I listened to a lot of very average music over the past two weeks. For a moment there, this was looking like a really short cloudcast. There is no fixed length to these, I’m aiming to put one together every two weeks and only the very best tracks will make it whether that’s two tunes or 20. I end up having to listen to a lot of crap, but hopefully this means you don’t have to.

Black Mountain ‘Mary Lou’
Psychedelic / space /stoner rock often lacks tunes, grooves or both, but Vancouver’s Black Mountain get the mix of repetitive riffing and songwriting just right. After two superb albums 9their eponymous debut (2005) and ’In The Future’ (2008) I was a little underwhelmed by 2010’s ‘In The Wildreness’  (despite its awesome sky-shark sleeve). Good, then, to hear this near-eight-minute monster from their forthcoming soundtrack to Year Zero, a surfing movie. It’s like Morning of The Earth or Five Summer Stories for the 21st Century. [Black Mountain]

The Temper Trap ‘Rabbit Hole’
My wife is fond of Temper Trap as they remind her of the New Radicals, specifically the song ‘Fader’. When their debut came out there seemed to be a bit of disappointment that they were copping a little bit too much of the stadium friendly dynamic from Coldplay rather than Radiohead. Clearly, this is a band with ambitions, but they’ve already proved themselves better songwriters than Chris Martin and co. (although the jury is still out on the lyrics). What I like most about ‘Rabbit Hole’ is the way that, exactly half way through, the guitars power up and change the song from a slightly maudlin little semi-acoustic number into a full on rock out. Also, a lesser band would have stretched this out to a five minute song, whereas the decision to bring it to a dead stop at 3m17s makes it all the more powerful. [The Temper Trap]

Beach House ‘Myth’
From Baltimore, this is the first track to be released from their forthcoming fourth album ‘Bloom’. Its swooning dream pop built around guitar, keyboards and Victoria Legrand’s husky, mellifluous vocals. It doesn’t sound like they’ve strayed very far from the elements that made their last album, 2010’s ‘Teen Dream’ such a captivating experience. [Beach House]

The Dandy Warhols ‘Well They’re Gone’
Although they haven’t always held my interest across a whole album, the Dandy Warhols often throw up interesting little moments and occasional pop gems. I’m always ready to hear what they do next. This downbeat number, driven along by a ghostly swirl of quiet noise, some gentle percussion and what sounds like a melodica is a million miles away from the brash pop of ‘Bohemian Like You’ or the garage rock of ‘Smoke It’. [Dandy Warhols]

Brendan Benson ‘Bad For Me’
Epic piano ballad power pop from the singer songwriter and member of The Raconteurs / The Saboteurs. Lush and full, like Benson’s last album it carries the influence of Paul McCartney, ELO and Bowie as well as the likes of Jellyfish, Redd Kross and Jason Faulkner. [Brendan Benson]

Free Energy ‘Electric Fever’
Free Energy cop the best bits of 70s glam, power pop and classic rock and filter it through a 90s indie slacker prism. You can hear the influence of T-Rex, The Cars, Thin Lizzy and Pavement throughout their James Murphy produced debut, ‘Stuck On Nothing’ (2010). If that wasn’t enough to set them apart from their contemporaries, they also write brilliant, catchy tunes. This is the first taste of their forthcoming second album ‘Love Sign’, recorded with John Agnello (clearly the right man for the job as he’s worked on Redd Kross’s ‘Phaseshifter’, Dinosaur Jr’s ‘Farm’ and Cyndi Lauper’s ‘She’s So Unusual’ among many many others). [Free Energy]

Spiritualized ‘Hey Jane’
Upbeat and uplifting two-parter from Jason Pierce and co.  that serves as a quasi-title track for their forthcoming ‘Sweet Heart Sweet Light’ album. You can hear, Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Lou Reed in the first half, but it’s the glam stomp of David Bowie’s ‘The Jean Genie’ that really seeps through, while the second half is like gospel-tinged, double speed Krautrock. A monster 9 minutes that never seems too long. [Spiritualized]

Alpine ‘Hands’
I caught this Melbourne band live a year or so ago and while I thought they were interesting, I must admit I didn’t really hear the potential that this track has so clearly delivered on. A clubby, catchy hand clapping, little number that gets stuck in your head and seems incredibly assured for a relatively young bad. This came out here in Australia back in November, but has started to create interest in the UK (featured in The Guardian) and US (Pitchfork and The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne have mentioned them favourably). Their debut album is due out on Ivy League soon. [Alpine]

Apparat ‘Candil De La Calle (Apparat Dub)’
Apparat’s ‘The Devil’s Walk’ was one of my favourite albums of 2011. The original version of this song is one of that record’s standout tracks, featuring a wonderful yearning vocal. This dub version (mixed by the man himself) tones down the wistfulness and amplifies the spaced out clubbiness, turning it into a very different feeling tune without straying too far from the original. Clever. You can hear the original in they best of 2011 cloudcast here. [Apparat]

