Best of 2009: September #7 - #3

YES! We've finally made it to September, my birth month. But aside from that, this post will be monumental because it'll mark the first time I have A BRITNEY SONG on the countdown. Yes, BRITNEY.

#7: No Angels - One Life

They're German, right? OK. One Life is pop down to the last note and it's well-made pop. This is proof to me that even with kpop taking over my musical tastes, Europe still has something to offer. Yay!

#6: Britney Spears - 3

I know what you're saying right now "WHAT????". LOL. But really, lyrics and video aside, 3 impressed me to a certain extent - far enough for me to put it on the list.

#5: Pixie Lott - Gravity

Pixie, Pixie, Pixie. Late last year I discovered her and ever since I've been watching her career go from strength to strength - I'm actually REALLY glad she didn't get casted for the (brilliant) flop that was Britannia High because she got to do what she did this year! Pixie is living proof that people still know what pop is and this Ryan Tedder-sounding (did he produce this? Not sure) number gave me goosebumps. Her brilliant vocals with an epic song just made me melt.

#4: Super Junior M - Super Girl

Super Girl was the song I really, really waited for this year. On the day of the apparent release, I refreshed the SM Youtube channel hundreds of times until that evening, the full video and the full song were put on and I just exploded. I gave it a perfect review, called Yoo Young Jin brilliant, rested my case and Super Girl became a huge hit. Though the rest of the sub-unit's release kinda bored me, Super Girl remained brilliant and after getting sick of it for like a month, listening to it now just reminds me of the first time I heard it. Brilliance, whether it be in Mandarin or Korean.

#3: Been So Long - Jaejoong and Yoochun (DBSK)

I could've just as easily put Colors, another duet by the two, but I think this song is better than the aforementioned Japanese #1 single. AND up to a few days ago, I was debating over this and Shelter, the b-side to Colors, me and my indecisiveness. You might've guessed by now that this is the song that won - and for the right reasons. Been So Long has a lot more kick and a lot more character than Colors and it's a much easier listen than Shelter with all it's darkness. The rap is bearable (says someone who simply CANNOT stand rap) and the vocals are surprising - Jaejoong singing in a girls' range (he admitted it a while back but I knew all along. Hahah.) AND rapping, Yoochun's voice clearly in it's element - the guy sounds best with songs like this. It's a brilliant performance from the 2, really. I honestly couldn't stop listening to this song for days because it was so damn good. Best listened to at high volumes.

Britney Spears - 3

The Philippines is doing relatively better (this is as of 9:35 PM Friday night so yeah.) - it's raining now as I write this intro but not as bad as it was when Ondoy/Ketsana hit. The flood has cleared in most areas except the badly hit ones but the fear of this new Typhoon damaging us again is really killing me. However because most things have gotten back to normal or are on their way to stabilizing (except the horrid traffic in the big avenue right outside our subdivision), I think it's OK for me to start blogging again. To everyone who was there to offer support and comfort when I was literally freaking out because of this stupid storm, thank you so much!

First post after my fairly short break and what do I write about? Britney's new single. Great. Oh well - it's music and I have something to say about it so why not?

OK, so Britney's single was premiered on radio Tuesday night (here) and surprisingly, I gave it a chance (shows how bored I was when it came out). Naturally, I have comments.The song itself is good. I can't believe I'm saying it but the SONG - the melody, instrumental and arrangement are good. The middle 8 is strong (verging on brilliant, actually - I agree with Poster Girl!), the verses complimenting and the hook repetitive. The song as a whole is catchy and a strong pop song, what's more to ask? A lot, I'm afraid.

The lyrics are something 'Christian' (I put '' on that because people/religions who call themselves Christian and differentiate themselves from Catholics and Protestants are actually the exact same thing. Dammit.) conservative parents would love to have a stab at and something minors like me are apparently too young to hear. That's that safe answer - the lyrics are vulgar but look, this is a song, not a poem so who the hell cares what's in the lyrics? Since when did songs become all about the lyrics? UGH.

I cannot get over Britney's voice, I JUST CAN'T. She sucks, in my humble opinion. If someone else sang this song, say The Saturdays or The Sugababes, this would be the most phenomenal thing since anything. But no, this is Britney's song and her vocals on a scale of 1 to 10 are negative infinity. It's squeaky in all the wrong places, crackly when it's not supposed to be and annoying. Have I said that I hate her voice and it should just burn in hell?

So there. Short review but I've said all I have to - I like the song but not the singer.

So, 3/5 for the song - I take the vocals into consideration as well, I'm afraid - it's after all a part of the song.

A short, random update..

School has been a huge pain, and I've got a big debate tomorrow. Gar! Anyway, I've got time for a short updates. The reviews for the Britannia High Soundtrack and Take That's Circus will come sometime this weekend.

