Fleet Foxes 'Mykonos' (Live at Glastonbury 2011) (mp3 download)

Magical, energised performance from the Fleet Foxes.

In fine voice on this track from their debut 'Sun Giant' EP. Utterly gorgeous and the equal of anything they've released so far.

Nine tracks from their Glastonbury set available over on 'Archive'.

Download Fleet Foxes 'Mykonos (Live at Glastonbury)' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Check out nine Fleet Foxes tracks from Glastonbury (mp3) (Archive: Live and Rare) (removed by request)

Listening Post - SBTRKT 'SBTRKT' (Young Turks, 2011)

SBTRKT's album is shaping up to be one of my favourites of the year.

Spectacular shifts in mood, rhythm and melody. Great stuff, delivering on the promise of tracks like 'Heatwave' and 'Wildfire'.

If this isn't working, there are previews over at itunes too.

Korallreven 'Honey Mine (ft. Victoria Bergman)' (Acephale, 2010)

A delicious, dubby pop confection.

Reminiscent of Dubstar's euphoric/melancholic indie/pop or One Dove's machine-tooled, dubbed-out soul, this pretty 7" from last year is a gem.

'Honey Mine' features the vocals of ex-Concretes singer Victoria Bergman over a pneumatic bed of keyboard bass, clattering beats and washes of synths/strings. Innately glorious and with soaring, layered female harmonies, it's up there with Saint Etienne's best including their production jobs on Golden and Oval.

Utterly delightful.

Download Korallreven 'Honey Mine' (mp3) (Mediafire)

New Music - Spector - Never Fade Away (Luv Luv Luv, 2011) (stream)

New 7" that comes on like a polite version of Glasvegas. As the name suggests, Spector rock a Wall Of Sound approach to indie pop.

Yearning vocals sit against a constantly building indie take on the Wall Of Sound production. The track builds with layers of guitars and synth, stirring and staying the right side of pomp.

Promising.

Spector - Never Fade Away by Luv Luv Luv

Microdisney 'Singer's Hampstead Home' (Virgin, 1987) (download)

Cathal Coughlan's scabrous songwriting wrapped in big eighties alt pop guise.

I've never heard much by Microdisney, despite being quite a fan of the first few Fatima Mansions albums. I chanced across this 12" in a charity shop and have grown to love its 'King Of Rock'n'Roll' production - massive, reverb-drenched snare beats et al.

Sometimes you wonder what a song would sound like underneath all the production - this is one of them. It starts off unadorned, acoustic guitar and some lovely arpeggiated electric guitar and Cathal Coughlan's rich vocal.

The lyric seems to be a dig at the detached (no pun intended) world of George Michael or some such eighties megastar. A quick Google suggests it might actually have been aimed at Boy George.

Anyway, it features some excellent guitar work, almost Sarah-ish in its spindly melodic webs. It's a real grower too, ripe for a more organic cover version.

Download Microdisney 'Singer's Hampstead Home' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Friendly Fires 'Jump In The Pool (Live at Glastonbury)' (2011) (mp3 download)

One of the highlights of a glorious live set from the band that bring the Rio Carnival to the indie disco.

Friendly Fires' Glastonbury set mixed old favourites and new tracks from the 'Pala' album. Nine songs from the set available over on Archive: Live and Rare mp3s.

Download Friendly Fires 'Jump In The Pool' (mp3 download) (Mediafire)

The Ballistic Brothers 'Peckings' (Junior Boys Own, 1995) (mp3)

Frantic ska homage from one of the true classic London albums.

'London Hooligan Soul' is a superb, superb album. It captures perfectly the simmering meld of influences at play on London's music scene (of the time, there's no grime here).

Helmed by the multi-talented Ashley Beedle, it's a mix of downtempo sounds, soul, Saint Etienne/Foxbase Alpha-style dialogue snippets, Latin, House, Latin House, some Drum'n'Bass, a sprinkle of Progressive House, lots more soul and a bit of Ska.

