Preston artist, and musician, Sam Golden is certainly one to watch out for. These six short pop anthems, are sure to stick in your mind for days to come. Lyrically, the words will resound with many listeners, "I couldn't be a chef, because I can't really cook, I couldn't be a gambler, because I don't have much luck", he sings in the excellent opener, Me.

Strumming guitars, and the occasional xylophone clink, or tambourine shake, add well to the thoughtful lyrics on display here. Watch out for the quiet ones, is a warning that I'm sure many other listeners will heed.

As well as writing, and recording all music on the EP, Sam also did the artwork, which shows off another side to his talents - more of his work can also be found on his website.

"for lonely" is 4 songs recorded summer 2006 by puppyhead. he used a 1980s yamaha keyboard and a guitar his dad found.

at the time of recording, the sunlight was coming in through the open windows and nobody was home. his chair was creaky but that didn't stop him. he recorded the songs to make him feel better.

"i found it pretty therapeutic and i wasnt planning for anyone to listen, but maybe it'll be a nice nostalgic glimpse into my summer 2006. "

I'm sure many people will be glad for this glimpse.

Roger Haddad's philosophy is this:

high volume > low volume
guitars > synths
guitars > pretty much everything else
some synth > no synth
synth sounds > no sounds
digital > tape
lots of eq > no eq
noise > clean
more noise > noise
reverb > modulation
delay > modulation
Pet Sounds > Sgt. Pepper
Endless Summer > Pet Sounds
Loveless > Endless Summer

You will be pleased to know that this EP shares Roger's philosophy with the rest of us. Through the harsh blasts of the opening track, it filters out to just leave the gentle waves washing over us. Imagine Tim Hecker at his harshest, whilst somewhere in the background you can hear Belong at their quietest, appearing for the briefest of seconds. When the epic finale arrives, it will only leave you wanting more.

Put on your headphones, lay down, close your eyes, and listen.

Neil Scrivin has shown huge variety within his work, and this EP is another one which will make you wonder what on earth he will come up with next. A platform adventure for the most part, with the gorgeous (and aptly titled) "Inky Gorgeous" slotting beautifully between the bleeps that surround it.

> LOAD ""

If Manic Miner was remade for the nu-rave generation, who wanted to warmly grasp onto the retro sounds of yester year, whilst also trying to collect every key on the level. This would be the soundtrack.

A new high score.

Hi, is the debut album from the excellent Gnouli Monsters. This synth hungry offering could sit as happily in 2008, as it could in 1984. The huge difference would be that, unlike the 1980s, the haircut isn't as important as the album cut.

The nice guitar tracks still exist, like with Gnouli Monsters earlier Rack & Ruin release, "The South EP", however the main focus this time around is on drum machines, and retro synth sounds.

The vocal styles range from the calm, poetic, almost spoken word, to intense driven baritone attacks, not unlike those delivered by John Maus, or even Nick Cave.

2006 was a good year for puppyhead, and his summery bedroom pop archives are a welcome addition to Rack & Ruin records.

With the longest track on his second EP, "Bedroom Haze", weighing in at just under 2 minutes, these lo-fi bedroom pop snippets, are Fun Sized niblets for the auditory canals.

As with his earlier Rack & Ruin release, "For Lonely", the focus of the album is quickfire, toy keyboard dominated tracks, with brief dashes of field recordings, and large gushes of childlike enthusiasm.

Arkhives is the first Rack & Ruin release by Canada based sound director, and composer, Rob Bridgett.

Throughout this excellent record the glorious ambience, which is sprinkled with waves and waves of beautiful swishes and swirls, and layered with glitch and samples, is then all cast aside, as the dark tones grapple at you from out of nowhere.

Upbeat blasts filled with hope, such as STATION, jump out, which could be the end titles of a horror movie - the axe murderer is no more, and the cheerleader escaped with her life - but before you can relax, the darkness once again returns. If you listen to this record with headphones on, then it is advisable to keep your back to the wall . I would like to tell if the mood brightens towards the end, but it would feel like I have unleashed a spoiler. Uneasy and dark at times, but undoubtably brillant.

"Billy Say's first release is more of a showcase of sounds than anything else. Sounding like a circuit-bent Astro Boy tiptoeing the line between good and evil."

This highly experimental release echos with noise and distortion, without bursting your ear drums. If numbers were read out in an Eastern European accent over the top of these sounds, then you may believe that you've stumbled across some lost recordings of some shortwave numbers stations.

Intriguing, enticing, and very exciting. I look forward to hear more of what Billy (will) Say in the future.

Predrag Nedic /better known as «pndc»/ is a Belgrade based recording artist. Keep away from heat... is his blissful solo project.

pndc always tries to avoid genre clasifications, but if you like, this beautiful three track offering, covers experimental pop with a touch of kraut and post-rock. People have commented in the past, that «toys» is perhaps the shortest post-rock anthem, ever!

All songs on this EP are taken from fortcoming album «Helium bliss» which will be available to purchase on ammonite records. Highly recommended.