puma's probably talking about her losing round in billy g's exclusive "velvet rope" tourney.

i'm glad more people are doing these...this thread is a great read.

Saint - Alice in Chains - Them Bones

Its hard to believe in retrospect how much mainstream popularity Alice in Chains enjoyed at the height of grunge's popularity. I don't hate them and at least in theory (one I doubt I'll test any time soon) like a few of their songs. This isn't one of them though. The chugging guitar lines are pretty annoying. Still it could be a lot worse so I'll give it a 4/10

Sanchez - The Cure - High When I was in college, the Cure were one of my favorite bands. I don't think they've aged very well though and this was never one of their better songs. Still its for the most part, harmless enough pop which is enough to best the alice in chains track 5/10

Sanchez advances

Wenchlette - Dirty on Purpose - [oops I forgot the song name] This sounds like some random 80's indie pop with a chick singer (belly, elastica, etc) but with a little modern guitar sound. Its ok I guess but I doubt it will stand the test of time any better than those bands did so 5/10

rparis74 - Leonard Cohen - Avalanche Rogneeb is delivering the top notch song writers in this comp.



Leonard easily beats dirty on purpose 9/10

Sanchez v. rparis74 in the semi finals.

FT, was referring to these comments:







i don't really care, but would rather have someone with similar interests "judge." because if i judged, i'd give a zero immediately for the national, animal collective or any other bands i don't "get," however, to each their own and i respect that.

FT - The Hold Steady - Sequestered in Memphis

I like the Hold Steady but not as much as the rest of the Hive. As much as I try, I can get past that I just don't like Craig Finn's vocals that much. This is a pretty good song though and has more going on musically than most Hold Steady songs. I'll give it a 7/10

Radcliffe - Long Ryders - Final Wild Son

I think I like the Long Ryders more than the Hold Steady but this is a bad, tinny live recording off some anthology or perhaps a no guru mix. If it were a studio recording it would probably at least tie the HS but I've got to hold its poor sound quality against you. 5/10

FT advances to the Finals

Sanchez - Autolux - Blanket

Sanchez delivers an LA buzz band that i've never checked out before. Not awful, but pretty typical indie rock fare as I suspected. I suspect that they might be decent live but this is nothing i'd ever choose to throw on the stereo at home. 5/10

rparis74 - Slobberbone - I'll Be Damned

Rod's string of ringers is over. This is decent alt country fare but nothing special. I've never liked this guy's voice either. I want to give this the edge just because it sounds easier to monger to but i really can't. This is really just as forgettable as the autolux and to make matters worse, its long.5/10

Sudden death

rparis74 - Pat Todd & the Rank Outsiders - Secret Heart

More rootsy fare with attitude but this time more upbeat, shorter and Todd's voice is much better than the slobberbone singer. 6/10

Sanchez - Blonde Redhead - Swing Pool

Hmm, I'd always avoided Blonde Redhead assuming I'd not like them since I don't have much in common with the taste of their biggest proponents on Obner. This sounds a lot like Sonic Youth though (although not quite as good). Does all Blonde Redhead sound like this? Midway through the song, there was a brief noisy, chaotic interlude that i didn't like. If not for that, this would beat the Pat Todd. I briefly considered giving this a 6/10 and doing a second sudden death but before i made up my mind, your station moved on to Daft Punk. Its impossible that Rodney could deliver something as awful as that so I figured why subject myself to listening to all of the Daft Punk song. I'm going to end it here instead 5/10

FT vs. rparis74 in the finals

I think having someone with similar taste judge would kind of defeat the purpose.

I've had zero luck with these, but it's kind of funny seeing people's reactions to things like The Flying Luttenbachers. I'm sure I had about a 50/50 shot of my last.fm station coming up with something that billy g would like, but it was not to be. Of course, the one person who would get a decent jazz track from my station is the guy who doesn't like any instrumental music.

I'm not a big Blonde Redhead fan and haven't really listened to them a lot, but I do know that their sound has changed a lot since their early records. That song is off of their first album which I've probably only listened to once, but I could safely say that it's nothing like how they sound now: just another overreaching indie baroque pop band.