Bear In Heaven ‘Sinful Nature’
Reviews of this Brooklyn band, about to release their fourth album, are generally positive but always struggle to pin down what they actually sound like. On sinful nature you can hear prog, Krautrock, 80s stadium rock and electronica. If Simple Minds were writing ‘Up On The Catwalk’ today instead of 26 years ago, it wouldn’t sound a million miles away from this. [Bear In Heaven]

Neon Indian ‘Hex Girlfriend (Twin Shadow Remix)’
Mexico born, Texan raised Neon Indian (aka Alan Palomo) recorded his second album Era Extraña in Helsinki. He jumps around musically as well as geographically but touches mainly on 80s reference points (OMD, MBV) and similar territory to his contemporaries with a taste for that decade (Ariel Pink, M83). This standout track from the album gets a remix from fellow traveller Twin Shadow. The original’s mid-80s electro-pop charm is stripped away and what is left gives it an almost industrial backing, while the  wordless chorus is preserved as the main hook. [Neon Indian]

s/s/s ‘Museum Day’
A collaboration between musical polymath Sufjan Stevens, electronic composer Son Lux (aka Ryan Lott) and Chicago hip hop artist Serengeti (aka David Cohn). Not a million miles away from Sufjan’s All Delighted People / Age of Adz material, here he again favours Auto-Tune for his vocals, while Serengetti raps and Son Lux sings using a Pitch-Shifter. The backing track features among other things “piano, bowed glass, mod’ed boy-choir mellotron with the portamento engaged, strings, chopped noise, drum kit, bass, and i think some other things.” This is the first track released from what at the moment appears to be a one off EP ‘Beak & Claw’ outMarch 20 on Anticon. [s/s/s]

Georgia Anne Muldrow ‘Husfriend’
My tastes in both r n b and hip hop tend towards the vintage, so this Madlib produced track is right up my street, sounding very much like it could have been recorded 20+ years ago. Muldrow’s voice is rich and soulful and the beat will be familiar to Madlib fans as the same one from Strong Arm Steady’s ‘Follow Me’. [Georgia Anne Muldrow]

Luke Roberts ‘His Song’
Country-folk singer-songwriter Luke Roberts was based in Brooklyn when he wrote and recorded his debut album, last year’s ‘Big Bells and Dime Songs’. While the songs for his follow up (again on Thrill Jockey) were written in his old apartment, he’s since moved back to his hometown of Nashville where he recorded them with the help of some sympathetic musicians . Emily Sunblad’s backing vocals here bring some sweetness and light to an otherwise intense track and there’s a great laidback guitar solo that should appeal to Neil Young fans. [Luke Roberts]

AU ‘Get Alive’
Portland based Luke Wyland has been recording as AU since 2005. Somewhere between freak-folk and art pop, ‘Get Alive’ sits comfortably, but not complacently in the bit of the Venn diagram where Beirut and the Dodos overlap. [AU]

Part two of the best tunes of late February (listen to part one here). This features big hitters from Santigold, The Shins, and The Magnetic Fields plus my favourite track from the new Tennis album, the return of M. Ward and The Mynabirds plus tracks from Stockholm, Copenhagen, Brighton and Olympia, WA. Mainly indie with a handful of electronica at the end, including a Depeche Mode remix that’s a couple of years old, but somehow found its way into my music folder last week…

Santigold ‘Disparate Youth’
This is the best track I’ve heard so far this year. A bunch of producers and collaborators have worked on the new album but I reckon this has the fingerprints of David Sitek on it (presumably the title is a pun on TV On The Radio’s ‘Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes’).
http://www.santigold.com/

The Shins ‘Simple Song’
Has it really been five years since the last Shins album? Considering it’s called Simple Song, this actually has some fiddly prog bits on it and a proper pop vocal performance from James Mercer.
http://mercerhouse.theshins.com/

The Magnetic Fields ‘Andrew In Drag’
I was immune to the appeal of Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields for quite a while, until I heard ‘Strange Powers’ over the credits of an episode of Bored To Death. This is up there with that song, wonderfully played and arranged, great lyrics and all comes in at 2 minutes 13 seconds.
http://www.thehouseoftomorrow.com

Tennis ‘Petition’
Last year’s debut album ‘Cape Dory’ was a real grower. ‘Young & Old’, the second album from the husband and wife team is much more instant, chock full of surf and 60s girl group sounds like this bright pop soul number.
http://www.tennis-music.com/

La Sera ‘Break My Heart’

Katy Goodman-from-The-Vivian-Girls’s other band. Sixties influenced indiepop.http://www.myspace.com/iamkatygoodman

