#06 - No Doubt - Push And Shove

 

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The RETURN of No Doubt didn't really elicit any strong feelings from me, having never paid much attention first time round and finding their singles to be a bit of a mixed bag. Push & Shove is, however, a brilliant album, Settle Down is a bit of a dud unfortunately and Looking Hot TANKED completely despite an X factor slot (with an admittedly rather crap performance). I've always been a fan of Gwen's voice though, but her solo career was typified by SHIT SONGS which didn't do it justice, though on the slower more melodic stuff like Cool and 4 In The Morning it sounded great. Half of this album sounds like that, which is a VERY good thing, with the best such track being Easy. Push & Shove, the song, is also a big standout track too, it's got an odd structure, but it totally works because the chorus is bloody infectious and ever so slightly ridiculous. As a whole album it also works very well, there isn't a bad track and the worst is Settle Down which is stuck at the start so it's plain sailing from there on.

#05 - Ricki-Lee - Fear And Freedom

 

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AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL COVER

 

Very very good music though. Raining Diamonds, released at the tail end of 2011, remains an utterly marvelous song, a perfect match of slutpop song to big voxy singer and resulting in an undeniable 11/10 MAX TRACK. Obviously the album doesn't contain anything else that good, but the 2 follow-up singles, despite their success, are my least favourite tracks on the album. World Disappears, Burn It Down and Because I Can are all very very good pop songs too. For the most part Ricki's voice is well suited to the material too, which was a problem with some of her previous stuff. This has also proven to be her most successful album campaign all told, proof that everyone loves a trier *.*

#04 - Little Mix - DNA

 

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Little Mix were, by far, the best act of X Factor 2011 and so seeing them crowned winners was a glorious moment. Sadly they were lumped with a pretty shit song as their winning single, but they did a serviceable job with it. Roll on mid 2012 and their first single proper and it was everything I had wanted from them and MORE, Wings is a properly brilliant pop song which also shows off their great harmonies. Second single DNA upped the game once more, with an insanely catchy chorus, some hot vox from Perrie and an operative middle 8/quasi rap combo. It doesn't stop there either, the album isn't wall to wall brilliant, a few of the slower numbers are a bit dull, especially the pairing of We Are Who We Are and How Ya Doin? in the middle of the tracklisting, however that still 13 solid songs. My choice album cuts are: Madhouse with it's huge chorus, Pretend It's OK, Red Planet and future single Change Your Life. It's not the strongest X Factor debut, I'd rank Wide Awake above it and Overcome is pretty much on par with it, but it's a very solid collection of songs and hopefully they can make things bigger and better with album #2 (though this being SyCo they'll probably be dropped before then/it'll be an absolute BOMB).

#03 - iamamiwhoami - kin

 

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Oh how LONG ago the whole 'bounty' and viral videos with numbers as titles feels, I liked a few tracks from that whole THING, but as a whole it all felt a bit like style over substance for me. kin is a very different story though, the whole album was released over the course of 3 months with a track every couple of weeks and it was a brilliant strategy to build up my excitement for the album proper. There's a couple of not so amazing tracks (Idle Talk, Rascal) but that's offset with the absolutely brilliant kill and drops. As a whole album it obviously works brilliantly, but then that almost goes without saying. Visually this 'era' has also been pretty amazing, I can't pretend I understand much of the imagery used in the videos, but it looks amazing and that's enough for me.

#02 - Jessie Ware - Devotion

 

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As the thread title says, this album was 'ridiculously anticipated', not just by me, but a lot of other Mooper's too. It's pretty much been the soundtrack to the latter half of 2012 for me. First of all, the production is the epitome of LUSH, as are Jessie's vocals, she has a fairly powerful voice but deploys it in just the right way to perfectly sell the songs. Devotion and Wildest Moments are my standout tracks, but it really does work best when listened to as a whole. She's not re-inventing the wheel or anything, but she takes various influences form the 80's and 90's and makes them sound current, yet also timeless. I suspect this will still be getting quite a few plays from me 2,3,4 years down the line. In a way I'm kind of glad she hasn't really blown up, it's nice to have her to ourselves (that being the internet community) and I can't help but feel Adele like overplay might lessen the material quite a bit.

#01 - Timoteij - Tabu

 

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09 Ta Mig Till Sommaren

10 Tabu

11 Högre

07 Säg Det Om Igen

09 Stormande Hav

09 Adrenalin

08 Faller

08 Glöd

08 Puls

09 Het

08 Bara För En Natt

 

Timoteij are yet another act who totally surprised me with their 2nd album, their first (Kom) was a perfectly listenable affair, but never really urged me to come back to play it all that often. Tabu is oh so different, it's pop at its simplest, and its best. A few of the songs have choruses which simply use 'LA LA LA LA' or 'OH OH OH' in place of actual lyrics, but it doesn't matter in the least because it's so bloody catchy. Högre would have been a much better MF entry than Stormande Hav, but is sadly a cover and thus ineligible, but it takes an already good song and elevates it something absolutely corking. Tabu has an absolutely undeniable chorus, as do most of the songs. There's also a little bit of Ace Of Base inspiration in the form of the closing track: Bara För En Natt. All in all, it's pretty much the perfect pop album and in a year where a lot of established favourites haven't lived up to past glories it definitely deserves to be crowned my #1 album of 2012.

TABU! YES! YES! YES! Absolutely brilliant album.

Surprised Tabu ended up at the top actually, didn't know you were such a fan of Timoteij! Hogre is good (didn't know it was a cover though! :o) but Tabu, Glod, Het and Stormande Hav I think have far more memorable instrumentals, and are catchier. For me at least.

 

Excellent to see The Lion's Roar and DNA in here too (wouldn't have expected them to not be).

I'm actually not a massive fan of THEM, but there really is no denying that album is rammed full of max tracks.

SONGS:

 

A few that missed the cut:

 

Kate Boy - Northern Lights

Panamah - DJ Blues

S O H N - The Wheel

No Doubt - Looking Hot

Little Mix - Madhouse

Leona Lewis - Fireflies

Chad Valley - Fall 4 U (Feat. Glasser)

Melanie Fiona - Wrong Side Of A Love Song

 

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I've already singled this out as a highlight from the Free Dimensional album, but as one might imagine from a song titled as such it's about someone who it's basically a self empowerment anthem, not something I'm overly fond of in general (and certainly not when birthed from the disgusting orifices of Cuntina) but in this case the production and melody of the song are also top notch and thus it's ended up getting a lot of plays from me.

 

 

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The first of THREE UK #1's in this list. In a year when I can count the #1's I've really liked on one hand that's a good result. I singled this out as my highlight from Labrinth's album many months before it's single release and eventual smash hit status. It's quite typical of Emeli's style which is part of the reason I liked it so much, but it's also reminiscent of the rather brilliant Let The Sun Shine (Labrinth's debut single), which he's yet to match beyond this track for me. I was SO happy to see this go to #1, even if the X Factor performance was a little weak.

 

#98 - Rune RK - More (Feat. Alexandra 'Andrea' 'The Beast' Burke)

 

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2012 may have been an utter disaster for solo material from The Beast, however this collab with Danish DJ Rune RK wasn't such a washout. It's still the same dancepop sound she was going for with Heartbreak On Hold, but it's not as generic/faceless and I've always been a big fan of her voice so it all added up to a pretty great song.

 

 

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Released as one of 3 new tracks for her Greatest Hits album in November, this is the sole Kelly track making my top 100 this year (as Stronger made top 10 last year and Dark Side just missed the cut). Catch My Breath was a bit of a nonevent, trying to recreate Mr Know It All to rather poor effect, the other new track People Like Us is pretty strong though, effectively a P!nk song in all but name and it also just missed the cut. Don't Rush has an almost classic sound to it, I can easily imagine it having been played on the same charts as Islands In The Stream (NOT the Barry Islands version) and not sounding at all out of place.

