Dancing In The Dark by Bruce Springsteen

I love this song!!!!!!!! My friend has been telling me to leave Bruce alone. Lol! I guess its a new addiction. I recently bought his greatest hits album - Japanese version was a lot cheaper, hence, the whole sleeve is in Japanese so i can't read it! Anyway, this song just screamed out to me because I find myself kind of stuck in a rot at this very moment.

From the minute I heard the first verse, it got my attention

I get up in the evening, and I ain't got nothing to say

I come home in the moring, I go to bed feeling the same way

I ain't nothing but tired, man I'm just tired and bored with myself

Hey there baby, I could use just a little help

You can't start a fire, you can't start a fire without a spark

This gun's for hire even if we're just dancing in the dark

Ahh...just needing to find that spark to set things off. Whether it's another person, a new career...whatever. Great song!

Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams

So I've had the chance to listen to Solange's new album and I am impressed! I never thought I would ever say that about Solange Knowles...I just had her in my head as Beyonce's little sister. But it seems like she's out from under B's spotlight and has carved out her own niche. Her vocal range isn't as impressive as B's but I love that raspy thing she has going on in 'I decided'.

This album is a collection of 60s and 70s influenced R&B songs. The first single 'I decided' has really grown on me and I think its just hot. The song samples hand claps from The supremes' 1963 recording 'Where did our love go'. 'Sandcastle disco', the second single is a lot more pop-tastic. My other favourites are T.O.N.Y, White picket dreams and F* the industry (signed sincerely).

If you like Classic R&B, you must check it out!

'Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight' By Amos Lee

Hello out there, its been a while!! I'm no longer in the 'jumpin' mood so my playlist is going back to chilled and mellow. Amos Lee was recommended by my friend a couple of years back but only in the past month have i really sat down to give his work a chance and the result.....aMayzing!!! Seriously amazing. It makes me really angry that great music just kinda gets lost behind most of the garbage that gets into the charts these days. It's like you are constantly robbed of it unless you have a friend with great taste in music who is good at discovering what else if out there. I know he's successful and has notoriety but i still think he's really underrated.

The song 'Keep it Loose, Keep it tight' is pretty much self explanatory. It's about how people can lose sight of who they are and how money changes everyone for better or worse and how ultimately we are all the same. I guess its about his new found fame and money and how all this could change him and his relationships and the line "Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight" is a statement remind himself/us to just chill and don't get caught up!

Don't let me even get started on that voice. Saw a bunch of you tube videos of him in concert and FYI, he's sooooo much better live. How is that even possible?

Love it!! You know the drill. Press Play.

'Little miss obsessive' by Ashlee Simpson

Oooh just randomely discovered this version of Ashlee Simpson's 'Little Miss Obsessive'. I must admit I don't really pay attention to her music but most of the songs i've heard from her most recent album are actually okay.

I've been blasting the song on my new speakers since i found it...i don't think my flatmates appreciate it :-) Although some of them really deserve it! (That's another story)

photo: Geffen Records

'Love me or hate me' by Lady Sovereign

All I can say is THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!!!! Could this week have gone any slower? 9-5 seems to get harder and has me wishing i could go back to last year when i was at university when all i did was go to lectures and study time was my responsibility. If i failed then that was on me and me alone. Work is soooooo much different, being told what to do and sitting at a desk for 8 hours has never really been my thing and the early mornings and commute are threatening to give me a breakdown.

I was never the party girl at uni but right now all i want to do is jump up and down and scream at the top of my lungs and get temporarily deafened by bangin tunes! But I won't, because i can't :-) What i really need is some rest and relaxation. So i will do my clubbing from the comfort of my bedroom courtesy of my laptop.

This song by Lady Sovereign was a dance floor filler in 2007 and it probably still would be. Like her humour on this track and the music is da bomb.

'Warwick Avenue' by Duffy

It's been a tough week so far but I'm just thankful that there are only two days left of the week.

