Best Ever Albums

Re: Round 1: Taylor Swift v. Louis-Jean Cormier

baystateoftheart — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 19:51:01 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 07/26/2021 23:51

Quand La Nuit Tombe defeats Folklore 11-7 to advance to the sweet sixteen.

Re: Round 1: Taylor Swift v. Louis-Jean Cormier

cestuneblague — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 11:08:59 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 07/22/2021 15:08

Don't worry Cormier's album isn't a swath of Lyrical Genius, it's a solid bit of modern indietronica and guitar pop but never really that exciting, and "Folklore" is... fine I guess, but would be a whole lot more appealing if it were a half-hour shorter as some unusually strong numbers eventually get drowned out in repetition. Unenthusiastic vote for When Night Falls.

Re: Round 1: Taylor Swift v. Louis-Jean Cormier

sandboy — Sun, 4 Jul 2021 06:55:23 GMT

Author: sandboy

Posted: 07/04/2021 10:55

I struggled with the Cormier record unfortunately. It sounded very much like the artwork itself, confused but wrapped in a blanket of modern motifs. It just seemed to lack a sense of identity, both musically and in terms of voice. Music for the sake of music maybe. It explored lots of different sounds, so credit for that, and none of the songs over-stayed their welcome, just nothing I would come back to.

Always had mixed feelings about 'Folklore'. Swift has done a fine job of capitalizing on the growing interest of the middle class in her spout of new music. 'It reminded me of that film 'Logan', pop-culture elevated by doing the bare minimum of something higher. 'Logan' was 'film' and 'Folklore' is a 'record', but so are plenty of other things. A statement to the aging fans that enjoy them that their tastes are re assuredly serious business. Where's the shame in Tay Tay being Tay Tay? I admired the release of the album at the time though, no hype, just a drop - made especially so by the similar approach with 'Evermore'. It certainly beats the long 3-year sales cycle we seem to be coming out from.

Of the two I'm actually going to go for Taylor. It's still a fine, listenable album, and she's clearly transitioned as an artist. She writes good pop tunes, and that's no less true here.

Re: Round 1: Taylor Swift v. Louis-Jean Cormier

baystateoftheart — Sat, 3 Jul 2021 14:46:38 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 07/03/2021 18:46

Musically, I prefer Quand La Nuit Tombe. There's just more interesting stuff going on in the production, and it leads to a very good listen overall. 3.5/5. But when it comes to songwriting (apart from lyrics, which I'm making a futile attempt to mostly set aside for this comparison), hooks, and vocals, Folklore has the edge. While the new genre works well for Taylor, it's not primarily responsible for this being her best record yet. Her craft took a step up across the board. 4/5.

However, given my limited comprehension of French, this comparison is not exactly a fair fight for me. French speakers, what are some of your favorite songs or lines lyrically? Do you consider Quand La Nuit Tombe to excel lyrically, or is it closer to average?

Re: Round 1: Taylor Swift v. Louis-Jean Cormier

BozoTyrannus — Fri, 2 Jul 2021 11:19:49 GMT

Author: BozoTyrannus

Posted: 07/02/2021 15:19

I can very comfortably vote against Taylor Swift here.

Evermore was better, but Folklore gets a barely passing grade from me

Re: Round 1: Taylor Swift v. Louis-Jean Cormier

Fischman — Thu, 1 Jul 2021 18:50:05 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 07/01/2021 22:50

Neither really do much for me. While it's not something I'd want to listen to often, or even once all the way through in a single sitting , I did find the Cormier more interesting, so it got my vote.

Re: Round 1: Taylor Swift v. Louis-Jean Cormier

EyeKanFly — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 18:25:53 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 06/30/2021 22:25

Just returning to say I did listen to Louis-Jean Cormier. It was fantastic. Not fantastic enough to eke out the win against TSwift, but really good nonetheless. Glad I'm participating in this contest, I wouldn't have discovered this otherwise. Easily going into my 2020 chart, top 20 for the year for sure, might even break the top 10.

Quand la nuit tombe reminds me a lot of Paradigmes by La Femme, my top album of 2021 (so far). French (language), genre-bending, awesome synthpop background, all around fantastic album. I then decided to listen to Cormier's 2021 album and it...disappointed. The 2020 album is great though!

But yeah, I fell in love with Folklore last year, still my AotY. Still feel incredibly basic saying that lol, but it's just such a good album.

Re: Round 1: Taylor Swift v. Louis-Jean Cormier

kokkinos — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 15:49:36 GMT

Author: kokkinos

Posted: 06/30/2021 19:49

Who would have thought I would be voting for a more than an hour long Taylor Swift album.
I find Quand La Nuit Tombe slightly more interesting, but Folklore slightly more enjoyable.
(The truth is both of them are underwhelming in my opinion, but it's comparative, so I have to pick one)
Folklore gets my vote.

Re: Round 1: Taylor Swift v. Louis-Jean Cormier

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 10:27:37 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/30/2021 14:27

Louis-Jean Cormier is one of the best Quebec songwriter of his generation. With a musical background in Jazz (it shows on his last album, Le ciel est au plancher), the leader of Karkwa has offered us 4 very good albums with various musical influences since the start of his solo career in 2012. On Quand la nuit tombe, he chose to put the guitars aside and compose on the keyboards. And it is very successful. (For those who are interested, here is a very good confined live studio version of Tout tombe à sa place: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YYHRaQvjy7M)

Re: Round 1: Taylor Swift v. Louis-Jean Cormier

Patman360 — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 10:00:23 GMT

Author: Patman360

Posted: 06/30/2021 14:00

I actually much preferred that Cormier album, does a bit for me.

Re: Round 1: Taylor Swift v. Louis-Jean Cormier

EyeKanFly — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 12:13:29 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 06/29/2021 16:13

Haven't heard Quand La Nuit Tombe yet, but Folklore was my AotY, so it's gonna take a lot to topple that. I'll report back after listening.

Round 1: Taylor Swift v. Louis-Jean Cormier

baystateoftheart — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 17:45:29 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 06/28/2021 21:45

Seed #2:

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Folklore by Taylor Swift

Nominated by: awesomness425
Genres [RYM]: Singer/Songwriter, Folk Pop

Seed #14:

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Quand La Nuit Tombe by Louis-Jean Cormier

Nominated by: Exist-en-ciel
Genres [RYM]: Indie Pop, Singer/Songwriter

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.