DalekTurret32
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Posts posted by DalekTurret32
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Edited by DalekTethered32
Really liked this. Has this empowering vibe that feels cathartic considering the range of dystopian themes explored in the 1st part.
10/10 [GOLD]
Favourite Tracks: Neptune, Wash Off
Least Favourite Track: Minus the interludes or short instrumentals... Dreaming Of
Here's how I would rank their albums from fave to least fave
1. Total Life Forever [fave]
2. What Went Down
3. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1
4. Antidotes
5. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2
6. Holy Fire [least fave by default] (and even that is a 10/10 for me)
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17/10/2019
NEW ENTRIES:
#99. SHAED - Trampoline
#89. Dermot Kennedy - All My Friends
#88. Dermot Kennedy - Power Over Me
#87. Elderbrook & Rudimental - Something About You
#85. Camila Cabello - Cry For Me
#70. Summer Walker feat. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie - Stretch You Out
#56. AJ Tracey - Cat Pack
#52. Post Malone - Saint-Tropez
#51. Niall Horan - Nice To Meet Ya
#49. NSG - Trust Issues
#47. Juice WRLD feat. Youngboy Never Broke Again - Bandit
#42. Summer Walker feat. Usher - Come Thru
#19. Dan & Shay feat. Justin Bieber - 10,000 Hours
#2. Travis Scott - HIGHEST IN THE ROOM
Trampoline captures a fantastic sense of poetic imagery in its lyrics describing a harmless dream quickLy turning into a nightmare. Chelsea Lee's vocals bear some captivating emotions to represent the character having to deal with this dream, with some synths that sound very vibrant.
As for the ZAYN remix, I think it’s excellent too; I would even say I prefer that over the original. The synth sound in the chorus is a great fit for ZAYN’s sensual sounding vocal style and he and Lee have some really good chemistry between each other.
We’ve got two tracks from Dermot Kennedy’s debut album Without Fear. All My Friends blends together many fantastic lyrical themes such as overcoming fears, reflecting on a relationship that crumbled fast with fragments of nostalgia and an excellent exploration of emotion. A lot of the tracks from that album bear anthemic like instrumentation, but this is where it shines the brightest to me over a powerful drum line.
Power Over Me, while I didn’t like it as much as I did back when I first heard it in the tail-end of 2018, is still a really good song. Dermot sings about being pulled in by the power of a potential lover and the anthemic production, while not as magnificent as that of All My Friends, still does a good job at backing up the lyrical content. Also the 'mmm-mmm' vocals are audibly pleasing.
The last time Elderbrook appeared in the Top 100 was on the CamelPhat song Cola, which had a dark feel to it. His new song Something About You (which is a collab with Rudimental) has a more colourful, upbeat vibe to it in its production, which is really good in this song and it sounds like it came from a Tom Misch cut. In this single, Elderbrook is looking back at a past relationship with him and coming to accept his faults, but he wants his ex back to help him solve his problems. I think it is a better idea to just move on from that relationship. But other than that, I still really like this song due to its colourfulness and great vocal performance, plus the lyrics aren’t too distracting despite their flaws.
Cry For Me is a song about Camila breaking up with a partner of hers, only to find out that he’s happy with his new love much to her annoyance. The problem is in the lyrics where she’s wishing that her ex is sad instead of glad following the breakup, which I find to be a pretty mean thing to be thinking of. However, there are some things I like about it. The guitar riff in the bridge is solid and I like the way Camila says “cry for me” in the chorus.
Another small batch of new entries from a recent album is Summer Walker’s new album Over Now. Stretch You Out is a song about a man who hardly does anything to support his wife, with Summer Walker’s verse being pretty good. The chorus is repetitive though and the use of repetition doesn’t feel good due to the slow chill beat not fitting with it. Also, A Boogie’s verse weighs this down as he talks about “being in [her] body like surgery” and, I don’t mean to be a correct pronunciation buzzkill for this next bit, mispronouncing baguettes as ‘bah-geh-teez’.
Come Thru comes through to offer a nice slice of some of that retro R&B flavour. Summer Walker’s sultry personality blends really well with the 90’s like beat that interpolates Usher’s 1997 hit You Make Me Wanna. Speaking of Usher, he comes back to bring some feelgood R&B charm to elevate this song further.
Cat Pack has AJ Tracey putting on some great, energetic flows while bragging over a minimalistic beat produced by Take A Daytrip (who also produced Lil Nas X's Panini).
Comparing gelato to 'cat piss' is quite a ridiculous comparison, but AJ boosts this up thanks to the charismatic flows.
Saint-Tropez has Post bragging over a dark beat with a medium high voice. Some of the brags are ridiculous, such as one in which Bud Light beer is running through his ‘piss’, and Post can get too shouty at some points, but I like the sound of the “Such a long time” chorus, especially when it is played near the end with a layer of harmonisation overdubbed onto Post’s voice, plus the instrumentation sounds good.
Nice To Meet Ya sees Niall Horan put on a charming personality while showing affection towards a girl. The uplifting piano chords and drum line blend well with Niall’s voice to give a retro sound that Robbie Williams occasionally did in his material.
Trust Issues cpmtaoms a lovely sounding guitar with a sense of emotion built into it and the part in the chorus where OGD talks about how he has lost trust in everybody, even himself, fits into the timbre of the instrumentation, but there is a couple of bragging that doesn’t fit into the mood of the track.
Bandit has some decent production, but the song becomes a generic ‘stealing other people’s girls’ song. There’s also a line in which Juice says that he doesn’t need to take molly to be a savage, but feels savage when he does so. He attempts to do a Jeffrey Dahmer metaphor that Ke$ha and Juicy J previously did in the respective songs Cannibal and Dark Horse (though the latter is mainly Katy Perry’s song). I give credit for the callback to these two songs, even though in this one, it didn’t come out very good.
