They End Up In Blood

Erykah Badu “Twinkle” – Much of Erykah Badu’s latest album lingers in a shell-shocked haze; claustrophobic and uncomfortable, yet zoned-out and inert. Nearly every song is about struggle, but despite the righteous indignation at the core of the record, the music primarily expresses bitter resignation and cynicism. “Twinkle” is especially blunted and weary — there is virtually no hope to be found in its lyrics, just this vision of the future as an endless corridor of locked doors. The track is a disconnected buzz of cell phone beeps, swear word bleeps, warped drones, and a nervous, uneasy electronic beat that seems to nudge the song in a slow, hobbled diagonal motion. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

School of Seven Bells “Chain” – A little bit of a vocoder goes a long way, and over the past few years, we’ve certainly had enough robotic vocals to take all of western civilization into the 2030s. That said, School of Seven Bells do the same old trick without the heavy hand of, say, T-Pain, and end up with something that mostly polishes a lovely melody into a freakish sheen, and warps its most dynamic turns into something that sounds less like a bunch of clowns in a studio goofing around with ironic effects, and more like a clever aesthetic decision that emphasizes the generally aloof and slightly unreal tone of the piece. (Click here to get the entire Ghostly Swim compilation from Ghostly International.)