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aside as McPiae's 94: pro /es the pipes as
powerful. nic/inri ar‘rr' ’l‘.":.")‘: iz’, frt‘, instrtirne'rt. He for/1s «is .vith a mournfirl rrierorr,’ on Arabic pipes or, the
W: ‘,’;.'i’) trllI l,’;'_ll'T‘:l"i .'.rith the closer 1c home ’.’fllllfIll|f}’; on 'l2r,r"iie liends‘. .Jrini the Piper is rriakinri his llifllr’.
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ROBERT CRAY Shoulda Been Home (Hykodrsci 0..
It seems a long time since Robert (,‘ray threatened to make the leap into the adult rock seam so lucratively mined by [Eric Clapton. but the American has spent the year's refining a soft soul take on the blues which is never less than endearing. Here he continues his painstaking recreation of the early [05; Willie Mitchellproduced Meriiphis sound Without straying noticeably from the polished formula of the (BrainirryWinning lake Your Shoes Off. ()ray's voice and guitar playing are supremely light and smooth: but it's still hard to see why anyone would choose this over a vintage Al (Tireen album. (Ninian [)unnettl
\‘v’t )l ll .b OMARA PORTUONDO
Dos Gardenias iliirrrii O...
This disc reveals another side of Omara Portuondo. renowned as the only woman singer Wrth the Buena Vista Social Club. And it's fabulous because it is so unlike Buena Vista. In the mining by Independent companies of Cuba's Egrem state riiusical archive. this has to be one of the real Jewels uncovered.
Portuondo offers unexpected arrangements of stunning rumbas and bolei'os. while also letting her yibrantly versatile VOICE range freely over unexpected material. including the glorious 'Chile lrndo‘ and a wonderful version of Violeta Parra's ‘Gracias a la Vida. one of the most important South Ariierrcan songs of the 20th century
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1”: .‘."/'i'.t ’s'r gar"; rrke
’."“S. Jan Ca *leu
PANCHO AMAT Y EL CABILDO DEL SON
De San Antonio a Maisi 'R‘fitflt‘fllhléti 0000.
‘l a Cacainomana' llhe Cr rcaine Addidr. corrrposed by Miguel l‘flétlétlltffl'O‘; in 1030. '.'/as a recent 'avarlable on radio only' hit in Cuba. spoken about in the same breath as scandalous rumours about Olympic Illgtt’ rump hero Sotomoyar. Now rt turns up as a rack on this stunning alburrr led I)“, the /ingy metallic sound of l’ancho Amat's small Cuban ties guitar.
Amat is king of the few good players around: Within a dynanrrc but intimate group of percussion. trumpet and b; ss. he picks. strums and plucks. making hrs tres sing like a bee. Wrth a host of inVited singers iniriiitably staiiiprng songs that map Cuba. this is an album of the year. (Jan Fairley)
JAZZ
MARK TURNER Dharma Days (Atlantrcl COO
American saxophmiist Mark Turner has attracted a lot of attention land a major label contractl in the currently overcrowrled field of tenor saxophonrsts. Part of the fascination wrth hrs music has been the fact that his lighter sound and rriusrcal conception derives more from the rather neglectC-éd Warne Marsh—Lennie Tl'lSIEtllO influence. rather then the r_)eryasr\.re Coltrane one. Hrs tenor often sounds like an alto or even soprano on this polished set of hrs own compositions. but rt is gurtarist Kurt Rosenwrnkel. a strikingly original Stylist. who invests the muSIC
COllifleXJ'a', some. REC AfTCjEfo/r‘ ans
Nasf‘eb‘t ‘- v’drtS .Cr'V.‘ a f‘fr):/r/yr:/ "IE {1" ‘ iltlé.‘rgl"atf~.e "".‘.l‘.".* SC‘CIK)“. 'KQ'WI‘, Iy/Igittjrfifgrlrt
JANE MONHEIT Come Dream With Me ll Curleit t/r'u
OOO
The remarkable success of Diana Krall in the USA and Stacey Kent over here has opened to floodgates for a aurave of new young women iaX/ singers to try their luck with the intricacies of mainstream ia// phrasing and rhythms. On the basis of her debut album for N Coded last year. young American singer Jane tvlonheit posted notice that she was a prime contender in the field. combining a great voice wrth a real rax/ feel. This second album is a lusher’ production rob. heavy on stellar guests (Kenny Barron on piano. tvlrchael Brecker' on saXOphone. lom l-larrell on trumpet. Richard Bona on bass) and rich in dreamy ballads, and oozes gualrty at every turn. (Kenny tvlathiesonl
ALSO RELEASED
Kate Rusby Litt/e Lights (Pure) Darling of the new folk circuit releases another strong vocal-led LP.
