Today’s boxes from the study were largely full of CDs. Piles and piles of them. And I don’t think I’ve found them all yet.
As the move has caused me to switch, by and large, to a de-hoarding state of mind, I’ve got a feeling I will be getting rid of a lot of the music CDs. We’ll see how much space I’ve got for them when I finally put up the CD shelves (which is a long way down the line). In the meantime, at least the extra space on the DVD shelves is getting some use!
Day 70,and we’ve reached Now! #70, which came out on 21st July 2008.
Let’s see what those summer hits were that year.
Track 1: Estelle and Kanye West – American Boy
Great tune. There were a couple of good dances to this on Strictly at the time, so I mainly associate it with that.
Track 2: Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris and Chrome – Dance Wiv Me
Great track – love the rhythm, love the chorus. Highly danceable.
Track 3: Mint Royale – Singin’ In The Rain
Cover of the musical classic with weird messy remix-y bits. There’s about three good tracks here all mashed together into one bad one.
Track 4: Sam Sparro – Black And Gold
Great atmosphere, quite like this one.
Track 5: Duffy – Warwick Avenue
Nice tune, but it’s too slow for me.
Track 6: Sara Bareilles – Love Song
I like the piano, but the vocals are pretty generic.
Track 7: Gabriella Cilmi – Sweet About Me
Great tune, awesome theme. Big fan of this track.
Track 8: Ne-Yo – Closer
Lovely tune – I really like the instrumentals, and the chorus is gorgeous.
Track 9: Girls Aloud – Can’t Speak French
Good rhythm, but there’s something that’s always annoyed me about the theme of this one.
Track 10: Kylie Minogue – In My Arms
Not massively keen on this track – it’s a bit messy for me and I don’t think much of the tune.
Track 11: Sugababes – Denial
Quite like the beat on this one, and it’s not a bad tune either – good to nod along to.
Track 12: Jonas Brothers – SOS
Awful cheesy kiddie-sounding vocals, dodgy faux pop-pop-punk sound. Not a fan.
Track 13: Alphabeat – 10,000 Nights
Quite like the retro-tinged piano, but the tune annoys me.
Track 14: The Ting Tings – That’s Not My Name
Great chant-along track, but I prefer the other two big Ting Tings hits from that year – fingers crossed they’re on future Now! editions!
Track 15: The Kooks – Always Where I Need To Be
I like the guitar on the intro, but in general this one sounds a bit uninspired and forgettable to me.
Track 16: Pendulum – Propane Nightmares
Great atmosphere, love the instrumentals – and that electro hook is great.
Track 17: Black Kids – I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You
Quite like the backing track, but the tune’s pretty dull.
Track 18: Scouting For Girls – Heartbeat
Interesting instrumentals, but again I’m not keen on the main tune.
Track 19: The Feeling – Turn It Up
Nice tune, interesting piano bit. Quite like this one.
Track 20: The Hoosiers – Cops And Robbers
Great theme, awesome atmosphere to go with it. Brilliant track.
Track 21: Paul Weller – Have You Made Up Your Mind
Nice classic sound, but I find the tune a bit bland.
Track 22: Coldplay – Violet Hill
Takes ages to get going. When it does, though, it’s a nice tune with a classic rock feel and a good atmosphere.
Track 23: Rihanna – Take A Bow
Lovely tune, quite like this one.
Track 24: Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown – No Air
It’s a nice tune, but I find the vocals really overblown.
Track 25: will.i.am and Cheryl – Heartbreaker
It’s an okay tune, but 3 Words was a much better collaboration between these two.
Track 26: Usher and Young Jeezy – Love In This Club
Quite like the tune on the backing track, but the vocal’s pretty boring.
Track 27: Mariah Carey – Touch My Body
Daft, awkward theme, and the song’s just not my thing – I find it a bit irritating.
Track 28: Leona Lewis – Better In Time
Nice piano, but the tune is pretty dull, and it’s too slow for me.
Track 29: Chris Brown – With You
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Chris Brown on track 24.
Boring and cheesy song – not my thing.
Track 30: Ironik – Stay With Me
Lovely tune on the backing track, but then there’s a lot of clashing sung vocals (which are a hideous chipmunk-tuned sample of Westlife’s Written In The Stars) and rapping and it all gets far too messy.
Track 31: Taio Cruz – I Can Be
Some interesting instrumentals, but again the vocals are not doing it for me.
Track 32: The Script – We Cry
Nice atmosphere, with a slight eerie-ness about it. The vocals are really uninspired though.
Track 33: Britney Spears – Break The Ice
Another great backing track with so-so vocals over the top.
Track 34: Timbaland, Nicole Scherzinger and Keri Hilson – Scream
Good atmosphere, but there’s too much going on in this track for my liking.
Track 35: Flo Rida and T-Pain – Low
This one’s a favourite of mine, largely for the lyric ‘the baggy sweatpants and the Reeboks with the straps‘. This is referring to the Reebok Freestyle Hi, which is my favourite trainer of all time (I have them in seven different colours), though I never wear them with sweatpants unless I need a warm layer for walking to exercise classes in the winter – leggings or jeans all the way otherwise! The epic atmosphere is just a bonus.
Track 36: Wiley – Wearing My Rolex
Good dance beat, daft theme, good bit of grime. I find this one quite endearing.
Track 37: DJ Q and MC Bonez – You Wot!
It’s a bit messy, but it’s very danceable.
Track 38: Basshunter – All I Ever Wanted
Classic dance tune. I should find the vocal hook irritating, but I actually quite like it.
Track 39: Scooter – Jumping All Over The World
Daft theme as ever from Scooter. Irritatingly messy, but I LOVE that sample from Sailor’s A Glass Of Champagne, one of my favourite ’70s glam rock tracks.
Track 40: Ultrabeat and Darren Styles – Discolights
Another great atmosphere, but again the vocals are letting it down.
Track 41: Alex Gaudino and Shena – Watch Out
The Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag sample is obviously awesome, but it jars pretty badly with the vocals, which themselves are kind of a rip-off of Mousse T’s Horny.
Track 42: September – Cry For You
I really like the electro hooks, but yet again the vocals are bland and uninspired.
Track 43: Fragma – Toca’s Miracle 2008
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM). (Urgh, and we were doing so well today!)
We’ve already had the original on Now! #45, and as usual, the new-version-with-a-year-added-to-the-title is not different enough from the first version to justify including it again!
See the link for my review.
I finally made a start on the study today…
…and immediately ran into some technical problems.
So I had my wee workstation all set up in the living room, with the scanner and shredder ready to start scanning and shredding all the mountains of paper in the study that I want to keep digitally but not physically. Except they weren’t. The scanner/printer we have is apparently set up to scan to Geth’s laptop rather than mine (and I don’t want to be reliant on Geth’s laptop for this project, first because it creates extra work to keep moving all the files, secondly because Geth needs it on days when he’s working from home, and thirdly because Geth never cleans his laptop and so it is super gross and I don’t like touching it). The shredder, meanwhile, won’t work because it’s jammed from the last time we had to shred a lot of stuff (which I’m pretty sure was when we were still living in Southampton, shortly before we moved to Newcastle, so late 2014?).
I have possibly sort of fixed the first issue, because I found some memory cards in the first of the study boxes that I went through today, so I can just switch the scanner to scan to a memory card rather than a laptop. As for the second issue, Geth has promised to attempt some drunken maintenance with an old unused plastic card (which was how we fixed it the last time this happened) when he gets back from his work dinner tonight.
Hopefully that will all work, or else emptying the study is going to be trickier than I’d foreseen.
Day 69 brings us to Now! #69, which came out on 17th March 2008.
On with the hits!
Track 1: Duffy – Mercy
I’ve always really liked this track – classic, danceable tune.
Track 2: Rihanna – Don’t Stop The Music
Great dance track! Happily nodding along here.
Track 3: Basshunter and DJ Mental Theo’s Bazzheadz – Now You’re Gone
Great tune, love the atmosphere – and that bass is awesome.
Track 4: Girls Aloud – Call The Shots
I don’t find this tune very interesting, but the atmosphere’s quite good.
Track 5: Nickelback – Rockstar
I mentioned in the Now! #56 review that there are only two Nickelback tracks worth listening to, and neither is for reasons to do with the song itself. How You Remind Me is the first (see Now! #51 review for why) and this is the second, because of the video with all the celebrities and random fans miming along.
Track 6: OneRepublic – Stop And Stare
A bit slow and depressing for my liking.
Track 7: David Jordan – Sun Goes Down
Interesting track, great harmonies, epic guitar. Quite like this one.
Track 8: Kelly Rowland – Work [Freemasons Remix]
Upbeat and danceable, but it’s a bit repetitive.
Track 9: Soulja Boy – Crank That (Soulja Boy)
Good atmosphere, but there’s not enough melody for me, and I find the rap style irritating.
Track 10: Britney Spears – Piece Of Me
Slightly awkward theme, and it could do with being a bit more uptempo.
Track 11: T2 and Jodie Aysha – Heartbroken
Too messy on the intro, and then the tune’s irritating once it gets going.
Track 12: H ‘Two’ O and Platnum – What’s It Gonna Be
Another annoying tune with headache-inducing high-pitched vocals.
Track 13: Taio Cruz – Come On Girl
Good head-nodder, but the tune’s pretty generic.
Track 14: Kylie Minogue – Wow
Another solid pop track from Kylie Minogue. Great tune.
Track 15: Robyn – Be Mine!
Irritating vocals, boring tune. Not keen on this one.
Track 16: Cascada – What Hurts The Most
Slow ballad intro before it launches into the usual Eurodance. The tune’s fairly uninspired, but it’s quite danceable.
Track 17: Booty Luv – Some Kinda Rush
More ’70s-tinged dance from Booty Luv. Good stuff.
Track 18: Samim – Heater
Repetitive, messy and irritating – not my thing at all.
Track 19: Mary J Blige – Just Fine
Jarring electro instrumentals that don’t really go with the soul-tinged vocals. Also, the tune’s pretty forgettable.
Track 20: Jay Sean – Ride It
Great tune and atmosphere – lovely track.
Track 21: Shayne Ward – Breathless
Slow ballad, too saccharine for me.
Track 22: Leon Jackson – When You Believe
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Pointless cover of the Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston soundtrack song for The Prince Of Egypt. This was the X Factor winner’s single for 2007 and also the Christmas number one, as was standard for the late ’00s and early ’10s (otherwise known as the era when Simon Cowell ruined everything that was fun about the Christmas number one race). Leon Jackson was one of those X Factor winners who immediately faded into obscurity and never released anything else, hence why his stuff’s not even on Spotify.
Track 23: Adele – Chasing Pavements
It’s an okay tune, but a bit slow for me. I’ve never been that keen on the stuff off Adele’s 19 album – 21, for me, was her real masterpiece.
Track 24: Timbaland and OneRepublic – Apologise
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had OneRepublic on track 6.
This one’s nice and atmospheric – love the piano at the start. Great tune.
Track 25: Alicia Keys – No One
Nice tune, but the vocals are too saccharine and overblown for my liking.
Track 26: Mika – Happy Ending
Not keen on the tune, and it’s too slow for me.
Track 27: Kanye West and Chris Martin – Homecoming
Interesting instrumentals, great tune on the sung vocals – quite like this one.
Track 28: The Hoosiers – Goodbye Mr A
Quite like the circus-y instrumentals at the start – good upbeat track.
Track 29: The Feeling – I Thought It Was Over
Retro feel, good beat, nice tune. Really like this one!
Track 30: Alphabeat – Fascination
Another nice upbeat song with a retro tinge – happily chair-dancing again.
Track 31: Scouting For Girls – Elvis Ain’t Dead
Classic tune, but I have to be in the right mood for it, as I sometimes find the style annoying.
Track 32: One Night Only – Just For Tonight
Love the instrumentals, but I find the vocals a bit dull.
Track 33: Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor
Nice to hear some electropop, but this one’s a bit repetitive.
Track 34: Bloc Party – Flux
Good beat, good electro lines – very danceable.
Track 35: Utah Saints – Something Good ’08
Shaking my head a bit here, ’cause we already had the original on Now! #22, and this redone version is not different enough to the original, in my book, to justify its inclusion.
See the link for my review of the song.
Track 36: Mark Brown and Sarah Cracknell – The Journey Continues
Dull tune, and I don’t like the way the operatic vocals clash with the pop ones.
Track 37: Amy MacDonald – This Is The Life
Another nice folk-rock song from Amy MacDonald – great tune on the vocals.
Track 38: Kate Nash – Pumpkin Soup
There are some interesting lines here, but in general the track’s a bit messy with too much going on.
Track 39: Sugababes – Change
Slow, dull ballad. There’s always one.
Track 40: Goldfrapp – A&E
Again, this one’s too slow for my liking.
Track 41: Amy Winehouse – Love Is A Losing Game
Lovely tune, gorgeous vocals as ever from Amy Winehouse.
Track 42: Eva Cassidy and Katie Melua – What A Wonderful World
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
So Eva Cassidy did a slow, acoustic-y cover of the ’60s classic, and then when she became posthumously famous, Katie Melua decided to do one of those creepy duets from beyond the grave by replacing half the vocals with her own. It’s not at all inspired or fun to listen to.
I’ve rhapsodised about this album already when I reviewed it for my Now! review series, but I thought it’d be nice to share some pictures of the actual artefact.
What I love about vinyl*, especially on pop compilations of this era, is that when you open up the sleeve, you get a big colourful display like this:
As a kid, I spent hours poring over these pictures and captions while listening to this record. Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé looking all operatic! Fat Boys and their scary snake picture! Bananarama and their topless dude friends! Jan Hammer and that dusky Miami sky! Carole Decker’s hair (#goals several decades before #goals was a thing)! Pet Shop Boys and their moody black ‘n’ white road photo! Richard Coles long before he was a vicar! But best of all was Billy Idol and his black leather jacket, which basically set in stone what ‘cool’ looked like for me. I love this record sleeve. It’s one of my favourite things in Mum and Dad’s house.
