In 7th place, scoring 9 points, Pauwl with Old Man by Stella Donnelly
Stella was Triple J Unearthed artist of the year 2017. It would be hard to explain to a non-Australian the importance of Triple J in the 1990s. Imagine a radio station which is a publicly-owned, youth-oriented, determinedly alternative/counterculture sort of MTV equivalent. In the pre-internet era it was the foundation of a national youth culture in a vast and spread-out country. I imagine itās not so important to kids these days.
I donāt love Stellaās voice, and probably her exaggerated Aussie accent annoys me more than it does others. I like this song quite a bit though. Nice spacey, laid-back feel to it.
This next song had by far the biggest upward journey in this category, from first to last listen.
In 6th place, scoring 10 points, jalfrezi with Blabber 'n Smoke by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
Quirky stuff. On first listen I was like, wtf is this. On repeated listens, I came around to its way of thinking. Musically accomplished, charming, has character and a unique voice. I never quite grew to love it, but I definitely respect it.
So this is why when I said Iād participate I said Iād do it as long as I never had to be the walrus, or game master, or whatever. I canāt describe stuff like this. Well done.
Weāre now moving on to songs that I enjoyed a lot. The next 5 songs represented a huge headache to order. Well, actually Iāve always been pretty solid on 1 and 2. 3, 4, and 5 were the problem. I actually still donāt really know what order I want them in, but weāre about to find out!
Man, this is really hard. I donāt want to put any of this stuff in 5th. Nonetheless, here we go.
In 5th place, scoring 11 points, WesleyC with Fake Empire by The National
Wes is a real life friend of mine, heāll probably show up in the thread at some point. Heās trying to convince me to come to Melbourne with him to see The National, a band I donāt know very well, so theyāre both of his first two submissions. His campaign is off to a good start here. When I mentioned to him that his submission was doing well but that I was having trouble sorting out the top 5 songs, he said āguess Iām 5th thenā. Well, here you go, buddy.
I like the time changes in the middle here and the drum pattern in the second half which add interest and elevate what is at heart a simple song. Like the vibe of it. I also like the category fit - this song is from 2007 but the chorus āWeāre half awake in a fake empireā has only got more relevant in 2019. Good stuff.
When I heard CV was doing a Walrus, the chance to force a bunch of good music on him was too much to resist. If you knew how much he likes to sing along you would realize what a critical mission youāve all undertaken!
OK, that was tough but Iām making moves now. Got my groove back. Letās power towards the podium.
In 4th place, scoring 12 points, Twist with Viva La Quinta Brigada (Live in Glasgow) by Christy Moore
I didnāt recognise the artist name and based on the title, Irish folk was the last thing I was expecting. Solid song, elevated here by pretty guitar accompaniment and the energy of the crowd. Folk being what it is, the crowd plays a part in any folk performance.
Good category fit too - some history Iām pretty vague on, people from around the world going to fight in the Spanish Civil War against Franco. Some of those from Ireland left the IRA after a vote to make the IRA a socialist organisation failed, and instead joined the front lines of the earliest fight against fascism, the prelude to WW2.
So there you have it. Educational and a blast to listen to, just missing out on the podium.
