Lunice first came to our attention with Hitmane’s Anthem, a favorite back in 2010. He makes hip-hop instrumentals, influenced by Southern rap but with a focus on dramatic sound design. Inarguably, of the best songs to come out of the first big wave of electronic “Trap” was Higher Ground, which Lunice did as TNGHT with partner Hudson Mohawke. Now he has his first album, CCCLX (360), and you’re going to want to smoke a joint and listen to this on really good headphones.
Syd is 1/2 of The Internet, and a principal member of the Odd Future crew, along with Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, Johnny Eraserhead and Susan the Sentient Razor Scooter. Given the edgy, grimy rap they became famous for, much it produced by Syd, it’s remarkable that they’re also responsible for some of the best straight-ahead R&B of this decade. Syd’s new EP is called ALWAYS NEVER HOME and it’s just beautiful.
In searching out new music for this week, we stumbled across a record by a group we love, which came out in June, but we completely missed it back then. Poolside is a duo comprised of one of the members of Junior Senior, Filip Nicolik, and San Francisco DJ and producer Jeffrey Paradise, and their first album Pacific Standard Time could best be described as blissful, laid-back disco. Their new record is called Heat, and it’s a bit more diverse, with island influences to complement the groovy feel of their earlier records.