Category: ICA WORLD CUP

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

 

The running commentaries this week have been a scream.  I’m going to compile the best of them (and sadly there isn’t room for everything) into a short report on Saturday morning.

MGMT 3 v The Clash 27
Martin Stephenson 20 v Andrew Weatherall 6
Johnny Marr 10 v Rod Stewart 19
Asian Dub Foundation 14 v Stars 12
The Durutti Column 13 v The Beta Band 12
Clyde McPhatter 13 v Gene Loves Jezebel 13
Grandaddy 7 v Husker Du 19
OMD 17 v Super Furry Animals 12
Teenage Fanclub 15 v Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (2) 15
Roddy Frame 6 v The Stranglers 22
Fats Comet/Tackhead 5 v The Pixies 21
Yellow Magic Orchestra 8 v The Stone Roses 21
The Lucksmiths 14 v Daft Punk 16
A.R. Kane 5 v The Trashcan Sinatras 20
Coldplay 10 v The Detroit Cobras 14
Leonard Cohen 4 v Echo and The Bunnymen 27

(all as at 1.30pm on Tuesday 6 February – I’m out doing my matchday announcer at Raith Rovers in the evening and unable to keep up with blog stuff).

Fair to say that there’s a couple of unexpected shock results in the offing while others are far too tight to call.  Special mention to Teenage Fanclub who were 6-1 down early on but have gradually pulled things back in what is proving to be a compelling contest.

Click here for a reminder of what the full list of songs are. Deadline is Friday midnight.

This coming Saturday will see the start of Round 2 – it will be played over an extended period of 8 weeks, with four ties each time.  The draw has already been made with all of the above in as an either/or option.

Here’s everyone who went into the hat for Round 2:-

1. A.R. Kane or Trash Can Sinatras
2. Arab Strap
3. Asian Dub Foundation or Stars
4. Big Audio Dynamtie
5. Billy Bragg
6. British Sea Power
7. Butcher Boy
8. Carter USM
9. The Charlatans
10. Coldplay or The Detroit Cobras
11. The Cramps
12. Durutti Column or The Beta Band
13. Echo & The Bunnymen or Leonard Cohen
14. Edwyn Collins
15. Emiliana Torrini
16. Everything But The Girl
17. The Fall
18. Farmer’s Boys/The Higsons
19. Fats Comet/Tackhead or The Pixies
20. Gene Loves Jezebel or Clyde McPhatter
21. The Go-Betweens
22. Grandaddy or Husker Du
23. Half Man Half Biscuit
24. The Housemartins
25. The Jam
26. The Jesus & Mary Chain
27. Johnny Marr or Rod Stewart
28. Julian Cope
29. Kitchens of Distinction
30. Lambchop
31. The Lemonheads
32. The Lightning Seeds
33. Lloyd Cole & The Commotions
34. The Lucksmiths or Daft Punk
35. Magazine
36. Martin Stephenson or Andrew Weatherall
37. MGMT or The Clash
38. New Order
39. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds or Teenage Fanclub
40. Orange Juice
41. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark or Super Furry Animals
42. Paul Quinn
43. Pavement
44. Pete Wylie
45. PJ Harvey
46. The Police
47. Prefab Sprout
48. Pulp
49. R.E.M
50. Ride
51. Roddy Frame or The Stranglers
52. Saint Etienne
53. SBTRKT
54. The Skids
55. The Smiths
56. Sonic Youth
57. Talk Talk
58. Talking Heads
59. The The
60. The Velvet Underground
61. The Wedding Present
62. Wire
63. XTC
64. Yellow Magic Orchestra or The Stone Roses

Here’s today’s banging tune

mp3 : Fatboy Slim – Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat

JC

 

Four weeks in and you should know the drill by now….I’ve dug out a Scottish classic TV intro for the tune this week.

I also wanted to begin by saying a huge thanks to everyone who has voted over the past three week…especially those who have shared additional thoughts along with your selections.  Almost everyone has voted via the comments section, but there is one correspondent, a real football/music fanatic who is very well known to myself, Jacques and Aldo, who insists on doing so by email.  His entry this week made me laugh:-

Here are votes of the Cambuslang jury for Round 1 part 3

1. TJAMC
2. Joe Strummer
3. OK it’s the only Pippettes tune I know. But I like it. Sorry Lloydy.
4. This was like being at Livi v Falkirk last Tuesday desperately hoping something would happen. It did – Falkirk scored with the last kick of the game – as have T-Rex here. Would have preferred The Jam to go through, but that’s life.
5. Woah. The Faces pushed Saint Billy closer here than I would have expected. Great 2nd half performance from the Bard of Barking closed out the victory.
6. The Housemartins (I prefer their average track to Gene’s equivalent).
7. Never thought I’d find myself having to compare Mr Duggie’s work to Emiliana Torrini!! Hardest one yet to be dispassionate about. But I really do prefer the Huge Doggie song.
8.Jayhawks
9. This battle of the heavyweights was always going to be down to the luck of the draw. Will be surprised if many others haven’t also gone for Radiohead on this basis.
10. Elbows Out? No, Elbow’s in! (And no, it’s not cos you didn’t invite me out to see the Skids the other week!)
11. Aw this was harder than I expected. Go on, Underworld then.
12. This is getting harder! Dwight Yoakam.
13. Holy moly, this is taking the piss now. I just can’t decide. So I won’t, sorry.
14. Honestly can’t believe I’m doing this, but on the basis of this track. Simple Minds. Jeez, how did that happen?
15. Mixing sporting metaphors now, but this was a TKO in round one. VU. The National never stood a chance.
16. Quirky, Quixotic. Take away the vowels (and err, a ‘Q’) and my answer you will have!

This is too much fun.

M.

I do hope you’re all enjoying this as much as M.  Given the heavyweight nature of so many ties this past week, I’m thinking you’ll be keen to get the results immediately….but before I do, please let me share the mental torture the final few hours brought me.

Two of the ties were either level-pegging or had one goal in it since Thursday morning.  Each vote that came in seemed to swing it one way or another.  The final say came from strangeways, fresh from his personal triumph with his Talulah Gosh ICA (now there’s a team to watch in the 2020 edition of the tournament). He clinched it for one of the teams in the match-up of the heavyweights, relying as he says on a Video-Assisted Referee to make his mind up. However, his vote made it a tie in the Foil v Emiliana Torrini clash.  As a result, it has gone to extra-time and the possibility of penalties.  Here’s the other scores for you meantime…..

STOP PRESS……………………………..Emiliana Torrini goes through 5-3 on pens.

So how do you follow all that drama? Easy-peasy…………..

MGMT v The Clash

Flash Delirium (taken from Congratulations, 2010) v White Man In Hammersmith Palais (single, 1978)

Martin Stephenson v Andrew Weatherall

Crocodile Cryer (from Boat To Bolivia, 1986) v Toddla T and Roots Manuva ‘Watch Me Dance’ (Andrew Weatherall Remix) (2011)

Johnny Marr v Rod Stewart

Girls Aloud – Rolling Back The Rivers In Time (2008) v Country Comforts (from Gasoline Alley, 1970)

Asian Dub Foundation v Stars

Naxalite (from Rafis Revenge, 1998) v The 400 (from The North, 2012)

The Durutti Column v The Beta Band

Madeleine (from Lips That Would Kiss EP, 1980) v Dance O’er The Border (from The Beta Band, 1999)

Clyde McPhatter v Gene Loves Jezebel

Bip Bam (single, 1954) v Motion Of Love (from The House Of Dolls, 1987)

Grandaddy v Husker Du

Jeez Louise (from Just Like The Fambly Cat, 2006) v Makes No Sense At All (single, 1985)

O.M.D v Super Furry Animals

Pulse (from History of Modern, 2010) v Arnofio/Glo In The Dark (b-side, 1996)

Teenage Fanclub v Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Don’t blame me…..and if you ever wanted proof that this draw isn’t rigged, you just got it!

