High rotate

Two songs with absolutely no connection

High rotate

I have taken a #fridayoff and this new Grimes track is my song for the day
 

High rotate

Sometimes it's just fine to go with the mainstream

High rotate

New just in time for Friday morning, 'Little Mouth' by Los Campesinos!


And from this week's typing playlist, two bits of Jon Hopkins
 

High rotate

Wolf Alice has a new EP out, just in time for Friday morning. But first I'm going back to one of my favourite tracks from last year: 'Blush'
 

High rotate

2012 was The Weeknd. 2013 was Chance the Rapper. 2014 might be Boots - mixtape of the year?

Personal fav so far: 'Alright'




You can find and download all 15 songs on Soundcloud.

High rotate

Y'all, Chance the Rapper needs a hug


Meanwhile, I rediscovered Benzel and Jessie Ware's cover of 'If you love me' this morning. I highly recommend putting it on repeat for 20 minutes to lift your mood.
 

High rotate

An Easter weekend round-up of recent hip hop and R&B tracks

Apparently Chance the Rapper is working on his first official album. Hooray! This is a recent release from his home studio,with the immortal line "Young tactician / Just got my tax finished"
 

Pusha T brings out one of the best opening riffs I've heard in a while, and the near-inevitable Kendrick verse


I have no idea who Sway Clarke II is, but I'm going back to this slow jam over and over



The same goes for Ang Low, for that matter. There's the icy tuned-up vocals of an Autre ne Veut, laid over an irresistible beat

High rotate

So, novelty albums for kids by indies are hardly my bag. But I'm finding some small sentimental spot of me keeps replaying tracks from Walter Martin's forthcoming album: first this ditty with Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), and now this collaboration with Matt Berninger (The National).




I mean, it even has hand-drawn lyrics ...

High rotate

Whoops. Late for this week, but everything you need is right here ...
 

High rotate

From the 'just good fun' files

(Also, don't forget this Sunday is the Big Day Dowse music-and-more festival. We'd love to see you there!)

Los Campesinos! cover Blink 182's 'Going Away To College'
 
Major Lazer feat Pharrell - 'Aerosol Can'
 
CHVRCHES cover Bauhaus' 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' (pretend you can't see that movie it's soundtracking)

High rotate

Songs with sweetness

The only tune to make me consider yodelling seriously; Walter Martin calls in Karen O for 'Sing to Me'

Throw your heart to me ... whoever the Years and Years are, I'm rather fond of 'Eyes Shut'
 
Farao's 'To Sleep Apart' (tagged on Soundcloud, for some incomprehensible reason, 'Salsa').
 

High rotate

I, like every other sentient being on the planet, have been thrashing Beyonce's new album for the last two weeks.

Rather than sharing my own opinions, I suggest you check out the inimitable Nico Muhly.

Okay: one opinion. Both Drake and Frank Ocean are wasted on this album. Ocean's best release this year was the ridiculously short snippet 'Wildfire'; Drake's best feature in recent years was on The Weeknd's 'The Zone'. Over and out.

 

High rotate

After nearly a full year of listening, my single favourite album has to be Chance the Rapper's Acid Rap.  My recommended tracks: the first, the last, and Cocoa Butter Kisses. And the best thing is that, like The Weeknd's breakout mix tapes, it's free to download.

High rotate

This week, EMA came back and that made me very happy

In a more alt-Americana way, I discovered Samantha Crain


And because no week is complete without a breathily mournful sounding man

High rotate

A grab-bag of tracks from my November trial list:

The new-classic electro-tinged R&B - Ella Eyre, 'Deeper'



The belt-it-out-with-the-car-window-down anthem - Ages and Ages, 'Divisionary (Do the right thing)'



The so-many-things-I-like-in-one-place mashup: Tink, Kitty, Sasha Go Hard, produced by Ryan Hemsworth and little cloud, 'Spotless'



The sad-movie-closing-credits crooner (this song reminds me deeply of another, I wish I could pinpoint it) Solander, 'All Opportunities'.

High rotate

The past couple of weeks, I've been listening to a lot of Streets of Laredo (a thoroughly Brooklynised ex-Auckland band).

Kindly, you can listen to both their EPs through Spotify and Soundcloud, and download them from their website. You can also - shock, horror - pay for it on iTunes ot Bandcamp. Good people.

High rotate

Another week with more writing and more wordless music. This time, it's been Jon Hopkins' soundtrack for the movie adaptation of How I Live Now. Full of foreboding throughout, the final track does capture some of the tenderness, sadness, anger and commitment of the book's conclusion.

High rotate

Three songs unconnected by much except the fact I played them a lot this week

Streets of Laredo - 'Hey Rose'



Rökkurró - Killing Time

Ella Eyre - Deeper

High rotate

I have given in and started listening to the Drake album, and it is an immaculate, if not exciting, bit of work. So for today, a couple of covers:

Holy Ghost! bring the synth glitter-pop to 'Hold On, We're Going Home'

So nerdy but the flow wordy ... Childish Gambino raps over Drake's 'Pound Cake' on a Sydney radio show a wee while ago

And because months and months on, I am still listening to it - Drake remixes Beyonce