If I could hand out album of the year award, I would seriously consider Jewel’s “Sweet and Wild” as one of the nominees. That is based on the 8,000 songs I have downloaded over one year (thank you Nokia). If you have heard Jewel singing live – which I did when I was working in [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Country Folk & Jazz'
Lisa Ekdahl – Give Me That Slow Knowing Smile – It’s Simply Heavenly Beautiful
July 16th, 2009 6 Comments
I would love to give her that slow knowing smile and make her say hey, hey, hey, hey. And we would say oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Just like her song. From the whistling in the beginning of “Give Me That Slow Knowing Smile”, the simple repetitive chords of an acoustic guitar and the harmonizing [...]
Tags: Lisa Ekdahl
Taylor Swift – Fearless – Less of Country and More of Pop This Time
February 8th, 2009 14 Comments
It is easy to forget that onto the second album, Taylor Swift is only 19 years old. 17 when she first released her debut that in my previous review, I have strong belief in her potential. In 2006, she topped the US Country chart while attaining a 5th on the US Billboard 200. “Fearless” topped all the [...]
Tags: Taylor Swift
Best of Olivia Ong – Didn’t Know That She Is a Singaporean Singer, Gasp!
October 15th, 2008 68 Comments
I may as well be the last Singaporean on earth to have heard of Olivia Ong. You know what it is like when you turn on your radio and people would ask, “Who’s that singer”? I got that a lot (from non-Singaporeans) when I put on Olivia’s compilation album, in a positive way. I confess [...]
Tags: Olivia Ong
Fredrika Stahl – Tributaries – A Playfully Girlie Pop Jazz Album Now With a Different Sound
July 26th, 2008 15 Comments
Young Swedish pop jazz singer and songwriter Fredrika Stahl’s 2nd album “Tributaries” got me initially disoriented and I couldn’t pinpoint what stands out in this new collection of songs. There seems to be a departure of style as this new album has a more fresh varied upbeat theatrical sound while her debut is more instrumentally driven [...]
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Taylor Swift – A Young Country Singer With Potential
March 24th, 2008 11 Comments
Look, to be able to release an independent record (2006) at the age of 16 written and co-written all the 11 tracks in her debut and be nominated as the Best New Artist for Grammy in 2008 certainly demands attention, if not respect. Taylor Swift does have a music talent and her voice does communicate a certain [...]
Tags: Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood’s Carnival Ride – Award Winning Albums Are Made Of This?
November 8th, 2007 2 Comments
To qualify the title of this review, I did not watch that particular season of American Idol when Carrie won the competition, nor her new album “Carnival Ride” has won any awards yet – which can just be an eventuality. I do like her debut pop country album “Some Hearts” and that has won her [...]
Tags: American Idol
Martina McBride’s Waking Up Laughing – Each Song Tells A Story Well
July 21st, 2007 4 Comments
15 years of music career, 9 studio albums and a greatest hits compilation, country singer Martina McBride’s new album “Waking Up Laughing” is packed with songs that have beautiful lyrics showcasing her superb soprano voice. Some label her as the Celine Dion of country music and I like how she makes an effort in telling [...]
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Lucinda Williams’s West – Tranforming Pain Into Beauty
June 8th, 2007 No Comments
There are albums that are meant to entertain. There are albums that are meant to be great background music – be it as driving in the car or chilling out with friends. And there are albums like Lincinda Williams’s “West” that are meant to be devoured – every note and every word. Listen to “West” [...]
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Fredrika Stahl’s Debut – A Good Pop Jazz Album
January 18th, 2007 1 Comment
I always try to keep a look out for newly released jazz albums because from where I come from, jazz albums are less common than other genres such as pop, rock, and hip hop. Once in a while, it is refreshing to listen to a little bit of [commercial] jazz (see footnote 1) for a [...]
Tags: Fredrika Stahl