Mail & Guardian reviewers put together a selection of CDs to keep you warm
Sinéad O’Connor — I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got (reissue) (EMI)
It’s been almost 20 years since Sinéad O’Connor sprang on to the global stage with her award-winning second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. Thanks to the smash hit Nothing compares 2 U (written by Prince), this breakthrough album topped the charts in America and the United Kingdom.
The album was also nominated for four Grammys in 1991 and won for best alternative music performance, although O’Connor refused to accept the award. Now EMI have decided to reissue it with a bonus disc of B-sides, unreleased recordings, covers and hard-to-find mixes, and fans will no doubt delight in the jewels to be found on it.
Opening with a cover of Gregory Isaacs’s dubby Night Nurse, the second disc is definitely a welcome addition to O’Connor’s recorded output. Other highlights include a stirring rendition of John Lennon’s Mind Games and a sexy romp through Cole Porter’s You Do Something To Me. Add to that live versions of Troy and I Want Your Hands On Me, the singles from her first album, The Lion and the Cobra, plus the non-album single, My Special Child, backed with its B-side, a beautiful version of the spiritual Silent Night. On its own the bonus disc is worth forking out for, and the fact that you get one of the best recorded albums of the past 50 years with it, makes this a sure bet. — Lloyd Gedye
Waco Brothers — Waco Express Live & Kicking at Schuba’s Tavern, Chicago (Kurse)
In the late 1970s, the Leeds student scene was at the heart of punk, producing great bands like Gang of Four and the Mekons. Jon Langford was the drummer in the Mekons, who are still recording. In the 1980s he moved to guitar and was instrumental in incorporating country elements into the band’s sound. Since 1995, Langford has also fronted the Waco Brothers — an alternative country band based in Chicago.
Langford is also a prolific and respected visual artist, best known for his striking portraits of country music icons Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, so to say that country music is in his blood is an understatement. This live album — the band’s ninth — is a stomping workout that is more honky-tonk country than back porch on the prairie ballads. Imagine a punk band that is to country what the Pogues are to Celtic music and you’re pretty close. These are sing-a-long pub songs to get drunk to and dance to. A rollicking good time for all.– Lloyd Gedye
Rene Olstead — Skylark (Gallo)
With Skylark, Olstead has made a polite CD. Thirteen tracks of sing-a-long tunes; a selection of jazz standards and some of her own original compositions. Though this could easily pass for a jazz standards album, it treads very close to pop and R&B, but not too close to lose its swing. As witnessed on a bouncy take on My Baby Just Cares for Me, a track made famous by Nina Simone, Olstead lends some hard swing to it.
Trumpeter Chris Botti is featured on When I Fall in Love — which he once covered too — and he lends some weight to the personnel. The band must be commended for the pretty chops they dispatch here. Title track Skylark is a jazz standard written by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer in the 1940s. It has been covered by Cassandra Wilson, among others, which makes this a lofty attempt by Olstead. She gives it a 1920s jazz orchestral appeal. The closing track, Nothing but the Blame, is her co-composition with arranger David Foster. They close the project with a nice display of her vocal range on a ballad akin to the stuff you’d expect from Gladys Night, not Billy Holliday. —Percy Mabandu
Mann Friday — Waiting for the Flash(Sheer)
Here’s another one of those adult contemporaries. Mann Friday are a foursome made up of a Zimbabwean, two South Africans and an Italian, who have been based in the UK since 2002, and who seem to have developed a growing following. Their second album, Waiting For The Flash, is straight acoustic rock, which, while not exciting in any way, is confident, mature and unpretentious. It was released in South Africa as a “tour” edition, with three bonus tracks. Eyes Open, with its pretty harmonica, and the closing track, Counting Down, which should not have been left so late, are the most interesting on the album. The general production is professional and the additional strings add substance and richness. Other than that, nothing really stands out. — Ilham Rawoot
Mark Pickerel & His Praying Hands — Cody’s Dream (Kurse)
Remember that grunge-affiliated band Screaming Trees, fronted by the enigmatic Mark Lanegan? The drummer in the band was Mark Pickerel and it seems the guy has kept himself busy, recording with Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic in a short-lived band dubbed The Jury, and with Robert Roth and Soundgarden bassist Hiro Yamamoto in Truly.
Since 2006 Pickerel has been releasing music with his new band, His Praying Hands, and this is their second album. So what can you expect? The songs have a country rock feel that has hints of Nick Cave and Chris Isaak and reminds me of contemporary southern music troubadour Jim White. While the album definitely has a southern gothic feel, it’s also a very tuneful offering that will have your head nodding and foot tapping. Apparently the album was inspired by a solitary car trip through America’s south without a car radio, and the shady characters that populate Pickerel’s songs are the result of his imagination on the trip. One of the highlights is Pickerel’s take on Bob Dylan’s One More Cup of Coffee, which renders the song as a morbid tale of death. — Lloyd Gedye
Leela James — Let’s Do It Again (Just Music)
Leela James has done it again, but this time it’s all cover songs. Admittedly, it’s slightly disappointing that there is nothing here you’ve never heard before, but there is still no denying the girl’s got some chords. Her raspy yet powerful voice has been compared to soul legends like Chaka Khan and Tina Turner. Her interpretation of George Clinton’s I’d Rather be With You is far better than pop diva Beyonce’s, but it’s too early for her to be singing other people’s songs. Undoubtedly, she makes each her own and sometimes competes really closely with the originals, like on I Want To Know What Love Is. — Karabo Keepile
Gomez — A New Tide (Just Music)
Gomez started out with a promising first album that won them awards over in the UK. Every album since then has failed to deliver on their initial promise, despite garnering a steady support base in the US, which is where they now live and work. Or so the critics say. As a newcomer to the band, you couldn’t ask for a better introduction. A New Tide is accessible without being superficial.
It wanders from edgy blues on tracks like Win Park Slope, to grunged-up country rock on Little Pieces, to purely forlorn and lovely with Bone Tired. Three band members provide vocals and they are so well suited to their numbers, it works. Nevertheless, Ben Ottewel’s gravelly tones stand out. The occasional shifts and experimentation in sound may annoy some, but I’d guess A New Tide will pull in some new listeners and satisfy some of the old. — Lynley Donnelly
Gonzo Republic — I’m OK You’re OK (Sheer)
Durban’s indie rockers have finally released their debut album, and it’s straight up rock’n’roll with hints of ska that never really get further than a promising drumbeat. If Eagles of Death Metal and the Rudimentals were to jam, it’d probably sound something like this album, except that this is a lot more ordinary.
The one-minute instrumental intro is a good indicator of what follows — an unremarkable guitar fest with a few good riffs and vocal melodies, but other than that there’s not very much new here. Replace and Own Life are the only tracks that really stand out. If you’re on the side of the debate that believes that recorded albums are the way to judge a band, you probably won’t be impressed, but if you put your faith in live performance, you may want to stick to that for Gonzo Republic. — Ilham Rawoot