Chez Wombat

10. WoW73 - CHARLOT - Time Travelling No relation to the Tramp, WoW sent the Dutch based artist, CHARLOT, said to make music inspired by the art, books and films that inspired her and this cut from her recent album, 'Lost Like Alice,' which is inspired by Lewis Carroll's fairy tale and is made up of 12 chapters interpreting the work, each exploring major themes such as identity, change, and meaning. This was described as Kate Bush inspired and I certainly see it (as well as a bit Regina Spektor and AURORA), with ethereal vocals combined with spoken verses and synthesisers and strings blending into the dream-like atmosphere in the chorus. Very nice x 38; Ane Brun - Don't Run And Hide 36; O FUTURE – I Forgive You 32; 10cc - Une Nuit A Paris 31; Daniela Lalita – Pisoteo 31; Army of Lovers – Israelism (Mango) 29; Mary Ocher (feat. Your Government) – Sympathize 26; HMLTD – Stained (Jaz13Music) 25; Suki Waterhouse – Back In Love 25; Natalia Lafourcade – Azul (Chez Wombat) 24; Ashnikko – Liquid 24; Ennaria – UGLY 22; Nadah El Shazly – Ghorzetein (uhsting) 21; QT – Hey QT (Dobbo) 21; Lido Pimienta – Marea 20; Cher - You Better Sit Down Kids 20; JMSN - Soft Spot 20; Purity Ring – imanocean 16; Mulaa Joans – Members Only (DaTilt) 15; Ruusut - Yhen Toisen 15; Goldielocks – Provocateur 13; Janet Jackson - What About (vibe) 13; CHARLOT - Time Travelling (WoW73) 13; Morgana - Fix Your Heart For Free 11; Thunder Bae – ARCHANGEL (Jade) 09; My Brightest Diamond – Pressure 08; FiFi ZHANG and dazegxd - Fallen Angel 07; Diet Cig – Scene Sick (Scene) 06; Black Boboi – Red Mind 05; The Real Group – Chili Con Carne 04; Lisa Mitchell – Coin Laundry Ane Brun takes over the lead, also in BJSC this month and a former winner there, how will that translate here?

9. vibe - Janet Jackson - What About Perhaps not an artist you'd expect to be appropriate to this theme and your mileage may vary, but actually I was quite impressed with the switch-ups and blending of mellow ethereal acoustic pop with a rock punk feel in the angry chorus in which she's never sounded more like MJ. The song is loosely based on her own traumatic experiences which juxtaposes her reminiscing a perfect beach setting before she remembers what he put her through. This was an album track from her 1997 album, The Velvet Rope, which was praised for her innovative styles and her honest lyrics raising awareness of female domestic violence. 33; O FUTURE – I Forgive You 32; 10cc - Une Nuit A Paris 31; Daniela Lalita – Pisoteo 31; Army of Lovers – Israelism (Mango) 28; Mary Ocher (feat. Your Government) – Sympathize 26; HMLTD – Stained (Jaz13Music) 26; Ane Brun - Don't Run And Hide 25; Natalia Lafourcade – Azul (Chez Wombat) 24; Ennaria – UGLY 22; Nadah El Shazly – Ghorzetein (uhsting) 21; QT – Hey QT (Dobbo) 20; Cher - You Better Sit Down Kids 20; JMSN - Soft Spot 19; Ashnikko – Liquid 15; Ruusut - Yhen Toisen 15; Suki Waterhouse – Back In Love 14; Lido Pimienta – Marea 13; Janet Jackson - What About (vibe) 13; CHARLOT - Time Travelling 12; Mulaa Joans – Members Only (DaTilt) 12; Purity Ring - imanocean 11; Morgana - Fix Your Heart For Free 11; Thunder Bae – ARCHANGEL (Jade) 09; My Brightest Diamond – Pressure 09; Goldielocks – Provocateur 08; FiFi ZHANG and dazegxd - Fallen Angel 07; Diet Cig – Scene Sick (Scene) 06; Black Boboi – Red Mind 05; The Real Group – Chili Con Carne 04; Lisa Mitchell – Coin Laundry vibe mainly gives her top votes to songs lower down the scoreboard and allows Mulaa to join in style, and we have another new winner with O FUTURE, something of course I can't help but support x

8. Jaz13Music – HMLTD - Stained Jaz's debut to PFSC is a pretty striking one that arguably is a little more on the art rock side than pop, but I'm certainly not complaining. Influenced by the Ziggy Stardust era of David Bowie and the New Romantic period in the 1980s, HMLTD blend electronic and experimental pop with guitars and this cut from their debut back in 2016 is a swirling soundscape of electronic drops, a throbbing bass, bizarre lyrics and a thrashing glam rock fading into a hazy distorted breakdown by the end, accompanied by an outrageous video filled with all manner of blood and gore, it's a memorable start. The band have been criticised for using queer and/or gender-bender aesthetics, including cross-dressing, make-up, and flamboyant performances, despite being heterosexual men, to which they have said that they are trying to challenge toxic masculinity and learning and are indebted to queer methods to express that. 31; Daniela Lalita – Pisoteo 31; Army of Lovers – Israelism (Mango) 29; 10cc - Une Nuit A Paris 28; Mary Ocher (feat. Your Government) – Sympathize 26; O FUTURE – I Forgive You 26; Ane Brun - Don't Run And Hide 25; Natalia Lafourcade – Azul (Chez Wombat) 24; Ennaria – UGLY 24; HMLTD - Stained 22; Nadah El Shazly – Ghorzetein (uhsting) 21; QT – Hey QT (Dobbo) 15; Ruusut - Yhen Toisen 15; Cher - You Better Sit Down Kids 15; Suki Waterhouse – Back In Love 14; Lido Pimienta – Marea 13; Janet Jackson - What About 13; CHARLOT - Time Travelling 12; JMSN - Soft Spot 11; Morgana - Fix Your Heart For Free 09; Ashnikko – Liquid 09; My Brightest Diamond – Pressure 09; Goldielocks – Provocateur 08; Purity Ring - imanocean 07; FiFi ZHANG and dazegxd - Fallen Angel 07; Diet Cig – Scene Sick (Scene) 06; Black Boboi – Red Mind 05; The Real Group – Chili Con Carne 05; Thunder Bae – ARCHANGEL (Jade) 04; Lisa Mitchell – Coin Laundry CLEARLY the best votes so far of course, and we now have a joint winner x

7. DaTilt - Mulaa Joans - Members Only DaTilt sent up and coming British alternative pop/soul singer, Mulaa Johns, she originally gained fame through Tik Tok in her early teens with her Etta James covers getting particular attention before she was able to release her first EP and has recently featured on BBC Introducing. The song definitely has more than a hint of Billie Eilish and Lana here, with the distinctive vocals and the slow textured build. 31; Daniela Lalita – Pisoteo 29; Army of Lovers – Israelism (Mango) 26; O FUTURE – I Forgive You 25; Ane Brun - Don't Run And Hide 24; Ennaria – UGLY 24; HMLTD - Stained 22; Nadah El Shazly – Ghorzetein (uhsting) 21; 10cc - Une Nuit A Paris 21; Mary Ocher (feat. Your Government) – Sympathize 15; Ruusut - Yhen Toisen 15; Cher - You Better Sit Down Kids 15; QT – Hey QT (Dobbo) 14; Lido Pimienta – Marea 13; Natalia Lafourcade – Azul (Chez Wombat) 13; Janet Jackson - What About 13; CHARLOT - Time Travelling 12; JMSN - Soft Spot 09; Ashnikko – Liquid 09; My Brightest Diamond – Pressure 09; Goldielocks – Provocateur 08; Morgana - Fix Your Heart For Free 08; Purity Ring - imanocean 07; FiFi ZHANG and dazegxd - Fallen Angel 06; Black Boboi – Red Mind 05; The Real Group – Chili Con Carne 05; Thunder Bae – ARCHANGEL (Jade) 05; Suki Waterhouse – Back In Love 02; Diet Cig – Scene Sick (Scene) Daniela maintains her lead, but only just as Army of Lovers jump back up and other contenders like O FUTURE and Ane Brun start to emerge.

