Reviews

Glam rock titans with strings attached

Former 10,000 Maniac gal's long-mooted collection of traditional and contemporary folk songs

For those partial to electro-jazz-funk

Dizzee Rascal is the best rapper this country's ever produced, period. His words are as sharp as prime Tricky, his delivery sharper; he's got bags more personality than anybody in the British rap scene. These local comparisons add up to faint praise, though, so how about this: 18-year-old, East London-bred Dizzee Rascal is as good as any MC currently active on Earth. Every UK garage MC brags about how his style's unique, and virtually every MC does it using the same flow and timbre.

Karaoke homages from punk's fourth division

Powerful psychodrama from Norway

Gabriel Byrne and Julianna Margulies head up a nautical salvage crew who discover a derelict ocean liner that's been missing since 1962. On board is a fortune in gold bullion—and several hundred ghosts. Pure formula—occasionally bizarre and gory, but in the main outrageously schlocky, with Margulies in plucky heroine mode—and comfortingly reliable.

Scorsese's awe-inspiring paean to a city born through conflict

The definitive Sylvester Stallone performance, full of febrile promise and bull-collar bulk, is this 1978 story (concocted by screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, with nods to Jimmy Hoffa) of Hungarian immigrant Johnny Kovak (Stallone) whose fame as a union builder is compromised by his associations with the mafia. The elegant cinematography from Easy Rider's László Kovács and punchy direction from Norman Jewison are a bonus.

Fifth album from Austin, Texas quintet