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Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #77

27 June 201827 June 2018 Dee Leave a comment

Day 77 means Now! #77, which came out on 22nd November 2010.

Let’s have a listen to the Christmas party tunes of 2010.

Now! That's What I Call Music #77
Track 1: Rihanna – Only Girl (In The World)

Great piece of pop, awesomely danceable tune.

Track 2: Katy Perry – Firework

I appreciate the epic nature of this song, but I’ve always found the tune irritating.

Track 3: Cheryl – Promise This

Another danceable pop track with some great vocal hooks.

Track 4: Flo Rida and David Guetta – Club Can’t Handle Me

Pleasant enough, but the tune’s a bit forgettable.

Track 5: Cee Lo Green – Forget You

Great, powerful track with an awesome mid-century retro feel. This song was everywhere in 2010.

Track 6: Taio Cruz – Dynamite

Brilliantly danceable tune with a great singalong chorus.

Track 7: Tinie Tempah and Eric Turner – Written In The Stars

I do like this tune – some lovely lines going on.

Track 8: Mike Posner – Cooler Than Me

Great rhythm, really interesting song. Strangely, after this hit, Mike Posner disappeared from the charts for six years before showing up again in 2016 with the number one smash I Took A Pill In Ibiza (or just In Ibiza, if you’re listening to daytime radio).

Track 9: Enrique Iglesias and Nicole Scherzinger – Heartbeat

I like the piano bit, but the tune’s really boring.

Track 10: Usher and Pitbull – DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love

Good beat, and there’s a nice singalong chorus. The verse is pretty generic though.

Track 11: The Wanted – All Time Low

Great tune, really like this one.

Track 12: Olly Murs – Please Don’t Let Me Go

Nice retro-sounding tune, but it’s a little saccharine for my liking.

Track 13: Eliza Doolittle – Pack Up

Great feelgood retro-tinged pop track. Quite like this tune.

Track 14: Michael Bublé – Hollywood

Nice epic tune, great feelgood pop song. Great track.

Track 15: Kylie Minogue – Get Outta My Way

Lovely tune, but the vocal line is a bit bland.

Track 16: The Saturdays and Flo Rida – Higher

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Flo Rida on track 4.

This is quite a good tune, though – nice and upbeat.

Track 17: Roll Deep – Green Light

Good dance beat, great bassline, interesting rap, but the tune on the sung vocals is pretty bland.

Track 18: Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster

Not keen on the theme, but the tune’s okay.

Track 19: Duck Sauce – Barbra Streisand

I’ve always had a soft spot for this daft dance track – Geth used to play it when we were doing Electrolicious Sundays at Mr Modos.

Track 20: Swedish House Mafia and Tinie Tempah – Miami 2 Ibiza

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Tinie Tempah on track 7.

Great beat, and I love the rap on this. Good track.

Track 21: Tinchy Stryder – In My System

Messy and dull – not keen on this one.

Track 22: Diana Vickers – My Wicked Heart

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

Quite an interesting track – like Florence & The Machine except exciting. The tune could be a bit more pleasant, though.

Track 23: Bruno Mars – Just The Way You Are

Super saccharine, as was standard for Bruno Mars during this era. The tune’s nice, but it’s just too cheesy for me.

Track 24: B.o.B and Hayley Williams – Airplanes

Gorgeous atmosphere, really nice tune.

Track 25: The Script – For The First Time

Nauseatingly cheesy soft-rock – not my kind of thing at all.

Track 26: Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow – Shame

Daft duet to celebrate the former Take That bandmates being friends again after years of rivalry. The Brokeback Mountain-esque video is also hilarious.

Track 27: Adele – Make You Feel My Love

Cover of the Bob Dylan song. The vocals are gorgeous, but it’s just far too slow for my liking.

Track 28: Rumer – Slow

It certainly is slow. Slow and impossibly dull.

Track 29: Shontelle – Impossible

I appreciate the power ballad stylings, but the tune is super annoying.

Track 30: Nelly – Just A Dream

Lovely guitar on the intro, and it’s got a good rhythm. Quite like this one.

Track 31: Labrinth – Let The Sun Shine

Very pretty tune – great track.

Track 32: Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars – Billionaire

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Bruno Mars on track 23.

Nice jaunty song to which we can all relate. Good stuff.

Track 33: Alesha Dixon – Drummer Boy

As you might guess from the title, the drums on this are great. The theme is a bit daft, though.

