CDs of the week

Evening Standard   19.02.07

 Add your view

POP

Ono: Yes, I'm a Witch
(Parlophone)
***
Yoko Ono is, and always has been, far more than John Lennon's widow. A prolific avant-garde artist, film-maker and musician, the 74-year-old's body of work goes back more than 50 years. Each of these 17 tracks features a guest partnering Ono's eerie voice with varying degrees of success.

The sex-charged electro of Kiss Kiss Kiss, with Peaches, feels like a meeting of mischievous minds, as does I'm Moving On, her collaboration with The Sleepy Jackson. Cambridge 1969/2007, however, is a waste of the talents of the Flaming Lips. Still, it's hard not to be impressed by the creativity Ono has injected into this eclectic collection. Her music has always been an experimental affair, but on this, her most accessible work to date, the hit outweighs the miss. Chris Elwell-Sutton

The Fray: How to Save a Life
(Sony BMG)
**
Already in the Top 20 back home, this Denver quartet merge the angst of Coldplay with the American swirl of Counting Crows. It's a promising blend, but the end result is a less-tortured, curveball-free David Gray without a flicker of believable emotion or tension - aside from the impassioned All At Once, which seems to come from another galaxy, let alone another album.

Even so, Isaac Slade is a fair singer; there's a muscular musicality throughout. In truth, this is a marketeer's version of what pop music could become were it to be designed by committee. For early purchasers, there's also a free 45-minute DVD which includes documentaries and videos. It's so dull, I would recommend waiting until the regular version comes out. John Aizlewood

Explosions in the Sky: All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
(Bella Union)
****
It is rare for post-rock bands to appeal outside their core fanbase of balding men with thick glasses, but this Texan instrumental quartet are currently selling out some large venues. While their slowly swelling, instrumental guitar music will really come to life at Koko and the Astoria in the coming months, the meandering six tracks here also have much to recommend them.

This third album is no huge leap forward (aside from the use of piano on a couple of songs, including gorgeous closer So Long, Lonesome) and without a singer on which to focus, it can drift by without really registering. However, turning up the volume causes all sorts of twinkling subtleties to become apparent, and could win over a wider audience. Likely to be one of the most beautiful releases of the year. David Smyth

Findlay Brown: Separated By The Sea
(peacefrog)
****
Pop hardly needs another lovesick man with an acoustic guitar and occasional string quartet. Yet Yorkshire-born Findlay Brown's fragile, modern folk feels original. Haunting melodies and graceful arrangements of guitars, piano and even banjo are the setting for tender vocals that tell tales of longing. Separated By The Sea is a melancholy but fresh and sparsely produced debut. Brown sings with the stillness of José Gonz·les and the raw honesty of David Gray, although he prefers to namecheck Krautrock, Love and The Band. Current single Come Home is flogging credit cards in a TV ad, but if Brown has sold some of his soul to the devil he still has plenty to spare. Lisa Verrico

JAZZ

Maynard Ferguson: MF Horn 4&5 / Live at Jimmy's
(Vocalion Records)
****
The late trumpet virtuoso Maynard Ferguson may not have scored any heavyweight obituaries, but he will be sadly missed by big-band fans who admired his unabashed bravado. This memorial double album finds him in typically ebullient form, firstly with the British crew who launched his comeback in the mid-Seventies, then with the US band which cut Macarthur Park and other jazz-funk hits of the peak years.

Trumpeter Alan Downie, altoist Andy Mackintosh and drummer Randy Jones sparkle for the Brits, while baritone saxman Bruce Johnstone and Ferguson himself illuminate the New York session a year later. As a thrilling entertainer and hard-swinging improviser, Ferguson had no equals. Jack Massarik

WORLD

Trilok Gurtu & Arke String Quartet: Arkeology
(Promo)
****
As a percussionist, you are virtually forced to be a serial collaborator. Over a 20-year recording career, the Indian-born percussionist Trilok Gurtu has worked with Asha Bhosle, Salif Keita, Jan Garbarek and John McLaughlin to name just a few. This latest, with the Italian Arke String Quartet, is unlike anything he's done before.

They aren't playing Mozart and Beethoven of course, but a whole range of tunes of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Indian inspiration written by Gurtu and members of the quartet. Gurtu adds energetic and sophisticated rhythmic textures plus flute. It is very lyrical and fresh - with the same vibrant energy that Kronos generated in Pieces of Africa. They play live at the Jazz Café on Monday night. Simon Broughton

What's on today   What's on tomorrow

Receive our newsletter