Music Death Match 2010

Ladies and Gentlemen is the winner!!!!

2010-08-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

We re-tallied the votes, got input from the drop-out participants, and it turns out that Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space had won all along!

Congrats to everyone who voted for this album, and to those who had it on your lists to begin with, you should all be very proud!

Beck and Tortoise covers Yanni

2010-07-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

Since apparently the death match has dwindled to a conclusion, I couldn't help passing this along.

http://pitchfork.com/news/39335-beck-thurston-tortoise-cover-yanni/

Ladies and Gentlemen...

2010-06-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

...we have a tie...

...which is a little like floating around in space, unsure of what exactly is going on. Here are three different options:

1. Let it stand as a tie.

2. As per Jeff's suggestion, let this role into overtime and bring back Steve, Kevin, and Dwight to help break it.

3. Wait until one of us switches sides the way the characters from The Office do when debating whether Hilary Swank is hot.

I'm cool with whatever, but if you guys don't tell me what you want, I'll just pick an option like the ruthless dictator you all know I can be.

Any other suggestions? Also, let me know if you are up for the one album a piece coda...

This is fun.

The End?

2010-06-13T13:45:00.000-07:00

As per Karl's request, here is the breakdown:

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.

Final four yo

2010-06-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

Alright, we are down to it folks. Four remaining albums. We've got The Band vs. Sticky Fingers and Mule Variations vs. Ladies and Gents. The winners will then face off.

Here's what we're going to do. Everyone has thought about or listened to each of these records recently, so we're gonna do both match-ups at once. Give me a vote between The Band and The Stones, and give me a vote between Mr. Waits and Mr. Spaceman. I'm just gonna wait until everyone gets a vote in because I have faith y'all will do it sooner than later. I mean, it's not that hard, right?

Again, feel free to try and sway others before they vote if you like.

Final choice for this round

2010-06-06T16:39:00.000-07:00

Looks like Mr. Waits won this round pretty handily. But he's going to have to face either Spiritualized or Bob Dylan in the final four. So, Ladies and Gentlemen vs. Blood on the Tracks...

I'm looking forward to this because a) I think it's going to be close b) they're both great albums c) I forget...

Let's have votes in by Wednesday. I think Sarah or Bruce should write a nice lengthy note on why Blood on the Tracks should win, and someone else (Jeff?) on why Ladies and Gents should take it.

Also, I haven't done points in a while, and that's so that that doesn't really sway any votes. I will do it later. I honestly have no idea how everyone is doing, but I imagine Dwight is making quite a comeback (Mule Variations was his call and he picked Ladies and Gents too).

Have fun!

Moving On...

2010-06-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

It looks like Karl's girlie move of abstaining means Sticky Fingers wins (is it just me or does everyone else feel like he's been dry-humping his whole way through this tournament?). I voted for the Stones, but I feel like this whole last match-up was kind of a cluster-cuss. I guess this is the kind of drama we should expect in the final rounds...

Anyhoo, the next match-up is between Arcade Fire and Tom Waits--a match-up that is so boring, I'm thinking about starting drugs just to help me get through it.

When's a reasonable time to get these votes in? I think most of us are pretty darn familiar with both albums, so how about by Saturday? Remember, you don't have to listen to them both a million times, and sweat painfully over this. If you feel like you know both records, just think about it and vote. I swear some of you agonize over this more than you do a real election.

Okay, obviously I'm feeling punchy. I'll quit now.

Sticky Fingers Vs. Time Out of Mind

2010-05-28T09:35:00.001-07:00

I'll get this one started...I've already been thinking about it.

Sticky Fingers: 4.5

Time Out of Mind: 4.6

Dylan gets my vote.

Sticky Fingers is a darn good album (although I actually do prefer EOMS, despite all the recent Death Match poo-pooing of it. Whatever, people.) However, TOOM is my personal favorite Dylan album. I know it's not his most important or influential or wank, wank, wank, but it is world-weary and bluesy in the best possible ways. It came out at just the right time in my life. And, yes, I like the atmosphere that Lanois helped create here. I just love the song-writing... These are lyrics that resonate with me much more fully than a lot of Bob's older stuff. (The only quasi-clunker here is "Make You Feel My Love" IMHO). This album was on my Top 30 list for a reason, yo.

That was a close one...

2010-05-28T05:56:00.000-07:00

Well, The Band just barely eeked out Nick Cave there. I think Jeff was the only own who missed the deadline.

Next match-up is Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind vs. Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers, or as I like to refer to it, the slightly inferior Stone album.

By the way, did any one else find it suspicious that when we were going to vote on Exile vs. Funeral, and it looked like everyone wanted Exile to go really far, all of a sudden Bruce volunteers for the job and then knocks it out? And does it seem doubly suspicious that his wife is the only one left with a Stones album in the competition, and he chose Funeral, which also happens to be one of his wife's picks? Nepotism, pure and simple, is what I say.

Anyway, I'll probably vote for the Stones, but I'm not 100% yet. You all have until Monday night to decide.

For those within driving distance of Chicago

2010-05-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

In continuing my posts not completely related to the music death match, but still related to music...
chicago released it's full schedule of free shows at millenium park. See attached. shows are at 6:30pm on Mondays usually, in a great outdoor setting.
This year includes Hum, She & Him, Great Lake Swimmers, The Books, Caribou among others.

http://www.chicagofestivals.net/downtown-sound-new-music-mondays

M.I.A.

2010-05-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

The New York Times magazine continues it's new love affair with indie artists, now averaging a profile a month

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/magazine/30mia-t.html?ref=magazine

Exile on Main Street Versus Funeral

2010-05-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

Thing the A: Since it took something like two weeks to get a matchup that I had to decide on myself, I don't feel too bad about taking a few days to get this in.

Thing the B:

While much of the time went to going camping this past weekend, much of it also went to me trying to get what the big deal is with Exile on Main Street. I don't think I'd ever listened to the entire album before. I remember putting it on and skipping through some tracks and putting it away at some point (probably grabbed it from either Eric or Andy's collection). So now I've listened to it at least five or six times and heard a crapload of Mick Jagger on various NPR shows talking about the rerelease with extra stuff and how crazy it was that they were in France and it was a big party and they were hanging out in the basement and recording and stuff and I think I get a little more of what the big deal is. It has a distinct sound that I don't think really existed before this album. I keep coming back to the piano. I like the piano sound quite a bit. In fact, I think I'd trade some of the trying-to-be-iconic guitar riffs for more piano. This is not really a negative or positive, but I keep thinking of the theme to the Office UK.

I think my problems with this album mostly boil down to one: It's a double album. Looking through my notes, my negative feelings are either:

1. Bored pretty early on (Loving Cup, Stop Breaking Down, All Down the Line)

2. Sounds like an accident (Sweet Black Angel, I Just Want to See His Face [should have lasted about 30 secconds])

3. Blues sounds poserish (Casino Boogie, Turd on the Run, Ventilator Blues)

There are some great grooves on here, but they seldom go anywhere. I could probably google it, but I'd rather let Father Eric tell me which songs have been sampled where. I like the choir, but they usually sound like an attempt to add some interest to an otherwise uninteresting song. Shine a Light is the only song I'm really into and want to listen to over and over.

It sounds like this album was probably a blast to play and record and I'm sure the party was memorable, but it's just not coming through the speakers into my ears.

I listened to Funeral several more times for this matchup and I have to say, I'm not as into it right now as I was last time I judged it (against The Velvet Underground and Nico), but it's still a really tight album with no crap songs on it that I want to listen to often and Exile on Main Street is something I'd pick up on vinyl for $2 for variety and because it's got a cool cover, but not really play that much.

Arcade Fire Funeral wins.

the beginning of the end

2010-05-24T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I keep waiting for Bruce's decision so we can wrap this up, but I say, let's just do this thing. Here's how this is going to roll.

As mentioned previously, the first of the final match-ups is between Nick Cave (Murder Ballads) and The Band (The Band). You can make a new post or leave your vote in the comments. I'm giving you three days. After that (Thursday, midnight), I'm tallying the votes of those who got them in, and we're going on to the next one.

I'm also instating the rule that if you've already listened to one or both of these, you don't have to listen again (or if you are overly familiar with either). This should make three days seem more tenable.

Go to it folks. Don't let me down like Lost did last night.

Mule Variables

2010-05-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

There are too many tracks to do a play by play, so here are some thoughts I jotted as I listened:

It’s like corrupt bluegrass.

The first two tracks were good, but nothing really grabbed me.

Hold On is great. Should be sappy but he pulls it off.

No other singer I know who injects so much showmanship into his voice and music.

Really digging Cold Water. It sounds like something kids would sing in Sunday School.

I have complained about spoken word in a couple of reviews, but man do I like What’s He Building. Super creepy.

Obviously, Tom Waits is a lyrical gangsta, which makes this hard to compare to Winter Hymn. There is less improvisation musically, but that’s not to say that the album isn’t very rich in its own way.

Some songs drag the album down (I’m looking at you Black Market Baby & Eyeball Kid) but overall it’s a masterful, intriguing album.

As much as I’d love to move the Do May’s on, I gotta bow to the man.

Mule Variations stands.

sorry for the delay

2010-05-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

So... I'll keep this short. "Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts" is one of the longest noisome songs that I've ever heard. That said, Blood on the Tracks does not sound like the soundtrack at a cult.

Blood on the Tracks takes down Polyphonic Spree (which, I should clarify, I don't *really* dislike; it just makes me a little cagey and Age of Aquarius-ey).

I can't give any more assignments

2010-05-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

Hey Andy and Eric and anyone else who's interested, here's the deal. We're kind of bottlenecked right now since we're down to so few choices. Once Jeff, Bruce, and Jane get the final picks in (which they assure me will be pronto) we will be down to 8 and then everyone votes.

We do have half of the final 8, so, if you want to start thinking about who you're going to vote for, think about these two match-ups, which are fer sures:

The Band vs. Murder Ballads

Time Out of Mind vs. Sticky Fingers

You may present your vote with feedback and apologetics anytime. I would recommend doing a full post as opposed to leaving comments, but don't feel like you have to write a book on each vote (unless you want to).

Yippee!

First half...

2010-05-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

Just to show you I'm not slacking on this one. I've gotten through Winter Hymn. Here are my thoughts:

Track 1
I love it when an album (or song) begins and you spend a couple of seconds wondering, ‘has it started?’ ‘am I hearing something?’
1:46 song begins proper
Hi-hat a little too staccato
Awesome sounds at 4:30
5:15 wicked – that part should have gone on for at least 3 minutes longer
Reminds me of explosions in the sky
Track 2
I love it when a song (or an album) begins and you spend a couple of seconds wondering, ‘has it started?’ ‘am I hearing something?’
Oh wait, that was the whole thing
Track 3
Was really enjoying the song, less sure about the change at 3:43
Track 4
Kind of meh until about four minutes in
That stretch at 5:03 could have lasted longer
Good, but not as good as a sprawling 10 minute opus should be
Track 5
Dig the horns
Just really nice
Track 6
Bonus points for the title
Reminds me of GUH, not a bad thing
Like the funky at 4:00
Nice, understated use of the horns
Had they dissolved fully into noise, then drug it out for a looooong time, to the point where my wife asks ‘why are you listening to this?’ you would have earned an automatic pass. Too bad.
Track 7
Snapping, clapping, strings
I thought my internet connection was cutting out at the end of the song. Turns out it was just the music. Then I felt old.
Track 8
Same joke as earlier
Track 9
The organ sound takes to the next level what was already a good tune
Love all the layers by the 4:00 mark
Just keeps getting better

All said, an A- effort. A couple of the ideas I felt like could have been explored a little more, and a couple of tracks were interesting, but not really full songs, which is a problem on an album that is only 9 songs long to begin with.

I kept finding myself writing ‘I dug this’ or ‘I’m really diggin’ the …’ What is wrong with me?

By the way, zwartitude, if you haven’t sold these on amazon yet, add $6 to the tab, and I’ll take both

Not a review

2010-05-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

I need a matchup. Now that all of the three unassigned ones have been decided:

The Polyphonic Spree - Together We're Heavy vs. Blood on the Tracks

Funeral vs. Exile on Main Street

Tom Waits vs. Do Make Say Think

I think I should do Funeral vs. Exile on Main Street because, even though I already judged Funeral, I didn't pick either of these and both of the other two matchups include my picks (Blood on the Tracks and Do Make Say Think).

Andrew? May I?

All apologies...

2010-05-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

I need to listen to more Dylan. That guy is alright.

Whichever Dylan album it was I just listened to moves on.

The Band - The Band vs. The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday

2010-05-17T13:49:00.000-07:00

The Band - The Band

+++ kermitty vocals
+ hootenanny
+ tap the foot when it swings, slap the knee when it's straight
+ despite 60s-70s roots, politics not overtly annoying
- probably because they're canadians
++ omg i just noticed that opening riff from Up On Cripple Creak sounds like a wireless green song -- did everyone already know that but me? what, boca raton?
++ sing for the workin man (there ain't but one workin man)
++ vocal harmony
- jemima surrender. what? so forgettable i can't remember if it was offensive.
- questionable, obscure, perhaps shroom-influenced metonymy/metaphor on "jawbone"
+ sweet time signature, riffs, key changes, and high vocal harmony on "jawbone"
-- lack of subtlety on King Harvest

The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday

+ much more manly than you'd expect from one of andrew's picks
++ humor (/satire/irony/homage)
++ i'm more likely to want to listen to it than The Band cuz it's new
+ stevie nix, very suprising
- Not Actually Singing
+ Not Actually Singing
+ rox
+ big guitar
--- the "Garden State" complaint: topics seem targeted to ppl younger than me
+ lyrical flourishes are pleasing anyway

Totals
The Band: +13 -5 = 8
The Hold Steady: +10 -4 = 6

Adjustments
+ either way i vote, one of andrew's top picks gets advanced, and andrew is my friend, so i am happy for him
- either way i vote, one of andrew's top picks gets advanced, but andrew is my enemy ever since he pulled down my pants on stage
+ band names start with "the"

Let's check back with The Hold Steady in a few years and see how they're doing. Until then, The Band wins based on kermitty vocals.

What is up

2010-05-14T18:25:00.001-07:00

Okay, here's a breakdown of where we are.

In Division 1 we have the following albums left:

Separation Sunday

The Band

Murder Ballads

Murder Ballads will take on whatever Karl chooses.

Division 2:

Legend

Time Out of Mind

Sticky Fingers

Once Jeff listens to the right album, we're down to Sticky Fingers vs. that album.

Division 3:

Exile on Main Street

Funeral

Winter Hymn

We need someone to choose between Funeral and Exile. The winner of that match will take on the Do Makes. Any volunteers for this--someone who hasn't decided upon these albums yet? And someone who can do this fairly quickly. If not, I might start the voting (so we'd vote collectively on 9 instead of 80). Lemme know.

Division 4

Ladies and Gents...

Blood on the Tracks

Together We're Heavy

Jane will be done her pick soon, leaving that and Ladies and Gents.

So, yeah, we are almost there. I personally can't believe that Polyphonic and Do Makes made it this far. Good for them!

In the meantime, I'd like to say that you all picked awesome soundtracks, except no one mentioned The Last Waltz, probably because you would consider that cheating. Certainly, it's my favorite live album of all time. What's yours?

Exile on the Mezzanine

2010-05-14T05:25:00.000-07:00

I'm going to go with the album that inspired Jimmy Fallon to dedicate a whole week of shows to it's re-release. Like I said before, the Stones have my favorite 4 album stretch of any band (Beggars, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile), and if you listen to Bruce, Goats Head would make it a nice 5 album stretch. I would probably pick any of those albums in almost any matchup. I'm looking forward to the 10 new bonus tracks on the Exile re-release, but I'm a little concerned that most of them have supposedly new vocals/lyrics.
Mezzanine is Massive attack's move away from trip hop, and I like their first two albums better.
Exile, I'm rooting for you to win it all at this point.

I think I've please Andrew on two accounts, moving his pick on, and eliminating Massive Attack for him. You can thank me later

Just Getting It Done

2010-05-13T18:29:00.000-07:00

Short and sweet this time: Ladies and Gentlemen... beats out Elephant by at least a few yards. If you want to read some overdone writing on both albums, Pitchfork is always good for that. Here's one of the things I agree with them on: the ratings. Ladies and Gentlemen... earns closer to a 10 in my book, and Elephant earns closer to a 7.

Secretly Rolling Stones through the County during the Winter

2010-05-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

Rolling Stones - Between the Buttons vs. Do Make Say Think - Winter Hymn, Country Hymn, Secret Hymn

Since I am late, and Andrew is probably crying by now, I'll keep this short.

In this case, the old stuff needs to be replaced... sure it may be good, like my Commodore 64 is a classic, but why would I surf the interwebs on my C64, when I can do it on my 386SX... ...and my 386 sucked. Big Time.

The same thing goes for the stones... yeah, great, blah blah, but I'd rather listen to something else.

In this case, that something else is Do Make Say Think. I'm not so sure that this is a top 10 album, but that's good, because the likelihood of hearing it over and over and over again is slim. yay for that.

So there you have it, DMST moves on.

waitin.........................

2010-05-12T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hey, while we're all waiting for, well, y'all...

Here's a couple things:

Steve is out--apparently he's got a bunch of seminary/church stuff to do in the next few weeks, so I guess that's legit. This is beginning to feel a little like Survivor. Just so you know, if I'm the only one standing, I am going to make up some new rules that will allow the Clash back in.

Anyhoo, since Steve is out, Brian, you have his pick: Stones - Exile vs. Massive Attack - Mezzanine. Yes, I realize this is the third trip-hop album you've been assigned, but don't blame me--I'm not the one who chose them. In any case, I'm hoping you can quickly put Massive Attack out of their misery, so we can get on with things...

Jane, you have Polyphonic Spree vs. Blood on the Tracks.

Eric, you gotta wait for now cause you've already had a hand in everything that's left.

Also, when I said to get your picks in...are you all taking extra long just to spite me?

In the meantime, what's your favorite soundtrack?

NCATBS vs. BPB

2010-05-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

Murder Ballads

I love Nick Cave, but this is not the album I would have picked for the Death Match. I would have chosen Tender Prey or Henry's Dream, and your guess is as good as mine why I didn't nominate either of these albums. As for Murder Ballads, it does contain all the best elements of Mr. Cave's craft- literate lyrics, manic energy and a consistently compelling pathos, a little gallows humor, and the backing of the Bad Seeds. However, I must admit that the subject matter here is a little too relentlessly gruesome and grim, even by Nick Cave standards.

On the other hand, I should point out that the onslaught of blood and guts and homicide on this album do not bother me as much as a lot of "gangsta rap"...Perhaps it is because Mr. Cave's stories often sound legendary or mythical ("Stagger Lee", "Henry Lee", "Where the Wild Roses Grow", "Crow Jane"), cartoonish and ridiculously obscene ("The Curse of Millhaven", "O'Malley's Bar"), or like the plot of a good thriller/ murder mystery movie ("Song of Joy", "The Kindness of Strangers"). Unlike "gangsta" music, they do not sound like stories of his own experience or portraits of the violent environment from which he has emerged. The violence often depicted in rap sounds more "real" and therefore much more disturbing to me. Does that make sense?

My favorite song on the album is definitely "Stagger Lee"...I saw Nick and the boys perform this live in downtown Detroit several years ago...It was showmanship at its finest: Nick sauntering fiendishly about the stage, the Seeds locking into that ominous groove, Blixa Bargeld shrieking in that blood-curdling way only German artists can do appropriately, and an additional verse added in which the devil himself pops up to challenge Stagger only to be shot dead by the annoyed Mr. Lee. Now that, my friends, is rock and roll.

Overall Album Rating: 4.2

Ease Down the Road

I like Will Oldham, enough to own this album even, although I probably would not have nominated it for the Death Match. If I had to choose a favorite of his, I would probably pick BPB Sings Greatest Palace Music because it's good to hear those old lo-fi Palace songs shined up a bit Nashville-style and because I found it on CD for $1.99 at a Media Play going out of business in Connecticut (I love a good music bargain).

That being said, I have a bit of an uneasy relationship with Mr. Oldham. While I really do enjoy most of his music, especially under the BPB moniker, I always feel like I never quite "get" him. (He reminds me of a weird aging hippie cousin, who can be fun at a family reunion and has some great stories to tell, but who also likes to toy with people and has trouble holding down a steady relationship perhaps in part because he has tried sex things I don't want to hear about. )

My favorite song on this album is "A King at Night" and my least favorite is "The Lion Lair". Nothing here offers the chills nor the thrills of Nick Cave. It is far more soft-spoken and pleasant sounding, if not a little bizarre at times. I think it is a perfect album to listen to while falling asleep for an afternoon nap. And that is not necessarily a bad thing to be.

