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Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 2:30 pm
by Brad
Welcome to the round 1.2 of Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019!

Vote for your favorite album in each match-up.
Remember, anyone can vote as long as the voter has heard both albums.

Good-spirited comments are encouraged, but not absolutely necessary.
Deadline = April 9th at 10am EST.

Here's a link to the bracket for the entire tournament:
http://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?t ... Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019

Match-ups:
1. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs vs. Grimes - Art Angels
2. Janet Jackson - janet vs. Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
3. Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends vs. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
4. The Mutton Birds - Salty vs. Section 25 - From the Hip


Playlist link for "Salty":
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... Q_bbrpr3YO

Link for "Shankar Family and Friends":
https://mio.to/album/Pandit+Ravi+Shanka ... nd+Friends

Also, one outstanding (and I do mean "outstanding") TIE from last week:
Pet Shop Boys - Concrete vs. Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster & Panaiotis - Deep Listening
***TIE! 10-10! First vote from someone who has not already voted in this match-up will win it!***


Take a bow for the new revolution!

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 2:36 pm
by Sweepstakes Ron
I thought match 3 this week was Shankar and MMJ?

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 3:13 pm
by Brad
Sweepstakes Ron wrote:I thought match 3 this week was Shankar and MMJ?
That's what it says!
j/k - thanks Sweeps, corrected!

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 4:08 pm
by Rdwdbob
1. GRIMES - ART ANGELS

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 5:08 pm
by Listyguy
Animal Collective - Sung Tongs vs. Grimes - Art Angels

Sung Tongs is the best Animal Collective album thatI've heard... though that isn't a bigger compliment.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 5:10 pm
by StevieFan13
1. Grimes - Art Angels
2. Janet Jackson - janet
3. Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends
4. The Mutton Birds - Salty

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 5:36 pm
by Madzong
Match-ups:
1. Grimes - Art Angels
2. Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
3. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
4. The Mutton Birds - Salty

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:21 pm
by DaveC
1. Grimes - Art Angels
2. Janet Jackson - janet
3. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
4. The Mutton Birds - Salty

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:30 pm
by Rob
In my region Evil Urges is not available on Spotify as well. Why I don't know, because every other My Morning Jacket album is there. But in case other miss it as well, here it is on YouTube:

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 7:06 pm
by Nassim
Ok, I promised to vote in every bracket where I know at least one album (after listening to the other one obviously) and failed last month (I would have voted for Le Tigre and was still undecided about Fiona vs David).

So, here goes a vote for Art Angels.
I'm one of the biggest AC defenders in the forum, but only Feels ranks higher than Art Angels for me, one of my favourite albums of the decade. Sung Tongs has its moments, I love Leaf House and Winters' Love, but those can't touch REALiTi and Kill v Maim, and the rest of Art Angels is pretty much all bangers while Sung Tongs is so-so at times.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 8:14 pm
by Bang Jan


8 | Animal Collective | Sung Tongs
2 | Grimes | Art Angels

4 | Janet Jackson | janet
1 | Elton John | Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

3 | Ravi Shankar | Shankar Family and Friends
5 | My Morning Jacket | Evil Urges

7 | The Mutton Birds | Salty
6 | Section 25 | From the Hip

Favourite song of the week: Elton John | Someone Saved My Life Tonight

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 10:48 pm
by Rdwdbob
2. ELTON JOHN - CAPTAIN FANTASTIC AND THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2019 1:06 pm
by bonnielaurel
Grimes - Art Angels
Janet Jackson - janet
Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends
Section 25 - From the Hip

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2019 1:41 pm
by PlasticRam
The Grimes album has the worst cover art ever in my opinion. Has kept me from listening to that album.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2019 1:59 pm
by Rob
PlasticRam wrote:The Grimes album has the worst cover art ever in my opinion. Has kept me from listening to that album.
I think it is actually one of the best. The one from Visions is great too, but that one made me think initially that I would get heavy metal, which it isn't. The one from Art Angels captures more that geek-pop feel with a disturbing twist that fits her more perfectly.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2019 5:07 pm
by Honorio


8. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs (2004) vs. 4. Grimes - Art Angels (2015)
2. Janet Jackson – janet. (1993) vs. 5. Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975)
1. Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends (1974) vs. 3. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges (2008)
6. The Mutton Birds - Salty (1994) vs. 7. Section 25 - From the Hip (1984)

