Okay, time to alienate some more potential voters by talking about their mix!
Delima
QOTSA—I’ve made it pretty clear that I’m not a big QOTSA fan. Of everything of theirs I think I’ve heard, I like this the least, though I do like the way the music in the verses drifts up your spine
Afghan Whigs – A bit of a disconnect for me between how heavy the music was and the singer—I feel like he couldn’t keep up. Too bad, cuz some parts of this song were a little bad ass. Overall this was decent.
Death From Above 1979 – This is one of the odder band names I’ve ever heard. Brash and confrontational in a way that feels vaguely immature or whiny. Then again, I tend to shy away from this kind of stuff.
Kendrick Lamar—I am anticipating disliking based on the first 10 seconds of the video. Actually this was better than I expected. The song seemed to bounce back and forth between moments I liked and moments I found kinda irritating. Also, I’d think that a swimming pool of liquor would actually be really unpleasant to swim in.
Sean Wheeler—This didn’t get a careful enough listen to really pick up on lyrics, which will have to be what sells the song. The singer was pleasant but not particularly remarkable, and the music provides a nice lazy background, but there needs to be something strong n the foreground. So this is a hard one to judge.
Radiohead—I was pretty unimpressed with KoL. I listened to it about 3-4 times when it came out and then totally forgot about it. SO I have no recollection of this song. I’m kinda bored with Thom Yorke at this point, but if I wasn’t I can see this song being really cool. As is this was a nice moment to rediscover. It’s not enough to make me go back to KoL, but if this came up on a Radiohead mix I certainly wouldn’t skip the song. By the end I was pretty into it. Easily the highlight of the mix so far, though looking ahead this ends fairly strong.
Mark Lanegan—I know you’re a bigger fan of this song and this album than I am, but I’m pretty sure you had the chance to take Mescalito, and if you didn’t, you should have just taken Leviathan (I’m stunned you didn’t, actually). This is a good song, but he has much better, and it’s hard not to judge this against other stuff that could have been taken. Still, at least with me, a little Lanegan will go a long way.
Pearl jam—see my comments for Mark Lanegan. This was a nice enough little song idea, but it never felt fully fleshed out to me. I would have rather seen something from Lightning Bolt, or at least Cold Confession, which is significantly better.
Black Keys-I wasn’t familiar with this one. I really liked the first minute or so. Once the song got loud I lost interest. The guitars sounded a bit too thin, and the singer was less interested once he started belting over the noise.
Soundgarden—This was one of my favorite songs on the new record. Nice pick.
This started out like a fairly bland mix, but picked up quite a bit in the back half. I’m surprised to say this, but the radiohead song may have been the highlight of the mix. I probably like the pearl jam, lanegan, and soundgarden songs more, but they aren’t personal favorites, and the radiohead number was a nice surprise.
Mynabirds – Wolf Mother is okay. In general I think the loud clangy brass siren vibe of this album doesn’t play to Laura Burhenn’s strengths (although the music is very good). And if you were gonna go with a song from Generals it should have been Generals! Still, this is decent, and I’d probably like it more if it wasn’t grappling with my expectations for what I want them to sound like. It’s been a while since I heard this, and the distance has already made me like this more.
St. Vincent—this is probably the song I like the least from this album. I think the music is irritating, and the ‘bring me your loves…’ part is even more annoying. For whatever reason this song just grates on me.
Florence and the Machine: I have no idea who this is. This song has 36 million youtube hits. Good song. I would have said really good song but I wasn’t a huge fan of the chorus, though it grew on me by the end. Kinda reminds me of Annie Lennox. Possibly my favorite thing on this mix
Fiona Apple—there are other songs on this album I like more, but this is still pretty good
PJ Harvey—Wow, she’s really let herself go. Oh wait, that wasn’t her. I’ve tried to get into her. There are some songs I like quite a bit, and a lot that just pass me by. I dug the crazy vibe on this one
Lily and Madeline—This was a very pretty song.
