Another Sunny Day by Belle and Sebastian

When you look at 2012's TV poster girl for 'alternative', Zooey Deschanel's 'kooky' lead in New Girl, the accusations of twee filed against Belle and Sebastian in the 90s seem pretty daft. Of course their songs live in their own singular universe, something their devoted fanbase delights in, largely informed by their educated, arty Glaswegian upbringings, but their songwriting has often been darker than they've been given credit for. Eloquently dealing with rape, mental illness and sexuality over the course of their many albums, their songs aren't all fleets of childhood nostalgia and Motown pastiche. Another Sunny Day, from 2006's The Life Pursuit, ticks all the classic B&S boxes - hummable melody, immaculate 60s harmonies, requisite teenage yearning - but lyrically its tale of doomed young love is cut through with a sadness which belies its sunny disposition. Heartbreaking but comfortingly wistful, like an old love letter, my money would be on it soundtracking an episode of New Girl very soon.

Another Sunny Day by Belle and Sebastian - listen on Spotify here.

Drifting In And Out by Porcelain Raft

The morning after the night before. Through the fug and recriminations you emerge into the sun and for a minute, everything is OK. A little surge of serotonin before the poison in your bloodstream takes hold. Porcelain Raft, aka globe-trotting producer Mauro Remiddi, makes an excellent soundtrack for these peculiarly ecstatic moments, perfectly encapsulated in the blissed-out shoegaze of Drifting In And Out, a beautifully indistinct blur of warmth and peace that washes over you and departs before you can even really remember how it went. But for those three minutes you'll be drowned in it, unable to function without it. For a brief time you won't even care about the monumental hangover that's about to hit.

Drifting In And Out by Porcelain Raft - listen on Spotify here.

Forget You All The Time by Cloud Nothings

Cleveland-born Dylan Baldi (that's Cleveland Ohio), may only have been 18 when he wrote this - from Cloud Nothings' 2011 debut album - but his sense of melody and the mechanics of human relations were already pretty well-attuned. A satisfyingly lo-fi, sludgy production (this is essentially a CD-R recorded in his parents' basement), Forget You All The Time is an exhilarating, punky stab in the heart, a man only convincing himself that he's over her. Impeccably scuzzy pop.

Forget You All The Time by Cloud Nothings - listen on Spotify here.

From: Cloud Nothings (2011)

This Must Be Where It Ends by Brett Anderson

A couple of months old but still worthy of mention, Mr Anderson's fourth solo album, Black Rainbows, came on the back of the long-awaited Suede reformation and it seems like the idea of getting back to his alma mata had a restorative effect on his own work. The wonderful single Brittle Heart would be an obvious choice of highlight but I'm going to plump for this, a typically brooding, rain-blown swoon, full of the usual Anderson tics - faded glamour, doomed romance, mistresses in Mercedes - but a song whose backdrop is positively post-rock, soft-loud guitars and rolling bass and drums taking their own sweet time. While it can't help but itch towards the 'EPIC' button, Brett hasn't sounded this good since The Wild Ones. It seems that the bosom of his old band is a healthy place for him to be.

This Must Be Where It Ends by Brett Anderson - listen on Spotify here.

Blue by The Verve

From the days before they became a definite article, Blue is their finest moment to my ears, a swirling rush of sound,  propelled by the kind of gargantuan groove they sadly lacked in later years, Ashcroft's vocals low enough in the mix to evoke the idea that it was recorded in the middle of an almighty storm (fitting for a song from Storm In Heaven). "Let's steal a car and listen to stars" intones Dickie amid the din. Three minutes of sky-scraping confidence and youthful hedonism that has been rarely been bettered.

Blue by The Verve - listen on Spotify here.

Disparate Youth by Santigold

Four years is a long time in pop music. But proving that she's lost none of her electro-pop nous, Santigold's comeback single Disparate Youth picks up where cracking debut album Santogold left off. Tight, syncopated beats, tasty bass and a new-found sheen suggests she's been listening to the likes of Grimes and Class Actress in her time off. New album Master Of My Make-Believe should be a blast. As Santigold knows, sometimes taking your time is the best way to leap forward.

Disparate Youth by Santigold - listen on Spotify here.

From: Master Of My Make-Believe - out 23rd April

Tumble Down by Terry Malts

Perfection can be overrated. Sometimes it's the wrong turns and the rough edges that make life interesting. A conclusion reached by members of San Fran Smiths-fanatics Magic Bullets, who decided to take a break from making shimmery indie pop songs and formed Terry Malts to explore something more earthy and direct. Tumble Down is an excellent advert for their manifesto of simple, dirty rock 'n' roll. Firstly it sounds like it was recorded down a mine shaft, such is its ramshackle clattering, but with Corey Cunningham's guitar occasionally bursting through the mix with a few tearing riffs and Phil Benson crooning somewhere in the mid-distance. It's like Surfer Blood if they'd spent all of their cash on cheap speed and been kicked out of their nice studio. And how can that not be a good thing?

Tumble Down by Terry Malts - listen on Spotify here.

