Motörhead Hammered (Sanctuary/EMI) Despite Lemmy’s spoken-word piece (I’m not kidding!), this is as brilliant as you would think it is. It’s Motörhead, fer Chrisakes! 9 (JC)

Michael Blake Elevated (Knitting Factory/Fusion III) The Montreal-born reedman excels in a program of quirky originals, with Frank Kimbrough on piano. 9 (LD)

Chicken Lips Extended Play (Kingsize) Ohhhhh. Can’t get enough of that dirty live house. Think ESG or Atmosfear. 9 (SC)

Plaid P-Brane EP (Warp) In true Plaid fashion, two new tracks colour IDM with a consistently fun funk. 8.5 (LC)

Self Made Man/Suck La Marde Dare to Care Split Series Vol. 2 (Dare to Care) Two great local bands pair up here. Good political emo from SMM, but Suck La Marde’s blistering political punk is stunning. 8.5 (JC)

Various CBGB’s and the Birth of U.S. Punk (Ocho/Fusion III) Ramones, Blondie, Velvets, Televison, Sonics, Suicide and so on, plus the paperwork to put it all in context. 8 (RB)

Girls Against Boys You Can’t Fight What You Can’t See (Jade Tree/Mordam) GvsB’s post-punk inflected rock noir ain’t broke and (good for them) they haven’t fixed it. 7.5 (LC)