Two Moo's & A Foo

HANG-OVER EFFECT AFTER THE 2009 AMA, LAMBERT'S SHOW GETS CANCELLED WHILE JLO IN TOTAL DENIAL 

Both Taylor Swift and Michael Jackson were the big winners at the recent AMA, but it was Swift who bagged the Artist of the Year title that night. Swift took home 5 awards including Female Artist for both Pop-Rock and Country categories, and Album for Country. MJ on the other hand won 4 in total, Male Artist for both Pop-Rock and Sould-R&B categories and Album for both the same categories. Black Eyed Peas and Jay-Z were also doing well where each took home 2 awards. Beyonce was given the award for Female Artist for Soul-R&B.

Quite a few shockers took place that night, but Jennifer Lopez and Adam Lambert made the biggest impression. Lambert closed the show with his provocative and controversial performance of his new single For Your Entertainment, with his stage antics indulged in both sexual and S&M theme, including walking with a male dancer on a leash, pushing another dancer's face against his crotch and finally dropping the biggest bomb that night as he kissed one of them on stage, sparking both positive feedback and complaints from public.

ABC has also decided to cancel his show on the Good Morning America program, where their spokesperson said, “Given his controversial American Music Awards performance, we were concerned about airing a similar concert so early in the morning.” 

While Lambert made his statement intentionally, JLo on the other hand did not plan for hers at all, as she falls right on her biggest selling 'asset' during her performance. Credit given for her quick recovery on stage, but rather than being gracious and grounded for the fall, she decided to do the oppostive when Ryan Seacrest interviewed her during his KISS FM Radio Show. She jokingly said “Did I trip a little bit? I don’t even remember.” When Seacrest commended her for the great recovery, she then coyly added to her not-so-funny joke "I meant to do that. What are you talking about? Don’t you know me better than that? It was part of the choreography!" And it didn't just end there, she decided to proclaim it herself, trying to squeeze whatever pride that's left of her embarassing act on stage by saying “The measure of things is, it’s not what happens when you fall, it’s how you handle it when you fall.” Very gracious JLo, well done.

Janet Jackson gave an opening act with a medley of some of her greatest hits, showing that she can still move, but perhaps not too much can be said of for her vocals as she was miming all the way. I particularly liked Kelly Clarkson's performance as she tones down her current hit Already Gone. Already a big fan of that track, I equally enjoyed her mellowed version that night.

The night was also accompanied by Lady GaGa's performance of Bad Romance and the song she sang about her father, Speechless. The performance was filled with the usual GaGa antics, including her crashing a glass panel to reveal a piano which she played on for her second track.

Here's the full list of winners that night:  

 

Artist of the Year: Taylor Swift

Pop-Rock
Male artist: Michael Jackson
Female artist: Taylor Swift
Band, duo or group: Black Eyed Peas
Album: Michael Jackson, "Number Ones"

Soul-R&B
Male artist: Michael Jackson
Female artist: Beyonce
Band, duo or group: Black Eyed Peas
Album: Michael Jackson, "Number Ones"

Rap-Hip-Hop
Artist: Jay-Z
Album: Jay-Z, "Blueprint 3"

Country
Male artist: Keith Urban
Female artist: Taylor Swift
Band, duo or group: Rascal Flatts
Album: Taylor Swift, "Fearless"

Other Genres
Adult Contemporary: Taylor Swift
Alternative Rock: Green Day
Latin: Aventura
Contemporary Inspirational: Mary Mary
Soundtrack Album: "Twilight Soundtrack"
T-Mobile Breakthrough Artist Award: Gloriana

International Award of Excellence: Whitney Houston

BEYONCE AND LADY GAGA'S DOUBLE COLLABORATION

Not a surprising work-together as they are both two of the most hyped about female artists lately, but it is a shocker when both Beyonce and Lady GaGa released not one but two singles. First was Beyonce's Videophone, released as the eighth single from her I Am...Sasha Fierce album.

Before it was released, this song has already hit the Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number fourteen, soon after the album's release in late 2008, due to airplay and strong digital sales. Lady Gaga was included in the extended remixed version as its official release in 2009, where the song makes I Am... Sasha Fierce the first album of the 21st century to have seven entries on the U.S. R&B chart. The song has received mixed reviews and for me it wasn't one of the stronger tracks from the album. A radio-friendly tune, but may not be a chart topper. With the infusion of GaGa's touch, who knows it may just hit Top 10 at the Billboard charts.

Next it's Lady GaGa's turn as she releases her single from her upcoming second studio album, The Fame Monster, where the single was coincidentally titled Telephone. It took me a few listen before taking a liking to it. Catchy and a great tune to play out loud in your car, likely to give GaGa her 6th Top 10 hit at the Billboard.

