ARIA Music Charts (Top 10 Singles & Albums in Australia): Flo Rida takes the #1 spot on the single charts, Adele takes #1 on the album charts (January 30, 2012)

The following are the top 10 songs in Australia from the Aria Top 50 Singles Charts:

NOTE: Flo Rida feat. Sia at #1, Laurent Wery at #2 and David Guetta at #3.

1. Flo Rida feat. Sia – Wild Ones
2. Laurent Wery feat. SwiftKid – Hey Hey Hey
3. David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj – Turn Me On
4. Simple Plan – Summer Paradise
5. Coldplay – Paradise
6. Timomatic – Set It Off
7. Snoop Dogg & Whiz Khalifa feat. Bruno Mars – Young, Wild & Free
8. Matt Corby – Into the Flame
9. Guy Sebastian – Don’t Worry Be Happy
10. Foster the People – Pumped Up Kicks

The following are the top 10 albums in Australia from the Aria Top 50 Albums Chart:

NOTE: Adele at #1, Foster the People at #2 and Lamb of God at #3.

1. Adele – 21
2. Foster the People – Torches
3. Lamb of God – Resolution
4. LMFAO – Sorry for Party Rocking
5. The Black Keys – El Camino
6. One Direction – Up All Night
7. Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto
8. 360 – Fall & Flying
9. Boy & Bear – Moonfire
10. Skirllex – Bangarang EP

ARIA Music Charts (Top 10 Singles & Albums in Australia): Flo Rida takes the #1 spot on the single charts, Adele takes #1 on the album charts (January 23, 2012)

The following are the top 10 songs in Australia from the Aria Top 50 Singles Charts:

NOTE: Flo Rida feat. Sia at #1, Timomatic at #2 and David Guetta at #3.

1. Flo Rida feat. Sia – Wild Ones
2. Timomatic – Set It Off
3. David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj – Turn Me On
4. Coldplay – Paradise
5. Snoop Dogg & Whiz Khalifa feat. Bruno Mars – Young, Wild & Free
6. Simple Plan – Summer Paradise
7. Foster the People – Pumped Up Kicks
8. Guy sebastian – Don’t Worry Be Happy
9. One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful
10. Laurent Wery feat. SwiftKid – Hey Hey Hey

The following are the top 10 albums in Australia from the Aria Top 50 Albums Chart:

NOTE: Adele at #1, LMFAO at #2 and Foster the People at #3.

1. Adele – 21
2. LMFAO – Sorry for Party Rocking
3. Foster the People – Torches
4. One Direction – Up All Night
5. Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto
6. Bruno Mars – Doo-Wops & Hooligans
7. The Black Keys – El Camino
8. Reece Mastin – Reece Mastin
9. 360 – Fall & Flying
10. Various – Triple J’s Like a Version 7
11. Skirllex – Bangarang EP

BBC Radio 1 Music Charts (Top 10 UK Singles and Album Charts): Flo Rida takes the #1 spot on the Singles Charts and Adele takes the #1 spot on the Album Charts (January 8, 2012)

The following top 10 charts are from BBC Radio 1′s Official UK Top 40 CD singles:

NOTE: Flo Rida takes #1, Coldplay at #2 and Taio Cruz at #3.

1. Flo Rida – Good Feeling
2. Coldplay – Paradise
3. Taio Cruz – Troublemaker
4. Avicii – Levels
5. Rizzle Kicks – Mama Do the Hump
6. Olly Murs – Dance with Me Tonight
7. Labrinth – Earthquake (feat. Tinie Tempah)
8. Jessie J – Domino
9. Rihanna – We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris)
10. Lloyd – Dedication to My Ex (Miss That) feat. Andre 3000 & Lil Wayne

BBC Radio 1 (Top 10 UK Singles and Album Charts): Flo Rida takes the #1 spot on the singles charts and Eminem takes the #1 spot on the Album Charts (8.8.10)

The following top 10 charts are from BBC Radio 1′s Official UK Top 40 CD singles:

NOTE: Flo-Rida jumps to #1, while Ne-Yo falls to #5.  Eminem moves back up to #2 and the Saturdays take #3.

