A kung fu fighter in a disco

The League Of Pop: THE FINAL

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:30:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

Another experimental format, but of course. Check back every half hour as I count up to the WINNAH. 19 voters in total - about as much as for the Pop World Cup later rounds. I am hoping for higher totals in the Pop Open! But my workload caught up with my marketing (and reviewing!) skills so this was more of an epilogue than a climax to the League.

In fourth place...: TRACK 4: M2M - "Our Song", chosen by koganbot: 2 1st place votes, 4 2nd place votes. In his email when he submitted the song Frank mentioned that he'd sent it to a lot of people before, and indeed this was the only one I even theoretically knew.

In third place...: Track 1: DESTRA - "Independent Ladies", chosen by alexmacpherson: 4 1st place votes, 5 2nd place votes. A bold choice from the Lex, I thought, though this isn't as frenetic as most Soca. I was pleased to see it do well - led the field when I counted the first ten voters.

In second place...: Track 3: COOKIE CREW - "Born This Way", chosen by jeff_worrell: 6 1st place votes, 3 2nd place votes. My personal favourite of the four, keeps its infectious momentum going to the end.

In first place...: Track 2: HERBERT - "Moving Like A Train", chosen by inhibitorylinks: 6 1st place votes, 5 2nd place votes. The best individual performer in the League of Pop and so a worthy winner here, this was the most interesting and more-ish of the tracks for me, but ran out of steam (boom boom) towards the fifth minute. Even so would have got a 2nd place from me.

Well done Scott and thanks to the other three finalists.

Tomorrow you'll get five sexxxxxy traxx (ahem), anonymised and ready to vote on. If I can sort out some streaming media nonsense I will but I'll put them up as a zip too. GIRD YR LOINS.

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League Of Pop: FINAL VOTE

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:51:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

Simple enough.

1. Pick your two favourite tracks from yesterday's entry: http://community.livejournal.com/poptimists/385042.html
2. Vote below in the text boxes.
3. If you already know a song (that's know, not "able to identify") you can't vote for it.
4. That's all!

[Poll #998725]

You have until Sunday evening to vote! If tabbing the votes this way is too hassley for me I will switch to a public-view system for the Pop Open.

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League Of Pop: THE FINAL

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:40:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

OK, here's how this works:

1. Download this 25 Mb zipfile: http://www.sendspace.com/file/h96dqj

2. Listen to the tracks. Decide which you think are the two best ones.

3. Tomorrow I will post a poll and you can vote in it.

4. You can comment here or on the poll.

5. PLAYERS: Please do not reveal which track is yours!

Question: is 25Mb too much for a single download? I need to know for the Pop Open - if necessary I can cap the bitrates at 192 and keep the totals down that way.

Pop Open: 17 out of 41 tracks in - no single group filled as yet! Keep them coming!

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The League Of Pop Play-Offs: Results!

Wed, 30 May 2007 13:21:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

Thanks to Kat and Moggy for their rapid responses and comments!

Just to fill you in on who submitted what:

In the Pop Premiership play-off:

alexmacpherson submitted Aaliyah - "I Refuse"
strange_powers submitted Sparks - "Young Girls"

In the Chart Championship play-off:

jeff_worrell submitted The Tennors - "Weather Report"
lisa_go_blind submitted The Avalanches - "Frontier Psychiatrist"

Let's see how they fared!

( Piratemoggy judges the Pop Premiership )

( Katstevens judges the Chart Championship )

So - what does this mean? In a change from the previous plan, I'm going to run one grand final with four tracks (which will also be a better dress rehearsal for the Pop Open - incidentally, 4 out of 41 tracks now in with a week to go - get them going!). So if the two play-off winners, plus inhibitorylinks and koganbot could submit a track each for the evaluation of the entire Poptimists community, and we'll try to get the files up on Monday or Tuesday.

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League of Pop, Live!!

Sat, 26 May 2007 18:03:00 GMT

Posted by: blue-russian.livejournal.com

Well, not exactly "live". For any of you with broadband connections who haven't taken the time to download all the League of Pop tracks (or didn't want to spend the time labelling the files), you can listen to a surprising number of the submissions on last.fm, just by clicking on this little widget thing that I am pasting in right here:

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The Pop Premiership: FINAL ANALYSIS

Fri, 25 May 2007 15:34:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

Congratulations to inhibitorylinks, our title winner.

strange_powers and alexmacpherson are in the play-offs.

katstevens is relegated.

