Best Ever Albums

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

baystateoftheart — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 19:59:21 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 07/26/2021 23:59

Red Sun Through Smoke defeats Source 13-12 to advance to the sweet sixteen.

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

cestuneblague — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 10:52:24 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 07/22/2021 14:52

Yeah Ian William Craig has easily been a favorite ever since hearing Centres, an all-time fav, and this feels like resuming the more ambient-but-melodic work he did right before that and this proves he really is at the top of his craft. Easy vote, but Garcia was quite appealing too even if occassionally felt like it was in a bit of a identity crisis.

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

EyeKanFly — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 10:30:57 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 07/22/2021 14:30

Just coming back to this because although I nominated Source, I didn't listen to Red Sun until recently. My vote still easily goes to Source.

I appreciate the praise for Source I've seen so far, agreed that Garcia is a shining star among shining stars of the current London jazz scene, and I'm excited to see what she does next. I appreciate the competition too, although I must say... after 2 listens, Red Sun truly didn't do anything for me. In my opinion, there are much better ambient albums in this tournament, some which got eliminated already, and some which look like they will be eliminated. I'm surprised that this is the one that looks to be moving forward. That said however, I'm glad others have found such enjoyment with Ian William Craig. Perhaps I'll give it another shot, or maybe is there another Craig album which might appeal to me better?

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

travelful — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 08:40:50 GMT

Author: travelful

Posted: 07/22/2021 12:40

Nubya Garcia fairly easily although I respect what Ian William Craig was able to do on his album. Source is a top highlight in the current London Jazz scene for me though.

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

Skinny — Sun, 18 Jul 2021 12:12:22 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 07/18/2021 16:12

Ian William Craig is a treasure and needs to be protected at all costs.

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

Repo — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 20:23:23 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 07/16/2021 00:23

Repo wrote:

Red Sun Source is pretty killer. Reminds at times of both Sufjan Stevens ( "Weight") and Perfume Genius ("Comma").

Going to have to listen to source again! Great match-up, guys!!!

Red Sun, fairly easily, in the end.

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

Repo — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 14:36:41 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 07/14/2021 18:36

Red Sun Source is pretty killer. Reminds at times of both Sufjan Stevens ( "Weight") and Perfume Genius ("Comma").

Going to have to listen to source again! Great match-up, guys!!!

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

meccalecca — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 16:20:45 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 07/13/2021 20:20

Work and life has been extra busy, so I haven't been on much lately.

I feel like I should say something about my pick Red Sun Through Smoke by Ian William Craig. Of all of the albums released in 2020, I don't think there's an album that better emulated my emotional state of mind as the world seemed to decay before my eyes. At the time of its release, I was only a casual fan of Ian William Craig, so I didn't have any real expectations. It immediately caught me off guard with its mesmerizing decaying beauty. In a time at which the world seemed to be spinning off its axis, these patient minimal sounds felt incredibly stabilizing for me. Drifting between revelatory ascension and devastating collapse, this album hit me at the right time just beautifully soundtracks the push and pull of trying to overcome melancholy descent.

I wasn't aware of SOURCE until this tournament and it's quite excellent. I dig that whole jazz scene. It's a very worthy contender, but my vote still easily goes to Red Sun

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

baystateoftheart — Sun, 11 Jul 2021 18:16:24 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 07/11/2021 22:16

I love Source, and while it didn't impress me as much this listen as the first time, it remains a great contemporary jazz album with interesting diversions into dub and more. 4/5. Red Sun Through Smoke is instrumentally what you might expect from ambient + tape music, but what I didn't expect was how prominent the vocals are. He sounds a lot like James Blake. It's quite good musically throughout, but the combination doesn't completely gel for me and gets a 3.5/5.

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

RoundTheBend — Sat, 10 Jul 2021 20:12:16 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 07/11/2021 00:12

Source easily for me. First strike is that I gravitate towards music driven by a rhythm section. That's not to say I don't like say ambient music. If an ambient work or what have you it needs to be a bit more ethereal. Red Sun should be getting more points from me, but I feel like of all the qualities it has, I like the same versions of it elsewhere better. Which I guess is strike two. No three strikes though... hehe.

