Chez Wombat

Albums 1. Night Tapes – portals//polarities 2. Ethel Cain – Willoughby Tucker I Will Always Love You 3. Snapped Ankles – Hard Times Furious Dancing 4. Sudan Archives – The BPM 5. Maria Somerville – Luster 6. Gelli Haha - Switcheroo 7. Ethel Cain – Perverts 8. Lily Allen – West End Girl 9. Wolf Alice – The Clearing 10. Oklou – Choke Enough Subject to change as I do still need to listen to a few acclaimed albums once the lists are out (LUX is definitely top of my list, but I do want to do a deep dive with her), all of these artists will have one song from each era appear in my top 50 as per my own self-imposed rules (the Ethel Cain albums are both very different beasts so feels right to acknowledge them both), the exception is Lily Allen which I did feel worked better as a single piece of work rather than having individual highlights. Films Flow No Other Land Nosferatu Hallow Road One Battle After Another Sinners Memoir of a Snail Weapons Frankenstein Bring Her Back All We Imagine As Light Dreams/Love/Sex: Dreams Sorry Baby Savages Final Destination: Bloodlines K-Pop Demon Hunters 28 Years Later September 5 Bugonia The Brutalist May still be able to add Marty Supreme this year depending on if I see it before Wednesday. A pretty decent year for films overall, Flow I think will go down as an all time favourite which I haven't found in a while <3 TV Pluribus Adolescence Severance The Studio Black Mirror The Traitors + Celebrity Traitors (probably the first reality show I am ever putting on here x) The Last of Us Only Murders In The Building Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age Sean Combs: The Reckoning A few I do need to finish like The Beast in Me, Alien: Earth, The War Between the Land and the Sea and Invincible and a few names I will probably belatedly start. Didn't think Adolescence could be challenged but Vince Gilligan proved me wrong x

It's that time of year in that dead gap between Christmas and New Year where I rank my favourite songs of the year. I do want to actually do a full countdown this time as I think I'm in a better place to. 2025 has been a bit of a rollercoaster for me personally, but throughout I have managed to keep up pretty well with music of the year and have a very solid list. Though mainstream-wise, it's definitely been a huge step down on 2024 which culturally felt like the best year for music in a long time. I blame Alex Warren x I will also start with my countdowns in Film, TV and Albums, I don't want to burn myself out so they'll just be standard lists with no commentary, but I may have posted thoughts on them in the relevant thread x I as always appreciate all comments and reading throughout!

Joan Jett And The Blackhearts - I Love Rock 'N' Roll Yazoo - Only You Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf Madness - House Of Fun Tiebreak: Japan - Ghosts

The Israel-Palestine conflict is not by any stretch over, at least 395 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire and there have been numerous violations, air strikes and breaking of the treaty by Israel since it's implementation.

20; Whatever - Oasis (1994) 19; Stop The Cavalry - Jona Lewie (1980) 18; One Of Us - ABBA (1981) 17; One More Sleep - Leona Lewis (2013) 16; Fairytale Of New York - The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl (2005) 15; Stan - Eminem (2000) 14; I Believe In You - Kylie Minogue (2004) 13; The Final Countdown - Europe (1986) 12; Bad Romance - Lady Gaga (2009) 11; Sugar Sugar - The Archies (1969) 10; Gotta Get Thru This - Daniel Bedingfield (2001) 09; Ain't Got No (I Got Life) / Do What You Gotta Do - Nina Simone (1968) 08; Surfin' Bird - The Trashmen (2010) 07; Imagine - John Lennon (1999) 06; You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling / Ebb Tide - The Righteous Brothers (1990) 05; Do They Know It's Christmas - Band Aid (1985) 04; Money Money Money - ABBA (1976) 03; Thank U, Next - Ariana Grande (2018) 02; Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy - David Bowie & Bing Crosby (1982) 01; Dominick The Donkey - Lou Monte (2011) If you're able to accept, but don't worry if not!

Oh shoot, I'm sorry I did intend to do this, literally only had time to get round to it today and didn't realise the deadline had already passed, oh well! I imagine most of my favourites aren't especially niche so hopefully they all didn't need my vote.

Beautiful Girls is pretty heinous, actually might put it below 500 Miles overall, I agree the lyrics read even worse in 2025, but even at the time, it was just really bad singing over Stand By Me and the 'suicidal' mention was so out of place in the song, him and his mother being recently convicted does make that lyric of him going to prison aged 9 seem just a little more plausible 😅

Congrats Lewis! I gave the top 2 3 and 4 in my votes so I could've actually changed that on a different day! The winner is great though, I remember a similar good song by Sun-EL appearing in one of the contests I hosted, and this Visage song was a great song to add to the growing knowledge of their discography that I'm now undertaking. Great to see TYGAPAW, Derrick May and dazexgd in the top 10 too. Was hoping that Arca may get there too and the host entry deserved better too. Pleased to pick up a few mid-high points at the end there (and ooh a 12 from uhsting, yay *.) and I'll take 13th, this year has not been a vintage one for me in Club Bizarre so after the last few results, I'm counting not bottom 10 as a good result x Thanks for hosting Doctor Blind, excellent results thread and a very high quality edition of this x

Associates - Party Fears Two Japan - Ghosts Shakatak - Night Birds Pigbag - Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag Monsoon - Ever So Lonely This is the first week I don't think I've had any big favourites I already knew show up, so these were all new to me.

