Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Jirin
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Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

Some may remember a couple years ago I did a game where I started with 256 albums I hadn’t heard or hadn’t given a chance in a while, put them together in a simple 256-64-16-4 draw and reviewed them as I went along.

Paranoid ended up the winner with Iggy Pop -The Idiot as runner up.

I think after I finish my best of decade tournament I’m going to start a new one.

Rules for selection are simple. Any artist with an album in my top 200 gets their highest rated album I haven’t heard in. (Barring silly ones like that National album that was a performance art piece where they played the same song for 11 hours). Every year starting from 1960 does as well. Then fill in the rest from the top of the all time list down. And I also would take direct recommendations.
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mileswide
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by mileswide »

Can't tell what albums you've heard and I don't know if recommendations of bands with shared members counts.

Going by your top 200, however, I'd suggest The For Carnation's self-titled from some of the same people that brought you Slint. It's marginally more ambient than Spiderland but still post-rock.

Otherwise, Charles Mingus' Latin-tinged Tijuana Moods and Pulp's most Scott Walker-inflected album, We Love Life?

Feel free to say if the above isn't of any use or if you'd prefer recommendations based on your other tastes!
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Sweepstakes Ron
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

If you're looking for some recs:

Common - Be
M.I.A. - Maya
The Roots - Game Theory
Splish splash, I was raking in the cash
Jirin
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

mileswide wrote: Thu Oct 15, 2020 3:23 pm Can't tell what albums you've heard and I don't know if recommendations of bands with shared members counts.

Going by your top 200, however, I'd suggest The For Carnation's self-titled from some of the same people that brought you Slint. It's marginally more ambient than Spiderland but still post-rock.

Otherwise, Charles Mingus' Latin-tinged Tijuana Moods and Pulp's most Scott Walker-inflected album, We Love Life?

Feel free to say if the above isn't of any use or if you'd prefer recommendations based on your other tastes!
I haven’t heard any of those, thanks!
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Holden »

One album I've been infatuated with recently is Wild Beasts' Two Dancers. It's in the Top 1000 at AM, but I don't see it talked about much, so maybe you haven't heard it.

Also, Jirin, if you don't mind me asking, what is your age? It's for the All-Time Albums rollout.
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by mileswide »

Jirin wrote: Thu Oct 15, 2020 8:33 pm I haven’t heard any of those, thanks!
Ah mint, you'll have to let us know what you think to them, even if they don't qualify! I'll look to this thread for recommendations for myself as well, the whole tournament should be a winner :music-singing:
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

I generated the albums in the contest. If anyone else has other recommendations that I haven't heard, they will replace albums starting from the bottom.

To my surprise, there were two Kiss albums and three Kings of Leon albums that were the highest ranked album I hadn't heard for the year.

I might not actually start this until January or so, but here are the albums I will be listening to.

