Upbeat no more

UPBEAT is now no more.
Thanks to everyone who's read the column or contributed to it over the past year-and-a-bit.
Don't forget, you can still keep up to the minute with the music world at Sound Advice.
So long, and thanks for all the discs.

Orb having a ball

• THE mighty Orb will be round the charts again with a new album, out on September 7.
Baghdad Batteries sees the return of the electronica legends, who virtually invented the ambient house genre.
• No record collection will be complete without a copy of Complete Me, the new album from Frankmusik.
The emerging popstar’s debut album, out on August 3, includes the hit single Three Little Words.
• Elephant Stone, ex-High Dials guitarist Rishi Dhir’s new band, have released a first album, The Seven Seas.
And you can download a free track, I Am Blind, by visiting echoisaacashe.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-am-blind.html
• Club brand Pacha is set to release a triple-CD of the hittest dance tracks around.
The Ibiza collection, out on August 3, features hits from the likes of David Guetta, Simian Mobile Disco, Empire Of The Sun and Fedde Le Grande.
• Jordin Sparks, American Idol winner, has put out a new album.
Battlefield, which features the smash hit of the same name, is in stores now.
• They’re not from Manchester, and there’s only five of them - but don’t let that put you off Manchester Orchestra.
The Atlantan grunge band’s latest album Mean Everything To Nothing is a must-have for rock fans.
• Kid British, who mix ska, indie and rap, release a full length album on September 14.
It Was This Or Football will feature their current single Our House Is Dadless.
• Good grief! If you like yoru house hard, then Goodgreef Xtra Hard is the collectiong for you.
The album, mixed by Lisa Lashes, Showtek and Kutski, features the luikes of Anne Savage, Organ Donors and Joy Kitikonti.
• The Victorian English Gentlemen’s Club release a new album on September 7.
The album, Love On An Oil Rig, features the fothcoming single Wathcing The Burglars.
• Brighton band Stick In A Pot, who mix po, punk and folk, release a new EP, When The Monsters Arrive, on August 3.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

VV Brown travelling into the charts

• SPEEDING towards the charts with her new album Travelling Like The Light is hot tip VV Brown.
The singer combines Elvis style rock and roll with modern R&B and soul on the album, which was released this week.
• Star in the making Mr Hudson releases his new single Supernova on July 20.
The track, taken from the impending album Straight No Chaser, is a stunning collaboration with rapper Kanye West.
• Movers and shakers in the rock world The Rumble Strips have a new album in stores this week.
Welcome To The Walk Alone is the group’s second album, and features production work by Mark Ronson.
• Colourful artist Pink’s new single Funhouse is to be released on August 3.
The track is fourth song to be lifted from the album of the same name.
• Hotly tipped teen Daisy Dares You has put out a free track ahead of a full album release later this year.
To get a copy of the 15-year-old pop star’s track Daisy Dares You log on to http://echoisaacashe.blogspot.com/2009/07/budding-talent.html
• DJ turned singer songwriter Fink releases a new single this week.
Sort Of Revolution, the title track from his brilliant new album, features a B-side remix by the Cinematic Orchestra.
• Lighten up! The new single from The Heavy is out.
You can pick up the sweet Sixteen, taken from the fortchoming album The House That Dirt Built, from this week.
• Britney Spears is back on the Radar - with a new single.
The track, from her album Circus, is out on July 27.
• Cool cats will already be waiting to pounce on the new album from Cougar, which is out on August 24.
The brilliant new band’s album, Patriot, sees them pushing the genres of metal and electronica to new heights.
• Spinnerette, the new band fronted by The Distillers’ Brody Dalle, has released a new album.
Stoner rock stomper Spinnerette, which features the track Ghetto Love, is out now.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Final editions

THE Loughborough Trader Xtra's last edition was printed this week.
Upbeat will continue to be carried until the last editions of the Burton Trader, Coalville Echo and Ashby Trader & Echo newspapers which are out the week beginning July 20.

