Thirty-two songs across two and a half hours: downtempo, dream-pop and trip-hop, with a few things that refuse to sit still. Radiohead, Sigur Rós, Warpaint, Doves, Broken Social Scene, Wet Leg, Hope Sandoval, Modeselektor, Broadcast and Télépopmusik, alongside Jadu Heart, The Bilinda Butchers, Airiel, Babehoven and Youandewan. Press escape any time.
LA dream-pop/neo-psych quartet (Emily Kokal, Theresa Wayman, Jenny Lee Lindberg, Stella Mozgawa) known for smoky, hypnotic, interlocking guitars. 'Hi' is from their 2014 self-titled LP; breakthrough debut The Fool (2010). They formed on Valentine's Day 2004 — actress Shannyn Sossamon was an early drummer. They marked 20 years in 2024 with new singles; fourth album Radiate Like This came out in 2022.
Manchester-area indie-rock trio — Jimi Goodwin and twins Jez & Andy Williams — famed for widescreen, melancholic anthems. Mercury-nominated Lost Souls (2000) and UK No.1 The Last Broadcast (2002) are the classics. Before Doves they made dance music as Sub Sub until a studio fire. They returned from hiatus with The Universal Want (2020), their first album in 11 years, followed by Constellations for the Lonely (2025).
Alias of British producer/multi-instrumentalist Will Holland, blending jazz, funk, soul and Latin grooves into warm downtempo. 'In the Key of Blue' is from his 2001 debut The 5th Exotic, released on Tru Thoughts. In 2007 he moved to Cali, Colombia, where he spent years immersing himself in cumbia and Afro-Latin music.
French downtempo trio behind the ubiquitous 'Breathe,' sung by Scottish vocalist Angela McCluskey, from Genetic World (2001). It became a chill-out staple after a Mitsubishi ad and a Friends cameo; the video was directed by Ridley Scott's daughter Jordan. McCluskey (ex-Wild Colonials) died in 2024 at age 64.
English duo Diva Jeffrey and Alex Headford roaming dream-pop, shoegaze and indie — they once performed in masks. 'I'm a Kid' (2017) was an early signature; debut Melt Away (2019). They signed early to Mura Masa's label Anchor Point Records. Released Post Heaven (2025), made after the couple's breakup while staying musical partners.
Birmingham group led by the singular Trish Keenan and James Cargill, fusing vintage synths, library music and '60s psych into something haunting — a rare guitar-adjacent Warp signing. 'Come On Let's Go' anchors debut The Noise Made by People (2000). Keenan died of pneumonia in 2011 at age 42; Cargill later issued posthumous collections, and the band formally ended after Distant Call (2024).
American indie-pop trio — Andy Chase, French vocalist Dominique Durand, and Adam Schlesinger — making breezy, bittersweet pop. 'Undertow' opens the beloved Long Distance (2000). Schlesinger was a hit songwriter (Fountains of Wayne's 'Stacy's Mom,' That Thing You Do!) who died of COVID in 2020; the pair reunited for Traces of You (2025).
Sam Manville, a one-man electronic project from the English Midlands, named after the London stock index — which tells you the politics before you hear a note. He works alone: plays everything, delivers his own finished masters, and once summed up the project as “one man, one MPC.” The 2015 debut album Joyless is a deliberate “defeatist manifesto on our over-connected, over-stimulated and over-priced world,” with songs aimed at consumerism and celebrity culture; vocals on much of his work come from his wife Taz, soothing and often ironic against the beat. “Float” predates all that — it is from the 2013 EP FTSE I, featuring Kenzie May, and is far softer than the record that followed.
Late-'90s project of Scottish multi-instrumentalist Luke Sutherland (ex-Long Fin Killie) with Danish singer Signe Høirup Wille-Jørgensen; 'Girls Lips Glitter' is on 1999's Blush (Too Pure). Trip-hop/dream-pop of that era. Sutherland is also a published novelist and, since 2000, an occasional touring member of Mogwai. Bows released two albums on Too Pure.
LA turntablist/producer Lucas MacFadden, ex-Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli, revered for dexterous sample-collage art. 'The Garden' is a highlight of debut The Audience's Listening (2006), weaving in Brazilian samples. He and DJ Shadow famously played live sets using only original vinyl 45s. Released a second solo LP, Die Cut, in 2018.
San Francisco band (formed 1998) layering shoegaze, post-punk and dreamy pop into a lush wall of sound. 'Two Kinds' is from Hideout (2007) on Beggars Banquet. After going inactive in 2011 they reunited in 2014 and released Bright to Death (2018), We Weren't Here (2021) and Field (2023).
Transatlantic supergroup of American indie-hip-hop crew Themselves (Doseone & Jel, Anticon) with German art-rockers The Notwist — glitchy electronics, melancholy indie and abstract rap. Self-titled debut (2005), Own Your Ghost (2011), both on Anticon. A true shared-songwriting collaboration.
The intimate solo project of María Zardoya, frontwoman of dream-pop favorites The Marías. Debut Melt (October 2025) was recorded in upstate New York in January 2025 with producers Sam Evian and Luca Buccellati, trading her band's sheen for gothic, in-the-moment ballads. Melt debuted at No.13 on the Billboard 200, and she played Coachella in April 2026.
LA indie-rock band (relocated from Riverside, CA, in 2009) trading in textural, shoegaze-tinged guitar rock. Debut LP Loose Ends (2014, Fat Possum) is the touchstone and home of 'It's True, It's You.' Core members: singer/guitarist Scotty Cantino and guitarist Brock Woolsey.
