The Beatles: "Anthology 3"
Apple/EMI, 7243 8 34451 2 7 (146 mins)
Dial-a-track code: 1631
This is the third and final instalment in the Anthology series and also, we are told, the last word on the Fab Four. With the video release of an extended version of the television series, containing four extra hours of footage, there's probably not much left in The Beatles' archives, so I guess this really is the end. There's no "new" Beatles song featuring John's disembodied voice, just the straight dope on the band's sessions for White Album, Abbey Road and Let It Be, complete with between take chat, humorous asides and improvised brainstorming, plus a few never before released tracks. Despite the stories of disputes and schisms within the Fab Four camp, The Beatles were probably at their loosest and most laid back during these final years, and it really shows in these recordings. A calm and dignified closing chapter.
Revelino: "Broadcaster"
Dirt, DIRTY CD10 (50 mins)
Dial-a-track code: 1641
Dublin guitar giants Revelino release their sophomore album, signalling their avowed intent to broadcast to a wider audience. Songs like Radio Speaks, Step On High and Rollercoaster have that Fender bending edge, but there's an added depth to songs like Down The Streets, All Hope Is Fading and Close. Overall the tunes are firmer, the harmonies more heavenly, and the sense of adventure is palpable. Stay Down and Been And, Gone bear the inevitable B***les lineage, but the Brit crits will probably lump them in with Britpop bands like Dodgy. Not a bad thing, really.
Iggy Pop: "Nude & Rude - The Best Of Iggy Pop"
Virgin, 42351 2 (73 mins)
Dial-A-Track Code: 1751
Well, what else are you gonna call Iggy's greatest hits collection - Fully Dressed And Polite? James Jewell Osterberg has had a somewhat erratic pop career, full of fits and starts, shot through with a sometimes self destructive abandon and marked by onstage mutilation and offstage excess. Nude & Rude brings us right back to the beginning, and as every punk knows, it all started with The Stooges. The down n dirty I Wanna Be Your Dog, the classic punk rant, No Fun, and the searing Search & Destroy get the sparks flying, while Nightclubbing and Funtime throw dark, decadent shadows down the alleyways. Lust For Life and The Passenger are the centrepiece tunes here; later tunes like Real Wild Child and Wild America are pretty wild, but they just don't have the raw power of vintage Pop.
Everything But The Girl: "Best Of" Blanco y Negro, 0630-16637-2 (58 mins)
Dial-a-track code: 1861
OK, so you're one of the six billion people who bought the Todd Terry remix of Missing, and now you want to dip into EBTG's early dabblings in drum'n'bass. Well, this collection is not for you, because Tracy Thorn and Ben Watt have chosen not to bring in the DJ's to remix soft strumming tunes like Love Is Strange and Apron Strings. There you'll be, gyrating away to Driving, the latest single from the unlikely dance duo, when suddenly the melancholy strains of Old Friends will stop you in your tracks, forcing you to sit down, have a cup of tea, and listen. I Don't Want To Talk About It and The Only Living Boy In New York might remind you of slow sets down at the rugby club disco, but Each And Every One and Another Bridge will bring you right back to bedsit days. There's a strobe light at the end of the tunnel, however, with an Underdog mix of Driving, followed by Tracy Thorn's two collaborations with Massive Attack, Better Things and Protection.
Tindersticks: "Ne'ette et Boni"
This Way Up, 524-300-2 (37 mins)
Dial-a-track code: 1971
Nottingham's favourite nihilists have put their uniquely desolate music to the soundtrack of a new French film by Claire Den is, writing some atmospheric new tunes and reworking songs like Tiny Tears, giving them French subtitles. This is a mere cinematic aside to Tindersticks' new album proper, which they recorded in Dublin's Windmill Lane studios during the summer, and which has the tentative title of The Last Tindersticks Album. Let's hope they're only joking.
