Pop Premiership Week 8 RESULTS

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I've not been flooded with Week 9 entries but no worries, it's only Wednesday.

Here's what katstevens has to say about the tracks you backed. Reveals at, oh, 3-ish?

""Thanks everyone for a great CD! I'm very hard to please and you all did admirably. More guitars than I was expecting though... Prepare for my brutally honest opinions!

01: Pantytec - "Maybe": Enjoyable minimal blip with the sizzling vwerp noise I'm very fond of. However I've heard this before on the Magda mix album - it's 'Maybe' by Pantytec. 7th Place - LOSE - frustration for hauntedballroom after narrow defeat.

02: Yelle - "Je Veux Te Voir": Ah, could this be the French Cansei De Ser Sexy? Boshes up well and a good chorus melody, but doesn't quite have the OOMPH factor. It's weird how something can tick all the boxes but not add up to 'amazing'. Sorry! 10th Place - LOSE - zenith gets tactics right but his squad just don't perform on the day.

03: Natalia - "I've Only Begun To Fight": Ridiculous diva disco stomp! Full marks for a great orchestral start, kind of loses momentum in the first verse but has a pleasant plinky noise the second time round and a smashing chorus. Is this an old Eurovision entry? It rings a bell but I can't put my finger on it. 3rd Place - WIN - inhibitorylinks wins again - is the title in sight?

04: Hadag Nachasg – Zuz: I'll kick myself if this turns out to be Saian Supa Crew. I had to remind myself when listening that just because the only French hip-hop dudes I know are Saian Supa Crew it doesn't automatically have to be them. Not bad at all but I've heard better - by SSC. 9th Place - LOSE - hard working bengraham just can't get the strikes he needs.

05: Morning Masume – Koi No Dance Style: Good to see people sticking to my 'amazingly mental' request! Middle Eastern twiddly bits plus ladies whooping and "aaa-eee-aaa-ee-aaaaa"-ing equals HOORAY! Love the raver munchkins in the background as well. 2nd Place - WIN - strange_powers keeps in touch with title race.

06: Red Transistor - "Not Bite": BRUUUUR! This sounds like a bunch of Very Influential Bands that I shan't namecheck for fear of getting the comparisons completely wrong and ruining my knowledgeable appearance (ha!). Despite it being a dirgy guitar fest I quite like it! I bet it'll turn out to be ex members of Husker Du or something now, knowing my luck. 6th Place - DRAW - xyzzzz_ grabs point despite unconventional tactics.

07: High And Mighty Color – Ichirin No Hana (Huge Hollow Mix): Goth-y Hardcore, hurrah! Boshing and screamy in just the right proportions. This is way better than 90% of happy hardcore I've listened to. Ace! Loses a bit of pace in the middle but slams right back everyone's face just in time. 4th Place - WIN - vital win lifts braisedbywolves clear of relegation fight.

08: Therion - "Son Of The Staves Of time": Over-the-top hair metal. Sounds like a Baltic Eurovision entry (which is no bad thing) and plus points for shouting "The! Runic! Alphabet!". Alas this is going to struggle in an extremely strong field, especially having just heard the previous misery-bosh hardcore track. 8th Place - LOSE - jel_bugle struggles manfully against tough opposition.

09: Eve - "How Many Licks": Lil'Kim reels off a list of dudes she's sh4gged/would like to sh4g. This is really good, but Jesus woman, bung some bromide in yer tea or you'll end up catching fire! 5th Place - WIN - alexmacpherson plays dirty but sneaks important win anyway.

10: Regina Spektor - "That Time": The weakest of a great bunch, I'm afraid this is the only one I don't really want to listen to again. Too slow, for a start! Verging on the Alanis in places, this strummy girl sounds like she's showing off during her Fresher's Week. There's a fine line between bolshy and taking yourself too seriously! Sorry dudette, bottom of the pile for you. 11th Place - LOSE - fan tears up season ticket in front of fugitivemotel

11: Focus - "Hocus Pocus": Prog-tastic! Yodelling and random scatting always goes down well in Kat Towers. This is the one I've had on repeat for the last half hour whilst I've been writing this! Immensely silly and bonkers different bits all over the place, but with a cracking riff underneath to cement it all together. This is clearly what the Spinal Tap dudes were basing 'Stonehenge' on. The only fault is that the bitrate quality is too low making this WAY too quiet! First reaction on hearing this last night? "Hey boyofbadgers, let's start a prog band!" 1st Place - WIN" - barnstorming win puts dubdobdee back in the race.

Comments

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

I never really thought of my track as belonging in a genre, though clearly it would be the best genre in the world. It is I think a fairly good J-Pop song (of the video game theme tune style - the burbling reminded me of Tekken music), and this is the remix by a Japanese Aphex Twin.

It also has that thing I love (that I should have mentioned in my intro) - the slapstick second, when time starts to slow and you can tell what's going to happen when it unslows: 3:13 in, when the screaming starts to fracture, and then cuts out for a second, and you realise that the only reason it would do that is if it was about to return, and bring ALL ITS FRIENDS.

Needless to say, I nicked it off cis.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

High time we had some J-things in the LoP. Up until now we seemed to have covered most parts of the globe except for Japan.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

Someone posted some Utada Hikaru didn't they one week?

[koganbot]

Yes, inhibitorylinks posted "Kremlin Dusk" two weeks ago.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

oh yes -- but I meant: a Japanese act actually singing in Japanese

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

I've done it twice, although only this week could really be considered j-pop - the Nobukazu Takemura track from a few weeks back was a bit ambient-electro...

[koganbot]

The tracks on the High And Mighty Color MySpace is poppy enough but has heavy and aggressive rock beats and loud guitars. Band could go emo, if they wanted to. Or power pop. Anyway, I'm picking it as the song of the day on my own MySpace, where I describe it as "J-pop all boshed-up in a happy hardcore remix." (Then I add an English translation.)(Not of the lyrics, but of my description.)

[koganbot]

tracks...ARE poppy enough but HAVE heavy and aggressive rock beats...

[koganbot]

Oh, they seem to have two MySpaces, and this one has the original version of "Ichirin No Hana." Pretty good pop-rock decorated with death-metal and hair-metal baubles, and an excellently ridiculous wank-off guitar solo. Not remotely as good as the remix, however.