rewind 2012: music

rewind 2012 continues with what music was I listening to this year. Here's my top 10 most played songs of the year along with some general music commentary

1. Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Kelly Clarkson

2. Home - Phillip Phillips

3. The Last Song I'll Write for You - David Cook

4. 3 Words - Elliot Yamin

5. Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye

6. Dancing on the Ceiling - Lionel Richie with Rascal Flatts

7. What Makes You Beautiful - One Direction

8. The Vision of Love - Kris Allen

9. Blown Away - Carrie Underwood

10. Skyfall - Adele

I guess as I get older I listen to less and less new music, but for the purposes of this rewind I tried to focus on what type of music I was listening to that was new. I have to say that I was very surprised at the top 10. I listened to Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger" album a lot and I did get to see her live at the Hollywood Bowl this summer which was fun. She's a great singer and seems so genuine and I think that's why I'm drawn to her. She's also not bad to look at. I liked the album a lot and many songs on the album came close to the top 10 most played.

I think by looking at this top 10 I noticed it's very post American Idol stars heavy. I guess I tend to follow a few of them and since the show's been on for 10 years, it does figure since I get a lot of my new music from that show. I definitely watched a lot less this year, but I caught most of the last 3 episodes and that Phillip Phillips didn't super impress me. But his song "Home" really did. I don't know what it was about that song, but it really resonated with me. It made me buy the kid's album which came out in November and it's not bad.

At 3 and 4 is David Cook and Elliot Yamin. Both of these guys sound great and even better than they did on Idol. I really enjoy listening to their music and David Cook had my most played song last year with "The Last Goodbye". He just is fun to listen to. Elliot Yamin I'm surprised that I still stumble into his music. But a good soulful voice for a crazy teethed white guy.

Number 5 on my list is Gotye. This song just sounded cool and I just loved it every time it came on the radio and I finally bought it and just played it over and over. It has such a cool sound and I should really listen to the rest of his album, but I haven't so far.

As far as the rest of the top 10, Lionel Richie delivered an excellent album called "Tuskegee". It's an album of covers of his songs as duets with country artists. It was really enjoyable to listen to and I listened a lot. It just so happened that "Dancing on the Ceiling" brought back so many memories for me, that I kept playing it more than the rest. One Direction is my guilty pleasure. It's a boy band and so corny pop music. I bought it for my niece after hearing them perform on "Saturday Night Live" and I just think it's got a great hook. It didn't surprise me to learn that Simon Cowell engineered the band and they were finalists on UK X Factor. They will burn bright, but may fall fast. Boy bands usually do. Kris Allen's album was very enjoyable to listen to and "The Vision of Love" just got into a larger rotation in my playlists. Carrie Underwood is always good and her record this year was no exception. Adele's "Skyfall" managed to get into the Top 10 this year even though it didn't even get released until October. I really like this song a lot. It's classic James Bond style theme song and her voice sounds amazing on it. She's so talented. I also still played the hell out of her album "21" this past year.

Some other music that I bought and listened to this year included Atomic Tom, one of my most played songs last year, I bought the record in January. Jack and White featuring Brooke White from American Idol. She has such a Joni Mitchell kind of voice sounds cool. Nate Fowler who I found via Twitter and he was giving his songs away for free. Dude is talented and played some of his stuff a lot. Madonna's "MDNA" album came out. It was decent, but she's starting to get older and still trying to perform like she's 20. I'd like to see her do something classier and do a Vegas act or something. Partnering with Nicki Minaj (who's nuts by the way), doesn't make you relevant. One of the most fun songs last year was "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5 and that album isn't too bad. Their new record "Overexposed" featuring "Payphone" was more of the same. Otherwise, this year I listened to a lot of Fun. We Are Young was right up there in one of the most overplayed songs of the year, but it grew on me. Not enough to buy the whole album, but worth listening to on Spotify. How great is stuff like Spotify and Pandora? So good to listen to music on the go and discover some new stuff. I have to say that music is everywhere these days. I also discovered a few bands' music through "Saturday Night Live". I listened to Frank Ocean and Passion Pit after seeing them perform on the show. I also discovered a few new bands on iTunes including Safety Suit. It helps when they have albums for $6.99. I like to encourage that price point and I also bought music on Amazon a few times this year, especially when they sold them for under $5. I really dug a few albums as a whole too. Babel by Mumford & Sons is a really solid album and I tend to listen to that one as a whole. I also really like El Camino Real by Black Keys. Some killer songs on that one. And I really liked Pink's new record. I kind of got back into her last year with "Raise A Glass".

I spent a good part of the year listening to old favorites like Richard Marx, Survivor, Madonna, Top Gun & Footloose soundtracks. Saw Madonna perform on the Super Bowl. I was shocked to find out that Whitney Houston passed away and listened to her music a lot. As well as, discovering some Michael Jackson music again this year. I even watched the Bad 25 documentary by Spike Lee on Thanksgiving night on ABC. Speaking of old favorites, did you know that Heart made a new record this year? Called "Red Velvet Car". It's very good. Duncan Sheik also made a whole album of 80's covers. Interesting. Richard Marx brought out a fine Christmas album this year too. I also went to a few concerts. I mentioned Kelly Clarkson, but also listened to classical & movie music at the Hollywood Bowl. Went to see John Williams do movie music in concert including a big section of E.T. complete with clips from the movie. And an enjoyable night under the stars listening to Pixar Movie Music in concert with scenes from movies. The opening sequence to "UP", made me tear up.

The last cool thing I did this year that was music related was go to the Grammy Museum in downtown LA. I really thought that was cool and I'm planning on going back again and again to see more exhibits and hopefully some concerts. It's a really cool space with lots of interactive exhibits and just a nice venue.

I'm sure there's lots of other cool music that I missed talking about. There was also a lot of really popular music that I thought was OK, but just didn't float my boat. Starships by Nicki Minaj, Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen, Gangham Style by Psy or anything by Taylor Swift. Not bad, just not my favorite.  Well, Psy, was pretty bad.  There was also Ellie Goulding Lights, We Found Love Rihanna, Flo Rida, Neon Trees, Bruno Mars, The Wanted, the list could go on for days. Ok, well that's it for my talking about music for this year. I'm not sure what new music 2013 will bring just yet, but I know I'm sure I'll listen to some of it. It's just one of the things I do.