Anita Baker
Christmas Fantasy (Blue Note)
The Lord gave us Anita Baker to make senior citizens feel sexy. She’s restored a sort of respectability to adult emotion, after decades of child stars. Baker’s Christmas Fantasy is a combination of love and marketing with a touch of tradition chucked in – luckily just a touch. Nothing would be more repulsive than Baker singing the stuff of Boney M, so don’t expect Mary’s Boy Child or the like. Three of the nine tracks on this short selection are composed by Baker and company themselves. There’s a spicy rearrangement of the mouldy old God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen and a hideously righteous Come All Ye Faithful, and that’s it for the “olde stuffe”. Best of all is the timeless Rodgers and Hammerstein classic My Favorite Things. Star collaborators include George Duke, Joe Sample, Phil Upchurch and the Yellow Jackets. — Matthew Krouse
The Belles
Omertá; (Eat Sleep Records)
Will the A&R man for Eat Sleep Records please stand up? After releasing Australian garage rockers Rocket Science’s brilliant second album Contact High, it followed up with British band Clayhill’s Small Circle and now the delightful Belles album Omertá. The Belles hail from Kansas and their album is a lush indie-pop album, where influences such as The Beatles and the Beach Boys radiantly shine through without detracting from the band’s unique sound. Buy this album and slip it into your CD player, and as singer Christopher Tolle croons “I’m pretty sure you’d kill me/If you had the chance,” let yourself go and enjoy some of the best Americana-tinged songwriting since The Lemonheads split up. — Lloyd Gedye
The Cardigans
Super Extra Gravity (Universal)
The Cardigans’ quirky but clever and innovative alt.rock — harder than on 2004’s Gone Before Daylight — and Nina Persson’s unique voice are a winning combination, but one of the best things about this album is its intelligent lyrics. Opener Losing a Friend is bleak but beautiful, there’s a bit of rock’n’roll on Godspell, the Sixties-sounding Drip Drop Teardrop is fun and Overload is an enjoyably slow and ponderous waltz of wild love. I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to Be Nicer is a candidate for song title of the year. — Riaan Wolmarans
Clayhill
Small Circle (Eat Sleep Records)
When I first got this album home, I slipped it on as I was busy with something else. By the time track six, Rushes of Blonde, was pouring through my speakers, I was poring over the album inlay to see who this band was and why they sounded as great as they did. Turns out Clayhill are ex-Red Snapper bassist Ali Friend who formed a songwriting relationship with Ted Barnes while working with British singer Beth Orton. They roped in former Sunhouse singer Gavin Clark and Clayhill were born: an incredibly tight unit with a diverse sound that has hints of Van Morrison and Crowded House yet sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard before. Overall, Small Circle is an album of highly individual songs that work as a whole, and probably one of the most unlikely great albums of 2005. — Lloyd Gedye
Jonathan Crossley
My Friends and I (Gallo)
Gifted South African jazz guitarist Jonathan Crossley teams up with such big-name musician friends as electric bassist Carlo Mombelli (who co-arranged the material here with Crossley), drummer Peter Auret, Marcus Wyatt and Sydney Mnisi to perform light but luscious contemporary jazz with a touch of classical music. Ideal for chilling at home. — Riaan Wolmarans
Linda Eder
By Myself (Angel Records)
For those who don’t know her, expect Linda Eder to sound like an uncanny combination of Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland. Let’s call it surf and turf: Streisand’s rich, long notes combined with Garland’s expressive determination. Eder’s tribute to Garland is a top-notch update of the classics that mum and dad swung to long after the kids were packed off to bed. There’s a delicious Lerner and Loewe medley with full-on violins and a holy big band, there’s Gershwin, Weill and an all-too-straight Me and My Shadow. The album rounds off with a simple Over the Rainbow that could reduce a grown man to tears. — Matthew Krouse
