Stowaway World Cup – Group Stages – Games 33-36

Game 33: Jean-Michel Jarre versus Little Boots

1. 6+3. Goal for highest number of mentions on blog. Early lead for Jarre. 1-0.
2. 4+2. Goal for most years between first and last hit. 2-0.
3. 3+4. No goal.
4. 4+3. Goal for highest number of remixes of another artist. 2-1.
5. 5+1. No goal.
6. 1+1. No goal.
7. 5+1. No goal.
8. 5+3. No goal.
9. 6+3. Re-roll. 3+2. No goal.
10. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). Very tough, especially at this stage in the game. I think Little Boots clinches this one. 2-2.

Game 34: Depeche Mode versus Kylie Minogue

1. 4+2. Goal for most years between first and last hit. Interesting. Depeche Mode can boast 1981-2013, while Kylie has 1988-2021, so a very slight goal for Kylie. 0-1.
2. 6+4. Goal for highest number of search engine results. This is so close (15.6-15.8 million) so I’m going to rule no goal.
3. 5+6. No goal.
4. 3+2. No goal.
5. 5+3. No goal.
6. 1+5. No goal.
7. 1+5. No goal.
8. 3+4. No goal.
9. 5+2. No goal.
10. 2+4. Goal for quality of last album. Depeche Mode‘s wasn’t great, and I haven’t heard Kylie Minogue‘s, so this has to be no goal. Kylie wins 0-1 in a shock result, taking the lead in Group B.

Game 35: Erasure versus Shit Robot

1. 3+6. No goal.
2. 4+2. Goal for most years between first and last hit. Erasure take a lead 1-0.
3. 4+3. Goal for highest number of remixes of another artist. Since Vince Clarke chose to play for Erasure, he takes a clear goal here. 2-0.
4. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). Andy Bell FTW. 3-0.
5. 6+5. Goal for funniest band picture. Tough. Honestly, it could go either way, but since it’s unlikely to change the result of this game I’ll call this no goal.
6. 1+5. No goal.
7. 3+6. No goal.
8. 3+3. No goal.
9. 4+5. Goal for number of UK hit albums. 4-0.
10. 1+3. No goal. Erasure win comfortably, confirming the lead of their group and knocking Shit Robot out of the competition. 4-0.

Game 36: Goldfrapp versus Bent

1. 1+2. No goal.
2. 4+1. Goal for highest debut position on UK singles chart. Astonishingly, Human and Swollen tie at number 87 (just two weeks apart in March 2001), so no goal.
3. 5+6. No goal.
4. 5+3. No goal.
5. 1+6. No goal.
6. 4+5. Goal for number of UK hit albums. 1-0 to Goldfrapp.
7. 3+6. No goal.
8. 1+4. No goal.
9. 5+2. No goal.
10. 5+3. No goal. Tight win for Goldfrapp there, 1-0, but I think this unfortunately means that neither progresses to the group of 16.

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Stowaway World Cup – Group Stages – Games 25-28

Game 25: Little Boots versus Madonna and Yazoo

1. 6+4. Goal for highest number of search engine results. Madonna clinches a goal. 0-1.
2. 1+2. No goal.
3. 1+4. No goal.
4. 6+5. Goal for funniest band picture. 0-2.
5. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). Little Boots is great, but Madonna has to take this one. 0-3.
6. 4+3. Goal for highest number of remixes of another artist. Little Boots has a few to her name, so 1-3.
7. 2+2. Goal for number of studio albums to date. Easy goal. 1-4.
8. 5+5. No goal.
9. 6+4. Replay. 1+6. No goal.
10. 4+4. Goal for number of UK top ten hits. That’s Madonna again. 1-5.

Game 26: Kylie Minogue versus Everything But The Girl

1. 3+5. No goal.
2. 4+1. Goal for highest debut position on UK singles chart. 1-0.
3. 5+2. No goal.
4. 6+4. Goal for highest number of search engine results. 2-0.
5. 1+1. No goal.
6. 4+4. Goal for number of UK top ten hits. 3-0.
7. 3+1. No goal.
8. 1+5. No goal.
9. 4+2. Goal for most years between first and last hit. 4-0.
10. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). Another easy win for Kylie. 5-0.

Game 27: Massive Attack versus Shit Robot

1. 5+1. No goal.
2. 6+2. Goal for highest estimated total sales. 1-0.
3. 3+6. No goal.
4. 6+1. Goal for number of BRIT Award wins. 2-0.
5. 5+1. No goal.
6. 1+3. No goal.
7. 2+5. Goal for best artwork. Both have had some great moments, but let’s give this one to Massive Attack. 3-0.
8. 6+6. Foul. 4+5. Goal for number of UK hit albums. Penalty goal for Massive Attack. 4-0.
9. 1+5. No goal.
10. 2+6. Goal for number of permanent members. Another huge win – Massive Attack win 5-0.

