Covers albums from Patti Smith and Lily Allen's producer Mark Ronson offer up unexpected delights, while Nine Inch Nails are also on form. Plus there's a stylish album from jazz trumpeter Abram Wilson and hot Balkan guitar with Lubo Alexandrov...

CDs OF THE WEEK

POP

Patti Smith
Twelve (Columbia) ***
An album of cover versions is not what one would expect from the original rock poetess. Patti Smith doing old chestnuts from Tears For Fears and Paul Simon holds out no promise of magic - however, there are joyful surprises here. Gimme Shelter is definitive Stones, White Rabbit the essence of psychedelia, and Pastime Paradise gorgeous beyond words. With the help of that wonderful voice, still maturing, and a set of imaginative arrangements, Smith has reinvented all three and given us versions good enough to set beside the originals. Best of all is a banjo and fiddle-driven romp through Smells Like Teen Spirit which reveals the splendour of that song in a different light. Seizing the moment, the rock poetess adds some sizzling words that Kurt Cobain would have been proud to call his own.
PETE CLARK

Mark Ronson
Version (Columbia) ****
This one can't fail. Mark Ronson is the producer responsible for number one hits by Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse and here he is reunited with his protégées and numerous other stars to plaster horns and funky drums all over an array of unlikely cover versions. So Radiohead's Just becomes the kind of joyous dancefloor scorcher the band would never write, Lily Allen's groovy take on the Kaiser Chiefs' Oh My God is even more uplifting than the original, and even the Smiths acquire some Motown effervescence on Stop Me. There's too little variety - Ronson seems to apply his big beats and trumpets formula to everything - but the relentless party feel means that even if you don't succumb personally to their cheery charms, you'll definitely be hearing these versions at a lot of barbecues this summer.
DAVID SMYTH

Nine Inch Nails
Year Zero (Island) ***
Nine Inch Nails were never for the faint of heart. Even Trent Reznor describes his group's fifth album as "not particularly friendly". Those seeking whistleable hooks and a sense of cheery well-being must look elsewhere, for Year Zero is a concept album (totalitarian society, end of the world, etc) bristling with claustrophobic intensity. It ranges from the tub-thumpng glam stomp of Capital G to the gentle Erik Satie-like nearinstrumental, Another Version of the Truth. Along the sometimes headspinning way are massive slabs of Reznor's customary industrial electronica, an occasional INXS-style tendency for clodhopping funk and the sparkling closer Zero-Sum, which suggests Reznor has more ideas than his rigid musical format often allows. Uncompromising.
JOHN AIZLEWOOD

Stefy
The Orange Album (Sony BMG) ***
Californians Stefy come from the same neck of the woods as Orange County's Gwen Stefani and with this debut album they are being tipped for similar giddy pop success. Fronted by Stefy Rae, this bunch are purveyors of an Eighties electro-pop sound shot through with modern pop-rock sensibilities, best demonstrated on rollicking first two tracks Chelsea and Hey School Boy, incidentally the band's first singles.
In fact, many of the lyrics are surprisingly dark, such as on Orange County and X-Tina-esque Lucky Girl. However, the band struggle to find their identity and too many tracks come across as cynical genre-splicing exercises. Stefy has a lovely voice, though.
JODY THOMPSON

Loney, Dear
Loney Noir (Regal) ***
Many a songwriter bleats away in their bedsit, but few have the drive to handpackage their own CDs and personally sell thousands to whoever is interested. After five years of this, Stockholm songwriter Emil Svanangen (aka Loney, Dear) has finally been signed up. His folky songs retain a home-cooked warmth, though. Sinister In A State Of Hope and Saturday Waits are softly emotive, and I Will Call You Lover Again has a Waltz-like charm. On I Am John, Svanangen's falsetto echoes The Bee Gees, an unlikely accompaniment to such coy, understated folk-pop. For now this is a quietly accomplished step in the right direction.
JOHNNY SHARP

JAZZ
Abram Wilson and the Delta Blues Project
Ride! (Dune Records) ****
Trumpeter-singer Abram Wilson's strikingly original suite, subtitled Ferris Wheel to the Modern Day Delta, stirs contemporary jazz into traditional blues and narrative rap. London-based but born in Arkansas and raised in New Orleans, Wilson is a true all-rounder, a compelling player who composes, acts and even dances well. His unusual voicings, including trombone (Mike Mwenso), tuba (Andy Grappy) and harmonica (Errol Linton), tell a roving musician's tale of modern America, with strong solos from Ornette Coleman-inspired altoist Nathaniel Facey and underrated pianist Ben Burrell. The hit of the 2006 Cheltenham Jazz Festival, this stylish show visits Pizza Express Jazz Club, Dean Street on 2 June and Deptford Albany on 9 June. And rewarding as this album is, the stage experience is even better.
JACK MASSARIK

WORLD
Lubo Alexandrov
Kaba Horo (Enja) ****
Here's a new name in the hot, bubbling Balkan scene. Lubo Alexandrov is a Bulgarian guitarist now resident in Canada, and this album is permeated by the Bulgarian and Turkish dance tunes he took with him. It opens with a slow, moody accordion solo before the catchy 11/16 rhythm kicks and the music sets off racing. Alexandrov's electric guitar is lean and agile, the arrangements are transparent with Balkan and jazz-inflected solos on accordion, clarinet and sax. But this is music that really comes to life when the musicians are directly driving sweaty bodies to distraction on a dance floor - Alexandrov makes his UK debut opening the Balkan Fever festival at Cargo, EC2, on Sunday.
SIMON BROUGHTON