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.
Not that I can attend Fuji Rock Festival 2009 this year, but I thought it would be fun to list up the artists that I would check up at the concert. Here is the review of the artists that I would definitely want to check out at Fuji Rock this year for Friday 7/24.
 | White Lies - Farewell To The Fairground Often compared to The Killers, this new UK band will be playing on the main stage this year during the same time slot as Cage the Elephant (also a good band to check out). This track was available for a free download from Amazon MP3, and thus far their highest peaking single. They have also covered Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown” for Radio1 Live, which would be cool to see live (if they do it). |
 | Major Lazer - Keep It Goin' Louder /ft. Nina Sky & Ricky Blaze According to the press release, Major Lazer fights vampires and other kinds of monsters, and also likes to party hard. In fact, Major Lazer consists of producers Diplo and Switch most famous for producing for M.I.A. They have recruited numerous vocalist for their debut album, including Santigold, T.O.K. and Amanda Blank. I like the mixture of reggae and trance for this track as well as Nina Sky’s catchy verses. |
 | Lily Allen - F*ck You Just like most other Lily Allen songs, this song is addictive and stays in your head. The song is already doing well in international locales such as Australia, Germany and Netherland. The rumor is that this song was written for George W Bush, as it used to be titled, “Guess Who Batman.” If you take the first initial of each word, it can be same as George W. Bush. The lyrics also mentions being small minded, and seeking approval of his father. Either way, this song should get people chanting along during the chorus. |
 | The Virgins - Rich Girls This New York three-piece band was touted as the next “it” band in 2008, after the producer of the hit American TV show, Gossip Girl decided to use their songs on one of the shows. They still only have one album under their belt, but it has a good mixture of funk and UK rock. Definitely worth checking out in the smaller stage. |
 | Patti Smith - Smells Like Teen Spirit Patti Smith’s biggest (and only top 20 hit) maybe “Because the Night” which the 10,000 Maniacs covered in the 90s, but she is a legendary singer songwriter. In 2007, she was inducted into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. In the same year, she released all cover album including Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, and this grunge staple by Nirvana. On this cover, she mixes Kurt Kobain’s song with her own poetry in the middle. She would be a good one to check out in these festivals. |
 | Oasis - I'm Outta Time British band, Oasis’ seventh album, Dig Out Your Soul was marketed as their “comeback album” but in the US, it hasn’t made much impact or increased their radio play. In fact, this was the first Oasis single to not make the UK top 10, breaking their consecutive 22 top ten streak, which is a surprise considering it’s a good slow track. |
Saturday 7/25 Fuji Rock Festival lineup is also very good. It’s tough to choose between the two final acts in Green Stage (Franz Ferdinand) and White Stage (Public Enemy). I’m also interested in checking out newcomers such as Ida Maria, Priscilla Ahn, Billy Boy On Poison. Other than the artists I reviewed below, I would also be interested in seeing Ben Harper and Relentless7.