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

kokkinos — Sat, 3 Jul 2021 09:53:03 GMT

Author: kokkinos

Posted: 07/03/2021 13:53

Well, that's an intriguing matchup.
Source is an album that did make some noise and as a result I've had it on semi-regular rotation when it first came out. It's not my favourite style of jazz, so It requires quite a few listens in order to vibe with it, but I'd say it was worth it.
Red Sun Through Smoke is a different beast altogether, it instantly hits you, yet it keeps getting better. Even though I am not as big of a fan as some of you, I have to admit that each listen is a revelation.
Red Sun Through Smoke gets my vote.

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

Fischman — Thu, 1 Jul 2021 18:28:03 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 07/01/2021 22:28

Red Sun is a fine album...

.... but Source is straight up awesome. Easy vote for me.

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

Luigii — Thu, 1 Jul 2021 17:56:19 GMT

Author: Luigii

Posted: 07/01/2021 21:56

Out of the two albums here, I went with Source. While not my favorite jazz album for 2020. Not only did Chance blind sighted me with how amazing the album is, but records from Moses Boyd and Jaga Jazzist do a lot more for me on a personal level. On the other hand Run Sun Through Smoke has some high points and was interesting from beginning to end, never felt like an album that went full throttle to hit that lustrous high that some users have for this. But was a curious listen.

R.S.T.S. Grade:75
Source Grade:90

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

LedZep — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 15:12:44 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 06/30/2021 19:12

Easily the best matchup of the round, both top albums. Red Sun... takes the win comfortably, and that speaks volumes about its quality (or rather my enjoyment) since Source is also a personal favourite.

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 08:45:48 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/30/2021 12:45

A difficult choice. Two very good albums. A priori, I would be inclined to choose Source. But Red Sun Through Smoke seemed better to me with every new listening since last year and have a longer lasting appreciation potential. I therefore vote for Ian William Craig.

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

EyeKanFly — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 12:26:16 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 06/29/2021 16:26

I suppose since I nominated Source, I should try to plug it a little bit.

Well, the jazz scene in London is huge right now, with musicians like Shabaka Hutchings, Moses Boyd, and Theon Cross are putting out music that borders ~2015's LA jazz scene (Kamasi Washington/Thundercat/Miles Mosley/etc.). Nubya Garcia's work stands head and shoulders above the rest of the current UK jazz scene. In my opinion, Source is the best jazz release of the past 5 years, and possibly the past several decades were it not for Kamasi Washington's The Epic (though it's a really close call).

While Source is 6th on my 2020 chart, and there are other albums I prefer which are not in this tournament, I decided to nominate Source to showcase a rare breakthrough female jazz musician who deserves as much exposure as she could get.

I hope you enjoy this album as much as I did. I haven't listened to Red Sun Through Smoke yet, so I'll abstain on voting until I have, but it'll take a lot for it to edge out Nubya Garcia (especially since it's ambient/tape music, which I'm not typically fond of).

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

AwaitingAndrew — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 22:00:06 GMT

Author: AwaitingAndrew

Posted: 06/29/2021 02:00

Source is one of the best jazz albums I've had the pleasure of listening to in recent years. Easy choice for Nubya Garcia for me.

Re: Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

Hayden — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 18:50:10 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 06/28/2021 22:50

Red Sun Through Smoke, easy. One of the best albums of last year.

Round 1: Nubya Garcia v. Ian William Craig

baystateoftheart — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 18:11:58 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 06/28/2021 22:11

Seed #13:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Source by Nubya Garcia

Nominated by: EyeKanFly
Genres [RYM]: Spiritual Jazz, Afro-Jazz

Seed #21:

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Red Sun Through Smoke by Ian William Craig

Nominated by: meccalecca
Genres [RYM]: Ambient, Tape Music

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.