Pop Premiership Week 10 RESULTS

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

From the mouth of inhibitorylinks comes...JUDGEMENT.

"First of all, as a long-time lurker at poptimists, I just wanted to say a big thank you to all for letting me be a part of this very fun event. Thanks also for my tracks, which I burned onto a CD and listened to as I sojourned around Sydney for work yesterday - it's not often I can do that and feel content at the same time.

For what it's worth it was VERY hard to separate most of these tracks into "winners" and "losers" - aren't we all winners in the end, after all?

01. High5 - "Dooset Daram": I'm always up for a bit of foreign language madness, and the "tik-tikka-tik" snare in the background throughout was a pleasure for reasons I can't really explain, though it begins to wear a little thin by the three minute mark. The singer sounds a little tired as well, though he could just be pacing himself. 9TH PLACE - LOSE - dubdobdee's title dreams shattered by cruel defeat.

02. Jon Brion - "Monday": At the risk of sounding like an old man, "charming" is the first word that sprang to mind when I heard this. I also had visions of friendly monsters doing the Viennese waltz on a frozen lake. I don't know why that is. Reminds me of the best bits of the "About A Boy" soundtrack. One of the few instances where I don't feel that a vocal would improve proceedings, and my only real complaint is that it doesn't go on for long enough. 1ST PLACE - WIN - fugitivemotel arrests his slump in dazzling style.

03. The Timelords - "Doctorin' The TARDIS": This IS "Doctorin' the Tardis" by The KLF, isn't it? For some reason I'm not entirely sure, and am nervous about my obvious lack of knowledge of the classics. It's certainly glamtastic, and finally katstevens' "yer what" icon makes sense to me, as does the word BOSH. Definitely an important poptimists artefact. 6TH PLACE - DRAW, though I'd award it a win if I could. - braisedbywolves snatches a point but will it be enough to stave off relegation?

04. Luigi Nono - "...Solo Dolce Tacere": I've never really been fond of that Ligeti choral piece I submitted several weeks ago for hauntedballroom; it always seemed too much like the sort of music that would be the soundtrack to my most distressing and Dali-esque nightmares. This piece is, for whatever reason, significantly less distressing, but I just can't shake my Pavlovian reflex to shudder slightly and say "creepy!" 10TH PLACE - LOSE - tactical misfire could cost xyzzzz_ dear.

05. Oi Va Voi - "Seven Brothers": The trumpets and cymbal rolls at the beginning promise drama, and it indeed delivers, although it's a drama that boils and seethes just beneath the surface, rather than drama with bombast and lightning flashes. I particularly like how the bass line doesn't conform to any standard sort of rhythm, which means that you can never settle into any particular groove. This is "7 Brothers" by Oi Va Voi. 2ND PLACE - DRAW - crucial point keeps katstevens' head above water.

06. Grosvenor - "Private Domain": I'm a sucker for a string section, and also harpsichords. This song offers both! It reminds me of The 6ths, or at least something that Stephin Merritt has had his finger in; there's a wonderful baroque fussiness to it that, admittedly, would probably become a little grating over an entire album, but in isolation it's dramatic, uplifiting and I find more to hear in it with every listen. 3RD PLACE - WIN - strange_powers keeps his side in contention for the title.

07. Dr John - "She's Just A Square": Never has being called a "square" seemed more insulting. Surely the best song on the soundtrack to that lost Blues Brothers movie, this is accompanied by all sorts of far-out and groovy instrumental Rhodes organ and flute flourishes. There's nothing particularly groundbreaking about this, but it's definitely a lot of fun. 5TH PLACE - WIN - buoyant performance makes bengraham sure of safety.

08. Charlie Christian - "Death Letter Blues": Oh god, a harrowing tale of death and despair over weary piano and muted trumpets. Almost spiritual in places, really. I don't really know enough jazz songstresses from the past, and after listening to this I feel that has to change. And the line at the end about wanting to take her sweet papa's place...good lord, pass me a tissue. 4TH PLACE - WIN - hauntedballroom's third win must surely make her safe from the drop?

