Music Recommendations Based on the Artists You Already Like

Jazzy samples, dusty beats, and vivid imagery that plays out like a villain-filled, vintage comic book. Producer L'Orange and rapper Jeremiah Jae's The Night Took Us In Like Family should be a new favorite for anyone who misses those Madvillainy vibes. Fuck all the club beats and electro-rap corniness. Start with "Underworld" or "Taken By The Night."

Read more about L'Orange and Jeremiah Jae's The Night Took Us In Like Family here.

It feels a little wrong to compare Move Orchestra to The Postal Service based only on their debut song, because there are plenty of differences, but when those drums kick in on this gorgeous, epic song, it's hard not to recall the skittering, electronic energy of The Postal Service.

Rather than create similarly bite-sized and straightforward electro-pop, however, Move Orchestra created a full, challenging narrative with "Apex." It runs nearly eight minutes long and ends in a completely different place than where it starts. All in all, it's a very impressive introduction to the trio of brothers from Arkansas. Keep an ear out for them, even if you don't like The Postal Service.

New Kanye West is excellent, but every now and then we still miss those College Dropout days. Normally, when you talk about vintage Kanye, you're talking about the soulful production—there's a little of that here on the AraabMuzik beat, but it's mostly the delivery that reminds us of throwback 'Ye on New Jersey rapper Stam Goody's "It's On Tonight."

We've heard two songs from London's Rationale so far, and they've both been brilliant. The singer and producer's songwriting (not to mention subject matter) is timeless, and the restrained guitar and drums, mixed with those female vocals on "Re.Up," hark back to '80s pop without ever being held up by too much nostalgia.

Get familiar with Rationale here.

The Dino War EP is a triumphant celebration of big, bombastic dance music. Ganz has a wild bag of tricks, and he stays in his lane throughout the three-track release, throwing down an array of pounding bass and vivid melodies. The furious percussion and fizzy synths recall Rustie, especially the Scottish producer's harder tracks like "Triadzz" and "Slasherr."

Lorde still doesn't get enough credit for the lane she carved out in pop music. Avoiding the obvious, more bubbly pop route, Lorde honed in on a slower, brooding sound with all the catchiness of the best radio hits but a dark undercurrent that kept things interesting.

That's what 18-year-old artist Keyes accomplishes on her very first song. "Veins" remains featherlight despite the minor key and haunting production, another example of the new, weightier definition of pop music.

Also—because why not?—here are a bunch of rap albums remade with Lorde's hair.

Tame Impala often gets labeled as psychedelic, but that term usually implies meandering songs and loose, hard-to-grasp concepts. The Aussie band knows how to get trippy, but they also know how to put together a cohesive song that doesn't get lost in space. On New Zealand band Leisure's debut single, they bring that same balance.

Chicago rapper Chi City takes things back to the '90s with that Bone Thugs flow. He's able to blend those classic retro vibes with a decidedly modern edge: one of his most recent tracks, "thug life," pairs Tupac samples over brooding electronic production and a chorus that claims "it's 1999."

Like A$AP Rocky, Chi City has a bouncy flow that comes naturally—he's always on beat, and the rest of his music comes together around that seemingly effortless talent. Read more about Chi City here.

Mired in nostalgia and a devotion to optimism, Mic Kellogg is following in the footsteps of a fellow product of the Midwest, Chance The Rapper. "Moon N' Back" has the sort of hazy production that serves as a bouncy castle for a rapper like Kellogg: his vocal acrobatics are on full display, brimming with excitement at the prospect of making music.

There are boatloads of female R&B singers coming out with seductive singles these days, so it takes a special sort to stand out from the crowd. Anne-Marie has been in the Rudimental ranks for some time, and her debut showed that she was more than ready to step into the spotlight.

Like AlunaGeorge, Anne-Marie goes heavy on the electronic bells and whistles, with aural excitements scattered throughout "Karate."

At first, “ICANTGOLIKETHAT” may not seem like much, but give it some time to settle in and it has that "Look At Wrist"-like effect. Read more at last week's 5 On It. If you like it, don't miss out on "My Plug."

The slide title says it all. You know the deal—when Girl Talk released Night Ripper, it was a game-changer. He elevated the level of the frantic mash-up album, and almost a decade later, Bruneaux keeps it alive. Wanna hear Biggie over Elton John or Lorde mixed with Nine Inch Nails? Sure you do.

Read more about Bruneaux here.

Lyrically, "Sorry, God" is one of the most intense rap songs of the year so far. Baltimore's JuegoTheNinety doesn't need to go over-the-top with crazy, experimental beats. Instead, he lets his voice take center stage and raps with raw energy and brutal honesty that borders on insane desperation.

Read more and download his entire Abandoned Mansions project here.

Truth be told, the music of Arca and Hanz doesn't exactly sound the same, but they both seem to approach making music with a willful disregard for any rules, norms, or expectations. Building soundscapes from fractured, almost unrecognizable shards of hip-hop, jungle, punk, dubstep, and more, Hanz' debut album Reducer is a brilliant whirlwind of dystopian menace.

Listen/download the whole Reducer album here.