Welcome back to The Verge’s weekly musical roundup. I’m Jamieson, and this is the last time I’ll serve as your host. My time at The Verge is ending today, and I’m not going to be curating jams for anyone — save myself, and maybe my parents if they ask — for a while. It’s sad! I’ve loved working here and writing for you, and the decision to move on and pursue a new opportunity wasn’t made easily.

Before trotting off into the sunset and taking the rest of the summer to play golf and drink red wine, I want to take a minute to talk about what this column’s meant to me over the last year-plus. It wasn’t always easy to pick 10 songs to highlight in this space on a weekly basis. There were weeks I found myself deciding between 20 or 30 worthy candidates, striking and revising and haggling with myself; there were weeks I worried I’d have to publish some non-round number because the world seemed so quiet.

Let’s share a few musical memories

And yet every week I’d manage to hit play on 10 tracks that had some kind of palpable effect on me — anger, sadness, confusion, pure and simple joy. Some of them came from artists I knew and loved, and others came from artists I’d never heard of before. That sense of discovery — that something worth hearing was always just around the corner — kept me going when I was suffering through a critical dry spell, struggling to understand industry economics, or just exhausted after a day spent embedding Kanye West’s tweets.

All of the songs included below were released during my time at The Verge, and taken together they’re a snapshot of contemporary music at its best. Some of them represent innovation in narrative or distribution; some of them come from artists who are pushing their chosen genres forward, or blurring the lines between them; some of them are just really cool. I’ll remember thinking and writing about this music long after it fades out of the public eye, and sharing those memories with you feels like the best possible way to say goodbye.

ANOHNI, “Drone Bomb Me”

I don’t watch a ton of music videos, but this one totally blew me away — I can still barely make it all the way through, that’s how uncomfortable it makes me feel. (And that’s the point!)

Beyoncé, “Sorry”

Living in Canada is almost entirely awesome, but every so often there’s a hiccup that makes me wish I could hop into the US for a night. An example: when Beyoncé’s Lemonade premiered on HBO, I assumed I’d have no trouble watching and recording it at the standard American time. Nope! Canadians were shut out. I had to write my review based on an… illicit viewing, and I didn’t get to see the album on TV until a few weeks later. The only logical conclusion: Beyoncé hates Canadians.

Grimes, “Flesh Without Blood”

As someone who’s been a Grimes fan since her early days on the awesome Canadian label Arbutus Records, it’s been a real treat to watch her blossom into one of the music world’s most distinctive, personable talents. Art Angels rules, and it’s still revealing new parts of itself with every listen.

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, “Arthropoda”

I’ve spent a ton of time writing about pop’s upper echelon for The Verge, but some of my favorite pieces for the site have revolved around weirder, lesser-known musicians. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is a great example — her music sounds like it comes from some fecund, bubbling near-future swamp, and I loved writing about her place in a long tradition of ambient and experimental musicians earlier this year.

Kanye West, “Famous”

I think it’s safe to say no musician on Earth has caused me more stress than Kanye West. The ever-evolving album! The music videos! The fashion shows! The Twitter drama! He’s probably taken a year or two off my life this year alone. I’ll miss trying to figure out his music and his various interpersonal conflicts, but I’m looking forward to relaxing and watching his career evolve from the sidelines.

Mitski, “Your Best American Girl”

Listening to Mitski’s “Your Best American Girl” feels like surrendering to a tidal wave: one second you’re standing ankle-deep in the ocean, and the next you’re being pulverized and gasping for air. I love musical moments like that, moments where you’re hearing something that’s so physical and forceful you can almost feel it taking a toll on your entire body through your headphones.

Rae Sremmurd, “By Chance”

I didn’t write about every major album while here at The Verge, and some of the ones I missed for one reason or another ended up becoming favorites. Rae Sremmurd’s new album SremmLife 2 is fast approaching that level. It’s strange, slinky party-rap, and I can turn my brain off and just enjoy myself when it comes on.

The Range, “Florida”

I spent an hour or so interviewing James Hinton about his magnificent new album Potential earlier this year, and it resulted in one of my favorite pieces. His music is as contemporary as it gets because of the way he samples YouTube, but it’s also warm and surprisingly humane. A few weeks after I spoke to Hinton, I spent a weekend at a cottage with a few friends. The cottage had a massive great room with huge windows, and one night we turned all the lights off and cranked Potential — which hadn’t been released yet — from a speaker while we sat around and listened. (We called that giant space “the planetarium.” It was ridiculous. It’s still ridiculous.) I think about that night every time I hear the album now, and that’s probably why it remains one of my favorites.

Rihanna ft. Drake, “Work”

When you have to write about new music within 24 hours of its release, you occasionally make a few judgments and assertions you end up wishing you could take back. I have a bunch of those regrets regarding Rihanna’s ANTI, an album I’ve come to love from back to front. It had plenty of hits, it wasn’t too weird for radio, and “Work” ended up being one of the best songs of the year. Consider this my formal apology. Work work work work work work.

The Weeknd, “Can’t Feel My Face”

This is the perfect place to cut things off. The Weeknd premiered “Can’t Feel My Face” live at WWDC last June, a day that also happened to be my first at The Verge. If something like that happened now, I know I’d be in the thick of it — writing a news post, debating the significance of his appearance at the event, preparing the song for inclusion in this column, etc. I don’t remember what happened then; I don’t even remember watching him perform. I just remember sitting in my living room, staring at Slack, and thinking, “Holy crap, this is insane, I’m never going to be able to do this, I’m going to get fired.”

Almost 15 months have passed, I survived, and “Can’t Feel My Face” has become one of the most influential pop songs released this decade. We all did alright.

Thanks so much for reading and listening, everyone. Have a great weekend.

Larry Wilmore’s The Nightly Show is ending its run on Comedy Central less than two years after its feted premiere, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Wilmore leapt from The Daily Show‘s roster of contributors into a slot replacing Stephen Colbert’s The Colbert Report in January 2015, and The Nightly Show was renewed for a second season last September.

“I’m saddened and surprised we won’t be covering this crazy election”

Comedy Central decided to terminate that second season early because the show’s performance — both in terms of traditional viewership and social spread — remained dismal. (The network’s hand was forced by odd contractual timing, too: it had to make a decision whether or not to renew Wilmore and his staff in just a few weeks.) “Unfortunately, it hasn’t connected with our audience in ways that we need it to,” said Comedy Central president Kent Alterman to THR, “both in the linear channel… and with shareable content and on social platforms as well.” The show’s last episode is airing on Thursday night, and it’ll be replaced by Chris Hardwick’s game show @midnight until Comedy Central finds a permanent replacement.

Wilmore addressed the cancelation with typical frankness in a statement to THR. “I’m really grateful to Comedy Central, Jon Stewart, and our fans to have had this opportunity, but I’m also saddened and surprised we won’t be covering this crazy election, or ‘The Unblackening’ as we’ve coined it. And keeping it 100, I guess I hadn’t counted on ‘The Unblackening’ happening to my time slot as well.” The Nightly Show may be axed, but Wilmore still has plenty on his plate: he’s an executive producer of both ABC’s Black-ish and Issa Rae’s upcoming HBO comedy Insecure.

Welcome back to The Verge’s weekly musical roundup. I’m Jamieson, I’m still your host, and I’ll somehow find it in my heart to forgive the President for stealing my playlisting thunder this week. As much as I’d love to nitpick his selections, the commander-in-chief hasn’t given me much to complain about: he knows how to set a mood, mixes it up on the genre front, and makes plenty of room for lesser-known artists alongside heavy hitters like Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday. Well done, sir.

My picks this week are, predictably, a little more scattershot: bonkers future-pop from Danny L Harle and Carly Rae Jepsen, sprawling electro-country from Lambchop, and stirring EDM from Porter Robinson and Madeon.

Remember to subscribe to our Spotify playlist if you haven’t already — it’s updated weekly! Let’s go:

Bon Iver, “22 (OVER S∞∞N) [Bob Moose Extended Cab Version]”

Bon Iver are gearing up to release their first LP since 2011’s lauded self-titled effort, and the band debuted the album live in full at a festival in Wisconsin last night. They also released the tracklist and artwork — both of which are very, uh, out there — and two songs to tide fans over until September 30th, when 22, A Million is released in full. “”22 (OVER S∞∞N) – Bob Moose Extended Cab Version” is a mouthful, and it’s also the superior of the two.

