Biffy Clyro offer up their second single for Beggars Banquet on October 1st, called 'Justboy'. The other tracks are 'Being Gabriel' and 'Unsubtle'. Their debut album will be out at the start of 2002 and, if you missed them live at Reading, Leeds and touring with Lift To Experience, you need to make amends!

The Divine Comedy release 'Perfect Lovesong' on Parlophone on October 29th. CD1 - 'No Excuses', last heard live in Edinburgh and Aberdeen in February 2000 and 'Les Jours Tristes' a collaboration between Neil Hannon and French musician Yann Tiersen. An instrumental version of this song appears on the film Amelie, currently in cinemas across the UK. CD2 features 'Thinking The Unthinkable', also from the Scottish shows and now produced by Nigel Godrich, plus a new recording of 'Oh Yeah', a cover of the Roxy Music classic. Unusually, there is also a DVD single, featuring the video to Perfect Lovesong, a remix of it by I Monster, and 3 clips from Scottish Television's Boxed Set show from earlier this year. The clips will be excerpts of Bad Ambassador and Lost Property (both from 'Regeneration') as well as some interview footage with Neil and guitarist Ivor Talbot.

Gorillaz release their third single from the platinum and eponymously titled debut album on October 22nd on Parlophone, called 'Rock the House'. The single tracklisting is - CD1: Rock The House; The Sounder; Faust; exclusive preview Rock The House animated video. CD2: Rock The House; Crowd/ Ghost Train; 19-2000 video.

  musicOMH.com New Singles - August-September 2001

Basement Jaxx release 'Just 1 Kiss' (with two remixes of same) through XL Recordings on September 24th. It features the vocals of Felix Buxton, last heard on their monster hit 'Red Alert' - and another neon-daubed primate on the cover. It is the second release from the monster selling second album, 'Rooty'.

Parisian house guru Etienne de Crecy releases the sassy turntable pleaser that is 'Scratched', the second single from the album 'Tempovision', on 13th August throught XL Recordings. A co-founder of Disques Source, the label which signed Mirwais (producer of Madonna's 'Music'), Alex Gopher and Air, de Crecy offers a CD of three mixes of the single, enhanced with a Gorillaz-esque cartoon. The remixes include one of 'No Name' from Alex Gopher himself, while two 12" singles offer a variety of different mixes including one by Les Diamantaines. Belita Woods offers divaesque vocals on the main mix which, if the charts represent anything useful, should be in the top 20.

Kylie Minogue precedes the release of her eighth studio album, 'Fever', with a new single called 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head'. Penned by sometime D-Mob vocalist Cathy Dennis, this is sure to be *the* trash pop dance anthem of the year and will surely give Posh and co. a bloody nose. The single appears on Parlophone on September 17th.

Mantra Recordings, fresh from celebrating their fifth year in business, release another single by King of Woolworths, entitled 'Bakerloo', on August 20th. Two remixes appear courtesy of labelmates Saint Etienne and Ladytron for a single which is taken from the forthcoming 'Ming Star' album, out on Mantra in September.

Upcoming indie favourites The Cooper Temple Clause release their new single, 'Let's Kill Music', through Morning Records on September 10th. A promo CD featuring just one of several tracks offers us a garage-produced attempt at stadium rock which ends up sounding like a cross between Stereophonics on a bad day and Mercury Rev on a good one.

On August 27th, Alfie release 'You Make No Bones', taken from April's 'If You Happy With You Need Do Nothing' (sic) LP. The single and album appear on Twisted Nerve/XL. Unusually, there are two versions of the 7", with the first featuring 'Don't Be Blue' and the second including 'Ooze A Lullaby'. The CD includes 'The Reverse Midas Touch' and 'Wormwood'. Using peculiar chords, strings and vocal harmonies, a folky effect is created but one which sounds just poppy enough to sell too. Judging by their debut album's sales, they'll be doing well with this.

