Chart Championship Week 5 RESULTS

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Here's lisa_go_blind's verdict. Before that, though, a reminder to get your tracks in for this week - I've been very busy so I don't know who has or who hasn't, it feels like we're about halfway there.

Updates on this in a couple of hours. Without further ado:

"Thanks everyone for choosing so well! I'm relieved that I didn't have to slog through any 8-minute droning instrumentals and that I only knew one track already ("Break-A-Way"). Even the bottom-ranked ones weren't horrible. My top 3 and bottom 2 were the easiest to determine, but a lot of the middle ones could have gone either way. It was interesting to see what players picked up in my intro – lots of organ, for example, but no samples as far as I could tell, and not much to dance to. Still, I really appreciated listening to the mix and finding lots of interesting new stuff.

01. Ananda Shankar - "Streets Of Calcutta". This is a really cool, Indian-influenced instrumental. I especially love the drums at the opening. Instrumentals aren't usually my thing, but this one is so dynamic and has so many interesting components that I don't miss lyrics or vocals at all. A solid win. 4th place - WIN: infov0re starting to find some form.

02. Hugo Montenegro - "Moog Power". A '60s garage-soul instrumental that sounds kind of like a lost TV theme. It's not a bad track at all, but coming right after the other instrumental, it's a bit of a letdown. I particularly like the horns and the drum solo at the end. I could see myself playing this track for fun, but unfortunately the highest I can rank it is 7th place. - LOSE: narrow defeat for unlucky epicharmus

03. Etienne Daho - "La Premier Jour" The first of the two French songs on the mix. This one is sung by a man, and sounds rather recent. It's a pleasant enough song to listen to, but I can't seem to remember it at all when it's not playing. As a result, I don't really have much to say about it. 9th place - LOSE: drab performance by blue_russian's boys.

04. AFI - "Miss Murder (Broken Spindles Mix)". Based on the opening, I thought this would be my first place – then the vocals came in. First, I was just irritated at their over-processed and fractured nature, but around the third or fourth listen I realized, oh no, it's emo. If it weren't for the "Tainted Love"-derived opening and the "hey!" backing vocals, this song would be unlistenable. 10th place - LOSE: another misfiring display by under-pressure piratemoggy.

05. The Aphrodisiacs - "The Hour Is Late But Please Consider": This sounds like a British (?) Postal Service. I actually think the chorus is kind of pretty, but I'm a little tired of sensitive male vocals over an IDM backdrop. I prefer my electronica to be either experimental or dancey. Given another set of songs, this might have scraped a win, but as it stands I'll give it 8th place. - LOSE: unlucky loss heaps pressure on byebyepride.

06. The Charlatans - "Weirdo": Well, this song grew on me. The first couple of times, it sounded like an Inspiral Carpets/Happy Mondays pastiche but without being as good as either. There's much to be said for its catchiness, though, as I found myself mentally replaying it over and over. The song feels like it's missing a big chorus or something, but I do dig the organ solo at the end. 3rd place - WIN: persistent play pays off for lockedintheatti.

07. Irma Thomas - "Break-A-Way": This is "Break-A-Way" by fellow Louisiana gal Irma Thomas. Interestingly, this song features on the same Rhino boxed set as the Dawn track I submitted a few weeks ago. While this isn't my favorite Irma song (that would probably be "Ruler of My Heart"), it is one of her most fun. I love the versions by Jackie DeShannon and Tracey Ullman as well. 2nd place - DRAW - a precious point for martinskidmore but the performance deserved all 3.

08. Sing-Sing - "Feels Like Summer": This track reminded me of a cross between Mazzy Star and The Cardigans. It's a '60s throwback, but manages to sound more modern than musty. The female vocals here are gorgeous, and I love the guitar and xylophone as well. The bridge is a little weak, but the song still sounds like the most "complete" of the mix. – 1st place - WIN: skillextric reclaims top spot after thumping win.

