The draw

With 19 nomination ballots, the fewest anybody got in the draw is 5 (Mostly the ballots that were 501-1000 heavy) and the most anybody got is 8.

The voting starts the January 2nd.

Each week there will be one matchup from divsion 1, one from division 2, one from division 3, one from division 4. It's okay if you can only vote in one or two matchups per week. Not everybody has time to listen to all the albums, so you can just vote in as many as you're able to.

Before anyone says anything, Rue de Siam is easily available digitally. Just practically impossible to get physically.

If you look at the top of the draw, there's a link that says 'Predict it', which is a prediction game for the tournament. If there are 10 brackets or more filled out by January 1, then the winner will get their pick of a reasonably attainable album in the draw.

hahaha... alright, alright, i'll promise to keep my head spender zipped up this time..

Link doesn't seem to work...

This is going to sound ridiculously dumb, but when you click "the draw", are you supposed to redirect to this very same topic? And when are we going to see who made the cut and who haven't?

yeah, Chris, your gay.

Same thing happened to me. Such a bummer, because I was looking forward to seeing this.

http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=381742

Bah.

Stephan, can you edit that link into my original post?

AWESOME!

tough matches (especially the ones including my picks, shit i'm screwed) so far and kind of a let down to see that Rickie Lee Jone's Pirates didn't make the final cut... too bad i really like that record, but REALLY EXCITED about this game!

The bracket looks great, BillAdama. I'm surprised at the amount of albums I didn't nominate but have heard on there. Unfortunately my number one pick, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), is facing a Bruce Springsteen album, which might knock it out early. But honestly, predicting this tournament is nearly impossible, even more so than the unacclaimed songs. There's definitely no In the Aeroplane Over the Sea or Silent Shout in this tournament.

I also like that the draw represents 124 different groups. Only Prince, Stereolab, The Cure, and Springsteen have two. (And George Harrison is on the list twice counting the Wilburys).

Other statistics: The album with the most google hits was Bad with 17.2 million, followed by Viva La Vida with 16.4 million, followed by Queen with only 1.6 million.

The album with the fewest was Art Ensemble Of Chicago with 191.

@nj: Your picks were awesome. It's awesome that there's an album on the list that Harold doesn't own.

Damn I wish I voted, because then The Wrens would be on there. Also, calling King Crimson's Red to win it.

I hope that summerteeth advances far, and this causes a lot of people to check it out.

Despite the 540 place difference on the all-time list, Summerteeth is nearly as good as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I've heard no one really contradict that sentiment, but it seems like a lot of people on here see Wilco as a one album band instead of a band with an amazing run of albums from 1996-2004.

Haha - unlucky to get 2 of my albums facing each other. Think I can guess who picked a lot of these albums,hmmm wonder which Prince album Moonbeam selected? Probably Lovesexy more likely. Some bad luck for Moonbeam also - Janet Jackson and Kylie Minogue together,Siouxsie & The Banshees and the Eurythmics...

BillAdama: Since our little security breach and the Bravenet 'fix' I can't edit any posts any more, not even my own.

Also, 6 of my picks got in, and a lot of the other picks are favorites of mine as well. Seems like a great selection.

Looks like I am the one whose #2 did not make the cut (or Bill didn't get my second list) !

I will start by listening to the albums facing albums I already know, that will help me vote in as much match-ups as I can.

This is going to be fun!

I have registered my predictions, I hope others will too.

I picked Red and I don't expect it to win, given the love-them-or-hate-them status of King Crimson on this board. I considered nominating The Meadowlands and I definitely think that album would do well if it was on here.

I tried to make some predictions and then I looked back and realized I'd basically just picked my own choices; I gave up, too hard to predict.

Ha! That must be my list. Still, too bad that The Gun Club and Lee Perry didn't make the cut.
For anybody interested, these were my nominations:

JOHN MARTYN-Solid Air (ranking: 508) 1973
Never understood why Nick Drake is so worshipped while lesser acclaimed singer/songwriter contemporaries like Tim Buckley, Kevin Coyne and particularly John Martyn were doing so much more adventurous and exciting things. Oh wait, I got it: Unlike Drake John Martyn didn't die a romantic r'n'r death but instead lived on for many years, becoming old, fat and ugly.
The GUN CLUB-Miami (957) 1982
Roots Rock goes punk.
13th FLOOR ELEVATORS-Psychedelic Sounds Of... (1021) 1966
The first ever out-and out psychedelic album. When you play this, beware. Due to the trippy sounds it may cause your CD player/computer to just float out of the window.
GZA/GENIUS-Liquid Swords (1255) 1995
Best album from the Wu-Tang family.
STRANGLERS-Rattus Norvegicus (1259) 1977
The Stranglers were labelled uncool during punk's heyday (too agressive and obnoxious even for punk standards, and one 'em had a mustache forchrissake!). But in the end their debut album stood the test of time better than many favorites of the period.
dEUS-Worst Case Scenario (1469) 1994
Hardly known outside the lowlands (Belgium/Holland), which is a crime. dEUS was easily one of the most inventive bands of the 90s Alt.rock flush.
GENE VINCENT-Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps (1604) 1957
Most 50s pop albums consist of a few hits surrounded by filler. Not so Gene's Vincent's sophomore release. This one kicks ass from start to finish.
ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO-Les Stances A Sophie (2307) 1970
Where Jazz meets avantgarde, funk, existentialism and what-not.
LEE PERRY-Roastfish, Collieweed & Cornbread (2451) 1978
The Sgt. Pepper of Roots Reggae.
BENGA-Diary Of An Afro Warrior (bubbling under) 2008
Best Dubstep album of the 00s. Even outclasses Burial.

