1 Fergie (featuring Ludacris), "Glamorous." I was clearly out to lunch a few months back when I rated "Fergalicious" 1.0, especially considering that I spent the rest of the winter biz-ouncing right along to it in the car. "Glamorous," on the other hand, took about three seconds to kick in, and I love its ambiguous world-weariness (champagne-poppin', but she still has cravings for Taco Bell) and those bracingly wistful synth chords. (rating: 4.5 out of 5)
2 Mims, "This Is Why I'm Hot." Six months after its release, this intensely hooky mainstream rap track is finally making its way up the charts. A sparse, icy electro-pulse provides the backdrop for what sounds like the freedom of a young rapper discovering for the first time that, yes, this thing is really on, and hey, doesn't that echo box sound pretty damn wicked? (4.0) (myspace.com/mimsfanclub)
3 Silversun Pickups, "Lazy Eye." Gorgeous, droney, sun-glint pop from LA. Or, Smashing Pumpkins on an exceptionally good day. (4.0) (myspace.com/silversunpickups)
4 M.I.A., "Bird Flu." A thunderous cacophony of sound and terror—a percussion bomb aimed squarely at critics who declare her internationalist beats evil, and as outrageous in its own way as The Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird" or wedding-reception favorite "The Chicken Dance." Lacking a chorus and a melody, it's all noise and squall and artillery drum fire, and the truth is, I was unmoved, and didn't really catch on to its deadly groove until I tuned in to the striking video (streamable at miauk.com). (4.0)
5 Bill Callahan, "Taken." In his previous incarnation as Smog, Callahan recorded fatalist, lo-fi indie pop, once described to me by a friend as "What Leonard Cohen might sound like after burying his mother." Needless to say, I was initially taken aback by this lilting, earthy slice of Afro-pop (the B-side of his current single, "Diamond Dancer"), in particular its richly buoyant bass line. Not to overstate the case—he's still that deadpan Smog guy, comparing pictures of himself to a dog—but the music's gentle flow persuades him to admit that he may not be wholly immune to a smile after all. (3.5)
6 Avril Lavigne, "Girlfriend." Lavigne's new CD comes out next month, but place your bets now that "Girlfriend" will be blasting out of cars from now until Labor Day. With able assistance from producer Dr. Luke (Kelly Clarkson, Lady Sovereign, Pink), the newly self-proclaimed "motherf--cking princess" fashions a nasty bleacher-beat anthem. Think Ramones via Toni Basil with a dash of "Get Off My Cloud" thrown in for additional foot-stomp velocity. Neat. (3.5)
7 Mika, "Grace Kelly." "Do I attract you?/Do I revulse you?" asks this Lebanese-born, London-based Freddie Mercury fanatic in a piano-driven romp showcasing his astonishing ability to scale more octaves than Mariah Carey and Captain Beefheart combined. A real love-him-or-loathe-him type. Myself, I never met a fence I wasn't too happy to sit on. (3.0)
8 Regina Spektor, "Fidelity." I'm tempted to call this Moscow-born, New York-based poetess "Joanna Newsom for people who admit they watch Jeopardy!," but the truth is, I haven't heard enough of Joanna Newsom or met enough of her fans to know if there are proud Jeopardy! viewers among them. Spektor's vocal preciousness occasionally grates, though that's some trick the way she breaks the word "heart" down into 14 syllables. (2.5)
9 Three 6 Mafia (featuring Chamillionaire), "Dope Boy Fresh." After the heights of ambient-hop surreality scaled by "Stay Fly" and "Poppin' My Collar," this comes off like a minor-key retreat into ho-hum hustler clichés. Upped half a point for inducing genuine laughs by bragging about the Oscar they scored a year ago. (2.0)
10 Lady Sovereign, "Pretty Vacant." A neutralizing, pointless and ultimately stripped-of-joy Sex Pistols cover. The original has a better dance rhythm, but more to the point, her own singles have more anarchy than she or anyone else knows what to do with. (2.0)