( table + weekly winners )

("Total Ranking Points" is an addition of inverse rankings i.e. 11 points for 1st place, 10 points for 2nd. "Goal Difference" was meant to follow it closely, which it does, but not quite closely enough, so next time I'll use TRP as the tie-breaker.)

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Pop Premiership Week 12 RESULTS now with REVEALS

Fri, 25 May 2007 12:43:00 GMT

Posted by: 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:

( The Verdict )

Results and reveals in a couple of hours.

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The Chart Championship: FINAL ANALYSIS

Tue, 22 May 2007 14:26:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

Congratulations to koganbot, our title winner.

lisa_go_blind and jeff_worrell are in the play-offs.

piratemoggy is relegated.

( table + weekly winners )

("Total Ranking Points" is an addition of inverse rankings i.e. 11 points for 1st place, 10 points for 2nd. "Goal Difference" was meant to follow it closely, which it does, but not quite closely enough, so next time I'll use TRP as the tie-breaker.)

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Chart Championship Week 12 RESULTS now with REVEALS

Tue, 22 May 2007 10:45:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

blue_russian hands out the final scores. Who's won? Let's find out:

"Thanks to everyone for their submissions. The headline news is as follows: st least three teams went down in defeat, three teams played well but found our defense well- prepared. The other five of you, well, we'll see how the ref calls them...

( The Verdict )

Reveals at half-one-ish, I think, but maybe later.

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Chart Championship Week 11 RESULTS now with REVEALS

Fri, 18 May 2007 11:08:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

epicharmus's marks are in - has he delivered a nail-biting finish?

( The Verdict )

Thanks to Mike for some epic reviews! Reveals at a more civilized hour today, and standings too!

For week 12, I am still waiting for a bunch of tracks - four in the Pop Prem and six in the Chart Champ, I think. Get them in! (Even if you've nothing to play for.)

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Pop Premiership Week 11 RESULTS now with REVEALS

Thu, 17 May 2007 13:31:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

The Judge is IN. dubdobdee says:

"So thx everyone and well done finding me stuff i didn't know -- not as hard as you might think, my knowledge is all big unexpected holes. Glee-count: high! Surprise-count: low but one definite mystery. Economy-count: haha 2 songs at or over the ten-min mark and one at nearly 7! Write-abt count: well about half of this stuff I could have written lots more about. Can't-write-about count: hmmm, we shall see shan't we?

( The Verdict )

To compound this week's tension I have left i. the track list and ii. my league table at home. However I will try and cobble together a reveal at four-ish.

There's been a fairly steady flow of final-week tracks. I'm not going to do anything with them until Sunday, when I have some free time at last, but get them to me when you can! I'll put the Chart Champ results up when I get them.

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League Of Pop Week 12 NOMINATIONS

Mon, 14 May 2007 11:53:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

For the last time, your nominations please for the League of Pop. Both players this week - fugitivemotel and blue_russian are safely in mid-table with nothing to play for - but they will be looking forward to casting what may well be the deciding votes in the two leagues.

( Introducing fugitivemotel )

( Introducing blue_russian )

[Poll #984396]

Nominated tracks to leagueofpop@gmail.com by Friday please, and I can sniff most things out on the interwebs. MP3 format if at all possible!

Next Monday I'll put the schedule up for the play-offs, and explain how they're going to work.

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Chart Championship Week 10 RESULTS - NOW WITH REVEALS

Fri, 11 May 2007 10:32:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

koganbot takes the witness stand:

"OK, here's where I tell you why if you're someone who doesn't download and listen to the League Of Pop zip files you're an incredible chump: It's because - for instance - the three songs I would excitedly collar people and tell them they have to listen to, and let's form a band that sounds like this, are TRACKS FOUR, FIVE, and ELEVEN, none of which took a winner's spot, and one of which even finished in last place! League Of Pop is even better than the Pop World Cup for prying open my sense of what's possible in the world of music. (Also demonstrates that Brits be strange, but that's a different subject.)

