ESTELLE - AMERICAN BOY FEAT KANYE WEST

DESPITE conquering pretty much every other genre out there, we Brits have never really been able to match those pesky Yanks when it comes to R n B. Until now that is, which makes the title of this slick number all the more ironic. A great single.

KATE NASH - MERRY HAPPY

With smacks of scraping the barrel, this is the fourth single to be released from Kate Nash's Made Of Bricks album. Fortunately, it's one of the best songs on her debut, despite that rhyme "discos" and "cheese on toast". Ultimately, this re-recorded version lacks the punch of the album take.

CASCADA - WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?

How many pieces of woeful, trance-lite Eurodance trash can this group release? Each song is the same, with "banging" beat and caterwauling vocals, Cascada should be arrested for crimes against not just music but humanity. Coming to a Vauxhall Corsa near you, probably.

GUILLEMOTS - RED

Their debut established Guillemots as English rock eccentrics, with something of the same epic, rural sensibility as British Sea Power. So it's startling when Red kicks in like the last great boy band, all irresistible R n B/pop hybrids that would belong on TOTP or Smash Hits, if only they weren't both deceased. This is an album of two halves, though - nodding to the vinyl age, even while its sound is so modern. From Cockateels on, the Guillemots we knew are back and still on fine form. Whether the two halves have any connection is debatable but they're both extremely good: Rating 8/10

By Alex Sarll

FOALS - ANTIDOTES

Oxford five-piece Foals once said their fingers were too small to play below the 12th fret, so all the guitars end up sounding like insects. And so it is with Antidotes. There is a trebly industriousness and urgency about this hotly tipped debut, where intricate melodies weave their way, like an army of ants, around hypnotic drum and bass patterns and punky, repetitive chants. But while Foals' live shows are sweaty and chaotic - an exercise in energetic alchemy - Antidotes documents a mellower side to the band, with more varied textures and subtle moods. The overall impression, though, remains rabble rousing and urban, like a revved-up Bloc Party.

By Xenia Gregoriadis

SUPERGRASS - DIAMOND HOO HA

With a Spinal Tap-esque video backstory concocted while bassist Mickey Quinn was recovering from his back injury, Gaz Coombes (AKA Duke Diamond) and Danny Goffey (AKA Randy Hoo Ha) return with their sixth album. It's a succession of exuberant stomps in a style they've christened Glunge - a mix of glam and grunge - and that's pretty much what they serve up, while wearing their influences well and truly on their sleeves. Single Bad Blood cries out to be cranked up to top volume and Return Of Inspiration makes the most of fourth member and keyboard player, Rob Coombes' contributions, almost veering into Roxy Music territory.

By Lucy Brouwer