Which brings us nicely to 'Peckings' which is the penultimate track. A descending, insidiously catchy guitar skank, circular bass motif, a sunrise of a horn riff, echo-laden percussion cracks, the crackle of old vinyl... Not much to it, but it is just beautiful and a ray of sunshine whatever the weather.

Download The Ballistic Brothers 'Peckings' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Foals 'Modern Art Is For Pricks' (Try Harder, 2006) (download)

Some Foals juvenilia. 'Modern Art Is For Pricks' is from their debut 'Try This On Your Electric Piano' 7".

The band's sound developed significantly in the jump from this 7" on Try Harder to the muscular, math-y genius of their next release, the live 12" on Transgressive in 2007.

The sound is less dancefloor/bottom-end heavy and there's a different vocalist who is rocking a more expressive, less twitchy/funky style - a bit more Hope Of The States than Liquid Liquid.

You can still hear the genesis of the later sound, especially in the guitars which a pretty much display the interplay of 'Balloons', 'Cassius' et al.

Download Foals 'Modern Art Is For Pricks' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Blood Sausage 'Billy Joel' (Wiiija, 1993) (mp3 download)

Huggy Bear side project (featuring Jo Johnson and Niki Eliot) on Rough Trade offshoot Wiiija, 'Billy Joel' features the sublime poetry of Dale Shaw and is a hymn to the Streetlife Serenader himself.

The first thing I should confess is that, like the narrator of this track, I love Billy Joel's seventies output. There, I said it. I love the Piano Man.

The music on this track from the 'Happy Little Bullshit Boy' 10" sounds like an improvised, spacious version of incidental music from an episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show where Charlie is 'back on the brown'.

Laid-back bass, drums and guitar are married to some rough-and-ready but alluring flute work. It creates a sympathetic setting for the spoken word reflections on Dale Shaw's idolisation of Billy Joel.

Things take a turn, when the song explodes into a stumbling riot of distress as Dale recounts Joel's marriage to Christie Brinkley and the subsequent sell-out of 'Uptown Girl'.

"Everything he did just turned to shit... I never forgave him - It was like a part of me had died."

Personally, I quite liked 'Tell Her About It' though.

Download Blood Sausage 'Billy Joel' (mp3) (Box.net)

Swervedriver 'Never Lose That Feeling (Never Learn)' (Creation, 1993)

Career high-point, matching open-road guitar abuse, expansive dynamics and some Stooges-style free-blowing sax.

It's odd in hindsight the Swervedriver were initially considered as part of the Shoegazing movement alongside Slowdive, Ride, Chapterhouse, Lush, Revolver et al. There are waves of guitar abuse and FX pedal manipulation, but it's an infinitely more muscular, aggressive, rock sound that they deal in.

'Never Lose That Feeling (Never Learn)' was a standalone single that came out between the first two albums - their debut, the awesome 'Raise' and follow-up 'Mezcal Head'. It was a near-twelve minute epic, stretched across one side of a 12", making something of a statement.

It gets straight into the action with drums and distortion-edged riffing, building up waves of feedback and skree. Once they've done with the song proper at the four minute mark, it's gloves-off and they take us for a ride through a slowed down section, dubbing-up the bass and applying waves of shimmering feedback. A sax appears through the fog of guitar, Steve Mackay-style, and blows up a storm over the undulations of the track's next six minutes of wide-open space.

Download Swervedriver 'Never Lose That Feeling (Never Learn)' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Available on the reissued version of 'Mezcal Head'. Got my copy for a fiver.

Cocteau Twins 'The High Monkey-Monk' (Melody Maker/4AD, 1990)

Rarity from the Melody Maker/Rough Trade Distribution 'Gigantic! 2' compilation.

'The High Monkey Monk' sees the Cocteaus in spiraling melody mode, leaping vocals and shimmering guitar against a restrained, reflective percussive drift.

To me, it sounds like it was recorded at the same time as their Fruitopia ad (available over at the excellent cocteautwins.com site), having the same feel.

Download Cocteau Twins 'The High Monkey-Monk' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Animals That Swim 'Madame Yevonde' (Elemental, 1993)

Spectacular, swirling and sweet stuff from the pen of Animals That Swim's Hank Starrs.

Animals That Swim emerged around the same time as Tindersticks, releasing a 10" that I picked up ('50 Dresses') on indie label Che just after they had released Tindersticks' 'Marbles' 10".

Animals That Swim deal in a similar style of faded-glamour and classic songwriting. However, Animals That Swim mixed a little more primary colour into their palette than the excellent but often-lugubrious Tindersticks.

On the whole, singer and songwriter Hank Starrs dealt in a 'lying in the gutter, but looking at the stars' take on life. 'Madame Yevonde' is a resolutely upbeat tribute to the English portrait photographer (Yevonde Middleton) who pioneered the use of colour in photography (I'll be honest, I had to look it up).

It careers along conjuring images of waltzers and gaudy ballrooms. Euphoric and very glamorous (glamorous, though, in the way that a Teddy Boy on the carousel on Brighton seafront would be glamorous).

Brilliant.

Download Animals That Swim 'Madame Yevonde' (mp3) (Mediafire)

The wonderful debut album - 'Workshy' - which includes 'Madame Yevonde' seems to be out of print but there's a good, extensive compilation - the aptly-titled 'Faded Glamour' (a song from their second album) - that draws from their whole career. I've just ordered my copy.

Arab Strap 'Trippy' (Chemikal Underground, 1998)

1998's thematic follow-on to 'The First Big Weekend' from the sadly-missed Arab Strap.

'Trippy' amounts to twelve minutes that encompass monologue, Blue Monday-edged frenetic indie disco, some kind of deranged hybrid of those things and some squelchy Acid love.

It's the sound of young Scotland getting wasted on cheap booze and even cheaper trips. Utterly messy but strangely compelling.

Aidan Moffat has a considerable way with words. The opening section is dominated by his monologue, juxtaposed by some lovely rolling, Ganger-esque bass work and Math Rock drums.

The song evolves through the story, a bad trip resulting in some disturbing shrieking as the music shifts in intensity and the mood changes. Caustic guitars are added to the mix before a relentless kick-drum takes us into 'The First Big Weekend' territory. The guitars subside and electronics take over for six minutes of throbbing intensity until the comedown is accompanied by the subdued post-rock rumble.

Download Arab Strap 'Trippy' (postrock, alternative dancefloor, indie mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Throwing Muses 'Two Step' (4AD, 1991) (mp3)

Real end-title, epic stuff from Throwing Muses' 1991 4AD album.

Throwing Muses are probably better-known for more frantic, chaotic music that is usually said to reflect the bipolar disorder that Kristen Hersh was living with. However, much of 'The Real Ramona' - from which this track comes - is more even and, dare I say it, conventional when compared to early songs like 'Hate My Way' or the whirligig that is 'America (She Can't Say No)'.

'The Real Ramona' was the last Muses album to feature Tanya Donnelly and I would guess it was a concerted effort towards mainstream success. I might lose Indie points for this admission, but it's certainly the album of theirs that I listen to most often. It's rhythmically powerful but balanced perfectly with strong a strong sense of melody, gorgeous ringing guitars and entwined vocal harmonies.

'Two Step' comes in with a chiming guitar figure, joined by a laid-back bass lope. It's a circular song that feels like it could go on forever, the fact that there are just a few lines of repeated lyrics adding to that feeling.

The intensity builds gently over the course of the track. By the time you reach the closing stages, it almost feels like the vocals are ascending into the ether, drifting away to who-knows-where. Fade to black.

Very gorgeous indeed.

Download Throwing Muses 'Two Step' (mp3) (Mediashare)

Phoenix 'If I Ever Feel Better' (Source, 2000)

On first glance, you could be forgiven for thinking that Phoenix tend to deal in mannered, soft rock-referencing with an air of detachment. Posh French boys playing at being in A Cool Indie Rock Band.

There's lot's to admire in their back catalogue though. This sweetly somehow-downbeat-whilst-being-upbeat little groover, for example.

Built around a some tight walking bass and disco drumming action with delightful muted guitar, it's reflective in the verse and optimistic in the chorus. As it should be. The vocals are almost rapped in the verses, releasing the tension in the chorus with the rich, melodic voice sitting up-close and right in your ears.

Very catchy and one of those records you want to put back to the start as soon as it's finished.

Download Phoenix 'If I Ever Feel Better' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Plush 'Found A Little Baby' (Drag City/Domino, 1994)

Laconic, almost-falling-apart pop genius from Plush aka Liam Hayes.

I just love this single and the Brian Wilson-style genius that is Liam Hayes. His voice is a distinctive, drawling but sweet croon with a manic edge to it.

He actually turned up as the 'turn' in the background of one of the scenes in 'High Fidelity' so if you've seen that, you'll recognise his dulcet tones (singing 'Soaring and Boring' from the 'More You Becomes You' album).

The song is a sun-dappled gem and it's embellished with slow motion drums, brass, strings, gorgeous backing vocals to create a worth successor to the questing spirit of The Beach Boys' best.

Download Plush 'Found A Little Baby' (mp3) (Mediafire)

The Springfields 'Tomorrow Ends Today' (Sarah, 1991) (Sarah 40) (mp3)

Reverent version of an early (allegedly unreleased) Primal Scream 12-string indie-pop track. Bears the catalogue number Sarah 40.

'Tomorrow Ends Today' by The Springfields aka Ric Mench and Paul Chastain of Velvet Crush. Urgent and trebly with shards of Rickenbacker melody bursting from the vinyl. Byrds-y in tone and harmony, with a nod to C86 and one of the fey-est vocals you'll hear.

Download The Springfields 'Tomorrow Ends Today' (mp3) (Mediafire)

When Saints Go Machine 'Fail Forever (Nicolas Jaar Remix)' (Studio !K7, 2011)

Utterly and oddly compelling hybrid of styles. Is it chamber music? Dubstep? Minimal house? It's all three!

It opens with what sounds like an ice cream van tune played on pizzicato strings them glitched up. Some steel pan (I don't know, you wait twenty years for an underground dance record with a steel pan on and then two come along seemingly at once...) adds flavour before an increasingly pitch-shifted vocal makes for an unsettled mood.

The track stays spartan and reserved until some sub-bass enters the mix, locking into a tight minimal groove. Then we're treated to some chocolatey, langorous cello before we get a half-time pass at the minimal groove.

It definitely has a kinship with Jamie xx's productions but it's a highly engaging and original sound.

Download When Saints Go Machine 'Fail Forever (Nicolas Jaar Remix)' (mp3) (Soundcloud)

Jamie xx 'Far Nearer' (Nmbrs, 2011)

Can this man do no wrong?

Utterly addictive steel pan infused dubstep loveliness. It's been around as a radio rip since before Christmas but finally makes it's way onto vinyl.

Summery and melodic and of absolutely masterful rhythm.

Delicious.

Jamie xx - Far Nearer (limited vinyl & download out now - http://farnearer.com) by Numbers

Teenage Fanclub 'Mr. Tambourine Man' (NME, 1992)

Laconic reading of the Bob Dylan/Byrds classic by Teenage Fanclub from the NME's 'Ruby Trax' charity compilation.

The 12-string sweetness is roughed up with some fuzz guitar and the band do a manful job of matching the original Byrds' version's harmonies. Not a ground-breaking version like Suede's version of 'Brass In Pocket' but ranks alongside their cover of Alex Chilton's 'Free Again'.

Download Teenage Fanclub 'Mr. Tambourine Man' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Kitchens Of Distinction 'Shiver (Live)' (Melody Maker/Rough Trade, 1990)

Now, I'm not a historian - and I'd be interested to hear other peoples' views - but I think that Kitchens Of Distinction might just have been the first Shoegazing band.

Their debut album 'Love Is Hell' featured highly shoe-y tracks like 'The First Time We Opened The Capsule' and guitarist Julian Swales creates a really expansive sound from his FX.

Listen to this live version of 'Shiver' from the Melody Maker/Rough Trade compilation 'Gigantic! 2'. You have to admit that it contains some of the key elements that went on to power the likes of Ride, Slowdive, Pale Saints, Revolver, Moose...

Shimmering, hugely effect-driven guitar work that builds from pastel waves to fireworks. Often-muttered vocals getting lost in a loud-quiet-loud miasma. That flat, tom-dominant drumming style.

On reflection, Pink Floyd were probably the first Shoegazers but, regardless, KOD were hugely under-rated indie stalwarts and this is well worth checking out.

Download Kitchens Of Distinction 'Shiver (Live)' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Blur 'Maggie May' (NME, 1992)

Blur delivered a proto-Britpop run through of the Rod Stewart golden oldie for the NME's 'Ruby Trax' charity compilation.

It bowls along rowdily like a gang of Pearly Kings in a transit van after an afternoon on the sauce.

The drums sound like cardboard boxes being beaten with kitchen roll tubes, a squelchy organ weaves drunkenly around like one of the Inspiral Carpets broke into the studio after hours, and Damon mostly sings within himself, unable to decide whether to get into the song and blast it out or 'ave it all ironical an' that instead.

Less essential than Suede's take on 'Brass In Pocket' but fun nonetheless.

Download Blur 'Maggie May' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Low 'Transmission (Joy Division Cover)' (Hut, 1995)

Low turn the aggression and energy of Joy Division's 'Transmission' into a reverent hymn to the power of radio.

Released on the 'Means To An End' compilation - which also featured contributions from Codeine, Tortoise, Moby and Girls Against Boys - Low apply their slow-pass filter which gives the song air and eerie resonance. This approach gives the bass, guitar and drums chance to breath and reflect. The bass and guitar, especially, can ring out through the air, a strangely appropriate tribute to the effect of broadcast sound.

Low's treatment is starkly different to the original but it works perfectly. Especially in the quiet hours of a Sunday morning.

Download Low 'Transmission' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Karl Hector & The Malhouns 'Girma's Lament' (Now Again, 2011) (mp3)

Don't know much about Karl Hector but I heard this head-turning piece of heavy funk-hop with a spy theme edge and a melancholy Afro-Beat brass chorus in Sounds Of The Universe yesterday and I can't get enough.

Don't know if it's contemporary or a reissue but it is damn good. File alongside The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble.

Download Karl Hector & The Malhouns 'Girma's Lament' (mp3) (Now Again Records)

Ride 'The Model' (NME, 1992)

Something of an oddity in the Ride discography from the NME's 'Ruby Trax' indie charity compilation.

The backing sticks close to the Kraftwerk original with Mark Gardener delivering a typically eeeelongaaayyy-ayyyy-ted vocal. The moments when he can't make the lyric scan make it sound like karaoke so I presume it was recorded very quickly.

More 'Ruby Trax' tracks to follow including Suede, Teenage Fanclub and Blur's alternative takes on classic number one singles.

Download Ride 'The Model' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Laika 'Coming Down Glass' (Too Pure, 1994) (mp3)

More incredible stuff from Too Pure's imperial phase.

Laika were formed when Moonshake Mk 1 could no longer bear to stay together. In the alt-rock divorce settlement of the year, Margaret Fiedler got the bassist (John Frenett) and producer (Guy Fixsen) and Dave Callaghan got to keep the drummer (Mig Moreland) and the bandname.

Laika's debut album - 'Silver Apples Of The Moon' - is a searing but groovy thing and 'Coming Down Glass' was my first taster via the 'Pop: Do We Not Like That' Too Pure sampler which also featured killer tracks from Stereolab, PJ Harvey, Th' Faith Healers, Seefeel, Pram, Moonshake, Minxus and Mouse On Mars - all for a couple of quid.

