I won’t lie, Fleet Foxes bore me at times. I appreciate the quality within and undoubted quality, but they do just bore me at times. The drummer, Josh Tillman, does not however. Here he is with his solo project thing he calls Father John Misty. The video to the pretty damn excellent ‘Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings’ goes even more exciting. It features Aubrey Plaza. For those that don’t watch Parks & Recreation (you fools), she plays one of the top three characters in the show. The other two are Ron Swanson (obviously) and Jean-Ralphio since you ask. Anyway, she’s in the video and this is obviously a good thing. Father John is also giving the track away as a free download. You can get it off the fancy new html5 soundcloud wotsit below.

this is the cast of cheers. that’s right, it is norm, ted danson and the fella that does the voice of the pig in toy story. brilliant. i imagine that is the first time that joke has ever been made. i’m the louis ck of the music blog world. anyway, if you’ve quite recovered from that hilarity, enjoy two minutes and twenty seconds of involuntary head jolting via their new video. and if you like that you’ll love the remix, which you can download below.

about three years ago a dj sent me a remix he did. i fell in love with it and i’d guess it is probably my most listened to remix (closely followed by the teenagers’ reworking of ‘the illness’ by good books since you ask). anyway, i was updating my linkedin profile the other day and up popped joel jaggar. the very man responsible for that remix. this reconnection resulted in joel sending me over some more recent work. he now goes under the de luxe moniker and you should keep an eye on his soundcloud if he’s going to be making music again.

start with the work he did for twin sister’s remix competition for ‘kimmi in a rice field’ last year. if you ask me it is a travesty that he didn’t win. the calming influence that he brings to an already beautiful track is wonderful stuff.

why not treat yourself to the track that first sparked my interest in him too – bloc party’s ‘ion square’, or ‘joel’s bright lights don’t bore me yet version’ as he like to call it.

if i was in a band in the south west of england i would be clambering all over the place to get art is hard records to release my music. hell, i would if i was in tasmania. they put so much time and thought into it that even if the music was rubbish you’d sit up and take notice. luckily, the music is always of an equally high standard to the packaging. ‘gorgeous bully’ is possibly my favourite output yet though. as you probably know, i like my music lo-fi and the young obese is certainly that. david from the label describes how “each minuscule of fuzz does nothing but add to the warmness of the recordings” and he’s spot on. this is super stuff.

this time around the cassette (you get the digital download as well of course) is presented in a fag packet. it looks classy to be honest. get yourself a taster in the shape of ‘never cry’ below and then head here to bandcamp and order the full ep.

get people have released the dreamy ‘macaw’ as a free download as a prelude to next year’s third ep. it’s all about leaving summer behind and moving to venus and mars. as i look out out of the window at the frosty morning, i can only wish it was that easy. grab the track below and join in the dream.

it was in the days before this blog moved over here that i was properly obsessed with lissy trullie. i saw her first uk gig at the ica (actually it may have been her second because it was postponed and i think she ended up playing in leeds first. if i remember correctly, her drummer got ill or something. but i digress). i listened to the self taught learner ep a lot. an awful lot. i watched her perform ‘just a friend’ with adam green non stop on youtube. then nothing. she went quiet. it prompted me to write this post.

it has taken her over nine months to respond, but she has. and in the best possible way. a free download and news that her debut full length will land in february. i’ve marked it in my calendar under the entry “album of the year released today” already. the free download is of a track called ‘madeleine’. her recognisable rough voice breezes along to the slow guitar. i can hear toes tapping all over east london as i type. it’s fucking good.

barbie dolls giving handjobs. gareth putting a plastic bag over his head. blood. those los campesinos! scamps are not the perfect role models. ‘by your hand’ is classic los campesinos! though. they’re doing what they do best. gareth singing about broken hearts and love and what have you. if you don’t want to see the video because you’re worried that it will corrupt your little mind, fear not for the band are also offering it as a free download. they’re nice like that.

it’s all a precursor to the recently announced new album, hello sadness. the band are offering it out to fans first as well which is nice. you can order it right here. being a heat rash member i get it for a fiver off. add to the music and fanzine i’ve already been sent and heat rash membership is proving very worthwhile. on that though, is any of the band happen across this article, please let me know what i need to do to change my address. i can’t find anything on the website and i’ve moved since i joined. please help. please.