HoneyHoney—I probably would have liked this a bit more if it was a bit less countrified. It wasn’t bad, but this has been a pretty strong mix, and I’d put this second up from the bottom after the St. Vincent song.
Civil Wars—I wasn’t familiar with them. An earthy haunting feel to this song that I liked. I was a fan, although there were a lot of moments that sounded like ‘Dead or Alive’ or ‘Blaze of Glory’
Decemeberists—this was decent but not as good as that one decemberists song I really liked from that last tournament.
Tom Waits – This is one of my favorite tom waits songs. Good job!
A lot of the highlights here were songs/artists I didn’t know or songs I wasn’t familiar with. PJ Harvey, Lily and Madeline, Civil Wars, and Florence and the Machine were all nice finds. And New Years Eve is spectacular. My favorite thing on either mix.
DcT takes this one. Pretty strong mix from top to bottom, plus New Years Eve
All teams had songs that I didn't care for. These were either really good or tolerable.
I got bugs
1. The black keys - weight of love
2. Queens of the Stone Age - Like Clockwork
4. Thee oh sees - toe cutter thumb buster
6. Royal blood - out of the black
9. Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Star or Stone
bada
1. Broken Bells - The High Road
3. Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine
4. Soundgarden - A Thousand Days Before
5. Mastodon - Dry Bone Valley
6. Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise
8. Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood - Mescalito
DeLima
1. Queens of the Stone Age - I Appear Missing
3. DFA 1979 - Government Trash
5. Sean Wheeler & Zander Schloss - Song about Songs
6. Radiohead - Give up the Ghost
7. Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood - Death Rides a White Horse
8. Pearl Jam - Falling Down
9. The Black Keys - Little Black Submarines
10. Soundgarden - Rowing
Durdencommatyler
1. The Mynabirds - Wolf Mother
3. Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out
5. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
6. Lily & Madeleine - Devil We Know
7. HoneyHoney - Don't Know How
8. The Civil Wars - The One That Got Away
9. The Decemberists - Burying Davy
I'm glad you included mescalito, but you forgot New Years Eve!
All teams had songs that I didn't care for. These were either really good or tolerable.
I got bugs
1. The black keys - weight of love
2. Queens of the Stone Age - Like Clockwork
4. Thee oh sees - toe cutter thumb buster
6. Royal blood - out of the black
9. Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Star or Stone
bada
1. Broken Bells - The High Road
3. Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine
4. Soundgarden - A Thousand Days Before
5. Mastodon - Dry Bone Valley
6. Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise
8. Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood - Mescalito
DeLima
1. Queens of the Stone Age - I Appear Missing
3. DFA 1979 - Government Trash
5. Sean Wheeler & Zander Schloss - Song about Songs
6. Radiohead - Give up the Ghost
7. Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood - Death Rides a White Horse
8. Pearl Jam - Falling Down
9. The Black Keys - Little Black Submarines
10. Soundgarden - Rowing
Durdencommatyler
1. The Mynabirds - Wolf Mother
3. Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out
5. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
6. Lily & Madeleine - Devil We Know
7. HoneyHoney - Don't Know How
8. The Civil Wars - The One That Got Away
9. The Decemberists - Burying Davy
I'm glad you included mescalito, but you forgot New Years Eve!
That might be because I like Lanegan and don't really care for Waits. Hmmm.
It was between Death Rides a White Horse and Leviathan.
You're just wrong about this song stip. DRAWH is a high point for Lanegan in the last few years. I'd be interested in other tourney members' thoughts on the song.
Off Black Pudding, I'd take DRAWH and Pentecostal over Mescalito. Not shitting on Mescalito though.
I actually have really grown to love the album as a full listen. Tracks like Last Rung, Sphinx and the instrumentals really grow on you if you have the time to listen straight through in a relaxed mood.
