Chez Wombat

Great top 5 here, Stan is indeed a real watershed moment for songwriting and hip hop music, both All Saints number 1s with William Orbit were phenomenal, and the other three are great dance number 1s - there was so much great dance around at the turn of the century and I loved that they could sometimes get turns at the top, just wish there was room for the likes of Darude, Artful Dodger and Zombie Nation amongst others x And yeah, I'll also do my own (rough) top 10 because why not x U2 - Beautiful Day All Saints - Pure Shores Eminem - Stan Spiller - Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) Modjo - Lady (Hear Me Tonight) All Saints - Black Coffee LeAnn Rimes - Can't Fight the Moonlight Destinys Child - Independent Woman Part I Madison Avenue - Don't Call Me Baby Robbie Williams - Rock DJ Actually a pretty good year overall despite so many of them, most of them have aged decently.

Aww I almost gave Kansas my 30 pointer as I was worried it wouldn't advance and sure enough I'm it's only voter, I'm hoping my actual 30 wouldn't have got enough points without mine so it made it worth it x It's a Guitar Hero classic. I did throw points to a few of the classic Disney songs, admittedly a bit hard to rank them alongside my favourite songs here.

Saw this today and really enjoyed it. I didn't expect it to take the tonal direction it did, but I thought it worked well as a bit of a contrast to the brutality of the evil of man in the first two films, without spoiling anything, this one brought to mind the Wizard of Oz most closely! Of course, there was a lot of great action too, I really liked the train encounter with the infected and the corresponding images between the modern day cult and ancient roman images was well done. There was a hell of a lot of commentary they could've, ahem, sunk their teeth into in a post-Brexit/Covid Britain, but I like that they kept it nuanced. The ending was certainly something, I suppose we'll have to see how the sequel turns out before we can say how effective it was (the person being evoked is certainly a choice and I'm really wondering how they'll frame that, surely for sinister reasons, I wanna say a bit more but I don't know how to use spoilers here x) The camera work remains really great and love the iPhone stands they used to make the quick cuts, still very distinctive. Amazing soundtrack from Young Fathers too and was great to hear that classic East Hastings soundtrack from Godspeed You Black Emperor! <3

Azymuth - Jazz Carnival New Musik - Living By Numbers Amii Stewart - Paradise Bird/The Letter The Buggles - The Plastic Age John Foxx - Underpass All new to me (apart from Underpass from the Retro song contest) so good start x Honourable mention to the session spanning Captain Beakey

Oops I sent Same Difference a contest early 😄

The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St.Second appearance of the Stones in this project, this time one that's arguable their best known work. The album was recorded and named when the band became tax exiles in a rented villa in the South of France, they were loose and unorganised which went some way into shaping the album's varied and chaotic sound, and continued their back to basics, raw sound influenced by Delta Blues, gospel music and country rock. Though critical responses were initially muted, it was soon reassessed and is seen as a pivotal album in their career and the rock genre, and has managed the rare feat of getting to number 1 in the UK twice with a re-release in 2010. I actually listened to this one a little bit early to help me with that Rolling Stones rate in the retro forum as I thought it coincided nicely with this list, Looking back on what I wrote for Let It Bleed, it seems I enjoyed some tracks yet it wasn't typically a sound or album I would usually go out of my way to listen to, and actually I think fits this one quite well too. You can definitely tell this album was recorded in a basement as it has a very back-to-basics feel, the songs feel raw and there are many extended instrumental breaks which I'm sure were the band just letting loose. There weren't as many singles I was familiar with on this album, Tumbling Dice and Shine a Light are two very good gospel-influened tracks and the likes of Sweet Virginia and Sweet Black Angel show them with their heartlands Blues influences in full swing, as well as some chaotic and bizarre numbers with Happy and Turd on the Run. This was all perfectly fine, but a double album of it was a bit too much, so I was pleased to see the end of the album got a lot more experimental, especially I Just Want to See His Face which strips back the guitars and has a slowly building choir and Let It Loose with it's organ and pianos taking the lead stage. It was a side to the Stones I hadn't seen much and made the album stand out a lot more. I think if you want a definitive Stones album that documents their unfiltered sound the best, this is a good place to start. It's a little overlong and as for the band themselves, I wouldn't call them consistent favourites despite several great singles, but through two albums I've learned that they certainly are capable of just letting loose and actually have a fair few good ideas of their own. 7.5

I'm glad Glastonbury has held strong so far, hopefully they don't keel over at the last minute. Intrigued how the BBC handle showing them, guessing it'll be confined to a heavily censored live feed.

I love Beautiful Day, I think it's them at their anthemic best before it became cliched. The Masses Against The Classes was an iconic first new number 1 of the century, but I don't return to it as much as the rest of their discography. Honestly the number 2s of 2000 are way better than the number 1s, One More Time, Freestyler. Flowers and On a Night Like This (wrong one of hers got to number 1!) are real favourites of mine.

