_berg loves pizza_

Idol Chitchat

It’s idol season once again on tv. Since its no secret that I watch the show, I’m going to share with you guys who my bets are. And by “bets”, I mean the ones I want to do well enough to get into the top 12.

Didi Benami – Love her already! She’s like Brooke White 2.0 hehe. Hope she doesn’t crash and burn as the show progresses. Love the artists in her list of influences… Adele, Sheryl Crow, Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan, John Lennon, JASON REEVES! “Terrified” anyone? hehe! Good luck, Brooke! I mean, errr…. Didi!

Andrew Garcia – I’ve been a fan of this guy for some time now on youtube. I like his musicality and all but I don’t think he knows his genre yet. He’s like Danny Gokey but more talented in that he plays the guitar and the piano, and he knows how to flip songs his way. We’ve heard his take on Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up”, and we all know that went well.  But let’s wait and see how far he goes in the competition.

Crystal Bowersox – This girl right here is the real deal. I love that she cited Glen Hansard and Ray LaMontagne among her list of musical influences. She gets bonus points right there from me. And also, I love how she didn’t attack mainstream music during her interview, just mentioning how it currently needs a wake-up call.  That’s nice. She seems nice, too. Many of her peers seem to like her. I have a feeling she will go very far, if not win this whole thing this year. If she does, she will be the most credible winner yet. Or maybe that’s just me falling for how idol is packaging her up to be haha. And oh another one… I love that she’s not afraid to show the world that her teeth are yellow haha.

Casey James – I didn’t watch the auditions. I only started watching from Hollywood week onwards so I don’t know what’s up with this guy and Kara. But I liked what I heard from him during Hollywood week. His bluesy kind of rock reminds me of Bo Bice from Season 4. His guitar-playing was good. I just wish he moved more during performing and not just stand right there like a tree.

Siobhan Magnus – I love that they’re keeping her as low profile as possible because then people are going to get more curious about her. I loved what I heard from her during Hollywood week, strong voice, quirky personality. She’s like the little one that could, the one everybody would love to root for because she’s such an underdog. Great mix of artists cited as her musical influences. I have a good feeling she will surprise us bigtime like Elliott Yamin did in Season 5.

Lee Dewyze – He’s been downplayed all throughout the auditions and was only shown in snippets during Hollywood week. And yet, he was among the first group of seven to find out that he’s in the top 24. If I remember correctly, Kelly Clarkson was never featured prior to the semi-finals, Elliott Yamin was also downplayed, and Kris Allen from last year was the same. I think, this guy is this season’s little surprise. I’ve seen his videos on youtube and boy are you guys in for a very nice surprise. If he picks the right songs and keeps his cool, its goodbye yet again to a girl’s chances of winning the idol title this year.

Other contestants on my radar include: Lilly Scott (because her looks kinda throw me off a bit in a good way and she seems Lilith-ready haha), Alex Lambert (because he can play the ukulele and he sounds good), Haeley Vaughn (because she’s bubbly and not the typical country singer for obvious reasons), and John Park (for listing down Marc Broussard as a musical influence and being asian lol),.

There you go. I’ll serve you guys another platter of my idol opinions a few days before the Top 12 competition starts. We’ll rank the hopefuls when that time comes coz by then we would have had three weeks worth of performances to base our rankings on. See you in three weeks!

contestants’ photos are from americanidol.com

I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart

The last time we heard from Butch Walker on this blog was when he released a song with Pink almost two years ago. Well, technically we heard from him last year since he produced much of Weezer’s new album Raditude. Just wanna tell you guys who may be looking for something to buy this week that he’s releasing his fifth full-length studio album tomorrow. The album is called I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart… haha I love it! Its a mix of rock and americana… very organic which is not really a surprise coming from this talented musician. The songs on there tackle life’s beginnings, endings, and the in-betweens… not too bad, right? This particular release was recorded with his band, hence the added “and The Black Widows” to the album’s artist credit.

His first single from this album, “Trash Day”, is currently inside the Top 40 of the US Hot AC charts and still climbing. It talks about the absurdity of modern life, wrapped in a catchy hook and organic production. Chances are you haven’t heard it so we have it right here for your listening pleasure.

Butch Walker – “Trash Day“

As a bonus, check out Butch’s cover of Taylor Swift’s overplayed pop hit “You Belong With Me”. He flipped it, it sounds cute haha. Now, all the Taylor haters out there listen up coz this is proof that she may not be the best singer in the world but her songwriting abilities are quite commendable for something that was written when she was just fifteen. (Of course, just don’t mind the fairytales, love stories, rainbows, princes, crying, and such.)

Butch Walker – “You Belong With Me” (Taylor Swift cover)

Buy the album when it comes out this week!

And It Hurts with Every Heartbeat

Do those words ring a bell? It’s from Swedish pop star Robyn’s collaboration with Kleerup called “With Every Heartbeat”, a UK number one single from 2007, and in my opinion (as well as many others) one of the best songs to come out that year.

The electronic/dance/pop production plays down the song’s emotional lyrics which in a way makes the song more interesting and a little more appealing. But when done acoustically, the pain really comes out from this song. Robyn has performed this one acoustic for several instances in the past, including a well-talked about performance she did for BBC’s Radio One which I believe contributed a lot to making the song shoot up to #1 in the UK.

Now that we have established some of the song’s most noteworthy credentials, I give to you a different version of the same song. A cover from Canadian band The Rest, which transforms the song into something that sounds Arcade Fire-ish (in my opinion). I think this particular cover is brilliant. Then again, the song is already pure brilliance by itself.

