THE SPIN MIX

Songs You Must Hear Now!

Nite Jewel “Artificial Intelligence” A coolly alluring robo-jam with an almost mathematical precision, but the languid, ingenuous vocals reveal the heart beating beneath the sine waves.

2. Crocodiles “Summer of Hate” Droning like a distant lawnmower, pounding like cops at your door, this duo’s nihilistic Cali fatigue pumps real blood.

3. Empire of the Sun “Walking on a Dream” Aussie psych-pop bo n Luke Steele (of the Sleepy Jackson) joins dance producer Nick Littlemore (of Pnau) for a falsetto stroll through MGM T’s secret garden.

4. Phoenix “1901” The giddy new single from these Parisian pop-rock maestros gives you a spicy buzz like a jalapeño plopped in a frothy margarita.

5. Amazing Baby “Bayonets” Brooklyn’s dirtbag dandies of the underworld nally craft a string-swept glam anthem worthy of those T. Rex nods.

Here We Go Magic “Tunnelvision” Singer-songwriter Luke Temple trades open chords and folk warbling for circular guitar haze and vocal loops while singing, believably, about endless possibilities.

7. Marina and the Diamonds “Obsessions” Cooing and whooping in a dramatic swale

between Kate Nash and Kate Bush, the Welsh pianist-singer plays pick-up sticks with a love a air’s bones.

8. Jarvis Cocker “I Told

You Twice (Leftovers)” Rock’s wittiest, most willful balladeer returns, trolling for love in the Museum of Paleontology (!), with dinosaur metaphors galore!

9. Rye Rye, feat. M.I. A. “Bang”

DJ Blaqstarr cuts loose a

rattletrap breakbeat, while the Baltimore teen rapper talks mad doo-doo and M. I. A. goes, well, bang.

10. The Strange Boys

“ Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up” As these Texans conjure garage rock’s brashly askew early-R&B spew, singer Ryan Sambol cries, “I did something I didn’t plan”—and you wanna know what.

11. Two Fingers, feat. Sway “What You Know” Producers Amon Tobin and Doubleclick hook up an ominous dubstep rat-a-tat, while London rhyme animal Sway muses on the never-ending police/gangsta dilemma.

12. Yellow Fever “Hellfire” Minimal art pop from ex-Voxtrot member Jennifer

Moore, who sings about cats, plays spare guitar, and is plainly trans xing.

Xrabit + DMG$ “Ferris Bueller” DMG$ smack up fools who think they’re cooler than Eskimos “moonwalking on ice cubes,” while Xrabit dials in a skittering beat even Ferris B could groove to.

14. It Hugs Back “Work Day” Any nine-to- ve sap longs for the daydreamy swirl of early afternoon, and this U.K. jangle-pop band is happy to help.

15. Drake “Say What’s Real” A Lil Wayne protégé obsessed with 808s and Heartbreak (careful!), this Canadian crooner/rapper ips Kanye’s “Say You Will” with surprisingly erce introspection.

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Nite Jewel
Home base: Los Angeles
Began: 2006 Influences: None.
“Listening to other musicians
makes me think I won’t be as
good as them,” says Ramona
Gonzalez, the lo- disco duo’s
mastermind. Sounds like: “It’s
not my responsibility to describe
my music.” Latest release:
Good Evening (Human Ear)

Here We Go Magic
Home base: Brooklyn, New
York Began: 2008 Influences:
Frontman Luke Temple says he
drew inspiration from “nonlinear
songwriters like Robert Wyatt
and Arthur Russell.” Sounds
like: “My voice embedded
within simple, hypnotic musical
themes.” Latest release: Here
We Go Magic (Western Vinyl)

Xrabit + DMG$
Home base: London and Dallas
Began: 2008 Influences:
“The Spank Rock album
( Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo) made me want to
make music,” says U.K.-based
producer Xrabit of his collabo
with Texas MC twosome
DMG$. Sounds like: “A really
great hipster rap party.” Latest
release: Hello World (Big Dada)

FROM LEF T: JOHNN Y JE WEL; COUR TES Y TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS PR; RONALD DICK

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