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


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Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Second Round Action: (14) LOW vs (6) CROWDED HOUSE

For this game featuring the lowest remaining seed—and legit Cinderella threat—in the tournament, (14) Low vs (6) Crowded House we invited sadness expert and author of the forthcoming novel The Sadness (Unnamed Press, June 2016) Benjamin Rybeck, to help us frame the decision:

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Can one avoid personal anecdote when talking about a band like Low—one that seems to have burrowed so deep in the consciousness of many a melancholy man? (Let’s be clear, because we’re not going to get much further without nodding in acknowledgment over this fact: I am a very melancholy young man. Take my word for it.) So, what the fuck, here’s a personal anecdote: the first time I heard Low was “Words,” the first song on their debut album. Everyone knows Low songs are slow, but let me throw some numbers at you: there are about a dozen lines of lyrics in “Words,” which lasts five minutes and forty-five seconds...but where was I? Yes, anecdote. Cue eye-rolls, because I’m about to tell you that the first time I heard this song, I was a freshman in college, awake after a dreadful date that ended in a car accident (seriously), thirty-six hours of sleeplessness hanging like weights on my eyelids, unable to enter my room because my roommate had slung a sock over the doorknob (maybe not a sock, but cliches invest memory, don’t they?). I was sitting away from home, away from my room, in a public dorm lobby, strange people staring at my barely-awake form (thus preventing me from sleep), and with headphones on, I listened to the latest batch of music I had downloaded—and there was Low. My bones turned to dust; no, I was not home, but this fucking thing? This was a burial.

As for Crowded House--can I be honest? I’ve heard this song probably hundreds of times in my life, but before this tournament began, I had no idea there was a band called Crowded House. Mostly when I’ve heard this song, it has been a few beers deep at karaoke—okay, sorry, I lied, many, many beers deep at karaoke—during moments when, in a desperate bid to stay away for a few more hours, but lacking the energy to perform my own damn songs, I have raised my fist and my voice in celebration of the chorus: “Hey now, hey now.” I’m sure, on at least a handful of these occasions, I have accidentally sung “don’t say it’s over” instead of “don’t dream it’s over,” but that’s okay; the cute tattooed woman across the room, whose smile momentarily took me away from the karaoke screen emblazoned with the song’s lyrics, never judged my inept singing.

So what am I saying about these songs exactly? Maybe it’s this: Crowded House’s sadness is radiant, expectant. The gloss on this song (guitar solo: rawr) makes the whole thing somewhat distant—communal, yes, but still words on a screen that you sing while holding close friends, while thinking—no, knowing—life will get better, that you’ll one day go home, that you’ll still have a home to go to. “Words”—and, hell, most of the songs in Low’s discography—on the other hand? In those, you have no home to return to anymore. Low sings, “Man in the box wants to burn my soul,” but, hell, the man in the box has burned more than just your soul: he has burned your family, your life. “Don’t Dream It’s Over” is the redemptive sadness you feel as you leave the party; “Words” is despair of getting home and finding out, while you were out singing and clinging to friends, your house was burning down. In Low’s desolate landscape, there are screams, there is fire—and the worst part about it all? Low writes, “But I know they’re gonna make it just one more night.” Think about that: Low doesn’t even sink you into the very end, even though they acknowledge the end is coming very soon. There’s still more time to go, still more suffering to have, even if just a pinch.

For Crowded House, the end is a dream you can maybe not have; for Low, well, settle your affairs, because you’re running out of time. —Benjamin Rybeck

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(14) Low, "Words"



vs

(6) Crowded House, "Don't Dream It's Over"





If the poll below doesn't work properly try this link instead.


Which is better at sadder? Vote by 9am 3/17
Words
Don't Dream It's Over
Poll Maker

4 comments:

  1. This one is KILLING me. I would have picked Lullaby as the Saddest Low Song.

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    Replies
    1. Lullaby is a great song, too, and we had it on our shortlist, but at 9 minutes we thought it an iffy contender (like the Sisters of Mercy song we chose was long and it got easily defeated, though this may not have been a function of the song length; goth just hasn't fared real well). Personally I'd love to move into Secret Name, or "Death of a Salesman" from Great Destroyer. Many of my favorite Low songs are only past the cutoff for the tourney, I realized, though I hadn't really thought about that before. Since their sound hasn't changed a ton in certain ways, I kind of conflate it all. But of course they actually have evolved quite a bit, listening to their albums all in order. Still I'm glad they remain in the tourney (and are now the only Minnesota representatives still dancing).

      Delete
  2. Speaking of being killed, Hole in the River would've been the clear choice from Crowded House's self titled. "We were touched by a cold wind / My father and I // She was coming to see him / Something changed her mind / Drove her down to the river / There is no return."

    ReplyDelete
  3. agreed with that: sadder song, but we also tried to balance out to some extent sadness with how well known a song is, since clearly the better known the song (up to a point anyhow: I do think some people vote for underdogs and voted against, say, the cultural saturation and denaturization of Nirvana). One committee member thought that "Better Be Home Soon," of the big singles, would have gone deeper.

    ReplyDelete