Saint Etienne – Tonight [free d/l - St Etienne's page]

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One of my fave bands ever is back! With an instant classic, to boot.

Like the album it’s taken from, the band’s first in 7 years (!), Tonight is all about the primal and atavistic pull that all good pop music exerts, about how the unadulterated thrill of a great band or gig can sometimes feel like a hotline straight to your heart.

The track is produced by Xenomania’s Tim Powell (Girls Aloud, Kylie, Sugababes), and mixed by Richard X, and says Bob Stanley of St Etienne,”Tonight is about the anticipation of going to see your favourite group. For some reason, I imagine this show is at the Forum in Kentish Town. The whole album is about the power of pop, how it affects and shapes your life.”.

Go and download this gem at their website NOW! It doesn’t get much better than this when it comes to pop.

Bleakness, tragedy and despair are probably a few of the things you might think of when you hear the name Bergman. But don’t let that colour your judgement when it comes to this Bergman. Apart from both being Swedes, I cannot really see that many common denominators between the famous Swedish director and the acclaimed nineties popsmith Mats Bergman, who now is planning his comeback.

Bergman – Ever Since [mp3]

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The Pains of Being Pure at Heart –
Come Saturday [MP3]

Meet The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, a charming little energetic four piece noisy pop punk combo from Brooklyn, NY.

Their debut album is released this month and it's packed with highly infectious and  brilliant jangly, fuzzy, pop melodies, half of which remind me of Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura, and their likes – albeit with distorted guitars, and the other half of shoegazy indie stuff like, say, My Bloody Valentine. Heck, at times it even gives me a serious Ramones vibe.

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London-based Toy Toy formed over a year ago with a self-proclaimed desire to stick two fingers up at the indie boy bands that didn’t have to sleep their way to the top…

Produced by Robert Harder (Whitey, Babyshambles), “ Fuck My Boyfriend” is their provocative and unapologetic debut single and is a dark tale of misguided relationships. Its punky sentiment and synth rocking choruses make up a slice of the finest crack-pipe pop. Nemesis to go describe them as “the long lost London cousins of The Rezillos”, which really hits the nail on the head.

As a special Valentine’s gift, they offer you a free download of “Fuck my boyfriend” on Feb 14. So make sure you visit their MySpace this Saturday (yes, you forgot?) and snag it. It’s huge. It’s brilliant. It’s the next big thing!!

The Tough Alliance – A New Chance (Tanlines Remix) [mp3 ]

Swedish dreamy hooligan-electro duo The Tough Alliance are back with another nostalgic, romantic, sun-drenched pop kiss. Here's their "A new chance" from a few months back in a, if possible, even more sunny new remix by Tanlines. Now, where's my sunglasses… [Thx to Pitchfork for the d/l]

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The Good Natured. – Curious Eyes [mp3]

The Good Natured. is the latest girl synth pop sensation from the UK. Her debut EP Warriors will be available via iTunes from the 16th March. Already the EP has been heavily rotated on Radio 1and Radio 6. The Good Natured. has garnered great press such as The Sunday Times, ArtRocker and PopJustice. Her team dropped this brilliant song to our dropbox and we can't get enuff of it. Grab Curious Eyes and turn it LOUD, it's hot, it's fresh, it's dancey, it's melachonic. We will hear a lot about The Good Natured. in the future! Just remember what we told you about Little Boots last summer ;)

El Barto & Liam B – POP MIX [mp3 AudioPorn FM]
tracklisting is after the jump

fourty three minutes pop
wicked, awesome, yayyy yayyyy

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MGMT – Kids (Pet Shop Boys Remix) [Audio Porn FM]

I've no idea why I haven't heard of this before. My gut reaction was that it's fake. But checking with a few reliable sources, it seems legit. And yup, you'll recognise a few trademark PSB schticks, but it hurts my heart to say that they're not up there with the best "Kids" remixes – Soulwax rules – or even the best PSB remixes.

Still, even a semi-good PSB remix is better than your average remix. And "Kids" is absolutely one of the contenders to the "Best song of the year" award in my book. So let's do this anyway. Go ahead. Enjoy.

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Alphabeat – Digital Love (Daft Punk cover)
[Audio Porn FM]

In my opinion, the jury's still out on Danish Happy-Go-Lucksters Alphabeat. But here I must say they really surprise us (well, at least me…) with a very cool cover of Daft Punk's "Digital Love".

Check it out after the jump.

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