Synsational Music

Artist Recommendation: Digable Planets

2011-03-09T11:19:00.004+01:00

Do you like hip-hop, just not the rawest version? Do you think jazzy melodies give a song that little bit extra? Then you should check out the Digable Planets. It's an oldschool hip-hop group consisting of three members: Ladybug Mecca (who has left the group and has since released a solo album named Trip The Light Fantastic), Butterfly and Doodlebug. They use a lot of samples from jazz songs, which gives their songs a great warm sound that goes very well with their calm and creative raps.

I will only review their oldschool material here, because I haven't listened to much of their new music out of self-protection (it's usually disappointing). Their first album is called Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space) and it contains Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat), one of my favorite Digable Planets songs. I think the album has a nice sound, but I like their second album (Blowout Comb) a lot more. From Black Ego to Jettin', from Blowing Down to 9th Wonder (Blackitolism), these are songs you won't get tired of any time soon.

I realize this is a very short artist recommendation, but that's because I don't know a lot of facts about this group and I don't know their lyrics by heart. Still, I advise you all to check out the CD Blowout Comb. It's so relaxing!

Album Review: Nikki D - Daddy's Little Girl

2011-02-22T17:52:00.002+01:00

As I was hoping, I've become infatuated with oldschool female rap (again). I will drop a few names for those interested: Oaktown's 3.5.7, The Real Roxanne, Nikki D, Monie Love, L.A. Star... They're all awesome. I was surprised to see how many oldschool female rap CD's I have, I think I'm approaching 40 (and I have like 20 singles as well). If that doesn't sound like a lot of CD's, than imagine I have about three times as many non-oldschool female rap CD's. I've invested a lot in my collection, oh yes, and I've decided to buy at least one female rap CD a month - from now on, so that my collection will grow and grow :)

Now, as for my album review.. I'm reviewing an album from the year I turned three (1991), by Nikki D. The album is called Daddy's Little Girl, and that's also the name of the biggest hit on the album. As a matter of fact, that's another song my father used to play when I was little. I can't even believe it myself, because I didn't know this until I found the song myself, played it, and instantly started having flashbacks! I guess musical preference is genetic for a part..

Well, let me start off this review by saying: Nikki D is awesome. And although Foxy Brown has claimed this title for years, Nikki D was, and will always be, the FIRST female rapper signed to Def Jam! This is no diss, because Foxy is actually my biggest "idol" of all times, mostly for sentimental reasons, lol.

So, Daddy's Little Girl. You will probably recognize the sample from Suzanne Vega's song Tom's Diner, or maybe - if you're a female rap fan - from Lil' Kim's Right Now. Anyway, the song has great beats, interesting lyrics (about a young girl going wild, getting pregnant and being afraid to tell her father she's grown up). No wonder it was so successful... and no wonder my father played it so often shortly after I was born! LOL! I was (and still am) Daddy's Little Girl as well!

I absolutely love the songs Wasted P!@#Y and 18 And Loves To Go. They're both about pretty much the same subject: girls who don't seem to realize what they're worth and have sex with anyone. They have catchy hooks, and they will probably painfully remind you of some girl you know. In the first song, I especially like it when the songs slows down all of a sudden and Nikki D starts talking: "You bitches just don't get it, do you? All you wanna do is fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Shit, I wish I could find me some dick, make me just wanna give up the pussy for nothin'... But yo, live how you wanna, but you waste it." I love Nikki's honesty. I think she was one of the first female rappers to rap explicitly about sex in an educative way. There were certainly other explicit artists around the time (remember Choice and H.W.A. who rapped about getting gang-banged, sucking you-know-what and getting paid for sex like those are things to brag about?), but well, I guess I don't have to explain the difference. Choice in my opinion is DISGUSTING.

Ooooh I almost forgot another sexually explicit song.. Another Man Is Beatin' My Time, which is about men who have relationships with women but take it up the butt in secret. In the "ghetto's", these men are called DL Thugs. I actually know a few of them via internet fora, LOL. I don't think she's dissing gay men, I wouldn't see why someone who's so free about her sexuality would do that, but I could certainly understand why she'd feel betrayed if she had a relationship with a man who was cheating on her. With another man, but if he would have cheated on her with another woman, she would have probably also made a song about it.

BTW, the song sounds absolutely awesome and I love it! So don't let the content discourage you to check it out.

Sunny Daze is another funky song that you'll love. Then there are some more dancable songs (I guess... I wouldn't know how to dance to them), namely: Lettin' Off Steam (Club Mix) and Gotta Up The Ante For The Panties. The song All About You is also nice.

The remaining songs (Hang On Kid, Monday We'll Be Together and Your Man Is My Man) are okay but not my cup of tea. A bit boring, I guess.

I would die for another Nikki D album in this style. Well, after hearing the album of course. Oh, and if you like her raps (apart from the style of the songs), you should also check out her song Recondita Armonica on the classical music/ hip-hop blend album The Rapsody Overture, which has the same subject as 18 And Loves To Go and Wasted P!@#Y. As a matter of fact, check the entire album because it works extremely well. And Alyson Williams' song My Love Is Raw also features Nikki D, on the opening verse. It's a very addictive song, I warned you!

Artist Recommendation: Monie Love

2011-02-18T10:10:00.004+01:00

Hi all!

I realise it's -once again- been quite a while since I last wrote here. I'm damn busy with my internship, that should explain it... But lately I've been listening to music so amazing, music that takes me back to when I was a young girl first developing a passion for female rap. I started collecting all female rap CD's I could find, including oldschool CD's. Real oldschool, as in music from the year I was born and even before that.

One of the artists I listened to back then, was Monie Love. And as I listened to her music again this week, I thought to myself: this music is better than most hip-hop music released nowadays, I need to share this with the world! So I'm making an artist recommendation for Monie.

Monie has released two albums (Down To Earth and In A Word Or 2), one EP (Slice Of Da Pie, this was released more recently) and several singles. Both albums are pretty dope, they include several hit songs and songs that should have been hits. I think her most famous song is It's A Shame (My Sister). This one is probably my favorite as well. In fact, I grew up with this song, because my father used to play it when I was a little kid. If you've ever met my father, you won't believe this. But my father played hip-hop in my youth, from 2Pac to Nikki D to Coolio. Anyway, that's why It's A Shame (My Sister) has sentimental value to me.
Other songs I think are pretty well known (and very nice!) are Monie In The Middle and Born To B.R.E.E.D. (of which I think the Hip Hop Mix version is the best).
Now, as for my favorite songs (excluding the ones I've already mentioned), I'm just going to make a list and you should download them to find out for yourself what's so nice about these songs.

From the album Down To Earth:

Ring My Bell
R U Single
Grandpa's Party (Love II Love Remix)

From the album In A Word Or 2:

Wheel Of Fortune
Sex U All
Mo' Monie
Full Term Love
In A Word Or 2
There's A Better Way
4 Da Children

And finally, from the single of I Can Do This:

I Can Do This (Downtown Mix) - this song uses the same sample as Will Smith's Miami, and it sounds pretty cool.

Well folks, that's all for now. But I think I might return soon, hopefully with another oldschool female rap recommendation (I like this music so much right now, I hope I'll stay in the mood for it for a while). Y'all take care now!

Double artist recommendation: Trish Thuy Trang & Kristine Sa

2011-01-27T22:15:00.003+01:00

Oh would you please record a song together? Pretties please? Two gorgeous Vietnamese-American singers, two of my favorite singers. Check all their stuff out, it's all good.

