Album: Viv Albertine, The Vermilion Border (Cadiz Music)

Courgette quiche and anal sex are just some of the topics Slits guitarist Viv Albertine touches upon on her first solo album.

The Vermilion Border may not win any prizes for originality, but it's packed with knowing acknowledgements of her age, and hard-won wisdom passed on with calm, amused authority in that incongruously posh voice. And the brilliantly backhanded patriotism of "Still England", which lists alternative icons, is enough to raise a teary-eyed salute.