Pop Premiership Week 7 RESULTS

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Here's what braisedbywolves had to say. First off, a quick reminder to get your tracks in for this week! I will be sending out individual reminders tomorrow hopefully. Revelations at about 3-3.30 probably.

Over to Braised:

"I didn't really get much "OMG OMG What is this?" off anything here, though I'd definitely be up for more of 1st to 4th place. I'm not sure that I really made the best intoduction, there was at least one glaring omission (noted below), and I can see where I should have put "but only if it's good" at the end of some of my enthusiasms (or rather been more specific about what was good in them). Anyway, points for you lot:

01. Q and not U - "Wonderful People": Plinky post-punk guitars, silly falsetto, normal voice actually not so great, reaches for 'funk' a bit too much. I'll be amazed if I haven't heard this band before. 10th Place - LOSE - katstevens dragged back into relegation fight.

02. NIOWT - "City": It's Rihanna! No, it's some eastern-european-sounding lady (it took me some time to realise that she's actually singing in English), 'spooky' piano motif, general rattling swarm of semi-d'n'b high snares and guitars, and occasional boshing. I really like the kitchen-sinkness of it, but on the bits where she really kicks it up a notch, the rest of the track doesn't entirely rise to the occasion. 2nd Place - WIN - bengraham's busy squad wraps up bold victory.

03. Jeff Mills - "Step To Enchantment": Buh? The one glaring omission from my description (which might have given the people who actually know me an advantage) was Stuff What Boshes, but this just doesn't really go anywhere, for three and a half minutes. It's like someone had decided to make a dance remix of a microhouse track. Get 1x breaks! 11th Place - LOSE - dubdobdee gets his team selection badly wrong.

04. The Butterflies Of Love - "Take Action": Alt-country stuff here (my own fault, I should have made a list of what I didn't like as well), not bad slide into harmonies on the chorus. 8th Place - LOSE - strange_powers slips to first defeat of the season.

05. Number One Cup - "The Monkey Song": This starts off sounding like someone's specifically seized on the Weakerthans ref, which would be awesome. Short, exciting, xylophone solo! Lyrics aren't going to be scrawled on anyone's schoolbag, mind. 4th Place - WIN - a scrappy win for jel_bugle

06. Band Of Susans - "Ice Age": Oh, lovely proper indie! I not entirely sure I like this stuff any more. But I do love it. The longest track by a mile, lots of room for the guitars to stretch out. Not that I approve of that sort of thing, no no no (yes). 5th Place - WIN - xyzzzz_ stays in touch with the leaders after dogged win.

07. Fannypack - "Keep It Up": Ah, syncopation. Lots of stuff thrown in because it makes the track sound better, crowd noise (which should definitely been one of my five), tough girl-rapping over it, and a great breakdown. alexmacpherson, I suspect. 1st Place - WIN - dominant inhibitorylinks goes clear at top of table.

08. Mellowdrone - "Fashionable Uninvited": Hmm, this is some of the modern non-trendy sweeping indie, isn't it? I'd almost guess Keane if it weren't for the guitar. Maybe Muse, maybe a half dozen other bands I can't think of. I still like it more than I should, though points off for "this lovely song". 7th Place - LOSE - four defeats on the bounce leave fugitivemotel fans muttering.

09. Fiona Apple - "Get Him Back": It's the cockney PJ Harvey! I'm not entirely immune to it, it reminds me of some Michelle Shocked that I love, but the backing kind of throws me. Also I have now decided to compare it to Lush's Ladykillers, which does it no favours. 9th Place - LOSE - alexmacpherson's season blighted by inconsistency.

10. Lake And Cormega ft Greg Nice - "Don't Start": Like clever lyrics + not allergic to the hiphop = must like clever diss records, right? Right! This might actually have placed a spot or two higher if it was shorter, not much of crucial interest after the two-minute mark. 3rd Place - WIN - zenith's title challenge picks up steam.

11. Nina And Frederick - "Listen to the Ocean": Quite nice ancient track of the kind that you only ever heard ripped apart for samples these days, a nice low-key ender. This is quite separate from anything that I'd generally enjoy, it would probably score lower if there was a bumper crop of stuff in my comfort zone. 6th Place - DRAW - precious point moves hauntedballroom off foot of table.