09. Rocker Spaniel - "Where The..?": The storyteller in this certainly seems to be having "fun," but it's a tuneless, aimless "women in bikinis/uniforms using office stationery/garden tools/spelunking equipment in a sexually suggestive manner" type of fun that ends up being a bit sterile and not much fun at all. I must admit that I feel slightly violated. 11TH PLACE - LOSE - have zenith's high-flyers got altitude sickness?

10. Man Or Astro-Man - "Bermuda Triangle Shorts": Ridiculous soundbites, yay! I forgot to mention that I also love music that reminds me of surfing (which I also cannot do), but I feel that an extended guitar solo is a poor replacement for lyrics about the sun being high in the sky or catching waves or whatever. 7TH PLACE - DRAW - deserved draw for jel_bugle's team of entertainers.

11. Considering that this is sung from the viewpoint of a woman who eventually puts a bullet in her "dirty ho" best friend when said ho sleeps with her (the singer's) man (but NOT before making it VERY clear that she does not appreciate said friend using up her toilet paper), this could certainly have done with a bit more emotion, both in the vocal and the instrumentation. This is "Moodring" by Mya, and I DO applaud her thanking me for listening to her album at the end of the song; the world needs more polite popstars. 8TH PLACE - LOSE - alexmacpherson's fans left biting nails as play-offs threaten to slip away from them.

So far in Week 11 we've had a healthy haul for Epicharmus and almost nothing for Dubdobdee! Come on! Don't be scared!

Reveals at 4-ish.

Comments

To Hell With The Pop

[koganbot]

Here are my very unconsidered rankings:

Winners:
--TRACK FOUR: Bits of space, the singers playing a relay game, someone lets notes fall, a pause, other voices pick it up. Intensity in its sparness, so it's the art music equivalent to "Me & U" and "Coz I Luv You," though I doubt the title will contain misspellings.
--TRACK FIVE: Horns weep from outer space. Eccentric melody lines cross measure bars, time sig something like 7/8, vocalists spray paint shards of passion.
--TRACK ONE: Gentle singing that's somewhat surprising in relation to the Moroder dance chug.
--TRACK THREE: OK, a lot of this is shit, the Dr. Who crap half ruining "Rock and Roll Pt. 2," but it is followed on by a beautiful Jamaican-style Morriconesque spare melody (prob'ly something as famous in Britain as the Gary Glitter song, but I don't know it). And when the Doc Who hooey returns the beautiful stuff is folded in and rescues it.
--TRACK NINE: A totally irritating neurotic self-involved young woman goes on about her petty and unpetty sorrows, round hard beats lend an air of ominousness that makes this compelling, and the menace allow me to imagine that this could be a slasher film and the woman will be stabbed to death, though no such luck.

Draw:
--TRACK SEVEN: A full-of-himself freak does a beatnik soul version of "I Hear You Knockin'." Bohos being dumbos, but the boho posturing carries itself with snide authority.

Re: To Hell With The Pop

[koganbot]

Its sparness = its spareness (but perhaps there's sparness as well)

Re: To Hell With The Pop

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I would need to relisten to "Doctorin The Tardis" but is the Morricone-esque spare melody not the Dr Who theme tune? (No reason for Frank to recognise it! But I can't think of any other melodic content in there.)

Re: To Hell With The Pop

[koganbot]

It may well be. A quick visit to YouTube could answer this question, but I need to go complete the rankings (a hiccup from Internet Explorer wiped me out in midsentence).

Re: To Hell With The Pop

[koganbot]

Ah, speak of the devil.

Re: To Hell With The Pop

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Also (while on the subject of DtT) - I think the Dalek voices are saying "DOSH" rather than "BOSH", as in "DOSH DOSH DOSH - LOADSAMONEY" which was a popular comedian's catchphrase at the time, m'lud.

to hell with the BOSH

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

no no it's BOSH! onomatopaeic for the way bad builders slipslap their plastering on yr wall

Re: to hell with the BOSH

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh! Wow you learn something new* every day.

