The Pop Open Group E: VIOLENCE

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

POW! WHAM! This week's group is VIOLENCE themed. Who will be KNOCKED OUT COLD and who will rise BAYING above the BLOODY FRAY? You will decide!

Get the tracks streamed here: http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2007/07/pop-open-week-7/ or download a zip of them all (37 Mb!) here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/4ngg69

Usual rules apply - voting closes next Monday (12 noon) - reveals on Thursday.

[Poll #1026961]

Thanks to this week's players - jel_bugle, katstevens, lisa_go_blind, skillextric and...me!

And also - what would YOU have selected?

Comments

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Hurrah mine is the best one!

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

Track One?

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Keen to get something from Replicas into the consciousness of the Poptimists Massive, I think I might have picked "Down In The Park" by Tubeway Army.

I can maim (maim)

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

...but Tom's contender-that-didn't-quite-make-the-cut, "Tank" by The Stranglers, is an excellent call too.

The whole of Black and White seethes with latent violence, actually. Their best album IMHO.

Don't laugh, I only own 5 Stranglers albums now

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Dunno about that, dude. Rattus was always my favourite, short and sweet. However the Walk On By cover on B&W is so awesome, it inspired me to actually learn the guitar well enough be able to play the organ solo as well...

Re: I can maim (maim)

[koganbot]

The whole of Black and White seethes with latent violence, actually. Their best album IMHO.

Ha! Reading this first sentence I thought you were talking about Michael Jackson! Which would make the sentence extra true.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

For a change, I'm going to listen to them in reverse order this week:

Track 5: Cor, this is a bit mental, innit? The beats are all over the shop. I'm not sure I understand the 'violence' connection, but it's a catchy tune. I like.

Track 4: First thing to note... it's over seven and a half minutes long. That can't be a good thing for a pop song. Haunting slow-building intro - is this going to turn out to be something by Underworld or Orbital or the like? Oooh heavy. Oh, I think I know what this is. I'm not 100% certain, but it's very very familiar, so I think I'll have to tick the tickybox, which will make this the first song I've recognised in the entire Pop Open thus far. Great tune though.

Track 3: Hehehe. It's about monkeys and robots. Musically, it's quite basic... a bit Presidents of the USA or latter era Offspring, but how can anyone dislike a song with that subject matter?!!

Track 2: I was expecting some country in this week's entries. Country songs are often about violence. Usually of the domestic variety. It's good. As my music tastes have developed, I've started to really enjoy this kind of authentic country sound.

Track 1: My god, another seven and a half minute effort. And it's another dancey track. Again, I really like this. It's got that electro sound that makes Vitalic so wonderful.

Overall - this is far and away the toughest week for me to choose so far. I loved all five of these tracks. I'll rule out Track 5 on the basis that I liked it the least (but it's still a good tune), and Track 3, because although it made me chuckle, I couldn't really see myself listening to it often. And I'm ticking that I recognise Track 4. So that leaves 1 and 2. In that order. I love this Vitalic-esque track. The country is good, but second place only I feel.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I'd probably have entered 'I Killed The Neighbours' by Misty's Big Adventure or 'Killing Sheep' by All Smiles or maybe something by Ultraviolence.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

wow these are all great - in stark contrast to last week i like all of them a lot altho track 3 is quite a dirge and is only saved by the humourous lyrics imo.

really hard to vote for just 2. country's not my thing but often when i listen to it these days i find it quite likeable, maybe it's because i know more people who are into it these days.

i pretty much agree with ben's observations this round altho my voting differs.

[koganbot]

Surely the track that you and Ben are calling "country" is actually rockabilly.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i thought rockabilly was always faster than that - i thought this might be Sally Timms maybe.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

I might've gone for something like Gunshot's 'Crime Story' from 1990 - altho it probably wouldn't have got many votes.

Or for a more recent and perhaps more accessible example 'Slap' by Ludacris.

Alternatively 'Join In The Chant' by Nitzer Ebb but too well known maybe?

Or some late 90s techstep...

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

I agree with stevem. These are all good (not too surprising given the players this week; this is the real Group of Death). My favourite week so far. I think I know who Track #1 is by, in which case I probably own it, will check tonight. Sounds familiar anyway. The rest I didn't know.

