Originally posted by Renzo wait, is Chris Wallace the leader of White Tie Affair? I used to love Candle.

Originally posted by Red And I don't know, but I can't see how someone would like "White Walls" more than "Same Love". But a lot of people do, so what do I know?

New Hollow
"She Ain't You"



A very interesting new band I discovered this year. I'd actually known about them since 2010 when their single Sick charted in the Billboard Hot 100 (I used to kinda follow the charts religiously back then lol) but I never bothered to listen because I thought they were just another generic teen boyband. After all, the only reason Sick charted was because of high single sales after a marketing deal with a girls' clothing store. But then, over two years later, I heard about them again when The Pulse on Sirius XM Radio added She Ain't You. The Pulse is a HAC station and music from "generic teen boybands" doesn't usually appeal to its listeners. So I finally gave them a try, thinking I was in for some sort of sappy love ballad. To my tremendous surprise, I discovered an incredibly talented rock band! These guys are only 17-18 yet their voices are so mature. I mean, this song is difficult to tackle with its huge dynamic chorus, and they pull it off like pros. And the guitar solo after the second chorus serves to wipe away any doubt of their authenticity. By the end of the song I was like "what the hell just happened", and I mean that in absolutely the best way possible. This is the only song by New Hollow in the list.


Mariah Carey f/Miguel
"#Beautiful"



Let me just say that in general, I really don't like Mariah Carey. Her music is too fluffy and wispy and all of her vocal runs can get very annoying. And this one had the potential to be a disaster. First of all, it was coming off of Triumphant, the biggest flop of Mariah's career. Second of all, a damn hashtag in the title? Really? But in the end, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise and a nice summery jam. Choosing Miguel as the duet partner was really a stroke of genius; his smooth and sultry R&B tone perfectly complements Mariah's wispiness (which admittedly isn't too bad here, maybe it's because she only has one verse lol). Also I really love the unconventional approach she takes to creating a "summer song". We get plenty of summer songs to blast in the car or at the beach on a hot day, but how often do we hear songs designed for listening while relaxing on a warm summer evening? Pretty rarely. I wish this one had been more successful, it's far better than the horrible Touch My Body. This is the only song by Mariah Carey in the list.


Jessie Ware
"Wildest Moments"



I've grown so used to ATRL overhyping boring and annoying new artists that I was quite hesitant to listen to Jessie. However I finally gave in when she became VH1's You Oughta Know artist for April and I'm glad that I did! She combines R&B, pop, rock, and soul to create a unique sound that is really all her own. And this song is a great example; it's so simple yet so powerful. It grabs your attention at the first pounding drum beat and keeps you hooked until the final fade-out. Plus, this is honestly one of the best song-video combinations I've ever seen. The video is the definition of basic and low-budget; it's literally just Jessie standing there as a camera rotates around her in slow motion. But it completely works, because 1) she's beautiful and 2) that's the premise of the song: the power of simplicity. Oh and just for the record, she thought of the "love is like a wrecking ball" comparison before Miley Cyrus. Sorry Smilers. This is the only song by Jessie Ware in the list.


Blake Shelton
"Sure Be Cool If You Did"



I have to wonder where Blake would be today without The Voice. After all, his first post-Voice single Honey Bee was the most successful one in his whole career. Then again he still hasn't gotten a major crossover to pop radio so who knows. Anyways, this one was a really nice surprise (that seems to be the theme this update, lol). It's such a beautiful, subdued country ballad; I love the twangy guitar at the end of each chorus. The lyrics may be kinda cheesy but they're still very cute. It also shows that not every country song about attractions to the opposite sex has to be super upbeat and trashy, because that seems to be the idea lately. Sadly Blake followed this up with the horrid Boys Round Here which ended up outperforming Honey Bee to become the new biggest single of his career. Typical. This is the only song by Blake Shelton in the list.


Emeli Sandé
"My Kind of Love"



Emeli was definitely one of my favorite breakthrough acts of 2012; as I said before I just really love her soothing voice and her songwriting talent, and I was so glad to see Next to Me catch on in the US. This one was the obvious choice for second single, but the UK chart performance was an indicator that it might have a harder time finding success. So Capitol announced they would do what they did best: release a remix of the single. This news was not so pleasant to me; I knew that a emotional midtempo like MKOL could easily be ruined by an overload of production. I didn't have much reason to be hopeful either, after that atrocious Next to Me remix with Kendrick Lamar. But in the end, the song remained largely unchanged after its remix, which was a great surprise. I could listen to both versions interchangeably without finding one superior to the other. And the beautiful original video was replaced with an equally touching visual focusing on the issue of verbal abuse. Unfortunately, this was not enough to save the song from flopping in the US; I hope Emeli can regain some success later on. This is the first of two songs by Emeli Sandé in the list.



