Typically on a Friday I like to rant and rave about how exciting the weekend is going to be, and how much fun we’re all going to (or is it supposed to?) have. Today I want to talk not about the weekend, but instead The Weeknd. You’ve hopefully heard of The Weeknd before, and if not, I’ll say this much – look up their “House of Balloons” R&B mixtape and download it. It’s available for free. You know what’s also available for free? A brand spanking new mixtape from The Weeknd, the official “follow up” to the much hyped “House of Balloons”, appropriately released yesterday and titled “Thursday”. More R&B mixtape goodness for your ears. And honestly I don’t mind saying this – The Weeknd make great music for your weekend. So chill out with that goodness and thank me later. But the mp3s in today’s Pick Your Poison are nothing short of excellent too. Plenty to recommend, from new stuff from Cass McCombs and Kathryn Calder to an excellent Okkervil River song through equally stellar moments courtesy of The Caseworker, Color Radio, PAPA, Sleeping Bag and Talkdemonic. Icebird is a side project of rjd2, and he’s remixed his own work below, as has Illvibe. In the Soundcloud section you can stream new tracks from ANR and Twin Sister, both of which I also advise you to check out. If all this doesn’t make your weekend at least sound good, well, we’ve got a problem.

A Lull – Pot Luck

Appetite – Warn Me, Right

The Caseworker – National Runner

Cass McCombs – The Same Thing

Chris Letcher – Phone Booth

Color Radio – Quiet House

Erika Spring – 6 More Weeks (Chrome Canyon Remix)

Icebird – Going and Going and Going (rjd2 Remix)
Icebird – Going and Going and Going (Illvibe Remix)

The John Steel Singers – Rainbow Kraut

Kathryn Calder – Who Are You?

Marmoset – Peach Cobbler
Marmoset – Winter

Okkervil River – Your Past Life As A Blast

PAPA – I Am the Lion King

Pomegranates – Softness
Pomegranates – Morroco Girl

Rows of Arrows – Lasso

Sleeping Bag – Beside

Talkdemonic – Revival

We Cut Corners – Go Easy

SOUNDCLOUD

ANR – It’s Around You

Twin Sister – Gene Ciampi