1. Flo Rida – Club Can’t Handle Me (feat. David Guetta)
2. Eminem – Love the Way You Lie (feat. Rihanna)
3. The Saturdays – Missing You
4. Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP – We No Speak Americano
5. Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster
6. Travie McCoy – Billionaire (feat. Bruno Mars)
7. B.o.B – Airplanes (feat. Hayley Williams)
8. The Wanted – All Time Low
9. Eliza Doolittle – Pack Up
10. Tinchy Stryder – In My System

Australia: Cody Simpson feat. Flo Rida – iYiYi

If the USA has Justin Bieber, Australia has 13-year-old Cody Simpson who was discovered on YouTube by producer Shawn Campbell (who produced songs for Jay-Z) and the young singer/songwriter has collaborated with hip hop artist Flo Rida for his debut track “iYiYi”. Simpson shows his skater and surfer roots through his music video and it’ll be interesting to see how this kid does in the US. Anyway, “iYiYi” gets our pick for “Music Video That We Dig!” for the day.

We also add a video for those wondering if this kid can sing and you can find a lot of videos of Simpson playing the acoustic guitar and singing. And above is an example of Cody Simpson performing for children at a hospital.

EXILE – The Hurricane ~Fireworks~ (JAPAN) (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

Featuring the second single with the expanded version of EXILE, their single “The Hurricane ~Fireworks” features a collaboration with US hip hop artist FLO RIDA and their “Street Fighter IV” video game theme song “THE NEXT DOOR -Indestructible-”

GROUP: EXILE

CD SINGLE: The Hurricane ~Fireworks~

LABEL: Rhythm Zone

CATALOG #: RZCD-46314/B

DURATION: 35:17

RELEASE DATE:  July 22, 2009

BUY THIS CD SINGLE:

1. FIREWORKS
2. 優しい光
3. THE NEXT DOOR -INDESTRUCTIBLE-
4. FIREWORKS (Instrumental)
5. 優しい光 (Instrumental)
6. THE NEXT DOOR -INDESTRUCTIBLE- (Instrumental)
7. WON’T BE LONG [Live]

DVD: (Region 2, 4:3, Duration: 13:59 Minutes)

1. FIREWORKS (Video Clip)
2. 優しい光 (Video Clip)

EXILE, Japanese most popular and highest selling group who began the year fresh after winning the top award at Japan’s equivalent to the Academy Awards (Nihon Record Taishou) and then surprised everyone earlier in the Spring that they would combine with the group J-SOUL BROTHERS and become a 14 member group.

In July 2009, the group released their 31st CD single “The Hurricane ~Fireworks~”, the second single to feature the 14 members and would feature a collaboration with US hip hop artist FLO RIDA and also feature the theme song to the popular video game hit “Street Fighter IV”.

The single kicks off with the pop track “Fireworks” which was written by michico, P-CHO, GS, KUBO-C and TOMOGEN and featuring music by T. Kura and michico.  The song would feature shamisen playing in the background courtesy of the YOSHIDA BROTHERS and rap by DOBERMAN INC.    Overall, a fun Summer track with cool beats and the shamisen playing in the background.

The coupling song “Yasashii Hikari” features a beautiful romantic slow ballad sung by ATSUSHI (who also wrote the song) and features music by Hitoshi Harukawa.

The third track “THE NEXT DOOR – INDESTRUCTIBLE” is the group’s song that was featured as the theme song to CAPCOM’s “Street Fighter IV” and features a collaboration with US hip hop artist FLO RIDA.  Also, a song that was planned to give international exposure to the group.  The song is an all English track written by NEGIN and Tramar Dillard and music by li showy.  An upbeat track featuring electric guitar by KIKU.

