I have stated at least once before on this very blog, that Smashing Pumpkins’ sophomore album, Siamese Dream pretty much shaped how I felt about music; and it was one of a couple albums that signaled the beginning of when I truly started to appreciate and enjoy music at the level that I do now. Before it, I never really payed enough attention to music, and mostly, I only listened to whatever was on the radio. Barring a few “favorite songs” here and there, I actually owned very few albums (it was mostly tapes at that time!), and honestly never bought an album for anything more than a song or two. However, that all changed when I saw Smashing Pumpkins’ videos on MTV. I liked every song that I heard, and this album was one of the first ones that I received in my very first BMG shipment. After hearing Siamese Dream, it was almost like I had an awakening; I had gotten a taste of wonderful music, and it would be from then on, that I would crave more and more (it was also Smashing Pumpkins’ music that motivated me to learn to play guitar). Literally, from that point on, I became almost obsessed with music; an obsession that has followed me until today.
Spaceboy is not only one of the best songs on Siamese Dream, I have no qualms in declaring that it is one of the best songs by the Smashing Pumpkins. The song is a touching tribute Billy Corgan wrote to his brother, and the sentiment of the words are echoed in the tenderness of the music. For me, this remains one of my favorite songs of all time, and hearing it really takes me back, and reminds me of the time when I truly learned what good music was all about. With all of that greatness, how could I not share that with you?
Since it was never a single, there isn’t a video, but, I found it on youtube, uploaded with a blank video, which I think is absolutely perfect:
In doing so, the person that uploaded it, has allowed you to focus on the music, the lyrics, and the sentiment that makes this song such an experience. Spaceboy is truly, a magnificent song, and is a wonderful addition to the song of the day catalog.
I wanted to post about this song, not only because it is incredibly beautiful, but because it really means something to me. LeAnn Rimes’ What I Cannot Change so succinctly sums up such a major issue for me, and does so with such elegance and grace, that it can’t be ignored. One listen to this song instantly gives me chills. It is one of the most beautiful, simply stated, and well put sentiments put to music that I have ever heard. 
I feel like I have been singing Adele’s praises for ages now, but honestly, I don’t think that I could ever sing them enough. After seeing her last week, I have been flying high on this amazing Brit’s debut album, 19, and I wanted to post one of my absolute favorite songs of hers. This song is full of emotion, drama, feeling, and power. I love how she makes her voice crack, which really represents the broken heart that she is singing about. She performed this song flawlessly in concert, and if you still haven’t gotten on the Adele bandwagon by now, this is just me shaking you, again, and telling you to get with the program. Adele is amazing!
I’m not normally a big fan of country, and while I used to only listen to it back in the day, I attribute that to being mostly a product of my environment *cough*hick from North Carolina*cough*. I remember when Carrie won American Idol, and I was really excited, because she was one of the first ones that had pipes as amazing as Kelly Clarkson’s, and even though she was country, I just knew that her amazing show stopping version of Alone by Heart would grace her debut. Well, it didn’t, and instead of making me happy, she went full tilt country, which, while it does serve her voice beautifully, it just didn’t “do it” for me (also songs like Jesus Take the Wheel just make me want to roll my eyes… no offense). Now, let’s cut to last week when she appeared on the Idol stage again to sing this Randy Travis remake; I’m not going to lie, I fucking wept. This song is beautiful, and her voice gave me chills all over. Country or not, this girl can SING, and she sings this beautiful song amazingly; both live, and on her Carnival Ride CD. Note: I didn’t post the version she re-released with Randy Travis (also last week), mostly because Randy is just so outshone that I felt a little bad for him. I LOVE this song, and I am glad that Carrie chose to cover it.
This is another fantastic discovery that I can thank BBC Radio One for; they have been playing this song for a couple of weeks now, and I have found myself liking it more and more with each listen. The neo-soul guitar strumming, and popping beats really compliment the lead singer’s sweet voice (which has a resemblance to Eartha Kitt; without the kitty growls, of course). This infectious track has the upbeat sensibilities of the Ting Tings, and while it is a bit repetitive lyrically, it isn’t enough to turn me off. I can’t wait to see what the new Noisettes album will be like; if it is anything like this fantastic track, I am sure that I will love it.
I may make a few enemies with this one, but hear me out; YES, the original version is awesome, amazing, and several other praise-worthy words. It won an Oscar. See? I agree. However, this version, which harnesses the amazing vocals of Miss Pussycat Doll herself, Nicole Scherzinger, is just too perfect to ignore. A.R. Rahman’s Oscar-winning song gets the English treatment, and instead of being a “replacement” for the original Indian hit, I think that this version will just get more people interested in the original. I personally LOVE this song, and love that I can sing along with Nicole, because, call me crazy, but I like listening to music that has lyrics that I can actually understand; catch me catch me catch me!!! So again, the original – fantastic; and so is this version, which I cannot stop playing and dancing around to!!
To end today, we are going full tilt gay. We have covered a lot of ground today(soul, country, bollywood, now disco!!!), but this is disco bananas, and it is fantastic. Alcazar are a Swedish dance group that have been around for a decade, and recently, they released a massive double disc album that is chock full of dance floor fillers. This is my favorite song from that album, which is appropriately called Disco Defenders; because if anyone is going to successful in advocating for the fabulousness of disco, it’s definitely these guys. This song is upbeat, happy, and throw-your-hands-in-the-air dancetastic. Songs like this make me want to dance all night long, and HOW can that be anything but great?! Sometimes, it’s nice to just have a little fun, isn’t it? Well, that’s definitely something you can do by listening to Alcazar!
And finally… the moment you’ve all been waiting for, my number one album of 2008, by a landslide, is City and Colour’s amazing sophomore album, 
From the first sweet guitar chords of this album, through the tales of love, loss, and heartbreak, I was entranced by the sheer beauty in each song. Dallas Green (get it, a city, and a color? genius!) has an amazing quality with song writing, in that he completely wraps his heart around an emotion, and expresses it in such beautiful prose that I can really feel each break in his heart. Dallas’ stripped down acoustic style, accompanied by his incredibly beautiful and soothing voice really take each one of these songs to a level of mastery that I haven’t seen by many artists; both this year, and in my lifetime. With no facetiousness in this statement at all, I can say that Dallas Green has made a life long fan out of me with this album, and after becoming acquainted with his debut album under the name of City and Colour, I have definitely found someone that I would consider a favorite artist of mine; there aren’t many artists that I feel compelled to get everything they put out (demos, live tracks, bonuses, etc.), and City and Colour is definitely one of those very, very few. (thank GOD he is intent on using outlets like iTunes to churn these out, and I can easily get my hands on them!)