Music Monday – Volume Eighty Four

1) Rationale – Something for Nothing

Soulful R&B track featuring fluttering synthesisers, jittering guitars, broken samples and funky bass lines.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q79owpLDjo

2) Beachbaby – Sleeperhead

Energetic guitar-driven indie track from four-pieced band Beachbaby. It’s a moody but powerful track, integrating other genres such as shoegazing, Pop and post-punk.

3) Field Music – Disappointed

Low-key indie rock track from Sunderland band Field Music.

4) Walk The Moon – Avalanche

Energetic, catchy Pop-py track from US pop-rock band Walk The Moon. Indie-guitar riffs, synthpop synths and a driving beat makes it particularly reminiscent of the ’80’s and it works beautifully.

5) Travis Mills – Don’t Need Much

Dirty house track featuring little more than club beats, a funky bass lines and Mills’ rap. Incessantly catchy.

6) Craig David & Big Nastie – When The BassLine Drops

Craig David returns to his roots with this huge Garage track, aided by grime artist Big Nastie. It’s reminiscent of his 1999 début ‘Re-Rewind’ and is a welcome return for David after six years away from the music industry.

7) Selena Gomez – Hands to Myself

Saucy, steamy and sultry dance-pop track, reportedly inspired by Prince’s signature sound. Gomez whispers over minimalistic instrumentation comprised of little more than bouncy percussion, hand clips and tribal-pop elements.

8) Reba McEntire – Just Like Them Horses

Sweet piano-led Country ballad by American country music singer Reba McEntire from her twenty seventh album ‘Love Somebody’.

9) Nate Reuss – Take It Back

Gentle waltz-like ballad by Fun. frontman Nate Reuss. Dreamy, reserved with a delicate sprinkle of Reuss’ quirky, idiosyncratic vocals.

10) Walk off The Earth – Hold On (The Break)

Uplifting, inspiring and catchy Pop track from Canadian rock band Walk off the Earth. Ascending bass lines, clinking percussion and gorgeous layered harmonies result in an epic arena anthem.

Music Monday – Volume Seventy Seven

1) Troye Sivan – Wild

Incredibly catchy synthpop track featuring eerie electro elements and crashing percussion.

2) Troye Sivan ft. Broods – Ease

Another brilliant and sincere track from Troye Sivan.

3) Lucy Rose – Till The End

Strong 90’s vibes on this incessantly catchy track. Mirroring All Saints’ ‘Pure Shores’ with distorted trip-hop styled percussion, pretty piano riffs and funky guitars, it’s an awesome & uplifting track.

4) Jason Reeves – Back With Me

Gorgeous acoustic ballad.

5) Crissi Cochrane – Pretty Words

Gorgeous acoustic ballad with lovely Sara Bareillies/Christina Perri-like vocals.

6) Amelia Lily – You Bring Me Joy

Was reminded how awesome this track is at the gym the other day. Awesome and underrated pop-rock track.

7) Adele – When We Were Young

Gorgeous emotive ballad which completely blows ‘Hello’ out of the water.

8) Take That – Will You Be There For Me?

Gorgeous and vulnerable ballad from Take That’s re-packaged ‘III’ album. It carries an R&B-like vibe and is beautiful from start to finish.

9) Take That – Bird In Your Hand

Stunning synthpop ballad with lush layered harmonies and a gorgeous vocal performance from Mark Owen.

10) Troye Sivan – Fools

Brilliant pop track which opens tentatively with gorgeous piano chords before evolving into a jittery R&B track.

Music Monday – Volume Seventy Six

1) Grimes, Bleachers – Entropy

Impossibly catchy indie-pop track on which American indie-pop band Bleachers team up with Canadian singer-songwriter Grimes. Minimalistic instrumentation is coated with Grimes’ syrupy and melodic vocals.

2) One Direction – End of the Day

Euphoric arena anthem which remains loyal to the boyband’s signature sound. Awesome track.

3) One Direction – Love You Goodbye

One Direction ballads are always exceptional and this is no exception. Taken from the band’s final (at least for now) album ‘Made in the A.M.’, this is emotive and heartfelt with catchy ‘hey, hey, hey’s’ and gorgeous  weeping electric guitars. One of their best tracks.

4) One Direction – Long Way Down

Lovely, gentle acoustic-based track from ‘Made in the A.M.’ It’s one of the more reflective tracks and the Chorus is rather low-key but this is part of what makes it so endearing. In places it sounds rather like Lady Antebellum and these Country elements work beautifully.

