The indie song of the summer may well have passed, but there's still a wealth of new music to feast your ears upon this month. This episode, the Noise Pop Team brings you fresh sounds from some promising new acts like Kisses and Elite Gymnastics, balanced with recent releases from reliable indie greats like David Byrne and AC Newman. This well-rounded list suggests a fall full of potential for indie music.

Tracklist:

1. "I'm Not Talking" -- AC Newman, Shut Down the Streets

2. "Rest Your Mind" -- K Flay (feat. Felix Cartal), single

3. "Andreja 4 Ever" -- Elite Gymnastics, Adult Swim Singles Program

4. "Who" -- David Byrne and St Vincent, Love This Giant

5. "Jonathan's Hope" -- WHY?, Mumps, etc.

6. "Only In My Dreams" -- Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Mature Themes

7. "Cheap Beer" -- Fidlar, untitled LP

8. "French Lessons" -- Levek, Look a Little Closer

9. "False Astronomy" -- Mister Lies, Hidden Neighbors EP

10. "Funny Heartbeat" -- Kisses, single

11 Johnny Greenwood - Application 45 Version 1, The Master Original Soundtrack

It’s been building for 3 months and now it’s finally here, the indie song of the summer! There are several ways to define a song as a great summer song: it can be carefree, sweet, propulsive, lazy, emotional, detached, it can be anything really. The one thing it must have is the collective acknowledgment that “this is the soundtrack to my season; this is what I'm going to remember summer 2012 by" . The following list of songs are what defined summer for many of us and based on the quality of the list it's clearly been a good year for music. So enjoy! 

Tracklist:

1. “Five Seconds” -- Twin Shadows, Confess

2. “All of Me” -- Tanlines, Mixed Emotions

3. “Fineshrine” -- Purity Ring, Shrines

4. “Express Yourself”  --  Diplo featuring Nicky Da B, Mixtape

5. “Super Rich Kids” -- Frank Ocean, Channel Orange

6. “Constant Conversations” -- Passion Pit, Gossamer   

7. “I Love It” -- Icona Pop, Single

8. “Ho Hey” -- The Lumineers, The Lumineers

9. “Let's Go” -- Matt & Kim, Lightning   

10. “Wildest Moments” -- Jessie Ware, Devotion

11. “The House That Heaven Built” - Japandroids, Celebration Rock

In this episode, the Noise Pop Team brings you bits and pieces from all over the web: from punk, to 60s garage rock, to hip hop . With new songs from established acts like Bob Mould to tracks from buzzed about and up-and-coming artists like Riff Raff, there is a little something for everybody in this one. For our next episode, Song of The Summer, we want to hear from you! Go to our KQED page and tell us your favorite song of this season. Just head over to KQED.org/Arts/Programs/Noisepop/ and in the comment section let us know what you want or think it'll be.

1. "Black Mold Grow" --  Levek, Look A Little Closer

2. "Elephant"  --  Tame Impala,  Lonerism

3. "Sunshine"  --  Little Dragon, Single

4. "The Descent" --  Bob Mould, Silver Age

5. "Sweet and Sour"  --  Mvscles,  Single

After a brief foray into pop, the Noise Pop Team is happy to get back to their 'indie' roots. This episode features new music from Divine Fits, the brand new indie rock super group; Cat Power and her highly anticipated new record; Bobby Womack and his fascinating new reinvention; and, as usual, the best that the blogosphere has to offer.

Tracklist

1. "New York" -- Angel Haze, Reservation
2. "Drift Drive" -- Antlers, Undersea
3. "My Love is Real" -- Divine Fits, A Thing Called Divine Fits
4. "Sleep Paralysis" -- Gabriel Bruce, single
5. "Best Friend" -- Dent May, Do Things
6. "Deer and I" -- Skruncha-roo, C'est la vie
7. "Please Forgive My Heart." -- Bobby Womack, The Bravest Man in the Universe
8. "Ruin" -- Cat Power, Sun
9. "Boyfriend" -- Slowdance, Boyfriend/Airports
10. "Sweet Life" -- Frank Ocean, Channel Orange

We know you're out there. In public, you're proudly listening to the latest in indie obscurity. But every now and then, when no one is looking, you're singing along (and maybe dancing a little) to those ubiquitous earworms known as pop songs. Maybe they're your guilty pleasure, or maybe you admire the production and songwriting, or maybe they're just the tune you have stuck in your head even though you've never listened to the song on purpose. Either way, in this week's episode, we're taking a break from the best in indie and indulging in our latent pop tendencies. But don't worry, we haven't completely jumped the indie ship. We've curated a list of indie-approved pop tunes - songs that, in one way or another, have been created, covered, or just embraced by the indie community. Some of these tracks are discussed and analyzed, but others are just pure indulgence, because let's face it -- sometimes, we all just need to hear some Beyonce.

