Ugandan rapper Blaq Bandana and Italian producer Still mix trap, drill, cut kuduro, and electro on ‘Nkwaata’; Lowertown rolls a delicate acoustic guitar on the verge of exploding on ‘The Gaping Mouth’; we have heard it all from the post-rock front, but still, the way Shy, Low mix energy and beauty on ‘Helioentropy’ deserves a recommendation; Moritz Von Oswald Trio slide between minimal techno, jazz, and avant-ambient electronics on ‘Chapter 4’; Courtney Barnett shares some delicate guitar work on ‘Before You Gotta Go’; Big Thief share a feather-light love song 'Little Things'.

Japanese band Oavette shares a jazzy/post-rock gem 'Neus'; Lingua Ignota takes a turn into Appalachian Gothic with ‘Repent Now Confess Now’; Deafheaven are keeping their stylistic U-turn with their latest, melancholic single ‘In Blur’; Martina Topley Bird shares ‘Topic’, produced by Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja; one of the highlights on Nas' new album is ‘Nobody’, which sees him reuniting with Ms. Lauryn Hill.

The highpoint of Dave’s new album is a 9-minute epic ‘Heart Attack’ which in the second half has him rapping without a beat - powerful stuff; M.I.C shares a dark grime piece ‘K*rn’ featuring JME, Nammy Was and Jawnino; Badge Epoch share a funk-rock psychedelia ‘Fruit Cocktail In Heavy Syrup’; Ólafur Arnalds goes deeply melancholic on - ‘Saudade’ from the ‘When We Are Born’ soundtrack.

After that awesome detour into jazzy club music with Moses Boyd, Alewya goes into the dark clubbing mode with ‘Spirit_X’; avant/hip-hop artist Moor Mother goes psychedelic on ‘Shekere’ featuring Lojii; ‘Superstate’ is a new graphic novel with 15 new songs from Graham Coxon, ‘Yoga Town’ is the first taste from it; Jamaican dancehall artist Skillibeng goes aggressive and dark on ‘Pull Up’, a collaboration with UK rapper Dutchavelli; Japanese post-metallers Mono rip it up on (khm!) ‘Riptide’; Homeboy Sandman shares an intense and jazzy ‘Lice Team, Baby’, featuring Aesop Rock.

Facing each other in a garage over a small plastic table, rappers Uriya & SAZ hurl ethnic insults and clichés at each other, tearing away the veneer of civility overlaying the seething resentments between the Jewish state and its Palestinian minority in a rap video that has gone viral in Israel. Sincere, passionate, touching! The New York Times reports, via Washington Mail.

Mega Bog describes her new video 'Maybe You Died' as “dark, leathered, supernatural, horny, evil" - that pretty much applies to the song as well; Britsh folk icon Shirley Collins shares the haunting 'Sailor Boy'; Iron Maiden are back in the saddle - 'The Writing on the Wall' is their first new song in six years and a return to form, accompanied by a mini-film; folk singer-songwriter Shannon Lay starts with a cappella 'Geist' to expand into a waltz called 'Awaken and Allow'.

You sense freedom and youth when listening to Torres' big-sounding new pop-rock single 'Thirstier'. Her album of the same name is due out July 30 via Merge.

Little Simz shares just some James Bond hip-hop with ‘I Love You, I Hate You’; UK jazz tuba player Theon Cross (member of Sons of Kemet) releases 'We Go Again', played almost exclusively on tuba; Moor Mother shares a bit of psychedelic rap with ‘Obsidian', featuring Pink Siifu; Black Dice offer some groovy chaos on ‘White Sugar’; Siiickbrain combines emo, rap, and industrial on ‘Silence’.

Bombay Bicycle Club frontman Jack Steadman - with a new name Mr Jukes - is joined by the relatively unknown East London rapper Barney Artist on the laid-back hip-hop groove 'Check the Pulse'; Manzanita combines surf guitar, garage rock and Latin American cumbia and guaracha on the uplifting 'Shambar'; 'The Angel of 8th Ave' by Gang of Youths is just some straight rock'n'roll; 'Alètheia' is just some straight - post-metal, by the French collective Year of no Light.

St. Vincent has redone Metallica's 'Sad But True', adding a ton of sexy and cool, making for a surprisingly good cover. Jason Isbell goes a step further with the same song - himself and the 400 Unit reimagined 'The Black Album' classic as a thrilling country rock barn stomper. Both songs appear on Metallica’s upcoming collection, 'The Metallica Blacklist', a companion album celebrating the 30th anniversary of 'The Black Album'. Set for release digitally on September 10th and physically on October 1st, 'The Metallica Blacklist' also boasts contributions from Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, J Balvin, Phoebe Bridgers, My Morning Jacket, Weezer, Mac DeMarco, Cage the Elephant, Kamasi Washington, Portugal. the Man, IDLES, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and Moses Sumney.