Fader

If Matt Mondanile makes music for sunset beach naps as Ducktails, then this 15-minute song by his band Predator Vision is what's playing when nature gets really mad and sends a series of huge waves to wash away your towel, car keys and dog while you're sleeping.


Download: Predator Vision, "This City's A Jungle" (via Raven Sings the Blues)

If you read this site a lot, you probably remember us predicting the first big trend for music in 2009: Hillbillyhall. It's a combination of achy breaky vocals, slide guitars, laptop beats and toasting. It's gonna be HAAUUUGGGE but don't search for it on here, it's really hard to find that post. Anyway, the trend is now manifested in the persons of Bosco Delrey from Philly and FADER fave 77Klash from the BK who've collaborated on one of the strangest songs we've heard since Squirrel Nut Zippers put it to bed.


Download: Bosco Delrey f. 77Klash, "Round N Round"

If you're like us, the last few days of work and reality haven't dampened your New Year's spirit, and party stories around the watercooler are still pretty lively: "Yeah, I threw up AND THEN went to sleep!" Well, while we were paying dearly for drinking too much cheap liquor, the rich and fabulous were drinking too much and racing each other in Miami hotel pools. The title kind of says it all, but this video is the best proof we've seen yet that the recession just isn't going to affect some people like it does others, and god bless them for that. After the jump, read our anonymous tipster's epic retelling of this Battle of the Stars, and then watch the actual footage here. 2009: The Year of Miracles. more...

We always applaud innovation, of course, but we were somewhat surprised by the forwardness of Christina Carter's new musical subscription series, Many Breaths. With three pricing tiers available, you get a mottle of various ephemera, along with drawings and recordings made especially for the reader by the Charlambides chanteuse. For those of you invested in keeping the arts alive, during the recession or not, we offer you something uniquely, if not somewhat peculiarly, worthy of your patronage. We're learning of this on the heels of Apple's announcement about the elimination of DRM, but this seems like something worth more than ninety-nine cents and completely unsharable.

Back in August we told you that Noreaga's web game was on point, and between his weight loss contest with Busta, the continuous video blogs and poetic Twitter updates ("Yoooo what it good be y'all I'm so focused feeling fresh good got Muslim oil on my sean john cologne and I'm just feeling marverlous"), it looks like the superthug will be running the internet by dinner time. Aside from branding himself, Nore continues to make music in the form of KISS-sampling "NY Groove" which is exactly what you'd imagine: an infectiously joyful pro-New York anthem that very few rappers (with the exception of Cam, Juelz, and, uh, Nore himself) can pull off. Our plan is to quote the line, "my city a iPhone, your city a Sidekick" until the iPhone becomes obsolete, or until everyone calls us assholes.


Download: Noreaga, "NY Groove" (via 57th Ave)

We love the coming-soon Electrik Red album, the bangers-Godzilla written for four of our favorite LA-based spitfires by his eminence, The-Dream, with the wizard Tricky Stewart. And we're consistently impressed with how many different sounds the group is able to graze without sounding impatient or fickle: there are Southern style strip club jernts, techno-y woman power anthems, funky Vanity 6/Mary Jane Girls style dance pop songs. We are in fact so googly-eyed about this music we featured Electrik Red in the upcoming FADER 59, dropping at a newsstand near you in the next week. Indefatigably jamming on our iPods however is the transcendent spectral rainbow vision of a newfangled quiet club storm known as "Freaky Freaky." It's a fully assertive booty call track, like if Girl 6 was dialing out to her man from a pile of down feathers. Which is basically like every day of our lives.


Download: Electrik Red, "Freaky Freaky"

The video for Bodies of Water's robust "Under the Pines" is one of those that immediately eclipses any lyrical insight we may have attached to the song before. Now when we play it for someone and they ask us what it's about, we can be like, "This song is about a man who hunts for diamonds in the bellies of dogs, and the consequences that arise from that." And then we can talk about how the whole video is actually a good argument against animal cruelty and not placing your jar of lye next to your jar of cookies.

If Kanye, who premiered this, is to be believed, this new Peter Bjorn & John song IS DOPE!! DRUMS ARE CRAZY AND I LIKE THE KIDS ON THE HOOK. THERE NEW ALBUM IS CALLED "LIVING THING" ..... WITH ALL THAT SAID I DON'T KNOW THE NAME OF THE SONG... LOL!!!... I'M GONNA ASSUME IT'S CALLED, "NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT." We can't say much for the kids on the hook, but the drums are pretty crazy. And in combination with the previously video'd "Hey Shut The Fuck Up, Boy", PB & J's new album is shaping up to be one of the albums to get all excited about for the spring. As far as Kanye's assumption on the song title, we can't confirm, but we can say assuming the other song was called "Hey Shut The Fuck Up, Boy" made an ass out of us and the internet because it is now officially called "Lay It Down" and is available at the band's website.


Download: Peter Bjorn & John, "Nothing To Worry About"


Download: Peter Bjorn & John, "Lay It Down" (email required)

Each Tuesday, FADER editor Matthew Schnipper highlights an underappreciated recent release he thinks we need to know about. This week it's Omar-S's "Psychotic Photosynthesis (No Drums Version)" 12-inch Listen to the song below, buy the record and read Schnipper's thoughts on it after the jump.

