Chez Wombat

It is totally up to the host how they do the rate to be fair. I do enjoy commentaries but appreciate they can be time consuming. I do always try to discuss the tracks I enjoy and read the thread to see others' views, and that's why I think it's good the rates happen at all to allow this discussion. Anyway, Vertigo should be top 10, the peak of U2 silliness and epicness.

Whitney now, c’mon Faithless!

One of the most spectacular and ambitious opening ceremonies in a while in the end, the torch looked absolutely amazing and Celine, much as I'm not the biggest fan, sounded excellent. I didn't expect them to reunite, but I thought at least one Daft Punk song would be used in the montage, hopes dashed </3

Certainly an interesting experiment of a ceremony here with the countries broken up and the setting, a shame the weather wasn't kind to them. I do miss the stadium visuals, but did really like the Revolutonary sequence and Gojira's performance.

The Liberty X cover is completely faceless and bland, no way does Faithless deserve to go before it.

Elevation is pretty stupid ('A mole, digging in a hole / Diggin up my soul' *__*) but works for me, it's really fun and got a great guitar line. Bullet the Blue Sky is a highlight from the non-singles on Joshua Tree, very powerful.

That is really disappointing that live performances are dropped, they were great last year and where else are these unknown artists going to get a primetime mainstream slot like that? :/ I've listened to two of those (Charli & The Last Dinner Party), I do kind of hope it isn't the latter even though the album was quite enjoyable as they've had enough hype and it's not that level. Have heard selected ones from Nia Archives and English Teacher and liking what I know.

I really didn't think this sounded that much like a DNQ, I guess it wasn't the best draw overall and didn't sound as obvious a smash as a lot of the semi, but still, second last is mean :( 6Music letting me down a bit in BJSC recently. Glad at least a few of you found something to like in it. Anyway, that's nice for Pagasa, I thought they'd be out with a deduction. Most of my other favourites through, though lost a few of my small points: 08 • Sovarasma: Wardruna - Hertan 03 • Summericia: Mansfield.TYA - Auf Wiedersehen 01 • Dobago: Vladimir Dubyshkin - the rothschild party

Both me and my 8 pointer out in a fell swoop </3

Sensing a DNQ sadly, but I'll take being pleasantly surprised. Just wasn't expecting almost every song to sound like a qualifier

I liked the article, it isn't entirely dismissing the charts, it's acknowledging that there is still a lot of importance placed upon them and it can be very relevant, but ultimately they are a completely different beast to how they've ever been, and not all of that's for the best, and I do think there's something to be said about the slow state of the charts and the public's animosity as they reflect the industry and can have pretty bad consequences for newer artists and music. I would also recommend this three part series by Tom Ewing, who has been reviewing every UK number 1 ever for over twelve years now despite some slowing down in recent years and reflected him getting to the 1000th number 1, it's quite personal and you'd get more enjoyment out of it if you'd been following his reviews, but it gives a very interesting overview of how some discussions we have now aren't hugely new, there were issues raised as far back as 2005.

Doesn't seem like that's an isolated incident if it's from around the last Olympics and apparently from two and a half years ago so I fear that's not 'out of character'. Good riddance indeed.

Well this is a close poll xx JLS had an impact in the sense they showed that the appetite was there for a younger boyband in the style of Blue a good few years after they were seen as uncool, but One Direction took that so much further and actually broke through in America which was seriously unprecedented. JLS seemed bigger in their time as they were the only ones, but their spotlight got stolen eventually and they just completely faded after that whereas One Direction, though also fairly short lived, are still in the public consciousness and have found success as solo acts.

Celine x

Tony Blair had a similar rebellion in 1997 just after they'd won a landslide, no MP lost the whip there, so this is pretty extreme. I suppose it's effectiveness remains to be seen whether it works in the long run and stops future rebellions, but this is the first time in this government I've raised my eyebrows concerningly.

I have plans Sunday now for the first time in weeks oops, but still hoping to show up at some point x Olivia Rodrigo - Get Him Back! Taylor Swift feat. Bon Ever – Exile Mitski - My Love Mine All Mine Dave - Titanium The Anxiety - Meet Me At Our Spot #2 albums: Charli XCX - girl, so confusing (don't mind either version) Pet Shop Boys - Loneliness

Let's not forget Hillary was never particularly popular, had an awful lot of baggage and years of history and was up against a rising populism that many were underestimating and was new and energised against an incumbent government that was weak and unconvincing. Kamala's gender (sadly) may well put off voters, but I don't think it's in any way a done deal simply because of that. It really does depend on a myriad of factors.

Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis From the title, I mistook this for a live album, but this is actually the fifth studio album from swinging sixties icon, Dusty Springfield. Recorded initially as the title suggests in American Sound Studio in Memphis in a bid to revitalise her career after signing with Atlantic Records. Overcome by the big American names surrounding her, the recording was a challenge for her and her insecurity and anxiety meant she couldn't perform at her best and she only approved of two picks of the songs selected for her and orchestral arrangements and overdubbing vocals were recorded in New York. Initially, the album sold poorly, stalling her career rather than revitalising it, but has since grown a reputation as a classic of pop and soul and her best work containing one of her signature songs. Only really know the bigger songs by Dusty, but she had an incredible voice and was a massive talent so certainly a name I respect a lot. You can get a sense of the main themes of the album from the first few songs alone, where Dusty's strong, emotional vocals sing over soaring strings, I would usually find these songs a bit cheesy, but her performance really rinses the meaning and makes it her own. It's sad to think she was so nervous, as she really does sound stunning throughout. The most well known song here, Son of a Preacher Man, was not originally intended for her and more geared towards Aretha Franklin, however this was one of just two songs that she herself approved of and I don't think any more needs to be said, it remains an all time classic and a standout of the record, shifting the style and mood to that confident Southern soul sound. Though it may not seem it, there is actually a fair bit of diversity and mood here which she really conveys very well - Don't Want to Hear It is a sad tale of a lover that knows her love is ill-advised yet lives in denial and Breakfast in Bed sounding much more sultry (and contains a classic reply line to her other signature hit). My favourite two are probably The Windmills in Your Mind - a song that only charted in the US and was a version of the Oscar-winning song from The Thomas Crown Affair, it certainly has that dramatic movie flair and it's following song, In The Land of Make Believe has a dreamy feel that is again sold really well. I don't know if there's loads on this album I'll come back to, there's not much variance to the lyrics and lacks the adventurous nature of other music from the time, yet I do admire it a lot as it's a case of letting strong vocals do the work without overdoing it and making the songs your own. These songs may not have been written by her, but you wouldn't know it. 7.5

