"H.O.S. I'm hospitalised"

Recently wreaking audio havoc in several of Miloco's studios, Test Icicles have been in the wars recently. However, despite a stage-dive delivered broken nose, broken bottle severed toe and a thrown-down-staircase battered body the boys have succeeded in knocking out some quality tunes. Increasingly wrapped in band-aids they might be, but Domino Records' noise-punk exponents Sam Mehran (19), Dev Haynes (19) and Rory Atwell (25) have an exclusive download of 'Maintain The Focus' available, and all proceeds go to the Warchild charity. So follow this link and hunt it down... www.warchildmusic.com

1999 reasons to tap your feet

Annie has been in Miloco lately in the company of the legendary Richard X, and not content with filling our ears with astonishingly-sweet pop marvellousness, she also let slip some of her favourite tunes of the moment. It seems Annie's feet can't help but tap along to: Datarock's 'Datarock'; The Knife and 'You take my breath away'; Death From Above's 'Sexy Results', 'Random' by (Miloco favourite) Lady Sovereign, Prince's classic '1999', and a bit of Beck, specifically 'e-pro'. www.anniemusic.co.uk

Kasa-bien!

Kasabian news is abundant. For starters, they now have a digital album available for download. 'Live From Brixton Academy' showcases 14 tracks from their 16th Dec 04 performance and is available now via the proverbial 'all good digital stores' ...They're also gadding about in Canada and the US of A, supporting Oasis around Texas, California and Arizona, with Jet in tow. www.kasabian.co.uk

Bloc Party launch 'official fan space'

Set up by and for the band, 'Marshals' is a site designed with 'the hope of maintaining the personal touch that remains at the heart of everything Bloc Party do'. Check it out at http://www.blocparty.com/marshals/ . And once you've done that, plan your early autumn boogie nights around the following live dates here.

Smile please

The Hard-Fi boys continue to hit the road with their tales of cash machines and underdog little-town love in support of their chart–happy album 'Stars of CCTV'. Tour dates here. www.hard-fi.com

Light the blue touch-paper and retire...

Ms Dynamite's back! Not content with gracing Miloco with her presence, her much-craved return to the spotlight begins with the release of her 'Judgement Day/Father' double a-side single on 26th September. This will be followed by her new album 'Judgement Days' available from 3rd October. www.msdynamite.co.uk

 

Arctic Monkeys snark it up.

The Arctic Monkeys have been mixing in Miloco's Neve Room recently, while their existing material continues to attract its fair share of attention. Their 'Fake Tales of San Francisco' is, according to one recent review, 'a well-executed slice of snark that puts a bit more Brit in the seemingly endless supply of hip-shaking UK guitar pop'. Which is nice.

Roots Manuva want YOU!

Roots Manuva are attempting to mobilise their fans. They want to recruit 'bloody-minded, committed individuals across the UK and beyond' for their Roots Manarmy to help 'take Roots Manuva to the masses.' The plan is to send stuff that they need promoting to individuals for distribution in and around their own neighbourhood. In return, the willing troops will receive records, t-shirts and gig tickets, etc. If you're interested, email info@bigdada.com with ROOTS MANARMY in your subject line. For everything else, their website's at: www.rootsmanuva.co.uk

 

Lady Sovereign did it!

On a recent trip to New York, Wembley's finest Pernod-swilling MC apparently exchanged a few hard-earned sovereigns for a latex Chucky mask. She has yet to sport it whilst on stage but hopes remain high. www.ladysovereign.com

 

Future venue, Futureheads

The Futureheads have been announced as the headline act on the opening night of a new 2,000 capacity music venue in Newcastle. Missing out on the opportunity of playing a venue that should so obviously be called The New Castle, the band will instead play the Carling Academy Newcastle on October 14. Support comes from other local sorts Field Music and Kubicheck and tickets are on sale now, priced £11. http://www.thefutureheads.com/

Fret not, he's coming...

Stephen Fretwell, recently seen gadding about in The Square, has recorded the track 'Morning Theft' for the album 'Dream Brother – The Songs of Tim & Jeff Buckley'. Due to be released on Oct 3rd, it also features recordings by The Magic Numbers, The Earlies, and Micah P Hinson and the Engineers. He's also live at the following lucky venues: