My Favorite Songs Have Notes That Are Wrong

Electrelane “Windmill” – I’ve been playing this on repeat several times over the past few days – somehow it sounds better that way. This is taken from the forthcoming The Power Out, which I think is in general an improvement over the band’s entirely instrumental first record. I’m fine with the rest of the songs from the new album, but this song…it’s just sublime, you know? Those guitar melodies and chords are so beautiful and evocative to me; it sounds like quiet, modest, simple happiness. It feels like a lot of good memories that I have in music form, if that makes sense. Every time I hear certain chord changes in the song, or when her voice gets a little higher for emphasis, I want to let out a little sigh of recognition.

The most similar song that I can think of would be “Sweet Shine” by Sonic Youth, but I’m pretty sure there’s an old Fleetwood Mac song that I don’t know the title of which is along the same lines. I love the way Verity Susman sings on this, especially when she’s reaching for those high notes just out of her range. It’s one of those times when a more technically skilled singer wouldn’t quite nail the feeling as well.

Grandaddy “Alan Parsons In A Winter Wonderland” – This is the first of the holiday/Christmas/winter themed songs. It’s a weird one, too – “Winter Wonderland,” but riddled with several inexplicable references to The Alan Parsons Project. My personal favorite: “In the meadow we can build a snowman / and pretend that he is Alan Parsons.”

Love A Little Candy Girl

Raekwon w/ Method Man & Cappadonna “Ice Cream Part 2” – This must be the Empire Strikes Back of hip hop sequels; it blows the original from Only Built 4 Cuban Linx out of the water, which obviously isn’t the easiest thing to do. Oh my god! That chimey part! That bassline! It’s perfect! This is from the brand-new Lex Diamond Story LP, but unfortunately there’s nothing else on the record which is quite like this.

Missy Elliott “Pass That Dutch (Pistol Pete mix)” – This is a Fluxblog Exclusive! This track appears courtesy of the remixer, and it’s pretty damn amazing. It’s a major improvement over the original, which I find to be a little shapeless and dull. This version is far more dynamic and danceable, and Missy’s lyrics sound much better over this faster beat.

Also: The only year-end list of records that you ever need is out today (Sorry, P&J fans!) – The Onion A/V Club Least Essential Albums Of 2003.

Joe says that he wants a “sudden increase in readers.” So please go visit his blog, read his excellent recent posts about the Scissor Sisters, Michael Jackson, and The Empty Show, and make a boy’s dream come true.

Hear My Heart Getting Soft

Crossover “The Journey To Gröb” – I don’t know what it is about this girl’s voice, but I love the sound of it. This is from the recent 12″ of the same name, which also includes a remix of “Phostographt” by Tiga.

Gene Farris “This Is My Religion” – This is a nice mellow dubby down-tempo track from a guy best known for Chicago house music and filterdisco. Highly recommended if you like DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing LP.

So, anyway, there’s been a major spike in traffic since I posted the LCD Soundsystem song – this blog had over 1000 hits yesterday, and it looks like it should be just a little bit shy of the same number today. To the 400-500+ extra people: Please stick around! I post cool stuff here all the time.

I’m thinking of going vaguely conceptual for the last two weeks of this month. I’ll alternate between posting interesting/obscure holiday music, and some of the best slept-on music from 2003 in lieu of a best-of list. If I find anything exciting that doesn’t quite fit into either category, I’ll post that too, as per usual. How does that sound?

Everybody Keeps On Talking About It, Nobody’s Getting It Done

LCD Soundsystem “Yeah (Stupid Version)” – I bet you didn’t think that they would top “Losing My Edge” so soon, huh? DFA strikes again. Going on all of the stray unreleased LCD Soundsystem songs circulating online right now and the amazing opening set that I saw them play at Irving Plaza in support of The Rapture earlier in the year, it seems as though they are preparing to drop one hell of a debut album. If LCD Soundsystem comes to your town, go see them play live. You won’t regret it.

(Additional oooh-ing and ahhh-ing about this track can be found over on this ILM thread.)