1. The Beatles - Please Please Me
2. Tom Waits - Alice
3. Patti Smith - Gone Again
4. Aretha Franklin - Spirit In The Dark
5. Bob Dylan - Another Side Of Bob Dylan
6. Prince - Love Symbol Album
7. Led Zeppelin - Presence
8. Stevie Wonder - Hotter than July
9. Magnetic Fields - Holiday
10. Outkast - Southernplaylisticadillacmuzik
11. Sleater-Kinney - Sleater-Kinney
12. Neil Young - Weld
13. The Flaming Lips - Oh My Gawd!!!…The Flaming Lips
14. The Rolling Stones - Out Of Our Heads
15. David Bowie - Let’s Dance
16. Jane’s Addiction - Strays
17. Sufjan Stevens - Enjoy Your Rabbit
18. The Band - Moondog Matinee
19. Public Enemy - He Got Game
20. The Stooges - Ready To Die
21. Mercury Rev - Boces
22. My Morning Jacket - At Dawn
23. Tricky - Nearly God
24. Joni Mitchell - Clouds
25. Van Morrison - Irish Heartbeat
26. Pere Ubu - The Tenament Year
27. Leonard Cohen - The Future
28. Milton Nascimento - Native Dancer
29. Wes Montgomery - Smokin’ At The Half Note
30. Bert Jansch - Jack Orion
31. Fela Kuti - Open & Close
32. Nina Simone - High Priestess Of Soul
33. Pixies - Beneath The Eyrie
34. New Order - Brotherhood
35. Ravi Shankar - Music of India; Three Classical R?gas/Three Ragas
36. Kate Bush - The Dreaming
37. Talking Heads - The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads
38. Kevin Coyne - Romance-Romance
39. The Loud Family - The Tape Of Only Linda
40. PJ Harvey - All About Eve
41. Wire - A Bell Is A Cup…Until It Is Struck
42. Nick Cave - Kicking Against The Pricks
43. Kaki King - Dreaming Of Revenge
44. Miles Davis - Miles Ahead
45. The Libertines - Anthems for Damned Youth
46. Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz
47. Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion II
48. Gang Gang Dance - Gang Gang Dance
49. Kendrick Lamar - Section.80
50. Belle & Sebastian - Fold Your Hands, You Walk Like A Peasant
51. Pretenders - Pretenders II
52. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 4 Way Street
53. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
54. Grimes - Geidi Primes
55. Elvis Presley - Elvis Is Back
56. REM - Up
57. Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus
58. Pulp - His N Hers
59. Bruce Springsteen - The Ghost Of Tom Joad
60. Elvis Costello - Painted From Memory
61. The Slits - Trapped Animal
62. Janis Joplin - I God Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!
63. Beck - Stereopathetic Soulmanure
64. Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
65. Stina Nordenstam - The World Is Aved
66. The Upsetters - The Good, The Bad, and the Upsetters
67. Liz Phair - Funstyle
68. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
69. Jay Z - Reasonable Doubt
70. The Smiths - Rank
71. John Lennon - Mind Games
72. Bjork - Telegram
73. Roy Harper - Lifemask
74. Stan Getz - Jazz Samba
75. B.B. King - Live In Cook Country Jail
76. Richard Buckner - Devotion + Doubt
77. Brian Eno - (No Pussyfooting)
78. Neneh Cherry - Homebrew
79. Lucinda Williams - Happy Woman Blues
80. Sonny Sharrock - Guitar
81. The Jam - Setting Sons
82. N.W.A. - Niggaz4life
83. Dusty Springfield - A Girl Called Dusty/Stay Awhile - I Only Want To Be With You
84. Arthur Russell - Tower Of Meaning
85. Funkadelic - Funkentelecy vs. the Placebo Syndrome
86. Big Thief - Masterpiece
87. Philip Glass - Einstein on the Beach
88. Arvo Part - Collage
89. The Verve - A Storm In Heaven
90. The Replacements - Hootenanny
91. Fairport Convention - Fairport Convention
92. Public Image Ltd - Album/Compact Disc/Cassette
93. Amadou & Mariam - Dimanche a Bamako
94. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito
95. Jacques Brel - Enregistrement public a l’Olympia
96. Laura Nyro - Angel In The Dark
97. Mount Eerie - Wind’s Poem
98. Anais Mitchell - Hymns For The Exiled
99. The Jesus And Mary Chain - Honey’s Dead
100. Neutral Milk Hotel - On Avery Island
101. Colin Stetson - Slow Descent
102. Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality
103. Serge Gainsbourg - Aux armes et caetera
104. Mary Margaret O’Hara - Apartment Hunting
105. Depeche Mode - Salvation Time Again
106. Roxy Music - Viva!
107. Swans - Children Of God
108. Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus
109. Charles Mingus - Blues and Roots
110. Oliver Nelson - The Blues and the Abstract Truth
111. Bill Evans - Waltz For Debby
112. Sam Cooke - Night Beat
113. Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
114. Them - The Angry Young Them
115. Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil
116. Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign
117. The Incredible String Band - The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter
118. Alexander Skip Spence - Oar
119. Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs
120. David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name
121. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will The Circle Be Unbroken
122. ZZ Top - Tres Hombres
123. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helping
124. Kiss - Alive!
125. Kiss - Destroyer
126. The Congos - Heart Of Congos
127. Chic - C’Est Chic
128. Supertramp - Breakfast In America
129. The Cramps - Songs The Lord Taught Us
130. Rush - Moving Pictures
131. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - The Message
132. Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Double Trouble - Texas Flood
133. Tina Turner - Private Dancer
134. Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963
135. Janet Jackson - Control
136. John Hiatt - Bring The Family
137. EPMD - Strictly Business
138. The Neville Brothers - Yellow Moon
139. A Tribe Called Quest - People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
140. The KLF - White Room
141. Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power
142. The Afhgan Whigs - Gentlemen
143. Suede - Dog Man Star
144. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
145. Sepultura - Roots
146. The Notorious BIG - Life After Death
147. Placebo - Without You I’m Nothing
148. Mos Def - Black On Both Sides
149. Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour Of Bewilderbeast
150. N.E.R.D - In Search of…
151. DJ Shadow - The Private Press
152. kings of Leon - Youth and Young Manhood
153. The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows
154. Common - Be
155. Midlake - The Trials of Van Occumpanther
156. Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
157. Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
158. Peter Doherty - Grace/Wastelands
159. The Roots - How I Got Over
160. Jay Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne
161. Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
162. Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork
163. Ty Segall - Manipulator
164. FKA Twigs - LP1
165. Rihanna - Anti
166. SZA - Ctrl
167. The For Carnation - The For Carnation
168. Pulp - We Love Life
169. Charles Mingus - Tijuana Moods
170. Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails
171. Benny Goodman - The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert
172. Boston - Boston
173. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
174. Various Artists - Woodstock
175. Johnny Cash - At San Quentin
176. The Cars - The Cars
177. Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin
178. Syd Barret - The Madcap Laughs
179. Aphex Twin - Syro
180. D’Angelo - Brown Sugar
181. Buzzcocks - Another Music For A Different Kitchen
182. Sly and the Family Stone - Fresh
183. Cannonball Adderley - Somethin Else
184. Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The cole Porter Songbook
185. Pearl Jam - Vs.
186. Muddy Waters - Muddy Waters At Newport 1960
187. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers [Moanin’]
188. T. Rex - The Slider
189. John Coltrane - Blue Train
190. Count Basie - Basie/The Atomic Mr Basie/The Complete Atomic Basie
191. Morrissey - Vauxhall and I
192. The Byrds - Fifth Dimension
193. Miles Davis - Porgy and Bess
194. MC5 - Back in the USA
195. King Krule - The Ooz
196. Traffic - Mr Fantasy
197. Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep - Mountain High
198. Alice Cooper - Killer
199. Free - Fire and Water
200. Yardbirds - Yardbirds/Over Under Sideays Down/Roger the Engineer
201. Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
202. Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
203. Supertramp - Breakfast in America
204. Little Feat - Dixie Chicken
205. Woody Guthrie - Dust Bowl Ballads
206. Big Black - Songs About Fucking
207. Frank Sinatra - Frank Sinatra Sings For Only the Lonely
208. Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
209. Weather Report - Heavy Weather
210. Stiff Little Fingers - Inflammable Material
211. Beatles - Beatles For Sale/Beatles 65’
212. Otis Redding - Complete & Unbelievable - The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul
213. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
214. Flamin Grooves - Teenage Head
215. The Damned - Damned Damned Damned
216. The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed
217. Johnny Burnette - Johnny Burnette and the Rock n Roll Trio
218. Budd Powell - The Amazing Bud Powell
219. Drake - Take Care
220. Leonard Cohen - Songs From A Room
221. LL Cool J - Radio
222. The Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
223. The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys Today!
224. The Beta Bands - The Three EP’s
225. Horace Silver - Song For My Father
226. Beyonce - Beyonce
227. The Soft Machine - Third
228. Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Moths, and 2 Days in the Life of…
229. The Waterboys - Thsi Is The Sea
230. Alexander Spin Spence - Oar
231. Erroll Garner - Concert By The Sea
232. Heartbreakers - L.A.M.F.
233. Big Black - Atomizer
234. k.d. Lang - Ingenue
235. Anita Baker - Rapture
236. The Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow
237. 2Pac - All Eyez On Me
238. Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure
239. Salif Keita - Soro
240. The Pop Group - Y
241. Built To Spill - There’s Nothing Wrong With Love
242. Spoon - They Want My Soul
243. De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
244. The KLF - Chill Out
245. The Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go
246. Youssou N’Dour - Immigres/Bitim Rew
247. The Soft Boys - Underwater Moonlihgt
248. Ray Charles - The Genius of Ray Charles
249. Magazine - real Life
250. Blumfeld - L’Etat Et Moi
251. Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
252. LFO - Frequencies
253. The Last Poets - The Last Poets
254. The Saints - I’m Stranded
255. Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of the Bewilderbeast
256. Nick Cave - Let Love In
Jirin
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

I'll probably start this soon since I'm almost finished with my 2010s tournament. I randomized the draw using random.org and came up with this:

Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
The Stooges - Ready To Die
Janis Joplin - I God Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!
Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
Big Black - Songs About Fucking
Kaki King - Dreaming Of Revenge
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 4 Way Street
Big Black - Atomizer
Alexander Skip Spence - Oar
Richard Buckner - Devotion + Doubt
Elvis Costello - Painted From Memory
Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus
Alexander Spin Spence - Oar
Sepultura - Roots
Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Moths, and 2 Days in the Life of…
Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
Leonard Cohen - Songs From A Room
Nick Cave - Kicking Against The Pricks
The Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go
Morrissey - Vauxhall and I
The Last Poets - The Last Poets
B.B. King - Live In Cook Country Jail
Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
John Coltrane - Blue Train
Leonard Cohen - The Future
The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys Today!
Bruce Springsteen - The Ghost Of Tom Joad
Arthur Russell - Tower Of Meaning
EPMD - Strictly Business
A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
Tricky - Nearly God
k.d. Lang - Ingenue
The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows
Frank Sinatra - Frank Sinatra Sings For Only the Lonely
LFO - Frequencies
Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork
Magnetic Fields - Holiday
Anita Baker - Rapture
Neil Young - Weld
Stevie Wonder - Hotter than July
The Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
The Damned - Damned Damned Damned
The Saints - I’m Stranded
Serge Gainsbourg - Aux armes et caetera
The KLF - Chill Out
The Pop Group - Y
Big Thief - Masterpiece
Buzzcocks - Another Music For A Different Kitchen
Nick Cave - Let Love In
Joni Mitchell - Clouds
Brian Eno - (No Pussyfooting)
Van Morrison - Irish Heartbeat
Boston - Boston
Funkadelic - Funkentelecy vs. the Placebo Syndrome
Supertramp - Breakfast in America
Yardbirds - Yardbirds/Over Under Sideays Down/Roger the Engineer
Little Feat - Dixie Chicken
Jacques Brel - Enregistrement public a l’Olympia
The KLF - White Room
Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails
The Flaming Lips - Oh My Gawd!!!…The Flaming Lips
Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour Of Bewilderbeast
Colin Stetson - Slow Descent
Johnny Cash - At San Quentin
The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed
Aretha Franklin - Spirit In The Dark
Wes Montgomery - Smokin’ At The Half Note
Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito
Nina Simone - High Priestess Of Soul
Woody Guthrie - Dust Bowl Ballads
Talking Heads - The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads
David Bowie - Let’s Dance
REM - Up
Beatles - Beatles For Sale/Beatles 65’
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
Depeche Mode - Salvation Time Again
The Soft Machine - Third
Jay Z - Reasonable Doubt
Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The cole Porter Songbook
Sly and the Family Stone - Fresh
The Libertines - Anthems for Damned Youth
Belle & Sebastian - Fold Your Hands, You Walk Like A Peasant
Pulp - His N Hers
King Krule - The Ooz
Amadou & Mariam - Dimanche a Bamako
Kate Bush - The Dreaming
Alice Cooper - Killer
A Tribe Called Quest - People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
Janet Jackson - Control
Bob Dylan - Another Side Of Bob Dylan
The Neville Brothers - Yellow Moon
Sufjan Stevens - Enjoy Your Rabbit
John Hiatt - Bring The Family
The Beatles - Please Please Me
Swans - Children Of God
Suede - Dog Man Star
Wire - A Bell Is A Cup…Until It Is Struck
Ty Segall - Manipulator
Kendrick Lamar - Section.80
Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963
Erroll Garner - Concert By The Sea
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helping
Midlake - The Trials of Van Occumpanther
The Notorious BIG - Life After Death
Jay Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers [Moanin’]
Magazine - real Life
Various Artists - Woodstock
The Waterboys - Thsi Is The Sea
Count Basie - Basie/The Atomic Mr Basie/The Complete Atomic Basie
Miles Davis - Miles Ahead
Public Image Ltd - Album/Compact Disc/Cassette
The Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow
Roy Harper - Lifemask
The Cars - The Cars
Blumfeld - L’Etat Et Moi
The Loud Family - The Tape Of Only Linda
Supertramp - Breakfast In America
Sonny Sharrock - Guitar
The Slits - Trapped Animal
The Cramps - Songs The Lord Taught Us
N.E.R.D - In Search of…
The For Carnation - The For Carnation
Aphex Twin - Syro
The Weeknd - House of Balloons
Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Double Trouble - Texas Flood
Mos Def - Black On Both Sides
Philip Glass - Einstein on the Beach
Stiff Little Fingers - Inflammable Material
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
Budd Powell - The Amazing Bud Powell
The Smiths - Rank
Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs
The Replacements - Hootenanny
Rihanna - Anti
Ray Charles - The Genius of Ray Charles
The Roots - How I Got Over
Beyonce - Beyonce
Tom Waits - Alice
Mount Eerie - Wind’s Poem
The Verve - A Storm In Heaven
Liz Phair - Funstyle
Built To Spill - There’s Nothing Wrong With Love
Dusty Springfield - A Girl Called Dusty/Stay Awhile - I Only Want To Be With You
Lucinda Williams - Happy Woman Blues
Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
Johnny Burnette - Johnny Burnette and the Rock n Roll Trio
SZA - Ctrl
Syd Barret - The Madcap Laughs
Free - Fire and Water
kings of Leon - Youth and Young Manhood
Bjork - Telegram
Muddy Waters - Muddy Waters At Newport 1960
Ravi Shankar - Music of India; Three Classical R?gas/Three Ragas
The Incredible String Band - The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter
LL Cool J - Radio
FKA Twigs - LP1
The Band - Moondog Matinee
The Afhgan Whigs - Gentlemen
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus
Pearl Jam - Vs.
T. Rex - The Slider
The Rolling Stones - Out Of Our Heads
Anais Mitchell - Hymns For The Exiled
2Pac - All Eyez On Me
Common - Be
Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
MC5 - Back in the USA
John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
Mary Margaret O’Hara - Apartment Hunting
Pulp - We Love Life
Traffic - Mr Fantasy
Bert Jansch - Jack Orion
Roxy Music - Viva!
Placebo - Without You I’m Nothing
Arvo Part - Collage
Chic - C’Est Chic
Oliver Nelson - The Blues and the Abstract Truth
Neneh Cherry - Homebrew
Spoon - They Want My Soul
My Morning Jacket - At Dawn
The Beta Bands - The Three EP’s
The Soft Boys - Underwater Moonlihgt
Jane’s Addiction - Strays
Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep - Mountain High
Prince - Love Symbol Album
New Order - Brotherhood
Laura Nyro - Angel In The Dark
David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name
Beck - Stereopathetic Soulmanure
Them - The Angry Young Them
Peter Doherty - Grace/Wastelands
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion II
Public Enemy - He Got Game
Youssou N’Dour - Immigres/Bitim Rew
Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure
Pixies - Beneath The Eyrie
Flamin Grooves - Teenage Head
De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
Patti Smith - Gone Again
Outkast - Southernplaylisticadillacmuzik
The Upsetters - The Good, The Bad, and the Upsetters
D’Angelo - Brown Sugar
Tina Turner - Private Dancer
Neutral Milk Hotel - On Avery Island
Stina Nordenstam - The World Is Aved
Weather Report - Heavy Weather
Milton Nascimento - Native Dancer
Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - The Message
Kiss - Destroyer
Gang Gang Dance - Gang Gang Dance
John Lennon - Mind Games
PJ Harvey - All About Eve
Rush - Moving Pictures
The Byrds - Fifth Dimension
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres
Stan Getz - Jazz Samba
Drake - Take Care
Sam Cooke - Night Beat
The Jesus And Mary Chain - Honey’s Dead
Pere Ubu - The Tenament Year
The Jam - Setting Sons
Pretenders - Pretenders II
The Congos - Heart Of Congos
Cannonball Adderley - Somethin Else
Heartbreakers - L.A.M.F.
Led Zeppelin - Presence
Bill Evans - Waltz For Debby
Horace Silver - Song For My Father
Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil
Fairport Convention - Fairport Convention
Kiss - Alive!
Kevin Coyne - Romance-Romance
Fela Kuti - Open & Close
Sleater-Kinney - Sleater-Kinney
Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality
Grimes - Geidi Primes
Charles Mingus - Blues and Roots
Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin
N.W.A. - Niggaz4life
Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of the Bewilderbeast
Benny Goodman - The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert
Otis Redding - Complete & Unbelievable - The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul
Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
DJ Shadow - The Private Press
Charles Mingus - Tijuana Moods
Salif Keita - Soro
Mercury Rev - Boces
Miles Davis - Porgy and Bess
Elvis Presley - Elvis Is Back
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by digifuwill »

A lot of great albums there for you to look forward to. Looks like you've listed Oar and The Madcap Laughs twice each, though. If you're looking for replacements, I think 3+3 (Isley Brothers), Rooty (Basement Jaxx), and Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings are all fun and severely underrated.
Jirin
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

Thanks, I will switch those out with two of those. This will probably start next week.
Jirin
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder (1963)
I love this kind of jazz that sounds like the type you'd hear in a club as opposed to the radio polished variety. It's got a soulful tinge and some compelling dynamics.

The Stooges - Ready To Die (2013)
You never know what to expect from modern releases from classic bands. Sometimes you get tamer reproductions of their original sound, sometimes you get experiments to something totally different, and sometimes they just free wheel their emotional state at the time. (In my experience the latter is most likely to be successful, that's why Blackstar is so good and Bigger Bang is so meh.) I think I saw them during this tour, and they were pretty awesome but focused on the classic material. This album seems like the first category, where they're trying to reproduce their classic sound but without the same edge. When you try to write the same way you did in your 20s in your 60s but you don't personally identify with the emotional state of the songs anymore, how can you still viscerally capture the original energy?

The songs in the middle of the album that are a bit slower and more like Iggy's solo style than the classic Stooges style connect a little better. Songs like 'Unfriendly World', 'The Departed' and 'Dds' work pretty well, better than the ones at the start that were just trying to be like they were in the 60s.

Janis Joplin - I god Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! (19690
This album sounds a lot like the style of cheap thrills only maybe without as strong hooks, and more bluesy instruments without the Big Brother Holding Company. I like it, after reading about it I think it was unfairly maligned for not being more like Cheap Thrills. It might not be as good as her best stuff but it's still really good.

Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway (2003)
I got into Sun Kil Moon first through Benji, after a couple attempts to get into him before, where he has more an emotionally direct talk-singing style. Benji is probably in my top ten for the decade, and after listening to that so many times it's weird hearing is earlier stuff where he's singing normally with more standard folk song lyrics. It's good but not as unique. It has the same sort of mournful solemnness but less immediate.

Winner: The Sidewinder

Next matchup ended up having two Big Black albums so moving Atomizer to the following one.
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

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Big Black - Songs About Fucking (1987)

The album is instantly a noise bomb when it starts with all the expected standard teenage anticonsumerism. It kinda works okay but it's hard not to compare it to all the bands that pull off noisiness with more variety and depth to the chaos. In this case it usually just sounds like banging and yelling.

Kaki King - Dreaming Of Revenge (2008)

I got into Kaki King through my brother who's really into her. She's got some great albums both vocal and instrumental. She strong on technical guitar playing and smooth virtuosic riffs. This album is good but doesn't quite stand out the way some of her other albums like Glow do. It has an alluring aloofness to it and great guitar playing as usual but I think at this point she hadn't figured out how to do vocal tracks as well yet.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 4 Way Street* (1971)

Reading about this live compilation on all music, modern streaming formats lose the intent of the original double LP that each side focuses on the catalog of one of the four members. These are great performances of the band's most classic material, I think I like it better than the studio albums.

Alexander Skip Spence - Oar* (1969)

Usually when I see an album by an artist from the late 60s I've never heard of but is still reasonably high on the acclaim list I assume it's low key offbeat folk rock along the lines of Tim Buckley, Kevin Coyne or Jackson C Frank, and this album has met that expectation with a psychedelic tinge. From the AllMusic article he was the original Jefferson Airplane drummer and died from drug overdose. The album has a very unique emotional texture without needing any gimmicks and a variety of tones. Unevenness in tempo and the tendency for the vocals kind of sink into the drums which creates a feeling of personal submergence and helplessness. This might eventually end up rising up my all time list.

Winner: Oar
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Big Black - Atomizer

I like this one a little better than Songs About Fucking. There's more mood and atmosphere as opposed to depthless chaos. But the vocals are still just a bunch of yelling. It might work in a more post punk context where the song has energy and charisma. It doesn't work here because the riffs don't have the darkness and weirdness that bring out the subversiveness in those kinds of vocals. I find myself enjoying the instrumental sections of the song then getting annoyed when the vocals come in.

Richard Buckner - Devotion + Doubt

I'm mostly familiar with Richard Buckner through Bloomed. He sings simple folky songs about heartbreak and loss, and what makes him unique is the effect of the effortless runs he does at the end of most of his lines that give a tone of vulnerability. Devotion + Doubt is good in similar ways but also feels like it's trying to be overly profound but without quite the emotional gravity to keep it from being cheesy.

Elvis Costello - Painted From Memory

A nice collaboration with Burt Bacharach. Seems to bring Costello's vocal flair to Bacharach's songwriting style.

Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus

It soundy good. Nice dynamics.

Winner: Richard Buckner - Devotion + Doubt
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The Isley Brothers - 3+3

50s style R&B has beautiful emotional elements missing from modern pop music. It was actually recorded in the 70s at the same time as Innervisions and there's some clear influence from the proximity. A good collection of catchy pop songs.

Sepultura - Roots

For me to like the kind of metal where all the vocals are screaming there needs to be better guitar than this. I can get into metal when it has vocal melodies like Metallica, or when it has more virtuosic guitar playing like Opeth. Without either of those it just sounds to me like screaming about how much of a violent nihilistic prick he is.

Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Moths, and 2 Days in the Life of…-

Fun 80s style hip hop in the sample loopy vein of bands like De La Soul and Eric B & Rakim, but with elements of social criticism like analyzing the way people treat homeless people. Sort of like a less direct and provocative version of what Public Enemy is saying with the sonic background of De La Soul. Maybe one of the latest great albums of the fun era of hip hop before it became all about gangsters bragging about being violent misogynistic pricks.

Kings of Leon - Because of the Times

Kings of Leon is a singles band to me, maybe why so many of their albums turned up based on my criteria for seeding this game. I have trouble with the albums of singles band because after you get through the good singles you've got a lot of the same. The sort of music which sounds good when it's background music at the grocery store but has little payoff when you're focusing on it.

Winner: Arrested Development
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The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

The King Is Dead came after a run of high concept story-driven albums and their most high concept The Hazards Of Love and has the Decemberists going in the opposite direction. Simple songs with simple vocabulary. They do a good job but don't have the distinctiveness of their earlier albums.

Leonard Cohen - Songs From A Room

Reminds me a little of Songs of Leonard Cohen but maybe stripped down a bit more and not quite as polished in some places.

Nick Cave - Kicking Against The Pricks

This one's just weird. A collection of covers redone with a kind of slummy back alley vibe. The soundtrack to passing out drunk behind a nightclub at 3 AM.

The Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go

Classic collection of great r&b songs. Some of the catchiest songs ever written, the sort you start involuntarily humming without being totally sure which song you're humming. Like a lot of singles oriented albums especially pre-album era it's a top heavy album.

Winner: The Supremes

Morrissey - Vauxhall and I

I associate Morrissey, especially in terms of his solo work with misanthropy. Songs that go like "It's not your birthday anymore, there's no need to be kind to you". This one seems like a bit of a break from that, compared to both his work with the Smiths and his later solo work on albums like You Are The Quarry. The first time I've ever heard Morrissey express sentiments like "I have friends now and I feel awesome!"

