A review of this week's pop and rock releases
CHRISTINA AGUILERA
Keeps Gettin' Better - A Decade of Hits
***
RCA
In 1992, when she was 12, Christina Maria Aguilera was one of the pop moppets in Disney's Mickey Mouse Club. She was in good company, high-fiving it alongside Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. Now pushing 30, and with a baby giving her something to think about, Aguilera has easily beaten Spears in the credibility race. The music here might be written by a standard team of hotshot US songwriters for hire, but Aguilera is a mistress of song ownership. She has also made some smart moves - connecting into her Ecuadorian roots, collaborating with the likes of Ricky Martin, Pink and Nelly - that prove her to be as sensible in business as she is in breaking out of the typical pop music mould. She also has a brilliant pop voice (Beautiful is rendered with a perfect-pitch blend of cheese and chastity) and a knack of toning down histrionics so that even the most tired of ears perk up. www.christina aguilera.com
TONY CLAYTON-LEA
Download tracks: Genie in a Bottle, Beautiful
DIDO
Safe Trip Home
Sony BMG
The lone astronaut on the album cover might fancy himself king of atmospheric re-entry, but Dido could be queen. Five years after the restless, break-up-centric Life for Rent and two years after Dido's father's death, Safe Trip Home ushers in a more mature Dido. Renowned producer/film composer Jon Brion (Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright) adds instrumentation (Dido playing quite a few), pitching arrangements in harmony with Dido's unflappable vocal style. Tracks avoid grief, opting instead for lyrically driven sidelong glances. Grafton Street, a nostalgic ode to her Irish father, has already generated buzz. The smooth sound and strong female themes central to Dido's appeal remain, but where it previously rendered some tracks generic, loss and maturity makes Safe Trip Home take human risks. www.didomusic.com
DEANNA ORTIZ
Download tracks: Don't Believe in Love, Let's do the Things We Normally Do, Burnin' Love
STEREOPHONICS
Decade in the Sun
V2
It's been 10 years since Kelly Jones's sandpaper tones first annexed our airwaves. With successful albums released bi-annually since their debut, Decade in the Sun is an apt title. Most tracks here continue to be a part of MTV Chart scenery. Fans of very popular rock will revel in this little black book of Stereophonics' radio conquests; others will dust off their debut and wonder why these ex-indie lads now prefer the middle of the road. You're My Star is the thoughtful newbie on the block, while tracks that showcase Jones's better lyrics (Local Boy in the Photograph) contrast with some notoriously nonsensical ones. Although much of this retrospective leans toward generic, it is testament to their staying power - and they're not bowing out anytime soon. www.stereophonics.com
DEANNA ORTIZ
Download tracks: Mr Writer, It Means Nothing, Dakota
DAVID BYRNE & BRIAN ENO
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Everything That Happens
You can hear the music of Talking Heads in many of today's new pretenders, most notably Arcade Fire. Having just finished working on the new Coldplay album and currently on the new U2 album, Brian Eno is even more ubiquitous today than he was in his Roxy Music era. This is the pair's first album together since 1981's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, and it is gorgeously unclassifiable. Byrne describes the sound as "folk electronic gospel" and, despite the occasionally muted delivery, this is a curiously uplifting affair. On the title track, Byrne sings about "a perfect freeway" where a car explodes over some gentle yet insistent tinkles. It's all a bit eerie, but in a good way. Strange Overtones sounds like classic Talking Heads, but with a dance- floor beat. Bang up to date on River, Byrne sings "A change is gonna come, like Sam Cooke sang in '63". Enthralling from start to finish.
BRIAN BOYD
Download tracks: River, Strange Overtone
TRACY CHAPMAN
Our Bright Future
Elektra
Two decades on from her breakthrough debut album, Chapman seems to have taken her foot off the socio-political commentary pedal and opted instead for a hybrid pop-blues sound. The title track here isn't as optimistic as it sounds; the lyrics talk about "our bright future is in our past" and somehow the "message" gets lost in the downbeat arrangement. There are some good moments here (Something to See, Sing for You), but there is also an AOR smoothness that all but robs the songs of their intent. Mixing folk and blues is always a balancing trick, but Chapman has watered down her sound so that nothing really comes through. As a result, some very good lyrics just drift off without first really connecting. Chapman can still craft a song, and her voice is as resonant as always, but she really needs to reconnect again with what brought her to our attention in the first place.
