J.J. Cale: Guitar Man (Virgin/Delabel)

THERE'S SOMETHING IMMENSELY comforting about Cale's stubbly resistance to musical fashions, and that warmth spreads easily through this album, which has the same intimate feel, the same preference for mid-tempo jogging shuffles, the same imperviousness to PC attitudes, and the same laid-back, lazy simplicity – achieved, of course, by diligent application of the latest technology – as any of his previous releases. Not to mention the same type of so-dull-it's-barely-worth-bothering title.