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.
Pitchfork - indie music magazine’s top 5 songs of 2010 went like this: #1 Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Round and Round; #2
Kanye West – Runaway; #3 LCD Soundsystem – I Can Change; #4
Robyn – Dancing On My Own; #5
Big Boi – Shutterbugg. The number 1 sounded familiar, and it turned out that I had it on my iTunes (must’ve been part of free song package from Spin magazine or itunes or Amazon MP3). On the magazine, they claim that this song sounds similar to last year’s their #1 choice, Animal Collective – My Girls. I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of either of those songs, but someone out there must think this is great.
Spin magazine voted Deerhunter’s fourth album, Helicopter, as the second best album of the year (followed by #1 Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy). The single, “Helicopter” placed on numerous end-of-year charts as one of the best songs of 2010. Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia USA, they describe themselves as “ambient punk.” I do get sleepy listening to this song.
When I first heard this song on the radio, I thought it was The Gorillaz. But it turned out to be Broken Bells, who is one half Gnarls Barkley (producer Danger Mouse) and other half, The Shins (lead singer James Mercer). It’s a catchy fun track that stays in your head.
I was worried that I may not like My Chemical Romance’s latest album, since I recalled reading a magazine interview where Gerard Way said that the new album is going to be more ‘punk’ as opposed to theatrical rock that made The Black Parade so good. But the new album still has that sound, particularly this latest single.
Weezer has been talking about releasing an album called ‘Odds and Ends’ comprised of band’s leftover materials for the past couple of years. And here it is, now titled Death to False Metal. One of the highlights from the album is the cover of Toni Braxton’s song, “Unbreak My Heart.” When Rivers sings it, there is poignancy and you just want to cheer up the guy.
Bon Jovi released their greatest hits (second time, since 1994’s Cross Road), with a couple of new songs, including “What Do You Got?” Although the song or the album was not a major success in the US, it is doing extremely well in Japan. Both the album and single reached #1 there. No wonder Bon Jovi likes to tour in Japan so frequently.
Hugo has a very interesting background. He was born in theUK, but grew up in Thailand. One of the songs he wrote, “Disappear” was picked up Beyonce on her I Am Sasha Fierce album, and since then he was signed onto Jay-Z’s label. His debut album is currently in works, but he is gaining attention with the cover of his boss’ song, “99 Problems.” When I originally heard it on the radio, I thought it was Jack White.
After having a huge hit with “Daylight” in 2009 thanks to the feature spot on Bacardi commercial, smiling duo Matt & Kim are releasing their third album, Sidewalks. I wasn’t a huge fan of the single, “Cameras” but really enjoyed this track, “Block After Block.”
Middle Class Rut consists of vocalist/guitarist Zack Lopez and drummer Sean Stockham. This single, “New Low” had been Sacramento locals’ favorite since 2007, but now they are starting to get national attention. They released their full length album this past October.
Album: iTunes Originals - Weezer
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I’ve been waiting to purchase this track from iTunes for a long time. It was available on some weird package deal, where you had to buy the entire album collection, just to get this song. But now this awesome hybrid cover song is available for a single download. Weezer has been playing this song live on their shows. One some shows, Rivers put on blonde wig to show his inner GaGa. His rapping sounds quite like Lady GaGa as well.
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D.O.G.S. is Japanese indie grunge rock band, that has been struggling to maintain full band member for the past several years. Within that struggle, the lead singer, Koji Tamura and guitarist Katsumi Yokota managed to recruit semi-temporary members to finally record this EP titled, Over The Walls. To launch this album, D.O.G.S. decided to head to Seattle to do a mini tour, the place where they have always dreamed of playing. The track “Go Down” is one of the stand outs from the new album, and was also the crowd favorite in Seattle. Check out their official website:
http://dogs-official.com/
I thought this was Gin Blossom’s first album since the mid 90s, but apparently they have released an album in 2006, that hardly got any attention. Arizona rock band, famous for pop rock songs such as “Hey Jealousy” and “Til I Hear It From You” is back for another attempt with their fifth album, No Chocolate Cake. Although the album was a #1 album on Amazon MP3 album chart on the day of the release, they lost momentum. Hearing this single makes me think about the mid-90s again.
Lead singer Joel Madden had two kids with Nicole Richie, and this is his first album since he has become a father. In the interview, they have stated that this new album will be more punk-rock oriented instead of dance pop. I have only listened to this single, and not the whole album, but it sounds quite pop to me. Actually I kind of like it.
I was quite excited for Linkin Park’s latest album, since I really liked their first single, The Catalyst. But once I downloaded the entire album from Amazon MP3, I was a bit disappointed that it sounded a repeat from their previous album, Minutes To Midnight. A lot of the user reviews on iTunes also prove the point. Some have said that two bad albums in a row is the last straw and they will not purchase any more of their albums. I almost share the same sentiment, except they do have a couple of decent songs on the album. I’m not a huge fan of this particular track, but hopefully their next album, they will go back to harder sound.
Canadian rock group had a breakthrough hit with “
Paralyzer” in 2007, and they are hoping to repeat that success with the new album, Life Turns Electric, which is their sixth studio album. The lead off single, “Living In A Dream” follows the similar formula of “Paralyzer” and getting decent radio play.
After having a monster success with their previous album, Only by the Night, which included hits like “
Sex On Fire” and “
Use Somebody”, southern rock band, Kings of Leon are about to launch their fifth album. The anticipation is quite high for this album, and the lead-off single, “Radioactive” is already a #1 hit on the Alternative chart.
The reason why it took so long for My Chemical Romance to come out with a new album was because after they finished recording their album, they realized that they didn’t like it and decided to start all over again. As I felt that “Welcome to Black Parade” made such a huge impact in the rock music five years ago, I’m still trying to get used to this new sound, but I’m liking what I hear so far. Their album, Danger Days will be released in late November.
This new Canadian rock band is led by Matt Walst, whose brother is a bassist for Three Days Grace. They were discovered by Chad Kroeger of Nickelback and he is also featured on this song, along with former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, and rapper Ludacris. It’s fairly forgettable track. I just wished Ludacris had bigger part.
Papa Roach’s latest album is a hybrid of new songs and live recording of some of their biggest hits including, “Getting Away with Murder” and “Last Resort.” The new single from the album has peaked at #3 on the rock chart.
Ever since they performed at MTV Video Music Award, this song has been getting a lot of airplays, and it was on top 10 of iTunes download list. For those of you who caught on to the fever, they have been a popular act in their native country of UK for a couple of years now, including the single, “
You’ve Got the Love.”
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