Today I'm featuring artists on the Rough Trade label, a storied outfit which has gone from a post-punk promoter thirty years ago (think: Young Marble Giants) to being co-opted by major labels and their subsidiaries 15 years ago (Warner Bros., Sanctuary, BMG). Fortunately, Sanctuary / BMG sold Rough Trade in 2007 to the company that owned the equally storied English punk label, Beggars Banquet. This was such a high-profile move that the newly independent Rough Trade began attracting high-charting acts, and there was a lot of skepticism whether the label could resume in the same non-commercial head-space it started from. I'd glad to say that it has continued to attract an awesome variety of new acts and thus deserves the right to be called "indie."

First up today is a quirky electronic trio, Micachu and the Shapes, with Golden Phone. They hail from London. Later in the day, I'll post stuff from Jarvis Cocker, Little Joy, Emilíana Torrini, British Sea Power, and Scissors for Lefty.