It's another list of our favourite things to hit the 4ZZZ Library. If you see anything you like you can request it: requests@4zzz.org.au
You can also SMS a request: 0416 281 220
Or call: 07 3252 1555
Thanks to Ella Dann-Limon, Lauren Sachs, Sarah Romero, Linda Finlay, Mitch Cutting, Hayley Elliott-Maclure, Louis Whelan.

The pick of the picks:

Jonathan Boulet: Gubba (Popfrenzy)
Mere Women: Heave Ho (Single) (Poison City)
sleepmakeswaves: Love of Cartography (Bird's Robe / MGM)
Wizard Oz By The Water (Single) (Beko Disques)

Local Artists:

Dag: Dogwood (Tenth Court)
Gonzovillain: Mouthbreather (Single) (Indie)
Sewers / Rat King: Leather Split (Virtual Cool)
YUMO: YUMO (Indie)

Overseas Artists:

A Sunny Day In Glasgow: Sea When Absent (Lefse / Inertia)
Dronelock Clusters (Remixes) (Shadow Story / Tailored Communications)
Eno & Hyde: High Life (Warp / Inertia)
Hawk House: Chill Pill (Single) (The In Sound From Way Out / EMI)
Joyce Manner Never Hungover Again (Epitaph / Warner)
Paws: Youth Culture Forever (Fat Cat)

The rest of the best:

Australian Artists:

Various Artists: Airpunch Collective Song-a-Week Club July 2014 Pho (Sony)
- A great collection of singles from predominantly female, Melbourne-based artists on record label Airpunch Collective. Bizarre art-pop, boogie-woogie bop, 80's synth zaps, shimmery drum machines and sweet harmonies - a great taster of what's out there in Melbourne. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

Various Artists: TRUST (Promised Miracles)
- A next little mixtape of Australian beats and rock’n’roll, strung together by RTR’s new Music Director Adam Christou, showing both his own taste and the strength of the current Australian crop.

#1 Dads: Return To Feat. Tom Snowdon (Single) (Pieater / Inertia)
- #1 Dads is the solo project of Tom Iansek, the front man of Big Scary and Return To is the lead single off his debut album About Face. It features a beautiful sustained piano riff that rolls through the song, however, as a whole it is very sparse in instrumentation. With moments of light percussion and quiet guitar towards the end, the focus is on the voice and the emotion it conveys. This song is captivating to say the least, and proves that less is more. (Lauren Sachs)

Agender: Fixations (Indie)
- The sparse savagery of post-punk meets the cosmopolitan groove of new wave in this Melbournian, all-girl trio. Uncompromisingly authentic, but hardly po-faced, as you’ll notice when smooth, continental style gets brutalised on a track like Brunch, where the chorus is simply the word “BRUNCH!”, snarled out, repeatedly. The spin-cycle of fire and ice makes this fierce and continually interesting. (Chris Cobcroft)

Arrester: Lift A Lonely Spell (Indie / Gaga Digi)
- A strong debut EP from Melbourne indie-rockers Arrester. Alt-country pop cut Endless Breeze is a standout for me. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

Back Back Forward Punch: Solid Gold (Single) (Indie / Mammal Sounds)
- Less their trademark nu-disco and more neo-soul, but still with a vintage that’s a few years old. Not cutting edge, but stirring stuff.

Banoffee: Got It (Single) (Two Bright Lakes / Remote Control)
- One woman band from Melbourne with r’n’b, synth-pop tunes has impressively also produced the album herself. (Sarah Romero)

Being Beta: Drink Tea (Indie)
- Punk rock meets synth-pop in Being Beta's debut EP Drink Tea. It's a most unusual combo, but now that I hear it, why the hell not? Fist-pumpingly infectious. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure & Chris Cobcroft)

Caitlin Park: Lemonade (Joyride Remix) (Single) (Create/Control)
- The electronic trumpets and steel drums might be a little cheesy but with the amped beats the echoes of Everything But The Girl and Sade in Park’s deep voice become even more obvious.

David Bridie: Perfect Place National Anthem (Single) (Indie)
- David Bridie gives Lou Reed’s classic a political edge with new lyrics detailing Australia’s crappy treatment of asylum seekers.

Eaten By Dogs: Eaten By Dogs (Black Hat Rackets)
- Refreshing country-blues from Melbourne, Eaten By Dogs are a jig-friendly trio worth noting. Throw backs to Johnny Cash are plenty and those sweet guitar tones just leave you begging for a blade of straw to stick in your mouth and some cowboy boots too. Even if the very mention of country music makes you cringe all over, you might be pleasantly surprised by Eaten By Dogs. Country-Blues fans should easily be able to find a nice spot for Eaten By Dogs in their collection. (Mitch Cutting)

Emma Swift: Emma Swift (Laughing Outlaw)
- This is your classic singer-songwriter album with something a little more. The authenticity of the americana/country/folk style can be heard through the pedal steel and acoustic guitar. The Sydney artist, who has also spent some time in Nashville, Tennessee is influenced by the American country singer Emmylou Harris who is one of the few guest contributors to this mini-album. Emma Swift’s voice has a melancholic quality to it that makes you want to listen to it by yourself while becoming progressively more soddenly drunk. (Sarah Romero)

