A BIG BANG THEORY

FAIR AND FOWL: Iona Zajac

- IONA ZAJAC

If you hunt for info on Edinburgh-born Zajac, much of it will point to her joining The Pogues on stage, but that may give you the slightly wrong impression of this multi-instrumentalist, now based in Glasgow.

Her debut album as a solo artist is an altogether darker affair. Take the song Anton, for example, a furious diatribe on teenage boys who have little compassion for the girls they use, abuse and discard, or the title track, bemoaning a lack of tenderness in sexual partners. Thankfully it's not all doom and gloom, as Murder Mystery is lighter than its title suggests.

IONA ZAJACBANG (POST ELECTRIC)★★★★

KARL BARTOSCOMMUNICATION (BUREAU B)★★★★For those who love all things Kraftwerk, here is a reissue of their former member's debut solo album, which was first released in 2003, some 13 years after he left the German electronic pioneers. Perhaps a little more decadent than his band, this set echoes Bartos's influence on and collaboration with the likes of Electronic and OMD. Poppier acts like Pet Shop Boys and Howard Jones can be heard on tracks like 15 Minutes Of Fame and Electronic Apeman, while he retains the robotic vocals of his glorious past on The Camera and Reality.