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’ve never watched the original movie, Tron, but seeing the trailer, and hearing Daft Punk’s name makes me want to go to the theater, just to hear Daft Punk’s soundtrack in surround sound. And the movie looks amazing, visually. I do have to say that a lot of the songs on the soundtrack doesn’t sound much like Daft Punk from the past. But this single makes you want to break out the glow stick.
Robyn has been nailing her singles, and gaining a lot of new fans (and winning back a lot of older fans who’s known her since the 90s). Her “Body Talk” EPs have been very successful, and she compiled the three EPs for this album. This is one brilliant electronic-pop album.
Swedish pop star, Robyn is on a mission to release a trilogy. She released Body Talk Pt. 1 earlier in the summer, which had dance smash hit, “
Dancing On My Own.” On the second series, she releases, “Hang With Me” as her first single. On the album, she attempts electro-rapping along with Snoop Dogg on the track, “U Should Know Better.”
I was surprised to learn that these guys are from Denmark. But when I thought about it the first band that came to mind when I heard this song was The Hives (though they are from Sweden, not Denmark). New Politics is a new rock band that is currently touring around small clubs in the US. Right now, this song is available for a free mp3 download from Amazon MP3. Or you can get the live version of this song for free by going to their official homepage.
Swedish dance pop star Robyn hasn’t had a US hit since the late 90s pair of hits, “Do You Know (What It Takes)” and “Show Me Love”. “With Every Heartbeat” did ok on the dance chart two years ago, but it didn’t crack into top 40 at all. She is hoping that release of two part series might give her a better chance. It was the #1 album in her native country of Sweden, but she barely broke top 100 in the US. Still, this is a great single from Robyn.
French house DJ, David Guetta’s mega hit album, One Love, containing songs like “
Sexy Bitch” and “
When Love Takes Over” has been out for almost a year now, but he recently released a deluxe version, containing this new mix of “Gettin' Over You” featuring Fergie and LMFAO. It’s a big hit on the dance chart right now.
French alternative rock band, Phoenix won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album this past year for Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Their songs, “1901” and “Lisztomania” have been used numerous times on television, commercial and movie trailers.
Nneka’s father is Nigerian and mother is German. She grew up most of her life in Nigeria until she was 18, and since then divides her time between Germany and Nigeria. She reminds me a lot of Neneh Cherry. Her song is poetic and her music is unique. With Lauryn Hill out of picture (though there are a lot more rumor of her comeback), Nneka could make a good dent in the US for her rap/R&B style of music.
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.”
I know I got to the club a little early on New Years Eve, but that doesn’t justify the fact that I heard this song three times in one night. Since then it has been stuck in my head, so I thought I would share the love. With jokes aside, and German dance group, Cascada has managed to release a hit single for every album they have released. In a dance world where one-hit wonder is common, that is quite an amazing feat. “Everytime We Touch”, What Hurts the Most” and “Evactuate the Dancefloor” have all hit #1 on US Dance Chart.
Yes, that is not misspell, this group has 2 “i”s in Miike. Miike Snow is a band from Sweden, and consists of singer song writer Andrew Wyatt and the production team, Bloodshy & Avant, who is most famous for producing Britney Spears’s “Toxic.” I recently came across this song as it was available for free mp3 download on Amazon MP3. The song is catchy and addicting.
I’ve been a fan of Mando Diao since 2003 when they had songs like “The Band” and “Bring ‘Em In.” Their last album from 2007, Ode To Ochrasy was also great. As a rock group from Sweden, they are often compared to The Hives, but unfortunately, Mando Diao hasn’t had the international recognition just yet. I was excited when VH1 picked up their latest single, “Dance With Somebody” but despite it being a great track (in my opinion) it didn’t catch on in the US, and never got a release date for their fifth album, Give Me Fire. The album was released in their native country Sweden as well as Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Japan. One of these days, I hope they will get a chance to expand their career.
For those of you who listen to trance and electro music, Tiesto is a well known name. Earlier this year, fellow European DJ, David Guetta (France) was able to break into mainstream pop with hits like “
When Love Takes Over” and “
Sexy Bitch” as well as producing hot track, “
I Gotta Feeling” for Black Eyed Peas. Dutch DJ, Tiesto tries to gain more audience, but instead of going pop, he recruited some of the best indie rock musicians such as Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke, Priscilla Ahn, and my favorite, Tegan And Sara. I haven’t heard the whole album, but am enjoying this track very much. Stayed tuned for the new Tegan And Sara album as well, coming out later this month.
