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CDs of the week
Evening Standard 23.02.07
Kaiser Chiefs: Yours Truly, Angry Mob
Wolf: The Magic Position
Various Artists: Songs for the Young at Heart
Eldar: Live at the Blue Note
Selim Sesler: Anatolian Wedding
Look here too
The Kaiser Chiefs' second album, cult figure Patrick Wolf, a star-studded children's album, and a gipsy clarinetist are among the CDs of the week.
POP
Kaiser Chiefs: Yours Truly, Angry Mob
(B-Unique)
****
It's nearly two years since their debut launched this Leeds five-piece in a blaze of glory that culminated in three Brit Awards last year. The bad news is that the follow up doesn't contain anything with the explosive energy of I Predict a Riot.
Still, it's a satisfying and accomplished set, boasting a winning combination of riotous foot stompers such as Angry Mob and bitter, twisted ballads like Love's Not a Competition (But I'm Winning).
The Kaiser Chiefs' lyrical skill has always set them apart; where Franz Ferdinand are arty and obscure, the Chiefs display honesty and irreverence.
Highroyds, for instance, is a cynical look back at teenagehood, dismantling the old "happiest days of your life" myth over 1970s-style heavy guitar. A welcome and worthy return. Chris Elwell-Sutton
Patrick Wolf: The Magic Position
(Loog/A&M)
***
Three albums in and south London's Patrick Wolf is fast attaining cult status. A heavily styled, classically trained, highly camp version of Brian Wilson, Wolf plays piano, viola, harmonium and a slew of fascinating instruments to create a self-contained world which incorporates pop, folk, classical and an undercurrent of genuine weirdness.
When he's good, as on the fabulous title track, he's an inspiring force of nature. When Marianne Faithfull joins him on the stately Magpie they sound made for each other. Yet, the overwrought relentlessness and lyrical self-pity becomes wearing after a time and there's a touch too much stodge to suggest greatness. All the same, he's worth keeping an eye on. John Aizlewood
Various Artists: Songs for the Young at Heart
(Lucky Dog/V2)
***
Belle and Sebastian pop up again on the second star-studded children's album of recent months, although their own Colours are Brighter compilation has a bit more life than this selection of songs for naptime.
Highlights on this set, compiled by two members of Nottingham gloom merchants Tindersticks, include Cerys Matthews's sugary delivery on the pretty White Horses and Jarvis Cocker dryly reciting Marriott Edgar's vintage poem The Lion and Albert.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy croaking his way through Puff the Magic Dragon has a twinkly charm, but other contributors, including Stuart Staples and Lambchop's Kurt Wagner, sound so suicidal, you feel this is a collection that will be best appreciated long after the kids have gone to sleep. David Smyth
JAZZ
Eldar: Live at the Blue Note
(Sony Classical 74745-2)
****
Eldar Djangirov, to give him his full name, is jazz piano's latest bobbydazzler. He was only 11 when his family reached the US from Kyrgyzstan, an obscure republic that Sacha Baron Cohen might have invented.
Now 20, this fresh-faced, classically trained prodigy is steeped in American culture and totally dedicated to jazz. His models are worthy. What is This Thing Called Love, taken at demented speed, suggests an Oscar Peterson album played on fast-forward, while his ballads reveal touches of Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner.
At Ronnie Scott's recently, he shared the bill with pop-reared jazz apprentice Marti Pellow. Here his trio's guests are trumpet stars Roy Hargrove and Chris Botti, rather more compatible companions. Well worth a listen. Jack Massarik
WORLD
Selim Sesler: Anatolian Wedding
(Doublemoon DM0036)
****
There's a craze for Balkan Gipsy music at present - a good time for one of the great gipsy clarinetists to get his moment of glory.
Sesler comes from Thrace, the European part of Turkey which shares its musical traditions with the Balkans. While many people are updating and remixing the style, Sesler prefers to give us the real rootsy stuff and his clarinet sings, soars, bubbles and broods.
In this wedding music he's joined by the excellent vocalist Brenna MacCrimmon plus a great bunch of instrumentalists who have their own solo spots on violin, kanun, Turkish lute and banjo. This is the music you always wish you could find in Istanbul, but rarely manage to track down. Simon Broughton
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