Each month, tons of new music from many taste-spanning genres is released into a fast-consuming, unforgiving market; it can be tough to get a handle on what’s new before it’s on to the next. In an attempt to highlight the standout releases, at the end of each month, AUX staff re-cap the month in Punk, Metal, Indie/Pop/Rock, Hip Hop, Electronic, and Pop with the top five releases in each. Consider it your cheat sheet for year-end lists.

Top 5 Pop Tracks: October

Bruno Mars – “Locked Out Of Heaven”

Two years ago, I would have told you that Bruno Mars is the worst thing to happen to pop radio. You couldn’t hover on one station for longer than ten minutes without hearing “Nothin’ On You,” “Grenade,” or “Just The Way You Are,” and Bruno Mars’ annoyingly-smooth baritone was always the bearer of bad song. The months rolled on without a Mars-fronted overplayed single, and my ire for the Hawaiian boy wonder slowly dissipated. Seeing Bruno Mars perform live is the real tipping point, since his Motown-insprired performances on the awards show circuit have been the only listenable offerings amongst a gaggle of Katy Perrys and Lil Waynes. My transition to full-on Bruno Mars fan-boy comes with the release of his new single “Locked Out Of Heaven,” a retro banger that is undeniably Police-inspired, dressed in modern production styles. Don’t worry discerning music fans, it’s officially ok to like it, because it was co-produced by Mark Ronson and Jeff Bhasker. (Atlantic/Elektra)

Taylor Swift – “Red”

Taylor Swift scored her career-first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with “We Are Never Getting Back Together,” and on on the heels of the biggest first-week album debut since Eminem’s Eminem Show (2002), “Red” is on track to be her second chart topper with a debut at number six. Where “We Are Never” skews towards a pop audience, “Red” is a more typical crossover single that works on both country and top 40 radio. Who knew that a banjo lead with a “Come As You Are”-style chorus effect on it could be so effective? (Big Machine)

Solange – “Losing You”

If you like your pop music with a pedigree-strain of indie cred, look no further than Beyoncé’s little sister, the cool and charismatic Solange Knowles. She has Bey’s blood, but she also has a single on a guy from Grizzly Bear’s record label, co-produced by Blood Orange and Kevin Barnes from of Montreal. “Losing You” combines the best of radio-ready pop, 80s dance music, and (dare-I-say) chillwave, to a tremendous head-nodding effect. Solange would never try to out-sing or out-dance her older sis, but she might stand a chance at out-cooling her. (Terrible Records)

Kelly Clarkson – “Catch My Breath”

Ten years after she won the inaugural season of American Idol, Kelly Clarkson is readying the release of her–wait for it–greatest hits album. That felt a little depressing to write at first; isn’t the greatest hits album (“Part One” or otherwise) a prelude to a career unravelling? On previewing the tracklisting of Greatest Hits: Chapter One, there’s at least one piece of good news: Kelly Clarkson has a lot of fucking hits. On top of that, this compilation album has three brand new songs, one of which is a prototypical polished piece of Clarkson-brand radio wizardry. “Catch My Breath” is not so dissimilar to the upbeat electro-pop that KC so boldly classifies as “hits” on her new record, with the notable difference being the lack of emotional damage in its lyrical content, as compared to songs like “Since U Been Gone” and “Never Again.” We’re glad you’re happy now Kelly, but please don’t retire yet. Here’s to a few more chapters of sugary synth-pop goodness. (RCA/19 Entertainment)

A$AP Rocky – “Fuckin’ Problem” feat. 2 Chainz, Drake, & Kendrick Lamar

Admittedly, it’s a bit of a stretch to classify a rap song with a swear word in the title as pop music, but as hip-hop consumes more and more space on the charts, I think I can get away with saying that even though A$AP Rocky is a hip-hop artist, his song is just as relevant to pop music as one by Taylor Swift, whose “home” genre is country music. As I’m sure you can tell, this is all just a hastily-crafted excuse to let me write about one of the best hip-hop jams I’ve heard all month. Produced by Drake’s right-hand-man Noah “40” Shebib, “Fuckin’ Problem” bangs from front to back, with crucial assists by 2 Chainz, Drake, and the hero of hip-hop this month, Kendrick Lamar. An infectious rap single benefiting from personnel like this wouldn’t be entirely out of place on the top 40 charts this year, and that’s what makes listening to pop music today an exciting thing. (A$AP Worldwide/Polo Grounds Music/RCA)

Surprises, disappointments and tracks/albums to watch for next month

Surprise of the month: Rihanna has an album dropping in November, and we don’t have a follow-up single to “Diamonds” yet. Given the fact that she usually cranks singles out at a breakneck pace, let’s hope that StarGate and company aren’t having trouble in the kitchen.

Disappointments: “One More Night” by Maroon 5 continues to reign supreme on the radio and the singles charts, for lack of a worthy contender. Watch out Adam Levine, T-Swift is comin’ for you.

Out in November: New albums from Rihanna, Alicia Keys, and Pitbull. Two out of three ain’t bad.