Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

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Brad
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Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Brad »

Welcome to Round 1.16 of Moderately Acclaimed Albums!
At last - the final 8 albums 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 = June 22nd at 10am EST.

Here's a link to the bracket for the entire tournament:
http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=474290

Match-ups:
1. Steely Dan - Katy Lied vs. John Coltrane - Ascension
2. Hot Chip - In Our Heads vs. Neil Young - Time Fades Away
3. Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita vs. Charlie Musselwhite - Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band
4. Mariah - Utakata No Hibi vs. Madlib - Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note


Also, we have a tie from the previous round:
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers vs. Bad Brains - Bad Brains ***TIE! 9-9! Next vote from someone who has not already voted in this match-up wins!***


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(Rap on) 'cause you'll know where he's comin' from
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Listyguy
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Listyguy »

1. Steely Dan - Katy Lied vs. John Coltrane - Ascension (So far my nominations are 3/4 this round, and I'm not very confident in getting to 4/5)
2. Hot Chip - In Our Heads vs. Neil Young - Time Fades Away
3. Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita vs. Charlie Musselwhite - Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band
4. Mariah - Utakata No Hibi vs. Madlib - Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note
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Schüttelbirne
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Schüttelbirne »

Ascension towers miles above the rest!

4 | Steely Dan - Katy Lied vs. 1 | John Coltrane - Ascension
7 | Hot Chip - In Our Heads vs. 3 | Neil Young - Time Fades Away
8 | Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita vs. 5 | Charlie Musselwhite - Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band
2 | Mariah - Utakata No Hibi vs. 6 | Madlib - Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note
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acroamor
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by acroamor »

1. Steely Dan - Katy Lied
2. Neil Young - Time Fades Away
4. Madlib - Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note
DaveC
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by DaveC »

1. Steely Dan - Katy Lied vs. John Coltrane - Ascension
2. Hot Chip - In Our Heads vs. Neil Young - Time Fades Away
3. Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita vs. Charlie Musselwhite - Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band
4. Mariah - Utakata No Hibi vs. Madlib - Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Rdwdbob »

1. Steely Dan - Katy Lied
2. Hot Chip - In Our Heads
3. Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita
4. Mariah - Utakata No Hibi
LunarPiper
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by LunarPiper »

1. Steely Dan - Katy Lied
2. Neil Young - Time Fades Away
3. Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita
4. Mariah - Utakata No Hibi
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mileswide
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by mileswide »

7. Steely Dan - Katy Lied v. 2. John Coltrane - Ascension
6. Hot Chip - In Our Heads v. 1. Neil Young - Time Fades away
5. Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita v. 8. Charlie Musselwhite - Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band
3. Mariah - Utakata no hibi v. 4. Madlib - Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note

Standouts: Black Friday | Ascension Pt. II | These Chains | Time Fades away | Kazuashita | Strange Land | Hana ga saitara | Please Set Me at Ease
All I got inside is vacancy!
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Madzong
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Madzong »

1. Steely Dan - Katy Lied
2. Neil Young - Time Fades Away
"On a mountain range, I'm Dr. Strange"
Brad
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Brad »

My picks:
1. Steely Dan - Katy Lied vs. John Coltrane - Ascension
2. Hot Chip - In Our Heads vs. Neil Young - Time Fades Away
3. Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita vs. Charlie Musselwhite - Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band
4. Mariah - Utakata No Hibi vs. Madlib - Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note

Thanks!
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Honorio
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Honorio »



Easy choice for album of the week, the first installment of the "ditch trilogy," Young's first step down on his descent to hell. The problem came with the first bracket. I (like everyone else on the forum) know which album is the important one. But if I base my choice on enjoyement I have to go to the smoothness of Fagen & Becker instead of the roughness of Coltrane. The surprise for me was Mariah, a case of reciprocal influence. The world music influences on Talking Heads influenced back some world musicians.

2. Steely Dan - Katy Lied (1975) vs. 3. John Coltrane - Ascension (1966)
6. Hot Chip - In Our Heads (2012) vs. 1. Neil Young - Time Fades Away (1973)
8. Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita (2018) vs. 7. Charlie Musselwhite - Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band (1967)
4. Mariah - うたかたの日々 (1983) vs. 5. Madlib - Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note (2003)

Favourite song from every album:
Doctor Wu | Ascension Part I | Flutes | Don't Be Denied | Lotus | Christo Redemptor | 心臓の扉 | Distant Land
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Bang Jan
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Bang Jan »

6 | Steely Dan | Katy Lied
1 | John Coltrane | Ascension

5 | Neil Young | Time Fades Away
8 | Hot Chip | In Our Heads

4 | Gang Gang Dance | Kazuashita
7 | Charlie Musselwhite | Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band

3 | Mariah | Utakata No Hibi
2 | Madlib | Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note

Favourite song of the week: John Coltrane | Ascension
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Brad
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Brad »

24 hours left to vote... attendance is dwindling!

Thanks!
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Jirin »

It’s been harder for me to listen to everything since the votes caught up to my listening.

Ascension 89 - Katy Lied 73
Time Fades Away 92 - In Our Heads 65
Madlib Invades The Blue Note 77 - Utakata no Hibi 76

Is Musselwhite on YouTube?
Brad
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Brad »

Jirin wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 2:34 pm Is Musselwhite on YouTube?
It's on spotify - check spelling of Charlie/Charley - it's spelled two ways, will be under "Charlie"
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Rob
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Rob »

On Spotify the album is also simple called Stand Back!, without the subtitle.
Jirin
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Jirin »

Thanks. Next time around we should have a topic to list name differences like that.

Kazuashita 90 - Stand Back 87
jamieW
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by jamieW »

Life really got in the way this exceedingly busy week. I can only vote in the one matchup where I already know both albums really well. :(

Steely Dan - Katy Lied 6 vs. John Coltrane - Ascension 8
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Safetycat
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Safetycat »

Also found myself swamped this week, and got two done, including my nomination's matchup:
Katy Lied > Ascension
In Our Heads > Time Fades Away

Man, I was expecting Hot Chip to lose against Neil Young since that matchup was revealed, but never expected it to get such a beating! Personally, I love it, it's easily my favourite Hot Chip album.
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Rob
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Rob »

So this week brings not one, but two of my nominations. Both of them I thought were easy to like, but as per usual I seem to have misjudged that completely, as they are doing terrible. In one case I find it understandable, in the other not so much.

The first of my nominations is Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band. Perhaps traditional electric blues puts people off. For me, it is hard to find blues that hits harder than this. Musselwhite possesses both a massive voice and a gift for the harmonica. He also has a band that is dynamic and seems to be on fire; Harvey Mandel's guitar interplay is as good as you can get it. Every song here feels possessed with power. This is blues at its most lively and fun.
The album's competitor, Kazuashita, feels like weak tea to me. I say this as someone who loved the preceding two albums by Gang Gang Dance. It starts of well with three strong tracks, but after that the album feels undercooked. Really surprised that Stand Back will lose to that one out of all albums.

My second contribution is Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note. Basically a reinvention of jazz rap, wherein actual jazz recordings from the famous Blue Note label get reworked into a form that is as much jazz and hip-hop. The result is pure magic, capturing the more alluring aspects of both genres. It is a very relaxed album too.
At least Madlib got a strong adversary. Utakata No Hibi is a very good and unique album that is hard to fault. In another match-up I might have voted for it. Great discovery!

I also want to put in some nice words for Time Fades Away. Until relatively recently this album wasn't officially available since release, since Neil Young dislikes it. He once again turns out to be a poor judge of his own work. It is as good as any album he made. Outside of Kazuashita I think this was a strong week overall.

7. Steely Dan - Katy Lied vs. 5. John Coltrane - Ascension
6. Hot Chip - In Our Heads vs. 3. Neil Young - Time Fades Away
8. Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita vs. 1. Charlie Musselwhite - Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band
4. Mariah - Utakata No Hibi vs. Madlib - 2. Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note
Brad
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.16

Post by Brad »

Only 15 total voters this week:
acroamor
Bang Jan
Brad
DaveC
Honorio
jaimeW
Jirin
Listyguy
LunarPiper
Madzong
mileswide
Rdwdbob
Rob
Safetycat
Schüttelbirne

Winners:
1. John Coltrane - Ascension over Steely Dan - Katy Lied 9-6
2. Neil Young - Time Fades Away over Hot Chip - In Our Heads 11-3
3. Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita vs. Charlie Musselwhite - Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band 7-4
4. Mariah - Utakata No Hibi over Madlib - Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note 8-4

Ready for Round 2? It's up next!
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