Scattershot drum machine rifles off in seemingly every direction around a solid breakbeat and some beautifully rubbery bass carries the track along to create a setting for Fiedler's disturbing POV-of-a-sex-pest lyric and half-whispered, half-sung vocal.

Spectacular.

Download Laika 'Coming Down Glass' (mp3) (Mediafire)

'Silver Apples of the Moon' seems to tbe out-of-print but the compilation 'Lost in Space Vol.1: 1993-2002' isn't a bad place to start.

Listening Post - Bon Iver 'Bon Iver' (Jagjaguwar/4AD, 2011)

Listen to the whole of the new Bon Iver album prior to its release on June 20th on 4AD/Jagjaguwar.

First track 'Calgary' was gentle and synth-y but the opening salvo of 'Perth' and 'Minnesota' show a subtle progression in terms of new instrumentation and by the time you hit 'Holocene' you're hooked into it.

Listen to the whole of the new Bon Iver album (Stream) (NPR)

Suede 'Brass In Pocket' (NME, 1992)

'Brass In Pocket' was recorded when Suede were at the height of their infamy. It's a genius choice of song and they wear the cocksure, teasing swagger of the song perfectly.

The guitar and bass intro eases coquettishly into view building to a restrained rumble of toms as Brett's vocal squirms and preens in equal measure.

The song unfolds and prowls in the manner of 'Pantomime Horse' bursting into a glorious chorus and fitting perfectly amongst the gems of their debut album and 'Dog Man Star'.

Special, so special.

Download Suede 'Brass In Pocket' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Sufjan Stevens 'Borderline' (2004) (mp3)

The enigmatic, indie god Sufjan Stevens weaves a gentle spell on this track given away with Comes With A Smile magazine in 2004.

Not a cover of the Madonna song but a gossamer-gentle acoustic lament with wisps of mellotron-sounding keyboard and a "it feels like I'm going to lose my mind" refrain at the close.

Very, very beautiful.

Download Sufjan Stevens 'Borderline' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Papa M 'Unquiet Grave (Live)' (2004)

Live version of the 'Whatever, Mortal' track from a 'Comes With A Smile' CD.

It's Papa M in Bonnie 'Prince' Billy/Palace Brothers banjo Gothic mode rather than moody avant soundscapes from the former Slint man.

Download Papa M 'Unquiet Grave (Live)' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Kiss AMC 'A Bit Of U2 (The Dancefloor Side)' (Syncopate, 1989) (mp3)

I don't just throw this together you know. Following on from the last post about Ruthless Rap Assassins is another example of the North Hulme Sound from the female duo Kiss AMC.

Indeed both acts' debut releases were either side of a Murdertone 12" in 1987 and Kiss AMC's self-titled track featured the Ruthless Rap Assassins.

'A Bit Of U2' is - as you might guess - based around a sample from a U2 track. It's the piano-line from 'New Year's Day' and they turn it into a vibrant celebration of everything they think is "top". The two sisters rap incessantly in parallel and spit out rhymes like the amazing "We listen to all kinds of music - we're not ashamed, We like indie pop - and bands with weird names".

The track is vibrant and fizzes with energy but allows enough space to let the lyrics take the limelight. This remix rolls along with a slightly 'Papua New Guinea' beat and array of nice production touches and samples.

It should have been a massive hit. But it wasn't.

Download Kiss AMC 'A Bit Of U2 (Dancefloor Side)' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Check out this site with info on the Ruthless Rap Assassins and sections and mp3s for Kiss AMC too.

Ruthless Rap Assassins 'And It Wasn't A Dream' (Murdertone/EMI, 1990) (mp3)

Ruthless Rap Assassins' 1990 debut 'Killer Album' is a feast of inventive music and skilled wordsmithery, bringing a distinctly UK (Mancunian, even) perspective to hiphop. I still love it to bits even now.

