Reviews

The late Tupac Shakur won't lie down, or be allowed to. This documentary (just released in the US) is struggling to get a UK release, but the album's an impressive mix of grave-robbing and creative necrophilia. Over a foundation of greatest hits, there are three new tracks. Eminem produces "Runnin' (Dying To Live)", which fuses 2Pac and Biggle, while the 8 Mile animal himself raps on "One Day At A Time".

Shambling indie pop may be rather passé these days, but The Pastels have skilfully rebranded themselves and their associates as something akin to naïve artists. Central to this endeavour are Maher Shalal Hash Baz, a sprawling Japanese group who record for the Pastels' Geographic imprint and who pivot on Tori Kudo, a potter and former terrorist currently operating as a kind of whimsical Sun Ra. Recorded in East Kilbride, Blues Du Jour captures Kudo's haphazard troupe at their most accessible and endearing.

Roll over Jack Nitzsche and tell Bill Medley the news. Two dozen quality excursions into Echo Chamber Music

The shoegazing revival starts here. Apparently

Tragic tale of repression in Japanese society

Written by Coppola but directed painfully slowly by Jack Clayton, this expensive adaptation of Fitzgerald's novel looks lovely but doesn't understand real tragedy (quite important re: Fitzgerald). Robert Redford fails to suggest any depth of broodiness, while Mia Farrow is almost laughably dotty, and the passion is limp. Still, a Nelson Riddle score, some nice shirts, and top vintage cars. READ OUR REVIEW OF THE 2013 FILM ADAPTATION OF THE GREAT GATSBY HERE.

Norwegian psychological thriller which starts slowly but soon has its hooks in you so deep you daren't move. With shades of Harry, He's Here To Help, it involves a couple rediscovering an old friend, but after lust rears its head, death follows close behind. Harrowingly acted by the three leads, unknowns who remind you how clichéd the big names are.

Probably the best blues album in the world...ever! Martin Scorsese's seven-part TV series on the blues has had mixed reviews in America. But it's impossible to fault the accompanying five-CD box set, which must qualify as the most comprehensive blues compilation ever released. With 116 tracks chronologically sequenced and expertly annotated, there's hardly a big name in the genre who isn't represented. Nevertheless, the set raises fundamental questions about why anybody should still bother listening to the blues.

Released to acclaim in the US early last year, 26-year-old Ritter's debut earned him support slots with Dylan and the admiration of Joan Baez. Now available in the UK, this is softly rolling roots-folk with the warmth of John Prine and a twist of Richard Buckner. Townes Van Zandt and Nick Drake ("You've Got The Moon"; "Drive Away") are obvious touchstones, too, but ldaho-born Ritter's lugubrious stealth is rooted in his own earth, addressing the paradox between the allure of the road and the pull of tradition.

Psycho-electronica-nothing to do with the other Donna