Nick Cave has been writing songs about killing and other evil things since he first surfaced in 1980 as the Birthday Party's pale, skinny, goth-punk version of Jim Morrison. But the murder ballads that provide this set's title are different, tantalisingly deliberate. Sure, there's plenty of trademark Cave here, but Murder Ballads is a fascinating concept album that uses the narrative ballad form of the English folk tradition to tell of murder: random deaths, passion crimes, and killing sprees, all in one package. Cave clearly thrives in this genre, and he produces some of his sharpest and most facile writing to date: "Song of Joy", a genuinely scary campfire mystery of a murdered family and an unnamed killer, chillingly weaves clues into the lyrics, while "Where the Wild Roses Grow" is a narrative duet in which killer (Cave) and victim (pop star Kylie Minogue) reveal parallel tales. Cave even shows his knack for adaptation on Bob Dylan's "Death Is Not the End", recontextualising a song of heavenly comfort into a sort of zombie "We Are the World" (featuring Minogue, PJ Harvey, Shane MacGowan and others) in which "death is not the end" of pain and suffering. Above all, Murder Ballads should be heard as a work of pulp fiction-as sensationally funny as it is harrowing. The already violent traditional song "Stagger Lee" becomes gangsta folk, so ridiculously packed with obscenity and brutality it would make the Geto Boys cringe. And Cave's (unintentional?) point to would-be censors-that bad-ass songs existed long before rappers polluted the airways-should not be missed. -Roni Sarig.

Originally conceived as "a series of recordings based on an imaginary culture", My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts finds Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and studio egghead Brian Eno marking time between 1979's Fear Of Music and the following year's Remain In Light with a machetes-out excursion into the dense, unexplored ethnic wilderness. Recorded with a cast of virtuoso players that includes bassist Bill Laswell and New York percussionist David Van Tieghem, it's an album that blurs the boundaries between African rhythms and the electronic avant-garde, a feat made possible thanks to Eno's cutting-edge studio tool - the sampler. It's this equipment that provides the "voice" of the record. A series of disembodied voices, in fact - Arabian singers, raging US talk-show hosts, Christian preacher men, field recordings - not just dropped into the music but immersed in it, until it's impossible to sense the join. Stiffly funky and reliant on electronics, it's a defiantly modern record, which paradoxically, dates it somewhat next to Byrne's next work, Talking Heads' immortal Remain In Light. It remains a fascinating milestone in experimentation, however, its foundation loosing a tremor that can still be heard in everything from Moby's Play to the teeming ranks of modern hip-hop. -Louis Pattison.

Opera virtuoso Andra Bocelli's first ever album of popular music, Amore, was a resounding success when it came out last year. Featuring songs from a range of artists (Edith Piaf, Luis Miguel, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra) and eras, and performed by Bocelli in Italian, Spanish and French, the album also featured a stellar lineup of musicians and oozed not a little charm and romance. Under The Desert Sky is essentially a live version of Amore, performed on a specially built floating stage at the Lake Las Vegas Resort earlier this year. His rousing al fresco renditions of tracks like "Besame Mucho," "Autumn Leaves," "Momentos" and "Somos Novios" are featured on the main CD alongside additional new studio recordings, such as a duet of "Can't Help Falling in Love" with American Idol finalist Katharine McPhee, "The Prayer" with Heather Headley, and "Canzoni Stonate" with Stevie Wonder. -Danny McKenna.

Blessed with the voice of a wispy angel, Elliot Smith creates sad little pop songs, which, like the work of Nick Drake (to whom he's been compared) threaten to disappear into the night air. Several of the tracks here were featured in Gus Van Zant's movie Good Will Hunting, and they're among the album's best (though "Miss Misery", nominated for an Academy Award is only available on the soundtrack album). "Angeles" and "Say Yes" are bittersweet laments that feature Smith's idiosyncratic guitar picking, which is well served by the album's decidedly low-fi production. -Rob O'Connor.

