The Drift 'Hello From Everywhere' (from Blue Hour) (Temporary Residence, 2011)

Rolling, post rock instrumental business from the new album, Blue Hour.

Recently included on The Wire's Wire Tapper 27 compilation, another new track from the post rock dons The Drift. The departure of two of the band since the last album sees a shift in emphasis away from gauzy jazz jams, towards a more rootsy sound.

Lovely post rock instrumental business though - echoes of the more plangent sections of Explosions In The Sky and the rolling jazz bassiness of Tortoise and Polar Bear.

Check-out The Drift on Temporary Residence and buy some of their albums!

Download The Drift 'Hello From Everywhere' (post rock mp3) (Mediafire)

Bon Iver 'Towers, Perth, Calgary - Live on Later' (2011)

'Perth' in particular given an expansive, muscular makeover.

Bon Iver's second album is a treat, which is a quite an achievement after the brilliance of the 'For Emma, Forever Ago'.

This set from Later with Jools Holland features three songs played by an incredibly large ensemble - an array of multiple guitarists, drummers, brass and keyboards. This is one indie alternative hero who isn't skimping on the presentation.

'Perth' is a revelation - a stand-out for me on the album, here rendered even more epic but with a more muscular edge balancing the sweetness.

'Calgary' is a choir of yearning set over a driving, almost Arcade Fire-like chassis, bouyed by subtle brass touches. 'Towers' is a clattering shuffle with hints of Calexico/Beirut mariachi boogie.

Very beautiful.

Download Bon Iver 'Towers (Live on Later)' (indie alternative mp3 download) (Mediafire)
Download Bon Iver 'Perth (Live on Later)' (indie alternative mp3 download) (Mediafire)
Download Bon Iver 'Calgary (Live on Later)' (indie alternative mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Buffalo Tom 'Taillights Fade' (Situation Two, 1992)

Trailblazing wistful indie rock genius.

Taking their cues from the rumbustuous, ragged guitar scree of Dinosaur Jr, Buffalo Tom were a more thoughtful version of Nirvana - certainly with a stronger country influence - unleashing powerful waves of loud-quiet guitar attack.

Sadly, they never really broke through but did leave behind a string of lovely, panoramic tracks like 'Taillights Fade', some raging indie rock monsters and a single on Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne's legendary Caff label. 'Birdbrain' and 'Velvet Roof' are good places to start.

'Taillights Fade' is a rolling, resigned track that conjures images of end-credits, our lone hero driving off into the dark orange haze of the desert at dusk, Sebadoh's 'Soul and Fire' (mp3) playing on the stereo.

Download Buffalo Tom 'Taillights Fade' (indie rock mp3 download) (Mediafire)

LCMDF 'Gandhi (Andrew Weatherall Mix)' (Heavenly, 2010)

Tooth decay sweet, baggy/Madchester pop turned into low-slung groover by Andrew Weatherall. Is it 1991?

The original version of this track sounds like a Hypnotone Remix of a Screamadelica-influenced Flowered Up b-side with the kind of nursery rhyme gibberish that would make Sean Ryder a happy man in his dotage.

It also makes me think of the 'imagined bands' of Saint Etienne's Icerink label. I always assumed most of them were just Stanley and Wiggs letting loose in the studio and then thinking of a concept later - whether it was glorious dub minimalism or saccharine pop metal-lectro.

The baggy retro nature of this track makes it seem fitting to get Andrew Weatherall to go back in time and create one of his long, long low-slung dancefloor detonators. The ice cream van chime of the original melody and a snatch of vocal occasionally being spliced in.

HVN210 LCMDF - Gandhi (Andrew Weatherall remix I) by heavenlyrecordings

The original version:

Rough Trade Counter Culture Radio - indie alternative mixtape

Excellent eclectic indie alternative music selection by Rough Trade Shops.

Nice mixtape curated by the staff at Rough Trade Shops, taking in classics like The Sonics and The Skatalites and introducing Little Dragon, Modeselektor, The Field and lots more.

