The latest releases reviewed

VARIOUS Dave Fanning's Fab 50 EMI ****

Dave Fanning's Fab 50 has been around for over 25 years. Listeners to the 2FM presenter's show send in their three favourite songs, the selections are tabulated and out pops a Top 50 chart that is broadcast during Christmas week. It's been an unbreakable staple of nighttime Irish radio from long before Today FM or 2FM's current "rock" presenters muscled their way in. While the music is, well, fab (Pixies, Pulp, Stone Roses, Suede, Radiohead, Dinosaur Jr), are there any discerning music fans out there who don't already have everything here, particularly the Irish tracks (U2, Whipping Boy, An Emotional Fish, Snow Patrol, A House, Fat Lady Sings, Radiators, Stiff Little Fingers, et al), which have largely formed the basis for every Irish rock music collection over the past 15 years. But that - and the fact that once again the sleeve notes are virtually non-existent; where's the context? - is only a marketing quibble. Musically speaking, this is probably the best rock compilation on the shelves at the moment. Vouchers at the ready? Tony Clayton-Lea

THE BEE GEES Love Songs Polydor **

If you're looking for the Gibb brothers' disco songs, country songs or industrial punk songs, you've come to the wrong place. If, however, you want all their smooth, seductive, jive-talking ballads on one CD, then this is the compilation for you. But before you sneer, just remember: we have the photos of you drunkenly slow-dancing to How Deep is Your Love at that wedding disco. The Bee Gees may be cheesy, but they sure knew how to write a romantic tune and deliver it with slick, honeyed vocal prowess. All the schmaltzy classics are here, including Words, Emotion, Islands in the Stream and How Can You Mend a Broken Heart. First, you'll be surprised how good To Love Somebody really is, then you'll find yourself involuntarily singing along to the high falsetto bits on More Than a Woman. After Too Much Heaven, though, it all gets a bit too much, with a surfeit of less-than-towering tunes (Secret Love, I Could Not Love You More, Wedding Day). By the time Ronan Keating gets in on the act on Lovers and Friends, you'll need an entire drum of Swarfega to clean off the syrup. Kevin Courtney

EVIE SANDS Any Way That You Want Me Cherry Red ****

Back in 1969, the multitudes gave Evie Sands and her soulful, sultry voice the thumbs up, and she sold more than half-a-million copies of her Any Way That You Want Me single. Subsequent releases never quite met with the same response, and Evie faded from view, although her Women in Prison album of dusty, haunted country soul raised some interest on its release in 1999, as did mooted collaborations with Belle & Sebastian. The reissue of Any Way That You Want Me (the Chip Taylor/Al Gorgoni-produced album that came in the wake of the single) is a chance to hear Sands let fly at the peak of her powers. The Sands-penned It's This I Am may be familiar from Beck and Beth Orton's takes on it, but Sands has the phrasing and the soul to really inhabit every inch of the track. She's similarly impressive on Shadow of the Evening and Crazy Annie, allowing that soulful purr to recast songs in new and stirring ways. Vintage pop/soul. www.cherryred.co.uk Jim Carroll

SON OF DORK Welcome to Loserville Mercury **

James Bourne is the second of the Busted trio to break out with his own band, but while ex-bandmate Charlie has gone all "mature" with Fightstar, Bourne is keeping it young, dumb and full of American teen idioms. The music follows Busted's successful sk8er boi template, and Bourne's slacker drawl is so impressive he could pass through US immigration without blinking. With song titles such as Ticket Outta Loserville and Slacker, there's no chance of mistaking these guys for Babyshambles - not even Pete Doherty can look this boyish. And the songs are more fun than swatting McFlys. Party's Over details a particularly decadent night that ends - as usual - with our dorky hero losing the girl, and Boyband is a reminder that Bourne is peddling a very different brand of teen whimsy to Westlife. Ticket Outta Loserville is a PG-13 version of The Darkness' One Way Ticket, while Murdered in the Mosh is the tale of a fake emo girl (name of Avril, by any chance?) who gets her crowd-surfing comeuppance. God, I wish I was 10 again - I'd f***ing love this. Kevin Courtney