Sound Board: The Week’s Best Tracks

Our picks for the best tracks out there for the week of December 7–11, 2015. Headphone-tested, FLOOD-approved.
Staff Picks
Sound Board: The Week’s Best Tracks

Our picks for the best tracks out there for the week of December 7–11, 2015. Headphone-tested, FLOOD-approved.

Words: FLOOD Staff

December 11, 2015

2015. Sound Board dec

Our cup runneth over with excellent tracks—a couple of exciting lead singles (Field Music, Charlie Hilton) and a whole lot of great cover songs (Britt Daniel, Prince, Charles Bradley)—to help get us through this particular work week.

Check them all out below.


Field Music, “The Noisy Days Are Over”

More than ten years out from their self-titled debut, Field Music are far from quitting, but they are aware of their increasingly outsider status—and have shared as much with “The Noisy Days Are Over.” Today, the group shared a new video for the bubbly first single from their upcoming LP Commontime, which shows us a day in the life of the the Brothers Brewis—part local legends, part local weirdos.

Prince, “Creep” (Radiohead cover)

Prince, a man who not only believes he can remove his existence from the Internet but also apparently has the power to do so, strode onto the stage at Coachella in 2008 for his headlining set and proceeded to play a half-dozen covers. Then he played a dozen or so of his own songs, then more covers. One of those many covers was of Radiohead‘s “Creep,” the original version of which the band probably wishes Prince would wipe from the Internet, too. Somehow, nearly eight years later, video of that performance has surfaced, and you should watch it now while you have the chance. The band lays out that hollow chord progression for an eight-minute stretch, allowing The Purple One to turn Thom Yorke’s lyric about alienation into a cooing little ditty, then he fills all of that empty space with a trio of heavy-shred guitar solos. It’s a performance that’s long been legendary among Prince acolytes, and it’s not hard to hear why.

Charles Bradley, “Changes” (Black Sabbath cover)

Finally doing what he was born to do full-time, Charles Bradley has already released two full-lengths, and today he announced that his third album is on the way. Changes, the follow-up to 2013’sVictim of Love, will be out on April Fools’ Day, 2016—no foolin’. Along with the announcement, Bradley has shared the title track—a cover of the classic Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 ballad (which was released in non-digital fashion for Record Store Day a few years ago)—along with a minimalist, tight-lipped video of the Florida native just staring into your soul, reacting to his music, as he is wont to do.

Britt Daniel, “Run Through the Jungle” (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)

Fargo‘s second season is full of hidden gems, and one of the best is its soundtrack which is an alt-rock homage to the music from Coen brother films past. In this week’s episode, viewers of the FX show heard Spoon frontman Britt Daniel‘s take on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Run Through the Jungle” (which was featured in The Big Lebowski). Daniel strips CCR’s delta blues–style classic down to a hushed, lo-fi track that’s worth playing over and over again.

Charlie Hilton, “100 Million”

Charlie Hilton (Blouse) is getting ready to release her first solo album at the top of 2016, but earlier this week, she released the atmospheric lead single “100 Million.” Accompanied by Mac DeMarco on the track, Hilton’s unique voice weaves throughout simple and bright guitar picking, charming anyone who listens.