Those who voted for Spiritualized and The Stones
Sarah
Brian
Those who voted for Waits and The Stones:
Bruce
Eric
Those who voted for The Band and Waits:
Karl
Those who voted for the Band and Spiritualized:
Andrew
Andy
Jane
Jeff
Mark
So, The Band and Spiritualized move on. I'll be honest--I was pretty happy with the result, but I'm also aware that the chances of The Band taking Spiritualized down are pretty slim. It's interesting to me that the remaining albums are actually pretty highly seeded. Spiritualized is a #1 and The Band are a #4. I am going to futilely attempt to convince some of you that The Band is worth voting for soon. In the meantime, kudos to Sarah for having her #1 pick go so far (you can be sure I wouldn't be saying this if it had gone another round). She was one of the only ones not to have her #1 knocked out almost immediately. Speaking of which, if anyone is interested (and my guess is few will be), we could do a small death match coda where everyone gets to pick one album (maybe your #1 that got knocked out too soon or something you forgot to put on your list or something you think more people should hear) and those ten or eight or however many will compete for a bonus honorary slot. I bring this up because Eric has mentioned the Kinks a lot lately, and I feel a lot of deserve another shot with our faves. On the other hand, if most of you are sick of all this, and want to move on with your lives, I get it. Let me know either way.
Let the final voting begin.
"I was pretty happy with the result, but I'm also aware that the chances of The Band taking Spiritualized down are pretty slim." I see what you're trying to do here, Andrew, but I'm not going to fall for it.
ReplyDeleteI'm voting for Spiritualized, mainly because that's the way Jeff said I should vote
Okay, here is my attempt to change Brian and anyone else's minds. Here's how I see it breakdown.
ReplyDeleteLyrics: No contest. For the most part Spiritualized's lyrics are really bad and The Band's are really good. There are exceptions to both of this, but this is basically how it plays out and you know it.
Influence (if you care about these kinds of things): Maybe this is unfair because The Band has been around longer, but I would daresay more contemporary bands are trying to sound like The Band these days than they are Spiritualized.
Musicianship: About equal. As I said before, I think The Band are all exceptional players, but I would say the same thing for the musicians on Ladies and Gents from Sean Cook's amazing bass playing to the gospel singers to the horns.
Listening: I can put The Band on just about any day and enjoy it. I need to be in a very particular mood for Ladies and Gents, and I'm not often in that mood these days. You might feel differently.
The tunes: Here I think it comes down to a matter of taste. Basically, I think The Band's emphasis is on substance, and Spiritualized's strength is style. That probably sounds like a dig at Spiritualized, but it just is what it is. Most of Spiritualized's songs are extremely simple, but remain interesting because of the amazing texturing and production. I think Spaceman's thing is to write a really simple song (chord wise) and then write a billion different melodies to be played by different instruments, and you know, it works.
The Band, on the other hand, keep the instrumentation fairly simple (although they have some nice texturing with the horns and what-not), but the writing (to me anyway) is more complex and interesting. There are a few tunes like "Jemima Surrender" which every time I hear the beginning of, I think, this tune is kind of crappy, but then it gets more and more interesting, and I totally dig it by the end. Maybe that's not your thing, but I like it.
In any case, what I'm trying to say is that I feel like Spiritualized rely a little too heavily on the bells and whistles, while The Band just kind of quietly go about the business of being great.
So there you go. Anyone with me?
Well-put, zwartitude. After your meticulous comparison of these two records, my vote more than ever goes to Spiritualized cuz I just like the goddam album better.
ReplyDeleteI gotta think about this one. I didn't really pay that much attention to The Band The Band until this here DEATHMATCH, but I've come to like it quite a bit. Before my fave of theirs was probably either Before the Flood (live with Dylan) or The Basement Tapes, neither of which is really just The Band.
ReplyDeleteWhen we listened to Ladies and Gents on the road I wasn't so into it, but I might need another listen to both. Confusing and or persuasive arguments for either are welcomed. Or threats. Those are good, too. And offers of money or services.
Also, I'm up for the death match coda. I was thinking maybe we resurrect the top eight from the current death match and run those against our special picks of stuff that either got killed too early or we forgot to include at all.
ReplyDeleteHere is my attempt to change Andrew's mind:
ReplyDeleteYes, Spz lyrics are pretty bad, but part of that stems from the fact that they keep going back to the well so often. You have to look at this album as its own entity, and then I don't think the themes of religion and drug use are too overbearing.
You are right about influence, but I'm not sure that is 100% a selling point. A lot of what is going on here is pretty original. No one is writing tunes like the title track or Cop Shoot Cop.
Listeningship is pretty personal. I can pull out Ladies and Gentlemen any day, whereas I put on The Band the other day and no one (myself included) was into it at that moment.
I vote Spiritualized.
Eric, I should have known that logic and reasoning are wasted on new dads.
ReplyDeleteBrian, don't be such a follower. Next thing, Jeff will be picking out your clothes for you too.
Jeff, no one was into it because you and your family and your friends are all shallow and have terrible taste in everything. But I say: keep exposing your kids to drug music with lots of swearing and noise...I'm sure they'll turn out just fine...
(you all don't need the wink wink, do you?)
I agree with the friends and family part of the comment.
ReplyDeleteSpiritualized
ReplyDeleteBut ONLY because Andrew tried to use this reasoning...
"...more contemporary bands are trying to sound like The Band these days..." That isn't a reason to say something is better... I took a dump yesterday - doesn't mean that everyone who did today makes my shit any more palatable.
As far as the death match coda... I mean, if everyone's doing it, then I'm totally sold.
I took a dump twice today. What does that mean?
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it make more sense to say "I took two dumps today" then?
ReplyDeleteNot really because the important part is not the excretion of waste, but the experience of taking a dump. Your wording treats it like it's just a natural process or something.
ReplyDeleteHa!
ReplyDeleteOkay before I register my vote I just wanted to remind y'all of where we started out lo these four months ago. Here were the top ten nominees:
Spiritualized Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Radiohead Kid A
Sufjan Stevens Illinoise
Luna Penthouse
Red House Painters Songs For a Blue Guitar
Wilco Being There
The New Pornographers Challengers
Passion Pit Chunk of Change
Broken Social Scene You Forgot It In People
Weezer Blue Album
A different view than our final 8, which seemed to include a lot of "classics."
Anyway, sure, Spiritualized gets my vote. I feel good about that. I can't make up my mind whether it is annoying or awesome that Jeff called it.
Jeff. Annoying AND Awesome.
I can't believe that I of all people am saying this, but y'all need to curb the poop talk and just get yer dang votes in already.
ReplyDeleteAin't nobody truly sitting on the fence here...People just playing with their nutsacks or their breastseses or whatnot...Ain't what God nor our forefathers ever intended...Would yer grandmas be proud of you? And remember: It's important to vote. You all done it for Obama, now does it for the Death Match.
Eric, the crack pipe is starting to affect your grammar.
ReplyDelete...i vote for the band...
ReplyDeletefor the record, i actually like spiritualized's lyrics on this album...except for cool waves...those lyrics totally wash over me...
did bruce really say he took one dump, two times?...the implications behind that are profoundly disturbing...
on the subject of continuing on with deathmatch in some form...here's my idea:
ReplyDeletea small death match (say each person pick 12 albums, instead of 30) but confine it to music released in the past decade...also, no albums included in this death match could be included (no funeral, no elephant, no separation sunday, etc.)...thoughts...or is this a dumb idea?
otherwise, i guess i'm up for whatever
great idea, andy
ReplyDeleteI also like that idea. Back on the important issue, though, why are you so offended by the idea of taking one dump two times? You poopy-typicals are so narrow-minded.
ReplyDelete(Eric grumbles, "make your damn pick, pooper.")
I like Andy's idea too. What I'd like most out of a new death match would be an introduction to some newer music I'm not already enjoying.
