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1. Green Day, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”

2. William Shatner, “Real”

3. Queen, “You’re My Best Friend”

Not bombastic enough to be typical Queen, the group’s “You’re My Best Friend” is such a perfectly pitched ode to true love — and in the most non-mushy way possible.

4. Aimee Mann, “Momentum”

5. The Clash, “The Right Profile”

6. Belle & Sebastian, “La Pastie de la Bourgeoisie”
Another pop confection from these amazing Scots, replete with references to Judy Blume, Jack Kerouac and J.D. Salinger. Who do these guys think they are — Morrissey?

7. Iggy Pop, “The Passenger”

8. The Bangles, “Bitchin’ Summer”

9. Wilco, “Casino Queen”
A pre-artsy Wilco, back when Jeff Tweedy’s sensibilities weren’t so pretty.

10. Jigsaw, “Sky High”

– Chase

1. Lou Reed, “Satellite of Love”

2. John Lee Hooker, “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”

Born and raised in Clarksdale, Mississippi (the true birthplace of the blues), John Lee Hooker offered a sound and vocal style as primitive as it was unequivocally powerful. My all-time favorite bluesman, no question.

3. Duke Ellington & John Coltrane, “In a Sentimental Mood”

4. The Cranberries, “Ode to My Family”

5. The Ronettes, “Be My Baby”

There is something magical and timeless about this sparkling 1963 single, written and produced by Phil Spector long before the world knew him as the gun-crazed lunatic he apparently had been the entire time.

6. The Police, “Spirits in the Material World”

7. The Cars, “Heartbeat City”

8. Eric Clapton, “Border Song”

9. Gary Jules, “Mad World”

I love the Tears for Fears original, but there is no denying the emotional resonance of this funereal, stripped-down version. Six hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds …

10. Pearl Django, “Mulholland Bounce”

– Chase

The Walkmen have long been favorites, but while few of their recent songs have stuck with me, this bodes well for the quality of their new disc, You & Me. And you have to love the Max Shreck.

We’re going to have to work out extra hard to work off these cornballs.

Rating: 80 

Face it, the movie industry has big problems if the only way for Jay Roach’s stunning “Recount” to get a decent airing is as a TV movie on HBO. Roach’s journalistically precise account of the battle over hanging chads, county-by-county tallies and bourgeois riots in Florida at the end of the 2000 election is a tightly wound drama of political gamesmanship. It is so good that “Recount” could credibly play as a double feature with “All the President’s Men.”

“Recount” is set up as a steady chronology of weirdness: Florida is called for Vice President Al Gore, but is then taken out of the blue column. Gore concedes to then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush, but withdraws his concession when the vote difference falls within percentage fractions. It falls to a battle of political will between Gore counsel Ron Klain (Kevin Spacey) and Bush lawyer James Baker III (Tom Wilkinson) as “Recount” delivers genuine thrills and dark humor thanks to a gripping, detail-laden script by Danny Strong.

Director Roach’s pacing and superb turns by Spacey, Wilkinson, Denis Leary and especially Laura Dern as Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris results in an unusual trick: “Recount” actually creates suspense around a historical event. Every sentient person in America knows how this resolves, but Democrats will view “Recount” as a tragedy, Republicans will see it as confirmation of solid strategy, and no one will be bored.

— George Lang

1. Asobi Seksu, “Walk on the Moon.” Despite Matthew Perpetua’s recent rant about shoegaze revival being pointless and excruciating, the new wave of gazers can be pretty astounding. Asobi owes its debt clearly to Lush, while A Place to Bury Strangers, who opened for NIN a week and a half ago at Ford Center, took most of their rule book from Kevin Shields and My Bloody Valentine, as evidenced by my deadly ear pain afterward.

2. Bell X1, “Reacharound.”

3. New Order, “Run 2.”

4. David Bowie, “Warszawa.”

5. Black Flag, “Six Pack.” This great clip shows Rollins back when his neck was smaller than his head. A classic case of enthusiasm trumping ability.

6. Chris Walla, “Our Plans, Collapsing.”

7. Amy Winehouse, “October Song.”

8. The Postmarks, “Know Which Way the Wind Blows.”

9. The Picture, “So Many Days.”

10. Stereolab, “Three Women.” From the band’s new disc and first for 4AD, Chemical Chords. Honestly, that whole Elektra Records thing was a fluke anyway — they’ve always belonged on a place like 4AD, and this first single, “Three Women,” genuinely swings with a great horn arrangement, so anyone who thinks that from a utility standpoint, owning one Stereolab disc is enough, might want to reexamine.

By the looks of things, it’s Tim Burton’s world that Shara Worden has scaled on the Sufjan alum’s first clip from A Thousand Shark’s Teeth. Or maybe Henry Selick’s world.

1. Fleet Foxes

“Fleet Foxes”

(Sub Pop)

2. Conor Oberst

“Conor Oberst”

(Merge)

3. Beck

“Modern Guilt”

(Interscope)

4. Sufjan Stevens

“Illinois”

(Asthmatic Kitty)

5. Wolf Parade

“At Mount Zoomer”

(Sub Pop)

6. Wolf Parade

“Apologies to the Queen Mary”

(Sub Pop)

7. MGMT

“Oracular Spectacular”

(Columbia)

8. Ratatat

“LP3”

(XL)

9. Olivia Tremor Control

“Music from the Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle”

(Flydaddy)

10. Cream

“Disraeli Gears”

(Polydor)

Rating: 13 

If Shwayze’s self-titled debut is any measure, music biz kid Cisco Adler will always have more hits on TMZ.com than he ever will on Billboard — his post-Whitestarr project with rapper Aaron Smith is a toxic green haze of lazy rhymes, low aims and money-bred sleaze set to dime-store beats. It’s Sublime for the rich and brainless, except this high-gloss, high-dross collection of sunstroke anthems by two slack hacks perma-stoned on marijuana, mojitos and misogyny proves that Laguna Beach is light years away from Long Beach.

“Shwayze” has its dumb charms until the buzz wears off — in cold-sober light, this is 13 variations on the same song. It’s hard to tell where “Corona and Lime” ends and “Buzzin’” begins, mainly because they are both absent-minded mediations on getting bombed and getting lucky on the strength of Dad’s bank account. Smith says he’s “a genius — Bill Clinton with my speeches,” which doesn’t exactly rhyme or lend credence to his argument, especially when a minute later his “genius” is spouting what amounts to a hastily posted party flier.

“Flashlight” is not a Parliament-Funkadelic cover, and “James Brown is Dead” is not the L.A. Style club banger, and “Shwayze” is almost completely devoid of original thought — even on the song titles they did not steal. And it’s hard not to become a little angry listening to Smith and Adler prattle and blather over Garage Band rhythms, mainly because it’s the path of least resistance set to music. Poor Lou Adler: the guy who managed the Mamas and the Papas and produced Carole King’s “Tapestry” had a son who is squandering his inheritance on pallid pseudo hip-hop that can only earn street cred on Rodeo Drive.

— George Lang