Latest releases reviewed

KIRSTY MACCOLL
From Croydon to Cuba: The Videos EMI/Virgin
***

Not the most prolific of pop artists - nor, indeed, the most successful - Kirsty MacColl nevertheless had in bucketloads what so many others have not: charm. Which means that while this collection of 15 videos (released to accompany the recent three-CD anthology set of her songs) might be bereft of large budgets, cool hair styles, exotic locations and tanned nipples, it is full to the brim with honesty, wit, humour and imagination. It starts with the Shangri La pastiche Terry and ends with the Eastenders-style In These Shoes? Extras include a bog-standard photo gallery, a DVD ROM section featuring memorabilia (hand-written lyrics and the like) and a documentary of the making of her 1991 album, Electric Landlady. It's all good, clean British fun, but why couldn't this have included the far more recent documentary, Who Killed Kirsty MacColl? Its inclusion would have frozen the charisma and killed the wit, of course, but would also have rounded out the life story of one of the best UK female songwriters of the past 25 years. www.justiceforkirsty.org

Tony Clayton-Lea

KANYE WEST
College Dropout Video Anthology Roc-A-Fella/ Universal
***

It's safe to say that we haven't seen the last of hip-hop's Jose Mourinho by any stretch of the imagination. A new album (Late Registration) is due in the next few weeks, allowing those still feeling the love for Kanye West's 2004 College Dropout debut something new to get excited about. A video anthology based around College Dropout was perhaps inevitable; but rather than just package throwaway eye-candy, West's attention to detail and his own fascination with what happens behind the camera elevates these promo clips above the pack. Whether it's the three different videos for Jesus Walks (yes, three - and, if that wasn't enough, there's also a Making of Jesus Walks documentary) or an eight-minute gym freak-out for The New Workout Plan, West delivers promos that are always smart and sassy. If you're looking for some standard hip-hop poses, you may have to look elsewhere. www.kanyewest.com

Jim Carroll