Latest music DVDs reviewed

CALEXICO
World Drifts in City Slang
****

Recorded during the Beyond Nashville festival in London's Barbican two years ago, World Drifts In features spectacular live performances of Calexico songs from 2003's Feast of Wire - Woven Birds, Black Heart and Quattro (World Drifts In) are stand-outs - as well as from The Black Light and Hot Rail. There's support from François Breut and Ruben Moreno and his Mariachi Luz de Luna (El Picador and an extended Crystal Frontier are vintage Calexico fusion). Mixing strut with poetry, Joey Burns and John Convertino's signature Texicana sound live - from Convertino's sinuous brushwork and Moreno's bright trumpet to Burns's warm vocals - deftly balances dynamic instrumental colour and vibrant rhythms with expressive lyrics. With three documentaries (one by Burns on mariachi), three videos, a cartoon and a band interview, World Drifts In is a Calexico fiesta. www.casadecalexico.com

Jocelyn Clarke

THE STONE ROSES
The DVD Silvertone
*****

"We ignore the rest of the world. We just concentrate on Manchester. We want to be the best band on our street." In 1989, Reni's band The Stone Roses were masters of all they surveyed, and this double DVD catches the enormous buzz around the Manchester quartet as they swayed gracefully on the brink. Disc 1 kicks off with a mind-blowing show in Blackpool, with fully restored audio and 5.1 sound. Squire's guitars scorch, Reni's drums shake, and even Ian Brown sings in tune, but Mani's out of shot for most of the set. Disc 2 features the band's various TV appearances, including the infamous Late Show slot where the power went off in the middle of Made of Stone, prompting Brown to yell "amateurs!" behind the presenter. There's also an excruciating interview with Ian and John, all monosyllabic answers and long, heavily pregnant pauses. It's brilliant. The beautifully designed package - Pollock paint-daubs and embossed lemons - also features videos and a home movie showing the band mucking about in the studio, plainly amazed by this new-fangled camcorder technology.

Kevin Courtney

DJ SHADOW
In Tune & on Time Geffen
***

This was recorded on a UK tour to plug DJ Shadow's Private Press album. A DVD of a man simply playing records will not measure up as a visual stimulant for most rational human beings. Shadow himself obviously realised the same thing, recruiting San Francisco visual artist Ben Stokes to add spice to the mix for both tour and DVD. It's Stokes's visual cuts as much as Shadow's decks-terity which will keep you chewing until the very end, but for Shadow completists there's also a 20-track CD, some live Shadow-boxing with fellow members of the turntablist tribe Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark, and on-the-road and interview segments. The meat, though, remains the live show and Shadow's ability to come up with all manner of sonic intensity using decks, CD players and a sampler deserves rich applause from the stalls. www.djshadow.com

Jim Carroll