Pop Goes Art
Chant: Music for Paradise 
Price: ?27.99
Hickox Conducts Vaughan Williams 
This slimline British Composers double-pack from EMI offers stunning value for money, cramming the contents of nearly three Vaughan Williams anthologies from the mid-1980s onto two extremely well-filled CDs–and all at mid-price, too. Performances and production values are consistently first-rate, and the pleasures come thick and fast. Under Richard Hickox’s sympathetic and invigorating lead, the 1923 ballet score Old King Cole (still a considerable rarity) creates a delightful impression. There’s an engaging contribution from the Sinfonia Chorus both here and in the lovely Five Mystical Songs (which finds baritone Stephen Roberts in rapt, if not perhaps always ideally steady voice). Elsewhere, the Northern Sinfonia’s then leader, Bradley Creswick, excels in the bracing Concerto accademico (a title the composer later rejected in favour of the plainer Concerto for violin and strings in D minor) and ravishing The Lark Ascending, while the oboe concerto receives eminently stylish advocacy from soloist Roger Winfield. Not the least of this generous sets many attractions can be found in some of the shorter items such as the perky overture to the 1929 opera The Poisoned Kiss,, the gravely noble prelude to 49th Parallel (VW’s first film score dating from 1940-41) and the jaunty Sea Songs. So, if the programme appeals (and it certainly should!), don’t hesitate. –Andrew Achenbach END
List Price: ?8.99
Amazon Price: ?6.97
Used Price: ?6.30
Love Angel Music Baby 
So long, tatty Warped Tour T-shirt, goodbye day-glo pedal pushers: Love Angel Music Baby, the debut solo album from No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani, finds this former ska-punk tomboy embracing `80s electro-pop, digital R&B, and the glamorous lifestyle of the international jetsetter. Laden with special guests (Andre 3000, Dr Dre, New Order), name-dropping the likes of Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano, and packed with guilt-free references to conspicuous consumption, tracks like “Luxurious”–a cut of velvety G-Funk that sees Gwen cooing “Champagne kisses/ Hold me in your lap of luxury”–may well be an instant turn-off to fans more familiar with Gwen’s punk-rock roots. Luckily, there’s some fine pop crossover moments here that should pretty much appeal across the board: “Hollaback Girl” finds Gwen riding a Neptunes beat that’s as minimal as anything in their oeuvre, spare boom-crash percussion and wisps of acoustic guitar undercut by floor-shaking bass whoomp, while “Rich Girl” featuring Eve, repaying the favour for 2002’s “Let Me Blow Your Mind”, raids Fiddler On The Roof and comes out with a great pop hook. As an album, it’s not totally devoid of filler, but Love Angel Music Baby will break Gwen to a whole new fanbase, and deservedly so.–Louis Pattison
List Price: ?16.99
Amazon Price: ?4.98
Used Price: ?0.49
