Solange: “Stillness Is The Move”
First GZA performs with Black Lips, then Jay-Z gets down at a Grizzly Bear show. Whether it was Sasha Frere-Jones or just a bedfellows-by-way-of-declining-sales-figures thing, something finally got hip-hop interested in indie rock. But let’s not get all cynical about it, especially when it’s getting results like Solange’s take on “Stillness is the Move.” The original, by Brooklyn’s Dirty Projectors, put an art school twist on contemporary R&B. Surprisingly, it works just as well without the art school part.

Hot Chip: “Take It In”
Devo might have had a few reflective moments in its time, but nerds don’t come much more tender than Hot Chip. The London-based electronic pop group’s new single, “Take It In,” could bring a tear to the tersest microserf’s eye. “Wheel of Fortune stops at 6 o’clock/So what am I to do until midnight?” sings co-front man Joe Goddard over a skittering beat. Yeah, we’ve all been there. But it’s the chorus—with its soaring New Order keyboards and talk of doves—that will bring tears down on the keyboard and have you Skype-ing the one you love.

Yellow Fever: “Hellfire”
Chief among the virtues of Austin, Texas: there’s good barbecue. But the rent isn’t too bad either. So, you’d think Yellow Fever could afford to buy a few more instruments—maybe a sampler or a keyboard. But if “Hellfire,” from the duo’s self-titled debut record, is any indication, they’re getting by just fine with drums and guitar. One part Swell Maps and two parts Quix-O-Tic, it’s a solid piece of post-rock minimalism.

Eels: “Little Bird”
Eels front man Mark Oliver Everett has gotten a lot of mileage out of being sad. He’s made seven sad full-length records and then, recently, authored an autobiography that details the specific reasons for his ever-enduring melancholy (to be fair, he has some pretty good reasons). And, he’s not done yet. A new Eels album, End Times looms just over the horizon and its new single, “Little Bird,” is duly bummin’. “Little bird hopping on my porch/I know it sounds kind of sad/But what’s it all for?” sings Smith. What does the little bird say? Nothing. He’s flown off in search of a birdbath filled with hemlock.

Yeasayer: “Ambling Alp”
With its mystical lyrics and psychedelic flourishes, Yeasayer’s debut record, All Hour Cymbals, was the feel-good indie rock record of ’07. However, “Ambling Alp,” the first track from the group’s sophomore record to see the light of day, finds the Brooklyn band getting more direct with its positive vibes. Chris Keating drops more motivational couplets here than a Deepak Chopra press release. “The world can be an unfair place at times/But your lows will have a compliment of highs,” he sings. The song bears a marked resemblance to Rusted Root, but that’s a good thing. No, really. “Ambling Alp” suggests that Yeasayer’s next record is going to single-handedly revive the djembe economy in 2010.

Four Tet: “Love Cry”
Rhythm has always been integral to the schtick of Four Tet (AKA electronic musician Kieran Hebden), but “Love Cry,” from a new limited edition 12″ is the best he’s ever done at making straight-up dance music. On last year’s Ringer EP, Hebden shed his busy post-rock roots with four stripped-down and hypnotic tracks that borrowed equally from Villalobos-style minimal techno and afrobeat. “Love Cry” goes even further, ditching chords, melodies, and dramatic gestures for a killer pulse and a single note bass line.

Javelin: “Twyce”
Javelin may have a few rough edges—hiss-heavy production and high-frequency synth squeals—but the Brooklyn duo’s music is mostly just smooth sailing. Listening to “Twyce,” from Javelin’s debut Thrill Jockey 12″, is sort of like stepping through a Sandals advertisement and onto an actual Caribbean beach. Mostly because there’s a ton of cowbell. The funky vintage keyboard parts, which suggest a sizable amount of time spent listening to Wally Badarou’s Kraftwerk-in-the-Bahamas-album Echoes, doesn’t hurt either.

Woodsman: “Dikembe Mutombo”
The American West is a fertile habitat for head-music. For instance, LaMonte Young, the Grandmaster Flash of heavy drone, found his original inspiration in the incessant winds of his native Idaho. But most people out there just seem content to tool around on a mandolin. What a drag. Denver Colorado’s Woodsman, at least, are making good on all of that wide open space. “Dikembe Mutombo,” has is thoroughly stocked with rippling guitar figures and post-Hawkwind trance rhythms.

Field Music: “Measure”
After a two-year hiatus spent toiling at solo efforts—School of Language and The Week That Was—brothers David and Peter Brewis have reunited Field Music and promptly cranked out a 20 song double record. And while that smacks of indulgence, “Measure,” the album’s title track, finds the band as reserved ever—pairing austere string loops with exacting percussion and rivaling the George Formby Jr. songbook for the title of most English-sounding music ever.