ReplyDeletewilson is full of good ideas...who else would have suggested i try bbq sauce as a lubricant?...i agree that we do NOT want any of the current dm2010 albums included in a follow-up mini dm summer2010...i pretty much am sick of them all now after listening to them a zillion times and reading endless wakka-wakka about how good or bad they are or aren't...fare thee well lagyafis, i used to like listening to you...but i'm pretty much up for whatever, too, as long as i can keep my crack pipe...
ReplyDeleteBy the by, my vote is for The Band in case that wasn't clear before.
ReplyDeleteHere's two options for the coda once you all get your votes in. My thinking was we each get to choose one album (any album at all since a lot of #1 picks never made it past the first stage--don't worry, I won't pick The Clash) and we just do 12 or 10 or eight albums (which will be very short). I was thinking then that in the fall or so we could add some people and do what Andy suggested--only new albums (last five years or so). I would suggest we do 64 in total, which would be half the length of what we just did.
But if that sounds crappy, option number 2 is just to dive straight into a new album tourney or whatever else you all decide. It's up to you all...
Okay, In Spiritualized's favor, I Think I'm In Love is a wonderful song. I really dig the minimal super-deep bass. I also rather enjoy the Chemical Brothers remix with its blippy, turn the time knob on the delay pedal sounds, but that's not on this album. Against them is the stuff I mentioned before. Cop Shoot Cop is a great song, but it's too long. 17 minutes is great for a live show, but on the album? Yeah, I don't have a ton more to say. I enjoy it for the vibe.
ReplyDeleteThe Band The Band is great all the way through Rockin' Chair. Look Out Cleveland is pretty good, but it seems too much of its time somehow. I'm not crazy about Jawbone or The Unfaithful Servant. I have to agree with whoever said the thing about this album feeling timeless. Did someone say that? Really, I don't remember and don't feel like looking back to check. It might have been me or nobody. Now I'm saying it. This album feels timeless, except for the last three songs. I like that quality. And I enjoy listening to it.
Back a little ways Karl mentioned something about his favorite post rock being the stuff that doesn't change as much, I think Explosions in the Sky over Do Make Say Think. I like Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space for this quality, but it's also what makes me fall asleep listening to it.
I'm going with The Band The Band.
i feel that in these last days of the death match (like the elite eight) the band the band was the album i got the least sick of...bruce, i wish you liked unfaithful servant more...it's gentle and sad qualities fill me with something isn't going to come out of my ass (probably? hopefully?) can a longing for a past that never was come out of your ass?...
ReplyDeleteanyhoo (as zwartitude would write) i favor the plan put forth in comment #22...quick one where we pick on album each...big one in the fall where we pick new stuff from the last five years or so...
I'm gonna go with The Band here, though Andrew's arguments for the album almost swayed me toward Spiritualized. The one in the comments from a post or two ago about them being more timeless than The Stones was especially suspect. I'd say you're on my watch list, Andrew, but you've been on there for a good while already, buddy.
ReplyDeleteThen I realized, of course, that I'm supposed to vote on the album, not on arguments for our against it, and I do like listening to The Band more. I could go on about why, but I'd say you could take much of what I wrote when choosing between Luna and The Band and apply that to Spiritualized vs. The Band. (Clearly Spiritualized L & G is way awesomer than Luna Bewitched, though.) I think Andrew's comments about style and substance make sense, or at least that The Band leans further toward substance end of the continuum and that Spz leans further toward the style end.
For the coda, I think I'm with Eric: I'm more into moving on to the newer album death match, either with summer hiatus or not. But I'll do whatever I'm told.
THE BAND.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Jane
So it all comes down to Jane? A vote for Spiritualized makes them the winner, a vote for The Band makes them both losers. Then what?
ReplyDeleteA tie? THE HORROR!
ReplyDeleteThat is odd. When I posted my comment Jane's was not us there yet.
ReplyDeleteShould we bring back preacher Steve, carnie Dwight, and whatever Kevin is to make the decision? Kidding. But maybe not.