This is my favorite clubbing song of this year so far. The beat and the hook is amazing, and especially when heard at a club with good sound equipment, it gets everyone crazed up. French DJ, David Guetta should be proud of the fact that this song is already the #1 track in the UK, and Black Eyed Pea’s track “
I Gotta Feeling” which he produced has been #1 in the US for a long time. Could he take the hottest producer title this year? A lot of artists are lining up to work with him now.
I have a confession to make. I thought Aqua was one of the most brilliant bubblegum dance pop group to come out since ABBA, and I was thoroughly disappointed when the Danish band disbanded in early 2000. The rumor was that they broke up because Lene (the female lead singer) started dating the guitarist, when she used to date the deep voice guy (the one that sings, “Come on Barbie Let’s go party”). Now that Lene is married and has a couple of kids with the guitarist, they seemed to have settled down their old fumes, and now they are back together. They recently released a Greatest Hits album in their native country of Denmark with three new songs, including this track, “Back to the 80s.” The song is a lot like Bowling For Soup’s “1985” where they poke fun of the 80s. My favorite line is “When M&M was just a snack, and Michael Jackson’s skin was black.”
I saw the commercial for Hilton Garden Inn, which was just an ordinary commercial, but this song stuck in my head. At first I thought maybe it was Tegan & Sara, but after some research, found out that the singer is Sara Rumar from Sweden. I especially love the trumpet break in the middle.
Kelly Rowland hasn’t found chart success like her former group Destiny’s Child or bandmate, Beyonce. Although “Dilemma” was a decent success, she was only a featured artist for Nelly. "
Like This" from two years was just ok. Currently between labels, Rowland can be seen as a host on Bravo network’s “The Fashion Show,” and she also had time to record vocal track for famous French DJ, David Guetta (he was voted #5 DJ in the world in 2008). This dance track turned out to be a huge hit in the club scene, it’s been sitting on the #1 position on the dance chart for several weeks. With this success, Kelly Rowland is now seriously considering making her next album dance/electro album.
When I saw her album release, I thought she was just another teeny-bopper singing for WB network. Turns out that she’s currently Europe’s biggest selling female solo artist. Born in Georgia (not the State, but former Soviet), but raised in Ireland, and currently a British citizen, Melua is still only 24 years old, despite selling millions of records worldwide (mostly in Europe). She holds the World Guinness record for playing 303 meters below sea level (which she had to get extensive medical tests for), and has great sense of humor. She is currently trying to break in the US market, but considering that I haven’t really heard much about her, I don’t know how well that is going so far.
Maia Hirasawa is Swedish (she’s half Japanese) singer songwriter that has been getting some attention in the US recently. I stumbled this track as it was a free download from Amazon MP3 (the editors there are doing good job selecting great songs), and decided to check out some of her other music. She has so far only released one album. A track, “And I Found This Boy” is a fun piano pop song reminiscent of Yael Naim and Meiko. The music video was cute, too.
How can you dislike this song? If a semi-drunk girl sung this at a karaoke (especially in husky voice like Ida Maria), I’d probably fall for her right away. It’s a little ska, little punk, and a whole lot of fun. Ida Maria comes from Norway, and she will be performing at numerous festivals this summer including Fuji Rock in Japan.
I have a confession to make. I thought Aqua was one of the most brilliant bubblegum dance pop group to come out since ABBA, and I was thoroughly disappointed when the Danish band disbanded in early 2000. The rumor was that they broke up because Lene (the female lead singer) started dating the guitarist, when she used to date the deep voice guy (the one that sings, “Come on Barbie Let’s go party”). Now that Lene is married and has a couple of kids with the guitarist, they seemed to have settled down their old fumes, and now they are back together. They recently released a Greatest Hits album in their native country of Denmark with three new songs, including this track, “Back to the 80s.” The song is a lot like Bowling For Soup’s “1985” where they poke fun of the 80s. My favorite line is “When M&M was just a snack, and Michael Jackson’s skin was black.”
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