“Climax,” Usher: After a thousand attempts (half of them by Rihanna and a DJ du jour), there is finally a perfectly balanced blend of modern r&b and EDM. And I mean everything: swagger, shredding, savage ’70s metal, ’80s arena hooks and bombast, bombast, bombast!ġ6. ![]() “Leave When You Please,” Mellow Bravo: By the hammer of Thor! These locals deliver everything rock ’n’ roll has missed in the past two decades. “Duquense Whistle” is rhythm and blues, vaudevillian cheek and folksy country with a wink.ġ5. “Duquesne Whistle,” Bob Dylan: The maestro has been swimming in proto-rock for a decade, but rarely have his romps been this fun. Some say this is lazy I say, why write new stuff when the old stuff is the bomb?ġ4. “She’s the Woman” dates back to a ’76 demo. “She’s the Woman,” Van Halen: Many of the tunes on the band’s first album with David Lee Roth since “1984” are based on outtakes and sketches from Van Halen’s Diamond Dave-fronted heyday. The best thing the search engine Bing ever turned up.ġ3. ![]() But nobody predicted a tiny, tender ballad from an unknown Denver trio would resonate around the world. “Ho Hey,” The Lumineers: The folk revival continued to build with big years for Mumford & Sons, Old Crow Medicine Show and the Avett Brothers. A half century after it was released, the song is more revolutionary than 98 percent of new music.ġ2. “Tomorrow Never Knows,” The Beatles: When “Mad Men’s” Don Draper slipped this Fab Four head trip on his hi-fi, he reminded the world the Beatles are still the best. “Dirty Paws,” Of Monsters and Men: Iceland’s Of Monsters and Men nearly pulled off the ultimate coup, winning the song of the summer with their wild, blustery Norse campfire sing-along “Little Talks.” But it was “Dirty Paws” that showed their full potential, with dual vocalists Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar Thórhallsson shouting over the clatter of acoustic guitars, crashing cymbals and a wintery, epic piano line.ġ1. The ride is full of love and nostalgia, grit and power.ġ0. ![]() “Love Changes Everything,” Session Americana: The Cambridge institution’s cover of Amy Correia’s “Love Changes Everything” picks up speed with every acoustic guitar strum, every new voice and harmony, chugging toward a brilliant climax. But this BMA Song of the Year winner is a sunny sonic stroll through a Veracruz street market.ĩ. “Harder Before It Gets Easier,” David Wax Museum: Boston’s (and the world’s) favorite Americana/Mexicana pioneers added a little dark weirdness to their sound this year. Jepsen’s gem is a throwback, a perfect little pop song without the whips and chains, the rare song moms, tweens and hipsters dig.Ĩ. “Call Me Maybe,” Carly Rae Jepsen: Top 40 has become hyper-sexual (I’m looking at you, Rihanna). It’s a choice blend of deep introspection and tasty ear candy.ħ. Mixing languid and frenetic verses, the hip-hop tune echoes an epic boozing session. “Swimming Pools (Drank),” Kendrick Lamar: The West Coast’s Rookie of the Year (and probable future MVP) delivers a true and terrifying treatise on alcoholism. The epic example is the opening track, “Take a Walk.” The tune thumps with a club beat Lady Gaga would envy while telling a heartbreaking story of money and machismo ruining families.Ħ. The disc wrapped nasty emotional wounds in clouds of bright pop. “ Take a Walk,” Passion Pit: Their second album “Gossamer” did more than just expand the ex-Boston band’s sonic pallet. The result is a brutal ballad without the expected syrupy stuff.ģ. Here the breakout r&b star of 2012 went naked: minimalist beat, simple synth swells, wounded falsetto, honest heartbreak. “Thinkin Bout You,” Frank Ocean: Singers often hide their lack of talent in million-dollar productions. ![]() As long as underdogs come up with melodies this great, there’s always a chance to KO the heavyweights.Ģ. Once again, a no-name artist outsold the industry-approved (read: industry-created) cartoon pop stars. This year, an odd, inexplicable and wonderful duet from Down Under provided the No. “Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye and Kimbra: Adele knocked the industry establishment for a loop in 2011 by outselling Katy Perry, Rihanna and Lady Gaga. Read about the Top 25 here, then jump on my Boston Guestlisted blog to see the rest and stream a playlist of the tracks.ġ. Skipping the tired Top 10 Albums of the Year feature, I hunted the 212 most interesting, influential and awesome songs of the year - oh yeah, this list is Homeric. But hundreds of songs tickled my ears, blew my mind and shook my hips. There were only a dozen albums I dug from top to bottom this year.
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