Lagoon Blues (MA2)

Bounded by an elegantly moulded song construction and perfectly realised arrangements, The Bathers' majestic album is almost scuppered by its own penchant for poncification and pretension. The song titles alone (Venice Shoes, Pissoir, Via D'Oro, Ave The Leopards) are worthy nominees for Pseuds Corner. Chief Bather, singer and songwriter Chris Thompson somehow manages to brazen it out, and with the gentlest of nods to Van Morrison, Tom Waits and The Blue Nile delivers these sumptuous tunes with the born again soul intensity of a genuine Celtic troubadour, his octave-defying, swoony vocals cruise across a smoothly textured undertow of warmly caressed strings and mesmerising piano melodies on an LP which is quietly awesome. Paul Davies Q Magazine (4 Stars)

Kelvingrove Baby (MA22)

Chris Thompson is the Bathers and Kelvingrove Baby is his fifth Bathers album. It seems to me to be the fulfillment of all the potential. Lush and tasteful production is the perfect setting for Thomson's voice that is David Bowie contaminated with a healthy slice of Leonard Cohen. Del Amitri's Justin Ciurrie and Love and Money's James Grant supply backing vocals to remind us that Kelvingrove is in Glasgow because the other place names have more to do with Europe than Scotland. Moody and almost jazzy wurlitzers and pianos are joined by violins and accordians as well as minimlist and perfectly placed percussion and acoustic guitar to create a hypnotic continental sound. Vienna at midnight. Where this album stands out from previous outings is in the cohesion of all the tracks. There are no shock shifts in style and there are always interesting things going on in the most subtle and beautiful ways. You wonder if Van Morrison was 20 years younger would Astral Weeks have sounded like this. Steve Stockman Rhythms of Redemption