Fifth Floor
Attention to Detail (Natural Mystic Records)
Formed in Cape Town in 1996 but now based in Jozi, the hip-hop collective Fifth Floor have unleashed their new album upon the local music scene. Attention to Detail sees the 12-strong crew deliver some awesome tunes as the MCs seamlessly overlap and interweave over creative beats. The album features numerous guest artists, including Promoe from Swedish outfit Loop Troop and Zimbabwean Rontoboko on the second single, Imbumba. Stand-out tracks include the first single, Creation, and party anthems Relax and How You Like It. If you are looking for some fresh hip-hop this summer, give the guys from Fifth Floor a worthy spin. — Lloyd Gedye
Flash Republic
Time Is Now (David Gresham)
Vocalist Tamara Dey has the Midas touch in classy local dance music, and here it gets even better as DJs and producers Ryan Dent and Craig Massiv join in (Dey has a few writing credits too). The album starts with the vivacious rhythms of Robot, and then moves on to All Night‘s light and funky house, which sets the tone for most of the album. Emergency‘s catchy, sexy beats has it climbing the music charts (and there’s a fun mix of it too), and Good Life cleverly throws a dance beat under the lyrics of Kevin Saunderson’s hit of the same name, recently recorded by The Finkelstiens. Nothing here for those who like harder beats, but there are plenty of infectious rhythms. — Riaan Wolmarans
Green Day
Bullet in a Bible (Gallo)
You’d be hard pressed to find a better Christmas gift for the rock fan in the family. Green Day’s American Idiot tour (described as “the greatest show on Earth” by Kerrang! magazine) unfolds in audiovisual splendour on a CD and DVD. The music’s mostly from the Grammy-winning American Idiot album, obviously, but oldies such as Hitchin’ a Ride and Basket Case also pop up. The DVD has interviews and behind-the-scenes footage too. Absolutely energising. — Riaan Wolmarans
HIM
Dark Light (Gallo)
The Finnish band who brought us such Gothic classics as Join Me in Death has been getting some commercial airplay off this album with the well-crafted Rip out the Wings of a Butterfly (shortened on playlists, possibly to avoid offending animal lovers, to simply Wings of a Butterfly). Vocalist Ville Hermanni Valo’s dark, rich and melodious voice is ideal for this material; sometimes he sounds much like our own Ashton Nyte. First track Vampire Heart, despite its Gothic title, is not so dark after all and offers first-rate melodic rock, as does the rest of Dark Light: it’s Goth-lite, accessible for those of us who do smile. Darkly enjoyable. — Riaan Wolmarans
Rickie Lee Jones
Duchess of Coolsville: An Anthology (Rhino Records)
A couple of years back, I heard a song called Sweet Little Mysteries on a Nonesuch Records compilation. I was dumbstruck; the female singer’s voice was electric and the song captured my imagination for almost a month. That woman was Rickie Lee Jones. Duchess of Coolsville, her recently released three-disc anthology, has brought me to the realisation that it was not that particular song that was so blindingly good, but that Jones was and is one of the greatest songwriters of our time. What was once a limp affection is now a downright obsession. If you are looking for a soundtrack to your ramblings this summer, look no further than the Duchess of Coolsville. — Lloyd Gedye
Tom Jones
Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?! (Remixes 2005) (David Gresham)
Was the world ready for yet more Tom Jones remixes? Well, it’s too late now. It’s not even quite his biggest hits: here are She’s a Lady, Listen to the Music, a peculiar version of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, an excruciating My Way — all sounding terribly cheap and contrived. — Riaan Wolmarans
Juliet
Random Order (Virgin)
