Graham Coxon Spinning Top (Transgressive) At a time when Graham Coxon is ensconced in rehearsals for the long-awaited Blur reunion, it seems apt that the guitarist of one of the most English of pop bands should record an album of that most English of musical styles - pastoral folk. In an about-face that Coxon says was ignited partly by his approaching the age of 40 and an unusual period of calm in his private life, he has eschewed the cacophonous screech-punk of his previous six albums for a collection of acoustic-guitar songs in the vein of Nick Drake and John Martyn. There are sea shanties, tricky finger-picking, subdued vocals and other cuddly totems of folk. For all the eyebrows it's likely to raise among the indie cognoscenti, for whom Coxon is a poster boy, there is beauty in the gentle melodies contained here. In the Morning gallops along like a gambol through an English meadow, while Look Into the Light is a collage of Drake's entire oeuvre. For those suffering electric-guitar withdrawal there are one or two heavier tracks, including the Blur-like Dead Bees.