Top 200 Singles of 2009

Here is a list of the top 200 songs from 2009…

1. Courtney John – Lucky Man
2. Estelle & Sean Paul – Come Over
3. Screw Driver & Inner Circle – Never Give Up
4. Daweh Congo – Straight Up Conscious
5. Sean Paul – So Fine
6. Michael Franti and Spearhead – Say Hey (I Love You)
7. Luciano & Easy Star All-Stars – With A Little Help From My Friends
8. Luciano, U-Roy, & Easy Star All-Stars - With A Little Dub From My Friends (Version 2)
9. Chali 2na, Damian Marley, and Stephen Marley – Guns Up
10. John Legend & Buju Banton – Can’t Be My Lover
11. Daweh Congo - Ghetto Skyline
12. Ziggy Marley & Willie Nelson – This Train
13. YT, Million Stylez, Mr. Williamz, Blackout Ja, Jah Knight, & Iverse - Champion Sound
14. Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel – Fan It
15. The Decemberists – The Rake’s Song
16. Alborosie – No Cocaine
17. M. Ward – Stars of Leo
18. K’Naan & Chubb Rock – ABC’s
19. Norah Jones – It’s Gonna Be
20. Elephant Man – Dance and Sweep
21. The Avett Brothers – I And Love And You
22. Daweh Congo – One Day
23. K’Naan & Damian Marley - I Come Prepared
24. Michael Franti & Spearhead - Rude Boys Back In Town
25. Laden – Time To Shine
26. Queen Ifrica – Lioness On The Rise
27. Brother Ali – Fresh Air
28. Wilco – Wilco (The Song)
29. Michael Rose, Menny More, & Easy Star All-Stars – A Day In The Life
30. Kid Cudi – Day ‘N’ Nite (Nightmare)
31. Julian Marley – Boom Draw
32. Buju Banton & Third World – Sense Of Purpose
33. K’Naan – Take A Minute
34. The XX – VCR
35. Serani – Playing Games
36. Major Lazer, Jovi Rockwell, & Mr. Vegas – Can’t Stop Now
37. Tarrus Riley – Herbs Promotion
38. Michael Franti & Spearhead – Soundsystem
39. M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel - Never Had Nobody Like You
40. Ziggy Marley & Toots Hibbert - Take Me To Jamaica
41. Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel – Sweet Jennie Lee
42. Daweh Congo – Steppin
43. Yim Yames – My Sweet Lord
44. The Avett Brothers – January Wedding
45. George Strait - El Rey
    
