May 7, 2012 – Gulp is the latest project from Guto Pryce, bassist for '90s-spawned Welsh psych-rock psychopaths Super Furry Animals. Featuring Welsh songstress Lindsey Leven on bewitching lead vocals, "Game Love," is one side of a 7" due later this month on the group's own E.L.K. label. It's an amalgam of 21st-century electronic squiggles and vintage airy psych-folk, as contemporary as video games and as old as the hills. Leven sighs the title phrase over an extended sylvan groove, backed by SFA's Dafydd Ieuan on waltzing drums, and with meticulous mixing from fellow Furry member Cian Ciárán — all to sweetly hypnotic effect. Who says love is a losing game?

May 4, 2012 – Birdman isn't stopping at signing Limp Bizkit. The Cash Money CEO has also stepped into an apparent bidding war over the ever-buzzing Chief Keef, the Chicago rapper whose breakout song was recently blessed by Kanye West. Birdman keeps pressing on as a musician, too, most recently releasing a music video for his cameo-studded track "B Boyz." Birdman is looking to bring Chief Keef into the star-studded Young Money fold, MTV reports. "I like him, he kinda reminds me of us," Birdman is quoted as saying about Keef.

May 4, 2012 – Slipknot will be taking their masks into the studio again in early 2013. The Des Moines-based heavy metal band's DJ, Sid Wilson, told the NME that the group would start recording at the start of next year as they work on their follow-up to 2008's All Hope Is Gone. Slipknot has been grieving the loss of bassist Paul Gray, who was found dead of an accidental overdose nearly two years ago. Slipknot will be on the road this summer headlining the Mayhem Festival tour with Slayer, Motörhead, Anthrax, and many more, and Wilson told the NME that Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor's other band Stone Sour, will be going on a tour of its own.

May 4, 2012 – Coldplay's refreshingly eclectic fifth studio album Mylo Xyloto is more than six months old, but the British rockers are in the thick of a North American tour that might just lead them to this summer's London Olympics. The big-tent British idols stopped by American Idol last night to perform two songs from their latest record, R&B-swinging "Paradise" and rave-pop "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall." With a day-glo stage setup recalling band's own EDM-positive video for album highlight "Charlie Brown," Martin threw himself around the Idol stage like the seasoned arena hero he undeniably he has become. The viewers at home would've been forgiven for anxiously anticipating the results of that night's show (spoiler: the country singer went home) but at least they could enjoy a confetti-filled party while they waited, and they didn't have to sit through LMFAO.

May 3, 2012 – "I don't want to lose you," Reptar singer/guitarist Graham Ulicny repeats sweetly on "Three Shining Suns," from the Athens-based electro-pop outfit's just-released Vagrant debut, Body Faucet. With bass-heavy production from producer Ben Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, Washed Out), the song is as uncanny and glistening as its title suggests, with an Afropop lilt suggestive of Vampire Weekend. The psychedelic woodland video extends the mysterious vibe to include dead bodies, magic rings, explosions, and other supernatural elements. It's a wild trip. Check out the accompanying music video, directed by Ross Brubeck.

May 3, 2012 – Cassie is two for two in 2012. On Valentine's Day, the wispy-voiced R&B singer unveiled the immaculate "King of Hearts," which has since led to a pretty good remix by Kanye West and an even better remix by pop mastermind Richard X. In contrast to that song's uptempo dance-pop, Cassie's latest track to emerge, "Balcony," is a moody slow jam in the wee-hours style of Drake's "Marvins Room," and it's similarly engaging. Reportedly produced by Rico Love (Mary J. Blige, Usher), the sinuous ballad beautifully balances Cassie's soft vocals — "We made love on the balcony / Right there in New York City" — against Young Jeezy's tough-guy rasp. Six years after signature song "Me & U," Cassie is on a hot streak. (via DDOTOMEN)

May 3, 2012 – If the "S" in A$AP Rocky's name didn't already tip you off, money has been crucial to the Harlem rapper's brand at least since last year's reports of his $3 million record deal. Rocky's self-directed video for swaggering statement of purpose "Goldie" luxuriates in its own luxuriousness, featuring ample displays of female nudity, cocaine use, and Paris to back up the song's molasses-pitched boasts. A$AP's crew also shows up, though they appear to be far away from where all the condoms are. Anyway, yes, this is probably NSFW. Read SPIN editorial director Charles Aaron's review of Rocky's SXSW set.

May 3, 2012 – Soundgarden's contribution to Marvel's The Avengers, "Live to Rise," has been floating around since last month. With the film set to open in the U.S. tomorrow, after burnishing its presumptive blockbuster status with massive sales overseas, the music video for Cornell and Co.'s new stadium-rock anthem has arrived. Directed by Robert Hales (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Janet Jackson, Kings of Leon), the clip intersperses darkly lit shots of the alt-rock veterans with action-packed scenes from the big-budget superhero movie. "We're insane but not alone," Cornell moans. Which is fitting, because, in case you missed the huge promotional blitz, the superheroes are all working together in this one. Kim Thayil is totally the Hulk in this scenario!

May 3, 2012 – Earl Sweatshirt, who earlier this year marked his triumphant return from boarding school in Samoa, is one of the few genuine enigmas remaining in pop music. A couple of recent live appearances — alongside Flying Lotus at Coachella, or with his hip-hop wolfpack Odd Future in New York — and an acclaimed appearance on The OF Tape Vol. 2 have still left Sweatshirt (real name: Thebe Kgositsile) tantalizingly mysterious, a known unknown. That's why the New Yorker's quest to find Sweatshirt last year is still a must-read, and it's why the New York Times' recent interview with the 18-year-old rapper is similarly revelatory. The whole article is worth checking out, for sure, but here are the newsiest morsels: Sweatshirt has signed with Sony for his own imprint, Tan Cressida, which Columbia will distribute.

May 2, 2012 – Earlier this week, My Bloody Valentine officially premiered the previously unreleased track "Good for You." The track's slight but noticeable improvement upon a bootleg version that had been floating around for years appeared to be a promising indication for the rest of the Dublin band's May 7 reissue campaign. Now the Guardian is streaming the full two-disc reissue of the band's untouchable shoegaze ur-text Loveless, and we're wondering whether we might not have spoken a little rashly. For its fiercest admirers, present company included, 1991's Loveless is like some kind of rare gem, hard and shimmering and unfathomable. On first pass, it's not clear that these two sets of remasters — one "from the original tapes," and another "from the original 1/2-inch analogue tapes" — will really take you much further below that adamantine surface.