POP
Jennifer Lopez
Brave (Epic)
***
J-Lo descends from the starry heavens and condescends to walk her shapely butt around the block once again. For the first half of this record, you have to give serious consideration as to why she bothered. This is poppy R&B of the most inoffensive - and therefore pointless - stripe. The only consolation is that the production is so obviously expensive that you can take satisfaction in the fact that Brave cost more to make than you paid to listen. Then, Mile in These Shoes bursts forth, a song of breathtaking lyrical braggadocio that gets away with it by having a tune to stare out the words. A succession of properly dramatic vignettes follows, bringing the actress out of the singer as is the way it should be. Coming in next to last, the title track is a chest-thumping classic. PETE CLARK

Stereophonics
Pull the Pin (V2)
***
Business as usual for Stereophonics. In fact, you suspect it will always be business as usual for Stereophonics - this sixth album is almost interchangeable with its predecessors. This means their strengths remain, most notably Kelly Jones's sandpaper voice, their identity and calling card. Moreover, the lively Pass The Buck and near-acoustic Bright Red Star show that his two trademark songs - the cross rocker and the rueful ballad - are as strong and believable as ever. Naturally this also means their faults have not been purged: their unyielding, unbending and often dreary formula; Jones's willingness to settle for mundane rather than magical means; a fanatical fear of evolution, hardened since the dreadful Dakota single in 2005. Business as usual indeed. JOHN AIZLEWOOD

JAZZ
Billy Jenkins
Songs of Praise Live! (Babel Records)
****
Preacher's son Billy is an extremely irreverent live performer with anger-fuelled wit. Composer of such biting ballads as Bhopal, Donkey Droppings and Dancing in Ornette Coleman's Head, Lewisham's thrash-guitar satirist is also a shrewd talent scout. Iain Ballamy and Django Bates figured in his early Voice of God Collective, and altoist Nathaniel Facey is blossoming in the present line-up. Accustomed to 10-minute workouts with Tomorrow's Warriors, this driven youngster makes every note count during his brief solos here and the results are stunning. Trombonist Gail Brand, drummer Charles Hayward, tuba virtuoso Oren Marshall and Django's violinist brother Dylan Bates all add freshness to Billy's vocals. You'll be hooked. JACK MASSARIK

WORLD
Bedouin Jerry Can Band
Coffee Time (30IPS)
****
A band of Bedouin musicians from the Sinai desert with songs about camels, coffee and beautiful girls. This fine, dozen-strong group accompany themselves on flute, rubab fiddle, the delicate simsimiyya lyre which dates back to pharaonic times plus ammunition boxes and fuel cans that date back to the Six Day War. The Bedouin are famous for their hospitality and it's easy to imagine sitting down with these guys round a fire and enjoying these rousing songs till late in the night. The track Black Coffee is particularly good in this respect and comes complete with the sound of a wooden coffee grinder. The group promises coffee at their Ramadan Nights performance at St Luke's next Tuesday. I hope they can do a version without sugar. SIMON BROUGHTON