The year’s midpoint is traditionally a time when critics pause to reflect and take stock of the quality of the music released commercially thus far. Just to be a bit different, we’re going to gauge the level of gayness in the music released in 2012.  Fortunately, quite a lot of gay (or gay-ish) people have been releasing music this year: the Pet Shop Boys, Rufus Wainwright and the Scissor Sisters among them. Of course, we can’t forget the widely publicized revelation that R&B star and Odd Future member Frank Ocean peppered his debut album, Channel Orange, with references to man-on-man love. With all this in mind, here are 10 gay songs for your summer 2012 playlist.

Scissor Sisters

"Baby Come Home"
The exuberant opener from the Scissor Sisters’ Magic Hour album is about that pent-up anxiety one feels late at night while one’s significant other is acting a fool in a club somewhere. Unlike other songs about this subject, this one is honest enough to admit that everything will be okay as long as the absentee lover can still get it up after stumbling through the door.

Fiona Apple

"Hot Knife"
The confrontational singer/songwriter’s Idler Wheel album culminates in this dainty curiosity of a love song on which she loops and multitracks her voice with her cabaret-singer sister’s over rumbling percussion. Every homo I know does jazz hands when they hear it, so she must be on to something.

Frank Ocean

"Forrest Gump"
If you can bring yourself to overlook the fact that the rising R&B heartthrob chose the title of one of the most obnoxiously overrated movies of the 1990s as a metaphor for the man “running on my mind,” you’ll be rewarded with a sublimely sensual and vivid elegy to unrequited love.

David Morales, feat Roísín Murphy

"Golden Era"
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Moloko-singer-turned-pop-couture-queen Roísín Murphy. As we wait for the follow-up to her excellent 2007 LP, Overpowered, she can be heard on the summer gem “Golden Era,” superstar DJ David Morales’s sophisticated disco-house banger that is
essential for any respectable pool-party playlist.

Hunx

"Do You Remember Being a Roller?"
Hunx and His Punx’s Seth Bogart pays homage to the Bay City Rollers and the garage pop of yesteryear on this sunny and slightly lispy summertime pop song. It can be found on the Oakland-based indie idol’s highly underrated solo album, Hairdresser Blues.

Pet Shop Boys

"Winner"
Just in time for the London Olympics, British pop duo Pet Shop Boys are back with a new album, Elysium, and the triumphant synth-pop single “Winner.” One listen to this uplifting ballad will have you feeling refreshed and invigorated — like you just finished jerking off to a men’s synchronized diving competition.

Angel Haze

"New York"
After releasing umpteen freestyles on YouTube, upstart rapper Angel Haze shows off her tough-as-fuck and lethally technical rhyming skills over double-dutch hand claps and minimal bursts of bass on “New York.” It’s the first single from her just-released debut EP, Reservation.

Diplo, feat Nicky Da B

"Express Yourself"
Mega-producer and niche-genre enthusiast Diplo teamed up with Nicky Da B — the latest queer rapper to emerge from New Orleans’ bounce music scene — for this frenetic and freaky booty-clapping block-party jam.

Zebra Katz

"Ima Read"
New York-based performance artist and MC Zebra Katz rocketed onto the Rick Owens runway this past spring after the music video for this drag slang/literacy anthem went viral. With its menacing, repetitive lyrics and ballroom-inspired bass beat, the song has become the year’s queer rap anthem.
 

Rufus Wainwright

"Sometimes You Need"
Those embittered, lonely summer nights are much easier to get through thanks to Rufus Wainwright’s bittersweet paean to the city of Los Angeles. With its rambling guitar riff and lilting orchestral arrangement, it’s a standout song from his excellent Out of the Game album and serves as a reminder that 72 and sunny is easier to cope with than 45 with the humidity.