Acclaimed Music Forums

Welcome to Round 2.5 of Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019!

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 = August 27th at 10am EST.

Here's a link to the bracket for the entire tournament:
http://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?t ... Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019

Match-ups:
1. Bob Dylan - Desire vs. Joni Mitchell - Hejira
2. Au Pairs - Playing With a Different Sex vs. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
3. Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods vs. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
4. Mitski - Bury Me at Makeout Creek vs. Kimio Eto - Koto Music

Get your motor runnin'!

1. Joni Mitchell - Hejira
4. Mitski - Bury Me at Makeout Creek

1. Bob Dylan - Desire
2. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
3. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
4. Kimio Eto - Koto Music

Hejira 93 - Desire 84

All others I couldn’t find one of the two. Maybe will try again on YouTube.

1. Bob Dylan - Desire vs. Joni Mitchell - Hejira
2. Au Pairs - Playing With a Different Sex vs. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
3. Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods vs. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
4. Mitski - Bury Me at Makeout Creek vs. Kimio Eto - Koto Music

Bob Dylan - Desire
Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
Mitski - Bury Me at Makeout Creek

BOB DYLAN - DESIRE

My picks:

1. Bob Dylan - Desire vs. Joni Mitchell - Hejira
The Battle of '76
2. Au Pairs - Playing With a Different Sex vs. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
3. Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods vs. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
4. Mitski - Bury Me at Makeout Creek vs. Kimio Eto - Koto Music

Thanks!

1. Bob Dylan - Desire vs. Joni Mitchell - Hejira
2. Au Pairs - Playing With a Different Sex vs. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
4. Mitski - Bury Me at Makeout Creek vs. Kimio Eto - Koto Music

1. Bob Dylan - Desire (7/10) vs. Joni Mitchell - Hejira (7/10) PASS
2. Au Pairs - Playing With a Different Sex (7/10) vs. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B. (10/10)
3. Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods (7/10) vs. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge (9/10)
4. Mitski - Bury Me at Makeout Creek (TBA) vs. Kimio Eto - Koto Music (TBA)

AU PAIRS - PLAYING WITH A DIFFERENT SEX

1. Bob Dylan - Desire (1976) vs. 2. Joni Mitchell - Hejira (1976)
6. Au Pairs - Playing With a Different Sex (1981) vs. 4. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B. (1968)
8. Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods (2017) vs. 7. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge (1983)
3. Mitski - Bury Me at Makeout Creek (2014) vs. 5. Kimio Etó - Koto Music (1959)

Desire's always felt slight to me after Blood on the Tracks. Still, Emmylou Harris' typically complementary backing vocals on Mozambique and One More Cup of Coffee seem to push Dylan into producing some of his finest ever singing. And what album could top one that starts with Hurricane?

Hejira can. I have to admit only having heard one other Joni Mitchell album (Blue) and not being taken with it. Here, Mitchell seems to have found a more restrained voice and sounds better for it, while the music makes noticeable leaps into jazz without it overwhelming her folk roots. I can see myself getting into this in the same way as Astral Weeks.

Hejira pulls off a shock to beat Desire.

mileswide wrote: ↑Wed Aug 21, 2019 11:47 pm Desire's always felt slight to me after Blood on the Tracks. Still, Emmylou Harris' typically complementary backing vocals on Mozambique and One More Cup of Coffee seem to push Dylan into producing some of his finest ever singing. And what album could top one that starts with Hurricane?

Hejira can. I have to admit only having heard one other Joni Mitchell album (Blue) and not being taken with it. Here, Mitchell seems to have found a more restrained voice and sounds better for it, while the music makes noticeable leaps into jazz without it overwhelming her folk roots. I can see myself getting into this in the same way as Astral Weeks.

Hejira pulls off a shock to beat Desire.

If you're looking for another Joni album with a similar style to Hejira, I'd highly recommend listening to The Hissing of Summer Lawns.

1. Bob Dylan - Desire
2. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
3. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
4. Kimio Eto - Koto Music

acroamor wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2019 1:51 am If you're looking for another Joni album with a similar style to Hejira, I'd highly recommend listening to The Hissing of Summer Lawns.

