Marissa Nadler, live @ Six D.O.G.S (Athens, October 8, 2014)

Marissa Nadler's latest album is called "July" but its melancholic disposition certainly makes it a much better fit to an autumn night. In that respect, the timing of her visit to Athens for the live presentation of this fine work couldn't have been better.

The angelic-voiced Nadler presented her songs with just an acoustic guitar and the help of Janel Leppin's cello or keyboards. This minimal setting proved more than adequate to do justice to her music, as her astonishing vocal performance is enough to carry the full emotional impact of her delicate songs.

For little more than an hour we enjoyed moving renditions of the majority of the material from "July", with "Dead City Emily" and "Was It a Dream", two of the finest songs of this year, being among the highlights of this intimate performance.

After a brief encore, with one of her few visits to her past material, Nadler and Leppin waved us goodbye, closing a truly enchanting night drenched in autumnal red colors, as you can see in our gig photos.

Enjoy below the live acoustic version of "Dead City Emily" from Marissa Nadler's Athens show:

Marissa Nadler - Dead City Emily (live @ Six D.O.G.S, Athens)

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.

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":