10,000 Hours sounds quite nice, but the lyrics come off as basic and cheesy, such as a line in which Bieber asks a girl if she got her middle name from her grandmother.
HIGHEST IN THE ROOM sees Travis Scott return with his unique style of autotune. His vocal style blends well with the dark production of this song, as do a lot of the other tracks by him. There’s also this weird, ethereal chant in the beginning that enhances the atmosphere provided by the music. While I wish the synth break at the end could have been longer, it’s still another sublime effort from Travis.
This turned out to be a better week of debuts than the previous two, with four tracks actually falling into excellent territory. My favourite of the large batch has to be All My Friends by Dermot Kennedy, with Trampoline by SHAED coming close enough to land into the honorable mention spot.
My least favourite of the batch is Bandit by Juice WRLD and YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
#99. SHAED - Trampoline [9/10] (FOTW HM)
#89. Dermot Kennedy - All My Friends [GOLD] (Fave Of The Week)
#88. Dermot Kennedy - Power Over Me [8/10]
#87. Elderbrook & Rudimental - Something About You [9/10]
#85. Camila Cabello - Cry For Me [6/10]
#70. Summer Walker feat. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie - Stretch You Out [6/10]
#56. AJ Tracey - Cat Pack [9/10]
#52. Post Malone - Saint-Tropez [7/10]
#51. Niall Horan - Nice To Meet Ya [8/10]
#49. NSG - Trust Issues [7/10]
#47. Juice WRLD feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again - Bandit [5/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)
#42. Summer Walker feat. Usher - Come Thru [8/10]
#19. Dan & Shay feat. Justin Bieber - 10,000 Hours [6/10]
#2. Travis Scott - HIGHEST IN THE ROOM [8/10]
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Edited by DalekTethered32
Thanks Dalek! I also own all of The xx's albums, although that is a pretty easy collection to complete thankfully :lol: Next up, I want to complete my collection of studio albums by The Beatles. I think it's just 'With The Beatles', 'Beatles For Sale' and 'Yellow Submarine' to go. Not got any of their compilations on vinyl, but do have the Blue and Red albums on CD, so I get what you mean about cross-format collections!Speaking of The Beatles, this singles collection on vinyl has just been announced:
I need it. My bank balance does not.
I'm wanting to complete my Beatles studio album collection too, I just have Please Please Me, Beatles For Sale, Rubber Soul and Let It Be left to collect (plus Magical Mystery Tour EP and Yellow Submarine soundtrack). I do have Revolver and The White Album but on CD, not vinyl.
Plus the 7" boxset looks amazing, but that price is too much for me.
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This is mainly for those as lead artists
Ariana Grande: No Tears Left To Cry
Beyoncé and Destiny's Child: Freedom (Beyonce solo), Independent Woman Part One (Destiny's Child)
Britney Spears: Toxic
Calvin Harris: I'm Not Alone
Camila Cabello and Fifth Harmony: I Have Questions (Camila), That's My Girl? (5H)
Charli XCX: It's a two way tie between What I Like and 1999
Dua Lipa: Be The One
Ellie Goulding: Starry Eyed
Girls Aloud and Solo: Sound Of The Underground (Girls Aloud), Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love (Solo)
K-Pop: BLACKPINK - DDU-DU-DDU-DU
Katy Perry: It's a two way tie between Last Friday Night (TGIF) and ET
Kylie and Dannii Minogue: In My Arms (Kylie), All I Wanna Do (Dannii)
Lady Gaga: Marry The Night
Lana Del Rey: Video Games
Little Mix: Move
Madonna: Vogue
One Direction and Solo: Drag Me Down (1D), Harry Styles - Sign Of The Times (Solo)
P!nk: So What
Rihanna: We Found Love
Rita Ora: Anywhere
Robbie Williams and Take That: Rock DJ (Robbie Williams), Shine (Take That)
RuPaul's Drag Race: Does Todrick Hall's Nails Hair Hips Heels count? If not, then Call Me Mama by RuPaul? (Haven't heard a lot of RPDR songs)
Shawn Mendes: Lost In Japan
Spice Girls and Solo: Wannabe (Spice Girls), Melanie C - Goin' Down (Solo)
Taylor Swift: The Archer
Zara Larsson: It's either Never Forget You or Lush Life
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10/10/2019
NEW ENTRIES:
#97. DaBaby - INTRO (Kirk)
#91. Diplo and Jonas Brothers - Lonely
#82. J-Hope feat. Becky G - Chicken Noodle Soup
#75. YNW Melly feat. 9LOKKNINE - 223's
#74. Yxng Bane feat. OFB - Skrr
#55. Stay Flee Get Lizzy feat. Tory Lanez, Fredo and Popcaan - 2 Cups
#53. Tion Wayne x JAY1 - 2 On 2
#44. French Montana feat. Post Malone and Cardi B - Writing On The Wall
#43. D-Block Europe - Outside
#40. Ed Sheeran feat. Camila Cabello and Cardi B - South Of The Border
#21. D-Block Europe feat. Dave - Playing For Keeps
Kicking us off this week we have DaBaby finally getting his first charting hit, which is the Intro from his forthcoming Kirk album. The song feels uplifting with an ‘aah’ choir arrangement playing throughout that reminds me of the one that was used in Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 track Alright, except this one is set at a lower vocal range, and the production does a good job at capturing the album opener feel. The verses are really good as DaBaby details the many events of his life such as his mother’s battle with cancer and his father being pronounced dead before he started touring, along with the 2nd verse displaying a ‘rags to riches’ story. It’s great to see artists usually known for comedic/bouncy stuff put out something serious and emotional once in a while.
Lonely shows the Jonas Brothers sing about having the best times in a relationship while an acoustic guitar plays in the background. Some of the lyrics may feel cheesy, such as the opening line “Wanna ride with you till the wheels fall off”, but they are solid. Also, the drop, despite coming in at an unexpected moment, sounds decent and flows in nicely with the tone of the song.