Album Review: Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday

2010-12-31T00:03:00.004+01:00

I was very curious as to how this album, titled Pink Friday, would turn out. I've been listening to Nicki Minaj for a few years now, and she's definitely been hyped up by the entire hip-hop world, for -what seemed to be- ages, without an album out. So this was her actual debut! And it did not disappoint. However, it may be a little too pop for your taste if you like the earlier Nicki Minaj mixtape material. I will review this album track by track, including bonus tracks. Here we go...

1. I'm The Best - This is a nice song, the hook is catchy, but I don't think it's outstanding, so the title doesn't really fit the song.

2. Roman's Revenge (featuring Eminem) - Absolutely awesome. Great concept, both Nicki and Eminem are rapping under their aliases (Roman Zolanski and Slim Shady). The track is humorous and it displays good old rhyming skills instead of just braggin' & boastin'. It's plain to see why Nicki and Eminem are such a good duo: they are both very absurd and sarcastic in their lyrical style and they are creative. It really works on this track.

3. Did It On'em - I don't see why people like this song so much. I think the beat is very boring and uncreative and the lyrics are not as good as they are made out to be. They are rather simplistic, I think, and she definitely doesn't shit on anyone in this song.

4. Right Thru Me - I love the emotions in the lyrics of this song and I like the hook. It is one of the extreme pop-songs on this album, which is not necessarily a bad thing because Nicki does show us that she can sing as well. She's not just a rapper.

5. Fly (featuring Rihanna) - I always fast-forward this track. I don't like Rihanna, that's the reason. First of all, Rihanna doesn't add anything to the track because her voice sounds a lot like Nicki's voice when she sings, so Nicki could have done the song all by herself, and second: Rihanna just annoys me. I've heard her on too many songs. Her voice is too fragile and shallow to be considered a good song. So yeah, I can't review the song any further because I don't like listening to it (and so I don't).

6. Save Me - Exact same comment as for Right Thru Me. I think those songs are much alike.

7. Moment 4 Life (featuring Drake) - On this song Nicki sounds just like Rihanna (the singing part). However, it doesn't bother me on this song because the song makes me feel invincible. I don't understand what the Drake-hype's about, his verse is lame and rappers like him come by the dozens.

8. Check It Out (featuring will.i.am) - YESSS, this is what I'm talking about! I give this track an A+, it's really awesome. The beat is hot and creative, the song is fun and Nicki's Lil' Kim diss is phenomenal: "Fuck my nemesis/ exclamation, just for emphasis/ and I don't sympathize/ cause you a simple bitch/ I just pop up on these hoes on some pimple shit/ and put the iron to your face you old wrinkled bitch".

9. Blazin' (featuring Kanye West) - I don't normally like Kanye West, but on this song he really does his thing. I love when he says "Hello all my bad girls, this just in/ Yeezy hurt the beat, like he fucked her best friend/ and she let him back in, and he just did it again/ he crazy, he blazin', he off the deep end". And Nicki raps with so much speed and precision, she definitely deserves an applause. Hot track!

10. Here I Am - Beautiful, touching, and I think the beat (by Swizz Beatz) is risky for a song with lyrics like these, yet it really works. The song exposes Nicki's deep, sad side. On her mixtapes, she never really showed her weaknesses (except for the track Autobiography on Sucka Free), but on this album she has several sensitive songs. I like it.

11. Dear Old Nicki - I don't think she's "big" enough for a song like this just yet. Most people only start listening to Nicki NOW, they don't know the old Nicki (and since most of them are little teenage girls, they won't like the old Nicki very much either), so they won't understand this song. Besides, the song reminds me too much of Trina's song U & Me, which is better in my opinion. I think this song fails to come across in the way it was intended.

12. Your Love - Very peaceful, positive and romantic song. I understand why people listen to it. Very pop, once again, and not my favorite, but it's nice.

13. Last Chance (featuring Natasha Bedingfield) - Natasha is one of Nicki's idols I think, so I think it's great so see a collaboration between them, yet it does make the song too sweet. I think a male voice on the chorus (like a man rapping along with the lyrics) would give it more edge. The song is not exciting enough for me.

14. Super Bass - "Don't you hear that boom-ba-doom-boom boom-ba-doom-boom bass?" So addictive. I love this song, it's cute.

15. Blow Ya Mind - Terrible. The song is too wild, too rough.. "What the fuck I look like" a billion times doesn't fit in with all the lollipop songs on the rest of the album. This is a flop.

16. Muny - Annoying, yet catchy. I hate it and love it at the same time. All the talk about rich girls does make Nicki seem very shallow and she seems to have lost her "swagger", but it's also sexy. I think she says "Bitches want my old shit, buy my old mixtapes", and that does make a point... You don't like it, then don't listen to it.

17. Girls Fall Like Dominoes - This is a bonus track, but it should have been the very first song on the album, because it's great and everybody will sing along with it. It is not originally Nicki's song, she 'stole' it, but umm who cares, right? It's hot, listen to this one first!

18. Wave Ya Hand - Okay, not original.

19. Catch Me - GREAT, I love the rap on this song and the fragile woman that Nicki turns into when she starts singing. Should have been on the album instead of Save Me.

Favorite songs: 2, 8, 9, 10, 14, 17 & 19.

Least favorite songs: 5, 6, 11, 13 & 15.

So, overall, the album has a few very nice guest appearances (Eminem and Kanye West), a bit too much pop, a good balance between deep and shallow songs, nice production.. It's just addictive, man! I've listened to this album 30 times already. So you should see this as an album RECOMMENDATION instead of review!

Album Review: Diddy - Dirty Money - Last Train To Paris

2010-12-30T21:46:00.005+01:00

Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy.. Why not change it again, to Diddy - Dirty Money? This is rap's most known artist-name changing fashion icon-like millionaire. Makes sense? Well, anyway, I've never been a big fan of Diddy. But I must admit, the man knows how to create success. He has so many connections, an album featuring his befriended artists can not fail. And this one doesn't either. Diddy - Dirty Money is a group consisting of (of course) Diddy, ex-Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard and singer Kalenna. When you look at their group-pictures, the girls look almost indistinguishable, which really creates an "I'm Diddy and these are my toy-girls"-vibe.

Now, on to the album, titled Last Train To Paris. I can say it quite simple: I love it. The songs are very danceable, with nice concepts and great guest-appearances. The girls have great, warm voices. Diddy's raps can be annoying, but they fit in just fine. This, after all, is not as much quality music as it is fun-music. Music around a theme: love. The ups and downs. This album takes you on the roller coaster ride that goes along with most relationships. So, that's my general review. But of course there are better and worse songs. First, I'll list my favorite songs (in no particular order):

Ass On The Floor (featuring Swizz Beatz). Don't you just love to hear a woman sing "Shit, you know deep down I'll always love ya, trying to find my way back to your heart, you motherfucker". The song is about going to the club and getting real drunk to forget about the man that keeps hurting you, only to run right back to him when you're drunk enough... Sounds familiar (to me).
Yeah Yeah You Would (featuring Grace Jones), produced by Danja, who usually brings the heat. The song is very addictive, especially the hook. Enough said, you wanna know more, YouTube it.
Looking For Love (featuring Usher): OH-MY-GAWD! This is the best beat I've heard in ages (by J. Lack and Polow da Don) and the chorus fits it so well. Diddy kicks it off with a real wack rap, in which he mentions the word 'motherfucker' too often, but when Usher takes over.. No words. This song should be played only with the highest volume, and everyone should scream along with the bridge: "Hello, welcome to my table, bring your girlfriends, everything payed for, we gon' get it in, ain't that what you came for, heard you was looking for me.." It's a great song, buy the album!
Strobe Lights (featuring Lil' Wayne). And I don't even like Lil' Wayne. But his rhymes on this song please me and the Dirty Money-part of the group takes you to another world on the chorus. Great song.
I Know (featuring Chris Brown, Wiz Khalifa & Seven). Beautiful, emotional, with an easy but straightforward rap by Wiz. And I'm not gonna promote it any further because Rihanna-beater Chris Brown is on it.

