A detective story much in the style of Raymond Chandler’s famed Philip Marlowe novels. A quick witted hard hitting ‘detective’ finds the corpse of an ex flame and embarks on a mission to uncover the mystery behind her untimely demise.

Brian Eno and David Byrne have recently re-released their seminal collaboration from ’81. Entitled ‘My life in the bush of ghosts’ , as with much of Eno’s work, it’s considered to have had a profound influence on the shape of pop music - mainly because it was one of the first albums to extensively use sampling. Eno and Byrne ‘borrowed’ from excerpts of ecstatic sermonising by Pentecostal ministers, ‘The Jezebel Spirit', and sections of the Koran being read allowed, 'Qu’ran', - although the latter track has been omitted from the re-release due to objections from the Islamic council of Great Britain.

There are many horrific scenes in Michael Caton-Jones powerful depiction of the Rwandan massacre in 1994. Perhaps the worst in this story, based on real life events, is when a BBC journalist admits that she has not shed a single tear over the corpses of Rwandans strewn across the country.

The word horror, so my trusty dictionary tells me, derives from the word ‘horrid’, no surprise there, which in turn comes from the latin for ‘bristle’ or ‘shudder.’ Very appropriate. Horror films then aim to achieve said effect through any manner of on screen chills and spills.

Album Review

Elbow
Leaders of the Free World (V2 Records)

It’s hard to say why bands such as Coldplay fill stadiums worldwide and the likes of Elbow don’t. Sure, Chris Martin and co can knock out plenty of arena-friendly anthems and sensitive serenades, but surely none that contain the sheer class or edge of Bury’s finest.

Sufjan Stevens
Illinois (Asthmatic Kitten, 2005)

Sufjan Stevens puts a slightly different slant on the word ‘ambitious.’ After teaching himself to play oboe, recorder, banjo, guitar, vibraphone, bass, drums and piano he decided to embark on a musical mystery tour of the US - and to dedicate an album a year over half a century to each of the 50 states.

‘Be’
Common
Geffen Records 2005

A ‘divinely’ inspired hip-hop album that connects a mish–mash of spiritual messages with sublime breaks and passionate rapping.