 | Ida Maria - Oh My God This Norwegian rockstar has been getting quite a bit of attention in the US thanks to the single, “I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked.” “Oh My God” was actually her first single, that didn’t get noticed too much except Time magazine voted this track as #3 song of 2008 (#2 was Pink’s “So What” and #1 went to Kanye’s “Love Lockdown”). I still prefer “I Like You So Much Better” but this track is also catchy. |
 | The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound This New Jersey band is often compared to another Jersey man, Bruce Springsteen. In fact, their popularity grew even more when Springsteen made guest appearance during their recent show in Glastonbury. The Gaslight Anthem has been getting a lot of positive reviews from critics around the world, including #1 album of 2008 from eMusic.com. |
 | Jet - Rollover D.J.The Aussie rock band is preparing to release another album later in the summer. Their debut album in 2003, Get Born was an international best seller, but their follow up album, Shine On, couldn’t match the success. Still, it would be fun to see them live as they have a lot of hits (mostly from Get Born) including this track, Rollover DJ. |
 | Priscilla Ahn - DreamPriscilla Ahn decided to take her mother’s maiden name (who is Korean) and moved from Pennsylvania to LA to pursue her career in music. This talented musician can play multiple instruments, and her music has been featured on a lot of TV shows including Grey’s Anatomy. Her debut album, A Good Day was released by Blue Note in 2008. Festivals tend to cater to loud rock music, but once in a while, it’ll be great to take a break by listening to this kind of music (especially for your ears). |
 | Dinosaur Jr. - PiecesKnown as noise rock stars, they have been around since the mid 80s. They found success in the early 90s when the grunge scene took over the chart (my favorite track is “Feel the Pain” in 94), but disbanded in 1997. Seven years later, they decided to reunite with all the original members and even released an album, Beyond in 2007, and performed at Summersonic that same year. This year they are back with another new album, containing this single. |
 | Public Enemy - Can't Truss ItToo bad they are performing at the same time slot as Franz Ferdinand. I can’t choose between the two, so I will probably see an hour of them, and an hour of Franz. Although Chuck D and clock wearing Flavor Flav may not be in their prime anymore, their stage presence and energetic shows are still worth checking out. This track is from their 1991 album. |
 | Franz Ferdinand - Lucid Dreams This track is actually almost 8 minutes long, but the last four minutes is just bunch of techno beats. Performing at the main stage as the closer for the night, they should put on a rocking show. “No You Girls” is turning into quite a hit, thanks to Apple using it on their iPod touch commercial. “Lucid Dreams” was released as pre-album single last year, but when the album was released earlier this year, a different version was included. |
If I could only choose one day to attend Fuji Rock Festival 2009, I’d probably choose Sunday, mostly for Weezer, Fall Out Boy and Jimmy Eat World. Actually all the artists I mention down below plus Street Sweeper Social Club would be worth the admission. Not sure if I can stay up to catch Basement Jaxx though, who would be coming on around midnight. Here's my review (or preview) of who I would see at Fuji Rock Festival on Sunday 7/26.
 | Cobra Starship - Good Girls Go Bad /ft. Leighton Meester This latest single from New York band, Cobra Starship features Leighton Meester, who is a star on Gossip Girl. The track is a leading single off of their new album to be released in mid August, and was produced by Kevin Rudolf and Kara DioGuardi. It is doing well on the chart. They are also known to put on fun show. |
 | The Airborne Toxic Event - Wishing Well Thanks to the successful single, “Something Around Midnight” they are doing really well. In fact, their tour is so successful that lead singer (former writer) Mikel Jollett hasn’t had time to work on his novel. The second single hasn’t been announced yet, but this is one of my favorites from their album. Anytime a group has a violinist in the group, it’s cool to check them out live. |
 | Jimmy Eat World - Always Be I haven’t heard much about them since the release of “Chase This Light” album in 2007, which contains this catchy track, “Always Be.” Actually early this year, they went on tour to play their “Clarity” album in its entirely from beginning to an end to commemorate its 10th anniversary. “Bleed American” was the first album I got into, so I don’t know any songs from “Clarity” |
 | Fall Out Boy - America's Suitehearts I wasn’t a huge fan of their last album, “Folie A Deux” which contains this somewhat forgettable single. It was recently remixed by Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus, which sounds softer with piano in it. I haven’t had a chance to see them live, so it would be cool to check them out at a festival like Fuji Rock. |
 | Weezer - The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn)Is this Weezer’s version of My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome to the Black Parade” or Green Day’s “Jesus of Suburbia”? Compared to their usual catchy pop rock, they attempted more of epic rock. I heard them perform this live, and they sounded good. |
 | Royksopp - What Else Is There? I had never heard of these guys from Norway before until I saw that they are closing on the white stage for Sunday night, and realized that they must be quite popular to do so. After hearing some song clips, I began to like their music. Is Norway the next Sweden for good music (well, so far just Ida Maria and Royksopp, but… who knows in the near future!) This was my favorite track, which featured vocal from The Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson. |
 | Basement Jaxx - Good Luck /ft. Lisa Kekaula Recently UK dance duo, Basement Jaxx has announced that their new album will be released in October. The new set will include various guest vocalist ranging from Yoko Ono, Sam Sparro and Santigold. The first single from the new album, “Raindrops” is already doing quite well in the UK chart. I haven’t really listened to them since their hit album “Rooty” (containing songs like “Romeo” and “Where’s Your Head At.” Going back to some of their other recent songs, I came across this single from 2003. |
When "
Boom Boom Pow" first came out, I was a little disappointed (mostly because of Vocoder effect, which EVERYONE is using). But after a few listens, I got used to it and even really liked it. Peas second single, "I Gotta Feeling" gives me the same feeling as I don't particularly enjoy the song so much. But it is the #2 song in the US, and #1 in Japan right now. It is produced by David Guetta, who's current single featuring Kelly Rowland is #1 song in the UK. With "Boom Boom Pow" still maintaining the #1 spot on Billboard chart, having #1 and #2 song in the US hasn't been done (with #1 album) since Outkast did it with "Hey Ya" and "The Way You Move."
Fronted by American vocalist and backed by Swedish band (and produced by Swedish Max Martin), Carolina Liar found success with the song, "
I'm Not Over" last year. The second single, "Show Me What I'm Looking For" is an overambitious slick pop song with bells and catchy hooks. The song title was too irresistible for Overstock.com to want to use this song for their TV commercial.
Although Eels has been around for a long time, I still consider them to be a one-hit wonder for the hit, "Novocaine For The Soul" in the 90s. After numerous lineup changes, Eels released their seventh album. I hadn't really listened to any of their songs since "Novocaine" but I was quite blown away. I particularly fell in love with this poignant song, "That Look You Give That Guy" with lyrics like "That look you give that guy
I wanna see Looking right at me. If I could be that guy Instead of me. I'd give you all I got" (with John Lennon-ish music). Thanks to this song (and few other great track on the album) I no longer consider them to be one-hit wonder (at least in my heart).
"Heavy Cross" starts out like Stevie Nick's "Edge of Seventeen" and continues to rock out. Gossip hit big time with their previous effort, "Standing the way Way of Control" from 2006. For their latest album, Rick Rubin took the producer seat to bring their fourth album to life. The new album is filled with danceable rock songs. I'd love to hear this song played live as they are known for very energetic performance.
California rock band Incubus has been around since the early 90s (though they became mainstream in the late 90s), and they released their first "greatest hits" album. The two disc set has Monuments disc which contains their greatest hits plus two new songs, one of them being "Black Heart Inertia". The second disc, Melodies has rarities such as B-sides including Prince's cover of "Let's Go Crazy." There is no mistake that this track, "Black Heart Inertia" is Incubus song, which sounds like it belongs in their previous album.
The Lemonheads became popular in the 90s with hits like "Into Your Arms" and cover of "Mrs. Robinson." They are back with covers album, with songs by Leonard Cohen (featuring vocal from Liv Tyler), Arling & Cameron (featuring vocal from Kate Moss), and Townes Van Zandt to name a few. In these relatively unknown lineup (to top 40 listener at least), there's Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" cover. It sounds like something out of a jukebox. The Lemonheads are currently working on a new album with all new material.
Brooklyn rapper, Maino had a moderate hit last year with the single "Hi Hater." A year and a few months later, he's finally getting an album release with If Tomorrow Comes. The current single, "All the Above" featuring T-Pain. The track was produced by Just Blaze who uses tight violin sample to make this track one of the hottest hip-hop songs of the summer.
Michael Johns was a contestant on Season 7 of American Idol (same year as Brooke White, Jason Castro, David Cook and Archuleta). His Aussie charm and soulful voice put him as a top contender when the season started, but was voted off early to everyone's surprise. Now he is releasing his debut album with "Heart On My Sleeve" as his lead off single, which was written by British singer/songwriter, James Morrison. It's a well structured pop ballad. This song is currently available for a free download from Amazon MP3.
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