The Last Poets - The Last Poets-

This is really interesting, beat poetry about racism in the 70s. Like a precursor to rap. This might be one of the frontrunners for this game.

B.B. King - Live In Cook Country Jail

Mostly a straightforward B.B. King live album with a few excellent performances. Some of the audience interactions don't age well. "Don't hit your woman, cause if you hurt her, you know what happens? You make her a little smarter so she doesn't get caught next time."

Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power

I'm enjoying this as far as metal goes. It's got good guitar playing and pop sensibilities to balance out the noise.

Winner: The Last Poets
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Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...

This is pretty awesome. The difference between a rap album that I love and one I can't stand is often based on a tipping point of violence, vulgarity or narcissism. Like Run the Jewels 2 starts out sounding great then has an entire song where they just repeat "Dick in her mouth all day" over and over. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx does a great job bringing energy, rhythm and excitement without hitting any of those tipping points. Everything is catchy and samples simple loops that perfectly set the mood. It reminds me a lot of Liquid Swords.

John Coltrane - Blue Train

Also awesome, I'm just not good at talking about why instrumental jazz is awesome. It soundy good.

Leonard Cohen - The Future

This is the first Leonard Cohen album from the middle period of his career I've heard. I don't have much to say about it, it sounds really similar to all his other albums except with more synthesizers. It's good, but doesn't bring anything unique to his catalog.

The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys Today!

Nice collection of simple tightly produced pop songs.

Winner: Raekwon
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Bruce Springsteen - The Ghost Of Tom Joad

Among Springsteen albums I'm partial to Nebraska and the darker more low-production part of his catalog, so I like this one. It's amazing I haven't heard it until now. Thematically it feels like pushback against the conservatives who took Born in the USA without ever listening to the lyrics to be a sign he was on board their jingoistic exceptionalism. It's also crazy how Rage got their version from this, as it has the exact opposite of Spring

Arthur Russell - Tower Of Meaning

I'm not sure I'm listening to this the right way, because I can only find Tower of Meaning Its 1-6 as tracks in a larger collection. It's okay, but doesn't absolutely entrance me the way World of Echo does.

EPMD - Strictly Business

More 80s rap! Much of the albums from this draw came from the highest ranked albums I haven't heard yet, there must be a lot of classic rap on that list. This one's good but a bit samey. Sample loop rap by numbers without much variety. The tone, rhythm, and sample choice for each song is just so similar, and totally within the space of better 80s and early 90s rap bands one of which is in this same matchup.

A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders

Knowing this one was coming up and would sound the same but much better made it hard to get through Strictly Business. Better flow, more varied flow, better loops, more interesting dynamics.

Winner: Bruce Springsteen
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Post by Jirin »

Anyone know where Tricky - Nearly God is streaming?
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Try this !

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I think it’s not regionally available for me. It’s all greyer out except Bubbles.
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Thanks!

Tricky - Nearly God

This is awesome, it's got the emotional intensity of Maxinquaye with a fuller atmosphere. Sure, it's 'Unfinished' and not done polishing, but I don't hold that against Kendrick Lamar's Untitled Unmastered. I'm not sure polishing the rough edges would even improve it in most places, if anything it'd detract from the rawness.

k.d. Lang - Ingenue

I've never really heard a lot of K.D. Lang. I associate her with being a genre icon and from having a louder more exclamatory singing style, but that may just be based on her guest appearance on the Pee Wee Christmas Special in the 80s. This album's far more centrist than I expected. A nice collection of adult contemporary songs. Enjoyable to listen to and makes me more curious about her early stuff before she smoothed out her edges.

The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows

When I saw The Walkmen coming up on my list I mixed them up with The Watchmen, a Canadian band I heard on Muchmusic during the period where I still wanted to watch music videos but MTV only showed boy bands and rap. This is a good listen, one of those albums that's doing the same thing a lot of other bands are doing, doing it well but not very uniquely. It's got some nice atmospheric ness to it, otherwise it's pretty blendy.

Frank Sinatra - Frank Sinatra Sings For Only the Lonely

Sinatra at his most lounge crooningness. A perfect soundtrack for staying out till 4AM in Vegas after your wife left you for gambling away your savings.

Winner: Tricky.

As an aside. I ordered the CD on Amazon because both Youtube and this way are a bad way to listen to it. And there are two entries for it as audio CD. One goes for a perfectly reasonable $16, and the other goes for $980. ...What? Is there a story behind that, is there some super-rare collectible version?
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Post by spiritualized »

Jirin
If you find out, be sure to tell me, I think I have a copy somewhere !
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LFO - Frequencies

I'm surprised I didn't come across this album the first time I was exploring electronic music and found stuff like Underworld and The Orb. Just a perfectly polished techno album in the early phase of the style.

Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork

One of the reasons there are three QotSA albums in this game is that they’re one of the more acclaimed 00s I’ve just never liked. There’s nothing terribly wrong with them, they’re just kinda bland. Store brand indie rock.

Magnetic Fields - Holiday

Magnetic Fields are one of my favorite bands for a lot of reasons. Creative sardonically humorous storytelling with incisive wit, resonatingly atmospheric and mildly distorted unconventional harmonies and a completely unique personality. Holiday is one of the early albums that was first discovering his style of wandering atmospheric flourishes, but doesn't quite reach the kind of variety and personality of his later work.

Anita Baker - Rapture

Nice album of solid R&B. Smooth, soulful and well produced.

Winner: LFO
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My favorite was definitely Anita Baker - Rapture.

ShowBox Tutuapp Mobdro
Last edited by burbigo on Sun Sep 26, 2021 3:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Neil Young - Weld

An interesting live album from the early 90s that plays versions of his 70s songs that sound a little grungier and louder. There's an interesting arena-ish cover of Blowin In The Wind.

Stevie Wonder - Hotter than July

I haven't gone too far into Stevie Wonder's post-Key of Life catalog. Hotter Than July reminds me a lot of his 70s style. I'm pretty sure I recognize Rocket Love as something sampled in a rap song I listen to semi-frequently but can't quite place it. I guess Stevie is one of the ones who held out and kept doing his thing the way he'd been doing it when everyone else was deciding to either modernize or get out, with a few more upbeat songs than in his classic catalog.

The Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion

I thought I hadn't heard any of this before, but I'm quite familiar with at least Remedy. A 1992 album that sounds like it was recorded in the 70s, but in no way seems nostalgist or mimicky, and brings back memories of the kind of hard rock they played in New Orleans bars back when the outside world still existed. Quality wise the album is pretty front heavy, but has a couple really strong songs on it.

The Damned - Damned Damned Damned

Solid early punk, rough and simple with off key energy. It doesn't hit as hard as other similar contemporary work because it lacks the charisma and hooks to make "Simple and messy" work that well.

This one's really close between Stevie Wonder and the Black Crowes. I think I'll go with Black Crowes just using rank within the artist's catalog as a tiebreaker. Stevie loses just because he happens to have better, similar stuff to listen to.
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The Saints - I’m Stranded

Reading up on the Saints, they're the punk band that ignited the movement in Australia.  The tracks on this album remind me more of the kind of stripped down blues rock that influenced a lot of modern garage and indie rock than they do of punk.  Like it's bridging the Stooges and the Strokes.  Simple, rough and energetic.  A strong listen if a bit limited in range.

