Songs You Need to Download Now!
Go to SPIN.com for samples and links to these tunes, vid clips, and more

1 The Boy Least Likely To “I BOX UP ALL THE BUTTERFLIES” The only true twee-pop heirs to Belle and Sebastian return with a banjo-pluckin’ ditty about torturing insects to mend a broken heart.

^{2 Grizzly Bear} “^{WHILE YOU WAIT FOR THE OTHERS}” ^{With a harshly lovely reverb jangle backing} Daniel Rossen’s warble, this is the Brooklyn band’s mostly eerily convincing psych-pop swoon yet.

3G _s3uillemots “GET OVER IT” Scruffily dramatic London indie poppers return with an even busier, swishier ound—hectic dance beats!—while Fyfe Dangerfield t-t-testifies: “In another life, I’d be drenched in sweat with you.”

^{4 Late of the Pier} “^{THE BEARS ARE COMING}” ^{Ever wish Klaxons sounded more like they looked—} i.e., wayward, wired offspring of a drug-damaged generation of glow-stick romantics? Well, here you go.

^{5 Manu Chao} “^{POLITIK KILLS}” ^{(DENNIS BOVELL REMIX, FEAT. LINTON K WESI JOHNSON)} Dub savant Bovell and history-makin’ poet Johnson give Chao’s agit-reggae stroll a darker, site-specific rumble.

^{6 Apes & Androids} “^{NIGHTS OF THE WEEK}” ^{These Brooklynites’ sidesaddle glam operatics, sly guitar} wank, and flamboyant synth squiggles can’t mask that their songs are actually well-written pop nuggets.

^{7 Princess} “^{PRETT Y RAVE GIRL}” ^{Imagine Radio Disney throwing a rave on South Beach—with age-} inappropriate party favors—as the Crime Mob MC inexplicably rhymes over a trance cheese plate of beats.

^{8 Tobias Fröberg, feat. Peter Morén} “^{JUST BEHIND A BRICK WALL}” ^{After hitting the usual} autumnal Swedish buttons, the vocals tilt up, gorgeous guitar slinks in, and it’s springtime in Stockholm.

9C _c9urumin “COMPACTO” This Brazilian multi-instrumentalist effortlessly sways and swivels through the sort of ut-and-paste Tropicalia pop funk that’d make Beck drool. Even geeking out over old 45s sounds suave in Portuguese.

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Ponytail “CELEBRATE THE BODY ELECTRIC (IT CAME FROM AN ANGEL)” This chaotic crew of Baltimore brats, led by irresistible squawker Molly Siegel, churns up a seven-minute, art-punk joyride.

^{11 Mudhoney} “^{NE W MEANING}” ^{The title’s a dodge: Mudhoney have never promised meaning—new} or old—in their 20-year run, but they still deliver the best right cross of scuzzy garage blare around.

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Joe Budden “TOUCH AND GO” After the heady maelstrom of Mood Muzik 3, the Jersey rhyme-ripper unleashes his most forward-moving, club-friendly jam in years. FYI, his “service is like Federer.”

13^1T _ch3elepathique “EU GOSTO” If you thought sideburned nerds sounded cool in Portuguese (see Curumin), eck out the sultry, chain-smoking coo of Telepathique singer Mylene on this big-beat electro-rock romp.

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Apache Beat “BLOOD THRILLS” New York post-punks and Deerhunter tourmates up their game with a surge of off-kilter beats, snaky guitar drone, and Ilirjana Alushaj’s sweet new-wave/goth nothings.

^{15 Ruckus Roboticus} “^{WHEN I GROW UP}” ^{In the Steinski/DJ Shadow/Cut Chemist lineage, this Ohio} DJ is the rare crate-digger who can use his obscure vinyl, found sounds, et al. to spin a captivating yarn.

Yeasayer “Wait for the Summer”

Reflecting the song’s lyrics, this video depicts an abundance of beautiful nonsense. In its imagined “cycle of life,” apples are banged off a tree by a sky full of clapping hands, worshipped like idols by green beetles, shot across the solar system, and sliced open to release a beetle- and tree-eating fungus. The result is a gorgeous collage of earth, stars, and singing silhouettes.

Utah Saints “Something Good ’08 (Van She Remix)” Little-known fact (according to these ’⁹⁰s rave vets): The “running man” dance started in a small Cardiff disco, when a proto-chav in a satin jacket and gold chain busted moves so fresh the place went mad, before he was strong-armed into signing away his rights to MC Hammer. And it’s a damn shame, because the running man looked a lot cooler sans genie pants.

Justice “ DVNO”

Inspired by iconic corporate logos of the ’80s and ’90s, director So Me elevates the animated-lyrics gimmick to a new, nostalgia-soaked level. Bumpers (the three-second clips that follow TV credits) spell out bits of the song’s verses: “DVNO” floats forward in HBO’s gold block text, “E.M. Even More” sits on a Fox Searchlight pedestal, and as for the rest…well, we don’t want to ruin the fun.

Tiny Masters of Today “Hologram World” They may have a combined age of 26, but TMOT certainly keep fashionable company. This Karen O– directed clip opens with a mind-numbing cocktail affair (attended by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mike D, Gibby Haynes, and Russell Simins costumed as geeks). As the guitar kicks in, a gang of kids crash the party and butcher the squares, but when the adults return as zombies, there’s only one option: “Thriller” dance!