30. "Sticky With Champagne" - Semi-Precious Weapons You Love You
Glam rock upstarts who toured with Lady Gaga (bisexual lead singer Justin Tranter is a friend) released their second album, which featured this ode to debauchery that is so rock n roll.
29. "Do It Like A Dude" - Jessie J Who You Are
Girls going off over gender-based double standards is nothing new. Remember Xtina and Lil' Kim's "Can't Hold Us Down"? But no one has made it sound so dirty and raw as Jessie J. Her first single, a hit in the UK, comes on the heels of songwriting credits for songs like "Party In The USA."
28. "Need You Now" - Lady Antebellum Need You Now
Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme. Breaking up is hard to do, but staying broken up when you're drunk and horny? Impossible. Making all that sounds sweet and beautiful? Lady A's job. Not mine.
27. "Sex & Violence" - Scissor Sisters Night Work
The 80s are calling, they are telling the Scissor Sisters to keep their sound. They do it better, anyway.
26. "Radioactive" - Kings Of Leon Come Around Sundown
That buzzing bass, that joyful chorus, that beat. "Radioactive" is just power, man.
25. "Animal" - Neon Trees Habits
Neon Trees are filling that void that The Killers left when they got all Midwestern Realness on us. An ode to animalistic rutting that have lit the pop charts on fire, "Animal" is dancable rock at it's most rocking. Plus, they have a chick drummer. I love that.
24. "A Year Without Rain" - Selena Gomez & The Scene A Year Without Rain
Perfect techno is so hard to do. Either it's too shrill or the beat plods on. Sometimes it sounds just thrown together to get gay guys on the floor at the club. But that's what makes "A Year Without Rain" so perfect. Sure, the lyrical concept is ripped from Everything But The Girl but that just makes it even more awesome. I kinda have a girl crush on Selena. She's so pretty.
23. "Raise Your Glass" - P!nk Greatest Hits... So Far!!
P!nk gives it up for the underdog with a toast to everyone who has ever been "treated like a fool." All too perfect for this moment in time.
22. "Jar Of Hearts" - Christina Perri Album TBA
After being featured on So You Think You Can Dance, this unsigned pop singer/songwriter had a hit on her hands with this stunning piano and violin ballad. Christina pours out the heartbreak in the aftermath of a selfish lover.
21. "U Should Know Better" - Robyn & Snoop Dogg Body Talk Pt 2 and Body Talk
Trading brags like old school trashing talking MCs, Swedish pop sensation and Dee Oh Double Jizzle get more and more ridiculous.
20. "Barbra Streisand" - Duck Sauce Album TBA
A strange twisted instrumental with two lyrics: a melodious "ooh" and "Barbara Streisand." The quintessential New Yorker serves as a springboard for this bouncy house tune that brings out all the hipsters for the video.
19. "Monster" - Kanye West feat Bon Iver, Rick Ross, Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
'Ye has an ego bigger than Frankenstein's monster and an appetite for applause that would make Dracula blush. But he has the drive for success and a talent to back it up. But here, Nicki Minaj shines brighter than the blood dripping from the Wolfman's teeth. Every line a threat, every word spoken so eloquently and full of venom, she is Medusa and Lady Gaga rolled in one. "Pink wig, thick ass, give 'em whiplash" Points off for Jay-Z phoning it in and way too much use of the N-word.
18. "All The Lovers" - Kylie Minogue Aphrodite
Sleek Euro-disco from the queen of sleek Euro-Disco.
17. "Only Girl In The World" - Rihanna Loud
I may have been the only person in the world to like the darkness of Rihanna's Rated R, but I was quite pleased with her return to the dancefloor. When I hear this song, I feel like the only girl in the world.
16. "King Of Anything" - Sara Bareilles Kaleidoscope Heart
Some people are asses. Smug, self-righteous know-it-alls who will not shut up. But enough about me. Let's talk about Sara's brilliant and, dare I say, sunny kiss-off to such a prick. Piano pop is so passive agressive.
15. "Fuck You" - Cee Lo Green The Lady Killer
As a child I was so sheltered I thought the "f-word" was "fart." As an adult, I found it a powerful word, used best when you want to nail a point home. Clearly, Cee Lo has a point. Stax horns and Motown background vocals have never created a break up song so angry until now.
