Spoon: "Do You"

“Do you wanna get understood?” Britt Daniel sings on the chorus of “Do You”, savoring those deep vowel sounds on the title phrase. “Do you run when it’s just getting good?” Especially coming four years after Transference, a ho-hum record that broke their streak of excellent albums during the 2000s, it’s reassuring to hear Spoon in classic Spoon mode. “Do You” is not just a strong Spoon song, but one that can stand alongside “I Turn My Camera On” or “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” or “June’s Foreign Spell” or whichever is your favorite. Borrowing from the band’s past...

Freddie Gibbs / Young Thug / A$AP Ferg: ...

Freddie Gibbs is not the hottest name in the credits of “Old English”, but he is rightfully placed in the middle: the success of the track hinges on him. After all, a Young Thug and A$AP Ferg collaboration makes all the sense in the world, as they’ve spent the past year and change as two of hip-hop’s most unpredictable linguists, rappers for whom style often is substance. It’s the sort of colorful flamboyance against which Gibbs has defined himself, serving as stubborn opposition to anything that doesn’t scan as being based off real...