Everything posted by Chez Wombat
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The UK #3 singles listening sessions
Aqualung – Strange and Beautiful (I'll Put a Spell On You) The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army XTM & DJ Chucky feat. Annia – Fly on the Wings of Love Muse – Time Is Running Out Coldplay – The Scientist (would also be fine with Clocks x) I'd prefer All Rise, though I endorse something representing it anyway x
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Euro 2024 Sweepstake
9 please!
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UK General Election 2024
You can Google her name. Please avoid language like this, it's got very negative implications even if not meant. There doesn't seem any valid reason Diane shouldn't be allowed to run apart from the fact that she doesn't fit in the centre of the party and the media don't like her (I'm not saying she's not said silly things, but she has apologised for it), especially as the investigation was cleared many months ago and wasn't reported. Her treatment is a really nasty representation of the institutional racism in the media and parliament, so many white men have done worse or similar yet got off completely scot-free... Anyway, can Labour just get on with actually stating what they are gonna do to improve things and stop with this faction shit, this is media space that does not need to be taken up even with the lead they have.
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Doctor Who • 73 Yards
I thought the Welsh pub scene was really strong, it helped to exemplify the outsider feel and remember given this is psychological, it adds to Ruby's fears about being judged as an outsider. Also, I think it was a great bit of social commentary about anti-English sentiment within Wales, it's fairly underrepresented but it certainly exists (when I went there, we went past a pub that unironically said 'no English' along with 'no dogs'!), and I thought it a really interesting stance to take which helped increase the tension.
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2024 United States Presidential Election Thread
Great news to know that despite how utterly how archaic a system this country has, that justice can still be recognised, even if it doesn't include insurrection which it really should. Hopefully, this will give the Democrats some backing in their campaigns and convince the swing states that a convicted criminal isn't really the best choice to run the country (I can't believe I'm having to hope that...). But of course, this will absolutely not affect his core fanbase at all and will make them even angrier and allow more funds to be raised for his campaign, and there'll be even be more of an anti-establishment vote that initially got him there. November's gonna be nasty x
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THE FINAL: Greatest Hits Lead Single Survivor
No Doubt could've been here had I remembered to vote :/ Kylie to win I guess x
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Snow Patrol - The Forest Is The Path
Nothing particularly new from them, but not bad. The chorus is punchy, but I don't think it needed the swearing. Lovely to hear from them again as it's been so long, and good to see losing two members didn't have too much of an impact on their sound!
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Weekly UK Box Office
A real shame about Furiosa, for a film that wasn't necessarily needed, it's actually really good, maintaining the appeals of the Mad Max franchise with brilliant performances, set pieces and script. I'm not sure what happened although the marketing did seem a bit limited and I barely knew it was coming out until last week or so, and the last film was nine years ago now, people may have forgotten the characterand it isn't technically a Mad Max film which would've been more of a draw. Losing to yet another low effort Illumination cash grab adds insult to injury :/
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The Beatles rate 2024
Ooh wonderful, my favourite won :heart: I thought that one snub might have cost it, one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking songs ever written and wonderfully composed, it really gets to me even today. I do enjoy Hey Jude as well, it's a timeless song and very feel-good, it's just become a bit cliched over the years and I do prefer their more introspective work. Yesterday and Here Comes The Sun are both absolutely wonderful in their simplicity and encapsulating of two polar opposite moods, they work so well and not surprised their appeal has endured. This was a great idea and I enjoyed following the results, thanks Julian!
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The UK #3 singles listening sessions - Week 15 poll
Great week, went with Sandstorm, Silence, Last Resort, American Dream, Castles in the Sky, In Your Eyes and There Goes the Fear, good time for dance music! That awful cover of Bright Eyes for worst, though Liquid Dreams was pretty horrible too.
