The Radio Dept – “Never Follow Suit”

Beach Fossils – “Calyer” From the forthcoming What A Pleasure EP, out 2/22 on Captured Tracks.

Teen Daze - “Let’s Fall Asleep Together” I look at the band name Teen Daze and the EP title Beach Dream, and I can only think about how it looks like the off-brand version of Beach House’s Teen Dream. You know, like at the supermarket where Cinnamon Toast Crunch becomes Cinnamon Toasters, and Dr. Pepper becomes Dr. Thunder and a thousand other sodas with doctorate degrees. That said, despite their generic quality, the names are very well-suited to the music, which aims for a type of innocent dreaminess that has been very common in the past few years, but ends up sounding more assertive and more effortless in its beauty. “Let’s Fall Asleep Together” isn’t a mind-blower, but it’s very easy to enjoy. It’s an uncomplicated, familiar pleasure for people who like graceful, pretty indie pop.

Buy it from Teen Daze at Bandcamp.

Speakers in Code rounds up new indie rock holiday songs.

Yesterday's updates to the list of 2010 year-end online music lists included the Spin's albums you might have missed, PopMatters ' most disappointing albums, and much more.

Empire has news of Pete Doherty's forthcoming film debut.

The Russian Futurists' Matthew Adam Hart talks to Spinner about hip-hop's influence on his new album, The Weight's on the Wheels.

The December edition of the Music Alliance Project is available, and contains over 30 new songs from around the world.

The New Statesman examines the growing trend of instrumental popular music.

I've noticed that there seems to have been an increase in popular acts that do without words altogether - or whose vocals are muffled, quiet and unintelligible, as if they were trying to tell you something not very important from the other side of a brick wall. In the past, instrumental acts would have been solely associated with either dance music or what is irritatingly referred to as "chill out" but, in the past few years, this seems to have changed, with some instrumentals even getting played on daytime radio.

NPR Music shares a streaming holiday music mix.

Smith Westerns – “Weekend”

OMG interviews singer-songwriter Liz Phair.

David Lynch shares a music playlist with Pop & Hiss.

Yesterday's updates to the list of 2010 year-end online music lists included the Said the Gramophone's best songs, PopMatters best albums, and much more.

The New York Times explores the federal governments recent shutdowns of several hip-hop music blogs due to copyright issues.

The Los Angeles Times examines MTV Music Meter, the station's forthcoming video website.

Matthew Young talks to the Scotsman about his record label, Song, by Toad.

American Songwriter lists the top 20 songs written by Jay Farrar.

At Drowned in Sound, the members of OMD interview the members of Mirrors.

The Mountain Goats – “Tyler Lambert’s Grave”An all-new Mountain Goats track, although it won’t be appearing on the band’s forthcoming Merge LP, All Eternals Deck (coming on 3/29).