one last thing. sockformation’s favourite member, the wonderful harriet, has left the band. it was announced at the end of august that she was going back to study. i imagine that she made the decision after featuring in our very own “currently.in.love.with” earlier this year. you can’t really get a higher accolade than that.

i’m finally back online. at fucking last. it’s been two weeks without no access to the internet online because somebody had stolen my phone line. the utter shits. to apologise for the serious lack of posts (or to apologise for me starting again and boring you – which ever way you wish to take it) i have loads of free music for you though. they are all represented by the brilliant planetary group. they’re an online pr company and dany who used to write exitfare works there. exitfare was one of the blogs i used to read that made me want to start sockformation. blame dany then.

first up we have ‘capsize’ by big black delta. if i could remember who the voice sounds like i’d be a lot happier, but it’s damn good. damn good indeed.

coming from the sort of dreamy electronic side of things is echorev. my writing (*laugh*) head seems to have left me during the break so yet again i’m not really sure how to put a better description to you. i’ll let the music do the talking instead again.

the jezabels give a definite nod to the eighties. you can tell that from the very first note and it’s no bad thing. for some reason i can’t get the image of ‘endless summer’ playing over the closing credits of a series finale of baywatch out of my head. again, no bad thing.

this one, from red eye fugu, i fucking love. this is my sort of thing to a tee. i don’t need to even try and describe it because if you like most of the music posted on here you’ll love it too. i’m going to try anyway. poppy. synthy. fun. dreamy. awesome.

i had to include somebody a little bit mental. i believe that sleeping in the aviary tick that box. it’s like weezer by on lsd. not that i’m saying they are on lsd. if i had a lawyer i’m pretty sure he would have advised me to ensure that i emphasise i am not suggesting sleeping in the aviary take lsd. i’m pleased we’ve sorted that out.

and with that, i’m back. i hope you enjoy the music above. remember to thank the planetary group if you do.

those guys at art is hard always do things slightly differently don’t they. whether they’re giving away charity shop cassettes or photos from a local artist you know you’re buying more than just some great music. for aih005 (confusingly released just after aih006) they have gone all modern and high tech on us as well.

the release itself is a compilation of some of the most exciting music coming out of that little south western corner of england. what you’re actually buying though is a map. or a map and a t-shirt. on the map each band is plotted along with a qr code. that’s a square barcode for those that don’t read mashable every day. get your smartphone to take a photo of this barcode and you’ll be transported* to the world of the band with loads of info plus the track in question. if that’s not 21st century, then maybe it’s time to trade in my hoverboard because i don’t know what is.

i’ve been invited as one of the label’s favourite blogs (that’s right motherfucker) to introduce one of the bands included. i’ve gone for a young five piece called big wave. you will know from the first time you hear them that big wave and sockformation were made to go together. you could take my favourite bits of all the bands i love, put them together, move them to torquay and you’d have big wave. you can hear (and download if you’re quick enough) ‘wild strawberries’ below. once you’ve done that go here and order aih005. i’ve taken the option that comes with the t-shirt because i love the top that came with aih001.

*(disclaimer: you will not actually be transported anywhere. this purchase does not include a trip.)

quick warning. this is another of those posts when i talk about the first version of sockformation a bit. sorry about that. anyway, when the first version of sockformation was still going i blogged about a mash up that my boss made. it got some really good coverage and he pretty much dominated hype machine for three days. he also got a booking at the book club off the back of it, but he claims to have no recollection of this. basically i made my job secure for a bit.

anyway, fast forward two years or so and james has been off playing cricket in australia, getting engaged, all that jazz. he’s still djing though and supplying us with some great mixes and mash ups. his latest pitches black joe lewis and the honeybears against crooklyn dodgers. listen to it here and then you can go and download it via his facebook page. i’m not sure why it’s limited itself to only 27 downloads on soundcloud but if it’s available from there again i’ll let you know.

want to know how good this is by the way? put it this way. james is no longer my boss and i’m still posting it.