CDs of the week

POP

ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS
Raising Sand
(Rounder/Decca)
****
The hype surrounding next month's Led Zeppelin reunion will overshadow this latest digression from singer Robert Plant - a shame, as it shows a side to the rock god that should be seen more often. Here he duets with bluegrass singer Alison Krauss on a collection of country covers chosen by producer T-Bone Burnett, the man who gave us the acclaimed O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Never raising his voice over a delicate croon, Plant is a perfect foil for Krauss's pure tones and the understated guitar and banjo that underpins their voices. A rollicking version of the Everly Brothers' Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On) is the only change of pace but all the ballads are handled with such grace that a Jimmy Page guitar solo would be completely superfluous. DAVID SMYTH

NEIL YOUNG
Chrome Dreams II
(Reprise)
****
The original Chrome Dreams was meant to be released in 1977, but was mysteriously shelved. Among its successor's 10 songs are three that Neil Young abandoned in the Eighties, including the 18-minute Ordinary People, a sprawling epic, so widescreen and so obviously wondrous, it beggars belief that someone thought not to release it. Nothing matches that, although at 14 mesmerising minutes No Hidden Path comes close in every respect. Meanwhile, the equally unfathomably dumped Beautiful Bluebird is Young at his most achingly romantic. More typically, he's Mr Grumpy on Spirit Road and unsettling on Dirty Old Man, while a choir adds gravitas to the already deep The Way. Weirdly, the whole disparate mess gels remarkably well. Vintage. JOHN AIZLEWOOD

JILL SCOTT
The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol 3
(Hidden Beach)
***
With the voice of a genuine soul diva, Jill Scott imbues her music with a classic feel and this third album is no exception. Joined by double bass and guitar, she delivers a slinky performance on Celibacy Blues that brings to mind a smokey, Prohibition-era speakeasy. Occasionally, she lapses into the kind of sound that could have been created by any slushy R&B act at any time over the past 20 years, as on the admittedly saucy All I. A stinging rebuke to the envious ones among her friends and family, her new single Hate on Me, on the other hand, shows Scott at her very best. The tough, hiphop-edged, horn-driven backing track has the same epic feel of Beyoncé's Crazy in Love but Scott's voice is far more powerful - especially when she's angry. CHRIS ELWELL-SUTTON

The Hoosiers
The Trick To Life (RCA)
***
The Hoosiers' debut opens with an intro poached from The Turtles' Happy Together, gleeful Sixties pop about blissful, sugary love. Keep the tune but suck every iota of lyrical optimism from Happy Together and you have Worried About Ray, a panic-stricken slice of fear and paranoia. This record is packed with bleak musings on depression, corruption and deception, sung in Irwin Sparkes's eerie falsetto. The charm lies in the melodies' contradictory joviality; Worst Case Scenario and The Trick To Life are Fratelli-esque with dark undercurrents. There is of course Run Rabbit Run, so dull you could fast-forward for minutes and still be in the same lukewarm spot, but Clinging On For Life's melancholy loveliness and Killer's spooky Cure-ish goth-pop make up for it. MARTHA DE LACEY

DANCE

Fabriclive36
Paul Mahoney and James Murphy (Fabric)
****
Ah, Fabric. Superclub, record label and now another splendid mix that the mixers themselves term "super gay". New Yoikers James "LCD Soundsystem" Murphy and his LCD buddy Pat Mahoney have fabricated (sorry) an oh-so-American, oh-so-camp electro dance-funk corker. The simple piano charms of Still Going's Theme gyrate against Baby Oliver's Tiga-esque disco and Punkin' Machine's I Need You Tonight, which sounds like nothing so much as Boogie Wonderland covered by Scissor Sisters on magic mushrooms. Some periodically patchy mixing is remedied by - pardon me - some awesome tunes on an album with tangible similarities to the Sound Of Young New York series. Which is always a plus. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. MARTHA DE LACEY

JAZZ

MAX ROACH
We Insist! Freedom Now Suite
(Candid)
*****
The term "cutting-edge", applied so freely nowadays, totally defines this 1960 classic, reissued to mark the recent death of iconic drummer-composer Max Roach. An angry and still disturbing cry for racial equality, it was recorded at the birth of the US civil rights moment, years before the cataclysmic assassinations of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and the Kennedys. Relive the bitterly charged vocals of Abbey Lincoln (Roach's then wife), the trumpet brilliance of the short-lived Booker Little, the majesty of Coleman Hawkins's mature tenor-sax sound and the subtlety of Roach's drumming. Straight Ahead, a companion Candid album cut the following year with a similar line-up, is equally essential listening. JACK MASSARIK

WORLD

ORCHESTRA BAOBAB
Made in Dakar
(World Circuit)
*****
For my money, Orchestra Baobab are one of the best bands in Africa. They first started in the Seventies playing in the Club Baobab in the Senegalese capital Dakar. With their Cuban-influenced lilt, they flourished until Youssou N'Dour ushered in a more modern, urban style in the Eighties and Baobab disbanded. But five years ago World Circuit's Nick Gold brought most of the original members back together and, incredibly, the original magic remained. This new album mixes songs, new and old, but the Baobab sound with its tingling guitar, soulful sax and lyrical vocals is unmistakable. One of the stand-out tracks, Nijaay, even features Youssou N'Dour as guest vocalist. A masterful album. They play three nights at the Jazz Café from 18 November. SIMON BROUGHTON