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Modern Qualifier 4: AWAY CYCLIC SWEATY ROBOT
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— 10 May 2023 Tom
  1. The title track of Stella Chronopoulou’s 2022 LP on Sub Pop, which draws inspiration from Greek folk (and other things). A Steve M nomination.
  2. The epic opener to 2003’s LP Pshychic on V2 Records – the Japanese rockers’ 5th LP. Nominated by mondosalvo.
  3. An early single from the Australian banger-monger which can also be found on his 2007 debut Guns Babes Lemonade. An anonymous nomination! (EDIT: No longer anonymous! It’s commenter Smoothbrain!)
  4. A standout from the Norwegian Idol graduate’s 2006 LP, Pretty Scary Silver Fairy. Nominated by actualeesimpson.
[ays_poll id=48]

Latest comments (of 24)

Steve Mannion   22 months ago

Nice to see 'Up And Away' with a fighting chance here. It's mostly about that chord change on the third bar of the chorus elevating it substantially, up and away from my usual dislike of such […]

jonathanb   22 months ago

I think the mid-'00s marked a quiet revolution where the base Oz music sound ceased to be pub rock and turned into big-tune indie dance: all emerging around this time were Cut Copy, The Presets, Van […]

Kit   22 months ago

shout-out to Muscles for being the only act I have ever personally seen graduate from teenage message board troll to charting / internationally touring musician under the same login name* ** *one […]

j_e_l   22 months ago

I would strongly campaign against Metal Mickey as it’s just trying to woo the robot vote without actually being about robots or by robots. I guess in reality the Drake AI thing would win World Cup […]

Modern Qualifier 5: SHOES GOTH SUN HIPPIE
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— 10 May 2023 Tom
  1. The breakout single by Liverpool’s Johnny Boy is from 2004 – a Top 50 smash! It’s nominated by Graham M.
  2. “Adult Goth” is from the Manhattan band’s first 4AD album, 2011’s Eye Contact. Nominated by stabilimentum.
  3. The DFA Records stalwart’s 2014 LP, In A Dream, is where you can find this slow-burning banger. Nominated by idca.
  4. A 2011 single, Cornershop’s foray into kids’ music came with a picture book. It was plucked from my own hippie bag to serve as a Bracket Balancer.
[ays_poll id=49]

Latest comments (of 13)

Tom   22 months ago

The extreme closeness of the 2nd places here reminds me I should put up a note on an admin post about the special rules for tie resolution rules this poll...!

Dan Bright-Amaya   22 months ago

Another great group, another 10 minute banger.

Tom   22 months ago

That's a hopeful sign in that it suggests music is actually moving and changing at least. I was similarly startled by the extreme tens-ness of the Charli/Tove/etc group. […]

RobertK   22 months ago

I voted for Juan Maclean because I listened to that album a lot when it came out but I have to admit, both it and Gang Gang Dance sounded incredibly dated to me. I forget now where I first heard the […]

MODERN Poll Day 1
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— 10 May 2023 Tom

The CURATORFEST polls are still running but we’re going to put those aside now as we get into the Qualifiers for the MODERN half of the two Charity Crusher polls.

I’ll be running 5 qualifiers a day, and at the top of the page you’ll always see the daily Spotify and YouTube playlists. Here’s Day 1, which proves its modern credentials by having two songs about loving robots – and that’s just the ones which can declare their mechanical passion.

Curatorfest Qualifier 13! CURATED by David B
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— 8 May 2023 Tom

Our final CURATORFEST Qualifier* comes from David B, and it’s a collection of four songs loosely linked by being personal favourites but also by a connection to his recently published memoir, Don’t Mention The Night. Songwriters Kevin Coyne and Nick Drake feature prominently in the book, and the group also features tracks by Gallery 47 and White And Torch

*there will be plenty more Curated Groups in both the Ancient and Modern polls!

RESULTS: Nick Drake romps home and is joined by Kevin Coyne in the ANCIENT poll Round 1.

[ays_poll id=44]

Latest comments (of 9)

David Belbin   22 months ago

Thanks to everyone who voted on my curated group. Nick was a sure thing in this context. He's on the cover of both Uncut and Mojo this month, which isn't a coincidence, as Richard Morton Jack's […]

ajjr82   22 months ago

I surprised myself by quite enjoying the Gallery 47 song, usually newer stuff that so directly mirrors 90s indie kind of gets my back up.

stabilimentum   22 months ago

Fantastic group! I feel Nick Drake shouldn't need the help, so I'm voting for Gallery 47.

RobertK   22 months ago

After a few decades of Elliott Smith, Stuart Murdoch, the Clientele, Neil Halstead, and now artists like Phoebe Bridgers, it's pretty hard to hear Nick Drake's voice as novel anymore. I do quite […]

Curatorfest Qualifier 12! CURATED by thedesertpope
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— 8 May 2023 Tom

The penultimate CURATORFEST group is from Twitter’s @thedesertpope with four unthemed artists – so far as I know. City pop from Kaoru Akimoto, New Wave pop from the Waitresses, modern dancepop from Confidence Man and indiepop from 2021 Golden Beat Winners Ginger Root! FUN FACT: This is the only one of the 13 curated groups in this preliminary round to have an even split of Ancient (20th Century) and Modern (21st Century) tracks.

RESULTS: The Waitresses’ place in ANCIENT Round 1 was never under threat. They’re joined by Kaoru Akimoto, who pulled ahead of Confidence Man in the closing hours.

[ays_poll id=43]

Latest comments (of 9)

Son of Mecha Mummy   22 months ago

Okay, finally checking in and voting myself with less than twelve hours to go. Like I said on Twitter if anyone hadn't seen it, the *actual* secret theme here is that each artist is an artist I've […]

koganbot   22 months ago

I see I'm the second sucker in the comments section.

koganbot   22 months ago

Torn between Confidence Man (from the electroclash section of the bosh bin) and Ginger Root: when I first moved to Colorado someone had left a 1940s teengirl mag in the apt I rented, and I read […]

RobertK   22 months ago

I think I found the group with the curator whose tastes are the furthest from my own. (Not a reflection of quality). And indeed, the one I even picked was at this writing in last place.

Curatorfest Qualifier 11! CURATED by Jamie R
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— 8 May 2023 Tom

Jamie R gives us a selection which he wasn’t going to make curated until he realised the tracks tell a story. Happy or sad? You be the judge. Owen Pallett, Me’shell NdegeoCello, Bobby Short and Umberto Tozzi are your narrators.

RESULTS: Another two tracks heading for ANCIENT Round 1 here. Me’Shell NdegeoCello dominated the group, but Umberto Tozzi managed to reel in his rivals to take second by a single vote.

[ays_poll id=42]

Latest comments (of 11)

ajjr82   22 months ago

The backing vocals on the Me'Shell song are delightfully petty and mean.

koganbot   22 months ago

We have not polled Me'Shell (unless as playing bass where a band or another performer is the name on the marquee). Tom has provided an extraordinary spreadsheet of what we've polled, which is up-to […]

j_e_l   22 months ago

Gloria is a great song, and even on a new site, even with a new beginning, even with the Twitter-refuseniks, outrage continues

RobertK   22 months ago

Surely we've polled Me'Shell before, no?

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