Moderately Acclaimed Albums 11 - Round 1.13

[Brad]

Welcome to round 1.13 of Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2020!

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 9th at 10am EST.

Here's a link to the bracket for the entire tournament:
http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=473090

Match-ups:
1. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness vs. Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
2. Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss vs. Coil - Horse Rotorvator
3. The Divine Comedy - A Short Album About Love vs. David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
4. Chet Baker - No Problem vs. Rodriguez - Cold Fact

Smile on your brother.

[Bang Jan]

3 | Julia Holter | Have You In My Wilderness
4 | Cannibal Ox | The Cold Vein

6 | Slayer | Seasons in the Abyss
7 | Coil | Horse Rotorvator

2 | The Divine Comedy | A Short Album About Love
8 | David Byrne & St. Vincent | Love This Giant

1 | Rodriguez | Cold Fact
5 | Chet Baker | No Problem

Favourite song of the week: Rodriguez | Sugar Man

[Jirin]

The Cold Vein 93 - Have You In My Wilderness 87
Seasons in the Abyss 78 - Horse Rotovator 68
A Short Album About Love 80 - Love This Giant 75
Cold Fact 86 - No Problem 86 (Tiebreaker to Cold Fact)

[Schüttelbirne]

1. 6 | Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness vs. 8 | Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
2. 2 | Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss vs. 1 | Coil - Horse Rotorvator
3. 7 | The Divine Comedy - A Short Album About Love vs. 5 | David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
4. 3 | Chet Baker - No Problem vs. 4 | Rodriguez - Cold Fact

[Cold Butterfly]

Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
Coil - Horse Rotorvator
David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
Rodriguez - Cold Fact

[Rob]

Horse Rotorvator used to be on Spotify, but at least around here it isn't anymore. Here's a YouTube-link:

[Brad]

Horse Rotorvator used to be on Spotify, but at least around here it isn't anymore. Here's a YouTube-link:

Thanks Rob!

[LunarPiper]

1. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness
2. Coil - Horse Rotorvator
3. David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
4. Rodriguez - Cold Fact

[DaveC]

1. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness vs. Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
2. Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss vs. Coil - Horse Rotorvator
3. The Divine Comedy - A Short Album About Love vs. David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
4. Chet Baker - No Problem vs. Rodriguez - Cold Fact

[Madzong]

1. Pass
2. Pass
3. Pass
4. Rodriguez - Cold Fact

[Listyguy]

1. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness vs. Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
2. Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss vs. Coil - Horse Rotorvator
3. The Divine Comedy - A Short Album About Love vs. David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
4. Chet Baker - No Problem vs. Rodriguez - Cold Fact

Cold Fact was my nomination. It's hard to believe the album isn't even bubbling under at this point.

[Rdwdbob]

JULIA HOLTER - HAVE YOU IN MY WILDERNESS
COIL - HORSE ROTORVATOR
DAVID BYRNE & ST. VINCENT - LOVE THIS GIANT
RODRIGUEZ - COLD FACT

[FrankLotion]

1. Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
2. Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss
3. David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
4. Chet Baker - No Problem

[mileswide]

7. Julia Holter - Have You in My Wilderness v. 4. Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
2. Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss v. 1. Coil - Horse Rotorvator
8. The Divine Comedy - A Short Album about Love v. 6. David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
5. Chet Baker Quartet & Duke Jordan - No Problem v. 3. Rodriguez - Cold Fact

Standout tracks: Everytime Boots | The F-Word | Spirit in Black | Blood from the Air | If... | The Forest Awakes | Kiss of Spain | Only Good for Conversation

[Myself]

1. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness
2. Coil - Horse Rotorvator
3. The Divine Comedy - A Short Album About Love
4. Chet Baker - No Problem

[Rob]

8. Cannibal Ox – The Cold Vein
It’s hardly worthwhile writing it down here as I really don’t have much to say about this one, but this album didn’t click with me. I don’t particularly mean that I don’t like it, but more that somehow it just triggers nothing in my brain which makes me engage with it. I don’t know why that sometimes happens, but it does. The rapping on here is actually quite good, but I find it hard to concentrate on it, thanks to the fuzzy production. I liked El-P’s later production work on Killer Mike’s solo album as well as on their Run the Jewels collaborations, but here he made something that becomes background music to me.

7. The Divine Comedy – A Short Album About Love
I’m not sure if this group is ever going to work for me. I know that Neil Hannon’s smug dandy vocals are tongue in cheek, but they put me off. This album is very interesting in theory as it is mostly a more serious reflection about themes of love, but at the same time it always seems about to become a joke. It also contains completely over-the-top romantic music that works equally in theory, but somehow I find it all hard to like. Maybe it is all too self-consciousness and measured, I don’t know. I can see why some would call this album a masterpiece, but somehow it just doesn’t appeal to me.

6. Chet Baker & Duke Jordan – No Problem
I’m not familiar with Chet Baker’s more famous, earlier recordings and haven’t heard of Duke Jordan at all, so I don’t know how to rate this latter-day album in context of what went before. As it is, I find it pleasant, but unremarkable jazz. There have been a few great jazz albums in this year’s edition of Moderately Acclaimed, but I don’t rank this among them. It’s mostly background music to me, although Kiss of Spain has a nice atmosphere.

5. Slayer – Seasons in the Abyss
If you ever heard Slayer, you know what to expect: an aggressive singer, infernal lyrics, raging guitars and pounding drums. This really is metal as a form of physical assault. It is enjoyable, impressive and silly in equal measure. It is a bit odd that for all its nasty imagery it never seems frightening to me and rather lightweight to some of the truly terrifying songs by its opponent Coil. Metal like this is rarely my favorite thing in the world, but I can’t deny that I find it easy to get swept up by it and this is a very consistent record. The final track, which bears the album’s title is particularly good.

4. David Byrne & St. Vincent – Love This Giant
These two people fit well together. That seemed obvious before going in, but also while listening. The two actually collaborated over the internet instead of in a studio and there aren’t any duets in the conventional sense, but they did write the songs together and the result feels like something that could come from either Byrne or Clarke. I suspect nobody would claim this is the best album either did, but it is a nice showcase of their styles that goes down easy and is fun to listen to. And every now and then they hit a surprising high, especially on I Should Watch TV and Optimist.

3. Rodríguez – Cold Fact
This almost forgotten album from the seventies is deservingly rediscovered. A few years ago in this game I wasn’t so favorable about Coming from Reality, which struck me as a little too sour. Cold Fact is not a very happy or optimistic album either, but somehow Rodríguez finds a better balance. He is angry about a lot of things in society, but it feels more real here and his critiques are better worded. He also brings along some tunes that stick in the mind with ease and make the sometimes high-minded words go down with ease. There is a sub-Donovan type of sunshine production over these folk tunes that have sloppy appeal. Sugar Man deserves to retro-actively become one of the key songs of the seventies, but everything here is great, with personal favorites in Hate Street Dialogue and Crucify Your Mind.

2. Julia Holter – Have You in My Wilderness
The most acclaimed Julia Holter album is, unsurprisingly, her most accessible. The weirdness and experimentalism are dialed back a lot and this almost approaches a pop album. That’s almost a loss, but luckily not quite. This may not stand out to me as much as Ekstasis and Aviary, but at the same time it is a masterful album, where Holter’s idiosyncrasies find a new place. On Everytime Boots she almost turns into Fiona Apple, while personal highlight Silhouette makes the best use of her play with vocals. I used to be a bit skeptical about this album and even its reception because of its straightforward take on songs, but it has won me over by now.

1. Coil – Horse Rotorvator
As a co-nominator of this album I feel like I should tell you why it is brilliant, but part of its power is its elusiveness. What exactly is this music? Industrial apparently, but it never feels like it stays in a genre or style long. That doesn’t make it a mess however, as it has a very consistent hollow sound and a sense of dread. This feels to me as one of the most unsettling albums ever made. Not in an in-your-face way, but more in the feeling that someone or something is sneaking up on you and you expect all hell to break lose any minute. Even a Leonard Cohen cover doesn’t escape the inferno. It is expertly played, but what really sticks is simply it’s dark mood.


A simple overview of my votes:

1. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness vs. Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
2. Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss vs. Coil - Horse Rotorvator
3. The Divine Comedy - A Short Album About Love vs. David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
4. Chet Baker - No Problem vs. Rodriguez - Cold Fact

[Safetycat]

5. Have You In My Wilderness > 6. The Cold Vein

8. Seasons in the Abyss < 4. Horse Rotorvator

3. A Short Album About Love < 1. Love This Giant

7. No Problem < 2. Cold Fact

[acroamor]

1. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness
4. Chet Baker - No Problem

[Brad]

My picks:
1. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness vs. Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
2. Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss vs. Coil - Horse Rotorvator
3. The Divine Comedy - A Short Album About Love vs. David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
4. Chet Baker - No Problem vs. Rodriguez - Cold Fact

24 hours left to vote... thanks!

[spiritualized]

1. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness vs. Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
2. Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss vs. Coil - Horse Rotorvator
3. The Divine Comedy - A Short Album About Love vs. David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
4. Chet Baker - No Problem vs. Rodriguez - Cold Fact

[Brad]

slight delay with results today... will have them out within an hour!

[Kingoftonga]

Winners in red:

1. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness vs. Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
2. Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss vs. Coil - Horse Rotorvator
3. The Divine Comedy - A Short Album About Love vs. David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant

[Brad]

18 total voters this week:
acroamor
Bang Jan
Brad
Cold Butterfly
DaveC
FrankLotion
Jirin
Kingoftonga
Listyguy
LunarPiper
madzong
mileswide
Myself
Rdwdbob
Rob
Safetycat
Schüttelbirne
spiritualized

Winners:
1. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness over Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein 11-6
2. Coil - Horse Rotorvator over Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss 12-4
3. David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant over The Divine Comedy - A Short Album About Love 10-5
4. Rodriguez - Cold Fact over Chet Baker - No Problem 12-5

Round 1.14 up soon!