Best Ever Albums

Re: Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

baystateoftheart — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 00:06:31 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 07/20/2020 04:06

Occam Ocean 2 defeats i,i 12-10 to advance to the sweet sixteen.

Re: Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 23:04:00 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 07/19/2020 03:04

Rhyner wrote:

How can I get into this type of music? Is it even worth trying?

I hope the review and video with explanation I posted earlier helped provide a little context. But, though context helps a lot of people appreciate some things, I think the most useful things are (1) increased exposure and (2) the will to listen to music deeply, at least sometimes. I hear a lot more diversity and dynamism in this Radigue performance than I do in my favorite Bon Iver tracks. But, it's also not a contest and they're each using different tools to arrive at different results. I think a lot of people have difficulty with this kind of music because they don't spend a lot of time with non-lyrical music and can't parse out the emotivity, or have difficulty with the track length simply because they're used to <10min tracks, not to mention sometimes they're not used to the tonality (though I think the movement in this track is comfortable); getting used to these when you grew up with popular music comes with time. And Occam Ocean 2 is a dense piece. But I think if it's approached with empathy and not as posed experimentalism, with attentiveness, then there's a lot worth your time.

Re: Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

Rhyner — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 20:39:37 GMT

Author: Rhyner

Posted: 07/19/2020 00:39

I don't get it.

I know this isn't Bon Iver's best, but it boggles my mind that 52 minutes of nothing but droning instruments is beating an album with actual music. Just take the songs Hey Ma, Naeem, and Faith. Each of those on its own is leagues better than the entirety of Occam Ocean 2, in my opinion. And the rest of i,i isn't half-bad either.

I mean, I guess I can appreciate to a degree the mood-setting properties of dozens of musicians droning in and out in one big intertwining jumble, but at best it's a so-so experiment that gets stale well before the halfway point. I detect absolutely no substance in such an endeavor.

And somehow people seem to genuinely enjoy it. What am I missing? How can I get into this type of music? Is it even worth trying?

Re: Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

cestuneblague — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 01:49:39 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 07/17/2020 05:49

Radigue's album was really, really good even with some noticeable lulls, and no problem voting for it over Skinny Love, who is just a total eye-roll these days.

Re: Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

cestuneblague — Wed, 8 Jul 2020 22:41:27 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 07/09/2020 02:41

Edit: see next post

Re: Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

craola — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 11:24:50 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 06/30/2020 15:24

Gowi wrote:

idk how bon iver went from every music nerds punching bag to something that they appraise positively

don't really have any feelings on bon iver personally just what came to mind

isn't he one of pitchfork's poster children? might have something to do with it.

Re: Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

mickilennial — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 06:17:21 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 06/30/2020 10:17

idk how bon iver went from every music nerds punching bag to something that they appraise positively

don't really have any feelings on bon iver personally just what came to mind

Re: Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

Purplepash — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 06:03:04 GMT

Author: Purplepash

Posted: 06/30/2020 10:03

I don't have the musical intelligence to appreciate Occam Ocean 2. Bon Iver for me.

Re: Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

baystateoftheart — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 19:37:28 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 06/26/2020 23:37

While i,i is very enjoyable, I'd say it's Bon Iver's worst album yet. And sonically the well is starting to seem a bit dry. Occam Ocean 2 for me.

Re: Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

dihansse — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 16:19:56 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 06/26/2020 20:19

Abstain: I like neither of the two

Re: Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

Repo — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 10:19:42 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 06/23/2020 14:19

Occam Ocean.

Re: Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 07:48:05 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/23/2020 11:48

Here's a short video of a solo Occam, which might provide better context for what to listen to on a grander scale. You can begin to hear resonance shortly after a minute and clear sines just after that. Shortly after sine waves become audible, the pulses of their peaks begin making a kind of polyrhythm with each other. This is a harp but this is achieved even with traditionally monophonic instruments like bassoons and saxophones. The first half of Occam Ocean 2 is structured in such a way to allow the individuals, the instrumental families, and finally the whole orchestra approach this same play with waves - which is why the fun really begins a bit after the 20 min mark on Occam Ocean 2. Here's the review posted previously if you didn't get a chance to read it.

Link

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Re: Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

LedZep — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 05:32:40 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 06/22/2020 09:32

Occam Ocean 2 easily

Round 1: Bon Iver v. Eliane Radigue

baystateoftheart — Sun, 21 Jun 2020 21:00:24 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 06/22/2020 01:00

Seed #6:

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i,i by Bon Iver

Nominated by: Rhyner
Genres [RYM]: Art Pop

Seed #32:

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Occam Ocean 2 by Eliane Radigue

Nominated by: saltfish
Genres [RYM]: Drone, Microtonal

Instructions:

If you have not already, 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 no fewer than twenty-eight days. See Tournament Spreadsheet for the full bracket.