The Walkmen “New Year’s Eve” – This song is a real grower, and I suspect that the rest of the new Bows And Arrows LP will be the same way. I haven’t heard the record enough to form any strong opinions, but my initial reaction to the album is that it’s not as immediately stunning/beautiful/catchy as the previous record, but I have enough goodwill built up for these guys that I’m willing to keep listening in hopes that I’ll get more into it over time. “New Year’s Eve” is one of my early favorites; it nails that wintery, romantic, nostalgic feeling that seems to be their specialty.

Came For My Body But Left With My Soul

Pram “The Owl Service” – Pram are kind of like an Earth 2 version of Stereolab – essentially quite similar, but with a very different personality as a result of changing only a few relatively minor variables. In this case, take away Stereolab’s French vocals, lefty politics, and taste for Krautrock and cocktail music, and replace it with an obsession with magic, children’s literature, gothic horror, and jazz. This track is taken from their 2000 album The Museum Of Imaginary Animals, and takes its title from the children’s horror novel by Alan Garner.

Junior Senior “Boy Meets Girl” – Listen, if this is “disposable” then so are the Rolling Stones and all of Motown and all of the great fun pop songs that you’ve ever heard in your life. There’s nothing wrong with fun, people! Don’t fight it. Joycore is good for your soul. Borecore is unhealthy for children and other living creatures!

I Thought You Were Going To Say “Evil”

Tom Scharpling & Jon Wurster “Tom’s Daddy 2” – This sketch from this past Tuesday’s episode of The Best Show On WFMU is the sequel to the original “Tom’s Daddy” bit which will very soon be released as part of the forthcoming New Hope For The Ape-Eared – The Best of Scharpling & Wurster Volume 2 compilation. You don’t really need to have heard the original to get the jokes in this one – unlike some other Best Show sequels, this sketch does not rely on recycling the best jokes from its predecessor, and may actually be funnier than the original. This time, Tom’s father Roger Scharpling calls in to talk to Tom about his new girlfriend, mufflers, Karen Carpenter, Little League, hotdiggitydog.com, and statues of limitations.

John Mayer = Turbodouche

Mayer, on Junior Senior’s “Move Your Feet” in the new issue of SPIN:

This may be the future of music.

SPIN: How so?

It’s a song that you can learn before it’s over. It’s part of the continual blurbing of American culture – this skip-forward generation. “I don’t want to learn lyrics. Don’t give me a verse; just give me a chorus. And just chant some shit over the verse.” But nobody’s left out. The person who has heard this song twenty times is no closer to understanding it than the person who listens to it for the first time.

There is so much wrong-headed smugness, condescension, and misguided ideas about art and pop music packed into this brief quote that it makes my head spin! I mean, really, John! “The continual blurbing of American culture,” huh? Did you get that one from Adbusters, man? Or was it from No Logo? And you surely haven’t benefited from the “skip-forward generation”, with your flimsy little James Taylor-for-Dave Matthews fans pop tunes, right? Because you’re writing, um, more than one verse per song? WTF? Somebody needs to give this dink a chainsaw haircut.

Also

New York people: The Scissor Sisters are playing at the Bowery Ballroom on Saturday, January 10th. Tickets are on sale now. I’ll be there. What about you?

Now That You’ve Found Another Key, What Are You Going To Play?

Go Home Productions “How Does It Feel To Be Rich, Man?” – This comes from brilliant mashup mind of Go Home Productions, who has put together some of the finest bootlegs of the past few years and are showing no signs of letting up anytime soon. (See: “Christmas On The Block” and “God Save Madonna,” both currently on their downloads page.) “How Does It Feel To Be Rich, Man” is taken from their Beatleg Bootles set, and mixes my all-time favorite Beatles song “Baby, You’re A Rich Man” with the “Theme From Shaft” by Isaac Hayes.

The Homosexuals “Vociferous Slam” – I’ve been meaning to post this song for quite a while now, and I always seem to forget about it for some reason. I was reminded yesterday by this great thread about the Homosexuals from ILM. It’s sort of amazing how many turns this song takes in less than two minutes without ever being obnoxious or proggy. That thread I linked covers the strange history of the band far better than I could in a quick blurb here, so do read up on them if you’re interested. The rest of that Homosexuals Record compilation is well worth checking out.

