Album ...

Album

Thelonious Monk

Piano eccentricities from jazz maverick

Tom Paxton – Looking For The Moon

Surprisingly enjoyable album from Greenwich Village folk veteran

Venetian Snares – Winter In The Belly Of A Snake

Vaguely upsetting Toronto electronica

Missy Elliott – Under Construction

Business as usual for newly slimmed-down genius

Die Another Day – Warners

Another day, another Bond movie. Forgive me if I can't get worked up about the McConcept, although David Arnold is, by any standards, a slick operator who does as much as anyone could to keep the formula fresh. Paul Oakenfold has a stab at remixing the James Bond theme, and, of course, Madonna and Mirwais concoct that title song. Here Madge contrives to sound like a tracheotomy victim rattling through an outtake from the Music album. "Sigmund Freud," she croaks. We wonder why. Then we realise she's simply trying to tell us she read a book once.

Justin Timberlake – Justified

Solo debut by 'NSync frontman with production by Timbaland and the Neptunes

10cc

Wacky send-up pop cleverly put together by early-'70s Manchester four-piece hailed as 'New Beatles'

Sugarhill Gang – Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five

Reissued curate's eggs of debut albums from key early rappers

Wilko Johnson – Back In The Night: The Best Of Wilko Johnson

Former Feelgood guitarist anthologised

Sondre Lerche – Faces Down

Debut album from 19-year-old Norwegian singer-songwriter
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