Top 50 Most Played Songs of 2012 : MYFAVORITES

And now the MEAT, the Songs that got the Most Plays from me in 2012. Here is the Top 50, sectioned off by the number of plays. Some of these need some explaining, some I almost want to pretend didn’t get as much love on my iPod as it did, and some are just that good I had to talk about. So here goes…
(and can I just say… I’m SHOCKED that Calvin Harris’ “Feels So Good” didn’t make the cut. I LOVED that song and I swear I played it out at the Gym #ElipticalSong)

16 plays…
50. Chris Brown , Don’t Wake Me Up
49. No Doubt , Looking Hot
48. Jennifer Hudson , Night of Your Life
This is SUCH a great Dance song, and because JHud has such a huge voice it really reminds you of the glory days of House with Big vocals and Big Dance Beats! This should have been a huge single, but radio doesn’t seem to appreciate GOOD Dance music!

47. Wild Nothing , Drifter
Words can’t really describe what this song does to me every time I hear it. It’s catchy, beautiful production and it just makes you feel good.

17 plays…
46. Beyonce , Sweet Dreams
45. No Doubt , Undercover
44. No Doubt , Heaven
43. No Doubt , Gravity
42. Usher , Twisted
This is such a fun song. And I love it for the fact that Pharrell provided Ush with something that’s contemporary but pays major homage to the Old School days of Soul. It reminds me of when the Neptunes were hot shit and always supplied danceable beats that were so soulful and funky. This is a great return to form.

18 plays…
41. The Killers , Runaways
40. Beyonce , Countdown
39. Frank Ocean , Thinkin Bout You
38. Drake , Shot For Me
37. Solange , Losing YouThis song is so odd to me. It has this weird backing track, very simple and scant lyrics… but towards the end of my first listen I Loved it! (The accompanying EP “True” is also REALLY good, check it out!)

36. Dawn Richard , Black Lipstick
35. Santigold , God From The Machine
I instantly connected to this track from “Master of My Make Believe”. It’s so Epic and powerful.

34. Santigold , Disparate Youth
33. Usher , Lookin 4 Myself
32. Usher , What Happened To You
Now, I know Urban stations were playing this song but I’m trying to figure out why Usher didn’t release this as an official single. It’s actually one of his best. The production is ace, slow jam style with enough beat to rock to. And the lyrics are both personal to him and also somewhat relatable to anyone who’s lost touch with a former love. Excellence all around, there’s not anything bad I could say about this one.

19 plays…
31. The Dead Weather , Blue Blood Blues
30. The Killers , Here With Me
One of the reasons “Battle Born” was so good to me. This is just a beautiful song that doesn’t try too hard to acheive anything other than being a solid and timeless record.

29. Diplo , Express Yourself

20 plays…
28. Rihanna , Rude Boy
27. No Doubt , Dreaming the Same Dream
26. No Doubt , Sparkle
25. Brandy & Monica , It All Belongs To Me
24. Teams , Whxt Txrns U Xn?
My FAVORITE Groove of the year. You just gotta love the relaxed state the song puts you in, even with all the electronic effects and the peeling back of all these aural layers. Great Great track and probably my favorite from the album.

23. The Wombats , Jump Into The Fog
WHAT A FUN SONG!!!! That’s really all I can say about it because it’s funny, fun, relatable, and catchy. I was definitely obsessed with it for a while and it still makes me smile when I hear it.

22. Frank Ocean , Pyramids
In the words of Velma Kelly “the first parts shit, but THE SECOND PART! THE SECOND PART!!” I love the slowed down, almost hip hop flow of the second part of this song. Probably my favorite from “Channel Orange”.

21 plays…
21. Katy Perry , Teenage Dream
20. Rihanna , What’s My Name
19. No Doubt , One More Summer
18. Rusko , Scareware
This was my GYM song, when I first started going and doing weights I’d play this on repeat the whole time. It has that aggression, and the hook is one that was like a personal mission statement for me in regards to the Meatheads that populate one of the gyms I go to (“We Ain’t Scared Of You! OH NO!”)