Florence And The Machine gunning for the charts

• BRIT award winner Florence And The Machine finally releases her anticipated debbut album this week.
Lungs contains the single Dog Days Are Over as well as an inspired cover of The Source’s You Got The Love.
• DJ Food fans can finally feast on new material from the reclusive DJ.
His first work in nearly a decade, his new EP One Man’s Weird Is Another Man’s World is out now, and is the first taster for next year’s album.
• Punk band Kong, who sound like a megalosaur tearing through Middlesbrough with predictably madcap results, release a new albyum Snake Magnet later this month.
You can download a free track from the album, Sport, by logging on to echoisaacashe.blogspot.com/2009/06/kong-is-on.html.
• Swedish sensation Mando Diao, who sound like a cross between The Hives and The Libertines, have a EP out this week.
Mean Street is the first UK release from the group, who have a cult following across Northern Europe.
• Looking for a wheely good indie band? Try Bombay Bicycle Club.
The group released their debut album, I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Off, this Monday.
• Raw talent Dominique Young Unique, a 17-year-old female rapper from Florida, is set to release her debut EP Music Time this month.
You can download a free track from the release, which is being promoted by Yo Majesty!, by visiting echoisaacashe.blogspot.com/2009/06/unique-talent.html
• Here’s one to get tongues wagging - The Gossip have a new album out.
Beth Ditto and co have put out a new LP called Music For Men.
• Metalcore legends Killswitch Engage have a new self-titled album out.
The album, the group’s second eponymous effort, sees the Massachusetts group making great strides towards the charts with their critically acclaimed metal sound.
• The latest dance trends to hit the dancefloors firmly in the Balearics have been captured on a new triple album.
Cream Ibiza, which features acts such as Deadmau5, Paul Van Dyk and The Killers, is out now.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Upbeat on a downer

IN AN announcement today, Trinity Mirror Midlands has revealed plans to restructure its business.
The plans take in the closure of a number of titles including the four which carry the Upbeat column.
It has not yet announced when the final editions of each will run.
Thanks to everyone who has read the column over the past year, you can still keep up to date with music news at echoisaacashe.blogspot.com.

Sparks set to light up charts

• ELECTRIFYING R&B star Jordin Sparks is gearing up with another attack on the charts.
Her new single, Battlefield, is out this week, with a new album of the same name scheduled for release later in the summer.
• The voice of UB40 Ali Campbell is hoping his new material will soar up the charts.
The new album, the typically reggae-based Flying High, was released this week.
• Australian pop sensation Lenka is showing off hertalents on her new LP.
The self-titled album by the singer, which contains the hit The Show, is out now.
• It’s T time! Jamie T, that is.
The British hip hop star releases his comeback mini album Sticks ‘N’ Stones this week.
• Lisa Hannigan, the singer who backed Damien Rice for his albums O and 9, has a new single out.
I Don’t Know, released on Monday, is taken from her album Sea Sew.
• Sorry to bother you, but I though you should know that rapper Roots Manuva has a new single out.
Do Nah Bodda Mi, taken from his superb album Slime And Reason, is in stores now.
• Just Jack is back.
The one-man act released a new single this week, Doctor Doctor, the second track to come from his current album All Night Cinema.
• Hoping to cut through the charts with his latest work is David Saw.
Singer songwriter Saw’s latest album, Broken Down Figure, was released this week.
• Folk artist William Fitzsimmon’s latest LP Goodnight is out now.
The album is an emotional exploration of the aftermath of his parents’ divorce which cost him his own marriage during the writing process.
• Some of the biggest stars of the 1970s have been collected on the new three CD Jackie collection.
The Summer Special, which features David Cassidy, The Beach Boys, David Bowie and Mud among many others, is out now.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Mars attracts

• THE latest album from Mars Volta is out of this world.
Octahedron, the experimental metal band’s fifth studio effort, is described as their “acoustic” album, and showcases the normally harder-edged group’s many sides.
• Dance duo Autokratz have released their long-awaited debut album, Animal.
The LP is a pumping collection of sturdy breakbeats tinged with a distinct Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys and Erasure influence.
• Avant garde rappers Anti-Pop Consortium have put out a new track free-of-charge.
You can grab a copy of Apparently, a taster for forthcoming album Flourescent Black, from www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com.
• Prog rock legends Dream Theater are back with their 10th studio album, Black Clouds And Silver Linings.
The album, which is in shops now, is a scintillating showcase of some of the best metal musicianship ever committed to record.
• Welsh supergroup Future Of The Left have released a new album, the punk masterpiece Travels With Myself And Another.
The blistering album, which is out now, deserves to be played as loud as your speakers will go.
• Party band Boy Crisis have a new song out this week.
The single Dressed To Digress, released on Monday, is a hedonistic slice of ‘80s-influenced electro disco.
• Singer singwriter Scott Matthews has put out a new song from his latest album Elsewhere.
You can grab a copy of the track, Into The Firing Line, from stores now.
• Irish rocker Marc Carroll releases a new single Always this week.
The track is the first cut from his forthcoming album The Dust Of Rumour.
• Here’s News For You - the sensational Seb single News For You is out now.
The London-based singer’s song marks his transition from record company odd job man to fully fledged artist.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Certifiably brilliant

