Round 1 of the Talossan Music Top 20 - 2026!

Many thanks to everyone who nominated songs. Of course, people who did not are still very much encouraged to vote.

Round 1 consists of ten groups of ten songs each. The top five songs in each group advance to Round 2 (and are given entry into next year's TMT20).

Groups are drawn randomly in such a way that each group contains one 6th 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th place song from a Round 2 group last year, and 5 new nominations.*

We will vote on groups two at a time (although you can vote on only one of the groups if you want). Each voting period will last three days (72 hours)**. Votes cast after that will not be accepted, with the exception that we will always keep going until we have at least three votes per group.

Give your top three songs 3, 2, and 1 points, respectively. You must give points to exactly three songs.

GROUP 1
3Teeth - Slum Planet
Ásgeir - Sugar Clouds
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
Foo Fighters - Walk
Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire
MGMT - Pieces of What
Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
Talk Talk - Such a Shame
TheFatRat - Unity
Tom Waits - In The Neighborhood

GROUP 2
Brinsley Schwarz - (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding
Celtic Worship - Come Thou Fount
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Johnny Horton - The Battle of New Orleans
Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
MGMT - Boogie Down
Renato Zero - Triangolo
Stromae - Papaoutai
Tom Waits - Step Right Up
Toto - Hold the Line

Tiebreakers***:
- Number of voters giving 3 points
- Number of voters giving 2 points
- Last year's result (Round 2 > Other)
- Last year's Round 2 Rank
- Last year's Round 2 PPV
- Year first nominated (special edition > earlier > later)
- Random chance

Any song eliminated by random chance (and any song eliminated by random chance last year that is eliminated based on last year's result) will be given entry into next year's TMT20.

Tactical voting refers to either giving more points than you normally would to a song because it would make the difference between it going through or getting eliminated, or giving fewer points than you normally would to a song because it might kick a song you like even more out of the competition. This is hard to prevent, but my very strong request would be to not do it. Give points to the songs you believe deserve to go through, regardless of how others are voting. Doing otherwise reduces the value of votes that came before you, which is unfair to them. Remember that it's not a competition between voters, but a collective effort to make a nice list of songs we like. Thanks.

I did my best with all the links but there is always a chance some are broken or have a wrong version or bad audio quality. If a link is broken or you have a suggestion for a better link, please contact me or post the link in the thread. Officially, we are not voting on the YouTube link, but on the listed Artist + Title.

COMMENTARY ON THE PROGRESS OF THE GAME, THE RULES, WHAT SONGS YOU LIKE, ETC., IS VERY WELCOME.

*New nominations also include the 6 songs entering from the TMT special edition 2025, but I've set up the draw so these cannot be in the same group.

**I expect due to time pressure round 2 will have shorter deadlines, but the first round has all the new nominations, so 3 days ensures people have time to listen to these

***I have some thoughts on tiebreakers, but we'll stick with last years tiebreakers for now

Closed

Larry Jon Wilson - Ohoopee River Bottomland

At long last, I formally have submitted my application for membership of the Royal Society.
Now, a pre-warning: it's a doozy, as it is about conflict resolution here in Talossa.

I call upon @King Txec, to abrate on my membership, as the most senior fellow of the society.

I hope that with this essay, it may in some small way contribute to the growth of knowledge about ourselves, and hopefully be useful to the powers that be should they wish to... steal ideas xD

Abstract: This essay utilises principles of sociology, psychology, and conflict resolution to analyse the recurring interpersonal and political friction within the Kingdom of Talossa—a long-standing online micronation operating as a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. Characterised by a compressed, "high-contact" social environment with fewer than 400 citizens, Talossa suffers from systemic role collision where institutional disagreements rapidly degrade into personal feuds. The study examines how modern digital phenomena—such as algorithmic filter bubbles, neo-tribalism, and the Dunning-Kruger effect—interact with a demographically unique "digital cultural stasis" where mature users continue to utilise adolescent conflict behaviours. Guided by Simmel's classifications of conflict and developmental meta-analyses of peer conflict resolution, the paper diagnoses why Talossan legalistic structures frequently escalate rather than resolve disputes. Finally, it proposes concrete structural interventions, including forum partitioning, demilitarised cultural zones, and mandatory mediation frameworks, to safeguard the community from terminal exhaustion and collapse.

Lemon Juice Robbery, Corporate personal feuds, Caveman jocking and The Terrarium that is Talossa

One spot left! Get your last (or first if whoever takes it hasnt nominated yet) pick in now.

Hey Tric'hard, I've seen you around recently and don't have personal contacts and am unable to send a PM here on Witt.

I hope you'll see this message: Please consider renewing your Talossan citizenship. You are a much missed source of wisdom and common sense.

Breneir

Fool's Garden - Lemon tree

Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill

Three spots left