Eastern promise (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Eastern promise

8:24am Monday 1st August 2011 in Reviews By Telegraph & Argus

Mary-Jess Leaverland – Shine (Decca) ****

Last year, Brit Mary-Jess achieved the feat of winning the Chinese equivalent of The X-Factor watched by 70 million people. Her debut album showcases her fluency in both English and Mandarin, in a contemporary classical music setting. Produced by the man behind artists such as Enya, Clannad and Tori Amos, it features a wide selection of songs including several written by Mary-Jess herself. Heavily inspired by Chinese sounds and instruments, the album is a great effort by an up-and-coming artist who might never have been given the chance she deserves in the UK.

Charlotte McCallum, 20, student, Bradford

Rodrigo Y Gabriela – Live In France (Rubyworks) *****

Following on from their success with the soundtrack to the latest Pirates Of The Caribbean film, Rodrigo Y Gabriela now release this live offering from their recent tour of France. Now, sometimes live albums work brilliantly if you actually attended one of the shows, and sometimes they just don’t work at all. This one works for every tick box you can possibly imagine. Two duelling guitars with hands and fingers slapping out the beat on the guitar shells and a shed-full of foot pedals to add to the overall effects results in an amazing sound that is guaranteed to get you tapping your feet even if you can’t get out of your chair and dance.

Nigel Goodman, 53, teacher, Heaton

Simple Plan – Get Your Heart On (Atlantic) ****

I honestly don’t mind a bit of Simple Plan even though deep down inside I know that they’re just a second-rate Blink 182. Get Your Heart On is a pure blast of cheesy pop punk, it’s the sound of a band having fun and not caring, and I like that about them. Lyrically, Get Your Heart On is terrible but in a funny way, and it makes me wonder whether the band wrote such terrible lyrics on purpose, because as far as I’m aware Simple Plan aren’t a bunch of young whipper-snappers anymore.

Russ Petcher, 36, bassist, Low Moor