• YOU’D be mad as a hatter not to pick up a copy of Kasabian’s new album, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum.
The newly-released LP, the Leicester-based band’s third album, contains their certifiably-brilliant current single Fire.
• Like a bat out of Hell, Meat Loaf is back!
The oversized rocker has remastered his 1984 collection of oversized rock songs Hits Out Of Hell, with two new additions, I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) and I’d Lie For you (And That’s The Truth).
• Alternative metal masters Incubus have returned from a hiatus with two new tracks as part of a two-CD best of collection.
Monuments And Melodies, which covers the group’s hits from the Make Yourself album up until the present day, is out now.
• New Scottish indie rock band We Were Promised Jetpacks are looking to blast themselves into the charts.
Their stunning debut album, These Four Walls, was released this week.
• Irish pop sensations The Script continue their chart conquering antics with a fifth single, Before The Worst.
And given their previous successes, take it as read The Script will score another hit with the big-sounding track.
• Hidden gems from the musical past of African nation Benin have been unearthed for a new compilation album.
The Legends Of Benin album, part of the Analog Africa series, features some of the funkiest groups to come out of the country in the 1970s.
• Holy smoke! Brighton-based band Pope Joan are back.
The quirky funky math rockers have a double A-side single, Centurions/Volumes, out this month.
• Wonders of the musical world Dub Colossus have released a new EP this week.
Return To Addis is a companion CD to their critically acclaimed 2008 release A Town Called Addis.
• Fans of funky house should pick up a copy of Crazy Cousins’ latest LP, This Is Funky Volume One.
The compilation of established anthems and the latest floorfillers was released this Monday.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Little Boots a polished act

• KICKING off her campaign for superstardom this week is Little Boots.
The hotly-tipped electropop star, real name Victoria Hesketh, put out her shimmering debut album Hands, which features the single New In Town, this Monday.
• Pucker up - I Kissed A Girl star Katy Perry is back with a new single.
Waking Up In Vegas, the latest track to be taken from her album One Of The Boys, was released this week.
• Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Ros’s rare debut album Von was re-released this week.
The band’s album, orginally released in 1997 in Iceland, is now available to buy.
• VV Brown, an indie pop singer songwriter who has been tipped for the top, has released a new single.
Monday saw the release of VV’s third single, Shark In The Water, ahead of her album Travelling Like The Light.
• Singer Pixie Lott released her debut single Mama Do on June 8.
Pixie will also be appearing nationwide in support of The Saturdays, including gigs at De Montfort Hall in Leicester and Nottingham’s Concert Hall.
• Soul icon Chaka Khan has a new single out this week.
For the track Disrespectful, taken from her album Funk This, Chaka has teamed up with singer Mary J Blige.
• Orchestral pop outfit The Mummers’ new album is out now.
Tale To Tell is the first output by The Mummers, the guise of singer Raissa Khan-Panni.
• Spanish band Bastila have released a self-titled album.
Bastila was released in the UK on June 1.
• One sure to spread quickly is The Airborne Toxic Event’s new EP.
Happiness Is Overrated, the guitar group’s follow-up to their self-titled album, was released this week.
• Cool cats know that Cougar are a band to watch.
The group, who blur the lines between metal and electronica, release a double A-side of Rhinelander/Thundersnow this week.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Faith No More ain't no more any more

