This is a very weird experience. When I was putting this together I actually had you in mind and my sense should have taken over and pointed out that you would have already owned more than half of the tracks on it. But I reasoned that the chances of you getting it would be slim.

 

When I first saw that you received "Now that's what I call tunes!" I was secretly delighted. For one I knew you'd love nearly all the songs on it and that would mean I'd get a great review. :) - plus you typed out most of the songs titles and nearly all of the artists - thanks.

 

But that gave way to a sort of shame or regret because you'd have received a dud of sorts - like getting a copy of a Now album that you already own - not much chance of new discoveries. :(

 

But then I realised that I had sequenced it amazingly well (modest, eh?) and that might make the whole thing more playable as a compilation. :)

 

I have to say of all the compilations created in this thread mine has been the most conservative - this was kind of a reaction to the one I made for someone on CHC, it was 15 or so instrumentals and wasn't a very fair offering and incredibly hard to review for the poor soul who got it.

 

I'll try much harder next time to get the balance right.

 

On the music itself - I recommend going back and listening to the Editors track and imagine it as a heartbreaking PSB ballad from the late 80s. The construction and lyrical content are very PSB.

 

That IS weird that you had me in mind!

 

Don't feel sad about the whole me having most of them, I never expect to get many more than 5 tracks that I haven't heard or own. I'd far rather have a compilation that is to my tastes but with only a couple of new discoveries than an entire CD that's totally not my thing and I end up scrapping. We've had your CD on in the car this week and it's been a good listen.

 

It is difficult to get the balance right, there's no point in over thinking it either. This CD would have introduced some others to many new tracks I'm sure - it just wasn't to be (yet as they could always request the link :D )

 

I shall indeed keep on with the Editors track and I'll try imagining it as a PSB track... I do like it anyway though, I just like Interpol that bit more. :D

HET30: A Review

 

Not sure of what the significance of the name ‘HET30,’ but it’s a lovely cover you’ve made for it. Anyway, to the tunes:

 

Track 1: A nice acoustic song with strings to break us in. Just as I begin to enjoy this, the vocals came in, revealing this to be in another language (possibly Spanish I recognise the phrase ‘Salva Mia.’) It sounds like a middle aged woman is singing on this track. I enjoy the backing track though.

 

Track 2: More of the same, strings and acoustics, with some harsher drum beats this time. Boy/girl vocals as well, it sounds like a Eurovision song from one of the former Yugoslavian countries. The chorus is very infectious, even if it does remind me slightly of One and One by Robert Miles.

 

Track 3: And we’re back to songs in non-English (I think it’s Italian this time). There’s nothing exciting about this track I’m afraid, it just seems a bit flat.

 

Track 4: The 2nd track in as many with a vocalist that seems to be influenced by Matt Bellamy. The operatic backing singers do lift the song a bit, and I do like the crescendo at the end, but the song doesn’t really do much to excite me.

 

Track 5: Ooh, guitar slapping, mixed with Spanish vocals, male and female. Not really digging this I’m afraid.

 

Track 6: Another track in a foreign language (can’t place the country this time though). This sounds like it would be the theme for snooker in one of the Slavic countries.

 

Track 7: This song reminds me a little of the Low Anthem, whom I love. Lovely, warm harmonies, I could imagine this being used in a mobile phone advert. Me likee. They sound Irish, although hopefully they’re not, as I’ll have no excuse for never have heard it before.

 

Track 8: This sounds like Alexandra Burke. Now I’m not really a fan of her (don’t lynch me, please), but this is a very nice song, with lovely deep bass. Wouldn’t convert me to the ways of the Burke though.

 

Track 9: Soul music firmly in the Amy Whitehouse/Mark Ronson mould, not a million miles away from ‘Tears Dry on their Own.’ Given that I was never a fan of the neo-soul movement, I really enjoyed this song.

 

Track 10: Scat-like vocals intro, descending into a by-the-numbers pop song. It sounds like an experimental Sugababes b-side. Also, is the guitar in the background playing the riff from Franz Ferdinand’s Take Me Out?

 

Track 11: This song I recognise, I just don’t know where. Was it used in an advert recently? It reminds me a bit of Eliza Doolittle, sampling old 50s lounge tunes and adding a 21st century pop sheen to them. Surprisingly, I’m really enjoying this.

 

Track 12: The keyboard riff sounds like ‘Speed of Sound’ by Coldplay. This sounds like JLS. I do not like JLS.

 

Track 13: At first, I thought this was All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix. Very singer/songwritery, but not by cup of tea unfortunately.

 

Track 14: Eurodance next, and in French. I think he’s singing about his crayons, how nouvelle. I can imagine this being given a spit and polish, them being released in UK with English lyrics. It’s very much in the Riverside, Let the Bass Kick…’ mould. Not sure whether to put this in the ‘guilty pleasure’ or ‘utter toss’ category yet, might need a few more listens, at the moment it’s just a smidgeon in the former.

 

Track 15: All these non-English tracks. And now rapping in a foreign language. I’m really feeling out of my depth here. A very average track

 

Track 16: 2 languages here. English lead vocals with foreign backing vocals. Nothing really exciting about this I’m afraid.

 

Track 17: Some rock-style guitar in the intro, so I was hoping for something exciting here. Unfortunately it filters out and descends into a standard Eurodance fare.

 

Track 18: Is this produced by the same people who produced Inna? It definitely reminds me a lot of that single ‘Hot.’ One of the better songs in the compilation.

 

Track 19: This sounds like how Aqua would sound circa 2010. Some weird lyrics about cross dressing and parallel universes. A decent song, but nothing exciting about it unfortunately.

 

Track 20: I really hope that this is not Cascada, because I really enjoyed this song. A really strong synth riff, dancey beats, great vocals and decent lyrics. Not the sort of thing I’d usually listen to, but it’s a great way to finish the compilation.

 

In conclusion, I feel that I was probably not the ideal person to review this compilation, given that I’m more into indie/alternate music and this compilation had a European/dance feel. Having said that, the tracklist flowed well, and I’m particularly looking forward to finding out who was behind tracks 7, 11 and 20.

 

HET30 is my album. When you posted to say you had received "HET30", my initial thought was "eek!" as I know from ChC you were more into indie/alternative so really wasn't sure what you would like. I did a similar album (it was also called HET30 - how original :drama: ) last year which Dandy* received. Anyways, HET30 It's basically an abbrieviation of Hitstastic's European Top 30 - I have a link in my sig (but the Brinkster account is currently not working :( ). The concept of my album was to focus on successful tracks from across Europe (erm...and New Zealand :lol: ) over the last six months, select songs from different genres (to avoid everything being "samey") and hopefully introduce some artists you may have not been familiar with, or at least unknown tracks by acts who you might've known. Have to admit, your observations of the songs are brilliantly honest - you even mentioned similarities I hadn't even considered.

 

The tracklisting (some other BJ regulars will probably recognise most of these songs :D ):

 

01. Gianna Nannini & Giorgia - Salvami

02. The Rasmus feat. Anette Oleon - October & April

03. Jovanotti - Baciami Ancora

04. Mando Diao - Nothing Without You

05. Manuel Carrasco & Malu - Que Nadie

06. Jurk! - Zou Zo Graag

07. The Rumour Said Fire - The Balcony

08. Melanie Fiona - Monday Morning

09. Oceana - Cry Cry

10. Aura Dione - I Will Love You Monday (365)

11. Caro Emerald - A Night Like This

12. Stan Walker - Black Box

13. Absynth Minded - Envoi

14. Stromae - Alors On Danse

15. 23:45 & 5ivesta Family - Ja Budu (Fantastic Flowers Remix)

16. Dan Balan - Chica Bomb

17. Edward Maya - This Is My Life

18. Inna - Amazing

19. Aqua - My Mamma Said

20. Milk Inc. - Storm

 

Highlighted are the three tracks that stood out the most for you.

'A Night Like This'...one of my favourite songs of the year thus far :wub: I sent it to BJSC last month! I guessed what some of those were myself from reading the review, Alors On Danse and the Aqua song most notably!

 

 

Hits, I cannot believe you subjected someone to Aqua. :lol:

Hits, I cannot believe you subjected someone to Aqua. :lol:

 

You're gutted you never got my album. Admit it!!! :P :lol: It was moreso for the song as it's nothing like the 90s Europop stuff Aqua are most famous for.

