Recent releases reviewed

JAMELIA
Thank You - Live Parlophone
***

Jamelia Davis is one of the smartest new soul/pop singers on the block, and this live show (recorded at London's hot and sweating Shepherds Bush Empire venue last June) proves it. It starts off with Thank You, Jamelia's restorative hit single; it closes with Superstar, which is near as an apt description of the singer as you can get without sounding ridiculous. The show is shot up close and personal, with Jamelia coming across like a genial version of her other one-name colleagues. Top song of the set is See It in a Boy's Eyes, the tune she co-wrote with Coldplay's Chris Martin; least effective song is her so-what cover of Linkin Park's Numb. Extras feature several goodies: a few videos, a funny, revealing documentary, a photo gallery and the usual photogenic wallpaper and screensavers. One for die-hards, perhaps, but on the basis of this Jamelia's success will broaden out to include the likes of you, me and everyone else. www.jamelia.com

Tony Clayton-Lea

THE LIBERTINES
The Boys in the Band Rough Trade
****

The most complex, disturbing and at times creatively awesome relationship in contemporary rock music - that between Pete Doherty and Carl Barat - is played out in all its shabby glamour here. The band had it all: street urchin poetic chic, all the right literary and musical reference points, brilliantly staccato three-minute tunes. Imploding even before they truly exploded, this beautifully produced work details a modern day tragicomedy. There is a ramshackle but energising gig from Japan, some fabulous footage of an impromptu show at Filth McNasty's pub, and revealing backstage material from their London Forum show. There's soundbites, interviews and videos as things fall apart and the centre cannot hold. You do get a good idea here as to why Doherty and Barat (who are The Libertines in the same way as Morrissey and Marr were The Smiths) infuriated and perplexed their record label, their management and, in particular, their succession of tour managers. This is an oddly touching work, true in every respect to the haphazard nature of The Libertines. Sadly, this looks to be the final documentary evidence of a band who were capable of so very much more.

Brian Boyd