Photo: WENN.com
When it comes to things you can rely on this weekend, the weather isn't one of them. But what you can be sure of is that Gigwise has collected together the best new tracks of the past seven days for you.
Pharrell Williams surprises with the first track from his Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, Daft Punk have just a little bit more to give in the form of a Japanese bonus track, Iggy Azalea and Angel Haze unleash a decent quality recording of their collaboration and Joe Goodard unveils another impressive dancefloor-filling collaboration.
And in between all of that, there's new music from Lonely Island, Boards Of Canada, Earl Sweatshirt and more. Whether you're psyching yourself up to deal with dodgy weather at outdoor events this weekend, or resigned to a bank holiday sheltering indoors, we've got your long weekend listening sorted.
Pharrell - 'Happy'
Recruiting big name music stars to curate film soundtracks is very much in fashion at the moment, and the latest is Pharrell Williams handling the music for animated sequel Despicable Me 2. The first taste of said soundtrack is Pharrell's own 'Happy', driven by an infectiously jazz beat while Pharrell's vocals take on a similarly uplifting swing. It might not get the same sort of hype as Jay-Z's The Great Gatsby soundtrack, or M83's Oblivion score, but judging by this Despicable Me 2 might be a success based on its musical accompaniment alone.
London Grammar - Wasting My Young Years (Kids Of The Apocolypse remix)
With 'Wasting My Young Years' London Grammar continued their journey into contemporary chillout via The xx and beyond, but in the hands of Kids Of The Apocolypse the track grows to epic proportions. A grunting bass bounce and charged brass blasts counteract the whithering guitar notes while Hannah Reid's vocals are still very much the defining characteristic of the track. Given the delicate balance of the original track, embarking on a remix was in some ways a bold endeavor that could've gone terribly wrong. But in fact it beefs up the track in just the right places while at other allowing it to keep the fragility of the original.
Lonely Island ft. Solange - Semi Colon
The incredibly exciting Solange is the latest to be recruited by the Lonely Island team for one of their humourous rap outings. The most important thing when listening to this track is that you don't treat it as a grammar lesson, because exactly zero of their examples are proper uses of semi-colons. It's a shame that this track lacks one of the group's wildly entertaining videos, but it's still musically one of the best tracks they've made. Though her part is fairly small, Solange's voice shines in all the ways people are coming to expect it to.
Daft Punk - 'Horizon'
More downbeat than even the most nonchalant moments on Random Access Memories (and there are a few), 'Horizons' - released as a bonus track in Japan - is a mellow, almost sombre, affair but is highlighted by moments of downbeat electronica genius that touch on Bonobo or certain works from Groove Armada. This instrumental track seems to be an even bigger step away from the heavily digitalised sounds of the duo's first three albums and the perfect dreamy end to the robots fourth album, if you happen to have a copy of the Japanese release.
Earl Sweatshirt ft Mac Miller - 'Guild'
The anticipation ahead of Earl Sweatshirt's first full album might in fact outstrip the hype that proceeded A$AP Rocky's Long.Live.A$AP. The third track from from forthcoming album Doris sees Earl team up with Mac Miller for a slow-mo goofball rap exchange over the top of the sort of jazz-tinged instrumental that Tyler, The Creator is increasingly associated with. The track might not match 'Chum' for personal frankness, or the cool weirdness of 'Whoa', but it's stoner rap at it's best, slowed down until it sounds like a bad trip. But in a good way.
Angel Haze + Iggy Azalea - 'Otis'
When Angel Haze brought Iggy Azalea out on stage during her show at The Scala everyone knew it was making an important point about unity between female rappers who are often pitted against each other. It was also a chance to see two of the most exciting new figure in rap music collaborate, but the fan-filmed footage by no means did justice to their vocal skills. But this week Haze made a rehearsal recording available online for free download and the two ladies' ability shines through just like you'd expect it would. Covering a track originally performed by Kanye and Jay-Z, they make the track their own and make an important show of solidarity.
Boards of Canada - 'Reach for The Dead'
Daft Punk's fourth album might've been the most hyped thing in years, but the prelude to Boards Of Canada's next record saw fans working harder than any fan had worked before to uncover the news. Now they've been rewarded with the first track from Tomorrow's Harvest, 'Reach For The Dead', unveiled this week. Buzzing with static, the track's a slice of downbeat ambient electro music, throbbing with touches of sub-bass at times amid atmoshperic choral voices. The track is based on the contrast between analogue fuzz and digital clarity and moves from there into exlporing some interesting compositional territory. Slightly scary in it's beauty and tranquility, BoC fans are bound to have found new levels of excitement after hearing this track.
The xx + Jessie Ware - 'The Music Sounds Better With You'
Continuing their explorations in neo-soul and future R&B The xx welcomed Jessie Ware on stage with them during the German leg of their Night + Day series to perform a reworking of Stardust's dance classic 'The Music Sounds Better With You'. Adding an underlying sexual tension to the track in a way that only The xx can as the cover glides and bleeps between drifting calmness and bouncing electro energy. Hopefully Glastonbury will see another collaboration, and with any luck this will be deemed worthy of a studio recording before long.
Gentleman's Dub Club - 'Riot'
After languishing in a sort of musical purgatory for a few years, at least in terms of recorded material, Gentleman's Dub Club are finally set to release their debut album later this year, and 'Riot' serves as a frank reminder of why everyone was so hyped about this band in the first place. Wolloping sub-bass and a slightly haunting vocal snippet makes for a hefty slice of dub music that's just begging to be played out in a festival setting. GDC at their stomping, skanking, swaggering best and accompanied by one of the best music videos this year.
Joe Goddard ft. Mar Carlyle - 'She Burns'
Having stunned with his Valentina collaboration 'Gabriel', Hot Chip's Joe Goddard returns with an equally impressive collaboration with folk singer Mara Carlyle. Taking post-dubstep, neo-dub ideas in a new direction with bursts of bass rumbling under Carlyle's soaring voice, 'She Burns' is an infectious head-nodder that shifts between a downtempo tap to a full on stomper. The production and vocals come together is excellent fashion, complimenting and contrasting each other to make something that's bound to be Goddard's next dancefloor filler.
