New Good Song: Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis f/ Wanz

Here's a new good song -- "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis f/ Wanz

Hip-hop is not featured much on this blog, because most of what's new in this genre isn't good. Historically, though, hip-hop could be good. Must of today's output in this genre is offensive to all senses.

Rap as a vocal style is inherently silly, so (in my opinion), rap works best when a song has some sense of humor and is clever. This is why Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliott and Eminem have some good songs, when they choose to have a sense of humor. Examples include "My Chick Bad" by Ludacris, "Drop It Like It's Hot" by Snoop Dogg, "Work It" by Missy Elliott and "Superman" by Eminem. But when rappers take themselves too seriously, goodness is hard to achieve.

Here we have "Thrift Shop," which, surprisingly for a hip-hop song, is not a euphemism for oral sex. It is, in fact, a song about buying secondhand clothes and other "come ups" (a phrase that's new to me, but which apparently means things of value) at a thrift shop. It's delivered with a nice light touch, over a pretty catchy and whimsical instrumental track, and the whole thing works together with a nice hooky chorus, delivered with humor.

Enjoy!

'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: Tonight by John Legend f/ Ludacris

Here's a new good song -- "Tonight (Best You Ever Had)," by John Legend f/ Ludacris

How I found this song -- the R&B chart on iTunes. It's also featured in the film "Think Like A Man," which I did not see. But films can sometimes be a good source for new good songs as well, as can the music the theatre plays before a film begins. One of my favorite songs of 2011 was "Party For The Lonely" by Sharon Robinson, which I discovered by Shazaming it as it was playing over the pre-film ads. It's so obscure it's not even on YouTube, but it's available on iTunes. Turns out it's from 2008. It's really a beautiful song. Better than this John Legend song.

What makes this song good? Not the corny-ass video, that's for damn sure. This is just a silky, well-sung, solidly produced ditty that makes you move, and the lyrics are funny, on purpose (I think). It's a bit '90s, which I love, and it doesn't get tiresome on repeated listens. Nowadays, a good R&B song comes along about once every 2 months, so each must be celebrated. We took them for granted in the mid-'90s.

Is the R&B chart on iTunes a good source of new good songs? There are pros and cons to the R&B chart on iTunes vs. the Hip-Hop and R&B Chart on Billboard.com. The Billboard chart is by far better if one truly cares about what's new, as I do. Not only does a song necessarily have to be new to qualify for Billboard, but the chart provides information about exactly how new each song is. Billboard also orchestrates its methodology in such a way that its charts aren't unduly dominated by a particular artist; on the iTunes R&B chart, by contrast, Chris Brown has 22 songs out of the Top 200 R&B, and Usher has 18. It would seem iTunes' policy is that every time either of these men emits a sound, it will appear on the chart. Billboard is also better because it lets you listen to an entire song on its site, as opposed to just a 30- or 90-second clip.

However, Billboard has shortcomings. The website isn't user-friendly. Billboard still combines hip-hop and R&B into one chart; iTunes separates them into Hip-Hop/Rap and R&B/Soul, which is the correct answer. Billboard also doesn't include song samples with everything. And not everything on Billboard is available for purchase (e.g., "Beautiful Surprise" by Tamia, which is almost a new good song but is just a hair too boring).

If you want to go down this R&B road, I suggest using the iTunes R&B chart and Billboard in tandem. The churn in this genre is low, so you'll be up-to-date even if you don't search for new songs more than once a month.