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Bullion (Nathan Jenkins, from London) has proven himself—if nothing else—an interesting musician. His catalog plays sonic hopscotch, bouncing between decades, tapping down for quick explorations before scuffing out the lines and starting over fresh at some other corner of the schoolyard. He’s twisted the Beach Boys with Dilla (Pet Sounds: In The Key Of Dee), jumbled soulful samples and experimental beats (Young Heartache EP), dabbled in way out weird cinema funk (Magic Was Ruler 12”) and now tips his hat to jazz fusion with new EP, Love Me Oh Please Love Me. While it possesses the same wobbly, refusal to stay in one place that has become Jenkins’ signature of sorts, his embrace of pop songwriting is unexpected and refreshing. A mix of smooth and funky retro sounds, single “It’s All In Sound” is pure melody; upbeat, yet loose, trailing offscreen, the sax echo still audible from a distance.

Stream and purchase Bullion’s Love Me Oh Please Love Me via Bandcamp.

Across the next couple weeks we’ll be highlighting some of our top picks for Lollapalooza 2012. See you on the festival grounds.

The Tallest Man on Earth (Kristian Matsson) is a Swede whose heart beats Americana. Matsson’s raspy, Dylan-esque voice and acoustic strumming bring to mind the era of James Dean and Johnny Cash. His two studio albums and two EPs showcase intricate guitar work set against a tapestry of folk rock influences. Like pencil sketches of picturesque landscapes drawn at dusk from Grandma’s rickety back porch, Matsson relays the beauty found when you strip away the bright lights, buildings and hectic pace of modern life. Less is more, and The Tallest Man on Earth embraces simplicity with a profound aural elegance. His third full-length album, There’s No Leaving Now is due out June 12. You can hear the single “1904″ below.

The Tallest Man On Earth plays Lollapalooza Saturday, August 4. Add The Tallest Man On Earth to your custom lineup here.

Across the next couple weeks we’ll be highlighting some of our top picks for Lollapalooza 2012. See you on the festival grounds.

He’s the man from Manchester who can’t stop, won’t stop. Star Slinger (Darren Williams) first garnered attention in summer 2010 with a self-released beat tape and hasn’t stopped to take a breath since. His music is born of the internet age, frenzied original productions and remixes favoring repetition and quick cut samples. You might be quick to mistake him for a mashup artist based on his energy and output, but Williams has more in common with turntablists, combining forgotten gems of pop, soul, and hip-hop’s past with of-the-moment hits, manipulating and improvising on the fly.

Star Slinger plays Lollapalooza Saturday, August 4. Add Star Slinger to your custom lineup here.

Time moves slower outside these walls. From the office kitchen I watch the privileged sun and swim on the roof of the city’s poshest health club. Their skin glistens from eleven stories high, perfectly tan. Past the towers the river sparkles. It’s dark and cool, lapping in small waves against the side of a slowly moving barge. At the front of the barge two workmen sit with their legs hanging off the edge. To forget time is to know freedom. If you’ve yet to feel it, worry not, Ikons from Gothenburg will throw away all your clocks, quit your job for you, leave your life devastated and your mind at peace. Woven from silky fibers of psychedelic folk and hypnotic acid house, their sophomore release Life Rhythm crawls leisurely from sunbeam to shade. Rolling textures intertwine, creating a space that feels soft, safe, free.

Stream and purchase Ikons’ Life Rhythm via Service.

Below is the latest edition of our weekly feature, STUCK ON REPEAT. We’ve asked all our contributors to submit one track and a brief write-up. The track can be new or old, whatever we could not stop listening to this week. These are the songs we’ve had STUCK ON REPEAT.

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SELECTED BY: V–ESTELLE – BREAK MY HEART (FT. RICK ROSS)

Estelle released her follow-up to 2008 debut Shine back in February and it seems to have been mostly ignored. Titled All Of Me, it suffers from too many interludes (5/15 tracks) and an obnoxious anthem featuring Chris “no-one-likes-your-music-and-you-suck-as-a-human-being” Brown. All that aside, Estelle continues to capture me with her poise and chameleon-like dexterity. Add a beat and she’ll bang out a radio hit with attitude (see: 2008’s “American Boy” featuring Kanye West), turn off the bright lights and she’s breezy, soulful, natural, bringing to mind a young Sade (see: “Cold Crush“). “Break My Heart” pairs Estelle with Rick Ross and while I wouldn’t put them together on paper, it works. Her confident, free-spirited, smooth vocals matched with Ross’s characteristic aloof bravado are my idea of a perfect love story. They are the couple who realizes each other’s stubbornness makes them individually better. I’d be on board with these two dating.

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SELECTED BY: MONEYWORTH–CARLY RAE JEPSEN – CALL ME MAYBE (GRANT PEYTON EDIT)

Goodbye, what little, if any, street cred I once possessed. And good riddance, because anyone who is too cool for Carly Rae Jepsen’s platinum single “Call Me Maybe” totally sucks! Those decidedly Air France-y strings! The lyrics you want to scoff at except deep inside you know they’re way too real! I don’t even want to know how many innocent bystanders caught me hollering, “Before you came into my life I missed you so bad!” on my bike this week. If you’re worried about your roommate hearing you getting your Radio Disney on from your bedroom, though, Orlando producer Grant Peyton’s got you. His chopped and screwed meets adult contemporary sax edit is—while still not touching the sheer bliss of the original—a more grown folks friendly change of pace. Shoutout @gabrielherrera for the tip.

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SELECTED BY: JAMS DEAN–TREE – ALL

Daaaaaamn a lot of times when I write Stuck On Repeat I have to make something up on the spot because in real life I’m still listening to the same A$AP mixtape from six months ago. But this time, for real, I listened to this song on repeat over and over again and kept getting more hyped on it. “ALL” by Chicago emcee Tree loops a jazzy saxophone that puts “Death Of Autotune”’s saxophone sample to shame. And Tree has that awesome sore throat voice that sounds like he smoked a hundred cigarettes and screams everything. This track is so fun you can almost hear him laughing as he records his voice. I can’t wait to hear this live. Don’t forget to watch the video.

ALL MIXED UP is an occasional spotlight on mixes you might not have otherwise found.

Slippery dub, deep house, soul and hip-hop sounds from Singapore videographer Marco Weibel. Draw the blinds, pour yourself a little something (preferably on the rocks), and prepare to twerk it slowly.

TRACKLISTING

LV – Don’t Judge  /  Ifan Dafydd – No Good  /  LDFD – Twerk It  /  B Bravo – Kiss ‘N’ Tell (ft. Zachary Force Funk)  /  House of Jezebel – Love & Happiness /  Willie Burns – Im Gonna Get You  /  Lonely C & Baby Prince – Be Yourself  /  Chicago Damn – If I Could  /  Tammi Terrell – All I Do Is Think About You  /  0hbliv – Chokmah  / DJ Shadow (ft. Little Dragon) – Scale It Back (B.Lewis Flip) /  Full Crate – Cherrie Hats (ft. Chris Turner)  / Roy Ayers – Programmed For Love (bydesign Edit)  /  Jonti – Hornets Nest  /  Floetry – SupaStar (ft. Common) (Freddie Joachim Remix)  /  Nick Wisdom – Sugar Rush (ft. Claire Mortifee)  / J.A.M – After Brazil  / Funkommunity – The Light

More mixes from M. Weibel are available for download on SoundCloud.