Danny L Harle ft. Carly Rae Jepsen, “Super Natural”

“Super Natural” has been floating around for a while, but the high-quality studio version wasn’t released until this week. It turns out CRJ is a perfect fit for PC Music’s high-energy, hyper-glossy pop: her voice is even lighter than the thin synths and rhythms Harle lays down around her. It’s like sprinkling Fun Dip mix on top of a clump of cotton candy.

Isaiah Rashad, “Free Lunch”

I’m crossing my fingers that “Free Lunch” is the first taste of Isaiah Rashad’s as-yet-unannounced studio LP, because it’d set one heck of a high standard with its funky arrangement and relaxed tone. Rashad might be Top Dawg’s most underrated signee, but that could change in a hurry if he lets a few more songs like this loose.

Joyce Manor, “Fake I.D.”

The boys of Joyce Manor have a question for you, and it’s a big one: what do you think about Kanye West? (They think he’s “great,” “the best,” “better than John Steinbeck,” and “better than Phil Hartman,” in that order. That’s some major competition.) That question is the heart of “Fake I.D.,” the raucous first single from their forthcoming LP Cody. It’ll have you nostalgic for the days when every step into a bar was a risky proposition.

Julien Baker, “Badlands”

It’s hard to imagine a combination of words that’d earn my click faster than, “Julien Baker covering anything off Darkness on the Edge of Town.” She’s taking on “Badlands” here, and it’s every bit as hearty and penetrating as you’d expect. I hope someone cajoles her into taking on the rest of the album, just for kicks.

Kuedo ft. Hayden Thorpe, “In Your Sleep”

British producer Kuedo is following up his remarkable debut LP Severant with Slow Knife, a new collection of music inspired by silky, synth-laden film soundtracks. Wild Beasts’ Hayden Thorpe chips in guest vocals on lead single “In Your Sleep,” a slow-burner that’s equal parts eerie and seductive.

Lambchop, “The Hustle”

Kurt Wagner and the rest of Lambchop haven’t released an album since putting out the fine Mr. M in 2012. That’s changing later this year with the release of FLOTUS — it stands for For Love Often Turns Us Still, naturally — on November 4th. “The Hustle” is a strange choice for a lead single, if only because of its length: it’s over 18 minutes long, and it takes every one of those seconds to fully unfurl.

Porter Robinson & Madeon, “Shelter”

EDM wunderkinds Porter Robinson and Madeon are touring across North America together this fall, and they commemorated the tour’s announcement by releasing the collaborative track “Shelter” earlier this week. It’s luminescent, heart-on-sleeve electro-pop, and the lines between their respective contributions are blurred enough to make the song feel like something new.

Steve Hauschildt, “Strands”

I have an enduring soft spot for Steve Hauschildt’s meditative, distinct electronic music, and “Strands” — the title track from a new album Hauschildt’s releasing this October — is typically mesmerizing. If you’re still spending a lot of time playing No Man’s Sky, this’ll make for a perfect alternative soundtrack.

The White Stripes, “City Lights”

Can you believe it’s been almost a decade since The White Stripes released their last studio LP? Jack White is preparing a career-spanning collection of acoustic recordings for release next month and he’s promoting it with “City Lights,” a Get Behind Me Satan-era track that was lost and forgotten until last year.

Here’s the running This Is Your Next Jam playlist — have a great weekend!

Welcome back to The Verge’s weekly musical roundup. I’m Jamieson, I’m still your host, and like many of you I spent my Thursday and Friday nights waiting on Frank Ocean. We’re well into the weekend at this point, and Boys Don’t Cry is nowhere to be seen. Are you disappointed? Angry? Amused? Did you see this coming from a mile away? If I’m being completely honest with you, I’m fine waiting as long as it takes. There’s plenty of other worthy music to celebrate, and I’d rather Frank takes the time he needs to realize his grand vision than release something unsatisfactory. He’s one hell of a tease, though.

