50 Words or Less: Weird Shit you might’ve missed + Beyond the Elbo.ws Top Ten

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Weird Shit:

1. *MP3: Dosh - “Number 41” (feat. Andrew Bird)

An unlikely blend between settled country contentment and whirling techno tapestry, the MPLS sound wizard blends pedal-steel romanticism, a laid-back vocal turn from co-hort Andrew Bird, and glitchy background noise to weave a compelling track. Strong, but not quite transcedent.

Grade: B+

2. *MP3: Zola Jesus - “Night”

Ethereal keyboard-scapes set creepy snyth-goth mood which never relents, as Jesus begs for a savior which may never come. This is a “Night” that listeners should hope will never end.

Grade: A-

3. *MP3: (Pretty) Girls & Lasers - “Kick, Push” (Lupe Fiasco remix)

Yeah, this is weird alright. And not in the good way. The beat makes an emcee like Lupe sound out-of-breath…which is weird because this is a remix. And yet, here we are…

Grade: D

4. *MP3: The Deer Tracks - “Bless The Waves”

Like a mixture of the best electro-pop tendencies from the early aughts (wistful boy-girl vocals, beats at a clipping pace), but at not-quite the level of songcraft as the genre’s past peaks. However, there’s enough good here to suggest that The Deer Tracks might be on their way to climbing to the top.

Grade: B

5. *MP3: High Places - “On Giving Up”

Ok, so this one is old. But have you heard this groove? Seriously.

Grade: A-

Beyond The Elbo.ws Top Ten

1. *MP3: Titus Andronicus - “A More Perfect Union”

Epic, sprawling track starts off with Abraham Lincoln quote which perfectly encapsulates raucous, rollicking rock spirit of Jersey-based troublemakers. Doesn’t mean that there are moments of misguided, overwrought passion (check your eyeroll at the Springsteen reference), but that sort of thing gloriously goes with the territory, doesn’t it?

Grade: B+

2. *MP3: Red Sparowes - “Giving Birth To Imagined Saviors”

The good news about utterly competent post-rock is that it makes for good background music. Anything else, though, and you’re left reaching considerably.

Grade: C

3. *MP3: Barbara - “Pursuit of Happiness” (Kid Cudi cover)

Like Iron and Wine reinvented itself as Dynamite Hack. The chorus and closing breakdown is genuinely affecting, but everything else here reeks of gimmick.

Grade: C-

4. *MP3: Euphorie - “Bots Attack”

A funky beat, a grimy synth, a potentially explosive build-up of the elements, and then…nothing. Are robots so sadistic as to deny us a wondrous dance party before the machines do us all in? The answer is all too clear.

Grade: C+

5. *MP3: Nick Jaina - “Sleep Child”

Perhaps the funkiest, most driving lullaby ever conceived. Once The Arcade Fire enter their TMBG writing-songs-for-children part of their career, the results will probably sound like this.

Grade: B+

(Jon Graef)