MP3: Art Is Hard Records' Xmas Song (feat. Playlounge, Best Friends, Joanna Gruesome, Birdskulls etc.)

One of our favourite labels at the moment - London's Art Is Hard Records - have unveiled the final installment of their bi-weekly Pizza Club and they're ending it in style with "Holiday Armadillo". For the final song in the club they asked Playlounge to write a Christmas song which features contributions from a whole lot of the UK's best indie acts at the moment: Best Friends, Joanna Gruesome/IDES, Birdskulls, Gorgeous Bully, Slowcoaches, /please/, My Name Is Ian/Greetings, Yrrs, Gum, Cycle Schmeichel, Chris Wilkinson, Megan Bell and Art Is Hard Records themselves all appear on the song. Listen and download it below.

MP3: Helado Negro - "Dance Ghost"

We've already posted about Helado Negro, back in June this year, and now he's announced a new LP titled Invisible Life for a March 5 release on Asthmatic Kitty. Invisible Life is Helado Negro's, or Roberto Carles Lange as he's really called, third full-length LP and it's the first time he's mixing lyrics in English and Spanish. Check out lead track "Dance Ghost" below.

MP3: Ghost - "Secular Haze"

The mysterious Swedish metal act Ghost released their debut record Opus Eponymous in late 2010 here in Sweden and early 2011 in the rest of the world, and now they've finally announced their second LP for a 2013 release. The LP will be called Infestissumam and Ghost have unveiled "Secular Haze" to be the first single from the album. Listen to "Secular Haze" below and head over to Ghost's website to download it in exchange for your email address.

Listen: Spectral Park - "L'appel Du Vide"

Southampton-based Spectral Park, aka multi-instrumentalist Luke Donovan, have signed to Mexican Summer for the release of his debut LP Spectral Park, which is due on January 29 next year. Listen to the first track from the LP, "L'appel Du Vide", below.

Listen: The Neighbourhood - "A Little Death"

Back in July we posted about Los Angeles group The Neighbourhood and their debut EP I'm Sorry... and awhile back they unveiled their new single "Let It Go", which is due on January 14 via Columbia Records. The "Let It Go" single also includes "A Little Death", which was unveiled earlier today, and you can stream both tracks below.

Listen: Sauna Youth - "False Jesii Pt II" & "Oh Joel"

London indie act Sauna Youth released their impressive debut records Dreamlands in September this year and on January 21 next year they'll be releasing a limited 7" vinyl single with two brand new tracks; "False Jesii Pt II" and "Oh Joel". Both tracks are available for listening already though, and they're sounding quite different from Dreamlands with the band going for an indie pop sound instead. Listen below.

Listen: Mariam The Believer - "Blood Donation"

Photo by: KK+ TF, Klara Källström & Thobias Fäldt. Single cover art by: Caroline Settergren

Mariam The Believer, the project of Mariam Wallentin from Wildbirds & Peacedrums, is set to release its debut record Blood Donation on January 16 via Repeat Until Death/Playground. We've previously posted lead single "The String Of Everything" and yesterday a second track from the LP was unveiled. Check out the title track, "Blood Donation", below.

Listen: Alexandria - "Secret Beach"

Well, here's something new from Stockholm; a dream pop project that goes under the name Alexandria. There's one track titled "Secret Beach" on the project's Soundcloud page and there's no other info available yet, but "Secret Beach" is very very promising. Check it out below and stay tuned for more info when there's any available.

Watch: Damien Jurado - "Kalla Hus" (official video)

In December last year Damien Jurado released a cover of Vince Guaraldi's Christmas classic "Christmas Time Is Here" and this year he's releasing an original Christmas song titled "Kalla Hus" (which is actually Swedish for "Cold Houses"). Jurado released his eleventh studio LP Maraqopa early this year via Secretly Canadian, a brilliant record which ended up in the top ten of our Albums of 2012 list.

Listen: Flume - "Bring You Down" (feat. George Maple)

A couple of weeks back we posted the full album stream of Flume's excellent debut record Flume, which ended up at #18 on our Albums of 2012 list, and it would probably have placed even higher if it had been released earlier. So far Flume has only been released in Australia, via Future Classic, but on February 18 it's due in Europe and the UK via Transgressive and on February 19 in the US via Mom + Pop. In the meanwhile you can listen to "Bring You Down", which features George Maple, below plus "Star Eyes", "Holdin On" and "Sleepless" by clicking the links.

Listen: Phosphorescent - "Song For Zula"

Phosphorescent have finally unveiled the release date for their new LP Muchacho; March 19 next year on Dead Oceans. Together with the announcement comes a first taste from the album in the form of the six minutes long "Song For Zula", which takes its cue from Phosphorescent older material rather than 2010's Here's To Taking It Easy. See for yourselves below.

