Cat Power
Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert
(Domino)
★★★

LAST year US singer-songwriter Chan Marshall – AKA Cat Power – undertook a song-for-song rendition of Bob Dylan’s 1966 Manchester Free Trade Hall Concert. Marshall performed and recorded the set at the Royal Albert Hall, which Dylanologists will know is what the bootleg of the legendary gig was mislabelled as. 

A respectful rendition of the source material, a valiant attempt is made to create the sound of Dylan and The Hawks. The first half is an intimate set of acoustic songs, including an arresting version of Just Like A Woman. Naturally, Marshall plugs in for the second half, although tracks like Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues and Like A Rolling Stone feel somewhat underwhelming compared to Dylan’s electrifying, slightly unhinged performance. 

Which is unsurprising. Marshall is, after all, paying tribute to one of the most celebrated live shows in rock history. 

Andre 3000
New Blue Sun
(Epic)
★★★

I’M guessing no-one had in their predictions for 2023 the return of US hip hop superstar Andre 3000 with a debut solo record of instrumental, ambient jazz?

Having co-led Outkast to the mountain top in the mid-2000s (specifically with the double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below and Hey Ya!, arguably one of the greatest pop songs of my lifetime), the Atlanta native has been on hiatus ever since. There have been occasional guest spots and live performances and, it turns out, an apprenticeship on the double flute. 

Playing with avant-garde musicians from Los Angeles, New Blue Sun is nearly 90 minutes long, with six tracks coming in at over 10 minutes. Seemingly indebted to the spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane – but much, much quieter and minimal – it’s one of the most daring artistic shifts I can think of.

Leon Rosselson
Chronicling The Times
(Free Dirt Records)
★★★★

THOUGH forgotten by the mainstream music scene, this compilation is proof that Leon Rosselson – now 89 years old – stands as one of the most important, politically sharp voices in British post-war culture. 

The topical folk songs here are taken from across his long and prolific career. 1987’s Ballad Of Spycatcher was his attempt to break the government’s censorship of Peter Wright’s MI5 expose, while Postcards From Cuba is a wonderfully breezy political travelogue. Brim-full of sarcasm and quiet anger, Talking Democracy Blues from the 2010s includes a delicious takedown of Tony Blair (“When he smiles, children die”).

The classics are here too – the revolutionary Diggers anthem World Turned Upside Down, and Stand Up For Judas, performed by Roy Bailey.

The really good news? There’s tons more of Rosselson to discover. My recommendation: check out the astonishing epic The Last Chance.