People have said here that the tracks early in the mix have an advantage over the others, tend to have a stronger impact. I find just the opposite: I like whatever I've heard most recently. So what I do is reorder these on my player in what I think is my order of preference, listening last to the ones I supposedly like least, then realize I like them more, move them up over the tracks that precede them, listen to those again, realize I like them more, move them up, listen to the others, then realize I like those others more, and round and round. This is why December year-end lists are total madness for me. Right now TRACKS ONE, THREE, and SIX are in a dead heat for the final winners' slot. Think I'll end up choosing the one ~~least likely to knock me out of the playoffs~~ with the most immediate emotional impact, but I won't know for sure until I hit send.

( The Verdict )

Admin: We are low on tracks for this week! Also my net connection at home is currently very erratic - if it stays that way I'll be able to download everything but may not be able to Sendspace it until I'm at work on Monday, sorry Mark and Mike. I will send reminders out today or tomorrow, and blue_russian and fugitivemotel, you need to get me the - gasp! - FINAL INTROS for Monday too.

Reveals shortly after Frank comments on the thread for the first time, since it's only fair he gets to see what everyone makes of everything before the curtain is pulled back.

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Pop Premiership Week 10 RESULTS

Wed, 09 May 2007 13:41:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

From the mouth of inhibitorylinks comes...JUDGEMENT.

"First of all, as a long-time lurker at poptimists, I just wanted to say a big thank you to all for letting me be a part of this very fun event. Thanks also for my tracks, which I burned onto a CD and listened to as I sojourned around Sydney for work yesterday - it's not often I can do that and feel content at the same time.

For what it's worth it was VERY hard to separate most of these tracks into "winners" and "losers" - aren't we all winners in the end, after all?

( The Verdict )

So far in Week 11 we've had a healthy haul for Epicharmus and almost nothing for Dubdobdee! Come on! Don't be scared!

Reveals at 4-ish.

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The League Of Pop Week 11 NOMINATIONS

Tue, 08 May 2007 10:36:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

Quick thinking required this week as bank holidays mean there's only a four-day turnaround. In the Pop Prem dubdobdee is aiming for a play-off place at least, whereas in the Chart Championship epicharmus gets the chance to play kingmaker. And you get the chance to play Kingmaker at him.

( Introducing dubdobdee )

( Introducing epicharmus )

Chew on that, submit yr tracks, get them to me by Friday if poss, leagueofpop@gmail.com, erm that's it.

[Poll #980780]

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Pop Premiership Week 9 RESULTS (now with reveal)

Thu, 03 May 2007 12:47:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

strange_powers pronounces.

"Thanks to everyone in the league for sending in these songs, it's made for a few days of truly entertaining listening. Ultimately, decisions were a lot easier than I thought they would be, despite at least two people submitting things that I specifically asked you all not to, and me having to reward them with wins. I knew none of the songs, though I've a fair idea of quite a few of the artists, so it was a cd well worth burning.

( The verdict )

Reveal in a couple hours, and just time for a plea for SONGS for this week! I think it's the lowest turnout we've had by this time in the week.

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Chart Championship Week 9 RESULTS

Wed, 02 May 2007 12:55:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

byebyepride pronounces! (I also have the Pop Prem results - want me to post them after I get back from lunch, or tomorrow?)

"Well like most competitors, I was absolutely thrilled to get the tracks, and amazed by how accurately most people had managed to gauge my taste. Obviously some of my track choices over the competition have been a giveaway, but I suspected my blurb last week wouldn't have been particularly useful. So thanks to everybody, and sorry I couldn't give all your tracks top marks! On first listening I think I liked all of them immediately -- except for one -- although a couple aren't standing up to repeated attention. A few stood out, but the middle and lower grounds were tough to pick apart. Anyway, over to the hotline in the newsroom where the results are coming in…

( The Verdict )

I am not exactly awash in Week 10 tracks, so keep them coming!

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League Of Pop Week 10 NOMINATIONS

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 11:17:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

I got both Week 9 zipfiles sent off in the end, so will post those later.

Week 10 sees the current leaders of BOTH leagues sit in judgement - very important for their title rivals to get their tracks right, then! Luckily inhibitorylinks and koganbot have provided intros to help you...

