Caught in the Net: Jarvis's accolade for Angela

(Getty)

Angela, whoever she is, has joined the likes of Deborah, Sylvia, Minnie and Julie in the list of women immortalized in song by Jarvis Cocker.

The aforementioned Angela is the title and subject matter of the first track from Cocker's soon-to-be-released second solo album and is a free download from www.jarviscocker.net – you need to provide an email address.

Cocker is rather taken with this Angela, in one of his typically enjoyable character studies full of memorable lines: "Angela, ooh, you blew my mind," he sings suggestively. "Angela, I feel the stock rising tonight. A dry stick at the end of a branch and an over zealous hand."

The new record, 'Further Complications' was recorded in Chicago with famed alt-rock producer Steve Albini. With crunching guitars, pounding piano lines and plenty of hand-claps, "Angela", is fine rock and roll affair.

Also on the website, is an odd video of Jarvis struggling manfully to assemble some large alphabet blocks to spell out his name. It takes a while, but in his own suitably charming way, he finally displays that Jarvis is back.

Greatest albums

An indie rock-based "best of" list will always get the juices of obsessive music fans flowing. Amazon.com have compiled a list of the "100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums of All Time" – http://tinyurl.com/coht93. Though defining indie rock was difficult – it relies largely on gut instinct: "John Oates put out a rock record called Phunk Shui on an indie label," they explain, "however, in no way should Phunk Shui be mistaken for indie rock". 'Guided By Voices' 'Bee Thousand' topped the US centric list. Alongside this are some free sampler albums from several of the independent record labels that released records in the chart. Download them at http://tinyurl.com/dxp9om.

Long live the Undead

There must be something in the air in cold climates right now. First we had 'Let the Right One In', a Swedish horror film about vampires and adolescent urges, now Canadian Stephen McBean – aka Pink Mountaintops – is singing about vampire love too. His effort, "Vampire", is less unsettling than the film, but is equally excellent. Folky and slightly psychedelic, it is available free at http://tinyurl.com/cak6ra and comes from the forthcoming new album, 'Outside Love'.

Song, star, film, music – cost: £22

The video for Max Tundra's new single "Which Song" is an advert for these frugal times and the DIY aesthetic of the YouTube era. The electro producer-come-singer, directed, filmed and starred in the video, at a cost of a mere £22. With some nice lo-fi visual tricks along the way, it comes across like a no-budget version of work by French master director Michel Gondry. Watch it at http://tinyurl.com/cdcd66. The song itself is full of bleeps and nice melodies.

UK 'Indie' offer

They have a ropy name, but the Edinburgh band We Were Promised Jetpacks make up for it with some decent tunes. The young quartet (average age: 21), aren't exactly reinventing the wheel with another take on the dominant sound of UK indie this decade – driving post-punk guitar rock – but their debut album is a good start nonetheless. In particular, the voice of lead singer Adam Thompson nicely undercuts the band's more anthemic tendencies and there are some nice spikey guitar lines too. The record, 'These Four Walls', comes out in June and in advance of this 'The Independent' is offering two songs, an album track and a b-side, as free downloads. Get them at www.independent.co.uk/mixtape.