Karrahbooo & Zukenee "Give Up"
Zukenee’s recent LP contains some of the most effortless Atlanta rap I have heard all year. It’s both forward-pushing and reverent; I’m on listen four, and the songs are sticking. Here he links up with the equally effervescent ATLien (sorry) Karrahbooo for a casual back-to-back soul-flip thing. Karrahbooo on the chorus: “I stopped taking my antidepressants.” I’ve tried that a few times. I always end up back on ‘em.
Even though video game rock legends Anamanaguchi recorded their new record at the damn American Football house in Champaign–Urbana, and even though Polyvinyl is putting it out, “Darcie” sounds less like a Midwest emo song and more like a B-side off of the first Weezer record. And I say that as high praise. The proof is in the title.
VLURE “Better Days (Lust for Youth Remix)”
Look, when it comes to UK people doing melancholic spoken word over euphoric dance music, it’s a pretty crowded market. It helps that VLURE is from Glasgow. It also helps that this Lust for Youth remix starts fairly understated. It builds into a tranced-out frenzy that never fully pays off. I prefer to listen to it while walking around downtown Long Island City and pretending I’m in Chicago.
It’s been 15 years since Roc Marciano dropped Marcberg, a game-changing New York rap record that, using the process of elimination, breathed new life into well-worn boom bap tropes. It also birthed an army of middle-aged men spitting non-sequiturs over minimal beats, but you can’t fully blame him for that phenomenon. “Snow” is simply a great rap song. And it has drums.
Lou Reed “You’ll Know You Were Loved”
Staying in New York but taking things back even earlier, to the age of lattes in really wide, shallow mugs: Did you know that Lou Reed contributed a song to the Friends soundtrack? I had no idea until earlier in the week, when a tweet led me to a fine piece of late-period Lou, on par with anything from his Metallica collaboration. Lately, my TikTok feed has mostly been footage of Limp Bizkit opening up for Metallica at a football stadium in Nashville.
JOHN’S MUSIC BLOG PRESENTS… THE BONUS THREE (AND ONE MORE)
Nourished By Time “Max Potential”
John Says: “A heroic anthem that I’ve been playing on repeat over the past few days. How do you describe Nourished By Time? Minneapolis meets Manchester? Outsider new jack swing?”
Rita P “One more Prank on Rita”
John Says: “First it was ‘Rita’s Pest.’ Then it was ‘Rita Picks Problems.’ After that: ‘Rita’s Pop.’ The wordplay never stops with this former Bar Italia touring bass player!”
John Says: “It’s warming up out there, but let ‘Coldest Nights’ be your musical window-mounted air conditioning unit. You know shit’s about to get frosty when the legendary Clams Casino touches the beat. I’m going to commission a voice actor on Fiverr to say those last two sentences.”
Stay for Dinner “Close the Door”
John Says: “Catchy basement emo to listen to while you eat frozen pizza and play NBA Jam on the Super Nintendo. New York City is a frozen pizza desert.”