God Knows It’s True (Peel Session) (1991)

The Mercy Seat [live] (from Live Seeds, 1993)

Roddy Frame v The Stranglers

Bigger Brighter Better (from The North Star, 1998) v No More Heroes (from same, 1977)

Fats Comet/Tackhead v The Pixies

Fats Comet – Bop Bop (single, 1984) v Head On (from Trompe Le Monde, 1991)

Yellow Magic Orchestra v The Stone Roses

Ryuichi Sakamoto – Riot in Lagos (from B-2 Unit, 1980) v Begging You (from The Second Coming, 1995)

The Lucksmiths v Daft Punk

Southernmost (from Southernmost EP, 1999) v Get Lucky (from Random Access Memories, 2013)

A.R. Kane v The Trash Can Sinatras

Sperm Whale Trip Over (from Sixty Nine, 1988) v All the Dark Horses (from Weightlifting, 2004)

Coldplay v The Detroit Cobras

Square One (from X&Y, 2005) v  Down In Louisiana (from The Original Recordings, 1996)

Leonard Cohen v Echo and The Bunnymen

Chelsea Hotel #2 (from New Skin From The Old Ceremony, 1974) v The Cutter (from Porcupine, 1983)

Those, genuinely, were the last two names left in the bag for the 1st Round.

As ever, please don’t feel you have to offer your views on all the match-ups, but I’m sure the TV game will have everyone offering an opinion.

Deadline is Friday 9 February, midnight UK time.

48 teams are already through and the 16 winners from the above will join them.  It’s been a frantic first four weeks, but it will ease down after this week with a maximum of four ties in each feature, thus allowing a few words to be said on each song and/or performer(s).  The first four games of Round 2 will be with you next Saturday.

JC

There was a flurry of activity over the weekend but Monday and Tuesday provided a barren spell with not much to shout about in terms of goalmouth action.

A few sides have been able to build commanding leads and seem likely to advance into the last 64.  Some ties are very much in the balance, with leads swinging back and forth, often in the space of minutes.  Here’s how it all stands, as at 7.45pm on Tuesday night.

The Wondermints 9 v The Jesus & Mary Chain 21
Joe Strummer 12 v Julian Cope 19
The Pipettes 5 v Lloyd Cole & The Commotions 26
The Jam 24 v T. Rex 7
Billy Bragg 23 v The Faces 7
The Housemartins 22 v Gene 9
Foil 13 v Emiliana Torrini 13
The Jayhawks 11 v The Farmer’s Boys/The Higsons 15
R.E.M. 17 v Radiohead 14
Elbow 7 v The Skids 22
Underworld 7 v Ride 20
Carter USM 21 v Dwight Yoakam 6
Pulp 20 v Tindersticks 10
The The 16 v Simple Minds 14
The Velvet Underground 29 v The National 2
Friends Again 11 v XTC (2) 19

Click here for a reminder of what the full list of songs are. Deadline is Friday midnight. All being well, I’ll announce the results on Saturday morning at the same time as releasing the next 16 fixtures.

Time, once more, for a banging half-time tune

mp3 : David Guetta – Work Hard

JC

 

This week’s title sequence is not from any World Cup programme, but it is a classic…

I was going to go straight into a rundown of the scores from last week, but given what happened I think some commentary as an introduction is essential.

Unlike week one, a number of these ties were right in doubt till the final few hours, albeit there was no late mad rush to the polls that swung things really dramatically.  The lead in three of the contests – ACR v Arab Strap, Lambchop v Martha & The Muffins and Supergrass v Wire changed hands quite a few times; in the case of the last named, the scores were level some 24 hours out from close of play.  Indeed, at 7.45 pm, it was still neck-and-neck when the final vote of the day – just one of five submitted on the Friday, came in courtesy of our old friend Jacques the Kipper who I know had no idea just how close things were proving to be. His call for the Artschool Veterans proved decisive..

