Had this been a week of nothing more than Adam Yauch’s passing, Tom Gabel’s big announcement, and two new Animal Collective jams, these past seven days would have been some of the most noteworthy in recent memory for the music biz. But besides those stories, a bunch of exciting songs also made their way into our ears recently, including ones from Oneohtrix Point Never, The Walkmen, DIIV, Ab-Soul and Kendrick Lamar, and more, all of which you can find on the following pages. Have fun with these, and we’ll see ya next Friday.
-Mike Madden Staff Writer
Ab-Soul feat. Kendrick Lamar – “ILLuminate”
The latest collaboration between Ab-Soul and Kendrick Lamar, “ILLuminate” is the latest five-minute-plus masterwork from the Black Hippy camp (see also: “The Recipe”, “Cartoons and Cereal”). Entering on a bed of airy synths and dropping just as the tension peaks, the Skhye Hute-produced beat is testimony to the amount of creativity running through underground rap’s collective brain right now. And as usual, both MCs come out swinging on the mic, rendering their flows crisp, candid, elastic, and, of course, more than a little impressive. Find “ILLuminate” on Soul’s Control System, out today. -Mike Madden
Animal Collective – “Honeycomb”
A new Animal Collective single popping up out of nowhere is one way to make Sunday night “weekend’s over” blues go away, especially when its as cathartic as “Honeycomb”. The A-side to a forthcoming 7″, the song hearkens back to the Water Curses with its trippy, shambolic electronics and Panda Bear’s triumphant pounding at the drum kit. The thing bleeps and woops like a remixed kids’ cartoon, all while Avey Tare spitting out a balletic vocal tangle. The lyrics’ comparison of emotions to a beehive (“If you fill up your heart, it spills outside/You find everything inside the heart on top of the hive”) and the challenges of the busy world simultaneously hit a sugar rush and a shimmering melancholia. -Adam Kivel
CocoRosie – “We Are On Fire”
In one fell swoop, both CocoRosie and revered indie label Touch and Go are back. The first release on the label in five years comes in the form of new single “We Are On Fire”, and it also marks the first release for the freak-folk espousing Casady sisters since their 2010 LP, Grey Oceans. Produced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, the finger-snap and chiming synth trip-hop track delves deeper into the weird. The mysterious chorus (“I used to have eyes the color of sky, but now I can see in the middle of the night”) drips with cool, operatic backing vocals and bass rumbles, with the whole thing sounding surprisingly pop-friendly. -Adam Kivel
DIIV – “Doused”
The latest single from the forthcoming Oshin (out June 26th on Captured Tracks), the darkish “Doused” is a change-up for the Brooklyn-based DIIV (formerly known as Dive). On the track, frontman Zachary Cole Smith works his reverb-kissed voice around a pounding rhythm section and guitars that knife their way through the mix, all of which contrasts the more laid-back vibes of some of the band’s prior stuff. What’s more, the freewheeling outro, even with its own contrast to the beginning of the song, ties things together just right. Oshin should be a fun time. -Mike Madden
Four Tet – “Jupiters”
Prolific electronic wizard Kieran Hebden is back after some time spent remixing and collaborating with a new single under the Four Tet moniker. The A-side “Jupiters” twinkles and loops like he got a hold of the instrumental panel to an ’80s movie spaceship and did some fiddling with the electronics for its first half. The conclusion, though, adds super-bassy synths, drums, and chopped and screwed female vocal samples to flesh things out into a ready-for-the-dancefloor jam. -Adam Kivel
Melvins Lite – “Leon vs. The Revolution”
Quite a few were likely scratching their heads when the new Melvins album was announced under the heading Melvins Lite. Sludge metal masterminds King Buzzo and Dale Crover teamed up with Mr. Bungle/Fantomas bassist Trevor Dunn for that seeming contradiction of a band name, and the fact that the resulting sound on “Leon vs. The Revolution” is Melvins at their Lite setting is quite telling of the full-force stuff. The brief track chugs on Buzzo’s screeching riffs, Crover’s slapping drums, and Dunn’s upright bass dexterity (really, the whole album features acoustic bass), eventually trailing off to a manic group chanting “Fight! Fight Fight!”. Freak Puke arrives June 5th via Ipecac. -Adam Kivel
Oneohtrix Point Never – “I Only Have Eyes for You”
As part of Doug Aitken’s new project incorporating covers of the Harry Warren- and Al Dubin-composed classic “I Only Have Eyes for You,” Oneohtrix Point Never has contributed a rendition of his own. And unsurprisingly, Daniel Lopatin (the Brooklyn-based guy behind Oneohtrix) has transformed the song into a monolithic, slow-burning wall of eerie sound, whereupon the lyrics are mostly impossible to make out because dude has chopped them up here even more minutely than syllable by syllable. The thing tops seven minutes, but very present is the virtuosic sense of pacing that Lopatin flaunted with late last year’s Replica. It’s late in the evening/early in the morning as I’m writing this, and that’s no doubt the best time to be hearing a track like this. -Mike Madden
Passion Pit – “Take a Walk”
It’s been a healthy two years or so since we’ve heard anything new from Passion Pit. But on July 24th, the Cambridge quintet returns with their long-awaited sophomore LP, Gossamer, via Columbia Records. “Take A Walk” marks the first listen off the effort, and similar to their debut, Manners, it’s another poppy delight for breakfast, yet this time around its heartfelt lyrics stray from the sleeve and instead hit up some nearby culture. This is a good indication of things to come. -MR
Pretty Lights – “You Get High”
“You Get High” is the latest adrenaline-rusher from Colorado’s Pretty Lights, and while it’s not yet slated to appear on any full-length project from Derek Smith, you might want to keep this in regular rotation for a little bit. A kinetic gumbo of everything from hip-hop to funk to soul, the song definitely isn’t any one thing, a track whose appeal is expressed best not through words but through sound. -Mike Madden
Every new taste of The Walkmen’s upcoming 7th LP, Heaven (pushed up to May 29th via Fat Possum Records), reaffirms the fact that this is a victory lap for the elder statesmen of the indie rock world. The ooh aah backing vocals and references to the Duke of Earl and Pony Express age the thing, sure, but Hamilton Leithauser’s completely brazen romanticism on lines like “take my heart, it’s right here for you” sounds so mature. The guitar and drums shuffle that meanders in around three minutes into the track with echoes of the title is sappy and saccharine, but completely earned. -Adam Kivel
