Who? U2, that's who.

• PUT your shoes on, brave the wintry weather and head down to the shops to pick up a copy of U2’s new single Get On Your Boots.
The throbbing single, out on February 16, is the first track to be taken from forthcoming album No Line On The Horizon.
• Composer Nathan Riki Thomson’s new album, the laid-back Under Ubi’s Tree, is released on February 9.
The debut album sees the multi-instrumentalist create a unique melting pot of influences from around the world on a variety traditional instruments.
• Yorkshire ska punk band Random Hand release their latest album on February 9.
The album, Inhale/Exhale, is a blistering collection of tracks that will feature during their forthcoming live gigs at Birmingham Carling Academy and Nottingham Rock City.
• The dreamy sounds of Anglo-Japanese group Asobi Seksu, whose name translates as “casual sex”, hits the shelves on February 16 in form of new album Hush.
The group’s third studio LP, Hush is a shoegazey collection of lush pop.
• Australian electro-glam duo Empire Of The Sun release their anticipated album Walking on A Dream on February 16.
The psychedlic pop group, formed by Luke Steele of The Sleepy Jackson and Nick Little more of Pnau, are tipped for the top, and were named in the BBC’s Sound of 2009 poll.
• Get on the bandwagon of Jump Ship, a Bristol-based band whose debut album was released last year.
Whatisthisandwhy, produced by former Massive Attack and PJ Harvey collaborator Head, melds electronic influences with traditional instruments to stunning effect.
• Glaswegians Attic Lights release their versino of Minder theme I Could Be So Good For You on February 16.
The track comes ahead of the remake of the classic TV show on Channel Five this month, starring Shane Ritchie.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Check out The View

• A SIGHT for sore eyes this week is the return of Scot rockers The View, who have their sights set on the charts with their second album out this Monday.
Which Bitch?, the follow-up to their hugely successful debut Hats Off To The Buskers, features their latest single Shock Horror.
• Legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach’s Magic Moments are released as a three-CD, 75-track comiplation on Monday.
The Definitive Burt Bacharach Collection contains hits from the pop pianist including What The World Needs now Is Love, Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head and I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself.
• All-girl folk group Tiny Tin Lady have an LP, Ridiculous Bohemia, available.
The album from the Merseyside band is a blend of fresh-sounding folk, solid rock bass and close harmony singing.
• Swedish singstress Nina Persson, former frontwoman for The Cardigans, has joined up with Atomic Swing’s Niclas Frisk and her husband Nathan Larson to create A Camp, whose latest album is out on monday.
The album, Colonia, is an atmospheric, epic, eclectic collection of leftfield indie pop.
• Californian singer and songwriter Ben Kweller releases his latest LP Changing Horses on Monday.
The former Radish frontman’s fourth solo LP is a slice of alt-country featuring the single Sawdust Man.
• Swedish post-rock band Jeniferever’s latest LP Nangijala has been released on CD.
The sophorific set of three songs, which was only previously available on vinyl, has been brought to CD by Naim Recordings.
• Great news - folk singer Emmy The Great’s gorgeous new album First Love is out on Monday, February 2.
The beguiling album is accompanied by a tour of the UK, which includes gigs at nottingham Bodega and Birmingham’s Glee Club.
• Who? The Whys And Wherefores.
What? Their debut album, Alright.
When? Now.
Where? All good record stores.
Why? Because the world needs a swinging five-piece band covering everything from roots to rockabilly.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Franztastic

