BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 22/07/2015: David Gilmour, Young Thug, Little Mix and more...

Cat noises and train station jingles. You can make a song out of anything these days. A lot of this week's music has been pretty strange. It's an even mixture of entertainingly good and entertainingly bad.

THE BEST:

'No Chill' - Skrillex & Vic Mensa

‘Practice? What the fuck is practice?’ Chicago rapper Vic Mensa is sounding ridiculously arrogant here and arrogance usually isn't my thing, but I'm willing to overlook it due to the badass beat. Who knew that the iconic dubstep producer could also make a mighty trap beat? That brass sounds huge. It’s like a fanfare to the apocalypse. Listen here.

'Rattle that Lock' - David Gilmour

If you’ve ever spent time in a French railway station you may recognise the SNCF jingle sampled throughout this song. Personally the sound brings back nostalgic memories, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of French commuters find this rock veteran's new song intolerable.

'Like I Like It' - Vantage

Talking of France, here’s a little disco-house tune from the garlic-and-cheese-loving country itself. The funky middle section is extremely creative and I’m loving the shimmery use of synth vox.  

'Meowrly' – Meow the Jewels


Rap duo Run the Jewels have released a remix of their 2014 single 'Early' made entirely of cat noises. The use of purring as a substitute for bass made me chuckle. I can't believe they didn't think to call it 'Purrly' though...

'I Need Chickens' – Young Thug

After all the unwavering hate I’ve given garbling Atlanta rapper Young Thug on this blog I almost regret admitting that I kind of like this song. I guess it appeals to my goofy sense of humour the same way Riff Raff does. Producer Mike Will Made It delivers a fun beat complete with 808 cowbell, and Young Thug makes hilarious chicken noises over the top (they sound more like pigeon noises to be honest, but let's not get pedantic).

THE WORST:

Black Magic – Little Mix

UK girl group, Little Mix, wish they were American whilst promoting the idea that you need to be hot to be successful. That's just the music video.