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CD Review

Audio Bullys: Ego War

If the Streets' mash-up of geezer raps, decks, sound systems and goggle-eyed urban tales sounded like a one-off, this duo from Surrey suburbia suggests a whole generation of would-be Mike Skinners may be waiting in the UK's bedrooms.

However, Audio Bullys aren't just the Streets Mk II, even if their lyrics plough a similar furrow of late-night druggy tales, fast cars, arguments with mums, rolling Rizlas and badly pronounced swear words (notably "fark"). Wordsmith and wideboy Simon Franks is equal parts Skinner, Shaun Ryder and bellowing builder, but the sounds - courtesy of DJ Tom Dinsdale - come from a different palate.
Over 13 tracks, not one a filler, they mix everything from punk to electro, house and disco, and end up like a delirious collision of the Specials and Basement Jaxx. Audio Bullys' tunes may be better than Skinner's - particularly the rampaging We Don't Care, or Way Too Long, which uses a snatch of an Elvis Costello guitar riff to dazzling effect.

Gillian Welch: Soul Journey

Not for Gillian Welch Dolly Parton's doe-eyed bubblegum or the Dixie Chicks' rock-chick bluegrass. She strips country back to its spiritual and storytelling roots. Perhaps best known in the UK for her appearances on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, Welch has refined her bare and beautiful songs and on Soul Journey embraces the blues. Loss and loneliness are her closest friends.
Look at Miss Ohio is an understated snapshot of a beauty queen turned bad, the wasted potential and abandoned dreams potent in the chords of the slide guitar. Subtle keyboards add to the nostalgia for Nashville's golden era and her own happier past in Wayside/Back in Time, but Welch is most powerful when it's just her and her acoustic guitar.

I Had a Real Good Mother and Father is devotional, Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor, desperate. In One Little Song, she seeks "one little word that ain't been abused a thousand times", but the tragic quality to her voice turns a lyrically detailed list of possibilities into an extended goodbye.

Billboard Top Ten Albums

1. Staind, 14 Shades Of Grey
2. Deftones, Deftones
3. Kelly Clarkson, Thankful
4. Evanescence, Fallen
5. 50 Cent, Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
6. Soundtrack, The Matrix Reloaded:
The Album
7. Norah Jones, Come Away With Me
8. Soundtrack, The Lizzie McGuire Movie
9. David Banner, Mississippi: The Album
10. Cher, The Very Best Of Cher

Top Ten R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

1. David Banner, Mississippi: The Album
2. The Isley Brothers Featuring Ronald Isley, Body Kiss
3. 50 Cent, Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
4. DJ Kayslay, The Streetsweeper: Vol. 1
5. Bone Crusher, AttenCHUN!
6. R. Kelly, Chocolate Factory
7. Lil' Kim, La Bella Mafia

8. Kelly Price, Priceless
9. Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, Kings Of Crunk
10. Sean Paul, Dutty Rock

Top Ten Independent Albums

1. Alkaline Trio, Good Mourning
2. Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, Kings Of Crunk
3. Mannheim Steamroller/C.W. McCall, American Spirit
4. Various Artists, Punk -O- Rama
5. Earth, Wind & Fire, Promise
6. NOFX, The War On Errorism

7. Mobb Deep, Free Agents: The Murda Mix Tape
8. Craig Morgan, I Love It s
9. John Hiatt & The Goners, Beneath This Gruff Exterior
10. Black Label Society, The Blessed Hellride

Source: The Guardian and Billboard.com