Reviews

Four major US R&B releases show the once-thriving scene to be in a creative trough

Matthew Herbert and others retool the sublime avant-house dreamscapes of 2001's Born On The 24th Of July

Classy return to form following 2001's disappointing Argyle Heir

Sometime Queen Of The Stone Age Josh Homme indulges extracurricular interests, with PJ Harvey and others

Alan McGee may have had bigger fish to fry in 1994 (namely the era-defining debut of five scallies from Burnage), but that didn't stop him investing well-spent time and money on this, The Cramps' sixth album proper. A good job, too, since Flamejob is a blast; its tunes every bit as colourful as their preposterous titles (eg; "Naked Girl Falling Down The Stairs"). If anything, it sounds even more current today, with The White Stripes reigning supreme, than it did 10 years ago in the shadow of their mono-browed labelmates.

True story of controversial Australian murder trial

When filing clerks answer back

A contemporary coming-of-ager about a fiery 12-year-old Maori girl (Keisha Castle-Hughes) and her bid for the hyper-masculine tribal throne, Whale Rider is full of apposite Disney pluck, yet simultaneously shot through with a worthy, odd and inexorably cloying adoration of the mystical juju in Maori tradition.

A strange one, this, with Bowie's usually obsessive control seemingly relaxed enough to have allowed packaging that looks cheap and hurriedly slung-together. The content, though, is better—a straight documentary, punctuated with live and video clips, and interview snippets with Bowie, Iman, Iggy Pop, Trent Reznor and Moby. There's lots of rare early stuff but, for all his eloquence, the music does the talking best of all.

Six tracks of bliss from new singer-songwriter