The Witzard

"We are excited to announce that a new Joanna Newsom song was released this morning! Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson ," read an uncharacteristically serious Tweet from GRAMMY -winning Comedy-Rap triumvirate @thelonelyisland , which just so happens to showcase the rhymin' talents of Newsom's husband, Andy Samburg . While I'm vaguely familiar with Joanna Newsom 's beautifully fragile harp-assisted melodies, I'm gonna be completely honest here: the only time I've ever actually "heard" her music was on Asher Roth & Nottz Raw 's reflective "Sprout & The Bean" -sampling RAWTH EP cut, "Break Bread." Newsom's first album in nearly five years, Divers , features lush string arrangement composed by "a total murders' row: Newsom [herself], Nico Muhly , Dirty Projectors frontman Dave Longstreth , and Ryan Francesconi ," as Stereogum reports. Divers' string arrangements were additionally record...

Earlier this year, Usher linked with Diplo to make "Climax," a pretty amazing heartbroken R&B track with masterful Dance -music flourishes and an excellently subtle string arrangement from Indie-Classical wunderkind, Nico Muhly . It's an early contender for Single of The Year (2012) and a fine reminder that, no matter what you may think of Usher and/or Diplo , they are both extremely good @ driving their respective lanes. The new "Climax" video is a bit of fairly typical R&B -video melodrama, all about Usher contemplating the different tragic paths he and his ladyfriend could take, but it's a nice excuse to enjoy the song again. Watch it below... Usher hasn't announced a new album yet or anything, but the "Climax" single is @ iTunes now. - Tom Breihan (Stereogum)