46. Bounty Killer – Corrupt
47. Mayer Hawthorne – Maybe So, Maybe No
48. Michael Franti & Spearhead – A Little Bit Of Riddim
49. Dave Matthews Band - Funny The Way It Is
50. Jay-Z & Mr. Hudson – Young Forever
51. Monsters of Folk – Say Please
52. Julian Marley & Damian Marley - Violence In The Streets
53. Tarrus Riley – Human Nature
54. Spoon – Writing in Reverse
55. Phoenix – Lisztomania
56. Andrew Bird – Oh No
57. M Ward – Rave On
58. Yim Yames – All Things Must Pass
59. Modest Mouse – Satellite Skin
60. Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
61. Slaid Cleaves – Cry
62. Phish - Backwards Down The Number Line
63. Graham Wilkinson, Hayes Carll, and Lloyd Maines – Ragamuffin
64. The Itals – Let Dem Talk
65. Sean Kingston – Fire Burning
66. Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow
67. Black Ryno – Real Stingers
68. Romain Virgo – Alton’s Medley: Breaking Up / Ain’t That Loving You / My Willow Tree
69. Jah Cure – Sticky
70. Pearl Jam - The Fixer
71. Vybz Kartel - Life Sweet
72. Q-Tip – Even If It Is So
73. Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
74. Capleton – Acres
75. Miley Cyrus – Party in the USA
76. Mariah Carey – Obsessed
77. Suga Roy, Conrad Crystal, Barrington Levy, & Beenie Man – She Call Mi Phone
78. Passion Pit – Sleepyhead
79. The Swell Season – Feeling The Pull
80. George Strait – Arkansas Dave
81. Chino – Never Change (From Mawning)
82. Sean Paul – Press It Up
83. Queen Ifrica - Coconut Shell
84. Lyle Lovett – Loretta
85. Beres Hammond - Can’t Say I Never Tried
86. Chali 2na - Comin’ Thru
87. Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
88. K’Naan – Wavin’ Flag
89. Beirut – The Shrew
90. Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel – Right or Wrong
91. Metric – Sick Muse
92. Robert Earl Keen, Jr. – Flyin’ Shoes
93. Regina Spektor – Eet
94. Bon Iver – Blood Bank
95. Soja & Rebelution – Here I Am
96. Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band – Nikorette
97. John Fogerty & Bruce Springsteen – When Will I Be Loved
98. Julian Marley & Stephen Marley - Things Ain’t Cool
99. George Strait – Living For The Night
100. Frankie Paul & Easy Star All-Stars – Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
101. Graham Wilkinson & the Underground Township - Boys and Girls
102. Major Lazer – Cash Flow
103. Zee Avi – Bitter Heart
104. Etana & Alborosie - Blessings
105. Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel - I’m Sittin’ on Top of the World
106. Jay Z & Alicia Keys – Empire State Of Mind
107. Danny Malone – Basement
108. Black Eyed Peas – Rock That Body
109. George Strait – Easy As You Go
110. Jay-Z – D.O.A. [Death Of Auto-Tune]
111. Suga Roy, Conrad Crystal, & Gyptian - Jah Jah See Dem
112. Danny Barnes – Pizza Box
113. Major Lazer – Bruk Out
114. Robert Earl Keen, Jr. – The Rose Hotel
115. Soja, Tamika, & Gentleman – I Tried
116. Casual Sax - Baby I’m Black (From The Waist Down)
117. Courtney John – I Want To Get Next To You
118. Major Lazer – Pon De Floor
119. Rhett Miller – I Need To Know Where I Stand
120. The Low Anthem - Charlie Darwin
121. Beres Hammond - See You Again
122. Micachu & the Shapes – Golden Phone
123. Queen Ifrica – Keep It To Yourself
124. Bob Dylan – Beyond Here Lies Nothin’
125. Son Volt - Dynamite
126. N.A.S.A., Spank Rock, M.I.A., Santogold, & Nick Zinner - Whachadoin?
127. Elephant Man – Nuh Linga
128. Levon Helm - Tennessee Jed
129. Eminem – Crack A Bottle
130. Ziggy Marley, Jack Johnson, & Paula Fuga - Cry, Cry, Cry
131. Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard – California Zephyr
132. Boycott Blues – Got Beef? (Food Coma)
133. Snoop Dogg – I Wanna Rock
134. Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel - Won’t You Ride in My Little Red Wagon
135. N.A.S.A., Kool Keith, & Tom Waits – Spacious Thoughts
136. Max Romeo & Easy Star All-Stars – Fixing A Hole
137. The Lemonheads – Waiting Around To Die
138. Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band - Air Mattress
139. Neil Young – Johnny Magic
140. Ziggy Marley, Rita Marley, & Cedella Marley – I Love You Too
141. Queen Ifrica - Daddy
142. Cunninglynguists – Never Come Down
143. Mavado – So Blessed
144. Mos Def & Talib Kweli – History
145. B-Real & Damian Marley – Fire
146. Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel – Corrine Corrina
147. Anthony B & Horace Andy – Enter The Kingdom of Zion
148. John Legend – Can’t Be My Lover (Curtis Lynch Remix)
149. Bruce Springsteen – Outlaw Pete
150. Sizzla – Black Man In The White House
151. Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel – Bring It on Down to My House
152. Wasp - Unfair Officer
153. Sugar Minott & Easy Star All-Stars -When I’m Sixty-Four
154. Bitty McLean – Fall In Love (Rub A Dub Mix)
155. Taken By Trees – To Lose Someone
156. Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel – Hesitation Blues
157. U-Roy, Bunny Rugs, & Easy Star All-Stars – Lovely Rita
158. Daweh Congo – Daybreak
159. Coconut Records – Any Fun
160. Serani – When It’s Cold Outside
161. Telekinesis – Coast Of Carolina
162. Mavado – On The Rock
163. Bill Callahan - Jim Cain
164. Kirsty Rock & Easy Star All-Stars – She’s Leaving Home
165. Noah and the Whale – Blue Skies
166. Daweh Congo – Joy Brings Pain
167. Fanfario – I’m A Pilot
168. Mavado – Money Changer
169. The Dry Spells – Black Is The Color
170. David Guetta & Akon – Sexy Bitch
171. Animal Collective - My Girls
172. Taken By Trees – My Boys
173. Tribal Seeds – The Garden
174. Norah Jones – Chasing Pirates
175. Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard - These Roads Don’t Move
176. Matisyahu – Struggla
177. Black Eyed Peas – Meet Me Halfway
178. Buju Banton – Rastafari
179. Juvenile – Gotta Get It
180. Groundation – Beating Heart
181. 10 Ft Ganja Plant - 10 Ft. Ganja Plant and Weed
182. Mishka – Stay By My Side
183. Raekwon & Lyfe Jennings - Catalina
184. Bebel Gilberto – Chica Chica Boom Chic
185. Pitbull – I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)
186. Phoenix – 1901
187. Bramma – Da Body Deh
188. Kid Cudi - Make Her Say
189. Mayer Hawthorne – Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out
190. Flo Rida – Right Round
191. Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, Method Man, & Ghostface Killah – House Of Flying Daggers
192. Matisyahu – Smash Lies
193. Timbaland & Justin Timberlake – Carry Out
194. Chezidek – Border Line
195. Bebel Gilberto – Sun Is Shining
196. Gregory Isaacs – Fools Fall In Love
197. Oba Simba – The Herb
198. Robert Glasper – Butterfly
199. B.B. Seaton – Life Goes On
200. Johnny Clarke with Soothsayers meet Red Earth Collective – Bad Boys
201. Sean Paul & Keri Hilson – Hold My Hand [I'll Be There]

01: I’ve first discovered JUJU on this particular day when I was on youtube watching videos and stumbled along this video where one of her songs was playing along with some other japanese female singers on the same video, too. PRESENT is a really cutesy pop track and even though the arrangement wasn’t anything new, special, or even memorable.. I still adored it. JUJU’s vocals in my opinion were good although I was kinda underwhelmed by her vocal performance but she still did a good job. This song is fine but I’m just not quite clicking with it at the moment even though I do like the bright chorus.

02: This side of JUJU that I’m used to ever since I heard one of her songs on youtube the day I first sat down and listened to her music. Everything Was You is such a nice little jazz number, I also really enjoyed JUJU’s sensual and warm vocal performance. She really sounds like she’s getting into it and the arrangement was such a perfect touch with the beautiful and sexy jazzy atmosphere which I thought was really good. At this moment, I’m starting to actually like her and I’m about to give her single with JAY’ED a listen pretty soon since I love her just as much as him now.

03: Lauryn Hill is my main girl… she is such a lovely r&b singer and I really enjoyed her first album titled The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill back when it first came out in stores and my mom went out and brought it. I actually like her version of Ex-Factor more than this one by JUJU but this was pretty nice, too. I enjoyed every minute of JUJU’s wonderful vocal performance even though her english wasn’t really all that amazing, she still did a pretty awesome job and her backing vocals were absolutely tremendous.

1. PRESENT
2. Everything Was You
3. Ex-Factor
4. PRESENT (Instrumental)

Regardless of me not really feeling the a-side track at the moment, I did like this entire piece of art. JUJU’s 11th single PRESENT was a pretty solid in my opinion and most of the songs were really good. The a-side track isn’t a bad song at all, it just might take some time to grow on me but regardless of that, the other two tracks were really amazing. She really has a knack for rhythm and blues and I really hope her next album or single is just as nice as this was, if not better. I’m not a fan of her just yet but she seems to be all right.