This is quite a fascinating album. Produced by Madonna cohort Stuart Price and with Philadelphian singer Juliet Richardson’s strong, deep voice floating over electro-pop, this is Yazoo for a modern age. AU is the slinky opening track with a dance-floor feel to it, and the hypnotic Avalon is a captivating, seven-minute club hit (“We’ll take a holiday/You know I’d love you better). On the charts now is the forceful but dazzling Ride the Pain, and another highlight is Puppet (“Next time I’ll work you like a puppet/Love you like velvet”), which could easily be an S&M soundtrack with electronic blips and squeaks. The music slows down sensually on tracks such as Nu Taboo and Never Land, and it all ends with the rather conventional, non-electro Pot of Gold. Random Order has cross-genre appeal: rockers, dance fans and pop listeners should enjoy it equally. — Riaan Wolmarans
Kabelo
The Kabelo Collection (Electromode Music)
The Kabelo Collection, containing 32 of the kwaito star’s “hottest tracks on three CDs” is actually a euphemism for “three truncated albums in one”. The former TKZee star’s first three solo albums — Everybody’s Watching, Rebel with a Cause and And the Beat Goes On — are included here in edited form, thus representing the artist’s trajectory towards the peak of his powers in a decidedly flattering fashion. The albums are not presented in chronological order and are not completely without filler material. However, any kwaito fan worth his salt will be able to differentiate from the terse, erstwhile bubblegum-resembling jams of Everybody’s Watching to the admittedly “commercial” stylings of And the Beat Goes On. Here Bouga Luv rehashes winning formulas and offers a tiresome spin of his faux-rap habit in a foiled attempt to establish kwaito as a genre with worthy penmanship. — Kwanele Sosibo
Lady Lea
Lady Lea Presents Catch Me If You Can (David Gresham)
She’s really good at putting on deep and delicious beats and stylish rhythms, as we saw on the USM label’s excellent Deeper Sound of Lady Lea. Here she kicks off with the upbeat Go (Troydon’s Layin’ Low Remix) by Sean Dimitrie featuring Tammy Fuller. Also included are two of her own tracks, the slinky I Know You Want Me (with JeL) and You & Me (with Scotty featuring Alicia). Dance beats don’t get much dirtier than those on Chuck Love’s Living at Night, and tracks by Erefaan Pearce, Justin Vee and Sander Kleinenberg are also guaranteed to spice up any party. — Riaan Wolmarans
Legion of Mary
The Jerry Garcia Collection, Vol 1: Legion of Mary (Rhino Records)
The fact that these recordings have remained unreleased until now is downright criminal. Enigmatic Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia formed his solo outfit Legion of Mary in 1974 and in less than six months had racked up more than 60 shows. This dynamic band operated in the blurred space between jazz and blues with the brilliant Merl Saunders on keyboards and ex-Elvis drummer Ron Tutt keeping time. The band was rounded off by bassist John Kahn and Martin Fierro on sax and flute. This double-disc anthology features Legion of Mary live in San Francisco, Berkley and Portland, wowing audiences with their epic 10-minute jams. — Lloyd Gedye
Malik
I Am Free (Ghetto Ruff)
If you are tired of the same old house compilations and desperately searching for new creativity, then Malik’s debut album is for you. Malik is one of Ghetto Ruff’s newest talents and I Am Free displays his abilities as crooner and songwriter. He teams up with producer extraordinaire Kyllex, who features prominently on almost every track. Kyllex’s arranging and mixing prowess gels well with Malik’s slick and smooth lyrics. Most of the songs here fit neatly into the pulsating house-music pigeonhole and could well set the dance floors ablaze this festive season, but some are not-so-exciting Afro-pop that nearly sent me to the land of Nod. — Monako Dibetle
Maria McKee
Peddlin’ Dreams (Viewfinder)
Remember the hit power ballad Show Me Heaven? That was British singer-songwriter Maria McKee, whose latest album has 17 tracks of mellow folk, mostly with simple but graceful guitar and piano accompaniment. There’s plenty of emotion built into her songs, but she doesn’t always let it shine through in her multi-octave voice — and when she does, it’s often a tad sullen, like on the title track. Not an album meant to lift the mood. — Riaan Wolmarans
Alanis Morissette
The Collection (Gallo)