Emperors: Shooting From The Bell Tower (Single) (Gun Fever)
- Anthemic, grungy power-pop from Perth. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

Envenomed: Evil Unseen (Indie)
- Anyone who’s spent a lot of time around the Melbourne metal scene has probably encountered Envenomed at some point. These guys have a real presence about them, and for good reason. I’d say they’re one of the best metal acts coming out of Melbourne at the moment. Their new album is filled with great grooves, riffs, breakdowns, solos and vocal passages. Anthony Mavrikis has a vocal style reminiscent of Trivium’s Matt Heafy, and often Envenomed riffs and solos bare a resemblance to Trivium sounds. But there’s also a distinct Pantera/Anthrax influence with the backing vocals, evident solidly in the final track, Global Deception, with the rhythm vocals delivered in a rushed shout, en mass. There’s also lots of old school Testament, even maybe some Slayer sounding riffs, which is always a good thing. Fans of Trivium (pre In Waves), Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Iced Earth, Symphony X or anything in-between should get their hands on this new album. (Mitch Cutting)

Fishing: Nineteen/Boy Wunder (Feat. Alister Wright) (Single) (Create/Control)
- Happy clappy, tropical, indie-electro cut from Sydney duo Fishing's new LP Shy Glow. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

Ilias: All The Way Up (Aguenar)
- The Sydney multi-instrumentalist and producer once again uses his battery of skills to keep us guessing. Sweet, ethereal pop that’s sometimes slightly twee mixes it up with languid and arty psych. It’s a very interesting collection and, given Ilias’ ability to get people everywhere excited, I would not be surprised if this again did big things. (Chris Cobcroft)

Horror My Friend: A Million Hands (Gun Fever)
- Young indie / alt-rock band from Adelaide are starting to make waves over the country. (Sarah Romero)

Jonathan Boulet: Gubba (Popfrenzy)
- Jonathan Boulet takes a sharp left turn out of indie-pop and into garage-stoner. He brings to it his usual songwriting excellence with some truly fantastic riffs. Finally, too, the music seems to be an appropriate fit for his often venomous lyrics. This got me partly because it was so unexpected, but mostly just because it's really good. (Chris Cobcroft)

Jugu: Rolling (Single) (Indie)
- Really beautiful, sweet crystalline and brittle synth-pop from Sydney producer and chanteuse Juliet Guterres. Her vocals and the production on them are the best part: perfectly smooth.

Kelly Menhennett Small Dreams (MGM / The Planet Company)
- There is nothing modern or Australian about Adelaide based Kelly Menhennett’s new album, Small Dreams. From start to finish the 12-track release is Americana through and through, bouncing from slide-guitar fuelled country numbers to grittier blues and soul tracks, such as Kimono My Place. (Louis Whlean)

Kilter: Alive Again feat. Citizen Kay (Single) (etcetc)
- Sydney scrapper Kilter presents a strong front with this single, effortlessly blending elements of chillwave, hiphop, a hint of trap - it's a winner. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

Kween G: Speak Up (Single) (Alkehbu-lan Goods)
- Kween G continues to rock it old school in the muscular style of that other royal contender, Queen Latifah. I don't know how much room there is at the top, but if there can be only one, there's no guarantee which it would be. (Chris Cobcroft)

The Love Junkies: Television (Single) (Siiick / MGM)
- More loud, all-over-the-place, opinionated and enjoyable hard rocking in the style of Future Of The Left.

Lowtide: Lowtide (Lost & Lonesome)
- Sweetly thunderous shoegaze out of Melbourne.

Meare: Eyes On / So Fine (Single) (Birdy Tweek)
- Big post-dubstep beats that are very competently put together. Should build a fine head of steam on the dancefloor.

Meg Mac: Roll Up Your Sleeves (Single) (LittleBIGman / Inertia)
- Ballsy soul-pop from Melbourne chanteuse Meg Mac. That voice! (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

Mere Women: Heave Ho (Single) (Poison City)
- Second single from Sydney trio’s upcoming album mixing together a unique blend of DIY gothic-pop and post punk. (Lauren Sachs)

Miami Horror: Wild Motion (Set It Free) (Single) (Remote Control)
- Miami Horror fans, rejoice! Tropical influences abound on this dreamy piece of psychedelic electro-dance. If a pineapple wearing sunglasses could sing, it would sound remarkably like this. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

Milwaukee Banks: Rose Water (Inertia Access)
- Super smooth and mind-melting r’n’b tinged hiphop, made especially hypnotic the pitch shifted vocals and shuddering bass. Trappy, influenced a bit by Odd Future, which, surprisingly sounds fresher now than it did six months ago.

Mountbatten: In The Dark (Historical)
- Despite labelling themselves simply as indie-pop, Adelaide based Mountbatten combine quite a few styles in their new album. In The Dark contains a little bit of folk and garage, and in some tracks almost sound like anti-folk. While tracks such as Rain On A Sunday are pretty clearly indie, others tracks such as Daydreams Of A Drunk Romantic are a lot more quirky and interesting. (Louis Whelan)

Mushroom Giant: Painted Mantra (Sworq / Birds Robe)
- Instrumental prog / post-rock from this Melbourne band.

