Since all of my picks...

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

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

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

1. 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).
2. 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

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.

I'm feeling heavy

Afghan Whigs - 1965 vs. Polyphonic Spree - Together We're Heavy

The good news is that either choice will likely piss off a Zwart, and isn't that the whole point of this whole competition...upsetting the Zwarts.

I'm not really familiar with either of these bands or albums. I know Greg Dulli from his stint as the singer from Backbeat (which I remember being a crappy Beatles biopic, but I don't think I've seen it since it came out). I remember liking Debonair and Gentleman in high school. I also remember Andrew loving the Afghan Whigs. Polyphonic Spree I know only by having seen them perform on Letterman and thinking they'd be pretty cool to see live (I love rock n roll gimmicks and dug the robes)...also, I feel like they may have been on Scrubs, back when the show was decent.

On first listen, I enjoy the retro-soul feel to the Afghan Whigs' album (Andrew, do you call them the "Afghans" or the "Whigs" for short?). Musically, this album has aged pretty well. On first listen to the Spree, they sound pretty similar to certain Flaming Lips songs, but not as good. On first listen, I'm not that interested in the music or the lyrics.

I re-listened to both these albums in the car a week later after the first listen. I enjoyed Polyphonic Spree's album much more on the second listen. The second time around, the album didn't feel as forced/fake sounding, and more enjoyable. The second time
for 1965 didn't go that well. I know they're "90's alternative rock", but on second listen, I feel like I'm listening to a long-lost 80's hair metal band. Lyrically, it doesn't seem all that dissimilar from an 80's rock band either.

Winner:
Polyphonic Spree

Weezer vs. The Elected

This is the first match up for me that doesn't have stuff I've heard before...I've never been much of a 90's alternative fan, so Weezer kinda passed me by...I recognize their power-pop significance or whatever and know that they've stuck around for awhile, i just never thought about listening to them...I remember listening to some of these songs on a alternative radio station in Kalamazoo (somebody help me...92.somthing) while driving for JTS at Calvin...I certainly didn't dislike the "blue album"...I thought it was pretty catchy...Undone (the sweater song) has a cool chorus and i enjoyed the video on youtube...Say it ain't so and Holiday were two of my favorites...

I hadn't heard the Elected even though I'm a bit of a Rilo Kiley fan...At first I thought it was kinda boring and over long, but it grew on me...I'm a sucker for warm pop songs...I've listened to it alot on lala.com for the past week...

i don't have a lot more to say...I think Weezer is a great album that should live on and will...The Elected will probably be overshadowed by Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis stuff, however, it is what I'd rather listen to...Winner...The Elected

Round 3 Brackets

Do clicking on it to make it bigger for your optic nerve to make it into information for your brain:

I'm very disappointed in you all (except for me, Steve, Eric, and Jane)

Apparently, you all have lives, but you still need to get your picks in. We're so close to wrapping up this first round. Then, we get to see the winners start competing with one another. Those of us who have done our diligent duty now get to close out the final division:

Steve:
(13) Wilco - Yankee Foxtrot Hotel vs. (20) Guh - We Are Sunburning

Eric:

(19) Beck - Odelay vs. (14) Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust (or as I like to call it, the one with the butts on the cover).

Me:

(15) Bob Dylan - Bringing it all back home vs. (18) Cat Power - You are Free

Jane:

(16) Beatles - Abbey Road vs. (17) John Coltrane - Blue Train

And below are the scores after the third division. Eric is still the reigning champ. Sarah had a huge round, and Bruce and Karl have pulled up significantly as well. I feel like there is a conspiracy happening here with this threesome. I need to make sure these three can't pick each other's albums anymore. I mean, that's how we end up with Cut Copy winning.

Eric 156

Sarah 115

Andrew 113

Andy 92

Kevin 88

Bruce 87

Brian 86

Karl 83

MVB 82

Jeff 60

Jane 42

Dwight 42

Steve 19

I'll also take this opportunity to ask whether anyone has discovered or re-discovered any music they're excited about.

Now c'mon, get those picks in. It's all about multi-tasking.

Is Jane a Woman? Is she a Siamese Twin?

Well, here's one thing that Smashing Pumpkins and Lambchop have in common: at times, I've overdosed on each album. In the first case, I blame myself. In the second, I blame Andrew. My recovery in either case, however, has been complete, and now I find all sorts of reasons to like each of these records--to begin with, the slightly nasal voice of Billy Corgan and the lounge-lizard falsetto of Kurt Wagner. But these two albums also quiet and swell with a winning variety, and little nuggets of sound and lyric crop up in each. And each also keeps its best for last, I think. The title track of Is a Woman is my favorite on the album, with its reggae lilt and the imperative that works its way into the chorus ("Write this down"). Likewise, the end of Siamese Dream stands out. Don't get me wrong--I warmed to "Today" and "Disarm" all over again--but the last few tracks of the album fit in all kinds of dynamic stuff: piano ballad stuff sits right next to the closest thing to heavy metal, in the way of guitar solos, etc., that I like (sorry, MVB).