6. Chez Wombat - Natalia Lafourcade - Azul So I was not my former main BJSC act but one I sent quite recently to the Worldvision spin off, and while yes it's not ideal sending the same artist so soon, I was really torn sending this to worldvision and it's eclectic production, structure and swirling cinematic outro made it a perfect fit for this theme and I didn't want to stray too far away from one that is noticeably pop, it reminds me chiefly of the late 2000s apple advert in the vein of Feist and Yael Naim. Released all the way back in 2009 and long before she became a critical favourite through her contemporary take on latin traditional music, this was on her third album HU HU HU with lyrics about social phobias and insecurities which is nicely reflected in the sort of switching up in the track, TNatalia's record label didn't originally want to promote the song Azul so she promoted it separately on MySpace. 31; Daniela Lalita – Pisoteo 24; Ennaria – UGLY 24; HMLTD - Stained 22; Army of Lovers – Israelism (Mango) 22; Nadah El Shazly – Ghorzetein (uhsting) 21; 10cc - Une Nuit A Paris 16; O FUTURE – I Forgive You 15; Mary Ocher (feat. Your Government) – Sympathize 15; Ruusut - Yhen Toisen 15; Cher - You Better Sit Down Kids 15; QT – Hey QT (Dobbo) 13; Natalia Lafourcade – Azul (Chez Wombat) 13; Janet Jackson - What About 13; Ane Brun - Don't Run And Hide 12; JMSN - Soft Spot 12; Lido Pimienta – Marea 09; Ashnikko – Liquid 09; My Brightest Diamond – Pressure 08; CHARLOT - Time Travelling 08; Morgana - Fix Your Heart For Free 08; Goldielocks – Provocateur 07; FiFi ZHANG and dazegxd - Fallen Angel 06; Black Boboi – Red Mind 05; The Real Group – Chili Con Carne 02; Diet Cig – Scene Sick (Scene) 02; Thunder Bae – ARCHANGEL (Jade) 01; Suki Waterhouse – Back In Love As is common in these song contests, me and Jade's votes are quite similar and I help to solidify slightly the early lead for Daniela with Ennaria and HLMTD just behind x

5. Jade - Thunder Bae - ARCHANGEL Jade sent Thunder Bae, who is also in this month's BJSC with the song that weirdly enough was originally incorrectly linked here. She is a German dark electronic artist, this one coming from her debut album A WOMAN, opening with blooming strings echoing that of ROSALIA's Lux (of course), followed by a breath before the dark electronics take over before taking in more of a Lykke Li style before a late switch up. She is best known as the current lead singer for 80s cult band, Propaganda, on their most recent album, and reviews of the album certainly point to an interesting haunting, cinematic listen in the vein of FKA Twigs or Lana Del Rey, it's sadly yet to score but hopefully that can change x 23; Daniela Lalita – Pisoteo 22; Army of Lovers – Israelism (Mango) 21; 10cc - Une Nuit A Paris 17; Ennaria – UGLY 15; Ruusut - Yhen Toisen 15; Cher - You Better Sit Down Kids 15; QT – Hey QT (Dobbo) 14; HMLTD - Stained 13; Natalia Lafourcade - Azul 13; Janet Jackson - What About 12; JMSN - Soft Spot 12; Lido Pimienta – Marea 12; O FUTURE – I Forgive You 12; Ane Brun - Don't Run And Hide 10; Mary Ocher (feat. Your Government) – Sympathize 10; Nadah El Shazly – Ghorzetein (uhsting) 09; Ashnikko – Liquid 08; CHARLOT - Time Travelling 08; Morgana - Fix Your Heart For Free 08; Goldielocks – Provocateur 07; FiFi ZHANG and dazegxd - Fallen Angel 06; My Brightest Diamond - Pressure 05; The Real Group – Chili Con Carne 02; Diet Cig – Scene Sick (Scene) 01; Suki Waterhouse – Back In Love Jade's votes ensure a new winner at this early stage as the similarly arty experimental female artist, Daniela Lalita takes over, though with only three points between the top 3.