Track 34: Mark Ronson and The Business Intl – Bang Bang Bang

Good head-nodder, pleasant tune, though it’s a little repetitive.

Track 35: Brandon Flowers – Crossfire

Nice tune, but a bit slow for my liking.

Track 36: Mumford & Sons – The Cave

This one’s a bit too acoustic-y for my current tastes.

Track 37: Plan B – Prayin’

Good beat, good atmosphere.

Track 38: Jay Sean and Nicki Minaj – 2012 (It Ain’t The End)

Annoying, cheesy tune, and the theme is pretty daft (and will get more and more dated – who’s even going to remember the 2012 apocalypse prophecy in a couple of decades’ time?).

Track 39: N-Dubz – Best Behaviour

I find the tune a little too cheesy for my tastes, but I do like the bassline once the track gets going.

Track 40: Jason Derulo – What If

On hearing the first notes of the piano intro just now, I was like ‘whoa! It’s Alone by Heart!’ Apparently this is not coincidental. Other than that bit of interest, the song’s a bit boring.

Track 41: Pixie Lott – Broken Arrow

Too ballad-y for me, like most of the stuff off Pixie Lott’s first album.

Track 42: Joe McElderry – Ambitions

The vocals are too high-pitched and irritating for me, and the tune’s pretty uninspired. It’s got quite a good beat though.

Track 43: McFly – Party Girl

Very messy track! Far too much going on here, very jarring sound.

Track 44: Katy B – Katy On A Mission

Good danceable track – happily nodding along here.

Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #76

26 June 201826 June 2018 Dee Leave a comment

Day 76, and Now! #76, which was released on 19th July 2010.

Time for the first summer hits of the new decade!

Now! That's What I Call Music #76
Track 1: Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg – California Gurls

Great piece of pop, awesome party tune.

Track 2: Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull – I Like It

Great beat, highly danceable, fun tune. Quite like this track! We used to dance to this one at my Zumba class in Southampton, as my instructor Hayley was a big Pitbull fan.

Track 3: JLS – The Club Is Alive

Daft take on The Sound Of Music. It’s a bit less cheesy than their usual stuff, so I actually find this one okay.

Track 4: Usher and will.i.am – OMG

Great tune! Love the interesting vocals on this one.

Track 5: David Guetta, Chris Willis, Fergie and LMFAO – Gettin’ Over You

Great upbeat dance track – happily chair-dancing away here.

Track 6: Kylie Minogue – All The Lovers

Solid pop track, really like those instrumentals.

Track 7: Professor Green and Lily Allen – Just Be Good To Green

Fairly pointless cover of Beats International’s Dub Be Good To Me with added rapping. It’s okay, but the original is better.

Track 8: B.o.B and Bruno Mars – Nothin’ On You

I’ve always found this one a bit too saccharine.

Track 9: Lady Gaga – Alejandro

Great, atmospheric electropop. When we were doing Electrolicious Sundays at Mr Modos, Geth would always mix this one into La Isla Bonita by Madonna, ’cause the melodies are so similar.

Track 10: Cheryl – Parachute

The atmosphere’s nice, but the tune’s a bit dull.

Track 11: Rihanna – Te Amo

Quite like the vocal hook on this one, and the electro line is gorgeous. Nice Latin tinge too.

Track 12: Roll Deep and Jodie Connor – Good Times

Good dance beat, but the tune’s very generic.

Track 13: Kelly Rowland and David Guetta – Commander

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had David Guetta on track 5.

This is a great track though – very danceable.

Track 14: Dizzee Rascal – Dirtee Disco

Messy intro, but I really like the disco instrumentals (the sample is the Staple Singers track I’ll Take You There, from 1972).

Track 15: Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP – We No Speak Americano

Interesting, danceable track. The sample is the 1956 song Tu Vuò Fà L’Americano by Renato Carosone, fact fans – it gives it an awesome mid-century feel.

Track 16: Inna – Hot

Good beat, but the vocals are pretty irritating.

Track 17: Edward Maya and Vika Jigulina – Stereo Love

I love the accordion on this one – it gives it a lovely Eastern European tinge.

Track 18: Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber – Eenie Meenie

Terrible theme, jarring lines, irritating vocals. The chorus is okay, though.

Track 19: Miley Cyrus – Can’t Be Tamed

Great atmosphere, but the tune’s a bit uninspired.