Gemma Ray 15  The Lightning Seeds 31
The Woodentops 18  The Go-Betweens (2) 26
Mission of Burma 4  The Smiths 41
A Certain Ratio 18 Arab Strap 24
Supergrass 22 Wire (2) 23
Queens of the Stone Age 8 The Fall 36
Elvis Costello & The Attractions 20 Half Man Half Biscuit 27
Prefab Sprout (2) 28 The Blue Aeroplanes 16
Beach House 16 British Sea Power 33
Magazine 32 Prince 13
Lambchop 25 Martha & The Muffins 19
Everything But The Girl 32 The Libertines 12
Kanye West 12 SBTRKT 19
Talking Heads 28 Massive Attack 19
The Twilight Sad 12 Pavement 32
The Orwells 10 Pete Wylie 32

As expected, there were relatively easy passages for some of the big names.  In the week that Mark E Smith shuffled off this mortal coil, it seemed fitting that his band took their place in the last 64 – it should be noted that The Fall were already comfortably ahead when the sad news came through and I don’t think any of the votes subsequently cast were out of sympathy.

I think it’s fair to say that each of Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Prince and Massive Attack would have, pre-tournament, hoped and possibly expected to have advanced to the latter stages only to get really tough assignments.

Moving now onto the third part of Round 1; I think its fair to say that the TV companies were spoiled for choice with a few of the really big crowd-pleasing names having to face off, but in the end the featured match really is something of a no-brainer.

Deadline is Friday 2 February, midnight UK time. As ever, please don’t feel you have to vote in all 16 instances.

The Wondermints v The Jesus and Mary Chain

Another Way (from Mind If We Make Love To You, 2002) v Reverence (from Honey’s Dead, 1992)

Joe Strummer v Julian Cope

Sleepwalk (from Earthquake Weather, 1989) v Try Try Try (from 20 Mothers, 1995)

The Pipettes v Lloyd Cole & The Commotions

Pull Shapes (from We Are The Pipettes, 2006) v Forest Fire (from Rattlesnakes, 1984)

The Jam v T.Rex

Happy Together (from The Gift, 1982) v All Alone (from Futuristic Dragon, 1976)

Billy Bragg v The Faces

St Swithin’s Day (from Brewing Up With Billy Bragg, 1984) v Miss Judy’s Farm (from A Nod’s As Good As A Wink To A Blind Horse, 1971)

The Housemartins v Gene

The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death (from same, 1987) v Cast Out In The Seventies (b-side,1997)

Foil v Emiliana Torrini

Let It Go Black (single, 1996) v Life Saver (from Fisherman’s Woman, 2005)

The Jayhawks v The Farmer’s Boys/The Higsons

All The Right Reasons (from Rainy Day Music, 2003) v It Goes Waap!! by The Higsons (single, 1981)

R.E.M. v Radiohead

USA v UK.  Stipe v Yorke; Buck v Greenwood; And the toss of the coin and roll of the dice hasn’t made it any easier:-

Perfect Circle (from Murmur, 1983)

No Surprises (from OK Computer, 1997)

Elbow v The Skids

The Birds (from Build A Rocket Boys!, 2011) v Masquerade (from Days In Eurpoa, 1980)

Underworld v Ride

Beautiful Burnout (from Oblivion With Bell, 2007) v Like A Daydream (from the Play EP, 1990)

Carter USM v Dwight Yoakam

Re-educating Rita (b-side, 1990) v Two Doors Down (from This Time, 1993)

Pulp v Tindersticks

Pink Glove (from His ‘n’ Hers, 1994) v Kathleen (single, 1994)

The The v Simple Minds

Armageddon Days Are Here (Again) (from Mind Bomb, 1989) v Someone, Somewhere In Summertime (from New Gold Dream, 1982)

The Velvet Underground v The National

I’m Waiting For The Man (from The Velvet Underground & Nico, 1967) v Slow Show (from Boxer, 2007)

Friends Again v XTC (2)

Honey At The Core (single, 1983) v I’d Like That (from Apple Venus Vol 1, 1999)

The final part of Round 1 will be unveiled next Saturday, by which time everyone should just about have their breath back from the above matches.  Don’t worry, you’ll be hyperventilating again soon, with arguably the best two ties of the lot still to be revealed.

