WHILE it is only fair that Carl Barat and Gary Powell should salvage something in the aftermath of The Libertines' messy soap opera, there is no denying that Barat is at his strongest when teamed with his precarious old mucker Pete Doherty. This seco
nd Dirty Pretty Things album does nothing to point the way to a sparkling, creative future for his post-Libs band, although they are trying – the fairground organ swirl-meets-wistful lament of Buzzards & Crows takes a leaf out of the Blur songbook, while the brawny Hippy's Son is an ill-fated attempt to grow some hair on their chests. They sound at their most relaxed and natural slinging out the derivative but catchy likes of current single Tired Of England, and such conventional indie strummage can only take them so far.
HOT CLUB DE PARIS: LIVE AT DEAD LAKE
****
MOSHI MOSHI, £9.99LIVERPOOL'S Hot Club De Paris offer a more colourful, inventive and downright healthier prognosis for British indie music with their second album. Live At Dead Lake succeeds in blending the angular post-punk rhythms of The Futureheads, an unfettered freshness which harks back to the rich sounds of the 80s, and those trendy Afrobeat tendencies that seem ubiquitous at the moment, and still finds room to be unstintingly bright, tuneful and bursting with character without ever sounding cluttered or forced.
FIONA SHEPHERDCLASSICAL
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS CHORAL WORKS
****
DELPHIAN, £12.99THINK of a cappella Vaughan Williams, and the first thing that comes to mind is his beautiful Mass in G minor. Not surprisingly it lies at the heart of this intriguing and timely new release by Mike Brewer's splendid chamber choir Laudibus, and enjoys a robust performance. But with all the interest surrounding the 50th anniversary of the composer's death, it is equally fascinating to catch much more of his ventures into that particular genre. Some of the tracks have token significance – a soulful version of Greensleeves, for instance – but there are some delicious surprises, such as the imaginative Three Shakespeare Settings, which feature the tolling dissonance of Full Fathom Five and the frenetic energy of Over Hill, Over Dale. With Burns's Ca' the Yowes, Vaughan Willliams' warm sensitivity to text is paramount. And Brewer's treatment of the music is always perceptive.
TIPPETT: A CHILD OF OUR TIME
***
LSO LIVE, £7.99SIR Michael Tippett's moralistic oratorio A Child of Our Time, the work that closes this year's Edinburgh International Festival, is also the subject of the latest LSO Live release under Sir Colin Davis's baton. It is a performance that effectively captures the fluid intensity of Tippett's derivative concept – a blatant borrowing from Baroque oratorio models in which Lutheran chorales are replaced with Negro spirituals to give a more poignant edge to the "crowd comment" – and which is driven by a potent sense of its dramatic contours. Among the vocal solo quartet, Mihoko Fujimura's rich alto tessitura is magnificent, and Indra Thomas' soprano is piercingly evocative. The London Symphony Chorus, who give life to the spirituals, match the dynamic magnitude of the LSO, while the only grumble remains Davis's grunting within reach of the microphone.
KENNETH WALTONJAZZ
TIM KLIPHUIS: COUNTERPOINT SWING
***
LOWLAND RECORDS, £10.99DUTCH violinist Tim Kliphuis is a devotee of Reinhardt and Grappelli's effervescent Hot Club style, and brings a virtuoso technique, a sure sense of swing and an overt classical influence to bear on the music, most of which he composed or adapted. Robert Burns also gets a look-in, albeit via the Caribbean. They translate sweetly to a swing treatment, and provide a fresh and unashamedly populist slant on a well-worn style. He is abetted in this fine trio by guitarist Nigel Clarke and bassist Roy Percy, both well versed in the idiom. Clarke's assured and intelligent guitar work is every bit as engaging as Kliphuis's own solo excursions.
KENNY MATHIESONFOLK
SETH LAKEMAN: POOR MAN'S HEAVEN
***
RELENTLESS, £9.99 ON HIS third album, crossover folk troubadour Seth Lakeman ploughs further into mainstream territory with his fullest rock arrangements yet. His energetic fiddle playing is consigned to a supporting role on much of Poor Man's Heaven, but not to the detriment of the overall sound, which falls into festival-friendly folk rock territory. Lyrically, he is still drawing on the landscape of his native West Country, spinning tales of dark, stormy nights, fateful encounters and tragedy at sea, most notably on Solomon Browne, his tribute to the victims of the 1981 Penlee lifeboat disaster.
FIONA SHEPHERDFRASER FIFIELD BAND: TRACES OF THRACE
****
TANAR RECORDS, £10.99SAXOPHONIST and piper Fraser Fifield has always taken an open-minded approach to his music, rooted in folk but strongly influenced by jazz improvisation. This compelling recording combines two of his regular collaborators, jazz guitarist Graeme Stephen and percussionist Guy Nicolson, with two Bulgarian musicians, Nedyalko Nedyalkov on kaval (a traditional wooden flute) and Georgi Petrov on gadulka (a string instrument). The contrasting timbre and sonority of the wind and string pairings is combined with an imaginative manipulation of instrumental colour and musical texture, all underpinned by Nicolson's supportive percussion. The results go beyond an exercise in cross-cultural referencing, and produce a genuine, fascinating meeting of musical minds.
KENNY MATHIESONWORLD
THE BEST OF LYDIA MENDOZA
****
ARHOOLIE, £12.99THE subtitle of this CD, La Alondra de la Frontera (Meadowlark of the Frontier), is apt, as is the other title she was often given, La Cancionera de los Pobres (Singer of the Poor). Lydia Mendoza rose from the most abject poverty to being fêted at the White House, and as these recordings – spanning five decades – show, she retained her artistic integrity to the end. Her main instrument was the 12-string guitar, which she played with sweet fluidity; her voice was sweetly caressing, her diction immaculately clear, and her manner wonderfully relaxed. On the opening track from 1934 you get an eerie echo of Bessie Smith, though her guitar-playing is entirely Hispanic; three years later we get her charmingly playing the violin, accompanied by her family; later she's accompanied by sundry other groups, but her unique musical personality always shines through.
IVO PAPASOV: DANCE OF THE FALCON
****
WORLD VILLAGE, £12.99A TURKISH-SPEAKING Gypsy from Bulgaria, Ivo Papasov has a thick skin towards prejudice, but his super-refined art is his best defence: when he was declared the surprise winner of a Radio 3 award two years ago, he handed it back, picked up his clarinet, and stunned the auditorium with five minutes of solo pyrotechnics. Here we get those with his band, for a wonderful collection of wedding dances. His sound is perfectly modulated, and the backing is muted enough to let it blossom; his Pink Panther is a perennial wedding favourite.
MICHAEL CHURCH