EOIN BUTLER's guide to downloads, singles and free audiostreams

KEEPAWAY

Cake Greedhead***

Sounding like a cross between Animal Collective and The Monkees, and looking like, well, idiots, quite frankly, Keepaway are a Brooklyn trio signed to Das Racist's Greedhead label. Cake is three minutes of psychedelic candyfloss from their debut album, Black Flute.

PUSHA T

What Dreams Are Made Of GOOD Music ***

The third video from Pusha T's Fear of God II: Let Us Prayalbum appears to be sponsored by a leading brand of energy drink. Which is an odd choice for the company concerned, given the clip abounds with cocaine references so blatant my grandmother could probably pick up on them.

BON IVER

Towers 4AD ****

Justin Vernon is a one-man backwoods Bee Gees who lives in a land where drizzle falls constantly and lumber is an everyday concern. It wouldn’t kill him to rock out occasionally, would it?

FIRST AID KIT

Emmylou Rabid Records **

Sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg have already accumulated an enviable list of admirers, among them Patti Smith, Jack White and Conor Oberst. If this turgid Gram Parsons/ Emmylou Harris tribute is anything to go by, it’s difficult to fathom why.

tUnE-yArDs

Bizness (Live on Jimmy Kimmell)****

Merrill Garbus scored one of the tunes of last year with Bizness, but prior to her appearance on Jimmy Kimmell last week, I had assumed she was a black guy and not a white woman. An extraordinary performance either way. See youtube.com

NICOLA ROBERTS

Yo-Yo Polydor****

What odds would you have gotten on Nicola Roberts becoming the breakout star from Girls Aloud? The third single from her acclaimed Cinderella’s Eye album is about a guy whose thoughtless behaviour has left her feeling like the titular yo-yo.

He’s also wearing a sheepskin denim jacket, which makes him even more despicable in my book.