The Best Albums of 2014 so far - Part 3

The third installment of our presentation of the 40 records that impressed us the most in the first half of the year continues with the following ten fine albums by Protomartyr, Quilt, Real Estate, September Girls, Sharon Van Etten, Sleaford Mods, St. Vincent, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Sun Kil Moon and Swans. Have a listen below:

The A-Z of the first half of 2014 (pt.3):

• PROTOMARTYR - Under Color Of Official Right

• QUILT - Held In Splendor

• REAL ESTATE - Atlas

• SEPTEMBER GIRLS - Cursing The Sea

• SHARON VAN ETTEN - Are We There

• SLEAFORD MODS - Divide And Exit

• ST. VINCENT - St. Vincent

• STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS - Wig Out At Jagbags

• SUN KIL MOON - Benji

• SWANS - To Be Kind

Previously on The A-Z of the first half of 2014:
Part 1
Part 2

The Best Albums of 2014 so far - Part 2

Our A to Z of the 40 best album we've listened to in the first half of the year continues: sample tracks from Hospitality, HTRK, Jack White, Kevin Drew, La Sera, Liars, Marissa Nadler, Metronomy, Parquet Courts and Pixies below and make sure to check out their albums in full.

The A-Z of the first half of 2014 (pt.2):

• HOSPITALITY - Trouble

• HTRK - Psychic 9-5 Club

• JACK WHITE - Lazaretto

• KEVIN DREW - Darlings

• LA SERA - Hour of the Dawn

• LIARS - Mess

• MARISSA NADLER - July

• METRONOMY - Love Letters

• PARQUET COURTS - Sunbathing Animal

• PIXIES - Indie Cindy

Go to Part 1 of our A-Z of the first half of 2014.

The Best Albums of 2014 so far - Part 1

It ain't over 'till the ref whistles for full time, as you know very well if you're gripped by World Cup fever, but having reached the half-time of 2014, this is a good time to catch our breath and have another listen to these 40 albums that, in our opinion, have stood out in the music game so far.

Who's going to be the most valuable player of the year? Could it be one of our current Top 40 picks, or is it possible that the best is yet to come? We'll find out in December, meanwhile, here are the first ten albums in our 2014 half-time list, presented in alphabetical order:

The A-Z of the first half of 2014:

• ANGEL OLSEN - Burn Your Fire For No Witness

• ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT - Wild Crush

• BLANK REALM - Grassed Inn

• BRODY DALLE - Diploid Love

• BROKEN BELLS - After The Disco

• CHEATAHS - Cheatahs

• CLOUD NOTHINGS - Here And Nowhere Else

• DUM DUM GIRLS - Too True

• EMA - The Future's Void

• GUIDED BY VOICES - Motivational Jumpsuit

Plisskën Festival 2014, part 2 (Athens, June 7, 2014)

Black Lips, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

In the second part of our Plisskën Festival 2014 coverage we bring you photos and live videos from some of the best performances of the event's second day which took place at the Hellenic Cosmos Cultural Center on Saturday, June 7th. For the first part, click here.

The Soft Moon, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

The two bands that attracted the largest crowd at the festival's indoor main stage on Saturday were Black Lips and The Soft Moon. For both bands this was the second time that they were playing in Athens.

The Soft Moon

Luis Vasquez's band popularity with the Greek indie fans was evident from their very first visit here, a year ago. The love affair continued with their Plisskën performance which was very well received once again. Dark, post-punk sounds evoking the ghosts of new wave past and some amazing guitar shredding, propelled by a relentless rhythm section, created the perfect setting for The Soft Moon to shine once again.

Black Lips

Black Lips first ever show here was six years ago (actually one of this blog's very first live reports) and, great as it was, had not attracted a very big crowd back then (to put it mildly). Fast forward to the summer of 2014 and Black Lips finally get the recognition they deserve also in Greece by headlining  Plisskën Festival in front of a packed crowd of adoring fans. The popularity of garage rock, as I've mentioned before, is on the rise once again here and tracks like "O Katrina!", "Bad Kids" or "Boys In The Wood" make perfect anthems for the new generation of the genre's disciples.

