Annie: I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me Okay, but we love you. The Norwegian returns with a piece of electro-pop heaven.

Innercity Pirates: Cockney Sparra Tinny, bare-bones and brilliant punk-pop from the new Welsh wonders.

She & Him: This Is Not a Test M Ward teams up with newcomer Zooey Deschanel (yep, the actress) on a debut of West Coast country-pop perfection.

Thecockandbullkid: On My Own Hackney’s answer to Kelis, Anita Blay is to the crazed-electro manor born. DC

Must-have reissue THE LINES: Memory Span (Acute) The only song that has never left my fantasy Desert Island Discs list is Nerve Pylon, a 1981 single by the London band the Lines. That track is one of 18 here, on a compilation that has been culled from the four-piece’s five singles, one EP and two albums. One of the great British post-punk bands, Rico Conning’s group received plaudits aplenty, but a breakthrough, though richly deserved, never materialised. Hard to find, their angular, jagged dance-punk gems (White Light, Transit, Cool Snap) became talismanic tokens swapped by aficionados. Buy this and discover just what we have been banging on about for all these years. DC

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Al Green With his latest album, Lay It Down, there is a bevy of new songs to match the classics. Tour starts October 28, NIA, Birmingham.

Beachdown Festival Beachdown comes with a line-up that includes De La Soul, the Magic Numbers and Lightspeed Champion, and the promise that the quick-draining chalk base of the South Downs will eliminate mud baths. August 22-25, Devil’s Dyke, Brighton.

Sigur Ros The Icelandic post-rockers kick off November 4, Civic Hall, Wolverhampton.

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