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, who will tour Wales with the Manic Street Preachers soon, release 'Stood on Gold' on Mantra Recordings on September 3rd. It wouldn't sound out of place on the recent mini-album of acoustica that was 'The Blue Trees' but is the first single from forthcoming full-length LP 'How I Long To Feel That Summer In My Heart'. Unlike their generally chaotic live performances, Gorky's studio recordings are blessed with melody and charm. The country/western 'My Honey' is one of two tracks to back the 'Stood on Gold', the other being 'Out On The Side'.

Meanwhile, on One Little Indian on August 6th, Bjork is releasing a new single called 'Hidden Place', the first to be taken from the forthcoming album 'Verspertine'. Displacement of time is the order of the day, with both CD singles boasting different "b" sides; including the exquisite 'Verandi'.

If you like your rock rough then Romeo Trading Co. are probably for you with their debut single 'Boybands (In My Home)'. A low-key build-up to their album release in early 2002 has started, with gigs in London (L'il Backyard Club) and Leicester (Charlotte) lined up for September 19th and October 1st respectively.

  musicOMH.com New Singles - July/August 2001 previewed by Michael Hubbard

Depeche Mode release the second single from their smash hit album 'Exciter', called 'I Feel Loved', on July 30th through Mute Records. Two CDs and a 12" are available and the Depeches have had their electronica remixed by the likes of Danny Tenaglia and Thomas Brinkman. CD1 is backed by a collaboration with Iggy Pop, called 'Dirt', and an extended mix of 'I Feel Loved', while CD2 features an interactive section with press photos of the band, video clips and three remixes of the single.

Australian sampling gurus The Avalaches follow up their smash hit single 'Since I Left You' on July 16th with a second single, entitled 'Frontier Psychiatrist', through XL Recordings. Backed with four remixes, it offers a wild west musical setting for psychiatric samples - "that boy needs therapy!" spoken by a doctor figure. Catch The Avalanches live at Camden's Electric Ballroom on August 8th.

musicOMH.com favourites Cane 141, whom we recently interviewed, release 'New Day Parade' on Decor Records on July 16th. The backing songs are 'The Horror', featuring the American Music Club's Mark Eitzel, and 'Landing Rehearsal', "a reworking by Sean O'Hagan", he being of the High Llamas. Just like the album 'Garden Tiger Moth', the single veers from alt-country acoustica through to technologically savvy remix territory, once again showing how diverse this band's repertoire is.

Richard Hawley's new single, taken from the album 'Richard Hawley', is called 'Coming Home'. It appears on Setanta Records on July 16th. 'Caned' and 'Cheap Spanish Wine' make up the backing songs. Hawley is getting good airplay on Radio 2, XFM and Radio 1 and will be appearing at the Reading and Leeds festivals in August with a complete band. For those of you who don't already know, he's been a sometime guitarist for Pulp and All Saints and his current album is his first solo effort. Check musicOMH.com soon for an interview with Richard.

Those glam poppers Paleday are back on July 16th with their second single, 'Do You Ever'. Musically lying somewhere between Duran Duran and Human League, their 80s-influenced pop is happy, vocals-driven confection of the purest kind, with Anthony Stubbs and Stephen Farrier proving they know how to put together classic chart music, following their excellent set at the Mardi Gras at Finsbury Park. This single appears on Cake Records.

Kings of Convenience release 'Failure' on July 9th... this band are rapidly becoming the Kings of Alt-Country as well as convenience and this is another beautifully crafted acoustic number from the current album, 'Quiet Is The New Loud' (Source). 'I Don't Know What I Can Save You From', 'Eternal' and 'Free Fallin' join various remixes and the video form the remaining track listing.

  musicOMH.com New Singles - May/June 2001 previewed by Michael Hubbard

Goldfrapp - Utopia

Basement Jaxx release 'Romeo' in June on XL Recordings, from their new album 'Rooty'. A radio edit is followed by 'Bongoloid', which is guaranteed to get the house moving. R&B sensation Kele Le Roc offers suitably feminine vocals which contrast well with the driving house beat. 'Camberwell Skies: Demo Mix' rounds off the three tracks.