We have an entry of BTS member J-Hope and Becky G in which they interpolate a Webstar & Young B song from 2006 called Chicken Noodle Soup. I don’t like the original. I find it to be too repetitive with annoying vocals and loud, overused ad-libs (and there’s no other instrumentation to make this danceable to me apart from some air raid siren). I prefer this version as there is an added guitar line to add a dance feel to it, and both Hope and Becky give off decent rap verses. It still has some annoying use of repetition, such as in the “I let it rain” part though. Overall, this is just okay.
Melly previously had two charting songs this year (neither of which I was a fan of). Murder On My Mind had an interesting storytelling concept, but the execution didn’t come off well, and Mixed Personalities had Kanye giving off some passable parts, but Melly’s verses weighed it down (especially that falsetto part). 223’s, on the other hand, is quite decent. Despite it being a song about guns, both Melly and 9LOKKNINE ride the beat quite well other this pretty neat instrumental consisting of a short guitar line and a C minor clav chord backbeat. The line about being ‘500 degrees’ is quite ridiculous though as I know that the normal human body can not take this much heat.
Skrr carries a nice use of Indonesian Gamelan instruments in it. The chorus is decent, most of the brags in the verses are okay, but there are some lines in them such as one in which a ‘p***y’ is placed on a tongue and how Bandokay’s diamonds make a girl say ‘burr’ that weigh the song down.
One year after their catchy Top 40 hit Ay Caramba, clothing brand Stay Flee Get Lizzy is back with new single 2 Cups. It attempts to capture a summertime vibe like said Top 40 hit from last year, and while I don’t find it as good, I still quite like it. Both Tory and Popcaan make some good use of Jamaican patois to fit with the tone of the song, the former doing so in a similar vein to Wiley’s My Love (which was so close to breaking the Top 40). I didn’t like Fredo’s verse as much as those of the other two, but I think it’s okay, despite that one line about being ‘booby-trapped’.
2 On 2 shows a swell display of chemistry between our two artists in the verses. The lyrics do contain a few ‘stealing your girl’ lines, but Maestro The Baker’s beat is one that I’m digging. The keyboards blend well with the syncopated percussion in this as do Tion and Jay with this beat.
Writing On The Wall combines sounds of keyboards and acoustic guitars to form an instrumental with a nice, summertime vibe (it feels weird saying the last bit considering that we’re in October right now). Post Malone’s layered vocals are a weird fit for this beat, but he blends with them quite well. Both French and Cardi give decent verses on this (this won't be the only track this week with the latter in it), though I wasn’t too fond of that melodic bit in the start of the 3rd verse (I do give both of them credit for showing some vocal chemistry between each other). I quite like this, though I prefer Unforgettable as the Montana summer track.
We’ve got new entries from D-Block Europe’s new album PTSD. The first one is Outside, which has a pretty pleasant guitar line running through it and I like some of the lines where Young Adz is reflecting on his other friends and having to deal with serious court cases, but there are still a few weak lines popping up such as one in which he’s “eating [his girl’s] p***y to some love songs”. Also, Dirtbike LB's verse near the end drags this down a bit, with some processed vocals and generic lines about drugs and p****y, and a weak callback to Home P. There are a few lines dealing with emotion in this verse in a similar vein to a few of the others that I give credit to.
The other one is Playing For Keeps. This might probably be the first D Block song I’ve heard that I, at least, like, Tell The Truth came close but Rich The Kid’s verse weighed it down. Anyway, the beat is quite catchy, despite being relatively quiet, and Young Adz rides it well. In this song, there's less ridiculous lines about sex and more about a sense of assertiveness in the game, as well as some lines about prison. Dave's verse, while not one of my faves from his, is pretty solid with some good flows from his as usual. Dirtbike's verse is my least fave part of the song (mainly due to the sound of the autotune in that part), but it doesn't weigh it down too much.
South Of The Border carries a nice panpipe sound throughout, and the lyrics make it feel like it’s Shape Of You mixed with Shawn Mendes' Senorita (the latter of which also featured Camila Cabello). Ed talks about a girl he’s showing affection towards, with Camila doing a good job singing from the perspective of that girl, with some good use of Spanish language in the verse to call back to her Cuban heritage like she did in Havana and Senorita, and even though there’s that one jungle fever reference (it’s better than the one in Graduation though) in it, the rap verse from Cardi is solid.
Like last week, there weren't any excellent songs there, but my Top 2 of the debuts this week is better than the Top 2 of the debuts last week. My favourite has to be DaBaby's Intro, with South Of The Border by Ed Sheeran, Camila Cabello and Cardi B taking the honorable mention. My least favourite, of the three that got a 6/10, would have to be Outside by D-Block Europe
#97. DaBaby - INTRO (Kirk) [8/10] (Fave Of The Week)
#91. Diplo and Jonas Brothers - Lonely [7/10]
#82. J-Hope feat. Becky G - Chicken Noodle Soup [6/10]
#75. YNW Melly feat. 9LOKKNINE - 223's [7/10]
#74. Yxng Bane feat. OFB - Skrr [6/10]
#55. Stay Flee Get Lizzy feat. Tory Lanez, Fredo and Popcaan - 2 Cups [7/10]
#53. Tion Wayne x JAY1 - 2 On 2 [7/10]
#44. French Montana feat. Post Malone and Cardi B - Writing On The Wall [7/10]
#43. D-Block Europe - Outside [6/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)
#40. Ed Sheeran feat. Camila Cabello and Cardi B - South Of The Border [8/10] (FOTW HM)
#21. D-Block Europe feat. Dave - Playing For Keeps [7/10]
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Congrats to Jade for completing her LDR vinyl collection.
When there's a case of me owning all of an artist's studio albums, it's usually on CD or a mix of three formats (CD, vinyl and cassette). The main one that comes to mind in terms of vinyl is The xx.
