Me and Music Like Dirt’s trip to Krakow was great (The architecture was gorgeous) but we only found two record shops (Chain stores aside). One was a small second hand store called Reserwat Winyli and was staffed by a very friendly chap (The other shop was owned by a jaw-droppingly rude arsehole). So sadly dreams of coming home laden with all manner of odd Polish Folk and Hip-Hop were dashed. Luckily there’s plenty of other things going on in the rest of the world, so here are ten of them (By the way, if you’re Polish drop me some record buying tips).

‘Dreamin’ Of You’ is a free taster from Bob Dylan’s new rarities album. It was discarded from 1997’s ‘Time Out Of Mind’ and only Bob could tell you why. It’s an undulating and brooding Blues cut that is as good as anything he’s ever released. The interplay between the Piano, the Drums and the Guitars is electrifying (Is it even worth mentioning that his vocals are brilliant?). After five decades of genius… does anyone else need bother?

I adored The Count & Sinden’s banging ‘Beeper’ single from back in April so I’m glad to report that the follow up, ‘Hardcore Girls’ is similarly addictive. Vocals are provided by young B-More MC Rye Rye (M.I.A. is stepping behind the controls for Rye Rye’s album, so expect to hear more from this girl). The “All the homies in the club..” bit where the huge Drums come in will make you move for sure.

As soon as the Saxophone came in I knew I was going to love Flamingo Crash’s ‘It’s Mystery Music!’. It’s booty shaking Indie-Dance-Guitar-Funk that drives me crazee! Just when you think it couldn’t get any better, it suddenly does. Got to be my pick of the week but do check out the rest of their ‘Triangle Island’ album.

Fleet Foxes’ ‘English House’ is graceful, pixie-dust-sprinkled, oak-matured Folk music. Drift away on massed heavenly vocals while you can almost smell the honeysuckle and hear the birds singing.

‘I Will Not Follow’ has a great Guitar riff and Atlanta band Gringo Star know it. A delicious modern halfway point between Americana and Mod.

It’s been an agonising entire year since The Hot Puppies dropped their ear-explodingly good single ‘King Of England’. They’ve finally released the album from whence it came (’Blue Hands’) and by the sound of ‘How To Choose A Wife’, there are plenty more great tracks on it. Imagine Dexys Midnight Runners covering Kraftwerk.

You might have noticed (If you’ve read this blog before) that I was a big fan of Electronic-Pop maestros Luxembourg. So I took the news that they’d broken up like a bereavement. Luckily in the music world there are rebirths, so the angelic voice of singer David Shah rings out again on his new project The Melting Ice Caps. ‘Selfish Bachelor’ is just one beautiful track and the outro may reduce some to tears (Or maybe that’s just me).

The Melting Ice Caps - “Selfish Bachelor” (MP3)

Being the “The guy who was in Arctic Monkeys just before they were famous” must have been harsh for Andy Nicholson. Luckily he’s teamed up with Jon (aka The Reverend) and the impressive skills of MC Lowkey to bring you Mongrel. ‘The Menace’ is the kind of collision of Political-Rap and Indie that Alex Turner would love to make.

Mongrel - “The Menace” (MP3)

South-African DJ Mujava’s beats on the brilliant ‘Township Funk’ are as minimal as they get but somehow it’s still totally danceable and enthralling. The menacing John Carpenter Synth running all the way through, sets the tone.

I’ve been meaning to grab a copy of Sonny J’s album since I first heard him 12 months ago. Lurking at the end was the title track ‘Disastro’ which is a Funky-Electro instrumental with the kind of muscle you’d normally associate with the heaviest of Heavy-Metal. Naturally the rest of the album is just as exciting.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A ZIP OF THE 10 TRACKS!

Bob Dylan MySpace / Purchase
The Count & Sinden MySpace / Purchase
Flamingo Crash MySpace / Purchase
Fleet Foxes MySpace / Purchase
Gringo Star MySpace
The Hot Puppies MySpace / Purchase
The Melting Ice Caps MySpace
Mongrel MySpace
Mujava MySpace / Purchase
Sonny J MySpace / Purchase