I doubt seriously that you'd like them, but if you're interested maybe check out some of their "middle" albums like Fake Can Be Just as Good, In an Expression of the Inexpressable, or Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons, the first of those being my favorite album of theirs. It's pretty no wave-y and keeps that early Sonic Youth vibe pretty well throughout.

The next person to start a new one should try throwing their own station into the mix and seeing what happens. A good chunk of the game is luck. Your station could easily wind up playing a song that you like well enough but then somebody else's plays a song you love. There's no guarantee that your own station would win your competition.

I thought about doing that, just based on curiousity as to what it would pull from my station. I disagree though about the role of luck. There's a chance it would pull something I like as a 7 from my station and pull a 9 or a 10 from someone else's but I think that I'd win 9 out of 10 times at least if I were judging myself.

onto the finals:

FT - The Doors - Moonlight Drive

A bit of a surprising pick from Radio FT. As an LA resident, I really want to like the Doors but am only able to enjoy them in small doses. Not one of their best songs, but this isn't a song that's been overplayed by classic rock radio which is a plus and its fairly short and the keyboards are fairly far back in the mix when they are there at all. 6/10

rparis74 - The Pogues - Dirty Old Town

Rod's bringing back the ringers with a great drunken sing along by the Pogues. I'm not sure if I add or subtract points for being able to understand what Shane is singing but I'll go with a 9/10

ROGNEEB IKS CHAMPINGIONG

had some mid round trouble there with the alt country, whew.

Yeah, that's definitely true. The odds are in your favor. Still would be interesting, though.

at least i lost to the eventual CHAMP

my loss was rigged... he could have easily had on Lil Bow Wow or the new U2 song... RIGGED!!!!

I'll do another one today with some fresh blood added:

Alongwaltz v Melf
Radcliffe v. A Northern Soul
Elvis Fu v. Estone
FT v. Jagged
Shamwow v. Shiv
Petecockroach v. Bort
Rparis74 v Promethium
Red v. Patrick

DAMN YOU LIZARD KING!!!

Alongwaltz - Siouxsie & the Banshees - Cities in Dust

I'm not a big fan of any of their albums but they do have some decent singles and this is one of them. 7/10

Mice Elf - Meiko - piano song

Fairly innocous pop song, not without some charm. I can't say it really grabs me either though. 6/10

Alongwaltz advances

Radcliffe - Amy Winehouse - You're Wondering Now

I love the Specials version of this song which I guess is a cover itself of a Skatalites song that I don't think I've ever heard. I'm not really an Amy Winehouse fan and this isn't changing that. It leaves me wanting to hear the Specials instead. 5/10

A Northern Soul - Tenacious D - Drive Thru

I don't get the point of this. It seems to be a 3 minute long audio recording of Jack Black ordering food from a drive thru. Its not remotely funny and there's no music 0/10

Alongwaltz and Radcliffe will have a rematch in Round 2

God damn it, my library is so overloaded with Alice in Chains. I have no idea how that happened, but I'm about to ban them from my library.

Fu - Tony Joe White - Polk Salad Annie

Classic swamp rock from one of my favorite artists. Fu is pulling one out of rodney's playbook with this ringer. 9/10

Estone - Can - Don't Turn the Lights on, Leave Me Alone

I've never been able to get into Can. I don't hate this but i don't find it particularly interesting and I'm probably one of few obners who would argue that the flute is an underrated instrument. Its largely irrelevant anyway given the ringer Fu brought to the match. 5/10

Fu advances

FT - The French Kicks - 1985

I downloaded this album back in the unlimited DL days of emusic. It was a pretty quick delete. I guess I'd discribe them as a second or third tier band of that New York scene that also included the Walkmen and the Strokes. I can hear some similarities to others from that scene in the punchiness of their guitars but there's really nothing notable about the music. Meh. 5/10

