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October music reviews

The BellRays: Have a Little Faith

Cheap Lullaby/Shock

The BellRays are a hard rock band with a load of soul, courtesy of the huge voice of lead vocalist Lisa Kekaula – who slips easily between smooth and silky to a gritty (Joplin like) vocal style. It’s the vocals that make The BellRays totally different from anything I’ve heard recently.

However, Kekaula isn’t the only star on display, and the rest of the band are obviously talented players with an ability to move from hard riffing/heads down rocking to a bluesy and almost jazzy feel at will.

In some respects the variety makes it difficult to know for sure who the target market is for the band. For example while I can see the Aretha Franklin like title track appealing to a soul/R&B audience, it is immediately followed on the album by the Black Sabbath/Paranoid-like Change the World. I’m all for diversity but just wonder if there is just too much here?

However, the majority of the tracks are around the two and a half to three minute mark so if you don’t like a particular track, you don’t need to wait long before another comes along. This is an interesting and varied album which I’ll enjoy pulling out now and again for a spin. Douglas Lang

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Greg Brown: The Evening Call

Red House

There are two reasons to buy Greg Brown’s 23rd album. The first is that, like me, you are a committed fan and have been hanging out four years for him to release new material. It has been well worth the wait. The second reason to buy him is that you are not yet a fan but you like the blues when it is original, uplifting and fun.

This guy can really write. He is often at his best when writing about the issues of love and commitment “Tell me what a fellow is supposed to do when a car costs what a house used to and a house is a pile of chipboard, paint and debt. I am at the city limits and it’s cold and dark and wet.” Greg has this lovely ability to hold his blues lightly and poetically. “Sunflowers dancing like my daughters do, life gets old, love makes it new, come on down and meet us in the garden.” Even his political commentary is delightful. In Eugene he pines for the backwoods and life away from the big city. He speaks of “the blandification of the whole situation… and world peace is surely on the horizon when us old f…ers die”.

Coming back to the difficulties of relationships “You know she was just my type: deranged, middle-aged, and crude, nipples the size jack balls, and a real bad attitude, she wore my ass out so damn fast, left me nowhere to go, just a sticky wicket and greyhound ticket, one way to Kokomo.”

This album is surprisingly clean in its technical presentation for a blues album. The music is simply presented and not over processed, with Greg’s deep voice nicely balanced by his lighter guitar work. You can listen to it in depth but it is also good background listening and is so ‘safe’ as part of the demonstration list for several hi-fi shops. Buy it now. John Groom

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The Buzzcocks: Flat-Pack philosophy

Cooking Vinyl/Shock

In thirty years the Buzzcocks have come and gone and come again. Somewhat appropriate for a band whose first single was titled Orgasm Addict. Smutty puns aside, the Buzzcocks provided part of the soundtrack to my youth, so I was particularly fascinated to receive Flat-Pack Philosophy for review.

Well, some of the bendmembers may have changed over the last three decades, but some things haven’t. There’s still the same relentless energy, the signature guitar riffs and Pete Shelley vocals. The band is more polished, for sure, I’d be shocked if they weren’t. But there’s also something different going on in the songs.

Where the Buzzcocks used to sing about teenage angst and sex, now they seem as likely to be singing about middle-aged angst. And sex.

The trials of the supermarket, the pressures of consumerism, relentless self-examination. And sex (but not quite the casual, adolescent kind). It’s all here. Welcome to middle age. If you’re under 40, it’ll probably just sound like Franz Ferdinand with lyrics that make less sense. If you’re over 40 you’ll wonder where they find the energy. I liked it. Matthew Masters

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The Casanovas: All Night Long

Rubber Records/Shock

Coming on like a mix of AC/DC, Kiss and Deep Purple (and others of a similar ilk) you would be hard pushed to find a huge amount of originality in the Casanovas second album. However, that doesn’t mean that this album from Melbourne band The Casanovas doesn’t have merit.

In preparing for this review I played the album almost non stop on a recent road trip to Taupo and it certainly worked as a good old ‘shout along’ to keep you up on a long drive.

The album is a real case of spot the musical influence. There is a definite Stones feel to a track like Too Much and the following track Heartbreaker is all about attitude and speed – I can imagine this as the first or closing number at a Casanovas gig and the crowd in the mosh-pit going mad!

Doghouse Blues tells the story of the indiscretions of a band member on tour in Japan – and his lady’s attitude to these. The introduction brought to mind the guitar work of AC/DC’s Angus Young and the whole song has a feel of Deep Purple’s Highway Star.

I suspect this will be one of those albums that finds its way on to my CD player every so often for a week or two and then goes back in the collection – until the next time I need a fix of some honest, ballsy, mindless rock. Douglas Lang

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Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Wichita/Shock

What a great name for a band!

On their debut album release, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah remind me of late 70s American bands like Television and early Talking Heads – particularly the singer who has a very individual delivery in a David Byrne-ish style. There is also a bit of Joy Division in there at times.

The overall sound is fun and fairly lo-fi. At points it sounds like the band are on the point of losing it – but they just manage to keep things together.

There is something hypnotic about many of the tracks, which is exemplified by Over and Over Again (Lost and Found) which has a repeating riff that pulls you in.

Lyrically the band are ‘interesting’ but fairly oblique. I’m not sure I have much idea about what many of the tracks are about. The following from Over and Over may give you some idea of what to expect:

A clean shave in the morning
And a full beard with no warning
Time has gotten by on alibis and wine

Success is so forbidding
But it makes me think I’m winning
Quiet
Dim the Lights
Adopt another lifestyle

Whatever that means!

Nevertheless, an interesting album, which is likely to grow on you through repeated listenings. Douglas Lang

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Clayhill: Mine at Last

Eat Sleep Records

Hailing from the UK, and formed in 2003, Clayhill make music that has a bit of a folk feel, but with a depth and undercurrent, mainly courtesy of vocalist Gavin Clark, that reminds me of bands like The Blue Nile and Elbow – quiet and understated music with an underlying sense of melancholy.

Two of the band worked on Beth Orton’s Trailer Park album. On their MySpace site they describe some of their influences as Dylan, The Smiths and the Beta Band.

This is music for a rainy afternoon or for those times when you want to wallow in sadness and reflect on life. Personal favourites are acoustic guitar and double-bass dominated Dying Breed and the more upbeat Fortress, complete with violin support.

Give it a listen and see what you think. Douglas Lang

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Elemeno P: Trouble in Paradise (Special Edition)

Universal

Kiwi powerpop/rock band Elemeno P have delivered a well-crafted album that’s full of their trademark choruses and power chords.

On a first listen there doesn’t seem to be much light and shade on the album, but repeat listenings highlight some interesting variations on a theme.

If you’re not familiar with the band’s work, this is their second album – a follow up to Love and Disrespect. I guarantee that, even though you don’t think you’ve heard them before, you will already be familiar with a number of tracks on the album – courtesy of radio play and some TV commercial/backing music.

11:57 is classic Elemeno P – slamming guitar; driving drums and a huge chorus, with some great backing vocals from bass player Lani Purkis.

Lani’s distinctive, mournful backing vocals also turn up and add an extra layer of interest on one of my favourite tracks on the album – the slower paced Life’s Not Fair. Perhaps there is a role for Lani as an occasional lead vocalist route on a future album?

The Special Edition contains an additional nine tracks of some new material and live versions of favourites such as Every Day’s A Saturday.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the band before hearing this, but I’ll now be looking out for them the next time they are in town. I’m sure this material will be even more powerful when heard in a live environment. Douglas Lang

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Espers: Espers II

EMI

Poised exploratory folk, this hovers, always interestingly – a medieval mist that’s patiently infused with added textures and layers as it drifts and builds. It’s the second album from the Philadelphia sextet who recently backed Devendra Banhart on Cripple Crow, and the publicity photos (furtive woodland retro ensemble in ponchos, loons and abundant centre-partings) bear out the expected alignment with Banhart’s acid-folk sound.

