Best of 2001: Heat #3

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Kylie, Daft Punk, Gorillaz, Mya and Alcazar are through - who's going to join them from round #3?

• You get a maximum of TEN TICKS over the three bits of the poll. The top five will go through to the next stage.



• If you want to change your vote (or tick too many by mistake), you can edit your votes by clicking on 'Poll #12345' then 'Fill Out Poll'.



• UK chart placings given in brackets.



• You have until next Tuesday lunchtime to vote.



• Rep for your favourites in the comments! Youtube embeds very welcome.

[Poll #1434363]

Comments

[koganbot]

Of the four or so of these I remember, I only picked one on my first pass through. Yikes.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

7 ticks so far, happy to be enlightened.

The Avalanches really annoy me, or this song does anyway. Might as well be Bentley Rhythm Ace.

A couple of "good band, not really keen on ticking this song" ones here - never thought much of Girls Girls Girls (that slurred chorus bugs me), and this isn't a specially great Streets track.

[sbp.livejournal.com]

Mary J Bilge, call her by her name.

Also did Alan Hawkshaw write/perform the Grange Hill theme? He played keyboards for the Shadows for a while.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

NOT PLEASED with the last heat's results AT ALL.

Ian Brown a joke nomination I presume.

'Fallin' is such a beautifully hypnotic ballad...love the way its cyclical structure and circular melody mirror its destructive emotions, returning again and again even though you know you shouldn't...

What do people think of Lucinda Williams, btw? Frank, Chuck, other country fans? I only have two of her albums, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road and Essence, and I love them both - Car Wheels probably better songwise, Essence better for the gorgeously evocative mood she creates. Sad I couldn't nominate more, 'Are You Down' (http://www.last.fm/music/Lucinda+Williams/_/Are+You+Down) and 'Out Of Touch' (http://www.last.fm/music/Lucinda+Williams/_/Out+of+Touch) are incredible too. 'Essence' (http://www.last.fm/music/Lucinda+Williams/_/Essence) is such an aching slow burn - I love the cracked rasp of her voice, it's like her world-weariness has heightened her sensuality and ability to feel rather than jaded it. I should really find out what she's done since... (those are last.fm links btw, where you can play the whole song - only live versions on youtube.)

'Flashback' is one of my favourite Kelis album tracks - as with Essence it was frustrating not to nominate more of Wanderland, her lost album, specifically the playful 'Daddy' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkrSdfwgrV8) ("Dolce! And Gabbana! And a bag made - of iguana!") and the furious 'Get Even' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HkDcF1mkn0) (imagine if 'Caught Out There' was EVEN ANGRIER)

'Flashback', though - so good she reused it a few years later on Tasty. "You make me come - oh yeah, alive [giggles]". ♥

[meserach.livejournal.com]

Aiiie, I just thought - did we forget to nominate Christina Milian's "AM to PM" for this year? I am :( if so.

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

I ticked 10, but I don't feel great about a few of the ticks and there's a lot I don't know. "Fallin" is great and needs to go through. I have three nominations this time:



This is "Firefly" by the A*Teens, a great jam.

The other two nominations are Guided by Voices and Beulah. Those were nostalgic noms that reflect what I actually listened to in 2001 (i.e. crappy indie).

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

Come to think of it, I also nominated "Freaky Thangs":

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Jay Z, Mary J, Roots Manuva, Missy Elliot and Daniel Bedingfield were easy ticks here. I went for Marilyn Manson too, and I'm not ashamed to admit it!

Spotify Playlist

[meserach.livejournal.com]

I'm assembling it as we speak, but you cna start listening to the part completed thing here:

http://open.spotify.com/user/meserach/playlist/3TUkzzWM0ERfK9Nf5pVG7C

[vumgarda.livejournal.com]

I got 9 ticks and then really struggled for a tenth. Reading the comments it's because I somehow totally missed Fallin'!

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Well, that was easy. 10 ticks exactly on first sweep, all of them consensus choices probably - except for Cosmic Gate. I'll post a YouTube link to that one later if I can find one.

Stuff like "Fire Wire" was pretty much all I was listening to in the winter of 2000-2001. Got into Dave Pearce's Dance Anthems big time at this time. Then I moved to Brussels (Feb '01) and sort of lost touch with current UK music for a bit*. I hadn't even realised "Fire Wire" made the Top 10 until researching for this poll series!

*until September '01 when Ned Raggett pointed me to ILX

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

ARGH SO MANY TICKS. This is the first time I've nearly ticked my full ten in the first set; I thought I was going to have to be a Train apologist, purely because I did actually buy that on CD single for some reason but actually this round is full of PURE GREBT. I'm sorry, Mazza, I can't even support you.

Oh btw, Planet Funk was in the previous round wasn't it?

STOP TICKING THE STROKES

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I was a teenager then and they still weren't any good. But this was and is and always will be SOLID GOLD AMAZING


and i'm thinking: who's house is this? this is my money, this is my pain; these are my drugs, this is my brain and it's never gunna be the same

Don't Stop Movin'

[meserach.livejournal.com]

Best thing steps ever did? I think yes.

Also, the Beautiful SOuth did a cover which is oddly compelling - slowed the tempo right down, giving it a sort of easy-listening/blues feel:

http://www.last.fm/music/The+Beautiful+South/_/Don%27t+Stop+Moving

[meserach.livejournal.com]

I wonder if anyone will dare to tick the U2 track. :)

[meserach.livejournal.com]

There's a lot here I like but I'm not sure if it's TICK-worthy, yerknow? Gonna have to be a process of elimination.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Looks like four runaway leaders and then the mother of all battles for that fifth vacant slot.

VOTE FOR ROOTS!

(or Jay Z. or Mary J. or Alicia K. Just not The tossing Streets)

I WANT TO PATCH MYSELF ON YOUR BRAIN

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

OK so I didn't expect Air to get much love here as 10,000Hz Legend is a problematic album full of incredibly beautiful moments but also a whole bunch of naffness.

Watch this amazing video anyway.

Kylie track

[meserach.livejournal.com]

For the title track of the album it's rather poor, isn't it? Production's a bit all over the place, lacks a strong lyrical hook... meh.

Luvvly Oz Disco

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

v nice feelgood track I can't remember how I came across it at the time but deserves mo luv

Wasn't Danbed kind of a big deal?

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Weird, I easily ticked about twelve in this one, perhaps because some of my indie and semi-indie faves are here. D-Plan's "Following Through," Strokes "Hard to Explain" (sorry, it's good, though it's tick 9 or 10). I almost even ticked Weezer and U2 (WOOOOO HOOOOOO) but they didn't make it. Will go back and relisten to a few I haven't heard/don't remember, though.

Why isn't Daniel Bedingfield running away with this heat?

Still like this too (along with most of The Altogether album)

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Fun fact.

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

All the best live performances of "Fever" feature Kylie on a hospital bed!

Dear Poptimists...

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Seriously, Alicia Keys and Mary J. Blige singles in this heat aren't negotiable ticks. And I'm not even the hugest fan of either of these!

WHY ISN'T BEDINGFIELD SWEEPING THIS?????

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

This looks to me like the iffiest list yet, at least on initital inspection. Could be wrong, though. I ticked justd four for now, two of which ("Hash Pipe" and "Girls Girls Girls") are marginal. Don't remember the Chesney or McGraw or Dismemberment Plan offhand (at least by their titles), though probably I will when I hear them.