Moderately Acclaimed Albums 8 - Round 1.16

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Tue Jun 20, 2017 2:07 pm

Welcome to Round 1.16 of Moderately Acclaimed Albums 8... the final week of the first round!

Vote for your favorite album in each match-up.
Remember, anyone can vote as long as the voter has heard both albums.

Good-spirited comments are encouraged, but not absolutely necessary.
Deadline = June 27th at 10am EST.

Here's a link to the bracket for the entire tournament:
http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?t ... Albums%208

Match-ups:
1. Julia Holter - Loud City Song vs. Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea
2. Tom Waits - Small Change vs. Muse - Absolution
3. Oscar Brown Jr. - Sin & Soul vs. Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time in the West
4. Mademoiselle K - Hungry Dirty Baby vs. Babymetal - BABYMETAL

Still one lingering tie from two weeks back!:
Avey Tare and Panda Bear - Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished vs. Leonard Cohen - Live Songs *** Next vote from someone who hasn't already voted wins!***
Who's gonna step up and vote for one of these outstanding albums???

Giant steps are what you take!

Bang Jan · Post by **Bang Jan** » Tue Jun 20, 2017 2:09 pm

andyd1010 · Post by **andyd1010** » Tue Jun 20, 2017 2:43 pm

Muse - Absolution
Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time in the West

DaveC · Post by **DaveC** » Tue Jun 20, 2017 7:23 pm

1. Julia Holter - Loud City Song vs. ~~Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea~~
2. ~~Tom Waits - Small Change~~ vs. Muse - Absolution
3. Oscar Brown Jr. - Sin & Soul vs. ~~Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time in the West~~
4. Mademoiselle K - Hungry Dirty Baby vs. ~~Babymetal - BABYMETAL~~

Post by **Honorio** » Tue Jun 20, 2017 7:33 pm

1. Julia Holter - Loud City Song (2013) vs. Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea (1956)

2. Tom Waits - Small Change (1976) vs. Muse - Absolution (2003)

3. Oscar Brown Jr. - Sin & Soul (1960) vs. Ennio Morricone - C'era una volta il West (1968)

4. Mademoiselle K - Hungry Dirty Baby (2015) vs. Babymetal - BABYMETAL (2014)

Favourite song from every album:
World | Autumn Leaves | Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen) | Butterflies and Hurricanes | But I Was Cool | L'uomo dell'armonica | R U Swimming? | Ijime, Dame, Zettai

Favourite song of the week: Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)

Last week of Round 1? Time for the rest of our ladies...

Santigold

Sarah Cracknell (Saint Etienne)

Kate Radley (Spiritualized)

Sinéad O'Connor

Joan Baez

Nancy Sinatra

Shelley LaFreniere and Donnette Thayer (Game Theory)

Karin Dreijer (The Kniφe)

Bobbie Watson (Comus)

Yoshimi P-We (Boredoms)

Janet Weiss, Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney)

Joanna Newsom

Lana Del Rey

Barbara

Julia Holter

Katerine Gierak (Mademoiselle K)

Yui Mizuno, Suzuka Nakamoto and Moa Kikuchi (Babymetal)

jamieW · Post by **jamieW** » Wed Jun 21, 2017 2:45 am

Julia Holter - Loud City Song
Muse - Absolution
Oscar Brown Jr. - Sin & Soul
Mademoiselle K - Hungry Dirty Baby

Favorite album I couldn't vote for: Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time in the West (3rd favorite of the week behind Oscar & Julia.)

(Great choices for pictures, as always, Honorio! Though, for some reason, I think that photo of Yoshimi from Boredoms might give me nightmares...)

Jirin · Post by **Jirin** » Wed Jun 21, 2017 2:16 pm

Concert By The Sea 85 - Loud City Song 76
Small Change 87 - Absolution 51
Sin & Soul 78 - Once Upon A Time In The West 73
Hungry Dirty Baby 53 - Babymetal 45

babydoll · Post by **babydoll** » Wed Jun 21, 2017 3:58 pm

jamieW wrote:Though, for some reason, I think that photo of Yoshimi from Boredoms might give me nightmares...

