Latest CD releases reviewed

STEVE FORBERT

The Place and The Time Freeworld Records ***

Steve Forbert seems like a regular guy, the kind of person you might meet at a bar, share a few beers and a few dumb jokes with, marvel at his quiet insight and walk away feeling a little better for the experience. Pretty much like this album – his 20-somethingth since he made his debut in 1978. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, Forbert has had his moments in the sun but in recent years he has been holding a conversation with a small, faithful band of followers, chronicling in his warm, unhurried folk-rock style his changing fortunes as the years pushed him into middle age. These 12 songs, including two covers, inhabit the usual territory of faded dreams, middle-aged anxiety and loss of idealism, which he conveys with honesty, humour and intelligence. It may not be his best album, but if it sounds like your cup of meat catch him in Whelan's, Dublin, next Tuesday. www.steve forbert.com JOE BREEN

Download tracks: Simply Must Move On, Beast of Ballyhoo

BILL WELLS & MAHER SHALAL HASH BAZ

Gok Geographic Records ***

This is a delightfully daft album, which is not surprising given that those responsible are maverick Scottish jazz musician Bill Wells and off-the-wall Japanese combo Maher Shalal Hash Baz. The latter, as all Biblical scholars will know, means "plunder speedeth; spoil hasteth" and is apparently taken from Isaiah 8 - I'm afraid I'm going to have to take Wikipedia's word for it. Equally, their previous work is a mystery to me, which on first listenings seems a Godsend. But these curiously fragmented and bizarrely inept instrumentals also ooze charm, a brass neck and irresistible lounge-lizard melodies. It's like a series of Andy Williams sound-alike tunes being played by a bad school orchestra. And yet a triumph of sweet melody rises out of this mild-mannered cacophony. An album with which to bewitch your friends. www.geographicmusic. com JOE BREEN

Download tracks: Rye and Guy, Duck, The Williams Sisters