So I actually originally sent Maia Maia, with CLIPZ, but I neglected to search clarify that it was recently on the Radio 1 playlist resulting in what I think is my first ever song contest veto I have been really loving Nia Archives' material over the last few years so I'm thankful that I was allowed to enter a lesser known song by her, even if it isn't my favourite (I did think about Crowded Roomz, but that did show up in quite a few personal charts) Thanks for the minor points so far and Doctor Blind for the bigger ones, the top 2 as of the last scoreboard and both fantastic and a wonderful closer from Dan as well.

Praise You would definitely be in my top 10, a fantastic, atmospheric song and video. Right Here Right Now is better, but I'm glad Norman Cook was able to get one number 1 with how influential a name he was in dance music. Enjoy Sweet Like Chocolate too, and glad that gave a gateway for garage music to take off. Mambo No. 5 and Livin' La Vida Loca were absolute childhood classics that I can't help but still enjoy. I was obviously completely oblivious to the bigamous meaning to Lou Bega's song, but the beat was catchy enough to make me forget it, and the Bob the Builder song was a school disco classic. Livin' La Vida Loca will always, on the other hand, take me back to my parent's Yamaha keyboard where it was a soundbite, we had so much (probably very annoying) fun with this back in the day: Boom Boom Boom was no Vengabus but still quite fun and enjoyable for what it is, Pretty Fly... took a while to click with me, it's perhaps a bit raunchy and in your face like a lot of US mainstream rock was at that time, but I have come round to it, iconic song. I do quite like Why Don't You Get a Job too, even if it shamelessly rips off Oblah-Dee Oblah-Da

2007 was the first year I was actively listening to the chart every Sunday and following throughout, I can probably recall a lot of random one week wonders from this period, I have great memories of the 'landfill indie' era in particular and there was some great music, I don't hold the number 1s in as high regard though, I think cos the runs there were all a lot longer, they all felt a bit more overplayed, and I recall preferring the runners up. There are still a good section I have come back round to though, though there is one huge hit I have never come to like and I feel there's a non-zero chance it could be number 1 here oops x Anyway, correct bottom 2 here - X Factor 2007 was a huge step down, Leona's worldwide success would definitely replenish it for the next few years, but Leon Jackson winning was the nadir of a poor series with few bankable stars. It's not his fault, bless him, clearly just the Scottish/young lad vote taking over, but he's by far the worst singer that's ever won - he's just totally out of tune on When You Believe and overpowered by the song. His debut single being beaten to even number 2 by Geraldine McQueen and then getting dropped I think sadly sums up his legacy. The additional Comic Relief singles definitely haven't aged well, I did quite like 500 Miles at the time as I was more inclined to that kind of humour, but not one that's aged well at all, much like a lot of British comedy of that time.

Yeah, gotta hope the business end of these results have been better than what we've had so far... I guess we like Bad Habits now? Cool I guess x

So yes, we do indeed share a number 1 *.* It's one of my all time favourite songs and one of the reasons I maintained following the charts seeing wonderful surprises like this at number 1. Even though I was more consciously aware of music and do recall this getting a lot more music channel rotation outside of the likes of MTV2 and Kerrang, I was so surprised it managed number 1 and two weeks at that, and it still stands out hugely. For the song itself, I can't add much to what you've already said, it's just such a finely constructed epic, from the gorgeous opening piano to the triumphant ending, it's such a huge sounding emotive epic that is delivered perfectly. Loved the accompanying album too, was one of the first ones I bought. A lot of love for Crazy as well, a landmark record and what a great song to be that one, just a great all round song production, lyrics and vocal-wise, I do also enjoy Smiley Faces and Gone Daddy Gone (which had a nightmare fuel CGI mosquito video) as well. Seems almost pointless doing my own top 10 as it's so similar to yours, but anyway: My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun Goes Down Gnarls Barkley - Crazy Nelly Furtado - Maneater Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin' Take That - Patience Justin Timberlake - Sexyback Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean - Hips Don't Lie Madonna - Sorry Orson - No Tomorrow So yes very nice x Excellent commentaries throughout, Jade, always love a detailed contextual dissection of a songs as well documented 😎 looking forward to the next few years where I was in full chart geek mode x

Finished the first four - great cliffhanger and nice to see Will finally have a clear role after being a bit sidelined last season. I really liked his developing friendship with Robin. It's a bit too fast-paced at points and I feel like Mike and Nancy's parents hasn't quite hit as really affecting them, but I have really enjoyed it and production-wise, it's an absolute treat and epic and grand as it's ever been.

