Jack Johnson is a Pro Surfer but he’s not mean feat at music either. His music is gentle and rolling and feels like waves and his albums as simple and nature inspired.  His laidback view of the world among the mad rush has been one of the factors that made him a pop sensation.

His new album Sleep through the Static is the album on which he reunites with JP Plunier who was at the helm when Johnson brought out his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales. While the songs on this album are perhaps a little darker they are still very much part of the Jack Johnson brand. He has obviously matured as a person and that maturity and sensibility now show in his lyrics.

The first track on the album is ‘All at Once’ which talks about the Iraq war in a very cheeky manner and is a bit dated seeing that the Iraq war is a topic that has been covered all around.  The writing on this album is a bit too ambitious and doesn’t always work. I personally don’t think Johnson is a fantastic writer and it seems like he’s been trying too hard on this album.

Johnson is at his best when he’s singing about the simple things in life. “Angel” is a love song that I really liked quite a lot while in ‘Go On’ he sings about his growing children. Though he clearly has put in a lot of effort into this album, it is not like the Jack Johnson we know and loved. Clearly he is more at home singing about nature, love and life and his family and that is the way it should remain.

Rumors that Emimem was considering a career in professional American wrestling has now been put to rest by the man himself. The rapper’s career has been the subject of speculation for some time but as he himself made clear recently he has no interest in being a professional wrestler. These speculations came about when it was reported around Christmas time that when he was hospitalized with heart problems, his weight had ballooned.

Former ex-Spice girl Geri Halliwell has said that there are no chances of the Spice Girls ever performing as a five-member group again. The group announced recently that their reunion tour would come to a premature close on the 26^th of February and Ginger Spice said that fans wouldn’t get another chance to see them together. There has been speculation that the tour has come to an end between the former band mates but the girls themselves insist that it is because they needed to put their families first.

Janet Jackson has now gone one up on herself and has won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding supporting actress in a motion picture. Her role in the Tyler Perry movie “Why did I get married?” brought her the award over another musician turned actress Queen Latifah and actress Ruby Dee. Jackson said that she was overwhelmed by the award.

Another Keys just swept another batch of awards on Friday night when took home four NAACP Image Awards including one for the best music video. She also won the awards for outstanding female artist, outstanding album as well the outstanding song.

Nelly Furtado is expecting her second baby with fiancée Demacio Castellon but has been trying to keep it under wraps. According to one of her representatives the singer who already has a four year old daughter is not pregnant.

Music legends REM and Verve will headline at this years T in the Park music festival. They form part of what the event’s organizers referred to as a ‘mega line-up’ at this year’s edition. Other acts that will perform are the Kaiser Chiefs, the Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, the Kooks, Primal Scream, Stereophonics and the Fratellis among others. The festival which is to go on from the 11^th to the 13^th of July already has music lovers queuing up for tickets.

Even as Amy Winehouse walked away wit her own kitty of Grammys, her husband continues to live in the fear of losing his wife to drugs. He was quoted as saying that he went to bed with the fear that he would wake up to find his wife dead from an overdose of drugs.

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher has finally made his marriage with long time girlfriend and former All Saints singer Nicole Appleton formal. The marriage took place at London’s Westminster Registry Office where a few friends and close family were present. The most notable absence was that of the groom’s brother Noel, the guitarist and songwriter of the band who is said to be in Los Angeles working on the group’s next album. The two brothers are known to share a tumultuous relationship.

Australia born Sia is probably still best known for her album Six Feet Under which had the much loved Breathe me. But in her third album she tries to prove that she is much more. She has a smoky voice and a very quirky, vibrant personality which comes across clearly in the album.

The best thing about the album is ‘I go to sleep’ a ballad sung originally by the Kinks. Sia’s version is very good and won’t get you complaining. Her weakness is clearly her song writing skills. They just do not have the same power that her voice does. But there are songs like ‘The girl you lost to cocaine’ which is profound and full of sadness. An excellent song.

