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The League Of Extraordinary Tracks 6: 2008 Poll!
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— 16 July 2023 Tom

LEAGUE OF TRACKS ADMIN!: I’d hoped to only have one skip week on holiday but it looks like that won’t be the case. So we’ll be back with Four Letter Words in two Sundays’ time, and 2023 the week after that. The upshot of that, though, is that I can keep this one open for longer – so I’ve extended it over the weekend. Tell your friends! If you’re a 200-and-h8er tell your enemies too!

This week’s poll takes us back to 2008 – a turbulent year, and a controversial pop poll which led to the “MGMT Clause” to prevent two tracks by the same band meeting in the semi-finals ever again. Today’s poll is however a MGMT-free zone, as our nominators have dug up a bunch of hopefully new-to-you tracks.

As usual, please vote for UP TO FOUR of these songs. And only vote for tracks you DIDN’T PREVIOUSLY KNOW.

To actually hear them all, check out the playlist post

[ays_poll id=104]

Latest comments (of 32)

Tom   16 months ago

Huge apologies to Martijn whose comment sat in moderation limbo during my entire holiday!

actualee simpson   16 months ago

This was the playlist that grew on me the most over the course of the week, to the point where I sort of regretted my votes by the end, and did a total 180 from my original impression of the […]

koganbot   16 months ago

Btw, it's quite possible (I might even say probable) that the "Desabafo/Deixa eu dizer" remix was made several years later to capitalize on the Marcelo D2 original ("original") being used in 2011 in […]

mondosalvo   16 months ago

Dunno yet who nominated American Music Club, but please accept my condolences. There's a small gap between each of the top 11 and then a colossal chasm before 12th place.

The League Of Extraordinary Tracks 6: 2008 Playlists
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— 16 July 2023 Tom

This week we’re revisiting the year 2008 – a decade-and-a-half (and an extensive pop poll) behind us, how does it look and what can we still unearth? Our nominators have risen to the challenge with a dozen tracks. Two of them are either YouTube-only or only on Spotify in some territories, so don’t miss out on those! Once you’ve had a listen, go vote in the poll post.

  1. WALE – “The Opening Title Sequence” (from The Mixtape About Nothing)
  2. SPARK IS A DIAMOND – “Check Your Lease, You’re In Fuck City” (from Try This On For Size)
  3. FREE BLOOD – “Quick And Painful” (from EP1) – only on Spotify in some regions
  4. THE HELIO SEQUENCE – “Can’t Say No” (from Keep Your Eyes Open)
  5. DANEZ vs RIFHES – “See U Falling” (from Geekcore Vol.1) – not on Spotify
  6. MORGAN GEIST – “Most Of All” (from Double Night Time)
  7. LIL BOOSIE – “I Ain’t Comin’ Home Tonight” (from Lil Boosieanna)
  8. SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN – “Glue Girls” (from Pershing)
  9. ROY HARGROVE – “Starmaker” (from earfood)
  10. AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB – “All My Love” (from The Golden Age)
  11. BUIKA – “No Habra Nadie En El Mundo” (from Nina De Fuego)
  12. CAMILLE – “Canards Sauvages” (from Music Hole)

The League Of Extraordinary Tracks 5: COVER VERSIONS Results
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— 15 July 2023 Tom

Thanks as ever to everyone who voted in this, and especially to the nominators! Three weeks to go – 2008 is up tomorrow, Week 7 will be FOUR LETTER WORDS (that’s the length of the song title, not just swears) and then it’s the Season 1 finale with everyone picking a track from 2023.

So, cover versions! A pretty clear ranking this week with the eventual winner performing well right from the very beginning.

Bronze medal goes to Brazil’s Wanderlea, covering The Seeds’ garage rock classic “Pushin’ Too Hard” as “Vou Lhe Contar”. Swedish duo Sara Isaksson & Rebecka Tornqvist take silver for their reinterpretation of Steely Dan’s “Gaucho”. But the 12 points goes to Job, and his nomination DANA GAVANSKI with her 2020 version of King Crimson’s “I Talk To The Wind” – Job moves into 2nd place with this and cuts actualeesimpson’s lead to, er, only 16 points. It’s not over yet!

