We Had A Thing - Lisa Donnelly

As the opening track of Lisa Donnelly's We Had A Thing kicks in, you might start to think that you are merely in, say, Sara Bareilles territory. Not that there is anything inherently wrong in that, just that you fear you are in for 45 minutes or so of perfectly pleasant, but ultimately forgettable, Radio 2 music. But even if the lyrics in the opener (such as "open your heart and close your legs, they only want what makes them beg") don't tip you the nod that you're dealing with something else, the funky disco opening of the follow up track, Little Devil soon let you know that this is a whole different kind of ride.

Some might decry the sheer scope of different sounds on We Had A Thing, but when Donnelly can switch so effectively from the delightful up-tempo pop of Naturally to the blues sound of Stuck In A Rut (which reminded me of old favourite Matraca Berg) via the eastern sitar sounds of Blue it would be churlish to complain. And why should showing more invention in the space of one record than a lot of acts manage in an entire career count against her too much?

“Life takes a lifetime,” sings Lisa Donnelly in Naturally, so you've more than enough time to sit down and enjoy this stunning album.

A Little Happiness - Aimee Allen

According to her website, Aimee Allen is described as an “explosive, outspoken voice” which might confuse people who know her purely from her "Cooties" Hairspray turn, or indeed anyone who comes to her new album, A Little Happiness, blind, and hasn't had the pleasure of her "previous" (and largely unreleased career). After all the mostly acoustic and generally lilting pace of the album only just manages to stay this side of Jack Johnson banality.

Indeed one of her new found artistic aims is to "to get people in a good mood and show them life is to be enjoyed" (incidentally this aim was influenced to a certain extent by being the victim of an assault in the summer of 2008 that left her with a broken jaw and serious head injuries) band this album certainly goes a long way to reaching for those aims.

The lilting reggae-lite tones of the likes of Save Me and On Vacation are perfect summer tunes (the slightly off-kilter whistling on the former is disarmingly adorable - hopefully it's not "ghosted" by some bloke in the recording studio...) whilst the perky piano backing and the soulful chorus on Calling The Maker make for something rather wonderful indeed, probably resulting in the highlight of the album.

But really, whilst the quality does slip slightly on occasion there's little here that you wouldn't want to listen to over and over again. Some reviewers have labelled this as a perfect "summer" album but that, to me, would be to do it an injustice. Whilst it certainly would fit nicely on a hot summer's days out in the garden, I'd wager it's just the thing to perk you up in a cold winter's evening as well. As Allen reminds us, the world isn't perfect, but you'll love sharing it's imperfections with her whilst listening to this delightful album.

Ready For The Weekend - Calvin Harris

Most reviews that I have read of Calvin Harris follow up to the rather good I Created Disco have gone along the lines that last time out Harris was chasing the "cool" sound of the likes of LCD Soundsystem whereas this time around he's aiming right for the jugular of populism. Whilst I cannot see the argument that first time around Harris was aiming for anything else, it's certainly true that his stated ambition for his second album to make “stadium dance” music, certainly wasn't wide of the mark.

In places the album is distinctly simple in terms of its tunes but driving beats and cheesy hooks make Ready For The Weekend a shamelessly crowd-pleasing affair...at least for the majority of the album.

In all honesty, the tracks work in isolation. Few would cause you to leave the dancefloor when you're out on a Saturday night, but any more than two or three in the comfort of you own home and you're unlikely to stay amused for long. It doesn't help it either that the best track on here is his collaboration with Dizzee Rascal, whose lyrics may be as banal as Harris' but at least have a sense of mischievousness and fun that are lacking from Harris originals. And whilst Harris', erm, lack of a singing voice may be part of his charm, it doesn't half start to grate when you are subjected to it for any continuous length of time.

So whilst Harris has enough on here to keep those top 10 chart smashes coming (even if at times he comes dangerously close to sounding like the Vengaboys) it would seem that his natural position on your MP3 player is as an artist to dip into when you're in need of a big pop smash hit rather than put the whole album on your favourites list.