09. Patrick Wolf - "Get Lost": Instant demerit for starting off sounding exactly like my alarm clock. I'll freely admit that I love indie, but this sounds like an amalgamation of the worst indie excesses of the past few years, while at the same time trying to be pop. Even then, it's not a truly bad track, and I might like another song by the same artist. As it is, though, this one just doesn't appeal to me. 11th place - LOSE - shock heavy defeat for poptasticuk from title rival.

10. Khun Paw Yann - "Title Unknown 1": This was the track that grabbed me the most on my first listen. It's an interesting look at how American psychedelic rock translated to other cultures. I don't know what language this is in, but it reminds me of Brazilian Tropicália. I'm curious as to what the lyrics are about, because the music sounds so dark and desolate. A beautiful, haunting song. 5th place - WIN - confident win sees koganbot climb table.

11. Brigitte Bardot - "Oh! Qu'il est vilain" Yé-yé with bongos, an out-of-tune recorder and weird sound effects. The singer sounds very familiar, but I can't place her. I don't have much else to say about the song, except that it's a lot of fun. 6th place - WIN - jeff_worrell sneaks fortunate win.

Comments

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

a-r-g-h

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Yer doing better than me, if it helps. Mind you, so is everyone but NEVERMIND, playing to win is for megalomaniacs and Michael Schumacher etc.

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

Quite disappointing to have people just dismiss stuff you really quite like. Perhaps I should've done the English-language female version. I thought there was a sunshiney 60s vibe that would go over well here.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

The thing that stuck me about it is how very very easily I could tell who'd written it! (OK yes the "composer" tag on the original MP3 gave it away). I've really gone off St Etienne, or later St Et, recently, so that marked it down a bit for me.

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

More perceptive than me, I guess. I started to watch Etienne Daho as a result of the StEt collab (which I actually hated - He's on the Phone is about my least favorite track by them), but never felt particularly passionate about him.

Then I saw the video for that song, well, whenever it came out, and immediately loved it. But it was only a year or two ago that I realized that it was actually a cover of a Sarah Cracknell solo song (co-written with someone who was later in Republica!)

Your comment is interesting because it suggests how important Crackers actually is to the Et concept, if you can hear it with completely different lyrics and with no composition/arrangement at all by Stanley/Wiggs...

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

I liked it, much more than any other Daho I've heard (which erm is admittedly only that Reserection EP he did with Saint Et).

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I think when I started the LoP I underestimated this element - how disappointing rejection of a favourite track is. I think on the whole it makes it a better game than a worse, harsh though it can be on the losers. Future players will be duly warned, I suppose!

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

I factored this in right from the start. I would never have dared to submit that Ananda Shankar track for example, much as I love it.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Yours is Sing-Sing right? Which was either #8 or #9 from memory. #8 I think. In which case, you got 1st place!

[infov0re.livejournal.com]

Well, that paid off.

[byebyepride.livejournal.com]

I haven't been able to work out anything from people's introductory blurbs, as far as I can tell. From now on I'm going to change tactics, send people music they OUGHT to like rather than things I think they might like. Then if they don't like them I KNOW it's their fault!! ;-)

Mine was the one that sounds like 'the Postal Service', but I have no idea who the Postal Service are!! I think I'd describe this as 'indie' rather than 'electronica', and it's the last local band I made a point of going to see.

Anyway, as what Americans would call a college professor I think I'm entitled to be totally out of touch with the outside world so the fact that I am crashing and burning in the Chart Championship I shall wear as a badge of pride...

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

It does sound a lot like the Postal Service when they've been reswizzled to move at above 3bpm (eg: John Tejada remix of 'Such Great Heights' (http://music.download.com/postalservice/3600-8591_32-100356695.html)) although your track is also rather better than them usually (IMO, although that's possibly because the Postal Service compare so unfavourably with better counterpart DNTEL) and the vocalist is a lot nicer than BlokeoutofDeathCabForCutie that the 'Service use.

