Okay, wow, wow, wowsers, wowie zowie. Okay, hey, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, Internet's busiest music nerd. Hope you're doing well. We got to lock in and get a weekly track roundup done. Going over a bunch of tracks that have dropped over the past week or so. Giving my thoughts on whether I loved them, hated them, felt somewhere in between. That's what we're going to do.

And let's get into the worst tracks of the week.

Okay, we have a couple of We have a few. They are as follows.

They start with one Mr. Tommy Richman, who is hitting us with this new "San Andreas" track, which I mean, okay, I get it. I get the title. I understand the nod, especially once you do hear the synthesizers and the subtle, overt G-funk influences on the instrumental on this one. But does it really need to literally sound like a piece of incidental music from a Grand Theft Auto game? Does it literally need to sound like that? But with Tommy Richman doing some demo quality vocals on top of it, I just don't know if that's the move. I just don't know if that's the move. It's not really a standout song either. So I don't know. I'm really at a loss. I don't have anything very positive to say.

Also at a lack of positive things to say in regards to this new Sam Fender and Elton John track. Once again, Sam's music to me sounds like a hollowed out, jangly, spaced-out version of Brandon Flowers doing his best Bruce Springsteen impression. I'm just not really wowed by the songwriting, the vocals, really not much of anything. I think there's stronger Americana out there right now, if you want me to be honest.

The tracks I was more on the fence with.

You might enjoy them more than me, still thought they were worth shouting out, though. They are as follows.

We have a new one over here from T-Pain, "Club Husband". It's a little grating, but still an adorable and funny track. It's a danceable club track. About flirting it up at the club. You got a club husband. T-Pain's sense of humor and vocals are on point. I mean, is it the best sounding song ever? No, but it's fun nonetheless. If you're not overthinking of it, If you're not overthink it, you're going to have a good time.

All right, we have a new single from sunn O))), out of nowhere, miraculously. Massive 15-minute cut, a few other tracks attached to it, too. "Eternity's Pillars". It's okay. Standard sunn O))) fare, honestly. The guitar sound real raw, not too much like crazy details on the production or anything like that. Just almost like very dry, very straightforward, almost like a Grimmrobe Demos, early work level of just dry, straightforward, heavy, bassy drone metal intensity. Very meat and potato stuff for sunn O))), I would say. But with some new material dropping out of nowhere, maybe they're booting up for something bigger. We'll just have to see because it has been a minute since we've heard some new sun stuff. I'm not really sure if this stuff is coming out of the vault or anything like that. I apologize, but just letting you guys know. There's some new sunn O))) out there, putting on your radar, maybe they got some plans. All right.

We have a freaking redveil over here with this new "Mini Me" track, which is not too bad. He's like trying to do his thing over more lush instrumental palettes. I mean, I really loved how catchy and summery his last track with Smino was. I'm not as in love with this song by comparison, but I am still liking that it seems like he's reaching out of his comfort zone more and really trying to push his creative boundaries. So as long as he continues doing that, things are going to remain interesting regardless. So shout out to redveil for this new "Mini Me" track.

All right, we have Joji. Joji is back. Out of nowhere. New single, presumably something bigger on the horizon. "Pixelated Kisses" is the title. It's distorted, it's heavy, it's bassy, it's gruff, it's nasty. I wouldn't say he's obviously making rage music here, but with how trendy those very intense, distorted sounds are and a lot of rap and RnB-adjacent production these days, it seems like his ear is to the ground a little bit. It seems like he's picking up on the harshness of some of the underground production these days, and he's using it to his own benefit with some pretty sticky, moody vocal leads. But with that being said, it's just too short. I wish it went further. I wish there was more to it. I wish there was more meat on the bone. It feels like a movie trailer. It's a track that definitely piqued my interest, but do I see myself going back to it outside of the context of maybe a larger project where you have other songs, like reinforcing each other on the tracklist? Not really, but it sounds good for what it is. I'm excited to see that he is doing some more stuff again.

All right, we have Jean Dawson, "White Lighter", hitting us with another synth funk-flavored track. I feel like the vocals could have been stronger on this one, but still, I do continue to be amazed and impressed with the accuracy that Jean is able to recreate this genre with because his grooves and synth licks are just fantastic for somebody who isn't predominantly known as a synth funk artist.

