Finding out about Childish Gambino and Beck collaborating was like the first time I saw someone use gummy bears as an ice cream topping. The former is too ridiculous for that beloved latter, I thought, and there’s no way those textures can complement each other. The jury’s still out on acceptable ice cream accoutrements, but very much decided on the excellence of “Silk Pillow,” which features both artists spitting laid-back rhymes in succession over smooth pianos and serrated percussion. Grab it below.

MP3: Childish Gambino (ft. Beck) – “Silk Pillow”

It’s been a while since I’ve listened to much hip-hop, and even longer since I’ve put trap music on, but Flosstradamus’ new track is breaking the streak.  J2K and Curt have been building a nice little comeback after their successes of what feels like forever ago, and they’re doing so by riding the trap wave.  This song samples Opus III’s “Fine Day”  and layers the beautiful vocals over light synths and a simple trap snare. Somehow the combination of slowed down trance and trap works perfectly.  The song also features Charlotte, NC based rapper Deniro Farrar, who does a great job of not rapping about ridiculous shit, which is a serious accomplishment these days.

MP3: Flosstradamus – “Look At The Sky (Ft. Deniro Farrar)”

The gentlemen from California are back this Friday at 9:30 Club. If you have not seen them before, this show is a must. Frontman Taylor Goldsmith can rip off a solo with the best of them, but with equal ease he moves into slower songs such as “My Way Back Home” and “Moon in the Water.” While the whole set is just what you want out of a Friday night rock show, seeing “When My Time Comes” is worth the price of admission alone. If you can’t make it Friday, the band recently announced they would be playing with Mumford & Sons on their Gentlemen of the Road side tour.

Catch Dawes and the lovely Sara Watkins at 9:30 Club on Friday, June 1. Find tickets here.

MP3: Dawes – “When My Time Comes”

I might start crying; that’s how good this is. The Silver Jews are the greatest band of all time—I’ve convinced myself of that much. And listening to this long lost gem (from 1990) is like discovering buried treasure, finding the original seed of raw genius.

“Secret Knowledge Of Back Roads” offers a glimpse of the Silver Jews when they were simply an idea. When they were just David Berman, Stephen Malkmus, and Bob Nastanovich in a dark, damp basement somewhere, playing and singing sloppily, messily onto a beat-up eight-track. Before they gave birth to several gorgeous alt-country records. This is Berman discovering the Silver Jews for himself. If Early Times, out June 19th vis Drag City, is anywhere as good as this, I might be tearing up a lot this summer.

STREAM: Silver Jews – “Secret Knowledge of Back Roads”

The tale of runaway psychokinetic children that began in M83‘s video for “Midnight City” continues in its visual successor, “Reunion.” Watch the Fleur & Manu-directed saga unfold above as these kids barely escape their pursuing captors. M83′s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is out now on Mute.

STREAM: M83 – “Reunion”

Ellie Goulding is out with a new sultry cover of The Weeknd‘s “High for This,” produced by none other than the ever-Breakfasty Xaphoon Jones. It’s a four minute slow jam that infuses the atmospheric effects of the original with Ellie’s signature britpop sound. Xaphoon adds some of his handiwork, overlaying trickling vocals that manage to be simultaneously minimalist yet subtly complex. Ellie doesn’t toss in any dub step beats in her version, instead creating an aesthetic that makes you want to sit back, relax and take in the sound.

MP3: Ellie Goulding – High For This (The Weeknd Cover)

Rolling Stone: Experimental pop-rock outfit Ween calls it quits after 28 weird, lovely years.

P4K: Folk singer/guitarist Doc Watson dies from complications after a recent abdominal surgery.

YouTube: Hip-hop legend Nas drops a video for “Daughters.”

CoS: Hey Mom and Dad! Regina Spektor played some tunes on Good Morning America!

mtvU: The Black Keys are pegged to play this year’s MTV Movie Awards.

Stereogum: The best part of waking up is Lana Del Rey tracking a Nespresso TV spot.

Big Boi and Theophilus London team up on a new track, “She Said OK.”

MP3: Big Boi & Theophilus London – “She Said OK (Ft. Tre Luce)”

To start your summer off right, it’s UK beat-smith Damn You Mongolians (aka Steve Southern) with a club-ready remix of Queen Of Hearts‘ latest single, “Tears In The Rain.” With a dub-infused chorus and a healthy infusion of electronic blips and beeps, this one’s sure to make you put on that ill-fitted tank and head straight to the closest rooftop rave (that totally exists). The original, available on vinyl 7″ via ATG Records, was produced by Stefan Storm (of Sound Of Arrows) and has been leading her majesty’s recent wave of blogesphere buzz. Download the remix and stream the original below.

Premiere: Queen Of Hearts – “Tears In The Rain (Damn You Mongolians Remix)”

STREAM: Queen Of Hearts – “Tears In The Rain (Produced By Stefan Storm)”

The word “disco” brings to mind sequins, big hair, bigger heels, Studio 54. And maybe some Saturday Night Fever era John Travolta for good measure. For some time, however, after the peak of disco fever, the genre was dead. Disco was the music industry’s He Who Should Not Be Named to its Harry Potter. It was a word too entrenched in a specific decade and represented the rise of counterculture at the time. Disco had become too popular and influential for its own good, so it had to die. Here lies Disco, 1979, RIP.

