For your reference, the Music March Madness bracket. Let's get to the picks!
(1) Animal Collective vs. (16) Frightened Rabbit
Winner: (1) Animal Collective
A #1 seed has never lost to a #16 in the history of the NCAA tournament. In fact, I'm pretty sure the average margin of victory in those games is something like 20-25 points. Not exactly competitive. Now, my love of Frightened Rabbit is well-documented, but this is Animal Collective's tournament to lose. In January, they released Merriweather Post Pavilion, already being heralded as the album of the year (and justifiably so). Add in Animal Collective's excellent discography, and they win this match-up running away.
(5) Deerhunter vs. (12) Bloc Party
Winner: (5) Deerhunter
Let's break it down: Deerhunter is from Atlanta. Block Party is from not America. Deerhunter released Microcastle AND bonus-disc Weird Era Cont., both of which were ridiculously good. Bloc Party released Intimacy, which originally had this uncomfortable album cover (but switched to this boring album cover) and songs that don't come close to their 2005 release Silent Alarm (which I just listened to the other day). No 5-12 upset here.
(3) Grizzly Bear vs. (14) Black Lips
Winner: (3) Grizzly Bear
This is like Memphis vs. Wisconsin. Just two completely different styles matching up head to head. The Black Lips hyperkinetic lo-fi garage rock is a stark contrast to the deliberate, metered sound of Grizzly Bear. Black Lips is another local Atlanta band, and although I'd love to pick them for their crazy live shows and hard/punk rock machismo, it's impossible to vault them ahead of Grizzly Bear. The buzz about Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear's upcoming album, in the indie blogosphere is deafening (the album leaked a number of weeks ago... BUT WE WON'T BE POSTING A LINK TO IT!!! Hopefully blogger.com got that). This one is a no-brainer.
Grizzly Bear - "Cheerleader" (MP3)
(7) Spoon vs. (10) Sunset Rubdown
Winner: (7) Spoon
I just realized I'm writing WAY too much, so expect shorter blurbs. Spoon = amazing band from Austin, TX (Texas forever) that has never made a bad album. Sunset Rubdown = very good band formed by guy from a band I like more than Sunset Rubdown (Wolf Parade). Edge goes to Spoon. By a lot. This will probably be the equivalent of the upcoming Michigan beatdown at the hands of Clemson (ACC >> Big 10). Okay, math is over.
(2) Lil' Wayne vs. (15) The Avett Brothers
Winner: (2) Lil' Wayne
The Avett Brothers would shit their pants during warm-ups when they saw Lil' Wayne on the other side of the court. In the time it took me to write that sentence, Lil' Wayne recorded more guest verses than The Avett Brothers will record for the next two years. Advantage: Weezy F. Baby.
(6) The National vs. (11) The Black Keys
Winner: (6) The National
I have to say, I think The National deserve higher than a #6 seed. They're on the verge of breaking into mainstream, and a number of their songs have already been featured in both television and movies. The Black Keys are awesome, but I think Dan Auerbach's new album is generating more interest than his group currently is.
(4) Franz Ferdinand vs. (13) My Brightest Diamond
Winner: (4) Franz Ferdinand
Man, we're just not seeing ANY upsets! Either the bracket-makers did an excellent job seeding, or I'm really lame. Don't answer that. Franz Ferdinand has one of the most re-listenable (made it up, roll with me) songs in the past 15 years with "Take Me Out." There is never not a good time to listen to that song. Try to pick one. You can't. The Scots' new album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is good, and I'm enjoying having them back in the iPod rotation.
(8) Deerhoof vs. (9) M83
Winner: (9) M83
Any time you can salvage an "upset" with a French electronic music outfit, you have to do it! I've already written about how much I liked Saturdays = Youth, and since Deerhoof basically sounds like a mess to me most of the time, I'm going with the synthesizer superfunhappytime of M83.
If you listen to ANY of the songs I've posted, listen to this one... it's incredible. But seriously, listen to all of them. It took a lot of work, and you don't want to be rude. Do you? No, I didn't think so.
Whew... 1st Round of the Radiohead bracket is done! Check back later for the Flaming Lips Region breakdown.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
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