Left to my own devices

Have we done the review of my favorite songs from last year yet? No? Right, here we go...

Day three of the Top 10 Albums Challenge is upon us! Without further adieu, here is our latest entry: #8 - Madonna / Ray of Light (1998) Consisting of great singles and solid deep cuts, Ray of Light is not only my favorite Madonna album, it's one of my favorite albums of all-time. Led by the haunting hit single Frozen , I was immediately enraptured by this release. In early 1998, some friends and I drove over to Indianapolis for a night. There we went to one of the gay dance clubs, and it was having a Ray of Light release party. They had limited edition copies of the CD, and were playing some tracks off it. The one that I remember most was the Victor Calderon's extended remix of Frozen , and the DJ played almost all 11 minutes of it, which retains the song's stirring quality, while turning it into a dance-floor stomper.

Long time readers of this blog, as well as those who know me personally, are fully aware that I love music. Along with music, I'm also partial to the odd music video (whenever one comes along these days). They're a dying art form, but one that, if done well, can be just as exquisite as a painting. What better way to celebrate the music video than to present my 10 favorite ones? Note: another list of truth is to follow. Here we go!

Today we're going to talk about something very important. We're going to talk about Madonna. "Madge," as she's affectionately known around the gay scene, has been making music for over thirty years. I grew up with her songs, many of them pop classics. In recent years, it can be arguably said that her popularity has waned a bit. During the past decade, Madonna has put out seventeen singles. Of those, three have charted in the US Top 40. Ten Failed to chart at all on the Billboard Hot 100. We now have at least one possibility offered as to why Madge's chart power is waning: Ageism. At least, that's what Diplo (just, Diplo), a producer of some of the tracks off her latest album, thinks . I know it's difficult to be objective about something you've worked on -- whether you were the producer or the artist -- but, as a listener/fan, I have to say that Madonna's most recent work has simply not been that good. Still, we'll hear what ...

It was a pretty solid year for music. Nothing too extraordinary, but lots of consistent goodness. When it came time to compile my list of favorite songs from 2011 , it felt as though I had to perhaps stretch it a bit in order to come up with ten tracks. With 2012, I'm leaving things on the cutting room floor. It is with great pleasure therefore that I present to you my favorite bits of music from the recently-departed 2012. Hope you find something you like!