Michelle Branch -- Hotel Paper

It's a whole world of teenage angst out there and here's another young lady to provide the soundtrack to it.

Like a much younger Sheryl Crow (who guests on 'Love Me Like That), Michelle (pictured) is only 19 and this is her second album.

Although not the usual bland rubbish, it does suffer from the quiet/loud song writing style that is prevalent amongst North American youth. Think Alanis Morrisette, Avril Lavigne etc and how one moment they are so vulnerable and the next they are fully empowered with a sense of their own worth.

Imagine a dramatic/ tender scene in Dawson's Creek or Buffy, well here's the music to accompany it.

Apparently her first album sold over a million copies in the US, but that is certainly no measure of anything.

Michelle Branch is (like Shania Twain) someone whose sound and vocal style could only have originated from the US.

I liked 'Empty Handed' which gave a nod towards Led Zeppelin's 'Kashmir' at the end, but do we need another artist giving us more of this feisty lady music?

Carlos Santana also appears on one track and does his usual thing.

So if you like Sheryl and Alanis then you may well like this.

Antony Silson

Luke Haines & The Auteurs -- Das Capital: The Songwriting Genius Of Luke Haines & The Auteurs

'Greatest Hits' would have been stretching it a little, Lenny Valentino being The Auteurs biggest seller -- a number 41 hit all of a decade ago.

Recorded with violin, cello and harp alongside the conventional guitar and drums, Lenny Valentino is the stand-out track by an absolute mile.

Bugger Bognor and Future Generation are also worthy tunes but the rest is pretty average. How Could I Be Wrong sounds like a James Bond theme and Baader Meinhof has a strange resemblance to Boney M's Rasputin while Unsolved Child Murder had me reaching for the skip button.

Luke Haines whispered vocal style isn't a million miles away from the same vocal style adopted by Sarah Nixey -- the singer in Black Box Recorder and Haines' present and most successful project.

Graham Scaife