4. uhsting – Nadah El Shazly – Ghorzetein Master of obscure pop, uhsting was always going to have something up his sleeve for this, and frankly your lucky he didn't host judging by his listenthrough comments or nothing would've got in x his entry by the Cairo-born Canadian based singer and visual artist which is an innovative blend of traditional Egyptian music with experimental electronic music that builds atmospherically and has some frantic percussion at the end, it is from her second album released in 2024 and translates in english to 'Two Stitches'. and in the singer's own words, is very loosely about a heart that loved twice, and will be broken twice, so will need to be stitched up twice. 22; Army of Lovers – Israelism (Mango) 17; 10cc - Une Nuit A Paris 17; Ennaria – UGLY 16; Daniela Lalita – Pisoteo 15; Ruusut - Yhen Toisen 14; Cher - You Better Sit Down Kids 13; Janet Jackson - What About 12; JMSN - Soft Spot 12; Lido Pimienta – Marea 10; Mary Ocher (feat. Your Government) – Sympathize 10; QT – Hey QT (Dobbo) 10; Natalia Lafourcade - Azul 09; Ashnikko – Liquid 08; CHARLOT - Time Travelling 08; Morgana - Fix Your Heart For Free 08; Goldielocks - Provocateur 06; Ane Brun - Don't Run And Hide 06; My Brightest Diamond - Pressure 05; The Real Group – Chili Con Carne 05; FiFi ZHANG and dazegxd - Fallen Angel 04; HMLTD - Stained 02; Nadah El Shazly – Ghorzetein (uhsting) 02; Diet Cig – Scene Sick (Scene) 01; Suki Waterhouse – Back In Love uhsting blesses his deemed art pop judgements to some of the more out there moments as they rise and enter the scoreboard.

3. Mango - Army of Lovers - Israelism The current leader doesn't have to wait long for them to be revealed, Mango goes with a deep cut from the 80s Swedish pop group whom we are certainly delving into the back catalogue of throughout these contests, The name of the band alludes to the documentary film Army of Lovers or Revolt of the Perverts by German gay rights activist Rosa von Praunheim, the title of which in turn alludes to the Sacred Band of Thebes. Israelism, released in 1993, is a typically camp over-the-top ode to Jewish culture as you'd expect from the group that did Crucified and was a top 10 in some countries including, naturally, Israel, It combines the Jewish folk song "Hevenu shalom aleichem" with Eurodance-beats. To address the elephant in the room, I believe it's just written in support of the Jewish faith and though it does share a name with a documentary covering the topic, I can't find anything it linking it to the Palestinian conflict so we're all good x 22; Army of Lovers – Israelism (Mango) 17; 10cc - Une Nuit A Paris 14; Cher - You Better Sit Down Kids 13; Janet Jackson - What About 12; JMSN - Soft Spot 10; Mary Ocher (feat. Your Government) – Sympathize 10; QT – Hey QT (Dobbo) 09; Daniela Lalita – Pisoteo 09; Ashnikko – Liquid 09; Lido Pimienta – Marea 08; Morgana - Fix Your Heart For Free 08; Goldielocks - Provocateur 07; Ruusut - Yhen Toisen 06; Ane Brun - Don't Run And Hide 05; Ennaria – UGLY 05; The Real Group – Chili Con Carne 04; FiFi ZHANG and dazegxd - Fallen Angel 03; CHARLOT - Time Travelling 02; Nadah El Shazly – Ghorzetein 01; Suki Waterhouse – Back In Love There's not too much foot shooting to be had at this early stage at least in terms of his closest competitor, but there's several more that are starting to line up.

2. Dobbo - QT - Hey QT Dobbo went with a modern classic in blog pop with one of the weirdest and distinctively 2010s style of pop, PC Music. Technically a supergroup, QT are a one-off music project featuring performance artist Hayden Dunham, producers A. G. Cook and Sophie (RIP </3), and vocals provided by singer, Harriet Pittard. The promotional image was made by Diamond Wright, a team that includes PC Music musician Hannah Diamond. It featured all the classic PC Music trademarks with high pitched cutesy vocals, quirky delivery and a great call and response look. It was highly popular in the blogosphere and a Buzzjack classic that was tried and vetoed from BJSC back in the day, can it finally get it's belated glory here tonight? 22; Army of Lovers – Israelism 17; 10cc - Une Nuit A Paris 10; Mary Ocher (feat. Your Government) – Sympathize 09; Daniela Lalita – Pisoteo 08; Morgana - Fix Your Heart For Free 07; Ashnikko – Liquid 07; Ruusut - Yhen Toisen 07; Cher - You Better Sit Down Kids 06; Lido Pimienta – Marea 06; JMSN - Soft Spot 05; Ennaria - UGLY 04; FiFi ZHANG and dazegxd - Fallen Angel 03; CHARLOT - Time Travelling 02; Ane Brun - Don't Run And Hide 02; Nadah El Shazly – Ghorzetein 01; Janet Jackson - What About Army of Lovers certainly have had a dream start here and 10cc benefit from another set of votes to pull ahead a little bit in this early stage.