*I’m not actually a vinyl person, really, although I do intend to get a proper record player at some point – Geth’s dad still has a bunch of Geth’s old vinyl (or did last time we checked) that Geth wants back (or did last time I checked), and obviously I intend to keep stuff like Now! #10 when my parents no longer want it. Because it was always Dad who put records on for me when I was little, it wasn’t until I was a teenager that I learnt to use a record player, and I always found lining up the needle a bit fiddly and was nervous about scratching the record. Nevertheless, I persisted, because it’s an important 20th century skill – even if I often ended up with the record starting a few seconds into track 1 because of overcompensating after that time I lined it up too far the other way and the needle went skidding off the edge of the record. I wasn’t a particularly competent teenager.
Day 68 takes us to Now! #68, which was released on 19th November 2007.
It’s the time of year for party tracks. Don’t disappoint me, Now! compilers!
Track 1: Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love
Lovely tune, quite like this one.
Track 2: Take That – Rule The World
I’ve always found this one a bit jarring, because the verse and chorus are two beautiful tunes that don’t really work with each other. Just when you’re enjoying one, it breaks the mood by switching to the other. Should have been two separate songs.
Track 3: Kylie Minogue – 2 Hearts
I like the stripped-back instrumentals at the start – it gives the track lots of edge and atmosphere. The vocals are great too.
Track 4: Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse – Valerie
I mentioned this cover four days ago in my review of the Zutons original on Now! #64. It’s a great, bombastic big band version, and I really like it, but the classic-rock-tinged original still has the slight edge for me.
Track 5: Sugababes – About You Now
Quite like this tune – nice solid pop song.
Track 6: Kanye West – Stronger
Really like this atmospheric electro-infused track – it’s probably the best song Kanye West ever did.
Track 7: Craig David – Hot Stuff (Let’s Dance)
It’s based around a sample of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, which is obviously appreciated, but the rest of the track is very generic and just makes me want to go listen to Let’s Dance instead.
Track 8: Sean Kingston – Beautiful Girls
Pretty tune, quite like this one. At the time, because I wasn’t following chart music very closely, I kept getting it mixed up with Mika’s Big Girls (You Are Beautiful). The songs are very different, but that’s the power of a title.
Track 9: Shayne Ward – No U Hang Up
I like the electro-tinged instrumentals – it’s getting into that late ’00s era when that was in vogue, yay! – but the vocals are too cheesy for me.
Track 10: Timbaland, DOE and Keri Hilson – The Way I Are
Oh, it’s this one! That electro hook is absolutely classic. Great atmospheric track.
Track 11: Britney Spears – Gimme More
‘It’s Britney, bitch‘. I remember everyone found this comeback a bit laughable at the time, but it was sampled brilliantly a few years later when she did Scream And Shout with will.i.am. I really like the electro bassline on this one, too.
Track 12: Rihanna – Shut Up And Drive
Great guitar on this one – it’s an unusual style for Rihanna, but I really like it.
Track 13: Girls Aloud – Sexy! No No No…
Awesome epic atmosphere – it builds really nicely at the start and then launches into a brilliantly frenetic rock-tinged song. Big fan of this one.
Track 14: Robyn and Kleerup – With Every Heartbeat
Quite like the chilled-out backing track, but the vocals are too high-pitched for me.
Track 15: Enrique Iglesias – Tired Of Being Sorry
Nice Latin tinge, though it jars slightly with the electro instrumentals.
Track 16: Groove Armada and Mutya Buena – Song 4 Mutya (Out Of Control)
Nice retro ’80s-sounding backing track, but I’m not hugely keen on the vocal style constantly veering between sung and spoken.
Track 17: Se:Sa and Sharon Phillips – Like This Like That
Nice upbeat track, with more retro instrumentals. Very danceable.
Track 18: Ida Corr and Fedde Le Grand – Let Me Think About It
There’s a bit too much going on in this dance track, and it doesn’t all work together.
Track 19: Axwell and Max C – I Found U
Bit of a throwback to early ’90s dance, with some added ’70s retro instrumentals for good measure. The tune’s boring though.
Track 20: Freaks – The Creeps (Get On The Dancefloor)
Another dull tune, with a very repetitive backing track.
Track 21: Peter Gelderblom – Waiting 4
House remix of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ By The Way. It’s okay, but it’s one of those ones where I just want to listen to the original instead.
