Matthew E. White.

He may look like the saviour of the world but gee he's hard to download illegally. Matthew E. White has has this incredible debut album out for some time now and has been hyped like crazy but we haven't been able to get our hands on it, until now. It has been leaked on this little known website called the iTunes Store but you may have to hand over some cashola for it. But how's the music? I hear you ask. Well we've given you the answer - we payed for it, that's how good it is. Every song has incredible soul like he's been approached by the ghosts of James Brown and Jesus Christ and told to make a modern gospel album that preaches "Big Love" and nothing more; and that's what he's done.

Fuzz.

It's been a while since we've bathed in the vibrations of heavy grunge rock and for that we have to thank the indie rock generation who's guitars don't ever seem to make it to the low end. But every so often rock & roll has a prodigy child that says fuck your synth pop here's some distortion. Ty Segall is Jack White without the stylist and he brings rock back to its glory days where you could simply stand and let your mop of hair do the dancing. Aside from his other two projects in Slaughterhouse and White Fence, which both produced stellar albums in 2012, Ty Segall has joined forces with guitarist Charlie Moothart to form Fuzz. The aptly named partnership reminds us of those Kyuss songs that just blows your mind with guitar goodness.

Jim James.

The voice behind some of rock and roll's most alluring songs has announced a solo album due out this February. Without his morning jacket, Jim James has given us a taste of what it might be like to listen to the sound of doves crying. His new song 'A New Life', which should be the single off the upcoming album titled "Regions of Light & Sound of God", is a beautiful track that builds from a brooding but honest ballad to a joyous romp. The song oozes 50's soft rock as if Elvis and Buddy Holly decided to collaborate and grow beards. Take a listen and let it grow.

STRFKR.

Returning back to the airway's this year will be STRFKR, the Portland outfit who we've been watching and waiting to blow up since 2008. Their new album "Miracle Mile" is set to release in February and we are crossing our fingers that the album will get our privates tingling as much as their first self titled release did. It would appear, while 2011's "Reptillians" felt more like the band was trying to be Passion Pit, the first single off the album - 'While I'm Alive', seems to be a return to their more stripped back funky style with a less is more attitude and we are really diggin it.

Matthew Dear.

Matthew Dear has been producing some great dance funk hybrids since the early 2000's but his latest release "Beams" is truly a great collection of fresh jams with more than two influences. The track 'Headcage' is a great example of this as it sounds more like a Mutant Ninja Turtle underground minimalist rave track rather than a funky jam. His deep layered vocals are a delicious platform for melody as heard in the track 'Earthforms' where Dear could easily be confused for a member of Tv On The Radio. But the one that will get stuck in your head is titled 'Ahead of Myself', its soulful mellow tone is beautifully accompanied by a solid beat made up of some interesting samples.

Flume. 

Sydney based producer Harley Streten aka Flume is another impressive glitch-beat producer to fall into people's consciousness this year but even more impressive is that he's only 21 and has been doing it for just over a year. Some of the complex sounds coming out of Flume's repertoire is truly remarkable. Pick any song from his diverse self titled debut album and you will hear a mash-up of subtle flavours from hip-hop to chill wave to indie. My personal favourites from the record would have to be 'Change', 'Insane feat. Moon Holiday' and 'Sleepless feat. Jezzabell Doran'.

Crystal Castles.

Crystal Castles have released their third album last month and I was aware that it was going to be dark and ominous but holy crap Alice Glass and Ethan Kath have entered the cemetery gates on this one. The entire album is powerfully composed around their trademark gothic-dance style but adds deeper layers of Mauro Piccotto-esque bass synth to the cauldron. An absolute standout from the album is titled 'Mercenary' and has a freaky video accompany it. . .

Pond.

It still amazes me that I haven't posted about Pond yet. I was introduced to these guys earlier on this year by a good friend only to find out that they are a large proportion of my other obsession, Tame Impala. These psychedelic rockers from Fremantle in Western Australia released possibly one of the most creative and energetic releases of the year. "Beard, Wives, Denim" is 13 tracks of pure psychedelic gold with sonic explorations in tracks like 'Eye Pattern Blindness' and 'You Broke My Cool' and good old fashion jam songs like 'Moth Wings' and 'Elegant Design'. Just buy the album, it's only 12 bucks on iTunes but worth a million bucks in brain melting guitar riffs and swift head bangs.

Mac Demarco.

Cooking up something good is definitely what Mac DeMarco has been doing with his second album aptly titled "2". This being the opening track of the album, it sets the pace for what is an enjoyable insight into the casual, tongue n' cheek world of DeMarco. Packed full of cheesy reverberated guitar riffs and hazy drawn out vocals, "2" is a real fun album but with a casual vibe that says 'relax dude'. The best thing about DeMarco's songs on this album is his ability to make the simplest of tunes memorable and full of character. Listen to 'Ode to Viceroy' and 'Freaking out the Neighborhood' to see what i'm talking about.

