Five Songs On Shuffle, Vol. 10

This is the tenth installment of my weekly blog entry series "5 Songs On Shuffle." I’ll put my iTunes on shuffle and blog about the first five songs that play.

"Like A Star" - Corrine Bailey Rae Corrine Bailey Rae
Corrine Bailey Rae's debut CD is a little sleep inducing, and this song is a bit sleepy as well. It doesn't have the light as air summery pop sound of the first single "Girl, Put Your Records On" but it does have a smooth sound that works well in certain circumstances. But it is really slow.

"Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" - Lauryn Hill The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill's first post-Fugees solo record took him a bucket of Grammys, and little wonder. The album features brilliant r&b songs like "That Thing" and tender ballads like "To Zion" as well as throwback sounds like this Frankie Valli cover. Lauryn should have been a '60s pop diva, her covers are stunning, besides this and "Killing Me Softly" she also does "First Time Ever I Saw You Face" live and it kills.

"Girlfriend" - Avril Lavigne Girlfriend [Single]
This sassy punk-pop (emphasis on pop) hit from last year is insanely catchy and has just enough grit to keep it from being too bubblegummy. A perfect sing-a-long chorus cements this as a pop classic.

"Music Is The Victim" - Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters
Another "5 Songs" post, another Scissor Sisters song. I love this one, too. It has a hot opening line: "I left my heart in San Fransisco/At some motherfuckin' disco" and the usual Sister formula of seventies coke-rock guitars, dancefloor ready beats and dirty pop lyrics. If music is the victim, then so am I.

"Take It Off" - The Donnas Spend The Night
Y'all know I love some chick-rock, right? Heavy guitars, sassy vocals and hooky choruses, I'm not sure why The Donnas were never bigger than they were. This is one of their few hits, from their Atlantic debut album. They parted ways with the label after a second disc failed to yield any major radio play either. They are currently promoting an independent record, Bitchin'.

New Avril Lavigne Video - "The Best Damn Thing"

Girlfriend needs to find a new shtick. I loved "Girlfriend" for what it was, fake rock for teenage girls to bump on the freeway with the windows open and gay men to lipsynch in the bathroom mirror. The video was snotty Hot-Topic-punk fun. But it does not need to be repeated. "The Best Damn Thing" sounds like "Girlfriend Pt. 2" and the video looks like it too. It even rips off Toni Basil's "Mickey" even more than "Girlfriend" did, down to the A-V-R-I-L cheer. Been there, done that. In 1982. Watch if you dare: