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.
UK rock band, Kaiser Chiefs may not be that popular in the US just yet, but hopefully this single would spread a little more airwave love. “Ruby” is the first single from their second album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob. This song is already a huge hit in the UK (#1 single) but I haven’t heard it yet in the US. It is a bit slower than their big hit, “I Predict A Riot” but still very enjoyable.
The vocalist of The Killers, Brandon Flowers has said that this is the best song he’s ever written. I think it’s a decent song, but personally it lacks the impact “Somebody Told Me” had. Their second album, Sam’s Town doesn’t seem to be as big of a hit as their debut album, Hot Fuss, so far. This maybe their sophomore slump album.
“This is why, this is why, this is why I’m hot.” These words are addictive and stays in your head. Mims delivery as a rapper isn’t that great, but I like how he sampled Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks” and Dr. Dre’s “Nuthin’ But A G Thang” in the song. Surprisingly this became a #1 song on Billboard chart this month.
Trent Reznor, aka Nine Inch Nails’ sixth studio album, Year Zero, will be coming out next month, but until then we get to enjoy the lead off single, Survivalism. I am actually not a Nine Inch Nails fan as I don’t particularly enjoy this “industrial” sounding songs, but somehow I catch myself humming their songs after hearing it on the radio. Maybe my dark-side enjoys this kind of music.
Papa Roach’s fourth album, The Paramour Sessions, was recorded at the Paramour Mansion while they also lived there for half a year. “Forever” is the second single from this album, and it is slower paced rock song similar to “Scars” from their previous album.
If you are a hip-hop fan, you may know Redman’s association with Method Man. If you are a pop fan, you may know him as the rapper on Christina Aguilera’s hit single, “Dirrty.” For his 6th album, Redman gets help from ace producers such as Scott Storch, Pete Rock and Timbaland, who produced this track.
Rich Boy is a former engineering student that dropped out of school to concentrate on rapping. “Throw Some D’s” turned out to be a big hit for the young rapper, and bunch of high profile rappers joined in for the remix. By the way, “D” on this song refers to “Dubs” which is a certain kind of rims for the car. It’s been a while since I heard anything from Murphy Lee, I wonder what he’s up to nowadays.
After producing mega-hot albums for Nelly Furtado (Loose) and Justin Timberlake (Futuresex/Lovesounds), Timbaland asks them to return a favor by singing on this track for his solo album. Contrary to the hits he produced for those two artists, this track sounds a little too complicated. There is too much going on (more than usual Timbaland), and verses by Furtado and Timberlake aren’t catchy enough. Hopefully other tracks on the album will be more catchy and club friendly.
I picked up their CD earlier this year, and really liked the song, “In the Clouds.” I was going through some of the free singles I downloaded from iTunes and came across this song. This song has a bit of BeeGee’s 70s disco feel with the high falsetto singing and the violin.
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Yoshida Brothers are real life brothers that play awesome shamisen. Shamisen is a traditional Japanese guitar (some even say “Japanese banjo”). Traditionally shamisen is used to play more slow mellow songs, but Yoshida Brothers have taken old and boring sound to new heights. Just catch them on YouTube. You will be amazed.
G-Unit member, Young Buck is back with a new album. His second album, Buck the World is produced by famous producers such as Lil Jon, Jazze Pah, Eminem and Dr. Dre. He even has some surprise featured guests on the album, including Chester Bennington of Linkin Park. This track, “Get Buck” was produced by Polow da Don.
Atlanta rapper, Young Jeezy released his second album, The Inspiration a few months ago. The lead off single, “I Luv It” was a tight track that found some charting success. The second single, “Go Getta” features R. Kelly and was produced by The Runners (most famous for producing Rick Ross’ “Hustlin’”)
Embodying the rags-to-riches rap dream, Jay-Z pulled himself up by his bootstraps as a... 