BONUS SERIES : THE ICA WORLD CUP : ROUND 2 (Part 1)

Seems fair, given the brilliance of some of the comments this week, to compile an imaginary match report:-

This Round begins with the band that was once my “All Time Favorite” winning and then ends with the band that usurped that position. (echorich)

A few of these matches never made it to the pitch. Most cruised to easy wins. A couple were tight, and I freely admit there was cheating with one of the matches. I voted for a hero instead of heroes. Felt sorry for him, frankly. Getting thumped.(Brian)

I’m disappointed with the way some of these results are going. Cup football really is a shocker sometimes. (swiss adam)

Blimey. Some nailbiting ties here, but equally, quite a few Stockport County v Chesterfield-type games too. Some of my ties were decided by some dodgy refereeing decisions and the influence of a shady Welsh-based betting syndicate, but here’s the full-time scores. Cue Sports Report theme and the voice of Charlotte Green…(Robster)

MGMT 3 v The Clash 37

The Clash (you could put virtually any song up against White Man In Hammersmith Palais, the answer would still be The Clash) (rigid digit)

Martin Stephenson 26 v Andrew Weatherall 10

Lord Sabre’s notorious quality pressing(s) not enough to overcome an early lead from one of the most talented teams out there. (Luca)
“It isn’t the hours you put in, but what you put in the hours!”. Easy, one of The Daintees’ finest recordings against a tune I’m probably a bit too old for …(sexy loser)

Johnny Marr 16 v Rod Stewart 23

Rod Stewart. Poor effort by Girls Aloud – perhaps if they’d stuck with their usual classic pop rather than relying on a throwaway guitar line from some guitarist or other. I mean – Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan and Mick Waller, how do you compete with a back line of that quality. (Jacques)
Having one of the most gifted role players on your team can win you a lot of games, but this time the weight of tradition was simply too much.(Luca)
Surprised that Johnny Marr didn’t take the competition more seriously, although perhaps he’s got hopes of going all the way with his other outfit (jimdoes)
feels odd to be voting against Johnny… or FOR Rod (Rol)

Asian Dub Foundation 21 v Stars 14

ADF who have the skills to pay the bills.(wycranything)

The Durutti Column 20 v The Beta Band 15

It wasn’t a classic but Reilly at sweeper kept it tight while Mason on the other side lacked his usual verve (Jacques)
tough choice here, genuinely. But the boy Reilly edged those Betas out (bagging area)
looking at a 0-0 draw, beta band scores own goal disappointing yet again the rabid supporters who traveled to the away game (GJ)
The Beta Band’s tikitaka gave them ball possession for most of the match, but lack of focus was an issue against Vini Reilly’ s prowess (Luca)

Clyde McPhatter 20 v Gene Loves Jezebel 16

classic football here. Head up, crisp passes, executed brilliantly. Not a close match at all (GJ)
Gene Love Jezabel barely got out of the changing rooms due to over use of hair spray (jimdoes)

Grandaddy 10 v Husker Du 26

Two sides marred by tragedy this past year…the minute’s silence beforehand was impeccably observed (Malky Tucker)
A man down but Husker Du hold on till the final whistle (bagging area)

OMD 21 v Super Furry Animals 17

“There’s only a little difference between Champs and Chumps!”. A most boring game to watch, it must be said. OMD win in the end, but it was close …(sexy loser)
SFA benches their A squad and fields their B squad thinking that they will win the match easily. It doesn’t happen.(GJ)
Genuinely can’t believe SFA fielded a second-string outfit for this one. (Malky Tucker)

Teenage Fanclub 20 v Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (2) 20

The Aussies opened up an early lead but were pegged back by Fannies on the stroke of half-time. The final few days were a war of attrition with nobody ever getting more than a goal ahead at any time.

I had an idea at least one match this week might go all the way…and so for any tie-break scenario I asked my work colleague Doog, who also happens to be the keyboard player with The Just Joans to cast some votes.  He did this on Thursday as he had the small matter of his wife Fiona giving birth on Friday!! (a boy…their second….both baby and mum are doing well!)

Doog’s shouts were Asian Dub Foundation, Beta Band, Clyde McPhatter and Daft Punk, none of which were needed. When it came to Nick v TFC, he said he couldn’t separate them.  He threw a £1 into the air which landed heads; in doing so he made this observation in a comment come true…

so painful won on toss of the coin (Bill)

Heads was The Mercy Seat by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

the Bellshill Beatles couldn’t get the ball off Cave in this one (aldo)
Cave gets it as it’s a live recording and the Bad Seeds have, for years, been the best live band on the circuit (Malky Tucker)
the live version clinches it against a very strong TF track (the great gog)
Those kiddie dilettantes tried, but it was not enough to steal a win when you’re clearly not (a) Big Star. (Luca)
if you match the quality of the two centre forwards, Mercy Seat is a world class performer at every stage of his career while GKIT only really turns it on against weaker opposition. (Robster)

Roddy Frame 7 v The Stranglers 31

Frame’s midfield artistry undone by Trotsky’s devastating wing play on the left.(aldo)
love Roddy, but against the Stranglers strongest song? (Rol)
Major upset for me here but Roddy just didnt take it seriously (Matt)
Not a popular result in the commentary box (Julian Badenoch)
the Boy Wonder needs his team mates around him (charity chic)
sorry Roddy. The Stranglers didn’t send me a Christmas card, and in 1983, when I saw the Stranglers live, I was listening more to High Land, Hard Rain than No More Heroes, but that song is pure class. (nic ross)
Neil warnocks team kick the opposition all over the park. (friend of rachel worth)