But this is altogether more absorbing (rather than self-absorbed) music. Madrigal-style harmonies are sewn through razored refrains, cellos intertwined with fuzz guitar, flute or bells, and a chiming sombreness prevails. There’s faith in simplicity: a singularity in intent, a line taken then embroidered with intricate tonal variations through to a structured conclusion. Decided generation-back echoes of the trad English folk of Pentangle or The Incredible String Band, and at times almost redolent of a Grateful Dead jam, but more intricate, less sprawlingly indulgent. The EMI blurb nails it with the phrase “dense yet agile atmospherics” – much of the impact of this sound seems to spring from juxtaposition and counterpoint. Worthy, and of gravity. Paul Green

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Nelly Furtado: Loose

Universal Music

The Portuguese/Canadian supreme talent produced three of my favourite singles in the past decade, I’m Like A Bird, Turn Off the Light and, of course, Hey Man all from the first album Whoa! Nelly. Arriving from nowhere, under hyped, it was refreshing to have music played on the radio because programmers like it, listeners liked and in turn we all bought it. Remember those days?

Now into her third album the much-hyped collaboration with producer Timberland (Missy Elliot, Justin Timberlake, Aaliyah among others) clearly marks a planned departure from the norm for Furtado. Remembering that the norm is as diverse a blend of styles that can usually be conceived, it really shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that here again Futado stretches both herself and our expectations. Entirely convincingly.

I would strongly recommend this disc for all those who bemoan the lack of creativity and originality and in some cases talent in today’s artists. This release proves that the inspired are still amongst us, its OK to enjoy beats in a rap setting without having to change your wardrobe and most of all, the sheer joy of inspired music making continues amongst us.

Don’t be put off by words like rap or hip-hop, think jazz meats latin meets pop meets – I don’t know, labels are superfluous here, buy and enjoy. Simple. Allan McFarlane

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James Hunter: People Gonna Talk

Go Records/Rounder

It’s 1962 and a Sam Cooke recording session has finished early. The recording studio and band has been booked and paid for, so Cooke’s young protégé, James Hunter, is allowed to cut a few tracks for his first record.

Actually, it’s 2006. People Gonna Talk is an album of this year, and will be regarded as one of the albums of the year. The Sam Cooke reference makes sense when you hear this CD though, as you’d swear that you were back in the early 1960s. Or right up to date. The music is that timeless.

“James Hunter is one of the best voices, and best kept secrets, in British R’n’B and Soul,” says Van Morrison. And as the owner of one of the best voices, he should know.

People Gonna Talk was recorded in the delightfully named Toe Rag Studios – the same studio where Elephant, the White Stripes album, was recorded. Known for their all-analog, warm recording atmosphere, this has worked superbly well for this album. The band – Hunter on voice and guitar, with bass, drums and two saxophones – recoded in the same room at the same time, all live. That’s a rarity these days, but the norm back in the 1950s and early 1960s. The recording is delightfully warm and real.

Musically, the songs are gentle R’n’B, the feel often harking back in time. Lead by the two saxophones, there’s also the occasional ska lilt.

This is a superb and fun album. Everyone I’ve played it to has flipped. You should buy it now. Michael Jones

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Lambchop: Damaged

City Slang

I have stayed with Lambchop since discovering them – like so many others - with the album Nixon. While the last dual-release albums Aw C’mon and No You C’mon tested my loyalty I continued to hold more than a hope for this new release. Yes!, was the reassuring utterance not long into the first track.

The sparse, hypnotic orchestrations pervade this release in a relentless near single paced combination of ten tracks. Curiously the best track is the last, so don’t walk away from this offering too soon.

If the wide-ranging instrumental contributions from the dozen plus musicians that make up Lambchop is their appeal to you, then lyrically you may find Kurt Wagner has come of age. Recovering from having his jaw eaten away by a virulent cyst, Wagner underwent surgery to transplant bone from his hip into his rotting mouth; he then survived a major cancer scare. Lyrical asides on this troubled album also hint at collapsing personal relationships.

