Hey everyone, Anthony Fantano here, internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for our Weekly Track Roundup. My thoughts, my feelings, my opinions, my perspectives on a bunch of tracks that have dropped over the past week or so. That is what we are going to do in this video. We have quite a few to get through, so let's not waste any time, shall we?

All right, worst tracks of the week.

We have a handful of those, some surprising, some not.

Boom. Starting with this new single from Yeat and Kylie Jenner, "King Kylie". As of right now, my money is on Kylie Jenner making a career pivot into acting over rapping because because this is the second feature I have heard so far from her this year that sucks. And this song from Yeat, even if Kylie was not on it, is pretty mediocre, frankly. It's making me kind of less excited for his upcoming album, even though his recent EP was quite good. The Dylan Brady production on this thing isn't saving it either, unfortunately.

We also have one from Muse, but of course, like, it's not really surprising that this new track from them is not all that great. Really annoying, over-the-top, almost operatic pop rock with, of course, like some electro beats because you got to have those. Thank you, Muse. New album on the way from them, of course.

And Jelly Roll, Carín León, "Lighter", because you know what? You know, America needs a musician, a song to represent it when we're thinking about the World Cup coming up and, who best to represent the US of A than Jelly Roll and this mediocre-ass Imagine Dragons sounding song with just some of the most awful vocals you've heard this year. Like this track is truly unbearable frame 1, like the first 0.5 seconds it is, I need it to turn off. Yeah, I'm offended frankly.

All right, moving on from there. Dorian Electra, "Mr. Tambourine Man". I do usually enjoy Dorian's work, or at least see a lot of merit in it. I really went into this cover with high hopes, presumptions that, you know, maybe they would do something really over the top or avant-garde or really left field with it. But honestly, I feel like dressing the song in this way with, you know, these pitched vocals and super synthetic production, it's really not, I think, the presentation that, at least I, want to hear from it. Maybe there are some who prefer to hear the track done in this way. I don't. Um, it's not anything else for me other than I just feel like it's just not the best way to dress the song, put it that way.

All right, meh.

The songs I was on the fence about, they're not terrible in my eyes. You might like them more than me. Still thought they were worth shouting out.

One, Xiu Xiu has added additional covers to their recent Xiu Mutha Fuckin' Xiu Vol. 1 album, one of them being, Dolly Parton's "Jolene". Pretty standard for them vocally and instrumentally, running very close, I think, in style to a lot of the covers they did of like Nina Simone's work on that covers album. There's not really anything, I think, to be gained out of this new version or hearing Xiu Xiu do this song in this way, both as a Dolly fan, a fan of the song, and a Xiu Xiu fan. It's okay. It's fine. It's passable. I can see why it was tacked on after the initial release because the original covers on the first version of the album are much better overall.

Moving on from there, Butthole Surfers will be treating us to a bit of an archival release very soon. This track, the first teaser from it, "Jet Fighter", is heavy on the auto-tune or like, you know, the vocal effects. And it's a very strange talk rock like Butthole Surfers are sort of known for, or were known for, during this period of time. It's, you know, not too bad, but rough around the edges and a little malformed and ill-executed for sure.

We also have 2Slimey hitting us with a noisy number over here. Some really driving kicks at some points that almost remind me of like hardstyle music, but then it kind of, you know, frays into this really messy verse that I'm not too nuts about. But "times changin", still, you know, interesting output from Slimey.

We also have one from slayr, this track that I guess recently did well on PlaqueBoyMax's Song Wars Twitch segment. I feel like pretty much every song from the recent, like, Half Blood deluxe is much better than this, but there's still a lot of merit to this track for sure, "Turn It Up". It's not too bad of a rage cut.

Alright, we have Ringo hitting us with a new single over here. Ringo sounding pretty country on these new tracks. "It's Been Too Long," this one as well. It's not too bad, I guess, if you're, you know, into Beatles in late stages of life doing country tunes.

We've also got, miraculously, this track from RAYE that has Hans Zimmer featured on it that I had really high hopes for, but the vocal editing is really intensive and the beat is very rigid. To me, it comes across almost as like overproduced. It doesn't really quite have the soul and the whimsy and the organic flow of much of what I've enjoyed from RAYE so far, including the last teaser. This one is so heavily edited. I feel like, you know, again, I'll say like the soul and the subtlety of what makes RAYE's music typically so great is kind of like lost in the process, even if, you know, the Hans Zimmer orchestrations on the very back end of the track are quite heavy and impressive.

We also have Lykke Li, who miraculously is dropping a new album very soon. [The song is called] "Knife in the Heart". And it's almost got like an Obama, indie-era, hope-core kind of vibe to it. It's very bright, it's very showy. It's an over-the-top ballad, not one that I find particularly memorable, but you know, the layers are certainly there.

We've got Lizzo, who is hitting us with a track that has a real '80s Tina Turner feel. In fact, I would say there's literally nothing else going on other than that influence, but the production is true to form, and I think Lizzo's vocals play really well into this style, so it's not a total loss. "Don't Make Me Love U" is the name of the track.

We've also got Latto, who's hitting us with [this] Big Mama record very soon. Opening track, the intro, "Business & Personal", is a pretty lengthy lyrical cut whose multiple phases do feel a little disjointed, but she is 'rapping' rapping for sure, and has me excited for her, you know, showing some ambition on this kind of a project that she's been building up to for a minute.