Well hello x So this kind of abruptly came to a halt for many reasons, but I think I'm in a good place to continue this now as I hate to leave a project unfinished and there are still a lot of names I really want to hear on this list, so while I can't confirm if there won't be long pauses again, I have a few of these saved now so let us continue! -x- Selena - Amor ProhibidoThe fourth album from the Hispanic American superstar of the 80s and 90s, Selena. It was hoped broaden her appeal outside of her core fan base and with the help of her brother's new band, became much more experimental and mature than her previous music, which combined her Tejano style with other genres such as ranchera, synthpop and hip hop and featured more complex lyrical themes with few love songs and most focusing on a woman's struggles and triumphs with unsuccessful relationships. It was a huge commercial success on first listen and is one of the highest grossing Latin American albums of all time and was credited with embedding Tejano and Cumba music in the mainstream. Tragically, a year after the album's release, Selena was murdered by her former friend and manager aged just 23, making this the last album she saw in her lifetime and cementing her as an icon of Latin America. This was quite an educational listen and Wikipedia readthrough as I confess if you'd mentioned Selena to me before, I'd have assumed you'd meant Gomez. Probably an album whosise influence is best felt culturally in America, I'd never heard of Tejano either but I was really struck by how modern and contemporary the album sounded. There's a lot of fresh 80s and 90s synths here as well as some pretty innovative takes. Techno Cumbia is particularly quite banging with it's club music and hip hop sounds, you also have some songs that have more recognisable Mexican elements like No Me Queda Mas with its ranchera and mariachi sounds, but none of it sounds dated or of a type, and there's a hell of a multicultural influences here with Jamaican steel drums showing up at one point and closer Ya No honestly sounding quite Avril Lavigne in places. The lyrics of the album, though I had to use Google Translate for them, are very mature given her age at the time, the wonderfully synth laden title track, translating to 'Forbidden Love' being one example of a poverty-stricken woman and a more wealthy man who can't be together due to societal divide, though the lyrics are ambiguous and you can see why it's become an iconic track in the LGBT community and there are some particularly brutal takedowns of failed relationships at the end of the album, it's all doom and gloom, Bidi Bidi Bom Bom as you may expect is a bit more of a lighthearted heartbeat-themed track, though these moments admittedly skirt the line of annoyance x Overall, this was a really pleasant surprise and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in some more innovative takes of Latin pop, even if it will make you sad wondering how much more she could've achieved </3 8.5

I'd have ranked Bob the Builder above a fair few of these so far, but otherwise in agreement x I do like Bound 4 Da Reload though, a rare instance of proper unsanistised garage at number 1.

It's my only option when I'm too obvious, seems like it partially worked though 😎 Sorry I was a bit distracted last night so couldn't follow this live. Indeed I was a little bit egregious with the definition of one hit wonder here (I wouldn't have chanced it with something like Red Right Hand, but this doesn't feel quite as well known), but it did fit the specification and I've been really wanting to send this epic tale for a while now and this was certainly the contest to do so. It's a masterclass in building of suspense and storytelling, from the first distorted slurring of a death row inmate adamant he is innocent to the chorus repeating and repeating along with the building, swirling orchestration as the moment grows nearer and that final line of admission: 'I'm afraid I told a lie'. It's just glorious, I should note the seven minute version on Spotify is definitely my preferred one, allows much more time to flourish x Anyway, I think this was the starkest split in votes for one of my entries in a while as it was literally either big points or nothing from everyone which is fine as I accept it's not the easiest listen, but I'm really pleased that it got as many as three 12s and I'm happy with 9th place, I seem to have a real knack for that upper middle table in this contest, many thanks for all who voted. Also couldn't help but noticed this is the second time within the last three contests my entry's been drawn first in the running order! Rambling about my entry aside, That top 3 is quite literally my own top 3 with 10 and 8 switched round so I have nothing to complain about, congrats to Dan! I actually liked this more than Big in Japan and had never known it before (though I did recognise it through the Cappela sample). Shoutout to Army of Lovers too as this sounded completely different after Crucified and loved the O Superman backing. A lot of my other votes are in the top 10 as well which is great to see, and a great find from Mr Oizo just outside. Thanks for hosting Bre, this was a great contest to follow, and of course thanks to our blobby overlord as well (he's still watching us isn't he 👀)

And the Grammys have altered the category for Best Recording Package to include a separate category for Cover Art, I wonder why x She must be laughing as this has probably worked like a charm - it's created a whole discourse of people overthinking it when it's clearly intentionally provocative and to get people talking, she also very clearly has a say in it and is in control of her image, and in that sense, she's exposed a double standard unwittingly.

I mean I know this round was bad, but Akon top 3 is just...huh?

