Top 20 Songs for October 22-28, 2017

1. SO TIED UP – Cold War Kids, Bishop Briggs (1)
2. HIGHWAY TUNE – Greta Van Fleet (5)
3. HOLDING ON – The War on Drugs (2)
4. LITTLE ONE – Highly Suspect (4)
5. SUIT AND JACKET – Judah & the Lion (6)
6. LOVING YOU IS SO EASY – Wide Eyed Boy (7)
7. THE MAN – The Killers (3)
8. SIT NEXT TO ME – Foster the People (9)
9. WALK ON WATER – 30 Seconds to Mars (11)
10. UNFORGETTABLE – French Montana, Swae Lee (8)
11. THE SKY IS A NEIGHBORHOOD – Foo Fighters (13)
12. LAY IT ON ME – Vance Joy (12)
13. WITHOUT YOU – Disciples of Babylon (16)
14. UP ALL NIGHT – Beck (15)
15. ONE FOOT – Walk the Moon (17)
16. THE NIGHT WE MET – Lord Huron (10)
17. THE WAY YOU USED TO DO – Queens of the Stone Age (14)
18. KINKY – Oli Barton & the Movement (N)
19. I LOVE YOU BUT I’M LOST – Tears For Fears (N)
20. NO ROOTS – Alice Merton (N)

Top 20 Songs for October 15-21, 2017

1. SO TIED UP – Cold War Kids featuring Bishop Briggs (2)
2. HOLDING ON – The War on Drugs (1)
3. THE MAN – The Killers (3)
4. LITTLE ONE – Highly Suspect (5)
5. HIGHWAY TUNE – Greta Van Fleet (7)
6. SUIT AND JACKET – Judah & the Lion (6)
7. LOVING YOU IS SO EASY – Wide Eyed Boy (8)
8. UNFORGETTABLE – French Montana, Swae Lee (4)
9. SIT NEXT TO ME – Foster the People (10)
10. THE NIGHT WE MET – Lord Huron (9)
11. WALK ON WATER – 30 Seconds to Mars (11)
12. LAY IT ON ME – Vance Joy (13)
13. THE SKY IS A NEIGHBORHOOD – Foo Fighters (19)
14. THE WAY YOU USED TO DO – Queens of the Stone Age (12)
15. UP ALL NIGHT – Beck (17)
16. WITHOUT YOU – Disciples of Babylon (18)
17. ONE FOOT – Walk the Moon (20)
18. EVERYTHING NOW – Arcade Fire (14)
19. CAN I SIT NEXT TO YOU – Spoon (15) 19th week on list
20. FEEL IT STILL – Portugal. The Man (16) 24th week on list

Top 20 Songs for October 8-14, 2017

1. HOLDING ON – The War on Drugs (1)
2. SO TIED UP – Cold War Kids w/Bishop Briggs (4)
3. THE MAN – The Killers (2)
4. UNFORGETTABLE – French Montana w/Swae Lee (3)
5. LITTLE ONE – Highly Suspect (6)
6. SUIT AND JACKET – Judah & the Lion (7)
7. HIGHWAY TUNE – Greta Van Fleet (8)
8. LOVING YOU IS SO EASY – Wide Eyed Boy (9)
9. THE NIGHT WE MET – Lord Huron (5)
10. SIT NEXT TO ME – Foster the People (12)
11. WALK ON WATER – 30 Seconds to Mars (13)
12. THE WAY YOU USED TO DO – Queens of the Stone Age (11)
13. LAY IT ON ME – Vance Joy (18)
14. EVERYTHING NOW – Arcade Fire (10)
15. CAN I SIT NEXT TO YOU – Spoon (14)
16. FEEL IT STILL – Portugal. The Man (15) 23rd week on list
17. UP ALL NIGHT – Beck (19)
18. WITHOUT YOU – Disciples of Babylon (20)
19. THE SKY IS A NEIGHBORHOOD – Foo Fighters (N)
20. ONE FOOT – Walk the Moon (N)

Top 100 Songs of 2015

2015 was another amazing year in music, and saw the release of numerous albums of merit, most notably the incredible Blurryface from twenty øne piløts, How Big How Blue How Beautiful from Florence + the Machine, Beauty Behind the Madness from The Weeknd, Currents from Tame Impala, Wilder Mind from Mumford & Sons, What Went Down from Foals, Sound and Color from Alabama Shakes, To Pimp a Butterfly from Kendrick Lamar, Drones from Muse, Every Open Eye from CHVRCHES, Kintsugi from Death Cab For Cutie, My Love is Cool from Wolf Alice, Caracal from Disclosure, Get to Heaven from Everything Everything and, at the end of the year, Adele’s eagerly awaited and record-setting 25.  One of my personal favorites was No Devotion’s exceptional debut album Permanence, which I previously reviewed in this blog.

