contradiction
Wes Montgomery - "Wes' Tune"
Oh, boy...more jazz. Well, at least this has more of tune to it than billyg's...hence the name. As jazz goes, this is probably as much as I'm capable of tolerating anything that's not used as Peanuts background music.

thisotherkingdom
Dax Riggs - "Dog-Headed Whore"
Sounds to me like a less unhinged Scott H. Biram. Could use more unhinging.

GAME RECAP:
The first game of the tournament to go into overtime. contradiction seals the win when thisotherkingdom turns the ball over due to a traveling violation on their final possession.

FINAL SCORE:
contradiction 56
thisotherkingdom 55

OK, the tournament will resume again later. Time to go pull for TEH BUZZSAW.

Last.FM is blocked at work, so the soonest play can resume in my tourney is tonight.

ok i'll do one of these.

Radcliffe v. Alongwaltz
Duckyboy v. Dalen
FT v. Drinky
F4DF v. Harry
Sanchez v. Puma
Timmyjoe v. Saint
Rparis74 v. Paladisiac
Contradiction v. Wenchlette


First up, Radcliffe v. Alongwaltz

Alongwaltz - Rilo Kiley - Jenny, You're Barely Alive

Nothing too annoying about it, but nothing which perks my ears either. Its pretty disposable indie pop. I'll give it a 5/10 which on the billy g scale means I don't like it but you've given me no ammunition to really make fun of your taste here.

Radcliffe - Little Jackie - The World Should Revolve Around Me

This is catchy. I see why people like it but I don't think I really like it myself. Still its got more appeal than the Rilo Kiley. I wouldn't buy a Little Jackie album based on this song, but I'd have to think about whether I'd want to sell it back or give it more chances. 6/10

Radcliffe moves on to round two.

Dalen - Derniere Volente - Verbes Fragiles

I like french pop. There's not much notable going on here though. Not much of a melody or rhythm here and the singer's voice is merely ok. Maybe the lyrics are fantastic but I don't speak french so I'm gonna assume they aren't. 5/10

Duckyboy - Lou Reed - Ladies Pay

I like Lou Reed. This is not one of his better songs but its good enough. 7/10

Duckyboy will face off against Radcliffe in Round two.

FT - Pete Yorn - Closet

I like Pete Yorn but never have any urge to listen to. Its pretty disposable indie pop songwriter stuff, but maybe a little better performed than average. I'm pretty sure I never sold this. I guess surviving all them purges counts for something. 6/10

Drinky - Royal Trux - I'm Ready

Drinky is an enigma wrapped in a conundrum. How could someone with such great taste in music recorded pre-1985 have such awful taste in music recorded after 1985? If the pre-85 drinky showed up here, he would have mopped the floor with FT. Alas, its the post 85 drinky who showed up here. This is pretty awful stuff. The stream keeps freezing up on me which makes it hard to really get a good read on it but it sounds like a garagey version of GBV but with much worse vocals and lyrics. Really nothing to like here. 3/10

F4DF - Stanton Moore - Green Chimneys

Hmm...I guess I'd discribe this as some kind of instrumental jammy soul jazz fusion. He sounds talented enough and maybe he'd be good live but i'm getting a little bored listening to this on the computer. I expect more from you next time, Paul. 5/10

Harry - Goldmund -25 Thousand Miles

Stark, minimalist ambient piano stuff. I'm a sucker for piano so I **want** to like this. At times its pretty, but its a little too stark for me. I don't own any ambient music for a reason. I like piano though and could see myself trying harder with this than the Stanton Moore so I'll give it the edge over Stanton Moore. I guess I have to give it a 6/10 if I want to not call this a tie but its really more of a higher 5/10.

