She’s definitely grown up now, and that means musically too. Her third album “Gemintang” (sparkle/twinkle) features 10 cruisey songs that won’t fail to cool your engine. She’s scored some heavyweight back up including Indonesia’s guitar legend Tohpati, and a funky touch from Rieka Ruslan (ex The Groove vocalist) making the album all the more eclectic. This may be exactly what she’s aiming so she doesn’t get stereotyped as just a jazz singer, since that’s how she started out. in fact “this album is much more poppy than previous albums” she told The Beat in a recent interview. I especially like Milikmu Selalu (Always Yours). So Jazzy or Poppy? You be the judge.

After turning heads and shakin’ hips with a series of wicked funky live performances, Maliq and D’Essentials have at last released their debut LP, aptly title 1st. They’ve written some nice material, if a little sugary but, hell, you can’t ignore market forces. Just to hear a band breaking through with a Jazz-Funk/Soul sound is a move in the right direction. It manages to avoid being bland with some engaging melodies, vocal harmonizing and pace changes (check out the drum n bass switch on Kangen). Other nice tracks include Terdiam (The Most Silent) and Harus Bagaimana (How Should It Be). There’s even some geezer spitting some dancehall patois on Tandanya. Who’d have guessed it? Jakarta got soul, yo!

Bluegrass, Psychedelia and love’s bitter edges: three essential ingredients in this self-titled debut from the 22/20s. Vocalist and lead guitarist Martin Trimble has shades of Jim Morrison about him – the same lazily intent gaze, the same deep vocal register, while musically there’s an abundance of slide guitar and two step rhythms at times subtly infused with Mississippi delta Blues and a sprinkling of Folk. Yet despite the Americana, the 22/20s sound remains unmistakably British, with a steady delivery of clanging guitars, irony and brash attitude and savvy lyrics about twisted relationships. Basically, down and dirty rock n roll.22 – 20s have been turning heads on the live circuit for a good three years now, but in this their first studio album (produced by Primal Scream producer Brendan Lynch) they lose none of their edge. JD

So how do the Chemicals address the dance music backlash and all these precocious young bands the media is stroking? Well, aside from getting Bloc Party frontman Keke Okereke to guest on one of their tracks, they continue to do what they do best, throwing down those hefty break beats combined with some deliberately rough hewn production magic. Push The Button is a defiant title – f*$k the fickleness, electronica is what Chemical Brothers are about…as if they’re gonna try and start sounding like a pop group. There are some moments of genuine brilliance on Push The Button – the transition from Believe into the sublime Hold Tight London stands out, building into a rip roaring chorus of beautifully rendered guitar distortion reminding us of Chemical’s penchant for punk. Things get progressively rougher with funk rock work out Come Inside and the splendidly dissonant Big Jump. Just a couple of weak tracks - Left Right showcases the deeply unconvincing flow of rapper Anwar Superstar, while Tim Burgess, formerly of The Charlatans, would have done well to stay disappeared in LA rather than warbling weakly on The Boxer – more Badchester than Madchester. Still, all in all a wicked album. JD