New Music Monday!

Come one, come all to witness the strange, grotesque wonders contained herein. Birthed in a den of deformity and dark magic, it is the one and only New Music Monday!

Ariel Pink has been around for the better part of a decade, making a lot of the music that inspired the current Glo-Fi/Chillwave trend. Here, he finally cleans it up, putting together a wholly unique, well-produced song with a gorgeous throwback 70's AM-pop chorus. "Round and Round" takes a couple listens to come together as a whole, but it is flawless in each of its myriad small flourishes.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round And Round

MGMT are back and are... weird? After laying down the recipe for the current synth-pop trend, they are in the mood to shake it up. A pair of advance tracks from the forthcoming Congratulations (due out April 13) show them cribbing from mega-ADD narrative popsters Fiery Furnaces on cracked-out lead single "Flash Delirium" and twee mainstays Belle and Sebastian on "Congratulations" (from 1:17 to 1:36 I couldn't believe I wasn't listening to Stuart Murdoch). Wild, weird stuff - definitely not boring.


MGMT - Flash Delirium
MGMT - Congratulations

Neon Indian have graduated from the Glo-Fi vanguard of last summer by releasing a fun new free single from Mountain Dew's Green Label Sound. "Sleep Paralysist" sports hyperactive synths and a moderately active vocal melody, yet characteristic of their sound, the mix buries the vocals within the layers of production, creating a surprisingly relaxing listening experience.

Neon Indian - Sleep Paralysist

Cults came out of nowhere to sweep across the blogosphere over the past couple of weeks - lo-fi production aside, "Go Outside" is infectious enough to see why everyone wants the duo to think of themselves as a real band (not a pair of film students) and focus on creating some more music.

Cults - Go Outside

Big Boi's debut solo album, Sir Luscious Left Foot, is finally reported to be heading towards retailers near you (reports of release dates still vary). In the meantime, he follows excellent singles "Royal Flush" (here) and "Shine Blockaz" (here) with a more mainstream-sounding jam, "Fo Yo Sorrows", accompanied by old-school freak Too $hort and P-Funk all-star George Clinton.

Big Boi - Fo Yo Sorrows (f/George Clinton and Too $hort)

Caribou raised hopes for his sophomore album with electro-funky lead single "Odessa" (here). Follow-up "Sun" moves away from traditional vocals and songwriting but creates a solid groove and exhibits tasteful production. I have no idea what to expect on this album anymore.

Caribou - Sun

Fresh material from a broader re-issue of Conor Oberst's collaboration with the low-profile Omaha roots-rock group. The Bright Eyes frontman revealed that their 2004 album together was his favorite project to record, and he went back into the studio with them to lay down four bonus tracks for this year's re-release. "Happy Accident" certainly sounds like they're having fun - you could be too!

Bright Eyes and Neva Dinova - Happy Accident