Interactive Poll #4 - Sometimes They Come Back

 color me very curious as to what you have up your sleeve...

great.. and in case you missed it. Lewian asked if we were to do a theme he'd like to start it. I think he means to surprise us with one .  Besides ..  nothing says disrespect more than flogging a man at his own damned BBQ. 

IMO.. this could be a really neat idea.. or a really bad one. A theme IMO needs to have a light touch.. if people have to think too hard.. it can quickly lose the fun.  I had an idea myself in mind which I think would have fit that.. but I'll sit on it and hold the whip with an evil glean in my eye. Unfortunately for you all.. as the admin team learned long ago.. I only give satanic redheads permission to flog me.

Ok, the next Interactive Poll will have a theme...

What about music with Latin American influences?

The 6 discs of the American Recordings series are wonderful. The fabulous interpretations of Johnny Cash are really many. And the Unearthed box also contains many precious gems. So I was very undecided about which song to choose. I had thought of Rusty Cage, but I feared it was too well known, as was Hurt. 

So I made a selection from a dozen songs and in the end there were Nick Cave's The Mercy Seat and the traditional Danny Boy. The Mercy Seat is characterized by its arrangement on the keyboards that allows a wonderful ending, with a keyboard with a suond similar to the harpsichord that makes the high notes and two (I think) pianos in the background that are played in a very percussive way and create a threatening and pressing atmosphere, with poorly defined outlines. The competitor, however, is a night song, only voice and organ, to be listened to at night in the dark. Johnny Cash's voice seems to come from infinite distances, from the sky itself, and when it goes on high notes ... try to hear ...

After listening to the podium candidates once again,

Here's to you my Top 3:

1) Ricky Lee Jones. Little masterpiece. Brilliant and melancholic ballad. Great vocal performance, and wonderful arrangement.

2) Jellyfish: very pleasent commercial song.

3) Holger Hiller. I've realized that this a form of dance music! Yes this is disco dance music, it is experimental music with a completely commercial format. Realized this, he gained a point, because before I thought that music was missing, and while continuing to think that this creativity and this experimentalism could be put at the service of a strong musical idea, to become a small masterpiece song, this song conquered the podium, slightly overtaking the Danish bard.

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4) Sebastian

5) Jano Brindisi

6) Grizzly Bear

Lorenzo.. may be no need to sit on this poll for that long.. much less all the way till next weekend. 

What say thee to a different kind of poll.. try one with a theme.. see it is works.. if so great.. if not. .. we'll flog the offender and go back to free form. I like the idea.. what say thee.. say it man.... say it loud and proud..  or 

Narrowly beaten:

Grizzly Bear: Has a somehow lame start but gets going big time. Ultimately it's a good song, but I like the original version more (would probably have been top 3). It sounds as if McDonald tries to show a bit too much to say thank you for the invitation, and I don't like his voice that much.

Parliament: Now that's not my kind of music by any stretch, but it surely made me smile.

Cake: Very sharp, I like this. Ultimately it hasn't gone the distance that well; at the end I thought they could've made more of the second half. Still good but narrowly didn't make the cut.

And the winners are...

Johnny Cash: I needed three attempts to get how good it is, before I saw it on rank 4 or 5. But ultimately he absolutely has the voice for this kind of thing, and composition and arrangement rule.

Rickie Lee Jones: The surprise of the bunch. Started like the kind of pop song that bores me to death, but developed into a very intricate composition. Well done!

Sebastian: Actually I have my problems with the "musicality" of the Danish language, but if I ignore that it is just a very delicate song with a truly magical arrangement.

Oh by the way, for me music is 99% about sound and 1% max about lyrics. This time (and usually) my voting comes with the guaranteed quality stamp that there was absolutely zero lyrics influence in it. Ask me what the songs are about after the experience, and I can just about still name Dr Funkenstein, that's it!

amen to that