A single comment

Job   17 months ago

I almost nominated Irreversible Entanglements' fantastic 18-minute Sun Ra cover "Nuclear War" from a few months ago (which you should still totally listen to), but now I'm glad I didn't. Dana […]

The League Of Extraordinary Tracks 5: COVER VERSIONS Poll
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— 9 July 2023 Tom

Into the second half of Season 1, and this week’s theme is COVER VERSIONS. Our learned participants have selected 12 tunes including covers of 3 previous Pollhalla entrants from the main polls, so this should be a close-fought one.

As usual there are only two rules!

Pick UP TO FOUR songs.

DO NOT PICK any track you already knew (in this version!).

Go here for the PLAYLISTS for this week. Good luck all competitors!

[ays_poll id=103]

Latest comments (of 30)

actualee simpson   17 months ago

I nommed Wanderléa: found a recent "prestige" track of hers from this year and dug through her back catalog. The album has a bunch of covers, and I was tempted to nom "River Deep Mountain High," a […]

Mike Barthel   17 months ago

A billion points for getting me to listen to a King Crimson song!

koganbot   17 months ago

Anyway, me as a young'un trying to grasp concepts like sexism and double standard: "Yes, 'Pushin' Too Hard' for example!" Wanderléa finesses the issue not only by singing in Portuguese but by being […]

koganbot   17 months ago

I probably rate Jagger at his peak as the greatest lyricist ever, and yet I don't think I can tell you much about what the words are to "One Hit (To The Body)" or what the song is about. Should […]

The League Of Extraordinary Tracks 5: COVER VERSIONS Playlists
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— 9 July 2023 Tom

This week’s theme is COVER VERSIONS and as usual I’ve tried to arrange them in an order that makes some vague kind of sense (to me, anyway). There’s one track which is greyed out for me on the Spotify playlist – Sara Isaksson & Rebecka Tornqvist’s version of “Gaucho” – it’s track 11 on the playlist so make sure you check that out on the YouTube!

When you’ve heard them all go to the poll post and have your say!

  1. HOT BREATH – “One Hit (To The Body)” – From 2021’s Rubbery Lips. Originally by The Rolling Stones.
  2. CATERINA CASELLI – “Tutto Nero” – From 1966’s Casco D’Oro. Originally by The Rolling Stones.
  3. WANDERLEA – “Vou Lhe Contar” – From 1967’s Wanderlea. Originally by The Seeds.
  4. BOMBA ESTEREO – “Juana” – From 2008’s Blow Up. Originally by La Nina Emilia.
  5. XIU XIU – “Ceremony (Xiu Xiu Remix)” – From 2007’s Remixed & Covered. Originally by New Order.
  6. CAMP COPE – “Seventeen Going Under” – Recorded for Triple J’s Like A Version in 2022. Originally by Sam Fender.
  7. MILES DAVIS – “Time After Time” – From 1985’s You’re Under Attack. Originally by Cyndi Lauper.
  8. DENNIS BROWN – “Wichita Lineman” – From 1973’s Super Reggae And Soul Hits. Originally by Glen Campbell.
  9. DANA GAVANSKI – “I Talk To The Wind” – From 2020’s Wind Songs. Originally by King Crimson.
  10. RITA LEE – “Minha Vida” – From 2001’s Aqui, Ali, Em Qualquer Lugar. Originally by The Beatles.
  11. SARA ISAKSSON & REBECKA TORNQVIST – “Gaucho”. From 2006’s Fire In The Hole. Originally by Steely Dan.
  12. KEZIAH JONES – “Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am”. From 2017’s Rugged Covers EP. Originally by Fela Kuti.

The League Of Extraordinary Tracks 4: SHORT SONGS Results!
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— 8 July 2023 Tom

A short playlist and a closely fought poll, with a late charge meaning two players pick up the 12 points this week. As ever, a hearty thankyou to everyone who listened, commented and voted, but especially to the 12 players who are putting their tunes on the chopping block week in week out. Halfway there! Let’s see how things shook out this round:

A single vote was the difference between 3rd and joint-1st place this week – punkers THE MUSLIMS get the bronze. The lead, though, is shared between modern pop favourite PINKPANTHERESS, nominated by ismathers, and singer-songwriter NURIA GRAHAM, picked by League Of Pop juggernaut actualee simpson. At the halfway point he has a 19-point lead but it’s a very closely fought battle for the runners-up place. Let’s see if anything can dent that mighty lead as we head into Cover Versions week…

The Week 6 challenge is a return to 2008. The list of previously nominated tracks from the original 2008 poll is here!

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