The latest releases reviewed

DAVID BYRNE Live from Austin TX New West ***

David Byrne is a man of many interests: musical polyglot, film- maker, writer. He's also one of rock's smartest experimentalists, twitchy, innovative and all-too- eager to mess around with any musical genre. His back catalogue proves that when it comes to intuition - how to delve into a specific form of music and stamp your own personality through it - there are few that can match him. Anyone who has seen Byrne on stage will surely also agree that he doesn't need whistles, bells, lights or lasers; his songs on their own do the trick. And sure enough, this performance from November 2001 (recorded as part of the Austin City Limits TV series) sees Byrne engage the audience with a selection of songs from his Talking Heads days (Life During Wartime, And She Was, Once in a Lifetime) and his solo years (The Great Intoxication, What a Day That Was). Visually, it's all simple and low-key; musically, it's the epitome of pzazz. www.livefromaustintx.com

GARY MOORE Live at Montreux Eagle Rock **

It would take a braver soul than your humble correspondent to sit through more than four hours of live music from Gary Moore and actually enjoy it. There's no denying that Moore, a one-time rock guitar prodigy and, at the age of 16, founding member of Skid Row, is a master of the fretboard (the words "fluid" and "sharp" spring immediately to mind). There is also little doubt that you'd have to be an air guitar fanatic and a student of gurning to watch and enjoy Moore's outings at Montreux. The double disc gathers together his appearances at the noted European festival from 1990 to 2001; from an academic standpoint it's interesting to track his development as a guitarist (just watch those fingers fly!) and, if you're a fan, then this is manna from Spinal Tap heaven. Otherwise, it's an exercise in sheer boredom. One of the songs is aptly titled: Enough of the Blues. To which we wholeheartedly agree. www.gary-moore.com