BOW WOW & OMARION “Lights, Camera, Action”.

This is the iTunes bonus track on Bow Wow & Omarion’s new collaborative CD, Face Off. Enjoy.

Track: Bow Wow & Omarion “lights, Camera, Action”.mp3

Alexander McQueen Eyewear.

Now, that’s fly. What a beautiful color combination. I didn’t know Alexander McQueen made such beautiful eyewear. It isn’t something I associate with him, I don’t know why. My mistake.

Alexander McQueen.

4HERO “Morning Child”.

This is one of my favorite songs of 2007. The British duo, 4Hero, so well-known for drum & bass, and more techno/electronic oriented music has been very quietly redefining soul for some time now. Their CD, Playing With The Changes is the consummation of those efforts.

Ai Featuring Anty The 紅乃壱, Anna Tsuchiya & Pushim “Butterfly”.

Track: Ai “Butterfly”.mp3

Ai Uemura.

SARA BAREILLES “Love Song”.

What a beautiful new song. I saw this video Monday morning and I can’t seem to shake it. She’s on tour with James Blunt. Not a James Blunt fan but I may have to go check it out to peep her act…

Sara Bareilles.

AMY WINEHOUSE “Back To Black”.

Review: MARY J. BLIGE “Growing Pains”.

Anything I say about Mary J. Blige is completely and totally biased. There. I said it up front and totally in the beginning of my post. So, I can say with the utmost confidence that I am being completely honest and forthright. I have been a Mary J. Blige groupie (“fan” doesn’t do it justice) since My Life. Back in the day, If my roommates heard My Life playing in my room, they knew I was getting some. No other album/CD in the last 20 years was more suited for the horizontal boogie than that body of work.

Since then, like the artist, I’ve grown and have been able to experience a wider range of emotion through her incredible range of music. Since What’s The 411? She’s been growing before our very eyes. My favorite musical incarnation was 1999’s, Mary and, with the exception of 2003’s Life & Love, I feel she’s never missed a beat despite the hard road her life has been. Her drug troubles have been well documented, and fortunately are far behind her. That much is evident. Clearly, she’s hit a new level with the multi Grammy winning The Breakthrough. Although this isn’t quite as good (ummm… maybe), if you really must do the comparison thing, it does feel like a very natural progression. I like that and I like the artistic consistency, which I feel is a clear-cut sign of her maturity.

Never has Mary sounded happier or more in control of her life. Sure, there are a few broken hearted/love gone wrong ballads, but what really gets your attention is the emotionally upbeat, ultra positive songs, Work That, Just Fine, Grown Woman, Work In Progress (Growing Pains), What Love Is and, my personal favorite, the Neptunes produced, Til The Morning. She expresses a strength and stability that the world has never seen from her before on Talk To Me and Stay Down. Her cover of Hello, It’s me is absolutely wonderful.

All of the tracks are really tight. Jazzy Pha produced two tracks and Ne-Yo produced three including What Love is and Work In Progress. It feels like other Mary J. Blige CDs, but it also feels really fresh and new. If someone is like myself and owns every one of this incredibly talented woman’s CDs, I think they’ll fall head over heels for Growing Pains.

Japanese import edition playlist:

1. Work That
2. Grown Woman [featuring Ludacris]
3. Just Fine
4. Feel Like A Woman
5. Stay Down
6. Hurt Again
7. Shake Down [Featuring Usher]
8. Til The Morning
9. Nowhere Fast [Featuring Brook Lynn]
10. Roses
11. Fade Away
12. What Love Is
13. Work In Progress (Growing Pains)
14. Talk To Me
15. If You Love Me?
16. Smoke
17. Come To Me (Peace)
18. Hello It’s Me
19. Mirror [Featuring Eve]
20. Sleep Walkin
21. Just Fine (Remix) [Featuring Lil Mama]

Converse Pre-Holiday Sale.

This is something I will definitely be taking advantage of. I love the plaid ones in the middle. Merry Christmas to me.

Converse.

THE KILLERS “Read My Mind”.

ALICIA KEYS “Where Do We Go From Here”.

Track: Alicia Keys “Where Do We Go From Here”.