Soul sounds make your heart hurt - "Never Gonna Give You Up" The Black Keys

"Never Gonna Give You Up" The Black Keys

I saw The Black Keys at Terminal 5 last night: mind-blowing amazing rockness unlike any other. Seriously one of the best rock shows I've seen in a long time; Patrick's long string bean arms were put on this earth to rock a drum kit; Dan's throwback rock blues crooning is out of this world. Although they did NOT play this song, "Never Gonna Give You Up" is one of my favorite tracks off the album.

How you'll feel: Punched in the soul; painfully satisfied.

How you'll move: Religious arm raising and side to side swaying.

Side note: Love love love this song too: "I'm Not The One."

Post-baby beat explosion - "Xxxo" M.I.A.

"Xxxo" M.I.A.

This is one of my favorite (and most tame) tracks off M.I.A.'s new album MAYA. I heard "Born Free," and I was worried about the other songs, but the rest of the album rocks. It's a natural progression from Arular and Kala; the sound is tighter and more cohesive but still maintains M.I.A.'s fantastic monotone English prattle laid over digital beats, thumps, twinkles, and samples.

When to play it: "Da" club; dance party; medium-effort work out; pre-party cocktails with your skanky girlfriends.

How you'll feel: Cooler than you are.

Sidenote: Check out M.I.A's MySpace to listen to other tracks including my favorites, "Teqkilla," "Steppin Up" (featuring sweet power tool sounds) and "Space." If you buy the album (which I highly recommend), listen to "Internet Connection." How can you not love a song with the lyrics, "I'm down like my internet connection"?

Hypnotic drum shuffle with coo - "While We're Young" Department of Eagles

"While We're Young" Department of Eagles

This song is a fantastic semi low-fi shuffle. Daniel Rossen has such a great voice; I love him in Grizzly Bear, and I like him in Department of Eagles. The song has marching percussion, great twinkling twangy guitar, and some enjoyable play with sound fullness.

When to play it: Doing the dishes; drinking a beer on the stoop at sunset.

How you'll move: Unstoppable consistent toe tapping.

Side note: Department of Eagles JUST released this song on the album Archive 2003-2006 - the album is what the title suggests. Check it on iTunes.

Falsetto "shins" tamborine collision - "The Ghost Inside" Broken Bells

"The Ghost Inside" Broken Bells

Ok, I'm not a huge Broken Bells fan; however, I stumbled upon this live version on the Sirius XMU channel on YouTube, and I found it very enjoyable. James Mercer has such a great voice; he makes it look so easy. And check out Danger Mouse's business casual stone-cold demeanor - are you having fun or are we in surgery? I love it.

When to play it: Background noise for any mindless task.

How you'll feel: Neutrally content.

Side note: If you didn't know what I was talking about earlier, James Mercer is the lead singer of The Shins and Danger Mouse is a music producer also known as 1/2 of Gnarls Barkley. Danger Mouse has a new project with Sparklehorse called Dark Knight of the Soul; you can find it on iTunes; the album features songs with Iggy Pop, Julian Casablancas, The Flaming Lips, and ear-pleasing James Mercer.

Please forgive me "by and by" - "I Would Die 4 U" Prince & The Revolution

"I Would Die 4 U" Prince

If you're my friend, you know I love Prince; I've probably made you listen to him at every bar with a jukebox, and I MAY have shown you my favorite Purple Rain movie scenes. Just sayin'. I'm hoping, however, that you HAVEN'T heard this song in a while, and I'm about to rock your world.

This song is fun, heartfelt, 80s, full of robotic beats and amazing synthesizer noises, and some kick ass Prince screeching and grunting.

Also, some of my favorite lyrics: "You're just a sinner, I am told / Be your fire when you're cold / Make you happy when you're sad / Make you good when you are bad"

AMAZING!

How you'll feel: Romantically 80s; loved by Prince; happy.

How you'll move: Non-stop toe tapping and side to side 80s dancing.

Boombastic fun sun beats - "Big Brat" Phantom Planet

"Big Brat" Phantom Planet

Hi everyone! I've been away at the beach, but I just thought of a song that sends me into a shimmy and works perfectly for a summer beach party. This song is anthem-like, easy to sing along to, "... always... up to no good...", and really good at inducing spastic dancing including "the twist."

When to play it: Wild beach bingo bash; house party where everyone is wearing sunglasses and jumping up and down.

How you'll feel: Free and fun.

Old school funky cheese beats - "Give It to Me Baby" Rick James

"Give It to Me Baby" Rick James

Can you tell I'm excited for the weekend? This is one of the first, let's say, 50 songs that I knew and loved as a child. My parents had the Rick James cassette tape. Maybe my Dad was trying to tell my Mom something? Gross. Anyways, this song has horns, bass, Rick James froggy crooning, and a sweet drum crescendo in tune with "... give it to me, baby." Oh - did I mention the awesome lyrics about persuading your girlfriend to bang you when you're wasted? That too.

When to play it: Dancing in your kitchen while having a cocktail before hitting the town on a Friday night; a disco- or 80s-themed dance off.

How you'll move: Side to side dance moves with snapping.

How you'll feel: Unstoppably funky.

Side note: Ok, so remember the 90s teen movie, "She's All That"? Well, whenever I hear this song, I think of the scene where the douchey boyfriend dances at the party and points to his self portrait tattoo when the song says "...give it to me, give it to me..." Check it out.