Playlist:
1. 'Have Love Will Travel' The Sonics
2. 'Fidel Castro' The Skatalites
3. 'Santos & Ken' The Stepkids
4. 'Genuine' Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
5. 'Too Late' M.E.D.
6. 'Information Critic (The Heavy Remix)' Black Samurai Ft Daddy Freddy & The Ragga Twins
7. 'Berlin' Modeselektor Ft Miss Platnum
8. 'Scale It Back' Dj Shadow Ft Yukimi Nagano Of Little Dragon
9. 'It's Up There' The Field
10. 'Ritual Union (Maya Jane Coles Remix)' Little Dragon
11. 'Early Morning Lights (Marcel Dettmann Remix)' Sigha
12. 'Sanctum' Throwing Snow
13. 'Popgun' Martyn
14. 'Bax' Mosca
15. 'Hex' Pangaea
16. 'Master Plan' Willie Williams
17. 'Rock For Dub' Prince Jazzbo

Counter Culture Radio_20.10.11 by Rough Trade Shops on Mixcloud

Kenny Dope 'Can U Handle It (Full Length)' (BBE, 1999)

Slab of rumbustuous deep funk from Master At Work, Kenny Dope.

Masters At Work were hot as hell for about ten years (the nineties, basically), unleashing killer track after killer track - Nuyorican Soul, Masters At Work's own 12"s, 'Everybody Be Somebody' by Ruffneck ft Yavahn, I mean, I could go on...

Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales dropped this delightful slice of deep funk pastiche in 1999 on a nice 7" single with Part One on one side and Part Two on the flip, no doubt in homage to the 7"s of James Brown, Jerry & The Medicine Men et al.

It's a rolling, hard-nosed groove with neat clattering drums, horn stabs, a James Brown grunt, a wiggling clavichord solo and some breathless vocals.

Just divine. Check out Karl Hector & The Malhouns' 'Girma's Lament' (mp3) while you're at it too.

Download Kenny Dope 'Can U Handle It (Full Length)' (soul, funk, mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Butterfly Child 'Passion Is The Only Fruit' (Dedicated, 1995)

Giddy, ethereal alternative pop from the singular vision of Joe Cassidy aka Butterfly Child.

Butterfly Child released a brace of divine, rococo alternative pop albums in the early nineties - 'Onomatopoeia' and 'The Honeymoon Suite'. They were collections of gossamer-fragile songs, decorated with ornate melodies, swooning vocal arcs and a restless beauty.

Each album was a bucolic fantasia that, whilst reflecting the Shoegazing and whimsical nature of Slowdive et al, seemed to reject modernity and artifice whilst using drum machines and sequencer lines alongside guitars and strings. Instead the songs conjured images of angels and architecture, poets and dreamers, all drunk on love. Stuff like that.

Belfast-born Joe Cassidy seems to have disappeared and there hasn't been anything by Butterfly Child since 1998. His music has a kinship to the likes of the ethereal esperanto of Cocteau Twins, arch, progressive songsmiths Spoonfed Hybrid, dreampop orchestrators AR Kane and maybe Tim Buckley but is the work of a true original.

These albums are long-deleted but well worth hunting down.

Download Butterfly Child 'Passion Is The Only Fruit' (indie, alternative, mp3) (Mediafire)

Blancmange 'The Day Before You Came (Extended Version)' (London, 1984)

Kitchen sink drama rendered in synth pop as Blancmange cover Abba.

My introduction to this excellent piece of life-on-hold mundanity by Andersson/Ulvaeus was through this version by Blancmange. Its minor key synth pop symphony provided an antecedent to the likes of Korallreven, Saint Etienne's work with Golden and, of course, the Pet Shop Boys.

This 12" version is extended with passages of percussion, the warmth of the main melody dropping out, only adds to the sense of life being on hold until that certain someone comes back. Blancmange give the song a wonderfully dark, percussive edge, the extended version bringing the pattering tabla percussion to the fore, synth strings sweeping sadly in a way that says bedsits and rain.

Eight minutes of glorious minimal miserabilism. Enjoy.

Download Blancmange 'The Day Before You Came (Extended Version)' (alternative, pop, synthpop, mp3) (Mediafire) [removed by request]

Polar Bear 'It Snows Again (Live at The Spitz)' (2007)

Elegant, stately jazz procession from Seb Rochford's Polar Bear.

Polar Bear meld together post-rock, found sounds, electronics and brainfuckery into their sometimes loquacious, sometimes frantic, sometimes poised and beautiful jazz. They play in the same deep water as Triosk, Tortoise, Morphine, The Drift and, on this tune, even rubbing shoulders with the great Stan Tracey's 'Starless And Bible Black'.