Other songs worth mentioning that I really like, are Loving You No More (featuring Drake), Hello Good Morning (featuring T.I.), Yesterday (featuring Chris Brown) and Coming Home (featuring Skylar Grey).

Songs I don't like, are:

Your Love (featuring Trey Songz) because it bores me and because I hate it when women sing about getting their pussies licked.
Shades (featuring a whole lotta dudes) because I don't like Justin Timberlake and Lil' Wayne, and they ruin this song for me. Plus, I think making love in marmalade is too sticky and nasty to seriously consider, and the song doesn't make much sense because "I'll even try different things" does not sound like an enormous sacrifice you would make in order to win someone back. Sigh. Even Diddy can get TOO lame.
Change because it's too repetitive and Diddy can't sing.
Angels (featuring Notorious B.I.G. and Rick Ross). I think the beat is annoying (I didn't like the original by Jay-Z (Where I'm From) either and I think Diddy should stop trying to drag Biggie into every project he does. Big is dead. Get over it.

So yeah, in summary: the album has so many songs that the majority is still great, but there are some bad songs and some AWESOME songs. I advise you to listen to this album!

Mellowdies of the Summer

2010-12-13T12:35:00.005+01:00

Dear followers,

I'm so sorry I haven't written a blog for such a long time. I've been terribly busy, being that I'm in the last (master) year of my study. But that's no excuse, since I HAVE been listening to music, and my musical moods have been heavier than ever. I will soon start writing more blogs and recommendations, but right now I have a fun blog about some songs I want to share with you all. See, every winter for the past 3 years has for some reason elicited a huge need for summer music in me. And not 'just' summer music. No, it's a very special kind. Some of these songs are simply very mellow and relaxed, others have addictive melodies that everyone probably recognizes. The combination of these types of songs inspired the name "Mellowdies of the Summer", which is the name of a playlist I just created on iTunes. I don't want to appear as an Apple groupie, I am not, but in my opinion iTunes and iPod are two superior concepts. I'm just going to post a screenshot of my Mellowdies-playlist and I hope you all will download the songs that are in it, because you have to spread awesomeness. Fun fact: the day I put most of these songs on my computer is today exactly 2 years ago, when I was (just like today) looking for excuses to not study for my tests. Which proves that this really is the time of the year I get into summer music! It's a pattern, let's release psychology on it! (Oops.. Maybe I should get back to my homework...)

Okay, have fun with this playlist!

PS 1: If there are any songs I forgot, please let me know. But know that I have strict criteria for inclusion on the list, because this is my personal ultimate feel-good playlist.

PS 2: Note that I, in no way, claim that these are the ultimate summer songs. Obviously, I would have included a lot more eurodance if this were the case! These are songs that are part of an entity in music.

PS 3: For a more hip-hop taste, add LL Cool J - Loungin' and Snoop Dogg - Who Am I (What's My Name?) to the playlist. They fit, but I think for me they belong more in a 'summer nostalgia' type of playlist.

PS 4: I might throw the Five song, the Delinquent Habits song and the Typhoon song out of this playlist after a while, I'm not sure if they belong in it. So you could exclude them and the playlist will still be hot :)

Artist Recommendation: Santigold

2010-10-27T12:34:00.002+02:00

I was gonna write an album review, but I really don't know how to.. Not for this artist anyway. Her name is Santigold (formerly known as Santogold), she's a singer-songwriter and she makes.. yeah, what kinda music does she make? Alternative? Reggae? Hip-hop? R&B? Trip-hop? A bit of everything, and then more. Since her album, named Santogold (you might also find it under 'Santigold' now because of the name change), is great from beginning to end, I pretty much expect her material in the future to be just as great. Every song on the album is good. Correction: great. And the best thing about this album is that once you play ONE track, you're gonna wanna hear all tracks. The album is an entity. From my two favorites, Say Aha and Lights Out, to the reggae/hip-hop song Shove It (which inspired and is sampled in Jay-Z's Brooklyn (Go Hard) and L.E.S. Artistes, which is probably her best known song. You will love them all. You will.

Santigold also released the mixtape Top Ranking with Diplo. It is hot hot hot, with a lot of remixes from the Santogold album and songs by other artists which are blended with beats from Santogold. The best example of that is the remix of Three 6 Mafia's Late Night Tip (named Late Night (Unstoppable Mix)). It's awesome, completely different from the original although it has the same vocals.

So yeah.. I didn't want to limit myself to an album review when I expect this artist to release GOOD SHIT only. That's why I made it an artist recommendation. Check my girl out!!

Artist Recommendation: Paradisio

2010-09-30T11:15:00.004+02:00

And now for something completely different... A genre named dance-music. Music from the 90's. Belgian group Paradisio produces exclusively Spanish songs that sound like summer. Happy, warm, relaxed... You may know this group for their song Bailando which was a big hit all over the world and which has been covered by several artists. For most people, that's where their knowledge of Paradisio stops. But their first album (also named Paradisio) was HOT from beginning to end. So I advise you all to check that out. Especially the songs Bandolero, Sentimental and Vamos A La Discoteca (which sounds a lot like their previously released song Un Clima Ideal, which has a different background melody but the same lyrics) are very nice.

After their self-titled album, they only released one more (remix) album. But they never stopped making music. They released, for example, the (all three awesome) songs Samba Del Diablo, Luz De La Luna and a new version of Bailando (sung by the group's new frontwoman), named Bailando (Me Dices Adios). It may still be Bailando, but it sounds very different and addictive. Another song they released is La Propaganda, which is not my favorite because it sounds different from their other music, but it's still nice.

I can't really describe their music as deep, genius and original, but I don't have to because it's addictive and happy music, you need that music as well because it gets you in a good mood :) Sooo, check it out! :-)

Album Review: Craig David - Born To Do It

2010-09-19T15:14:00.005+02:00

Completely in contrast with my usual blogs, this is another one about a male artist. Specifically, it's an album review for British singer Craig David's first album Born To Do It, released in 2000. Why? Because Craig is one of the UK's most talented and successful R&B singers and his first album was pretty much awesome.

First of all, I'm going to mention a few songs on it that will hopefully make you download the album right away, because they were all hits all over Europe: Fill Me In, 7 Days, Rendezvous, Walking Away and Rewind (which is also known as Re-Rewind and is actually a song by 2-step group The Artful Dodger, featuring Craig David). I've loved all of these songs for years and I'm sure many of you feel the same way.

Furthermore, there are some non-single songs on the album that you should check out: Last Night, which you might recognize because it's the song that inspired Re-Rewind, Follow Me and Can't Be Messing 'Round. The latter one is about feeling seduced but not giving in because you don't want to cheat on your lover. A very nice up-tempo song.