The next two tracks feature instrumental tracks for the three vocal tracks and then concludes with a live version of the popular song “WON’T BE LONG” (which was a collaboration with pop diva Kumi Koda) minus Kumi but overall, a wonderful live track as you can hear the audience really getting into the song.  Awesome!

As for the DVD, the DVD features the music videos for “FIREWORKS” and “Yasashii Hikari”.

The first music video “FIREWORKS” features a girl reading a “Hanabi” storybook and all of a sudden fireworks comes out of the book and then we see a summer Hanabi festival style with people dancing and performing and then features the group performing via fire and water CG is shown all around them.  The music video is directed by Takahide Ishii and produced by Hirokazu Yukawa (Quick Magic).

The second music video is the slow jam “Yasashii Hikari” and is directed by Shigeaki Kubo (SHARKS) and produced by Hayato Murakoshi (MFG).  The music video is like a short film which features a couple in love and spending time with each other.  The couple had great times until things started to worsen in their relationship and are on the verge of a breakup.  The woman visits their old spot where they once would look at lamps around a tree, while the guy has a hard time coping without his girlfriend near him.  But he decides to make it up to her when he calls her up and ask for another chance.  And her reaction may not be what you think.

The CD insert is a trifold which features a photo of the group and the lyrics to the songs plus production credits.  Included inside is a small poster introducing us to EXILE GENERATION and the family tree.  Also, a plug for the group’s SkyPerfecTV show, “EXILE GENERATION SEASON 2″ and also upcoming Rhythm Zone releases.

Overall, I’m a fan of EXILE and with the group you know you are getting music featuring awesome vocals and upbeat tracks and the occasional slow jam.  I thought it was a good touch to include three vocal tracks of different tempos and also the live version of “WON’T BE LONG”.  The collaboration with FLO RIDA for “THE NEXT DOOR – INDESTRUCTIBLE-” was good for an English track from a Japanese group but I know that for those who played the “Street Fighter IV” video game, some had mixed feelings towards the song.

And when it comes to the DVD portion, the music videos were well-produced and higher budget than most artists or group receive for a music video.  But overall, well-done, especially for the short film/music video for “Yasashii Hikari”.  Definitely an ending that is nowhere a cliche with an ending I wasn’t expecting.

But overall, as an EXILE music fan and knowing what the guys have accomplished in Japan, “The Hurricane ~FIREWORKS~” is a solid 31st single for the Japanese pop/R&B group.

BUY THIS CD SINGLE:

FLO RIDA – RIGHT ROUND (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

“A record breaking track that is enjoyable, upbeat and awesome.  Definitely going to be one of the musical highlights for 2009!”

BAND:  FLO RIDA

SINGLE: RIGHT ROUND (Digital Version)

LABEL: Poe Boy/Atlantic

DURATION: 3:27

RELEASE DATE: Feb. 10, 2009

BUY THIS SINGLE

1. RIGHT ROUND

What an amazing song “RIGHT ROUND” has become.

Taking the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, breaking the record for digital sales of a single sold in its first week (636,00 sold) easily surpassing his previous hit “Low” (feat. T-Pain).

“RIGHT ROUND” is the fourth CD single to come from hip hop artist FLO RIDA featuring music artist Kesha and features a chorus that is loosely based on the 1984 Dead or Alive hit “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”.

The track has gone to #1 in several countries outside of the US including Australia and Canada and is set for release in the UK on March 23rd.

The song features an upbeat and enjoyable arrangement but I have to give credit to Kesha who brought an additional depth to the song with her vocals (and sure enough, it helped get her signed to the RCA label through producer Dr. Luke).

For those wanting more depth or something deep, sure the song may not be for everyone but overall, for a commercial upbeat track is just so damn catchy and enjoyable, I wouldn’t be surprised if “Right Round” becomes one of the musical highlights of 2009.

BUY THIS SINGLE