London,

CDs of the Week

Sigur Ros

Donna Summer

The Rascals

Wayne Escoffery

Natacha Atlas

Among this week's pop offerings: Sigur Ros create a world of their own, Donna Summer shows off her floaty moans and The Rascals sound just a little too similar to the Arctic Monkeys.

SIGUR ROS
With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly(EMI)
****
From the idiosyncratic title to the bare-buttocked artwork, it's clear Sigur Rós live in an imaginative world of their own. The unfamiliarity of the Icelandic tongue also adds to the pleasantly alien feel. Sigur Rós do not subscribe to the conventional verse/chorus/middle eight structure of pop. They tend to go with their own flow but among the strangeness what makes this album worthwhile is the beautiful and instinctive quality of the melodies. Gobbledigook may ride in on a wave of tub-thumping percussion and a array of woodland voices but it is a cracking song. Ara Batur is the centrepiece, featuring the London Sinfonietta and London Oratory Boys' Choir. It rises to a climax that will take your breath away like an Icelandic morning.
PETE CLARK

DONNA SUMMER
Crayons (RCA)
***
Donna Summer's floaty moans once defined disco but she hasn't released a studio album for 17 years, which explains the struggle to find a clear identity on her comeback. The single, I'm a Fire, a funky house number with a Latin swing, has already reclaimed her rightful place at the top of the US dance charts. Elsewhere she tries acoustic balladry (Sand on My Feet), Cher-style robotic vocals (Stamp Your Feet) and reggae dancehall (the title track) with mixed results. Though she often sounds out of date and out of touch, the tunes are mostly strong and the slick R&B of Science of Love and standout track The Queen Is Back have something worthwhile to offer those too young to remember I Feel Love.
DAVID SMYTH

THE RASCALS
Rascalize (Deltasonic)
***
Of all the Arctic Monkeys clones scrambling for attention, The Wirral's Rascals have perhaps the greatest claim to legitimacy, since singer Miles Kane shares Last Shadow Puppets duties with Monkey troop leader Alex Turner. Even so, there's a sense that the attention lavished on Kane's hobby band has overly inflated expectations for the Rascals' debut, not least since Kane's vocals, all northern twang, are indistinguishable from Turner's. The trio are a perfectly adequate indie group but when they edge away from the Arctic Monkeys template, their almost psychedelic jingle-jangle echoes Shack and The Coral. The sophisticated The Glorified Collector and Out of Dreams show undeniable potential but Rascalize is too little, too soon.
JOHN AIZLEWOOD

WAYNE ESCOFFERY
Hopes and Dreams (Savant)
****
This thirtysomething south London expat is one of the very few Brits to have cracked New York's premier league. A quite brilliant tenorist and composer, he is part of the Mingus Dynasty sax section and his all-star US crew here includes trumpeter Tom Harrell and drummer Lewis Nash. Wayne Escoffery's fine originals (The Sake of It) gain fresh ensemble colours from the vibraphone virtuoso Joe Locke, who visits Ronnie Scott's early next month. In no way overshadowed, Wayne waxes particularly strong on Love Walked In, snaking powerfully around its 7/4 beat. He's a prophet without honour only in his own homeland.
JACK MASSARIK

NATACHA ATLAS
Ana Hina (World Village)
****
For those used to Natacha Atlas from her work with Transglobal Underground, this album will come as a surprise. There are no loping drum loops or synthesisers but classical strings, plucked oud, ney flute and Arabic percussion in an acoustic ensemble. The title track, Ana Hina (I'm Here), is newly composed but many songs, such as the romantic opener Ya Laure Hobouki with its swooning strings, are Arabic favourites popularised by singers such as Fairuz and Abdel Halim Hafez. The exception is a slow, stripped-down version of Black Is the Colour for voice, piano and strings. There's restraint and clarity in the instrumental arrangements, which means the focus is on Atlas's Arabic vocals. She plays with the Mazeeka Ensemble at Pigalle on Tuesday.
SIMON BROUGHTON

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