INSIDE SPIN EDITOR’S LETTER

The backyard tapes: Duffy prepares to play for SPIN.com.

Duffy’s Due

See PAPA ROACH and BUCKCHERRY

on CRÜE FEST ‘08

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Go ahead, touch it. The El Kameleon DVD/CD Receiver’s proximity sensor already knows you’re coming. Before you lay a finger on its virtually hidden display, the electrostatic controls and 3. 5” widescreen monitor instantly light up so you can dial in your favorite music and videos. The El Kameleon comes iPod^® ready, with integrated Bluetooth capability and a USB rear cable included. Note: Images displayed on your monitor may actually appear in real life, which could significantly raise the temperature inside your car. Go to mobile.jvc.com for a hot video demo.

IT’S THE COUNTRY that gave the world Tom Jones, Super Furry Animals and, um, Goldie Lookin Chain. Now the latest buzzy musical export from Wales, Aimee Duffy, has hit our shores. Thanks to her canny retro stylings and impossibly bold voice (for such a wee young lady), comparisons to Amy Winehouse have been legion—and perhaps a bit unfair. For starters, Duffy’s debut album, Rockferry, is less brash than Winehouse’s Back to Black, and it’s unlikely that dirty-footed Duffy exploits will become a tabloid staple anytime soon. One comparison that does stick: Both have weathered criticisms about their authenticity.

Back in February, we selected Duffy as an artist to watch in our “Who’s Next” feature. And we’re thrilled to put her on the cover this month. We dispatched writer Amanda Petrusich, author of the acclaimed new book

It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the Next American Music, to the singer’s hometown of Nefyn, as well as to Sheffield, England, and she came back with a revealing look at Duffy’s transformation from small-town girl to big-time star. In these days of rampant Framptonized cyborg vocals and voices Auto-Tuned beyond any human capability, it’s refreshing to hear a pure and imperfect voice with the songs to back it up. Want proof? Watch our exclusive video of Duffy performing “Mercy” in a Brooklyn backyard last January ( spin.com/videos/duffy-mercy).

As for the rest of this month’s eclectic lineup: London correspondent Tim Chester profiles upstart Floridians Black Kids as they bring anarchy to the U.K., while longtime Spin contributor Simon Reynolds details the clamorous history of shoegaze innovators My Bloody Valentine on the eve of their reunion shows. And in a piece sure to be widely discussed, contributing writer David Peisner investigates the whereabouts of D’Angelo, the great ’90s neo-soul singer undone by a notorious music video. Mercy indeed.

Doug Brod

Editor