Like Arthur Russell, the late disco visionary whose work his music recalls, Andy Butler makes club jams that transcend the club. The second LP by his group, whose 2008 breakout "Blind" featured Antony Hegarty, is not about showcasing star vocalists, notwithstanding a cameo by Bloc Party's Kele Okereke on "Step Up," a nod to Eighties New York freestyle. Instead, it's about Butler's diverse songwriting: flanking idiosyncratic house jams (the single "My House," "I Can't Wait") is "Boy Blue," a soul-folk "It Gets Better" mash note, and "Blue Song," a cryptic ballad sung over electronics and a beautifully restless clarinet line. The bonus cover of XX's "Shelter" shows Butler is as good at re-imagining songs as imagining them.

Listen to Blue Songs:

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“Satisfied”

Only the genius of Tom Waits could combine the subject of mortality, a reoccurring theme in his work, with wordplay that name checks both Mick and Keith, whom he calls "Mr. Jagger" and "Mr. Richards," and the title of their magnum opus, "Satisfaction." And to show just how cool Waits really is, he even got Mr. Richards to play along, one of nine guest appearances the guitarist has made on three Waits albums. "This growling roadhouse stomp is a late-breaking response to the Stones' greatest hit," Rolling Stone said of the track.