Track 20: Pixie Lott – Turn It Up

Bit of a bland tune, but the chorus is okay.

Track 21: Justin Bieber and Ludacris – Baby

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Justin Bieber on track 18.

Horrendously saccharine and squeaky. Teenage girls loved it, though, which just goes to prove that teenage girls’ taste is getting worse and worse as time goes on. How did we get from the Beatles to Bieber? You could write a whole book on that, and maybe one day I will.

Track 22: Iyaz – Solo

I quite like the piano, but in general the song’s a bit too cheesy for my liking.

Track 23: Timbaland and Justin Timberlake – Carry Out

Love the atmosphere on this one – great track.

Track 24: Plan B – She Said

Great tune, awesome classic jazz feel.

Track 25: Scouting For Girls – This Ain’t A Love Song

It’s a bit cheesy and soft-rock for me, and the vocals are kind of irritating.

Track 26: K’naan – Wavin’ Flag

Nice jaunty tune released to tie in with the World Cup 2010. It’s funny to think that was two World Cups ago, and now we’re in the middle of another one (which I have been successfully avoiding).

Track 27: Jason Derulo – Ridin’ Solo

It’s an okay pop track, but the tune is a bit forgettable compared to most of Jason Derulo’s stuff.

Track 28: Alicia Keys – Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart

Gorgeous tune, beautiful atmosphere.

Track 29: Fyfe Dangerfield – She’s Always A Woman

Pointless cover of the Billy Joel track. I adore the song whoever does it, but there’s nothing new about this version.

Track 30: Train – Hey Soul Sister

What this song consistently achieves for me is that I always wish it really were Mr Mister on the radio, instead of Train. You have to give them credit for that.

Track 31: Scissor Sisters – Fire With Fire

I find this one a bit slow and dull.

Track 32: Diana Vickers – Once

Great pop tune – really like this one. I also love the video with all her hundreds of different outfits!

Track 33: Example – Kickstarts

The lyrics are a bit cheesy, but it’s a good danceable tune.

Track 34: Swedish House Mafia and Pharrell Williams – One (Your Name)

Great electro hooks, nice atmosphere.

Track 35: The Black Eyed Peas – Rock That Body

Good beat, but the tune’s a bit dull.

Track 36: Alexandra Burke and Pitbull – All Night Long

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Pitbull on track 2.

I quite like the vocal hook on the chorus, but the rap over the intro is pretty jarring.

Track 37: Aggro Santos and Kimberly Wyatt – Candy

Great bassline, great atmosphere. Good solid pop track.

Track 38: Taio Cruz and Kesha – Dirty Picture

Daft theme, and the tune is pretty forgettable.

Track 39: Chipmunk and Esmée Denters – Until You Were Gone

Generic and bland.

Track 40: Skepta – Rescue Me

I find the tune on this one a bit depressing.

Track 41: N-Dubz and Bodyrox – We Dance On

I like the Canon in D sample, but the rest of the track’s pretty forgettable.

Track 42: Robyn – Dancing On My Own

Boring tune – nothing redeeming about this one.

Track 43: Florence & The Machine and Dizzee Rascal – You’ve Got The Dirtee Love [Live At The Brit Awards 2010]

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Dizzee Rascal on track 14.

I remember watching this performance on the Brits at the time. You wouldn’t think You’ve Got The Love would work with Dizzee Rascal rapping over the top, but it’s actually quite an interesting take.

However, I am contractually obliged to point out that in addition to the three instances of the Source and Candi Staton’s original version of the song on Now! #19, Now! #36, and Now! #63, we now have two instances of the Florence & The Machine version, on Now! #74 and on this one, making a total of FIVE instances! I am almost certain that this makes it the most featured song in the history of Now! compilations, though I will have to check my stats at the end of the project.

Track 44: Kelis – Acapella

That title should be spelt ‘a cappella’, but I’m sure you all knew that.

I like the drums on the intro, and the vocal line is quite interesting.

Track 45: Tinie Tempah and Labrinth – Frisky

Great instrumentals, awesome atmosphere – very danceable.

Track 46: Pendulum – Watercolour

Lovely electro track – it builds beautifully, and the hooks are wonderful.

Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #75

25 June 201814 July 2018 Dee Leave a comment

Day 75 brings us to Now! #75, which came out on 29th March 2010.

