The League Of Extraordinary Tracks 2: 2020 Poll

Here we go with the second week of the LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY TRACKS. Our 12 nominators had the assignment to choose songs from 2020. In the playlist post you can hear what they brought back and here’s where you get to VOTE on them.

As usual you can pick UP TO FOUR tracks but remember the golden rule –

NO VOTING FOR SONGS YOU ALREADY KNEW!

Voting is open until Saturday morning, so take your time. (And tell your friends if you dig this playlist!)

League Of Extraordinary Tracks S1E2: 2020!

Please pick up to FOUR of these tracks.

DO NOT PICK TRACKS YOU ALREADY KNEW!

Spotify and YouTube playlists in the playlist post.

The poll has expired!

The League Of Extraordinary Tracks 2: 2020 Playlists

The League Of Extraordinary Tracks 2: 2020 RESULTS!

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actualee simpson

18 June 2023 12:44

Will need to spend some time with this one. Ruled out one on GB grounds (Open Mike Eagle) and two others are ringing GB alarms (Dogleg and “I Walk Alone With Acid”) but can’t confirm. All tracks are in play for voting on first listen.

Baltimore Jacks

18 June 2023 14:00

Fun mix. No Dirás is what an algorithm that’s really good at its job would have selected for me. Dogleg and Lembayung Group are the only ones ruled out based on prior familiarity.
(J/k about Lembayung Group which I of course wouldn’t have heard in a million years were it not for the wonders of PPP.)

Tom

18 June 2023 16:18

12 for 12 new for me, and I think the only artists I’ve ever heard anything by before are Jay Som and Schoolboy Q.

Strong set too – my impressions shifted so much between my first and second playthroughs that I’m going to take a while to work out the votes. So these aren’t votes just notes:

Very struck by Pale Blue – lyrics don’t usually hit me at first so it was only about halfway through that I realise a) what this was about, b) how chilling it is.
Good to see more rap – NEZ’ housey backing worked really well for me.
Surprised by how much I liked Sam Amidon! That kind of indie folk approach is really not my usual style but yeah this is very good.

Tom

19 June 2023 15:12

Reply to Tom

So in the end I went for Pale Blue and NEZ as above – not sure I’ll have PB on regular rotation but it’s not designed for that. It would have fitted very well into the 2020 poll as run (our most socially conscious as a community!) and deserves to do well here too IMO.
Also went for “No Diras” as the most summer jammiest track in the round, then in the vibes battle between Sam Amidon and Lembayung Group went for the latter but it was very close and I’m slightly regretting it now.
My other close call was “Taco Bell” – either it’s so catchy I’m hallucinating or it reminds me a lot of another hyperpop banger.

ismathers

19 June 2023 20:04

Reply to Tom

Almost getting your vote for Sam Amidon is reward enough! If you like it I definitely recommend that whole record (and his other ones too, All Is Well is a favourite record of all time for me, but don’t let me get ahead of myself).

mondosalvo

18 June 2023 16:31

Agree this is a strong group, but I didn’t have trouble moving four of them to the top. Only weak link here is Dogleg, and that’s just a production quibble on my part. Some genres can handle drums that sound like they were recorded in an airplane hangar, but this isn’t one. They need to be punchy and dry.

Dan Bright-Amaya

18 June 2023 22:17

Another really strong group and everything very listenable again. Was thinking we were going to get a lot more experimental weirdness but maybe someone has to jump first and see how it goes?

Going to have to listen a bit more to decide on my votes though surely Pale Blue will deservedly walk away with it. Nez/Schoolboy Q and Brennen Leigh also with strong first impressions.

Arron Wright

19 June 2023 14:48

Reply to Dan Bright-Amaya

Agree it should; bet you it won’t.

