On the record (From Dudley News)

On the record

7:00am Saturday 4th July 2009

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Another week, another debut from an electro singer. But can La Roux's first offering compare to Little Boots or Lady GaGa? Elsewhere, there are strong albums from Lenka, Kish Mauve and a storming soul compilation from the Stax vaults.

La Roux - La Roux.

When the book is closed on 2009, the section entitled 'pop music' will be dominated by extravagant-looking females and 1980s synthesisers. From across the pond we had Lady GaGa, and closer to home came the uprising of Little Boots, Florence And The Machine and Bat For Lashes. Enter La Roux's Elly Jackson. While it may be easier to give her self-titled debut a miss - been there, done that - it would also be a mistake. In For The Kill is already established as a club anthem and needs no introduction, but in Quicksand, Bulletproof and I'm Not Your Toy she showcases an ear for sparse, leftfield rhythms and a voice which, if not comforting, is always engaging.

Rating: 7/10 (Review by Rory Dollard).

Various - Cream Ibiza: Eddie Halliwell/Sander Van Doorn.

As an experience in musical osmosis for credit-crunched unfortunates unable to get to the best party island in the Balearics, and as a useful refresher course for intrepid danceheads who still can, Cream Ibiza offers the season's key tracks condensed into two CDs of aural sunshine, courtesy of big-name DJs Eddie Halliwell and Sander Van Doorn. Superclub Cream has become a super brand with the latest instalment in its hugely popular compilation range, offering such delights as the essential Spencer and Hill reworking of Paul van Dyk's seminal For An Angel, Pryda's Lift and some ingenious remixes of tracks by Faithless and Depeche Mode.

Rating: 6/10 (Review by Patrick Gates).

Lenka - Lenka.

After a successful acting career in her native Australia, and an equally fruitful stint as singer with atmospheric group Decoder Ring, Lenka decided to go it alone with a solo career. But no, come back. Anyone thinking this is a typical Aussie-actress-turned-singer-type affair will be disappointed - or quietly pleased, perhaps - with Lenka's offering. Mixing the eclecticism of Feist, Regina Spektor and Lily Allen, she still manages to keep her own unique voice. Lead single The Show is typically radio-friendly, and while she might have an interesting past, on the strength of Anything I'm Not and Like A Song, her future could much more intriguing.

Rating: 7/10 (Review by Andy Welch).

Kish Mauve - Black Heart.

London boy-girl dance-pop duo Kish Mauve has been on the scene for a few years now, perhaps most famously as the brains behind Kylie Minogue's hit 2 Hearts a couple of years back. Debut album Black Heart sticks fairly consistently and competently to a conventional upbeat pop formula, with big synthy choruses and a sprinkling of distorted guitar for added grunt. The moodier songs on the second half of the album are a little more interesting, with the closing I Love Your Rock'n'Roll sounding not a little like early Spiritualized.

Rating: 7/10 (Review by Steve Kerr).

William Fitzsimmons - Goodnight.

American folk singer William Fitzsimmons deals with the breakdown of his parents' marriage on this tender acoustic album, originally released in 2006. His gentle, yearning vocals sometimes resemble those of Sufjan Stevens, but despite his tag as a multi-instrumentalist he lacks his contemporary's kaleidoscopic vision. However, a few tracks feature an electronic undercurrent buried in the production, coming on like a sleepier relative of the Postal Service. Occasionally the album slips into excess sentimentality, as on the cringeworthy You Broke My Heart, but for the most part Fitzsimmons avoids hand-wringing to create a likeable album that doesn't get bogged down in its deeply personal themes. More pleasantly diverting than perfect, there's plenty to like here nonetheless.

Rating: 6/10 (Review by Simon Harker).

Priscilla Ahn - A Good Day.

Priscilla Ahn is a 25-year-old singer-songwriter from LA via a Pennsylvanian sleepy hollow. The fact she's signed to jazz imprint Blue Note and that her voice at time resembles Norah Jones might be misleading. She's no jazzer, more a quirky valley girl with an ear for a tune and a knack for writing personal, entertaining lyrics. Opening track Dream, with looping backing vocals and fragile guitar, is beautiful, while the ukulele ditty of Find My Way Back Home is another clear highlight. Where A Good Day falls down, however, is in some of its more syrupy production - notably on Astronaut and Wallflower - which undermines the quality of Ahn's stunning voice and deft writing.

Rating: 7/10 (Review by Andy Welch).

The Proclaimers - Notes And Rhymes.