14. "Bed Intruder Song" - Antoine Dodson & The Gregory Brothers feat Kelly Dodson iTunes Single
Antoine was my hero after pulling an attempted rapist off his sister and then going off on the idiot on the news. Then came the brilliant remix of said interview that took internet fame to the Billboard charts and my playlists.
13. "Your Love" - Nicki Minaj Pink Friday
Nicki's raps on her debut album may not match the guest verses she's been throwing out all year, but when you rely so heavily on a sample from Annie Lennox and include a chorus that is one part sweet and one part hard you can't help but love it.
12. "Like A G6" - Far*East Movement feat. Cataracs & Dev Free Wired
Have you ever felt like you lost a few brain cells listening to a song, but couldn't stop listening? That's the story of "Like A G6" - a beat like a taut rubberband and rap that could be in Chinese for all I care about it. The hook is mere white-girl gang posturing, leaving a song with as much substance as Cool Whip. And I keep coming back for another spoonful.
11. "Rolling In The Deep" - Adele 21
If you ever looked at my music collection, you know I love a slow-burning torch song. The lead single from Adele's 2011 album is torchy and sung with a confidence not found on 19. Perhaps she's grown up? Add a great beat and piano and I am hooked.
10. "Alejandro" - Lady Gaga The Fame Monster
Lady G may never make a single as fabulous as "Bad Romance" but stealing from Swedish pop masters ABBA for a title and Ace Of Base for a melody isn't a shabby way to create magic. The video may have been too crazy by half, but the song grabs you by the hair and will not let go.
9. "Whip My Hair" - Willow Album TBA
Oh, Scientology! You do create some adorable moppets. See also: Suri Cruise. Who knew a 9-year-old would force us all to risk whiplash just to get our groove on? I don't condone child labor, but I cannot resist!
8. "Shark In the Water" - V.V. Brown Travelling Like The Light
The Fauxtown boom led by Amy Winehouse may be winding down, but that doesn't mean we should retire our tambourines just yet. This light and airy pop-soul single from the British Ms. Brown is a gem.
7. "We R Who We R" - Ke$ha Cannibal
Even though the trashiest pop singer since Paris Hilton (oh snap!) can't spell to save her life, and never met a glitter-based make-up product she didn't love, I find her blend of party-hearty techno and love-everybody neo-hippie message refreshing. "We R Who We R" stands in solidarity with bullied youths, and the videos image of K-Dolla falling from a building but being caught by her fans is beautiful. In a totally trashy way.
6. "Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)" - Alicia Keys The Element Of Freedom
Alicia has always has a brilliant knack for pop sounds that don't bury the soul in her voice and lyrics. This smooth-as-glass production is full of mood and a quietly dark beauty.
5. "Heavy In Your Arms" - Florence + The Machine The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Soundtrack
Taylor Lautner's well-honed abs are not the only good thing to come from the filmed version of Stephanie Meyer's bestselling novels. This cut from the soundtrack to the third film is cinematic in scope, and it's little wonder Flo's debut album was called Lungs, the girl has plenty of power residing there.
4. "If I Die Young" - The Band Perry The Band Perry
Country music has always depended on melancholic songs that reflect a belief in the hereafter, but none did it in such an emo way as The Band Perry on their debut single. After the recent trend of teen suicides, the song takes on an even sadder tone.
3. "Naturally" - Selena Gomez & The Scene Kiss & Tell
Produced by the same outfit as fellow Disney star Miley Cyrus's "See You Again," "Naturally" is teen dance pop at its catchiest! The pulsing beat, Selena's sweet vocals and that chorus that just won't stop ringing in your brain are a deadly combo.
2. "Invisible Light" - Scissor Sisters Night Work
If adding Ian McKellen to your Stuart Price-helmed epic story-song of debauched clubbing isn't gay enough for you, then you're too demanding. The sleek dance sound is the Sisters' at the best.
1. "Dancing On My Own" - Robyn Body Talk Pt. 1 and Body Talk
From the first of her three EPs this year come this tribute to the "sad gay disco songs" Robyn loves. Sheer pop beauty, sad yet dancable at the same time, "Dancing On My Own" secedes her prior UK smashes "With Every Heartbeat" and "Be Mine!" as the soundtrack for heartbreak.
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