Riding a trashy bass-and-guitar riff that sounds simultaneously bluesy and Radiohead-esque, this single from Beck's upcoming album finds him in free-associating Mellow Gold mode. But while the style isn't novel, the garage-band-in-space sound — clicking, super-syncopated LCD Soundsystem-style percussion, random bleeps and machine noises — breaks new ground for Beck and producer Nigel Godrich. It's not as polished as much of last year's Guero, but it may be more fun.

“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.