Chez Wombat

I think it can be used to an advantage as long as it is done in a sensitive way and there is some human interference - the Beatles track worked as AI was just used to enhance the otherwise man-made track which it wasn't possible to do for the 90s lost tracks, it felt fitting as a last accomplished track from the group and had the consent of some of the group themselves (and one of the deceased was initially working on them in the 90s). That's fine as long as it's a one-off and is used to create something that feels fitting to the artists' memory. It probably has the possibilities to make new singles from deceased artists, but I would seriously question the morality of anyone ever going to those lengths if there hasn't been prior consent. AI making music from scratch though and representing artists? No, like I said in the films forum a while back, art must have a human touch to have any sort of connection and effect, it's completely meaningless otherwise.

Agreed. It's been declining in ratings for years and I couldn't give a toss either way. I'm happy to have a much higher quality series than last time and to actually look forward to seeing the show again. I follow TV shows for enjoyment and appreciation of the art form, I couldn't imagine having that affected in any way by how it's doing in the ratings.

I've never heard an album by Editors so couldn't fit them in, but Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors and Munich are both big favourites of mine <3

Hate That I Love You, snooooozzzze x

The 20th Century forum song contest allows top 40 hits, I feel like we should at least allow top 75 or top 40 as long as the song is mainly forgotten, the rule exists for the Pop forum as that's based primarily on current pop, but it's much harder to find for older hits. (I will try and find something regardless, but that would certainly make it easier x)

A bit of a contrast with last week oops x Just about found five highlights though - Voodoo Child, Love Don't Let Me Go (Walking Away), Perfect (Exceeder), Apologize (sic) and Call the Shots. Gwen and Akon for worst, Westlife are too easy and these were tough on the ears x

Can't complain at that result obviously, although we definitely stepped off the pedal after the first thirty minutes and Serbia were quite unlucky not to score, although it is to our credit we managed to hold them off. Definitely not quite looking like a winning team, but some potential there.

The Euros on ITV likely would've took a lot of viewers away, fortunate that England weren't playing!

Whew, what an episode! I confess I'm ignorant to Sutekh as I haven't delved into the archives of older Doctor Who yet, but they looked pretty terrifying and that Disney budget is finally showing itself in a good way, a great pay off to that Susan Twist storyline (so this is already doing better in pay-offs than the last showrunner x), some great attention to detail too as I never actually noticed the TARDIS groans being lower pitched than normal, but they were probably there. Some genuinely incredibly tense scenes towards the end there and in the time window reenactment as well, reminded me a lot of Army of Ghosts overall which was one of my favourites growing up so a very good thing indeed. It was a little exposition heavy at times, pacing was a bit off in the first half before it relentlessly hurdled to the finish in the second and FFS Russell, stop trying to make super intelligent babies a thing, they never will be :arrr: But I'm willing to overlook those this time with the strength of that climax, and am just praying he can stick the landing to make this even better! Was great to see Mrs Flood again too and I'm still wondering how she fits into all this x

I could genuinely nominate about 20 here, This is impossible :drama: Gonna try and go for those we haven't already played Reverend and the Makers – Heavyweight Champion Of The World Freemasons feat. Bailey Tzuke – Uninvited José González – Heartbeats Muse – Knights Of Cydonia Kasabian – Empire

Well how rude x Screamadelica is an incredible album, and they have selected highlights from their later stuff too. Getting this down to 30 was near impossible, never quite realised how much groups have made up the majority of my listening habits growing up.

I'd rather not have a repeat winner, but Sophie is the much better track here. Was never that big on Teenagers compared to the other singles from Black Parade, there was much better alternative picks that left earlier.