Serge Gainsbourg - Aux armes et caetera

This is a pretty odd entry.  Instead of his usual singing of poppy poetic talk singing you get weird reggae beats and bouncy hooks.  I'm not sure what to make of this album.  It's interesting but doesn't really strike a chord.

The KLF - Chill Out

Chill Out makes you feel like you’re drifting through ether having hallucinations from sensory depravation. Yet somehow completely entrancing and constantly new.

The Pop Group - Y

Here's an album from the 'Off key wailing' discipline of post-punk, bands like This Heat and Flipper, only making more use of Violent Femmes-esque bass lines and having more structured rhythms and jazzy brass.

Winner: The KLF
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Big Thief - Masterpiece

The only Big Thief album I hadn’t heard. They’d already found their sound at this point, it sounds pretty similar to their later albums. I am a big fan of Adrienne Lanker’s understated, vulnerable singing style.

Buzzcocks - Another Music For A Different Kitchen

Another solid collection of memorable 70s pop punk.

Nick Cave - Let Love In

What can you say about Nick Cave? He has released an album practically every year since 1983 and not every album is great, but there’s no bad period. They all have his atmospheric gloominess and raw masculinity but somehow are all unique and different. Another really good Nick Cave album. Nobody makes darkness beautiful like Nick Cave.

Joni Mitchell - Clouds

I’m surprised I never heard this one since I heard almost every other thing she did early in her career. It sounds more like traditional folk than the sound she moved into later. Her passion always comes through in her performance and her lyrics.

This is another really close one between Nick Cave and Joni Mitchell though all four are good. I think I just barely have to give it to Mitchell.
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Robert Fripp & Brian Eno - (No Pussyfooting)

You never quite know what to expect from Brian Eno has he runs the gamut from alternative pop to minimalist, all you know is it will sound ethereal. This one's far on the minimalist side. It's a pleasant listen but doesn't really find the kind of groove that makes this sort of music so entrancing, so it never really holds your attention.

Van Morrison - Irish Heartbeat

Van Morrison does traditional Irish folk. I like it, though Van Morrison might not have a vocal range and precision that matches the style. The Chieftains do a great job creating the sound. It might have sounded better if they didn't arrange it to be more poppy and accessible but the result is still quite good.

Boston - Boston

I'm coming in a little biased against this one because I associate it with the overproduced style of late 70s pop-rock that dominated the airwaves. And this has not changed my impression. When the song has a good hook it sounds fine but it's pretty bland and generic.

Parliament - Funkentelecy vs. the Placebo Syndrome

Solid reliable album, Parliament being Parliament. Does not disappoint, does everything I expect Parliament to do.

Winner: Parliament. Though I think three different albums from the last matchup would have won this one. That's random seeding for you.
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I can’t find anything called Enregistrement public a l’Olympia under Brel for either Spotify or allmusic. Does anyone know if there’s a different name in America or where I can find it?
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

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Jirin wrote: Thu Mar 18, 2021 5:55 pm I can’t find anything called Enregistrement public a l’Olympia under Brel for either Spotify or allmusic. Does anyone know if there’s a different name in America or where I can find it?
I can find that on Spotify as "Deluxe: Olympia 1961 (Live)"
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Thanks!
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Supertramp - Breakfast in America

I've known Goodbye Stranger for a while but even after humming parts of it constantly I didn't know who wrote the song. And I'm more familiar with Breakfast in America from the Gym Class Heroes version where I didn't like the lyric about valuing the quality of a girlfriend entirely by how much sex she gives you. Overall the album is very hook driven and the hooks are nice and catchy, even if the lyrics are generic and sometimes simplistically macho. The band in general makes me think of the kind of music you play in movies and TV shows to show the flashback is happening in the 1960s.

Yardbirds - Yardbirds/Over Under Sideways Down/Roger the Engineer

I'm not sure the story of why there are two albums released under different labels three weeks apart with the same tracklist, but the one I listened to was Roger the Engineer. I'm not sure I've ever listened to a Yardbirds album though obviously I am very familiar with the main members. This album is driven enough by virtuosic blues guitar it makes up for some uneven songwriting.

Little Feat - Dixie Chicken

Solid southern rock album that makes me nostalgic for being able to go to New Orleans. (Soon, hopefully!).

Jacques Brel - Enregistrement public a l’Olympia

I'm always a fan of Brel when I listen to him, but as a non-French speaker I'm missing a lot of the appeal of his music. He sings with such presence and charisma you don't have to have any idea what he's saying to get drawn in. I've tended to like his live albums more than his studio albums just because of the energy he brings. I wouldn't say this one is quite as good as Olympia 64 which I'm more familiar with, but it's up there and for the same reasons.

Winner: Little Feat
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Is there a better way to stream KLF albums than YouTube with ads? It’s a pain when listening on the phone cause you can’t defocus the window without stopping it.
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The KLF - White Room

This is not what I expected after Chill Out. More straight house music.

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails

Beautiful jamming on rock guitar, great guitarists just doing their thing.

The Flaming Lips - Oh My Gawd!!!…The Flaming Lips

For most of the current fans the Flaming Lips started in the 90s with their spacey experimental jams and the high tenor vocals. Either with Soft Bulletin or earlier She Don't Use Jelly. This is the farthest back in time by far I've ever gone with the Lips, and back in 1987 they sounded like the Replacements. (Maybe the only singer whose voice rose in pitch between 25 and 60). Weird, interesting post punk songs that share very little DNA in common with their later work.

Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour Of Bewilderbeast

I made this draw before the moderate tournament was announced so I'm double dipping here. I have '76' written next to it in my moderate notes, I think I'm liking it more than that this time. Channeling people like Elliot Smith and Nick Drake, but with more experimenting in terms of arrangements, and some structural cues more in common with 00s lofi. There's lots of great ideas and moments of brilliance on this album but it feels like lack of polish and editing keeps it from its potential.

Winner: Quicksilver Messenger Service.

I might just buy Chill Out. KLF albums are so hard to stream.
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Post by Krurze »

Jirin wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 4:00 am I might just buy Chill Out. KLF albums are so hard to stream.
Even buying might not be as easy as it sounds since it's been out of print like forever. I usually stream the album on YouTube using my computer and an adblocker. But I also have a 256 kbit/s mp3 of the full album on my computer. If you're interested I could probably send it to you in some way.
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

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I also can’t find Colin Stetson - Slow Descent even on YouTube.

Yeah, Chill Out is going for 75 used on Amazon.

Edit: Found Slow Descent on Bandcamp.
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Colin Stetson - Slow Descent

My first exposure to Colin Stetson was opening up for TV On The Radio, when he sounded like an entire band but was really just one guy with a sax. That was around New History Warfare Vol 1 era, and this one is from five years before that when he hadn't gotten so deeply experimental, unique and technical yet. This one sounds kind of minimalist and understated, focusing on melody and dynamics.

Johnny Cash - At San Quentin

Cash feels more unchained than he does in other performances I've heard including the similar and more famous At Folsom Prison. The version I'm listening to is surprisingly short at 34 minutes, I'm wondering if longer cuts exist somewhere.

The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed

This is not what I expect to hear from a Moody Blues album. Weird. Symphonic Beatles style pop rock from Moody Blues.

