The continuation of my Groovee Playlist™ series is long overdue (see the last installment), so here’s the first edition for this year. As before, I’ll link to the Wikipedia article about the song (if it exists) as “[W]”, and to the YouTube search (or official music video) for the song as “[U]” so that you can sample the song and see if you like it as well.

• “Awakening” by Switchfoot. [W] [U] This is the band’s second single from their album Oh! Gravity. Pretty much your typical uplifting Switchfoot alternative rock song. And it really rocks.

• “Straight Lines” by Silverchair. [W] [U] After that Switchfoot song, this is yet another cheery alternative pop-rock song.

• “Nag-iisa, Wala Ka Na” by Noel Cabangon. [U] Oh. My. God. I love this song!!! I heard this on the movie Batanes and I absolutely fell in love with this. I really, really liked Noel’s song “Kanlungan” but I must say “Nag-iisa” takes the cake. Thank God I’m not heartbroken or otherwise this song would have bowled me over into inconsolable stupor.

• “Closer” by Travis. [W] [U] This song is very much an great song to listen on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Watch the music video, it’s pretty whimsical and has Ben Stiller in a cameo. Hehehe.

• “Umbrella” by Marié Digby. [U] Well, here we have pretty YouTube star Marié Digby getting popular with her acoustic cover of Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” which we featured in the August 2007 playlist. I love “Umbrella” and Marié’s cover is one of the best I’ve heard. (In contrast, Mandy Moore’s cover is quite horrible, which is weird because her other covers are pretty good.) Marié’s original song “Stupid for You” is great as well.

• “Whatever It Takes” by Lifehouse. [W] [U] Very nifty rock single from the band that gave us the really popular song “Hanging by a Moment.”

• “Who Will” by REtroSPECT [U] and “Getaway” by RetroSPECT. [U] REtroSPECT is this up and coming Filipino music group that so far has been dishing out great house songs. While their brand of house music is not as sophisticated as Kaskade’s (like the fact that their drum line is very monotonous), I really like the simplicity of their songs. (But they really need to get better music video directors. Hehehe.)

• “Let Go” by Boys Like Girls. [U] Boys Like Girls gives us a sweetly beautiful acoustic rendition of the original Trip-Hop song by Frou Frou. Their single “Hero/Heroine” [W] [U] is also a fantastic song that’s been getting airplay in local radio stations.

• “Don’t Stop the Music” by Rihanna. [W] [U] I love this club song! I’m certainly starting to appreciate Rihanna’s music. Hehehe. Also check out the Jody den Broeder Big Room Edit, which I think is the best house music remix (sounds great in a club).

• “Love Me Like the World is Ending” by Ben Lee. [W] [U] A great groovy pop song from the guy that gave us “Catch My Disease.”

• “Something About You” by Hatiras. [U] Some people really hate the idea of creating dance remixes of songs from the 80s, but if I think it sounds great, I don’t care if it’s an original or a cover. Anyway, this is one of those nice-sounding remixes and this time of a Level 42 song.

• “No Air” by Jordin Sparks feat. Chris Brown. [W] [U] I think the pacing/rhythm of the verses is a bit awkward, but overall, I very much like this contemporary R&B duet.

As always, reactions on the selected songs as well as other music recommendations in the comments are very much welcome.