Wooden Shjips, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Another highlight of the festival, also in the spirit of the revival of garage rock but with much heavier doses of psychedelia and kraut-rock repetition, came with the excellent, hour-long set of Wooden Shjips who played in between The Soft Moon and Black Lips. This was also the second appearance in Athens for Ripley Johnson' main band (he has also visited us with Moon Duo) and once again the controls were set for the heart of trippy space rock and we eagerly followed them there. Looking forward to do it all over again in the autumn when Moon Duo visit again (click here for our impressions from Wooden Shjips' first Athens gig).

Wooden Shjips' Ripley Johnson

Earlier in the evening we also enjoyed sets by Crocodiles (Brandon Welchez and his band mates proved to be fans of most bands on the festival's bill as they stayed and watched their performances by the side of the stage), Dirty Beaches (Alex Hungtai's popularity is rising with Greek fans as his tunes get more minimal and experimental), Damien Jurado (he performed solo with just his acoustic guitar for accompaniment) and Nightmare Air.

Crocodiles, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Dirty Beaches, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Damien Jurado, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Nightmare Air was definitely one of the pleasant surprises of the festival with their energetic, shoegaze-influenced, noise rock. The Los Angeles trio is formed by former Film School member Dave Dupuis and have released last year the album "High In The Lasers" which is definitely worth checking out. Swaan Miller, on bass and vocal duties, continues the great indie-rock tradition of outstanding female bass players!

Nightmare Air, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Nightmare Air's Swaan Miller

Check out below Black Lips, Wooden Shjips and Crocodiles performing "Bad Kids", "Ghouls" and "Neon Jesus" respectively, at  Plisskën Festival's main stage on Saturday, June 7th:

Black Lips - Bad Kids (live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Wooden Shjips - Ghouls (live @ Plisskën Festival 2014)

Crocodiles - Neon Jesus (live @ Plisskën Festival 2014)

Ty Segall, live @ An Club (Athens, June 4, 2014)

A year and a half after his Greek live debut, Ty Segall made his comeback to An Club along with his kick-ass band for another fine night of explosive fuzz rock! 70 minutes of future garage rock classics from Segall' past albums as well as by the upcoming "Manipulator" zipped by in a flash as guitars roared and the rhythm section pounded with fury. The Callas, in the support role, did a fine job of paving the way for Segall's band garage blitz.

Check out one of the highlights of Ty Segall's set, the new single "Feel":

Ty Segall - Feel (live @ An Club, Athens, June 4, 2014)

And here's what happens when rock'n'roll gets out of hand:

Ty Segall's Athens set-list: Wave Goodbye, You're the Doctor, I Bought My Eyes, Slaughterhouse, Thank God for Sinners, Oh Mary, Tall Man Skinny Lady, Feel, Finger, The Hill, Skin, Standing at the Station, Ceasar, Tell Me What's Inside Your Heart. Encore: Imaginary Person, Motörhead, Girlfriend.

Next up: we revisit Plisskën Festival 2014 for the second part of our review. Stat tuned...

The Callas, live @ An Club (Athens, June 4, 2014)

Plisskën Festival 2014, part 1 (Athens, June 6, 2014)

No Age, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

The 2014 live agenda of our hometown hasn't been particularly great this far, but thankfully things have changed in the first few days of June. In separate review we're going to present Wednesday's excellent show by Ty Segall and his band during his second visit to Athens, but first let's take a look at Plisskën Festival 2014, the city's growing live event which took place this Friday and Saturday.

In the first part of our Plisskën review, we have some of the highlights of the first day of the festival (June 6), and there's more to come in the next few days about the many acts that made the second day of the festival its best one yet in the event's four year history.

No Age, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

The performance we've enjoyed the most on Friday came by Los Angeles noise duo No Age. This was the second time that guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/vocalist Dean Allen Spunt have played in Athens, after their gig at the tiny Six Dogs club three years back. This time conditions were much more comfortable on the festival's open air second stage and the band performed for more people than those who were able to get in at their first, sold out show. The band played with great energy a set that mixed old favorites with tracks from their latest album "An Object". The new songs actually sounded better live, as the production of the studio work didn't really do them justice. Among the highlights of their show the mandatory Black Flag cover that payed homage to the band's punk rock roots.

