15. June's Big Albums - Moby-Wait For Me

Release date: June 29
Moby has described his ninth studio release as a labour of love, saying on his website, "In making this record, I wanted to focus on making something that I loved, without really being concerned about how it might be received by the marketplace. As a result it's a quieter and more melodic and more mournful and more personal record than some of the records I've made in the past."

16. June's Big Albums - Just Jack - All Night Cinema

It's make or break time for Just Jack. His first album, although critically acclaimed, failed to make the top 40. The second, 2007's Overtones, featuring the reality TV satire Starz In Their Eyes, went all the way to number two. At the age of 34, Jack needs All Night Cinema to replicate its success.

12. June's Big Albums - Regina Spektor - Far

Release date - June 22
2006's Begin To Hope was an unexpected minor hit for the Russian-born, New York-based purveyor of quirky piano pop (influenced by Tori Amos, influence on Kate Nash), thanks largely to the crossover appeal of single Fidelity. From what we've heard of Far, she could be about to establish herself firmly in the mainstream.

13.June's Big Albums - Frankmusik - Complete Me

Release date - June 22
Frankmusik (Vincent to his mum) is a pop star like they used to make them - intense, neurotic, individual, and highly talented. Thankfully, his music, a winning take on '80s electronic pop (yes, that again) is more than a match for the image.

14. June's Big Albums - La Roux - La Roux

Release date: June 29
Like Little Boots, La Roux were on most of the Ones To Watch lists at the back end of last year. Influenced almost exclusively by '80s synth-pop outfits like Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, The Human League, and Yazoo, the success or otherwise of their eponymous debut will be an effective barometer of the '80s revival. Oh, and the singer's mum is Sergeant June Ackland in The Bill. Really. 

9. June's Big Albums - Jonas Brothers - Lines, Vines and Trying Times

Release date: June 15
And so to the other end of the scale. Having said that, Nick Jonas recently said of the new album's title, "Lines are something that someone feeds you, whether it's good or bad. Vines are the things that get in the way of the path that you're on, and trying times — well, obviously we're younger guys, but we're aware of what's going on in the world and we're trying to bring some light to it." So perhaps they might be exploring similar themes to Enter Shikari after all. Stranger things have happened - but not many.

10. June's Big Albums - Ashley Tisdale - Guilty Pleasure

Release date: June 15
One album which definitely won't concern itself with social injustice and the state of the world economy is the second release from High School Musical star, Ashley Tisdale. Hanging out with motorcycle bad boys and parental splits are the thematic order of the day here, accompanied by what she promises to be a "rocker, edgier" sound than her debut. We're guessing Avril Lavigne rather than Mastodon.

11. June's Big Albums - Gossip - Music For Men

Release date: June 22
Things have been relatively quiet on the Gossip front since larger than life front-woman Beth Ditto headed up the NME's Cool List in 2006. With super-producer Rick Rubin on board and Beth telling Prefix magazine "There's a s**t-load of love songs in there... I had no idea I was so romantic", it sounds like Music For Men (their first release for a major label) is a concerted crack at the mainstream.

6. June's Big Albums - Little Boots - Hands

Release date: June 8
Victoria Hesketh, aka Little Boots, was on everybody's Ones To Watch list at the end of last year. The proof of the pudding will be when debut album, Hands, hits the virtual shelves on June 8. Victoria herself is candid about her lack of pretention, telling Access Hollywood, "I wanted to make a pop record. I don’t care about being cool or edgy. I wanna reach people and I wanna make music that people have fun to and have a good time." Amen to that.

7. June's Big Albums - Steel Panther - Feel The Steel

Release date: June 8
Waddya mean you've never heard of Steel Panther? They're '80s glam-metal legends! OK, they're not but they do a very good and extremely funny impression of one. Comparisons with The Darkness are inevitable (Justin Hawkins has appeared on stage with them) and, like that band, the joke might wear thin after one album. But for now, lighten up and feel the steel, dude. God knows we could all do with a laugh at the moment.

8. June's Big Albums - Enter Shikari - Common Dreads

Release date: June 15
The second album from the St. Albans post-hardcore outfit is an 18-track monster which fuses their trance and metal influences more seamlessly than their debut. With Fanfare For The Conscious Man taking a vicious swipe at Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and the Queen, it looks like Gallows have a run for their money in the 'angriest band in the country' stakes.