Tom - happy to volunteer to do a spiel to accompany the reveals on Thursday, if you'd prefer not to do it this week. I can think of things to say about all of these!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Actually that would be great - I was going to ask Kat to but then I realised she was in the group! D'oh! Just email it to the leagueofpop address. Thanks Jeff!

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

ok, will send this evening.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

& yes I agree - good week! I definitely have favourites though (mine aside).

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I'll be able to do this whenever as well! Except this week obv.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Track 1 = AWESOME SPACE TECHNO! This is something of a TREND this year. This sounds like a Carl Craig rmx of something, dunno how I haven't heard it! Kat, I assume.

[mackromackro.livejournal.com]

Violence One: warped tech house that's one of many, like Black Strobe, that owes a lot to Front 242/EBM. Oooo Cyburrrrrrr.

Violence Two: Fist City! Well, this definitely wins for most thematic. Not something that's the best of it genre though, although I'm surprised I haven't heard many hard rock cover versions of this yet.

Violence Three: If this is the 'band' I think it is, 'they' were the first band I ever saw in Seattle! Talk about the hardest working man in show business, having to weld all of that and make it a show! Musically, he/they didn't much for me, so this is the first audio-only experience I have with this artist. That is, if I'm right. That said, everyone should see this act live at least once! (Again, if I'm right)

Violence Four: The virtual electronic onomatopoeia of the beginning beats certainly fits thematically. I was disillusioned with the soft layered synths later, until they built, then I really enjoyed this.

Violence Five: This is certainly energetic, and big-beaty.. the county thing could be curtailed a bit, and not sure where the theme comes in. Maybe after the reveal?

...

Good songs all 'around, although there are two clear standouts. I voted for them already.

[mackromackro.livejournal.com]

Well known choice: *easy* D.A.F. "Der Mussolini"

Not so well known choice: Karp "We Ate Sand" (or "How Si Si How")

[byebyepride.livejournal.com]

I wonder if I still have those SPK records I never used to listen to?

[credoimprobus]

My favourite week so far! Three absolute keepers, whereof two (4 & 5) are so right up my alley it's ridiculous. This was the first time I actually agonised about having to pick one track over another for first place.

Very keen to see the reveals -- I have a feeling the artist on 4 might be one I have passing familiarity with, and can't wait to see whether or not I'm right on that.

[jel-bugle.livejournal.com]

Damn! I was just about to change my entry as my "Transformers: The Movie" 20th anniversary CD came in the post today. I would have walked it with Lion's Transformers Theme! I still expect to walk it.

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

oops, i thought the lady on track two was singing "fish city"...

Maybe I'm old-fashioned...

[inhibitorylinks.livejournal.com]

...but I still like my tracks to have some sort of lyrical content, and not that horrible dubby stuff either if at all possible. That's right, I demand not only musicality, but also WORDSMITHERY. I realise that I am high maintenance.

Familiarity: "I think I know this" vs. "I BETTER know this"

[mackromackro.livejournal.com]

A bit off-topic, but on topic question with the Pop Open in general:

Are people marking tracks as known if they're "very sure" they've heard the song? Or are people marking tracks as known if only they can immediately name the artist and song title, and no less? (note: neither guarantees completely accuracy)

I've been doing the latter. So, often, I mark "I know none of them". I was this close to marking two specific songs known in the Open so far but didn't, and I'm glad I didn't because on both counts, I WUR BEEN WRONG!

I'm asking purely for curiosity. Heavens! No whining allowed. ;-)

Re: Familiarity: "I think I know this" vs. "I BETTER know this"

[credoimprobus]

I will tick a track as known only if I can ID it by both artist and title -- mind this often takes half the song (or more) + digging through my mp3 library for a compare and contrast with the likely suspect. If this method fails and I'm still 99.9% certain I've heard the track (as has happened once) I wait till the reveals before voting, since there's always the possibility it's something I've heard without knowing what it was, which I won't count as "knowing".

Re: Familiarity

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

This is my system also.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

Wow, this has been the hardest week by miles. Any of these songs would have been in my top two in every other week so far, and I've had to listen to each of them quite a few times to pick out my top 2. I'd be gutted if I was one of the losers this week.