On the record

JIM CARROLLon music

Are there any readers with a few spare bob who want to buy a second-hand record company? It’s a good time for anyone who wants to run the rule over label ledgers, with both EMI and Warner Music on the auction block.

In the case of EMI you’re bidding for the whole kit and kaboodle – including The Beatles, Coldplay, Gorillaz and Katy Perry. Citigroup, the US bank that took over the fabled British music company from venture capitalist Guy Hands and his Terra Firma group, has reportedly decided that its best bet is to sell off EMI as one entity rather than separately flogging its record and publishing wings.

Meanwhile there’s a sizeable list of potential suitors in the ring for Warner Music. Despite the fact, as noted by Digital Music News, that Warner Music has made net losses of more than $10 billion over the past decade, everyone from music companies Sony and Live Nation to various private equity firms are willing to pay $3 billion for the company.

Analysts have expressed their surprise at the amount of interest in the companies.

"There is a music business and somewhere, there is a value," commented Bishop Cheen from Wells Fargo Securities to the New York Times.

It is worth emphasising that it is the music business – the catalogue of self-inflicted mistakes and mishaps should give potential buyers pause for thought. After all, didn’t Guy Hands and Terra Firma come into EMI with all guns blazing in 2007 and with the same ideas about identifying and extracting shareholder value? Instead, they left with their tails between their legs.

Caveat emptor.

SATURDAY NIGHT GYM CLUB

Shimmering indietronica from a band with members based in Belfast, Manchester and Cambridge, whose debut EP is to be released in June. Check out the wonderful I Know, with vocals from Ellie Walker. Thanks to Cathal Funge at Phantom FM for the tip-off saturdaynightgymclub.com

TYING TIFFANY

Italian electropop fans will already know all about Tying Tiffany, who previously released tracks for the Get Physical and I Scream labels and toured with The Rapture, Iggy Pop and Alec Empire. Latest album People's Temple is awash with stomping, dark, edgy and fierce rebel yells. tyingtiffany.com

GOLD MOTEL

When her band The Hush Sound took a break, Chicago singer Greta Morgan headed to California, soaked up the sunny vibes and wrote a new batch of songs that called for a new band. Fans of bright, giddy pop tunes will love the likes of Safe in LA. goldmotel.com

Nicolas Jaar Space Is Only Noise(Circus Company) The US-Chilean producer behind one of the year's most intriguing albums is heading to Co Westmeath for the Body Soul festival in June.

Clock Opera Belongings(Moshi Moshi) Superb new single from possibly the most inventive and imaginative new British band on the beat.

Elbow With Love(Fiction) An unlikely anthemic cut from Build a Rocket Boys!, as Elbow show you can reach for the sonic stars without turning into Bono.

Katie Kim Heavy Lighting (Self release) First snapshot from the forthcoming second album from Waterford’s Katie Kim is a superbly pitched wash of post-midnight moody blues.

Big Audio Dynamite This Is Big Audio Dynamite(Columbia) Let's hope the reformed Big Audio Dynamite hit this year's Electric Picnic with all the swagger of their debut album.