Day 81 means Now! #81, which came out on 2nd April 2012.
On with the 2012 hits!
Track 1: Gotye and Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know
Gorgeous song that was deservedly number one for weeks and weeks. Love this track.
Track 2: Coldplay – Paradise
I normally find Coldplay songs pretty depressing, but this is a beautiful tune.
Track 3: Ed Sheeran – Lego House
I find this one fairly dull, but the video with Rupert Grint is funny.
Track 4: Emeli Sandé – Next To Me
There’s something that irritates me about the tune.
Track 5: Kelly Clarkson – Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)
Nice solid pop song, quite like this track.
Track 6: Jessie J – Domino
Another feelgood pop track, but the tune’s not particularly exciting.
Track 7: David Guetta and Sia – Titanium
Great vocals, good tune.
Track 8: Flo Rida – Good Feeling
Flo Rida sampling Avicii sampling Etta James. It’s a great hook, so I can see why.
Track 9: Katy Perry – The One That Got Away
I find this one a bit depressing.
Track 10: Labrinth – Last Time
Nice atmosphere, but the tune’s a bit pedestrian.
Track 11: Rizzle Kicks – Mama Do The Hump
Great, danceable track! The video with Jordan Stephens’ mum and James Corden is also hilarious.
Track 12: Olly Murs – Dance With Me Tonight
In my Zumba class in Southampton, we always did a really fun jive number to this one. Great, upbeat track.
Track 13: Pixie Lott – Kiss The Stars
Good upbeat dance tune – happily nodding along here.
Track 14: One Direction – One Thing
It’s always really annoyed me that this song rips off the chord sequence of Backstreet Boys’ I Want It That Way. As such, I can’t hear it without getting a weird mash-up of the two songs stuck in my head.
Track 15: Marcus Collins – Seven Nation Army
Interesting, eerie, soul-tinged cover of the White Stripes classic. Good stuff.
Track 16: Florence & The Machine – Shake It Out
Nice tune – quite like the build on this one.
Track 17: Drake and Rihanna – Take Care
Pretty tune, but it’s too slow for me. I like the It’s My Party callback though!
Track 18: Lana Del Rey – Born To Die
Gorgeous atmosphere – really like this track.
Track 19: Little Mix – Cannonball
Pointless cover of the Damien Rice song (see Now! #80 review from yesterday) by the 2011 X Factor winners. Thankfully Little Mix would go on to release much more interesting songs.
Track 20: JLS – Proud
Boring ballad, not keen.
Track 21: Military Wives and Gareth Malone – Wherever You Are
The Christmas number one for 2011 – a pretty tune from one of Gareth Malone’s TV choir projects.
Track 22: LMFAO – Sexy And I Know It
Hilarious song – this one’s a shameless pleasure!
Track 23: Flo Rida and Sia – Wild Ones
Double repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Flo Rida on track 8 and Sia on track 7.
The tune’s really irritating, bu the rap’s okay.
Track 24: Lady Gaga – Marry The Night
Good solid pop – great tune.
Track 25: Avicii – Levels
This is the Avicii song that Flo Rida was sampling on track 8; in turn, this track samples Etta James’ 1962 song Something’s Got A Hold On Me. There’s some great hooks going on throughout.
Track 26: Pitbull and Chris Brown – International Love
Awful theme, awful song.
Track 27: Lloyd, André 3000 and Lil’ Wayne – Dedication To My Ex (Miss That)
Another bad theme, but I actually really like this song! Just make sure to avoid the squicky explicit version.
Track 28: Sean Paul – She Doesn’t Mind
Good beat, good tune. Really like this one.
Track 29: Taio Cruz – Troublemaker
The lyrics are sort of hilarious and terrible at the same time. Could do with a bit more melody as well!
Track 30: Alexandra Burke and Erick Morillo – Elephant
Great theme, and it’s got a good beat. The tune’s a little generic, though.
Track 31: Swedish House Mafia and Knife Party – Antidote
It’s very danceable, but there’s not enough of a memorable hook for me.
Track 32: Rizzle Kicks – When I Was A Youngster
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Rizzle Kicks on track 11.
The theme annoys me on this one, but the tune’s nice and feelgood.
Track 33: Stooshe and Travie McCoy – Love Me
Mid-century retro jazz-tinged song with Spice Girls-esque cackling interspersed throughout. It’s not a bad tune.
Track 34: Gym Class Heroes and Neon Hitch – Get Yourself Back Home
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
I quite like the tune on the chorus, but the rest of the track is pretty dull.
Also, though I don’t class band/individual repetitions as a repeated artist, that’s two songs in a row with Travie McCoy’s vocals on.
Track 35: Rihanna – You Da One
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Rihanna on track 17.
This tune is a bit irritating to my ears – not a fan.
Track 36: Tinchy Stryder and Pixie Lott – Bright Lights
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Pixie Lott on track 13.
Bland, forgettable tune, and the rap’s nothing special.
Track 37: Cover Drive – Twilight
The tune’s pretty dull. I’m sure I did like at least one of Cover Drive’s songs, but this wasn’t it.
Track 38: Alyssa Reid and Jump Smokers – Alone Again
Utterly appalling cover of Heart’s Alone, with a rap partway through it and new, terrible verses. The original is special to me (partly because it was on the sacred tome that is Now! #10) and so I find this mess pretty offensive.
Track 39: Jessie J – Who You Are
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Jessie J on track 6.
Boring ballad with overblown vocals. Not my thing.
Track 40: Chiddy Bang – Ray Charles
Good retro-sounding track – very noddable.
Track 41: will.i.am, Jennifer Lopez and Mick Jagger – THE (The Hardest Ever)
Fantastic track! I love the atmosphere, the build, the melding of the three very different vocal styles. Wonderful stuff.
Track 42: Dappy and Brian May – Rockstar
I’m a bit irritated that a legend like Brian May got roped into contributing to this very uninspired song. The rap’s okay, but the tune’s really generic, and the theme is my least favourite: the whole ‘look, I’m rich and famous now, let me brag about it in a song!’ thing. The brief guitar solo is, of course, epic.