Favourite song from every album:
Winters Love | REALiTi | That's the Way Love Goes | Someone Saved My Life Tonight | Supané Mé Āyé Preetam Sainyā | Evil Urges | Ngaire | Looking From a Hilltop

Favourite song of the week: REALiTi

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2019 5:24 pm
by Rdwdbob
MY MORNING JACKET - EVIL URGES

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2019 7:37 pm
by acroamor
Not really indicative of my thoughts on the matter, but this article made me chuckle:

https://www.stereogum.com/2038631/grime ... life/news/

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 2:07 am
by FrankLotion
1. Grimes - Art Angels
2. Janet Jackson - janet
3. Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends
4. Section 25 - From the Hip

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 2:50 am
by CupOfDreams
Grimes - Art Angels
Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends
Section 25 - From the Hip

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 3:05 am
by Jirin
Art Angels 87 - Sung Tongs 83
Captain Fantastic 84 - janet 78
Shankar Family and Friends 94 - Evil Urges 70

Still need to hear Salty. From the Hip gets a 73.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 3:08 am
by Safetycat
8. Sung Tongs < 2. Art Angels
5. Janet < 3. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
7. Shankar Family and Friends < 4. Evil Urges
1. Salty > 6. From the Hip

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 3:23 am
by Safetycat
I found another link for Salty for people still having issues. https://www.deezer.com/us/album/4193741

Apparently you can just make a free account and then listen to the whole thing? I was able to, at least. The link says US so it might work for the americans, not sure how europe will go.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 8:21 am
by spiritualized
I missed the first round, will start with this one...so much music to absorb !

1. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs (8/10) vs. Grimes - Art Angels (8.5/10)
2.Janet Jackson - janet (3/10) vs. Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (6/10)
I can't believe I am pining for Elton, who I can't really appreciate. But as Rob fully explains it, there is nothing for me in janet. Nothing at all. Far too long, no catchiness (which for a pop album, is a contradiction)
3. Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends vs. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges - PASS
4. The Mutton Birds - Salty (7/10) vs. Section 25 - From the Hip (6.5/10) Not an easy choice. I liked both of them, the gentleness of Section 25 surprised me in a good way. I feel closer to the Kiwi Mutton Birds though.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 12:54 pm
by rumpdoll
1. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs (5) vs. Grimes - Art Angels (4)
2. Janet Jackson - janet (6) vs. Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (7)
3. Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends (3) vs. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges (8)
4. The Mutton Birds - Salty (2) vs. Section 25 - From the Hip (1)

This week was a bit meh for me. I liked the two entries I knew nothing about. I voted for Section 25 because the first few songs from Salty were a bit boring. By the way, am I the only one or does the singer sound very much like Michael Stipes?
I never got the Grimes hype (a bit too bubblegummy) but was never an Animal Collective fan, too.
The Elton John album was ok but didn't leave anything memorable behind, Janet at least had a few hits.
And the other block ... lets say My Morning Jacket got my vote because at least it didn't cause head ache.
... After Robs long text I gave Ravi Shankar a new chance, and just skipped the first few tracks. Now it works much better for me

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 1:51 pm
by Rob
rumpdoll wrote:By the way, am I the only one or does the singer sound very much like Michael Stipes?
You are not the only one. I was going to mention the same thing in my review, but you beat me to it.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 6:33 pm
by Rdwdbob
SECTION 25 - FROM THE HIP (mainly because I was not able to listen to much of the mutton birds in the states)

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 7:38 pm
by Madzong
Here is a review of the Mutton Birds 'Salty' album which listens to songs:

https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/prog ... irds-salty

It isn't the whole album but gives a good overview.

Below are the four singles from the album below.

Here is Anchor Me:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kPIhhqM4b4s

Heater:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lceOrRb2zn8

Dominion Road:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PfdvAVkg1X0

Ngaire:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qKQ1LxKSAgo

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 10:18 pm
by jamieW
Grimes - Art Angels
Janet Jackson - janet
Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends

Unfortunately, it seems I've exhausted my options for listening to The Mutton Birds. I signed up for Deezer, but it's not letting me listen unless I upgrade to "Premium." Looks like I might have to skip the final pairing, so I'll post my votes for the others now.