Guilty Pleasure - Ashley Tisdale

If Ashley Tisdale's 2007 debut, Headstrong, was exactly what you would expect from a Disney-pushed pop act then this follow up perhaps deserves to be tarnished with the same brush.

Yes, Tisdale is now attempting to prove that she's "grown up" (which shouldn't be difficult considering she's 23 now) and this introduces itself as the kind of lame "power pop" that gives, well, pop music a bad name.

As ever with these kind of things there are a couple of songs that are at least catchy and relatively memorable. Masquerade chugs along pleasantly enough with it's rock riffs and Hair is the kind of upbeat, but slightly odd, pop song that should be a big hit even if it's lyrical content (young Ashley seems to love how her boyfriend twirls her hair) is more suited to the 12 year old girls that this album is presumably targeted at than it is to me.

Of course where the album really falls down is the ballads; other than the slightly brave How Do You Love Someone - which may be a terrible song but at least has the guts to tackle something different lyrically (divorce) the rest just sail by on a stream of dullness.

And that's the crux of the matter; Tisdale has gone to great lengths to "grow up" but the whole product is unable to shake that "corporate" stench. Co-writes from Kara DioGuardi (Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood), Toby Gad (Beyonce, Fergie) and Diane Warren (erm, well just about everyone) simply highlight the desperation to hit the charts and the whole thing is completely devoid of any distinctiveness or imagination.

Last time around I said there Tisdale had a smattering of songs that could be hits in the right hands but that there was no evidence, as a whole, that Tisdale was that right vehicle. Her role in High School Musical might work in the short-term, but in the long-term it seems like I was right first time around.

Travelling Like The Light - V V Brown

Philosophical question of the day; is it possible to be a "pop" star without having any hits?

Stay with me, because I'm not just being obnoxious for the sake of it. It's because VV Brown, who comes with her fair share of hype, so far has had two singles fail to trouble the charts (Crying Blood and Leave) and one just scrape into the top 40 (Shark In The Water). Does the British public not know what's good for it, or is VV Brown quite rightly relegated to the status of an also ran along side the likes of La Roux, Little Boots (who for all the backlash has a top 10 album and two top 20 singles) and, yes, even Pixie Lott?

To be honest, it's probably a bit of both. Crying Blood and Leave! are decent enough singles, but aren't anything that can't be found better elsewhere. Things aren't helped by album opener, Quick Fix, being intensely irritating. And after an album's worth, Brown's 50's and 60's influenced style is really rather grating. And to be honest, despite the fact that Brown has a good voice and seems to be able to pen a decent enough tune, the whole things smacks of ticking a corporate box for a "pop" version of Amy Winehouse. And that need not necessarily be a bad thing when executed better than it is here, but nothing rises above the parapet enough to really draw you in.

As her version of This Charming Man on the B-side to Leave showed, someone would like you to think that VV Brown is cerebral and vital and bringing something credible to pop music. Take my word for it, she's not.

Jessie James - Jessie James

Sometimes I do things I'm not particularly proud of. Agreeing to watch Confessions Of A Shopaholic isn't one of them (regardless of the, ahem, reasons), but the soundtrack of that said movie did introduce me to Jessie James, through the track Blue Jeans. It was the kind of sassy, sexy pop tune that grabs my attention from time to time and made me anxious to check out more from where that came.

Well, I had to wait for a while, but finally James' debut album has hit the airwaves and despite some suggestions that James can be classified as a "country" singer this is a straight up pop album all the way (as evidenced by the Katy Perry co-writes on two tracks).

Opener Wanted sounds very much like Christina Aguillera, but thankfully like one of her better songs, whilst second track Bullet (one of the Katy Perry's) is everything a great pop song could be. It's catchy, slightly odd (the use of a banjo, for instance) and very difficult to get out of your head once you've listened to it once. In the space of three minutes it also seems to sum up what James is aiming for. And whilst "is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me" is certainly a cliche is strikes a playful note that adds to the entertainment on show.

