Reviews

Crooning Glory

Big easy listening on second full-length album from Sheffield songsmith

Hunkydory – Over The Rainbow

An authentic children's band from Lewes, East Sussex, Hunkydory signed to that safe haven for eccentrics, él records, in 1988. These five precocious children sang and played all their own instruments, with the bulk of the material being written and arranged by one of the band's dads. When él's funders Cherry Red heard the material they got cold feet, and withdrew funding. Fifteen years on, this time capsule is a perfect, irony-free companion to the bubblegum escapist fantasies of sibling Siesta acts Death By Chocolate and Lollipop Train.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – Thug World Order

Fourth album from Cleveland's fast-rapping soul gangstas

Brokeback – Look At The Bird

Tortoise off-shoot, featuring Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen

Jerry Lee Lewis

The Killer's country comeback years on 28-track twofer

The Zombies – The Decca Stereo Anthology

Their entire studio output 1964-1966, remastered in stereo

Old Jack Swings

Superb, moving road movie with Nicholson on brilliant form

The Studio One Story

The history of Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's legendary Jamaican studio is told through interviews, copious amounts of music and historical footage. There are also plenty of interesting diversions, such as a chapter on how vinyl records are made in a Kingston pressing plant. Early performances by the likes of The Skatalites and Ernest Ranglin are the icing on the irie cake. DVD EXTRAS: Additional interviews with many of the artists featured, plus 16-track CD and 90-page booklet. Rating Star

The Business Of Strangers

Passable psychodrama as up-tight corporate suit Julia (Stockard Channing) and haughty PA Paula (Julia Stiles) play out malicious power games in a hotel suite. This often lacks the wit and IQ required for a nerve-jangling thriller, but the assured leads provide seductive intrigue.

Xtra Curricular

FUZZY WARBLES 2 Rating Star
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