All right, we have a new single from Tame Impala, "My Old Ways". The whole album, Deadbeat, is out now, but I guess this "My Old Ways" track is final track or teaser, or rather single to be released in tandem with the album dropping. And it's decent. It's okay. The piano lines are cool. Kevin's vocals are very straightforward, and the beats are more captivating than some of the other teasers that I've heard. But I'm really not entirely sold. I got to tell you, I'm not going to give too much away because, obviously, I do have to review the album very soon. But my hopes, unfortunately, are not very high. I'm just not very thrilled by what I'm hearing on the record.

Moving on from there. Charlie Puth is hitting us with a new one. "Changes". This is maybe the most amenable I feel like I've been toward a new Charlie Puth single in a long time. But with that being said, I do feel like the best parts of it sound like some of my most favorite moments from the last 1975 album. It's got a bit of a yuppie '80s pop thing going on with some of the vocals and some of the writing, and it's quite nice. But is it blowing me away? No. I think it's just okay. Could use something else.

Armand Hammer teaming up with none other than The Alchemist again for another project. First single from it. "Super Nintendo" is the title. The production, I feel it could have been punchier, honestly, but I do like the lyrical trades that Lucid and Billy are engaged in on the track. That, at the very least, makes the song pretty attention-grabbing. But outside of that, I don't know, I'm just not blown away. I think they've come out with better stuff, but even an okay song from Armand Hammer is better than what you're getting out there on the general rap landscape these days anyway. So what does it matter, I guess.

All right, moving on from there. Alex Cameron, "Short King". I have been waiting, dying for a new Alex Cameron album cycle. "Short King" is our first taste of it. I don't know, my feelings on it are mixed. I think the instrumentation comes across a little hollow. There are some illusions toward some country sounds and flavors, but I feel like it doesn't go far enough in that direction to really sell it. The lyrics are funny. The topic, he's literally writing a song about height, insecurities, and so on and so forth, with him being as tall as he is. It's got a lot of creative, positive things going for it, but I feel like it doesn't necessarily stick the landing per se. It's falling a little bit short. However, Alex Cameron is known to be a very creative, theatrical fellow. Maybe there will be some other cuts that will wow me more than this one. Maybe this track, the storyline, will grow on me a little bit as I hear more, we'll just have to wait and see. But as of right now, I'm on the fence with it.

We have the best tracks of the week.

Quite a few of those. Let's get into them. Boom.

Starting with this new one from Yaeji, as well as Balming Tiger. It is a quirky, raw bedroom-produced little dance cut with a lot of great grooves, quirky instrumentation, and fun vocals, liking this one a lot. This has got a lot of raw, lightning in a bottle type energy, and it's quite cute if you're looking for a dance cut.

JPEGMAFIA coming through with, I guess, some extras stuff with the song "Manic". I mean, the flow and the rapping is killer. Love the production a lot. Say what you will about JPEGMAFIA, his behavior, his catalog, his consistency, his attitude, whatever you want to say. I feel like, artistically, the guy continues to impress. Even his extras are fantastic. The song is a fucking banger. I don't know what to tell you. If you slap this on a Deluxe immediately after the album came I'd be like, Well, that's just as good as nearly everything else on the album. So, yeah, happy to be hearing this manic track for sure.

We have Moor Mother. This is a bit of a mouthful over here, but Moor Mother teaming up with Wooden Elephant, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Dirk Kaftan, Ian Anderson. "Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes: The Myth Hold Weight". And it's just this amazing spoken word/classical/avant-garde crossover with some powerful words from Moor Mother. I feel like lately, she's just been continuing to explore different ways to musically and aesthetically empower her words, empower her poetry. And doing something with some orchestral backing, I think, is just a killer idea and is doing so much for this piece.

