Chart Championship Week 7 RESULTS

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Here's lockedintheatti's results - featuring the savage cruelties of the DRAW SYSTEM. Incidentally, there's only 10 tracks - epicharmus missed deadline so has an automatic lose (sorry Mike!).

"Well, I was very pleasantly surprised by this week's selections - I can genuinely say this is the first time I have ever received a compilation in which I've liked every single track, there were none that I had the urge to skip on repeated listens. Having said that, there was a very, very clear winner, and the second choice was quite an easy pick too. After that that it was a real struggle deciding on the placings, and I could have picked any of the songs from third to sixth position in a different order as I pretty much liked those 4 equally.

01. Antena - "Achilles": The clattering percussion and whooping female voices in the introduction remind me of the start of the Clapping Song by the Belle Stars; when it gets going the sexy synth noises remind me a bit of OMD's Electricity. The half-spoken female voice didn't quite work for me though, and ultimately it just didn't excite me enough for a good placing. 9th Place - LOSE - an off day for lisa_go_blind.

02. Bass D And King Matthew - "Like A Dream": Happy hardcore has never been my favourite dance genre, although it's been a while since I heard any and the speeded up vocals and tinny synth-piano line certainly raised a smile. What made me like this though was the unexpected appearance of a looped line from Madonna's Like a Prayer halfway through - if you'd described this to me I'd have thought it wouldn't work, but somehow it did. Still, stronger competition keeps this in the bottom half. 8th Place - LOSE - enthusiasm not enough for byebyepride.

03. Marco Borsato - "Rood": This starts slowly and atmospherically with just piano, strings and voice, and then after about 30 seconds starts to build dramatically with swooping strings that remind me a little of the middle eight of Live and Let Die. As it builds to a climax I can't wait to hear where it's going to go next, but then it drops back down to tease you for just a little longer before the next unexpected turn - a key change and triumphant shift into marvellous euro-pop. The last surprise is the way the strings suddenly turn into a barndance in the middle eight. This is an incredible popsong - uplifting, joyous, life-affirming, majestic, epic - and it makes me grin whenever I hear it. Unfortunately for whoever submitted this, I also know it already - it's Marco Borsato's Rood, and it's one of my favourite songs of last year. I can't imagine a song like this ever being big hit in the UK - it would be derided as far too cheesy - so good on the Dutch for making this number one for 11 weeks last summer. 1st Place - DRAW - freakish result for skillextric as he batters the opposition but just can't get the goals.

04. Anakhi - "Lok Boliyan": Ooo. Indian rap - this is nice, but a bit overlong and not enough happens. The sample from Cornershop's Brimful of Asha popping up in the middle is nice though. 7th Place - DRAW - koganbot snatches a lucky point.

05. Hairy Diamond - "Givin Up": Atmospheric, sexy soul. I love her voice, and the really simple backing track - just strings and percussion work really well. I'm sure I've heard this before and will probably kick myself when I find out what this is. 3rd Place - WIN - martinskidmore pulls off vital win.

06. Fields - "Song For Fields": This is the second one I know - it's Song for Fields by Fields, although it's a slightly different version from the one I have - a bit longer and slightly less punchy in the production. It's a gorgeous record - a nice extended intro with the male and female voices complimenting each other really well, before the crunching guitars come in to drive it forward. I think if I'd heard this fresh it might have made my top 3, but familiarity has dulled its edge a little. 5th Place - DRAW - infov0re unfortunate not to get a win.

07. The Paper Chase - "We Know Where You Sleep": This song is the one that grew on me most over several listens - there's a lot going on here and it really works - starting with just a single repeated note on piano, then the spooky strings come in, and it just keeps building in various elements as it goes on. I particularly like the dischordant guitar solo. His voice is the kind of voice that annoys me sometimes, but not here - it works wonderfully. This sounds a little bit like the Arcade Fire to me, but weirder. 2nd Place - WIN - win for piratemoggy gives fans hope.

