Idle Warship takes over our souls

Are we here at PopWatch HQ in tune with the forces of the universe, or what? We're already firmly on record as fans of both Philly songstress Res and Brooklyn wordsmith Talib Kweli — and what do you know, they've recently joined forces for a sweet collab called Idle Warship! (Thanks to Nah Right for the tip.) Right now, Idle Warship isn't much more than a MySpace page with a couple of new tracks. But those tracks are pretty great. On "Industry Diary," Res and Kweli take turns venting (in occasionally NSFW language) about music-biz madness over a soft, slow Alicia Keys instrumental; work-related griping has rarely sounded this sexy. How does this song have only 1100 plays so far?!

This isn't the first time Kweli's vinegar-laced lyrics and Res' sleepy harmonies have complemented each other — check out their excellent '02 duet "Where Do We Go" below — so it's no surprise that they have excellent vocal chemistry. And they're putting it to use for a noble cause. According to their MySpace, the new project's excellently punny name is all about taking aim at our vapid celeb-gossip culture: "There are always new deities screaming for our attention, and we dispose of our gods in grand fashion. We tear them to shreds and fight over the scraps like rats on a sinking ship." Then again, they also say that "[a]n Idle Warship sits at the port, waiting for a war that will never be fought.... We are Idle Warships at bay, afraid of the fight on the open seas." But who really cares what Idle Warship means? For the time being, we're too busy bowing in obeisance to our new favorite left-of-center vocal duo.