So, a somewhat larger sampler than usual as I have been catching up with a range of releases from the past couple of weeks. It's my busiest time of year at work so I think the rest of the year will predominately feature mixes and samplers, so there is plenty here (hear?) to get stuck into. There is a lot more rockier sounds than I usually play, but I like the way indiepop recently has been pushing past it's boundaries.

Now as you may know I am a singles chap, but October saw the release of a number of fine albums that saw a number of spins on the Records I Like virtual bits & bytes stereo. These include releases from The Bats, Josie, Trillion, Good Flying Birds, Fanclubwallet, Suzie True, Shadowgraphs, I Was A King and The Belair Lip Bombs and each is represented here.

Breaking dancefloors, recording in the dark, crying at I Know It’s Over, winning in court, splitting over chips … the musician relives his tumultuous years in ‘the best British band ever’

Three recent releases catching my interest, I mean ears. I Was A King - House Warming Norwegian band I Was A King have just released their fourth album Until The End. I am still embedding myself with the album, but the track that immediately blew me away was House Warming which fuses indiepop with fuzzy psychedelia. Reminds me of the Swedish band Easy.

I think Mondays are the ideal time for these samplers now. The weekend gives me time to digest the new releases that Fridays bring, which in turn allows any readers (reader?) out there to kick-start the new week with songs and artists that are possibly new to them - that includes me, of course! As ever, enjoy! Play via Buy Music Club…

So here are some tracks I had left over after putting this month's mix together, but that's not to say these are fillers. Far from it, as evidenced here. The Lightning In A Twilight Hour track is superb, as is the fuzzy indiepop from LoOn. The Crabber single features The Silver Biplanes, whilst veterans The Popguns perform their well homed indiepop on their new single…

The protagonist in the new single from Swedish band No Suits In Miami wants to be in the company of another. So much so that over the indiepop and twee pop swirls she informs the object of her ardour that she would choose them over The Cocteau Twins, The Field Mice and The Cure. Each to their own, but this delightful jangling track is one way of getting that message across, I guess! Marion can be purchased from here. Instagram

Taking stock in the middle of the working week with three tracks from recently released or forthcoming albums. In The Afterglow - Falling Out Of You Canadian shoegazers In The Afterglow release their new album Let The Waves Crash Down at the end of this week. Falling Out Of You is the fouth single to be lifted from the album, and like the three previous songs, it's dreamy stuff, resplendent with ethereal female vocals which regular readers will know I am a sucker for.

Following on from the last post-punk mix, here is another selection of tunes selected for your listening pleasure. Glass Chapel have been an excellent find for me this year, and they have recently released their debut self-titled album. Hinfort are a new name on me, and they have just released their new album, No Way Out. I have some virtual crate digging to do there, methinks.

The latest signings to Matinée Recordings is the Swedish act Norwegian Blue. It's the project of Erik Aamot, formerly of The Electric Pop Group, and it's no surprise that new single Something New sounds similar to that act. That's new, blue and borrowed covered now! It's a song that glistens, with a clear and concise melodic approach. Further songs are in the works and who knows, we may get an album too.

This week's pack of three features three songs with a nice video tagging along for support. Dotsun Moon - Never Had a Heart I have been meaning to post this one for a while. Since June, in fact! It's a heavily New Order influenced track - just check the Peter Hook style bass and the Barney vocal style. To be fair, it sounds like Hooky singing too.

A mixture of dreampop, noise pop, indie rock and much more besides to kick your week of listening off. As ever, enjoy! Play via Buy Music Club (or click Image To Open) Spotify Video Highlights: Artists Links: Veronicavon Floral Image Lande Hekt Joyce Manor Hadda Be Not For Tears Elemantra Adiós Cometa Silk Daisys Silver Liz Photo by Julia Kicova on Unsplash

Who ever maintains Pillow Fight's Bandcamp page may have a point. About the new single Secret Crush, they write that it's an instant minor chord pop classic. And do you know what, they ain't wrong. Following up the wonderful Jean Said is harder said than done, but the Los Angeles based Pillow Fight have done it on this skittish twee pop track which is both harmonious and melodic.

Two labels have stood out for me with their release schedule over the past few weeks as well as the next couple of months. In one corner we have the French Label Howlin' Banana Records, whilst in the other is the South African based Subjangle. The former specialises in indie rock, garage punk, indiepop and the heavier side of shoegaze whilst the latter focuses on jangle pop, 60s inspired pop tunes, indiepop, lo-fi pop and much more decides.

The Grimmer Club is a solo project by the East Borneo based Lystiadi Bisma. The two very short tracks on this release, which the label annoyingly calls a maxi-single, are previews of a forthcoming EP. The 43 second Mengelilingi Kota is a passionate statement, whilst Minggu Depanmu Ada Aku is a fast-paced track that ticks all the right indiepop boxes over the course of its 78 seconds.

Amazingly, the feted Indonesian indiepoppers Aggi return several years after calling it a day with this new five track EP. Almost nine years may have passed, but thankfully, Aggi's sound remains the same. They play a brand of retro indiepop which I have previously likened to the sounds of The Rosehips and Bubblegum Splash and any other noisy indie/twee pop band of the mid 1980s.

So I am shifting the mixes to the beginning of the month rather than the end. Okay, I will admit it. September ended without me realising, and I was caught out. So in compensation here is a mix of tracks culled from the past eight weeks with some fine noisy pop songs from the likes of Aggi and The Soundrops. What else eh?

There is some excellent music being released right now under the post-punk umbrella, and I have encapsulated some of my recent favourites in this 43 minute mix. It's an international mix featuring artists from Italy, The Netherlands, US, Greece, UK, Belarus and Russia. Dlina Volny have had a great year and if you have not checked out their In Between…

At the start of the week, I was optimistic about posting each day this past week. Such optimism eh? Sadly, real life and work intervened, but I have managed to put together a sampler of tracks I was planning to feature. Amazed that Strange Passage have returned after 6 years away, whilst Bobby Wratten (The Field Mice, Northern Picture Library, Trembling Blue Stars) delivers on both sides with an amazing single under his Lightning in a Twilight Hour guise.

The all-girl trio gave punk a playful spin and drew admirers in Paul Weller and Captain Sensible – but, singer Debsey Wykes recalls, faced confusion for being out of step with era’s noise and anger

Getting back into the swing of posting with three new ones from Indonesia. Monetaries - Away From World Monetaries (possibly named after a McCarthy song) deliver an EP of twee pop songs that tug on the wrong side of heartbreak - is there a right side? It can be a bit sugary sweet at times, but these are fey, gentle and lovely pop songs.

The latest signings to Skep Wax Records are the Leeds based band Tulpa. The band is so new, nothing has actually been released yet, but that has not stopped the label announcing that they will be releasing their debut album Monster Of The Week on 29 November 2025. The debut single Let’s Make A Tulpa! is as catchy as feck, and as there is a little bit of Kim (or Kelley) Deal in vocalist & bassist Josie Kirk, the track sounds like a poppier Amps or Breeders resplendent with a bouncing guitar sound.

Indonesian band Grrrl Gang return with their first new song in two years. They continue to move away from their twee-pop origins on O, My Love which features a heaver indie rock guitar sound which was first hinted on their last album Spunky. Still, the noisier guitars suits the rage and pain found in the words which deal with the topic of coercive behaviour and domestic abuse.

The Science of Words, the band who feature ex-members of The Rosehips, Horowitz and Jack In The Green, release their self-titled debut album later this month. As well as both sides of 2022's brilliant Day Crash/Weekend Away single, the album also features their cover of the French Version of Blondie's Sunday Girl. Currently up for streaming are the taster tracks in the shape of…

The world is a mess. Given the horrors of war across the globe and the rise of fascism in the countries who opposed it eighty years ago you may be forgiven for not noticing what is happening in Indonesia right now. Whilst tensions ease following recent concessions, controversial changes in the law could see Indonesia return to the days of Suharto's dictatorship.