Divine Fits

I wasn't sure how I felt about the first offering from the Divine Fits -- the trio-combo of Britt Daniel (Spoon), Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade) and Sam Brown (New Bomb Turks) -- but now I think their forthcoming full-length might be rather nice.

"Would That Not Be Nice" definitely scratches the Spoon itch, after the new-wavey minor discotheque of initial offering "My Love Is Real." That latter tune will be up for purchase as a single on July 31 with exclusive non-album B-side "I Was Born In A Laundromat." My Love Is... Clean?

The new, as-yet-untitled album from Divine Fits was produced by Nick Launay (Public Image Ltd., Killing Joke, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and will be dropped "later this year" via Merge.

Skrillex

Two prominent dance-electronica musicians -- Skrillex and M83 -- have been tapped to contribute new music to two very different films.

The former, Grammy Award-winning artist will be dropping the bass all over "Spring Breakers," the James Franco-starring film from the director of "Kids," Harmony Korine. In an interview with Pitchfork, "Spring Breakers" music supervisor Randall Poster revealed that he and Korine rang up Skrillex after checking out some good, old-fashioned YouTube clips.

"I had heard of Skrillex, but I wasn't watching it that closely. And Harmony, who I've worked with forever, sent me a link to some Skrillex YouTubes, and I saw one had 54 million hits -- I thought he had somehow figured out a way to manipulate the numbers. And then it dawns on you: There are kids that are never going to buy a record," Poster said in the biggest "duh" ever. "They're just going to play songs on YouTube."

Poster recently helmed the music for Wes Anderson's "Moorise Kingdom" as well.

"Spring Breakers," due in 2013, co-stars Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Harmony's wife Rachel Korine as the inexplicably hot quartet in the film, as "four college girls who land in jail after robbing a restaurant in order to fund their spring break vacation find themselves bailed out by a drug and arms dealer who wants them to do some dirty work." The flick is in post-production, and we assume Skrillex won't just be hitting "play" on some of his B-sides.

Meanwhile, the man behind my No. 1 favorite song from 2011, M83, will be scoring the entirety of "Oblivion," the next sci-fi adventure from Joseph Kosinski. The "Tron: Legacy" director told the Playlist he'd been thinking of working with the Anthony Gonzalez-fronted act since even before that reboot.

"I was listening to his music back in 2005 when I first wrote ['Oblivion'], so he was part of this from the very beginning in my mind, kind of creatively. And about two years ago, when I started putting together a shortlist of people I'd love to talk to for this project, I sat down with him and we talked about it," he said. "The story has a small cast of characters, it was designed as kind of a character-driven story, but at the same time it takes place in a vast world. So I need a score that is both emotional, but at the same time can feel big and have a lot of space in it. And his music has that."

"Oblivion's" cast of characters includes Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Melissa Leo. Its synopsis:

Jack Harper (Cruise) is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack’s mission is nearly complete. Living and patrolling the breathtaking skies from thousands of feet above, his soaring existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.

It's due into theaters on April 26, 2013.

Kanye West

Credit: AP Photo

DJ Khaled has teamed with his famous friends Kanye West and Rick Ross for the brand new "I Wish You Would." 

The repetitive, bass-heavy track has plenty of both rappers, and too many hooks to even count.  Khaled collaborated on the track with white hot producer Hit Boy, who helmed West and Jay-Z's "N*ggas in Paris," but it lacks that song's irresistible quirkiness and joie de vivre.

Listen here:



Kanye kicks things off by doing a dirty, autotuned nursery rhyme, before declaring that "every year gonna our year/every year gonna be my year." Lots of threats follow -- hence the title. It's noticeably darker in tone than Khaled and West's other recent team-up, "Way Too Cold"  (formerly known as "Theraflu"), which had a similar reliance on synths. At one point in the new song, West even says, "We believe in God, but do God believe in us?" This is Kanye in serious mode. 

Ross comes off even harder than usual (or maybe just trying to sound even harder than usual), but his verse is mostly forgettable.

Khaled also recently created "Take it To the Head" with Drake, Nicki Minaj and Chris Brown. Ross recently collaborated with Nas on "Accident Murderers" as well.

The song is scheduled to appear on Khaled's "Kiss the Ring," which drops August 21.

