Best of 2009: June #6 - #1

June was the month of kpop for me - the top 2 songs are from Korean artists. Just guess who. LOL.

#6: Mitchel Musso - Hey

Although the rest of his debut album was a bit boring for me, I still think that Hey is brilliant. It's pop, it's rock and it's fun. You can't comfortably headbang to it or anything but it makes you happy and that's something to work on. He's not the best singer in the world and this isn't the most musically brilliant piece but it's got it's good moments, namely that gorgeous middle 8. LOVE the video as well.

#5: Kim Hyun Joong - Please Be Nice To Me

Hyun Joong, aside from being known as an actor and DBSK Jaejoong's best friend, actually made a pretty decent solo single this year. These are the types of songs I just like whether or not they're musically good or whatever - I just damn like the piano part and the melody.

#4: The Saturdays - Unofficial

There are a ton of other songs from them that I could've included on the list this year but I chose this because one, I adore it and two, it's the longest-running entry on my top 20. Yes, it stuck around for over 15 weeks before I 'forced' it off the chart. It stayed for good reasons though - it's such a gorgeous, gorgeous song.

#3: Ju-Taun - Let Me In

I had the honor of interviewing these guys earlier this year and I know for a fact that they should be bigger than they are at the moment. This song shows off their skill as a group and as individual singers as well as how musical they are. I love the attention on the real drums, the stunning melody and how the entire song just slides by - those 7 minutes won't seem like 7 minutes.

#2: SNSD- Genie

For all the criticism I and many others have about these 9 girls talent-wise, there's no denying that SME knows how to give them a damn good song. The production on this is outstanding - my dad agrees (and he never says that about the stuff I listen to) and the song itself has become a phenomenon. It wasn't the song that brought them to prominence (that was Gee, but now I refuse to listen to it's horrid-ness) but it was miles better. To be completely honest with you, I wasn't loving this song when I first heard it - it took a lot of time before I became addicted to it but I think that's the reason why I'm not sick of it yet. I can listen to this for a month straight and it wouldn't be a problem.

#1: Super Junior - It's You

2009 wasn't only SNSD's year, it was Super Junior's. Sorry Sorry took over the world (figuratively) but the second single off the hit album made me literally fall at my feet. It's You is a song that sounds the most brilliant, stunning and whatever other praise you can give it when played at extremely high volumes and in CD quality on extremely good speakers - I've tried and confirmed that fact. The gorgeous, gorgeous melody mixed with an epic instrumental that sounds stunning at high volumes made me start worshiping the ground these guys walk on. The vocals were also pretty good on this track, surprisingly.

The verdict on Mitchel Musso is..

Not good. Not good at all.

Well, not good enough for me to write a full-length review on.

The only non-single and new tracks worth listening to are Get Out, Movin' In and Stuck On You but even those don't make as much impact as Hey does.

The rest of the album is confused, generic and unentertaining. Heck, there are songs that sound exactly like each other but like I was telling my friend over the phone this morning, it's better than the Eoghan Quigg album.

But isn't anything better than that?

Disney got this guy completely and utterly wrong - Speed Dial was promising and Hey was brilliant but the album he delivered was sub-par. Not good enough to pass my standards, I'm afraid. A complete and utter waste - they guy had talent.

Hey still stands as one of the most brilliant Disney songs this year.

2.3/5 (the only thing bringing this rating up is the fact that Hey and Speed Dial are brilliant.)

Mitchel Musso + Industry

Mitchel Musso's debut album is shaping up to be quite interesting and somehow fantastic - a new song just leaked a few hours ago and it's by far the most brilliant song I've heard since I left for camp. Hey is a song that if tweaked a little would sound a lot like something on Hilary Duff's early albums. In short it's ultra Disney pop/rock and yet there's a part of it than can put him beside all the other male AC/pop artists. I don't know if it's his voice or the song itself but it's not something Disney would put on all their soundtracks and advertise like mad(which they probably won't seeing as this guy isn't as big a star as Miley or Selena) and I'm kinda thankful that it won't.

It's extremely catchy(I sang along when I first listened to it!) and it's actually a good song if you take the thing apart. A lot of commercial appeal outside Disney which is good for him. And the video. I took a film class last semester(and topped it, thank God) so I think I'm slightly qualified to talk about the video and may I say, I love the effects and the whole vibe is very current. Kudos to whoever made the video - brilliant.

Uh, 4.8/5

I put a comment on Poster Girl's post on this song after listening to it once but when I listened to the new Industry song AGAIN, I realized it has quite a few strong points. The main thing is that the bridges are absolutely divine and when I say divine I mean it. Add that to the extremely Swedish pop-like chorus and the only thing that's actually wrong with this song is the fact that the girls are screaming all throughout the not so good verses. It can get annoying at times but the only thing that keeps me sane while listening to this song are the gorgeous bridges. But I do love the way you can still

Oh, and a little info about this band - one of the girls(Michelle if I remember correctly who is apparently a very popular Irish model) was rejected by Louis Walsh and instead formed Industry. Just an observation though - the guy singing the bridges sounds a lot like Brian McFadden at certain parts.

4/5

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.

New Music!

Quite a number of new stuff. Some not as new but I haven't blogged about them yet so that's new! hahah.

• Everyone's gushing about the new Booty Luv single(which is still set for release later this year..) but I personally don't get it. I don't know if it's because it reminds me too much of something Lady GaGa could and would sing or if I just don't like it to start with. 
• I'm still addicted to Rain. I'm serious - if you haven't heard his 2008 album you're missing a heck of a lot. He puts Justin Timberlake to shame, if you were to ask me.
• Michael Johns' single Heart On Your Sleeve is impressive - but not my cup of tea. His voice is gorgeous and all but it reminds me of a 2006 single I can't quite pinpoint yet. All I know is that it reminds me of 2006 when I got addicted to MTV and the local music channel. Will do my research.
• Mitchel Musso's new single is even more impressive - I actually adore it. He reminds me of a more juvenile Teddy Geiger and that's a good thing(I think I've professed my love for him a few times already..). The melody's gorgeous and if he works a little more on the slightly wimpy voice and stick with an acoustic/piano thing, this song will work. Not a big fan of the very rock parts with heavy guitars and drums - I much prefer the start and the rather short middle-8.
• There's a new NLT song floating around called Magnetic and it reminds me waaaay too much of a Day26 song. Creepy.
• I think I've talked about Esmee Denters before in passing but I just got the HQ version of her single(late, I know. Forgive me.) and the song got even better. Definitely the new Gia Farrell although she better get an album release - the US lacks a big female pop star who makes brilliant pop songs.
• It's Your Dynamite, the b-side to GA's Untouchable is out. The verdict? Not so good. For now, at least. There's nothing special about the song or the melody - it's just a plain old recycled melody put on top of a loop stuck with a strange chorus. I might like it if I listen to it a bit more(ala-The Show) but for now, things aren't looking that good.
• It's all over the place but I should write something about Agnes' acoustic version of Release Me. I first heard it a few months ago(not sure exactly when..) when I was just announced as the second single and I thought it was brilliant. Now we have the studio mixed and 'sweetened' version and it's even betterrrrrrr! This seriously puts all those American pop stars who can't sing a note in tune live on their below-average songs they call 'pop'. hahah.
• One of my recent discoveries is Korean pop star/TV star Lee Hyori. Apparently she's gigantic in Korea and is constantly being linked to Rain(hmmmm.). She doesn't have the most gorgeous voice in the world but the song will stick in your head and refuse to leave, whether it's good or bad. Oh, and even if you can't understand 95% of the song, it's got a great melody.. Her album isn't that bad either - there are some cool R&B staples on it.