Girls Against Boys, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Earlier in the afternoon at the festival's indoor main stage we were treated to a performance by '90s indie rock veterans Girls Against Boys. Those of us who have seen the band live at the height of its power back in the day will not take too much by this particular show, as the venue's not so great sound quality didn't help them achieve their usual, stunning standards, but under any conditions a song like "Bulletproof Cupid" remains a rock anthem!

Wild Beasts, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Towards the end of the festival's first day we enjoyed the first ever Athens show by Wild Beasts. The band drew the greatest crowd of the first day in the main stage where they presented their latest album "Present Tense" but also managed to squeeze in some old tracks ("Bed of Nails",  "Hooting & Howling", "All The King's Men") much to the delight of their fans.

More to come from the live events of the first week of June in our next posts. Meanwhile check out No Age performing "Glitter" and Girls Against Boys playing "Superfire" from the first day of Plisskën Festival 2014 (June 6):

No Age - Glitter, live @ Plisskën Festival (June 6, 2014)

Girls Against Boys - Superfire, live @ Plisskën Festival (June 6, 2014)

New Releases: May 2014

Round up of the most interesting albums and singles released in May 2014:

Albums

Swans

SWANS - To Be Kind
tUnE-yArDs - Nikki Nack
SHARON VAN ETTEN - Are We There
THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART - Days of Abandon
LA SERA - Hour of the Dawn
HAUNTED HEARTS - Initiation
SLEAFORD MODS - Divide And Exit
ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT - Wild Crush
THE BLACK KEYS - Turn Blue
GUIDED BY VOICES - Cool Planet
CONOR OBERST - Upside Down Mountain
THE HORRORS - Luminous
BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE - Revelation
BEN FROST - A U R O R A
LYKKE LI - I Never Learn
FUJIYA AND MIYAGI - Artificial Sweeteners
COLD CAVE - Full Cold Moon
BO NINGEN - III
TRASH TALK - No Peace
YOUNG WIDOWS - Easy Pain
EAT LIGHTS BECOMES LIGHTS - Into Forever
HUNDRED WATERS - The Moon Rang Like A Bell
EMMA RUTH RUNDLE - Some Heavy Ocean
AMEN DUNES - Love
FUTURE DEATH - Special Victim
POPSTRANGERS - Fortuna
WOODEN WAND - Farmer's Corner
GRUFF RHYS - American Interior
ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN - Meteorites
LUKE HAINES - New York in the 70s
OWEN PALLETT - In Conflict
THE ROOTS - And Then You Shoot Your Cousin
FATIMA AL QADIRI - Asiatisch
LITTLE DRAGON - Nabuma Rubberband
ROYKSOPP / ROBYN - Do It Again

Singles & EPs

Savages

SAVAGES - Fuckers / Dream Baby Dream
ST. VINCENT - Prince Johnny
SHARON VAN ETTEN - Taking Chances
THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART - Simple and Sure
TY SEGALL - Feel / The Fakir
COURTNEY LOVE - You Know My Name
FRANZ FERDINAND - Fresh Strawberries
TOM VEK - Sherman (Animals in the Jungle)
WOLF ALICE - Creature Songs EP
PERFECT PUSSY - (I)
MEATBODIES - Wahoo / Steps
LANGHORNE SLIM AND THE LAW - Animal
THE DRINK - EP Three
HONEYBLOOD - Killer Bangs
WILD BEASTS - A Simple Beautiful Truth
FUTURE ISLANDS - Tomorrow / The Fountain
JAMIE XX - Girl / Sleep Sound
SAY LOU LOU - Everything We Touch
SON LUX - Alternate Worlds EP
BATHS - Ocean Death EP
THE HAPPY COUPLE - Song for the Troubadour
EXPERIMENTAL AUDIO RESEARCH - All Things Being Equal

Savages - Fuckers 

Listen to our May 2014 New Releases playlist on Spotify: