I usually consider this album to be the official solo album of Miley Cyrus, the daughter of still active has-been country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. I know that she simultaneously released her first album along with Hannah Montana's soundtrack, but that was very tricky.

The reality is that she has more hits than any body can imagine under both Miley Cyrus and alias Hannah Montana, but recently people are talking more about her lifestyle, the half-nude photo, etc. and forget about her music somehow. She has a very promising music career ahead of her considering that she is still a teenager and the fact that she really pull it off.

The new album is highly-anticipated. A lot of singles were released before hands and at some point I kind of can't remember which are the new singles for the new albums since her songs seem to be always on the chart. Obviously Miley Cyrus is better than her contemporaries such as Lindsey Lohan, Hilary Duff, etc simply because Miley Cyrus has a better voice, or should I say a husky voice and that rocks. That makes her music feel more mature and worth the dime. 7 Things is a great song. I do think that Miley Cyrus is a very talented kid. Her father's last album did well maybe even because of her.

Being featured on the cover of NME, Glasvegas doesn't have to worry about their future. Forgive me for being so fatalistic, they are going to be huge. Normally I disagree with NME's prediction about the next best thing, but here Glasvegas seems to be an exception.

Geraldine was released months ago. Though it was that big, that certainly did a lot of publicity for them. The next single is Daddy's Gone, which was released in a limited edition last year. It got rave reviews last year. It was #2 on the NME's Best Tracks of 2007 list.

Daddy's Gone is definitely the single for Glasvegas. They filled the atmosphere with a grandeur which is hard to miss. It's big in the sense that it filled the air with its epic intrumental performance. James Allan's Scottish accent might be problem for me, but it does sound sexier than Jamie T's fake one.

Labels: Glasvegas, SOTD

Finally Coffey got booted this week. Now we have our top three.

I don't have a problem with Coffey. Like the judges, I think he is not country enough. Sorry bro. Next week we will see who is going to win the title and more importantly who is going to sing at the Olympics and I am still not sure about when he/she is going to sing, opening ceremony or closing ceremony? Gabe, Shawn or Melissa?

Since last week, my vote has been on Shawn. I didn't like her at first sight, but week after week she made solid progress and last night's performance was amazing. Gabe's rendition of Alan Jackson's Five O'Clock Somewhere was just OK, but somewhere it sounded just like a karaoke singing competition. Melissa sure has a powerful voice and the judges were impressed by that. But my opinion is that she always uses her high notes to conceal the pitchiness along the song and what you get is the end with an epic ending. That's not what I like.

Anyway, who's gonna win is still not clear. I hope Shawn wins in the end. The finale is just one week away.

Labels: Nashville Star

Lil Wayne might have the best rap album of the year and it sells hell a lot, but it also has the worst rap song on it as well, at least in my opinion.

I didn't critique the album in a very formal. Maybe I should have done it a long time ago. Now I officially declare that if I have to compile a list at the end of the year about my favorite albums of 2008, Lil Wayne will be on it. Frankly the album is a commercial success, but other than that, I was expecting anything more profound than NaS's new album.

So when I am talking about a commercially good album, the most important thing is that the songs should be decently nice and singles should get good position on the chart, so in generally Lil Wayne did a good job.

However I do feel that at this point Lil Wayne has the best rap single of the year and the worst rap single of the year as well. No matter how successful A Milli was, is and will be, I still hate it wholeheartedly. It has everything I hate about present rap music, repetion and pitch-changing. The repeating a milli, a milli, a milli..., just drives me nuts. The song does have some decent chorus, but the fact that it uses a pitch-modified a millie ruins everything. I am not totally against pitch-changing, but when two worst things come together, you should expect hell.

On the other hand, the best single of the year for him should be Got Money. The song also features pitch modification, but mostly due to the fact that T-Pain is on it. You can't imagine a song of T-Pain without that tecnique. Got Money is purely great. It has great chorus and Lil Wayne's rapping is near perfect. This is what hip-hop is all about.

Labels: Lil Wayne, T-Pain

This is the first single of the week of the blog and it's a very pop song, maybe too pop to be able to be considered song of the week. Actually I have another more pop song in mind, but this time I am going to stick to Mariah Carey.

