The day Celestial Shore will decide to write a pop song that's just... THAT, our world will become a slightly better place. These LA/Brooklyn based guys - who played our 29th NYC issue party at Mercury a few weeks ago with Ava Luna - have an outrageous melodic talent, but choose to deform their celestial melodies with avant/progressive experimentation (something they can actually pull off thanks to their noteworthy instrumental skill). Which is still a lot of fun, but fill us with laughter and regret at once. - Read Dean Van Nguyen's interview with the band here.

Like baseball and hot dogs or Hulk Hogan and steroids, some things are meant for each other. Brooklyn party rappers Das Racist and alt-hopper Homeboy Sandman prove their pairing is as natural as Texas and tacos on the jovial “I’m Up on That”, a three minute romp of free associative word play over jazzy production. “So Wesley Willis, but we’ll kill it on the charts,” quips Sandman, a comparison more apt than it sounds. Like prime Ghostface “I’m Up on That” manages to channel abstract imagery into a meaningful recording that even a casual listener can appreciate. Check out the song here. - Nick Haycock

Das Racist - Homeboy Sandman