London,

CDs of the week

Expectation: Hard-Fi are becoming great

Skilful: Kano brings out his best quickfire rhymes

Popular: The third album from Aqualung, Memory Man

Jazz devotion: Spike Wells and his gang

Vibrant: But Santiago de Cuba's recordings are under-powered

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• Read Richard Godwin's music blog

New albums from Hard-Fi, Kano and Spike Wells are among the top CDs of the week.

POP
Hard-Fi
Once Upon a Time in the West (Atlantic)
****
Initially dismissed as chavs - despite the open-minded sophistication of their Brit- and Mercury-nominated debut Stars of CCTV - Staines quartet Hard-Fi find themselves facing higher expectations this time round. Happily, from the moment Suburban Knights bursts in with a stentorian chorus, an epic, widescreen production expands a musical world already as catholic as The Clash's. The richer sound gives the whistleable, sting-laden Watch Me Fall Apart and Help Me Please (about the death of singer Richard Archer's father) added gravitas. Elsewhere, We Need Love is the prettiest of pop songs, Tonight is embellished by a melodica part Augusto Pablo himself would have been proud of, while Television is pop punk supreme. Hard-Fi are becoming great. JOHN AIZLEWOOD

Kano
London Town (678 Recordings)
****
Since scoring a hit in 2005 with his debut single, Typical Me, Kano has proven himself to be a skilful, intelligent rapper whose lyrical and musical aspirations go beyond the east London grime scene from which he sprang. His second album shows more poise and variety than ever. Buss It, featuring an appearance from respected dancehall artist Vybz Kartel, features a beat so insanely erratic, it's hard to believe that anyone could weave a rap around it. But Kano does, and the energy of his Jamaican guest inspires him to bring out his best quickfire rhymes. He veers alarmingly towards the realm of cheese with This Is the Girl featuring Craig David. But Feel Free, with Damon Albarn, is another cracker, dealing effortlessly with the challenge of broadening Kano's appeal while staying "street". CHRIS ELWELL-SUTTON

Aqualung
Memory Man (Columbia)
****
In the UK, Southampton-born Matt Hales was known solely for a song on a VW Beetle advert and was dropped by his record company after two albums. So he took his business to America, where constant touring has made the music he produces as Aqualung significantly more popular than plenty of big-name Brits. Now on a new label, this third album must surely win over our nation of Snow Patrol lovers; Hales has the same yearning falsetto and taste for a big climax. Glimmer has a folksy subtlety, but on standout tracks such as Pressure Suit and Garden of Love it's the louder, emotionally draining moments that show that mass acclaim is overdue. DAVID SMYTH

Jamie Scott & The Town
Park Bench Theories (Polydor)
**
These days being called James is a prerequisite for soggy, lovey-dovey acoustic warblers. This one's also got a touch of Scott Matthews about him. Park Bench Theories is a collection of lukewarm guitar-based lamentations about the 25-year old's break-up with a ladyfriend. Little wonder she scarpered if he crooned about weeping willows while she tried to get some shut-eye. Jamie cites Jeff Buckley and Stevie Wonder as influences but When Will I See Your Face Again is eerily Maroon 5, while Runaway Train's opening chords echo those M&S Food ads. However, the Home Counties chap is salvaged by the jazzy bounce of Lady West and Two Men's touching lyricism about friendship between OAPs (seriously, it's nice). All the same, I'll be sticking with Lidell and T. MARTHA DE LACEY

HIP HOP
Talib Kweli
Eardrum (Warner Bros)
***
Much has been made of recent urban/pop collaborations. There's been Dizzee and the Monkeys, Lily Allen and Common; Jay-Z even coaxed Chris Martin away from his vegan lasagne. Brooklyn's Kweli adopts the trend with a third record featuring oodles of hot producers (Pete Rock), urban guest vocalists (Kanye West), samples from Al Green and Elton John and duets with Norah Jones and Justin Timberlake; one track even has a youth choir. Kweli also does a Will Smith on Oh My Stars, bringing in his offspring. He succeeds particularly with Hostile Gospel Pt.1's hip-poppiness and Hot Thing's smoky pulse. But with a whopping 19 tracks, the anti-drug, anti-ammo lyrical pearls sometimes jostle for space. MARTHA DE LACEY

SOUL
Ayo
Joyful (Polydor)
***
Ayo's story is remarkable. She was born in Germany to a Nigerian father and a Romanian gipsy mother who became a junkie. She ended up in foster homes when her parents divorced; once she was even kidnapped by her father. Which is perhaps why her music is so calm and smooth - after that kind of upbringing you're unlikely to want to rock hard. Ayo's forte is the glistening folk-soul of the beautiful Down On My Knees and Without You. She's been compared to Sade and Corinne Bailey Rae, although she probably needs to find a few more tunes and hooks to rise above the creamy surface. Still, there's enough here (including the delicate power of her voice) to suggest Ayo could be that rare thing - a German R&B star. PAUL CONNOLLY

JAZZ
Spike Wells, Gwilym Simcock, Malcolm Creese
Reverence (Audio B)
****
Spike Wells, back from retirement after playing drums with a whole galaxy of British and American stars, describes Gwilym Simcock as the best pianist he has ever worked with. He's now a priest, while Simcock and bassist-producer Creese are former choristers. All this may explain the album title, but devotion to jazz is their more likely key. Simcock is certainly on message. Young, eclectic and classically schooled, he plays with rare jazz feeling, exploring strong standards (I Hear a Rhapsody) and shapely originals (And Then She Was Gone) with elements of Bill Evans's delicacy, Herbie Hancock's momentum and Keith Jarrett's spontaneity. His best may be yet to come but everything he needs is already at his fingertips. JACK MASSARIK

FOLK
Linda Thompson
Versatile Heart (Rounder)
*****
The grande dame of English folk is back with her first solo album in five years and it's her best yet. Fashionably Late, 2002's follow-up to 1985's One Clear Moment, was good but Versatile Heart is spectacular which, given the quality of her collaborators, is understandable. Many of the 13 songs were written with her son by Richard Thompson, Teddy, while other contributors include Tom Waits and Rufus Wainwright. The title track's warm, autumnal pop-folk is reminiscent of Teddy Thompson's finest work and is lent gravitas by Linda's rich, grainy voice, while Waits's Day After Tomorrow, the tale of an American soldier in Iraq, is heart-stopping. The album offers no quick fix - you need to spend some quality time in its company. It'll be time well-spent. PAUL CONNOLLY

WORLD
Music from Santiago de Cuba
The Cradle of Son (Havana Masters)
**
Santiago de Cuba is the heartland of Cuban dance music. This disc showcases seven bands from Santiago which will be playing at Floridita in London over the next few months. These include the recently formed all-female group Morena Son and Los Guanches, who open the proceedings with a mellow danzon. But the standout artists are María Ochoa, a splendid veteran singer and sister of Eliades Ochoa, currently the most famous of Santiago's musicians, and the Septeto la Botija with strong influences from the island of Haiti. Unfortunately for such vibrant music, the recordings are under-powered and the production is sloppy. Much better to hear the bands live with a daiquiri and the right vibe. SIMON BROUGHTON

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