MUSIC ZONE
Saurabh & Gaurav
Tracey Horn — Love And Its Opposite (Merge)

After debuting with Marine Girls in the early 1980s and releasing a solo mini-album in 1982, Tracey Horn formed Everything But the Girl with husband Ben Watt, and they enjoyed a major hit in the 1990s with the Todd Terry remix of Missing. The distinctive voice of Thorn’s almost effortless vocal grace has been a compelling part of the musical landscape for nearly 30 years. Her latest Love And Its Opposite addresses the warfare of middle age with empathy and a degree of ironic drollness. The 10 tracks, eight originals and two covers, may be universal in sentiment, but Thorn pins down the specifics, tackling life’s big passages from marriage to divorce to parenthood to menopause. Oh the Divorces is a clear-eyed account of friends and neighbours splitting up, and both Long White Dress and Kentish Town express a long-held antipathy towards marriage: "I found the church where you wed, and I stood where you stood," she sings about visiting her parents and her past. Love & Its Opposite is most affecting when she’s trying to find new love to replace the old. On Singles Bar, whose subject matter makes it the riskiest track here, she details her preparations: a wax, a manicure, taking off her ring, in matter-of-fact lyrics and casually straight vocals. Some tracks may dip into generic mid-tempo dance-floor fodder, notably Why Does The Wind, but overall this is up there with some of Thorn’s best work since Everything But The Girl.

Best track: Singles Bar

Worst track: Late In The Afternoon

Rating: ***

Marina & The Diamonds — The Family Jewels (Atlantic)

Graeco-Cambrian pop princess Marina Diamandis came to prominence after coming in a strong second on the BBC Sound of 2010 poll list, on the strength of a number of singles released throughout 2009. Marina’s debut is full of infectious melodies, bright sounds and fresh, delicious hooks. The album is a fun sounding record of animated moments. We get the pop-punk ska of Girls and the uber shiny pop of the Abba-esque Shampain where she recasts Francis Bacon’s famous lines about sham-pain/champagne in a frothy three minutes of camp pop. Showing off her keen interest in American culture, the highly polished flagship song Hollywood stands out from the rest. From the very witty lyrics, "Oh my god, you look just like Shakira, no, no, you’re Catherine Zeta, Actually, my name’s Marina" to the very catchy chorus, it becomes clear to see how this song fits itself nicely into the category of clever song writing. The lyrics are perhaps the most striking string of Marina’s bow. "Look like a girl but I think like a guy" she professes, probably aware of her inevitable, commercial role in the media. The highlights of Jewels that shine brightest reside in its beginning and end, including Oh No! and Rootless, a rewarding, slower moment of choral coos and ample amount of harpsichord, "Running with my roots pulled up / Caught me cold so they could cut / What there was left of love / I’m rootless, I’m rootless."

Best track: Hollywood

Worst track: Hermit The Frog

Rating: ***

Stone Temple Pilots — Stone Temple Pilots (Atlantic)

Stone Temple Pilots’ newest eponymous record is said to mark the beginning of a new chapter for them, one in which frontman Scott Weiland is free of the drug addiction and one where band is free from the pressure of being cheaply tagged as Pearl Jam rip-off. Album opener Between The Lines is a fast-paced rocker that mines the same hard-edged pop territory as bands like Cheap Trick and, on their most recent effort, Pearl Jam. Take A Load Off and Huckleberry Crumble quickly follow and return the band to the mid-tempo groove-digging for which they are best known. As a vocalist, Weiland is as strong as ever, both when belting out huge choruses like in days of yore on Fast As I Can and Bagman or when rolling out a remarkably competent croon and falsetto on Dare If You Dare. Hickory Dichotomy strays from the signature sound and, quite refreshingly, stands out as one of the album’s highlights while First Kiss On Mars allows Weiland to turn in a Bowie-esque vocal performance. As it stands, Stone Temple Pilots is a solid, fun, passably entertaining record, a strong enough comeback that probably won’t push millions of units or set the airwaves ablaze, but which will, for the most part, connect with their fans.

Best track: Hickory Dichotomy

Worst track: Maver

Rating: **

Album of the month
The Claudia Quintet — Royal Toast (Cuneiform)

The Claudia Quintet keeps discovering its own jazz genre, flirting with the cinematic, ambient chamber music, classical influences and jazz, to make a great mixture of rhythmic, melodic and atmospheric pleasure. The stellar band includes leader John Hollenbeck on percussion, Ted Reichman on accordion, Chris Speed on clarinet and tenor saxophone, Matt Moran on vibes, Drew Gress on bass, and Gary Versace guest starring on piano. On Royal Toast, its fifth album, the quintet blends in seamlessly, that brings the sound back to more familiar jazz terrain. Every tune is a little compositional gem, full of unexpected twists and turns, long melodic lines, and tight arrangements. Smears of saxophone over light and fast percussion usher in Paterna Terra building to an intense feel with swirling accordion gaining in tempo throughout. Sphinx, on the other hand, brings very distinct associations to mind, which Hollenbeck followed through Egypt to African rhythmic influences. Keramag is The Claudia Quintet you know and love, with its unique colour of accordion and vibraphone. The serpentine Ted Verses Ted leads without pause into Reichman’s solo entry on the rhythmically morphing Armitage Shanks. Later Mitchell’s delicate, minimalistic piano provides the bridge into Ideal Standard with its long, lyrical melody lines. The album closes with the elegiac For Frederick Franck, homage to the Dutch-born painter, sculptor and author who died in 2006 at the age of 97.

Best track:`A0 Keramag

Worst track: Drew With Drew

HOME