Reviews

Who'da thought Blighty's most provocative new country stars would be holed up in Brighton? This six-piece have already been hailed in some quarters as natural heirs to Lambchop, but there's much more besides. "Her Friend The Rain" and "Living And Dead Singers" (BJ Cole on lap steel) weld '70s Cali-troubadour strum to Clifford TWard's bedsit folksiness, while "Elephants" dissolves into an acid-carousel waltz that's as unsettling as Johnny Dowd.

Another left-field Fishtank collaboration

Classy debut from versatile bassist with help from sister Alison Krauss

The fourth album from Belgian electro-pop duo of singer Els Pynoo and dEUS'Danny Mommens.

Gene Vincent was the real deal and, together with his backing group The Blue Caps, fronted The First Gang In Town. With Cliff Gallup and later Johnny Meeks on lead guitar, they, as much as The Crickets and Chuck Berry, defined the sound of rock's classic three guitars and drums line-up. Though originally pushed as Capitol's answer to Elvis, Gene wasn't nearly as orchestrated as the Memphis Flash.

Post-acid alchemy, with sleevenotes by Donovan

Mexican maestro's world-class comeback

Italian kidnap drama from director Gabriel Salvatores

Lou Ye's beguiling movie tells the hazy, cut-up tale of a motorcycle courier once hired to follow a woman he then fell for, who subsequently threw herself into the river but seems to have been reborn as a nightclub performer dressed as a mermaid. With its drifting, subjective camera capturing jump-cut collages of street life in the neon-splashed city, it's a fascinatingly intimate portrait of the Shanghai river front, wrapped around a mystery.

Since the career peaks of Fargo and The Big Lebowski, the Coen brothers' previously astonishing career momentum has noticeably faltered. O Brother, Where Art Thou? had some good things going for it, but is probably best remembered for its soundtrack.