On Patty Griffin: I probably won't ever listen to this album again. It's not terrible. There are some songs which, objectively speaking, are really great. I think a lot of the lyrics are cliche I think some are so literal that I want to ask, "What's the big deal" about this lady. On the other hand, tunes like "Let Him Fly" and "Not Alone" have a great Mark Kozelek guitar feel and some really nice soulful vocals that I can understand why she'd be someone's favorite singer/songwriter. "Poor Man's House" has some great tension between the repetitive dissonant guitar part and lyrics about poverty and God. Good meat to chew on. But those are just a few tunes that stood out to me. I rated each song since I wasn't familiar with Griffin before this and only one song got a full 4 points. Two songs got 3 points. Only one song got a 1 point. The rest were kind of hanging in the 2-2.5 area.
I also did the rating thing with the New Pornographers since I hadn't really listened to them before. Mainly because I've got this anti Neko Case thing going right now. She bores the crap out of me. Most of this record bores the crap out of me. But, I did give 3 songs 4 points. I will listen to "Challengers" and "Failsafe" multiple times in my life, I'm sure. But I'm just not into the ultra smooth, clean, and cutesy clever stuff they pull on this record. There are elements of this record that remind me of stuff I like a whole lot better. Tim Vesely of Rheostatics has a project called The Violet Archers which has similar production nuances as this record and it's just way better. Better song writing. Better use of instruments. And while I really appreciate a good french horn in a pop song(the Spirit of Giving), and I too am "sick of America and its screaming decay", I just can't fully buy in to the New Pornographers.
But the point of this is to see who would win between Patty Griffin and New Pornographers.
Based on the fact that I do think I will listen to a couple of songs off Challengers again, New Pornographers win it.
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I will try not to hold your underrating of both albums against you.
ReplyDeleteStill, I'm glad you chose The New Pornographers. Also, I hope you don't get selected to judge Neko Case. Just sayin.
ReplyDeletePatty Griffin is high on my list for reasons mentioned in my earlier post about Bruce Springsteen's The Ghost of Tom Joad. I just like the sound. I like her voice. I think literal is refreshing at times. I think her guitar more than accompanies her voice, and as Andrew said in his introduction of the death match, sometimes you have to just put on the list the albums you like to listen to, even if they aren't considered the most complex musically. I'm not surprised that Patty Griffin didn't advance, I am surprised that Steve says he will never listen to it again (although I admit I know almost nothing about Steve's musical inclinations), I know I certainly will.
ReplyDeleteI had Challengers on my list as well, so I guess I can't complain.