The story of the week continues to be Kanye West’s volatile genius. Our eyes were particularly focused on his backstage SNL rant, which leaked just the other day. Listen: While it might not have taken any potshots at Taylor Swift, there was plenty of impassioned language in our discussion this week, narrowing the many offerings down to an essential 10. Plus, we’d be pretty upset if someone leaked our Top 10 Songs of the Week, too! That’s a bum move! So, thanks for the wait, and enjoy this batch of fresh new tunes.
10. Joyryde – “Fuel Tank”
Every so often, a massive EDM festival banger arrives with enough differentiating character to make this list — Joyryde’s maniac house cut “Fuel Tank” has delivered just that sort of effort this week. What the track lacks in vocals, it more than replaces with a bombastic selection of samples and drastic shifts in sound design. There is no telling what follows that next electro build — maybe even a Lil Jon Easter egg! Available now as a free download, anticipate this track to be bringing a new heat to mid-winter clubland in a hurry! –Derek Staples
09. Soft Fangs – “The Light”
Soft Fangs’ John Lutkevich has an uncanny way of sounding just like Sparklehorse. On his upcoming album — The Light, due out March 18th via Exploding in Sound/Disposable America — he mainly opts for electric guitar over acoustic, the latter of which was more prominent on his 2014 self-titled EP. On “The Light”, he mirrors that early Elliott Smith sound once again, strumming his way through chords that feel nostalgic in their melancholy. Let this song serve as a reminder: Don’t let anyone ever tell you it’s not okay to be sad. If they do, throw ’em a copy of Inside Out. When they’re done watching it, tell them to listen to Soft Fangs. That should do the trick. Listen in at Stereogum. –Nina Corcoran
08. FKA twigs – “Good to Love”
The last time we heard from FKA twigs six months ago on the M3LL155X EP, she cut a fierce figure: confident, challenging, and unafraid. But like all of twigs’ personas, that couldn’t last. As the languorous new single “Good to Love” shows, she’s on the comedown, cycling through yearning, pain, and desire in each verse. Instrumentally, it’s one of the most unadorned songs twigs has ever made, and its message appears to be simple: a call to and celebration of a lover. But in the accompanying video, twigs is in bed with no one. The satisfied joy of the choruses and the affirmation of vulnerability is all her own. –Karen Gwee
07. Vic Mensa – “Danger”
Sure, there’s a bit of controversy as to whether Vic Mensa is or isn’t featured on the essential version of Kanye West’s “Wolves”. While it’d be great to be involved in The Life of Pablo, Vic’s probably not stressing too much. In fact, it doesn’t seem like too much fazes him at all. “You know me, I like the danger,” he Auto-Tunes on new cut “Danger”. As if to make up for the fact that he didn’t make the cut on the first album version of “Wolves”, Yeezy played “Danger” at his MSG event, and the track is appropriately amped all the way up. “2016, I gotta get it now/ Pray to God I’m still alive,” he drops, and with the vicious intensity of these verses, you better believe the whole year should be on the lookout. –Adam Kivel
06. Animal Collective – “Golden Gal'”
“Golden Gal”, the final single before Animal Collective released Painting With this Friday on Domino, utilizes bouncy beats to create a plastic-sounding tone, an expectedly quirky choice that manages to work in their favor. If you strip away the PC Music-like electronics, it sounds like a Beatles song applauded for its melodies and use of harmonies. Fret not; its sugary commercialization still holds absurdities at its core, be it the weird vibrating bass notes at the forefront or the toy submarine off-beat notes in the background. It’s also the happiest audio sample about soda (“She’s upset because they keep changing the taste of Coke,” from, of course, Golden Girls) you’ll hear all week. They did miss the opportunity to Auto-Tune acidic burps between lines about love, but we won’t hold that against them. –Nina Corcoran
05. Japanese Breakfast – “Everybody Wants To Love You”
When Radiator Hospital’s Sam Cook-Parrott is only the second most emotionally raw and enthusiastic singer on your track, you know you’re in for something special. Such is the case on the latest from Michelle Zauner and Japanese Breakfast, “Everybody Wants to Love You”. The two trade lines about an openhearted search for love, escalating quickly from “Can I get your number?” to an offer for breakfast in bed to a hope for marriage proposal. You can take the jangly indie pop track at face value and revel in its insane crush-like sweetness, or you can look at it as a winking acknowledgement of the desperation of loneliness. Either way, it’s a real winner. Japanese Breakfast’s Psychopomp will be out April 1 via Yellow K Records. –Adam Kivel
04. Curren$y – “Fat Albert”
Curren$y recently stepped back into the old days, where collaborating with Lil Wayne was a regular occurrence. Now, on new single “Fat Albert”, the two bounce off each other’s energy with the low-key coolness of late ‘90s rap. Curren$y backs off after a minute to give Wayne the spotlight for the rest of the track. “You know your homie ain’t your homie/ ‘Til he bleed on you,” Weezy raps, continuing on about cheating girls and dethroned brotherhood about as nonchalantly as he has in years. The whole thing deserves numerous replays. When you’ve got The Alchemist behind the production board, you know it’s all going to pool together in a lucid dream trance of slick instrumentals that burn slowly. Cross your fingers this isn’t the last collaboration from this trio in 2016. –Nina Corcoran
03. John Carpenter – “Distant Dream”
Last year, legendary film composer/director John Carpenter released his first album: Lost Themes, a bunch of tunes that acted as themes to films that don’t exist. He must’ve dug the experience, since he’s about to come out with a sequel, as previewed by the mesmerizing “Distant Dream”. Anyone who has heard the “Halloween Theme”, the eerie music of The Fog, and the like will find themselves in familiar, spooky territory here, riding loping synthesizers into the shadowy wilderness. A round-toned bass meets the minimal synths there, going bump in the night. Lost Themes II will hit shelves in full on April 15th via Sacred Bones. –Adam Kivel
02. Holy Fuck – “Tom Tom”
Six years removed from Latin, the forthcoming Congrats LP (out May 27th via Innovative Leisure) represents a rebirth of sorts for Canada’s Holy Fuck. For the first time in their dozen years of existence, the experimental live electronic quartet found the budget to record outside of their Ontario barn. No worries: As the distorted intro quickly verifies, no amount of authenticity has been sacrificed by entering an actual recording studio. “Tom Tom” is still a loosely controlled array of twisted keyboards and effects, barely intelligible lyricism, and a casually stumbling bottom end courtesy of bassist Punchy McQuaid and drummer Matt Schulz. Amid this funky psychedelia exists a momentary calm to truly appreciate the collective’s return. As much of the blogosphere collectively gasped Thursday evening, “Holy Fuck, it’s new Holy Fuck”! –Derek Staples
01. Antwon – “Luv”
Does the world need another song about a strip club? When it’s Antwon’s new single, “Luv”, the answer is yes. The Bay Area rapper looks past the sleek bodies and sweaty bills of his sordid surroundings to capture a chaotic mix of hedonism and loneliness. “Show me love/ In the booty club,” he barks over a chiming, hypnotic beat that steps on and off two notes. “Private dance/ Imma get a hug.” The hollow machismo of his commands rings comic, but he continues to urge himself on, his voice wry and low: “Do that shit/ For what?” Antwon knows how desperate he sounds, but he doesn’t stop. Maybe he can’t. His new EP, Double Ecstasy, drops April 1st on Anticon. —Karen Gwee
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