Reviews

Cropredy 1997 was a valiant attempt to bring together all the significant Fairport line-ups. At best, this is a memento of the occasion, and should carry a "For Diehards Only" warning. With Ian Matthews absent and Vicki Clayton only a spirited stand-in for the irreplaceable Sandy Denny, this ersatz model sounds unconvincing. Only the Full House band workouts truly pass muster, with both Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick in sparkling form. The rest reflects the patchiness of Fairport's work from the mid-'80s onwards, when the band's salad days were over.

Overlooked 1975 album from Lancashire balladeer with overtones of Bowie and Elton

Slow-burning lesbian kidnap caper set in Argentina

Timely release for Otto Preminger's gripping and surreal Zionist propaganda that casts blue-eyed Aryan poster boy Paul Newman as Israeli agitator Ari Ben Canaan, espouses terrorist attacks as a legitimate means of nation-building, and reveals how, in 1948, the bloodthirsty Arabs were in fact commanded by, er, German Nazis.

With swashbuckling swordplay now back in style thanks to Pirates Of The Caribbean and Master And Commander, what better time to revisit a creaking, many-times-remade, 1959 classic of the genre? Directed by André Hunnebelle and starring Jean Marais, it throws us into the crazy court of Louis XIV, where the cut and thrust of rivalries and flirtations matches that of the duelling blades.

The musical side project of Jack Black and his guitar-playing sidekick Kyle Gass, Tenacious D are a pomp-rocking hybrid of Spinal Tap, South Park and The Darkness. This meaty double-disc set contains a live Brixton concert, the duo's original HBO series, scatological short films and tons more. It's all strong stuff, with cameos by Spike Jonze and Dave Grohl as the Devil. A cult worth discovering.

The Old Weird America rediscovered in Chicago

Produced by T. Bone Burnett, and an essential purchase for White Stripes devotees as Jack White gives five brand new performances. By "brand new", we mean four of them are traditional, like "Sittin' On Top Of The World" and "Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over", interpreted by he of the tight trousers and eye for Renée Zellweger with minimal fiddles-and-mandolins support and a folksy vocal. "Never Far Away" is his own.

Bleakly beautiful drone-grooves from singer-songwriter tipped for greatness

First in series of reissued twofers from Nashville country giant