Overall Album Rating: 3.9

Another close one, but Murder Ballads moves on.

classic album vs. classic album

2010-05-07T18:33:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, two classic albums match off. I thought this would be tough, but after one listen, I realized this was an easier call to make than I thought it would be. Here's a breakdown of how I heard the songs in my own little head:

Neil Young - Harvest

"Out on the Weekend" & "Harvest": Sounds like background music--in the best possible way. I think both Kevin and Sarah made allusions to doing chores while listening to music, and this is the kind of song I love having on while I putter around the house, making coffee or doing the dishes. It's the kind of song that makes you thankful to have a normal life, doing normal kinds of things. To be honest, this isn't an album I sit down to listen to, but these first two tunes are just great easy listening, which, again, I mean in the best possible way.

"Heart of Gold", "Old Man", "Needle and the Damage Done": Classic tunes. Great tunes. 'nuff said. "Needle" makes me never want to do drugs.

"Are You Ready for the County?": Good tune. Reminds me of The Band. I think this song would be greatly improved if Levon Helm were singing it.

"Alabama" and "Words (Between the Lines of Age)": Both more rocking tunes. After "Weekend" and "Harvest", probably my next personal favorite tunes on the album. I love when Neil rocks out a bit but still retains the kind of emotional tension these songs carry.

"Man Needs A Maid" & "There's A World": My two least favorite tunes on the album. First of all, these almost orchestral pieces just don't fit on the album. They sound completely out of place. Also, I'm sorry, but they sound like they belong in a musical, and I hate musicals. I don't mean to ruin this for anyone, but can't you just hear the lead-up dialogue?

Neil: You know Joey, life sure is harder out here in California than it was back home in my town in North Ontario. It's just that my life is changing in so many ways.

Joey: Don't say that Neil, you're doing alright. You just gotta look at the bright side, maybe find the right girl. Then all of your dreams will come true.

Neil: I dunno, I once fell in love with an actress. I felt like I could understand her, you know? But I don't know if I'll ever find true love.

Joey: You know what you need, Neil? You just need a maid, someone who can care for you, and then just go away.

Neil: You know, you're right Joey. That is what I need...

Cue orchestra and fade the lights. Solo spotlight comes up on Neil as he sings A Man Needs a Maid.

Overall, great album, but the two bloated pieces just about ruin it for me (by the way, I feel like Spiritualized have fallen into the same trap as of late). I'm glad Eric introduced me to Everybody Knows... I think I like that better. I've also always loved Neil's middle (?) period. Albums like Ragged Glory and Harvest's Sequel, Harvest Moon. I think Harvest Moon was maybe the first Neil Young album I ever really got into. Maybe that makes me a dork. Oh well.

Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers

You know, it makes total sense to me that this is Sarah's pick while I went with Exile. Sarah would probably say that Fingers is a tighter album, but I just don't think it ever reaches the dizzying heights of Exile. Anyhoo, Fingers is the kind of album where when I finally heard it, it reminded me of all the people who ripped it off (Primal Scream, Ride) or covered it (Sundays).

"Brown Sugar": So yeah, this is again shows what a dork I am, but when I first heard this, I thought that it sounded like a pale version of Ride's song "Black Nite Crash". To my credit, it didn't take long for me to recognize "Brown Sugar" for its own awesomeness. Although I'm gonna say this--I still stand by "Black Nite Crash". It may totally rip off "Brown Sugar", but c'mon, listen to it and try to tell me it doesn't completely rock.

"Sway": I don't have much to say here except that I really like this one. It's just got this nice loose feel to it.

"Wild Horses": Just take what I said above about Brown Sugar and replace Ride with The Sundays.

"Can't You Here Me Knocking": Starts off good, ends up great. I am a totally sucker for all the shit they pull out at the end of this song. Sudden break-down with congos and funky guitar lick? I'm on board. Hot sax solos? Count me in. Punchy organ? Oh yeah. I also love Keith's (I'm assuming it's Keith) guitar here. It's bluesy but melodic, and I love the repeated phrases, especially right at the end where the band picks up on what he's doing and the sax and drums accent what he's playing. That was probably really rehearsed, but it sounds spontaneous and just awesome. You don't like this Bruce? For shame.

"You Gotta Move": Don't care for it. I'm not really into The Stones singing the blues, but I don't think I'm much of a blues fan anyway. You like this Bruce?

"Bitch": Has all the right elements, but I still find it kind of boring.

"I Got the Blues": You would think from the title, I wouldn't like it, but I'm not sure the these guys can tell the difference between the Blues and Soul. This sounds like it could have been on an Otis album. I could say that it would sound better with Otis singing, but actually, Mick does just fine.

"Sister Morphine": This song is kind of creepy. It makes me never want to do drugs.

"Dead Flowers": Don't like it when they do the Blues. Do like it when they do soul. Love it when they do country. One of my favorites on the album. I love Mick's voice on this one. What a great feel this songs has.

"Moonlight Mile": Doesn't this sound like a closing tune? The opening reminds me of that Richard Buckner song used in the Jeep commercial a few years ago. I'm probably wrong about that. In any case, this is a really sweet sounding song. The strings at the end are used in just the right proportion, unlike some songs I know.

So, I'd say I like about 80% of this album, and I'd say Bruce and I match up about 70% on this one.

Here's what it comes down to: I really hate musicals. I really, really hate them. Harvest probably would have won if it weren't for the harps and shit.

Stones continue their domination.

If you're into the whole brevity thing...

2010-05-07T05:47:00.000-07:00

I listened to both these albums.

Blood on the Tracks wins.

blood on my cat

2010-05-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

this is vomit about music...

you know what i like about dylan...i'm still entertained by his mystique...he could say "my favorite color is green and like to eat chinese food" and people would be like, "what does he mean?"...a few years ago there were some pictures of dylan in a convenience store reading "baseball weekly" and i actually thought, "wow, dylan knows what baseball is"...that's how much i drank the kool aid...i mean why the hell wouldn't an american man know what baseball is...also, the music...i'm still impressed by the variety of not just his musical styles, but his lyrical styles...the fact that he wrote "masters of war" and "like a rolling stone" and "visions of johanna" and "lay lady lay" and "the man in me" (see intro to big lebowski) and "isis" and "pressing on" and "blind willie mctell"...i could go on an on...but i won't...i think it's easy for someone of dylan's means to say: "ok, i'll hire a bunch of people and we'll play country songs or gospel songs"...but he didn't just do that...he completely change the style of lyrics that he wrote...this is impressive to me...the gospel stuff in particular...

blood on the tracks...

i've always been sort of passively impressed by this album...some of it i really love (especially idiot wind, tangled up in blue, and shelter from the storm) and some of it i just love (you're a big girl now, if you see her say hello, and lily, rosemary, and the jack of hearts)...these are all supposedly inspired by the breakup of his marriage...i think he gets his shit across pretty good with respect to his feelings...this album feels real...the biographical details of the split not withstanding...jakob dylan said once that this album is his parents talking...too bad for the kids...if you're interested, my favorite dylan breakup song is "dirge" from planet waves, the studio album prior to blood on the tracks...

you are free...

one of the things that sucks about the death match is that i've found myself being way overly critical of music that i otherwise like just fine...you are free is like that...i bought this when it came out and listened to it a bunch and then put it back in it's respective slot...a while back i remember talking w/sarah about this album and she told me she really liked it...i listened to it again and thought it was better...there's a pretty consistent emotional tone which is important to me when judging a complete album...my criticisms lie more in the double track vocals...it just obscures the lyrics, i love lyrics (unlike some people, snark)...some of the songs are too long and make me want to kick puppies...some of the songs aren't as good as the greatest songs of all time...for example, "names" is great but it can't hold a candle to "goodbye yellow brick road"...

winner: blood on the tracks

(i am, in fact, enjoying the death match by the way...i love reading everybody's reviews and comments)

new assignments

2010-05-04T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well done everyone. We really are close to finishing now. Unfortunately, as we narrow down the list and don't have as many albums to choose from, a slow person--like say Kevin (I'll pick on him since he's no longer here)--really, really slows us all down. So I'm hoping we can pick it up a bit toward the end. Mark, Brian, and Andy need to be espcially fast since they're finishing the last few from Round 3.

End of Round 3

Steve: Massive Attack - Mezzanine vs. Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street

Mark: Rolling Stones - Between the Buttons vs. Do Make Say Think - Winter Hymn, Country Hymn, Secret Hymn

Andy: Cat Power - You Are Free vs. Dylan - Blood on the Tracks

The rest of us should try and get these done quickly as well...

Round 4

Karl: The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday vs. The Band - The Band

Eric: Nick Cave - Murder Ballads vs. Bonnie - Ease Down the Road

Jeff: Bob Marley - Legend vs. Dylan - Time Out of Mind

Sarah: Spiritualized - Ladies and Gents vs. White Stripes - Elephant

Me: Neil Young - Harvest vs. Stones - Sticky Fingers

Sarah and Jane...you will have to wait to see who Andy, Mark, and Steve pick, so that I can assign you to a match each of you is allowed to have (one of the ones below).

The Polyphonic Spree - Together We're Heavy vs. Whoever Andy picks

Funeral vs. Whoever Steve picks

Tom Waits vs. Whoever Mark picks

After this round, we'll be down to the elite eight, and I would like to suggest that at that point everyone gets a vote on each match-up. That will make the final a little less random, and it will make it easier because this round was already a bitch to assign since there were so few combinations that worked. The way it would work is that if you want to write a long defense of an album you think should move on, go for it. If not, all you have to do is say who you think should win. I'll probably put a time limit on it too. Lemme know what y'all think...

Sticky Revolver

2010-05-04T06:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry to be so slow on this one. I've been writing the papers that get me out of grad school.

Also, this matchup makes me nervous because it is a specific instance of a conversation that has probably happened a zillion times between all kinds of people: Beatles or Stones?

These are two really great bands and both albums are undeniably great, whether you like them or not.

I chose Goats Head Soup as my Stones album and after listening to Sticky Fingers once for this matchup I had to go back to see if I really like Goats Head Soup better, or if I was just being snobby. I do like Goats Head Soup better. It's a more coherent album, the sound is more interesting to me, and it has a weariness I love. Plus, the cover is (only slightly) more fun to stare at. That said, Sticky Fingers has some of the best individual Stones songs ever. Some of the best songs of anybody ever. Dead Flowers is probably my favorite, but that plus Moonlight Mile plus Wild Horses on one album=wow. I find Brown Sugar and Bitch a bit offensive, but life's a bit offensive, so... In the continuing Bruce-was-a-dork-musically-early-on series, I first heard You Gotta Move performed by CCM supergroup The Lost Dogs, then found out it was written by a "real" blues musician (s - Wikipedia says Fred McDowell and Reverend Gary Davis), then found out it was made famous by the Stones.

I have been saying for the past 15 years, "I should really get into the Beatles sometime," and listened to a few albums here and there, but never really managed to get into them. The first time I was aware of the Beatles was in eight grade when we sang Penny Lane in choir. It was kind of confusing to me. In my ears and in my eyes? Metaphor was just too much. But that song stuck in my head and now I really like it. And the other side of that single, Strawberry Fields Forever, might be my favorite Beatles song.

Revolver is interesting to me because it sounds like it's kind of the bridge album between:
1. the formal, stuffy, tight, string-quartet stuff before it, as heard in songs like Eleanor Rigby and the earliest "hey girl, you're groovy and I want to get with you" type stuff like Got to Get You into My Life and:
2. Maharishi hippie psych out acid trip stuff like Yellow Submarine and Love You Too andTomorrow Never Knows. Wow, Tomorrow Never Knows is a really wonderful song. I just turned it up. There's really a lot here. It's well-anchored by that tight, soft bass that repeats like a funk song. Love You Too is pretty great, too. Yeah, so I prefer later, more messed up, tape loop, psychedelic Beatles to the earlier stuff. Yes, their harmonies in the earlier stuff are amazing and they know how to write a good pop song, but it's too proper or something. It is interesting hearing the mix of all these things in one album, though.

The problem with both of these bands is that it's hard to listen to the music without thinking of the huge commodity they both have become. The Beatles have a bit more mystique for not existing any more instead of playing the Super Bowl half time show, but the fact that it's impossible to listen to Beatles music without either buying or stealing it speaks to their continuing market power. And I have these little snippets of interviews with them in my head where they give these snobby vague answers to the press. On the other hand, it's probably really annoying to be more popular than Jesus. And this should be about the music.

I started writing this convinced that I was going for the Stones, despite the fact that there are too many of their albums left here in the Death Match. Then I listened Tomorrow Never Knows four times in a row. Here's what I'm going to do: List the songs and give them each a yes or no, as in my first reaction (after already listening to everything several times and being fairly critical) is like or don't like:

Revolver:
Taxman - no
Eleanor Rigby - yes
I'm Only Sleeping - no
Love You to - yes
Here, There and Everywhere - no
Yellow Submarine - yes
She Said She Said - yes
Good Day Sunshine - no
For No One - yes
I Want To Tell You - no
Doctor Robert - no
Got to Get You Into My Life - yes
And Your Bird Can Sing - no
Tomorrow Never Knows - yes

Sticky Fingers:
Brown Sugar - no
Sway - yes
Wild Horses - yes
Can't You Hear Me Knockin' - no
You Gotta Move - yes
Bitch - no
I Got the Blues - yes
Sister Morphine - no
Dead Flowers - yes
Moonlight Mile - yes

Percentage of songs on album with a yes:

Revolver - 14 songs, 7 no, 7 yes = 50%
Sticky Fingers - 10 songs, 4 no, 6 yes = 60%

And the winner is: Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers

I realize there's not really anything objective going on here, but I think I was pretty honest in recording my initial thoughts. Now that I've decided, I think I really can stand behind Sticky Fingers, even if there are too many Stones albums left.

One last consolation prize for Revolver: Some of this sounds way ahead of its time. Not what I imagine 1966 to be like.

Also forgot to mention: Sticky Fingers was released on my birthday (three years before I was born)

ElephOK Computer

2010-05-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

Before we begin the review, let me just say that the lack of comments on my Cat Power review leads me to believe that you all agree with my spot on analysis, and that as much as you wanted to write about how right I was, your awakening left you too ashamed to say anything, so instead you just hung your collective heads, sighed, walked slowly over to your CD shelves pulled out all of your Cat Power albums and threw them in the garbage.

On to new business.

These two albums, which at first glance appear quite different, have a lot in common. They are both brilliant albums. They both have strong front men. They both have annoying spoken word sections. A lot of time and energy was put into the image surrounding these albums, even though you are supposed to believe that no time or effort was put into it, they just happened that way. Both bands got credit for re-energizing the music scene upon the release of the album.

Let’s dig deeper:

OK Computer

I have some baggage with this album, I’ll admit it. I loved The Bends, and was one of the few people I knew who was championing Radiohead when it came out. Then OK Computer came out, and everyone loved Radiohead and acted like they had loved them forever. And then a ‘friend’ who had promised me a ticket to the Radiohead show gave it to someone else because I was going more to see Spiritualized open than I was for Radiohead (which was partly true, but still a sucky thing to do). Plus I really can’t stand Thom Yorke. I have trouble with the tension of a band who rails against the system, but enjoys all the benefits it has to offer. And, let us be honest, they participate in it fully. Thom Yorke has a carefully sculpted image so that at all times he looks like he:
a) just woke up
b) just showed up to a party
c) wasn’t aware of the party
d) doesn’t understand why everyone is fussing over him
e) couldn’t care less anyway

It was like when the guy from Coldplay said he doesn’t consider himself a rockstar because he doesn’t wear the right pants. Then puts on huge stadium shows with outfits which were obviously picked out by a costume designer.

Here is a quote from Thom Yorke about his thoughts surrounding OK Computer: "It was like there's a secret camera in a room and it's watching the character who walks in - a different character for each song. The camera's not quite me. It's neutral, emotionless. But not emotionless at all. In fact, the very opposite." Makes me want to punch him in the face.

But I digress…

So I developed a grudge against OK Computer. I know this sounds very high school, but I was recently out of high school, and let’s not forget I am emotionally developmentally delayed by at least 4 years. Nevertheless, I’m going to try to put that behind me and listen fresh.
And listen I did. And it is a really great album. It is incredibly well textured. Airbag sounds a little more like the bends than I had remembered, but then Paranoid Android switches things up. I’d say nicely, but I’ve never been a huge fan of this song. We get some good stuff until Karma Police, which is the best song on the album for my money. Then track 7 sucks and makes me hate the album, but then Electioneering makes me forget how annoying track 7 was. And it’s tight the rest of the way through. No Surprises in particular. It’s a great album, no doubt about it.

Elephant

Speaking of douchebags, Jack White is at least as insufferable as Thom Yorke. From on article on ‘It Might Get Loud’: What happens when you put three of the most revered guitarists of the past 40 years in a room together? "Probably a fistfight," cracks Jack White.

Gee Jack, what a clever, off-the-cuff remark that certainly you hadn’t been planning on dropping the next time a reporter asked that type of question to promote your image as some sort of bad boy of rock. And then there is the whole creepiness of introducing your ex-wife as your sister, and finding it amusing to keep people guessing whether you used to sleep together, or whether you used to sleep together. So he sucks.

In the last several years my interest in new music has waxed and waned. It usually needs something to jumpstart it during the lulls, a great new band, a great live show, something. It was during a period of waning that I discovered Elephant. I hadn’t heard any White Stripes before, but I had put it on my Amazon wishlist because it seemed to be making the rounds. And I loved it. There are only two tracks on this album that I am not that fond of (Ball & Biscuit, and Hypnotize). The guitar sounds are great, the drumming is raw, everything clicks. ‘The Air Near My Fingers’ is my favourite on the album, but there are several others close behind.

So why do I care so much about the people making the music? Shouldn’t it just be about the music itself? No, and shut up. Because these aren’t just albums. At their best they are art, but at their worst they are product. Again, it strikes me as ironic that Radiohead put out such a carefully produced item that complains about our lack of connection due to our over-reliance on carefully packaged items. The biggest difference between these albums is that one leaves the mistakes and dissonance in intentionally, and one puts the mistakes and dissonance in intentionally.

In one of my earlier reviews I think I said something about liking boring rock music. It stands to reason that I would like awesome rock music even more.

Elephant wins.

Hipster garbage vs. Hippie baggage*

2010-05-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

"This emboldens me to speak out with a true heart" - Andy Wilson

"Blah blah blah blah blah blah"** - Jeff Zwart

On paper, here's how things look: The Polyphonic Spree are a bunch of hippies in robes singing about peace and love in an over-bloated, symphonic, saccharine way. Beck, on the other hand, is a pioneer of alternative music, a man who managed to merge hip-hop and alt-country and indie music into a new art form (what the hell happened to this font?).

Having said that, I should admit that I've never been into Beck in the way that everyone around me has. I always just figured this was a weakness on my part, and sure enough when I put on Odelay and heard that opening guitar riff, my first thought was "Hell yeah, this is it." Besides the fact that I have no idea what a devil's haircut means and why it's on his mind, this is one bitchin (that's right--bitchin) tune. Then "Hot Wax" came on, and I was a little underwhelmed. Hearing it this time, it seemed less like a clever collage of styles, and more like he threw everything he had at it in hopes of making something memorable stick. This feeling more or less stayed with me until "Jackass," even for some of my favorites like "New Pollution". As the album went on, I really started to violently hate just about everything I heard (with the exception of "Jack-ass"). Why? I don't know exactly. Partly, it's his rapping and his lyrics. Sorry, but I think he's a shitty rapper. And although I have repeatedly stated that lyrics don't mean that much to me, Beck has put this statement to the test. When the lyrics are this bad, it has a tendency to ruin everything. In some ways the music and lyrics fit, he's just juxtaposing words and genres but not for any particular reason except that the kids'll think it's cool. Seriously, what the hell is this guy singing about? Nothing, absolutely nothing--although each line could probably be translated as "Look at me. Look at how fucking cool I am. Look at how hip you'll never be." And then I realized, Beck is to blame for all hipsters. He is the original hipster! Just take another look at this guy:

This guy could easily be featured here. And what's up with this album cover? As Steve would say, this makes me want to kick puppies--specifically, the puppy-like thing on the actual cover. The only thing worse than the cover of Odelay is the cover of the deluxe version of Odelay (look it up), which incidentally, I picked up from the library and was going to rip-off, but just forget it now. Anyhoo, I feel like Eric and have been on pretty much the same page so far, but I guess I should have expected things to get ugly towards the end. So, let me say this to Eric: this is the guy you would nominate for best artist of the 90s instead of Lambchop? What?

