Sidetracked

Song: 'Bama Gettin’ Money (Diplo Remix)'

Artist: Paper Route Gangstaz

 

This is the track Girl Talk, the king of the ironic mash-up, wishes he wrote. Diplo, better known as M.I.A.’s beat-maker and one-time beau, mixes the sappy sincerity of Wham’s hilariously saxy “Careless Whisper” with Southern-rap collective Paper Route Gangstaz’s drawled out thug talk: “Her brain untamed / So mind bogg-el-in’.” It might also be the perfect rap-house track. Eat your heart out, Flosstradamus.

Grade: A+

 

Song: 'Oscar'

Artist: The Cool Kids

 

With tracks like “88” and “I Rock,” The Cool Kids aren’t too secretive about their fixation with the early days of hip-hop. The snail-paced “Oscar” finds the two Chicago MCs dropping references to Neon Deion Sanders and Uncle Phil from the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” over a sparse ’80s-retro backbeat from DJ Benzi. Awesome, dude.

Grade: A-

Song: 'Think I Wanna Die'

Artist: Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

 

And you thought Panic at the Disco was a terrible band name. Fortunately, Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – or SSLYBY (for short?) – makes up for its mouthful of a moniker with this cheery, feel-good song about wanting to kill yourself. They’ve got shouts. They’ve got skippy acoustic strumming. They’ve even got “oo-oo-oos.” Think of it as an indie version of a fun-in-the-sun Beach Boys song.

Grade: B+

 

Song: 'Water Curses'

Artist: Animal Collective

 

I’m not sure where the title of experimental rockers/drug experimenters Animal Collective’s most recent single comes from, but I’d like to think it has something to do with water-borne bugs, the kind that get in your system and throw your body into an off-balanced limbic frenzy. At least that’s the image the hectic and unconventionally time-signatured (yet surprisingly catchy) “Water Curses” renders for me. Drink up.

Grade: B+