Sunrise

I fell head over heels for this song when I first heard it and every time it comes up on the playlist I smile. It transports me back to a time when everything was genuine and true in my life and hardship and heartbreak seemed miles from shore. The song is "Sunrise" by the immensely talented Norah Jones off of her 2004 release "Feels Like Home".

I don't know if it's the easy laid back feel of the song, the beautiful melody, or the piano, guitar, upright bass, and knuckles on wood accompaniment that makes this a favorite of mine. Maybe it's Norah's voice or just the overall sweet sentiment. It's a well arranged song and the voice layering is pitch perfect. I don't know about anyone else but this song definitely reminds me of home. That's why it'll always be a favorite of mine.

Luna Negra

One of my all time favorite songs is Luna Negra by Rey Ruiz. It's not one of my favorite salsa songs, it's one of my favorite songs period (and I don't even speak Spanish). Whenever I hear it I just want to dance and I always remember how I felt when I heard it the first time, it gave me goosebumps because I had never heard anything like it before. Sure I've heard some great salsa songs before ever hearing Luna Negra but for some reason this song struck a different chord in me and I was an instant fan.

It's a song about serious heartbreak and how a man finally knows what pain is like when his love walks out on him. He then sees a Black moon but holds on to the hope that one day he and his love will be re-united again to see another morning together. Ruiz' voice is like silk and the music with the muted horns is simply pure perfection.

Like I said earlier, Luna Negra is one of my all time favorite songs. If you take a listen to this classic it may become one of your all time favorite songs too (even if you don't speak Spanish). Enjoy!

E.R.

One of the most underrated soul and r&b singers to hit the scene in the past decade has to be without a doubt the artist simply named Joe. I am a fan of this talented man because he rarely ever lets me down. Usually he releases quality songs that are catchy and entertaining and why he's not on the level of an Usher or an R. Kelly is a true mystery. Maybe he needs to release a sex tape or something or get caught driving drunk. Maybe that would give his career the push it needs to get him out of the middle of the pack with the Avants and the like.

The song E.R. is a catchy and creative song that's a head nodder and foot tapper for sure. Off of his 2008 release New Man, E.R. was the first song on the album and it was a tone setter. The lyrics are witty and the hook is memorable and the song is layered in so many ways both vocally and musically which I like. It's a well arranged song and while Joe doesn't have the pipes of say a Jaheim, he's still a very capable singer and gets the most out his gift.

This song was the first single and it failed to catch on but I am a fan of this tune and of Joe's. Give it a chance and you may be too. Enjoy!

My Right Eye

I haven't blogged in a while for a few reasons. Some reasons were personal and one reason in particular was I was allowing some new readers to catch up from digging through the archives (there are a LOT of songs on this blog o'mine...lol). I'm back now though so I hope all you new people are all caught up, this train is about to leave the station and this is the perfect song to leave said station to. When I first heard this song I was struck by it's ethereal sound and it made me pay attention. The artist is Laurie Anderson and in this case the word artist fits perfectly. Laurie Anderson is not just a musician but a performance artist and sculptor.

My Right Eye is off of her 2010 album Homeland and it's not really a song I can break down, it's more a song you just have to listen to. A song you have to listen and pay attention too. It's a song with no real hook or structure but it's damn addictive. It's intense in it's easy nature and cinematic in sound and scope, like it could be the song the end titles run to at the end of a movie.

I don't know if this song will make you a fan of Laurie Anderson like it did me. I thought the song was worthy of being shared and listened to. I hope you enjoy it.

You Are Goodbye

Allow me to introduce to you the talented Holly Conlan and what I think is the most inventive break up song I have heard in a very long time. The song is called "You Are Goodbye" and what caught me initially about this young woman was her voice. It was just so real and not enhanced or improved with any studio tricks but the more I listened to her I realized she's a damn good songwriter. She reminded me almost instantly of another young singer songwriter that burst on the scene only to slowly fade away, Fiona Apple. And while Fiona and Holly are both talented singer-songwriters and both play piano that's where the comparisons stop.

"You Are Goodbye" is off her 2008 EP entitled Bird is a haunting song about remembering the pain that came from a relationship that slowly just went away. It's about how one person saw how things ended and coming to grips with it. There is no percussion in this song, it's just Holly, her piano, and accompanying keyboards. There's nothing to take away from her vocals. It was lyrics like "I remember "Go"/And I remember one "maybe you can wait"/I remember arms reached out too late" that made me sit up and pay closer attention.

A simple song that's not overly produced. Great lyrics, beautiful melody, and a distinctive voice makes this one of my favorite songs. I don't know if it'll be one of yours but take a listen because you never know.

Love's In Need of Love Today

And now for something completely different. This song is a bonafide classic and the sentiment is simply beautiful. Given to us to enjoy by the maestro Stevie Wonder, this song is timeless and for someone to disagree with that just doesn't know music, that's right I said it! The song is the beautiful Love's In Need of Love Today. I was raised on this song (my mom played the hell out of this song) and I thought it was time to bring Stevie to my blog. Now really I could have picked ANY song from his seminal masterpiece Songs In The Key of Life but it's this song that makes me just feel damn good.

It starts off as a public service announcement as Stevie addresses each and everyone of us that love is in trouble. After the harmonizing vocals he sings "Good morn or evening friends/Here's your friendly announcer/I have serious news to pass on to everybody" and he goes on to tell us that his words could mean the end of the world. He explains that we've basically taken loving one another for granted and that there's more hate in the world today because of that which pretty much makes this song timeless in my opinion. Think about it, very soon there will be another Presidential election and if you thought the divisiveness and discord was bad the last time around, just you wait.

My favorite part of this song is towards the end when Stevie, our "friendly announcer" asks the song to be brought down a level because love is very peaceful. The song goes out as it comes in, harmonious and easy. It is, quite simply music at it's very best. Enjoy!

If It Isn't Love

It's time to get cheesy. High time in fact and the cheese starts with this wonderful blast from my past. Starring the five of the most or should I say four of the most talentless brothers to ever grace a stage (Johnny Gill could actually sing). The group is New Edition and the song is If It Isn't Love. For me this is a fun song and I could use as much of that right now as I can get my hands on. I fired up the old ipod and turned on the trusted playlist and when this song hit my ears, I smiled.

Produced by the legendary hit makers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Love is a great song with a great sound. It turned out to be one of New Edition's biggest hits and a tentpole song on their 1988 album Heartbreak, the other smash hit off that album being Can You Stand The Rain. This grooving song powered Heartbreak to become a commercial success and it inspired four kids from Philadelphia to realize their dreams. They went on to form a group and named themselves after one of the songs off this album, Boys II Men.

Like I said this song makes me smile and I guess that's because it just oozes cheese. Or maybe it's because Ronny, Ricky, Mike, and Ralph basically showed me that yes even without any real singing abilities, success was possible (again Johnny Gill who replaced Bobby Brown could actually sing). Enjoy!