Here are 18 of Alanis Morissette’s “most recognisable” hits — a fancy way of saying it’s a best-of album. Relive pop highlights Ironic (all about things that are not ironic), You Learn, Hands Clean, Uninvited, Hand in My Pocket and others, as well as agreeable new track Crazy, which is exactly what one would expect from Morissette covering Seal. — Riaan Wolmarans
Mudvayne
Lost and Found (Sony BMG)
Steel yourself for a heavy nu-metal assault from the start as opening track Determined‘s massive, driving energy and Chad Gray’s powerful growl make the fact that Mudvayne are no lyrical geniuses a moot point. Their subject matter is hard-core, violent and bleak (“Eye for an eye — tooth for a tooth,” goes Pushing Through), and tracks such as IMN and Just are relentless, raucous rock. There are a few slightly slower tracks, such as Happy? and All That You Are, but they are no less gloomy. It’s by no means an uplifting album, but it demands attention. — Riaan Wolmarans
Nickelback
All the Right Reasons (David Gresham)
A rather predictable new album from these Vancouver rockers. Chad Kroeger’s lyrics couldn’t possibly be plainer (despite its excellent melody, hit single Photograph is like a bad sequel to Bryan Adams’s Summer of 69) and the band’s radio-power, hook-laden rock is rather anodyne. Only now and then when the boys get a tad raunchy, like on opener Follow You Home, it works well. And Far Away must be one of the sappiest ballads of the year. Offensively undemanding. — Riaan Wolmarans
Prime Circle
Live This Life (David Gresham)
One of the most popular rock groups right now — no doubt also due to their electrifying live shows — Prime Circle write uncomplicated but instantly likeable rock: not too heavy to be overpowering and not too light to go unnoticed. On catchy tracks such as Live This Life, hit single Miracle and Run Away they fire up the guitars all the way; too bad about the dreary rock ballad Miss You. — Riaan Wolmarans
Queen and Paul Rodgers
Return of the Champions (EMI)
Brian May and Roger Taylor never say die, despite Freddie Mercury doing just that. Sing along to all the old Queen chestnuts, from I Want to Break Free and Another One Bites the Dust to I Want It All and We Are the Champions, performed with gusto by the band and stand-in vocalist Paul Rodgers (of Free and Bad Company fame) on tour this year to an infectiously energetic audience. No surprises here, and Rodgers is not Mercury, but it ambles along nicely. — Riaan Wolmarans
Santana
All That I Am (Sony BMG)
He’s a master of the guitar and plays well with others — here Carlos Santana again teams up (and co-writes) with musical luminaries on several tracks. He and his band create a carnival vibe with the Spanish Hermes and El Fuego to open the album. From there, he throws in vibey R&B with Mary J Blige and Big Boi on My Man; takes a gritty rock turn with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler on Just Feel Better; goes funky with will.i.am on I Am Somebody; and forms part of a talented threesome on Trinity, featuring Kirk Hammett on lead guitar and Robert Randolph on pedal steel guitar. Michelle Branch, Sean Paul and Joss Stone and several others also help out. The styles here may vary, but Santana’s spirited playing ties it all together nicely. — Riaan Wolmarans
Shakira
Fijació Oral Vol 1 (Sony BMG)
On the cover of this Spanish-language album, Shakira looks like a teen mother with a baby on her lap. The music sounds quite mature, though, kicking off with the sensitive, slow En Tus Pupilas and keeping the mood sensual and lingering through much of the album. La Tortura is just about the only lively moment here with its hot rhythms (no doubt a good chance for Shakira to shake her booty on stage) and there’s a wild mix of it included at the end. — Riaan Wolmarans
Speedy
Evolution (Electromode Music)
In his continuing, ill-advised search for identity, Bongo Maffin outcast Speedy puts aside the Sisqo cloning for a while and heads straight into Afro-pop, the music industry’s currently infallible money machine. For Evolution, his second solo album, the topics vary: from praising Jesus (Izolo) and calling for a return to cultural customs (Amasiko) to romance (Bambo Lwam). What remains unchanged throughout, however, is his narcissist preoccupation with his unnamed enemies, who have apparently made it their business to oppress him and shut down opportunities. It gets worse. While having one production team (Cavedog Productions) usually amounts to cohesive product, in Speedy’s case it makes for monotonous programming. His scarce lyrics and repetitive melodies don’t help matters either. — Kwanele Sosibo
