It’s Friday, and we’re back with another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week, we get very excited about a taste of the new Swans album, even if it’s only a truncated edit of a truly epic-sounding track. There’s also a non-album Dirty Projectors track, Thurston Moore’s new band, new work from Crystal Castles and The Mountain Goats, suitably whacked-out hip hop from Flying Lotus and Raekwon, and a suite of Scott Walker remixes. In other words, there’s plenty of interesting sounds awaiting you after the jump, and since they won’t cost a penny or land you an RIAA lawsuit, as your attorneys we advise you to start downloading immediately.
Swans — “The Apostate” It’s been a while since we’ve been as excited about an upcoming release as we are about the new Swans record, and since it’s another month to wait until its official release date, we’re rather grasping at pretty much anything Swans-related we can get our hands on. Like this, for instance: an abbreviated edit of 25-minute album track “The Apostate.” It’s like having a large man with a huge cigar in his mouth punch you in the head repeatedly for ten minutes — and loving it. Get it at Stereogum.
Dirty Projectors — “Buckle Up” Meanwhile, if you’re not all Dirty Projectored out in the wake of Swing Lo Magellan, then rejoice — here’s another new track. This features on a tour-only 7″ the band are selling at shows, but you can get it right here. Hooray for the internet.
The Mountain Goats — “Cry for Judas” Not about Mitt Romney, sadly, but still worth getting hold of. Download it here.
Chelsea Light Moving — “Frank O’Hara Hit” If you don’t recognize the band name, Chelsea Light Moving is Thurston Moore’s new band, the existence of which makes us even less optimistic about Sonic Youth ever reconvening. Sigh. Still, this is worth hearing: it’s good to see Thurston hasn’t changed any, and that he’s still writing enjoyably avant-garde epics for poets/artists/etc. Get it via Pitchfork.
Crystal Castles — “Plague” Crystal Castles do still exist, and when they’re not breaking bones or — allegedly — hoovering Herculean quantities of drugs, they’re apparently recording, because this track just popped up out of nowhere. Whether it indicates than an album is imminent is unclear, but still here it is.
Caribou — “She’s the One” (Brokenchord edit) We’re not super familiar with Brokenchord — according to XLR8R, where you can grab this track, he’s a producer from Lithuania — but on the strength of this rather excellent reworking of Caribou’s “She’s the One,” we’ll be investigating his work further. In the meantime, the remix is here.
School of Seven Bells — “How to Love” You know your career’s gone bad when you start covering Lil Wayne (or working with him). Yikes. Still, if you’re curious, click here.
Raekwon — “Keep It Politics” Wu-Tang! Or, y’know, Raekwon, anyway. This track is out as part of Chicago label Closed Sessions’ new singles series, and is all the better than its predecessor in said series for not featuring Action Bronson. Get it via The Fader.
Flying Lotus — “Between Friends” (feat. Earl Sweatshirt and Captain Murphy) Yay for new, weird Flying Lotus stuff. This is part of Adult Swim’s Singles Program series, and it’s pretty great. We’re not sure who Captain Murphy is, but you can check out his own track, called “Mighty Morphin Foreskin” here. (On its evidence, he seems like exactly the sort of guy who you might find hanging out with Flying Lotus.) Anyway, download “Between Friends” here.
Minor Science — Train Widow Girl And finally, from The Quietus, a whole EP’s worth of Scott Walker remixes courtesy of Minor Science, a pseudonym for one of the website’s writers. He deconstructs Walker’s music rather deftly, re-arranging the segments into beautifully understated new forms. You can get the EP here.