Can you believe we’re three quarters of the way through this Now! marathon? That’s like being 19.65 miles of the way into an actual marathon. Only 6.55 miles to go – that’s easy! I will remember this moment when I’m 19.65 miles of the way through the London Marathon next April (spoiler: I almost certainly will not).

Also, we’re finally into the 2010s, the fourth and final decade of the Now! compilations so far (and also my life so far). Having followed the charts very closely this decade, I can say with certainty that the remaining Now! compilations will definitely be better than the ’00s ones. The ’00s was a real low for music. (Except 2009, when it picked up.) Thankfully I don’t have to listen to those again!

Now! That's What I Call Music #75
Track 1: Lady Gaga – Bad Romance

Stunning, classic electropop track – brilliant right from the a cappella intro. Great stuff.

Track 2: 3OH!3 and Katy Perry – Starstrukk

I love this track, even with the silly whistling bit during the verse. Awesome party song.

Track 3: The Black Eyed Peas – Meet Me Halfway

Beautiful tune! The video‘s gorgeous too.

Track 4: JLS – Everybody In Love

Far too cheesy for me, I’m afraid!

Track 5: Iyaz – Replay

Another great tune – really like this one.

Track 6: Tinie Tempah and Labrinth – Pass Out

Love the daft lyrics, and it’s got a great atmosphere.

Track 7: Kesha – Tik Tok

Another good party song – and the vocal style was refreshingly different at this point.

Track 8: Timbaland and Katy Perry – If We Ever Meet Again

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Katy Perry on track 2.

Love the chorus though – good track.

Track 9: Jason Derulo – In My Head

The tune’s a bit generic, but it’s still a good danceable song.

Track 10: Rihanna – Rude Boy

Nice atmosphere, interesting vocals. Another great track.

Track 11: Chipmunk and Talay Riley – Look For Me

This one’s a bit bland and forgettable, and the chorus is annoying.

Track 12: Glee Cast – Don’t Stop Believin’

Cover of the ’80s Journey classic by the cast of hit TV show Glee. This cover resulted in the original version – which had never actually been a hit in the UK when it was released in the ’80s – becoming a huge song during 2010 and staying prominent for the rest of the decade so far (I hear it played at every half marathon I run). I’m not complaining – both versions are awesome and epic.

Track 13: Gabriella Cilmi – On A Mission

Great ’70s disco throwback track! Love it.

Track 14: Alexandra Burke – Broken Heels

Another great party tune – very danceable.

Track 15: Sugababes – About A Girl

Great dance beat, but the tune’s pretty generic.

Track 16: The Saturdays – Ego

There’s something about the tune that’s a little irritating, but it’s got a good beat.

Track 17: Jedward and Vanilla Ice – Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)

So we had Vanilla Ice sampling Queen and David Bowie’s 1981 song Under Pressure in 1989 for Ice Ice Baby, which was already considered fairly sacreligious, and then in 2010 we had Jedward doing a medley of both tracks and getting Vanilla Ice to help out with vocals. It’s as awful as you might expect, but it somehow got to number two in the charts.

Track 18: Justin Bieber – One Time

Bieber in his early ‘fifteen and squeaky’ era. It’s sort of half laughable and half headache-inducing.

Track 19: Jay Sean, Sean Paul and Lil’ Jon – Do You Remember

Good tune, but I can’t listen to it without hearing Sean Paul’s opening vocals as ‘got dirty egg‘, thanks to presenter Reggie Yates pointing it out on the Radio 1 chart show at the time.

Track 20: Pixie Lott – Cry Me Out

Too ballad-y and slow for me.

Track 21: Joe McElderry – The Climb

The annual inclusion of the previous year’s X Factor winner. This is the one from 2009 that didn’t get the Christmas number one thanks to the much-publicised campaign to get Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name to number one instead. That campaign reinvigorated my interest in the music charts after a few years of being Too Busy Being Goth, and led to my decision to follow the charts for the entirety of the 2010s to see how the decade would pan out musically. Halfway through 2018, that particular habit is still going, and I expect it will last into the 2020s and beyond.

Anyway, the track. It’s a pointless cover of the Miley Cyrus song, and there’s nothing else to say about it.

Track 22: Helping Haiti – Everybody Hurts

Charity cover of the REM classic by too many artists to mention. There’s some interesting voice-spotting to be done, but the point of this cover, as ever with these things, was fundraising to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Track 23: Alicia Keys – Empire State Of Mind [Part II]

It’s Part II because this is the slow piano version. Part I was a more upbeat song with Jay-Z rapping the main verses. I prefer Part I, but that’s mainly ’cause I’m not into slow songs – this is still a great tune.

Track 24: Owl City – Fireflies

It’s a bit twee, but it’s a gorgeous tune – love that chorus.

Track 25: Jay-Z and Mr Hudson – Young Forever

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

The track is mainly a cover of the chorus and first verse from Alphaville’s Forever Young, which is fairly pointless but still great, ’cause it’s a great song. The rest is filled in by rapping from Jay-Z, which is okay, but I’m definitely lining up the original to play later on.

Track 26: Cheryl and will.i.am – 3 Words

Lovely melancholy tune, quite like this one.

Track 27: Robbie Williams – You Know Me

Nice tune, but for some reason the music channels always put this on their Christmas playlists, so it’s got festive associations for me now.

Track 28: Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’

Well, we often have repeated artists on these Now! compilations, but I don’t think we’ve ever had a repeated song! We already had the Glee Cast doing this song on track 12.

As I explained up-page, the Glee cover made this one a big hit too, and deservedly so, seeing as how it was overlooked by the UK music-buying public in the ’80s. The piano intro is just beautiful, the lyrics are immense, and the tune is epic.

Track 29: Florence & The Machine – Dog Days Are Over

I find Florence & The Machine’s stuff a bit samey, and this is no exception. There’s not really anything interesting about the tune, though the vocals are nice.

Track 30: Marina & The Diamonds – Hollywood

Gorgeous, unique track! Great lyrics, awesomely different vocals. Love this one.

Track 31: Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed

Beautiful tune. It was Ellie Goulding’s debut and, as far as I’m concerned, one of her best ever songs.

Track 32: Biffy Clyro – Many Of Horror

Wonderful rock track – I love the tune, and the way it builds is stunning! I’m almost certain we’ll hear the X Factor cover version in three days’ time so I’ll skip ranting about that for now.

Track 33: Plan B – Stay Too Long

Nice retro-sounding rock track, quite like this one. If I weren’t the queen of misheard lyrics, I’d make an effort to listen to the concept album of which it was part. As it is, I’d probably be better off just reading the lyrics to all the songs in order to understand the story.

Track 34: Naughty Boy, Wiley and Emeli Sandé – Never Be Your Woman

Fairly pointless cover of the White Town classic with added rapping. Always a great tune, but the original is obviously better.

Track 35: Example – Won’t Go Quietly

Great, atmospheric dance track. Really like this one.

Track 36: Sidney Samson and Wizard Sleeve – Riverside (Let’s Go!)

Another highly danceable track – I really like the rap style.

Track 37: Gramophonedzie – Why Don’t You

Interesting track based around a sample of Peggy Lee’s Why Don’t You Do Right? from 1947. Quite like this.

Track 38: Lemar – The Way Love Goes

I find this one a bit saccharine, but it’s got a good beat and the piano is nice.

Track 39: N-Dubz and Mr Hudson – Playing With Fire

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Mr Hudson on track 25.

Nice epic atmosphere on the chorus, but the rest of the tune’s fairly generic.

Track 40: Chiddy Bang – Opposite Of Adults

Love the electro hook, which is a sample from Kids by MDMT. Nothing much else interesting here, though.

Track 41: Young Money and Lloyd – BedRock

Irritatingly daft track based around the infamously appalling Fred Flintstone pick-up line. If you ignore the lyrics, it’s actually okay.

Track 42: McLean – My Name

I find the tune on this one pretty uninspired.

Track 43: Rihanna – Russian Roulette

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Rihanna on track 10.

I find both the lyrics and tune on this one a bit depressing. Not the best way to end what has been an excellent Now! compilation!

Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #74

24 June 201826 June 2018 Dee Leave a comment

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?

Now! That's What I Call Music #74
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.

Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #73

23 June 201823 June 2018 Dee Leave a comment

Day 73 means Now! #73, which was released on 20th July 2009.

Time for some summer hits! With bonus electropop, because 2009.

Now! That's What I Call Music #73
Track 1: Lady Gaga – Poker Face

Great electropop tune, very danceable. It’s become a bit of a classic.

Track 2: Cascada – Evacuate The Dancefloor

Good atmosphere on this one, with some great electro hooks.