The Mynabirds ‘Generals’
A departure from the debut Mynabirds album, which was wonderful but couched in much more classic 60s production techniques. This is a glam gospel stomper with handclaps. Reminds me a little of Danielle Dax circa Big Hollow Man. Free download over on the website.
http://themynabirds.com/

M. Ward Primitive Girl
Indie troubadour Matt Ward takes a break from She & Him to record a new solo album. This reminds me a little of Ed Harcourt. Must be that insistent piano riff.
http://mwardmusic.com/

Simian Ghost ‘Wolf Girl’
Swedish pop with classic influences, sounds like a featherlight version of Phoenix.
http://simianghost.com

The Kills ‘Pale Blue Eyes’
I love The Kills. This surfaced in the middle of last year when they recorded it for Levi’s Pioneers Sessions, but it’s now getting a physical release so I thought it was worth revisiting. Covering an iconic Velvet Underground song is always a risk, but they’ve pulled it off with aplomb, bringing heir own highly stylized sound to it while retaining al the delicate charm of the original.
http://www.thekills.tv/

Dot ‘Simple Simon’
Glitch-y instrumental from 20 year old 20-year-old classical composer, pianist and opera singer-turned-producer Kate Ellwanger.
http://soundcloud.com/iamdot

Tourist ‘Jupiter’
Second appearance this year from Brighton’s Will Phillips who previously recorded as Little Loud but is now going under the name Tourist. This, like the previous track, is taken from his Placid Acid EP.

WhoMadeWho ‘Below The Cherry Moon’
Former Danish dance-punks continue their evolution into purveyors of “melancholy minimal techno-pop”. Like a moodier Hot Chip.
http://www.whomadewho.dk/

Depeche Mode ‘Fragile Tension (Kris Menace Universe Remix)’

Not quite sure how this one creeped into my music folder, think this first surfaced in 2009 and was on the Depeche Mode remix album last year. Too good to leave off.
http://www.depechemode.com/
http://www.krismenace.com/

So much great new music in the last two weeks I’ve split the cloudcast in two. Part one starts off very indie. Shoegaze, dreampop indie pop, new wave and retro-rock in the middle before ending on a quiet(ish) note. You might hear influences or be reminded of the following artists: My Bloody Valentine, Mazzy Star, The Lemonheads, New Order, Joy Division, Neil Young, Animal Collective and They Might Be Giants.

Whirr ‘Junebouvier’
Like My Bloody Valentine meets Sonic Youth. Shoegazing side project of the metal band Deafheaven. This actually came out on 7” back in September but passed me by. It’ll feature on the album ‘Pipe Dreams’ due out in March. [Whirr Tumblr]

Veronica Falls ‘My Heart Beats’
Lovely shuffling indiepop from London. This is their first new material since last year’s eponymous debut album. 7” single due in April. [Veronica Falls]

Beach Fossils ‘Lessons’
Indie rock from NYC, this hovers on the edge of Dream Pop and is the other side of the ‘Shallow’ 7” featured in the last cloudcast. Simple and a real grower. [Beach Fossils]

Hospitality ‘Eight Avenue’
Another artist featured in the last cloudcast, I make no apologies as the Hospitality album is my favourite album of the year so far. Just a bunch of really good, timeless indie pop songs. [Hospitality]

Frankie Rose ‘Interstellar’
A couple of Frankie Rose songs (‘Night Swim’ and ‘Know Me’) have missed out on previous cloudcasts as they just didn’t meet the bar set by similar tracks. This one, though, is a cut above. Almost like it was made by a different artist, this is the title track of her new album and ditches the pleasant indiepop stylings for something a bit more ambitious. [Frankie Rose]

Dana Buoy ‘Call To Be’
Sounds like They Might Be Giants meets Animal Collective. From his forthcoming debut album ‘Summer Bodies’. You can get this track as a free download in return for a Facebook ‘like’. [Dana Buoy]

Cloud Nothings ‘Fall In’
Taken from the Ohio indie rockers Albini produced third album ‘Attack on Memory’. Although the whole record is brilliant, I was torn between this track and ‘Stay Useless’. ‘Fall In’ won out because it reminded me of Ben Deilly-era Lemonheads. [Cloud Nothings]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Nothings

Holograms ‘ABC City’
Swedish 21st Century new wave / punk. Love that retro keyboard sound. This from their debut 7”, out April 3 on Captured Tracks. [Holograms]

Horrid Red ‘Nothing In My Heart’
From Swedish new wave to German post-punk, clearly indebted to Joy Division and New Order. [Horrid Red]

Gap Dream ‘Scary Dennis’
Hypnotic 60s-indebted psych-pop from one Gabe Fulvimar out of Cleveland, Ohio. Taken from the eponymous debut album which features a cover of The Squires ‘Go Ahead’. [Gap Dream]