JC

Tuesdays.  A day early for shouting out the half time scores of the latest set of ties.

To be read out in the voice of the bloke who has that particular task each home game at Stark’s Park, Kirkcaldy.*

Gemma Ray 9 v The Lightning Seeds 22
The Woodentops 11 v The Go-Betweens (2) 19
Mission of Burma 2 v The Smiths 28
A Certain Ratio 12 v Arab Strap 15
Supergrass 15 v Wire 15
Queens of the Stone Age 8 v The Fall 22
Elvis Costello & The Attractions 12 v Half Man Half Biscuit 19
Prefab Sprout (2) 17 v The Blue Aeroplanes 13
Beach House 13 v British Sea Power 20
Magazine 22 v Prince 8
Lambchop 15 v Martha & The Muffins 16
Everything But The Girl 21 v The Libertines 8
Kanye West 8 v SBTRKT 10
Talking Heads 20 v Massive Attack 11
The Twilight Sad 7 v Pavement 21
The Orwells 7 v Pete Wylie 19

(all as at 6pm on Monday 22 January)

Click here for a reminder of what the full list of songs are. Deadline is Friday midnight. All being well, I’ll announce the results on Saturday morning at the same time as releasing the next 16 fixtures.

A fair number of the ties are still very much up for grabs, although my heart is heavy as I watch personal faves The Twilight Sad suffer at the hands of Pavement, although I knew it was the likely outcome.   Looking likely too that some teams will depart from the scene despite scoring more goals than the eventual winner of Kanye West v SBTRKT.  Would still prefer things that way than to have the draw seeded or rigged…..

Time, once more, for a banging half-time tune

mp3 : Calvin Harris – Feels So Close

JC*

*yup, they are one and the same.

Going to kick things off with the results from Week 1:-

The Lemonheads 30 Spoon 11
The Indelicates 11 Kitchens of Distinction 28
Butcher Boy 28 The Magnetic Fields 8
The Feelies 17 Paul Quinn 21
Big Audio Dynamite 32 The Streets 9
Talk Talk 24 Death In Vegas 18
Sonic Youth 25 Billy Joel 14
PJ Harvey 25  Malcolm Ross 16
Associates 15 Edwyn Collins 26
LCD Soundsystem 5 New Order 36
The Cramps 32 Shit Robot 5
Deacon Blue 5 The Wedding Present 35
The Police 25 v Captain Beefheart 13
The Charlatans 26 The Mekons 14
Saint Etienne 28 v The Sugarplastic 10
Tilly and The Wall 5 Orange Juice 37

No real drama this week – only The Feelies/Paul Quinn match-up saw the tie see-sawing occasionally back and forth; all the other winners established early leads which they built on.  I think what it does show is that if a truly legendary song is aired, as in the case of Blue Monday, then even an opponent as strong, on paper, as LCD Soundsystem really are up against it.  The rules of this competition mean that New Order can’t be represented by that song again…which could be crucial if they make the latter stages.

Thanks to everyone who voted – and I really appreciated the occasional piece of commentary – it was interesting to see that some of the choices were very tough.  But guess what….it doesn’t get any easier, although in saying that, the really big match-ups are in weeks 3 and 4.  The 16 ties in week 2 may lack some of the glamour, but there’s plenty of intriguing match-ups and I can guarantee that some households, particularly in the south-west of the UK, will be bemoaning the random nature of the draw.

Deadline is Friday 26 January, midnight UK time. Once again, don’t feel you have to vote in all instances.