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Favourite 'Oscar Best Picture' Hits
Ooh nice idea, I went for Chariots of Fire, Crash (original obvs x shame it shares a name with a joke of a winner), In The Heat of the Night (forgotten dance banger) and Birdy's Wings. Haven't actually seen any of those films though x
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Apple Music's 100 Best Albums
Certainly some questionable moments as you usually get from these type of lists. Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 over Faith is a weird choice for George Michael. Velvet Underground & Nico being at 60 feels so wrong for being the original art rock album, it below AM of all albums is laughable (why not Arctics' debut?!). good kid, m.A.A.d city that high when To Pimp a Butterfly didn't make the top 100 is a bit of a choice, but it is a great album and I think I narrowly prefer it. Similar for Frank Ocean for Blonde this high when Channel Orange is nowhere to be seen, but I've still only heard the latter which is apparently not quite as acclaimed so I'll refrain from judging x Obviously 1989 (TV) being that high (Above Revolver and Pet Sounds no less) is an utter joke and obviously a corporate decision, Billie as well, it was good but arguably her weakest album of the three. Discovery as highest dance album is a wonderful choice for it's impact on dance music, and great to see some trip-hop acknowledgement with Massive Attack. and I can't really argue with the top 10 as a whole even though I wouldn't quite put the modern albums as high. Top 3 are all deserved and though I appreciated Lauryn Hill's album more than I enjoyed it, I can definitely see the reasons it's so high. Sufjan Stevens, Aphex Twin & Joy Division strike me as notable omissions. I do love a good acclaimed list though, so may well make my way through it at some point and feedback just how accurate they are x
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Should 16/17 year-olds be allowed to vote in UK?
I know, I acknowledged that in the very next sentence of the post you quoted... I'm just making the point that that attitude can pass down and while that shouldn't be a reason not to lower the voting age, it's why there should be a greater emphasis on political education to ensure maximum engagement, honestly, it's not too early/late for any age group.
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Should 16/17 year-olds be allowed to vote in UK?
I think I would be in favour of this now, but I still think political education should be given more attention in schools and colleges for this age group. Maybe I'm biased as I work with them, but the stereotype that all young people are accepting and inclusive isn't really true, they can be very immature and disengaged, some of the day to day things you hear are worrying and they would be susceptible to rage-bait. But of course as we've seen, so are some voting age adults and I wouldn't want to silence the voices of those 16 and 17 year olds that have a real interest in politics.
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The Tory fibs and fabrishications thread, Mk III
Lmao, you'd almost think Rishi wants to lose and get it over with as soon as possible so he can sod off to the US What a non-starter Telegraph-bait policy, mental health concerns and also wider awareness amongst young adults are only getting higher, so let's chuck them in the army or force them to volunteer to sort those snowflakes out! The real nerve of is that this was discontinued in 1960 so the youngest people that actually lived through this would be, give or take a few years for deferred service, 82 today. the decision makers of this policy would all be younger than that (as well as a fair few of the crowd they're targetting) so never had to do it themselves which just makes them look like total hypocrites.
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Doctor Who • 73 Yards
I'm just realising that Martha was heavily implied to have been coerced into SA by Gwilliam, that is seriously dark stuff for Doctor Who especially in the time slot it's in... (I'm also realising Ruby was meant to have been much older during this time, that was less convincing :lol:) I completely get that the ending feels like 'it was all a dream' and doesn't give clear answers in terms of ongoing arcs and it's a little out of place in a show that is usually grounded in some form of twisted logic (and as said, we may look at this differently following the arc's conclusion), I just feel personally for me the plot holes are overcome if you look at this purely as a character piece and a physical embodiment of her worst psychological fears mainly of abandonment and self-insecurity, how she becomes accustomed to it and uses it to her advantage for the sake of a hollow 'mission' until she just accepts it right before death, where she finally realises this and is able to give the warning to her younger self (the slightly shoehorned UNIT and PM moments I think make more sense this way as proving it is not something that can be explained via scientific explanation or trite 'destiny'). I'm a bit biased and cottoned on to this way of thinking as it's pretty much straight out of a Mike Flanagan psychological horror series (The Haunting of Hill House has a similar episode) which is my bread and butter.
