Pop Premiership Week 12 RESULTS now with REVEALS

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

fugitivemotel brings the curtain down on the Pop Premiership - triumph and heartbreak lurk below...the cut.

"i really enjoyed listening to all of these and it was hard to rank them. there were a couple of tracks that i absolutely hated on first listen which grew on me and which i actually liked by the time i ranked them (track 11 for example!) and some tracks which i quite liked at first but couldn't stand after a few listens (like track 1). there was a lot of variety here, and a lot of stuff i would never normally hear, but i really enjoyed it and would actually listen to it as a compilation cd.

anyway, without further ado, here's my rankings:

01. Disco Inferno - "Technocolour": this seemed quite interesting at first but it doesn't really work, especially not for repeated listens. too many annoying rings and too much forced kookiness for my liking. 9th Place - LOSE - following Big zenith's controversial resignation, his dispirited squad can't get the win they need.

02. Powderfinger - "Like A Dog": i liked this. it sounds a bit like queens of the stone age mixed with our lady peace. nothing groundbreaking, but very listenable, and i'd probably find myself singing along after a few more listens. 3rd Place - WIN - inhibitorylinks seals title with confident win.

03. Peggy March - "Wind Up Doll": i enjoyed this. distinctive vocals, and the lyrics really appealed to me - this song seems like the opposite to "coin operated boy" by the dresden dolls. 5th Place - WIN - hauntedballroom's end of season form standing her in good stead for the Pop Open.

04. 2nd Gen - "Musicians Are Morons": i like this a lot. noisy, rocky guitars, industrial thuds and drums. reminds me of photek. definitely my favourite track. 1st Place - WIN - uncompromisingly direct play means bengraham finishes on a high.

05. Rubicks - "Midas": a bit repetitive, and the female reedy whiny vocals really put me off. very britpop. the backing is nice, but this is something i wouldn't really listen to any more; reminds me of lush and republica and kenickie. 8th Place - LOSE - relegated katstevens ends a season fans will want to forget.

06. Mummy The Peepshow - "Good Morning!": dreadful. annoying noises and occasional woofs. 10th Place - LOSE - shambolic performance sinks dubdobdee's play-off hopes.

07. The Weakerthans – “Our Retired Explorer (Dines With Michel Foucault In Paris, 1961)”: i like this. quite emo, in a dashboard meets death cab sort of way. the lyrics were a bit too twee for me though. 7th Place - LOSE - decorative play but too much fanny dangle costs braisedbywolves.

08. Philistines Jr – “The Impossible Dream Of The Submarine”: didn't really like this at first but it grew on me with each listen. the casio keyboard sounds like something i'd do whilst messing around at home, but it works really well with the spoken word stuff. 6th Place - DRAW - jel_bugle ends enigmatic season with a draw.

09. Wanda Jackson - "Let's Have A Party": one of the worst songs i have ever heard. sounds like a gremlin singing, over backing music so generic that you can probably order it from a catalogue. unlistenable. 11th Place - LOSE - tactical nightmare sinks xyzzzz_'s play-off and title dreams.

10. Legendary Jim Ruiz - "Arial": folky emo american rock. dreamy backing music. lovely stuff. 2nd Place - WIN - strange_powers claims play-off place with stylish victory.

11. Lydia Lunch - "Trick Baby": i didn't like this at all to begin with but it's just so silly that i couldn't help but want to listen to it after a while. sounds like it could be from a tarantino movie soundtrack. a fun way to end the mix. 4th Place - WIN - alexmacpherson rallies after poor start to seal play-off spot.

Results and reveals in a couple of hours.

Comments

You'll Realize What A Wind-Up Doll Can Do

[koganbot]

(Forgive me if this is a duplicate post; livejournal is being recalcitrant today.)

Don't know any of these. Old songs generally better than new. There's actually a song I dislike, and there's a good balance, in that both my fave and least fave are sickly cute.

These'd have been my winners:
--TRACK THREE: Sickly sweet and sorrowful singer from the sad-voiced late '50s or early '60s; despite this basically being a (pre-rock 'n' roll) pop ballad, the voice wails in a teen tragedy way that only rock 'n' roll could do, so it is rock 'n' roll.
--TRACK FOUR: Flipper plays the Velvet Underground? This track isn't quite up to that description, but this is some great shaggy fuzz-embedded one-chord rock.
--TRACK NINE: I know who this is thanks to a pic coming along with the track. Most famous of the girl rockabillies (which is still not very famous). I hate to say that this sounds a thousand times more natural than modern music, since that's a cliché and anyway the rockabillies were actually very forceful and forced and self-consciously hip in their time, but nonetheless this sounds a thousand times more natural than modern music. The song's only OK, but the performance is ace.
--TRACK ONE: This starts like a good sharp rock song, the sort of thing Seger or the Stones once did, though with background hum, smashing glass, and distant shouts. Then it fuzzes into a mood piece without losing its drive. But the singer isn't quite there, so eventually it does lose its drive. This'd have been my favorite track with even a half-alive singer.
--TRACK TWO: This starts electro-fuzzy, then morphs into pop, then into metal. Is fascinating. Raised a notch for puzzling me. Jel? Good work, anyway.

My draw:
--TRACK FIVE: Good beats, wavering "odd" female voice, the sort that I generally hated until Marit Larsen started doing it. This isn't Larsen, unfortunately, but someone with her head up her ass; but it builds force, so even though the singer asks us not to try to save her (familiar theme) the beats and rockingness do save her.

Re: You'll Realize What A Wind-Up Doll Can Do

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

oo oo do i elicit kogan-hate! UNIQUE TO THE TOURNAMENT KOGAN-HATE?

Re: You'll Realize What A Wind-Up Doll Can Do

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

Ha, I'll bet it's mine! My picks have been hugely unpopular with koganbot over the run of the league, and mine was pretty twee.

Re: You'll Realize What A Wind-Up Doll Can Do

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

I was nearly right!

Re: You'll Realize What A Wind-Up Doll Can Do

[koganbot]

Well, you were the excellent "Cavemen Rejoice" and "Because The Night," weren't you? (The latter getting you nowhere on the Teen Of Pop board, as I already knew it.)

Re: You'll Realize What A Wind-Up Doll Can Do

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

I guess Because the Night was a first-week tester to see how obscure we were going to be playing... In retrospect it was far too well known, even though it bamboozled the home player that week!

Glad about Cavemen Rejoice, though - and didn't you like the Ish Marquez track?

Re: You'll Realize What A Wind-Up Doll Can Do

[koganbot]

Yes, quite liked Ish Marquez!