Apollo 18

Their fourth album, conceived around the idea of being NASA's official band on a mission that never flew. The conceit yields "Fingertips," a 21-segment suite of song fragments meant to be played on shuffle — still one of the funniest, smartest things they've done. The rest sits comfortably in their late-Elektra prime: "The Statue Got Me High," "The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)," "Dinner Bell," "I Palindrome I." Tight, weird, melodic, no fat.