Okay, now that that ugliness is behind us, let me just say that I now feel justified in never being crazy about Beck. I also feel justified in the fact that when a bunch of us went down to Florida, we all sneaked into the show (Rob and I scaled a wall and jumped over the upper-bar's fence to get in; everyone else got in by literally removing the club's back door with Brandog's tools). Incidentally, when we made it in, Beck's DJ was the most impressive part of the show.

Okay, on to Polyphonic. It turns out that I actually really do dig these guys. They put on a hell of a show, and Tim what's-his-name sure can write a hook. Steve already mentioned the way his voice and the choir's mix together well, and I'd concur. Jeff once described these guys as a mix between Spiritualized and the Muppets, and this I too would agree with. The fact of the matter is that when I listen to this album I feel good and generally positive. So call me a hippie or whatever, but I like it. And speaking of hippies, one more thing in the Spree's favor. Right now, I am actually playing in a band with a bunch of hippies (nine to be exact), and while it's generally fun, the fact of the matter is I'm sick of people constantly missing practices and shows, and then complaining that we don't sound tight enough. I say, screw you hippies, and I also say anyone who can get 23 people to record and put on great shows can't be too into peace and love all the time. And they aren't because not only do the Spree beat Beck--all 23 of them give him the cock-punching of a lifetime. How groovey is that.

* most people who know me realize that when I talk like this I only mean about 25% of what I say. Like Karl, I blame my dad for this. His sense of hyperbolic disgust at something he doesn't immediately like, I feel, has passed on to both me and Jeff. And like him, we think it's funnier than it actually is.

** I realize this review isn't very coherent and just kind of rambles***--kind of like a Beck record!

***Since I'm rambling anyways, I can't believe Odelay took down The Elected. Here's what I propose, Odelay is is the kind of album that sounds fresh once you first hear it, but eventually sounds like the tired garbage it is**** while The Elected's Sun Sun Sun sounds too familiar/derivative when you first hear it, but eventually the sheer brilliance of the song-writing and arranging convinces you of its superiority. Also--since I'm really rambling now--speaking of brilliant arranging, everyone should get Samamidon's new album.

**** Unless apparently, you are Brian or Eric.*

Waits a minute there, U2

2010-05-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Tom Waits is not my thing. For instance, I like bacon as much as the next person, but the song "Filipino Box Spring Hog" is a touch too carnivorous a song for me; what's more, it devolves into near-chanting at times, and I have precious little patience for chanting. I'm also rather wary of songs like "What's He Building in There," which might be performance art, but don't strike me as songs. "What's He Building in There," in fact, strikes me as the phenomenon that would result were Joe McCarthy to commission Dr. Seuss to write a poem and Christopher Walken to read it. Then there's a number of songs on Mule Variations that I could take or leave: they enact the vintage Tom Waits oddity but to relatively little purpose, I think (see "Eyeball Kid" and "Big in Japan"). Other songs I trust more to have some purpose, though I couldn't tell what it is. Still: can the line "stir my brandy with a nail" be for naught? could "Cold Water" make me think so readily of Bruce for nothing? Then there's another category of songs; I love them. Some I love only a little, like "Take it with Me" and "Pony," because they have only a small share of husky sweetness, of the element that's rough and wistful at the same time. Others I love immensely. "Georgia Lee," for example, strikes me, with its "Why wasn't God watching?" as a the put-upon utterance of a faith unable to put have done with theodicy and unable to have done with God. In another key, "Come on up to the House" keeps company with spirituals, and "Hold On" is the best sort of ballad: one without poetic distance so that the refrain to this song (the rejoinder to "hold on") exceeds the portrait of the characters who appear in its verses.

In comparison, U2 comes across as more solid and more staid. I don't find any song on Joshua Tree particularly irksome, and to sidle my sympathies back into keeping with "Running to Stand Still" or "Mothers of the Disappeared" is easy enough. So many of these songs, though, relistened-to, seem formulaic. I'm pretty sure that this judgment is unfair; I'm pretty sure that U2 patented the formula and that Joshua Tree sounds rather cookie-cutter in retrospect because so many other bands tried to reproduce it. But you can't blame the over-reliance on weather metaphors on anyone but U2 (so much rain).

So, yes: Mule Variations has tracks that I would probably skip and Joshua Tree doesn't. Nonetheless, Mule Variations surprises me in ways that, even when I don't particularly like them, I suspect of being worthwhile, and I can't say that about this U2 album. And when Tom Waits does snare me, when he blesses my "crooked little heart," it astounds me. Beyond the telling of it.

So: Mule Variations, mosey on.

Pervs of a Feather

2010-05-01T07:53:00.001-07:00

If You Like Killers, You’ll Love Murderers

2010-05-01T07:41:00.000-07:00

If only I had bumped The Boatman’s Call further up on my list. Or if only Andy had chosen that Nick Cave album instead. Then I’d be spouting about what I like best about Cave (stinging religious and romantic incredulism, disarming disappointment, wryness to the max) instead of trying to form words about Murder Ballads, which leaves me conflicted. I mean, it’s a fascinating project, but not one I want to revisit start to finish any old day. I might even call it a carefully constructed novelty.

It may be the subject matter: I’d rather hang with the frustrated living than the wrongful dead and criminally insane.

Tracks or tales that grab me include “Stagger Lee,” “Henry Lee,” “The Kindness of Strangers,” and “The Curse of Millhaven.” Tracks I tire of include at least “Lovely Creature” and “O’Malley’s Bar.” I get what they’re up to, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy their company. Also, the final track, the Dylan cover “Death is Not the End,” seems a questionable statement in this context, if not an ironic one. Maybe this is what Cave was going for, but after the album rattles listeners through and through, it would be some small consolation to trust the sincerity of this song’s inclusion. Oh, and does anyone else find the sub-verbals (screaming, crying) and sound effects (bullets) on this album overly theatrical? Really, Mr. Cave, the stories and their delivery are plenty scary already. Finally, I wonder if Murder Ballads is of a time, like a murder trend, and if this Po Mo reanimation of the infamous bloody dead shocked and rocked most in the couple of years after its release.

In contrast, The Killers’ Hot Fuss just digs its hooks in and stays pretty darn catchy throughout. There’s no song that fully irritates me, and there’s no song that fully engages me. I enjoyed listening to this album, or I enjoyed it as long as I didn’t take it too seriously on too many levels. Once I started taking these albums more seriously, though, I realized that Hot Fuss is not the album that preoccupies me or makes me want to pick it apart.

So: Even if I’m seldom inclined to take in Murder Ballads cover to cover, it turns out I was wrong about at least one of my complaints in the first paragraph. I like forming words about this album. Just not enough to stay indoors toying with the macabre on an 80+ degree day.

Harvest vs. Soft Bulletin

2010-04-30T07:21:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to somehow get an epiphany sometime since I started listening to these two albums. I vascillate each day between which is the better album.

Both of these are classic albums, both stand up amazingly well. Neither is currently my favorite album by these artists, but both are outstanding. I don't have anything else to say to sing their praises, and I can't find a whole lot, if anything, wrong with them (other than maybe Harvest's cover).

I have arguments why I feel each album should advance, but the next day I change my mind.

Ultimately, I've decided that whatever album has the best song should advance. I'm going with Heart Of Gold, one of my all-time favorite tunes.

I also like the idea that the album that's been a classic for a longer period of time (Eric or Andy's idea, I can't remember who) should advance, which would also make it Harvest on two counts.

Arcade Fire vs. Marvin Gaye

2010-04-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

I had real trouble with Marvin Gaye. Great voice, obviously, but I just can't get on board with the type of instrumentation used on this record. It's the same reason I can't watch Scarface...the soundtrack is so ridiculous and cheeseball that I can't dig into the content of the script. It's totally subjective...I just can't stand the sounds of the intruments.

I haven't been super impressed with Arcade Fire as of late. Neon Bible is a big crapfest that makes me want to kick puppies. But Funeral is a stellar record.

And it is the record that moves on.

Ease Down the Road vs. Disintegration

2010-04-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

This is the best and worst of BPB lyrics in two stanzas:

a shark and a dog now you're laughing
the dog licks the shark dry in your photographing
and i lick you dry until you're laughing
my finger is in your behind

i woke up fat and almost unhappy
but the bigger the laugh the bigger the belly
and i bellow out and the whole bed it shakes
and you smile at my laugh as it rocks you awake

The worst is the puerile oral/fecal fixations. The best is the transparency of emotional expression.

There are of course other bests. Simplicity, as in "idle hands are the devil's plaything." Ambiguous metaphors and pithy neologisms, as in "a bird in my ear / was beaking away / about all the jewels / he had come across that day / jewels in the grass / where the worms used to be."

There are other worsts: bad slant rhymes and consonance ("your breast breaths" I seem to remember from one song, but I can't find it now).

Ease Down the Road, or, as I like to call it, "Master and Everyone: Episode 1," has a sweet synth and too much sex.

More importantly, about the artist: BPB's music is accessible. His apparent philosophy of sloppiness is eye-opening. Listening to him makes me want to make music, and that's why I don't blush saying he's one of the finest artists of the last hundred years.

But I need to punish him for the childish stuff. Punish him in a way that Eric was unwilling to. And after I've bent him over my knee (BPB not Eric) this album would be a good one with which to spank him.

My personal story with The Cure, meanwhile, is one of alienation: The cool hippie kids in high school listened to them, and it sounded magical but I didn't get it, and anyway my parents wanted me listening to only classical and oldies. Don't get me wrong. It's totally my own fault. I alienated myself and, as a side-effect, ended up dry humping for ten long years. I mean, this hot hippie girl took me up to her room and played The Cure for me while I lay on her bed. Not just on her bed: I lay between her legs, with my head resting on her stomach. And I lay there, motionless. After the song was over I said something like, "Hey, can I use your phone to call my parents to come pick me up? I wanna go home and play computer games on my Apple ][."

So I missed The Cure train, although it's not clear whether I'm biased for or against. Listening now, I find it inspiring. I know I gave BPB mad props just now for making me want to play music, but this Cure does also. I like the way the song finds its groove before the words start. The flange/phase/chorus effects are still a hit, although they sometimes miss; I wish the "Breakfast Club" synth was a little edgier, and so it misses a bit, but sometimes hits.

Too bad Lie Down In The Light got laid down, because it would be easier to 86 this album if Will Oldham still had another horse in the race. (It would be easier to mix a metaphor if I . . . uh . . .)

I just can't do it. I can't let the hippies beat the cowboys. Will Oldham, you just barely squeaked by. And you made SDR's unborn daughter cry. Your questionable album advances as a representative of your better material.

band of substance

2010-04-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

The winner: The Band

There's just too much history for me with The Band. Richard Manuel on Whispering Pines, Levon Helm on The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down. These are songs I'll love forever.

New Order made this a pretty close fight. I really enjoyed Ceremony, Blue Monday, and Bizarre Love Triangle in particular. This is the first time that I feel that I really "got" New Order.

This was pretty close. Both of these albums really do deserve to move on. I guess this is what the Death Match is all about

Ladies and Gentlemen Is a Woman

2010-04-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

Spiritualized: Ladies and Gentlemen...

"All I want in life's a little bit of love to take the pain away..." What a great opening refrain (and a concise summary of the overarching theme of most pop/rock music). I think this was the first Spiritualized album I got, and it is still my overall favorite of theirs. The first six tracks are solid as hell ("I Think I'm in Love", "Stay With Me", and "Electricity" being my favorites).

It's not until the scond half of the album that the band gets a little too caught up in songs that dissolve into "noise" (AKA "a test of the listener's patience and endurance"). Over the years, I find myself typically skipping through "The Individual", "No God Only Religion", and the last 9 minutes or so of "Cop Shoot Cop..." (The first 8 minutes of that last song, however, are totally awesome. )

Uncle Eric's Doppler 2000 Album Accu-Rating: 4.1

Lambchop: Is a Woman

Lambchop is a funny little big band. I think I first heard them as the backing musicians on Vic Chesnutt's The Salesman and Bernadette, which remains my favorite of his albums (May he R.I.P.). I went through a phase in the early 2000's during which I listened to Nixon and Is a Woman quite a bit, too. I didn't really sour on them, but I have to admit I haven't pulled either of these albums out in several years. It was fun to re-visit. At his best on this album, Kurt Wagner's songs remind me of Mr. Chesnutt: sad and funny at the same time, keenly observant but also impressionistic, and full of fun words/ phrases like "waggle" and "weird porno philosophy". He also seems to have gone to the same school of singing: His voice is an acquired taste, and his vocal phrasing is often odd but charming.

The musicianship here is impressive, too. I especially dig the use of vibes on several songs. However, the tracks on Like a Woman seem to blend a little too easily into one long, sleepy, hushed haze to me. At times, this reminds me of "hipster lounge"...Nothing is too offensive (musically, not lyrically), and the music feels almost intentionally restrained. I wish there were a few more numbers like "D. Scott Parsley" with its discernable drum beat and even a hint at a little funk guitar.

A good album for a quiet autumn afternoon, but one I definitely have to be in the right mood for. The older I get, the less often I enjoy listening to slow, mellow, melancholy music...I crave a good beat, a little boom-diggity, and I'm not ashamed to say it.

Uncle Eric's Storm-Tracker Precision Album Rating: 3.8

A pretty close one, but Spiritualized takes it.

This one was too easy

2010-04-25T13:38:00.000-07:00

The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday vs. U2 - Achtung Baby

I was a little worried after my last match up that I had turned into a huge U2 fanboy... boy was I lucky to be assigned Achtung Baby.

Do people really think this is a great album? I'm not asking to be a smart-ass, but more in the light of 'what did I miss?' I thought it was boring, and even the songs I knew (one, even better, mysterious ways) seemed a little dull. Maybe my views were skewed by the fact that people who uploaded this album on grooveshark can't seem to get the track listings right... and I'll admit, I thought to myself that if this many people can't get the tracks right, we're probably dealing with an album people are just "supposed" to buy. The only positive thing about Achtung Baby is that I'm positive it sucks. Ok, maybe that's not fair, I mean, they do get points for having an album cover that kind of looks like a Bon Jovi album cover. I'm actually not sure if that is true, but it might be, so they get those points.

Maybe I'm all UPoo because I listened to Separation Sunday first, and pretty much immediately knew I'd like this album. While listening to this album I thought of a few other bands... Kings of Leon, Tragically Hip, Dead Milkmen, and that band that I can't remember the name of. I'm not saying these bands are at all similar or have some kind of connection, but I did think about them. For instance, the Dead Milkmen - I'm sure only came up because Andrew recently mentioned them. The key though, is that I didn't think of these bands when I was listening to U2. The Hold Steady made me feel good, increased my energy level, and made me a better person.

I also feel a lot better now that I have a valid reason for ignoring U2. That's a huge win for a weekend, and it is only topped by the few times I listened to The Hold Steady...

So, here we go, I'm proud to say this was easily the most lopsided match up so far, Separation Sunday wins. Sorry Daniel Lanois, 0 for 2 today (ok 1 for 2).

Total Rip-off

2010-04-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, I went looking for Time Out of Mind to pop in the CD player, but it wasn't anywhere to be found. I figured one of you hosers (I'm looking at you Karl) probably stole it from me, so I went to the library, got a copy and ripped it to my hard-drive. A couple of days ago, I realized I had to actually listen to Air for my assignment, so I went to the library, got a copy, and ripped it to my hard-drive. Ripping stuff off is kind of my thing.

Anyway, here's what I thought of Air:

This is an album and a band I know and like, although I must admit it had been some time since I had listened to Moon Safari in its entirety. However, after just finishing it again a few minutes ago, I was not disappointed. I think this probably remains Air's most cohesive, consistent album to date. They are able to sustain a delicate balance throughout: The music is heavily electronic yet also feels organic; it is futuristic but with a retro vibe; lounge-y but never lapsing into mere "background music". A few of the songs go on a bit longer than I would prefer, I don't know what the hell "Sexy Boy" is about, and occasionally I long for a more invigorating beat, but I also know that's not what Air or this album is all about. That's just me being too American and not French enough.

So, all in all, not too shabby. Let's see what I thought of Dylan:

As many of you know, Bob Dylan is easily my favorite artist of all time, even though I don't listen to him nearly as often as I used to (Christmas in the Heart definitely grew on me, BTW). There's just so much there to listen to (and for) and so much variety. With "Time Out of Mind" I just love the blunt lyrical style and how Bob uses his "broken" voice to convey the brokenness around him. This really resonated with me - the feeling of being out of place with the world. I started listening to Dylan in 1989 and back then the focus was always on what he did in the 60's. I obviously love a lot of that stuff, but with "Time Out of Mind," there was finally new music to sink my teeth into. I remember where I was standing in my bedroom when I first listened to this album (I was standing by the left side of my dresser).

Hmmmm. Both sound good. I should take another listen to each and reevaluate.

Here goes:

If it were all based on album covers, Moon Safari would surely win. Sure, there's something a little too 70's going on the fronts of both these CDs. But at least the guy up front on Air's CD art could easily be modeled on those action figures that I know Jeff and me lost in our house's shag carpet when we were little and not on that menacing looking Bob Dylan.

It's supposed to be about the music, though. So: each of these albums has some lovely instrumentation. Air know how to deploy trumpet music at precisely the right instants, and that Dylan can pull in the most countrified blues riff at the beginning of "Dirt Road" proves, I think, that at his best, the guy has a knack for the finest kind of incongruity.

That said, there's a few songs that strike me as tired on each of these albums.

Dylan's,"Can't Wait" for instance, takes a critical stance that should be wry or incredulous or pointed but isn't; it's just conventional judgment gussied up in hip clothing. For my money, "'Til I fell in love with you," too, lacks invention, as do a number of the weird biblical resonances on this album, which stop short of iconoclasm, it seems, not out of reverence but because they don't know any better and lack verve. Then again, "Standing In the Doorway" and "Not Dark Yet" have enough groove that they could almost reconcile me to the Time Out of Mind album art.

As for Air, let's admit that "Sexy Boy" is easy fodder for high school movies for a reason. By and large, though, where Moon Safari sounds overplayed, it's mostly because it is played often, which speaks more to the album's quality than to any weakness for cliche on its part. And I can imagine myself overindulging in "Kelly Watch" and "You Make it Easy" especially.

Man, I still feel stuck. I should probably just interview myself to decide:

1. Which album would you prefer to see performed live, from beginning to end?

Air - Moon Safari
Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind

2. Which album made a bigger imprint on you in your naval-gazing college years?

Air - Moon Safari
Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind

3. Which album is not produced by Daniel Lanois, whose trademark tricks have begun to wear on you?

a. Air - Moon Safari

b. Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind

4. Which lyric do you prefer?

"Sexy Boy Sexy Boy
Dollars in their eyes
Diamonds in their smiles
One day I too will be beautiful like a god
Sexy Boy Sexy Boy
Apollo, perfect x 2000, 21 years old
The ideal man, masculine charm
Sexy Boy Sexy Boy"
“When the rain is blowing in your face  / and the whole world is on your case /  I could offer a warm embrace /  to make you feel my love” (Dylan) = BAAAARRRRFFFF.

5. On the other hand, which lyric do you prefer?

"Kelly watch the stars / Kelly watch the stars/ Kelly watch the stars / Kelly watch the stars / Watch the stars / Watch the stars (repeat)"
“I'm crossin' the street to get away from a mangy dog  / talkin' to myself in a monologue  / I think what I need might be a full length leather coat  / just asked me if I'm registered to vote” (Dylan)

6. Which track is more annoying?

a. “Make You Feel My Love” from Time Out of Mind (point for Air)

b. "Ce Matin La" and "New Star in the Sky" (two points for Dylan)

c. All three make me wish a car with exhaust issues would stall in front of my house playing this.

7. Which of these artists/albums riffs on the blues and make them seem more relevant than most contemporary blues musicians?

Air
Dylan

8. Which pick would yield the smallest chance of jabs regarding “token feminists”?

Air
Dylan

9. On the other hand, which artist has probably had more sex with Lou Reed?

Air
Bob Dylan

10. Which album do you most want more Music Death Matchers to experience because it would mix things up and whittle the remaining Dylan down to your own favorites?