There are two songs that only appear on the US-release of the album: Fill Me In Part 2 and Key To My Heart. They are both nice, but nothing extraordinary. Unfortunately, the R&B-genre uses certain concepts for songs a million times, which bores me, personally. Fill Me In Part 2 is disappointing if you expect something like part 1.

Songs that I don't really like are Booty Man and Once In A Lifetime. You Know What and Party Time are okay songs, not bad.

Overall, I think the album is particularly strong because it contains so many hit songs and party anthems, but it also contains some mediocre, typical R&B music. I think you should definitely check it out, and if you like it also listen to other Craig David songs such as Eenie Meenie and Fast Cars (both from his second album, Slicker Than Your Average), Woman Trouble (which is another song by The Artful Dodger, featuring Robbie Craig and Craig David) and 6 of 1 Thing (Remix) featuring Ryan Leslie. Craig is dope!

UPDATE: it's now half an hour later than when I wrote this blog, and I already changed my mind about one of the songs... I do like Booty Man! It has a great melody and it's just as addictive as most other songs on the album :)

Artist Recommendation: So Solid Crew

2010-09-10T12:33:00.005+02:00

Hi all. I've found a (mainly) male group to recommend here! Their name is So Solid Crew, their most famous member (I think) is -ironically- a woman (Lisa Maffia) and they're from the UK. Their music is garage/electronic/hip-hop or whatever you wanna name it. And oh yeah, they're dope!

Let me first warn you: if you don't like raw hip-hop music (because it's raw, even with those electronic beats), you should not listen to their music. It'll only make you think I don't make good recommendations, but I make good recommendations as long as they're read by the right people, lol.

I won't talk about the individual members, but the whole So Solid Crew.

I would first recommend their album They Don't Know. It contains my very favorite So Solid song: Envy (They Don't Know Vocal Remix) which features Ms. Dynamite. And yes, you know that name. Put Him Out, It Takes More and Dy-Na-Mi-Tee were all hits by this artist, and all of them were R&B. So it's very interesting to hear her rap on this So Solid Crew song. She actually does it better than the other rappers on this song, which is why a few years ago I was hoping she would release a rap-album.

Other hot songs from this album are: Haters, If It Was Me, In My Life, Oh No (Sentimental Things) (Remix), Rave Scene and 21 Seconds. That's a lot of hot songs, right? I haven't gotten into the other songs yet, I've listened to them but I think they have to grow on me.

Now, for their second album, 2nd Verse, I like it a lot less but there are still some nice songs on it. Bou Bas (Remix) is very addictive, Money Maker is dope and No Love and So Grimey are nice. I really don't like Thug Anthem, the lyrics are so bad that I first thought the song was a parody on people who call themselves 'thugs'. No Love and Thug Anthem are like opposites of each other, which doesn't make sense.

Then finally I have the Fuck It remix album. I like that one. It not only contains hot So Solid Crew songs, but also remixes of hit songs such as Beverly Knight's "Get Up", Daniel Bedingfield's "Gotta Get Thru This" and Mis-Teeq's "One Night Stand". You're not guaranteed to like it if you like these songs, but you could give it a try.

Artist Recommendation: My Brightest Diamond

2010-08-30T14:08:00.004+02:00

My Brightest Diamond is the project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Worden. I will refer to My Brightest Diamond as 'she' because it's all about Shara.

Shara has the ability to create a fantasy world out of her music. Her lyrics are very visual (which means you can close your eyes and the song turns into a movie), her voice is enchanting and the use of instruments is sublime. And more than anything, Shara isn't afraid to try something new. That explains why you can hear her voice on several Jedi Mind Tricks and Vinnie Paz (hip-hop) songs, which makes for an unexpected but amazing combination of two entirely different genres of music.

I should start at the beginning. For me, the beginning is the song To Pluto's Moon, which is a hauntingly beautiful song about a lost love. "Why did you go like this?... I slam against the wall... It's crushing my skull... Why did you go like this?... I slam against the wall of permanence... permanence... permanence..." Long before I was able to understand My Brightest Diamond's music, I was drawn to this song. I played it again and again. I had just gotten into an amazing relationship, there was no reason for me to play sad love songs, but this song illustrated my fears - what would happen to me if I would lose my love. I would go crazy. A very powerful song indeed.

Then I started to appreciate the song Inside A Boy. Who wouldn't? It's very touching. "Inside a boy, I found the universe... And in his eyes are a thousand stars, on a dark sky..." See, if I would say this in real life, people would think I was crazy and obsessed. But Shara makes the words magical, she's like a fairy, she makes it ok to say it.

Both of the songs described above are from the album A Thousand Shark's Teeth, which is My Brightest Diamond's most recent album (from 2008). It contains many other musical pieces of art, such as Like A Sieve, Ice And The Storm, If I Were Queen, Bass Player and bonus track The Gentlest Gentleman. But I should warn you: these songs are really, really hard to understand. Not so much the lyrics, but the overall picture they sketch. I would strongly recommend to listen to MBD's first album Bring Me The Workhorse before listening to A Thousand Shark's Teeth.

Bring Me The Workhorse is in my opinion not as amazing and fragile as A Thousand Shark's Teeth, but it's easier to listen to. For example, Something Of An End is a nice rock song that you don't have to understand to appreciate it. Gone Away is a song about loss, a song you'll relate to whether you've lost a life or a love. An excerpt from the lyrics, is: "I have saved every piece of paper, like grocery lists and note cards, to-do lists and race scores, so just in case you change your mind and come back, I've kept everything safe... While you're gone away, where there isn't a telephone wire... Still I wait by the phone... You don't even write to say goodbye... Goodbye..."

Freak Out is a surprisingly uptempo song, you could almost play this at a party. It's strange but it works. The Good & The Bad Guy and The Workhorse are both pretty amazing, they're completely different songs but they have the same level of awesomeness. I never really paid attention to the song Disappear, until I heard the String Quartet Version that appears on the Disappear EP. You should track down the cover of that EP by the way, because it's a really gorgeous photograph.

Then there are the non-album tracks. I pretty much own all of them, because I get real obsessive-compulsive when it comes to this type of music. I would strongly recommend Feeling Good from the Dark Was The Night compilation CD. This is a cover-song, but as can be expected from Shara - she makes it her own. Hymne A L'Amour from the Top Of The World EP is also an amazing cover-song, the original was written and recorded by Edith Piaf.

Also, the collaborations with Jedi Mind Tricks I mentioned before are songs I strongly recommend. Especially Razorblade Salvation, from the album Servants In Heaven, Kings In Hell. It gives me the chills every time I hear it. It's hip-hop at its best, combined with the most beautiful voice in music right now.

Shara Worden has also released a solo CD named Word (under the name Shara), but I've never been able to track that down. She's also released several CD's with the group AwRY, I haven't listened to those CD's yet but I will buy them because I will love them. I already know.

A last note: don't listen to the remix albums (such as The Shark Remixes and Tear It Down) because they make the music sound ridiculous.

I hope you will check out my recommended songs by My Brightest Diamond. If you do, please let me know what you think of them.

Concert Review: Vienna Teng (15/08/2010)

2010-08-16T10:59:00.004+02:00

My friends :) Today was a very exciting day, because I got to see Vienna Teng perform in Burg Wilhelmstein (in Würselen, Germany). Last year I went to Amsterdam and Groningen for her, and those concerts were so amazing that I had to see her again this year. One last time (at least for now), because Vienna is going back to school! She won't be touring as much as she used to.

