Yuki Chiba & Duke Deuce “Team Tomodachi Remix”
The remix package for Yuki Chiba’s Japanese rap hit “Team Tomodachi” is wild. It comes with a total of 13 remixes, none of which alter the song’s original beat, making it almost feel like a dancehall riddim record. The closest thing to variation is Bun B’s screwed-up version. The only other American rapper to appear is Jonathan’s Music Blog-approved crunk revivalist Duke Deuce, who pushes the track to a whole different level of crunk. A whole different tax bracket.
A Gang Called Speed is an endearing group of Australians playing groovy cargo-short hardcore. I’m always going to like it when a hardcore band says their own name in their own lyrics, and the band does that multiple times here, including in the final moments of the song, where they also restate the song title. In typical hardcore fashion, the lyrics are surgically existential: “Who's playing? Who's fake? Who's true? Life's game we’re all born into.”
Tommy Richman “MILLION DOLLAR BABY”
Here is one for the Washed Millennial Poptimists. This new Billboard chart-topper is the phonk-crossover tune that Justin Timberlake probably should’ve made. It’s the rare song that feels like a smash right off the bat, even before the drums kick in. And when that falsetto hits? It’s a wrap. Built on the back of both Brent Faiyaz and Three 6 Mafia, it’s a song with enough juice to end up getting burn at the deli and the Duane Reede. It’s going to be a long, weird summer.
Triumphant A-Town digi-splay that sounds like a meeting between Porter Robinson and London on da Track. It’s the perfect bed for BEAR1BOSS’s inspired Autotune dribble. I can’t wait to listen to the new Chief Keef record.
It doesn’t matter how many revivals I’ve lived through. As long as the hooks hit right, I’m interested. And that’s why I am an idiot. This fusion of electroclash and mall punk provides proof. It’s maybe the best downtown electropunkpoprock song I have heard all year. Bonus skinny jeans reference. For whatever that’s worth.
MIX OF THE WEEK: 454 “Mix For Elevator Music”
There's not much better than 454 playing New Orleans bounce inside of an elevator. And that’s just the first ten minutes! The rest is an eclectic journey through the 454 sonic worldview, where multiple timelines of Southern-fried rap and dance collide, where a jungle flip of a Scarface classic shares space with footwork. It would be hard for me to succinctly sum up my feelings about the man, but I was shocked and saddened by the death of Steve Albini this week.