No artist has inspired more positive feedback from the annual mix CD we gave as favors at our New Year’s Eve party this year than Aloe Blacc, whose uplifting soul on his 2010 album Good Things won me over (even though I came to it embarrassingly late).

I’ve heard from a few friends who bought the album on the strength of the one song on the mix: I Need a Dollar. The track not only is instantly catchy – my wife and I often sing out the “hey hey” call-and-response at random times during the day – it’s a soundtrack to our depressed economy from the view of a guy went through corporate hell firsthand.

True, not everyone can parlay getting laid off into a fruitful music career. But Blacc gives the everyman a voice (and an amazing one at that).

Watch him perform I Need a Dollar on Conan last week:

Blacc also offered a backstage version of I’m Beautiful from the 2006 album Shine Through. (via Complex):