From: Killing Time (2012)

Bavarian #1 (Say You Will) by Miike Snow

It's probably a little unfair to label Miike Snow as one-hit wonders, but 2009's Animal was the highlight of an otherwise messy, underwhelming debut album. Thankfully their second LP, last month's Happy To You, is much better, a skewed pop record full of skittering beats and tunes that take off in strange directions. In fact it's no surprise to discover that pre-Miike Snow the duo worked with Madonna and Britney (Toxic is one of theirs, after which they could surely retire happy). The best of the new songs is this one, Bavarian #1 (Say You Will), which rolls in on military drums and an insistent, cranium-wrecking little melody, a breathless momentum making it one of freshest things I've heard this year. The vocals bear a passing resemblance to that Gotye song that got to Number One but to these ears, the sense of carefully constructed abandon recalls Peter Gabriel in his heyday. If you're not still singing it this time tomorrow, you've probably been listening to Toxic.

Bavarian #1 (Say You Will)  - listen on Spotify here.

From: Happy To You (2012)

Box Of Stones by Benjamin Francis Leftwich

The slow, creeping influence of  Bon Iver is beginning to take hold. From Skinny Love being performed on Britain's Got Talent (albeit in the form of Birdy's breathy take), to numerous acoustic-brandishing singer-songwriters working out how they can match a back story which involves backwoods cabins and mononucleosis, the quiet ones are on the rise. York-born Benjamin Francis Leftwich is one such troubled soul but on the evidence of Box Of Stones, may just be able to move out of Bon's quivering shadow. A delicate sigh of a song, its wispy melody, softly-strung vocals and misty lyrics conjure a familiar bleak-but-beautiful landscape but ultimately it's a uniquely English take on wilderness melancholy. One suspects Mr Iver would approve.

Box Of Stones by Benjamin Francis Leftwich - listen on Spotify here.

Once I Was Pretty by The Mary Onettes

Swedish pop clearly has pedigree. Abba, Robyn, Roxette. Must be something to do with that midwinter darkness and shimmery summer light. Extremes bring out the best in that time-honoured musical contradiction of joyous melody / heartbreaking lyrics. The Mary Onettes hail from the small town of Jonkoping and have clearly spent month upon winter month hunkering down with their Cure, Bunnymen and Roses records. The result is this lovely piece of dreamy synth and strings indie, a rumination on true love and getting older and, rather like one-album wonders, British band The Upper Room, more than the sum of its obvious 80s influences. A song specifically designed to get you through the night.

Once I Was Pretty by The Mary Onettes - listen on Spotify here.

From: Islands (2010)

Insomniac by Echobelly

Nostalgia can be a lovely thing in small doses. As this tune appeared out of nowhere on a Spotify shuffle adventure the other day, I was suddenly back in 1994, had wonky teeth, still fancied the girl down the road and was wearing a coat that I thought made me look like Liam Gallagher but was undoubtedly more Frank Gallagher. Plus ca change. And boy, is it of its time. Jangly guitars, feisty frontwoman and a tale of cocaine-clouded nights on the town and y'know, the comedown and stuff. So far, so mid-90s indie. But Insomniac is certainly a cut above most of the minor league Britpop dross. It's got a blockbuster of a chorus, gloriously chunky major chords and a preternatually bright-eyed vocal from Sonya Madan. One to play to the young 'uns when she inevitably turns up in the Never Mind The Buzzcocks identity parade...

Insomniac by Echobelly - listen on Spotify here.

From: Everyone's Got One (1994)

I And Love And You by The Avett Brothers

Checking out a photo of The Avett Brothers this morning, I was a little perturbed to find them staring into the middle distance wearing Stetsons. Yes, they are definitely country and there is definitely something of the corn-fried cod-philosophy of the worst country and western in their lyrics but c'mon lads I thought, there's no need to signpost it. Dodgy hats aside and waistcoats aside, this is a sumptuous song, the title track from their 2010 major label debut. Apparently they were a bit punky in their early days but there's no sign of that here. Just pure pastoral beauty, a gently insistent chorus and a wreck of a man heading into the big city to find salvation. Perfect for late night ruminations or late afternoon daydreaming.

I And Love And You by The Avett Brothers - listen on Spotify here.

From: I And Love And You (2010)

Every Time I Say It by Ideals

Remember the early Noughties? It seemed not a day went by without another exciting, glamorously disheveled guitar band crash landed on the front page of the NME ready to steal hearts. And some of them were actually really good. That golden age of chart-crashing, interesting indie might have past but there are still some plectrum-loving gems to be found on the peripheries, London four-piece Ideals being one of them. Every Time I Say It, from last year's Let You Anger Leave You EP, is an exquisite indie pop song, a little like Interpol with the serotonin levels turned up just a notch, or The Stills. Strokes-lite guitar gloss and a cracking chorus of doe-eyed devotion in the face of stonewall emotional reticence, it deserves the audience it probably would have garnered in 2003.

Every Time I Say It by Ideals - listen on Spotify here.

From: Let Your Anger Leave You EP (2011)

March playlist

Here's a wee Spotify playlist of all the songs featured in March. Enjoy!

Click here for the March playlist