Comments

[zenith.livejournal.com]

not much of crucial interest after the two-minute mark

I see what you mean, but you have to hold out for the classic "ending the song on the sound of gunshots which cut off what someone is saying" gimmick!

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Haha, a lose for me, but never mind because I love the song and it's been going round in my head most of the week.

[(Anonymous)]

I dunno which is mine! But, I'm sure I've lost! It was a Mountains Goat cover!

jel

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Another win for me (track 2). And I'm really impressed that you worked out that it's Eastern European even though she sings in English. They're actually a Slovenian band.

If it had been me...

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

I thought from Andrew's list of five fave things that our tastes didn't overlap much, so I wasn't expecting much from this bunch - and so it proved for the most part.

#7, #9, #11 stood out a mile as easy winners. Assuming #7 is not brand new, I wish I had heard it six months ago. If so, I probably wouldn't have rated "Get'cha Head In The Game" from HSM, which does the same basketball-FX-sample thing, quite so highly as I did at the time.

Not sure what else would get a win from me. (I wasn't at all keen on the rap track at #10, oddly.) I quite enjoyed the goth, flanged guitars of #6, simply because it's been so long since I've heard anything like it and the chords reminded me a bit of Alex Lifeson in Rush's 80s heyday.

Either #1 or #2 might scrape the final spot - most likely #1 although you can just tell the band are desperate for the DFA to notice them and remix them.

My thoughts

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

My thoughts:

Track 1 - Quite like this, apart from the bits where it goes a bit Scissor Sisters. WIN
Track 3 - Bosh, but boring bosh. LOSE
Track 4 - Alt-country... I like the backing vocals, but the song is a bit dreary. DRAW
Track 5 - Hehehe monkey in the basement, how did the monkey get there? Grebt. WIN
Track 6 - Dull nindie. Not my thing at all. LOSE
Track 7 - Sounds a bit like a brattish group of MIA clones, chorus doesn't really burst into life. DRAW
Track 8 - More interesting nindie. Perhaps something like Hope Of The States? WIN
Track 9 - PJ Harvey, as Andrew said! Failed to make much impression on me. LOSE
Track 10 - Slower rap, not a particularly impressive MC style. LOSE
Track 11 - Similar sort of style to the German war-song that dubdobdee submitted for my week. But this is a bit more playful, a bit more Lemon Jelly. I like this. WIN

DO NOT WANT

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

Oh craps! I lose for the first time.

[byebyepride.livejournal.com]

Track 7 is an odd choice from an album full of genius, but I know and love it already. I'm always surprised when other people haven't heard this act! A worthy winner.

Very 'meh' about everything else here. I quite like 10 -- sounds like a Wu Tang offshoot.

[koganbot]

Only heard once, just now, lots of pleasing new stuff, gotta type fast; TRACK SEVEN was on my album of the year for 2005 but it's one of my least favorite songs on it so I'm not sure it would get the draw. "Get off like a wedding gown" is one among many many great lines these girls (or the two guys who probably write most of their lyrics) come up with. If my votes actually counted I'd likely give it a win or draw but since not I'll leave the spot open for someone else.

Winners
--TRACK TWO: Gentle achy pop song w/ d'n'b'ish accoutrements pasted underneath, then noise breaks, then explorations leaving the song behind, which may be unfortunate 'cause I like the song, but deserves respect for its restlessness.
--TRACK TEN: Soul bass and rappers threatening murder. Crunkish content but the sound seems more northern. Gets to me.
--TRACK ONE: Funky w/ a voice halfway between glam and funk, which must mean it's British; so, vocals emotionally inexpressive but signify a nice swish. An unexpectedly meditative break that doesnt' lose the beat. Doesn't galvanize me, but nice.
--TRACK THREE: Functional darkly blippy electronic dance track.
--TRACK NINE: Strong-voiced pretentious full-of-shit debutante toughie; Fiona Apple type, faux circus cabaret. Not lacking in force.

Draw
TRACK FOUR: Alt something but not quite folky or country, has singer and lyrics that You Pay Attention To, but I'm managing not to. Nice ahs in the background turn me around to liking this, as does synth-orchestral break.