The legendary Oxford art-rock band whose reinvention across OK Computer, Kid A and In Rainbows made them era-defining. 'Talk Show Host' is a beloved trip-hop-flavored B-side from the January 1996 'Street Spirit (Fade Out)' single that found new life on the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack. In late 2025 the band returned to the stage with a European tour, their first shows since 2018.
Sprawling Toronto indie collective founded in 1999 by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning — an incubator for Feist, Emily Haines (Metric) and Stars. 'Sweetest Kill' is an aching highlight of Forgiveness Rock Record (2010); breakthrough You Forgot It in People (2002). A rotating super-collective whose lineup changes song to song. Released Remember the Humans in 2026.
San Francisco Bay Area dream-pop/shoegaze group (formed 2008 in Concord, CA) of hazy guitars and whispery vocals — the goodbyes EP (2012) holds 'Half Open,' plus concept LP Regret, Love, Guilt, Dreams (2014). They're named after My Bloody Valentine's Bilinda Butcher. Founded by Michal Palmer and Adam Honingford.
Cult Chicago shoegaze band (started 1997 in Bloomington, IN) led by Jeremy Wrenn, drenched in wall-of-guitar. Debut album The Battle of Sealand (2007) is the landmark; 'In Your Room' first appeared on the 2003 Winks & Kisses EP series and was used in Gregg Araki's film Kaboom. As thanks for the album, the members were named official Lords of the micronation Sealand. Their most recent album is Molten Young Lovers (2017).
New York indie-folk/slowcore duo fronted by Maya Bon with Ryan Albert — lush, contemplative songs with folk, country and shoegaze shadings. Water's Here in You (April 2024, Double Double Whammy) drew warm reviews; 'Dizzy Spin' is a highlight of the album, which was written during a New York State winter.
Pioneering French electronic act (formed 1992, Rennes) by Marc Durif and Michel Gravil, blending downtempo electronics with early/classical harmony; emerged on Laurent Garnier's F Communications. 'Prisoner's Song' (2010) features celebrated Hungarian folk singer Márta Sebestyén (of The English Patient). Their most recent album is Néoclassic (2017).
Boundary-pushing Berlin electronic duo Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary (Monkeytown label), hopping between techno, hip-hop and IDM. 'This' is from Monkeytown (2011), one of two tracks there featuring Thom Yorke, who had also guested on 2007's Happy Birthday! — Yorke is a longtime fan.
Acclaimed American singer-songwriter/guitarist raised in Costa Mesa, CA, known for intricate guitar work. Revealer (2022) won the Grammy for Best Folk Album; Ace (October 2025) leans on piano and was shaped by her divorce, and 'Break The Jaw' wrestles with heartbreak. She started guitar at seven, inspired by her pastor father.
French producer Laurent Daumail, a founding architect of French trip-hop and instrumental hip-hop. Jazzy, sample-laden downtempo on Underground Vibes (1995) and The Beat Assassinated (1998); 'A Loop' is from Seven (2011). He founded the Inflamable label and also records with the DJ Cam Quartet.
A fairly obscure act — a solo project that expands live to a three-piece with a bassist, a second guitarist and a drum machine. Dreamy, balearic-leaning dream-pop on the Wah Wah Wino label; 'Pass' was released in April 2025 and later collected on the vinyl The Return of Officer John (2025). Public biographical detail is scarce.
English indie-rock band from the Isle of Wight, founded 2019 by Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers. Viral 'Chaise Longue' launched a self-titled 2022 debut that hit UK No.1 and won two Grammys. '11:21' is a moodier cut from the second album Moisturizer (July 2025).
Dream-pop duo of Hope Sandoval — the reclusive voice of Mazzy Star ('Fade Into You') — and My Bloody Valentine drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig, formed in 2000. A hushed, narcotic sound across Bavarian Fruit Bread (2001), Through the Devil Softly (2009) and Until the Hunter (2016). It unites the Mazzy Star and MBV camps as a slow-burn side project.
Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer blending shimmery country-psychedelia with bedroom indie-pop. New York-based; debut EP Spaghetti Western (2018), then debut album Sound from Out the Window (2021), home to 'Just a Sign.' He recorded, performed, mixed and produced that album himself.
Not the fashion designer — a Brooklyn shoegaze project led by vocalist-guitarist Jordan John Parker, all fuzzy, reverb-drenched layers; its live lineup has included Jenny on guitar and drums and Bailey on bass. It dates back at least to a 2016 EP. 'Ashley' is from the album Take Care (April 2025), whose songs were written and recorded by Parker.
Iceland's cathedral-sized post-rock band, famed for Jónsi Birgisson's bowed-guitar swells and falsetto, sometimes sung in the invented 'Hopelandic.' 'Untitled #4 (Njósnavélin)' — 'The Nothing Song' — is from 2002's ( ), whose eight tracks are all untitled. Átta (2023) was their first album in a decade.
Swedish folk-rock band from Gothenburg fronted by José González (of 'Heartbeats' fame) with Tobias Winterkorn on organ/Moog. Formed in 1998 but didn't release debut album Fields until 2010 — swapping stark folk for hypnotic motorik rhythms, with 'Always' released as a single. A second, self-titled album followed in 2013.
The DIY project of Soren Bryce, blurring band and personal confession, active since 2018 across US/UK underground scenes — raw, emotionally direct art-rock with post-hardcore edges. 'Favourite Son' is from FAKE NEW (2025), the project's third album, recorded in a week with producer Peter Miles.
Ewan Smith, a Yorkshire-born, Berlin-based producer known for tender, emotive deep house. '1988', his debut production, is one of his most beloved tracks, while debut album There Is No Right Time (2016, Aus Music) works as home listening as much as club fare.