Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

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Brad
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Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Brad »

Welcome to the round 1.8 of Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - the mid-point 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 = May 15th at 10am EST.

Here's a link to the bracket for the entire tournament:
http://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?t ... 9%20(2018)

Match-ups:
1. My Morning Jacket - Z vs. Graham Parker & The Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks
2. Nick Lowe - Jesus Of Cool vs. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
3. U2 - Melon: Remixes for Propaganda vs. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
4. Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night vs. Travis Scott - Rodeo


Kingoftonga has graciously supplied the following link for the U2 album:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... Q4vUl6XDz5

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Bang Jan
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Bang Jan »



Melon: Remixes for Propaganda

2 | My Morning Jacket | Z
6 | Graham Parker & The Rumour | Squeezing Out Sparks

5 | Nick Lowe | Jesus Of Cool
1 | Talking Heads | Speaking in Tongues

7 | U2 | Melon: Remixes for Propaganda
3 | Apples In Stereo | New Magnetic Wonder

4 | Mari Boine | Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night
8 | Travis Scott | Rodeo

Favourite song of the week: Talking Heads | This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by DaveC »

A week of easy choices

1. My Morning Jacket - Z
2. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
3. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
4. Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night
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Honorio
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Honorio »



2. My Morning Jacket - Z (2005) vs. 5. Graham Parker - Squeezing Out Sparks (1979)
3. Nick Lowe - Jesus Of Cool (1978) vs. 1. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues (1983)
8. U2 - Melon: Remixes for Propaganda (1995) vs. 6. The Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder (2007)
4. Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night (2006) vs. 7. Travis Scott - Rodeo (2015)

Favourite song from every album:
Wordless Chorus | Passion Is No Ordinary Word | I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass | This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) | Even Better Than the Real Thing (The Perfecto Mix) | Sunday Sounds | Vuoi vuoi mu | Antidote

Favourite song of the week: This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)

Since we're half way through the Round 1 I'm going to follow my tradition of posting pictures of the ladies featured so far as a little homage to them:


Lauren Mayberry (Chvrches)


Weyes Blood


Audrey Easley, Julie Doyle, Jennifer Jobe, Jennie Kelley, Kelly Repka, Christy Stewart, Jessica Berridge and Jessica Jordan (The Polyphonic Spree)


Sarah Martin (Belle and Sebastian)


Nina Simone


Carly Rae Jepsen


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


Alison Statton (Weekend)


Norah Jones (Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi)


Lily Allen


Natasha Khan (SEXWITCH)


Beth Gibbons (Portishead)


Sarah Peacock (Seefeel)


Cyndi Lauper


Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth)


Santigold


Aimee Mann


Pamela Racine and Elizabeth Sun (Gogol Bordello)


Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads)


Hilarie Sidney (The Apples in Stereo)


Mari Boine
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Jirin »

Z 95 - Squeezing Out Sparks 76
Speaking In Tongues 83 - Jesus Of Cool 73
Idjagiedas 73 - Rodeo 64

So happy the not-so-president lost in the first round.

Melon is neither on Spotify nor easy to faithfully find on Youtube. New Magnetic Wonder is 65 for me so Melon is likely to have my vote, but I don't know how to listen to it.
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Romain »

1. My Morning Jacket - Z
2. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
3. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
4. Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night

My Morning Jacket is going to be a serious contender for the title this year I think (and hope).
Mari Boine : good discovery.
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Rob
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Rob »

Jirin wrote:Z 95 - Squeezing Out Sparks 76
Speaking In Tongues 83 - Jesus Of Cool 73
Idjagiedas 73 - Rodeo 64

So happy the not-so-president lost in the first round.

Melon is neither on Spotify nor easy to faithfully find on Youtube. New Magnetic Wonder is 65 for me so Melon is likely to have my vote, but I don't know how to listen to it.
Kingoftonga schared this YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... Q4vUl6XDz5

Seems complete.
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Romain
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Romain »

Have you noticed the prevalence of winners who are in the first place on both?
I looked the bracket, only 1 match on 28 was won by an album that was proposed in second place. I wonder if this guides the choice of people?
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by hectorthebat »

1. My Morning Jacket - Z vs. Graham Parker & The Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks
2. Nick Lowe - Jesus Of Cool vs. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
3. U2 - Melon: Remixes for Propaganda vs. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
4. Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night vs. Travis Scott - Rodeo
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Rob
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Rob »

Romain wrote:Have you noticed the prevalence of winners who are in the first place on both?
I looked the bracket, only 1 match on 28 was won by an album that was proposed in second place. I wonder if this guides the choice of people?
I'm not quite sure what you mean by first and second place here.
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Brad »

