Welcome to Week 18! We continue with bracket L2, featuring songs that have won one match and lost another match. The losers here are unfortunately out of the tournament!

Please listen to the songs before making your choice, and provide comments (however brief) to form the basis of your pick.

The deadline for Week 18 is 11:59 PM, February 26th AM time.

You can read the descriptions of why these songs were nominated in the rules thread.

Match L2.5:

The Fiery Furnaces - "Here Comes the Summer"
Mando Diao - "Dance With Somebody"

Match L2.6:

Faces - "Ooh La La"
Shudder to Think featuring Jeff Buckley - "I Want Someone Badly"

Match L2.7:

Architecture in Helsinki - "Heart It Races"
The Decemberists - "Record Year"

Match L2.8:

Game Theory - "Erica's Word"
M. Ward - "Rave On"

Match L2.5:
The Fiery Furnaces - "Here Comes the Summer"
WINNER - Mando Diao - "Dance With Somebody"
The two songs are great but the first one is a liitle bit annoying with time.

Match L2.6:
WINNER - Faces - "Ooh La La"
Shudder to Think featuring Jeff Buckley - "I Want Someone Badly"
Faces win but I don't think this is two stong songs.

Match L2.7:
Architecture in Helsinki - "Heart It Races"
WINNER - The Decemberists - "Record Year"
The song of the deecemberists is one of the best discovery of this game. It's an incredible song and I hope find it later in this game.

Match L2.8:
Game Theory - "Erica's Word"
WINNER - M. Ward - "Rave On"[/quote]
I love the 80's but here,I'm not feeling anything about Erica's world. M. Ward win but the song is not really my taste.

Mando Diao's "Dance with Somebody" is a roaring awesome song. I love it more than I did last time. Fiery Furnaces song is good, but not good enough.

Jeff Buckley has my pick of the week. A dizzying, mindblowing song.

Decemberists have a nice, soft piece. A break from all the craziness of the tournament. It wins here by a respectable margin.

Game Theory has a nice, crisp piece that I can listen too and not get tired of. They win here

Rave On caught my eye, so I thought I might as well start taking part in these.

Winners:

The Fiery Furnaces - Here Comes the Summer
It showed up on a few end-of-decade lists last year and was one of my favourite discoveries of songs I hadn't heard from the noughties.

Faces - Ooh La La
I like the clear accoustic opening and the catchy rhythm that soon follows.

The Decemberists - Record Year
Hadn't heard these two songs and can't say that I liked either when I listened to them for the first time. But Record Year has more going for it.

M. Ward - Rave On
It's an audacious move to cover Buddy Holly, but M. Ward's version of Rave On has a charming spirit all of its own.

Match L2.5:
The Fiery Furnaces - "Here Comes the Summer"
Mando Diao - "Dance With Somebody"

We're getting to the point where I at least like most songs. The Fiery Furnaces song blows me away again every time, and while I really enjoy Diao as well.. I've heard it maybe one time too many.

Match L2.6:
Faces - "Ooh La La"
Shudder to Think featuring Jeff Buckley - "I Want Someone Badly"

Easy win for one of my favorite songs in the competition.

Match L2.7:
Architecture in Helsinki - "Heart It Races"
The Decemberists - "Record Year"

Ai, very tough choice, particularly after just listening to AiH for the semi-acclaimed album competiton. I'm gonna have to go with Record Year though.

Match L2.8:
Game Theory - "Erica's Word"
M. Ward - "Rave On"

Great cover verses great original; original wins.

Vote: Fiery Furnaces

My first impression is to prefer the rock style of Dance With Somebody, but it's just a little too repetitive for my taste. Both decent songs.

Vote: Jeff Buckley

In general 'Pop star is giving me pithy life advice of the sort you learn in sitcoms' songs rub me the wrong way, but Ooh La La has a nice hook. But I love the bluesy touches of I Want Someone Badly, and I especially love Buckley's singing.

Vote: Decemberists

Heart It Races is still too bouncy and sugary.

Vote: Game Theory

Erica's Word is pretty good. M Ward is a very talented guitarist, but he seriously needs to get off the vall ium.

You know if you spell that word correctly, the board detects it as spam?

Match L2.5:
The Fiery Furnaces - "Here Comes the Summer" WINNER
Mando Diao - "Dance With Somebody"
I simply enjoy the Fiery Furnaces more. Quirky, intriguing, and just more fun.

Match L2.6:
Faces - "Ooh La La" WINNER
Shudder to Think featuring Jeff Buckley - "I Want Someone Badly"
I have to finally give the Faces their due here... I once loved this song. Shudder To Think needs more than a superb vocal performance here.

Match L2.7:
Architecture in Helsinki - "Heart It Races"
The Decemberists - "Record Year" WINNER
Both bands tire me out if I listen too much, but on a song-by-song basis, I have to give it to the Decemberists.

Match L2.8:
Game Theory - "Erica's Word" WINNER
M. Ward - "Rave On"
Love Game Theory; M. Ward can be great, but this cover wouldn't be my example.

Thanks!

Winners:

Mando Diao, "Dance with Somebody" - The song well earns the use of the word "dance" in the title.

