After many weeks of toil, we have arrived at the promised land, a mere 15 matches from crowning a champion. Each of the remaining songs had to battle through four opponents to make it this far. From this point on, few contests will be easy. We ask you to buckle down, give every song its fair due, and deliver your praise and scorn as you see fit.
Please note that we have “re-racked” the final sixteen songs based on their averages throughout the opening rounds. Yes, now you see how that obscure first round vote in a blow-out still had an impact. For example, “Little Lion Man” averaged nearly an 8.0 through the first four rounds, and will be the #1 seed from hereon out. In contrast, “Sprawl II” barely averaged a 6.5, and will be the #16 seed. Despite the statistical nature of the match-ups, they ended up highly intra-genre appropriate.
The Grooveshark link to today’s matches are here. Vote by commenting below before 8pm (EST) this Wednesday. The second set of songs will go live tomorrow night. Now is the perfect time to rope in that roommate/co-worker/significant other who has been spending the tournament on the sidelines listening in. Happy listening!
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire)
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell)
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces)
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes)
P.S Dogs Days was playing at a dive bar I frequent on Saturday night. I tried to explain to the bartender that it had just made the Sweet 16, and his puzzled smile reminded me of the importance of a good elevator pitch.
P.P.S Thank you to Danno for the re-rack calculations.
P.P.S In case you’re wondering about those early comments, us organizers had a miscommunication about the seeding system. We’ve been all good since about 10pm Monday.
Living the Dream 
No link…
Woops, forgot to press “update”! Hopefully it works now.
Thank you!
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire): 10/4.5
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell): 9.99 (that was actually for this song)/7.5
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces): 7/1
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes):6/6.1
What happened?
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire): 10/4.5
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell): 9.99 (that was actually for this song)/7.5
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces): 7/1
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes):6/6.1
Chris,
When Dan re-racked, he was using only Round of 32 scores, whereas we had intended to use averages from the first four rounds. As you can see, that led to minor discrepancies as to where each song was seeded. Thanks for re-voting!
-Janos
Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) — 8
Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) — 4
Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) — 8
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) — 5.5
Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) — 4
Ooh La La (The Faces) — 7
Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) — 7.5
Someday (The Strokes) — 5
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire): 10; 5
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell): 8.8; 8.5
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces): 9.7; 8.9
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes): 9; 7.4
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) – 8
vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) – 9.25
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) – 9.5
vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) – 7.75
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) – 8
vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces) – 8.5
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) – 8.5
vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes) – 8.75
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire)5;6
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell)4;5
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces)4;3
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes)6;5
gosh, someone is a tough cookie. lowest scores everrrrr.
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) – 8.6 – i have never heard this song before, and i dig it
#16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) – 9.5 – this is serious, the score started high and just went up, i didn’t know this song was this song…
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) – 6 – not quite in the mood
#9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) – 6.5
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) – 7.5 – +1 because i was there when the bartender looked kindly blank
#12 Ooh La La (The Faces) – 6.96
#13 Someday (The Strokes) – 6.5
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) – 6.9
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) 5
#16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) 4
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) 6
#9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) 7
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) 6.5
#12 Ooh La La (The Faces) 8 – Bonus point for Rushmore!
Max: I like your nurse’s uniform
Lame doctor: These are O.R. scrubs.
Max: *Oh, are* they?
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) 7
#13 Someday (The Strokes) 8
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons): 9
#16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire): 8
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson): 8.5
#9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell): 6.5
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine): 5
#12 Ooh La La (The Faces): 8.5
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros): 7
#13 Someday (The Strokes): 6
Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) 9.5
Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) 2.5
Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) 6.5
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) 7.5
Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) 8
Ooh La La (The Faces) 6.5
Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) 8
Someday (The Strokes) 7
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) 3 vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) 8 Really digging the Tangerine Dream effect on Sprawl. Reminds me of the Risky Business soundtrack.
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) 7 vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) 8
Ain’t No Mountain definitely deserves a condolence bump after Nick Ashford’s passing. Gotta pay your respects…
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) 6 vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces) 10
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) 3 vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes) 7
I learned this weekend that whil Home is fun and catchy, it’s a horrible song to have stuck in your head.
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire)
7.7 : 9.5 Little Lion Man is the heavy favorite, obviously, and it is a good song. I tip my hat to Regine, whose vocals carried Arcade Fire deeper in this tournament than Win Butler’s did last time.
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell)
9.2: 7.1
Higher and Higher sounds better every listen. It just seems hipper than Marvin, if that’s possible. Actually, this is probably one of Marvin’s least hip songs- compare it to his “What’s Goin’ In” phase.
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces)
7.5 : 7.3
Even though part of me says that Ooh La La is a poor man’s Maggie May, it is a pretty and well-written song. As for Dog Days, it’s growing on me incrementally. Powerful musically, but what’s the message? The dog days are over? Ok.
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes)
7.6 : 8.8
This last match-up is tough. Home is a feel-good song, but it’s just running out of steam for me. Someday hasn’t run out of steam ever, and it’s been 10 years and counting. Tables, they turn sometimes.
If there were ever a weekend that I rued not having internet at home, it was this weekend. This whole rerack mix-up is my fault, I never explained to anyone else how to exactly do it and then got sick. Also I prepped this whole spreadsheet to do those song graphs I normally do, and then never finished it. And never finished my posts about the triathlon.
And now for my next trick, I’m scoring these songs on how well my fever-addled head can deal with them here in my lovely office with the lights off and a 64 ounce Gatorade to my left. Apologies to the averages in advance.