Track 22: David Guetta and Chris Willis – Love Is Gone
Some very irritating siren-sounding instrumentals in the middle of this one, but otherwise it’s quite a good upbeat electro track.
Track 23: Plain White Ts – Hey There Delilah
Pretty tune, but it’s a bit too acoustic-y and twee for my liking.
Track 24: James Blunt – 1973
Always love a 20th-century-inspired title! Unfortunately the tune is not 20th-century-inspired – I was hoping it would be four-on-the-floor glam rock. Instead, it’s a fairly standard melancholy one from James Blunt – pretty tune, but not really my style.
Track 25: Newton Faulkner – Dream Catch Me
Boring tune, irritating twangy guitar. Not keen.
Track 26: The Hoosiers – Worried About Ray
Interesting instrumentals, good atmosphere, but the vocals irritate me.
Track 27: Scouting For Girls – She’s So Lovely
This one has always annoyed me – I find the tune and theme very twee.
Track 28: Feist – 1234
Too acoustic-y for me, and again I find the vocals irritating.
Track 29: Phil Collins – In The Air Tonight
We’ve already had this one on Now! #12! I don’t care how awesome that 2007 Dairy Milk ad with the gorilla was – there’s no excuse for repeating songs!
As ever, see the link for my review.
Track 30: Avril Lavigne – When You’re Gone
Lovely piano at the start, but the vocals are too high-pitched and hurt my head.
Track 31: McFly – The Heart Never Lies
Horribly saccharine and repetitive. Not my kind of thing at all.
Track 32: Amy MacDonald – Mr Rock And Roll
Nice tune – if I were in a folk-rock mood I would absolutely love it, but I’ve not been that way inclined lately.
Track 33: KT Tunstall – Hold On
Not keen on the jarring guitar lines at the start, but it’s got quite a good atmosphere.
Track 34: The Killers and Lou Reed – Tranquilise
I shouldn’t like this, as the lines are sort of messy and jarring, but it actually works really well to create an awesome epic atmosphere.
Track 35: Stereophonics – It Means Nothing
Dull and drone-y, not a fan of this one.
Track 36: Peter, Björn & John and Victoria Bergsman – Young Folks
Oh, it’s this one. I’ve always found that whistling really annoying, especially due to its use in the Homebase adverts!
Track 37: Freemasons and Bailey Tzuke – Uninvited
Great atmosphere, but the vocals are irritatingly generic.
Track 38: Mika – Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)
Daft theme, but it’s quite nice and feelgood. At the time, because I wasn’t following chart music very closely, I kept getting it mixed up with Sean Kingston’s Beautiful Girls…oh, wait, I’ve done that anecdote. Great bassline and retro feel, anyway.
Track 39: Amy Winehouse – Tears Dry On Their Own
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Amy Winehouse on track 4.
Great tune though, quite like this one.
Track 40: Jennifer Lopez – Do It Well
Some great, epic instrumentals going on here – good stuff.
Track 41: Fergie – Big Girls Don’t Cry
Slow and cheesy – not keen on this track.
Track 42: Akon – Don’t Matter
Nice tune, but the vocals are a bit too saccharine for me. Also, it kind of rips off R Kelly’s Ignition.
Track 43: Nicole Scherzinger and will.i.am – Baby Love
Super irritating tune on the vocals! Don’t like this at all.
Track 44: Westlife – Home
The usual nauseatingly saccharine guff from Westlife. Time to line up that original version of Let’s Dance.
Three days in a row without a ‘Not on Spotify’ incident! It would be nice if we’d seen the last of them, but I suspect there will still be a few lurking about.
One of the things on my (very long) list of stuff I wanted to buy when I reached my Slimming World target was a good, well-fitting pair of jeans. In the last two weeks, I have bought four pairs, and have my eye on a few more. I had forgotten how comfortable they are when they fit properly.
I did have a couple of pairs of jeans when I was bigger, but they were always uncomfortable. Because of my endless yo-yo dieting they were rarely the right side for me, and even when they were, they would still dig uncomfortably into my middle whenever I was sitting down, which was most of the time. I think this was largely because up until a couple of years ago, jeans were still uniformly low-rise, and so they hit at a really uncomfortable place for me.
The return of high-rise waists suits me a lot better, in terms of both comfort and style (they look more ’80s. Everything is better when it looks more ’80s).
I am now learning about all the different styles you can buy at the moment – skinny, super skinny, slim leg, straight leg, mom jeans, boyfriend jeans, the list goes on. This is an exciting new world! I am not about to let it get to the levels of my shoe obsession, but I am really glad to be done with the phase of my life that involved wearing leggings every single day.
Day 67 means Now! #67, which was released on 23rd July 2007.
