SOUND JUDGEMENT

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

THELONIOUS MONK MONK ★★★★★ THIS redicovered Thelonious Monk album is like finding lost treasure.

Picked out of a skip, there is nothing trashy about this live recording of the seminal jazz pianist, accompanied by his quartet at a show in Copenhagen in 1963.

The listener is transported back in time to a table in a smoky jazz bar and treated to the explorative playing of saxophonist Charlie Rouse, the wispy cymbal and crashing snare of Frankie Dunlop, the wandering bass of John Ore and, of course, Monk’s unique improvisations.

A brilliantly restored snapshot of a huge talent playing at his peak.

ALT-J REDUXER ★★★★★ IT is probably fair to say that British trio alt-J’s third studio album, Relaxer, failed to hit the heights of the two majestic efforts that preceded it.

So what better way to give Relaxer a shot of adrenaline, a year or so after it was first released, than to put out a “reimagined” and remixed version?

The result, Reduxer, is an odd hybrid of math-rock and hip-hop, styles that complement each other here like melted-down Advent calendar chocolate and a reformed meat product from the supermarket’s reduced aisle.

At times it is almost unlistenable. In fact it’s hard to imagine fans enjoying much about this record – too niche for the mainstream, too weird for hardcore. Less alt-J, more Ctrl+Alt+Del.

ROD STEWART BLOOD RED ROSES ★★★★★ ROD Stewart has had many guises: 60s Mod hero, folksy songwriter, frontman for the best rock’n’roll band of the 70s, a figure of excess in spandex and leopard-skin print and, finally, an unlikely national treasure.

Blood Red Roses is the third in a series of albums where Stewart has gone back to his songwriting roots.

Lacking the phoned-in blandness of his American Songbook series, Stewart has clearly made some effort here. His writing works well on Farewell, a song dedicated as much to a departed friend as it is to their friendship in 1960s London.

Rod is the master of the cover version and his take on blues standard Rollin’ and Tumblin’ is a standout.