[Ed. Note: Joe Colly is a staff writer at Pitchfork and the culture and nightlife editor for The Feast Washington.]

MP3: Gucci Mane – Up My Alley

Gucci’s been off his game recently, but this track, which made the internet rounds last week, is a total return to form. The guy is just an amazing lyricist, weaving through verse and chorus with such ease and dropping gems like “Your girlfriend, I’m ’bout to pull her / Don’t blame me, man, blame my jeweler / Don’t hate me, man, hate my aura / On my way to Bora Bora.” Free this man!

MP3: Wiz Khalifa – On My Level (feat. Too Short)

It’s a shame that the second half of Rolling Papers is so cheesy because Side A is chock-full of heaters like this one. There’s nothing particularly lyrically amazing about this track, but Jim Jonsin’s production– all menacing and nocturnal– offers just the right contrast to Khalifa’s easy beat riding and sing-song chorus. Plus, you sort of have to support anything Too Short’s involved with.

MP3: Cassie – Me & U

This was a fairly big radio hit for Bad Boy back in 2005 and has enjoyed kind of a cult status since then. It’s space-age R&B in the tradition of Timbaland and Aaliyah, there’s a nice tension here between producer Ryan Leslie’s minimal, almost dubstep beat and Cassie’s breathy singing. She hasn’t made anything this good since but it doesn’t really matter– sometimes one killer track is enough.

MP3: Bathcrones – False Teeth

Bathcrones is this guy Matthew Jackson Johnson from Atlanta. Don’t know much about him but heard this via a recent How To Dress Well mix for The Wire and fell for it. It’s vaguely similar to the dreamy synth-pop stuff of, say, Teengirl Fantasy or Balam Acab but a bit more distorted. Love the pull between those lurching synths and the bubblier keys– creates a great emotional contrast.

MP3: Burial – Stolen Dog

As with the track above, I’m always impressed when electronic musicians can draw lots of feeling from machines, and no one does that better than Burial. I really like the whole Street Halo EP, but especially “Stolen Dog” for how lush and patient it is. The track has a very natural sprawl to it, and I love how the groaning synths sit so comfortably with the evocative-as-always vocal samples. Heavy stuff.

MP3: Panda Bear – Alsatian Darn

Been enjoying the hell out of Tomboy– it’s different enough from Person Pitch (more internal and headphone-y) to stand alone but still highlights what’s great about Lennox. This track in particular has real forcefulness to it. People like to talk about his music as woozy and atmospheric, and that’s partly true, but this has a definite urgency, and that chorus at 2:45 slays me.