Peter Sullivan was convicted at a time when the death penalty was abolished in the UK for murder, had it not been, he could've been killed for a crime he didn't commit. Yes, it took a lot of his life but at least he has lived to see justice happen and have another chance. Wrongful convictions happen so frequently, a fair justice system should make sure that in that event, that they can live to see it. You haven't responded to any of the points about deterrance, cost or how easily it's abused in countries today, so you're clearly just arguing based on how you feel about it and this one glaring example, to which I again say, in my view, he doesn't deserve the easy way out of a quick death, let him rot away slowly, and it's pointless trying to assume that that's not what the families want let alone use them as an argument as you are not one of them.

There have been many crimes that were thought to have been irrefutable and beyond proof... new evidence came to light and they had just spent decades in prison for crimes they were completely innocent of, and they could've been killed otherwise, look at Peter Sullivan recently, Derek Bentley as well. There's no way around it, death is absolute, a justice system in which there's a chance that they kill an innocent person is not a fair justice system. Also, it's been vastly disproven as a deterrant, so there's no feasible way it works, it's not exaggeration to say almost all countries with it still in use are regularly using it in corrupt, discriminatory and political means. I would say being locked up in hope of rehabilitation or wasting away alone slowly over time as punishment for a heinous act is much more effective than giving them either an easy way out or no hope of reforming. Also, the victim's families are not judges and don't have the final say, that's not how the justice system works. Anyway, it's not coming back so moot discussion, just clickbait nonsense as per.

30; Lou Reed- Perfect Day 29; Kansas- Carry On Wayward Son 28; Woodkid- Run Boy Run 27; Oasis- Champagne Supernova 26; Hans Zimmer- Time 25; Vampire Weekend- A-Punk 24; Pixies- Where Is My Mind 23; The Beatles- Here Comes The Sun 22; Pink Floyd- Comfortably Numb 21; Blondie- One Way Or Another 20; The Beach Boys- Wouldn't It Be Nice 19; Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Heads Will Roll 18; Tame Impala- Let It Happen 17; Petit Biscuit- Sunset Lover 16; Lykke Li- I Follow Rivers 15; Carmen Twillie- Circle Of Life 14; John Denver- Take Me Home Country Roads 13; Grouplove- Tongue Tied 12; Capital Cities- Safe And Sound 11; Oasis- Morning Glory 10; Fleetwood Mac- The Chain 09; Talking Heads- Psycho Killer 08; The Rolling Stones- Gimme Shelter 07; Johnny Cash- Ring Of Fire 06; Daughter- Youth 05; Empire Of The Sun- Walking On A Dream 04; Kendrick Lamar- Swimming Pools (Drank) 03; Royal Blood- Figure It Out 02; Simon & Garfunkel- The Sound Of Silence 01; The Waitresses- Christmas Wrapping That was brutal, some proper all time classics in this list.

An 18 from the host is an amazing way to end <3 I wasn't sure I'd quite live up to the hype of the predictions, but great to get a new best for the year in what started out to be quite a mediocre one (still not quite getting that elusive 4th x). Thanks all who embraced the joys of the oceans 🐬🐠 (6 to nothing from two nations in the semi though? </3) That's a great top 10 on the whole, I either voted for them or they were at least not far from my commiserations. Congrats to Silas, I honestly don't really remember the last entry from her, but this was a strong pop entry that I do get doing well. Nora En Pure getting top 3 is great to see too, that and Ozcan were fantastic discoveries this edition (and I called Nelionoir a potential dark horse at the Synctube listenthrough, but others disagreed so I'm pleased to be validated 😎). Elsewhere, nice to see my other medalist, Herbilore finish on a respectable result for that type of entry. Thanks for the smooth flight, Botanikka, loved the theme and creative use of ChatGPT throughout x

This ocean battle is going right down to the wire Thank you so much for this generous tide of votes putting me in the top 10 C'mon Nora En Pure, cause a last minute upset x

Skall <3 Guess that one ancient personal chart it reached was a good omen x

ayy, these last few votes are more like it, thanks to Jim, Dan and Dr B especially for the big points *.

I guess I didn't help myself with the ocean entries battle there, but I can't begrudge it when I actually much prefer it to my own entry! Trifoski 2nd Great to see Nora En Pure gaining ground as well

Great to have an 18 already and very rare we get points from Lookylion as well! Here mainly to see who's victorious of the two ocean entries x (ironically in the contest held in the skies)

The Well - 9/10 73 Yards - 8/10 Lucky Day - 8/10 Dot and Bubble - 7/10 Lux - 7/10 The Interstellar Song Contest - 7/10 Boom - 7/10 Joy to the World - 6/10 The Robot Revolution - 6/10 The Story & The Engine - 6/10 Rogue - 6/10 Wish World / The Reality War - 5/10 The Legend of Ruby Sunday / Empire of Death - 5/10 The Church on Ruby Road - 5/10 The Devil's Chord - 3/10 Space Babies - 2/10 Better than Chibnall, but it's a sadly short list that feels very incomplete, I think only the top 2 are real Who classics for me.

20 years old this year! (Coldplay's Fix You ❤️)

Very vanilla final 2, really don't get the fuss with Supreme, gone with S Club x