The Verve: "Urban Hymns"(Hut)
More subtle than Oasis, more sublime than The Charlatans, more authentic than Ocean Colour Scene - The Verve's long overdue time is now. This record very nearly never got made, because The Verve had officially ceased to exist some time after their second album, A Northern Soul.
Whether through sheer bloodymindedness or an unshaken loyalty to their muse, they reconvened and set about the task of reclaiming rock's higher ground. Bitter Sweet Symphony, the track sampled from an orchestral version of a Rolling Stones song, made a surprise dawn attack on the soul, and although the Stones's publishers claimed all the royalties, they couldn't take the glory away from this summer's perfect pop moment. Now comes Urban Hymns, 76 minutes of genuine, heartfelt rock 'n' roll - not the "real ale" rubbish purveyed by Dadrockers of the world, but a ringing, resonant reminder that rock is not dead - it has only been flayed to within an inch of its life.
Urban Hymns restores the faith which has been so glibly invoked by the retro pretenders, and revives that long-dormant thrill in the soul which has been sedated by a Britpop overdose. Singer Richard Ashcroft is the determined leader of this assault group, and he attacks his task with courage and conviction, actually attempting to say something about modern life, rather than simply reducing it to easy, catch-all soundbites.
Sonnet and The Rolling People have all the identifying marks of rock 'n' roll - acoustic strumming, slide guitars, familiar chord progressions - but all the elements converge to create a swirling ocean of sound, as wide as the senses and as deep as the spirit. The Drugs Don't Work is a simply-structured acoustic anthem, sadly overpowered in the charts by Elton John's mawkish reworking of Candle In The Wind; it remains, however, a superb, soul-searching hit of honesty and vulnerability. Other songs like Neon Wil- derness, Lucky Man and Come On evoke bands of the past like The Rolling Stones and The Doors without sounding like secondhand copyists, while songs like Catching The Butterfly, Space And Time, and Weeping Wil- low prove that The Verve have a store of great songs.
Ashcroft's heroes have inherited the legacy of great rock 'n' roll - in their trustworthy hands, rock can really mean something once again.
By Kevin Courtney
Jazz
Bill Holman: "Brilliant Corners; The Music Of Thelonious Monk" (JVC)
As an arranger, Bill Holman has never stopped growing, so anyone expecting just a tasteful and intelligent recreation of the late Thelonious Monk's music here will be sorely disappointed.
Monk's astringent musical universe, with its tart harmonies, unexpected linear leaps and off-centre rhythms, demands more than the dubious homage of imitation; it needs the respect of a creative response. In this superb big-band setting, Holman gives it just that; his writing, always distinctive, seems to have been further liberated, rather than restrained, by this encounter - even Round Midnight, Ruby My Dear, the quirky blues Misterioso and, especially, the title track, emerge refreshed from it. Holman's individually linear way with sections, a mixture of antiphony and counterpoint, survives, enriched with something deeper and more adventurous.
By Ray Comiskey
Walt Weiskopf: "Song For My Mother" (Criss Cross)
The young tenor, composer and arranger, Walt Weiskopf, (he also doubles on flute and alto flute) leads a brilliant nonet on this exceptional release. Despite being confined to six wind and three rhythm instruments, the group's range and tonal palette are expanded by doubling from flute to baritone sax and bass clarinet in the reeds, with trumpet and trombone added in the brass.
In one of the most individual issues yet on the Criss Cross label, Weiskopf makes persuasive use of the possibilities this offers; there are no extravagant gestures, no self-indulgences and, most importantly, no dry stroll through the groves of jazz academe.
The results are vibrant, intelligent and garnished by resourceful soloists, among them the great Conrad Herwig (trombone); Jim Snidero and Scott Robinson (reeds); a splendid, little-known trumpet, Joe Magnarelli; Weiskopf himself and his pianist brother, Joe; a lovely flautist, Anders Bostrom; all sparked by the superlative Peter Washington (bass) and Billy Drummond (drums).
By Ray Comiskey
Ernie Watts/Pete Christlieb/Rickey Woodard: "The Tenor Trio" (JVC)
Made last March in Hollywood, this is a kind of musical High Noon for three of the fastest tenor gunslingers in the West. Watts, Christlieb and Woodard have long won their spurs and their styles are sufficiently close to give an extra bite to the duelling here.
It's not quite every man for himself; the material, mostly jazz originals that have become standards, is ideal, it's well arranged and the three tenors make a good tonal blend, but any time a soloist throws down the gauntlet he makes the others an offer they can't refuse. Unsurprisingly, then, the calibre is astonishingly high, with Watts - just that bit more willing to take chances - particularly impressive. So is the Gerry Wiggins-Chuck Berghofer-Frank Capp rhythm section, inspiringly supportive in an atmosphere which is a kind of creative combat minus the chaos.
