Chez Wombat

Moving to Shayne as well x

New single is Electra, heard it on 6Music this morning, great stuff <3 g7yR2pGHf5E

Would've been quite the double bluff had I actually sent Phoenix after claiming in the thread I considered another song from them :kink: I still prefer Lisztomania, but 1901 is a great indie pop throwback and a very easy standout here, congrats on a first song contest win, Jim! ...and thank you for sending me into the top 10 last minute :cheeseblock: I wasn't sure how this would go down as it did sound quite different to everything else, but very pleased with the votes, including four top 3s <3 I discovered this on an underground Synthpop playlist a while back but it's really re-clicked with me now, the nu-disco production is gorgeous and I love how the song's vocals grow more and more vulnerable as it goes along in line with the building production. Pretty solid top 10 overall, though a shame that MEG just missed out as my favourite discovery (I was sure that was Iz and Tommy Heavenly6 Bre, but other way round!), I was worried I would find ten a struggle to get to, but was quite happy with all my votes in the end x Thanks for hosting, Wardy, I look forward to more of these should they continue!

:o

Ooh c'mon Phoenix, rise from the ashes to take victory *.* (still waiting in the shadows here x)

Welcome! Just to let you know, your Buzzjack account needs to be three months old before you can participate in the main contest, so you should be good from the next one in August ^_^

Seems like a nightmare scenario has changed into something that's really taken a positive step forward for France, great stuff and should hopefully lessen these fears of the far right taking over around Europe along with the other election news this weekend. Now hopefully this can prove that there IS a viable alternative to centrism and far-right, if only America could see that x

Neil Young - After the Gold Rush The Young from folk rock supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had already released two albums before After the Gold Rush, but this was a high profile release and is often seen as one of his best despite contemporary reviews not being as kind and it not spawning a lot of big hits. It was originally inspired by a screenplay for an end of the world style film with the same title, though the script is lost and only two songs really reflected this in the end. I was initially terrified because I mistook this for Neil Diamond and was not ready for Sweet Caroline, but no, I clearly get the two big Neils confused x From reading the context, this album definitely reflected the general paranoid, apocalyptic mood of the early 70s possibly influenced by the Vietnam War and artists beginning to weave social commentary into their music when previously this was quite rare with even the Beatles trying to avoid it, it predated What's Going On (possibly the most prevalent example of this) by a year but a lot of the same themes are there. The title track is particularly standout with it's three different verses reflecting three different time periods, one medieval, the present in a burned out basement in the aftermath of a deadly flood in California and the future at the end of Humanity's time on Earth that speak damningly of the dangers of climate change before it was really in the public consciousness. The social commentary continues with Southern Man, a clear callout of the racism at the time addressing slavery and segregation. These must've been so ahead of the time especially coming from American traditional music who still refuse to address these issues even now, the stripped back piano and string composition as well as sad, vulnerable vocals in the former add a lot, as do the angry and forthright production and strong guitar solo present on the latter. The album doesn't quite keep that innovation up throughout, most of these are a bit more conventional of the folk sound, but it all still sounds very nice. Only Love Can Break Your Heart (written for his bandmate, Graham Nash after his break up from Joni Mitchell, fun fact) I only know through the Saint Etienne version and while that does jazz it up a lot and is better, the original is a pleasant sound. There is a real sense of melancholy throughout, Oh Lonesome Me, Don't Let It Bring You Down & Birds (the former being a cover) deal with loneliness and depression and while they're not overly standout, I think the soft, sad vocals along with the sad piano and strings really add a lot and gives them a timeless feel. Tell Me Why additionally has the famous lyric: Tell me why/ Is it hard to make arrangements with yourself/ When you're old enough to repay/ But young enough to sell?, which is certainly a profound lyric for the ages. I can't say this was a massive favourite and it did lose me a little bit towards the end, but the real adventurous moments coupled with a really emotional and poetic pull throughout made it a lot better than I thought from an artist I still know very little from despite their status. A rather timeless folk album that was even somewhat ahead of it's time. 7.5

Thanks for the comments, I may not be able to respond to them all going forward, but appreciate every one x I've heard You Want It Darker and that was really haunting and fit his low tones really well, much like Bowie's final album <3 Ohh I have very short memory from the SyncTube sessions, that's the one :lol: I can also finally get round to Mezzanine as you recommended three years ago :lol: (at some point x)

Think it's just Faithless and maybe Busta Rhymes and Alicia Keys that are salvageable here. I'll go for Wonderful, but I'm really not bothered in what order most of these go.

Surely the ultimate one is Precision Tunes - Payphone, literally was only a hit because the original wasn't out yet! Similar case for Can You Blow My (*___*)

Wow, this word is quite cursed, none of these are amazing. Even the Beatles one is one of their weakest. Gone for Carpenters and Darlene Love x

Confirmed, the radio DJ the other day described this as 'Air meets Donna Summer', make of that what you will x

This is finally out next week! Been a couple of trailers since and this is the final one OG7wOTE8NhE The marketing of this has been genius and reviews from early screening seem positive, I really hope it delivers. Feel like there hasn't been this much hype built up for a horror film in a long time!