Starsailor
Silence Is Easy (EMI)
Starsailor are another United Kingdom foursome — they even look like four typical British lads — trying to create a unique sound in the current wave of good Brit-pop. James Walsh’s voice evokes shades of Jarvis Cocker on brisk opener Music Was Saved, but the rest of the album is more sedate, a bit like laid-back Suede or Verve. They do trippy (Fidelity) and earnest (Silence Is Easy) quite well, but some of it is lifeless (Telling Them and the clearly-meant-to-be-meaningful White Dove). It’s a creative effort, but it needs more zest and less sentiment. — Riaan Wolmarans
Sugababes
Taller in More Ways (Universal)
The Sugababes are one of the better girl groups of our time, like a Spice Girl’s wet dream and with less plastic attitude than Destiny’s Child. They are also one of the most grateful, it seems, with three pages of thank-yous in the booklet of this likeable CD. The girls co-wrote sassy pop opener and hit single Push the Button, go for a sexy but funky R&B slant on Gotta Be You, and turn up the feeling on ballad Follow Me Home; a few tracks, such as Joy Division and 2 Hearts are rather unimposing, though. Their cover of Animotion’s Obsession bounces along happily. — Riaan Wolmarans
Texas
Red Book (Universal)
The voice of Sharleen Spiteri — see the striking photographs of her in the CD booklet — is as rich as ever, and the band’s plush pop sound is still agreeable, but it sounds overproduced on the quieter tracks. Only by track seven, Get Down Tonight, do we hear some of the funkiness that marked some of Texas’s biggest hits. Can’t Resist is a beautiful ballad, and Paul Buchanan’s strong vocals make duet Sleep rather distinctive. Not bad, but certainly not singular. — Riaan Wolmarans
Tuks
Mafoko a Me (My Words) (Impact Sounds)
Tuks’s debut album comprises 20 hard-hitting hip-hop tracks about the ups and downs in the life of a young MC trying to make it big in the hip-hop industry. The album is richly packed with hair-raising seTswana idioms and proverbs, enough to leave a high-school teacher beaming with glee. Born Tumelo Kepadisa in the erstwhile Bophuthatswana bantustan, Tuks fuses seTswana and English lyrics, combining beat and flow into electrifying, intelligent rhymes. The artist’s collaboration with Hip-Hop Pantsula on the track Bitch Talk brings together two hard-core Tswana rappers in a wild display of the mother tongue. Two songs sample other hits — I Love You Back from soul queen Betty Wright’s 1975 album Danger High Voltage and the Broadway hit 525 600 Minutes by Roger Lovette. The rest is 100% original beat and lyric. Mafoko a Me is a fresh, home-brewed alternative to the regular and monotonous hip-hop releases we’ve heard over the years. — Monako Dibetle
Wessel van Rensburg and McCoy Mrubata
Kulturation (Grasland)
These two skilled South African jazz musicians — Van Rensburg on piano and synths, and Mrubata on sax and flute — have together created a quiet and sparse but sensitive album, mostly instrumental. They included original material written by either or both, such as Bra Gib and the relaxed opening track Roepstem oor Landskap, and a handful of covers ranging from atmospheric (Johannes Kerkorrel’s Halala Afrika) to unadventurous (Koos du Plessis’s Kinders van die Wind). Jennifer Ferguson contributes some enchanting vocals to this pleasing album. — Riaan Wolmarans
Various
Austin City Limits Music Festival 2004 (Warner)
Any live album kicking off with a comeback performance of The Pixies’ magnificent Debaser can’t be all bad. The Austin City Limits festival in Texas has been going for more than 30 years, and attracts a slew of good musicians. Cheer to jump-up rock by the likes of Dashboard Confessional, Los Lonely Boys and Franz Ferdinand, singalong slow numbers (Rachael Yamagata), the Neville Brothers, a bluesy Shelby Lynne track and even a vigorous spiritual — Walk in Jerusalem by the Blind Boys of Alabama. Appealing variety and spirited performances make this a good listen. — Riaan Wolmarans