It's at such a weird angle, and for some reason, whatever she's standing next to (some bamboo something) is giving me creeps. Even Marilyn Monroe in Yoshimi's position in that photo would have given me the creeps. I'm saying "creeps" a little too much, aren't I?

jamieW · Post by **jamieW** » Wed Jun 21, 2017 5:14 pm

babydoll wrote:
jamieW wrote:Though, for some reason, I think that photo of Yoshimi from Boredoms might give me nightmares...
It's at such a weird angle, and for some reason, whatever she's standing next to (some bamboo something) is giving me creeps. Even Marilyn Monroe in Yoshimi's position in that photo would have given me the creeps. I'm saying "creeps" a little too much, aren't I?

Yes, the odd angle and bamboo are certainly accomplices. Maybe the whole thing's just giving me flashbacks to the mysterious figure in "Don't Look Now."

Post by **Honorio** » Wed Jun 21, 2017 7:09 pm

jamieW wrote:Great choices for pictures, as always, Honorio! Though, for some reason, I think that photo of Yoshimi from Boredoms might give me nightmares...

Thank you, jamieW. As you can guess, I prefer the black & white pictures. And I love that Yoshimi picture. And I don't find it scary, the expression in her face can seem malicious but also mysterious and even playful, like a sweet devil. You know, her name is Yoshimi, she's a black belt in karate...

bonnielaurel · Post by **bonnielaurel** » Wed Jun 21, 2017 8:16 pm

Julia Holter - Loud City Song
Muse - Absolution
Oscar Brown Jr. - Sin & Soul
Babymetal - BABYMETAL

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Fri Jun 23, 2017 5:42 pm

Still one lingering tie from two weeks back!:
Avey Tare and Panda Bear - Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished vs. Leonard Cohen - Live Songs
*** Next vote from someone who hasn't already voted wins!***

BleuPanda · Post by **BleuPanda** » Fri Jun 23, 2017 5:48 pm

Julia Holter - Loud City Song
Tom Waits - Small Change
Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time in the West
Babymetal - BABYMETAL

jamieW · Post by **jamieW** » Sat Jun 24, 2017 4:00 pm

Brad wrote:Still one lingering tie from two weeks back!:
Avey Tare and Panda Bear - Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished vs. Leonard Cohen - Live Songs
*** Next vote from someone who hasn't already voted wins!***

I fear you may need to create a separate thread for this one, Brad. I'm suspecting that a lot of people who have heard both albums aren't visiting this thread because they haven't been participating in MA. These aren't really obscure albums, so I have to believe someone on the forum could break the tie if they were aware of it. (I hope that's not just wishful thinking on my part!)

spiritualized · Post by **spiritualized** » Mon Jun 26, 2017 10:29 am

1. Julia Holter - Loud City Song (2.5) vs. Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea (2.5)
PASS - not excited by either of those

2. ~~Tom Waits - Small Change (4.5)~~ vs. Muse - Absolution (5.0)
Both excellent albums, Muse wins it through the best album of their career.

3. ~~Oscar Brown Jr. - Sin & Soul (3.0)~~ vs. Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time in the West (4.0)
Pleasantly surprised with Sin & Soul, not your archetypal soul record, but it cannot stand facing an absolute classic in film music.

4. ~~Mademoiselle K - Hungry Dirty Baby (3.0)~~vs. Babymetal - BABYMETAL (3.5)
Good Indie Rock from the French band, but I find the mixing god-awful. So much reverb, it's sometimes unbearable. Shame, really - it's good, if not a bit lacking novelty. Novelty is clearly the keyword in BABYMETAL. J-pop and thumping heavy metal ? It's gutsy, brilliant, catchy and fit for closing the first part of this great tournament

So much music !

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon Jun 26, 2017 6:01 pm

Only good albums this week, including a top 10 entry of all time for me and one of my own nominations. And no, these aren't the same albums!

6. Julia Holter - Loud City Song vs. 5. Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea
It took me a couple of songs to initially get tuned in to Julia Holter, but after a while I started to love it. How amazing is Horns Surrounding Me? I'm not sure if I think it is a completely consistent album, but this has already proven a grower, so perhaps I will love the total package after a few more listens.
This is an odd case in which a jazz album is more immediate than it's competitor. Concert by the Sea is a very accessible jazz album, a great entry point for beginners. Which is what I am. I was fully engrossed in the whole performance.

