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.
Album: 52nd Grammy Awards
This year’s Grammy had most number of viewers in the recent years, and there were some good performances. One of the stand outs was the Michael Jackson tribute. The 3D footages of natures was not appealing, but having the all star artists from various different genres singing one of Michael’s beloved songs was something. Even amongst vocal powerhouse like Celine Dion or Jennifer Hudson, Michael’s voice comes across very strong. A lot of the performances from the Grammy’s is available for download from iTunes, but so far this song is not. It’s a shame.
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Simon Cowell may be only known to American audiences as the “judge.” But he is actually a record producer, and has a lot of connections with numerous musicians. He was supposedly asked by the British Prime Minister to gather his talents to put together a charity song, and as a result, he recruited superstars such as Leona Lewis, Rod Stewart, Mariah Care, Cheryl Cole, Miley Cyrus, Bon Jovi, Susan Boyle, Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams to cover R.E.M.’s classic hit, “Everybody Hurts.” The result? It tries to be “We Are the World” but it’s hard to get each singer’s personality on it. I bought the track for the cause, but after a few listen, I’m already bored of the song. At least it sold enough to make it number 1 in UK.
Every couple of years, I watch the Grammy’s and I notice a country song that hits me somehow. I’m not a country music fan, so I hardly ever listen to it, unless I’m at a country fair (which I hardly ever go to), or if I’m watching the Grammy’s and a country act performs. Three years ago, I really liked Dixie Chicks’ “Not Ready to Make Nice” and this year, I fell for Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now.” The lyrics is so simple (“it’s quarter after one. I’m a little drunk and I need you now”) yet, touching, and the music goes well with it.
Album: 52nd Grammy Awards
Lady GaGa opened the Grammy show with “Poker Face”, and went into this medley of her song “Speechless” mixed with Elton John’s “Your Song.” From shouting, “Take my picture, Hollywood!” Lady GaGa shows that she owns the crowd. And how long has she been in the business? At least as a signed performer, not too long. Whether you like her or not, you have to give her credit for her showmanship. Elton John performed with Eminem several years back, and he proves once again, that he can collaborate with any performer out there.
This song stays in your head. Especially the opening line, “All the gold and the guns in the world.” Metric is an indie rock band from Toronto, Canada. They had a hit earlier in 2009 with the song, “Help I’m Alive.” Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park is a fan of Metric, and he did a good remix of this song as well.
Sounding like a mixture between Foo Fighters and Finger Eleven, Switchfoot comes back to mainstream radio with their new hit, “Mess of Me.” The last time I heard their songs on the radio was in 2003 when “Meant to Live” was a hit. Switchfoot hails from San Diego, where all the members are surfers, and the word “Switchfoot” apparently is a surfer term.
Vedera has recently signed to Epic records and is lead by vocalist Kristen May from Kansas City. Her voice sounds a lot like Natalie Imbrulia from her “Torn” days. I think the song is catchy, and I’ve read that it was used on one of the teen drama shows, but I wonder if their sound is unique enough to break any further.
Album: XX
A lot of indie rock magazines named this young British group as the next band to watch. Spinner magazine placed this song, “Islands” as the fourth best song of 2009. Several of their songs have been used on major TV shows as well. I recently got a hold of their debut album, and as a whole I was a little bored. I can tell that musically they sound unique and different. This song somehow reminds me of Lykke Li’s “Little Bit” little bit.
Album: IRM 
I hadn’t heard much about Beck in the past year, except for his Record Club (where bunch of musicians record a cover of certain chosen album in one day), and it turns out that he had been working with French actress/singer, Charlotte Gainsbourg (daughter of British actress Jane Birkin & French singer, actor, Serge Gainsbourg). I had never heard of Gainsbourg, but Beck had written and produced her entire third album titled IRM, which was released recently. Beck also lends his backup vocal on this track, “Heaven Can Wait.”
The massive earthquake in Haiti killed over 150,000 people in the Caribbean nation. To help raise awareness and money, George Clooney gathered bunch of friends for a charity telethon. All of the performers either sung their originals or cover song, but Jay-Z and U2’s Bono and The Edge created an original song for the occasion along with the producer Swizz Beatz. The digital only track sold 131,000 downloads in matter of two days. This studio version and the live version performed on the live telethon both appear on the album.
I purchased the charity album, Hope For Haiti Now, for $7.99 on the day it came out from Amazon MP3 (they had it before iTunes). There were a couple of songs that just didn’t work (Alicia Keys sounded a little off, which is rare) but for the most part, everyone sounded amazing. My only gripe about this album was that it was more ‘depressing’ than ‘uplifting’. One of those examples is this cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (is it just me, or has this song been covered way too many times in the last couple of years?). Although it’s not my favorite track on the album, this song was #1 on iTunes download chart for a few days after it was released, so I figured I’d feature it here. For those of you wondering who Matt Morris is, he’s a son of country singer Gary Morris (I’ve never heard of Matt nor Gary either).
Initially, Lil Wayne’s new album was to be released in December of 2009. But it was postponed to February. But several hundred lucky Amazon customers received the copy by accident. But the rumor has it that the February version of “Rebirth” will be completely different than the ones shipped in December. One of the confirmed tracks is “Drop the World” featuring Eminem. They don’t really exchange verses, so you don’t necessarily feel their chemistry, but they both prove on their verses why they will continue to be the hottest MCs in the game.
Embodying the rags-to-riches rap dream, Jay-Z pulled himself up by his bootstraps as a... 