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CDs of the week

Rufus Wainwright: Deliciously over-the-top

U2: A re-mastered Joshua Tree

Various Artists: Familiar faces abound on Serve2

Gilad Atzmon: More considered, byt no less impassioned

Souad Massi: A warm, vulnerable intimacy

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• Off the record

Rufus Wainwright's Carnegie Hall tribute to Judy Garland, U2's Joshua Tree sprouts once more and the distinctive Souad Massi in CDs of the week.

POP
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Does Judy at Carnegic Hall (Polydor)
****
If you couldn't get a ticket for Rufus Wainwright's Judy Garland tribute show at the Palladium in February (or at Carnegie Hall, where he and Garland did it first), this two-disc live recording captures the joyful spirit of the undertaking. Leaving in his cheery banter ("We're not in Kansas anymore!") and occasional fluffed opening, it contains Rufus's deliciously over-the-top performances of vintage showtunes such as Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart, You Go to My Head and Over the Rainbow. Far from a singer in the classic style, those who don't already like his reedy voice won't be converted, and bigger fans may wish to immerse themselves fully by getting the DVD, also out Monday. DAVID SMYTH

U2
Joshua Tree Super Deluxe Edition (Island)
****
Broad, bold and unified, U2's fifth studio album catapulted them to the level at which they remain today. Twenty years on, The Joshua Tree sprouts once more, re-mastered (thus implying it didn't sound right first time) and, with typical U2 attention to detail and bank balance, reissued in four formats, which include everything from an essay by the Edge to a Paris concert on the box-set version's DVD. The real meat, though, remains the 11 original tracks, from the rumble of Where The Streets Have No Name to the brittle Mothers of the Disappeared. For the most part it stands up well. U2 would make better albums but none so important to their career. JOHN AIZLEWOOD

Various Artists
Serve2 (Hard Rock)
***
It is the time of the year for charitable thoughts, and here is a chance to spend money on a good cause - nothing less than the alleviation of hunger and poverty. Familiar faces abound on this rag-tag collection, put together by the Hard Rock Café, although the tunes come in versions you might not have heard before. Springsteen's The Ghost of Tom Joad was recorded live and husky in Dublin, while Dylan's The Ballad of Hollis Brown is from a 1963 show at Carnegie Hall. More interesting, perhaps, are contributions from lesser lights. Citizen Cope work up a fine woozy shuffle on 107 Degrees and The Hold Steady's Arms and Hearts has a world weariness that suggests hunger and poverty might always be with us. PETE CLARK

JAZZ
Gilad Atzmon
Refuge (Enja)
***
There's something about living in this land of compromise, orderly queues and gentle mickeytaking that gradually soothes firebrands who resettle here. Take Gilad Atzmon. "Music has become our refuge," says the dissident Israeli ex-soldier, novelist and altosax maestro. He still calls his quartet the Orient House Ensemble, but is writing more reflective, lyrical themes. With his A-team rhythm section of Frank Harrison, Yaron Stavi and Asaf Sirkis, plus trumpeter Paul Jayasinha on two tracks, his playing here is more considered but no less impassioned than before. Atzmon is blowing at Soho's Pizza Express club this weekend. JACK MASSARIK

WORLD
Souad Massi
Acoustic: Best of Souad Massi (Wrasse)
***
Souad Massi is a distinctive voice in Arabic music - a singer-songwriter who left her native Algeria to live in France and writes wistful and lyrical love songs. She has made a name for herself with three albums, notably Deb (2003) from which four of the 12 songs on this live album come. The appealing Arabic flavour of oud (lute) and darbouka percussion introduces the first song Denya Wezman (That's Life), although most of the rest are accompanied by Massi's soft acoustic guitar. While it's a shame to lose the instrumental variety of her studio albums, there's a warm, vulnerable intimacy about this set which Massi fans will enjoy. She plays at the Jazz Café on Monday. SIMON BROUGHTON

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