Reviews ...

Reviews

Einstürzende Neubauten

Reissue of four classic albums coincides with founder member Bargeld's decision to quit Nick Cave's Bad Seeds

Various Artists – Going Back To Old Kentucky

Bluegrass anthology compiled by Grammy-winner Colin Escott, the brains behind BBC2's history of country music, The Lost Highway

The Happiness Of The Katakuris

Fantasy mayhem from prolific Japanese director

Fellini’s Roma

Released in 1972, Federico Fellini's extended love letter to his adopted home city is less of a linear drama than an impressionistic anthology of autobiographical memories, sketchy anecdotes and documentary-style snippets. With sumptuous cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno and a lush Nino Rota score, Roma is a minor Fellini work but a ravishing and innovative visual symphony.

Battles Without Honour And Humanity

Another belter from the late Kinji Fukasaku's back catalogue. Loosely based on a true story, Fukasaku presents a chaotic swirl of gangland melodrama torn from the prison diary of a Yakuza footsoldier (Bunta Sugawara), seasoning his wild rumination on the loss of the old warrior's code with frequent bursts of histrionic Day-Glo brutality.

Rififi

Jules Dassin's 1955 heist flick is the genre's benchmark movie. The silent 28-minute set-piece robbery scene provides the film's highlight, but elsewhere there's much to admire in Jean Servais' hangdog protagonist and Dassin's pre-Nouvelle Vague documentary approach to shooting Parisian nightlife.

Abigail Hopkins – Smile Road

Jazzy debut from Anthony Hopkins' girl

A Different Wavelength

Prefab Sprout mainman releases extraordinary "talking book" opus

Ceephax Acid Crew

Well-connected Cornish raver calms down a bit

Ravi Coltrane – Mad 6

Energetic, buoyant contemporary jazz
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