The Pop World Cup: Group F
Feb. 22nd, 2006 12:35 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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poptimistsWhen the Pop World Cup draw was made, many pundits had it marked as a potential Group Of Death, which was likely to provide some of the most exciting and intriguing matches of the group stage. Will it live up to its billing? You decide, as pop giant Japan tries to fight its way through a group whose managers promise sexy football, silky skills and dazzling team play. I suspect this one will be very close...
You can find all PWC entries here. If you can't download or are having trouble let me know either in the comments box or at freakytrigger@gmail.com.
So are here the four Group E contenders, with exclusive team talks from their managers.
Australia
The Presets - "The Girl And The Sea (Cut Copy Remix)": Enthusiastic manager![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
catsgomiaow told us "Two of Australia's finest purveyors of laidback electronic pop come together to form a team whose silky and hypnotic style of play will, we hope, confuse and baffle their opponents. As team manager, I'm pleased to say that these lads have entirely eschewed the traditional Aussie indie tactics of crunching guitars and screaming vocals - effective in the past, but rather too predictable to stand out on this varied stage - in favour of something entirely more subtle and slow-burning; the tortoise, we're hoping, to Japan's hare."
Brazil
Cansei De Ser Sexy - "Let's Make Love And Listen Death From Above": Cultured bossthenipper had this to say, "Just as, according to legend, all future Brazilian futebol stars are discovered playing on the beaches of Rio, easy-on-the-eye São Paolo avant-disco girl group Cansei de ser sexy ("Tired of being sexy") were discovered on the mp3 training grounds of Tramavirtual (http://www.tramavirtual.com.br). Their self-titled debut includes such classics as "Meeting Paris Hilton", "I wanna be your J-Lo" and "Alcohol" - but for the first round we have plumped for this awesome hymn to mad love, which will surely soon relegate the ropey rock duo to a curious footnote in the CSS story. Their pre-match preparations - "Wine, then bed, then more, then again!" - may raise eyebrows in the opposition camps, but we feel confident our girls will go all the way."
Croatia
Grupa 4'33" - "Ave Maria Laudata": Enigmatic gafferanatol_merklich let on that "The rumours that we have selected a squad named after a famous John Cage work (and a chorus possibly based on ancient plainchant) to pull in the all-important ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
sukrat vote are of course entirely unfounded. Rather, we have watched with bafflement other teams coming to the tournament with but a few, albeit renowned, participants, and decided that a full squad of twelve players with close to equal strength might have the depth for challenging the big names of our opponents.
Our style of play is partially inspired by that of the world-conquering, Michael Crétu-led German sides of the 80's and 90's, updated and complemented with a few of our own regional flourishes. They say knowing one's weaknesses is a strength -- we are confident our intricate midfield play will not only impress the casual spectator, but also dazzle our opponents enough to make up for a certain lack of firepower up front."
Japan
M-Flo Loves Crystal K - "Reeeewind!": Talented supremocis informed us "hey yo minna-san! 'Reeeewind!' was released in the hazy nostalgic days of 2003, one of a pair of collaborations between the wonderful Crystal Kay and the excellent m-flo. Despite what you might call a slow start, once it drops you'll recognise it as the perfect summer jam, a system-up-top-down smash that should breeze past any opposition with the classic m-flo combination of smooth charm and classy beats. DJ Taku on the decks, Verbal on the mic, and Crystal the new vocal: we like it!"
So how will matches be decided? HERE'S HOW.
You have 20 points to divide between the four teams, based on how much you enjoyed their tracks and on any other criteria you like.
No team can be given less than 1 point, no team can be given more than 10. If you fail to mark a team they will automatically get 5 points.
If that leaves a points total other than 20, or if you simply can't add up to 20, then the FIPA authorities will add or deduct points according to a highly complex system which can be explained in the pub by request.
Your votes should be in the following format:
"Australia - 5. Brazil - 5. Croatia - 5. Japan - 5."
With the "5"s replaced by the points you allot to each team.
You can submit votes in one of two ways. In the poll below, or by email to freakytrigger@gmail.com if you can't vote in LJ polls. Any votes in the comments box will be disqualified. Voting closes at midnight GMT on Monday.
