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Stephen McCarty

Victoria Finlay

Angelique Kidjo - Oremi (Island Records) It is easy to see why West African singer Angelique Kidjo has been billed as the 'diva of Afro-funk'.

 The Benin-born vocalist has given us an album overflowing with funky beats merged with sensual African rhythms and a healthy serving of jazz. And then there is her voice, strangely distinctive, particularly in her native Fon language.

 This is accessible world music at its best; contemporary enough to appeal to a wide range of tastes without being contrived.

  There is electro-funk in the enthralling remake of Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child, followed by the sassy Never Know. This slow groove with an underlying hip-hop beat features the equally exquisite jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson.

 Jazz artist Branford Marsalis also makes an appearance, lending an astounding saxophone performance to the jazzy-funky Itche Koutche.

 Up-and-coming R&B vocalist Kelly Price performs on the sensuously soulful Open Your Eyes. Together, these two very different vocalists are absolutely enchanting.

 Oremi is, in its 12 tracks, a bridge between music of the African Diaspora and contemporary urban music, making it a lovely journey between continents.

- Mansha Daswani Football 98: The Best Football and Sports Anthems - Various (Avex Trax) Now the echoes of the final whistle have died it's time to assess what the World Cup has left us with musically: and on this evidence it's a sorry legacy.

 Songs easily appropriated by Anglo-Saxon thugs form the core of the bequest, even though the language is sometimes Spanish or French and the beat funky, rather than pub-rock.

 Still, the intelligence required to take up the anthems (not all of them about football) is low on the register: it doesn't need much up top to master the 'uno, dos, tres . . . un, deux, trois' of La Copa De La Vida, the official song of France 98.

 Cheekily, on a 1998 album, the second track is To Be Number One, that instantly recognisable official chant from eight years ago at Italia 90.

 Backing that up is Superboy (Ole! Ole!), which boasts the challenging lyric: 'Maldini, Klinsmann, Garcia, Fonseca, Boban' and so on.

 This album - a value-laden two CDs' worth - consists mostly of indigestible nonsense.

 A special mention goes to Hot Stuff by Arsenal FC, which contains the line: 'Walking in a Bergkamp wonderland'. Oh dear.

- Stephen McCarty Cam - Purr (Soap)  According to the wisdom from the Pop Bible, a dashingly beautiful model of either sex usually brings forth the image of the frontwoman of some obscure dance group, mouthing nonsensical lyrics to a manic dancehall beat.

 Scratch the surface and Cam, to our pleasant surprise, is more than a superficial, face-only commodity. Underneath the good looks is her ability to write and produce - Cam is jointly responsible for the musical content and lyrics. That she is also a graphic designer explains the surreal artwork.

 Purr, Cam's debut opus, is more than passable.Songs like Heaven's Lost or Possible Honey are saccharine, bright-eyed ballads that make one smirk. But Cam's sophistication and bohemian leanings are showcased in songs more atmospheric. Examples abound - the subdued Lying Around or the quirky Tiny could well give Tori Amos a run for the money.

- Neil Frame Kitaro: Gaia-Onbashira (Pony Canyon) There are 50 minutes of music on Gaia/Onbashira, but only six tracks - compositions that take their time to show where they are going - and from which traditions they are coming.

 As with much of what is loosely categorised as 'new age synthesiser' music I am never quite sure what these compositions are for.

 Yamadashi starts with little bird calls that soon move into something much wilder. By the ninth minute our tweeting has metamorphosed into something danceable and urgent.

 There are echoes of Africa and an appeal to the darkness of ritual.

 Woodfairy is dreamy and full of running water and wistfulness. The sound technicians have done well and it is extraordinarily vivid: like a wildlife documentary without the video.

 This CD shows off this composer's specialty: overlaid sound which drifts continents together in a musical form that defies tradition. We hear elements of Kilimanjaro and Mt Fuji spliced with flamenco and science fiction.

 Musicians include tabla players, chanters and, bizarrely, four credited as 'human birds'.

- Victoria Finlay 



Record reviews