DalekTurret32

Not a huge fan of the songs on your Bottom 5, though Thotiana is weirdly amusing.

My faves from this list: 2. Foals - On The Luna 3. Georgia - About Work The Dancefloor 4. Fontaines D.C. - Boys in the Better Land 6. Vampire Weekend - This Life 14. Catfish and the Bottlemen - Longshot 19. The 1975 - Frail State of Mind 23. HAIM - Summer Girl 28. Liam Gallagher - Once 29. Clairo - Bags 34. Marika Hackman - the one

NOW 104 (DT32 version) DISC 1 Foals - The RunnerPost Malone - CirclesRegard - Ride ItSolardo & Eli Brown - XTCJax Jones feat. Ella Henderson - This Is RealRiton and Oliver Heldens feat. Vula - Turn Me OnFlume feat. Vera Blue - Rushing BackMEDUZA, Becky Hill, Goodboys - Lose ControlSigala feat. Ella Henderson - We Got LoveYves V and Afrojack feat. Icona Pop - We Got That CoolFour Tet - DreamerFriendly Fires - SilhouettesMichael Kiwanuka - You Ain't The ProblemHAIM - Summer GirlRex Orange County - Face To FaceNiall Horan - Nice To Meet YaKaty Perry - Harleys In HawaiiLana Del Rey - Doin’ TimeSHAED feat. ZAYN - TrampolineJorja Smith feat. Burna Boy - Be HonestMissy Elliott - Throw It BackLizzo - Good As HellMahalia feat. Burna Boy - SimmerDua Lipa - Don’t Start NowCharli XCX feat. Christine And The Queens - GoneFKA twigs - sad dayDrake feat. Rick Ross - Money In The Grave DISC 2 Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - This Is The PlaceTemples - You're Either On To SomethingBlack Midi - DucterFoals - Black BullBon Iver - NaeemHot Chip - SpellBat For Lashes - Desert ManMetronomy - Wedding BellsOscar Jerome - GravitateWorking Men's Club - TeethThe Murder Capital - Don't Cling To LifeThe Big Moon - Your LightGirl Ray - Show Me MoreBlossoms - Your GirlfriendTame Impala - It Might Be TimeBring Me The Horizon - LudensSam Fender - The BordersSea Girls - VioletWillie J Healey - Songs For JoannaBROCKHAMPTON - NO HALOSidhu Moose Wala, MIST, Stefflon Don, Steel Banglez - 47Wretch 32 feat. Giggs - 10/10J Hus - Must BeTyler, The Creator - A BOY IS A GUNAnderson .Paak feat. Brandy - Jet BlackKojey Radical - Cashmere TearsLoyle Carner feat. Sampha - Desoleil (Brilliant Corners)

MOSTLY RECENT SECTIONBring Me The Horizon - LudensFKA twigs - fallen alienKrept & Konan - BroskiThe 1975 - Frail State Of MindFKA twigs - mary magdaleneFKA twigs - sad dayFreddie Gibbs & Madlib feat. Talib Kewli and Black Thought - EducationMichael Kiwanuka - Hard To Say GoodbyeMISSIO - Sing To MeTame Impala - It Might Be TimeRex Orange County - Face To FaceThe Weeknd - Blinding LightsFlume feat. Vera Blue - Rushing BackJoy Crookes feat. Jafaris - EarlyColdplay - DaddyStereophonics - Bust This TownLogic feat. Dwn2earth - OCDJacques Greene - Do It Without YouJessie Ware - Mirage (Don’t Stop)Michael Kiwanuka - HeroGlass Animals feat. Denzel Curry - Tokyo DriftingSigala feat. Ella Henderson - We Got LoveInternational Teachers Of Pop feat. Jason Williamson - I Stole Yer PlimsolesRide - Jump JetJ Hus - Must BeJames BKS feat. Q-Tip, Idris Elba and Little Simz - New BreedDua Lipa - Don’t Start NowFlora Cash - Born In The SlumberBat For Lashes - Desert ManCage The Elephant - Social CuesRoss From Friends - The RevolutionJay Som - DevotionAngel Olsen - What It IsLuke Combs - Even Though I’m LeavingBillie Eilish - everything i wantedBiig Piig - Roses And GoldLana Del Rey - Norman f***ing RockwellOmni - Courtesy CallKathryn Joseph - WholeRobert Glasper feat. YBN Cordae, Bilal and Herbie Hancock - GoneCatfish And The Bottlemen - EncoreThe Murder Capital - More is LessThe Weeknd - HeartlessROSALIA - A Pale Brother Zulu feat. Zoe Kypri - Ice ColdGirl Ray - GirlPatrick Topping - Turbo TimeBattles feat. Tune-Yards - Last Supper On Shasta Pt. 1Mark Ronson feat. Anderson .Paak - Then There Were TwoLiz Lawrence - USPBessie Turner - Down 2 Sparkling - I Want To See EverythingCaribou - HomeYves Tumor feat. Hirakish and Napolian - Applaud Bambara - SerafinaMs. Banks - Bad B BopBeck - Uneventful DaysPJ Harvey - Red Right Hand (from Peaky Blinders)The Orielles - Come Down On JupiterDaBaby - BOP RETRO SECTION (songs from before November 2018) Nine Black Alps - Shot Down (2005)Cesaria Evora - Angola (1992)Stereophonics - My Friends (2007)Foo Fighters - Have It All (2002)The Frank And Walters - After All (1992/1993)Blackalicious - Deception (1999)Basement Jaxx - Crazy Girl (2001)Roni Size - Snapshot (1999)Robbie Rivera - First The Groove (1999)Donae’o - I’m Fly (2010)The Drums - Forever And Ever Amen (2010)Jennifer Lopez - Waiting For Tonight (1999)Paul Van Dyk - Another Way (1999)The Miracles - Love Machine (1976)Alice Cooper - Escape (1975)Metronomy - On The Motorway (2008)Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell Williams and Uncle Charlie Wilson - Beautiful (2003)Diana Ross - My Old Piano (1980)Logic feat. Hailee Steinfeld - Ordinary Day (2018)Kanye West - On Sight (2013)

That popup vinyl looks so cool, as does the pic disc.

GOLDENSigala (ft. Ella Henderson) – We Got Love EXCELLENT Dua Lipa – Don’t Start NowJ Hus – Must BeIdina Menzel & AURORA – Into The UnknownBillie Eilish – Everything I WantedLewis Capaldi – Before You GoStormzy (ft. Ed Sheeran & Burna Boy) – Own It GREAT Harry Styles – Watermelon SugarDave – Paper CutsArizona Zervas – Roxanne Bastille – Can’t Fight This Feeling SOLID Tom Walker – Better Half Of MeKSI (ft. Rick Ross, Lil Baby & S-X) – Down Like ThatTinashe (ft. Ms Banks) – Die A Little BitKesha (ft. Big Freedia) – Raising Hell DECENT Ellie Goulding – River Endor – Pump It Up These next two fall in the thin line between okay and decent} Fredo – Netflix & ChillLittle Mix – One I’ve Been Missing MEH The Cast Of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK – Break Up Bye Bye

Did they play Boys In The Better Land?

+5 Don't Start Now +4 Dance Monkey +3 everything i wanted +2 Before You Go +1 Own It -1 South Of The Border -2 Bruises -3 ROXANNE -4 Down Like That -5 Memories

For Black Friday, I managed to get a vinyl of The Cure's Seventeen Seconds.

12/12/2019 NEW ENTRIES: #89. Koffee feat. Gunna - W #87. The X Factor Celebrities 2019 - Run #41. Nines - Pride #12. The Weeknd - Blinding Lights In W, Koffee blends smoothly with the instrumentation, as well as giving a good summery reggae vibe. Gunna's verse, surprisingly, blends well into the tune, and has him showing appreciation towards a girl. It isn't explicitally stated if it's Koffee or not, but it's a nice sentiment. The only problem there is that Koffee spends most of her verses flexing and ‘living (her) best life, making the two artists’ parts feel like two different songs. Have I taken a TARDIS to the near end of the 2000’s? Because we have an X Factor Ensemble charity cover (the first one since 2011 with Rose Royce’s Wishing On A Star). It’s a cover of the 2003 Snow Patrol song Run (which X Factor winner Leona Lewis covered in 2008, and got a number one from it). The original is a heartfelt song about being separated from your loved one, with some melancholy, but, in some places, climatic rock instrumentation. Leona Lewis’ cover switches up the rock instrumentation for a strings and piano arrangement, giving the cover a more orchestral feel. I quite prefer the Leona Lewis cover as there is a more gripping sense of emotion in that version. The cover takes the instrumental of the Leona cover and makes use of some good vocal harmonisation. There are some times where the vocals switch up unexpectedly, which become a bit of a distraction, but other than that, I like this version, not as much as the original or the Leona cover. Pride has a beat of what sounds like chopped up fragments of guitar sounds, which Nines rides well with a handful of fun from his braggadocious persona. He does repeat ‘follow the drip’ a bit too much in the pre-chorus and has a line in the 2nd verse about stepping in shit. Flashback to the previous week: And I am glad that this managed to break the Top 40. The Weeknd teams up with Oscar Holter and Max Martin to produce Blinding Lights, a dazzling 80s throwback with a sound reminiscent to that of the score from the 2011 film Drive or M83’s 2016 album Junk (which also carried some great 80s throwback styles). The upbeat sounds of the synths display a magnificent contrast to The Weeknd’s downbeat lyrics in which he tries to search for a lover following a break-up, but can’t seem to find a good one. He comes through with some vivid metaphors to his loneliness that come through with some word-painting from the shining synths. And that's it. No honorable mention as there's not a lot of debuts. My fave of the four is easily Blinding Lights by The Weeknd. As for my least favourite? I liked all of the songs there, but if I had to choose by default, then probably Pride by Nines. #89. Koffee feat. Gunna - W [8/10] #87. The X Factor Celebrities 2019 - Run [8/10] #41. Nines - Pride [8/10] (Least Fave[?] Of The Week) #12. The Weeknd - Blinding Lights [GOLD] (Fave Of The Week)

05/12/2019 #99. Summer Walker feat. London On Da Track and Chris Brown - Something Real [7/10] #97. Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff - Some Things Never Change (from Frozen 2) [7/10] #94. Coldplay - Church [8/10] #93. Coldplay - Champion Of The World [9/10] (FOTW HM) #92. DaBaby - Bop [8/10] #84. Geko x Stefflon Don x Deno x Dappy - Link Up [5.5/10] (Least Fave Of The Week) #74. Panic! At The Disco - Into The Unknown (from Frozen 2) [7/10] #68. Idina Menzel, Evan Rachel Wood - Show Yourself (from Frozen 2) [8/10] #64. The Weeknd - Heartless [9/10] #62. GRM Daily feat. Not3s and Blade Brown - Cash Train [7/10] #59. Little Mix - One I've Been Mssing [6.5/10] #57. Ellie Goulding - River [7/10] #46. Trevor Daniel - Falling [7/10] #36. Idina Menzel and AURORA - Into The Unknown (from Frozen 2) [9/10] (Fave Of The Week) #35. ZieZie feat. Aitch - French Kisses [6/10] #31. PARTYNEXTDOOR feat. Drake - Loyal [7/10] #16. DigDat feat. D-Block Europe - New Dior [7/10] #3. Stormzy feat. Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy - Own It [9/10] Additional comments: Church has a nice, vibrant instrumental that reminds me of the sounds that Lemon Jelly would come through with in their 2002 album Lost Horizons. There’s also some religious metaphors that reminds me of the ones Hozier used in Take Me To Church, though not as potent as the ones in that song. Bop has an addictive flute line similar to that of Goin Baby. Heartless starts off as a melodic braggadocious hip hop track, but in the chorus, The Weeknd says that he tries to change himself for the best but still ends up doing morally wrong things, so he could have been bragging to distract from his self-pity and nihilism. The bridge elevates it to another level of drowning in sorrow. Would have loved for Blinding Lights to have charted, but I’m good with this one. I remember hearing a short snippet of Falling a lot on some hip hop channel’s videos earlier this year (forgot its name). The track is like Travis Scott mixed with Juice WRLD The way Daniel says “Talk to me” in the 1st verse reminds me of the same lime from Alice Deejay’s 1999 hit Better Off Alone. Really like AURORA’s ethereal “ah-ah”s in the background of Into The Unknown.

You can click on the text and scroll it down to review them. Yes, I thought that too upon first listen, considering that it was a main theme in the Divinely Uninspired album.

+5 Ride It +4 Don't Start Now +3 Dance Monkey +2 everything i wanted +1 Good As Hell -1 South Of The Border -2 Bruises -3 ROXANNE -4 Lose You To Love Me -5 Memories

Avengers: Endgame was incredible, though not as amazing as Avengers Assemble or Infinity War. Agree with your honorable mentions too, except for Battle Angel which I haven't seen. I like Big Bang Theory too, as well as Rick And Morty. I also started The Good Place this summer, and it's 1st season was really good with a great execution of a Black Mirror like concept involving a world in which the 'good' deceased people reside. Haven't seen much of the 2nd season though. The creator Michael Schur, was also one of the co-creators of sublime sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine. As for the albums, I haven't listened to any of them, but I might check out the Jax and Avicii albums someday.

Lil Dicky getting two number ones on your hatechart in a row reminds me of when ADoseOfBuckley's Worst of 2017 and Worst of 2018 lists both had Iggy Azalea topping them (with the respective songs Mo Bounce and Kream). I like I Don't Care, though there were better tracks off of the No. 6 album Cool is okay, but my least fave of the three Jonas singles I've heard this year. A Whole New World was decent, but I don't like it as much as the original. Rewrite The Stars is my least fave off of the Reimagined album (I still think it's alright though). Didn't really like Murder On My Mind, despite the interesting storytelling concept. Earth gave me a bit of ironic enjoyment, like with Freaky Friday.

