1. Cypress Hill f/ Pitbull and Marc Anthony - “Armada Latina”
The list of latin artists that have truly crossed over in the U.S. is short enough that it shouldn’t be surprising to see any of them collaborate with each other, but this is still one of the odder trios you’d be able to come up with out of that group. The “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” sample that makes the whole track so breezy and fun, and Stephen Stills jamming in the video, just add to the whole unexpected nature of this song being maybe my first summer jam of 2010.

2. Neon Trees - “Animal”
I breeze past MTV2 pretty often on my daily channel surfing, and incredible often lately, they’re playing some terrible new major label alt-rock band that as far as I know has absolutely no fanbase or mainstream profile outside of MTV2 playlists, shit like Paper Tongues and Honor Society and Hot Chelle Rae. But there’s one song among this undistinguished company that’s kinda hooked me hardcore, and it seems to have actually charted a bit. I wonder if their album’s worth a look?

3. Insane Clown Posse - “Miracles”
I’m generally not into using this space to talk about internet memes. But technically, this is a single off of a major label album that charted in the top 5 on Billboard last year, and it’s brought me about as much joy and entertainment in the past month as any other song on this list, so it’s fair game.

4. John Mayer - “Heartbreak Warfare”
Mayer usually gets me with one single per album, and I guess this is the one this time. The guitar feels totally ripped off of U2’s “Bad,” but I love that song so much that being reminded of it is enough to ingratiate me to whatever I’m listening to, and as a lyric this is one of his better hits too.

5. Young Jeezy f/ Plies - “Lose My Mind”
The shrill treble overload of “Who Dat” was one of my favorites of many favorites on The Recession, but it felt so singular that I’m kinda surprised that another song with a similar sound/feel is growing on me this much. As useless as Plies is as a solo artist, this and “Wasted” make a good case for him throwing 12 bars of goofball energy onto singles by other better Southern rappers, and I have no idea whether he’s saying that broads call him “fantastico” or “fantastical” but either is a pretty entertaining option.

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