Morcheeba - "What New York Couples Fight About (featuring Kurt Wagner)"

Morcheeba - "What New York Couples Fight About (featuring Kurt Wagner)": "I'm not sure that this pairing of electronic-tinged Morcheeba and Lambchop frontman Kurt Wagner totally works - the beginning verses are particularly sparse and awkward - but the chorus is pretty alluring. A strange sing-song duet, it doesn't really sound like either band, but you can still pick out their respective sounds from it. It's like a science experiment gone wrong, but the chorus still bears fruit."

Ladytron - "Paco!"

Ladytron - "Paco!": "I don't actually know for sure that this is a tribute to Are You Being Served?, but it sure feels like it is. It may not have the cash-register percussion of the show's theme, but it's still the coolest tribute to that show I can think of."

Family Fodder - "Debbie Harry"

Family Fodder - "Debbie Harry": "I had posted about this song before, as covered by Unrest (which they revised as "Winona Ryder"), which is amazing, but the original still takes the cake. The Family Fodder's version is sexier (thanks to the French-accented vocals) and is simultaneously both funnier and more extreme ("Deborah Harry, I'm having your baby!"; "Debbie is ac/dc!"). Thanks to Chris O for pointing me at this many a year ago."

Weezer - "Pork and Beans"

Weezer - "Pork and Beans": "The verses are throwaway (and creepily reminiscent of Sugar Ray - ew!), but the chorus is gold, even if it sounds like they're thieving from their debut album - at least they did it well!"

X - "Los Angeles"

X - "Los Angeles": "This song still blows me away - and it's been around for how long now? The interplay between John and Exene sounds just as fresh today as it did when they made it - literally: I saw them do this song at SXSW this year and they still rock this live. The energy of this song is always infectious - a classic song for the City of Angels."

Autolux - "Audience No. 2"

Autolux - "Audience No. 2": "Ladies and gentlemen, Autolux is back - and they are still excellent. As always, Carla Azar's drumming is a sparce but religious experience, so good it could be a song on its own. It just helps that it has woozy rock to go with it, making it even better."

Fischerspooner - "The Best Revenge"

Fischerspooner - "The Best Revenge": "The horns are a nice touch, but if this is the best they can do now, it seems like Fischerspooner is suffering from the law of diminishing returns..."

The Apples in Stereo - "Shine (In Your Mind)"

The Apples in Stereo - "Shine (In Your Mind)": "Yes! I am so excited that this track has surfaced. I discovered it as a bonus track on an old Spin Art sampler years ago - and, even then, I could not believe how such a great song could be abandoned on what was essentially a retail sampler. I'm glad that the Apples have finally put out a new odds-n-sods collection and put this on it. It's jangly, pretty and sweetly infectious. I get tingly just listening to it."

Revolting Cocks - "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"

Revolting Cocks - "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?": "This take on the Rod Stewart original pulls the disco out and replaces it with a sleazy, mechanical bump and grind rhythm. It's probably a bit too scary to be a stripper anthem, but that doesn't mean that still shouldn't be one anyway. Some sly changes to the lyrics, the old-style organ replacing the sax lead and other touches show the humour behind the lasciviousness, even if it's hard to notice behind the spoken-word dirty Brit vocals - which are also aces."

Dio - "Rainbow In The Dark"

Dio - "Rainbow In The Dark":
"Dio is awesome. Why, you ask?
Because he can take a song with MAD STUPID lyrics like this one (HELLO!!: "you've left been left on your own / like a rainbow in the dark!"...uh...what???) and make it sound not only good, but bad-ass. Sure, it helps that there's some shredding guitar parts in this song, but Dio brings the real magic. (And it's pretty cool that - a la "Holy Diver" - he yells out "LOOK OUT!" - as only Dio can - near the end of this tune.)"