BRIAN BOYD
Download tracks: Sing for You, Something to See
CHAIRLIFT
Does You Inspire You?
Kanine
In 2009, don't be surprised if a hot new band from the US comes along every day of the year. Chairlift are the latest act to move into the frame, a three-piece originally from Colorado who moved to New York in search of fame, fortune and favourable reviews for their wonky dream-pop. They ended up with all three thanks to one of their tracks, Bruises, which was used to flog iPods. Bruises is a good pointer to Chairlift's charms, a place where slinky come-ons, quirky contours and gossamer-like cooing and sighing all come together. Vocalist Caroline Polachek does have a likable touch of the Liz Frazer and Björk to her, although the music does sometimes stray away from the right pitch as the album goes on. Nonetheless, tracks such as the noir-ish Earwig Town and Planet Health pack enough of a punch for you to put up with the subsequent meanderings. www.chairliftmusic.com
JIM CARROLL
Download tracks: Planet Health, Earwig Town
ARTHUR RUSSELL
Love Is Overtaking Me
Rough Trade
Here's yet another side to Arthur Russell, the boy from Iowa who became an important cog in the New York avant-garde and disco scenes in the 1970s and 1980s. Love Is Overtaking Me focuses on Russell's previously unheard penchant for folky pop. He's a pretty nifty singer-songwriter in the Nick Drake/Fred Neil mode. The tracks here are culled from the late performer's legendarily extensive archives. Russell was a performer who recorded much but released little during his lifetime, which means there could be more albums like this to come. All the better, because there's loads to admire in these streamlined recordings. Russell puts down wry, smart and gorgeously melodic lines about ennui, love and the untidy state of his flat. Even if some are obviously unfinished drafts, there's still considerable magic about.
JIM CARROLL
Download tracks: Hey! How Does Everybody Know?, I Couldn't Say It to Your Face
ANNMARIE O'GRADY
24 Hours
Niño Records
Second time round, Irish singer- songwriter AnnMarie O'Grady digs deeper beneath the surface and mines some fine seams where life's richer moments lurk. Her 2005 debut, Precious Lines, had a handsome array of original ideas
in the mix. 24 Hours sees a more mature O'Grady, confident to let the music do the talking, without ever succumbing to the temptation to colour in the gaps. It's a languid, unhurried mix that reinforces earlier comparisons with Aimee Mann. Alice circles the challenges of balancing emotional honesty and self-preservation with impressive restraint: a singular snapshot of a musician progressively nearing her target. Producer Malcolm Burn (a veteran of Iggy Pop, Emmylou Harris and Bob Dylan) must take credit for the atmosphere of urban retreat that pervades this confident, clear-headed collection. www.amogrady.com
SIOBHÁN LONG
Download tracks: Stand, Who Are They?
A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
A Place to Bury Strangers
Rocket Girl
By day Oliver Ackermann runs Death By Audio, a Brooklyn factory producing handmade, bespoke guitar effects pedals. By night he takes those pedals into battle as the frontman for the self-proclaimed "loudest band in New York". APTBS make heavy, gorgeous, bittersweet pop, one stinging and buzzing symphony of distorted fuzz after another. At times it sounds as if Kevin Shields had decided to remake Jesus & Mary Chain's Psychocandy. At other times, the three musicians put their heads down in search of moments of striking sonic beauty and bliss in the midst of their heart-of-darkness racket. What's probably most fascinating about APTBS is just how effective all that distortion turns out to be. While others might mine it for effect, Ackermann knows how to use it for emphasis. www.aptbs.com
JIM CARROLL
Download tracks: Don't Think Lover, To Fix the Gash in Your Head, I Know I'll See You
