Impromptu D899 No 4 (a.k.a. Op 90 No 4, in A flat minor) by Franz Schubert

I'll let Paul Cantrell describe Impromptu D899 No 4 (a.k.a. Op 90 No 4, in A flat minor): "This is a very familiar piece (to piano aficionados, anyway) — but you’ll find Don’s performance a little refreshingly unfamiliar. It’s not a wild departure from custom, but there’s just a subtle tip in the balance in his performance that makes the feeling of the piece quite different. In the last entry I mentioned the question of foreground and background. When most pianists play this piece, they put the right hand squarely in the foreground: what you hear is a series of speedy cascades down, a fun bit of finger gymnastics. But when Don plays it, he balances foreground between the left and the right, and what emerges is the slower underlying chord progression. Instead of a nervously flitting thing, it becomes a smoothly unfolding one. That reading brings us to what is to me the essential nature of Schubert: a tiny thing with a vast interior, a world opening from a single moment."

https://innig.net/music/recordings/ith_don_schubert-899-4.mp3

Smells Like Teen Spirit by Mandrágora Tango

Here's a super sexy tango version of Nirvana's biggest hit, Smells Like Teen Spirit.

http://www.mandragoratango.com/sounds/TeenSpirit.mp3

Make You Love Me by Giraffage

Giraffage performs a curious inversion on Bonnie Raitt's tune with their Valentine's Day gift, Make You Love Me.

https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/247089406/download?client_id=cUa40O3Jg3Emvp6Tv4U6ymYYO50NUGpJ

Las Cuatro Estaciones: Verano - Presto by Daniel Bautista

Some of my favorite moments listening to Daniel Bautista are when he noodles out a classic on his electric guitar, such as this portion of Summer from The Four Seasons.

http://www.danielbautista.com/music/bautista/clasicos/veranopresto.mp3

Autumn Leaves by Podington Bear

Autumn Leaves is a sombre instrumental version of an old folk tune popularized by Nat King Cole.

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/download/35380d44e8226f1acec1ea12aa6f3c14afb87133

Halo by Beyonce, performed by Major Lazer

Elephant Man's Jamaican dancehall vocals make this cover of Halo soar.

http://static.stereogum.com/blogs.dir/2/files/mp3/Major%20Lazer%20-%20Halo%20(Beyonce%20Cover).mp3

Underwater by Koona

Underwater wastes little time getting to the body shaking beat, mixing it up with the tempo slow downs and pick ups that've become standard dubstep tricks.

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/download/f2f33e58556a66808333409c9f17a4ed02012acc

His Last Few Days by Bgm

Today's a downer, about how His Last Few Days were hell on Earth.

http://www.songfight.org/music/his_last_few_days/bgm_hlfd.mp3

Day Out by Atlas Sound

This Day Out has a wavy, drifting melody that belies its bittersweet words.

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/download/ea529f393101a182f04e2a122083bb79bb3dd1d1

Meeteetse by Paul Cantrell

Meeteetse is a nice little playful piano improvisation.

https://innig.net/music/recordings/ith_improv-meeteetse.mp3

Bottle Neck by Gert

Song Fight super group Gert returns with a rock song that feels epic, Bottle Neck.

http://www.songfight.org/music/bottle_neck/gert_bn.mp3

Earth Is The Right Place For Love (Alone At Home) by Uncle Owen Aunt Beru

Two versions of the titular track bookend Earth is the Right Place for Love. Uncle Owen Aunt Beru was first featured on this blog with the opening version, so it's only fitting I close my selections of her music with the stripped down album closer, Earth is the Right Place for Love (alone at home).

Enjoy vorbis.

https://archive.org/download/birdsong026/22_Earth_is_the_Right_Place_for_Love-alone_at_home.mp3
https://archive.org/download/birdsong026/22_Earth_is_the_Right_Place_for_Love-alone_at_home.ogg

Gas On F by White Denim

Gas On F demonstrates just how good White Denim is at their warm, relaxed style of indie rock.

http://www.gorillavsbear.net/files/2012/08/03-Gas-On-F.mp3

Beat The Heat by Rabbit & Ram

Rabbit & Ram Beat The Heat (and the rest of the Song Fight! field) with adorable electronic pop.

http://www.songfight.org/music/beat_the_heat/rabbit&ram_bth.mp3

Degravitati by Cobol Pongide

On Cobol Pongide, maker of the adorable Degravitati: "Cobol Pongide is a human-robot band featuring Cobol and Emiglino Cicala. The robot Emiglino Cicala was programmed at the Giochi Preziosi laboratory (toy company) in Milan. Cobol the human is a graduate of the Prague Institute for Harmonic and Kinematics Arts who plays toy keyboards and old home computers and console, such as the Commodore 64, Gameboys, and self-made circuit bending machines."