 

 

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Another Danish song, this time featuring a RAPPER, something in VERY short supply in this list. Everywhere features a sugary pop chorus lifted directly from 1987 and popped on top of a fresh 2012 backing track and works perfectly. Private's high pitched voice works perfectly with the lyrics and even the RAP is a winner.

Surprised Tabu ended up at the top actually, didn't know you were such a fan of Timoteij! Hogre is good (didn't know it was a cover though! :o) but Tabu, Glod, Het and Stormande Hav I think have far more memorable instrumentals, and are catchier. For me at least.

Indeed! This Swedish-Lebanese crone tried to enter it into MF 2011 but didn't get the nod, primarily as she was a total nobody.

 

 

That said Högre TOTALLY elevates it.

#95 - Kindness - That's Alright

 

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=On an album which contains a VERY misguided cover of seminal pop classic Anyone Can Fall In Love, That's Alright is a diamond in the rough. It's based around a sax line with a very catchy chorus plonked on top which sounds like something lifted from the late 80's, which indeed IT IS, or at least the sax section is.

 

 

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Second only to Florrie in my list of favourite blog bitches is Queen Of Hearts. She has a gorgeous voice which provides each and every song with a beautiful lush sound, aided by the glorious production from the likes of The Sound Of Arrows. Neon evolves her sound somewhat, bringing in a sprinkling of dubstep (as with every other song in 2012 it seems), but it's very minor and serves to flesh out the sound of the song rather than detract from her sound. It's not her last appearance on this list either.

 

#93 - Foxes - Youth

 

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Yet another female who is BIG on BLOGS. That's not where I discovered this song though, but rather BJSC (where it rightfully triumphed in the first contest of the year) and it's stuck with me since January. Foxes has a strong voice, but it doesn't overpower the song because the production is quite dramatic and atmospheric. The EP it is from, Warrior, is similarly great stuff.

 

 

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Prior to 2012 I was never very fond of Sky, One always sounded a bit dull to me and only really Obsession did anything and that was a short lived joy. However, with her marvelous Ghost EP my view on her changed A LOT. This isn't the best track on the EP, that's still to come, but it is a rather brilliant pop song too. The slightly more Indie leanings of the New Sky are definitely much more to my taste than her previous efforts and I also think they suit her voice much more too.

 

 

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Ethno-balladry at Eurovision often accounts for my favourite songs in any given year, 2012 was no exception, with this marvelous little number from Slovenia. It didn't progress to the final, which isn't altogether surprising, but it's just so beautifully sung (at least in studio form) and it's got a lovely arrangement and production.

'Neon' shockingly (and disappointingly!) low :o I can only assume it's 'Warrior' that's still to come, but 'Neon' easily outstrips it for me.

Hmm, well nothing on this list is less than an 8/10 and Neon is pretty much exactly that for me, I loved it no end when it came out but it didn't have the staying power of Shoot The Bullet.

 

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Lyrically this song is about as simple as it gets, a love song about how good it is being in love. It's the production touches and Caroline Polachek's vocals that raise it something much more and it comes off as a wonderfully dreamy, melodic ode to being in love.

 

#89 - Íris Hólm - Leyndarmál

 

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The first of many songs from various Eurovision National Finals, this one originating from Iceland. It's a fairly simple and by the books ESC song, with a big rousing chorus, big vox, a key change and lots of ad libs at the end. It absolutely shouldn't have won, not least because what did was much better, but because it would have flopped hard, but it's got a lot of plays from me right through to the end of the year all the same.

 

 

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Scandi-indie-pop has probably been THE genre of 2012 for me, pumping out gem after gem, month after month. August's delivery was this gorgeous debut single from Patrizia - which then became my October BJSC entry, returning me to the well worn territory of bottom half of the scoreboard. She was in Idol in 2007 or something but it took her until now to release any original music. She has a nicely distinctive voice, which would definitely stand out against the generic autotuned nonsense clogging up radio playlists the world over right now, not that she's ever likely to see ANY success. The song itself, at least the music, isn't that melodic but her voice brings it all together nicely.