( Introducing inhibitorylinks )

( Introducing koganbot )

Nominate using the poll below, and tracks, as ever, to leagueofpop@gmail.com - or I can hunt out your nominations but this is a chancier prospect for several reasons.

[Poll #975928]

Good luck! Also look out later today for the probable announcement of summer orgafun.

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League Of Pop Week 8 Standings

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 14:26:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

There might be a delay in the LoP week 9 sendouts - I've been too busy to send reminders and I've only just got round to collating the tracks. ALSO I totally forgot to ask for intros for next week's players :( Well, 8 weeks of smooth running isn't bad considering! In the meantime here's the standings after Week 8.

This week (last week) Played Won-Drew-Lost Points

( Standings )

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Chart Championship Week 8 RESULTS (now with reveals)

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:17:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

Championship leader skillextric dispenses justice. (And get yer week 9 tracks in if you haven't already - it's not likely that I'll be able to send reminders out and the leagueofpop@gmail.com inbox is looking thin!)

Revelations at 3.30 ish. Incidentally a lot of these tracks still had "composer tags" on - I've edited the bits in William's comments where he mentions this to preserve the surprise for any who didn't see.

"Cheers for these - on the whole, a solid bundle, but it felt like a lot of the songs were the kind of things that need to bed in over time. I really, really worried about the five things I gave as qualities, cos I was looking for surprises more than anything else, and I got them, but some weren't perhaps as surprising as I'd hoped. With one notable exception, though, I didn't really dislike any of it, and hopefully my comments aren't quite as prickish as I felt they were when writing them.

( Verdict! )

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Pop Premiership Week 8 RESULTS

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 12:12:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

I've not been flooded with Week 9 entries but no worries, it's only Wednesday.

Here's what katstevens has to say about the tracks you backed. Reveals at, oh, 3-ish?

""Thanks everyone for a great CD! I'm very hard to please and you all did admirably. More guitars than I was expecting though... Prepare for my brutally honest opinions!

( The Verdict )

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League Of Pop Week 7 Standings

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:36:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

By popular-ish demand!

This week (last week) Played Won-Drew-Lost Points

( rankings )

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League Of Pop Week 9 NOMINATIONS

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 10:39:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

I got the zip files for Week 8 off in the wee hours of this morning - will post them separately a bit later. Full house again, except for epicharmus who has the excuse of furthering the cause of pop at the EMP. I picked a track that he put on a CD-R for me once: it doesn't remotely fit skillextric's criteria but I'll be interested to see how it does anyway.

Meanwhile, Week 9! strange_powers is still in a strong position in the Pop Premiership, while byebyepride is in a relegation battle in the Chart Championship. Neither of which has anything to do with their intros, which you can read under the cuts:

( Introducing strange_powers )

( Introducing byebyepride )

[Poll #971631]

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Chart Championship Week 7 RESULTS

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:16:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

Here's lockedintheatti's results - featuring the savage cruelties of the DRAW SYSTEM. Incidentally, there's only 10 tracks - epicharmus missed deadline so has an automatic lose (sorry Mike!).

"Well, I was very pleasantly surprised by this week's selections - I can genuinely say this is the first time I have ever received a compilation in which I've liked every single track, there were none that I had the urge to skip on repeated listens. Having said that, there was a very, very clear winner, and the second choice was quite an easy pick too. After that that it was a real struggle deciding on the placings, and I could have picked any of the songs from third to sixth position in a different order as I pretty much liked those 4 equally.

( The VERDICT )

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Pop Premiership Week 7 RESULTS

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 13:03:00 GMT

Posted by: freakytigger.livejournal.com

Here's what braisedbywolves had to say. First off, a quick reminder to get your tracks in for this week! I will be sending out individual reminders tomorrow hopefully. Revelations at about 3-3.30 probably.

Over to Braised:

"I didn't really get much "OMG OMG What is this?" off anything here, though I'd definitely be up for more of 1st to 4th place. I'm not sure that I really made the best intoduction, there was at least one glaring omission (noted below), and I can see where I should have put "but only if it's good" at the end of some of my enthusiasms (or rather been more specific about what was good in them). Anyway, points for you lot:

( The VERDICT )

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