[koganbot]

Alex, I went as much on the basis of what Sally'd submitted previously (ESG, Magnetic Fields, Dawn) than the writeup; I thought they showed her as exploratory and experimental while still adoring '60s pop forms, so I assumed she'd like Burmese psychedelia.

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

I am kind of doing the same thing now.

I actually found this week the most pop (albeit of a bleepy-blurpy variety) of all weeks thus far. But I usually only do a quick cursory listen before tracks and artists are identified.

[byebyepride.livejournal.com]

no. 4 is totally Emo, isn't it? From the vocals, it sounds like Panic At the Disco to me.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

It's extremely emo, yes. It's kind of depressing how emo it is, in fact, although the band always were really. It's also actually a remix.

It was, of course, me. My team was sleep-deprived and in tears at the time of sending so couldn't really be held responsible but it's the sort of performance I've come to expect from them :D

[koganbot]

Well, they'd have gotten my vote, if that's any consolation. (Of course, I like the recent Fall Out Boy and Good Charlotte, so anything I say is questionable.)

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Recent Good Charlotte's goodness frightens me. The whole album's really great and it has this brilliant 'IN UR FAICE, HILARITY' thing about going out and forgetting a recent breakup which is like 'Discotech' by Young Love times a million.

AFI's recent badness also frightens me, although I really like that remix, obvously, to have submitted it. I actually really wanted to submit the track on this (http://www.myspace.com/blaqkaudio), which is an AFI sideproject of some kind but I can't get hold of an mp3 of it. Also I doubt it would have fared a lot better but I've started just sending stuff I really enjoy. :D

[koganbot]

Haven't heard the Good Charlotte alb, but I like the first two singles a lot. Interestingly, from what I've seen so far, the reviewers are murdering it, and these are smart reviewers (I go into this a bit on the teenpop thread): Kelefa Sanneh called it inept in the New York Times, and Mordy attacked its misogyny in the Village Voice. But then, people's reaction to "Keep Your Hands Off My Girl" seems to be "Why do these doofuses think they can do hip-hop and bling," when the song is so obviously HARD ROCK. Jeez.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I keep meaning to write about 'Good Morning Revival' but haven't quite done it yet. It's annoying it's being murdered because whilst Good Charlotte are quite capable of criminal musical behaviour, they do also know how to write a bloody good disco tune and they're fundamentally just a ridiculous party band, for all the angst. They are inept, it's true but that's part of the charm, really, after so many years of it.

I concur re: 'Keep Your Hands Off My Girl;' it's just nu metal, innit? Yeah, it's pretty silly but considerably less so than, say, 90% of Nine Inch Nails' back catalogue (although that is silly by virtue, being industrial) and it doesn't approach the stupidity of Limp Bizkit or even Linkin Park's new horrible single.

Either all that or I've just concluded that if Joel Madden's good enough for Hilary Duff I shouldn't be so picky, etc. etc.

[koganbot]

Well, now he's good enough for Nicole Richie, if that influences your opinion one way or another.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Oh shit was I meant to get my comments to you today? I've basically done them and can get them to you tonight, they just seemed a bit clumsily worded as I was nodding off at 11pm last night...

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

No don't worry, I just put them up when I get them - deadline is Friday but obviously if I get them for tomorrow it will get more responses cos of the bank holiday.

Irma Thomas

[koganbot]

Irma's original teen version of "Ruler Of My Heart" is one of the sweetest and most fetching song I've ever heard; definitely in my all-time top 100. An interesting thing about "Break-A-Way" is that the music's not quite in tune, and this actually seems to enhance the song's expressiveness. I say the music's not quite in tune, rather than Irma's not in tune, since it sounds as if there's a mismatch, instruments not all being tuned quite together, so the voice and instruments seem a bit off in relation to each other. Sounds as if she (her producer, whoever) was listening to both girl group and early Motown on this one (rather than the New Orleans style); somehow being out of tune was both frequent and effective (or at least not harmful) in that genre, I'm not sure why: hard loud rock can handle off-pitch vocals, soul and balladry usually less so; the out-of-tuneness on the first track on the Lex League Of Pop mix (it's a house diva track) bothers me a lot. Of course the diva is way off in that one. Ronnie Spector never had perfect pitch, and Shirley of the Shirelles could sometimes miss by miles, and they made some of my favorite music ever.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Whew, scraped a win - but only thanks to Sally already knowing the Irma Thomas one.

