Popologist Panel: Justin Bieber, Fiona Apple, Diplo, Katy Perry (July 2012)

Check out the all-new second installment of the Popologist Panel on Vertigo Shtick, of which I am honored to be a part of!

This month, we tackle the latest releases from Justin Bieber, Fiona Apple & Diplo, music videos by Katy Perry & Sky Ferreira and singles by Alexandra Stan, Esthero, NERVO and Carly Rae Jepsen!

READ MORE…

Popologist Panel: Adam Lambert, Azealia Banks, Ke$ha

Popologist Panel: Adam Lambert, Azealia Banks, Ke$ha

I was recently asked to take part in a monthly panel reviewing some of the latest releases and leaks from a variety of popular and up-and-coming artists on Vertigo Shtick. Check out the first installment of the Popologist Panel, where we discuss the latest releases from: Adam Lambert, Queen of Hearts, Azealia Banks, Florrie, Cher Lloyd, Luciana, Kylie Minogue, Cheryl Cole and a demo/leak from Ke$ha!

Judgement Day (Special Edition): Pop Heaven’s Top 100 Songs of 2012 (Part 4 of 4)

The time has come! Were about to reveal Pop Heaven’s top 25 songs of 2012! As this year’s chart comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on the journey of actually compiling a year-end chart.

I started off with 188 singles that were released this year by popular music’s heavy hitters from all genres. Additionally, there were plenty of amazing non-singles this year, so I carefully selected the best of the best (hoping that they don’t become runaway hits in 2013 so I won’t regret including them this year) and added those to the pool as well.

From there began the surprisingly arduous task of trying to rank them all. I prayed day and night to the Pop Gods to guide me in my mission. Sometimes I found myself heartbroken to realize that a song I loved would be cut when it slowly slipped over the fine line between #100 and #101. Admittedly, there were many other terrific tracks this year that didn’t make the list.

As always, there were some oversights and there are a couple of flat-out mistakes that I wish I could go back and amend, but once it’s been published it’s Pop Gospel so it’s time to let go of regret and move on with our  top 25!

In case you’re just joining us, you should catch up!!:

– Read entries 100 through 76 in Part 1!
– Read entries 75 through 51 in Part 2!
– Read entries 50 through 26 in Part 3!

Now, if you’re all caught up.. check out the conclusion of our year-end charts. Watch/Listen to the YouTube playlist below, or read the Top 25 after the break…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PLBUZeUxXlUYb4S-UHdSFp3EaE_cckwpod&w=560&h=315%5D

Judgement Day (Special Edition): Pop Heaven’s Top 100 Songs of 2012 (Part 1 of 4)

Happy New Year, Everyone!

While many year-end, “best of” lists have long since been posted, in typical fashion I am a little late. That being said, it’s never really too late to look back at a year of popular music.

In retrospect, while 2012 may not have been a big year for stellar albums, it was a pretty great year for singles!

Some lessons learned from last year’s Top 100:

• My 2011 picks contained a lot of non-single tracks, which did not bode well when many of those songs became singles in 2012 (i.e. Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain.”)
• Similarly, there were a few tracks that were released as singles in 2011 but didn’t really become hits until 2012 (“Domino” by Jessie J).

Sadly, since both of those tracks were on last year’s chart, you won’t find them in 2012’s year-end charts despite their being pretty massive hits this year.

So, this time around I tried to learn from my mistakes and started with all of my favorite singles released in 2012 that were not on last year’s chart. After listing all of those, I scoured through 2012’s album releases and picked only a few of my absolute favorite non-singles here and there to sprinkle in. A list of close to 200 songs had to be whittled down, and after hours of deliberations I was left with Pop Heaven’s Top 100 tracks of 2012!

We count down spots 100 through 76, after the jump! (or you can click “Play” on the YouTube playlist below to just listen!)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PLBUZeUxXlUYbXS8_TRTofEWLqaa8MGx3X&w=560&h=315%5D