Top 10 Albums of 2009

Here are the selector’s top 10 favorite albums for 2009…

1. Daweh Congo – Ghetto Skyline [MK-Zwo Records 2009] 
2. Willie Neslon & Asleep at the Wheel – Willie And The Wheel [Bismeaux Records 2009]
3. Easy Star All Stars – Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band [Easy Star Records 2009]
4. Michael Franti and Spearhead – All Rebel Rockers [Anti 2009]
5. The Avett Brothers – I And Love And You [American Recordings 2009]
6. Julian Marley – Awake [Tuff Gong Records 2009]
7. K’Naan – Troubadour [A&M/Octone Records 2009]
8. Courtney John – Made In Jamaica [Jamaica Music/FiWi Records 2009]
9. Chali 2na – Fish Outta Water [Decon 2009]
10. Major Lazer – Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do [Downtown Records 2009]

JUJU’s tenth single starts off with the a-side Ashita ga Kuru Nara orginal duet version and it features an artist in which I am not familiar with, one JAY’ED. Hmm? This track sounds a lot more underwhelming to me the second time around, but I’m still inclined to like it because of that chorus. I don’t consider this much of a duet as I don’t recall hearing JAY’ED that much, it almost seemed like he was backing up JUJU and only adding input when needed, but from what I heard he sounded pretty nice. JUJU has a nice voice and though I like PRESENT a bit more, its a solid a-side, that may grow on me given a couple more listens.

This next track is Ashita ga Kuru Nara ballad solo version and because of that alone I see why the pace of this was dumbed down so much to the point of it dragging. Its not a bad version of the original though as JUJU sounds pretty good, but its just not as interesting as the one with JAY’ED and comes across as very boring.

I love, love, love The Rose by Bette Midler, I’m serious, its one of my favorite songs of all time. The slow sweeping pace of it always melts my heart and the lyrics are just absolutely beautiful. JUJU just like with the Ex-Factor did a good job on this, her voice and her has officially won me over.

The last track on the single is Sunao ni Naretara RYLL 90’s flava remix which I am assuming is a remix of one of her previous songs. It actually makes me want to listen to the original since it isn’t half bad for a remix.

The Rose

JUJU – PRESENT

2009.11.25

Track List:
01 PRESENT
02 Everything Was You
03 Ex-Factor
04 PRESENT （instrumental）

DOWNLOAD

Please support the artist by buying the original CD:

CD

language: Japan

realesed date: 09.11.25

Link: Multiupload

Tracklist:

1. Present

2. Everything Was You

3. Ex-Factor

4. Present (Instrument)

Credits: risachanz

JUJU’s eleventh single starts off with the a-side PRESENT and I kind of found myself thinking of Rie Fu’s previous a-side of the same name, even though they’re quite different. The arrangement has a mild Christmas-y air to it that gives off a light winter feel. Its piano arrangement is nothing amazing and I found myself more moved by those found on KOKIA’s latest digital single, but it was fitting and nice in its own way. JUJU’s vocals are pretty good, I can actually see her becoming one of my preffered J-female singers and she kind of gave me a Superfly vibe, well the vocalist anyways, because she had a pretty prominent voice as well. This was a nice a-side.

The first b-side Everything Was You was really nice, I found myself enjoying this track a lot and after awhile it put me in a sort of relaxing doze, because of the slow and steady pace of it. The arrangement is so fluid and is so Jazz and Blues-y, its quite nice and you can just picture JUJU singing this in a sort of seedy bar, with the lights dimmed and everyone swaying slightly and being really into it. JUJU’s vocal performance was quite nice, seriously.

Lauryn Hill is like my idol, the woman could sing, rap and act, a definite triple threat and she spoke the truth, every song she touched had you pressing the replay button, Ex-Factor is my favorite and I cannot believe JUJU decided to cover it. I’m new to her, but I think I’m going to be keeping up with her music and going back to listen to some of her old stuff, because she totally won me over with this. I definitely recommend this, nice single.

Ex-Factor

LINKS CAN BE FOUND HERE

Gusts list:
AAA, GIRL NEXT DOOR, FUNKY MONKEY BABYS, JUJU, LANDS (Akanishi Jin x Kobayashi Takeshi), Kinki Kids, monobright, NICO Touches The Walls

11th single. “PRESENT” is the theme of the film, Disney’s Christmas Carol.

Release : 2009.11.25
Genre : Pop, Soul, Jazzy
Debit : 192 kbps

01 – PRESENT (MV)
02 – Everything Was You
03 – Ex-Factor
04 – PRESENT (Instrumental)

Download (don’t forget the pass : JUJU)

O ano de 2009 foi ótimo para a JUJU. No mês de março, a cantora lançou o álbum “What’s Love?” e teve bons resultados em vendas. Depois disso, o seu décimo single, “Ashita Ga Kuru Nara” (colaboração dela com o cantor JAY’ED), atingiu a 1ª colocação no ranking diário da Oricon e ao todo vendeu mais de 143 mil cópias, se tornando o single mais bem sucedido da cantora. Sete meses após o lançamento de “Ashita Ga Kuru Nara”, JUJU lançou o seu décimo primeiro single, intitulado “PRESENT”.

Com a data de seu lançamento marcada para o dia 25 de novembro, o single foi escolhido para ser a música tema do filme  da Disney “DISNEY’S A Christmas Carol”, que aqui no Brasil recebeu o nome de “Os Fantasmas de Scrooge”. O filme é uma animação feita por meio de sensores, onde os movimentos dos atores reais são captados e trabalhados no computador. O ator principal deste filme é o comediante Jim Carrey. O filme entrou em cartaz nos cinemas japoneses no dia 14 e aqui nos cinemas brasileiros no dia 19 de novembro. Confira o trailer do filme logo abaixo:

O single “PRESENT”, além da faixa-título, vem com mais duas b-sides: “Everything Was You” e “Ex-Factor”.

Tracklist

1. PRESENT
2. Everything Was You
3. Ex-Factor
4. PRESENT (Instrumental)

_____________________________________________________________________________

JUJU é uma cantora que eu particularmente gosto muito. Achei esse single muito bom e a música PRESENT excelente. Infelizmente, o single não agradou muito os japoneses. Até o momento a melhor posição do single no ranking da Oricon foi a #22, muito abaixo das espectativas já que  PRESENT chegou a ficar em 1º lugar no Chaku-ta, liderando o ranking de downloads durante alguns dias. Basta agora esperar para ver até onde este single irá chegar…

O PV de “PRESENT” é muito bom. Ele não é uma “super produção”, mais ficou bem feito. Destaque para a própria JUJU que só aparece nos últimos cinco segundos do clipe só para mostrar que está “presente”! Enfim, gostei e recomendo a todos!

Nota: 4/5.

Para finalizar, veja a performance da JUJU no programa CDTV que aconteceu no dia 21 de novembro:

Abraços e até a próxima…

Dear Mr.J,

Hes not my first love, but he takes my breath away everytime I see him.

No other guy can steal my heart when I am with him,

because he means a lot to me.

He can make me go crazy over him.

I can cry badly for the whole night until i fall asleep

Or i might smiling the whole day until the friends tease me.

Or just like ‘meroyan’ if i didn’t see him.

i can be so spiritful whenever things going right between us

Or i just laying on my bed thinking of u if hurt me

It is amazing how love can destroy us or make us.

Allah created the powerful feelings of being loved and to be love,

and I thank him for giving me the opportunities to have the feelings.

Finally i had to move on.

I have to leave you

which i utterly  sure the percentage for us to meet up is 0.

u’re staying east n i’m going west.

It’s ok , i believe in the power of Allah.

If stated u are for me, we’ll be together no matter what.

i gonna miss u, our moment together.

Lastly, if u’re reading this,

I LOVE YOU.

sincerely,

Jaja

two nights ago, our 15-year- old miniature schnauzer had a grand maul seizure. (right before she was to have her bath)

anywho, we had to take old mum to animal urgent care, where doctor june told us the news. our little angel would have to spend the night in the “doggie/kitty” ICU, where she will be tested and be monitored.

with our little darling under the watch of the finest animal lovers orange county has to offer, we waited patiently for any news about Pepi.  at 7 am yesterday morning, i picked up old mum and, because she required constant supervision all day, took her to work.