That said, I find Is a Woman a more consistently pleasing record. It sashays and slackens and trumps up energy in all the right places. It habitually works in phrases that tickle my fancy, the most memorable of which is "chicken of the sea." So I'm choosing it.

That's right: Is a Woman wins. And y'all should know that Andrew did everything he could to make sure that I gave Siamese Dream the benefit of the doubt: he air-guitared up a storm, windmilling often, and called one track "epic." And he overplayed Is a Woman for about three months before the Music Death Match began. But it just wasn't enough.

Rattle in the Basement

This was probably the most interesting match-up for me so far...Two sprawling albums that both seem to be striving to pay appropriate due to American roots music...I'm not convinced I have anything really original to say about either one but, hell, here goes...

Rattle and Hum by U2

I loved this sh*t when I was a teenager. I had a t-shirt with the album cover on it (Just because I got it at K-Mart or JCPenney or something didn't mean the authenticity of the rock and roll it represented was any less, well, authentic.) But that was a long time ago. (I am now 58.) My tastes have broadened and matured, U2 have gone on and made other albums, and I have heard many a critic/ music snob poo-poo this record as U2 hitting rock bottom. The usual argument goes something like thus: Disoriented by the newly found uber-celebrity status achieved with The Joshua Tree, the four lads from Dublin tried to prove they were worthy of being the world's greatest rock band by setting off to discover "America" for themselves...What resulted was a pretentious and ridiculously over-done album (and movie) full of references to Elvis and Billy Holiday, the gospel and the blues, presented as if Bono and the boys had uncovered them for the rest of contemporary musicdom to marvel at. Mercy mercy me, as Marvin Gaye put it.

Well, I only half-buy that line. After listening to Rattle and Hum a couple times this week (for the first time in literally years), I was surprised by how many great tracks there are among the ruins. I will acknowledge that the cover songs are superfluous, as are most of the live tracks (with the definite exception of "Bullet the Blue Sky"). Bono is positively at his preachy and self-righteous worst during some of the onstage banter captured here. And I don't know how the hell "Van Diemen's Land" made the cut...A little Edge-written yarn about a poet banished to Australia?!? Seriously? Huh?

But back to the good stuff..."Desire", "Angel of Harlem", and "All I Want Is You" genuinely surprised me by how great they still sound. True classics. And then there is that quiet little "Love Rescue Me" (co-written with Dylan!), an absolutely beautiful track which has never gotten the attention it deserves. And while I am probably in the minority on this one, I actually realy like "God Part II" ; its driving rhythm section and refreshingly ironic lyrics seem to me just a tiny foreshadowing of the changes around the corner for U2 (i.e., the recording of Achtung Baby, which I still regard as their magnum opus).

A mess? Yes. Still hip? Yip. Well, sort of.

Uncle Eric's Overall Album Rating: 3.9


The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan and the Band



I should start by saying I listened to the "official" release of this album on Columbia Records, not any of the legendary bootlegs or "The Great White Wonder" or any of that crap. I love Dylan but not that much. I leave that sort of thing to Andy Wilson, to whom anyone reading this should refer if they have further questions about the history of these recordings, their larger significance in the history of American music, their uniqueness in the discographies of both Dylan and the Band, their unparalleled incorporation of traditional music forms from the "old weird America" of the early twentieth century into the new weeeeeird America of the late 1960s., etc. Yep, I would talk to Andy if you have questions about any of that stuff. Him or Greil Marcus. But I'm not gonna talk about that here because I start feeling a little over my head. Hell, I felt out-of-my-league reading the liner notes...Geesh.

Anyhoo, Disc One really is killer. Solid as hell. The opening rave-up "Odds and Ends" just gets me all excited and the enthusiasm hardly wains for the next half-an-hour or so. It's been said before, but the looseness of the music and the sense of fun these guys sound like they are having making this album are down-right infectious. The bass-playing and the organ-swirls are consistently impressive. "Yazoo Street Scandal", "Goin' to Acapulco", "Apple Suckling Tree", and "Please, Mrs. Henry" all stand as some of my favorite songs recorded by Bob or the boys from the Band. "Bessie Smith" is a keeper, too. And "Lo and Behold!"...Good Lord, like it or not, that song is so catchy it could get stuck in your head for a week and a half.

My excitement does cool a little on Disc Two...Maybe I need to listen to this double album one disc at a time to appreciate it properly. Some of the tracks just start feeling a little too "straightforward" or "mid-tempo" or something. But there are some great songs here, too...My favorites probably being "Crash on the Levee", "You Ain't Going Nowhere", and "Open the Door, Homer".

Despite all this praise, I do have to say I don't fully understand what makes this album so entirely unique or historically important. It just sounds like top-notch "Americana" music to me...Perhaps this is because I live in a post-alternative-country universe in which there is now a whole genre's worth of bands making quality "American" music. I don't know. I better go consult with Andy about this one...

Uncle Eric's Overall Album Rating: 4.2

The Winner: The Basement Tapes

Blood on yer bright eyes

Steve is having trouble posting. This is from him not me:

I can't seem to post my entry.
can you do it for me?

