Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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Jirin
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Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

Post by Jirin »

Thought I'd create a new topic since I finally got through all 256 albums and got to the field of 64.

I will be listening a little different here in that I will use these matchups to also seed albums into my ranking system. So I will be listening to 10 albums, the 4 in the matchup, 1 from 2017 not seeded in yet, 1 from 2016 not seeded in yet, and 4 ranking between 400-700.

Albums in this game will be commented, others will not, each will have its consequent new ranking in my program.

Currently there's some clumping going on so rankings for same matchups will seem close together, this will be fixed when they get more integrated with more heavily ranked albums.

----------------

The first matchup:

Arzachel - Arzachel (#644)
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds (#647)

Have you ever listened to an album where you were hoping you would hate it? Justin Timberlake is somebody I associate with kind of douchey ‘club poser’ culture. And his lyrics fit right into that image of him. He’s the kind of person who would start a business with Tom Haverford from Parks & Recreation. But unfortunately, the music on this album sounds good. It gets into these nifty dance grooves, smooth enough that you don’t care it’s obnoxiously trendy. Maybe I need to add Sexyback to my guilty pleasure ballot.

Waxahatchee - Out In The Storm (#651)
Bill Evans - Sunday At The Village Vanguard (#650)

Nice quiet conversational jazz.

Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate (#652)
Nick Cave - Tender Prey (#653)
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (#658)
Mac Demarco - Salad Days (n/a)

I like this kind of simple laid back indie rock, but it needs just a little more to be special rather than just pleasant.

Lucinda Williams - World Without Tears (#657)

The National - The National (N/A)

I like the National style and singing style anywhere, but they just hadn’t found a songwriting groove here yet. They hadn’t yet zeroed on the themes of alienation and the tone of resignation that makes their later work so special.

So FutureSex/LoveSounds is the first album to move on to the semifinals.

Next:
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Housemartins - The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death
Velvet Underground - 1969: Velvet Underground Live With Lou Reed
Saint Etienne - Tales From Turnpike House

Against:
Fever Ray - Plunge
Nicolas Jaar - Sirens
Bjork - Vespertine
Cowtown - Paranormal Romance
Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool
The Who - The Who Sell Out
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights

This is far and away the winner here. Jack White sounds amazing live, he virtuousically riffs on the source material and gives every song a new separate life of its own. I’m looking forward to seeing him at the New Orlenas Jazz and Heritage festival in a couple weeks.

Cowtown - Paranormal Romance
Fever Ray - Plunge
Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool
Bjork - Vespertine
Velvet Underground - 1969: Velvet Underground Live With Lou Reed

Good raw sounding live album. Lou Reed’s singing style injects a hint of irreverent sarcasm to every song he performs.

Saint Etienne - Tales From Turnpike House

Lately I’ve been finding a lot of music like this, indie pop with airy female vocals, I’ve really gotten into. Whether it be Saint Etienne, Julia Holter, Fever Ray. There aren’t quite the magically beautiful hooks there are on So Tough but an all around strong album.

The Who - The Who Sell Out
The Housemartins - The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death

You can’t go wrong with this kind of power pop with catchy happy melodies.

Nicolas Jaar - Sirens

Winner: Under The Great White Northern LIghts

Next:
Muddy Waters - Muddy Waters At Newport 1960
Bob Marley - Exodus
The Jam - In The City
The 2 Bears - The Night Is Young

Against:
Blanck Mass - World Eater
Frank Ocean - Blonde
Neil Young - Hitchhiker
These New Puritans - Field of Reeds
Viet Cong - Viet Cong
Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy

Current semifinal bracket:
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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Neil Young - Hitchhiker
Frank Ocean - Blonde
The Jam - In The City

Can’t get enough of the energy and rawness of the post punk movement.

Blanck Mass - World Eater
Viet Cong - Viet Cong
The 2 Bears - The Night Is Young

The 2 Bears have a cheeky kind of electropop, but somehow it works really well.

Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy
Bob Marley - Exodus

Good consistent album that sounds how you expect Bob Marley to sound.

Muddy Waters - Muddy Waters At Newport 1960

A good live blues album, though a little more on the pop side of blues than I prefer.