17. Usher , Climax

22 plays…
16. Frank Ocean , Pink Matter
This is, to put it lightly, a weird song. After a few plays you GET IT, but upon the very first play when the lyrics are baffling you, you at least get that beautifully calm production and Ocean busting out some of the best vocals on “Channel Orange”. And who can hate on any song with Andre 3000!?

15. Toni Braxton , I Heart You
UNDERRATED!!! I have NO IDEA why this wasn’t bigger than it was because it has some very great elements to it. The ballad-like intro, the dance breakdown in the middle and just the overall club beat and catchy hook (along with Toni’s publicity from “Braxton Family Values”) should have made this at least a Top 20 hit. Oh well. At least it was a #1 Dance Play, and I hope Toni takes note and delivers a Club album next go round. This was GOLD to me!

23 plays…
14. Rihanna , Where Have You Been

24 plays…
13. Rihanna , Get It Over With
12. Rihanna , Numb
11. Rihanna  Man Down
10. No Doubt , Settle Down
9. Brandy , Wildest Dreams
Brandy really got it right this year. I remember at first I was feeling just a little blah but soon enough it was stuck in my head. Also wanna say I LOVED the video and specifically for the styling (which has nothing to do at all with this chart, but I’ve never gotten a chance to talk about it). Brandy has always been either TOO cutesy or TOO mature, and both felt forced. This go round with all of the performances I’ve seen she treads the line between both extremes beautifully… and in a way I think this song also gives the same effect.

23 plays…
8. Rihanna , Only Girl In The World
7. Atlas Genius , Trojans
I just discovered this song on the radio months ago and just fell in love. I don’t know what it’s about, or a lot of what they are singing but it’s just so great. It hypes you up, it makes you wanna sing along and everything just feels awesome together.

26 plays…
6. Melanie Fiona , 4AM
5. No Doubt , Easy
So as you know now, I was in LOVE with this new era of No Doubt and this song instantly struck me as one of the best on “Push and Shove”.

4. No Doubt , Push and Shove 29 plays
3. Rihanna , S&M 34 plays
2. Rihanna , Diamonds 38 plays
1. Rihanna , We Found Love 39 plays
Let me explain!!! (LoL!!) So we know that I love Rihanna, and even though I kinda trashed the song when it first came out I came to love it quickly. This year two things happened. I joined a gym and this song (this and “S&M”) are EXCELLENT songs for Cardio. On the eliptical I get a new life everytime this one comes on. Secondly, I sorta-kinda came out and it was my first SF Pride as openly gay or whatever. And when I tell you I heard this song like every 10 minutes I’m not exagerrating. So this song, for those two reasons held a special place for me and thus… #1 status!!

Well there you have it. I’m about 3 weeks too late and slightly more ratchet and less thoughtful as my usual Year In Music posts… but hey, whatever! I also wanted to get this out today because I’m really thinking of doing a weekly American Idol wrap. I watched it last night, and even though y’all know how I feel about a certain judge… it was actually pretty intriguing and I can see myself watching it. Until it gets boring (LoL!!) but that’s the plan for now. #STAYTUNED

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The Class of 1999 is Back!! Justin Timberlake & Destiny’s Child’s New Singles : Single Review

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Destinys Child Nuclear, Destinys Child Nuclear Review, Justin Timberlake Suit and Tie, Nuclear Review, Nuclear Single Review, Suit and Tie Review, Suit and Tie Single Review

Britney is currently murdering the radio with Will.I.Am, while Christina Aguilera’s “Lotus” album is growing on me more everyday. Now with recent single releases from Destiny’s Child and Justin Timberlake it feels like the 1999 MTV “TRL” Era artists are all coming back. How do they fair? Let’s get into it.

Destiny’s Child “Nuclear”.

