On the record: Skunk Anansie bring back the trash

What's hot and what's not in this week's new releases.

By Polly Weeks

It's one of the most hotly anticipated albums of the year so far but will the London folk group Mumford & Sons' debut release live up to the hype? Elsewhere French duo Air return with their fifth album and diva Mariah Carey releases her Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel.

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

It's been a short two years since Mumford & Sons formed. Emerging from the West London folk scene that's already given us Laura Marling - whose album featured two of Mumford's line-up - and Noah And The Whale among others, the band have rapidly transformed from mere ones to watch to genuine contenders for mainstream success. Their live shows, which evoke the euphoric mood of a riotous hoedown, have been key to this. Thankfully, they've captured that ebullience on Sigh No More. Production wizard Markus Dravs has done a fine job, giving the band the scale their initial EPs lacked. As a result, Winter Winds takes on a pounding, military-esque tone, and Roll Away Your Stone moves from genteel, traditional folk to rousing gospel-tinged bluegrass stomp in the space of a few minutes. The effect is simply mesmerising, while penultimate track Dustbowl Dance hints at a future direction for this staggeringly talented band. Album of the year so far, no question.

Rating 9/10

(Review by Andy Welch)

Air - Love 2

The fifth album to come from Air duo, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel, bears all their familiar downbeat hallmarks: soaring synthetic sounds, a few TV advert-ready tracks and a limitless sense of space. But while Air still sound like no other ambient duo, listeners might also notice another nagging theme - that their musical concept is wearing a bit thin. Having taken their sounds back to basics (their 2007 album Pocket Symphony included explorations of Eastern instruments like the Japanese floor harp and banjo), Air are on safe ground. And it's hard not to feel comfortable listening to their distinctive percussive instrumentation, 1970s-style simplicity and sweepingly confident style. But does it have the same impact as Moon Safari did, almost 10 years ago? In short, no.

Rating: 6/10

(Review by Sarah O'Meara)

Mariah Carey - Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel

The Queen of R&B is back with her 12th album, and fans, hoping for a reprisal of her earlier hits, may well be disappointed. Written and produced entirely by Mariah with The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, it starts off on a good note, with opener Betcha Gon' Know (The Prologue) hinting back to the Honey days. Obsessed is Mariah's comeback in her feud with Eminem, and she sports a ridiculous Jamaican accent in Up Out My Face. Perhaps in an attempt to belie her 39 years, her lyrics seem to be slightly skewed as she sings about Jimmy Choo shoes and nail gel. In an album that seems full of duds, there are some gems - Impossible and preludes Angel and Languishing showcase Mariah's vocal talents at their best, proving that she will be sticking around for a while longer. Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel may not her best work, but as it's not in Glitter territory, it shows she's on the right track.

Rating: 6/10

(Review by Shereen Low)

Lethal Bizzle - Go Hard

Initially a luminary of the same East London pirate radio based grime scene that launched Dizzee Rascal into the pop stratosphere, Lethal Bizzle might have done almost as much as the aforementioned star to establish a distinctive sub-genre of hip hop to a wider audience. Bizzle teamed up with infamous punk rockers Gallows recently and also triumphed through adversity at the metal festival Download. This new album continues in a similarly combative vein, with the punk-infused likes of Skullz On My Hoodie and Rockstar, and successfully manages to blend these with some catchy hip hop/pop numbers including Go Hard, Going Out Tonight and the Mark Ronson collaboration Lost My Mind.

Rating: 6/10

(Review By Patrick Gates)

Cerys Matthews - Don't Look Down

It is hard to reconcile the modern Ms Matthews with the tabloid's anti-hero of the late 1990s. Cerys was once celebrated in gossip columns as a hard-drinking party girl, but then her drug habit led to the implosion of the chart-topping band she fronted, Catatonia. Following another brush with fame via I'm A Celebrity..., Matthews has reinvented herself as the charming rookie host of a BBC 6Music afternoon show, not to mention a mother of two with a third child on the way. Don't Look Down, released simultaneously in English and Welsh language versions, is her third solo album. Opener Arlington Way showcases her still-spectacular voice but, just as with Catatonia, the dreamier moments are where the magic is to be found.

Rating: 8/10

(Review by John Skilbeck)

The Raveonettes - In And Out Of Control

Like The White Stripes, The Raveonettes are a girl-boy two-piece rock band. But while the Stripes sing the blues, the Raveonettes involve frosty, dark undertones in their electro-rock. For the Danes the spectre of Spector has always lingered, while the scuzz-rock of The Velvet Underground and Jesus And Mary Chain has been obviously influential. Curiously though, on their fourth album they have embraced glitzy fizz-pop - so rather than the Velvets and the Reid Brothers you can hear echoes of vintage late-80s Kim Wilde, even Belinda Carlisle and the Go-Gos. Yet the issues tackled - rape, suicide, drugs - remain bleak, meaning that no matter how the sound has been cleaned up, the stain of sleaze remains.