Track 3: David Guetta and Kelly Rowland – When Love Takes Over

Great beat, but I find the tune on the chorus pretty irritating.

Track 4: Calvin Harris – I’m Not Alone

Dull tune, and the acoustic-y intro is jarring with the main electro dance bit.

Track 5: La Roux – In For The Kill

Wonderful, atmospheric electro track. I’ve always really liked this one.

Track 6: Tinchy Stryder and N-Dubz – Number 1

Fittingly, this did get to number one in the charts at the time. Good beat, good tune.

Track 7: AR Rahman and The Pussycat Dolls – Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)

Love that Eastern tinge – great chant-along track.

Track 8: Chipmunk and Emeli Sandé – Diamond Rings

Good rhythm on this one – I like the jazz-tinged backing track.

Track 9: Lily Allen – Not Fair

Awesome tune, love the lyrics.

Track 10: Pixie Lott – Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)

Great, classic big band sound – really like this tune.

Track 11: Pink – Please Don’t Leave Me

Love the guitar riff, but the vocals are a bit cheesy for my liking.

Track 12: The Veronicas – Untouched

Lovely instrumentals, great ’80s tinge. Good track, only spoilt by the irritating vocals.

Track 13: Katy Perry – Waking Up In Vegas

Good rock edge, great lyrics. Quite like this one.

Track 14: Girls Aloud – Untouchable

Lovely atmospheric ’80s-tinged guitar intro, pretty tune on the vocals. Very nice.

Track 15: Agnes – Release Me

I find the tune on this pretty irritating, and the instrumentals very generic. Not keen.

Track 16: Freemasons and Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)

Great atmospheric track – yet more ’80s-tinged electropop! I’d forgotten how much I liked 2009 for music.

Track 17: Alesha Dixon – Let’s Get Excited

Good beat, good solid bit of pop. Happily nodding along.

Track 18: The Saturdays – Work

Love the electro instrumentals – another awesome pop track.

Track 19: Take That – Up All Night

It’s a little too acoustic-y for my liking, but I do appreciate the ’60s tinge.

Track 20: Britney Spears – If U Seek Amy

Let’s gloss over the juvenile title. The instrumentals are great and the atmosphere is nice and epic.

Track 21: Jordin Sparks – Battlefield

Irritating vocals, but I suppose the tune is quite nice.

Track 22: Shontelle and Akon – Stuck With Each Other

Uninspired tune, boring vocals. Not a fan of this track.

Track 23: Beyoncé – Halo

Gorgeous tune, great atmosphere. This is the kind of ballad I can get behind.

Track 24: Daniel Merriweather – Red

This one, meanwhile, is a boring, slow ballad. Not for me.

Track 25: Keri Hilson, Kanye West and Ne-Yo – Knock You Down

There’s some nice electro lines here, but I find the vocals pretty dull.

Track 26: Ciara and Justin Timberlake – Love Sex Magic

Love that ’70s-style funk. Great beat, very danceable.

Track 27: The Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow

Another great chant-along track – happily chair-dancing here again!

Track 28: Soulja Boy and Sammie – Kiss Me Thru The Phone

Some very irritating and jarring electro hooks and vocals going on here, but the atmosphere’s quite good.

Track 29: Akon, Kardinal Offishall and Colby O’Donis – Beautiful

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Akon on track 22.

Very generic dance tune, boring vocals that sound like everything else released at the time.

Track 30: Flo Rida and Wynter Gordon – Sugar

Obviously I love the daft sampling of Eiffel 65’s Blue (Da Ba Dee). The rest of the track is pretty messy and uninspired though!

Track 31: Ironik, Chipmunk and Elton John – Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer)

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Chipmunk on track 8.

The track’s based around a sample of the 1972 original, hence the Elton John credit. It sounds fairly terrible with all that rapping over the top.

Track 32: Pitbull – I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)

Bonus points for the sample from The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind), and I do like the Latin tinge, even if the rap is a bit generic.

Track 33: Dizzee Rascal and Armand Van Helden – Bonkers

Great dance tune, brilliant vocal hook – big fan of this one.

Track 34: The Prodigy – Warrior’s Dance

Gorgeous, atmospheric tune on the intro – then it launches into a highly danceable bass-driven track. Great stuff.

Track 35: 3OH!3 – Don’t Trust Me

Another very danceable track, and a good tune.

Track 36: Kasabian – Fire

Iconic guitar riff, builds wonderfully. Love this tune.

