Acclaimed Music Forums

Note: Can someone more familiar with the song confirm whether Nuages is the right version?

The rules are simple. After listening to each song, vote for your favorite in each match. The deadline to vote is Monday, November 27 at 10 am CST.

Here is the bracket:
http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=468522


Matches:
Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand
vs.
Heart - Barracuda

Wham! - Careless Whisper
vs.
Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

NEU! - Hallogallo
vs.
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)
vs.
Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

Pulp - This is Hardcore
vs.
Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm

HAIM - The Wire
vs.
Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

The Slits - Typical Girls
vs.
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
vs.
HAIM - Falling

You should probably use the album version of Carless Whisper:

Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand
vs.
Heart - Barracuda

Wham! - Careless Whisper


NEU! - Hallogallo
vs.
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul - pass


Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

Pulp - This is Hardcore
vs.
Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm - pass


Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

The Slits - Typical Girls
vs.
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl - pass

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)

Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand (9.0) vs. Heart - Barracuda (2.0)
Couldn't be more polarized. A favourite Young song vs 80s hair rock, which is one of my most despised genre.

Wham! - Careless Whisper (4.0) vs. Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages (6.0)
More 80s schmooz vs classic guitar, very moody and right up my alley. Sorry George, I just heard that song far too much and it makes me cringe every time I hear the first notes.

NEU! - Hallogallo (10.0) - They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul (7.0)
A monument of Krautrock, perhaps THE song which influenced the whole Stereolab catalog. I've always liked TMBG's songs and their off-kilter indie rock. This confirms my tastes

The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand) (6.0) - Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire (5.0)
Classic 60s female fronted pop quite easily disposes of Brian Eno's weird track. Don't like the vocal parts and the never-ending guitar solo.

Pulp - This is Hardcore (6.0) vs. Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm (8.0)
A weaker track from Pulp after the huge success of Different Class. Never quite got into this one, even with the soaring turns the song takes midway through. After the first few notes, I realised I knew "Ring The Alarm" from reggae compilations. Great song

HAIM - The Wire (5.0) - Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You (7.0)
Familiarity wins here. I am one of the ones who don't "get" HAIM's critical acclaim, I find them rather average. Stealers Wheel is deliver a good, familiar rocker.

The Slits - Typical Girls (8.0) - Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl (7.0)
I like the Slits' quirky, rhythmic, ska-infused song, it has great replay value and never gets boring. Difficult matchup against the very good Cornflake Girl.

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) (7.0) - HAIM - Falling (6.0)

If you think Barracuda is from the 80s, you’re off by a decade.

StevieFan13 wrote:If you think Barracuda is from the 80s, you’re off by a decade.

Whats half a decade ?
I'm not too much off about the hair though ? Maybe Heart were a prodigy of their time. I still find them quite a challenge.

Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand

Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul (VERY hard choice)

Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

Pulp - This is Hardcore

Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

The Slits - Typical Girls

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)

Also, I don't think I got an answer to this.

Bang Jan wrote:Is it alright if I start tournament for the songs ranked at the bottom of the AM list running simultaneously to this one? No-one's nominated anything from the range I plan on using (9825-10000).

Bang Jan wrote:Also, I don't think I got an answer to this.

Bang Jan wrote:Is it alright if I start tournament for the songs ranked at the bottom of the AM list running simultaneously to this one? No-one's nominated anything from the range I plan on using (9825-10000).

I'd be fine with the concept, but it's a question of whether too much will be running at once.

Heart - Barracuda

Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

NEU! - Hallogallo

BleuPanda wrote:

Bang Jan wrote:Also, I don't think I got an answer to this.

Bang Jan wrote:Is it alright if I start tournament for the songs ranked at the bottom of the AM list running simultaneously to this one? No-one's nominated anything from the range I plan on using (9825-10000).

I'd be fine with the concept, but it's a question of whether too much will be running at once.

I might start it on Wednesday and see if it works out alright with the number of tournaments currently running.

6. Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Cowgirl in the Sand vs. 13. Heart - Barracuda
16. George Michael - Careless Whisper vs. 1. Quintette du Hot Club de France avec Alix Combelle - Nuages
10. NEU! - Hallogallo vs. 4. They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul
7. The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand) vs. 2. Eno - Baby's on Fire
3. Pulp - This Is Hardcore vs. 12. Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm
14. HAIM - The Wire vs. 9. Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle with You
15. The Slits - Typical Girls vs. 8. Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
5. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) vs. 11. HAIM - Falling

BleuPanda, I'm almost 100% sure that the version of "Nuages" you put on the Spotify list is the right one. Django Reinhardt recorded his own composition in 15 different occasions. You can check here an extensive overview of every version. The first released version (and the second recorded) featured two clarinets, one of them played by Alix Combelle, since Django was unhappy with the first recorded version that only featured one clarinet, as you can read here. You can compare the two first recorded versions: 10/01/1940 and 12/13/1940.

spiritualized wrote:

StevieFan13 wrote:If you think Barracuda is from the 80s, you’re off by a decade.

