Here are four very good (and very different) new albums I’ve been enjoying via Spotify:

• Heads We Dance: Love Technology – As recommended by service user on the Marsheaux forum, this is a great new SF-inspired band with a male lead singer who reminds me a bit of Alexander Hofman from S.P.O.C.K. The Kraftwerk cover sounds good with the female vocals and there’s a song named after a Philip K Dick novel (“Ubik”) for bonus points.

• The Duckworth Lewis Method – The Duckworth Lewis Method – Cricket-inspired album from Neal Hannon (Divine Comedy) and Thomas Walsh (Pugwash). I know nothing at all about cricket but that doesn’t matter: this is as good as a new Divine Comedy album and is a fine return to form for Hannon!

• Die Form: Noir Magnétique – These French industrial fetishists have been around for a few decades now, I have a coluple of their CDs which I think are worth a purchase for the artwork alone. This new album is their most accessible album yet: I think it’s the best thing they’ve ever done.

• Little Boots – Hands – I waited a long time for this, I even bought the CD as I couldn’t wait for it to be added to Spotify. 2009 will be seen as the year that synthpop returned to the mainstream, and Victoria is one of the new artists leading the way (with a little help from Phil Oakey).