Estone
Dalen
FT
Radcliffe
Billy G
RParis74
Harry
Saint


Round 1

Estone vs. Radcliffe

Estone = jose gonzalez cycling trivialities

Almost soothing, pleasant track. I've always liked his stuff, but it hasn't really excited me much. Same with this track. 4/10

Radcliffe = eagles of death metal now i'm a fool

Haven't heard their stuff before. Pleasantly surprised. Laid back yet fun track. 5/10



Dalen vs. FT

Dalen = maps you don't know her name

Fluid, mellow, glitchy at the same time. I listened to this a few times a couple years ago. Good song. Not great. 5/10

FT = nada surf imaginary friends

Their "hits" are pretty fun, upbeat stuff in a gin blossoms-sorta way. This aint that so much. Still decent. 5/10

REMATCH

Dalen = andrew bird heretics

Really good song from a really good album. I didn't appreciate the live version spun up as much but no points deducted for that. 8/10

FT = elton john grey seal

A guy that sounds old school to a guy that is old school. Hadn't heard this song from him before, as far as i know. Has all his earmark flourishes of the day. Good song. 7/10



Harry vs. RParis74

Harry = deru playground

short, glacial, metallic song. not much to go on. 2/10

RParis74 = tift merritt i know what i'm looking for now

Decent song from an artist i've casually liked. Surprised she hasn't gone pop yet. 4/10



Saint vs. Billy G

Saint = drive like jehu new intro

good but uninspiring, lazy instrumental. i thought the feedback at the end was going somewhere, but didn't. this might be my first non-cmj listen of this artist. not sure i care to hear more.. 4/10

Billy G = elvis costello & the impressions party girl

nice piano, but not the best from him. 5/10




Round 2

Radcliffe vs Dalen

Radcliffe = grand mal would i thought you turned your back

soft rock that seems equally influenced from big star & super furry animals as well as a little classic piano/guitar rock. interesting. 5/10

Dalen = chairlift ceiling wax

i was wondering when a female voice would call from the echoes.. i could possibly enjoy this artist, but not really interested in this song. 3/10



RParis74 vs. Billy G

RParis74 = bob dylan it's all over now, baby blue

I'm not a bob dylan fan. This track reminds me why. That "vocal" "delivery". Simple lyrics. Simple acoustic guitar and melody. 1/10

Billy G = terry callier (i just can't help myself) i don't want nobody else

Has a nostalgia that i'm digging that i might not usually be in the mood for. 4/10



Round 3

Radcliffe vs. Billy G

Radcliffe = the clash white riot

Of all the original punk era bands, the clash is probably my favorite and one of the few i can tolerate for an extended period of time. Decent song from them. 4/10

Billy G = townes van zandt rex's blues

Beautiful, plaintive track. Nice vox. 5/10



When i initially viewed everyone's main page, i thought billy g would have the worst chance at winning this. it's all about what spins on random.

fuck it, i'm gonna start one.


jagged vs twogunsholla
andyfest vs ft
dalen vs timmyjoe
thisotherkingdom vs e-stone
patrick vs wenchette
radcliffe vs puma
rparis vs drinky
duckyboy vs promethium
saint vs paladisiac
cemeterypolka vs thetheory


round 1

jagged editors well worn hand oh oh, slow song. i'm not really digging the singers voice. that guitar in the background is kind of cool though and at least it was pretty short. 3/10

twogunsholla bss presents brendan caning been at it so long if these late night slow jams keep up i'm gonna just go to bed. this song is sweet though. who's the chick singing on this? i like all the varied instrumentation. 6/10

twoguns advances.

round 2

andyfest the rumble strips time i think i downloaded this album but deleted it after a listen. this song isn't bad though, the chorus is probably the best part. kicks into high gear at the end though that trumpet bleat at the end gets a half point deducted. 4.5/10

ft of montreal we are destroying the song this is awful and barely listenable. the guitar at the midway point is the only saving grace. rumble fail. 1/10

andyfest advances.

round 3

dalen swervedriver duel i'm not really a fan of shoegaze as i usually think it's going to be boring/droney but this rocks. i don't know why i've never listened to this band before. i am possibly retarded. it could be a bit shorter though i probably wouldn't care if i was drunker. 7/10

timmyjoe maritime guns of navarone i was kinda bummed out that they didn't give eric axelson better basslines when he was in this band but he's not on this song. bummer. it's catchy though the vocals aren't all that great. fuck it, i'm giving it 7/10 and we're going to...