Watch: Deptford Goth - "Union" (official video)

Deptford Goth is the project of South London's Daniel Woolhouse and he's set to release his debut LP Life After Defo early next on Merok Records. A couple of days back he unveiled the second single from the LP, following the title track, and it's certainly one you'll want to listen to again. And again. And again. Etc. Watch the video below.

Albums of 2012

Image by Patrik Lundborg

It's been a great year for music. Like every year. But this one in particular has been very good, and for me it's meant the discovery of a lot of great new acts - and new labels - and I can honestly say that nine out of ten albums in the top ten were completely surprises for me, or well eight and a half. This list is purely based on what I've been enjoying the most, and listening to, rather than some sort of pseudo-objectivity. Which is also the reason why there's almost no hip-hop on the list - I just haven't been listening to hip-hop as much as I used to, so the absence is my fault rather than it not being a good year for hip-hop. Enjoy, and let me know what you think I've missed. I'd by commenting below, tweeting at me (@shufflitall or @birdsneedfeet) or commenting on the BNF Facebook page.

MP3: Little Children - "Hollow"

Linus Lutti, or Little Children as he calls himself, is set to release a new EP titled IN HAU via INGRID on January 14. IN HAU is the follow-up to the Stockholm-based singer-songwriter's debut LP In Silence, from 2010, and Lutti is backed by Andreas Söderström, Mattias Bergqvist and Petter Winnberg (individually they've played with artists such as Miike Snow, First Aid Kit, Taken By Trees etc). Check out "Hollow" below.

MP3: GEMS - "All I Ever"

Washington, D.C.-based dream pop duo GEMS released their debut single "Void Moon" in November and they've now followed it with the even-better "All I Ever". Both tracks were recorded in Outer Banks, North Carolina in an empty beach house and there's a sense of desolation to the tracks which is just beautiful. Listen to "All I Ever" below, plus check out "Void Moon" as well (and head over to their Soundcloud page to grab your very own mp3s of the tracks).

Listen: Nightlands - "I Fell in Love with a Feeling"

The War On Drugs bassist Dave Hartley is set to release Oak Island, his second LP as Nightlands, on January 20/21 via Secretly Canadian next year and we've previously posted lead track "So Far So Long". Earlier this week a second track was unveiled as well, and you can check out "I Fell in Love with a Feeling" below.

Watch: Work Drugs - "Young Lungs" (official video)

Philadelphia's Work Drugs are celebrating their two-year-anniversary by releasing a new single, "Young Lungs", and they're doing it in style. "Young Lungs" is taken from Work Drugs' upcoming second LP, which is tentatively planned for early 2013, and you can check it out below by either watching the video, which features some pretty great extreme sport visuals, or by just streaming it using the Soundcloud player. Enjoy.

Listen: NZCA/LINES - "Airlock" (Chad Valley remix)

NZCA/LINES, aka Michael Lovett, released his debut LP earlier this year and he's set to release a second LP next year. A while back he unveiled the first track from his second LP, the excellent "Airlock", and now he's unveiled a remix EP for the track with contributions from Chad Valley, Jonquil, Night Works and Clive Tanaka. Check out Chad Valley's take on "Airlock" below, and listen to the rest over at NZCA/LINES' Soundcloud page.

Watch: Houston - "Eldflugor" (official video)

Stockholm production trio Sum Comfort have branched out on their own as r'n'b act Houston and they recently released Houston's debut EP Demo for free on their Bandcamp site. "Eldflugor" is probably the strongest track of the EP's four, and you can check out the video for it below, made by Tobias Gerhardsson (who's also a member of BNF-favourites World Tour).

Listen: Pinemarten - "Falling For You" / "Built For Two"

Back in July we posted Derbyshire pop producer Pinemarten's "I Can See", from his Can't Go Back Again EP, and tomorrow he'll be releasing his new single "Falling For You" for free on his Bandcamp page. But you can already listen to it, and b-side "Built For Two", below. Highly recommended.

MP3: Karl X Johan - "Get It All" (Bam Spacey remix)

Stockholm duo Karl X Johan released their latest EP Do You Remember / Get It All earlier this fall via Emotion and in January they're set to release a remix EP for the two tracks as well. First out is a remix by Malmö electronic act Bam Spacey, who released his brilliant debut EP Land earlier this year. Check out his take on "Get It All" below.

MP3: Mackaper - "Dimma"

Back in late October we posted Mackaper's "Staden Vaknar", the first track from their upcoming second LP Mot Ljusare Tider which is due this Wednesday on Flora & Fauna. Earlier this week a second track from the record was unveiled as a free download; "Dimma", which you can listen to and download below. Enjoy.