 

#87 - Rumer - P.F. Sloan

 

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I had no idea this was a cover until recently, though it's a cover of a not very well known song so it might as well be original. Anyway, it's everything you could want/expect from a Rumer song, a gorgeous melody, combined with her gorgeous melodic vocals. Sadly it did fudge all chart wise and the album did nowhere near as well as its predecessor, despite being much stronger.

 

#86 - Taylor Swift - Red

 

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Despite its parent album being a massive disappointment (at least for me), it's not without some great songs - the best of which is this, the title track. It covers fairly well worn territory for Taylor, talking about an ex, but rather than a f***-you as with most such songs, it ends up as more of a longing to have him back. Stylistically it also manages to cover most bases of 2012 in pop, from the autotune stutter of 'Red' in the chorus, to lush orchestration and her usual country pop sound (diluted even further than normal here though).

Well at least one Taylor song has made it here! Even if it is one of my least favourites from the album personally. :lol:

Playing CATCH UP a little, so here's the next 20 in one:

 

#85 - Passion Pit - Take A Walk

#84 - Ellie Goulding - Figure 8

#83 - Chromatics - Kill For Love

#82 - Leona Lewis - Fireflies

#81 - Lana Del Rey - Born To Die

 

All of these have ended up being the highlight from their respective albums, except for Leona who has more still to come.

 

#80 - Youngblood - Youngblood

#79 - AlunaGeorge - Just A Touch

#78 - Gossip - Perfect World

#77 - Tooji - Stay

#76 - Eivor - Rain

 

Youngblood may be effectively a rewrite of Manboy, but that song is briliant and whilst it might not technically be a good song, it's bloody enjoyable and that's good enough for me. Gossip make their first apearance with lead single Perfect World, Tooji (last place at Eurovision) was a much bigger winner for me, sticking in my top 5 ESC tracks for the whole year.

 

#75 - Frida Hyvonen - Terribly Dark

#74 - Jessie Ware - Devotion

#73 - Ke$ha - Past Lives

#72 - Tove Lo - Love Ballad

#71 - Katharine McPhee - The 20th Century Fox Mambo

 

Devotion may be the title track from Jessie's album, but it's not the best track. Past Lives IS the best track on Ke$ha's OPUS though and proof that she is capable of different things, sadly it was relegated to bonus track status though. 20th Century Fox Mambo is the first of a trio of songs from the TV series SMASH, it's best listened to with the performance from the show, but I still enjoy listening to it (and doing my best to sing along with the backing singers despite being unable to sing at all).

#70 - Molly Sanden - Why Am I Crying?

#69 - Charlotte Perrelli - Little Braveheart (Feat. Kate Ryan)

#68 - Saint Saviour - Liberty

#67 - Diandra Flores - Onko Marsissa Lunta?

#66 - Agnes - Unforgiven

 

POOR BRAVE HARLOT, MF might have been a washout for her, but the music wasn't for me and this is also the first of a trio of songs from her. It features fellow Eurogayface Kate Ryan and the pair sound almost interchangeable for half the song (though I have managed to work out who is who now), it also features the first single from young Finnish popstrel Diandra, I have no idea what it means but it's bloody catchy. It's also the first appearance for AGNES with her gorgeous ballad Unforgiven.

Devotion was anticipated by lots of Mooper's was it? Straight copy and paste job John? :o Strange that P.F. Sloan ended up in almost the same position as it did in my EOY chart :lol: I thought Slow would be her only top five hit for me but she remains great at choosing singles! Great to see Figure 8 here and of course La Perrelli, I'm anticipating The Girl's appearance!

Haha, I did try my best to REWORD but obviously a few slipped through the net. Have you heard Rumer's song from the Johnny English Reborn soundtrack? It's basically her stab at a Bond song and it's jolly good stuff.

 

You'll be waiting a while, but I expect you knew that anyway!