SCORES & UPCOMING GAMES



CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL SCORE: (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 168, (7) Tracy Chapman 159 .......... FINAL FOUR FINAL SCORES: (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 154, (1) Joy Division 90 ..... (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 137, (1) The Cure 89 .......... ELITE EIGHT FINAL SCORES: (1) JOY DIVISION 74, (14) Low 60 ..... (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 85, (1) Elliott Smith 69 ..... THE CURE 65, (2) Radiohead 58 ..... (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 74, (1) Neutral Milk Hotel 44 ..... FINAL SWEET SIXTEEN SCORES: (1) JOY DIVISION 75, (5) PJ Harvey & Nick Cave 24 ..... (14) LOW 73, (2) Concrete Blonde (64) ..... (1) ELLIOTT SMITH 78, (4) Gary Jules 44 ..... (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 74, (6) Kate Bush 53 ..... (1) NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL 54, (13) The Church 49 ..... (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 73, (3) Sinead O’Connor 35 ..... (1) THE CURE 109, (3) Tori Amos 86 ..... (2) RADIOHEAD 76, (6) This Mortal Coil 50 ..... (1) JOY DIVISION 96, (9) Mazzy Star 91 ..... (2) CONCRETE BLONDE 76, (7) Bob Mould 28 ..... (14) LOW 60, (6) Crowded House 51 ..... (5) PJ HARVEY & NICK CAVE 65, (4) Alphaville 38 ..... (1) ELLIOTT SMITH 113, (8) Replacements 88 ..... (6) KATE BUSH 87, (3) Nirvana 64 ..... (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 99, (2) The Eels 62 ..... (3) GARY JULES 103, (12) Morrissey 63 ..... (6) Kate Bush 72, (3) Nirvana 53 ..... (3) SINEAD O'CONNOR 66, (11) Ride 27 ..... (13) THE CHURCH 106, (5) James 44 ..... (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 95, (10) Smashing Pumpkins 40 ..... (1) NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL 80, (9) New Order 56 ..... (2) RADIOHEAD 102, (7) Nine Inch Nails 99 ..... (6) THIS MORTAL COIL 61, (3) Indigo Girls 60 ..... (4) TORI AMOS 89, (5) Swans 40 ..... (1) CURE 82, (8) Tom Waits 68 ............... FINAL 1ST ROUND SCORES: (5) PJ HARVEY & NICK CAVE 93, (12) Midnight Oil 38 ..... (7) BOB MOULD 63, (10) Peter Murphy 47 ..... (1) JOY DIVISION 117, (16) Erasure 19 ..... (6) CROWDED HOUSE 98, (11) Leonard Cohen 54 ..... (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 199, (10) The Smiths 162 ..... (5) MORRISSEY 115, (12) Morphine 83 ..... (3) NIRVANA 137, (14) Slowdive 102 ..... (8) THE REPLACEMENTS 128, (9) Dream Academy 82 ..... (13) THE CHURCH 262, (4) Magnetic Fields 193 ..... (10) SMASHING PUMPKINS 165, (7) Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds 155 ..... (9) NEW ORDER 160, (8) Sarah McLachlan 78 ..... (1) JEFF BUCKLEY 204, (16) Bjork 92 ..... (4) TORI AMOS 78, (13) Echo & the Bunnymen 22 ..... (8) TOM WAITS 72, (9) The Pretenders 22 ..... (6) THIS MORTAL COIL 51, (11) Yaz 31 ..... (3) INDIGO GIRLS 71, (14) Pavement 26 ..... (9) MAZZY STAR 132, (8) REM 46 ..... (2) CONCRETE BLONDE 88, (15) Psychedelic Furs 34 ..... (4) ALPHAVILLE 71, (13) Dead Can Dance 36 ..... (14) LOW 120, (3) U2 65 ..... (1) ELLIOTT SMITH 63, (16) 10,000 Maniacs 24 ..... (2) EELS 50, (15) Counting Crows 46 ..... (4) GARY JULES 62, (13) Depeche Mode 19 ..... (6) KATE BUSH 59, (11) Sisters of Mercy 20 ..... (1) NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL 42, (16) Violent Femmes 12 ..... (11) RIDE 25 (6) Peter Gabriel 24 ..... (3) SINEAD O'CONNOR 37, (14) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark 17, ..... (5) JAMES 24, (12) Red House Painters 23 ..... (7) NINE INCH NAILS 46, (10) Wilco 31, (5) SWANS 31, (12) Pet Shop Boys 18 ..... (1) THE CURE 50, (16) Gear Daddies 10 ..... (2) RADIOHEAD 40, (15) Liz Phair 35


