CDs of the Week

Kasabian
Empire (Columbia)
Review: David Smyth
****

"Empire" is Kasabian-speak for "unimpeachably brilliant". If the Leicester quartet were reviewing their second album themselves, it would have a million stars.

This time they've managed to back up their tiresome arrogance with something of substance.

Almost every track sounds enormous, bulging with clattering dance beats, glam swagger and Tom Meighan's vitriolic sneer. Kasabian's ear for the anthemic promises to unite thousands at the huge arena gigs the band have already booked.

The dirge-like British Legion proves they still can't do ballads, but when firing on all cylinders, they're unstoppable.

Amp Fiddler
Afro Strut (Genuine)
Review: Chris Elwell-Sutton
***

Vocally, and in terms of his timeless, silky-smooth production, Fiddler brings to mind the greats. Heaven, a sizzling duet with Stephanie McKay, captures the engaging passion and tenderness of Marvin Gaye's duets with Diana Ross. And the old-school synths and warm, soaring vocals of You Could Be Mine are reminiscent of Stevie Wonder.

Despite these delights, and the impressive variety displayed by If I Don't - an upbeat jazzy corker laced with a cheeky minor-key clarinet - these selfpenned tracks fail to deliver the promised brilliance. He should follow Gaye's example and enlist some songwriters.

CLASSICAL

Mahler Resurrection Symphony
Budapest FO/Fischer (Channel Classics, CCS SA 23506, 2CDs)
Review: Barry Millington
****

Hot on the heels of Boulez's remarkable Resurrection Symphony on DG comes this almost equally superb version from Ivan Fischer. It benefits from one of the world's most vibrant, polished ensembles, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and from that city's new Palace of Arts, with its adjustable acoustic canopy.

The sound is exceptionally warm and immediate, immeasurably enhancing Fischer's highly coloured reading. The Andante, for example, is gestural, heavily accented, but with a gracious lilt. The Scherzo has just the right hint of the grotesque, and the choral finale is thrillingly apocalyptic.

JAZZ

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band
The Phat Pack (Immergent Records, 284404)
Review: Jack Masssarik
****

Most British pros of the current generation cut their teeth on Basie, Woody Herman and Maynard Ferguson scores transcribed for college or semi-pro big-bands. Hollywood composerarranger-Gordon Goodwin is their latest hero.

His music is complex yet fun to play, and its quality can be judged by the calibre of his guest stars. See and hear Diane Reeves, David Sanborn, clarinettist Eddie Daniels and gospelgiants Take Six on this CD-bonus-DVD pack, grooving away as Goodwin originals like Cut'n'Run get the Big Phat treatment. It won't be long before your local youth orchestra does.

WORLD

London Is the Place for Me 4
African Dreams and Piccadilly High Life (Honest Jon's, HJRCD25)
Review: Simon Broughton

In time for the Notting Hill Carnival, this is the latest in Honest Jon's excellent series exploring the black music of Fifties and Sixties London. Lord Kitchener's Rock 'n' Roll Calypso reveals the musical fusions of the era and Piccadilly Folk warns about those that hang out around Eros: "Piccadilly folk, you can never trust them."

Young Tiger's African Dream takes him back in a happy dream to Trinidad, until he's rudely woken by his landlord. The African Messengers' Highlife Piccadilly is an exuberant instrumental of trumpet, flute and sax. Many tracks give an intriguing picture of the growth of multicultural London and it's full of glorious music.