While Wagner is keen to suggest he has moved on, there is no escaping what he has been through. With the production precision of the earlier releases this is an album that has made its impact immediately and will continue to do so as it gets further listens. Immediate immersion highly recommended. Allan McFarlane

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Willie Nelson: Live from Austin Texas

New West

This is a shocker. The production is up there with the performance. A waste of valuable minuets. You’ve been warned, life is too short for material as bad as this to make it to your player. Allan McFarlane

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Kelly Joe Phelps: Tunesmith Retrofit

Rounder

Kelly Joe Phelps is a true singer-songwriter who also enjoys an enviable reputation as a very fine guitarist. With this release he has stripped his band right down, clearly wanting the attention to remain on his story telling, though in the end the three instrumental tracks are just as welcome. Intimate blues/country that is well worth searching out. Must be listened to though, as background playing will prove a bore. Guitar players should seek out and enjoy along with the rest of us. Allan McFarlane

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Red Hot Chili Peppers: Stadium Arcadium

Warner Bros

You could be forgiven for thinking that Stadium Arcadium is a double live album. I know that was my thought when I first heard the name of the new release from RHCP. But, of course I was wrong, Stadium is a double studio album whittled down from three CDs worth, and is split into two mini albums Jupiter and Mars.

Jupiter opens with Dani California, whose catchy beat bounces along like all good RHCP songs, but I feel like I have heard this before. Next the contrived but clever guitar riff of Snow ((Hey Oh)) explores yet another familiar area for the Peppers. Not all of the tracks on Jupiter are so strong. Especially in Michigan and C’mon Girl are nothing but stocking filler. While Strip My Mind breathes and stretches like a seventies super group, Torture Me raves like slow eighties speed metal. So Jupiter is both energized and tired, deep and shallow, in a word conflicted.

Mars is another planet altogether. Desecration Smile shows just how the Chili’s have matured, displaying a great combination of musicianship and writing. Tell Me Baby explodes with that classic Chili funk bass and cold steel guitar. Is this the Red Hot Chili of old? Mars continues with a raft of catchy and provocative songs like She Looks to Me and Turn It Again with a smoking guitar solo. It feels like an album and holds together to the end of the strange Death of Martian.

The universe for the RHCPs is expanding and I think developing nicely and if Mars is not your planet then there is always Jupiter. Richard Nelson

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Semifinalists: Semifinalists

Shock/V2 Music

The debut album from Semifinalists clocks in at just over 30 minutes, but within that short time the band manage to create a positive impression.

Very much towards the Flaming Lips end of the strangeness scale – with space references in the lyrics and cartoons on the album cover. There are scant details about the band in the sleeve notes (and no photos) so you get the impression that anonymity/secrecy is one of their things.

The band is fronted by Adriana Alba who has a gentle, breathy vocal style. Scott Steiner of Mercury Rev contributes Hammond B/3 organ and backing vocals on a number of tracks, and Steiner’s band would be an obvious point of reference for the sound of the Semifinalists.

The band get upbeat on You Said and I Saw You in the Hall, but generally the album fits neatly into the ‘Quiet is the New Loud’ camp.

Casio keyboards (which seem to be the latest retro instrument ‘must have’ on albums at the moment) feature on a number of tracks, creating a distinctive soundscape. In contrast, Upstream features a recorder and a shuffling back beat. Douglas Lang

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Irma Thomas: After The Rain

Rounder

There’s no substitute for experience and Irma Thomas brings all of hers to bear on this excellent Rounder Records outing. Listening to the power and freshness of her voice on this album it’s hard to believe that she was nearly 65 at the time of recording, however the grace and control that she exhibits shows that this a lady who’s done the hard yards to fully develop her talent.

When you consider that After The Rain was recorded just after this New Orleans treasure had lost virtually everything in hurricane Katrina it would be easy to see the pain of that experience reflected in the song choices. The reality is that only one of the thirteen tracks, Another Man Done Gone was selected after the destruction. So although song choice was already completed it would hard to believe that the recent events didn’t colour the way Irma approached the recording session.

