'Kimberly Country'
The Benning Brothers Band

CD review by Ali McLay

Recognised as one of the first Aboriginal instrumental bands of the Kimberly, the Benning Brothers Band is not something that has just happened, but the culmination of thirtyfive years of hard work and dedication to refining their craft towards the production of honest country music. The band was founded originally by Frank snr and Roy back in 1963, then joined by Barry two years later. Eric snr joined at the age of eight and has been joined by his two sons Eric jnr and Cody.
The Benning Brothers have previously released two albums on cassette that have become very popular with listeners of traditional country music within the Top End and Western Australia.
Kimberly Country is their first CD and comprises of a mix of over an hour of very easy listening country music from the cassettes. The CD has been launched throughout Australia and is receiving a lot of media attention from radio stations. The east coast is just starting to hear the band for the first time and the feedback is very positive.
Kimberly Country is an album of true, unpretentious, easy listening, traditional country music, with a definite Shadows influence shining through. The instrumental arrangements are exactly that instrumentals and not a mix of modern computer generated sounds as on many other CD's. The CD has a good bouncy beat throughout, and the lyrics are simple and easy to hear and clear.
If you like great, never die country music then this CD is certainly worth a listen.

'Greatest Hits'
Bette Midler

CD review by Peter Davenport

This compilation has been on the market for a year or two but is certainly an excellent option if you do not have as much Bette Midler as you would like. The CD contains a great number of her biggest hits and shows the talent and diversity of the lady.
Bette Midler brought a new level of fun into popular music when she released hits such as Chapel of Love and Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy which are both excellent renditions of songs from yesteryear. She has a knack for producing beautiful ballads and appearing on this collection are: Do You Want to Dance, From a Distance, When a Man Loves a Women, The Rose and Wind Beneath My Wings (a lovely version but not as good as Australia's Colleen Hewit's). As well, some good up tempo numbers such as Favourite Waste of Time and the superb version of the Stones classic, Beast of Burden, make it a fine collection from a great artist.