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RACING CARS -
Bolt From The Blue
Angel Air 2008

The not so latest, yet hot and soft as a fudge, album from the South Wales' finest band.

In today's warped reality it's a little wonder that RACING CARS new album has been recorded before their previous one, 2007's "Second Wind", in 2000. On par with their three LPs of the '70s, it just wasn't properly released but, judging by the crowd reaction on the bonus DVD, the group's fandom who had the chance to buy the disc at the gigs loved it and knew it all to well. Now, it's everybody's turn to join the club following Morty's call in the opening "The Time Has Come" which feels like a gentle pat on the back. There's no outstanding tracks, they're all sunnily good, but the "Potters Blue" acoustic ringing pitches the nostalgie high, while, on the other side of heartbreak, the autobiographical "Up Against Trees" rocks the boat in fine fashion with Graham Williams slide guitar adding to the swagger that draws the listener in "Running Scared". The "I've Had Enough" ironic blues aside, the album's full of love which oozes out the "Lost Without You" hushed tones, lends drama to "Faith In You" and fills "Baby Dirl". A rare thing of beauty in our warped reality.

*****
THE ROLLING STONES
Shine A Light
Polydor 2008

Is the decadence back? The greatest band in the world cast stones into their past.

Martin Scorsese got it all wrong. Yes, Mick 'n' Keef & Co are capable of radically changing the set list from night to night, and it's great that for the November 2006's performance in New York's Beacon Theater they dusted off some gems that have never been played live. But it's the band's new material that makes them still relevant force and draws near famous guests who appear here, and there's just nothing from "A Bigger Bang" - apparently, on the director's request - while a third of the material comes from only two albums, "Exile On Main St." and "Some Girls". Both were decadent in the creative circumstances: in 1972, Richards drove his compadres rootsy way due to his heroin-fuelled energy whereas Jagger was apathy-stricken, and in 1978 it was the singer who took the reins from the court and needle bound guitarist to dabble in punk and disco. Here's your tradition and modernity coming together, yet not on this album, even though it sounds great.

One of the things that make THE STONES so great is their ability to play rough, and that's how they are from the opening "Jumpin' Jack Flash" up to the closing title track. Such an approach enlivens rather sleek rock 'n' roll of "She Was Hot" and gives piquancy to Christina Aguilera's part in the country honk of "Live With Me" which, still, are overshadowed by the "Champagne & Reefer" ebullience: it's been quite a while since the band did Muddy Waters, and Buddy Guy takes it all into some other direction. Not the same with Jack White's too-reverent contribution to "Loving Cup". Guests are extra here, the band themselves waxing lyrical on "Faraway Eyes", imbuing the slack of "Some Girls" with tasty sarcasm and letting Ronnie Wood slide it in, and then pushing Richards forward for the 1967's rollicking "Connection". Strangely, "Sympathy For The Devil" lacks the usual creepy gusto, yet "Little T&A" rocks the socks off and socks the rocks off. That's the decadence, the creative time.

****1/2
THE PARRISH & GURVITZ BAND -
The Parrish & Gurtvitz Band
Wet World 2008

Unreleased second album, plus the first one, both produced by George Martin, fill the gap in the Brit rock history and place one hell of a band back on the map.

In the beginning there were two singing guitarists, Paul Gurvirz and Brian Morris, and they were the driving force behind the '60s rhythm-and-blues also-rans THE KNACK. Then, Gurvitz became Curtis and shot high with GUN, while Morris turned into Parrish and tried to become a songwriter; their friendship still was firm enough for both to drop the solo efforts started on the dawn of a new decade to join forces again. "Parrish & Gurvitz", laid down with Lou Reizner at the helm and re-cut with the Fab Four producer, was released in 1971 and showed the mellow side of Brian and Paul. The opener "Another Time, Another Day" rolling out on the West Coast-influenced harmonies with sharp middle section that sees the sensitive rhythm section of Mike Kellie and Rick Wills undepin the main men's velvet guitars, whereas adorable "Why" may have come from "Abbey Road", and "Janine" is a tremulous, folk-tinctured ballad: the term "acoustic hard rock" would be perfect for their music, especially with the "Loving You" psychedelic riff and orchestral sweep, and the hippiedom could have latched onto the "Libra" hooks if the group got what their deserved.

Unfortunately, the band didn't get it, and their second album, recorded after the US tour, has remained in the vaults - until now. What occupies the first disc of this set feels more bluesy, "Birmingham" and "Rainy Day Man" featuring the boogie piano of Micky Gallagher wouldn't have been out of place on BLIND FAITH's LP, but "One Way Street" introduces a funky brass section, and "Give It All Up" looks like an update of "A Whiter Shade Of Pale": yes, it's this deep. Why the tapes with such an emotional song as "When Evening Comes", which seems destined to have dented the charts, and with such a riff-fest that is "On My Way", were sent to be gathering dust is hard to grasp. Facing the dead end, Gurvitz and Parrish let their friends form Peter Frampton's CAMEL, and went their separate ways - Brian solo and Paul, back with brother Adrian, with THREE MEN ARMY. What's remained is an accomplished work of rare elegance, ready for re-evaluation.

*****
DAVE WALKER -
Walking Underwater
Iron Horse 2007

The most underrated British blues singer comes to the surface again - with a mighty splash.