Track 37: Florence & The Machine – Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

Lovely atmosphere, gorgeous vocals. Very nice track.

Track 38: Noisettes – Never Forget You

Great mid-century retro feel, with a nice reggae beat mixed in there as well.

Track 39: Little Boots – New In Town

Not keen on the stop-start intro, and the tune’s not very interesting.

Track 40: James Morrison – Please Don’t Stop The Rain

I quite like the piano and the atmosphere, but the vocals are too saccharine for me.

Track 41: Paolo Nutini – Candy

It’s the kind of instrumentals that would normally be too acoustic-y for me, but I quite like them. The vocals, on the other hand, are just annoying.

Track 42: Empire Of The Sun – We Are The People

More acoustic guitar, but again I quite like it – it’s very atmospheric. Lovely tune.

Track 43: Deadmau5 and Kaskade – I Remember

Fairly uninspired dance tune, but it’s another track that’s got quite a nice atmosphere.

Track 44: Chicane – Poppiholla

Instrumental cover of the Sigur Rós classic Hoppípolla. It’s a lovely tune, and this reworking is very nice.

Music Review: Now! That’s What I Call Music #72

22 June 201822 June 2018 Dee Leave a comment

Day 72 brings us to Now! #72, which came out on 6th April 2009.

2009 really brought the electropop, from what I remember, so let’s get cracking!

Now! That's What I Call Music #72
Track 1: Lily Allen – The Fear

Great tune, great lyrics. I’ve always really liked this one.

Track 2: Lady Gaga and Colby O’Donis – Just Dance

Awesome danceable piece of electropop.

Track 3: Flo Rida and Kesha – Right Round

It’s based around the hook from Dead Or Alive’s You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), so I was always going to like this one. Flo Rida’s rap style actually goes really nicely with it.

Track 4: Alesha Dixon – The Boy Does Nothing

Alesha Dixon’s post-Strictly solo comeback song. Love this tune, and the retro big band feel is much appreciated.

Track 5: The Saturdays – Just Can’t Get Enough

Pointless cover of the Depeche Mode classic, and one of the official Comic Relief singles for 2009 (so charity fundraising, as ever, is the ‘point’).

Track 6: Kelly Clarkson – My Life Would Suck Without You

This one’s pretty acclaimed, but I’ve always found the tune and theme really annoying.

Track 7: Tinchy Stryder and Taio Cruz – Take Me Back

Nice atmosphere – I like the electro lines.

Track 8: Kid Cudi and Crookers – Day ‘N’ Nite

Boring, repetitive tune, with some irritating vocal tics going on.

Track 9: Britney Spears – Womaniser

Great pop track – love the hooks on this one.

Track 10: TI and Rihanna – Live Your Life

It’s based around the hook from O-Zone’s Dragostea Din Tei, which gives the track quite an interesting sound.

Track 11: Akon – Right Now (Na Na Na)

Nice tune, quite like this one.

Track 12: Shontelle – T-Shirt

Interesting vocals, but I find the tune very generic.

Track 13: Ne-Yo – Mad

Boring tune, annoyingly saccharine vocals.

Track 14: The Saturdays – Issues

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had the Saturdays on track 5.

I quite like the rhyming of the lyrics on this one, but the tune’s a bit dull. The Saturdays did much better songs later on.

Track 15: Leona Lewis – Forgive Me

Great vocals, great atmosphere, but the tune’s pretty forgettable.

Track 16: Girls Aloud – The Loving Kind

Another boring tune, and the vocals make it a bit too ballad-y for me.

Track 17: September – Can’t Get Over

Good beat, good electro lines. The vocals are a little generic though.

Track 18: Steve Angello, Laidback Luke and Robin S – Show Me Love

Semi-cover of Robin S’s 1993 hit, mashed up with various other things. It’s not very inspired. See my Now! #24 review for the original song.

Track 19: N-Dubz – Strong Again

Boring tune, but I quite like some of the vocal hooks.

Track 20: Katy Perry – Thinking Of You

Dull ballad, not keen on this one.

Track 21: Alexandra Burke – Hallelujah

The annual bit of karaoke from the X Factor winner. To give credit to Alexandra Burke, this is not a pointless cover: there have been so many different and beautiful versions of the Leonard Cohen classic, and she did put her own stamp on it, but it just doesn’t have as much feeling in it as classic versions like those of Jeff Buckley or Rufus Wainwright.

