Wednesday 24 September 2008

CSS make Move

• BRAZIL-IANT band CSS release the latest track from their superb album Donkey on October 13.
The infectious Move is a shining example of the South American group's goodtime indie electro pop sound.
CSS, full name Cansei De Ser Sexy, will also be playing a date at Nottingham's Rescue Rooms on the day of the release.
• Musical melting pot Thievery Corporation have released a new album, Radio Retaliation.
The dance duo's fifth LP features collaborations with rappers Sleepy Wonder and Notch, Afrobeat artist Femi Kuti, Brazilian singer Seu Jorge, Indian sitar player Anushka Shankar and American Chuck Brown.
• Rockers Primal Scream have released a new single.
Uptown, which features a reworking by sought-after producer Calvin Harris, is the latest cut to be lifted from the group's latest album, Beautiful Future.
• All hail The Loose Salute, who have a debut single in the form of the dishevelled Why'd We Fight out on October 13.
The emotive country track is a break for the band, who put out a poppy debut LP, Tuned To Love, earlier this year.
• The first of a two part collection of Benin-based band Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo De Cotonou's '70s afro-funk recordings is being released later this month.
The compilation features tracks recorded by the group in secret for small independent African record labels while contracted to larger label Albarika Store.
• Honeysuckle Weeks, the second album by The Submarines, is released on October 20.
The eclectic electro group, who are currently soundtracking the Apple iPhone 3G adverts, will also be playing a handful of UK tour dates throughout the month.
• The Rifles are hoping to shoot up the charts with a new single, Great Escape.
Released on November 3, the track is the first from the rock group's second album, Pavement Diaries.
• Mancunian maelstrom The Vortex release a new single, Dirty Soul, on October 6.
A mixture of indie and electronica influences, the single is a clear nod to Manchester's musical heritage.
• Ashby-de-la-Zouch's finest three-piece The Young Knives have revealed the working title of their third album as Royal Sunlight.
They are currently writing for the LP, the follow up to this year's excellent effort Superabundance.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at http://www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com/.

Wednesday 17 September 2008

Funeral For A Friend go fourth

• EMO outfit Funeral For A Friend are set to release a new album and single.
The Welsh band’s fourth LP, Memory And Humanity, hits shelves on October 13, with a comeback single, Kicking And Screaming, released a week earlier.
Band member Ryan Richards said: "It’s an album of full of songs that are just begging to be unleashed." And the group will be doing just that on a UK tour including dates in Birmingham Academy and Nottingham’s Rock City.
• The latest album from influential jazz trio Esbjorn Svensson Trio, or e.s.t., is now available.
The album, Leucocyte, the group’s most experimental work, was recorded earlier this year before pianist Esbjorn Svensson died in a diving accident in June.
• Castle Donington band Late Of The Pier are to release a new single from their storming LP Fantasy Black Channel.
Bathroom Gurgle, which was released by the band on 500 limited edition seven-inch records just over a year ago, will get a full release in October.
• Math rockers Foals release a new single, Olympic Airways, on October 6.
The Oxford five-piece are also currently on tour across the country, taking in Rock City in Nottingham and the Carling Academy in Birmingham.
• Scottish instrumentalists Mogwai have released a new album this week.
The Hawk Is Howling, an hour of post-rock magnificence, is the sixth studio effort by the group, who formed back in 1995.
• Rocky horror show Disturbed are back with brutal new single, Indestructible.
The polished metal track, out on October 6, will coincide with the American hard rockers playing dates at Rock City in Nottingham and Birmingham Academy.
• Attack! Attack! unleash an assault on the charts with a debut single and album combo.
Single This Is A Test is released on September 29 by the Cardiff-based rockers, followed by an eponymous LP a week later.
• Bewitching West End star Idina Menzel releases a new album, I Stand, and double A side single Brave/Gorgeous, this month.
The star of Wicked’s studio work is a mixture of melodic pop and emotional ballads.
• Taken from their latest album Velocifero, Ladytron have put out a new single, Runaway.
The dancefloor-filling track’s release coincides with a 13-date tour by the band thoughout November.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at http://www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com/.

