This week on 5 Songs We Can't Stop Listening To we are packing some heat. Kendrick Lamar, Tame Impala, Chance the Rapper, Mapei, and fresh artists like Slow Club, Skaters, and Jesse Boykins III. Some weeks we just get blessed with beautiful music. This was one of those weeks. Check four songs that we picked for New Music Wednesdaythis week, and try these on for size, they are sure to fit.
Backwards – Tame Impala & Kendrick Lamar
Ever wonder what Kendrick Lamar would sound like on a Tame Impala track? Well guess what? Your wish has come true! For a collaboration as strange as this, it works quite well. This song was featured on the Divergent Soundtrack and is a new take on Tame Impala’s original song called “ Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”. The meaning of the song is flipped as the hook is only featured in this version with an addition of Lamar rapping about how he wants to rise above from going backwards in progress unlike how he sees those around him.
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-Jake Kestly
Slow Club- Tears of Joy
There was a time in the 70’s where this kind of smooth sexy love song was actually sexy, sensual, and got those boots knockin and booties rockin’. Then it got over-cheesed. It got played out to the point that it became camp. Flight of the Concords and Jimmy Fallon made songs that were like them, but made fun of them. But they made those songs for a reason. They sound f***ing good. Slow Club brings it full circle, past camp and into respectable, beautiful, baby making music. This song makes me want to pull my arm tight to my body, close my eyes all tight (because I’m really feelin’ it), pop my pelvis as seductively as possible, and make love, not “have sex”, this song makes me want to make love.
Listen if you like: Rhye, 1970’s R&B, Jimmy Fallon’s Idiot Boyfriend.
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-Justin Barney
Mapei x Chance the Rapper & The Social Experiment- Don’t Wait (remix)
Underground soulful rapper, Mapei, from Stockholm, Sweden, describes herself as “bringing palpable soul and sonic versatility to a world where genre matters less and less.” She uses a blend of influences from Swedish club music, rapping, soulful vocals, R&B, hip-hop, and electronic indie pop. Back in November of 2013 she released a single with Downtown Records called “Don’t Wait.” that we featured on New Music Wednesday. She recently teamed up with Chance the Rapper & The Social Experiment to do a remix of the hit single. We loved Chance the Rapper’s Acid Rap and continue to love everything that his hip-hop collective, SAVEMONEY produces. Chance’s addition to “Don’t Wait” makes the song even more infectious than it was to begin with. The end product of the duo’s mix is superb. Both being 88Nine favorites, Mapei’s slightly raspy, powerful voice, layered with a vocoder, pairs perfectly with Chance’s smooth verse. Check out the remix here.
- Elise Conlin
Skaters- I Wanna Dance (But I Don’t Know How)
The song I Wanna Dance (But I Don’t Know How) starts with the hook. No waiting around. No playing games. Just four measures of bass and a synth, and then, BOOM, musical satisfaction, a perfect hook.
About six months ago, at Lollapalooza, we were introduced to Skaters and grabbed what ended up being the most entertaining interview of the whole festival. The guys talked about smoking cigarettes in Hebrew School, puking in the early morning, and their hatred for Santana. Check the interview here.
Skaters new album, Manhattan is out now on. Listen if you like THUMPERS, Drowners, British bands.
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-Justin Barney
Show Me Who You Are – Jesse Boykins III
Chicago native Jesse Boykins III has been flying under the radar for several years. His next album which will be released in April should definitely put an impact into the R&B genre. With his new single “Show Me Who You Are”, electronic producer Machinedrum provides a lounge-like downtempo instrumental layered with horns and synths. The strong point of course is Boykins crooning and dense vocals that layer when the song gets to the hook. Check it out below and don’t miss his next LP Love Apparatus coming out soon!
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-Jake Kestly