Air - Moon Safari
BD – Time Out of Mind

11. Which album can be indisputably described as music, not performance art?

Air - Moon Safari
BD – Time Out of Mind

There you have it--as those of you who closely read through the list of remaining albums know: Dylan wins.

ummmmm

2010-04-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday one day late, Bruce. I'm giving you an extra 20 points. And, may Do Makes go all the way.

wasting time

2010-04-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

There's a great profile of the The National in the Sunday Times magazine section with links to the audio stream of their upcoming album....in case you're interested.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/magazine/25national-t.html?pagewanted=1

I like to score...

2010-04-23T06:04:00.000-07:00

Alright, now that Jeff finally got his pick in, I can post the most updated scores. Eric still leads the pack, but only because we keep picking his records (think about it):

Eric 421
Andrew 403
Sarah 292
Andy 285
Brian 278
Bruce 175
Mark 171
Jeff 168
Dwight 153
Karl 127
Kevin 107
Jane 67
Steve 56

And here is a list of the records still left in the tourney (the people who chose them are in parantheses):

Division 1
Hold Steady - Seperation Sunday (Andrew)
U2 - Actung Baby (Brian, Karl)
New Order - Sustance (Eric)
The Band -The Band (Andrew, Dwight)
The Cure - Disintegration (Brian, Steve)
Bonnie - Ease Down the Road (Andrew)
Nick Cave - Murder Ballads (Andy)
Killers - Hot Fuss (Mark)

Division 2

Marley Man - Legend (Brian)
Dylan - Time Out of Mind (Andy, Eric)
Flaming Lips - Soft Bulletin (Andy)
Neil Young -Harvest (Kevin, Mark)
Stones - Sticky Fingers (Sarah)
Beatles - Revolver (Eric)

Division 3

Marvin - What's Going On (Eric)
Arcade Fire - Funeral (Dwight, Sarah)
Massive Attack - Mezzanine (Sarah)
Stones -Exile (Andrew)
Stones - Between the Buttons (Eric)
Do Make Say Think - Winter Hymn, Country Hymn, Secret Hymn (Bruce)
U2 - Joshua Tree (Brian)
Tommy Boy - Mule Variations (Dwight)

Division 4

Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen (Brian, Mark, Dwight, Jeff, Karl, Steve)
Lambchop - Is A Woman (Andrew)
White Stripes - Elephant (Andy, Dwight, Eric)
Radiohead - OK Computer (Andy, Karl, Brian)
Beck - Odelay (Brian)
Polyphonice Spree - Together We're Heavy (Jeff)
Bob - Blood on the Tracks (Bruce, Sarah)
Cat Power - You Are Free (Sarah)

Now, here's a list of how many albums each person has left:

Brian - 7
Eric - 6
Sarah - 5
Dwight - 5
Andy - 5
Andrew - 5
Mark - 3
Karl - 3
Steve - 2
Jeff - 2
Bruce - 2
Kevin - 1
Jane - 0

As you can see, many of you could still do really well. The last few rounds are worth a lot of points, so even if you only have a few albums left, if they make it, they could jump you ahead by quite a bit.

Oh, and here are assignments for Steve, Jeff, and Jane:

Steve: Marvin Gaye - What's Going On vs. Arcade Fire - Funeral
Jane: U2 - Joshua Tree vs. Tom Waits - Mule Variations
Jeff: White Stripes - Elephant vs. Radiohead - OK Computer

Finally, a couple questions for you all as we wait people's picks: Are any of you cheering for underdogs that you didn't pick? And also, how is it that Pavement didn't even make it in the tournament? Before this whole thing started, I would have guessed Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain would have won it all. Are there other obvious records that we completely missed? And finally, are you all aware that Broken Social Scene, New Pornographers and The Hold Steady have new albums coming out on May 4? My head just might explode.

I © Everything (that was supposed to be a heart)

2010-04-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

I felt bad as I listened to Joni Mitchell because, as Eric seemed to be alluding to in one of his comments I didn’t make it all the way through, you definitely need the proper framework to appreciate certain kinds of music. Then we come to Cat Power, where this doesn’t really apply, since it is such a huge pile of crap. From Wikipedia:

“Cat Power was the brainchild of Courney Love who felt as though she had tapped out her ability to ruin music through all mainstream channels, and turned to the indie scene instead. In an effort to clandestinely influence, and subvert, and ultimately destroy indie music, she brought together some of the most grating melodies the world has ever seen, sung poorly, with guitar and organ sounds only the most depraved cacophonist could love, with the goal of making music so grating, yet with enough indie cred, that record stores would stock dozens of copies which would sit on the shelves gathering dust, eventually shuttering record store doors when they couldn’t shed themselves of enough back catalogue.”

The other day in the car my son, who had listened to The Rolling Stones only once before (the previous day) started chanting ‘I want the Rolling Stones’. When the Sally Seltman song I was listening to ended, I told him (without changing the disc) “Okay, now it’s The Rolling Stones”. After a few seconds he wasn’t buying it, and started chanting again. So I switched the CD (much to my daughters consternation) and then James sighed contentedly ‘The Rolling Stones’. Also, bonus points for the awesome circus music on track 6. That was probably the highlight of a great album.

The Rolling Stones move on. Also, I will send a signed copy of myself to the first person to comment on why I chose the poster of ‘Some Kind Of Wonderful’ to accompany this review. Besides the fact that it was an awesome movie. Although, kind of career poison for everyone involved.

And finally it occurred to me that the sarcastic wink I was doing at the time I typed the comment to the effect that Andy W and Eric are terrible people with horrendous taste in music didn’t come across on the interweb. So here it is *wink*. Seriously though, yous yags are all right.

Marlley vs. Stone Roses

2010-04-22T03:18:00.001-07:00

Maybe it was the beautiful weather outside that swayed me as I listened on my porch...but Marley is the clear winner on a nice spring day.

The Bare Minimum

2010-04-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

I am too frazzled to justify this to you people, but I will tell you this: Cat Power's You Are Free beats out Wilco's Being There.

ho ho hum

2010-04-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

White Stripes-Elephant vs. Bjork-Homogenic

I had a hard time getting into either of these albums too much. I don't own either, so I had to listen to them on Lala. I have tried to get the CD's from the library when i don't have them so that I can listen to them in the car, which is a good time for me to just sit and listen to the music. So, I've listened to each album once.

I'm going to have to go with the White Stripes here. Although I am impressed with the fact that both Karl and Sarah rated this album exactly midway, 15th on their list, that's not enough for me to put it over the top. Since I got to listen to each album exactly once, it really comes down to which one could I see myself throwing on more often. Although I do enjoy Bjork, and find her voice and brand of electronica unique and satisfying, I just dont' have a hankering for electronica that often. Let me say this, I loved Bjork in Dancer in the Dark, and her singing was very powerful to me in the context of that story. Just listening to Homogenic did not have the same impact. It's great music, just not my personal fave. Sorry to be so subjective. I'm sure there are a lot of reasons why this is a great and influential electronica album.

I haven't really been into the White Stripes, but, similar to the Stone Roses album last week, it just worked for me. There ain't nothing wrong with a good rock and roll song with a strong base line that carries it along. They had variety, they seldom if ever (in my recollection) devolved into just making noise, and they're clever. Although I don't know that I'd listen to this album over and over, I'd love to see them live. I think it would be a blast (perhaps not a strong argument for passing along the album. hmm...)

Anyway, my reviews are taking longer and longer to get out and they're not nearly as fun or in depth as others. Perhaps it's my time to bow out of the death match. End of the school year is coming (both classes I teach and class I take), so it's only bound to get worse. I feel that the picks from here on out deserve more attention than I'm giving them. I've really enjoyed it thus far, and look forward to reading reviews and seeing who wins. In the words of Father Leo,the 85 year old priest at my school, have fun, and try to be good

I Bet You Never Saw This Coming...

2010-04-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

Psych.

I have a cold, and I am tired and grumpy. I am going to keep my thoughts as brief as I can, which isn't promising much.

Dylan's Blood on the Tracks is an undisputed classic, but it has never been one of my personal faves. It always leaves me feeling blah and slightly depressed. Maybe that's what it's supposed to do, being Dylan's-infamous-relationship-disintegration album and all.

"Tangled Up In Blue" has been partially spoiled for me by all the Dead-Head hippies who dance to it at live Dylan shows, as well as by a fleeting reference to it in Hootie and the Blowfish's "Only Wanna Be With You". Ugh. I like how "Idiot Wind" rocks, but Good Lord, Dylan just sounds so mean here. What an arse. However, I absolutely adore "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go". "Simple Twist of Fate" and "Shelter From the Storm" are real keepers, too. The End.

Uncle Eric's Estimated Album Rating: 4-ish

I have already made my distaste for most things Sufjan-ish known, and so it should come as no surprise that I found myself less than enthused while listening to Anathallo's Canopy Glow. These folks are obviously talented singers and musicians, but what they're doing just ain't my bag, baby. It sounds to me like the hipsters from the high school band got together with the cool kids from the glee club and made an album of fey, twee, campy (but in an earnest way) pop. Oh my. It's all very pretty, I suppose, but there are just one too many glockenspiels in the line-up for my taste.

Uncle Eric's Approximate Album Rating: 2.5-ish

Dylan and his bloody tracks take it.

Ask and you shall receive

2010-04-19T16:06:00.000-07:00

Okay hosers, I was gonna wait for the last few stragglers to get their picks in, but it doesn't look like that's happening, so we'll move on to the next round. When they do, I'll get you the most recent scores and brackets. From this point out, when you post a choice, you will get your next assignment.

Now, we are getting down to it. Some tough choices here. In this round, we'll find out how Mark really feels about U2, we'll also get to see what's more hardcore--murder ballads or The Killers, and finally, we'll see how Bruce fares with a classic match-up. There are eight assignments here, which actually takes care of the first two divisions of this round.

Round 3

Division 1

Mark: The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday vs. U2 - Achtung Baby

Andy: New Order - Substance vs. The Band - The Band

Karl: BPB - Ease Down the Road vs. The Cure - Disintegration

Sarah: Nick Cave - Murder Ballads vs. The Killers - Hot Fuss

Division 2

Steve: Stone Roses - Stone Roses vs. Bob Marley - Legend

Me: Air - Moon Safari vs. Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind

Brian: Flaming Lips - Soft Bulletin vs. Bonnie P billy - Lie Down in the Light

Bruce: Beatles - Revolver vs. Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers

p.s. if I made a mistake and assigned you to an album you had on your list or that you already chose, can you let me know?

Blah Humbug

2010-04-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

U2 - Joshua Tree vs. Cut Copy - Neon Love

I can't tell you how many times I have listened to these albums over the last week. That's a bad thing, considering I can't stand U2.

Back in the glory days, I actually owned The Joshua Tree. I believe I picked it up as one of my 10 albums for 1cent from Columbia House. Maybe that just goes to show that I didn't have very much music on my palette at the time. What a shame, that I wasted 1/10th of a cent.

The original reason why I don't care for U2 has nothing to do with music at all, but rather it was for political reasons. Wouldn't Bono be proud. I won't go into what the circumstances were to create such a travesty, but I will say to those who think it is stupid to hold onto a grudge for 20 years and to suffer collateral damage with something that has nothing to do with the original issue...

1) There is no suffering with an absence of U2.
2) Replace U2 with, oh lets say, Creed, and tell me your aren't holding a grudge.

So that's basically the prelude to this match up.

For Neon Love, I have to say, it's not bad. I certainly wouldn't want it turned off if I heard it. If the first track came on the radio, I'd probably crank it. The second track isn't too shabby either. By the third track, I'm wondering if we're repeating things though. Plus it has a major sin in it... lyrics referencing communication, but to make sure everyone understands the concept, they make some telephone sounds. Absolutely terrible. The only thing worse is singing about "keyboards", a "mouse", or the "internet". But hey, even great artists make this mistake (GNR, Roy Harper to call out some my favs. Although, when Dread does it, it effing works). Going Nowhere, isn't too bad either, but by now, I'm really doing a double check with my keyboard and mouse to make sure my internet music player is not on repeat. I have to keep reminding myself, does the song stand on its own, and it probably does. ZapZap, is this just a lyricless rehash of an earlier song? AutoBahn Music Box, same thing. Bright Neon Payphone... I like the less electronic, more guitar, sound of this one. It sounds different enough that I am worried it isn't Cut Copy. If it is them, then they get bonus points. A Dream seems to take us back to the beginning, which maybe is good. But I'm not so sure.

Overall, this isn't a bad album, but I wasn't wowed. It gets points for not pissing me off too much, points for being acceptable music that my friends can play in my presence (oh the honor!), and points for having some tunes that can be cranked. It loses points for being repetitive, and being too obvious with everyday objects.

The Joshua Tree needs no further introductions. But lets get this over with quickly. Streets have no name... yeah, ok it is a good song, fine. It has that edge guitar sound, which gets old pretty quick, but what can you do. Still haven't found..., again, fine, I'll admit it is a good song too. Bullet, shit this is a good one too. Running to stand still, not bad, but nothing special.. hah, these guys suck. Red Hill, I'd say this is a throwaway too, but it might not be. There are some interesting, simple things here, which I can appreciate. A little muzak-y. In God's Country, we're back up tempo, they've obviously opened a new can of edge guitar - regular flavour. Not bad, but it is standard-issue U2.. Trip Through is kind of lame. Like they are all cool and hip because they have a harmonica. One Tree Hill, I'm going to judge the song based on the show of the same name, which some would say isn't fair, but I say tough. The show has Chad Micheal Murray and he was in Dawson's Creek, so OTH must rule, and therefore the song kicks ass.

Overall, this album as a few songs on my list of things I can leave behind. But it also has some really good stuff on there too. So it isn't so easy to dismiss.

At first, I figured I would just listen to Neon Love, just to verify it wasn't crap, and then pass it on to the next round. But after listening to The Tree, I knew I couldn't justify doing that. I listened to these albums numerous times, really trying to find the magic in Bright Like Neon Love, and validating the pure evil in The Joshua Tree. I was unsuccessful in each. Neon Love gained more points on each listen, while I was less impressed with Joshua Tree on the last listen vs the first, but overall I must hang my head in shame, and move Joshua Tree onto the next round.

Kin I pretty please have an assignment to take too long to compare?

2010-04-18T09:58:00.001-07:00

please?

Mule Pit

2010-04-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

There's no way a bunch of Emerson and Berklee preppy punks who got started the year after I left Boston are gonna beat out the dark rider, the nighthawk at the diner, Doc Heller, the pot banger, the potion barker.

I put up Rain Dogs on my list, but I had considered Bone Machine, Mule Variations, Frank's Wild Years, and Swordfishtrombones. Any Tom Waits album is good as longs as it's got one good grand weeper and one good grim reaper -- and perhaps I'd add, one good pot banger.

Mule Variations is strong on the weepers and bangers. When I start listing favorites I have a hard time stopping. Mule variations might be a little weak on reapers, depending on how you define them; songs like Black Market Baby and Eyeball Kid and Low Side of the Road don't really do much for me. (Contrast to Bone Machine and Rain Dogs, which are full of good reapers.)

Overall I think Mule Variations feels a little more well-rounded and accessible than other Tom Waits, which is a good thing.

So yeah, the Tom Waits is going to win. Still, there's a reason three of you nominated a few Bosto punks to be (forever, indelibly) memorialized in the great Music Death Match of 2010. I listened for about thirty seconds to Chunk of Change and I added it to my shopping cart. Some really nice electronics. Scratches the Postal Service itch and yet it feels (granted, from a first listen) like it might have more staying power.

Beck is Elected, The Elected is not elected

2010-04-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

"Brian, I think you'll really like (30) The Elected - Sun, Sun, Sun; however, I don't know if you will like it more than (19) Beck - Odelay"

Andrew is once again prescient....I'll save the suspense. The Elected is pleasant music, but doesn't really grab me. I enjoy listening to it, but have trouble paying attention to it. I don't dislike it, but it's not grabbing me enough to separate it from other bands that do this style well.

Odelay still sounds fresh. I love the beats and grooves. It at times feels gimmicky, but I like these gimmicks. After continued career progression and evolution, even Beck has tried to recapture some of Odelay's brilliance on Guero and the Information. I think this is still more cutting edge than a lot of current music.

Sorry Zwartitude.

blue train floating in space

2010-04-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

i'm glad i got to listen to a jazz album...despite numerous tries over the years, i've never really latched on to the jazz music...i've got a smattering of stuff by coltrane, miles, ornette coleman, coleman hawkins, lionel hampton, charlie christian, dave brubeck, and others, but none of it has really grabbed me...i mean i like it and it doesn't annoy me or anything, it just doesn't really mean anything to me...blue train was an album i hadn't heard...it followed along with my past experience with the jazz...for a classic jazz album, i'd give it a solid A+...but at the same time, i don't care if i ever listen to it again...

not to sound like that douche ken burns, but i think jazz reminds me of baseball...if you really understand it, there are alot of things there to pay attention to...in baseball, there are the pitching matchups, position of the infielders, and so on...with jazz, a lot of the action favors the educated listener...i don't think i'm really that person...like i know coltrane uses lots a different modalities or whatever, but if it was just up to me, i'd never notice those things...i don't have the music knowledge to get all that stuff without reading about it...i read a biography of miles davis a coupla years ago and i barely understood any of the music writing...i guess i'm saying this: jazz is enjoyable to listen to, but i don't think i can fully appreciate it...

i've got 3 spiritualized albums, including ladies and gentleman...this is my favorite of the three (i also have let it come down and songs in a and e)...i feel like jason pierce found a theme with this album and followed through with it pretty well...this is a quite ambitious batch of music and it almost always succeeds...as a negative, there are a few parts that just turn into noise for me...i feel like they must be fun to play, but not much fun to listen to a (kinda like jazz)...9 times outta 10, though, i'd pick to listen to spritualized...

winner: ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in space...

Compare / Contrast Assignment on Radiohead and Guh

2010-04-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

Again, I had a hard time deciding between these two albums, so I assigned my students to listen to them both and write a compare/contrast essay. I chose the best essay among them, figuring the best writer should get to decide. Here it is, along with my comments on the bottom:

Many things share similarities, but also there are many things that are different. Some of these things include art, fruit, cars, and even music. In music, every album is different, but also shares some similarities. For example, Radiohead’s album “OK Computer” and Guh’s album “We are Sunburning” share some of the same things like they are both music. But these are also very different records because one has lyrics and one doesn’t, one is very creative but one is just the same thing over and over, and lastly one album is popular and one is not popular. Therefore, OK Computer deserves to move on in the tournament.

Since the dawn of time, man has wrestled with technology. Sometimes technology is helpful, but oftentimes it can be bad. On “OK Computer” lead singer Tom Yorke writes lyrics about how technology can be bad. According to Wikipedia, it says “its lyrics and visual artwork emphasise common themes such as consumerism, social disconnection, political stagnation, and modern malaise.” Therefore, this album as you can see is pretty deep. On the other hand, Guh’s album “We are Sunburning” has no lyrics except for the song Whitey on the Moon, which according to Wikipedia “is a song written and recorded by Gil Scott-Heron in 1970. Combining jazz and funk, the song was illustrative of prison-style recreational poetry and played a significant role in the development of rap music and hip hop. The song is a cultural commentary depicting socio-economic and racial inequity of the late 1960s in the United States, inspired by the Moon Landing of 1969. The lyrics criticize the US government for spending billions on the space program while ignoring the condition of its poorest citizens.” So, in some ways the lyrics of both albums share some characteristics because both deal with society, but mostly they are different because for the most part, Guh does not have lyrics as mentioned above.

Speaking of differences, OK Computer is very creative. Each song has neat things in it like drum machines and guitars and synthesizers. Some of it sounds like rock music while some of it sounds like trip-hop. In their song Paranoid Android there are many parts to it. It is 6 and a half minutes! And it sounds like many different songs put together. On the other side of things, Guh is a jazz band, and therefore each of their songs sounds like jazz. Mostly they just use trumpets and saxophones and bagpipes. Some people might think there songs are creative but anyone who knows about music would know that all there songs sound the same. Except for Bug Night which sounds like kind of like jazz but actually mostly sounds like crazy insects. Who would want to listen to this?!!!!

