New Good Song: "Five More Days," JP Cooper f/ Avelino 3.26.16

Here's a new good song: "Five More Days" by JP Cooper f. Avelino. Thematically, there are echoes here of Prince's  "Money Don't Matter 2 Night," and musically there are whispers of Arrested Development -- blues, hip-hop, soul, gospel and pop. It''s about running out of money each and every pay cycle, and counting down the days until the next paycheck comes so that you can, you know, eat. Very relatable, especially these days, unfortunately. Enjoy!
 

New Good Song: "No Time," Different Sleep f/ Jarell Perry 3.26.16

Here's a new good song: "No Time" by Different Sleep f/ Jarell Perry. It's a bit peculiar, with its unexpected audio samples, but it all works together in an innovative salad of dance, soul and techno. Enjoy!

New Good Song: "Electric," Brett 3.26.16

Here's a new good song: "Electric" by Brett. Boy is this beautiful. It reminds me of the similarly titled "Electric Indigo" by Paper Kites, which was the fourth-best song of 2015. Cool, sweet, groovy throwback light rock with liberal use of reverb. Enjoy!
   

New Good Song: "Bourbon," Gallant 3.24.16

Here's a new good song: "Bourbon" by Christopher Gallant, who professionally goes only by his surname. Like the opposite of Cher. "Bourbon" is great atmospheric R&B, like The Weeknd but with more appealing vocals. Enjoy!

New Good Song: "Where The Hell Are My Friends?" Lany 3.24.16

Here's a new good song: "Where The Hell Are My Friends?" by Lany, a synth-pop trio who may be the best thing to happen to America in the past five years. They had the third-best song of 2014, "ILYSB"; the 80th-best song of 2014, "Walk Away"; and the 13th-best song of 2015, "Someone Else." Just such great songwriting -- simple arrangements and effective vocals. Their new track, "Where The Hell Are My Friends?" kicks the tempo up a bit. It's very fresh. Enjoy!

New Good Song: "In God's House," Bat for Lashes 3.24.16

Here's a new good song: "In God's House" by Bat for Lashes, the stage name of Natasha Khan. Natasha does wonderful, synth-driven moody pop music. She had the seventh-best song of 2009, "Daniel"; the 40th-best song of 2012, "Laura"; and the 42nd-best song of 2013, "A Wall." Now she's back with "In God's House," a song about a woman who's left at the altar. It's a real downer, but very pretty. Enjoy!

New Good Song: "No," Meghan Trainor 3.21.16

Here's a new good song: "No" by Meghan Trainor. Before winning Best New Artist at the Grammys last month, Trainor was best known for releasing four annoying Top 20 hits in 2014-15, the first of which was "All About That Bass," a song that celebrates being out of shape. Now Meghan is back with "No," an attitudinal reject-that-man-in-the-club song that's pretty darn catchy. The production leans modern-R&B, rather than toward the retro-R&B she explored on her debut album ("Title"). It's a welcome change of direction. Enjoy!

New Good Song: "Mad At You," 3OH!3 3.9.16

Here's a new good song: "Mad At You" by 3OH!3. This duo is best know for their 2008 hit "Don't Trust Me," which wasn't a very good song and was somewhat offensive. "Mad At You" is also somewhat offensive but less so, and the chorus is really catchy. Both are super immature. Enjoy!

New Good Song: "Already Love," Great Good Fine Ok 3.9.16

Here's a new good song: "Already Love" by Great Good Fine Ok. I knew I loved this song in about 6 seconds. It's absolutely beautiful, catchy, well-produced. Great job. Enjoy!

New Good Song: "Running Out," Matoma & Astrid S 2.25.16

Here's a new good song: "Running Out" by Matoma & Astrid S. It's a mid-tempo pop song with touches of house. Enjoy!

New Good Song: "Midnight River," Vault 2.25.16

Here's a new good song: "Midnight River" by Vaults. What a curious little song -- sort of '80s, with whispers of Southern gospel and dance. The video, seemingly inspired by Sia, is over-dramatic but clever nonetheless. Enjoy!

New Good Song: "Love Is Blind," Låpsley 2.5.16

Here's a new good song: "Love Is Blind" by Låpsley. Låpsley is the middle name of British teenager Holly Fletcher. Her voice is low. In fact, I confess that the first time I heard this song I thought the singer was a man with a feminine touch to his voice. But no, it's Holly, a girl half my age. Enjoy!

