» Top Music of 2012 orangefever

I know that I’ve been complaining that I haven’t been paying attention to new music anymore, but this year I REALLY haven’t! It’s true this time. In the car, I’ve been listening to Korean music so there is hardly any opportunity to be exposed to new Western music. I bought a few CDs, but it is negligible now. My music buying is almost exclusively done on Amazon and music is purchased as MP3s. I spent less than $25 buying music online as well as a combination of freebies from Amazon (I hardly download freebies from iTunes anymore). I know it’s less than $25 because I bought a gift card on Amazon and have been deducting my purchases from it. I still have over $10 left!

Now onto my list of (Western) songs. Ordering them is hard because they haven’t really made an impact in my listening habits – in fact the top 1/2 songs would probably be KPop (Trouble Maker or Bloom).

Justin Bieber – Boyfriend
With Justin Bieber’s album, he started on the second phase of his career following in the footsteps of Justin Timberlake and going towards more of a R&B style. It had to happen because his voice has lowered and he’s not able to sing so high without falsetto anymore (which ironically he does in this song). Boyfriend was the lead single and first look at his transformation. It’s a good song, but probably a weak #1 in my books.
David Guetta ft Sia – Titanium
The David Guetta train and my musical preferences occasionally intersect, and this is one of those instances. Sia is a good singer (I knew her before she sold out and started doing collaborations) and a scientific word like Titanium is such a weird song title. But this was a popular song this year on the charts, and in my books as well.
Train – Drive By
I never really liked Train but I liked this particular single from them because it has a catchy chorus, a driving beat and an off-beat rhythm. That’s pretty much it, since it it is otherwise generic radio top40 pop.
Neon Trees – Everybody Talks
A very catchy song with a neat retro video that elevates Neon Trees from a one-hit wonder to a two-hit wonder?
Anjulie – You & I
I heard this song once on the radio and thought it was pretty catchy – so put it on my “top music” list. Then I never heard it again afterwards! That pretty much explains a lot of my picks this year.
Maroon 5 – Payphone
Payphone is probably the culmination of a lot of work in 2011 to create a hit single for Maroon 5’s new CD (and to make Wiz Khalifa more of a household name). Well they succeeded on the first part I think!
Nicki Minaj – Starships
If you randomly heard this song on the radio, you may not know that it’s by Nicki Minaj! Did you know Nicki Minaj’s real name is Onika Tanya Maraj? I can understand why she decided to use a pseudonym.
Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
One of the catchiest and most popular songs of the year is pretty good, and decent in my books too.
The Wanted – Glad you Came
When I first heard this song, I (for unexplained reason) thought it was by J-Lo. It has that catchy manufactured feel to it.
Fun. – We Are Young
I’m not sure why Fun. is popular, it just sounds like some guy yelling! Their first single was played enough that it started getting catchy to me.