• ARCHDUKES of art rock Franz Ferdinand have continued their saga with a new single, Ulysses.
The track, a funky slice of alternative rock, is the first glimpse of the group’s forthcoming album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, which is out on January 26.
• Rock experimentalists Bloc Party release new single One Month Off on January 26.
The track, taken from their latest LP Initimacy, is a typically furious flurry of guitars and electronica from the London-based band.
• Saxophonist and composer Tim Garland has teamed up with his group The Lighthouse Trio and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Double album Libra, which fuses the worlds of jazz and classical, is available from January 26.
• Musician, mystic and apprentice prophet Rainbow George has released a new single, forboding folk track Scoring Goals.
The track shares it’s name with Rainbow George’s ongoing film project, which was filmed on August 8, 2008, about a utopian vision for December 12, 2012, which is set to premiere on October 10, 2010.
• Are you ready for Are You Ready For Love?, the very best of The Detroit Spinners, which is out on January 26?
The LP features hits such as the title track, Working My Way Back to You and Then Came You as well as other Motown classics.
• Go nuts for Wild Young Hearts, the new single from indie rockers Noisettes.
Released earlier this month, the track is upbeat piece of pop rock in the vein of Ting Tings and Blondie.
• Children’s TV superstars Freefonix - made up of lead singer BB, zen guitarist Freezebone and beat junkie Mostart - release an album on January 26.
The CBBC band’s eponymous LP is packed with the kind of feisty pop that has made the show a hit with young music fans.
• Belfast band Kyron And the Strangels have released a new single, Hanging On The Ground, this month.
The song is an epic piece of string-soaked piano-driven pop that sounds like Royworld fronted by Leonard Cohen.
• Let the sounds of Makin’ Whoopee be the soundtrack to your Valentine’s Day this year.
The double CD is out on January 26, and features tracks such as Sam & Dave’s Hold On I’m Coming, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli and Knock On Wood by Eddie Floyd.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com.

Britney puts on a show

• ROLL up! Roll up! The ringmaster of pop Britney Spears is again coming to town, in the form of her new single, Circus.
Circus, the latest single to be taken from her sixth studio album Circus, will be out on February 16.
• Dance producer Diplo’s career has had more high peaks than most, so to celebrate this fact he is releasing his first compilation album.
Decent Work For Decent Pay, which hits stores on January 26, includes remixes of tracks by Peter, Bjorn And John, Daft Punk, M.I.A and Hot Chip among other top collaborations.
• Hoping to shoot up the charts with their latest LP are The Rifles.
The London-based rock band release their latest album, Great Escape, on January 26, following up their debut offering No Love Lost.
• Daedelus, also known as Alfred Darlington, and his wife Laura continue their acoustic project The Long Lost with second single, Amiss.
The track, a gentle fusion of Brazilian and Californian influences, is available from February 9.
• Disco punk upstarts Thunderheist release a new single, Sweet 16, on February 16.
The track, a throbbing electro rap sizzler, is the precursor to their hotly-anticipated debut album Thunderheist.
• Biffy Clyro and Sucioperro side project Marmaduke Duke release a new single, Kid Gloves, on February 9, the first from their second album, Duke Pandemonium.
• If music made up of drum and bass beats, rock riffing and hip hop rapping is the right formula for you, then join the queue to buy The Qemists’s debut, Join The Q.
The group’s full-throttle debut album is released on February 2, and features contributions from Wiley, Mike Patton and beatboxer Beardyman.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com.

Cop a load of The Bronx

• LA punk band The Bronx are set to knock your block off when they headline the infamous Shred Yr Face tour in 2009.
Following the release of their blistering album The Bronx III, out in the UK on January 26, the group will be playing dates alongside Rolo Tomassi and one other band, whose name cannot be printed in family newspapers, in Nottingham and Birmingham this Spring
The group will also be releasing a single, Young Bloods, on January 19.
• Power pop upstarts The Days, who rose to fame covering pop hits such as Katy Perry’s I Kissed A Girl on website You Tube, release their debut single on January 26.
No Ties, a good-time piano-driven rollicker, will no doubt feature when the group come to Nottingham and Birmingham as part of a headline tour in February.
• The website behind this column has announced the winner of its Album Of The Year 2008 poll.
Work-shy Bristol-based band Portishead’s trip hop masterpiece Third scooped the award, run on www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com, with around 40 per cent of the votes.
Thanks to everyone who logged on and registered their vote.
• Rising stars The Saturdays will be playing in Loughborough this Spring.
The girl band, who have had two top 10 UK singles, will perform at the student-only end of term ball at Loughborough University.
• Blind Malian couple Amadou & Mariam’s sophomore LP Welcome To Mali has been named the best of 2008 by music review aggregator Metacritic.com.
The website, which gives releases an average score out of 100 based on reviews taken from sources around the world, rated the releasea 92 out of 100.
Second was The Bug’s London Zoo with an average of 90, and third was Fed by rocker Plush, which scored 89.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com