'It Snows Agains' was recorded live at the The Spitz in 2007 - the venue has sadly since been replaced by property-developer flats. It meanders gently at a stately pace, accumulating feedback and noise along the way, distrupting the otherwise elegant surface.

Download Polar Bear 'It Snows Again (Live at The Spitz)' (jazz mp3) (Mediafire)

Cranes 'Tomorrow's Tears' (Dedicated, 1991)

Gorgeous, piano-led, gently gothic track with spiralling melody and aching melancholy.

The only tricky thing about Cranes was getting past Alison Shaw's little-girl-ghost-stuck-down-a-well vocal style. It's an acquired taste but - especially on this track - offsets the music's delightfully rococo melodies really nicely.

'Tomorrow's Tears' was a single from their 'Wings Of Joy' album and balanced echoes of Shoegaze with 'Pearly Dewdrops Drops'-era Cocteau Twins. There's also some deep, brown piano work that wouldn't out of place on David Sylvian's 'Secrets Of The Beehive' album.

Beautiful.

Download Cranes 'Tomorrow's Tears' (gothic, indie alternative mp3) (Mediafire)

The Stone Roses 'Made Of Stone (Demo)' (1988)

Won't be going, but nice to have them back. Maybe they will still have it.

I couldn't let the week pass without a small tribute to the reformed Stone Roses. The press conference was good value for money and, maybe just maybe, they can live up to their legacy.

If nothing else, it's been worth it just to see Ian Brown tear into a Daily Mail journalist.

Whilst you ponder whether Cressa will be joining the band for the reunion gigs, listen to this demo version of 'Made Of Stone' from May 1988. The song and arrangement pretty much in place. The magic has definitely happened even if it has yet to receive John Leckie's magic touch.

Enjoy.

Download The Stone Roses 'Made Of Stone (Demo)' (genius, indie mp3) (Box.net)

The Boo Radleys 'Lazarus (Demo)' (1993)

Fascinating blueprint of the ground-breaking indie/jazz/dub masterpiece.

'Lazarus' in its full "Sun Ra meets the Rockers Uptown with Kevin Shields at the controls" guise is a wonder to behold. It's a breathtaking journey of a song, an explosion of joy from seeds of self-doubt. Trumpets erupting in a chorus that arrives from a tasty broth of dub and noise.

It sounds like a classic studio creation but this demo version reveals that it's nothing of the sort - Boo Radleys songwriter Martin Carr had scoped it all out in his demo. All the parts are there though the vibe is sketchier. You can hear the same mind at work on the previous demo I posted for 'Upon 9th and Fairchild'.

Total genius.

Download The Boo Radleys 'Lazarus (Demo)' (Creation Records, genius, indie mp3 download)

Download the complete 'Giant Steps - The Demos' over at archive:live+rare

The Screaming Trees 'Tangiers' (Single Version/MbAaIsNsLlIiNnEe) (Native, 1988)

Dark-edged fusion of groove, beat and indie sensibility. Very Sheffield/Fon Studios.

Not to be confused with proto-Grunge rockers on Sub Pop - featuring Mark Lanegan - who were probably active around the same time.

The Screaming Trees were a mysterious Sheffield duo who luxuriated in the Fon/Sheffield sound of dance crossover beats - following in the footsteps of Age Of Chance, Heaven 17, The Human League, Chakk, Pop Will Eat Itself, Gene and Jim Are Into Shakes and similarly forward-thinking indie types who fell in love with the tyranny of the beat.

The main version is a catchy dancefloor groove based around a horn sample and some tight sequencer work. The MbAaIsNsLlIiNnEe remix is more skeletal and rocks a Janet Jackson sample. Subtly ground-breaking stuff that paved the way for New FADs, World Of Twist et al.

Download The Screaming Trees 'Tangiers (Single Version)' (indie dance crossover mp3) (Mediafire)

Download The Screaming Trees 'Tangiers (MbAaIsNsLlIiNnEe)' (indie dance crossover mp3) (Mediafire)

Thom Yorke 6Mix mp3 (BBC 6Music DJ Set) (16/10/2011) (Radiohead)

Nicely eclectic blend of electronica, glitch and downbeat indie by Radiohead's Thom Yorke.

Two hours of tracks selected by Thom Yorke for BBC 6Music's 6Mix.

Includes tracks from Radiohead's 'TKOL RMX' album, plus mixes by the likes of James Blake, Burial, Kode9 and Autechre and tracks from an eclectic selection from Low and PJ Harvey to Modeselektor, Ricardo Villalobos and Aphex Twin.