This is the only Dire Straits album not to feature a rhythm guitarist; instead, an added dimension is given to the sound by the addition of Roy Bittan, Bruce Springsteen's pianist. In fact, there were several Springsteen connections to this album: Jimmy Iovine, the producer, was the engineer on Born To Run and the famous riff of "Romeo And Juliet" is a slowed-down version of the piano intro to that album's "Jungleland". A more general connection is the torrent of imagery centred around the romance of the city, most notably on "Skateaway", but also present in the perfectly-rendered teenage angst of hit single "Romeo and Juliet", and the celebratory tale of tawdriness and passion that is "Tunnel Of Love". Mark Knopfler and drummer Pick Withers were fresh from the honour of recording an album with Bob Dylan after he had seen and been impressed by the band playing in LA earlier in the year; but sadly this was to be Withers' last album with Dire Straits, as he left for a career in jazz shortly after. A fine album, the most truly outstanding song is the devastating lovers' lament of "Hand In Hand". Unfortunately it closes on a low note with "Les Boys", Knopfler's faintly embarrassing and uninventive song about the gay scene in Berlin. -James Swift.

"The Power of Love" was Celine Dion's first chart-topping song in America, but it was a career-defining moment in more ways than one. It established her as a dependable hit-maker and also fixed the pattern of her biggest successes to come-songs that begin with delicate melodies and spare instrumentation and build into big, powerful productions over which Dion's incomparable vocals hit stratospheric heights. Dion attempts other directions on The Colour of My Love, such as the light dance-pop of "Misled" and "Everybody's Talkin' My Baby Down", but they don't ring as true as her duet with Clive Griffin in "When I Fall in Love" (from the film Sleepless in Seattle) and the title track. -Daniel Durchholz.

Most artists who appeal to adult listeners tend to settle into a comfortable niche, but Lucinda Williams refuses to play it safe on World Without Tears. Instead her music stings like an open wound as she continues to strip away the protective layers from her art's emotional core. Though Williams has long been prized for the naked honesty of her music, this album is even more raw than its predecessors. From the down-and-dirty bar-band blues of "Atonement" to the Rolling Stones styled swagger of "Bleeding Fingers" to the tricky balance of debasement and transcendence in "Ventura", Williams leaves the nerve endings of her music exposed. With the band opting for first-take immediacy rather than polish, some of the most powerful material is also the neediest, as the singer addresses lovers who have disrespected her ("Righteously") or abandoned her ("Those Three Days", "Minneapolis"). Although her attempts at rap on "Sweet Side" and "American Dream" might cause diehard fans to wince, her willingness to take creative chances reaffirms her position at the vanguard of a rootsy progressivism that transcends musical category. Simply put, there's more Patti Smith in her than there is Patsy Cline. -Don McLeese.

Nick Cave has been writing songs about killing and other evil things since he first surfaced in 1980 as the Birthday Party's pale, skinny, goth-punk version of Jim Morrison. But the murder ballads that provide this set's title are different, tantalisingly deliberate. Sure, there's plenty of trademark Cave here, but Murder Ballads is a fascinating concept album that uses the narrative ballad form of the English folk tradition to tell of murder: random deaths, passion crimes, and killing sprees, all in one package. Cave clearly thrives in this genre, and he produces some of his sharpest and most facile writing to date: "Song of Joy", a genuinely scary campfire mystery of a murdered family and an unnamed killer, chillingly weaves clues into the lyrics, while "Where the Wild Roses Grow" is a narrative duet in which killer (Cave) and victim (pop star Kylie Minogue) reveal parallel tales. Cave even shows his knack for adaptation on Bob Dylan's "Death Is Not the End", recontextualising a song of heavenly comfort into a sort of zombie "We Are the World" (featuring Minogue, PJ Harvey, Shane MacGowan and others) in which "death is not the end" of pain and suffering. Above all, Murder Ballads should be heard as a work of pulp fiction-as sensationally funny as it is harrowing. The already violent traditional song "Stagger Lee" becomes gangsta folk, so ridiculously packed with obscenity and brutality it would make the Geto Boys cringe. And Cave's (unintentional?) point to would-be censors-that bad-ass songs existed long before rappers polluted the airways-should not be missed. -Roni Sarig.

