WINNER STAYS ON!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

OK you might have noticed that Popt'ists has been much concerned in recent weeks with larnin' the membership on the glorious history of pop (Level 42, Baltimora, etc.). But what of the modern variety, it risks neglect? Yes indeed, so here's the second twice-weekly feature that will see the community into the '06 and double the amount of polls I get to do:

WINNER STAYS ON!

The concept of WSO is childishly simple. Every Tuesday and Friday I post 2 YSI links, which battle it out vote-style for the title of "The Greatest Track Of Right Now". The loser is forgotten and may never appear again. The winner STAYS ON and appears in the next face-off: so for instance whichever track wins today will be present on Tuesday facing a new challenger.

Which tracks can 'play'? Anything you like - we're not formally limiting it but the idea is to favour what's exciting in current pop (be as wild as you like about yr definition of 'pop' and of 'current') and to encourage debates and shouting and that sort of thing.

To start with we have two of the most frothed-over recent singles.


Current UK #1 single "Hung Up" by Madonna (YSI here), ABBA-sampling disco comeback.

VS!!!

Much-loved critics' darlings Girls Aloud and their head-turning pop patchwork "Biology" (YSI here)

NOW VOTE:
[Poll #625080]


Please also let me know in the comments box if you want to nominate the next challenger - first come first etc.

Comments

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

It's Madge's best song in years, but dem Girlz win.

Am tempted to nominate Smiley Culture but that is already accepted as being full of merit. WOT ABT My Friend Dario by Vitalic?

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

"Hung Up": great beats, great sample, a big wedding disco number I think because the beats wisely are a bit clumsy, in the way ABBA always were, you could stomp along just as well as dance.

"Biology" just has more going on though, and the 2-minute build up to the chorus is wonderful (yes yes I know, "what chorus" - teh lex)

(It's prog innit?)

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I am unsure still as to what my fave GA song is. Either The Show or No Good Advice.

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

NGA >>>> The Show

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

But in the Show they say "underwear" and it's all naughty.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

The Show is much more fun to dance to than NGA. But then NGA has the bit where you can yell out MY SHARONA! and the ace closing rap bit. CANNOT DECIDE.

[plumsbitch.livejournal.com]

NGA has better breakdown, also.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

wot is cut-off i cannot d/l pop at work -- well i can but i shan't

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

The YSIs stay up for a week, the new round is Tuesday mornin so cut off = Monday basicewerly.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Hung Up = perfectly good Stuart Price pop record that just happens to have Madge singing on it. It doesn't feel like a Madonna record at all.

Biology = agreeably mental, and unmistakably Girls Aloud despite not sounding much like any of their other hits.

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

see i don't keep up with the kids - i didn't kno it was Stuart Price/LRD/Jacq LeCont

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

biology for me too, but not too enthusiastically. i don't really like it all that much, but the madonna track is feeble - it catches my ears cos of the sample obv, but for NOTHING ELSE.

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

What that jauntyalan said.

[the-roofdog.livejournal.com]

Also: THE VIDEO MAKES ME FEEL A LITTLE BIT SICK. Put it AWAY womang.

[zenith.livejournal.com]

*waits for alexmacpherson's head to explode at the injustice*

This was quite hard 'cos I've found 'Hung Up' to be a grower whereas my initial crazed enthusiasm for 'Biology' has faded ever so slightly, BUT having watched some of 'I'm Going To Sell You A Secret Book About Kaballah' last night I have to vote for them Girls.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

OH NO I CAN'T DOWNLOAD! Although I have heard these two obv so can vote this time.

Sounding like JLC >>>>>> sounding like Franz Ferdinand.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Having a sampled guitar on it != sounding like Frank Ferguson!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

that is korrekt, unfortunately there are MANY OTHER THINGS in 'biology' which are ff-esque.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Like?