Whats half a decade ?
I'm not too much off about the hair though ? Maybe Heart were a prodigy of their time. I still find them quite a challenge.

Not off at all. They’re a little much, I suppose, but they’d hate being compared to hair metal

Heart - Barracuda (guilty pleasure)
Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul
Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire
Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm
Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)

StevieFan13 wrote:

spiritualized wrote:

StevieFan13 wrote:If you think Barracuda is from the 80s, you’re off by a decade.

Whats half a decade ?
I'm not too much off about the hair though ? Maybe Heart were a prodigy of their time. I still find them quite a challenge.

Not off at all. They’re a little much, I suppose, but they’d hate being compared to hair metal

Really ?
Really Really ???

[imgsize 300x300]http://www.inthestudio.net/wp-content/u ... -28441.jpg[/imgsize]

Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand
vs.
Heart - Barracuda

Wham! - Careless Whisper
vs.
Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

NEU! - Hallogallo
vs.
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)
vs.
Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

Pulp - This is Hardcore
vs.
Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm

HAIM - The Wire
vs.
Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

The Slits - Typical Girls
vs.
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
vs.
HAIM - Falling

Excellent set of songs, as expected. Feel pretty bad for They Might Be Giants, HAIM and Tori Amos.

Matches:
Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand

Wham! - Careless Whisper

They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm

Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl

HAIM - Falling

Matches:
Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand
Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages
NEU! - Hallogallo
Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire
Pulp - This is Hardcore
Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You
The Slits - Typical Girls
Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)


No difficult match this week for me.

I have decided to write up how I feel about each of these songs. Yes, I typically create images in my head as I listen to music and I might be crazy.

Neil Young – Cowgirl in the Sand
Cowgirl in the Sand is one of Neil Young’s epic ramblers, a ten minute song largely carried by extended guitar solos. There doesn’t seem much of an aim to where it’s going between verses; but with a guitarist as strong as Young, you don’t need a clear purpose. He knows where to lead. And, at least for me, when it comes to Neil Young, the more guitar and the less vocals the better.
8.4/10

Heart – Barracuda
Barracuda is a song defined by its thumping guitar riff, but it doesn’t let itself rest on that one segment. This is a song brimming with energy, the roughness of its instrumentation beautifully countered by Ann Wilson’s stellar vocals. Barracuda has attitude; every time I hear this song, I imagine a scorned woman stumbling into a bar, coming for the throat of an ex-lover. Few songs can craft such a vibrant image.
8.4/10

Wham – Careless Whisper
This is a song I wish I could like more. It’s not that I think there’s anything wrong with it (outside of being a typically cheesy 80s romance song); perhaps it captures what it was going for a little too well. That leading sax is as phenomenal as it is instantly memetic. Careless Whisper is a desperate man sprawled out naked on the floor, crying out for your love. Can a piece of music be too on-the-nose? Careless Whisper seems like clear evidence. I can’t bash it too much; that sax truly is stellar, and the moments between are a typical George Michael track. But I can’t shake that feeling of exaggeration.
7.5/10

Quintette Hot Club de France – Nuages
Coming up against perhaps the most in-your-face song of the week is a rather downtempo, subtle jazz piece. Jazz is a genre I can never quite get on the first listen, and I’m not really getting much here. It’s a pleasant listen, but it doesn’t leave much of an impact once I finish.
7.25/10

NEU! – Hallogallo
A krautrock masterpiece. Hallogallo takes its sweet time building a rhythm that doesn’t necessarily go anywhere, instead allowing the music to morph around it in a subtle yet effective fashion. It’s a perfect song to groove out to, providing great moments of release as it reaches its various peaks. I ultimately switched out one of my planned nominations in this division, The Horrors’ “Sea Within a Sea,” due to it essentially taking the basic idea of this track and twisting it in a horrifying direction. “Hallogallo” is a rare 10 minute-plus track that I’m always happy to have come on shuffle.
9.2/10

They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse in Your Soul
It’s a shame my two favorite songs of this division have to face each other in round 1. “Birdhouse in Your Soul” has been one of my favorites since first listen. There’s something about TMBG’s lyrical witticism and playful instrumentation that makes them a band like few others. “Birdhouse in Your Soul” constantly switches modes, some transitions jarring but never losing itself. The vocals kind of fall over the music, never quite matching what you would expect. It’s a unique experience through and through, yet it never reaches the annoyance that tends to come with comparably experimental works.
9.4/10