LET'S DO THIS DOODLES:

 

01; i don't know who this is BUT I NEED TO KNOW NOW. it reminds me of, maybe, mount kimbie? but i'm not sure. it's really epic and moody $h!t. i love electronic shiz like this. hopefully this continues. 10/10

 

02; this reminds me of metric but i know it's not. hm. it's good but i'm not like CRAZYCARZY over it, it feels a bit generic and not like there's anything super special to it. i do love this woman's voice though. 07/10

 

03; FANG ISLAND - DAISY. love this song omg. amazing choice. 10/10

 

04; the opening made me think this was going to be bat for lashes, but it's not. seriously digging this as well. very atmospheric and catchy. another one i NEED TO KNOW. 09/10

 

05; FELDBERG - DREAMIN'. this was my bjsc entry! it flopped. :( but it's a damn good song. <3 09/10

 

06; LAURA VEIRS - WIDE-EYED LEGLESS. my favorite track on her latest album. <3 so so damn good. and really effing catchy. 10/10

 

07; TIESTO - FEEL IT IN MY BONES. i'm really eh on tiesto but this is probably the best track on his album. luv tegan and sara. 08/10

 

08; i know this from somewhere but i can't quite place my figner on it. probably from hypemachine somewhere. this is a fun, summery track and anytime i call something summery it basically means i love it. 09/10

 

09; a glitchy electronic track that is once again just my thing. so feeling this track right now. the best on this album along with whatever the first track is. 10/10

 

10; METRIC - some track on their latest; eh, i really don't like metric that much. emily haines's solo stuff is so much better. 05/10

 

11; slow, brooding, and really quite something. i love female vocalists and this woman's voice is doing things for me. i feel like i recognize it from somewhere but i definitely do not know this song. give me more. 09/10

 

12; GLASSER - TREMEL. another song that's one of the best of the years. <3 LOVE THIS. 10/10

 

13; this is alright; digging the synths and the woman's voice but it just sorta drags on. 05/10

 

14; CARIBOU - ODESSA. this song is incredible live. 10/10

 

15; this beat sort of reminds me of the first artist, aka i really love this. kinda crazy and all over the place but it just works so well, especially with that atmospheric falsetto in the chorus. another one i have to have. 09/10

 

16; GOLD PANDA - QUITTER'S RAGA. <3 <3 <3 <3 10/10

 

17; dunno this but it sort of reminds me of like the dodos or something. it's good but i'm not keen on the vocals. 06/10

 

18; OKKERVIL RIVER - LOST COASTLINES. <3 08/10

 

19; CLASS ACTRESS - LET ME TAKE YOU OUT. another song that is super super nice live. 09/10

 

20; i'm eh on this one, a bit stereotypically indie. 05/10

 

21; OWEN PALLETT - E IS FOR ESTRANGED. this man melts my heart live. so effing good. 10/10

 

so, even though i already knew a bunch of these, this is still quite the album with some amazing tracks and it all flows super well. <3 8.5/10, easily, with just a few marks down for some duds and the fact that i knew so many. but i was reminded of a lot of great songs i already knew, mainly okkervil river and glasser. everyone should DL this CD, it's really really quite good. and there are definitely some artists i didn't know that i want to get more of.

Can I have that one too please?

 

Is it Dandy's?

Hits, I cannot believe you subjected someone to Aqua. :lol:

 

Thankfully I spent the years 1996-1998 building up an immunity so I would be safe if I was ever subjected to an Aqua revival, although it's by far the least Aqua-esque song they've ever done.

 

4 of the songs have made the promotion to iPod status, the 3 I've already mentioned plus Stromae, and more will probably make the transition in the future.

Thankfully I spent the years 1996-1998 building up an immunity so I would be safe if I was ever subjected to an Aqua revival, although it's by far the least Aqua-esque song they've ever done.

 

4 of the songs have made the promotion to iPod status, the 3 I've already mentioned plus Stromae, and more will probably make the transition in the future.

 

At least you've discovered a couple of tracks that you like. :D

 

Oh, to answer your earlier questions:

 

07. The Rumour Said Fire hail from Denmark where 'The Balcony' topped their Danish singles chart back in January. Mikey made a good point comparing their style to that of Simon & Garfunkel. Imagine them covering 'Let It Be' by The Beatles only changing the lyrics and melody.

 

11. Caro Emerald is from Holland. 'A Night Like This' is being used to advertise Barcadi in the Netherlands.

 

14. Stromae!!! :w00t: The most successful single in Europe at the moment. Already hit no. 1 in twelve countries (that I'm aware of) and possibly heading to no. 1 in more over the coming weeks (ie; Sweden, Finland, Norway.........UK & Ireland? :D ).

 

20. Milk Inc. did score a UK top 10 hit 'In My Eyes' back in 2002 riding the dance boom at the time. They fell off the radar thereafter but continued to enjoy success in central Europe. 'Storm', their most recent single, hit no. 1 in Flanders (Belguim) in March.

LET'S DO THIS DOODLES:

 

01; i don't know who this is BUT I NEED TO KNOW NOW. it reminds me of, maybe, mount kimbie? but i'm not sure. it's really epic and moody $h!t. i love electronic shiz like this. hopefully this continues. 10/10

 

02; this reminds me of metric but i know it's not. hm. it's good but i'm not like CRAZYCARZY over it, it feels a bit generic and not like there's anything super special to it. i do love this woman's voice though. 07/10

 

03; FANG ISLAND - DAISY. love this song omg. amazing choice. 10/10

 

04; the opening made me think this was going to be bat for lashes, but it's not. seriously digging this as well. very atmospheric and catchy. another one i NEED TO KNOW. 09/10

 

05; FELDBERG - DREAMIN'. this was my bjsc entry! it flopped. :( but it's a damn good song.

 

06; LAURA VEIRS - WIDE-EYED LEGLESS. my favorite track on her latest album.

 

07; TIESTO - FEEL IT IN MY BONES. i'm really eh on tiesto but this is probably the best track on his album. luv tegan and sara. 08/10

 

08; i know this from somewhere but i can't quite place my figner on it. probably from hypemachine somewhere. this is a fun, summery track and anytime i call something summery it basically means i love it. 09/10

 

09; a glitchy electronic track that is once again just my thing. so feeling this track right now. the best on this album along with whatever the first track is. 10/10

 

10; METRIC - some track on their latest; eh, i really don't like metric that much. emily haines's solo stuff is so much better. 05/10

 

11; slow, brooding, and really quite something. i love female vocalists and this woman's voice is doing things for me. i feel like i recognize it from somewhere but i definitely do not know this song. give me more. 09/10

 

12; GLASSER - TREMEL. another song that's one of the best of the years.

 

13; this is alright; digging the synths and the woman's voice but it just sorta drags on. 05/10

 

14; CARIBOU - ODESSA. this song is incredible live. 10/10

 

15; this beat sort of reminds me of the first artist, aka i really love this. kinda crazy and all over the place but it just works so well, especially with that atmospheric falsetto in the chorus. another one i have to have. 09/10

 

16; GOLD PANDA - QUITTER'S RAGA.

 

17; dunno this but it sort of reminds me of like the dodos or something. it's good but i'm not keen on the vocals. 06/10

 

18; OKKERVIL RIVER - LOST COASTLINES.

 

19; CLASS ACTRESS - LET ME TAKE YOU OUT. another song that is super super nice live. 09/10

 

20; i'm eh on this one, a bit stereotypically indie. 05/10

 

21; OWEN PALLETT - E IS FOR ESTRANGED. this man melts my heart live. so effing good. 10/10

 

so, even though i already knew a bunch of these, this is still quite the album with some amazing tracks and it all flows super well.

 

 

Let's do the reveal for DOODLES too then:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/BONOBO.jpg

01|Bonobo 'Prelude/Kiara'

The opening track from their latest album which I think is their best to date. Well, actually it's the intro and the second track but they were so obviously meant to work together that I combined them.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/PIANOMAGIC.jpg

02|Piano Magic 'Incurable'

You're right that this definitely has a Metric/Stars vibe to it. I never realised how much I liked this until my ipod decided to play it virtually every time I put it on random, now I love it.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/FANGISLAND.jpg

03|Fang Island 'Daisy'

Obviously I knew you'd know this one, in fact you introduced me to it...

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/JOHNNYBOY.jpg

04|Johnny Boy 'You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve'

This is actually about 8 or 9 years old now I think. It's one of those tracks that I underestimated at the time (despite the frankly fabulous title) but it's grown sooooo much over the years.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/FELDBERG.jpg

05|Feldberg 'Dreamin'

Haha. I had no idea this was your BJSC entrant. What were the chances eh?

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/LAURAVEIRS.jpg

06|Laura Veirs 'Wide-Eyed, Legless'

How I love Laura Veirs... Saltbreakers aside, she's released some amazing albums.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/TIESTO.jpg

07|Tiësto featuring Tegan and Sara 'I Feel It In My Bones'

Tiësto is so not my thing normally either but I do love this track. This was a relatively late addition in case a pop fan received the playlist! This is my butchered/edited version as the original is slightly dragged out for my liking.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/DELOREAN.jpg

08|Delorean 'Seasun'

I was going to put something from their 2010 album but decided upon this from their 2009 ep instead. Lovely stuff, the 90s dance influence is refreshing and I imagine this would be amazing on a beach.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/DISCOVERY.jpg

09|Discovery 'Osaka Loop Line'

I'm really quite surprised you don't already know this but glad it was a discovery (ho ho ho). Track 2 from their self titled album last year, my favourite thing on it as I just love the structure.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/BROKENSOCIALSCENE.jpg

10|Broken Social Scene 'All To All'

Not quite Metric after all... in fact, it's not even Emily Haines. Oddly, as I'm sure you know, she DOES feature on all of their albums. This one has Lisa Lobsinger on vocals but I agree that she doesn't veer too far from the Emily/Feist template. Still, one of the highlights of their new one for me.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/TRENTEMOLLER.jpg

11|Trentemøller 'Sycamore Feeling (Trentemøller Remix)'