Speaking of the songs, there are some good ones here. Arthur Alexanders’ In The Middle Of It All, Doc Pomus’ I Count The Tears, I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free, Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor, and Blind Willie Johnson’s Soul Of A Man are all excellent. If you want just one reason to buy After The Rain, it has to be the soaring cover of Stevie Wonder’s Shelter In The Rain that closes the album.

I haven’t even mentioned the band. David Torkanowsky (piano, B3), James Singleton (acoustic bass), Stanton Moore (drums), and Sonny Landreth (slide guitar) come together with a few guests to provide the right mix of fire and subtlety. The arrangements allow Irma room to move but given the chance these boys get the party going. All in all this is a beaut. Soul, blues, gospel – they’re all here but mainly this is about the heart and voice of “The Soul Queen Of New Orleans”. Craig Fenemor

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Various: Folk Playground and Reggae Playground

Putumayo

Any music fan with kids will know the difficulty in getting them to listen to anything that isn’t either The Wiggles, High Five or any number of other variously toxic groups. It appears Putumayo Kids have recognised this and tried to remedy the situation with a range of kids-focused CDs featuring music of many different styles and locations. Looking at the range, apart from the two reviewed here there’s French, Caribbean, African, Latin and World Playgrounds, along with sing-alongs, lullabies and the like.

Featuring artists such as Eric Bibb, Michelle Shocked, Toots and The Maytals and Rita Marley, these CDs have more musical credibility than most kids stuff which means that I can happily listen to them in the car or round the house with my five year old. The song selection of the folk album is much more specifically tailored for kids, but both seem to keep my little fellow happy which is fine by me. Another good point is that some of the proceeds from the sales go back into different organizations (Jamaica Basic Schools Foundation and Fund for Folk Culture in these cases) for promotion of either culture or kids wellbeing. Nice touch.

On an absolute scale these aren’t discs that I’d grab off the shelf to listen to seriously, but they’re a hell of a lot better than most of the other stuff that I get to suffer through. Thumbs up from me. Craig Fenemor

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Various: Music Rough Guides – Off The Beaten Track

Rough Guide

The Rough Guide world music catalogue is burgeoning with a multi-national multitude of sub-genres and countries, and this sampler is proof that nowhere on this lonely planet is insulated from the tentacles of (elegantly packaged) corporate plunder. Off the beaten track? Bosnia, Madagascar, Sudan – yes, sure; but if we’re talking relatively inaccessible, McD- and espresso machine-free zones of the globe, then the inclusion of France and China would suggest the editors are a tad guilty of definition-stretching. There are the occasional rough diamonds, most notably the Chinese band Urna who sound like a Mongolian equivalent of Sigur Ros, and the liner notes try hard to swat you into submission with hyperbolic claims about the collection’s “remarkable”, “astonishing” and “stunning” nature, but too many of these songs are either grindingly repetitive (some scarcely progressing beyond prolific re-runs of a chorus) or else often uncomfortable in their amalgam of cross-cultural styles – try the trite and jaunty Tajikistan rap by Nobovar & Shams. It’s generally the more truly traditional arrangements that deliver the more convincing and honest sound.

As with any music, and probably even more so (for westerncentrics) with the less-experienced genre of world music, so much depends on the mood you’re in when you listen to it. There must (surely) be moments when a Thai elephant orchestra or a wailing band from Zanzibar are, albeit perhaps fleetingly, the most sublimely apt theme tunes imaginable. But in the end, frankly, you’d probably have to concede that if this manages to linger in your CD library, it’s likely to be given wide berth treatment. Paul Green

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Various: Putumayo Presents Music From The Wine Lands

Putumayo

Hit and miss – as usual with sampler mixes, it’s a question of percentage strike rates, and coherence. What proportions of the fine/mundane/dross, and how likely a compatible flow as the thing unravels? Putumayo specialise in devising spurious pretexts for devoted-to-diversity collections and this latest offering toes the company line. There’s scant apparent unifying thread beyond the coincidental presence of a wine industry in each of the countries of origin, and one must wonder (slightly indignantly) why New Zealand deserved omission at the expense of doubling up on contributions from Italy and Spain.

