[ursulabear]

This one was definitely the hardest. I chose Swansea because I fell that it's the best song on MEM. Emily would be my second choice. I think it is more profound than Cosmia. Cosmia is very raw, very direct, and very sad. But Emily is so stunning. The imagery itself is so good, every visual is so clear. I agree with Claire. When I saw her play Cosmia live, the experience and mood were entirely different. It feels more... powerful live than recorded. Though at one point, I could relate so much to Cosmia, now that my life has changed, I think the song has lost some importance for me. I remember where I was when the poignancy of Emily hit me. For a while, I wasn't very into the song, but after I had that Emily Epiphany, I could never hear the song the same way. I also thought it was important to choose one song from each album. And as Ys is her masterpiece (in my opinion) it got two. And I am disappointed to not see songs from either of the self-releases making it.

[Gerritsón]

[claire]

[claire]

As promised!


Cosmia at L'européen, Paris 4/20/05: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WRLLQXD3

Cosmia at Accelerator, Malmo 7/5/05: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WBSTM43M

[Gerritsón]

Thank you Claire!

[clamcrab]

Group 1: - Only Skin
Group 2: - Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 3: - In California
Group 4: - Emily

[Steve]

Thank you to those who have voted since I last checked in - LawnsOfDawns, stunning-sky, doublewuzzy, Gerritsón, Wanbli, under a CPell, u-som, milkteeth, polliwog, and clamcrab.

For me, the biggest surprise in this round is the fact that three of the four groups are turning out so clear-cut. You would have thought that, now we are down to the 'big 12', opinions would have been more divided.

The exception is of course Group 4, and it has been interesting to read the debate about Cosmia vs Emily. Both are superb examples of Joanna's work, in my opinion, Emily showing off her wonderful flights of imagination and attention to detail, and Cosmia showcasing her power and emotion; it goes without saying that both have ear-catching tunes and arrangements that never become boring no matter how often one listens.

Group 4 is further complicated by the strong showing of Swansea, and that really is a surprise to me. If I'd been asked to nominate one song from MEM as the one that would perform the best in this tournament, Swansea would have been a long way down the list. Indeed, it would be in the lowest third (alongside Cassiopeia, Three Little Babes, and Peach, Plum, Pear); I'd probably put Bridges And Balloons in second, with 'En Gallop' in front by a mile.

It would be interesting to see how the contest between Emily and Cosmia would have shaped up without Swansea stealing votes from them, and that - as weirdelves hints - is a drawback of having groups of more than two (unless we're going to introduce an AV system ... and with the referendum on this coming up in the UK at the moment, let's not get politcal!) I take his point therefore about introducing the old/obscure tracks. However, I don't think that these songs cause a problem - as pointed out, they receive very few votes, if any, and so the only difficulty they create is one of presentation. It does, however, give me some ideas for the next JNST, but we can wait a while for that - perhaps I'll do another one towards the end of 2011, if members of the forum would like, and I will certainly learn from this one and amend the format somewhat.

On that topic, I am considering introducing a short, sharp, "Intermediate Round" after Round Four, should there be any ambiguity as to which tracks to advance to the final stage as best losers. If that happens, I will also throw in Our Anniversary (as pointed out above by Claire). I'm afraid I have a bit of an obsession for 'completeness'. Does anyone else know of anything that has been omitted? I am sure it'll just be a cosmetic exercise, as these obscurities are unlikely to oust any of the major titles, but something tells me that they should have their chance...

[Steve]

I have sent Private Messages to a few of the regular contributors to this thread. (If you haven't received a PM before, just check at the very top of the screen when you log in, to see if there are any "new messages"). I very much hope that my request for help is received in good spirit, even if you don't want to participate! I would appreciate it if you could keep it a secret until the end of the tournament, however, then I will explain all in the final result postings. Once again, thank you everyone who has taken the troubel to vote so far.

[Headless_Caboose]

Group 1: Only Skin
Group 2: Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 3: Monkey & Bear
Group 4: Cosmia

[Headless_Caboose]

[doublewuzzy]

En Gallop and Swansea are two of my favorites, if not my all-time favorites.

I like En Gallop because I feel like she does the opposite of Ys - she says exactly what she means, it's straight and to the point. I can relate to it for what I think it means. Plus, the instrumentals at the beginning and end are just great, especially when taken with the simple-yet-weighty lyrics.

Lyrics aside - for Emily and Cosmia, if you remove orchestral arrangements, I feel like Swansea is WAY more musically satisfying and emotional than either of those.

[Jordan~]

Really? That's interesting. I'm no musician, but there are moments in Cosmia where her grief comes across painfully clearly, and the whole song almost sounds like an ancient prayer - which is a similarity I've never noticed before, it actually does sound a little like a Greek hymn...

[elseanio]

I'm taking my time on this rounds, I hope that's OK! Will probably get my choices down over the weekend

[Weirdelves]

Mmm Swansea has such a beautiful tune. I would put it as the joint best on MEM, alongside Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie which, alongside Colleen and Does Not Suffice, I wish had gone on further.

