About This Site
Each month I select 20 songs (10 songs twice a month) that I am either hooked on or am curious about. Most of the music I select are rock, hip-hop, R&B and pop songs.
My song selection comes from 20-30 CDs I get from various sources each month, as well as recommendations from iTunes and Amazon. I also check out the charts in US, UK and Japan.
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D.O.G.S. is Japanese indie grunge rock band, that has been struggling to maintain full band member for the past several years. Within that struggle, the lead singer, Koji Tamura and guitarist Katsumi Yokota managed to recruit semi-temporary members to finally record this EP titled, Over The Walls. To launch this album, D.O.G.S. decided to head to Seattle to do a mini tour, the place where they have always dreamed of playing. The track “Go Down” is one of the stand outs from the new album, and was also the crowd favorite in Seattle. Check out their official website:
http://dogs-official.com/
I thought this was Gin Blossom’s first album since the mid 90s, but apparently they have released an album in 2006, that hardly got any attention. Arizona rock band, famous for pop rock songs such as “Hey Jealousy” and “Til I Hear It From You” is back for another attempt with their fifth album, No Chocolate Cake. Although the album was a #1 album on Amazon MP3 album chart on the day of the release, they lost momentum. Hearing this single makes me think about the mid-90s again.
Lead singer Joel Madden had two kids with Nicole Richie, and this is his first album since he has become a father. In the interview, they have stated that this new album will be more punk-rock oriented instead of dance pop. I have only listened to this single, and not the whole album, but it sounds quite pop to me. Actually I kind of like it.
Kanye West’s protégé, Kid Cudi teams up with his master for the lead single from his upcoming album, to be released in early November. Kid Cudi follows the similar formula as his previous album, where he leans on the rock side. The new album will have other featured vocalists such as Cee-Lo Green and Mary J. Blige.
Aussie diva, Kylie Minogue has another dance hit song. Although non-dance song listener may not be aware of this song’s success, but “Get Outta My Way” has been on #1 on dance chart for some time now. “Get Outta My Way” is on Kylie’s eleventh studio album, Aphrodite.
I was quite excited for Linkin Park’s latest album, since I really liked their first single, The Catalyst. But once I downloaded the entire album from Amazon MP3, I was a bit disappointed that it sounded a repeat from their previous album, Minutes To Midnight. A lot of the user reviews on iTunes also prove the point. Some have said that two bad albums in a row is the last straw and they will not purchase any more of their albums. I almost share the same sentiment, except they do have a couple of decent songs on the album. I’m not a huge fan of this particular track, but hopefully their next album, they will go back to harder sound.
Album: 5.0
Multi platinum artist, Nelly’s last album, Brass Knuckles from 2008 didn’t do so well (even though it went Gold). None of the singles from that album broke top 20. Dirty South rapper Nelly is releasing his fifth album, titled 5.0, which already has top 3 hit, Just A Dream. Could this be his comeback album?
It has only been a year since Rihanna released hit filled album, Rated R. The fifth album, titled Loud, to be released in mid November already has a hit club song, “Only Girl (In The World).
Exactly one year ago this month, Shakira released the album, She Wolf, which failed to generate much hits, except for the titled track. The new single from her seventh album, Sale El Sol (meaning The Sun Comes Out), features the track, Loca, which has UK rapper Dizzee Rascal as a guest. The track is a moderate success in the US, but became #1 in numerous European countries.
Waka Flocka Flame is a member of 1017 Brick Squad which also featured Gucci Mane, OJ Da Juiceman Wooh Da Kid amongst others. His debut album, Flockaveli is doing quite well, mostly thanks to this hit rap track, “No Hands” which features Roscoe Dash and Wale.
When I first heard this song, and saw that it was climbing up on the charts, I didn’t particularly think much of it. Then I read that Far East Movement consist of all Asian members from different background; Chinese/Japanese, Korean and Filipino, and that boosted my curiosity. Now this single has climbed up to #2 on the Billboard chart, and their major debut album just came out.
Canadian rock group had a breakthrough hit with “
Paralyzer” in 2007, and they are hoping to repeat that success with the new album, Life Turns Electric, which is their sixth studio album. The lead off single, “Living In A Dream” follows the similar formula of “Paralyzer” and getting decent radio play.
There is no doubt that John Legend is this generation’s hottest R&B star. And there is also no doubt that The Roots is one of the most talented musical groups. If they decide to work together, there is gotta be some good stuff. The album is mostly covers of not-so-popular soul music from the 60s and 70s. This single has been around for a while, but I hadn’t really listened to it until the album came out recently. “Wake Up Everybody” is a cover of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes cover.
Kanye West performed this song live on this year’s MTV Video Music Award, and it was by far one of the most memorable performances of the night (since others were fairly safe and dull). The piano intro, reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, sets the tone, and Kanye cruises through with his usual wordplay. This time he also gets a little help from Clipse’s Pusha T. It’s because Kanye creates songs like this, we are still willing to “toast to the asshole” as the song lyric goes.
After having a monster success with their previous album, Only by the Night, which included hits like “
Sex On Fire” and “
Use Somebody”, southern rock band, Kings of Leon are about to launch their fifth album. The anticipation is quite high for this album, and the lead-off single, “Radioactive” is already a #1 hit on the Alternative chart.
Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall’s first two studio albums have both charted top 3 in UK, but this one peaked at #5. Although I consider myself to be a moderate fan of KT (I’ve been to her concert), I didn’t particularly like her first two singles. When I was checking iTunes, for some reason, this was the most downloaded song from her latest album, even though it’s not listed as a single. I did enjoy this track though.
The reason why it took so long for My Chemical Romance to come out with a new album was because after they finished recording their album, they realized that they didn’t like it and decided to start all over again. As I felt that “Welcome to Black Parade” made such a huge impact in the rock music five years ago, I’m still trying to get used to this new sound, but I’m liking what I hear so far. Their album, Danger Days will be released in late November.
This new Canadian rock band is led by Matt Walst, whose brother is a bassist for Three Days Grace. They were discovered by Chad Kroeger of Nickelback and he is also featured on this song, along with former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, and rapper Ludacris. It’s fairly forgettable track. I just wished Ludacris had bigger part.
Papa Roach’s latest album is a hybrid of new songs and live recording of some of their biggest hits including, “Getting Away with Murder” and “Last Resort.” The new single from the album has peaked at #3 on the rock chart.
I first heard of this R&B singer in 2007 when he had the hit, “
Can’t Help But Wait.” Trey’s fourth album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure only has one standout track, and that’s this one, only because Nicki Minaj nails her part. This just makes me anticipate for her debut album even more. With Missy Elliott not releasing anything recently, Nicki is hands down the hottest female MC in the game right now.
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