1.
Jack White – Blunderbuss
The debut solo album from this bona fide rock star, and ex White Stripe, does not disappoint. There is less straight up guitar slaying than on past White Stripes albums, but there is masterful blues and folk, and tales of love, loss and heartbreak, all melded together by Jack White‘s unmistakable voice and eccentric personality.
Death Grips – The Money Store
Death Grips are making angry, noisy, aggressive, pounding, no holds barred punk music that is the aural equivalent of an adrenalin shot straight to the heart. Don’t expect even one second of respite in this wild 40 minute riot of an album.
2.
Crystal Fighters – Star Of Love
Crystal Fighters’ amalgamation of dance music, indie-rock and traditional Basque instrumentation, which happens to sound even more brilliant live than it does on record, is finally getting a US release. Don’t sleep on this quirky, fun and danceable record.
Full Album Stream: Crystal Fighters – Star Of Love
3.
Yuna – Yuna
Malysian born singer Yuna has gone from strumming gentle acoustic ballads to having Pharrell produce tracks for her and be heavily involved in this album, and fortunately, much of her soft-spoken charm remains intact.
4.
Actress – R.I.P.
Actress may be called a dance music producer, but R.I.P. is closer to ambient noise than anything even faintly club related. As an exercise in creating blurry, hypnotic, subtle and incredibly addictive soundscapes, this album is incredibly successful, and if you give it the time, very rewarding.
5.
Electric Guest – Mondo
Danger Mouse production: check. Catchy melodies and sing-along hooks: check. Using a wide variety of instrumentation, and not sticking to one style, the one thing that the tracks on this album have in common is their top-notch pop credentials.
