THE Kaisers play a game of steady darts with their third album. They're still taking their cue from the confident diversity of Blur's Parklife, with crunchy new-wave keyboards, beguiling melancholy and silly lyrics all finding a place. But, although
Off With Their Heads is packed with great hooks and satisfying dynamics, it doesn't really take the band anywhere new. The only additional element producer Mark Ronson brings to the table is his pal Lily Allen – not that you would notice her contribution. Sticking out a bit more, Sway contributes a rap to the garagey (as in rock) Half The Truth.
AC/DC: BLACK ICE
****
COLUMBIA, £12.99QUESTIONS would be asked if AC/DC ever entertained the notion of musical progress. Their first album of new material in eight years is reassuringly, consistently troglodyte in conception. Like all experts in their field, these Aussie legends make rock'n'roll sound easy but, with the honourable exception of Nazareth's Dan McCafferty, nobody (alive) does paint-stripper vocals better than Brian Johnson, while Angus Young's bluesy guitar sound is often imitated but never bettered. Black Ice contains nothing as harsh and monolithic as their greatest riffs, being more of a low-slung creation befitting their hoary dotage.
JOHN LEGEND: EVOLVER
**
RCA, £12.99LIKE Alicia Keys before him, John Legend lends some old school soul sophistication to the R&B scene, but often seems to promise more than he delivers. His third album, littered with big name guests, such as Kanye West, Will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas and Andre 3000 of Outkast, because he can, is a case in point – laid-back, confident, diverse… and disappointing. Good Morning is a standard smoochy wake-up call, This Time could easily be farmed out to a boy band without seeming any less vacuous, while If You're Out There's "inspirational" lyrics amount to no more than a string of clichés – "say it loud", "put down your arms and raise your voice", "looking for the world to change", "we can be heroes", blah blah. And this with mandatory gospel choir. At least his new protégé, Estelle, gets to return the favour on the blithe reggae track No Other Love.
(Fiona Shepherd]CLASSICAL
RAVEL: THE COMPLETE PIANO WORKS, VOL 2
****
LINN, £13.99IN VOLUME Two of his survey of the complete piano works of Maurice Ravel, Artur Pizarro displays a customary combination of emotional warmth and super-clarity of texture. These are well-known works – the delicate Sonatine, the passionate Valse Nobles et Sentimentales and the magical Le Tombeau de Couperin among them – but Pizarro brings to the table a bold ingenuity and freshness that triggers new and spontaneous thoughts. It takes a little getting used to the ambient boom of the recording venue – St George's Church, Bristol – but ultimately it shrouds the music in a halo of reflective spirituality. Besides the lollipops, the likes of the 90-second Prélude and the deliciously unpretentious Menuet sur le nom de Haydn add a sense of intellectual balance and exploration to this refreshing disc.
BRUCKNER: MASS NO 3
*****
HARMONIA MUNDI, £13.99A PIVOTAL work in Bruckner's late-blossoming output, the Mass in F Minor cuts a fine line between the spiritual intimacy of his motets and the explosive drama of his symphonies. Philippe Herreweghe captures that ambivalence well in this recording with the beautifully-balanced tone of the RIAS Kammerchor and the gutsy finesse of the Orchestre des Champs Elysées. The performance is immaculately polished, a sheen of perfection giving lustre to every one of the substantial movements. Above all, though, its broad vision is captivating.
(Kenneth Walton]JAZZ
MARTIN TAYLOR: DOUBLE STANDARDS
****
P3 MUSIC, £13.99IF YOU have ever listened to Martin Taylor performing solo and been prepared to swear blind there had to be at least two guitarists playing, this record will finally justify your suspicions. For once, this is a Martin Taylor solo recording where that illusion is a fact. There is still only one musician, mind you, but in a new departure Taylor has chosen to double-track himself in a set of familiar jazz standards (thus the punning title). Otherwise, it is business as usual for the guitar maestro. He is in typically inventive mood in a relaxed set that focuses mainly on slow and mid-tempo material, most of which you will have heard him play before in other contexts. His touch is as majestic as ever, and the two guitar tracks interweave in a richly layered texture that is both beautiful and beguiling.
FOLK
CORRINA HEWAT: HARP I DO
****
BIG BASH RECORDS, £12.99CORRINA Hewat is to be found in several groups, including the very large Unusual Suspects, but this disc features her at the opposite extreme, playing solo harp. Although she is also well regarded as a singer, this is a purely instrumental outing. Much of the material is her own, including the opening section of her New Voices commission Making The Connection, performed at Celtic Connections in 1998, a piece she regrets not recording in full when Martyn Bennett and Johnny Cunningham – both featured in that performance – were still around. Cunningham's Nana's Walkabout is also featured here, as is a fine version of Ian Carr's odd but engaging Amberanna, and various tunes by Mike Vass, Anna Massie, Peter Ostroushko and Charlie McKerron. She approaches the material in imaginative fashion, and her execution is impressively sure-fingered and expressive.
(Kenny Matheson]WORLD
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB AT CARNEGIE HALL
*****
WORLD CIRCUIT, £13.99THERE never was, and never will be again, a moment like the one this splendid double-CD eternalises: the veteran Cuban musicians known as Buena Vista Social Club had never been to New York, and had hardly dared dream of going there, yet suddenly here they were centre-stage at Carnegie Hall. Everyone knows the story of their extraordinary re-emergence from what had looked like terminal obscurity to form a hastily-assembled band, which resulted in the biggest-selling world-music record in history. What is not quote so widely known is that they only ever gave three live concerts before death started taking its toll.
So a loving farewell, then, to Compay Segundo, Ruben Gonzalez, and Ibrahim Ferrer, and how wonderful to hear them again here, excitedly riding the crest of a wave they'd never dreamed of catching. Pianist Ruben Gonzalez, though even at this stage semi-crippled with arthritis, is the backbone of the whole thing, laying out bracingly muscular rhythms, cartwheeling nonchalantly up and down the keyboard, and maintaining a wonderful harmonic transparency.
Ibrahim Ferrer's softly seductive, naughty-boy voice flies high above everyone else apart from Octavio Calderon's even higher trumpet; the rhythms of son, bolero, and danzon are propelled irresistibly along by the massed voices of all on stage. As Ry Cooder, the American guitarist who produced this CD and also figures in it, observes: "It was like all the genies were out of the bottle." Their veteran female vocalist, Omara Portuondo, is one of several here who went on to develop solo careers, and it seems the story will go on, with the Malian musicians whose sudden absence created that original hole rejoining the survivors next year for a brand-new fusion. In the meantime, let this CD cast its spell on you.
(Michael Church]The full article contains 1264 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
