Tonight:
9°c
NEW: Some fares could fall by more than a third when Oyster is extended to every national rail station in London, it has emerged
More...
New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Expansive: Interpol's third album Our Love to Admire
Exhuberant: New Yorkers Gogol Bordello describe their sound as 'trans-global gipsy rebel rock'
Duets: US piano star Chick Corea teams up with Hungarian-American Bela Fleck
Stylish: Oi Va Voi marry ethnic influences and the vocals of KT Tunstall with their debut album
The third album from Interpol, gipsy rebel-rockers Gogol Bordello and the Smashing Pumpkins feature in the CDs of the week.
POP
Interpol
Our Love to Admire (Parlaphone)
***
For their third album, Interpol have signed up with Coldplay's label and management. They still sound nothing like Coldplay, though. Instead, they've abandoned their attempts to clone Joy Division and moved towards a bigger, more expansive sound, best showcased on the swirling opener, Pioneer to the Falls, and the heroically overwrought No I in Threesome. It's a wise, career-prolonging move, but while they never get close to greatness (although Rest My Chemistry is the most epic of a gaggle of epics), they may yet have it in them. This is despite the lighter moments, where singer Paul Banks sounds uncannily like Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies, somewhat undermining their stentorian aura. JOHN AIZLEWOOD
Gogol Bordello
Super Taranta! (Sideonedummy)
***
Gogol Bordello are from New York and describe their music as "trans-global gipsy rebel rock", which is as good a tag as any. To the basic instrumentation of a rock band they add violins and accordion, but the outstanding characteristic of this music is the exuberant voice of Eugene H¸tz, often joined by anybody in the group who can raise a holler. These are songs that reach out to embrace you and then persuade you to dance like a fool. Dub the Frequencies of Love and My Strange Uncles From Abroad also display a melodic invention which is occasionally lost elsewhere in the headlong rush. Just skip the Fiddler on the Roof-style cringers, and this will make you smile idiotically. PETE CLARK
Smashing Pumpkins
Zeitgeist (Warners)
**
Long-term fans of Nineties grunge superstars Smashing Pumpkins will arrive at this "comeback" album feeling swindled before they even press Play. There may not have been a Pumpkins album for eight years, but this supposed reunion consists only of frontman and famed despot Billy Corgan with drummer Jimmy Chamberlain - the same pair who were involved in Corgan's more recent flop project, Zwan. Some of the songs are fine, That's the Way (My Love Is) and Tarantula standing out by combining layered guitars, strong tunes and Corgan's anguished mewl to exhilarating effect. Too often, though, he seems to be making a racket for the sake of it, using overwrought noise-making to disguise the holes at the heart of his band. One for the very faithful. DAVID SMYTH
JAZZ
Chick Corea and Bela Fleck
The Enchantment (Stretch)
****
Nobody is working harder to nullify the banjo's joke culture (What's a banjo player's most frequent request? "Big Mac and fries, please") than Bela Fleck. This young Hungarian-American virtuoso brings amazing fluency and lyricism to an instrument tortuously associated with plinking bluegrass, plunking country and clunking trad bands. His chamber-jazz duets here with US piano superstar Chick Corea sound as graceful and tonally well-balanced as any piano-violin recital. Fleck's fluency (Children's Song, A Strange Romance) and lilting swing (Brazil, Waltz for Abby) are phenomenal, while Corea is his usual dazzling self. Recently heard with vibraphonist Gary Burton, Corea is planning a European tour with Fleck. Like this impressive album, it's a combination not to be missed. JACK MASSARICK
WORLD
Oi Va Voi (V2)
***
Oi Va Voi are one of the UK's most eclectic bands. Their stylish debut album Laughter Through Tears married ethnic influences, klezmer, dance beats, and the vocals of KT Tunstall. This self-titled new one was recorded largely in Tel Aviv and once again shows the band's memorable melodic and song-writing skills. Opening track Yuri is an atmospheric tribute to Gagarin and Black-Sheep features their new vocalist Alice McLaughlin with Arabic strings. Eastern European influences infuse the brass-fired Balkanik, Hungarian folk vocals on Dissident and the plangent Spirit-of-Bulgaria, although the latter seems little more than an unfinished idea. Despite the diversity of material, however, the sound is always distinctively Oi Va Voi. They play the Scala on Monday. SIMON BROUGHTON
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