Surf City: “Autumn”
The Kiwi quartet plays New Zealand’s version of classic rock—that is to say trippy indie-rock rife with slacker ebullience and backwards guitar riffs.

Frankie Rose: “Thee Only One”
Former Crystal Stilts and Vivian Girls drummer Frankie Rose has gone solo, but her debut single doesn’t fall too far from the reverb-soaked, Phil Spector-loving vine. “Thee Only One,” is so hazy sounding that one must assume the song was recorded at the bottom of a cistern next to a fire fueled by old copies of Chickfactor.

Weezer (ft. Lil Wayne): “Can’t Stop Partying”
For years now, old time Weezer fans have been down on their knees praying that Rivers Cuomo will finally get back to writing guitar rock and stop rapping/rap-rocking/repping Timbaland. “Can’t Stop Partying,” probably isn’t what they had in mind, though. “Gotta have Patron, gotta have the beat/I gotta have a lot of pretty girls around me,” sings Cuomo. Those wounded-but-nerdy words wouldn’t have been a bad fit on Pinkerton, but the big synth splashes and the guest verse by Weezy, not so much. “The unusual is the fucking usual/Man my life is beautiful,” raps Lil Wayne, who is at this point, may be the only person on the radio making weirder choices than Cuomo.

Charlotte Gainsbourg: “IRM”
Having exhausted pop music’s reserve of rakish Euros—Jarvis Cocker, Air, Neil Hannon—on her last record, 5:55, Charlotte Gainsbourg has hopped over the pond and tapped Beck to produce her new one, IRM. Unsurprisingly, it’s weirder than her last. At least the title track—a Silver Apples-cribbing 2 minutes of metallic bonging and electronic squiggles—suggests that’s the case. “Leave my head to magnetize/ Tell me where the trouble lies,” she sings.

Michael Jackson: “This Is It”
The title track from Michael Jackson’s upcoming concert film, This Is It, basically gives fans what they wanted most of all: the Jackson of 20 years ago. Rumored to be a demo recorded during the sessions for either Off The Wall or Dangerous, the song has been posthumously polished a la “Free As A Bird”—adding syrupy strings, and maybe even a few extra Jackson bros to make it fully closing-credits-worthy.

On Fillmore: “Master Moon”
Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche and Dazzling Killmen bassist Darin Gray—working together under the name On Fillmore—conjure up the ghosts of Martin Denny and Les Baxter on this exotica-tinged tune from the duo’s upcoming record, Extended Vacation. If Disneyland is looking for a fresh tune to blast through the Haunted Mansion’s PA, they may want to consider licensing this.

Lightning Bolt: “Flooded Chamber”
Lightning Bolt’s upcoming record Earthly Delights will be the duo’s first new release in four years. What have they been up to in the interim? “Flooded Chamber,” a track leaked from the album, suggests that drummer Brian Gibson and bassist Brian Chippendale were actually cryogenically frozen for most of that time, along with their zeal for repetition, blast beats, and distorted howls. In other words, not a lot has changed.

Vampire Weekend: “Horchata”
The singing crab from Disney’s The Little Mermaid is going to be pissed. His lawyers are probably on the phone with Vampire Weekend’s people right now, wondering why they failed to clear the use of his faux-Caribbean accent for “Horchata,” the kickoff track from the New York–based band’s upcoming LP, Contra. “You’d remember drinking horchata/You’d still enjoy it with your food on the side-ah,” sings Ezra Koenig. Are those marimbas in the background, or is somebody banging on a bed of clams?

Mocky & GZA: “Birds of a Feather”
It’s a bit of a stretch to call this song, assembled by Canadian producer Mocky, a collaboration. The rapper merely plops into the middle of the song, drops a single throwaway verse—a free-associative rant about birds—and abruptly vanishes. Plus, the tweeting birds and sunshiny jazz-pop seem a little out of character for the man who helped found Wu-Tang Clan.

Usher: “Papers”
Honestly, you’d think women would be a little more discreet when hanging out with Usher. The guy’s constantly blabbing about his deepest and darkest secrets. His breakout album was called Confessions, for God’s sake. Then again, it must be pretty hot to hear somebody like Usher sing your dirty business. “Papers,” the first song to leak from Usher’s new record, tentatively titled Raymond vs. Raymond, finds him giving everybody the skinny on his recent divorce. Apparently, it sucked. “At 10 I lost my mama/And I been through so much drama/And I turned into the man that I never thought I’d be/I’m ready to sign them papers,” he sings, presumably from his analysts’ couch.

Bear in Heaven: “Dust Cloud”
It’s hard to imagine how Brooklyn space-rock band Bear in Heaven can make it through a band practice without having a box of Dramamine on hand. “Dust Cloud,” from the group’s second full-length, Beast Rest Forth Mouth, surpasses mere wooziness and goes all the way to seasickness. Do not walk and chew gum and listen to this song at the same time.