Tracklist (1hr 55min 30s):
Erykah Badu 'The Healer'
J. Dill 'Geek Down'
King Midas Sound 'One Thing (Dabrye Remix)'
Aloe Blacc 'Whole World'
Owiny Sigoma Band 'Margaret Okodo'
Thom Yorke 'Stuck Together (Remix)'
Radiohead 'Little By Little (Caribou Remix)'
Low 'Monkey'
-
Radiohead 'Little By Little (Shed Mix)
Modeselektor 'Kill Bill Vol. 4'
2512 'The Wind Up'
Steve Poindexter 'Short Circuit (C64 Bypass Mix)
FaltyDL 'My Friends Will Always Say'
Ramadanman 'Glut'
Pangea 'You & I'
Gil Scott Heron & Jamie xx 'New York Is Killing Me'
Radiohead 'Good Morning Mr. Magpie (Nathan Fake Harshdub)'
Thom Yorke 'And It Rained All Night (Burial Remix)'
Untold & James Blake 'Stop What You’re Doing (James Blake Remix)'
DJ Slugo 'Waiting For You Demdike'
Felix Da Housecat 'What Does It Feel Like?'
Tapes 'Outro'
Tapes 'Gold Love Riddim'
The Low Anthem 'Matter Of Time'
Aphex Twin 'Hy A Scullyas Lyf Adhagrow'
Radiohead 'Codex (Illum Sphere Remix)'
Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbaur 'Recat'
PJ Harvey 'When Under Ether'
Radiohead 'Paperbag Writer'
Emika 'Double Edge'
Radiohead 'Bloom (Remix)'
Autechre 'Drane'
Wiley '100% Publishing'
Kode9 '9 Samurai (Quarta 330 Remix)'
Flying Lotus 'Zodiac'

Download Part 1 - Thom Yorke 6Mix mp3 - BBC 6Music 16/10/2011 (electronica, indie mixtape, DJ set) (Rapidshare)

Download Part 2 - Thom Yorke 6Mix mp3 - BBC 6Music 16/10/2011 (electronica, indie mixtape, DJ set) (Rapidshare)

Curve 'Ten Little Girls' (Anxious, 1991)

Thrilling head-on crash of pummeling beats, sheets of noise, angelic vocals - dark indie originators.

Curve emerged fully-formed with a blend of shoegaze disorientation, driving bass and beats and sheets of furious noise.

Produced by the go-to producer/mixer/engineer of the shoegaze generation, Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Swervedriver, The Boo Radleys, Smashing Pumpkins) its sound is flint-hard, leavened only by the sweetness of Toni Halliday's vocals.

'Ten Little Girls' was their debut single and I have to confess that I haven't listened to it for ages. I was pleasantly surprised to find it has aged elegantly. Even the rap which works surprisingly well, evoking only the tiniest thought of 2 Unlimited.

Check out the awesome beast that is 'Coast Is Clear' too.

Download Curve 'Ten Little Girls' (indie, dance mp3) (Mediafire)

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip 'Fixed (Original Dizzee Rascal Sample Version)' (Unreleased, 2007)

Sharp as a splinter indie hip-hop in unreleased Dizzee Rascal-sampling version.

Indier-than-thou lyrics, fucked-about beats and Dizzee Rascal yelping - what more do you need?

This version was circulated before their album came out and features a sample from 'Fix Up Look Sharp' by Dizzee Rascal. Presumably he wouldn't give them clearance as this isn't the version that appears on their debut album 'Angles'.

Given that they pretty much diss him for cosying up to the "pop charts" maybe that's not such as surprise. Lord only knows what Scroobius Pip made of 'Bonkers' if he thinks that 'Fix Up Look Sharp' is commercial!

Dizzee-baiting aside, Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip represented a fresh sensibility in 'UK Hip Hop' - in the same vein as Ruthless Rap Assassins - fusing thoughtful lyrics with an eclectic sample pallette, taking in indie music influences like Radiohead's 'Planet Telex'.

It's also pertinent to point out that 'Fixed' also sampled 'The Big Beat' by hair-toting rock monster Billy Squier.

Good value.

Download Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip 'Fixed (Original Dizzee Rascal Sample Version)' (hip-hop, indie, alternative, indie dance mp3) (Mediafire)

Schmoov 'Playground' (DIY, 2001)

Elegant deep house mastery.

