It’s Friday, which means that it’s only a few hours until we get to sleep for two days straight, and also that it’s time for our regular roundup of new music to get your hands on this week. This week the return of The-Dream, the return of Ghostface Killah, the return of They Might Be Giants, the return of Thalia Zedek and the non-return of a bunch of other great artists, including a great El Perro del Mar remix, the next step in the evolution of our erstwhile social media department, a heap of free Kode9 stuff, and more. None of this will cost you a dime, so we suggest you stop watching that Nick Cave video for long enough to grab all this action.
The-Dream — “Slow It Down” The idea of slowing it down has rather defined honey-voiced neo-R&B aficionado The-Dream’s entire career, and he’s in fine form here. “I know they’re not gonna play this on top 40 radio,” proclaims the song’s intro, “But the white girls [are] still gonna ride it like a rodeo.” Well, quite. Download here.
Ghostface Killah — “The Rise of Ghostface Killah” So apparently Ghostface Killah is making a “crime/horror” album entitled 12 Ways to Die, the concept of which is set out in the intro to this, the lead single — “The DeLucas pressed Tony’s remains into 12 vinyl records, one for each member of the family, but little did they know… he would return.” YES. This sounds awesome. Get this track via Stereogum.
El Perro Del Mar — “Hold Off the Dawn” (Gidge remix) Pale Fire was one of last year’s most underrated albums, so we’re happy to see it’s still got some life left in it — this track finds Swedish duo Gidge sending “Hold Off hte Dawn” into a haze of atmospheric synth pads and a slightly ominous bass sound, giving the track a bleary-eyed, weary feeling that ties well into Sarah Assbring’s question: “Is there a way to hold off the dawn?” Get the remix via XLR8R.
Thalia Zedek — “Walk Away” A good 20 years after Come first emerged, Thalia Zedek is sounding better (and bluesier) than ever. This track finds her exploring what we might call alt-country, with a melancholy vocal set over a Warren Ellis-esque violin and quiet acoustic guitar. Get it via her label Thrill Jockey’s Soundcloud page.
They Might Be Giants — “You’re On Fire” Yes, They Might Be Giants still exist. Yes, they still sound exactly the same as they always did.
Silent Drape Runners — “Star Stuff” Our former social media department go from strength to strength with this glitchy, Carl Sagan-sampling ode to the fact that we’re all made out of, yes, star stuff. You can download it for free (or whatever you want to donate) from their Bandcamp.
Roman — “Megamix” We came across this at the excellent Disco Naivete, who don’t really know any more about it or its creator than we do — the thing is, though, whoever this Roman is, this is a pretty fantastic 20-minute melange of eclectic samples old and new. Also can anyone identify that bassline at the start? We’re pretty sure we own that track, but for the life of us we can’t place it out of context. Download it here.
Estasy — “It’s A Hard World For Little Things” No, but really, this is a guy singing, believe it or not. And yes, he still has his testicles. Feel free to be amazed right here.
Black Chamber — “Black Chamber” EP This week’s discovery from Tiny Mix Tapes’ Chocolate Grinder is this atmospheric, instrumental band, whose music sounds like it should be soundtracking archival footage of Wild West-era ghost towns. It’s pretty ace, in other words. Get the entire EP for pay-what-you-want download here.
Kode9 — All Hyperdub mix And here’s some exciting news to finish with — Hyperdub supremo and dubstep progenitor Kode9 joined Soundcloud this week and uploaded a heap of stuff, some of which you can help yourself to for nothing. We particularly like this all Hyperdub mix, but here’s loads of goodness to be had. Have a look here.