But you can’t stop the funk. There’s a reason why disco as a genre defined the music of 70s and why it’s making a comeback now. Its defining four-on-the-floor beat is not only infectious, but also easy to dance to, even for the rhythmically challenged. The prominence EDM now holds in the mainstream is another reason why this synth-driven genre is relevant again. The tributes surrounding the recent death of the “Queen of Disco,” Donna Summers, confirms the renewed interest. And quite frankly, isn’t it just honest-to-goodness dance music?

Disco today isn’t quite what it was back then, instead existing in its “nü” form. Why? 1. We’re no longer living in the 70s; 2. technology and production quality have progressed and; 3. “disco” itself is still kind of a bad word. One nu artist of note is Jupiter (Vitalic Noise). The French duo are prepping to release their debut album, Juicy Lucy, on June 4th, but before the disco ball drops, I had a chance to pick these guys’ brains.

STREAM: Jupiter – “One O Six”

Nancy: Why Jupiter? Why not any of the other planets?

Jupiter: Jupiter appealed to us on a number of levels; it’s the biggest planet in the system, it’s a synthesizer we love (and recently acquired), it’s the god of the gods and above all it’s the same word in most languages. When the show’s over and people are headed for a hangover it’s important for them to remember our name ;)

N: In your bio it says that you two met “somewhere between Thank God It’s Friday and Purple Rain.” Can you describe what this place is like?

J: These two films embodied the main two genres which influence us, disco and funk music respectively. So I guess we do fall right in between those two! Thank God It’s Friday was set in L.A. and Purple Rain in Minneapolis, so geographically that would situate us around Denver, Colorado.

N: If you had to pick one decade to live in, which one would it be and why?

J: The late 1970s of course: the rise of disco was as intense as its demise, at the dawn of the 1980s. Cars were sexier, AIDS was vastly unknown and unemployment was not nearly as much of a problem as it is today.

N: What do you think of nu disco as a genre and where do you think it’s heading? Do you think that it has the potential of breaking through the mainstream glass ceiling?

J: It’s already broken through the mainstream! Shakira’s She Wolf could have been written by any good nu disco band. As a matter of fact, Hot Chip covered it without changing the essential, and it turned out awesome. Then again, it doesn’t need to break into the mainstream, we feel the indie scene is large enough.

N: Why do you think nu disco resonates better with more mainstream music listeners than say, deep house music?

J: Nu disco’s advantage over house is the prominence of vocals (not just samples, but verses and choruses), and music with vocals generally has more mainstream appeal than instrumental music. Whether it’s a good or a bad thing is another matter ;)

N: Can you tell me about the inspiration between your album “Juicy Lucy,” including the cover art?

J: Juicy Lucy worked on a number of levels, as did our band name. It has a saucy touch to it reminiscent of sexy 1970s funk cover arts, but it’s also Mineapollis’s greatest export (yeah, even better than Prince). The cover art was done by a very talented graphic artist, who also happens to be a good friend ouf ours, Etienne “akroe” Bardelli; it is a very abstract take on a Juicy Lucy. It’s slightly more obvious inside the actual CD cover art, but you’ll have to buy it to see it for yourself ;)

N: What do you hope people take away from Jupiter as an artist after listening to “Juicy Lucy?”

J: We hope they understand how we envision music, way beyond nu disco or electro. That being said, we tried to make it as unpretentious as we could, kinda like a summery, feel-good, breezy experience!

N: What are your thoughts on singing in English vs. singing in French?

J: We tried singing in French, but it just didn’t feel right. Half of the band happens to be of british descent and we met in London so it was only natural for us to pick English! However, there is one song on the album which was sung in French because somehow it just fitted. It depends on the tune I guess…maybe in the future we’ll be able to perceive more ways to make french vocals work in our music.

Summer often times seems like a season for airy, lighter, frolic-friendly fare, but Rachel Sermanni‘s Black Currents EP makes a strong case that summertime also has room for tunes that are soulful, and delicately beautiful. “Breathe Easy” is a sweet number supported mostly by Sermanni’s poignant vocals with soft piano and violin flourishes ebbing and flowing in the background. “The Fog,” meanwhile, is a minor-chorded change of gears with darker, foreboding vocals. The two showcase a wonderful range of emotions with the former’s lilting promise of, “We’ll swim knowing rain can’t touch us,” offering counterpoint to the deep rhythms of the latter’s “Mercy, mercy I’ve been caught/ Lying with my darkest thought/ They grabbed my wings and pinned me to the wall.”

The Black Currents EP came out earlier this year on Sermanni’s own label, Middle of Nowhere Recordings.

STREAM: Rachel Sermanni – Breathe Easy

STREAM: Rachel Sermanni – The Fog