Kiesza – Spirit of Dee

Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #89

9 July 20189 July 2018 Dee Leave a comment

Day 89 means Now! #89, which was released on 24th November 2014.

Let’s see what was in the charts during our final few months in Southampton.

Now! That's What I Call Music #89
Track 1: Meghan Trainor – All About That Bass

Love this one! Great mid-century retro tinge, brilliant theme, and it’s another one to which my Southampton Zumba class did a really fun routine.

Track 2: Olly Murs and Travie McCoy – Wrapped Up

Love the retro feel, but I could do without the rap.

Track 3: Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj – Bang Bang

Good solid pop track – really like this one.

Track 4: Nico & Vinz – Am I Wrong

I really like the tune on this track.

Track 5: Magic – Rude

I can’t stand this one – the theme’s just awful! Irritatingly, it was constantly stuck in my head at the time as well.

Track 6: Sam Smith – I’m Not The Only One

Too slow for me.

Track 7: Tom Odell – Real Love

This one was the 2014 John Lewis Christmas advert song (it was the year of Monty the penguin), so it still gets played on the music channels at Christmas time. Again, it’s too slow for my liking.

Track 8: Gareth Malone and All Star Choir – Wake Me Up

Gareth Malone’s project for Children In Need 2014 – a choir of celebrities doing a cover of Avicii’s Wake Me Up. It’s not that exciting, but the voice-spotting can be quite fun.

Track 9: Ed Sheeran – Don’t

Good rhythm, interesting vocals – quite like this one.

Track 10: George Ezra – Blame It On Me

I’m not too keen on the tune on this one.

Track 11: The Script – Superheroes

It’s got a good epic feel, but it’s a bit cheesy.

Track 12: OneRepublic – Love Runs Out

I really like this one – the atmosphere is great.

Track 13: Maroon 5 – Maps

Pretty tune, quite summery.

Track 14: Hozier – Take Me To Church

Beautiful track – the tune, atmosphere and theme are all absolutely stunning.

Track 15: Charli XCX – Boom Clap

I find this one pretty generic.

Track 16: One Direction – Steal My Girl

Irritating tune, irritating theme.

Track 17: The Vamps and Shawn Mendes – Oh Cecelia (Breaking My Heart)

Uninspired cover of the Simon & Garfunkel classic with new verses. Not a fan.

Track 18: 5 Seconds Of Summer – Amnesia

Too slow and saccharine for me.

Track 19: GRL – Ugly Heart

I really like this upbeat pop song. Sadly, group member Simone Battle passed away during the promotion of this track, and they’ve not really had any hits since.

Track 20: Katy Perry – This Is How We Do

It’s got a good beat, but the tune’s pretty repetitive.

Track 21: Cheryl and Tinie Tempah – Crazy Stupid Love

It’s got a good beat, but the tune’s a bit annoying.

Track 22: Ella Henderson – Glow

Pretty tune, but it’s a little slow for my liking.

Track 23: The Veronicas – You Ruin Me

Dull and depressing.

Track 24: Calvin Harris and John Newman – Blame

It’s an okay tune, but it’s a bit forgettable.

Track 25: Sigma and Paloma Faith – Changing

Nice upbeat, feelgood track. Quite like this one.

Track 26: Lilly Wood and Robin Schulz – Prayer In C

It’s not the kind of thing I usually like, but I’ve got a soft spot for this tune.

Track 27: Clean Bandit and Jess Glynne – Real Love

I like some of the instrumentals, but the tune on the vocals irritates me.

Track 28: Jeremih and YG – Don’t Tell ‘Em

The beat on the various lines of this is very jarring. Not keen. Also, that Rhythm Is A Dancer interpolation is done really badly.

Track 29: David Guetta and Sam Martin – Lovers On The Sun

Great Western-tinged instrumentals, and the tune’s quite nice. Good stuff.

Track 30: Waze & Odyssey and R Kelly – Bump And Grind 2014

Reworking of R Kelly’s 1994 song. I’m not keen on the original anyway, and this dance version is just messy.

