This year has been, quite frankly, absolutely bloody amazing for music. So you can imagine my excitement at the fact we're only just over half way through and the best could still be yet to come. Here are some of my favourites so far, and what I think we should be looking forward to.
Friendly Fires' debut, technically released last year, has rampaged its way to the forefront of the scene in the last few months and the surge in appreciation the boys are experiencing is nothing but undeniably well deserved. Their album is one of the few you can put on and not want to skip a track throughout. With new single Kiss of Life released at the end of August to coincide with the bonus disc re-release of their debut, they are going to be even more revered by the time the year is out.
White Lies have also proven themselves to be a band to sit up and take notice of and the string of sell out shows they've staged this year indicates that thousands have already done so. Kasabian's third offering has been overdue but well worth the wait. Having to previously batttle off the label of 'a poor man's Oasis', they are no longer lurking in the shadow of their Northern counterparts. Psychedelia is dish of the day with these boys and it's pretty damn tasty.
Other notable releases (though there have been many I unfortunately can't spend all day listing them all) include eerily-ethereal Florence + the Machine, Empire of the Sun who may have just beaten MGMT at their own game, and the bizarre genre-hybrid that appeared in the form of Discovery. The start of their track Osaka Loop Line sounds like their stereo has recorded proceedings backwards, and it's so damn catchy you are almost tempted to take a hammer to your own player to see if you can get everything else you own to sound so bloody cool.
But the finishing line is still a way off, and hundreds of artists are impatiently rattling at their starting boxes ready to begin the chase.
In lanes one and two we have two of the bigger hitters - Muse and Arctic Monkeys. After months of sitting through side projects and musical treasure hunts, fans have finally been given tasters of what can be expected. Undoubtedly sales figures will be high, but if these tasters are anything to go by, sales will be a reflection of their esteemed names, rather than musical accomplishment. Muse's United States of Eurasia sounds a long-lost lovechild of Queen and the band themselves even recognise that some parts of the track are utterly laughable. As for Monkeys' Crying Lightning, their sound has taken a totally different direction. Some have compared it to Alex Turner's side project The Last Shadow Puppets but the only thing their new offering has in common with TLSP is the fact it's a lot slower paced compared to their previous work. TSLP was very Burt Bacharach, whereas Crying Lighting is slow, dark and far too austere. The Arctics first grabbed attention with their cutting lyrics; Turner told it how he saw it and listeners could catch glimpses of themselves and their lives in his words. Now they seem to have caved in to the title of serious musicians and lost their edge along with it. All I can do is cross my fingers that the new directions both bands have taken either grow on me considerably, or disappear as fast as they arrived.
Luckily there are still others on course to potentially pip them to the post and an offering of second albums seem to be the ones that might possibly do it. Simian Mobile Disco, reformed from the ashes of Simian a few years ago, are well known for their production and mixing work with bands such as Klaxons, Air and Muse, they are a massively underrated dance duo in their own right. 2007's Attack. Decay. Sustain. Release. is possibly one of the best dance albums released this decade, yet mention electro-bass driven track 'Hustler' to the person sat next to you and chances are they won't know what the hell you're on about. Hopefully their new vocally driven single Audacity of Huge from new album Temporary Pleasure will finally garner them the recognition they deserve.
Noah and the Whale, perhaps best known for one of the most endearing yet hideously annoying songs of last year, Five Years Time, return with a far more mature sound and it does them a multitude of favours in the credibility stakes. Blue Skies is a sure-fire contender for one of the most haunting songs of the year and other tracks on their new release seem to follow suit. Anyone who fails to be somewhat moved by lyrics such as 'this is the last song that I write while still in love with you' and 'this is a song for anyone who can't get out of bed... I'd do anything to be happy again' needs to promptly thaw out their heart of ice.
Jamie T has also adopted a somewhat more refined and produced sound for his second outing, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Tracks such as Sheila and If You Got The Money were undeniably catchy and well written, but still possessed an element of layabout London teenager spitting into the microphone. Luckily his new tracks are just as well written and memorable, but the sulky teenage persona seems to have disappeared which means Jamie T will hopefully be more recognised now for the intelligent indie-garage performer he is.
Vampire Weekend are due to return by year's end with their new release, although as of yet there have been no teaser releases and not even a hint of an album title. If their follow up is anywhere near as impressive as their preppy self-titled debut then we are all in for a treat. Stereophonics are to release their seventh studio album, and as Kelly Jones describes it as having a 50's feel about it, I am both somewhat excited yet concerned that it will contain undertones of Rock Around The Clock hidden somewhere between the bridge and the chorus. I can only hope it proves a successful direction for the band to take and doesn't end up being another You Gotta Go There To Come Back (sorry lads but we all know it was a discography low point).
Debuts releases from Portland based indie-rap-punk band Hockey is definitelty one to watch out for, as is the debut release from self-christened folk supergroup Monsters of Folk. Comprising of members of Bright Eyes, M.Ward and My Morning Jacket, they are bound to make as big a wave in the folk/alternative scene as The Dead Weather have made in the indie/rock one. Throw in a bit of The Strokes (though their fourth album may not drop until early '10), Jet, Jay-Z, Editors, Air Traffic, Dizzee Rascal, Kings of Convenience, and newcomers Little Comets and The Takeover UK, and there is a definite race to be run. Only time will tell who comes out top on the podium, but it's going to be one hell of a competiton to listen to in the meantime.
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