1. Passion Pit - "Take A Walk"
All the sad indie disco twee synth pop songs taking over commercial rock radio in the last couple years have started to blend together, to the point that I only realized recently that half the songs I thought I hated Passion Pit because of were actually by The Naked And Famous. This song was what made me reevaluate my opinion, though, because it's pretty undeniable. Its narrative feels a little cheesy and vaguely anglophile, like one of those Ted Leo songs where he's trying to write a Billy Bragg song. But it's rare to hear an indie pop song, or any song on the radio, that speaks to experiences like having a family and despairing about the struggle to provide for them, so it hits me pretty hard. If I'd come around on this song earlier it'd be pretty high on my list of favorite rock/alternative radio hits of 2012.

2. Miguel - "Do You..."
So Kaleidoscope Dream was my #1 album of the year and "Adorn" was obviously monumental and all that, but I've been watching with interest how the rest of the project fares on the radio, particularly since Miguel seems to emphasize "Do You..." and "The Thrill" as favorites that he thinks could bring new sounds to the airwaves (y'know, as if "Adorn" was totally commonplace radio fare to begin with). "Do You..." has been in that unusual position of following up a song so big that it actually won't get out of the way and let it have its own moment -- "Adorn" has now become the longest lasting #1 in R&B radio history (though it doesn't hold an official record because of those pesky new Billboard rules). Meanwhile "Do You..." has risen no further than #24 on the airplay chart, despite being an amazing song in its own right. I've already heard a local station play one of the album's more overtly radio-friendly songs, "How Many Drinks," a couple times, so I wouldn't be surprised if Miguel's label just moves on and starts working that as the song they try to replace "Adorn" on playlists once that song finally dies down.

3. Future f/ Kelly Rowland - "Neva End (Remix)"
Another song I love from an album I love that has already kind of stalled on the charts though it deserves better. In general the star-studded remixes of Future's singles have been unnecessary but this one really worked, partly because as a follow-up to "Turn On The Lights" it would be too similar in its original incarnation, and partly because Kelly Ro just has a great voice and genuinely adds something to the song.

4. OneRepublic - "Feel Again"
Ryan Tedder is the kind of pop hack I love to hate, and out of all the hits he produced in the past I can only name a couple I've liked at all (Leona Lewis's "Bleeding Love" and Beyonce's "Halo"). So it was a nice surprise when his band/star vehicle actually turned out something I really like. It still has some pretty head-shaking lyrics ("it's like a million dollar phone that you just can't ring"????) but I love the hook and the overall sound of it, nice pop radio jam that deserved to be as big as OneRepublic's other hits but kinda came and went.

5. Mykko Montana f/ K-Camp - "Do It"
This song was steady bubbling under as a minor national hit all through 2012, but I didn't really come to love it until recently, partly because I got to revisit it for The Singles Jukebox and the Remix Report Card. I'M BUMPIN' THAT JOHNNY GILL!

6. Metric - "Breathing Underwater"
Journeyman Canadian alt-rockers on their 4th minor U.S. radio hit that appears to be on the way to becoming a major one. This song kind of comes off like a blander version of The Joy Formidable, but it's got a pretty huge hook.

7. Big Wreck - "Albatross"
Another Canadian band far more successful at home than in the U.S. -- I liked their song "The Oaf" that was on 120 Minutes a couple times in 1997 and then they seemed to disappear, so it was weird to suddenly hear a new song from them on the radio in Baltimore, which was apparently a big hit in Canada a year ago and never charted in America. Maybe it's catching on here, maybe it's just a fluke thing that 98 Rock picked up.

8. Brandy - "Wildest Dreams"
In all the talk of deep Brandy album cuts, it's worth pointing out that her last single was really good, but of course it went nowhere because Chris Brown wasn't on it. One of those rare situations in modern R&B where the song and the melody are way way outclassing the production, could've used a more appealing beat but I kinda like how low key its charms are.

9. Ciara - "Got Me Good"
Ciara's only been around half as long as Brandy, but it feels like she's in a similar mid-career drift, throwing songs out there and occasionally something happening but usually not. I'm OK with that, since she's not especially talented and hasn't made much of any note since the classic "Promise," but I generally still like her uptempo clubby tracks, and this one is nice. The version she did with horns on the VH1 Divas concert a while back sounded really good.

10. Anna Kendrick - "Cups"
This whole viral thing from the movie Pitch Perfect is pretty weird, haven't seen the movie. But I like the idea of there being this surprise sleeper hit that's only like 80 seconds long, interested to see how big it gets. Also I've always liked Kendrick and it was really charming when she performed this during her Letterman interview.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 03, 2013 at 11:46 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.