I'd never want to visit Destiny's Child's homes for the holidays, if their nonsensically named holiday album 8 Days of Christmas is any indication of what they've got under the tree. Chilly, forced and overdone, this mixed bag of modern classics, tarted-up traditional carols and a trio of tunes penned by Beyoncé Knowles doesn't conjure up a single warm-and-fuzzy image of chestnuts roasting on an open fire or Jack Frost nipping at your nose. Rather, it's just another forum to showcase the band's Gucci bag of vocal gymnastics and crass materialism. The Texas trio takes seasonal classics such as Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", "Silent Night" and "Little Drummer Boy" and embellishes them with its own trills and off-kilter harmonies, overwhelming the songs so that their simple beauty is totally obscured. "On the eighth day of Christmas, my baby gave to me, a pair of Chloe shades and a diamond belly ring," brags Knowles in the title song-which is a take-off on the "12 Days of Christmas"-without ever explaining why they loped off four days. In addition, the band are shamelessly self-indulgent throughout the dozen songs found here, taking untold liberties, such as renaming the "Carol of the Bells", "Opera Bells" and recasting "Silver Bells" into "Platinum Bells", to reflect their multi-platinum status. But the low point of the record is when Destiny's Child hawk their own Hasbro Toy manufactured dolls in the intro of "Platinum Bells": "Ladies remember long ago we asked Santa to give us Christmas Dolls? But this year the dolls are you and me under the tree". Humbug. -Jaan Uhelszki.

Still I Rise, the third posthumous release of "new" material by Tupac Shakur, is not surprisingly a mixed bag. Recorded in 1996 with the Outlawz, the disc at its best does showcase the power of 'Pac. More politically acute (and complexly anti-Clinton) than most gangsta rap even attempts to be, "Letter to the President" and "The Good Die Young" find the star turning in some of his most focused lyrics and performances. Elsewhere, he often cedes the mic to other voices; the collaborations that result-"Secretz of War", "Tattoo Tears", the title cut-are the equivalent of campfire songs for the latter-day black cowboy. Dominated by phat beats and familiar imagery, they entertain but hardly illuminate. -Rickey Wright.

It didn't take the post-motherhood Ray of Light to prove that Madonna is a big softie; this collection of ballads and slow jams had already done that. Somewhat confused in intention-the scalding ache of "Oh Father", a 1989 song for her own dad, is shoved between the sex of "Rain" and a version of Marvin Gaye's "I Want You"-this is nonetheless a highly listenable album for those who dig Madonna for her music as much as for her cultural significance. -Rickey Wright.

A key record of the 1990s, Exit Planet Dust invented the big-beat style that dominated British dance music in the second half of the decade, and it still sounds superb in its own right. Skull-crunching hip-hop loops, fuzz guitar, insistently repetitive spoken samples and thunderous basslines make up the blueprint for one of the most instantly energising albums ever recorded. Many of the titles-"Chemical Beats", "Fuck Up Beats", "Chico's Groove"-are fairly self-explanatory. Others show a level of erudite humour; "Song To The Siren" filches the name of a Tim Buckley ballad for a track more in keeping with the mysteries of a car alarm, while "One Too Many Mornings" is nothing that Bob Dylan would recognise in a hurry. Collaborations with Beth Orton ("Alive Alone") and the Charlatans' Tim Burgess ("Life Is Sweet") add human voices to the brilliant mechanical formula. -David Bennun For years before the release of Exit Planet Dust, the production duo of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons were cranking out slabs of the biggest sounds around on the U. K. label Junior Boys' Own. Before screeching guitars and massive breakdowns were par for the course in dance music, they were unleashing monsters like "Chemical Beats" and "Song to the Siren"; their distorted beats and rock mentality were years ahead of their time. And, not surprisingly, they still hold up today, collected and rereleased, along with several newer tracks, on Exit Planet Dust. [+]

Enlisting an array of indie icons, from Iggy Pop to Chrissie Hynde (whose version of "Live And Let Die" is a definite highlight), Arnold attempts to update-if not exactly subvert-some of the more notable Bond theme tunes. Yet despite this noble attempt at deconstruction, what's remarkable here is how so many of the acts conform to expectations: Pulp, typically, make "All Time High" seem a furtive, even faintly grubby experience; while Aimee Mann performs "Nobody Does It Better" with a kind of weary sarcasm, either unable or unwilling to swallow the myth of male potency. On the other hand, Shara Nelson's reading of "Moonraker", and Martin Fry's "Thunderball," each manage to communicate at least a little of the magic of the original versions. And having at last found a piece worthy of him, David McAlmont loses no opportunity to make "Diamonds Are Forever" his own. -Andrew McGuire.

