Tag: playlist

Music Monday – Volume Twenty Five

MarcyB0yLeave a comment

1) Katy Perry – This is how we do

This is so catchy, so cool and such a great, uplifting summer song. One of her best off ‘Prism’ and I’m so glad Katy’s releasing it as a single. Great video too.

2) Tulisa – Young

Whatever you think about Tulisa and N Dubz in general, this remains one heck of a tune. This is uplifting, summery and so damn catchy.

 

3) Take That – It only takes a minute

A massive guilty pleasure, this was a great interpretation of an old disco classic. Its sound and production has certainly been left in the ’90’s but it still sounds awesome and Take That’s version is perhaps the best loved and most known version. Such a catchy chorus.

 

4) Take That – Once you’ve tasted love

One of Take That’s most underrated songs of their entire career. It may have been on their début ‘Take That and Party’ which is undoubtedly cheesy and lacks credibility in places but it remains a great, great album. This song is infused with electro-pop influences and it’s just so well written/produced. Big chorus too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTSoPCNLN0U

5) The 1975 – She Way Out

Almost a year later and I’m still just as addicted to The 1975’s début album as I was upon my first listen. ‘She Way Out’ is definitely one of my favourites. It’s repetitive but it’s so damn good, so catchy and has an unbeatable sing-along chorus.

6) Jessie Ware – Tough love

I’ve heard this on the radio for months now and I’ve begun to realise I fall in love with it a little bit more with every listen. It’s soft, understated but remarkably beautiful. So chilled out and a great song.

7) John Mayer – Good love is on the way

A song that’s never appeared on a John Mayer studio album, this has only been included on John’s live albums. It’s an awesome song, however. I love the guitar instrumentation and the lyrics. Very catchy and an awesome tune. Would love a studio version someday.

8) Charlie Simpson – Long road home

I decided to check out Charlie’s new album the other day and was pleasantly surprised. Every song was beautifully written with smooth harmonies and heartfelt lyrics. This is the opening track to Charlie’s second album and it’s a killer opening. Awesome tune.

9) Charlie Simpson – Hold On

Smooth, fluttering harmonies and gorgeous lyrics. Love the guitars in this and the feel of the song in general. Incredibly beautiful.

10) Madonna – Don’t tell me

One of Madonna’s best, I particularly love the stutter-y production on this. It’s smooth, low-key and very summery. I loved Madonna’s music of this era – the country themed songs and minimalistic production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRLHro9EPD0

 

Ultimate Summer Playlist

MarcyB0yLeave a comment

With the arrival of summer, it only made sense to compile an Ultimate Summer Playlist. It’s not definitive, of course but these are a collection of songs which scream ‘Summer’ for us here at the Music Box.

[Apologies for two of the songs being crappy karaoke versions/imitations but they’re not available on Spotify – these are Rizzle Kicks – ‘Tell her’ and P!nk’s ‘Feel good time’.]

 

 

Music Monday – Volume Twenty Four

MarcyB0yLeave a comment

1) Mark Owen – Stars

Mark Owen’s solo career is massively underrated. All of his four solo albums have been fantastic but have achieved only moderate success. 2013’s ‘The Art of Doing Nothing’ is probably his best and lead single ‘Stars’ is a masterpiece. Unusual chord structure, electronic sounding, fantastic instrumentation, beautiful vocals and thoughtful lyrics. SO good.

2) Mark Owen – Giveaway

The opening track to ‘The Art of Doing Nothing’. Haunting introduction, Mark’s echoing vocals and a fine way to open the album, building into a catchy track.

3) Demi Lovato – World of chances

I discovered John Mayer had co-written this song with Demi for her 2009 album so decided to check it out. It’s a beautiful song and I can hear both artist’s influences stamped all over it. Such a great track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC3oCfh57BA

4) Republic of Loose – Comeback Girl

Catchy as hell with minimalistic instrumentation. Great summer track.

