Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Battle of the Bands Results and Camping Out

I'm actually timely with my BoTB results. Not sure what is going on here.... Audience participation was a bit off for this one. I think the summertime blues (or summertime vacations) have kicked in. People have decided they have better things to do than sit behind their computers and read/write blogs. Say what??? I know. It's crazy tunes. But, there you go. Seriously, you all know I'm about to leave on a rather long hiatus of my own, so I totally get it.

Let's recap what did happen with the voting. The song was Young and Beautiful. The contenders were Lana Del Rey and Postmodern Jukebox. I fully expected Lana Del Rey to win this one. This is her song after all. However, I also expected Postmodern Jukebox to give her a run for her money. I'm actually going to tell you what I like about both versions (for a change). I think Lana Del Rey has an amazing voice. I also liked the orchestral backing on the song. Many of you said that the song had an epic feel to it. I think that was the feeling that they were striving for with the song since it was part of the Gatsby soundtrack. They wanted it to feel lavish and epic with an undertone of sadness, which I think it accomplishes magnificently. When someone has to ask you if you will still them when they are no longer young and beautiful, they already know the answer. You won't. Or maybe they won't love themselves. Either way, it's going to end badly. But it's going to look and sound magnificent right up until the last note. And that's how I feel about the Lana Del Rey version of the song.

Postmodern Jukebox didn't even try to capture this effect with the song. They went an entirely different way with the song, which was the right thing to do. When you're going to cover something, make it your own. So, they took it right back to the Roaring 20s. They made it sound like a song that might have been playing at one of Gatsby's lavish parties. I loved it. I didn't love it as much as the original, but it was clever and wonderful. Many of you thought so, too, making this battle very exciting.

So, how did that voting go? Well, it was back and forth right up until the end. And there was  a moment when I was teensy bit worried that I called it wrong and thought that Postmodern Jukebox might actually beat my girl Lana on her own song. But no. The final tally:

Lana Del Rey: 10 votes (including mine
Postmodern Jukebox: 8 votes

It was a close one. Thank you for making it fun.


I'm going to post this again closer to my camp arrival, which is Wednesday July 6 for staff training. I'll be there until August 6. You can write to me here:

 Robin Richards
 Stony Glen Camp
5300 W. Loveland Rd
Madison, OH 44057

10 comments:

  1. I think some of us sat this one out because of other commitments. I didn't post a battle and only voted on a few that floated before my eyes.

    Love,
    Janie

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  2. A whole month! You have a great time.

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  3. Yeah, my battle participation was down too. I hope it's just a glitch and isn't going to be this way all summer long...
    I'm glad Lana won. What a fabulous song!

    Sounds like camp is going to be tons of fun! You mentioned training. What type of training? Are you a camp counselor? I know you mentioned you'd be hanging with family too, which I think is great. You have yourself an amazing time. A whole month! That's awesome Robin. Have fun!

    Michele at Angels Bark

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  4. In the midst of reading this I jumped over to do 2 things:

    --I put the other earlier versions of The Great Gatsby film on my Netflix queue since I liked the 2013 version and have been wanting to see other interpretations.

    --I copied down your address just in case. I should be doing my own traveling then, but if I happen to have any down time I might drop you a line. Can't make any promises though since I'll probably be pretty busy with driving and visiting--as long as I get my doctor's approval.

    Now the Battle: What you said about the versions is spot on. That's the way I saw it too. Except I did prefer the PMJ version for the spirit of the interpretation. This was an excellent match with a darn good outcome. Well done!

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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  5. There's definitely been a slowdown, but that's to be expected this time of year. Close battles are the most fun! ☺ Nice to be on the winning side for this one. Have a wonderful time at camp! Unplugging is looking more and more attractive to me, as well. Cheers!

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  6. Congrats on your close battle! Hope you have an enjoyable summer camping. I'm going to miss your posts.

    Mary
    Jingle Jangle Jungle

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  7. Glad to see Lana win. :) It's a great song.
    Have a great time on your vacation. Are you going to be around for the next battles?

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    1. I won't be back until Aug. 15. Just impossible trying to balance limited family time (when I have internet) and camp (when I don't). Since most of my time away will be at camp without internet, it just doesn't make sense for me to even try and do it. I could prepare MY battles ahead of time, but I couldn't participate in what you guys are doing. So... I'm just opting out until I come back.

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  8. Have a great time at camp!

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  9. Have tons and tons of fun and i'll be praying that the migraines stay far behind and that you'll be blessed by the campers. I'll write you!

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