1) Garbage, "Bleed Like Me" -- Shirley Manson sings "J.T. gets all fucked up in some karaoke bar/ After two drinks he's a loser, after three drinks he's a star..." How cool is that?
2) Anna Nalick, "Breathe (2 a.m.)" -- A young singer-songwriter with a sense of drama. I first heard Nalick when she opened the yearly free "KINK Live" concert last September, the same concert where Five For Fighting, Portland band Amelia and (kick ass!) Tears For Fears played; good introduction. And one of my fellow Portland horn-dogs yelled at her "YOU'RE HOTTTTTTTTT!," speaking for me and many others...
3) Jem, "24" -- Continuing the drama angle: "In 24 hours they'll be laying flowers on my life..." A good eyes-wide-open, "holy shit" song, sung by the huge voice of the tiny Jem (a DJ I listen to met her and said "She is 60 pounds soaking wet").
4) Evanescence, "My Immortal" -- Amy Lee. Say no more.
5) Norah Jones, "I've Got to See You Again" -- Slinky and with a tiny, tiny sense of the disturbing. "I could almost go there/ Just to watch you be seen/ I could almost go there/ Just to live in a dream..." What I really want to hear is Norah Jones do a song where more of her sly/amused side, the part of her that wanted to do an animated video "like Gorillaz," comes out.
