Play-In: Efdemin v. Moor Mother

[baystateoftheart]

Seed #28A:

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New Atlantis by Efdemin

Nominated by: Norman Bates
Genres [RYM]: Minimal Techno

Seed #28B:

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Analog Fluids Of Sonic Black Holes by Moor Mother

Nominated by: Tha1ChiefRocka
Genres [RYM]: Industrial Hip Hop, Experimental Hip Hop

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 fourteen days. See Tournament Spreadsheet for the full bracket.
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[Tha1ChiefRocka]

Unlike some artists who think they're poets, Camae Ayewa aka Moor Mother is one. I know it's funny that the guy who never pays attention to lyrics is promoting an album that , sonic experimentation aside, mostly gets by on it's lyrical prowess, but it's obvious why I chose the album. Proving once again that true artistic expression will reveal truths that are supposed to be evident better than almost anything else.

This follows in the footsteps of projects like The Last Poets.

New Atlantis is a good album though, and I hadn't listened to anything from it since the beginning of last year, so it was good to revisit.

[LedZep]

Efdemin was excellent, will surely land on my 2019 chart at some point. "Strictly minimal, deep sky blue floating with 0 drops" - my friend's famous quote (roughly translated).

Moor Mother was something else. Highly experimental, incredibly dark, poignant spoken word passages. Didn't enjoy it much though, even if musically it's right up my alley. It's a bit scattered too, which was probably the point to be fair. I loved the opener, it was the most intense and dark track on the album.

Will probably vote Efdemin. Seems we'll have a lot of intense and dark records in the tourney, with Uboa, Clipping, Moor Mother and my nom Serpent Column. Should've gone with something more fun...
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Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s

[cestuneblague]

Much more familiar with Efdemin prior to this tourney, this was a strong record that didn't do anything particularly new or radical but it was a solid listen start to finish. Moor Mother struck me as a bit more intriguing on first listen, though not necessarily fully satisfying even upon more return listens. Donno, Efdemin was t he more consistient record, Moor Mother had more ear-raising moments but more misses. Might flip a coin.

[baystateoftheart]

I really enjoyed both albums. New Atlantis is smooth, pretty techno, and the title track is great in particular. But both the spoken word portions and a track or two felt extraneous. Analog Fluids Of Sonic Black Holes is an album really meets the moment. Dark, abrasive, fascinating instrumentation meets urgent, political lyrics that straddle the line between hip-hop and spoken word. Not every track realizes its potential, but it makes for a very engaging listen and gets my vote.
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[baystateoftheart]

New Atlantis defeats Analog Fluids Of Sonic Black Holes 8-5 to advance to round one.
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[RoundTheBend]

Damn, not that my vote would've made a difference. Oh well.