A spin around the musical globe

By GRAHAM REID

There's a curious misconception that the music world is divided into those who sing - and rock, rap, trip-hop or whatever - in English, then there's something which happens elsewhere which is loosely called "World Music" and is oddly exotic, highly romantic (especially if sung in French) or played on instruments that are spelled funny. Oud anyone?

This hardly explains Guitar Wolf out of Japan who can out-Datsun the Strokes, the North African post-grunge of Blend (more of them when the album is released), Thailand's metal bands and Polish electronica.

So let's spin the globe and see who flies off. And none of these has an oud player.

Buffalo Daughter are a Tokyo three-piece who defy convenient categories: guitars, turntables, electronics and vocals all collide on Pshychic which opens with a slice of Philip Glass/Terry Riley minimalism then sets its controls to the heart of the sun for 10 minutes of quietly terrific trip-rock which every now and again throws in harmony vocals, melodic feedback and electronics over a relentless white-funk beat.

There's a long tradition of psychedelic art-rock in Japan and Buffalo Daughter are extending it, but also taking it off on a tangent through dance beats and, on SOID, lyrics that would have done Talking Heads proud back in '79. Goes on a bit and sometimes it backs off from the sights set on that opener, but worth a dabble.

Parisian Jonathan Morali - aka Syd Matters - says his favourite album is Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom (correct Mr Morali, go to the head of the class) so he's an unabashed fan of quirky Anglofolk, has more in common with the wispy folk-rock of Badly Drawn Boy or Mojave 3 than French pop, and the Syd is clearly a reference to the acid-damaged Mr Barrett and his skewed, brief solo career.

So his charming A Whisper and A Sigh, all sung in accent-free English, might as well not be from a Frenchman. But with its subtle acoustic folk, soft electronic gestures and embellishments from xylophone and electric piano (all of which he plays himself) it entrances at every turn. Recommended.

Turning our attention to France we cannot ignore Carla Bruni. Bruni, a former model, has the curse of being beautiful. And curse it is in rock culture, which would sniff at such things, no matter how good it might be.

The French have no such hang-ups and Bruni's Quelqu'un m'a dit has been given the reception there it deserves. It's a sensual yet intellectual album with Bruni's smoky speak-sing vocals doing some neat gender twists: get out your French-English dictionary if necessary but Raphael - about her lover - is a smart focus-shift of sexual desire.

And the French, like us, have always been amused if not mystified by English men and their desire to dress as women (Le Plus Beau Du Quartier). Bruni - onetime paramour of Mick Jagger - has written these clever, winelight songs, plays acoustic guitar in places.

It is produced by Louis Bertignac who was in Telephone, one of the few great French rock bands. So immerse yourself in these intimate songs. Even if the language is impenetrable, it works, especially late in the evening.

Omara Portuondo's Flor De Amor is the second solo outing by the Cuban singer who shot to international fame with the Ry Cooder-sponsored Buena Vista Social Club.

This brings a stellar line-up together: guitarist Manuel Galban (whose Mambo Sinuendo album with guitarist Cooder was in our top 30 albums of last year), BV-bassist Cachaito Lopez and musical director Demetrio Muniz (of Ibrahim Ferrer's band) among them.

It is a collection of effortless-sounding love songs with Portuondo sounding richer and more emotional than on her self-titled debut - but the musicianship can be just as diverting: check the guitar filigrees by Jorge Chicoy (formerly with jazzers Arturo Sandoval and Irakere) on Junto a un Canaveral , and the melancholy violins and Carlos Emilio's guitar on Hermosa Habana.

This is Cuban music that doesn't pander to the party-goers but comes from a much deeper, and in some instances political, place.

And speaking of Buena Vista ...

In the revolving door of bands, albums and touring concepts which come with the imprimatur of "Cuba", and specifically the Buena Vista Social Club (or the album of the same name) it is difficult to know just how many of the artists on the current Bar at the Buena Vista tour - which played Auckland on Thursday - are on the Soneros de Verdad albums, released to coincide and with the suggestion of an association.

Certainly master pianist and octogenarian Guillermo Gonzalez is, but without a cast-list on hand there's a maybe/maybe not factor. Not that it matters much, most won't check the lengthy liner notes on these paired discs.

Young musical director/singer Luis Frank invited a bunch of old singers and players into the studio to relive the heyday of Cuban music in a series of songs from, or inspired by, the bands and styles of the 30s and 40s. It was a genuinely cross-generational project.

Director Frank's vocals are foremost and his strong style reminds you how much the old guys have lost. Theirs are more character-filled voices, and the superb musicianship carries the patchy spots.

There has been a slew of Cuban and Cuban-inspired albums since the success of The Buena Vista Social Club album/film/tour, but where some have a whiff of formaldehyde, these two have the virtue of an authentic attempt to extend the tradition of styles which might otherwise have been only as interesting as a butterfly in amber.

Buffalo Daughter: Pshychic (FMR)

All-girl group from Tokyo juggle the genres and come up trippy

Syd Matters: A Whisper and a Sigh (FMR)

Parisian Jonathan Morali discovers his inner Barrett and Eno and delivers beguiling folktronica

Carla Bruni: Quelqu'un m'a Dit (FMR)

Former French model makes beautiful album of sensual love songs. Don't you just hate these all-rounders?

Soneros De Verdad: Barrio De La Habana, El Run Run De Los Soneros (both Elite)

More charm and pathos from the island of cigars, rum and an American embargo

Omara Portuondo: Flor De Amor (World Circuit/Elite)

Songstress goes deeper into love and politics with a who's who of Havana music