These New Puritans - Field of Reeds

Semifinal Draw:
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Jam - In The City

Next:
The Doors - Strange Days
Kevin Coyne - Case History
Fennesz - Venice
King Sunny Ade - Juju Music

Against:
Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir
Bon Iver - 22, A Million
Sonny Sharrock - Ask The Ages
Perfume Genius - No Shape
Pepe Deluxe - Queen of the Wave
Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks
Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir
Sonny Sharrock - Ask The Ages
Perfume Genius - No Shape
The Doors - Strange Days

A good Doors album, filled with the kind of playful takes on alienation you now see from The National. A little more catchy and less hard rocking than their biggest albums.

Fennesz - Venice

Fennesz albums are somehow entrancing, with textured ambiance that somehow just draws you in.

Bon Iver - 22, A Million
Pepe Deluxe - Queen of the Wave
King Sunny Ade - Juju Music

I like African pop in general, and this is a good album, but not one that to me particularly stands out within the genre.

Kevin Coyne - Case History

I like the quirky folk and often mental health related lyrics of Kevin Coyne. This album in particular criticizes the experience of having mental health problems and the way people were treated in the early 1970s.

Semifinal draw:
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Jam - In The City
The Doors - Strange Days

Next: John Mayall - Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton
John Coltrane - Giant Steps
Bjork - Medulla
Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun

Against:
LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
Savages - Adore Life
Wishbone Ash - Argus
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
Jorge Ben - Africa Brasil
Cream - Disraeli Gears
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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John Coltrane - Giant Steps

I love this kind of jazz that doesn’t conform to any structure and never quite lets you get your brain set to fully anticipate the next measure.

Wishbone Ash - Argus
LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun

Noone has that smooth spiritual groove quite like Erykah Badu. Her songs are personal, spiritual, and about the black experience in America without a hint of pretention.

Savages - Adore Life
Bjork - Medulla

The weirdest Bjork album and that’s saying something. The only one I’ve heard that invokes a chorus of other voices chanting. It almost has the function of the backing rhythyms in Afro-pop only has a little more of a hymnal tone and instead of establishing the groove it broadens the emotional context.

John Mayall - Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton

The guitar in this album is amazing, but I find the song selection a little constrained. Not that there’s anything wrong with blues albums that mostly play standards and play them extremely well, just I want to see a little more of the performer’s unique personality. When artists are extremely technically skilled but mostly play standards I tend to like them a lot more live than on studio albums.

Jorge Ben - Africa Brasil
Cream - Disraeli Gears
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

Semifinal draw:
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Jam - In The City
The Doors - Strange Days

John Coltrane - Giant Steps

Next:

New Order - Low Life
Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey
Roy Harper - HQ
Lou Reed - Rock N Roll Animal

Against:
D.D Dumbo - Utopia Defeated
Josh T Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen
Viet Cong - Viet Cong
The Gun Club - Fire Of Love
St Vincent - Masseduction
The Psychadelic Furs - Forever Now
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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St Vincent - Masseduction
Roy Harper - HQ
New Order - Low Life

This is a good consistent album that sinks into a nice groove and stays there. It does unfortunately suffer from a lack of variety. Every track evokes the same feelings.

Viet Cong - Viet Cong
Lou Reed - Rock N Roll Animal

I love live albums that are unique from the studio source material, and do something you can’t quite get from any other recordings.

Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey

Good raggae. Though as I mentioned the first time around I would have liked to hear the original version before it was diluted for commercial viability.

Josh T Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen
The Gun Club - Fire Of Love
D.D Dumbo - Utopia Defeated
The Psychadelic Furs - Forever Now

I’m not connecting with this one was much in this round. It has the same basic aesthetic of Talk Talk Talk but songwriting is less focused.

Ironically, HQ lost in the first round to Murder Ballads. If it were in this 2nd round matchup it would have advanced.

Semifinals:
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Jam - In The City
The Doors - Strange Days

John Coltrane - Giant Steps
New Order - Low Life

Next:
Suicide - Alan Vega/Martin Rev
Basement Jaxx - Remedy
Fela Kuti - Sorrow Tears and Blood
James Brown - Sex Machine

Against:
Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me
Ben Harper - Call It What It Is
John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
Tame Impala - Innerspeakers
Quilt - Held In Splendor
Damien Jurado - Maraqopa
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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Suicide - Alan Vega/Martin Rev

It’s hard to describe what appeals to me about this album. It’s got the dark, mysterious energy of the more famous Suicide album but a totally different approach to songwriting. Something about Suicide makes you feel like you’re involved in a criminal exchange in a hidden back alley and something is about to go horribly wrong, and it’s somehow awesome.

Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me
Basement Jaxx - Remedy

Loopy electronic album that showcases a lot of technical skill and not a whole lot of soul.

Ben Harper - Call It What It Is
James Brown - Sex Machine

Love the raw masculine energy here.

Fela Kuti - Sorrow Tears and Blood

A good Fela Kuti album, I don’t have very detailed things to say about this one.

Quilt - Held In Splendor
John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
Damien Jurado - Maraqopa
Tame Impala - Innerspeaker

Semifinals:
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Jam - In The City
The Doors - Strange Days

John Coltrane - Giant Steps
New Order - Low Life
Suicide - Alan Vega/Martin Rev

Next:
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Little Richard - Here's Little Richard
Kronos Quartet - Salome Dances For Peace
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Against:
Godspeed You Black Emperor - Luciferian Towers
Lucinda Williams - Ghosts Of Highway 20
Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden Of Delete
Preoccupations - Preoccupations
Radiohead - The King Of Limbs
American Football - American Football
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Pure guitar and charisma driven hard rock.

Godspeed You Black Emperor - Luciferian Towers
Lucinda Williams - Ghosts Of Highway 20
Preoccupations - Preoccupations
American Football - American Football
Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden Of Delete
Kronos Quartet - Salome Dances For Peace

Kronos Quartet are an interesting band that pop up in weird places and interesting projects. This year they made an album with Laurie Anderson. This one is jazzy, chaotic and multifaceted. I try reading on allmusic exactly what is about, but can’t come up with much more to say than ‘It soundy good’.

Radiohead - The King Of Limbs
Little Richard - Here's Little Richard

I have nothing against Little Richard, he’s good at his brand of playing R&B standards with his infectiously happy charisma. Just his style is not for me, and his range doesn’t explore much outside the comfortable.

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

This is pretty decent but pulls from the same bag of tricks as the entire British Garage Rock revival of the early 2000s.

Semifinals:
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Jam - In The City
The Doors - Strange Days

John Coltrane - Giant Steps
New Order - Low Life
Suicide - Alan Vega/Martin Rev
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Next:
Game Theory - Two Steps From The Middle Ages
Steve Earle - El Corazon
Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way

Against:
Offa Rex - The Queen Of Hearts
La Femme - Mystere
Kevin Coyne - Babble
Kendrick Lamar - Untitled Unmastered
Lou Reed - Songs For Drella
LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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Miles Davis - In A Silent Way

Multiple musical conversations in harmony. It soundy good.

Steve Earle - El Corazon

Steve Earle is exactly what I’d hope to hear if I walked into a music bar in Nashville.

Kendrick Lamar - Untitled Unmastered
Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity

Again, I love the kind of free jazz that never lets your brain get quite comfortable. Exactly what I’d hope to hear if I walked into a bar in New Orleans.

Offa Rex - The Queen Of Hearts
Kevin Coyne - Babble
LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
Game Theory - Two Steps From The Middle Ages

A big part of what makes Game Theory and other Scott Miller projects unique is the mixing. The vocals are mixed lower than you expect from pop music, so it’s like the vocals are enveloped in the guitar. This album doesn’t stand out much however. With bands that don’t have the greatest variety, the middle-quality albums just remind you of the best ones.

Lou Reed - Songs For Drella
La Femme - Mystere

Semifinals:
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Jam - In The City
The Doors - Strange Days

John Coltrane - Giant Steps
New Order - Low Life
Suicide - Alan Vega/Martin Rev
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way

Next:
Bobby Bland - Two Steps From The Blues
The Nahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame
Mahmoud Ahmed - Soul of Addis
Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress

Against:
Algiers - The Underside Of Power
The Pirouettes - Carrement Carrement
Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground
Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man
Radiohead - Amnesiac
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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Radiohead - Amnesiac
Bobby Bland - Two Steps From The Blues

It’s a bold move for a performer to put Bland in their title. Like naming your act Derivative Dave or Unlistenable Al. I like this, a nice pleasant listen with some great soulful vocals. But like jazz I think blues loses something when you encapsulate it into radio format.

Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man
Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
Mahmoud Ahmed - Soul of Addis

Mahmoud Ahmed does these interesting runs with his voice like he’s calling out a lamentation that just don’t sound anything like the kind of music you generally hear in the US. If you listen to a lot of his albums they all start to sound kind of similar.

