So, it happened. Actually, it wasn’t intended – but I accidentally watched 10 minutes of – God help me – Top Gear, so it really was inevitable.

Anyway: I watched, and Lo! there he was: Alex James, driving a car and answering Jeremy Clarkson’s inane teenage-boy-trapped-in-a-middle-aged-dick questions. For enduring the latter alone, my feelings softened to our cheesy hero immediately. And then it happened.

I realised that I quite like this new, older, wiser, charming Alex James. Perhaps it’s the cheese talking, or maybe just my loathing for Clarkson, but he seemed simply… nice.

My head hung in shame, until I realised Alex does a column for the Sun, so it kind of evened out in the end.

MIXTAPE!

FIRST! And speaking of nice, here’s Biggles Flies Again, who are nicer than pie. Don’t mistake their intentions, though: they are no boring saps – and have an ear for slippery and sweet pop.

SECOND! Chateaux have been on ANBAD before, but when a band returns with a hunk of brawny dream-pop, it’s hard to resist – and why should we even consider shunning a song like Oh, Darling?

THIRD! Andrew Burke has made a song that is remarkable for many reasons, chiefly of which is the fact that is entirely a cappella, and yet I didn’t notice until near the end. Brilliant:

FINALLY! Animal’s Burning Leaves is exactly the sound of what music would sound like if a campfire were able to make music. I can describe it no better: