Chez Wombat

Oh...yeah 😅 I think the fact they're fictional and the song's mainly in English sometimes makes me forget that x

Apologies I've been away and not able to post for most of this, so catching up a bit x I don't care much for anything below the top 20, but I do have a real soft spot for Gabriella's Power of Love. I think it works as a stripped down less grandiose complement to the original which It was weird how for a brief moment the John Lewis Christmas advert was a real moment after that with an anticipated release date, fairly big artists like Lily Allenjoining in and in some cases, number 1s. For my own tastes, I could only tolerate Gabriella, the rest were all way to saccharine, there's only so many times you can tell the same emotional Christmas story encouraging you to buy from this store before it becomes cynical, though I have no doubts they'll still try it! Most of 11-20 is mainly decent or I at least liked them at the time, though I have a particular dislike for Hall of Fame, the lyrics are extremely faux-inspirational and it gives such an arrogant, smarmy vibe with something so genetic, I didn't mind some Script songs, but this would be right down the bottom for me. Hot Right Now was a bit of a uni anthem and definitely suited Rita the best of her three number 1s this year. Part of Me I find quite overhated, I liked the follow-up Wide Awake more, but this was solid too and better than some of her other hits. Call My Name I think's held up the best of Cheryl's number 1s. Bom Bom was quite a unique novelty, not one I listen too now, but fun enough when it turns up. Gangnam Style is still pretty iconic and I love that that was the UK's first taste of South Korean pop, I'm still quite surprised there hasn't been a K-Pop number 1 since what with BTS and Blackpink and their solo members going stratospheric, maybe in time. Spectrum is my favourite to come in the top 10, I liked the original but the dance reworking I think has taken over it and the song lends itself really well to it, I was shocked it got as high as number 1 but so glad Florence managed one. Though I don't get much from Sweet Nothing even if that's a very hot take, Florence's parts are still good, but the production and breakdown is very dull. Overplay didn't admittedly help it much. Lastly, great to see One Day Like This repeaking highlighted, that song had felt like a timeless classic with an unjustly low peak for some time and I was so glad the Olympics changed that. I did enjoy The Seldom Seen Kid a lot, but I did kind of lose interest in them as a band after that. I volunteered at the Paralympics so have a lot of memories of hearing Harder Than You Think, I'm not too familiar with their depth of work but I enjoy what I know and this was a fantastic choice to use for background music.

Given some of the RIP plays I thought I’d miss, that works out well for me! (Although gutted we’ll even have to hear them ofc. </3)

I just psychically knew that the month I go for the fourth longest song, we were going to have pages of discourse about it 😎 I guess it’s a good thing no one sent Yeule’s The Things They Did for Me Out of Love at the time (y’know I have been exploring her discography…)

Uses Generative AI as well, if we needed any more reason to flush this turd x

Congrats Dan! That always seemed like a likely winner, was a huge standout, the whole of the top 3 made my votes so very good stuff! Thanks for all who voted *teeth, I knew this one would be too much of an acquired taste to trouble the upper reaches, but top 20’s not too bad a finish given how badly it was doing at the start, it was a random pick that came up on my playlist a while back, but it was such an immersive and lush listen, even if it never really changed up much, that it stuck with me. Thanks to Allstar for hosting!

A very bland, uninspiring list, a lot of these feel like they’re there just on name alone, I really don’t think this reflects the most culturally and critically acclaimed music of the last 12 months as a whole, a great feat for Jade though.

Saw this today as well (morning screening was probably the only one I could find that wasn't packed out!), and it's really impressive, see it on the biggest screen possible if you can, it's truly a film that just enriches all your senses in a great way. Truly a masterpiece of filmmaking even for Nolan, having just read the book, it did really enhance it and it was wonderful seeing things like the cyclops, underworld and sirens come to life, and the additions were interesting and took the themes a bit further than the text was known for. One thing I have been seeing criticised that I did agree was that the dialogue did feel a bit too modern, I wish they'd not used 'dad' in particular, it took me out of it a bit and felt like a standard historical epic, which yes I know it is but for the original one of these, I'd have wanted it to stand out more! Still, that time flew by, highly recommended.

Prince - When Doves Cry Laura Branigan - Self Control George Michael - Careless Whisper Ray Parker Jr - Ghostbusters Malcolm McLaren - Madam Butterfly (Un Bel Di Vedremo) Malcolm McLaren was a fantastic discovery! Couldn't quite find room for Master and Servant, Dr Beat and Big in Japan

I enjoyed this quite a bit, Diane Morgan can read a whole page of terms and conditions and I'd laugh so that helps, but she's on really unique form here and Sue Johnston gives them a lot to work with. I enjoyed the older side characters, but agree Michael and Renee didn't really add much apart from being really unlikeable and not very interesting to watch, and I saw both their eventual endpoints predictable.

Oh that is a fantastic outcome, my 18 winning! <3 Congrats Harve, I only saw the discussion about it today and would've never thought it could win, it's my favourite discovery in BJSC in a long time and I really must check out the full album. Some of my big pointers from Sovarasma, Jadakissnia, Eledan and Lentyll in the top 10 too is great to see. I didn't like this one as much as her last entry, but quite neat that Dani Sylvia got another 2nd place right after her last one. 33rd for a sixth (!) time it is then, again I knew this one could well get lost in the fray so I'm just glad it wasn't lower, thanks to all who voted, especially @Colm for that top pointer <3 If you don't already know them and liked this one, I would also recommend Sail and Find Love which were new releases this year (this one is an older track finally made available on streaming from their compilation of non-singles and fan favourites From a Hole in the Floor to a Fountain of Youth, which was a pretty good introduction to them for me x). Thank you Addy, always a great flight experience! Unusually for me, I do actually have a song lined up for next time and it's got a familiar Terra Avium style to it, so let's see if it can break my middling streak x

I knew Skall would be a big beneficiary of that, would love if it could hold on <3

Wasn't totally sure I'd pass 100 prior to the 18s but I'll take it (although I'll be pleasantly surprised if I get more than one)

I guess it doesn't mean much depending on the 18s, but Sovarasma would certainly be a great turn out for the books if it were to win!

It was something of a surprise that I managed to qualify so I am bracing myself for a pretty low finish but thank you to the few of you so far that have not made it a total disaster! No spoilers for my 18 but the scoreboard is looking pretty good right now x