Patrick James: Broken Lines EP (Create / Control)
- Patrick James is quickly becoming an Australian amalgamation of Bon Iver and Ryan Adams, with tracks such as Wait, their similarities are uncanny. Patrick does, however, manage to inject a little more country into his sound, particularly with his track Fight With Me. These folk / country tracks are very pleasant and his softer falsetto harmonies are a clear standout. Patrick James is gracing Brisbane September 26 at the Old Museum, which would be a perfect venue and feel for his music. (Ella Dann-Limon)

The Presets: No Fun (Single) (Universal)
- They might be quoting Massive Attack but this sounds more like the bouncy synth-pop of Yello...alright, good.

Richard In Your Mind: Hammered (Single) (Rice Is Nice / Inertia)
- A sweet pop tune with splashes of psychedelia about getting drunk with your special someone. Twangy guitars, synths, triangles and I'm pretty sure I heard a flute in there, intertwine over a constant hammering piano which holds this whole song together. Hammered is probably best played while you hold hands with your loved one and skip along the beach licking ice-creams. (Linda Finlay)

Sia: 1000 Forms Of Fear (Monkey / RCA / Sony)
- This album comes as a relief as I haven't really enjoyed a Sia album since Colour The Small One. However, this new offering from Sia successfully blends her brooding, beautiful, soulful melodies that one will find on Colour The Small One with those R'n'B, electro stylings found on records such as We Are Born. An excellent example of this is the single, Chandelier. 1000 Forms Of Fear is certainly a lot more heartfelt - you can almost feel the pain erupting from these songs. (Linda Finlay)

Simon & Tammy London: Don't Leave No Light On For Me (Indie)
- This couple from WA have released their debut album Don't Leave No Light On For Me. This is an Australian country album, with hints of gospel roots and folk. Offering well crafted harmonies with homely, country accompaniment, particularly in the track Spirit Callin. A balance of brash, chart melodiousness and the sparse and dusty sounds of alt-country. (Ella Dann-Limon)

sleepmakeswaves: Love of Cartography (Bird's Robe / MGM)
- I've sometimes said that post-rock is a bit stagnant, but listening to Sleepmakeswaves’ new record renews my faith a little: smashingly energetic riffs and creative songcraft lift this above the sea of post-rock clones. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it makes an extremely high quality example. (Chris Cobcroft)

Sounds Like Sunset: Maybe Eye (Single) (Tym)
- Very pleasant, fuzzy alt-rock, with a strong ‘90’s pedigree.

Steve Smyth: Written Or Spoken (Single) (TeenAgeRiot / Ivy League / Mushroom)
- Smyth's unique voice takes this classic country-folk croon and makes it something a bit like Leonard Cohen or even Scott Walker might do.

Tim Shiel: Time Shield (Indie)
- Melbourne based artist Tim Shiel has just released his latest EP Time Shield, and its melodic smoothness and eclectic samples make it very easy to listen to. The first four tracks on this intricate EP were intended for an experimental iOS listening app and although the app failed to get off the ground, Tim Shiel describes these tracks as snapshots of different scenes within a soundscape. The track Dwn for example is intended to be heard at dawn due to its mellow and calming mood, whilst the track Vincent Cassel has a fast-paced rhythm emulating movement, such as driving or on a train. I love the idea behind this EP, with each track containing interesting nuances designed to suit a particular mood and time of day. (Ella Dann-Limon)

Toehider: What Kind Of Creature Am I? (Bird’s Robe)
- Although they cite Devin Townsend as their main muse, there are all sorts of prog / glam / power / nu-metal and ...er Gilbert & Sullivan flourishes throughout this record. Toehider's very frenetic, metal and silly sense of humour won't be to everyone's taste, but, especially combined with their over-the-top chops, it's pretty infectious. (Chris Cobcroft)

Tom Stephens: Nowhere To Roam (Single) (Indie)
- The addition of an upright bass to Tom Stephens’ sparse folk and cracked voice adds a refreshing richness.

True Vibenation: ON (Big Village)
- Their eclectic musical influences, excellent skills and smart lyrics continue to make True Vibenation just about my favourite Oz-hoppers. The conscious vibe probably plonks a big glass ceiling on their popularity, but, really, be more sublime than this: True Vibenation are worth the effort. (Chris Cobcroft)

Wasabi Bytes: Rage Of The Machine (Single) (Indie)
- Politically charged electronic music. And if you don’t believe me, just listen to the lyrics. This collaboration between the Wasabi Bytes and (Rock Steady Crew and Soul Sonic Force member) Afrika Islam addresses current political issues in Syria and Iraq. This Breakbeat/House track is filled with interesting samples and synths, but the main moving force is the percussion track. The lyrics are simple and direct, and by the end the intention of Rage Of The Machine is very clear. Political awareness in a package you can go clubbing to. (Mitch Cutting)

Wizard Oz By The Water (Single) (Beko Disques)
- Put out through Beko Disques on their Summer 2014 compilation, By The Water is the latest single from Melbourne based outfit, Wizard Oz. It's the subtle hybridisation and little touches that make Wizard Oz really exciting: tinny drum machine punctuates the gently psychedelic haze of synth. Every element, including the droning vocals blend in a warmly lo-fi cloud. In many ways you just have to listen to it, but, to give you an idea, if TV Colours had started from a basis in synth-pop, rather than punk rock, it would very likely have sounded like this and that's awesome. (Louis Whelan & Chris Cobcroft)

Wunder Wunder: Everything Infinite (Permanent / Shock)
- Euhporic, psychedelic indie-pop with synthy dance flourishes. Not really very deep, but it doesn’t need to be, ‘cause it’s a whole lot of fun.