28/11/2019 NEW ENTRIES: #97. Jhene Aiko feat. Big Sean - None Of Your Concern #96. MK and Sonny Fodera feat. Raphaella - One Night #94. Bastille feat. The London Contemporary Orchestra - Can't Fight This Feeling (John Lewis Xmas Ad 2019) #83. LAUV and LANY - Mean It #79. Khalid - Up All Night #70. Tory Lanez feat. Snoop Dogg - Beauty In The Benz #62. Marshmello, YUNGBLUD, blackbear - Tongue Tied #47. Tory Lanez feat. Chris Brown - The Take #35. Harry Styles - Watermelon Sugar #19. Lewis Capaldi - Before You Go #3. Billie Eilish - everything i wanted Jhene Aiko gets her first appearance on the UK Singles Chart since 2015, when she was featured on Omarion’s Post To Be and had a verse known for that infamous grocery line. She has recently featured on the Summer Walker song I’ll Kill You and is back with a new single None Of Your Concern. In this song, Aiko breaks down a relationship she's in that has gone downhill after she caught her lover cheating on her. She elaborates on her reactions to the incident really well. The (former) lover keeps calling on the phone obsessively with Aiko constantly ignoring him, with her also wishing that he can move forward in life. The emotions and motives are framed greatly in this scenario with a pedal-driven piano to blend smoothly into the background, as well as some echoing B-VOX from Ty Dolla $ign to further convey an ambient atmosphere. We also have a muted drum line reminiscent of that of Drake’s 2011 song Marvin’s Room. Big Sean also does a pretty good job diving into the perspective of the lover, though there are a few times where his fast flows end up splitting offbeat and he talks about making his lover ‘c*m nine times’ but that line fits fine enough in the character he’s playing the role of in this situation. One Night shows a couple that can’t point out problems around them carefully and to forget them all, they decide to have fun and forget the world for one night. The song comes with some uplifting instrumentation consisting of piano chords blending with a drum pattern, and the production giving this a nice night time club vibe. The post-chorus sounds like a blender mixing the musical styles of Disciples and Sigala together and I like it. Bastille cover REO Speedwagon’s 1984 song Can’t Fight This Feeling for this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert. The original combines the sounds of piano and keyboard together, along with some great guitar solos. The song is about a man who has romantic feelings for a friend and has finally found the right moment to let them out, these themes are backed by triumphant sounding instrumentation along with an explosive chorus. This cover switches up the rock instrumentation with something more orchestral (i.e. string arrangements), but keeps the piano in. There’s only one verse (and it’s shortened) and the pre-chorus is only sung once. This shortening of lyrics does make the ‘feeling’ seem more vague, but I can see that it was done to fit the visuals of the commercial. I don't like Dan Smith's vocals in this as much as that of Kevin Cronin's in the original but he sounds quite solid on this. Mean It has LAUV and Paul Klein sing about starting a relationship with a woman, but she has to make a deal with them in which she shouldn’t emotionally manipulate them or let her love for them get the best of her. This is a good thing to be telling her since these things can negatively affect a partner. There is also a vibrant, sustained synth in the instrumentation that gives a night time feel. Up All Night uses a chordal synth setting over a dance style drum pattern that reminds me of the one that Soul II Soul would use in a few of their songs (Keep On Movin’ and Back To Life are a few examples), before adding some piano chords in the chorus. The song is about Khalid progressing in life and being thankful for the fact that he’s still living since that gives him more time to find answers to the questions involving the wonders of the universe that have been keeping him up at night. Khalid puts on a good personality as usual and his vocal performance fits well into the beat. We’ve got two new entries from Tory Lanez’ new album The Chixtape 5, with many of the tracks, apparently, sampling R&B hits from the 2000’s. It goes to show that not every musical throwback needs to be 70’s or 80’s, it can also be from a modern, more recent decade. Beauty In The Benz takes the Neptunes-produced beat from Snoop Dogg’s 2002 track Beautiful, and pitches it down along with the backing vocals of said track to make a solid beat. Tory gives off a semi-decent performance, though there are a few weak lines such as his girl leaving because her partner ‘doesn’t c*m enough’ followed by Tory saying that he’s the ‘runner-up’ and him sinking his teeth into ‘it’ like Dracula. Snoop Dogg’s verse has some chillness to it, though it wasn’t as good as his verse in the original Beautiful. The track ends off with a breath-taking outro consisting of dreamy synth strings and chopped vocal fragments that surprisingly fit into the tone. The Take pitches down the chorus of Chris Brown’s 2007 hit Take You Down like with Beautiful in Beauty In The Benz, as well as making use of interpolations of that song. I'm not too keen on Tory’s verse as it is loaded with off-putting sex metaphors focusing on the likes of ice cream and Thanksgiving. Chris’ verse was okay though, with him attempting to convey the mood that he did on said 2007 song, though the line about his old material playing on his girl’s radio kinda shoehorns the nostalgia value, as well as the part in the pre-chorus in which he hits the rewind button. Tongue Tied bears a downbeat atmosphere to back up lyrics dealing with anxiety. YUNGBLUD does a swell verse and chorus focusing on these issues and the way he blends with the low range synth in that verse reminds me of Oliver Tree’s Hurt a bit. While blackbear’s verse isn’t as good, it’s decent and sticks to the subject matter solidly. Watermelon Sugar offers a nice slice of summery, upbeat indie pop. The song makes use of a sublime mixture of electric guitars and trumpets with Styles giving off a good vocal performance (along with some elegant harmonies in the chorus). These two singles leave me interested in what his sophomore effort has to offer. Just a little warning that these next two sections mention some serious subject matter. This was a pretty swell week for debuts overall with a good enough batch of great songs. My favourite of these being None Of Your Concern by Jhene Aiko and Big Sean, with the honorable mention going to Everything i wanted by Billie Eilish. My least favourite of those is The Take by Tory Lanez and Chris Brown. #97. Jhene Aiko feat. Big Sean - None Of Your Concern [9/10] (Fave Of The Week) #96. MK and Sonny Fodera feat. Raphaella - One Night [9/10] #94. Bastille feat. The London Contemporary Orchestra - Can't Fight This Feeling (John Lewis Xmas Ad 2019) [8/10] #83. LAUV and LANY - Mean It [7/10] #79. Khalid - Up All Night [8/10] #70. Tory Lanez feat. Snoop Dogg - Beauty In The Benz [7/10] #62. Marshmello, YUNGBLUD, blackbear - Tongue Tied [8/10] #47. Tory Lanez feat. Chris Brown - The Take [6/10] (Least Fave Of The Week) #35. Harry Styles - Watermelon Sugar [8/10] #19. Lewis Capaldi - Before You Go [9/10] #3. Billie Eilish - everything i wanted [9/10] (FOTW HM) I don't know if I'll be doing the added comments or elaboration for December and January, as I'll be needing more time to prepare for my End Of Year Countdown.

New Guetta track! Excited for this! If this doesn't reach the Top 40 in the charts then this will be the first year without Guetta in the UK Top 40 since 2008

We Built This City is okay, there is a bit of enjoyment in there. I remember Better Man being solid when I covered it on DT32RTUKD back when I first started it in March. Not as good as My Blood, which is my fave of the songs I've heard from the Spectrum era. I give credit to Perfect To Me for its self-empowerment message. I liked it at first, but it started to shrink on me; it's alright though. There is that one line where she talks about not brushing her teeth, and thank you for sharing that information. Senorita is decent, but getting a bit overplayed. I prefer If I Can't Have You of the 2019 Shawn songs for having a nice, upbeat vibe to it that reminds me of The Sound by The 1975.

And he was on another Calvin song called Cash Out, which is probably in my Top 3 of the Funk Wav Bounces album

21/11/2019 NEW ENTRIES: #99. Gerry Cinnamon - Sometimes #83. Lil Mosey feat. Gunna - Stuck In A Dream #80. Doja Cat feat. Tyga - Juicy #75. Bring Me The Horizon - Ludens #69. Lil Baby - Woah #64. Ant Saunders - Yellow Hearts #56. Tory Lanez and T-Pain - Jerry Sprunger #34. Darkoo and One Acen - Gangsta #28. Young T & Bugsey feat. Headie One - Don't Rush #18. KSI, Rick Ross, Lil Baby, S-X - Down Like That #15. Dave - Paper Cuts #13. Fredo - Netflix & Chill #5. J Hus - Must Be The first time I remember hearing Sometimes was back in November 2018 when I saw it getting playlisted by Radio 1. I thought it was excellent upon first listen and my thoughts on this song haven't changed a year later. The acoustic guitars and electric guitars are mixed together brilliantly, and the way they sound reminds me of The Cure’s Just Like Heaven without the elements of shoegaze and art rock. Gerry is also great on this as he reminisces about his youth and him getting into cocaine back in the day. It’s thanks to the instrumentation that the imagery in these lyrics are nicely captured. Stuck In A Dream carries some good ol' electric guitar sounds, which Mosey blends quite well into. He's decent on this, even though there’s a handful of flexing in his verse. Gunna's was also okay (I thought it was better than his verse on Young Thug’s Hot), despite a line in which he brags about making your 'ho' moist. Juicy is a whole load of mindless fun. There's a sexually explicit tone in the lyrics but Doja Cat enhances them with a ton of charisma over some glossy, upbeat xylophone sounds. Tyga's verse is pretty solid with him singing from the perspective of the guy Doja is referring to in the 1st verse, though I wasn’t too keen on his Madonna reference where he describes a p***y as ‘tighter than a virgin’. Ludens is hugely pulsating in its sound. The verses come with this experimental, spine-chilling noise in the background, while the chorus comes with a heavy guitar riff. Oli Sykes sells the dark tone of the song incredibly, especially during the “You call this a connection” breakdown. I also love the way the usual downbeat lyrics of BTMH’s work blends with the dystopian tone of the Death Stranding universe, with the song questioning leaders and their corrupt motives, as well as breaking down the gradual desolation of the artificial world. Easily my favourite off of the Death Stranding soundtrack. Woah has Lil Baby flexing while being accompanied by a piano playing over a trap beat. He rides the beat decently, though the chorus has a weak brag where his car is being noisy and his melodic vocal style doesn’t really back up the lines where he’s throwing shots at the haters. Yellow Hearts has this minimalistic feel to it. I like me some minimalism, but these glossy keyboard chords have this sickly sweet sound to them and the 808 drum loop feels weak. I’m not a huge fan of the production in this. The lyrics feel basic with this theme of love, but the production isn't good enough to elevate them. There are a few decent sounding melodies popping up at some points in this song and the chorus has a bit of a poetic vibe to it, which I appreciate. Tory Lanez has managed to get T-Pain his first appearance on the UK Singles Chart since 2014. Jerry Sprunger samples T-Pain’s 2005 hit I’m Sprung. The original was about T-Pain trying to get away from a girl that wasn’t good for him, but he keeps getting ‘sprung’ which prevents him from leaving. I thought it was alright. It had some nice melodies over an 808 backbeat, though the autotune didn’t age very well. This version replaces the backbeat of the original with syncopated percussion. Upon first listen, I didn't like Lanez' high range voice as it felt too distracting, but I now think that it feels smooth and meshes well into the sample. T-Pain’s verse weighs the song down as he sounds too loud to the point where it overpowers the mix, as well as him talking about a girl ‘making it clap’ and your girl spitting out champagne because she thought it was nasty. Also, the mix of Tory Lanez, the T-Pain sample and the newly recorded backing vocals of T-Pain in the chorus feel a bit claustrophobic. Gangsta serves as an upbeat piece of afrobeat with Darkoo giving off a fun verse and chorus. Loving someone like a gangster sounds pretty ridiculous, but the verses come through with a solid amount of charisma. One Acen sings from the perspective of the guy that Darkoo is trying to love and while I didn’t like his verse as much as her’s, he still brings some enjoyment with amusing lines like “I'll be your sponsor, tell me what you want love / No more Indomie, now it's Steak & Lobster.”. There is also a short, but catchy guitar line popping up in the chorus that sounds like something off of a Super Mario game. Young T & Bugsey return with their buoyant sound in Don’t Rush. The song opens up with a really good intro that sounds like it came from a game show, before our two artists come in to set the vibe. There are a few ridiculous lines such as Bugsey making his girl blush by ‘flood(ing) his ice’ and that Busta Rhymes reference in Young T’s verse, but there are also some good ones such as ‘Off my whites, right my wrongs’ and Headie One ending off his verse with a great use of wordplay on his hometown of Tottenham. Down Like That has a pretty weird blend of lyrical content. The chorus is about a relationship going badly, while the verses focus on flexing. KSi and Rick Ross have pretty good verses on this. S-X sounds like half-Khalid half-Weeknd. It took me a while to get used to the higher range of his voice, but now I’m starting to like it. Lil Baby’s my least fave of the four on this track, he’s okay but his flows aren’t as good as the other verses and the beat completely mutes at the beginning of that verse. The piano setting on this song is pretty basic with just a two note line but the beat comes in during the first chorus and it does a good job accompanying it along with a dark tone provided. Paper Cuts sees Dave trying out a drill track and bringing his wordplay-driven lyrical style to it. He adds some comedy to contrast with the dark feel of the song, such as talking about eating asparagus in France, as well as referencing Star Wars and The Avengers. Netflix & Chill carries a guitar melody accompanied by an 808 beat. Netflix And Chill is a meme that peaked somewhere between 2015 and 2016 so referring to it in a track can end up dating it. There’s also a part in the verses where Fredo switches between singing and rapping and it feels a little too sudden. Fredo does rap good as usual, and there are a handful of good lines such as him talking about still being in a cage if he didn’t start rapping and talking about killing the game while others in his circle are killing opps. Must Be carries a wonderful jazz fusion sound to it with its instrumentation. The saxophones and strings sound like they came from a mid-20th century sample, plus J Hus does a great vocal performance on this. He talks about seeing his friends getting locked up in jail, as well as having his chorus talk about how people jump to conclusions based on how a person looks or talks. Overall, better week than last week with more songs getting higher than just 7/10. My favourite is definitely Ludens by Bring Me The Horizon, with Juicy by Doja Cat and Tyga getting the honorable mention. My least fave of the batch is Yellow Hearts by Ant Saunders. #99. Gerry Cinnamon - Sometimes [9/10] #83. Lil Mosey feat. Gunna - Stuck In A Dream [7/10] #80. Doja Cat feat. Tyga - Juicy [GOLD] (FOTW HM) #75. Bring Me The Horizon - Ludens [GOLD] (FAVE OF THE WEEK!) #69. Lil Baby - Woah [6/10] #64. Ant Saunders - Yellow Hearts [5.5/10] (Least Fave Of The Week) #56. Tory Lanez and T-Pain - Jerry Sprunger [6/10] #34. Darkoo and One Acen - Gangsta [8/10] #28. Young T & Bugsey feat. Headie One - Don't Rush [7/10] #18. KSI, Rick Ross, Lil Baby, S-X - Down Like That [7/10] #15. Dave - Paper Cuts [8/10] #13. Fredo - Netflix & Chill [6.5/10] #5. J Hus - Must Be [9/10]

There was better off of the Revenge Is Sweet album. Oh, and on that note, one of the tracks on there is a contender for my Top 75 Songs Of 2019 in my upcoming End Of Year countdown (which might come out in January). Dua's track is a great throwback, I can see why it's becoming a grower for you.

14/11/2019 NEW ENTRIES: #95. Mahalia feat. Ella Mai - What You Did #77. James Arthur - Quite Miss Home #76. Sam Smith - I Feel Love #72. Frank Ocean - In My Room #63. Krept & Konan feat. Spice and Tory Lanez - First Time #51. Ariana Grande, Normani, Nicki Minaj - Bad To You #50. Sigala feat. Ella Henderson - We Got Love #42. Arizona Zervas - Roxanne #35. Cast Of RuPaul's Drag Race UK - Break Up (Bye Bye) #31. AJ Tracey and Skepta - Kiss And Tell #30. M Huncho feat. Nafe Smallz - Thumb #23. Krept & Konan feat. D-Block Europe and Ling Hussle - Tell Me #2. Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now What You Did takes a sample off Cam’Ron’s 2002 hit Oh Boy, which in turn samples Rose Royce’s 1976 song I’m Going Down from the Car Wash soundtrack. In this song, Mahalia finds out that her lover has been cheating on her and she confronts him, saying that she knows what he did. Both Mahalia and Mai’s vocals are pretty smooth and blend with the beat well in a similar vein to SZA. However, the “boy”s that pop up occasionally can be distracting (like in the Cam’Ron song it sampled), and the phrasing of the lines in the “I know what you did” concept gives me the impression that she has been invading this guy’s privacy; the situation could have had a bit more elaboration. Quite Miss Home shows Arthur doing business and making money while away from home, and he’s missing it. There is a nice sentiment to it, but the lyrics feel very basic and bland, like “I miss you telling me to leave my shoes at the door”. The instrumentation is quite good though, with some pedal-driven pianos driving Arthur’s voice and the string arrangements near the end slightly elevating this. Sam Smith has put out a cover of the 1977 Donna Summer classic I Feel Love. The original is a truly fantastic gem that sounded ahead of its time, with zestful synth production from Giorgio Moroder and Donna Summer putting on a very smooth vocal performance. The production of this song was influential on many aspects of EDM, as well as music in general. To cover a classic like this is pretty risky considering how people would react to it. Weezer did a recent cover album of classics like No Scrubs (TLC) and Take On Me (a-Ha) known as The Teal Album and that was met to pretty mixed reception. So how does Sam’s cover hold up compared to the original? The production does a great job at capturing the energy of the synths in the original. Sam’s high range vocals are okay, but I notice it breaking and stopping at some points of the song. There’s also a few ad-libs in the intro and outro that end up feeling ominous and out of place. In My Room has a nice synth tone to it, and Frank Ocean’s braggadocious personality blends quite well into it. The song could have been expanded with maybe a chorus or another verse, but for what it is, it’s pretty solid. We’ve got new entries from Krept & Konan’s new album Revenge Is Sweet. I’ve got to say that the album was a good listen for me (I have more thoughts on it for my quick review on AlbumOfTheYear in case anyone’s interested). Unfortunately, the two new entries from that album were two of the weaker tracks. First Time reminds me of B Young’s Jumanji in some way. Both have an acoustic guitar play over a slow rhythm, and both have at least one vocalist use Jamaican patois (in the latter’s case, Tory Lanez and Krept are doing it). Tory has done this accent quite a handful of times (examples include Luv, Wiley’s My Love and Stay Flee Get Lizzy’s 2 Cups), and his chorus is okay, though a repeated line in the chorus explicitly mentions the loss of virginity. It’s not a very good innuendo, though there are worse lines, like Krept making love to a girl until her belly starts hurting or Konan talking about a girl making his jeans expand or Spice’s submarine line. The instrumentation is quite nice though and does fit the tone of the song decently Tell Me has a pretty decent beat with some good ass instrumentation, and the way some of the artists phrase some of their lines vocally reminds me of Travis Scott’s SICKO MODE, but I’m kinda mixed on the overall result with the ups and downs being pretty close to each other. Krept goes for this melodic autotune vocal style and it does not sound very good (especially in the pre-chorus). As for D Block, they blend into the beat okay, though Adz’ verse has a line about watching his girl pee and Dirtbike’s autotuned-filled verse is distracting, thus weighing the song down. Ling Hussle’s part is mostly focused on flexing, but she sounds decent. Konan’s verse is also pretty decent, despite a line in which he attempts to correct his Simpsons reference. First, there was Milanari, and now we have Arinormanicki. Bad To You takes some elements of reggae and adds a sultry vibe to them in a similar vein to Side To Side and Bloodline. The percussion could have used more than just an 808 snare backbeat to convey this mood better (it’s what made the vibe in the aforementioned Ari songs stand out). There was also a moment where I thought the beat was slipping off rhythm, plus Nicki’s verse has this addition of a bass boosted D note that sounds out of place. We Got Love sees Sigala drifts away from his usual tropical house sound and opt for a more 80s synth-driven vibe. The production is just amazing on this, with the instruments flowing together really well, even if the violins in the post-chorus sounded too loud to the point where it overpowered the rest of the mix. The clav solo near the end is especially a true highlight. Ella’s vocals are also really good, as are the lyrics in which she tells a guy who’s down on his luck to maintain his strength and enjoy his life. Roxanne carries some acoustic guitars with lo-fi production over a trap beat that reminds me of Lil Tecca’s Ransom. Zervas puts on a pretty fun, charismatic personality throughout, though there’s some autotune showing up in the chorus. There are a few silly lines in which she only likes cocaine and whole foods and one in which Zervas only takes pictures of Roxanne when her ass is out. Still, it’s a pretty enjoyable, upbeat song, though it’s nowhere as good as that Police song of the same name. Time to start ya engines, because we’ve got an entry from the cast of the UK edition of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Break Up (Bye Bye) has some swagger in it with the trumpets playing over the trap beat, and I quite liked Baga Chipz’ verse, but the lyrical content is centered around breaking up with someone because you’re famous, which can come off as pretty obnoxious. Both AJ and Skepta come with some good vocal chemistry between each other on Kiss And Tell, as well as some solid flows. Our two artists brag about girls (along with shoe brands and alcohol) while boosting these brags thanks to their combined charisma over a dark, minimalistic beat The last time M Huncho and Nafe Smallz collaborated was during last year with Broken Homes. I didn’t really like that song, and I can pretty much say the same thing for Thumb. The pianos sound quite nice and the production gives them a tone that makes it feel different from the other piano trap beats I’ve been hearing recently. I also like that part in the 1st verse where Huncho talks about wanting to do a tour as a way of saying ‘thank you’ to his fans for taking him out of the hard times of his life. Unfortunately, there is a line about sticking a finger in a girl’s butt that is a recurring line throughout the song, we also get a one-liner in which Smallz dives in ‘that p***y’ like a cheerio. Plus, he has these autotuned Young Thug-esque vocals that don’t come out sounding very well. Don’t Start Now carries a groovy disco feel to it while dealing with a post break-up situation. The instrumentation is very uplifting with the house style piano chords in the chorus and the bass guitar in the verses to capture that 1970’s atmosphere. In this song, Dua has moved on from a break-up and is with another guy, and she tells her ex not to show up if he doesn’t approve of her decision. She also talks about how in the 2nd verse that he was the one who caused the downfall of the relationship and how he wasn’t too hurt by it. This elaboration make this stand out from some of the other songs calling out exes nowadays that try too hard to be empowering. Overall, this week was just okay. There were five songs ending up below decent territory, though there were two excellent songs to bump it up a little. Both of these have a lot of retro spirit to them and they are getting the respective spots for Fave Of The Week and the Honourable Mention. These being We Got Love by Sigala and Ella Henderson (which was close to getting a GOLD rating) and Don't Start Now by Dua Lipa. My least favourite would have to be Thumb by M Huncho and Nafe Smallz despite a good instrumental. #95. Mahalia feat. Ella Mai - What You Did [7/10] #77. James Arthur - Quite Miss Home [6/10] #76. Sam Smith - I Feel Love [7/10] #72. Frank Ocean - In My Room [7/10] #63. Krept & Konan feat. Spice and Tory Lanez - First Time [6/10] #51. Ariana Grande, Normani, Nicki Minaj - Bad To You [6.5/10] #50. Sigala feat. Ella Henderson - We Got Love [9/10] (Fave Of The Week) #42. Arizona Zervas - Roxanne [7/10] #35. Cast Of RuPaul's Drag Race UK - Break Up (Bye Bye) [6/10] #31. AJ Tracey and Skepta - Kiss And Tell [7/10] #30. M Huncho feat. Nafe Smallz - Thumb [5/10] (Least Fave Of The Week) #23. Krept & Konan feat. D-Block Europe and Ling Hussle - Tell Me [6/10] #2. Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now [9/10] (FOTW HM)

Only five seconds longer than Piko-Taro's Pen Pineapple Apple Pen.

EXCELLENTSidhu Moose Wala, MIST & Steel Banglez (ft. Stefflon Don) – 47Riton & Oliver Heldens (ft. Vula) – Turn Me OnMEDUZA, Becky Hill & Goodboys – Lose ControlColdplay – Orphans GREAT Niall Horan – Nice To Meet YaKaty Perry – Harleys In HawaiiEd Sheeran (ft. Camila Cabello & Cardi B) – South Of The BorderLewis Capaldi – BruisesTravis Scott – Highest In The RoomMark Ronson (ft. YEBBA) – Don’t Leave Me LonelyHarry Styles – Lights UpAJ Tracey (ft. MoStack & Not3s) – FlossKanye West – Follow God SOLID none DECENT Selena Gomez – Look At Her NowSummer Walker – Playing GamesSelena Gomez – Lose You To Love MeMaroon 5 – Memories OKAY Dan + Shay (ft. Justin Bieber) – 10,000 Hours MEH The Script – The Last Time SUB-PAR Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer

This was an amazing film. It adds a heart-wrenching sense of depth into the character of the Joker, by giving him a well-elaborated backstory, as well as establishing a dark incarnation of the DC supervillain, like with Heath Ledger's portrayal in The Dark Knight. I also really liked the way it tackled the broken society of Gotham. .