Reviews

Siouxsie & The Banshees—The Seven Year Itch

Siouxsie as a punk Monroe? Not quite, for despite the title, she looks more like a goth version of Marlene Dietrich in her pin-stripe suit. The jacket and tie later comes off to reveal a glittering bra as she works her voodoo on aged punks and new hedonists on the Banshees' 2002 reunion tour. Oldies such as "Spellbound", "Peek-A-Boo" and "Happy House" have lost none of their theatrical power and are augmented by one new track, an extraordinary version of The Beatles' "Blue Jay Way".

The Mars Volta – Deloused In The Comatorium

Stunning punk-prog produced by Rick Rubin, featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers Flea and John Frusciante. Band "sound manipulator" Jeremy Ward, 27, was found dead on May 25

Cosmic Rough Riders – Too Close To See Far

Revamped Glaswegians stay close to adopted West Coast roots on fourth LP

Do The Wry Thing

Cynical, articulate UK singer-songwriter sends home thoughts from abroad

Son Of The Soil

Uncle Tupelo founder paints his masterpiece

Australian Rules – Mute

More wonder and thunder from down under. Mick Harvey's extensive track record (Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, Crime & The City Solution) more than qualifies him to score a coming-of-age issue movie set in "a small coastal town in Australia". Interestingly, the debuting director, Paul Goldman, shot the videos for Boys Next Door's "Shiver" and The Birthday Party's "Nick The Stripper", so he and Harvey have been communing aesthetically for a while. Harvey's been getting award nominations already for this, and it seems there's little he can't turn his hand to these days.

Morcheeba – Parts Of The Process

Compilation of London trip hoppers' four albums to date, plus two new cuts

Hollywood Mondo

Kim Fowley's hoss is impossible to tether. Six-and-a-half-feet tall, resembling the worst nightmare in The Phantom Of The Paradise, too ugly for the agency, Fowley was born on the day Hitler invaded Poland. He grew up in the last Babylonian days of Tarnished Hollywood.

The Clay Bird

Docu-style polemical tale from Bangladesh

The Unbearable Lightness Of Being

Philip Kaufman's letter-perfect realisation of Milan Kundera's student classic describes the spiritual transformation of Czech doctor Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis, mercifully playing a 'real person') from pseudo-existentialist to moral being thanks to the loving idealism of waitress-turned-photographer Tereza (Juliette Binoche). Along the way there's a Russian invasion, an escape to Geneva, and plenty of sex with Lena Olin in a bowler hat.
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