Next up the mercurial Cat Power with a live version of Nude as the News
@Pauwl persuaded @cassette that this was the best live performance.
I love her and haven’t seen this before. A good combo. I see how someone might think the performance is a bit dull, but for me it’s a good match to the mood and the performer. Chan is notoriously shy and that comes across in an endearing way here. As mentioned, I’m also a sucker for talkshow performances. It’s a great environment for a live performance and that’s true here as well. Thanks for this. I hadn’t seen it before.
Then a band that seems to show up here quite often, The National saying Murder Me Rachael.
@skydiver8 won a round when @Jalfrezi wanted songs featuring some woman’s name.
For those who don’t know (which included me), they’re an indie rock band from skydiver’s Cincinati and they do a very decent job here of channelling their inner John Cale with the sort of dissonant electronic noise that I’m a sucker for (well spotted skydiver) as the murder-to-be becomes clearer.
There was enough in the music and lyrics for me to want several extra listens before ranking it, as is usually the case with these category winners.
Finally FKA Twigs wants you to Water Me.
@cassette won as he picked the song that was as Hot as a Haddock. @SwankyWilder judged, obviously.
This was a winner from the first play. As I mentioned earlier, I loaded all the tracks on to a playlist and I was listening for the first time having a stroll along the seafront where I live
And when this song came on it stopped me in my tracks- I sat down and listened to it 3 or 4 times in a row. Beautiful, haunting, melancholic a fantastic piece of work, I was vaguely aware of FKA Twigs before, but this just knocked me out.
There are a few songs where I can vividly remember where and when I first heard them, This is one
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that pyat loves this group and I’m kind of like ‘meh.’ Never been a huge Vampire Weekend fan and that Hot Hot Hot song is burned into my subconsciousness as a song you hear snippets of at Bar Mitzvahs. Meanwhile I like The National song quite a bit, although I don’t think it would have been top 2 in most groupings.
Meh guess I was always just voting for the front runners here…
A-Punk-Vampire Weekend showing up again. Look I like Vampire Weekend, and this is a fun quick known song. I’m not against voting this, but really hoping next four songs give me something new.
Hot-Hot-Hot-One of these classics, that I’m not sure I have ever actually listened to the whole thing. I mean everyont knows HOT HOT HOT. Never knew this was 7 minutes long, but HOT HOT HOT
Nude as the news (live)-Gotta admit I really liked this. Something about her live performance was cool.
Murder Me Rachael-The National showing up again. I like the National alright, but I don’t love them.
Water Me-Weird, but digging it. Wanted it to build to something though.
Here’s a mildly amusing anecdote. I was just image searching FKA Twigs to announce her glorious victory, when my wife appeared behind me (I had headphones in) and asked what I was up to.
“Well, she’s in a competition I’m running on the internet and I need a picture for it.”
Which turned out to be bad phrasing, and I then had to explain that I wasn’t running some contest where people rated pictures of women. Think I got away with it.
I think we can say we’re in the home stretch of the preliminaries now. 3 more to go.
Round 14
First up the warbler in chief, Mariah Carey warbling her Emotions.
@R.C. straight batted a round about female vocals and @anon29622970 had no choice but to agree.
This is how you showcase the vocal capabilities of an artist in a pop song! Perfect submission for this category.
Then we have people with guitars, Explosions in the Sky putting Your Hand in Mine.
@ChrisV thought that @hokie sent in the best song that had a personal connection.
hokie writes:
Instantly takes me back to high school football (a transformative time in my life–not sure if it will translate well to Oz) since this song was in the movie Friday Night Lights, which we used to watch on road trips.
It’s new to me and I was quite taken with it. The band have referred to their compositions as “cathartic mini-symphonies”, which I think is on point. The sort of wistful build-up gives way to the joyful crescendos in a way that remains exciting for me even after a bunch of listens (and I’ve heard this 10+ times at this point). It’s quite pop in its sensibilities, really, but it’s beautiful.
And continuing with BT and Satellite.
@skydiver8 persuaded @Rivaldo that her favourite artist was the best favourite artist.
I just love this song. Hypnotic. Gorgeous melody. Beautiful lyrics that read like poetry and mystery.
She smells of the sun
And she’s constantly saying
That it’s alright because lies sound so nice
And like soil to seed goes, casting my fears aside
I’d hoped to provide something in the reveal of this particular song that captures its meaning for me, but I’m just a man and that’s too great a task.
Next it’s the excitingly named Car Seat Headrest with Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales.
@Pauwl found something @cassette really wanted to hear on a long walk.
How dare you. I’ve been waiting for a good spot to submit this. Love it. It’s a great walking song, of course. The Tiny Desk performance of this is a little brutal but this recording is amazing. Good video too. For some reason the lead guy tilts me but probably just because I’m jealous of a young guy killing it. He has a long career ahead.
This was the early favorite and was never really in danger of losing that status. The rest were fighting for silver and bronze.
Just like its fellow podium Walrusses this has a thumbing beat. It has an old-school hip-hop vibe and throws in some electric guitar chords. Then there’s that thing that starts at 1:35. It does not make the mistake to overstay its welcome. Perfect.
And finally, saving the best till last, the great Fela Kuti with Zombie.
I won when @Pauwl also wanted to hear something from a favourite artist.
“I think the thing I love the most is how effortless his stuff always sounds. It’s an incredible feat to pack together so many influences, possibilities and anger into music that sounds spontaneous & celebratory, and with a beat that never lets up.”
I didn’t state it, but this is what I wanted for this category. This is definitely outside my normal listening. Wikipedia says he was a pioneer of Afrobeat and lists his genres as Afrobeat - Highlife. I had to google both of those. This gets all the bumps as this taught me about different music genres and some history in Nigeria.
I’m in and out of this thread but this is an easy one for me. I still love “Your Hand In Mine” and it’s amusing to me that skydiver submitted BT to me a bunch of times but never Satellite, which is perhaps the only BT track I actually love, although Mercury And Solace is also in the conversation.