All right, moving on from there. We have freaking Magdalena Bay, who are treating us again. Treating us again! They just dropped two tracks, two non-album tracks out of the blue, out of nowhere. Just dropped them. Just dropped two new songs. Now they're dropping two more with a goddamn cool ass piece of single art that looks like a Goosebumps album cover. What the fuck? Anyway, "Human Happens" is great. "Paint Me A Picture", I love even more. "Paint Me A Picture" is just pure synth pop bliss. It is wonderful. I think one of their best singles to date, frankly. Magdalena Bay, just continuing to absolutely kill it with the futuristic sugary, groovy, prog pop bliss that they are really becoming known for across the internet. Again, these two tracks are great. Give them a listen.

We have Big L, who is coming out with a posthumous record through Mass Appeal. Mass Appeal really digging in on dropping either these posthumous projects, like the recent one from Mobb Deep, which was very impressive, or projects from legends who are deep into their third or fourth acts at this point, be it Ghostface Killah, be it Raekwon the Chef. They're really putting in work, really putting out a lot of stuff as of late. And this new one with Big L, which also features Nas, no surprise there, is a good one. And Big L's flow on is fantastic. "u ain't gotta chance" is the name of the track. And yeah, it's a good throwback, New York hardcore hip hop tune all around. It's not bad at all, considering how long this must have been sitting in the vault. So looking forward to seeing how this one pans out, especially considering how well that Mobb Deep record came together, in my opinion, even if there were some rough patches in its deep cuts.

We have the new Kim Petras over here. New Kim Petras. "I Like Your Look" is the name of the track. It's a grimy electro bop with what seems like some production from Frost Children in the mix, which is pretty cool. Kim Petras has been getting a little bolder and more creative with some of the new materials, some of the new singles, which really has me looking forward to this new album for sure. So if more tracks are coming out that are this good, that are this fun, it's going to be a good one.

All right, we have this track over here from Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers. Don't be fooled by this album cover that looks like, I don't know, some British rom-com movie from the 2000s. They're actually a bona-fied rock group with some cool new singles out, one of them being "Bait", which if you like your Wet Leg, if you like your straightforward dry, wordy post-punk, you're going to like this track quite a bit. This is a fun track for sure. Good riffs, great group vocals, Good grooves. Believe me, you're going to like it. You're going to dig it. It's a fun one.

All right, we have also over here Grimes, who's dropping a new single out of nowhere, "Artificial Angels". I have some thoughts on this one. I mean, the cover art here is an abomination. I don't want to dig any further into it than that. It just is. I feel like that's just self-explanatory. I have also heard some rumors around the water-cooler that there's AI involved, but I don't think it's that much. Look, here's the thing. For Grimes, it's like the biggest banger I think she's put out in a long time, in my opinion. The hook absolutely goes. The beat is banging, and it's really got a nice, blaring, thick, fat sound to it. If she puts out more songs like this soon, I will be pleased to praise those as well. But I don't know, the honeymoon here might be short-lived. We'll just have to see.

All right, we have also Danny Brown over here, hitting us with a new one with underscores in the mix, which is this crazy rap, electronic music fusion. The more I'm hearing about this upcoming Danny Brown record and seeing the guests, hearing the singles, I'm like, Man, this reminds me he's doing a more futuristic, crazy experimental version of his Old era, where he's trying to just rap over more dance-centric beats and just more weird synthetic production. And honestly, even though it's not one of my favorite Danny Brown records, I'm here for it. Looking forward to see how more of it pans out, especially with songs as fun as this, serving as teasers with underscores. This track is way catchier and way more straightforward than the last song, which had multiple phases to it. It was just completely whacked the fuck out. So definitely looking forward to hearing more Danny on this upcoming record.

And shout out, finally, to Anna von Hausswolff with "Struggle with the Beast", who miraculously has come through with this 8-minute monster that is like this psych, horn, linear experimental rock freak out that I just really did not see coming, given how moody and dark some of my favorite works from Anna in the past have been, honestly. This is a bit of a switch-up, but frankly, a very well put together and exciting one. Don't be scared away by the length of this new track, the length of this new single. It's a worthy listen. It's a thrilling listen, and I feel like you guys are going to dig this one as well.

That is going to be it for all of my recommendations in this video. That is the Weekly Track Roundup in the can for you. You're the best. Love you.

Anthony Fantano, Weekly Tracks, music. Forever.