We know now that Kelly and Michelle will be joining Beyonce during her Superbowl Halftime Performance February 4th. And earlier last week the internet was abuzz about a reunion Destiny’s Child single dropping. The song, “Nuclear”, came out this past Friday and I’m unimpressed. First of all, it feels and sounds just like a “Destiny Fulfilled” leftover from 2004. Definitely not a NEW song as the reports led us to believe(Hell, the artwork for the single are from the “Destiny Fulfilled” Promo Shots for peets sake!). It’s a very breezy, chill R&B song with a really nice track and nice vocal layering. However it’s just… blah! My thought (and this is based on a few things I heard online) is that Matthew Knowles put this unreleased song and the “Love Songs” compilation album out to fulfill a contract. It just surprises me that Beyonce would take to social media to promote it like it was a big deal when it’s clearly just filler material. The song is okay, but it’s nothing to get worked up over, and like Makael and Skorpion said on their recent upload “DO NOT” sing this at the Superbowl. “DO NOT!”

Grade: C

Justin Timberlake “Suit and Tie” (Featuring Jay-Z).

You guys know how I feel about Timberlake. Last week there was a hint that new music would be coming from the former N Sync’er and I was totally not excited. It’s great that he’s coming out with new music FINALLY after almost 7 years, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that he turned his back on his music fans and is only now coming back after all his other outings failed. Like the boyfriend (Scrappy) who leaves a girl (Erika) who really loves him for another girl (Diamond), and when that girl dumps him he goes back to the first girl. I feel like Erika and I don’t want to take him back, but I have to say “Suit and Tie” is really good. Above all, the production on the track is great. It’s very soulful old school R&B type feel, but it has some uniqueness about it. Love the sort of ‘chopped and screwed’ beginning part and how it bleeds into the actual song, and I just love the laid back approach to the song. I don’t really like what Timberlake is doing to his voice, he always uses that forced falsetto but this time it gives me Robin Thicke-Tee’s more than anything and it’s not a great look. But the song is catchy, fun and just overall really decent.

Grade: B +

You can bet that Beyonce’s upcoming single will be FIRE to compensate for the lackluster-ness of “Nuclear”, and I recently heard her album will be out in April. Timberlake is giving the expectation of a Spring release for his upcoming Third album as well. Britney Spears is also supposed to be coming out with new music of her own this year, so the Gang is all back. Ofcourse all of these artists are a bit “vintage” to the younger generation… but if the music is on point that shouldn’t be a problem for them.

Top 20 Most Played Artists & Albums of 2012 : MYFAVORITES

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Best Albums of 2012, Top 20 Albums of 2012, Top 20 Artists of 2012, Top Albums of 2012, Top Artists of 2012

Happy New Year!!!!

Yup, it’s the second week of 2013 and by now I’m sure you all noticed that for the first time in 3 years I didn’t do a “Year In Music” post. Generally those cover the world of Music at large, but I was really not feeling most of what was going on in 2012 (and I’m trying this thing where I don’t want to be so negative, the idea of writing a “Year In Music” just to TRASH the “artists” of 2012 would kinda mess that up. Even though it sounded fun). So it went from… “what will I write about?” to compiling lists to “yeah screw it, I’m not doing one!”.

However, one of the reasons I LOVE the Music site LastFm is because they compile lists for you automatically. And I’m a “List-Fiend”. So I decided to let them do what they do best.
It’s lazy on my part, but it gives a real idea of what I’ve been listening to on iTunes and especially Spotify which I fell in love with this year. This is unfiltered, sometimes embarrassing stuff (*laugh), I was actually surprised at some of the results. But enough… I’m posting the Most Played Artists and Albums here… and the 50 Most Played Singles will be coming soon after.

Most Played Artists

20. Madonna
I Still LOVE Madonna, despite this year which to me was a disaster. She grossed loads on tour, but she ALWAYS does so it’s a given. It’s just both the quality of her music and her attention seeking antics on stage, 2012 was a year of literal desperation for the Queen of Pop. But… apparently I still listened to her enough. =) (and the “Girl Gone Wild” video is STILL HOT!)

19. The White Stripes
18. Wild Nothing
17. Santigold
16. Christina Aguilera

15. Dawn Richard
My favorite Danity Kane-r worked the Indie thing this year with two EP’s which I really loved (“Armor On” much more than “Whiteout”)for being something totally unique and new, I kind of thought she was underrated this year but maybe things will work out better with her full length solo debut this year.

