Tallies
Tallies
(Fear Of Missing Out Records)
★★★★

WITH the very young founding members having met on a sound engineering course at college, Toronto four-piece Tallies cite The Smiths, The Sundays and the Cocteau Twins as key influences.

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With the rest of the record apparently exploring the anxieties and uncertainties of adolescence, the set is a heady mix of fuzzy, lighter-than-air instrumentation and Cogan’s dreamy vocals.

A fantastic debut full of youthful existential angst, the Tallies have an exciting musical career ahead of them.

Keith Jarrett
La Fenice
(ECM Records)
★★★★

MADE up of eight improvised pieces and several standards, this double album of pianist Keith Jarrett’s 2006 solo concert at the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice is an absolute joy to listen to.

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First recorded by the 73-year-old on his sublime 1998 album The Melody At Night With You, the traditional encore My Wild Irish Rose is a performance of rare beauty. The show ends with a lyrical rendition of Jarrett’s own Blossom, first heard on his 1974 European Quartet album Belonging.

A great introduction to the legendary jazz artist’s sunset years.

Beirut
Gallipoli
(4AD)
★★★★

HAVING widened the palette of indie music with delightful Eastern European motifs on his 2006 debut Gulag Orkestar and follow-up The Flying Club Cup, Zach Condon — aka Beirut — is back with his fifth album.

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Inspired by a trip to the Italian island town with its medieval fortress, Gallipoli is the most classically Beirut track, full of mournful and moving horns and Condon’s droll vocals that sound an awful lot like the similarly talented Swedish romantic Jens Lekman.

A sumptuous set that tacks closely to the winning formula that has made Beirut a cult favourite over the last decade.