Alt Country

Sparrow And The Workshop: Sleight Of Hand (Distiller)

The modern-band-invokes-ancient-band mannerisms of Fleet Foxes made them the nation’s favourite band of 2008.

Sleight of Hand’s whimsical stripped down tunes mean they could grab some of that commercial glory too.

This short player from the Scottish/Welsh/American trio is alt/folk with a country twist.  Acoustic guitars, mellow yellow slide guitars, old French violins and male/female harmonies make their sound an intoxicating brew. ****

Jazz

Wynton Marsalis: He And She (Blue Note)
Flashes of humour, oodles of swing and atypical groove make this an outstanding release.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Marsalis is in ambitious mood on this fifth Blue Note recording as he mixes spoken word and music with ease and elegance.

Marsalis has created a life story that examines the elusiveness of romance as well as the evanescence of life. His music shifts through gears and moods with dramatic effect. ***

Alternative

Patrick Wolf: The Bachelor (BCM)
The innovative and versatile Wolf is regarded by many as being one of the last great British musical hopes.

Certainly, he doesn’t follow fashion and fads as assiduously as most. On this, his fourth studio album, he has enlisted the help of noise terrorist Alec Empire, actress Tilda Swinton as well as Eliza Carthy and Matthew Herbert.

The result, as you’d expect, is suitably magical and genre-defying. It documents the nightmarish adventures of one of the nation’s foremost subversive pop stars. ***