Moderately Acclaimed 3 (MA3) Round 1.15

[Brad]

Round 1.15
Vote for your favorite album in each matchup.
Remember, anyone can vote as long as they've heard both albums!
Deadline = June 18th 10am EST

1. Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America vs. Noir Désir - Tostaky
2. Richard Hawley - Coles Corner vs. Jackson Browne - Saturate Before Using
3. The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop vs. John Fahey - Fare Forward Voyagers
4. You - Time Code vs. Betty Davis - Nasty Gal

Also, two outstanding tie-breakers in sudden death OT (next vote wins):
Round 1.13 Serge Gainsbourg - L'homme à tête de chou vs. Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy
Round 1.14 Swell - 41 vs. Sonic Youth - NYC Ghosts & Flowers

Kick It!

[Henrik]

Round 1.13 Serge Gainsbourg - L'homme à tête de chou vs. Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy

I vote for Serge. I'm not a fan of this particular album yet, but it interests me more than Excitable Boy.

[Stephan]

Two of my nominations this week, and two from my top 100 at that. Nasty Gal is simply the nastiest, most funky music ever created and this Fahey album, more than any other, shows why he should be considered to be one of the greatest guitar players of all time. The second bracket is one of the toughest in the game; Jackson Browne's debut is quite a bit better than Late For The Sky and Running On Empty, while Coles Corner was one of my favorite discoveries of the '00s poll. On top of that, it's a WWWWLLLL week, making this probably my favorite week in the first round.

1. Betty Davis - Nasty Gal
2. John Fahey - Fare Forward Voyagers (Soldier's Choice)
3. Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America
4. Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
5. Jackson Browne - Saturate Before Using
6. You - Time Code
7. Noir Désir - Tostaky
8. The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop

[Henry]

2. Jackson Browne - Saturate Before Using wins over Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
3. The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop wins over John Fahey - Fare Forward Voyagers

[Greg]

1. Noir Désir - Tostaky
2. Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
3. John Fahey - Fare Forward Voyagers
4. Betty Davis - Nasty Gal

[Jirin]

15/1

Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America 9/10
Noir Desire - Tostaky 8/10

How the eff have I never heard of Miss America before? This has to be
the album that influenced St Vincent, Anais Mitchell, Laura Marling,
and all the other female indie rockers making stuff I love right now.

15/2

Richard Hawley - Cole's Corner 7/10
Jackson Brown - Saturate Before Using 8/10

When I heard Saturate Before Using, my first impression was: "Awesome! He does everything I like that he does but doesn't do anything I hate that he does!" So I knew based on that, it must be a really early album or a really late album. Turned out to be really early.

Why do so many artists start out sounding natural then meander into glossy trite overproduction? So many 70's bands that fit that description started out writing really awesome stuff, before they started trying too hard.

15/3

The Style Council - Our Favorite Shop 7/10
John Fahey - Fare Forward Voyagers 9/10

I'm officially interested in exploring Fahey. Lately a lot of modern jazz has been creeping into my listening, though it's had trouble getting past the 20's or so in my year end rankings.

15/4

You - Time Code 9/10
Betty Davis - Nasty Gal 9/10

The second Betty Davis album I discovered through Moderate and the second I immediately decided I needed to buy. Any other Betty Davis albums I should know about?

[Stephan]

Fahey has quite a lot of great albums, although I think Fare Forward Voyagers stands out. If you really like him I don't think you can go wrong with any of his first 10 albums or so, but I would definitely recommend Vol. II, Vol. 3, Volume 6 (why these are so inconsistently titled, I don't know) and America.

Betty Davis only has a small discography; her self-titled debut, They Say I'm Different and Nasty Gal. All very much worth spending some money on. The 2009 album Is It Love Or Desire (which was supposed to be released in 1976 but was shelved) is also worth a spin, although it's a little tamer.

[Romain]

1. Noir Désir - Tostaky The best French rock album? Maybe.
2. Richard Hawley - Coles Corner Easy. It's a wonderful album.
3. Pass.
4. Betty Davis - Nasty Gal

[Brad]

1. Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America over Noir Désir - Tostaky
Forgive me if I'm way off base, but Noir Desir sounds a lot like a French Manic Street Preachers... they rock, for sure. Ms. O'Hara is not my typical cup of tea, but it's just quirky enough to work.
2. Jackson Browne - Saturate Before Using over Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
Close call - both good though a stretch for me.
3. The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop over John Fahey - Fare Forward Voyagers
Another tough one. I'm going with Style Council for its variety.
4. Betty Davis - Nasty Gal over You - Time Code
Time Code is interesting for a little while; Betty Davis is flat out nasty.

