5 Songs You Should Be Listening To

Yes, watch as I force my musical obsessions onto you.




Kleerup f. Robyn - With Every Heartbeat

Further proof that Swedish people know how to make fucking pop music. I randomly discovered Kleerup (full name Andreas Kleerup), a record producer, because one of the other tracks on his self-titled debut compilation features Lykke Li (my future Wifey.) This track is crazy catchy, delicious and good for you. It's like if Total cereal tasted like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but in music form.

The Wombats - Bleeding Love

First off: I fucking LOVE The Wombats. If you don't have A Guide To Love Loss & Desperation you are sorely missing out, my friend. They make the kind of angular, witty, brit rock that makes me happy inside. Conversely, I fucking HATE Leona Lewis. Her hit single "Bleeding Love" is so sickly catchy that I often find myself wanting to bludgeon her into submission with a stack of NME Magazine back issues. This cover, however, is fantastic. It turns the saccharine nature of her lyrics and gives them a post-punk-y edge I can swallow. "Bleeding Love" could be this year's "Since U Been Gone," "Crazy" or "Umbrella" as far as indie pop covers go. This needs to be in a movie.

MC Chris - Older Crowd

MC Chris is my fav nerdcore rapper. It takes alot to rap about video games, anime, comic books and computers and NOT sound like a one-trick, in-joke pony. His new LP MC Chris Is Dead is a little bit dancier than his previous releases, and this track is the pinnacle of that. Weaving a tale of aging hipster, looming mid-life crisis horror that would make James Murphy blush, Chris manages to do what all rap music should: express himself expertly while making us want to dance. This song plays in the background every time I leave my apartment.

The Foxboro Hot Tubs - Ruby Room

American Idiot was a Green Day album I thought sucked until I heard the tracks done live on Bullet In A Bible. Even then, I wondered, "where's the fun?" Politically driven concept albums about modern-day middle America are nice and all that, but when I listen to rock music, I want to have some fucking fun. Lucky me, Green Day pulled another Network and released a side-project as The Foxboro Hot Tubs. Stop, Drop and Roll feels like 60s garage rock, and my fav track at the moment is "Ruby Room," for no other reason than it features a Mellotron, the coolest instrument ever. I really hope this hits big on rock radio, but rock radio is dead, so, doubt it.

Rick Ross f. Pharrell - Get Down

Rick Ross sucks. He's like a shittier graduate from the Young Jeezy School Of Coke Rap. He's a mediocre MC who makes up for his lack of lyrical prowess with an above average amount of swagger and presence. Needless to say, that doesn't matter when you're spitting over an infectious beat courtesy of The Neptunes that should've been a gigantic club smash. It feels more like a Pharrell solo track that Rick Ross' authoritative boom accompanies, but, regardless, I fuck with it hard.