Latest CD releases reviewed

SHEARWATER
Winged Life Fargo Records
****

Using a press quote from their website might seem to be getting too close for comfort but Dream magazine's pithy description of this American four-piece is apt: "Delicate sad folkish art pop that reaches for the sky with frail paper wings". The music of Shearwater strains to scale the peaks of emotion and, if it doesn't always reach them, we have a pretty happy time being miserable, anyway. Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff are the two key figures, writing and singing these strange, compelling songs of twisted innocence with classic folk-pop-art baroque arrangements that teeter between disarray and inspired. Listen to the banjo-driven Whipping Boy, the David Byrne-ish A Makeover or the intense Sealed for evidence of the inspired. www.jound.com/shearwater/main.html Joe Breen

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Putumayo Presents Greece: A Musical Odyssey Putumaya
***

By the time you read this you'll either be planning your holidays on the wonderful islands of Greece or never want to hear another word about the place. There is only so much the Olympic spirit can foster. But this collection may bring back some happy memories of time spent there or indeed encourage you to make the journey. This is a mixture of the old and the new. Call me old-fashioned, but the music is best when the traditional sound of the bouzouki is dominant, as on Elly Paspala's An Iparhis Kapou Esi or Glykeria's dance tune. Greek music looks both east and west for inspiration and in the process creates a distinctive sound that can be both sprightly and melancholy. Music for the moussaka. www.putumayo.com Joe Breen