Pop/Rock

Latest CD releases reviewed

Fastman/Raiderman Cooking Vinyl ****

Having doubtlessly made a bit of extra cash from the lucrative Pixies reunion, Charles Kittridge Thompson III can afford to indulge himself in a double album and hire such past legends as The Band's Levon Helm, Cheap Trick's Tom Petersson, Bad Company's Simon Kirke, and the likes of Al Kooper, Steve Cropper and Spooner Oldman. This is no filler-packed vanity project, however, but a continuation of the themes he began on last year's Honeycomb album. This time sees him tapping even deeper into a rich, rootsy vein on such rough, countrified tunes as If Your Poison Gets You, Johnny Barleycorn, In the Time of My Ruin and Where the Wind Is Going. He takes Ewan MacColl's Dirty Old Town out of the backstreets and into the barrios, helped by honky-tonk singer Marty Brown, and brings a biblical Bruce Springsteen vibe to Elijah. Kevin Courtney

Having doubtlessly made a bit of extra cash from the lucrative Pixies reunion, Charles Kittridge Thompson III can afford to indulge himself in a double album and hire such past legends as The Band's Levon Helm, Cheap Trick's Tom Petersson, Bad Company's Simon Kirke, and the likes of Al Kooper, Steve Cropper and Spooner Oldman. This is no filler-packed vanity project, however, but a continuation of the themes he began on last year's Honeycomb album. This time sees him tapping even deeper into a rich, rootsy vein on such rough, countrified tunes as If Your Poison Gets You, Johnny Barleycorn, In the Time of My Ruin and Where the Wind Is Going. He takes Ewan MacColl's Dirty Old Town out of the backstreets and into the barrios, helped by honky-tonk singer Marty Brown, and brings a biblical Bruce Springsteen vibe to Elijah.

Kevin Courtney

To Fine Me Gone Fat Cat ****

Beware asking your famous house-mate to lend a hand on your album. Having Devendra Banhart help out on his 2004 debut meant Vetiver director Andy Cabic had a long and somewhat tiresome association with the freak-folk tag. You can't throw that kind of thing at To Find Me Gone, an album of songs that are timeless, graceful and elegant, and have more in common with sun-blissed West Coast pop, soft-rock and country than his previous set. You can pin this new sweep on Cabic's laidback, introspective style of songwriting, which results in songs such as the dreamy ballad I Know No Pardon and the soft, mellow touch of Been So Long. Banhart pops up, naturally (on the folk-pop spin of Down at El Rio), but there's little chance of anyone overshadowing Cabic's cosmic pop bearings on this outing. www.vetiverse.com Jim Carroll

Catch-Flame V2 ****

When you're on the up, it makes sense to stay there. Paul Weller might be hitting 50, but his recent music has a ferocity that many thought he'd lost forever. 2005's triumphant As Is Now suggested a return to form, and this double live album, recorded in London's Alexandra Palace last December, is a snapshot of a musician who's inhabited more skins than a python and jettisoned each one with wilful abandon. That trademark vogue-ish sneer is at its best on a manically pumped Out of the Sinking, but to these ears Weller's at his best when he lowers his body temperature on You Do Something to Me. The album is suitably rough around the edges (as any self-respecting live recording should be). www.paulweller.com Siobhán Long

Mend Chemikal Underground ****

There seems to be an endless stream of Scots band with folk roots and strong accents, but there are still enough variations on the theme to keep the scene vibrant. Formed at Glasgow's School of Art early in the decade, De Rosa have taken their time over this debut album - with spectacular results. The Lanarkshire trio's instinctive pop sensibility, combined with an inventively abstract approach, keeps things consistently fresh throughout. Fusing spiky riffs, fuzzy feedback and experimental rhythms with Martin Henry's fervent, post-folk vocals, Mend is brimming with three-minute gems. John Peel-approved single Camera and punky minor-chord feast Headfirst are instant stand-outs, but pride of place goes to a trio of local narratives. New Lanark and Hattonrigg Pit Disaster are touching tributes, but the tender and addictive crescendo of Cathkin Braes just steals the show. Thoroughly recommended. www.wearederosa.com Johnnie Craig

How We Operate Independiente ***

Gomez were happily riding the wave of Britpop until they got hit by the curse of the Mercury Music Prize and promptly disappeared after bagging the award in 1998. One minute they were Whipping Picadilly, the next they were up the creek without a paddle. Back then, indie bands with a country flavour were a novelty (viz Alabama 3), but the Southport band were 4-real enough to pass as true cowpokes, and their tunes had a certain rawhide appeal. This album is a firm attempt to bring them back down from the mountain, and features the ricocheting guitars of Tear Your Love Apart and All Too Much, alongside such psychedelic ballads as See the World and Chasing Ghosts with Alcohol, and such Beatle-tinged tunes as Girlshapedlovedrug and Don't Make Me Laugh. As before, the laid-back tones of Ian Ball are juxtaposed with the gritty delivery of Ben Ottewell, but sometimes they seem so intent on coming on strong they lose sight of the song. Kevin Courtney