Posted by Frank Wu

LITS Mix #1: Beginnings

LITS Mix is a weekly mix of five free songs curated by our ears with your ears in mind. With so much free music to listen to out there, we intend to showcase our favorite tunes in an easily digestible  manner, guiding you through the riff-raff to find the music. This week, we present the very first edition of our mix, featuring a set of chilled-out songs for you to relax to. Kick back and get lost in the sound.

MP3: LITS Mix #1: Beginnings

(0:00 to 1:58) Aphex Twin – “Avril 14th”
(1:58 to 5:19) Apparatjik – “Antlers”
(5:19 to 10:11) XV – “Pictures On My Wall”
(10:11 to 13:06) Washed Out – “Amor Fati (Clams Casino Remix)”
(13:06 to 16:20) Emerald Ruins – “Stay”

Listen: Azealia Banks – “Jumanji”

Considering all the drama that’s been surrounding her, Azealia Banks has made it quite clear that she has an attitude and a personality, but when it comes to music, Banks has everything down pat. Her latest track is “Jumanji”, a song that will appear on her next mixtape. Over some steel drum production that seems to draw influence from Jamie xx, Azealia proves yet again that she has the talent to back up her attitude. I mean, it’s kind of hard to hate when she’s killing everything she actually appears on.

Listen: Ab-Soul – “ILLuminate (feat. Kendrick Lamar)”

“I used to wanna rap like Jay-Z / Now I feel like I’m runnin’ laps around Jay-Z / Nas ain’t seen nothing this nasty / B.I.G. and Pac got it coming when I pass too / You got the mic, I ain’t the one you wanna pass to.” – Ab-Soul

In just three days, Black Hippy and Top Dawg Entertainment member Ab-Soul will be releasing his new album, Control System. In preparation, Soul posted up “ILLuminate”, his joint track with long-time friend and fellow TDE collaborator Kendrick Lamar, who will also be releasing a new album of his own, Good Kid in a Mad City, later this year. Over some smooth Skhye Hutch production, Ab-Soul spits two insane verses before giving Kendrick a turn as well. It’s ridiculous how much quality these guys are bringing to the game and “ILLuminate” certainly meets these high expectations. Control System is out May 11th.

Listen: Passion Pit – “Take A Walk”

To call Passion Pit‘s forthcoming album Gossamer a highly anticipated release wouldn’t even be doing it justice. Fans of the band’s infectious electropop sound have all been eagerly awaiting new music from Michael Angelakos and company since the release of Manners in 2009. And finally, after quite a number of delays and false rumors, we have new music from the indie darlings. Below, you can listen to the first single, “Take A Walk”. Surprisingly, the song doesn’t feature the falsetto singing we’ve come to expect from Passion Pit, but the song is still insanely infectious and fun. Gossamer will be released on July 24th via Columbia.