My Street’s All Pop Music And Coke

Damon Albarn “Gotta Get Down With The Passing Of Time” – This is taken from the new super-limited edition record of Damon Albarn demos and song fragments, DemoCrazy. This particular song is sort of mediocre, but it is by far the most complete piece of music on the record. Most of the tracks are one minute doodles meant to capture a musical idea, but unlike, say, PJ Harvey’s Four Track Demos, almost nothing here is complete enough to even be successful on its own merits. This record gives Blur fanboys some vague insight into Damon Albarn’s songwriting process, and nothing more.

I’m not sure why Albarn would choose to release this particular set of demos – judging by this demo version of Blur’s “Sweet Song” from the Observer Music Monthly, Albarn certainly could put out far more realized demoes of previously released songs, which may give the listener a more linear idea of Albarn’s process since they could compare it to the finished product.

DemoCrazy is a curious record, mostly because it is mystifying to me why it even exists. Blur have been courting a cult audience since the beginning, mainly by releasing dozens of b-sides and Japanese-exclusive records for the obsessive fans to hunt down, but this record is the kind of barrel-scraping exploitation that usually only comes after an artist is long since dead and there’s nothing left to release. Why did Albarn think his fans needed to hear this? Is he embracing the Pollard Impulse?

Something You Really Ought To Read

If you have any interest in the process of manufacturing records, you should check out Woebot’s article about record mastering.

Here We Are Together On Your Hi Fi

Kelis w/ Andre 3000 “Millionaire” – Apparently returning the favor for Kelis’ guest shot on The Love Below‘s “Dracula’s Wedding,” this is Andre 3000’s contribution to Kelis’ brand new Tasty record. Fans of Outkast should not be let down by this track, which is produced and vocally dominated by Andre, enough so that it seems more than a little out of place on the Kelis record. As with most anything Andre 3000 does lately, it’s fabulous. I can’t really say the same of the rest of the Kelis album – it’s not bad, it’s just kind of average for the most part. Many of the tracks just sound like the Neptunes on autopilot, and Kelis’ voice never rises above being merely adequete and competant. She lacks the character and presense which would be necessary to make her so-so material compelling. I think that her talents are best suited to playing the melodic chorus-singing foil to flamboyant hip hop MCs like Andre and Ol’ Dirty Bastard. She’s no star, but she can be a gifted ensemble player, and there’s no shame in that.

Of course, the exception to all of this is the single “Milkshake” (which I trust most of you have heard by now, and if not, you will very soon), which is as inspired, catchy, and sexy as the best Neptunes singles of the past four years.

10CC “The Worst Band In The World” – Inspired by discussion on ILM of their biggest hit “I’m Not In Love,” I’ve started to investigate 10CC’s back catalog, which has been a fairly fruitful endeavor for me, if just because I discovered this song from their 1972 album Sheet Music. It reminds me a bit of the better Steely Dan songs, but with even more sarcasm and irony in the lyrics, and less meticulous lite-jazz gloss.

One of the questions which I’m frequently asked by new readers is if I know of any other blogs which share this blog’s format – ie, a semi-daily mp3 blog. Up until recently, I’ve only ever been able to recommend Gabba and a handful of other blogs like Do You Feel Loved which rotate their mp3s with a much slower turnover rate than the one I have established here. Well, no more. Tangmonkey is now offering daily mp3 downloads, and joining me as I straddle the fine line between music “piracy” and free promotion and publicity. Godspeed, Tangmonkey!

Getting To Know My Target Demo You

I’m not going to post anything new for another few days, til maybe Monday or Tuesday. Sorry.

In the meantime, out of curiosity, of all of the songs/mp3s that I’ve been posting over the past month or so, which ones have you enjoyed the most? What surprised you? What have you disliked?

Oh, What Can I Do?

The Aislers Set “Emotional Levy” – First off, thank you to my friend Jane who sent me a really ace cd of indie pop which I received in the mail yesterday. This song is taken from that disc, and is part of the reason why I haven’t listened to most of the other songs more than once so far. I keep playing this beautiful song over and over again, and I love it more every time. I’ve never heard an Aislers Set song which I didn’t like previous to hearing this tune, but now – this is love.

I’m not quite sure what it is about this song, but it makes me really wish that it was snowing right now.

Goat’s Head In The Deli Case

I’ve decided to just post the alternate studio versions of the Fiery Furnaces songs that I mentioned yesterday. Why not, right?

