THE SPIN MIX

Songs You Must Hear Now!

Music Go Music “Just Me”

Cock-rock guitar and squiggly synths lay down on the shag with a feathery, blow-dried Blondie vocal and sugary chorus. Pleasure ensues. Guilt does not.

2. Girls “Life in San Francisco”

An Everlys-ish B-side tri;e that wonderfully evokes bleary lovers falling in and out of tangled blankets. La la la.

 

3. Drake “Fear” Drizzy’s intimate venting from the So Far Gone EP may be his most honest recorded moment. It’s hip-hop as a schizo Twitter pity party.

4. Pictureplane “Goth Star”

Denver’s Travis “Pictureplane” Egedy drapes a shawl of Fleetwood Mac ;utter (sampling “Seven Wonders”) over an electro-thud beat and summons the spirit of St. Stevie.

 

5. Julian Casablancas “11th Dimension” Jules conducts a synth-rock suite and holds forth t

on America’s vultures and bootleggers like Dean Martin crooning “You Get What You Give.”

 

Skyzoo “The Beautiful Decay” Brooklyn MC’s grainy soul samples and outer-borough lyrical detail beg for Nas comparisons. Don’t doubt he’ll “brush ’em o; like the front of [his] Jordans.”

 

7. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson “The Sound” An electric piano beckons you inside, then Robinson opens some wine, plugs in his guitar, and the regret ;ows till sunup.

 

8. Gene the Werewolf “Superhero” This hooting, leisure-suit-sporting, schlock-rocking Pittsburgh Steelers fan

could be his generation’s Aldo Nova, if he’s man enough to live the fantasy life!

 

9. Shakira “She Wolf” Mope-wave mutt Sam Endicott (of the Bravery) ;nds his calling—as a

dance-pop song doctor, co writing Ms. Hips Don’t Lie’s giddily lupine demand to get supine.

10. Dragonette “Pick Up the Phone” Steamy, strutting, electro-pop soundtrack to Can- adian girl-gang mayhem. Russ Meyer would’ve dug the video.

The Drums “Let’s Go Surfing” Perky palefaces drive their Teutonic beats and instrumental clank to the beach in a Mustang out;tted with handclaps and whistles. Everyone leaves grinning and tanned.

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12. Thomas Function “Belly of the Beast” Huntsville, Alabama’s very own Black Lips have their shit shockingly

down—wastrel whine, woozy jangle, and childlike keys all stumble to the bar smartly.

 

13. Popular Workshop “Reptilians” These Steve Albini–produced scrappers imagine Mark E. Smith ruling Britpop and sneering: “Every mistake is a little blessing.”

 

14. Small Black “Despicable Dogs” Two boyish laptoppers lock the bedroom door and daydream of being love vigilantes. And yes, it’s raining outside.

 

15. XV “Mirror’s Edge” Like Lupe Fiasco if he worshipped ’80s teen ;icks instead of Islam, this Wichita, Kansas MC dons a jetpack but realizes that “gravity got a crush on me.” “ r

FROM LEF T: COURTES Y SECRETLY CANADIAN; ROB MAYER; COURTESY TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS PR

PHOTO CREDI T HERE

Music Go Music
Home base: Los Angeles
Began: 2005 Influences: “We’re
in the spirit of melodramatic
pop like Queen and Meat Loaf,”
says frontwoman Gala Bell,
“with some Broadway thrown
in.” Sound like: “I’m ;attering
myself, but I’d say Abba meets
Black Sabbath.” Latest release:
Expressions (Secretly Canadian)

Skyzoo

Home base: Brooklyn Began:
2002 Influences: “New York
City,” says the Bed-Stuy–based MC.
“I grew up on Big Daddy
Kane, EPMD, Jay-Z, and Biggie.”
Sounds like: “Lyrically driven,
but pleasing to hear. My
beats aren’t stuck in ’95.”
Latest release: The Salvation
(Jamla/Duck Down)

The Drums

Home base: Brooklyn Began:
2008 Influences: “We’re
obsessed with perfect songs,” says
Jonathan Pierce, who founded
the sunshiny indie-pop group with
Jacob Graham, “like the stu; from
Factory Records and ’50s pop.”
Sound like: “If Joy Division made a
fun party record.” Latest release:
Summertime! EP (TwentySeven)

READ MORE INTERVIE WS AT SPIN.COM ; JANUAR Y 2009 39 NOVEMBER 2009 ; GET ALBUM REVIEWS FIRST AT SPIN.COM 39