Let’s get on with those summer hits. Not that it felt very summery in Shetland!
Track 1: Rihanna and Jay-Z – Umbrella
Classic pop song that was everywhere in 2007. I’ve always really liked this one.
Track 2: Gwen Stefani and Akon – The Sweet Escape
Great atmosphere, great vocal hook. Quite like this track.
Track 3: Gym Class Heroes and Patrick Stump – Cupid’s Chokehold
I really like the hints of ’70s rock inspiration – there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on here.
Track 4: Kate Nash – Foundations
Interesting instrumentals, but the vocals annoy me.
Track 5: Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend
Highly irritating high-pitched pop-pop-punk. Avril Lavigne’s stuff did get easier on the ear later on.
Track 6: Take That – Shine
Another great tune from ‘Fake That’ – generally when Mark Owen’s singing lead, you’re onto a winner.
Track 7: Enrique Iglesias – Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)
Great chorus and synth line, but the song’s not nearly as interesting as the title suggests.
Track 8: Mika – Love Today
Brilliant, danceable track, one of my favourites from this era. Great tune.
Track 9: Mutya Buena – Real Girl
I like the sample of Lenny Kravitz’s It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over – it gives the track a nice retro tinge – but the vocals are pretty bland.
Track 10: Beyoncé and Shakira – Beautiful Liar
Love the Eastern-tinged instrumentals – this one’s got a great atmosphere.
Track 11: Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado – Give It To Me
Nice eerie instrumentals, making for another awesomely atmospheric song.
Track 12: Amerie – Take Control
This one’s pretty uninspired – nothing interesting here.
Track 13: Christina Aguilera – Candyman
Great classic big band feel – really like this one.
Track 14: Kelly Clarkson – Never Again
I find the lines on this very jarring and the vocals too high-pitched and headache-inducing, which is a shame ’cause there’s a good atmospheric tune in there somewhere.
Track 15: McFly – Baby’s Coming Back
Boring tune, cheesy vocals. Not keen on this.
Track 16: Natasha Bedingfield – I Wanna Have Your Babies
Terrible title, irritating vocals. The tune’s okay though.
Track 17: Fergie and Ludacris – Glamorous
Love the tune on the backing track, and the sung vocals are quite interesting, but I could do without the rap bits.
Track 18: Justin Timberlake – LoveStoned/I Think She Knows
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Justin Timberlake on track 11.
Some interesting instrumentals, but on the whole the tune’s not really doing it for me here.
Track 19: Ne-Yo – Because Of You
Saccharine and boring. Not my thing.
Track 20: Akon and Snoop Dogg – I Wanna Love You
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Akon on track 2.
Unfortunately I seem to have accidentally added the explicit version to my Spotify list, and everything about it is just offensive. Sometimes hilariously so, but mostly just offensive.
Track 21: Robin Thicke – Lost Without U
There’s a slight lounge-y retro tinge that is quite nice, but in general I’m not really feeling this tune.
Track 22: Snow Patrol – Signal Fire
All the versions on Spotify are very proud of the fact this song was used in Spiderman 3 and so have ‘FROM THE MOTION PICTURE SPIDERMAN 3’ and things like that stamped all over them. I don’t remember it for that – I remember it because it was used in a random Doctor Who fanvid, which gives you a good indication of where my head was at the time. The track itself is pretty dull and depressing.
Track 23: Maroon 5 – Makes Me Wonder
Interesting ’80s-tinged instrumentals, which is always a good thing. The tune’s pretty forgettable though.
Track 24: Mark Ronson and Daniel Merriweather – Stop Me
Cover of the Smiths track Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before, with added bits from the Supremes’ You Keep Me Hangin’ On. A double cover! As it’s Mark Ronson, though, there’s nothing pointless about it – the track is quite innovative.
Track 25: Hellogoodbye – Here (In Your Arms)
Irritating vocals, twee lyrics. The backing track’s nice and ’80s-tinged once it gets going, but unfortunately it’s mostly drowned out by the boring tune.
Track 26: Alex Gaudino and Crystal Waters – Destination Calabria
Mash-up of the saxophone hook from Rune’s Calabria and Alex Gaudino’s earlier track Destination Unknown. Of the two tracks, I think it’s Calabria I want to go listen to after this, ’cause I love a good bit of saxophone.
Track 27: Booty Luv – Shine
Fairly generic dance track, but it does have a good retro ’70s disco tinge to it.
Track 28: Calvin Harris – The Girls
Awkward theme to the lyrics, but the synth line’s good. I think I’m going to have to hunt for an instrumental version.
Track 29: Reverend & The Makers – Heavyweight Champion Of The World
Good upbeat tune, quite like this one.