The Fiery Furnaces “Tropical Iceland” (acoustic version)

The Fiery Furnaces “Bright Blue Tie” aka “Sweden” (piano version)

It’s interesting how these songs have opposite differences from their album arrangements. This version of “Tropical Iceland” is nothing more than guitar and vocal without the layers of keyboards, sound effects, and light percussion of the finished version, whereas this version of “Bright Blue Tie” is lush and piano-driven while the album version is spare and acoustic.

In other news, the Barbelith Underground is being reopened to new members for a limited time starting today. I encourage anyone reading this blog who is not already a member to sign up. Barbelith can be a really amazing place full of very interesting, intelligent, and creative people, and discussion covers a wide range of topics including critical theory, politics/activism, art, music, pop, comics, film, science, collaborative projects, and um, goofing around. Due to some problems with trolling, we’ve been forced to close things off for a while until we figure out a way to deal with one person in particular who is apparently hell-bent on wrecking things for everyone else, but it’s time for us to get some new blood, and we’d love to have you.

Sometimes The Signs From Heaven Are Vague

The Fiery Furnaces @ Mercury Lounge, 11/22/2003

Up In The North/ Crystal Clear/ I’m Gonna Run/ Tropical Iceland/ Bow Wow/ I Broke My Mind/ Spaniolated -> Single Again/ We Got Back The Plague -> Straight Street/ South Is Only A Home/ Don’t Dance Her Down/ Chris Michaels / Leaky Tunnel / Blueberry Boat -> Asthma Attack/ I Lost My Dog/ Waiting To Know You

(Note: The new/unreleased songs in the set are listed here exactly as they appear on the setlist that I took from the stage after the show was over. The majority of the titles on the setlist were abbreviated, so it is unlikely that these are the proper titles.)

Wow. I really can’t emphasize enough how different The Fiery Furnaces are live than on their album. The songs are still there, and their aesthetic is more or less entirely intact, but the arrangements of nearly every song is either subtly or drastically different from what you hear on the record. For example, “Tropical Iceland” was played as a keyboard-heavy upbeat pop song instead of a mellow art-folk number, and “Bow Wow” was played with a totally different (and far more harsh) keyboard sound. “We Got Back The Plague” was based more around the keyboard than the guitar, and Matt sang the verses, leaving Eleanor to sing the choruses. All of the songs were played much faster, especially “I’m Gonna Run,” which was played nearly triple the speed of the album recording.

I enjoyed hearing the songs differently, and I appreciate that they treat their songs as living, changeable things. I’ve seen way too many artists who treat their studio arrangements with too much reverence and that can lead to rather dull and rote live performances. (I’m thinking specifically about Radiohead right now, who are certainly a great band to see live, but with few exceptions do everything they can to reproduce their album arrangements.) Playing the songs differently live also makes me think that they are more thoughtful and considered about how they make their albums, and that the consistency of quality and feeling on their album is no fluke. Everything about Gallowsbird’s Bark seems much more deliberate now, and I like that.

I wouldn’t say that the live versions were better than the album versions, though they were all quite good in their alternate arrangements. I’d love to get some live recordings of their shows so that I could get to know the songs this way, because when I was watching them last night, I couldn’t stop thinking about the differences between the arrangements, particularly when they were so drastic that the music behind the vocal melodies were almost entirely different, as in “Leaky Tunnel” or “Asthma Attack.” Almost all of the songs lost some of their subtlety and charm in their looser, more rocking live arrangements. I wish that they would slow down and take their time, if just a little bit. I can appreciate that they up the energy for their live performance – that makes perfect sense – but in the case of “I’m Gonna Run,” it seemed like they were just a bit too frantic and shambolic for their own good.

The three opening acts were entertaining, which was a nice surprise for me. Franz Ferdinand were my least favorite of the bands on the bill, but they weren’t bad, just very repetitive. They seemed to exist as if to dare music writers to use the word “angular” to describe them. But that’s what they sound like! They sound like every English post-punk band which has ever been described as angular. Angles, angles, everywhere. The singer even had angular features!

Gary Dream & Gene Sincere were a cute novelty band who played twee, melodic pop songs about girls. Their schtick was that they announced that they had recently come out of the closet when they got out on stage, and that they were stuck with all of these yearning songs about girls and were going to play them anyway, even if they lacked conviction in the lyrics entirely. They made funny deadpan remarks in this vein throughout their set. I liked them.

