July 27, 2007

What this episode covers

This week, it's all about the single. Some of these tracks have seen a proper release, others are tucked away within a larger album, but all have one thing in common: They're worth the 99 cents at iTunes. First up, twee-voiced Metric frontwoman Emily Haines whose song "The Bank" actually name-checks Huey Lewis. James Lavell's UNKLE production collective returns a full decade after their breakthrough effort, Psyence Fiction which included cameos from DJ Shadow and Richard Ashcroft. This time around, Josh Homme provides vocals for the killer track, the funky stomper, "Safe in Mind." It takes a supreme talent to get Frank Sinatra to visibly perk up during one of his swing-a-ding duets -- and Keely Smith was just the talent to bring that out of Ol' Blue Eyes in the song, "How Are Ya' Fixed For Love," from 1958. If you're going to own one some from buzz-band Eastern Conference Champions, better make it "Nice Clean Shirt" -- everything else on their full-length sounds like it's trying too hard. And finally, a duet that sounds like it came straight out of 1994 -- the Manic Street Preachers and former Cardigans lead singer Nina Persson join forces on "Your Love Alone is Not Enough," showing what it would be like if the Cardigans rocked instead of popped. Also: "Preview," a new song from the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs.

Distinct summary based on available episode metadata or transcript content.