LIKE a musical magpie Madonna has swooped on whoever is hot, or should be, and had them help craft her next phase, among them William Orbit and Mirwais.

Her collaborators on studio album 11 are more blatant, with Timberlake collaborating on the hit-by-numbers 4 Minutes and producer de jour Timbaland, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams adding weight. The result is slick, urgent, touched by innuendo, but largely a club-fuelling record that doesn't take the kind of risks we've been used to from the age-defying New Yorker. It begs the question: does the world need another Maddie record? Probably not, but plenty will be buying one regardless.

Sam Sparro, Sam Sparro (Island Records)
FOLLOWING a string of modern day disco bunnies such as Calvin Harris, this chirpy fella with the big voice has swiftly ingratiated himself with pop's top table while keeping the menu eclectic by swinging between the production brains of Paul Epworth and Richard X.

Fine debut single Black And Gold got them talking, and moving, and now the Aussie via LA and London son of a gospel minister is threatening to do what Mika did last year with slightly less smugness.

Retro, funky, cartoon-like in places, electro but glad to be alive throughout, Sam Sparro is a tonic and a cad and he will haunt you or hug you this summer.

Jamie Lidell, Jim (Warp Records)
NEVER mock a nerd, you never know where they might show up in years to come. Some of this bloke's old school chums probably did and he went some way towards getting the last laugh with his album Multiply.

Three years on and he's thrown more fuel onto the fire with Jim, which furthers his journey from underground techno and a venture with Christian Vogel by capturing a voice that is timeless within presentation that is stylish while retaining his random nature. He moves too easily between understated, charming, harmonious and quietly smug.


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