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CDs of the week
31.10.08
More up-tempo: Razorlight
Playing it safe: Dido
Back for more: Grace Jones
On the map: Zoe & Idris Rahman
Look here too
POP
Razorlight
Slipway Fires (Mercury)
***
Despite their success, Razorlight have plenty of doubters. That the band are outfitted in the Emperor's new clothes in many minds is down to the posturing of frontman Johnny Borrell, who has declared that “95 per cent of modern music and how it's recorded is rubbish”. Presumably, here we have an example of the other five per cent. Wire to Wire, the first single, is a piano-driven ballad that builds to a decent climax, while Hostage to Love carries echoes of the sublime Golden Touch. The more up-tempo Tabloid Lover and North London Trash, though, are just noisy and clanking. All in all, not that much to shout about.
PETE CLARK
Dido
Safe Trip Home (Cheeky/RCA)
***
Dido's first two albums were so successful that she could afford to take a few risks five years on. Though she's been more involved with the creation of the music this time, it sounds as pleasant and tame as ever — even the title sounds like the slogan for a new people-carrier. Dig beyond the languid pace and sleepy vocals and there are lovely touches — interlaced recorders at the end of Grafton Street, tastefully distorted electronica on the nine-minute closer Northern Skies. It's still possible to listen to it all without noticing it's playing but in Dido-land that may be a mark of success.
DAVID SMYTH
Grace Jones
Hurricane (Wall Of Sound)
***
It's been 19 years since her previous album yet you suspect it's always the Eighties in Grace Jones's odd world. At her worst, she's a bored guest on her own records, a slave to someone else's rhythm, her sound and image shaped by svengalis such as Trevor Horn. Here she sleepwalks through the hotel lobby shuffle of Sunset Sunrise but, as ever with Jones, there's always something to latch onto. She's less dated on Corporate Cannibal and the fiery title track, and once you get over the scary notion of Grace Jones emoting, I'm Crying (Mother's Tears) is not unmoving.
JOHN AIZLEWOOD
WORLD
Zoe & Idris Rahman
Where Rivers Meet (Manushi Records)
****
Zoe Rahman, put on the map by her 2006 Mercury Prize nomination, is one of Britain's most acclaimed jazz pianists. But with brother Idris on clarinets, this is the first to explore their Anglo-Bengali heritage. It is based on songs they learned from their father. There's a distinct Bengali tone to many melodies, whether it's ebullient instrumental O, River or introspective Pilgrim's Song. Vocalist Arnob is superb, Zoe's piano brings a Western feel, while Idris' clarinet hovers between the two. They are live at the Purcell Room on Tuesday.
SIMON BROUGHTON
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