Building from a smattering of atmospheric playground chatter and a monumental bass progression, 'Playground' adds a slinky, mid-paced drum pattern and some sliding layers of lovely semi-dark synth.

It's Deep House in excelcis, melodies and curclicues firing off from the solid rhythmic undercarriage but still maintaining a minimal feel.

Schmoov were part of the Paperecordings scene, though this album - 'While You Wait' - was released on the DIY label.

Perfect Sunday morning fare. Enjoy.

Download Schmoov 'Playground' (deep house mp3) (Mediafire)

Primal Scream 'Velocity Girl' (NME/Rough Trade, 1986)

The Scream in fey, Byrds-ian jangle mode.

You have to hand it to them - 'Velocity Girl' is 82 seconds of sweet, catchy, direct indie pop beauty.

Reverb-drenched drum simplicity, spiralling melody from the plectrum of Jim Beattie, fey vocals in praise of a girl "with vodka in her veins".

Perfection - though not a perfection that even hinted at the dub-dance-jazz-madness that they would eventually unleash with 'Screamadelica'.

Download Primal Scream 'Velocity Girl' (indie pop, mp3) (Mediafire)

Download the full NME C86 compilation over on the Archive:Live+Rare blog

New Music - 65daysofstatic 'Come To Me (featuring Robert Smith of The Cure)' (Monotreme, 2011)

Frenetic, driving post rocking electronica business. Good to have them back.

Great band that blazed a trail for the likes of Three Trapped Tigers.

They deal in a cut-and-shut of post-rock attitude, indie guitars and a sound-mangling electronica sensibility. It's the melodic guitar attack of Explosions In The Sky battered by Three Trapped Tigers with a bit of Pivot or Oval's electronic sound-bending. Plus a bit of Foals-y mayhem.

'Come To Me' is more of the same but it's a fantastic, headrush of sound and energy, using vocal snippets from Robert Smith of The Cure to add yelping shade to the mix.

Very good.

New album - 'We Were Exploding Anyway' - released in November on Monotreme.

Download 65daysofstatic 'Come To Me (featuring Robert Smith of The Cure)' (postrock, indie, electronica mp3) (via Stereogum)

Momus 'The Hairstyle Of The Devil (12" Version)' (Creation Records, 1989)

Outsider artist goes to the disco in the company of New Order and the Pet Shop Boys.

Momus has had a long, distinguished career, veering from Old Testament folk singer to Casio keyboard pervert-diarist to electronische balladeer and beyond.

His run of albums on el and Creation in the late 1980s and early 1990s are great, though I have to confess that I haven't kept up to speed with him more recently.

This minor-key indie disco classic managed to break the proper Top 100 and even received airplay on Steve Wright's afternoon show on Radio 1. That doesn't sound like much of an achievement nowadays but at the time it was almost unheard of. It was possibly one of the first Creation Records to do so.

'The Hairstyle Of The Devil' marries the spoken word observationalism of the Pet Shop Boys with the Chic-filtered dark disco style of New Order's 'The Perfect Kiss'. Momus, naturally, makes it more seedy and desperate than either of those bands could/would, this 12" Version unleashing seven minutes of dank magic and ending with some backwards-masked whispering - "Beelzebub's my master..."

Should've been massive. Maybe Cher Lloyd will cover it one day.

Download Momus 'The Hairstyle Of The Devil (12" Version)' (indie, disco, pop, CRE063T, mp3) (Box.net)

Sebadoh 'Soul And Fire' (Sub Pop/Domino, 1993)

Heartbreaking poignance indie rock style.

Back when it started out - before the Franz Ferdinand, Wild Beasts, Arctic Monkeys et al - Domino was just a cool label licensing singles and the odd album from the US indie rock underground.

Domino introduced us to Pavement, Plush, Gastr Del Sol, Papa M/Aerial M. And they gave the UK indie underworld this Sub Pop single by Sebadoh, the band Lou Barlow formed after being dumped out of Dinosaur Jr.

'Soul And Fire' is an almost tortuously sad slice of heartbreak indie (is that a genre? It is now!). The guitars veer from sweet to gently serrated, the drums mark out a gentle pace and the vocals are resigned. Sad rock.

Download Sebadoh 'Soul And Fire' (indie rock, indie mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Radiohead - Jamie xx and SBTRKT remixes (XL, 2011)

More great remixes from Radiohead's 'TKOL RMX' project.

