Friday, June 20, 2008

Live Blogging 20 on 20

My favorite radio station in the whole world is XM Radio's 20 on 20. It's like a candy store of music. The same songs in quick rotation. They have the top 20 a few times a day now, then the rest of the time it's just top songs, including of course some of the 20 that will make the top 20.

Lil Wayne - Lollipop -- I've heard this song a few times. It has a nice interplay of voices. Some of the vocals are overly filtered with effects. It mentions "Shorty" or "Shawty" a lot, like some of the other songs popular these days. There are a few drop-outs, probably censored bits. I haven't heard an uncensored version, but I have my suspicions about this "lollipop," if you know what I mean (nudge nudge). There's a real neat drum sound on this record, overly trebled, and it sounds cool. I've been thinking about it lately.

Coldplay - Viva la Vida -- This is a nice song. I got the CD the other day and I like it. I have the other Coldplay CDs and have heard them, especially X&Y, but I'm not so well versed like the gurus at All Music. com who must sit in ivory towers listening, charting, dissecting, and interacting with live hookups with every artist in the world. They know so much! I just say, cool song, cool album, etc. But I do like it. It starts off with a little tune, the same tune it ends with, so it's connected back on itself. I've noticed it's an easy CD to listen to while doing other things, not something that needs to be concentrated on or is intrusive. So, I really haven't noticed what the lyrics even are, on any of the songs, and I've heard the whole album four or five times. This song, the single, I've heard a lot more, since it's on 20 on 20 every hour or so. It has some nice strings, and a thicker sound, thanks to Eno, no doubt.

Jessie McCartney commercial -- Taking over 20 on 20 on Friday.

New Kids on the Block - Summer Time -- I've only heard this a couple times. I read about New Kids the other day, back together, doing a tour, with a CD. I myself wasn't a fan of the group. My kids liked them. We got one of their CDs at a garage sale in May, to fill in my daughter's collection. (By the way, I'm out of my Grandma Slump pathetic hayseed character for this post. So if you're worrying about continuity, don't. It's all fake.) This is a good song, affirmative, thinking about you in the summer time. The whole group's in on the vocals, of course. Sounds like a hit to me! Welcome back! I don't remember their names, Jordan, Donnie, that's all I got.

Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown - No Air -- This is a hot song. They did it together on American Idol and it was burning hot. I like it a lot. I've liked Jordin's singles, Tattoo and the other one, the name escapes me. Chris Brown always sounds good. It's a hot duet. "It's so hard for me to breathe. Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air." It's a song like this that makes 20 on 20 a candy store. If you like the colors and jars in a candy store, these songs are that. Classical music CD stores -- of which there must still be one somewhere -- are candy stores too. I used to see one at Westport at Kansas City, Missouri. Candy store.

Britney - Break the Ice -- I don't think I've heard this before. I haven't been on 20 on 20 that much lately, just in the last couple days, so I might've missed a few things. But it's time to get caught up. Less electronic effects on the vocals than on some of her recent singles. Sounds OK, but it's not engrained in me yet. Hmm, she says, "I like this part." I seem to remember that from another song. Didn't she say that in one of the other singles from the latest album? Plus I heard a song by some guys the other day where the guy says, "I like this part."

OK, we're at the top of the hour. Jessie McCartney is taking over, playing his top 20. Here he is, talking, speaking to us, updating us guys about what's going on. He's back in 2008 and hopefully it will be a great year. He's been working on a new album, has been working with a lot of R&B guys, and the album is a big step forward for him.

His first song played:

Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction -- Well, I have to go ... so we'll leave it there.

No comments: