The Lumineers keeping their head up
All of the songs still alive have defeated two songs in our music tournament- one more stop to the Sweet 16. More critically, every day of songs will have 8 contenders, one of whom will win a spot in the Final Four. This is the spot to start getting your friends voting- the playlists have been vetted twice for solidness. We start things off with this playlist, and votes are due by Tuesday at midnight EST (11 CST, 10 MST, 9 PST), with results to be posted Wednesday morning (so no excuses, Pacific and Mountain Standard Time voters.) Let’s do this.
Match 1: Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise by The Avett Brothers vs. New Direction (Black Lips)
New Direction nominator Orce says: message received but i don’t really have an explanation. i just really like the song. the cadence, her voice, the guitar… it was introduced to me by Janos who got it from Grooveshark auto-suggest, I think.
Match 2: Tightrope (Janelle Monae) vs. Little Talks (Of Monsters And Men)
Tightrope nominator Elizabeth says: Good Music makes you feel something. It seems like such a simple statment but I never really thought about it until someone else said it. That was years ago and I pay more attention to that these days because it turns out that this is true for songs I like the best. Tightrope makes me feel like under no circumstance can I stay still when it is played. I have to dance when it comes on-it’s that simple.
Little Talks nominator (me) says: Icelandic Air is all over this- prominently featured in their July magazine. The video for this one is amazing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghb6eDopW8I) and separately, this song is just good for the soul. The duet- I feel as though this song is a dialogue across time and spaces. “Though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore”- I mean, buy me a ticket, cause I’m going to the big bright moon darling.
Match 3: Pink Moon (Nick Drake) vs. Stubborn Love (The Lumineers)
Pink Moon nominator Joe says: Pink Moon represents fragility. Nobody really knows what the lyrics represent, is it about death, a harvest; is it a foreshadowing of an unfortunate event? Nick never said. Here is what we do know. The entire album was recorded in two nights in two 30-minute sessions. He was an underrated guitarist, and loved strange time signatures, and rhythms. Sadly he suffered from depression and ultimately died after an overdose of antidepressant medication. I’ve always been drawn to a story of a tortured artist; I guess I’m hoping that person finds peace. Nick Drake might not be your slice of pie, but for me he’s the right blend of musicianship, and emotion.
Stubborn Love nominator Tracz says: I love the way the title of this song plays throughout all the verses – anyone who made it through their early twenties had to have a “stubborn love” relationship, and you can hear the back and forth and justifications and refusal to give up as the song progresses. It has pop-appeal but with more real life reference. Plus the fiddle keeps the song moving, with just the right touch of whiny angst underscoring that “it’s better to feel pain than nothing at all, the opposite of love’s indifference.” Boom.
Match 4: Killer Queen (Queen) vs. All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers)
Nominator Salem says: I nominated this song before I had seen the now famous Nike commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONuQ_CeY2mU ), although the commercial is awesome. I like the live version of the song because of the energy level, although admittedly the quality is not as good as the studio original.
“Killer Queen” nominator Michelle says: I don’t need 100 words. Because it’s awesome. That’s three words.
Living the Dream 
Match 1: Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise by The Avett Brothers vs. New Direction (Black Lips) 7.5 – 7
Match 2: Tightrope (Janelle Monae) vs. Little Talks (Of Monsters And Men) 7 – 8.5
Match 3: Pink Moon (Nick Drake) vs. Stubborn Love (The Lumineers) 5 – 7
Match 4: Killer Queen (Queen) vs. All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers) 7.5 –
10 … never gave a 10 before, but my wife just brought my baby by when this song came on and we danced to it and he was cracking up. Lots of fun.
Grant scoring system now on lock down.
Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise (The Avett Brothers) 5.8
New Direction (Black Lips) 6.5
The Avett Brothers song is wearing on me a bit- a little repetitive. New Direction is a ditty, but a decent enough one. Let’s get some energy into the Sweet Sixteen.