I Love Lucy were very fun and endearing. They are unsigned band from Glasgow who played fun pop-punk songs which sounded like equal parts Elastica and Life Without Buildings. I’m hoping that they get to put out a record soon, because they sounded very promising.

(Oh, yeah…as far as I know, that song “Lost Dog” has not been officially released. I found that studio recording on soulseek, and I have no idea where it comes from. I found some alternate versions of “Bright Blue Tie” and “Tropical Iceland” too, and I may post them sometime in the near future. The version of “Tropical Iceland” isn’t anything like the live version, by the way. It’s a simple voice-and-acoustic guitar version, which may be a demo or from a radio session. If you know anything about these leaked songs (or have more of them) please let me know.)

I Had Opinions That Didn’t Matter

The White Stripes “The Hardest Button To Button” (Live in Boston, 2003)

The White Stripes @ Roseland Ballroom, NYC 11/20/2003

The Hardest Button To Button/ Hotel Yorba/ Let’s Shake Hands/ Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground/ I Think I Smell A Rat/ I Want To Be The Boy/ Death Letter/ Seven Nation Army/ In The Cold Cold Night/ I’m Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman/ Why Can’t You Be Nicer To Me?/ Look Me Over Closely/ We’re Going To Be Friends/ (song my friend and I did not recognize, very rocking)/ Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine/ (song we didn’t know with Jack telling a story over Meg’s drumming, no guitar)/ Wasting My Time/ The Same Boy You’ve Always Known/ Ball And Biscuit // Black Math/ Fell In Love With A Girl (new version, played in a style similar to that of the album version of “Dead Leaves…”)/ I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself/ Boll Weevil

(Note: In addition to the two songs which I didn’t recognize, there is a possibility I may be forgetting a song or two somewhere in there. I’m pretty sure that’s all of it. It is in the proper order, though.)

I don’t have much to say about the White Stripes set – they were great, basically. They bring the rock. They played most everything that I wanted to hear with the notable exception of “Apple Blossom.” I was more impressed with Meg’s voice on “In The Cold Cold Night” last night than her performance on the album. Meg was pretty good on the drums, too. She gets such a bad rap, but she’s at least as good a drummer as half the bands I see. She gets the job done, and she has a wonderful chemistry with Jack. I think there’s a lot of sexism involved in how a lot of people judge her drumming. I was talking to some dude while I was waiting outside before the show, and he was just ripping on her left and right. She’s not Neil Peart, but c’mon. Give her some credit. Jack has the hot riffs, but let’s face it, he’s kind of a messy player too. They suit each other very well.

Whirlwind Heat were just pathetic and tedious. They beat the same song/gimmick/fuzz bass tone into the ground for a half hour, getting worse and more obnoxious as the show went on. Well, they did break things up by pulling out the old GVSB double-bass thing, but that didn’t make things any better. They did their little rock star moves, but there was nothing going on. I’m just sick to death of all of these shaggy haired twig men who think that just because they can jump around and pose, they are rock stars. This is total bullshit. All good rock stars exist on their own terms, and create their own unique persona. They impose themselves on the rock star paradigm rather than submitting to it. Just copping other people’s moves and embracing an image/cliche that people (and especially style magazine photographers/writers/editors) expect is entirely lacking in imagination and power. It’s just dress-up and make believe. It’s not exactly a shock that this band seems to have something to do with the ultimate in brainless, tasteless, shallow lifestyle photography, Terry Richardson. They were introduced as Richardson’s favorite band, all of them wore t-shirts with Richardson’s face, and they played in front of a projected photo of themselves hanging out with him. Maybe they are supposed to the be the shitty, talentless Velvet Underground to Richardson’s shitty, talentless Andy Warhol. Ugh. It all just made me feel bad for them. They seemed so pitiful and sad.