She’s famous because of her stunts but with this album she will probably keep some of that fame intact. ‘Little black sandals’ and ‘day too soon’ are bitter sweet and something that everyone is sure to like. ‘Color the small one’ is also extremely sad and definitely moves you. The title song ‘Some people have real problems’ charming, quirky, a complete collection and opposites and is very likely to arouse very mixed and confused emotions in you. This album is probably her best and the one her fans have been waiting for a long long time.

Sia has a great voice and some of the tracks are brilliant. The problem with her is also the fact that she’s very inconsistent. On the plus side though there is a lot of soul in the music and that just shines through. When music is sad it has the potential to make you cry and when it’s happy it just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.

A really good album and an excellent follow up to her previous hits.

First up is great news for all Stone Temple Pilots fans. Slash apparently told Billboard that the lead singer of Velvet Revolver Scott Weiland will re-unite with his former band mates most of whom having been playing in Army of Anyone. The re-united band is supposed to perform in a couple of concerts in the summer. Weiland had earlier spoken of a possible reunion of the Stone Temple Pilots and had asked fans to watch out.

Velvet Revolver is meanwhile on tour promoting their second album which also features songs from G n’ R and STP.

In other news, controversy’s favorite child Amy Winehouse has problems again. The singer will not be performing at the Grammy’s as scheduled after she checked into rehab. After pleas from her record company and fans to get help, Amy has finally realized that she needs specialist treatment to recover from drug addiction.

Even though she has been nominated for six Grammys Winehouse has been left out of the list of performers at the ceremony where she was supposed to perform with Mark Ronson and Kanye West.  The Grammys have announced the list of performers at the ceremony and the list includes The Foo Fighters who had been announced earlier and Beyonce who was initially supposed to perform with Tina Turner. American Idol winner Carrie Underwood, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna and Aretha Franklin are also amongst the list of performers. The Time which has re-united will also perform at the award ceremony on the 10^th of February.

According to Amy’s Winehouse’s dad even if she checks out of rehab by then she can’t make it to America because her travel visa was taken away during a marijuana bust in Oslo, Norway.

At 67 Ringo Starr is going great guns. Also known as Richard Starkey Jr. the Beatles drummer is now out with his latest album Liverpool 8 which is a sentimental journey back to the old days. The music is co-produced by Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) and is very true to Ringo. In the title track Ringo is nostalgic about the old days in Liverpool and sings “Destiny was calling, I just couldn’t stick around, Liverpool I left you, but I never let you down” It is a sentimental journey down memory lane to his days as a boy in Liverpool and the success that came after that.

The album has a lot of songs about love which reflect Ringo’s 60s ideals about love and peace. It is a true reflection to everything that is Ringo- his wit, his joy and his music. They reflect the man that grew up to be sane in spite of being right in the centre of rock n roll. 2007 has definitely been Ringo’s year with the re-release of Help! which is both the Beatles’ best and funniest film but also Ringo’s most finest cinematically. He also released a best compilation Photograph which included some of his personal best like “Beaucops of blues” and “Early 1970”.

“Love is”, “Tuff Love” and “For love” are about the virtue of love. Ringo just completed 26 years of marriage and this is probably a reflection of that. Though you may feel that the album just isn’t up there with the kind of stuff that you expect from a Beatle there is one truly good song “R u ready?” where he goes into time warp and looks at different religions while considering death.

Ringo isn’t a great lyricist but all the charm and energy he puts into his music gives it that endearing quality.

Amy Winehouse has been in the news a lot lately and as much for her superb music as for her drug problems. Her voice which is as rich as a black woman from the 50s has earned her a huge fan following the world over.

Her second album ‘Back to Black’ is an extremely good album and is one of the best soul music to have been made in the recent past. She manages to sound like a fifties jazz singer even while singer about present day stuff. She pulls it off remarkably well and sounds much like Aretha Franklin.