(this is Pepi enjoying the 405, listening to Dan Fogelberg’s “Longer”)

fortunately enough, i work at home instead senior care and Pepi was a very good candidate for “senior care.” so cami and i set up a little fort for her to nest in, and there she spent the next 9 hours. (well, technically not. she actually got pretty fussy in her little fort, so we let her roam around. super cute. and she went on several walks.)

well Pepi, it was  lovely spending the entire day with you, but i’d rather not do it again under these circumstances. so rest up well little one. because…

you gave us quite a fright.

image from JuJu's official website

Ready to cry this morning? JuJu is releasing her 11th Single tomorrow, Nov 25th, 2009 entitled “Present”, which is also tied to the movie release of Disney’s A Christmas Carol.  Order it today at yesasia.com

Also check out JuJu’s official website. She also has some video and music up at her Sony Music site.

So where are the tears? Watch the promotional video for “Present” below and have your tissues ready.

Thought I’d share this MV…the song’s Japanese…I’m starting to get more and more back into Japanese music rofl…anyway the song’s called ‘PRESENT’ by JUJU. I’ve listened to a bit of music by her before, but she never caught my attention too much. This song is really pretty though, and the MV’s really touching. Reminds me a bit of DBSK’s ‘Stand By U’ drama vr. MV.

amorzinho do papai…

PS- final de semana incrivel…and…cheio de possibilidades, ok? hehehe. valeu.

Olá!

Estou aqui mais uma vez para mostrar paravocês quais foram os destaques do programa Music Station desta última sexta-feira, dia 20 de novembro.

Começando o programa temos o johnny Tomohisa Yamashita, conhecido também como Yamapi, apresentando o seu mais recente single “Loveless”. Vale destacar que este single será o próximo #1 no ranking semanal da Oricon desta próxima semana.

A cantora Shiho Ochi que comanda o Superfly apresentou o seu mais novo single “Dancing On The Fire”. Recomendo muito essa música! Se você quiser saber mais sobre este single é só clicar aqui.

Quem também se apresentou foi a cantora JUJU que irá lançar o seu próximo single, “PRESENT”, dia 25 de novembro. Confiram a belíssima apresentação da cantora:

Teve também uma performance especial da cantora Chisato Moritaka junto com o também cantor Inagaki Junichi. Esta cantora fez muito sucesso lá no Japão durante os anos 80 e 90. Em 1999, Chisato decidiu terminar sua carreira musical para se dedicar ao seu casamento. Agora, ela voltou a aparecer ao público para cantar a música “Ame”, lançada por ela como single no ano de 1990, só que agora com o cantor Inagaki Junichi que regravou esta canção que estará presente em seu novo álbum:

Para finalizar temos a apresentação do LANDS. Esse tal de LANDS é um grupo fictício composto pelo músico e produtor Takeshi Kobayashi e pelo Jin Akanishi, integrante da famosa boyband KAT-TUN. Este grupo foi criado para o filme “BANDAGE”, onde o próprio Jin participa. A música tem o mesmo nome do filme e será lançada como single dia 25 de novembro. Confiram a performance:

E é isso por essa semana. Até a próxima…

LINKS CAN BE FOUND HERE

Song list:
JUJU – Present
Moritaka Chisato & Inagaki Junichi – Ame
LANDS (Akanishi Jin x Kobayashi Takeshi) – Bandage
Suprefly – Dancing On Fire
Yamashita Tomohisa – Loveless

Photo courtesy of robertpaulyoung on Flickr under Creative Commons

Sorry devoted readers (all three of you), I can’t do my weekly report on Music Station as I’ve got places to be on a Friday night. Since I can’t catch the five performances lost among a sea of old Music Station clips, I’m doing the next best thing – listening to the artists featured on tonight’s episode. Without further ado, here are the songs featured on the show this week according to the official site.

JUJU – “Present”

(Video here)

A typical J-Pop ballad. The music hangs around in the background to allow JUJU’s voice to overpower everything else. An obvious choice, as she sings excellently, especially near the end of the track when she picks up the urgency ever so slightly and her voice jumps up a level. Then again, there are a hundred other J-Pop divas you could plug into “Present” with the same result. It’s another slow song that could contain the most poignant lyrics ever penned but she could also be crooning about paint thinner for all I know. “Present” ends up being another pretty enough but unremarkable J-Ballad littering the charts.