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/download/a894f6df68775ef8def32efd52c7621580f8d49c

Fossil Strategies by Nathan Clevenger Group

Nathan Clevenger's group play off each other for ten minutes with Fossil Strategies, a playful, accessible piece of jazz.

http://www.nathanclevengermusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/01-Fossil-Strategies-1.mp3

Forty Seven by Tiny Creatures

A simple acoustic guitar leads the way through Forty Seven, but it's the strange things going on around it that gather all the attention.

https://archive.org/download/Tiny_Creatures-5810/Tiny_Creatures_-_03_-_Forty_Seven.mp3

Bottle Neck by The Grim

Bottle Neck is the The Grim's strongest performance yet, with much more variety in his vocals and his playing than any song he's put out yet.

http://www.songfight.org/music/bottle_neck/grim_bn.mp3

Expand by JLin featuring Holly Herndon

JLin's record Dark Energy got a great deal of critical acclaim last year. The intense rhythms of Expand illustrate what all the fuss is about.

http://www.gorillavsbear.net/files/2015/04/09-Expand-Featuring-Holly-Herndon.mp3

Plex Knowe Crypt by Tiny Folk

Plex Knowe Crypt has a slow, dark feel with echoing morose voices.

http://dl.last.fm/static/1449353576/121937646/8676a186b4dc1c99b083373ad74f6b6d0dfa9992ef2ae69410bfeaddccbe9d8b/Tinyfolk+-+plex+knowe+crypt.mp3

You Are A Child by State Shirt featuring Snowflake

Snowflake lends some lovely backing vocals to Your Are a Child, another slow brooding piece from Lost Hills.

http://www.stateshirt.com/audio/losthills/09_You_Are_a_Child.mp3

Seems Like A Little Too Much by Glenn Case

Old Song Fight! hand Glenn Case has returned to the ring recently. Looking at his musical output over the years, on might think it Seems Like a Little Too Much.

http://www.songfight.org/music/seems_like_a_little_too_much/glenncase_slaltm.mp3

Let The Little Children Come To Me by Children For Breakfast

The story of the creation of Let The Little Children Come To Me is fascinating. "Based on the psychological studies of Paul Clifford Brown, where several young babies were submited to very high frequencies exposure (orders of 20.000 to 23.000 Hz) and did obtain better results when they attended school (specially maths and portuguese language). These frequencies, only heard in the first months of human life, were reminded musically in this project Children For Breakfast by inverting the harmonic series of the musical notes, in what is today called Inverse Spectralism. [...]"

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/download/8863d9d2850424f9760a752cb515b83650d03dc2

Danser by KungFu, remixed by Jeris

Jeris has concocted an energetic mad mix of piano, horns, accordion, vocals, and much more besides with Danser.

http://ccmixter.org/content/VJ_Memes/VJ_Memes_-_Danser_3.mp3

No You Girls by Franz Ferdinand, remixed by Trentemøller

Trentemøller dissects No You Girls into its vocal and a minimal beat. Then he reconstructs his own big production layer by layer, only to break it down again.

http://www.fatberris.com/music/uptempo/X_Franz_Ferdinand_No_You_Girls_Trentemolller_Remix.mp3

Electronic Inspiration by destinazione_altrove

A noisy rocking reworking of Electronic Inspiration.

http://ccmixter.org/content/destinazione_altrove/destinazione_altrove_-_eLeCtRoNiC_InSpIrAtIoN.mp3

Ocean Reflections by Levihica

Ocean Reflections is a calm, repetitive sound.

http://ccmixter.org/content/Levihica/Levihica_-_Ocean_Reflections.mp3

You Got The Love by Florence And The Machine, remixed by The Very Best

Stereogum: "What we have here is the Very Best’s cover of the xx’s remix of GGD fans Florence & The Machine’s cover of Candi Staton’s “You’ve Got The Love.” What we also have is an impressive nailing of the critical zeitgeist in under three minutes."

http://static.stereogum.com/uploads/mp3/Florence%20And%20The%20Machine%20-%20You%20Got%20The%20Love%20(The%20Very%20Best%20Re-Do%20Of%20The%20xx%20Remix).mp3

Shiro by Hans Atom, remixed by Kirkoid

The hands behind Shiro are deft, with a heavy beat and bells to draw the attention, and bass and guitars sitting subtly behind, providing texture.

http://ccmixter.org/content/Kirkoid/Kirkoid_-_Shiro_(Kirkoid_Mix).mp3

The Session by Jihfa featuring Donnie Ozone

Fourstones on The Session (Jihfa Reload): "A beautiful deep hip-hop ride through the streets of New York with an great original soundtrack/production that is moving and deceptively rich and complex."

http://ccmixter.org/content/Jihfa/Jihfa_-_The_Session_Jihfa_Reload_.mp3

Forgive Me For Giving Up by Hundred Waters

Forgive Me For Giving Up, a beautiful song for Bowie.

http://www.gorillavsbear.net/files/2016/02/Hundred-Waters-Forgive-Me-For-Giving-Up.mp3