Is anyone getting tired of hearing “Crazy In Love” on the radio? How about “Float On” or “Mr. Brightside”? Does anyone still sing along with “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”? Isn’t X&Y really just Parachutes Part III? Who isn’t tired of Mike Jones’ guttural chanting of his own name? Here we are at the end of a slightly stale summer and pop music has begun to devour itself. A single that captures the idealistic enthusiasm that summer brings is dubiously absent from the radio waves. Which prompts the question, was the latest crop of summer albums that bad? Or are DJ’s just not looking hard enough?

“Movement” — LCD Soundsystem
On “Movement,” electronics whirl towards a climax as James Murphy slurs along his idiosyncratic mutterings. If making bashful hipsters dance qualifies Murphy for sainthood then my hands are in the air and I’m ready to join the choir.

“My Friend Dario” — Vitalic
The standout from Vitalic’s full length debut, OK Cowboy, “My Friend Dario” doesn’t take itself too seriously. The killer guitar riff and synth lines are accompanied by a pounding, video game beat and digitized vocals (think Radiohead’s “Fitter Happier”).

“Bus Stop” — Roll Deep
Most East London grime artists stray from a conventional sound. The Roll Deep Crew, fronted by acclaimed MC Wiley, have their hearts set on mainstream radio. Single “Bus Stop” has such a catchy soul riff that it barely matters that you can’t understand the MCs.

“Twin Cinema” — The New Pornographers
Although it is my firm belief that these power pop superheroes are incapable of writing a bad song, nothing perked me up like popping in this disc for the first time and hearing Carl Newman’s wailing guitar ooze from the speakers on the album’s title track.

“The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth” — Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
The entire self-titled, self-released debut from these indie rock superstars is full of pop gems drenched in sonic, whiny vocals that only frontman Alec Ounsworth can deliver. Oh yeah, a highlight… Uh, this song “The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth” isn’t bad.

“Emily Kane” — Art Brut
Amidst an album of cheap power chords and painfully obvious declarations comes this goofy little gem about a young English lad and the girl he just can’t seem to get over. “Emily Kane” bubbles with wistful nostalgia and teenage idealism, proving that even British punk rockers have big hearts.

“We Just Won’t Be Defeated” — The Go! Team
English hipsters The Go! Team returned this summer with a small, touronly EP, once again blending pop, soul, hip-hop, and TV theme songs into an amalgam of funky grooves. “We Just Won’t Be Defeated” runs in the same vein that made TLS so unique. Cheerleaders holler over a sunny, Schroederesque piano line, and all is right in the world.

“Love Is” — Common
There’s nothing sweeter than hearing Kanye understep his boundaries. Where a lot of Common’s album suffers from overproduction, “Love Is” steps back behind a simple soul beat and lets Common’s smooth delivery take center stage.

“Happy Summertime” — R. Kelly
And here I was under the impression that the majority of TP3: Reloaded was to serve as filler for the mind-shattering “Trapped in the Closet.”“Happy Summertime,” with a welcome appearence by Snoop Dogg, is a laid back R&B jam with all the gusto of Chocolate Factory’s “Ignition Remix.” Kelly’s croon is spot on, proving that even convicted sex offenders can crank out smooth BBQ bangers.

“I See Spiders When I Close My Eyes” — The Boy Least Likely To
They’re Scottish and they love partying and stuffed animals. This is indeed sunny day music. This track in particular bounces along like a Radio Flyer on a dirt road, declaring “I’ve got nothing to worry about/ So I worry about nothing.” If ever a song deserved to be in a Diet Coke commercial…