Also, if we compare the two group’s popularity we will see that Radiohead is actually very popular while Guh is not popular at all. This is not just my opinion either. Wikipedia states that “Upon its release, OK Computer received almost unanimously positive reviews. Consensus among critics was that the album was a landmark of its time and would have far-reaching impact and importance.” You might ask yourself how could an album get so many “positive reviews” if it wasn’t popular. In contrast, Guh does not even have a Wikipedia page. However, here is a quote I found on a webpage: “In the summer of 1994, Henry, Blake, Brian, and Jason went to Europe. They slept outdoors, ate bread and cheese in the park, rested in the Cathedrals, washed in Art Gallery washrooms, and drank beer. In Germany, people said they would be big in Prague. In Prague, they also knew how to drink. Four months later, GUH returned to Canada, recordings what would be released as a tipple CD package by Unmanageable, an independent record company run by Craig Barnes. The CD's were self titled GUH. With the help of the Ontario Arts Council, they released recordings of their new compositions and called it FLOG…In the summer of 1999, GUH toured the coast of British Columbia, Canada, promoting their latest release We Are Sunburning.” You can see that these guys are so unpopular that they needed help from the government to even record a CD!

In conclusion, Radiohead and Guh have some similarities like they both write and play music, they are mostly very different and Radiohead are mostly different in that they are much better because of their lyrics, creativity and popularity. And because of this, OK Computer should win in the tournament.

Nice work, Madison. You have a well structured compare/contrast essay with clear categories/criteria. You also have very few spelling errors. At the same time, there are a few things you could continue to work on. For example, you state that Radiohead is criticizing technology, but are you sure they’re not simply exploring the ambiguity of it? And if they are, does that necessarily make them deep? You need to show me this using actual lyrics from the album. You do make a nice connection though between the societal critique of "Whitey on the Moon" and OK Computer. In the section on creativity, you might want to actually define what creativity is, and again use actual details to support your points. You attempt to do this when you discuss the song “Paranoid Android” but you might want to consider that just because a song is long and has many different parts, it doesn’t necessarily make it creative. Some might actually consider the song a bad rip-off of a bad genre of music called prog-rock (before your time). Regarding your reference to trip-hop, I’ll have to check with Uncle Eric. You might also consider that just because you think all jazz sounds the same, it doesn’t mean everyone does. Some people might point out that “The Barnes Exhibit” is absolutely funky with its amazing drum fills while “Patron Bentley” is quite beautiful and moving. And I would note that while the marriage of bag-pipes, jazz, and middle-eastern melodies might be difficult to take over the course of a debut three-disc set, We Are Sunburning distills the best of what Guh does on one amazingly solid disc. You are right that Radiohead is, in fact, the more popular band. Some actual statistics might have been nice here, but really, isn’t this claim rather evident? In any case, your overall thesis is pretty clear, and I daresay correct. Therefore OK Computer will advance, and you will receive a very generous C-.

Sonic Socialism vs. Hamburger Travellin Music

2010-04-13T06:08:00.000-07:00

Another post from Steve:

Polyphonic Spree vs. Bob Dylan and the Band

First riffs of Polyphonic: this will be a good matchup…there seem to be some 60’/70’s sensibilities that will make comparison interesting. The gang vocals on Section 11 are right up my alley. I love big anthems and I tend to believe the urgency with which the Sprees sing.

Right away Section 12, “Hold me Now” grabs me. It’s not my favorite style…a little to boppy-poppy for me, but man the chorus with all the vocals are killer. What I like about Tim DeLaughter is that he could easily make his voice overshadow the rest of the vocals, but he doesn’t. Neither does he lose himself in the choir…there is still a very distinct presence of his voice in the mix. It’s like what America should be like, a distinct community built on some specific ideals while not neglecting the role and place and the opportunity to flourish for everyone who is present within that community. It’s like a sonic example of socialism.

The other thing that strikes me about Polyphonic Spree is that they are apologetically sweet, but do not simply rely on convention to express the presence of sugar. Sure, there are some very familiar, even classic melodies that come out from time to time, but it is obvious just how creative this group of people are. They’ve created their own convention…I don’t feel like they are imitating anyone. This is kind of the problem I have with Anathallo lately. You listen to them and you think Sufjan, and while I’ve been known to wear my influences on my sleeve and shouldn’t be so critical, I just don’t think of anyone else when I listen to Polyphonic Spree. I just take them in and benefit from what they are presenting. Plus, the use of saw throughout just floors me.

All in all, I really enjoyed listening to this record. Here’s the thing though…I don’t feel the urge to pop in the Polyphonic Spree very often. I only own one of their records and it isn’t this one. That being said, if ever I do want to listen to something syrupy, this would be a quick go to.

Now, on to the Band and Dylan.

Another record with some fun backing vocals. But the talk/sing of Dylan is not sitting right with me. Plus, the tinny quality of the acoustic guitars is something that I really don’t enjoy…it almost sounds four-tracked.

I love the B3 organ.

Now, while I’m not super into Dylan’s voice here, I really do enjoy the one dude from the Band. Katie’s Been Gone is a great tune objectively speaking. Traveling music is how I’d describe a lot of this. Like I would appreciate it most if I was traveling Highway 61 and eating a lot of hamburger. But here’s the thing, I don’t eat meat anymore. So what am I to do? Well, if I’m a Bible-believing man, I’ll take Paul’s admonition to not judge anyone for what they eat and I’ll keep giving this record a fair shake. In all honesty though, it’s not looking good for this record.
Is this Dylan singing on Going to Acapulco? If so, why doesn’t he sing like this more often?

And then there is Lo and Behold. I know I’m supposed to like this for one reason or another. It’s sarcastic. It’s another good travelin’ song. But I just can’t conjure up much appreciation for it. I kind of like the bass backing vocals…but it’s not enough.

Odds and Ends, on the other hand, just smokes it. Awesome guitar. Killer piano. I’d dance to this at some juke joint on a Friday night…spinning my lady across the floor while giving the crowd a knowing look…yeah, we rule this place.

There’s just too much music here to comment on in detail. The skinny is: I like the stuff where the members of the Band sing lead way better than the stuff where Dylan sings lead. I like so much of the instrumentation for what it is…good ole playing of instruments. Nothing pretentious. Nothing contrived. It’s just good.

And I think that’s why the Polyphonic Spree win. The Band and Dylan are just good…and I know that’s sacrilege in some way, but that’s how I see it. The Polyphonic Spree’s creativity and ability to invoke joy is something worth pushing forward. And so it is.

The Band: 5 gold bunnies
Polyphonic Spree: 18 pounds of fairy dust.

Nirvassive Attana Nevermind the Mezzanine

2010-04-11T18:04:00.000-07:00

Nirvana Nevermind vs. Massive Attack Mezzanine:

Sorry to have taken so long once again. Also damn the taxes.

Let me take you back to high school jazz band. There are only two or three people in my school who actually know how to play guitar but my band teacher is a pretty good jazz guitarist and oboe player and used to teach at a military academy, so there's definitely going to be a guitar in jazz band, sir, yes sir! The first guitar player—who actually liked jazz—graduated from high school so the other guitar player took his place. This guy was a huge Ramones fan and was in a punk-ish band with the drummer in jazz band who, since there aren't that many rock n roll kids to go around, was also kind of a Deadhead. Every day when concert/marching/pep band practice ends and jazz band begins, the Ramones fan guitar player pops over to his guitar, plugs in and goes "dun da dut. cha dut da dut dut dah, dun da dut. chucka chucka chun dut... and the drummer says, "no, man, it's dun da dut cha dut da dut dut DAH dun da dut," and I feel completely out of the loop because I'm still really into Petra. This is my first exposure to "Smells Like Teen Spirit." It might have been two years later in college before I actually heard the song. Yes, it and the rest of Nevermind was pretty important in pop music history and helped to change things in some pretty awesome ways, but the damn drums sound like Rush. Not in the size of the set, but the size of the sound. It's all polished and touched with just the right amount of reverb. It doesn't make sense with this album and I think it's what has kept me from being into it much in the past. If I had been listening to much good music at the time, I think it's likely that I would have really liked this album and then it would have stuck with me and I would defend it to the death. I think I just missed the train on this one.

By the time Massive Attack's Mezzanine came out I was listening to some decent music and this pushed my musical boundaries a little further toward darkness. I kind of appreciate that. I think this decision does come down to history (sorry if there's been too much of that in my decision making here) more than anything else, but also I sometimes think, "I'd like to listen to Mezzanine," and I almost never think that about Nevermind.

Oh, one more thing. The second song on Mezzanine, "Risingson," reminds me of this. Or vice versa.

Terse at Tax Time

2010-04-11T13:34:00.001-07:00

I sure would rather wax smart about The Flaming Lips & Johnny Cash than muddle through our complicated taxes. (Note to selves: Uncle Sam no likey the self-employed.) But I'm not here to have fun this weekend, so here's a short rationale and decision.

Johnny Cash rules and all, but there are some cringe-worthy moments on American IV: The Man Comes Around, and these moments make me want to skip tracks like "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "In My Life," "Desperado," and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." In all of the tracks listed and then some, I wish I were enjoying the original, not Cash's cover. Yes, even "Desperado." And I certainly enjoy Cash covers, like lots of the ones on American III: Solitary Man and Unearthed: Redemption Songs. On American IV, I much prefer his reinterpretations of his own songs.

The Soft Bulletin, while it lacks the emotional urgency of the best tracks on American IV, inspires repeated listens from beginning to end. And it never gets maudlin. And I like spending time with this whole album, not just with selected tracks.

The Flaming Lips win. Back to Turbo Tax.

Death Match 2010 Drag Race: "Little Honda" Vs. "Turd on the Run"

2010-04-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

I dig both these albums. And I was gonna write all this good stuff about them...

Like I was gonna mention how much Exile on Main Street reminded me of my recent match-up of The Basement Tapes and Rattle & Hum but how I just like it better than either of those albums...And how when I first listened to it all the songs kind of blended together into one long world-weary countrified blues rock juke joint kind of thing, but over the years the individual songs have slowly started to define their own personalities...And something about how after any self-respecting rock band has spent years seeing/ doing/ f*cking/ ingesting everything imaginable, there arises a need to return and be baptized in the primordial musical ooze from whence they came...And a mention of how ironic it is that rich white urban British blokes can crank out the music of poor black rural Americans so authentically and without pretense...And a neat anecdotal comment about how Tom Waits allegedly claims "I Just Wanna See His Face" as his favorite Stones' song...

And I was gonna make some clever analogy along the lines of: "If what they say is true, that the blues had a baby and they called it rock and roll, then EOMS stands as the afterbirth that slid out during the whole delivery process"...Nothing cute and adorable here, folks, just a loose, sticky, gritty little entity all its own...With a pair of giant lips and a big ol' tongue stickin' right out at ya, crying for your mama and a bottle of Jack Daniels...

But I'm not gonna write any of that stuff. Instead I'm just going to assign it Uncle Eric's Highly Scientific Overall Album Rating: 4.8

I was also gonna write a fair amount about I Can Hear the Heart...About how the folks in Yo La Tengo seem like genuinely nice folks and I really appreciate that about them...About how this album captures so much that was great about 90s "indie" music...About how the mid-album trio of "Stockholm Syndrome", "Autumn Sweater", and the fuzzed-up "Little Honda" is friggin' brilliant...About how this is probably my favorite YLT album, next to maybe Fakebook...

And I was gonna say that I love a lot of YLT's individual songs, but I often have a problem making it all the way through their albums because they change mood or tone or something too much...Maybe they are almost TOO eclectic for me, at least over the course of individual albums...Like how I love "Sugarcube" but when it goes right into the following track "Damage", I feel like they lost the potential to keep riding that awesome momentum...And I always like their poppier tracks (e.g., the fun little bossa nova influenced "Center of Gravity") far more than their raucous arty avant-garde sound experimentation songs (e.g., the never-ending "Spec Bebop")...And how I really love the album closer "My Little Corner of the World"...

Again, I'm not gonna bother with any of those comments, but instead just give ICHTHBAO Uncle Eric's Evidence-Based Overall Album Rating: 4.2

It was a good race but Mick and Keef and the Turd on the Run take it.

Jane gets around to do making it

2010-04-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

The Neko Case songs that I like best roll up and down the piano under a Patsy Cline voice turned a little cloudy, a little dark (like apple cider vinegar kept around too long). That's the kind of thing that I find in "Magpie to the Morning" and "Red Tide" and, most of all, the title track, "Middle Cyclone." A number of the songs on this album also have lyrics that lie just one side of country music, just inches away from schmaltz. Take the long infinitive phrase "to ride the bus to the outskirts of the fact that I need love." And some of the songs on this album borrow unlikely personas to great effect--"You Got a Nerve" and "This Tornado Loves You" being the best examples.

When she is good, then, Neko Case is very, very good. And when she is bad she is, well, not horrid, not even quite bad, but staged. Something in "Prison Girls," for instance, strikes me as overreaching, like period pieces often strike me as overreaching, but where everything's done up denim and white leather jackets (okay, those white leather jackets are from "The Pharoahs," another song I'm not nuts about) instead of in lace and tulle and organzas.

Do Make Say Think, on the other hand, can be a little undercrafted sometimes. There's something a little directionless, for instance, in the way many of these songs begin--"Ontario Plates" being a prime example. But that song, like many of the others on this album moves into something resolutely joyful, something celebratory but not triumphalist. "Auberge Le Mouton Noir," for its part, never falters; a little classical and a little shoe-gazey and a little punk and a little hymnody, it makes my mind play all kinds of bright, blurry filmstrips.

Wendell is fussing, so I'll condense: Do Make Say Think wins.

Steve does it fast

2010-04-10T06:04:00.000-07:00

This following post is by Steve. He did this in one day, the fastest turn-around so far. You gotta admire that.

Stooges.
There are some really good licks in there guitar-wise, but the mix on this record sucks. On T.V. Eye The guitar is all the way to the left. The bass is always to the right, and it’s pretty crappy. The drums and vocals are almost exclusively panned left as well. If I were listening at a barbecue or some kind of sleep depravation clinic, maybe it wouldn’t make much of a difference, but the mix while listening on headphones is really distracting. Ultimately it just makes the guitar too quiet and the shitty bass too loud.

The moodiness on “Dirt” just doesn’t land. There’s something to be said for being sparse, but this just sounds empty. I don’t know what it’s supposed to evoke. It kind of makes me want to listen to the Doors…who really pull this kind of thing off. And again, the bass guitar sucks crud face.

1970 is a great Detroit sounding song…lots of guts…but the bass sucks when the guitar solo kicks in. They should have sax in every song.

There’s almost a pre-80’s non-hair metal thing going on here.

The last two tunes kill it pretty well, but on the whole, I won’t be going back to this. There’s better disjointed sloppy rock out there. MC5 for instance if you want to keep it in the same city.

Listening to Lambchop directly after this is like switching from a 300 thread count bed sheet to a 600 thread count bed sheet. You can sleep on both and do pretty well, but once you’ve felt the difference in a 600 thread count, you don’t ever want to go back. Now, that may be just because I am listening to these back to back. I think I do like this Lambchop record a lot. The instrumentation is quite sweet. I love the guitar and piano on the new cobweb summer. I like this dude’s voice too. A bit like Smog…and I like Smog better, but this is great too. Good Hammond B3 organ throughout. Okay, I’m listening more and I take back the Smog thing. I’m really liking the subtlety of this record.

Okay, I’m still listening and some of it’s kind of corny. Autumn’s Vicar is making me want to kick my dog because she’s about as cute as this song. Don’t worry, I won’t do it, but that’s how gross I think this song is. It’s like something I wrote it’s that bad. Okay, 45 seconds have passed and holy shit. What the hell is this? Who put this on their favorite list? The next tune better blow my freaking mind or else I’m going to give someone the frowning of a lifetime.

Caterpillar is one of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time. Here is a good place to compare the mixes on both albums. The acoustic guitar on this tune is panned pretty much to the left, the clean electric is panned right. The vocals are nicely centered. The atmospheric stuff shifts from right to left. It creates a nice full sound that doesn’t detract from the subtle tone of the song. It just seems like they really meant what they were doing. Not that the Stooges didn’t mean what they were doing. But the Lambchops seem to be intentionally creative with the mixes rather than arbitrarily different.

All in all, these two records couldn’t be more different. I think, at least. I didn’t pay a ton of attention to lyrical content. But the Stooges are dirty Detroit rock and roll. From start to finish, there is no guessing. They are what they are. Lambchop is at first polite, but as I listen, it is apparent that there exists some angst and it is surprising and more effective than the Stooges.

But Lambchoppers gets deducted huge for that Autumn’s Vicar garbage.

Here’s the deal, I can’t bash the Stooges for who they are. There’s a certain purity to their approach. But I just don’t like it very much…objectively or subjectively.

Lambchop on the other hand was a very nice surprise. The mix is fantastic. The dude’s voice is good…and even though Iggy sounds great on the Stooges record, I don’t like it as much as Lam Chip. That’s his name right? I didn’t do my research.

So, on a scale of 1-10, I give the Stooges a B-

On the same scale, I give Lambchop a smiley face sticker and a “keep up the good work” thumbs up.

Lambchop wins.

lie down in the light of the man who needs a maid and a blow j.

2010-04-09T12:33:00.000-07:00

dadgummit...at this point i don't care if I ever listen to either of these two albums again...i've already heard harvest a million effing times and i know it's good and stuff, but there are a couple straight up clunkers (are you ready to for the country, alabama) that are precursors to other bad neil young (let's roll, this note's for you, etc.) and some classics that are ingrained inside of me so much that i don't even have to put the album on to hear them (heart of gold, old man, needle and the damage done, harvest, out on the weekend). words' has cool time signature changes and there's a world has good lyrics but at this point the only cut that get's to me is a man needs a maid...

as i mentioned a few match ups ago, i bailed on bonnie prince billy after ease on down the road or whatever...bruce and sarah were kind enough to give me some mp3's of his more recent stuff, lie down in the light included...this is a good album ...i listened to this four separate times while jogging...my favorites are "you want that picture", "what's missing is" and "so everyone"...the great thing about bonnie billy imho has always been the strange world he creates with his songs...i think this album continues that while also making it more accessible...the lyrics kinda make sense...i also like ashley webber

so what should I do...harvest has never been my favorite neil young album...i really like tonight's the night, after the gold rush, on the beach or even sleeps with angels...i like his darker stuff more...what i found myself thinking about most in this matchup is where is the point when an artist can be considered "classic" or part of the "canon"...neil young is definitely there...will oldham i think is actually almost there...he's never had the commercial success of neil young, but he has the body of work, and i think in recent decades the body of work is clearly the most important, because everything has been to broken down by genres and it's possible to have a long career without anything even close to a hit single/album...

i always find myself siding with the classic...i don't feel guilty about this...i think the 40 year old album that people still love listening to is usually better than the 5 year old album that people still love listening to...it doesn't mean that is how it will shake out the world ends and all these albums are called up to heaven to be judged by god and zwartitude...but we can only live in the now...

end result...neil can't lose twice to bonnie billy...harvest wins

ps. this really is a trade off...if spruce forrest picked everybody knows...i probably would gone the other way...sue me

Some do it slow, some do it fast

2010-04-09T06:14:00.001-07:00

We're kind of all over the place right now in terms of who's choosing what. I blame me and you slow people. In any case, I've typically given the people who get their picks in fastest more picks, but now that Kevin finally got his in, I can update everyone. So here is a list of either what you've already been given, or what you're just getting now:

Also, we only have four choices left before we're on to the entire next round. So whoever gets me their choices first, gets to choose those.

Oldies:

Sarah, you're still working on Flaming Lips vs. Mr. Cash. Any day now would be fine.

Andy, you've got that BPB-Neil Young match-up. I know it's a toughy, but I have faith in you.

Eric, you're usually so prompt. I like Yo La Tengo as much as anyone else, but we both know you need to pick Exile and just move on.

Bruce, how's that Massive Attack vs. Nirvana coming?

Jane, let's listen to some Neko Case this weekend, then do some Doing, Saying, Making, and Thinking (if you know what I mean)

Jeff, you're on Cat Power vs. Stones. Be fair.

Newbies:

Karl, I've been impressed with your speediness as of late. See if you can do it again with (15) Tom Waits - Mule Variations vs. (2) Passion Pit - Chunk of Change

Mark, I'm still sorry about Zeppelin. Will you ever forgive me? In the meantime, have fun with (10) U2 - Joshua Tree vs. (26) Cut Copy - Neon Love

Steve, Dominion! You get to start the fourth division with (24) Lambchop - Is a Woman vs. (25) Stooges - Fun House

Kevin, you handsome devil you, you're stuck listening to (5) White Stripes - Elephant and (12) Bjork - Homogenic

Me, (20) GUH - We are Sunburning vs. (4) Radiohead - OK Computer

Brian, I think you'll really like (30) The Elected - Sun, Sun, Sun; however, I don't know if you will like it more than (19) Beck - Odelay

Have fun y'all

Dummy Fingers

2010-04-09T06:01:00.000-07:00

Portishead's Dummy vs the Stones' Sticky Fingers

Both of these albums are great. Which one is greater? I don't know.
Both are influential and classic.

