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Ranking the Top 100 Greatest Emo Songs of all time

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Appeteasers

There’s nothing like a little MP3 action to whet fans’ appetite for an upcoming album. Here are three reasonably successful examples.

Pretty Girls Make Graves, "Nocturnal House"  (mp3). This new track from the forthcoming Elan Vital (now due in April) sounds atmospheric and trudging, like chopped and screwed Gang of Four riffs soaked in reverb that shadows singer Andrea Zollo’s voice. She still wails, but not with the immature urgency we heard from her on their debut three years ago. And the slow, dancy drums bring to mind Joy Division, something early PGMG never did.

Benzino, "We Gonna Win" (RealAudio stream). This bizarre track emerges in the context of big changes at Benzino’s magazine The Source . The boy’s just struggling now: the restraining order he filed against Source trustees so they wouldn’t fire him was thrown out of court. So Zino’s on his own, and planning to put a solo album out in March. If this track’s any indication, regaining control of The Source will be one of his prime topics.

Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige, Rah Digga, “Touch It (Remix pt. 2)”  (Windows stream, Real Audio stream). Busta sounds possessed and strained, barking quick over a sparse, industrial beat. This song’s about some kind of haunted house; Mary J. Blige plays a mummy, I think. Missy frogs in with a great verse. (See the Britney Spears joke on the word “toxic.”) The big news: the long-awaited comeback of Rah Digga, first lady of Busta’s old Flipmode Squad.