TIM BUCKLEY

Tim Buckley's debut album reminds me a lot of David Bowie's second self-titled album (AKA Space Oddity). In both cases, you have an artist later known for a decidedly different musical style trying to carve out a name for themselves with naive but undeniably charming hippie folk material, with a certain amount of romantic disappointment leavening things. The distinction is that Buckley isn't overwhelmed by studio fripperies - indeed, this is very much a stripped- down-to-the-basics album - and for my money he sounds more convincing in the counterculture troubadour role than Bowie ever did. And that downright unusual voice of his is a real attention-grabber.