This is lovely, and you’ll never guess where First Aid Kit are from.

I wouldn’t say that I was a massive fan of Welsh songstress Cate Le Bon (not yet anyway) but I do find her interesting and I do love her voice which sounds like a Nico who is high on fresh country air instead of heroin. This is a rather lovely (but spiky) tune from her new album Cryk.

(PS: Turns out I actually had a mild case of pneumonia last week. Getting better now but bear with me if content is a bit thin here for a little while, I’ve been too busy shivering and coughing up a lung to write anything.)

We’re not worthy.

It’s the 1980s again, the decade that has kept on giving musically for most of the 21st century so far. This time it’s Brooklyn beat combo Friends who resurrect the supple pop-funk of Tom Tom Club and Neneh Cherry with wonderful results.

Paging Simon Reynolds…

I’m always getting emails from bands, record labels, and PR firms plugging their new releases in the hope that I’ll mention them on this here blog, often with links to free mp3s. On the one hand it’s flattering that they think I’m worthy of notice or could create anything resembling “buzz” for them (Ha! they should see my site stats) but on the other it’s a bit insulting because if they actually read the blog they would know that 99% of the time I only write about old-timey music.

So I usually ignore them – no payola here! – but I got one from some British DJs called Club Clique about their remix of Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” which is one of my favourite singles of the year so I was curious enough to give it a listen. Remixes often ruin a song for me, some cocky DJ banging a Techno beat over something without any thought or originality, but blow me down if this isn’t bloody great, turning the moody original into soaring, glittering disco which you wouldn’t think would work but it does, spectacularly well. So sod it, I’m giving it a plug.

Download: Video Games (Club Clique For The Bad Girls Remix) – Lana Del Rey (mp3)

More Club Clique remixes and mixtapes here and if you’re ever in Manchester and feel like a boogie pop along to their club.

I think I’d buy a loaf made out of mouldy cardboard if Dusty sang the jingle for it.