5) Take That – When we were young

Beautiful song that deserved to fare better in the UK singles chart. A song that returned Take That back to their pop-rock style after the whirlwind that was 2010’s ‘Progress’, it’s warm, heartfelt and beautifully performed.

6) Take That – Happy Now

One of my all time favourite Take That songs and one of the best from their career. An amazing backing track from Gary Barlow with paranoid, robotic and dark verses before a disco, Bee-Gee-esque chorus that’s catchy as hell. It’s an incredible piece of electro-pop with well-written lyrics and the blend of the dark verses with the optimistic, catchy chorus works fanatically and makes it stand out amongst other songs of a similar genre.

7) Take That – What do you want from me

Haunting, heartfelt and emotional. Mark Owen puts his heart and soul into this and Stuart Price’s production is incredible. Awesome song.

8) Michael Jackson – Scared of the moon

Out-take from the ‘Bad’ album which appeared on the 2005 box set; ‘The Ultimate Collection’. It’s simple with just Michael’s voice, a piano and strings but it is absolutely stunning. Michael & Quincy Jones were right to leave it off ‘Bad’ as it simply wouldn’t have fit but it’s an incredibly beautiful song nonetheless.

9) John Mayer/Lawson – Gravity

John Mayer’s signature tune, this is absolute perfection. Silky smooth, Blues-infused and with minimal but heartfelt lyrics. It’s a song John tried to write for a long time before finally getting it right. Lawson are one of my favourite bands who also admire John. They have performed a cover of this song a couple of times, both live in concert and on a live-stream. Their cover is absolutely beautiful so I am including it below too.

10) John Mayer – Wheel

Understated, soft closing track to 2003’s ‘Heavier Things’. It’s a beautiful song with fantastically written lyrics and it has the ability to leave you heartbroken. Gorgeous track and the perfect way to end an album.

Music Monday – Volume Twenty Two

MarcyB0yLeave a comment

1) Hot natured – Benediction

Such an awesome club track that I keep hearing on the radio. The bass line is great and the whole song is very 90’s. Absolutely loving this right now.

2) Tom Misch – Memory

Another track I heard on the radio that I am loving. Very chilled with lots of summer vibes through the downtempo beat, gentle strings and steel pan-like sounds. Love its changes in direction too – it changes direction multiple times but keeps its flow. Great guitar solo towards the end.

3) Adam Levine – Lost stars

I saw ‘Begin Again’ at the cinema, hence these next four songs. They’re all written by one of my favourite songwriters, Gregg Alexander, who’s behind some big hits (You get what you give, Life is a rollercoaster, Lovin’ Each Day, Inner Smile). This song is the lead promotional track for the film and it’s a gorgeous song.

4) Adam Levine – A higher place

Another from ‘Begin Again’, in the same vein as writer Gregg Alexander’s previous work for Ronan Keating. So catchy and Adam Levine’s voice is to die for.

5) Keira Knightley – Like a fool

A sweet song also from ‘Begin Again’. It’s simple but it’s beautiful.

6) Keira Knightley – A step you can’t take back

I could have included the whole ‘Begin Again’ soundtrack in this week’s blog but I wanted to keep it diverse plus I have been loving a lot of songs this week. This is played a few times in the film and it’s beautiful. I love the way it develops and builds.

7) 2Pac, Roger Troutman & Dr Dre – California Love

Heard this on the Nixtape last Friday and was reminded of what an absolute tune it is. SO catchy and just an all-round awesome hiphop track.

8) Counting Crows & Vanessa Carlton – Big Yellow Taxi

I know this is going to be controversial but I actually prefer this version to Joni Mitchell’s original. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Joni Mitchell and her version is obviously great but I love this interpretation more. It was fantastically adapted for the 21st Century and I love its pop-rock feel. Vanessa Carlton’s little ad libs and backing vocals make it even sweeter. One of the greatest covers of a song ever.

