Uncut

Typically unadorned, quirky new album from cult hero

Tamla titan revisits his hallowed past

Parisian duo invent "gay biker house" on EP of singles and remixes

Limited edition box (500 only) from Manhattan's anti-folk king

More scary nights and lovely sunrises over the mesa

Twelfth album from Canadian champions of alt.country misery

Magnus is a collaboration between Tom Barman of superior Belgian noirists dEUS and heavyweight techno DJ/producer CJ Bolland. The dance/rock hybrid is usually an ugly beast, but The Body... represents a meeting of minds rather than a dilution of disparate talents. Live drums augment programmed beats throughout, while sax, Wurlitzer and sampled film dialogue are added to the mix and members of Belgian bands Evil Superstars and Millionaire guest.

Norwegian prodigy's vivid second album

Cole Porter's lyrical and melodic genius is likely to endure as one of the last century's immortal contributions to culture. Lennon/McCartney, Holland/Dozier/Holland and possibly Bacharach/David may last as long; others currently revered will be forgotten in 50 years. So it's dandy that they're making a biopic about him, and fine that "an extraordinary range of contemporary artists" are performing his music for it. Trouble is, these artists are neither extraordinary nor a range. Consider what could have been risked here.

What's not to love about a score that fills nearly half its running time with diverse versions of Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine"? Elvis Costello, Chet Baker (sublime), The Kronos Quartet and pianist Marvin Laird all saunter down its plush chandeliered corridors, its tree-lined boulevards, its narcoleptic nooks and crannies. No less a figure than Van Dyke Parks fills up the residual squares and piazzas, and there's even a waft of Julee Cruise (and a shiver of Saint-Saens and Bach) to gratify those desiring even loftier highs.