The latest releases reviewed

AALIYAH
Are You Feelin' Me?
Blackground Records
***

If Tupac ever farted in the studio while he was alive, you can bet the record label milked it for a full, flatulence-themed concept album. Let's hope the same fate doesn't befall the late Aaliyah. Mind you, the lovely lady would never have broken wind in public.

FEEDER
Feeling a Moment
Echo
**

The Welsh rockers have "done a Coldplay", which, in rock terms, is almost as bad as betraying Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. With inflation, though, that 30 pieces of silver will buy them a nice pile in Swansea.

THE DEPARTURE
Lump in My Throat
Parlophone
***

These Northampton New Wavers may be part of the big '80s exodus, but they've got enough collective creativity to make compelling, twin-guitar-driven pop. A departure from the usual retro formula.

KELIS
In Public
Arista
**

An electro r'n'b ode to doggin', in which Kelis and her fella Nas throw modesty to the wind and get down to some al fresco jiggy. I'd be embarrassed to hear Nas rhyming "Kelis" with "sexy beast" in public.

JULIET
Avalon
Virgin
***

Sultry-voiced chanteuse Juliet Stevenson has no intention of becoming another music biz bimbo - here she's teamed up with Stuart Price (aka Les Rhythmes Digitales) for a tasty slice of dub cabaret. Look out for her, but not on Celebrity Big Brother.

THE OTHERS
William
Vertigo
***

They're the "new Libertines", but lead shouter Dominic Masters is no April fool. This is a David Watts-style rocker about an old schoolmate, and it's just about ramshackle enough to be "real".