Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 2

[whuntva]

After a successful Week One, it is time to carry on. We start now with eight new songs for listening.

Four points for #1 in the group. One point for #4. Top TWO advance to the Round of 32, ties are broken by #1 votes.

You are allowed to vote for only one group.

Comments are strongly encouraged, but not required.

Voting ends October 16 at 11:59 pm UTC.

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
Seven Year Bitch-MIA
Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby
George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
Rush-La Villa Strangiato

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
The Church-Already Yesterday
Pauline Oliveros-Lear

[ordinaryperson]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
1. George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
2. Rush-La Villa Strangiato
3. Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby
4. Seven Year Bitch-M.I.A

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
1. Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
2. The Church-Already Yesterday
3. Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
4. Pauline Oliveros-Lear

[Bang Jan]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
1. Rush-La Villa Strangiato
2. George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
3. Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby
4. Seven Year Bitch-MIA

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
1. Pauline Oliveros-Lear
2. Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
3. Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
4. The Church-Already Yesterday

[jamieW]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby
Rush-La Villa Strangiato
Seven Year Bitch-MIA

The gorgeous, minimalist piece by Winston (from an equally gorgeous album) easily trumps a song that still brings back fond childhood memories.

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
Pauline Oliveros-Lear
Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
The Church-Already Yesterday

I already used the adjective gourgeous (twice!), but it's the perfect word for my top two in this group, as well. Cristina's lovely voice wins by a hair over the hypnotic "Lear."

[whuntva]

Bach Group

Rush-La Villa Strangiato
George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby
Seven Year Bitch-MIA

It was a tossup between the two instrumentals. I ended up going with Rush because that's how I roll. George Winston was very good though, and seems like the hands-on choice to win.

Brahms Group

Pauline Oliveros-Lear
Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
The Church-Already Yesterday
Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer

Lear was...something. Bar none the longest track this game. It feels like a soundtrack to a sci-fi movie and instantly wants me to look up more about it. Could we have another "Stella" on our hands? We shall see.

Mutual Benefit at the bottom is more a testament to the overall strength of the group and not a knock on the song itself.

Oliveros and Winston come the closest to breaking the recent "no Classical" rule, but to me, they are both trance/ambient. Because I listen to Disparition and would not call him classical, they are both allowed.

[Henry]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
1. Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby
2. Rush-La Villa Strangiato
3. George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
4. Seven Year Bitch-M.I.A

[Honorio]

Bach group:
4. George Winston - Night (1982)
5. Seven Year Bitch - M.I.A. (1994)
7. Rush - La Villa Strangiato (1978)
8. Jackson Browne - Somebody's Baby (1982)

Brahms group:
1. The Church - Already Yesterday (1985)
2. Cristina Branco - Ai Vida (1999)
3. Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster & Panaiotis - Lear (1989)
6. Mutual Benefit - Strong Swimmer (2013)

[spiritualized]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
Seven Year Bitch-MIA
George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
Rush-La Villa Strangiato
Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby

My indie-rock core cannot not put Seven Year Bitch at the top of this group. Beautiful piece of music from George Winston, nonetheless

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP

Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
Pauline Oliveros-Lear
The Church-Already Yesterday
Cristina Branco-Ai Vida

[Jackson]

Bach group:
Rush - La Villa Strangiato (1978)
Seven Year Bitch - M.I.A. (1994)
Jackson Browne - Somebody's Baby (1982)
George Winston - Night (1982)

Brahms group:
Mutual Benefit - Strong Swimmer (2013)
Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster & Panaiotis - Lear (1989)
The Church - Already Yesterday (1985)
Cristina Branco - Ai Vida (1999)

[notbrianeno]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
Rush-La Villa Strangiato
Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby
Seven Year Bitch-MIA

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
Pauline Oliveros-Lear
Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
The Church-Already Yesterday

[DaveC]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
Seven Year Bitch-MIA
Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby
George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
Rush-La Villa Strangiato

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
The Church-Already Yesterday
Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
Pauline Oliveros-Lear

Excellent group of songs this.

[BleuPanda]

Bach:
La Villa Strangiato
MIA
Somebody's Baby
Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels

Brahms:
Strong Swimmer
Already Yesterday
Ai Vida
Lear

[acroamor]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
Rush-La Villa Strangiato
Wow, what a piece. I appreciate the subtitle listed on the Youtube video (An Exercise of Self-Indulgence). A 9 minute songs with 12 individually named movements? Ooh yes, ooh yes. And how wonderfully indulgent it is. The wonders of prog rock done right.
Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby
Worth mentioning: my iTunes library is actually an extension of my dad's also-massive iTunes library. When I first got into music, I started from listening to his classic rock tracks and then added my own music into a massive (256 gigs now) library. Funnily enough, three of the songs from this group were already in his library, laying unheard. However, I recognized this number from one of my favorite films, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I don't know if I'm voting for it for the song itself or my warm memories of that film and I don't care.
George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
A lovely piece, and one that I wish could pass on. Unfortunately, it got put in one of the tougher groups of the tournament.
Seven Year Bitch-MIA
A truly badass punk song (and the only song of the group not in my Dad's iTunes) and one that I also wish could pass on to the next round.

