Reviews

30th-anniversary reissue for Julian Cope-inspiring prog classic

Tragic true story of two Mexican teens

Bahman Ghobadi's gruelling account of Kurdish hardships on the Iran/Iraq border has none of the artful self-consciousness of Samira Makhmalbaf's remarkably similar Blackboards. Instead, this powerful story of eldest child Ayoub trying to smuggle his dying brother into Iraq features brutally uncompromising scenes of bareknuckle kiddie fistfights, savagely battered horses, and the casual physical abuse of a crippled child.

Bigas Luna's 1990 film deals with, yes, sex, but like most Spanish movies it does so unapologetically and flamboyantly. A teenager is corrupted by her brother's friend: later they marry, but by now the libido of Lulu (Francesca Neri) is out of control. Sounds like Channel 5 fare, sure, but as with Jamón, Jamón and Golden Balls, Luna lifts it higher. DVD EXTRAS: Filmographies, notes, trailer.

Ex-Beekeeper/Ida songstress' second outing

Nirvana bassist's triumphant return

Even if you remain immune to the dark charms of Joss Whedon's mighty Buffy The Vampire Slayer, you'll have noticed that some of us drone on about The Musical Episode from season six like it was the second coming of Abbey Road, Diamond Dogs and Closer. It is absolutely that and no less. The soundtrack, my most prized possession since someone burned it off a mobile MP3 laptop duck-billed web-pager for me (or whatever), is now officially released by popular demand, the first authentic use of the phrase 'by popular demand' since Disraeli's era.

In November 2001, the owner of Tongue Master records invited Mark Eitzel to fly out to Greece and record an EP with Greek musicians under the guidance of Greek composer/producer Manolis Famellos.

Edgar Froese's Berlin electronica franchise got into gear with this 1972 double, Tangerine Dream's third album, the reissue of which highlights their decisive move away from Baader-Meinhof guitars and into gothic liturgies of mellotron and synthesized abstraction. Not that this neuters the band's still-extant freakout tendency, which grumbles up tectonically to shake the cloud-hung soundscape of cosmic foreboding. Godspeed You! Black Emperor, listen to "Birth Of Liquid Plejades"... This is how you do it, okay?

Diverse 49-track, two-CD collection of songs that have been used on TV ads