Track 30: Paolo Nutini – New Shoes
Daft but highly appreciated theme, good atmosphere, nice tune. Good stuff.
Track 31: Paul McCartney – Dance Tonight
Good tune, interesting guitar.
Track 32: Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
Gorgeous tune with a beautiful melancholy atmosphere, probably the best track Amy Winehouse ever did.
Track 33: The Fray – Over My Head (Cable Car)
Cheesy and boring, not to my liking at all.
Track 34: The Twang – Either Way
Pleasant if repetitive tune, but the spoken word verses are very irritating.
Track 35: Editors – Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors
Great title! Very topical at the time given the recently-introduced smoking ban. The track itself is a bit slow, but it’s got a good anthemic feel.
Track 36: Manic Street Preachers and Nina Persson – Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
Oh, it’s this one! Great tune, really like this track.
Track 37: Fall Out Boy – Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
That should be ‘Thanks For The Memories‘, if you’re struggling with the silly ‘wacky’ vowel-less title.
Great eerie atmosphere, excellent upbeat rock track. Really like this one.
Track 38: Klaxons – It’s Not Over Yet
Great backing track, and the chorus is nice and epic.
Track 39: Super Mal and Luciana – Bigger Than Big
Upbeat but slightly messy dance track – there are some good lines but they get lost in the mishmash of stuff that’s going on.
Track 40: Groove Armada, Stush and Red Rat – Get Down
Tuneless and messy with bad rapping over the top – not a fan of this at all.
Track 41: Unklejam – What Am I Fighting For?
Great atmosphere, great synth, and a wonderful ’80s feel – loving this one!
Track 42: The Chemical Brothers – Do It Again
Great beat, really interesting vocals. Very danceable.
Track 43: Jamie T – Sheila
Awful vocals, messy instrumentals, not enough melody. Poor track to end the compilation on.
I picked this one up in Sainsbury’s the other week, and had forgotten I’d left it in the fridge until this weekend.
It kind of does exactly what it says on the tin bottle – it is indeed very dry. I don’t normally like ciders to be too dry, but last night, that was what I was in the mood for, and it tasted very nice. I probably wouldn’t have it regularly though.
Day 66 brings us to Now! #66, which came out on 2nd April 2007.
I seem to remember that 2007 was not a bad year for chart music. Let’s see if my memory is correct.
Track 1: Mika – Grace Kelly
Great tune, very danceable, interesting vocals. I’ve always really liked this one, especially the classic-sounding epic atmosphere.
Track 2: Kaiser Chiefs – Ruby
Great rock track – another one that I loved playing on Lego Rock Band. The Wurzels’ live cover, which I saw at Beautiful Days 2010, is also something to behold.
Track 3: Sugababes and Girls Aloud – Walk This Way
Weak cover of the classic Aerosmith vs. Run DMC version. It doesn’t really work when you have two artists from the same genre, i.e. girl groups who sing pop. It was released as the official Comic Relief single for 2007, so hopefully it kept the charity money rolling in.
Track 4: Take That – Patience
This one marks the arrival of what I always considered ‘Fake That’ (the Robbie Williams-less lineup). Gorgeous song though.
Track 5: Justin Timberlake – What Goes Around…Comes Around
Great instrumentals, good atmosphere, but the vocals are a bit dull in my book.
Track 6: Nelly Furtado – Say It Right
Another great atmosphere and a nice tune. Quite like this one.
Track 7: Beyoncé – Irreplaceable
Nice, powerful song – you can really hear the disdain coming through the vocals. Good tune too.
Track 8: Kelis and Cee Lo Green – Lil’ Star
Repetitive intro, takes ages to get going. Once it does, the tune is okay but the vocals are a bit twee for my liking.
Track 9: Akon and Eminem – Smack That
Great brooding atmosphere – quite like this one.
Track 10: Just Jack – Starz In Their Eyes
Nice retro-tinged guitar and bassline, interesting vocals. Good stuff.
Track 11: Calvin Harris – Acceptable In The ’80s
One of my favourites, obviously, and something I will always dance to no matter my mood. The whole ‘I got love for you if you were born in the ’80s, the ’80s‘ section is just a classic dance hook and a great lyric. Love it to bits.
Track 12: Mason and Princess Superstar – Perfect (Exceeder)
Great beat, great rhythmic vocals, very danceable track.
Track 13: Booty Luv – Boogie 2Nite
Another good beat, and the ’70s disco tinge is also much appreciated. It’s actually a cover of a song by Tweet, but I’m not familiar with the original.
Track 14: Eric Prydz and Pink Floyd – Proper Education
Dance remix of Another Brick In The Wall. The samples from the original provide a great atmosphere, but it’s one of those examples where I just want to go and listen to the original song afterwards.
