Alanis Morissette "Jagged Little

Pill"

Maverick Records, 9362 45901 2 (57

mins)

Dial a track code 1971

Newcomer Alanis Morissette is Madonna's protege and has released this, her debut album, on the singer's record label, Maverick. Happily, there the similarity ends, with Morrissette clearly being this year's model a singer and songwriter filled with a potent mix of rage and poetry which has led to this album sweeping the Grammy Award nominations. And deservedly so.

As with Melissa Etheridge's work, it may be a little too much in your face for laid back tastes. Like a she devil this woman grabs you by the eh, nerve ends, the moment you are introduced to Jagged Little Pill and doesn't let go until she's juiced you of all you've got to give. Particularly in terms of your capacity to listen, without turning away. And jagged is the perfect word to apply to a song like Right Through You, which scathingly attacks an unnamed "Mr Man" who "took me out to wine, dine, 69 me/ But didn't hear a damn word I said". Obviously a song to which many 1990s women will relate. Likewise, the album. Though the boys will find it less than easy listening.

Lorraine Callaghan "Fly Me To Brazil"

G&S Records, GSCD 1001(33 mins)

Dial a track code 2081

Not that there is anything wrong with easy listening, which is back in vogue via its use in chill out rooms in dance clubs. All such venues should grab this disc, which is as perfect for that kind of setting as Astrud Gilberto was for night clubs in Brazil and all over the world, during the 1960s. Naturally enough, because the spirit of Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim hovers over this recording like the mist of longing that lingered after the latter saw the legendary Girl From Ipemena, drifting by on a beach in 1963.

But no Lorraine Callaghan and her companion, guitarist Drazen Derek, don't go for that particular track for this 1990s Latin American album, choosing instead another Jobim composition, No More Blues, as well as pop tunes such as Manha De Carneval and Gentle Rain. Original tracks, like Summer Love Affair and Who Are You are too derivative to make any great impression, and suffer by comparison with the work of masters in this magnificent genre. But, hey, it is the first Irish Latin American album, and deserves attention if only for that reason.

Doris Day "Latin For Lovers"/"Love Him"

Columbia, 481018 2 (78 mins)

Dial a track code 2191

Here we have easy listening raised to an art form. One of the most sought after and best albums of Doris Day's career, plus one of the most welcome reissues in the wonderful Columbia two original albums on one CD series. Thanks largely to Latin For Lovers, which was recorded in the mid 1960s when many MOR vocalists, from Sinatra through Como to Andy Williams, were hopping on the Latin American bandwagon for all manner of reasons, some aesthetic, some purely commercial. Common to all such collections were songs such as Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (sometimes misinterpreted as Quiet Nights And Quiet Stars by really dumb singers) and How Insensitive, but only Sinatra can match the quiet, existential acceptance of the inevitable death of romantic love quite as effectively as Doris Day in the latter, and she soars beyond even Ella Fitzgerald on Slightly Out of Tune.

Sadly the second album, of early 1960s pop hits, has only an immaculate reading of Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love to recommend it. And maybe Since I Fell For You, although it's damned by the inclusion of fodder like Lollipops And Roses. But Latin For Lovers is a must have for anyone who loves great popular music.