TORRENT14L FANTAS14 Considerations

My shortlist of songs for the 'Weather' CD was only 17 tracks long - I just thought, as usual, I'd say what they were and a little bit about them:

The Coming Rain - The Drink - I just like the guitar backing in this - and the steady, constant driving beat. Nice vocals - a bit of a psychedelic feel to it too I suppose.

Don't Let It Rain On Your Parade - The Icicle Works - one of 3 IW tracks up for consideration - this track didn't appear on any of their main albums, but is a fine example of the upbeat guitar pop they used to produce - I wonder if Ian Broudie had a hand in this as it's also very Lightning Seeds-esque (I've just had a quick look and he was the producer!)

English Summer Rain - Placebo - Well, who would have known that so many people knew of this track - I knew that Pete Hodgson was a fan of Placebo, but two others also wanted to submit it - it did well too.

Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage - I hadn't appreciated that this had been on the 'Hydr8ed' CD and so would have ruled it out because of that, but I also thought it was perhaps a little too well known (great song though).

Rain - The Cult - I'm not sure how many people would remember this - maybe around 50%? It was one of the first songs I played in a covers band (probably aged 16).

Another Sunny Day - Belle & Sebastian - typical of the happier upbeat stuff they do. I could well have put this track on if Belle & Sebastian hadn't made a previous appearance, and would have been a little trepidatious about including a track with a fairly blatant 'f**k all' in the lyrics (thinking of families in cars).

We Share The Same Sun - Stereophonics - good song from a good album, but I wasn't happy that 'sun' constituted weather and thought other tracks were maybe better.

The Next Storm - Frank Turner - I wonder if maybe this would have proven to be a more popular track than the one I went for. Great song - very catchy - instantly likeable, but not a great deal of substance beyond that. Does there need to be?

Cloud 9 - Toploader - This was also a very close contender for being my final selection. I love it. I love the way it builds - the simple piano notes in the verse, then the belting chorus - good singing - good guitars - nice keyboards - happy (despite the minor key).

Hurricane - Panic! At The Disco. Well, what's not to like about this song too? It scored a couple of 12s from people (as it should, to my mind) but also failed to score anything from several people. I do genuinely wonder why someone wouldn't listen to this and love it. It serves to illustrate very clearly that I have no idea about what is generally popular with people and what isn't.

Think of the Sunshine - Hurricane #1 - 'Sunshine' in the title, and a weather-related band name. How fitting this would have been. John Lamb introduced it in a playlist on www.whatswrongwiththemainstream.blogspot.co.uk this last summer - probably a bit too jolly - reminds me a little of Oasis.

Birdland - Weather Report - I have always liked this instrumental and to my head I can imagine it being the background music to a Charlie Brown cartoon. I don't think it would have won a popular vote though.

Like Weather - The Icicle Works - well, the instrumental bit from this made it on to the CD as Mystery Bonus Track #2 and that's the bit that I really liked anyway - the song before it is OK, but nothing staggering.

Out Of Season - The Icicle Works - a really lovely evocative song with some great lines in it - written from the point of view of a young lad falling for a girl in his village (out of season). I ruled it out because I didn't really think that 'season' qualified as weather either.

Remember - Sunset Sons - Another track which I think is fantastic and that everyone would love upon hearing, which, to my mind, would be more or less guaranteed top spot, and so therefore would probably be doomed to low-mid table mediocrity. In the end, I didn't put it on because I couldn't bring myself to claim that 'Sunset' was weather either. I may try to get it on a CD in the future and can do so safe in the knowledge that none of the guessers will read this anyway.

I Can See Clearly Now - Hothouse Flowers - great song - I wish someone else had put it on actually.

Rain (feat Kate Tempest) - Rag'n'Bone Man - bang up to date, and had 'Rain' and 'Tempest' in it - it's not really my cup of tea though.

CD14 - TORRENT14L FANTAS14 - Track Listing

OK - so CD 14 is out now. The tracks are:

Track No.	Title	Artist
1	Standin' In The Rain	ELO
2	Reign	U.N.K.L.E feat. Ian Brown
3	Set Fire To The Rain	Adele
4	Rhythm Of The Rain	The Cascades
5	English Summer Rain	Placebo
6	Only Happy When It Rains	Garbage
7	Well I Wonder	The Smiths
8	John Kettley Is A Weatherman	A Tribe Of Toffs
9	High Weather	Lily & Meg
10	Snow (Hey Oh)	Red Hot Chili Peppers
11	The Irish Girl	June Tabor
12	Le Vent Nous Portera	Noir Désir
13	London Thunder	Foals
14	Hurricane	Panic! At The Disco
15	Shelter From The Storm	Bob Dylan
16	Sunshine	Keane
17	Beautiful Day	U2
18	Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days Of Summer	Nat King Cole

1njustic3 Considerations

Before posting anything about CD 14, I thought I'd share my shortlist of tracks for CD13, in no particular order:


The Fix, Elbow - This is a really good track, and on topic, but it didn't quite sparkle enough for me to choose it - featuring Sheffield's own Richard Hawley on vocals, as well as Guy Garvey.


Where Is The Love? - Black Eyed Peas Despite being perhaps a little twee, I can't help myself from liking this song - it kind of won me over against my will.


Graffiti Limbo - Michelle Shocked Contains the lyrics: 'Graffiti Limbo, Where do you go? Graffiti Limbo, When there ain't no justice'. Highly appropriate, but didn't make it because I've put a Michelle Shocked track on previously.


Moonlight Shadow - Mike Oldfield Not really about injustice. I was going to claim he was shot six times by a man on the run as being fairly unjust. It's not going to be new to anyone, but its a song that I love.


