Pop Today

Let's break this down. "Pop" is short for popular, which means that more people like these tracks than don't (even if the sight of James Blunt on an ice cap is fundamentally silly). "Today" is another way of saying "current", which might mean a couple of years ago — you've just got to give us a little leeway here. So, here we go with Take That, MIKA, Amy Winehouse . . . and don't think we can't hear you singing along. Get your chops 'round more pops in Next Steps.

The girls beat out the boys in this well-toned midsection of our contemporary pop Essentials, as we unleash the irresistible force of Girls Aloud, Sugababes, and the Pussycat Dolls. Flanking those melodic lady-gangs are the elite solo units Nelly and Kelly (Furtado and Clarkson, that is), not to mention Kylie and Fergie, or that triumvirate of tunefulness: Natasha, Christina, and Shakira. Complete your one-stop pop shop in Deep Cuts.

Italo-Scottish troubadour Paolo Nutini was expected to inherit his family's fish and chip business, but he ended up here, at the forefront of modern pop. If he can batter a cod like he can deliver a tune ("New Shoes"), we'd eat at his place any day of the week. Equally tasty is Lily Allen, who breezes through her tale of urban distress ("LDN") like she's skipping through a meadow full of daisies.

Great pop serves many functions: It can be a pretty distraction from everyday drudgery (we're looking at you, Girls Aloud and Take That); it can hold up a mirror to ourselves and the way we live our lives (thanks for the narratives, Lily Allen and LDN Is a Victim, whoever you are); it can afford us the chance to marvel at resplendent creative genius (take a bow, Amy Winehouse). But most of all, great pop makes us click our fingers, crack into a chorus, and bust a move or two, even if we've never been hit by the talent stick. Immerse yourself in the chart sound of the '00s right here.