2a: Lou Reed vs. Daniel Dumile - those sick fucking bars.
2b: Tom Waits vs. Victor Jaras
2c: Beck vs. Janelle Monae
2d: Matt Berninger vs. Phil Elverum
2e: Neko Case vs. billy woods
2f: Van Morrison vs. Cole Porter
2g: Andre 3000 vs. Nick Drake - Big fan of Andre.
2h: Josh Tillman vs. Bill Calahan _________________ Do it yourself and let me play my music: https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=61802
Question for the four people who have voted for Lou Reed so far - why do you prefer his solo career songwriting to DOOM's? What are some of your favorite lyrics?
I could totally understand if his great Velvet Underground songwriting weren't banned from consideration in this game, but his body of songwriting as a solo artist is pretty hit and miss for me. _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
but his body of songwriting as a solo artist is pretty hit and miss for me.
Kinda of feel the same way about Dumile. Danger Doom, Czarface, DOOMSTARKS and Born Like This all do very little for me.
That being said it's close. I really enjoy both of them. What separates it for me is the central conceit of this tournament, the lyrics. Lou's always on some wacky and apathetic dada shit. I like Dumile more for how he says what he says, then what he actually says (despite some brilliant one liners and verses). There's just a littttttle too much character LARPing throughout his work for a lot of it to not bleed together. Plus some standout eye rolls that I don't really experience with Lou ("treat her like a daughter, taught her how to bust a nut" or "get more cheese than doritos, cheetohs or fritos").
I go back to Dumile for the beats (Vaudeville Villain's alien idm shit, or the sheer amount of playfulness on Operation Doomsday), or how fucking much he gets out of the conceptual framework of an album (Madvillainy, Take Me To Your Leader, Mmm Food).
Plus I'm just a sucker for the specificity Lou summons on records like Songs for Drella
Now what I can't understand is how people are voting for Josh Tillman over Bill Callahan.
Now what I can't understand is how people are voting for Josh Tillman over Bill Callahan.
You and me both; I adore Callahan and can't stand 98% of what I've heard from Papa John. I was going to write something about the two being almost polar opposites, with Callahan writing about the mundane and using understatements to highlight the beauty of things while Tillman always feels like he's trying to say something profound and often puts on airs or uses sarcasm to highlight his points. But thinking about it more, Bill is pretty sarcastic as well (it's impossible to listen to "I'm New Here" and not picture a shit-eating grin on the narrator's face), so maybe they're more similar than I think. I know Tillman has always been a favorite around here, but it's also possible he's benefiting from his recent albums being loved while Callahan's best work is behind him. Still though, just last year he wrote "Like hotel curtains, we never really met," which is better than any Tillman lyric I've heard. To each their own, but I'll take the simplicity of "The Well," "Rock Bottom Riser," "Drinking at the Dam," or "Teenage Spaceship" over anything Tillman has done. _________________ And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.
While Nick is amazing, I'm glad Andre is getting the votes he deserves... holy shit could dude spit, but then sing too... like few rappers know how to sing (Kanye, I'm looking at your auto-tuned ass).
For me the songs I like of theirs cut deeper for me than their opponents. I'm voting on that aspect only - not on their whole body of work or their objective skills.
Perfect Day or Wild Side are tracks alone that cut deeper for me than anything I've heard Daniel Dumile do (I've actually never really fallen hard yet for Madvillainy or Mm..Food). Oddly enough my favorite track he cut most fans don't think too highly of. I realize I'm wrong here, but just voting honestly to my liking. I'd put on a Lou Reed record before I'd put on an MF Doom record, it's as easy as that.
Same goes for Josh.
Sometimes objective doesn't win for me is the easy way of explaining it.
From a "true" Lou Reed fan (I'm am an appreciator, not a worshiper like my sister), this is what she had to say if it helps when I asked what her favorite lyrics are (she probably mistook that for favorite music maybe too, both answered here):
Quote:
That's too hard. Albums I adore. Ecstacy and New York Stories, then Transformer.
If your friend is getting divorced, he's got a song for that.
She says, What do you call love
well I call it Harry
Oh, please I'm being serious
what do you call love
Well I don't call it family and I don't call it lust
and as we all know marriage isn't a must
And I suppose in the end, it's a matter of trust
if I had to I'd call love time
She says, What do you call love
can't you be more specific
What do you call love
is it more than the heart's hieroglyphic
Well for me time has no meaning, no future, no past
and when you're in love, you don't have to ask
There's never enough time to hold love in your grasp
turning time around
Turning time around
that is what love is
Turning time around
yes, that is what love is
My time is your time when you're in love
and time is what you never have enough of
You can't see or hold it, it's exactly like love
Turning time around
turning time around
Turning time around
turning time around
Turning time around
well I gotta have it
I gotta-gotta-gotta have it
Turning, turning time around
gotta have it, turning time around
Turning, turning time around
turning time around
Enjoy them both. I loved Lou so much. Like Bowie, huge influence in my life.
You and me both; I adore Callahan and can't stand 98% of what I've heard from Papa John. I was going to write something about the two being almost polar opposites, with Callahan writing about the mundane and using understatements to highlight the beauty of things while Tillman always feels like he's trying to say something profound and often puts on airs or uses sarcasm to highlight his points. But thinking about it more, Bill is pretty sarcastic as well (it's impossible to listen to "I'm New Here" and not picture a shit-eating grin on the narrator's face), so maybe they're more similar than I think. I know Tillman has always been a favorite around here, but it's also possible he's benefiting from his recent albums being loved while Callahan's best work is behind him. Still though, just last year he wrote "Like hotel curtains, we never really met," which is better than any Tillman lyric I've heard. To each their own, but I'll take the simplicity of "The Well," "Rock Bottom Riser," "Drinking at the Dam," or "Teenage Spaceship" over anything Tillman has done.
Yeah I've seen Bill live a few times and he sings half his lyrics with a shit eating grin or the greatest facial contortions. He's such an irony king. But his ironies come from casual missed connections. Misunderstood life events and such. Tillman's got moments of that but his irony comes from this insufferable air of we live in a society and that sucks doesn't it? His persona bleeds into his writing in a way that leaves me feeling cold. I liked I Love You Honeybear when it came out but even lines on that have long since soured with stuff like Disappointing Diamonds feeling like they undid his greatest lines. He comes across as bitter and uninterested to me.
Looks like the deadline has passed? But I'm going to sneak in some votes if I can:
2a: Lou Reed vs. Daniel Dumile
2b: Tom Waits vs. Víctor Jara [ABSTAIN]
2c: Beck vs. Janelle Monáe
2d: Matt Berninger vs. Phil Elverum
2e: Neko Case vs. billy woods
2f: Van Morrison vs. Cole Porter [ABSTAIN]
2g: André 3000 vs. Nick Drake
2h: Josh Tillman vs. Bill Callahan _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
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