Best/My Favorite Tracks/Albums of 20(10):

Oh jeez.  I get nervous answering these because I feel like I always forget something the moment after I post something like this.  And I feel like people will judge my taste/poor taste in music. Grow a pair, Jake.  Post the songs you liked this year.

Note: Some of these were released in ’09 and were popular in 2010.  It’s my list, I’ll cry if I want to.

1.  The Fame Monster (album) | Lady GaGa:

Bad Romance, Alejandro, Telephone, and a bitchin’ group on non-singles.  Every track on this (arguably) mini-album is fantastically creative and well-produced.  Bad Romance is, well, Bad Romance.  One of the songs that will define our generation.  Alejandro.  I can close my eyes and listen to this, both the instrumental and the actual track and just see vacation.  Telephone is one of the greatest pop-colab’s ever.  Each video sure turned heads.  An album any future pop-lover will have to own.  Made me feel like a little monster.  Tracks of note:  Everything.

2.  3 | Britney Spears:

Max Martin at his best, blasting my brain with synthesizers.  Bubble-gum sound mixed with x-rated lyrics about a ménage a trois?  Sign me up.  Currently my most played song.

3.  Aphrodite (album) | Kylie Minogue:

White-hot-pop-perfection.   Still mystified as to why “get outta my way” didn’t chart better in the US.  A wonderful album filled with pop that puts one on the dancefloor.  Some of the most feel-good windows-down music I’ve had in a while. Tracks of note:  All the Lovers, Get Outta My Way, Aphrodite, Cupid Boy, Better Than Today, Closer.

4.  Teenage Dream (album) | Katy Perry:

The album of summer 2010.  Not a lyrical achievement by any means (sorry, Katy… I don’t feel like a “plastic bag”), but a fun-filled, candy-coated album.  A few surprisingly-haunting ballads.  Track Teenage Dream takes the cake with just the right amount of 80’s. Tracks of note: California Gurls, Teenage Dream, Last Friday Night, Firework, Peacock, E.T., Hummingbird Heartbeat, Not Like the Movies.  Skip Circle the Drain.

5.  Like a G6 / Booty Bounce /  Bass Down Low | Dev:

Everything that Dev managed to spit out this year was pure club gold.  You may know her more as the girl who sings the “Like a G6” part of Like a G6.  The track that Far Eaast Movement sampled for that song, Booty Bounce, along with Bass Down Low are delightfully hipsterific and thumpin.

6.  Obsession / One / 17 | Sky Ferreira:

This was the year that I fell in love with Sky.  Her tracks Obsession and One should have charted way higher in the US than they did.  They are just plain great pop.  Obsession screams with the windows down, one just doesn’t get old.  17 rides the gritty train and is unusually pleasing.  I can only assume that she will be huge once her official album drops.

7.  Barbie World (mixtape) / Roman’s Revenge / features | Nicki Minaj:

This was the year of Nicki.  Anything featuring Nicki is arguably better than her entire debut album, Pink Friday, save for one track, Roman’s Revenge on which her and Eminem spitefully spit via their alter egos.  Her mixtape, Barbie World, is twice as satisfying as Friday. Tracks of note: Fuck You Silly, Gettin’ Cake, Shakin’ It For Daddy, most everything.

8.  Animal/Cannibal (album) | Ke$ha:

On paper, Ke$ha should have flopped.  Both her debut album, Animal, and her follow-up min-album, Cannibal, blast out grimy, gliterry, body-moving perfection.  Even her ballads are memorable through the autotune.  Something about her drawling, gritty voice just makes you want more.  Both albums along with numerous other unreleased tracks and B-sides from this era are all guilty-pleasuring. Tracks of note: Take it Off, Tik Tok, We R Who We R, Cannibal, everything else honestly.

9.  My Beautiful, Dark, Twisted Fantasy (album) | Kanye West:

Americas favorite villain is back in what many critics called the best album of 2010.  Love him or hate him, the boy can produce what verges on genius (or according to him at least). Tracks of note: Monster, Runaway, Monster again, Power.

10.  Doo-Wops & Hooligans / features | Bruno Mars:

I liked Bruno the second I heard his smooth echo on B.o.B.’s “Nothin’ on You” and fell in love when he confessed his love in Just The Way You Are.  Him and B.o.B. arguably sings how hip-hop should be sung.  Who says you can’t produce good hip-hop/pop crossover songs and still be a nice guy? Tracks of note: Grenade, Nothin’ on You.

Others of Note (in no order):

Naturally | Selena Gomez, Love the Way You Lie | Eminem (feat. Rihanna), Loud (album) | Rihanna, Whataya Want From Me | Adam Lambert, Cooler Than Me | Mike Posner, F**k You | Cee Lo Green, Dog Days are Over | Florence + the Machine.