A Kiwi Versus Rate: Kimbra | Ladyhawke | Broods | The Naked And Famous | Bic Runga [DONE]

[Cutlery]

Private Heart

Now what did my fingers do to get this in return, I have no idea?

 

[soratami]

So it would be deserved if your 11 went out soon then dd?

Kidding.

This was an okay Kimbra elimination.

I'm pretty sure my 11 isn't going anywhere until we reach the top 5 ddd

 

[Phonetics Girl]

Spoiler

It's No 11 October, rejoice!

 

[Phonetics Girl]

66. Gone Gone Gone 7.6333

Highest: 10x1: @Music Is Death | 9x1: @DJHazey
Lowest: 5x1: @Epic Chocolat | 6.5x2: @Crisp X @klow

written by/Pip Brown and Pascal Gabriel
produced by/Pip Brown and Pascal Gabriel
available on/Anxiety
4/6

Ladyhawke said:
"At breakfast, if an egg's too runny it can ruin my whole day."

Relatable queen!
(I was really scraping the_barrel.mp3 with some of these quotes, huh?)

And with "Gone Gone Gone" ... gone, another sophomore record is cut into half of its representation! In my head, the track mirrors Anxiety's opener, "Girl Like Me" (linked below), both with simple choruses and not that much going on. Don't get me wrong, they're still fun while they last, hence my 8 scoring. It's just that I can't ever seem to remember them afterwards.
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9 - Okay, we have made it through that rough patch and got another new bop on the other side! "One night inside your head…" ooo what 'stroll-along' beat that plays upon and of coirse she nails it effortlessly. Wig!

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7.5 - Pretty good!


A song we could have rated:



Next up: a yet untouched album faces its first cut.
​

 

[DJHazey]

Urgh, we needed Cellophane out or The River before we touched that one! Good call saying it sounds like Girl Like Me.

 

[Phonetics Girl]

Urgh, we needed Cellophane out or The River before we touched that one! Good call saying it sounds like Girl Like Me.

Me, after too much reddit time, hitting like on this post:

 

[Phonetics Girl]

65. Too Proud 7.6583

Highest: 10x1: @Remorque | 9.5x1: @Music Is Death
Lowest: 5.5x1: @klow | 6x3: @Crisp X @soratami @Cutlery

written by/Georgia Nott, Caleb Nott, Jenna Andrews and Joel Little
produced by/Joel Little
available on/Don’t Feed The Pop Monster
6/6
charts/#6 NZ Hot Singles Chart


Georgia said:
"‘Too Proud’ is the first song Caleb has ever sang lead on which is an equal combination of exciting and terrifying for him. Not only is it so personal and emotional for him, but he has never had to come out from behind his fortress of synths and samples before now. We were in Nicaragua for a writing camp and feeling very free and liberated so he thought, “Why don’t I just sing lead on this one?” A brilliant idea. Our fans are so ready to hear Caleb’s voice, especially in such a vulnerable way. I cried so much when he recorded the chorus vocal."

Unfortunately for everyone Caleb can't really sing, which drags the song down. Despite that, I appreciate them opening up about mental health struggles on this album and speaking about how toxic masculinity often prevents cis men from seeking help without being overly preachy. With Georgia doing her best in the background to guide the vocal parts back on tune, I can't fault it too much. But I cand definitely see why "Too Proud" wouldn't mesh with most of the voters.
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8 - I am betting the male vocals will send some voters in the other direction. At first I would've been in agreement, but I would be lying if I said his chorus didn't grow on me.

​

7.5 - Weak by their standards!

6 - It's mean-spirited to say, but the fact Caleb's vocals are on the lead, front-and-centre, something that rarely if ever happens elsewhere in BROODS' election, easily makes it their worst song here. The choruses are painful to listen to too. Georgia tries to save the day, but not quite completely managing it.


A song we could have rated:



Later on: my second weakest score leaves.
some eyebrows might be raised.​

 

[Cutlery]

I'll gladly take second worst!

 

[DJHazey]

I am sorry, but he sounds better than half the male vocals in the indie rate and that's the tea. We did the song a tad dirty.

 

[Phonetics Girl]

64. Drive 7.7

Highest: 10x2: @berserkboi @Music Is Death | 9x1: @DJHazey
Lowest: 6x1: me...yikes! | 6.5x2: @Remorque @Cutlery

written by/Bic Runga
produced by/Bic Runga
available on/Drive
charts/#10 NZ


Here's a doozy: Bic's debut single first released in 1995 when she was 19, obviously making it the oldest song in the rate. It would later become the title track of her 1997 debut album that went Platinum, sweeped almost all Tuis available at the 1997 and 1998 NZ Music Awards and spent 64 weeks on the charts. Can you sat legendaric?

