Impression of Sound

A track-by-track guide to the best today's music has to offer.

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The Top 100 Tracks of the Year. What did we miss?

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Cold World: BJ The Chicago Kid supplies an excellent melancholic soul hook for the sparse piano beat, though the song doesn't return to it after the first time. Even further stripped down than the opener "Mushroom Cloud", eventually leading into a stomping drum verse before again slipping back into a barebones instrumental portion, Toki uses the negative space mostly to speak in a poetic tone, ending a rundown of hunger pains and impoverished negativity with the powerful "fight these concepts with every molecule of your self... be what you choose". The free-floating structure is among the album's most experimental, but, for an album with hardly any features, it could've been made stronger simply by giving BJ a second chorus.

Read the rest of our track-by-track review of Toki Wright and Big Cat's Pangea.

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This entire list seems a bit like a lost cause with Thom Yorke dropping a new album out of nowhere. That being said, we must persevere and move on (Yorke will be eligible for next week). This week it was all about the relative unknowns. Rather than pick the low-hanging fruit with fantastic new songs from Kendrick Lamar and Weezer, our list was filled with substantially more artists still trying to make a name for themselves and define their sound. Regardless of their respective prowess, each of these songs is incredible in its own right.

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Friends of Friends have joined up with Vans OTW for a new five-track EP titled What's Good Los Angeles?. The EP features tracks from Dâm-Funk, Hodgy Beats, Jerome LOL, Problem, and Salva. Additionally, it also contains one from Will Wiesenfeld, aka Baths, called "Disorderly". Listen to it above.

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Pop duo Cibo Matto have shared the video for "Deja Vu", a single off their 2014 LP Hotel Valentine. The video, directed by Jean Claude Billmaier, was shot with an Xbox Kinect camera. Watch the colorful video above.

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Wide Awake: Showcasing J Mascis’ ear for the euphonious melding of strings, this track recalls some of his strongest compositional work. It’s a song of longing, as Mascis beckons a wayward partner to come over in the wee hours. The track is also lent luster by the gorgeous backing vocals of Cat Power’s Chan Marshall, a musician whose own voice betrays many nights of sleeplessness. Here is where some Dinosaur Jr. devotees may turn off the record, as the finger-picked acoustic textures and weary whispers don’t exactly recall a “Freak Scene.” But at its heart, this is a J Mascis track through-and-through: layered with hooks and melodies, bluntly honest, and just catchy enough to crash on the couch inside your head for a while.

 Read the rest of our track-by-track review of J Mascis' Tied to a Star.

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During his performance at AAHH! Fest in Chicago, Common brought out Jay Electronica and Vince Staples to perform the remix of "Kingdom", which originally solely featured Staples. Now, the Chicago rapper has shared the remix's official audio. Listen to it below. "Kingdom" originally appeared on Common's latest album, Nobody's Smiling.

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It had been quite some time since we last heard from Nate Martinez’s post-Pela project Thieving Irons on 2012's Behold, This Dreamer!. Now, Martinez has come back and shared his new EP, Phenomena, which opens with the impeccable "Electric Paradise". Listen to it above.

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After sharing his new single "i" yesterday, Kendrick Lamar stopped by Los Angeles' Power 106 radio station. There, he was interviewed by Big Boy's Neighborhood show and performed a lengthy freestyle. Watch the video of the freestyle above.

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Last year, Justin Vernon's side project Volcano Choir released their second album Repave, which ended up being on the same level as Vernon's Bon Iver efforts. Now, thanks to the 551 Project, an event which brought multiple artists to Milwaukee to make videos for Wisconsin artists, "Tiderays" has a video. The video was directed by Kyle Buckley and Andi Woodward and features a group of dancers from the Milwaukee ballet. Watch it above.

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Over: As before, the band takes a modest approach to their arrangement here. But there’s something about this minimalist instrumentation that is peculiar, in a good way. It seems like a majority, if not all, of the musical accompaniment during the verse is drums and this interesting buzzing noise that ebbs and flows and feels like it could be a guitar or a synth. The chorus is like flipping a switch to on in terms of production tricks. It’s bathed in this dark ethereal sheen, almost haunting, and her vocals are compressed a bit to give some eerie vibes. The bridge also houses some great sounds, with Hernandez spitting lyrics with acid riffs under her. Unfortunately, all these novel ideas taken as a whole don’t really break out of the bland pop sensibilities with which they’ve been struggling.

Read the rest of our track-by-track review of Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas' Secret Evil.

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Next week, Canadian folk band The Rural Alberta Advantage will release their third album, Mended With Gold, via Saddle Creek. A press release describes the album as the “most fully-realized work of their career.” Additionally, “The Rural Alberta Advantage have taken all of their successes, losses, adventures, and heartbreaks over the past few years, and forged them together into an unforgettably powerful work of beauty.” In anticipation of its release, the record in its entirety is streaming here via Spotify.

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Last year, the Replacements reunited and have played a few of stand-alone shows and festivals since. And now, according to a story in Rolling Stone, founding members Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson might be making a new Replacements record. It would be the first studio album since 1990's All Shook Down.

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Back in July, Pink Floyd announced that they were releasing their first new album in 20 years titled The Endless River. Now, they've provided some more information about the album, including its lineup, release date, cover art, and more.

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Last week, Kendrick Lamar announced the first single off of the follow up to 2012's good kid, m.A.A.d city. Today, Lamar followed up on that promise and shared his new single entitled "i". The track is produced by Rahki and samples the Isley Brothers' "That Lady". Listen to it above.

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At the end of the month, Nicolas Jarr’s label Other People will collectively release a compilation titled Work. In anticipation, Dave Harrington, the experimental electronic musician and other half of Darkside, has shared "Form and Affect". Listen to it above. The Work compilation is due out September 29 via Other People.

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Radiohead drummer Philip Selway's new album, Weatherhouse, is due out October 7. Now, he's shared the video for one the tracks off the record titled "It Will End in Tears". The video, directed by film duo Rammatik (Rannvá Káradóttir and Marianna Mørkøre), features women in black robes dancing. Watch it above .