Rock / Indie / 50s / 60s Recommendations February 2015

Review: Noah Lennox, in his Panda Bear guise, has always walked a tightrope of sorts, with his third-eye cleansing psyched-out talents - as shown on 2007's landmark opus Person Pitch - occasionally waylaid by the odd drift into self-indulgence. Yet when he's firing on all cylinders, there are no more formidable exponents of sampleadelic boundary-destroying bliss, and Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper finds him on formidable form-these laments and sweet pop nuggets may be constructed from disparate sources and swamped in dub-style echo and reverb to achieve a woozy soft-focus effect, yet their radiance and fresh invention remains manifest. In spite of its title, this is as life-affirming as Lennox has ever sounded.

Review: Californian Jessica Pratt may have been born in the late-eighties, but On Your Own Again, her second album to date, is possessed of a strangely timeless quality, apparently beamed in from some alternate dimension where pastoral atmosphere sashays with ethereal quietude to beguiling effect. Somewhat redolent of the sleight-of-hand of Joni Mitchell and the otherworldly subtleties of Karen Dalton, Pratt's small-hours serenades are mostly comprised of merely her guitar and voice - and recorded all-analogue to four track - yet it's testimony to her talents that these simple ingredients weave a delicate spell over the course of these nine songs that is little short of mesmerising.

Review: The Glasgow-based indie-pop mainstays have continually challenged themselves throughout their life as a band, and Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance is another step forward, again proving themselves to be not as easily pigeonholed in the insular worlds of twee indie as their detractors might have imagined when they emerged as a cult concern in the late '90s. "Enter Sylvia Plath" even takes their trademark stylings to the dancefloor, no less than a disco stomper redolent of a more bookish Hot Chip, whilst "The Party Line" is proof positive that their pop muscles can be formidable when flexed. A charming collection for diehards and new converts alike.

Review: The heralded Portland indie-folk outfit have risen from obscurity to chart-topping glory, and this seventh record is both another step forward and a consolidation of the intimate, idiosyncratic sound they're valued for. Diverse and expansive, it also manages not to gloss over of their eccentricities, rather offering a record with both big ambitions and a similar-sized heart. There's no shortage of melody here, yet there's also subtlety in the lyrical slants and a rare ability to balance the widescreen and the understated. What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World offers yet more proof that The Decemberists are a unique and valuable group of square-peg troubadours indeed.