Free MP3 Download:-

To download Beyonce's Videophone CLICK HERE

To download Lady GaGa's Telephone CLICK HERE 

Note : Free MP3s at 2M1F are not of crystal clear quality, do support our artists by buying the orignals

RIHANNA BACK WITH A STRONG MESSAGE

After the much talked about brutal attack case of Rihanna and her ex Chris Brown, her highly anticipated come back album titled Rated R is due to be released on the 20 November 2009. Russian Roulette was released as the lead single on 20 October 2009, earning generally positive reviews, for both vocal and tune.The single debuted at #100 on the Billboard Hot 100, reached #75 the following week, and has since shot up the chart to #9, giving the Bajan R&B singer her twelve Top 10 hit. Written by Rihanna herself and Ne-Yo, the song introduces quite a surprising tune, different from the usual pop-R&B genre we are expecting. Ne-Yo shared that Rihanna had requested for the sombre vibe to the song, "She wanted to be dark, but not just dark for the sake of being dark. Dark with kind of a meaning, dark with some kind of thing to it." He added that he came up with the haunting Russian roulette theme which is a metaphor meaning that 'you don't know if the next move that you are going to make in the relationship is going to end it all or not'.   

The second single scheduled for this album is titled Hard featuring rapper Young Jeezy. Written and produced by The-Dream, this track has a more upbeat and abrasive approach, where Rihanna and guest Young Jeezy proudly discussed their elite status. Not really to mu liking, just another catchy tune you can get anywhere these days.

Rihanna once again teamed up with The-Dream for the third single for her Rated R album, titled Wait Your Turn. Also with a more serious and slowed-down pace like Russian Roulette, Wait Your Turn is scheduled to be released in early 2010 in UK.

I'm not too impressed with Hard and Wait Your Turn, especially with the anticipation of how she will come back after her ordeal with Chris Brown, where she has to my opinion made it very clear she is coming back stronger and harder, and a survivor. Russian Roulette is a treat and used appropriately as the lead single, I like it. I also think it's great that she is making more attempt to focus on her vocals this time in this song, and not just relying on the tempo and music.

Apart from the lyrics and tunes presented, judging from her latest looks, plus the semi-nude approach for her single covers, including the music video for her song Wait Your Turn where she was spotted in a black hoodie wearing an eye patch, Rihanna wants the message clear with her come back this time, she is stronger, her songs are more serious and she is a survivor.   

Free MP3 Downloads:-

To download Rihanna's Russian Roulette CLICK HERE

To download Rihanna's Hard CLICK HERE

To download Rihanna's Wait Your Turn CLICK HERE

Note : Free MP3s at 2M1F are not of crystal clear quality, do support our artists by buying the orignals

1) WATCHA SAY - JASON DERULO

Only his first single and he has hit the number one spot at the Billboard Hot 100. Jason Derulo is a singer-songwriter, choreographer, vocal producer and also an actor from Miramar, Florida. It debut at number 54 and went all the way up to number 1 in the charts. This song is will be included in his upcoming self-titled album due in 2010. The song is current, and grows on you after a few listen.

 

2) SEXY BITCH - DAVID GUETTA

Guetta is a popular French DJ who has worked with big artists including Will.i.am, Kelly Rowland, Akon and CHris Willis. Sexy Bitch carries a tune that's although familiar, but a treat to club music lovers. I like it, it's great especially when you're driving. It is Guetta's second single which reached number 16 at the Billboard Hot 100

MASSIVE IDEA THAT IS HARD TO IMPRESS

Category : Action, Sci-Fi / Starring : Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, Ving Rhames, Boris Kodjoe, James Cromwell

Based on a 2005-2006 comic book series of the same name, Surrogates boast two selling points, the concept and Bruce Willis. The movie anchors on the interesting concept of human living their lives remotely at home controlling their robotic surrogates. And you can imagine how enticing watching the trailer would be. To have Bruce Willis as the leading role in this action sci-fi is definitely a huge selling point.

What viewers are eager to watch is how the world would be in Surrogates, where every human you see walking in the streets is young, sexy and sophisticated robots, all controlled by their owners back home. Everyone now gets the chance to live the lives they want, without having to worry about youth, health, risks or any form of imperfection.

FBI agent Greer (Willis) investigates the muder of Jarod Canter, son of multi-millionaire Dr Lionel Canter (Cromwell), the original creator of surrogates. The case pulls Greer further into the truth of the surrogate-world, and also realization of what he really wants beyond the beauty that this surrogacy concept offers.

It was pretty weird watching the usually-jaded Bruce Willis under the excessive make-up, although intended, as they are all supposedly perfect-looking surrogates in the movie. We get to see the plastic version of Willis as the surrogate, and the real aging version of Greer, sitting from home controlling his other half. It was a relief that the real Greer takes over in the second half of the story, as the brushed-up version of Willis just didn't pull it off for me, even as a robot.

