Big star

One of the greatest living exponents of American roots music teams up with leading Cuban rock guitarist for 12 examples of virtuoso twanging

Babylon burns on reggae superstar's nu-roots stormer

Five-CD anthology from swing-era rebel

Thought deceased, big beat is in fact set to be the new ska—resurrected every few years by students who think they've discovered a new sound. Brighton scene originators Skint are therefore proud of Fatboy Slim, Lo Fidelity Allstars and X-Press 2 with David Byrne, but who's got time to sit through 26 of their videos? Plenty of laughs here nevertheless, as typified by Doug Aitken's wigs'n' breakdancing promo for "Rockafeller Skank".

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

Twenty-two tracks from Dylan's legendary Rolling Thunder tour finally see official release

Tenth album from veteran rapper sounds as fresh as his first

The Beatles, The Doors, The Bee Gees, Curtis, Kris and Willie etc, are treated to a first-class passage to heaven thanks to Green's matchless ability to inhabit his material. Buy it for yourself, soul brothers and sisters. The Prisoners IN FROM THE COLD BIG BEAT The Prisoners spearheaded an early '80s Medway garage scene that spat in the eye of synth-pop ubiquity. Their fourth LP was released just as their parent label, Stiff, went bust in 1986.

The producers of 8 Mile expect it to do for hip hop what The Blackboard Jungle did for rock'n'roll and Saturday Night Fever did for disco. As Eminem is already far and away the biggest-selling recording star in America, you kind of wonder where there is left for him to cross over to. Nevertheless, word is the movie's a highly successful Rocky-type dream-fulfilment tale of poor-kid-becomes-rap-star. The soundtrack, however, isn't some nightmare hybrid of "Eye Of The Tiger" and "Stayin' Alive".

James Bond returns in an unconvincing digital makeover