Speaking of the X Factor…

Track 22: X Factor Finalists 2008 – Hero

There was an annoying trend in the late ’00s/early ’10s where the final twelve contestants in the X Factor would release a group single with everyone getting a line, which, just like the winner’s single, was inevitably a pointless cover of a classic song. This meant that everyone who was interested in pop music but didn’t care about the X Factor had to put up with not one but two irritating karaoke numbers in the charts around Christmas time. 2008’s offering was a pointless cover of the Mariah Carey song. (As often happens, the ‘point’ was charity fundraising, this time for Help For Heroes and the Royal British Legion. Charity fundraising = awesome! Releasing a soulless, uninspired remake of an existing song = not awesome.)

Track 23: Take That – Greatest Day

It should feel epic and sweeping – but I just find the tune irritating. I’m not sure why.

Track 24: Alesha Dixon – Breathe Slow

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Alesha Dixon on track 4.

This one’s got a nice backing track, but the tune is fairly generic.

Track 25: James Morrison and Nelly Furtado – Broken Strings

Irritatingly cheesy and slow ballad. Not my cup of tea.

Track 26: Taylor Swift – Love Story

Super saccharine soft pop-rock! Again, not my thing. I prefer Taylor Swift’s more pure pop stuff from the early-to-mid-’10s.

Track 27: Pink – Sober

Nice guitar, interesting theme, but the tune’s pretty dull.

Track 28: The Killers – Human

I still remember people getting irritated about the grammar of the line ‘are we human or are we dancer‘. Would it sound better and less jarring if the lyric was ‘dancers‘? Yes. Is it grammatically incorrect? Technically, no. Brandon Flowers is using ‘dancer‘ to mean a sort of faux-species here, and the use of the singular as an adjective in the same way that ‘human‘ can be used as an adjective is, I believe, meant to emphasise this.

Anyway, it’s quite a good tune.

Track 29: The Script – Breakeven

I’m generally not keen on this kind of soft rock, and this is no exception. Bland tune, very forgettable.

Track 30: Jason Mraz – I’m Yours

I find this kind of cheery, bouncy, acoustic-y track really irritating. Sorry!

Track 31: Noisettes – Don’t Upset The Rhythm (Go Baby Go)

Great bassline, lovely bit of electropop. Really like this one.

Track 32: Metro Station – Shake It

Really like the instrumentals on this track – great guitar, great synth. It all adds up to a nice retro ’80s tinge, which I’m all about!

Track 33: U2 – Get On Your Boots

Interesting vocals, good guitar line, quite like this one.

Track 34: MGMT – Kids

Oh, it’s this one! Lovely electro hook, great bassline.

Track 35: The Prodigy – Omen

I saw the Prodigy at M’era Luna 2009, and this song was the anthem of the weekend, with everyone singing it all over the place. Great dance track, builds beautifully, wonderful atmosphere.

Track 36: Kevin Rudolf and Lil’ Wayne – Let It Rock

Another great bassline and another awesome atmosphere – good track.

Track 37: Wiley and Daniel Merriweather – Cash In My Pocket

I like the ’60s retro tinge on this one.

Track 38: Kanye West – Heartless

Nice tune, quite like this track.

Track 39: TI and Justin Timberlake – Dead And Gone

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had TI on track 10.

Nice piano intro, nice epic atmosphere. Great stuff, though it would be better without the rap.

Track 40: Daniel Merriweather and Wale – Change

Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Daniel Merriweather on track 37. Give someone else a chance, Now! compilers!

This is a great track, though – lovely tinkly piano, good beat.

Track 41: Pet Shop Boys – Love Etc.

Nice to see Pet Shop Boys back in the charts. I have missed that perfect synth! Wonderful tune.

Track 42: Duffy – Rain On Your Parade

More great instrumentals! Lovely atmosphere on this one.

Track 43: Vanessa Jenkins, Bryn West, Tom Jones and Robin Gibb – Islands In The Stream

Daft semi-cover (semi due to Robin Gibb’s involvement) of the Bee Gees-written song made famous by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, featuring comedy characters Vanessa Jenkins (Ruth Jones) and Bryn West (Rob Brydon) from the sitcom Gavin & Stacey. This was another song released for Comic Relief 2009. The video‘s funny, but the song’s a bit pedestrian until Tom Jones shows up at the end.