Jagged - Beck - Chemtrails

Beck is one of those artists who manages to a seemingly very interesting set of influences into a very meh package of music. By all rights, I should be a fan but I'm not at all. Still the drumming on this track is pretty cool which is enough to elevate it over the French Kicks 5.5/10

Jagged advances to face Fu in Round 2

Shamwow - Even - Life Gets in the Way

My first exposure to these guys. I guess I'd call their style 90's aussie rock with jangly guitars and pretty good percussion. I'm not going to run out and buy their catalog but its good for a 6/10

Shiv - Guns N Roses - Prostitute

This is not quite as awful as I expected it to be but that's not saying much. I was never a fan and this certainly won't make me one. 6+ minutes of this too. Damn you Shiv. 3/10

Shamwow moves on to round 2

this is what not ever deleting anything from my hard drive gets me.

i deserve that.

Canadian-on-Canadian violence.

Oh, the humanity.

ok I'm bored so I'm gonna do an 8-person round robin

Estone
Dalen
FT
Radcliffe
Billy G
Petecockroach
Harry
Saint


Round 1

Estone vs. Radcliffe
Dalen vs. FT
Harry vs. Petecockroach
Saint vs. Billy G

Match 1

Estone Radio: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - More News From Nowhere

Dig, Lazarus, Dig made my top 20 this year and this a pretty good track from that album. However its seven minutes long and pretty mellow or ol' Nick. The song never really goes anywhere, but it has some cool lyrics referencing both PJ Harvey to Betty Shabazz which is a plus. 6.5/10.

Radcliffe Radio: Nick Lowe - So It Goes

Well, a ringer. Sorry, estone. Great track from a great album. I've always loved the lyrical phrasing in the chorus. 9/10.

Radcliffe advances

Match 2

Dalen vs. FT

Dalen radio: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - A Teenage in Love

I've heard of this band...in fact I think I saw a download link on some blog. Reminds me a bit of Belle and Sebastian or maybe Aztec Camera with some pure 80's keyboard thrown in for extra fey. I like most of the influences but not sure how much of this I could really listen to. However, its pleasant enough. 6/10.

FT radio: Jethro Tull - A New Day Yesterday

I've only really heard their "hits." I pretty much hate this band. This is fucking horrible and I can't make it past the 30 second mark, really. Flute fail. 2/10.

Dalen advances.


Match 3

Harry vs. Petecockroach

Harry radio: Bardo Pond - Montana Sacra II

Never heard Bardo Pond, but harry radio has blessed me with a ten minute track to fully experience the brilliance of this band. Can I get Jethro Tull back? The funny thign about this is, that as I was playing this, I was watching TV with the mute on and Saved by the Bell was on some channel and it was the episode where they have a band and I imagined Slater playing drums on this track and Zack singing this vocal. An odd and disturbing juxtaposition. Anyway, this is unlistenable except perhaps as the soundtrack to a self-castration. 1/10.

Petecockroach radio: Don Caballero - Railroad Cancellation

Never heard this band before, either. The descriptors are dubious - math rock, instrumental, post-rock, progressive rock. Sign posts on the great PPDD highway. However, as just an instrumental song, its not bad. Pretty straightforward, really, and picked up nicely towards the end. 4/10

Petecockroach advances.


Match 3

Saint vs. Billy G

Saint radio: Alice in Chains - Nutshell. Wow a real blast from the past here. I used to play the shit out of this song in college. On sentimental value, you score about a 9 here. On actual quality of the song...let's go for a 6.

Billy G radio: Teddy Thompson - Where To Go From Here. JT Earle, Liam Finn, Rufus Wainwright, Teddy Thompson. It's the era of the less talented son. I actually have this album...I think I got it from emusic. It's ok I guess, but very adult contemporary type shit and a pretty boring album. 5/10.

Saint advances.

Round 2

Dalen vs. Radcliffe
Petecockroach vs. Saint

I got that Teddy Thompson album from some blog and listened to it once before deleting it. Its really boring. You're being kind to it with a 5. Of course, you're also being kind to the Alice In Chains with a 6.

yeah, maybe. but, that aic still beats that teddy.