The Shangri-Las – Remember (Walkin’ in the Sand)
Every once in a while I’ll mention revisiting a song to see if it ‘clicks’ with me, and Remember is the latest example of a song that finally clicked. There are two very distinct moods in this song. The verses have this almost sinister build as she broods over her recent break-up. Then the chorus comes in, an equally intimidating but more traditional girl group harmony as she reminisces over her memories of being with this missing lover. This is another song that paints a perfect picture, a girl walking down the beach and shouting her pain to the world, us onlookers not sure whether to be more afraid for her or the man who hurt her.
8.9/10

Brian Eno – Baby’s On Fire
“Baby’s On Fire” is probably the one song by Brian Eno I immediately understood. That isn’t to say it’s his best; after years of not clicking with me, “Needles in the Camel’s Eye” jumped into my all-time top 100 this past year. “Golden Hours” and “By This River” have managed to rank above it. “Baby’s On Fire” remains in a steady place, his most obvious rocker but one I can’t find a deeper meaning in. There’s a part of me that thinks it’s his most acclaimed song purely because it’s easy to recognize its place alongside the David Bowies of the world. But that’s not to take away “Baby’s On Fire” success as much to lament his other great works’ lack of success. This is one of the best glam rock songs out there, with Eno’s epic production shooting it into the stratosphere. That guitar solo is, well, on fire.
8.7/10

Pulp – This is Hardcore
Much like “Careless Whisper,” “This is Hardcore’ has always read as over-the-top. Much to Pulp’s benefit, however, is that they find strength in absurdity. The instrumentation is one of the best James Bond knockoffs we have this side of Dummy, and then the vocals kick in. This rather epic piece is simple backing for a pornographic fantasy. “This is Hardcore” paints a picture of espionage and action with its music, but instead turns to the sultrier nature of 007 in a jarring clash. A comedy that never hints at its nature in its style, making it all the more effective.
8.7/10

Tenor Saw – Ring the Alarm
Reggae has always been a tough genre for me. The qualities that make a song reggae also tend to make the songs sound too similar to me. They are strong qualities, and I generally enjoy reggae as a form, but I can never find enough distinction between tracks outside of the best of the best. “Ring the Alarm” has a fun rhythm and everything, but it simply doesn’t do enough for me.
7.5/10

Haim – The Wire
The acclaim of Haim’s debut has always astounded me, and I’m shocked to see not one but two songs both in the top 2000 and chosen as participants in this tournament. They are fine songs, yes, but to me, they’ve always been simply good modern pop songs that thankfully never grind on my nerves. But even then, there are much better examples in the same range; I’d take “Run Away With Me” over this any day. What is it that makes this song stand out?
7.5/10

Stealers Wheel – Stuck in the Middle With You
I think I have early 70s rock exhaustion; there’s just so much to get through, that a song that isn’t at the top of the game is going to more than likely end up annoying me. “Stuck in the Middle With You” is catchy, but that’s all it really has. It was the exact ultra-soft rock Tarantino needed to contrast one of his most brutal scenes. It’s fine, but why this when there’s so much doing the same thing better?
7.25/10

The Slits – Typical Girls
Some of the best experimental punk finds a simple strand to push an unexpected sense of discomfort. “Typical Girls” creates a sense of constantly racing ahead of itself. Like many of my other favorite songs in this cluster, it’s a song with many distinct forms, all clashing as much as they seamlessly fuse together. Every element of “Typical Girls” feels like it could break apart with the slightest push, a controlled chaos.
8.9/10

Tori Amos – Cornflake Girl
Definitely a song I’ve been overlooking here. This is a song that slowly layers on top of itself, expanding from a rather traditional rock song into a sea of sound as the vocals build. It takes a bit to get where it’s going, but the payoff is worth the wait. There’s these distinct moments where the music drops to just a piano during the build, that kind of haunting technique that is commonly overlooked. I’m still not sure what exactly I make of the song; I could see this track growing on me throughout the week. Unfortunately, it’s been placed against one of my favorite songs of the tournament in round one.
7.75/10

Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
You know Funeral is an all-time classic when this is only the third best track on the album. As the opening track, it establishes everything the band would become known for. It starts at a slow pace, an introspective piece that gains speed as it progresses, ultimately building to their iconic grand soundscape as more instruments and vocals are added. Win Butler sings with such passion. Arcade Fire at their best, mixing a sense of melancholy with extravagant sonic pleasure. A perfect emotional release.
9/10