The top two tracks, decided on total points, will go through to the next round. In the event of a tie the votes from the first 10 ballots received will be used to determine positions.
[Poll #677930]
Interim results up tomorrow - good luck one and all!
You can find all PWC entries here. If you can't download or are having trouble let me know either in the comments box or at freakytrigger@gmail.com.
So are here the four Group E contenders, with exclusive team talks from their managers.
Australia
The Presets - "The Girl And The Sea (Cut Copy Remix)": Enthusiastic manager
catsgomiaow told us "Two of Australia's finest purveyors of laidback electronic pop come together to form a team whose silky and hypnotic style of play will, we hope, confuse and baffle their opponents. As team manager, I'm pleased to say that these lads have entirely eschewed the traditional Aussie indie tactics of crunching guitars and screaming vocals - effective in the past, but rather too predictable to stand out on this varied stage - in favour of something entirely more subtle and slow-burning; the tortoise, we're hoping, to Japan's hare."Brazil
Cansei De Ser Sexy - "Let's Make Love And Listen Death From Above": Cultured boss
thenipper had this to say, "Just as, according to legend, all future Brazilian futebol stars are discovered playing on the beaches of Rio, easy-on-the-eye São Paolo avant-disco girl group Cansei de ser sexy ("Tired of being sexy") were discovered on the mp3 training grounds of Tramavirtual (http://www.tramavirtual.com.br). Their self-titled debut includes such classics as "Meeting Paris Hilton", "I wanna be your J-Lo" and "Alcohol" - but for the first round we have plumped for this awesome hymn to mad love, which will surely soon relegate the ropey rock duo to a curious footnote in the CSS story. Their pre-match preparations - "Wine, then bed, then more, then again!" - may raise eyebrows in the opposition camps, but we feel confident our girls will go all the way."Croatia
Grupa 4'33" - "Ave Maria Laudata": Enigmatic gaffer
anatol_merklich let on that "The rumours that we have selected a squad named after a famous John Cage work (and a chorus possibly based on ancient plainchant) to pull in the all-important sukrat vote are of course entirely unfounded. Rather, we have watched with bafflement other teams coming to the tournament with but a few, albeit renowned, participants, and decided that a full squad of twelve players with close to equal strength might have the depth for challenging the big names of our opponents.Our style of play is partially inspired by that of the world-conquering, Michael Crétu-led German sides of the 80's and 90's, updated and complemented with a few of our own regional flourishes. They say knowing one's weaknesses is a strength -- we are confident our intricate midfield play will not only impress the casual spectator, but also dazzle our opponents enough to make up for a certain lack of firepower up front."
Japan
M-Flo Loves Crystal K - "Reeeewind!": Talented supremo
cis informed us "hey yo minna-san! 'Reeeewind!' was released in the hazy nostalgic days of 2003, one of a pair of collaborations between the wonderful Crystal Kay and the excellent m-flo. Despite what you might call a slow start, once it drops you'll recognise it as the perfect summer jam, a system-up-top-down smash that should breeze past any opposition with the classic m-flo combination of smooth charm and classy beats. DJ Taku on the decks, Verbal on the mic, and Crystal the new vocal: we like it!"So how will matches be decided? HERE'S HOW.
You have 20 points to divide between the four teams, based on how much you enjoyed their tracks and on any other criteria you like.
No team can be given less than 1 point, no team can be given more than 10. If you fail to mark a team they will automatically get 5 points.
If that leaves a points total other than 20, or if you simply can't add up to 20, then the FIPA authorities will add or deduct points according to a highly complex system which can be explained in the pub by request.
Your votes should be in the following format:
"Australia - 5. Brazil - 5. Croatia - 5. Japan - 5."
With the "5"s replaced by the points you allot to each team.
You can submit votes in one of two ways. In the poll below, or by email to freakytrigger@gmail.com if you can't vote in LJ polls. Any votes in the comments box will be disqualified. Voting closes at midnight GMT on Monday.
The top two tracks, decided on total points, will go through to the next round. In the event of a tie the votes from the first 10 ballots received will be used to determine positions.