Arron Wright

24 June 2023 13:02

Reply to Arron Wright

Well, I hold my hands up. Lost that bet 🙂

Arron Wright

20 June 2023 15:11

Reply to Arron Wright

Anyway, apart from Pale Blue, my votes went to:

Delaporte (because NIE songs have an automatic handicap)
Open Mike Eagle (wanted to vote for hip-hop and thought I may have heard Nez/SQ before)
Lorenzo Senni (similar to NIE with instrumentals)

I didn’t really hear anything distinctive in the other songs in the current top six, which dominated the second half of the playlist (and helped Pale Blue stand out so much). But I freely admit I’m not the typical voter on GB/B-sides, and I’m already thinking it would be wise not to try playing in Season 3 🙂

Tom

20 June 2023 15:33

Reply to Arron Wright

I feel like in the main polls there are two broad strands of GB voting – “I want to hear something good and surprising” and “I want to hear something good in a style I like”. I’m personally very much a “want to be surprised” voter and I often see GB noms come in and think “wow” as people latch onto something which sounds fairly generic to me (even when it’s also pretty good!). But presumably other people are thinking “oh come on” at weirdo selections 🙂

My hope is the structure of this competition caters to both of those. I think only having a week or so to pick tracks is going to push people more to the latter as we go on, though, and I might drop that element of it for Season 2: let the participants know all categories in advance.

I also might tweak the GB rules a bit – I’m not sure anything’s suffering too much this time but Destroyer certainly did last week. It might be that everyone can have one non-GB pick in their 4 – which would also mean players could vote for their own nom at least!

Last edited 1 year ago by Tom

j_e_l

21 June 2023 21:00

Reply to Tom

Oh no, please don’t drop the element of surprise! I’m looking forward to the time limit on the challenge

wmterhaar

21 June 2023 13:06

Reply to Tom

I’m not sure anything’s suffering too much this time but Destroyer certainly did last week.
I’d attribute that to it being the very first poll according to this system and not getting how the rules might affect the voting. I didn’t take this into account either. Not that it did matter, because there aren’t many power metal fans here, but I knew took a risk this time with a track I picked up from Stereogum in 2020, meaning it might as well be one people already knew.

stabilimentum

21 June 2023 00:57

Reply to Tom

I think having only a week to pick a track is a fantastic idea and helps the discovery aspect of the poll very well.

koganbot

20 June 2023 17:57

Reply to Tom

I’m baffled why you’d loosen the GB rule – what problem does that solve? Why should people get to vote their own nom? Why should’ve Destroyer done better? Say I were a player and I’d nominated “Sunset People” for placenames, which was the least-known single off Hot Stuff and might’ve gotten some votes, why should it get to pick up extra votes as people’s exception track?

actualee simpson

20 June 2023 16:16

Reply to Tom

I personally find the strict GB rules have been good for me as a nominator *and* a voter, and think it’s better to have an honor system limit to voting for your own nom.
Because of the limitations I’m also being extremely generous with my listening — “good ears”! — and am especially giving benefit of the doubt to those things I might otherwise wrote off as generic.

Dan Bright-Amaya

20 June 2023 17:38

Reply to actualee simpson

Agree in liking the GB rules because they make an interesting challenge as a nominator – not only something that most people haven’t heard (like in the main polls) but something the 15 or 20 potential voters for that song haven’t heard. And the voting is so close that losing a couple of people could put you at the bottom. The jeopardy is high!

Not sure about knowing categories in advance. It would help with planning songs that fit in multiple themes but on the other hand, a week is long enough to obsess over which song is good, obscure and widely-appealing enough to nominate. Next week’s pick from me will be less mainstream but it’s driving me nuts trying to decide just how far out there to go 🙂

actualee simpson

20 June 2023 19:47

Reply to Dan Bright-Amaya

I’ve liked the “weekly task” feel of the weekly reveal, though I could go either way. Would hate to fall down any more of a rabbit hole than I’m already in (and I actually think it would be harder for me to know all the categories in advance but that might just be me).

Arron Wright

20 June 2023 16:10

Reply to Tom

Now I think about it, this project resembles something @benjaminjudge used to run on Twitter, more than it does GB or B-sides. Though of course there are similarities.

People would nominate songs on a chosen theme, then – here’s the big difference – HE would decide the top 40 and award points to players.

I joined only a few weeks before he ended it, but won the last one by picking ‘Introvert’ for ‘best song so far in 2021’. It’s how I found a lot of borderline noms for 2021 actually, including ‘Hard Drive’ and ‘Rainforest’.

