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

1 Radiohead & George W. Bush “THE GLOAMING (DJ SHADOW REMIX)” A cut-up of Dubya’s fearmongering intros an orange-alert Hail to the Thief remix—Requiem for a Lame Duck.

2 ^Plies “^{HEARD OF ME}” ^The “^{100% Real Nigga}” ^{is more college kid than drug dealer and admits he’s a} _{lyrical duffer, but here his coarse blather contains unexpected grains of truth.}

3S _h3tricken City “TAK O TAK” Looking like Alison from the Kills and cavorting like Karen O, singer Rebekah Raa as a floppy, fashion-brat charm all her own, especially on this scruffy indie-pop lark.

^{4 Elbow} “^{THE BONES OF YOU}” ^{The Mercury Prize winners have fully evolved from proggy bombast to} gritty barroom drama, and here Guy Garvey bellows his wordy confession with a palpable shudder.

^{5 Gentlemen Jesse and His Men} “^{DON’T WANNA KNOW}” ^{Bassist Jesse Smith of Atlanta} garage punks the Carbonas flashes power-pop moxie like the long-lost son of Dwight Twilley or Nick Lowe.

6 ^Eminem “^{I’M HAVING A RELAPSE}” ^{The craziest twist in Slim Shady’s welcome return to killing people} _{other than himself is his confidently executed, trachea-chokin’ Caribbean flow—go, white mon, go!}

^{7 Busy Signal} “^{NINE NIGHT}” ^{Dancehall’s street prophet has suffered criticism for bad-man lyrics (and} associations), but his Auto-Tune addiction is more troubling. This police-brutality plaint mesmerizes, nonetheless.

^{8 Vulture Whale} “^SUGAR” ^{Led by singer/guitarist Wes McDonald’s wry voice of reason, these Alabama} club rats rock like Kings of Leon minus the ass-waggin’, addressing obsessive love with honest exasperation.

9T _h9he Welcome Wagon “SOLD! TO THE NICE RICH MAN” With Sufjan Stevens arranging and producing imself silly, this duo (a Brooklyn Presbyterian pastor and his wife) turn Bible stories into soulful, enigmatic indie rock.

^{10 Jean Grae & Blue Sky Black Death} “^{SHADOWS FOREVER}” ^{Over a sample of the Velvet} Underground’s “Venus in Furs,” Jean Grae spits once again like she genuinely doesn’t give a fuck.

^{11 Anthony Hamilton, feat. David Banner} “^COOL” ^{Slow-rolling soul ache for couples caught} in the economic shitstorm, with a sweet chorus that beats a 401(k) (especially with Banner on comic relief).

^{12 Jesus H. Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse} “ALCOHOLICS IN MY TOWN” Goofball rockers aim for your funny bone but hit much closer to home.

13^1L

_Pi3ucky Soul “LIPS ARE UNHAPPY” This London sextet recalls the lo-fi girl-group swoon and shimmy of the pettes, but ditches the kitschy aura, buoyed by Ali Howard’s coolly composed come-ons.

^{14 Shrag} “^{FOR T Y-FIVE 45S}” ^{On a surprisingly tension-filled breakup lament revolving around music} geekdom (and snobbery), these U.K. charmers sound like Heavenly with a rage problem. Call it psycho-twee.

^{15 Ruste Juxx, feat. Lil Vic} “^{GET UP}” ^{Juxx scowls over a vicious Jimmy Castor Bunch breakbeat,} but the tough-nut vibe cracks when his little boy Vic squeaks the chorus like a pro.

Omaha Bitch “Orgasmic Troopers” These French hipster metalheads exploit heavy, fast-paced riffs and trashy, tits’n’leather imagery, but look like a bunch of irony-mining indie poppers. It’s fitting, then, that this video should feature an equally (but awesomely) incongruous mosh ballet of elegant, tutu-clad dancers breaking ranks to snarl, shove, and punch, leaving no doubt that all dance schools should include a class on headbanging.

autoKratz
“Stay the Same”
In this colorful animation
for the London duo’s sweet-
voiced electronica, complex
diagrams zoom by, linking
eggs to pigeons to rats to
cities to kaleidoscopic rotating
patterns with a seeming
schematic logic. But when the
music cuts out, the structure
immediately collapses—
deer ride in cars, chicks mob
foxes, and pigments break
off into abstract color clouds.
The lesson? Don’t let that
record skip.

Ponytail
“Beg Waves”
Directors Michael Guidetti
and David Berezin animate
Ice Cream Spiritual’s second
single with imagery as
volatile and spectacular
as the music’s bursting
guitars, pounding drums,
and explosive yelps. Pillars
of light pierce the sky over
a rocky Pacific shore before
exploding into fiery
pinwheels, linked rainbow
arms, and a neon barrage
to make the Lawnmower
Man proud.

Ratatat
“Shempi”
More art project than
music video, this band-
made head trip perversely
manipulates footage
from classic, pillow-lit,
1970s Abba videos by
layering cut-out eyes
and mouths onto Björn,
Benny, Anni-Frid, and
Agnetha. As disco
arpeggios trill over a
globby bass line and
rhythmic guitar, the
now-Klingon-browed
and snaggle-toothed
foursome silently lip-
synch with nightmarish
menace.

SAM SEAGER (S TRICKEN CI T Y); LIBI PEDDER/ LIBIPEDDER.COM (LUCK Y SOUL)