3 June's Big Albums - Paul Potts - Passione

Release date: June 1
While the world loses its collective mind over Susan Boyle (she really isn't that good), Britain's Got Talent's original winner Paul Potts releases his second album, having sold over four million copies of its predecessor. The pop/classical formula remains firmly in place, an operatic cover of A Whiter Shade Of Pale being perhaps the most apt example.

4. June's Big Albums - The Veronicas - Hook Me Up

Release date: June 22
Neither of them is called Veronica (the name comes from a line in cult movie Heathers) but Jessica and Lisa Origliasso are Australia's hottest electropop duo. With two hit albums and a clothing range in their homeland behind them, the girls have turned their attentions to global domination. If the early buzz around new single Untouched is anything to go by, they might just pull it off. Watch this space

5. June's Big Albums - Kasabian -
West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Release date: June 8
Of their third studio release, front-man Tom Meighan told Gigwise, "It all joins together, which is beautiful. There’s no gaps in it, it’s very psychedelic, there’s very much elements of the first but it’s a more distant sounding Kasabian than we have been with the last two albums." Thanks for clearing that up, Tom. Shedding a little more light on things, the fact that Gorillaz producer Dan 'the Automator' Nakamura was on knob-twiddling duties suggests we could be in for a more electronic feel this time out.

June's Big Albums

Traditionally, album releases tail off in June as the festival season gets under way. While this remains the case with the very biggest names, it seems as though the opposite is true of hotly-tipped new kids on the block.

Little Boots, Daniel Merriweather, Frankmusik, and La Roux all release their debuts this month, while Paolo Nutini, Paul Potts, and Enter Shikari unleash what they hope won't be that old music cliché, the 'difficult second album'.

Elsewhere, Gossip and Regina Spektor could be on the brink of crossover success, Ashley Tisdale and the Jonas Brothers fly the flag for anodyne pop, and Steel Panther roar into view

1. June's Big Albums Daniel Merriweather - Love & War

Release date: June 1
The name might not ring a bell but you've probably heard his voice. Remember Mark Ronson's cover of Stop Me by The Smiths? That was Mr Merriweather on vocals. The press release describes Love & War as "an anthemic psyched out acoustic folk record fuelled by the fires of Motown and Stax, with a heart the size of Alaska." We're not exactly sure what that means but first single Red went straight into the top five, so things are looking good.

2. June's Big Albums - Paolo Nutini - Sunny Side Up

Release date: June 1
The Scottish-Italian heartthrob returns with an album full of grooves so rustic and old-school, you can't help but suspect it's a deliberate attempt to shake off the teenyboppers and be seen as a 'serious' artist. Is that the sound of nervous record company executives biting their nails?

Isle of Wight Festival

More than 50,000 revellers enjoyed gorgeous weather at this year's Isle Of Wight festival. The event, which is estimated to be worth £15 million to the local economy, saw performances from The Prodigy, The Stereophonics, Razorlight, Bananarama, and Neil Young.

Goldie Lookin Chain

Goldie Lookin Chain performing on the third day of the Isle of Wight festival, in Newport on the Isle of Wight.

Maximo Park

Paul Smith of Maximo Park performing during the Isle of Wight festival, in Newport on the Isle of Wight. Paolo Nutini Paolo Nutini on stage on the second day of the Isle of Wight festival, in Newport on the Isle of Wight. The Pigeon Detectives Matt Bowman of The Pigeon Detectives performing on the third day of the Isle of Wight festival, in Newport on the Isle of Wight. The Stereophonics Kelly Jones of The Stereophonics performing on the second day of the Isle of Wight festival, in Newport on the Isle of Wight.

The Maccabees

The Maccabees perform live on the second day of the Isle of Wight festival, in Newport on the Isle of Wight. Razorlight Razorlight performing on the second day of the Isle of Wight festival, in Newport on the Isle of Wight. Pixie Lott Pixie Lott performs on stage on the first day of the Isle of Wight festival in Newport on the Isle of Wight. The Crowd A festival-goer wearing an improvised hat at the Isle of Wight festival, in Newport on the Isle of Wight.

The Ting Tings

The Ting Tings perform live on the first day of the Isle of Wight festival, in Newport on the Isle of Wight. The Pixies The Pixies performing on the third day of the Isle of Wight festival, in Newport on the Isle of Wight. The Noisettes The Noisettes perform live on the first day of the Isle of Wight festival, in Newport on the Isle of Wight.