They Won’t Understand, So They Kill It

Liars “There’s Always Room On The Broom” – I’m not sure what to think of the forthcoming Liars album They Were Wrong So We Drowned. On one hand, there’s about three (maybe four) songs like this one here which are pretty good, and sound a lot like the best songs from their previous record. On the other, the rest of the record is by-the-numbers avant/art-indie. I’m just not convinced by tracks like “Broken Witch” – it sounds like they aren’t even trying. They may be having fun, and they may think it sounds cool, but it’s just so boring and uninspiring. Maybe I’m not giving enough respect to the craft of just fucking around and making creepy soundtrack-y noises, but in my experience that stuff is just so easy to toss off. Maybe I’m being totally off base and unfair, but it sounds like half of this record was recorded in one afternoon when they realized that they had to finish the record by a deadline or something. They can do a lot better than most of the songs on this record. “There’s Always Room On The Broom” is proof of that, but even still, I think they have the potential to do better than this too. Maybe next time.

You’re Always Up To No Good

Phantom Planet “Big Brat” – As recommended/requested by Sam in the comments box of this very entry, here is the brand new single from Phantom Planet. It’s really, really good! I hadn’t thought much of them before, but this song just kicks a lot of ass, and I’m impressed that they are making this a single. It always think it’s cool when popular bands do something which has even a passing resemblence to The Fall, and I definitely detect some Mark E Smith influence on the singing on the verses of this song. Nice drums, too – apparently the production was done by Dave Fridmann, so I guess that shouldn’t be a big surprise.

Four Used To Be The Funky Four Corners

Arthur Conley “Funky Street” – Arthur Conley, a 1960s soul singer and protege of Otis Redding, died Monday at his home in the town of Ruurlo, in the eastern Netherlands. He was 57….Conley was born in Atlanta and started his recording career in 1959 as leader of the group Arthur and the Corvets. He was best known for his 1967 hit, Sweet Soul Music, which he co-wrote with Redding based on a number by Sam Cooke, Yeah, Man. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart. R.I.P., Arthur. (See also: Joe’s take on Conley and “Sweet Soul Music” in particular.)

My Boyfriend, He’s My Punk

Ping Pong Bitches “Beat You Up” – Much like Relaxed Muscle’s “Rod Of Iron,” this is an ironic song about domestic violence set to somewhat dated electro/industrial dance music. The PC part of me feels weird about liking both songs, but eh. They are good songs, and I don’t think anything about embracing a host of hip hop songs which feature very questionable lyrics, so maybe it’s for the best that I steer clear of an obvious double-standard. And either way, this song seems more BDSM than anything else.

Forever There’ll Be A Heaven In Your Kiss

Ginger Ale “Happy House (D Funked RMX by Dexter)” – I cannot find any information about this group and this song which is not in French. I can’t tell you much about this, other than that it’s title describes the sound of it perfectly. I’m so glad that I found this song, it feels perfect for me today.

The Droyds “Take Me, I’m Yours” – Yes, it’s a cover of the classic Squeeze single. It’s not as good as the original, but it’s cute and fun, and that’s enough for me.

I Hear You Singing In The Wires

The Meters “Wichita Lineman” – I only heard this version of “Wichita Lineman” for the first time a few weeks ago, and when I did I didn’t know what to make of how the Meters shift into something of a shuffle beat on the second part of each verse. (In case I’m not articulating myself well due to a lack of proper musical terminology, just pay attention to how the bass/drums shift around :45 into the song.) It sounded very awkward to me at first, as though they were suddenly playing the wrong song, but now it sounds smooth and natural to me, and I’m not sure why. I suppose I’m just used to it and expect it, but now I don’t really want to hear the song without that dynamic shift. I listened to a few other versions of the song that I have, and now those are the ones which don’t sound quite right.

They Cannot Eat Because They’re Too Busy Laughing

Banjo-V “Experimental Fashion” – This song is a product of the always entertaining Song Fight website, where scores of lo-fi amateur musicians duke it out to see who can write the best song with a title provided by the administrators of the site. The results vary wildly in terms of quality and generally range from earnest folk pop to noisy indie rock to goofy white rap to the truly bizarre and singular Octothorpe, who unfortunately do not appear to be participating any longer. Banjo-V were the winners of the “Experimental Fashion” contest, and rightfully so – their song is a real lo-fi indie gem, with a bouncy, cheerful melody and charmingly shambolic musicianship. The singer even sounds a lot like Wayne Coyne, making the whole thing sound like a very drunk and silly Clouds Taste Metallic-era Flaming Lips.

I definitely recommend checking out the Song Fight archives, where every song in every contest is available for download, including all of the runners up in the “Experimental Fashion” competition.