French duo, Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicholas Godin's 1998 debut was a glorious anachronism. An analogue bubblebath of synths, saxophones, xylophones, fuzzy guitars and all manner of louche melodies it managed to be both original and utterly retro. 10,000 Hz Legend is the exact meeting point between wearying experimentation and heart-warming melancholia. There's nothing as charming as "Sexy Boy" or as generous as "You Make It Easy" but if you skip the first two tracks, which have more than a touch of Pink Floyd about them, there are a few twisted gems here. Amid the sprawling mass of shrill melody and Kraftwerkian computer voices that is "Lucky and Unhappy", the compressed trash-pop of Radio #1 (a brash cuss down of that infamous institution) and shimmering folk-funk of "The Vagabond" sung by Beck, verge on classic. As for "Sex Born Poison" sung by Japanese indie duo Buffalo Daughter, there's something about this particularly bewitching blend of cool female vocals and a Bernard Psycho Herrmann soundtrack that is out of time, beautiful and in your face. Though 10,000 Hz Legend as a whole is inconsistent and a little bit "aren't we weird?", Air have certainly crafted an inventive album worth hearing. -Reuben Dessay.

Violator is Depeche Mode's most mainstream, chart-climbing album. Although it contains only nine tracks, half of them are tailor-made for the dance floor. This album was conceived when dance-club DJs were gaining recognition alongside original composers. Heavily influenced by techno-pop, the singles "Policy of Truth", "Enjoy the Silence" and "World in My Eyes" prove that DM did their homework. A particular highlight on this fantastic album is the bluesy guitar line Martin Gore lays down on top of the synth-dominated grooves on "Personal Jesus". - Beth Bessmer.

In 1973, fed up with Bryan Ferry's domineering in Roxy Music, Eno leapt into a solo career that would find him championing the "art" in "artifice". This record is a who's who of the then-burgeoning English art-rock scene, featuring Robert Wyatt, Robert Fripp, and every member of Roxy Music except its leader (thus answering the musical question, "What if Eno had helmed the third Roxy record instead of Ferry?"). Warm Jets sports a lightheartedness that was a refreshing antidote to the pomposity of Yes and ELP on the dark side of art-rock's spectrum, with nonsensical, sound-based couplets such as "Oh headless chicken / How can those teeth stand so much kicking?" Listen to Fripp's furious guitars on "Baby's On Fire" and "Blank Frank": it's incredible, Velvet Underground-inspired rock in a scene that had forgotten what rocking meant. -Gene Booth.

Taken from the opening night of Kylie Minogue's rescheduled 'Showgirl' tour, Showgirl Homecoming is, to all intents and purposes, a live (and slightly updated version) of 2004's Great Hits collection, Ultimate Kylie. This being her first show since successfully battling cancer, Kylie of course pulls out all the stops to make the Sydney date - and the rest of the tour of course - a formidable comeback statement. The 25 tracks here pretty much cover all the key points in Kylie's career - good as well as bad: "Better The Devil You Know", "Spinning Around", "I Believe In You", "Locomotion", "I Should Be So Lucky", "Hand On Your Heart", "Can't Get You Out Of My Head", "Kids" (with a guest appearance from Bono), are just some of the many gems included. It's true that the earlier material (especially from the Stock Aitken & Waterman days) sounds horribly dated even when performed live, but Kylie manages to glide through it all with the kind of sass and style you'd expect from a reborn 21st Century Queen Of Pop. Welcome back Kylie. -Danny McKenna.