IS Tropical

A nifty little number from UK trio IS Tropical. They seem to be doing a few laps of the concert circuit of late, but primarily playing second fiddle to the headlining act - both NYPC and LCD Soundsystem providing the platform. I would warm to them a little more if they would just lose the leather jackets and bandanas and any of the other nu-rave accesories which they have packed en route to South Pacific.

Stream and download for free (via arrow pointing down)

Myspace here, official here.

Best Coast videos

Anyone not familiar with Bethany Cosentino's lo-fi, hazy, adolescent pop owes it to themselves to check out Best Coast's debut album Crazy For You which will surely find itself in many end of year top album lists. These videos for 'Boyfriend' and the bonus track 'When I'm With You' are a damn good starting point if you are yet to fall under her spell.

The Roots & John Legend :: 'Hard Times'

The Roots have teamed up with John Legend to release 'Wake Up', an album of soulful covers from the 60s and 70s, including one of my all time favourite funk-soul tracks, 'Hard Times' by Baby Huey. The Roots are one of the tightest bands around and here they manage to rework the track with even more tension and urgency than the original.

John Legend and the Roots - Hard Times (feat. Black Thought) by throw parties not knives

Introducing... Little Loud

One of my favourite new artists of 2010 has been the Brighton-based Little Loud, who has produced a string of consistently great remixes for high profile acts like Yeasayer, HEALTH and Goldfrapp this year. 'Chill-wave' is a term that has been thrown around a lot recently but is an apt description for his bright, cosmic sound and warm, delicate synths. The Goldfrapp remix is particularly beautiful and can be downloaded via the 'down arrow' on the right hand side.

goldfrapp - believer (little loud remix) by little loud

health - nice girls (little loud mix) by little loud

memory tapes - bicycle (little loud remix) by little loud

yeasayer - madder red (little loud remix) by little loud