'And It Wasn't Dream' is a powerful piece. Based around a sample of Cymande's 'The Message', it tells of the experience of the band's parents. They came to the UK on the British Government's promise of prosperity and were needed to address labour shortages in the fifties.

As the sample intones "it wasn't a dream, this was a nightmare" as their parents encountered racism and found the UK wasn't the land of opportunity that they had been told. The chance to earn well and set themselves up was an empty promise.

It's a powerful but sensitively written track that takes in a host of sub-themes rather than just being a diatribe. It backed-up perfectly with a sympathetic track produced by famed Manchester producer Greg Wilson.

The Rap Assassins released a further album - 'Think! It Ain't Illegal Yet' - but it failed to breakthrough and they split. MC Kermit turned up in Black Grape with Sean Ryder later in the nineties.

'Killer Album' was recently reissued and is an essential purchase.

Download Ruthless Rap Assassins 'And It Wasn't A Dream' (mp3) (Box)

Check out this extensive site about the Ruthless Rap Assassins (and Kiss AMC).

The Lilac Time 'Black Velvet' (Swordfish, 1987) (mp3)

I was thinking that there should be some kind of poll or competition to decide the most under-rated bands or artists of all-time. I then realised that such a poll would immediately undermine their under-rated status and thought better of the whole affair.

Which brings me to the wonders of The Lilac Time. Not obscurant or avant garde, not ground-breaking either. But, my word, what a canon of gorgeous songs and moods, and all for so little reward - critical or otherwise. I certainly think that the likes of The Leisure Society owe a debt to the band.

Stephen Duffy formed The Lilac Time after falling out of love with the pop merry-go-round. After three major label albums (and what is probably the first Balearic-influenced, post-E album, 'Dr. Calculus') in the shadow of 'Kiss Me' - a not insignificant hit - he decamped to the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire with his brother and a couple of likeminded musicians and crafted The Lilac Time's self-titled debut album. It was released independently by Birmingham record shop Swordfish (it's still standing I think - haven't been there for a year or two though).

'Black Velvet' opens the album not with a bang but with a hungover whisper, a hymn to the intoxicating powers of Guinness and Champagne. It shimmers into being in a haze of acordion and acoustic guitar, soothing and gently massaging your soul, recalling the indiscretions of the night before. Sublime.

Download The Lilac Time 'Black Velvet (Swordfish Album Version)' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Papa M 'Arundel' (Drag City/Domino, 1999) (mp3)

It's usually the case that music sounds better loud, cranked up so the frequencies can breathe. I don't think I've ever found myself listening to a song and suddenly thought, "turn this down, so I can really hear it."

That would be daft. Louder = more = better.

The first time I heard 'Live From A Shark's Cage' by Papa M (aka Aerial M aka M aka post-rock's go-to guitarist David Pajo, formerly of Slint) was early on a Sunday morning a few years ago. I was staying over with friends and, on waking early, I went downstairs and scouted the CD rack for something to listen to. Obviously, as it was early it was only proper to put it on at a low volume.

In the quiet of the house, with just a copy of Sound On Sound for company, Pajo's guitar waves sounded spellbinding, punch-you-in-the-face awesome. It's so hushed and of such minimal instrumentation that it draws you in to listen closer.

This track in particular - 'Arundel' which opens the album in shorter form too - just flows out of the speakers, overtones entwining and flying free.

It's pretty much solo guitar recorded in one take as far as I can tell, played in a nice, church-y room. It's a steady progression that rises to a peak, balancing moodiness with optimism.

Just beautiful.

Download Papa M 'Arundel' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Check out David Pajo's official site for more on his extensive discography.

Johnny Boy 'You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve' (Vertigo, 2004) (mp3)

A record of such staggering pop bombast and brilliance that - every time I listen to it - I can't believe that it hasn't been number one since the day it was released. I know that sounds like quite a grand claim, but just listen to it, it's perfection.