Superfly – “Dancing On The Fire”

(Video Here)

A too-long, undercooked dance track milking a generic “rock” beat for all it’s worth. Superfly fail to latch onto anything of interest here, settling to ride out the aforementioned beat and throw some “don’t you forget we make rock music!” guitar on top. The chorus ends up being the biggest letdown, not taking the song in any interesting new direction (which it needs) and not even being catchy. I imagine live this could be cool coupled with some sweet pyrotechnics, but that’s about it.

山下智久 (Tomohisa Yamashita) – “Loveless”

(Video here)

Tomohisa Yamashita is a member of boy band NEWS (near unsearchable in any language). More importantly, he starred in the J-Drama Buzzer Beat, which combined something I love (basketball) with something I don’t like nearly as much (drama television). I watched every episode, though, so dude did something right. Unfortunately, “Loveless” is some straight up VH1 wake up music, ala Elliott Yamin or other dudes baring their souls over some pianos squared up with dance beats. In other words…AIRBALL.

LANDS – “BANDAGE”

(Watch a short version of the song, which is all I can find, here)

This song and the JUJU tune above share a bit in common, but LANDS’ number blows “Dancing On The Fire” away. Whereas that song goes to great length to show how rock-n-roll it is, “BANDAGE” opts for a more reserved, slightly dancey feel. The cop-out description here would be to label it “indie” sounding. Anyway, besides squeezing more out of less, LANDS also conjures up a chorus worth waiting for. It’s a bouncy rock number concealing some disco in it’s DNA.

稲垣潤一 ＆ 森高千里 – 雨

So, uh, here’s one reason I like watching Music Station to do this…I can’t find this song (or artist!) anywhere. I get a few clues, but can’t find a track to listen to anywhere online. Hope you can find a bootleg tape of the Nov. 20 Music Station!

Winner Of The Week – LANDS going away. A bouncy little piece of indie rock that’s deceptively danceable. Can’t wait to actually here the whole cut.

Since her duet with JAY’ED, JUJU had taken out nothing and there she returns to us discreetly. A song completely in its kind and I’m delighted to see again her soon in back…

From single : PRESENT
Piste : #01
Release : 2009.11.25
Genre : Pop, Ballad

Download

i was in norwalk. 13 miles away from LA, norwalk. neither nor-walk. yes, that norwalk.

i was helping a non-profit organization with their annual fundraiser. i was cold and i was hungry. so i went to the buffet line to grab a few pieces of boneless fried chicken strips.

they were warm and delicious…until these boneless fried chicken strips decided to have bones.

the name “boneless fried chicken strips,” which was elegantly printed on cardstock, folded and placed right in front of the chafing dish, should predict what you are about to eat. am i right?

NO.

i swallowed a bone. a small. skinny. pointy. sharp boneless fried chicken bone. and what’s worse is it got lodged. yep, right in my esophagus.

so, as if instinctual, i tried to dislodge the bone by swallowing. this made the small, skinny, pointy, sharp bone cut the inner lining of my esophagus. and still, it didn’t budge.

splendid.

so now i am stuck here, in norwalk, for 3 more hours, with a bone lodged in my throat.

it wasn’t until i was overheard whining that a mom told me that the best thing to do to dislodge a jammed bone is to swallow a banana whole. thank God for the utterly ridiculous, but surprisingly useful knowledge that motherhood brings.

so now i need a banana. they aren’t any bananas here. none. nada. perfect.

i waited for 3 hours and 41 miles to reach brandon’s house until i got ahold of a banana.

i am happy, though, to report that the banana did dislodge the bone stuck in my throat, but i am still left with the torn lining of my esophagus.

lesson learned: don’t eat in norwalk.

Classic video from Big Pun & Terror Squad for What’cha Gon’ Do, featuring Fat Joe & Cuban Link taking on New York native NBA stars of the time Kenny Anderson & Stephon Marbury in a game of 2 on 2.  This hilarious video features Cuban Link tying Kenny Anderson’s shoes together as well as Fat Joe dunking.  What’cha Gon Do? was produced by Juju from the Beatnuts and features Big Pun doing what he was famous for, absolutely murdering the beat.  Christopher Rios would’ve been 38 today, he was probably the G.O.A.T. and should at least be included in your top 5.Whatcha Gon Do? – Big Pun