Luke Lalonde.

Luke Lalonde, the voice behind the playful Canadian outfit Born Ruffians, has spread his wings and flown solo for his latest project "Rhythymnals" which is proving to be a pop-ier affair than the standard band formation of the Ruffians due to the interesting array of sounds mixed into the songs' production. As is a Lalonde signature, his song writing is so pleasantly melodic throughout this whole album. The featured song is  almost a Spanish love ballad filled with great atmospheric harmonies and a slowly ascending melody - it's titled 'Inamorataos'; other noteworthy tracks are 'Grand (Rhythymnals)' and 'A Great Man'.

Sticky Fingers.

Sydney surf-dub rockers Sticky Fingers are going to blow up and it's only a matter of time. You heard it first on tunemonkey, because these lads have everything you need to succeed in the business today; cool haircuts, some ethnic band members and bucket loads of cheek. It doesn't hurt to have a few catchy-as-hell songs either, such as this one here. . .

Foals.

We are seeing an edgier almost more aggressive Foals in this video than we're used to. There latest release 'Inhale' still has all those trademark foals noises - echoed guitar effects, syncopated rhythms and the layered high pitched vocals but with this song they've done something they've never done before - developed a chunky Muse-like chorus that rocks pretty hard.

Kyson.

A mellow ambiance drips from Kyson's tracks. If you lend yourself to transportation you can hear the meticulous formation of atmosphere in each of the Berlin-based producer's precisely crafted glitch beat workings. Originally from Australia, Jian Kellett-Liew calls upon field recordings to create the sonic landscapes that you hear in this particular track titled 'Remi.' Watch out for Kyson over the next few years, his latest recordings are bearing some well ripened fruits and they're only getting better and better.  

Sinkane.

Sudanese native Ahmed Gallab has made big moves as a session musician and creative prodigy for bands such as Yeasayer, Caribou, Of Montreal and Born Ruffians and as indie prodigies do, they eventually wind up in Brooklyn. It was there that Gallab focused his talents into his project known as Sinkane where his multi-instrumental mindset and African rhythms led to the creation of some funky music. His new album "Mars" was just released and so far it blows my mind so I can only anticipate how it will sound after repetitious treatment. 

Local Natives.

Local Natives have been a casualty of the indie rock era. What I mean by this is that there are just too many bands out there that do this style of melodic, rhythmic and atmospheric rock music that Local Natives have just not received the accolades they deserve. Seeing them live is an experience in itself as every band member has an equally angelic voice making their harmonies so brilliantly satisfying. With their sophomore record on its way, the single 'Breakers' is a taste of what we are likely to hear - something along the lines of The Maccabees "Given To The Wild" we're hoping.

Flying Lotus.

Steve Ellison is incredibly creative. His compositions are essentially arrangements of obscure sounds, performed on a vast richness of instruments, constructed together to form a very palatable symphony of noise. I can admit that not all is easily digestible unless you crave some alternative to the western form of songwriting but it's roots are so diverse that tying the music of Flying Lotus down to a genre is very difficult. His new album "Until the Quiet Comes" has received plenty of hype but that's probably because it is in a direction of it's own.

The Babies.

It would seem as though Brooklyn is this pregnant woman that keeps popping out overly decent indie rock bands every nine months or so - sometimes with twins. The Babies are an amalgamation of other indie do-gooders but we won't go into what that meant for old Ms. Brooklyn. Just enjoy their new track it's called 'Get Lost'.

The Sheepdogs.

The Sheepdogs do catchy as hell blues rock. With fuzz straight out of the 70's this Canadian ensemble will remind you of the good old days when jeans were tight and hair was long. Co produced by Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, you can feel the simple goodness in The Sheepdogs' songwriting. Their 4th studio album came out last month but I bet you'll be listening to it for many more. Frontman Ewan Currie has possibly the most appropriate voice for his style of music, its a gosh darn potent combo.

The Kite String Tangle.

Strange name, but I guess over a century of popular music would be a tough mine to excavate for a nice chunk of name gold. That aside, The Kite String Tangle is a Brisbane based ambient electronic artist who is also known as Danny Harley to his friends and local grocer. . . hopefully. His song 'Commotion' is an nice piece of electronica. It has a calming vibe with its bouncy and syncopated rhythms accompanied by Harley's hazy vocals - but it is also very dance-able; especially through the chorus which erupts with many layers of crisp and dirty synths. 

Tame Impala.

I've posted about Tame Impala recently, I realise this, but shut up it's Tame Impala. "Lonerism" comes out in 5 days but tunemonkey has a live stream hookup for you just in case you couldn't wait. I couldn't. . .