Congratulations, both romantically-inclined and the perpetually alone: you’ve made it through Valentine’s Day intact (perhaps with a few more pounds of chocolate weight?) This week, we’ve got lovely new tracks from Lady Lamb, Diplo, Burial, the Mars Volta, and many more. Now, only 362 days till the next V-Day…
-Chris Coplan News Editor
Burial – “Loner”
On “Loner”, the desolate first track off of his latest EP Kindred, South London post-rave wunderkind Burial displays a previously unheard kinetic edge, juxtaposing the atmospheric doom and gloom of his past work against a shockingly straightforward four-on-the-floor beat. Cause for alarm? Not in the least; this just might be his best track to date. Kindred is out now digitally on Hyperdub. -Möhammad Choudhery
The Cribs – “Chi-Town”
England’s own The Cribs show their love for drunken punk rock singalongs and the Second City in the first track from their upcoming Steve Albini-fueled LP, In the Belly of the Brazen Bull. Listen to this one while you wander around Logan Square after a Bulls win. In the Belly of the Brazen Bull hits stores on May 8th via Wichita Recordings. -Chris Coplan
Since the Von Bondies disbanded last year, Jason Stollsteimer has founded a new group, The Hounds Below. The group’s debut single, off their yet-to-be-titled debut LP, makes for an auspicious first chapter in their career, bursting at the seams with angular guitars and a couple of catchy-as-hell choruses. Stay tuned for more details on the future release. -Möhammad Choudhery
Sans Dave Sitek this time around, rapper/producer Jneiro Jarel and rapper/supervillian DOOM released “Banished”, the first track from their upcoming joint LP Keys to the Kuffs. A beast of crazy, bass-heavy synth, the real star of the show is DOOM’s maniacal flow of unending pop culture references. Keys to the Kuffs hits stores this May via Lex Records. -Chris Coplan
Lady Lamb the Beekeeper – “Arms”
Brooklyn singer-songwriter Aly Spaltro still hasn’t unveiled the details for her forthcoming LP. But if the demo entitled “Arms”, with its adorable lyrics and jarring acoustic instrumentation, are any indication, it should be absolutely buzz-worthy. Bee ready, y’all. -Chris Coplan
Light Asylum – “Shallow Tears”
With this glorious blast of moody, electro post-punk, NYC-based duo Light Asylum announce the release of their self-titled debut. A rework of the same “Shallow Tears” that’s been floating ’round the Internet since last year as a bootlegged mp3, it’s a stunning first single that sets the bar pretty high for Light Asylum, due out May 1st on Mexican Summer. -Möhammad Choudhery
The Mars Volta – “The Malkin Jewel”
Just weeks after announcing a reunion tour with their 10-years-defunct band At the Drive-In, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and co. announced the eminent release of The Mars Volta’s sixth record, Noctrourniquet. The leadoff single “the Malkin Jewel” is a blistering beast of a track built around a tripped-out, dubby backbeat and oodles of heavy psychedelia. It’s an awesomely deranged jam that’s pretty far from the (relatively) tame Octahedron, the band’s last effort. No complaints here, though. Noctourniquet is out March 27th on Warner Bros. -Möhammad Choudhery
To kick off promotion of their first new album in some six years, German electro duo Mouse on Mars premiered “Polaroyced”, which the band claimed no speakers in the world could adequately handle. Maybe we’ve got malfunctioning equipment, but the groovy cascade of synth bleeps sounded fleshed out enough. Test the band’s theory in-full when the Parastrophics drops on February 28th via Monkeytown Records. -Chris Coplan
Simian Mobile Disco – “Fourteenth Principles”
This past Monday, British electro-producer duo Simian Mobile Disco updated their website to feature the above photo against a black backdrop. We’ll take it to mean that their follow-up to 2009′s Temporary Pleasure is due out on May 14th and is to be titled Unpatterns. At the page’s bottom was a SoundCloud link to this, an ominous two-minute song that sounds an awful lot like the introduction to something really, really awesome. Unpatterns is out May 14th. -Möhammad Choudhery
Diplo himself said he’s “pretty sure in 9 months there are gonna be a lot of new babies that this song is responsible for.” And whether it’s Mr. Raymond’s crooning or the smooth electro-soul production, this track has us thinking we wanna procreate, too. -Chris Coplan
