Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

Jirin
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Re: Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

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Bob Marley - Live!

Like this album a lot, I think Marley’s style gains something live it doesn’t have in the studio recordings.

Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters

This is one of the albums my father introduced me to way back when I was first getting into 60s music and didn’t quite get into then. Apparently my tastes have evolved because I’m really into it now.

The Modern Lovers - Rock N Roll With The Modern Lovers

Sounds like a demo album. There isn’t enough charisma in this work to be this stripped down.

New York Dolls - New York Dolls

I’m not a fan of this one, it’s what I might classify as ‘rage-pop’, selling me generic youthful rebellion without much substance.

Winner: Head Hunters

Next:
MC5 - Kick Out The Jams
The Replacements - Pleased To Meet Me
Sleater-Kinney - Call The Doctor
Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding

This is weird matchup. Maybe only matchup that's four albums I've already heard, three of which are by people who have made top 50 albums for me.
Jirin
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Re: Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

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Since we entered a new page, here's current full list of albums that advanced to 2nd round so far:

Mac Demarco - Salad Days
The National - The National
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
Bill Evans - Sunday At The Village Vanguard

The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Housemartins - The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death
Velvet Underground - 1969: Velvet Underground Live With Lou Reed
Saint Etienne - Tales From Turnpike House

Muddy Waters - Muddy Waters At Newport 1960
Bob Marley - Exodus
The Jam - In The City
The 2 Bears - The Night Is Young

The Doors - Strange Days
Kevin Coyne - Case History
Fennesz - Venice
King Sunny Ade - Juju Music

John Mayall - Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton
John Coltrane - Giant Steps
Bjork - Medulla
Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun

Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey
Lou Reed - Rock N Roll Animal
The Psychadelic Furs - Forever Now
New Order - Low Life

Suicide - Alan Vega/Martin Rev - Suicide
Basement Jaxx - Remedy
Felt Kuti - Sorrow Tears And Blood
James Brown - Sex Machine

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Little Richard - Here's Little Richard
The Kronos Quartet - Salome Dances For Peace
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Game Theory - Two Steps From The Middle Ages
Steve Earle - El Corazon
Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unit
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way

Bobby Bland - Two Steps From The Blues
The Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame
Mahmoud Ahmed - Soul of Addis
Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress

The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Slayer - Reign In Blood
Jay Z - The Black Album
Kaki King - Until We Felt Red

Iggy Pop - The Idiot
Nick Cave - Murder Ballads
Leftfield - Leftism
Pere Ubu - New Picnic Time

Oasis - Definitely Maybe
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
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Thinking I will follow through with this game as originally planned, just also want to think of ways to integrate and properly get these placed on my main album listing program. Maybe in 2nd round, every matchup will also pick four albums already on the list and rank the eight together in my program.
Jirin
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Re: Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

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MC5 - Kick Out The Jams

I like the jammy bluesy raw sound of this album.

The Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me

The Replacements are one of those bands that, as their career progressed, gradually had less and less raw energy, but gradually had more and more polish and musicianship. I think the only album where they were in the sweet spot on both spectrums was Let It Be. I’ve always felt their earlier albums a little too unfocused and their later albums a little too bland. This one I haven’t listened to quite a while and it doesn’t change that perception. Definitely a lot of clean production and melody, just lacking that fun and energy. But some good songs on the album.

Sleater-Kinney - Call The Doctor

I like pretty much every Sleater-Kinney album I’ve heard. They’ve got the raw energy and power of the Stooges with simple but great guitar dynamics. Call The Doctor is one of their weaker albums, sounding just like all their other stuff but not punching quite as hard.

Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding

John Wesley Harding has always been a strange entry in Dylan’s catalog for me. The first album after his motorcycle accident, it follows a trio of all time classics with a radically different style and kicks off his phase of exploring radically different genres. The songs have a lot more decorative anachronisms than his previous work, not quite the same level of emotion and storytelling, and of course All Along The Watchtower. And the beat of a lot of the songs sounds suspiciously similar to beats of some of the songs on The Basement Tapes which he had just recently recorded. A good album overall, perhaps unfairly judged on the spectrum of Dylan albums. Perhaps the reason I’ve never really taken to it is it’s hard to really get excited about an album that’s not even in the artist’s top ten.

