The latest releases reviewed

WESTWOOD
The Takeover Def Jam UK
***

The Larry Gogan of hip-hop, Tim Westwood, is an unlikely figurehead, but his BBC Radio 1 show remains the last word when it comes to playing fresh cuts, future bangers and the sounds of the new dons. His various compilations have always been on the money, and the latest one sees Westwood adding to the mix with a full-length DVD. Featuring the DJ on location in New York, Jamaica and London interviewing Busta Rhymes, Noreaga, Sean Paul, Ja Rule, Timbaland, Fat Joe, Capone and more (plus introducing pretty potent freestyles from both Capone and Cam'ron), there are plenty of potential Ali G moments as the vicar's son hangs tough and exchanges elaborate handshakes with various rappers. Trevor Nelson may be smoother, but Westwood's enthusiasm for this scene is highly infectious. www.timwestwood.com

Jim Carroll

DEPECHE MODE
Devotional  Mute Film
****

Depeche Mode's double DVD concert film, Devotional, was conceived, designed, filmed and edited by world-renowned photographer and film-maker Anton Corbijn. It is Corbijn's two-tiered set design of giant screens and projections, his exuberant abstract images and figure (Gilbert & George and Warhol meet Bosch), and his cinematography and editing which makes Depeche Mode's 1993 concert so fascinating and arresting. Disc 2 includes a montage of Corbijn's projections, DM videos and an interview - the band only feature in a MTV "rockumentary". Depeche Mode's goth pop, taken from their break-out Flood-produced Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion albums, offers an intriguing soundscape to Corbijn's scenography. Unfortunately, performance frontman David Gahan's Jagger-like sneer and strut clash egregiously with Martin Gore's minor key songs of angst and introspection: Devotional is all about the art, not the music. www.mute.com

Jocelyn Clarke