• FAITH No More? Not any more!
To coincide with the legendary metal group’s reformation for this year’s Download Festival in Castle Donington, the group have put out a best-of compilation.
The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection is in stores now.
• Here’s one to get your claws into - Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear.
The group’s fourth album is a must-have collection of gloriously quirky indie pop.
• Scottish singer songwriter Paolo Nutini has released his second album.
Sunny Side Up, which contains the single Candy, is available to buy now.
• American idol Kelly Clarkson has put out a new single.
The track I Do Not Hook Up is the latest from her hit album All I Ever Wanted.
• Jolly good news - Hockey have released a new single this week.
One listen to the disco indie track Learn To Lose and it’s sure to stick with you.
• For what it’s worth, the new single from Placebo is out this week.
For What It’s Worth is the first taster of new album Battle For The Sun, which is out on Monday.
• Trance metal band come crashing back this week Enter Shikari with their single Juggernauts.
The track, out this week, even adds a rap section to the group’s already mashed up mix of dance music and metal.
• If you’re on the lookout for bittersweet pop rock, then maybe the new single from Carolina Liar is what you’re after.
The song, Show Me What I’m Looking For, released this week, is the first outing from forthcoming album Coming To Terms.
• The Revolution will not be televised - instead it will be released later this month on CD and mp3 download.
The Revolution presents Revolution, a collaboration between Cuban musicians such as Anónimo Consejo and Ariday Vega Martín and mainstream artists such as Norman Cook and Roisin Murphy, is out on June 29.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com.

To the Maximo

• ONE to get fans of quality angular indie all a-flutter is Quicken The Heart, the third album from Maximo Park.
The album, which features the single The Kids Are Sick Again, is a perfect mixture of galvanising rock and roll, dreamy synths and pop hooks.
• Tongues are already wagging about the forthcoming single and album from Speech Debelle.
The female UK hip hop artist’s single Go Then, Bye hits shelves on May 25, with her album Speech Therapy out on June 1.
• Ultimate Pop Party landed on the charts with a bang this week.
The 21-track compilation album features massive hits from the likes of Lady Gaga, Girls Aloud, Mika, Jonas Brothers, Rihanna, Duffy and Bob The Builder, and is out now.
• Aiming at the charts with a new album are London’s Dub Pistols.
The album, Rum And Coke, showcases the groups cocktail of dub reggae, rap, ska and dance.
• Hard twang roots punks Crazy Arm release their debut album on Monday.
The group’s first LP Born To Ruin features the single Broken By The Wheel, which is out now.
• Latin pianist Alex Wilson and Bhangra percussionist Kuljit Bhamra have joined forces on a unique new album, Bhangra Latina, which is in stores now.
Kuljit said: “Bhangra Latina has the potential to attract audiences from many worlds.”
• Food for thought - Fink’s beautuiful new album is now out.
Sort Of Revolution is the latest album by the DJ-turned-singer songwriter, who has been compared to Jose Gonzalez and D’Angelo.
• Atari Teenage Riot founder Alec Empire released his latest EP this week.
Shivers is a hardcore slice of Nine Inch Nails-syle electro punk which is designed to whet appetites for a full-length album from the German later this year.
• You’ll be pleased to hear American DJ Yppah, whose name spells ‘happy’ backwards, has released a new album.
The psychedelic They Know What Ghost Know is in stores now.
• Wolverhampton singer songwriter Scott Matthews has put out a second album.
The rocker’s new album, Elsewhere, features a guest spot from fellow Midlander Robert Plant.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Sweet new single

• HERE’S one to get your teeth into - Candy, the new single from Scottish indie rocker Paolo Nutini is out this week.
The track is a taster for the 22-year-old gravel-voiced singer’s new album Sunny Side Up, which is set for a June 1 release.
• There are up to 23,000 seats at The O2 Arena - that’s a fact. And Katie Melua’s new live album recorded at the London venue sees her singing some of her best-known hits to a sell-out audience there.
The 19-track album, in stores this week, features If You Were A Sailboat, The Closest Thing To crazy and Nine Million Bicycles.
• Pianist Tori Amos releases her 10th studio album this week, the epic Abnormally Attracted To Sin.
The LP sees the singer songwriter again melding beautiful piano driven pop with dark electronica over a massive 18 tracks.
• Out now is Innerpartysystem’s new EP, the red hot Heart Of Fire.
The release, which combines a rock aesthetic with throbbing beats, has led the group to be compared to Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails and Pendulum.
• Kazak folk music may not trouble the charts often, but Chinese-born singer songwriter Mamer may change that.
His new album, Eagle, was released this week, mixing traditional Kazakstani music with alt-country in a style of his own dubbed Chinagrass.
• Vieux Farka Toure, the son of African blues legend Ali Farka Toure, has a new album out.
Fondo was released this Monday - and it clearly demonstrates that talent for crisp guitar work runs in the family.
• R&B star TI is out in the UK, ok?
The slick star’s new single, Whatever You Like, the latest track to come from the hit album Paper Trail, is out now.
• Mashing up ska and indie, London-based band Mouth Wash are a breath of fresh air.
The group’s album, True Stories, is available to buy, and the band are also touring, playing Birmingham’s Wagon And Horses on May 28 and Nottingham’s Maze on August 8.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Marmaduke Duke it out

• THE magnificent Marmaduke Duke released their royally riproaring second album this week.
The electronica album, Duke Pandamonium, the second from the duo of Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil and Sucioperro’s JP Reid, and contains the bouncy new single Rubber Lover.
• Looking for some time-tested laid back dance tracks to soundtrack your summer? Relax, Classic Chilled Ibiza, out on May 18, has it covered.
The three-CD compilation album contains tracks by Morcheeba, Bonobo, Leftfield, FC Kahuna, Coldcut, I Monster, William Orbit, Fatboy Slim, Moby, Underworld, Groove Armada and many more.
• Irish nu-soul sensation Laura Izibor has a new soul single out this week.
Don’t Stay is the second track from her forthcoming album Let the Truth Be Told, which is out on May 18.
• Guitarist Tom Brosseau has put out his third album, Posthumous Success - and it’s dead good.
The album sees the artist moving from his all-acoustic roots to a fuller sound.
• London-based pop duo Honey Ryder released their latest single on Monday.
Choices, a string-soaked radio-friendly pop rock track, is a taster for album Rising Up, which is out on May 25.
• Warwick, a folk group led by singer-songwriter Keith Warwick, have released an EP.
Based On Actual Events is a rich four-track collection sure to whet folk fan’s appetites for a full length release.
• The soundtrack to new film The Prodigals, which aims to raise awareness in youngsters about issues such as homelessness, sexual health and drugs, is out now.
The compilation features songs by Beverley Knight, Teezy, Ms Jaie and Typpah.
• West Midlanders Subkicks have released their debut album Threes, Fives And Sevens this week.
The funk-beat influenced indie band’s album contains the single Fatman.
• Sunshine-drenched summery soul singer Elviin has put out his first single.
The British singer’s single In Colour is the first taster for his debut album, currently being recorded in LA.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

If You Seek Britney...

• OOPS she did it again - Britney has released yet another cheeky, catchy electropop single sure to ride high in the charts.
The new track, If You Seek Amy, is the third single to be taken from her latest album Circus.
• Dani Harmer, best known for her role as CBBC’s Tracey Beaker, has a debut single out this month.
Free, the theme tune to Dani’s House, her own sitcom, is an infectious catchy pop rock track.
• King Cannibal has teamed up with French rappers Face-A-Face for a brutal new single.
Virgo mixes King Cannibal’s fidgety dubstep and drum and bass with a vocal assault from the female vocalists.
• These are The Days, the next big pop rock band to attack the charts.
The Devon-based band have released a new single, Never Give Up, this week, ahead of their debut album’s release later this year.
• Freak folk band Our Brother The Native have released their new album.
Sacred Psalms is a dense collection of tracks which mixes experimental, orchestral, folk and post rock influences.
• The summery sound of Harrogate-born, Barbados-raised singer Livvi Franc is captured on new single Free.
The single, out on May 11, a mixture of pop, R&B, folk and the West Indian reggae with an underlying Soca beat.
• Minus IQ are hoping for a positive response to their debut album.
Home Cinema, which is out now, is an enthralling mix of rock, electro, dance and indie.
• Singer Lisa Hannigan, best known as the female vocalist on Damien Rice’s O and 9 albums, has released her debut solo album.
The ethereal Sea Sew is out this week in the UK, after going Platinum in her native Ireland.
• A little bird has told me that Sparrow And The Workshop are set to release their first material.
The three-piece release country-tinged alt folk single Devil Son/The Cold-Hearted Twist on May 11, before releasing a mini album, Sleight Of Hand, on May 25.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Take a Fantasy Ride with Ciara

