Race Horses - Man In My Mind (Fantastic Plastic, 2009)

Wild-eyed glam-inflected Cope-y pop. Great stuff.

I encountered Race Horses in the midst of a bill of otherwise noisy noisemongers at Corsica Studios last year. They swapped instruments like Proggers but played like their lives depended on it, careering through a stream of songs as melodic but idiosyncratic as this one.

'Man In My Mind' is a whirlwind of cooing backing vocals, xylophone, heavy drums, strident vocals, rumbustuous guitars and driving bass. It opens like the Clangers are trying to make contact with a Sky satellite using a Moog but soon hits its stride.

There's a great tension in the band between melody and song and the desire to push the sonic biscuit. It results in a delightfully busy and imaginative stream of consciousness pop moment.

Download Race Horses 'Man In My Mind' (indie mp3 download) (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)

Goldie vs SBTRKT 'Inner City Life' (Bootleg, 2009)

Soulful, post-dubstep type re-rub of Goldie's drum'n'bass classic.

I'm a bit behind on my homework - this little gem was snuck out in 2009 before SBTRKT hit the post-dubstep news.

This is a lovely, rolling re-edit that respects its forebears while bringing the beats up-to-date, playing off dark drum and bass against SBTRKT's brighter flavours. It then drops out the vocal and moves into a passage of SBTRKT niceness with some twisty synth action. The vocals and shifting synth strings of the original are brought back and it develops into a fusion of the spirits of the old and new.

Very nice indeed.

Download Goldie vs SBTRKT 'Inner City Life' (post-dubstep, drum'n'bass, remix, mp3) (Mediafire)

Neil Young 'Hey Hey My My (Cousin Cole's Into The Blue Remix)' (2009)

Neil Young's junky's lament given chunky dancefloor chassis.

It is, of course, something of a moot point as to whether Neil Young would appreciate 'Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)' being mashed-up for the dancefloor. However, with a four-to-the-floor beat and double-bass added this remix works a treat creating intensity and urgency whilst oddly retaining the harmonica solo.

Download Neil Young 'Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)(Cousin Cole's Into The Blue Remix)' (mash up, folk rock, mp3) (Mediafire)

Green Man 2011: The Leisure Society 'Cars (Gary Numan Cover)' (Wilkommen, 2009)

Who knew!? Clipped, chamber pop take on Gary Numan's finest moment works a treat.

The Leisure Society aren't headlining Saturday at The Green Man but I've posted plenty of Fleet Foxes already this year.

So Saturday at The Green Man is represented by this quirky and gorgeous cover of Gary Numan's 'Cars' from The Leisure Society.

I doubt they'll play this tonight - they haven't the last couple of times I've seen them - but I'm looking forward to hearing most of the new album 'Into The Murky Water' which is one of the albums I've listened to most this year so far. They sounded great live at Hop Farm back in July too.

Download The Leisure Society 'Cars (Gary Numan Cover)' (Folk pop mp3) (Mediafire)

Green Man 2011: Noah & The Whale 'Instrumental III' (Mercury, 2009)

Lush, summery instrumental business.

An outtake from the sessions for 'The First Days Of Spring', 'Instrumental III' is a Bert Jansch-y, sprightly thing that doesn't fit with the generally heavy mood of that break-up album.

Looking forward to see them at the Green Man Festival this weekend. I presume they aren't on the same day as Laura Marling...

Indeed, seeing them at Green Man in 2009, just as the album was being released, was a fairly harrowing experience. It was certainly a shock for any festival-goers expecting the breezy folk-pop of 'Five Years Time'. Instead, they dropped a dirgey, drang and mope over the Brecon countryside, sounding more akin to The Wedding Present's masterful 'Seamonsters' album.

I think singer Charlie Fink is over it now so it should be the light and bracing Tom Petty/John Cougar Mellencamp-isms of the new album on Saturday.

Download Noah and the Whale 'Instrumental III' (folk mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Grizzly Bear 'Two Weeks (Spinner Live Session)' (2009)

Grizzly Bear's 'Veckatimest' is one of the key indie/alternative albums to cross-over in recent years (especially in the USA). It's a stunning confluence of melody, structure and harmony, a collection of songs that is well-represented by the piano-led 'Two Weeks'.

Four-part harmonies, sturdy bass and drums that work around everything else rather than dominating all coalesce to create a breezy hit of sunshine chamber pop. The breakdown to accapella three minutes in is particularly spectacular and Ed Droste's keening vocal is gorgeous throughout.

Download Grizzly Bear 'Two Weeks (Spinner Live Session)' (mp3) (Rapidshare)

Watch the whole session over on Spinner.