Sticky Fingers come in the middle of one of the greatest streaks of outstanding albums ever. Beggar's Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street. I have a hard time picking a favorite album from that group. Four amazing albums in five years....just imagine what they could have made if Keith Richards wasn't passed out 90% of the time.
Even an average Stones album usually has some killer tracks, and Sticky Fingers is no average Stones album. Stylistically, it's a little all over the map. But I like that. I like their attempt at a country song (Wild Horses). I like their attempt at blues (I Got the Blues). Moonlight Mile is one of their best album closers. I love the extended jam in Can't You Hear Me Knocking.

Dummy still sounds brilliant. As I mentioned in my last post, I listened to too much "trip-hop" in the past. I listened to Mo Wax artists way too much during my first two years in med school while studying...always in the background. I just re-listened to some Mo Wax compilations recently and some of the stuff sounds pretty dated. Dummy doesn't sound dated. Beth Gibbons voice can still send shivers up my spine. The music is chilling, spooky, ominous...but all in a good way.

I'm having trouble deciding between these two. I guess I need some better way to determine a seemingly tied battle. Probably the best way to determine this is which album sounds most like Will Oldham/Bonnie Prince Billy, since he seems to be the early favorite of this group.

Which artist is the most mysterious?
Definitely not the Rolling Stones...especially now. I love the Stones, but they definitely love money now. I'm going with Portishead on this one.

Which artist changes band names so frequently that it consistently frustrates anyone who is anal about organizing music (not that this applies to me)?
Neither.

Which artist is known also for their acting skills?
While Portishead makes cinematic music, Jagger has been in films, and Pirates of the Caribbean was based on Keith Richards.

On second thought, I saw Performance, starring Jagger, I'm taking that point away.

Most importantly, who sings about oral sex?
Brown Sugar may or may not be about oral sex (?and the slave trade as well?). Reluctantly, I'm giving the point to the Stones.

Winner, barely, the Stones

One freakin tough decision

2010-04-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

Day #1:

I like Zeppelin, but Marvin Gaye is totally gonna win.

Listened to Zeppelin. This album is better than I thought it would be. I thought it was going to be cocky blues posturing, but there’s some other cool stuff on here.

Yeah, but Marvin Gaye.

Day #2: Listened to What’s Going On. All fine tunes, but “Save the Children” is kind of awful. Am I awful for thinking that? Maybe Zeppelin will win.

Day #3: Listened to Zeppelin again. First time I was pleasantly surprised by tracks like “Good Times Bad Times” and “You’re Time is Gonna Come.” This time, I’m reminded that I don’t like tracks like You Shook Me” and “Dazed and Confused.” I’m so glad “Dazed and Confused” is only like six minutes.

Interjection – Short History of me and Led Zeppelin: MVB spent a lot of time in high-school trying to convince me that they were way better than The Cure. He never managed this (I sort of figured it out later by myself), but he did get me to appreciate them. We went on a ski-trip, and he put a tape of Houses of the Holy on repeat while I slept. You can call that brainwashing if you want, but it worked. I frickin love that album now. What didn’t help his cause at all was subjecting me to 40 minute versions of “Dazed and Confused.” I look back now and think, “Andrew, you were a pretty good friend for going with Mark while he tracked down those bootlegs and then listening to them later.” But, Mark could say the same things about me trying to find the perfect bootleg version of “A Forest”. Since then, I’ve come to really like III. I picked up IV, but that too left me bored—too much mumbo jumbo mystical shit.

Maybe Marvin Gaye will win after all.

Yeah, but “Save the Children”.

Day #4
Listened to What’s Going On again. Again, good tunes, but on this listen, it struck me how the whole album feels like one long slow jam. That’s not necessarily bad, but is this album over-hyped?

Interjection – Short History of me and Marvin Gaye: Back in college, I bought some Marvin Gaye CD’s. I really liked them.

Who will win?

Day #5
“Communication Break Down” and “How Many More Times” might be mockable, but they are also totally rockable. Their riffs are bigger than my junk (sorry for that everyone). Zeppelin is leading by a hair.

Day #6
Okay, but what about “What’s Going On,” “Mercy Mercy Me,” “Wholy Holy”? So good. Not sure even the best tracks on Zeppelin touch these.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Day #7
Question: You know what What’s Going On lacks?

Answer: “Let’s Get It On”
Answer: “Can I Get A Witness?”

The truth is that I’d rather listen to other albums by both these artists. If Houses of the Holy were up, that would win hands down. If a collection of Marvin Gaye’s singles was up, ditto. Shit, shit, shit. Still not sure.

Day #8
Okay it comes down to this: which album am I more likely to listen to the most often? And I think the answer is Marvin’s.

Mark: I really liked the Zeppelin quite a bit. This was tough. At several points, I honestly thought Zeppelin was going to win. Maybe they should.

Okay, Zeppelin wins.

No wait, What’s Going On does.

Overtime decision:
Listened to both again. What’s Going On wins. Or does it? Yeah, it does.

Sigh.

60's vs. 80's

2010-04-07T21:01:00.001-07:00

Bob Dylan-Highway 61 Revisited vs. The Stone Roses-The Stone Roses

It's hard to go against #4 on the Rolling Stones top 500 albums of all time list, especially when the other album isn't even on the top 500, at least that I saw.

But I think it comes down to the fact that I am a child of the 80's, not the 60's. I prefer short corduroy OP's to bell bottoms. And I prefer The Stone Roses to Highway 61 Revisited.

I listened to both albums a couple of times in my car, and I just wanted to keep listening to The Stone Roses. It's 80's music the way it should be done, and I think it also paved the way for so many of the indie bands I ended up listening to in the 90's and 00's. They also throw in some good funk on a number of the later songs.

Although I did also appreciate Highway 61, it definitely isn't my favorite Dylan album. Of course "Like a Rolling Stone" is an amazing song, and I love the epic "Desolation Row." Maybe it's vintage early Dylan, but much it just sounds the same to me, and it's not the Dylan stuff I like best. I much prefer Blood on the Tracks.

I have to admit, I didn't evaluate the lyrics this time, I just listened to the albums and chose which one I liked listening to more. Although I have been giving way to the significance of the artist and album in terms of all-time greatness, I think that there are other Dylan albums still alive that are better than Highway 61. And I personally liked The Stone Roses more than Highway 61, so it moves on.

Arcade Fire - Funeral vs. Postal Service - Give Up

2010-04-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

These two albums are ranked 8th and 9th, and I thought they were just as close together after listening to them.

While listening to Give Up, I did think of giving them the nod since the guy's voice sounded like that other singer from some band that I've heard, and I figured that that other band was newer than postal service, so PS was the innovator. Of course, when I looked up PS on the wikinets, things became much clearer as to the similarity.

Arcade Fire was pretty sweet. But I can't really remember why... that's not a negative, I just can't remember. I knew I should have written the review after the last listen, but I had a netflix movie I wanted to get in the mail this morning.

These two albums were really close, and either both deserve to go on, or both deserve to end their run here. I say they should both continue, even though, if they were matched up against, oh I don't know, let's say Nick Harper, they would wither away.

So who wins?

Arcade Fire. Here's why. They are Canadian, and at the hockey game this weekend, the Canadian Anthem was once again butchered. You have to verify the lyrics people.

Sorry Postal Service. If it makes you feel any better, you're on my listen again list.

the band vs. nick harper

2010-04-05T05:44:00.001-07:00

crazy times for me. sorry for the delay.

the band wins.

New Pornographers "Challengers" vs. The Beatles "Revolver"

2010-04-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

You know who sucks? Shakespeare. Shakespeare sucks.

Most major plot points are based on superstition and misunderstanding. The whole plan hinges on a message which is lost in transit, for no apparent reason. Ghosts haunt and people think trees are marching. A close friend or family member goes unrecognized by virtue of wearing a silly hat. A seed of distrust is planted by a malicious rumor and later, despite the protests of trusted advisers, blossoms into KILLING ALL OF YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

Insanity is a common character state: Characters are driven to helpless, babbling insanity by the depths of their emotions. Cuz that gives insight into the truth of the human condition. You know what else gives insight into the truth of the human condition? The ex-prostitute is pregnant with the vicar's half-alien child even though she's currently remarried to the body builder who was the vicar's brother's gay lover!

Shakespeare's so-called comic relief characters are shabby, offensive, one-dimensional stereotypes.

Plus the writing sucks.

It's like the worst episode of Angel ever, worse than when Cordelia comes back from heaven and makes everything right again but then it turns out a full season later that the whole time she was evil. Cuz...what?

Oh and you can take your historical exegesis and suck it. By any contemporary measure, Shakespeare still rots. Any Earth-visiting alien would agree.

It's funny, The Beatles are kind of like Shakespeare. Neither of them really know how to spell, not even their own name. Both made revolutionary contributions to their respective art forms, but are now long gone, and their successors have evolved far beyond them.

On second thought, nah. The Beatles don't suck. The Beatles rock. You can't evolve the revolver! Plus the Holy See ranks it #1. The Beatles win.

This sounds like a job for someone else!

2010-04-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

This is not a fair match-up for me to judge. My relationship with folk music is still developing, and Disintegration has been a long time favorite album. It wouldn’t be fair to judge these just on my listening experience. I decided to enlist some help. And what better place to turn than the amazon.com reviews for critical, well articulated opinions. Both albums had over 90% 5-star reviews. Let’s start with the positives:

Disintegration
“I can still remember the first time I heard this album. The day it hit the shelves, I borrowed the disk from a friend and sampled it while on break. Like no other album before or since, the brilliance of this work immediately overwhelmed me. I listened to the first 30-45 seconds of each song, track by track, through the whole disk. I kept waiting for weak songs to skip over, but they never came...I bought a copy for myself immediately after work and listened to it in it's entirety, twice, that very night.To this day, so many years later, Disintegration remains one of my favorite albums. It is pure, raw, distilled emotion set in an environment that encompasses such a depth and breadth of feeling that you could lose yourself there. For a time.For me, this is the Cure's Magnum Opus. If you don't own it, get it.If you have it, go listen to it again.If you listened to it and don't like it, try again. You didn't hear it first time around.”

Blue
“Everything you ever heard about this album is true - plus more. Indeed, every accolade bestowed upon Dylan's Blood On The Tracks (which appeared two years later) applies equally, if not more so, to Blue. The hyper-realist detail in the lyrics coupled with the startling uses of imagery is only half the story. There's also Mitchell's astronomic melodic flights coupled, implausibly enough, with the utter intimacy of vocalizing. This is rock & roll poetry - intense, elemental, mercurial and mysterious. It's so 'classic,' the entire album can be reconstructed out of cover versions (and some of the most obscure are the best). There's nothing like it - and every second is as true as pain, and as pleasure.”

Sounds great! Both emotionally intimate, timeless albums. The kind that should be in this tournament. And both deserve to move on. But only one can. Any drawbacks to these albums?

Blue
“i read the reviews of people who bought this and said buy this cd it's great and i went out and did it and i regret doing it after listening to this cd i can understand why no radio stations play her music in my city not 1 station.her voice is really awful.and the music is enough to put anyone to sleep.you wanna hear good folk music listen to love's forever changes or the kink's 68 masterpiece village green preservation society.this is the last time i go by other people.i can see why less and less people even know who joni mitchell is anymore.like her fans she is a dying breed.”

Disintegration
“Disintegration is right...
The Cure were best when they did fun pop songs, like in the 80's and early 90's! Pop songs are what gets played on radio, and the radio is the only sure sign of what's good in music.
Obviously this album doesn't get played on the radio.
I took a chance with this album, thinking it would feature the "fun" rock side of Robert Smith. Alas, it's totally boring rock. I understand that The Cure wanted to try their talented hands at ethereal rock or whatever, but this stuff just drags on and on and on like a movie or something. Yes, it's very cinematic; cinematic with Smith's mopey vocals, which sound so much better when he's in a good mood. And why wouldn't the guy be in a good mood? HE MAKES MILLIONS OF DOLLARS!! Simply put, this album is too long, too brooding, and too ambitious in scope.
For people in college only.
TAKE CARE!!!”

Huh. Sounds like both these albums suck bad, and neither should be played on the radio.
Here is the thing, though: I don’t like awful voices, but I do like boring rock

Disintegration wins.

It's Nighttime

2010-04-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

If it were all based on album covers, Moon Safari would surely win. Sure, there's something a little too 70's going on the fronts of both these CDs. But at least the guy up front on Air's CD art could easily be modeled on those action figures that I know Andrew and Jeff lost in their house's shag carpet when they were little and not on those menacing disco dancers who sheath themselves in radioactive pants that shoot lightning from the crotchal region, as is the case with Midnite Vultures.

It's supposed to be about the music, though. So: each of these albums has some lovely instrumentation. Air know how to deploy trumpet music at precisely the right instants, and that Beck can pull in the most countrified banjo riff at the end of "Sexx Laws" proves, I think, that at his best, the guy has a knack for the finest kind of incongruity.

That said, there's a few songs that strike me as tired on each of these albums.

Beck's "Hollywood Freaks," for instance, takes a critical stance that should be wry or incredulous or pointed but isn't; it's just conventional judgment gussied up in hip clothing. For my money, "Peaches and Cream," too, lacks invention, as do a number of the weird biblical resonances on this album, which stop short of iconoclasm, it seems, not out of reverence but because they don't know any better and lack verve. Then again, "Get Real Paid" and "Nicotine and Gravy" have enough groove and electricity that they could almost reconcile me to Midnite Vulture's album art.

Short version: Moon Safari beats Midnite Vultures.

Nowhere is where you find that Grand Dark Feeling of Emptiness

2010-03-31T19:45:00.000-07:00

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's Ease Down the Road vs. Neil Young's Everybody Knows this is Nowhere:

This is really a wonderful pair of album covers. A field of grass with a lawn mower cut "road" and a pointilist Neil Young with dog in front of mountains. I own these as CDs, but I'd like to see both covers in vinyl size.

I've been listening to both of these a lot. Probably 8 or 10 times each, which has been great. I was already somewhat familiar with both albums, so it was nice to listen more closely for a while.

They both have a rootsy feel, but in different ways. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere has a distinctly 60s feel in the harmonies but sounds surprisingly close to some alternative country of the 90s (or vice-versa, really). Which is maybe to say that this album was ahead of its time. I've never been that crazy about Round and Round, but repeated listens have made me like it more. There really aren't any duds on this album, though I don't care as much for The Losing End and Running Dry, but they probably share the most with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's Ease Down the Road.

Ease Down the Road is a great album title because it makes you say things like, "Ease on Dow—no wait, Ease Down the Road?" While listening to the Neil Young album resulted in nodding my head and saying, "yeah!" listening to Ease Down the Road made me turn up the volume and say, "huh? what did he just say?" It kind of sticks in my mind as a string of notable lines like, "with my finger in his a@%," "You F#$% and what's to do? (background: you f@#$)," and "hand on shaft and licked his balls" (didn't catch this nugget until just now). But those notable lines make my ears perk up and then I listen to the usually bizarre, often moving impressions and stories in these songs and really appreciate them. I'd like to propose that this album is part of Will Oldham's middle period, characterized by less bleak-sounding music than his earlier work, but still dealing with overtly bleak ideas. Not that his more recent music is super sunny, but it feels more complex and has a more soothing sound. There's really a lot of sex in this album, much of it on the cheating, guilt-laden end of things: "Why's it seem we're doing right, when we're doing something filthy, in a rented room tonight." I find it refreshingly frank.

But then Neil rocks out with Cinnamon Girl and Down by the River and Cowgirl in the Sand and it's just really great rock'n'roll.

Everybody Knows This is Nowhere is a classic and one of those enduring albums that makes it onto "best 500 albums ever" lists made by institutions like Rolling Stone, but I think right now I'd rather listen to Ease Down the Road.

Winner: Bonnie Prince Billy - Ease Down the Road. Also, it comes earlier in the alphabet.

Let's keep this a rollin...

2010-03-30T08:06:00.001-07:00

In the intrest of keeping this tournament moving, I'm going to reward those of you who did your homework early by giving you your next picks. Because Lord knows when those other hosers will get their next ones in. Oh, and mad props to Karl for actually getting his picks in early this time. I know some of you think his methodology is weak, but it's at least getting the job done.

And remember, if you aren't happy with others' picks, the faster you get your own in, the more picks you will personally get to make. These picks actually already bring us into the third division. Things are going to go quickly, so make sure you don't get left behind (it might also help if you check the blog every day like I do...okay, every hour).

Note that this is the second time Bonnie Prince Silly and Neil Jung have been matched up. They must hate each other by now.

Here they are:

Sarah
(30) Flaming Lips - Soft Bulletin vs. (14) Cash - The Man Comes Around

Andy
(6) Neil Young - Harvest vs. (22) Bonnie Billy - Lie Down in the Light

Brian
(7) Portishead - Dummy vs. (10) Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers

Karl
(15) Beatles - Revolver vs. (2) New Pornographers - Challengers

Me
(32) Marvin Gaye - What's Going On vs. (17) Zeppelin - Zeppelin

MVB
(8) Arcade Fire - Funeral vs. (9) Postal Service - Give Up

Eric
(13) Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One vs. (29) Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street

Quiz for Sarah (by Sarah)

2010-03-29T19:38:00.001-07:00

1. Which album would you prefer to see performed live, from beginning to end?

Laurie Anderson – Big Science
Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind

2. Which album made a bigger imprint on you in your naval-gazing college years?

Laurie Anderson – Big Science
Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind

3. Which album is not produced by Daniel Lanois, whose trademark tricks have begun to wear on you?

Laurie Anderson – Big Science
Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind

4. Which lyric do you prefer?

“Put your hands over your eyes. Jump out of the plane. / There is no pilot. You are not alone. Standby. / This is the time. And this is the record of the time.” (Anderson)
“When the rain is blowing in your face  / and the whole world is on your case /  I could offer a warm embrace /  to make you feel my love” (Dylan) = BAAAARRRRFFFF.

5. On the other hand, which lyric do you prefer?

“You're walking. And you don't always realize it, but you're always falling. With each step you fall forward slightly. And then catch yourself from falling. Over and over, you're falling. And then catching yourself from falling. And this is how you can be walking and falling at the same time.” (Anderson)
“I'm crossin' the street to get away from a mangy dog  / talkin' to myself in a monologue  / I think what I need might be a full length leather coat  / Somebody just asked me if I'm registered to vote” (Dylan)

6. Which track is more annoying?

“Make You Feel My Love” from Time Out of Mind (point for Anderson)
“Sweaters” from Big Science (point for Dylan)
Both make me wish a car with exhaust issues would stall in front of my house playing Sean Paul’s “Get Busy.”

7. Which of these artists/albums riffs on the blues and make them seem more relevant than most contemporary blues musicians?

Anderson
Dylan

8. Which pick would yield the smallest chance of jabs regarding “token feminists”?

Anderson
Dylan

9. On the other hand, which artist has probably had more sex with Lou Reed?

Laurie Anderson
Bob Dylan

10. Which album do you most want more Music Death Matchers to experience because it would mix things up and whittle the remaining Dylan down to your own favorites?

LA – Big Science
BD – Time Out of Mind

11. Which album can be indisputably described as music, not performance art?

LA – Big Science
BD – Time Out of Mind

***

Anderson: 5

Dylan: 5

Inconclusive: 1

***

Oh poo. What now?

Laurie Anderson’s Big Science still sounds bizarre today, and it still feels oddly contemporary. Still, is this performance art or music? Does it really matter, as long as it’s good? What about the tracks that seem more and more like novelties (“Sweaters,” “Walking & Falling,” and two versions of "Let X=X") when stacked up against the more amazing tracks on the album (“From the Air,” “Big Science,” “O Superman,” “It Tango”)?

And then Dylan’s Time Out of Mind is tough to shake, but partly because of where it falls in his career. It's often considered his return or reinvention, and I will say that it was nifty to buy this album new as a 20 year old. I had been listening to Dylan through my teens and it was thrilling to hear something new from an (at the time) 50-something that felt overall relevant and substantial. But do I like this album because of what it meant on his timeline and because it eased my own troubles at the time, or do I like it because it stands up to the other greats in his catalog?

So here’s the trouble: How can I measure Dylan’s consistent (but not best) effort against Anderson’s unsettling, uneven breakout album? I can’t. I guess I’ll go with my gut here, even though I resent what my gut is telling me. (I mean, there are still two other Dylan albums I like better left in the death match, and Eric and Andy have enough points already, but Karl doesn’t.)