Fats Comet/Tackhead 6 v The Pixies 30

non-league vs World Champions. No contest. Game abandoned at half-time due to the home team’s refusal to leave the dressing room for the second half. The H-T score was allowed to stand. (Robster)
“A ‘head(er) on’ from Francis to Deal – and it’s there. Deal scores. And it’s 1-0 to the team from Boston. And there simply will not be enough time for a response.” (strangeways)
Pixies – by a Gigantic margin (charity chic)

Yellow Magic Orchestra 13 v The Stone Roses 25

The Mancunian juggernauts needed to go on extra-time to snatch this victory from the jaws of defeat, having been initially caught completely by surprise by a not very well known Oriental team. (Luca)
Yet another difficult tie but truculent Mancunians usually win (bagging area)
“Sweat more in preparation, bleed less in battle!”. An easy task for The Roses, ‘Cos I’m afraid I’m not clever enough to understand the YMO’s tactics. Never have been, in fact! (sexy loser)

The Lucksmiths 17 v Daft Punk 23

5imply 5uperb play from the French. Against 5ome teams you just have no hope. The Lucksmiths got 5wept. (Luca)
(Un)luck(y)smith United had a stinker of a draw (Julain Badenoch)
Lucksmiths the awful victims of their opponents ability to drive a horse and carriage through the Financial Fair Play regulations and field a superstar vocalist. (Malky Tucker)

A.R. Kane 7 v The Trashcan Sinatras 27

Oh, come on, AR Kane – what a weak performance! (sexy loser)
The self proclaimed dark horses through as the opposition sound like they are all on drugs and not performance enhancing ones (jimdoes)

Coldplay 11 v The Detroit Cobras 23

No such luck for U2’s B team on the end of a severe thrashing from Detroit Cobras.(jacques)
Any team would have beaten the shower of shite that is Coldplay (jimdoes)
5 minutes of Chris Martin whining or a tune that was made by people who sounded like they were enjoying themselves? Hmmm.(the great gog)

Leonard Cohen 7 v Echo and The Bunnymen 34

And so we reach the final tie of what has been a very entertaining first round. No messing with this one. Spare Us The Clutter was always going to clean up this one. Here’s hoping star striker McCulloch can Do It Clean in the forthcoming rounds. (jacques)
A great match that went to extra time and penalties, such a shame there had to be a loser (Julian Badenoch)
Slow cool just won’t do against pure energy in a game like this (Martin)
what a match this was, the determining factor in the end being the strength of the team selection.(Robster)

 

I know the last four Saturdays have been a bit frantic but the staging of 16 ties was all about making the remainder of the ICA World Cup much more manageable.

The crazy nature of the draw meant that a few of the big names have gone out early on, but there’s still plenty of your favourites, dark horses and underdogs in the hat to hopefully make it still worth your while to keep an interest.

Today marks the beginning of Round 2, with 64 teams still left to battle things out. There will be just four ties per week at this stage which allows a little bit more of an in-depth look at the match-ups.

Here’s matches 1-4.

SBTRKT v The Fall

SBTRKT came through a low-scoring affair against Kanye West in Round 1 in a match which didn’t offer too many moments for the highlight reel. The Fall, represented last time by 15 Ways, lifted from what was the first ICA of the four that have featured in thes series, came through quite comfortably against Queens of the Stone Age in a tie that was played against the sad backdrop of the death of Mark E Smith. The bookies, even before the songs were selected, have made the post-punk veterans, with their huge squad to choose from, strong favourites. Maybe they were a touch premature…..

The Light (from Wonder Where We Land, 2014) v Birthday Song (from The Marshall Suite, 1999)

Kitchens of Distinction v Talking Heads

A fascinating match-up between an English band whose vocalist was born in Switzerland and an American band whose vocalist was born in Scotland. Kitchens of Distinction came through comfortably against The Indelicates last time round, thanks to Japan to Jupiter, one of the tracks from their 2013 comeback album. They are likely going to have to hope that one of their songs from their golden period of 86-96 gets onto the pitch today to face a side who have seen off two dogged and determined opponents in Close Lobsters and Massive Attack. This could all depend on the coin and dice….

Sand On Fire (from Cowboys and Aliens, 1994) v Artists Only (from More Songs About Buildings and Food, 1978)

Sonic Youth v Edwyn Collins

A tie in which both managers have been effusive about the other side’s star qualities and abilities. Sonic Youth played a dangerous game in Round 1, fielding what to many was the less than stellar I Love You Golden Blue, but it was enough to fend off Billy Joel. The former Orange Juice vocalist came through a really tough opener, knocking out Associates whom many were tipping  for a good run. Both will likely require one of their best in this round to advance any further.

mp3 : The Empty Page (from Murray Street, 2002) v If You Could Love Me (from Gorgeous George, 1994)

The Velvet Underground v Talk Talk

A really strong showing, thanks to fielding Waiting For The Man, enabled the 60s veterans to easily see off the challenge of The National last time round and on paper, they should probably have enough to get through against one of the cult UK acts of the 80s, much of whose work as featured on the ICA is far removed from the pop hits that took them into the singles charts on a couple of occasions. You could call this an intiguing match-up….especially as the former are represented by a track that is more of a jam than a finished song….

mp3 : The Booker T (from Peel Slowly and See boxset, 1995) v The Rainbow (from Spirit of Eden, 1988)

Please have your votes in by Friday 16 February but voting from now on will close at 10pm (sitting up to midnight these past four Fridays has been tough going, especially when nothing has actually happened at the last minute!!).

As ever, you don’t have to get involved in all of the ties.

Tune in next Saturday for matches 5-8, one of which may well be the hardest choice of songs you’ll have faced….thus far!

JC