The Rest – “With Every Heartbeat“ (originally by Kleerup feat. Robyn)

[Awesome Covers!] Watch out for more great cover versions in the coming days.

One Too Many Hearts

Before the day is over, I just want to greet everyone out there a Happy Valentine’s Day! and while I’m at it, Happy Chinese New Year na din to everyone celebrating it.

I had an unusual V-day today… started the day joining a marathon, a “fun” run as they called it. Nothing big, just 5k. I was so proud of myself for finishing it haha. Thanks to M & S and the rest of Team R.H. for making it fun. Next week I’ll be joining another one… 7k this time… upping the ante a little bit hehe. Had a nice breakfast with M & S somewhere in town with nice interiors, I dubbed it morning clubbing haha. Then I slept the entire afternoon off while there was a power outage for hours. Thank God it was just a power outage and not our electricity being cut off… have not paid the electricity bill yet kasi… no maneh! My mission for the week will be to rob a bank to pay for the piled up bills. Don’t tell anyone!

Can’t leave you guys off without some music now, can I? Check out the songs below:

Para sa mga contentong mag-isa (for now)

John Mayer – “Perfectly Lonely“
(from his 2009 album Battle Studies)

Para sa mga nag-attempt (but di na-reciprocate ang efforts) *ahem*

Jason Reeves – “Careless“
(from his 2009 EP Patience For The Waiting)

Para sa mga umaasa (kahit katiting na lang ang chance)

The Bird and The Bee – “Tonight You Belong To Me“
(from their 2008 EP One Too Many Hearts)

At para sa mga may minamahal

Richard Hawley – “Baby You’re My Light“
(from the soundtrack to the 2008 film Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist)

bonus: feel-good music for the day (whatever your current relationship status is)

Ulrich Schnauss – “Passing By“
(from Volume 2 of the soundtrack to the 2005 film Elizabethtown)

and the official song for the day

you can download this song (”Valentine”) from Kina Grannis (a youtube favorite of mine) for free on her official website www.kinagrannis.com

HAPPY HEARTS DAY!

photo by: SweetsbyZoe

Change of Time

Josh Ritter! This guy’s songwriting skills never ceases to amaze me. The past couple albums have been career-defining for him in my opinion, but he is still largely unknown to the rest of the world outside of the critic’s lists, indie write-ups and multiple features. His music needs to be heard!

After over a year in the making, his new record So Runs The World Away finally comes out on May 4th 2010. But why wait till then to hear new music from him? Josh was generous enough to release one of the new songs off the new record for free download. This should be more than enough to appease the fans till the album comes out as it is yet another masterpiece from the guy. Why he isn’t bigger than he currently is baffles me. Anyway, here is the awesome song mentioned above. It’s called “Change of Time”. Lyrics included, to convince you even more.

Josh Ritter – “Change of Time“

I had a dream last night
I dreamt that I was swimming
And the stars up above
Directionless and drifting
Somewhere in the dark
Were the sirens and the thunder
And around me as I swam
The drifters who’d gone under

Time, love
Time, love
Time, love
It’s only a change of time

I had a dream last night
And rusting far below me
Battered hulls and broken hardships
Leviathan and Lonely
I was thirsty so I drank
And though it was salt water
There was something ‘bout the way
It tasted so familiar

The black clouds I’m hanging
This anchor I’m dragging
The sails of memory rip open in silence
We cut through the lowlands
All hands through the saltlands
The white caps of memory
Confusing and violent

I had a dream last night
And when I opened my eyes
Your shoulder blade, your spine
Were shorelines in the moon light
New worlds for the weary
New lands for the living
I could make it if I tried
I closed my eyes I kept on swimming

(rough seas, they carry me wherever I go)

Pick up a copy of So Runs The World Away when it comes out in May. Even without hearing it all yet, I can already confidently say that you won’t be disappointed. (And just in case you didn’t know, you can download the song above by right-clicking on the song’s title just a heads up.)

Apple’s New iPad

What’s all the fuss about the new iPad? MadTV was way ahead of Steve Jobs hahaha…

note: this came out around 2007

Too bad MadTV is no longer on the air.

You I Wind Land And Sea

You I Wind Land And Sea. That’s the title of Justin Nozuka’s new album coming out at the end of March. Color me excited! I’ve been looking forward to an album’s worth of new songs from him ever since he topped my year-end list of fave albums last 2007.  I’m not setting my expectations high though, coz Holly was pretty brilliant. But if the new single is any indication, I’d say he’s on the right track to at least equal the quality of his first record.

The single is called “My Heart Is Yours”… the title explains it all, this is not in the league of “Mr. Therapy Man” (which I still love to this day just like I did when I heard it for the first time) or “Criminal”, this is more like “Golden Train”. Its light and breezy and full of feel-good sentiments just in time for Valentine’s Day this Sunday haha.

For those of you who don’t know the guy, Justin is a Canadian singer-songwriter who does acoustic soul music with great enough potential to follow in Ray LaMontagne’s footsteps when he matures. He is still far from that now, but there’s still time coz he’s only 21 years old. Don’t let his age fool you, his music speaks far more than his age would lead you to believe. Though this new single is not exactly a solid proof of that statement, many of his other songs are. That aside, I love the new single… it puts a smile on my face.

Justin Nozuka – “My Heart Is Yours“

The single is now available for purchase via iTunes Canada. Get a copy of the new album when it comes out!