Thanks Acroamor! Having done some research after your comment (translation: looking on Wikipedia), I agree Hissing, Court & Spark and possibly Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (though I've heard that's a tad too indulgent) sound up my street and I'll include them as part of my current diet of four new albums a day, so I appreciate the rec

1. Bob Dylan - Desire vs. Joni Mitchell - Hejira

Bob Dylan - Desire

mileswide wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2019 6:38 am

acroamor wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2019 1:51 am If you're looking for another Joni album with a similar style to Hejira, I'd highly recommend listening to The Hissing of Summer Lawns.

Thanks Acroamor! Having done some research after your comment (translation: looking on Wikipedia), I agree Hissing, Court & Spark and possibly Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (though I've heard that's a tad too indulgent) sound up my street and I'll include them as part of my current diet of four new albums a day, so I appreciate the rec

Court & Spark is Mitchell's most pop album. The jazz fase began with Hissing. Hissing and Hejira are my two favorite Mitchell recordings. If you like them you could certainly give Don Juan's Reckless Daughter and Mingus a try, although I seem to be the only person alive who liked the latter. Hissing and Hejira are better though. Too bad that Hejira is faring badly against Desire - which I find one of Dylan's more uneven albums.

Rob wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2019 11:57 am Court & Spark is Mitchell's most pop album. The jazz fase began with Hissing. Hissing and Hejira are my two favorite Mitchell recordings. If you like them you could certainly give Don Juan's Reckless Daughter and Mingus a try, although I seem to be the only person alive who liked the latter. Hissing and Hejira are better though. Too bad that Hejira is faring badly against Desire - which I find one of Dylan's more uneven albums.

Pop I can live with, I just find her voice too overwrought on Blue to focus on anything else. I think if her vocals on any of her others are closer to those on Hejira, I'd be able to lose myself in them more.

Agreed about Desire- I do like my Dylan but I'd rather listen to an excellent album by someone I've never previously rated than a merely good album by one of *my* artists.

1. Bob Dylan - Desire vs. Joni Mitchell - Hejira
2. Au Pairs - Playing With a Different Sex vs. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B

I love Dylan, but Hejira runs circles around Desire.

Winners in red:

1. Bob Dylan - Desire vs. Joni Mitchell - Hejira
2. Au Pairs - Playing With a Different Sex vs. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
3. Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods vs. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
4. Mitski - Bury Me at Makeout Creek vs. Kimio Eto - Koto Music

1. Joni Mitchell - Hejira
2. Au Pairs - Playing With a Different Sex
3. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
4. Mitski - Bury Me at Makeout Creek

5 | Bob Dylan | Desire
3 | Joni Mitchell | Hejira

2 | Au Pairs | Playing With a Different Sex
4 | Serge Gainsbourg | Initials B.B.

8 | Neil Cicierega | Mouth Moods
1 | The Chameleons | Script of the Bridge

6 | Mitski | Bury Me at Makeout Creek
7 | Kimio Eto | Koto Music

Lyrically, Playing with a Different Sex poses questions about sexual politics still relevant to today. And Armagh is just the kind of brave, anthemic statement to explain the need for punk to have happened. A minor gripe is that some songs get stuck in a groove but that's understandable when the album mainly encompasses everything great about the post-punk sound (bait-and-switch guitars, skittish drums, all underpinned by basslines you don't know whether to dance to or protest to).

Initials B.B .is the 60s' strange melange of cool and camp in album form (Docteur Jekyll et Monsieur Hyde sounds like it was made to do the Batusi to). It was a key album in helping France gain its own voice in the rock era but the only thing that transcends its surroundings is Bonnie and Clyde, which is too diffident to care about chasing trends, echoing the laidback innovation of Requiem pour un Con of the same year.

Playing with a Different Sex is on another level to Initials B.B.

Bury Me at Makeout Creek doesn't half sound sorry for itself at times but at least there's humour and changes in dynamics in abundance. On the occasions it truly catches fire like with the elliptic Last Words of a Shooting Star and First Love/Late Spring, it resonates all too embarrassingly well to this "tall kid".

Koto Music brought back tenuous memories of dulcimer-based folk I heard at a traditional Tirol night during my study year abroad in Austria except less sentimental and more influenced by classical music. It's a calming sound, even when Eto goes full-pelt on the final track for powerful effect, but one that seems to possibly have depth revealed by repeated listening.