Marc Almond Stranger Things (Xlll Bisi New platter of exotic noir torch songs from the 80s Soft Cell legend.
Proud Mary The Same O/d B/ues (Sour Mash) Debut from retro rockers on Noel Gallagher's new label. Kelly Joe Phelps Sky Like A Broken C/ock (Rykodrsci More storyteller soul cOuntry from US songster. Godsmack Ararake iUnryersali Muscular metal from this Boston Ouartet currently supporting Limp Brzkrt.
games@list.co.uk
P;A‘r’S‘"AT.C\
BATMAN GOTHAM CIIY RACER do s ‘t £29.99 .0. (fl fir » "t
.v . w" if r XIII ' I . r!) ' (i ' l H 'l ‘ ' H "' I'\‘ IV r ' » » [t r 11.: ' . >".'
Ir ' t“
'tairw 'r. r» (I‘ W t'o l litr. H ’l' it
presented fl .t’rzr'rr (lit.. :it:li%,i":j 'ifl ‘lre twist l"rlu.it"r~» s can in durtrr, or assume the role of those rlastarrll‘. ‘.rllains and irlunrler as man; tlf>fthlf:‘~ as you can before thr- (,Laped Crusader and his allies home in on you.
though there is less slapstick mayhem than in its nearest corripetition. (Jot/ra/rr City Racer has a multitude of vehicles and characters to experiment With. not to mention fiI episode based missions. corrrplete wrth some cracking animation. It the early morning cartoon ad\./eritures of Batman ring your bell then Got/rarrr Crti/ Racer \‘Jlll fulfil your darkest Dark Knight fantasies. Others may frnd rt more t'rrtha Kit than Julie Newmar.
[)thAlv'iCAS l DAYTONA USA 2001
lSegai £39.99 0000
Anyone who has Visited an arcade in the last ten years will be well aware of the four cabinet glory of Ut'rvtona. No unreal
slip-sliding. no loop-the losrp faker}, and definitely no roam for show beating. i'.')arx‘o/ra is the purest ‘.)I arcade racers. You against the track. the t‘()llll)€?tlllt)ll. the ‘.‘./or|d.
So it is onlfi. understanrlable that this exprnience would be xirtually impossible to transfer to console. Well. Sega has nearly managed rt. the cars are great. \‘Jlttt solid handling. the tracks are great. WITIt an impressively frightening sense of speed. and the riiultiplayer games are fast. dirty and fun. However. we were all promised onlrne play and we haven't been given rt. Sure. promises are made to be broken but Dar/Iona prospered on its head—to—head pedigree and to ignore this is unforgivable. Daytorra USA 2007 is a pretty impressrve title but for aficionados this Will not be enough. Shame on you Sega.
FOSIQRAZY TAXI iSegai £39.99 0...
For some strange reason. rt rs Silly season on racing games at the moment. Cra/y 7am may
Games
'oe yet another. but rt has much to differentiate itself from the crowd. Fer starters rt IS from Sega. ‘So'." you ask. Well, this is the first Sega title to appear on another riranufacturer's
hard vare. Yup, this rs the beginning of Sega's life as a third-party deyeloper and if this standard is kept up then rt has a long. profitable life ahead of rt because another of Crazy Taxis selling points is the most basic of all rt is unsurpassed in playability The simple act of picking up and delivering fee-paying passengers is absurdly addictive and the trtle's transition from DC to PS2 is near perfect. lt might look a lrttle shoddrer but the gameplay is still dynamrtr—z. (Ira/y laxr 2 is rriiriiinent so this doesn't achieve the top score but the fact rs. there rs not a better PS2 game out there.
PS2
RING OF RED (Konariir) £39.99
0...
Over the years. turn- based strategy games have become the poor. country cousins of the llashier, Simpler RTS genre. Which is unfortunate. because when the turn-based boys are as good as R/rig Of Red then the more people who are encooraged to play the better. Ring Of Red rs set in the riot-so distant past as post—World War II Japan falls into civil war. Needless to say, Mechs abound. and it is your 10b to gurde these massrve military machines to victory and
The more people who are encouraged to play Ring Of Red the better 1’
7—21 Jun 2001 THE LIST 115