Do not expect too much of explosive action and stunts like Die Hard, Surrogates is more subtle and like I thought, it is not easy at all to materialize this concept well in a movie. For comic books where imagination is unlimited with drawings, the selling point of the surrogate-world works perfectly well. But in a movie, it is a totally different ball game. Audience expects to witness jaw-dropping sophistication, edgy surprises with technology and amazing gimmicks. After all, we are talking about a world, virtually virtual! Did the movie pull it off for me, I would say not to an excellent level. It was entertaining enough, but I wouldn't shout about it.

The trailer of the movie:-

Rating : B-

BRUSHFIRE RECORDS RELEASES IMRPESSIVE SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM BY MALAYSIAN ARTIST, ZEE AVI

If you are a Jack Johnson fan like myself, you would then be able to appreciate the self-titled debut album by Malaysian artist Zee Avi, who was signed by Monotone and Brushfire Records, and her album was released in May 2009. Do not be fooled by that doll face and young age of 23, as you will find the album boasting with music that shows how much Zee is in control of the talent she has. You can expect a lot of Jack Johnson aesthetic and influence, offering cozy sounds that put you at the beach, intimate vocals that belt romance failures in style, and a general feeling of calm.

What impresses me most is Zee's control over her vocals, which is nothing close to her own age. It boasts maturity way beyond many artists and she's able to pull it off with light jazzy tunes like Poppy, dark and heavy melodramatic ballads like Is This The End and Let Me In, and of course guitar-influenced easy-listening tracks including her first single Bitter Heart, and also Honey Bee and Monte, plus not to forget, Jack Johnson's favourite ukelele signature like Just You And Me and Kantoi.

Definitely a milestone for the music scene in Malaysia, and a notable story of another humble discovery of raw talent discovered from places like YouTube. An album worth trying, the music is growing fast on me.

Rating : B

Pics courtesy of Zee Avi's official website

VERY OWN MALAYSIAN SENSATION ZEE AVI

This is an interesting discovery. Thanks to Michael who introduced Zee Avi to us during one of our dinners for a friend's birthday. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to hear the matured, sultry and craked vocals owned by this 23 year-old artist. Born in Miri, Sarawak (on the island of Borneo), original name Izyan Alirahman, Zee Avi is a singer-songwriter, guitarist and ukelele player. She first posted her music on YouTube and began gaining popularity, which caught the attention of Patrick Keeler of The Raconteurs, who passed her music to Ian Montone and she was soon offerred to release her music under the Monotone Label. Montone then passed her music to Emmett Mallay who eventually signed her to Brushfire Records (recording company partly owned by Jack Johnson).

With an eclectic pool of influences that range from such eccentrics as Cat Power, Regina Spektor, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Jolie Holland, Daniel Johnston and Chris Garneau, to jazz greats Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, to classics like Velvet Underground and Led Zeppelin, this self-described "rock lover at heart" captures the dark, bittersweet qualities of romance with a crack left open for hope and optimism (quoted from Zee Avi's official website).

Her debut album went to number 130 at US Billboard Hot 200 Chart and number two spot at the US Billboard Top Heatseekers Chart, and sold 6,000 copies in the United States in its first 2 weeks of release. Zee's first single Bitter Heart spent 3 weeks on Japan's Top 100 Singles chart, entering at number 82 and peaked at number 63. The album gained mostly positive reviews including praises from Rolling Stones and Billboard.

Definitely a proud talent from our very own Malaysia, way to go Zee Avi.

Pics courtesy of Zee Avi's official website

THE IMPERFECT ANGEL REVEALS MORE INTIMACY IN HER LATEST ALBUM

She may call herself an imperfect angel but she has unquestionably one of the best voice around. Whether her sudden change of route in the genre of her music has shaken off some of her loyal fans away in the late nineties, or whether her image of often revealing too much of 'herself' in her music videos has irked many, Mariah Carey remained one of the strongest female vocalists we have so far. I too once gave up listening to her albums after disappointments from Rainbow (1999), Glitter (2001) and Charmbracelet (2002), but her E=MC2 finally made up for it in 2008, a great album.

Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel marks the twelfth studio album by Mariah Carey, released in September 2009. She worked with singer-songwriter The Dream, who co-wrote and produced most of the songs in the album, along with several additional composers. In her interview with Amazon.com, she revealed that "Each song tells its own story. Each one is like an intimate conversation or entry in a private diary. A lot of the songs reflect specific, different times in my life, actual events that happened to me, some of which are from way back in the past. Others were inspired by movies or from a friend of mine that may have told me their story".

