i just wanted to take a few minutes to promote 2 awesome albums....they are on completely different sides of the music spectrum BUT both reflect the talent of the hardworking musicians that made them. Normally I wouldn't dare group Mandy Moore with Flo Rida, but in this case it seems fitting. Each of these albums are the newest from each of these well-known artists, but as I listen to them more and more i know that they are also the most important. Important because they are representing the roots of where each of their [respective] hearts in music really lie....

Mandy Moore stepped up to the alter with Ryan Adams this year and not only married him, but also married some of his musical tastes. She dropped her label and is now opting for a smaller, more "indie focused" label called Storefront. I was skeptical after her less-than-impressive 2007 folk switch entitled "Wild Hope", but as she continues proves to be the smartest and most well-adjusted out of her pop princess peers.....her new album "Amanda Leigh" is soild. While "Wild Hope" felt more like an uneasy attempt to hide her past, this album is all her. She's back to her pop roots without sugarcoating the music to the point where radio with eat it up with milk. It's folk-y and wonderful.

SONG HIGHLIGHTS: Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week, Pocket Phliospher, Fern Dell

Flo Rida.....i like to still call him Flo Rider, but whatever......is probably not the person you'd expect me to promote...the fact is...its a rare day when i can listen to a rap or hip/hop album through in its entirety (unless its eminem or wyclef). This one has been on constant rotation.

While i enjoy "Right Round" and "Sugar" as much as the next girl at the club - musically they were nothing special. He sampled the perfect songs no doubt, but it wasn't anything T-Pain couldn't do. I downloaded the whole cd....well....just because i could. Then thanks to the shuffle setting on my iPod the song "Rewind" came on. It's a slower song with a solid beat and a killer chorus by Wyclef (ha of course), but i immediatley listened to this song 3 times before i moved on. It was amazing. Then i listened to the whole album and found that [in fact] about 80 percent of the album was amazing and the other 20 percent was forgivable because it had suffered the death of mainstream radio. We have all come to know Flo Rida as just another rapper who sings about dancing with girls and being the best, but he is much more than that as his album R.O.O.T.S. will show.

Song Highlights: Mind On My Money, Rewind, Roots