Aretha Franklin - Spirit In The Dark

Just a solid Aretha Franklin album. It may not be as well paced as her biggest albums but has some fantastic singles.

Winner: Johnny Cash

17 out of the 64 first round matches have happened. The top quarter of the second round draw looks like:
Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
Alexander Skip Spence - Oar
Richard Buckner - Devotion + Doubt
Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Moths, and 2 Days in the Life of…

The Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go
The Last Poets - The Last Poets
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
Bruce Springsteen - The Ghost Of Tom Joad

Tricky - Nearly God
LFO - Frequencies
The Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
The KLF - Chill Out

Joni Mitchell - Clouds
Parliament - Funkentelecy vs the Placebo Syndrome
Little Feat - Dixie Chicken
Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails
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Wes Montgomery - Smokin’ At The Half Note

Again I'm terrible at talking about jazz, I feel like I'd need a music history or music theory major to say anything intelligent about it. This live album is smooth, dynamic and compelling. Exactly the music I'd hope to hear when going into a jazz club.

Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz-

Free jazz is even more fun because of the way it constantly primes expectations then contradicts them.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are one of those bands that gets shortchanged with my album oriented approach to listening. They always have some fantastic singles, but the album in general is not consistent. They're able to go between full punk energy and full pop while still somehow sounding like the same band. Mosquito follows the same pattern of a couple really good singles then a lot of middling ones.

Nina Simone - High Priestess Of Soul-

Nobody has more character in their voice than Nina Simone. I could listen to her sing all day. A few of the songs here are a little more pop oriented than her best stuff but overall it's a fantastic album.

Winner: Nina Simone. Though Ornette Coleman probably would have won any of the last four matchups, that's the shortcoming of random matchings. Maybe next time I do this I should have some sort of system where the best second places get a second chance.

On a side note, I've been occasionally using Allmusic as a resource to help organize my thoughts about albums. What the hell happened to Allmusic? It used to be a simple, easily navigable site. Now the screen is busy and distracting, text is constantly jumping around while you're scrolling it, ads are expanding over the content. The experience of using AllMusic is now akin to the experience of scrolling a list of 30 amusing street signs you clicked to on Facebook. It's barely usable anymore.
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Jirin wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:05 am
On a side note, I've been occasionally using Allmusic as a resource to help organize my thoughts about albums. What the hell happened to Allmusic? It used to be a simple, easily navigable site. Now the screen is busy and distracting, text is constantly jumping around while you're scrolling it, ads are expanding over the content. The experience of using AllMusic is now akin to the experience of scrolling a list of 30 amusing street signs you clicked to on Facebook. It's barely usable anymore.
This has been a while for me. The ads on that site reading on the site so much that you could possibly sue them for physical abuse.
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

Woody Guthrie - Dust Bowl Ballads-

A nice simple country-ish folk album full of stories and folktales about people living simple lives on farms. Music like this is when the genres are at their strongest, simple and honest without modern cowboy affectations. The lyrics are emotionally powerful and crisp and the songwriting is efficient, one of the best albums I've heard from before the rock era.

Talking Heads - The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads

I usually don't have a lot of interest in live albums where the songs don't sound substantially different from the studio takes, especially if they're the full two hour show. Mostly I'd rather see concerts and listen to studio albums.

David Bowie - Let’s Dance

The 80s are a period where I'm behind on my Bowie listening, even though one of my favorite Bowie albums is Scary Monsters. He integrated new wave poppiness into his unique sound a little more successfully than a lot of other 70s acts. The opener Modern Love is pretty solid, but the album is very top heavy and inconsistent.

REM - Up

When Up first came out I mostly got my music exposure from MTV, and my only real knowledge of REM was from New Adventures in Hifi which I didn't appreciate yet, so I don't have much real memory of Up. Other than it's one of those REM albums that gets dismissed by casual fans but is occasionally held up as extremely underrated by the hardcore following. It's definitely interesting from a guitar riff and song structure standpoint. I can see how casual fans might not have liked it as it continues the band's departure from the catchy upbeat alternative vibe of their music prior to Hifi. In a way it adopts the downer vibe of the post grunge era, but with it adopts more of its good tendencies than its bad ones. The moody synth grooves without any of the fetishization of sadness. Some of the organ and vocal harmonies in 'At My Most Beautiful' are reminiscent of top mid-60s bands. 'The Apologist' feels like responding too much to criticism over Hifi. It's kind of ironic that the album called 'Up' is one of their most downbeat ballad oriented albums.

Winner: Woody Guthrie
Jirin
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

Beatles - Beatles For Sale/Beatles 65’

A solid collection of pop/rock songs that you expect from the pre-Rubber Soul Beatles. The trouble with albums in this era of the Beatles is they were such a singles focused band, the songs that made it to the albums feel formulaic without the free wheeling imaginativeness of their more acclaimed period. But they're great at applying the formula, of course. And some of the harmonizing in this period is better than their later work.

Kings of Leon - Only By The Night

This is the album with all the Kings of Leon song I know from hearing them on the radio. Good songs and instrumentally a little more interesting than other KoL albums. Though still very top heavy.

Depeche Mode - Construction Time Again

I had this on my list as 'Salvation Time Again', which I assume is supposed to be 'Construction Time Again'. Though I need to remember why that got in and not Black Celebration when I was going by the highest ranked Depeche Mode I had not heard. (Maybe I heard Black Celebration and forgot). There's some good moody songs in this album but they're often buried in short overmixed repeated synth measures with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Love, In Itself and Everything Counts work really well but a lot of other tracks just don't. There's a lot of songs that sound like great ideas for songs just weren't patched together right.

The Soft Machine - Third-

One of those experimental jazz albums that doesn't let your brain settle down, only this one combines it with more prog/electronic ideas in a way I've never heard before and works really well.

Winner: The Soft Machine
Jirin
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

Jay Z - Reasonable Doubt

This is the earliest Jay Z I've heard so not sure what to expect. It sounds pretty similar to his later style, if a little more of the name dropping stuff big rap labels did obsessively in the 90s. He's already found his style but hasn't quite polished it to the level of aggressively metered rhyming he reaches in Blueprint. The personality is already all there.

Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The cole Porter Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald is of course an incredible singer. The choice of songs on this album is a little on the poppy side for me.

Sly and the Family Stone - Fresh

Sly is the one of the super acclaimed 70s bands I just never really connected with. The funk elements are diluted in the pop sensibilities. Even their serious social commentary seems a bit pat and reductionist to me.

The Libertines - Anthems for Damned Youth

I haven't heard much about the Libertines from after their most famous album Up The Bracket. It's hard to predict where all the big 2000s UK garage rock revival went after their 15 minutes, whether they moved with the times or kept trying to replicate their old success. They seem in the category of bands that tried to replicate their old success but forgot how to do it with energy and attitude.

Winner: Jay Z
Jirin
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

Belle & Sebastian - Fold Your Hands, You Walk Like A Peasant

This album feels a little too understated, like they created a lot of good buildups but without realized payoffs. Otherwise it has a lot of hints of both their earlier stuff like If You're Feeling Sinister and their later stuff like The Life Pursuit.

