Best New Tracks - Pitchfork

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Slava: "Girl Like Me" Posted: 13 Jun 2013 01:16 PM PDT It's rare that a music video alters the perception of a song, but most people viewing the Eugene Kotlyarenko-helmed clip for Slava's "Girl Like Me" will find it hard to dislodge the imagery from their minds. The standout cut from Raw Solutions, the full-length debut from Brooklyn-based producer and Moscow transplant Slava Balasanov, has plenty of dark shades-- a tinge of desperation to the pitch-shifted vocal, hints of sadness from the two-note grind looping through its center, and an accumulated sense of tension as each element is expertly tacked on. Those parts are masterfully strung together, but the overall feel becomes sufficiently heightened by that payoff from Kotlyarenko's video. What's impressive is how well the track and the visuals complement one another in such a distressing manner. It's like watching two opposing forces gradually dragging each other further down into the darkness, forming an inextricable link without a trace of redemption at its close. Slava: "Girl Like Me" on SoundCloud.

These New Puritans: "Fragment Two" Posted: 13 Jun 2013 12:42 PM PDT The announcement of These New Puritans' previous album, Hidden, was a literal declaration of war, and they sure as hell weren't subtle about it: we're talking six-foot Taiko drums, blaring digital dancehall horns, the simulated crushing of a human skull, Jack Barnett wearing chainmail vests on stage. "Fragment Two" suggests they're opting out of the arms race with themselves on Field of Reeds. The blocky piano chords are instantly reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens in his Cub Scout cartographer phase and the drums are those of a simple trap kit, as Barnett mutters a tender, lilting melody over irregular rhythms. But as strings and horns waft over like smoke on a deserted battlefield, you're reminded of the militaristic severity which has defined These New Puritans since Beat Pyramid, serving as an eerie reminder of a danger that could strike at any moment; "Fragment Two" isn't the sound of peace so much as a tenuous armistice. These New Puritans: "Fragment Two" on SoundCloud.