Pitchfork

Each day, we quietly add one or two of our favorite tracks from the day's previous Forkcast postings to our Forkcast Player (aka that thing up there in the sidebar), gradually picking out the week's best songs so you can check all the hottest new jams with a quick click of the mouse. Then, at the end of the week, we carefully resequence those tracks and add a select few others to make it all work as one gigantic, neverending mixtape. Here's a roundup of the tracks we added this week:

>> The Tough Alliance: "Silly Crimes" [download MP3] | [original post]
"On "Silly Crimes", from the forthcoming North American release of last year's New Waves EP (available for pre-order here), the duo might as well be addressing their Swedish critics-- who, according to the uber-reliable Wikipedia, take issue with the band's Human League-like reliance on backing tapes and surprising propensity for swinging baseball bats. Tuneful Magnetic Fields synths, bird-like noises, and a bass-heavy drum loop underpin a canned-strings electro-pop ditty as idyllic as it is regretful."

>> Nick Drake: "Blues Run the Game" [download MP3] | [original post]
"Although many feared a collection of fuzzy B-sides and unremarkable home recordings, Family Tree, the latest scrap-heap of posthumous Nick Drake recordings, is littered with gold. "Blues Run the Game" was written and recorded in 1965 by singer-guitarist Jackson C. Frank for Frank's eponymous, Paul Simon-produced debut."

>> Feist: "Sea Lion Woman (Chromeo remix)" [original post]
"In this remix, Montreal electro-funk duo Chromeo give the slinky dance-floor treatment to the Calgary-born songstress' rendition of "Sea Lion Woman", a song most famously recorded by Nina Simone as "See-Line Woman". Here, Chromeo-ers (er) Dave 1 and P-Thugg swap out Feist's spirited handclaps for a heavy kick drum, squiggly synths, and prominent bass. "She drink coffee, she drink tea," Feist sings mysteriously. Rather than the guitar crescendo that caps Feist's version, Chromeo cut out for an a cappella midsection, then go back to their groove, and Feist's slightly husky vocal about a woman as engagingly enigmatic as herself."

>> ALSO PLAYLISTED THIS WEEK:

>> Dan Deacon: "The Crystal Cat" [download MP3] | [original post] | [Best New Music]
"A supercharged new wave pop song with all the prerequisites of the greatest late-00's indie, its Animal Collective-esque pop experimentation, budget electronics, and vocodered vocals add up to a melody so goddamn manic and infectious, it's basically all we want to hear today." (Previously playlisted)

>> The Clientele: "Bookshop Casanova" [download MP3] | [original post] | [Best New Music]
" Turns out the Clientele are pretty good at peppy, upbeat guitar pop with orchestral flourishes. They've so far been one of those bands less interested in "branching out" than perfecting a unified aesthetic, but here they sound different, energized, more expansive, and less hermetic, and the change is welcome." (Previously playlisted)

>> Elliott Smith: "High Times" [download MP3] | [original post]
"This track is included on New Moon, Kill Rock Stars' upcoming album of Elliott Smith rarities. All the songs were recorded between 1994 and 1997, the same time period during which he recoded his self-titled album and Either/Or. Part of the proceeds will benefit Outside In, a Portland charity that helps low-income and homeless youth and adults."