One of the earliest things that we learned about Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart was that the duo had style. In their first few videos, including "Sweet Dreams" and "Love Is a Stranger," they were just as notable for their androgynous suits and rubber utility coverall, as they were for their ice box synthetic dance beats. But as Eurythmics continued to churn out one hit after another, something else became refreshingly apparent: In the midst of all of the impersonal drum machines and frozen electronics, Lennox displayed both rhythm and soul. With a voice powerful enough to hold its own against genre queen Aretha Franklin ("Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves"), Lennox added another dimension to the haunting moodiness of "Who's That Girl" and "Here Comes the Rain Again". Changing personas and musical stylings with every release, Eurythmics blasted out horn-infused rockers ("Would I Lie to You"), country-fied twangers ("Thorn in My Side"), and melodic brilliance ("When Tomorrow Comes"). Greatest Hits captures the band's most inspired moments and justifies all of the original fuss. -Steve Gdula.

One of the biggest selling female artists ever, Celine Dion's global appeal may seem incomprehensible to some but for those who appreciate her incredible voice and epic productions she has become a legend in her own lifetime. Dion's latest English language album A New Day Has Come is to a certain extent a very apt title since many of the 17 songs are filled with new ideas (well, new to Celine) and a sound more in keeping with the current trends. Take "Rain, Tax" for example, if it weren't for the theatrical vocal it could be mistaken for a rising pop/R&B number with a heavy emphasis on the stuttering rhythm and deep bass rather than sweet strings and weighty "power-ballad drums". Another experiment is the Cher-esque (minus vo-coder) "Sorry For Love" complete with pumping rhythm section and house pianos which is still very much Celine but not likely to ravage any dance floors across the land. But still, A New Day Has Come is still very much traditional vocal led pop-rock, heavy on the ballads, like the title track and lead single, with silky orchestration and enormous sounding drums complementing the theatrical presence of her voice in a style modern day easy listeners like Westlife will never match. -Georgina Collins.

Fans of Welsh rockers The Manic Street Preachers have been holding their breath for the arrival of the band's eighth studio album. Will Send Away The Tigers be evidence of another new musical twist? Might they revert to their old fiery ways? In fact, Send Away The Tigers does both. An intriguing blend of backwards-looking nostalgia and forward motion, fans might be pleased to learn, first of all, that the album features its fair share of anthems. "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough," (which features Cardigans singer Nina Persson), "Indian Summer," "Autumnsong" and "The Second Great Depression" all boast catchy choruses and are underpinned by the stadium-rock aesthetic of the good old days. The Manic's political fire also remains intact, shifting emphasis to the Iraq war with mediocre songs like "Imperial Bodybags", while the title track and "Rendition" indicate a slightly more innovative direction. It's no Holy Bible, nor a Generation Terrorists - but Send Away The Tigers does show the boys can still make a glorious racket when they try. -Danny McKenna.

Music from the OC Mix 1 is strangely unique for a TV soundtrack compilation. Often, US teen dramas don't put a great deal of thought into the show's music, relying heavily on bland, melodramatic MOR (think Paula Cole and Dawson's Creek). However, a glance through the track listing reveals a host of acclaimed indie guitar bands from around the world. Goodtime retro acts such as Jet ("Move On") and the Dandy Warhols ("We Used to be Friends") in addition to more downbeat artists such as Turin Brakes ("Rain City"), South ("Paint the Silence") and the Doves ("Caught By the Rain") make for an eclectic mix of new music. Music from the OC Mix 1 serves well as the soundtrack to a hit show but more importantly, it's a great introduction to good bands who many may not have been discovered without it. -David Trueman.