Romain wrote: My Morning Jacket is going to be a serious contender for the title this year I think (and hope).
I nominated "Z" back in MA6, where it narrowly (and unceremoniously) lost to The Waterboys in the second round.
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Brad »

Also, great pics as usual Honorio!
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Listyguy »

Rob wrote:
Romain wrote:Have you noticed the prevalence of winners who are in the first place on both?
I looked the bracket, only 1 match on 28 was won by an album that was proposed in second place. I wonder if this guides the choice of people?
I'm not quite sure what you mean by first and second place here.
I believe he's saying the album that is listed first (such as Z) versus the album listed second (such as Squeezing Out Sparks).
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Brad »

Listyguy wrote:
Rob wrote:
Romain wrote:Have you noticed the prevalence of winners who are in the first place on both?
I looked the bracket, only 1 match on 28 was won by an album that was proposed in second place. I wonder if this guides the choice of people?
I'm not quite sure what you mean by first and second place here.
I believe he's saying the album that is listed first (such as Z) versus the album listed second (such as Squeezing Out Sparks).
If that's what he means, I'm afraid that's not the case.
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Rob
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Rob »

Listyguy wrote:
Rob wrote:
Romain wrote:Have you noticed the prevalence of winners who are in the first place on both?
I looked the bracket, only 1 match on 28 was won by an album that was proposed in second place. I wonder if this guides the choice of people?
I'm not quite sure what you mean by first and second place here.
I believe he's saying the album that is listed first (such as Z) versus the album listed second (such as Squeezing Out Sparks).
That was my guess, but by my count 13 out of 28 albums on the second place actually won, which doesn't strike me as symptomatic of anything.
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Romain »

It's what I say, and, obviously, it was a complete bullshit I'm sorry :-)
I just look the bracket... and found only 1 on 28 match win by the second name. But whatever, it's false, so forget my words and listen good music ;-)
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by FrankLotion »

I feel like this week’s choices were pretty easy tbh, though I was surprised by how much I liked that Nick Lowe album!

1. My Morning Jacket - Z
2. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
3. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
4. Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by jamieW »

Great:
Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night

Good:
Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
My Morning Jacket - Z
Nick Lowe - Jesus Of Cool

Okay:
U2 - Melon: Remixes for Propaganda
Travis Scott - Rodeo
Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
Graham Parker & The Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Rdwdbob »

1) My Morning Jacket
2) Nick Lowe
3) The Apples In Stereo
4) Mari Boine
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by PlasticRam »

1. My Morning Jacket - Z vs. Graham Parker & The Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks
2. Nick Lowe - Jesus Of Cool vs. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
I feel like that
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Brad »

My picks:
1. My Morning Jacket - Z vs. Graham Parker & The Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks
Squeezing Out Sparks was one of my 3 noms this week, but even I have to concede here.
2. Nick Lowe - Jesus Of Cool vs. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
I've never been fully on board with Talking Heads - in fact, I find their albums to be pretty boring (perhaps it's telling that Talking Heads '77 is my favorite of theirs). While Nick Lowe may throw out a clunker here and there, I much prefer the compact thrill of Marie Provost, I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass, Heart Of The City, etc. And yes, Nick Lowe was my nomination as well... I don't think these late '70's singer-songwriter types go over well in the forums, unfortunately.
3. U2 - Melon: Remixes for Propaganda vs. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
4. Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night vs. Travis Scott - Rodeo

Thanks!
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by spiritualized »

Listened to 4 out of 8, but rather average week for me


1. My Morning Jacket - Z (6/10) vs. Graham Parker & The Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks (6/10) --> undecided

2. Nick Lowe - Jesus Of Cool (6/10) vs. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues (8/10)

3. U2 - Melon: Remixes for Propaganda (6/10) vs. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder (7/10)
Last edited by spiritualized on Tue May 15, 2018 11:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Brad »

Hi there - I have some business to attend to tomorrow morning, so results will be delayed by a couple hours. Please feel free to continue voting until I post results.

Thanks!
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Rob »

8. Graham Parker & The Rumour – Squeezing Out Sparks
I wrote earlier about this album when I wrote about the song Local Girls for the 10.000 Songs project. I seem to have been more forgiving then than I am now. Spending more time with Mr. Parker and listening more closely to the lyrics doesn’t make him any more appealing. Parker is one of those writers who approaches almost every subject with scorn and vitriol. That’s allowed, but you need to be a strong writer to make it work. Parker strikes me as so unlikeable and such a nagging bore when I listen to him closely that I’m sick of him when I’m only halfway through, no matter if the music is good. He isn’t sharp, just mean. He’s pretty much against everyone, but I want to tell him: “It’s not them, it’s you”.