Thanks!

[antonius]

1. Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America
Noir Désir - Tostaky
Not as good as "Des visages, des figures"

2. Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
Didn't get to listen to this, so no vote
Jackson Browne - Saturate Before Using
Too mellow for my taste, I like the "live" album better.

3. pass, as I don't like either one very much
The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop
I have this on vinyl. It's not as good as I remember
John Fahey - Fare Forward Voyagers
A little too monotonous for me.

4. You - Time Code
What a nice surprise, moogs & sequencers. A bit simple though, after a while
Betty Davis - Nasty Gal.
She's overdoing it, Mme Mabry. Still, more lasting than the other entry.

[Henrik]

Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America

Richard Hawley - Coles Corner

[Michel]

1. Noir Désir - Tostaky

[Honorio]

Great week, especially brackets 2 and 3 were really strong
1. Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America
2. Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
3. The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop
4. Betty Davis - Nasty Gal

[Jirin]

Good to see my two favorites of the week are running away with it!

Does anyone know where to stream a full version of the American Beauty soundtrack? I've now heard 127/128, but I can't find this in its entirety in either Grooveshark or Spotify.

[Brad]

Jirin - I had to purchase the soudtrack from amazon- i think i got it used for just a couple bucks; unfortunately, was unable to locate it online.

Still another 15 hours or so for voting this round, though I may be delayed a few hours due to obligations.

Remember, we still have an open tie from last round:
Round 1.14 Swell - 41 vs. Sonic Youth- NYC Ghosts & Flowers ***NEXT VOTE WINS!***

[Kingoftonga]

Being out of town this week meant that I could do less listening than usual. But:

1. Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America vs. Noir Désir - Tostaky

[Henrik]

Does anyone know where to stream a full version of the American Beauty soundtrack? I've now heard 127/128, but I can't find this in its entirety in either Grooveshark or Spotify.

All songs aren't playable for you?
http://open.spotify.com/album/7vC1yfNXcURh42ZN70x0Oj

Note that it's the film score that is nominated, which shouldn't be confused with the soundtrack that also exists.

[Brad]

12 Total Voters

Results:
1. Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America over Noir Désir - Tostaky 6-4
2. Richard Hawley - Coles Corner over Jackson Browne - Saturate Before Using 5-3
3. The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop vs. John Fahey - Fare Forward Voyagers ***TIE 3-3 NEXT VOTE WINS***
4. Betty Davis - Nasty Gal over You - Time Code 7-0

Two outstanding ties:
Round 1.14 Swell - 41 vs. Sonic Youth- NYC Ghosts & Flowers
Round 1.15 The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop vs. John Fahey - Fare Forward Voyagers
Next Vote Wins.

[Stephan]

Go Fahey!

[Jirin]

Does anyone know where to stream a full version of the American Beauty soundtrack? I've now heard 127/128, but I can't find this in its entirety in either Grooveshark or Spotify.

All songs aren't playable for you?
http://open.spotify.com/album/7vC1yfNXcURh42ZN70x0Oj

Note that it's the film score that is nominated, which shouldn't be confused with the soundtrack that also exists.

The US and European Spotify libraries don't necessarily have all the same content due to regional licensing.

[Brad]

Wanted to bump this with a reminder that there are two outstanding ties here:

Round 1.14 Swell - 41 vs. Sonic Youth- NYC Ghosts & Flowers
Round 1.15 The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop vs. John Fahey - Fare Forward Voyagers

Next Vote Wins!!!

[Kingoftonga]

Round 1.14 Swell - 41 vs. Sonic Youth- NYC Ghosts & Flowers

After finally listening to both, I'll gladly vote for 41 to break the tie. Sorry Sonic Youth fans, but this albums does even less for me than most of the band's output.

[Brad]

...and Swell it is!

One outstanding tiebreaker at the moment:
Round 1.15 The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop vs. John Fahey - Fare Forward Voyagers