[acroamor]

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. What a wonderful sonic palette. I'd be happy if this took the grand prize.
Pauline Oliveros-Lear
Like the previous song, it looks like peaceful is the name of the game. Seems like the menu music for an upcoming Halo game.
Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
Lovely sad foreign film music, or at least that's how it seems to me.
The Church-Already Yesterday
Utterly forgettable compared to the rest of this week's tracks.

[Maschine_Man]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
1. Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby
2. George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
3. Rush-La Villa Strangiato
4. Seven Year Bitch-M.I.A

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
1. Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
2. Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
3. The Church-Already Yesterday
4. Pauline Oliveros-Lear

[Romain]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
1. George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
2. Rush-La Villa Strangiato
3. Seven Year Bitch-M.I.A
4. Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
1. Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
2. Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
3. Pauline Oliveros-Lear
4. The Church-Already Yesterday

[sonofsamiam]

2. Rush-La Villa Strangiato - My favorite Rush track, for various reasons -- first, it's the end of their prog era before they went for the shorter, tighter song, and to that end is the apotheosis of them doing long form stuff. Also, they are clearly more playful than usual, with silly jazz solos out of nowhere, a reference to Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" (used in many a cartoon), and a surprising range of dynamics. Then there's the playing, which is unbelievable but not so tight it doesn't sound human (in fact, this was apparently recorded in one live take). Being a drummer, I remain a sucker for Neil Peart's fills. And finally, no lyrics, which means neither shrieking nor cod philosophical musings to make me cringe. I love it every time.
3. Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby - Great song, a complete nostalgia trip but that's OK.
4. Seven Year Bitch-MIA - I liked this much more than I expected to, not sure how I missed this in the 90s but it's strong stuff.
6. George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels - Nice, but a little light for my taste.

1. Pauline Oliveros-Lear - Along with the Rush track, this makes 2 of my all-time Top 200 this week. This is just wonderful drone -- the more I've delved into modern composition, the more I find Oliveros' work amazing. For Sunn O))) fans (if there are any here), listen to this and compare to their "Alice".
5. Cristina Branco-Ai Vida - Very pretty, but not life-altering.
7. The Church-Already Yesterday - A good 80s indie track.
8. Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer - Nice, but a bit long, and a bit Fleet Foxes/Midlake/Band of Horses for my taste.

[bonnielaurel]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
1. Rush-La Villa Strangiato
2. Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby
3. Seven Year Bitch-M.I.A
4. George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels

Rush recorded this in the days when there was more freedom in rock music, and a long instrumental track with a great combination of acoustic and electric guitars and drums was possible. Jackson Browne is a fine pop-rock song from the early eighties. George Winston is too minimalist to me, a kind of shallow spiritualism.

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
1. Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
2. Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
3. The Church-Already Yesterday
4. Pauline Oliveros-Lear

Cristina Branco has a beautiful voice that expresses the Portuguese melancholia or "saudade". Mutual Benefit plays an original type of folk rock.

[phil]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
1. George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
2. Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby
3. Rush-La Villa Strangiato
4. Seven Year Bitch-M.I.A

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
1. The Church-Already Yesterday
2. Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
3. Pauline Oliveros-Lear
4. Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer

Any of the top three here would have topped the Bach group for me.

[luney6]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP

1. Rush-La Villa Strangiato - Very good for a minute or two (total), mostly good, but cheesy in the start and periodically throughout the song.

2. Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby - Interestingly pleasing and somewhat catchy. Not very good though.

3. George Winston-Night - Snow/Midnight/Minstrels - Fine concept, not put into practice all that well.

4. Seven Year Bitch-MIA - Interesting in the start, gets frustrating with time, although I generally like this kind of music when it is more focussed and varied.

[Krurze]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
Seven Year Bitch-MIA
Rush-La Villa Strangiato
George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
Pauline Oliveros-Lear
The Church-Already Yesterday
Cristina Branco-Ai Vida

[Sweepstakes Ron]

BACH:
1. M.I.A. - I really like the emotion and energy on this one, but I feel like my specific reasons for putting the in first place begin and end at "it has female vocals".
2. La Villa Strangiato - The first time I heard "2112" (the song, not the album) was possibly my greatest musical experience ever, but I've only listened to it once since then. I'm never really in the mood to listen to the type of hard prog stuff, but maybe that needs to change, because the band is tight on this rocker.
3. Somebody's Baby - I've heard this many a times on the radio, but I never really considered this song as its own entity until now. I've never watched Fast Times, but since I wasn't impressed by The Breakfast Club, I'm not really in a rush to watch another '80s coming-of-age film with a pop-rock soundtrack. To call this my favorite Jackson Browne song would be saying almost nothing, but it's got a funtime feel to it that keeps it out of last place.
4. Night - It takes a lot for me to give a good score to a pure piano piece. The first part alone would have put it ahead of Browne, but the next two parts really dragged it down.

