PRIME players in the new indie mediocrity, The Kooks are just one of the many post-Libertines bands that have found success by watering down The Clash and The Kinks. On their second album, Konk (named after Ray Davies' studio, where it was recorded
), Luke Pritchard continues to favour the low-grade indie yelping approach to singing, and the songwriting still needs some developing, but they do display a degree of puppyish character and a certain non-cocky confidence that pays dividends. Always Where I Need To Be and Mr Maker are memorable jaunts and the campfire strum of closing track Tick Of Time is unaffected and engaging. Elsewhere, they still sound like a poor man's Supergrass.
PAUL HAIG: GO OUT TONIGHT ***
RHYTHM OF LIFE INC, £9.99WITH his first tour in nearly two decades looming, Paul Haig is on a creative roll, following up 2007's Electronic Audience with a diverse collection of material that sounds ripe for performance. He kicks off with a funkier, punkier edge than he has displayed in years on Trouble Maker. Despite its laborious title, Hippy Dippy (Pharmaceutically Trippy) is a fine slice of late-Seventies Bowie-inspired strut with an undercurrent of paranoia, which slots neatly into the album's preoccupation with the perils of the night. On his trademark electronica front, the ambient washes of Fantasize and Scene contrast with the slinky retro electro of Shut Down, and there are further diversions into pop territory, including the catchy, chiming but slightly stilted Gone In A Moment.
FRIGHTENED RABBIT: THE MIDNIGHT ORGAN FIGHT **
FATCAT RECORDS, £9.99FOLLOWING Idlewild into introspective alternative-folk territory, Frightened Rabbit are one of a number of current Scottish bands aspiring to take traditional Celtic influences into interesting areas. However, their singer's whiny voice grates, and nice embellishing touches such as the horns on Bright Pink Bookmark and the mournful organ sound on Keep Yourself Warm cannot adequately dress up a bunch of songs which stray too often into the over-earnest indie province of the likes of Snow Patrol.
CLASSICALTRUMPET MASQUE ***
LINN, £11.99A PROGRAMME of Renaissance and Baroque music played on the trumpet and piano is not something one would ordinarily be drawn to. But don't be fooled by this one. The combination of Jonathan Freeman-Attwood's fiery trumpet playing, Daniel-Ben Pienaar's high-energy pianism, and the latter's imaginative and stylistically sensitive arrangements make for mostly compelling listening. Perhaps one or two of the works just don't quite pass muster. Couperin's Chromhorne sur la Taille – adapted from one of his Organ Masses – is more a token experience than an inspired one, especially as Freeman-Attwood has to displace bits of the original melody to make it playable on his instrument. But other organ works – particularly Sweelinck's Variations of 'Onder een linde groen' and Marchand's eccentric Grand Dialogue du 5e ton – translate well, their virtuosity amplified by the duo's red-hot performances. The trumpet's lyrical quality is thoroughly explored, too, with songs by Dowland, sonatas by Biber and Muffat, and even Purcell's silken Fantasia 4, all of which succumb to Freeman-Attwood and Pienaar's rich and varied musical charm. In an age where historical authenticity has flowered to maturity, it's comforting to know playful anachronistic tinkering can have its own acceptable charm.
VELJO TORMIS ****
HYPERION, £11.99VELJO Tormis is one of Estonia's most admired composers – an elder statesman whose work has run parallel to that of his direct contemporary, the more internationally renowned Arvo Pärt. His style is quite different, based more on the lively runic origins of Estonian folk music than Pärt's preoccupation with so-called "holy minimalism". These performances by the Holst Singers under Stephen Layton capture the mystical simplicity of Tormis's choral style, a touching blend of naturally-flowing tonality tinged with splashes of judiciously applied dissonance. Estonian lullabies, game songs, and other more sultry examples of his mellifluous writing give character and variety to this colourful selection of a cappella part songs.
JAZZ
KEVIN MACKENZIE: CHIASMUS ****
LAUNDRY ROOM MUSIC, £11.99GUITARIST Kevin Mackenzie has been at least as prominent a presence in Scottish folk music as in jazz in recent years, but this disc focuses squarely on his jazz work, not only as a conspicuously inventive soloist, but also as a composer. His first set of original compositions since he recorded his Creative Scotland Award project in 2004 features a fine quartet with saxophonist Julian Argüelles, bassist Aidan O'Donnell and drummer Alyn Cosker. The guitarist weaves fluent melodic lines through the spacious textures of the music in intricate and imaginative fashion, while Argüelles provides an ideal foil on both tenor and soprano saxophones, underpinned by Cosker's supple, propulsive drumming.
FOLK
KÍLA: GAMBLER'S BALLET ***
KÍLA RECORDS, £10.99THIS Irish seven-piece are famed for their high-energy live shows, and have carved out their own distinctive niche in the traditional music crossover marketplace over the last two decades. The five instrumentals and four songs (mostly in Irish) featuring Rónán O'Snodaigh's distinctive incantatory vocal style on this disc allow them to move through a wide-ranging soundscape. The music is a strong illustration of how they go about welding Irish roots music on to a trance-like vibe, with sideways excursions into the Balkans, Spain, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, and – in the opening song, Leath Ina Dhiaidh a Hocht – the Baroque stylings of Pachabel's Canon. It provides an uplifting, feel-good launch to a resolutely energised, celebratory disc that sets the controls on upbeat and rarely falters, although 'Seo Mo Leada' provides a well-placed change of mood at mid-point.
WORLD
DJANGO REINHARDT PLAYS DJANGO REINHARDT *****
CHANT DU MONDE, £13.99IF EVER a guitarist deserved a top place in heaven, it has to be Django Reinhardt (1910-1953), whose art lives on through the fingers of countless guitarists today. Born into a 'manouche' travelling family in Belgium, he started out as a banjo player in Parisian dance halls, but soon graduated to the guitar despite his inability to read music. When he was 18 the family caravan caught fire, and he was so badly burnt that he lost the use of two fingers on his left hand yet he developed a personal style which absorbed the best of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington to create that magical sound known as 'Gypsy swing'. This five-CD box offers the whole sweep of his achievement, starting with Django's Hot Club de France collaboration with the incomparable Stephane Grappelli, moving on to bebop, and taking in Django's extraordinary solo improvisations. Five wonderful hours.
Meanwhile, my apologies to Harmonia Mundi, whom I wrongly blamed for the brainlessness of the La Route de la Soie compilation two weeks ago. They asked me to point out that though they are the UK distributors of this CD on the Iris label, they had no hand in its creation. Here are instead recommendations for anyone wanting to hear the music so travestied by Iris: The Silk Road (Smithsonian Folkways), or Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Journeys (Sony). The former is a lavishly-documented survey of the music of Central Asia, with liner notes giving both the history and relevant musicology; the latter is a compilation of new works created by Yo-Yo Ma and his ambulant troupe of Asian musicians.
The full article contains 1232 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
