by JAY WATTS III

Navigating through mp3 blogs, message boards and P2P applications in search of this week’s podcasting hit requires superhuman energy and dedication—or at the least, a miserable social life and poor sleeping patterns.

Given my qualifications, each week I’ll be presenting you with a selection of new downloads and news, based on what the chattering classes have been feverishly typing and bickering about, running the gamut from Cambodian pop to late-’60s meadow-psych recorded by a quartet of dwarves. Here’s a start:

Swedish mp3 blog Republicum has posted “Long Distance Call,” a new single by the Parisian quartet Phoenix (http://www.republicum.se/2006/03/22/they-are-phoenix/). With both Chicago and Electric Light Orchestra rescued from has-been purgatory by savvy soundtrack supervisors (in Unlucky Jim and Eternal

Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, respectively), the shuffling blue-eyed soul and saccharine production techniques of Phoenix should sound less like aural molestation now than it did at the time of their debut. “Long Distance Call” dips in the right places, rises with synth-woodwind flushes, and makes many pleasant promises for their next album.

Like all recent garage musicians who make it to our ears across the pond, Tinchy Stryder comes packaged pint-sized and teenaged. The East London MC, who may have come to your attention as a member of Roll Deep and a guest on the Streets’ “Fit But You Know It,” has completed a radical revamp of “Uptown Girl,” Billy Joel’s ode to Manhattan romance and the class struggle, with fellow grimester Wiley. Best dropped at 2:30 a.m., when the critical impulses have been dulled by potent alcoholic mixtures. Washington, DC’s Blisspop club night graciously hosts the mp3 on their blog, at http://www.blisspop.com/playlist.html.

I BET I NEVER HAD A BACK STREET GUY… goldkicks@gmail.com

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