Santigold is a style-magazine editor's fantasy come to life. Her second LP is an impeccably fashionable art-pop hodgepodge: hopped-up dance rock, dub clatter, turbulent post-punk ballads. The production credits include a couple of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio, and Diplo. But who is Santigold? Too often, she's a blank. She sings serviceably and raps quite well. Her songs sound great but feel off, merely gesturing in the direction of emotions. In the end, she's so cool she'll frost up your earbuds. That's a lot more than you can say about most singers, and a lot less than you can say about great ones.

Listen to "Disparate Youth": 

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• Photos: Random Notes

“Tonight's the Night”

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."