Spoiler: Reactions
Iraq // INRIhab - Every Time I Die
Enjoyed the guitars and drums well enough in a really general 'just rock out a bit' way without any one part of it being memorable for me. Not fussed about the vocals but managed to mostly ignore them.
Antarctica // Cruel Daze of Summer - Julien-K
That punchy intro caught me in just the right mood. Frankly, I would have been much happier if it had just jammed out for six-and-a-half minutes without bothering with vocals because I was having a great time without them and they didn't feel especially notable. Still, had a great time with this, enough to forgive it for the pointless misspelling of "days".
Club Penguin // Casey Jones (The Union Scab) - Pete Seeger
Fuck that guy, for sure, but the old-fashioned folk style here is too face-up with its storytelling to me much interest to me as a song. That we even get the 'classic' sign-off riff kind of underlines that to me; it feels more like a bit than something I'd listen to alongside the rest of my library. Still, though; fuck that guy. Don't cross picket lines.
Gibraltar // Glory Box - Portishead
There is literally nothing worthwhile I could tell you about Glory Box other than that I wish you'd submitted the full track rather than the video edit. I will prioritise voting for things that I haven't heard before but it's obviously an all-timer.
Suriname // The Valley - k.d. lang
lang is one of my mum's favourites and, intellectually, I can recognise why that would be, but in practice they really don't tickle my soul. This is quite pretty but, gosh, also rather plodding for most of its run. The strings were really, really welcome when they arrived in force.
Mali // Talk - Beabadoobee
(my entry!)
I like Beabadoobee! I'm down with the kids! This is my favourite track from a consistently fun and sweet album, 2022's Beatopia. It's shamelessly Doing a Nineties Radio Sound but doing it with such a slick professionalism that I have no trouble getting caught up in it (and I wasn't even a big fan of songs that sounded like this at the time). It's less representative of the album than other cuts I could have picked but it's just a good time.
Tuvalu // Antimatter - Silent Planet
I wouldn't have expected the heavier rock sound to play well for me when integrated into a synthwave aesthetic that I'm still only near the beginning of a journey towards fully appreciating, but until the growling started it really did work for me. Even with the dirtier vocals it was more tolerable than that kind of stuff usually is for me, though I do feel like it proooobably means I won't return to it. But it's a good proof of concept for things that sound similar to this. Man, my mum's gonna be so angry with me for voting this above k.d. lang.
Scythia // What Was I Thinking? - Four Bitchin' Babes
Some great voices being used in a style that is just nails-on-chalkboard stuff for me. It's really close to being something that works for me but, when we start deploying stage-musical-conversational-interjection "What was I thinking?"s, that's my cue to leave. We're in 'more skit than song' territory and that's just not what I'm looking for.
Peru // Greatest Hits - Jockstrap
Banger. Quirky beat, loads of fun production choices, and a surprisingly effective integration of dreamed-out vocals into a lithe and wriggly synth landscape.
Mount Celeste // Ping Pong Phase 2 - Kensuke Ushio
A clever little high-concept piece that I enjoyed well enough, but in more of a 'huh, that's cool' way than an 'I need to listen to this over and over' way.
Poland // Ant Pile - Dominic Fike
Partially due to my existing bad mood, I kept thinking that it was about to break into some part that was going to annoy me, but it never did. Bright, bouncy and didn't overstay its welcome... ultimately, I had a perfectly good time bopping along. What little I absorbed of the lyrics seemed like a fun little time-lapse of a relationship. Sure. Sign me up.
Pakistan // Superposition - Young the Giant
Spotify threw, like, two Young the Giant tracks at me around a decade ago, which I thought were alright, but I was never moved to follow up. This sounds quite much synthier than I remember those being but I enjoyed the surprise a lot - it served as a neat contrast to the mandolin(?), and I have a feeling that that riff will be in my head for a few days. Almost certainly will make me buy the song. Ooh, and the diversion into that little bass bridge? Sold! Despite my grumpiness, there are some real choices to be made up the top of my order now.
Bhutan // Hi, I'm a Slut - Lil Mariko
I'm totally down with the reclamation of slut-shaming but, lyrically, I definitely think I've just got the message now and won't need to relisten. Makes me think I might enjoy more of their work, though, because the production is slick as hell. Like, this is really good at what it does, but it's not gonna be something that I'll want shuffled into my playlists.
Sweden // Like Statues in the Garden of Dreaming - Arcana
Definitely has the feel of something that's not entirely complete, like an atmosphering establishing shot for a story we haven't got to yet. But the deep, booming drum in the back is cool, and it's all rather pretty. That it doesn't really do anything with its setup and just goes for what's quite a long fade in the context of its overall runtime will hold it back, though.
eSwatini // The Greatest - James Blunt
The thing that I most took away from watching this video was the part in the description where it said this was the seventh single from this album. That seems like way too many singles. Wild. Anyway. Give me David Gray over Blunt any day in the 'surprisingly high-voiced British singer-songwriter type who wears nice coats and you're slightly surprised to find out is still making music' stakes. Blunt's high notes are a bit whiny and twangy for my taste. The lyrics are a bit X Factor, too. It's not dreadful but I am not in a position to take it seriously.
Gabon // Dial Drunk - Noah Kahan & Post Malone
Yer man here is really, really not my style. And
then
Post Malone showed up.Vatican City // Union Dixie - Tennessee Ernie Ford
I, too, support the goodies. We're in the same bucket as the Pete Seeger track, here, although there's a little more going on instrumentally, but I don't think either is in danger of breaking into my points here.
Australia // The Worst Person Alive - G Flip
Never thought I'd see a sequel to Vanessa Carlton's piano shenanigans. Strewth. Anyway, I'm a sucker for that beat of instrumental silence into the big, crashing chorus. Yeah, this is a fun belt-it-out, and I think the vocals are much better suited to those parts than they are to the quieter verses. At its best moments, it sounds like Julien Baker covering a pop-punk song I'd otherwise be annoyed by but enjoy in her hands. I'm down for listening to this again, for sure.
Wales // Crying - The Murder Capital
What an interesting slow build this was. Like a lovechild of post-rock and 80s UK indie. It feels like the kind of song that would be more of a 'fall deeply in love with it after five listens' than the immediate satisfaction of some other tracks in this list, but I'm definitely curious enough to give it that exposure. It held my fascination very easily.
Chile // Carry On - Angra
What a relief to encounter a song that's straightforwardly not for me while I try to figure out my scores.
--
Really hard to choose between my favourites this time! You should probably feel a little hard done by if you end up with five points from me here.