Skip to main content

Listen to Prince take on Internet memes and more in our 5 songs to stream

best songs to stream this week 2 version 1445675412 headphones music
Jonathan Grado/Flickr
Every week, there are hundreds of thousands of new songs hitting the airwaves. It’s too much for just your two ears to handle. With all those options, you can’t be wasting your time on tracks worthy of a thumbs down button. Don’t worry, we’re going to save you the hassle. We listen to some of the most hyped and interesting songs each week, and tell you what ones are worth using your bandwidth on.

Here are our top 5 songs to stream this week.

The Weeknd – The Hills

The Weeknd - The Hills

No artist in mainstream music right now gets slapped with the accusation of “selling out” more often than the Weeknd. The Canadian singer and producer has a defining voice and sound when it comes to pop music. It has become a frustrating revelation for the fans who found his mixtapes long before he was sharing the stage with Taylor Swift.

Those early adopters of the supremely talented track maker’s music should find some satisfaction in the Weeknd’s rise, though. He’s brought a new sound out of the basements and into the mainstream without sacrificing the emotion that he’s always shared. Never is it more clear than in The Hills, a cut off his newest album Beauty Behind the Madness, in which he explores the darker side of fame and success, while maintaining his hypnotic production.

Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar – Easy Bake

Jay Rock & Kendrick Lamar - Easy Bake

Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar run with the same clique, the Black Hippy collective, but it’s been a minute since the two traded verses on the same song. Despite the down time between collaborations, the flame is immediately rekindled on Easy Bake, a song title that lends credence to the idea that it’s just that easy for these two to make good music. The fiery track belongs primarily to Rock’s unique flow, before he hands over the mic to Lamar for a laid back appearance. The song never misses a beat in the handoff.

Destroyer – Dream Lover

capturer - frankie broyles

Dan Bejar has built up a following, thanks to his key roles in groups like the New Pornographers, but when he’s on his own, he prefers to go by Destroyer. The name is somewhat ironic, as his music rarely sounds destructive, though he does subtly tear down indie rock cliches with his own take on the sound. Dream Lover is a fine example. It’s a track driven by saxophone — an instrument that rarely gets used outside of 1980s pop rock — and it works inexplicably as a modern jam.

Eagles of Death Metal – Complexity

EODM (Eagles of Death Metal) - Complexity

Do not be intimidated by the name Eagles of Death Metal. The group isn’t here to melt your face or growl you into the underworld. Instead, the alt-rock duo with ties to Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures is doing some self-serious mocking. The title is in the same vein. Complexity in no way reflects the sound of the track. It’s a simple, big blast of a rock song that serves itself up as a perfect top-down-on-the-highway soundtrack.

Prince – This Could B Us

This Could B Us

Here’s a sentence that only makes sense in 2015: Prince’s new song, exclusively released on Tidal, is named after a meme. There’s surely a crowd that finds this oddity too much, as if Prince is belittling his body of work by embracing a piece of odd Internet culture. But take a listen to the song, and you’ll hear nothing but Prince at his very best. He unrolls a late night jam that could have been pulled from an earlier section of his discography.

That’s it for now, but check back every week for more new tunes to stream!

Topics
AJ Dellinger
AJ Dellinger is a freelance reporter from Madison, Wisconsin with an affinity for all things tech. He has been published by…
How to download music from Spotify for offline listening
How to download music and podcasts from Spotify: The downloads folder.

If you're a Spotify Premium user paying that premium Spotify fee, chances are you've taken at least some time curating playlists, liking songs, and using the platform's easy-to-use (and recently revamped) user interface to discover new and old music.

But sometimes all that music or your favorite podcasts aren't available if you find yourself without an internet connection to stream them from — like on a long plane ride or weekend camping trip in the sticks. That's where Spotify's offline listening feature comes in handy, allowing you to download playlists, albums, and podcasts through its desktop and mobile apps so you can still rock out while you're off the grid.

Read more
How to switch from Spotify to Apple Music
Spotify and Apple Music transfer on a smartphone.

Spotify is the world's most popular music streaming service for a reason. It has a massive catalog of music and podcasts, is full of cool music discovery and sharing features, and is really easy to use.
However, with its recent price increase and the fact that it still hasn't joined most of its peers in offering a hi-res audio quality option, you may be considering jumping ship for its closest competitor, Apple Music, which counts lossless hi-res tracks, mind-bending spatial audio, Dolby Atmos Music tracks, and a catalog that rivals Spotify's among the many attractive reasons to switch.

But there's one problem: you’ve spent a lot of time creating playlists and marking songs and albums as your favorites in Spotify. Is it worth the switch? Will all that hard work be lost in translation?

Read more
The best laptops for music production, chosen by experts
best laptops for music production

The world has gone pretty far when it comes to the processing power that we carry around with us, and if you're big into music production, then you're the luckiest of all. Some of the best laptops on the market have high-end CPUs for relatively low prices, which means that if you want to do music production on a laptop, you have a huge number of choices. Of course, that does also mean that it can be hard to navigate and pick the best laptop for your budget and needs, which is why we've done the legwork for you. We've collected our favorite picks below in various categories so that you can pick them with ease. Plus, we've even thrown in a quick guide on what to look for so that if you don't find what you want here, you can check out these other laptop deals for alternatives.
The Best Laptops for Music Production

Best overall laptop for music production:
Best Windows device for music production:
Best portable laptop for music production:
Best large-screen laptop for music production:
Best for 2-in-1 laptop for music production:

Read more