White Gold and The Calcium Twins - "Tame The White Tiger"

White Gold and The Calcium Twins - "Tame The White Tiger": "I stumbled across a commercial about this 'band' on Comedy Central. The 'rock god' + 'milk' concept was pretty over the top for a milk ad, so I couldn't help but laugh. After realizing there was a tag to hear their music on Rhapsody (!), I went online and checked out their three-song EP, thinking it was a pretty crazy thing to come out of a milk ad. To my great glee, I realized it was ballsy rock music about milk and its calcium-y goodness - provided by Electric Six's Dick Valentine in all his insane glory. This song may be the coolest advertisement I've ever been aware of."

Cracker - "Happy Birthday To Me"

Cracker - "Happy Birthday To Me"

M83 - "Skin Of The Night"

M83 - "Skin Of The Night": "I know I'm breaking my own blog rules by posting about the same album more than once in a single week - especially when I hardly blog about the same album twice ever - but I've been obsessed with this M83 album since December - and now that I can finally share it, it's like popping a cork on a bottle of champagne. I can't hold myself back!"

M83 - "Kim & Jessie"

M83 - "Kim & Jessie": "Synth-shoegaze as only M83 can do it. Beautiful, gauzy, shimmering - this track is aces. You should love it as I do! Check it out exclusively at Rhapsody now!"

Hum - "Green To Me"

Hum - "Green To Me": "After "Stars" became a fluke hit on their previous record (You'd Prefer An Astronaut), people's expectations were unrealistic for the next Hum record - at least in terms of commercial success. While those hopes were sadly unrealized, the album (Downward Is Heavenward) is filled with heavy-sounding songs that still have melodies tucked inside the walls of noise, like this one. (The major label polish that pulls the vocals out of the fuzz of their previous records have something to do with that - making the experience a bit less spacey, but a bit sweeter in the trade-off.)"

Soulwax - "E Talking" (Nite Version)

Soulwax - "E Talking" (Nite Version): "Starts out like Blondie's "Heart of Glass", then the real drums and synth hand claps kick in, then the keys. You think the song is building, but then this bass line kicks in and it's like the bottom dropped out - and then the song really kicks in. Knowing that Soulwax did this to their own song makes it all the more brilliant.
(Bonus points for having Nancy Whang from LCD Soundsystem add some spoken word. Makes it even cooler!)"

White Shoes & The Couples Company - "Tentang Cita"

White Shoes & The Couples Company - "Tentang Cita": "Another band I fell in love with at SXSW. Imagine what the band that did the Love Boat theme song looks like - but from Indonesia and in their early 20's - and in the present day. Their earnest interest in 70s soft pop - often sung in Indonesian - is what elevates their music over mere kitch. This is not some irony-filled NYC hipster band, these kids really love this sound.
Live, their secret weapon is lead singer Aprilia who, while cooing at you softly, swings her arms around in a gentle and completely hypnotizing way. You may not understand what she's singing about, or even what her 'hand dances' mean, but she's completely mesmerizing anyway."

Whale - "Crying At Airports"

Whale - "Crying At Airports": "This band was, understandably, written off as a minor, novelty one-hit wonder for "Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe" - and, if that's all you heard, I would understand. Turns out they had much better music in them, it just hadn't come out yet. Aside from having a great title, their later album All Disco Dance Must End In Broken Bones is, at turns, moody, quirky, and packed with nervous energy. "Crying At Airports" is probably my favorite track on the album, propelled by druggy bass and vocals, punctuated by a Swedish-accented speed rap, and still oddly catchy. Definitely more than a mere curiosity."

The Wombats - "Lost In the Post"

The Wombats - "Lost In the Post": "Giddy British rock with a touch of snottiness, ofset my great backing harmonies and energetic riffs. A Rhapsody U.S. premiere!"

Does It Offend You, Yeah? - "Dawn of the Dead"

Does It Offend You, Yeah? - "Dawn of the Dead": "This album brings the party in a serious way, but not nearly as much as they do live, as I witnessed recently in Austin. Strangely, with all the robodance on the album, it's this awesome new-wave-influenced track that wins me over, even if it is a bit out of place with the rest of the record. Hell, I'll admit - it's probably the synth hand claps. Always a sucker for those."