Anyhow, the music? We taste the range (viticultural analogies almost end here). There’s song-contest-style pap with painfully plaintive tunes that rise too rapidly to grandiosity, (picture some inflated maitre d’ crooning and swaggering with the mic); and then there’s the smooth and loose – 2raumwohnung’s blithe and breezy Liebe, the veldt soul of South African David Hewitt’s acoustic guitar, and Australia’s Stringmansassy with the artily adept Headless.

Quite random, but mostly reliably ambient. And no doubt in for a solid season as soundtrack for Trade-Aid shopping and vineyard terrace encounters over the coming summer. Paul Green

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Russell Watson: The Voice – The Ultimate Collection

Decca

This CD is a ‘best of’ by Decca and a cheap attempt to trade in on their star’s success. It is crap. Don’t buy it. It sounds terrible and does not do Russell or his talent justice. The pressing is badly distorted, edgy and unclear. It is so bad that I thought there was something wrong with my CD player and eventually tried it on three different systems, through quality headphones and even on the computer. It still sounded crap. I don’t know how Decca managed to screw up so badly.

Fortunately one of the tracks I Believe is repeated on his previous disc I reviewed entitled amore musica. I went back to play this track on the earlier disc with a considerable sense of relief, even though at the time I considered the whole album to be overproduced it gives a much better idea of why he spent a year at number one in the UK classical chart.You are best to try his other albums if you want to find out why he deserves that wonderfully immodest title of ‘The Voice.’ John Groom

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Chris Whitley and Jeff Lang: Dislocation Blues

Warners/ABC

Wow. No, that’s wrong. WOW. What do you need to know? Great playing, great singing, great songs, great recording – this has it all. Dislocation Blues was recorded in Melbourne in April of 2005, only for Chris Whitley to die in the November of the same year. What a massive loss to music.

The last album that stopped me in my tracks to the extent that Dislocation Blues has was Damian Rice’s O. The two albums differ greatly in musical style but linking them is an emotional intensity that is quite staggering. Right of the bat you know what you’re in for with a version of Stagger Lee that has to be heard to be believed. This is raw, in your face roots/blues sung and played with absolute, white-hot passion.

The accompaniment is kept simple with the lead two on various guitars (nationals, lap steels, acoustics, etc) backed up by Grant Cummerford on upright bass and Ashley Davis on drums. It’s quite amazing how much impact four instruments and two voices can have but listen to Dylan’s When I Paint My Masterpiece and you’ll hear a group leaving nothing in reserve.

I try not to comment on the sonics of discs all that much but Dislocation Blues strikes me as being one out of the box. There is an immediacy, an “in the room” feel that puts the boys right there with you. It was recorded at the Aldephia, a room that Jeff Lang has described as “open, live, resonant”. That’s what the mics capture for sure but it works so, so well for this album.

Guitar fans need to have a listen to this as when these two start playing off each other the results are quite special. Throw in the vocal performances, the togetherness of the band and the strength of the songs and you’re left with an album of immense impact. Straight to classic in my scorebook. Craig Fenemor

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Yellowjackets: Twenty Five

Heads Up

This is a 25th anniversary recording of the American modern electric jazz quartet the Yellowjackets. I can still remember one of my very first electric jazz LPs was the debut self-titled album featuring guitarist Robben Ford, Ricky Lawson on drums and the two enduring members – keyboardist Russell Ferrante and electric bassist Jimmy Haslip. Well, some personnel line-up changes and a whopping 20 albums later, Yellowjackets the group are complete with long-time saxophonist Bob Mintzer and relative newcomer on drums (since 2000), Marcus Baylor.

Twenty Five is a snapshot, better still a testament recorded live in Paris last year, to the endurance and stamina of this highly respected collection of simply awesome musicians. The album features eight tracks selected from the back catalogue right through to recent Heads Up label albums. There are no three-minute wonders on this collection, as no track is shorter than 7 mins 11 secs.