• GOODIE! American hip hop singer Ciara is back, sexyback, with a saucy new single.
The raunchy Love Sex Magic, a duet with Justin Timberlake, is in stores, ahead of her new album, Fantasy Ride, which is out on May 4.
• Baka Beyond, a project which fuses Cameroonian pygmy songs with English folk instrumentation, releases Beyond The Forest on May 4.
The album is the result of recordings made in the Cameroon rainforest of tribeswomen’s singing, overdubbed with studio work by Martin Cradick.
• Flaming hot new girl band Fenix release their debut single on May 4.
The pumping Lady Baby is a remake of R&B classic My Boo by the group, who have recently supported N-Dubz on their nationwide tour.
• New wave electronica band Burn The Negative have released their new album.
The throbbing synthpop of In The Atmosphere, the Carlisle band’s debut offering which features the single Wonder Why, is in stores now.
• Bradford based band White Light Parade have put a new single out, the mile-a-minute Wake Up.
The track is also featured on the group’s new album, House Of Commons, which is out on May 4.
• Get your filthy mitts on a copy of Jo Webb And The Dirty Hands.
The power pop rockers’ new album, Acrobat, is out on April 27.
• If you haven’t bought a copy yet, you should be dashing out to pick up a copy of Summon The Heroes, the debut from The Rushing.
The sturdy metal album by the Reading rockers has been mixed by Mike Fraser, who has been at the helm for Biffy Clyro, Metallica, Led Zeppellin and AC/DC previously.
• One woman band Alessi’s Ark release a new single this week.
Over The Hill, the latest track by the 18-year-old Alessi, features on the forthcoming album Notes From The Treehouse.
Alessi is also playing at Birmingham’s Rainbow on May 7.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Forecast is good for Merriweather

• DANIEL Merriweather, famous for his work on Mark Ronson’s hit version of The Smiths’ Stop Me and Wiley’s Cash In My Pocket, releases his debut solo album next week.
The Australian R&B singer’s album, Love And War, is out on April 27, featuring the single Change.
• Dance sensation Kris Menace has released a three-CD debut album this week.
The excellent Idiosyncrasies features a double album of original house and techno, alongside a compilation of Kris Menace’s best remix work.
• Nutty popsters Noisettes release their debut album this week.
The indie rockers from London’s debut album, Wild Young Hearts, features the massive smash Don’t Upset The Rhythm.
• Manchester band Sonic Boom Six are not a band to be pigeonholed.
Their rip-roaring new album, City Of Thieves, steals from metal, rap, jungle, ska, punk and even glam rock.
The group will be touring in May, coming to Birmingham’ Asylum and Nottingham Maze.
• Hip hop experimentalist Prefuse 73 has released a new album
The sprawling Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian is an imaginative mixture of old school hip hop and futuristic ambient dance.
• Northern Irish singe Eoghan Colgan has released his first single.
Dream Satellite is the first taste of hotly-tipped Eoghan, who rose to fame winning the O2 Undiscovered 2007 competition.
• Rude boy pop group Kid British released their street smart new single Sunny Days this week.
The debut album from the group will be released in June.
• Blick Bassy, a soul singer hailing from Cameroon, has released a new album in the UK.
The singer, guitarist and percussionist’s LP, Leman, is a chirpy mixture of African music and uptembo bossa nova and jazz.
• Production duo Garry Hughes and Andrew T Mackay, AKA Bombay Dub Orchestra, have released their cosmopolitan new album.
3 Cities sees the duo mixing traditional Indian instrumentation with Western chillout beats.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

The Virgins pop their album cherry

• FRESH new talent The Virgins pop their album cherry with a self-titled release on April 20.
The album by the New York rockers, tipped for success by both NME and MTV, features their current single, Rich Girls, which hit stores this week.
• Wymeswold indie band The Wave Pictures have released their second album in as many years.
The follow-up to last year’s Instant Coffee baby is the Leicestershire band’s most polished and pleasing work to date.
• Inspiration Information, out this week, is a collaboration between African bandleader Mulatu Astatke and London-based jazz dance collective The Heliocentrics.
The experimental album was described by Astatke as “a nice experiment”.
• One to grab a copy of is Hijak Oscar’s excellent new LP, BlackSheepMoneyBox.
The blues band, which features Ashby-de-la-Zouch’s Carl Hetherington on keys, rose to fame on Channel 4’s Mobile Act Unsigned TV talent show.
• The stunning Royal Family-Divorce is the new album from 11-piece Icelandic post rock band Storsveit Nix Noltes.
The album sees the group, who include msuicians from Mum and Sigur Ros, take on a handful of traditional Bulgarian and Balkan folk tunes in a raucous fashion.
• Hipsters, flipsters, and fingerpopping daddies, we give you Run Devils And Demons, the best of world music and dance fusers Transglobal Underground.
The two-CD compilation is an excellent retrospective of two decades of the ethno-techno group’s groundbreaking work.
• Up-and-coming US pop soul diva Jessica Clemmons releases her debut album, Permanent, on May 4.
The title track from the album is also set to be released as a single on April 20.
• A cracking collaboration between hip hop producer Mr Scruff and top British rapper Roots Manuva has been released.
The download-only Nice Up The Function is now available online.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Pink gives new single the green light

