December 4, 2012 – SPIN's massive Year in Music 2012 coverage launched this week! You've presumably already consumed our 50 Best Albums, Album of the Year: channel ORANGE, Artist of the Year: Death Grips, and Band of the Year: Japandroids. Now it's time to find out how you can see two of the artists that feature prominently in our year-end roundup — Grizzly Bear and Santigold — live at SPIN's Year in Music party (presented by Virgin Mobile Live) at an intimate New York City venue on December 10. There's only one way into this bash: win a pair of tickets by filling out this form and retweeting our announcement. So do it now!

November 29, 2012 – We're sure you remember our Kotaku-approved list of 50 rap songs that sample video games. If not, it basically traced rap's love affair with the joystick from Sugar Hill Records alumni chilling at the ice arcade to Lil B expressing his love for you over Final Fantasy X. Now, for those who hated all that "reading" and "YouTube pushing" comes a swell supercut video where you can watch video games go from an 8-bit atari teenage riot to the type of PlayStation 2 games Ludacris kept in the ride. Watch us flip it like pinball.Video courtesy of Alex Eaton

November 27, 2012 – England's MOJO magazine may be somewhat infamous for celebrating the past, but the enduring rock rag hustles hard to connect the old to the new via its impressive "revisited" CD series, which wrangles a consistently interesting lineup of contemporary artists to cover an entire classic album of yore. Last year they had Villagers, amongst others, do Neil Young. March brought Bill Callahan versus Leonard Cohen, and June saw the Flaming Lips take on the Beach Boys.Now, for the magazine's January issue, MOJO has tapped a new batch of bands to cover Fleetwod Mac's beloved 1977 LP, Rumours. The Mac, you'll remember, are a popular indie rock meme these days: Starbucks label Hear Music/Concord wrangled Best Coast, MGMT, Washed Out, and others for the mostly awful Fleetwood tribute compilation Just Tell Me That You Wan't Me this summer.

November 15, 2012 – Dum Dum Girls brought their woozy dream-punk to Los Angeles' Sonos Studios last week to help celebrate the launch of the SPIN Music Group (full photo gallery and report here!). Dee Dee and Co. kindly let SPIN's cameras follow them backstage for a chat about their influences and retro gear, and what it's like knowing they're inspiring the next generation:

November 12, 2012 – In his rollicking "The Call of the Wild," SPIN's Jeff Weiss reported on the nascent music scene in far-off Anchorage, Alaska. It's a wild, wide-ranging story. But just like the vast state in which it's based, the Alaskan music scene is hard to cover in one installment. To help navigate the terrain, we've put together this handy supplement. In addition to a short video documentary, which offers interviews with many of the artists featured in Weiss' story, we've included info about bands to see, places to go, and websites to read.WHOThe Meg Mackey Band SPIN's Jeff Weiss described this jagged foursome's music as "glacial soul-rock, which sounds something like if Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs produced 4 Non Blondes." Led by the 28-year-old, former dog musher singer-guitarist Mackey, the band's most recent album is Eat Your Heart Out.

November 11, 2012 – Rihanna started putting out albums in 2005, but Saturday Night Live belatedly realized she's a megastar in 2009 and has been making up for lost time, booking her as a musical guest four times since then — twice this year, alone. We'll have a full report on Riri's performance on last night's show tomorrow morning, but here's a look back at all her SNL appearances, including her two stellar appearances in the "Shy Ronnie" digital shorts.December 5, 2009"Russian Roulette""Hard""Shy Ronnie"October 30, 2010"What's My Name""Only Girl (in the World)""Shy Ronnie 2: Ronnie & Clyde"May 5, 2012"Birthday Cake/Talk That Talk""Where Have You Been"November 10, 2012"Diamonds""Stay"

November 3, 2012 – Late yesterday, No Doubt released their official video for Push and Shove's "Looking Hot," which featured a variety of Native American imagery: a teepee, smoke signals, traditional clothing including feathers and headresses. As the always culturally sensitive Perez Hilton put it, "Gwen Stefani and the rest of her gang have just dropped their latest ska-tastic video, which features an arousing games of Cowboys and Indians Native Americans!"Perhaps that response — coupled with concerns expressed in YouTube comments posted by users bothered by the clip — have prompted the band to remove the video and issue a formal apology. In a post titled "In Regards to Our 'Looking Hot' Music Music" on their official website, No Doubt write:"As a multi-racial band our foundation is built upon both diversity and consideration for other cultures.

November 2, 2012 – REISSUE OF THE MONTH1. Hank Williams The Lost Concerts Limited Collector's Edition Time Life The first-ever release of actual concert recordings by country music's livest, wiriest wire is a thrilling revelation. Compiled from two 1952 shows just before Williams' death, the music is familiar classics, but the performances are uniquely fiery, soulful, and almost arrogantly breezy. Williams commands the stage with his iconic, raspy croon — the wounded wail of a man who was too crafty and badass for his own good — but there are also examples of his sly, cornpone banter, delivered with a seasoned hustler's sentimental glint. His band, the Drifting Cowboys, tenderly wreck your heart or tear ass at breakneck speed, especially fiddle player Jerry Rivers, whose astounding blur on "Orange Blossom Special" could shame any death-metal guitarist into hanging up his horns.

November 1, 2012 – What is Cruel Winter? No, that is not an ideological question. Kanye West's collaborators have hinted 'Ye is working on a sequel to Cruel Summer, the G.O.O.D. Music comp we thought wasn't so fantastic. But today Prefix found a trailer for Cruel Winter that seems like it's teasing the follow-up to Cruel Summer, The Arty Short Film, rather than Cruel Summer, The Meh Album. If you can't play Bingo to it, what's it worth? Still, we watched it for you! Here are our thoughts:0:09: Maybe Kanye's been listening to Ministry with all this George Bush I sampling0:54: What a waste of 54 seconds of our time

October 29, 2012 – It's two days before All Hallows' Eve, which means the music section of the Internet is soon to be filled with instructive blog posts telling you how to transform yourself into Azealia Banks and PSY for your hipster Halloween party. But stop the presses, folks: One of SPIN's Greatest Guitarists of All Time has dressed up like... another one of SPIN's Greatest Guitarists of All Time (with a brilliant twist!). Behold Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner (No. 89) as he transforms into the Kurt Cobain (No. 4)/Bane hybrid, Kurt CoBane! The photo originated on Aziz Ansari's Twitter, which also featured the inspired tweet, "You merely adopted the flannel. I was born it." #KurtCoBANE, you have saved Halloween.