Haim – Falling
My preference of the two Haim tracks, I find “Falling” to be a lot livelier than “The Wire.” The rhythm is a lot more inventive, but it still feels like a track I would lose in a sea of modern pop music if it wasn’t for the acclaim. Maybe someday it will click, but today isn’t the day.
7.75/10

Final rank and votes:
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse In Your Soul (9.4)
Neu! - Hallogallo (9.2)
Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) (9.0)
The Shangri-Las - Remember (8.9)
The Slits - Typical Girls (8.9)
Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire (8.7)
Pulp - This is Hardcore (8.7)
Heart - Barracuda (8.4)
Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand (8.4)
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl (7.75)
Haim - Falling (7.75)
Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm (7.5)
Haim - The Wire (7.5)
Wham! - Careless Whisper (7.5)
Django Reinhardt - Nuages (7.25)
Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You (7.25)

spiritualized wrote:

StevieFan13 wrote:

spiritualized wrote: Whats half a decade ?
I'm not too much off about the hair though ? Maybe Heart were a prodigy of their time. I still find them quite a challenge.

Not off at all. They’re a little much, I suppose, but they’d hate being compared to hair metal

Really ?
Really Really ???

[imgsize 300x300]http://www.inthestudio.net/wp-content/u ... -28441.jpg[/imgsize]

I mean, yeah, if the shoe fits, but plenty of non-hair metal acts were being dragged clawing and screaming into that unholy realm at the time. I guess I also associate hair metal so much with testosterone-fueled babes and drugs songs that the idea of a female artist touching it with a ten-foot pole strikes me as odd (I mean, I guess you could say the same about rap or country, but both are a lot more flexible in terms of style and lyrical content than hair metal).

BleuPanda wrote: Final rank and votes:
Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm (7.5)
Haim - The Wire (7.5)

You already bolded "This Is Hardcore" and didn't bold "Stuck in the Middle With You", so I'm assuming that you meant to bold "The Wire" here instead of "Ring the Alarm". I trust that you weren't trying to sneakily cheat Haim out of a point

Pulp - This is Hardcore
Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand
Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
NEU! - Hallogallo
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul
Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm
Wham! - Careless Whisper
Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages
The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire
HAIM - The Wire
Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You
Heart - Barracuda
HAIM - Falling
The Slits - Typical Girls

While there isn't a single song I don't like (it's the 1001-2000 section so you'd expect good songs), it still feels less strong than what I think lowest brackets are like (based on the songs I know there)

Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand
vs.
Heart - Barracuda

Wham! - Careless Whisper
vs.
Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

NEU! - Hallogallo
vs.
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)
vs.
Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

Pulp - This is Hardcore
vs.
Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm

HAIM - The Wire
vs.
Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

The Slits - Typical Girls
vs.
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
vs.
HAIM - Falling

Oddly, there are several songs here that I have always been surprised by how high they are on AM...!

4. Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand
vs.
8. Heart - Barracuda

1. Wham! - Careless Whisper
vs.
13. Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

10. NEU! - Hallogallo
vs.
15. They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

6. The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)
vs.
11. Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

2. Pulp - This is Hardcore
vs.
7. Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm

16. HAIM - The Wire
vs.
5. Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

14. The Slits - Typical Girls
vs.
3. Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl

9. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
vs.
12. HAIM - Falling

Honorio, we did the 1 - 16 opposite vote again!

My votes:
9. Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand vs. 6. Heart - Barracuda (tough choice - first time hearing "Cowgirl in the Sand," and while its length seemed kind of daunting at first, it's a solid classic rock jam. But "Barracuda" is ferocious, to the point, and energized, which invests me a lot more. That riff is immortal, and Ann Wilson has never sounded better).
10. Wham! - Careless Whisper vs. 15. Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages (surprising myself a bit here, as not a few months ago I was ready to call "Careless Whisper" one of the worst songs to ever top the hot 100. But I dunno, it's grown on me, and the album version, if you already know the infamous sax riff, is more exciting as you wait and wait for it to kick in. I do love me some classic jazz, but while "Nuages" is a pleasant little song, it isn't quite as memorable as "Careless Whisper").
5. NEU! - Hallogallo vs. 1. They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul (the excitement and creativity of "Hallogallo" hasn't diminished at all - it was once on a list of the best workout songs, and I can hear why - but on the other hand, "Birdhouse in Your Soul" is in my all-time top 100 and I love it to pieces, so while it was close, there was only ever one winner).
14. Brian Eno - Baby's on Fire vs. 13. The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walking in the Sand) (I like Eno better as a producer than as a performer. This one's pretty good, but the Shangri-Las are still an easy top pick).
12. Pulp - This is Hardcore vs. 11. Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm (it's the attack of the long tracks! "This is Hardcore" is fine, but I prefer the bouncy reggae of "Ring the Alarm").
7. Haim - The Wire vs. 8. Stealer's Wheel - Stuck in the Middle with You (tough match. I actually really enjoy Haim, so much as I enjoy "Stuck in the Middle with You," I'm delighted to give them a boost).
3. The Slits - Typical Girls vs. 4. Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl (I hate having to choose between these two, because they're both incredible songs by artists I admire a lot, but the quirkiness of "Typical Girls" just barely edges out "Cornflake Girl." Practically a draw, really).
2. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) vs. 16. Haim - Falling (Yeah, sorry Haim. Maybe you could stack up to a classic rock jam, but Arcade Fire are Arcade Fire. Still a great song, though. I love Haim).