Local Artists:

Amela: Not Enough Honey (Single) (Indie)
-Local singer-songwriter with some classic folk tunes. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

CastleRays: Be My Lover (Single) (White Label)
- Very smooth future-r’n’b, possibly too smooth for some, but not for me, really this sounds a little bit different from the great mass of this stuff coming out right now and that gives it a pretty great edge. (Chris Cobcroft)

Cause In Affect: Nauthiz (Single) (Indie) (Tall Poppy Productions)
- Local boys Cause In Affect are making some big sounds these days. Nauthiz is a heavy/melodic/sludge piece that really moves. The inclusion of glitch-electronic melody and rhythm passages really helps this movement, and further highlights the dynamic shifts between the softer and the heavier parts. The vocals sound similar to Maynard James Keenan from Tool, yet they are still unique and serve the song brilliantly. Another really groove oriented metal song, Nauthiz is really interesting to listen to and is a very well polished number. I have every intention of seeing Cause In Affect live after hearing Nauthiz, and I hope some of you will join me. (Mitch Cutting)

Dag: Dogwood (Tenth Court)
- Showcasing the lazy golden sounds of Dusty Anastasiou, tunes that'll make you like Brisbane again. (Ian Powne)

Denpasar: Radar (Shine Your Way) Feat. My Own Pet Radio (Single)(Indie)
- Bit of Madchester psych-pop-rock, by a band named after that city in Bali because why not.

Drawcard: Kids (Single) (Indie)
- These four notorious party rockers have released their new single Kids taken from their EP to be released later this year. Kids is about wishing for simpler times, this can certainly be heard in the wistful nature of the track, fast moving guitar riffs and that serene bridge in the middle. (Sarah Romero)

Evil Eye: Evil Eye (Indie)
- Evil Eye are a bit of an Australian Metal supergroup, containing Pete Saunders and Dan Owens from Postlife Disorder (Brisbane), Tim Baker from Reaper’s Riddle (Perth), Simon White from Abreact (Bendigo) and Craig Dalton. They have a real post-thrash approach to their songs, and remind me a lot of King Parrot and at certain points, Pantera (though I would never call Evil Eye a Southern Metal band). There’s a solid focus on heavy grooves in the songs, which juxtaposes the harsher vocal styles nicely, reminiscent of Sepultura, though without the Latin rhythms. I’d recommend them to fans of groovier metal acts, such as Sepultura, Meshuggah, At The Gates or even maybe Baroness. (Mitch Cutting)

Flynn Effect: Fluorescence (Single) (Indie)
- Flynn Effect are a new Brisbane melodic metal band, and they do it very well. Something about their melodies and song structure remind me of Voyager, though Flynn Effect are not a progressive band. The lead track, Fluorescence, contains some electronic rhythmic noises throughout, contrasting to the heavy guitars and drums brilliantly, and adding to the ambience of the vocal breaks. Often female fronted metal bands don’t quite capture a sense of uniqueness, but Flynn Effect are different. I feel no compulsion to slot them into the same category as Nightwish or Evanescence. If you like melodic metal, give this gang a go. (Mitch Cutting)

Foxy / Moron: Exit (Indie)
- Extremely DIY, sample heavy idm / glitch / industrial / synth-pop.

Gonzovillain: Mouthbreather (Single) (Indie)
- strong piece of songwriting this, a meditation on the times we find ourselves in. A raw slice of slow burning indie rock, a kiss-off of the southern cross tattoo. (Ian Powne)

Hanny J: Possessions (Indie)
- With that raspy, powerful voice, Hanny J's debut solo EP, Possessions, is filled with raw passion. This EP is stripped back – Just Hanny J and an acoustic guitar, which draws you in so you can truly take in the honest lyrics laced with emotional pain. (Linda Finlay)

Letters Of Utrecht: Slow Exit (Offshoot/Psychonavigation)
- A Brisbane based solo project by Alan Buchanan making ambient, drone and soundscape music. (Lauren Sachs)

Love Signs: Wish At Home (Single) (Indie)
-Moseying, quirky slightly unsettling indie-pop from this three-piece Brissy band.

Scrabbled: Welcome To Pig City (Virtual Cool)
- Layers of nearly unrelated musical ramblings can make Scrabbled seem like several bands at once in a jangly bricolage. Not just jangly but also psychedelic, sludgy and often building to a ritualistic, pagan climax, a pyramid of joyous noise. (Chris Cobcroft)

Sewers / Rat King: Leather Split (Virtual Cool)
- This split between the two, sludgy, Brisbane gutter-punk outfits is a further slide into oblivion for both bands and also the shiny new first release for local label Virtual Cool. It has already been referred to as a ‘polished toilet baby’ by one reviewer. For your listening pleasure. (Chris Cobcroft)

Thelma Plum: Monsters EP (Indie / Footstomp)
- Thelma Plum delivers her latest EP, Monsters, and it displays some great developments from her single Rosie. Thelma shows-off her versatile vocal techniques whilst maintaining that unique tonal sound that makes her music so intriguing. These four tracks break away from Thelma’s previous work, with well-rounded, deeper tracks, particularly the songs Candles and Young Love. It feels like Thelma Plum is dominating Australia’s indie-pop scene, and with this latest EP her place is firmly cemented. (Ella Dann-Limon)

Thirteen Seventy: Burn / Now (Single) (Indie)
- Loud and fuzzy, moody, oldschool alt-rock.

Velociraptor: Sneakers (Single) (Dot Dash / Remote Control)
- Classic Velociraptor pop goodness.

Weezal: Dogma (Indie)
- Rock’n’roll with influences going up to the ‘80s. Just the right balance of gutsy energy and messiness make this pretty impressive.

William Barton: Birdsong at Dusk (ABC / Universal)
- The quiet but highly charismatic giant and didg. virtuoso mixes up his own talents at didg., singing and composition with those of The Kurilpa Quartet, violinist John Rodgers and William’s mum, Delmae, doing some vocals on a record which neatly balances accessibility and artistic intent, interweaving indigenous culture with western art music, good orchestration and impressive improvisational chops (all real - it was recorded live). (Chris Cobcroft)

YUMO: YUMO (Indie)
- The bombastic sounds of trap are made thoughtful and atmospheric in the hands of local producer YUMO with some smooth future soul grooves and danceable beats, this record becomes more and more stylish as it goes on. Impressive. (Chris Cobcroft)

New Zealand Artists:

Buckshot & P-Money: BackPack Travels (Dirty / Dawn Raid / Duck Down)
- A collaboration between NY rapper Buckshot and Kiwi producer P-Money produces classic, soulful vibes and old school flow. Given the pack of trap-clones out there right now, this is sounding like just the thing.

Daif: 2017 (Crystal Magic)
- Synth-heavy nil-vox spacerock for the expansion of your mind beyond your skull.

DIE! DIE! DIE!: Get Hit (Single) (Black Night Crash)
- First single from forth-coming album SWIM by the long-running post-punk/noise rock three piece from NZ. (Ella Dann-Limon)

Overseas Artists:

Various Artists Beko Disques Summer 2014 (Beko Disques)
- Really rather wonderful collection of new wave, chillwave, warm shoegaze, retro-pop and other psychedelically head-spinning things.

Various Artists: Breaking Bad: Original Television Soundtrack (Sony)
- The Breaking Bad soundtrack is almost as great as the show itself. Featuring bands such as The Walkmen, Calexico and The Black Seeds just to name a few, the soundtrack has a very diverse spread of genres from Reggae to Cajun, all of which work surprisingly well in a compilation. Personal favourite: Negro y Azul: The Ballad Of Heisenberg by Mexican band Los Cuates de Sinaloa. (Louis Whelan)

A Sunny Day In Glasgow: Sea When Absent (Lefse / Inertia)
- An indie-rock / shoegaze / alt-pop record not afraid to experiment and so much the better for it. As the shoegaze re-re-revival starts to wear itself out again, something like this is a true tonic. (Chris Cobcroft)

Akin: Ghost Orchid (Apollo / Tailored Communications)
- British producer doing a nice balance of tech and ambience in what is largely UK garage.

Alestorm: Sunset On The Golden Age (Napalm / Rocket)
- Every now and then, there comes a band who so perfectly executes a silly idea that you can’t help but love them. Alestorm are one of those bands. Sunset On The Golden Age has all the trademarks we’ve come to expect from the Scottish pirate-metal band. Sing-along choruses, heavy guitars, keytar, synth and sampler tracks that compel you to jig your night away, bass tones so dirty you wonder if Gareth Murdock (bass) has ever had a shower, and drums that jump from dance rhythms to blistering metal double-kicks in an instant. This is one of the most fun albums I’ve heard this year, yet it still carries that bizarre seriousness of a metal band. Alestorm are no joke, they’re pirates. If you’ve given their old stuff a go and it wasn’t for you, then this new record won’t be either. But if you have enjoyed Alestorm’s previous work, then Sunset On The Golden Age is a must have. And if you haven’t heard of Alestorm, get this new record and give it a go. It truly is a pirate-metal album. (Mitch Cutting)

Allah-Las: 501-415 (Single) (Innovative Leisure / Create/Control)
- Blissed out melancho-pop from Cali four-piece Allah-Lahs. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

Anna Calvi: Strange Weather (Domino / EMI)
- Taking that essential risk and re-interpreting well-known numbers from a more personal angle, a song like FKA Twigs' Papi Pacify go from being glitchy triphop to sparse and brooding country rock. A surprisingly tasteful and strong covers record from the smouldering, pint-size songstress. (Chris Cobcroft)

Antemasque: Antemasque (Nadie Sound)
- The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala reunion isn’t The Mars Volta, nor is it At The Drive In, and is perhaps the pair’s most mainstream accessible work to date. If you can get over all of those things, they’ve still got all the talent that have given them such lengthy and diverse careers and they bring it together to make another impressively hard-rocking record. (Chris Cobcroft)

