linden Bleached Highlights (CD, £7.75)

Linden is the nom de plume of Joe McAlinden, who used to be in Superstar, and before that, a band called The Boy Hairdressers with Jim Lambie (he’s a bigshot these days in art circles) and Norman Blake, Joe’s boyhood pal from Bellshill. It’s wonderful, really, to think that so many years after Joe and Norman listened to Orange Juice together in their bedrooms, that Joe would come together with Edwyn and Seb Lewsley to create ‘Bleached Highlights,’ his new album (and the first in ten years) for us at AED. Featuring contributions from James Walbourne and Paul Cook, all part of the AED family, it’s a lush and penetrating record, which Joe describes as the best studio experience of his life. It shows in the end result.