Alterna-pop

If mainstream pop is located smack-dab in the middle of your radio dial, then "alterna-pop" is down on the left a bit — the boat-rocking brother keeping things on the cutting edge while still coating every song with heaping spoonfuls of sugar. Our Alterna-pop playlist pulls today's hottest buzz cuts directly from that left-leaning sweet spot. That goes for the breezy, banjo-plucking "1234," the herky-jerky soul convulsions of "Run (I'm a Natural Disaster)," the spot-on (and totally unexpected) Afro-pop/Strokes fusion of "A-Punk," and the triumphant, riff-slinging return of R.E.M. ("Supernatural Superserious"), among many, many others.

Our Next Steps keeps things avant-garde and accessible, with key contributions from MGMT to Arctic Monkeys, from Kate Nash to Nada Surf.

If the cascading chords of "Paper Planes" sound familiar, it's probably because they were plucked straight from the Clash's classic "Straight to Hell" and placed alongside burbling synths and smoking guns. M.I.A. isn't the only artist putting an ultramodern spin on timeless genres and artists, either: M. Ward, Cat Power, and Jenny Lewis are as classic and classy as singer-songwriters come; Editors envision a middle ground between the grandiose guitar heroics of U2 and the gloomy post-punk storm clouds of Joy Division; the Raveonettes bring to mind a film noir soundtrack as produced by Phil Spector; and Hot Chip is club music with one foot firmly in the '80s and the other miles ahead of most dance-rock bands.

While our Deep Cuts ventures even farther into fringe territories, it never loses its way with crowd-pleasing pop perfection.

The Deep Cuts of our Alterna-pop set can't be pinned down to any one sound. In fact, they'll send you scrambling for your dictionary, looking for new ways to describe tracks that change the songwriting game at every turn. "D.A.N.C.E." is a knob-twiddling Motown throwback for the 21st century, "Cheap and Cheerful" is tailor-made for 3 a.m. rendezvous and dimly lit dance floors, "The Stations" zeroes-in on the demon-exorcising efforts of two alt-rock icons (Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli, formerly of Screaming Trees and the Afghan Whigs, respectively), and "Delivery" draws a direct line from the Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night" to Pete Doherty's old band of rock 'n' roll hooligans, the Libertines.

Ever wonder what Top 40 radio would sound like if it was run by your friendly neighborhood record shop? You know, the one with the High Fidelity look-alikes and impeccable taste? Well, the following tip sheet of "you're gonna love this" listens will leave you leaning on the request line of your local station in no time, beginning with an unshakeable college rock standby (R.E.M.) and a pair of new-school favorites (Modest Mouse, the National) that Michael Stipe and company personally invited on tour. They join an astounding mix of artists that cut across all genre lines — everything from the fractured Americana of Wilco to the long-awaited "Loveshack" reopening of the B-52's, with such twisted pop powerhouses as the Moldy Peaches, Beck, Radiohead, Death Cab For Cutie, Interpol, the Shins, the Killers, and Kings of Leon carving out an indie edge right in the heart of your iPod.