"Can't Wait To"- Lunice

If someone were to keep score for producers Lunice and Hudson Mohawke after the EP of laser-guided trap they made as TNGHT, it might be a unanimous decision favoring Mohawke. Following TNGHT's release, Hudmo: hopped into the booth for G.O.O.D. Music's Cruel Summer comp. (including "Mercy"), added shrill blasts to "I Am A God", helped Drake go "swangin'" on the stuttering love song "Connect", and oversaw a kingpin meeting between Pusha T and Rick Ross for the guilt-ridden "Hold On". Lunice meanwhile stayed out of the spotlight, 2013 contains a scant two credits from him for Rockie Fresh tracks "Panera Bread" and "Superman OG". There's a Yeezus sample credit for the Montreal native, though it's as a part of TNGHT for "Blood on the Leaves". Following TNGHT's amicable hiatus at the end of last year, all signs pointed to Mohawke being the one to take advantage of his new found "freedom."

"Can't Wait To", the possible first taste of Lunice's upcoming album, obliterates those signposts and shreds any scorecard in sight. The initial vocal stutters invite comparisons to TNGHT's calling card "Higher Ground", though they're more sedate on "Can't Wait To". Hearing them snake across the track an apocalyptic Burial effort comes to mind before a dance floor groover. That's all but confirmed when deeper background vocals float over Lunice's jackhammering bass. They sound like a ghost from a Scooby Doo episode, if the episode was only shown once for being "too scary." "Scary" is perhaps the best adjective to use when describing "Can't Wait To". The glinting xylophone that comes in around the 1:10 mark is "scary." Instead of lightening the mood, it makes everything 10 shades darker. The frail keys in the final 20 seconds are "scary"; each echo makes the hairs on my arm stand up. And Lunice's prodigious work here is "scary."

Lunice's untitled album is tentatively slated for a 2014 release through Lucky Me Records.

"Go"- Grimes

Not even 10 minutes after Vancouver native Claire Boucher aka Grimes put up her latest song "Go" on Soundcloud, there were loading problems for the track. I can't imagine I was the only one nervously clicking, "praying" I'd get through in time to replay "Go" to my heart's content. Though I'd just heard it on Zane Lowe's BBC 1 Radio show at 1:30, I wanted to hear it again. If I spent the rest of day letting it boom out of my speakers and failed to get anything else done, including this review, it'd still be a successful day.

Now some of that is obvious hyperbole, but not much. "Go" is that kind of entrancing effort. The same week Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal told us about the joys of well-timed bass drops in a music culture desensitized to them, Grimes upped the ante further. Rustie's "Raptor" features an unquestionably terrific drop, one best compared to a waterfall of noise if you're intent on using any kind of "dropping" or "falling" verbiage. But "Raptor"'s drop is necessary when you consider it comes after a stretch of silence. You need noise to drown out the quietude in that case. The reason "Go"'s anvil-like drop is so fascinating is that it may not even be needed. Before its leaden appearance "Go" is a mid-tempo languisher with an eerie clock rhythm and elegiac piano ringing out. Grimes half-whispers about dreams and memories being indistinguishable and time cruelly stretching out past some far-off horizon. Bolstered by mechanical drum claps, its best described as "haunting."

However once the bass goes from a mid-volume rumble to a speaker busting boom, "Go" becomes something else entirely. "Bubblegum trap rave" may be a clunky way to describe it, but that's what immediately came to mind. If that is the descriptor though, it's not syrupy sweet bubblegum pop you'd hear on an AM station in the 60s. This is the sugar-free variety, where the bubble's been popped and disappointment hangs where a smile once resided. Under Blood Diamond's massively stuttering samples, you can hear Grimes' head hanging down when she sings of "stupid dreams." Her best work often captures peril in mundane situations (night-walks becoming panic-stricken runs on "Oblivion") and "Go" is no different. We all dream, it's just rarely as vivid or panoramic as this.



In an on-air interview with Zane Lowe today, Grimes intimated she'd be releasing a new album "sometime next year" so "Go" will have to tide you over until then.

"About the Money" ft. Young Thug- T.I.

(Photo-Zach Wolfe)

I'll admit when I read the pairing for new track "About the Money", I was taken aback. Sure both of the MC's making an appearance call Atlanta home, but they're in entirely different orbits. T.I.'s an unflappable commercial rap force; the dude with enough cache to get Andre 3000 features and Justin Timberlake hooks. Young Thug meanwhile is erraticism personified; a wild-card who'll either end a line with a pinched-off scream or fade away with an exasperated sigh. Thinking it could work would be as ridiculous as saying an MF Doom/Jay Z pairing would succeed simply because they both hail from NYC. When it comes to rap collabos, "location, location, location" isn't the only thing that matters. 

And that simple fact is confirmed by "About the Money", T.I.'s latest effort that may be making an appearance on his ninth studio album Paperwork. Though the London On Da Track beat is built on a foundation of: clomping bass, rickety stereo-pans, and wobbly church organ, there's nothing shaky about the Tip/Thug partnering. They've both got money squarely on their mind. Thug's making so much he's "bustin out the bando," as he squeaks in his lead-off verse. If he's going to remain in "label limbo," he'll continue to sling for as long he can. There are no contract disputes when it comes to hustling. But if the grind were a suit and tie profession, T.I. would be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. With Thug there's a question as to who's in charge, while Tip makes it abundantly clear who the "head honcho" is. And if there's any question about his credentials, he's quick to "put some bricks in a Bronco." No matter how much they're separated by tax brackets and commercial success, Thug and T.I. can bond over being unafraid to do some serious dirt.

Paperwork is slated to drop later this year through Columbia.