It's #musicmonday time.

1. SUCIOPERRO: 'Grace and Out of Me'



Absolutely fantastic band whose new album, Pain Agency, is probably the best thing I've heard so far this year. Credit to Mr. Joe Parry of July Rising for introducing me to their music and giving me the opportunity to meet the lead singer, who had apparently pissed his pants. Delightful.

2. MARMADUKE DUKE: 'Kid Gloves'



Predictable, but nice, segway here into the second pick: the lead singer of Sucioperro is also in this deliciously bizarre duo, known for playing gigs in women's clothing and gimp suits. But not necessarily at the same time.

3. BIFFY CLYRO: 'Folding Stars'



Well, might as well carry on the musical connections while we're on a roll, eh? The other guy in Marmaduke Duke's slightly more famous band. J'adore this song. Great one to yell at the top of your voice when no one's around.

4. IDLEWILD: 'Everyone Says You're So Fragile'



What's the connection here? Country of origin, of course. The criminally underrated and overlooked Idlewild also hail from Bonny Scotland and have a new album out very, very soon. It'll be awesome, guaranteed. They always are. And and and... I get to see them perform four of their six LPs in their entirety in London in a couple of weeks! Cannot f-ing wait. Anyway, 'Everyone Says You're So Fragile' is from their messier early days. Altogether now, "HYAAAAAAGH!"

5. DIE! DIE! DIE!: '155'



Okay, I've given up on the connections now. Die! Die! Die! hail from New Zealand and are playing the Head of Steam tomorrow night. They're a bit insane, so it'll be well worth the 2 or 3 quid you'll pay to get in.

6. SPRAYDOG: 'Prizefighters'



These guys aren't supporting Die! Die! Die! tomorrow evening, but one of the members of the band is in the group that are, The Black Static of Summer. Nothing on the 'tube from them, but Spraydog are well worth checking out. This video, filmed out and about in good ol' Newcastle upon Tyne, is pretty darn cool.

7. GREEN DAY: 'Peacemaker'



New album 21st Century Breakdown is a flamboyantly adolescent beauty, epic as, well, a rather epic thing, and this is one of my favourite tracks from it. Kinda like a sped up version of 'Misery' but with better lyrics. Can't get it out of the old noggin.

8. WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS: 'Quiet Little Voices'



Ace band. Playing the Head of Steam on Saturday June 20th and also the Cockpit in Leeds on the 19th, supported by the wonderful July Rising. YOUR FACE NEEDS TO BE AT THAT GIG. One of the best band names I've heard in a long time too.

9. THE GET UP KIDS: 'Action and Action'



Recently reformed and apparently playing a couple of dates in the UK later in the year. This should have you creaming your pants.

10. SAVES THE DAY: 'See You (Live - Acoustic)'



And one more for the emo inside. Some wonderful imagery in this wonderful, wonderful song. 'My head is swirling/Been carried off in the sky/And where it lands is where it lands/I guess that I/Will get another head and get on with my life...' Ah, bliss.

It's #musicmonday! Wah-hey!

Inspired by the 'trending topic' of the same name on Twitter, here's a new feature designed to tickle your earlobes. I post links to ten songs wot I fink r gud. You listen. And probably want to hit me repeatedly over the head with a hammer for exposing you to such garbage. Oh well.

1. ANTI-FLAG: "Sodom, Gomorrah, Washington D.C. (Sheep in Shepherd's Clothing)"



Nice and angry new single from the perpetually politicised ones. This gives me a chance to show off my lovely new blip.fm account too. God, there's just too many websites to give my precious time to these days.

2. CONOR OBERST AND THE MYSTIC VALLEY BAND: "Nicorette"



A lovely live performance of a lovely song from Oberst's lovely new album 'Outer Sight', released this lovely week. Altogether now, 'I'm just trying to be a human being/Sitting in the sun eating ice cream'.

3. BILLY TALENT: "Devil on My Shoulder"



Bootlegged from a live show in Sydney, a sample of the sort of delights we are in for from Billy Talent III. Not the single, it should be noted, which is called 'Rusted From The Rain' and is out on May 25th.

