Given how much we love Art Brut, it’s amazing that the British five-piece hasn’t been previously featured on the site. We remedy that today with a tune to prepare you for all of the horrible/wonderful things you’re bound to do this weekend.

“Lost Weekend” comes to us from Brilliant! Tragic!, the band’s recently released fourth LP. It’s the first installment from the band that shows some big departures from the template set forth on 2005′s Bang Bang Rock & Roll (to which we would apply the superlative “classic” without hesitation). Produced by The Pixies’ Frank Black, Brilliant! Tragic! finds the band experimenting with longer track lengths–half of them check in at over four minutes–and sees vocalist Eddie Argos exploring new corners of his vocal range–as with the perversely hushed tones of this song.

It’s an approach that suits the thematic concerns of “Lost Weekend” quite nicely. Lyrics are a high point of any Art Brut composition and this one is no exception; few vocalists aside from Argos could get away chorus lines like “We took our clothes off and made no sense” and “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you / By saying something stupid like, ‘I love you.’”

The rest of the band backs Argos up ably, although the music here does feel a tad bit neutered compared to the more rambunctious moments found elsewhere in the group’s catalog. Whether that can be traced to a more polished vision imparted by Black behind the console or is simply the natural maturation of a band four records into their career is up for debate, but their trademark sound–a burnished version of The Buzzcocks’ deranged pop–is what forms the core of “Lost Weekend.”

It may take a little longer to grow on fans who have followed the band since their inception, but “Lost Weekend” is unquestionably filled with the uniquely Argosian charm which won them over to begin with.

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MGMT “Flash Delirium”

Shout Out Louds “Walls”

The Rifles “The Great Escape”

It feels pretty safe to say that just about everything’s been done. In modern music originality seems to come only in interpretation and spin rather than in form or content. That’s not at all a cynical statement, but rather one that points out the limitations and frankly, the effectiveness, of certain musical forms. Harmony is pleasing, certain chord progressions work to embed themselves in our memories, easily recalled and whistled or hummed when needed, and on and on and on.

What’s more, it seems like the more you learn about music, the tighter the circle of references becomes. You can hear the latest song from the latest blogosphere victim being foisted into your earholes by the legion of tastemakers and easily disseminate the myriad bands that comprise its influences. That can be fun and it can tiring, hearing the same sort of influences paraded around in an endless loop, a well-worn rut of aesthetic regurgitation.

Today’s featured track is noteworthy not because it’s groundbreaking or completely reinventing the form of a pop song. It is notable because the influences present in the composition come from a skein of musical ore rarely mined in contemporary music. The Stepkids, one of the fantastic Stones Throw label’s newest signings, conjure up sounds of lesser known soul groups of the late 1960s/early ’70s mixed with soft psychedelia from that same era.

Embedded in the genetic code of “Shadows on Behalf” are echoes of soul bands like The Friends of Distinction, The Cornelius Brothers, and The Fifth Dimension rubbing up against some of the trippier forays of soft-rock/psychedelic bands Gallery, The Marmalade, The Casuals, and Classics IV.

The result is a breezy, easy-going jam that bends out of center and leans toward something outside of the usual benchmarks. As such, it’s a refreshing song that should send people in search of more by this band and to dig deeper into their influences, most of them long forgotten bands that deserve a renaissance.

The Shadows on Behalf 12″ single was released this past April; the band has plans to release a full-length in the fall of 2011.

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La Femme “Sur La Planche”

Rafter “Paper”

Cause Co-Motion! “You Lose”

Brooklyn rapper Saigon just released his debut LP, The Greatest Story Never Told, but it has been a record in the making since 2006. After getting signed to Atlantic Records, Saigon became disillusioned with the major label’s process and restrictions (as chronicled in his “Trans-Atlantic Slave Deal”).

After years of wrangling, he was finally able to jump ship to indie Suburban Noize Records, bringing his Just Blaze produced tracks in tow. The pantheon of Greatest Story‘s guest contributors provides an eye-opening assessment of Saigon’s talent and the respect he commands in the New York hip-hop scene, with Q-Tip, Jay-Z, Swizz Beatz, Devin the Dude, Layzie Bone, Faith Evans, and Kanye West all lending a hand to the proceedings.

There can be no denying that the beat behind “Get Busy” (a bonus, non-album track) is a gimmick but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t work all the same. Anyone of a certain age is bound to have that Super Mario Brothers theme indelibly impressed into their hippocampus, and while we’ve heard chiptune hip-hop from artists like MegaRan in the past, it’s almost shocking that we’ve never heard someone take on this Goomba-popping beat.

The silliness of the backing track provides a smirking counterpoint to Saigon’s typically hard-edged rhymes and allows for some playful turns of phrase, as when he raps about a friend who “used to take mushrooms to make him feel bigger” (nudge nudge). At the center of the track is the simple, titular, party-ready hook, which sounds like something Digital Underground might have ushered out to get a crowd moving. All in all, it’s a great way to kick off a Friday night and a perfect introduction to a talent who will be new to most even if he’s been doing his thing for quite a few years.

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The Philistines Jr. is more than just a Connecticut-based pop trio. On “If I Did Nothing But Train For Two Years, I Bet I Could Be in the Olympics” they dare to ask a question that many of us have (in our weakest moments) at least considered. But forget about your pal who is constantly rambling about his Masters Swimming accomplishments – these three had the guts to put their deluded musings into song.

Never mind the feats of strength, Philistines Jr. would be a shoo-in to medal if the competition were to create smart power pop. Though “If I Did Nothing” begins with a light, almost jazzy intro, the song soon unfolds into a well-crafted ditty with a rhythm section that’s so tight you could bounce a quarter off its bass line. Rather than becoming a vehicle for endless testosterone-fueled braggadocio, “If I Did Nothing” includes an ingratiating dose of self-doubt: “All these things that I worry about / make me feel so left out,” before it ends with the perfect New Year’s resolution for any pragmatist: “I’ve got to learn to be more realistic.”

“If I Did Nothing” is available on If A Band Plays in the Woods…?, the first new material from the Philistines Jr. in nine years, which Tarquin Records released this past October.

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