Here's an excerpt from nzmusician article in which Bic recalls how it all began:
"Runga says it has taken till now for her to get up the courage to speak up and say what she wants. Previous attempts to record her songs were unsatisfying. The recordings that would eventually become part of the ‘Drive’ EP were done in Wellington on the back of a QEll Arts Council grant through Pagan Records and even though she was pleased at the time to be recording her songs, she was having doubts even then.

“It was done with Trevor Reekie (head of Pagan Records) and Nigel Stone who I both really like, and I do actually like working with, but it just wasn’t where I was going,” she says. “I was only 18 and I didn’t really know how to say no to anything. I think even back then I still knew what I wanted music-wise but I was more diffident – I didn’t speak up.”

She later recorded a demo of Drive herself “… which I took up to Sony, who I’d always wanted to be on” and secured herself a four album exclusive deal with the label. Sony then bought the Wellington recordings off Pagan and sent Runga back into the studio to try re-recording that song with more instruments. But in the end they ended up putting out Runga’s original demo as the single.

"Starting with the first album . I was really young and grunge had just happened. I was signed really young and I really had nothing to compare anything too. I wanted to produce the record myself which from a major label perspective was outrageous but they let me. So, the album “Drive” was made by someone who really did not know what they were doing. But it was a great discovery and to this day, I am proud of the songwriting and especially the production. I think it was a bold move for someone so young. But that was because I was naïve – I thought that is what you would do."
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9 - A prime example of something that wouldn't usually be my thing, however the beauty in her voice is undeniable. Plays like Alanis or Marit or other acoustic pop artists I can't think of right now. Such a simplistic take too, yet every second is essential.

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10 - Stunning! Apparently I’ve been underrating this my whole life by never really paying notice to the lyrics?

6.5 - It sounds quite amateur in the way it was recorded, so that lessens the quality of the songwriting to me. Say, it’s not giving much in the mixing department.
PG Note: I kinda agree with this take... "Drive" is very mature for a teenager's breakthrough and you can see the potential but she has outdone herself many times since then.


Songs we could have rated:




Soon:
a song which received the only highest score of its kind in this rate.
​

 

[soratami]

oop I really didn't see that coming.

 

[DJHazey]

Honestly, I can live with that one exiting now, especially since we're already on a 7.7 average.

 

[Phonetics Girl]

63. Nobody But You 7.7125

Highest: 9.2x1: @Untouchable Ace | 8.8x1: @BubblegumBoy
Lowest: 5x1: @DJHazey | 6x1: @soratami

written by/Kimbra Johnson, John Legend, Surahn Sidhu and Dave Tozer
produced by/Kimbra Johnson, Rich Costey, Dave Tozer and Surahn Sidhu
available on/The Golden Echo
3/6
charts/#9 NZ Artists Singles Chart


Kimbra said:
“Nobody But You is a song that I wrote with John Legend and it was gonna be on his album but didn’t end up making it so I thought it’s too good a song to let die and I reworked it for my record. I feel like it’s the moment the album starts to reach a point of clarity with being through all these darker different sounds on the album and this is the moment when mood lightens. It’s a really fun song. At the time I was listening to a lot of Parliament-Funkadelic and wanting to kind of get into that soul world but in a way that had a bit of psychedelia to it. [...] We were always looking for ways to kind of grit it up a bit. [...] The outro is my favourite part of the song, spiraling off into these different sections towards the end and then one day at the studio we [...] dropped this new groove and it was such a fun day because we felt this song just took on a whole new life for the outro. I feel like this song is the perfect example of everything I like about funk and soul music. It has an abandon to it and a freedom to it, it’s super catchy and danceable at the same time.”



And just like that The Golden Echo is down to its pre-release singles: 90s Music and Miracle, as we're saying goodbye to "Nobody But You". I kinda think of it as her little Motown moment but maybe it's just that general retro factor that makes me imagine a campy 70s-style TV performance while I'm listening to it. I gotta say, though, Ms Kim is testing us in particular on this track by sticking a one minute coda at the end. It's totally at odds with the majority of the song tempo-wise and it sounds like a sneak peak of the vinyl bonus track "Vanity Fair". Such clash between moods makes me want to radio edit the hell out of "Nobody But You" and reduces my score to a modest (dd) 8.5.
​

5 - Don't get me wrong, there's definitely some instant lightness to this that would seem to be a magnet for me when I look at it from afar, but actual analysis of my excitement while listening doesn't return high dividends. I'm also not a huge fan of the 'raunchier' production switch-over near the end.

​

8.5 - A bit of a return to form!

7.5 - Another track I really do want to love, but it loses steam because of its length, I think. It has the potential though! I feel a bit like drifting through a space station dancing club.