Having danced along in a hundred dingy nightclubs to an 'ironic' - or is that post-ironic? - DJ playing (I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles, it is hard to know just how serious one should take a new Proclaimers album. Are they one-hit wonders? Misunderstood Celtic troubadours? The Krankies with acoustic guitars? Disappointingly, a listen to their eighth studio record sheds little light on the dilemma. At times the subject matter is overtly political, with unemployment, capitalism and war all tackled. But the unflinchingly lightweight backing, which positively defines the word twee, along with by-numbers fillers like Love Can Move Mountains, ensures a mixed message.

Rating: 4/10 (Review by Rory Dollard).

Ebony Bones - Bone Of My Bones.

Prodigiously talented former soap star and fashion iconoclast Ebony Thomas, now in her one-woman band Ebony Bones incarnation, launches an accomplished, self-assured, kaleidoscopic debut album. While her vision is singular, it borrows heavily from respectable sources, including early '80s post-punk (especially Bow Wow Wow) and MIA (on the dense, polemic tracks like We Know All About You and In G.O.D. We Trust). Bone Of My Bones is rarely as challenging or musically interesting as its well-chosen influences, however. A little derivative, but Ebony Bones has more than earned her 15 minutes of pop fame.

Rating: 7/10 (Review by Steve Kerr).

Sarah McLachlan - Closer: The Best Of Sarah McLachlan.

For fans of Sarah McLachlan, there are few who won't find the beginning of this album dated, the middle happily familiar and the end slightly embarrassing. Beginning with late Eighties number Vox, she enters Kate Bush synthesiser territory, before thankfully leaving and moving into the Nineties where she begins her fight for gothic rock/folk fame with The Path Of Thorns and Into The Fire. Things are looking up with the hits from her third album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, including Hold On, before numbers from her fourth album Surfacing confirm why it went straight to No 1 worldwide. For newcomers, don't let this be the only McLachlan album you buy. Mirrorball, her 1999 live album, is a far better measure of this great songwriter.

Rating: 7/10 (Review by Sarah O'Meara).

Various - Stax: The Soul Of Hip Hop.

When hip hop emerged from either coast of America in the late 1970s, it was about the freshest sound music had heard since the advent of rock'n'roll three decades earlier. Young black Americans had finally found their voice. Of course, musical movements don't spring up from nowhere completely, and this exciting new music borrowed heavily from funk and soul, quite literally in many cases, with the use of samples. This album explores the archives of legendary soul label Stax to find 14 tracks sampled elsewhere, such as Booker T & The MGs' Melting Pot, which Big Daddy Kane used on Another Victory, and Williams Bell's I Forgot To Be Your Lover, which has been restyled by Ludacris, Dilated Peoples and Jaheim. One for the crate-digger and casual fan alike.

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Andy Welch).

Singles by Andy Welch.

:: Lady GaGa - Paparazzi.

A song about the lengths people will go to for paparazzi coverage is all well and good. But coming from Lady GaGa, who would probably sell her own mother for a column inch, it's a bit rich. And more than a bit boring too.

:: The Blizzards - Buy It, Sell It.

The Blizzards are newcomers to the UK, but they're positively massive in their native Ireland. It might take a bit longer to crack the UK in the same way, but this Feeling-esque pop isn't a bad way to start.

:: The Virgins - One Week Of Danger.

The New York band's self-titled debut album was released earlier this year and criminally didn't cause much of a stir. This loose, bar-room ditty - part Beck, part Dandy Warhols - is a great example of its contents.

On the road

Upcoming tours

:: Pet Shop Boys are touring in December. The veteran duo kick off in Glasgow on December 17, before playing Birmingham, Manchester and finally London on December 21. For details go to www.livenation.co.uk.

:: Hotly-tipped Florence And The Machine head out on tour in September, beginning on the 17th in Bristol, and ending in London on the 27th. For details, go to www.gigsandtours.com.

Undated Handout Photo of La Roux 's new album, La Roux. See PA Feature MUSIC MUSIC Reviews. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/Polydor. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature MUSIC Music Reviews.

Undated Handout Photo of Priscilla Ahn's new album, A Good Day. See PA Feature MUSIC MUSIC Reviews. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/Blue Note. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature MUSIC Music Reviews.

Undated Handout Photo of Lenka's new album, Lenka. See PA Feature MUSIC MUSIC Reviews. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/Columbia. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature MUSIC Music Reviews.

Undated Handout Photo of William Fitzimmons's new album, Goodnight. See PA Feature MUSIC MUSIC Reviews. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/Naim Edge . WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature MUSIC Music Reviews.

Undated Handout Photo of Sarah McLachalan's new album, Closer: The Best Of Sarah McLachlan. See PA Feature MUSIC MUSIC Reviews. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/RCA. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature MUSIC Music Reviews.

Undated Handout Photo of Lady GaGa's new single, Paparazzi. See PA Feature MUSIC MUSIC Reviews. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/Polydor. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature MUSIC Music Reviews.

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