New Music Monday!

Often referred to as "the worst-received idea since Kool-Aid's 1989 discontinuation of 'The Grapist,' a huge purple monster who sodomizes thirsty children," it's New Music Monday! (ripped off from The Onion, which apparently is fair game?).

The Brooklyn phenoms just dropped their second album, Fang Island, and they did not forget to bring the fun. The joyous "Life Coach" boasts funky stabs of instrumentation under eminently chant-able vocals, as immediately catchy as anything from MGMT's first album but with more crunch than slickness.

Fang Island - Life Coach

Genre-crossing always pulls me in for a second (and usually third) listen, and "Da Cali Anthem" is no exception. Dubstep bruiser Rusko takes Roger Troutman's severely auto-tuned vocal clips from Tupac Shakur's legendary "California Love" and strings them out across a bed of dubstep percussion and heavy synths, resulting in a (mildly repetitive) anthem that still may deserve a spot on your next sunny weather playlist.

Rusko - Da Cali Anthem

Straight-up classic rock. From the 70's, clearly. No? Brand new? Well, if people are still making this stuff, it'd better be good. Really? Pretty solid? Handclaps, a nice chorus and an interlude in the middle that doesn't devolve into guitar masturbation? How... original.

Free Energy - Hope Child

This really, really sounds like the music David Bowie should be making, right now. Can someone please get him involved with British producer Primary 1? A harmony of those two voices and sensibilities would be mind-boggling, but in the meantime Nina Persson of The Cardigans offers a nice counterpoint on this very restrained, deftly-woven piece that will assuredly be stuck in your head.

Primary 1 - The Blues (f/Nina Persson)

The Morning Benders' sophomore album has finally dropped (get the first two very catchy lead singles here) and "Wet Cement" is yet more proof that adding Grizzly Bear member Chris Taylor paid off, with a tune that sounds like classic Brit-Pop given a prog-rock twist by way of California.

The Morning Benders - Wet Cement

The DJ duo drop another one sporting Roisin's vocals (get the last one here) and it screams with immediacy. Flirty bass and frantic vocals suck you right in and won't let go - impressively good.

Crookers - Hold Up Your Hand (f/Roisin Murphy)

Goldfrapp's newest, Head First, has leaked and it is side-ponytail-level 80's. I'm not sure I'm impressed - Goldfrapp has got the talent to do more than this, but "Alive" does showcase a momentum-building sensibility that's hard to resist. Judge for yourself.

Goldfrapp - Alive

Flying Lotus is a rare breed, a cutting-edge Dubstep producer who calls America home. His debut album, Los Angeles, came screaming out of Warp Records last year to critical acclaim, and the follow-up promises to be similarly trippy. Warning: Distinct lack of traditional musical structure ahead...

Flying Lotus - Computer Face/Pure Being

A fun aside to prime you for the Jonsi full-lenth (it leaked, and it's unbelievable), this time Sigur Ros' frontman stops in at the BBC for an in-studio session and covers MGMT's "Time To Pretend" as a slow-building piano ballad. Get three lead tracks for the upcoming Go here, here and here, and stay tuned for a write-up of the full album.

Jonsi - Time To Pretend (MGMT Cover)