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

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

July 2014
This is how the world looked in July 2014. The Wetherspoons cider festival was one of my summer highlights for a few years – I’ve not partaken in a while. Too much going on in July these days!  That beetroot cider remains the most interesting one I’ve ever tasted.

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.

Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #87

Day 87 equals Now! #87, which came out on 7th April 2014.

April 2014
This is how the world looked in April 2014…on a slightly overcast day in Salisbury. That hoodie, along with most of my hoodie collection, is far too big for me now and has been relegated to the pyjama drawer.

Into the mid-’10s already!  2014 was my last full year living in Southampton.  Let’s see what the chart sounded like.

Now! That's What I Call Music #87
Track 1: Pharrell Williams – Happy

It’s a bit cheesy, but it’s very joyful and danceable, so I quite like it.

Track 2: Route 94 and Jess Glynne – My Love

Annoying tune, generic track.  Not keen on this one.

Track 3: Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull – I’m A Freak

Good beat, but the tune’s pretty uninspired, and the chorus is really irritating.

Track 4: Avicii – Hey Brother

Another of Avicii’s EDM-bluegrass crossovers.  Quite like this track.

Track 5: Katy Perry and Juicy J – Dark Horse

Great atmosphere, and it’s got an okay tune.

Track 6: Sam Smith – Money On My Mind

I find this tune pretty irritating, and I’ve never been a fan of Sam Smith’s falsetto vocals.

Track 7: Little Mix – Word Up!

Pointless cover of the Cameo classic, released as the official Sport Relief single for 2014.  While the cover is pointless, the video is great – highlights include Chris Barrie reprising his role from The Brittas Empire and Melanie C showing she can still do those Spice Girl cartwheels.

Track 8: 5 Seconds Of Summer – She Looks So Perfect

Great bit of pop-rock – really like this tune!

Track 9: Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball

Irritating overblown ballad, not a fan.

Track 10: Pixie Lott – Nasty

Great beat, good big band feel –  very danceable.

Track 11: One Direction – Story Of My Life

Boring, slow, cheesy, and too acoustic-y for me.  Everything I dislike.

Track 12: Gary Barlow – Let Me Go

Okay beat, but the tune is dull.

Track 13: Alesso and OneRepublic – If I Lose Myself

Generic tune – nothing exciting going on here.

Track 14: Gorgon City and MNEK – Ready For Your Love

Another very uninspired track, with a dance beat that’s the same as every other dance beat from this decade.

Track 15: The Vamps – Wild Heart

Too cheesy for me, but it’s got quite a good rhythm.

Track 16: Lady Gaga and R Kelly – Do What U Want

The atmosphere’s okay, but again the tune’s not very interesting.

Track 17: Elyar Fox – Do It All Over Again

‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).

It’s an okay pop song with a good beat, but it’s pretty forgettable.

Track 18: Katy B – Crying For No Reason

This one’s a bit depressing, but the tune is quite pretty.

Track 19: John Legend – All Of Me

It’s very saccharine, but parts of the tune are absolutely beautiful, so I quite like it.

Track 20: A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera – Say Something

Another boring, mood-killing ballad.

Track 21: Ellie Goulding – How Long Will I Love You

And yet another one.

Track 22: Sam Bailey – Skyscraper

The 2013 X Factor winner, this year doing a pointless cover of a Demi Lovato song.  Nothing interesting here.

Track 23: The Chainsmokers – #Selfie

That title is going to look so dated in decades to come.  Mind you, I don’t think anyone makes pop music with the thought that it’s going to be listened to in the future anymore – it’s all a bit disposable these days.  Anyway, this is interspersed throughout with the most annoying spoken word sample ever, which I think is meant to be the point, but it doesn’t make it in any way pleasant to listen to.

Track 24: Pitbull and Kesha – Timber

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

At my Zumba class in Southampton, we used to do a really fun, high energy, line dance-inspired routine to this, which I absolutely loved.  As such, I’ve got a soft spot for this song.

Track 25: DVBBS, Borgeous and Tinie Tempah – Tsunami (Jump)

Great rhythm – happily nodding along right now.

Track 26: Calvin Harris, Alesso and Hurts – Under Control

Repeated artist alert!  We’ve already had Alesso on track 13.

This is another one with a very unmemorable tune.

Track 27: Martin Garrix and Jay Hardway – Wizard

The hook’s okay, but everything that surrounds it is off – it could have created quite a good atmosphere if the track weren’t so messy.

Track 28: Tiësto – Red Lights

Depressingly generic tune.

Track 29: Duke Dumont and Jax Jones – I Got U

I like the steel drums, but otherwise it’s fairly boring.

Track 30: Bastille – Of The Night

Track completely made up of interpolations of Snap’s Rhythm Is A Dancer and Corona’s The Rhythm Of The Night, so I guess it’s sort of a cover.  I love both tracks so I don’t mind – this compilation has had so many boring forgettable tunes on that it’s a relief to hear a tune I like, even if it’s not original.

Track 31: Example – Kids Again

I like the backing track, but again I’m just not enthused by the tune.

Track 32: Little Mix – Move

Repeated artist alert!  We’ve already had Little Mix on track 7.

This one’s a nice solid bit of pop – good stuff.

Track 33: Neon Jungle – Braveheart

Good solid pop tune – this one’s quite danceable.

Track 34: DJ Fresh, Jay Fay and Ms Dynamite – Dibby Dibby Sound

Bit of a Zumba theme to this playlist, because this is one that we danced to in a Zumba class I was attending in Newcastle last year.  I really need to go back to dance class – I fell out of the habit during the move and am a bit too busy at the moment.  Maybe in the autumn.

Anyway, this one’s a bit repetitive to listen to, but it’s got a good beat.

Track 35: Tujamo, Plastik Funk and Sneakbo – Dr Who!

I’m a bit surprised I ignored this one when it was in the charts, because I’m always looking for daft vaguely Doctor Who-related songs to add to that Doctor Who playlist I’m going to create at some point in the future.

It’s a bit tuneless, but it’s got a good beat.  It’d be nice if the lyrics were slightly more relevant to the title.

Track 36: Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, Kanye West and Lil’ Wayne – Thank You

I find the rap a bit awkward.  Good rhythm, though, and the sample of Alicia Myers’ 1981 hit I Wanna Thank You is awesome.

Track 37: Fuse ODG – Million Pound Girl (Badder Than Bad)

Great atmosphere, good tune.  Really like this one.

Track 38: John Newman – Out Of My Head

Too slow for me, and the tune’s pretty depressing.

Track 39: Sub Focus – Turn Back Time

Bit of ’90s-tinged dance – great atmosphere.

Track 40: Matrix & Futurebound and Max Marshall – Control

Good beat, but this is another forgettable tune.

Track 41: Foxes – Let Go For Tonight

I like that piano at the start, and the chorus is epic.

Track 42: Paloma Faith – Can’t Rely On You

Interesting tune, good beat.  Not a bad track.

Track 43: Le Youth and Dominique Young Unique – Dance With Me

Great beat, and it’s got a welcome ’80s tinge.  Love the No Scrubs interpolation too.  Good stuff.

Track 44: London Grammar – Hey Now

I quite like the backing track, but the tune’s boring and it’s too slow.

Track 45: Vance Joy – Riptide

Endearingly daft lyrics, feelgood tune.  Big fan of this.

Track 46: American Authors – Best Day Of My Life

Good beat, but it’s a bit too twee for me.