The third single lifted from her album E=MC2 should be a song either totally stunning or completely disastrous, and I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time. Touch My Body wore me off and Bye Bye was good, but rather plain for Mariah Carey. I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time is it for Mariah Carey. I can't remember the last time Mariah Carey sang a song like this. Simply put, this is not the song Mariah Carey would normally like to sing. It sounds more like a track by Ashanti or other female artists, but not Mariah Carey. Maybe that's one of the reason why I like it so much.

According to Wikipedia, the song sampled the chorus of another Motown hit Stay With Me by DeBarge, which contributed as well to Ashanti's first ever solo hit Foolish, and "slightly recalls the melodic riff of the 'Hill Street Blues' theme music. I did feel the song rather retrospective upon hearing it for the first time. It feel like hearing a hit song in the 80's, but remixed again for the 21st century. The vocal is as powerful as ever, but this time a sense of soulfulness has been infused into the song and that's great for a singer, who usually excels at singing skills, but lacks certain feeling.

It also is being given a lot of promotion to the remix version of the song. T.I. is the artist who sang the rap on it. It's more like My Love of Justin Timberlake. He did a good job, but hardly the core point of the song.

Being on the chart for two weeks already, last week it was #79, what would the trajectory be?

Labels: Mariah Carey, SOTW, T.I.

With many albums released last time, the landscape of the album chart didn't shift into a fresher image. The only new entry in the top 20 tally is the British (or Scottish) avant-garde band Primal Scream, which deserved to be the album of the week and a top spot on the chart.

Their last album Riot City Blues saw Primal Scream evolved into a more... bluesy music state. Actually that album was the only one I listened more than once and I don't have much recollection about their other albums, which is a shame to admit, but I was sure that Primal Scream was hailed as an electronic alternative band. So I was surprised when Riot City Blues came out.

Anyway, if you think that their last album didn't do much justice to their music, now it's time to tune in to give it another try (I don't mean that Riot City Blues was a failure. I liked it very much.). The traditional press didn't give the album a lot of positive review, but online critics are hailing the album as another Primal Scream's triumph.

New album's first single Can't Go Back didn't fare well on the chart. Is this a mere strategic overlook? The album does have a lot of potential if more proper singles get promotion like Uptown.

Coming out in a sluggish month, Primal Scream cheered my mind a bit. It quite stood out in the present atmosphere as being upbeat and energetic.

Download

Labels: Album Of The Week, Primal Scream

Labels: Liz Phair

Labels: Damon Albarn, Gorillaz

Annual Mercury Music Prize has revealed it's shortlist selected among the initial 200 albums released from July 2007 to July 2008. Now we have 12 candidates and one of them is going to get the Mercury curse (or not).

Last year it was the rave music newbie Klaxons who won the prize. There surely deserved the award, but let's see if they will ever release their second album.

This year the finalists are:

• Adele - 19
• British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
• Burial - Untrue
• Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
• Estelle – Shine
• Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim
• Neon Neon - Stainless Style
• Portico Quartet - Knee Deep In The North Sea
• Rachel Unthank and the Winterset - The Bairns
• Radiohead - In Rainbows
• Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
• The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement

Labels: Mercury Award

It's sad to see Ashlee eliminated last night on Nashville Star. Being a fan of her, I felt deeply sorry for her. And last night's show is the best episode of the season so far.

It was songwriting night for the show. I was surprised at the contestant's songwriting skills. It's fine to sing a country song, but it's rather uneasy to write a for the show. The result also left the judges satisfied.

It hard to say who had the best original song of the night. Both Melissa and Shawn had ballads, which I loved very much. Between these two, I'd say that Shawn left me a better impression of the night. I liked the way she delivered the song. It felt so powerful.

I an no fan of Coffey. I did feel that the song of his was a bit crappy, though he pulled it off vocally. Gabe's work was OK, but he might be eliminated soon. He is definitely not a winner. Prove me wrong!

I forgot to critique Ashlee's song. She started writing at ten and she is only 20. I just couldn't believe it. I think it's been unfair for her to get booted. However, I am quite confident to say that she won't disappear after the show. I am now looking forward to her first album.

