Various Artists: Music from the motion picture The Million Dollar Hotel (Universal Island)
Bono wrote the story, Wim Wenders directed the film, and a bunch of Bono's pals - including Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno, Jon Hassell and Bill Frisell - mucked in for this soundtrack, a mix of downbeat, urban jazz, disjointed slo-mo rock, and atmospheric, avant-garde noodling. U2 contribute three songs, pleasant enough in themselves, but hopefully not an indication of how the band's new album proper will sound. The Ground Beneath Her Feet is a typically evocative U2 cityscape; Stateless is more disjointed, keeping a cool emotional distance, while The First Time sounds like a refugee from Rattle & Hum. Two Bono songs flit by without leaving much impression, but the version of Lou Reed's Satellite Of Love, cackled tunelessly by the film's star, Milla Jovovich, is musical torture from lift-off to landing.
- Kevin Courtney
Tim Buckley: Goodbye And Hello (Elektra)
The father of latter-day folk-hero Jeff Buckley was a legend in his own right, acclaimed for his astonishing voice and socially-aware songwriting, and - like his son - tragically cut off in his prime. This is Buckley Sr's debut album, originally released in 1967, and now re-released on mid-price so fans of Jeff can finally compare father with son. But although Buckley's vocal prowess is well in evidence here, the hippie-dippie earnestness of No Man Can Find The War, Hallucinations and I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain sounds horribly dated, and may appeal only to Woodstock veterans and people who call themselves Gandalf. Better to seek out Buckley's later, r&b influenced work, such as the stoned soul music of 1972's Greetings From LA.
- Kevin Courtney
Henry Rollins: Get Some Go Again (Dreamworks)
The prospect of going 13 rounds with the Mike Tyson of alt. rock is daunting indeed; of late Rollins has switched his vitriol to spoken-word performance, but he returns to the rock'n'roll fray with a collection of Black Sabbath cast-off riffs and an undiminished anger at, well, anything that moves. When he delivers his cruel admonishments in Thinking Cap and You Let Yourself Down, however, you get the sneaking suspicion that he may, secretly, be addressing his own self-doubt. Previous Rollins albums have been like musical brick walls - straight, stiff and dull - but here he leans towards a warmer style, doing a cover of Thin Lizzy's Are You Ready? and delivering a 15-minute musical monologue which would sound almost funky if it weren't so anally resentful.
- Kevin Courtney
Third Eye Foundation: Little Lost Soul (Domino)
Third Eye Foundation is Matt Elliott's brand-name for his increasingly handsome sets of deeply emotional sounds and melodies. Using terms like drum & bass, post-rock, or future-jazz are not quite enough to describe the grand sweep of even the opening track, I've Lost The Loving Feline. Elliott's own background in experimental sounds is one starting point, but he has left those who were once his peers far, far behind. Stone Cold Said So, and the sensual Lost, show Elliott mixing ambient and dub elements into the drum & bass dynamic which both dominates and powers the album, while the mesmerising What Is It With You, a mock symphony of vocal takes and loops, takes it one major step upwards and onwards. Intriguing, in every sense.
- Jim Carroll