Cloud Sounds #10: with Plaid, Fuck Buttons and The Pictish Trail

On this week's Cloud Sounds, a weekly playlist of new music curated by The Skinny, we feature some of the best new emerging music from Scotland and beyond, with tracks from Otimo's JD Twitch, remembering the late hero of the left-wing Tony Benn, who died this week; a live session track from Lost Map head honcho The Pictish Trail; and a blistering Arctic Monkeys mashup from Hector Bizerk's Louie, many of which are available for free download. In addition there's new music from experimental techno duo Fuck Buttons; Brainfeeder psychedelic rap crew The Underachievers; and Frank Ocean in a bizarre team-up with Diplo, Paul Simonon and Mick Jones from The Clash.

We begin with the track from Optimo founder JD Twitch, who composed this slice of melodic techno in memory of Tony Benn, who passed away this week aged 88. Twitch tempers his pulsing electronics with samples of speeches from the great man. Next up, it's an alternative mix of Brain Freeze from Slow Focus by Fuck Buttons, who are a regular feature on this year's summer festival circuit in the UK – check our feature in next month's issue for details of some of their appearances, or have a look at our regular Festival Watch posts.

Last month, Hector Bizerk won an award at the SAMAs (Scottish Alternative Music Awards) for Best Hip-Hop Artist - the most voted-for category in this year's awards, speaking to the increasing popularity and quality of the Scottish rap scene. The band's front-man Louie gave a rhymed speech-slash-verse while accepting the award, challenging stagnancy in music and the acceptance of poverty in Scotland – truly revolutionary stuff, which drew comparisons with Alex Turner's "controversial" comments about rock and roll at the BRIT Awards earlier in the year. This week, he offered his response to those comparisons, dropping some lethal rhymes over a beat sampling Arctic Monkeys' Do I Wanna Know, which is up next in our playlist - and it's available as a free download.

After that, a new collab between Californian beat-maker Prefuse 73 and Ninja Tune producer Machinedrum, dropping a slice of footwork-influenced, bass-heavy hip-hop. Then it's the turn of Denmark's Sleep Party People, incorporating loop-based guitars and drums, sweeping strings and haunting, ethereal vocals into their melodic indie sound. After that, a new cut from LuckyMe-signed producer Jacques Green – a slice of echoing future garage, taken from his new EP Vibrate, out 28 April. 

We're incredibly excited about the return of Warp legends Plaid – their 7th studio album, Reachy Prints, due on 20 May, sees them exploring the same experimental hip-hop and electro territory of their classic 2001 album Double Figure, but with a lighter, more uplifting sonic palette. Their new track Hawkmoth is up next. Then it's the turn of Ninja Tune crooner Fink, offering up a free download of new track Hard Believer. 

As excitement builds for their first official full-length album on Brainfeeder, New York's The Underachivers return with a gangster-as-hell track, Incandescent, offered up for free download. With their psychedelic tendencies on a short leash, they deliver a tough slice of Southern hip-hop-influenced hardcore rap, representing the Beast Coast movement. After that, a somewhat unlikely but successful collaboration between Odd Future's Frank Ocean, Diplo, and The Clash's Mick Jones and Paul Simonon. Produced for the Converse Three Artists, One Song series, it's also up for free download. 

Baltimore indie-rock group Wye Oak present a track of polished alt.pop next, taken from their album Shriek, out 28 April on City Slang. Then there's another free download, this time from Song, By Toad, offering up a live session track from Lost Map boss Johnny Lynch, aka The Pictish Trail. We spoke with Lynch recently about the upcoming Lost Map's Howlin' Fling mini-festival – read what he had to say here.

We close this week's playlist with a trio of tracks – first up it's Lyla Foy, a dream-pop singer-songwriter in the mode of Julee Cruise, who's signed to Sub Pop – it's taken from her debut album Mirrors The Sky, out 18 March. Then it's another slice of indie-meets-electro goodness from Aberdeen's Indian Red Lopez, and finally, a slice of straight-up metal from Killer Be Killed, a new supergroup featuring Max Cavalera of Sepultura, Greg Puciato of Dillinger Escape Plan, Troy Sanders of Mastodon, and Dave Eilitch of The Mars Volta.

That's it for another week! Check out the whole playlist below, and follow The Skinny on SoundCloud to keep up to date with our favourites.