Pulp - His N Hers

A precursor to Different Class that really establishes the band's sound. It doesn't seem to have as much of the Jarvis Cocker class warfare stuff but it has the resonating guitars and the catchy emotional vocals that sound like they're designed for arena rock. It doesn't quite have the kind of powerful hooks they'd discover in Different Class but it's a solid album.

King Krule - The Ooz

I had no idea what to expect from this album. Sounds like one from the distorted lofi corner of new wave that contains bands like This Heat and Flipper. Most of the album sounds good but there's kind of a lack of focus and cohesion.

Amadou & Mariam - Dimanche a Bamako

I've been a fan of Amadou & Mariam since I heard Welcome to Mali, but don't have enough experience in the genre to pull out big differences between their albums. Especially not understanding the languages a lot of their songs seem to fall into similar melody and rhythms. It all sounds just as good as their other stuff to me.

Winner: Pulp
Jirin
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

Kate Bush - The Dreaming

"The Dreaming" is a pretty good description of Kate Bush's sound in general. The Dreaming has less conventional melodies than her other albums I'm familiar with. It lands pretty well most of the time but there's some abrupt awkward moments, strange noises, and sound effects. Including animal noises and panting sounds. It's almost Bjork-esque at some points.

Alice Cooper - Killer

I tend to stereotype Alice Cooper as music 70s kids listened to because their parents hated it and it made them feel rebellious. It's play-Satanic. Packaged youth rebellion. It's got some nice guitar licks but it's all pretty basic songs about hitting on women and not following rules. As a purely guitar album it's an enjoyable listen, but his voice is difficult to listen to.

A Tribe Called Quest - People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm

I can't get into this quite the way I can The Low End Theory and some of their other albums. It just sounds a little plodding at points and the sound kind of lacks definition. The beats kind of bleed together and samples feel awkward and unsettlingly placed, and it feels kind of derivative of De La Soul. The whole Pubic Enemy pun is super uncomfortable.

Janet Jackson - Control

Solid collection of polished 80s pop. Nasty seems more Betty Davis and funk influenced than some of the other Janet Jackson I've heard. The majority of it sounds like it draws influence for other 80s pop acts like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston.

Winner: Kate Bush
Jirin
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

Bob Dylan - Another Side Of Bob Dylan

These songs remind me of Bringing it All Back Home, only less critical and with less blues influence. It feels on the melodic vibe of Gates of Eden. He's still distinctly in the folk camp here before the big electric rebellion. "All I Really Want To Do" rejects pretentiousness or airs in being close to other people. The songs cover playful lamentations and social commentary. Motorpsycho Nightmare sounds almost exactly like Dream #135, which surprises me as I listened to that song for years thinking is was this special unique song in his catalog. Also, another one of my favorite Byrds songs turned out to be a Dylan cover. Did they write any of their best songs or was their entire career just based on harmonizing Dylan songs? This is my first time actually fully hearing the lyrics of My Back Pages, and damn, it's like he wrote them about current day.

The Neville Brothers - Yellow Moon

The Neville Brothers are one of those New Orleans bands best listened to live and almost automatically booked for any big live New Orleans event. Their studio albums are more pop oriented bluesy R&B that sound solid and well polished, but they're one of those bands who have the technical skill to be great live but not the charisma to make a studio album that draws you in.

Sufjan Stevens - Enjoy Your Rabbit

I'd summarize this album in one sentence, "Disjointed moments of brilliance".

John Hiatt - Bring The Family

I like the story of this album that Hiatt was asked to name his dream lineup to record an album and had no idea all of them would actually say yes. This is just a solid collection of classic style rock songs.

Winner: Bob Dylan
Jirin
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

The Beatles - Please Please Me

I've already written about how I feel about pre-Rubber Soul Beatles, especially the albums. They're solid, simple, catchy songs, and the Beatles are good enough performers to bring the charisma. But it's always obvious the album philosophy is "Fill it out with songs we didn't think made the cut for being singles". Before their great rebellion against their marketing department they had some unique harmonization but their songs were a bit formulaic.

Swans - Children Of God

I've heard the Swans more recent stuff but this may be the first of their original run I've heard. It's got the dark, distorted death marchy grooves I've come to expect from the band but it also has other gears that don't come through in their later work. The more delicate In My Garden makes me think of some of PJ Harvey's later stuff. And you can see more clearly the way they influenced bands like Tool and A Place To Bury Strangers.

Suede - Dog Man Star

I don't have much to say about this one. I've found everything I've heard by Suede pretty boring. Everything they do okay some other band does much better. No song leaves a major memorable impression. It's like if Echo and the Bunnymen had no memorable hooks or interesting direction.

Wire - A Bell Is A Cup…Until It Is Struck

Wire's one of those bands that released albums for decades without messing with the formula too much. This one's a little dull. Like they retreated from their harder tendencies but didn't adopt any other style to replace them.

Winner: This one's between Beatles and Swans. I guess formulaic Beatles is still better than formulaic other bands, gotta go with them.
Jirin
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

Ty Segall - Manipulator

I like the buzzy lo-fi guitar that drives Ty Segall songs. It's also nice to have an old school rock holdout. The songwriting isn't all that inspired but the guitar is great.

Kendrick Lamar - Section.80

Even before his better known stuff he'd already found a lot of what makes him unique. Bouncingly poetic wordplay that blends perfectly and smoothly with the samples.

Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963

Unfortunately had to listen to this through Youtube where the cuts between songs are awkward. Sounds great, though I don't think the recording captures the live energy enough to feel it. This recording feels a bit packaged.

Erroll Garner - Concert By The Sea-

This is some seriously awesome jazz piano.

Winner: Erroll Garner
Jirin
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Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helping

Sweet Home Alabama is one of the funnest rock songs ever, though the Neil Young line feels more petty every time I hear it in today's political climate especially. With Skynyrd I always want to listen to the great guitar riffs and ignore the words they're saying. If they were still around today they'd probably be writing songs about cancel culture masks being government mind control along with Van Morrison.

Midlake - The Trials of Van Occumpanther

This is one of the albums that just doesn't stand out much. Decent execution of the genre with songwriting that's just plain unmemorable.

The Notorious BIG - Life After Death

I have a bit of a bias here, since the time I got most of my music from MTV is the time they relentlessly played Hypnotize. Music about casual violence and women fawning over him. And those songs where Puff Daddy isn't quite singing or rapping, just saying 'Uh' and laughing in the background. And of course the gay bashing. There's some good beats though, this might be an album I'd appreciate more if I couldn't speak English.

Jay Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne

I love Jay Z and can't stand the narcissist so split bias here. But it looks like the narcissist's production skill came over without as much of his self aggrandizing. This sounds really good, it really does take the best of both. Although some of the narcissism comes through with Kanye's weird obsession with responding to critics as if he's not just playing into their hand. He even mentions South Park's portrayal of him, which is super ironic because they were making fun of him for obliviously taking himself too seriously, and he responds by doing exactly that. Not as good as Jay Z's solo albums, but an all around good listen.

Winner: Jay Z & Kanye West
Jirin
Running Up That Hill
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Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 4:12 am

Re: Jirin’s Discovery and Review Tournament 2

Post by Jirin »

When I search for Woodstock like 20 things come back, anyone know what specific thing I should be looking for for “Various Artists - Woodstock”?
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