Rating: 6/10

(Review by John Skilbeck)

Frank Sinatra - Live At The Meadowlands

Old Blue Eyes was 70 when he performed this homecoming concert in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1986. Despite his age, he effortlessly dispatches classics from his 50-year career. He thanks the audience for braving the rain to come and see him, but they are duly rewarded with heart-felt performances of I've Got You Under My Skin, Bewitched and New York, New York. He jokes about his advancing years before a mellow version of It Was A Very Good Year, and banters jovially with the audience, which adds to the feeling of witnessing one of the great jazz singers at work. He seems to talk his way through Mack The Knife, however, which is the only disappointment in a rousing 90-minute set.

Rating: 7/10

(Review by Kate Whiting)

A Place To Bury Strangers - Exploding Head

The trio often tagged as the loudest band in New York do more than enough to live up to their ferocious reputation with the release of this rip-roaring second album. The trio haven't drifted too far away from the template set by their debut, serving up another round of dreamy vocals and swathes of 80s-style psychedelic guitar effects, beefed up with bursts of harsh, atonal noise. Great for those with a stomach for this sort of racket, but those of a more delicate disposition may be advised to steer well clear.

Rating: 7/10

(Review by Simon Harker)

Barbra Streisand - Love Is The Answer

With a bulging trophy cabinet Singer-actress Barbra Streisand approaches her new album ever the professional. With help from jazz star Diana Krall this is full of smoky jazz bar tunes. If You Go Away includes French lyrics which gives the song an altogether 40s soundtrack feel. The delicate instrumentation used on Where Do You Start is an album highlight and shows just how strong her vocals are. This album is not a loud, boisterous showtime affair. It's a subtle and delicate offering and Barbra adapts superbly. Fans will be altogether pleased with the release.

Rating: 8/10

(Review by Polly Weeks)

Andy Williams - The Very Best Of

Moon River, Music To Watch Girls By, Can't Take My Eyes Off You, Born Free... All classics, all sung by Andy Williams, and all on this Very Best Of compilation. A huge star in the US with his own, self-titled series, he never quite scaled similar heights here in Britain, although with several revivals since his 60s heyday, there is a timeless quality to his music. True, there isn't the swing of his Rat Pack friends, and almost all Williams' deliveries are infinitely more wholesome than the likes of Frank, Dean and Sammy, but then who said crooning had to solely be about drinking into the small hours and no-good 'broads'? His takes on Abraham, Martin And John and The Look Of Love, made famous by Marvin Gaye and Dusty Springfield respectively, are to be applauded, but a cover of The Jackson 5's Never Can Say Goodbye, however, is stinking. Nevertheless, a great collection.

Rating 8/10

(Review by Andy Welch)

Singles by Polly Weeks

:: The Saturdays - Forever Is Over

The girl group are back with a new album and this is the first release from it. It's a dance anthem, full of girl-power lyrics.

:: Whitney Houston - Million Dollar Bill

She's back! The legendary diva that is Ms Houston returns with a dance-heavy soul number.

:: Chipmunk - Oopsy Daisy

The London based rapper may have chosen a rather strange single title but this is pure pop which should make the top 10.

On the road

Live review

Coldplay - Wembley Stadium, London, September 18

Wembley Stadium was one of Coldplay's biggest-ever gigs and boy, did they revel in it. Supported by Girls Aloud and Jay-Z, who could sell out arena venues themselves, Chris Martin and his band played the biggest and baddest show of their career. In true Coldplay fashion, Chris - wearing a military jacket, matching his embossed piano and guitar - and bandmates Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion embraced the screaming crowds as they sang their hearts out on 25 tracks, including Yellow, Clocks, Fix You, God Put A Smile Upon Your Face and an acoustic version of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. Old friend - and Shaun Of The Dead star - Simon Pegg joined them on harmonica duties for Trouble, and Jay-Z lent his rapping skills on Lost. The night ended with pyrotechnics shooting up into the sky as the band closed with The Escapist - even non-Coldplay fans were impressed by all the trouble they went to.

Upcoming tours

:: One of the strangest singers out there, Har Mar Superstar heads over for a UK tour - his first in two years. The comedy begins at the Oxford Academy on November 29 and ends at the Manchester Ruby Lounge on December 7. Visit www.harmarsuperstar.com for full details.

:: Yusuf aka Cat Stevens has just announced his first tour in more than 30 years. Taking in Liverpool, Birmingham and London the gigs are sure to sell out. Visit www.aeglive.co.uk to buy tickets.