Three Six Mafia feat. Young Buck, 8-Ball, and MJG - Gotta Stay High

This is easily the most resonant and exciting rap tracks that I’ve heard this year. Cop it.

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Bell Orchestre - Throw It On A Fire

I’m almost shocked that it’s taken this long for an Arcade Fire offshoot to emerge into the indie consciousness. They are Canadian after all. It almost seems like you have to be in four bands at once or you’re slacking somehow. I’ll save the “inevitable uneven quality of music” comment cloaked in this completely transparent sentence. In any case, this band reminds of the way that Set Fire to Flames interacts with Godspeed: Bell Orchestre is a very Rachels-esque band that eschews vocals in favor of see-sawing violins and brass. A good choice, in my opinion. Don’t get your hopes up, though. “Throw It On A Fire” seems to be one of the most upbeat tunes of the batch.

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Butterfly Emerging - An Excerpt From Bmerge on the Beach

Butterfly Emerging is one-half of the group Department of Eagles. That group is a self-described “experimental electronic-cum-classic pop duo.” Butterfly Emerging is parts of that, but something altogether different. Not that we should know much at all yet. There is only the co-writing credits on the group’s debut album and three random tracks that have been posted on the group’s website. The track in question here is part of what Emerging calls part of his proposed minimalist opera, Bmerge on the Beach, one that that has a libretto based entirely upon spam e-mails.

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