This week my ears have been kindly plagued by The Pixies‘ Trompe Le Monde, an album that suddenly, pointlessly, emerged from the Pile Of Albums Past and thrilled me all over again. I love it when that happens. Little Eiffel! Little Eiffel!

The ANBAD Donkey gets Black Francisised to celebrate. And now here’s a mixtape, chiefly to remind me that there is still new music out there:

SECOND! Arp Attack‘s name caused an instant mental leap to Beastie Boys’ Heart Attack Man, and it is through that snot-punk window that Arp Attack’s Electro-pop was viewed. If anything, it’s to their credit that they survived the comparison, but his is probably to do with the fact that their electro-pop songs like Sugar Cane are actually very likeable, as opposed to the turgid majority. Nice.

THIRD! Glass Ankle – if boxers have glass jaws, do kick-boxers have Glass Ankles? Such questions rankle, but dissipate quickly as songs like Kyo wa ii hi (今日はいい日) veer cheerfully between straightforward folk and something a bit more special. You’ll come for the folk, but stay for the imperceptibly affecting emotional yearning.