Indietracks 2013: the most wonderful time of the year...

You know that spring is in the air when Indietracks announces it's headline acts, and so, without further faff...

Scottish indiepop favourites Camera Obscura and Bis are among the headliners for this year’s Indietracks Festival, held on July 26-28 at a picturesque 1950s steam railway in Derbyshire.

Tickets are now available at an early bird discount price of £65 (weekend) and £35 (day). These cheaper prices are available until 5pm on Saturday 11 May. After this date, prices will be £72 (weekend) and £38 (day). Weekend tickets for children aged 5-15 are £10, or £6 for a day ticket. Children under 5 get in free.

Camera Obscura are bringing their refined cinematic indiepop to Indietracks, marking the release of their forthcoming album, Desire Lines in June 2013. The Glasgow band released the albums Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi (2001) and Underachievers Please Try Harder (2003) before enlisting Swedish producer Jari Haapalainen in 2006. The resulting album, Let’s Get Out Of This Country, featured entrancing pop gems such as "Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken" alongside more downbeat yet melodic offerings.   The band signed to the legendary 4AD label in 2009, and their fourth album My Maudlin Career again showcased the band’s sophisticated pop, including "French Navy" and "Honey In The Sun". 2010 saw the band tour Europe, USA, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Indonesia.

Bis are a Scottish indiepop band composed of John Disco, Manda Rin and Sci-fi Steven. In 1996, they famously appeared on BBC’s Top of the Pops, performing "Kandy Pop", and also released a series of EPs, three of which entered the UK Singles Chart. Bis quickly won fans with The Delgados and The Beastie Boys, who signed them to the Chemikal Underground and Grand Royal labels respectively. They released three studio albums; The New Transistor Heroes (1997), Social Dancing (1999) and Return to Central (2001), gradually moving from frenetic punk pop towards a more electropop sound.  The band reformed in 2010 to play at the Primavera festival, and will perform on the Friday night at this year’s Indietracks.

Also playing Indietracks this year will be The Ballet (Canada),  Flowers (UK), Martha (UK), The Understudies (UK), Fever Dream (UK) and American band The Secret History, who will be visiting the UK for the first time.

Around 50 indiepop bands from across the globe will be playing across four stages: the outdoor stage; the indoor stage, the church and on the steam trains themselves. The festival will also host a range of art and craft workshops and a selection of discos after the bands finish.

This is the seventh annual Indietracks festival, which takes place at the Midland Railway in Ripley, in the heart of the Derbyshire countryside. The site houses a whole range of lovingly restored steam diesels and locomotives. Festival goers are able to have unlimited rides on the steam railway over the weekend and full access to other railway attractions and museums.

Previous headliners at Indietracks have included Teenage Fanclub, Edwyn Collins, Allo Darlin’, The Hidden Cameras, The Wedding Present, Los Campesinos!, Summer Camp and The Vaselines.

Tickets are available by calling the railway direct on 01773 747 674 or visiting www.indietracks.co.uk/tickets.html