In shops tomorrow - 17/10/05

Singles

Plenty this week, not least the eventual arrival of the Arctic Monkeys. Whether you like them or not, there's something about a non-manufactured band whose first single might get to number one, isn't there?

The great thing about Ring A Ding Ding by Brakes is that it's 80 seconds long and isn't even their shortest single to date.

Nobody appears to have noticed dEUS are back with new single 7 Days 7 Weeks. They appear to have merged with fellow Belgian eclectics Evil Superstars somewhere along the line too.

John Cale's new single Perfect seems to have come out of nowhere too. Oh, but you'll jump to attention when the far less worthy new Lou Reed material comes out, won't you?

Did Peel go for Laura Veirs, whose new single is Galaxies? She'd fit in well with his latter day Laura Cantrell, Nina Nastasia and Neko Case tendencies.

Albums

They're Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist and Deaken - and whoever is eventually voted favourite of the four will be managed by Sharon Osbourne! Not really, this is Animal Collective, whose Feels adds an electronic element to their psych-folk. Meanwhile former collaborator and great lost English folkie Vashti Bunyan releases Lookaftering, her first solo album in - eat shit, Kate Bush - 35 years, featuring Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom.

Yet another singles chart failure for Rachel Stevens, who also has an album out this week, reminds us that this chart lark really isn't as easy as we like to make out. Consider Annie, whose two singles and Anniemal album featured credible, inventive pop fronted by someone with proper personality. Single chart positions: 25, 50. Back to the DJ booth, then, with her DJ Kicks compilation.

Malcolm Middleton's solo work, Aidan Moffatt working under his L Pierre alias and most of the live band ending up in Sons & Daughters might have suggested last orders for Arab Strap, but almost quietly The Last Romance is turning them into a pop band. On their own terms, of course.

As mentioned earlier in the week, Bloc Party's Silent Alarm is back out with Two More Years added, as well as Little Thoughts and a DVD disc featuring a documentary, videos and live tracks. Weren't they talking about having a new album out for this current semi-arena tour?

A new Boards Of Canada album is as big an event to what used to be called the underground, The Campfire Headphase turning them into - oh, let's say it - a new My Bloody Valentine.

We always felt the Cardigans are continually weighed down by Lovefool, their least likeable single and therefore their most successful. Super Extra Gravity won't return them to the top ten but at least they're thinking about where to go now.

We can't quite believe that Dangerdoom's The Mouse And The Mask, the spot-on collaboration between Danger Mouse and MF Doom, is retaining its inserts from Adult Swim, the US Cartoon Network offshoot, for the overseas market. Who's going to get those? There's a track called Vats Of Urine. It's about vats of urine.

The American Rakes, anyone? That's the unfulfilling pigeonhole we'd unthinkingly place We Are Scientists' With Love And Squalor in.

Alright, John Peel - A Tribute doesn't contain any dark drum'n'bass, ancient Irish reels, death metal or scrappy indie poorly recorded in a bedroom. Is that technically the point? Why it features the Doors, Van Morrison and Song 2 we're not as sure. Speaking of the subject...

Books

At the point at which John's contribution to Margrave Of The Marshes trails off he hasn't even got behind a mike yet, but such is its attitude to chronology that he still works in the famed Mallory Park Radio 1 Fun Day Out/Bay City Rollers/BBC Sub-Aqua Club/speedboat/Tony Blackburn/Womble anecdote among others. Unfortunately the story of how Sue Cook broke the family waterbed will remain merely an unexplained footnote.