The "country" element does, I suppose, show up on the delightfully slinky, almost Nashville Rap style, My Cowboy, whilst the likes of Big Mouth and Burn It Up are the kinds of songs that Pussycat Dolls would kill for (and no doubt take to the top of the charts for weeks).

Ok, so as is almost a prerequisite these days, the album sinks when there's some demographic-grabbing ballads and the album certainly starts better than it ends, but for a good two-thirds or so this really is a special pop album, packed full of catchy hits-in-the-making.

Of course it's easy to be cynical about things like this, and there would seem to be little doubt that Jessie James is shamelessly aiming for pop-superstardom but this cracker of an album should surely help her get there.

The Lost Get Found - Britt Nicole

If you're really paying attention to my ramblings on this site, you may recognise the name Britt Nicole. Her 2007 album Say It wasn't brilliant but it did have a smattering of top-quality pop singles so it wasn't without some anticipation that I gave her new effort, The Lost Get Found, a spin. Much like last time, if someone hadn't told me I'd have had little clue that this was "Christian" music - again Britt Nicole sounds a little bit like Avril Lavigne (back when people liked her) and Kelly Clarkson.

When this "sound" works, we get some pretty good pop tunes. How We Roll is a catchy, upbeat song, Headphones tries to channel the Timabaland effect to surprisingly good effect whilst Welcome To The Show had me hooked with it's carnival intro before hitting out with a heavy pop-rock drive. Best of the bunch, however, is the disco-tastic Like A Star, which would be out of place as a Kylie smash hit single.

Of course as with most things of this nature there is your fair share of pleasant but ultimately forgettable ballads (the one exception would be the really rather beautiful album closer Have Your Way) but if you take the good songs on their merits, there is enough here to please most pop fans.

The Dandy Warhols Are Sound - Dandy Warhols

With the money rolling in from THOSE telephone adverts, 2003's Welcome To The Monkey House was seen as The Dandy Warhols big attempt to become megastars, known for more than Bohemian Like You. As you'll be aware, that never panned out.

It was a mild success, but was largely ignored by those same people who waxed lyrical over their big hit. Like much to do with the Dandy Warhols, however, the whole project was mired in controversy. Mainly that the original mix that the band intended to release was deemed unsuitable for public consumption by their record company, who promptly got a shiny pop producer in (Peter Wheatley, who can count the Sugababes and Sophie Ellis-Bextor amongst his other "clients"), without any input from the band themselves.

Well now in 2009, the "original" mix (mixed by Russell Elavedo) has surfaced on the Dandy's own record label so we can all see how wrong the record company were...well that's the theory anyway.

The fact is that whilst the original mix obviously more clearly aligns itself to the intentions of the band, it's difficult to say that it's either markedly better than the album that hit the shops or that there's THAT much difference between the two. The original is perhaps a little less "shiny" than what was released six years ago, but its tempting to suggest that for once a record companies intervention produced the right result, however much that might disappoint the band themselves.

In the 2002 documentary Dig! Courtney Taylor-Taylor infamously declared “I sneeze and hits come out” but this "original mix" of the album perhaps definitively shows us that those of us who thought that the band treated their, you know, hits as mere novelties that somehow obscured what they really wanted...their credibility, were right all along.

Music For Men - Gossip

We live in a strange world. "Pop" musicians can get pilloried for having a huge unexpected hit on the back of an advert or being featured on a TV show or for having an "image" that overshadows the music. If you're a "serious" artist however, we'll merely pass on thanks that such attentions have brought your music to the wider audience that it deserves.

As you might gather then, I'm not a huge fan of Gossip. At best they are a perfectly serviceable "one hit wonder" band, with Standing In The Way Of Control being a rather good tune that completely overshadowed anything else on the album of the same name. And when you consider that, as far as I am concerned, the lead single from Music For Men, "Heavy Cross" was little more than a sub-par rehash of "Control" there doesn't seem much hope.

And indeed, there isn't.

