Reviews

Hard Boiled: Special Edition

John Woo's 1992 cop thriller was his last Hong Kong movie, and it's a self-conscious career peak. Chow Yun-Fat packs an arsenal that would shame the Pentagon as a cop called Tequila; Tony Leung rehearses for Infernal Affairs as his undercover mob contact. The original HK title translates as"Hot-Handed God Of Cops", which is about right.

Alfred Hitchcock: The Signature Collection

Compiled, it seems, by lucky dip, but Stage Fright, I Confess, Dial M For Murder, The Wrong Man and North By Northwest all explain why he's still The Master. The centrepiece, though, is a special-edition Strangers On A Train (also available separately).

Look At Me (Comme/Une Image)

Fine French ensemble comedy

Eric Clapton – 461 Ocean Boulevard

Double-disc expanded edition of his best '70s solo album

Kevin Ayers – Didn’t Feel Lonely Till I Thought Of You: The Island Records Years

Hip record company attempts to thrust stardom upon unwilling recipient

Dusty Springfield – Classics & Collectibles

51-track double-disc comp gathering together hits and rarities

Roni Size – Return To V

Bristol drum'n'bass godfather goes hectic and eclectic

Nora O’Connor – Til The Dawn

Sometime bartender, midwife and reverend, O'Connor's true calling may lie as a remarkable interpreter of song. Though recent years have found her adding dewy vocal harmonies for Andrew Bird's Bowl Of Fire (and Mavis Staples), her solo debut is long overdue. A brace of impressive originals—"My Backyard", "Tonight"—are whispers of classic honky-tonk, but she truly shines on covers of James (Squirrel Nut Zippers) Mathus' "Bottoms" and "Nightingale", twisting each into the kind of lovelorn ballad Alison Krauss would kill for.

Stephen Fretwell – Magpie

Promising debut fresh out of Scunthorpe

Gravenhurst – Black Holes In The Sand

Young Bristol folk star shines on
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