POP
PAUL McCARTNEY
Good Evening New York City
(Mercury)
****
One may have all sorts of quibbles with Paul McCartney but in the value-for-money department he gets the thumbs up. This package looks like a hardback novel — my wife thought it was the latest crime blockbuster from the US — and contains two CDs and two DVDs, which may hold everything you need to know about the ex-Beatle.

The man, it must be admitted, has much to be proud of. His back catalogue runs like a golden thread in the tapestry of lives of a certain vintage. While Yesterday has always been a sickly confection, Eleanor Rigby is a great pop song that works in mysterious ways, The Long and Winding Road throbs with an ache that is too enjoyable to medicate, and Blackbird sings like its avian counterpart.

The problem is that McCartney, not content with being proud of what he has achieved, is also pleased with himself. This comes across most forcibly in the first of the DVDs, where he is playing the first concert at Citi Field, built on the site of the old Shea Stadium where the Beatles first skipped from the real world into immortality.

As he shifts from bass to girly-decorated Les Paul, from piano to acoustic guitar, McCartney exudes class, and his vocals are by no means those of an old geezer. Unfortunately, his name checks for Hendrix and Lennon fall flat, and his decision to celebrate the memory of George Harrison by playing Something on a wretched ukelele is questionable.
PETE CLARK

ALICIA KEYS
The Element of Freedom
(J)
****
As if to remind us what a fine musical year 2009 has been, its last major release might be one of its best. Both Alicia Keys's patchy 2007 album, As I Am, and her alas ongoing digression into acting suggested that her creative juices were running dry. Instead, it turns out she was suffering from depression in the wake of her grandmother's death and this uplifting fourth album covers her struggles and eventual triumph over the illness. These songs confirm her status as a major singer, songwriter and pianist. She duets with Beyoncé Knowles on Put It In a Love Song and offers a dreamy part two of her Jay-Z collaboration, Empire State of Mind, albeit without the man himself.
JOHN AIZLEWOOD

Badly Drawn Boy
Is There Nothing We Could Do?
(BDB)
***
For Damon Gough's first soundtrack since his success with About a Boy in 2002, he's got together with another Manc long absent from the game. The Fattest Man in Britain is Caroline Aherne's first work in years aside from the odd Royle Family special, a one-off starring Timothy Spall to be broadcast on ITV1 before Christmas. Gough's music has a melancholy that suggests the show will be less amusing than its title, mostly employing piano, strings and his soft vocals. Two melodies recur in different forms, the title song and Welcome Me to Your World. It's subtler than recent albums, and if it often drifts into the background it's merely doing its job.
DAVID SMYTH

Various Artists
Nowhere Boy
(Sony)
****
The soundtrack from Sam Taylor-Wood's biopic on the formative years of John Lennon comprises two discs dedicated to the rock'n'roll music beloved by its protagonist. Alongside the iconic sounds of Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Little Richard is a five-song contribution from The Nowhere Boys, recorded by the actors who play The Quarrymen in the film. The jangly guitars and close harmonies on their rendition of Buddy Holly's That'll Be the Day capture the energy and innocence of the early Beatles, while Aaron Johnson, who plays Lennon in the film, delivers a fabulous vocal impersonation on the Quarrymen original In Spite of all the Danger.
RICK PEARSON

JAZZ
BOBBY HUTCHERSON
Wise One
(KindofBlue)
****
Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson seldom tops the agenda when post-bop greats are discussed, yet he's an increasingly important figure. Never a blur-of-mallets showman, this thoughtful, stylish improviser has mellowed into a veteran whose mature ruminations, especially on ballads, are to savour. With typical originality, his homage to Coltrane drops the usual favourites in favour of such worthy yet unsung originals as Aisha, Equinox, Spiritual, Dear Lord and the title track. His strong quintet, including pianist Joe Gilman and that fine guitarist Anthony Wilson, sounds inspired both by the material and Hutcherson's humility.
JACK MASSARIK

WORLD
Dogan Mehmet
Gypsyhead
(Hobgoblin Records)
***
Dogan Mehmet, 19, comes from a second generation Turkish Cypriot family in Brighton. He's a songwriter, violinist and a talented performer of English folksong — a finalist in last year's BBC Young Folk Awards. On this striking debut he draws on English and Turkish sources and sings in both languages. There are familiar songs like Wraggle Taggle Gypsies, Seventeen Come Sunday or a tune learned from the Brighton Morris plus similar from the Turkish side. The vocals of Turkish Gypsy song Ozman Aga sound even more exotic backed by the instruments of an English folk band of violin, accordion and guitar. But a touch of Turkish saz would be a nice addition.
SIMON BROUGHTON