Album Reviews
Okkervil River – I Am Very Far (Jagjaguwar B004SHHJFU) £11.99: When Will Sheff sings, you feel he means what he says. Texas-based Okkervil River, now on to their sixth studio album, are one of the finest groups to take cues from American country and western with their poetic and novelistic lyrics. Sheff tells stories like a novelist – tales of blood and bombast, and love, and regret. Songs such as We Need A Myth and Rider are wild and powerful, and orchestral like Arcade Fire even, but this is perhaps Sheff’s finest collection of words above all. An intense ride through the landscape of a man’s mind. IS
Gillian Keith – Strauss songs. Champs Hill Records CHRCD20 £5.99: Richard Strauss’s career was saturated in song and this recital ranges from his first, Standchen, through less familiar works like Madchenblumen and Drei Lieder der Ophelia to his last, Malven. The Canadian soprano Gillian Keith is oddly tentative in the famous Standchen and Simon Lepper’s accompaniment sounds too far forward. There is warmer lyricism in Rote Rosen and the five songs of Op 48 but these pieces can take more colour and more confidence than is brought to them here. RC
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Hide AdStravinsky – Diversions. Melba, MR 301128 £13.99: Taiwan-born, Australia-raised and American-trained, Ray Chen went on to win important competitions including the Yehudi Menuhin. Beside his impressive technical facility, a strong personality shines through in this delightful recording. The neo-classicism of the Suite after themes by Pergolesi is ideal for his mobile wit and he dispatches arrangements like the Danse Russe from Petrushka with verve. Intelligent accompaniments from Timothy Young enhance a fine enterprise. RC