Major Lazer: "Bubble Butt"

Don't y'all think this twerk shit done got out of hand?

The Thermals: "The Sunset"

That's right, another goddamn Portland band. Is PDX the new Brooklyn? Austin certainly isn't it, much as I'd love to say otherwise. Thermals bass player Kathy Foster takes time out from getting all Girlfight and shit by recreating the Rosie Perez hoochie dance from Do the Right Thing. Bed-Stuy do or die, y'all. It's a Brooklyn thing.

Caveman: "In the City"

Somehow "In the City" has wound up as my favorite track of 2013 thus far. It's nothing new, but the mix of plaintive vocals, gently propulsive backbeat and arresting synth line just represent the total package... a little bit psych, a little bit synthpop, stratospheric heights of broodingly optimistic vocal largesse thoroughly achieved. This is one of those songs that puts you in a sad, wistful mood wherever you are or whatever you're doing when it comes on. Kind of like Julia Stile's career at this point. BOOM! Seriously, though, this may end up my album of the year as well.

Lightning Dust: "Diamond"

"Hazy" is the musical preference of the 2010s thus far, and Black Mountain side project Lightning Dust isn't trying to buck that trend with "Diamond". With compositions this strong and awash in upbeat melancholy you can call it anything you want, just don't expect similar levels of inspiration out of this half-assed video (which reminds me, Esther Williams croaked today, RIP).

Surfing: "Hollow Sparrow"

Surf is the new shoegaze, and the unimaginatively monikered quartet Surfing have obviously been listening to their Washed Out and Best Coast in addition to their My Bloody Valentine. Can they squeeze one more hit out of the genre before the bubble bursts? Probably not, but "Hollow Sparrow" is a pretty glorious failure if nothing else.

Dirty Beaches: "Casino Lisboa"

Alex Zhang Huntai, a.k.a. Dirty Beaches, is through fucking around. The 75 minutes of his new double LP Drifters/Love Is the Devil, leave the listener scrambling for footholds in its dense mire of scattershot noise. In spite of Pitchfork's overly ebullient score the collection has a patchwork (read: directionless) quality to it but I guess if you're going to get your feet wet "Casino Lisboa" is the place to do it. Just keep in mind this is probably the poppiest song on the record.

Hospital Ships: "If It Speaks"

I've been listening to a lot of early jazz lately and one thing that's struck me is that, on the vocal tracks, it was pretty common back in the day to front load the song with improvised soloing, with the singer not coming in until the midway point. Quite a switch from modernist preferences, which dictate that the singer is what everyone paid to hear and the "noodly" stuff should be saved for later in the cut. "If It Speaks" kind of harks back to that ethos, a slow, metronomic build up to a real nugget of a single. It's genuinely risky in that a lot of listeners who might have been totally into it as a pared down indie pop could potentially be turned off by the loose structure at the beginning. Don't be one of those guys.

Raspberry Bulbs: "Groping the Angel's Face"

Ok, so now we're mixing black metal and bootstrapping garage punk? Is that what we're doing? I guess it'll be alright.

Destruction Unit: "Sonic Pearl"

Rarely does drone go the junkyard dog route, but when it does the band Destruction Unit may just be involved. These guys have an album coming out August 20 on garage-psych trainspotters Sacred Bones, but a month prior - July 16, to be exact - they will unleash a 7" of this puppy via Suicide Squeeze's Singles Series. And apparently I just missed these guys during Chaos in Tejas this past weekend. Of course.

[EDIT 6/16/13: added music video]:

Darktown Strutters: "Evil Eye"

"Darktown Strutter's Ball" is one of the most oft-covered standards of early jazz, as well as providing the title for the most racist film of all time. Not sure how this discogaze (please don't let that be an actual word) group settled upon it, but "Evil Eye" is some solid ass 2 AM summer chill music.

(via Gorilla Vs Bear):