Matches:

Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand 9
vs.
Heart - Barracuda 7

Wham! - Careless Whisper 10
vs.
Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages 7

NEU! - Hallogallo 7
vs.
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul 6

The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand) 8
vs.
Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire 9

Pulp - This is Hardcore 10
vs.
Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm 6

HAIM - The Wire 5
vs.
Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You 7

The Slits - Typical Girls 8
vs.
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl 6

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) 7
vs.
HAIM - Falling 7

3. Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand
vs.
5. Heart - Barracuda

8. Wham! - Careless Whisper
vs.
Not in my top 8,000 - Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

Not in my top 8,000 - NEU! - Hallogallo
vs.
Not in my top 8,000 - They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

9. The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)
vs.
Not in my top 8,000 - Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

10. Pulp - This is Hardcore
vs.
Not in my top 8,000 - Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm

2. HAIM - The Wire
vs.
4. Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle with You

Not in my top 8,000 - The Slits - Typical Girls
vs.
7. Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl

1. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
vs.
6. HAIM - Falling

I don't care what the haters say, those melodies in The Wire are better than anything else here, besides Arcade Fire of course. I prefer both the chorus and the verses to those of Run Away with Me, though that is also a good song. But I actually think The Wire is underrated.

TMBG - Birdhouse in Your Soul

Styrofoam Boots wrote:TMBG - Birdhouse in Your Soul

Hope you come back and vote during the week with Trailer Trash

That being said, you can vote in every bracket, you don't have to pick a single song

Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand
vs.
Heart - Barracuda

Wham! - Careless Whisper
vs.
Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

NEU! - Hallogallo
vs.
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)
vs.
Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

Pulp - This is Hardcore
vs.
Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm

HAIM - The Wire
vs.
Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

The Slits - Typical Girls
vs.
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
vs.
HAIM - Falling

Heart - Barracuda
Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages
NEU! - Hallogallo
Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire
Pulp - This is Hardcore
Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
HAIM - Falling

Nassim wrote:

Styrofoam Boots wrote:TMBG - Birdhouse in Your Soul

Hope you come back and vote during the week with Trailer Trash

That being said, you can vote in every bracket, you don't have to pick a single song

I'll be sure to... thanks for the info, but this is the only matchup I really care about here.

14. Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand
vs.
16. Heart – Barracuda

3. Wham! - Careless Whisper
vs.
9. Quintette Hot Club de France – Nuages

13. NEU! – Hallogallo
vs.
6. They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

12. The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)
vs.
7. Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

11. Pulp - This is Hardcore
vs.
8. Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm

10. HAIM - The Wire
vs.
2. Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

15. The Slits - Typical Girls
vs.
1. Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl

4. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
vs.
5. HAIM – Falling

Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand

Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

Pulp - This is Hardcore

Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)

7. Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand
vs.
6. Heart - Barracuda

2. Wham! - Careless Whisper
vs.
3. Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

15. NEU! - Hallogallo
vs.
9. They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

13. The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)
vs.
11. Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

8. Pulp - This is Hardcore
vs.
16. Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm

4. HAIM - The Wire
vs.
5. Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

14. The Slits - Typical Girls
vs.
1. Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl

10. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
vs.
12. HAIM - Falling

Great:

Wham! - Careless Whisper: 10
Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire: 9.5
Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels): 9.5

Good:

NEU! - Hallogallo: 8
HAIM - Falling: 8
The Slits - Typical Girls: 7
Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand: 7

Meh/Mixed:

Pulp - This is Hardcore: 6.5
Heart - Barracuda: 6
HAIM - The Wire: 6
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl: 6
The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand): 5.5
Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages: 5
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul: 5

Bad:

Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm: 3

Awful:

Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You: 1

StevieFan13 wrote:

spiritualized wrote:

StevieFan13 wrote: Not off at all. They’re a little much, I suppose, but they’d hate being compared to hair metal

Really ?
Really Really ???

