New Good Song: "Living For Love," Madonna 2.7.15

Here's a new good song: "Living For Love" by Madonna. I grew up a huge Madonna fan. "Vogue" came out when I was about 11, and that was the first single I ever purchased. I credit it for turning me on to popular music, and for turning me into a huge homo. "Immaculate Collection" was released soon after, and that got me schooled on all her amazing '80s hits, some of the best of which are "Open Your Heart," "Cherish," "Crazy For You" and "Live To Tell." In the '90s she had more new good songs, the best of which, by far, was "Bad Girl." Others included "Justify My Love," "Deeper & Deeper," "Rain," "Take A Bow" and "Frozen." In the '00s, Madonna decided to release only two good songs: "Don't Tell Me" in 2000 and "Hung Up" in 2005. In the first half of the '10s, she released none. Now here's "Living For Love," which is good and, therefore, will probably be a huge flop in the U.S.

Enjoy!

New Good Song: "Running In Circles," Pop Etc 2.7.15

Here's a new good song: "Running In Circles" by Pop Etc. This group also had the 13th-best new good song of 2013, "Yoyo." Here's the list and here's that song. "Running In Circles" maintains the synth-heavy '80s tradition. Particularly love the bridge that starts at 3:23.

New Good Song: "Shut Up And Dance," Walk The Moon 2.7.15

Here's a new good song: "Shut Up And Dance" by Walk The Moon, a band that for whatever reason prefers to stylize its name as WALK THE MOON. That's so irritating that I would normally not even have listened to this song, were it not for the fact that I happened to see them in concert two years ago, on someone else's invitation, and they were great.

New Good Song: "Sun Goes Down," Robin Schulz f/ Jasmine Thompson 2.7.15

Here's a new good song: "Sun Goes Down" by Robin Schulz f/ Jasmine Thompson. Pretty house music. If you like this, you may also like "All Of You" by Peter Thomas f/ Betty Who, the fifth-best new good song of 2014.

New Good Song: "Remember Me," Eivør 2.7.15

Here's a new good song: "Remember Me" by Eivør. Simple, quiet, smooth, melancholy. A bit achy. Sweet, tender vocals. Well-suited accompaniment. Gorgeous bridge. Good job.

New Good Song: "Uptown Funk," Mark Ronson f/ Bruno Mars 2.7.15

Here's a new good song: "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson f/ Bruno Mars. While I was in Europe for two months, this is the U.S. song I was most excited to hear on the radio. It's just joy. An absolute home-run. Glad it's so popular. First time I ever heard this was on SNL, and that version is great too. It's here.

New Good Song: "Stuck On A Feeling," Prince Royce f/ Snoop Dogg 2.7.15

Here's a new good song: "Stuck On A Feeling" by Prince Royce f/ Snoop Dogg. Catchy pop ditty here. And the Spanish whispers are pretty sexy. The video is a bit corny. He should abandon the Justin Bieber faces. Nice little song though.

New Good Song: "Karaoke," Smallpools 2.7.15

Here's a new good song: "Karaoke" by Smallpools. Somewhat inconsequential pop-rock, but that's fine. It's cute.

New Good Song: "Love Me Harder," Ariana Grande & The Weeknd 2.7.1.5

Here's a new good song: "Love Me Harder" by Ariana Grande & The Weeknd. Like "Blank Space," this is not new, I realize. But it came out during my hiatus, so I'm posting it, for the record. This is by leaps and bounds Grande's best song to date. Would have been better with a different male vocalist (or the same vocalist with a different approach to the delivery -- it sounds like he's whining to his mom, which is not a good response to Grande's flirtatious delivery). But it is what it is.

New Good Song: "Blank Space," Taylor Swift 2.7.15

Here's a new good song: "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift. No it's not new anymore. It rose to popularity during my two-month European hiatus. But it should be acknowledged that I go on the record as saying that this is quite a great song.

Authenticity is important, and one of the reasons Swift resonates with fans and some non-fans is that she appears to be transparent. "Blank Space" feels like a genuine sentiment of Swift's. But beyond that, the music is very catchy. Great songwriting, great production. Video is a little silly. But the music is solid architecture.

New Good Song: "Elastic Heart," Sia 2.7.15

Here's a new good song: "Elastic Heart" by Sia. "Chandelier" was almost good, but the production and delivery were a bit grating. Some calmer covers of that song revealed that it's very lovely, but the released version wasn't great. "Elastic Heart" is much more successful, though. Great marriage of lyrics, production and vocal delivery. And even just the concept, "I've got an elastic heart," is quite poetic. Sia is talented. Brings just enough drama to be effective, but not over the top. And these videos are refreshingly creative.

New Good Song: "Saint Claude," Christine and The Queens 2.7.15

Here's a new good song -- a new good French song -- "Saint Claude" by Christine and The Queen.

The hiatus I've taken in updating this blog is due largely to having spent two months relatively disconnected while traveling in Europe. While there I discovered a few new good songs, including this one. No idea what she's saying in the verses, but the chorus is in English. If you would like to read the lyrics, a lyric video is here.