1. Imagine Dragons - "It's Time"
When I wrote my column a few weeks ago about alternapop crossover, I realized that I really enjoy the overwhelming majority of the recent songs I talked about in there, which makes me kind of a dork, but I really already knew that. One thing that surprised me was that the song was produced by Alex Da Kid of "Love The Way You Lie" fame (shades of fun. and Jeff Bhasker, adult alternative and pop rap are really colliding this year).

2. Miguel - "Adorn"
Although I enjoyed the Art Dealer Chic EPs, I was never as head over heels about "Adorn" as some people and resented the suggestion that it was as good as or better than my beloved "Sure Thing." But as much as brevity worked in the 2-minute EP version's favor, I really love the new three-minute version that's now an official single, that bridge is fantastic, it feels complete to me now. I do now kind of worry whether my prediction after "Birthday Cake" of partial-song snippets being the new single coming true, though.

3. Meek Mill f/ Jeremih and Drake - "Amen"  
It's very shrewd of Drake to take half of the biggest new non-Young Money rappers coming up on tour with him and appear on their lead singles, and kind of cement his role as the head of the new class of mainstream rap and all that narrative bullshit. But of course since I can't stand Drake most of the time that just means he's tainting what could've been better songs -- he doesn't get in the way too much on the Waka and French Montana singles, but he definitely ruins the 2 Chainz single. Meek Mill would seem like an artist with a lot to lose in a Drake collab, just because he's managed to get on the radio already shouting over aggro beats like "I'ma Boss," but "Amen" works better than it really has a right to. Drake's verse is good by Drake standards, Jeremih is underused but also deployed perfectly when you can actually hear him, and Meek sounds surprisingly good over those ticky little drums and warm piano chords, kinda bodes well for his album not being too one-note.

4. Little Big Town - "Pontoon"
People who talk about "summer jams" tend to overlook country but that's really where most of the summeriest hits reside. This one is a really good windows-down joint, with the added bonus of listening to hot chicks talk about "motorboatin'." I love that little mandolin hook, actually between this and the Imagine Dragons song there's a lot of mandolin on the list this month.

5. Trey Songz f/ T.I. - "2 Reasons" 
I am still not sick of all these clappers, man, I love that sound. And I hate to say it, because it's not a nice word he uses, but the explicit version of the chorus flows a lot better than the radio edit.

6. Lil Wayne f/ Big Sean - "My Homies Still" 
This isn't quite a clapper but it has that same stomp, as well as a whole lot also borrowed from Big Sean's "Dance (A$$)," almost like Wayne wanted to get his co-sign before biting that song this hard. Every few months, the constant deluge of Wayne hits starts to yield a few actually alright songs or verses, but I'm not under any illusions that he'll ever be half the rapper (or even half the artist/personality) he was a few years ago.

7. Leah LaBelle - "Sexify"  
I caught this video on MTV Hits by this foxy chick with the Lisa Stansfield vibe and had too look her up, apparently she was an American Idol finalist way back before I watched the show. But even more surprising is that this song was produced by Pharrell Williams in 2012 and it doesn't suck. 

8. Haley Reinhart - "Free"
Another American Idol also-ran whose video I came across on MTV Hits without knowing that that's where she's from. I was really struck by how nice it was to see a young female pop singer doing something so overtly old-fashioned (but not stylized in any particular hip "retro" way).

9. Yo Gotti - "I Got That Sack"
Here is a summary of the ass-backwards state of affairs in mixtape rap as exemplified by Yo Gotti's career: On January 10th of this year, he released his major label debut, Live From The Kitchen, nearly three years after the release of its most successful single, "5 Star." A few weeks before the album dropped, he released the promotional mixtape January 10th. A few months later, "I Got That Sack," from the January 10th mixtape, is quickly becoming a bigger hit than any of the singles released in the immediate run-up to the album, and has a slick video directed by Mr. Boomtown.

10. John Mayer - "Shadow Days"
I've always been amused at how John Mayer's sober, earnest songwriting persona has clashed with his increasingly salacious, hammy, douchey public persona, even while I liked both his songs and his sense of humor more than I care to admit. It's funny how after he finally went over the edge to people just outright hating him, he's kind of overcorrecting in a really transparent way with the long hair and hat "serious singer/songwriter" look and this ridiculous song about he's a good man with a good heart who just lost his way. But once again, I find the song too catchy and enjoyable to totally dismiss.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 27, 2012 at 11:07 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.