Elvis Presley: "A Hundred Years From Now"

RCA, 6686622 (73 mins)

Dial-a-track code: 1201

Symphonic Elvis: "The Memphis Symphony Orchestra"

Warners 94573. (55 mins)

Dial-a-track code: 1311

1997, the twentieth anniversary of his death, will probably be Elvis year par excellence. But in advance of that RCA have released this, the single most revealing, and exciting, "new" CD of Presley's career. Previously available in a different form on bootleg, complete with a "fade this mother----er" coda on Cindy, Cindy and the same "obscenity" roared as a earning in Got My Mojo Working/Keep Your Hands Off Of It, even with those cuts this characteristically sanitised release really is as close as we're ever going to get to sitting in on an entire recording session with the King. And one which reveals him to have been at one of the last, great musical peaks of his life, during a set of sessions in 1970 which produced the ridiculously under rated back to roots Elvis Country album, plus singles like Rags To Riches.

Yet this is Elvis as raw as nature intended, recorded in a rehearsal mode with just his rhythm section and minus the often obtrusive brass and strings that normally were overdubbed later. And, believe me, he is all the more powerful in this unprocessed state. Particularly performing, rockers like Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On, which is also longer than previously released and finds Presley emitting the kind of gutturla cries that resound all the way back to the speaking in voices base of his Baptist background. And beyond. Likewise, a secular gospel song such as Where Did They Go, Lords aches with all the weight of a religious faith brought to the brink by primal pain and what Beckett might describe as "God's silence". And is, as such, a seminal cry from the soul of this century.

Indeed, Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel may have set pop culture in motion exactly 40 years ago this summer, but 15 years after that momentous event, here is CD proof that the man still was in touch with the boy who delivered, was himself defined and, in the end, probably died as a result of those tensions. It's all there in his voice. Essential listening for any serious lover, or student, of pop.

Symphonic Elvis, on the other hand, really is only required listening for Elvis fans. Even so, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ettore Stratta, certainly do "not simply recreate the notes but also revive the spirit" of the songs, which, according to Robert Gordon's sleeve notes, is precisely what they set out to do achieve with this album. This aim is no doubt, made easier as a result of the participation of "guests" such as Scotty Moore Boots Randolph, Reggie Young and Charlie McCoy, all of whom played with Presley. And anyone who ever loved Elvis, or lived through, his ever inspirational anthems like If I Can Dream must buy this album.

Morton Gould: "Blues In The Night" BMG, 68477 (Tower Import, 46 mins) Dial-a- track code: 1421

Various Artists: "A Bachelor In Paris" Capitol, 46130 (57 mins)

Dial-a-track code: 1531

A moment of congratulations would surely be in order, right? Because it has now become apparent that the kind of "pop" music covered by this column for the past four years, has become the coolest thing on the planet; as in "lounge". But let's not forget that it's not just the rave oriented trendies who are soaking up this stuff, there is also that all too often neglected constituency of people who originally bought these mood albums in the 1950s and are now seeing all their favourites reissued. So they must really be feeling cool! Particularly Morton Gould fans - and with every justification, as this album is one of his best, with arrangements of "pop classics" such as Birth Of The Blues and Solitude that are positively postmodern and symphonic, in the purest sense.

As for A Bachelor In Paris, well, it's the kind of classic kitsch collection that Andy Warhol would have adored and it brings to a total of 12 the number of Capitol "Ultra Lounge" compilations released this year alone! Others additions to the series include Cocktail Capers. The Crime Scene and Cha Cha De Amor, but this partly- narrated guided tour around the Paris that seems to only fully come alive for lovers, and have a similar effect on them, is a pure delight.