Strange it may seem but Dave Walker's name is subscribed to the dark recesses of the blues history, his work with SAVOY BROWN and FLEETWOOD MAC and short stint with BLACK SABBATH notwithstanding. Having moved to America, Walker, in his own words, was "shiftless hippie for a few years, working on ranches and doing a lot of manual jobs", and this experience has enriched Dave's understanding of his chosen genre. Cue "Walking Underwater", the singer's best work to date which funnily starts with a fine slice of walking blues that is "Little Susie & Mr. Tight", and one will be forgiven for thinking it's a late '60s recording. While it's not that easy to sound natural in such a lyrical idiom, in "Rabbit's Foot Charm" and "Crazy Baby" the veteran is totally convincing.

Smooth "Blues From The Bottom" may feel a tad melodramatic, yet the emotional pinnacle emerges in the drama of the title track, a deeply moving ballad where the voice glides over the instrumental bedrock and fathoms the human desperation while Robert Britten's crystal piano soothes the heat. And if that's not enough to go down, the next in line is "Weep No More": a heavy gloomy piece splicing Dave's doomy vocals with Jim Lewis' crying guitar. But "Hard Headed Woman" with its powerful slide closes the album with a great dose of rocking panache. There's sadness and there's madness, and that's what they call the genuine blues.

*****
SUPERGRASS -
Diamond Hoo Ha
Parlophone 2008

Sixth album by the Oxford joybringers sees them go rootsy way with rainbow in their eyes.

Two and a half years since "Road To Rouen" seem to have made the English quartet make up their minds and decide they belong to the bright side of life, so "Hoo Ha" is a battle cry of the invigorated bunch rather than a heavy sigh. All right, there is heaviness in the title cut, "Diamond Hoo Ha Man", but that's a great catchy riff which takes it all into the glam territory with "Rebel In You" ever more glittery, so this time a revolution feels far away and the lyrics state it straight: quite reasonable in view of the fans' divided reaction to the band's previous record. And perhaps that's in their defence that the psychedelic chorus of "The Return Of..." adds the word "inspiration" to the title, and the two-and-a-half minute marching dirge "When I Needed You" reaches out for worried optimism.

But now Gaz Coombes is in for some trouble again as everybody's heard most of the tunes before, "Ghost Of A Friend" exposing the spectres of Ray Davies melodies, Brian May's guitar and Bob Dylan's whine in "Like A Rolling Stone", while "Buttefly" smells of Ziggy Stardust. Yet the "Outside" proggy ring with piano in the beginning and the Moog solo comes very tasty, and the overall impression is good - for a while. Until the next great record, that is. They'd better bring it on sooner rather than later.

****
SARAH BRIGHTMAN -
Symphony
The Blue Note 2008

The diva turns into the grand dame she's supposed to be - again.

To call a Sarah Brightman's album "Symphony" is a bit ironic: everything the English singer does borders with opera - well, save for the hilarious disco of "(I Lost My Heart to A) Starship Trooper". Yet her latest records, "La Luna" and "Harem", as fine as they are sounded somewhat strange with the diva's magic voice detached from the instrumental wrapping. Brightman, quite able to operate in the pop music framework, deliberately goes for the operatic. Thankfully, Sarah's latest allows the lady get out of the stylistic trap and still stand her own ground.

She seems to have been listening to what classic female singers, like Brightman herself, do in metal ensembles, and it's hardly a coincidence that the title track is a cover of SILBERMOND's "Symphonie", that there's Lisa Gerrard's "Sanvean" in the heart of the record, and that "Fleurs du Mal" marries chamber choir and London Symphony Orchestra to guitar riffs which provides a guilded cage for the crystal soprano. Still, the metal audience must be drawn to this album by "I Will Be With You", now, when KISS's Paul Stanley's duetting with Sarah, a ballad a tad flat if compared to the version recorded with Chris Thompson for "Pokemon". There are more duets on "Symphony": a pathetic "Canto Della Terra" with Andrea Bocelli, the discountrified, celestial "Sarai Qui" - that's Faith Hill's "There You'll Be" - with Alessandro Safina, the tremulous "Pasion" with the Spanish countertenor Fernando Lima.

These, still, are overshadowed by "Let It Rain"; curiously, this long-overdue pop song in acoustic garb is followed by purely operatic "Attesa" from Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana". And even though the closing bombast "Running" would suit Meat Loaf more, the enchanting vocals of Sarah Brightman easily scales both rock and synphonic heights to ram it all home.

****4/5
MIKE OLDFIELD -
Music Of The Spheres
Universal 2008

The bell ringer re-imagining of the Musica Universalis theory makes heard the sound from within.

It's all about curvy shapes and grand schemes again, but when it's Mike Oldfield's idea of resonance it can't be bad, and this, his newest orchestral work revisiting some of the tubular themes unfurls a rich tapestry. "Harbinger" sets the master's serene acoustic against the anxious strings in a new age fashion with an occasional brass thunderbolt, while "Silhouette" marries Oldfield's guitar to Long Long's blissful piano, and "On My Heart" introduces Hayley Westenra's ethereal vocals. The second part of the programme could do with some more energy, though there's an immense delicasy in "Harmonia Mundi" and the folk undercurrent of "Aurora" is delightful. "Musica Universalis", a sort of grand finale, takes the listener some 35 years back, yet there's no Big Bang, so the hidden depths will make no head go vertigo. Still, the cosmic flight is a joyride.

****
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