Happy - Pharrell Williams: I mean, its a good song and all. Definitely an earwig, definitely technically proficient. Its a little big band, a little choir, a little jazzy. If anyone thought Pharrell wasn't talented, this is great evidence to the contrary. I still think a lot of the fame of this one came from the movie association. It also shows that you need to appeal to the highly mass market to be successful, there isn't really anyone that can be offended by this one.
Rather Be (feat Jess Gylnne) - Clean Bandit: I think this song represents this year in music more than anything else. The extremely pop-catchy single with EDM influences. Over produced, in no way offensive, slightly mysterious female vocals. Having said all that, I really like this song, and as I commiserated with one of my DJ friends, I'm sorry that there won't be more from them.
Summer - Calvin Harris: I like this one a lot. Sorry. Even if it is the number one basic white girl jam, its catchy, hits the big synths, and Calvin Harris breaks his own rule and does vocals on his own track. What's not to like?
Dark Horse - Katy Perry Juicy J: As a pretty solid Katy Perry fan, this is one of my favorites from her. It still has the bubblegum pop that she is famous for, a tiny bit of the female empowerment that she goes for, but it also is one of the darkest sounding songs she has put out. The rap from Juicy J is just incongruous enough to be legit. This sound also mashes well with N*ggas in Paris, which one local DJ figured out and used repeatedly earlier this year, much to my repeated delight.
All of Me - John Legend: This is a classy track, and obviously did well this year. My favorite part is the quality covers it inspires.
Timber - Pitbull ft. Kesha: I love Kesha, so I can't objectively evaluate this one. Sorry.
Rude - Magic!: Decent song, definitely one of the first to really get the Sublime / Slightly Stoopid stoner reggae rock right in a long time. The creation of the this band and this song through, are more interesting to me. The idea that someone could really know that they have the chops, but spend so much time searching for the rest of the band and that one hit, but then to actually find it and experience the success, truly inspiring and different that those we typically hear of in this industry. Now the trick is to follow it up with something better. I do think the solo is particularly weak here.
Waves Robin Schultz Edit - Mr. Probz: One of my favorites on this list. Excellently handled. The production values are high, but its soft and easy. Moves just fast enough to be interesting, but it is just quiet enough to be sensitive. This was one of the few songs I paid to download this year.
Problem - Ariana Grande (Iggy Azelea): I get what she (or maybe I should just say they and include her management team) is going for here, but it just doesn't work for me. This isn't a triumphant Beyonce track, its just a Disney pop star crammed into a mass produced song. Including Iggy doesn't make it edgy or interesting, it just makes Iggy seem like a sell out to. The video was bizarre and boring too.
Counting Stars - OneRepbulic: Well, they always write nice songs. This was the most common cover I heard in bars this year. Its cool but strikes me as mom rock more than anything else. Does have some of the super indie hipster elements with the rawness, which is nice.
Overall, I have no idea if these are ordered in any sort of way, although some other lists I have seen put Happy at number 1 globally. I don't think that Waves was a global top 10 though, so maybe its not sorted. Nothing really surprised me here, I think this list pretty much matches what I would think based on radio play and the pop culture scene.
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