Remember to subscribe to our Spotify playlist if you haven’t already — it’s updated weekly! Let’s go:

Britney Spears, “Private Show”

When I included Britney’s other new single “Make Me…” in this space a few weeks ago, I did so because it genuinely impressed me. (It was better than anything you’d hear on Britney Jean, to say the least.) I can’t say the same for “Private Show,” but I had to throw it in here anyway because it’s weird as hell. Britney sounds like a chipmunk vocaloid covering a Meghan Trainor C-side.

DJ Snake ft. Justin Bieber, “Let Me Love You”

After igniting his comeback with a guest spot on Skrillex and Diplo’s “Where Are Ü Now” last spring, Justin Bieber is paying back the world’s community of producers and DJs by hopping on all of their new singles. I like “Let Me Love You” a little more than “Cold Water,” Bieber’s recent collaboration with Major Lazer and MØ — it’s a better showcase for his voice and I’m a sucker for those deep house synths, even if DJ Snake stole Skrillex’s “dolphin” trick for the song’s wordless hook.

Grimes, “Medieval Warfare”

Can I level with you for a minute? There’s absolutely no chance I’m ever watching Suicide Squad. I’d rather eat a toenail. (Please don’t hold me to that.) The closest I’ll come to a real viewing is listening to the movie’s soundtrack, which is just as batshit and incoherent as the movie itself. It has at least one winner in “Medieval Warfare,” Grimes’ snarling piece of… trap-punk? Look, even this song is all over the place. Imagine Jared Leto getting freaky to this on set.

Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam, “In a Black Out”

Here’s a project worth getting excited about: Hamilton Leithauser (formerly of The Walkmen) and Rostam Batmanglij (formerly of Vampire Weekend) are releasing an album together as Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam. It’s called I Had a Dream That You Were Mine, and it’s coming out on September 23rd. New single “In a Black Out” is delicate folk, and it really starts to soar when Rostam tosses in a spectral choir about halfway through.

Jacques Greene, “You Can’t Deny”

I’ll always have a minute to spare for Canadian producer Jacques Greene because he made “Another Girl,” one of this decade’s best singles, and that kind of achievement should be rewarded. New cut “You Can’t Deny” is muscular techno, and it sounds a little like a Chvrches song on steroids before the beat finally asserts itself a minute into the song. It’s all dancefloor bliss from there.

of Montreal, “Let’s Relate”

We’re almost a decade out from of Montreal’s late-00s peak — think Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? and Skeletal Lamping — and Kevin Barnes is still churning out collections of oddball synth-pop almost every year. “Let’s Relate” is one of the new tracks arriving as part of the band’s new album Innocence Reaches on August 12th, and I’ll remember it for the funny turn of phrase that gives the song its title: “I already like you / I like that you like you / I think that you’re great / I want to relate.”

Tender, “Outside”

I don’t know much about the rising London duo Tender, but “Outside” caught me by surprise when I gave it a spin earlier this week — it’s artful, slinky post-James Blake alt-R&B. This is the kind of thing that’s easy to learn but tough to master, and “Outside” still managed to stand out. Promising!

Tennis, “Ladies Don’t Play Guitar”

I think Tennis is one of the most underrated pop groups working — they have an ear for distinctive, indelible melodies and a coherent aesthetic, even if it’s a little unfashionable. (“Sailing” doesn’t really work as the linchpin of a brand in 2016.) New single “Ladies Don’t Play Guitar” is a great introduction to their sound if you’re unfamiliar: a wistful piano line, a biting, sarcastic vocal from Alaina Moore, and a little fuzz to keep things grounded.

Tove Lo, “Cool Girl”

Tove Lo has emerged as one of pop’s most exciting talents in the last few years, writing a bunch of huge hits (including Ellie Goulding’s massive “Love Me Like You Do”) and earning a few smashes in her own right. I wouldn’t be surprised if “Cool Girl” — which is apparently inspired by Gone Girl, if you can believe that — rockets to the top of the charts sometime soon. It’s icy, confident electro-pop.

Warpaint, “New Song”

Los Angeles quartet Warpaint are releasing a new album called Heads Up on September 23rd, and “New Song” is exactly what it sounds like. (Here’s to titles that make things easy on the music bloggers of the world.) I remember spending a lot of time with the band’s earlier, moodier working during undergrad, so “New Song” really surprised me: it’s upbeat, bright dance-rock.

Here’s the running This Is Your Next Jam playlist — have a great weekend!