Harry advances and will face FT in Round 2

Sanchez - Hot Hot Heat - Goodnight, Goodnight

I saw Hot Hot Heat open for someone on their first tour. This sounds like an entirely different band. It starts out somewhat catchy and enjoyable, but then comes the really weak chorus and bad percussion for emphasis. It might be a 7 with a little more work but right now it sounds like a 5/10

Puma - Boards of Canada - Alpha and Omega

Sorry Dri but I just don't like Electronica/IDM stuff at all. 2/10

Timmyjoe42 - Ima Robot - Scream

Forgettable and formuliac indie rock, complete with vocals that alternate from warbly to falsetto. OHG, DEY ROBOKGS FUR SURG. 3/10

Saint - Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why

I had never got around to hearing these guys. I dl'ed the album after Caputo raved but still hadn't listened yet. I can hear in this song both why some people compare them to MMJ and why it annoys the crap out of guys like radcliffe that they do it. This doesn't do much for me but its still better than Ima Robot. 5/10

Saint advances to face Sanchez in round 2

what is there some velvet rope around this contest?

Rparis74 - Elvis Costello - Allison

Rogneeb pulls a ringer. One of the best songs from one of my favorite artists. 10/10

Paladisiac - Old Crow Medicine Show - Humdinger

So that's what these guys sound like. All the right ingredients are there, still if I'm on the mood for something like this I'm probably gonna grab an oldie or something by someone like Norman Blake. This is definitely better than I would have expected from paladisiac given how much I know he likes Genesis, Richard Marx and Janet Jackson. I'll give it a 6/10. Really you stood no chance against rogneeb's ringer though.

Wenchlette - Sea Bear - Hospital Bed

Damn, Stacey, do you listen to anything but Sea Bear? I was really worried when i read "gentle vocals, tinkly-winkly mallets, synth flourishes, and restrained percussion." Its not as bad as i feared from the band name and that description though. Its got some potential but the repetitive keys and whispery vocals grow tiresome by the end. This is another 5/10 that could easily be a 7/10 if the band put a little more work into it.

Contradiction - Kurt Vile - breathin out

I'm not sure I hate it but I want to. Its so lo-fi and amateurish that it makes the weakest Pollard composition sound like a finished work by comparison. On top of that its pretty boring. A Count Basie tune came up next that would have mopped the floor with Sea Bear so poor luck on the draw for Contradiction. 3/10

Rogneeb v. Wenchlette in round 2

To recap, round 2 will be

Radcliffe v. Duckyboy
FT v. Harry
Saint v. Sanchez
rparis74 v. Wenchlette

huh?

Radcliffe - Johnny Thunders - Blame it on Mom

This is off Que Sera Sera, a Thunders album which I don't have. Maybe I need to rectify that. Not the best Thunders tune I've heard but it has all the right ingredients (attitude in spades, nice guitar work, skronky horns) and blows away most of today's music. 7/10

Duckyboy - The Chameleons - Monkeyland

I have a couple of Chameleons albums which i like but don't love and this isn't as good as those. It takes a long time to get going at all and even then really doesn't build much of a momentum beyond the chorus. 5/10

Radcliffe advances to round 3

FT - The Drifters - On Broadway

A classic and utterly recognizable doo wop song. I'm not a big doo wop fan but I wouldn't say this is that great of a doo wop song, mainly due to its lack of any real strong harmony vocals. Mom G would probably give this at least a 8/10 but she's not judging. I'll give it a 7/10.

Harry - Smog - Natural Decline

Ughh. I suppose its better than most of the Smog I've heard but that's not saying much. I'm just not a lo fi fan and there's not enough going on here to really capture and retain my attention. 5/10

Radcliffe and FT advance to Round 3. That's probably it for today. I'll wrap this up tomorrow.

dalen
The Church - "The Unguarded Moment"
This sounds a bit dated, but not really in a bad way. This would have been right at home at any number of early/mid-'80s movie soundtracks, especially those starring the teen McDreamy.

shiv
The Killers - "For Reasons Unknown"
This isn't bad, but I think I'd like it even better if the singer didn't sound like an overwrought amalgam of Antony with Axl.

