The 14 best tracks I’ve heard in the last two weeks. Indie rock, electronic pop, dream pop and a few psychedelic influences.

Outfit ‘I Want What’s Best’
East-London via Liverpool band with psych-tinged, groove-based electronic pop. ThinkHalfway between Django Django and Hot Chip.
[Outfit]

Surf City ‘It’s A Common Life’
Scratchy, catchy garage rock from Brooklyn-based Kiwi expats (formerly called Kill Surf City).
[Surf City]

Hooded Fang ‘Bye Bye Land’
Toronto band with slightly psychedelic slacker indie rock.
[Hooded Fang]

Rose Windows ‘Wartime Lovers’
Second track lifted from the forthcoming debut album from these Seattle-based 60s influenced rockers. The more psych heavy ‘Native Dreams’ was featured last month on ITP #32.
[Rose Windows]

Big Deal ‘Dream Machines’
Girl/Boy dream pop from UK/US duo about to release their second album June Gloom.
[Big Deal]

Andrew Cedermark ‘At Home’
Fuzzy lo-fi indie rock from former Titus Andronicus guitarist.
[Andrew Cedemark]

Chvrches ‘Gun’
Scottish Electropop.
[Chvrches]

Elliphant ‘Music Is Life’
Funky Swedish pop with Jamaican influences from Ellinor Olovsdotter.[Elliphant]

Braids ‘In Kind’
I’ve not been blown away by Braids in the past, preferring Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s other band Blue Hawaii. But this is six and a hlaf minutes of quirky angular art-rock is superb, a real grower.
[Braids]

TV Colours ‘Beverly’
Fuzzy, shouty indie rock from Canberra musician Bobby Kill. From his imminently due debut album Purple Skies, Toxic River.
[TV Colours]

Smith Westerns ‘3am Spiritual’

[Smith Westerns]

Glass Candy ‘Warm in The Winter’
One of many Johnny Jewel projects (this one with Ida No) from the Jewel produced Italians Do It  Better compilation After Dark II. Chromatics ‘Cherry’ (from the same compilation) was featured at the end of last year back in ITP #23).
[Glass Candy]

Susanna ft. Siri Nilsen and Susanne Sundfør ‘Death Hanging’
Susanna is Norwegian musician Susanna Wallumrød of Susanna and the Magical Orchestra fame. Here she enrolls the help of fellow Norwegians – folk singer Nilsen and M83 collaborator Sundfør (ITP #30).
[Susanna]

Pure Bathing Culture ‘Pendulum’
The delightfully blissed out island dream pop of ‘Gainsville’ (ITP #17 ) was one of the highlights of 2012. Here the duo of Sarah Verspille and Daniel Hindman (both members of Andy Cabic’s Vetiver) deliver…
[Pure Bathing Culture]

[Takeaway]

The 16 best songs from the last two weeks with an indie rock / indiepop bias. Album highlights from The National, Vampire Weekend, Beaches, Songs, and Underground Lovers plus new tracks from Laura Marling, The Pastels, Imperial Teen, Dodos, Sigur Rόs, a new Katy Goodman track and mysterious dreampop outfit Badlands. A fare few Krautrock influences this time round.

Imperial Teen ‘Runaway’
Bright catchy powerpop from Roddy Bottum and co.
[Imperial Teen]

Queens of The Stone Age ‘I Appear Missing’
Several tracks from QOTSA’s forthcoming …Like Clockwork album have surfaced (along with accompanying animated videos) but this is easily my favourite, recalling the trippier moments of Rated R and living up to the “codeine cabaret” tag that the band mentioned in connection with their new stuff.
[Queens of The Stone Age]

Vampire Weekend ‘Unbelievers’
A contender for album of the year, Modern Vampires of The City manages the neat trick of being stylistically diverse yet cohesive; a big leap forward while still obviously the work of the same band who made their brilliant debut (and its somewhat disappointing follow up, Contra).
[Vampire Weekend]

Dodos ‘Confidence’
Freak folk band follow up their wonderful No Color album with first single from the forthcoming Carrier.
[Dodos]

Songs ‘The Country’
Fuzzed up melodius indiepop with a healthy dose of 80s Flying Nun from the Sydney bands second album Malabar.
[Songs]

Underground Lovers ‘Au Pair’
Krautrocking track from Weekend, the new album from the re-united and reinvigorated 90s Melbourne dreampop band.
[Underground Lovers]

Hospital Ships ‘If It Speaks’
Indie rock from Lawrence, Kansas.
[Hospital Ships]

Books Of Love ‘Space Time’
Katy Goodman of Vivian Girls / La Sera teams up with Greta Morgan of The Hush Sound for a cosmic indiepop inspired by hiking out near LA’s Griffiths Observatory.
[Books of Love]

