Championship Match: Jessie Ware v. Henri Texier - Games

baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash

Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts

Seed #4:

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What's Your Pleasure? by Jessie Ware

Nominated by: Hayden
Genres [RYM]: Dance-Pop, Disco

Seed #28:

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Chance by Henri Texier

Nominated by: Fischman
Genres [RYM]: Post-Bop

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 seven days. Ties will be settled by 24-hour extensions if necessary. See Tournament Spreadsheet for the full bracket.
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Mercury
Turn your back on the pay-you-back last call

Gender: Male
Location: St. Louis

in my head if Ware ends up winning the tourney, the actual 1-2-3 is What's Your Pleasure, Fetch The Bolt Cutters, Songs due to how the tourney shook out and how fierce and overbalanced that side of the tourney was and how close those matches were. That said, what is actually the standings will not reflect that I know.

All that aside, I liked Chance and I really like What's Your Pleasure. Neither is a favorite, but What's Your Pleasure is closer to being so. So Jessie Ware got my vote.
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ONLY 4% of people can understand this chart! Come try!

My Fave Metal - you won't believe #5!!!

EyeKanFly
Head Bear Master/Galactic Emperor

Age: 33
Location: Gotham

Mercury wrote:

in my head if Ware ends up winning the tourney, the actual 1-2-3 is What's Your Pleasure, Fetch The Bolt Cutters, Songs due to how the tourney shook out and how fierce and overbalanced that side of the tourney was and how close those matches were. That said, what is actually the standings will not reflect that I know.

All that aside, I liked Chance and I really like What's Your Pleasure. Neither is a favorite, but What's Your Pleasure is closer to being so. So Jessie Ware got my vote.

Agreed with all this. Tempted to vote for Texier as the underdog but quite frankly I don't think that's how it should work. I did really like the Ware album better, so I'll go that way.
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kokkinos

Even though it doesn't stand a chance, I'm pleasantly surprised it reached the finals and obviously give my vote to Chance.

Mercury wrote:

in my head if Ware ends up winning the tourney, the actual 1-2-3 is What's Your Pleasure, Fetch The Bolt Cutters, Songs due to how the tourney shook out and how fierce and overbalanced that side of the tourney was and how close those matches were. That said, what is actually the standings will not reflect that I know.

I agree in principle, but I see no reason not to add Shore by Fleet Foxes, so the final list would look like this:
1st: What's Your Pleasure
2nd: Songs (lost the tiebreak to What's Your Pleasure)
T-3: Fetch The Bolt Cutters and Shore (lost by one vote to What's Your Pleasure)
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Hayden

Disco-pop vs post-bop pop-n-lock dance off, like hot potted jazz of pop rocks mixed with post-chopshop TikToks bopping to pawnshop dropxbox files blaring from desktops in the backdrop, with laptop-baring bellhops dropping it like it's hot, mopping the dancefloor bookshops and—

Don't know where that was going.

Very glad to see Ware squeeze through the crowd. Had some nailbiters along the way. Didn't think she'd squeeze past Fiona, but I think she's got this one. Hoping those voting for her also give the deluxe edition a spin, the bonus tracks are just as good as (some of) the A-sides.

All the props to Texier on making it to the finals, but I'd be lying if I saw it coming. Strange how this cookie called 2020 crumbled.
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LedZep

Hayden wrote:

All the props to Texier on making it to the finals, but I'd be lying if I saw it coming. Strange how this cookie called 2020 crumbled.

That's the way it crumbles, cookie wise. Ware fairly easily for me too, but I'm always glad to see a throwback post bop album making it far.
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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash

Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts

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Choose your fighter
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EyeKanFly
Head Bear Master/Galactic Emperor

Age: 33
Location: Gotham

Hayden wrote:

Disco-pop vs post-bop pop-n-lock dance off, like hot potted jazz of pop rocks mixed with post-chopshop TikToks bopping to pawnshop dropxbox files blaring from desktops in the backdrop, with laptop-baring bellhops dropping it like it's hot, mopping the dancefloor bookshops and—

Don't know where that was going.

Very glad to see Ware squeeze through the crowd. Had some nailbiters along the way. Didn't think she'd squeeze past Fiona, but I think she's got this one. Hoping those voting for her also give the deluxe edition a spin, the bonus tracks are just as good as (some of) the A-sides.

All the props to Texier on making it to the finals, but I'd be lying if I saw it coming. Strange how this cookie called 2020 crumbled.

1) you should consider writing hip hop verses to accompany your music lol. Your poetry is actually clearly very good and your on-the-spot rhyming appears to be up to snuff also (oh and apologies if this is something you do already and I've just only heard your instrumental music)
2) anyway, thanks for bringing up the deluxe edition again. I'll repeat what I said during round 1: this is not a deluxe edition which includes some alternate takes or maybe a couple remixes and if we're lucky 1 or 2 cut songs which clearly weren't up to snuff for the album-as-released. "The Platinum Pleasure Edition" lives up to its name and more. The second disc of 8 songs contains 6 cut tracks, 1 remix, and 1 track which I can't really make heads or tails of, but it's good. It's all good. Any of the cut tracks could've easily been on the initial release. I'm surprised she(/EMI/Universal) didn't release this as a double album OR save the material for a second album a la Dedicated Side B by Carly Rae Jepsen
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travelful
BEA's Official Florida Man

Age: 27
Location: Davenport, Florida

Jessie Ware for me
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2020's Hip-Hop
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Hayden

baystateoftheart wrote:

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Choose your fighter

I appreciate the nuance of the gap between the A and the N. Legit laughed out loud here.

Quote:

1) you should consider writing hip hop verses to accompany your music lol. Your poetry is actually clearly very good and your on-the-spot rhyming appears to be up to snuff also (oh and apologies if this is something you do already and I've just only heard your instrumental music)

Nah. Can't rap. Have rapped (comedically). Can't. Appreciate the praise on that ramble though Laughing

I have a couple of tracks that are rap-able, but I'd never do it myself. The world's a better place for me not putting a mic to that.

I'm torn with what Ware should have done with all the cuts. Carly's route could have worked, but ultimately I think this 70m cut could have worked for a double-ish album—

1. Spotlight
2. What's Your Pleasure?
3. Ooh La La
4. Soul Control
5. Save A Kiss (which is an underappreciated banger)
6. Please
7. Adore You
8. Pale Blue Light
9. Hot n Heavy
10. In Your Eyes
11. Step Into My Life
12. Mirage (Don't Stop)
13. Eyes Closed
14. The Kill
15. Remember Where You Are

I mean... I know 60m+ isn't too appealing for pop records, but I feel like she could have pulled it off.

And just because, here's Ware's gif-ed cover—

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(I imagine the first true 'gif' album art will come out sometime this decade).
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