Paul Simon

Live in New York CityHear Music ***

For those who missed Simon’s memorable show in the O2 last July, which celebrated the 25th anniversary of his landmark Graceland album – and shone a light on the overall brilliance of his music – this live set may offer some compensation. The package includes three discs (two audio and a well-edited DVD of the show). Recorded in 2011, there is a three-track nod to Graceland, but the bulk of the material covers career highlights such as Mother and Child Reunion. That’s not to say this is a token run-through of Simon’s back pages. The band, not least guitarist Mark Stewart and drummer/guitarist extraordinary Jim Oblon, are in cracking form – the O2 was clearly no one-off – and chestnuts such as That Was Your Mother sound as vital as the more recent

So Beautiful or So What. paulsimon.com

Download: That Was Your Mother, Hearts and Bones