CD OF THE WEEK

MARTHA WAINWRIGHT; RUFUS WAINWRIGHT; KATE & ANNA MCGARRIGLE Martha Wainwright Drowned in Sound ****; Want Two DreamWorks ****  ; La Vache Qui Pleue Munich Records ***

The family's all here. Well, not quite. Daddy Loudon Wainwright III is here only as the villain of the piece, at least in the eyes of daughter Martha, whose long-awaited debut album peels away layers of bitterness towards her parents, with special mention for her father, on the scarifying Bloody Mother F---ing Asshole. Brother Rufus purged his paternal demons some time ago and has gone on to become a treasured, if rarified, soul of extravagant new music, blending a dizzying array of influences from opera to pop into a hybrid of dramatic, piquant originality. And what about mom? Kate McGarrigle and sister Anna break cover with another album of songs sung in French, testing the linguistic skills of their patient English-speaking fans who will travel a distance to hear the Canadian duo's haunting harmonies of sweetest melancholia.

Dear me, what a collection! Rufus's fourth album is the second collection drawn from his acclaimed Want sessions last year. More intense and more demanding than the infectious Want One, this collection is nonetheless breathtaking in its sweeping ambition. Compared to his eclectic soundscape, Martha's debut might seem almost prosaic were it not for her wonderfully measured hazy vocals. But on further listening, her delicate, sometimes punchy and thoughtful songs show a determined woman with a clear voice of her own, not withstanding her stylistic nods to mom and dad. A psychiatrist's chair of listening pleasure.

www.marthawainwright.com; www.rufuswainwright.com; www.mcgarrigles.com

Joe Breen