Following on from yesterday's archive Radiohead post - 'No Surprises' live acoustically from 2007 - today brings us bang up-to-date with some more remixes of tracks from 'The King Of Limbs'.

Jamie xx spins 'Bloom' into a spacious, angelic vignette.

Anstam's remix of 'Separator' is a clattering, dark synthed late night car ride, bordering on dubstep before breaking down into a clattering piece of broken beat-ery in the style of classic Warp like Autechre and Plaid.

SBTRKT's remix of 'Lotus Flower' opens with a twinkly riff before being consumed with slow, simple beats, Thom Yorke's vocals cocooned deep within. It bursts into some propulsive beats, getting a real groove on, conjuring images of Thom Yorke busting some frenetic moves like in that 'Lotus Flower' video.

There's also a live Radiohead DJ set streaming from The Boiler Room "around 8pm UK time" according to the official Radiohead website. Expect the Four Tet/Burial/Thom Yorke tracks to be in the mix.

Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) 'No Surprises (Live)' (2007)

Lovely acoustic and xylophone version of the 'OK Computer' tune.

Delightful, sweet reading of the classic Radiohead tune, recorded live for Friends Of The Earth's 'The Big Ask' gig in 2007.

It's a simpler and more straightforwardly maudlin-lyrics-cute-melody version of Radiohead than the more recent albums which their glitch-and-dissonance and more challenging sound pallettes.

Nice to have a bit of balance.

Download Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood 'No Surprises (Live)' (alternative, Radiohead, mp3) (Mediafire)

Download the whole 'The Big Ask' CD including more Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood plus Guillemots, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Razorlight, Polar Bear and more - over on Archive:Live+Rare

New Music - Dive 'Corvalis' (Captured Tracks, 2011)

Heavily-delayed guitar and sweet melodies in this US indie-pop supergroup (sort of).

Dive is a Brooklyn side project (Beach Fossils, Smith Westerns) due to be released on the pretty reliable Captured Tracks label - Wild Nothing and Blouse have been reported herein previously.

'Corvalis' is the b-side of the upcoming single and it delivers cascades of tumbling, delayed guitar melodies over what sounds like a stand-up JAMC drumbeat and some oozing flute-y synths. 'Sometimes' is more New Order-y with an icy Factory blast underpinning the woozy, multitracked vocals.

Nice.

Download Dive 'Corvalis' (C86, indiepop, shoegaze, mp3) (via Stereogum)

The House Of Love 'Scratched Inside' (Fontana, 1990)

'Shine On' b-side (Fontana version), yearning and edgy with chiming guitars.

Tidy, strung-out b-side from The House Of Love when they were in their pomp, just after leaving Creation Records for the major label dollars.

Download The House Of Love 'Scratched Inside' (indie, alternative mp3)

Dum Dum Girls 'Bedroom Eyes' (Sub Pop, 2011)

Shimmering, smoother version of Shop Assistants-style indie pop.

Clearly in thrall to C86, The Field Mice and indie-pop in general, Dum Dum Girls recently released their second album on Sub Pop.

'Bedroom Eyes' is a taster therefrom and it blasts out of the traps with a buzzpop thrill worthy of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. Nice.

Download Dum Dum Girls 'Bedroom Eyes' (indie pop mp3) (via subpop.com)

Shy Child 'Noise Won't Stop' (Wall Of Sound, 2007)

Intense, unrelenting stream of frenetic noisy electro pop.

Shy Child are/were a duo who knocked-out this irresistible spew of Keith-Moon-as-a-robot drumming, sequenced bass, electronic squiggles, frantic vocals and call-and-response backing vocals.

Download Shy Child 'Noise Won't Stop' (electronic, indie, dance, electroclash mp3) (Mediafire)

MARRS 'Pump Up The Volume (Bonus Beats)' (4AD/4th&Broadway, 1987)

The epitome of indie-dance crossover?

It always surprises people to learn that 'Pump Up The Volume' was released on 4AD - home of Cocteau Twins, Pixies, Throwing Muses, The Wolfgang Press...

However, MARRS was basically two of their acts - Colourbox and AR Kane - coming together into what turned out to be a very successful, but ultimately unhappy, marriage.

To be honest this is more like a remix with the vocal samples removed than just the beats. However, it does strip the track back to the sleek, precision-tooled undercarriage and let's it build, giving the drums and that statuesque bassline the chance to take centre stage.