Bury Me at Makeout Creek makes it past Koto Music.

NEIL CICIEREGA - MOUTH MOODS

mileswide wrote: ↑Sun Aug 25, 2019 1:52 am
Koto Music ....but one that seems to possibly have depth revealed by repeated listening.

Certainly my experience. I'm a Mitski fan, but I gave this one to Eto. Probably Mitski will progress, if so she'll get my vote in the next round.

5. Desire < 4. Hejira
What a weird and close matchup. I'm pulling for Joni just because I prefer her voice.

1. Playing With a Different Sex > 8. Initials B.B.
Bonnie and Clyde is a perfectly good song that manages to annoy me with the weird vocal thing in the background, and this issue is a microcosm of my issues with the album as a whole. Meanwhile, Different Sex is really really great.

7. Mouth Moods < 2. Script of the Bridge
I was telling myself I'd eat my hat if Mouth Moods got a vote... and yet it did. Won't help in the rankings though lol. Go listen to the other Mouth albums if you like this, and go listen to Lemon Demon's Spirit Phone for a completely different Cicierega project.

3. Bury Me at Makeout Creek > 6. Koto Music
Mitski good

5. Bob Dylan - Desire vs. 1. Joni Mitchell - Hejira
6. Au Pairs - Playing With a Different Sex vs. 7. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
8. Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods vs. 4. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
3. Mitski - Bury Me at Makeout Creek vs. 2. Kimio Eto - Koto Music

That last match-up cruel. I love Bury Me at Makeout Creek, but I have to give Koto Music the slight edge here.

More moody early 80s post-punk with Script of the Bridge, albeit with less in the way of immediacy and more atmosphere than Au Pairs. Still, Monkeyland stood out, making world-weariness anthemic.

I like the part in Mouth Sounds where he samples Smash Mouth...but no word of a lie, I enjoyed the Teen Spirit/Billie Jean mashup. Then proceeded to hate myself.

Script of the Bridge writes Mouth Sounds off the page.

mileswide wrote: ↑Mon Aug 26, 2019 12:34 am More moody early 80s post-punk with Script of the Bridge, albeit with less in the way of immediacy and more atmosphere than Au Pairs. Still, Monkeyland stood out, making world-weariness anthemic.

I like the part in Mouth Sounds where he samples Smash Mouth...but no word of a lie, I enjoyed the Teen Spirit/Billie Jean mashup. Then proceeded to hate myself.

Script of the Bridge writes Mouth Sounds off the page.

It's unlikely to influence the result, but note that it's Mouth Moods rather than Sounds. Different albums.

Safetycat wrote: ↑Mon Aug 26, 2019 1:51 am It's unlikely to influence the result, but note that it's Mouth Moods rather than Sounds. Different albums.

Dammit, I actually listened to a whole album of that for no reason? I'll give Mouth Moods a spin later, I need to mentally prepare myself for another helping of that!

Mouth Moods was...actually better than Mouth Sounds, it's possibly Niel Cicierega's meisterwerk! And out of all the similar albums to listen to, I'd rather sit through these two than, say, the short and long versions of Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet.

Even so, Script of the Bridge > all of Niel Cicierega's discography. Probably.

MITSKI - BURY ME AT MAKEOUT CREEK

Results will be posted shortly

20 total voters this week:
acroamor
Bang Jan
bonnielaurel
Brad
CupOfDreams
DaveC
FrankLotion
Honorio
Jirin
Kingoftonga
Listyguy
madzong
mileswide
PlasticRam
Rdwdbob
Rob
Romain
rumpdoll
Safetycat
spiritualized

Winners:
1. Bob Dylan - Desire over Joni Mitchell - Hejira 10-9
2. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B. over Au Pairs - Playing With a Different Sex 9-8 (OT)
3. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge over Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods 13-1
4. Mitski - Bury Me at Makeout Creek over Kimio Eto - Koto Music 10-4

We have a TIE!
Au Pairs - Playing With a Different Sex vs. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B. ***TIE! 8-8! Next vote from someone who has not already voted in this match-up wins!!!***

Round 2.6 up soon!