TBE Digest 7 – 3.27.10 [MGMT, Foals, Born Ruffians, LCD Soundsystem, The Very Best, …]

If this is your first time to the Burning Ear then welcome to The TBE Digest, a place where I take a break from my usual gushing enthusiasm and cover some recent tracks that I am not so in love with but are still interesting/relevant/whatever. I’ve also started throwing covers in as well because, well, because I love covers. Dive in!

♫ MGMT – Flash Delirium / The first single from MGMT’s follow-up, Congratulations, which is streaming for free at their website. I haven’t heard it yet because frankly, “Flash Delirium” doesn’t really make me want to. It’s not that it’s even “not as good as “Kids”/”Time To Pretend”/”Electric Feel,” it’s just not very listenable.

♫ Born Ruffians – Sole Brother / The first taste from Born Ruffians next album is not doing their name, nor their past jams, justice. I really don’t want to have to use a pun like ‘Bored Ruffians’ when reviewing Say It, out June 1st.

♫ Foals – Spanish Sahara / Speaking of not doing their previous work justice, Foals have dropped the off kilter spazz pop in favor of this slow burning crooner that is not bad, just very different. I really want to bo open minded and progressive and say I love the new direction, but it’s been a few weeks and “Spanish Sahara” just hasn’t grabbed me yet. It gets interesting at the 4:30 mark but that’s a loooong time to wait.

♫ LCD Soundsystem – Oh You (Christmas Blues) / LCD Soundsystem mastermind James Murphy recently soundtracked Greenberg, the lastest film from my former film teacher, Noah Baumbach. The song is nothing like LCD but you should read more about that here. Big LCD fans should get their Google on ’cause his new album is coming out soon and people are flipping out over new single “Drunk Girls.” I’ve yet to hear it.

♫ Die Antwoord – Fish Paste / South African hip-hop group who nobody is really sure is a straight-faced joke or not. Being fronted by a dude who goes by Ninja will do that. Anyway, the music is not nearly as interesting as the circumstances/hype. Listen to “Fish Paste” and read this and this for more.

♫ Raaaaaaaandy – AAAAAAAANGRY / OK, this shit gets tricky. Funnyman Aziz Ansari played a douchey comic in last years underrated movie Funny People and now he is reviving the character as a rapper/comedian who is working on a mixtape with TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek. This jam is the first cut of the forthcoming tape and sees Raaaaaaaandy call out pretty much every rapper alive for not contributing to the mixtape. It probably wont get put on repeat through your weekend but is definitely worth a listen.

♫ Hortlax Cobra – This Time That’s It / Hortlax Cobra is the John in Peter, Bjorn and John and this is off of his latest EP. Not my favorite, but neither was PB&J’s last album.

♫ Cisco Adler – Spring Break Lover (ft Lil’ John & Dirt Nasty) / Cisco Adler is the singing white dude that is always with Shwayze and now he is venturing out on his own radio-friendly pop adventure. Lil’ John is back in full effect dropping his spastic growls over this glossy beach-party beat. Guaranteed to be heard in the background of the next Girls Gone Wild video.

~ COVERS ~

♫ Hawa – D.A.N.C.E. (Justice Cover) / Hawa have taken this modern classic and turned it into a soulful retro classic in a way that that makes “D.A.N.C.E.” feel fresh for the first time in years. A fantastic cover. [Thanks to IGIF]

♫ Erik Hassle – Be Mine feat. Ellie Goulding (Robyn Cover) / This is a great cover. Simple, sincere, and a far cry from the original. Erik Hassle’s stuff continues to impress and I really need to get around to hearing the Ellie Goulding album. Although, I feel it’s gonna be tough to top this sweetness.

♫ Mumford and Sons – Cousins (Vampire Weekend Cover) / Sound quality isn’t so hot but definitely worth a listen to hear our favorite folk/rock group cover Vampire Weekend. It’s these cross genre covers that are usually the most fun. Hold on ’til 1:20 and you’ll see what I mean.

♫ Yes Giantess – I’m Not your toy (La Roux cover) / It’s nice to hear a La Roux cover instead of another remix, and by Yes Giantess nonetheless. It’s a nice and crunchy take on the original but I can’t help but feel it’s a bit half baked.

Here are two tracks off The Very Best’s upcoming mixtape. Both do little to the original version besides throwing Esau’s own vocals on top. The dude does have the best voice around but I expected more from the guys behind one of last year’s best albums.

♫ The Very Best version of: Florence & The Machine – You Got The Love (The xx remix)

♫ The Very Best – Mulomo (Yeasayer’s – Ambling Alp)