One of the biggest hits of the year was the hugely popular “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. The wildly entertaining and oft-imitated video paid homage to masters of funk James Brown, Funkadelic and Prince. Another break-out artist was Elle King, whose “Ex’s and Oh’s” was one of the biggest and most enjoyable songs of the year, and I especially loved “My Type” from Saint Motel, a fun and stylish tune. My pick for best song of 2015 is “Tear in My Heart,” a rousing anthem to the highs and lows of love from my favorite band of the year, twenty øne piløts.

1. TEAR IN MY HEART – twenty øne piløts

2. UPTOWN FUNK! – Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
3. EX’S & OH’S – Elle King
4. THE LESS I KNOW THE BETTER – Tame Impala
5. FIRST – Cold War Kids
6. SHUT UP AND DANCE – Walk the Moon
7. RENEGADES – X Ambassadors
8. BELIEVE – Mumford & Sons
9. STRESSED OUT – twenty øne piløts
10. CAN’T FEEL MY FACE – The Weeknd
11. DREAMS – Beck
12. MY TYPE – Saint Motel
13. HELLO – Adele
14. LAMPSHADES ON FIRE – Modest Mouse
15. THINKING OUT LOUD – Ed Sheeran
16. HOLLOW MOON (BAD WOLF) – AWOLNATION
17. LONG WAY DOWN – Robert DeLong
18. SHIP TO WRECK – Florence + the Machine
19. DON’T WANNA FIGHT – Alabama Shakes
20. DEAD INSIDE – Muse
21. BLACK SUN – Death Cab For Cutie
22. CRYSTALS – Of Monsters and Men
23. WHAT KIND OF MAN? – Florence + the Machine
24. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING – Foo Fighters
25. S.O.B. – Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
26. ROLLERCOASTER – Bleachers
27. ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME – Coldplay
28. BUDAPEST – George Ezra
29. MOANING LISA SMILE – Wolf Alice
30. NEARLY FORGOT MY BROKEN HEART – Chris Cornell
31. ELECTRIC LOVE – BØRNS
32. SEDONA – Houndmouth
33. BLAME IT ON ME – George Ezra
34. WHAT WENT DOWN – Foals
35. I AM – AWOLNATION
36. EARNED IT (FIFTY SHADES OF GREY) – The Weeknd
37. CIGARETTE DAYDREAMS – Cage the Elephant
38. COULD HAVE BEEN ME – The Struts
39. EVERY OTHER FRECKLE – alt-J
40. THE WOLF – Mumford & Sons
41. MESS IS MINE – Vance Joy
42. CECILIA AND THE SATELLITE – Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
43. THE GHOSTS OF BEVERLY DRIVE – Death Cab for Cutie
44. 2 HEADS – Coleman Hell
45. HOLD BACK THE RIVER – James Bay
46. I BET MY LIFE – Imagine Dragons
47. R.I.P. 2 MY YOUTH – The Neighbourhood
48. FIGURE IT OUT – Royal Blood
49. SOMEBODY NEW – Joywave
50. ADDITION – No Devotion
51. MOUNTAIN AT MY GATES – Foals
52. MERCY – Muse
53. KATHLEEN – Catfish & the Bottlemen
54. FAIRLY LOCAL – twenty øne piløts
55. R U MINE? – Arctic Monkeys
56. SOMEONE NEW – Hozier
57. HOTLINE BLING – Drake
58. COLD COLD MAN – Saint Motel
59. THE GROUND WALKS, WITH TIME IN A BOX – Modest Mouse
60. LEAVE A TRACE – CHVRCHES
61. DIFFERENT COLORS – Walk the Moon
62. MOLECULES – Atlas Genius
63. COMING HOME – Leon Bridges
64. FLASHED JUNK MIND – Milky Chance
65. THE WEIGHT OF LOVE – The Black Keys
66. FROM EDEN – Hozier
67. UMA THURMAN – Fall Out Boy
68. WHAT DO YOU MEAN? – Justin Bieber
69. REGRET – Everything Everything
70. SHOTS – Imagine Dragons
71. EVERY BREAKING WAVE – U2
72. COMING FOR YOU – The Offspring
73. SOUND OF CHANGE – Dirty Heads
74. EVERYTHING IS WRONG – Interpol
75. KARMA – Disciples of Babylon
76. DISTANT PAST – Everything Everything
77. DYING TO SHINE – She Pulled the Trigger
78. REALiTi – Grimes
79. WANT TO WANT ME – Jason Derulo
80. CIGARETTES AND SAINTS – The Wonder Years
81. REALLY LOVE – D’Angelo and the Vanguard
82. I LIVED – OneRepublic
83. CIVIL WAR – Ages Apart
84. BEST OF ME – The Awareness
85. PERMANENT SUNLIGHT – No Devotion
86. STYLE – Taylor Swift
87. I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE – Sam Smith
88. FOOL FOR LOVE – Lord Huron
89. WAVES – Mr. Probst
90. KING KUNTA – Kendrick Lamar
91. LITTLE MONSTER – Royal Blood
92. JEALOUS – Nick Jonas
93. BAD BLOOD – Ryan Adams
94. SEE YOU AGAIN – Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth
95. OUTTA MY MIND – The ARCS
96. CONGREGATION – Foo Fighters
97. ELASTIC HEART – Sia
98. LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO – Ellie Goulding
99. HALLELUJAH – Panic! At the Disco
100. ABSOLUTION CALLING – Incubus

Top 50 Songs of 2012

2012 was an exciting year for music, with more great songs from Adele, The Black Keys, Maroon 5, Kelly Clarkson, P!nk and Coldplay. A number of new artists, including fun., Ed Sheeran and Walk the Moon emerged on the music scene with songs that became instant classics. Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” was a huge crossover hit, and ended up being the #1 Song of the Year on Billboard’s Hot 100, Rock, Adult Pop and Alternative Charts. It also was awarded a Grammy for Record of the Year, and is my favorite song of 2012. Here are my 50 favorite songs of 2012.

1. SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW – Gotye featuring Kimbra

2. TONGUE TIED – Grouplove
3. WE ARE YOUNG – fun. Featuring Janelle Monae
4. LONELY BOY – The Black Keys
5. SET FIRE TO THE RAIN – Adele
6. SOME NIGHTS – fun.
7. COUGH SYRUP – Young the Giant
8. CALL ME MAYBE – Carly Rae Jepsen
9. ONE MORE NIGHT – Maroon 5
10. STRONGER (WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU) – Kelly Clarkson
11. PARADISE – Coldplay
12. BLOW ME (ONE LAST KISS) – P!nk
13. BURN IT DOWN – Linkin Park
14. THE A TEAM – Ed Sheeran
15. PAYPHONE – Maroon 5
16. PRINCESS OF CHINA – Coldplay featuring Rihanna
17. WE FOUND LOVE – Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna
18. GLAD YOU CAME – The Wanted
19. DON’T STOP (COLOR ON THE WALLS) – Foster the People
20. HOME – Phillip Phillips
21. EVERYBODY TALKS – Neon Trees
22. GOLD ON THE CEILING – The Black Keys
23. TAKE A WALK – Passion Pit
24. RUMOUR HAS IT – Adele
25. LIGHTS – Ellie Goulding
26. WIDE AWAKE – Katy Perry
27. IT WILL RAIN – Bruno Mars
28. MIDNIGHT CITY – M83
29. TITANIUM – David Guetta featuring Sia
30. GOOD FEELING – Flo Rida
31. ANNA SUN – Walk the Moon
32. GIVE YOUR HEART A BREAK – Demi Lovato
33. WHAT MAKES YOU BEAUTIFUL – One Direction
34. TOO CLOSE – Alex Clare
35. DRIVE BY – Train
36. LITTLE BLACK SUBMARINES – The Black Keys
37. RUNAWAYS – The Killers
38. THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY – Katy Perry
39. LET ME LOVE YOU – Ne-Yo
40. HALL OF FAME – The Script featuring will.i.am
41. THESE DAYS – Foo Fighters
42. FINE BY ME – Andy Grammer
43. I WON’T GIVE UP – Jason Mraz
44. WILD ONES – Flo Rida featuring Sia
45. CHARLIE BROWN – Coldplay
46. HOLD ON – Alabama Shakes
47. NOT OVER YOU – Gavin DeGraw
48. NOT YOUR FAULT – Awolnation
49. DAYS GO BY – The Offspring
50. MR. KNOW IT ALL – Kelly Clarkson