Five Must See Acts at St Jerome’s Laneway 2013

Auckland Anniversary day 2013 sees the return of the ever expanding Laneway Festival, an indie music orgy orchestrated to satisfy the lovers of some of the more obscure and diverse sonic offerings around. As with previous years this year’s line-up is packed full of critically acclaimed acts, and includes musicians from the USA, UK, Iceland, Australia, Norway, Canada, and of course New Zealand.

With over 20 acts performing (Click here for full lineup) across the day it’s hard to pick and choose, but below find five personal favourites that are set to be highlights come Auckland's birthday:

Alt-J

Alt-J are one of the breakthrough indie acts of 2012 and draw on a number of genres to produce songs that combine equal parts melancholy and contentment into their own quirky sound. Their debut album An Awesome Wave has just been awarded to Mercury Prize in the UK and they will arrive down under fresh off a headline tour of their homeland and eager to show off their credentials.

Tame Impala

The psychedelic tour de force that is Tame Impala were the last act to be announced for Laneway 2013 and will undoubtedly be one of the highlights.

The band recently released Lonerism, the follow up to 2010’s excellent Innerspeaker, and an album that has taken the band to a new level with a more diverse and layered sound built on dreamy and at times hypnotising synths. NME have just named it their album of the year, a well-deserved accolade and a performance not be missed.

Cloud Nothings

Cleveland, Ohio four piece Cloud Nothings play the kind of raw guitar driven indie rock that has taken a back seat to the more synth and keyboard driven acts of the past few years. They kicked off 2012 with the release of their 3rd Album, Attack on Memory, which was the first album of the year to receive best new music status on pitchfork.com. With a ferocious rhythm section and not a synth in sight, Cloud Nothings look set to tear the laneway crowd a new one with a high energy set.

Flume

Those of you who attended Laneway this year were hopefully lucky enough to catch an epic set amongst the sun, super yachts and silos from UK DJ/Producer SBTRKT. It was one for the ages and Sydney beat maker Flume looks set to bring something just as good to the festival in 2013. At just 20 years old and fresh off the release of his debut album, Flume combines a synth, sample, and percussion mastery with a healthy smattering of guest vocalists to produce perfect summer afternoon tunes. Get amongst!

Of Monsters and Men

Of Monsters and Men are a five piece indie folk act hailing from Europe’s most sparsely populated country, Iceland. The band fuses elements of Mumford & Sons and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s into their own Nordic sound and bring something unique to Laneway 2013. Their single Little Talks will likely result in one big sing-along amongst the Silo’s, make sure you are part of it.