I'm still trying to get into a few artists that have passed me by over the years. (Boredoms is probably the best example: I still feel I should like them and can't figure out why I don't.) However, at this stage of my life, I'm quite comfortable giving up on Animal Collective ...

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 10:21 am
by Rob
So, before I posted this I had to check the top 200 artists on AM to confirm a suspicion I had. Indeed: my two least favorite artists of those 200 are Janet Jackson and Animal Collective. Imagine my annoyance – no, make that fear – when Brad, in his infinite cruelty, decided to unleash both on me in one single week. And last week we had such a great start! Perhaps listening to these artists again made me appreciate them more?

Wishful-thinking. No, I did not like Sung Tongs and janet. I am very much for being honest about what you like and don’t like and why, so both reviews of the albums are honest reflections, but if you don’t like reading too much negativity on either of them, you should probably skip them.

8. Animal Collective – Sung Tongs
Pretty much all kids get a lot of fun out of making silly sounds. Also, many kids, when wanting to get attention scream and shout or make other noises that won’t be ignored. Listening to Sung Tongs today I was struck by the notion that the general sound of the album is based around these childish sounds. So perhaps your appreciation of this one (and much of Animal Collective’s other output) depends on your tolerance for the less inhibited noise output by kids. My tolerance for it is very low.
This album is a terrorist attack on my nerves for almost it’s complete 55 minutes. As per usual, the Collective use a conventional pop song structure as their basis and then overlay it with every annoying sound they can think of, creating a sort of clusterf*ck of guttering, bubbling, splashing, spitting, slurping, clicking, clacking, cracking, croaking, wailing, shouting, screaming and whatever you would like to call the sonic crime that is Avey Tare’s voice. Is it experimental? Maybe, but to me it is mostly grating, the musical equivalent of someone scraping off your skin with a cheese slicer. At least once every five seconds they produce a sound that makes me want to punch my Bluetooth speaker in retaliation. Not in the least because I cannot abide sound of slurping in real life.
I was surprised to learn that fans of this album see it as a feel-good album, something I never would have guessed. Maybe this is because it reminds them of the play of children. I guess I’m not a kids person.

7. Janet Jackson - janet.
Yes, I have criticized Janet Jackson enough on this forum, but what am I to do if she keeps popping up in games like these, where I have decided to review every album I come across?
No, I did not like this album. It captures everything what befuddles me so about her status. When listening to janet. I have the feeling that there simply is nothing there. Most of these tracks have less presence than the average piece of elevator music and are certainly less fun. With Jackson I only rarely hear something resembling a melody. Her voice has neither power nor character and adds nothing to the music. When something does seem to happen it is usually for the worse. So Throb may have a noticeable hook, but damn is it a bad song. Ironically, the song that works best as a pop song is what was originally a hidden track: Whoops Now. That sounds like a throw-away Spice Girls song and manages to be the worst thing here.
Or is it? Is it worse to be annoying or to be a vacuum? That question came to mind thanks to these three songs that follow each other: Where Are You Now, The Body That Loves You and the seven minute Any Place, Any Time (of course with interludes in between them, because this is the nineties). These three songs are so soft, have so little forward momentum, have so little happening that they seem to specifically be designed to lull me to sleep. In a rare act of self-awareness she follows these three songs with the question: “Are you still up?”, followed by “Sweet Dreams”…
That’s not all, because this is a R&B album of the 1990’s, which means that it lasts for 75 minutes! That’s probably the longest anyone ever took to say absolutely nothing. Now you might want to point out to me that Janet Jackson did have something to say, as she wanted to make a statement about her gender and especially on her own sexuality. Yes, it’s there in the lyrics (which are hardly poetry), but because she brings them with such a total lack of urgency or personality I don’t get the feeling that these themes are really important to her. And that is the heart of my problem with Janet Jackson: she never gives me anything to make me think she cares. Why is she making music? Even worse artists give me the feeling they are performing for a reason.
All right, just like The Velvet Rope had one good song in Together, this one has This Time, which does actually feel alive. But it’s too little on such a long album.

