Mick Harvey: "Pink Elephants" (Mute)

Nick Cave's sidekick in The Bad Seeds continues his obsession with France's most dissolute pop star, the late Serge Gainsbourg, releasing a second collection of the great man's songs, and once again lovingly translating them into English. Harvey's first collection of Gainsbourg covers, The Intoxicated Man, was a respectful tribute to the sozzled sophisticate, and Pink Elephants is equally reverent in its reading of songs like Black Seaweed, Requiem and The Ticket Puncher. The language is unflinchingly earthy, staying true to Gainsbourg's racy lyrics, and the musical arrangements evoke Gainsbourg's beat cabaret milieu without sinking into kitsch parody.

Kevin Courtney

Various Artists: "Music from the motion picture Tomorrow Never Dies" (United Artists) David Arnold is another musical obsessive, and his target is also a dissolute icon from the past, secret agent James Bond. Unlike Gainsbourg, however, Bond is still with us, this time played by Pierce Brosnan, and Arnold brings the classic Bond sound into the 1990s, retaining the high drama and adventure which made John Barry's original scores so unique. Thrill to the multi-storey carpark chase scene featuring the driving rhythms of Propellerheads and gasp at the chop-socky sounds which accompany Bond's many fight scenes. The album also features the theme tune by Sheryl Crow, along with Surrender by k.d. lang, and the James Bond Theme by Moby.

Kevin Courtney

Michael Bolton: "All That Matters" (Columbia)

Michael Bolton still sucks his cheeks in when he poses for photographs. Sadly, he still sings as if his cheeks were exploding. And his heart. Here he mills his way through socalled "power-ballads" like Diane Warren's A Heart Can Only Be So Strong, but somehow missing is a sense of flesh and blood. His own songs, Let's Make A Long Story Longer and Safe Place From The Storm, aren't necessarily bad songs either thematically, lyrically or musically. But the grating sound of his voice really is easy to hate - unless, of course, you love the man. If you do, this pretty predictable and formulaic album just may brighten up your new year; for the rest of us, it's hell.

Joe Jackson