SINGLES FILE A weekly playlist

A weekly playlist for the listener with a one-track mind.

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down: "Know Better Learn Faster"

Andrew Bird makes a cameo doing his standard fiddling/whistlingthing on the unusually gloomy, atypically emphatic title track to the band's upcoming disc.

Kid Cudi featuring MGMT and Ratatat: "Pursuit of Happiness"

This don't-try-it-at-home ode to blunts and drunken drivingassembled by Cudi and an assortment of late '08 hipster bands is 10different kinds of wrong, but kind of irresistible anyway.

Rosanne Cash featuring Bruce Springsteen: "Sea of Heartbreak"

Cash gets an assist from a nearly unrecognizable Boss on thissteamy (or maybe it's us?) version of the Don Gibson classic, alsofamously covered by her father.

Annie: "Songs Remind Me of You"

Various versions of this track, one of the Norwegian popgoddess's best ever, have been floating around the Internet for morethan a year. It's now the official single from her trouble-plaguedsophomore effort "Don't Stop," set to finally drop in November.

Confide: "Such Great Heights" (Postal Service cover)

How much more scary could this slept-on, screamo cover of thebeloved electro-pop hit be? The answer is none. None more scary.

-- Allison Stewart