Stream: Just Blaze x Baauer - “HIGHER”

TNGHT’s self-titled EP was one highlight of last year’s ever-growing genre of Frankenstein, dance-floor, trap music: Gamera-sized beats that make you want to drink, smoke, freestyle and grind like you’re in Sodom or Gomorrah, not Williamsburg.

Baauer had a killer single and a few remixes in 2012 that explempified this to a tee, so it’s no shock producer-extrodinaire Just Blaze tapped him for an upcoming tour. Apparently, this is the first fruit of their collaboration… Here’s hoping it gets even better.

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Baauer - Harlem Shake
Baauer - Yaow!
Ryan Hemsworth - Slurring (Baauer Remix)

MP3: Wampire - “The Hearse”

“Brandon Flower’s preacher’s-warble meets bootleg instrumentals off Rod Stewart’s Blondes Have More Fun, with a dash of Danzig and the Cryptkeeper.”

That’s how I’d best describe “The Hearse,” the a-side of Wampire’s debut 45. Their band name’s incredulous, but the song’s pretty catchy. And kitschy. I dig it.

Can these wampires make it work for an entire album? We find out come May when they drop their debut, Curiosity. In the meantime, they’re touring with Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Foxygen, two bands who’ve already released pretty good records this year…

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Wampire - The Hearse

MP3: Junip - “Line of Fire”

I’ve had Junip’s latest on my hard-drive for all of half an hour and I’ve spun it through four times already—José González, you and your band make some solid freak folk.

“Line of Fire” is off the group’s forthcoming sophomore LP (self-titled, natch). As long as they pick up where Fields left off, I’m on board…

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Junip - Line of Fire
Junip - In Every Direction

MP3: David Bowie - “Where Are We Now?”

I’m not sure what any lowly, young writer can ad to the music criticism of David fucking Bowie, so… I won’t try.

I will say I’ve been playing this Lynchian epic since the Duke dropped it on iTunes a week ago and I still can’t wrap my ears around a 66-year-old, lounge-singing Bowie. Then, two and a half minutes in, everything clicks and I need to hit play again.

Also, that album art? Brilliant.

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David Bowie - Where Are We Now?

MP3: Atoms for Peace - “Default”

It would be against the posterity of this site to not host Radiohead-related content whenever possible. Thus, down below you’ll find “Default,” the single Thom Yorke’s other band surreptitiously dropped a month ago. The track may be 29 days old, but playing a little bit of catch up never hurt anyone’s hard drive…

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Atoms for Peace - Default
Major Lazer - Jump Up (Thom Yorke Remix)

MP3s: Savages - “Flying to Berlin” & “Husbands”

Typing out “Geddy Lee meets Death From Above 1979” was not something I thought I’d write to describe London post-punkers Savages, but how could one hear “Husbands” and not?

The band debuted their “Flying to Berlin” single back in May and every Siouxsie and The Banshees, Cocteau Twins, early Killing Joke, Blondie, et al. comparison still sticks. If the retrograde production, goth vibes or singer Jehnny Beth’s vocals don’t sell you at first listen, then move right along. Otherwise, add to your autumn soundtrack.

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Savages - Flying to Berlin
Savages - Husbands

MP3s: Airhead - “Wait” & “Pyramid” Singles

Like anyone else with their finger seemingly on the pulse of emerging UK producers, I first heard Airhead (née Robert McAndrews) when I tracked down his collaborative 12” with James Blake, Pembroke. That dropped back in 2010 and McAndrews’s been quiet—save a compilation contribution—until this year when he released two very fine singles, Wait and Pyramid.

Both “Wait” and “South Congress” actually share some DNA with Blake’s R&S Records releases: down-tempo, chopped, spacey. Toying with atmosphere more than anything, the 12” sits at home in a playlist cozied up next to Mount Kimbe and Shlohmo.

“Pyramid” and “Black Ink” on the other hand are pretty significant departures from dubstep’s school of minimalism. Here, McAndrews flexes some maximalist muscle, akin to Lone or Hudson Mohawke, even Ital’s experimental side.

I’m throwing a lot of comparative names around and clearly McAndrews is one small part of a larger scene; with only five officially released solo tracks to this moniker, he’s hard to dissect. That said, there’s magnetism in these singles. Put me down for more.

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Airhead - Wait
Airhead - South Congress
Airhead - Pyramid
Airhead - Black Ink

MP3s: King Krule - “Rock Bottom” & “Octopus”

King Krule aka The Artist Formerly Known as Zoo Kid aka Archy Marshall is England’s 18-year-old, baritone wunderkind. Part Morrissey, part Franco and all teenager, you can hardly believe that voice comes out of this body.

While last year’s King Krule EP failed to reach the bedroom highs of songs released under his Zoo Kid moniker, Marshall’s back with his strongest material since “Ocean Bed.” That voice, that voice, that voice. Download the two new reverb-doused tracks below…

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King Krule - Rock Bottom
King Krule - Octopus
Zoo Kid - Ocean Bed