sudden death

dalen metro area soft hoop unless timmy pulls some lame 90's alterna-shit b-side out of his ass, you're probably losing. it's nowhere near as bad as ft's steaming pile but it's just kind of boring. sorry. 3/10

timmyjoe cinerama starry eyed something's wrong with the stream for this. it's at chipmunks speed and keeps stopping every couple seconds. fuck, now i don't know what to do. skip to timmy's next song or do another round? i'm skipping...

siouxsie and the banshees shadowtime i'm not a big fan of this band but i wouldn't change the channel if this came on the radio. 5.5/10

timmyjoe advances.

round 4

thisotherkingdom the thermals test pattern oh yes. anyone who doesn't like this band just kinda sucks. it's not the best thermals song out there, it's maybe a bit too mellow, but they really don't have many bad songs. 8.5/10

e-stone digable planets blowing down i dunno, i never really got the love for this band. maybe it's just my utter dislike of jazz. maybe it's their stupid names. i kind of hate the girl in the group though i really have no justification for it. it's got a decent beat and some flute shows up, which is cool i guess, but it's up against the thermals. 3/10

thisotherkingdom advances.

round 5

patrick wire ex lion tamer i didn't get into wire until way later. it's not my favorite track off pink flag (i think the vocals are kind of weak) but it's pretty solid nonetheless. 6/10

wenchette the national all dolled-up in straps beyond a few songs, another band i don't get the love for. really, they're just crash test dummies with a better pedigree. this band could stand to rock out more, like on mr. november. i can't remember anything about this song after listening to it. 3/10

patrick advances.

round 6

radcliffe fun lovin' criminals couldn't get it right when it first came up, i was sure i was going to hate this. it's a good cover though. nice guitar. if this was scooby snacks or something else it would've scored a lot lower. 5/10

puma the knife this is now i don't even think i've listened to silent shout, though i bought it last year sometime. i think my roommate was trying to push this deep cuts album on me but i passed. this is alright though and i like the beat. i don't think it's strong enough to win. 4.5/10

radcliffe advances.

round 7

rparis alejandro escovedo by eleven i've never listened to him before. i'm not sure i can get into this stuff and think it's something i'd fall asleep to. the americana genre really doesn't do it for me. that chick singing near the end was kind of unexpected though. it sounds like a bollywood track got spliced in. 3/10

drinky dazzling killmen alligator math rock. this is a bit noisier than what i usually hear from bands who get tagged with that. i like the guitar and drums in this but the all over the place basslines remind me of jazz, which isn't good. the vocals are fairly benign too. 3/10

sudden death

rparis jason isbell chicago promenade this is decent. reminds me of some of ben nichols/lucero's slower stuff, though not as ragged. i might have to look into this a bit more. 5.5/10

drinky pylon read a book uhm...not feeling this. i like when her voice is more strained but overall it's just kind of bleh and a little too jangly for me. 2/10

rparis advances.

New set of 8. Including Billy G, the current champ, back in.

andyfest
alongwaltz
billyg
contradiction
drinky
shiv
timmyjoe
wenchlette

Round 1

andyfest http://www.last.fm/user/andyfest
vs
drinky http://www.last.fm/listen/user/Chasedbybees

andyfest = the stills everything i build

Looking at our compatability, i'd figure andy would walk away with this humming "this is it" from ryan adams. While not a terrible song, it strum-lopes nowhere. "i build it with sand. i build it with rock." um, ok. Finally after about 2:40 the songs finds some energy, then putters 20-ish seconds later. This is why "they" "play the games". 3/10.

drinky = sonic youth eric's trip

Live version is ok and doesn't detract too much, but still not one of my favs off that album. 4/10

alongwaltz http://www.last.fm/user/alongwaltz
vs
shiv http://www.last.fm/user/eaglemaniac

alongwaltz = norfolk & western the longest stare

Here's an example of a band i like but i never reach for. And like the stills song, this one goes nowhere...albeit pleasantly. 4/10

shiv = rachel stevens negotiate with love

Fun song in the Annie mold. I'll give my first decimal here because i did like this song better, but not a lot. 4.5/10

billyg http://www.last.fm/user/bgcummings
vs
timmyjoe http://www.last.fm/listen/user/timmyjoe42

billyg = the mohawk lodge wear 'em out

Reminds me of some artist. (Not pedro the lion, but that's around the time i was listening...) Anyway, nice energy if not mostly a straight-ahead rock song. 5/10

timmyjoe = the fags truly, truly

Singer sounds like he's straining with full studio track volume up just to compete with the band. And the band's not inspiring. BillyG's luck continues 3.5/10

contradiction http://last.fm/user/heylook
vs
wenchlette http://www.last.fm/user/spont/

contradiction = miranda lambert crazy ex-girlfriend

First i've heard her stuff. Good butt-kickin' romp with a snarl. Highest score of the match! 5.5/10

wenchlette = josh ritter real long distance

contradiction didn't have a chance. one of my fav songs on one of my fav albums of the decade. 8.5/10


