'Foca Master Sarajevo', out on Wonk, is long and strong. Starting as a warm, percussive number it initially feels underwhelming if pleasant enough. The world probably doesn't need more deep and tribal house but if it did, this is serviceable. What makes 'Foca Master Sarajevo' work then is where it goes: the break that emerges three-minutes in. It transforms the track from formulaic to genuinely loveable house that feels like it truly deserves a spot on the White Isle of old, rather than the jaded joke the island's clubbing scene has become. If anything there are elements of Tears For Fears in the piano refrains and muted guitar that rear their heads throughout the track's length. And that has got to be a good thing when it comes to being Balearic

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But then we hadn't quite expected this. Cut Copy have just released the free download of 'Where I'm Going' on their site in exchange for your email address and it's a pleasant surprise. The influence of producer Ben Allen (Animal Collective, Gnarls Barkley) is immediately apparent - the sound is generally more spacious, ambient and psychedelic - and the whole feel of the song is more organic, less electronic. And its bloody marvelous.

What makes Cut Copy so great is that every time they release a new record they sound like a brand new absolutely fantastic band. This track makes BlackPlastic super excited for the album.

Head over to the official Cut Copy website to download 'Where I'm Going'.

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The trade-off is most apparent on second track 'It's Too Late', the first proper ballad the band have ever indulged in. And an indulgence it is - one that has turned off some reviewers and may alienate some older fans. How you feel about this one track will probably affect much of your view of Serotonin itself - it's either an unimaginative mainstream retread or, in it's unashamed honesty and willingness to leave aside unnecessary agendas, an irresistible emotional anchor for the album that lets the boys love for the eighties bask in centre stage.

And maybe BlackPlastic is just a sucker for a romantic agenda, but we can't help but plum for the latter. To accuse Serotonin of lacking variety would be fair, yet the result is an album that feels in many ways even tighter than its predecessor if less exciting. From the running-so-fast-you-might-trip opening of 'Alice Springs', with its rousing chorus of "I'd stand in the line of fire for you / I'd bend over backwards for you / I'd do anything that you want be to do / 'cos I don't have nothing if I don't have you my love" this is an album wearing its heart on its sleeve:

Sometimes some people love some other people. And the Jets have clearly fallen head over heels somewhere along the line because every song on here deals with this most basic of emotions in one way or another.

On the whole it's a storming success - the beauty being in the variety of takes on love that the album illustrates. 'Flash A Hungry Smile' is bumbling and hopeless bare-cheeked lust. Title track 'Serotonin' feels like coming up from underwater - the drugs analogy is obvious but BlackPlastic will place faith in the reality being that this song is noting the similarity of love to drugs, and celebrating the former's natural ability to mimic the latter rather than the other way round.

Best of all is 'Show Me The Light' - a celebratory anthem-to-be complete with bouncing house beat. It's the sound of boundless enthusiasm: sure, things may not work out... But then, they might, right? It's so blinkered and keen that it's bloody difficult not to be won over.

Serotonin may feel like a curveball after the maturity and relative subtlety of Twenty One. It is certainly less ambitious but it's inability to do anything other than express just how much it has a crush on you is pretty charming. If you've ever gone a bit gooey over someone you may find it tough to resist the feeling of Serotonin.

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Serotonin is out now on Rough Trade, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP and MP3 [affiliate links].

Agoria, fresh from releasing the rather nice Balance 016, will be headlining in a four hour back-to-back set with fellow Frenchman Oxia.  They will be joined by Jozif (of Wolf + Lamb) and Emerson Todd. In the bar will be Get Down Good with Tom Bulwer, Greg Sawyer, Jo Sayers and guest Jimpster.

To be in with a chance of winning simply drop an email with the subject line 'Cable competition' to competitions@BlackPlastic.co.uk. Please ensure you include your full name so we can add you to the guestlist.

Closing date is Thursday 15 July 2010 - good luck!

More information on Cable and the event here.

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If you haven't check it out it enables you to connect with friends and other users and 'flow' (i.e. recommend) tracks to people. Your followers then get to listen to the track and, even better, if they buy it then you as the 'flow-er' get a kick back to spend on more music on the mflow store. It's actually relatively easy to get credit - BlackPlastic sold a couple of songs before we'd even bought any music - and so if you got lots of followers you could almost certainly fund you habit. Pretty much all the music you can buy is DRM-free and thus iTunes friendly.

The downsides? Sadly to flow a whole track (rather than a sample) then you gotta buy the full track on mflow. It's understandable yet still inevitably a frustration if you have tens of thousands of MP3s already that you can't flow to your followers. Also you can only listen to a track someone flows once. It is early days but the catalogue is noticeably smaller than other MP3 stores and even Spotify, though we expect this will get better.

