Selecting 20 songs each month - Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop, R&B, etc (with big 500x500 pixel album covers)
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.
This is one of my favorite tracks right now. Justin Timberlake adds great piano riff and chorus, and T.I. nails his rap. They collaborated really well together for Timberlake’s “My Love” a few years back as well. This song is about T.I.’s close friend who was killed during a shootout in Cincinnati (T.I. was in the same car). In a recent interview, T.I. claimed that he started collecting guns after this incident as he got paranoid, especially as his fame began to raise. One of his illegal purchases was caught, and now he will have to serve time in jail.
Grammy award show has always brought some surprise and memorable performances. Eminem and Elton John together or Paul McCartney joining Jay-Z and Linkin Park. But in the past couple of years, especially this year, I feel like there was no surprise. The only surprise happened off stage when Chris Brown got arrested for beating up his girlfriend, Rihanna on the morning of the award show (they were even supposed to perform, which they had to cancel). I was trying to pick the best performance from this year’s show, but I honestly couldn’t think of one. Coldplay and Jay-Z sounded good, but it was predictable, and so was Radiohead with USC marching band.
This duet between Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus is nothing special, but I’ve been sort of intrigued by Taylor Swift recently. This week marked her 10th week being #1 album in the US. Why is she selling so many records? I normally don’t listen to her music (or Miley’s) but after listening to this song and learning that Taylor Swift actually writes her own songs, I got a better idea of why teenage girls love her music so much. She’s a great story teller. To be able to do that at her age, that is impressive. It’s not enough to get me to buy her album, but at least I should mention about her. Another thing I noticed from this performance was that Taylor Swift sings with some kind of emotion, whereas Miley just sings it.
Bruce Springsteen performed during the Super Bowl (Pittsburgh Steelers defeated Arizona Cardinals) half time this year. He performed batch of old hits such as Glory Days and Born to Run, as well as this new track, which he has performed for the new US President, Barrack Obama. I was never a huge fan of “the Boss” but his performance during the Super Bowl was energetic and charismatic.
Cradle Orchestra is a Japanese jazz/classical band that plays live instrumental music for hip-hop artists. The group consist of DJ, bass, violin, flute and piano. On their latest album, Velvet Ballads (only available in Japan so far), they enlist guest rappers including Black Thought (of The Roots), CL Smooth and Talib Kweli, just to name a few. This track features Rhode Island underground rapper, Need Not Worry. His flowing delivery and beautiful melody from Cradle Orchestra make this a unique song.
Slim Shady is back, along with his superstar friends, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. This is definitely Eminem music. Actually this song sounds like it belongs on The Eminem Show album (similar to circus-ish sounding of “Business”), so there is nothing ground breaking about this track produced by Dre, but it sure is fun and addicting. Let’s hope that his new album will actually be released in March as it is rumored to be.
California rock band, Hoobastank was recently named “the worst band name ever” by Blender music magazine. Most people will remember them for their softie rock song, “The Reason” which was a huge hit in 2004. Their last album, Every Man for Himself did not generate any hits, but they’re hoping their latest, and fourth album can give them a hit or two. The first single from the new album is a hard rocker titled, My Turn. So far they are doing well in Japan (the lead singer Doug Robb is half Japanese).
The first winner of American Idol, Kelly Clarkson tried to write her own songs for the last album, My December, despite the disagreement from the record executives. The result wasn’t so great, and she went back to collaborating with hit makers such as Max Martin, who produced this track. “My Life Would Suck Without You” made the all time record for the biggest jump on Billboard single chart (from #97 to #1 in one week). I was never a huge fan of “Since U Been Gone”, and this track kind of reminds me of that song.
Their last album, The Black Parade was an awesome album, from the first song to the last song. It is reported that they have now started recording for the new album. Meanwhile, they have released this Bob Dylan cover song for upcoming super hero movie, Watchmen. There’s not much uniqueness to the cover, other than that it’s sped up and louder. I guess I expected more from My Chemical Romance covering Bob Dylan. Hopefully their new album would be just as good as The Black Parade, if not better.
This Jacksonville, Florida band found success thanks to their debut single, “Face Down.” They have now released a second album, Lonely Road, featuring this first single, You Better Pray. It’s a great rock song without depending on screaming too much.
Rehab had a moderate hit with “Bartender Song” on the country chart last year. They sound like a mixture of Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock and Stone Temple Pilots, especially on this song. They incorporate rock, rap and DJ in their songs. I haven’t heard this song on the radio yet, but hopefully they will choose this as their next single.
I love Radio 1’s Live Lounge series. I’m a huge fan of the program. I used to be able to stream it online, but I am no longer able to. The program invites current popular bands, and ask them to perform their hit, and a cover of another popular band. Normally the bands cover current hits, but The Script chose to cover Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” The Script is a new band from Ireland. Last year their debut album, The Script became multi-platinum. What’s impressive about this cover is that the lead singer Danny O'Donoghue actually sings through this song in melody.
Originally U2’s twelfth album was to be released in end of 2008, but they postponed in order to work on more songs. Now their album is to be released in end of February. The first single, “Get On Your Boots” (which was used for Gatorade commercial during Super Bowl), has cool bass from Adam Clayton. The cover photo was taken by Japanese photographer, Hiroshi Sugimoto.
Cradle Orchestra is a Japanese jazz/classical band that plays live instrumental music for hip-hop artists. The group consist of DJ, bass, violin, flute and piano. On their latest album, Velvet Ballads (only available in Japan so far), they enlist guest rappers including Black Thought (of The Roots), CL Smooth and Talib Kweli, just to name a few. This track features Rhode Island underground rapper, Need Not Worry. His flowing delivery and beautiful melody from Cradle Orchestra make this a unique song.
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