• COLOURFUL popstar Pink is set to release the latest single from her latest album, Funhouse.
Please Don’t Leave Me, the follow-up to chart-botherers Sober and So What, hits stores on April 27.
• The fourth album from alternative rockers Hundred Reasons has been released this week - for the second time!
The supurb album, Quick The Word Sharp The Action, was available for just 10 days last year before their record label was bought out and the album was taken off the shelves.
• Dance pioneer Tim Exile, best known for his work in drum and bass and IDM circles, has released a new album.
Listening Tree is sure to root Exile’s reputation as one of the most accomplished experimental dance producers around.
• Also tickling ravers’ fancies this week is Moondance, a massive three-CD compilation of classic dance tracks.
The set features early-90s classics such as Nomad’s I Wanna Give You Devotion, Rebel MC’s Tribal Bass and SL2’s On A Ragga Tip.
• post rock band Spokes have released a taster EP while they work on a full-length debut album.
The Manchester band’s effort, People Like People Like You, has seen the group likened to Mogwai and Sigur Ros.
• Glaswegian duo Big Ned release their self-titled Americana album this month.
The group have described their influences as David Lynch, Chris Isaaks and Satan.
• For all fans of UK hip hop, I’ve got Two Fingers for you.
The group, whose eponymous album is out this week, is a collaboration between renowned producers Amon Tobin, Joe “Doubleclick” Chapman and rappers including Sway.
• Expecting to make shockwaves on the music scene are electro newcomers Thunderheist.
Their single Jerk It is out this week, ahead of their self-titled debut album’s release on Monday, April 13.
• Take another look at Scottish rockers The View next week, when they release a new single.
Temptation Dice is the latest cut to be taken from their sophomore album Which Bitch?.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com

Metro Station on track

• NEXT stop, the top of the charts! Metro Station’s self-titled debut album is now in stores.
The pumping electronic emo album features hit single Shake It! and and forthcoming release Seventeen Forever.
• Monstrous metal band Mastodon have released a new album, Crack The Skye.
The thunderous progressive metal LP is the group’s most ambitious and rewarding effort yet.
• Scottish rockers Frightened Rabbit show a different side on their latest album, Liver! Lung! FR!
The album is an acoustic rendition of their breakthrough album The Midnight Album Fight, recorded live at The Captain’s Rest in Glasgow.
• Only the finest hip hop and R&B cuts make it into Pure Urban Essentials Spring 2009.
The two disc album, out now, features Madcon, Flo Rida, Jordin Sparks, Estelle and Gym Class Heroes.
• Operahouse have released a brilliant new single, Genius Child, ahead of their new album’s release.
The group, who have been compared to Muse and Radiohead, release Escape From the Sun on April 6.
• In The Cold Wind We Smile, the debut album from rock trio The Xcerts, is out now.
Featuring their anthemic single Crisis In The Slow Lane, the album is sure to blow you away.
• Schizotronic dance producer Kid 606, who aims to combine as many different genres of dance into each track, has two new releases out this month.
The disturbing Mr Wobble’s Nightmare EP is followed by a full album, Shout At The Donor, in late April.
• Northern Irish singer songwriter Ricky Warwick has been charged with helping his national team to World Cup qualification.
The boisterous The Arms Of Belfast Town, out now, has been chosen as the official campaign song by the country’s FA.
• American Idol David Cook has released his eponymous LP in the UK.
A rocky collection of stirring tracks, it’s clear to see why David Cook was voted winner of the show’s seventh series across the pond.
• Rockers Rank Deluxe have released their ska-inflected debut album, You Decide.
You decide.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com