Track 31: Ariana Grande and Zedd – Break Free

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Ariana Grande on track 3.

Very uninspired and irritating tune.

Track 32: Nicole Scherzinger – Your Love

Another track where the tune is so bland I’m not sure it even counts as a tune.

Track 33: Pitbull and John Ryan – Fireball

Good beat on this one – very danceable.

Track 34: Wankelmut, Emma Louise and Mark Kinchen – My Head Is A Jungle [MK Remix]

That chorus is horribly irritating!

Track 35: ZHU – Faded

I like the retro-sounding bassline, but in general it’s too repetitive for me.

Track 36: Duke Dumont – Won’t Look Back

One of those ’90s-sounding dance track from the mid-’10s. It’s a bit too generic for my liking.

Track 37: Parra For Cuva and Anna Naklab – Wicked Games

Guitar-driven dance cover of Wicked Game by Chris Isaak. It’s not a patch on the original, which is beautiful – somehow this version manages to be dull.

Track 38: Fuse ODG and Angel – TINA

Nice feelgood tune, quite like this one.

Track 39: Ten Walls – Walking With Elephants

Takes ages to get going. When it does, it’s okay, but nothing special.

Track 40: Kiesza – Giant In My Heart

Some interesting lines on the backing track, but I’m not keen on the tune.

Track 41: The Magician and Years & Years – Sunlight

Another generic, bland tune.

Track 42: Melissa Steel and Popcaan – Kisses For Breakfast

I had this one stuck in my head for years afterwards. Thankfully it’s an okay tune.

Track 43: Professor Green and Tori Kelly – Lullaby

The tune on the sung vocals is pretty, but I find the theme too depressing.

Track 44: Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora – Black Widow

Good atmosphere, but the tune is fairly uninspired.

Track 45: Nicki Minaj – Anaconda

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Nicki Minaj on track 3.

I find the theme on this one painfully stupid.

Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #88

8 July 20188 July 2018 Dee Leave a comment

Day 88 takes us to Now! #88, which came out on 21st July 2014.

Let’s see what would have been blasting on the Wetherspoons sound system that summer.

Now! That's What I Call Music #88
Track 1: Ella Henderson – Ghost

The tune on the chorus is very atmospheric, but unfortunately the verses are very dull.

Track 2: Ed Sheeran – Sing

Nice epic track – really like this one.

Track 3: Sam Smith – Stay With Me

Saccharine ballad. It’s very highly lauded but it’s not my kind of thing.

Track 4: George Ezra – Budapest

Interesting style, good tune – great track.

Track 5: Mr Probz – Waves [Robin Schulz Remix]

This is the kind of summer chillout I can get behind. Great, melancholy tune.

Track 6: Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea – Problem

Very danceable pop track with some awesome trumpet instrumentals – really like this.

Track 7: Rita Ora – I Will Never Let You Down

It’s got a good beat, but I find the tune irritating.

Track 8: Coldplay – A Sky Full Of Stars

Extremely grating – nothing redeeming here.

Track 9: Aloe Blacc – The Man

I do like the interpolation of Elton John’s Your Song on the chorus, but the verse is a bit bland.

Track 10: Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake – Love Never Felt So Good

Posthumous Michael Jackson release, cobbled together from a 1983 demo track and with Justin Timberlake drafted in to add extra vocals. Obviously, I love that ’80s sound.

Track 11: will.i.am and Cody Wise – It’s My Birthday

I really like this one – it’s actually replaced 50 Cent’s In Da Club as the song that gets stuck in my head on my actual birthday.

Track 12: Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX – Fancy

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Iggy Azalea on track 6.

The song is pretty dull, but the Clueless-homage video is quite fun.

Track 13: Chris Brown, Lil’ Wayne and Tyga – Loyal

I quite like the electro hook, but the rap is fairly boring.

Track 14: Clean Bandit and Sharna Bass – Extraordinary

Too slow for my liking, and the tune is pretty forgettable.

Track 15: Jess Glynne – Right Here

Very bland, irritating song.

