I posted the original version of this track in November. That one's great, this one is divine. The contrast of Surahn's mournful AOR voice and Prins Thomas' emphatic disco is gorgeous. I haven't heard a more engaging bass line all year; it fucking fondles you.

Ciara's "Body Party," the umpteenth effort to launch the singer's upcoming One Woman Army album, is something sex jams by people other than Prince and R. Kelly rarely are: legitimately clever in concept. Based on a sample of the opening of beloved 1996 bass anthem "My Boo," "Body Party" achieves an extremely modern atmosphere in its open nostalgia. The "Boo" foundation also gives "Party" a dance-music element without killing the sex vibe, another extremely modern choice. Ciara's flirtation with the melody of "My Boo" ("Boy you should know that...") and her boyfriend Future's adlibs are just right, weirdly tasteful for a song called "Body Party."

"Attracting Flies" is another brilliant single from British R&B future-retroists AlunaGeorge. With each track (including my favorite single of 2012, "Your Drums, Your Love"), they hone their craft of sounding simultaneously familiar (like from the early '90s) and alien. It's true for their production and their lyrics, which are based on cliches to form something slightly more abstract. Instead of saying, "You're talking shit," in her naturally speedy voice, Aluna Francis sings, "Little gray fairy tales and little white lies / Everything you exhale is attracting flies." So Britishly polite.

"Luvvbazaar," is a "short film" in that it's kind of long and has MJ-esque movements. It's the latest video from Kansas City/New York band SSION, who were responsible for my favorite video of 2012, "My Love Grows in the Dark."

I missed this when DFA released it last month (I'm blaming the holiday crunch), but I'm so glad that I finally caught up on this seemingly "White Horse"-inspired offering from YACHT. It's hard to tell if they are merely achieving or lampooning this pitch-perfect "downtown New York" affect (made more hilarious because the band is from all over the place), but there are dozens of examples of retro-obsessed, disco-inflected songs from the past decade that wish they sounded this good. Claire L. Evans' monotone delivery giving way to that sticky hook is diabolical. And those strings. And the way that some words come with an effect to make them sound like they're being sucked into outer space. And don't get me started about the way the song fakes its own death, only to come roaring back.

This is nothing less than a fine slice of contemporary Euro disco from the finest the genre (and Norway) has to offer. Stick around for the vocals that round out the song, if you are so inclined.

Yesterday, on the heels of a fake-out by Justin Timberlake that many thought would be his new single but turned out to be a minute-long ponderous YouTube video about him not releasing music, a new ballads collection from Destiny's Child was announced. Sporting 14 tracks that span the group's career, Love Songs will include the previously unreleased Pharrell Williams collaboration, "Nuclear."

Rockabye Baby! produces sleep-friendly covers of pop and rock — they have released, for example, a white-vinyl version of lullabies based on Smiths songs. A disc of nap-time spins on Rush favorites is on the way. Neither of those can quite match the conceptual weirdness of a baby-friendly version of a song called "Californication." After all, why expose your child to Anthony Keidis yowling, "First born unicorn / Hard core soft porn / Dream of Californication / Dream of Californication..." when you can present him or her with a xylophone expressing the accompanying melody much more gently?

Manchester's Krystal Klear has taken the first single from New Orleans R&B singer/songwriter Teedra Moses' mostly overlooked (but adored by those who know it) 2004 debut Complex Simplicity, and instead of updating it for 2013 sensibilities, he has pushed it even further back in time. The resulting revamp of "Be Your Girl" is akin to the terrific, icy, 808-based ballads Jam & Lewis did in the '80s (such as S.O.S. Band's "Tell Me If You Still Care"). Perfect winter jam.

Another day, another reason to fall in love with the most exciting duo in R&B, the UK's Alunageorge. Today they played the BBC 1Xtra Live Lounge, where they unveiled the new track "Body Music" and this gem: an upbeat cover of Frank Ocean's glorious "Thinkin Bout You." I had been thinking that Aluna Francis' voice had been manipulated on the group's recordings, but nope, it turns out that she actually just sounds sped up by 15 percent naturally. Unreal.

Everyday that a new song by British duo Alunageorge surfaces, it is the song of the day. "Your Drums, Your Love" was one of 2012's very best, and these the R&B retro-futurists are among the most exciting people working within the genre on the planet. This thing just zooms. Thrilling.