Thursday 11 September 2008

Metallica's precious metal

• A NEW studio album by the biggest metal band ever? What an attractive proposition.
The long-awaited Death Magnetic has now hit stores worldwide.
The band’s brilliant tenth studio LP, and first for five years since 2003’s St Anger, is a furious, frenzied return to the sort of face-melting metal music that has won them legions of fans across the globe over the last 25 years.
• Stylish singer Ne-Yo’s slick new LP Year Of The Gentleman was released this week.
The album, which contains the Las Vegas native’s chart-topping single Closer, is a collection of polished R&B strongly influenced by the sharp style of the Rat Pack era.
• The Streets is back on the road next month, including trips to Birmingham and Nottingham, as promotion for anticipated new material.
The rapper, real name Mike Skinner, has a new album and single, both titled Everything Is Borrowed, out at the end of September.
But be sure to buy your own copy, and not just borrow them from a friend.
• Asian dance producer Shri has a new album out called Seven Steps on September 22.
The solo album by Shrikanth "Shri" Sriram, best known for his work alongside DJ Badmarsh, mixes traditional Indian instrumentation with funky, bass-driven dance.
• Scouse rockers The Rascals are up to more mischief, in the form of single I’ll Give You Sympathy.
The release, set to hit stores of September 29, is a hard-hitting live favourite taken from their current album Rascalize.
• Quirky Los Angeles-based five-piece Iglu & Hartly follow up their new single In This City with album And Then Boom on September 22.
As well, the group will be toruign the UK throughout September and October, including trips to Birmingham, Nottingham and Leicester.
• Emotive singer/songwriter Daniel Powter, the man behind radio-hogging single Bad Day, has released a new single.
The track, Next Plane Home, is the first to be taken from his second album, Under The Radar.
• Ashby-de-la-Zouch band The Young Knives will be heading to South America next month to carry out an ambassador’s role.
The trio have been selected to represent British musc by the British Music Council, and will be taking their eccentric brand of indie to Beunos Aires, Santiago and Sao Paulo.
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at http://www.echoisaacashe.blogspot.com/

Thursday 4 September 2008

The Stoop to conquer

• THE big news in the pop world is the release of Little Jackie’s album The Stoop.
The album, the debut from the duo of singer-singwriter Imani Coppola and multi-instrumentalist Adam Pallin, is a genre-mashing mix of pop, hip hop and R&B, and features the hit single The World Should Revolve Around Me.
• Florida’s finest Underoath’s sixth studio album has bludgeoned its way into stores this month.
The Christian metalcore band’s album, Lost In The Sound Of Separation, is the group’s heaviest effort yet.
The group will also be playing dates across the UK including Birmingham’s Academy 2 throughout September.
• Comeback kings The Verve have released a new chart-topping album.
Forth, the Wigan band’s first release in over a decade, features current hit single Love Is Noise.
• Musical royalty Queen and Paul Rodgers release a new single C-Lebrity on September 8.
The track, a comment on today’s celebrity-driven culture, is the first track from forthcoming Septmber 15 album The Cosmos Rocks.
The supergroup are also touring in the coming months, including trips to Nottingham Arena, Sheffield Arena and Birmingham NIA.
• Singalong single Same Old Lines is set to be released by Rod Thomas on September 29.
The Welsh singer-songwriter’s live favourite is also sure to feature on the Rod Thomas & It hugs Back tour, which sees the rising star visiting venues including Nottingham’s Lee Rosie’s Tea Shop and Leicester’s The Lounge.
• Despite it’s low-key release, Alex Cornish’s debut album Until The Traffic Stops has had some high-profile champions in the likes of Radio 2’s Dermot O’Leary and BBC 6music’s Tom Robinson.
And the album’s title track is set for a release on September 29. so you can see what all the fuss about the Edinburgh native is for yourself.
• A big noise in indie are up-and-coming Oxford group A Silent Film.
The grandiose quartet are set to release their eagerly-awaited debut The City That Sleeps on October 6.
This is also preceded by anthemic single Thirteen Times The Strength on September 22 and a tour taking in Nottingham and Birmingham.
• Underground rockers The Subways have released a new single, I Won’t Let You Down, taken from the band’s second album All Or Nothing.
The band are also playing October dates across the UK including Keele and Birmingham,
• If all of this is music to your ears, you can read more from the pop world online at Isaac Ashe's Sound Advice.