Operation fluke our way to the final still on :cheeseblock: *___*

Apologies, I'm misremembering the type of voting, I do hope that this time it can remain in public discourse to become an issue worth debating, just depends if this government would allow it after their victory, but the smaller parties will at least push for it. I don't disagree that left-leaning governments have been responsible for some greater achievements (like the NHS), but it's just a shame that the media always hold them to higher scrutiny so their majority always feels more work and scandals stick, whereas it takes the Tories to hit true rock bottom before it happens. People still go on about tuition fees for Lib Dems, No money left for Labour etc. Last night was generally positive for change and while it's not perfect by any means and they've got a hell of a mess to fix, it's at least finally given me a reason to be hopeful for British politics which I honestly don't think I've felt since I was of voting age.

Right-leaning governments have historically done much better and ruled for far longer than left-leaning governments over the past hundred years in the UK. Left-wing parties can still have positive moments, much like last night, but they've been very short lived and never given a proper chance to flourish under the systems we have. I would love things to be different and certainly London paints a progressive picture, but there's still a clear split. I do agree that our current voting system is outdated as hell. I hope it could at least be discussed, but the public widely rejected a move to PR on the last vote in 2011 so it'll take some time to really bring it forward.

I'm interested to see what people saying this is a bad result etc. would've expected a 'good result' to look like, Labour getting close to 500 and Lib Dems official opposition? It was never gonna happen, we will always have a core right leaning voterbase. Yes there's still potential issues, but they have been in government for less than a day, let's stop doommongering for one minute x

Well, shit, Bromley stayed Tory by less than THREE HUNDRED VOTES, seriously if it wasn't now, it will never happen, I am often ashamed of how Tory this borough is for one so close to London (Reform a fait bit behind thankfully) x But I think the positives outweigh the negatives - that's a great result for Labour, if disappointing turnout and vote share. I hope now that they're safely in, they can actually deliver some change and stop walking on eggshells to avoid being seen like Corbyn or whatever (love seeing him get in and defying the media thirsting for his defeat), this was actually a really good night for left wing parties, yes Reform benefitted clearly from the Tory fallout, but that's not a lot of seats overall and some of the Independent wins show that there is an appetite for a more progressive stance. They know how quickly the tides can turn (there was talk of Johnson being in power for ten years last election), so I really hope they can make some positive changes to avoid a populist right movement. I certainly think these results could warrant a discussion in changes to the voting system. But at the very least, we have gotten rid of a government that cares nothing for the people if it doesn't line their own pockets, being openly corrupt with appointments and peerages, partying and breaking the rules during a global pandemic while telling everyone else they can't see their loved ones and prioritising much needed PPE to their corporate mates, turning a blind eye to the struggling NHS and spending a ton on heartless schemes like the Rwanda policy, spending unneeded amounts of time on pointless culture wars aimed at a marginalised group of people who just want to live free of discrimination and restricting public service institutions' ability to report honest and truthful news and having their corporate friends in newspapers spread misinformation on a daily basis. As uninspiring as Labour may be, I straight out refuse to think they will be any worse than the morally corrupt scumbags that have come before. We need to take the positives here. Some other nice highlights naturally include Truss, Schapps and Rees-Mogg losing their seat (Mordaunt was actually one of the saner of the bunch, but certainly not crying to see her go), although a bloody shame that Badenoch and Braverman got their seats. Great night for the Lib Dems and Greens getting one more seat than predicted too. I don't think Reform are anything to worry about yet, they clearly hit a certain demographic but 4 seats (maybe 5) is pretty poor considering the predictions at the start of the night, and their vote share still wasn't anywhere near the main two. Farage will rant and rave all he wants, but under a microscope, they really have no clue what they're doing.

I'm not panicking yet with Reform, these are broadly in line with the YouGov predictions and very Brexit-friendly seats that have been screwed over by the Tories, does suggest they've definitely overperformed but hopefully doesn't equate to too many seats.

About as I expected overall, Reform a bit worryingly high but hopefully a bit overestimated x Anyway, THE TORY WIPEOUT BEGINS *.*

Green Day by a long way, hooray at Buzzjack recognising the clear standout here <3

Steps outstaying their welcome a bit x

I mainly fear/think the exit poll will just show a 'normal' landslide, rather than the <100 seats for the Tories some of the polls are predicting, possibly just below/above that of 1997, which could have the narrative spun as a 'slight disappointment' for Labour. I'm telling the logician in me that if it's wrong to the point of a hung parliament, it would be a polling scandal worse than 1992 x

Happy last day of Tory Rule :yahoo: My (entirely tactical) vote is in, I am hopeful that the signs could switch this time. Weirdly for a Conservative borough and historically a strong one, I've received no leaflets from them but one from Labour, Lib Dems, Green, Reform and even The Climate Party! I never thought we'd ever turn from Conservative so that'll be quite surreal x Can't stay up sadly due to work (though it is our work barbeque so that will hopefully be fitting to celebrate Tory defeat), but will turn the exit poll on at least for hopefully some much better news than last election x