Day 78 takes us to Now! #78, which was released on 11th April 2011.
Let’s see what I would have been listening to during the last few months in our Tollcross flat.
Track 1: Bruno Mars – Grenade
Too saccharine for me, but the tune’s okay.
Track 2: Adele – Rolling In The Deep
Great atmosphere – love the chorus on this one.
Track 3: Jessie J – Do It Like A Dude
The theme’s a bit daft, but there are some nice instrumental lines here.
Track 4: Rihanna – S&M
Great piece of electropop – really like this tune.
Track 5: Kesha – We R Who We R
Irritating tune, very uninspired.
Track 6: The Wanted – Gold Forever
Released as the official Comic Relief single for 2011. Sadly the song’s really bland.
Track 7: Matt Cardle – When We Collide
What was it I was saying three days ago?
Right on schedule, here’s X Factor winner Matt Cardle’s pointless cover of Biffy Clyro’s Many Of Horror. Rather offensively, they changed the title of the song, because it clearly wasn’t bland enough for the kind of people who buy X Factor winners’ singles. What’s hilarious is that the cover is SO pointless that on occasion, Cardle even apes Simon Neil’s Scottish accent.
Track 8: Take That – The Flood
Yay! Take That are no longer Fake That! Well, for one album at least. Robbie Williams returned for the Progress album, and all was finally right with the world again. This song is a gorgeous, epic, atmospheric tune – lovely stuff.
Track 9: Ellie Goulding – Your Song
Interesting folky cover of the Elton John classic (which was performed by Ellie Goulding for the first dance of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at their wedding reception, fact fans). The operatic Moulin Rouge! version from 2001 had cast a long shadow over the ’00s in terms of other people copying that take on the song when they did cover versions, so it was refreshing that this cover was so different again.
Track 10: JLS and Tinie Tempah – Eyes Wide Shut
Far too cheesy for my tastes, and the electro line sounds the same as every other dance track of this era.
Track 11: David Guetta and Rihanna – Who’s That Chick?
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Rihanna on track 4.
This is a great piece of bouncy pop, though – awesome tune.
Track 12: Taio Cruz and Travie McCoy – Higher
Taio Cruz did two versions of this song, one with Travie McCoy and one with Kylie Minogue. I prefer the Kylie version, I have to say. It’s still a good tune though.
Track 13: Chris Brown – Yeah 3x
Another dance track where the instrumentals sound the same as every other dance track released around this time.
Track 14: Britney Spears – Hold It Against Me
Daft theme, as the lyrics are based around that terrible pun of a pick-up line, but the tune’s okay.
Track 15: Alexis Jordan – Happiness
I’ve always quite liked the video for this one. Do you remember how in the late ’00s/early ’10s, women’s fashion shoes were all ludicrously high six-inch-stiletto affairs with round covered platforms? (As with most things, I only got rid of (most of) mine in my cull earlier this year.) Like every other female pop artist of the era, Alexis Jordan wears them in the video here, but there’s a weird bit that makes it look like she can’t walk in them.
Anyway, the song’s kind of forgettable, but it’s got a nice feelgood atmosphere.
Track 16: Parade – Louder
Good beat, but the chorus is annoying.
Track 17: Olly Murs – Thinking Of Me
Nice jaunty track, quite like this tune.
Track 18: Avril Lavigne – What The Hell
Great bit of pop-rock – love that singalong chorus.
Track 19: McFly and Taio Cruz – Shine A Light
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Taio Cruz on track 12.
I’ve always found this tune pretty irritating.
Track 20: Noah & The Whale – L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.
Great folk-rock track – awesome lyrics, lovely tune.
Track 21: Susan Boyle and Geraldine McQueen – I Know Him So Well
Cover (complete with hilarious parody video) of the classic ’80s duet by Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson. It’s the kind of cover I would normally decry as pointless, but the point here is comedy, and they absolutely nailed it. The charity fundraising for Comic Relief doesn’t hurt either.
Track 22: Jessie J and B.o.B – Price Tag
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Jessie J on track 3.
This is a very nice feelgood tune though – good stuff.
Track 23: Chipmunk and Chris Brown – Champion
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Chris Brown on track 13.
I like the intro – lovely piano, nice choral bit, great atmosphere. The tune on the chorus is nice as well.
Track 24: Wiz Khalifa – Black And Yellow
Great tune, awesome atmosphere.
Track 25: Rihanna and Drake – What’s My Name?
Repeated artist mega alert! We’ve already had Rihanna on both track 4 and track 11! I am not impressed, Now! compilers.
This one’s an okay tune, but it’s a little repetitive.
Track 26: The Black Eyed Peas – The Time (Dirty Bit)
Messy cover of ’80s classic (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life, with lots of…well…dirty bits (i.e. squeaky, tuneless feedback). I shouldn’t like it, but it’s actually very danceable.
Track 27: Nicole Scherzinger – Poison
Nice solid pop track, really like this tune.
Track 28: Enrique Iglesias, Ludacris and DJ Frank E – Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You)
Daft theme (don’t get me started on the explicit version), but it’s got a good beat.
Track 29: Cee Lo Green and Wiz Khalifa – Bright Lights Bigger City
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Wiz Khalifa on track 24.
This one’s a bit slow for my liking, but it’s got a great atmosphere.
Track 30: Katy Perry and Kanye West – ET
Awesome epic atmosphere, lovely tune, and the video is beautiful.
Track 31: Pink – Perfect
I find the theme of this one a bit awkward and the tune a bit dull. Not a fan.
Track 32: Tinie Tempah and Ellie Goulding – Wonderman
Double repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Tinie Tempah on track 10 and Ellie Goulding on track 9.
This song is lovely, though – that chorus is just gorgeous.
Track 33: Willow Smith – Whip My Hair
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
The theme is a little cheesy, but then she was about nine at the time. Good song otherwise.
Track 34: Katy B and Ms Dynamite – Lights On
I’m not hugely keen on the tune, but it’s got a good beat.
Track 35: Martin Solveig and Dragonette – Hello
Great dance track! Really like this feelgood tune.
Track 36: Flo Rida and Akon – Who Dat Girl
Dull tune, boring rap. Not keen.
Track 37: Far East Movement, The Cataracs and Dev – Like A G6
Daft lyrics, but it’s a good head-nodder.
Track 38: Wretch 32 and L Marshall – Traktor
Great beat – happily chair-dancing here. Awesome lyrics too.
Track 39: Aggro Santos and Kimberley Walsh – Like U Like
Love this tune, and the verses have an awesome rhythm.
Track 40: Devlin and Yasmin – Runaway
This one’s a bit generic – nothing special here.
Track 41: Tinchy Stryder and Melanie Fiona – Let It Rain
Boring and forgettable.
Track 42: Chase & Status and Liam Bailey – Blind Faith
I like the ’90s tinge, but on the whole the track’s far too messy for my liking.