Ab-Soul – ILLuminate
ILLuminate features Kendrick
Lamar and is off Ab-Soul’s album Control
System. Skhye Hutch’s beat grooves, while Ab-Soul and Kendrick lay down impressive
verses. The hip hop track is infinitely listenable with a hypnotic quality to
it. Three of Black Hippy’s four members are on this list – they are taking over
the game. Available for download: here
Alicia Keys – Girl on Fire
(Inferno Version)
Girl of Fire (Inferno Version)
features Nicki Minaj and is off Alicia Keys’s album Girl
on Fire. It may not be the kind of music that Keys’s more strictly R&B
fans want, as it has a very modern poppy sound with Jeff Bhasker and Salaam
Remi producing (in addition to Keys), but it is infectious and shows off her
fantastic, powerful voice. Available for download: here
A$AP Rocky – Goldie
Goldie is off A$AP Rocky’s major
label debut album LONG.LIVE.A$AP.
What stands out immediately about this track is Hit-Boy’s brilliant beat (did
any producer have a better 2012?). The hook is also addictive (I said it must
be), subconsciously finding its way in and demanding the listener to sing
along. Rocky’s verses announce him as one of hip hop’s great young talents,
ready to rise. Available for download: here
Chairlift – Amanaemonesia
Amanaemonesia is off Chairlift’s
album Something.
While Chairlift’s other singles off Something are also great (Sidewalk Safari and Met Before),
Amanaemonesia seems to perfectly capture the growing trend of dream pop groups making
modern new wave music (a musical direction I am very much in favor of and
enjoying). Producers Dan Carey and Alan Moulder give Chairlift a great sound.
Available for download: here
Cold Cave – A Little Death to
Laugh
A Little Death to Laugh is not
off an album; rather it is just a standalone single. The track features Cold
Cave’s (Wesley Eisold) brand of dark synth pop, but is much catchier than a lot
of his more noise-art songs. One could even call it poppy – well if bleak can
be poppy. It is the prevalent synthesizer that drives the song that just draws
the listener in – it is wonderful (or again as wonderful as bleak can be).
Available for download: here
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