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

Sleeper Hits 2014, Vol.1

The videos we've collected here have been around for some time now but unless you're already a fan of these bands, there's a strong chance you might have missed them. Hit play below and sample some excellent tracks, handpicked from some of the best rock records we've listened to in the first five months of the year:

Cloud Nothings - I'm Not Part Of Me (from "Here And Nowhere Else" LP)

The Men - Different Days (from "Tomorrow's Hits" LP)

Protomartyr - Come & See (live @ Viva Radio - from "Under Color of Official Right" LP)

Blank Realm - Reach You On The Phone (from "Grassed Inn" LP)

Hospitality - Going Out (from "Trouble" LP)

Marissa Nadler - Dead City Emily (from "July" LP)

Finale with the brand new video for "Blackt Out", the epic track that closed last year's "Last Night On Earth" album by Lee Ranaldo and the Dust - "a movie of a song in a dream of a movie":