Pop

Graham Coxon
The Spinning Top (Transgressive)
***

This is a bit of a strange one but that's to be expected from the unpredictable former and future member of Blur. Graham Coxon has established his trademark as angular and jagged pop, enlivened by a patented guitar frenzy. On The Spinning Top, he has pretty much abandoned all that in favour of a studiously folky acoustic twang. This is also a concept album, dealing with the life of a man from birth to death. Although it sounds it, the concept is not mawkish or pretentious, but it will not appeal to those who don't care for the likes of John Martyn and Martin Carthy.
Pete Clark

Junior Boys
Begone Dull Care (Domino)
****

Jeremy Greenspan and Matthew Didemus were tagged a chill-out act a few years ago but while the Ontario duo's third album is definitely dance music for small-hours home listening, it also has a subtle complexity that prevents it from blandly fading into the background. Tracks such as Work and Bits and Pieces have a funky energy that departs from the lethargy of their previous albums. Greenspan's soft, soulful vocals add a necessary human dimension — a welcome addition to intelligent dance pop.
David Smyth

Jazz

Pat Metheny
One Quiet Night (Nonesuch)
****

All guitarists are lifetime students of the instrument, and US virtuoso Pat Metheny is no exception. During a short break from touring, he investigated a new steel-string acoustic, refining his solo-guitar technique on it. Using “a low Nashville tuning”, his gentle ruminations produce ultra-close harmonies, but rhythm is never neglected and a few new chordal insights occur. The old Scouse anthem Ferry Across the Mersey, for instance, and the Keith Jarrett ballad, My Song, have never sounded more resonant.
Jack Massarik

World

El Tanbura
Friends of Bamboute (30 IPS)
*****

This dozen-strong collective of musicians based in Port Said on the Suez Canal are one of Egypt's best traditional bands. This is a 20th-anniversary album which well represents the breadth of their repertoire, from Sufi-inspired devotional pieces to traditional bamboute dances of the canal workers and rabble-rousing party songs. The title track is one of those catchy tunes that within a few bars makes you think you knew it already and the delicate Lally highlights the bright sound of the simsimiyya.
Simon Broughton