Chart Championship Week 1 RESULTS

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

As before, check back later (say 1.30?) for revelations. Eagle-eyed viewers may notice that I've made adjustments to the scoring (middle place=draw; unsubmitted tracks count as lowest placings in this reckoning, because otherwise the 6th place track is losing a point purely because somebody else did not submit). Over to Martin!

"01 Neko Case - "Set Out Running": I'm not sure, but I think this is Neko Case. I love it - powerfully and beautifully sung old-fashioned country music. Why do I not own ANY of her albums? I'll remedy this. 1st Place - WIN: skillextric gets his tactics spot on for decisive victory.

02: 3LW - "More Than Friends (That's Right)": Lovely teen pop-R&B music of the younger end of the market - very cute, very catchy and danceable, if a touch derivative of all sorts of other people. Terrific. I think it's 3LW. 4th Place - WIN: Youthful line-up comes good for byebyepride.

03: Yummy Bingham - "You Ain't Ready": I like this too - bright and crunchy-electro R&B sounds. I feel like I ought to know who it is, but I don't. 3rd Place - WIN: jeff_worrell records crisp win.

04: Yma Sumac - "Malambo No.1": Immensely annoying to the point of unlistenability: music that should be behind a "they're jungle fresh" jingle with some woman singing in an operatic voice and screeching, plus another growling voice, probably from the same person. Appalling. 10th Place - LOSE: crushing defeat means early-season pressure for lockedintheatti.

05: Carlinhos Brown - "Quixabeira": Sadly there was an album tag of some sort left on this one, so I know it's by Brazilian singer Carlinhos Brown - I wouldn't have known otherwise, and I wasn't familiar with him. The music sounds too busy most of the time for his sweetly gentle voice, but both parts are likeable. 6th Place - DRAW: honours even for blue_russian.

06: Dykehouse - "Chainsmoking": From someone who doesn't know me very well, I suspect - indie, not the worst I've heard by a long way, but still not remotely to my tastes. 9th Place - LOSE: piratemoggy's tactics not quite gelling.

07: ESG - "Dance": Almost a Motowny opening, then vaguely funky and weakly sung indie. They have a very good bassist, but I'm not terribly taken with anything else here. 7th Place - LOSE: flair players can't do the job for lisa_go_blind.

08: Claude Ely - "Aint No Grave That Can Hold My Body Down": Old-fashioned-sounding country gospel yelling (I know the original of the song by the very great Rosetta Tharpe, from 1947). It's more than fine with me, quite rousing, though nothing terribly special - it's hard to follow such a great singer and guitarist. 5th Place - WIN: epicharmus grinds out a narrow result.

09: SHE - "Superstar": Big modern euro (or maybe eurovision) rocking. I can't even identify the language (except the odd line in English, obviously), far less the act. It's okay, but it does nothing for me. 8th Place - LOSE: poor start to the campaign for poptasticuk.

10: Taylor Swift - "Should've Said No": Country again, female voice, leaning a little too much to AOR but otherwise very good indeed. Is it Taylor Swift? I reviewed a single by her recently for Stylus, and it's very like her. 2nd Place - WIN: caretaker manager steers anthonyeaston's side to a win.

Comments

[koganbot]

Ha! With performers revealed, TRACK SEVEN does turn out to be indie after all, though "indie" as in out-of-left-field rather than "indie" as in "part of indie culture."

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

ESG are very much part of British indie culture - what with releasing a record on Factory in that label's heyday. (Also 99 Records were seen here as a very hip indie.) Soul Jazz, their current home, is also part of a very "indie" organisation, in the pre-C86 sense of the term.

[koganbot]

You're right. And ESG were part of downtown NY indie culture too; I guess what I mean is that they're not from indie culture (except that may not be altogether true, either). But then, Yma Sumac is now part of indie culture, given who's likely to listen to her these days. Nancy Sinatra is part of indie culture (though she's also part of hip-hop culture, thanks to Kill Bill, which managed to cross to both). Loretta Lynn and Johnny Cash are part of indie culture (which doesn't preclude their being part of other cultures, as well). In the U.S. Robyn is part of indie culture, grime is part of indie culture. (Don't think "indie" is the right word, since poptimists can link it to tightly to "indie rock," and therefore decide that it doesn't apply to themselves; in my book I used "PBS" as my metaphor for the whole postpunk indie-alternative-fanzine network c. 1987 [don't know if the metaphor translates to British; obv. it needs a British equivalent to PBS if there is one], which of course was appreciative of some pop of the past and lots of stuff of the present that wasn't punk-derived if it could be conceived of as "outsider" in some way. Also I did and do consider myself (and do consider poptimists) part of PBS, even if I hope that I (and we) can avoid some of the shutdown that caused me to label the thing PBS in the first place. But then, I haven't totally nailed down what I mean by PBS - I had the metaphor playing a couple of different roles.)