Mondays are for pressing all your buttons.

Elephant & Castle (feat. tUnE-yArDs) – En Memoria (via soundcloud)

Plants and Animals – Lightshow (via soundcloud)

Kayln Rock – Valentine

Alvin Purple – Huh her / Please Please (via bandcamp)

Ventury – Volcano (via soundcloud)

Well, 2011. You were quite the year! So much so that I’ve only been able to recover enough to think about you a full week into 2012. Crazy, huh? New jobs, lots of change, oodles of shenanigans, and yes, lots of good music. So much so, that I undoubtedly missed vast quantities of things that I really should have got to. Ho hum.

So what things did Skye like? Blimey. I just looked at the Excel spreadsheet of this year’s releases (see how cool Skye is!), and there’s a lot of stuff on there. However it’s fair to say that I do actually have a favourite record of 2011, despite my general resistance to ranking things. I know, crazy times, huh, maybe the Mayans are right after all.

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Mondays are for getting brightened up.

La Sera – Please Be My Third Eye

Lightning Love – Deadbeat (via bandcamp)

Haroula Rose – Close My Eyes to See (Luke Top remix)

Bear and Moose – I’m back

Class Actress – Weekend (via soundcloud)  + mixtape

Ryan Hemsworth – Three Hours In (via soundcloud)

Mondays are for a good game of Scrabble (and forgetting to do that thing you meant to do).

Klifton Filente – To Win (via bandcamp)

Another’s Blood – Lost Communication

Drunken Prayer – The Missionfield

Grand and Noble – This Light

Kaylyn Rock – Alex the Great

This is all kinds of awesome. Borderline offensive? Hmm. Judge for yourself, but it’s witty and its cheesy and it’s all the kinds of things I love about ZvG. Okay, it could have done with a giant KimZilla or something but regardless, this tale of martial arts, derring-do and rank cowardice in Old Glasgow is a lot of fun. It helps that it’s married to one of the real standout tracks from Propellor versus Wings, too.

Mondays are for getting washed out.

Maribel – Jezebel Jive (via soundcloud)

The Full Colour Hardback Books – The Future of Britain (via bandcamp)

Return to Mono  – Black Swan (Le Crayon remix)

New Hands – This I’ve Heard (via bandcamp)

Mondays are for being serenaded.

Serenades – Oceans (via widget)

Oh my. After “Fool’s Day”, recorded for Record Store Day 2010, this could have been amazing – especially in light of last year’s revelation that they have material, even if there are no plans for an album. Blur: the band that only records because things are fucked up:

Blur have shelved a new single, recorded this summer with poet Michael Horovitz. The unnamed spoken-word track, intended as part of a campaign to save the Notting Hill carnival, was set aside after officials agreed that the 2011 event could go ahead.

“[The track] was relevant for about 12 hours,” Damon Albarn explained to the NME. Following the riots in London in August, there were briefly fears that this year’s carnival would be called off; it eventually went ahead, with police doubling their presence in the streets. “[The song] had its moment,” Albarn said. “It was a perfect plea to reinstate the carnival … If they’d have cancelled the carnival – and thank God they didn’t – maybe we’d have put it out.”

While I’m very happy the Notting Hill Carnival didn’t get cancelled, oh! What might have been! I’m sure it would have been glorious.

Maybe we could confect some things to see if we can get a song out of Blur? In fact, I almost demand it!

Allegedly Blur are also thinking of touring the US next year, which would undoubtedly be neat, though Albarn seems to be plenty busy with his manifold sideprojects.  Is Dave still a politician?

MP3: Blur, “Fools Day”

NME: Damon Albarn: ‘Blur have been meeting up regularly and recording again’

The Guardian: Damon Albarn reveals Blur recorded single to save Notting Hill carnival

You say Bananarama! We say Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat!

Yes, Chemikal’s dynamic duo are back with a subdued take on Bananarama’s 1983 hit (and not a wrench or Mack truck in sight). The track’s taken from the pair’s latest EP (also entitled Cruel Summer, and also features the tracks “Box it Up”, “Man of the Cloth” and “Lonely Weekend”. Sounds like the usual cheery fare, then…

Click through for some tour dates, and SPECIAL BONUS VIDEO.

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St Vincent, looking incredibly glam, is the latest performer in 4AD’s video sessions; following on from other TMS faves Stornoway, Broken Records and Gang Gang Dance. This session, recorded at Shangri-La in Brooklyn features Annie Clark plus new band and songs from latest LP Strange Mercy. Did I say she’s totes glammed up in this session?

Tracklisting:

1. Chloe In The Afternoon
2. Surgeon
3. Strange Mercy
4. Year Of The Tiger

Click through for final US and super-duper exciting European tour dates.

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