6. The Mutton Birds – Salty
The second time I listened to this one was on a bright Sunday morning. That’s how it probably works best. The singer might sound like Michael Stipe, but these guys are mostly a subdued version of their contemporary countrymen Crowded House. Gentle pop that doesn’t get itself worked up too much, but always sounds pleasing to the ears. It’s always pleasant to listen to and every now and then they stumble upon a truly good tune or write some interesting lyrics. For the most part, though, it is nothing more than pleasant and maybe the length allows for too much filler. Still, songs like The Heater, In My Room, There’s a Limit and Anchor Me (the only one that sounds like an actual R.E.M. song), make this worth a listen.

5. Section 25 – From the Hip
From 1984, this is still a rather early electronic dance record, in the style of New Order. No surprise there, as New Order’s own Bernard Sumner was producing this record. The drums on Program for Light sound very much like on Blue Monday. Luckily this isn’t all derivative work and it still sounds quite fresh 35 years later. What helps is the variety of sounds here. While keeping things firmly rooted in the electronic stylings of the day, there are various moods here, opening with the magisterial The Process and ending with the uplifting Inspiration and going through some other motions, of which I liked the dark Beneath the Blade the most. From the Hilltop is the classic here, although I was unfamiliar with it. That’s a fine track for the dancefloor, but not my personal highlight.

4. Grimes – Art Angels
I have heard this album a few times now, but haven’t quite made up my mind about it. In a way it captures my mixed feelings about Grimes, in that at this very moment it feels like it captures Grimes in flux (of course, in a way every album captures an artist in development, but let’s not get into such things now). I liked Visions a lot, clearly more so than Art Angels. That one put me in a sort of dreamworld, twisted into Grimes’ alternately dark and peppy vision. By the time Art Angels arrived, much of the dream had left and the word ‘peppy’ was moving towards ‘poppy’. Recently she released the single We Appreciate Power, a clichés and in my opinion not particularly well executed pop song that missed every unique spark of the Grimes of Visions. If that is the road she is going to take (and since We Appreciate Power is going to be on her new album that is likely her road) than indeed Art Angels marks the intersection of arty Grimes and pop Grimes.
But does it capture the best of both worlds? Not quite. I need to say here that I don’t dislike a single song on Art Angels. All of them are at least worth a listen. Still, I feel there are only a few real highlights. I wish the whole album was as freakish and hell-bent as Kill V. Maim, my favorite Grimes song up till now (a complete album like that would really be something unique). And there is the run Realiti > World Princess II > Venus Fly, in which I finally feel like I am getting back into the world of Grimes. But most of the album sounds like a bit too poppy for me. Just a little more idiosyncratic than normal radio affair, but not enough to really grab my attention. Flesh Without Blood and California are usually seen as standouts, but I don’t think they are all that interesting.
We’ll see were Grimes will go from here. I’m not as confident that she will be the daring, leading voice that some forumers here are happy to already to declare her, but Art Angels is still worth the attention, even if I don’t consider it a masterpiece in the end.

3. My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
Z by My Morning Jacket is one of those albums that has already made at least two appearances in Moderately Acclaimed Albums, including last year. I like that album a lot, but I never went further into My Morning Jacket’s discography. Evil Urges is the follow-up to Z, not counting live album Okonokos. Whereas Z was very uniform in style and substance, Evil Urges sounds more like the guys of My Morning Jacket had a big discussion about where to go next with their sound. Instead of making a choice, they decided to put all options into one album. There a big sprawl of sounds and styles here and it is a small miracle that it all works together so well. I mean, Highly Suspicious sounds exactly like a Prince song, including in vocals, but still it somehow finds a place between the more country- and rock-like songs that make up the bulk of the album.
What makes this album mostly though is simply good songwriting. These people were on the top of their game and just knew how to make a memorable tune, with appealing singing and some good lyrics. It’s more expert craftmanship than deep inspiration, but that is not a bad thing here. There are a few real gems on Evil Urges, especially the title track, Sec Walkin’ and personal favorite Librarian. And there are no weak tracks. I certainly would like to here this again in the coming rounds, but sadly it’s competitor is even a little better.

