New releases - 09.06.07: REVIEWS CATALOGUE.

Joe Jackson

Very Best Of (UMTV 9842273)

The first full-price, high-profile compilation of Joe Jackson recordings since Stepping Out reached number seven in 1990 ties in with Jackson's new tour and precedes the eclectic star's upcoming Rykodisc album, which promises to be more mainstream than some of the material he has released recently. Jackson's more lively new wave/post-punk recordings such as Sunday Papers, I'm The Man and Beat Crazy are what first won him attention and are all included here, but the more thoughtful, melodic and altogether deeper side of Jackson, often playing the role of loser, cemented his commercial appeal. Songs like Is She Really Going Out With Him?, It's Different For Girls and Breaking Us In Two show a more sensitive, vulnerable and loveable Jackson, but he was rarely happy to stand still and experimented with many musical styles including the swing style of Jumpin' Jive and the relentless disco insistence of Steppin' Out.

Dusty Springfield

The Complete BBC Sessions (Mercury 9843562)

Aside from the fact it has a slightly misleading title - it contains only radio sessions and is complete only in the sense that it has all the surviving archive recordings, many having been lost - this is a very enjoyable and worthwhile release, bringing together 22 Springfield performances in an hour-long set spanning 1962-1970. Bearing in mind the recordings were made on a shoestring budget with little money for making them to studio quality and even less time, they are remarkably well done and very fresh. Springfield's vocals are generally spot-on, and the looser, less dense arrangements afforded to songs like Son Of A Preacherman and In The Middle Of Nowhere allow her voice freedom to indulge in slight variations from the familiar studio versions. To add even more period charm to the album, several of the songs include concise and pithy intros from DJ Brian Matthew.

Lee Moses