Luka - Suzanne Vega I think this was on Simon's shortlist too. I steered clear because Suzanne Vega had made a previous appearance.


The Trial - Pink Floyd I don't think I would have put this on, or a cover version I (and Howard) have (has) of it, but I like it a lot and would have derived a strange kind of pleasure from hearing people who weren't familiar with it, or its context grumbling, about it.


You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette Considered because it contains the phrase 'It's not fair' but rejected because of the family unfriendly expletive.


Syrup and Sour Grapes - Cud Opens with the line 'There's no justice no more'. Rejected because I've put Cud on in the past.


Just A Girl - No Doubt I love the track and it's about sexism. I could possibly have put it on if my James track didn't win me over.


People are People - Depeche Mode Considered as it's about prejudice, but rejected because its too well known.


Getting Away With It - Electronic I really like the song - not much more to say really.


Out Of Line - The Bravery Good, but perhaps not massively unjust.


Bloodsport For All - Carter USM A great song about the bullying and subsequent suicide of a black soldier in the Coldstream guards - rejected because Carter USM have been on previously.


Kiss That Wealth Goodbye - Exmagician A good song from a new band I like. I probably disregarded it because I didn't think it would have mass appeal.


Gangsta's Paradise - Coolio I am not a fan of Hip Hop / Rap at all, but this song's quality manages to cut through my prejudice. Again - probably too well know to warrant selection.


The Partisan - Leonard Cohen I was tempted to put this on to commemorate Leonard Cohen, and because half of it is in French, I thought people might think it was Franck's choice.


First We Take Manhattan - R.E.M. I think I may have considered this for the Co7ers CD - it's a great cover of a great song, but R.E.M. have been on before.

CD13 - 1njustic3 - Results

First things first, the winning track was ‘Walk Like You’ by James, as chosen by me, with 119 points. Second place goes to Simon with Kirsty MacColl’s ‘England 2, Columbia 0’ with 107 points. Third place goes to Bob Lewis for ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ by Billy Joel with 97 points.

This is actually my first ever win and I’m delighted. Bob and I have been on the podium in the last two CDs, and we welcome Simon back to the podium too, after his previous win on CD 11.

And so on to the wooden spoon, and it is at this point that we have to mention Jasper. Jasper was confident that he’d done enough to avoid the wooden spoon, and indeed, all the signs were pointing towards this with just one sheet left to come in. Frank’s track (I think scoring lowly because people didn’t know what it was about) had only 7 points, and Jasper’s track had a relatively massive 13 points. Then, out of nowhere, the last score sheet came in awarding a hefty 12 points to Franck’s track and sealing Jasper’s fate as the wooden spoon holder yet again, having handed it briefly to Mick on the previous CD.

So now the guessing. Well, well, well! Pete H has obviously been letting others in to his mysterious ways and now Katja nd Franck are just as spookily good at guessing who put on what. Each guessed 6 correctly. Incidentally, I think the odds of guessing 6 correctly (including your own track) are 1 in 326.2. For the people who bothered guessing, you all guessed at least one track that wasn’t yours. The odds of guessing no tracks correctly are around 1 in 2.7 so there’s a 63% chance that you’d guess at least one other correctly. A monkey would guess at least one other correctly (on average).

Both myself and Simon were masters of disguise, with no-one pegging us for our respective tracks. At the other end of this spectrum the ‘Sticking Out Like A Sore Thumb’ award goes to Jasper who was picked out 7 times. Even Kate who is completely new to this whole thing and has only met Mick managed to spot Jasper’s track.

CD Club #13 - 1njustic3				Awards
Track No.	Title	Artist	Chosen By
1	Steel Town	Airbourne	Allan	23
2	(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)	The Beastie Boys	Jim	62
3	We Didn't Start the Fire	Billy Joel	Bob	97
4	Two Worlds Collide	Inspiral Carpets	Pete Q	87
5	If I Can't Change Your Mind	Sugar	Neil	81
6	England 2, Columbia 0	Kirsty MacColl	Simon	107
7	Chiquinho Azevedo	Gilberto Gil	Franck	19
8	Bittersweet Symphony	The Verve	Nick	54
9	Wallflower	Peter Gabriel	Howard	28
10	Hey Joe	Jimi Hendrix	Kate	44
11	Gallows Pole	Led Zeppelin	Mick L	50
12	White Heat	Madonna	Jasper	13
13	Standing In the Way of Control	Gossip	Katja	92
14	Wake Up	Rage Against the Machine	Rob	44
15	Lab Monkey	Alice In Chains	Pete H	34
16	The Unforgiven II	Metallica	Sam	32
17	Walk Like You	James	Chris	119

I think that’s it. Thanks again everyone for another thoroughly enjoyable CD. I will now ponder what the theme for the next one should be.

1njustic3 - CD 13 Track Listing

Here it is, CD 13 '1njustic3'

Track No.	Title	Artist
1	Steel Town	Airbourne
2	(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)	The Beastie Boys
3	We Didn't Start the Fire	Billy Joel
4	Two Worlds Collide	Inspiral Carpets
5	If I Can't Change Your Mind	Sugar
6	England 2, Columbia 0	Kirsty MacColl
7	Chiquinho Azevedo	Gilberto Gil
8	Bittersweet Symphony	The Verve
9	Wallflower	Peter Gabriel
10	Hey Joe	Jimi Hendrix
11	Gallows Pole	Led Zeppelin
12	White Heat	Madonna
13	Standing In the Way of Control	Gossip
14	Wake Up	Rage Against the Machine
15	Lab Monkey	Alice In Chains
16	The Unforgiven II	Metallica
17	Walk Like You	James