BRAHMS:
1. Ai Vida - In this less than stellar bracket, mellow guitar stylings with gorgeous, melodic vocals easily takes the cake.
2. Already Yesterday - I don't find The Church to be the most amazing band (or even the best band named after public Christian houses of worship), but I can definitely dig the '80s jangle-psych here.
3. Strong Swimmer - I guess the female-sounding backing vocals in the second half are alright...
4. Lear - I don't fuck with drone.

[Chilton]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
3. Rush - La Villa Strangiato
5. George Winston - Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
7. Seven Year Bitch - M.I.A.
8. Jackson Browne - Somebody's Baby

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
1. Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
2. Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
4. Pauline Oliveros-Lear
6. The Church-Already Yesterday

[Nassim]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
1. Rush-La Villa Strangiato
2. Seven Year Bitch-M.I.A
3. George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
4. Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
1. Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
2. Pauline Oliveros-Lear
3. Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
4. The Church-Already Yesterday

[Brad]

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP
1. Rush-La Villa Strangiato
2. Seven Year Bitch-M.I.A
3. George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
4. Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP
1. The Church-Already Yesterday
2. Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
3. Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
4. Pauline Oliveros-Lear

Yes, "Somebody's Baby" immediately recalls Fast Times for me as well... specifically (and memorably) Jennifer Jason Leigh's breasts in the infamous dugout scene. Not quite as stirring as Phoebe Cates' "Moving In Stereo" however!

[Moonbeam]

Comments later if time.

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH GROUP

1. George Winston - Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels
2. Jackson Browne - Somebody's Baby
3. Rush - La Villa Strangiato
4. Seven Year Bitch - M.I.A

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP

1. The Church - Already Yesterday
2. Pauline Oliveros - Lear
3. Cristina Branco - Ai Vida
4. Mutual Benefit - Strong Swimmer

[Nick]

Sorry for the somewhat irrelevant post, but it's pretty crazy to see Pauline Oliveros's name here as she's currently a professor at my school. I haven't had a class with her, but my best friend has, and I got to meet her after I saw her perform on campus. She seems like a very nice lady. Really all I've got to say haha.

[whuntva]

Sorry for the somewhat irrelevant post, but it's pretty crazy to see Pauline Oliveros's name here as she's currently a professor at my school. I haven't had a class with her, but my best friend has, and I got to meet her after I saw her perform on campus. She seems like a very nice lady. Really all I've got to say haha.

That's really cool!

And to Sonofsamiam, I do very much like Sunn O))). This track sounded like a more ambient version of them. Very avant-garde track. I like White1 and Dimensions and Monoliths a lot. I think that's what influenced me to vote for her here.


Last call for votes! Poll closes tonight.

[luney6]

JOHANNES BRAHMS GROUP

Pauline Oliveros-Lear
Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer
Cristina Branco-Ai Vida
The Church-Already Yesterday

Sorry, but I won't be able to post comments this time, as I'm a bit hard pressed for time.

[whuntva]

Poll Closed!

I was doing something else, but I came back about three hours late. This will only delay the start, the next poll should end on schedule.

BACH GROUP

Rush-La Villa Strangiato (73, 11)
George Winston-Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels (58, 6)
---
Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby (50, 2)
Seven Year Bitch-MIA (49, 4)

Rush has scored the most net points so far, and second only to dEUS for top votes scored.

George Winston led early, but Rush surged around Monday and never looked back.

BRAHMS GROUP

Cristina Branco-Ai Vida (64, 7)
Mutual Benefit-Strong Swimmer (60, 7)
---
Pauline Oliveros-Lear (56, 5)
The Church-Only Yesterday (50, 4)

Pauline Oliveros came very close to winning, but Mutual Benefit came basically out of nowhere to steal second. Cristina delivered only what she needed to claim a close victory.

Matchups TBD for Week FOUR! Please check for errors.

[Rob]

I really didn't have any time this week to give all these songs a proper listen. Too bad, as it went at the cost of M.I.A. by Seven Year Bitch, one of my selections. Not that I could have saved it and honestly, I always thought it was going to be a love-it-or-hate-it song. That seemed to be the case. For me it has special rush power like few other rock songs have.