Caught in the net: No sweat - Earl still has an Odd Future

During the rapid rise last year of the young LA rap group Odd
Future, one key member was out of the picture. Earl Sweatshirt's
role in the band – or non-role – took on mythical proportions as
his bandmates perpetuated said myth with T-shirts bearing the
legend "Free Earl".

Rumours abounded that Sweatshirt's disappearance was a result of being sent to an all-boys Samoan reform school. But now, finally, it seems he's back with a new song under his arm – there are also the obligatory Tumblr ( soaponmylawn.tumblr.com) and Twitter ( @earlxsweat) accounts.

The track, "Home" is streaming at terttlefer.com– it's a discordant affair with clanging drums, cymbals and synths all competing while Earl Sweatshirt's impressive rhyming leads the way, concluding with the words, "And... I'm... Back. Bye."

Luscious again

The 1990s US alt-rock trio Luscious Jackson released their last album Electric Honey in 1999 and decided to call it a day a year later.

In 2011 the band reformed with little fanfare and now they're recording new material.

Their previous output was released by the Beastie Boys' now-defunct record label Grand Royal but this time around the band is turning to crowd-funding to make things happen.

The band has set up a funding drive on the website Pledge Music, with a plethora of incentives offered to those who donate – their page is at bit.ly/zgTuij.

A new track has been been offered up in the shape of "Are You Ready?", which sounds firmly rooted in their 1990s alt-pop/rock roots, and is streaming on the Rolling Stone website at ind.pn/wkw1Nl.

Reburial

Burial returned this week with the new three-track Kindred EP. It has been released digitally through the dubstep pioneering label Hyper Dub, who are also planning a vinyl release. At ind.pn/x9wE8e the three tracks can be downloaded en masse or individually.

On early listens, the new efforts don't seem to change the script dramatically from his previous efforts but Burial still manages to unspool haunting sounds from his dubstep base. The more uptempo second track, "Loner", all pulsing beats and blips and a doom-laden ambient wash, is the most intriguing cut.

Trumpet, vibe, cello, and piano in crash

The Irish contemporary classical and experimental collective The Crash Ensemble have been going strong for some 15 years now.

Their latest recording is a work written for the group by the South African born, Irish-dwelling post-minimalist composer Kevin Volans. The piece, simply called "Trumpet, Vibe, Cello, Piano" clocks in at the 22-minute mark and sees the titular instruments quietly and sparsely applied over a set of repeating patterns. It's streaming and downloadable at crashensemble.bandcamp.com.