At least with Rick Rubin at the production helm things sound clear, but that can't make up for some pretty uninspiring tunes. Those of you looking for anything new here might be more than a little bit disappointed. And in the final analysis I can't imagine that this will change anything in the world of Gossip. They, if indeed most people realise that there is more than Beth Ditto to the band, will still remain more famous for Beth Ditto than they will for their music. Which in some ways is a shame (Ditto does have a wonderful voice) but in other ways is entirely appropriate.

Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!

I bet you woke up this fine morning and thought "you know, the one thing missing from my music collection is a compilation of "a cappella" versions of Ben Folds songs."

What? You didn't?

Yeah, it seems like a pointless exercise doesn't it and there's no way at all that Mr Folds would invite college a cappella groups to send in their cover versions and then collect the best of them on a compilation CD is there?

What? He did?

Of course to those familiar with Folds' live concerts most will recognise that one of the highlights of the night is usually the bit where Folds orchestrates the audience singing along to Army so perhaps it's not THAT much of a surprise.

Your enthusiasm for this concept will of course depend on one of two things; you're either a big fan of Ben Folds (Five) or of a cappella music. If you're not one or the other turn away now. From my standpoint as the former, this has a curiosity value but little more than that for most of the album. There are occasions, like The University Of Chicago's take on Magic when you feel you're listening to something really special. The problem is that as I'm not in the latter of the two categories, there's only so much "Flying Pickets" I can take in one sitting.

In the end, this is periodically amusing if you're a fan of Folds, but you never really escape the feeling that there is no real need for what you are listening to to exist in a commercially available form. Despite Folds' protestations to the contrary, this is mere novelty.

Complete Me - Frankmusik

Thanks to his support slot on the recent UK dates by the Pet Shop Boys I've had the "pleasure" of seeing Vincent Frank, aka Frankmusik, twice in concert. Prior to this I'd not really got an opinion on him either way. He was just another one of those seemingly endless artists who seem hell bent on taking us back to 1985 with their take on electro pop. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing of course; that was just an observation.

I have to be honest and say that his live gigs didn't really grab me; yes there was a handful of catchy tunes but that was about it. Sadly, for me anyway, the album is pretty much the same in terms of the hit/miss ratio.

For every song that, however fleetingly, grabs me (such as When You're Around - which works perhaps DESPITE it's weird melding of Golden Brown) there's three or four which are pleasant but immediately forgettable.

As the disappointing chart position of number 26 for Better Off As Two showed (and it's failure to become a "hit" meant the album release was put back) the main problem is that whilst there is little on here that is offensive to listen to, there's also nothing that hasn't been done better by some of the other recent "electro pop" throwbacks. Unfortunately for Frank, he may well get lost in the shuffle. Although maybe that Holly Valance (shudder) cameo will push Confusion Girl towards the top of the charts...

Pet Shop Boys LIVE

As the Pet Shop Boys are a true rock’n’roll band, the Liverpool Summer Pops date of their Pandemonium tour featured a completely different set list from their Manchester date…well ok. It didn’t. But it was another good show and played well in the arena setting. The other thing of note was the “technical difficulties” at the start of the show which saw various bits of the opening song Heart blasted out irregularly. Oh and that the T-Shirt I bought kind of fits me. So once I’ve lost a few more pounds it should be just about perfect. Mind you, even if it hadn’t have been, I’ve long felt that the lack of a PSB T-Shirt in my wardrobe has been an oversight that needed correcting.

Jenny Lewis LIVE

Imagine my surprise when on holiday in New Orleans and a random detour, which was really out of the way for my hotel, leads us to the House Of Blues. “Ooh, I wonder what sort of gigs they’ve got on” was the cry and a quick look at the board resulted in a double take. Jenny Lewis? Tonight? We’re having some of that. Of course I could swear that I’d checked every New Orleans venue prior to the holiday and seen that no-one of any interest was on. Indeed I even knew that the delectable Miss Lewis was in the middle of an American tour and I’d bemoaned the fact that her itinerary missed anywhere I was. But hey. Maybe there is such a thing as fate after all. Either that or some form of reverse stalking is in effect.

