Primal Scream
Beautiful Future
(B-Unique)
2/5

MUCH has been written in recent years about party animal Bobby Gillespie settling down and becoming a doting dad. But even the ding-dong, Avon-calling bell chimes that run through the title track of Primal Scream's ninth album can't disguise Gillespie's lyrical cynicism over domestic suburban dreams.

The opening track, coupled with the whooping keyboards and power-rock guitars of its immediate successor (current single Can't Go Back) suggests that the Scream might be elbowing their way back in among Kaiser Chiefs, The Killers and other brink-of-a-stadium indie bands from a younger generation. Those hopes are dashed, however, by the remainder of the album, which takes an uninspired trudge through the band's back catalogue.

And so we have the disco funk of Uptown, the tuneless hand-clap dirge of The Glory Of Love, the poor-man's Jesus And Mary Chain melody line of Suicide Bomb (if you're going to sing "insane", you can bet your clichéd bottom dollar the rhyme will be "vein"), and the reheated country gospel backing vocals of Zombie Man ("gonna put ya in the can", whatever that means).

It doesn't get any better when the band calls in a trio of collaborators. Lovefoxxx from CSS adds no eroticism to the electronica of I Love To Hurt. Linda Thompson brings more substantial vocal backing to Over & Over, but there's not enough of a song to merit the effort. Finally, Josh Homme's beefed-up metal guitar solos squall over the top of Necro Hex Blues, merely adding an extra layer to an untidy heap of noise. You don't get a beautiful future by regurgitating a chequered past.

DOWNLOAD THIS: Beautiful Future
Alan Morrison

Liam Finn
I'll Be Lightning
(Transgressive)
2/5

LIAM Finn sounds like his dad, Neil Finn, the singer and creative force behind Crowded House. And why wouldn't he? That band, at their best, were great, and Finn has played with them on tour since they reformed last year. This, his debut album, was recorded at Finn senior's Roundhead Studios in Auckland. It builds on his growing reputation as a virtual one-man band, looping effects when playing live, overdubbing backing vocals and the bulk of the instrumentation on recordings. In a break from what must be becoming, musically, a very crowded house, he roughens up the edges of some tracks - an echo of his time fronting the forgettable alt-rock act Betchadupa. But dad still shines through. You might listen to this, or allow it to play through, while painting a ceiling. Some tracks - Better To Be, Remember When - might even trouble your heart. But frankly, this album will either do it for you or it will sound really boring.

DOWNLOAD THIS: Better To Be
Paul Dalgarno

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Choral Works
(Hyperion)
4/5

RALPH Vaughan Williams's influence on British musical life in the first half of the 20th century was pretty well all embracing. Not only did he write for just about every medium of performance, his compositions also allowed for every level of ability. Yet, since his death in 1958, the vast bulk of his music has largely disappeared from the concert schedules. Now, as the 50th anniversary of his death approaches, there is a very welcome rebirth of interest in his music from the major recording companies. This four-disc set is essentially a collection from Hyperion's back catalogue which includes some of the most outstanding performances of the choral works. The Serenade To Music, for 16 solo voices, directed here by Matthew Best, is simply ethereal; Thomas Allen's velvety baritone brings huge emotional awareness to the Five Mystical Songs; and Dona Nobis Pacem, Flos Campi, Magnificat, Pilgrim's Progess and many others all figure in performances that range from excellent to dazzling.

DOWNLOAD THIS: Serenade To Music
Frank Carroll

CSS
Donkey
(Sub Pop/Warner)
2/5

BRAZILIAN oddballs CSS's eponymous debut album was as colourful a confection as the luminous catsuits lead singer Lovefoxxx has made her trademark; it was a brash, riotous thing, full of mangled pop culture references and endearingly wonky electronic funk. This second album, made by a band who have drilled themselves tight, isn't nearly as slapdash - much to its detriment. There's a polished sheen here: the buzzing synths of Reggae All Night and How I Became Paranoid are shorn of grit and dirt; elsewhere, the guitars are heavier, the rhythms more regimented. Rat Is Dead (Rage) is an energetic if predictable Pixies rehash, while Move takes Talking Heads' This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) and flattens its charms. There are odd moments of sparkle, though, not least the closing track Air Painter, a love song which has Lovefoxxx imploring the object of her affections not to "lick my art tit" (as she did on their debut), but "cook me Welsh rarebit". Rarely has cheese on toast sounded so appealing.

Download this: Air Painter
Leon McDermott

Natty
Man Like I
(Atlantic)
4/5

IN the word-association game, "reggae" comes before "Marley", testament to how token the general listener's interest in Jamaican music often is. Bob Marley was a long time dead when Natty was born, but while you might expect reggae's hottest new talent to be clawing out from under the legend's shadow, the 24-year-old Londoner is proud to pay homage as his name duly attests. The political punch of classic reggae is certainly there: ramming into the face of racism and pounding the Playstations that have stolen the fire from the bellies of his couch-potato generation. Propping up these protests, as well as some soulful love songs, are Natty's gritty grooves and raw, muscular vocals, which evoke the mid-1970s confluence of reggae and rock where The Rolling Stones took their inspired plunge into the Caribbean. But make no mistake, this is a fresh sound from a startling new talent, whose debut also fuses reggae with hip-hop in a way you probably haven't quite ever heard before.

Download this: Hey Man
Allan Burnett