ok

in

In...if I counted right, I think I make 8

IN!

ininininin

Ok, here are the Sweet 16 contestants and who they are facing in Round 1.

timmyjoe
rads

saint
sanchez

wench
e-stone

freude
jsh

leon
andy

shiv
kingdom

drinky
ft

paris
guns

rads is a #16 seed?

don't even try to comprehend my seeding methods, dude.

also, Bort's Lastfm Reviews and Rumbles is serious business.

"seeding"

I've actively been compiling a serious amount of dire shit on my last.fm station in preparation for this next rumble.

1st match up

timmyjoe - Toad The Wet Sprocket - Hold Her Down : TTWS has 5 great songs in their catalog, this isn't one of them. Sliiiiightly better than your average early 90s alternative rock stuff. Not by much though. 6/10

rads - Everybody Else - Rich Girls, Poor Girls : Sliiightly better than your average modern power pop outfit. Not by much though. A little safe-safey, and if they had brought it with a knock out chorus I would have bumped the score a bit. 6/10


note: WTF?!? I had to watch a commercial before listening to Radcliffe's station?


Tie breaking shit!!!

Radcliffe - Roman Candle - Why Modern Radio Is A-OK : This is a good jam. Mostly gets by on it's lyrics and sing-alongability, though I fear if this song starts to get overplayed in every bar everywhere it'll start to annoy me. Harmonica solo could've been better, but this is still a decent 3-minute alt-country tune. Rads brings the match to the next level! 7/10

timmyjoe - Lynch Mob - Wicked Sensation : Slightly better than average hair metal. Thus deserving a score of 3/10. This song would not have stood up to the weakest of seeds. Care to explain yourself, timmy?



Rads moves on to the elite 8. These half-commercials are annoying.

Two of the best songs of the past five years, which means by all rights I should have lost that round. WTF?

2nd match up

saint - Wavves - Idiot : Both the laughter and the beginning measures of this song reminds me of Marbles (Robert Schneider's side project when not doing Apples In Stereo). This album is... tolerable. Won't make my top 20, nor 30 or 40 probably, but this is my 3rd favorite song on the album. 5/10

sanchez - The Elected - Greetings In Braille : Nice vocals, music is a little too moany for my tastes. More bands like this should have taken a cue from Friends of Dead Martinez. The song just kinda rolls along, doesn't quite have the strength of the New Pornos that have a similar structure, but at the same time it isn't too bad. 5/10

fucking tie breaking this shit

sanchez - Buck Owens - Together Again : Wow, that's two surprises from Sanchez! Buck Owens classic country time saver score: 7/10

saint - Band of Horses - Older : I think this band is boring. This track is passable but I could name a dozen other bands of this ilk I'd rather listen to. 5/10

Sanchez moves on!

Next match up after I take a break with a book and perhaps some Tostitos.

you are shitting me... i lost to buck owens!?

not surprising. this is bort.

He beat fucking Band of Horses, dudes, one of the most forgettable, inconsequential bands of the past decade.

buck owens is pretty damn good.

7.0

3rd match up

wench - Avett Brothers - Tin Man : Don't you always pull them? Maybe this strategy will work since they are kind of growing on me. Really like the music, the southern vocals needle me at some parts but are otherwise ok. 6/10

e-stone - Vetiver - Hills of Isle Au Haut : Sheesh, we should rename this the Indie Americana Lastfm World Series. This is definitely more soothy and snoozy than the Bros. If the melody was stronger I'd really like it, as it is, it's middle of the road. 5/10

wench moves on!

match up 4

freude - Drive By Truckers - Checkout Time In Vegas : Dear God people, not only is this more of what I'm getting tired of, it's the overrated version of what i'm tired of. DBT time saver 4/10

jsh - Solex vs. Christina Martinez + Jon Spencer : Kinda reminds me of Jon's old Experimental Remixes EP, which I like. It's refreshing after these last couple of pulls, but kind of jarring too. It's short, got a nice JSBX groove, some Solex electro-pop, and some hip-hop from some unknown origin ("Christina" is billed but the vocals are from a guy). 6/10


jsh advances, and just like that our previous champs are out!

How Daleny of you.

Lynch Mob, lol.

5th match up

leon - Elliott Smith - Angeles : Loved this dude. Lyrics don't resonate with me as much as they did when I was single loser in my early 20s, but his ability to tug at the heartstrings is still impressive. Plus I love how it sounds so quiet and sad and lo-fi, but direct and strong at the same time. 8/10


andy - The Love Language - Stars : nice little indie soul that moves at a slow trot. 6/10


Leon moves on.

Why couldn't I have gone against Lynch Mob, The Elected or Band of Horses? Those are easy wins.