This Week’s Best MP3s: Sufjan Stevens, Dancefloor Diplomacy & Zomby, and more…

Mar 15, 2013

Sufjan Stevens, “Julia”

“…the kind of threadbare acoustic ballad that can unite all the disparate Sufjan tribes, quietly recalling the boundless insularity of the best ’90s alternative jams.”

Dancefloor Diplomacy & Zomby, “Hall Of Mirrors”

“Classic post-dubstep, if we’re already at that point.”

D. Vassalotti, “Swallow My Pride”

D. Vassalotti- Swallow my Pride

”Occasionally it might sound like Vassalotti’s fucking with us, and I really hope he is; asking “Swallow My Pride” to make total sense is like picking up someone else’s brain frequencies and demanding they explain thoughts no one could possibly articulate, not even the person having them.”

Four Tet, “For These Times”

“The stiffening tension between the elements courses through the song like a pathogen, affecting every section it touches and leaving traces even when it dips out.”

James Blake, “And Holy Ghost”

“The song’s holy title is not misleading; ‘Ghost’ is aiming for a superficially sacred listening experience, and works wonders within its narrow parameter…”