Tracklist:

1. "Dancing On My Own" -- Robyn, Body Talk Pt. 1
2. "Lovestoned" -- Justin Timberlake, FutureSex/LoveSounds
3. "Climax" -- Usher, Looking For Myself
4. "Boyfriend" -- Justin Bieber, Believe
5. "2012 (You Must Be Upgraded)" -- The Flaming Lips feat. Ke$ha & Biz Markie, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends
6. "Toxic" -- Britney Spears, In the Zone
7. "Since U Been Gone" -- Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway
8. "Trapped in the Closet Ch.1" -- R. Kelly, TP.3 Reloaded
9. "Call Me Maybe" -- Carly Rae Jepsen, Curiosity
10. "Countdown" -- Beyoncé, 4

Enjoy the latest batch of new music hand-selected by the Noise Pop team. At the beginning of each month they scour the web for the 10 best tracks and serve it up on a podcast platter for you to enjoy. On this episode they offer new music from indie mainstays such as The Walkmen and Dan Deacon as well tracks from exciting new artists like Ms Mr and Icky Blossoms.

Tracklist:

A few weeks ago, NPR asked us to come up with a list of definitive Noise Pop (the genre) songs for their website, NPR.org. It was a tall order and a fascinating challenge for us, and of course, we eagerly accepted. With tunes from the early '70s to modern songs released just a few months ago on our radar, we studiously dove into the decades to find the top 100. We sorted them chronologically in order to to show the evolution of the sound. The full list will post on NPR later this month, but for now we've assembled a teaser podcast episode that chronicles the genre's migration over the past 4 decades. Enjoy this sampler platter and stay tuned for the announcement of the full list coming soon.

Tracklist:

1. "Rock & Roll” – The Velvet Underground, Loaded (1970)
2. "Radio Free Europe" – R.E.M, Murmur (1981)
3. "Makes No Sense At All" – Husker Du, Flip Your Wig (1985)
4. "Bastards of Young" – The Replacements, Tim (1985)
5. "Freak Scene" – Dinosaur Jr., Bug (1988)
6. "Gigantic" – Pixies, Surfer Rosa (1988)
7. "Barnaby Hardly Working" – Yo La Tengo, Fakebook (1989)
8. "Shine On Sweet Jesus" – The Flaming Lips, In A Priest Driven Ambulance (1990)
9. "Only Shallow" – My Bloody Valentine, Loveless (1991)
10. "Three Years Ago Today" – Built To Spill, Ultimate Alternative Wavers (1992)
11. "Summer Babe (Winter Version)" – Pavement, Slanted & Enchanted (1992)
12. "Web In Front" – Archers of Loaf, Icky Mettle (1993)
13. "Natural One" – Folk Implosion, Kids OST (1994)
14. "Seven" – Sunny Day Real Estate, Diary (1994)
15 "Rebound" – Sebadoh, Bakesale (1995)
16. "Heart Cooks Brain" – Modest Mouse, The Lonesome Crowded West (1997)
17. "Holland, 1945" – Neutral Milk Hotel, Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998)
18. "You're Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl)" – The White Stripes, De Stijl (2000)
19. "Fever Dreaming" – No Age, Everything In Between (2004)
20. "The Rat" – The Walkmen, Bows + Arrows (2004)
21. "Queen of Hearts" – Fucked Up, David Comes To Life (2011)
22. "Open Your Heart" – The Men, Open Your Heart (2012)

It's May, and while spring isn't technically over for another month or so, it's fair to say the search for the elusive song of the summer can officially begin. It might be a little too early to make the call, but Dawson thinks he's found a contender for that coveted title. Later this summer you can expect an episode that exclusively tackles this topic, but for now you can consider this a teaser. And either way, if these ten songs are any indication of the summer to come, you're going to like the sound of it. Enjoy this mix of 10 new songs you need to hear now...

Tracklist:

1. “Get Got” -- Death Grips, The Money Store
2. “How Do I Know“ -- Here We Go Magic, A Different Ship
3. “Down the Lane” -- Royal Headache, Down the Lane
4.  “Obedear” -- Purity Ring, Shrines
5. “Hook You Up”  -- Sylver Tongue, Creatures 
6. “Pretend You Love” -- Sonny and the Sunsets, Longtime Companion
7. “(Into the) Atmosphere” -- Dusted, Total Dust  
8. “Reverse Inverted” -- Torche, Harmonicraft
9. “Doused” -- DIIV, Oshin
10. “F.T.F.” -- Trust, TRST

There is an unofficial game music nerds play online; it's silly, it's futile and it is incredibly addictive, it's 'guess the festival lineup'. Music fans spend hours researching what bands are likely to play what festival and they share their predictions online where they argue endlessly about it. The best predictions are usually based on record release dates, tour schedules, the last time a band played a certain festival, what kind of sound they a band is, etc...

All festivals get this treatment, but no festival is obsessed over quite as much as Coachella. It's the white whale of lineup predictions and it seems to start earlier each year. So, with this year's festival coming to a close we decided it would be novel to take the first known stab at next year's festival lineup. We brirefly discuss this year's artists and then dive right into our logical choices for 2013. Of course, nothing is confirmed, these are merely guesses, but as you'll hear it's a hell of a lot of fun to play this guessing game.