The evening didn't have a very good start, because the concert was outside and it was raining.. We heard the rain in the background during the entire show, but luckily it didn't ruin the music. Here is a picture of Vienna playing Augustine. Unfortunately the combination of flashy lights and darkness made it hard to take good pictures with my amateur camera, but I tried...

Vienna Teng and her piano.

The second song she performed was The Tower. This is actually my favorite Vienna Teng song, so I was happy to hear it. However, they had a special live version of the song, and I've grown so accustomed to the album version that I couldn't really appreciate this version. It's just like the song Gravity: when Vienna plays it live, she plays a special version (the Lake Version) and I don't like it nearly as much as the album version.

But she made up for this with the song Antebellum. I think it's my favorite live-song by Vienna, because the way she performs it with her band is very creative. They use a lot of instruments to perform this song. At one point it turns into some sort of a duet between Vienna and Alex Wong (member of her band). And what I love most about the song, is the moment when she sings "How I couldn't be what you need, but oh how I could make you bleed", the way she sings it is very powerful.

The band (Ward Williams and Alex Wong).

Alex also got the chance to perform one of his own songs named In The Creases, with Vienna singing in the background. It's a lovely song, and I think Alex Wong is a very talented man. This song was followed by her attempt at a country song, Homecoming. I never liked this song very much, but the live version blew me away! Very impressive.

On Blue Caravan, Vienna asked the crowd for some help. We all had to jingle our keys, which created a sound that turned out to fit the song very well. The songs No Gringo and Radio are both very touching, if you never listened to the words then you really should. I never experienced Radio as a spooky song, but Vienna did a great job at performing it that way. After we all clapped our hands during Grandmother Song, the band left the stage. But, of course, after a while they returned for an encore. They played a Randy Newman cover, named I Think It's Going To Rain Today, and the song Harbor. Both very appropriate, with the rain and all... Then they left the stage again. And, after the crowd gave them a standing ovation for several minutes, they returned again! I expected this, because Vienna always ends her concerts with a sing-along song named Soon Love Soon. This is one of the reasons I love her concerts so much: she really interacts with her fans, she makes them sing, clap, stamp their feets and jingle their keys with her! She talks to her crowd and she actually adjusts her setlist to the circumstances (with all the rain songs!). She never disappoints, and I can say with full conviction that (if it's in my power) this won't be the last time I went to a Vienna Teng concert.

Vienna, Ward and Alex performing Soon Love Soon.

Finally, I have the complete setlist for you guys, in case anyone wonders what songs she usually performs.. You'll hear the majority of these at every Vienna concert, so it'll give you a good impression of what to expect.

Setlist:

1. Augustine

2. The Tower (live-version)

3. Whatever You Want

4. Antebellum

5. I Don't Feel So Well

6. 1BR/1BA

7. In The Creases (Alex Wong song)

8. Homecoming

9. Blue Caravan

10. No Gringo

11. Stray Italian Greyhound

12. Radio

13. St. Stephen's Cross

14. Grandmother Song

Encore

15. I Think It's Going To Rain Today (Randy Newman cover)

16. Harbor

Second encore

17. Soon Love Soon

Male vs. Female Artists

2010-08-09T13:33:00.004+02:00

Hello everybody! I want to clear something up.. As you might have noticed while going through my blog, I mostly talk about female artists. I want to explain this, and also I want to say I'm trying to come up with male artists to compensate for this but it's hard on me.

I prefer female voices over male voices any day. I prefer female beauty over male beauty any day. I look up to women, never to men. I can relate to a woman's lyrics, not to a man's. And some of you know I'm a writer, I write short stories and I'm working on a book, well let me tell you: I've tried to write from a male's perspective for ages now, and it just doesn't work. Maybe that makes sense because I'm a woman myself? But no, that's not the reason. I'm just much more interested in women. This may sound strange since I'm in a heterosexual relationship (and if you've read my previous blogs, you'll know I'm so in love that I can't stop talking about my boyfriend). But yeah, that's just the way it is.

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. When it comes to hip-hop music, one of my favorite genres, I generally listen to male and female artists equally. There was a time when I collected female rappers' CD's, but it started to bore me because that market is very small. There are artists like Three 6 Mafia, Snoop Dogg, Atmosphere and Dutch artists Manu and Jiggy Dje - they make music no female could ever make. This is not a sexist remark, just listen to their music and you'll understand.

Also, some 90's R&B artists like Ginuwine, Montell Jordan, Blackstreet and R. Kelly have made songs that will forever be classics in my opinion and I prefer them over most R&B songs sung by females.

Well, to put it shortly, in many genres males are generally more successful than females. And in some cases, I agree a male voice can make a song work better than a female voice. I won't deny that. But personally, I prefer women to perform the music I listen to. Look at my Last FM page to see my current favorite artists and most played songs, but know that I won't recommend every one of these artists to you because some of them are PERSONAL favorites that aren't necessarily genius artists. Click here to go to my Last FM page.

Artist Recommendation: Danity Kane

2010-08-02T12:13:00.003+02:00

Danity Kane, the R&B girl group Diddy selected on his Making The Band show, has split up. But their music lives on, and it's still worth checking out. I started listening to DK when their album Welcome To The Dollhouse was released, and when I found out that album is SUPER HOT, I also gave their first album Danity Kane a chance. And now that they're not releasing anything new because the group has broken up, I'm doing my best to find every non-album track they ever recorded. All in all, I now have pretty much every Danity Kane song and I can make a very good recommendation.

So, what tracks should you listen to first? I mean, you'll love every one of their songs eventually (just like me), but you have to start somewhere, right?

Ok, first the best songs on the Danity Kane album: Touching My Body, Heartbreaker, One Shot and Sleep On It. This album produced the hit Show Stopper, but I personally don't like that song more than average.

On the Welcome To The Dollhouse album, the best songs are: Pretty Boy, Damaged, Bad Girl (featuring Missy Elliott), Strip Tease, 2 Of You and Poetry. Well, this album is pretty much hot from beginning to end so you should listen to the whole album.

A nice non-album tracks is It's Yours (non-released track from Welcome To The Dollhouse). It's very catchy.

Last but not least, some of the girls from Danity Kane are trying to start off a solo career. You should definitely keep an eye on them. Listen to Aubrey O'Day's song Party All The Time, which features Young Money's female singer Shanell. You'll like it. :)

Discussion: Rihanna

2010-07-26T20:17:00.004+02:00

Hi! I wanted to write a blog about Rihanna, but I honestly don't know her music as well as some of the other music I've written about. However, I do have an opinion about her. She's R&B's "it-girl" right now, everyone knows her, and the thing I keep wondering, is: WHY? How the hell did she get this big? I think I understand, 'cuz her songs are all catchy with great production, but I don't see why Jay-Z signed her and let her sing this music. He chose her over Teairra Mari, that's where it went upwards for Rihanna and downhill for Teairra Mari. Pon De Replay sounded very addictive, but it wasn't good enough to reach eternal stardom. Same for If It's Lovin' That You Want. Then there were songs like S.O.S. (which was dope, I'll admit that) and Unfaithful (which should have been a Beyonce song, she would blow Rihanna away) and later on Umbrella, Don't Stop The Music and Disturbia. I love all of these songs, I understand why they were hits. But there are also a lot of songs I never understood, such as Live Your Life (the song with T.I.), Rehab, Shut Up And Drive (main problem with this is that it sounds like a pop-song only teenage girls should listen to), Take A Bow, Hate That I Love You, We Ride.. And many more.. I don't understand why they became hits.. Now she has Te Amo, my boyfriend introduced me to the song (he likes Rihanna a lot) and this is another song I love by Rihanna.