Stand out tunes are not that easy to pick, as all tracks are exquisitely fashioned and executed that it is hard not to be impressed by the shear virtuosity of the musicians and their highly musical interplay. Pushed, I would fall for the rousing and bluesy opener Revelation, the more introspective and airy Jacketown and Sea Folk from Time Squared (2003). The Yellowjackets’ brand or style of modern jazz has, I believe, changed very little since 1981. Certainly production styles have come and gone, however the essence that has kept the group alive and well through the years must have to be their masterful and seamless integration of acoustic and electronic instruments.

Whether you’re a first-time or long-time listener, if you’re interested in sampling from the Yellowjackets hive of albums, I can think of no better place to start than Twenty Five. The track selection is strong and the performances kept fresh and appealing with some (engaging) deviations from the studio versions. As a live album, the audio quality is excellent. To make this album even more appealing, it is released with a bonus DVD featuring live footage of concert performances in Italy 2005. Well, what are you waiting for! Lloyd Macomber

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Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 in E minor (From the New World). Martinu: Symphony No. 2.

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paavo Jarvi.
Telarc CD 80616

Dvorak’s most popular symphony is brim-full of memorable material in the first three movements, but after a good start the fi nale is something of an anti-climax. This is highlighted on this recording because the next track is the Martinu Symphony, which simply bursts into life, packed with ideas – perhaps too many for an initial hearing. But perseverance pays off for the discerning listener, and this wonderful symphony receives an excellent, well balanced performance, ideally suited for repeated listening. The playing of the Dvorak is blessed by similar virtues and the recordings are well balanced in a concert hall manner.

The only problem with this CD is the coupling. At home we can make up our own concerts, and personally I would prefer more Martinu, and yet others would welcome more Dvorak. Other than that (and the routine cover art) – recommended. Bob Goundrill

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Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra; Fanfare for Louisville. Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra.

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paavo Jarvi.
Telarc CD 80618.

Bartok’s and Lutoslawski’s Concertos for Orchestra are often coupled on recordings, and a good pair they make. Both were written under periods of stress (health and fi nancial in Bartok’s case, political in Lutoslawski’s) and both composers responded by producing masterpieces that are both profound and very accessible. Bartok is often associated with the percussive music which he wrote in the 20s and 30s, but he started his career writing lyrical music based on his studies of folk music. Elements of this style came to the fore again in his later works, of which the Concerto is one of the fi nest examples. Perhaps the motive was financial, but the result was great art. Lutoslawski’s problem was the prohibition of progressive music in Poland after the war, and he made ends meet by writing music for children and radio. His artistic efforts went into the Concerto, which was able to be performed in 1954 after the political situation had eased. Today these pieces offer few problems to open-minded listeners. Paavo Jarvi guides the Cincinnati Orchestra expertly, while Telarc provide clear, well balanced sound. Bob Goundrill

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The Sixteen - Ikon

Ucj

Chesnokov Bless the Lord, o my soul,Op. 27/1. We praise Thee. Holst Nunc dimittis,H127. MacMillan A New Song. A Child's Prayer. Pärt De profundis. 7 Magnificat Antiphons - O Weisheit The Woman with the Alabaster Box. Rachmaninov Liturgy of St John Chrysostom,Op. 31 - Kherumivskaya pesn (Cherubic Hymn);Tebe poem (We praise you) Vespers, 'All-Night Vigil',Op. 37 - Ave Maria (Hail Mary). Stravinsky Ave Maria. Pater noster. Tavener Song for Athene. Exhortation and Kohima. V. Kalinnikov Lord, now lettest Thou.

Wow. Here we have something truly inspirational. The Sixteen is an all-vocal group that has been responsible for some remarkable performances and recording that I have been lucky enough to hear over the years. Performing an astonishingly polished and blended rendition of choral masterpieces, both very well known and recently unearthed, has earned them a reputation among the world’s finest vocal ensembles.

Ikon is an eclectic mix of mainly twentieth century choir pieces, some of which have made the mainstream repertoire – the Holst, Tavener, Rachmaninov – and some equally accessible pieces that are yet to do so. Most performances are very fine indeed, though occasionally another take would have sorted out the odd ugly blend or intonation lapse – the Holst suffers in this regard. However, already a huge hit overseas, this is another treasurable release from The Sixteen. Allan McFarlane

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