Winner: Replacements

Next:
Pretenders - Learning To Crawl
Beck - The Information
Soul II Soul - Club Classics Vol. One / Keep ON Movin
Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash
Jirin
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Re: Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

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Pretenders - Learning To Crawl

Some good catchy pop rock, that feels a little more melodically constrained than their self titled which I’m more familiar with.

Beck - The Information

Seems like one of Beck’s later albums where he’s trying to produce a more mature Odelay. To me all his albums in this category tend toward being inoffensively unmemorable.

Soul II Soul - Club Classics Vol. One / Keep On Movin

An enjoyable collection of good dance music. Some funk-tinged, some African-tinged. I definitely see what the fuss is about with this one.

Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash

Band sounds pretty much the same with or without Young. Nice 60s pop rock harmonies.

Winner: Soul II Soul

Next:
Pet Shop Boys - Behavior
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus
Howlin' Wolf - Howlin' Wolf
Laura Nyro - Gonna Take A Miracle
Jirin
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Re: Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

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Pet Shop Boys - Behavior

“Being Boring” is a bold song title for a band such as the Pet Shop Boys. It’s not bad or anything, just very ‘soft’, like it’s trying to be soothing but in the way elevator jazz tries to be soothing.

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus

It soundy good.

Howlin’ Wolf - Howlin’ Wolf

Nice blues songs, though a little costrained by the single format.

Laura Nyro - Gonna Take A Miracle

Good album, Nyro has a great voice and this album has a simplicity soulfulness to it compared to her other albums.

Winner: Saxophone Colossus

Next:
Tortoise - Millions Now Living Will Never Die
Public Enemy - Apocalypse '91 - The Enemy Strikes Back
The Happy Mondays - Bummed
Sufjan Stevens - Enjoy Your Rabit
Jirin
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Re: Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

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I've been thinking about what I'm going to do when the first round is finished. I think, I want to finish the tournament as it was designed but also do it in a way that lets me seed these albums into my ranking system, along with all the albums from 2016, 2017, and last year's BMAA that have been added to it since.

So I was thinking in second round, take the four albums in the matchup, combine them with other albums being added to the system and a couple already in the system, so all the albums I've been adding to the system end up getting integrated.
Jirin
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Re: Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

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Tortoise - Millions Now Living Will Never Die

I like this kind of very deliberate minimal electronica, though falls short of ‘special’.

Public Enemy - Apocalypse ’91 - The Enemy Strikes Back*

This is close to the level of It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back and Fear Of A Black Planet which are my favorite two rap albums of all time.

The Happy Mondays - Bummed

This album has the energy of Pills N Thrills N Bellyaches, but the songs just kind of wander around without direction.

Sufjan Stevens - Enjoy Your Rabbit

Songs based around the Chinese zodiac are a strange choice for themes, but not surprising coming from a guy who wrote songs around states. You don’t see a lot of what Sufjan Stevens later became in this album. Feels like an indie electronic band’s first try.'

Winner: Public Enemy

Next:
Rev Gary Davis - Pure Religion and Bad Company
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, m.A.A.d city
TV On The Radio - Seeds
Donald Fagen - The Nightfly

Kendrick Lamar is pretty substantial favorite in this one, considering how much my opinion of his other albums has gone up since I originally didn't like this one.
Jirin
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Re: Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

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Rev Gary Davis - Pure Religion and Bad Company

This has a stripped down Robert Johnson feel to it. Simple blues guitar playing and folky religious lyrics.

Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, m.A.A.d City

I had high expectations for this since, although I didn’t like it originally, his last three albums have finished in my year end top ten. I do like it a lot better now, but I don’t think it rises to the level of his more recent albums (Yes, that includes Untitled Unmastered). I don’t know what the difference is, it’s just not hitting the same buttons for me. The special things about his style aren’t quite fully developed yet. You start to see more of his distinctness in the second half of the album.

TV On The Radio - Seeds

A good TVOTR album that preserves the core of the TVOTR sound but lacks the imminent energy and mood of their earlier better albums.