Appliance offer 'A Gentle Cycle Revolution', taken from new album 'Imperial Metric'. A curious mix of Spiritualized vocalisations and Kraftwerkesque electronica, hanging off solid tunes, produces an effect not that dissimilar from some of Pulp's 'Intro'. 'FLF [Precious Bodily Fluids]', from the album, and 'Homing Devices', a new track, round off the CD, out on Mute Records on June 25th.

Radiohead release 'Pyramid Song' on Parlophone on May 21st - expect the hallmarks of Radioheadishness; off-the-wall time signatures, groaning Thom Yorke vocals, unintelligible lyrics. Coz that's what you get. What's more, it is the most insidious single to appear this month - you'll think it to be miserablist nonsense on the first listen, then it will refuse to leave your brain. If you bought last year's 'Kid A' then you will know what to expect from this single and the new album, 'Amnesiac', recorded at the same time.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds release 'Fifteen Feet Of Pure White Snow' on Mute on 21st May. It is the second single to be taken from the brilliant new album 'No More Shall We Part' and follows the chart success of 'As I Sat Sadly By Her Side' - which reached an excruciating no.41. Better luck this time, Nick...

South are back with their second single from debut album 'From Here On In', called 'Keep Close'. It sounds like what would happen if Liam Gallagher and Ian Brown were to make a record together, only not quite as violent. The single appears on Mo'Wax on May 21st; 'Breaking Away' and 'Wasted Reminders' are the two other tracks, neither of which are on the album.

The Divine Comedy offer us the second single from new album 'Regeneration', called 'Bad Ambassador', on May 14th. It will appear on Parlophone Records. Extremely quantised strings vie with Neil Hannon's voice in a fight to the finish. High point: "Gonna absail down my ivory tower and buy myself a Jaguar." Aaaah. CD1 includes two rather forgettable new tracks, the second of which sounds almost exactly like 'Obladee Oblada' and has something to do with the United States of Europe. The second CD features live recordings of 'Bad Ambassador' (much better than the album version), 'Sweden' and the Status Quo cover 'Pictures of Matchstick Men'. The limited edition 7" features a live version of 'Life On Earth', stripped bare of all orchestral fare.

Badly Drawn Boy renames a song for radio! Who would have thought it. He also joins the ranks of artists seeking film stars to galmourise their videos - following recent appearances by Christopher Walken (for Fat Boy Slim) and Alan Rickman (for Texas), BDB Damon Gough gets to sit on the edge of Joan Collins' bath. Scarily, she looks younger than he does... "I wanted to work with Damon because I consider him a very talented young man," cooes Joanie, "and I love his music. Doing this video appealed to me because of the strange juxtaposition of our two characters. I loved every minute." The single 'Spitting In The Wind', which has nothing at all to do with urine, is released on Twisted Nerve/XL on May 7th. CD 1 also features a Lemon Jelly mix of a song called 'Pissing In The Wind' and a Minotaur Shock mix of 'The Shining'. CD 2 also includes WDET Detroit mixes of 'Magic In The Air' and 'Everybody's Stalking', while the 10" includes the original album version from 'The Hour Of The Bewilderbeast' and 'The Shining'. Tea cosies rule.

Anjali is back with a new offering entitled 'Nebula EP' on May 7th, on Wiiija Records. The album version of 'Nebula' plus a remix by Qualifide and a collaboration with Spykid called 'Hymn To The Sun' are all included; if you liked the exotic chillout feel of the eponymously titled album, this will not disappoint.

King Of Woolworths should get a Mercury Music Prize too - for silliest band name ever. 'Stalker Song' appears on Mantra Records on 7th May and is a curious mix of break-beats and trance, interspersed with random segments of noise. A 10" features 'Minitel Conspiracy' as the B-side, while the CD also includes 'Catnip'.

  musicOMH.com Singles of the Month (April 2001)

Tim Wright releases 'Searcher/The Walk' on 12" on April 23rd, on Novamute. Having cut his teeth with remixes of tracks by Tim Hutton, Cristian Vogel and Laurent Garnier, he has appeared under various monikers including Germ, Tube Jerk and Sand. 'Searcher' falls somewhere between techno, breakbeat and garage.