Votes will be presented in order of receipt accompanied with some facts I managed to find on a quick Google or that you helpfully provided me with when I confirmed. I do also want to say that I was personally happy with how people responded to this theme, I know some may have wanted it weirder or less conventional, but I know that's not always the taste of some and it was always an open to interpretation theme, not specifically an art pop contest, that's just branding and I do think all of these together make a very eclectic listen of which I hope I can show how they all (just about in some cases) fitted x Anyway, here we go! -x- 1. Scene - Diet Cig - Scene Sick Scene sends an song matching his name from an American indie duo from their debut EP ‘Over Easy’ from 2015, the name of the band originates when the two met in which Alex Luciano interrupted the set of Noah Bowman's other band to ask for a cigarette lighter, of which he gave her a bottle of wine instead, the two then got in touch after Luciano promised to make him a music video as thanks. This is a quirky, brief indie pop track with a charming video featuring Luciano dancing in launderettes, workshops, and woods while Bowman remains the straight man, eventually giving into the rhythm x This was actually already sent to a Nuggets contest way back in the day in 2015 which I neglected but I'm reasonably sure most participants won't remember or were not here for that, will it do any better here? 12; Army of Lovers – Israelism 10; Mary Ocher (feat. Your Government) – Sympathize 08; Morgana - Fix Your Heart For Free 07; Ashnikko – Liquid 06; Lido Pimienta – Marea 05; 10cc - Une Nuit A Paris 04; Cher - You Better Sit Down Kids 03; CHARLOT - Time Travelling 02; Ane Brun - Don't Run And Hide 01; Daniela Lalita – Pisoteo Army of Lovers take the first leader of the night mantle, but how long will that last

I'm pleased to say we received a full house of voters (and one additional surprise!), they have been counted and verified and it is now time to reveal the results, which way is the croissant going to crumble? Discuss and results will follow very shortly once I've eaten x (Not forgetting the mexican spices of course).

This is your final day to vote! Just under a third of votes left to receive so consider this your final reminder: @Addy! @awardinary @Bror @Cody DiLaurentis @CowTzy @gooddelta@HarryInnanen@Herbs @Lindsey. @leww @RobBot I'll be doing results Tuesday at the latest (but hopefully tomorrow) so will only accept late votes up to a point, I can reveal it is also still very much anyone's game at the top so you wouldn't want to disadvantage yourself!

Love seeing former Terra Avium (and Unknown Pleasures) artist, Lankum show up *. Loved their last album, I didn't think it'd be that Ghost Town but I'm intrigued to hear their take on it, oh my at all the crossovers from the current PFSC as well, I'll take credit for that x My entry this month is best listened to when watching the news and/or in a crazy environment, it'll make sense x

I actually don't really dislike any of the bottom 3, although they probably would also rank there for me purely because 1991 was a very strong year for number 1s. I Wanna Sex You Up has a very cringe title and a bit of a messy song, but I do think some of production was quite innovative and I do still hear it from time to time today so it's not aged terribly. Call me crazy but I don't hate The Stonk, completely naff and rubbish of course, but I'm not sure what makes it so offensive to be called one of the worst number 1s ever? Idk, I can't take it seriously enough to hate it. Do The Bartman is a lot of fun, MJ's presence definitely lifts it above your average novelty song.

I think this would be my own top 10 of the 60s, but it could change on a different day: 01; The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby 02; Rolling Stones - She's a Rainbow 03; The Beach Boys - God Only Knows 04; Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone 05; Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World 06; The Ronettes - Be My Baby 07; The Monkees - Daydream Believer 08; The Doors - Light My Fire 09; Otis Redding - (Sitting On) The Dock of a Bay 10; The Animals - House of the Rising Sun

I do enjoy Counting Stars, I don't normally like that kind of radio-friendly MOR song that gets played to death (it was quite rarely on Kiss so didn't hear it as much at the time) but I do like this one, as well as being quite well constructed and catchy, the lyric 'old, but I'm not that old / young, but I'm not that bold' has always really resonated with me as someone that eternally feels too old for their age x I don't particularly like anything else revealed so far so good stuff, PJ & Duncan was quite a fun novelty at the time though and one of those totally random chart moments.