7. Apples in Stereos – New Magnetic Wonder
Another album that sounds derivative of an older sound. Many would say The Beatles, but I’d say The Beatles as filtered through Oasis. What’s more, it sounds like a particularly weak Oasis knock-off. There is very little to these songs. The lyrics are stereotypical and the melodies repetitive and with a deep lack of originality. It isn’t even catchy in a good way. This did little for me.

6. Travis Scott – Rodeo
Not my type of music at all, but I still kind of liked this. Not the all album through, as it was rather long and some stretches felt repetitive. Still, when this guy finds a good groove it is well worth listening to. In a genre of which I like hardly anything, Pornography and Nightcrawler are actually tracks I want to get back to.

5. U2 – Lemon: Remixes for Propaganda
A unique addition to this game. Not just because it is a limited release that is mostly available as a bootleg, but also because remix albums aren’t exactly a standard here. I never listen to these kind of things, truth be told. This one is actually a nice surprise. A few tracks miss their mark (the two versions of Numb live up to their titles too much), but most are pretty good. Especially the three remixes by Perfecto are standouts.

4. Talking Heads – Speaking in Tongues
The one Talking Heads album that is seen as lesser than it’s immediate predecessors, but that everyone seems to love anyway. This is mostly the one in which their style stopped changing, settling into the groove set on Remain in Light. Truth is, this is hardly weaker and it contains some of my favourite Talking Heads songs in Girlfriend is Better and especially Slippery People.

3. Nick Lowe – Jesus of Cool
The matchup between Talking Heads and Nick Lowe was by far the toughest of the week. Pretty much a tie I would say. Still, I went with Lowe, because he surprised me more and discovery is part of what this game is all about. For some reason I expected little from this album, but it is really good. Whereas Speaking in Tongues seems a unified groove, this album is all over the place, but in a good way. Lowe switches style and persona like it is nobody’s business and does it on the shortest album of the week. It is no empty announcement of diversity either: this guy is the real deal. A great rocker with a sharp tongue and tons of ideas. He lives up to the album title!

2. My Morning Jacket – Z
I remember that this album appeared in this game three years ago and I had it in my memory as an album I didn’t like too much. I really don’t know why now, because getting back to it, it sounds really great. Wonderful melodies (that I mostly still recognized to my surprise), great vocals and above all an atmosphere to die for. Great stuff.

1. Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night
One of these left-field albums that seems to come out of nowhere only to land straight in your heart. Where people discover these type of things is beyond me, but it makes playing games like this worthwhile. This is a mix between Sami folk music (honestly, if I hadn’t seen the film Sami Blood a year ago this wouldn’t have rung a bell) and jazz-like sounds. It sounds sweet, otherworldly, dreamy and heart-warming. The word soul comes to mind, even if an unrelated genre has hijacked that word.

Simple overview of my votes:
1. My Morning Jacket - Z vs. Graham Parker & The Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks
2. Nick Lowe - Jesus Of Cool vs. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
3. U2 - Melon: Remixes for Propaganda vs. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
4. Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night vs. Travis Scott - Rodeo
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

One of the Travis songs got taken off all platforms... Found it on YouTube, not sure if it works in other countries.
Or on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/iberomanaround/media-53cca06d
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Kingoftonga »

Winners in red:

1. My Morning Jacket - Z vs. Graham Parker & The Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks
2. Nick Lowe - Jesus Of Cool vs. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
3. U2 - Melon: Remixes for Propaganda vs. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
4. Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night vs. Travis Scott - Rodeo
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

Keeping up perfect attendance!

1. My Morning Jacket - Z vs. Graham Parker & The Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks
2. Nick Lowe - Jesus Of Cool vs. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
3. U2 - Melon: Remixes for Propaganda vs. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
4. Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night vs. Travis Scott - Rodeo
Splish splash, I was raking in the cash
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by StevieFan13 »

1. My Morning Jacket - Z
2. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
3. U2 - Melon: Remixes for Propaganda
4. Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Brad »

16 voters this week:
Bang Jan
Brad
DaveC
FrankLotion
hectorthebat
Honorio
jamieW
Jirin
Kingoftonga
PlasticRam
Rdwdbob
Rob
Romain
StevieFan13
Sweepstakes Ron
spiritualized

Winners:
1. My Morning Jacket - Z over Graham Parker & The Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks 13-2
2. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues over Nick Lowe - Jesus Of Cool 12-4
3. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder over U2 - Melon: Remixes for Propaganda 8-6
4. Mari Boine - Idjagieđas: In the Hand of the Night over Travis Scott - Rodeo 14-0

Round 1.9 up soon!
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018 - Round 1.8

Post by Rob »

Some big knock-outs this week. Not even it's nominator voted for Rodeo and Squeezing Out Sparks was at zero points until this very day!
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