Round 2

drinky
vs
shiv

drinky = townes van zandt our mother the mountain

Second song i've heard because of these rumbles from TVZ. It's like he took a CSN song, slowed it down, and made it boring as f*ck. 2/10

shiv = late of the pier enemy of the future

definitely the battle of the underachievers, this song is strange in an obtuse way even after the guitars kick in. the bowie-like vocals and the talking heads -like music do enough for shiv. 4/10

billyg
vs
contradiction

billyg = dr feelgood roxette

driving song. kinda reminds me of that "keep your hands to yourself song", except better. also reminds me of DBT. All with a country bar stomp style. 6/10

contradiction = dragonette i get around

more annie-like vocals, although the music gives this a robyn-like attitude. hmm, i think we need a recount. 6/10

REMATCH

billyg = oliver nelson cascades

I normally don't go out of my way to listen to jazz, but like a nice jazzy reprieve on random. That's just what this is. 5/10

contradiction = deep purple hush

i'm not a deep purple fan. not a fan of this song either. 2/10


Round 3

shiv
vs
billyg [defending champ]

shiv = snow patrol chasing cars

i actually like these guys. this song's ok. this live rendition isn't doing the song much good though. 4.5/10

billyg = james brown there was a time

james brown (is dead) is ok but i don't like this track. 2.5/10


i have a new champ...shiv

i'm kinda embarrassed i won with snow patrol. i'll take it though.

If I won round 1, why didn't I make it to round 2?

These things are both funny and infuriating.

Paladisiac you are insane

round 8

duckyboy nick drake joey an album i actually have. i just got that made to love magic comp too, though i haven't listened to it. this is a much better than most of the singer/songwriter crap out nowadays that leaves me bored. 7/10

promethium fly pan am brûlez suivant, suivante! never heard of these guys. this is alright though and is keeping it sort of interesting. they should've just scrapped the vocals on this. i dig the hardcore screaming in the latter half of the song and it ends nice. 5/10

duckyboy advances.

round 9

saint sigur ros straumnes hm, i'm not sure i should count this as it's only like 2 minutes long and not really a proper "song". i'm gonna see what paladisiac comes up with before i give this a score.

paladisiac dave matthews band too much ok, this round is getting a do-over because this is shit.

rematch

saint broken social scene ibi dreams of pavement (a better day) this is an acoustic version from kcrw but i guess canadians have a different definition of acoustic. this might be one of the best songs of the round so far. 7.5/10

paladisiac better than ezra allison foley i'm resisting the urge to just turn this off and i'm going to sit through the whole thing. the chorus is definitely the most tolerable part. sorry man. 3/10

saint advances.

round 10

cemeterypolka witch isadora i kinda hate j mascis. i hope this kicks in with some rock because it's at the 3 minutes point and it's basically a cocktease and sounds like something my roommate would be getting stoned to. ok, it's heavy now. this part is better but i hope there's no more singing for the rest of the song. oops, spoke too song. the vocals of the latter half are a little better though. 4.5/10

thetheory blanche child of the moon kind of average alt-country. i'm going to give this a pass because a) i liked the male/female singing and b) it's pretty short. 5/10

thetheory advances.

next level

twoguns vs andyfest
timmyjoe vs thisotherkingdom
patrick vs rads
rparis vs duckyboy
saint vs thetheory

round 2

Match 1
Dalen vs. Radcliffe

Dalen radio: Feist - The Water. I really liked this album but haven't listened to it in quite a long time. I should remedy that. 7/10.

Radcliffe radio: Lucinda Williams - Circles and X's. I know this album got pretty mixed (at best) reviews on obner, but I like it. It's not perfect, but this is a really great track. 7/10.

tie - round 2

Dalen radio: Pangea - Someone Still Loves You - Never heard of these guys. Fairly standard indie pop. Reminds me of Brendan Benson or maybe The Format...but not as good as either of them. 5.5/10.

Radclife radio: You Am I: Kick a Hole in the Sky - Real straightforward regular rock...but pretty well done. I only have one album by these guys, and this song is better than a lot of whats on that album. Maybe I need to check out some of their other albums. 6.5/10.