4. MANIC STREET PREACHERS: "All Is Vanity"



Managed to get my hands on a copy of Journal for Plague Lovers and, pleasingly, it's a bit of a beaut. This is one of my favourites from it, set to an excellent montage of scenes from the movie Equilibrium. I really can't wait for the end of May...

5. THE KING BLUES: "I Got Love"



It's a little cheesy, I'll grant you, and it's far from the best song on recent album Save the World, Get the Girl, but I love it all the same. And it's all over Radio 1, which can only be a good thing.

6. MAXIMO PARK: "The Kids Are Sick Again"



Sounds delightfully sinister this one. Lucas's weird keyboard parts make it for me, and it certainly helps that he's as mad as ever in the video. Not quite as immediate as 'Our Velocity', but it packs a good punch nonethless.

7. FAKE PROBLEMS: "The Dream Team"



From 'It's Great To Be Alive', one of the few albums released this year that I've been struck by, 'The Dream Team' is a top class pop song and a fine, fine representation of the band. Playing the Lock Up stage at Reading and Leeds and supporting Frank Turner on his October tour, these guys are not to be missed.

8. NEW END ORIGINAL: "14-41"



Been listening to the one and only album from Jonah Matranga's best band (controversial that; I know I should be bleating on about how nothing'll ever surpass Far but meh, that's just not me) since his solo show at Trillian's a few weeks back and I can't get enough of this song. The amateur nature of the video footage that this is underscoring quite suits both the feel of the track and Matranga's very inclusivist attitude to his music.

9. EELS: "Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor"



The opening track from one of my favourite albums of all time, 1998's 'Electro-Shock Blues', 'Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor' is probably the most haunting piece of music you will ever hear. The animated video that accompanies it was created by the Youtube user responsible for the upload and it's superb.

10. FRANK TURNER: "Try This At Home"



An excellent live performance of the utterly ace 'Try This At Home' at this year's SXSW. The track will feature on Frank's third album 'Poetry of the Deed', which is out in September. Further proof, as if any were needed, that he can do no wrong.

And that's that. More next Monday!

Potentially unwitting dalliances with the North Eastern press. Or something.

In a curious turn of events, it seems there is the possibility that the good folk at The Sunday Sun have been paying attention to my Twitter account. Well, a slim possibility at least.

For those blissfully unaware of the intricacies of the web's finest new social networking utility, let me explain the concept of 'music Monday'. Basically, on a Monday, people all across the globe post links to songs on their Twitter accounts in an attempt to promote, you guessed it, music. These posts contain the 'hashtag' #musicmonday so that users can easily search and find everyone's recommendations. So, without actually 'following' my Twitter account, if I use the hashtag, you will be able to see my post.

Now then. Today, I posted five tweets containing '#musicmonday', the last of which, at about 6.30pm, was a Youtube link to local band (and personal mates, oh yes, swanning with the stars and that!) July Rising's performance of their song 'Where's R2?' at The Dog and Parrot from a couple of years ago. I then left the house to head for the quiz at The Cumberland Arms. When I returned, a few hours later, July Rising had noted on their Twitter account that they were The Sunday Sun's online 'Video of the Week', with this clip, and had no explanation for it. I also had a message from them, suggesting that perhaps I was the source.

Of course, I wish I could take the credit, I really do. Part of me likes to think that someone from the Sunday Sun website was desperately trawling through the #musicmonday lists on Twitter, searching for something to use, and happened upon my recommendation. Still, the reality is that the page claims to have been written on 'April 19th', which, obviously, was yesterday. So it does seem likely that this is all a rather bizarre coincidence. But it would also be worthwhile noting that recently, The Journal, another North Eastern newspaper, run by the same bods as the Sunday Sun, started 'following' me on Twitter for no apparent reason. I reciprocated, so now whoever accesses this particular account will automatically see my updates on their news feed anyway.

Makes you think, doesn't it?

And here, for your viewing pleasure, is the performance in question.

Oh, and here's the Video of the Week link, FYI.