Gemma Ray v The Lightning Seeds

Fist Of A Flower (from ‘Lights Out Zoltar!’ 2009) v You Showed Me (from Dizzy Heights, 1996)

The Woodentops v The Go-Betweens (2)

Plenty (single, 1984) v The Wrong Road (from Liberty Belle and The Black Diamond Express, 1986)

Mission of Burma v The Smiths

Slow Faucet (from ‘The Sound The Speed The Light’, 2009) v Accept Yourself (12″ b-side, 1983)

A Certain Ratio v Arab Strap

Lucinda (from Sextet, 1982) v The First Big Weekend (single, 1996)

Supergrass v Wire (2)

Richard III (from In It For The Money, 1997) v Another The Letter (from Chairs Missing, 1978)

Queens of the Stone Age v The Fall

Monsters In The Parasol (from Rated R, 2000) v 15 Ways (from Permanent Records, 1994)

Elvis Costello & The Attractions v Half Man Half Biscuit

Strict Time (from Trust, 1981) v 1966 And All That (from Trumpton Riots EP, 1986)

Prefab Sprout (2) v The Blue Aeroplanes

Enchanted (from From Langley Park to Memphis, 1988) v Bury Your Love Like Treasure (from Spitting Out Miracles, 1987)

Beach House v British Sea Power

Tim Badger’s two favourite bands go head-to-head.  The TV companies snatched this one up:-

Space Song (from Depression Cherry (2015)

Waving Flags (from Do You Like Rock Music 2008)

Magazine v Prince (live)

The Light Pours Out Of Me (from Real Life, 1978) v The Whole Of The Moon (live at Paisley Park, 2 May 2015)

Lambchop v Martha & the Muffins

The Old Gold Shoe (from Nixon, 2000) v Black Stations / White Stations (from Mystery Walk, 1984)

Everything But The Girl v The Libertines

Draining The Bar (from Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, 1986) v All At Sea (b-side, 2004)

Kanye West v SBTRKT

Runaway (from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010) v Sanctuary (from SBTRKT, 2011)

Talking Heads v Massive Attack

Paper (from Fear of Music, 1979) v Man Next Door (single, 1999)

The Twilight Sad v Pavement

Sick (from No One Can Ever Know, 2012) v Summer Babe (from Slanted and Enchanted, 1992)

The Orwells v Pete Wylie

The Righteous One (single, 2014) v Remember (single by Shambeko Say Wah!, 1982)

The next 16 ties will be revealed next Saturday.  Trust me, you will be taking time off work to tune into to some of the match-ups.

JC

The goals were flying in over the weekend but almost all of the initial ties, including the match-up for which television rights were secured, are proving to be one-sided affairs which perhaps explains the lack of interest over the past 36hours:-

The Lemonheads 21  v Spoon 9
The Indelicates 9 v Kitchens of Distinction 19
Butcher Boy 20 v The Magnetic Fields 6
The Feelies 12 v Paul Quinn 15
Big Audio Dynamite 26 v The Streets 4
Talk Talk 20 v Death In Vegas 11
Sonic Youth 20 v Billy Joel 8
PJ Harvey 19 v Malcolm Ross 11
Associates 9 v Edwyn Collins 21
LCD Soundsystem 4 v New Order 27
The Cramps 23 v Shit Robot 3
Deacon Blue 5 v The Wedding Present 24
The Police 18 v Captain Beefheart 9
The Charlatans 20 v The Mekons 9
Saint Etienne 19 v The Sugarplastic 9
Tilly and The Wall 2 v Orange Juice 29

(all as at 6pm on Tuesday 16 January)

I was genuinely expecting Malcolm Ross, given that he was being represented by a Josef K track, to have given Peej a run for her money. I’m also feeling very sorry for Tilly & The Wall – not only did they draw the might of Orange Juice, but the track happened to be Felicity.

Click here for a reminder of what the full list of songs are. Deadline is Friday midnight. I’m actually hoping to announce the results on Saturday morning at the same time as releasing the next 16 fixtures.

Time for a banging half-time tune

mp3 : De La Soul – Me, Myself and I

JC

Feel free to have the video on loop as you make your selections. You don’t have to vote on all ties, but the more entries, the more fun!

The first 16 ties in Round One offer some very, very tasty match-ups; all of the songs came out via the coin and dice method and there was no match-rigging. There are a number of very tough choices facing everyone.

Deadline is Friday 19 January, midnight UK time. Results will be officially announced on Sunday 21 January.

