Big Sean – All Your Fault
For those that have followed Big Sean’s career since he popped up toward the end of the MySpace era, it’s been clear that there’s always been potential in the Detroit rapper. He got Kanye’s attention early on, and was signed to his label GOOD Music. However, once he broke through to mainstream success, he seemed like a pop rapper who had little substance to offer. He sounded like a parody of what people who decry hip hop would think a rapper would be like.
Something changed. Maybe it was getting blown out by Kendrick Lamar on Control, maybe it was being added to the Detroit roster in Eminem’s Detroit Vs Everybody, but Big Sean is making some really solid music. His latest album Dark Sky Paradise is easily his best work yet, and tracks like Blessings display true progress. He’s called in the top tier of the hip hop world for help, with Drake and Kanye contributing verses, but this time Sean isn’t overmatched — he sounds like he belongs in the same class.
Matt and Kim – Hoodie On
If you aren’t up on Matt and Kim yet after a decade of their relentlessly positive indie pop dance jams, then it’s time to catch up. The partners in music, who are also partners in life, have made careers out of producing the most danceable lo-fi electronic tunes imaginable. Hoodie On adds to the legacy with an ode to the duo’s favorite article of clothing. The simple track, composed of Matt’s glitchy keyboard and Kim’s kicking drums, isn’t groundbreaking — it’s just plain catchy. It’ll make you immediately want to zip up in a hoodie of your own.
Death Cab for Cutie – No Room in Frame
Indie rock royalty Death Cab for Cutie is gearing up to release Kintsugi, the band’s first record in four years. No Room In Frame serves as the lead track on the album and it carries all of the signifying traits of a Death Cab track, thanks to the unmistakable voice of Ben Gibbard, the chugging guitar riffs, and the permanent gray storm cloud that casts its melancholy shadow over the top of everything the band has done. Not that we’re complaining because it’s as catchy as ever.
Ghostface Killah – Ray Gun
There are certain exceptions that come with any work from a member of Wu Tang, but things take a slight turn when Ghostface Killah goes solo. His album Sour Soul is a collaboration with Toronto jazz group BADBADNOTGOOD and the quirky mash up of styles produces one of the most interesting hip hop releases in some time. Ghostface’s abrasive style fits well with the more mellow jazz mix behind him, and on Ray Gun he invites the always welcome presence of MF DOOM, a rapper who is built for these types of weird audio experiments.
Dan Deacon – Learning to Relax
Is Dan Deacon actually learning to relax? It doesn’t really feel like it over the course of Learning to Relax, one of the tracks off his new record Gliss Riffer with a more familiar sound for long time fans. The guy’s been hard at work as a super-productive producer for the better half of a decade, and while it’s been a few years since his last album, he shows on this track that he hasn’t lost a bit of his electric charm. It’s a track with a pulsing pop bass, pattering electric snaps, and tons of reverb, that still can’t hide some truly personal revelations in the lyrics.
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