CURRENT GAMES BELOW — PAST GAMES ARCHIVED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

First Round Matchup: DEAD CAN DANCE vs ALPHAVILLE

(13) Dead Can Dance, "American Dreaming"

This is going to be a weird matchup of affects here facing off in this first round match. Here the incomparable Dead Can Dance (who also do a lovely cover of another one of our contenders, This Mortal Coil's "Song to the Siren") bring us a gloomy love song, or a statement of love until all is washed away, anyway, with a political bent. Brendan Perry's vocals here are soaring, though the song's ultimately sad. We appreciate the intelligent combination of open chords, complicated instrumentation (especially toward the end), and the ambitious diction: clearly this is the only entry in the bracket to work in "somnambulistic," which means maybe this isn't the right song for an election year. Can't we talk about pain and secrecy and disillusionment and the ascendance of entropy for a little while? Here we go: "I'm in love with an American girl / Though she's my best friend / I love her surreptitious smile / That hides the pain within her / And we'll go dancing in the rings of laughter / And live along by the shores/ Yeah-ee, on the lea the rising wind blows / Fay-hee, on the lea the rising wind blows / How long how long?"



vs

(4) Alphaville, "Forever Young"

Well, 109 million views on Youtube tells you something about just how iconic* and of its time this song is. Basically a one-hit wonder (we're ignoring you, "Big in Japan"), Alphaville had this, their one massive cold war in-the-face-of-nuclear-devastation lament. First, killer jumpsuits, right? And you have to admire the hair and how much this song just fuckin means it. There's no room for irony in this sort of sadness, friends. So much so that my editor's husband makes her shut it off when it comes on the radio because it's just too much, too sad. We concur. Don't spend too much time with the weirdo sort-of-Wizard-of-Ozzish video? Why is this heavily-made-up ragtag band assembled in a church? Why does a sudden lit-up smoky diamond suddenly appear? Why does everyone just walk into it like a bunch of tools? Are they now in space? So much about this is confusing, but not the sweet yearning of the lyrics: "Do you really want to live forever / forever and ever?" I can't yearn any harder than this song asks me to. Can you?



* Iconic even to the point that it's used to soundtrack all kinds of lovely moments in television, for instance this weirdly tender one in the otherwise bleak-as-shit It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.



Which is sadder? Vote by 9am, 3/9

Forever Young
American Dreaming
online poll creator

5 comments:

  1. As I was cynically told during my MFA years, put "American" in front of anything and it'll instantly sound like it's part of the conversation. Not so with this song, especially up against a gem that distills 80s bombast so magnificently. I'm already looking forward to how it will face up against other songs in the bracket. But, as Duke and North Carolina often find out, never count those chickens.

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  2. My money is on Alphaville to win this one in overtime, perhaps with a long-range three-pointer. Lord knows they can't bring their sissy business hard in da paint against Dead Can Dance's Brendan Perry, who seems like he could throw around some serious elbow. I wouldn't cross him, at any rate.

    I do admire DCD's affiliation with 4AD, a brilliant label, and whose This Moral Coil supergroup should by all accounts take this tournament with “Song to the Siren.” In fact, if they don't advance, I will DDoS this blog. And I've never even done that. I know damn well enough to be dangerous when it comes to defending my favorite, special bands. Heed these words: I'll bring the whole thing to ruin. Also, I like what's going on here.

    So, yeah, I voted “Forever Young.” Can't figure what transpired in that video, though. Sadness devours us like a diamond wormhole? And other inexplicable things?

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  3. I'm imagining Charlie Kelly's spider in his soul is choreographing this Alphaville strut. "Go Fuck Yourself" has got to be Charlie's saddest song, by the way, what with the ring of spray paint around his nose and it being the final gesture of an episode called "The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4c9T2k42MIE

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  4. Both songs too proud of themselves to be the type of sad you claim to adjudicate.

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