Fuck. As I'm writing this blog, I'm starting to finally understand why Rihanna is so popular. She has some real catchy songs that even I listen to, my hate for top-40 music can't even keep me from doing that. My opinion is that Rihanna is dope as long as she sings fun songs and an occasional slow song can also work but only if she doesn't try to get too vocal.. Because her voice really isn't very good... Please give songs like Unfaithful to Beyonce from now on, and I'm serious about that because Beyonce does these songs very well (if you don't know, check the slow songs on I Am... Sasha Fierce).

My question for you guys: what do you think about Rihanna, what is your favorite Rihanna song and what Rihanna song do you dislike the most?

Artist Recommendation: Gillette (+20 Fingers)

2010-07-21T13:56:00.004+02:00

Some of you probably already know Gillette, although you probably don't know you know her.. Google the song Short Dick Man (or censored version Short Short Man) by 20 Fingers featuring Gillette. It's a fun song, but very explicit. Gillette is the singer, 20 Fingers are the producers. I would like to recommend you listen to 20 Fingers if you like pop/dance music, but this blog is dedicated to Gillette.

Gillette has released two albums: On The Attack And More (actually I tagged it as a 20 Fingers album because there is also a song with another singer: Lick It with vocals by Roula) and Shake Your Money Maker. And she has a very catchy song named Sex Tonight. She definitely doesn't leave anything to the imagination, that's for sure...

On Shake Your Money Maker she raps and sings on electronic music that was probably also produced by 20 Fingers (it sounds a lot like other 20 Fingers music). Some great songs are 2 Minute Brother, Do Fries Go With That Shake, Weekend and Shake Your Money Maker. And I really love the singing part (the hook) on Georgie Porgie.

Most songs are about... SEX! Big surprise. But I like fun sex songs that are mostly straightforward about the singer's sexual needs instead of pornographic descriptions of every action.. Gillette gives me that to a tee.

On The Attack And More contains my favorite "i-hate-people" song, Mr. Personality. It has lines such as: "They call you Mr. Personality because you're so ugly!" and "You're so ugly, I heard that when you were born the doctor slapped yo momma... Oohhooh man that's ugly!". This song is hilarious, I swear everyone should listen to it and be able to play it out loud without thinking it's about them.. If you can't enjoy this song you have major self-esteem problems. lol. (If you like it, also check out the remix (named Mr. Personality (Ugly Mr. Personality Remix), appears on L'Album by 20 Fingers).

Ok, now that I've already written down some Gillette lyrics, I will add a few more.. From the song Short Dick Man.. "That has got to be the smallest dick I have ever seen in my whole life.. Get the fuck out of here!" and "Isn't that cute, an extra belly button! You need to put your pants back on honey."

This album is more humorous than Shake Your Money Maker. On The Attack sounds like an angry song, Pay Back has a funny story to it and Move Too Fast sounds great but it's once again about bad sex ("It's your first time, isn't it?"). Well, I fell in love with Gillette when I heard this album, so I guess it's still pretty dope.

So if you like fun music, explicit lyrics but in a humorous way, you like a bit of dance, pop or hip-hop, check out my girl Gillette. You'll be singing along to the crazy lyrics.

Concert Review: Hip Hop in Duketown 2010

2010-07-18T15:00:00.013+02:00

This was the first time I attended Hip Hop in Duketown, a free Dutch hip-hop festival in the beautiful city of 's-Hertogenbosch (or Den Bosch). I heard of the festival when I was at Boogiedown Breda, a similar festival that took place a few months ago, and I immediately decided to go.

The gorgeous St. Janskathedraal in Den Bosch.

First off, I must admit I only arrived at the festival around 7 o'clock. That means I missed a few artists, but I honestly wasn't very interested in them because I didn't know them and Fresku disappointed me too much last time I saw him perform. So the first act I saw was Kleine Jay & Cartes. I think they have a few nice songs and the show was okay, but it didn't really convince me, so to say. But soon Hef, Önder & FS Green (you might know Önder as Turk, his old rapname) got on stage. I don't like Hef's music, I think it's very unintelligent and it confirms every stereotype people have about rappers, and indeed during the show it sometimes seemed like he was just trying to find out how often you can say the word 'nigga' in a minute. BUT, Önder saved the day, accompanied by his buddy Spacekees. Now, I don't wanna say something bad about everyone, but I don't like Spacekees anymore ever since I've seen him perform solo at Regelmaat XL 2009. He was very arrogant and acted like he didn't have to work like any other rapper to get the crowd going. Fortunately, he did a much better job at Duketown.

Önder

Somewhere in between the performances, I went to explore the festival grounds, and I came across some graffiti artists. I don't know much about graffiti, but I do like to watch it and take pictures of it. Here is a small preview:

Also, there was some basketball and some skating, but I was too late to actually witness that. Maybe next year :)

Anyway, after Hef, Önder & FS Green came the Nebulon Soundsystem. I had never heard of them, but when I took a closer look it turned out Zwart Licht and NoizBoiz are all members of this 'group'. Oh yeah, and D.Lipps & Skinto, but I had never heard of them before. And it turns out I didn't recognize the NoizBoiz because rapper Kariszma has left the group. But anyway, here's a picture:

I think the man on the right is Skinto, I don't know who the other one is. Honestly, my computer is too slow right now to go to all their websites and figure it out.

The Nebulon Soundsystem had a pretty good show. I especially liked the Noiz Boiz, which is good 'cause I was wearing my NoizBoiz t-shirt (which I bought in an impulse after I had first seen them live at Rokkesteen 2008). The only thing I didn't like was that they just didn't stop! Their show just went on and on and on, until I got bored and left the crowd to sit down somewhere. It was actually planned, they were on stage for an hour, but in my opinion that was a bit too much.

So, the next group that was going to perform, were The Opposites. But... They didn't show up. One of them had a toothache, so they decided not to come. It is very typical, only "big" artists stay home for reasons like these. Why? Because they don't need the money or the promotion they get from a show like this? Simply because they're arrogant? Anyway, I got over it pretty fast, but all the sweet little 14-year-old girls in the crowd were definitely disappointed. I'm sure The Opposites were the only reason these girls went to the festival in the first place.

Sooo, since The Opposites stayed home, the festival continued with the next planned thing: a DJ Battle (between DJ DAZE and DJ DNS). I've seen DJ DNS a few times, at several Dutch hip-hop festivals/concerts, so I was rooting for him.. And yes, he won. He used songs like The Champ Is Here (by Jadakiss, I think), so he really set the mood with that...

DJ DNS

And then, finally, someone reminded me why I went to Den Bosch for this festival. His name is Typhoon and he is a hero. If you've read my previous weblog, you'll know Typhoon has released an EP with jazz group New Cool Collective, named Chocolade EP. Well, he brought New Cool Collective with him to this performance. And his brother O-Dog. And his sister Dinopha. And singer Giovanca. And then, biggest surprise of the evening, his other brother Blaxtar. Needless to say, Typhoon comes from a very musical family. The combination of jazz, rap and R&B really blew me away, and I wasn't the only one. People were jumping and screaming along to the songs, and even my boyfriend, who usually doesn't like hip-hop, went wild. I enjoyed it very, very much. It was one of the best performances I've ever seen, no lie. Every song was a small party. Especially the last three songs: Los Zand, Bumaye and Licht Uit. And Brand Los, of course.