Track 15: Sharam – Party All The Time
Dance cover of Eddie Murphy’s 1985 hit. Other than the dance beat, not much is added here. They’ve just sampled the chorus over and over and made it really repetitive.
Track 16: Cascada – Truly Madly Deeply
Eurodance cover of the Savage Garden song. The original is gorgeous and didn’t deserve to be ruined like this. Awful.
Track 17: Girls Aloud – I Think We’re Alone Now
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Girls Aloud on track 3.
Interesting cover of the Tiffany classic – there’s some edgy instrumentals added and a really good beat. It’s quite refreshing to have a cover that’s not entirely pointless, but the vocals are still pretty much identical to the original version.
Track 18: Seamus Haji and KayJay – Last Night A DJ Saved My Life
Dance cover of the Indeep song from 1982. Is it karaoke night or something? That’s six covers in a row. Let’s have some original songs, please.
Track 19: Camille Jones and Fedde Le Grand – The Creeps
Great beat, nice eerie instrumentals. Really like this one.
Track 20: Jamelia – Beware Of The Dog
I love the Personal Jesus sample, and there’s a nice rhythm to the vocals. Good track.
Track 21: Gwen Stefani – Wind It Up
That yodeling at the start is just awful! Once the song gets going, though, it’s quite interesting.
Track 22: JoJo – Too Little, Too Late
Slow, bland ballad, with a depressing tune. Not my thing.
Track 23: Leona Lewis – A Moment Like This
Pointless cover of the Kelly Clarkson song. This was the X Factor winner’s single for 2006 and also the Christmas number one, so it still shows up on all the music channels every Christmas time.
Track 24: The Fray – How To Save A Life
The tune’s very depressing-sounding, but at least it builds nicely.
Track 25: The View – Same Jeans
Twee theme, but the tune’s okay, and I quite like the chorus.
Track 26: Gossip – Standing In The Way Of Control
Great bassline, great beat, great vocals. Really like this track.
Track 27: Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Catch You
Nice edgy instrumentals, more great bass, interesting vocals. Another great song.
Track 28: Klaxons – Golden Skans
Interesting track, nice vocals. Quite like this one.
Track 29: Fall Out Boy – This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race
Great beat, good epic atmosphere, interesting vocals, brilliant rock chorus. Another awesome song.
Track 30: The Killers – Read My Mind
Like the atmosphere, and the tune is nice. Disc two of this Now! compilation is really delivering so far!
Track 31: U2 – Window In The Skies
I like the way this one builds, and the chorus is really interesting.
Track 32: Robbie Williams and Pet Shop Boys – She’s Madonna
Great synth line, great tune – really like this collaboration.
Track 33: The Fratellis – Whistle For The Choir
Too acoustic-y for me, and I find the tune pretty generic.
Track 34: The Ordinary Boys – I Luv U
This one’s a little too cheesy and slow for my liking.
Track 35: Snow Patrol – Open Your Eyes
Slow, bland vocals, and those repetitive one-note guitar chords really irritate me.
Track 36: Razorlight – Before I Fall To Pieces
Nice upbeat tempo and feelgood guitar lines. Quite like this one.
Track 37: Scissor Sisters – She’s My Man
Great guitar riff, great bassline. Highly danceable track.
Track 38: The Feeling – Love It When You Call
I like the beepy instrumental at the start, and the guitar riff’s quite nice, but the vocals are not edgy enough for my liking.
Track 39: McFly – Sorry’s Not Good Enough
The theme is a bit cheesy, but the instrumentals are interesting.
Track 40: Lily Allen – Alfie
Love the old-timey carnival/big band sound of this one. Great song, really different to everything else that was going on at the time.
Track 41: Jamie T – Calm Down Dearest
Irritating theme and faux ‘drunk’ vocals. Not a big fan of this.
Track 42: Sugababes – Easy
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Sugababes on track 3. This and the Girls Aloud repetition would have been best avoided by leaving off Walk This Way so that we could all have happily forgotten about that one.
This track’s got some very repetitive vocals, but the retro-tinged atmosphere and bassline are great.
Track 43: Amy Winehouse – You Know I’m No Good
Lovely, melancholy track. Really nice tune.
Track 44: The Proclaimers, Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin – I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)
Daft semi-cover featuring the comedy characters Brian Potter (Peter Kay) from Phoenix Nights and Andy Pipkin (Matt Lucas) from Little Britain. We’ve already had the original on Now! #13, so see the link for my review of that utter classic.
This recording, which was another song released for Comic Relief 2007, got to number one and outsold the original. Go figure.
We’ve avoided any ‘Not on Spotify’ moments for a fourth time!