Songwriters don't come any greater than Burt Bacharach. His contribution to contemporary popular music is truly immense and has now spanned six decades. Everyone knows a Bacharach song, even if they don't realise that he is the man behind the familiar tune, as he has been responsible for dozens of standards that would surely feature in the ultimate Best Of compilation on the history of recorded music. To say he is revered in the industry is an understatement with such luminaries as Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Noel Gallagher and Elvis Costello among his biggest fans.

At age seventy-something, when you would imagine he would be content to take life easy and settle for basking in his glorious past, Burt Bacharach has, instead, just recorded one of the best albums of his career, entitled At This Time' (Sony/BMG). As well as having all the familiar Bacharach trademarks such as lush arrangements, fine production and great orchestration, the album looks set to surprise many folk.

What most of us have come to expect from Bacharach is beautiful love songs and lingering ballads but this time around he has turned his attention to socio-political issues and At This Time' features some protest songs no less from the king of easy listening. The songwriter has also collaborated on the album with some of the music world's most lauded and cutting-edge stars. There's hip hop guru Dr Dre, who provides drum and bass loops on a number of songs, there's a cameo vocal from the critics' darling Rufus Wainwright on the track Go Ask Shakespeare' and there's a stunning lyrical delivery from Elvis Costello on the album's standout moment, Who Are These People? a song that seems to be addressing and questioning those in very high places with lines like: 'Who are these people that have been telling us lies?/And how did these people get control of our lives?/And who'll stop the violence cause it's out of control/Make them stop'.

The melancholic voice of Rufus Wainwright is a perfect match for the confused sentiments of Go Ask Shakespeare': 'I keep hoping for a better day/It's a long time coming but I wait anyway/Life's a miracle or a foolish tale/I don't know, go ask Shakespeare'. But the frequently cynical overview of life that the album presents is countered somewhat on the final track Always Taking Aim' with the conclusion: 'I know that things will never ever change/Things will stay the same/But I know love is never far away/Always taking aim'.

At This Time' is a mighty fine, thought-provoking opus that at times resembles a philosopher's conscience set to beautiful music. Mr Bacharach will need to keep his diary free for the Grammy Awards ceremony early next year since I suspect it could be a very busy night for him, where an extra pair of hands could be useful too.

Fans of Stevie Wonder and Al Green should be very excited about the release of two new DVDs that feature rarely seen and much sought after footage of these legends of soul. Both DVDs, released by Revolver Entertainment, feature spine-tingling, hour-long performances recorded in 1972 for the groundbreaking American TV network series Soul' and neither of these broadcasts was ever aired here in the UK nor have they previously been commercially available.

Stevie Wonder: Wonderlove' features the singer with full band accompaniment in the year he released two classic albums, Talking Book' and Music Of My Mind'. Wonder and his band serve up a master class in soul, funk and R&B and both of the albums Wonder released that year are well represented in his set but there are surprises too, notably, a rendition of Blowin In The Wind' and a doffing of his cap to Motown stable-mates Marvin Gaye and The Temptations with his instrumental rendition of What's Going On' and Papa Was A Rolling Stone', sung through a voice-altering vocoder tube microphone. The DVD also has a short interview segment with Wonder.

Al Green: Let's Stay Together' was broadcast in 1973 when Green had just made his major breakthrough with a series of peerless singles including How Can You Mend A Broken Heart', Love And Happiness' and of course. Let's Stay Together'. The DVD commences with Green playing and singing to his own acoustic guitar and his stirring performance continues with the backing of a nine-piece band. The combination of sexual tension and spiritual release that characterises Green's emotional power has never been so well captured on film as he jokes, almost teases the audience before whipping up a rousing emotional frenzy. Many argue that Al Green is the epitome of soul and on this evidence, it is hard to disagree with such a viewpoint. The Al Green and Stevie Wonder DVDs are both little gems well worth seeking out.