9) Babyface – Shower the people

I’ve always adored Babyface as a writer and equally, I have loved his solo career. His cover of James Taylor’s ‘Fire and rain’ is one of my favourite songs/covers ever. This is another cover of a James Taylor track off the same album on which Babyface covers his favourite songs. This is a song I managed to miss but it’s so beautiful. The original is just as great but Babyface’s harmonies and interpretation is smooth, sophisticated and fantastic. Can’t get enough of this right now.

10) Rizzle Kicks – Tell her

Love these lads – their energy, charisma and their uniqueness. This song is so catchy, something very 1970’s about it. Awesome song.

 

Music Monday – Volume Twenty-One

MarcyB0yLeave a comment

1)      Beady Eye – The morning son

So dreamy and such a beautiful song. Liam Gallagher is awesome.

2)      The 1975 – Intro/Set3

Understated opening track to their ‘Sex’ EP. Smooth and jittery, building up to an awesome R&B track. Got a great groove and some sick beats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0FT-11F6Ro

3)      Take That – Today I’ve lost you

Somehow this beautiful and underrated track managed to escape my iTunes. After coming across it again on Spotify, I have fallen head over heels back in love with it again. It’s so soft, so stunning and Gary Barlow’s vocals are silky smooth. A perfect Barlow-ballad.

4)      Pharrell Williams – Fun, fun, fun

Pharrell is just a genius. After watching ‘Despicable Me’ I was reminded of what a truly great, uplifting song this is. The harmonies are amazing and I love the summery, happy feel of the song.

5)      S Club Juniors – Automatic High

Massive guilty pleasure – both the pop-group and the song! Reminds me of being very young. Irresistibly catchy.

6)      Prince – Better with time

Such a beautiful, romantic little song.

(Not available to share due to Prince being highly irritating and not allowing much of his music to be on YouTube)

7)      David Archuleta – Crush

Someone reminded me of this song again recently and how damn good it is! Reminds me of being fourteen and listening to it over and over again. Bit of cheesy pop at its best. Lyrics are easy to relate to. One of the best chorus’ in a pop song ever.

8)      Kelly Rowland – Daylight

Really underrated Kelly track. So damn catchy and uplifting.

9)      Stardust – Music sounds better with you

Bloody repetitive but SO damn good. Catchy as hell. One of the best dance tracks ever released.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwv-3cM2pVk

10)   MN8 – Dreaming

One of the soppiest, cheesiest but most beautiful romantic songs by a boyband ever. Not many would be familiar with this song but it’s gorgeous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiXEmR8_skI

Music Monday – Volume Nineteen

MarcyB0yLeave a comment

1)      The Jacksons – 2300 Jackson Street

A little-known single released by The Jacksons in 1989 when Michael had left the band. This album was pretty underrated in my opinion. It’s a shame it didn’t fare better in the charts. This is a gorgeous song that Michael contributed vocals to and it’s so soulful & smooth.

2)      Samantha Ronson – Built this way

Yes, I watched Mean Girls & this played pretty much all the way through so I kinda found myself liking it!

3)      Fat Larry’s Band – Zoom

So summery. Love this.

4)      Fleetwood Mac – Sara

God, I love Fleetwood Mac! Stevie Nicks’ voice is divine and this is an amazing song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHJb87nNsGY

5)      Fleetwood Mac – Family Man

Catchy as hell, this is an awesome song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeIwuyCGhQc

6)      Robbie Williams – Monsoon

A shamefully honest song that could be written and performed by no-one else other than Mr Robbie Williams. Such a powerful, awesome song.

7)      Robbie Williams – Feel

Hauntingly beautiful – that piano introduction and the lyrics are just beautiful. “Come and hold my hand, I wanna contact the living” – what a line. One of the best lyrics ever written.

8)      The Vamps – Somebody to you

The more I hear by The Vamps, the more I love them. Love this song.

9)      Queen & David Bowie – Under Pressure

I watched the 1998 movie ‘Stepmom’ with Julia Roberts the other day and this song was played in the opening segment. One of my favourite Queen tracks, with that irresistible bass line (years before it was nicked by Vanilla Ice) and a fantastic duet between two amazing singers – Freddie Mercury & David Bowie.

10)   Thomas Newman – Any other name

‘American Beauty’ is one of my favourite films of all time and part of what makes it so appealing for me is Thomas Newman’s hauntingly beautiful score. ‘Any other name’ is a piece of music commonly played in media and it’s just stunning. One of my favourite pieces of music ever produced.

Music Monday – Volume Eighteen

MarcyB0yLeave a comment

1)      Michael Jackson – Cry

One of Michael’s more understated and underrated tracks. Written by R.Kelly, this was the second and final single off what was to become MJ’s final studio album in his lifetime, 2001’s ‘Invincible’. It’s one of my favourite MJ songs and it’s such an uplifting beautiful track. In the same vein as ‘Man in the mirror’ and ‘Heal the world’, it’s an inspiring change-the-world song.

2)      Ed Sheeran – Afire love

This is so beautiful it’s unreal. Fell in love with this upon hearing it on the radio the other day. Ed is such an incredibly talented guy.

3)      Ed Sheeran – Bloodstream

‘X’ is an amazing album. I really love this track. It’s a little dark but it’s catchy. Interesting that Rudimental was involved in the creation of this track.

4)      Mark Morrison –Return of the Mack

An absolute classic. Heard it on the radio and was reminded what an awesome tune this is!

5)      Raleigh Ritchie – Stronger than ever

Love this. So powerful and emotive.

6)      Michael Jackson- Man in the mirror

Classic Michael Jackson song. I always loved it but the fact on the day of his death, this was being played everywhere, this song now has an even deeper meaning for me. Beautiful lyrics and a beautiful song.

7)      United we stand – What more can I give

Between 1999 and 2002, Michael Jackson organised an almost Part 2 of USA for Africa (who achieved major chart success in 1985 with ‘We are the world’.) Michael was inspired to write the song after meeting President Nelson Mandela in the last 90’s and was originally rumoured to perform it live at some of his concerts. The song was pushed aside, however, until the 2001 9/11 terrorist attacks. Encouraged by a friend, Michael re-wrote the song and selected a team of A-list artists to contribute to the project. Artists such as Beyonce, Nsync, Celine Dion, Usher, Luther Vandross, Anastasia amongst others contributed vocals towards this incredibly beautiful song. They also performed it live at 2002’s ‘United We Stand’ charity performance. Ultimately, the song was never fully released as a singe. It’s a terrible shame when it’s such an incredible song.

8)      Blackstreet – Joy

An idea by Michael Jackson sparked this track off. Teddy Riley (producer of Michael’s Dangerous album) then took this idea and turned it into a full-blown song with his band Blackstreet. I love how smooth and soulful this is.

9)      Beady Eye – Kill for a dream

Beautiful little song. Love Beady Eye.

10)   Beady Eye – Soon come tomorrow

A haunting, dreamy little song. Great song.

Music Monday – Volume Seventeen

MarcyB0yLeave a comment

1)      Beady Eye – For anyone

Love the simplicity and the old-school feel to this song. It’s so Beatle-esque and it’s just a fantastic song.

2)      Oasis – Cast No Shadow

Beautiful little song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6thmKcSRwc

3)      Ellie Goulding – I’ll hold my breath

Really, really love this. ‘Lights’ is an incredible album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fd3PwRJmbY

4)      Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Stop the clocks

This is almost like a Part 2 to ‘Champagne Supernova’. Great ending track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJTnP6ylTK8

5)      Phil Collins – You’ll be in my heart

One of my favourite of Phil’s amazing collection of songs. The perfect ending to the ‘Tarzan’ movie and a truly beautiful song. One of the greatest love songs ever written.

6)      All Saints – Pure Shores

I watched ‘The Beach’ (the movie in which this song is included) and fell in love with this song all over again. SO summery.

7)      Take That – The Garden

One of Take That’s finest songs of their career. It’s a beautiful, inspiring song and it’s lovely to hear all the boys have lead vocals on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKNzxG5CXdM

8)      Robbie Williams – Me and my monkey

Robbie’s lyrics have always been some of the best and this song features storytelling as its finest. Very clever lyrically and a fantastic song overall. ‘Escapology’ was an incredible moment in Robbie’s career.

9)      Ellie Goulding – This love will be your downfall

Another fantastic, well-produced track from Ellie’s ‘Lights’ album.

10)   Ellie Goulding – The Writer

I’ve always loved this song. It’s truly beautiful and it’s one of her most underrated songs in my opinion. Great to play on the piano.

Music Monday – Volume Sixteen

MarcyB0yLeave a comment

1)      Drake & Alicia Keys – Fireworks

Not a massive fan of Drake but I really love this song. Pretty dark but nice and emotive. Love Alicia Keys too, very talented.

2)      Snoop Dogg – Different Languages

Found this in a Summer playlist and have been really enjoying it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xl9SZ7laT8

3)      Passion Pitt – Sleepyhead

So damn catchy.

4)      Le Youth – Cool

Heard this at a party once and fell in love. Ridiculously catchy.

5)      Oasis – Champagne Supernova

Heard a cover of this by The Pretty Reckless in Radio 1’s live lounge and really enjoyed it. Then checked out the original and haven’t stopped listening to it since. Amazing song. One of the best closing tracks to an album ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3C7DECI0jU

6)      Lana Del Rey –West coast

Love how dreamy this is. Bits of it remind me of ‘Pure Shores’ by All Saints – another amazing summer track.

7)      Ella Henderson – Ghost

A pleasant surprise by a former X Factor contestant. Amazing, catchy song co-written by one of my favourite songwriters, OneRepublic front man, Ryan Tedder.

8)      Arctic Monkeys – Snap out of it

Love the feel of this track.

9)      Example- Stay with me

SO 90’S, SO GOOD.

10)   Oasis – Don’t go away

I’d never heard this before but I have fallen head over heels in love with it. SO beautiful.

Music Monday – Volume Fifteen

MarcyB0yLeave a comment

1)      Sam Smith – Restart

SO catchy. I have no idea why this is only available on the deluxe edition because it’s probably my highlight of the album.

2)      Darius – Maliblue

I found this in someone’s summer playlist on Spotify. A really catchy electro track.

3)      Ella Henderson – Ghost

Heard this on the radio the other day and loved it. Had no idea who it was until Grimmy mentioned after and it was a pleasant surprise! I always liked Ella on the X Factor but wasn’t sure if she’d go anywhere after the show. This is easily one of the best songs around at the moment so she’s heading in the right direction! Co-written by one of my favourite songwriters, OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder.

4)     Laura Mvula – She

LOVE this. The harmonies are gorgeous and it’s just a very powerful, beautiful song.

5)      Alexia Keys & John Mayer – Lesson learned

Beautiful song by two very talented artists. Very chilled out.

6)      Peter Andre – I feel you

Bit of 90’s cheese. I know he’s not liked by any but I really like him as a person and as an artist. Love this soppy ballad 🙂

7)      Matt Cardle – It’s only love

This man is so bloody underrated. Such a talented guy. Really love this song.

8)      Kelly Rowland – Can’t nobody

Bit of a throwback. Really love how catchy this is.

9)      Usher – Good kisser

So damn catchy. Love those dreamy harmonies!

10)   Laura Mvula – Yellow

The original by Coldplay is one of my favourite songs of all time. I love Laura Mvula and I found her performance of this the other day on YouTube and fell in love with her all over again. One of the most talented women to emerge from the UK in years. Stunning piano-vocal version of a beautiful song. Some of those chords give me goosebumps!