Best of 2009: March #6 - #3

And we start another month - March was filled with milestones for me personally so how did the music I was listen to reflect that? LOL. Enough talking - let's get down to business.

#6: Hannah Montana - You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home
(view my first mention of the song)

Hannah Montana has remained a guilty pleasure of mine, I remember that the show premiered while I was at the height of my Disney addiction (fueled by HSM) in 6th grade. I may not like Miley's stuff as Miley (Party in the USA can burn in hell for all I care) but this is the one song that I liked from whichever identity of hers this year. ESPECIALLY the string section in the middle 8 - that did it for me.

#5: Corbin Bleu - Moments that Matter
(view my first review)

The first part of the year was pretty decent for Disney acts and Corbin Bleu is one of those that were blessed with decent songs this year. I've gushed like crazy about Moments That Matter - it's got a gorgeous piano part and although Corbin's vocals on the song are crap, the song is brilliant. The rest of the album sucks so I wouldn't bother but this is the one song you have to hear. Brilliance.

#4: Savannah Outen - If You Only Knew
(view my first mention of her)

YT sensation Savannah Outen has a gigantic, deep voice but I like the fact that they're not making her sing a bunch of ballads for 40 year-olds. If You Only Knew is pop/rock and the girl sells the song so well that I just have to listen to it again. Gorgeous melody, beautiful vocals and the whole song just works.

#3: Cassie - Let's Get Crazy

Cassie pretty much gave me my R&B fix when I was in 6th grade when her debut album was making a slight impact on American music - TRL in particular. Whenever I listen to her first and only studio album the first thing that pops into my head is TRL. Go figure. After a ton of songs being leaked, her sophomore album being pushed back for years now, and her kind of being MIA in terms of official singles and the actual album, Let's Get Crazy kinda fed my need for new music from her. She doesn't have the best voice, heck, it's not even note-worthy but I dunno - I just like her music.

Looking Ahead Part 2...

So it's May - four months of 2009 are done and over with. We got a few album releases and things have been quite slow these past few weeks but hopefully everything will go back into full swing soon enough. Who knows, we might get some albums in the coming weeks!

• From what I'm getting, Mitchel Musso is set to release a debut album 'sometime in the future'. I love Speed Dial, think it sounds like a Teddy Geiger song so I'll be looking forward to this.
• The BSB albummmmmmmm! From the demos we've been getting these past few days it seems really, really, good. Not only do they have Max Martin behind the whole thing(I assume he's working on at least most of the stuff...), the songs coming out just blow off all the competition. NLT, V Factory and Varsity - you're in for a lot of competition.
• Speaking of the new boybands, when will that Varsity Fanclub album ever come out? If they keep on pushing back the release date, we're gonna get bored of them and when we finally hear it we'll be unimpressed 'coz we've heard all their 'unreleased tracks'.
• Esmee Denters has really impressed me so far and she's only got one song out. She's out there somewhere recording so if we don't get an album from her by the first quarter of next year(that's my ultimatum), it's safe to say she's gone the Gia Farrell way. Amazing voice, great song - what more can I ask for? hahah.
• Nick Lachey seems to be planning a 'comeback'. Patience was disgusting but All In My Head redeemed the whole thing for me - at least now I'll try listening to the album when it comes out. I still have mixed feelings about this whole thing, mainly because I just can't stand his crappy Patience cover. Does he really think he can fool everyone by coming out with a cover of a gigantic hit from a British boyband? NO! hahah.
• I kinda got sick of the Ashley Tisdale song - that's bad. It's kinda like Just Dance, you listen to it more than a few times and it'll spill out of your ears like there's no tomorrow. There is already a tracklisting for Guilty Pleasure however.
• The biggest surprise of this year was the new Click Five song - I love it. Now if they don't push through with this style I'm going to track Eric Dill down, threaten him to go back to the Click Five and force the band to make another album like Greetings From Imrie House. Their lame 'we want to be FOB/Panic! At the Disco' thing is not working and it never will, no matter how hard they try.
• Leighton Meester signed a record deal a few weeks back. I so wanna know what she's gonna do - I'm curios. hahah. I do love that song she did the band though(Birthday?) - brilliance.
• Savannah Outen's album is definitely on my 'greatest expectations for 2009' list - the girl is fantastic. Take that Miley Cyrus and everyone else who Disney 'discovered' to replace you!(*ahem* Demi Lovato *ahem* Selena Gomez *ahem*)
• Mandy Moore's new album is shaping up to be somewhat brilliant - I Could Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week(phew! that was a loooooong title.) was great. Wasn't a big fan of the other full songs that leaked though. Still, the album will get a listen from me, that's for sure.
• Pixie Lott! We're getting major progress with her - Mama Do has a music video and I assume the single will be out in due time plus she's supporting The Saturdays so that has to count for something. I do hope the rest of her album is just as brilliant as everything we've heard so far - I don't want to hear a disappointing album in a few months.

