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SPIN Mix for August: 11 Great Songs to Hear Now

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Every month, SPIN editors go to many shows and listen to large amounts of advance CDs to uncover the best new tunes of the moment. Here are this month’s hottest tracks: Read about the songs below and use the player to hear them all.

1. Katy B, “Broken Record”
Dancefloor inge?nue stuck in relationship loop coos with mounting bad-decision excitement, nudged by pulsing synths that circle back for every golden chorus. (YouTube)

2. Beirut, “East Harlem”
Mournfully jaunty ukulele, Zach Condon’s rumpled croon, the uptown-downtown cultural divide. Ah, bobos in love. (YouTube)

3. CSS, “Hits Me Like a Rock”
Brazilian dance-rockers’ swaying summer jam about that song that mattered way back when, given a nostalgic kick by Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie. (YouTube)

4. Tammar, “The Last Line”
Wide-eyed, agape, we’ve-cracked-the-kosmische-egg krautrock choogle that starbursts on a crackling guitar coda, then falls gently to earth. (YouTube)

5. The Men, “Bataille”
Wire guitar + Wipers drone + French philosophizing about teen sex and poultry products. Tre?s magnifique! (YouTube)

6. Spoek Mathambo, “Control”
Slo-mo vocals plunge into the sepulcher as drum machines ricochet and synths snake on this “darkwave township house” cover of Joy Division. (YouTube)

7. Nas, “Nasty”
As on “Made You Look” and “Thief’s Theme,” Nas awakes one morning, decides to imperiously ether a thunderous beat, and f-you very much. (YouTube)

8. The Rapture, “How Deep Is Your Love”
Finally, a proper follow-up to “House of Jealous Lovers”! This pleading rock-boy’s idea of a disco-gospel anthem skronks beatifically. (YouTube)

9. The-Dream, “Body Work / Fuck My Brains Out”
These horny boasts over colossally wheezing R&B (and Princely funk-rock) push The-Dream’s party into pure pathos. (YouTube)

10. Clams Casino, “Drowning”
A ghostly voice whispers, piano notes flicker through thick sample fog, and an unsettling trip-hop shiver lingers. (YouTube)

11. Cities Aviv, “Die Young”
Producer Muted Drone rips Depeche Mode’s “People Are People” to shreds, while this Memphis MC bellows convincingly about always risking everything. (YouTube)