Boy George - U Can Never B2 Straight

Oh dear, if there's one thing that really annoys me it's the incorrect use of grammar. U and B2 ... please stop this. Is it any wonder half the kids are illiterate?

Terrible title aside, Boy George has produced quite a pleasant little album. Fifteen tracks, of which five are new versions of songs from George's 1995 album Cheapness & Beauty, and one - Fat Cat - is an old Culture Club song.

The opener Ich Bin Kunst - no missus, it's not as rude as it sounds, it actually translates as I Am Art - is from the West End musical Taboo. Lyrically this song is very funny, with the singer ending up working for a chain of famous burger restaurants. The song is delivered in such a style that it wouldn't be out of place on the Cabaret film soundtrack.

The rest of the album is in the unplugged style with Kevan

Frost's acoustic guitar dominating the songs along with George's soulful vocals.

Lyrically, as the title might suggest, the songs are what seem a personal account on George's sexuality. She Was Never He, Same Thing In Reverse, Losing Control all suggest an autobiographical feel. Unfinished Business even carries a dedication to Kirk Brandon, a person famously covered in Boy George's book about his life.

Album closer, Bow Down Mister, was a Top 30 single in 1991 for George's then project Jesus Loves You. The Asian female vocal on this recording is truly brilliant. If you missed this single 11 years ago it is now well worth investigating, as indeed is this album. Brilliant - despite the title.

Graham Scaife

Snowblind - The Falls (Independiente)

Ever since Snowblind's singer Jane Murphy hit the indie scene with her Leeds band MK13 back in the mid nineties, there was a distinct air of stardom that appeared to trace her every move.

She was always on the periphery of something big but it was to elude her until quite recently.

Eighteen months ago she met an assortment of musicians from the Leeds-Wakefield area and moved from anarchic guitar punk to widescreen pop. They signed to EMI, did a national tour and on the eve of the release of their debut album...were dropped.

It wasn't Snowblind's fault - it was down to EMI hitting severe financial difficulties.

But now The Falls has finally seen a release on Independiente, and about time. It's a beautiful collection of large windswept pop anthems, cinematically arranged, walking a tightrope between The Smiths and The Sundays.

Jane's distinctive northern accent and lyrical perspective give an earthy council estate account of love, passion and disillusion, Oasis without the need for ladish bravado.

Every track tells a story. It's a long time since a band offered a soundtrack to your life but here it is, let's embrace it with loving arms.

James Heward

Beth Orton - Daybreaker

A former Mercury Music Prize nominee, this is Beth's third album. Her reputation was built upon her debut 'Trailer Park' with its combination of folk tinged odes to lost loves and an unsettling acceptance of each one of us always being alone.

'Central Reservation' continued this theme with more world weary insights backed by what could be termed a techno-ambient-jazz soundtrack. With 'Daybreaker' Beth has once again followed a route where there must surely be light at the end of the tunnel after so much rejection and heartbreak.

Beth seems to have been taken under the wing of the music industry and is promoted using all that is available from the 'kooky girls with relationship problems' budget. There are undeniable 'moments' on all of her albums, but it is her voice that is the main obstacle for me.

Instead of just singing the song, her voice is all over the place. Sometimes Joni Mitchell, occasionally a very poor Bjork, on rare occasions the voice of an angel.

Unfortunately these always seem to be the closing tracks on her albums. We all listen to albums where the artists have to try out a particular style of song on each album which doesn't suit them. Beth goes with the wrong option too often.

That's not to say it's a bad album - Concrete Album (written by Beth and Johnny Marr - featuring Ryan Adams) is pleasant enough and 'Thinking About Tomorrow' (the final track) has a warm glow to it. It's a simple case of knowing your vocal limits and sticking to the gentler, more laid back approach.

Antony Silson