The latter ended up in my curated group. The former is exactly the sort of song I probably wouldn’t vote for here, in the space of just a week. Yet by the time of the PPP year poll it was one of my top ten or so.

vinnycrackers

18 June 2023 22:51

Another very chill Sunday group.
i only knew Open Mike Eagle and ScHoolboy Q but not these songs so wide open.
Lembayung my favorite by a mile. Like Frankie Valli goes to Bali.

NEIL

18 June 2023 23:24

Taco Bell is giddily infectious, my standout favourite by a good distance! Also really enjoyed Open Mike Eagle (particularly from the Dinklage rhyme onward) and I’m not quite sure Modern Studies are reminding me of, but I like it a lot!

Delaporte just squeezed out Brennen Leigh to get my fourth vote cause I refused to sanction the rhyming of “from here” with “rear view miiiirrrrr” 🙂

All in all a lovely set of tracks, thanks to all nominators! As someone finding the sheer scale of the Charity Crusher a little overwhelming, this was a welcome change of pace 🙂

Pop-o-matic

19 June 2023 16:03

I was only familiar with my nomination and “Kawasaki Backflip” beforehand, and this has been a really tough choice because of how good everything is.

Ended up going for “Aku Berdansa Seorang Diri Disini”, “Wild Youngster”, “Taco Bell” and “Spanish Merchant’s Daughter”, but it could have been any of the others on another day.

koganbot

19 June 2023 18:37

“Taco Bell” – is there a name for this subgenre, high-pitched, treated, abrasive indie pop? enjoyable maybe 60 percent of the time, agitatingly irritating 60 percent of the time (notice an overlap, the combination irritating and entertaining).

“Spanish Merchant’s Daughter,” an old folkie chestnut; I decided in the first 30 seconds this version was too hazy and new agey and indie and precious and the joke hadn’t been that good in the first place; after 277 seconds of the same thing I was quite taken, happy with the atmospherics, happy with the joke. Anyway, that was typical: didn’t know at the start if I liked a lot of these, ended up liking them all.

“Don’t You Know I’m From Here?” Sounds like someone I’d like to know, the lyrics thoughtful and ambivalent, though didn’t vote for it: the instrumentation too acoustic and not ambivalent enough. Coulda borrowed the occasional blip from Lorenzo Senni and a bit of abrasion from That Kid.

“Aku Berdansa Seorang Diri Disini” – This isn’t just a classic chord pattern; there’s a specific oldie it makes me think of, just beyond the edge of memory. ????

actualee simpson

20 June 2023 03:29

Reply to koganbot

I think Lembayung Group sounds a lot like Santo & Johnny’s “Sleep Walk,” though no idea if it’s intentional (the melody is reminiscent, chord pattern’s a little different). Though when I check the YouTube, it *credits* “Sleep Walk,” no idea what that’s about.

koganbot

20 June 2023 08:23

Reply to actualee simpson

I could well be thinking of “Sleep Walk,” though my memory mists are expecting vocals in the “B” section.

Edward Still

23 June 2023 14:01

Reply to koganbot

I went straight to Sleepwalking, the Modest Mouse interpretation w/ lyrics.

Tom

19 June 2023 18:41

Reply to koganbot

IDK if its nominator would agree but I heard “Taco Bell” as “hyperpop” – the kind of thing you’d hear on PC Music (home to SOPHIE, AC Cook, GFOTY) – I think the song it specifically reminds me of is a SOPHIE one though I can’t quite place which.

I think your percentages are pretty accurate 🙂

koganbot

19 June 2023 18:56

Reply to Tom

I was thinking 100 gecs and Ada Rook, though this (like your examples) veers a bit more electro than they do.

koganbot

19 June 2023 18:59

Reply to koganbot

Though the accidental, outlying queen of the subgenre is Farrah Abraham.

jonathanb

24 June 2023 11:34

Reply to koganbot

I am its nominator, and hyperpop seems exactly right to me. 🙂 I don’t know a whole lot about That Kid, but he has collaborated with LIZ, who is v much in that realm, as well as Ravenna Golden, who did the Cake Pops record with Dylan Brady from 100 gecs. (For whatever reason, I don’t really read Black Dresses and their associated projects as hyperpop; they seem maybe too willing to stare into the abyss rather than simply fill it with synth shards.)

