New York music in Sex and the City 2 soundtrack

For some unknown reason, the thought crossed my mind each time I caught sight of those plugs for the new season of the TV series C.S.I. New York these past few weeks. Playing in the background was Empire State Of Mind, the Jay-Z hit tune that features Alicia Keys. And I would think. This song has to be in the soundtrack of the new Sex And The City movie.

I had and still have no idea what Sex And The City 2 is about. The plot is said to be top secret. Just that it is the continuation of the tale of the glamorous and amorous foursome of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda and perhaps some new adventures. What I was sure of was that the main setting of the story is New York. And when you think of New York nowadays, the song that enters your head is Empire State Of Mind.

New York has been immortalized in song so many times before. There are New York New York, Autumn In New York, Manhattan, Manhattan Tower, Rhapsody In Blue, East Side West Side, I Like New York In June and so many others. But 9/11 changed everything. These tunes now all seem to belong to the past, something like a New York landmark in a Norman Rockwell painting. Beautiful, but only as a memory.

I think that the song most evocative of New York today is Empire State of Mind. I believe that it is what comes to mind as somebody steps out into a New York sidewalk, looks around at the people hurrying past and up at the skyscraping buildings. And so here it is, the concrete jungle where dreams are made up. Imposing, electric, dynamic, dangerous, maybe also sweet and sentimental. But definitely unlike any other.

This is why Empire State of Mind was the song I looked for when I got a copy of the Sex And The City 2 soundtrack. It has to be there. If not, I’ll just have to play it in my head when I go to watch the movie. But my hunch was right. There it is, the Alicia Keys, Broken Down version of Empire State Of Mind. I think it is a great choice, although some might think this one has a sad quality that tears at the gut.

No need to worry though that this Sex And The City flick will be sad. Judging from the way the original New York New York girl Liza Minnelli dishes Beyonce’s Single Ladies Put A Ring On It and how the girls of the movie, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon bump up Helen Reddy’s I Am Woman, there is a lot of fun in store for movie goers. And who can resist a duet of Love Is Your Color by power divas Jennifer Hudson and Leona Lewis. I say nobody.

Other cuts in the soundtrack album are Rapture by Alicia Keys; Everything To Lose by Dido; Language Of Love by Cee Lo; Window Seat by Erykah Badu; Kiddo by Natacha Atlas; Euphrates Dream by Michael McGregor; Can’t Touch It by Rickee Lee; True Colors by Cyndi Lauper; and Divas And Dunes by Aaron Zigman.

Then to increase the romance quotient there are a few love songs that originated from Broadway shows. Broadway is in New York and nothing set in New York should be without this type of songs. If Ever I Would Leave You, Sunrise Sunset and Till There Was You by the new group called the Sex and the City Men’s Choir; Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered by Shayna Steele, Jordan Ballard and Kamilah Marshall; and Everytime We Say Goodbye by Liza Minnelli with Billy Stritch. Prefer to swoon.

Charice in Billboard’s Top 200

The big news this week in the US hit charts is the debut of Charice as the No. 8 entry in Billboard’s Top 200 Albums list. This is the highest position charted by a Filipino artist and given how good the CD is, I will not be surprised if it goes even higher. This now has me thinking. Do we start dreaming of Grammy or two in the near future for Charice? That will really be great.

Meanwhile, let us take a look at the week’s Top 20 selling albums in the US and also check out against whom our Charice is competing: My World, back on top by Justin Bieber; Need You Now by Lady Antebellum; High Violet by The National; Iron Man 2 (Soundtrack); Sea Of Cowards by The Dead Weather; Live At The Troubadour by Carole King and James Taylor; Raymond V Raymond by Usher; Charice by Charice; The Oracle by Godsmack; As I Lay Dying by Powerless Rise.