Stan Walker - Introducing Stan Walker

INTRODUCING STAN WALKER
Stan Walker, Sony

***

He's a worthy Australian Idol winner: a youthful charmer with talent to burn; a rough diamond with back story. Now his soaring voice leads the way on this shotgun debut. The two original tracks – made-for-radio single Black Box and Think Of Me – stand up surprisingly well against nine Idol-inspired covers, with raunchy takes on James Brown's It's A Man's Man's Man's World and Al Green's Let's Stay Together highlights that belie Walker's 19 years. It's just a pity the bigwigs were so hell-bent on rushing this out for Christmas, because the half-baked moments (the karaoke-styled We Will Rock You would have Freddie Mercury turning in his grave, while the Hallelujah baton should be buried with Jeff Buckley) could have been omitted, or enhanced – Opera House-style.

Key track: Think of Me – Soul compatriat and original Idol winner Guy Sebastian produces and lends backing vocals to this frisky, harmony-laden Motown moment.

Liam Byrne: “No Ordinary Man: A Tribute to Christy Moore” - Clifton Hill Hotel, Friday, 13th November 2009

Liam Byrne: “No Ordinary Man: A Tribute to Christy Moore” - Clifton Hill Hotel, Friday, 13th November 2009

***1/2

The 100-strong crowd at Clifton Hill Hotel's Emerald Lounge were quietly buzzing as a stocky, smiley Liam Byrne took to stage. “Are you in good form?” he asked in a strong Co Wexford accent.
A roar in the positive. “Any here from home?” he pressed. The room shook, and so began Back Home In Derry.

It was soon obvious, besides Byrne's likeness to the Kildare folk legend, that crowd involvement was the order of the night, with Byrne regularly giving the mic a wide berth and allowing the gathering to bellow choruses in between swills of Guinness and Magners.

The apartheid and grim working-class undertones to Dunnes Stores gave the crowd their first chance to appreciate Byrne's story-telling ability. Then – as was the pattern for much of the night – the mood shifted back from emotive to jovial, as he aimed a barb the pub's management. “They've kindly given me water,” he said, sipping from a bottle before some clean strumming formed the backbone to hilarious tales of his giving up “the mushrooms, disco biscuits, funny fags and mad soup” and an ex-pat's lament of how “Christmas shopping in a pair of shorts isn't f**kin' right”.

Now warmed up, he proceeded to roll off effortless takes on Moore classics and traditional folk anthems, with a thoughtful balancing of Irish and Australian references. Fairytale of New York hit the mark with everyone, even those curious few not savvy with the Pogues, or Christy Moore for that matter. His own Irish radio hit, The Ballad of Miriam O'Callaghan, sat comfortably alongside The Reel and The Flickering Light, which enlivened the crowd so much it took several minutes for hush as Byrne, eyes closed and operatic-voiced, offered up beguiling versions of Cliffs of Doneen and The Band Played Waltzing Matilda.

Other highlights included startling renditions of No Ordinary Man and Ride On, while Joxer Goes to Stuttgart had the green-tops screaming as Ray Houghton 1988's UEFA goal against England was celebrated once again.

Delighting with his skills on the bodhran (afterwards he admitted to 'losing himself' in the performance) and harmonica on Dirty Old Town, he rounded out the performance with a fierce medley that included Lisdoonvarna and Gaelic Storm.

Byrne has long been hyped as “energetic, witty, passionate and enthusiastic”. On Friday night he was all this, and more. Humble and talented, he's not merely a worthy Christy Moore substitute – he's well worth the price of admission in his own right.

Muse - The Resistance

THE RESISTANCE
Muse
Warner Brothers

*** 1/2

Matt Bellamy is one restless mofo. Since their 1999 debut, Showbiz, he has grown progressively more bonkers and grandiose, garnering a serious cross-section of admirers and worshippers along the way. The band found the right balance in 2003 with Absolution, then left us reeling with follow up Black Holes and Revelations and its barmy conclusion, Knights of Cydonia.
But while the previous albums' many OTT moments were complemented, even enhanced, by several tumbling rock numbers of brutality and synth-enhanced beauty, Bellamy has stretched the prog-rock elastic band even further on the band's fifth long-player, The Resistance – with seldom a commercial moment to fall back on.
It doesn't begin this way. Stomping, call-to-arms opener Uprising and the title track kick things off in a fairly straight-up manner. Undisclosed Desires, meanwhile, is positively Savage Garden-esque. Then the strings become more prominent, the mad violinist comes to play, and United States of Eurasia/Collaterel Damage lands. Delicate piano sequences bookend a Bollywood-lashed merging of We Are the Champions and Bohemiam Rhapsody – at times sounding more like Queen than Queen themselves. It's exhilerating, cringe-worthy and exhilerating all at once, and encapsulates the album's unweilding promise that more is better: Guiding Light has moments of sincere tenderness but ends up petering out to a somewhat feckless conclusion; the seven-minute, often-frenzied Unnatural Selection would have been better delivered in half the time; and I Belong to You (Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix) switches, inexplicably, from bouncy R&B to a 1940s French matinee vibe – complete with clarinet solo.
And all this before the three-part symphony finale Exogenesis, which seems to float away on a string-laden stream of grandeur. While some won't intially get it – particularly those drawn to the band through heavier moments such as Stockholm Syndrome – it, like most of the album, will eventually win you over.
Waiting to see what Bellamy will deliver next has almost become a sport in the world of music. Perhaps he'll pull the reigns in next time and realise that subtlety can be just as mind-blowing – even while preaching the world's imminent demise. Let's hope we're around to hear it.

Key track: Uprising.

Michael Jackson - This Is It: The Music That Inspired The Movie

THIS IS IT: The Music That Inspired The Movie
Michael Jackson
Sony

***

With this two-disc release only debuting at no.2 on the ARIA charts, it would seem the posthumous hysteria over the King of Pop is finally starting to die down. Can't blame fans, either: apart from two versions of the mawkish, previously unreleased title track, disc one is basically another greatest hits package, with 14 classics arranged sequentially as they appear in the film. And disc two, where the real interest lies, is all of four tracks, wherein a vocal harmony demo of Beat It and pleasant acoustic variant of She's Out of My Life offer only the briefest of insights into the man's creative process. So, until the MJ vaults are reopened, you do the sums: pay full price for a few demos, or wait until it arrives in your Santa sock.

Key track: The Beat It demo is the carrot, but Billie Jean remains timeless.

Daniel Lewis

Simple Minds - Graffiti Soul

GRAFFITI SOUL
Simple Minds
Universal Records

** 1/2

Atmospheric pop – Simple Minds' bread and butter for nearly three decades – has made a grand comeback in recent times. However, on Graffiti Soul, the Scots' signature sound remains stuck in the The Breakfast Club era. Their 16th album starts promisingly with the bass-driven ambience of Moscow Underground and infectious single Rockets, but after this, despite some polished production, it dulls rather than emboldens the senses. Rounded out with a listless version of Rockin' In The Free World, this largely sounds like a collection of discarded U2 songs. Fans will find themselves returning to the '80s albums after a few listens.

Key track: Rockets. Lovely, hook-laden arrangements and Jim Kerr in fine voice.