Anyway, it was exciting to be going to a concert in foreign climes, even if my mate’s excited pronouncement that “for once both of us will be able to get schvizted at a concert” proved to be false. Because those peculiar American’s (w ho had two nights earlier asked for no ID as I drank the night away with a bunch of strippers) wouldn’t give my mate a wrist band to prove to the bar-staff that he was old enough to drink as he didn’t have any official identification. Bear in mind that the previous trip to the Strip Club had been to celebrate his THIRTIETH birthday. Still, I could drink, that was the main thing. Even if, when you think about it, I couldn’t even hand him my mate my drink when I went to the toilets lest he get arrested on the spot for impersonating an adult.

The support was the Heartless Bastards, who weren’t bad but in all honesty were neither here nor there. As for Jenny Lewis, well any regular reader of this page, or indeed anyone who has ever took the time to read this page even once, will know that I love her. So naturally I am biased. But this was REALLY good. In fact I would go as far as to say that this was the best form that I’ve seen her in. And I don’t say that just because she was wearing tight shorts. Maybe I’m just imagining it, but there was just something about it all that seemed, well, right. In a way that Jenny Lewis on a cold and wet night in Manchester just seems to have that little something missing when compared to Jenny Lewis on a sweltering and balmy New Orleans night. Quite why she chose to sing a little snippet of “Man In The Mirror” as her tribute to the recently dead Michael Jackson in the encore though is beyond me. Still, I could forgive Jenny Lewis almost anything.

Pet Shop Boys LIVE

It’s no secret that I think (know) that Pet Shop Boys are the finest British pop group of the last twenty-five years (if not of all time, but I’m not getting into that right now) and it warms my, ahem, heart, that their Outstanding Contribution award at the BRITS has seen something of a critical and commercial renaissance (witness the sold out O2 concert, at a capacity at 16,000) and, in my opinion, recent album Yes was their best since 1993’s Very. All of which boded well for a great night’s entertainment at the Manchester Apollo.

Ok, so £15 for a programme was more than a little bit excessive (even if it was obviously produced to the same exacting high standards that everything they do) but I suppose you’re not forced to buy it are you? And when the evening’s entertainment is as good as this was, you can forgive almost everything.

It’s difficult to imagine that a stage set which consists of little more than a few hundred cardboard boxes could be so entertaining, but these are no ordinary cardboard boxes. Well…no, they actually are ordinary cardboard boxes, but they do double as video screens, walkways, weapons…well you sort of get the idea.

If their last tour was decidedly a “hits” experience, the Pandemonium tour is slightly different. All the usual favourites make their appearances but thrown in were some surprising choices, some of which had never been performed live by the boys before. The problem with this was that whilst the die-hard fans (such as myself) appreciated the likes of Two Divided By Zero, Why Don’t We Live Together?, Kings Cross and lesser hits such as Love Comes Quickly and Jealously, those just in attendance for the hits may have been left slightly non-plussed, especially when some of these tracks were lumped together.

Still by the time the evening ended with the encore of West End Girls, few will have felt disappointed. The Pandemonium tour is another winning spectacle from the Pet Shop Boys and proves that there is plenty of life left in them yet.

Hands - Little Boots

Perhaps it shouldn't surprise me that the Little Boots "backlash" has kicked off before her debut album has even reached the shops. In fact, let's be honest, it kicked off before her debut single had even reached the shops...and then blew up when New In Town failed to reach the top 10. The problems seems to be as thus; the BBC voted her as the Sound of 2009, she's quite a pretty girl and the height of her ambition seems to be to make catchy pop songs in a world where "pop" is still a dirty word.

Well no one seemed to pour as much vitriol into slamming 2008's "Sound" winner (the dull and derivative Adele) nor 2007's winner (Mika), nor 2006's (Corrine Bailey Rae) and if anyone can tell me that any of that trio are particularly inventive or ground breaking you will be lying through your teeth. And that's before we even get to 2005 winners The Bravery (presumably currently looking for other employment).

