Category: Music

These past days I’ve been listening to Oasis’s new album “Don’t Believe The Truth“, which was released after some years of absence by the band after a 3 year absence.

Honestly, my favourite Oasis albums remain “What’s The Story (Morning Glory)” and “Definitely Maybe”, but this one could come in third place. It somehow brings the classic Oasis out of the band again and that’s always good.
This album also reflects some of the band’s admiration of “The Beatles” and how they’re inspired by them.

I enjoyed most of the songs, but my favourites from this album would have to be: “Lyla”, “Importance of Being Idle”, “Part of the Queue” and “Let There Be Love” (All written by Noel Gallagher).

I think this album is worth checking out if you’re into rock ‘n’ roll. Especially if you are or ever were a fan of Oasis.

My score for it is: 7.5/10.

Spin magazine named Radiohead’s “OK Computer” the top album of the past 20 years, praising a futuristic sound that manages to feel alive “even when its words are spoken by a robot.”

“Between Thom Yorke’s orange-alert worldview and the band’s meld of epic guitar rock and electronic glitch, (‘OK Computer’) not only forecast a decade of music but uncannily predicted our global culture of communal distress,” reads the editorial note.

The top 10 albums of the last 20 years, according to Spin Magazine, are:

1. “OK Computer,” Radiohead
2. “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” Public Enemy
3. “Nevermind,” Nirvana
4. “Slanted and Enchanted,” Pavement
5. “The Queen Is Dead,” Smiths
6. “Surfer Rosa,” Pixies
7. “3 Feet High and Rising,” De La Soul
8. “Sign ‘O’ the Times,” Prince
9. “Rid of Me,” PJ Harvey
10. “Straight Outta Compton,” N.W.A

[Source: CNN]

Inspired by Kottke, I’ve counted how many languages are used in my music collection and found the following.

– English: Most of the songs.
– Arabic: A lot of artists.
– French: A lot of artists.
– Italian: Eros Ramazotti, Zucherro, Laura Pausini…
– Spanish: Manu Chao, Shakira, Il Divo, Enrique Iglesias…
– Turkish: Tarkan and others.
– Urdu (Pakistani): Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan
– Hindu: Punjabi MC, and others…
– German: Mo-Do, Die Toten Hosen…
– Thai: I can’t remember the name of the guy. (I got his album when I was visiting Thailand.)
– Latin: Enigma, Era…
– Russian: Tatu
– Gaelic: Enya
– Portuguese: Nelly Furtado
– Chinese: Don’t really know the names.

I’m sure there are a lot more languages here and there in my music collection, but well these are the ones I found now.

How many languages can you find in your music collection?
Post your list or a link to your blog post in the comments.

Yesterday, I got to hear Backstreet Boys’ new album “Never Gone” while I was at a friend’s place.

Before listening to the full album, the only song I knew from the new album was “Incomplete” which I thought was a pretty nice song.
The album mostly follows in the same footsteps.

The boys have grown up and matured and it shows in their music and lyrics, it’s no longer that annoying teen pop music (which I bet wasn’t that annoying for everyone some years ago. You know who you are :P).

I quite enjoyed the album and like the style they’re going in. Sort of a mix of soft rock and r’n’b, some nice acoustic guitar and piano here and there, easy cool tunes and very nice vocals.

One little problem though is that their name “Backstreet Boys” doesn’t quite fit them anymore.
But oh well, who cares, the name sucked from day one.

An album I’ve been listening to a lot these past couple of days is Tori Amos’ “The Beekeeper”.

I’ve never been a fan of Tori Amos, and other than her song “Crucify” I’ve never really heard something else by her that I liked, except maybe for a remix of “Professional Widow”.

Anyway, while reading a book, I needed some calm music in the background, and the only thing I found on my laptop or mp3 player was Tori’s album.
The thing is that the album stole me away from the book.

I really like it. The music, the lyrics, the whole spirit and style of it are really laid back and nice with a touch of weirdness.

My favourite songs off the album are: Parasol, Sweet The Sting, Jamaica Inn, Sleeps With Butterflies…

I never thought I’d be saying this about a Tori Amos album, but it’s really worth checking out.

Greek singer Helena Paparizou won the Eurovision song contest last night with her song “My Number One”, a mid-tempo tune with minor-keyed Balkan flavorings.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko presented her with the prize for her seductive performance of “My Number One”, saying “This is the prize for the song that unites all Europe”.

Eurovision is one of Europe’s most widely watched events, with more than 150 million people tuning in to this year’s edition.

Last year’s winner was Ukraine’s Ruslana. She startled the audience in Istanbul, Turkey, with her song “Wild Dances”.

This “WARNING ARTIST SUPPORTS FILESHARING” seal is designed to fit in the slot normally filled by the FBI’s new “FBI ANTI-PIRACY WARNING” seal that mars the backs of so many new CDs.

You need something to alert your customers that they won’t face 20 years of prison time for letting a friend download your album. In an effort to combat the Anti-Piracy Seal, an alternative logo for artists who aren’t concerned with file sharing and federal level copyright infringement has been created.

I think this is cool, and I hope some artists start releasing their cds with this seal on it.

[Via: 53×11, Boing Boing]

A DJ friend of mine in Jordan first introduced me to Will Young over a year ago, and I remember really liking the songs I heard. Lately I’ve been listening a lot to his song “Leave Right Now“, which I really love. I also caught his new album’s title track “Friday’s Child” on some music channel, and I decided to get the album.

So, I finally got around to listening to Will Young’s album “Friday’s Child”, and I have to say that I really really like it.
It’s easy-going pop music with soulful tunes and a jazzy touch, nice lyrics and Will’s warm voice floating over it. Really good stuff.

My favorite songs off the album up to now are: Leave Right Now, Very Kind, Your Game, Love Is a Matter of Distance.

Will Young is the winner from the first season of the UK’s Pop Idol show.

I truly recommend this album. The songs are very smooth and Will’s voice is so soothing.