Skepta snuck this one in a few weeks ago, and it didn't really register as much as his more buzzed about recent singles, partly because most of us American knobs didn't have any context for it. But "Nasty" is one of the hardest verses out right now, a standout from a string of scathing diss tracks from grime vets and newcomers alike since this January. Rap comes alive when there's a target in the crosshairs, no matter what side of the pond it fires from. — Matthew Trammell
You don't have to read Carles' recent posts on Contemporary Conformity to get the occasional creeping feeling that New York has been losing its spark, morphing from anarchic counter-culture capital into a lobotomized paradise of post-hipster consumer delights. With its untethered sax, detuned guitar, and bulldozing crescendos, this track from Show Me The Body harkens back to a mythologized, no wave era Manhattan where the rents were still cheap, the streets were still dangerous, and rock was something that you made up as you went along. And like their buds in Ratking, their music has the kind of urgency that reminds you that there are still kids here who won't let New York get boring without putting up a fight. — Emilie Friedlander
A lot of people, myself included, have been losing it over Philadelphia five-piece Sheer Mag. "Fan the Flames," a song from their just-dropped new EP is, like the rest of the band's engaging scuzz-rock catalog, a blown-out nod to the indelible riffs and soulful melodies of classic, 1970s Southern rock. But that retro swagger is delivered with a greasy, lawless punk energy; "Fan the Flames" is way more suited for the gritty basement of a dilapidated show house than on the radio of some old pickup truck. Although the latter sounds nice, too. — Patrick D. McDermott
New York past and present collide on this latest single off Raekwon's forthcoming solo album, Fly International Luxurious Art. Although A$AP Rocky is not an especially New York-y New York rapper, he sounds plenty comfy when he slides in between Raekwon's effortless verses to declare boom-bap bitch ass over the the looped and piano-laced beat. — Zara Glden
I was completely entranced by araabMUZIK's Electronic Dream, where the hard-edged rap producer dove into a k-hole of big-room trance and electro, cutting up his findings with MPC-mashing goodness. He's since headed back to harder-edged stuff for the EDM crowds, but this first single from new album Dream World suggests that he's not done exploring the ethereal yet; it's another future trance-abstracted anthem that'll do just fine in the chillout tent. — Larry Fitzmaurice
Winston Yellen's first LP as Night Beds, Country Sleep, was an intriguing debut of country-tinged indie that suggested a promising new songwriter had arrived. His output since has suggested a refusal to be pigeonholed, from his work with Danish electro producer Tomas Barfod to the chill electro vibes of "Me, Liquor, And God" and this new song, which sounds like hi-fi chillwave for sensitive souls (in a good way). — Larry Fitzmaurice
Last week, perennially overlooked Decatur trio Travis Porter dropped their second project in less than a year, only to have it be overshadowed by the arrival of a tape from another much-talked about Atlanta rapper. But this Three Live Krew track is a punchy number that tickles and swerves and is ready to rumble strip-club stages, and the back seat of our old car. — Zara Golden
NYC kid Lee Bannon made a name for himself as one of Joey Bada production confidants, but at this point he's a million miles away from Native Tongues-era dusty boom-bap. "Artificial Stasis" is our first taste from his forthcoming Ninja Tune LP Pattern of Excel, and it's all ambient moans and soft, twilit piano, a woodblock ticking mindfully in the background. The track's reminiscent of the type of confounding abstracted new-age that Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland once made their names on as Hype Williams—or, it'll have you using "vaporwave" in conversation like it's a real thing again. Your choice. — Larry Fitzmaurice
Unknown Mortal Orchestra's forthcoming third LP, Multi-Love, is Ruban Neilson's strongest record yet, a sublime mash of psychedelia and R&B that incredibly evokes Stevie Wonder—that is, if Stevie Wonder was from New Zealand and strongly considered the existence of chemtrails. New single "Can't Keep Checking My Phone" is a strong representation of this wonderful album, a buttery crooner about digital detachment that sounds sexy even when its central sentiment represents the type of freaked-out isolation that you'd expect from a brilliant hermit of Neilson's ilk. — Larry Fitzmaurice
No Joy's music is pretty and catchy enough to make Best Coast one of their biggest champions, but they've always kept a layer of sludgy noise over their hooks. On "Moon In My Mouth," it sounds like they're coming up for air. I wouldn't trade their early atmospheric freak-outs for anything, but hearing them pare it down proves something I suspected was true all along: noise or no noise, they know how to write a gorgeous song. — Molly Long
The best time I had in a movie theatre in the last five years was watching The Chemical Brothers' absolute blast of a concert film from 2012, Don't Think, a trippy spectacle that I managed to lose myself in with zero chemical assistance. On top of that, 2010's Further was one of the best, most curiously unsung dance records of the decade—and I'm sure they're ready to top themselves with the forthcoming Born in the Echoes, their eighth studio album. "Sometimes I Feel So Deserted" is the album's opening cut, and its filtered drums and tangled synths deliver one central message: Buckle up, it's gonna be a hell of a ride from here. — Larry Fitzmaurice