If I hadn't heard it before, TRACK FOUR would be my number one for its violent melodies, happy beats, and nouns written as adjectives. (Just kidding about violent melodies.)
Here are my winners, though to be honest I'm glad this set wasn't made for me; while there's nothing here I don't enjoy hearing, the one I rated last on my own draw would have placed third in this one:
--TRACK SIX: Romantic-era program music, aching to be a movie soundtrack, then pianist knocks in some dance rags (or something). --TRACK ONE: 16-to-the-measure strumming which reminds me of "Shapes Of Things" and then somehow feels like flamenco, then white-seeming guy sings reggae-seeming melodies fairly incompetently yet adds to the intensity of the strumming. --TRACK EIGHT: Bjork or someone equally irritating does irritatingly Bjorkish vocals that I'm making an attempt to like because this stuff probably influenced Marit Larsen. I don't want to say dogmatically that people who sound like squawking birds are worse than people who don't sound like squawking birds (I like M.I.A.'s "Bird Flu," for instance, and dislike Daniel Powter's "Bad Day"), but in my species we tend to use different mating calls. I kind of like the backing track, which squawks even more than the singer. And somehow rocking and pounding and squawking all come together emotionally when she starts screaming at the end. --TRACK ELEVEN: Wanky "passionate" "extravagant" vocals, redeemed slightly by his saying "kicky kicky kicky" in rhythm and by a strong melody that he gets into. U2 does stuff like this way better. --TRACK NINE: Another gem for connoisseurs of squawk, enlivened by a fart-boogie bass played by a renegade tugboat captain.
Your Arms Are My Castle, Your Heart Is My Sky
Here are my winners, though to be honest I'm glad this set wasn't made for me; while there's nothing here I don't enjoy hearing, the one I rated last on my own draw would have placed third in this one:
--TRACK SIX: Romantic-era program music, aching to be a movie soundtrack, then pianist knocks in some dance rags (or something).
--TRACK ONE: 16-to-the-measure strumming which reminds me of "Shapes Of Things" and then somehow feels like flamenco, then white-seeming guy sings reggae-seeming melodies fairly incompetently yet adds to the intensity of the strumming.
--TRACK EIGHT: Bjork or someone equally irritating does irritatingly Bjorkish vocals that I'm making an attempt to like because this stuff probably influenced Marit Larsen. I don't want to say dogmatically that people who sound like squawking birds are worse than people who don't sound like squawking birds (I like M.I.A.'s "Bird Flu," for instance, and dislike Daniel Powter's "Bad Day"), but in my species we tend to use different mating calls. I kind of like the backing track, which squawks even more than the singer. And somehow rocking and pounding and squawking all come together emotionally when she starts screaming at the end.
--TRACK ELEVEN: Wanky "passionate" "extravagant" vocals, redeemed slightly by his saying "kicky kicky kicky" in rhythm and by a strong melody that he gets into. U2 does stuff like this way better.
--TRACK NINE: Another gem for connoisseurs of squawk, enlivened by a fart-boogie bass played by a renegade tugboat captain.