One of the best producers of dance music over the past few years for me, so moody and different. This is his latest single, really can't wait for the album.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/GLASSER.jpg

12|Glasser 'Tremmel'

I had this down as one of the ones you may not know but it turns out you do... glad you love it though.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/KOKOVONNAPOO.jpg

13|Koko Von Napoo 'Polly'

Don't know anything more about this band other than this track, a highlight of one of the Rough Trade Counter Culture series for me. It's another case of loving it as a result of ipod randomness. Shame it didn't quite click for you.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/CARIBOU.jpg

14|Caribou 'Odessa'

One of my favourite singles of the year, simple as.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/FOLCHEN.jpg

15|Fol Chen 'In Ruins (Baths Remix)'

Not surprised you liked this as I know how much you've been digging Baths of late. They make this track their own, it's exactly how I'd expect one of their own tracks to be if they had more featured artists.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/GOLDPANDA.jpg

16|Gold Panda 'Quitter's Raga'

As I said a few comments ago, I almost put You on instead of this but in the end this won out as it doesn't feel quite as finished as the newer single to me.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/JAYREATARD.jpg

17|Jay Reatard 'No Time'

RIP. :( It just seemed apt to include him and this is my favourite of his now, the lyrics seem more personal.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/OKKERVILRIVER.jpg

18|Okkervil River 'Lost Coastlines'

This one was mainly included yet again in case this went to a pop fan. Indie through and through but might have made them hum You Can't Hurry Love and be happy in their pop world for a moment.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/CLASSACTRESS.jpg

19|Class Actress 'Let Me Take You Out'

Her EP has really grown on me over the course of this year, this remains my favourite but the more electro influenced moments aren't bad either.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/RURALALBERTAADVANTAGE.jpg

20|The Rural Alberta Advantage 'Don't Haunt This Place'

I'm a sucker for this whole girl/guy indie with strings stuff. Shame you weren't sold on it though.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/Doodles/OWENPALLETT.jpg

21|Owen Pallett 'E is for Estranged'

Obviously I knew you'd love this one - and rightly so. Highlight of his album for me, so Sufjan-esque in it's beauty and arrangement.

 

 

And there ends Doodles. Really glad you enjoyed it and didn't know absolutely everything already - I really thought you might when I realised you had it which is odd as you're probably the only person here who would have already heard so many! It's not quite the playlist I would have made if I'd have known it was going to you but I guess that's the point eh.

 

Many thanks for the review MisterSoap, so positive and 8.5 after deductions cannot be grumbled at :wub:

 

 

Edited May 19, 201015 yr by Dandy*

AH BONOBO! I have one song by them which I thought was solid but never got more, downloading the full album now. I've heard of that Johnny Boy song before too but never gave it a listen.

 

And I feel so silly now. I actually knew that Broken Social Scene track wasn't Metric, I just wasn't thinking. I just downloaded Metric's latest because I wanted Gimme Sympathy and for some reason my tiny brain just immediately though that song was Collect Call. Still not a huge fan of it though that album is incredible.

 

And omg new Baths. <3 I had heard of the remix but once again not given it a listen. Good to know it's amazing. As for Discovery, I sort of wrote them off as soon as they came out as I like neither Ra Ra Riot or Vampire Weekend all that much, now I know to check them out. ;o

 

Also knew I knew that Delorean song. <3 Their new LP is good but I lovelovelove their EP. Seasun is the one track from it I don't listen to overly much so it just sorta slipped my mind.

 

A great CD though.

If possible, could I have the link for Hits' and Dandy's comps please? :D

England

 

Track 1: Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen. One of the most controversial songs in the UK and started the punk rock movement to what it is today. It still doesn't get old for me, after listening to it on daily basis back in the day when I discovered who the Sex Pistols were. Is there really anything bad that can be said about this piece of music history? 10/10

 

Track 2: Reminds me of a psychedelic rock song that'd great to hear live, maybe from the late 70's? I like the vocals but that one vocal-instrument (can't remember what it is?) does become a little annoying as the song progresses, this is still quite good. 7.5/10

 

Track 3: I really enjoy the back & forth male/female vocals on this song and the production seems pretty basic, allowing for stipped down instrumentals and giving the song a moody/haunting tone to it. 8/10

 

Track 4: Happy pop/rock of the mid-60's, it always lifts my spirits! Great sing-along-song that is catchy as hell. Nice melody and pleasant-sounding vocals. Seems like it could be a solo male heart-throb, but with actual credibility! 8.5/10

 

Track 5: Another mid-60's track, I'm thinking this is The Kinks?! I've heard this before on oldies radio. The chorus seems like it's a mouthful, but this was typical during this era. This is pretty darn good. 8/10

 

Track 6: Early 60's pop group perhaps? Curious to know who these are, I love this track! Talent-wise, these guys must be up there cause this is pretty amazing. Excellent vocals/harmonies and snappy lyrics. Even the added quirky voices after each chorus is a nice touch. Perfection. 9.5/10

 

Track 7: Pure instrumental track, feels very hypnotic. Must be pre-Pink Floyd, as the production is less refined and it has that 'hippie' feel. This isreally, really good, much appreciation for a song that uses little technology to create a trippy song like this. 9/10

 

Track 8: This song just doesn't go anywhere for me. Vocals are fairly monotone and difficult to decipher what is being sung, but I do like the piano nature of the song. Maybe the song is more lyric-driven than anything else; I haven't figured it out yet. 5/10

 

Track 9: Lyrically this song is a little bit out there, the repeative line "if wishes were horses" doesn't make sense or seem witty (unless she's saying something else). But the song does get points for being plenty catchy and having a great instrumental ending. 7/10

 

Track 10: This track sounds like it could be Rancid, if they were a band back in the 70's! Love this song, happens to be just the right amount of odd vocals and laid-back instrumentals that pulls this together so nicely. I feel I need to discover who this band is, I'm sure I'd enjoy their catalog. 9/10

 

Track 11: This track feels a kinda silly and light-hearted, and that's definitely not a bad thing. The lyrics are just plain fun and it seems like a good song to sing when you're drunk! I also really enjoy the organ/synthesizers on this track. 8/10

 

Track 12: Guitar riffs? Yes please. Incredible song, I'm sure I must've come across this over the years, as this seems like it could've been a staple for British-punk in the 80's. The bridge of nah-nah-nah's into the chorus screams punk! 9/10

 

Track 13: Another instrumental, but it's not a sleeper and is quite good. Normally I wouldn't think of a saxophone/piano combo being that interesting, but this is surprising. It's got enough jazzy melody to keep it going, without coming off cheesy. 8/10

 

Track 14: Lily Allen - Chinese. Now we jump a couple of decades to my second favourite track (Everyone's At It is #1) from Lily Allen's It's Not Me, It's You. Vocals and lyrics are tight on this, simply amazing, how does she do it! Really hope Lily isn't retiring from recording music, she's one of the few young, authentic female artists out there! 9.5/10

 

Track 15: This sounds like a slice of mid 90's pop. Even though this is my first time hearing this track, it sounds like it could've been a big Hot AC radio hit back in the day, a la Donna Lewis/Sophie B. Hawkins, which is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. 8/10

 

Track 16: I love songs that tell stories. The ability to convey a story into a song and actually have the song be bearable is a bit of a rarity. I do like this quite a bit, more so for it's lyrics rather than the structure of the song. 7.5/10

 

Track 17: This must be a singer-songwriter of the 90's. Vocals sound quite vulnerable and innocent on this track. Quite good, I may have possibly heard

this on radio way back in the day, but there's so much great UK talent that doesn't get beyond their own shores, unfortunately. 8/10

 

Track 18: I want to know who this is. Smooth female vocals, reminds me of early 90's alternative dance-pop, with that whole tranquil/calming feel to it.

Almost 8 minutes long, I never once wanted to skip. A song must be pretty damn good if you'll stick around that long! 9.5/10

 

Track 19: A hip pop-folk record, I love the simplicity of this song. It isn't bogged down by production and over-done vocals. And a nice chorus to hold it

together. You know you've created a great song when anyone with an acoustic guitar could play and sing it. 8.5/10

 

Track 20: Everything about this song is divine. It has everything going for it. The right formula of electric guitar, synthesizers and vocals put together.

I will be listening to this quite often, me thinks. Brilliant. 10/10

 

Track 21: Sounds 80's new-wave to me. The song keeps building towards a climax, but never gets there. Plus the vocals on this are too layered and all over the place. Logical tells me that I should like this song, it just doesn't hold up as well against other music of this time. 6/10

 

Alot of tracks are pre-1990, so I'm thinking the person who made this CD is much older than the average BJ person. My guess would be thisispop, as he seems to be the ultimate music guru and only someone who knows their $h!t would be able to put this mixed CD together.

I've got to say, I'm so fortunate to have gotten this CD. I love a mix of old and new, and this has a bit of here and there of the past 50 years in England.

And not just one genre of music, this is covering quite a range of catergories. This was made for people for people who love music in general, with no restrictions. Plus, I think this CD is appropriate for me, seeing that I'm not/haven't been exposed to much English music over the years until just recently.

Overall, I've got to say the calibar of the music on this CD is pretty high, there's no 2nd/3rd rate artists. Good quality music!

