Twostepcub's Best of 2012: Part Seven - #40-#31...

Hey gang, I'm back from a Christmas break and time to get back to my recap of the biggest songs on my personal chart this year. If you want to check out the previous parts one through six, you can click here...

#40 - Coldplay - "Paradise"
          from the album Mylo Xyloto (2011)
          Twostepcubchart peak: #2 (one week)
          Weeks on the chart: 17 (in 2012)

The most Eno-esque of the songs on the producer's work with Coldplay was there most recognized hit in quite a while, with an ethereal chorus built on a track that I would love to hear David Bowie cover. Combine that with the most endearing "plushie" video I've seen, and you've got the biggest rock song in Britain last year (which crossed over to the States this year)...

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#39 - Mumford & Sons - "I Will Wait"
          from the album Babel (2012)
          Twostepcubchart peak: #1 (two weeks)
          Weeks on the chart: 17 

The unassuming British indie-folk heroes suddenly found themselves the bearer of the rock crown in 2012, with the biggest rock record of the year, and even acceptance on country radio. And they did it without having to compromise their musical vision. My only quibble is that I couldn't be there in that audience in beautiful Red Rocks.

#38 - Adele - "Rumour Has It"
          from the album 21 (2011)
          Twostepcubchart peak: #1 (one week)
          Weeks on the chart: 20

Adele proved she still had tricks up her sleeve as she brought the jump-blues of "Rumour Has It" to the charts in 2012. It's the most stealthily appealing track on the album, and the Ryan Tedder-produced piece was a great answer to all the media trying to pry into the singer's personal inspiration for the album..

#37 - Nicki Minaj - "Starships"
          from the album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012)
          Twostepcubchart peak: #7 (one week)
          Weeks on the chart: 23

There probably is a thousand reasons why I shouldn't like this record, from the overprocessed vocals to the crowdsourced lyrics to the reliance on the rote EDM craze, but dammit this song is great. Guilty pleasure to the nth degree, the record shows Nicki at her dancing, gayest best, with hot Pacific Islander dancers to boot. Give me this over her "Beez In The Trap" oeuvre any day of the week.

#36 - Calvin Harris featuring Ne-Yo - "Let's Go"
          from the album 18 Months (2012)
          Twostepcubchart peak: #9 (four weeks)
          Weeks on the chart: 23

The Scottish DJ/producer's big mainstream pop/dance anthem pairs an unstoppable power-chord assault with Ne-Yo's smart and soaring vocals and this is one of my favorite road-trip songs of the year...

#35 - One Direction - "What Makes You Beautiful"
          from the album Up All Night (2011)
          Twostepcubchart  peak: #5 (one week)
          Weeks on the chart: 21 (in 2012)

I may like this song a little less since millions of American tween girls adopted the song as their religious hymn to their estrogen god, but I can't deny the classic pop chops of this song (which spent a short time on my chart last year). If they can grow, they may rival the artistic journey the Backstreet Boys took...

#34 - Jessie J - "Domino"
          from the album Who You Are (2011)
          Twostepcubchart peak: #2 (three weeks)
          Weeks on the chart: 20

The British songstress pulled a page out of the Katy Perry playbook with this jubilant pop confection that is an awesome singalong anytime I heard it unexpectedly blaring from somewhere. One example where being overproduced actually helps a record (though I've heard this acoustic and it's beautiful)...

#33 - Rihanna - "Where Have You Been"
          from the album Talk That Talk (2011)
          Twostepcubchart peak: #5 (2 weeks)
          Weeks on the chart: 22

When Rihanna wasn't infuriating half the country with her "unapologetic" conciliation with boyfriend/abuser Chris Brown, she was busy not relenting from having a presence on the radio, with this, the second of her giant dance jams from her Talk That Talk album. The vocals are at her most soaring in a while,and thankfully brought trance music back into the mainstream.

#32 - Foo Fighters - "These Days"
          from the album Wasting Light (2011)
          Twostepcubchart peak: #6 (four weeks) 
          Weeks on the chart: 22 (in 2012)

In my humble opinion, the Foo Fighters are just as vital to rock music as Grohl's previous band ever was, and this sublime power pop masterpiece is the highlight of Wasting Light, who but for Adele should have gotten the best album Grammy this year.

#31 - The Black Keys - "Lonely Boy"
          from the album El Camino (2011)
          Twostepcubchart peak: #3 (two weeks) 
          Weeks on the chart: 20

The hipster-rock duo became A-listers with this distorted-funk of a giant rock blast, complete with the most awesome motel worker ever, and proved you do not need a high-tech music video to become a viral sensation.


That does it for this ten....tomorrow I'll bring up one of today's act's "competition", the little single that could, and the introduction of "swag rock".