Beaches ‘Send Them Away’
What started as a side-project looks likely to surpass all five members’ other bands. Three-guitars, motorik rhythms, fuzzy psych-rock with hints of a shambling indiepop sensibility. Taken from She Beats, which features Krautrock legend and fan Michael Rother.
[Beaches]

English Singles ‘Ordinary Girls’
Very English sounding indiepop from Sacramento fourpiece signed to Slumberland.
[English Singles]

The Pastels ‘Illuminum Songs’
As the Scottish indiepop veterans prepare to release their first new album since The Last Great Wilderness soundtrack 10 years ago, here’s a new non-album track, the b-side to recent single ‘Check My Heart’ (featured on #ITP 31). It’s a half-cover of a song cowritten by the band’s Katrina Mitchell and Japanese popstar Hideki Kaji.
[The Pastels]

Laura Marling ‘Once’
Second single to surface from the still-only-23-years-old English folkie’s forthcoming fourth album Once I Was An Eagle.
[Laura Marling]

Sigur Rόs ‘Isjaki’
Second single (which I believe translates as “Iceberg” ) to be taken from the forthcoming seventh album Kveikur.
[Sigur Rόs]

The National ‘Pink Rabbits’
Highlight of one of the album’s of the year, Trouble Will Find Me.
[The National]

Badlands ‘Sleeping Beauty’

Dreampop with a 60s girl group feel. Little is known of this mystery duo
[Badlands]

Camera Obscura ‘Fifth In Line To the Throne’
The Scottish indiepoppers have a new album Desire Lines due out next month. This is the second track to appear and is much prefer it to slightly underwhelming ‘Do It Again’.
return with
[Camera Obscura]

[Takeaway]

The 13 best songs I’ve heard in the last two weeks. You’ll hear indie rock, electronic pop, psych pop and psych rock, and conceptual art-punk. You might spot the influence of David Bowie, Robert Fripp, Kurt Vile, Nuggets, and Krautrock amongst others. Hope you find plenty here to enjoy.

Chester Endersby Gwazda ‘Skewed’
Baroque indie-synth-pop from Baltimore, download the album from Bandcamp for free.
[Chester Endersby Gwazda]

Rose Windows ‘Native Dreams’
Psych rock heaviosity from this Seattle band signed to Sub Pop. If you’re a Black Mountain fan, you should love this.
[Rose Windows]

Classixx featuring Nancy Whang ‘All You’re Waiting For’
After February’s ‘Holding On’ (ITP #27), Classixx enlist label mate Nancy Whang (LCD Soundsystem / Juan McLean) for another slice of electronic dancefloor pop / garage disco.
[Classixx]

Speedy Ortiz ‘Hexxy’
Hot on the heels of last month’s ‘Ka-Prow!’ (ITP #31) here’s the b-side. It’s another superior slice of 90s-influenced female fronted indie rock from the Northampton, MA band.
[Speedy Ortiz]

Girls Against Boys ‘It’s A Diamond Life’
One of my favourite bands of the 90s returns after a near decade long hiatus. Very happy to tell you that their twin-bass-electronic-noise-rock is sounding as vital as it did during their trio of classic albums on Touch and Go from 93-96.
[Girls Against Boys]

MGMT ‘Alien Days’
Taken from the psych pop band’s Record Store Day release, this is their first new material since Congratulations (2010).
[MGMT]

Ed Shcrader’s Music Beat ‘Radio Eyes’
Conceptual punk from Baltimore. Their Randy Randall featuring ‘When I’m In A Car’ was featured back in ITP #7.
[Ed Shcrader’s Music Beat]

Sophia Knapp ‘Times Square’
Released as one side of a split 7” with Swedish psych rockers AOP, this track from the former Lights member is in a similar vein to Denver’s Tennis – 80s sheen on a 60s theme indiepop.
[Sophia Knapp]

His Clancyness ‘ Machines’
It’s good to hear Kurt Vile’s take on slacker indie emerging as something of a trend with artists such as Free Time and His Clancyness, Here, it nods to 70s Berlin with a motorik rhythm and some Fripp-like guitar. Very nice.
[His Clancyness]

The Hussy ‘Blame’
Garage rock from “two piece trash band from Madison, WI”. Taken from their forthcoming third album Pagan Hiss.
[The Hussy]

Twin Peaks ‘Stand In The Sand’
Chicago band with two minutes of fuzzy rock and roll. Sweet.
[Twin Peaks]

Pure X ‘Thousand Year Old Child’
Laidback indie rock with shoegazing undertones (their official Tumblr is called Mellow Thrasher)http://mellowthrasher.tumblr.com/. From their forthcoming Crawling Up The Stairs album.
[Pure X]

Eluvium featuring Ira Kaplan ‘Happiness’
Experimental and ambient musician Robert Cooper enlists the vocal talents of Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan on this tune that recalls the most atmospheric moments of Lambchop and The National.
[Eluvium]

[Takeaway]