Download MARRS 'Pump Up The Volume (Bonus Beats)' (indie dance crossover, samples, 4AD mp3) (Mediafire)

Download MARRS 'Anitina (the first time I see she dance)' (indie dance crossover mp3) (Box)

Triosk 'Two; Twelve' (The Leaf Label, 2004)

Intense and organic hybrid of post-rock, jazz and glitchy looping.

Triosk were an Australian jazz trio who blended post-rock grooves and electronic loops and glitches into their mellifluous, flowing pieces. They incorporated the sound of Tortoise's lock-groove wonder with controlled intensity, dynamics and improvisatory nous of The Necks. They evolved into Pivot (later shortened to Pvt) who have released a couple of albums on Warp.

'Two; Twelve' is a teasing, languid jam that grows in intensity across some expansive, jazzy drumming. There some Tortoise-y vibes and some rich, dark brown double bass action. Little touches of glitch and squiggle rough up the smooth edges, making the sound akin to Miles Davis' fusion band somehow jamming with Autechre at the Isle of Wight in 1970. Under sedation.

Magical. Triosk's two albums on The Leaf Label are highly recommended.

Download Triosk 'Two; Twelve' (jazz, post rock, electronica mp3) (Mediafire)

Four Tet & Burial 'Moth' (Text, 2009)

Crafty slice of rhythmelodic electronica with dubstep undertones. Or is it dubstep with rhythmelodic overtones?

From the unmarked Text 12" that was snuck out to a scrum of interest prior to last year's Burial/Four Tet/Thom Yorke 12". I managed to get my hands on a copy thanks only to the benevolence of the Rough Trade West cru.

'Moth' is just a total genius record that's a perfect marriage of Burial's crunchy dubstep bleakbeats and Four Tet's crisp, flowing melodies.

Or is it a sublime confluence of Four Tet's crisp, dubstep loneliness and glitch with Burial's late-night angel vocal melody?

Who cares when a track is this good?

Download Four Tet & Burial 'Moth' (post-dubstep, dubstep, electronica, glitch, mp3) (Mediafire)

Jack Penate 'Tonight's Today (Remixes)' (XL, 2009)

Slice of earnest pop that marries joyous post-punk-funk with soaraway hi-life guitar chimes.

I'd written-off Jack Penate on the back of early, anaemic singles. However, this lead single from his second album back in 2009 confounded my preconceptions with its heavy rhythm, sliding drums, thumb piano and high-fretted guitar lines reminiscent of Foals and Friendly Fires.

Paul Epworth co-wrote and produced it and it's a real triumph, especially spread over the seven-plus minutes of the Extended Version.

Julianna Barwick takes the basic song in a totally different direction, stripping off the beats, bass and guitar to create a hymnal meditation, shot through with a ghostly, translucent dub.

Download Jack Penate 'Tonight's Today (Extended Version)' (post-punk-funk, indie, pop mp3) (Mediafire)

Download Jack Penate 'Tonight's Today (Julianna Barwick Remix)' (experimental, modern classical mp3) (Mediafire)

Luke Haines & The Auteurs 'Unsolved Child Murder (Das Kapital Version)' (Hut, 2003)

Majestic version of classic single by The Auteurs. They should have been massive.

I'm reading Luke Haines' second volume of vitriolic memoir at the moment (Post Everythingavailable at all good bookstores now). He recounts a tale of emerging from a meeting at his label (Virgin/EMI's faux Indie, Hut), where he is effectively told he is being dropped, with a £75,000 budget to record a back catalogue album. One last blag against the major label system resulting in this album of string-drenched versions of his greatest 'hits'.

Haines is a fascinating artist, seemingly hamstrung by his own cussed singularity. Maker of at least two truly great records, he seems both in thrall to the idea of being popular but totally disgusted by it at the same time. Legend has it that The Auteurs' 'New Wave' only narrowly missed out on the Mercury Music Prize.

'Unsolved Child Murder' is a gentle, rolling vignette, sung sensitively against a lazy strum and a wash of strings. Where other songwriters would sneak in dark subject matter under cover of such beautiful music, Haines flags it up with a title like that. A curmudgeon, a true star.

Download Luke Haines & The Auteurs 'Unsolved Child Murder (Das Kapital Version)' (songwriter, indie, ballad mp3) (Mediafire)