Stuck between simmering down about Coachella and Tim Tebow’s dishonorable discharge from the NFL playoffs and heating up over SOPA and another weekend of playoff madness? We’ve got just the thing for that: 10 things, in fact. We feel these 10 tracks will serve as a perfect soundtrack to your weekend, whether as glorious victory music or a comforting hand on your shoulder till next season. Best of luck! -Möhammad Choudhery
Daniel Rossen – “Saint Nothing”
Doesn’t it just feel like a Grizzly Bear month? Even though grizzly bears are hibernating during the winter months, their music fits the bleak winter at the new beginning of a year. Unfortunately, there’s no new Grizzly Bear to be heard of (yet), but Daniel Rossen had a solo EP up his sleeve. The Silent Hour/Golden Mile EP is out March 20th via Warp. Here’s a pinch of the flavor that reeks of Grizzly Bear – in a good way. -WR
“Saint Nothing”:
Heems – “You Have to Ride the Wave” (Feat. Danny Brown, Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire)
Das Racist made a big splash last year with two mixtapes and a full-length with a pop-culture intellect that seemingly has no bounds. So why shouldn’t one of the dudes from Das Racist do it on his own? No reason, apparently. Heebs (born Himanshu Suri) dropped his first solo mixtape for free earlier this week, with the same sort of cleanly produced babble-rap his group is great it, not to mention some truly talented guest artists, as well. Preview a track featuring a hot Danny Brown and a rumbling Mr. Muthafuckin’ Exquire. -WR
Julianna Barwick – “Never Change”
Though I’m willing to bet that albums as breathtakingly beautiful as Julianna Barwick’s debut, The Magic Place, only come once in a lifetime, “Never Change” – a new track she released for free earlier this week and the first we’re hearing from Barwick since the record – really tips the scales against me. Five-and-a-half-minutes of angelic bliss, it serves as a fitting epilogue to her last album and sets the bar high for whatever the Asthmatic Kitty standout does next. -MC
Lana Del Rey – “Born to Die” (Clams Casino Remix)
Presumably in the way of damage control for that awful SNL performance last weekend, Lana Del Rey dropped the brilliant second single/title track off of her upcoming debut LP, along with a pair of remixes of the song, this past Tuesday. Tri Angle Records standout Clams Casino offers up a tripped-out, meditative rework that nearly outdoes Del Rey’s original, staying faithful and diverging from the source material at all the right points. Born to Die, the album, is out January 31st on Interscope Records. -MC
Lower Dens – “Brains”
Led along by a swelling mass of reverbed-out guitars and a rigid backbeat, “Brains” is a promising first look at Nootropics, the soon-to-be new record from Jana Hunter’s Lower Dens. “Brains” is out on limited-edition 10″ vinyl on March 27th, followed by Nootropics on May 1st. -MC
MNDR – “#1 in Heaven”
MNDR’s has sparked my curiosity for a good while. Amanda Warner (AKA MNDR) has worked with the likes of Mark Ronson and toured alongside an act like Chromeo, but she hasn’t hit it quite right just yet. This may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. As the first single from her alleged (later this year) debut album, she brings “#1 in Heaven”. She uses her sultry skills to pull you into her catchy pop web like a spider. It’s truly something worth hearing. -WR
Oberhofer -”HEART”
Brooklyn native Oberhofer brings a pleasantly surprising track to the table with him this week. Structured around building piano, ”HEART” quickly turns into an Avey Tare-ish chant that eventually builds and builds until reaching almost Coldplay-sized proportions. The dynamics alone are worth a listen. – WR
Fans of the artist formerly known as Santogold, who’ve been waiting four years now for word of a new album, are in for a bit of (not so) bad news: The waiting’s not about to get any easier. “Big Mouth”, the first single off of her upcoming sophomore record, is an early candidate for that song you’ll hear blaring from festival electro-tents all year long. Master of My Make Believe is out this Summer. -MC
“Big Mouth”:
Sleigh Bells – “Comeback Kid”
On the back of this racket, Sleigh Bells remind us again that we’re not too far off from the release of their forthcoming LP, Reign of Terror. An unusually radio-ready turn for the usually boisterous duo, “Comeback Kid” sets the stage for Sleigh Bells’ hotly anticipated second record. Reign of Terror is out February 21st via Mom+Pop Records. -MC
Yasiin Bey – “Niggas in Poorest”
Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) has taken it upon his forever-busy self to announce that he’ll be releasing Top 40 Underdog Series. It isn’t an album exactly, with songs to be released bit by bit, but the first track, “Niggas in Poorest”, makes for a promising spectacle of a series. B0rr0wing the beat from Jay-Z and Kanye’s dire tale of lavish riches, “Niggas in Paris”, Bey turns it 180 degrees to a story of poverty and real life. It’s politically charged, ethically sound, and not too hard on the ears, as it happens. -WR