I would also say Daughter and Glass Animals, but these bands have only put out two studio albums so far (the Music From Before The Storm album by the former is more of a video game soundtrack than a studio album). Foals and Nirvana come close.
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Edited by DalekTethered32
Black Friday is coming next month, and the UK releases have been revealed. https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/r...eleases__27467/
The releases that interest me the most:
- Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) 7"
- Aretha Franklin - The Atlantic Singles 1968 7" boxset
- Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars/The Wayfarer 7"
- Czarface - The Odd Czar Against Us
- Frank Sinatra - My Way (50th annviersary release) (I already have a 7" of this song but this looks like it's worth buying)
- Frank Zappa - Peaches En Regalia/Little Umbrellas (10" picture disc)
- James Brown - Live at Home: The After Show
- Jimi Hendrix - Merry Christmas And Happy New Year (12" picture disc)
- Joe Satriani - Surfing With The Alien (red and yellow vinyl)
- Kings Of Leon - Day Old Belgian Blues
- Lizzo - Coconut Oil (milky clear 12" with coconut scented insert)
- Lou Reed - The Raven
- Miles Davis - Miles In Tokyo and Early Minor
- Nas - Stillmatic (silver vinyl)
- Paul McCartney - Home Tonight/In A Hurry 7"
- Pearl Jam - MTV Unplugged (3/16/1992)
- Robert Johnson - Sweet Home Chicago/Walkin' Blues 10" (it might be a 78RPM record, which my turntable can't really handle, so I don't know if I want to get this)
- Sid Vicious - Sid Lives (multi-coloured vinyl with CD)
- Slipknot - All Out Life/Unsainted (picture disc 7")
- Sublime - Roots of Sublime
- The Doors - Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970
- The Pretenders - UK SINGLES 1979 to 1981
- The Weeknd - My Dear Melancholy (etched on B-side)
- U2 - Three EP
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R. Dean Taylor - There's A Ghost In My House (The Fall's cover would also be on my list)
Danny Elfman - This Is Halloween (Marilyn Manson's cover would also be on my list)
Barns Courtney - Hellfire
Childish Gambino - Zombies
Adam Lambert - Ghost Town
Skinny Puppy - Worlock
Burial - Subtemple (due to the spine-chilling atmosphere)
Boards Of Canada - Beware The Friendly Stranger (even though it's very short)
And the ultimate Halloween anthem...
The Living Tombstone - Spooky Scary Skeletons
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[GOLD]
- Post Malone - Circles
- Stormzy - Sounds Of The Skeng
- HAIM - Summer Girl
EXCELLENT
- Stormzy - Wiley Flow
- Jax Jones (ft. Ella Henderson) - This Is Real
- Regard - Ride It
- Ella Henderson - Glorious
- Lizzo - Good As Hell
GREAT
- Mahalia (ft. Burna Boy) - Simmer
- Sam Fender - Will We Talk?
- Camila Cabello - Liar
- Halsey - Graveyard
- Camila Cabello - Shameless
SOLID
- Aitch (ft. ZieZie) - Buss Down
- Tiësto and Mabel - God Is A Dancer
DECENT
- RAYE - Love Me Again
- Dave - Professor X
- Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus & Lana Del Rey - Don't Call Me Angel
OKAY
- Liam Payne (ft. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie) - Stack It Up
MEH
none
SUB-PAR
- D-Block Europe (ft. Lil Baby) - Nookie
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MOSTLY RECENT SECTIONNoel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - This Is The PlaceBat For Lashes - The HungerMichael Kiwanuka - You Ain’t The ProblemTemples - You’re Either On To SomethingYves V feat. Afrojack and Icona Pop - We Got That CoolKano - TeardropsHot Chip - SpellCadet - Gang GangPost Malone - CirclesMetronomy - Wedding BellsStormzy - Sounds Of The SkengAnderson .Paak feat. Brandy - Jet BlackSampa The Great - Freedom!!! - Couldn’t Have CheckedFoals - The RunnerRaphael Saadiq - So ReadyLana Del Rey - CaliforniaCate Le Bon - Mother’s Mother’s Magazines(Sandy) Alex G - HopeIggy Pop - James BondThe Mysterines - Take ControlPost Malone feat. Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott - Take What You WantWarmduscher - Midnight DipperDanny Brown - Dirty LaundryJOHN (TIMESTWO) - High DiggerBillie Eilish - all the good girls go to hellMystery Jets - ScrewdriverOTHERLiiNE feat. George Fitzgerald and Lil Silva - ChimesBattles feat. Sal Principato - Titanium 2 StepStormzy - Wiley FlowSam Fender - The BordersJPEGMAFIA - Jesus Forgive Me I Am A ThotBig Sean feat. A$AP Ferg & Hit-Boy - BezerkJax Jones feat. Ella Henderson - This Is RealPixx - Peanuts Grow UndergroundSir Was - Not Giving UpMiraa May feat. JME - AnglesKate Tempest - People’s Faces (Streatham Version)Angel Olsen - All MirrorsAJ Tracey - ElasticOliver Tree - Miracle ManRiton and Oliver Heldens feat. Vula - Turn Me OnSlowthai x Denzel Curry - PsychoThe Head And The Heart - Missed ConnectionLiz Lawrence - None Of My FriendsRegard - Ride ItPixies - Catfish KateSlowthai - ToasterElderbrook & Rudimental - Something About You [Elderbrook VIP]Blossoms - Your GirlfriendMark Ronson feat. YEBBA - Don’t Leave Me LonelyEasy Life - EarthBodega - Shiny New ModelJax Jones & Tove Lo - JacquesBombay Bicycle Club - Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)Life - Bum HourMura Masa feat. Clairo - I Don't Think I Can Do This AgainCamila Cabello - LiarSquid - The CleanerElbow - Empires
RETRO SECTION (songs from before September 2018)
The Magnetic Fields - Sweet-Lovin’ Man (1999)Pop Will Eat Itself - 92 Degrees F (Boilerhouse “The Birth” Mix) (1990/1991)Audio Bullys - We Don’t Care (2003)The Vaccines - Teenage Icon (2012)Passion Pit - Carried Away (2012)Austra - Beat And The Pulse (2011)The Prodigy - Piranha (2009)The Cure - Hot Hot Hot (1987)New Order - Everyone Everywhere (1993)Carl Cox - Dr. Funk (1999)B.B. King - The Thrill Is Gone (1969)Justin Timberlake - LoveStoned/I Think She Knows (2007)Bell Biv Devoe - Poison (1990)Sting - Shadows In The Rain (1985)Smokin’ Beats - Dr. Love (1999)Cherry - Boogie On Da Floor (1999)Lou Bega - Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of) (1999)Moloko - Sing It Back (Boris Dlugosch Mix) (1999)Bran Van 3000 - Drinking In LA (1998)New Order - Fine Time (1988) -
Edited by DalekTethered32
03/10/2019
NEW ENTRIES:
#98. Summer Walker - Playing Games
#95. Blackbear - Hot Girl Bummer
#84. Liam Payne feat. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie - Stack It Up
#66. Maroon 5 - Memories
#61. Liam Gallagher - Now That I've Found You
#48. The Script - The Last Time
#44. JAY1 - 4AM In Coventry
#37. Tiesto and Mabel - God Is A Dancer
Playing Games serves as a decent dose of chilled 2010’s R&B with Summer Walker putting on a SZA-esque vocal performance over an acoustic guitar line.