• I'm loving Lemar at the moment. The Reason is BRILLIANT.
• I'm almost done with listening to the Britannia High Soundtrack, and I'm loving what I'm hearing, some song are just pure genius.
• I've heard the new Take That album briefly, and there are a few songs that've caught my ear. One more listen and I'll have a solid opinion on the album.
• Speaking of Take That, I'm loving the b-sides to Greatest Day. Amazing stuff.
• I've heard Britney's new album as well, but I'm keeping my mouth shut. I don't want to get into any more trouble.
• I got this really rare CD by a Brit girl group called Tymes 4. If anyone's interested in reading what I think about it, just leave a comment and I'll gladly whip up a review for you when I have the time.
• Can I freak out? I'VE HEARD THE AUDIO OF THE NEW WESTLIFE DVD!!! I'm going to buy my copy of the DVD this weekend(Sony BMG Philippines said that it was released earlier this week, so I'll check out the local record store), and THE CONCERT WAS BRILLIANT. Everybody's voice was in top condition, and the vocals were just amazing. I was getting goosebumps all throughout the songs, and that was just the audio, what if I start watching the video? I might faint. I mean, the fact that there were 80,000+ fans there screaming their throats out, and being able to hear it on the DVD is just amazing.

Relatively short update, I've got a debate speech to write, that's enough heavy writing to do! haha.. Reviews are coming within the next days, so watch out, OK?

Things have been quite slow for me this week..

Seriously.

I got sick, missed out on 3/4 of the school week(my school week has four days in it, Mondays off!) and apparently, I missed out on some cool and not so cool stuff in music... check it out. Oh, and also included in this post are some of my re-discoveries and recent musical findings...

• Why did it not surprise me when I heard that Britney Spears is releasing an album and a single this year? Oh, right... MOVING ON,
• The new Leona Lewis song off her UK re-release is nothing special. I'm not a big fan of the rap at the start, but the chorus is not bad. Still, for me, 'Misses Glass' is the better track. You can hear it on the UK re-release of 'Spirit', which hits shelves on the UK on November 17 so get your copy, OK? OK.
• The single, 'Forgive Me', is nothing special as well. I kinda liked it when the album just came out last year but I'm afraid it doesn't quite cut it for me.. 
• I cannot get the new Christina Aguilera song out of my head! Seriously, it won't go away! Which prompted a look back at her music over the years, which I might write about in the coming week.. might.
• I found the European edition of Atomic Kitten's 'Feels So Good' in a bargain bin at my local record store yesterday. Just how lucky am I?
• I'm eagerly awaiting BoA's US debut, the song is absolutely phenomenal! Could we have another Leona Lewis(in a different way, I think Leona got too overrated after she cracked the US) in our hands? We'll wait and see.
• New HSM3 Songs are slowly leaking and coming out on iTunes, even a sampler has made its way into the blogs.
• I haven't listened to the new Pussycat Dolls album yet, but I'll get to doing that one of these days. Although I'm not really hot about them, they're worth one listen at the very least.
• Some cool new single/album covers just in(click to enlarge), I adore them! The colors on the Agnes one remind me of the new iPod Nanos(I'm getting one day after tomorrow!):

What to expect this week:

• Maybe a flashback to Christina Aguilera's debut album, it's definitely one of my favorites from the late 90's/early 2000's.
• A review of The Saturdays' new single, 'Up'?
• More random, spur of the moment, short reviews..
• And some unexpected stuff!

Britney Spears - Radar

Artist: Britney Spears
Album: Blackout
Year: 2007
Rating: 1.7/5

Warning: If you like Britney, DON'T READ THIS REVIEW. I hate her.

Oh yes, it's Britney Bitch! Haha, NO. I just don't get why everybody loves this album to death. Britney can't sing, her songs sound the same and the only reason why she's still around is because she gets involved in car crashes, gets arrested and has a sister who stars in a nick series which is crap.

I've heard the lead single, the worthless song 'Gimme More' and then was it 'Piece of Me'? Yeah. So now we have 'Radar', which isn't as bad as the other tracks but it's still a lame excuse for a song. Seriously, who likes this stuff? Oh, right.

Well, I hate it. Britney's voice goes into extremely annoying mode in this song, as if it wasn't already annoying to start with. Who the hell gave her a record deal in the first place? She doesn't have the voice, she doesn't have the songs, she's just 'pretty'. 

It's always been Britney vs. Christina but it's clear who wins there, Christina. Britney's no match for Christina's powerhouse vocals and not bad songs. Christina's vocals are amazing, mind-blowing, Britney's are nasal and annoying. There's no competition. Done deal.

This song is the best of the worst(if you make me review 'Gimme More', I'll die first, or give it a 0..). OK, maybe a little better but still, it's horrible. I mean, the annoying sound at the start just puts me off, big time. Then the vocals are so compressed, not that I actually enjoy Britney's vocals at all but still, the compression has got to stop. Then the lyrics. I mean, COME ON. The title is bad enough but gosh, I didn't know she could stoop this low.

I've heard four songs, I don't want to hear the rest. I don't want to suffer listening to songs that sound like this and her annoying voice. *throws up*