So now I only get to choose the lesser evil. Who would it be?

I throw my support for Shawn at the moment. We'll see next week who will get eliminated.

Labels: Ashlee, Nashville Star

picture courtesy of randomix

I changed my ringtone yesterday, and it's the third one after switching my phone to Nokia 6300. For me, choosing a ringtone is not a simple task. Even though I like a lot of music, unfortunately most of music is not suitable for ringtone. The reason is simple enough: mobile phone is not hi-fi. Have you ever been in a situation where you downloaded a wonderful song into your phone and set it to your default ringtone, only to find that the sound was so crappy that you prefered the monotone the phone provided?

My new ringtone is Russian production group PPK's one hit wonder ReSurrection. And the previous one was the instrumental version of Mark Brown's Journey Continues and my first ringtone was September's Cry For Me. All of all songs are synthetic dance music. Dance music without a doubt is the best music format for ringtone. Hip-hop music is only second to that.

Other music genres such as ballad and pop is not very suitable unless your phone's sound system is strong enough that you can hear the phone ring when it plays Un-break My Hear or whatever ballad. Even with that, you run the risk of ruining that song on your phone.

Of course some mobile-only ringtones are also good. Moto's signature ringtones and Nokia's omnipresent ones are good choices too if you think that a ringtone is just a ringtone. For whose who might think ringtones represent somehow one's musical taste or personal quality, you may consider the whole outcome of the ringtone before you decide.

As for ReSurrection, I can't really complain about it. The result is satisfactory enough. You can try it yourself. I have only edited out the buildup of the song leaving the climax untouched until the end.

Searching for a better ringtone is a long-term job. The fact that I am happy with my new ringtone doesn't stop me from looking for a even better one. So I am open to all your suggestions.

Ringtone: PPK - ReSurrection

Labels: PPK, ringtone

The rising of Katy Perry has been quite sudden. I don't remember exactly when I first heard the song I Kissed A Girl, but I instantly fell in love with it and the next week it went to become No. 1 on US chart.

And now everybody is talking about Katy Perry and her sudden success. I think it's interesting to note something in her life, which I think is very ironic.

She is a Christian girl. That's no wonder. Her first album actually was a Christian gospel album. She later claimed that she wasn't an ordinary Christian girl. Fine.

Then there came her first single, which is called Ur So Gay. She was in fact talking about her boyfriend. The song has been labeled as gay-bashing and homophobic. It did cause some uproar in the gay community. It might not come as a surprise at all considering all her background as a religious person. However Madonna liked it, and that is very important.

What made her her nowadays is her second single I Kissed a Girl, which was being accused of encouraging homosexuality and promiscuity. The lyrics goes like "I kissed a girl, I liked it". What a U-turn for Katy Perry. Somehow I got lost.

I am here to analyze all this. I just want to point out something very peculiar, which I think is very interesting life-wise and music-wise. It's like Sinead O'Conner tore up Pope's portrait, only to convert Catholic later.

Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

Labels: Katy_Perry

Here I am not going to discuss the name of the album, but rather the whole CD Nas brought to us. Nas has created the best album in years, period. He not only stirred the public with the nasty word, but also in the end he delivered it quite well. The production of the album is impeccable, with a dark undertone. Of course Nas is still very political in the album. He even introduces us to the new president Barack Obama, which I think not many people would dare to do.

This week, Untitled is the best-selling album in the US. Did the controversy help?

Another LP that I would say that I was blown away is The Hold Steady's Stay Positive. It is the band's fourth studio and the first time for me to listen to their music. This US indie band apparently gained its momentum this year. The album even went to number 15 in UK album chart. For me The Hold Steady sounds like Hootie & The Blowfish in the 90's. It also reminds me of Blue October in a certain way. I like the vocal performance of the band and song arrangements, kind of bluesy.

It is one of the best new discovery for me this year and definitely one the best indie album of the year.

