MUSIC DVDs

The latest releases reviewed

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE Drive Well, Sleep Carefully Plexi ***

You can make out the tipping point somewhere in the middle of this documentary of Death Cab for Cutie's 2004 US tour. There's no such thing as overnight success, but teen TV show The OC's appropriation of Ben Gibbard and friends as the apex of cool did as much for the band as five or six years of hard slog on the underground circuit. DCFC were on tour to plug the excellent Transatlanticism album and, with a transfer to a major label imminent, Justin Mitchell's 86-minute flick captures a band ready, able and willing to step up to the next level. While there's a dramatic and emotional pitch to DCFC's music, their live show is somewhat less spectacular, and it's left to the interviews and off-stage banter to colour in the lines. That said, seeing as there's no sign of the band heading this way in the immediate future, it's probably the best chance you'll have to see live performances of Company Calls, Tiny Vessels and We Laugh Indoors. www.deathcabforcutie.com

Jim Carroll

BOB DYLAN After the Crash Chrome Dreams  ***

Despite Martin Scorsese's acclaimed official documentary, this unauthorised effort holds its own, notably through interviews with Dylan biographers Clinton Heylin, Patrick Humphries and Nigel Williamson; there's a genuine surprise, too, in the presence of obsessive Dylanologist AJ Weberman, who is perhaps most famous for taking his subject a tad too seriously (he once advertised for a sample of Dylan's urine). Focusing on the years 1966 to 1978 (the title refers to Dylan's 1966 motorcycle accident, an event that brought about a radical personal reassessment), the documentary is an efficient piece of work. There isn't any earth-shattering news for the advanced Dylan fan, but it's nonetheless informative, concise and benefits from the contributors; extras include performance clips of Dylan (uncredited live and TV shows) and a retelling of Weberman's creepy compulsiveness. www.chromedreams.co.uk

Tony Clayton-Lea