Hint: If this week’s collection of artists were heading a festival lineup, we’d have our airfare, lodging, and ticketing locked down ASAP.
10. Jimi Hendrix – “Somewhere”
This music critic is apprehensive to endorse posthumous music releases that are clearly engineered for profiteering and the exploitation of a musician’s legacy, but some tracks just shout “exception!”. On March 5th, Legacy is releasing People, Hell and Angels, a collection of songs recorded shortly before Jimi Hendrix’s death. The first preview from that album is “Somewhere”, a spastic rocker recorded alongside Stephen Stills and Buddy Miles back in ’68. As energetic as ever, Hendrix wah-wahs his way through guitar passages, and when the music drops out, he sings like the sad bluesmen that inspired him: “Back at the saloon, my tears mix like mildew with my drink.” The amount of post-production that went into this track is unknown, but in its current state, “Somewhere” is worthy of the Hendrix canon. -Jon Hadusek
9. Pete Swanson – “Life Ends at 30″
Former Yellow Swan Pete Swanson released an excellent, unfortunately little noticed dance-noise album back in 2011 called Man With Potential. Lucky for those of us who weren’t on the ball back then, he’s back with a follow-up EP, Punk Authority (due March 12th via Mexican Summer). Early taste “Life Ends at 30″ displays the fingerprints of that last release, burying dance rhythms and squealing synths under a few tons of feedback cement. For nearly 13 minutes, you’ll wonder why all house music isn’t filtered through this much eardrum-puncturing insanity. -Adam Kivel
8. Rockie Fresh feat. Lunice – “Superman OG”
Chicago rappers born in the ’90s keep popping into mainstream attention, and the superb “Superman OG” suggests that 21 year old Rockie Fresh should be huge on that radar. On the new single, the young gun maps out his future (“In 2013 I plan to buy too many cars”) and reps his recent deal with Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group. Montreal-based producer and one half of TNGHT, Lunice provides an ultra-slick, lighter flicking, sub-bass throbbing beat. This cut comes hot on the heels of the January 21st release date for his next mixtape, Electric Highway, which should be pretty McFly, considering its yet another Fresh tape with a DeLorean on the cover. -Adam Kivel
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7. Atoms for Peace – “Judge Jury and Executioner”
Atoms for Peace members Thom Yorke, Nigel Godrich, and Joey Waronker took to BBC Radio 1 earlier this week to premiere “Judge Jury and Executioner”, a new track from their upcoming LP AMOK (out February 26th via XL Recordings). In line with the other Atoms for Peace music we’ve heard, the song is paced by a crackly drum track and filled in by Yorke’s falsetto. He sings to a chorus of his own whines and moans, which amass in the song’s backdrop, creating a familiarly spooky atmosphere. -Jon Hadusek
6. Widowspeak – “Thick as Thieves”
Brooklyn’s Widowspeak would seem to have tweaked their formula a bit for their upcoming sophomore LP, Almanac (due January 22nd from Captured Tracks), upping the dramatic ante considerably. The third preview of that disc, “Thick as Thieves” waltzes by on slinky acoustics and cobwebbed accordion, shy shimmers of cymbal punctuating the key moments. There’s a conspiratorial furrow to lines like “made the bed and built our nest / now we lay it all to rest,” Molly Hamilton’s hushed coo forcing a pinhole of perspective down the center. -Adam Kivel
5. Kitty Pryde – “Dead Island”
Always entertaining personality, often captivating rapper Kitty Pryde is keenly aware of her odd place in the rap world (and also entirely self-deprecating). “Wiz is black and yellow, I’m white and fucking terrible,” she drawls on her new track “Dead Island”. The crystalline cut from her upcoming D.A.I.S.Y. Rage EP (due sometime this month) also manages to reference Otter Pops, Cracker Barrel, and Thundercats, so, yeah, Kitty Pryde has the important stuff covered. The smooth-shiny Major Lazer sampling production provides the perfect bed for K.P. to lounge in. -Adam Kivel
4. Bleached – “Next Stop”
Take a ride with Los Angeles outfit Bleached as they roll down the California coastline with their hair blowing in the wind. The guitars echo a sand-strewn Ramones, and the production reverberates with Spector-esque glory (think Best Coast with more echo on the vocals). During this road song, sisters Jennifer and Jessie Calvin stop to wait for trains, smoke cigarettes in the rain, and wave romantic goodbyes to boys. Then it’s off to the “next stop.” The galloping track is the lead single from the band’s debut album, Ride Your Heart, which drops on April 2nd via Dead Oceans. -Jon Hadusek
3. Foxygen – “No Destruction”
Foxygen’s 2012 debut, Take the Kids Off Broadway, was recorded in a bedroom by two dudes with an affinity for pot and Dadaism. They have strange ideas when it comes to songwriting. For example, the title track from that LP: there’s no song structure. Sam France sings a verse, then the time signature shifts and France is singing a new melody to a new chord progression. Being haphazard and endearingly amateur is part of Foxygen’s charm.
That’s why “No Destruction” is so striking. The latest single from the duo’s forthcoming album, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic (out January 22nd via Jagjaguwar), borrows the rhythm section from “Dead Flowers” and remains comfortably static. There are no spontaneous sonic detours or psychedelic flourishes; just France — who sounds like Jagger — impersonating Dylan’s drawl and emoting about his unrequited affection for a girl (“I hate to say I miss you because you don’t need me anymore”). -Jon Hadusek
2. The Men – “Electric”
Brooklyn four-piece The Men continue to pump out a rapid succession of hard-hammering punk rock, currently readying their third disc in as many years. Though you’ll have to wait til’ March 5th for New Moon (via Sacred Bones), its fiery early cut “Electric” soars like a metallic bird of prey, guitar claws glinting in the sun. Mark Perro’s sweltering yowls and crunchy riffs echo college rock in some ways, but there’s never room for breath. Unrelated, but I’ve got my credit card number ready if Rich Saris ever puts out an exercise tape delivering the arm strength you’d need to achieve thundering rolls like this. -Adam Kivel
1. David Bowie – “Where Are We Now?”
The announcement of a new album from David Bowie came as a huge surprise on Tuesday (The Next Day, due March 12 from Columbia Records), but the song that accompanied that announcement, “Where Are We Now?”, was even more surprising. No bizarre electro dabblings or cringe-inducing experimentations from old man Bowie. No, he’s back to making rock music with emotions that we can relate to. And they’re sad emotions.
“Where Are We Now?” is a gentle piano ballad set to chorus-delayed guitars and warm strings; Bowie’s voice, aged and tired, is perfect here. The titular question is rhetorical: by asking it, Bowie acknowledges that he isn’t where he used to be, he isn’t the same man (or musician) anymore. Though that doesn’t mean he can’t reflect on his past and his time spent in Berlin in the ‘70s (which he does during the song’s video).
Bowie concludes the track with this poetic refrain: “As long as there’s sun, as long as there’s sun/ as long as there’s rain, as long as there’s rain/ as long as there’s fire, as long as there’s fire/ as long as there’s me, as long as there’s you.” -Jon Hadusek