3. Tom Waits - Small Change vs. 7. Muse - Absolution
I'm sometimes surprised how much I can like Muse and Absolution is a good example. A very consistent album actually. Muse is one of those bands that work best for me when they are more anthemic or sound like they're scoring a blockbuster. They do that stuff rather well.
But they could never win against Small Change. I love Waits, but I truly have a soft spot for this early barfly part of his career. What a lovely, ugly atmosphere it is and whose voice suits it more than Waits'? Tom Traubert's Blues is one of my favorite songs of all time and The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) is one of the greatest titles in music.

4. Oscar Brown Jr. - Sin & Soul vs. Ennio Morricone - 1. Once Upon a Time in the West
Well, there is my top 10 effort! No not, Sin & Soul, even if it was a huge surprise. That's one of the most exuberant and fun soul/ blues albums I have ever heard. What a wonderful wacky voice Brown Jr. has. It sounds like the stuff critics usually love so I'm surprised it's not an acclaimed classic.
Once Upon a Time is the top 10 album and is an acclaimed classic, but sadly only in the movie music business, which gets mostly ignored by "regular" music critics. Yes, it's repetitive, but its a beautiful repetition, each variation finding new shades of sadness, danger or grandeur. It's filled with a tension and melancholy that's as majestic as anything ever composed. Combined with the movie it is one of the greatest things on Earth. Without the movie it still is.

8. Mademoiselle K - Hungry Dirty Baby vs. 2. Babymetal - BABYMETAL
Hungry Dirty Baby may seem a bit slight in this competition. It's not great. A French Prince wannabe, that sometimes lacks enough punch. But it's still a good album, with a couple of songs that really hit home and would do Prince proud.
We still haven't talked about my nomination of this week, haven't we? Could it be BABYMETAL? Well, yes it is actually. Is it a novelty album? Yes. Is it weird? Yes. Is it for everyone? It should be, but I guess not. But how good is it really? Damn amazing, I'd say! The most awesome thing about BABYMETAL is not it's unlikely melding of two very separate genres, but how perfectly these two styles come together. I listened to it for the first time because it sounded like a nice novelty, but I returned again and again because it is just soooooo good. It rocks like hell, it's fun and it surprises. Above all, there isn't a single album around that gives me so much energy! It's an album I feel through my whole body. I might be the only one here who would consider it a top 25 of all time album, but at least I made you listen.

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Tue Jun 27, 2017 2:17 am

jamieW wrote:
Brad wrote:Still one lingering tie from two weeks back!:
Avey Tare and Panda Bear - Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished vs. Leonard Cohen - Live Songs
*** Next vote from someone who hasn't already voted wins!***
I fear you may need to create a separate thread for this one, Brad. I'm suspecting that a lot of people who have heard both albums aren't visiting this thread because they haven't been participating in MA. These aren't really obscure albums, so I have to believe someone on the forum could break the tie if they were aware of it. (I hope that's not just wishful thinking on my part!)

Yes, great idea - I'll make a separate post if this is not settled in the next 12 hours... thanks!

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Tue Jun 27, 2017 2:18 am

My picks:
1. Julia Holter - Loud City Song vs. Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea
2. Tom Waits - Small Change vs. Muse - Absolution
3. Oscar Brown Jr. - Sin & Soul vs. Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time in the West
4. Mademoiselle K - Hungry Dirty Baby vs. Babymetal - BABYMETAL

Thanks... 12 hours left to vote!

Kingoftonga · Post by **Kingoftonga** » Tue Jun 27, 2017 12:35 pm

Winners in red:

1. Julia Holter - Loud City Song vs. Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea
2. Tom Waits - Small Change vs. Muse - Absolution

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Tue Jun 27, 2017 2:00 pm

Only 12 voters this week:
andy1010
Bang Jan
BleuPanda
bonnielaurel
Brad
DaveC
Honorio
jamieW
Jirin
Kingoftonga
Rob
spiritualized

Winners:
1. Julia Holter - Loud City Song over Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea 8-2
2. Tom Waits - Small Change over Muse - Absolution 7-5
3. Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time in the West over Oscar Brown Jr. - Sin & Soul 7-4
4. Mademoiselle K - Hungry Dirty Baby vs. Babymetal - BABYMETAL ***TIE! 5-5 Next vote from someone who has not already voted in this match-up WINS!***

We start Round 2 in a short while... I'll also post a separate plea for the two outstanding ties and try to garner some momentum for participation as we head to the second round!

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