New Good Songs for October 2012

Here are some of the highlights from October.


Here's a new good song -- "Carry On" by Fun.
Here's a new good song -- "Skyfall" by Adele
Here's a new good song -- "Here I Am Alive" by Yellowcard
Here's a new good song -- "Girl On Fire" by Alicia Keys f/ Nicki Minaj
Here's a new good song -- "A Little While" by Heather Headley
Here's a new good song -- "Move In The Right Direction" by Gossip
Here's a new good song -- "Mama Told Me" by Big Boi f/ Kelly Rowland
Here's a new good song -- "Popular Song" by Mika
Here's a new good song -- "Kiss And Run" by Jenna Andrews
Here's a new good song -- "Catch My Breath" by Kelly Clarkson
Here's a new good song -- "This Kiss" by Carly Rae Jepsen

'04 Shame -- when new good songs were hardest to find

I dare you to watch the clip above.

This blog suggests that new good songs are difficult to find. But is 2012 a particularly bad year for finding new good songs?

No. Not only are there more ways than ever to find good songs, but songs this year have been pretty good. It takes more work to find them, but they're out there.

The worst year for new good songs (i.e., the worst year for songs)? In my opinion, of the past 23 years during which I've been following music closely, my vote is for 2004. What a piece of shit that year was. In life, fantastic. In music, nauseating.

Behold the year's most popular songs, which is not a comprehensive look at the year, of course, but a snapshot of what was widely deemed to be the best:

1. "Yeah!" Usher, Lil Jon and Ludacris
2. "Burn," Usher
3. "If I Ain't Got You," Alicia Keys
4. "This Love," Maroon 5
5. "The Way You Move," Outkast f/ Sleepy Brown
6. "The Reason," Hoobastank
7. "I Don't Wanna Know," Mario Winans, Enya and P. Diddy
8. "Hey Ya!" Outkast
9. "Goodies," Ciara f/ Petey Pablo
10. "Lean Back," Terror Squad

Typing this list actually made me angry. I need to take a few breaths. OK, that's better. WAS EVERYONE DEAF IN 2004??? Hold on, need more breaths. Phew, OK.

I cannot explain this list except to say that the output of 2004 was awful, if this is any indication. "I Don't Wanna Know" is cute. "The Reason," while overplayed, was not offensive. All the rest of this is trash.

I've gotten into heated debates about "Hey Ya!" that tend to end with me glaring with pity and bafflement at the other person. That is one horrid collection of consecutive noises.

But what if we look a bit further down the list than the Top 10. Any saving graces? Actually, it just gets worse and worse, if you can believe it:

11. "Tipsy," J-Kwon
12. "Confessions Part II," Usher
13. "Slow Motion," Juvenile f/ Soulja Slim
14. "Freek-a-Leek," Petey Pablo
15. "Here Without You," 3 Doors Down
16. "Slow Jamz," Twista f/ Kanye West and Jamie Foxx
17. "Someday," Nickelback
18. "Naughty Girl," Beyonce
19. "My Immortal," Evanescence
20. "Sunshine," Lil' Flip & Lea

Other than "Naughty Girl," those are the 9 worst songs ever written, produced or performed. I'm surprised I didn't stab my ears in 2004, or kill myself.

Fortunately, things got better in 2005, the year that gave us "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey, "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson, "Gold Digger" by Kanye West f/ Jamie Foxx and "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers. Not the best year for music by any means, but worth not stabbing my ears in 2004 for.

New Good Song: Scream by Usher

Here's a new good song -- "Scream" by Usher.

I struggle with Usher. My knee-jerk instinct is to dislike or discount his output out of habit. For the past 15 years, I have had to navigate through his body of work with a mix of disappointment and annoyance as he has churned out forgettable melodies amid grating productions. He is a talented singer and dancer, and very fit, but in my opinion outrated by the public in terms of his songs.

That said, I must admit that his songs will sometimes have hooks that I think are quite good. His breakout single, "You Make Me Wanna ...," was good.  "U Remind Me" was OK, but the harmonies on the track were lazy. "My Boo," his duet with Alicia Keys, was OK, but over-sung. His ballads tend to be snoozes. "Yeah!" was ghastly. Generally, I'm just not that impressed, particularly with the melody lines.

So imagine my surprise when he released "Climax" earlier this year, and I discovered a new good song from an unlikely source. The melody is nicely crafted and delivered, the sentiment seems honest, and the production is tight, modern, cool and original. This was really a nice track, and one of the better R&B songs of 2012 so far. It went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hip Hop/R&B chart.

After that, a slew of other singles from his latest album popped up on the iTunes list of most-downloaded songs. Despite liking "Climax," I was not that curious. And when I would click on these tracks while scanning the chart, I would be immediately annoyed. Everything, to me, sounded like typical American dance music, which is the worst modern genre.

But.

There was something interestingly hooky about "Scream." And as it rose up the charts higher and higher, breaking from the pack of his also-rans, I found myself turning back to it time and gain. Very reluctantly, I had to admit it was a new good song -- great melody, nicely sung, catchy. It's not a breakthrough, but it's good.

Pop music has a history of music that at first sounds horrible but then turns out to be either better, or perhaps even good. Examples include "Work It" by Missy Elliott and "What About Us?" by Brandy. The first time I heard these songs, I thought, "What is this garbage?" But after repeated listens, I grew to like it.

That's one disadvantage of the modern age. We are not as helplessly subjected to radio. This can be good news in some ways, as no one wants to be forced to consume bad music, but there is something to be said for a song "growing on you," and in this era of customization and music on-demand, not to mention an overwhelming amount of choice, it's less likely that listeners will have the patience to let that growth on them happen.

And while some songs grow on you, others shrink. Sometimes I've purchased slightly odd-sounding songs that have had aspects I liked, thinking it might grow on me, but instead they became worse upon repeated listens. Examples include "King of Hearts" by Cassie and "Menage e Trois" by Austin Brown.