Sunburn
By Tera Melos
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Tera Melos’ records feature an intertangled pile of guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. What you gain from lossless here, which more compressed versions lose, are the high-end frequencies of the cymbals and guitar. In the normal-quality MP3, it's particularly bad. Without the definition and clarity that those frequencies provide, the track sounds a bit more muddy.
let gO Of my egO
By Nnamdi Ogbonnaya
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You’ll notice a similar sonic loss in this track, similar to the Tera Melos song. MP3 compression results in cutoff frequencies; this is most notable in the “s” noises in the vocals and the synthesized cymbals. The lower the quality of the song, the fewer frequencies there are. You also lose a little of the low end in the bass on the other side, which is critical to hip-hop.
jealousy
By michealcushion
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This is a tricky one. One thing to take into account is the original recording quality: a lot of bands record albums in DIY setups with consumer-grade audio gear. This is a lo-fi noise piece composed of prerecorded samples with digital distortion and tape hiss. It's very hard to tell a premium-quality version over a normal MP3. But the very discerning ear can hear the difference in the dynamic range of the track. Listen to the first two seconds of this sample when the tape hiss gets louder briefly, and then listen to the last two seconds when the tone cuts out and comes back.