The Lemonheads v Spoon

Hospital (from Car Button Cloth, 1994) v Waiting For The Kid To Come Out (from Soft Effects EP, 1997)

The Indelicates v Kitchens of Distinction

The Last Significant Statement To Be Made In Rock n Roll (from American Demo, 2008) v Japan to Jupiter (from Folly, 2013)

Butcher Boy v The Magnetic Fields

Imperial (from Helping Hands, 2011) v How Fucking Romantic (from 69 Love Songs, 1999)

The Feelies v Paul Quinn

Loveless Love (from Crazy Rhythms, 1980) v Stupid Thing (single by Paul Quinn & The Independent Group, 1993)

Big Audio Dynamite v The Streets

E=MC2 (from This Is Big Audio Dynamite, 1985) v Has It Come To This (from Original Pirate Material, 2002)

Talk Talk v Death In Vegas

Happiness Is Easy (from The Colour of Spring, 1986) v Dirge (from The Contino Sessions, 1999)

Sonic Youth v Billy Joel

I Love You Golden Blue (from Sonic Nurse, 2004) v Piano Man (from Piano Man, 1973)

PJ Harvey v Malcolm Ross

The Wind (from Is This Desire?, 1998) v Radio Drill Time (single by Josef K, 1980)

Associates v Edwyn Collins

This is the tie that the TV companies made a mad dash for:-

Breakfast (1985)

Keep On Burning (1997)

LCD Soundsystem v New Order

Yeah (Crass Mix) (12″ single, 2004) v Blue Monday (12″ single, 1983)

The Cramps v Shit Robot

I Wanna Get In Your Pants (from Look Mum, No Head, 1991) v I Got A Feeling (from the Cradle to the Rave, 2010)

Deacon Blue v The Wedding Present

The Outsiders (from The Hipsters, 2012) v Always The Quiet One (from Take Fountain, 2005)

The Police v Captain Beefheart

Invisible Sun (from Ghosts In The Machine, 1981) v Circumstances (from Clear Spot, 1972)

The Charlatans v The Mekons

The Only One I Know [acoustic version] (from Warm Sounds EP, 2011) v Teeth (from 7″ EP, 1980)

Saint Etienne v The Sugarplastic

How We Used To Live (from Sound Of Water, 2000) v Don’t Look Down (from The Powderpuff Girls soundtrack, 2000)

Tilly and The Wall v Orange Juice

Falling Without Knowing (from O, 2008) v Felicity (single, 1982)

As I said, get listening and get voting. The next 16 match-ups will be revealed next Saturday- and if you think the above lot were tough, just you wait!

 

STOP PRESS

With only one tie in the preliminary round, it was possible to declare a result very soon after the final whistle blew on what proved to be a titanic struggle over 60 hours.

The 12 noon kick off on Wednesday clearly suited the American art rockers as they raced into a 10-6 lead following the opening exchanges over the first four hours.  The Scots beat combo fought back tenaciously, and shortly after 8pm they took the lead for the first time when DG’s contribution made it 15-14.  This only seemed to rile the fans of Byrne & co and by half-time, at 6pm on Thursday, they had opened up a substantial lead with the score being 27-20 in their favour.

The Heads came out after the break looking to kill things off and scored the next three goals; the difference was now 10 and seemed unassailable.  The Lobsters, however, came back under the cover of darkness with five unanswered goals between 11pm and 4am – the gap was down to five with only the final third of the game left to play.

The boys from the small town a few miles south-west of Glasgow set about their task and momentum seemed to be on their side and  three Friday night goals saw the margin down to just one as we entered the final 60 minutes…..during which, incredibly, nobody added to their tally.

The final whistle brought an enthralling and exciting match to a close with the scoreboard showing :-

Talking Heads 31  Close Lobsters 30

The New Yorkers, despite scoring only one goal in that final third, had managed to hold on.  The decisive intervention came at 6.37 pm, with Ian saying ‘Talking Heads. Back of the Net.’  We will be hard pushed to get such a frantic match again in the remainder of the competition….or will we?

The reward for the winners is a home tie against Massive Attack in Week 2 of Round 1. Good luck with that one.

Huge thanks to everyone for such a great response.  I hope the interest can keep up over the next 27 Saturdays.

