We're halfway through 2014 already and there's been plenty of cracking music to lend an ear to so far so here's a run through twenty of my favourites. Part two to follow shortly.
11. Cheatahs - s/t
Did we really need another proto-Shoegaze act to pad out the ranks? I don't care! Music is for WANTS not needs and if a bunch of stylish young coves are going to offer a modern rerun of Swervedriver's 'Raise' with better hooks and smoother execution then I'm not about to knock their hand away ungratefully. Cheatahs aren't reinventing the (Catherine) Wheel but their debut packs enough gorgeous fuzz and melodic crunch to make it worth your while anyway, swooshing effortlessly through the best parts of indie's class of 1991. With Slowdive touring again there's no better time to inhale another dose of blissful dream pop and Cheatahs have just what it takes to make your cares drift away once more.
12. Lone - Reality Testing
Lone's been shitting out slabs of storming revivalist breakbeat for a few years now but his latest sees him smooth some of the edges down for a more streamlined rush through glossy Techno nirvana. This dude sounds like a Sega Megadrive souped up and let loose in a modern day recording studio - those 90s piano hooks and silky surges are still there but he's moved on in his mind from the gassy menace of '92 era breakbeat to the classier, more expansive realms of 1994's epic dancefloor tapestries. Imagine Slo Moshun's 'Bells of New York' brought back to life and let loose over twelve tracks and you're getting close - there are no bangers like 2012's 'Raindance' to blow your mind but 'Reality Testing' might be his most consistent and fulfilling release to date.
13. Teleman - Breakfast
Did someone lend out their copy of 'The Best of OMD' during the final days of late noughties London indie and never get it back? Because I think I might know who has it - Teleman made up most of skinny jean also rans Pete and the Pirates back then but have thankfully acknowledged the passing of time and boned up on early 80s art house synth pop and a fair smattering of 70s Bowie to come back with an absolute corker of a debut that picks up on oddities from pop's past in the same vein as fellow record store foragers Dutch Uncles. 'Breakfast' finds its bearings between decadent, eccentric and preposterously catchy before firing through a flawless run of modern pop that'll start your day off nicely.
14. Temples - Sun Structures
Ever wish Tame Impala could put down the bong and focus for long enough to pen some catchy new shit in the vein of their oft-overlooked debut 'Innerspeaker'? Temples have got you covered and then some - 'Sun Structures' is so fucking slick I had to check that some indie svengali wasn't just using these guys as a front for his studio labours after years in the business. They may have peaked too early already so enjoy it while you can - every track on here is an absolute killer, an instantly gratifying mix of psychedelic wig out rock and early 70s crossover glam. They've knocked out about half a dozen singles off it already and show no signs of running out of ideas - nobody gives that much of a fuck about indie guitar music anymore but even that won't stop Temples from owning 2014.
15. Martyn - The Air Between Worlds
When did Ninja Tune get their mojo back all of a sudden?? I'd gotten into the habit of hiding my old DJ Food and Coldcut CDs for fear of showing my age but the label's younger charges have picked up the mantle and gone boldly forward with a modern take on their jazzy scratchadelia. Martyn breaks out the hi hats and organ samples for some laid-back Gilles Peterson style grooves here but he's got some floor filling tricks up his sleeves too and drops in some chunky piano hooks and a refreshing dose of early House effervescence. 'The Air Between Worlds' starts well and gets better over ten tracks of deftly executed modern day House magic - there's a tune for every occasion here and anyone with a pair of dancing shoes to hand will get plenty of mileage of out this wee beauty.
16. Skye Ferreira - Night Time, My Time
In these days of post-everything pop it's difficult to know exactly how to react to the stuff that's coming out - is there any such thing as innocent fun anymore? Not if you've spent your formative years hanging round with Michael Jackson there isn't - Skye Ferreira got onto the Hollwyood pop roundabout way too early and has seen the fame machine at its most crude and exploitative. You'd expect her long form debut to sound like an unlistenable mess of auto tune and diet pills but remarkably 'Night Time, My Time' is a thoroughly engaging tour through modern pop that sounds like Madonna's 'True Blue' shot through with the cynicism of today's MTV culture. Pigeonholing it is nigh on possible and that's perhaps the point - pop's role is still to challenge and intrigue and this is one that is well worth scratching your head over. Misery pop? No, coping pop and all the better for it.
17. Plaid - Reachy Prints
Whilst guitar music seems to be stuck in a quagmire of 90s nostalgia embodied by endless reunions tours and younger bands simply aping past tricks electronic music has maintained a more graceful relationship with its past, savvy youngsters popping up to pay tribute to the genre's golden era whilst the pioneers of old keep coming back with cracking new material. Plaid have been twiddling those knobs for nigh on 20 years now and 'Reachy Prints' is a spirited rerun through the glory years of bleep electro, tracking back through Spooky, Underworld and the cheerier side of Autechre for an invigorating blast of past vs present.
18. The Men - Tomorrow's Hits
Remember back in the day when you could expect at least one killer record a year from the bands you liked? Well they're back! The Men are the hardest working dudes in Brooklyn and seem to come back around with another reassuringly honest dose of dive bar R'n'R every Spring to the point where you kinda start to take them for granted. If they didn't have such a stonking back catalogue behind them already then I'd be pimping 'Tomorrow's Hits' as Album Of The Year - as things stand it's simply another feather in their cap, eight tracks of explosive garage rock, grimy country and grotty electric blues. I met them on tour and apparently they're taking a time out from recording in 2015 so expect their next release to be a masterpiece of 'Physical Graffiti' proportions. I can't wait!
19. Eomac - Spectre
Oooh we had a good little run of Techno releases back in April didn't we? 'Spectre' pared things back to a cold, stark vein a la Plastikman but throbbed with an insistent pulse that beckoned you closer and closer as the deep electric night drew in. Eomac covers the dead of night slot where minimal beats and fridge light paranoia fuse with the sound of pounding club anthems heard through a thick granite wall - this is music to listen to whilst you're being kicked down the stairs of your local nightspot after necking a cocktail of rodent sedative and stool softener pimped as something more elegant. There's rave era hooks buried under layers of bass bin smoke and menacing lighting but this is no lesson in nostalgia, it's a thumping headache of a record that'll torment you until you give in to its illicit charms.
20. September Girls - Cursing The Sea
Echo pedals, Wall of Sound guitars, oestrogen......you might think you've heard it all before but Dublin's September Girls come packing enough hooks and ideas to make you wanna get on up and shake it like it's still 2010. 'Cursing The Sea' comes across like an infectious mix of the debuts from The Horrors and Dum Dum Girls, all monochrome echo and howling organ shot through with a sense of pop dynamics that gives each tracks its own gorgeous aura of sugar-coated gloom. These gals are still in their teens and their debut is a bubbling cauldron of cheap vodka, Kohl eyeliner and copious amounts of dry ice - they're still getting their ideas together and may well change tack to serve up something totally different in a year or so but for now 'Cursing' is a satisfying blast of Gothed-up lo-fi indie.
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