Paul Weller: "Heavy Soul" (Island) Dial-a-track code: 1311
The grandad-rocker of them all, Paul Weller, releases his follow-up to 1994's Stanley Road, and guess what? It rocks, daddy-o! But what did you expect - the return of The Style Council? A 20-year anniversary Jam reunion? For all you young readers out there, Paul Weller was a young mod who went out for a walk in the wild wood, fell into a wormhole and is now forever trapped in the Land Of The Small Faces. Heavy Soul chronicles our Paul's continuing adventures as he tries to avoid finding his way back into the real world. The title track comes in two parts, just like those old prog-rock records used to do, while Peacock Suit struts down the time-tunnel with a swish of tail-feathers. There's some solid stuff on offer, like I Should Have Been There To Inspire You, but one track, Driving Nowhere, gives the best hint as to where Weller's heading.
J.J. Cale: "Anyway The Wind Blows": The Anthology (Mercury) Dial-a-track code: 1421
No one is going to better the Rolling Stone analysis of this guy's music: "Any more laid back and he'd be snoring". Then again, listening to his legendary composition, Cocaine, one could rearrange that line quite easily, play around with the word "snorting" instead of "snoring"! Either way, here we have all the best cuts from the white country-blues singer, from early songs such as After Midnight and Call Me The Breeze, which are probably better known from cover versions by Erie Clapton and Lynyrd Skynyrd, respectively, to less well known but often more dynamic later recordings like Money Talks, Artificial Paradise and Long Way Home. Actually, I always believed that Tony Joe White was better at this kind of stuff. But for Cale freaks, this is the definitive collection.
World Party: "Egyptology" (Chrysalis) Dial-a-track code: 1531
Karl Wallinger writes, plays and sings 15 songs of such variegated styles you almost think you're listening to one of those K-Tel compilations from yesteryear. It's not that Karl ain't cool, it's just that he's a bit inconsistent with his influences, seeming to flit somewhere around the middle of the road before settling down in a nearby field, lighting a campfire and waiting for the summer solstice. Call Me Up is pure McCartneyism with a few Lightning Seeds thrown in, while Vanity Fair is Chris lsaak without the Supermodel. There's a bit of B-movie humour in Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb, but what's the point of making She's The One sound like an Oasis B-side?
