Album: John Cage, 100 (Wergo)

A 5CD set compiling Wergo's Cage releases from 1975 to the present day, some less rewarding than others. It's always a pleasure, for instance, to hear the "Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano", each version differing according to the performer's customising of the instrument; while Malcolm Goldstein and Matthias Kaul's album of violin and percussion pieces includes beautifully restrained, spacious versions of "Ryoanji" and "Music for Two".

But less agreeably, an hour-long read-through of Cage's mesostic text piece "James Joyce, Marcel Duchamp, Erik Satie: An Alphabet" more than succeeds in the composer's avowed intention to make these difficult, mysterious artists even more mysterious.