hot girl bummer puts a cynical spin on the title of Megan Thee Stallion's Hot Girl Summer with a hint of Post Malone to it.
A cynical party song would have been interesting, but most of the lyrics feel flat and whiney to the point where they become too distracting. The production is okay though as it gives off a dark atmosphere to fit with the cynical vibe.
Stack It Up starts off with a nice organ/clav sound carrying a chord sequence reminiscent of that of Selena Gomez’ 2015 song Same Old Love. Both Liam and Boogie give off okay verses, though the former’s “I-I” melisma isn’t very good.
Memories sees Adam Levine reflect back into the events of his past while being backed by a church organ. There’s also an interpolation of Pachebel’s Canon In D in both the organ chords and the vocal melody. It’s not my favourite of the songs I’ve heard that have interpolated that Pachebel composition (that would have to be The Farm’s All Together Now from 1990), but I still quite like it. The lyrical content has some solid writing to it and there’s a good sound to it, though I would have loved it for the textures to be expanded further since the organ and vocal arrangement makes this sound more like a demo version of itself. Oh well!
Now That I’ve Found You is a song about Liam’s estranged daughter Molly Moorish. The lyrics on his new album have looked through a good array of topics, from the look at the aftermath of the Oasis split up in his previous two singles to this. Liam presents a kind, caring persona throughout the lyrics and while the production sounds a bit basic, it does back up the content well.
The Script are back with a new single called The Last Time. This starts off driven by an acoustic guitar before it (kind of) explodes during the first chorus and carries on with the percussion. The production’s okay but I’m not a huge fan of these lyrics as they feel bare bones. Also, that “whoa-oh” melisma during the post chorus doesn’t sound good. It’s a disappointing single considering that I've heard a handful of swell songs in their discography (Breakeven, If You Could See Me Now, Nothing and We Cry to name a few).
The title of JAY1’s single remind me of these “time in location” titled songs that Drake occasionally puts out. 4AM In Coventry carries a boosted bassline backed up by an 808 beat that reminds me of DaBaby’s recent Billboard smash hit Suge, with JAY1 putting on a fun, charismatic flow that reminds me of that of said rapper. Most of his brags come off well thanks to the good flow he puts on and his verse combined with the production makes for a banging track. If only if it was expanded with maybe a chorus or another verse then I would have rated this higher.
When I heard God Is A Dancer start off with Mabel’s echoing, autotune vocals over some relatively quiet instrumentation, I was worried about the direction the song was going. Luckily, Tiesto expands the song with a good old beat and some catchy low range keyboard chords. The chorus has a nice danceable vibe to it too and Mabel’s parts (aside from that beginning) are pretty decent.
So... this was quite an underwhelming (but alright) week for debuts with only one song getting higher than 7/10 (I say this because in all the other weeks I've covered I get at least one song with at least a 9/10). That song, in particular, is my Fave Of The Week, which goes to Now That I've Found You by Liam Gallagher. The honorable mention goes to JAY1's charismatic, fast-paced 4AM In Coventry.
Least Fave Of The Week goes to hot girl bummer by Blackbear.
#98. Summer Walker - Playing Games [7/10]
#95. Blackbear - Hot Girl Bummer [5/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)
#84. Liam Payne feat. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie - Stack It Up [6/10]
#66. Maroon 5 - Memories [7/10]
#61. Liam Gallagher - Now That I've Found You [8/10] (Fave Of The Week)
#48. The Script - The Last Time [6/10]
#44. JAY1 - 4AM In Coventry [7/10] (FOTW HM)
#37. Tiesto and Mabel - God Is A Dancer [7/10]
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Edited by Polly Planturret
26/09/2019
Apologies for the lack of added comments
#99. Riton & Oliver Heldens feat. Vula - Turn Me On [9/10]
#94. Rex Orange County - 10/10 [7/10]
#90. Dave - God's Eye [Top Boy] [9/10]
#87. M Huncho - One Summer [Top Boy] [7/10]
#84. SL - 100 Thoughts [Top Boy] [6.5/10]
#79. Headie One - Hard To Believe [Top Boy] [7/10]
#63. AJ Tracey - Elastic [Top Boy] [9/10]
#53. Fredo - Freddy [Top Boy] [7/10]
#52. Halsey - Graveyard [8/10]
#51. Drake - Behind Barz [Top Boy] [7/10]
#37. Stormzy - Wiley Flow [9/10] (FOTW HM)
#24. Dave - Professor X [Top Boy] [7/10]
#22. Post Malone feat. Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott - Take What You Want [GOLD] (Fave Of The Week)
#16. D-Block Europe feat. Lil Baby - Nookie [5/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)
#2. Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey - Don’t Call Me Angel (Charlie’s Angels) [7/10]
So there were eight songs from the Top Boy soundtrack entering on the same week. Between this and that album bomb involving the Black Panther soundtrack, I think it's safe to put this up:
Can't get affected by the three song rule if you're a "various artists" album
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Edited by Polly Planturret
I know he’s not a pop star but US rapper Future released 2 albums in 2 weeks in 2017King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard released 5 albums around the same year (one in January or February, two in the Summer, another one in Autumn and the last one on the very last day of December '17).
With 20 tracks on one, 19 on the other - bloody hellIf you think that's a lot of tracks, look no further than to The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs from 1999 or their 69 Song Memoir from 2017 (Yes! There are 69 songs on both of these albums). The former being the longest album I have ever listened to in my life.
Another example of a long boi is American Hunger by MF Grimm, a triple album released in 2006 containing 60 tracks and lasting 209 minutes long. It is known as one of the longest albums to have ever been recorded.
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Cassette Store Day is coming on the 12th of October, with a couple of exclusives being pressed for this special event. https://thevinylfactory.com/news/cassette-s...019-exclusives/
The ones I'm interested in:
Basil Kirchin - Deja Vu
EB - Rodeo Queen
Max Blansjaar - Fantasy Living
Menace Beach and The ESP - Slo-Mo-Shun
Pip Blom - Boat
The The - See Without Being Seen
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Just had a quick look back to see what you wrote about Outnumbered when it debuted - turns out Castles and Ransom debuted the same week, as did Bounce Back and Taylor's YNTCD! Who would have thought the first three would have gone on to do so well?
In the words of that teacher from The Incredibles, "Conicidence? I think not!"
Quote aside, it is interesting to see these three go on to become Top 40 hits.
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19/09/2019
NEW ENTRIES:
#97. Leftwing : Kody - I Feel It
#94. Sam Fender - The Borders
#84. Jax Jones feat. Ella Henderson - This Is Real
#77. Billie Eilish - All The Good Girls Go To Hell
#70. Yves V feat. Afrojack & Icona Pop - We Got That Cool
#50. Camila Cabello - Shameless
#48. Professor Green feat. Alice Chater - Got It All
#43. Aitch feat. Tyreezy - Already
#38. Camila Cabello - Liar
#21. Aitch feat. ZieZie - Buss Down
#20. Stormzy - Sounds Of The Skeng
#11. Post Malone - Hollywood's Bleeding
I Feel It has a nice deep house groove to it with its upbeat piano chords that sound like the ones from Weiss’ Feel My Needs from 2018, a well produced drum pattern to blend with them, and a recurring vocal line throughout reminiscent of that of Low Steppa’s 2014 club jam So Real. There is some repetition in the lyrics, but this is the type of repetition that enhances the musical experience due to its danceable fuel.
The Borders is about two boys meeting each other, with one of them suffering worse than the other, and him throwing hate at that person for his constant misfortune. They carry the same emotions throughout their lives, only for the consequences of their actions increasing as they get older. Despite a lack of a chorus, Fender breaks the story down well in his lyrics. Also, the instrumentation is produced to a fantastic level. The electric guitars blend well with the relatively fast drums to give an anthemic sound similar to that of The War On Drugs (particularly Red Eyes and Nothing To Find). To further elevate the quality of this, we have a smooth saxophone solo before the 3rd verse and an awesome guitar solo near the end of the song.
It’s funny how we have a vocalist on I Feel It saying “I got a love that’s so real!” and a song entering the chart called This Is Real like there’s someone calling bullshit on that claim.
The new single by Jax Jones marks the return of Ella Henderson (who I haven’t heard on a song since Kygo’s Here For You from way back in 2015). Henderson unleashes her inner Becky Hill on this upbeat house track, with her vocals blending well with the staccato piano chords.
All The Good Girls Go To Hell shows more of Billie’s moody, whispery vocal style while displaying images of heaven and hell in the lyrics. There’s also a groovy bassline playing in the verses, along with a great use of some organ chords in the post-chorus to give a religious church-like vibe. I also love the backing vocal arrangements in the chorus with the “There’s nothing left to save me now!” part.
There are many songs I’ve heard that have interpolated Crystal Waters’ 1991 club classic Gypsy Woman, with the likes of 2 Eivissa, T.I, Nick Brewer and just recently, Yves V with a new single. We Got That Cool brings a fun, upbeat club vibe to the table, with Icona Pop’s party hard attitudes and Yves V and Afrojack’s colourful production. These elements come together to produce one of the most exciting club tracks of the year.
This week, we’ve got two new songs from former Fifth Harmony member Camila Cabello.
Liar sees Camila bring a lustful vibe to her lyrical content, with some catchy production blending well with them. The chord sequence (i-II-iv-VII) is a bit similar to Years And Years' Take Shelter from 2014, but that doesn’t weigh the song down too much.
Shameless shows Camila attempt to elaborate on her feelings for her crush. The dissonance in the verse involving her melisma at the end of the 1st and 3rd lines conveys a sense of uncertainty in her character. The song starts to pick up in the post-chorus where it starts to sound tense with the bass cranked up a bit with the addition of a drum pattern. I do feel like she’s oversinging on the ‘shameless’ part during the chorus, but she does later state that she’s “screamin’ out [her] lungs” for this love.
Professor Green was quite big in the UK during the early 2010’s, but then suddenly vanished. He put out a song that charted last year with Photographs (one of my faves from him since Read All About It), and now he’s back with Got It All.
In this track, Pro Green attempts a lower range vocal than usual, and his verses remind me of Tinie Tempah. The chorus has Alice Chater sing really well and back up the repetitive lines very well with a soulful singer-songwriter vocal. All in all, it’s some mindless fun. However, Chater saying “Teach me something!” in a sultry manner right after saying “Professor!” is quite an awkward way to start off a song.
Looks like Camila isn’t the only artist to have two songs charting this week, as we have Manchester rapper Aitch with two tracks from his forthcoming EP AitcH2O.
Already has some good chiming sounds to it, but Tyreezy has some noticeable autotune and the 3rd verse has some weak lines such as one in which Aitch chooses a girl's brain over her heart and one in which a girl's lipstick matches her thong.
Other than that, it's okay. Though, I prefer the other song from the EP that charted called Buss Down. In this track, ZieZie puts on a fun, catchy chorus in this and the piano chords blend well with the trap beat, and Aitch has some decent verses to fit the upbeat tone of the song, despite a few ridiculous lines occasionally popping up.
And on the topic of ZieZie, even though I thought that hit song Fine Girl with him on a relatively high melodic vocal range was pretty decent, I feel like this lower vocal range fits him better.
Sounds Of The Skeng has some organs playing over a hard-hitting Sir Spyro-produced beat that has a similar rhythmic sound to it as Big For Your Boots (a song from 2017 that was also by Stormzy). Stormzy manages to go hard as usual with his witty wordplay and fantastic flows, plus his vocals blend smoothly with the production.
Just like with last week’s eponymous album opener entry (Norman f***ing Rockwell by Lana Del Rey) and how it did a good job at setting the tone, Hollywood’s Bleeding sets a similar dark vibe, only with elements of rock and trap. I like the rhythmic structure of this song; it starts off slow with moody guitars playing in the mix before making a beat switch to a No Limit style trap beat in the verse, before ending off with a slow tempo that was established in the 1st chorus. Post takes a look at the dark side of Hollywood, with issues such as drug addiction and early death. Overall, it’s a very good fusion of trap and rock, with a downbeat atmosphere added to it.
Overall, this was a pretty great week so far, with at least more than half of the entries being excellent.
Favourtie Of The Week goes to We Got That Cool by Yves V, Afrojack and Icona Pop, with Stormzy's Sounds Of The Skeng taking the spot for honorable mention.
The Least Fave goes to Already by Aitch and Tyreezy.
#97. Leftwing : Kody - I Feel It [9/10]
#94. Sam Fender - The Borders [9/10]
#84. Jax Jones feat. Ella Henderson - This Is Real [9/10]
#77. Billie Eilish - All The Good Girls Go To Hell [9/10]
#70. Yves V feat. Afrojack & Icona Pop - We Got That Cool [GOLD] (Fave Of The Week)
#50. Camila Cabello - Shameless [8/10]
#48. Professor Green feat. Alice Chater - Got It All [8/10]
#43. Aitch feat. Tyreezy - Already [6/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)
#38. Camila Cabello - Liar [8/10]
#21. Aitch feat. ZieZie - Buss Down [7/10]
#20. Stormzy - Sounds Of The Skeng [GOLD] (FOTW HM)
#11. Post Malone - Hollywood's Bleeding [9/10]
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12/09/2019
#100. Blossoms - Your Girlfriend
#95. Kano - Teardrops
#93. Ava Max - Torn
#89. A$AP Rocky - Babushka Boi
#88. Benny Blanco & Juice WRLD - Graduation
#86. Lil Tecca - Love Me
#84. Lil Tecca - Did It Again
#82. Cadet - Gang Gang
#70. Kano feat. Kojo Funds - Pan-Fried
#67. Jax Jones & Tove Lo - Jacques
#62. RAYE - Love Me Again
#53. Deno feat. DigDat - Change
#44. Lana Del Rey - Norman f***ing Rockwell
#11. Post Malone - Circles
Your Girlfriend's lyrics might seem like it’s an "Imma steal your girl" song upon first look, and hearing artists brag about that don't usually work well most of the time.
However, Tom Ogden puts on a nice, charming personality over some bubbly synth rock production, making for an enjoyable listen.
The last I heard of Kano was back in 2016 with his Made In The Manor album. I thought it was great and it was a shame that none of the singles from that LP charted in the Top 100. Well, at least we have these two entries from his new album Hoodies All Summer (both earning him his first time in the Top 100 as a lead artist in nine years; the last one being Upside with Michelle Breeze back in 2010) to make up for that.
In Teardrops, Kano talks about a good range of topics in both of his verses, such as the justice system being corrupt, how bigots will continue throwing hate no matter how much people of these targeted groups achieve or inspire in their lives, and people dreaming ambitious things only to waste the potential to receive them all on blowing their money on jewellery for the sake of bragging. He does so with really good, energetic flows over a syncopated beat and a dark, echoing vocal sample. The only small issue has to be the transition between the chorus and the 2nd verse feeling a bit too sudden, but other than that, it's still a fantastic rap track.
Pan-Fried starts off with a nice steel drum line with both Kano and Kojo giving off good verses. The steel drums carry on in the 1st verse where I'm waiting for the beat to come in. Eventually, it does so, but the pleasant steel drums are replaced with this relatively high-pitched sample, and it becomes distracting while trying to listen to the interesting stuff Kano's saying. The steel drums finally come back in the chorus, but there's no percussion. Percussion comes back and the instrumentation switches up again, and the steel drums finally blend in with the slow, natural beat and the high-pitched sample (the latter of which is no longer a distraction thanks to the steel drum addition) near the end. It could've been better, but for what it is, it's quite swell.
Both of these tracks leave me excited for what Kano has to offer on his new album.
Torn is a song about Ava wanting to leave a relationship, but keeps coming back due to the pros her partner carries to weigh out the negatives.