What do you think of the new track?

Future of the Left

Earlier this month, Future of the Left released their new album “The Plot Against Common Sense.” You could say, in a way, the band encourages some nonsense, anyway. FotL’s live shows are rowdy, most banter-heavy social events (and yes, they’re more like an event than a traditional concert), a hard rock free-fall through song titles like “Robocop 4 – F*ck Off Robocop” and “adeadenemyalwayssmellsgood.” The Welsh group boasts new members Jimmy Watkins and Julia Ruzicka to round out this eclectic new mix of tunes on ”Common Sense,” which has inspired an increase in dancing at these shows.

Lady Gaga

Credit: AP Photo

Lady Gaga performed a brand new song "Princess Die" for her Melbourne audience this week, and she seemed pretty aware that the tune would head straight to YouTube today.

In her intro, she warned that the song may or may not be on her next new album -- the title which will be announced in September -- and that it's sad, solo tone shouldn't be a reflection on its overall sound. "Princess Die," however, reflects Mother Monster's most "deep and personal thoughts I've ever had."

She emphasized that it was spelled "D-I-E," not "Di," the nickname for England's late Princess Diana, who perished in a car crash in 1997. However, some lines from the song mirror Diana details, particularly with the last verse about paparazzi, the limo and her rich boyfriend. However, the piano-led track points more toward a suicide, or someone who is considering suicide, which may have some folks up in arms.

If Gaga decides to keep this thing slow, it will probably be her darkest song yet. A very odd choice for a roll-out of new material, but OK: she needs that dimension anyway, to get her more intimate with her fans. But let's hope she also has a dance single up her sleeve by time she finally decides to announce some U.S. tour dates.

The founding Avett Brothers

Credit: Universal Republic

The Avett Brothers are returning with their first album since 2009's "I and Love and You," with "The Carpenter" out on Sept. 11 this year.

The set has been preceded by the first single "Live and Die," which is available for streaming via NPR as of today. The tune goes up for purchase on July 9; it's a style familiar to fans of the band, which has steadily stepped away from rockabilly elements and bluegrass toward more middle-of-the-road, pleasant, folk-inspired pop tunes with their penchant harmonies. This one starts out with a trotting banjo and ends with a chorus that can only be dislodged from your mind with a crowbar.

Listen to "Live and Die" here.

Far East Movement

A group with a No. 1 hit song is a tough act to follow, particularly if you’re in that group. Far East Movement earned the top spot with their song “Like a G6” in 2010, and made some headway on radio, too, with “Rocketeer.” Now the hip-hop-loving dance quartet is back with their album “Dirty Bass,” with the hope to achieve some of the same widespread success. Cameos from artists like Tyga, Cassie and freakishly popular Justin Bieber should, y’know, help. 

Usher and Rick Ross in "Touch 'N You"

Rick Ross has love on the mind -- and some mysterious gentlemen -- for the music video to "Touch 'N You," his collaboration with Usher.

The singer and rapper both star in the clip, which also features Rozay's pretty girlfriend who is partial to the high-heels-and-swimsuit look, because such a trend is incredibly practical and easy to pull off sport. It's a very romantic scene, even circa 2:14, when his lady love perceives an inevitable loss at a chess game. (Three of her pieces have been taken by Rozay, and it appears he pulled his queen out early and claimed a pawn and rook in quick succession, though why would he pull the queen back? And no that's not a euphamism, but I digress.)

Near the end, there's a mysterious meeting of men and the girlfriend walking in and looking pissed. I don't understand this, and perhaps it will be more fully explained in the "Touch 'N You" sequel, "Touch 'N Two." Wake me when it's here.

Ross and Usher's "Touch 'N You" -- which I actually really like -- is off of the rapper's forthcoming, long-awaited "God Forgives I Don't," due on July 31.

Fiona Apple's "The Idler Wheel..."

It’s taken Fiona Apple six years to get down the masterful anxiety of “The Idler Wheel…” The full title itself – “The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do” -- must’ve taken at least a couple of weeks and a few sleepless nights. The songwriter has proven over and over again to be both a slave and master to her own carefully selected words, with this current slate aching with the weight of sage, savage and self-effacing confessionals.