Chromatics ‘Into The Black’
Portland band. This is actually a cover of Neil Young’s My My, Hey Hey (Out of The Blue), rather than Hey Hey My My (Into the Black). But let’s not quibble. From their first album in five years, ‘Kill For Love’ (Italians Do It Better). [Chromatics]

Sharon Van Etten ‘Give Out’
Although there have been some brilliant tracks out this year, it’s only the last few weeks that have seen a handful of high quality albums released. SVE’s ‘Tramp’ (produced by Aaron Dessner of The National) is one such album. This has a wonderful lazy, hazy feel to it with guitars and percussion that recall Mazzy Star, but where Hope Sandoval’s delivery is spaced out, Van Etten brings an urgency that sounds positively wired. [Sharon Van Etten]

The Krautrock influences present in the last cloudcast have all but disappeared (except perhaps on Mansions on The Moon’s stadium houes track ‘Athens’) and indie in it’s variety of stripes has come to the front, the Hospitality, Bowerbirds and Wild Nothing tracks are early contenders for my year end list already There’s a handful of superior electronic tracks, kicking off with another interesting Roxy Music remix before the mix ends with a couple of downbeat numbers.

Bowerbirds ‘In The Yard’
I am utterly charmed by this hymn to hard-won idyllic, bucolic domestic bliss. [Bowerbirds]
[good interview with background on Bowerbirds]

Hospitality ‘Betty Wang’
Wistful indie-pop. This track first came out 3 years ago but has been re-recorded for their debut album. [Hospitality]

Beach Fossils ‘Shallow’
Like the poppy-end of ‘Sister’ / ‘Daydream Nation’ era Sonic Youth. [Beach Fossils]

Wild Nothing ‘Nowhere’
Sounds like the Go-Betweens with a bit of early Primal Scream thrown in on the chorus.

Ben Kweller ‘Mean To Me’
A return to his melodic indie-rock roots after his last country influenced album. [Ben Kweller]

Father John Misty ‘Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings’
Former Fleet Foxes drummer and prolific solo artist J (Josh) Tilman adopts a new moniker and turns up the rock. [Father John Misty]

Jack White ‘Love Interruption’
Softer than what he usually delivers, but still obviously the work of the man who bought us the White Stripes, The Raconteurs and Dead Weather. [Jack White]

White Fence ‘It Will Never Be’
Gently shambling, garage / psychedelia form Darker My Love’s Tim Presley [White Fence]

Royal Baths ‘Faster, Harder’
San Francisco psych rockers move to New York and soak up the spirit of the Velvet Underground and The Cramps. [Royal Baths]

Shimmering Stars
From Vancouver, the noisier end of shoegazing meets the Everly Brothers, but better than that sounds. [Shimmering Stars]

Gonjasufi ‘Nikels and Dimes’ Gonjasufi’s ‘A Sufi and a Killer’ album was the last record I bought after hearing it playing in a record store. This is from his latest mini-album ‘M.U.Z.Z.L.E’. Layered, dusty trip-hop that draws you in with it’s spooky, vaguely mystic charms. [Gonjasufi]

Phèdre ‘In Decay’
Hypnagogic pop from “Monte Carlo, Monaco” (i.e really from Canada). [Phèdre]

Roxy Music ‘Avalon’ Lindstrom & Prins Thomas
I’m loving all these Roxy Music remixes that are getting released, although unlike the Todd Terje remix from the last cloudcast, this one has actually been knocking around for quite a few months. [Roxy Music]

John Talabot (featuring Pional) ‘Destiny’
Electronic Music evangelist Philip Sherburne says “Talabot has become an exemplar of a new breed of producers working at the intersection of deep house, disco, and indie pop”. I say, “Yup!”
[John Talabot]

Matthew Dear feat. Johnny Pierce ‘In The Middle’
Better known as a producer of micro house and techno, this is more chillwave meets hip hop with The Drums Johnny Pierce on vocals. [Matthew Dear]

Mansions on the Moon ‘Athens’
I read this on YouTube “Pharrell Williams-produced…harmonic shoegaze pop swirled around a blanket of space pops, fuzz synths and…the unmistakable smack of live drumkits and guitars”. [Mansions on the Moon]

Blondes ‘Wine’
Atmospheric and hypnotic hipster house. [Blondes]

Daniel Rossen ‘Saint Nothing’
Grizzly Bear and Department of Eagles man with distinctive vocal style releases sad sounding song with piano, muted horns and strings. A real grower. [Daniel Rossen]

Mirel Wagner ‘No Death’
Finland-via-Ethopia singer/songwriter / gloom-chanteuse [Mirel Wagner]