Of course half the journalists slamming her purely for winning that poll forget that it's partly voted for by their brethren, nor do they slate Florence And The Machine (who have two single releases under their belt that never threatened the top 40) who won that Brit award, which really is shameless publicity to the 'n'th degree. But silly me, Florence is a "serious" musician isn't she?

Well with that diatribe out of the way, what is Hands actually like? Well as far as I'm concerned it's really rather good. Obviously some tracks that have been knocking around for months (Stuck On Repeat, Meddle, Mathematics) set the bar pretty high but they are far from the only highlights. Having Phil Oakey duet on the shimmeringly wonderful Symmetry might seem like a gimmick but it not only works, but exceeds all expectations, Tune Into My Heart, with it's icy, mellow sound proves that she's far from a one trick pony whilst upcoming single Remedy is the sort of song that Kylie would kill her producers for.

And therein lies the crux. The pompous music snobs out there will spend the next few months telling us everything that Little Boots isn't (and crucifying her for it) rather than focusing on what Little Boots IS.

The solo credits for a couple of the tracks (Click, Ghosts) show that the choice of producers on the other tracks are just that, a choice and haven't necessarily been forced upon her. At least half the tracks on here are superb and the other half aren't half bad either. Jam packed with catchy and memorable choruses it will do little to convince those that think "pop" is a dirty word and those who kid themselves that "promotion" and "hype" are 21st century inventions in the music industry. Yet despite the hype, the pressure and the (perhaps) inevitable backlash, Victoria Hesketh has proved that all of those of us who kept the faith when all around seemed to be laying into her were right all along. She's definitely a talent. Hands may not be a perfect record, but is a very damn good one nevertheless.

Scary Fragile - Butterfly Boucher

It's been a long time since 2003's Flutterby, the rather wonderful debut from the Australian born Butterfly Boucher (yes, that is her REAL name) although the five year gap doesn't tell the whole story. This album was completed three years ago but seemingly fell victim to the 21st Century need to label every music "product" as something tangible.

As the lady herself stated, "they say [my music] is too quirky. They always say it's too pop for the indie scene and too indie for the pop scene." With backing like that from your record company, it's perhaps not a surprise that Boucher parted company with them, but at least she had the good fortune to work out a deal to keep the masters of her new album, hence the "DIY" release of her second album.

You might think that the opener, I Found Out, has been added since parting company from her label with lyrics such as “I found out I can only be who I am. I can only do what I can. I won’t try to describe the relief". Thankfully though, Boucher seems able to get MOST of this out of her system in the opener, leaving the listener to concentrate on the quality of her songs.

And whilst, as a whole, the album may not quite live up to the excellent debut, it has more than it's fair share of highlights.

Lead single Gun For A Tongue is a seductive, if slightly creepy, number whilst Just One Tear is a rocker that for some reason reminded me of Ladyhawke, without actually sounding anything like her whatsoever. Keeper comes across as almost a long-lost Bond theme whilst Bright Red might well have proved to be the "hit" that Boucher was presumably under immense pressure to produce if only her record company had given it the chance.

Having been absent for so long, it's almost tempting to look no further than being pleased she's back at all, but thankfully Butterfly Boucher has also returned with a very good album which proves that Flutterby was no fluke. One can only hope we get the third installment before 2014.

Good Evening - Nite Jewel

One review of this album that I read suggested that if Nite Jewel released this album in the 1980's, a spot on the soundtrack of Romancing The Stone (a film I love by the way) would have been all but a formality...and you can certainly see their point. It also covers the fact that Good Evening is another one of the long list of albums released over the past year or so that decidedly hark back to the 1980's.

In this case it's one of those albums of this ilk that most definitely sounds as if it WAS actually recorded in the 1980's - there are precious few indications when you are listening to this that it's a modern record. And therein will lie it's charm, or alternatively it's hideous kitsch-ness for the listener.