5) One Direction – What a Feeling

One Direction channel Fleetwood Mac on this ’80’s synthpop-influenced pop track. It’s one of the stand-out moments from latest album ‘Made in the A.M’ with funky guitar riffs and gorgeous, rich layered harmonies.

6) Ben Haenow – All Yours

Brilliant euphoric pop from last year’s X Factor winner Ben Haenow.

7) Ben Haenow – Testify

Epic gospel-influenced track from Ben Haenow’s début album. The drum loop is fierce and the gospel choir adds an extra depth to the track. It’s the best track on the album and is crying out to be a single.

8) Ben Haenow – Greatest Mistake

One of the stronger tracks Ben Haenow’s début album. The Chorus is incredibly catchy and his raspy vocals sound fierce on it. Great track.

9) Justin Bieber – Company

Sultry and irresistibly catchy pop track with a funky bass line & elements of tropical house. Bieber at his best.

10) Justin Bieber – Been You

Bonus track on the deluxe version of Justin’s latest album ‘Purpose’. Incredibly catchy electropop-influenced track more than strong enough to have been included on the standard edition of the album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0Mi_wp3K3Q

 

Music Monday – Volume Sixty Seven

1) Take That – We Love to Entertain You

Electrifying and rousing stadium anthem that somehow managed to escape inclusion on an album. Whilst it did appear as a b-side to massive hit ‘Shine’ and was used in a German commercial, it was worthy of far more attention and credit. It’s a fitting tribute to fans; a sort of predecessor to ‘Hold Up A Light’, ‘Portrait’ and ‘I Like It’.

2) Beyonce – Love on Top

Funky and soulful R&B track; unbelievably catchy with an infectious melody and bouncy percussion. Highly influenced by 70’s disco tracks by Stevie Wonder and The Jackson Five, Beyonce braves FOUR key changes and blasts her powerhouse vocal effortlessly. One of her best.

3) Taylor Swift – Wildest Dreams

Miss Swift proves once again she is currently the biggest female Popstar in the world. Clearly influenced by the moody and breathy production Lana Del Ray is famous for, the chorus is unmistakeably Swift and the melody isn’t far removed from her signature Country-sound. A lovely track full of emotion, crashing beats and 80’s-esque synthesisers. Irresistible.

4) The Japanese House – Clean

Elusive and enigmatic act Amber Bain (better known as The Japanese House) released another enchanting track earlier this week, once again produced by Matty and George from The 1975. Full of twinkling bells, fizzy synths, distorted brass instruments and unsteady percussion, it’s beautifully endearing and cinematic.

5) Tame Impala – Yes I’m Changing

Aesthetic, downbeat and dreamy, this is another lovely moment from Tame Impala’s latest album ‘Currents’. Evidently influenced by ’80’s synthpop, it has a great bassline and hazy vocals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhlPXa6g4C8

6) Oasis – Half the World Away

Lovely acoustic ballad written and sang by Noel. Whilst never released on a studio album or as a single, this became well known for being used as the theme tune to the BBC Sitcom ‘The Royle Family’. It has also since been featured on two Oasis compilation albums.

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

7) The Blue Nile – Everybody Else

Whilst not the most recognised of bands, Glaswegian adult-alternative band The Blue Nile have received much critical acclaim and have gained a cult following over the years. They purposely never chased fame and are notable for their perfectionist approach to releasing music, releasing only four albums in a thirty four year career.

‘Everybody Else’ is a beautifully simplistic  track featuring only a strumming guitar, computerised percussion, sweeping synthesisers and Paul Buchannan’s melancholic but sincere vocals. It is the penultimate track on their final album to date, 2004’s ‘High’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQYn5WgvBqU

8) Kylie Minogue, Garibay and Shaggy – Black and White

Miss Minogue is back on form with this sultry and sensual club banger, produced by Fernando Garibay and featuring a rap by legendary Shaggy. It is a return to Kylie’s club roots after previous album ‘Kiss Me Once’ was a more R&B-led affair and was only a moderate success commercially.

9) Lawson – Love Is You

Lovely acoustic-based ballad by Lawson, released as a free download on their website just days ago. Andy Brown’s voice is sincere as always and the chorus is very pretty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFkw8v8eyvM

10) Duran Duran – Ordinary World

One of Duran Duran’s biggest hits, ‘Ordinary World’ launched the band back into the charts after a period of declining popularity in the early 1990’s. Written about front-man Simon Le Bon’s late friend David Miles, this became a huge hit around the world in December 1992. Emotive, powerful and dramatic, it is one of Duran Duran’s best works.