Best Ever Albums

Re: Round 1: Julia Marcell v. Cult48

baystateoftheart — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 19:49:58 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 07/26/2021 23:49

Skull Echo defeats Catalog 1 11-8 to advance to the sweet sixteen.

Re: Round 1: Julia Marcell v. Cult48

cestuneblague — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 10:54:43 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 07/22/2021 14:54

I completly forgot about Marcell, remember perking up with a few of her singles but always found the albums underwhelming- though this is a pretty solid effort all around. But dang, Jimmy always knows how to tickle that itch as Cult48 gets more interesting with each listen.

Re: Round 1: Julia Marcell v. Cult48

EyeKanFly — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 10:51:19 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 07/22/2021 14:51

Gowi wrote:

Quote:

but it's a quality listen for anyone who likes Phoebe Bridgers.

...Julia Marcell has nothing sonically in common with Bridgers at all. What kind of nonsense am I reading here? They don't even work in the same genre as Marcell is a prolific art pop artist and Bridgers is a rootsy, emotive singer-songwriter.

I made the comparison because Marcell reminded me of Bridgers *shrug*. Doesn't mean that everyone will hear the same thing I heard, but I do think that their sounds are relatively alike. Both have clear emo rock influences in their musicianship and production styles. While I agree that Bridgers is rootsier and more emotive, I think she also veered strongly into the art pop category with Punisher, which was decidedly less rootsy than most of her other music (including that with boygenius and Better Oblivion Community Center). To each their own though. I absolutely loved Punisher (it's my #3 for 2020), while Skull Echo probably won't break into the list at all. I stand by my comparison.

Re: Round 1: Julia Marcell v. Cult48

LedZep — Thu, 8 Jul 2021 12:28:50 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 07/08/2021 16:28

Skull Echo for me, although both are pretty good. Marcell's album has more highlights though. I can sorta understand the Phoebe Bridgers comparison since both are pop and indie leaning songwriters, albeit in different subgenres and the albums are very different sonically. I can see it attracting the similar crowd.

Re: Round 1: Julia Marcell v. Cult48

mickilennial — Thu, 8 Jul 2021 10:27:58 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 07/08/2021 14:27

Quote:

but it's a quality listen for anyone who likes Phoebe Bridgers.

Re: Round 1: Julia Marcell v. Cult48

guzguzgarbit — Thu, 8 Jul 2021 10:10:06 GMT

Author: guzguzgarbit

Posted: 07/08/2021 14:10

The version of Skull Echo here is the Polish version, but I could only hear the English one. Is there any reason to prefer one version over another?

Anyway, I'm going with Skull Echo, not a fan of Cult 48...

Re: Round 1: Julia Marcell v. Cult48

sandboy — Sun, 4 Jul 2021 08:46:17 GMT

Author: sandboy

Posted: 07/04/2021 12:46

Both new to me, enjoyed both, but wouldn't return to either.

The Marcell record really nicely explored a variety of pop sounds within electronica, no two songs felt the same. Bjork-ish vocals, but softer. Certainly not catchy pop, but Marcell clearly an interesting vocal melodist, creating something interesting to listen to in the moment. There's an unsettling sense of something throughout the whole album, quite cold and uninviting, mechanical maybe. Some character would have gone a long way for me - some songs bordered on being a dirge.

Cult48's a brighter and easier-going album. Good background listening, but didn't feel like it was offering too much to catch my attention. It was lush and had unusual mixing, but it generally went were I was expecting it to go, at least within each track. Reminded me very much of Geogaddi, which I think is a more successful album.

My vote will go to Marcell.

Re: Round 1: Julia Marcell v. Cult48

baystateoftheart — Sat, 3 Jul 2021 14:35:21 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 07/03/2021 18:35

Skull Echo is quite a nice pop album with good vocals and production, especially on the more synth-driven tracks. It has a few great songs and earns a 3.5/5 from me and a place on my chart, but I prefer Cult48's diverse electronic explorations.

Re: Round 1: Julia Marcell v. Cult48

Fischman — Thu, 1 Jul 2021 18:40:16 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 07/01/2021 22:40

Catalog 1 was another I liked well enough during the play in, but is easily displaced here. The "epic-ness" of Skull Echo works very well in my ear.

Re: Round 1: Julia Marcell v. Cult48

kokkinos — Thu, 1 Jul 2021 15:04:02 GMT

Author: kokkinos

Posted: 07/01/2021 19:04

I 've already mentioned that Catalog 1 was a very difficult listen, so even though Skull Echo was at times a bit too loud and too epic for me, it was clearly more appealing.
Skull Echo gets my vote

Re: Round 1: Julia Marcell v. Cult48

EyeKanFly — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 18:22:54 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 06/30/2021 22:22

I wasn't big on the Cult48 album in the play-in round, though I did vote for it since I wasn't a fan of what it was up against.

Julia Marcell's album isn't anything spectacular either, but it's a quality listen for anyone who likes Phoebe Bridgers. This gets my vote.

Re: Round 1: Julia Marcell v. Cult48

Mercury — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 22:26:39 GMT

Author: Mercury

Posted: 06/29/2021 02:26

listened to both of these last night. I thought the Julia Marcell album was good, quite beautiful, and it was solid. Wasn't a fan of her vocals or some aspects of the productions but there were some really beautiful, dreamy, art pop tunes here.

That cult48 is just a little better. I think the music is so good at creating an atmosphere and sometimes the atmospheres are quite creepy and off-putting, and other times they just feel so gorgeous and smooth. Its very cool.

Not much to say other than that - neither was bad and neither has yet become a fave of 2020 for me... but Cult48 gets my vote.

Round 1: Julia Marcell v. Cult48

baystateoftheart — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 17:41:53 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 06/28/2021 21:41

Seed #26:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Skull Echo by Julia Marcell

Nominated by: RockyRaccoon
Genres [RYM]: Art Pop

Seed #31:

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Catalog 1 by Cult48

Nominated by: Jimmy Dread
Genres [RYM]: Electronic, IDM

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.