Tightrope (Janelle Monae) 6.8
Little Talks (Of Monsters And Men) 9
Tightrope is fun, and there’s a special spot in my heart for songs like this. The breakdown at the end is a little confusing. Little Talks is my surviving nomination, so get ready for some slant- this song is a perfect example of viscera and energy. Maybe its a girl talking to a ghost, maybe its two people talking across an ocean- either way, its a good one.
Pink Moon (Nick Drake) 7
Stubborn Love (The Lumineers) 9.6
Love is stubborn, desperate, and inevitable. If you know a better way to do it, I probably ignored your advice. This song hits home.
Killer Queen (Queen) 5
All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers) 5
Someone else make this call- the prior 6 songs mean something to me, these just seem like the same old. It’ll be different for somebody else.
Head Full of Doubt/ Road Full of Promise (The Avett Brothers) 8
New Direction (Black Lips) 6.5
I really don’t want to like this Avett Brothers song. I really don’t want to like them at all. But I can’t deny the effect this song has on me this morning. The Black Lips aren’t bad, they just don’t match up today.
Tightrope (Janelle Monae) 8
Little Talks (Of Monsters and Men) 6
I love Janelle’s voice.
Pink Moon (Nick Drake) 8.5
Stubborn Love (The Lumineers) 7
I should be voting stronger for my own submission but I like this Lumineers song.
Killer Queen (Queen) 6
All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers) 6
Match 1: Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise by The Avett Brothers vs. New Direction (Black Lips): 6/7
Match 2: Tightrope (Janelle Monae) vs. Little Talks (Of Monsters And Men): 5/7.75
Match 3: Pink Moon (Nick Drake) vs. Stubborn Love (The Lumineers): 5/6.25
Match 4: Killer Queen (Queen) vs. All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers): 9.5/10
I am biased. These songs (multiple versions of All THese Things I’ve Done) get a lot of play in my car.
Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise (The Avett Brothers) – 7.8
New Direction (Black Lips) – 8.8
Tightrope (Janelle Monae) – 8.5 big fan but
Little Talks (Of Monsters And Men) – 10 this song was in my head for days on end
Pink Moon (Nick Drake) – 9
Stubborn Love (The Lumineers) – 8.8
Killer Queen (Queen) – 8.9
All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers) – 9.1
love this playlist!!
New recruits in London tonight!
Scores are Me / Melanie / Jonathan
Head Full of Doubt/ Road Full of Promise (The Avett Brothers) 5 / 6 / 5
New Direction (Black Lips) 6 / 4 / 6
Tightrope (Janelle Monae) 6.5 / 6 / 5
Little Talks (Of Monsters and Men) 9 / 7 / 7
Pink Moon (Nick Drake) 3 / 5 / 6
Stubborn Love (The Lumineers) 8.5 / 5 / 6
Killer Queen (Queen) 8 / 1 / 7
All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers) 4 / 7 / 7
I have just had an argument with Melanie about giving Queen a 1 but I have been shot down. Sorry nominator – Melanie is not a Queen fan. No one shares my disdain for the live version of ATTID – perhaps that’s just a me thing then.
Awesome! Thanks for recruiting, Mark- hope things are well across the pond!
Head Full of Doubts – 6.0 vs New Direction – 4.0 New Direction is simply boring, not that Head Full is a barn burner.
Tightrope – 5.0 vs Little Talks – 6.5 Iceland breeds more interesting music.
Pink Moon – 5.0 vs Stubborn Love 6.5
Killer Queen – 8.5 vs All These Things I’ve Done – 4.5 No explanation is needed. Freddy and the gang have enduring talent most of the rest of these groups are just pretenders.
Me and C
Match 1: Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise by The Avett Brothers vs. New Direction (Black Lips)
6 /4 : 8.5 / 8
Match 2: Tightrope (Janelle Monae) vs. Little Talks (Of Monsters And Men)
7.6 / 7.8 : 7.5 / 6
Match 3: Pink Moon (Nick Drake) vs. Stubborn Love (The Lumineers)
6 / 5 : 8.6 / 6.9
Match 4: Killer Queen (Queen) vs. All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers)
8.3 / 7 : 7 / 8 We kinda canceled each other out there.