Wall of Sound production. 'Be My Baby' drum intro. Swirling, swooning melody. Driving beat. Trumpets. Fireworks. Politics.

What more do you need? What more could it be possible to work into a three-minute pop record?

And I know the title is long but why didn't everyone realise that a record with title that outlandish had to me utterly, utterly amazing?

Up there with 'The Story Of The Blues' and 'Be My Baby' and 'Always On My Mind' and 'This Is What She's Like' and 'Wanna Be Starting Something' and 'Stay Together' and 'Let's Spend The Night Together' and 'Hey Ya' and 'Good Vibrations' and 'Groove Is In The Heart' and...

I could go on. Save me the bother and just listen to this record.

Download Johnny Boy 'You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve' (mp3) (Box.net)

Arcade Fire 'Neighbourhood #3 - Power Out (Hotel2Tango Version)' (Rough Trade, 2005)

Early, more indie, version of this corker from the debut Arcade Fire album, recorded at Constellation Records/Godspeed You! Black Emporer's Hotel2Tango studio in Montreal in August 2003.

It's a looser take on the song, more emphasis on the chugging guitars and less on the pounding rhythm. It still has a strangely New Order-y feel and the same energy and feel and florid instrumentation as the version that made them famous.

Download Arcade Fire 'Neighbourhood #3 - Power Out (August Session)' (mp3) (Mediafire)

!!! (Chk Chk Chk) 'Me and Guiliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)' (Touch and Go/Warp, 2003) (mp3)

A monstrous piece of funked-up party madness from the impossibly named !!! (apparently to be pronounced as "Chk Chk Chk or any three hard sounds").

There's cowbell, there's a unrelentingly funky bassline, there's choppy guitar and there's an almost whispered vocal, setting up a juggernaut of post-punk-funk.

I guess it's fair to say that in the way !!! have obviously heard PIL or Pigbag or A Certain Ratio, Friendly Fires have definitely heard this 2003 classic. LCD Soundsystem were listening too.

The intensity is built and maintained over nine minutes through an angry pulsating chorus, a strung-out almost shoegazey section with shimmering delayed guitar, a tight, tight breakdown before hitting an outro of just drums and accapella vocals. It's structured like a club track, building, breaking down, building again, breaking down and then going mental.

Available to buy - you know, with money - on their Warp debut UK album 'Louden Up Now'.


Download !!! (Chk Chk Chk) 'Me and Guiliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)' (mp3) (Mediafire)

New Music - The Horrors 'Still Life' (XL, 2011)

I really can't decide what I feel about The Horrors. For each of their three albums so far, they've adopted three distinct and different sounds from three eras of music history. I wonder whether this is representative of: a) a questing, restless spirit, b) first-class diletantism, or c) a cynical pop-laboratory approach to their music.

Doesn't matter, I suppose, as long as the music is good.

'Still Life' is the first track to emerge from their third album and follows on from Faris Badwan's Cat's Eyes side project. It's early-80s stadium alt stuff - think the 'Pretty In Pink' soundtrack - a la Psychedelic Furs, early Simple Minds (when they were still good), live New Order - with a plodding bass and drum lope plus epic synths.

As with all their stuff, it takes a while to settle in your brain.

The Horrors - Still Life by 1FTP

Paperclip People 'The Climax' (Planet E, 1995)

'The Climax' is perhaps the most perfect combination of elegant techno poise and dancefloor thump I've ever heard.

Carl Craig (aka Paperclip People aka 69 aka Innerzone Orchestra aka Psyche etc etc) is well-renowned as a ground-breaking genius and for good reason. 'The Climax' takes in a host of movements, all gliding unrelentingly towards... well, actually, a twinkly fade-out.

Covered recently by LCD Soundsystem, 'The Climax' open with moody stabs, joined by burbling synth lines and then a harsh, driving beat. A twinkly synth section see the motion get more lateral and funky before it builds again and finally breaks down to repose with the twinkly synths alone.

Download Paperclip People 'The Climax' (mp3) (Mediafire)