Monday's holiday made this a blessedly short work week, and here we are again, on the brink of enjoying another lovely weekend. By this point, following the Weekend Tune-Up on Spotify should be second nature to you. For this 28th edition (wow, have there really been so many?), Leilani has thrown some fresh jamz into the mix, too, and we're eager to share them with you, so let's dive right in.Kicking off the Tune-Up with a bang is a project we're both really excited about. Phantogram's Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter have once again joined forces with Big Boi from the legendary Outkast; the duo originally appeared on few tracks off Big Boi's 2012 solo effort, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, and apparently, it went so well they decided to unite for a true collaborative effort they've dubbed Big Grams. Teasers about this project have been bubbling up for the last year or so, and the first track off their self-titled EP (due out on September 25 via Epic) dropped this week. DC duo Gems just released "Tangled Memories" off Kill the One You Love, a full-length that drops October 30 via Carpark Records. It's an airy tune that showcases Lindsay Pitts' lush vocals over an R&B-flavored beat. The chorus is bound to stay in your head for days. Montreal's Young Galaxy have returned with the second single off their latest; "Factory Flaws" showcases the style that Young Galaxy has been refining for years — disco-influenced synth pop. This new song is par for the course. We've also included the freshest single off The Dead Weather's forthcoming third LP, and it's a calculated psych-blues rock burner that finds Alison Mosshart doing her sultry yet barbed frontwoman thang.
Leilani brings this week's sleeper track, "Can't Have," by up-and-coming N.C.-based songsmith Steven A. Clark. He has a soulful resonant vocal quality and a grooving avant rock sound not unlike TV on the Radio; Clark wrote all of the music on his upcoming Secretly Canadian debut, The Lonely Roller (out September 18) and self-produced most of it with some string arrangement help from composer Sam Hyken...
1. Big Grams, "Fell In the Sun"
2. Small Black, "Back at Bell's"
3. Half Moon Run, "Turn Your Love"
4. Gems, "Tangled Memories"
5. Brolin, "Nightdriving"
6. Jr. Jr., "As Times Goes"
7. Superhumanoids, "Anxious in Venice"
8. Battles, "FF Bada"
9. Steven A. Clark, "Can't Have"
10. Empress of, "How You Do It"
11. Disclosure feat. Lion Babe, "Hourglass"
12. Beirut, "Perth"
13. CHVRCHES, "Clearest Blue"
14. Young Galaxy, "Factory Flaws"
15. The Dead Weather, "Cop and Go"