Shudder to Think feat. Jeff Buckley, "I Want Someone Badly" - One of my picks... pastiche that transcends pastiche.

The Decemberists, "Record Year" - While I always tend to like fun in my music, and the AIH track has plenty of it, there is more heft in the Decemberists track than fun in the AIH track.

M. Ward, "Rave On" - Still really dislike the vocals on the Game THeory track. Still think that this approach to "Rave On" is misguided, but it's quite musical.

Fiery Furnaces - "Here Comes the Summer" over Mando Diao - "Dance With Somebody"

I was quite upset when "Here Comes the Summer" lost in the last round. It might be my favorite new discovery of the competition: dreamy atmosphere, catchy melody, and constantly evolving arrangement. "Dance With Somebody" has that nice Franz Ferdinand-esque sound but is up against tough competition here.

Faces - Ooh La La over Shudder to Think - "I Want Someone Badly"

Faces win in a rout here, as "Ooh La La" remains in my top 150 favorite songs. The immediately catchy melody and great dual-guitar performance make it a classic in my opinion.

Decemberists - "Record Year" over Architecture in Helsinki - "Heart It Races"

I have voted against "Heart it Races" every round, and that trend continues here. "Record Year" is a solid (if overly downbeat) effort, and I will definitely listen to a few Decemberists albums soon for the 2000s poll.

Game Theory - "Erica's Word" over M. Ward - "Rave On"

Rave On is a fine cover, but Erica's Word just keeps getting better with every round. It's definitely among my favorites left in the loser's bracket.

Match L2.5

Fiery Furnaces win big for me...this song was stuck in my head for a week the first time it came around...we'll see what happens this time. :) Very catchy. I didn't get Mando Diao the first time, and I still don't.

Match L2.6
You know, I've been rooting for the Jeff Buckley song to grow on me, and it still might, but for now, I'd honestly rather listen to The Faces song.

Match L2.7
One of two songs (so far) I've downloaded as a result of this tourney, Architecture in Helsinki wins this one easily as well. Love this song!! I like a lot of songs in the vein of "Record Year", but for some reason this doesn't work for me. I keep wanting it to turn into "The Rainbow Connection." :)


Match L2.8
I was completely surprised the first time I listened to this Game Theory song...what a great little gem from the 80s. As much as I like 80s music, I can't believe I never came across this song before. "Rave On" is actually a very good song too, a nice breezy song...I'd pick it ahead of most other songs in this bracket (except AIH).

Match L2.5: Winner - Fiery Furnaces

The Fiery Furnaces - "Here Comes the Summer": Not that good, but I've never liked the Mando Diao song.
Mando Diao - "Dance With Somebody"

Match L2.6: Winner - Shudder to Think

Faces - "Ooh La La": So so
Shudder to Think featuring Jeff Buckley - "I Want Someone Badly": Easily one of my favorites of all the game. I have to look for Grace as soon as possible, such a gifted singer Buckley is.

Match L2.7: Winner - The Decemberists

Architecture in Helsinki - "Heart It Races": Nice listening. Interesting arrangements, although a bit childish, maybe because of the vocals.
The Decemberists - "Record Year": This game contain a group of songs (near 4 or 5) like this: slow, with a bit of a sad atmosphere, driven by an acoustic guitar, and with a melody that is interesting and not very easy to memorize. All of them, like this one, sound good and well composed, although none are among my very favorites.

Match L2.8: Winner - M. Ward

Game Theory - "Erica's Word": Good, but obviously loses here.
M. Ward - "Rave On": I still haven't liked any song here more than my own pick. It's always a pleasant audition, even when overplayed by myself. Still haven't heard the original, but if it's better than this, than it must be a very great song.

Match L2.5:

The Fiery Furnaces - "Here Comes the Summer": This is one of my top 5 songs in the tournament. It's fun and pulls the heartstrings at the same time. Powerful, wonderful stuff!
Mando Diao - "Dance With Somebody": I enjoy this song quite a bit. It's just up against one of my favorites.

Match L2.6:

Faces - "Ooh La La": The beneficiary of an easy matchup, I don't really care for this, but that's how the game goes...
Shudder to Think featuring Jeff Buckley - "I Want Someone Badly": Like Larry, I'm waiting to be impressed by not only this song, but anything by Jeff Buckley. It hasn't happened yet.

Match L2.7:

Architecture in Helsinki - "Heart It Races": Crazy, loopy fun makes this a winner!
The Decemberists - "Record Year": This may be the better song, but I prefer the fluorescent colors of "Heart It Races".

Match L2.8:

Game Theory - "Erica's Word": I'm not big on jangle pop, and the vocals leave a lot to be desired.
M. Ward - "Rave On": Not a remarkable cover, but a good one, and to achieve that with such a behemoth as "Rave On" is pretty impressive.

Voting for this week is over.

Your winners for Week 18:

The Fiery Furnaces - "Here Comes the Summer": 8
Mando Diao - "Dance With Somebody": 3

Faces - "Ooh La La": 7
Shudder to Think featuring Jeff Buckley - "I Want Someone Badly": 4

Architecture in Helsinki - "Heart It Races": 3
The Decemberists - "Record Year": 8

Game Theory - "Erica's Word": 6
M. Ward - "Rave On": 5