A year in music
Wednesday 16 December 2009
Music know-it-all and Streetlife FM DJ Silver J is back! He rounds up 2009’s hottest albums and the news that rocked the music world.
2009 in music
2009 was a dramatic year in music. It was a good time for many, including stars like Lady Gaga, Chipmunk, Beyonce, N-Dubz and La Roux. Plus, Jay Sean managed to get to No. 1 stateside with ‘Down’.
Towards the end of the year, the X Factor contestants seemed to show up everywhere. The charts were consistently locked off by past and present contestants. Over the last nine weeks, the X Factor results show had premiered the return of Whitney Houston, Robbie Williams, Michael Buble, Westlife, Alicia Keys and Rihanna.
Headlines
2009 saw some beef erupt too. Eminem and Mariah Carey seemed to bash each other every chance they got. ‘Obsessed’ by Mariah, which was obviously aimed at Em, was one of my favourite music videos of the year. Shady’s reply, ‘The Warning’, was cool too.
As usual, Kanye made some noise as well. "Yo' Taylor, I’m really happy for you and I’m let you finish, but Beyonce had the best video of all time," he said, storming the stage at the MTV Music Awards and stealing the limelight from Taylor Swift. I loved Kanye’s honesty.
The biggest shock of 2009 though, had to be the death of the Michael Jackson. The world literally stood still.
Album alert
Michael Jackson – This Is It
Musically, ‘This Is It’ couldn’t be faulted. Everything from, ‘Wanna' Be Startin’ Somethin’ to ‘Man in The Mirror’ were classics. However, there was absolutely no need for this album. As a whole, it made me think - would MJ have approved this if he was still alive?
Disk two contained three demo recordings and a poem. It's a unique experience listening to demos, but they’re not really meant for release. They’re the musical equivalent of rough sketches.
Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster
What a year Gaga had. According to Last.fm, Gaga, who’s known for her wacky costumes and crazy tunes, was the most listened to artist online. Gaga’s tracks were played approximately 18.5 million times on the site. She was nominated for nine nominations at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, and she managed to win three including Best New Artist.
After her highly successful debut album, ‘The Fame’, everyone expected her second to deliver just as well. ‘Bad Romance’ was probably the best tune on the album. It had a catchy hook and hymn-like chants. As usual Gaga screeched her own name a lot – Gaga-ing.
‘Speechless’ was obviously Gaga’s favourite single. “It’s the greatest song I’ve ever recorded,” she stated - and it definitely delivered. It reminded me of a ‘70s style rock ballad. It was probably one of her most personal tracks. She slowed things down and crooned a lot – supposedly in appreciation of rock legends such as David Bowie and Freddie Mercury.
Chipmunk – I Am Chipmunk
Chippy was at the receiving end of a lot of criticism this year. Mostly for being too confident even though his tunes were a little dry. ‘Saviour’ and ‘Look For Me’ were, in my opinion, very poor. He addressed all his haters though. ‘No I don’t think I can sing, before you start getting all critical,’ Chippy said at the end of ‘Sometimes’.
You can tell that the album was well thought out. There was something for everyone. He also collaborated with loads of people, from Tinchy Stryder and N-Dubz. ‘Lose My Life’, Chip’s collaboration with Tulisa from N-Dubz was an ultimate tune!
Overall, his wordplay was respectable and I rated the fact that every tune had a concept. My main criticism though was that there were way too many instrumentals.
Beyonce – I Am...Sasha Fierce
B killed it in 2009. 'I am...Sasha Fierce' can only be described as a series of hits - Beyone was on fire this year. With 10 Grammy Award nominations, she got a lot of love for her third solo studio album.
However, I did have some problems with it. 'I Am...' (a.k.a disk one), was full of slow ballads like ‘If I Were a Boy’ and ‘Broken Hearted Girl’. There was only one tune that stuck out, ‘Halo’. ‘Sasha Fierce’ a.k.a disc two, however, was almost the opposite. It obviously represented her livelier, energetic side, but altogether the songs were a lot better.
See you in 2010.