So there you have it. As much as I say nothing's happening, this might be an indication that the best is indeed yet to come. If I missed anything note-worthy, tell me! hahah.

Savannah Outen - Unlock the Door

I know this girl been out for over a year now and her songs have been sitting in my library for the longest time but I only listened to them last week so forgive me...

No matter how much we criticize all these kids for making manufactured music and letting themselves be turned into record company puppets, there are always a few out of a generation that actually do the manufactured thing right. My generation had Hilary, this generation has Miley(even if her music sucks, she's still popular beyond belief) and Jordan Pruitt and the next generation has people like Savannah.

All of these girls start their music career with a song that'll be able to cross years - something adhering to the current trends yet something timeless, something tested and proven by the generation before them. Hilary had So Yesterday, Miley had Best of Both Worlds, Jordan had Jump to the Rhythm and Savannah had Goodbyes - all these songs are written with them in mind, to showcase something special about them to 'set them apart' from others. The reality is, they're not any different from all the other girls vying to be the best because they're all manufactured(duh..). You listen to these girls' singles(mainly Hilary, Jordan and Savannah) and you'll hear the similarities.

As they advance as an artist or as their first album approaches, they begin to either show even more similarities or grow into their own artists(the the company's help, of course.) - Hilary went the pop/rock then techno-ish and now club/dance while Miley went the country-rock way, with the occasional pop so where's Savannah gone?

The one-girl pop/rock band route.

Unlock the Door sounds like it could be on an Everlife album, in a good way. It may sound a lot like that but her grip on the genre's phenomenal and the song is so catchy you want to kill it. It's got a 'happy melody' that makes you want to dance around your room with hairbrush in hand a mime the song(I've tried it and yes, it's the perfect song for that!), which means it's perfect as the opening song of a DCOM which in turn might just catapult her to Disney stardom.

If Disney stardom means getting other people to hear her, then I'm all for it however if it means stripping her of the musical direction she's going in at the moment, then I'm against it 100%.

THE RATING: 5/5

New Music!

I can't help myself, there are quite a few things out. I'm almost done studying anyway! hmm.

• THE CRAIG DAVID CONCERT WAS SPECTACULAR. I promise to review the whole thing once all my requirements are done.. You had to be there to feel the brilliance.
• I've become a HUGE The Script fan. When I first heard them I thought they were this crappy Coldplay wannabe but then I turned the volume up and heard my dad's production in it. He didn't produce it, obviously, but all the qualities of something he'd produce were there and it made me tear up for some strange reason.
• Ronan Keating's cover album is out at it's number one in the UK. Not a big fan of the covers(Carrickfergus was better when Charlotte Church did it.), but hey - he's got four number one albums so you gotta hand it to him.
• Two new Mandy Moore songs are out. They're OK, but I Could Break Your Heart.... is still the best new song so far. Will be waiting for the album!
• Esmee Denters has a new song out - AND IT'S BRILLIANT. Just when I thought Gia Farrell would never come back, here's someone who sounds a lot like her! yay! hahah.
• Well, Kian Egan and Louis Walsh's STILL unnamed girl band had an Irish TV appearance the other day, singing a Dixie Chicks cover. They apparently have competition now, the new girl group with a girl who didn't get a place in the other band are rumored to record the new Grey's Anatomy theme song. This is WAR.
• Last year's Swedish Idol winner has an album out. There are some gorgeous songs on it but once again, there's no cohesion. They're nice songs to listen to though. I might review it after exams.
• Savannah Outen has a new song for this charity out and she sounds a lot like Jordan Pruitt at the start and though I will forever love Jordan Pruitt(and her utter brilliance), Savannah can be jaw-dropping at times.
• Pixie Lott got her first play Radio 2 some time back! Congrats!!!!!!
• I got re-addicted to Guy Sebastian some time back. I might do a few reviews as well... yay!
• Taylor Swift's song for the Hannah Montana movie has a video out already and may I say, it's the only good part of the whole soundtrack.
• Hold on, I thought the video for Moments That Matter was out already? Apparently not, here's a new one.
• Girls Aloud's new video is out. The album version was amazing, and I love the fact that Nicola sings first but something in the single mix and the video makes me uneasy about the whole thing. I'd love Revolution in the Head as a single though! haha.
  
  
  I guess that's it! Back to studying. Asian economics, systems of quadratic equations, uniform accelerated motion, Newton's laws of motion, Filipino short stories(which are like 10 pages each..), adverbial clauses of concession, congruence postulates, and everything else! UGH.