JC

PS : The Saturday Scottish Song was originally posted as planned, but it made for a very long read when combined with the above.  I’ve taken it down with a view to re-posting it one day next week….and that will likely be the case for the regular series while the World Cup is in progress.

A new feature is going to launch properly this coming Saturday. It’s a variation on something I’ve seen used elsewhere but it’s such a brilliant and fun concept that it’s being adopted for this little corner of t’internet.

The idea, however, is not my own. The genius who suggested it is a reader of old, jimdoes:-

Reading the e-mail on the i-phone put a big grin on my face and my brain went immediately into overtime, so much so I almost missed my train stop.

Jimdoes’ idea is fantastic but the suggestion of groups to get it down to the knockout stage feels like too much work, and besides I don’t think I’m alone as a football fan in preferring the drama of pure knockout. So, with his agreement, the rules of the competition have been revised a bit and firmed up to avoid dubiety.

There have indeed been 130 separate bands and artists featured within the ICA series. However, Morrissey has been disqualified on the grounds that his human rights record in recent years has been absolutely abysmal (as indeed have his musical records).

This leaves just 129 in the field, and all we need is 128 to have a straight knockout. So one ‘team’ has to removed in a preliminary round.  This is taking place today, with the remaining rounds played on the following dates.

Round 1 : 64 knockout ties : 16 ties on each of Saturdays 13, 20 and 27 January, and 3 February
Round 2 : 32 knockout ties : Four each on Saturdays 10, 17 and 24 February; 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 March
Round 3 : 16 knockout ties : Four each on Saturdays 6, 13, 20 and 27 April
Round 4 : 8 knockout ties : Two each on Saturdays 4, 11, 18 and 25 May
Round 5 : Quarter Finals : Saturdays 1, 8, 15 and 22 June
Round 6 : Semi-Finals : Saturdays 29 June and 6 July

The final itself will take place on Saturday 14 July, which is 24 hours before the final of the 2018 World Cup.

The numbers 1-150 (except #96 and #97) will go into the hat. Once a team is drawn out, their other numbers become ineligble (e.g, if #137 : The Fall (2) comes out, then #29, #144 and #147 cannot be included).

Fresh draws will be made at each stage of the competition so as to avoid folk looking to work out the route their own favourite would have to negotiate to reach the final.

The songs to be chosen from each ICA will emerge from a two-step process:-

(1) A coin will be flipped to determine if the song is from Side A (heads) or Side B (tails)
(2) A dice will be rolled to determine which track is to represent the particular ICA.

ONCE A TRACK HAS REPRESENTED A PARTICULAR ICA, IT WILL NO LONGER BE ELIGIBLE TO APPEAR IN FUTURE ROUNDS

Voting, other than for the preliminary round, will be open for 6 days. In the event of a tie, the Blogfather (i.e, JC,  has the casting vote).

Votes must be cast via comments underneath the appropriate post. Only one vote will be allowed per IP address. Votes will close at midnight, UK time, on the Friday after the tie(s) have been announced.  The winners in each instanc will be revealed at some point over the weekend.

Hopefully, this all makes perfect sense….and so without any further ado, here’s the details of the preliminary tie to reduce the field to 128:-

#115 : Talking Heads v #93 : Close Lobsters

Wow!!!  A transatlantic clash between two of the dark horses.  A mouth watering-tie is in prospect.  Time to flip the coin and roll the dice for the tracks that will go head-to-head:-

Born Under Punches (from the LP ‘Remain In Light’ 1980)
v
Let’s Make Some Plans (single, 1987)

Get voting.  All votes must be in by Friday 12 January, at midnight UK time.

Tune in on Saturday for details of the initial 16 ties in the 1st Round.  The draw has already been made but is being kept under wraps.  Let’s just say, it has thrown up some intriguing battles.  Some of the pre-tournament favourites will be departing the scene almost immediately.

JC and jimdoes
 

PS : I should have said that this new bonus series will appear in conjunction with the regular Saturday series of Scottish songs – I’ll be posting them around 30 minutes apart.