Admission: I’ve never really listened to much Bob Dylan. Of course I’ve heard a ton of Bob Dylan, but I’ve never really listened to what people really admire about him…mainly his poetry. It’s not that I resist his importance to the music world, but I just never exposed myself to his stuff the way I should.

I’ve never really listened to Bright Eyes. It seems his influence over the world of particularly emotional indie types really made itself apparent towards the end of my obsession with particularly emotional indie type music. My take was always that he was overly mopey and a lyrical master wannabe. Of course, I say that having heard maybe one of his songs and ignoring it.

Okay, those two paragraphs are written and now I will proceed to listen to both of these albums for the first time. I will admit, there’s little hope for Bright Eyes, because I’ve always told myself if I really dug into Bob Dylan, I’d find what everyone else has always loved him for. But I make this vow: I will give Bright Eyes his fair shake. I hope to be pleasantly surprised. Here goes something…

My first reaction is that I am listening to two artists with very distinct voices. That’s the similarity. The difference is that Conor Oberst’s voice seems to be quite manufactured. His poetry, which seems quite forced, gets lost in the fact that he is, at least in my estimation, singing earnestly to convince us that he is earnest. Dylan, on the other hand, simply seems to be singing from his gut without regard for what we might think.

Dear Bright Eyes, Is that Emmylou on track 2? What a way to show that you don’t have real chops.

Another reaction…I listened with anticipation for each song on Blood on the Tracks. I listened for the poetry. For the almost anthem like calls…

I wanted the Bright Eyes album to be over mid-way through track three. I don’t know. I think I just hate it. The instrumentation, while skillfully played, is just kind of too smooth, or boring. It doesn’t match that (false) earnestness with which Oberst is singing. I just don’t know why I’m supposed to care about what he moaning into my earphones.

Can you see where this is going? I don’t think I need to write any more, really.

Blood on the Tracks y’all.

Neutral Milk Hotel vs. Cut Copy

Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Lyrics mostly involve sticking fingers through body parts that don't normally have fingers stuck through them. Sounds like a pubescent boy sing-screaming in the shower. While listening to Mountain Goats on a boombox. And strangling the ol' one-eyed shower snake.


Good idea about using Noe to help judge. You know how listening to Mozart encourages brain growth in infants? Not so much with Cut Copy. I put my Sennheiser HD280 sound-insulating headphones on her little head and played the opening track of Bright Like Neon Love. The entire right half of her body went limp. Now she'll probably never learn long division.

This is what George Bush warned us about. This is what you get when you take wussy music and force real men to swallow it.

Yippee ki-yay peanut butter. Cut Copy advances.

Get your Worship On

Since Andrew was talking about worship, and since I sort of make a living off writing worship services and hating most of the modern worship songs, I thought I would post what I consider the best and worst worship songs.

I really really love "Your Never Fails" and I quite wonder what you think...particularly if you don't consider yourself a Christian. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoezWBPGRAc


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ1diGCosjQ

Lost in the Funhouse

There are a few different ways I could frame this match-up. Like Dwight, I could look at this as a nice boys vs. bad boys kind of thing. Or, I could look at this as 70's punk vs. 90's pseudo-alternative (in this case, I'd love to see someone write a dissertation showing the link between these two groups). Maybe I should think of this as guilty pleasure vs. hipster garbage.

After listening to both albums, I found that I don't have too much to say about The Counting Crows. August sure feels like it's from the 90's. I've never been crazy about this guy's voice. I think his vocal style has greatly influenced contemporary worship leaders. Maybe I should blame this guy for the fact that instead of getting to sing the good old hymns in chapel, I too often find myself watching some guy singing in an over-dramatic fashion, kind of ruining my experience. In fact, this whole album has a bit of that feel. I guess I can now say I know where contemporary worship is at: firmly planted in the 90's (those of you familiar with both this album and that style of worship, tell me I'm wrong).

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from Funhouse. I've never been a huge Iggy Pop fan, but somewhere along the line, I picked up that his early stuff was better. I expected this to be a loud, MC5ish kind of album. And for me, that meant that it could be really good or really bad, depending on how well it was executed. The first few tracks were fine, but they bored me a little. As the album continued though, I found myself really enjoying it. And by the time the horns kicked in on the last three tracks, I was sold. Essentially, this is an album of some half singing, half yelling vocals, with some heavy bass and sprawling guitar. One of the things that impresses me about this record is that with all that half screaming/yelling, it never sounds overly angry or bitter. In fact, it sounds like they're really enjoying themselves--celebrating rock n'roll in the same messy way that a kind delights in his food by smearing it all over the table.

Anyway, I ended up enjoying Funhouse enough that I went ahead and downloaded it, a pretty obvious sign that it wins. I guess I'm just a sucker for hipster garbage.

oops

Not only didn't listen to albums yet, didn't even read the blog to realize I was being, uh, prodded.

Some day I will no longer work at Facebook. Until then: You will be screwed as long as you are judging me! Or something like that.

(Awesome SD & T picture.)