On the first listen through, most people would probably be in the latter camp and be unable to look past the vaguely ridiculous mid-tempo keyboard sounds and the baffling mumbling lyrics that at times you can hardly hear and most of the time definitely can't make out. Those that can persevere might find their rewards, even if Ramona Gonzalez, the person behind Nite Jewel, frustratingly seems more interested in the sounds she's making than making those sounds into "proper" songs.

It would be easy to say that with a bit of tweaking here and there this could have been something very good indeed, but perhaps that's missing the point. For all it's readily apparent faults, Good Evening is what it is, even if what it is might end up being described as pleasant background music without any real punch.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - Phoenix

If you didn't already know it prior to putting this album in the CD player for a spin you'd probably struggle to tell that Phoenix are French purely from listening to this album. You might, on the other hand, guess that they, along with their record company, might be hoping that given The Killers undoubted position in the music buying public's hearts this might be the time that they can finally make that elusive commercial breakthrough.

They might, but I wouldn't be putting the mortgage on their chances. The problem is that when they started, Phoenix were arguably ahead of the trends to come; now, four albums in, they've been superceded by those that have followed them and there's no real new tricks on display to be able to suggest that they've managed to stay ahead of the curve.

In fact, despite the fact that the album clocks in at barely over 30 minutes there's a real feeling that there's a deficit of ideas and whilst their one idea might be reasonably catchy, it doesn't half get monotonous fairly quickly.

There's a couple of standout tracks (opener Lisztomania and the purposefully silly Lasso) but my overall feeling is that whilst this is an adequate record, I can't see why anyone who had heard of The Killers would want to listen to it more than once.

Rockwell - Anni Rossi

It's ironic that this should follow the Jarvis Cocker review, as Anni Rossi's debut album is also produced by Nirvana producer Steve Albini. Calling it a debut album might be slightly pushing it as it's got five of the six tracks from last years Afton EP and is less than ten minutes longer than that EP to boot.

That said, the duplicated tracks are not "duplicated" in their entirety; well if you're going to hire an expensive producer you might as well get your money's worth out of him. And, to be fair, it's a move that seems to have worked for the most part.

Her "unique selling point", that is her virtuoso Viola playing, is not lost in the shuffle but only the most eclectic of music listeners would suggest that the steadying hand of Albini hasn't improved matters.

The "old" tracks are probably account for most of the album's highlights; Ecology benefits from the addition of some keyboards and is about as mainstreamly catchy as you'll get on the album.

It's just a pity that most of the record companies promotion seems to revolve around her cover of Ace of Base's Living In Danger. Pleasantly cute it may be, but it's still nothing more than a novelty, no matter how "straight" Rossi treats it. That it follows perhaps the album highlight in the form of the creepy but eminently catchy Deer Hunting Camp 17.

You can't imagine this catching on with the wider populace, a la Feist, but that doesn't mean that it's not worth a listen, or ten, for a music fan with an open mind. And that's not just me being biased thanks to it's Icon-approved running time of less than 30 minutes - for once an artist seems to have realised that less is most certainly more.

Further Complications - Jarvis Cocker

"I met her in the museum of paleontology and I make no bones about it". There's certainly one thing you can't take out of Jarvis Cocker no matter who you get in to produce his album and that's his trademark wit.

Yet there also seems little point in bringing in Steve Albini, producer to Nirvana and The Pixies most famously, to drown out Cocker's wit in a wall of noise.

The result is an album that never really quite gets going. There's nothing particularly wrong about listening to Jarvis "rock out" but there is so little variety on display that you've not even got half way through the album before you're starting to tire of it. And, whisper it quietly, when you do get the chance to listen to the lyrics there's little variety there either, with song after song about sex as if Jarvis is undergoing some form of mid-life crisis.

It's not a dreadful record (to put it into perspective it's nowhere near as dire as Chris Cornell's recent "change of direction") and it may well only be because I expect so much more from him that it falls flat. But at the end of the day, there's no way you can label this classic Cocker.