Sigh. Time Out of Mind wins.

Hot Lines (Or Blue Fuss)

2010-03-29T16:19:00.000-07:00

Massive Attack Blue Lines vs Killers' Hot Fuss

On some days, Blue Lines strikes me as pure genius. I think I overdosed on trip-hop in the past. After DJ Shadow, I scavenged all the lesser trip hop acts on Mo Wax which led me to Massive Attack. Over the past week, Blue Lines seems a little boring.
Listening to any Killers' song makes me play "spot the influence". At times, they feel like they're ripping off another artist, but they sure do rip off other artists well. They craft very catchy tracks. Lyrically, Brandon Flowers needs some work (he may be one of the worst lyricists that I know), but the words definitely stick in my head.

I can't believe this is happening, but I'm pushing the Killers on to the third round. Now, that's a massive attack on intelligence

Songs of Substance, Songs of Love

2010-03-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

Both of these picks are kind of cheats. Substance is a best of....I guess I did say best of's were okay, so okay. 69 Love Songs is definitely a box set. I definitely said no box sets. I'm feeling slightly bitter I have to listen to an entire box set. How did this slip by me?

Substance was the first CD I ever bought, and New Order was my first concert. I used to have a Substance poster. I wish I still had that poster. Before I've even listened to these albums, New Order has the advantage.

After listening to Substance, here was my general take:

80's music in the best possible way.

Ceremony: Amazing. Love the bass. Love the guitar line.

Everything's Gone Green: Amazing.

Temptation: Totally amazing. Seriously, one of the best songs of the decade.

Blue Monday: Kick-ass.

Confusion: Good.

Thieves Like Us: Kick-ass.

Perfect Kiss: How much ass does this kick!?! Maybe best song of the 80's?

Subculture: Good. This song keeps getting better.

Shellshock: Really good.

State of the Nation: First so-so track.

Bizarre Love Triangle: Totally amazing. As totally ass-kicking as synthesizers are capable.

True Faith: Really, really good.

Substance is one of my favorite albums of the 80's. Side note: You know what I think is my favorite album of the 80's? Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes. I can't believe that didn't make it on anyone's list. Just listened to it the other day, and it stands up and then some. This could have taken both of these down.

69 Love Songs

Here's what I thought during each disc:

First disc: This is really good. This is better than I remember it. I like the songs with banjo. I like the songs the girl sings. "The Book of Love" was Jane and my first dance at our wedding. Steve does a great cover of this song. If the other discs are as good, this could beat Substance.

Second disc: Wow, there's quite a bit of filler on this disc. I'm bored; I'm going to read the linear notes: gee, this guy seems like a pretentious, pompous ass. His voice reminds me of mine: I don't really care for it. A lot of this sounds like 80's music but not in a good way. Some of this sounds like it belongs in a musical: I hate musicals. Here's hoping the third disc pulls it out--I don't want to keep giving Eric points.

Third disc: Eewww. This is horrible. I'd so much rather be listening to The Hold Steady or The Clash right now. Oh my, it's getting worse. I'd so much rather be listening to Graceland right now. I think he's borrowing melodies from his other songs and making them worse. Seriously, I'd rather be listening to Cut Copy right now. His voice reminds me of mine: I hate it! "For We Are the King of the Boudoir"--what the hell is this shit? I just channeled Dwight and spewed all over.

Seriously, I have a theory. Those of you who picked this album haven't actually listened to the third disc in 10 years (or possibly ever). I actually challenge you to go back and listen to it. I give Andy props for choosing just the first disc. I should give him some bonus points for this. I wish I had only had to listen to that one. I'm exhausted right now. I can barely write more than a simple sentence.

Winner: New Order - Substance

Loser - Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs (or 15 good songs, and 54 mediocre to craptastic songs)

Legend vs. Behind the Sun

2010-03-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

Hmm, hmm, lets see, what to say, what to say.

Let's start with Legend.

I'm no Bob Marley fan, but you have to give more than a few shout outs to this collection* of songs. This is something that I could throw on a slightly occasional rotation.

Occasional rotation doesn't sound like high praise, but it is. While it isn't my cup of tea, it is some good shit, and you can't deny that. Well except for the steel pans. I think that's my biggest gripe, maybe my only complaint.

Poor Chicane. I'm still (super) mad at Jeff for calling my cat fat, and this album for some reason has brought up all that pain. Actually, I blame Steve too. Not for my cat, but for Chicane. And Dwight -- I could have been listening to Luna right now. What a bunch of Jerk-asses.

Beyond the pan flute, there isn't much here that doesn't remind me of taking a dump. You have to do it over and over again, day in and day out. You're doing the same damn thing you did yesterday. So repetitive, so boring. (Just like eating... ugh, what a vicious cycle.)

I don't know why I can't stand this repetitive stuff, maybe it is because it is repetitive. I just wonder what happens in the studio when this stuff is being recorded... Does anyone yell out after a take, "man, you really programmed those three keys real awesome like!", and then, someone else fires back, "No man, that sucks! Let me remix it".. I mean, why don't they just get the remixist to be the mixer and save a few bucks?

"Halcyon", I'm pretty sure I've heard before, but then again, maybe it is the ATB song, or that Orbital song, whatever, they all sound the same. I'm sure Jeff would know... "guy, ATB Halcyon is 134bpm, Chicane Halcyon is only 133bpm, and Orbital doesn't do anything between 128 and 137 bpm because they still use a mac classic to generate those authentic beats". This version could use a little more flange as well.

But lets get down to the heart of the matter, and decide who will really win. Lets break it down to "Don't Give Up" and "Three Little Birds".

Don't Give Up reminds me of those late night paid programming 'shows', that try to sell you a self-help coaching 'program'. You can do it, just be motivated and all that crap... and you know what will probably happen when you buy the 21 cd set? They'll just tell you "Don't give up", "stay motivated", "think success". Over and bloody over again for 14 hours. This song is the same damn thing.. and for 2 effing tracks at that. Did you give up during the last 2 songs?? well lets remind you.. we've remixed it, now it contains more positive!. "Do what you wanna do..." yeah, that's real great advice... you know what I want to do? Not listen to this song ever again. Ever.

Three Little Birds, on the other hand, is a little more realistic.... "Dude, you might have been totally shafted by some asshole who thought they deserved whatever they 'wanna', but it's gonna be alright".

Legend smokes the sun.

* best of collections should be illegal Brian.

How can you not like this I mean really.

cinderella was a hoodrat

2010-03-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

first of all, I’ve never much listened to either of these two…my main exposure is from the “I’m not there” soundtrack, that crazy bob dylan biopic from a coupla years ago…the hold steady faithfully revisit “can you please crawl out your window” and sufjan stevens overanalyzes “ring them bells”…anyway…

the main thing that I look for in any music is this…do I understand why they are doing this? why did they write these songs? why did they become musicians instead of doctors, lawyers, truck driver's wives etc...if i can answer those questions, then we're off to a good start...this is what i feel sarah was getting at in her first match-up (luna vs. the band)...

l

i have to say, this has been a my toughest matchup, so far...i agree with uncle eric about sufjan stevens...his voice lacks bite to me...his albums, "illinois" in particular, are heavy on concept, cleverness, and complexity...i find this to be a deeply weird album that lacks a perceptible emotional center...like it's weird just to be weird...the sprawling epics, like "the tallest man..." and "come on feel the illinoise..." just wear me out and make me irritated...the quiet ones, like "john wayne gacy, jr." and "casimir pulaski day" don't annoy me as much, but the singing just doesn't do it for me and the end of the day "gacy" seems like a cheap lyrical trick about original sin...deep in a shallow way...i listened to whole thing again today without stopping and i felt like i really accomplished something...i like the chorus in "the man of metropolis steal our hearts"...i tried, i really tried...i watched youtube clips, read reviews and interviews, and watched a bunch of his BQE documentary on Pitchfork...it just doesn't do it for me...

when I first heard “separation sunday”, i thought hey, this is the more fully realized/hardcore version of “only the good die young” by billy joel that the world has been waiting for…i listened to it while reading the lyrics and that made it a lot more enjoyeable...he really does have something to say and has found a convincing way of getting it across...i don't know shit about catholics, drugs, and hoodrats in the twin cities, but this album still makes sense to me...i really like "don't let me explode" "charlemagne in sweatpants" and "how a resurrection really feels"...this is a weird album, too, but it feels more honest and less of a put on...i really hate the line: "she got screwed up by religion, she got screwed by soccer players"...dumb, dumb, dumb...

what made this such a hard decision is guilt..."illinois" is so highly seeded i felt that unless i loved what it was against quite a bit, i'd pick it...it just didn't work out that way...the winner: the hold steady

Alphabet fight

2010-03-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

Neil Young - Everybody Knows this is Nowhere vs. Bonnie Prince Billy - Ease Down the Road

I decided that I would listen to the first songs of each of these two albums and then decide based on which artist comes first in the alphabet.

Bonnie Prince Billy wins.

Just kidding. Real matchup to follow. Sometime.

MIA vs. Nick Cave

2010-03-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

My level of exposure to these artists was about the same, so I decided to keep it simple: Listen to both albums, listen to them again, and then choose the artist that could win in a fist fight.

I figure Nick Cave as the kind of guy who would be like, "I'm warning you! I know karate!" and then be like, "Okay, fair fight?" and when MIA held out her hand to shake it he'd sucker-punch her.

I'm thinking MIA is more the bitey kind. Rrrrr!

So. First blood: MIA. But height, weight, and reach all go to Nick Cave. Winner: Nick Cave!

Now, I know a lot of you might disagree with my methodology. But you can't disagree with the outcome, given the methodology. Or was it the other way around?

Four Micks Vs. Seven Swans

2010-03-26T17:43:00.000-07:00

Achtung Baby by U2

*I can still remember listening to this on my cassette tape Walkman back in 1991, a little confused and disoriented but thinking that something strange and exciting was happening in my musical world...

*Almost 20 years later, I think this album holds up incredibly well. I don't think it's a stretch to say it is one of, if not THE, greatest album of the 90s. (Although I know many would disagree with me, I also consider this the first album in U2's most adventurous and exciting period of music making, stretching over the course of Zooropa and Pop).

*Eno and Lanois's production is friggin' awesome; this album SOUNDS amazing...

*I love a good beat; this album has A LOT of good beats...

*I still think about "Even Better Than the Real Thing" a lot when I am watching TV & film or playing on the computer. I still get goosebumps when the drums kick in on "Until the End of the World". I still feel devastated when I listen to "Love is Blindness".

*The only semi-dud here is "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses". And if that's as bad as things get, we're all gonna be just fine, folks.

*As I asked with Odelay, why the hell wasn't this on my list?!?

Uncle Eric's Overall Album Rating: 4.7 (A new high...)

Seven Swans by Sufjan Stevens

*A little background: Mr. Stevens and I got off to a bad start a few years back. I read all these critics raving about this quasi-Christian Detroit-born guy who had written an entire album about the state of Michigan. I was pumped. How could I not love this album? About my home state, my hometown, with all this love from the music press?! I ran out and got my copy of Greetings from Michigan, and...The first listen was pretty disappointing. The second time around didn't get any better. And by the third, this guy was just starting to piss me off. There was nothing here that resonated with me: musically, emotionally, experientially. Ugh.

*Since then, Sufjan has come to symbolize a lot of what I don't like about a certain brand of "indie" music: Too self-consciously clever; too unnecessarily complex; too heavy on concept; too impressed with itself for being clever and complex and heavily conceptual. And then there is the above photo: I will let it speak for itself.

*BUUUUUUT...I am specifically judging Seven Swans here, and I must admit I had not listened to it in its entirety before. And I will say: It was not as bad as I feared it was going to be.

*I was relieved that Sufjan does not play all 348 instruments which he knows how to play on this album, instead keeping the sound largely "stripped down".

* I appreciate the many forthright Christian references on the album, especially as Sufjan does not seem to be commercially pursuing a CCM audience.

*At his best here, Sufjan earns the comparisons to Elliot Smith which he has received. There is a hushed sincerity to his voice which is persuasive (as on "The Dress Looks Nice on You"). However, at other times, his voice seems far too smooth and delicate for my tastes and even for the subject-matter (as on "A Good Man is Hard to Find", a truly disappointing track for me, as I am a huge Flannery O'Connor fan, and this song did not resonate with my experience of her story at all).

* I can see how this album could grow on the listener, especially if you were into this style of alternative folk. But I just don't have the motivation to pursue any more listening to it than I have already done...

Uncle Eric's Overall Album Rating: 3.0

Achtung Baby takes it.

Brackets

2010-03-24T07:18:00.001-07:00

Next Round! Woo-hoo!

2010-03-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

Well folks, you should all give yourselves a pat on the back. Things were a little slow there for a minute, but you've all stepped it up. We're now finished the entire first round, and the winners can start competing against one another. It took a little work--and apparently some coffee, vodka, and brandy--to get those final picks in, but we did it.

I had a pretty good round, so Eric and I are now tied. Andy had a good round too and nudged by Sarah. Slippers actually added some major points even though he's not playing anymore. I'll have to let him know that his Guh choice took down Yankee Foxtrot.

Here now are the scores after the fourth division:

Eric 190

Andrew 190

Andy 134

Sarah 131

Brian 116

Bruce 100

Kevin 92

Karl 90

Jeff 84

Dwight 74

Jane 67

Steve 22

Okay, and now for the next round of picks. Because the rounds will now be moving quicker, we can finish an entire division and still have a few left over. So the following is all of division 1, round 2 and the beginning of division 2, round 2. I tried really hard to make sure no one got any of their own picks to listen to and to make sure that no one got anything they've already had to judge. Let me know if that isn't true, and I'll try to fix it.

Two final things: Could we try and get these in by a week or so? And also, Andy, just let me repeat what George Michael (the singer, not the character) once said: "listen without prejuidice."

Division 1, Round 2

Andy: (1) Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise vs. (16) The Hold Steady - Seperation Sunday

Eric: (8) Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans vs. (9) Achtung Baby

Me: (5) Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs vs. (28) New Order - Substance

Steve: (4) The Band - The Band vs. (20) Nick Harper - Light at the end of the Kennel

Jeff: (3) The Cure - Disintegration vs. (19) Joni Mitchell - Blue

Bruce: (22) Neil Young - Everybody Knows this is Nowhere vs. (27) Bonnie Prince Billy - Ease Down the Road

Karl: (10) MIA - Kala vs. (26) Nick Cave - Murder Ballads

Brian (15) Massive Attack - Blue Lines vs. (31) The Killers - Hot Fuss

Beginning of Division 2, Round 2

MVB - (16) Bob Marley - Legend vs. (32) Chicane - Behind the Sun

Kevin - (8) Stone Roses - Stone Roses vs. (24) Bob Dylan - Highway 61

Jane - (5) Air - Moon Safari vs. (12) Beck - Midnight Vultures

Sarah - (4) Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind vs. (20) Laurie Anderson - Big Science

We Are Not Alone

2010-03-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

So it looks like those bastards at MTV are doing a little death match of their own...
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1634081/20100316/story.jhtml

I didn't realize they were still interested in music over there.

Regrets, I've had a few, but then again...

2010-03-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

Ever since my list was posted, I've been silently coping with a crippling regret - "why did I pick all those shitty albums when I coulda picked these shitty albums instead" Just for fun, here's what I wish I picked and what I wish I didn't pick:

Shoulda picked:
Marianne Faithfull, broken English
Mazzy Star, So tonight that I may see
Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde
Jenny Lewis and Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show your bones
The Smiths, Strangeways...

Shouldn't of picked:
Laura Marling, Alas I cannot swim
Neil Young, After the gold rush
Bob Dylan, Basement Tapes and Bringing It all Back Home
The Zombies, Odessey and Oracle
Radiohead, OK Computer

Anybody else have any Death Match regrets eating away at their musical vanity?

The cat came back

2010-03-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

Gee, that's a small cover of Bringing It All Back Home. Question: Why isn’t Blonde on Blonde in the tourney? Doesn’t that seem like the most obvious Dylan choice for us to agree on? In any case, I don’t quite feel equipped to talk about Dylan. Maybe that’s because I never got into the whole mythology thing. It seems like there’s a fixed time in your life where you become obsessed not just with the songs of your favorite musician but with their whole life. By the time I started listening to Dylan, it was a little too late for that, and that’s probably good because it lets me concentrate on the tunes themselves a little more. So I’ll just say this about Bringing It All Back Home: I understand it was an important album in terms of transition for Dylan, and it has some absolutely amazing songs, but ultimately, it’s just not one of my favorites. The songs I enjoy most on Bringing It Back come at the beginning and the end. In the middle though, about the time I reach “Bob Dylan’s 115^th Dream” I’m a little tired of him doing his cocky blues/rock n’roll thang. I think it’s a good tune, as are “Maggie’s Farm,” “On The Road Again,” and “Outlaw Blues,” but having them all sit on the first half of the record gives me a slightly claustrophobic feeling. I picked Highway 61, and you could probably level some of these same criticisms at that album, but I feel like as Dylan continued his career, he was able to instill a little more roll in his rock n’roll. Bringing It All Back Home switches gears for its acoustic side, but I’ve never been all too keen on “Mr. Tambourine Man,” and “Gates of Eden” takes a little bit of slogging to get through. Nice then that Dylan wraps things up with “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” I do wonder if I would like this album more if it had been sequenced differently. Just a thought.

Wow, that's a big picture of You Are Free. I’ve already commented that I think You Are Free is an underrated Cat Power album. Maybe I’m wrong about that, but I don’t remember our particular group of friends getting geeked out about it the same way we did for Moon Pix. I do like Moon Pix, especially “Metal Heart”, but I don’t think it’s all that consistent. You Are Free might not have anything quite as good as “Metal Heart” or “Lived in Bars” (from The Greatest), but it has a lot that comes awfully close. The opener “I Don’t Blame You” is classic Cat Power, and “Good Woman” lives up to its name. “Free” and “Speak For Me” start a little questionable, but they both convince me by their ends. I love the chorus of “Fool”—it might even be good enough to convince a naysayer like Jeff. There are a few so-so tracks like the mediocre “He War” and “Shaking Paper,” but there are plenty more great tunes--“Maybe Not,” “Half of You,” and “Evolution”.

So Cat Power should probably be the winner. I’m pretty sure Chan Marshall would pick Dylan herself, and I hate to advance another token feminist for Sarah after she knocked out The Clash and Bruce knocked out my Springsteen choice, but I’m trying hard to be a less surly, less petty individual these days. Okay, Cat Power wins, and Sarah does too. As Clay Davis would put it, "shhhheeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttt."

Flashdance Asspants Vs. No Pants

2010-03-22T13:03:00.001-07:00

F*ck this sh*t, I'm getting out the bullets...

Odelay by Beck

*Didn't like this album when I first heard it in '96. I was real depressed at the time. Re-visited it about 6 months later and loved it. Came to think of Beck as rock's Great White Hope at one point (This hasn't exactly panned out, but whatever...)

*Has a "Beastie-Boys-meet-Captain-Beefheart-at-a-roller-skating-party" kind of vibe to it.

*Has some great little phrases like "flashdance asspants" and "smokestack blacktop novacane boy"

*Fun, funky, still fresh; great beats, great use of sampling (I love the use of Van Morrison's Them -covering Bob Dylan- on "Jackass")

*Has an exotic dog performing an impressive feat on the album cover

*Personally regard this as Beck's crowning achievement thus far in his career and one of the true high points of 90's pop rock

*Couldn't believe how much I enjoyed listening to this when I pulled it out last week. It's still in the glove box CD rotation.

*Why the hell didn't I put this on my list?

Uncle Eric's Overall Album Rating: 4.5 (My highest grade yet...)

The Album with the Butts on It by Sigur Ros

*Didn't really like these guys when I first heard them circa 2002; I think the album I got was ( ). (That is probably their most easily pronounced album title.) Thought they were too glacially paced, without enough solid beats I could grab on to, and also overly dramatic at times

*However, this album sounded different than I expected, at least for the first few tracks. "Poppier" might be pushing it; "more consistently energetic" might be closer. But things definitely slowed down to a crawl again by mid-album...

*Has a "Bjork-in-a-mellow-mood-meets-Coldplay-on-the-set-of-a-romantic-indie-drama" kind of vibe to it. This could be your thing; it is not mine.

*Has a lot of indecipherable Icelandic lyrics, often sung in falsetto, like "[Insert indecipherable Icelandic lyric here]"

*The sound is pretty (but precious), grand, almost over-the-top dramatic/ theatrical at times

*Has naked man-ass on the album cover

*Felt a huge sense of relief when I finally made it through the whole thing (Never a good sign...)

