The Mix: August 2005

FESTIVAL
ACROSS THE NARROWS
SoCal has Coachella and Chicago got this year's Lollapalooza, so what's an East Coaster to do? Mosey on over to NYC's Narrows, which will deliver nearly 30 bands to Staten Island and Brooklyn. Highlights include the Killers, the Pixies, Beck, the ever-bickering Oasis, and, for contrast, the still-too-happy Polyphonic Spree. (10/1 & 2)

DVD
PUNK: ATTITUDE
Focusing on the CBGB scene and the subsequent cross-pollination between U.S. and U.K. bands, this punkumentary by Clash associate Don Letts lends insight into the genre's pre-mohawk roots. Though it's scattershot in examining the post-punk '80s and '90s (with nary a mention of seminal acts like Hüsker Dü), Attitude's stellar archival footage and sound bites earn a resounding ''gabba gabba hey!'' (Out 9/6)

TOYS
MAJOR MOULTY'S AMAZING MAGIC PLASTIC BAND
(Strangeco.com) Both toy designer and illustrator, the London-based James Jarvis is first a music nerd. With past figures inspired by metal icons and U.K. street rappers, the artist now turns his attention to '60s psych bands — a ruse, we're sure, to honor Moulty, sticks man for Boston garage band the Barbarians and rock's original one-armed drummer. In your face, Def Leppard guy! (Out now)

DVDs
PALM PICTURES DIRECTORS LABEL
If video killed the radio star, then MTV killed the video director. (When was the last time you actually saw a video on the channel?) Done well, a three-minute clip warrants repeat viewings and is still a legit format for clever bursts of artistry. Here, the competent works of Mark Romanek (Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash), Anton Corbijn (U2, Depeche Mode), and Stéphane Sednaoui (Alanis Morissette, Red Hot Chili Peppers) will appeal to fans of the music, but it's Jonathan Glazer's sly filmic pulp dramas (Radiohead, Richard Ashcroft) that will truly inspire rewinding. (Out 9/13)

SPEND AN EVENING WITH SADDLE CREEK
Molasses-paced though it is, to the legion of superfans of Saddle Creek — Omaha's little label that could — this Evening will still be golden. All the boldfaced players (members of Bright Eyes, Cursive, Azure Ray, the Faint, and Rilo Kiley) log screen time, as do lesser-known, behind-the-scenes figures, with messages of what else? — humble beginnings. God bless the Midwest. (Out now)

Games
BURNOUT REVENGE
(PS2, Xbox; E 10+; EA)Revenge is definitely sweet in this combat racing game where your car is less a mode of transportation than a speeding bullet. On stretches of asphalt from Tokyo to Detroit, your goal is to bump and slam rival cars into cement barriers and induce pyrotechnic pileups. Relentless and stylish, this is the kind of stuff Jerry Bruckheimer must dream about. (Out 9/13)

THE INCREDIBLE HULK: ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION
(All platforms, T, Vivendi Universal) The not-so-jolly green giant is back — and, mercifully, he has absolutely nothing to do with Ang Lee's dreadful 2003 movie. Don't bother with the plot (that was the film's mistake): Ultimate Destruction is a wire-to-wire temper tantrum that gives you the guilty pleasure of demolishing everything in sight, including skyscrapers, buses, and the occasional ''puny human.'' (Out now)