Honestly, I'm not really worried about a cancellation or Disney potentially dropping it whatever happens as I feel Doctor Who's one of those shows that is so embedded into the cultural consciousness in the UK that it won't ever really go away. It may be rested or even cancelled at some point, but it has such a large devoted fanbase and is that unique show that can reinvent itself completely that it'll be back fresher and reach new audiences every time. It's why I think a lot of 'Doctor Who's in trouble' articles don't really phase me as they've been declining for years. I think a lot of people these days look at the show nostalgically and I don't think there's been a lot of appeal of that kind in this current series, if they are worried about ratings, I wouldn't be surprised if they started to lean into that more and bring back more older villains next time.

Everything I Wanted, Circles and Sunflower were quite far ahead, but also went for Faded, The Hills and (why not) Man's Not Hot x The last three (No Brainer, I Love It and ME!) stand out as particularly bad to me so they got my vote for Worst. The others are just naff or forgettable (or problematic in one case x)

Good to have this confirmed, but I worry if it's too late. Biden should've never been in the running to do a second term and the debate performance confirmed that, Dems should've been prepping someone younger and more popular to take over once his tenure was done. Doing this all now when the circumstances are really in Trump's favour is worrisome. I'm hopeful that Harris can at least turn the narrative around and make it very clear who the older, less suitable candidate for the job is and focus on the swing states, but I worry about her popularity levels on the top of America's usual insitutional racism & sexism. I'm remaining pessimistic, but at least a little bit less than last week.

Love both singles, but especially Wild God, the last part is amazing <3 I've always been meaning to check them out more as the singles I know (Red Right Hand, The Mercy Seat) are wonderful.

Prince and The Revolution – Purple Rain Billie Eilish – Bury a Friend Alan Walker – Faded Galantis – Peanut Butter Jelly The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk – I Feel It Coming For Tomcraft, I guess we could play his other almost hit Brainwashed (Call You) (#43 in the UK)? Don't mind hearing Loneliness again though either x

Some of my minor favourites showing up, enjoy the brass on Angel of Harlem, I'll Go Crazy... was hammered in to me by that Apple advert, but it's a nice song with a sweet video. Window in the Skies is underrated for 21st Century U2, got a great anthemic soundscape and the video is seriously a real triumph with over 100 different musicians either in sync lyrically or musically with the song.

I think the lack of cohesion in a way works in its favour - you get the sense that she was finally allowed to be free, there's clearly been challenges, but it does add to it being an honest piece of work, rather than calculated. -x- Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Ella & Louis Kinda does what it says on the tin here - two of the biggest names in jazz music combined in what would've been an internet-breaking collaboration in the 1950s covering classic standards. They were aided by the Oscar Peterson Quartet and they clearly hit it off as this was the first of three duet albums they'd record together. I reviewed an Ella Fitzgerald album already with her Cole Porter songbook and this chronologically was her next release so I suppose there's no change in her backstory. What I said there still stands really - 'it's very easy to appreciate them as they set the paving for many genres to come over the decade, but they're just so of their time that it's difficult to get much enjoyment out of them unless you're really into that genre or were there at the time.' This one thankfully was not as long as her last one (although still the lengthiest so far at 53 minutes), yet sadly, it felt like it still dragged. Now don't get me wrong, this is a very well put together album, it's wonderfully composed, completely stripped back to allow both of their powerful vocals to soar and it's a good pairing as both have very distinctive and different vocal styles, Ella's impeccable enunciation and tone combined with Louis' smooth and eccentric raspiness yet flow together brilliantly. It's a triumph of composition, some of the highlights (all of these are 20s/30s jazz standards or old musical film themes, I only recognise one, They Can't Take That Away from Me) include Isn't it a Lovely Day and Tenderly's beautiful trumpet solos, the closest the album comes to a light bop in Cheek to Cheek and you hear Ella do an impression of Louis at the end of it which is really cute and gives a wholesome feel to these two incredible admirable figures, who would've been facing a lot of segregation at the time. Yet sadly, there's just not enough variance here to keep me interested - it doesn't help that I know almost none of the songs so can't even get the satisfaction of hearing a good rendition of it or finally putting a name to the standard I sung at primary school, but there's only so long I can hear a different standard with exactly the same arrangement before I start to tire and struggle to distinguish them a bit. There's not even any quirky facts for the songs or lyrics to keep me interested, they've got a hell of a lot less personality than Cole Porter's songbook. Which all in all just makes me a bit bored, which I know isn't the experience for everyone so put this down to me being an uncultured millenial and not being what I look for in music. I will score this above average in recognition for the musical achievements, but will likely never listen again x 6.0