Eddie Floyd is a soul legend, who recorded several fine singles for Stax, including the ingenious "Knock on Wood." Now he is 75 and back with an album of Christmas originals, I'll Be Your Santa Claus. You'd probably expect the title track to be a little creepy (Santa gives toys, he doesn't throw dick, damn it), but not this level of moany creepiness:

I don't usually enjoy doured-up covers of pop songs whose cheery arrangement barely obscured inherent sadness in the first place (see Frente!'s cover of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle"). However, taking a little pep out of Wham!'s "Last Christmas" serves it well — as much as I like the original, it sounds anesthetized. "Last Chrismas" needs to deal with its feelings, damn it. It purports to every year and always fails.

Today sees the release of Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, the second proper solo album from OutKast's Big Boi. Its strength is its sonic adventurousness — in addition to the Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik you'd expect, there are forays into rock (guest appearances include Wavves and Phantogram), Princely Linn pop, balladry, weird atmospheric shit and, in the case of the track above, cosmic disco (or, at least, as close to a commercial rapper has ever come to the subgenre). The implicit showing off — Big Boi is so good, he can span genres without a stumble — hits harder than any stated boast. This is a subtle and persuasive new chapter for brag rap.

Today, the pint-size dance-pop queen Katy B, released a four-song EP called Danger, which is meant to be a placeholder between her 2011 debut On a Mission and her upcoming sophomore album. It is excellent because she is excellent: tasteful, accessible, charming. The best track is "Aalyiah," a '90s house throwback duet with Jessie Ware, in which both contemporary R&B-invoking singers plead with a character named Aaliyah to stay away from their men. The Guardian compares it to Dolly Parton's "Jolene," and indeed it is reminiscent of with a self-conscious twist: these two singers are paying tribute to the bewitching nature of the late Aaliyah by acknowledging her as an entity in pop songs, one that they can't even compete with. (Really, by naming the song that and spelled it that way, they couldn't possibly be referring to anyone else). The homage is coming from inside the song. Sophisticated and brilliant.

The Chloe YouTube series (performed by Drew Droege and directed by Jim Hansen) is as much a commentary on Chloë Sevigny's ridiculous persona as it is the ridiculousness of celebrity impersonation, having spiraled so far from resembling the actual actress...probably. Who knows? Anyway, this reimagining of "The 12 Days of Christmas" is a total masterpiece (full disclosure: it's also barely a song).

This week, Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti released what would have been the final album from industrial music's parents Throbbing Gristle were it actually allowed to be called a Throbbing Gristle album. Desertshore/The Final Report features one disc of covers of the 1970 album by Velvet Underground collaborator Nico (that'd be Desertshore) and one of new, original material. It does not, however, include any contributions from former TG frontman (/people) Genesis P-Orridge, who left the group (or was forced out, depending on who's telling the story) in 2010. This is a point of contention — its release caused a Twitter spat between Carter and P-Orridge. P-Orridge called for its boycott; Chris and Cosi pressed on, regardless. If this double album, which features their last work with Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson (who died in 2010), counts as revenge, then it's a bizarre piece of revenge fit for Throbbing Gristle: an arid take on a cult album by Nico that features on vocals the likes of porn's Sasha Grey, Enter the Void director Gaspar Noé and Antony Hegarty. I bet if P-Orridge weren't so close to it, s/he would appreciate it.

This sparse dirge from Brooklyn's BLKKATHY is almost a pop song, just as its singer is almost on key. Fader posted this and another BLKKATHY song earlier, to which BLKKATHY responded on their Facebook: "The FADER is also streaming our new song Shake. Technically they have leaked it, but whatevs!" That is as chill a reaction to "Shake" leaking as I would expect from listening to the song. Branding is on point.

Today, the once fawned-over phenom Alicia Keys released her fifth album, Girl on Fire (not a Hunger Games reference!). It's pretty good — I've never thought of her as a great provider of texture, but there's a sonic adventurousness to this album unlike that of any she's released so far. Perhaps it is compensation for her increasingly strained voice (though that sort of thing rarely bothers me — a little grit from overuse can add a lot of soul).

This bonus track from the upcoming official release of Terius Nash's 1977 album is nicely sung given his limited vocal capacity in addition to being raw as hell, but the best thing about it is its title. "Tender Tendencies." "Tender Tendencies." "Tender Tendencies!" It sounds like something you'd give your pet to keep them from gnawing your face off (aka pet treats).