It’s Friday, and we’re back with another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week, there’s a collaboration between Tyler, the Creator and Toro Y Moi that’s really not bad at all, the return of Talib Kweli (although not, sadly, Black Star), excellent new tracks from Maria Minerva and Black Marble, rocking old school house from Screaming Rachael, an indescribably awesome sitar funk Morricone epic from La Piramide Di Sangue, and plenty more. In other words, there’s plenty of interesting sounds awaiting you after the jump, and since they won’t cost a penny or land you an RIAA lawsuit, as your attorneys we advise you to start downloading immediately.
Tyler, The Creator and Toro Y Moi — “Hey You” Not, sadly, a cover of the old Pink Floyd song of the same name, but not at all bad regardless. We’ve not exactly been big Tyler fans in the past, but credit where it’s due — this is a decent tune. Who’d have thought Tyler’s throaty growl would surf the chillwaves so well? Get it at Stereogum.
Maria Minerva — “The Sound” As we’ve mentioned in the past, we’re generally interested in anything remotely Not Not Fun/100% Silk/lo-fi disco related, so we’re all over this new track from Maria Minerva — if you’re also partial to such sounds, you’ll want to click here to start downloading post haste.
Talib Kweli — “Push Thru” Yay for the return of Talib Kweli, who has a new record due out some time this year (there’s no release date yet), and a new single featuring cameos from Curren$y and Kendrick Lamar. You can get it here — now, about that Black Star album…
Black Marble — “A Great Design” These are heady times for fans of minimal wave-y stuff — it’s almost like the genre’s ’80s glory days are back, but better! Black Marble — a band whose music sounds exactly like its name — are a fine addition to the minimal wave canon, and you can grab this track via Pitchfork.
Screaming Rachael — “Extacy” A resounding “yes” to some filthy old school house music. We’ve noticed house making a bit of a comeback of late, actually, which is an entirely welcome development, and the upcoming Trax compilation Summertrax — from which this is taken — should aid the process a great deal. Get the track via XLR8R.
La Piramide di Sangue — “In bici sulla strada della perdizione” One of the great pleasures of doing this post every week is trawling various blogs for unexpected awesomeness. The ever-excellent 20 Jazz Funk Greats has long been one of our favorite places for such trawling, and it keeps coming up with the goods — like this song from La Piramide di Sangue, about whom we know absolutely nothing beyond the fact that their name translates as “Pyramid of Blood.” As the 20JFG crew explain, “like some sort of synthesis of everything that rocks 20jazzfunkgreats boat – say, Morricone jamming with the Sun City Girls, or a lost piece of Anatolian Invasion Esoterica, the dark Kali to Zelda’s Vishnu.” Or, in other words, it’s all kinds of awesome. Get it here.
Jesse Harris — “It’s Been Going Around” According to KCRW, where this download is hosted, Jesse Harris is best known for writing Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why.” But no, wait, this pleasantly Brazilian-flavored track isn’t all bad! Get it here, and keep in mind that like all KCRW’s downloads, it’s up for one day only.
Meshell Ndegeocello — “Be My Husband” From her upcoming Nina Simone record, and not a bad cover at all, even if Ndegeocello’s voice lacks Simone’s throaty gravitas. You can hear it here (right-click that link and hit “Save As…” to download).
Solos — Carpe Diem This is a new project for Spencer Steim, who once formed half of Hella with Zach Hill, now of the mighty Death Grips. Steim’s new outlet doesn’t approach the focused aggression of that band, although it doesn’t try to, instead heading in another, rather idiosyncratic direction. We’re not quite sure what we’d call this, actually — hillbillytronica? Listen here (and again, go with the right-click action to download).
Angel Haze — Reservation mixtape And finally, a whacking great mixtape from Angel Haze, about whom Silent Drape Runner/Flavorpill social media manager/resident dark pop music expert Russ Marshalek has been going gaga of late. Get it here.