Radcliffe barely advances.

Match 2: Petecockroach vs. Saint

Petecockroach radio: The M's - Shawnee Dupree. More bland indie pop but better than that Pangea above as it has some interesting guitar stuff going on at least. Plus I like some bland indie pop. 6/10.

Saint radio: June of 44 - Anisette - a nine minute post-rock epic? Let's see how long I can even listen to this. Well it drones on and on. And on. I'm bored and its the 2 minute mark. The vocals come in and ITS EVEN WORSE THAN I THOUGHT. 2/10.

Finals - Raclife vs. Petecockroach

Radclife radio: The Blondes - Teenage Foxes. Just what I'd expect from radcliffe radio. Power pop leaning towards the power. I don't know...songs like this are a dime a dozen and it really takes some special songwriting to stand out with this sound. This just doesnt cut it and the lyrics are pretty stupid. 4.5/10.

Petecockroach radio: Clockcleaner - Out of the City. 7 minutes...uh oh. Starts off pretty grungey. I think this would sound a lot better on a real stereo, not these laptop speakers. This needs to be played loud. Now the vocals kick in...another guy trying to sound like Ian Curtis. This just isn't what I typically listen to, so its a bit hard for me to judge it...let alone listen to the entire thing. 3/10.

Radclife wins...I guess.

poor referee eyesight. the football SEEMED to cross the plane.

So everybody always seems to get weird noisy tracks or jazz from my station, but when I decided to check it out myself - I kid you not - the first four tracks that came up were from Lynyrd Skynyrd, U2, The Allman Brothers, and My Morning Jacket.

if i ever make it out of round 1, it'll be complete luck. some of the sh|t in my library is patented and trademarked anti-obner

round 1

two guns peter broderick esbern snares gade 11, 2tv guitar and vocals, that's it. i mean, it's nice but the whole "guitar slide" thing (i'm sure there's a correct term for it) annoys me and sounds sloppy. actually, it's not even vocals, just hymnal stuff. 2.5/10

andyfest spiritualized sweet talk all i know of spiritualized is ladies and gentlemen... and this doesn't sound like i remember that sounding. this is alright though. 5/10

andyfest advances.

round 2

timmyjoe built to spill conventional wisdom i never got into this band. they're one of those bands that's well regarded but didn't do anything for me (yo la tengo, modest mouse). the guitar in this is cool but it's over 6 fucking minutes long. i guess i'll stick it out to the end but unless something amazing happens, this isn't getting a good score. 3.5/10

thisotherkingdom drive-by truckers a world of hurt this would probably be a great song if it had actual sung verses instead of the spoken word crap. that said, the rest of the song is quite good. maybe i'll come around on these guys someday. 6/10

thisotherkingdom advances.

round 3

patrick josh ritter next to the last romantic i always assumed that this dude was like a male version of dido or something. i guess i was wrong. the drumming in this is great and i enjoyed that freakout piano near the end. i may have downloaded this album at some point and now i'll make sure not to delete it. 5.5/10

radcliffe the mother hips time we had it sounds like it should be from the mid-90's but it's 2007. there's no one thing that's stunning about this but as a whole, it's a real good song. 6.5/10

radcliffe advances.

round 4

rparis uncle tupelo sin city please god, be an ac/dc cover. no? damn. it's pretty sad that there's a lot of bands that i've never listened to before, uncle tupelo being one of them. i guess this is alright. rod is just squeaking by with this stuff that's kinda/sorta ok. 4/10

duckyboy the beta band round the bend i haven't listened to them in ages. this is fun and it's got an excellent groove. it would've been awesome to sit in the studio and just watch whatever the fuck they were playing on this. 7/10

duckyboy advances.

round 5

saint hooverphonic battersea finally something to break up the guitar monotony. the beats sound a little too drum & bass but it's not overly annoying to me. it sounds like it should be in a late 90's ewan mcgregor movie. 5/10

thetheory neko case set out running man, you guys listen to way too much alt-country but this is something i actually like. i think it says this track is live but it doesn't sound it. anyways, it's top notch. 8/10

thetheory advances.




shit, there's an odd number for the semis...

