The guide gives a critical view of what's hot for the coming week.

James Taylor Quartet, Komedia, Gardner Street, Brighton, Friday, June 30
- The James Taylor Quartet are a British four-piece jazz-funk band who are renowned for their live performances. Their leader, legendary UK funkmeister and Hammond guru Taylor, plays rare groove and funk, mixed in with a little soul. With their unstoppably dancy, funky sound, expect to be on the dancefloor all night. JTQ formed in the mid-Eighties following the break-up of Taylor's former band, The Prisoners, in the wake of Stiff Records' bankruptcy. The core line-up is James Taylor (Hammond), David Taylor (guitar), Gary Crockett (bass) and Neil Robinson (drums), although recordings and live performances often feature a vocalist and horn section. Starts 8.30pm, tickets cost £12.50. Call 01273 647100.

The Fish BL, The Freebutt, Phoenix Place, Brighton, Friday, June 30
- Playing a raucous blend of Victorian music hall, old English drinking songs and "punch-drunk punk" - with fans encouraged to join in the choruses - The Fish Brothers are a band that won't go away, even if they are "carp" (sic). After countless gigs, releases, bass players (including at one time Captain Sensible), pub tours, drinking binges and banishments, The Fish Brothers are known for gigging where others fear to tread and for bringing stupidity where there is any hint of seriousness. Friends of The Levellers, who they supported on the band's World Freakshow tour in the early Nineties, Fish Brothers' main song subjects are alcohol and childish innuendo. The Fish Brothers experience? Some are dumbfounded. Most love it. Starts 8pm, tickets cost £5. Call 01273 603974.

Buju Banton, Concorde 2, Madeira Drive, Brighton, Wednesday, June 5
- The Jamaican dancehall ragga and reggae star Buju Banton is one of the most popular musicians in Jamaican history. He burst into the charts there in the early Nineties with Bogle and Love Me Browning/Love Black Woman, both huge hits on the island. In 1992 - the same year he broke Bob Marley's record of having the greatest number of number one singles in a year - he provoked an outcry with his homophobic record, Boom Bye Bye. International media, particularly in the United Kingdom, picked up on his gay-bashing lyrics but Banton refused to back down, claiming his religious beliefs prevented him from accepting homosexuality. A provocative choice, then, for the Brighton venue, which has sparked a great deal of controversy. Starts 9pm, tickets cost £14. Call 01273 673311.

Scritti Politti, Concorde 2, Madeira Drive, Brighton, Thursday, July 6
- Initially a New Left-inspired fusion of scratchy punk guitars, dub reggae and folk rock, Scritti Politti emerged at the tail end of punk but developed into a more mainstream pop act in the Eighties. Founded by Welsh singer-songwriter Green Gartside - known for his distinctive, childlike falsetto vocals - the group enjoyed significant success in the charts in the UK and America in the mid-Eighties with a string of hits including Wood BEEZ, Absolute and Oh Patti. Gartside's crippling panic attacks imposed a lengthy hiatus on the band's career until the late Nineties when he returned with new material drawing on genres from hip-hop to Brit Hop. Starts 7pm, tickets cost £16.50. Call 01273 673311.

Jamie T, Sumo Bar, Middle Street, Brighton, Sunday, July 9
- Big things have been predicted for Jamie T for some time and he won't be performing in venues as intimate as this for much longer. The young urban singer gets compared to The Streets' Mike Skinner a lot, and it's obvious why: They're both witty rappers with sarf London accents who tell extraordinary tales of ordinary life. Jamie has the lyrical sharpness of Billy Bragg and his music is shot through with the sounds of punk and ragga. Armed with an acoustic bass, his rhymes are down-to-earth and instantly likeable. Like all good writers, he sticks to what he knows, waxing lyrical about love, sex and Stella Artois. Influences include Tom Waits, The Clash, The Specials and Rancid as well as drum 'n' bass. Jonny Scaramanga Starts 8pm. Call 01273 332540. SOLD OUT.