I've thoroughly enjoyed reviewing this and I'm probably going to look into at least half of the artists on these tracks to check out more greatness.

Thank you so much!

 

Overall rating: 8.3/10

Edited May 20, 201015 yr by West

LET'S DO THIS DOODLES:

 

01; i don't know who this is BUT I NEED TO KNOW NOW. it reminds me of, maybe, mount kimbie? but i'm not sure. it's really epic and moody $h!t. i love electronic shiz like this. hopefully this continues. 10/10

 

02; this reminds me of metric but i know it's not. hm. it's good but i'm not like CRAZYCARZY over it, it feels a bit generic and not like there's anything super special to it. i do love this woman's voice though. 07/10

 

03; FANG ISLAND - DAISY. love this song omg. amazing choice. 10/10

 

04; the opening made me think this was going to be bat for lashes, but it's not. seriously digging this as well. very atmospheric and catchy. another one i NEED TO KNOW. 09/10

 

05; FELDBERG - DREAMIN'. this was my bjsc entry! it flopped. :( but it's a damn good song. <3 09/10

 

06; LAURA VEIRS - WIDE-EYED LEGLESS. my favorite track on her latest album. <3 so so damn good. and really effing catchy. 10/10

 

07; TIESTO - FEEL IT IN MY BONES. i'm really eh on tiesto but this is probably the best track on his album. luv tegan and sara. 08/10

 

08; i know this from somewhere but i can't quite place my figner on it. probably from hypemachine somewhere. this is a fun, summery track and anytime i call something summery it basically means i love it. 09/10

 

09; a glitchy electronic track that is once again just my thing. so feeling this track right now. the best on this album along with whatever the first track is. 10/10

 

10; METRIC - some track on their latest; eh, i really don't like metric that much. emily haines's solo stuff is so much better. 05/10

 

11; slow, brooding, and really quite something. i love female vocalists and this woman's voice is doing things for me. i feel like i recognize it from somewhere but i definitely do not know this song. give me more. 09/10

 

12; GLASSER - TREMEL. another song that's one of the best of the years. <3 LOVE THIS. 10/10

 

13; this is alright; digging the synths and the woman's voice but it just sorta drags on. 05/10

 

14; CARIBOU - ODESSA. this song is incredible live. 10/10

 

15; this beat sort of reminds me of the first artist, aka i really love this. kinda crazy and all over the place but it just works so well, especially with that atmospheric falsetto in the chorus. another one i have to have. 09/10

 

16; GOLD PANDA - QUITTER'S RAGA. <3 <3 <3 <3 10/10

 

17; dunno this but it sort of reminds me of like the dodos or something. it's good but i'm not keen on the vocals. 06/10

 

18; OKKERVIL RIVER - LOST COASTLINES. <3 08/10

 

19; CLASS ACTRESS - LET ME TAKE YOU OUT. another song that is super super nice live. 09/10

 

20; i'm eh on this one, a bit stereotypically indie. 05/10

 

21; OWEN PALLETT - E IS FOR ESTRANGED. this man melts my heart live. so effing good. 10/10

 

so, even though i already knew a bunch of these, this is still quite the album with some amazing tracks and it all flows super well. <3 8.5/10, easily, with just a few marks down for some duds and the fact that i knew so many. but i was reminded of a lot of great songs i already knew, mainly okkervil river and glasser. everyone should DL this CD, it's really really quite good. and there are definitely some artists i didn't know that i want to get more of.

Owen Pallett, Caribou, Laura Veirs, Tiesto :wub: If i had to include their tracks to my CD i'd choose exactly the same songs! :o :wub:

Can I have a link to Dandy's?

England

 

 

 

Track 9: Lyrically this song is a little bit out there, the repeative line "if wishes were horses" doesn't make sense or seem witty (unless she's saying something else). But the song does get points for being plenty catchy and having a great instrumental ending. 7/10

 

 

Don't know what the song is but that 'wishes were horses' line is from an old English proverb - If Wishes Were Horse Beggars Would Ride. In other words wishing for things acheives less than actually doing something.

 

 

Like the sound of this cd. Interested to know more

'Music? Art. Expression"

 

Here we go.

 

Track 1: Acoustic-ish song sung by a male about war if i'm not mistaken. It is pretty amazing! Although after several listens i noticed the "he took off his clothes and pissed in his hands, i told them to stop but then i joined in" lyric started to put me off slightly LOL. Maybe i didn't understand the whole/true meaning of this expression, i don't know. Anyway, quite a gorgeous song. Couldn't have thought this CD was compiled by this person at all when i heard it.

10/10

 

Track 2: Here's a remix of 'Killing In The Name Of' of the recent UK Xmas number one! I can't identify which band/artist remixed it though. It slightly reminds me of Passion Pit but still quite far from them. The song sounds so soft and electronic. The 'f*** you, i won't do what you tell me' phrase is sung in the way like it's something as usual as spring after winter.

5/10

 

Track 3: Kids of 88 - Just A Little Bit. Accompanied by a quite marvellous lesbian-tastic video this song is even more good! The title obviously reminds you of one UK ESC entry. In fact at first i thought they did some kind of cover for that. Anyway, the song is pretty much a guilty pleasure for me personally. The production is quite lazy, these 'orgasm' sounds throughout the song are cheap, lyrics are not the work of a genius as well. Oh and not to forget average vocals. However as i said i like it as a whole.

8.5/10

 

Track 4: Sounds like some remix as well. And sung by a much better version of Cascada. Not really having much tp say about it, the lyrics are quite frankly awful, but the song is catchy. IF ONLY THERE WAS AN ACCORDION. :(

7/10

 

Track 5: "I got my shirt off". Quite annoying lyric repeated about 160 times during the whole song. Lyrics are really awful sorry... "This shirt is too hot for me".. really? ): The melody is pretty catchy though, however third-rate-Chris-Brown-meets-Akon vocals spoil it too.

4/10

 

Track 6: I don't know what the genre of this song is, so correct if i'm wrong. It sounds pop jazzy though. Quite a great track! At least comparing to the couple of previous ones. Not a fan of such songs but this one is melodic and just easy to listen to. Vocals were nice.

8/10

 

Track 7: This is awful. Not only the vocals sound out of tune for me, but the background music is quite terrible. Sounds so cheap and done in two hours. ): Maybe it is not a 'this era' track in which case i'd understand, but if it's another This 'Sounds Good To Me' I really don't know what to say...

3/10

 

Track 8: Uffie - MCs Can Kiss. Never been a fan of Uffie. This song is a total mess for me, as pretty much everything she does. I really don't see the appeal in this song, all she does is speaks throughout the whole thing. Not keen on the melody and especially on the chorus even though i am believed to like some sort of stuff. However sometimes artists just don't click. Uffie lacks of something that makes her special in my opinion. This song made me closer to knowing whose CD i got by the way.

6.5/10

 

Track 9: Stromae - Alors On Danse. Incredible hypnotic European anthem. No wonder it became so huge in Europe because the song is truly outstanding! Not only french is a very friendly language for producing hits but the music is very memorable. If you find yourself humming it in the shower/public transport/on a lecture or awkwardly trying to stand under the spot from where you can only hear it in a crowded and noisy clothes shop - it's alright!

10/10

 

Track 10: The song is in German and called 'Stadt'. I've never heard it before but it was mentiined in the BJSC forum in one of the participant's thread (who allegedly happens to be the creator of this CD), i seemed to miss it, and that's a shame, because it's totally incredible! This song's is performed by a male-female duo which works for them like magic. The powerful female vocal and dramatic ESCtastic back music is wonderful! Also, the harshness of German doesn't appear here almost at all. I love such duos, when voices of BOTH singers can be distinguished and heard clearly.

So amazing.

10/10

 

Track 11: Timoteij - Vild. Another germanic language song. Swedish to be precise. This year's Melodifestivalen's wonder, Timoteij, released their debut album and this is the song from it. It's much better than 'Kom', actually it's easy to topple 'Kom' as i wasn't fan of it. What i love about this band and this song is that Timoteij use modern sound mixed with instruments (violin and accordion <3) and use it so profesionally so that you wouldn't say they are not experienced at all. The girls' voices are amazingly trained as well and they're hardly younger than myself!

10/10

 

Track 12: Lena Meyer-Landrut - Bee. This track has strengthened my confidence about the owner of this compilation even more! (Who would loon over this year's ESC german Lena? Find out in the end :kink: ). The track is better than Satellite, although i'm not a huge fan of her at all, but she seems really nice and trying her best on the song! I think i know why Bee wasn't chosen as the song for Eurovision this yer, it lacks something, i don't know what and why and everything but despite the (amazing!) keychange and very fitting-the-live-performance vocals it felt like so! Oh and i think it's worth mentioning that the claps are wonderful, so biased when there're claps in a song. :lol:

9.5/10

 

Track 13: Quite an interesting beginning. Sounds jazzy and soundtrack-to-some-old-musical-ish! The singer sounds very much like Christina Aguilera, although obviously not as great as her. But the voices are really similar. I’d say it’s the song from about 2006, but if it’s from 2009 – I’d still not be surprised because some artists have their goal to recreate the sound of the last decade(s).