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The UK #3 singles listening sessions
Gorillaz – 19/2000 (Soulchild Remix) Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight The Chemical Brothers – Star Guitar Coldplay – Trouble Fatboy Slim – Star 69 / Weapon of Choice
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Doctor Who • 73 Yards
Well I'm gonna need a bit of time with this one, but wowowow, what an episode, a potential new classic! I mean yeah, it's essentially this era's equivalent to Turn Left and Gibson/RTD2 was never gonna match Tate/RTD1. But there was clearly some other themes going on here that could make it even better or worse in retrospect depending on the conclusion to Ruby's arc. I can definitely see that ending being divisive, but I think it works in a metaphorical sense that reveals a lot more about Ruby as a character - Her following and draining herself of everyone in her life is an embodiment of her psychological fears. She's scared of being alone, abandoned by the Doctor and everyone she cares about for a reason that isn't clear (it also would make sense as her using her 'powers' to save the world from the nuke politician, she learns to love it and live out a silly fantasy that gives her a purpose yet still doesn't satisfy). Now this is purely metaphorical and assuming it's meant to be a standalone, we don't know how this links to her overall background (although certainly makes the adoption storyline make sense) or the wider supernatural narrative yet. It's certainly introduced a darker and more psychologically complex side to her either way. Absolute top marks to Gibson who portrayed that complexity really well, and some of those scenes including the Welsh pub and her mother leaving her gave such a palpable sense of human horror and tragedy that I haven't seen in so long in this show. It really reminded me a lot of the brilliant horror film, It Follows, which has a similar strange entity following teenagers as an emdodiment of repressed fears, primarily of a sexual nature so maybe won't be mentioned in the same breath, but I'd highly recommend that if any of you enjoyed this x It's exactly the sort of experimental storytelling I thought was lost under Disney and Moffat wasn't even involved, I don't think we've seen an episode this complex and ambiguous since Heaven Sent. This series has been the exact definition of a mixed bag so far, I can't think how they'll follow this but I'm intrigued!
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UK General Election 2024
Rats fleeing a sinking ship if ever I saw one.
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The UK #3 singles listening sessions - Week 14 play-off
Hey Boy Hey Girl is still the better one, No Scrubs is a classic though that would've definitely got a vote as well, hope to see it played this week x
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The Beatles rate 2024
A non-psychedelic top 4 then x (Well, I guess you could count one). Love Strawberry Fields Forever, incredible production and works brilliantly as the moodier, darker cousin to its double A-side in reflection on John's hometown. I really hope my 50 can win here, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's out next. Certainly can't begrudge the other three despite being a bit more overexposed.
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BuzzJack presents...
Brilliant job, I must give that a listen. 2006 was my first year listening to the charts and being properly into music and I think you've captured pretty much all the big hitters there (although you've missed my first ever number 1 I listened to...Westlife's CLASSIC cover of The Rose *__). Disc 3 is amazing, not all of them have aged the best, but Rock was insanely good this year.
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Billie Eilish - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT
She really is getting better with every album and taking so much more risks and I'm really here for it as she stands out so much in this pop landscape. This is a wonderful listen with some absolutely incredible production. So many late track switch ups which are all epic, L'AMOUR DE MA VIE is obviously a big standout in this regard, but I think my favourite that hasn't been shouted out a lot is BLUE, the transition from hazy club vibes to epic strings was brilliant, in fact the last three tracks are all great with the menacing vibes of DINER and the journey of BITTERSUITE. Definitely appreciating some clear earliy 2000s dance vibes in the style of Daft Punk as well as a fair amount of trance. I agree that it's a perfect length and the seguing songs make it feel like an intentional body of work.
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UK General Election 2024
I guess the inflation news would've influenced this, I've never seen a more monotonous announcement, the pouring rain and and the fact that Things Can Only Get Better went on so long, it's a perfect metaphor, almost like he knows. Still, just six more weeks of Tory majority, let's goooo *.*
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The Beatles rate 2024
One of their best and most innovative tracks, it's stunning to me how it comes from 1965 (not the least with the number 1 it inspired over thirty years later!), it sounds so far beyond anything a modern mainstream dance producer can do today.