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Reviews

Trading Places

Much-imitated life-swapping comedy from '83, back when John Landis was a hot name. Street chancer Eddie Murphy and stockbroker Dan Aykroyd switch places after a nature-versus-nurture debate, with Jamie Lee Curtis as Aykroyd's love interest. Doesn't aim to be anything other than broadly funny, and so largely succeeds, though it hasn't aged too cleverly.

Billy Bragg And Wilco—Man In The Sand

The two albums of Woody Guthrie songs recorded by Billy Bragg and Wilco and released as Mermaid Avenue (Volumes One and Two) are already alt. country classics. Kim Hopkins' documentary film follows Bragg around America in search of Woody. Archive footage of the great man is interwoven with Bragg performing some 20 songs, alongside guests including Natalie Merchant. Films about making albums seldom do the music justice. Man In The Sand breaks the pattern. DVD EXTRAS: Bonus audio tracks, discography.

Pop Will Eat Itself – Pwei Product: Pop Will Eat Itself Anthology 86-94

Comprehensive compendium from indie-rap-rock Midlanders

The Cowboy Junkies – The Best Of The Cowboy

17-track retrospective proves mildly addictive

Baby Bird – The Original Lo-Fi

Remastered replicas of original five self-released LPs plus a sixth of previously unavailable material

Short Cuts

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 Rating Star 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.

Waterson: Carthy – Eliza Carthy

Famous family digs deep for folk roots

Xzibit – Man Vs Machine

Fourth album from Eminem chum

Masami Akita & Russell Haswell – Satanstornade

Noise, basically. Catalogue number 666

Snoop Dogg – Paid Da Cost To Be Da Boss

Original gangsta reforms
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