Caught in the Net: The sound of the year is Heavenly

One of the groups I nominated six months ago in BBC's Sound of 2011 poll to highlight the "most promising new artist" of the coming year was Twin Sister.

That was off the back of two great EPs they had released, both of which are streaming at twinsistermusic.com. Though they didn't make the list – and many might argue they were better off that way – they have been signed to Domino and I'm pleased to see a debut album from the Long Island five-piece is now forthcoming. The record, In Heaven, will be released on 26 September. Last week "Bad Street", the first song from the LP appeared and this fine slice of polished indie pop is a free download from their website.

New York stories and Moore

It seems that there's a part of Thurston Moore that will forever remain located in the scuzzy New York of the late 1970s and early 1980s. In a recent episode of the Take-Away Shows, the online performance video series, the Sonic Youth man reflects on those halcyon times, and other New York tales, while performing tracks from his solo album Demolished Thoughts. The deal goes down at an apartment in downtown Manhattan, where Moore plays three songs with the help of the violinist Samara Lubelski. The video is shot with stylish grace, and while it's largely a gentle affair, guitar fiends will likely get a kick out of the close-up of Moore's hands scraping blasts of noise out of his acoustic guitar on "Circulation". Watch it at ind.pn/isJthM.

Love is in the air for The Rapture

With floor-filling dance-rock, shot through with haunted vocals and occasional blasts of skronking sax, "How Deep Is Your Love", the new single from The Rapture doesn't deviate much from the punk-funk revival template they set in 2003. The song is the first from their third album in nine years, The Grace of Your Love, which will be released in September. While things may not have changed in a decade, and it would be hard to reach the heights of the era-defining "House of Jealous Lovers", this new effort is impressive. Hear it and see the unconventional video at vimeo.com/24852876.

Music for nothing in the singles bar

The Adult Swim Singles Programme has returned for its second run. Last year's series saw eight free tracks released in eight weeks from the likes of Black Lips, Madvillain and LCD Soundsystem, which you can download at ind.pn/kZVmZ1. This time around it has expanded to 10 free tracks in 10 weeks at ind.pn/isSKmo. The first two offerings were a smooth 1980s-inclined electro jam called "Too Much MIDI (Please Forgive Me)" from Ford & Lopatin, plus a new track by Best Coast called "Gone Again".

l.ryan@independent.co.uk