[Poll #677930]
Interim results up tomorrow - good luck one and all!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 12:59 pm (UTC)Cansei
Date: 2006-02-22 01:52 pm (UTC)Re: Cansei
Date: 2006-02-22 01:54 pm (UTC)Not on ILM I guess (yet).
Good find Stevie T!
Re: Cansei
Date: 2006-02-22 01:57 pm (UTC)Re: Cansei
Date: 2006-02-22 02:02 pm (UTC)Knowing 2 of the songs already is a first for me, by the way.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 01:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 01:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 01:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 01:22 pm (UTC)Initial Reactions
Date: 2006-02-22 01:22 pm (UTC)Brazil - One of the pleasures of the World Cup is seeing genuinely exciting new talents burst onto the world stage, and under the wise guidance of their experienced gaffer it looks like we're seeing that here. Somewhat similar in style to the ill-fated American team but the comparison would fail to take into account a vast gulf in class. Exciting, varied midfield play, talented strikers - even in a tough group this team will be able to produce some excellent football.
Croatia - Packing the defence and midfield and playing a by-now-familiar European long-bosh game, though this is not a crude team: it's capable of some very attractive, darting runs forward and is more skilful than it initially appears. Croatia can count themselves unlucky with this draw - they could have done very well in another group but I think their opponents here may be too slick for them.
Japan - Much-fancied team takes a while to find its rhythm, but when it does it shows every sign of being able to overwhelm most opposition with its combination of traditional attacking virtues and an impressive arsenal of tricks. I still feel that the team never quite hits top gear, but even in a good group they should do enough to qualify.
Re: Initial Reactions
Date: 2006-02-22 01:31 pm (UTC)Re: Initial Reactions
Date: 2006-02-22 01:33 pm (UTC)Re: Initial Reactions
Date: 2006-02-22 01:33 pm (UTC)Re: Initial Reactions
Date: 2006-02-22 01:38 pm (UTC)Re: Initial Reactions
Date: 2006-02-22 01:40 pm (UTC)Re: Initial Reactions
Date: 2006-02-22 01:39 pm (UTC)*cf j.johns/r.rauschenberg ect ect
Re: Initial Reactions
Date: 2006-02-22 01:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 01:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 01:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 02:00 pm (UTC)Excellent showing by Brazil and Japan - absolutely nothing between them as far as I can see. I will go as far as to say these are my two favourite PWC performances so far.
Australia committed and cerebral, but I don't think they've got enough answers for the scintillating opposition on this occasion.
Croatia look poorer by direct comparison but as Tom says they would've done better in a different group.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 02:14 pm (UTC)I like that both the Brazil and Japan tracks refer to 'calling it a comeback'.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 02:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 02:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 02:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 02:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 02:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 02:27 pm (UTC)(strictly speaking it's 'Crystal Kay' rather than 'Crystal K' but no worries.)
no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 02:37 pm (UTC)Tipping Brazil for the Golden
BootJewel Case...First thoughts
Date: 2006-02-22 07:38 pm (UTC)OK perhaps not all of you. But I have already saved Brazil and Australia for posterity (first time that's happened in the PWC so far).
Australia: lovely. Much prefer this to Cut Copy's own stuff. See Michael Mayer's Fabric 13 mix for more microgoth btw.
Brazil: for "ropey rock duo" in t'Nipper's team talk, "ropey production duo" would work much better I think! Whatever, this song is sure to feature in thousands of DO YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE? DJ mixes by the end of '06.
Croatia: this is how I wish Enigma (of "Sadeness" fame) had sounded. Not perfect but sure to get some points from me. Will need to hear again though before I decide how many.
Japan: took too long to get going but by the final minute, I was feeling it. Another one that may benefit from repeat plays. For now, though, my favourite moment was when Crystal K says "I was, like, [a load of Japanese]". Valley Girls everywhere take note, please.
Re: First thoughts
Date: 2006-02-22 10:42 pm (UTC)Re: First thoughts
Date: 2006-02-23 12:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 10:51 pm (UTC)Australia - This is what Italy SHOULD have played like. Shame about the lethargic useless Stephane Guivarch upfront. (Yes, I know he was French...)
Japan - Skeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel!
Croatia - They'd do alright at singing the national anthem, I suppose.