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

New Good Song: Hard To Love by Lee Brice

Here's a new good song -- "Hard To Love" by Lee Brice

How I found this song -- iTunes Top 200, on one of the days I was so dismayed that I ventured into country. I found this song about two months ago, so it's bordering on not being new, but it's still worth mentioning because it shows that sometimes one must cross genres to find new good songs. Most of today's country cross-over attention is going to Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum, but there are other artists who do country music that you can stand, and that in some cases is good, such as "Glass" Thompson Square, which is a nice lullaby and great to listen to when you're at the doctor having blood drawn.

There's quality within country, even if you're not a country fan. Usually the ballads are more digestible because they're more like rock songs, and there's a current dearth of ballads in pop, so if one likes ballads one must often turn to country. The best ballad of 2011, of any genre, was "Wanted You More" by Lady Antebellum, unless one considers "Nothing" by The Script a ballad. The best song of last year, incidentally, was "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj, in case you missed it.

What makes this song good? Say what you may about country music, but pretty consistently it's clever and rings true, telling familiar and funny stories. "Hard To Love" captures an oft-felt but rarely expressed sentiment: I stink and don't understand why anyone would love me. Also, country uses real instruments, which is a step in the right direction but certainly not a prerequesite for goodness (see "Super Bass").

Is the iTunes 200 a good source for country music? If you seek country, there may be better sources, but if you simply seek new good songs regardless of genre, the iTunes 200 can be your one and only destination for adding country songs to your playlist. It's flooded with country. You may also need Wikipedia open to verify release date, but it's unusual for an old country song to be on the iTunes 200 unless it was recently performed on "Glee" or was features in a TV series.

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.