Donald Fagen - The Nightfly

Steely Dan/Donald Fagen I’ve never really been able to get into. I like a lot of the heavily orchestrated jazzy guitar. But I find their melodies a bit strangled by all the polish and heavy handed deliberateness and in some cases their lyrics come off as just plain pompous. This album does nothing to change my impression.

Winner: Rev Gary Davis

Next:
Arvo Part - De Profundis
Captain Beefheart - Clear Spot
The Police - Outlandos D'Amour
Mott The Hoople - Mott
Jirin
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Re: Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

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Arvo Part - De Profundis

I discovered Arvo Part through Tabula Rasa in one of the BMAA games and it is now in my top 100. It makes me wonder what other minimalist classical I should be looking at. This one I like. It’s subtle and hymnal.

Brian Eno - Wrong Way Up

Not a fan of this album. It’s very poppy for Brian Eno, but unlike his other attempts to be poppy such as Taking Tiger Mountain it doesn’t have that signature electronic moodiness and crispness of his.

Julia Holter - Tragedy

I never know what to expect when looking at albums released before a person was initially successful. In this case it’s got the airy experimentation but without the hookiness added in her more recent work. A lot of good sounds but the songs don’t have a lot of real direction.

The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys - Boys Don’t Cry

Good collection of solid 80s-style pop songs, a little rough around the edges compared to their later work.

Winner: Arvo Part

Next:
The Knife - The Knife
Captain Beefheart - Clear Spot
The Police - Outlandos D'Amour
Mott the Hoople - Mott
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The Knife - The Knife

I love The Knife but based on what I’ve heard of this album’s reptuation I had low expectations. I expected something more poppy and lacking any semblance of the things I love about The Knife. The album’s not great, but it’s certainly not missing the essence of what I consider ‘The Knife’. Parts of it sound a bit awkward and underbaked, and you get a heavy heaping of the weirdness of songs like ‘This Country’ and ‘You Make Me Like Charity’ on Knife/Fever Ray albums. But it certainly sounds like a Knife album, just with more major chords.

Captain Beefheart - Clear Spot

I have very mixed feelings about Captain Beefheart in general. I like his bluesiness and his willingness to be weird and offkey. But some of his riffs are a little too clashy and jarring, taking the dissonance a little outside the range where it’s still aesthetically appealing. Clear Spot doesn’t take the jarringness as far as some other albums but it also doesn’t have quite the quality catchiness of Trout Mask Replica, and doesn’t take the lyrical weirdness far enough to be counterculturally thought provoking.

The Police - Outlandos D’Amour

The Police’s first album doesn’t sound like what I’ve come to expect from The Police. They’re wailing like hard rockers in this album. This is more of a middle of the road album. It doesn’t have the crisp catchy guitar riffs that characterize the Police’s later work, but also doesn’t have quite the same level of affectation that rubs me the wrong way about them. No fake accents, no lyrics that condescend the subject of the song. They’re just singing rock songs here, and like their other work they feel like they are singing about a topic without feeling any personal connection to it. They focus more on poetically stringing together cliches than telling a personal story. It’s not terrible.

Mott The Hoople - Mott

This has the distinctly sixties sound that some might refer to is ‘dated’. I don’t care that it’s dated, but other than the strong guitar playing it’s very rough songwriting-wise and it makes it an awkward listen.

Winner: Clear Spot

Next:
The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
Husker Du - New Day RIsing
Bob Dylan - Desire
Elvis Presley - Elvis
Jirin
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The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow

The Smiths at their most misanthropic. A few really catchy songs, themes of despising culture but also reaching out for help. This sort of thing seems designed to appeal to bright, sensitive teenagers in a state of anger because they’re first becoming acutely aware of all the ways the world doesn’t work the way they were taught it was supposed to. I’ve kind of moved on from that, but there’s some great emotional catchy songs on this. Though I hope I never sit next to Morrissey on a plane.

Husker Du - New Day Rising

I haven’t listened to this one in a while. Not quite sure how it fell off my radar, maybe because it kind of feels like Zen Arcade but not reaching its highs. But it delivers that 80s new wave energy.

