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.
Exactly one year ago this month, Shakira released the album, She Wolf, which failed to generate much hits, except for the titled track. The new single from her seventh album, Sale El Sol (meaning The Sun Comes Out), features the track, Loca, which has UK rapper Dizzee Rascal as a guest. The track is a moderate success in the US, but became #1 in numerous European countries.
I saw this music video on MTV which features cast of Jersey Shore. Similar to President Obama, I’ve never watched Jersey Shore, and have only heard of some of their names, like Snooki. I didn’t think much about the song, but I kept on hearing it everywhere from supermarket to clubs.
With this year’s World Cup taking place in South Africa, the official soundtrack to the most popular sports in the world contains some fun, flavorful songs with African influences. A lot of people might be wondering why K’naan’s “Wavin’ Flag” is not included on this album, but that song was Coca Cola’s World Cup song. I get goosebumps everytime I hear that song. On the contrary, “Waka Waka” by Shakira is just a fun, upbeat song.
Shakira’s latest single, “Give It Up To Me” was produced by Timbaland, and initially it was to go on Timbaland’s album, but instead went to Shakira’s third English album. The music definitely has Timbaland signature on it. The track also features Lil Wayne.
Latin American rapper, Pitbull is enjoying the success this summer. “
I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)” was a huge hit in the club and singles chart this summer, and the succeeding single, “Hotel Room Service” has also cracked the top 10. Like “I Know You Want Me” this track samples techno music, this time from Nightcrawler’s hit song from 1993, “Push The Feeling On”
If you’ve never seen Rodrigo y Gabriela perform live, you are missing out. Rodrigo and Gabriela are acoustic guitarists from Mexico, and the way they play is amazing. Similar to Yoshida Brothers, the duo just plays the instrument and don’t provide any vocal, but who needs vocals when they can play like that. Every track from the new album titled, 11:11 is dedicated to musicians that inspired Rodrigo y Gabriela. The first track on the album, “Hanuman” pays tribute to fellow Mexican musician, Santana.
After having one of the biggest hits of the decade with “Hips Don’t Lie”, Shakira is back with a brand new single. It sounds quite different from her previous work. The music sounds like it could belong on Kylie Minogue’s album. This track was co-produced by The Bravery singer, Sam Endicott. On the song, Shakira howls and pants as if she were a wolf. This MP3 was actually available for a free download from ABC Lounge two days before its release. Her album is to be released sometime in the Fall.
Beyonce is re-releasing her album, B’day as a deluxe edition with a few new tracks, and this is one of them. When you get the biggest star in North America and South America together, you would expect a really awesome song, but this one just lacks something. At least the video is hot.
Maybe J-Lo should sing in Spanish all the time. She is not known for being a good singer, but on this song, she actually sounds pretty decent. J-Lo released all Spanish album, Como Ama Una Mujer last month. With my limited Spanish skill from a couple of years in highschool, I can’t really understand what she’s singing, but I feel something, which probably means J-Lo is doing a decent job singing.
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