Top 50 Singles Of 2013: 10-6

10. Lady Gaga - Do What You Want (with R. Kelly)



After the underwhelming Applause, this grower of a track stood out as exactly the type of thing Gaga needed in 2013. Sounds ever better as part of the album.

9. Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop



The song that transformed Cyrus' career, and one of the best pop songs of the year. It's just effortlessly cool and doesn't even seem to try.

8. One Direction - Best Song Ever



Is it their best single? If it's not, then it's definitely second best. If they can keep putting out big slabs of pop rock like this, I think they're in it for the long run.

7. Kang Seung Yoon - Wild & Young 



Perhaps the most surprising (and little known) inclusion in my top ten. This Korean rock track sounds a lot like The Ark to me. I played it out this year.

6. Nicole Saboune - Conquer Or Suffer 



Speaking of sounding like The Ark, I was instantly taken with this glam/punk/rock track by Saboune, an alum of Sweden's The Voice. I mean, that hook!

Kang Seung Yoon - Wild And Young

Oh, yeah! What I usually like most about k-pop is its futuristic, highly polished and choreographed pop/dance/r&b music, but this is totally different. What we have here is a classic, big-riffed guitar anthem. It's like something Lenny Kravitz (or even my favorites, the Ark) would have performed. Kang Seung Yoon has been training with one of the big three record companies, YG, and this sounds very atypical to their usual output. However, of the big three, it seems that YG is the most adventurous, so I guess it's not a huge surprise. Whatever the case, I was obsessed with this from the first listen and can't imagine anybody disliking it. For those not particularly interested in Asian music, it's got a pretty strong western influence. Plus, this guy's got a great rock voice.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the single here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.