The Fresh & Onlys’: “Dude’s Got a Tender Heart”
San Francisco garage-psych band The Fresh & Onlys offers up a reverb-drenched nugget about a tough guy on wheels. Nothing especially mold-breaking there. But by the end of the first verse, it’s apparent that this dude’s wheels are only about 47mm in circumference. Narrative-wise, “Dude’s Got a Tender Heart, from the band’s new LP, Grey-Eyed Girls, is equal parts “Leader of the Pack” and “Sk8r Boi.” No matter, though: Strong men also rollerblade.

Harmonia & Eno: “Sometimes in Autumn (Shakleton Remix)”
England-born/Berlin-based producer Shakleton whips out a pen knife and whittles down this krautrock classic, composed by Harmonia and Brian Eno way back in ‘76. But where the original skewed new-age–calm and placid synths draped over a motorik rhythm–this remix tilts the vibe toward paranoia with sharp-edged dubstep-style percussion.

Malakai: “Shitkicker”
Bristol, England-based Malakai assembles vintage psych-rock via sample collage. “Shitkicker,” from the duo’s upcoming full-length Ugly Side of Love finds twangy guitars getting mashed up with still-dusty Merseybeat breaks.

Krallice: “The Mountain”
In comparison to Orthrelm, Mick Barr’s former band–known for its 40-minute carpal tunnel-inducing minimalist-metal composition OV–Krallice, his black metal group, is a pretty straightforward affair. But, again, only in comparison to Orthrelm. By any other metric, “The Mountain,” from the group’s forthcoming record Dimensional Bleedthrough, is still pretty bizarre. The bassist turns out a few traditional-sounding grunts for the vocals, but Barr’s riffs–so fast that sometimes it sounds like a skipping CD–are still without precedent. This is the music by which cubist Norsemen might vanquish Yngwie Malmsteen.

Julian Casablancas: “11th Dimension”
As frontman for The Strokes, Julian Casablancas rocked. Left to his own devices, however, he prefers to shake his coconuts. Garnished with blaring synths and thudding electronic drums, “11th Dimension”—from the singer’s upcoming solo LP, Phrazes For The Young—is clubbier than a box of Larry Levan’s underpants. But Casablancas sounds perfectly at home underneath the mirror ball. “I’ve got music coming out of my hands and feet and kisses,” he sings.

Shafiq: “Nirvana”
Shafiq Husayn, of hip-hop production team Sa-Ra Creative Partners, intones deep P-Funk thought-streams over a burbling stew of samples. Needless to say, it’s trippy. “You want to know what deep is?” asks Husayn. “Well, let’s see how far the rabbit hole goes.”

White Rainbow: “Tuesday Rollers and Strollers”
That’s one upside to the internet: If Portland-based drone-rocker Adam Forkner, aka White Rainbow, had to rely on the radio to hype the 18-minute “Tuesday Rollers and Strollers,” he’d probably be S.O.L. Even this considerably stripped down five-minute edit of the track might have intimidated DJs. But in the blogosphere, the choice is up to you. It only takes one click of the mouse to unleash Forkner’s skull-unfolding sound collage.

Thom Yorke: “Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses”
Wild Horses couldn’t drag the Rolling Stones away. Bono just wanted to know who was going to ride them. Thom Yorke, appropriately enough, tilts the classic equestrian rock-cliché toward paranoia and dread. “Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses,” from Yorke’s just-released solo 12″, finds him wholly disinterested in arena rock uplift. Instead, he summons his inner Damo Suzuki, moaning abstract lyrics over a hypnotic patchwork of diced-up drum samples.

OM: “Cremation Ghat”
After three albums of nothing but bass, drums, and Sufi poetry, California stoner-mystics Om had just about smoked their schtick down to resin. But the duo’s latest release opens the door for a few collaborators. “Cremation Ghat II,” from the forthcoming God is Good uses tamboura, tablas, and strings to flesh out an Eastern groove, allowing the band the chance to escape the box–or hotbox–that they’ve been gotten stuck in.

Gary Higgins: “Demons”
When it comes to difficult sophomore albums Gary Higgins’ Seconds probably sets some sort of record. It took the Connecticut-based singer/songwriter more 35-years to follow up Red Hash, his dark and moody 1973 psych-folk classic. But “Demons” proves that time has not worn away Higgins ability to craft haunting baroque folk tunes. Nor has it softened his outlook. “We both traveled hard/ now you drive a Mercedes Benz,” sings Higgins. “I get to light your cigar/and glue back your phony tri-star/and puke in the trunk of the car and not really give a damn. ”

Liam Finn & Ed O’Brien: “Bodhisattva Blues”
Apparently Radiohead’s Ed’Obrien loosely adapted this song, taken from the 7 Worlds Collide benefit compilation, from a Tibetan chant. What he doesn’t mention is that the monk who originally wrote it was actually just John Lennon disguised in a habit. It’s nice, though, after nearly a decade of post-guitar Radiohead, to hear Ed O’Brien crank out some skronky Bends-era riffs again.