2. Ravi Shankar – Shankar Family and Friends
Ravi Shankar gets his family and friend over to make some great music together. The first part of the album isn’t even all that great. Admittedly, part of that is that the particular way of singing by Indian women sounds rather shrill to me and just doesn’t have any appeal to me. I’m equally not particularly fond of such overly religious lyrics as you find on I Am Missing You, which appears in two variations here. The playing on these early songs is good, though.
The album really gets on a higher plain in it’s second half, structured as Dream, Nightmare & Dawn. There still seems a religious element here (although perhaps it’s just my Western ears that immediately interpret Indian sitar sounds as spiritual), but here it is almost completely played out in instrumentals. The playing is deep and highly skilled. Besides, the idea to play around with dream, nightmare and dawn allows for a lot of variety. Festivity & Joy feels exactly like that; it is a surprisingly giddy track. In the following Love, Dance Ecstasy, this giddiness becomes, well, ecstatic and a little wild. Things take a turn for the dark after that, but eventually we get to the well-named Awakening, where chants and a slower pace bring you back to Earth, or send you to some Hindu heaven. The final track seems to start a new circle, even if the title suggests more of a real ending.
So the first few songs have their moments, but my vote is more based on the second part, which is longer anyway and functions as a sort of mystic concept album. Great discovery!

1. Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
I’m rather big on Elton John during his classic early seventies period and this album is no exception. Some even say it was his last hurrah before devolving into a self-parody. Perhaps, although there are still later tracks that I love. Regardless, this is a good record although one I had to get used to initially. Someone Saved My Life Tonight is one Elton’s best songs, with that wonderful moody piano line, but otherwise these tracks tend to be less immediate than we are used to with Elton. The album itself was a big success, but it is not particularly known for its hits (I long thought that Philadelphia Freedom was part of the original album, but it was a later bonus track). Yet after listening to this album more and more it did show there is a lot of magic happening. More subtle, more lived in than Elton usually presents us, in the end it becomes very rewarding. And sneakily, there are some earworm after all.

A simpler overview of my votes:

1. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs vs. Grimes - Art Angels
2. Janet Jackson - janet vs. Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
3. Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends vs. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
4. The Mutton Birds - Salty vs. Section 25 - From the Hip

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 12:01 pm
by Sweepstakes Ron
http://red-mp3.me/album/1728084/salty.html

Here's a link for Salty. Apparently, the UK release slightly changed the running order compared to the NZ release, and the above link is in the UK order.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 6:43 pm
by Brad
My picks:

1. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs vs. Grimes - Art Angels
2. Janet Jackson - janet vs. Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
3. Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends vs. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
4. The Mutton Birds - Salty vs. Section 25 - From the Hip

Thanks!

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 12:57 am
by Sweepstakes Ron
1. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs vs. Grimes - Art Angels
2. Janet Jackson - janet vs. Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
3. Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends vs. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
4. The Mutton Birds - Salty vs. Section 25 - From the Hip

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:55 am
by Brad
12 hours left to vote!

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 9:19 am
by PlasticRam
2. Janet Jackson - janet vs. Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
3. Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends vs. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:00 pm
by Brad
19 total voters this week:
Bang Jan
bonnielaurel
Brad
CupOfDreams
DaveC
FrankLotion
Honorio
jamieW
Jirin
Listyguy
madzong
Nassim
PlasticRam
Rdwdbob
Rob
rumpdoll
spiritualized
StevieFan13
Sweepstakes Ron

Winners:
1. Grimes - Art Angels over Animal Collective - Sung Tongs 18-0
2. Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy over Janet Jackson - janet 9-8
3. Ravi Shankar - Shankar Family and Friends over My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges 10-6
4. Section 25 - From the Hip over The Mutton Birds - Salty 9-6

Round 1.3 up soon!

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:01 pm
by Sweepstakes Ron
Wow, I was expecting a sure win for Grimes, but not a complete shutout! Where were all the AnCo fans this week?

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:13 pm
by PlasticRam
Sweepstakes Ron wrote:Wow, I was expecting a sure win for Grimes, but not a complete shutout! Where were all the AnCo fans this week?
I might've been one cos Sung Tongs is now on my all-time list, but I'm still not listening to Art Angels cos of the cover. Maybe if it does really well in the tournament, I will.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:16 pm
by Brad
Sweepstakes Ron wrote:Wow, I was expecting a sure win for Grimes, but not a complete shutout! Where were all the AnCo fans this week?
Yeah, that was a bit of a stunner. The nominator was "starchman46" - haven't seen that name around since. Either way, I think several of us (I include myself) are pretty big fans of AC but like Art Angels just a bit more than Sung Tongs. I think a blowout of that proportion - especially in the top tier - is unprecedented here.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 4:44 pm
by Listyguy
PlasticRam wrote:
Sweepstakes Ron wrote:Wow, I was expecting a sure win for Grimes, but not a complete shutout! Where were all the AnCo fans this week?
I might've been one cos Sung Tongs is now on my all-time list, but I'm still not listening to Art Angels cos of the cover. Maybe if it does really well in the tournament, I will.
I guess you don't believe in "never judge a book by its cover" then?