Track 16: Ella Eyre – If I Go

There’s a bit too much going on with this track, and I don’t find the tune very interesting.

Track 17: MKTO – Classic

Good solid pop track – it’s a bit cheesy, but I quite like it.

Track 18: 5 Seconds Of Summer – Don’t Stop

Another good bit of pop-rock from 5 Seconds Of Summer. Happily chair-dancing here.

Track 19: Little Mix – Salute

I can’t stand this song. For some reason it still constantly ends up in my head four years later! I would pay good money to be able to forget about this one.

Track 20: Rixton – Me And My Broken Heart

I love the tune on this one – nice and epic.

Track 21: The Vamps and Demi Lovato – Somebody To You

Some highly irritating chanting throughout, and the tune’s pretty uninspired.

Track 22: Idina Menzel – Let It Go

The big musical number from Frozen. Awesomely epic, great to attempt at karaoke (not that I ever go anywhere near karaoke these days).

Track 23: Clean Bandit and Jess Glynne – Rather Be

Double repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Clean Bandit on track 14 and Jess Glynne on track 15.

The vocals are a little irritating, but the instrumentals are immense.

Track 24: Kiesza – Hideaway

Great beat, great tune. Big fan of this one.

Track 25: Oliver Heldens and Becky Hill – Gecko (Overdrive)

This one’s a generic dance track with some very irritating instrumental lines.

Track 26: Sigma – Nobody To Love

I quite like that piano at the start, but the vocals annoy me.

Track 27: Calvin Harris – Summer

Probably my favourite summer-themed dance track of the decade. The tune is gorgeous and it builds beautifully.

Track 28: Secondcity – I Wanna Feel

I do like the ’90s-influenced trend that was big in dance music around this time, and it works nicely here, but I find the tune very repetitive.

Track 29: Klingande – Jubel

Interesting track, and I always appreciate a bit of saxophone.

Track 30: Faul & Wad Ad and Pnau – Changes

This track’s got some incredibly annoying kiddie vocals throughout, but it does also have saxophone, so I don’t know whether I like it or not.

Track 31: Fuse ODG and Sean Paul – Dangerous Love

This was another track to which we did a really good routine at my Zumba class in Southampton. I have a real soft spot for this one.

Track 32: DJ Fresh, TC and Little Nikki – Make U Bounce

I like the videogame-esque instrumentals at the start, and the track’s got a good beat, but there’s a bit too much going on.

Track 33: Shift K3Y – Touch

Boring tune, and I find the theme pretty awkward.

Track 34: MK and Alana – Always [Route 94 Remix]

I don’t like this tune at all – there’s something that sounds slightly offkey about it, and the vocals jar unpleasantly with the backing track.

Track 35: Tiësto and Matthew Koma – Wasted

Irritating theme, irritating tune.

Track 36: John Martin – Anywhere For You

Another boring song.

Track 37: Cash Cash and Bebe Rexha – Take Me Home

I like the ’80s-tinged synth on the backing track, but the vocals are super annoying.

Track 38: Matrix & Futurebound and Tanya Lacey – Don’t Look Back

The tune is fairly dull, but again I quite like some of the lines on the backing track.

Track 39: Jason Derulo and Snoop Dogg – Wiggle

I like the atmosphere on this one, but the theme is super creepy.

Track 40: DJ Cassidy, Robin Thicke and Jessie J – Calling All Hearts

Great ’70s-tinged disco sound on this one!

Track 41: Neon Jungle – Welcome To The Jungle

Another awesome atmosphere – great stuff.

Track 42: Sia – Chandelier

Gorgeous, epic track. It’s a little overplayed these days, but the vocals are just wonderful.

Track 43: The Vamps – Last Night

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had the Vamps on track 21.

The tune’s a bit generic, but I quite like the pop-rock style.

Track 44: Tove Lo and Hippie Sabotage – Stay High

Too slow for me, and I find the tune boring.

Track 45: Paloma Faith – Only Love Can Hurt Like This

I find this ballad a bit overblown and irritating.