The Pirouettes - Carrement Carrement
Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground
Algiers - The Underside Of Power
The Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame

I like the driving guitar riffs on this album, “Inner mounting flame” is right, it’s all has the mood of a buildup to something big about to go down.

Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress

Good album but always sounds to me like they were still figuring out what they were trying to do in Life Pursuit.

Semifinals:
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Jam - In The City
The Doors - Strange Days

John Coltrane - Giant Steps
New Order - Low Life
Suicide - Alan Vega/Martin Rev
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
Bobby Bland - Two Steps From The Blues

Next:
The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Slayer - Reign In Blood
Jay Z - The Black Album
Kaki King - Until We Felt Red

Against:
Duke Garwood - Garden of Ashes
Underworld - Barbara barbara, we face a shining future
The Sound - Jeopardy
Little Dragon - Machine Dreams
X Ray Spex - Germfree Adolescents
Bonnie Prince Billy - I See A Darkness
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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The Sound - Jeopardy
Jay Z - The Black Album

Jay Z is someone I didn’t like at first but gradually warmed up to, to the point that Blueprint is close to entering my top 100 AT. I think 4:44 was underrated by critics, I love that it’s basically 50 minutes of good life advice. Maybe a message of “Invest your money and build wealth, don’t just throw it away” just doesn’t sound as cool as “YEAH GET MONEY AND SHOW THAT SHIT OFF!” Black Album is a good album but i some ways feels like Blueprint lite, with the exception of course that 99 Problems is on it.

Little Dragon - Machine Dreams
Slayer - Reign In Blood

Slayer has taken an interesting position in pop culture as it seems to be the default reference for “Oh, I don’t listen to that deprssing indie crap noone has heard of, I listen to SLAYER.” It has great guitar riffs, it sounds like pure aggression and it doesn’t have the growl scream that sours most metal bands for me. Slayer does what they do better than pretty much everyone else, but it’s just hilarious that a band like this has become a cultural touchstone of musical anti-hipster self righteousness. If you like pure aggression music, I would recommend Slayer.

X Ray Spex - Germfree Adolescents
The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God

Love the Celtic melodies and the folksy ask and response lyrics are more endearing to me on this listen than they have in the past. “I could have been someone” - “Well so could anyone!”

Duke Garwood - Garden of Ashes
Kaki King - Until We Felt Red

Kaki King’s one of those musically educated technical guitarists, and more accessible to non-technical guitarists than most who meet that description. This is a good album of hers, maybe not her best.

Bonnie Prince Billy - I See A Darkness
Underworld - Barbara barbara, we face a shining future

Semifinal draw:
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Jam - In The City
The Doors - Strange Days

John Coltrane - Giant Steps
New Order - Low Life
Suicide - Alan Vega/Martin Rev
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
Bobby Bland - Two Steps From The Blues
Jay Z - The Black Album

Next:
Iggy Pop - The Idiot
Nick Cave - Murder Ballads
Leftfield - Leftism
Pere Ubu - New Picnic Time

Against:
The National - Sleep Well Beast
Wild Beasts - Boy King
Tindersticks - The Waiting Room
TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys
John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band
Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys
Iggy Pop - The Idiot

Listening to post-Stooges Iggy Pop has always been strange to me. Less noisy, less hard rock but still with noisy hard rock style sludgy vocals. Something about it comes together and sounds awesome.

The National - Sleep Well Beast
Wild Beasts - Boy King
Pere Ubu - New Picnic Time

Good new wave album but one that is a little heavy on weird noises, cute-cleverisms and idiosyncracy for its own sake, so one that might not be very accessible to those who aren’t in love with the genre.

TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
Nick Cave - Murder Ballads

Nick Cave is such a unique performer. His storytelling approach reminds me of Tom Waits who most of you probably know I adore. But instead of the gruff underculture focus of Tom Waits you get aggressively masculine stories, often focusing on outsiders and criminals (In the case of this album murderers).

Tindersticks - The Waiting Room
Leftfield - Leftism

Good album but with some flaws. Yeah, it’s a winning formula to take soulful vocals and add atmospheric dance beats, but it’s been done better.

Semifinal draw:
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Jam - In The City
The Doors - Strange Days

John Coltrane - Giant Steps
New Order - Low Life
Suicide - Alan Vega/Martin Rev
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
Bobby Bland - Two Steps From The Blues
Jay Z - The Black Album
Iggy Pop - The Idiot

Next:
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
Herbie Hancokc - Head Hunters
The Replacements - Pleased To Meet Me
Soul II Souls - Club Callsics Vol. One / Keep On Movin

Against:
Vagabon - Infinite Worlds
The Pines - Above The Prairie
Floating Points - Eleania
Arzachel - Arzachel
David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
Miles Davis - Birth Of The Cool

Have been thinking about the best way to do the semifinals. Instead of having six other albums to seed into, since in this round I had one album in the 400s in my system and one album in the 500s in my system, semifinals will have one in the 200s and one in the 300s.
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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Miles Davis - Birth Of The Cool
Vagabon - Infinite Worlds
David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
Arzachel - Arzachel
Floating Points - Eleania

Soul II Souls - Club Callsics Vol. One / Keep On Movin

Good collection of old school dance pop. It probably would not have won most of the round 2 matchups but good enough to win this one.

The Replacements - Pleased To Meet Me

Still find post-Let It Be Replacements energy-less and dull.

The Pines - Above The Prairie
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters

I like the way the album sounds in general but something keeps it from all coming together for me.

Oasis - Definitely Maybe

There was discussion recently in the forum about how Oasis doesn’t care about lyrics and sees them as just something to fill the melody. Whether or not you feel that’s true it certainly validates my perception of Oasis lyrics being just scrambled pop song cliches. Whatever your position is on how important the lyrics is, it’s not a positive thing if the lyrics sound like ‘Stuff the Beatles might say in no particular order’. The melodies are good pop melodies for the same reason but beyond hummability, Oasis music is hard to emotionally connect with.

Semifinals:
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Jam - In The City
The Doors - Strange Days

John Coltrane - Giant Steps
New Order - Low Life
Suicide - Alan Vega/Martin Rev
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
Bobby Bland - Two Steps From The Blues
Jay Z - The Black Album
Iggy Pop - The Idiot

Soul II Soul - Club Classics Vol One - Keep On Movin’

If I were to guess right now, the favorites for the first three semifinal matches are White Stripes, Black Sabbath and Iggy Pop, with Paranoid the fave to win it all, but you never know what I will think when I listen to them.

Next:
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus
Public Enemy - Apocalypse 91 - The Enemy Stries Back
Rev Gary Davis - Pure Religion and Bad Company
Arvo Part - De Profundis

Against:
Laura Marling - Semper Femina
Mi and L'au - Four Pair Of Wings
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King
Roy Harper - Man and Myth
Dalriada - Igeret
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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Roy Harper - Man and Myth
Public Enemy - Apocalypse 91 - The Enemy Stries Back

A little bit ‘More of the same but slightly lesser’ of their other great albums, but still really good.

Arvo Part - De Profundis

I have similar comments to make about this as I did the first time. I like the style of free form minimalist classical of Arvo Part and have had Tabula Rasa in my top 100 for a while. For this one I like the quiet hymnal quality, it has that same feeling that is evoked by church scenes in old movies. Although, the album is a bit long for something that makes you feel like you’re sitting in church.

King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King
Rev Gary Davis - Pure Religion and Bad Company

Old blues and gospel proves that sometimes the most expressive music can be the simplest and least polished.

Laura Marling - Semper Femina
Mi and L'au - Four Pair Of Wings
th - Black Sabbath
Dalriada - Igeret
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus

Good jazz but a bit genre-samish.

Next:
Captain Beefheart - Clear Spot
Husker Du - New Day Rising
Roxy Music - Country Life
Anais Mitchell - The Brightness

Already started the next group and don't have the list of 'Against' on hand so will just wait to post the result. King Crimson wasn't on either Spotify, Amazon or Youtube, but I own it physically so had to wait to listen to it until a long enough car ride.

Current semifinal draw:
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Jam - In The City
The Doors - Strange Days

John Coltrane - Giant Steps
New Order - Low Life
Suicide - Alan Vega/Martin Rev
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
Bobby Bland - Two Steps From The Blues
Jay Z - The Black Album
Iggy Pop - The Idiot

Soul II Soul - Club Classics Vol One - Keep On Movin’
Public Enemy - Apocalypse ’91 - The Enemy Strikes Back
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

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Lou Reed - Rock N Roll Animal
Captain Beefheart - Clear Spot

I have very mixed feelings about Captain Beefheart. As good as somebody executes ‘Weird for the sake of weird’ it will always have an expiration date. This album has a little more of the bluesy rock and a little less of the “Hey look I’m being weird isn’t that neat?”

Perfume Genius - No Shape
Anais Mitchell - The Brightness

Anais Mitchell’s voice is delicate and beautiful. These aren’t as strong as her later songs but it can still be entrancing to listen to her.

Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground
Roxy Music - Country Life

There’s a unique atmosphere you only see from Roxy Music and Brian Eno. I don’t know quite how to describe it, maybe ‘dire’ is the best word. Like you’re setting off on an adventure on which the future of the world depends. It comes through strong on this album.

Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat To Earth
XTC - Oranges And Lemons
Ride - Nowhere
Husker Du - New Day Rising

This album is just a little boring to me. The energy of Zen Arcade is more constrained and also does not benefit from its catchy hooks.

Only one remaining semifinal spot. Last four albums are:
Aretha Franklin - Amazing Grace
Wu Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
The Stooges - The Stooges
The Police - Synchronicity

Against:
Kendrick Lamar - Damn
Go Go Penguin - Man Made Object
Agnes Obel - Aventine
The Verlaines - Bird Dog
Steely Dan - Aja
XTC - Drums And Wires
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

Post by Jirin »

The Stooges - The Stooges

The Stooges are just awesome especially when they bring that raw hard rock energy. And Iggy Pop looks silly on the cover with the mophead haircut.

Agnes Obel - Aventine
The Verlaines - Bird Dog
Go Go Penguin - Man Made Object
Aretha Franklin - Amazing Grace

Good gospel album from iconic singer.

Kendrick Lamar - Damn
XTC - Drums And Wires
The Police - Synchronicity

Listening to this album has improved my opinion of the Police, but there’s still a lot of songwriting habits the band has I really find offputting. In Synchronicity I suppose there’s more positives to balance them out. And I don’t know what they were smoking when they wrote Mother. If anything that’s the weird track you stash at the end of the album, not right in the center. Or was it originally end of side 1? That would make the placement make more sense.

Wu Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

I like the hard beats and aggression but I’m really turned off by the kind of rap where people are basially bragging about being good at violence. It doesn’t make it impossible, but difficult for me to listen to and enjoy rap that falls in that category.

Steely Dan - Aja

This rounds out the semifinal field of the tournament. I will put some space in between to make the albums less fresh in my mind.

Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
The Jam - In The City
The Doors - Strange Days

John Coltrane - Giant Steps
New Order - Low Life
Suicide - Alan Vega/Martin Rev
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
Bobby Bland - Two Steps From The Blues
Jay Z - The Black Album
Iggy Pop - The Idiot

Soul II Soul - Club Classics Vol One - Keep On Movin’
Public Enemy - Apocalypse ’91 - The Enemy Strikes Back
Captain Beefheart - Clear Spot
The Stooges - The Stooges

Interesting spread here. Two Iggy Pop albums, two rap albums, two jazz, one blues, three new wave. If this is an indicator of anything it's which areas of music I have least thoroughly explored.
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

Post by Jirin »

I decided I’m doing the semifinals next week.

Each matchup will have one album ranked in 300s and one ranked in 200s in my program. Then finals will have one from 100s and one from 51-100. Giving them all a chance to seed themselves up toward the top.

I’m thinking about next tournament like this to do. Was thinking in 2020 I’d do a 10s tournament so maybe some sort of last ten years missed discovery game.

Also questions for how to run that game. Whether to do 2010-2019 or 2000-2019, whether to use big elimination bracket or some point system that seeds a smaller bracket at the end. Also need to decide how long I want it to take and how many albums get in per year.
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

Post by Jirin »

Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes (#204 AT)
The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights (#506 AT)

This is turning into one of my favorite live albums. Elephant is one of my favorite albums of all time, but Jack White is such an amazing live performer he adds so much raw energy to his songs live you’re never disappointed. Now I just need to buy it so I don’t have to stream it on Youtube to listen to it.

The Jam - In The City (#561 AT)

Love the rawness of early post-punk.

Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp (#575 AT)
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds (#624 AT)

Make America sexy again!

The Doors - Strange Days (#638 AT)

Good solid Doors songs that carry the core Doors sound. Just, they have albums that sound ‘The same but better’.

White Stripes are the first semifinalist.
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

Post by StevieFan13 »

White Stripes go through even though you ranked Violent Femmes higher?
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
Jirin
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

Post by Jirin »

In each of the matchups I'm including one album ranked 201-300 already, and one ranked 301-400, for the sake of seeding the new ones into the system appropriately. Violent Femmes were the 201-300 one for this matchup. They're not in this tournament, they're there so if White Stripes had beaten them, they'd end up in my top 200 AT.

Black Sabbath - Paranoid (#428)

This is easily my biggest “WHY didn’t I like this before?!” album of the tournament.

Townes Van Zandt - Townes Van Zandt (#472)
John Coltrane - Giant Steps (#497)

It soundy good!

Suicide - Alan Vega/Martin Rev (#558)

Nothing much new to say about this one. I love post punk and the dark atmospheric feel.

Neu! - Neu! (#572)
New Order - Low Life (#592)

What I like about this is the bass lines and the atmospheric groove of the synths. The songs are maybe a little boring. Like, they’re in the same emotional space as stuff like Disintegration but not as good.

So Paranoid becomes second finalist.
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

Post by Jirin »

Green Day - Dookie (#320)
Iggy Pop - The Idiot (#488)

In looking for a word to describe this album, I can only come up with the word ‘sludgy’. Which I actually mean in a good way, it gives that dirty back alley feel you get from people like Nick Cave or Tom Waits. The melody is dragged along by Iggy Pop’s charisma, and there’s a very short list of people who could make this kind of music sound good.

New Order - Technique (#502)
Jay Z - The Black Album (#539)

Jay Z might now be the funnest rapper to listen to and has a kind of crazy charisma that always dismisses and belittles his critics while dispensing wisdom to his followers.

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way (#560)

Nice relaxing ‘subtle’ jazz.

Bobby Bland - Two Steps From The Blues (#576)

A bit too much on the radio-ized side of blues for me.



Public Enemy - Apocalypse ’91 - The Enemy Strikes Back (#174)

Not much to add from previous rounds, it’s just a great rap album.

Anais Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer - Child Ballads (#283)
The Stooges - The Stooges (#495)

Listening to this so shortly after The Idiot frames my perspective more on this. It really draws a path how The Stooges started out a little bit more like other rock of the time then evolved more toward Iggy Pop’s personality.

The Cure - Disintigration (#506)
Soul II Soul - Club Classics Vol One - Keep On Movin’

Nice collection of dance songs.

Captain Beefheart - Clear Spot

I like Captain Beefheart more in albums like this where he focuses a little more on bluesy rock and a little less on the extreme weirdness of some of his more famous work.



So finals are now set up as:
The White Stripes - Under The Great Northern Lights
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Iggy Pop - The Idiot
Public Enemy - Apocalypse '91 - The Enemy Strikes Back
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Re: Jirin's Music Listening Discovery Game - Round 2

Post by Jirin »

AND after a year and a half, the final result.

The winner is.....

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2nd place: Iggy Pop - The Idiot
3rd place: The White Stripes - Under The Great White Northern Lights
4th place: Public Enemy - Apocalypse '91- The Enemy Strikes Back

Also I listened to The Doors and Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band in this group for ranking purposes. Neither beat The Doors but the first two beat Sgt Pepper. So Paranoid successfully enters my top 100 at #92, The Idiot at #191.

More important than the end result, this contest resulted in like 50 new entries to my top 1000, accomplishing its task, and also revealed a few albums I can now say for sure I don't like.

Some other great finds, I found I actually like a Justin Timberlake album. And a bunch of jazz albums, a few classical albums and some live albums. And deepened my knowledge of Kevin Coyne, Bjork, Erykah Badu, Slint, Game Theory, Jay Z, Kaki King, several others. And rediscovered a few albums like Low Life.

Again, no idea why I originally did not like Paranoid. It's every bit as good as the other equally regarded classics from its era. Back when I was first discovering classic rock something made me sort it into the 'Nah' pile. Wrong.

Might try something like this again in a few years, but in the meantime will keep listening to the discoveries and get to know them better.

And in case you're wondering the highest ranked album in the original draw was Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. Paranoid was around the 9th.
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