SINGLE: 12 STONE TODDLER Batten Down The Hatches (Amazon)
We’ve written about the Toddlers a few times over the last year or so, and the release of this latest single gives us another excuse to shove their name in your face. Tight indie rhythms and melodic piano gives this catchy single an early Ben Folds kind of feel, only replacing the boo-hoo angst with a cheery optimism that clearly has its eye on the prize. We’ll be wearing smug told-you-so grins when they do finally break big, join us now so your t-shirt isn’t bandwagon jumping, box-fresh when it happens. (NC)

EP: A DANCING BEGGAR How They Grow (Grand Independent)
We’ve had the odd guitar instrumental CD pop onto the SOURCE doormat in the past, and on the basis of what we’ve heard we could have been forgiven for frisbee-ing them all back out onto the street. But this collection of six luscious tracks defies all our preconceptions. Obviously a gifted musician, James Simmons has created an expansive soundscape for which the term ‘building crescendo’ could well have been coined. Shoegazey in all its unabashed glory, this echoes Maps, Appliance and Sigur Ros and belying its apparent bedroom origins it’s an atmospheric delight and an absolute keeper. (NC)

SINGLE: BRAKES Don’t Take Me To Space (Man) (FatCat)
It’s a testament to how dour most music is these days that all the quotes that come with this CD are about what fun the band are; joyful, bonkers, exuberant, the list goes on. They’re right, though, although bonkers isn’t a word we’d use, we’re not 80s commercial radio DJs after all. The title track is a great feelgood rock’n’roll song about love and aliens, the second song Supplier, Demander, A Chicken Or An Egg times in at five seconds (we take it back – they’re bonkers!) and 7th Seal is a sweet little acoustic number to round off with. (NC)

EP: D-MAS Meta-static (CityWall) Ooh, this takes us back to those heady days at the turn of the 90s when it was all Aphex Twins and Orbitals as far as the eye could see. Lovely complex rhythmic grooves laid over and over and over footwork-challenging beats, sampled movie deity vocals and a general ethereal ambience so lush you can taste the THC in it. In a world of grime, blog house and wonky pop it’s nice to know some people are still making these kind of digi-sounds – background music for some and full-frontal lobe implant for others. Track one, Son, is pretty much as good as anything in the genre we’ve ever heard. (NC)

ALBUM: DOMU One Offs, Remixes & B Sides (Tru Thoughts)
The latest in Tru Thoughts’ rarities series (the Bonobo one is ace if you missed it) features a man who ought to have plenty of material to pick from. Over 15 years Dominic Stanton has released soulful electronica and west London-style broken beat on Talkin’ Loud and Ninja Tune. Across a fairly diverse selection of beats, this broadly remix-based collection has more than a few gems, his jazzy take on Jazzanova, and cinematic take on The Cinematic Orchestra being wonderfully literal. (JK)

SINGLE: FOXES! Who Killed Rob? (CatCutter)
Of course, all indie music is influenced by indie music that’s gone before it, so it’s nice when you happen across something that isn’t following everyone else down the same predisposal cul-de-sac. We remember a time when it was all about girls with bobs, Ray Bans, jangly guitars and innocent pop songs, and it’s this we happily recall with Foxes! A bit of Belle & Sebastian, a soupcon of Stereolab maybe, but all in all a great modern take on a criminally under-mined crease of the indie coalface. We also liked the sterling lyrical advice that “milk after vomit tastes best” which is worth bearing in mind. (NC)

ALBUM: FRICTION Assassin Volume One (Shogun Audio)
A new mix CD by drum’n’bass über-star Friction is a huge deal from his Brighton hometown all the way around the world and back again. Few d’n’b spinners sell as many, Pendulum’s El Hornet summing it up perfectly by saying that the former SOURCE cover star “has the selection, turntable skills and crowd control that most can only dream of.” As you’d expect Assassin cover more ground than most compilations, rolling from liquid to jump up anthems across 32 tracks seamlessly. Absolutely flawless. (JK)

SINGLE: GABRIEL & CASTELLON Ticoba (Floorplay)
Prok & Fitch’s Floorplay empire extends into Europe with this cool track from Holland. Somehow managing to be deep and throbby like progressive electro while early 90s keys stab away jauntily on top. Apparently it’s been grabbed for a load of compilations already, and it’s certainly really accessible without being cheesy. The label heads themselves add more dynamics with plenty of little licks and a huge euphoric drop. There’s plenty of life in their mix. (JK)

ALBUM: LIZZY PARKS This And That (Tru Thoughts)
Pulling back the covers of the jazz-soul bed she normally lies in, Lizzy Parks reveals an altogether mellower side to her repertoire. This And That is a fully acoustic collection, including this – reworkings of several tracks from her debut album, as well as that – four new songs in a similarly laid back vibe. As a stand alone collection the album is more likely to prick up ears on a national level. The freedom of niche genre constraints her work may have attracted before should lend her a well-deserved wider voice. (NC)

SINGLE: THE MOJO FINS In The Script (Amazon)
Another band we’ve covered a few times of late, The Fins breathe the same kind of melodious air as bands like Keane – polished, accomplished and catchy without resorting to curious hair and silly trousers to get them noticed. Recent Q Music Emerging Talent finalists, they’re back with In The Script, a new single continuing their admirable brace of recent releases. This is adetermined band whose only real angle (in a facile world where people describing music in magazines usually demand such a thing) is that they’re really good at making nice tunes – their mojo is definitely working. (NC)

ALBUM: TELEGRAPHS We Were Ghosts (Small Town)
We can’t think of any other singer-bassist relationships (the Right Said Fred baldies were brothers, so that doesn’t count), but the breakdown of Telegraphs singer Darcy and bassist Hattie’s love-in has fuelled much of the drama on this massive album. Massive in this case has a good ambiguity to it too – we haven’t heard a more expansive sound in a long while, a Foos Muse mash with the yin and yang of interchanging male/female vocals – it’s also massive in terms of potential and expectation, with a PR army behind it vying to make Telegraphs broadsheet-sized national news. (NC)