Top 20 Tracks of 2012

20. Call me maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen

Despite the fact that she’s more likely to get a text than a call, I dare say that there are a million youtube acolytes who’ll talk to her anyway she wants.

This earworm may have struck a chord more because of what it didn’t do, but who cares, it’s addictively catchy and Jepsen sings the hell out of it.

19. Higher Ground – TNGHT

Turn it up and wait for the horns.

18. Wildest Moments – Jessie Ware

You ever been in a relationship that was probably bad for you?  This is the song for you. 

17. I Love it – Icona Pop

Four to the floor optimism in the face of a relationship gone wrong; the two girls from Sweden made dumping boyfriends look like so much fun.

16. The Full Retard – El-P

Dystopic rap with an equally disconcerting and pulverising beat behind it.  So real it made me check for the ‘chip under your wrist skin’.

15. Flutes – Hot Chip

Aka the track where they finally aced four on the floor house music with emotionally draining pop music.

14. Adorn – Miguel

Pulsing and throbbing like an adolescent crush, ‘Adorn’ is the beating heart at the centre of every hot-bloded male who’s ever met his perfect match.

If Marvin Gaye was alive today, this is how ‘Sexual Healing’ would’ve sounded.

13. There he go – Schoolboy Q

Over a shouldn’t-be-surprised sample of Menomena’s ‘Wet and Rusting’, Schoolboy Q bragged and boasted his way to a hit record.

Raps been about the braggadocio ever since it first began, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a rapper declare that his mistresses boyfriend “got me paranoid” only to then state “I’m the muthafuckin man, ran into him, he’s a fan”.

Who can hate on that?

12. Reagan – Killer Mike

In 2012, with record sales plumetting again, making a politically charged song about a dead president from the 80’s probably seemed like commercial suicide.

Luckily, Killer Mike doesn't give an 'eff' about album sales but loves making hard-hitting political tracks.  And oh yeah, the track knocks.

11. Billboard – S-Type

The video clip is cheaply made and pays homage to Rocky Balboa’s penultimate run through Philadelphia.

That the track doesn’t seem out of place in this comparison is a testament to its effectiveness.  Blasting horns, drums that re-structure themselves every eight bars, it’s triumphant, celebratory music for the digital generation.

10. Pyramids – Frank Ocean

The through-line on this track is the word ‘Cheetah’.  Over the course of 10 mins, the words is utilized in three forms – As the animal, as ‘cheater’ and also as a reference to the chain of California strip clubs of the same name.

That he can pull together the 'cheetah' parallels and then blend Hip-Hop , R&B, Dance and Psychedelic Rock into one track and not let it go to pieces is a triumph in itself.

Tying it all together with a gorgeous John Mayer guitar solo was icing on the cake.

9. Bad Girls - M.I.A.

In the video she files her nails while riding on a car that’s on two wheels.  Badass.

8. Big Beast – Killer Mike feat. T.I. and Bun B

With ‘Big Beast’, Killer Mike opened his album with the ferocity of Mike Tyson in his prime. 

The perfect  complement to his hardcore face-punch is Bun B and T.I., who both rip through their verses with a flurry.

7. Pyramid – Four Tet

If you wondered where Techno was in 2012, here it is.

6. Swimming Pools (Drank) – Kendrick Lamar

Binge drinking is bad, but you rarely hear a youthful artist addressing a major issue that affects so many.

That Kendrick could address it so articulately within such a heavy-hitting track and without sounding preachy is the perfect example of what made Lamar’s music so special.

5. Bad Religion – Frank Ocean

‘Taxi-cab Confessions’ was a trashy 90’s TV show, letting passengers of selected taxis let go of their deepest and darkest secrets.  A taxi-cab confession was also the backdrop for Frank Ocean’s break-out track, as Ocean laid his soul bare.

He debuted the track on Jimmy Fallon and the performance illustrated everything that’s great about it.  The stirring strings and Ocean’s soaring falsetto was powerful and the late night platform suited it to a tee.

Ocean’s album dropped the next week, and went straight to number one.

4. Clique – Kanye West, Jay-Z and Big Sean

Nobody was messing with this Hit-Boy track this year except for Kanye and crew, who blitzed it as expected.

3. Losing You – Solange

Finally stepping out the shadows of her famous sister (Beyonce), Solange found the perfect muse in Dev Hynes, whose languid bass-heavy 80’s throwback allowed Solange to get all wistful about a soon-to-be-departed lover whilst still having fun.

2. I’ll be alright – Passion Pit

It’s Extreme and chaotic, tense and sad, deceptively hopeful and ultimately deceitful.

If you ever meet a guy like this, do not think you can help him.  Just pop this record on and revel in the craziness, knowing that there are dudes out there beyond repair but also remembering that without them we wouldn’t have amazing tracks like this.

1.    Climax – Usher

Uber-Producer Diplo and Instrumentalist Nico Muhly gifted Usher with a minimal classic that tilted its hat to Dubstep without indulging in the steroid-addled drops that have been grafted on to everything from Madonna to Taylor Swift.

The understated instrumental called for an overstated falsetto that’s so punishing that Usher has trouble pitch-shifting up to it when he sings it live. 

The physical trauma the song puts on his voice mirrors the pain in the lyrics.