Cor, it’s gone cold here in Manchester. It was so cold that when the temperature zoomed back up to precisely zero degrees celcius, it felt positively balmy in comparison.

In these testicle-ascendantly-cold times, staying indoors and listening to some good tunes seems like an even better proposition than usual.

Thus: MIXTAPE.

FIRST! The Honey Pies make a bit of a racket don’t they? Talk about a breathless rush. Sex Wax begins at a canter and dares you to keep up. They teeter along that thin line between ‘I think I’ve heard this before’ and ‘I think I’ve heard this before, though it turns out I haven’t, and as such it must be a good song’. They always fall down on the side of the latter, which counts as a great success.

SECOND! Lips Against The Glass, indeed. The last person I saw do that misjudged their approach to the window and knocked out a tooth. Nasty business. That Moment – not the tooth incident, the song by Lips Against The Glass – is a creepy, lithe and dainty sliver of electronica that is reminiscent of The Knife at their most relaxed. Nice.

THIRD! The New Generation Dudes sent me the following email: “IF YOU WANT YOUR MIND BLOWN OUT OF YOUR ASSHOLE, YOU WILL REVIEWING THIS ALBUM/EP/TIRADE OF PURE MUSICAL DOMINATION….YOUR HEAD WILL LITERALLY FUCKING EXPLODE. THAT SHIT AT THE BEGINNING WAS ONLY AN ANALOGY, BUT IF YOU ARE NOT READY FOR THIS, YOUR HEAD WILL LITERALLY FUCKING EXPLODE. DO NOT FUCK AROUND.”

No other recommendation is necessary.

FOURTH! Alf, sadly, have nothing to do with the late-80’s kid’s TV show of the same name. Good job too. Alf’s songs, like the deliriously happy Hälften Kvar bounce along with the jabbering fun that one can always rely on from Scandinavian rock bands. They’re another band from the part of the world that repeatedly and deftly pulls off the seemingly impossible by finding another new, delicious melody to grin along to. Excellent.