Arkells: High Noon (Dine Alone / Cooking Vinyl)
- The Arkells have unveiled their new album, High Noon set for release on August 8 in Australia. These Canadian guys have really polished their indie/alternative rock now. The whole album is filled with beautiful and catchy vocal melodies over simple drum beats you can dance to, with groove and hook oriented guitar, pulsing bass and some surprisingly touching piano tracks. In fact, the whole album is quite piano driven, which really differentiates Arkells from the indie-synth-pop bands they’re often associated with. Fans of The Wombats, Club Sports, or even Counting Crows or any of their kin should be looking forward to High Noon. (Mitch Cutting)

Big Deal: Sakura (Mute / Create/Control)
- This London duo have produced a melodious yet meaningful EP of indie-rock with touches of shoegaze. (Lauren Sachs)

Billie Mandoki: I May Be At Fault (Single) (Indie / Tailored Communication)
- Mexican producer Billie Mandoki makes her own dark beats to vocalise over, sounds like a timely update on the Dead Can Dance formula and comes with two neat, techy remixes.

Bok Bok: Your Charizmatic Self (Night Slugs / Inertia)
- Bassy electro-funk that sounds like Prince with Prince missing. Not a bad thing, really lets you focus on the out-of-control grooves.

Brian Reitzell: Auto Music (Smalltown Supersound)
- The fact that Brian Reitzell has worked on some of my favourite movie soundtracks (The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Transalation, Marie Antoinette & Thumbsucker, just to name a few) is reason enough to give his first solo release, Auto Music, a good hard listen. The album veers from soft, melodic, ambient tones into instrumental indie-rock music that somehow inspires a need to go exploring the world. I highly recommend you give this a spin right now. (Linda Finlay)

Caustic Window: Caustic Window LP (Rephlex)
- If you didn’t hear the story: a Kickstarter campaign was started to pay 13k for this excrutiatingly rare old Aphex Twin record (or rather Caustic Window record, it’s another of Richard D. James’ many monikers). Each of the backers now have a digital copy and what was rare is now there for all to hear. The techno revival makes it a pretty timely find and, especially now, reminds us why Aphex Twin -forget about his contributions to IDM- has been so important to techno. (Chris Cobcroft)

Corrosion Of Conformity: IX (Candlelight)
- On their ninth full-length the southern metallers might be out of inventive album titles, but they’re still bringing the jams. Some might disagree but to my ears, there’s a nice balance of the different sounds the three founding members have rocked over the years: thrash, punk, sludge and just good ol’ heavy metal. (Chris Cobcroft)

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: CSNY 1974 Essentials (Atlantic / Reprise / Warner)
- A faithful restoration of this moment of the folk-rock supergroup when they were at the apex of their career. Captures not just the music but also something of the personalities and frictions too.

Courtis/Moore: KPPB (Earbook)
- I don’t know what you’d expect from two twenty minute soundscapes called King Pancreas and Punk Butter, but I get pretty much what I expect in the form of eerie, slithering, and chittering experimental percussion, unnerving loops and fearsome blasts of organ. They were compiled via correspondence between Courtis and Moore in their respective homes in Buenos Aries and Brooklyn, yet, somehow I imagine that much of this would have more impact live, like some darkly broken vaudeville show, but it’s still pretty interesting just to listen to on the phones. (Chris Cobcroft)

DNGLS: Heliris (Anemone)
- A few cuts of extremely techy techno, but not without moments of dark, ambient atmosphere.

Donnie and Joe Emerson: Still Dreamin’ Wild: The Lost Recordings 1979-81 (Light In The Attic)
- Light In The Attic will re-release whatever, whenever, but every now and then they pitch a wayward fragment of yesteryear, a diamond that has languished in the rough for so long that it’s been polished to a bright and shining luster, uncovered again at just the right time for it to be truly embraced by the fickle, listening public. Donnie and Joe Emerson were Washington State teens at the beginning of the ‘80s, armed with analogue synths, piano ballads and their own recording studio. It’s difficult to believe they weren’t picked up back then, but, it will be a genuine crime if we let them go a second time. Don’t let it happen. (Chris Cobcroft)

Dronelock Clusters (Remixes) (Shadow Story)
- Three remixes of the haunting and echoing, piano laced slice of ambient techno, taking exactly the paths you would expect (techno, kraut/industrial, minimal/ambient) but nailing every single one. Seriously, especially along with the original, this is up there with the likes of The Haxan Cloak in its shadowy mastery. (Chris Cobcroft)

Ed Sheeran: Don’t (Single) (Atlantic / Warner)
- Although this single sounds as if it should have been written for Justin Timberlake, the surprising new sound from Ed Sheeran is a pleasant change from his acoustic love songs. Don’t is rhythmically driven, building and thickening in the chorus, which has an effect on your body that you never thought Sheeran could produce. The bitter and scorned tone of the lyrics in Don’t are just as unexpected, making this song an enjoyable variation of the successful English songwriter. (Lauren Sachs)

Eno & Hyde: High Life (Warp / Inertia)
- Made as an afterthought to the very dubious achievement that was Someday World, High Life is everything that its big brother wasn’t. On a base of long-form kraut-rock, Brian Eno & Underworld’s Karl Hyde lay down spacey, sometimes ambient post-rock, afrobeat, and even industrially heavy idm. Letting everything hang out seems to have been the key to getting the most out of this collaboration and it is truly a surprisingly large win. (Chris Cobcroft)