Squeaking by with great songs you dont like

royal rumble

andyfest the ravonettes my heartbeat's dying i somehow thought they'd be noisier. maybe it's just the song. there's so many bands i never listen to. i'm liking this, any recommendations on where to start with them? 6.5/10

thisotherkingdom queens of the stone age auto pilot i used to like them but josh homme got more and more douchey in relation to their popularity. i have this album but this song is kind of lame. the guitar is good though. 4/10

radcliffe frank black the creature crawling man, i have an irrational dislike of a lot of people. his voice doesn't sound too bad on this and i'm glad he's not screeching, though the "owwwww's" are kind of pedophile creepy. 3.5/10

duckyboy the hollies sorry suzanne sweet. classic rock. i'm sure this isn't their best song though. 5.5/10

thetheory thurston moore frozen gtr i thought this was just going to be a 14 minute long guitar freakout but it's somewhat mellow. i like the psychic hearts album but haven't heard any of his other stuff. s'alright. 4/10

andyfest wins.

and i'm never doing another one of these...too much like work.

i'm full of shit 90% of the time.

thats the problem/genius of this thread. the reviews tell you more about the reviewer than the songs. like we now know for certain that paladisiac is of his rocker.

"now"
observance fail

i was trying to be diplomatic

Who?

I honestly have no idea who that is.

I'd start with Lust Lust Lust (this song is a bonus track from that album). It's the noisiest one of theirs and made my top 100 on listmania earlier this year.

Continued from Friday:

petecockroach - Dwight Trible - Celestial Blues

This would kill you if it came on for most obners but I'm a fan. I don't like Trible's version of this song as much as Andy Bey's original but its still good. Its a little sparse musically. I prefer Trible as a guest vocalist rather than as a leader for that reason. Still his voice is pretty great. I finally saw Trible live a few months ago when Pharoah Sanders pulled him onstate to sing with his ensemble for a few songs. I'm a little surprised to see this in Pete's last.fm as Trible is also a member of the LA jazz ensemble, Build An Ark, whose album "Dawn" I love but Pete has called ordinary. 710 Bort's got his work cut out for him.

bort - the fratellis - [?]

I navigated away from the explorer screen to do something else while this was playing. I went back and checked for the song name and the screen was blank but the song continued playing. I don't know the title but wow, it was awful. To think that I was actually curious about this band when Bobbo was heaping praise on them. Waaaay too saccharine for my taste. You and FT can shove cake in each other's mouths while listening to this if you want, but you're not advancing with this song on my watch. 2/10

Petecockroach advances to face shamwow in the next round.

rparis74 - joy division - transmission

Damn, surprised to hear this from rodney even though i know he's a new order fan. I like joy division and this song but not this version which is a shitty live recording and gets major demerits for that. I'd rather hear silence than really shitty quality tracks like this. I don't understand why bands or labels think crappy live tracks are worth throwing on as extras. 4.5/10

promethium - urbanus - veerwhel theo

The following description is scaring me:
"Urbain Servranckx (June 7, 1949, Schepdaal, Belgium), also known as Urbain and Urbanus van Anus, is a Belgian comedian, actor, singer and comic book 'hero'."
That said, when it came on, I don't hate it. I don't like it either or understand what he's singing. Maybe that helps. I'm pretty much completely ambivalent to this which I guess means it edges out rodney 5/10 Alas when a second belgian track came on, I decided to check and see if ole obner pro's last.fm page is really www.last.fm/user/promethium and it turns out its not. So random belgian dude promethium is disqualified.

promethium - velvet underground - venus in furs
The real pro brings a ringer. 9/10

Promethium advances

red- the field mice - this love is not wrong
Jasmine is taking a big chance here with a modern'ish british indie/twee pop song. I kinda like it though. Its got a little bit of c86 jangle to the sound along with some nice bass 6/10

patrick - uncle tupelo - so called friend
I like UT when they are more country and less rock. This is at least a Farrar track rather than a Tweedy song. Its a good one but not a great one. Still its good enough to edge out the field mice 7/10


Quarterfinals tomorrow with:

alongwaltz v radcliffe
fu v jagged
shamwow v. petecockroach
patrick v promethium

f**k you, dave
M83 - "Slight Night Shiver"
Sounds like Angelo Badalamenti meets Tangerine Dream. Pretty good, as far as moody atmospherics go.

patrick
From Bubblegum to Sky - "Downtown or Up?"
While I'm on the whole "this artist meets that artist" kick, this sounds like if Corgan had been in E6. The Pumpkins in Stereo...or Smashing Apples. Ultimately, I like it more than I don't, even though I'm usually averse to anything even remotely reminiscent of Smashing Pumpkins. Would actually be a fantastic tune, if it wasn't sprinkled with so much misplaced lethargy. But I still like it.

GAME RECAP:
This one goes back and forth from start to finish, until patrick banks in a miraculous halfcourt shot as time expires.

FINAL SCORE:
f**k you, dave 70
patrick 72