Here are some pictures of this lovely show:

O-Dog introduces his brother Typhoon

Typhoon rocking

Giovanca sings her longs out while Typhoon watches in awe

Benjamin Herman, founder of New Cool Collective

Blaxtar, O-Dog, Dinopha & Typhoon (all brothers and sister!)

Overall I think this was a nice festival, but Typhoon & New Cool Collective really took it to the next level. I recommend everyone, whether you are a hip-hop fan or not, to go to one of their shows. It's amazing.

Album Review: Typhoon & New Cool Collective - Chocolade EP

2010-07-15T11:30:00.005+02:00

Typhoon is a successful Dutch rapper who is known to fight for freedom and rights for everyone. Last year, he was ambassador of freedom on the 5th of May (which is the day the Netherlands celebrate their freedom and liberation from the second world war). He had only released one album, Tussen Licht En Lucht, which did very well in the Dutch hip-hop scene. I'd recommend it to everyone, he might speak Dutch but the beats and hooks on some songs are addictive even if you don't understand the words. And if you listen to the song Bumaye (from the Made In Da Shade 'Kings' soundtrack), you'll love the strong summer vibe.

But now I want to review the 7-track Chocolade EP, on which Typhoon collaborated with jazz artists New Cool Collective. Most of the songs are 'old' Typhoon material, re-recorded on music that is much more jazz than hip-hop. On the title track, Chocolade, the members of Typhoon's group Fakkelbrigade make an appearance. As can be expected, the lyrics here are filled with worldplay.

My personal favorite is (of course) Bumaye, although I actually like Typhoon's solo version of this song more. The song is very positive, with lines like "Niets is te heet voor deze vorst, geen blaren op mijn hand, ik volg liever m'n hart dan m'n verstand. Allemaal koningen, diep van binnen, ik groet al mijn koningen en koninginnen" (which I'm not going to translate, I'm sorry). Other nice songs are Licht Uit and Brand Los. Brand Los, just like Naamval and 3Luik, was recorded live, you can hear the audience cheering in the background. The songs are in good quality, so it doesn't really bother me. Naamval would be great to see live, if you close your eyes you can just see those musicians working their instruments... A song I don't like is A De Na Noso in which Typhoon talks about his relationship with his mother. I personally feel that this EP is too short to add a song like that. But I'm not going to lie, the New Cool Collective part at the end of the song makes up for Typhoon's little monologue, because it sounds great.

This EP is experimental, I think this collaboration between a rapper and a jazz band is pretty unique for a Dutch artist, but overall I think they've done a good job. Honestly? I think if you want to enjoy this music to the fullest, you'll have to see them perform live. I'm going to do exactly that, this Saturday at the Hip Hop In Duketown festival in Den Bosch. I recommend all of you to join me :) Typhoon is a great artist, his live shows are even better than his recorded music in my opinion. If this is the first time you're going to listen to his music, I recommend you first listen to Tussen Licht En Lucht, and if you like that you should try this Chocolade EP.

Album Review: Kate Bush - The Kick Inside

2010-07-08T13:54:00.003+02:00

Everyone knows Kate Bush. Well, at least her song Wuthering Heights. She's the singer with the witch-voice, or at least that's how I thought of her when I was a child. The original version of Wuthering Heights appeared on Kate's debut album The Kick Inside, which was released in 1978, 10 years before I was even born. For some of you, this may be a reason not to listen to the album. After all, old music is boring and it has bad quality, right? Well, this album is everything BUT boring and you can easily find a high quality version of it (even if you download the cd). I've read somewhere that there are versions of this album being sold on eBay for over $400. This is because the album was released with different covers in several countries. But of course it also says something about the album, because no one would pay $400 for a lame album just because of its cover!

British singer/song-writer Kate Bush is not afraid to speak her mind. This also became apparent in later songs such as Kashka from Baghdad (about homosexuality) and Breathing (about the consequences of using nuclear weapons). The Kick Inside is, in my opinion, not a controversial album, but it does tackle many different subjects.

You may know the song The Man With The Child In His Eyes, which was a big hit and is still played on the radio everyday. The song is about a young girl and her older, male friend. To her, this man is real, but others doubt if he actually exists. The song has outstanding lyrics, especially if you keep in mind that Kate was only 13 when she wrote it.

Another great song is L'Amour Looks Something Like You, which seems to be about a romantic one night stand. If you're in love, you will like this. Just like Oh To Be In Love, which is another nice love song (but in my opinion it's not as good as L'Amour...).

Feel It is about making love. You should look up the lyrics on the internet, because they are very beautiful. They are the reason I describe the subject as 'making love' and not 'having sex'. It actually reminds me of my first time, which is a good sign I guess...

Room For The Life is a song about the strength of women and their ability to carry a child inside of them. It's a bit feminist but at the same time not feminist at all because feminists actually fight against being seen as just baby-making machines!

Strange Phenomena is about premonitions, deja-vu's and other 'strange phenomena'. An interesting song.. Some people say it's about having your period, which I really don't understand (the only part that might refer to it is "Every girl knows about the punctual blues"). But it's possible.. That would be pretty funny. I don't get premonitions when I have my period.

One of my favorite songs on this album is The Saxophone Song. The sound of her wonderful voice singing to a saxophone melody is just perfect. The song seems to be a tribute to a saxophone, but there's also a love story in it. It describes the way she feels about the man who plays the saxophone. "You'll never know that you had all of me, you'll never know the poetry you've stirred in me."

The song The Kick Inside IS actually about a controversial, taboo subject. It's about a brother and sister who fall in love with each other. When the sister gets pregnant, she commits suicide. "This kicking here inside makes me leave you behind." The song reminds me of stories from the ancient Greek, it sounds almost mythical.

Moving is about expressing yourself by moving and dancing, and it's partly inspired by whales (which I'm not going to explain, but the song starts off with the whale song, which is how you call the sound whales make.

The first song I liked from this album is Kite. It sounds like a very happy song. It's about someone who becomes a kite (probably so that she can fly away and escape from the stress of everyday life). But after spending some time up in the sky, she realizes life as a kite isn't for her and she wants to get back on the ground.

James And The Cold Gun is obviously about guns. This is a nice song but it never got stuck in my head like the other songs on the album. Them Heavy People is about freeing yourself of stress and worry, about knowledge and spirituality. It's another happy song, but I don't like it very much.

Overall, this album is a masterpiece and everyone who likes female singer/song-writers like Tori Amos, Regina Spektor and Sarah McLachlan should listen to this. Kate Bush set the trend for many others to follow! Give this album a try.

Shisha and camels. And Nancy Ajram!

2010-07-08T13:04:00.003+02:00

Howdy folks! I'm back from Tunisia, with a suitcase full of souvenirs and beautiful memories. It was so amazing, I would go back immediately if I could. I went there with my boyfriend. They always say you really get to know each other on vacation. Well, if that's so, then I'm now a hundred percent sure that we belong together.

