Annie

“I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me” (Island)

Over a funktastic synth groove that sounds like Paisley Park circa ’85, Norway’s Anne Lilia Berge Strand breathlessly coos not-so-sweet nothings, ensuring that, yes, your girlfriend will hate her.

Death Cab for Cutie

“I Will Possess Your Heart” (Atlantic)

A groovy-as-fuck bass-driven epic that will have you convinced the Death Cab guys were smoking up with J. Spaceman when they decided that this brown-acid trip would make a great single.

The Last Shadow Puppets

“My Mistakes Were Made for You” (Domino)

Arctic Monkey Alex Turner teams up with no-name singer Miles Kane, enlists Owen Pallett and a 22-piece orchestra, and creates a shaken-not-stirred version of Britpop that’s classier than Sean Connery–era James Bond.

Ice Cube

“It Takes a Nation” (Interscope)

Fittingly, this Public Enemy–inspired joint finds O’Shea Jackson at his most political, flipping off Clear Channel and offering to “fistfight the president”. The best bit, though, is Cube’s boast about just how fucking loud his car stereo is: “My nuts play Ping-Pong from the noise.”

Spiritualized

“Soul on Fire” (Universal)

It’s hard to figure out if Jason Pierce is singing about falling in love, filling the Jesus-sized hole in his heart, or getting righteously baked. When this song’s mammoth, gospel-tinged chorus hits, they all seem like good ideas.

El Perro Del Mar

“Inner Island” (TCG)

Hypno-chanted, piano-and-organs soft pop for when you’re lying awake at 4 in the morning, desperately wondering where it all went wrong. If you’re lucky, heaven will sound like this.

CSS

“Rat Is Dead (Rage)” (Sub Pop)

Less horny-sounding than anything off CSS’s sex-obsessed debut. Still, you should probably keep these Brazilians and their surfy guitar hooks away from your bikini zone.

The Roots

“Get Busy” (Def Jam)

Forget hip-hop, old-school or otherwise. An apocalyptic swamp mix of mosquito-buzz synths, dark-tower string swells, and thud-stomp drumming, “Get Busy” makes it scarily clear the Roots are through with labels.

Mike Doughty

“Fort Hood” (ATO)

Stealing a chorus from Hair for this oddly uplifting tune, the former Soul Coughing leader laments the lost innocence of young people coming back from the war.

What Made Milwaukee Famous

“You May Be Right” (DeepRockDrive)

This Rolling Stoned take on the Glass Houses rocker will force you to admit that Billy Joel has at least one other song as good as “Piano Man”.

Robyn

“Konichiwa Bitches” (Interscope)

Former Swedish teen tart Robyn may look like she’s been trapped in the Thompson Twins’basement since ’84, but this drum ’n’ bass–bombed exercise in hip-pop suggests she’s really been doing sake shooters with the Harajuku Girls.