Editor's Pick of New Releases, March 2010

Usually something purely perfunctory sits here; a paragraph or two of nonsense that you most likely skip through. But this month it's important to note the passing of two powerful creative forces in music, two inspirational individuals whose legacies will rightly linger for many years to come.

Alex Chilton, guitarist and vocalist with Big Star, died of a heart attack on March 17. A tribute show replaced the scheduled Big Star performance at this year's South By Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. Chilton released several solo albums in addition to many with both Big Star and The Box Tops - newcomers are advised to introduce themselves to the man's talents via the acquisition of last year's fantastic Keep an Eye on the Sky set or, if money doesn't stretch so far, 1972's Number 1 Record, Big Star's debut. News items on Chilton's death can be found here.

Perhaps more shocking than Chilton's sudden death was that of Sparklehorse main-man Mark Linkous, who committed suicide on March 6. He is reported to have shot himself in the heart. On a personal note, this hit me much harder than Chilton's death - the music of Sparklehorse is ripe with the most exquisite melancholy, and though Linkous had almost died once, in 1996, I didn't see a similar event occurring. I met him, a few years back, and was charmed by an unexpectedly sunny disposition. He'd moved into the country, and seemed happy with his lot. Sparklehorse's third album, It's a Wonderful Life, is one of my favourites. At the time of his suicide he was working on a new Sparklehorse record, and had only recently completed his collaboration with Danger Mouse, Dark Night of the Soul. The latter is released officially this summer, and new Sparklehorse material, one imagines, will emerge in similar fashion to Elliott Smith's posthumous fare. A BBC news article on Linkous's death can be found here.

Just quickly, a slight aside. One of my favourite British bands of recent years, Youthmovies, called it a day in March. Their farewell tour culminated with an impressive concert in the round in their hometown of Oxford, which I was lucky enough to attend. Obviously this isn't a 'passing' of comparable import to the above, but the five-piece's ambitious, prog-flecked indie will be missed. They were, perhaps, just a little too far ahead of the commercial curve.

Onto brighter matters: the following represents a selection from a fine crop of new albums released in March. The month, as in years past, has been kind to ears but less so to wallets, with an abundance of long-players well worthy of investing in.

Liars - Sisterworld

(Mute, released 8 March)

"Even after taking their brilliant previous form into consideration, Sisterworld is perhaps Liars' masterpiece, showcasing as it does all strands of their sound so far. They are unlikely to be part of a Facebook campaign to get to number one anytime soon but, as a thrilling, dense and slightly barmy proposition, this is the ideal entrance that any floating voters had been looking for."

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Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Part Two (Return of the Ankh)

(Island, released 29 March)

Recommended by MistaJam

"Badu sings of love with a reverence and poignancy that brings to mind previous masters of this form, like Marvin Gaye (whose lissom, feather-light melodies she evokes with ease) and Stevie Wonder. She is, by no means, 'retro' in her art; it's just been a long time since anyone sang soul music as passionately, wittily and inventively as she does here."

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Bonobo - Black Sands

(Ninja Tune, released 29 March)

Recommended by Gilles Peterson / 6 Music Album of the Day 30 March

"There was little in Bonobo's first two albums to suggest that Simon Green could ever craft anything as grand, expansive and accomplished as Black Sands. Although parallels with peers are obvious, his fourth album doesn't just sit in their shadows. Rather, it's an inspiring example of how, free of pressure and publicity, he has blossomed into something beautiful at his own pace."

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The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis

(Party Smasher Inc, released 22 March)

Recommended by Rock Show with Dan P Carter / Bruce Dickinson

"From its opener, onwards, Option Paralysis' assault (pleasingly) rarely relents. The title might be an acknowledgment of the temptation to repeat a winning formula, but TDEP's fourth LP stretches its makers' imaginations and abilities superbly. Consider it another singular success."

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Mulatu Astatqé - Mulatu Steps Ahead

(Strut, released 29 March)

Recommended by Gilles Peterson

"It's an album that essentially works on intimacy, stealth and guile. Never does it take the grandstanding option, even when the pace steps up a gear. Glimmers of blues, salsa and funk seep seductively into the action, but a strong African heart drives Mulatu as he weaves his highly individual magic in a probing style that is as infectious as it is mysterious."

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Ellie Goulding - Lights

(Polydor, released 1 March)

Recommended by Fearne Cotton / Dermot O'Leary

"'Who am I to say I'm always yours?' she asks, and in one line addresses more romantic uncertainty than entire albums from her would-be peers. Who, if you'd not already guessed, she spectacularly surpasses. 2010's poll-winners' party has only just begun, but expect Goulding to be the last one standing."

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"This second full-length from Titus Andronicus (who, like Bruce Springsteen, hail from New Jersey) is an epic and ambitious concept album based around the American Civil War. It sounds both nothing and everything like The Boss - they've taken his influence, twisted and distorted it and made a quite remarkable record."

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Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me

(Drag City, released 1 March)

Recommended by Marc Riley

"Looking from the outside, the job of following up 2006's Ys appeared a task most unenviable. But while, as an album, Have One on Me is huge, sometimes overwhelming, such is the strength and individuality of Newsom's vision that it seems almost inconceivable she could produce anything unremarkable."

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Polar Bear - Peepers

(Leaf, released 1 March)

Recommended by Gilles Peterson / Jazz on 3

"Theirs is the sort of patchwork, irreverent treatment to a genre that could see an outfit critically overlooked, or even maligned. Polar Bear, however, have already drummed up plaudits from such a wriggly approach - 2005's Held on the Tips of Fingers was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize - and Peepers is every bit as good."

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Errors - Come Down With Me

(Rock Action, released 1 March)

Recommended by Vic Galloway / Huw Stephens

"Errors' past material could feel cold, clinical, but not here: where once they chattered like robots, the Scots have grafted real flesh to synthetic bone, threaded veins through tissue and grown a skin that isn't so thick that admirers can't glimpse the inner-workings. This is the machine made man."

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Thirsty for more March goodness? Check out new albums from Broken Bells, Tom Cawley's Curios, Django Bates, Angus & Julia Stone, Autechre, The Besnard Lakes, The Knife, Laura Marling, Blood Red Shoes and The Ruby Suns. Told you it was a fine month.