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:20 pm
by PlasticRam
Listyguy wrote:
PlasticRam wrote:
Sweepstakes Ron wrote:Wow, I was expecting a sure win for Grimes, but not a complete shutout! Where were all the AnCo fans this week?
I might've been one cos Sung Tongs is now on my all-time list, but I'm still not listening to Art Angels cos of the cover. Maybe if it does really well in the tournament, I will.
I guess you don't believe in "never judge a book by its cover" then?
I'm sure it's a great album, but I literally can't stand to look at the cover. My fear is that I'll like it and then I have to put it on my all-time list. But I think I'm just gonna write 'Grimes - Art Angels' on RYM and not have the cover showing in that case.

Edit: I'm actually gonna listen to it now. Will report my findings.

Edit: Okay the cover is not quite as bad as I remembered. Still gonna censor it though.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 6:26 pm
by PlasticRam
Okay, so I liked it enough to put it on my all-time list. 641st. Sung Tongs is 318th.

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/galfond/ ... st-albums/

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 8:24 pm
by FrankLotion
Sweepstakes Ron wrote:Wow, I was expecting a sure win for Grimes, but not a complete shutout! Where were all the AnCo fans this week?
Personally I’ve always loved Sung Tongs, I think it’s their best from their kooky early albums! For me I think it was just an unfortunate matchup, I think Art Angels’ acclaim is more or less justified and I end up having a blast every time I hear it so it was an easy pick

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 10:45 pm
by Safetycat
I could make a joke about being Salty but honestly I'm just happy to have people enjoying some of the Mutton Bird's work. Definitely recommend their other albums and really everything else Don McGlashan has done (Blam Blam Blam and The Front Lawn, and some solo work).

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:49 am
by Rob
I knew people loved Grimes beyond the usual here, but this is still a pretty extreme result. I'm not sure if this is an indicator, but she might be a better candidate for winning this poll than I initially thought.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 10:36 am
by Madzong
Safetycat wrote:I could make a joke about being Salty but honestly I'm just happy to have people enjoying some of the Mutton Bird's work. Definitely recommend their other albums and really everything else Don McGlashan has done (Blam Blam Blam and The Front Lawn, and some solo work).
Agreed. All three of those bands come recommended from me also. Don McGlashan is definitely an important (if somewhat underrated) figure in Kiwi music.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 10:44 am
by Madzong
Art Angels is pretty good listening. I only discovered it a couple of years ago. I hadn't listened to it for a while but hearing it again makes me remember why it is so good. I haven't really got into Animal Collective (god knows I've tried) but Sung Tongs didn't really do much for me. Merriweather was a better album but I still find it to be a bit challenging and not an easy listen - and that's their most acclaimed (and accessible?) album.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:07 pm
by spiritualized
PlasticRam wrote:Okay, so I liked it enough to put it on my all-time list. 641st. Sung Tongs is 318th.

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/galfond/ ... st-albums/
Wow.
I am really curious how you can be THAT precise.
How do you find that it's a bit better than number 642 but not good enough to pass number 640 ?

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 9:46 am
by PlasticRam
spiritualized wrote:
PlasticRam wrote:Okay, so I liked it enough to put it on my all-time list. 641st. Sung Tongs is 318th.

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/galfond/ ... st-albums/
Wow.
I am really curious how you can be THAT precise.
How do you find that it's a bit better than number 642 but not good enough to pass number 640 ?
Usually if something is just good enough to put to my all-time list, I put it to the end. In this case I had just listened to Evil Urges and I thought Art Angels was slightly better.

Edit: Now I re-listened to Evil Urges and thought it was more like 3.5 stars than 4 stars so removed it from my list so whatever.

Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2019 - Round 1.2

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:16 pm
by Nassim
I have an Animal Collective album in my top 30, another in my top 100 and a third in my top 200, but Sung Tongs is neither of those.
Art Angels is in my top 100 too, higher than Strawberry Jam, that was a tough match up.