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Every Tuesday, FADER deputy editor Eric Ducker gets on instant messenger and "discusses" a subject that's been on his mind with another member of our staff or a special guest. Looking back at 2008, it's pretty amazing how proportionally few hip-hop albums came out on major labels, and of the ones that did, how few were any good. After the jump, read the condensed (and emoticon-free) conversation between Ducker and Eskay of Nah Right about the fate of the major label hip-hop album.

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If you're an Animal Collective fan and by some weird miracle have yet to hear or purchase Merriweather Post Pavilion, go take care of that immediately, please. As an extra incentive, Animal Collective have put album standout "My Girls" on their MySpace, and if you have not had the pleasure of hearing it yet, prepare to berate everyone around for singing along before you realize you're doing the exact same thing.

Stream: Animal Collective, "My Girls"

**Update** XXXchange gets at "My Girls" genealogy. Frankie Knuckles! (via GvsB)

Ever since Austin's Harlem released this cover of Q Lazzarus' "Goodbye Horses," as the second installment of their cover of the month club, we've been reconsidering our fiery indictments of rappers who release way too much material way too often. It's still as annoying and overwhelming as it ever was, but maybe if they dropped the releases down to once a month we'd be able to get with it. In any case, Harlem flip the icy detachment of the original version (which you'll probably remember from your nightmares) into a back porch Texas jam session.


Download: Harlem, "Goodbye Horses"

We've held a special place in our heart for Playaz Circle's Tity Boi ever since he appeared in I-20's "Fightin' in the Club" video in a Polar Bear fur-white mink coat and matching white jeans (walk into the North Pole, Honey, I'm home?). Having killed plenty of guest verses in the interim, Tity's solo aspirations took a back seat when the other half of the Circle, Dolla, was released from jail. This tape kind of appeared out of nowhere, but it's duffle-bag stuffing music if we ever heard it, and the first track features the Juice Man! (via dirtyglovebastard)

Download: Tity Boi, Trap-a-velli mixtape

Join The FADER's newest weekly columnist, A-Trak, who will be sharing with us the life and times of a superstar DJ and globetrotting gentleman. His column is called Around the World until he tells us otherwise.

Part XII: Ed Banger, Australia, Murs, Catchdubs Storytelling, Santogold, Missing Luggage more...

At one point, many millions of people were probably very excited about the unholy triumvirate of hip hop known as Aftermath Entertainment. Unfortunately, that point was four years ago (at least) and 50's newest single (via Nah Right) puts another nail in the coffin. Though, we will agree with Catchdubs that the 10-second piano melody on the outro is a minor consolation. After the jump, check tracklist for 50's Before I Self-Destruct (too late!) which features production not only from Dre but Scott Storch, Hi Tek, DJ Khalil, and JR Rotem.


Download: 50 Cent, "I Get It In" (prod Dr Dre)

**Update** The official version of Eminem's "Crack A Bottle", previously known as "Number One", leaked with the Dre and 50 verses applied. As you can see after the jump, it's not on 50's album, so let's see if it ends up on Relapse or Detox (ha). more...

From Johan of Radioclit:

Esau Mwamwaya went back to Lelongwe, Malawi in October 2008 for the first time in 9 years. I came with him to play at the Lake Of Stars festival and to shoot this video and film his homecoming in general. We had a crazy respons from local press, radio and tv. we rehearsed at Lucius Banda's famous 'Summit' venue for 3 days with local dancers. We went to see the live venue where Esau's music career started 'Village Lodge', and we hung out with Esau's family and their neighbours outside of Lelongwe. Most of the kids dancing in the video is Esau's brothers and all their neighbours kids. They all new all the words by the time we got there, very cute! We played Lake Of Stars festival, which argubly might be the best festival in the world. Ive been meaning to edit all the material since then but havnt had time. Now ive finally manged to sit down and do it and hopefully you'll like it and get a little bit of insight into what Esau Mwamwaya is up to in Malawi at the moment.

Download: The Very Best Mixtape (one of the very best albums of 2008)

Read: FADER Cover Story on Esau Mwamwaya

There is no shame in hibernating for the winter, just ask Montreal's Tim Hecker, who has consistently been making ideal albums for sleeping away entire months. His last album Harmony in Ultraviolet had us walking extra blocks in sub-zero temperatures just to make sure we caught the whole thing before heading inside, and An Imaginary Country (out 3/9 on Kranky) is no different. Hecker's material has always been about the full experience as opposed to individual cuts, but the glacial drift of "Paragon Point" works just fine as a mission statement for a dude who continues to make some of the most uplifting/depressing albums of any given winter.


Download: Tim Hecker, "Paragon Point"

We must be getting old because we can't imagine how Metronomy could possibly afford a video this elaborate. Then again, our 9-year-old nephew's Christmas list was on PowerPoint this year. Time is moving too fast!

Directed by Megaforce for the band's latest single [Sinden remix here].

We've been known to download the occasional Grateful Dead bootleg, have had more than a few excited conversations about new Animal Collective songs ripped from soundboards, and have already set a Google alert for "Phish reunion hampton mp3". Now we can add My Morning Jacket's New Year's Eve show at Madison Square Garden to the virtual bootleg shoebox. There's a bunch of audio nerd stuff in the description that we're not going to repeat (although if you're curious it was recorded from "Section 6, Row H-FOB, very slightly right of center aisle"). Instead, we're just going to tell you that the Jacket's pitch perfect cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up" starts the whole thing off on a high note and it only gets better from there. Did we mention this'll cost you nothing to listen to?

Download: My Morning Jacket Live At Madison Square Garden