ListenUp

Willow Smith's post-election hope, Gordi's Boni Iver cover, The Landing's groovy space tunes and more in our musical round-up

Animal Collective: Mountain Game Originally recorded (but never used) for 2010’s Red Dead Redemption video game, Animal Collective’s “Mountain Game” throws back to their Merriweather Post Pavilion-style pop artistry. Bearing all the musical nuances we’ve come to love from the band, the track’s greatest surprise happens to be its pure beauty; it’s gentler than their more chaotic (but organized) works and incorporates soothing harmonies. We …

serpentwithfeet: four ethers

Brooklyn-based serpentwithfeet’s debut, five-song EP blisters isn’t long, but it is spectacular. The new video for singer serpentwithfeet’s “four ethers” (which was co-produced by The Haxan Cloak, who previously worked with Bjork) taps into the mysticism of the track’s lyrics and pairs it with a visually stunning universe. The ethereal piece samples the fourth movement of French composer Hector Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique” (we think) and …

The Landing: Stars in Motion

Brooklyn-based The Landing says he makes space-pop and considering the track “Stars in Motion“—with its glittery synths and vocals including “I want to believe”—the genre’s name is pretty accurate. The tune (which just got a music video to accompany it) is super-groovy and retro—which makes sense considering space age pop was a genre that emerged during the ’50s and ’60s—and was also known as bachelor …