New Good Song: "Pillowtalk," Zayn 1.31.16

Here's a new good song: "Pillowtalk" by Zayn. I don't have any problem with boy bands per se. I think *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys and 98 Degrees had some good songs, as did some boy bands not as well known in the U.S., like Take That and Scouting for Girls, who had my favorite songs of 1995 and 2010 respectively -- "Back For Good" and "This Ain't A Love Song." There's no inherent reason why a boy band can't have a good song. In fact, the combination of vocal ability and access to talented writers and producers should guarantee some nice output.

There are two big exceptions to this, however. The first is New Kids on the Block, who from 1988 and 1990 produced nothing but terrible music, although I'll concede that their 2008 semi-comeback hit "Summertime" was fine. The second exception is One Direction. It doesn't take a genius to see the appeal of this group, because teenage girls and gay boys like cute boys who sing love songs. That's always been true and always will be, and that's fine. But their music is so bad it actually surprises me. And it's not just bad, it's also forgettable. At least NKOTB's bad music was memorable. Maybe I've just grown cynical. But whatever the reason, One Direction's shtick doesn't work for me, even though I'm sure the members are talented and work hard for their success, and I wish each of them well.

That said, former One Direction member Zayn Malik has just released his debut single, and I think it's pretty good. See what you think below. I'm put off by the pointless and cliched use of all-caps, but whatever. Enjoy!

New Good Song: "They Don't Give," Jordin Sparks 1.31.16

Here's a new good song: "They Don't Give" by Jordin Sparks. This is a slower, smoother and much better track than the first two singles she released off her latest album, "Right Here, Right Now." This is a lovely '90s throwback jam, and it won't be successful because nobody but me has any taste. Enjoy!

New Good Song: "Not Above That," Dawn Richard 1.31.16

Here's a new good song: "Not Above That" by Dawn Richard. As a solo artist, Dawn, perhaps best known as a former member of Danity Kane, is fantastically innovative, although I don't always care for the results. Her song "86" was my favorite song of 2013, but I've been generally let down by her other output. Her latest, "Not Above That," is a bit repetitive but I'm finding it sufficiently catchy to log it here. It's no "86," but what is? Enjoy!

New Good Song: "Death Of A Bachelor," Panic! at the Disco 1.31.16

Here's a new good song: "Death Of A Bachelor" by Panic! at the Disco. This band is best known for mid-00s punk-pop, and this song has flavors of that but is primarily a jazz-vocal song in the vein of Frank Sinatra, over a pop beat. It's a mildly peculiar combination but one that works, in my opinion, better than the recent attempts by Fall Out Boy to blend genres. Enjoy!

New Good Song: "No Time For It," Fantasia 1.16.16

Here's a new good song: "No Time For It" by Fantasia. Since winning "American Idol," Fantasia hasn't revisited the Top 20 of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart, although she's had some success on the R&B tally, and has had a couple releases I thought were quite special. "Truth Is" is a masterpiece, and was my third-favorite song of 2005. I also liked "Bore Me (Yawn)." And I appreciated her recent track "Lose To Win," 78th favorite song of 2013. Her new single, "No Time For It," is reminiscent of "Lose To Win" but is more tightly crafted and less heavily reliant on a sample to move it forward. Nice job. Enjoy.

New Good Song: "Heartbeat," Carrie Underwood 1.16.16

Here's a new good song: "Heartbeat" by Carrie Underwood. I'm neither a Carrie Underwood fan nor a Carrie Underwood hater. She's an exceptional singer with general serviceable songs. As I browse through her discography I can't say there's much of anything I find particularly special, although "Last Name" is funny. She seems like a decent person, so good luck to her. This latest song, "Heartbeat," is pretty and a nice mid-tempo addition to a playlist. Enjoy.

New Good Song: "Sax," Fleur East 1.16.16

Here's a new good song: "Sax" by Fleur East. This is yet another find I made through the musical ying to my yang, LuisMa. This is a joyous soul-dance track that's an obvious echo to "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson f/ Bruno Mars. It's loud and proud. Enjoy.

New Good Song: "Hallucinations," dvsn 1.10.16

Here's a new good song: "Hallucinations" by dvsn. I'm not sure if that's a person or a group, but this track creates a cool electronic-alt-R&B atmosphere. This is what I think The Weeknd's music might sound like if it were capably sung and not littered with lyrics about taking drugs and fucking bitches. This song reminds me of Miguel, and Majid Jordan. Enjoy!