Leave others for my next post, most of 'em finishing in an enjoyable pack; this week is giving me an insight into how, for both better and worse, bohemian semipopular music is unsure of itself yet using the unsureness to go exploring.

[koganbot]

And the losers are...

(well, they're pretty interesting)

--TRACK ELEVEN: What the fuck? Roy Rogers and Dale Evans on a Hawaiian cruise that accidentally ends up in the Caribbean. I can't tell if this is neo or genuinely old. Also have no idea yet how good I'll think this is. (Like, last week's Utada song I had down in seventh place then couldn't stop playing it. Don't think this'll end up good as that, but you never know.)
--TRACK EIGHT: Attenuated, unhappy vocals that are strained when not being anorexic; I thought I was disliking this but then the whole thing builds into power.
--TRACK SIX: Slow, thick grinding guitar; the appeal seems very facile but I seem to be the one this appeals to, and it has greater cumulative impact as the track progresses.
--TRACK FIVE: This is what Andrew gets for saying he likes the Mountain Goats! Tune is good, lyrics ("Cool air falls through Venetian blinds") could be about something, singing is dull and dorky though not irritatingly so.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

WHAAAAAT if Jeff Mills lost as well then the fault is clearly with THE UMPIRE!

(is he called an umpire in football too?)

[koganbot]

Hah! Kudos to me for calling Fiona Apple a "Fiona Apple type," but kudos rescinded for once again not recognizing a song that I already own.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Because I had a very busy weekend I didn't do more than check the tracks worked, so I need to go back and see what's what. I knew the Fannypack. The only one I played through was Nina and Fred, because I know and like their version of "Little Donkey". They seem to be rum coves. I would have given it a win.

dubdobdee is as we speak being thrown into a Guantanamo Bay holding pen for unlicensed rockcrits, so it falls to me to say that he tried at the last minute to change his choice (#3), having got Andrew confused with the Chart Championship player, presumably more techno friendly. But by that point I'd sent the tracks so no luck. His instinct was right.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

My entry was by the Slovenian band, Niowt. I was recommended to them by my friend Jana, who lives in Ljubljana. Niowt's female lead singer is now Jana's university professor! But I did some additional research and found that they formed in 1992, and that in 1998, they were awarded Best Band, as well as Best Single (for this song, 'City') by Slovenia's version of the NME Awards.

Two wins in a row for me, and with a game in hand on several of the teams above me, a Champions League place still isn't out of the question. And I've been saving a corker for Kat all season which I finally get to use this week!

TOO MUCH TIME ON HANDS

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Obvioiusly, I can't separate teams on equal points because I don't have all the stats that freakytigger uses, but by my calculations, this is what the new Pop Premiership table looks like:

1 (1) inhibitorylinks 7-5-0-2 15
=2 (2) strange_powers 7-3-3-1 12
=2 (4) zenith 6-3-0-2 12
=2 (6) xyzzzz_ 6-4-0-2 12
=5 (3) dubdobdee 7-3-1-3 10
=5 (8) jel_bugle 6-3-1-2 10
=7 (5) alexmacpherson 6-3-0-3 9
=7 (7) fugitivemotel 7-3-0-4 9
=7 (9) bengraham 6-3-0-3 9
10 (10) katstevens 7-1-2-4 5
=11 (11) braisedbywolves 6-1-1-4 4
=11 (12) hauntedballroom 6-1-1-4 4

Is katstevens looking nervously over her shoulder? Will inhibitorylinks run away with the title? Can fugitivemotel halt the worrying slide?

Fun With Track Ten

[koganbot]

From the classic ilX Nas vs. Jay-Z throwdown:

I know Prodigy especially needs to do something or he ain't gonna be makin no $ after that ballerina shit at summerjam... No one needs to die but something bigger than 'Fuck you!' 'no fuck you!' 'oh yeah well you a bitch!' needs to go down for anyone involved in this to have any more cred. For example Cormega fucked Nature up in a fight in QB a few years ago and that jus shut down Nature's cred and took another wannabe out of the business. No one needs to lose their life, that's awful.
--jsidway