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.
I started hearing this song on the local rock radio station. It reminds me of the early 90s grunge days. Dead Confederate is a rock band from Athens, Georgia that recently signed to the major label. It took me a long time to actually find this song as I thought the title of the track was “Bang Bang” and kept on searching with that name. Not quite sure why it is called The Rat.
A little bit of Stevie Wonder and bit of Jason Mraz, this singer-songwriter hails from New York (though he is originally from Maryland). I had never heard of him until recently when I heard this song on the radio, and caught my attention. He was one of VH1 You Oughta Know artist (I normally check that, so he must’ve slipped under my eyes). Great upbeat pop song.
This Texas born singer songwriter is now based in Nashville, Tennessee but she doesn’t sound country at all. If you like Sara Bareilles or kind of music Grey’s Anatomy likes to put on, you would probably enjoy her music. This track was featured on iTunes free single of the week earlier this year.
This song was available for free download from their MySpace page. It reminds me of their debut hit song, “Take Me Out” mixed with some disco vibe. Tonight is Scottish rock band, Franz Ferdinand’s third album, which was just released at end of January. So far the album has been getting great reviews.
This Australian singer doesn’t sound 17 years at all. Her vocal style is similar to Amy Winehouse, and this particular track definitely puts her on the same map as recent throw-back artists like Winehouse and Duffy. This track has been burning up the chart in her native country Australia and UK. There is still no US release date of her album, but Universal Republic has been pushing this track out on their monthly sampler.
Sounding very much like part of Quentin Tarantino soundtrack, this duo (Suzanne Santo and Ben Jaffe) creates music that mashes up rock, blues, jazz, and country. Their debut single, “Little Toy Gun” music video was directed by tv show, 24 star Keifer Sutherland. I had never known this, but he owns a small record company and honeyhoney belongs to the label (also Lifehouse).
Jay-Z’s record rep are denying that his new album is coming out soon, though other reports suggest that his new album, The Blueprint 3 is coming out in February of this year. This collaboration between Jay-Z and newcomer Santogold was featured on the soundtrack to Notorious, a movie about the rapper, Notorious BIG. This track is only available to purchase if you buy the entire soundtrack, which is ridiculous considering most Biggie fans probably already owns most of the songs on the album.
I’ve always felt that Left Eye and Missy Elliott were the only good female MCs. It was such a tragedy to lose one of the best rappers in the game. For some odd reason, her solo album never got released in the US (though it did decent in Japanese market). With some leftover material and previously released songs remixed, TLC’s rapper will finally get to release her stuff to the US audience (though I don’t think it’s getting much publicity).
Meiko, a quarter Japanese singer songwriter, is currently on tour with Tyrone Wells. I reviewed her first single, “
Boys With Girlfriends” last September. I plan on seeing them shorly, so I figured I should select another song by her. Most of her songs are a bit slow tempo for me, but this track was still somewhat upbeat.
Just by chance I sat through his set during Bumbershoot last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it. He is from Spokane, Washington, and a lot of his songs have been used on numerous TV shows. From the name and his voice, I imagined a black guy like Lenny Kravitz, but he’s actually a bald white guy with very soulful voice. This was my favorite track I heard live, and I had been waiting for him to release his new album.
I am still digging her first single, “
Womanizer” (great clubbing and workout track). But Britney has now released another single, the title track from her latest (sixth) album, Circus. When “
Womanizer” was #1 on the chart, this song debuted at #3. The track was produced by Dr. Luke (responsible for
Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl” and Avril’s “Girlfriend”), which has his usual infectious pop beat.
Whatever happened to the guy that sang the exit song on American Idol a couple of seasons ago? That was Canadian singer-songwriter, Daniel Powter singing, “’cause you had a bad day, you’re taking one down.” Powter’s third album, Under the Radar was released in Europe, but there is still no set date in the US. The latest album was produced by Linda Perry who made Pink into a superstar, but maybe that was not the right combination for him as most of the tracks sounds weak and not really catchy. However, this track, which was included as a bonus track from the previous album, was remixed. It almost has the similar feel as “Bad Day.” But chances are, Daniel Powter will be known as one-hit wonder.
Embodying the rags-to-riches rap dream, Jay-Z pulled himself up by his bootstraps as a... 