By Ray Comiskey
Rock/Popular
Mariah Carey: "Butterfly" (Columbia)
Butterfly is a great title for an album by Mariah Carey. As a singer she has about as much substance as this most delicate of creatures and whatever substance she has is stretched beyond breaking point by her tendency to show off her six-octave range.
Nevertheless, Mariah has sold 80 million albums to date and Butterfly fits the formula, with pristine pop like the title song, dance tracks like Honey and a conscious attempt by the singer to tap into what she describes as her "R 'n' B roots". Then again, how many Rhythm 'n' Blues, rap or hiphop artists have you heard singing about how "we finished the Moet" before making love, as in The Roof? Likewise, in Breakdown, when she sings about "dying inside", Aretha Franklin she is not. Whenever You Call is much better, a relatively understated delight, in terms of Carey's lyric, vocal line and the arrangement. It's quite beautiful, in fact, until she begins to soar like a demented, well, butterfly. For Mariah Carey fans only.
By Joe Jackson
Bjork: "Homogenic" (Mother)
For a diminutive Icelandic singer with a strange voice, Bjork Gudmundsdottir sure makes a joyful, slightly irritating noise. It's not often that you put on a record and shiver at the sheer beauty and otherworldiness of the sound, but that's what happens when the lush arrangements and languid drum 'n' bass beats start invading your brain.
The cover features the Arctic diva herself dressed in Geisha/Guiana chic - styled by Alexander McQueen - and the music inside shows a similar cross-boundary sensibility, fusing the sparse programming of LFO's Mark Bell with the spacious orchestration of the Icelandic String Octet. Hunter is a daring drum 'n' bass bolero, Ravel meets Metalheadz in a sonic jungle, while State Of Emer- gency tingles with a hyperactive sense of wonder. Bachelorette is a cinematic theme for a single club girl, and Alarm Call is an exuberant shake of the senses, but the alien beats of Pluto are sure to cause a little discomfort. Bjork's weird, feral wail is a household sound by now, and her lyrics are - as usual - completely hatstand, but Homogenic shows she's still out there - somewhere.
By Kevin Courtney
Classical
Rostropovich and Britten: "Richter Plays Britten Russian Revelation" (Decca)
Benjamin Britten, no mean pianist himself, declared the late Sviatoslav Richter to be "the best pianist ever". Russian Revolution's new midprice recording of the composer's early Piano Con- certo comes from a 1967 concert. Derivative the music may be (Prokofiev haunts many passages) but Richter makes its racy sparkle thoroughly infectious. In concert tapings from 1985 he proves a partner of visionary astringency for Yuri Bashmet in Lachrymae and Natalia Gutman in the Cello Sonata.
The composer's own 1961 recording of this is out again in Decca's mid-price Classic Sound series. Rostropovich and Britten are a dream-team duo. In Schumann (Stucke im Volkston) and Debussy (Cello Sonata), too, their playing is incomparable, irreplaceable.
By Michael Dervan
Arnaldo Cohen: "Liszt: Piano Music, Vol 1" (Naxos)
Jeno Jando: "Liszt: Piano Music Vol 2" (Naxos)
Liszt, the transcriber (of Saint-Saens's Danse macabre), the operatic fantasiser (on Meyerbeer's Huguenots) and the harmonic adventurer (in a clutch of strange, late, exploratory pieces) is the subject of the first volume of Naxos's new series of the complete piano music.
Arnaldo Cohen relishes the bravura, especially in a riotous solo version of Liszt's own Totentanz, but loses some of the mystery of the later pieces. On Volume 2 Jeno Jando makes a respectable showing in the Transcendental Studies but doesn't really reveal what makes these daunting pieces so special in the history of piano playing. For an extra fiver, in spite of poor sound, you can get that experience abundantly from Lazar Berman on Melodiya.
By Michael Dervan
Cleveland Chorus and Orchestra/Pierre Boulez: "Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Tristia" (DG)
Pierre Boulez's repertoire as a conductor is mostly of the 20th century. Before the earliest pieces of Mahler, Debussy and Ravel, you'll find some Wagner, Beethoven, Handel and, of course, Berlioz. What excites Boulez about the
Symphonie fantastique is the composer's treatment of the orchestra rather than the novelty and freedom of his romantic imagination. The Cleveland Orchestra is certainly a responsive instrument for Boulez's vision, but the results are stiff, stilted, unfeeling. The orchestral mechanism moves smoothly and with precision but a core musical message has been lost. Nor does Boulez get to the heart of the three pieces with chorus which Berlioz collected under the title Tristia in 1852.
Michael Dervan
Single Of The Week
The Rolling Stones: "Any- body Seen My Baby?" (Virgin) OK, move aside Ashcroft - Jagger's back, and he's looking for his baby. Actually, The Verve have nothing to fear from their wrinkly ancestors, and the Stones's new single - a taster for their upcoming Bridges To Babylon album, is about as radical as Tina Turner's hairdo. In their favour, however, these grandads can still rock harder than most bands half their age.
By Kevin Courtney