Bob Dylan - Desire

No question Hurricane is one of the best Dylan songs. Previously I’ve had trouble with the rest of the album. The violin, echoey vocals and melodies give songs a kind of ‘telling an epic story’ feel, although some of the songwriting can fall flat which is usually one of Dylan’s strengths. I think one of the reasons Desire is not traditionally ranked toward the top of his repetoire is that the songwriting is more straightforward and doesn’t have that rambly ‘somersaulting metaphors’ quality of his best regarded work.

Elvis Presley - Elvis

So many Elvis albums titled ‘Elvis’ can only hope I picked the right one. Mostly the only Elvis I’m interested in is his really early Sun era work. Not sure what loses me about his other work. Whether it feels too packaged for me or if his signature vocal mannerisms put me off, it all applies to this album. The production is so focused around highlighting his charisma and ‘Elvis’ style, the backing music feels a little ‘Play by numbers’, like they transplanted it from every other hit around the time.

Winner: New Day Rising

Next:
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy and the Poor Boys
The Band - The Last Waltz
Roxy Music - Country Life
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle
Jirin
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Re: Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

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Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy and the Poor Boys

Not a bad record but does not change my perception of CCR as ‘Dad rock’. Good hook-driven driving rock, whose styles, habits and quirks now come off as anachronisms.

The Band - The Last Waltz

I haven’t listened to this as an album but I’ve seen big parts of the movie. My dad liked to remark how Neil Young had a conspicuous spot of cocaine on his face during his appearance. This is a solid live album, and good celebration of a point in time in rock history. Though given a choice for most of the songs on the album I’d probably pick the studio versions.

Roxy Music - Country Life

Not sure why this one didn’t resonate me before as I like many of the other Roxy Music albums and put For Your Pleasure in my all time top 50. It’s lush with Enoisms with both driving and creeping guitar.

Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle

The flow of the rap is perfectly fine, but hard for me to get past most of the lyrics being bragging about things I find profoundly unimpressive and product integration for Tangueray.

Winner: Country Life

Next:
Massive Attack - Protection
Anais Mitchell - The Brightness
The B-52s - The B-52s
Peter Gabriel - So
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Massive Attack - Protection

Good album. Sounds a little like Mezzanine only songs are more traditionally hook driven and less based on the spacey emotional grooves of their best material.

Anais Mitchell - The Brightness

Most of the other Anais Mitchell albums I’ve heard are much more heavily themed than this one. Hadestown, a rock opera which retells Orpheus with Hell being replaced with a authoritarian capitalist dystopia. Or her album of duets of old folk songs. The songs here are more generically styled but her voice has a delicate timbre to it that’s irresistable.

The B-52s - The B-52s

I thought I was going to like this album, I thought B-52s were a catchy weirdness kind of band. First I was disappointed when I realized Love Shack was not on the album. I can’t even listen to the jarring haltiness of the male vocalist. Kate Pierson is a good singer but she has mostly weak songwriting to work with. The B-52s are coasting on eccentricity for the sake of eccentricity and have no substance to back it up.

Peter Gabriel - So

I’ve given Peter Gabriel many chances, I think I just don’t like him. Something about this style of taking a pithy reductionist generic emotional story and orchestrating it to sound really epic and self-important.

Winner: The Brightness

60/64 first round done, close to finally moving on to round two.

Next:
Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch!
Michael Jackson - Dangerous
Feist - Metals
Aretha Franklin - Amazing Grace
Jirin
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Re: Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

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Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch!

Fun playful flutey xylophoney jazz.

Michael Jackson - Dangerous

This album is much better than its reputation says it should be. Jackson’s voice sounds a little constrained, but it’s a solid dance pop album. The reason for its failure is probably its relative hooklessness compared to his most celebrated work. It also doesn’t help that it was hyped around the heavy handed ‘Black or White’ whose music video was ridiculously over the top. It may be one of the worst marketed albums ever, leading up to its release it went over the top trying to be the kind of cool that the grunge movement was in the process of rendering uncool. Listening to it now with low expectations, it’s got solid polished dance grooves. It also dials back the heavily parodyable Jacksonisms that plague its predecessor Bad.