[doublewuzzy]

[elseanio]

Group 1: - Only Skin
Group 2: - Go Long
Group 3: - Monkey & Bear
Group 4: - Cosmia

[Steve]

Fourth Round - My Votes

This was indeed very tough! I like to delay my votes till close to the deadline, but this time I needed all the time because I was weighing up the different options in each group. GROUP 1: I’d love to have voted for Have One On Me, or even GIPC, but as they were up against Only Skin, that wasn’t possible. GROUP 3: Monkey & Bear is, in my mind, the least brilliant of the Ys quintet, but it was unfortunate that two of the very best HOOM songs were matched up against one another. It has to be the stunning Baby Birch for me. GROUP 4 was the only relatively easy choice for me; Swansea has never clicked for me in the way that it has for many; Emily is wonderful (and is has been my telephone ringtone for years), but Cosmia is stealthy and visceral and wonderful, especially on the Ys Street Band EP version. GROUP 2 presented me with major problems! Sawdust & Diamonds is amazing (and I love the Unitarian Church video – my YouTube favourite), but it’s up against two of the very best from HOOM: Go Long that struck me immediately upon hearing, and Kingfisher whose intricate layers were revealed bit by bit on repeated listens. If I vote S&D, that’ll be 3 Ys votes to one HOOM, and I don’t feel there’s such a gulf between the two albums. I am still torn as I write this, so will listen once more and then make a snap decision! If Have One On Me, or Go Long, or Kingfisher, or In California had been in Group 4, any one of those might have stolen my vote from Cosmia, though. They’re all so good! Anyway - here goes...
Group 1: - Only Skin
Group 2: - Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 3: - Baby Birch *
Group 4: - Cosmia

[Steve]

Thank you all for your votes (and further input), up to and including elseanio, our final voter in Round Four [apart from Yt], making it 21 people in all.

Group 1 saw Only Skin continue its serene passage into the Final, with Have One On Me doing better than all previous opponents but failing to make a significant impact. In Group 2, Sawdust & Diamonds scored a reasonably comfortable win over Go Long. Group 3 was intriguing as In California faced a two-pronged assault with both Monkey & Bear and Baby Birch garnering votes, but neither could overhaul the epic from HOOM disc 2. Group 4 was the closest of the contest so far, with the outcome in the balance right up until voting closed. Cosmia placed ahead of Emily by the slenderest of margins, gaining the same number of votes but also getting a split decision by one respondent who could not choose between it and the best of the 3rd placed songs in this round, Swansea.

The full results were –
Group 1:
18 Only Skin
3 Have One On Me
0 Good Intentions Paving Co.*, Same Old Man [JN/KB], The Wheel [BC]
Group 2:
14 Sawdust & Diamonds
6 Go Long
1 Kingfisher*
0 River Guard [Smog]
Group 3:
12.1 In California
5 Monkey & Bear
3.1 Baby Birch*
0 Sycamore [Smog]
Group 4:
8.1 Cosmia
8 Emily
4.1 Swansea
0 Amour Fou [V]

The good news for unlucky loser Emily is that this song joins Go Long in the Final as the two closest losers (although Go Long has a play-off to negotiate first – see below). It’s tough on the other four favoured songs which missed out, Monkey & Bear by just one vote (sorry ampersand fans!), Swansea* by less than 2 votes, and two that I am personally sorry to see eliminated - Baby Birch*, and Have One On Me.

Assuming the Supplementary Round does not throw up a major shock, the composition of the final round will therefore be –
Ys – 4 (80%)
HOOM – 2 (11%)

The Fifth and final round will be in a slightly different format, and will start over the weekend, which gives me a couple of days to prepare it (and to collect in some additional words ... ) It will consist of sets of three pairings, posted at 3 or 4 day intervals so please remember to check back regularly and cast your votes, because once a new set of three goes up, the previous set will be closed for voting. Altogether there are 15 pairings, so the whole thing will take five ‘rotations’ to complete – a total of 15 or 20 days. If anyone would like to comment on whether you think 3 or 4 days is best, please do so over the next couple of days: I have communicated with two of the moderators, whose advice differs! Personally, I’m inclined to favour 4 day intervals to reduce the chance of people missing out.

For the interim couple of days, I will post the following supplementary round (and it’s not just to annoy Weirdelves, I promise). It was pointed out that a live version of Smog’s Our Anniversary exists somewhere out there in the www, and since this is, I believe, the only recording of hers that has not appeared in the JNST, it’s to be matched up against the second of the two reprieved songs from Round 4. I am sure it’s a bit of a formality, but it maintains something on here while I get Round 5 ready.

Thank you all once again.



Group 1: Go Long* / Our Anniversary [Smog]


Supplementary Round – My Vote
Group 1: Go Long*

[Weirdelves]

Go Long (so annoyed right )

[Ann]

Group 1: Go Long

Of course!