5. "Full Color Love Affair" by The Shimmer Kids Underpop Association

Why: A mellow song about the not-so-mellow experience of being dumped for another person. It perfectly captures the beaten-down tone of self-loathing and hatred that accompanies this experience.
Key lyrics: "When I saw you in the library, well then I knew that it was all over, 'cause he was showing you that book by e.e. cummings. And I had on my favorite shirt, but it didn't seem to make a difference 'cause all the poetry in Paris will never hide my shortcomings. And if our paths cross in a little while, if I should see you at a party, maybe you'll apologize...but you'll still be a bitch."

4. "Recommendation" by Mirah

Why: This is a good one for the defiant, I-am-so-getting-over-you-but-I-still-want-you stage of a breakup. It's a brilliantly compact song about things that you can only write down in letters and the agony of an uncertain ending drawn out by tense long-distance correspondence. In the end Mirah decides that she's doing "Fine. Just fine."
Key lyrics: "You drove so far, but now you know how rough it is to let me go. Let me recommend that you think twice, and I always give the best advice."

3. "True Affection" by The Blow

Why: A perfect expression of that painful sense that you're drifting out of each other's leagues. As always, The Blow combines heartfelt vocals with electronic blips to great effect. There's such a sadness to this song in its recognition of how sometimes genuine affection isn't enough.
Key lyrics: "True affection floats. True affection sinks like a stone. I never felt so close. I never felt so all alone."

2. "I Don't Want to Get Over You" by The Magnetic Fields

Why: Perhaps the most miserable and pathetic breakup emotion is the terrible knowledge that you're not ready for the person to leave your life, despite the fact that they're clearly moving on. This one just comes out and says it: I'm not ready for this, I don't want anyone else, I feel like sulking around and smoking clove cigarettes, etc. Stephin Merritt's sad, dead vocals are basically the sound of being dumped.
Key lyrics:" I could make a career of being blue, I could dress in black and read Camus, smoke clove cigarettes and drink vermouth like I was 17. That would be a scream, but I don't want to get over you."

1. "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac

Why: So this is pretty obvious. It's kind of the go-to song for major life changes, but there's a reason why it's so popular among the depressed and broken-hearted. Stevie Nicks is at once vulnerable, honest, and willing to acknowledge that things have to change, though not without some hesitation. Everything about it is perfect for post-breakup sadness.
Key lyrics: "I've been afraid of changing 'cause I've built my life around you."

PICK—Scratch Massive: Time (Chateaurouge)
The crude sexist joke asks: "Why do women yawn and stretch in the morning?" Answer: "Because they have no balls to scratch." Yet ass-scratching could easily be the punchline, as it is for bands like Scratch Acid and sleazy French electro group Scratch Massive. Nothing gets that blood gorging going faster than their latest, Time. The group just knows the male mind mid-morning: your lil' buddy is up, admiring the ceiling and making flapjacks for your late-sleeping sweetie. Which prompts another ribald riddle: "How do you tell the female Hershey's bar?" "It's the one with no nuts." A+

Björk: Volta (Atlantic)
Conspiring with husband (co-op clothing horse Matthew Barney), visionary musician Björk enters that brave new world of video games with her latest. Heavily influenced by arcade games that are vintage (Space Invaders) and hip-hop-flavored (Def Jam Vendetta), Volta is the original soundtrack for her own surreal futuristic fighting game. Choose from fighters like the eerily cock diesel Timbaland, tai chi master Min Xiao-Fen, or the Lightning Bolt dude (gamer's tip: Antony's "special move" is bullshit) and proceed to decapitate opponents and rip them apart "Vertebrae by Vertebrae." Why Björk sorta looks like a fortress boss I defeated in Mega Man, I don't know. A-

Maxïmo Park: Our Earthly Pleasures (Warp)
A few years ago, postpunk bands had to have angular guitars and a copy of Entertainment! to score chicks. Yet abuse Photoshop's rubber stamp tool as photo editors might, an up-and-coming act with dandruff will show on that RS Hot List pic. Luckily, Maxïmo Park considers Head & Shoulders both as necessity and an earthly pleasure, even if they can only travel with 5 fl oz. on tour. Readily they pick up "Girls Who Play Guitar" and quote Russkie lit in their lyrics, but they also remind the damaged kids in their audience that they needn't suffer damaged ends, too. B+

The Blow: Poor Aim: Love Songs (K Records)
No one does cyber love via AIM communiqué quite like "Bloodninja" from issue No. 3 of the splendid 'zine Yeti. Doing "The R." one better, this little AIM scamp freaks with his rhino-charging fantasies, wizard hats, pizza penetration, and "unleash(ing) my cauliflower" on sex boards and horny IMers, to hilariously tear-jerking results (not that other jerking). Seriously, Bloodninja needs a book. What does Bloodninja have to do with the Blow? Nothing, but he's more interesting than remixes by nobodies like K Maricich, DJ Alan Fortarte, or Strategy. Where I'm from, a one-eyed cat just means it's walking away from you. C+

The Blow - The Big U [MP3, link expired]
The Blow - Paper Television [krecs.com]