Dublin band The Pale have been around long enough to know that fame and fortune will not be winging their way to them anytime soon, yet they continue to operate on the fringes. You have to admire such resilience and fortitude, and respect them for refusing to toe the line. This compilation arrives relatively soon after their charming 2012 album, I Woke Up and I Was Gone. Gathering what lead singer and lyricist Matthew Devereaux describes as "strays, stragglers and forgotten sidekicks", 21 Song Salute may have some tracks deserving of a pitiful fate (including early-career songs Accident and You Is what You Is) but these are superceded by such abundantly smart and witty tracks as Delete Me, An Act of Preservation, Viva La Idiot, and Slope. A career of near-destitution will continue, no doubt, but The Pale remain as wonderfully idiosyncratic as ever. thepale.com

Download: Delete Me, Slope