Day 74 takes us to Now! #74, which was released on 23rd November 2009.
So, we come to the end of another decade of music. How did chart music sound as we waved goodbye to the ’00s?
Track 1: Cheryl – Fight For This Love
Gorgeous, atmospheric song – I love the instrumentals. A longtime favourite.
Track 2: Michael Bublé – Haven’t Met You Yet
It’s a bit cheesy, but it’s a nice tune.
Track 3: The Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
That title should be ‘I Got A Feeling’ – ‘gotta’ is an informal contraction of ‘got to’, which makes no sense here!
Great tune though – classic party song.
Track 4: David Guetta and Akon – Sexy Chick
Good atmosphere and good tune on the chorus, but I find the vocals a bit generic.
Track 5: La Roux – Bulletproof
Great electro track, awesome beat.
Track 6: Taio Cruz – Break Your Heart
More awesome electro instrumentals on the backing track. Good tune.
Track 7: N-Dubz – I Need You
There’s some good lines in here somewhere, but in general the track’s a bit messy.
Track 8: Jason Derulo – Whatcha Say
Another one that’s very typical of the electro-based atmospheric sound that was on everything at the time.
Track 9: Jay Sean and Lil’ Wayne – Down
Oh, it’s this one! The tune should annoy me, but I actually quite like it.
Track 10: Alesha Dixon – To Love Again
Slow ballad that’s not interesting enough for my liking.
Track 11: Chipmunk and Dayo Olatunji – Oopsy Daisy
Super irritating vocals and theme, not a fan of this one.
Track 12: Tinchy Stryder and Amelle Berrabah – Never Leave You
Another good atmosphere, but the tune’s a bit uninspired.
Track 13: Little Boots – Remedy
Great bassline, but the tune’s pretty dull.
Track 14: Pixie Lott – Boys And Girls
Nice retro ’60s feel, and there’s a good singalong chorus.
Track 15: Mini Viva – Left My Heart In Tokyo
Another awesome electropop tune – love that bass!
Track 16: Sean Kingston – Fire Burning
Daft theme, but it’s a great dance track.
Track 17: Pitbull and Nicole Scherzinger – Hotel Room Service
I quite like the vocal hook on this one, even if it is a bit repetitive. Good tune.
Track 18: Sugababes – Get Sexy
Daft theme, irritating lyrics – although I do like the callback to Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy, and the electro hook is great.
Track 19: The Saturdays – Forever Is Over
Too ballad-y for me, though I do appreciate the rock tinge.
Track 20: Young Soul Rebels – I Got Soul
Interesting cover of the Killers track All These Things That I’ve Done, released in aid of the War Child charity. In this context, the repeated line ‘I got soul but I’m not a soldier‘ is a bit haunting (whereas usually I can’t hear the line without being reminded of the Bill Bailey parody that pointed out the line makes as much sense as ‘I got ham but I’m not a hamster’).
Track 21: Agnes – I Need You Now
Too saccharine for me, though there are some interesting instrumentals going on in the background.
Track 22: JLS – Beat Again
Super cheesy, but it’s quite a good tune.
Track 23: Lady Gaga – Paparazzi
Love this one! Great tune, brilliant chorus.
Track 24: Beyoncé – Sweet Dreams
Wonderful atmosphere, great beat. Very danceable.
Track 25: Shakira – She Wolf
More great electro instrumentals – awesome tune.
Track 26: Jay-Z, Kanye West and Rihanna – Run This Town
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Another great brooding atmosphere. Unfortunately the vocals are fairly uninspired.
Track 27: Mr Hudson and Kanye West – Supernova
Repeated artist alert! We just had Kanye West on the last track.
Nice tune though – quite like this one.
Track 28: Robbie Williams – Bodies
Some interesting almost-monastic singing on the intro, which jars a bit once it gets into the bass-heavy main track. The chorus is great, though.
Track 29: Dizzee Rascal – Holiday
Great electro hook, good dance beat. Really like this track.
Track 30: Calvin Harris – Ready For The Weekend
Great dance track. I especially appreciate the line ‘I put on my shoes and I’m ready for the weekend‘. Nothing wrong with a new pair of shoes every Friday! (There are lots of things wrong with that. I know.)
Track 31: Whitney Houston – Million Dollar Bill [Frankie Knuckles Radio Mix]
Love that retro disco feel. Good stuff.
Track 32: Ian Carey Project – Get Shaky
Good instrumentals, but the tune’s pretty boring.
Track 33: Chase & Status and Plan B – End Credits
Lovely tune, gorgeous guitar, stunning atmosphere – and then the dull vocals spoil it! Oh well.
Track 34: The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition
I find the vocals a little irritating, and the tune’s not interesting enough for my liking.
Track 35: Muse – Uprising
I’m just going to register my annoyance that Muse had been releasing great hits since 2000 and it took the Now! compilers until 2009 to feature one of their songs.
This track has a wonderful eerie electro line, great bass, and awesome brooding vocals. Love it.
Track 36: Snow Patrol – Just Say Yes
Even Snow Patrol were doing the electro instrumentals in 2009! Shame the rest of the tune is dull.
Track 37: Florence & The Machine – You’ve Got The Love
Pointless cover of the Source and Candi Staton song, as I may have discussed on the THREE OCCASIONS that the original has been featured on Now! compilations (still can’t get over that). As such, we now have a fourth track in the Now! canon that sounds exactly the same! Urgh.
Track 38: Lily Allen – 22
Nice retro tune. Great lyrics too, but they’re a little depressing!
Track 39: Paolo Nutini – Pencil Full Of Lead
Great classic ragtime sound! Love that trumpet riff.
Track 40: Mika – We Are Golden
Lovely tune, awesome singalong chorus. Really like this one.
Track 41: Cobra Starship and Leighton Meester – Good Girls Go Bad
It’s a bit messy, but as with pretty much every other track on this compilation, there’s lots of awesome electro lines and bass going on.
Track 42: Mumford & Sons – Little Lion Man
I normally find Mumford & Sons a bit dull, but this is a great bit of folk-rock – really like this song.
Track 43: Just Jack – The Day I Died
Too twee for me – those lyrics are just irritating.
Track 44: Esmée Denters – Outta Here
I like the backing track, but the tune is bland and repetitive.
Track 45: Deadmau5 and Rob Swire – Ghosts ‘N’ Stuff
Too much going on with this track, and none of it is very interesting.