08. Siobhan Donaghy - "Sometimes": Lovely female-vocaled pop song, with various pulsing and bubbling synths and a nice beat propelling it forward. On that alone it probably wouldn't have stood out, but the lovely 'ooo-ooo-ooo' harmonies that act as the intro, the chorus, and then layered over the vocals at the end are what won me over as I found them swirling around my head at work the next day. 6th Place - WIN - poptasticuk grabs the three points with smooth win.

09. Sam Phillips - "What Do I Do?": Perhaps it's because there are lots of other songs with strings here that this suffers in comparison - it's a very pretty song, with male and female vocals backed by a string quartet, but pretty isn't enough in this company, and he just sounds a bit wet. The strings rouse themselves towards a bit of a climax near the end, which is nice, but not enough. 10th Place - LOSE - pressure on for blue_russian after heavy defeat.

10. ELO - "So Fine": Another string-drenched track, the 5th in total out of the 10, so that was clearly the bit from my request that most people seemed to have picked out. Sounds a bit like ELO (it could even be them, as to my shame I don't know many of their records). I love the production on this, there are so many little elements that stand out - the funky descending bass in the chorus, the little nagging guitar sound that sounds like the intro the 'You Keep Me Hanging On' that take you out of the chorus, the marvellous bit where everything drops out and an an alien starts jamming with the band. The weather helps too - this is a perfect accompaniment to wandering down the street in the sun with your headphones on. 4th Place - WIN. - classic tactics help jeff_worrell to victory.

Comments

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I loved track number 3! It was totally bonkers - that would have been my 1st place definitely.

The happy hardcore was amusing but a bit thin-sounding. For full-on mentalism it needs more OOMPH.

Track 7 I thought at first might be the Dresden Dolls or similar, but the voice was wrong. Interesting, nonetheless.

The bhangra-rap was good - nice beats and decent vocal, but somehow didn't have enough sparkle. I am very demanding!

The Fields got Rick very excited just like blue_russian's shoegazey track for piratemoggy the other week. It left me underwhelmed after the fourteenth play through though :-)

The last track was lovely - we were guessing what year it might have been released and went for 1978: hippy soul redux. Lots going on and unexpected early synths cropping up. Yay!

I can't remember the rest of them. Sorry!

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

we were guessing what year it might have been released and went for 1978

1976 in fact, so v. close. The whole album is fantastic. Clearly I need to post more ELO songs on poptimists.

ELO

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

How many people did not immediately recognize this as ELO? (even if they didn't recognize the specific song)

Re: ELO

[koganbot]

I didn't recognize it as ELO (if he'd chosen the Move I'd have gotten it!). But its being ELO explains the bit at the beginning and end where they take the same chords as the Syndicate Of Sound's nasty garage rock "Little Girl" and turn it into sweet ooh-la-las. (Not that they necessarily were copying "Little Girl.")

Re: ELO

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

To the best of my knowledge I've only ever heard one ELO song. Like I said in my introduction earlier this week, I'm far more likely to know about a band than I am to have heard them!

A question for the Young People

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

This is quite interesting because I am generally working under the assumption that Young People Today, having access to the Entire History of Pop for free (ahem), engage in the same voracious combing of past history as I did in the pre-MP3, when I had to spend my own hard-earned money on it. Am I just freakier than you all, or is this stuff just too old to even interest you?

Re: A question for the Young People

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

I have no idea why I have never explored ELO more - the few songs I know (Xanadu, Mr Blue Sky, Don't Bring Me Down) I've always loved, and now this one too. I really must explore more, I've been meaning to for ages.

Re: A question for the Young People

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I do have an interest in seeking stuff out, but as a Hectic Young Person with a slightly temperamental broadband connexion the amount of stuff I would *like* to listen to exceeds the time + resources with which I have to do said listening. ELO are low priority :-)

Re: A question for the Young People

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

I wonder if/how this relates back to the history discussion earlier this week.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

I'm gald someone else appreciated the wonders of track 3. It sounds like a mess on paper but works. And impressively, it manages to be all 5 of the things I said I like at the same time.