NEW RELEASESDAVID HASSELHOFF
OPEN YOUR EYES
CLEOPATRA
★★★
INCOGNITO
TOMORROW’S NEW DREAM
BLUEY MUSIC / ABSOLUTE★★★
The musicianship surrounding
Jean-Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick is
beyond question. Since 1979,
he and his evolving cast of
colleagues have rolled out
17 albums of sophisticated
variations on soul, jazz, funk and
pop, and their 18th is no
exception. That, though, ensures
another certainty: you’d be
pushed to separate it from its
predecessors. Incognito defi ned
the era when Gilles Peterson was
the nation’s most refi nedsurprisingly credible – if loyal- fashion would be foolish.
Fortunately, in case anyone
needs convincing, he’s helped
there by The Cars’ Elliot Easton,
while there are icons, plausible
and improbable, elsewhere, too.
A Flock Of Seagulls’ Mike Score,
no less, appears on a faithfully
moody cover of Echo & The
Bunnymen’s Lips Like Sugar, and
Todd Rundgren livens up the
rock‘n’roll of Ted Mulry Gang’s
Jump In My Car, while country
star Charlie Daniels pops up on
an earnest Rhinestone Cowboy.
Bowie collaborator Ava
Cherry proves a worthwhile foil
for a sincere If You Could Read
My Mind, and he even covers
’Heroes’ in meaty fashion. Most
unexpected is a cover of Sweet
Caroline, recorded with
Ministry’s Al Jourgensen. “I feel
like Elvis,” Haselhoff once said,
“only alive”. That’s serious
commitment right there. WW
tastemaker, so if Joy Roses’
scat-singing at the beginning of
opener Haze Of Summer doesn’t
work for you, not to mention the
subsequent bursts of brass and
Latin percussion, you never liked
Camden’s Jazz Café anyway.
If this does appeal, though,
dive in. For The Love Of You
offers nostalgic soul funk, Phil
Perry’s voice a more restrained
Mick Hucknall alongside Maysa
Leak’s smoother tones, and she
returns for brassy, upbeat disco
reminiscent of early Jamiroquai
on All For You. Saturday Sirens is
a groovy instrumental which ups
the Santana jazz quotient with
fi ne bass work from Francis
Hylton, while Absent In Spring
fi nds Roberta Gentile slowing
things to a soul-funk pace.
Mario Biondi’s Barry White
impersonation on No Show wins
out, though, as drums are softly
brushed behind him and brass
warms the air. WWWhatever one thinks of David
(Knight Rider, Baywatch)
Hasselhoff, there’s no doubting
his commitment, whether to
talking cars, chests – his own, or
others’ – or music. Open Your
Eyes is his 14th album, and
though it’s patchy, and he
remains a fi gure of fun to Brits,
this is way better than they’ll
believe. Aside from anything, to
deny the unlikely joyride of The
Hoff taking on The Jesus & Mary
Chain’s Head On in a
RINGO STARR
WHAT’S MY NAME
UMC★★★
Beatles fans hunting out Starr
and McCartney’s version of
Lennon’s Grow Old With Me
may be surprised to discover it’s
one of the weaker efforts here.
Instead, it’s the curveballs that
stand out. There’s Joe Walsh
rapping about Facebook and the
revisitation of early-era Beatles
cover Money with Ringo twisting
his contributions through a
vocoder. Ebullient rockers Magic
and Better Days shine brightly,
the anthemic Send Love Spread
Peace is a decent lighter-waver
and the Colin Hay-penned title
track will no doubt become an
All-Starr Band live favourite. SHLEONARD COHEN
THANKS FOR THE DANCE
SONY
★★★★
Bequeathed his father’s fi nal
recordings, Adam Cohen
gathered a stellar cast –
including Beck, Daniel Lanois
and Jennifer Warnes – to guide
them towards completion. His
pa’s energy rarely registers: on
Listen To The Hummingbird his
voice strokes one’s cheek to a
quiet accompaniment of echoing
piano, and It’s Torn is like Lee
Hazlewood whispering. But
The Hills is more expansive,
while he almost sings on the
funereal title track, before
seducing one last time on The
Night Of Santiago: “Her nipples
rose like bread”. WW
STEREOPHONICS
KIND
PARLOPHONE★★
That Stereophonics recorded Kind
in just 11 days with new producer
George Drakoulias suggests a
fresh impetus. Unfortunately, most
of the album’s 11 songs comprise
Stereophonics’ dark-side hoary
ballads, which give them a
usually undeserved bad rep.
The energy infusing infectious
previous LP Scream Above The
Sounds is still there in the full-on
I Just Wanted The Goods and
Don’t Let The Devil Take Another
Day, while Bust This Town has a
supple rhythm. But there are far
too many blustering ballads
wearily trying for stadium status.
John EarlsJEFF LYNNE’S ELO
FROM OUT OF NOWHERE
COLUMBIA★★★
Belying its title, Jeff Lynne’s 14th
studio album fi nds him in familiar
territory. While the mid-paced
likes of Help Yourself feel like a
rather tired retread of his past,
the 80s-infl uenced ballad All
My Love is undeniably pretty,
likewise the George
Harrisonesque grace of Losing
You. There’s more thump to the
percussive Down Came The Rain,
while One More Time is a
guileless update of ELO stomper
Roll Over Beethoven. The old-time
50s waltz of Goin’ Out On Me,
underlines the fact this is an
album that’s unapologetically set
in its ways. Steve Harnell