Feist - Metals

Nothing too bad about this, just boring and flat songwriting-wise.

Aretha Franklin - Amazing Grace

Great gospel record from Aretha Franklin. The ambient noises of the church crowd define the energy and the feel the record.

Winner: Amazing Grace

Next:
The Flaming Lips - In A Priest Driven Ambulance
Wu Tang Clan - Enter The Wu Tang (36 Chambers)
Parliament - Mothership Connection
Fugees - The Score
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Re: Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

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The Flaming Lips - In A Priest Driven Ambulance

This is the earliest Flaming Lips album I’ve heard. It’s got hints of a few ways they sound like later. A little bit of the spaceyness, a little bit of noisiness, the kinds of off-melodies you often get from them. But there’s also a few more straightforward radio-style songs. It sounds like in this album they had some good ideas but hadn’t quite found a real sound yet, and didn’t decide on a coherent direction for the album.

Wu Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

No need to reiterate why these kinds of lyrics just plain do not appeal to me. My enjoyment of this kind of rap depends entirely on the flow. It’s good on this album, but not quite up to its critical reputation, in my opinion.

Parliament - Mothership Connection

Not much to say about this one. Good album. These guys *really* like The Funk.

Fugees - The Score

This album has a few hice hooky melodies, but in general the rapping lethargic, the lyrics are cheesy, and the skits in between songs are EXTREMELY cheesy. Only positive is Lauryn Hill’s voice in the songs that require singing.

Winner: Enter The Wu-Tang

Next:
The Stooges - The Stooges
Blur - Parklife
Jimi Hendrix - Monterey International Pop Festival
David Bowie - Young Americans
Jirin
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Re: Jirin's Listening Music Discovery Game

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The Stooges - The Stooges

This album has the same irreverent energy as Raw Power and Fun House but more conventional rock guitar and less like noisy hard rock. Almost sounds more like solo Iggy Pop than other Stooges albums. Good album.

Blur - Parklife

Never got this album. It’s a hook driven album, but the hooks sound a little bit uncomfortable. The kind that easily gets stuck in your head, but in a way that kind of makes you wince and doesn’t make you sing along.

Jimi Hendrix - Live At Monterey

I listened to Live At Monterey instead of Monterey International Pop Festival because it’s the one on Spotify. I’ve never really sat down and listened to Hendrix live before. It has an energy to it that is somewhat lost in some of his recorded material, and it doesn’t hurt that a lot of the songs he plays are off Are You Experienced, one of my favorite albums of all time.

David Bowie - Young Americans

Good album with some good hooks, though I’m not strong on the gloss level of this part of Bowie’s career.

Winner: The Stooges

Next and LAST first round matchup:
Carole King - Tapestry
Jane's Addiction - Strays
De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
The Police - Synchronicity
Jirin
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Carole King - Tapestry

I’ve always seen this album as starting with two great singles then following with lots of average to pretty good songs, and I feel the same way on this listen. I added I Feel The Earth Move and So Far Away to my ‘Great singles’ Spotify playlist I use on treadmill incline training and plane flights, but could take or leave everything else.

Jane’s Addiction - Strays

Pretty good album, sounding very similar to their two majorly acclaimed albums.

De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead

I love the ‘fun rap’ approach of De La Soul. Playful beats, and running with a fun concept. Modern rap is missing fun.

The Police - Synchronicity

Usually I don’t like Police albums but this is connecting with me this time. It steps a little bit farther away from the conceits that bother me about other Police albums and has a few more unconventional songs, but with a well earned pop polish. I’m even liking the over the top bizarreness of Mother. I still hate the lyrics of King of Pain, but it’s okay because I just hear the Weird Al lyrics in my head.

Winner: Synchronicity

That is the END of round 1. For round 2 I am going to try to seed these into my ranking program by listening to the four among albums already in the system. Will probably not take too much of a break in between.

First round 2 matchup:
Mac Demarco - Salad Days
The National - The National
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
Bill Evans - Sunday At The Village Vanguard
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