GAME RECAP:
dalen leads wire to wire in a game where shiv hung close and made a couple of runs, but could never quite get over the hump

FINAL SCORE:
dalen 77
shiv 64

drinky
The Flying Luttenbachers - "The Necessary Impossibility of Determinism"
Lots of bizarre noise, random sound effects and general dissonance without the slightest shred of anything even remotely approaching song structure. Yet somehow, it's still better than Animal Collective.

snatchez
The Swell Season - "Into the Mystic"
Nice choice for a Van cover. Fairly innocuous and non-threatening, but still a pleasant rendition. On an almost-not-even-tangentially-related note, whatever happened to Mad Season?

GAME RECAP:
A slew of technical fouls by drinky down the stretch hands the game to snatchez.

FINAL SCORE:
snatchez 60
drinky 48

duckyboy
Langhorne Slim - "Rebel Side of Heaven"
I really like just about every thing about this. Kind of a rollicking neo-Dylan, but with the added bonus of clear anunciation. I'm definitely going to have to look into more of his stuff.

saint
Tool - "jimmy"
I used to really enjoy Tool's two big MTV "hits" back when I was in grad school, probably as much for the videos as the music. I can hear traces of what I liked about those other songs, but not enough here is truly complelling. Maybe watching the violent dismemberment of a small puppet would help.

GAME RECAP:
This ended up being one of those Kansas vs. North Carolina AT&T first rounders, in which the 23-point spread actually ends up getting covered. Rock chalk duckyboy.

FINAL SCORE:
duckyboy 91
saint 52

e-stone
Fatboy Slim - "Santa Cruz"
I usually don't have much use for electronic/house/whatever, but the one major exception (even now, after all these years of being overplayed) is that "Check it out now, funk soul brother" song. Unfortunately, this is really more like an X Games production bed than anything else.

puma
Echo & The Bunnymen - "The Killing Moon"
Always an enjoyable trip in the wayback machine whenever I hear these guys. This is quintessential good '80s music.

GAME RECAP:
A bit of an upset here, as puma shocks e-stone pulls away late behind stronger than expected low post play.

FINAL SCORE:
puma 79
e-stone 56

elvis fu
Jim White - "Combing My Hair in a Brand-New Style"
Great track from a near-perfect album. This is the equivalent of a 22-0 run to start the game. Like his beloved Huskers, Malachi may be staring down the barrel of yet another year-end trip to the NIT, unless he can mount a furious rally.

promethium
Les Savy Fav - "Hold on to Your Genre"
Killer bass line to kick things off. I could do without the vocal effects, though. Book your tickets for MSG, Pat.

GAME RECAP:
A valiant effort by promethium to overcome an insurmountable lead by elvis fu ultimately falls woefully short.

FINAL SCORE:
elvis fu 94
promethium 69

That's all for tonight. With Lost returning tomorrow night, action might not resume until Thursday night.

antony? wtf?

Do it Bob. I'd offer to up something for you, but as bort has found out I've been rendered unreliable of late. I'll see what I can do, though.

im kind of a fan of the ncaa scoring

i declare shenanagins!!! whomever doesn't like "electronica" (p.s. it's ELECTRONIC music) or "idm," don't judge me because it's about 75% of what i listen to.

also, where are you pulling the tracks from? just curious about how this "judging" process works.

to clarify: the depreciation guild is NOT a side project of the pains. separate band altogether. pains just added a new drummer (kurt) within the last 1/2 of the year who happens to also be in the depreciation guild. dg is more on the 8-bit/shoegaze tip, whereas pains is on the JAMC tip.

they just go onto your last.fm library and the first song to play is what song they judge... im surprised none of my house music has gotten me eliminated

Damn. Royal Trux and Flying Luttenbachers. Haha.

you do realize it was e-stone who had the electronica and that you WON the matchup, right?

the tracks are randomly pulled by Last.FM from your "station"