Kevin Bryan delivers his verdict on some of this week's CD releases Helen Rose, "Trouble Holding Back" (Monkey Room Music)- This multi-talented performer wears her impeccable musical influences proudly on her sleeve as she unveils a debut album serving up a perfectly judged blend of blues rock and country soul. Echoes of Bobbie Gentry's enigmatic late sixties classic "Ode To Billie Joe" permeate the haunting "Flatlands of North Dakota," and Helen also turns in a fine version of the bluesy "When The Levee Breaks" alongside Don Heffington's compelling adaptation of Dream Syndicate's "John Coltrane Stereo Blues," "John Coltrane on the Jukebox." Splendid stuff.

Willie Watson,"Folksinger Vol.2" (Acony Records)- This invigorating set marks the second solo offering from former Old Crow Medicine Show stalwart Willie Watson, produced by Gillian Welch's musical soulmate David Rawlings and drawing on material first popularised by giants of the roots music genre such as Furry Lewis, Leadbelly and Reverend Gary Davis. This rich vein of timeless Americana provides a perfect vehicle for Watson's gloriously unadorned brand of music-making as he breathes new life into old favourites such as "Samson and Delilah," "Gallows Pole" and Blind Alfred Reed's "Always Lift Him Up And Never Knock Him Down."

"Dreamboats & Petticoats-The Golden Years" (Universal Music On Demand)- The latest 4 CD anthology in the unashamedly nostalgic "Dreamboats & Petticoats" series focusses attention on a hundred singles successes from half a century and more ago in a tuneful celebration of all that's best in popular music. The contents of this enjoyable jaunt down memory lane find classic pop creations such as Honeybus' "I Can't Let Maggie Go," Manfred Mann's "The Mighty Quinn" and Keith West's quirkily memorable "Excerpt From A Teenage Opera" nestling snugly alongside contributions from such unlikely bedfellows as Joan Baez, Nat King Cole and Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer Astrud Gilberto of "The Girl From Ipenema" fame.

Nemanja Radulovic, "Baika" (Deutsche Grammophon)-The latest vehicle for the talents of flambuoyant young Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulovic finds the former child prodigy applying his expressive instrumental technique to such richly evocative compositions as Khachaturian's "Violin Concerto" and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade." The finished product should help to cement Radulovic's growing reputation as one of Europe's finest romantic virtuosos and should be required listening for all devotees of the classical fiddler's art.