O.A.R. finally released an album which got the public attention, or should we say commercially? They have been active in the music scene since the 90's, but failed to have a hit single and a hit album. All Sides doesn't see changes, or radical changes in O.A.R. They still have very accessible music, which have been compared to Dave Matthews Band, etc. Maybe the fact that their music is not very unique has cost their promising future, but I still think their new album deserves some praises, especially the single Shattered. Well, the song doesn't resemble to other hits by other artists, but I still like the track very much.

Randy Travis also has a new album. It's been a long time. His Christian/country music sounds nice, but a little bit monotonous. Maybe I am tired of country music these days. I don't like John Mellencamp's new album either compared to his last success. It just doesn't attracts me musically. All in all he failed to impress me.

Labels: John Mellencamp, Nas, O.A.R., Randy Travis, The Hold Steady

Labels: McFly

When Radiohead claimed in the last century that pop was dead, it was dead at all, but maybe it was just a prediction? Now I think most of the people agree that pop is dead already, or at least is not at its full swing as it was in the 90's.

I was more into the same assertion about the demise of the pop, but recently I took it with a grain of salt. Is pop really dead?

First pop is still an active genre of music. Britney Spears is a pop star and she is well alive. Maybe she is an exception, but let's face it. The fact that pop is dead merely is only commercially in some specific market like UK. As in US market, pop has morphed into a more subtle form. Would you say that Sara Bareilles is a pop artist?

After pondering the question for some time I believe that pop is not dead, but rather UK pop is deceased. Believe it or not, the latest idol band that UK has is Billiam, which is not a success, if not a total failure. Sugababes and Girls Aloud are the only two competitive pop groups in the market. McFly really is not doing that well as least during the critic circle, which has been questioned and ridiculed.

Now let's look at the big picture. What about other pop music from other countries, especially other European countries? It's undeniable that a lot of pop acts from those countries are doing quite well domestically and internationally. Examples do abound.

Danish pop band Alphabeat took UK by storm. Norwegian singer Annie is going to release her second album. Her first album was well accepted by the critics but not much by the general public. After listening to the sampler of the new album, I feel that Annie may have a chance this time around.

Germany dance pop sensation Cascada keeps churning out more dance pop hits. Even US5 is popular in some countries other than UK. Relative unknown band BWO got a hit in UK, only to be badly covered by a Taiwanese singer. Basshunter is now huge in UK. I think most people would agree with me that his music is a mixture of pop and dance and he is Swedish too. Robyn and September also benefit from this pop music boom in Sweden. No wonder the best pop music writers and producers are from Sweden as well. Can you believe that many of Kelly Clarkson's hits were penned by the man who wrote early hits of Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys?

If some did die, that is bubblegum pop. Nowadays we hardly see any success of that particular type of pop. So in that sense, pop has updated itself constantly too. Now the pop has a more electric twist. Indie bands are not shunning pop any more. Giving pop more element has become the revival of the pop.

On the other hand, in the US, those younger generation singers are also doing well among the juvenile audience. Miley Cyrus finally has a solo album. High school musical won't be away for long. Ashley Simpson just released, in my opinion, her best album in her career.

Pop has long been categorized as lack of substance, but maybe with the current music trend, pop will get rid of bad reputation of being manufactured and manipulated. However you cannot really pronounce the death of genre. It may go down, but it won't cease to exist. It just lingers there and come out from time to time.

It seems to me that as long as you are a non-UK pop artist, you do have a chance to succeed. I guess it's the musical globalization. Now UK is outsourcing its pop music. I hope those British pop artists won't complain that other countries steal their job. At the end they have their proud indie music.

Labels: pop

McFly was leading the midweek earlier this week, but according to the latest statistics, Dizzee Rascal's Dance Wiv Me seems to be keeping its crown for the third week in a row. I don't want to see McFly on the number 1 spot again, but I don't see many merits in Dizzee Rascal's track either, even though it's better than his latest music efforts Maths + English as a whole. Honestly McFly's comeback single One For the Radio isn't bad at all, if not perfect. It will be McFly's first single off an album which didn't reach the top spot on singles chart. On the other hand, there is still no certainty that Dizzee Rascal will get the top spot for sure, so let's wait until this Sunday for the chart to reveal itself.

Labels: chart, Dizzee Rascal, McFly