Seven Of Five…

The five sparkly little jewel(case)s that have taken my fancy this week are as diverse as they are….. different. Got to work on those metaphors if I’m going to be writing this every week or so…

We start with:

Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers

Disclaimer first - I like a huge amount of what the Manics have done over the years, I thought the last album was brilliant and they’re one of the best interviews I ever did, back in April 2007. This is their new one though and slightly different. This is the legendary album. The one with all of the late Richie Edwards unused lyrics…

It easily stands up with their stuff from the past. Alternately raw, with loads of big guitars and the occasional string section and soulful stripped down stuff. Can see myself listening to it a lot more. Facing Page: Top Left is easily my favourite of the bunch.

Story is they’ll be doing the album in full, then a set of greatest hits on the tour. Can’t wait.

Gary Go - Gary Go

Interesting title. Means one of two things. He’s a complete egotist or has no imagination when it come to titling. Not a good start. The subtitling of the two halves of the album as “Of Youth” and “Of Beauty” meant I almost didn’t put the CD in the player.

Maybe I shouldn’t have.

It’s grand. That’s a terrible thing to say about a debut album, though. The tunes are utterly forgettable and all tinkle along somewhere in sub-James Morrison territory.

Meh.

Kevin Rudolf - In The City

You’ll know this guy from Let It Rock which has been all over pop music radio the last while. I’m always predisposed not to like projects like this. “Urban”, American, guest appearances (Nas and Lil’ Wayne), faux graffiti lettering on the cover.

However, there’s my preconception, it’s boarding a flight for a relaxing weekend break in Barcelona and…. there it goes. Shock horror. It’s well produced, melodic at times and catchy in places and I ended up not skipping each track after ten seconds. Look, it’s not Blood On the Tracks or The Joshua Tree but it’s miles better than 95% of the rest of the albums released to that market every year.

Christy Moore - Listen

I know this has been out a couple of weeks but I think it’s worth flagging. Even if you aren’t really aware of it or see him in a different light, Christy is the most important voice in Irish music in my lifetime. Big statement, but one I’ll stand behind. He’s a brilliant songwriter, unparallelled as an interpreter of the songs of others and an electric presence on any live stage.

He is at his absolute best in recording when it’s like this; warm, rich and intimate. The collection of songs aren’t the beest he’s ever recorded but his incredible voice takes you above the material every time. The gem of the collection (pun very much intended) is an almost sean-nós version of Pink Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond. I could do without the Ruby Walsh song but it’s a minor quibble.

Really, you have to buy this.

Eminem - Relapse

I really liked swathes of The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP and even The Eminem Show and I really did think for a brief period of time he was dragging mainstream hip-hop in a less “bling and bitches” direction. It was a brief-lived hope.

Seriously, when is Eminem going to give up on bad skits, his mother, his stepfather, drink, drugs, his ex…? I knew when I hit the track with the bagpipes in it it was time to give up. And I did. As he should have done at least two albums ago.

Also out at the moment are two re-recorded albums that are must haves as well. Pearl Jam’s Ten is out in a special “legacy” edition with a remix disc and Josh Ritter’s The Golden Age Of Radio is being re-issued with a bonus disc of him playing the whole album solo and acoustic and some b-sides. Both have rich rewards for the parting of your hard earned sheckels.