Shuffle

EOIN BUTLER's guide to downloads, singles and free audiostreams

ONE DIRECTION**

Little ThingsSyco

In which Harry, Niall, Bungle, Zippy, George & co. compile a creepily detailed list of their beloveds’ physical flaws (wrinkles, dimples, fat thighs and the fact that she has to squeeze to fit into her jeans - since you ask), whilst simultaneously insisting that said imperfections don’t bother them in the slightest. Who the hell wrote this song? Justin Lee Collins?

LUPE FIASCO ***

Bitch BadAtlantic

On this track from his Food Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 album, the socially conscious Chicago rapper joins the dots between the racist blackface tradition of the 19th and 20th centuries and the cartoonish depictions of African-American culture in the work of contemporary artists like 50 Cent and Nicki Minaj. As broadsides go, this is ham-fisted but persuasive.

ANGEL HAZE ****

Cleaning Out My ClosetIsland

The 21-year-old New York rapper takes on the old Eminem number and lays her shitty childhood toe-to-toe against his. Only an idiot would pick a fight they can’t win and Raee’n Wahya, clearly, is not an idiot. I won’t go into the NSFW details, but this is a harrowing listen.

TWO IRISH BOYS ****

We Found Love

Eleven-year-old singer Rob and 16-year-old rapper/ guitarist Shyand (aka HarriBo), apparently from Celbridge, Co Kildare (although this has not been confirmed), have racked up almost a million YouTube hits in a week, with this version of the Rihanna hit. www.youtube.com

THE WEEKND ***

EnemyRepublic

According to Pitchfork, Abel Tesfaye’s latest offering borrows from The Smiths’ Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want “so subtly... you might not even realise it’s there.” In truth, he’s lifted the chorus from that song pretty much wholesale. Short of donning a quiff and NHS spectacles, it’s hard to see how he could have been much more obvious.