7/10

 

Track14: A1 – Don’t Wanna Lose You Again. Ok, everybody watched Norge Melodi Grand Prix 2010 and know that they came second in the battle for representing Norway in Eurovision Song Contest 2010, don’t you? If not, then you know now! Amazing song. Very boyband-ish, modern production fits it perfectly, definitely good return in form for A1. Here’s hoping they will attempt to represent the country that most of the line-up members are from next year.

9.5/10

 

Track 15: Salem Al Fakir – Keep On Walking. Now we’re over to the song that finished second in Melodifestivalen 2010! Melodifestivalen is amazing, but Swedish voters suck. This was clearly the best song of the whole contest but yet it only finished second, which made me (and the person who made this CD :kink: ) sad even more after last year’s Snälla Snälla similar ‘runner-up being the best song’ curse! Anyway, this piano-led song is so atmospheric and dramatic in places! Vocals are amazing as well although many people might find Salem’s voice irritating/annoying/Mika-alike.

10/10

 

Track 16: This song is sung by a female/male duo. Apparently it’s about cheating/breaking up. Hence the deep sad melody which sets the mood and if you listen more attentively it shall most likely affect you. I didn’t.like the vocals. But (old! lol) Whitney Houston/Mariah wouldn’t really fit here so I guess it was for the best. However I don’t know any other songs by this duo/group so I can’t say anything for sure.

8/10

 

Track 17: Florence + The Machine – Swimming. Amusingly, I’ve never heard it before even though I have the album downloaded, and with this particular song too. Swimming is absolutely amazing, but I can’t judge properly though as I’m quite a big fan of hers. However this song really stands out, I’m surprised it wasn’t included into the album. The 2 minute mark is the best thing in the whole song closely followed by the ending. The song shows off Florence’s amazing vocals perfectly. I’d describe it as ‘Florence-type’ of song if I hadn’t known that it was sung by her (although it’s hardly possibly as she’s quite frankly remarkable and unique)

10/10

 

Track 18: Another pop track, this time led by acoustic guitar and keyboards as far as I hear it correctly. Sounds alright, it’s soft and pleasant (I feel I’d already used this word combination lolz) to listen to again. Simple by structure, it doesn’t require attentive listening, and the melody instantly goes straight into your head.

8/10

 

Track 19: An instrumental song. At the beginning full of nature sounds, like water falling, birds and trees. Then it gradually grows into the combination of different musical instruments, with violin (or violin-alike instrument). Very melodic and moody at the same time. Also it’s nice to hear an instrumental in the CD!

8.5/10

 

Track 20: Delta Goodrem – Believe Again. Again, rather surprisingly, I had never heard this song before I got this CD, despite constant bumping into discussion about it in very various topics in here! The song grows and grows with every second, definitely see the anger of some people who say that the radio version (which is apparently much shorter in length) does not represent the song. And they are right. Climax on 5-minute mark is absolutely stunning. Now I see the appeal. The melody is beautiful, Delta sings extremely well too, such structure of the song is my favourite to be honest!

10/10

 

Track 21: Another 5+ minute song, not that it is some kind of an obstacle for me, it’s quite the opposite. It sounds like some old album track by Take That. “Watch The World Fall Down” is assumingly the title of it. Not a fan of the song overall, especially of the ending which strongly reminds me of gospel choir! Same ‘black female’ sounds, piano is crazy, people screaming/singing on the top of their lungs. lolz

5.5/10

 

Overall: Very good! Some amazing discoveries for me here and even though I already knew about 40% of all the songs on this CD, it doesn’t decrease the quality or my overall impression from the compilation in a bit. Mostly because I absolutely loved all of these song I know in here before and would’ve included some of them in my own CD had I had some free space!

Tghe best new songs for me are definitely 'Stadt', 'Swimming', 'Believe Again', Tracks 1 and 19.

Oh and if you haven’t already guessed the author I might give a clue. HAI GOODDELTA.

The ‘my’ rate: 9/10

The technical rate: precisely 8/10

 

Thank you for the CD Rich! I really enjoyed it! (and glad that the 'BJ CD Swap' worked literally on us :kink: ) <3

 

 

1.8k words! :o

Edited May 20, 201015 yr by Ljósið

Thanks Pavel - amazing review!!! I shall put the name of the song/artist and why I chose it below

 

Track 1: Acoustic-ish song sung by a male about war if i'm not mistaken. It is pretty amazing! Although after several listens i noticed the "he took off his clothes and pissed in his hands, i told them to stop but then i joined in" lyric started to put me off slightly LOL. Maybe i didn't understand the whole/true meaning of this expression, i don't know. Anyway, quite a gorgeous song. Couldn't have thought this CD was compiled by this person at all when i heard it.

10/10

 

Rise Against - Hero Of War - A rock ballad by a US band - this was a hit in Sweden recently, and I got hold of it on an Absolute Music compilation I ordered - very pleasant, not my sort of thing but I like it. I put it first here because I knew it would throw off whoever got my CD - everyone knows I don't listen to this sort of thing!!!

 

Track 2: Here's a remix of 'Killing In The Name Of' of the recent UK Xmas number one! I can't identify which band/artist remixed it though. It slightly reminds me of Passion Pit but still quite far from them. The song sounds so soft and electronic. The 'f*** you, i won't do what you tell me' phrase is sung in the way like it's something as usual as spring after winter.

5/10

 

FM Belfast - Lotus - As you said, an electro cover of Killing In The Name. It's a bit bizarre and indeed, she sings it like it's a soft phrase :lol: But it's different! And topical - or at least it would have been 5 months ago :lol:

 

Track 3: Kids of 88 - Just A Little Bit. Accompanied by a quite marvellous lesbian-tastic video this song is even more good! The title obviously reminds you of one UK ESC entry. In fact at first i thought they did some kind of cover for that. Anyway, the song is pretty much a guilty pleasure for me personally. The production is quite lazy, these 'orgasm' sounds throughout the song are cheap, lyrics are not the work of a genius as well. Oh and not to forget average vocals. However as i said i like it as a whole.

8.5/10

 

Kids of 88 - Just A Little Bit - Bang on, an electro pop tune from a male New Zealand duo. So catchy, but indeed very tacky and cheap sounding at times.

 

Track 4: Sounds like some remix as well. And sung by a much better version of Cascada. Not really having much tp say about it, the lyrics are quite frankly awful, but the song is catchy. IF ONLY THERE WAS AN ACCORDION. :(

7/10

 

La Vuvuvzela feat Tarryn - Be Mine Tonight - An electro pop song that was a former #1 single in South Africa about 6 months ago! The band are a female trio who are indeed South African. The song's a bit generic but I like it!

 

Track 5: "I got my shirt off". Quite annoying lyric repeated about 160 times during the whole song. Lyrics are really awful sorry... "This shirt is too hot for me".. really? ): The melody is pretty catchy though, however third-rate-Chris-Brown-meets-Akon vocals spoil it too.

4/10

 

Blank feat Young Ivy - Shirt Off - Of I'm Going For Your Brother fame, this is my second favourite song of theirs :lol: clearly you're not a fan so I wouldn't recommend the album!

 

Track 6: I don't know what the genre of this song is, so correct if i'm wrong. It sounds pop jazzy though. Quite a great track! At least comparing to the couple of previous ones. Not a fan of such songs but this one is melodic and just easy to listen to. Vocals were nice.

8/10

 

Caro Emerald - Back It Up - The Dutch jazz legend herself - she has 4 good songs, this is one of them, I sent another to BJSC - the other two you'll have to find for yourself :kink: Love this though, and her!

 

Track 7: This is awful. Not only the vocals sound out of tune for me, but the background music is quite terrible. Sounds so cheap and done in two hours. ): Maybe it is not a 'this era' track in which case i'd understand, but if it's another This 'Sounds Good To Me' I really don't know what to say...

3/10

 

The Pipettes - So I'll Say Goodbye - this is the b-side to their new single :lol: I love it but oh dear at that reaction :drama:

 

Track 8: Uffie - MCs Can Kiss. Never been a fan of Uffie. This song is a total mess for me, as pretty much everything she does. I really don't see the appeal in this song, all she does is speaks throughout the whole thing. Not keen on the melody and especially on the chorus even though i am believed to like some sort of stuff. However sometimes artists just don't click. Uffie lacks of something that makes her special in my opinion. This song made me closer to knowing whose CD i got by the way.

6.5/10

 

Uffie - MCs Can Kiss - I love Uffie! This is catchy and different but indeed it's a bit all over the place...

 

Track 9: Stromae - Alors On Danse. Incredible hypnotic European anthem. No wonder it became so huge in Europe because the song is truly outstanding! Not only french is a very friendly language for producing hits but the music is very memorable. If you find yourself humming it in the shower/public transport/on a lecture or awkwardly trying to stand under the spot from where you can only hear it in a crowded and noisy clothes shop - it's alright!

10/10

 

Stromae - Alors On Danse - Got it in one, you know how much I love this! My favourite French language song since Divine and Ella Elle L'a both in 2008...

