Best of 2009: July #10 - #7

July. Just find out for yourselves what the crap I was listening to, OK? LOL. Let's get to business.

#10: Kara - 몰래몰래

Kara are the cutesy girl group (apart from SNSD) but they were the ones who used to be serious and R&B like. This song kinda matches their whole image now - it's sweet, doesn't require a lot of vocal proficiency but to a certain extent I kinda like it.

#9: Jennings - Falling Higher Full

Gorgeous voice, gorgeous song and I got to interview Jennings earlier this year - she's one of those indie artists that should be more popular than they were. Below is a video to one of her other singles.

#8: Blake Lewis - Sad Song

BLAKE! BLAKE! LOL. Pop masterpieces and though I didn't really dig Heartbreak On Vinyl, Sad Song is damn good. The hook, the melody and all the elements of the song put together just make for a brilliant, brilliant song.

#7: Queensberry - Flow

Queensberry were one of the groups that came out of the tail end of my pirate blogging days and though I didn't really like their latest album either, this track off the re-release of their first album just reminded me so much of their first single that I HAD to put it in. The hook is a hook and I love the fact that this song actually has an actual melody and is really centered around it.

The guy who made the music that defined my freshman year.

I remember when American Idol 6 was on - I was in sixth grade. At that time I had a best friend who was the biggest Idol fan, next to me of course, and we were both rooting for Blake Lewis. The guy was by far the most creative contestant in the competition and yes, his forte was beatboxing but he could also sing like hell - he was brilliant and extremely talented. So obviously I'd be extremely disappointed and annoyed when Jordin won (although now that her second album's out, I realize that she deserved to win, even just a bit.) and Blake would forever be labeled as the guy who didn't win Idol.

His album came out, I fell in love with the songs but it wasn't until the latter and extremely depressing part of my freshman year that the album really meant something to me. Brilliant songs, insane melodies and the songs I fell in love with didn't have my favorite beatboxing Blake. Oh well, tough luck.

Well he's back.

I don't know why but his pronunciation on Sad Song is SO BRIT. I'm not complaining or anything but I'm just not used to it. Overlooking the pronunciation, the song has some of those moments when I want to strangle the guy for making something as brilliant as the song. When I first heard it I was a little iff-y about it and thought it was sub-par compared to his other songs but now that I listen to it a lot more, THIS SONG SHOULD BE A HIT. I'm not saying it will, it may or may not but I'm saying that if I were to choose, everyone in the world has to listen to it twice - I now find the song one of the best this year, so far.

I don't think the first verse does justice to the song until it's very close to the chorus which is insanely brilliant. I can imagine people singing the hook all over the place - don't know if it'll happen though. The second verse is much better, maybe because of the instrumentals and the middle 8 is auto-tune heaven and yet I find it appealing - there's something about it. Although it's obviously not hit you on the head auto-tune which is why I like it to a certain extent.

5/5. As if I'd give it any other rating.

Blake Lewis - End of the World

Artist: Blake Lewis
Album: Audio Daydream
Year: 2007
Rating: 4/5

When Blake didn't win American Idol last season, I went crazy. I always thought it would be a Melinda vs. Blake final, without Jordin. OK, Jordin is a nice girl, she's got a voice but she isn't any different from everybody else. Melinda and Blake are two other stories. Melinda is well, Melinda. She seems so shy but once she gets on that stage, she can blow everyone away, and I mean everyone. Blake is cool, he's contemporary, he beat boxes. Although I still think that no one has rivaled Bo's a capella performance for the final, Blake's performances are creative and he fuses new with old. After a while, I realized that not winning may be better for Blake, like it was for Bo because he can do things his way. Boy was I wrong.

When his album came out, I was disappointed. Where was the Blake we've all come to know and love and WHY are they making him sing all these ballads and/or crappy songs when he's better than those? Sometimes I just don't understand record companies.

I have three favorite songs on this album, but they're all ballads. OK, the melodies are to die for, but this is not the Blake we know. The Blake we know would sing something like 'You Give Love A Bad Name', put beat boxing in it and it would be amazing.

This song is slow, it's kinda cliche-ish but the melody will kill you, it's drop-dead amazing. I don't really have that much to say about this song but buy the album if you want to hear it alright?