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) 5
#16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) 5.5
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) 7
#9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) 5.6
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) 4
#12 Ooh La La (The Faces) 9 (thank you Ron Wood for not making my head explode)
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) 6.5
#13 Someday (The Strokes) 5
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire): 5.5/8.0
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell): 6.0/4.0
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces): 8.5/5.0
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes): 7.0/9.5
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) – 4/8.5
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) – 7/8 (RIP Nick Ashford)
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces) – 7/7
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes) 3.5 (getting really sick of this song)/7
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) [8]
#16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) [7.5]
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) [7.25]
#9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) [6.5]
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) [8.75]
#12 Ooh La La (The Faces) [7]
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) [8.5]
#13 Someday (The Strokes) [7.75]
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) 6.5
#16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) 9
The vote here comes from Sprawl II being on the third stellar album from a band. I’ve also played Little Lion Man waaaaaaaay to much since last fall. Viva la resistance!
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) 7
#9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) 6
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) 7.5
#12 Ooh La La (The Faces) 7.5
Ack, I am such a coward.
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) 8
#13 Someday (The Strokes) 7.5
Home vs. Dog Days? Last summer’s playlist on repeat.
I originally had 7.5 to 7.5 for Flo v. Faces too! I also considered a tie, but it’s too late in the game for that, so I listened to both again.
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) – 7.7
#16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) – 9.3
Listened to these songs as I walked in the rain to catch the bus home from the first day of classes for this semester. It was a lovely walk, I am in a great mood. I really enjoyed both these songs, but Sprawl II just felt so much more powerful to me today.
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) – 8.2
#9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) – 6
Higher and Higher just felt so right today! Woot.
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) – 7.6
#12 Ooh La La (The Faces) – 9
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) – 7.2
#13 Someday (The Strokes) – 6
I do love Home, but at this point, I wish that we were listening to the version with out the talking in the middle. I’m over that story already! So the score is def dropping from previous rounds. But. The Strokes just don’t do it for me.
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire)
9.5/5
I like Mumford & Sons more with each listen and I am STILL not cool enough to get Arcade Fire.
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell)
6.5/8
Tough one.
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces)
8/6.5
Another tough one.
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes)
9.5/7
I can listen to Home over & over (and in fact I do). And I sing it with my mom. And sometimes I sing the duet, both parts, loudly when I’m alone in the car. I’ve always liked Someday but I never have a capella driveway moments singing duets of it with myself after I’ve turned my car off.
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) 6.8
#16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) 7.5
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) 9.6
#9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) 4.5
[I have no idea how people are scoring these so closely. If I get more time I’ll explain why, but finals beckon.]
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) 6.8
#12 Ooh La La (The Faces) 7.2
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) 9.3 [God, I hate this song/band. In theory. Overplayed to the point of exhaustion, and yet, everytime I hear it I’m like- that’s a great song. If it can do that, it truly is nothing short of extraordinary.]
#13 Someday (The Strokes) 7.0 [again, overplayed. But today, I just really liked it. I’ve given it low scores before- today it was right on.]
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) = 9.5
vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) = 7
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) = 8
vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) = 9
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) = 8
vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces) = 7
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) = 7.5
vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes) = 7
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) 7.0 to 3.0
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) 7.0 to 9.3
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces) 8.0 to 3.0
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes) 2.0 to 6.0
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) 8.5 to 2.0
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) 7.5 to 8.0
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces) 7.5 to 2.0
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes) 6.5 to 3.0
There are no awards for mediocrity.
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) = 8
vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) = 4
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) = 7
vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) = 6
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) = 5
vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces) = 7
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) = 9
vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes) = 7.5
Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) — 7.5
Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) — 6.5
Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) — 9.5
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) — 7.5 (one of my favorite basslines of all time – James Jamerson was a beast and Marvin was the only person to ever credit him on a record…unfortunately for Marvin, he also played bass on Higher and Higher)
Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) — 5
Ooh La La (The Faces) — 6
Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) — 6
Someday (The Strokes) — 9
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) – 7/5
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) 8/5
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces) 7/8.5
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes) 8.5/4
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) 7.5/7
Wasn’t liking Little Lion Man as much as I have some days and wasn’t as underwhelmed by Sprawl II as I have been either.
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) 4/8
Same scores as last round.
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces) 10/3
Also the same scores as last round.
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes) 4/8.5
Home (for me) is one of those songs that everyone loves for a year or so because it’s got a different sound and yet connects with the mainstream, but then most people will have completely forgotten about in 3-5 years.The example that popped into my head was The Soggy Bottom Boys and the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack.
It’s been 10 years and I listened to Someday in 2001 and I listen to it in 2011.
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) = 7.5
vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) = 6
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) = 7
vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) = 9.8
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) = 5
vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces) = 6
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) = 5
vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes) = 7.5
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) 10 / 9.5
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) 5 / 4.9
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces) 9 / 4
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes) 9.5 / 6
omg omg omg i almost forgot to vote omg!!
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) – 9.8
#16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) – 9.2
damn, these are both brilliant songs. i really really love sprawl, but LLM is just closer to perfection. it must be the banjo.
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson)
#9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell)
(skipping due to lack of time & anticipated indifference… boo)
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) – 8.1
#12 Ooh La La (The Faces) – 5
the back & forth on the headphones in DDAO was making me a bit dizzy. OLL is so average.
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes)
(ran out of time for this one too… damn.)
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) 6.8
#16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) 4.5
Sprawl was about a 6 through the first couple minutes, but it never got me over the top of the hill, and instead slid back down.
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) 4
#9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) 10
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) 8
#12 Ooh La La (The Faces) 4.5
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) 7
#13 Someday (The Strokes) 5.5
Look, Janos, I made it!
#1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) vs. #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) 8.3/6
#8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) vs. #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) 6/7
#5 Dog Days Are Over (Florence and The Machine) vs. #12 Ooh La La (The Faces) 10/7.5
#4 Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) vs. #13 Someday (The Strokes) 9/6