July 3, 2012 – Apparently neither Obama nor Romney are going to come out in favor of observing July 4 on a Friday or Monday like Memorial Day or Labor Day, so we're humbly going to raise the suggestion here (in a way it's more patriotic, don't they see?!). In the meantime, JEFF the Brotherhood have unveiled a great way to kick off your Independence Day non-weekend. The video for super-catchy, fuzz-brained power-popper "Sixpack," from the Nashville duo's July 17 Hypnotic Nights — which, BTW, is produced by Black Keys singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach, and streamable here — is all about heading to the river with your friends on a summer day and just kicking back.

July 3, 2012 – OutKast's André 3000 will cover the Beatles, Muddy Waters, and more on the soundtrack of All Is By My Side, the new Jimi Hendrix biopic being filmed in Ireland, Rolling Stone reports, citing producers. With the company that oversees Hendrix's estate refusing to give its blessing, movie makers have come up with a novel solution. The film will reportedly take place in London in 1966 and 1967, so Three Stacks will perform some of the same covers that Hendrix did during that early period. That includes the Beatles' "Sgt.

July 3, 2012 – Just as Kanye West and Pusha T are basking in the adulation for their new G.O.O.D. Music cut "New God Flow," their rivals over at Young Money and Cash Money Records have unleashed a star-studded track of their own, via IllRoots. Sure, nobody was exactly clamoring for a fully loaded version of "Born Stunna," Cash Money boss Birdman's grunging money-cars club-rap boast with Florida hip-hop action hero Rick Ross. But on this remix, YMCMB star Nicki Minaj comes out swinging, spitting a phrase that sure sounds like "fuck a Pusha" amid a strident, effects-clipped verse that invokes her "all these bitches are my sons" insult and brings out her cartoonish side with a classic '80s-baby-Disney closing reference.

July 3, 2012 – Kanye West stole the next morning's headlines at Sunday's BET Awards, going a cappella in a moment of breathtaking ambition that recalled Lil Wayne seizing the same venue to declare himself hip-hop ("and I ain't dead, I'm alive") five years earlier. Now the full track, which samples its hook from Ghostface Killah's Supreme Clientele cut "Mighty Healthy," has emerged, and it's similarly bristling: G.O.O.D. soldier Pusha T delivering a ferocious lesson on hip-hop history, from Puff tough-guy Shyne to Tupac at Coachella (by way of an inevitable-for-Pusha-eventually yay-'Ye pun); West getting tied up a bit in his latest proclamation of greatness with name-drops (LeBron James, Notorious B.I.G., Martin Luther King, Rodney King, Whitney Houston, Richard Pryor ...

July 3, 2012 – Over the weekend, Gotye dismissed exaggerated rumors of his death with a Pink-deprecating tweet. "I'm not dead. #Pinkalbumtitles," the singer-songwriter who's Australian for Sting wrote. The real Pink, who is also very much alive, is indeed prepping her first album since 2008's Funhouse, but let's not forget her 2010 Greatest Hits... So Far!!! compilation spawned two big hits in its own right ("Raise Your Glass," "Fuckin' Perfect"). And while Gotye has been standing around naked painted the same color as the walls, Pink has been, y'know, being a mom, so she has a pretty good excuse for any delay. "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)," the first single from the LP, has arrived, and while it might not fully satisfy those who love her past smashes like 2008 glam-rock romp "So What" or 2001 coming-out moment "Get This Party Started," it has hooks galore.

July 2, 2012 – Damon Albarn, during performances of his new opera, Dr Dee, looks down at the stage from the point of view of what the show's director recently described to the Economist as "a nation in decline." That's an often-missed distinction from the '90s Britpop wars between Blur and Oasis: Although both English band's mid-'90s albums draped themselves in the Union Jack, Albarn's songs often explored a nation's tattered promise, while the Gallagher brothers swaggered on as if the sun still never set on the British Empire. (It's probably no coincidence that Oasis had larger-scale commercial success on this side of the pond, where national exceptionalism remains a political article of faith.) The reunited Blur's live debut today of two remarkable new songs — their first since 2010 Record Store Day one-off "Fool's Day" — also bears consideration as art that reflects a diminished era.

July 2, 2012 – Girls' Christopher Owens is leaving the band he formed with bassist-producer Chet "JR" White, the San Francisco-based singer and songwriter has revealed. "My reasons at this time are personal," Owens said in a series of tweets on his personal account. "I need to do this in order to progress." Owens said he will still make music and promised that "more will be announced soon." The official Twitter account for Girls has yet to reflect the news. The duo released two critically acclaimed albums, including last year's Father, Son, Holy Ghost, and an EP during their brief career. They recently wrapped up a U.S.

July 2, 2012 – Last year's Civilian, by the Baltimore duo of singer-guitarist Jenn Wasner and drummer-keyboardist Andy Stack, was one of the year's understated pleasures. Wye Oak's latest, the rhythm-driven "Spiral," takes a new-wavey turn from that album's smoldering, Americana-smudged indie rock, adding marimba, programmed drums, and mesmerizing vocal effects. It's no less of an entrancing slow burner, however, and will be available for download today through Adult Swim's website. Read SPIN'S 2009 Breaking Out profile on Wye Oak here.

July 2, 2012 – Azealia Banks has joined forces with Styles P, just after declaring the Gangster and a Gentleman MC, via Twitter, "literally my FAVORITE rapper." The Gotham duo kicked off the weekend trading tongue-twisting, catchily crass verses on "Nathan," backed by Scotland producer Drums of Death's squiggly synths reminiscent of '80s acid house. Although Banks and Styles both come hard with sinister-sounding vows that "y'all niggas ain't gettin' Nathan," Styles' references to Coney Island — and Banks' relish-taking references to hot dogs, ketchup, etc. — raise questions about precisely which Nathan we might be talking about here. "Boom, pow, Batman words," Styles exults. Just wait until they try the cheese fries. Breaking Out artist Banks is slated to release her new mixtape Fantasea on July 11, pushed back from a planned July 4 date.

June 29, 2012 – The first day Red Hot Chili Peppers ever played together with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, as bassist Flea told SPIN a year ago, the L.A. alt-rock funksters had just learned about the death of a close friend. That friend was much-missed author, punk icon, and former SPIN contributor/pithy-quote-provider/letter-writer Brendan Mullen, who died in 2009 at age 60. RHCP's latest LP, I'm With You, pays mournful tribute to Mullen on "Brendan's Death Song." Directed by Marc Klasfeld (Katy Perry, Jay-Z, Kid Rock), the track's video gives its subject a proper jazz funeral, RHCP-style, down in New Orleans. "It was a poignant moment for us," Flea said of the writing of the song. "It was an emotional thing." So is this video.