Craig Armstrong: Plunkett & Macleane Original Soundtrack

(Melankolic)

Soundtracks are the new rock 'n' roll for the dance music fraternity, which must make the proficient Craig Armstrong the new Jerry Lee Lewis. Highly regarded for his work with Massive Attack, the score for Romeo & Juliet and his own astonishing The Space Between Us debut, Armstrong specialises in merging classical nuances with downbeat dance rhythms and beats to create lush, after-hours magic. Occasionally, as on the cover version of Talking Heads' Houses In Motion, he can steer a funkier ship, but for the most part this soundtrack is a baroque bop. Delicate soundscapes, hushed orchestral pieces, slinky sub-aqua beats: Armstrong's arrangements are all the more commendable for their ability to stand (and deliver) on their own away from the big screen.

By Jim Carroll

Various: Source Rocks

And if soundtracks are the new rock 'n' roll, Paris must be the new skiffle. The French capital's rise and rise to the top of the dance tree thanks to Air, Daft Punk, Cassius and a host of others seems never-ending, and this compilation from the sterling Source label shows there is much more to come. Of course, for anyone who stumbled on them, the label's Sourcelab collections provided early signs of what was to come, so we should be alert to what is on offer here. From the gorgeous, colourful house of Phoenix on Heatwave to the way-out, chi-chi delights of Musique Pour Un Enfant Jouet from Rob, and the monster belt from Riff Hi-Fi's Whizz Song, the delights are many and varied.

By Jim Carroll