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