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.
In the past couple of years, several Korean singers and groups have tried to break through in the US market. This month, it is JYJ’s turn. Korean and Japanese audience will know them as the three guys from their former group TVXQ or Tohoshinki or Dong Bang Shin Ki. As much as I want to cheer these guys on for trying, their singing makes me nervous. It’s not that they are a bad singer, but combined with cheesy lyrics and not-so-sexy accent, it will be hard to sell this to US audience who have no previous contact with Tohoshinki. I do want to give them a credit for being able to drag Kanye West into this.
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.
I had a chance to see Utada (or “Hikki” as she’s referred to from her hardcore fans) perform live to US audience recently. With two English albums under her belt, two-thirds of her setlist consisted of English songs, and the other third was her Japanese mega hit songs such as “Automatic”, “First Love” and “Can You Keep A Secret.” It was my first time seeing her live, but I couldn’t help but to notice that she didn’t have much stage presence. She sounded great, and she interacted well with the audience (speaking 95% of the time in English), but if I hadn’t known, I wouldn’t believe someone telling me that she is the biggest pop star of Japan. I’ve only had a chance to listen to her latest album, This Is The One, a couple of times, but I was surprised to hear that she chose this track as her second US single. I sort of cringed with lyrics like “And in my fantasies, I love you long time”, “Doing my nine to five, I’m thinking six and nines” but at least the beat is catchy, especially when it is remixed for club release. I’m not sure if this track will reach the mainstream America’s ear, but at least she is trying to be different.
Jay Sean’s real name is Kamaljit Singh Jhooti, and he is Indian British. He recently signed to Lil Wayne’s Cash Money Records, making him the first Asian British artist to be signed to a US label. Jay Sean has released a couple of albums which was a moderate success in the UK (but big in India, following his appearance in the Bollywood movie). Now that he is associated with Lil Wayne, he should find a bigger success, as this first single is proving to be. “Down” is already a top 10 single in the US. The music video was available for a free download from iTunes in middle of August.
A few weeks ago, I reviewed Melody Gardot's latest song and raved about her voice. This new artist, Zee Avi is up there when it comes to "nice voice to listen to." This track was also another free single offered from Amazon MP3, and when I heard it, I thought her voice was beautiful. The album cover didn't show her face, so I had no idea what kind of person was singing this song, until I checked out her official site, and learned that she was a tiny girl from Malaysia (she looks like a kid, but she's apparently 23). She was posting her music on YouTube until she was discovered and signed to Jack Johnson's Brushfire label. She would be cool to see live. I wish her great success.
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