Game 28: Hot Chip versus Bent

1. 2+4. Goal for quality of last album. Both are great, and I don’t think I can call this one. No goal.
2. 3+3. No goal.
3. 2+2. Goal for number of studio albums to date. 1-0.
4. 5+1. No goal.
5. 4+6. Goal for total weeks on UK album chart. 2-0.
6. 1+4. No goal.
7. 2+5. Goal for best artwork. I’m awarding it to Bent for Ariels. 2-1.
8. 2+4. Re-roll. 5+5. No goal.
9. 6+3. Goal for highest number of mentions on blog. 3-1.
10. 1+6. No goal. So Hot Chip win 3-1. Decisive, but not quite as big a win as the other games today.

Stowaway World Cup – Group Stages – Games 9-12

Game 9: Delerium / Front Line Assembly / Conjure One versus Little Boots

1. 4+1. Goal for debut position on UK singles chart. Little Boots only entered at 97, so Delerium et al score. 1-0.
2. 6+4. Goal for highest number of search engine results. I tried them all, and got the most for Little Boots. 1-1.
3. 1+5. No goal.
4. 2+6. Goal for number of permanent members. Probably a goal for Delerium and friends. 2-1.
5. 5+2. No goal.
6. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). Easy goal for Little Boots. 2-2.
7. 3+6. No goal.
8. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). She’s so much more charismatic that she deserves another. Goal for Little Boots. 2-3.
9. 2+2. Goal for number of studio albums to date. Easy goal for Delerium and gang. 3-3.
10. 4+6. Goal for total weeks on UK album chart. Delerium win the category and match with a single song. 4-3.

Game 10: Sparks versus Kylie Minogue

1. 4+3. Goal for highest number of remixes of another artist. Sparks only have a couple, but that’s enough to put them ahead. 1-0.
2. 3+3. No goal.
3. 4+6. Goal for total weeks on UK album chart. Easy goal for Kylie. 1-1.
4. 5+2. No goal.
5. 1+2. No goal.
6. 3+1. No goal.
7. 6+1. Goal for number of BRIT Award wins. Easy goal for Kylie. 1-2.
8. 1+4. No goal.
9. 3+3. No goal.
10. 1+3. No goal. Tough game for Sparks there, losing 1-2.

Game 11: Saint Etienne versus Shit Robot

1. 3+1. No goal.
2. 5+1. No goal.
3. 5+4. No goal.
4. 3+6. No goal.
5. 4+1. Goal for highest debut position on UK singles chart. Well, Shit Robot have/has no hits, so 1-0.
6. 1+2. No goal.
7. 1+3. No goal.
8. 4+4. Goal for number of UK top ten hits. Same. 2-0.
9. 6+5. Goal for funniest band picture. Late goal for Shit Robot. 2-1.
10. 4+4. Referee’s decision is to be nice to the underdog and throw again. 6+2. Goal for highest estimated total sales. Another goal for Saint Etienne. 3-1.

Game 12: Kraftwerk versus Bent

1. 5+5. No goal.
2. 3+3. No goal.
3. 5+1. No goal.
4. 5+2. No goal.
5. 4+3. Goal for highest number of remixes of another artist. Another slow game to get started, and an easy opening goal for Bent. 0-1.
6. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). Very tricky. Kraftwerk are hardly charismatic, but they have a certain Teutonic charm. 1-1.
7. 5+6. No goal.
8. 4+6. Goal for total weeks on UK album chart. Easy goal for Kraftwerk. 2-1.
9. 1+2. No goal.
10. 2+5. Goal for best artwork. Has to be Kraftwerk, even if they have been busy George Lucassing them in recent years. 3-1.

Stowaway World Cup – The Draw

OK, time for the all-important draw. Pot A consists of the top 8 artists by mentions on this blog:

• Pet Shop Boys
• Depeche Mode
• Jean-Michel Jarre
• Röyksopp
• Erasure
• New Order
• David Bowie
• Goldfrapp

Pot B consists of the next eight, except that Moby is busy getting vegan tattoos, so won’t be taking part this year. Delerium, Front Line Assembly, and Conjure One are pretty much the same people anyway, so they have formed a single team together.

• Saint Etienne
• Kraftwerk
• Sparks
• Delerium / Front Line Assembly / Conjure One
• The Human League
• Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
• The Future Sound of London
• The Beloved

Pot C sees a few disqualifications, with Vince Clarke taking part as part of Erasure, and Martin L. Gore playing for Depeche Mode:

• Air
• Little Boots
• Massive Attack
• Kylie Minogue
• I Monster
• William Orbit
• Ladytron
• Hot Chip

Finally, Pot D sees Dave Gahan disqualified for being part of Depeche Mode, plus U2 and Coldplay disqualified for not being very good. Yazoo formed a team with Madonna, for no particularly good reason.

