo or posturing here - just the thoughts and musings of a clearly intelligent young man with the personality and talent to carry it off effortlessly.

MY LITTLE PROBLEM 'ALL THESE THINGS' (LIFE IS EASY)

An artist and a label I hadn't heard of; perhaps the perfect conditions under which to listen to a CD objectively, without any subconscious preconceptions.

The press release encouragingly draws parallels with Grandaddy and Lambchop, suggesting there might be some mileage here, though in reality those influences aren't terribly apparent; I suspect such favourable reference points are often more just who they hope they sound like, but regardless Brighton's MLP are immediately reminiscent of some fine records in my collection.

They're a bit mimsy and fey, but that's usually a good thing in my book - prompting flashbacks to the glorious Sarah label (Field Mice, Heavenly etc) and more recently bands like Broken Dog and Tram.

If you think I've made all of that up, what I mean is that 'All These Things' is an album of fragile torchsongs, with Simon Janes' delicate vocals over intricate, emotive backing, and though it could just as easily have been released a decade (or more) ago it's just as relevant and welcome in 2007.

JOHANN JOHANNSSON 'ENGLABORN' (4AD)

Now, this is something very special indeed, and that truly demands a wider audience.

Johann Johannsson is a musician from Iceland - something that's immediately apparent from his music, if you'd somehow not twigged from the name.

Last year saw his first release on the seminal 4AD imprint - an independent label with which you should be familiar (Pixies, Belly, Cocteau Twins) with the clout of a major but the discerning ear of the most obsessive and precious musos - in 'IBM 1401: A User's Manual', his third album proper.

'Englaborn', reissued here in identical form to the original, was originally released on the Touch label in 2002, and that it's five years old emphasises how timeless JJ's compositions are.

Think Iceland and you think Sigur Ros and tired, lazy descriptions of 'glacial soundscapes', so let's avoid the cliches and do this justice.

You'll have noticed my use of the word 'compositions', and that's intended in the literal sense, for Johannsson's work is effectively classical, albeit contemporary with electronic flourishes.

It's also absolutely gorgeous - every second of it - and about as emotive and affecting as anyone at work in 2007.

Max Richter is perhaps his only worthy peer in the current climate (get yourself his album 'The Blue Notebooks'), and that's high praise indeed.

There's a proper new album due in Spring 2008, and that's a prospect that makes me all unnecessary. Truly exquisite.