Best Ever Albums

Re: 2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

Norman Bates — Tue, 4 Sep 2018 10:02:27 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 09/04/2018 14:02

Slight edge to O'Dwyer against a solid Claro Intelecto release.

edit: wait, 2 late probs, nvm me

Re: 2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

badseed — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 15:24:02 GMT

Author: badseed

Posted: 08/22/2018 19:24

Same boat as many others. Liked, but didnt love both. Glad they're here, as their site rankings means I likely wouldn't have discovered them. But honestly neither stands a chance of winning this thing. I'm picking Gallerais because it reminded me of Suspiria, and I like Suspiria.

Re: 2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 13:21:08 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/22/2018 17:21

Wasn't feeling either, but I'd probably hand it to Exhilarator.

I've enjoyed Áine O'Dwyer's stuff in the past, but Gallarais fell pretty flat. It took me to where it wanted to take me and just kind of sat me there. Had higher hopes maybe. It was atmospheric for sure, but felt kinda voiceless.

I finished Exhilarator a few hours ago and I actually now can't remember a single thing about it. I remember there were beats and I remember thinking I didn't dislike it.

Re: 2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

baystateoftheart — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 19:03:41 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 08/21/2018 23:03

This was a pretty difficult choice. I liked both albums about the same - enough to keep them in my collection but not enough to put them in my 2017 top 100. They're both technically well-made entries in their genres, but neither grabbed me as especially compelling. I'd rather listen to 41 minutes of pleasant but not inspiring music than 76, so Gallarais gets my vote.

Re: 2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

mickilennial — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 16:21:20 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 08/21/2018 20:21

Gallarais is just pretty basic minimalistic ambient with pretty moments that really lead up to nothing and an atmosphere that doesn't really invoke anything.

Re: 2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

Luigii — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 16:12:07 GMT

Author: Luigii

Posted: 08/21/2018 20:12

Rhyner wrote:

I had the opposite reaction as Luigii (and most of you, it seems). Exhilarator seemed to go on forever and never offered anything interesting or otherwise worthwhile. Gallarais, on the other hand, provided interesting and enjoyable ambiance without ever overstaying its welcome. I'm not in love with it, but it was definitely superior to Exhilarator in my opinion.

I'm not going to deny that if you weren't crazy about Exhillarator, the near 80 minutes of music can be a turn off. But Gallarais felt mundane to me. The album it reminds me the most was Lack by Pan Daijing. An album like Gallarais that definitely has a style within the music landscape but just felt exhausting.

Re: 2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

Rhyner — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 15:52:02 GMT

Author: Rhyner

Posted: 08/21/2018 19:52

I had the opposite reaction as Luigii (and most of you, it seems). Exhilarator seemed to go on forever and never offered anything interesting or otherwise worthwhile. Gallarais, on the other hand, provided interesting and enjoyable ambiance without ever overstaying its welcome. I'm not in love with it, but it was definitely superior to Exhilarator in my opinion.

Re: 2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

dihansse — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 15:32:40 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 08/21/2018 19:32

Definitely Exhilarator for me: at its best it indeed reminds of some of the Electronic Body Music of the eighties (cf fantastic Belgian band Front 242).

Re: 2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

mickilennial — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 13:12:42 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 08/21/2018 17:12

I liked the ambient techno a lot more. Just more of my thing.

Re: 2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

Purplepash — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 04:40:33 GMT

Author: Purplepash

Posted: 08/21/2018 08:40

I hadn't heard of either of these artists before and they are both genres I don't listen to much. (One of the things I appreciate about projects like this is having a reason to listen to things I normally wouldn't listen to). While Gallarais by Áine O'Dwyer provoked some lively discussion in my household (a family of 5 music lovers with varied tastes), and was arguably the more interesting one off listen, I enjoyed Exhilarator by Claro Intelecto a little bit more, so that gets my vote in this match up.

Re: 2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

Luigii — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 12:07:39 GMT

Author: Luigii

Posted: 08/20/2018 16:07

Wow. Exhilarator to me at least is a masterful record. If this gets knocked out early, I'll be disappointed. Because though Gallarais is interesting, it isn't my thing. Felt somewhat of a slog. Which is funny considering Gallarais is only 40 minutes while Exhilarator is twice the length and just keep on being interesting all the way through.

Re: 2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

CellarDoor — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 10:57:18 GMT

Author: CellarDoor

Posted: 08/20/2018 14:57

Great selections. I didn't expect any less from these two BEAbes.

Aine O'Dwyer was a nice discovery. I had an impression of Diamanda Galas doing drone. Great for meditation I guess.

But I much preferred Exhilarator and its 90s BoC influenced tracks. An awesome surprise !

1 point to JoD.

Re: 2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

Repo — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 05:45:25 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 08/20/2018 09:45

Wow! This is going to be very tough. Both these album are aces in their respective genres.

Claro Intelecto begs the question why I don't listen to more techno. Reminds me of some of the IDM stuff I used to listen to in the 90s. Definitely can hang with anything I used to listen to on Warp records.

And then Gallarais is just something other worldly in how it captures the ambient sounds of our world so exactly. Like hanging in some medieval monastery as the monks go about their daily preparations preparing for mass & prayer. Reminds me of the soundtrack stuff from the Dekalog which I have been watching a lot of lately. Moody, somber, spacious. It fill you up in side with its beautiful, melancholic sadness. An environmental ambient masterpiece. Like watching the best black & white Criterion flick without any video footage necessary.

2017 Championship Tournament: Play-In Game #1

baystateoftheart — Sun, 19 Aug 2018 15:42:14 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 08/19/2018 19:42

Play-In 1A:

Gallarais by Áine O'Dwyer

Nominated By: Kool Keith Sweat
Genres [RYM]: Ambient, Drone, Modern Classical

Play-In 1B:

Exhilarator by Claro Intelecto

Nominated By: joyofdivision
Genre [RYM]: Techno

Instructions:

Please listen to both albums in full before voting. Share your thoughts and/or your vote in this thread. This poll will be tallied in fourteen days. See Tournament Spreadsheet for the full bracket.