I’ve long thought of Farrah Abraham as an antecedent to the whole hyperpop thing, though I don’t know if anyone has ever asked any of the principal players if her record was an influence. In “Taco Bell,” though, what I hear is a different accidental ancestor: the toy-keyboard pop-punk of Hello Goodbye, particularly their early material. I do wonder if this is intentional: something I can’t figure out about That Kid’s track are the outdated references to outdated technology. The lyrics mention a Sidekick and an iPhone 3, and since I’m a bit out of touch with Zoomer views on ’00s communication devices, I don’t know why exactly they might color a songs with artefacts from back when they were in elementary school.

koganbot

19 June 2023 18:44

Voted: NEZ/Schoolboy (rap somewhere betw. crazed and cool, bkgd vocals not the usual Autotune noodle; rather, an evocatively spacey yawp), Pale Blue (electroclash? w/ sorrow, dread), Lembayung Group (resembles old R&B, the lilting, sliding subdivision), Lorenzo Senni (though not hearing either dance or revolution in this, or anyway if the electronic blips are dancing, they’re in stately formation).

RobertK

20 June 2023 15:20

Reply to koganbot

I voted before reading the comments and just now noticed we settled upon the same four. It feels a bit like a game show in that regard.

koganbot

20 June 2023 18:04

Reply to RobertK

Family Feud! The Newlywed Game!

sclv

19 June 2023 18:50

Extremely mellow, acoustic-ish, folk-ish set for a modern year! I wonder if that’s reflective of some shift in indie-aesthetics around that point, or just a coincidence of nominations.

Derrick Harder

23 June 2023 19:14

Reply to sclv

I nominated Modern Studies for the simple reason that it was the only 2020 album or song I had in my collection that I hadn’t either already nominated in a past poll, or learned about from the original 2020 poll! But I do like it and am glad others are enjoying it too! Interesting group overall

actualee simpson

19 June 2023 18:55

Reply to sclv

As a nominator I tried to look for a track that didn’t scream “2020” (though my fave in the group, Pale Blue, did.)

j_e_l

19 June 2023 19:25

Think I know Dogleg, or I’ve been served this sound a lot on Spotify when I’m digging around. I gave it one of my votes though. I liked Lembayung group too. Brennan Leigh and Routine were my favourites from this set of songs.

ismathers

19 June 2023 20:43

Good group! Went (in no particular order) Dogleg, Nez/Schoolboy Q, Pale Blue, Routine. HM to Delaporte, which I thought was the Knife for just a second at the very start.
I actually saw Sam Amidon live recently; he did play “Spanish Merchant’s Daughter” and its strangely floating feel reminded me of both just how enchanting I find that side of Sam’s interpretations and also how he always plays with such interesting and talented musicians. I grew up going to a folk festival every year and hearing way too much of that stuff – I love some of it but there’s a lot of just middling examples of it, and I think my love for Sam’s music comes to bringing both respect for these very old songs but also a kind of restless creativity (and, especially live, sense of humour) to them.

mondosalvo

20 June 2023 05:23

Presently, the top 4 are the same 4 I voted for, so STOP THE COUNT obvs!

RobertK

20 June 2023 15:16

Good group! I liked all 12 songs, even those in genres/styles that are generally Not For Me.
I disqualified Iron Mike Eagle as while the song doesn’t ring a bell I have heard the album and am aware of his overall presentation. It’s good though!
I went with Nez, Lorenzo Senni, Lembayoung Group, and Pale Blue. As of this writing it looks like we need some participation to break up the group though.

Tom

20 June 2023 15:20

Reply to RobertK

Voting is at roughly the same pace as last week and that one only really broke apart in the last day! So fingers crossed we won’t have 4 winners…

katstevens

20 June 2023 22:50

I enjoyed most of these, thanks nominators! Couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d heard Dogleg before but then I realised I was thinking of Hundred Reasons. Voted for Pale Blue, Modern Studies, Open Mike and Brennen Leigh.

wmterhaar

21 June 2023 13:02

Lorenzo Senni was the stand out track for me. Also gave a vote to Brennen Leigh, Modern Studies and Pale Blue.