[imgsize 300x300]http://www.inthestudio.net/wp-content/u ... -28441.jpg[/imgsize]

I mean, yeah, if the shoe fits, but plenty of non-hair metal acts were being dragged clawing and screaming into that unholy realm at the time. I guess I also associate hair metal so much with testosterone-fueled babes and drugs songs that the idea of a female artist touching it with a ten-foot pole strikes me as odd (I mean, I guess you could say the same about rap or country, but both are a lot more flexible in terms of style and lyrical content than hair metal).

Having posted so many hair metal and AOR lists on the forum to the point that I should feel ashamed (I don't), I can confirm that Heart were never classified as hair metal, but as AOR. However, some girls did end up classified as hair metal, like Lita Ford in solo (and sometimes, weirdly, the Runaways as well, but I think that's stretching the definition), Vixen, Femme Fatale or Phantom Blue. So it is possible

Hair metal rules. Give me hair metal over grunge any day.

Usually the interest in these games is in discovery for me. Not yet this week though, as there were only two songs I didn't know yet, but they are good ones (Ring the Alarm and Birdhouse in Your Soul).

2. Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand vs. 12. Heart - Barracuda
I have a soft spot for Heart and although Barracuda isn't my favorite of theirs it is good fun. But Cowgirl in the Sand means more to me. It was years ago part of a couple of Neil Young songs that introduced me to this type of extended, rambling jams, a form I've come to love.

14. Wham! - Careless Whisper vs. 11. Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages
Careless Whisper is a challenge: I love the sax, but I hate the exaggerated sensitivity in the singing. It's still the best thing George Michael ever did, but that says more about how I feel about the rest of his works. Nuages is simply a great, short jazz piece.

6. NEU! - Hallogallo vs. 10. They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul
Birdhouse in Your Soul is a good discovery and offers quite the challenge to Hallogallo, but again I am drawn to the extended guitar piece.

15. The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand) vs. 5. Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire
Another win for guitars, but this time to a weaker opponent. Remember has it's strengths, but it starts very weak and only recovers by changing gears completely.

1. Pulp - This is Hardcore vs. 8. Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm
This is Hardcore is my favorite Pulp track and I could have nominated myself. A great sinister-sexy porn song, really one of a kind. Ring the Alarm turned out to be top-reggae and I welcome it, but it can't match the week's best song.

7. HAIM - The Wire vs. 13. Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You
Both of these songs aren't really amazing, but they are very likeable. I don't get HAIM as a critical phenomenon either (then again, I don't feel poptimism in general), but at least with The Wire they made something I really enjoy. Stuck in the Middle is a little more original and always when it comes on the radio I like it. It just never became a song I felt putting on myself.

4. The Slits - Typical Girls vs. 3. Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
The toughest choice. I love the madness of The Slits, and I'd give them a couple of rounds if I could, but Cornflake Girl is such a great competitor and a reminder I should finally delve into Tori Amos' discography.

9. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) vs. 16. HAIM - Falling
When I said earlier I don't get HAIM's acclaim I referred to songs as Falling, which seems unremarkable in every way to me. Neighborhood is typical of Arcade Fire's cathartic greatness.

Moonbeam wrote:Hair metal rules. Give me hair metal over grunge any day.

I agree. Well, generally.

The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)

Pulp - This is Hardcore

Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)

We have a really close match, six matches with obvious leads, and one complete and total blowout so far. 24 people have voted; 29 voted in the first week during Overlooked Songs 1.

Henrik wrote:1. Wham! - Careless Whisper
vs.
13. Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

Honorio, we did the 1 - 16 opposite vote again!

Yes, Henrik, but we can still be friends. I'll try to explain my vote but I'm afraid the answer is not going to be short. Well, let me begin by saying I was maybe too harsh with George Michael, especially when in fact I enjoy the song more than other songs on the game like "The Wire" or "Typical Girls." I know it's perfectly fine in these poptimistic times to vindicate the 80s mainstream hits even at its most schmaltzy. And I'm sure you (and the ones that put George Michael at the top or near the top, people whose tastes I highly respect like Dan, jamieW, Moonbeam and bonnielaurel, no less) honestly enjoy the track a lot. But I still vividly remember (yes, I'm that old) my first contact with the song and with Wham! in general (by the way, I'm pretty sure that the song is not a Wham! song but the first solo release of George Michael on a single even if it was later included on a Wham! album). In 1984 I was a big fan of SophistiPop, a British style that used Jazz and (Blue Eyed) Soul as its basis with a cool and –ahem– sophisticated attitude (maybe some of you remember a thread about the subject I wrote on the Old Acclaimed Music Forum). In that year 4 masterpieces of the genre were released ("Café Bleu," "Body and Soul," "Diamond Life" and "Eden"), three of them soon will appear on the 1984 Poll. When I first heard "Careless Whisper" or "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" I detected similar influences and a common trend with these bands and albums I loved but adding schmaltziness (Careless) or cheesiness (Wake Me Up) and reaching massive audiences with that move. Being successful doesn't make a song better or worse in my book but I can't help but remember myself thinking back then that acts like Wham! were going to take the style to its commercial zenith but simultaneously they were going to take away its coolness making it inevitably a short lived style. And that what's happened, by 1986 Sophisti-Pop was already a thing of the past, being largely forgotten by the 1990s (even if via Trip-Hop and Downtempo some of these sounds kinda resurfaced).