Various
Best Christmas 100 (EMI)
It’s a Christmas orgy: no less than five CDs packed with every conceivable Yuletide tunes: choral, Peggy Lee, Bing Crosby (of course), the Beach Boys, Lou Rawls, Mel and Kim, and many, many others, ranging from traditional to rocking round the Christmas tree. Best of all, there’s no Boney M here. — Riaan Wolmarans
Various
Carfax: My House in the City (Universal)
You have not lived in Jo’burg until you’ve partied at Carfax. If you haven’t, at lease listen to the über-stylish house on this CD to get a sense of what you’ve missed. Smoothly mixed by Les AfriQe, it’s got killer tracks such as Mylo’s Destroy Rock & Roll (Tom Neville Mix) and Sander Kleinenberg’s The Fruit, as well as fashionable beats by Solitaire and Martin Solveig. Save this one for New Year’s Eve. — Riaan Wolmarans
Various
Cruciale Cure (Witchdoctor Records)
A double CD jam-packed with South African music: 36 bands from all over the spectrum deliver a first-rate view of the state of the rock nation. Armchair Generals start with their soaring Toss of a Coin, and other highlights come from Jo Day, One80, Fuzigish, Cutting Jade, Deity’s Muse, Agro and The Slashdogs, to name but a few. — Riaan Wolmarans (CD available at Witchdoctorrecords.com)
Various
Girls Night Out (EMI)
That’s right, no apostrophe. Just two CDs and 40 tracks of girl-power pop of varying degrees of quality and from several decades: there’s Kylie, but there’s also the Spice Girls; there’s Kelis, but there’s also Geri Halliwell, and Blue, and Erasure, and Chesney Hawkes (with his one and only hit). Vapid, but it probably goes well with tequila. — Riaan Wolmarans
Various
Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen (Gallo)
It’s Queen’s biggest hits all over again, but mercifully not yet another live show by the ageing Brian May and Roger Taylor. Is it any good? It varies: Gavin Degraw sounds rather tortured on opener We Are the Champions; Shinedown’s Tie Your Mother Down is raucous; Joss Stone’s Under Pressure is too affected; Josh Kelley and Be Your Own Pet bring welcome new energy to Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Bicycle Race respectively. There are two dull versions of Bohemian Rhapsody: a conventional performance by Constantine M and the cast of Queen musical We Will Rock You, and the Flaming Lips’ slightly reworked version. An interesting experiment with mixed results. — Riaan Wolmarans
Various
Kwaito Bash (Hits Volume 2) (Electromode Music)
Kwaito Bash, from the burgeoning Electromode Music, label is choc full of party starters from its ever-expanding roster, which includes TK, DJ Jazzy D and Tokollo (aka Magesh). However, closer inspection reveals that the compilation, which actually straddles the muddy line between kwaito and house, is not made up of wholly new material, a fact that immediately impacts on its relevancy for this December. Given the stiffening competition in a genre so oversaturated with new product that a song’s lifespan is barely longer than a few months, it’s doubtful whether people will be pining to hear Zola’s X-Girlfriend, or worse still, Kabelo’s Zonke. Having said that, the sonic templates here shift with refreshing ease and the rarely seen Magesh street slang still sounds fresh despite being slightly off-beat in cadence. — Kwanele Sosibo
Watershed
Mosaic (EMI)
Despite some of their recent music being rather tedious, the long-lived Watershed still enjoy superstar status, as their well-attended concert in Sandton a couple of weeks ago proved all too well. The new album starts with the able-bodied pop tune Live Another Day, which has a welcome vintage Watershed sound. What follows is happy, easygoing pop (Cloudy Day, Outside) and Craig Hinds sensitively delivering ballads that mostly avoid degenerating into schmaltz (Close My Eyes, Beautiful). Hinds is a competent songwriter and Watershed target their audience precisely on Mosaic, making for a good enough album if one can stomach the glut of love and romance. — Riaan Wolmarans