Album Reviews

R&B Collection Summer 2011 (Sony Music B0051X5DYE) £13.99: If you’re a die-hard R&B fan, you might be disappointed with this compilation as there are more R&B misses and maybes than hits. Featuring pop from Jennifer Lopez and Nicole Scherzinger and rap from Bow Wow and Birdman, this collection seems to have taken a pit stop in just about every music genre, bar rock! It swerves around R&B’s more obvious summer smashes in favour of a so-so selection of tracks from artists across a broader spectrum. A smattering of dancefloor-inducing highlights such as Buzzin By Mann featuring 50 Cent, and Rihanna’s February hit, S&M, manage to stand out from the weaker slow songs. LH
By The Newsroom
Published 29th Jul 2011, 11:07 BST

Epic Volume II: The Biggest Tracks. The Festival Anthems (Sony Music B00545KPO2) £15.99: Close your eyes and you’ll be close to feeling the festival experience. This 60-track collection features bands and artists who pull in the crowds at festivals. Brilliantly assembled, Muse, Coldplay and Biffy Clyro headline the first disc; Noah And The Whale, Aloe Blacc and Plan B are top of the bill on disc two. Disc three recreates a dance-tent atmosphere and includes tracks by The Chemical Brothers, Example and LCD Soundsystem. There are plenty of crowd pleasers, so to relive the festival fun, this is a must-have. EB

Clubland 19 (UMTV B0052CD7G0) £13.99: If you like high-energy dance music with a touch of pop familiarity this is the ideal summer soundtrack. Don’t Stop The Party by The Black Eyed Peas and Jennifer Lopez’s On The Floor have been left untouched, whereas through remixes, The Saturdays’ Notorious and Jessie J’s Price Tag have received a distinctly cooler dance makeover. Elsewhere, the album keeps its contemporary feel with 2011 smash hits Mr Saxobeat by Alexandra Stan and Inna’s Sun Is Up. Both CDs are littered with tunes that will appeal to the Ibiza clubber in you. Providing the perfect reminder of your Balearic holiday, this album will also make a great gym buddy. LH

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Spacebuoy – Fashionista (Spacebuoy): Fresh from supporting 80s synth-pop legends Erasure, Midlands-based duo Spacebuoy release their debut eight track EP. At times reminiscent of Italian synth-pop giants Planet Funk while also drawing on other ‘electronica’ influences such as Depeche Mode and the Human League, the ambitious pair of Jez Allan-Smith and Howard Moth have packed in plenty of floor-filling material into the 30-minutes or so running time. Standout moments are the closer Oblivion while the title track and Venom come up close on the rails to help make Fashionista an impressively strong opening salvo. PH

Brain, H – Burlesque Variations/Elegy/English Suite No.5 (Toccata Classics TOCC 0110) £13.99: English eccentric or genius? Garry Walker, winner of the 1999 Leeds Conductors Competition, directs the BBC Scottish Symphony in the first of a series establishing Brain’s place among 20th century composers. Passing through many influences, particularly Elgar, the Burlesque Variations speak volumes of a new and refreshing voice in 1903. Fifty year later his Fifth English Suite displays the mature composer in the Vaughan Williams mode, while his Elegy is the sad thoughts of an old man. Most strongly recommended. DD

Mahler/Schonberg – Das Lied von der Erde (Avie AV2195) £13.99: Peter Wedd, presently with Opera North in Wagner’s Das Rheingold, and the glorious mezzo voice of Jane Irwin, we discovered some years ago in York Minster, are the two outstanding soloists in this chamber orchestra version of Mahler’s song cycle devised by Schonberg. Without the massed instrumental forces to battle against, we can enjoy unforced voices and actually hear the words, Irwin’s The Farewell so deeply moving. Douglas Boyd directs 17 members of the Manchester Camerata in a “live” recording. DD

Lisa Haynes, Ellen Branagh and Phil Harrison (rock/pop), and David Denton (classical/opera)