This week's new releases include Kelly Clarkson and the Beastie Boys, as well an inspired jazz compilation and New York/Caribbean hybrid rap from Yerba Buena

Kelly Clarkson
My December (RCA/19)
**

Things are not going especially well for Kelly Clarkson, the American Gareth Gates who won 2002's American Idol. Poor ticket sales mean she's just cancelled her American tour and her record company openly dislikes My December. The root cause of Clarkson's troubles is her desire for "creative control": writing songs herself, rather than using the proper songwriters who helped 2004's Breakaway sell 11 million copies.

Alas for Clarkson, "creative control" means melody-free, shouty, sub-Alanis Morissette angst, right from the semi-literate first line of the opening Never Again: "I hope the ring you gave to her turns her hand green." It's all very much like being harangued by an especially cross teenager.

Andrea Corr
Ten Feet High (Atlantic)
**

They don't come much tighter than a band of four siblings, which might be why Andrea Corr (of the Corrs, of course) seems all at sea on this first solo album. She's put both her band and their fiddly folk pop on hold while she explores a variety of new styles, not many of which work.

I Do is a twee music-box ballad, a sexy synth cover of Squeeze's Take Me I'm Yours tries too hard to be Kylie, while Champagne from a Straw has a Caribbean jauntiness that may ensure a hit but quickly grates. Removed from its usual Irish backing, Corr's voice sounds pretty but lacks character. After more than a decade of success she can be excused a desire to experiment, but let's hope she's got it out of her system.

The Beastie Boys
The Mix-Up (Capitol)
**

The Beasties started out 20 years ago as unique figures on the rap scene - three horny young white geeks screaming about parties and girls over heavy metal samples. Since then, the screaming has become sporadic and the music subtler and funkier. So while an entirely instrumental seventh album is in a sense a logical progression, it's still a bit of a shock, and not an entirely pleasant one.

Sure, Mike D has a loose, funky drumming style that gives The Melee a smoky Sixties feel, The Gala Event creates a tense, cinematic atmosphere over a trip-hoppy rhythm and eerie guitar loop, while Money Mark's keyboard contributions are as competent as ever. But these modest highlights will only get them so far. For the most part, The Mix Up is devoid of new ideas - a collection of dull, derivative, self-indulgent noodlings largely untouched by quality control.

Various Artists
We All Love Ella (Verve)
****

It's a jazz fact that you have to expire if you want to be marketed properly. The recordings of Ella Fitzgerald, who died in 1996, are being reissued in shedloads this summer to mark the 90th anniversary of her birth in April 1917. Now comes this remarkably all-star tribute, offering 16 aspects of Ella's matchless virtuosity.

Linda Ronstadt recalls the lyricism (Miss Otis Regrets), Gladys Knight the soulful purity (Someone to Watch Over Me), Natalie Cole and Chaka Khan the boppish exuberance (Mr Paganini) and Dianne Reeves the subtle scatting (Lady Be Good). Etta James, Lizz Wright and Dee Dee Bridgewater also sparkle, even Queen Latifah, while Stevie Wonder's digital duet with Ella on Sunshine of My Life supplies one final trick of the sliderboard.

Yerba Buena
Follow Me (Wrasse)
****

If the cheeky cover doesn't do it, the opening rap-cum-Cuban guajira tells you that this is the funky, hybrid sound of the Big Apple meeting the Caribbean. New York-based octet Yerba Buena throw all sorts of music into their mix. When rap begins to dominate, along comes a great flute, trumpet or sax solo to bring some fresh air.

Lyrics slip easily between English and Spanish and there's a multitude of guests, from the Brazilian singer Carlinhos Brown to gipsy punks Gogol Bordello plus some sampled George W Bush-isms in the track Bla Bla Bla. This is a great summer album with a vibrant sense of irony and fun. They play at the Jazz Café next Monday.