We've also got FLO, who's hitting us with this track that kind of sounds like late 2000s Rihanna. Don't know why all of a sudden they've decided to go in that direction, but you know, "Leak It" is not too stupendous of a song either. It just comes across as very derivative. I mean, it's an accurate portrayal of a certain sound from a certain era, but I don't really think it has too much else going for it.

And we also have Death Cab for Cutie who's hitting us with some guitars and vocal passages on "Riptides" that have a real power pop flavor to them, but I don't know if there's too much else going for this track other than that.

All right, we have best tracks of the week.

They are as follows. We got a bunch. We got a bunch. Here we go.

We've got Wiki, who continues to prove why he is one of the best underground rappers in New York, teaming up with Starker for this "Bori's in Ireland" track where he is rapping quite well still to this day.

We also have U.S. Girls, who's come together with this sort of a promo track, "You've Got Everything - But a Smile," and it's a real nice crooner-type cut with some synthetic and, you know, sort of like dreamy indie pop instrumentation. Loving the vocals, loving the vibe, loving the whimsy.

Also enjoying this new one from Lil Texas and Fraw, really great hard-style bop with a lot of high energy. Pretty typical to, you know, your usual great Lil Texas track, but still nonetheless a great one.

We also have Squarepusher, who is hitting us with Kammerkonzert very soon. This second teaser from it, "K7 Museum", is a really amazingly composed little jazz rock cut that is quite lengthy, has a lot of great rises and crescendos, and feels quite Zappa-influenced, I would say, in all of the best ways.

We also have this track from kmoe, over here, "ALL TALK (CHEWED OUT)". Was not familiar with this artist at all prior to this track. I will just straight up say" highly recommend it. Try it out, give it a shot. It's worth your time. Surprised me. I will definitely be looking into this kmoe further from here, that's for sure.

Also, The Black Keys, I feel like as far as teasers, are two for two on this upcoming album, "Where There's Smoke, There's Fire". A bit of a slower and kind of lighter, jazzier cut, not quite as straight up blues rock as I think, you know, their previous track on this album was, but still like quite raw. It doesn't sound like it's from a fucking Home Depot commercial. It doesn't sound like that. It's really nice, well-groomed and performed uncle rock. It's like a good uncle, local uncle band, but they've actually practiced, you know, they put a lot of heart and soul into what they do and that's how they're sounding on this one.

All right, we also have Kelsey Lu, who is back. First record in a minute, miraculously coming on the way. "Running to Pain" has a bit of a nice, like, kind of indie-tronic flair to it that I'm liking quite a bit. Great dreamy spacious verses, awesome beat on the chorus. I would say it almost has like a Lorde, Melodrama kind of feel to it, but if it were done in a bit more of a raw sort of fashion. I'm liking this a lot. I'm really looking forward to this record for sure.

We also have Horse Lords, who are still proggy, still minimal, still immersive, and still hypnotic to this day with their first teaser over here. And yeah, Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive! is the forthcoming album that I'm really looking forward to. Like their last album, this one should be hype as well.

HorsegiirL is giving us the key to keeping the doctor away on this new single, "an apple a day." Definitely one of the best dance tracks you're gonna hear this week. It is not only endlessly groovy and irresistible, but I mean, you know, quite funny and gives into all of the horse lore that we have enjoyed from horsegiirL so far in the horsegiirL catalog.

And Foo Fighters miraculously giving us some like '90s post-hardcore flavors in the guitar work and riffs on this new track. The ending does sound a little Christian rocky, but "Caught in the Echo" is still one of the best bops they've dropped in a minute, though I did enjoy their last record. That is, that is true. I did enjoy their last record, but this has more bite to it for sure.

All right, we also have Blu and Exile coming through with a new album very soon. We have another taste of it. "Crumbs" is the track, has ICECOLDBISHOP on it as well. It's a bop. It's lyrical, it's well produced. What else would you expect from Blu and Exile? Nothing else, honestly, nothing else.

Also, Cameron Pickton, My New Band Believe, "Love Story". We are hearing another single, or I guess like the first proper single for this forthcoming album, because the last track, "Numerology", I don't know if it's gonna officially be on the album. Don't quote me on that, don't get up my butt. This one is much more whimsical and subtle and low-key and beautiful. It's a ballad-type cut that has a lot of awesome arrangements and some lovely vocals as well. Big vibe switch, but still very enjoyable and still very exciting for this, you know, kind of new way forward for Cameron.

And A Place to Bury Strangers, who are giving us a taste of a forthcoming kind of like, you know, a rarities project. The track in question over here kind of struck me in a very surprising way with its sounds and its kind of influences, what sort of felt like its touch points. "Where Are We Now" is the name of the track. It sort of felt like if you had Annihilator-era Swans covering Magnetic Fields is how this track came across to me. It was beautiful, and I really, really taken aback by it, honestly, really taken aback by it. Was a lovely cut, not quite as noise rock and shoegaze-y as the band typically is, but I feel like the track is kind of all the better for it.

And that is going to be it, everything I want to recommend to you guys for this Weekly Track Roundup. Love you. Remember to check out the songs down below, join up on the Patreon page, and I will see you in the next review, piece of content, everything, anything.

Weekly tracks forever.