Still - if you enjoy sharing music as much as BlackPlastic does it's definitely worth checking out. If you give it a go add BlackPlastic - we will be trying to flow as much music as possible based on what we blog about so it will be an easy way to check out samples.

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Heretics are a new synth pop band from bath with hints of post-punk, shoegaze and electro. They are currently working on their debut album but in the meantime you should check out their video to 'Don't Be Late' above. Think Frankie Goes To Hollywood getting into a fight with Gary Numan.

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Okay, BlackPlastic admits it. There are times when we would much rather a hug with the right person, a sweater and a cup of tea than a night out on the sauce raving past dawn. Maybe we are getting old. Maybe it is just all about maintaining a balanced lifestyle.

Either way, some of BlackPlastic's favourite music is the stuff that sounds like it has been made for listening to whilst wearing sweaters and hugging cute girls on dance floors. And that is exactly the type of music that James Yuill makes.

Stuck midway between Hot Chip and Metronomy, Movement In A Storm is a needy thinking man's electronic soundtrack bliss. Last year's popular Prins Thomas mix of 'This Sweet Love' is as good an introduction to Yuill's work as any. It doesn't feature here but the same considered melodies run throughout 'Foreign Shore' and beyond.

What makes Movement In A Storm so great is the combination of musical flourishes - check the the twinkling bells and crunchy thick bass lines that open 'On Your Own' - and gut wrenching lyrics. These really are songs to well-up to: 'Ray Gun' is without doubt the sweetest song BlackPlastic has heard that is named after fictional weaponry and it is Yuill's lyrics that betray his innocence as he croons "Never was my ray gun on you". Geeky, sure - but that is kind of the point.

Movement In A Storm lacks the utterly irresistible immediacy of it's predecessor Turning Down Water For Air insofar as there being nothing quite as thrillingly head-over-heals-in-love as 'Left Handed Girl'. Yet what you do get is, in essence, more of the same with a bit less instant accessibility but a bit more consideration. And when it is this good BlackPlastic won't complain - we'll be on the dancefloor in a cardigan.

On that note, if you haven't checked out 'Left Handed Girl' then you really should - it is on Spotify.

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Filled with interesting time signatures and whispered vocals this really delivers a level of subtlety that their previous material was screaming for. 'Stay Wild' is the sound of the world enveloping you in chaos at the point where you realise that to fight it would just be futile, and we think it's kind of lush - the IDM feel has been really ramped up on this one.

The artwork, designed by Kevin Nelson for Constructiv Art and Design, is kind of ace too and fits the track perfectly.

You can listen to the full track over at KNIIFE PRRTY's Bandcamp - remember to pay for it if you like it.

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Paulus originally got into jazz music via samples in hip-hop, listening to records by A Tribe Called Quest and J Dilla, and his listening habits manifest themselves in the playful rhythms and warmth of this record. James studied music and culture in Havana, Cuba, before moving to New York to continue studying jazz and classical where he has spent time studying and working with James Brown drummer Jabo Starks and Lauren Hill.

Following a period on tour with band Beirut Paulus has now settled in Brooklyn and is focusing on electronic music. He also records as Just One Night with Gadi Mizrahi of Wolf + Lamb, founder of Double Standard Records, on which this EP is released.

'Water's Edge' isn't a full on club track - take this one and keep it with you for poolside lounging and days on the beach... It's perfect for soaking up the summer sun to.

Download Greg Paulus' 'Water's Edge' on MP3 [right click, save as]. 

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The What's Mine Is Yours EP is out now on Double Standard Records. 

Hailing from Bordeaux Alba Lua are a three-piece comprising of Pepo Durantez (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Pascal Hoerner (lead guitar, backing vocals and bass) and Renoi Jacob Mathieu (drums and percussion). 'Valley of Abra' is taken from their debut EP Ballad of Joseph Merrick, which was recorded in Barcelona a couple of days after the band saw Neil Young, My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth play at the Primavera Sound Festival. Tellingly 'Valley of Abra' features a thrilling mix of shoe-gazey pop and blissed-out summer sunshine.

The press release for this mentions that Vice described it as 'Syd Barrett sound tracking a spaghetti western, i.e. eccentric, reverb-heavy, dreamy pop music' and whilst BlackPlastic generally think Vice are a bunch of twats when it comes to music reviews they kind of got Alba Lua on the money. We have spent the last few days wandering around in Rockstar's rather ace Red Dead Redemption video game, set in the Wild West, and 'Valley of Abra' would make a fantastically psychedelic addition to the soundtrack.

Alba Lua are currently working on a new EP and an album is expected in early 2011.

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