Chris Starling: Planet Painkiller (EX34)
Who says the drugs don't work? The debut album from Chris Starling - founder of the late, lamented Starlings - is a sweet, country-tinged sedative, mixing hypnotic, echoing vocals with tough, trundling beats, shivering slide guitars and wide-eyed sweeps of acoustic guitar. Expatriate New Zealander Starling recorded the whole thing at home, putting his own personality on songs such as Rawhide Baby, Clouds and Bobby Slaughter Saw The Light. There's a nice, whimsical tinge in The Word - a kind of Sesame Street theme for hoboes - but it's offset by the startling power of Charles Mantra Overboard and the moody, compelling momentum of Saved Up.
Kevin Courtney
Various Artists: American Beauty (Dreamworks)
I know, you're already sick of the hype surrounding American Beauty - so why not avoid the movie itself for the moment and just listen to the CD? If only to hear the ultra-cool Bobby Darin swing his way through Don't Rain On My Parade minus Ms Bening! Peggy Lee's Bali Ha'i sounds much better without the family squabbles depicted in the movie, as does a revamped version of Free's All Right Now. Add to that Gomez, Eels, Betty Carter and the angst-ridden Free To Go by The Folk Implosion and you've got a great memento of, yes, a great movie. Sadly, Eliott Smith harmonising on Because is no substitute for the Beatles and Thomas Newman's "incidental" music is, well, incidental.
Joe Jackson