Reviews

Adventurous second album from Belgian soundscape-jazzers

Ex-Barefoot Contessa's solo debut

How New York's hippie hoppers ushered in the philosophical D.A.I.S.Y. Age. And then pronounced themselves Dead

Second album (1989) from alt.country trailblazers, with three bonus tracks

Hip hop from Aussie all-female collective

Hyperactive crime caper from Down Under

A punchy and intelligent tale, co-written by Michael Tolkin, about an unethical yuppie lawyer (Ben Affleck) locked in a battle of wills with a troubled divorcee (Samuel L Jackson). Toni Collette and Sydney Pollack lead the heavyweight supporting cast, and director Roger Michell delivers a bracing state-of-the-nation bulletin in the vein of Falling Down.

C Thomas Howell picks up homicidal hitch-hiker Rutger Hauer while driving through the desert and very wisely boots him out of the car at the first opportunity, setting in motion a duel between the two that involves a lot of exploding cars and a huge body count. Utter tosh.

With a moody slow-mo intro, followed by a wickedly funny history of methamphetamine and capped by an intriguing roll call of deviant speed-freaks, the first 15 minutes of The Salton Sea promises, and delivers, far more than the rest of the movie can handle. Val Kilmer is the widower hunting his wife's killers among Los Angeles' drug detritus.

Swan song from Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy's post-punk trailblazers. Includes five add-ons