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.

Yes, it is odd to see slow jazz song included in my selection, but I occasionally come across a gem like Melody Gardot. I stumbled upon her
debut album last year and fell in love with her Norah Jones-esque voice. As I wrote last time, Gardot became disabled after a bicycle accident. When she performs, she needs a special chair for her muscle pain. She is also ultra sensitive to light and noise. Despite all of that difficulty, when she sings, you feel like you are out in a nature with birds singing. This track from her second album is already a hit in Japan, but also check out her cover of “Over the Rainbow” (which actually has birds chirping sound effect) which has Brazilian feel to it.

If you are a fan of Norah Jones, you might like this song. I read a raving review on Amazon regarding this album last month, but I wasn’t aware of who Melody Gardot was. She was born in 1985 (so, still in her early 20s), and when she was 19, she got in a car accident that disabled her. Her doctor suggested that she should write music to help with the brain damage (apparently that’s good for you). So, while she was on a hospital bed, she wrote and recorded songs, which somehow landed on Philadelphia local radio DJ’s desk, and she was signed. She has gotten better and can now walk using a cane, but needs to wear dark sunglasses for residual photosensitivity. It’s an inspiring music story, so I thought I would select it for this month.