Feel good hits of the 7th February

It's been a while...

There should really be at least one Welsh-language track in here, what with it being Dydd Miwsig Cymru and all, but you'll just have to make do with three from Cardiff-based bands.

1. 'Lark' - Angel Olsen
As if All Mirrors' title track wasn't astonishing enough. 'Lark' is a whole album's worth of drama squeezed into less than seven minutes. My money's on this being the show-stealer in Bristol on Monday night.

2. 'Hands Melt' - Squirrel Flower
Another voice to stop you dead in your tracks - as it did to me at Green Man. Time to tuck into her new LP I Was Born Swimming, methinks.

3. 'Spin' - Silent Forum
On a debut album stuffed with great singles, this might just be the best - it's certainly the one that's been on heaviest rotation round SWSL Towers. I just hope that Everything Solved At Once's December release doesn't mean that it slips through the cracks - that would be a fate it doesn't deserve.

4. 'Waiting For You' - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
On every Bad Seeds album there's pretty much guaranteed to be a song that absolutely floors me from the first listen. Ghosteen has more than one, but this brought the biggest lump to the throat and the most mist to the eye.

5. 'I Only Want You For Your Rock And Roll' - KEYS
We want KEYS for more than just rock and roll - we want them for the gorgeous Shins-esque 'Broken Bones' that closes new LP Bring Me The Head Of Jerry Garcia, for instance - but this gleeful romp is immensely satisfying and a large reason why I was so quick to pick up a ticket for Rat Trap's closing party at G39 next month (the presence of Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard on the bill being another).

6. 'Reducer' - Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
Let's face it - I'd be into this even if it wasn't for the wall of Orange amps, the drummer's Slint T-shirt and Matt Baty's Newcastle Utd shorts. That drop/slow-down from 2:50 onwards - wow.

7. 'Air BnB' - Kim Gordon
The most obvious route for a Sonic Youth fan to take to get properly into No Home Record - and yet I still haven't quite been able to do it. It'll happen, though - I'm sure of it.

8. 'Don't Cling To Life' - The Murder Capital
About as straightforward as The Murder Capital get on When I Have Fears, an album that's cut from a similar cloth to fellow Dubliners Fontaines DC's acclaimed Dogrel but has more depth and diversity. Definitely on the must-see list for this year's Green Man.

9. 'O Silly Me' - Boy Azooga
Davey Newington reckons that this little ditty about anxiety might be the best thing he's ever written, and I for one am not about to disagree. Codas don't come much more blissful.

10. 'Grow Into A Ghost' - Swearin
While Katie Crutchfield seems to have taken a pop turn with Waxahatchee (with mixed results), her sister and former PS Eliot bandmate Allison's Swearin remain none more indie-rock - which, just to be clear, is something to be thankful for.