Her first single from the album Obsessed was not too impressive for me. Nevertheless it debuted at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100, her highest debut since way back in May 1998, and has since peaked at number seven giving Mariah her 27th top ten hit in the US, the second among women and the fifth among all. She has also made a cover version of Foreigner's I Wanna Know What Love Is, announced as her second single, with H.A.T.E.U confirmed as the third.

I am not too impressed with the arrangement of her song sequence in this album. The album started off well with the song Betcha Gon Know, where the intro goes "Welcome to a day of my life, the memoirs of an imperfect angel...", a rather slow and serious song for an opening track, but effective and a great tune, continuing Mariah's passion for R&B. Then came Obsessed (a rather weak song in my opinion) followed by several slow tracks which do not bring much impact at all to the album, despite H.A.T.E.U being one of them, which I liked a lot. Impression of listening to the first half of the album just becomes rather poor. Much stronger tracks like Angels Cry, Up Out My Face and Standing O should've been placed upfront to pull the audience in before relaxing down with mediocre tracks like Candy Bling, Ribbon and Inseparable. Not that their bad tunes, but just not strong enough to be placed in the first half of the album.   

I'm surprised she did not work with Stargate, one of my favourite songwriting team who gave her Bye Bye and I'm That Chick in her previous album E=MC2. Despite have good tracks mentioned above plus a rather refreshing remake of Foreigner's hit, the album remains lacking impact for me, not as strong as E=MC2. I don't foresee a handful of tracks that would strongly give her a Top 5 at the US Billboard Hot 100 this time. Nevertheless, a good album to have.

Free MP3 Download:-

To download Mariah Carey's I Wanna Know What Love Is CLICK HERE

Rating : B-

Note : Free MP3s at 2M1F are not of crystal clear quality, do support our artists by buying the orignals

GREAT THEME SONG FROM TAMIL FILM SIVA MANASULA SAKTHI

OK this would probably be one the rare posts I'll have, as I have zero knowledge on Tamil/Bollywood music. The first time I bumped into this tune was when I called one of my colleague at work, and it was her Caller Ring Tone. Of course it was just left as vivid as that, did not know the title or the artist. Finally one day the movie which the song was featured was advertised on telly, and I managed to get hold of the title and downloaded my very first Tamil MP3! Well I do listen to music in languages I do not understand including Thai, suppose Tamil is not so remote in that sense ;-)

Siva Manasula Sakthi is a 2009 box-office hit directed by Rajesh, starring Jeeva & Anuya Bhagvath. The song Oru Kal was performed by Yuva Shankar Raja. I managed to find two remixed version of the song as well, video above has samples from all three versions. A relaxed tune, great to listen to. Apologize if I may not have full or accurate info on this post, really not familiar with this genre.

THE MOST UNLIKELY COMBINATION THAT WORKED

(Movie Review For Pixar Animation Studios' latest, UP)

Category: Animation, Comedy, Adventure / Starring : Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson, Christopher Plummer

It is not often we come along a cartoon or animation that uses an old man as its main character. So ordinary is this man, he is just an aging soul, mourning for his dead wife for years, and living his day-to-day mundane routine alone, accepting his fate that he would not live the dream he had always wanted for both his wife and himself. It is not always animation makers boldly apply the ingredients used in this movie UP, where we don't see animated heroic characters, no super powers, no wakcy or extreme lines, jokes and scenes, and no out-of-this-world excitements on roller coasters, flying carpets or explosions. On the contrary, what we get, is an old man who decides one day to tie his house to hundreds of balloons and sets his house afloat!

It is also not often we see cartoons using such adult concepts of bitter man mourning, sadly accepting his fate of not being able to live up to his dreams, and the constant aching moments of him missing his other half. And it is rare we get an adventure with such a combination of an aging man, an eight year-old wilderness explorer, a talking golden retriever and a colourful tropical bird.

So what can we expect out of all these, a gem like no other animations!! It was a pure treat for me to watch this movie. I like the drama appeal to parts of the story which shows us how much Carl (Asner) the main character is missing his dead wife. You can almost feel for his heartache, of not being able to live his dreams of building a house with his wife on the magical Paradise Falls in South America.

Then comes Russell (Nagai), the adorable nine year-old that will make you smile throughout the movie with his chubby cheeks and comical presense. With a twist of fate, both Carl and Russell teams up for an adventure of a lifetime, where they meet Dug (Peterson) a talking dog and Kevin, the giant tropical bird. 

What I also love about UP is the fact that it makes you not expecting too much as you watch along, but yet, unexpected twists and adventures keep popping up throughout, keeping you entertained until the end.   

It is the weirdest approach taken for an animation, the combination of the most unlikely bunch, but definitely a not-to-be-missed movie this year.

Rating : A