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Song of the Day #2,389: ‘True Blue (The Color Mix)’ – Madonna

madonna_true_blueI’ve never been the biggest Madonna fan. I’ve always considered her a better self-marketer than a singer, songwriter or performer.

But it’s hard to deny the pop appeal of a song like ‘True Blue,’ even in this overlong “Color Mix,” which adds nothing worthwhile to the original.

Looking at Madonna’s early output — those undeniable hits that helped launch MTV — you can trace a line to Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Carly Rae Jepsen and a handful of other modern hitmakers who owe more than a little of their success to Ms. Ciccone.

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Song of the Day #2,388: ‘Digital Witness’ – St. Vincent

st_vincentPharrell Williams’ ‘Happy‘ sits at #13 on Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop poll, followed by St. Vincent’s ‘Digital Witness.’

St. Vincent has been kicking around for a few years now, producing interesting videos and collaborating with fellow oddball David Byrne. But her latest, self-titled, album has received her best reviews to date and topped many a critic’s year-end list.

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Song of the Day #2,387: ‘Queen’ – Perfume Genius

perfume_geniusAs we move into the second ten songs on the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll, I find a lot less overlap with last year’s blog entries. Only two tracks made it to Meet Me In Montauk. Indeed, I’d barely heard of any of these songs before seeing the poll.

Let’s see what new discoveries I have in store.

At #12 is ‘Queen’ by Perfume Genius, described as the year’s best gay anthem by Salon.com.

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Song of the Day #2,386: ‘Never Catch Me’ – Flying Lotus (feat. Kendrick Lamar)

flying_lotusSpots six through ten on Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop poll are all filled with songs I’ve written about on the blog already. That tells me I’ve done a pretty good job this year of getting to the tracks that wound up dominating both the critical and commercial landscapes.

Those songs are, in order, ILoveMakonnen’s ‘Tuesday,’ Sia’s ‘Chandelier,’ Charli XCX’s ‘Boom Clap,’ Beyonce’s ‘*** Flawless‘ and DJ Snake’s ‘Turn Down For What.’ Two of those songs showed up in my own top 20.

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Song of the Day #2,385: ‘I’ – Kendrick Lamar

kendrick_lamarIn the second, third and fourth positions of the Pazz & Jop poll are three tracks I’ve already featured on the blog: FKA Twigs’ ‘Two Weeks‘ and Taylor Swift’s ‘Blank Space‘ and ‘Shake It Off.’

If you combined the votes for the two Taylor Swift tracks, she would have easily claimed the top spot, but critics were split on which of her singles to elevate. For me that was a no-brainer, as ‘Shake It Off’ was slight and forgettable while ‘Blank Space’ was a brilliant pop song.

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