Alpine - Hands (Goldroom Remix)
This remix is head and shoulders above the original. What was once a soft, lush indie darling is now a pumping, electronic body-mover. It's amazing the change a song can go through with a different chord progression.
"It's ok to feel the rain on my hands, my love, my enemy"

Michael Kiwanuka - Tell me a Tale
The return of Mr. Otis Redding? Maybe I'm too in love with Michael Kiwanuka, but to hear modern soul this good warms the cockles of my heart. The album is a great journey.
"Turn me around so I can be, everything I was meant to be"

Electric Guest - Awake
The hook, good lord. Electric Guest channels their inner Mamas and Papas with a stellar harmonized chorus with out-of-left-field chord changes.
"The truth is that I never shook my shadow, every day it's trying to trick me into doing battle"

Paper Tiger - The Bully Plank
A great piano and drums groove up to the 1:11 mark, where... the same piano line plays backwards? Awesome. And the out of the blue vocal line just kills it.
"The man I used to be: don't know why I loved you"

Kamp! - Cairo
After those first 45 seconds, when that heavy synth groove kicks in... it gets me every time. I've scoured the internet for more Kamp! but 3 songs is all I've found. All three, though, have been as impressive as this.
"I'm the sand leaking through your hands, until you're here"

Without Further Adieu...

St. Lucia - We Got it Wrong
Six tracks of glorious synth-heavy indie gold is what comprises my favorite EP of the year: St. Lucia's self-titled first release. When that heavy, dancey synth break comes in, the only thing I can't do is stand still.
"We shake illusions of trust, we gotta know your heart"

Chairlift - Amanaemonesia
This song is bizarre... but I just can't stop listening to it (despite the fact that I still don't know how to spell amanamoneaniemsiansia). The video for this is something you can't miss: A unitard-clad interpretive dance karaoke. Be sure to check it out.
"Becoming a habit? Chasing the rabbit. Is it amnesia?"

Alexander - Truth
Maybe Ernio Marricone's 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' soundtrack has scarred me, but when I listen to this, I see nothing but dusty, horse-trod trails that lead to whisky bars. This is phenomenal indie magic.
"The truth is that I never shook my shadow, every day it's trying to trick me into doing battle"

The War on Drugs - Baby Missiles
This sounds like the latest single from Men Without Hats: the sing-talking-warble of questionable pitch lives on... and how! Fantastic 80's rock that has a frenetic, urgent vibe that can't be ignored.
"Just the sound of the northeast. Because I don't mind when all the pioneers go soft on me"

Pharaohe Monche - Still Standing
Any rapper who boasts of his non-gangsta ways immediately makes me perk up my ears. Pharaohe Monch's 'Still Standing' is an epic creation. Nevermind the massive horns and strings, it's the ascending guitar line from 0:56 to 1:15 that speaks volumes to how well this track is produced.
"I have no dead bodies to claim, never been a trigger man. Crack? Never peddled that, opposite of Jigga man"