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

the clunkiness of the structure: i LIKE the no-chorus thing and the three-in-one thing, but the segues between them are just so obvious and boring and clunky. LIKE FF. the crap production (it sounds too tinny). and it's all a tiny bit arch.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

The segue's clunkiness is of a different quality to FF's. FF's have a indie will this do-ness, whereas GA's feel purposely abrasive. I really like the way the intro section rubs up uncomfortably against the first verse's beats for a few bars before the bluesy guitar and piano drop out.

Archness, maybe, but it's relative. GA's is like a church window compared to FF's Arc de Triomphe.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

It does feel as if Xenomania actually listened to FF and are on some level aping them, though.

BLUDY KIDS!

[(Anonymous)]

What is this "it has random bits stuck together therefore it sounds like Frank Ferguson" nonsense. Have you never heard BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY by THE QUEENS?!!!

Biology is closer to the Queens than FF any day. It's even closer to The Rocky Horror Shows than both of them. I think its grebt, but am going for Madge nonetheless.

Re: BLUDY KIDS!

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

(That was Matt DC, btw)

Re: BLUDY KIDS!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I fucking loathe Queen, infinitely more so than even FF. THIS MAY EXPLAIN IT ALL!

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

this is a good idea. it's like Pop Countdown. a bit.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

diddy diddy diddy -- diddly-dee BONG

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

The idea was to reflect the runs of enthusiasm for a massive pop hit and also the 'bored now' search for novelty. How it'll work in practice I dunno though.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

I think the 'bored now' factor on LJ is generally off the range of current measurement devices.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

OMG I have just remembered the "Scale" option on the LJ poll, must put that in for Tuesday...

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

LJ get 1xgraphic-contrariometer

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

LJ get 1xgraphic-contrariometer

[plumsbitch.livejournal.com]

Biology=Good abrasive and has jumped out at me in the last few days.

Hung up=ok but a bit uninspired. Yes, best thing she's done in years=not saying much.

Biology WINS.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

How soon people forget that Madonna's last album contained one of her BEST EVER SINGLES!

[plumsbitch.livejournal.com]

?

[zenith.livejournal.com]

Some people liked 'Hollywood'. Personally, it made my teeth hurt.

[plumsbitch.livejournal.com]

Hollywood? Pah.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Definitely not 'Hollywood'! Ugh, no. 'Nothing Fails' is gorgeous and 'Love Profusion' also pretty good, but I was referring mostly to the meisterwerk that is 'Die Another Day' which easily makes my all-time Madge top ten.

I JUDGE THAT...

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

GA: imagine the creepy identikit ladies in a ROBERT PALMER video -- they start to move, they break the glass, they step out and take a walk through the city -- they go to a studio and reform ROXY MUSIC, except actually this doesn't work bcz the stompin vaudeville rnr is more like WIZZARD, so imagine the creepy identikit lady on the cover of a ROXY MUSIC lp -- even the greatest stars multiply themselves in the looking glass -- to into a studio and... except the problem is the singing, actually, it's just slightly too blah to carry the strange torque of the "supermannequin as tormented pop art aesthete" concept EP nu-prog-in-three-mins collage effect of the song

M: i like the idea of it as a wedding songsein it's the creepiest stalker-obsession song, nutcase alone in his/her room listening to richard and judy passing messages to him about how his HONEY is being heldf HOSTAGE by ENEMIES and that's why s/he has to pretend to IGNORE him/her, since "every breath you take" (the sample encapsulates the frazzled obsessive irritation; the video the sense of dance-release turned in on itself, a frantic endless prison)

Re: I JUDGE THAT...

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Biology's chorus (apart from the main line) reads "The magic's numbers in front of me / We're going to call it the prophecy" = biggest influence is the TV documentary about Madonna.

Delayed Chorus = the actual secret of U2's Depth.

I agree that Hung Up sounds very Surart Price once you know that it is:) The Abba sample sounds very prog out of context, like something off War of the Worlds.

I picked Biology, basically because I'm more interested in hearing it in the next poll, to see whether I've made more sense of it.

Re: I JUDGE THAT...

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Bah, that was meant to be a separate post.