Skiddle Stereo Selections Friday 28th August

Image: Sun Club

Another working week ends, another quick refix of our stereo selections is due. Amid the mixes, albums, podcasts and interview research this week, here's the five best cuts to be culled from our listening habits.

Talib Kweli 'Get By'

With Talib Kweli in the UK last night we spoke with him this week, and it obviously got us dipping back into his back catalogue, solo cuts and the work as Black Star among it.

The NYC native has always been a firebrand of political polemic, but here's he pared with a beat from pre egomaniac rapper era Kanye West which makes magnificent use of a Nina Simone sample for a joyously empowering cut that is everything great about the genre when it emerged from the segregation of backpack and jiggy. A proper joyful record.

Jimmy Coultas

Sun Club 'Tropicoller Lease' 

After a decade of friendship, Baltimore indie pop pranksters Sun Club are on the verge of release their wackily titled debut Dongo Durango. Making the leap from shredding local bars and basements, they've recently supported the likes of FIDLAR, Alvvays and Fat White Family. 

All recorded in a live setting, the first song unveiled from the record is 'Tropicollar Lease', a mash up of mathy guitar rhythms, tribal chanting, quick fire keys, steady drum beats and a xylophone compiled into a fragmented structure that recalls the playfulness of early Little Comets. 

Ben Smith 

Chvrches 'Leave a Trace' (Four Tet Remix)

Glasgow synth pop warriors Chvrches called in the remix skills of Four Tet for their latest singe 'Leave a Trace', and we're so glad they did. Eschewing the original track's shimmering pop glean, Kieran Hebden takes things down a mesmerising, percussive rabbit hole, with ponderous, beautiful chords sitting on top of one of a crisp, snapping drum pattern.

The breakdown is particularly gorgeous, with two minutes plus of swirling synths and layered vocals giving way to a final furlong of restrained, grimey tech house. Expect to hear this an awful lot throughout the rest of the year.

Mike Warburton

Bicep 'Just'

We've been a massive fan of this record all summer, but it's received some serious rotation this week as a consequence of it being nestled on our latest podcast.

The EP of the same title has arguably taking the top spot of our favourite Bicep release. Euphoric and melancholic, this track is the sort of nineties infused banger we'd expect from the Belfast lads.  

Becca Frankland

George Fitzgerald feat Boxed In 'Full Circle' (Bonobo remix)

It's been a while since we last heard from Bonobo, maybe too long, but he's repaid our everlasting faith by slumping George Fitzgerald's Full Circle into his signature glacial motif and taking it to the corner of the world only Bonobo knows. 

Breaking up the tempo, Simon Green's opted for some intricate key play and tranquil strings to drive the song forward. Reworking the depth of the track with a wooden drum beat, skittering hi hats and occasional claps, it's fair to say Bonobo's done an already beautiful track justice.  

BS 

Read: Skiddle Stereo Selections Friday 21st August