• "Splash 1" - The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, 13th Floor Elevators

There seemed to be a hitch in Roky Erickson's haunting, throaty vocal during his Noise Pop performance at Great American Music Hall, right as he began the chorus to this classic psych-rock ballad, which he wrote with Tommy Hall more than 40 years ago. Since then, Erickson's life has been, well, very rocky -- a drug arrest, a stint in a mental hospital that brought with it electroshock therapy and thorazine, and a period where he believed his body was being inhabited by an alien. Not until very recently has he settled down and begun to tour again, with the aid of his brother Sumner. This turbulence and his recent return to the stage make the sleepy guitar and the soothing words of the chorus all the more poignant. "Now I'm hooooome, yes, I'm hooooome, I'm hooooome to stay."

• "Shrinking Moon For You" - Shrinking Moon For You, Wooden Shjips

Unfortunately, I missed the Shjips set in support of Roky Erickson, and maybe you did too. But we're all in luck, because they're local boys, joining the long and storied tradition of San Francisco lo-fi psychedelia. This track, from the seven-inch of the same title, is anchored by a driving and insistent electric-guitar riff and a seemingly looped five-note bass groove that are layered below sparse, echoey and suitably indecipherable vocals, and a screechy lead guitar that lends both a careening, off-kilter feel and a slow-rising mind-bending anxiety. But in a good way.

• "Stranger Lover" - Paparazzi Lightning, Ghostland Observatory

Frontman Aaron Behrens' swagger, so obvious when he's bounding around a stage, is also evident in his vocal, which rivals the strut of Freddie Mercury or the audacity of Mick Jagger at his most over the top. Paired with a dynamic synth and bottom end provided by Thomas Turner, this is glam rock through an electronic filter. There's no doubt the simple, but dark and insistent disco-dance beat will get you groovin', but good luck trying to decipher the lyrics of the chorus delivered through a voice modulator, sure to spawn a thousand misheard lyrics debates -- "the space trying to puzzle/addictive kind of muzzle/the caterpillar angel wants to touch the sky"?

• "Lonely Love" - 5...6...7...8, The Gray Kid

This single off of the L.A. MC's debut is testament to his affinity for straddling the worlds of soul, R&B, hip-hop and new wave to create a cohesive, dynamic and deceptively simple pop song. A Prince-influenced R&B falsetto soars over a basic hip-hop beat, interrupted briefly by a quick indie-rock guitar riff and a playful bubbling of synth. A nimbly delivered rap interlude offers up light and clever lyrics like "Gray Kid has to touch it when it's this hot/can't explain it, butter it when it's hot". But miraculously, as with his manic live performances, none of it comes across as forced. Somehow, in spite of its ambitious pedigree, it feels as genuine as any pop song on the airwaves.

• "Yea Yeah" - Matt & Kim, Matt & Kim

Among the simplest and most infectious of the Brooklyn indie-pop duo's songs, it is probably the best embodiment of their style and their contagious enthusiasm. Rooted in the hip-hop practice of maintaining a steady beat for listeners to follow throughout the verses, bridge and chorus, "Yea Yeah" is all about getting the feet moving and the head bobbing. It has the energy and often-dissonant vocals of punk, and the chorus (sing Yea Yeah Yea Yeah Yea Yeah, repeat, repeat) couldn't be more simple, but also is as inviting as anything you've ever heard. This is a band that wants everyone to have fun with them and doesn't want any pretense or music-appreciation prerequisites to get in the way. If you're still not convinced after hearing this song, go check out the accompanying food-fight music video on their site.

• "Recommend Me Someone" - 835, Minmae

It doesn't feel like new ground is being broken when as the song unfolds, in fact, it sounds much like Guided by Voices or something Stephen Malkmus may have written - and may have also sung for that matter. But it's as good as much of what Malkmus wrote, and the second half of the song feels like an update on his oeuvre, coaxing it further into the pop realm that Malkmus so carefully skirted, through more melodic vocals hewing closely to the strains of the guitar. In the end, it's just as rewarding as finding a track lost somewhere between Slanted & Enchanted and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. It's a modern-day take on the noise pop for which this festival is named.

• "Under All the Bright Lights" - The Bright Lights, Ryan Auffenberg

Anyone who attempts a soul-baring love song in two-part harmony must face down the sky-high bar set by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris in the early 70s. It's not common that tender ballads can hit you in the gut with such shuddering power. So when a 25-year-old local lad can hint at those moments in the course of a debut LP, that's an achievement that demands you take notice. The song opens with Auffenberg's soft touch on the keys recalling John Lennon's "Imagine" and the lonely moan of a cello, joined by the rise of a breathy vocal like that of Gary Jules. It feels like someone should have earmarked this track for that heart-wrenching, rain-soaked breakup scene in the latest adult date movie. It would be a hit soundtrack, because this song's catchy as hell.

• "Yeppers" - Ray Barbee Meets The Mattson 2, Ray Barbee & the Mattson 2

Try not longing for a Bloody Mary, a patio and a lazy, sunny Sunday brunch two minutes into this soulful six-and-a-half-minute jazz jaunt. Ray Barbee & The Mattson Two have mingled the snazzy brown suits and daring solo improvisation of cool jazz with the sunny horns and plucked guitar of surf music, and added Afro-Cuban rhythms and a thrillingly ominous opening drum solo for good measure. The former Bones Brigade skater has just recently teamed with master improvisers and alternative-jazz mainstays Jonathan and Jared Mattson creating an adventurous and wide-ranging jazz trio. Their captivating set at Café du Nord was one of the most pleasant surprises I had at this year's festival. But be careful, just when you think you've got them figured out, they'll jolt you like they did the Noise Pop crowd with their jaw-dropping cover of Tortoise's spacey electro-jazz stunner "Seneca".

• "Fille a Plume" - Trompe L'Oeil, Malajube

"Fille a Plume" begins like a much more ambitious and dynamically delivered (and French) version of The Killers' Mr. Brightside, which isn't such a bad thing, but then explodes with lurching guitar, crashing cymbals, manic drum flourishes, and shrieking vocals shouted in French. The fuzzy tone and dizzying exuberance of Animal Collective is married with the sweeping sound of fellow Montrealers The Arcade Fire, but it comes from a much smaller five-piece outfit. C'est si bon.

• "Neck Escaper" - Get Hurt, No Age

A deliciously tuneless track, the tinny crash of the cymbals spars with discordant Perry Farrell-esque vocals and a jaunty little picked-out electric guitar riff. But what results is not difficult or cloyingly abstruse, but rather pleasantly off-kilter psych rock. A brand-new foray for Dean Spunt and Randy Randall of L.A. underground skate-punk trio The Wives, it's curious that No Age will likely introduce their fringe sensibilities to a wider audience by more fully embracing their audience's appetite for disharmony.