Biffy Clyro release their first single for Beggars Banquet (since parting company with Electric Honey), entitled '27', on April 9th. Who they, you may ask, but you will surely soon find out - just as soon as they finish recording their debut album. '27' also includes 'Intructio4' (sic) and 'Breatheher' (also, sic). They play guitars and are from Glasgow; but I'm sure that doesn't account for the spelling.

Arrid, aka Ian Widgery, is already known as SkynetUK and has released five singles on Whoop! and around 30 remix projects. His new single, 'The Trench', appears on 30th April on Future Groove and offers up a huge meaty bass beat which will get your toes tapping and your head throbbing. Already a hit with hard house club nights at Cream and on Kiss FM, the AA side of the 12" is a mix by Desert, whose previous releases have been catching the attention of Judge Jules, Digweed, Pete Tong and Sasha, to name but a few.

  musicOMH.com Singles of the Month (March 2001)

'Since I Left You' from The Avalanches appears in shops on 26th March, from XL Recordings. The main track sounds alarmingly like The Jackson Five at the peak of their fame, all seventies beats and stylish guitar, boyish vocals and singalong chorus. Track 2, 'Everyday', sounds as though it has been produced by Mirwais, all vocoder and beats - and with an Andy Votel remix of 'Thank You Caroline' completing the CD, it is no wonder that the band are already being championed by Jo Whiley, Mary Ann Hobbs, Jockey Slut, The Evening Standard, 7, I-D, Mixmag, NME, The Face and, dare we say it, musicOMH.com. We look forward to hearing the album of the same name from Melbourne's finest, but 'Since I Left You' is our Single Of The Month.

On 19th March "Bernard and Edwyn" release 'Message for Jojo', on Setanta Records. Who are Bernard and Edwyn? Well, surely you remember former Suede axeman turned highly successful soloist Bernard Butler, also formerly of McAlmott & Butler? This be he. The Edwyn in question is Edwyn Collins, long signed to Setanta, who has been into TV production of late and hasn't released much since the monster-selling 'Girl Like You'. So what's it like? Well... there are all sorts of electronic bleeps and bloops laid over acoustic guitar and the duetting boys' vocals. It, erm, works rather well. The remaining two tracks are no less superb, with 'Clean' sounding like the ultimate chill-out track. Great it is to hear from these two talents again; 'Message For Jojo' is musicOMH.com's Single Of The Month.

Also on 19th March Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds release 'As I Sat Sadly By Her Side', their first new material since 1997. Two tracks appear with the single; Little Janey's Gone and Good Good Day, neither of which are available on the forthcoming album 'No More Shall We Part'. Cave's voice has developed since he's been away - and the single shows that his range is even more astonishing than it already was.

A new single from Add N To (X), called 'The Poker Roll', appears from Mute Records on March 5th. Bonus tracks 'White Scrapie' and 'Wax Gravy' are born of collaboration with Jon Spencer, lynchpin of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and brother of Brassy's Muffin Spencer. The cover has a sticker proclaiming the existence of an "explicit video", shot by the band's Barry 7, which features all manner of nipples, dildos and curious camera speeds.

Finally, on March 5th, David Gray releases another single from 'White Ladder', called 'This Year's Love', one of the album's more beautiful tracks, on EastWest Records. It has already been in a film of the same name starring Kathy Burke and it finds Gray sat at a piano trying desperately not to sound or look like Elton John. Great stuff.

  musicOMH.com Single of the Month (February 2001)

On February 26th, The Divine Comedy release their first record on Parlophone Records, entitled 'Love What You Do'. Definitely a grower, this piece features a beautiful and memorable chorus with Neil Hannon's vocals once again reminding us of how good he can be. 'Love What You Do' is the first single to be taken from forthcoming album 'Regeneration', out on March 12th. For more information on The Divine Comedy click here. This is our Single Of The Month.