‘Rehab’ is extremely touching and talks about her father’s attempt to save himself from alcohol and ‘Mr & Mrs. Jones a song in which she berates a boyfriend is quite funny and witty. ‘Black to back’ is a beautiful song which uses the bass drum, piano, chimes, the saxophone and close harmonies and ‘Love is a Losing Game’ is an excellent, soulful song.

‘Waking up alone’ has beautiful and poignant lyrics and was also used as part of the soundtrack in the hit television series ‘Grey’s Anatomy’. On ‘You know I’m no good’ which is about being unfaithful she sings about her being wayward with any apologies.

Amy Winehouse is an exceptionally talented songwriter and has a beautiful velvety voice to match. The album has a very jazzy feel which takes you back decades and the lyrics are honest, frank and touching.

Her earlier album ‘Frank’ was much as the title suggested and also earned her quite a few fans. This album has a beautiful going back in time feel while still remaining true to the present. It has been a year since the album has been released and has been making waves until now. An absolute must.

This album is definitely is departure from the usual Celine fare we are used to, but that is only a good thing. The album has all sorts of songs; it has the love songs for the die-hard Celine fans, it had an attempt at rock n roll and it has some soulful ballads too. Celine has a beautiful voice and can outshine most women singers and her class really comes through in the title track ‘Taking chances’ which she raises to new levels altogether. It has some beautiful ballads, my favourite being ‘A song for you’. The lyrics of the album, written by Kara Dioguardi and Dave Stewart from Eurythmics are beautiful and touch a chord within you. ‘My love’ and ‘Fade away’ are two excellent songs and are sure to win some of Celine’s detractors over. The lyrics of the album send a message across and are given voice to by the diva.

The lady who has sung classics like ‘My heart will go on’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ has shown once again that she can sing from the bottom of her heart. This album has Celine’s stamp on it and all 16 songs seem like she’s put her heart and soul into them.

Her performance is passionate and she sings like she feels every word. One of the best albums in the recent past, I would give it a 4. The diva is back again.

And yes I agree with him. My computer has not been playing music for some reason and there is nothing I miss as much as the music flowing out of the speakers. Is there anyone in the world who doesn’t like music? There are people who do not like a certain genre of music and others who may love the same. People do not like the same kind of music, but the love of music is universal. That is evident of the god like status many music stars like Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and Kurt Cobain among others have attained.

The thing that makes us all love music is not the fact that there are great compositions and great genius involved in making those great compositions. That may be a factor but only to those who are truly knowledgeable about music and music instruments. For the average man it is the feelings that music evokes in him that make it truly wonderful.

Every song is special to someone. The lyrics, the mood, the way the song is song touches a cord in someone’s heart. People identify with the song as if the song has been written for them and they identify with the singer like they feel his emotions

Musicians believe that there is no better way than music to let out your emotions and I believe that is true. The kind of music one listens to varies with a person’s mood, metal may be the preferred choice when one is angry or love songs when one is in a romantic frame of mind. Thus there are very few things in the world that brings out and portrays a person’s emotions quite as perfectly as music does.

The best part about Meteroa was that it kept the strengths of the band’s first album while losing some of the weaknesses. All the yelling and rapping that became LP’s staple is still around, but mixed in with the usual tracks are different and intriguing songs. One good example of this is “Breaking the Habit.” Before hearing that song, it would be hard to imagine lead singer Chester Bennington do anything but scream. But his vocals are incredibly done and the song is a masterpiece when compared to other Linkin Park songs.

In addition, the band improves their signature sound through tracks like “Numb” and “Somewhere I Belong.” It is just the right mix of the old formula with a new feel and it works perfectly. The band clearly understood what made them so popular and they made the right move by keeping their style intact. Changing their style drastically is, if you remember, one of the major reasons I gave Minutes such a negative review.

Just about every track on Meteora is excellent. Linkin Park fans surely would love this CD and I would recommend it to anyone who, somehow, has not discovered this band just yet.

Grade - A- - A CD that is good in just about every way. Too bad the band couldn’t keep it’s roots intact for their third studio album.