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

Coming-of-age tale set in 1970s New Zealand

Paul Schrader's simmering 1991 study of a drug dealer's midlife crisis remains the script closest to his own heart. A maturer Travis Bickle, Willem Dafoe's loser is confused when "employer" Susan Sarandon goes legit, and panic-stricken when an ex-girlfriend dies and gunplay's required. Meditative rather than action-packed, it's grown over time.

The umpteenth retail release for this era-defining cash-cow of Scottish junkies, and the cracks are now beginning to show. Yes, it's a beautiful burst of propulsive film-making, but after the likes of Jesus's Son and Requiem For A Dream, it seems a little too eager to please, a little too chipper, too Ewan McGregor to be wholly credible.

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