THE POP OPEN: Group D - MONEY

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Five tracks for you on the theme of Money. You don't have to judge songs by how they fit the theme, just pick the two you like most - BUT! you can't vote for one you already know ("know" doesn't include "know a remix of" or "know a version of" or "know what it must be but haven't actually heard it before"). You don't have to use both your votes - you can just use one.

And you don't have to be a player to vote - anyone can!

The songs are all in a zipfile here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ia51px (23 Mb)

And you can get them streamed here: http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2007/06/pop-open-week-2/ (NB if you just hit play you get Track 5, not Track 1, for some reason, so make sure you hit each play track link separately) ALSO: if possible download the zipfile - the streaming tracks are on FT's bandwidth :)

Here's the poll:

[Poll #1005867]

You have until 12noon (UK time) on Monday next week to vote - revelations as to what each track is will be on Friday. I don't think any of them are by Keith Allen this week. Don't forget to vote - I'm sure we can improve on the total of 24 voters for the Sex group!

And last but not least - what would YOU have submitted?

Comments

Reggae owes me money

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Most of it in this group! Three reggae (of nicely different styles though) plus one with ragga-style toasting, plus one which has nothing to do with reggae.

Are there many reggaephobes on Poptimists I wonder?

Re: Reggae owes me money

[byebyepride.livejournal.com]

Yeah I was counting four, including the one by [REMOVED] that you mention.

At least there's safety in numbers, if everybody else hates reggae we're all screwed!

Re: Reggae owes me money

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Haha I would probably have submitted reggae too - Lady Saw's 'If I Were A Rich Girl' (samples Fiddler On The Roof in the same way as Stefani did, Saw did it first though).

No one seriously hates reggae though do they.

Re: Reggae owes me money

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I dunno how many people hate it but I think there's probably quite a few people who like it occasionally!

Re: Reggae owes me money

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

It's a v safe choice because it's not a sound which would turn anyone off immediately (which could be the case for nearly every other genre I can think of) but it's also not a genre which many people on Poptimists really delve into very deeply

Re: Reggae owes me money

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I think you're underestimating potential anti-reggaeness Lex! Certainly before I actually got into reggae (which was really pretty late), I found the perceived same-ness of it really offputting. It's not as dangerous as country or metal but I don't think it's a safe option by any means.

Re: Reggae owes me money

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Lots of reggae has strong enough melodies to overcome the sameyness thing though, and often v funny lyrics - and also in isolation the sameyness isn't really a factor anyway. It's not airtight obv but I can't think of any other genre which would be safer.

"i blame it on the public schools"

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

JOHN HARRIS SERIOUSLY HATES REGGAE!

Re: Reggae owes me money

[umlauts.livejournal.com]

I hate reggae.

I might have submitted "Money" by the Ragga Twins, which isn't reggae but the word is kind of similar.

Re: Reggae owes me money

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I've seen you praise reggae songs before. Why on earth do you hate it?

Re: Reggae owes me money

[umlauts.livejournal.com]

Only if Ace of Base counts as reggae.

I just can't stand the sound of it, for the most part. Mostly the singers, actually, but also its distinctive rhythm makes me think of the sort of cunt students that used to congregate in the next town over from where my parents live every year for a folk festival with dreadlocks and that.

Actually, no, I've always rather hated reggae, even before unfortunate cultural associations.

Re: Reggae owes me money

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

morrisey, famously, was none too keen

Re: Reggae owes me money

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Oh I know the sort. They are terrible people yes but bear in mind this is the same reason that John Harris hates reggae.

Re: Reggae owes me money

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

I know this guy who hates Ska...

Re: Reggae owes me money

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I dislike Ska intensely and find I don't like most reggae, although I do like it very selectively and I think my dislike is based on the truly awful event that is Reggae Night at the Angel, Aberystwyth which my friend Helen is very keen on and which I TRULY DESPISE due to all the horrifically pretentious people there.

Re: Reggae owes me money

[koganbot]

I would say that even the one furthest from reggae has something to do with reggae, since it's sensibility is that of a mashup (even if the track is not strictly speaking a mashup), and it was the Jamaican DJs who really set the stage for the modern fuck-with-tracks-and-styles sensibility. Or at any rate I used "recombinant dub" as my overall term for the modern sensibility in a piece I once did for the Voice.

Re: Reggae owes me money

[mooxyjoo.livejournal.com]

also, the production. (?)

my first thought on realizing how much reggae (and AFRO-CUBAN DIASPORA music or whatever) was in the group was, oh, when british people are asked to think of a song about 'money' (or that directly mentions money, perhaps in the TITLE which they can SEARCH FOR) is reggae! (just like the first thing i thought was: rap!).

if the contestants in the pop open were not primarily british this time then my theory will admittedly fall apart immediately.

Re: Reggae owes me money

[mooxyjoo.livejournal.com]

'the first thing they think of'

Re: Reggae owes me money

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Nope, you're right, it's all Brits.

Re: Reggae owes me money

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I would have thought RAP immediately as well - however I'd have been far less confident about submitting a hip-hop track as there are known hip-hop haters among us (more fool them), and I suspect the kind of hip-hop they hate most is the stiff with money/guns/bitches lyrics (MORE FOOL THEM). On the other hand while we have uncovered a couple of reggae haters in these comments, it's a much safer choice if you're going for widespread appeal...

Re: Reggae owes me money

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Well yes unless FOUR OUT OF FIVE PEOPLE submit a reggae track!

As you can imagine this group is very very close.

Re: Reggae owes me money

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

Is it because people think of money or because everyone is going for obscure tracks they hope others don't know and therefore reggae seems like a good bet?

Re: Reggae owes me money

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

To answer that would give too much away about the amount of reggae in other groups, so WAIT AND SEE!

Re: Reggae owes me money

[koganbot]

My guess is that the latter (obscurity) is a stronger motive than the former, and I'd re-word the former point to be not that Poptimists think of money when they think of reggae but that reggae thinks of money more than British rock and pop do in general, hence reggae provides lots to choose from (ditto in the U.S. about r&b and hip-hop and country thinking more about money than pop and rock do).

Re: Reggae owes me money

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I immediately thought of political songs but this is probably because I am a big commie.