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.
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I never got into Phish, but I can see how so many people could get hooked on this band. They are a popular jam band, often compared to The Grateful Dead. Most of their fans will tell you that don’t bother listening to their studio albums, because they shine during a live show, where they jam and improvise, sometimes extending a three minute song into a thirty minute jam session. In 2004, Phish broke up to pursue solo career and other projects. I actually saw Trey Anastasio perform live at Bumbershoot festival one year during their breakup. Earlier this month, Phish got back together for a three night weekend concert. What was most impressive was that, the band recorded all of the three shows and uploaded free MP3 of the entire concert on their
livephish.com website. MP3 was available within a day after the concert, and they were available for free. Now that is being dedicated to the fans. On this song, toward the end, you can hear the band jam and improvise. I especially like when the keyboardist goes off to wraps up the song.
Yes, The Prodigy is back. I was disappointed by their last two albums, but this one puts them back on the map of electro-techno music. Their last effort was done solely by the lead singer, and didn’t include other band members. Good thing Liam Howlett decided to bring everyone back, because the songs sound good. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters is supposedly playing drums on two tracks from this album.
I was channel surfing the other day, and I saw Jack White of White Stripes jamming along with some country stars, on Country Music Television channel. It turned out to be The Raconteurs jamming along with bluegrass artist Ricky Skaggs and country singer Ashley Monroe. The song was so bluegrass that I was immediately picturing Coen Brother’s movie O Brother, Where Art Though. Someone once said that Jack White is our generation of Robert Plant. Robert Plant decided to team up with Alison Krauss for a bluegrass-ish album. Maybe it is a thing to do if you are considered a musical genius.
Hikaru Utada is one of the biggest popstars in Japan (if not THE biggest). She tried to crossover to the US market and released her debut album, Exodus in 2004. Despite having a superstar producer, Timbaland producing the album, it didn’t crossover well to the US audience (though it was a hit in her native country of Japan). Utada was raised in New York part of her life, so compared to other Japanese popstarlets, her English is fluent. For her second US album, she teamed up with Mariah Carey’s producers, which I’m still not sure was the right move. This single totally sounds like a cheap knock off of Mariah. Utada is a good singer, but not a great singer like Mariah, and when she tries to sing in high note toward the end of the song, it is so thin that it is almost so hard to listen to. I also noticed on her previous album, Exodus, that Utada’s English songwriting is kind of weird. I think she has true talent when comes to mixing English and Japanese lyrics, but when she has to use 100% English, the lyrics are either too literal or unrelateable.
Album: BoA
BoA is a major pop star in her native country Korea. She’s also a huge star in Japan, as she can sing in both Korean and Japanese. Now that she has conquered the charts in both Korea and Japan, she is ready to take on the US. Her US debut will be in mid March. The first single, “Eat You Up” is a dance tune with vocal alteration, which doesn’t show case her singing talent, but the beat is pretty good, and it actually was a moderate hit on the Billboard Club chart. I’m not quite sure why this remix with Flo Rida wasn’t released for sale, but it was leaked on the internet. I like the original with more techno beat, and this remix featuring rapper Flo Rida, who is hot now with a number 1 song in the US.
BPA stands for Brighton Port Authority, and this is Fatboy Slim’s new side project. The first single featured Talking Heads singer David Byrne and UK rapper, Dizzee Rascal. Fatboy Slim has always had cool music videos, and this side project is no exception. Toe Jam features nude dancers, which their private areas covered in black blocks. As they dance, the black blocks form images (like smiley faces). It’s kind of a cool concept, and the song is catchy and fun as well.
Flo Rida must know a thing or two about spitting out a number 1 track. His previous hit “
Low” held the record for most digital download in a single week. Now, Flo Rida’s new song from his second album broke that record. It is also the #1 song in the US right now. “
Low” spent 10 weeks on top of the chart in 2008, which was the longest of any songs in the year. Could this new track stay on top for that long? This track features the singer Kesha who will be releasing her own album soon.
Album: Sweetheart
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I heard this song at Starbucks and I couldn’t figure out who was singing it. The voice sounded familiar, but I was surprised to find out that it was a Welsh singer, Jem, who is famous for songs like “24”, “They” and “
Crazy.” I guess I’ve never heard her sing in such a stripped acoustic song. I’m not sure if she’s the one playing the piano but it’s beautiful. Starbucks released a special Valentine’s CD called Sweetheart, which has indie bands like Death Cab or She & Him covering romantic songs. I listened to some of the songs, but I’m not sure if those songs are romantic. Even if they are, these indie bands make it sound really depressing.
I’m a huge fan of
The Flight of the Conchords. Some people are comparing The Lonely Island with the Kiwi guys, but the only similarities between those two bands are that they try to write songs that makes people laugh.
Flight of the Conchords is way more subtle and clever, whereas Lonely Island is more in your face. That’s not to say that one is better. It’s what you prefer. I like both, and I particularly like this track featuring T-Pain. The Lonely Island consists of Saturday Night Live cast Andy Samberg, and his two friends from junior high school, who are writers for SNL. It’s hilarious how they act so “gangsta” about being on a boat. My favorite line: “But this ain’t Seaworld, this is real as it gets. I’m on a boat, motherf*cker, don’t you ever forget.” I also like how the music video start out.
Plain White T’s had a big hit with “
Hey There Delilah” two years ago. They released a new album last fall, but it seemed like nobody noticed them. The lead off single was an upbeat rocker, but failed to chart. Now they are releasing their second single which sounds a lot like “
Hey There Delilah” but with more cheesy lyrics. They do however make it catchy. “There’s only ONE way TO say those THREE words FOR you, I Love You.” Yes, cheesy, but catchy.
For this year’s 51st Grammy, this duet by former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant and bluegrass queen, Alison Krauss won the Record of the Year. It beat Adele’s “Chasing Pavement”,
Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”,
Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” and
M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”. I own the songs to all of the nominees, but had never heard of this “Please Read the Letter” song. The first time I heard it (after finding out that they won), I thought, “it’s kind of boring, and repetitive. I would’ve voted for Coldplay.” (if I had any choice in the matter, I would’ve nominated
Elbow) But the more I listened to it, the more I began to appreciate the depth of the track. This song would go well in a scene from a movie.
I recently read an article that Tatu received MTV Legendary award, and I thought, “what? Don’t they give those to truly legendary people like Michael Jackson or Madonna?” The award turned out to be from MTV Russia. Even then, have they been around that long to be considered “legend?” But to be fair, they may be the biggest pop start to come out of Russia in the past 20 years. I hadn’t even heard about them since the fake lesbian incident from “All the Things She Said” in the early 2000s. Their latest album, Happy Smiles only has a couple of English songs, and rest in Russian. As odd as it may sound, I actually liked this track even though I have no idea what the song is about. The English title of this song is “White Robe” but that still doesn’t tell me much. I thought watching their music video might tell me something. It started out with them in sexy outfit, which wasn’t too much of a surprise, but was shocked when both of the girls appeared completely topless in the video (just for a few seconds though). I didn’t know that Russia was that open. Note to self: don’t watch music videos from a foreign country while at work.
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