There is some good production to fit the moody tone of the song (it sounds different from her previous two Top 40 singles) and I like the "Oh no!" backing vocals in the chorus to emphasise Ava’s need to leave and close the door. I'm not too fond of the part in the pre-chorus where she says that she likes the way her partner 'rocks [her] body', because that isn't a very good justification for staying in a flavourless relationship (maybe I might be nitpicking at this point).
Babushka Boi takes a sample of Da Crime Click's 1995 track You Hoes Gone Get Kidnapped, pitches it down and blends it with some catchy cowbell sounds. There's also some really good verses from A$AP, with him relishing in his dominance and making contrasts between gangster life in his verses and playboy luxuries in the outro.
The last time Benny Blanco and Juice WRLD collaborated was earlier this year with Roses, which I thought was okay. Now they are back with a trap rework of Vitamin C's 1999 song Graduation. The original, while it sounds cheesy, serves as a nice message saying that even though close friends in high school may not see each other again after they leave, they'll never forget the cherished moments they spent together. A cynical take on school life might have worked, Taylor Swift did it well recently with Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince. The 2nd half of the 2nd verse did do a decent job at doing so, but other than that, the end result wasn't that good.
I feel like the C major key of the chorus doesn't fit Juice's vocal range as he sounds like he's yelling at this higher range (doesn't sound as unintentionally hilarious as he did in Robbery though), and therefore, the key could have been transposed a bit lower. The 1st verse is filled with brags that don't work very well and there was a Jungle Fever reference in the 2nd verse that didn't come out well.
This week, we have two new entries from Lil Tecca’s new mixtape We Love You Tecca. The first one is Love Me. I think it’s okay. It has a pleasant sounding summertime vibe to it. The other one is Did It Again. The piano blends in smoothly with the trap beat in this one and while there are a few ridiculous lines, Tecca rides the beat quite well.
This week, we have a posthumous release from Cadet (May he rest in peace). Gang Gang shows Cadet rap over a syncopated drill style beat with some elements of lyrical content found in drill (e.g. started from a low point in life and got bigger and at the top of the game, along with mentions of weapon types), but does so from the perspective of a policeman. He does an excellent job tackling police brutality, as well as the politicians' attempts to ban drill (which Krept And Konan also did a marvellous job at tackling a few months back).
It reminds me of Joyner Lucas’ magnificent 2017 effort I’m Not Racist (both music videos have a similar setting with these two people sitting opposite each other on a table), in which he does a breakdown of the racial, political divide between black and white and he does a fantastic job at rapping from the perspective of both sides with almost every line being gripping. It does work better with the music video though. The main difference between the two is that Gang Gang is just done from the policeman’s perspective.
Jacques sees Jax Jones return to his minimal house sound that he put on in House Work back in 2016. We also have Tove Lo, whose lyrics have this lustful vibe to them, but the production fits them nicely. The repetition of ‘Jacques’ in the post-chorus is also pretty catchy and enhances the electronic experience of the song.
RAYE is back with her first single as a lead artist in quite awhile with Love Me Again. First, we had Lil Tecca's Love Me, and then we have RAYE's Love Me Again. Can't wait for next week when someone enters the chart with Love Me Three Times.
The song opens up with some nice organ chords before switching to a smooth drum line, along with some hints of a bassline. These instruments come together in a chorus to create a swell sounding combination.
The song sees RAYE look back on a previous relationship and the good times they spent together, and then she rings him up to suggest what she should do for them to get back together. While I think they should move on from it, RAYE has stated in the lyrics that she has tried her best to do so but has failed. There is that one ridiculous line in which all the others that have touched her have felt her go cold, but other than that, It’s a decent song overall.
Change has Deno and DigDat show appreciation towards their mothers and thank them for the support they've given them. Both of their parts are solid, though the latter throws in some brags that don’t fit in with the topic of the song. The piano line sounds melancholic and blends with the trap beat, with most of the lyrical content fitting with the tone of the instrumentation.
Norman f***ing Rockwell does a really good job at setting the mostly downbeat tone of Lana Del Rey’s album of the same name. Jack Antanoff’s production makes this feel orchestral with the piano line complementing both the string arrangements and Lana’s whispery alto vocal style. The lyrics also have a great poetic vibe to them and fit the tone of the song nicely.
Circles sees Post Malone looking back on a relationship and how he and his partner failed to make it work. This is backed up by some melancholy sounding guitars over a drum line, with the way they blend together reminding me of Currents-era Tame Impala (particularly Let It Happen and The Less I Know The Better).
My Fave Of The Week goes to Teardrops by Kano. As for the honorable mention, there were a couple of contenders, but I eventually settled for Gang Gang by Cadet.
Least Fave goes to Graduation by Benny Blanco & Juice WRLD. It was close to mixed bag territory though.
#100. Blossoms - Your Girlfriend [8/10]
#95. Kano - Teardrops [GOLD] (Fave Of The Week)
#93. Ava Max - Torn [7/10]
#89. A$AP Rocky - Babushka Boi [9/10]
#88. Benny Blanco & Juice WRLD - Graduation [5/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)
#86. Lil Tecca - Love Me [6/10]
#84. Lil Tecca - Did It Again [7/10]
#82. Cadet - Gang Gang [9/10] (FOTW HM)
#70. Kano feat. Kojo Funds - Pan-Fried [8/10]
#67. Jax Jones & Tove Lo - Jacques [8/10]
#62. RAYE - Love Me Again [7/10]
#53. Deno feat. DigDat - Change [7/10]
#44. Lana Del Rey - Norman f***ing Rockwell [9/10]
#11. Post Malone - Circles [9/10]
The Vinyl Thread
in 20th Century Retro
My copy of Foals' Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2 on picture disc arrived. I'm glad to finally complete my ENSWBL boxset, even though I'm a little sad not to have received a download code for Part 2.
I also managed to get:
C Duncan - Architect
Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band - Ice Cream For Crow (Need to add Trout Mask Replica to my collection someday)
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (first European pressing)