*A quick note about the language: I do enjoy listening to many non-English lyrics, even if I don't know how to translate them. My wife has gotten me interested in a lot of current Spanish-language pop (Check out Bomba Estereo, Calle 13, Julieta Venegas), I have enjoyed both traditional and contemporary Indian music (even before "Slumdog Millionaire" came out), and I regard Serge Gainsbourg as some kind of Gallic-pervert-genius. However, Icelandic, at least as I heard it on this album, almost sounds too much like English...And thus, I often found my brain trying to de-code what these fellas are prattling on about, but all I could come up with is gibberish. This experience reminded me of Italian artist Adriano Celetano's wonderful 1973 song/ video "Prisencolinensinainciusol", in which he has composed non-linguistic gibberish following the phonological rules of English to sound like actual "English"...Now that's a catchy song.

Uncle Eric's Overall Album Rating: 2.9

Odelay wins!

Next Assignment

2010-03-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

I am still waiting for my next listening assignment...or did I miss something?

Until then...Buckethead...

clever post heading fusing two album titles

2010-03-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

So, long story short, after lots of stuff 'including the fact that this website doesn't recognize words between <> type brackets, which means I have to write them for a fourth fucking time, this time in ' ' format' and other goings on, this website decided to delete all of the things I had written after I had written everything else. I will try to repair it as best as I can, but if anything seems a little off, blame Google. Fuck off, it did it again.

<> type brackets were added after I had finished writing my post. I was still too alert (see below) so I went back and listened to some more. 'if it makes it easier, just copy, then paste everything with a ' ' around it, or possibly a <> around it, into a new Microsoft Word document, then delete everything between the ' ''s or the <>'s depending on what is still left in this clustercuss of a post, and then read the review.>

Begin orginal review:

I don't want to be harassed anymore, so I am staying up late to listen to these albums. I have started the Anathallo about 4 times, but it has been a busy week. What with work, and March Madness, and Sugar Camp days. You know how it is. Yo La Tengo is a band that I haven't listened to as much as I should have, or probably as much as I have let on. I have one of their best of albums, and I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass. I have listened to And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out before, and have fond memories of it. Oh, and Autumn Sweater is one of my favorite songs ever. I had never heard Anathallo before. I couldn't tell if Steve was being sarcastic or not when he suggested it was unfortunate to have to listen to Canopy Glow. Hold on, I have to get some more vodka....there, much better. I drank a bunch of strong coffee today because I knew I had to make sure I didn't fall asleep without listening to these albums, but now it's getting late, and I'm still pretty wired, so I am trying to counteract that with booze. Which is kind of my thing.

Anyway, I listened to Anathallo first, because Grooveshark asked if I wanted to restore my previous session, which, I guess I did. I had never heard these guys before. It is the kind of thing that should be right up my alley: lots of instruments and voices, orchestral, 'mostly' happy music 'my only complaint with this album is that it is a little to derivative of Sufjan, though this band has been around for awhile, so maybe they have always been that way'. And you know what? It was right up my alley. When I go back and listen 'which I have now done' to the album again (which [side note - my laptop just ran out of battery power, and I thought I had lost the post thus far, but I didn't. Which makes for an awesome story, I feel] I will, probably lots) then I will be able to break it down, track by track, and tell you what I loved about each song 'of the entire album, the only two songs I feel were so-so were Northern Lights, and Cafetorium'. In any case, as Canopy Glow was winding down I decided that it was the album to beat 'and did Tower Of Babel ever make a nice end to the album'.

Like I said, I have fond memories of And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out. It is probably informed by the title and cover art, but I remember there being a vibe surrounding this whole album that is the kind of thing I'm drawn to: down-tempo, sparse, and with organ sounds 'and yes, I am aware that this is pretty much the opposite of what I said I dug earlier, but as Homer put it, "I want it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles. Sure, I might offend a few of the bluenoses with my cocky stride and musky odors -- oh, I'll never be the darling of the so-called "City Fathers" who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about "What's to be done with this Homer Simpson?" Only, it wasn't there. There is some really good stuff here 'Our Way To Fall, From Black To Blue', don't get me wrong. 'Also, Night Falls On Hoboken feels like it was written for me personally, and was almost enought to tip the scales all by itself'. But there are also some misses too. 'Everyday didn't quite work for me, and I didn't like the spoken word part of The Crying Of Lot G'. I think ultimately this is a departure album from what Yo La Tengo do best, and that is exactly what it feels like. They experimented, and it paid off well at times , and at other times 'like the overbearing high-hat on Saturday' they ended up just staring at a test tube full of a greyish looking liquid wondering why more stuff didn't happen when it was mixed with some other stuff (this may be the worst metaphor of my life [I would like to blame the vodka, but the fact is I am a terrible writer]).

And so Anathallo will be heard again. and I hope it is by me, because I am eager to listen to it again 'which I did', which, when you think about it, it really the ultimate litmus test (see what I did there) for what should advance.

Two additional things:

1) After writing this post I went to grab a picture of the cover for Canopy Glow. It's terrible.
2) While searching for said album cover, Target tried to sell me a Gazebo Light. So close, Target, so close.

(I wish you could experience this review as I experienced it. It encompassed 2 ½ 'now 4 ½' influenced by (as already mentioned) caffeine, lots of vodka, Farmville, some brandy, healthcare (cheers to healthcare, jeers to the rusty tailgate that is John Boehner), reading In Cold Blood, and more brandy (after the third time it deleted my insertions). Which is to say, that it sounded good at the time, or, more importantly, it sounded good in my head. Goodnight all.)

Documentaries vs. Woody Allen flicks

2010-03-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

So here's the thing about jazz. Sometimes I really like jazz records once I'm a little way in, but they're, for me, in the same category as Harpers articles and documentaries: I have to be cajoled into beginning to listen or read or watch. Which is probably a symptom of intellectual laziness. And I do not like what I deem "crazy jazz." Apparently, some people call this brand of jazz "free jazz," but that seems overly generous to me. Take Pharoah Sanders: I cannot unravel the music from the noise in most of his "songs." Which is probably a symptom of tone-deafness. But there you have it.

As for Beatles' albums, the other set of things that I can think to put in a category with them are Woody Allen's early and middle-ish movies because 1) I always think I am more familiar with them than I really am, and that makes me pick them up off the shelf more rarely than I should, and 2) re-listening or re-watching is always worth it, but there's always also a little grit of something that I would rather edit out.

At least that's how it is with Abbey Road for me: "Here Comes the Sun" is sunny and tender, warm with earned nostalgia, but then there's the somewhat shoddy replica of that song's lyrics at the beginning of "The Sun King." "Carry That Weight," with its orchestral bits--from the sudden horns to an electric guitar that echoes their fanfare--also wins me over, as does "Come Together." And there's a bunch of songs here too that I think are playful without being vapid, one of which is "Mean Mr. Mustard." Then again, there's a couple of clunkers, by my lights, one of which is "An Octopus's Garden." I think it's stupidly psychedelic. It, like Revolver's "Yellow Submarine," is catchy and noisome. Perhaps I just don't like songs about being underwater. Nor do I tend to like songs written by someone horny improvising with a mod garage band, which, if I had to guess, I would say might describe the composition process for "I Want You (She's So Heavy)."

In contrast, Blue Train does not have a single dud track. My favorite track, "I'm Old Fashioned," saunters around its melody in a way that seems lazy but is secretly virtuoso. True--it doesn't hearten me the same way that "Here Comes the Sun" or "Carry That Weight" do. Indeed, nothing on Blue Train nudges me toward better cheer the way some Beatles songs can. Nothing on this record, though, seems cheaply done. When the horns solo, they do so with a memory of the song's melody. This is not free jazz: the instrumentalists tether their improvisations to a guiding tune with exactly the right laxity and right precision, easing your way between chord changes.

So: Blue Train wins over Abbey Road.

Wilco Yankee Foxcrap Hotel vs. Guh We are Sunburning

2010-03-21T17:13:00.000-07:00

1. I hung out with Jay Bennet after he got kicked out of Wilco. He had this wicked warehouse studio in Chicago and I felt like a kid in a very expensive candy store tinkering with all kinds of stuff and recording some indie Diva who never amounted to anything.

2. I hung out with Guh at a hockey game in Toronto where the Staff of Sonic Unyon records played the Artists of Sonic Unyon. Guh was the band that did all the sports types music stuff in between plays. They let me have two tiny crash cymbals.

I hate Wilco.
Guh rules.
We are Sunburning wins. Obviously.

Ladies & Gentlemen, Steve Roach is floating in space

2010-03-20T21:40:00.000-07:00

So, Ladies and Gentlemen wins. I remember going to two Spiritualized shows in Boston. One was incredible. They had about 12 horns up front and each song seemed to build to a perfect crescendo of bearable and wonderful noise. The next show I went to just seemed noisy. I'm not sure what the difference was. Anyway, listening to Ladies and Gentlemen reminded me of the first one.

Oddly, I thought I owned Ladies and Gentlemen and thought I'd have to go searching for Steve Roach, but when I shuffled through the old Ipod, I found that I only had Let It Come Down, and I did have New Life Dreaming. I'm almost positive that is thanks to Bruce, but I don't remember him putting it on there for me. So, I listened to New Life Dreaming first, and it was okay. Unfortunately, I think it's just a matter of taste. I liked what I heard, and I can imagine a few scenarios and moods where I would listen to it, but I just don't enjoy it that much.

Although I think I like Let It Come Down better, mostly because I know it so well, Ladies and Gentlemen was a pleasure to listen to. My only complaint is that some of the Spiritualized lyrics don't sound so great to me anymore. At times they just sound whiny. In the end though, Ladies and Gentlemen reminded me of that great concert I attended when I was first introduced to Spiritualized. I"ll let someone else later in the competition write more eloquently about this album, but it definitely moves on.

Classic Rock Album vs. Some Electronic Music (or Token feminist songwriter)

2010-03-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

Part of the reason this has taken me so long is because I've been busy, but I think the bigger reason is that I've been listening to these two albums a lot (The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle vs. Bjork Homogenic, in case it's not clear from Jeff's labels) and thinking about them. The song from Springsteen's TWTIATESS (I just can't write that title over and over) with which I was most familiar is Wild Billy's Circus Story because it was on a mix tape a while ago. I've probably heard the rest of the songs several times before, but just registered them in my mind as "Springsteen from the 70s." I was very familiar with Bjork's Homogenic, though I've listened more to her most recent work lately and put Vespertine on my list.

The production on Homogenic is something that can't help but jump out at you. Maybe it's the cluttered music I tend to listen to these days, but the production on TWTIATESS really jumps out at me, too. Everything is it's own instrument or voice and, while there are quite a few layers throughout, it mostly remains distinct. I really like the sound of the drums here. I'm no drummer, but here are my impressions: The bass drum has a nice flat punch to it that sounds really round and has enough low end to cut through, but not so much that it sounds boomy and the snare sounds really hairy, if that makes any sense. The playing is tight and just enough behind the beat to feel "we're just hanging out and playing" laid back.
The horns are well-deployed, especially the baritone sax. You really have to love the baritone. Springsteen's voice is, well, Springsteen, though I like him better later on when he has more gravel.
Some thoughts on some of the songs:
The E Street shuffle exhibits all the production characteristics I love, but it sounds a bit too much of its time. I think Chips might have looked to the end of this song for chase music.
4th of July, Asbury Park - has a nice summer's almost over sound, but he does this annoying thing with his voice that sounds like the line is so emotionally difficult to say that it's causing him heartburn. And the line, "You know that tilt-a-whirl down on the South beach drag, I got on it last night and my shirt got caught," and others like it don't quite take me there like I want them to. I've been to Asbury Park, which is relatively run down these days, and it is kind of interesting to picture it now and then paste these images on top.
Kitty's Back - This starts out as a kind of boring slow blues, but then goes into this shuffle thing that seems to have been popular at the time (Ice Cream Man by Tom Waits, for instance). I would like to propose that this has its roots in what I call the "hippie shuffle," as heard in songs such as Truckin' by the Grateful Dead, which found its greatest expression in "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Yes, Andrew, I've just associated one of your picks with hippies. Friends, please call the police if you don't hear from me in the next few days.
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) - This is a damn fine Springsteen epic complete with evocative lyrics and some wonderful organ and horns. The only thing missing is glockenspiel. Seriously, I love the glockenspiel all over Born to Run. This guy agrees with me. He likes Springsteen glockenspiel so much he composed additional glockenspiel parts for the songs that don't have glockenspiel.
Overall, this is an enjoyable album and I would say this is in the category of music I'm glad I've been introduced to that Andrew was asking about before. I think September might be the best month for listening to this album and thinking back on the awesome stuff you did over the past summer.

This is one of the freakier album covers I've seen. Volta's cover makes Bjork look like a kid's toy, and Medulla has some bondage-ish weirdness to it, but Homogenic is uncanny and thus, spookiest of all.
As I said before, I've liked this album for a while, but I hadn't listened to it in a bit, so I was curious how I'd feel about it. Answer: I still really like it. Homogenic is a really consistent-sounding album that I generally want to listen to all of. It does dial back a bit for me after track 5 - "All Neon Like," sounding a little more like her earlier albums from "5 Years" through "Alarm Call." I've sometimes wondered if those songs had less participation from one of the producers, Howie B, who I associate with the full, round, electronic sounds of the first five songs and "All is Full of Love."
The production on this album is, on many songs, similar to TWTIATESS in the space it gives to each sound. Some songs, like "Pluto," are fuzzier and more muddled, and others, like "Bachelorette," have tons of strings filling every possible hole. It's hard to explain exactly why, but I just love the place this album takes me in its sound and often ambiguous, but image-laden lyrics.
Thoughts on a few of the songs:
Hunter - This song gets me excited to listen to the album. It's mysterious and a bit menacing and says, "you're about to experience something unique, here."
Joga - This album sounds really cold compared with TWTIATESS, but songs like this have always stirred me emotionally. It's like hot chocolate after a day of downhill skiing. No, wait, it's like some wacky herbal tea after a day of cross-country skiing. Granted, this song uses the word emotional right at the beginning of the song, so maybe I'm just following orders.
All Neon Like - Conjures images of fantasy adventures like "The Never Ending Story." And it's weirdly comforting:
With a razorblade, I'll cut a slit open
And the luminous beam
Feeds you honey, heals you
Pluto - Sometimes I just skip this song, but sometimes it makes me want to dance around madly shaking my fists making animal noises. Then I lie on the floor and watch the ceiling fan as I listen to:
All is Full of Love - This just makes me feel mellow and good. By the way, you really have to love this song not to have it ruined by the music video.
I've gone back and forth on these two albums over the past week+ and I think it comes down to this: I can explain why I like Bruce Springsteen's The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle better than I can explain why I like Bjork's Homogenic and the less-explainable is just more interesting and enduring to me. Homogenic wins.

Since all of my picks...

2010-03-17T12:25:00.001-07:00

keep getting knocked out, I would like to re-submit, to be more in line with the rest of the group. Here goes:

30. I own a guitar – I (What I am singing about is very important)
29. Strum softly – kind of whine, kind of sing
28. Songs about love – and songs about not being in love
27. Token feminist songwriter – I can sing too!
26. Canadian band – that’s where it’s at
25. Some Electronic Music – I’m eclectic
24. Good ol’ Rock and Roll – cause it rawks!
23. Strum softly – kind of sing, kind of whine
22. U2 – you just can’t get away from U2, no matter how hard you try
21. Seminal band – I like their stuff, really I do
20. I own a guitar – II (more songs about what I am thinking and feeling)
19. someone French – this is about the right place in the list for someone French
18. Another Canadian band – these guys are great, too
17. Cat Power – something about Pixies, or the moon, or whatever
16. Out of place artist – Just because
15. Yet a third Canadian band –a lot of good music coming out of Canada right now
14. Punk from the 70’s – something with a lot of yelling
13. A whole bunch of people – and lots of instruments (the more the better)
12. funk album – shout out
11. Classic rock album – You know, I’ve come to appreciate classic rock again, on a much deeper level than before
10. I’m never – gonna come up with 30 of these
9. No. 9 – Yep, it’s No. 9
8. I own a guitar – III (this time it’s personal)
7. Some band you’ve never heard of – don’t you feel ashamed that you’ve never heard of this band?
6. Nick Drake – okay, I do like Nick Drake
5. The dogs with bees in their mouths – and when they bark
4. Bob Dylan, or Lou Reed – take your pick
3. 90’s alt rock – I almost forgot
2. Crooked Saints – Beatrice (at least one person is likely to advance this)
1. Poison – Look What The Cat Dragged In

wilco VS his name is alive

2010-03-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

so...
i'm gonna tell you my initial reaction to both.
i don't own either of these albums, and had maybe heard a few songs from both.
first impression:
wilco (being there) - some of this reminds me of the constantines, some of this reminds me of the band, and all of this reminds me of music that i love.
his name is alive (Ft. Lake) - are you serious? this is in the competition? ugh.

now wait a second... that was just first impression.
here were my second impressions:
wilco - holy balls! i love this! i really, really love this!
his name is alive - i thought i liked these guys. what happened with this album? i love it when a band explores different genres and is constantly changing, but not like this!

now, i did give them both a third try, and this is what my impression was:
wilco - yes! i get to listen to this again.
his name is alive - i'm not listening to this again.

so... wilco (being there) gets the surprise win.

also, this will be my last call.
i'm out.
i will be moving soon, and have no computer to keep at this.
in fact, i don't know where i'll be for the next couple months, other than vancouver.
so... shit!
i trust that all my picks will be gone by the end of the next round.
sorry if this screws anything up.

Let It Be OK

2010-03-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

I admire the haphazard charm of Let It Be, and recognize a number of iconic tracks (like the title track, “Across the Universe,” “Get Back,” and the grating, yet popular, “The Long and Winding Road”). And I giggled more than a few times listening to this album, but I wasn’t always giggling with The Beatles (as I was on “Maggie Mae”). Sometimes I was giggling at them. Examples:

the cloying but oddly fascinating “I Me Mine”
the disposable “Dig It” (Did the Beatles help popularize the novelty/skit track? I do not thank them for this.)

Lest I sound sacrilegious, I realize the charm of this album may just be dated or lost on me.

You know what doesn’t sound dated or uneven though? OK Computer. And it’s not just because it came out twelve years ago instead of forty. Nor is it just because

I love a good concept album, even (especially?) if that concept is entropic (the imminent demise of everything nice like love and bunnies, the coming doom of corporate and technological takeover, the only saving grace: alien abduction).
I love songs that mention my name that are not “Sara Smile” by Hall & Oates or “Sara” by Jefferson Starship. I have a gold star for the random stranger who will someday serenade me with a line from “Lucky” instead.

Nope. It’s because there still seems to be more to catch sonically, lyrically, and conceptually on this album, even after hundreds of listens. Maybe it helps that Yorke’s not winning any awards for chief enunciator.

It feels eerie listening to the album here in 2010, as if we’ve somehow reached the culmination of Yorke’s nightmare. I’m a recent convert to the likes of Orwell and Vonnegut, and conspiracy theories are brain candy for me. However, I am far too burdened with a sense of responsibility to do something truly wacky and creative with my paranoia. When the rare brave person does take such risks, and with such results, I’m dumbstruck.

Finally, in case I have overcomplimented this album for its pessimism, it’s fascinating that the fears that fuel OK Computer are also what make its genius possible (globalization and information technology, for example).

Watching Elephants Smoosh Mollusks

2010-03-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

Task:
White Stripes - Elephant vs. Ween - The Mollusk

Notes:
- Tell them you haven't listened to Ween before, but you have listened to The White Stripes

- Tell them that Ween swearing in their songs is pretty rad.

- Mollusk has a great sound, nicely varied, and interesting

- Remember when you bought Elephant in Canada... in the mall. Tell a story about it, and relate it to Zeppelin somehow.

- Tell people you'll keep listening to Ween

- Everyone loves the white stripes... except that person who said they didn't

- You aren't that person.

- Remember to read over the review, to make sure you didn't write strips instead of stripes... people will think you're talking about whitening your teeth... terribly relevant, but not the point of this exercise.

- Suggest everyone listen to both these albums* *not at the same time

- Listen to the albums again, but this time write down legitimate, musically-related points about the songs, and present them as the basis for deciding who wins.

- Under all circumstances, make sure Dwight's album loses.

- Make sure Elephant wins regardless, don't tell anyone you let your cat decide.

- Finish this before Andrew starts complaining.