So, what's typical for Tunisia you ask me? Palmtrees, camels, shisha (waterpipe), couscous and a lot of sand. And many other things, of course. We stayed in a huge all-inclusive hotel in Sousse, we even had a private beach there. The people were lovely, there was a waiter who liked us so much that he offered us to stay at his house so that we wouldn't have to go home.

Now, for the musical part of the vacation... I was in a souvenir shop at one point, and music was playing.. Guess whose music? Nancy Ajram's! I was so excited to hear my favorite Arabic artist! I heard a lot of other Arabic music that I didn't know, and in a media store I found CD's by Latifa, Elissa, Warda and Nancy Ajram, all Arabic artists I know. But most of all, there was a lot of American and European music. At the hotel they played artists like Pitbull, Fun Factory and Spice Girls. In a restaurant at the beach we heard Beyonce's song Why Don't You Love Me and at another hotel they were constantly playing Lady GaGa. At times it made me sad that people listened to so much American music when Arabic music is just as good (if not better). I mean, you can say it makes sense because they don't limit themselves to the Arabic culture, but that would be hypocrite because most people in America and Europe don't listen to music from the Arabic world or the Asian world for example either. So why would they listen to our music to be multi-cultural when we don't listen to theirs?

I don't know much more to write about music in Tunisia, because my vacation was much too active to make time for listening to music.

I do have a funny picture for you guys, of me smoking shisha.. Watch the smoke come out of my nose, lol.

Feel free to comment on this blog!

Love,

Cynthia

Tunisia

2010-06-29T11:53:00.003+02:00

Hi all,

I'm about to leave for an 8-days vacation to Tunisia (North-Africa), so I won't be blogging for a few days. Don't worry though, when I get back I will get right back to business! ;) I love music too much to not think about it constantly, so I'm sure I'll come up with something good for you guys.

For now, I'm excited about the flight and of course the vacation itself, I wish all of you who also have vacation a real good time as well and I'll be back soon.

Love,

Cynthia

EP Review: Miss Tila - Welcome To The Darkside

2010-06-28T11:20:00.004+02:00

This will be a short review, because Welcome To The Darkside is only a short EP (3 tracks). I started listening to Tila Tequila's music about 4 years ago, I think. And from the very start, I realised you should never expect too much from her, because she's a genius at promoting herself, but she's not a genius at the stuff she's actually promoting. Get my point? With that being said, I think Welcome To The Darkside is Tila's best musical release to date. She changed her artist name from Tila Tequila to Miss Tila, and she released several songs under that name already (such as I Fucked The DJ, which is pretty much a horrible song), but I'd really tell her to stick to the classy stuff now that she has this classy name.

Her EP contains two covered songs: Blue Dress (originally by Depeche Mode) and Walking On Thin Ice (originally by Yoko Ono). I must admit, I've never heard the original songs, but I think her versions aren't that bad at all. The song Blue Dress impressed me, actually. I think she has been working on her voice, because her singing used to be a lot more "all over the place".

The song Get Me Off is an original Tila song. Its content is very sexual, yet a lot more tasteful than some other songs she's released (such as I Like To Fuck, I Fucked The DJ and Fuck Ya Man), so I give her major props for that. The music is of much better quality as well.

Walking On Thin Ice isn't my favorite, I think it's a nice song but Tila kinda sounds like a little girl doing karaoke. That is NOT a good look.

Overall, I'd say give it a try, I mean it's only 3 songs so it can't be a huge waste of time, right? It might change your opinion about Miss Tila.

Album Review: Soulacious - For The Love Of Music

2010-06-27T16:34:00.006+02:00

I heard of American funk-band Soulacious from my buddy Jarrod, singer/rapper and songwriter for the group. To be real honest, I didn't expect too much of it, because there are so many bands releasing EP's nowadays and half of it is trash. But this 6-track EP, named For The Love Of Music, blew me away! It combines genres like funk, rock, hip-hop and chill-out (if that even is a genre), to create a sound that addresses a large audience.

It starts off with the funky titlesong For The Love Of Music, where Jarrod's raps will definitely get you hyped for the rest of the album. And it's no false hope..

The next track, Can't Deceive Me, is my favorite on this EP. It reminds me of Adventures of Stevie V, a 90's project you might know for their smash hit Dirty Cash. Singer Kandii works her voice on this track and the melody and lyrics are very catchy.

Take Care Of U is a great chill-out track, which reminds me of Pete Philly & Perquisite's music (and that's a compliment!). The lyrics are very romantic, you could play this in the background during a romantic dinner with your lover, I'm sure it will get them in the mood for some lovin'..

I'm not crazy about La Di Da Da, it's yet another song about a good girl gone bad, and although it's not a bad song, I've grown tired of those types of songs.

Hope is a very positive, intense song that will make you feel energetic and on top of the world when you listen to it. At about 0:20 Jarrod starts rapping and you can just feel the adrenaline rushing through his (and your!) body.

Perfect Combination is a song you will start liking more after you've heard it a few times. Once again, the word 'funky' best describes the sound on this one. I think this song would sound great live! If only I could fly across the ocean and watch them perform.. *sigh*

Finally, I wanna mention the other band members: Ezra (guitar), Ryan (bass), Dan (keys and synthesizer) and Karl (drums). They are very talented and they give the music its awesome and professional sound.

You can download the EP for free at www.spreadthelovempls.com . Please check it out and let me know what you think (Jarrod is reading!)

Album Review: Jacki-O - Lil Red Riding Hood

2010-06-27T15:46:00.004+02:00

This 2009 album starts off with a skit of Jacki-O talking to someone of 'Bullshit Records' (I think it's actually her own voice, sped up). At first I thought it was really dumb and annoying, until it turned into a Khia diss (Khia is a female rapper who doesn't really get along with other female rappers, she has beef with Jacki-O and Trina). "That's one of our favorite artists! '06, '07, '08, all she did was push out bullshit! Sure, she's one of our favorite artists! I mean, she didn't make us a dime of money, but she kept pushing that bullshit, and here at bullshit records, all we do is push out bullshit!" I'm not gonna say I dislike Khia, because her music is one of my guilty pleasures, but this diss is funny.

First of all, I'd like to say I really hate the song Baby Mama, it sounds annoying and the subject isn't very interesting either. So I don't understand why Jacki used it as a single and I certainly don't understand why it's one of her favorites. Songs like Change Gone Come (which you may already know from The Free Agent Mixtape), on which she sounds like she's about to start crying, and If I Had A Son, which in my opinion has 2Pac written all over it, are so much better.

My Block is a nice song, it sounds laid-back although the things she says about her neighborhood don't paint a very pretty picture. Picture Perfect and Fuk Wit Me are catchy 'gangsta' songs. Both Situations and I Got Yo Boyfriend are about Jacki stealing someone else's man. Situations sounds nice, I Got Yo Boyfriend is a song you'll probably skip after you've heard it twice.

Fuck N***a is a fun track. It starts off with Jacki talking to her man, who treats her like a piece of trash, and she's all like "What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!" and he forces her to bark like a dog, say cock-a-doodle do and miauw like a cat. Then she raises her voice and starts cursing him out for like two minutes, on a beat. But she does it after he hung up the phone, so we don't get to hear his reaction.

Take Me Higher and Turning Headz are the last two songs on the album, and they're okay, but no masterpieces.

Overall, I like this album and I would definitely recommend it, but I must warn you: I think it's not nearly as good as her first album, Poe Little Rich Girl, so don't expect too much of it!