The aptly named Cinematic Orchestra (TCO) were formed by J. Swinscoe back in 1999. Swinscoe arrived at London with a background playing bass and guitar in bands and DJing, as well as a head full of ideas and influences, such as his love of jazz bass players, rhythm sections and film soundtracks.

Listen to Jonsi’s new album “go” along with video and interviews. In celebration of his debut solo album, jónsi will began his 2010 world tour this month. The tour features a brand new band and a stage set designed by 59 productions, bringing together the worlds of theatre and music.

Shearwater have just arrived back home for a few days after their tours of Europe, South by Southwest, and the eastern US and Canada, and they report back to say are enjoying a lush, rainy spring in Austin.

Yes folks, Son of Dave is on his way into the playlists of FRUK very soon. His email said “go on, it’s folk music, really it is!”…Amanda said “yeah, going on what you play Alex, it’s kinda folkie, you’ve got to play him!” We’re a bit biased here…we saw him many moons ago with Martina Topley Bird in Bristol and he has featured on FRUK before now. After hearing some …

Niger is a West African country located south of Algeria and north of Nigeria. For thousands of years, the region has been a crossroads between the Arabs of North Africa and the sub-Saharan cultures, so it is not surprising that Niger has a very rich cultural heritage. The Tuareg and the Wodaabe people are just two of eleven ethnic groups who live there.

Multi award-winning folk artist Jim Moray will pre-release his new album exclusively through the June issue of Songlines magazine. Never a musician to stick to the prescribed routes, Moray’s world-exclusive partnership with Songlines will see him join only a handful of artists to pre-release albums in this way.

After 15 years of touring the globe and playing major stage in countries including Malaysia, Algeria, US, Germany, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Czech Republic, Spain, Belgium and many more, Salsa Celtica decided that a celebration was in order.

I‘m sure some, if not many of you have come across the work of designer David Owen which continues to attract attention with his amusing, provoking and beautiful folk-related pop art images. The one above features Morrissey as a Morris Dancer.

Ben Cooper and Alex Kane are back as Electric President with a new album under their arms called The Violent Blue. I was introduced to Electric President through a compilation put together by a great music mag called Foggy Notions…it was a lush publication that has long since fallen by the wayside, just like Plan B…why do all the best ones crumble?

OK Go have a reputation for very inventive videos. If you haven’t seen this one for ‘This Too Shall Pass’ then you need to watch it to believe it:

Trips and Falls are a new band to Frukie who have just released their album: He Was Such a Quiet Boy on Song, by Toad Records. Describing them is no easy task. There was some struggling with filling out the press release due to a lack of detail provided by the band.

First, Up from Below should have been my last years summer record. Second, their music videos are some of the best I’ve seen, so why the bloody hell haven’t I come across them before…another one of lifes little mysteries to dwell upon…I don’t know is the simple answer, but I’m glad I crossed their path over a strong coffee and early morning danish.