I'm pleased Ananda Shankar got a win. Best thing here by a gazillion miles. I take Sally's point that after that masterpiece, "Moog Power" can sound a little underwhelming. I still think it's ace though. I was playing the whole Moog Power LP again this morning! I'm dying to know who picked these two tracks. I'm guessing blue_russian chose the Montenegro...

[infov0re.livejournal.com]

So it was a bit of an arbitrary choice by me, but it's a track I love, and it's got that dancey/noisey/grungey/sounds-like-a-sample vibe but is actually just a straight up old record. The texture of it, all the contrasting culture caught up in the instruments, is just so rich. Feels very dusty, too. And yet... it's just so _danceable_.

Anyhow, glad it went down so well, and glad you approved.

[koganbot]

Not counting my own choice (Track Ten, from the wilds of eastern Burma; I have no idea what the fellow is saying) my winners would have been Track Eight (something unexpected in its chord patterns that still end up sounding very right) and Track Seven (Irma); haven't had time to think my way beyond those two, however. There's a tendency towards novelty and feyness in some of the others that I found a bit annoying, though actually in general I have noting against either the novel or the fey.

[koganbot]

I'd also have given a win to piratemoggy's "emo" track (seems true to its New Romantic arrangement; the emoesque melody fits well; I've never heard the Rites Of Spring, so I don't really know what actual emo was sounding like in the "Tainted Love" era).

[koganbot]

And to finish off I'd probably have given hesitant wins to Brigette (I want to gag on the cuteness, but underlying it is a nice melody and a nice gentleness in her voice when she's not going "coo coo coo") and Ananda Shankar (too quirky but strong on the rhythm). Draw might have gone to the Charlatans.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Yes, if it had been your week as home player (say), I would have selected a very different Bardot song* - something tougher, less cutesy e.g. "Le diable est anglais" from the same EP as this song comes from. But I remembered lisa_go_blind saying she liked my Bananarama song from last week, so I figured something this fluffy would probably pay off... which it did, just.

*if BB songs were all I had to hand obv

[koganbot]

I find that I'm totally predictable in my own mind but unpredictable in everyone else's. For instance, my favorite Boney M song is "Hurray! Hurray! It's A Holi-Holiday" and I love Xuxa's "Tindolele," which I suppose is what you'd expect from someone who put the Sex Pistols' "Bodies" and "Anarchy In The U.K." on the turntable every day from 1978 to 1985; but I can't say those two (the Boney M and the Xuxa) avoid the cutes. More like they dive head first into them. But with straightforward dignity! Dignified cutesiness.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

My wins wd have been, in order:

Ananda Shankar (first by a mile), Brigitte, Irma, Patrick W, Khun Paw

Draw for Hugo M

Charlatans leading the losing pack, but I knew them anyway.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I might go back and change my Patrick Wolf vote in JUDGE POP as I liked this one quite a bit.

[poptasticuk.livejournal.com]

Phew, I'm glad someone did!

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

It was great, possibly my favourite in fact. I knew it was Patrick Wolf straight away, but hearing it reminded me why I really must go out and buy the new album straight away as I still haven't heard it.

[poptasticuk.livejournal.com]

Hooray! I am relying on you to propel me to the top of the league table when it's your week, Mr Attic.

[poptasticuk.livejournal.com]

Oh no! I had a bad feeling about this one. Should have played it more safe :(

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

Damn, a draw. I thought that was a good bet not to be known. It's not my favourite Irma track either, by a good way, but I do love it - she is my favourite female singer ever - and I plan to play it at Poptimism on Friday.