Moreover I'm sad to notice that "Careless Whisper" is going to defeat inevitably the real jewel of the week to me, the wonderful "Nuages," much more to my ears than "little" or "pleasant." Maybe I'm a sucker for the semitone-descending melodies (like Rota's Amarcord or Waits' Just Another Sucker on the Vine) but I find the song no less than sublime, simultaneously mellow and luminous. From the dissonances of the intro to the clarinet melody filled by these semitone-descending melodies everything is outstanding, including the wonderful guitar solo beginning quietly with harmonics but soon descending in vertiginous but tasteful scales counterpointing the main melody. Django Reinhardt was a revolutionary artist, being a) the first Jazz talent to emerge from Europe, b) the man who introduced guitar as a prominent instrument on Jazz elevating it from its initial secondary position, c) the creator of Gypsy Jazz or Jazz Manouche, a peculiar Jazz hybrid adding sounds from his Romani roots and d) a virtuoso playing despite having two of the fingers of his left hand paralyzed. "Nuages" was written by Reinhardt during the German occupation of France and became a kind of "unofficial anthem in Paris to signify hope for liberation" according to Wikipedia. It's a song I've always loved since I bought a Django compilation on the early 80s that included the 1948 version with Stéphane Grapelli and 30 years later it's comfortably sitting on my all-time list at #112. Let me copy and paste my comment for the 1900-1959 poll: "1985, Place de Montmartre, Paris, a twenty-year old Honorio with a group of friends from the University on a summer trip. While my friends were being portraited by street painters I ventured into a dark café when two guitar players played Jazz. I asked them to play "Nuages" and they quickly attacked it in a quite routinary but impeccable manner (probably they played it before a thousand times). "Nuages" is the sound of Paris to me".

Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

NEU! - Hallogallo

The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)

Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm

Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl

Heart - Barracuda
Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul
Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

Bottom half later.

Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand
Wham! - Careless Whisper
NEU! - Hallogallo
Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire
Pulp - This is Hardcore
HAIM - The Wire
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)

Matchups were really bad for me. Neu! - "Hallogallo" was a very nice discovery.
Also, I think it's overkill that Arcade Fire keeps popping up in our games. I'm pretty sure everyone knows Arcade Fire, especially Funeral, and this game has "Overlooked" in its title.

This only applies to a portion of us, but Happy Thanksgiving! See yall on the other side of the Bjork release.

Honorio wrote:

Henrik wrote:1. Wham! - Careless Whisper
vs.
13. Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

Honorio, we did the 1 - 16 opposite vote again!

Yes, Henrik, but we can still be friends. I'll try to explain my vote but I'm afraid the answer is not going to be short. Well, let me begin by saying I was maybe too harsh with George Michael, especially when in fact I enjoy the song more than other songs on the game like "The Wire" or "Typical Girls." I know it' perfectly fine in these poptimistic times to vindicate the 80s mainstream hits even at its most schmaltzy. And I'm sure you (and the ones that put George Michael at the top or near the top, people whose tastes I highly respect like Dan, jamieW, Moonbeam and bonnielaurel, no less) honestly enjoy the track a lot. But I still vividly remember (yes, I'm that old) my first contact with the song and with Wham! in general (by the way, I'm pretty sure that the song is not a Wham! song but the first solo release of George Michael on a single even if it was later included on a Wham! album). In 1984 I was a big fan of SophistiPop, a British style that used Jazz and (Blue Eyed) Soul as its basis with a cool and –ahem– sophisticated attitude (maybe some of you remember a thread about the subject I wrote on the Old Acclaimed Music Forum). In that year 4 masterpieces of the genre were released ("Café Bleu," "Body and Soul," "Diamond Life" and "Eden"), three of them soon will appear on the 1984 Poll. When I first heard "Careless Whisper" or "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" I detected similar influences and a common trend with these bands and albums I loved but adding schmaltziness (Careless) or cheesiness (Wake Me Up) and reaching massive audiences with that move. Being successful doesn't make a song better or worse in my book but I can't help but remember myself thinking back then that acts like Wham! were going to take the style to its commercial zenith but simultaneously they were going to take away its coolness making it inevitably a short lived style. And that what's happened, by 1986 Sophisti-Pop was already a thing of the past, being largely forgotten by the 1990s (even if via Trip-Hop and Downtempo some of these sounds kinda resurfaced).