I think sadly the message will never quite get through to people because it involves too much changing their habits and daily lives and people just don't like doing that when things are still seemingly 'normal' and people have lives to lead, and any sort of protests or suggestions are often portrayed negatively in the media, as well as most having the mindset that governments, world leaders and corporations have the most influence so they shouldn't bother, and they certainly won't as it's not compatible with money and power. Capitalism was always leading to this. I think it will take a major humanitarian crisis in a developed part of the world or certain countries starting to become uninhabitable for people to finally sit up and listen, and it may well be too late then.

Wasn't 100% sold on my entry so switched out to something quite out there that could very well bomb, but that feels more fitting for a Seyetana contest x

Great start to this and will be very interested to follow of course! I thought Be My Baby would be your number 1, and it's a great choice - one of the best examples of the wall of sound and beautiful, heartfelt vocals. I did indeed think Here Comes the Sun would be your Beatles pick, but as good as that is, I'm very pleased to see Tomorrow Never Knows as that is in my top 5 my favourites from them as well, I'm stunned by how ahead of it's time even now and with so many innovative instruments and experiments. I'd have Eleanor Rigby as my favourite, but it's close. 3-9 are all classic songs all of which I love so I haven't got a lot to add to what you've already said, though I didn't think Stand By Me would feature here but pleased to see, the instrumental break is really beautiful and always gets me quite emotional too. It's close between the underrated She's a Rainbow and Paint It, Black for my favourite Stones song, but the latter is rightfully acclaimed as one of their best chart toppers and the dark atmospheric tone and experimental instruments are still striking. I've always liked God Only Knows since I was young, but did appreciate it so much more in the context of the Pet Sounds album where the innovative instrumental techniques and immersive soundscape really stand out. I'm not actually sure I've heard Venus in Furs, though I did hear a number of their songs when I did my 1001 songs to hear before you die challenge and I liked what I heard, their album is on my second album bucket list, maybe this thread can help me find some motivation to finish that x A Whiter Shade of Pale is of course wonderful, and I'd hate to ruin it for you, but I do have to plug this as well:

I very much doubt this will bomb, the anticipation from the general public that just want more Harry Potter and don't care about the witch behind it all is intense, it will surely break streaming records. I think the series is just too iconic in that any rebrand is just gonna look exactly like the films but without the benefit of classic actors or John Williams' score and yeah, the trailer confirms that. There's still no point to this, the first two films followed the books pretty faithfully (indeed, JK had a real hand in all of the films so most of what's left out was with her blessing) so I really can't see how much more they can add that will really make a different outside of I guess a few details die hard fans will like. I guess a lot of the changes will be better felt with the later books, but that's if they get there a decade down the line, and idk I wouldn't have any confidence a show would last that long untouched even for a brand this popular.

Oh thank God we got the top 2 just right here Both two massive favourites, but have to go with Elbow, one of the all time great anthems.

Hopefully Coyote vs Acme holds up well, it's a great film (which the Looney Tunes really needed after the Space Jam sequel) but I think I'm more pleased to actually see it happen and sticking it to the corporate overlords who tried to shelf it for a tax write off, seeing a dedication to all those who protested in the closing credits was a great moment.

I would say I Will Always Love You is almost if not just as ubiquitous as Jolene and 9 to 5, but not so much her own version.

Hooray for late voters! That's definitely slightly less bad than it was looking earlier and I'm glad some people did see something in it, and it's not often I get wooden spoons these days so I'll take it to hang on my mantle x That's a fantastic looking top 10 overall, especially with my 10 and 12 back to back and quite a few others I voted for, nice to see Exuma there as well. PJ Harvey deserved better though! Thanks Dandy for the excellent hosting!

Well done jim! I wouldn't have had that down as an obvious winner, but it's deserved and very fitting from one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time! (oops back to last )