Eugene McGuinness: Chroma (The In Sound From Way Out/EMI/Domino)
- Cool as a cucumber, full of 60's pop hooks, new wave rhythms and McGuinness's clean, effortless vocals. A slow burner, but a total earworm. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

Grime Kings: Honeymooning (Bruised Tongue)
- There are strong echoes of Ariel Pink in Callum Runciman’s lo-fi, retro-pop-rock, slightly psych meanderings from earlier this year. As ragged as this, is the songwriting on Honeymooning is excellent and it’s hard to believe that Grime Kings won’t become much better known. Really, if the world could stand two Ariel Pinks, this might well be the second. (Chris Cobcroft)

Hawk House: Chill Pill (Single) (The In Sound From Way Out/EMI)
- Progressive hiphop with elements of soul from the London brothers and singer Demae. Awesome wordplay, oozing intelligence, cooler than cool. A must-hear for even the most token hiphop fan. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

Helms Alee / Young Widows: Helms Alee & Young Widows Split EP (Sargent House)
- A wonderful split from two great bands. Helms Alee bring you that post-punk goodness milkshake with one part sweet melody, two parts passionate screaming, all blended viciously with those fat guitar & bass lines. Want more fat bass riffs? Move onto Young Widows for that smack-in-the-face sludge rock treat. (Linda Finlay)

Interpol: All The Rage Back Home (Single) (Soft Limit / Mushroom)
- The first single from the upcoming album, the first in four years. Angular, depressing indie-rock that grips you in the chest. Fan boys and girls go wild.

John Dragonetti: The Internet’s Own Boy: Original Soundtrack (Indie)
- Composer John Dragonetti has created something really beautiful here - this soundtrack to 2014 film The Internet's Own Boy perfectly reflects the mind-numbing talent, struggle and eventual tragic end of programming prodigy and co-founder of Reddit, Aaron Schwartz. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

John Garcia: John Garcia (Napalm)
- The former Kyuss frontman finally out by himself and laying down slow and heavy stoner-metal grooves.

Joyce Manner: Never Hungover Again (Epitaph / Warner)
- An excellent record, fearlessly mixing melodic and pop punk, indie, emo and even new wave in support of mature songwriting, all of which makes this a lot more than sum of its parts, a lot of things to a lot of people and something to listen to a lot. (Chris Cobcroft)

Judas Priest: Redeemer Of Souls (Epic / Columbia / Sony)
- Foreswearing anything prog or conceptual, Rob Halford and (a slightly different) company give the fans a service with the axe-powered anthems they know and love. If that’s what you want, you’re probably in for a treat.

Jungle: Jungle (XL / Remote Control)
- There’s a hazy distance between the music, the listener and the sweaty immediacy of the funk. Jungle already have more in common with the effete qualities of Chic than the punch of James Brown and many of these songs threaten to blend into each other too, so there’s a bunch of ways your attention could drift before you get to the end of this record. Having said that Jungle have certainly got the technical skills and if you’re after background ambience, this is the most stylish kind. (Chris Cobcroft)

Leave The Planet: Unreleased Life (Single) (Kanine)
- A fine balance of shoegaze, dreampop and new wave create a pretty, gothically echoing number, everything is brittle and perfect, like a porcelain doll.

Lido: I Love You (Pelican Fly)
- The lead track of Lido’s EP remains just as much of a winning mixture of tasteless electro-pop and amazing electro-funk. The instrumental version is maybe even a bit better. The first backing number, Lost, brings trashy trap-hop, r’n’b and the endlessly repeated vocal samples of footwork. The second celebrates the urban dream with the impossibly literal Money, which, apart from the title repeated over and over, ad nauseum, sounds quite a lot like I Love You. So much that Lido does is tasteless in the extreme and yet -similar to the work of Rustie or Hermitude- there’s a euphoric excellence that keeps bringing me back. (Chris Cobcroft)

Lucky Elephant: The British Working Man (Single) (Sunday Best / Pias / Mushroom)
- Lovely melody from UK outfit Lucky Elephant, complete with old-school vocal samples, accordion, analogue synths and a crunchy, walking rhythm. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

M Geddes Gangras: Ishi (Indie)
- Vast, shining soundscapes with some minimalist sounds worked in. Blissful in the extreme, without ever being monotonous or intellectually lacking. A mighty thing to behold.

Morrissey: World Peace Is None Of Your Business (Harvest / EMI / Universal)
- The opinionated one returns with just as much self-righteousness and bile as ever, but also some of the strongest tunes he’s fielded this side of the millenium. It’s Morrissey, so, results may vary.

Nachtmystium: The World We Left Behind (Century Media)
- Contributing to the genre-meltdown going on within black metal, veteran US outfit Nachtmystium produce their latest maximalist explosion of surprisingly melodic black metal and proggy psych: ‘blackadelia’ as it has been referred to.

Oscar And The Wolf: Strange Entity (Single) (PIAS / Mushroom)
- Understated, Belgian electro-pop with slurring vocals from Max Colombie that have an androgynous quality reminiscent of Karin Dreijer Andersson.

