The Cave Singers
Swim Club (Jagjaguwar)
There’s nothing like a nice, rolling acoustic- guitar riff to bring memories of summers past flooding back. That’s probably not what this song is about, but with the cold turning our hands into frozen claws, summer is all we can focus on.

Arson Anthem
Crippled Life (Housecore)
The politically incorrect song title is cool, but it’s got nothing on Arson Anthem’s chosen brand of music, namely the kind of guitar-pick-melting hardcore we haven’t heard since Ronald Reagan was making jokes about bombing Russia.

Steph Macpherson
Keeping Time
The back-porch violin is good and the acoustic guitar pleasant enough, but what makes "Keeping Time" a gorgeous slice of country-folk is Steph Macpherson’s voice. Move over, Be Good Tanyas—there’s a new gun in town.

The Bad Plus
2 p.m. (Eone)
Kind of what the Holiday Inn lounge is like after six Manhattans. And that’s the band we’re talking about downing the drinks. Why would you add this totally grating, freeform wankery to your playlist? That’s easy: to remind yourself why you fucking hate jazz.

The Order of Good Cheer
Shake It Shirtless
We’re willing to bet a bottle of Black Tower and a feathered roach clip that the members of the Order of Good Cheer bought their last rock record in 1973. If you’re still rocking the platforms and flared pants, get ready for heaven.

Chikita Violenta
The Pause (Arts & Crafts)
Think dream-fever shoegaze, flutter-bomb techno, and jagged-edge indie rock, all wrapped up in one frenetic, unnervingly propulsive package.

David Lynch
I Know (Sunday Best)
The B-side of David Lynch’s new electro- pop single ("Good Day Today") is better than the A-side. And it’s freakier too, with the white-mopped filmmaker sounding a bit like Captain Beefheart after a week-long purple-drank bender.

PJ Harvey
Written on the Forehead (Island)
Her voice soupy with effects, Polly Jean Harvey goes all washy and ethereal—and oddly tropical, with samples from Niney the Observer’s reggae classic "Blood & Fire". All of which proves that Harvey can do just about anything and make it work.

Kanye West
That’s My Bitch (Def Jam)
Yeah, Jay-Z’s on it, but the best thing about "That’s My Bitch" is that it features a vocal hook from La Roux’s Elly Jackson that almost makes us forget how much we want to punt that pompadoured scrag right in the cooter.

Los Campesinos!
Too Many Flesh Suppers
(Arts & Crafts) Leave it to these Welsh mope-poppers to start a song with a detailed description of eviscerated dogs—and that’s the most uplifting bit. Hide the razorblades before you put this string-seared lament on.

Jónsi
New Piano Song (Live)
Those lucky enough to catch Jónsi on tour this past summer have already heard this deliberately unfolding beauty, so it’s not entirely new. It is a song, however, and it does feature the piano, so the title is partially accurate.