1 – Bitches N Marijuana – Chris Brown – Tyga and Schoolboy Q join Chris for a sound much closer to rap than dance, a somewhat bland and self-evident track, though hand it to Q,he has the best moment on the track – B
2 – Underwater – Matt Whipkey – His masterpiece title track off the new album is a gorgeous strummer – A
3 – Don’t Tell Mama – Natasha Richardson – A terrific take on the song (stupidly excluded from the movie) finds Natasha in better voice than I remember her, maybe the accent is a relief after all these Yanks singing it – A
4 – Jungle – Drake – A rarity on the album, this last track is a sweet new r&b track, not first shelf but not bad – A-
5 – Rebel Heart- Madonna – A self portrait as Madonna like all of us, finds the shadow of her childhood still there, papa still preaching in the back of her head – A
6 – Some Enchanted Evening – Bob Dylan – Dylan sings Rodgers And Hammerstein? You gotta think right, and to give credit where due, he sings it with conviction, almost in a whisper and reaches his reward with the “who can understand it…” stanza – B+
7 – Some Enchanted Evening – Paulo Szot – I thought the excellent Brazilian baritone was going to jump through from opera to pop star with this. He had what I heard was an excellent cabaret show in 2013.. I stupidly missed it This is a very clever, powerful and well considered take – A
8 – Cabaret – Emma Stone – The best song in her performance is an answer and also rebuke to the American she has left, and to the rest of us. Her voice is not there on the chorus, it is not world class, a little rushed, a little light, but on the versesshe sings speaks and there is an air of contempt and self pity: it’s an embrace of the end, of the inevitable devouring cabaret of life. As music, it doesn’t work. As acting, it works and then some. It explains Sally Bowles – A
9 – Hey Laura – Gregory Porter – A beautiful soul song, not jazz really at all – B+
10 – Set In stone – Martin Sexton – written for his true love, his daughter – A
