One of my favourite labels of 2010 thus far has been Three Lobed Recordings, thanks in no small part to the amazing “Honest Strings” comp, in honour of Jack Rose, and the Hans Chew set I’ve been raving about these past few weeks.

To be honest, a few alarm bells went off when I read this quote. “I wanted [Neil Young] to understand that I’ve spent years dedicated to the sonics in my home and that I wanted to give him something he’d never heard before,” said Daniel Lanois the other week.

As some of you guessed last week, Neil Young’s exceptional “Le Noise” was one of the mystery records in Playlist 34. I’ve now got clearance to blog about it so, all being well, I’ll post something here tomorrow, deadlines permitting. As you can see, “Le Noise” isn’t the only auspicious arrival this week.

I guess a lot of people have a John Peel epiphany, and mine definitely came at some point in the early ‘80s when, for no obvious reason, he dug out “She Is Beyond Good And Evil” by The Pop Group.

As you might have noticed, I’ve been banging on about this one a lot over the last couple of weeks, and it seems to be shaping up, alongside maybe Joanna Newsom and Magic Lantern and so on, as one of my favourites of 2010.

Belatedly following this fine haul, another really good list this week, involving as it does a couple of high-security things which I can’t discuss at the moment and plenty I can.

Yesterday, Michael posted a review of Robert Plant’s secret London show on Wednesday. Heading back from holiday in France, I missed that one – luckily, it turns out, since Plant only played seven songs then, and the show I caught last night at the Forum stretched to 20-odd.

Good list, this one, I reckon. Among some really nice arrivals from old favourites: a new Voice Of The Seven Thunders remix EP; a stripped-back one from Hiss Golden Messenger; Etienne Jaumet’s Zombie Zombie project ramping up the Carpenter vibes; The Reigning Sound’s Greg Cartwright and Raconteur/Greenhorne Patrick Keeler in The Parting Gifts; and, maybe best of all, the debut album by Hans Chew, who you might know from his piano-playing on various Jack Rose and Helix jams. A lot more about that one, especially, soon.

For some reason – bias, probably – it feels like it can be harder to track down good British underground artists than American ones. My attempts to put together lists of new British bands I like, for whatever reason, can consequently be a bit harrowing. But the likes of Forest Swords are making the process a fraction easier this year. And over the past couple of weeks or so, a couple more have been flushed out.

Bit of a mixed bag here: let me enthusiastically flag the Secret Sisters, Wooden Wand, Dean McPhee, Imaad Wasif and The Fresh And Onlys, and maintain a dignified silence about a few of the other records on the playlist this week.