Who is Poly Styrene?

I've just been watching the 1979 Arena profile of X Ray Spex singer-songwriter Poly Sytrene, which was recently repeated on BBC Four. If you missed it, I'd highly recommend setting aside forty minutes for it over the weekend; it makes for great viewing, with its live performances and footage of the band travelling from place to place in a no-frills minibus interspersed with Poly's thoughts on the world and the nature of fame, and is a real snapshot of the era. She was such a fascinating character, and watching this it's impossible to escape the conclusion that modern-day pop stars are, well, rubbish by comparison.

Sub Pop dream pop!

I love The Kids Were Wrong by Memoryhouse - indubitably my favourite Canadian dream pop duo! - although eighteen people have taken the trouble of disliking the promo video on YouTube. Much as I hate to generalise, those people are idiots. No, I'm very much one of the 1,062 in the 'like' camp. This is great!

Memoryhouse's debut full-length album, The Slideshow Effect, is out now on Sub Pop

Swedish Indie / Pop 4 (Spotify playlist #11)

Hello again, hepcats. How are we all today? Well, I hope. I'm fine too - well, apart from the obvious, but you know me, I don't like to go on about it. Although I'm a martyr to it, I really am. Anyway, never mind all that, let's get down to business, shall we?

Not only has it been aeons since I last posted here regularly, it's also been absolutely ages since I last put together a Spotify playlist - and even longer since my last Swedish one, but I'm glad to say I finally pulled my finger out in this regard and compiled the one spelt out below. Please do give it a listen if you have the time or the inclination, and if you like what you hear it would be great if you could subscribe. Actually, even if you hate it, subscribe anyway! I need the numbers!

Sing Up For The Boys In Green

With the Republic of Ireland having just crashed ingloriously out of Euro 2012, this might not be the best time for me to be plugging a tribute compilation album to just that team. But we've always been one to support the underdog here - even if the underdog in question has just been packed off with its tail between its legs - so please do show your support for the Indiecater Records compilation Sing Up For The Boys In Green, which is packed with smashing tunes just like this, the title track, by Idaho's The Very Most.

You can download all 11 tracks from the album for a measly 5 EUROS here