Paws: Youth Culture Forever (Fat Cat)
- So jam packed full of catchy tunes you're bound to contract some kind of music-flu that you should probably spread around. These guys occasionally remind me of The Pixies but not so much so that it's another wannabe copy-cat band. The songs take surprising beat changes courtesy of some creative drumming, which keeps the whole record fresh and interesting. (Linda Finlay)

Philip Selway: Coming Up For Air (Single) (Bella Union / PIAS / Mushroom)
- A rather dreamy, beautiful single from Radiohead drummer, Philip Selway. Thankfully free of falsetto, there's a definite echo of krautrock in the steadily pulsing 4/4 beat and atmospheric synths, a la Neu!. I like it. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

Sinead O'Connor: I'm Not Bossy, I'm The Boss (Nettwerk / Inertia)
- I'm Not Bossy, I'm The Boss is Sinead O'Connor's tenth studio album and it revives her iconic voice with 12 diverse tracks. This is a hard-hitting, feminist work, driving home Sinead's personal and political stance. It follows Sinead's public dispute with Miley Cyrus, resulting in minor references to Cyrus throughout the album, though apparently a parody of wrecking ball is still to come. Sinead's voice doesn't have the same softness or control it once had, yet her music still possesses great depth and emotion through her lyrics and expression. (Ella Dann-Limon)

The Shins So Now What (Single) (Sony)
- A nostalgic love-ditty from the anthemic alt-pop-rockers, which -at least for me- seems to be looking back wistfully on their musical choices as much as anything else. These reflections may just be producing musical results and it reminds me of why I used to like The Shins so much. (Chris Cobcroft)

Simian Mobile Disco: Tangents (Single) (Anti- / Warner)
- Subtle and restrained yet still atmospherically epic ambient techno.

Spoon: Do You (Single) (Spunk Records)
- Classic Spoon!

The Last Internationale: Life Liberty & The Pursuit Of Indian Blood (Single) (Epic)
- Life Liberty & The Pursuit Of Indian Blood is the debut single off The Last Internationale's debut album We Will Reign, and will please Joan Jett fans, especially those who also happen to be po-faced socialists. Tackling the world’s injustices, one rock song at a time. (Ella Dann-Limon & Chris Cobcroft)

The Tea Party: Waters On Fire (Single) (Sony)
- Anyone familiar with The Tea Party probably understands the difficulty of having to describe their music to others. Their new single, Waters On Fire, is no exception. There is a real Middle-Eastern / Indian influence on some of the melodies, and particularly the guitar solo. But even if you were to strip that away, what you would be left with is hardly one dimensional. The vocals are dramatic yet soft. The rhythms are simple yet interesting. The choruses are catchy yet confusing. The piano melodies are beautiful and constant, but almost underplayed, in a very minimalist kind of way. Old school fans of The Tea Party won’t be disappointed by this new track. Anyone into the more experimental or complicated alternative stuff should give Waters On Fire a listen. Even if you’re unaware of The Tea Party and their history, give it a go. It’s beautiful in its own, complicated, simple way. (Mitch Cutting)

Tessela: Rough 2 (R&S / Tailored Communications)
- There’s quite a lot going on in the work of UK producer Ed Russell, aka Tessela. Suffice to say it is dark, techy and full of movement. The title track lives up to its name, throwing together messy chunks of dancehall syncopated techno beats, glitchy noise, 8-bit synths, squelches and bleeps a-plenty. B-side, Butchwax, is more cohesive offering an imagination of what Mantronix might have sounded like as an industrial outfit. C’mon Let’s Slow Dance crazies it up again: so all over the place the only people likely to slow dance to this will be crackheads with broken ankles. Insane but intriguing. (Chris Cobcroft)

They Might Be Giants: First Album Live (Idlewild)
- Hilarious collection of live renditions of TMBG's self-titled debut album. Best moment is on Hide Away Folk Family, when John Linnel invites the crowd to "scream as if you're in hell!" and proceeds to do exactly that before singing backwards words. Love it. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

Tricky: Nicotine Love Feat. Francesca Belmonte (Single) (False Idols / !K7 Records)
- Godfather of trip-hop Tricky has gone all clubby! This is a straight up house cut from his upcoming 11th album Adrian Thaws. Classic Tricky vocals, some cool sounds. Keen to hear the LP! (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)

Woman's Hour: Conversations (Secretly Canadian / Inertia)
- This four-piece from London have released their debut album Conversations, and each track is laced with quiet, almost minimal electronic textures, bringing together elements of ambient, new wave, downbeat dream pop and indie pop. I've fallen in love with the title track 'Conversations', it's incredibly catchy and calming at the same time. Having toured with Anna Calvi and Volcano Choir in 2013, these impressive up-and-comers present an intimate 11-track masterclass in clever stylistic fusion. (Ella Dann-Limon)

Zig Zags: Braindead Warrior (In The Red / Who Can You Trust? / Mexican Summer / Tubesteak Tuesday / Light In The Attic)
- Brutally loud caveman rock from LA outfit Zig Zags. The lofi production sounds great, psychedelic stoner riffs abound. Radical. (Hayley Elliott-Maclure)