JOE BREENreviews the roots music of the week

Seasick Steve

Atlantic Records ****

Seasick Steve is a phenomenon. The guy spends years playing his three- string guitar to the rhythm of his hobnailed boot and hardly anybody gives him the time of day for his tales of hobo life blues. Then he appears on Later with Jools Holland and he’s a star overnight.

His last album, I Started Out With Nothin' and I Still Got Most of It Left, took that turnaround and questioned it. This latest collection does likewise. Clearly Steve Wold doesn't swallow fame easily. The title track confronts his listeners: "Anyway why do you wanna listen to what I got to say at all/Don't you got nothin' better to do?" Yes, it's the blues again, predominantly country in style, primitive though well recorded. It speaks to Steve's fears over his new life, his reflections on his old, and the fun and enjoyment music still brings him. www.seasicksteve. com

Download tracks: Man from Another Time, My Home, Diddley Bo

Christmas in the Heart

Columbia ***

So is the great jester havin’ a laugh or dropping his guard? Is this all one elaborate postmodern jape? Whatever, Mr Bob’s 15-track salute to Christmas, both sacred and commercial, is affectionate and even sentimental, his cracked voice stalking these standards like some Dickensian character.

The faux Victorian theme cover and glossy 1950s floozie inside would seem to support this line, as would Dylan's love of traditional popular music in all its kitsch shades. (Remember Nashville Skyline?) For casual acquaintances, whether it is irony or pathos is irrelevant – they will just groan; for the hardcore, the chance to hear the Great Man sing in Latin ( O Come All Ye Faithful), supported by a celestial choir will be just too great a temptation. www.bobdylan. com

Download tracks: Christmas Island, Must Be Santa, O Come All Ye Faithful