The Best Songs of 2012

In my opinion, 2012 was a pretty decent year, music-wise. That's one great thing about the charts not having as much sway in this era of downloading a song here and a song there: so many different genres can shine. The single is hotter than ever. Which means, of course, that full albums seem like an afterthought sometimes. You don't get many "concept albums" these days.

Here is my list of 2012's top eleven songs (because I couldn't narrow it down to ten). I've included links to all the videos or, in cases where the videos are awful, live performances.

I'm curious to hear what you all think. Do you agree? Which awesome songs did I forget?

11. "Starships" by Nicki Minaj
As a rule, I'm not a fan of Nicki Minaj's, but this song is so catchy and tight. And I can't deny her talent...or her bravery. I love how she pretty much seems certifiably insane, appears to do whatever the hell she wants, and can make a so-so song (hello, Justin Bieber) way better just by rapping a few lines. I can't wait to watch her special kind of crazy on American Idol. Check out the video for an eyeful of her INSANE bod.

10. "Kill the D.J." by Green Day
The last Green Day song I loved was from American Idiot--which came out in the Aughts, for goodness sake. Green Day is one of the few popular bands still putting out concept albums, but unfortunately for them, the concepts have been lame. I haven't heard much from their latest trilogy (UNO!, DOS!, and TRE!), but if this song is any indication of their new direction, I'm diggin' it.

9. "The Keepers" by Santigold 
The weirdest thing about this song (and there are a LOT of weird things about it) is that it sounds like the 80s song "Send Me an Angel" by Real Life in the beginning. It's actually a very 80s-ish song throughout, which isn't what I expected. Because Santigold has been lumped into the "Urban Female Artist" category, I assumed she was a rapper. My bad. This song is surprising on so many levels. And check out the cool "Family of the Corn" video.

8.  "212" by Azealia Banks (warning: it's explicit!)
I'm a little obsessed with Azealia Banks. This song sounds like a few different tunes wrapped into one, and Ms. Banks sings in four distinct voices throughout. And while the song definitely stands on its own, it's Ms. Banks' magnetic personality--which shines so brightly in the video (those braids! that smile!)--that makes this spectacular. As Simon Cowell would say, she has serious IT factor. Oh, and it's really dirty.

7. "Change" by Churchill
My current favorite song--it's catchy, catchy, catchy! I love vocalist Bethany Kelly's sweet voice; she looks about sixteen and is too cute. You can feel her pain when she sings: You've got the story all made up inside your head./You write me out of it and use your words instead./You hold me just out of reach, but you keep me pounding the beat,/to take all the soul you can get. Oh, honey, I've been there.

6. "Simple Song" by The Shins
Oh, the irony. This song is anything but simple. Well, the composition isn't terribly complicated but the lyrics belie a deeper (painful) story. And the video, about siblings fighting over their recently-deceased father's inheritance, is funny, complex, and disturbing. James Mercer is one bizarre dude.

5. "Hold On" by the Alabama Shakes
The first ten times I heard this song, I thought it was a guy singing. Then I saw the video and was all, What?! Whoa, that woman can wail. And she's surprisingly young--like early-20s young. But Brittany Howard sings as if she has been to hell and back again. She sings like a woman who has lived a long, hard life. Which is sad. And awesome.

4. "I'm Shakin'" by Jack White
I'm not sure if this should even be on the list because it's not new and Jack White didn't actually write it. The song was written in the 1950s by a doo-wop and R&B songwriter named Rudy Toombs, and it has been recorded twice before: first by R&B singer Little Willie John in 1960 and then by rockabilly/punk band The Blasters in 1981. But the bottom line is it's a great song. And Jack White sets it on fire and takes it to a whole new level of awesome. The video is a typically stylized Jack White affair--with a palette that's all light blue and charcoal for a change.

3. "Never Go Back" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
I love this song for so many reasons: the killer intro reminds me of vintage Pat Benetar, Grace Potter's voice is sublime, and the lyrics are everything you've ever wanted to say to that jerk ex-boyfriend who played with your mind and wasted your time. When Grace wails, Oh no, oh no! I'm never going back there no more the pain, defiance, and strength in her voice is like nothing I've heard before. And it doesn't hurt that she happens to be one sexy mama.

2. "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men
This strange Icelandic group is hard to define, so I won't try. I do love vocalist and guitarist Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir's (?!) sweet voice, which is little girl-ish and angelic at the same time. And the back and forth between Nanna and co-vocalist Ragnar "Raggi" Porhallsson is beautiful and unusual in popular music these days. This is straight out a fabulous song--gotta love the HEY! shouts throughout--and the video is probably the best of the year.

1. "Somebody I Used to Know" by Gotye
I know, I know. You are SO SICK of this song--the regular, stripped-down version, the dance version, and the dub club one. I didn't want to put this in the number one spot, either, but I had to. Sure, it's been over-played, but that doesn't change the fact that it's fantastic--and took the world by storm. I love the way it starts so quietly and you really have to pay attention to hear the lyrics--which isn't something most pop songs do. And the lyrics happen to be great ones about a terrible, gut-wrenching breakup. Sure, Kimbra steals the show with her haunting solo, but it's strange Gotye (real name Wouter "Wally" De Backer) who wrote the song and deserves credit.

In Defense of Beards

No, I'm not referring to ladies who pretend to be gay men's wives....

I'm talking about that most hipster-ish of all the hipster accoutrements currently taking over much of Brooklyn and maybe even (still) pockets of Manhattan.

Beards have gotten a bad rap over the past couple of years. Yes, hipsters abuse the privilege of being able to grow facial hair, but hey, you gotta hate the playa, not the game. Beards--in and of themselves--should be appreciated, not reviled.

Personally? I love 'em. So imagine my surprise and joy when I opened the Times last weekend and gazed upon the face of one of the finest (and by finest I mean hottest) actors of my generation--Jake Gyllenhaal--covered in lovely scruff. Ooo-la-la!

My appreciation of facial hair certainly hasn't always been the norm. Throughout my tween and even teen years, the celebrities I idolized were the stylish, coifed, boyish ones (Shaun Cassidy, John Taylor of Duran Duran, C. Thomas Powell, Matthew Broderick). Unthreatening, vanilla...in some cases, even feminine. 

Thirty years later and
that pretty face still
makes me swoon.

When I finally grew up enough to look beyond the celebs and began setting my sights on actual boys, my tastes were still of the sweet and unassuming variety.

No, my beard-love did not develop until I was well into my twenties. My appreciation of male hirsuteness in general began during the Grunge Era with the lovely, long locks many dudes sported during that glorious period. Ahhhh, those were the days: ponytails, flannel shirts, Converse, skateboards, and Alice in Chains.

But, as they say, all good things must com to en end. Kurt Cobain shot himself, Layne Staley OD'd and his stinky body wasn't found for days, and Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell chopped off their waves. The dark days of the Boy Band Era had arrived. 

Suddenly there was male-pattern-frosted-tips-syndrome sprouting up everywhere, and you couldn't turn on the TV without seeing dudes dancing In (perfect) Sync with one another.

I'm sure I would've LOVED these guys if I'd been 15 when they hit it big, but as I was approaching the big 3-0, the little boy thing just wasn't working for me anymore. The older I got, the more I appreciated a more masculine visage.

Lucky for me I lived in Manhattan instead of L.A. because the frosted hair look never really played out in NYC (except maybe on Wall Street, a neighborhood and demographic I avoided like the plague).

Then Jack White--bless his warped little soul--came on to the scene, and all that polished nonsense disappeared as quickly as BB Mack's career. (Note: I kinda, sorta met BB Mack once.) 

A few years later, Jon Hamm--one of the hottest of the hirsute horde--began gracing our TV screens with his studliness. Manly Men were back.

And so were beards.

That was, what, five years ago? So far, they aren't showing any signs of fading away. I think what I love about beards is how they bring focus to the eyes--by far, my favorite facial feature. And, of course, they are very masculine...and they are a little intimidating sometimes, which can be fun.

It's like the 70's are back, but instead of stopping half-way there with mustaches (Tom Selleck, Burt Reynolds), dudes are finally going all out.

Maybe in the next year or two mutton chops will come back into style for the first time since 1860. 

Hey, a girl can dream.