Regina Spektor Wishes You a Happy New Year, Sort of

1. Regina Spektor, “My Dear Acquaintance (Happy New Year)�
Spektor delivers a straightforwardly sweet New Year’s song but then adds the sounds of sirens and machine guns to make it “edgy,� “topical,� and “kind of annoying.� [Twelve Major Chords]

2. Mountain Goats, “Lovecraft in Brooklyn�
John Darnielle presents us with an apocalyptic tune from his new record about switchblades, armies of the voiceless, and an alien invasion. [Swill Merchant]

3. Hot Chip, “Sexual Healing�
Hot Chip turn in a fairly frigid version of Marvin Gaye’s classic in their quest to cover and/or remix every song that has ever been recorded. [Cover Lay Down]

4. Toxic Avenger, “Superheroes (Chewy Chocolate Cookies Remix)�
A dance track that starts with annoying glitches and skips but very quickly gets around to delivering on the fun that the title promises. [Panda Toes]

5. Chuck Prophet feat. Ryan Adams, “New Year’s Day�
Chuck Prophet and Ryan Adams collaborate live on a downer of a New Year’s song, but it sounds like they collaborated on a bottle of Jim Beam before taking the stage. [Soft Communication]
—Ehren Gresehover