"Ruin" serves as a preview of the first Cat Power/Chan Marshall album in six years, Sun. If the cheery tone of "Ruin" is any indication of what's to come, Sun is an apt title. With its octave-jumping bass line and rushing percussion (that occasionally features a four-on-the-floor pulse) "Ruin" is the weird thing that happens when Cat Power goes disco (with the help of Cassius' Philippe Zdar, who mixed Sun). It's sleek, catchy as hell and Target-commercial ready. Could Sun be cleaned up enough to be Chan Marshall's Liz Phair? (That's if the critically acclaimed but relatively bland The Greatest doesn't deserve that title already.)

Robin Gibb, who formed the Bee Gees with his two brothers Barry and Maurice, died today at 62.

Hortlax Cobra is the dance project from Peter Bjorn and John's John Eriksson (not to be confused with Smile, the new side project from Peter Bjorn and John's Björn Yttling). Here's a perfect example of the reach of "I Feel Love": the way the arpeggiated bass line propels and steers this track is pure Moroder and unmistakably so no matter how mumbly the indie vocals get. Stylistically, this is nicely balanced.

TMZ reports that premier disco queen and conduit for decades of dance-music advancement Donna Summer died today at age 63. She had cancer.

"Has anybody out there lost someone that kinda meant the world to you? My, my, my, my lord. My, my, my, I had a sweet love. I had a good love!"

Today would have been the 61st birthday of one of the finest voices that ever blessed the Earth. Luther Vandross died almost seven years ago, and he is still sorely missed, especially when you consider the sad state of the commercial R&B male crooner (R. Kelly and Usher are about the only ones who can really sing and sell). Let's remember him by listening to his defiant disco (released a full two years after the Disco Demolition Rally supposedly destroyed the genre) and by staring at a bunch of New Yorkers' crotches. Miss ya, big guy.

Your entrancing YouTube ephemera of the day: A doggie disco from the late '70s, rescued from obscurity by the folks at Crazy Dave Tape. In a YouTube comment, the CDT crew says it's from an episode of The Chevy Chase Show. [YouTube via @JuliaKlausner]

Music site Spinning Soul reports that R&B/disco legend Loleatta Holloway died "following a brief illness." Holloway, who started her career as a gospel and R&B singer, found success as a disco act in the late 1970s—but she might be most famous for providing the hook for Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch's "Good Vibrations" (a sample from her "Love Sensation.") Above, Holloway performing "Hit & Run."

Feel like you don't know enough about disco in India in the 1980s? Try reading this.

NASA is holding a contest to name the "wakeup songs" played during the last-ever Space Shuttle missions. You can submit an original composition, or pick from a list of songs. The problem: They all suck. The solution: These 10 tracks.

Wendy's was forced to stop giving out a free disco CD with their kids meals after parents complained about the lyrics to Donna Summer's "Last Dance." Specifically, the part of the lyrics where Donna sings, "I'm so horny."

Disco suffers an undeservedly bad rap considering it's one of the most honestly blissful genres of music. Last night, ABDC's best crews burned up the floor with their own disco infernos, transforming kitschy 70s fare into hip hop.