Mark EC Morris

21 June 2023 22:14

The stern rule not to vote for something I know really hasn’t been a problem so far, because this is all new to me, even – as it turns out – with an act I’m somewhat familiar with (Open Mike Eagle, although even in that case I’ve mostly experienced him as a podcaster rather than a rapper)

ajjr82

21 June 2023 22:48

Really like the scuzzy vibes of Nez, not as much a fan of the Open Mike Eagle track as I find it a little bit too repetitive while not being funny enough to me to work as a novelty track.
Already knew the Dogleg song so that one was out for me.

Joe Kay

22 June 2023 18:34

‘Don’t you know I’m from here’ could be a follow-up to last week’s winner ‘ Georgia Morning Dew’. It’s what happens after Johnny Adams gets back to Georgia.

Baltimore Jacks

22 June 2023 18:44

Analyzing data is my job and as far as I can tell, the first two weeks of voting have provided very little data on voters’ tendencies that’s useful for informing pick strategy in this format/venue. Which I think speaks well of the voters.

Dan Bright-Amaya

23 June 2023 11:33

Reply to Baltimore Jacks

Sample sizes aren’t big enough yet! I noted that country songs have done well both weeks, but this is useless information given what I usually nominate. Decided earlier in the week that Delaporte wasn’t doing well enough to justify another Latin pop banger next time and now it’s just gone into 4th. So who knows.

Also, so far the theme hasn’t affected the voting much I don’t think, at least judging by the comments.

Baltimore Jacks

23 June 2023 13:18

Reply to Dan Bright-Amaya

On the subject of small sample sizes, given the voter demographics I have a suspicion that unknown stuff from the 70s and 80s that sounds like stuff people like from those eras are likely to do well. The Week 1 results seem to bear that out. But that’s just one week of voting and basically two songs. So I guess we’ll see.
And I’m sure there are also some red bus/blue bus issues in Week 1, which had a bunch of relatively more modern stuff and just a couple of older songs, so those older songs could vacuum up the votes from folks inclined to vote for older things.
But clearly there’s a wide range of genres that can do well. Which is nice!

actualee simpson

22 June 2023 19:23

Reply to Baltimore Jacks

I suppose the news is out that I picked Johnny Adams last round — it was from a country funk compilation series that I got really into about a year ago but never bothered to look up the first installment.

My criteria for selection was that I hadn’t heard it before myself (or didn’t have a strong personal connection to it, at least) and it wasn’t my intuitive top pick from my own shortlist, with the rationale being my “raw taste” would rarely intersect with the average taste of the voters. I cannot tell you exactly how I did this, it’s all just vibes.

Edward Still

23 June 2023 15:26

In the end I went for the harrowing Pale Blue, beautiful Lorenzo Senni, sunny Delaporte with Sam A very narrowly seeing off Modern Studies and Lembayung for the final vote.

Nevertheless nothing bad here, in fact it was probably better than last week’s extremely tough debut round.

actualee simpson

24 June 2023 12:43

Would love to provide more info on my nom Lembayung Group but they were part of my weekly scan of Spotify music from their new music playlists, where the provenance of Indonesian songs in particular was (and remains) a bit of a mystery. LG were my second-favorite Indonesian find of that year after a rockabilly group called Borock N Roll: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wCwLb62dVEo

Is there an Indonesian market for faithful pastiche? This year I’ve heard disco and tropicalia with a similar tendency toward retro verisimilitude. (Someone with more familiarity with Indonesia would have a better explanation of whether it’s a trend or just a coincidence.)

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Pages

The League Of Extraordinary Tracks 2: 2020 Poll

League Of Extraordinary Tracks S1E2: 2020!

The League Of Extraordinary Tracks 2: 2020 Playlists

The League Of Extraordinary Tracks 2: 2020 RESULTS!

The Discourse