Dan Condon: Sick Tunes, St Jerome's Laneway Festival 2014

No one has their finger on the indie music pulse in Australia like the St Jerome's Laneway Festival. Their line up for 2014 is staggering; I don't think there has ever been a bill with this much quality from top to bottom for this style of music in this country ever. I crapped on about it here when it was first announced.

Because of this, choosing five acts I believe you've got to see is really difficult. I'm shocked that there are so few timetable clashes in such a packed program (though don't worry, there are some)

Locally you've got Adalita and Dick Diver, for the lovers of brilliant pop music there is Lorde and Haim, those who like things a little more psyched out can enjoy Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Kurt Vile, while hip hop fans get Danny Brown and Earl Sweatshirt and electro chin strokers can get down to Mount Kimbie and Four Tet. I will take this opportunity to say I really dislike what Jamie xx did to that great Gil Scott Heron LP a couple of years ago. Just horrible.

Here are five more bands you can't miss:

PARQUET COURTS:

It's almost a year ago now that I first fell for Parquet Courts and had them on my SxSW wishlist. Reports from their performances over in Austin were strong and their LP Light Up Gold was beyond that – it was brilliant – so their inevitable antipodean jaunt has me brimming with excitement.

The long, meandering Stoned And Starving has gone on to be a minor triple j hit, which is nice, but there are plenty of great tracks on the record and on the Tally All The Things That You Broke EP they released not long before the end of last year. I've chosen Yr No Stoner for no apparent reason, it's just one of 15 great songs on what was a really great album.

Let's hope like hell they can deliver on the live stage.

RUN THE JEWELS:

The hip hop contingent at Laneway 2014 isn't exactly big, but it is brilliant. Between OFWGKTA's Earl Sweatshirt (probably their best MC), the so-hot-right-now Danny Brown and the El-P/Killer Mike collaboration Run The Jewels, you probably won't see a better hip hop show all year (though I dare promoters to prove me wrong).

I don't know squat about Killer Mike, but I can happily tell you that El-P was a standout highlight of the Laneway Festival in 2013. His three solo records have all been pretty good, but his live show was out of this world – one of the best live hip hop experiences I have ever had. Run The Jewels, the eponymous debut album of this new group, which was released in 2013, was better than pretty good, it was a great hip hop record that seems to be winning over new people every other day. I'm psyched to see how it comes together live.

CHVRCHES

Telling you to go and see CHVRCHES is kinda like telling you how to suck eggs (I think? I never really understood that expression), but it's my blog so I'll do what I want to.  

Anyone who has read this blog over the past few years would know that I am unashamed to admit my love of mainstream, commercial, coolsie-maligned pop music. Carly Rae Jepsen, The Veronicas, Katy Perry, Beyoncé (though apparently no one hates Bey) and Ke$ha sit proudly next to Poison Idea, Slayer and Wu-Tang on my record shelf.

Then you have artists like HAIM, Robyn and, indeed, CHVRCHES; they're subverting slick modern pop music just enough to make it appeal to audiences who'd run Carly Rae out of town with a pitchfork, but retaining the elements that make pop music so vital – polished production values, unforgettable hooks and confident, relatable lyricism (though far more edgy than that of their commercial counterparts). It's almost like they're getting away with something they shouldn't, as if they're pulling the wool over the eyes of people who hate pop music out of principle but love this new wave.

I'm definitely reading too much into it, but that's what I do.

DICK DIVER

It's a pretty good sign when you have to go back to a band's previous album because you've simply well overplayed their most recent one. I threw Dick Diver's New Start Again on for the first time in ages the other day, because I've simply overdone their 2013 record Calendar Days. Funny thing is, the first thing I thought when the opening track Through The D came on was “gee, I remember I really overplayed this record when it came out”. Dick Diver are addictive.

If you're not yet familiar with these Melbourne masters, you're absolutely missing out. Their languid indie rock encapsulates a certain Aussie je ne sais quoi that's not really patriotic, but also not jaded about our identity. I guess they're amazing in the same way as The Go-Betweens, they couldn't come from anywhere but Australia, but they'd smash just about every stereotype about typically Australian music there was to have. Just get amongst it.

CASS MCCOMBS:

Revered folk rocker Cass McCombs has never really had the same attention from Australian audiences as I expect he receives overseas, but perhaps a trip down here with Laneway will fix that. He's a fantastic singer-songwriter who has that enviable knack of being able to seemingly rattle off whatever happens to be on his mind while keeping it within the loose framework of a damn good indie rock song.

His effortless brand of rolling indie rock has seen him earn mass critical acclaim with the release of each of his seven albums and he stunningly released two incredible records – Wit's End and Humor Risk – in 2011; he's a fascinating songwriter and he sounds like he'd be a pretty fascinating guy as well. 

Have fun at the festival, and don't be a douchebag to me (or anyone) when I'm trying to watch Lorde.