This week we review the latest albums from Basement Jaxx, Echo & The Bunnymen, Guy Clark, All Time Low and Radioclit & Esau Mwamwaya.
4 stars (out of 5)
Basement Jaxx is at that point in a dance act's existence where its members are becoming significantly older than their audience.
The story behind Scars is one of two producers trying to have a good time making a record while family responsibilities loom large.
The album is heavier in theme and tone than the typical dance release, while rich in collaboration and intricately produced.
The most surprising, and surprisingly good, guest appearance is by Yoko Ono on Day of the Sunflowers, whose driving beats beat closest to the ultra-hip urban heart of Scars.
Single download: Day of the Sunflowers (We March On)
For those who like: Chemical Brothers, Underworld
- Thom Benny
> Echo & The Bunnymen. The Fountain. Ocean Rain Records.
2 stars (out of 5)
Excited at the prospect of McCulloch, Sergeant and co's upcoming New Zealand show? Forget it.
They are yesterday's men.
This latest release is so pale a representation of the Bunnymen's former strengths it threatens to completely unravel the mystique that once surrounded the band's chiming tortured pop.
Gone is McCulloch's swooping emotion-filled voice, replaced by a gravelly croak.
Gone, too, is any potency in the songwriter's pen, replaced by a penchant for lazy rhyming and by-numbers hooks.
Only closing ballad The Idolness of Gods evokes some small measures of intimacy and truth.
Single download: Think I Need It Too
For those who like: Bernard Sumner's similarly flaccid album under the Bad Lieutenant moniker.
- Jeff Harford
> Guy Clark. Somedays the Song Writes You. Dualtone.
3 stars (out of 5)
Listeners coming in late to the ageing craftsman might find the title of his latest album a little hokey, but if there's anyone who can breathe some life back into a cliché (yes, I know . . .) it's Clark.
The Texan's weathered vocals are a fitting vehicle for his observations on songwriting and the muse - few play the wise old soul better - but there's too much world-weariness here and too little of the wit that informs his finest work.
Hemingway's Whiskey and The Guitar are the best returns from the collaborative songwriting approach Clark adopts here.
Single download: Hemingway's Whiskey
For those who like: Greg Brown, Tom Russell, Rodney Crowell.
- Paul Mooney
> All Time Low. Nothing Personal. Hopeless Records.
2 stars (out of 5)
For their third album, the band that originally formed to play Blink 182 covers continue their contrived formula of breezy emo-infused anthems.
Invariably described as pop-punk, Nothing Personal is one of the most non-threatening rock albums you are likely to hear.
It's like the Wiggles got hold of the controls.
Crushing power chords come sugar coated.
Probably already selling by the truckload due to the demand for vacuous throw-away sing-a-longs, All Time Low actually write some half-decent tunes, and if it was not for Alex Gaskarth's auto-tuned lovelorn whining, then Nothing Personal might be worth a second listen.
Single download: Weightless
For those who like: Blink 182, Jimmy Eats World, Fall Out Boy.
- Mark Orton
> The Very Best. Warm Heart of Africa. Moshi Moshi.
3 stars (out of 5)
Warm Heart is an appropriate title for an album that features such a broad and exuberant embrace of styles.
European production duo Radioclit have combined with Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya to deliver a fluid concoction of African rhythms and nightclub-ready Euro-pop, with a splash of reggae sunshine in the mix as well.
While the Europeans set the scenes - going light on the bass but fleshing out the sound with jungle drums and synths here, a string quartet and a choir there - it's the African who steals them, singing with the sort of infectious enthusiasm that can carry a listener well into an evening, and beyond.
Single download: Julia
For those who like: Peter Gabriel, Salif Keita, Graceland.
- Paul Mooney