Match 1:
6- Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise by The Avett Brothers vs.
5- New Direction (Black Lips)
Couldn’t get into either song this round. I really love the Avett Brothers, but I think the song suffers from dragging on a little long.
Match 2:
8-Tightrope (Janelle Monae) vs.
5- Little Talks (Of Monsters And Men)
After a long day, I think everyone can use some Janelle Monae. Couple that with the fact that Little Talks suffers from what I like to call multiple-personality narrative in a lot of music that has been out lately (fun. in particular). Tell one story or at least link your lyrics in a way that let’s me read into the song. It’s so catchy that I want to love it, but it just bugs me.
Match 3:
7- Pink Moon (Nick Drake) vs.
8- Stubborn Love (The Lumineers)
Two good songs make it hard to choose but I’ll give the edge to The Lumineers for making me feel better after Little Talks disappointed.
Match 4:
9- Killer Queen (Queen) vs.
6- All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers)
I can see the headline now: “Queen Kills the Killers with Killer Rendition of Killer Queen”
Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise (The Avett Brothers) – 6
New Direction (Black Lips) – 6
Tightrope (Janelle Monae) – 6
Little Talks (Of Monsters And Men) – 6
Pink Moon (Nick Drake) – 10
Stubborn Love (The Lumineers) – 6
Killer Queen (Queen) – 6
All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers) – 9
Match 1: Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise by The Avett Brothers vs. New Direction (Black Lips): = 7 to 6.5
Match 2: Tightrope (Janelle Monae) vs. Little Talks (Of Monsters And Men): = 6 to 2.5
Match 3: Pink Moon (Nick Drake) vs. Stubborn Love (The Lumineers): = 9 to 2.5
Match 4: Killer Queen (Queen) vs. All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers): = 8 to 2.5
Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise (The Avett Brothers) – 7.75
New Direction (Black Lips) – 7.25
Tightrope (Janelle Monae) – 8.5
Little Talks (Of Monsters And Men) – 7.5
Pink Moon (Nick Drake) – 7
Stubborn Love (The Lumineers) – 7.5
Killer Queen (Queen) – 7.5
All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers) – 6.75
Head Full of Doubt — 7
New Direction — 6
Tightrope — 7
Little Talks — ugh. I loved this the first few times I heard it. Then it made it to the radio and all I can focus on is the weird stretchy sound effects that remind me of Lighthouse’s Hanging by a Moment. So now…a 5.
Pink Moon — 7
Stubborn Love — 9.5
Killler Queen – 7
ATTID – 8
solid round!
Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise by The Avett Brothers – 8.5
New Direction (Black Lips) – 7
Tightrope (Janelle Monae) – 6
Little Talks (Of Monsters And Men) – 7
Pink Moon (Nick Drake) – 6.5
Stubborn Love (The Lumineers) – 9.5
Killer Queen (Queen) – 5
All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers) – 4
So grateful for the extra time tonight!
Match 1: Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise by The Avett Brothers vs. New Direction (Black Lips) 7/6
Match 2: Tightrope (Janelle Monae) vs. Little Talks (Of Monsters And Men) 5.5/8
Match 3: Pink Moon (Nick Drake) vs. Stubborn Love (The Lumineers) 7.5/8
Match 4: Killer Queen (Queen) vs. All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers) 8/6.5
Head Full of Doubt/ Road Full of Promise (The Avett Brothers) 8
New Direction (Black Lips)
Tightrope (Janelle Monae) 8.8
Little Talks (Of Monsters and Men) 9.5
I think I gave these both 10s the first time I voted…
Pink Moon (Nick Drake) 3.5
Stubborn Love (The Lumineers) 7
Killer Queen (Queen) 5
All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers) 8
Not my favorite Queen song, but my favorite Killers song. The album version would be closer to a 10.