Following on from the success of NOW That’s What I Call 12” 80s, NOW Music proudly presents NOW That’s What I Call 12” 80s: Extended. We’ve dived even further into the musical treasure trove of the 80s to bring you 45 stunning extended tracks in a 4CD compilation.

Pure… Alternative collects 68 original hits featuring Adam & The Ants, The Stranglers, Prefab Sprout, Cyndi Lauper, Alison Moyet, and Lou Reed. Tracks by The Icicle Works, Cyndi Lauper, John Cooper Clarke, and Altered Images are also included on this four-disc compilation.

Recorded to benefit the Special Olympics, this has some of the biggest names in contemporary music, most covering seasonal favorites with mixed success. Outstanding tracks include The Pretenders "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," with Chrissie Hynde giving a touching performance. Run-D.M.C.'s topical "Christmas in Hollis" relies heavily on sampling "Back Door Santa," and may head you toward the dance floor. Alison Moyet's stately version of "The Coventry Carol" is beautifully haunting. Only the Material Girl, Madonna, embarrasses herself with an overly campy "Santa Baby".

Nearly God is Tricky's unofficial second album – he calls it a collection of brilliant, incomplete demos. When Tricky signed his contract with Island, it allowed him to release an album a year under a different name and Nearly God is the first of these efforts. Tricky recorded the record with a diverse cast of collaborators – in addition to his partner Martina, there's Terry Hall, Björk, Neneh Cherry, Cath Coffey, Dedi Madden, and Alison Moyet (Damon Albarn pulled his track just before the album's release). Building on the ghostly, dark soundscapes of Tricky's debut, Maxinquaye, Nearly God narrows the focus of his first record by making the music slower, hazier, and more distubing. It's not as coherent as Maxinquaye, but that's part of its appeal. Nearly God is a haunting, fractured, surreal nightmare that doesn't always make sense, but never fails to make an impact.