OOIOO: “Uda Hah”
Boredoms drummer Yoshimi P-We returns with her just-as-good-if-not-better solo project OOIOO. “Uda Hah,” from the group’s upcoming record Armonico Hewa uses tick-tocking guitars and squishy electronic noises to frame a multiple-drummer rhythms section. This band spent its last couple of records–Killa Killa Killa and Taiga–wandering in and out of a fusion-jazz nebula, but if “Uha Hah” is any indication, they’re back on solid ground.

Ted Leo: “Last Days”
Rough times for Ted Leo. He’s been signed to two of independent music’s most beloved/influential labels (Lookout! and Touch & Go) and, subsequently, watched them both throw in the towel and call it a day. Maybe he’s been hexed? Despite all of this, Leo’s music remains defiant and energetic. His lyrics on “Last Days”–a rough mix from an as-yet-untitled album–may skew apocalyptic, but the music is loose, loud, and anything but tense.

The Clientele: “Harvest Time”
“I Wonder Who We Are,” the first single from The Clientele’s upcoming Bonfires on the Heath was–with its horns, Spanish guitars, and spirited tempo–a little bit out of character for the band. But “Harvest Time” finds the London-based band getting back on message. Languid Crosby Stills & Nash-meets Pink Floyd vocals drift over tamboura drones and jangling guitars.

Wale: “Ice & Rain”
So yeah, been waiting a while for the Wale record to drop, right? Well, keep waiting. The release date has been pushed back from September to late October. In the meantime you can read the man’s tweets, stalk his myspace, and scrutinize leftovers like “Ice & Rain,” which didn’t make the cut for Attention: Deficit. It’s no huge surprise that this song–where Wale raps a tragic suburban-girl-meets-gangster-dude love story–was dropped. “Ice melts in the rain, love turns into pain,” goes the hook. Compared to “Nike Boots,” it’s a bit of a bummer.

Little Dragon: “Feather”
Rock bands will come and go, but people will always need music to shop to. So Little Dragon can, at the very least, look forward to some job security. “Feather,” from the Swedish synth-pop quartet’s upcoming full-length Machine Dreams, has just the right sex-to-apathy ratio to warrant being pumped through the sound system at The Limited. “I’d rather be a whisper in heaven,” sings Yukimi Nagano, as if gravity alone is drawing the words out of her mouth. Really, could she sound more bored? It’s almost as if she did the vocal take whilst reading Ulysses and watching televised golf.

Jay-Z: “Reminder”
Jay-Z has moved some 26 million units, so he’s allowed to spend a whole verse rapping about his record sales. “I crush Elvis in his blue suede shoes/ made the Rolling Stones seem sweet as Kool-Aid too,” he rhymes, sort of, on “Reminder,” a track from his upcoming record The Blueprint 3. But if Jay-Z’s hoping to overtake The Beatles on this go-round, he’s going to need a track with stronger sauce than this. Burdened with a leaden hook and some namby-pamby synth leads, “Reminder” drags hard. The production is credited to Timbaland, but there’s a chance this track was actually put together by the Flight of the Concords dudes, just for a laugh.

Professor Genius & Grackle Speculator: “Jive”
Beyond a few bleeps and bloops, the original arcade version of Galaga didn’t have much in the way of music. Could be that the programmers were just sitting around and waiting for producers Professor Genius and Grackle Speculator to write “Jive.” The song’s motorik rhythms, vintage synths, and laser-beam noises make the perfect soundtrack for lo-bit space warfare.

No Age: “You’re A Target”
My Bloody Valentine bankrupted its label while recording the ear-shattering shoegaze masterpiece Loveless. Sub Pop, on the other hand, probably isn’t too stressed about No Age’s woozy new EP, Losing Feeling breaking the bank. On “You’re A Target” the Los Angeles-based punk duo gets the same dreamy sounds–walls of fuzz, spaced-out drones, whale noises, the works–on a lo-fi budget.

King Khan & BBQ Show: “Invisible Girl”
King Khan & BBQ Show’s latest single finds the band feeling kind of blue. They love a girl, but she’s invisible. Also, she’s at the bottom of the ocean. Unless you grew up inside a ’50s sci-fi flick, the story’s specifics are probably pretty alien. But the sentiments–the loss, the hurt–are universal and so are the chugging vibrato guitar chords. Khan sells them both pretty well here.