Darn, I guess the Indie bloc were slacking a bit this year, though the likes of Doomscroller and Last Man on Earth ever making it that high in the first place is amazing given their rather niche appeal. Also surprised to see Charli have no top 50 entries but I guess the vote was split too much, girl, so confusing definitely deserved it. I would sub out most of those Taylor Swift songs with those that have already fell out as well.

2025 BJSC CLXXI / Maria Somerville / Projections / DNQ (21st in Semi Final) BJSC CLXXII / Rue Oberkampf / I Won't Surrender / 21st/42 BJSC CLXXIII / Snapped Ankles / Pay The Rent / DNQ (22nd in Semi Final) BJSC CLXXIV / Kashiwa Daisuke / Ice / 9th/41 BJSC CLXXV / Atlantic Ocean / Waterfall / 6th/42 BJSC CLXXVI / Årabrot / The Satantango / 16th/36 BJSC CLXXVII / Future Utopia feat. Lava La Rue / The Pleasure Trap / 29th/41 BJSC CLXXVIII / Princess Nokia / Blue Velvet / 27th/42 BJSC CLXXIX / Bambie Thug / REDRUM / 8th/41 BJSC CLXXX / ANOTHER COUNTRY $$$ / TETHER / 19th/42 Those 2 DNQs still hurt, they've both produced some of my favourite songs of the year, especially Snapped Ankles, which was really unexpected though had a bit of a bad draw on reflection. Stats-wise, 2025 did allow me to reach a new Q record and 8/10 Qs is the joint most I've had from a full contest year so far with 2016, 2021 and 2024 (2019 I had technically the most qualifiers, having just one DNQ and the rest all qualifiers, but I missed a contest so it screws the stats up a bit x). This is the first since 2022 I've not had a win (which seems insane given how long I was waiting for one initially) and the first since 2021 with no podium finishes, it does at least match the last two years of three top 10s in a calendar year. So yeah, Pretty solid overall x

This band aren't seriously called December 10? I mean it's cool to have my birthday namechecked at all, but talk about lazy I had no idea this was on, looks incredibly dated, Simon's not quite moving with the world.

Congrats Dan! Another very nice winner and entry from Austra, would've been quite the upset if that would've landslided and nabbed the EOY #1 at the last minute but not to be, congrats to Nelionoir for the EOY win, nice to see the top 2 were countries I fairly regularly point x I fully expected to plummet so just about hanging on to the top 20 is more than acceptable and well beyond anything I expected for this entry (defying the bottom 10 predictions again ), thank you so much for ending the year on a high in what turned out to be one of my most successful years ever after a poor start and in spite of me not winning like the two years prior, hopefully that means I've hung on to the top 20 too x If you did like this one, their EP BODY FARM is worth checking out, which is made up of one continuous remix of their own work with other artists, was considering sending it here as one song but that probably wouldn't have done anywhere near as well and earn me a bit of ire As said, it's fantastic to see Aelandor finish top 10 with such a leftfield entry, this is my favourite discovery in a long time in BJSC, also great to see six of my votes make the top 10, A-Konohagakure (I finally typed that out yay x) up there is fantastic as I didn't expect it. A shame Steven Wilson couldn't follow the last two entries' success and would've liked to see Cumulonimbia and Aeroche do a bit better, but not too bad for my votes overall. Thanks for the excellent, efficient hosting throughout, Rich, especially in the face of some unexpected twists to say the least!

Danaeviia would be a fantastic winner too (and another one Bre didn’t vote for so all is right with the universe B-)) Not expecting host points so hopefully can keep my top 20 scrape x

Gosh at the absolute photo finish here, Aelandor may still have a chance *.

The Stranglers - Golden Brown Japan - European Son Theatre Of Hate - Do You Believe In The Westworld The Jam - Town Called Malice Iron Maiden - Run To The Hills Japan and Theatre of Hate were fantastic discoveries (The Mobiles and Phil Lynott also that just missed out), shoutout also to Rhoda also for an incredibly striking, well put together entry that nonetheless, I'm not sure I can ever listen to again.

When the Sun Goes Down is probably my favourite from the Arctics, it's such a great thrill ride with the quiet starts and finishes launching into that fearful, ominous tale complemented brilliantly by the fast paced vocals and dark guitars, Dancefloor... was definitely fun, but this showed they can do more conscious rock just as well. Nelly Furtado's reinvention was excellently done and still sets a standard now, saying that, my favourite from the era was the very underrated All Good Things Come to an End, but Maneater was close behind, Timbaland's production was at it's peak at this point, though it wouldn't have worked as well had she not sold it so well vocally and attitude wise.

The winner now is looking more like what I expected (and would be a very good one, best Cor Lupus entry in a long time) but Saltillo as high as 2nd (3rd now) is something I'd have never envisioned, amazing *.* Thanks for the continued support somehow keeping me in the top 10, going much better than I'd hoped, insane how close it is going down the scoreboard x

Oh wow, niche voters come through *.* Top 3 is wild even at an early stage, that drought counter is gonna come soon though I know it!