heard on the wire

This blog, like a tortoise, likes both to take its time and to occasionally hibernate, especially when the real world rears its ugly head, which it did, with a vengeance, this year. But thankfully the music keeps coming, which in turn brings us to some of the contenders for my favourite record of this year¹.

The Nature Set are a three-piece from Sheffield with one EP, 2011’s Enough is Enough, and a ”maxi-cassingle”, a cassette-only release that features three of their songs and three by Former Lover. This is the Nature Set’s claim to a celestial existence and a fine way to start any blog post.

The Nature Set :: I am a Planet ⬇

There are five members of Makaras Pen, self-proclaimed indie rock shoegazers whose 2010 self-titled debut was well received in these parts, setting high standards that this year’s follow-up, A Petal Among Bricks, did not fail to match. Singer Emma Willis’s voice is conspicuous by its absence from this track, which owes more than a little to Mogwai.

Makaras Pen :: Opus 7 ⬇

From Buffalo, New York, to “the North” and indie popsters This Many Boyfriends and a song about ornithology and love.

And finally, for now, the Rosie Taylor Project, whose records, unlike This Many Boyfriends’, somehow sound nothing like their name.

¹ The only nominee mentioned heretofore is When Nalda Became Punk’s eponymous single.
Photo: Venus Transit 2012-06-06 by Michael Kerr; some rights reserved