The latest releases reviewed

TIM EASTON
Ammunition
New West
****

This is Easton's fourth album, but it still carries all the marks of a fresh-faced serial underachiever determined to make his own way accompanied by his trusty '47 Gibson. Anybody with half an ear for good playing, moody, attitude-filled singing and memorable songs in the unadorned American folk-rock tradition would do well to turn their ear to this itinerant minstrel from Iowa. For the past month he has been moseying around this island playing songs such as I Don't Want to Come Home and Back to the Pain, though presumably without Lucinda Williams on backup vocals, as she is here. Another terrific singer - Tift Merritt - also plays a part, as does Gary Louris of The Jayhawks, but it is Easton's low-key approach that carries the day, making light of comparisons to Dylan and others. Sure, he can sound like him, but Easton is his own man and these powerful songs of public concern and private reflection are a testament to that. www.timeaston.com    JOE BREEN

Download tracks: Next To You, J.P.M.F.Y.F.

NICK LOWE
At My Age
Proper
****

If medals were handed out to those who have fought in the rock'n'roll trenches for what seems like forever, then that diamond geezer Nick Lowe would be among the most decorated. The man variously described as the father of pub rock and an architect of punk and the new wave recently celebrated his 58th birthday; this latest collection, his first in six years, takes as its theme the fate of "feckless man" and his search for love. If that sounds a bit heavy, fear not, for this master of Americana and all places therein never labours his point, with only two of the 12 tracks lasting longer than three minutes. On first listen it may seem slight, but this is a gorgeously rich pop record, with melodies and styles that bounce with ease from Memphis to Nashville, with particular reference to their heydays of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Lowe's elegant English voice is enhanced by his penchant for the wry side of life and the music and playing is cleverly understated. www.nicklowe.net   JOE BREEN

Download tracks: A Better Man, There's Hope for Us All

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Gypsy Groove
Putumayo
**

Post the Eurovision debacle that was Helsinki, Gypsy Groove is the perfect antidote for those who crave regular doses of Euro-hash throughout the year. There's a definite air of box-ticking about this meandering tower of babel that stretches from the Czech Republic to Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia and points east (and mystifyingly, squeezing in two detours to the US on route). Attempting to drag the elemental rootsiness of gypsy music kicking and screaming into the noughties, Gypsy Groove succeeds fleetingly when Gipsy.cz strips Jednou down to the bare bones (replete with quirky knee-slapping rap interlude), but Uzbeki Karen Gafurdjanov delivers a mashed amalgam of beat box and acoustic strings that jars excruciatingly. Acoustic roots music wrung dry by producers in thrall to the mixing desk. www.putumayo.com   SIOBHÁN LONG

Download tracks: Jednou