Editor’s Choice: The Return

Damn, son…where’d we find this? It’s been a minute since we’ve delivered an Editor’s Choice to our readers, but lately there’s just too many sounds poppin’ for us to sit on them. We’d much rather share them with you! So grab those headphones and let’s get listening!

Daniel Jones (Contributing Editor)

Theologian & The Vomit Arsonist – Prologue

I hosted a karaoke thing the other night and everyone was requesting just the worst ’70s rock nonsense. Nobody appreciates Destiny’s Child done with powernoise vocals, or especially when you knock over the machine and give it the finger and then plug in your iPod and shriek over Theologian tracks. Karaoke is kind of a messed-up social contract.

Brenmar – The V Mix

When it comes to putting together undie-dropping mixtapes (or tracks), Bill has one of the deftest touches in the game. Lusciously sexy R&B and club jams guaranteed to get various parts of the body drippin’.

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Louise Brailey (Deputy Editor)

Hurts – The Road

I like Hurts a lot and if you want to pop-shame me for that then you’re probably quite a creepy person. They’re a viable escape strategy for pop music’s current entropy; a return to grandiose emoting, aspirational (life)style and honking great songs with a beginning, middle and end. Yes, I’m trying to sound like my parents on purpose to wind up all those people who think they’re terribly arch by describing experimental, abstract or obfuscatory music as “pop music”—it isn’t. Speaking of my parents, there is a bass note of Thatcherite wafting through that expensive cologne. Shit.

Jessie Ware – Diamonds (Rihanna cover)

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I know, I too feel kind of conflicted linking to a Radio One Live Lounge cover. This feels fine though, as it isn’t a REAL BAND band cussing out a pop song with their AUTHENTIC PRIVILEGE. It’s actually a fragile version of an already sublime song. While we’re on the subject, remember this?

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Lisa Blanning (Head Editor)

Gucci Mane – Trap God 2

Gucci Mane is one of my (and everyone else’s) favorite rappers. Trap God 2 is his first mixtape of the year and picks up where Trap Back (as opposed to Trap God 1) left off.

Inc. – No World

Inc. are a brother duo of studio musicians who have worked with Pharrell, 50 Cent and more. Their take on R&B draws on digital glitch for an unsettling update.

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Michael Lutz (Magazine Duty Editor)

Black Pus – 1000 Years

First track off of the new LP All My Relations by Brian Chippendale, otherwise known as the drummer of Rhode Island noise outfit Lightning Bolt. “1000 Years” is another piece of fierce rock with a bassline so nasty it immediately makes you want to smash something. All My Relations comes via Thrill Jockey in late March, and if you’re also interested in Chippendale’s comic drawing skills, go for the early-bird mailorder special edition.

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Moritz Gayard (Online Duty Editor)

Justin Timberlake – Suit & Tie (Julio Bashmore Remix)

Bristolian wunderkind Julio Bashmore reworked Justin Timberlake’s new single “Suit & Tie”, and the combination of Timberlake’s smooth vocals with Bashmore’s signature smooth beats makes this remix one to watch out for.

Published February 15, 2013.