Cloud Nothings - Psychic Trauma 9.2/10

Cloud Nothings are an indie hard rock band from Cleveland, USA. This track is taken from their album Here and Nowhere Else which was released by Carpark Records in March 2014. The track starts out with a calm, swaying rhythm of ringing guitars with vocals kept low in the mix. Everything shifts abruptly after 44 seconds with the arrival of crashing drums and a doubling of the timing. At 65 seconds the group fall into a new whirling groove with driving, wailing guitars which leads into the raging chorus with singer Dylan Baldi's voice reaching a snarl. I've listened to this track at least 100 times and still get caught up each time in the blinding rush of the guitar slashes as the song barrels into the chorus. This will get your blood pumping no matter the time or place - a strong contender for song of the year for 2014.

Les Sins - Youth Gone 8.5/10

Les Sins is a side-project of Chaz Bundick from South Carolina, USA, better known for his music released under the name Toro y Moi. This track is taken from a two-track single released by Carpark Records in 2010. The style of Les Sins has faster, heavier beats than the chillwave vibe he creates as Toro y Moi, and this song is intended as an intelligent floor-filling club track. A sample of what sounds like a trumpet is sliced and diced into a rapid, rollicking beat, leading to a well-constructed break point at 1:40 which gives way to a shift in the beat pattern and tempo which clearly announces 'this is the time to start dancing'. The track has no lyrics, but the gradual shifts and glitches in the beat patterns make this complex listening for what at first seems like a straight-up electronic dance track.