 

Track 10: The song is in German and called 'Stadt'. I've never heard it before but it was mentiined in the BJSC forum in one of the participant's thread (who allegedly happens to be the creator of this CD), i seemed to miss it, and that's a shame, because it's totally incredible! This song's is performed by a male-female duo which works for them like magic. The powerful female vocal and dramatic ESCtastic back music is wonderful! Also, the harshness of German doesn't appear here almost at all. I love such duos, when voices of BOTH singers can be distinguished and heard clearly.

So amazing.

10/10

Cassandra Steen and Adel Tawil - Stadt - Glad you got to hear it eventually, I probably should have sent it to BJSC but I doubt it would have got out of the semis. I would have probably done it if we'd had the 'one big final' format back then though :o Pleased that you like it, this was #1 in my personal chart for 2 weeks last year and spent about 3 months at #2 in Germany, never quite reaching #1 :lol: :(

Track 11: Timoteij - Vild. Another germanic language song. Swedish to be precise. This year's Melodifestivalen's wonder, Timoteij, released their debut album and this is the song from it. It's much better than 'Kom', actually it's easy to topple 'Kom' as i wasn't fan of it. What i love about this band and this song is that Timoteij use modern sound mixed with instruments (violin and accordion <3) and use it so profesionally so that you wouldn't say they are not experienced at all. The girls' voices are amazingly trained as well and they're hardly younger than myself!

10/10

 

Timoteij - Vild - Right again, my highlight of an album which I was expecting to be slightly better if I'm being honest...Thought a foreign language section would be nice though so three in a row for you!

 

Track 12: Lena Meyer-Landrut - Bee. This track has strengthened my confidence about the owner of this compilation even more! (Who would loon over this year's ESC german Lena? Find out in the end :kink: ). The track is better than Satellite, although i'm not a huge fan of her at all, but she seems really nice and trying her best on the song! I think i know why Bee wasn't chosen as the song for Eurovision this yer, it lacks something, i don't know what and why and everything but despite the (amazing!) keychange and very fitting-the-live-performance vocals it felt like so! Oh and i think it's worth mentioning that the claps are wonderful, so biased when there're claps in a song. :lol:

9.5/10

 

Lena Meyer-Landrut - Bee - Yep, right again. This reminded me of Missy Higgins meets Colbie Caillat (youtube Missy if you don't know her - she's truly amazing :wub:). Nice breezy song but I do prefer Satellite...

 

Track 13: Quite an interesting beginning. Sounds jazzy and soundtrack-to-some-old-musical-ish! The singer sounds very much like Christina Aguilera, although obviously not as great as her. But the voices are really similar. I’d say it’s the song from about 2006, but if it’s from 2009 – I’d still not be surprised because some artists have their goal to recreate the sound of the last decade(s).

7/10

 

Anna Bergendahl - Got My Heart In Your Pocket - Not downloaded Anna's album yet? Her voice sounds drastically different on this than on This Is My Life, I can hardly believe it's the same singer, and obviously you couldn't tell either. This song took a while to grow on me but it's one of my favourites on her album - I see the Christina comparisons too, it's like a more commercial take on her Back To Basics era.

 

Track14: A1 – Don’t Wanna Lose You Again. Ok, everybody watched Norge Melodi Grand Prix 2010 and know that they came second in the battle for representing Norway in Eurovision Song Contest 2010, don’t you? If not, then you know now! Amazing song. Very boyband-ish, modern production fits it perfectly, definitely good return in form for A1. Here’s hoping they will attempt to represent the country that most of the line-up members are from next year.

9.5/10

 

A1 - Don't Wanna Lose You Again - Right again! Who could have thought that A1 of all bands would come back with a mature, very strong and catchy pop song. Sorry Didrik, A1 were robbed -_- One of my favourite songs of 2010 thus far...

 

Track 15: Salem Al Fakir – Keep On Walking. Now we’re over to the song that finished second in Melodifestivalen 2010! Melodifestivalen is amazing, but Swedish voters suck. This was clearly the best song of the whole contest but yet it only finished second, which made me (and the person who made this CD :kink: ) sad even more after last year’s Snälla Snälla similar ‘runner-up being the best song’ curse! Anyway, this piano-led song is so atmospheric and dramatic in places! Vocals are amazing as well although many people might find Salem’s voice irritating/annoying/Mika-alike.

10/10

 

Salem Al Fakir - Keep On Walking - What a star :wub: the best song from MF 2010, I'm distraught that Sweden sent This Is My Life over this very respectable and quirky song that the juries would have fallen in love with.

 

Track 16: This song is sung by a female/male duo. Apparently it’s about cheating/breaking up. Hence the deep sad melody which sets the mood and if you listen more attentively it shall most likely affect you. I didn’t.like the vocals. But (old! lol) Whitney Houston/Mariah wouldn’t really fit here so I guess it was for the best. However I don’t know any other songs by this duo/group so I can’t say anything for sure.

8/10

 

Erik Hassle & Malin Dahlstrom - Who's Gonna Walk You Home - One of the UK bonus tracks from Erik's debut album. I really love this but it's quite subtle so takes a few listens.

 

Track 17: Florence + The Machine – Swimming. Amusingly, I’ve never heard it before even though I have the album downloaded, and with this particular song too. Swimming is absolutely amazing, but I can’t judge properly though as I’m quite a big fan of hers. However this song really stands out, I’m surprised it wasn’t included into the album. The 2 minute mark is the best thing in the whole song closely followed by the ending. The song shows off Florence’s amazing vocals perfectly. I’d describe it as ‘Florence-type’ of song if I hadn’t known that it was sung by her (although it’s hardly possibly as she’s quite frankly remarkable and unique)

10/10

 

Florence + The Machine - Swimming - I couldn't exclude Florence! Lungs is my favourite album of the last 18 months, aside from The Fame/Monster...This bonus track from iTunes and her box set is better than half of the album in my opinion, and would hardly have sounded out of place on it...God knows why she didn't include it. Reminds me of my holiday to Wales last August, I was playing it non-stop :lol: Can't believe you've never heard it before now!

 

Track 18: Another pop track, this time led by acoustic guitar and keyboards as far as I hear it correctly. Sounds alright, it’s soft and pleasant (I feel I’d already used this word combination lolz) to listen to again. Simple by structure, it doesn’t require attentive listening, and the melody instantly goes straight into your head.

8/10

 

Burning Hearts - Night Animal - some random Finnish indie-pop track I stumbled across earlier in the year. I really like it but don't know much about them.

Track 19: An instrumental song. At the beginning full of nature sounds, like water falling, birds and trees. Then it gradually grows into the combination of different musical instruments, with violin (or violin-alike instrument). Very melodic and moody at the same time. Also it’s nice to hear an instrumental in the CD!

8.5/10

 

One More Time - Den Vilda-Forsen Om Våren - tsk tsk, fancy not recognising the instrumental/extended/added atmosphere version of Sweden's 1996 ESC entry which finished 3rd :wub: I had a minor re-obsession with the song a few months back and downloaded a couple of mixes of it from iTunes, the English version, and this version, which considering it's 14 years old still sounds incredible. I guess new-age instrumentals don't age as quickly as other songs :lol: Nice to see the girls pop up on that amazing interval in the MF final too!

 

Track 20: Delta Goodrem – Believe Again. Again, rather surprisingly, I had never heard this song before I got this CD, despite constant bumping into discussion about it in very various topics in here! The song grows and grows with every second, definitely see the anger of some people who say that the radio version (which is apparently much shorter in length) does not represent the song. And they are right. Climax on 5-minute mark is absolutely stunning. Now I see the appeal. The melody is beautiful, Delta sings extremely well too, such structure of the song is my favourite to be honest!

10/10

 

Delta Goodrem - Believe Again - I rarely leave this out of my CD Swap's. As my favourite song of the noughties, I do try to spread the love around, although most people ignore me, until they actually do listen to it. I've found few people who've disliked this epic, it's like a song Disney could only wished to have on one of their soundtracks. The intro and outro, 'I believe the impossible, is possible to overcome' middle 8 and basically everything else about the song are amazing. It's literally musical perfection, and in retrospect I'm glad it never got released in the UK, I don't think I could have coped with it limping in at #43 :drama: Came an incredible 17th out of 24 place in BJSCI - the home of the Delta curse :nocheer: I suppose it didn't help that I sent a slightly imperfect live version though...Avoid the radio edit, it snips off almost the entire intro as well as other vital parts of the song.

 

Track 21: Another 5+ minute song, not that it is some kind of an obstacle for me, it’s quite the opposite. It sounds like some old album track by Take That. “Watch The World Fall Down” is assumingly the title of it. Not a fan of the song overall, especially of the ending which strongly reminds me of gospel choir! Same ‘black female’ sounds, piano is crazy, people screaming/singing on the top of their lungs. lolz

5.5/10

 

Boyzone - Let Your Wall Fall Down - LOL, sorry to do this to you, I had to share a bit of BROTHER-ly love, from Boyzone's amazing new album. I'm probably the only person aside from housewives and James that finds it amazing but there we go...I think this is fantastic, surprised you didn't recognise Ronan Keating's voice, it's rather distinctive :o

 

Overall: Very good! Some amazing discoveries for me here and even though I already knew about 40% of all the songs on this CD, it doesn’t decrease the quality or my overall impression from the compilation in a bit. Mostly because I absolutely loved all of these song I know in here before and would’ve included some of them in my own CD had I had some free space!

Tghe best new songs for me are definitely 'Stadt', 'Swimming', 'Believe Again', Tracks 1 and 19.

Oh and if you haven’t already guessed the author I might give a clue. HAI GOODDELTA.

The ‘my’ rate: 9/10

The technical rate: precisely 8/10

 

Thank you for the CD Rich! I really enjoyed it! (and glad that the 'BJ CD Swap' worked literally on us :kink: ) <3

1.8k words! :o

 

Thanks Pavel, so pleased that you liked it and received it - and that I received yours! I was dreading it going to somebody who would despise and pan it, but I did try to cover a lot of genres/genders/nationalities here to give as much choice as possible!

 

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1. Rise Against - Hero Of War

2. FM Belfast - Lotus

3. Kids Of 88 - Just A Little Bit

4. La Vuvuzela feat Tarryn - Be Mine Tonight

5. Blänk feat Young Ivy - Shirt Off

6. Caro Emerald - Back It Up

7. The Pipettes - So I’ll Say Goodbye

8. Uffie - MC’s Can Kiss

9. Stromae - Alors On Danse

10. Cassandra Steen feat Adel Tawil - Stadt

11. Timoteij - Vild

12. Lena Meyer-Landrut - Bee

13. Anna Bergendahl - Got My Heart In Your Pocket

14. A1 - Don’t Wanna Lose You Again

15. Salem Al Fakir - Keep On Walking

16. Erik Hassle & Malin Dahlstrom - Who’s Gonna Walk You Home

17. Florence + The Machine - Swimming

18. Burning Hearts - Night Animal

19. One More Time - Den Vilda-Forsen Om Våren

20. Delta Goodrem - Believe Again

21. Boyzone - Let Your Wall Fall Down

 

I'd like a link please! :o I wanna see how far our tastes can go within a genre. It seems a bit mixed bag on your CD. Would appreciate it quite a bit :D

Thanks Pavel - amazing review!!! I shall put the name of the song/artist and why I chose it below

 

Track 1: Acoustic-ish song sung by a male about war if i'm not mistaken. It is pretty amazing! Although after several listens i noticed the "he took off his clothes and pissed in his hands, i told them to stop but then i joined in" lyric started to put me off slightly LOL. Maybe i didn't understand the whole/true meaning of this expression, i don't know. Anyway, quite a gorgeous song. Couldn't have thought this CD was compiled by this person at all when i heard it.

10/10

 

Rise Against - Hero Of War - A rock ballad by a US band - this was a hit in Sweden recently, and I got hold of it on an Absolute Music compilation I ordered - very pleasant, not my sort of thing but I like it. I put it first here because I knew it would throw off whoever got my CD - everyone knows I don't listen to this sort of thing!!!

 

Track 2: Here's a remix of 'Killing In The Name Of' of the recent UK Xmas number one! I can't identify which band/artist remixed it though. It slightly reminds me of Passion Pit but still quite far from them. The song sounds so soft and electronic. The 'f*** you, i won't do what you tell me' phrase is sung in the way like it's something as usual as spring after winter.

5/10

 

FM Belfast - Lotus - As you said, an electro cover of Killing In The Name. It's a bit bizarre and indeed, she sings it like it's a soft phrase :lol: But it's different! And topical - or at least it would have been 5 months ago :lol:

 

Track 3: Kids of 88 - Just A Little Bit. Accompanied by a quite marvellous lesbian-tastic video this song is even more good! The title obviously reminds you of one UK ESC entry. In fact at first i thought they did some kind of cover for that. Anyway, the song is pretty much a guilty pleasure for me personally. The production is quite lazy, these 'orgasm' sounds throughout the song are cheap, lyrics are not the work of a genius as well. Oh and not to forget average vocals. However as i said i like it as a whole.

8.5/10

 

Kids of 88 - Just A Little Bit - Bang on, an electro pop tune from a male New Zealand duo. So catchy, but indeed very tacky and cheap sounding at times.

 

Track 4: Sounds like some remix as well. And sung by a much better version of Cascada. Not really having much tp say about it, the lyrics are quite frankly awful, but the song is catchy. IF ONLY THERE WAS AN ACCORDION. :(

7/10

 

La Vuvuvzela feat Tarryn - Be Mine Tonight - An electro pop song that was a former #1 single in South Africa about 6 months ago! The band are a female trio who are indeed South African. The song's a bit generic but I like it!

 

Track 5: "I got my shirt off". Quite annoying lyric repeated about 160 times during the whole song. Lyrics are really awful sorry... "This shirt is too hot for me".. really? ): The melody is pretty catchy though, however third-rate-Chris-Brown-meets-Akon vocals spoil it too.

4/10

 

Blank feat Young Ivy - Shirt Off - Of I'm Going For Your Brother fame, this is my second favourite song of theirs :lol: clearly you're not a fan so I wouldn't recommend the album!

 

Track 6: I don't know what the genre of this song is, so correct if i'm wrong. It sounds pop jazzy though. Quite a great track! At least comparing to the couple of previous ones. Not a fan of such songs but this one is melodic and just easy to listen to. Vocals were nice.

8/10

 

Caro Emerald - Back It Up - The Dutch jazz legend herself - she has 4 good songs, this is one of them, I sent another to BJSC - the other two you'll have to find for yourself :kink: Love this though, and her!

 

Track 7: This is awful. Not only the vocals sound out of tune for me, but the background music is quite terrible. Sounds so cheap and done in two hours. ): Maybe it is not a 'this era' track in which case i'd understand, but if it's another This 'Sounds Good To Me' I really don't know what to say...

3/10

 

The Pipettes - So I'll Say Goodbye - this is the b-side to their new single :lol: I love it but oh dear at that reaction :drama:

 

Track 8: Uffie - MCs Can Kiss. Never been a fan of Uffie. This song is a total mess for me, as pretty much everything she does. I really don't see the appeal in this song, all she does is speaks throughout the whole thing. Not keen on the melody and especially on the chorus even though i am believed to like some sort of stuff. However sometimes artists just don't click. Uffie lacks of something that makes her special in my opinion. This song made me closer to knowing whose CD i got by the way.

6.5/10

 

Uffie - MCs Can Kiss - I love Uffie! This is catchy and different but indeed it's a bit all over the place...

 

Track 9: Stromae - Alors On Danse. Incredible hypnotic European anthem. No wonder it became so huge in Europe because the song is truly outstanding! Not only french is a very friendly language for producing hits but the music is very memorable. If you find yourself humming it in the shower/public transport/on a lecture or awkwardly trying to stand under the spot from where you can only hear it in a crowded and noisy clothes shop - it's alright!

10/10

 

Stromae - Alors On Danse - Got it in one, you know how much I love this! My favourite French language song since Divine and Ella Elle L'a both in 2008...

 

Track 10: The song is in German and called 'Stadt'. I've never heard it before but it was mentiined in the BJSC forum in one of the participant's thread (who allegedly happens to be the creator of this CD), i seemed to miss it, and that's a shame, because it's totally incredible! This song's is performed by a male-female duo which works for them like magic. The powerful female vocal and dramatic ESCtastic back music is wonderful! Also, the harshness of German doesn't appear here almost at all. I love such duos, when voices of BOTH singers can be distinguished and heard clearly.

So amazing.

10/10

Cassandra Steen and Adel Tawil - Stadt - Glad you got to hear it eventually, I probably should have sent it to BJSC but I doubt it would have got out of the semis. I would have probably done it if we'd had the 'one big final' format back then though :o Pleased that you like it, this was #1 in my personal chart for 2 weeks last year and spent about 3 months at #2 in Germany, never quite reaching #1 :lol: :(

Track 11: Timoteij - Vild. Another germanic language song. Swedish to be precise. This year's Melodifestivalen's wonder, Timoteij, released their debut album and this is the song from it. It's much better than 'Kom', actually it's easy to topple 'Kom' as i wasn't fan of it. What i love about this band and this song is that Timoteij use modern sound mixed with instruments (violin and accordion <3) and use it so profesionally so that you wouldn't say they are not experienced at all. The girls' voices are amazingly trained as well and they're hardly younger than myself!

10/10

 

Timoteij - Vild - Right again, my highlight of an album which I was expecting to be slightly better if I'm being honest...Thought a foreign language section would be nice though so three in a row for you!

 

Track 12: Lena Meyer-Landrut - Bee. This track has strengthened my confidence about the owner of this compilation even more! (Who would loon over this year's ESC german Lena? Find out in the end :kink: ). The track is better than Satellite, although i'm not a huge fan of her at all, but she seems really nice and trying her best on the song! I think i know why Bee wasn't chosen as the song for Eurovision this yer, it lacks something, i don't know what and why and everything but despite the (amazing!) keychange and very fitting-the-live-performance vocals it felt like so! Oh and i think it's worth mentioning that the claps are wonderful, so biased when there're claps in a song. :lol:

9.5/10

 

Lena Meyer-Landrut - Bee - Yep, right again. This reminded me of Missy Higgins meets Colbie Caillat (youtube Missy if you don't know her - she's truly amazing :wub:). Nice breezy song but I do prefer Satellite...

 

Track 13: Quite an interesting beginning. Sounds jazzy and soundtrack-to-some-old-musical-ish! The singer sounds very much like Christina Aguilera, although obviously not as great as her. But the voices are really similar. I’d say it’s the song from about 2006, but if it’s from 2009 – I’d still not be surprised because some artists have their goal to recreate the sound of the last decade(s).

7/10

 

Anna Bergendahl - Got My Heart In Your Pocket - Not downloaded Anna's album yet? Her voice sounds drastically different on this than on This Is My Life, I can hardly believe it's the same singer, and obviously you couldn't tell either. This song took a while to grow on me but it's one of my favourites on her album - I see the Christina comparisons too, it's like a more commercial take on her Back To Basics era.

 

Track14: A1 – Don’t Wanna Lose You Again. Ok, everybody watched Norge Melodi Grand Prix 2010 and know that they came second in the battle for representing Norway in Eurovision Song Contest 2010, don’t you? If not, then you know now! Amazing song. Very boyband-ish, modern production fits it perfectly, definitely good return in form for A1. Here’s hoping they will attempt to represent the country that most of the line-up members are from next year.

9.5/10

 

A1 - Don't Wanna Lose You Again - Right again! Who could have thought that A1 of all bands would come back with a mature, very strong and catchy pop song. Sorry Didrik, A1 were robbed -_- One of my favourite songs of 2010 thus far...

 

Track 15: Salem Al Fakir – Keep On Walking. Now we’re over to the song that finished second in Melodifestivalen 2010! Melodifestivalen is amazing, but Swedish voters suck. This was clearly the best song of the whole contest but yet it only finished second, which made me (and the person who made this CD :kink: ) sad even more after last year’s Snälla Snälla similar ‘runner-up being the best song’ curse! Anyway, this piano-led song is so atmospheric and dramatic in places! Vocals are amazing as well although many people might find Salem’s voice irritating/annoying/Mika-alike.

10/10

 

Salem Al Fakir - Keep On Walking - What a star :wub: the best song from MF 2010, I'm distraught that Sweden sent This Is My Life over this very respectable and quirky song that the juries would have fallen in love with.

 

Track 16: This song is sung by a female/male duo. Apparently it’s about cheating/breaking up. Hence the deep sad melody which sets the mood and if you listen more attentively it shall most likely affect you. I didn’t.like the vocals. But (old! lol) Whitney Houston/Mariah wouldn’t really fit here so I guess it was for the best. However I don’t know any other songs by this duo/group so I can’t say anything for sure.

8/10

 

Erik Hassle & Malin Dahlstrom - Who's Gonna Walk You Home - One of the UK bonus tracks from Erik's debut album. I really love this but it's quite subtle so takes a few listens.

 

Track 17: Florence + The Machine – Swimming. Amusingly, I’ve never heard it before even though I have the album downloaded, and with this particular song too. Swimming is absolutely amazing, but I can’t judge properly though as I’m quite a big fan of hers. However this song really stands out, I’m surprised it wasn’t included into the album. The 2 minute mark is the best thing in the whole song closely followed by the ending. The song shows off Florence’s amazing vocals perfectly. I’d describe it as ‘Florence-type’ of song if I hadn’t known that it was sung by her (although it’s hardly possibly as she’s quite frankly remarkable and unique)

10/10

 

Florence + The Machine - Swimming - I couldn't exclude Florence! Lungs is my favourite album of the last 18 months, aside from The Fame/Monster...This bonus track from iTunes and her box set is better than half of the album in my opinion, and would hardly have sounded out of place on it...God knows why she didn't include it. Reminds me of my holiday to Wales last August, I was playing it non-stop :lol: Can't believe you've never heard it before now!

 

Track 18: Another pop track, this time led by acoustic guitar and keyboards as far as I hear it correctly. Sounds alright, it’s soft and pleasant (I feel I’d already used this word combination lolz) to listen to again. Simple by structure, it doesn’t require attentive listening, and the melody instantly goes straight into your head.

8/10

 

Burning Hearts - Night Animal - some random Finnish indie-pop track I stumbled across earlier in the year. I really like it but don't know much about them.

Track 19: An instrumental song. At the beginning full of nature sounds, like water falling, birds and trees. Then it gradually grows into the combination of different musical instruments, with violin (or violin-alike instrument). Very melodic and moody at the same time. Also it’s nice to hear an instrumental in the CD!

8.5/10

 

One More Time - Den Vilda-Forsen Om Våren - tsk tsk, fancy not recognising the instrumental/extended/added atmosphere version of Sweden's 1996 ESC entry which finished 3rd :wub: I had a minor re-obsession with the song a few months back and downloaded a couple of mixes of it from iTunes, the English version, and this version, which considering it's 14 years old still sounds incredible. I guess new-age instrumentals don't age as quickly as other songs :lol: Nice to see the girls pop up on that amazing interval in the MF final too!

 

Track 20: Delta Goodrem – Believe Again. Again, rather surprisingly, I had never heard this song before I got this CD, despite constant bumping into discussion about it in very various topics in here! The song grows and grows with every second, definitely see the anger of some people who say that the radio version (which is apparently much shorter in length) does not represent the song. And they are right. Climax on 5-minute mark is absolutely stunning. Now I see the appeal. The melody is beautiful, Delta sings extremely well too, such structure of the song is my favourite to be honest!

10/10

 

Delta Goodrem - Believe Again - I rarely leave this out of my CD Swap's. As my favourite song of the noughties, I do try to spread the love around, although most people ignore me, until they actually do listen to it. I've found few people who've disliked this epic, it's like a song Disney could only wished to have on one of their soundtracks. The intro and outro, 'I believe the impossible, is possible to overcome' middle 8 and basically everything else about the song are amazing. It's literally musical perfection, and in retrospect I'm glad it never got released in the UK, I don't think I could have coped with it limping in at #43 :drama: Came an incredible 17th out of 24 place in BJSCI - the home of the Delta curse :nocheer: I suppose it didn't help that I sent a slightly imperfect live version though...Avoid the radio edit, it snips off almost the entire intro as well as other vital parts of the song.

 

Track 21: Another 5+ minute song, not that it is some kind of an obstacle for me, it’s quite the opposite. It sounds like some old album track by Take That. “Watch The World Fall Down” is assumingly the title of it. Not a fan of the song overall, especially of the ending which strongly reminds me of gospel choir! Same ‘black female’ sounds, piano is crazy, people screaming/singing on the top of their lungs. lolz

5.5/10

 

Boyzone - Let Your Wall Fall Down - LOL, sorry to do this to you, I had to share a bit of BROTHER-ly love, from Boyzone's amazing new album. I'm probably the only person aside from housewives and James that finds it amazing but there we go...I think this is fantastic, surprised you didn't recognise Ronan Keating's voice, it's rather distinctive :o

 

Overall: Very good! Some amazing discoveries for me here and even though I already knew about 40% of all the songs on this CD, it doesn’t decrease the quality or my overall impression from the compilation in a bit. Mostly because I absolutely loved all of these song I know in here before and would’ve included some of them in my own CD had I had some free space!

Tghe best new songs for me are definitely 'Stadt', 'Swimming', 'Believe Again', Tracks 1 and 19.

Oh and if you haven’t already guessed the author I might give a clue. HAI GOODDELTA.

The ‘my’ rate: 9/10

The technical rate: precisely 8/10

 

Thank you for the CD Rich! I really enjoyed it! (and glad that the 'BJ CD Swap' worked literally on us :kink: ) <3

1.8k words! :o

 

Thanks Pavel, so pleased that you liked it and received it - and that I received yours! I was dreading it going to somebody who would despise and pan it, but I did try to cover a lot of genres/genders/nationalities here to give as much choice as possible!

 

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1. Rise Against - Hero Of War

2. FM Belfast - Lotus

3. Kids Of 88 - Just A Little Bit

4. La Vuvuzela feat Tarryn - Be Mine Tonight

5. Blänk feat Young Ivy - Shirt Off

6. Caro Emerald - Back It Up

7. The Pipettes - So I’ll Say Goodbye

8. Uffie - MC’s Can Kiss

9. Stromae - Alors On Danse

10. Cassandra Steen feat Adel Tawil - Stadt

11. Timoteij - Vild

12. Lena Meyer-Landrut - Bee

13. Anna Bergendahl - Got My Heart In Your Pocket

14. A1 - Don’t Wanna Lose You Again

15. Salem Al Fakir - Keep On Walking

16. Erik Hassle & Malin Dahlstrom - Who’s Gonna Walk You Home

17. Florence + The Machine - Swimming

18. Burning Hearts - Night Animal

19. One More Time - Den Vilda-Forsen Om Våren

20. Delta Goodrem - Believe Again

21. Boyzone - Let Your Wall Fall Down

I honestly felt that one song would be Caro Emerald's actually :lol: I actually listened to the Blank's album, it was me who said it was up for free download btw :P , it was nothing special, can't remember Shirt Off definitely though. Erik Hassle, Anna Bergendahl, Boyzone - all the albums i never listenbed to despite having them downloaded :lol: This The Pipettes song is really awful, but i'd really look at it ina different way had i known the title beforehand! The anonymity idea is very good, and really doesn't distract from music itself. <3