Red Mosquito

it's gonna be tight listening to the playlists this round, but I'm gonna do my best to get to them. On the Mike/BRL matchup right now

Koop
Bigred
Stip and his kidney stones
Chud

some easy choices here

brett
Miiiiiiiiiiike
stip
delima

except for stip, I expect these to lose this round

dsb1218 wrote:Koop
Bigred
Stip and his kidney stones
Chud

my kidney stones are gone if you want to change your vote.

Heathen wrote:some easy choices here

brett
Miiiiiiiiiiike
stip
delima

except for stip, I expect these to lose this round

the mike/bigred match is gonna be tough for me.

Mike vs. Bigredledbetter

Mike had a mostly laid back and pretty consistent mix in terms of its mood and feel. Hoist That Rag is Tom Waits, but it's not a favorite. I should like th national more than I do and I couldn't listen to the Sirgur Rios video. Mars Volta was awful. The Stevens and Ohia songs were both very pretty, and remind me that i need to check out those artists (I have Illinoise and need to give it another shot). Belle and Sebastian was better the second time around. I may have been more in the mood for that kind of song. I don't know Fleet Foxes but that's a very cool song. Okkervil River seems like a lyrics song, and I'm working while I listen so they didn't get the attention they deserve, but it builds really well. I liked the final song as well.

Overall this was a relaxing and highly listenable mix. A deceptively strong team



BRL: Ryan Adams was better the second time around. Not a big fan, but I see the appeal. Hold Steady is good at what they do, but it's not something I usually go in for. I LOVED that Joshua James song. Maybe my favorite thing I've heard this tournament. You picked one of the few KoL songs I like, but even this one kinda grates this day. His voice feels more affected than interesting. Mighty Rio Grande was a nice piece of background music, but I tend to not go in for these instrumentals as stand alone pieces. Bon Iver had a bigger sound than I usually associate with them. Pretty good song. That wilco song was boring. Probably the weakest thing on your list. Nice solo at the end though. Rebellion is my second favorite song from that album, so nice pick. How many guys are in that band? And was that idiot spazzing around with his toy drum really necessary? The Adele song was pretty, but a bit featureless. And see my standard National comment from Mike.


I think overall I preferred Mike's mix, though the two best songs on either team were with BRL (Pitchfork and Rebellion). I'm voting for Mike for now, but I may revist this. It's REALLY close.

as an aside, I think Arcade Fire is a pretty overrated band, so kudos to everyone for only drafting Arcade Fire songs I like.

brett (one of the more unique teams with songs i like a lot. fireworks, i want the wind to blow, antennas. koopees team is alright to me throughout with the exception of the last two tracks. never liked any Mike Patton projects and that kind of progressive rock townsend plays isn't really my thing.)
myself (every song i picked is just wonderful. let's see if i will be destroyed!)
stip (some songs i really like: i feel it all, gulf shores, the lifting, tymps, long way home. ha, i almost took long way home. it was a decision between hoist that rag and that for me but i went with hoist that rag because i knew my team would be full of slow songs. bugs has an alright team but nothing i love except for lightsabre cocksucking blues. that song owns.)
delima (this was close. chud has some songs i love (Njosnavelin, Extraordinary Machine). i like wilco, radiohead, st. vincent and pearl jam but there are a lot of songs from them i like more than your choices. the tegan & sara and the postal service songs aren't doing anything for me. i didn't know the mark lanegan, soulsavers and twilight singers songs in delimas team but i really liked them all, so thats a first plus. i prefer mogwai to eits and think delimas radiohead and pearl jam picks are better. songs: ohia is always huge plus for me, especially that song. didn't it rain is gorgeous. any other day i might have picked chud's team.)

i really appreciate that you're taking so much time reviewing the teams/voting, stip. i like reading your thoughts even when you hate my mars volta pick.

You're welcome. I wish I could devote more time to each mix and give them more than one listen (well two, sort of, since I listened as we drafted), but there's just so many mixes. And I didn't know the lion's share of stuff drafted.


Stip vs. Bugs

Obviously I'm voting for my team. I was pretty happy with it, though I'm second guessing quite a bit of it. Methamphetamine Blues may not be the best song for the uninitiated, though I love that clanging industrial blues sound, and it was the song on that album I was most obsessed with when the album first came out. Wish You Well or Wedding Dress are songs I like a bit more. Thanksgiving Day Parade is a great song, but an 8 minute song is a lot to ask someone to sit through, especially a lyric heavy song. I agonized over the Dresden Dolls song as well. When no one picks an artist you care about the song needs to do a lot of heavy lifting. Not sure if it was the right one to pick. But Tom Waits was easy. I also thought about Starving in the Belly of a Whale, How's It Gonna End, or All The Time (this was the front runner), but Tom Waits doesn't need help reaching an audience. I went back and forth between WWS and Hard Sun, which were my two favorite things Pearl Jam/Eddie Vedder did this decade. In the end I figured people just like Hard Sun more. Everything else was a fairly easy decision.

Bugs: I liked that TV on the radio song a lot more on my second listen. Probably my favorite thing on this mix. Black Math is the irritating side of the white stripes for me. I don't like Jim James, so a song that showcases his vocals isn't going to do anything for me. But if you like him I bet that song is awesome. Isn't that Eminim song basically the same song as Lose Control? I like Lose Control a bit, and I liked this about the same. Nice Rage pick. With a larger draft I might have taken Renegades of Funk. I'm not a fan of the strokes (or any of the big mainstream bands to come out of the early 2000s). This was okay. Fun Machine was a clever concept in places, but I think the QOTSA is kinda boring most of the time. Clipse Virginia is most of what I don't like about rap, so that didn't do much for me. I'm not sure any song ever had a more appropriate video than the McClusky song.

Oh, I forgot the Tame Impala song. It couldn't quite live up to the promise of that wonderful 70s throwback riff.

I think Bugs and I have pretty different tastes, which showed here.

I should move onto the other mixes, but I think i want to listen to mine now.

also, as an aside, does anyone have a copy of The Crystals - And Then He Kiss Me they could share? I'm putting together a playlist of all my songs, and I don't have that one. The version on itunes I bought is some re-recorded crap.

Brett
Mike
bugs
DeLima

stip wrote:I should move onto the other mixes, but I think i want to listen to mine now.

I've gotten this way a few times when listening through the mixes. Nought wrong with the others, I just really like my mix.

Varis wrote:

stip wrote:I should move onto the other mixes, but I think i want to listen to mine now.

I've gotten this way a few times when listening through the mixes.

My mix will cure this.

Oh, I'm enjoying them all to greater and lesser extents. Your tastes are in the same ballpark as mine so yes, I am looking forward to that listen. Gonna start tonight I think.

Varis wrote:Oh, I'm enjoying them all to greater and lesser extents. Your tastes are in the same ballpark as mine so yes, I am looking forward to that listen. Gonna start tonight I think.

Strangely, I was listening to an edit of your secret mix today.

It was good. very good

finished Delima. Onto chud.

stip wrote:finished Delima. Onto chud.

gross

two great tastes that taste weird together