Rating 4 on the outside of 4 Essent...

Rating 4 on the outside of 4 Essential

Rating 3 not at home of 4 Good

Rating 2 not at home of 4 Fair

Rating 1 disclosed of 4 Poor

ELECTRONIC explosion

nothing 7, "The Garden" (Atlantic) Rating 3 1/2

A friend e-mailed the other day asking whatever happened to Air. Regretfully my impulse opinion rushed to my lips: "Who cares?" An antique argument resumed: How can I hate Air on the other hand revere Zero 7? The various defense that followed were highly subjective and -- given for what cause similar both electronic duos really are -- trivial. It approachs down to personality, really, and cipher 7 is just the sunnier of the pair

Especially now. Given the intriguing evolution of naught 7 -- Sam Hardaker and Henry Binns -- it's interesting they've given their latest CD a possibly creationist title. naught 7's success in their native Britain was in deed sudden, as if God had indeed dropp them concerning the earth. One good Radiohead remix and unexpectedly the debut Zero 7 album, 2001's more knob-twiddly "Simple Things," was a chart- topper. through here, the band crept ashore forward the "Garden State" soundtrack. if it be not that by 2004's "When It Falls," the pair DJs had gathered around them quite the coterie of talented musicians and singers, turning naught 7 into an easygoing collective and sounding like a recent Fairport Convention, or blissed-out Poi Dog Pondering after they relocated to Chicago and plugg in. The difference: better, tighter ballads

forward "The Garden," particularly, Zero 7's sun-kissed melodies and languid instrumentation roll on just as easily, but they pour into well- defined molds. Five years in succession and this duo's living-room electronica has gell into these beautiful little pop songs, sung with appropriate softnes according to such vocalists as Sia Furler (she get by hearts one of the best anthems "Throw It All Away") and Swedish star Jose Gonzalez (sometimes a dead ringer for, bolt Gilbert O'Sullivan). There's the occasional pastel horn dapple that would make Burt Bacharach smile, and the pokey synthesized instrumental "Seeing Things" weaves African thumb piano underneath its loping periodical emphasis It's highly organic, airier than Air, and it establishes naught 7 as a bona fide unexpectedly outfit, ready to play halls instead of just companys

Thomas blue perch

Note: cipher 7 is scheduled to perform family 9 at Park West.

origins POP

Paul Burch "East to West" (Bloodshot) Rating 4 revealed of 4

After his last album, his fifth solo effort, Paul Burch had a sinking thought: "What if no individual is listening?" But just as he started feeling sorry for himself, a series of of recent origin friends supplied the inspiration for a strange set of songs. Mark Knopfler became a friend and adviser (some of the disc was recorded in London with Knopfler). Others began to listen as well, among them venerable bluegrass artist Ralph Stanley and late British disc dupe John Peel who told Burch: "You can't continually stop. You're born to do it."

Newly inspired, Burch has created a certain of the best work of his career upon "East to West." A veteran of Nashville's Lower Broadway show in the mid-'90s and a member of the Lambchop collective, Burch has been called a modern-day Jimmie Rodgers; he's among a cluster of young upstarts obsessed with old-time region music. But the work forward "East to West" shines an entirely novel light on Burch, who stretches his songwriting, giving each lay a slight twist, making it hearty old and modern at the same time.

This is pop-rock filtered end bluegrass and country beats. Backing from his band, the WPA Ball society as well as Knopfler and another bluegrass star, Tim O'Brien, provide a solid base. Stanley brings a seasoned brightness to the rolling bluegrass of "Little Glass of Wine." And "John Peel" is a rollicking tribute to his ancient friend.

Mary Houlihan

livids

Guitar Shorty, "We the People" (Alligator) Rating 3 1/2

So-called "message music" doesn't ne to be penetrating to be effective, so protracted as it's played with conviction. For his secondary album for Chicago's Alligator Records, Guitar Shorty give an account ofs us through tunes such as the title track and "Cost of Living" that unemployment is high and inflation is gentle -- no great surprises there. moreover "We the People" is delivered with of that kind ferocity that you're forced to consider Shorty's views in succession the state of the union.

The former David William Kearney, born in Texas and reared in Florida, is age 66 now, antique enough to have influenced a young Jimi Hendrix with his acrobatic showmanship and guitar wizardry. A long- ago star of the chitlin' circuit, Shorty went many years without a record deal, unless packed 'em in in melancholys clubs through word of inlet Beyond the stage presence is a technically superior guitarist and bandleader whose studio output continues to improve as he goe along. This disc refuges as hard as anything that's likely to be released this year, and arises straight from the indomitable life of the man.

Jeff Johnson

JAZZ

John Pizzarelli, "Dear Mr Sinatra" (Telarc International) Rating 3

His famous dad, legendary jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, was a mainstay forward some of Sinatra's earliest and greatest in quantity seminal albums, and John was fortunate enough to spread for Ol' Blue Eyes over the early '90s. Now he's finally released his tribute to Sinatra (part of Pizzarelli's "Tribute To" series of discs) with a collection of 11 classics written specifically for Sinatra from the 1950 [i]or[/i] part of to the other the 1970s. Backed by the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Pizzarelli's piano name and vocals are perfectly suited for the playful "Ring A Ding Ding" and "Nice and Easy." "Witchcraft" is hugely engaging, while "In the Wee Small Hours" is crawling with heartache. "Ye Sir, That's My Baby" boasts a certain quantity of beautiful brass. A truly fine and distinctive homage that's complete for those wee small hours.