'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.

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.

New Good Song: Sovereign Light Cafe by Keane

Here's a new good song -- "Sovereign Light Cafe," by Keane

How I found this song -- VH1 + Wikipedia. Keane has had one of the year's better new good songs, "Silenced By The Night." I discovered that song, if memory serves, in a totally 1992 kind of way -- on VH1. I DVR their Top 20 Video Countdown and sometimes scan through it on the weekend, even though that's silly because the list is also online. Having remembered that "Silenced By The Night" was a new good song, I visited Wikipedia to learn of what else Keane may have released since, and discovered "Sovereign Light Cafe," which is newer than "Silenced" but not as good.

What makes this song good? I respect a cheerful song that sounds as if its melody was carefully written, as opposed to improvised. This song borders on being a little too "la-di-da" but may remind you of Ben Folds or the Beatles in a good way. It's cute and timeless. Nice to stroll down the streets of New York to.

Is VH1's Top 20 Video Countdown a good source for new good songs? Surprisingly, yes. I have been consistently surprised that this countdown contains songs I manage not to discover through my numerous other hunting techniques, such as "Never Go Back" by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. It's strange that a network that exhibits poor taste in its reality programming actually exhibits good taste in its video countdown. Sometimes what's on VH1's list will surprise you because it spans genres nicely -- you'll get the Adult Top 40 music you expect (e.g., Train, Jason Mraz, Daughtry, John Mayer) plus artists you've never heard of (e.g., Ed Sheeran, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals) as well as some hand-picked mainstream head-scratchers (e.g., Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, David Guetta, Usher). Not all of this is good, but some of it is. On this week's chart, for example, "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz is good, as is "Give Your Heart A Break" by Demi Lovato and "Lights" by Ellie Goulding, although frankly if you were to have followed my advice and techniques from this blog you would have discovered these songs a few months ago.

New Good Song: Guardian by Alanis Morissette

Here's a new good song -- "Guardian," by Alanis Morissette

How I found this song -- iTunes. When embarking on any hunt for a new good song, I always start with the basic Top 200 songs selling on iTunes. The masses today don't have the best taste, but sometimes they'll surprise you. And a quick scan through this list always alerts me to the newest of the new, if not necessarily the best of the best. It was here I realized Alanis even had a new single. I adored "Underneath" a couple years ago. "Guardian" isn't as good because it's the same two chords over and over for more than four minutes. She can do better. But it's still better than most of what's out there. But if you haven't heard "Underneath," get that instead. It has one of my favorite bridges of all time, at 2:26.

What makes this song good? Instruments and a nice melody, and Alanis has a nice way with words. This isn't the greatest song on earth but it'll do.

Is the list of iTunes 200 most downloaded songs a good source for new good songs? Absolutely; this is the closest I've found to a "news alert" about what's new, although new doesn't mean good. For example, everything sung on "Glee" ends up on this list, but fortunately this poop is easy to spot and thus avoid, so that's no sweat. Then there's "The Voice," another series whose output clutters the list; these songs are not in the scope of my hunt because they're not new. They also aren't so much "songs" as "audition exercises."

Other than these shows, there are also a few genres that disproportionately take up space on the iTunes 200 list. One is American dance music, which is the worst genre of 2012 (see Jennifer Lopez, most Usher, anything featuring Pitbull, and a majority of Rihanna's output). The second is hip-hop, which used to be a good genre but in 2012 will make your ears bleed (e.g., "Get Low" by Waka Flocka Flame, "Work Hard, Play Hard" by Wiz Khalifa). For the most part, if a song on iTunes is marked "Explicit," and it's by an artist you you've never heard of, it's probably a hip-hop song from 2012, and therefore is the worst song ever made.

The final genre cluttering up the iTunes Top 200 is tricky to negotiate -- country. There are some new good songs in the country genre (e.g., "Hard To Love" by Lee Brice and "Glass" by Thompson Square), but in general most are bad, and it can be difficult to predict goodness or badness based on title and artist, especially if you're not a country fan. Fortunately, if you click on a country song preview, you can usually tell in 2 seconds whether it's the worst song of all time, by the degree of twang. Usually I only forge into country territory to find new good songs if I have exhausted the rest of the 200.

The iTunes Top 200 has been the source of many new good songs for me this year, including "Midnight City" by M83 and, ages ago, "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye f/ Kimbra. You can, of course, also sort through iTunes lists by genre. This can be very helpful in the alternative genre in particular; it's less useful in R&B and rock, because most of the songs on those lists are not new. That's when you need Wikipedia on your side. More on that to come.