A totally legal high

www.flying-lotus.com

Klaxons doing some epic psychedelic stuff in a desert somewhere. This is the first single to come off their sophomore album, Surfing The Void, due sometime next month.

www.klaxons.net

They’ve been gone long, but no, Cut Copy, we haven’t forgetton you. And in return, the Aussie trio hasn’t forsaken us: as of 2011, we’ll have ourselves Cut Copy’s third album (as yet untitled) - apparently influenced by Tusk and self-produced. Below you may download “Where I’m Going”, a sampler track that should tell you um, where they’re going. And oh, that chorus!

www.cutcopy.net

Say hello to Jenny Lewis and her boyfriend Johnathan Rice, who’ve put their creative hearts together as Jenny & Johnny. The couple are packing the power back into pop and already have an LP, I’m Having Fun Now, in the pipeline. The album’s supposed to be a haunted, acerbic affair, though you’d never be able to tell with the giant ’70s AM radio grooves of “Scissor Runner” and “Big Wave” (below). But whatever, it’s just great pop music at the end of the day.

www.jennyandjohnnymusic.com

Converse’s 3 Artists 1 Song series is exactly that: three totally different artists getting together on a single track, and in the same shoes, probably. It started with Pharrell Williams, Julian Casablancas and Santigold getting down to “My Drive Thru”, and ends with Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij, Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino and Kid CUDi sharing the mic on “All Summer”. Here’s what it sounds like -

Download the track at play.converse.com

She & Him in all their lo-fi, vintage glory (and looking cute, Zooey!) - shot in Super 8 by Norwood Cheek

www.sheandhim.com

Look up: Brandon Flowers arrives in our inbox this morning with his solo debut single “Crossfire”, a heart-pounding anthem of a song. Here’s its video featuring Charlize Theron rescuing Brandon from the dark, evil forces of the world.

www.brandonflowersmusic.com

The bunch of Californian dance hoodlums you know as !!! recently got to spend time in Berlin, where they soaked up the city’s night life, attempted German and cracked down on a couple of new tracks. Nice!!! And we’ll get to hear all of it on the band’s upcoming Strange Weather, Isn’t It? The the groovy first single off the album, “AM/FM”, is now also available to sample below. It’s all of blinding beats and colours, and good enough to eat.

www.chkchkchk.net

The thing that Nick Cave does in his free time, Grinderman (him + some of his Bad Seeds), is back for another gory round. Grinderman 2 follows up on the band’s eponymous 2007 debut, which did well pounding and pulverising senses into oblivion - Birthday Party-style. We shall expect nothing less from this sophomore. The album’s first single will be “Heathen Child” (due sometime in August) and here’s a bloody trailer to get you all sweaty under your armpits.

www.grinderman.com

Sometime last year, Björk and Dirty Projectors got together in NYC for a benefit concert for Housing Works in Manhattan, where they aired a collaborative piece entitled Mount Wittenberg Orca. Now, more than a year on, this match made in heaven has released a totally legit and intensely hip recording of the 20-minute and seven-track suite. Recorded at Rare Book Room in Brooklyn, the mini LP is digitally available here and its proceeds will benefit the National Geographic Society. Here’s a track, “All We Are”, starring Björk and the Projectors’ Dave Longstreth in a lovely duet, to whet your appetites.

www.mountwittenbergorca.com