14. Grizzly Bear
13. Red Hot Chili Peppers
12. The Killers
11. Beach House

10. Usher
9. The Police
I just kind of regret not getting more into them when I was a kid, because The Police are ‘Effing Amazing! The songwriting and the way they mix and jump genres, and the arrangements. I’m sure this is highly debatable, but with only 5 albums as a group I think they have the best overall Discography I’ve heard so far.

8. Drake
7. Frank Ocean
6. Mariah Carey
Her single “Triumphant” clearly didn’t live up to it’s title, but Mariah has always been one of my All-Time Favorites so I guess I was just re-discovering my love of her music and her voice.

5. David Bowie
4. Prince
I tend to stick to pre-“Purple Rain” Prince, from “Dirty Mind” to “1999” is probably my favorite side of my Music God. Last year I guess I was trying to get back into the later stuff.
(Now, we know that Prince hates YouTube, so I was only to find this acoustic set which I’m Happy to post because it’s basically AwesomeSauce! “Take The Place of Your Man”, the most played Prince song of the year, starts at the 3.00 minute mark.)

3. Beyonce
2. No Doubt
I honestly didn’t think I’d be as amped about No Doubt FINALLY releasing a new album, but they came through for me as a fan. They delivered a great catchy album that is both contemporary and fresh for them, but it also uses their musical past. I think they were really underrated, especially at the Grammys, but as a fan of their music I’m satisfied.

1. Rihanna
What can I say!? Are you SURPRISED!?

20 Most Played Albums

20. Rihanna, Talk That Talk
19. Grizzly Bear , Shields

I remember being kinda hyped for this album, because I partially loved their album “Veckatimest”. This album served for good Study music, but I can’t say more than that. It’s a nice album but I don’t remember much of it at this point. But obviously I must have Studied a lot!

18. The Black Keys , El Camino
17. Teams , Dxys Xff

So, I had been meaning to check out Teams because I was so in love with “Teams vs Star Slinger”, and finally Spotify came through for me. It’s… such a weird album, but oddly pleasant. There are some tracks that I loved and replayed often, it’s just awesome in a really indescribable way for me.

16. Jack White , Blunderbuss
15. Prince , Sign O The Times
14. Alt J , An Awesome Wave

Randomly saw this album on somebody else’s LastFm page and thought I’d check it out. I’m glad I did… but it’s an odd album to describe for me. Just check it out please!

13. Animal Collective , Centipede Hz

I was a big fan of “Merriweather Post Pavilion”, but I kinda thought they might be a sort of one trick pony group and wasn’t excited for the album. Just randomly played it on Spotify one day, and really liked it. Than I got hooked on so many of the songs I had to admit that this one was a great great outing and a progression for them I think.

12. Santigold , Master of My Make Believe
11. Miguel , Kaleidoscope Dream

I was a little disappointed with Miguel’s debut because I felt he didn’t live up to his potential. “Kaleidoscope Dream” kind of blew my mind a little bit. Another weird mixture of R&B and Electronic and Alternative music, and ““>sedate me, salacious salty and sweet, i’m overwhelmed by tasty thoughts of you” might be my favorite lyric of the year!?

10. Beyonce , 4
9. Dawn Richard , Armor On
8. Beach House , Bloom

This was a true grower, it was pleasant at first and I kinda wrote it off… but than I kept hearing some of the melodies and hooks in my head and was drawn back to it. I think this was a really good effort by a group I wasn’t too sure of to be honest.

7. Usher , Looking 4 Myself

I kept meaning to do a review of this album because I was really into it. I applaud Usher for really stepping out of his element and conquering it with this album, I think this album was a risk that paid off but apparently the Grammys didn’t agree.

6. Rihanna , Unapologetic
5. The Killers , Battle Born

So, I instantly was in the love with The Killers when they first came out. But every album after “Hot Fuss” I liked less and less, and I didn’t have any real expectations for this album. It’s really, really good though. They stick with this whole “Americana” style but it finally feels BIG somehow. Hard to explain, it was just an awesome album to me.

4. Drake , Take Care
3. Rihanna , Loud
2. Frank Ocean , Channel Orange
1. No Doubt , Push and Shove

So, like… go add me on LastFm and Spotify. And stay tuned for the Top 50 Most Played SONGS coming soon.