Today's song is Warwick Avenue by Duffy, I'm sure most people have heard her first single 'mercy' by now. She is part of the new 60s soul revival crowd that's hip right now.

The song is pretty self explanatory and i really think she 'brought it' on the vocals with this one.

Enjoy! Press Play

Picture: A&M Records

'Say (what you need to say)' by John Mayer

What? OK so it didn't take long for John Mayer to turn up here :-). I was having a conversation with 'S' about how i needed to talk to a certain person and how i need for us to have some important conversations before its too late (this is not something of a romantic nature BTW). Anyway, afterwards I'm chilling to Mayer and this song starts and I'm like snap!!

He was specially commissioned to write the song for the film 'The Bucket List' which is a story about two old guys on the verge of death who decide to make a list of things they want to do before they 'kick the bucket'. The song is quite high on the refrain but i love it. The message is simple. Don't bottle up your feelings and don't be afraid to say what's on your mind.

Favourite verse :

Walkin' like a one
man army/Fightin'
with the shadows in your head/Livin' out the same old moment/Knowin' you'd be better
off instead/If you could only...Say what you need to say

You know the drill! Press play.

'The Boxer' by Simon & Garfunkel

Yay! I likes me some folk rock. Simon & Garfunkel are like a comfort blanket for me, their music always reminds me of my daddy and growing up in Nigeria. He used to drive us to school and in the car we'd listen to this CD and i guess its stuck with me. My Dad has the best music taste and very eclectic too hence picking out CDs for him can be quite a daunting task but i always love the challenge :-)

Rolling Stone rated this song #105 on their list of 'The 500 greatest songs of all time'. It's featured on the duo's 'Bridge over troubled water' album and is pretty much about not letting life beat you down. Having that fighting spirit.

This verse just sums it all:

In the clearing stands a boxer/And a fighter by his trade/and he carries the
reminders/of ev'ry
glove that laid him down/or cut him till he cried out/In his anger and his
shame,"I am leaving, I am leaving."/But the fighter still
remains

I am crazy about the song's instrumental melody so after a little googling i found that the sound was created with a piccolo trumpet, steel pedal guitar and bass harmonica. According to sources, legendary drummer Hal Blaine created the huge drum sound during the chorus by banging a heavy chain against the concrete floor of an empty storage closet (You learn something new everyday!)

Press Play on the right!

'Waiting in Vain' by Bob Marley

So today is my birthday, Yay for me! I am currently jamming to my Bob Marley CD and chatting to my friend 'S'. One of my favourite Marley songs 'Waiting in Vain' just came up so that's what you are getting today.

Its a simple song but there is just something about it. Annie Lennox and floetry did a cover of this song but i would really like to see someone like John Mayer put his stamp on this song. I think his wicked guitar skills could totally kill it!

Press Play to listen.

'Music' by Joss Stone Feat Lauryn Hill

What's more fitting as my first post than this song? It's been out there for a while now but i only had it two months ago. I'm not a big fan of Joss Stone because most of the time she seems a little crazy and not quite with it, like she thinks she is re-incarnate of a 60s diva (lol! my mean streak). However, it is impossible for me to knock her talents as a musician and at the end of the day, isn't that what its all about...the MUSIC!

The song 'music' is off her third studio album, 'Introducing Joss Stone' and features Lauryn Hill. I love the tempo of the song and the lyrics pretty much describe how i would feel if it was suddenly pronounced that music is hence banished from the world...ok I wouldnt go as far as giving up my soul. I guess you could also interprete the lyrics as being about a person (i aint never been that high on anyone!). Some lines in the song also evoke thought about God and the way God feels towards us..."No limit to your mind/Your endless love is open/To every race and kind/Could it be your blood runs golden".

In an interview with VH1, Joss Stone said: "I really think that everybody goes through life looking for love in all the wrong places? in human beings. Unconditional love is impossible to get from a human being, but it's not impossible to get from music."

Listen to the track in the playlist in the sidebar.