This week’s album releases

Published on 18/03/2012 00:00

Hue And Cry|Port Of Morrow|Sidney Bechet|Rura|Francesco Barsanti

POP

Hue And Cry

Hot Wire

Blairhill Records BLAIR7 £11.99

Rating: ***

Does Pat Kane have soul coursing through his veins? Whatever it is appears to be bloodier than blood, as he primps and preens through the latest collection from he and brother Greg, whose keyboards call the tune throughout. It is all very impressive, but perhaps too heavily scored to fully appreciate Pat’s way with words, with a whiff of Lalo Schifrin wafting from every tune. It is all unabashedly old school, with the roots showing back to the 1970s – songs such as If You Want Changes, Summer Head and Fail You Better gyrating in the haze of blue-eyed soul.

CS

Download this: Fail You Better, Everything Breaks

The Shins

Port Of Morrow

Sony, £12.99

Rating: ****

James Mercer’s main band may be short on personnel, but this fourth album certainly suggests there is no shortage of playful pop ideas, with a dark twist or two. The Shins belong to a modern American musical tradition that can be traced back to Mercury Rev and Jellyfish, and songs such as Fall Of 82 burst with murky melody and a little mischief.

The title track is the musical equivalent of a squidgy custard pastry, with squelching synths underpinning crisp guitar and falsetto. Tasty and a little messy, the album delivers on the promise of opener The Rifle’s Spiral with considered interest.

CS

Download this: Port Of Morrow, Simple Song

JAZZ

Sidney Bechet

The Complete American Masters 1931-1953

Universal 533616-7, £24.99

Rating: ****

The legendary New Orleans-born clarinettist and soprano saxophonist is the subject of the fourth and final superb new limited-edition boxset from Universal. This collection isn’t comprehensive – the recordings he made after settling in France in June 1950 aren’t included, so Midnight In Paris fans won’t find Si Tu Vois Ma Mère – but it is an impressive 14-disc set and spans his career from 1923 (though he first recorded in 1931) to 1950.

Alison Kerr

Download this: Georgia Cabin, Blue Horizon

FOLK

Rura

Break It Up

Greentrax CDTRAX364, £11.99

Rating: ****

This is a brilliant but flawed first album by the five award-winning young Scots lads. The tunes on pipes, flute, fiddle and guitars are tasty, acute and imaginatively fearless, but the three songs feel lyrically and vocally drab. The seven instrumentals are very deftly played, in dynamic arrangements that sustain and grow the listener’s excitement. But the joy is leached away by two self-penned, misanthropic, deadbeat descriptions of failed relationships, including the eponymous one. The ensemble, however, is admirable and creatively characterful – and easily reward your ears’ attention.

Norman Chalmers

Download this: Sorley’s

CLASSICAL

Francesco Barsanti

6 Concerti Grossi

Dynamic DM8023, £7.99

Rating: ****

In 1714, Luccan musician Francesco Barsanti moved to London. A flautist and oboist in Handel’s orchestras, he established a reputation as a composer, particularly when he moved to Edinburgh, including making early arrangements of Scottish folk songs.

In this recording he is reworking music by Giovanni Battista Sammartini, reinterpreting recently composed music in a style that is much lighter, springier and more “galant” than the heavier concerti grossi of Handel.

Alexander Bryce

Download this: Concerto No 1 In G Major: Allegro