*OK quite old now

b-bosh (anag, 5)

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

OMG DYS lol

Re: To Hell With The Pop

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Unless it is the 'you wot you wot' bit, which IS as famous in Britain as Gary Glitter :-)

delia DUB-byshire more like

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

god this is crappy

even tho haha the "daleks" shout "BOSH BOSH BOSH (loadsamoney)"

Re: To Hell With The Pop

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

The Dr Who Theme Tune (http://www.sendspace.com/file/ywt87d) (MP3)

Re: To Hell With The Pop

[koganbot]

Yes, confirmed. When was the Dr. Who theme written? If this is the original theme from the very start, not only does it predate Augustus Pablo, it predates A Fistful Of Dollars!. An excellent composition, not hurt by being given a dance beat. But the singing of the words "Doctor Who" and "Tardis" in the "Rock And Roll Pt. 2" section is hideously bad. I wish they'd used Gary's original vocals and done this as a genuine mashup.

Re: To Hell With The Pop

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

1963 - this is the original Delia Derbyshire version. They have worked unceasingly ever since to remove the sparseness! (Though have never fucked with the melody).

law-an-order law-an-order

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

the singing is an "hommage" to a famous (UK?) kids game, of singing the name of the programme to the themetune

eg it is possible to annoy jauntyemma by singing the words "emmerdale fame" to the tehemtune for "emmerdale" (formerly "emmerdale farm") (it is the non-acknowledgment of the formerliness that annoys her)

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

"Allo Allo" is a good one for this!

[koganbot]

The Doctor Who theme music was created in 1963, composed by Ron Grainer and "realised" with electronics by Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Re: law-an-order law-an-order

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

er emmerdale FARM i mean not fame (that would not annoy her)

Re: law-an-order law-an-order

[koganbot]

Do you know if anything else by Ron Grainer is this good? Or by Delia Derbyshire?

Re: law-an-order law-an-order

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

me on the radiophonic workshop (http://www.thewire.co.uk/archive/interviews/bbc_radiophonic.html) in 1992 (warning: doesn't really answer question)

unfortunately doing this piece when i did -- ie long before their work was re-available -- meant i have never gone back and picked stuff out

delia d especially is a legend in uk electronic music terms -- a vanguard pioneer blah blah in terms of techniques and approach, who for much of her career worked inside the bbc as a soundtrack and SFX specialist

(hence much of the work in question is actually psycholo-alienscape soundtracks to i. doctor who (which i might have heard and taken in); ii. TV dramas i have forgotten; iii. radio dramas i probably never heard

here is carmody on delia (http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/radiophonic.htm)

Re: law-an-order law-an-order

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

There's a lovely quote from her from her at the end of her obituary from the Guardian:

One night many years ago, as we left Zinovieff's studio, she paused on Putney bridge. "What we are doing now is not important for itself," she said, "but one day someone might be interested enough to carry things forwards and create something wonderful on these foundations."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,518008,00.html

Re: law-an-order law-an-order

[koganbot]

This thread is the first I remember even seeing her name, though perhaps I have many times. I've only read the first of the Carmody pieces that Mark linked, but on the basis of that I surely want to see/hear more. (Do people here agree with Robin about the Workshop's going into decline in the '70s and '80s?)

Re: law-an-order law-an-order

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I don't really know if I agree or not because I've only really read Robin's view on it - it's very hard to get hold of Radiophonic Workshop music let alone to put it in some kind of chronological order, and apparently the BBC were quite shy of crediting the Workshop on a lot of things. The Dr Who theme is quite unusual in that it's where their concrete influenced incidental music met more traditional TV theme writing (where the requirement is to be catchy and memorable.)

Re: law-an-order law-an-order

[http://users.livejournal.com/xyzzzz__/]

"it's very hard to get hold of Radiophonic Workshop music"

I see from the wiki page that a few compilations are available. Keep meaning to get hold of some material.

The 70s as cut-off point sounds about right as this mirrors concrete based music's decline in general.

Re: To Hell With The Pop

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

I have only now realized that the beginning bit of this was a rip of Gary Glitter. Ouch.