B'DAY by BEYONCE (2006)

Tracklist:

1. Deja-VU

2. Upgrade U

3. Get Me Bodied

4. Suga Mama

5. Ring The Alarm

6. Kitty Kat

7. Freakum Dress

8. Green Light

9. Irreplacable

10. Resentment

Beyonce has finally come up with her 2nd album, a follow up to her worldwide success of debut solo effort, Dangerously In Love. B'day is a birth to music industry with another quality worth buying collection of R&B tracks. I really fancy this album since the tracks are quite new to my ears. Congratulations to Beyonce for being creative enough to feed her listeners with some new cool songs. Generally, Beyonce and her co-producers seem to explore more varieties to the sounds in this album. Heavy drums, heavy beats, heavy sounds, and live instruments sound really fascinating. However, there is something that I find could be the minus point to this album. She is great singer but she showed off too much of her vocal prowess.The result is, she is rather screaming than singing in some of her songs. Poor her, she maybe forget that good vocal means good control.

1.Deja-Vu: At 1st, I had a hard time to like this song. It isn't cathy as Crazy In Love. But it's still enjoyable and listenable. The rythms are quite flat but the lyrics is brilliant. I'm torn between saying this is better or worse compared to Crazy In Love. Owh ya, towards the end of the song, I'm not suprised you are devastated of how much she showed too much of her vocal capabilities. The ending turns ungly than aspiring to wrap up the whole song...

2. Upgrade U: Tired of dancing to Deja-Vu?This one is designed to slow down your tempo!It's such a soothing mid tempo hip hop track. As usual, a little help from Jay-Z is needed to make this track more enjoyable.

3. Get Me Bodied: I was really impressed that Beyonce could come up with this song. You can dance like a Bhangra with this tune. This track sounds more like a Bollywood soundtrack. An interesting song for you to Shake Your Booty!

4. Sugamama - Another good song which really tests Beyonce's vocal capabilties. This song needs only the right soulful diva to deliver the tune.And Beyonce is the one. The formula is still the same with Work It Out. Heavy drumbeats and live instruments...Only the lyrics is different.

5. Ring The Alarm - The only thing you could remember about this song is a range of annoying sirens to mark the beginning fo the song. The sounds are too 'alarming' that only big woofers can present the distinctive sounds in this piece of work. The sirens often time overcasts the other musical instruments and you won't be suprised why you don't like the song. Perhaps after you watch her recent VMA 2006 performance of this song, you could deny this fact. At least she performed it very well on stage despite the poor musical arrangement in this song.

6. Kitty Kat - This is rather an extra track when Beyonce does not have enough songs to include in her album. The sound is too easy, nothing to say WOW about it. A typical Destiny's Child sound.

7. Freakum Dress - I think this can be Ring The Alarm part 2 but the arrangement in this song is way much better.

8. Green Light - If all the other songs are too bouncy for you, this one is more decent in beats. You can dance to the right and to the left as this song can make you feel good time.

9. Irreplacable - Irreplacable and Turntable(by TLC). The title is alike and guitar strings are also alike,....hurmm is it from the same song writer(s)?. I'm quite relieved that we at least have a ballad song to die for.

10. Resentment - Soull influence brings us to the Motown era in this song. Maybe this will be featured in her upcoming movie, Dreamgirls.Who knows??

SCORE: 81

Recommended Songs: Deja-Vu, Suga Mama, Get Me Bodied

ARCTIC MONKEYS WON!!!

LONDON (Reuters) - The Arctic Monkeys, who shot to fame on the Internet and broke all records with their debut, won the coveted Mercury Prize on Tuesday for the best British album of the year.

"It's good tunes -- that's what we try to do," said frontman Alex Turner after the group accepted the 20,000 pound award.

The Mercury Prize judges tend to court controversy every year by picking quirky and offbeat winners rather than chart-topping blockbusters.

This year was a glaring exception with the prize going to the Arctic Monkeys who in January smashed the British record for the fastest-selling debut album.

"Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not" sold over 363,700 copies in its first week.

Even Turner admitted to being surprised that they had won. "Normally it doesn't go to a band that has sold as many albums as we have. But we are very pleased with it," he said.

The Arctic Monkeys handed out free CDs of their music at early gigs which were in turn downloaded onto the Internet by fans and sent across cyberspace.

They were surprised as anyone when crowds at concerts then began singing back the words as they performed.

For the Mercury, first awarded in 1992, the quality of the music, not the weight of album sales is normally the prime consideration.

In 1994, M People's "Elegant Slumming" beat competition from Blur, Pulp and the Prodigy -- much to the surprise of the music press.

Last year Antony and the Johnsons won the prize for "I Am A Bird Now". Lead singer Antony Hegarty, while born in England, spent more than 20 years in the United States, raising questions about his eligibility for the award.

The nominated albums for the 2006 award were:

Arctic Monkeys - "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not".

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - "Ballad of the Broken Seas".

Editors - "The Back Room".

Guillemots - "Through the Windowpane".

Richard Hawley - "Coles Corner".

Hot Chip - "The Warning".

Muse - "Black Holes & Revelations".

Zoe Rahman - "Melting Pot".

Lou Rhodes - "Beloved One".

Scritti Politti- "White Bread Black Beer".

Sway - "This is My Demo".

Thom Yorke - "The Eraser".

WHAT'S MORE TO COME???

Hi guys, in the next posts, I'll bring you single reviews and album reviews. My first album reviews would be Beyonce's B'Day, Breaking Benjamin's Phobia, and Basement Jaxx's Crazy Itch Radio. We will also look at at the latest singles from Paolo Nutini, Lily Allen, Jesse McCartney, Evanescence and Beyonce:

1. Jenny, Don't Be Hasty (These Streets) - Paolo Nutini
2. LDN (Alright Still) - Lily Allen
3. Right Where You Want Me (Right Where You Want Me) - Jesse McCartney

4. Call Me When You're Sober (The Open Door) - Evanescence
5. Ring The Alarm (B'Day) - Beyonce Knowles

In the meantime, this is where you can find reviews for most major records:
http://www.metacritic.com/music

UK TOP 40 SINGLES CHART WEEK ENDING 05/09/2006

UK TOP 40 SINGLES CHART WEEK ENDING 05/09/2006
Here is the latest UK Top 40 singles chart:

1. SexyBack – Justin Timberlake feat. Timbaland
2. Hips Don’t Lie – Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean
3. Deja-Vu – Beyonce Knowles
4. Scissor Sisters – I Don’t Feel Like Dancing
5. Fratellis – Chelsea Dagger
6. Ridin’ – Chamillionaire feat Krayzie Bone
7. Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol
8. Love Don’t Let Me Go – David Guetta feat. The Egg
9. Me & U – Cassie
10. Everytime We Touch – Cascada

BILLBOARD 100 SINGLES CHART WEEK ENDING 05/09/2006

BILLBOARD 100 SINGLES CHART WEEK ENDING 05/09/2006

Here is the latest Billboard 100 singles chart:

1. SexyBack – Justin Timberlake feat. Timbaland
2. London Bridge - Fergie
3. (When you gonna) Give It Up To Me – Sean Paul feat. Keyshia Cole
4. Crazy – Gnarls Barkley
5. Buttons – The Pussycat Dolls feat. Snoop Dog
6. Promiscuous – Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland
7. Me & U – Cassie
8. Show Stopper – Danity Kane
9. Sexy Love – Ne-Yo
10. Call Me When You’re Sober – Evanescence

SexyBack steals the limelight for this week’s chart by climbing high to the no.1 spot from no.31. What a huge progress on the chart!A day after his wonderful VMA 2006 performance, the single digital download sale has shown an impressive 250,000 which set a new record in the digital sales record history, the best selling single for a day. It kicked out Fergie’s London Bridge from a 3 week reign of no.1. It settled at no.2 while Sean Paul’s Give It up To Me is rising high to the top of the chart to be in the top 3,at no.3. Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy slipped to no.4. Wonder if this infectious rich guitar string sounds and easy to sing along lyrics could ever make to no.1 after spending 17 weeks on the chart…..Well, at least it still receives a massive airplay! It is non mover for Pussycat Dolls, at no.5, 1 spot above Nelly Furtado’s Promiscuous this week. Cassie is still doing strong with her debut single, Me&U at 7. This single is currently also doing pretty well in the UK Top 40. Hm…good for her then. The 2^nd highest entry to the top 10 list is Diddy’s Girls, Danity Kane. With their debut album already at no.1 this week, they come up with Show Stopper. The single stays at no. 8 while Ne-Yo's Sexy Love is quite comfortable at no. 9 for 2 weeks in a row. Evanvescence’s Call Me When You’re Sober also made a promising move,at 10, up 15 notches from no.25.

Trivia

SexyBack is Justin's 1st no.1 single in the US and suprisingly also his 1st no.1 hit in the UK Top 40. Since the single scored no.1, Justin had to cancel the plan to release his 2nd single this soon, which initially due to its poor performance in the singles chart over the past 7 weeks. This single is the 2nd single to ever scored no.1 silmultaneously in both US&UK chart this year after Promiscuous. This also means Timbaland, the producer for both songs, already have 2 no.1 hits this year...yeah...he's gonna be really really RICH! Justin Timberlake's latest album, FutureSex/LoveSounds will be released 11/09/06 in the UK and 12/09/06 worldwide. I myself can wait to grab one!

Fergie has been crticised because she has mistaken London Bridge with Tower Bridge in both her video and single's cover. All she is singing is LOndon Bridge but she ends up showing Tower Bridge in her video and cover....

Crazy by Gnarls Barkely once debut at no.1 in the UK Top 40 based on digital download sale alone!

This is my first chart review or rather report, so if you have any comments about it, i would like to hear them..cheers!

HI EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS IS MY VERY FIRST BLOG...IN HERE, YOU'LL FIND THE LATEST ABOUT MUSIC, CHARTS, REVIEWS, TRIVIA, HISTORY, AWARDS, BEHIND THE SCENES AND MUCH MORE..SO KEEP CHECKING AND KEEP SURFING MY BLOG!(CREDIT:THANKS TO AINEE FOR THE SUPPORT)