Just kicking this off early so I can honour the best indie artist of the last decade
Alex G - Headlights
Continues expanding from his wonky lofi past and heading ever more widescreen and shimmering. Luckily he still sounds as sublime as ever - hoping this will contend for my AOTY
Coral Grief - Air Between Us
Jangly dream pop debut from Seattle band. Singles have been great.
Looks like quite slim pickings on the surface this week, but the big one for me is
Jim Legxacy - black british music (2025)
UK alternative R&B producer follows up 2023’s quite brilliant Homeless N*gga Pop Music with another mixtape - now on XL - which early reviews suggest could be something brilliant. From this morning’s Guardian (*****) and Pitchfork (7.8) reviews, touchstones of Frank Ocean, Jai Paul and Paramore should give a good idea of FFO.
Natalie Bergman - My Home Is Not In This World
60s ish folk pop with psychedelic and gospel overtones, FFO Weyes Blood, Cate Le Bon
Billie Marten - Dog Eared
This is currently top of my pile today. Folky singer-songwriter from North Yorkshire. Feeling is a great track so looking forward to hearing the rest.
Laura Jane Grace - Adventure Club
Fun punk rock full of trans joy, revelling in part-serious, part-silly lyrical flourishes. A blast.
Disiniblud (Rachika Nayar & Nina Keith) - Disiniblud
Intriguing collaboration here between Rachika Nayar and Nina Keith, a mix of glitchy electronica, experimental pop and modern classical. Julianna Barwick among the guests.
Hannah Holland - Last Exit on Bethnal
London artist with a “soundtrack for a fantasy club underworld. Seductive, sleazy, nocturnal guitars bleeding into the relentless throb of 707 drum machines, beautiful evolving arps, and surreal moments of Lynchian dreaminess and surreal-inspired atmospherics”.
Various Artists - Compost Eclectic Selection Vol. 2
Collection of hip-hop, jazz and downtempo electronica from the Munich label, picking out tracks from their back catalogue of releases over the last 30 years. Lots of stuff on here I really like and artists I want to explore more of.
Vines - I’ll be here
Multi-instrumentalist composer, debut album. ‘FFO: Explosions in the Sky, Mazzy Star, Julianna Barwick, Grouper, and Sigur Ros’
Abigail Williams - A Void Within Existence
Album number six from the Washington black metal band
Max DiRado - Rock Bottomless Mimosas
Baroque indie-folk, debut album. Released a couple of days ago, and I liked my first listen of it yesterday.
A.Wild - ReportDeluxe
Debut EP from a Bristol artist, on Studio Barnhus. Intricate tech-house.
Slikback - Attrition
Jumped the gun on this last week, but actually is out today. This is likely to be one of my electronic highlights of the year.
Slikback’s “Attrition” marks his first full-length album for Planet Mu, delivering an immersive melding of cinema and game sound design with tough dance music. It’s like a sci-fi film for the ears, exploring a chain of events with dark atmospheres and dramatic pacing; trapdoors and jump scares for your ears
It’s beautiful this… Phil Weinrobe recording and Sam Evian amongst others playing on the tracks.
This is so cool. 06 Wayne Rooney really made me grin. Whole thing is very ‘state of pop music now’ but he carries it really well. Sounds really natural. Always teetering on cheesy rubbish but never slips. It’s really brave.
When I was looking for people to fill the Frank Ocean Blonde void I found two people, both British; Jim Legxacy on the poppy more accessible but experimental tip and Rainy Miller on the darker end. They’re both very much their own artist but they had that honesty and experimentalism Frank had on Blonde. Jim is probably the best UK pop star for a while. I like Charlie XCX but I dunno she seems more for older people. Jim might connect with young’uns more maybe and that makes it more kinda vital pop for me I dunno why.
I have new EP out today which I guess is a mix of electronic/IDM/neo classical
DJ Haram - Beside Myself
Debut solo album from the New Jersey artist, blending deconstructed club, industrial/noise and Middle Eastern/North African sounds and rhythms, on Hyperdub. Features from Moor Mother and Armand Hammer… and she’s supporting billy woods on his UK tour this year.
Kuniyuki Takahashi - We Are Together
Collection of highlights to date from the Japanese DJ. Lushly deep, late night jazzy house.