• Madonna and Yazoo
• The Radiophonic Workshop
• Leftfield
• Everything But The Girl
• Shit Robot
• Client
• Enigma
• Bent

After the draw, the eight groups look like this:

• Group A: Jean-Michel Jarre, Delerium / Front Line Assembly / Conjure One, Little Boots, Madonna and Yazoo
• Group B: Depeche Mode, Sparks, Kylie Minogue, Everything But The Girl
• Group C: Erasure, Saint Etienne, Massive Attack, Shit Robot
• Group D: Goldfrapp, Kraftwerk, Hot Chip, Bent
• Group E: Pet Shop Boys, The Beloved, I Monster, Client
• Group F: Röyksopp, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Air, Enigma
• Group G: David Bowie, The Human League, Ladytron, Leftfield
• Group H: New Order, The Future Sound of London, William Orbit, The Radiophonic Workshop

So the first game will be Jean-Michel Jarre versus Madonna and Yazoo, in a couple of days’ time.

Greatest Hits – Covid Edition

I’m all too aware that there haven’t been a lot of new reviews around here lately – sorry for that. For now, with the lockdown firmly in place, let’s roll back to some of the reviews from the last couple of years that you might have missed!

• Camouflage – Relocated
• Deep Forest – Made in Japan
• Elektric Music (Karl Bartos) – Esperanto
• Faithless – No Roots
• Gotan Project – La Revancha del Tango
• Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
• Ladytron – Peel Session – 5 December 2001
• Shit Robot – We Got a Love
• Sparks – Exotic Creatures of the Deep
• Voodoo Child (Moby) – Baby Monkey

Chart for stowaways – 11 March 2017

Apologies for the slight delay – here’s the album chart!

1. Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène 3
2. The Human League – Anthology – A Very British Synthesizer Group
3. Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène Trilogy
4. Dusty Springfield – Reputation
5. C Duncan – The Midnight Sun
6. Delerium – Mythologie
7. David Bowie – Legacy
8. David Bowie – Blackstar
9. Air – Twentyears
10. Shit Robot – What Follows

Chart for stowaways – 25 February 2017

These are this week’s albums:

1. Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène 3
2. The Human League – Anthology – A Very British Synthesizer Group
3. Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène Trilogy
4. Dusty Springfield – Reputation
5. C Duncan – The Midnight Sun
6. David Bowie – Legacy
7. Delerium – Mythologie
8. Air – Twentyears
9. David Bowie – Station To Station
10. Shit Robot – What Follows

Chart for stowaways – 11 February 2017

Move along, nothing to see here…

1. Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène 3
2. The Human League – Anthology – A Very British Synthesizer Group
3. Dusty Springfield – Reputation
4. Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène Trilogy
5. C Duncan – The Midnight Sun
6. Delerium – Mythologie
7. David Bowie – Legacy
8. Air – Twentyears
9. Mike Oldfield – Return To Ommadawn
10. Shit Robot – What Follows

Chart for stowaways – 28 January 2017

Here’s the latest album chart:

1. Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène 3
2. The Human League – Anthology – A Very British Synthesizer Group
3. Dusty Springfield – Reputation
4. C Duncan – The Midnight Sun
5. Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène Trilogy
6. David Bowie – Legacy
7. Delerium – Mythologie
8. Air – Twentyears
9. David Bowie – Blackstar
10. Shit Robot – What Follows

Stowaway Awards 2017

Finally! We kick Awards Season off in earnest with the Important Announcement of the winners of the 2017 Stowaways.

Best Track

Winner: Jean-Michel Jarre with Pet Shop Boys, for Brick England.

Best Album

These were the nominees:

• The Avalanches – Wildflower
• David Bowie – Blackstar
• Clarke Hartnoll – 2Square
• C Duncan – The Midnight Sun
• I Monster – Bright Sparks
• Jean-Michel Jarre – Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise
• Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène 3
• Pet Shop Boys – Super
• Shit Robot – What Follows
• Yello – Toy

Winner: Jean-Michel Jarre, who had a particularly good year and stood a better chance of winning than most, with Oxygène 3.

Best Reissue / Compilation

The nominees:

• Air – Twentyears
• Cicero – Future Boy
• The Human League – Anthology – A Very British Synthesizer Group
• New Order – Complete Music
• Dusty Springfield – Reputation

Winner: The Human League

Best Artist

Winner: Jean-Michel Jarre

Best Live Act

Winner: Pet Shop Boys

Best Ambient Track

Nominated were:

• Air – Adis Abebah
• Delerium – Ghost Requiem
• Enigma – Sadeness (Part II)
• I Monster – Alan R Pearlman and the ARPiological exploration of the cosmos
• Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène (Part 17)

Winner: Delerium, for Ghost Requiem

Best Dance Act / Remixer

Potential winners included:

• The Avalanches
• Clarke Hartnoll
• Stuart Price
• Röyksopp
• Shit Robot

Winner: Shit Robot

Best Newcomer

Winner: C Duncan

Innovation Award

Winner: Jean-Michel Jarre

Outstanding Contribution

Could have been any of the following:

• David Bowie
• Vince Clarke
• Delerium
• Enigma
• Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Winner: Delerium

That’s an unprecedented four out of ten for Jean-Michel Jarre. All being well, we’ll do the BRIT and Grammy Awards over the next couple of weeks.