fun.
"Out on the Town"



If you guys couldn't tell already, I get a lot of my music from Sirius XM Radio. There are a couple stations on there that are quite compatible with my taste. Well this summer, the Hits 1 channel decided to start playing this non-single bonus track from fun.'s 2012 album Some Nights. I don't know why they did this and it's not the first time they've played random album tracks either; Selena Gomez's Bang Bang Bang and Cobra Starship's Fool Like Me were both added to rotation back in 2011. At the time I thought OOTT would be a single though, so I allowed it to debut on my personal chart and consequently appear on my Best Of. For what it's worth this is actually a really great song; I personally prefer it over We Are Young. We'll never know how it could have performed on the charts, but it's time for a new album from fun. anyways. Hopefully they can return in 2014. This is the first of two songs by fun. in the list.


Michael Bublé
"It's a Beautiful Day"



This is a breakup song.

I know, I was shocked too. As was probably anyone else who loved the song for its endlessly optimistic vibe and didn't bother to listen to its lyrics. We're just so used to hearing dreary and depressing breakup tunes that we can't accept the idea of such a song actually being happy. And that's why I think this one is so genius. It's the ultimate diss that's not actually a diss. Not only does Michael obtain maximum happiness after his breakup, but he also does everything in his power to rub it in his ex's face. I mean, look at the video. Michael is drinking wine, doing backflips, and having the time of his life while his ex is watching from the window and literally seething. This song wouldn't work with anyone other than the modern King of Jazz himself either, because he's the epitome of class. Clearly someone of his caliber is above simple insults and name-calling. Case in point: dancing in the streets in a suit and tie. If that's not extremely classy then I don't know what is. Call me crazy, but I think we need more music like this in the mainstream. This is the only song by Michael Bublé in the list.


Foxes
"Youth"



So I guess Foxes will always just be known as "that girl who sang on Zedd's Clarity" then? Because RCA has done absolutely nothing to push this one in the US. It follows right in the footsteps of Clarity: light, fluffy dance-pop with a huge amount of mainstream appeal. The video is also very colorful and energetic. The only problem I can see with the song is that it's a little bit watered-down; it doesn't quite have the same magical feel that the aforementioned Zedd collab does. But judging by the success of that awful mess Stay the Night, the GP is into super watered-down EDM right now. So RCA better hurry up and give this a damn pop adds date! Its youth is literally running out. (see what I did there? )

Oh and if Fall Out Boy ever decides to release their collab with Foxes then she can also be known as "the girl who sang on Just One Yesterday"! She made it a million times better and all you FOB fans know it. This is the only song by Foxes in the list.


Darius Rucker
"Wagon Wheel"



This song actually dates all the way back to 1973 when Bob Dylan began writing it. He never finished, but Old Crow Medicine Show found the song in 2003, added verses, and released their own version. It was never a "hit" per se, but it did enjoy a lot of underground popularity. My old middle school principal even used to sing it at every year-end combined band / orchestra / choir concert. He was a talented musician and songwriter, among other things. Sadly he died just last year of cancer, and the song has become somewhat of a commemoration of his life in the school district. It's a shame that he never got to hear this version because I know he would have loved it. I mean, it's a pretty damn good cover. Darius stays completely true to the bluegrass roots of the original while still adding his own unique vocal style. And the video shows a simple hitchhiking journey across the South free of those disgusting country stereotypes about pickup trucks and rednecks. This is what we need more of in country music nowadays. Well done Sir Darius. This is the only song by Darius Rucker in the list.


The Script
"Six Degrees of Separation"



According to critics, this was the best track off of The Script's "disappointing third effort" #3. (Disappointing album title, that's for sure. ) Honestly I haven't heard the album and I don't really care to, so I'll take their word for it. After all, it is the best out of the four singles. I bet these guys thought they were so clever when they decided to turn the "six degrees of separation" theory into a song about a breakup, and...well, for once, they actually kinda were. For those of you who don't know, "six degrees of separation" is the idea that a chain of no more than six mutual friends can connect any two random people in the world; clearly the song has nothing to do with that, but that's why it works. It plays on the fact that using the word "separation" to mean "the period after a breakup" rather than "the literal distance between two people" can change the entire meaning of the phrase. And as such, the song is about the six stages the narrator goes through after a tough breakup. You gotta give them credit, not just anyone could think of that. This is the last of two songs by The Script in the list.