A song we could have rated:



Next up: my second favourite song on its record
and it will have something in common with today's elimination.​

 

[DJHazey]

Yup, I don't want to say she did too much to it, but what else can I say? Definitely overstays its welcome in length, that's for sure and as I said I don't think it's really particularly exciting from the get-go, at least not enough to overlook any structural choices made.

 

[Phonetics Girl]

62. Cellophane 7.7463

Highest: 10x2: ME & @Music Is Death | 9.5x1: @berserkboi
Lowest: 5.5x1: @DJHazey | 6x2: @Epic Chocolat @klow

written by/Pip Brown and Pascal Gabriel
produced by/Pip Brown and Pascal Gabriel
available on/Anxiety
3/6

Ladyhawke said:
"I'm really proud of 'Cellophane', only because I've never written a song that slow before."

Laconichawke strikes again and I can relate even more than usual as I can't really tell what makes me love "Cellophane", I just know that I always have. Just like Kimbra's sophomore effort yesterday, Anxiety is now down to its two singles. Wonder which album can make it further?
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5.5 - I listened to that fka twigs song like once and it did almost the same amount if 'next to nothing' that this has done for me over multiple rate-scoring plays. *prepares to be dragged to hell*

Can't be dragging a consistent commenter <3

​

9.5 - Still a standout!

8 - This little rock ballad moment for Anxiety is welcome for switching things up, and the chorus hits emotionally just right. Wish it came one last time in the end with the string(s), though.


A song we could have rated:



Tomorrow:
the song that beat Cellophane by 0.05 of a point and I'm seething a bit. Things don't get that close again until Top 5!
​

 

[DJHazey]

I definitely can see the side of the coin where someone would welcome the change in sound for Ladyhawke with this slow-burner, but it's unfortunately not what I'm looking for from her.

 

[Phonetics Girl]

61. Four Walls 7.75

Highest: 10x1: @Music Is Death | 9x1: @DJHazey
Lowest: 6.5x1: @Cutlery | 6.9x1: @Untouchable Ace

written by/Caleb Nott, Georgia Nott, Joel Little
produced by/Joel Little
available on/Evergreen
4/4
charts/#18 NZ

With this elimination genius.com adnotations are baack:

Those four walls now are the only place that I can breathe out

And those four walls now are home

And those four walls now are the only place that I can feel

And those four walls now are home

Georgia wrote:
"I travel so much. I don’t have a place where I call home every night. I don’t have a job where I can just get up and shower in the same shower and come home to the same couch or cook dinner in the same kitchen. I don’t have that. Anytime I’m just in a room with my person, I feel like that’s my equivalent of home."

Don't expect this one to elicit much response. I mean, she's a cute girl but "Four Walls" probably got this far on being inoffensive enough not to attract any massive detractors. The highest lowest score (6.5) so far speaks for itself! The song was released as the third and final single promoting the band's debut album. There were probably some better choices available, let's listen to one embedded below.
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9 - Broods? More like Moods. This screams "copium!" to all loners out there who have the four walls of their own mind they live inside and just try to deal.

​

8 - Lovely song though the musicality isn’t their strongest here!

6.5 - Not to use the B word, but it’s a bit boring and beige. I can’t really remember it unless I’m listening .


A song we could have rated:


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[Phonetics Girl]

RECAP TIME!

TOP 60

Kimbra
-8
remaining:
Settle Down
Cameo Lover
Come Into My Head
Warrior
90s Music
Miracle
Everybody Knows
Top Of The World
Like They Do On The TV
Version Of Me
Lightyears
Silent Treatment

Ladyhawke
-4
remaining:
Embrace
My Delirium
Magic
Manipulating Woman
Love Don't Live Here
Crazy World
Morning Dreams
Black White & Blue
Sunday Drive
A Love Song
Sweet Fascination
Dangerous
Let It Roll
The River
Wild Things
Guilty Love

Broods
-3
remaining:
Bridges
Never Gonna Change
Coattails
Mother & Father
L.A.F
Evergreen
Free
Heartlines
Couldn't Believe
Recovery
We Had Everything
Conscious
Peach
Everything Goes (Wow)
Hospitalized
Sucker
Dust

The Naked And Famous
-2
remaining:
All Of This
Young Blood
Punching In A Dream
Hearts Like Ours
I Kill Giants
Higher
Laid Low
Bury Us

Bic Runga
-4
remaining:
Sway
Suddenly Strange
Get Some Sleep
Something Good
Close Your Eyes
Dream A Dream


What is going to get the chop before TOP 50?

Any hopes, fears, axes to grind?
​

 

[DJHazey]

Ugh, I found that to be one of the more genuinely affecting offerings from Broods for me. Disappointed to see it go right before the Top 60 like that!

 

[berserkboi]

Broods could certainly stand to lose a lot more at this point! Dd