Moreover I'm sad to notice that "Careless Whisper" is going to defeat inevitably the real jewel of the week to me, the wonderful "Nuages," much more to my ears than "little" or "pleasant." Maybe I'm a sucker for the semitone-descending melodies (like Rota's Amarcord or Waits' Just Another Sucker on the Vine) but I find the song no less than sublime, simultaneously mellow and luminous. From the dissonances of the intro to the clarinet melody filled by these semitone-descending melodies everything is outstanding, including the wonderful guitar solo beginning quietly with harmonics but soon descending in vertiginous but tasteful scales counterpointing the main melody. Django Reinhardt was a revolutionary artist, being a) the first Jazz talent to emerge from Europe, b) the man who introduced guitar as a prominent instrument on Jazz elevating it from its initial secondary position, c) the creator of Gypsy Jazz or Jazz Manouche, a peculiar Jazz hybrid adding sounds from his Romani roots and d) a virtuoso playing despite having two of the fingers of his left hand paralyzed. "Nuages" was written by Reinhardt during the German occupation of France and became a kind of "unofficial anthem in Paris to signify hope for liberation" according to Wikipedia. It's a song I've always loved since I bought a Django compilation on the early 80s that included the 1948 version with Stéphane Grapelli and 30 years later it's comfortably sitting on my all-time list at #112. Let me copy and paste my comment for the 1900-1959 poll: "1985, Place de Montmartre, Paris, a twenty-year old Honorio with a group of friends from the University on a summer trip. While my friends were being portraited by street painters I ventured into a dark café when two guitar players played Jazz. I asked them to play "Nuages" and they quickly attacked it in a quite routinary but impeccable manner (probably they played it before a thousand times). "Nuages" is the sound of Paris to me".

Uh-oh, I have to remember not to vote the opposite without a good write-up in defense.

I think of sophisti-pop as "intellectual pop for adults" (and like you I love this genre), while Wham! (or I guess George Michael) were definitely a part of my youth, they were very popular with the girls in my class. So in my world Wham! is not part of sophisti-pop. I was a medium fan of George Michael until just a few years ago, when his music, style and most of all his voice began to sit extremely well with me. When I listen to him it's like I spend time with a wonderful friend. Like Prince could be dirty like no one else, George Michael could be soft like no one else. His best songs go straight into my heart. "Careless Whisper" is over the top schmaltzy, but it works for me and just makes it even better, a real stand out song!

As for "Nuages", I'm sorry but it is not really a memorable tune for me. I know I have listened to it before, but I hardly recognised it when I listened to it for this poll. Probably my low ranking also had to do with my surprise that "Minor Swing" isn't his most acclaimed song.

prosecutorgodot wrote:I think it's overkill that Arcade Fire keeps popping up in our games. I'm pretty sure everyone knows Arcade Fire, especially Funeral, and this game has "Overlooked" in its title.

This only applies to a portion of us, but Happy Thanksgiving! See yall on the other side of the Bjork release.

I figured someone would react like this, and I almost said it felt like cheating when I was nominating that song. I'm pretty sure I'm the biggest Arcade Fire fan on the forum, so to me they still feel overlooked and underrepresented. There was no doubt in my mind that Neighborhood #1 was the best song eligible for this game. I would put it in the top 25, so seeing it outside the top 1,300, and even behind their own Ready to Start (which I think is ranked about where it should be), makes it feel like it's still being slighted.

I know the point is more to introduce people to new songs they might like, and most of you are familiar with Funeral, but at least it is the top region in the game where most of the songs are pretty well known anyway... Hopefully you guys enjoy some of the more obscure ones, like Zebra next week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand vs. Heart - Barracuda

Wham! - Careless Whisper vs. Quintette Hot Club de France - Nuages

NEU! - Hallogallo vs. They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' in the Sand) vs. Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire

Pulp - This is Hardcore vs. Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm

HAIM - The Wire vs. Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

The Slits - Typical Girls vs. Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) vs. HAIM - Falling


Too bad my nomination (Nuages) is going up against Careless Whisper, probably my favorite "losing song" of the week.

Barracuda
Careless Whisper
Birdhouse in Your Soul
Baby's on Fire (could really go either way with this one, neither are particular favorites of mine)
This Is Hardcore
The Wire
Cornflake Girl
Falling