Congrats Rob, making up for the miss in PFSC! I preferred Mama's Eyes and can't really remember this one much but I'm clearly out of touch with the winners this year so don't mind me x Shame Jadakissnia fell to 4th right at the end (curse of my 15 two months in a row clearly), but that's still a great showing and that runner up is wonderful *.* May not be a unique position, but I'm really happy with 8th. I really wasn't expecting this, I love the song but it was definitely a grower and I was unsure if it would be lost in the pack, but I'm very pleased to be proved wrong and get votes from such a wide spectrum of music tastes, 2nd in the semi too! Thank you for all the voters, their EP's out now if you're into this dreamy, shoegaze/synthwave-esque sound (reminder for myself to listen more than anything x) Not a lot of other favourites in the top 10, but that 11-15 section is amazing <3 Certainly don't all sound like hits so pleased to see some good showings. The only one I'd have liked a bit higher is Eledan, but it's amazing that got to the final in the first place. It really caught me off guard in the listenthrough. Thank you to Botanikka Airlways for a great service, will be sure to fly again in the future B-)

Can't quite believe I'm still in the top 10! Would be lovely to stay there, although I'm yet to get an 11th place sooo

Another medal and just three from 100 *. great stuff Sweet Dreams was a bit of a grower, though I certainly would prefer 2nd or 3rd getting it as it stands.

Ooh just in time x Wonderful to have a gold, silver and bronze so far, wasn't sure I'd get any of those, thank you very much <3 I was really pleased this got to the final so anything further is a bonus, but this is a better than expected start.

Germany looked the strongest they've been in years there (though admittedly not the most challenging opponents in a home setting), could do worse than tipping them to win after that x

Labour purely for tactical reasons as it's very close in my constituency now the previous Tory MP with a large majority has stepped down and it feels like it's now or never as we're almost totally blue otherwise. If I were in my old safe Labour seat, I would probably vote more honestly and lean towards Lib Dem.

Having read it in detail, there are some things I like - Nationalising Energy, Riverside walks and increasing Mayoral powers to improve public transport, and I really like the emphasis on more skills based, apprenticeship courses for young people with disabilities to get them into work, as these are really lacking at the minute and I'm seeing the day to day effects clearly. Yet it's all rather vague, and this is what I worried about, and doesn't really suggest a huge changing of the status quo. It sounds more promising and I have no doubt why this is being done, as they are all but guaranteed to win and this is an easy way to get both political spectrums on side without lurching too radically either way, but it doesn't give me much confidence that things will change ultimately and they won't get flack in five years time for not delivering all of this thus paving the way for a more populist right alternative.

nowritinglikethisisnotcoolstop

Green Party Manifesto: https://greenparty.org.uk/about/our-manifesto/ Certainly some things that look great in paper (Ceasefire, scrapping tuition fees and Ofsted, Animal protection, actually paying Junior Doctors!!), sadly, as I've got older, my thoughts have gone from great idealism to 'how on Earth are you going to pay for this'. Think Lib Dems have the better left-leaning manifesto. I'm just waiting for Count Binface's one tbh x

I think the current polls are representing Reform becoming a talking point (Nazi sympathising isn't the best publicity so I'm imagining this might start to slip) and the Lib Dems rather effective campaigning and (pretty great) manifesto. I imagine the two main parties will start to pull ahead again nearer the election, although Tories on less than 100 seats looks very realistic now.

^Switched x My ranking (similar favourites to everyone else, he has done some undeniable classics but also some utter crap, the difference in quality between the top 2 and bottom 4 is huge): 01; Stan 02; Lose Yourself -slight gap- 03; The Real Slim Shady 04; Without Me 05; Like Toy Soldiers -bigger gap- 06; Houdini 07; Godzilla -humongous gap- 08; River 09; Just Lose It 10; The Monster 11; Smack That

It's a great selection, I'll try and listen eventually as quite a few I don't recognise. ? There are several African and Asian artists on there. I suppose Yothu Yindi's Treaty could've been included, but it wasn't a hit in the UK so understandable x Remember this is the UK, we're pretty xenophobic when it comes to chart hits and the ones that break through are historically more likely to be our closest neighbours.

I've gone for my best seven - Take Me Out, Hey Ya, Somewhere Only We Know, Dragostea Din Tei, American Idiot, Somebody Told Me and Doctor Pressure. Could've gone for more, but had to limit somewhere. Westlife and Brian/Delta for worst. GLC, Iron Maiden and Bodyrockers were all genuinely enjoyable for me x