The Songs We Can't Escape

AKON feat. LIL WAYNE
"I'm So Paid"

Lost your job? Drowning in credit-card debt? Reduced to frying up road kill for dinner? Well, Akon's got a heartwarming message to share in this rough economic climate: He could buy and sell you several thousand times over, he retains a team of rooftop snipers as part of his security detail, and he's got a sound system that "could knock your wall off." (Left unsaid: He's had his voice box surgically replaced with an Autotune device.) Feel better? Also, in other news, Weezy's hella loaded, too—and almighty: "Snap my fingers, disappear from the precinct."

CHANDELIERS
"Maldonado"

Nothing profound here, just a two-minute, globular-synth interlude that suggests A) those psychedelic screensavers that came with the Macintosh I had back in college and B) Tortoise's ultra-mannered "Madison Area"/"Madison Ave" one-two punch. Concise!

KEMIALLISET YSTÄVÄT
"Taivaassa On Loivemmat Mäet"

This is one of those times where I've gotta kick myself for not realizing before now that a great band's been laying brilliance down for years without my knowledge. In a nutshell: Blast Animal Collective, Bird Show, and Avarus albums on separate stereos in the same room while tripping on mushrooms, and the effect will probably be similar. Finland: awesome, apparently.

KINETIC STEREOKIDS
"Have a Nice Day"

Chicago softies play gentle country rock, are worried about the environment, see tumbleweeds everywhere they turn, need a bit more iron in their diets.

SMASHING PUMPKINS
"G.L.O.W."

Random thoughts on the latest from Billy Pumpkin: A) This is sort of an intermediate-level Guitar Hero song, isn't it? For players just graduating from novice status. B) Unlike most of last year's blah Zeitgeist, this actually sounds appropriately Pumpkin-y, chorus wooooooooos aside. C) The fiery hurtling guitar parts would totally work as intro music for a Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling revival, which I'm betting was the idea. D) It's all prologue, no core or denouement, yeah? A handful of riffs fashioned into a three-and-a-half-minute rock blast. Seriously, folks: Transformers 2 soundtrack crud.