They are quite popular among indie fans in France too, even though it is usually The Ideal Crash which gets the acclaim here.

That's good to read, although I suspect that particularly in the U.S. dEUS is still a very obscure name. By the way, all of their early albums are great.

Woo hoo- I got 8 picks through!

Bizarrely, they only made it to 5 different brackets. That's right- 3 brackets are Moonbeam-nominated battles!

I had guessed Siouxsie/Eurythmics and Kylie/Janet, what is the third ?

I'm surprised Seventeen Seconds is in the third tier, (I'm even surprised that it is eligible and did not make it to the previous moderate poll).

I had that as my #1 as well. I only discovered it a few months ago, but it keeps growing on me. It's the only album that fits a description like 'magical'.

Tourney should be interesting.

One of my entries is misnamed. The Morphine album is Cure for Pain, not Cure the Pain.

With some strategic picks and placements, I got 8 albums in. Particularly happy to have placed 3 vocal jazz albums in the mix. Missed out on The New Pornographers' Electric Version and Paul Simon's Rhythm of the Saints.

Speaking of magical albums, I'm surprised no one nominated Pharaoh Sanders' Karma based on its performance in the 1969 poll. I now wish I had selected that masterpiece.

glad to see someone nominated countdown to ecstasy. i didn't realize it had fallen out of the top 500 in the last update. good lookin out.

Yeah. In the second round there were 13 501-1000 albums nominated to fill 12 spots, and you drew the short straw.

Last year Seventeen Seconds was tied for 5th in the 601-700 block with The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle and missed on a tiebreaker. Then in the wild card vote, there were 3 spots, and it came in 4th, 1 point behind The Moon And Antarctica. I think the reason Seventeen Seconds wound up in division 3 is that it's their least hooky album.

Maybe if a lot of people have their own picks against each other in the first round I should switch a few around.

Actually seven people got eight nominations, not five. I forgot to count the two people who's eighth, ninth or tenth picks were already nominated by somebody else. The seven who got eight nominations are: Daniel, Schwah, Beef Supreme, Moonbeam, nj, Mindrocker, Midaso.

And, Moonbeam picked Lovesexy, Diamonds and Pearls was nominated by Romain.

I was surprised nobody nominated Pinkerton. If it got in it would probably be the favorite.

Actually I realize I can't switch things around now because there's already six complete bracket predictions. If I realized Moonbeam has three separate self-matchups I would have switched around a few of them though.

(Four more predictions for there to be a prize!)

Let's see.. I got Boston, Sheer Heart Attack, The Stranger, 4 and The Cry of Love.

Looks like Summerteeth is the favorite based on the brackets so far. Three people have it winning the tournament and I have it losing in the finals.

7 of your 10 picks were from 501-1000, and those slots all filled up in the first two rounds, so what you got were your top 2 picks + all the others above 1000.

I only got 6 because I tried to stick Drums and Wires in at #3, and then had too many 1001-1500, and those filled up in round 5.

My 6 are: Starsailor, Dub Housing, Boire, Deceit, Crazy Ex Girlfriend, Deep Cuts.

Well I put some picks in,could be completely wrong with a lot of them. One I sort of regret is picking Steely Dan over Scott Walker in round 1. I picked against a lot of my own...

BillAdama, which albums were nominated by more than one person?

The albums I got in: Seventeen Seconds, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84), Floating into the Night, West Coast, Scott 3, Samba Esquema Novo, Love Deluxe.

Wow, Summerteeth is a huge favourite. All Jonathon's posts seem to have been fruitful! (At least for the predictions.)

My picks :

Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On (#1137)
There are some albums I relate to more than I could explain, some of the music I like seem to reflect part of my personality and Perfect From Now On seems to be the mirror of my inconscious, of some shrink gibberish like that. Still, I think Built to Spill great trilogy (Keep it like a secret / Perfect From Now On / There's Nothing Wrong with Love) is the real great indie trilogy of the 90s, giving me what some people seem to enjoy in Pavement first 3 opus and that I only here in a few songs like Fillmore Jive. It has one of the most expressive guitar play ever, great arrangements, dense atmosphere, something very hypnotic, and no weak moment. "Velvet Waltz" and "I Would Hurt a Fly" both are in my top 50 songs all time.

Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die (bubbling under)
It's pretty simple to sum up : this album makes me smile whenever I hear it, almost whatever happened to me before. They are like kindergarden Beach Boys and it's a shame they did not appear in any (I think) EOD list.

Dodos, The - Visitor (#2239)
My fav album of 2008, by far : Animal Collective reduced to the bone kinda sums it up, but it is a bit reductive, they seem much more accessible. Mostly reduced to an acoustic guitar, percussions and vocals, it's a long and hypnotic trip.

Rakes, The - Capture/Release (#2239)
The first half encapsulate the best english rock riffs of the past decade, at times fun or deep, it was a much more exciting first album than those of much band that appeared at the same time such as Maximo Park or Kaiser Chiefs.

Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley (#1281)
Before Songs for the Deaf, that was the album that defined Stoner the best with its huge insistent riffs. They know how to play it tough and how to slow it down, Demon Cleaner is unstoppable and Super Scoop and Mighty Scoop has one of my favorite intro ever.

Sparklehorse - Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (#2070)
Mostly the work of Mark Linkous, all Sparklehorse albums are very good but I don't think he has topped his debut. It mostly is beautifully sad, kinda spooky, parly lo-fi. Homecoming Queen and Most Beautiful Widow in Town are among his best songs and Hammering the Cramps might be the closest he ever get to a radio hit.

My picks that did not make the cut :
Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R (#761)
Fever Ray - Fever Ray (#719)
Animal Collective - Feels (#939)
Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (819)

I like Fishcale more than Supreme Clientele but I'm glad at least this one made the list.
other personal favs in the competition include Emperor Tomato Ketchup, Seven Seconds and Hospice.

I do think Summerteeth is the favorite, but there are like 20 or 30 albums I think have a realistic chance to win, rather than like 3 last year. There are tons of possible dark horses.

Albums with multiple nominations:

-Tim Buckley - Starsailor
BillAdama: #1
Jackson: #7

-GZA/Genius - Liquid Swords
Beef Supreme: #4
Mindrocker: #9

Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
Daniel: #8
KingofTonga: #10

John Martyn - Solid Air
Mindrocker: #1
Stephan: #1

David Bowie - The Man Who Solid The World
Brad: #3
Romain: #3

The Knife - Deep Cuts
BillAdama: #7
KingOfTonga: #7

Tears For Fears - Songs From The Big Chair
Greg: #6
Midaso: #7

Also Tom Waits - Bone Machine got a #5 and a #3 mention, but it's ranked 557, so it didn't get in.

This almost makes up for it dropping out of the top 500 and now the top 600!

Summerteeth was in an initial burst of albums that got me into indie rock in like 2003; of all of those (which included Aeroplane Over the Sea, Slanted & Enchanted, The Soft Bulletin and Loveless) Summerteeth held up the best for me.

I guess I do bitch a bit too much about how it's treated by critics; a 5 star from AMG and a 9.4 release score from pitchfork (Which would almost definitely be a 10.0 on a reissue) isn't so shabby.

I honestly think all of the Wilco albums other than Yankee Hotel Foxtrot get in each other's way a bit...it's never been decided definitively what the second best Wilco album is. In the past 3 updates we've had 3 different #2s, and in previous updates, A Ghost is Born and Summerteeth switched frequently.

When a band has a sound that is that hard to pin down, it creates a situation where if you like one Wilco album, your not guaranteed to like all of the rest ( I myself, really don't like Sky Blue Sky.)

now isn't it alanis that it has to compete with "my" Labradford in the first round? byezevay: speaking of siblings compelled to chop each other's head of, there are already some brackets where i feel inclined to NOT vote in favour of my personal prick.../which'll probably end up busting another Have You Played Qatari Today? into my newly given one/scnr..//

lifez tool

Is anyone else having trouble finding ways to hear some of the nominated albums? The only place I've really looked is Rhapsody, but it has neither Les Stances a Sophie nor Hex Enduction Tour.

Anyone know good free and/or cheapo ways to hear the rarer of the nominated albums?

Right now there are nine filled out prediction draws, and three created but not filled out. One more finished one before there's a prize.

Both on mediafire. Just search mediafire + the album in google...

Just a reminder to everyone, the actual voting starts on Sunday.

We will start with the top matchup from each division and work downward.

Also, there are now ten brackets filled out in Predict It, meaning that the winner of the game at the end will get their pick of one reasonably attainable album from the draw. You can still fill out a new bracket until the end of January 1st, eastern US time.

As for late brackets, you can fill them out, but any points you get from albums whose first matches start before you fill in the bracket will not count, so you will be at a major disadvantage for winning.

@W: I'm not morally opposed to downloading music that is unavailable to you from paid services, but I don't want to download files from strangers onto my computer.

Do you consider me a stranger? If not, I can send them to you through Dropbox or something.

Am I correct, then, that the first four matchups are:
1. Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One vs. Boston - Boston
2. Steely Dan - Countdown To Ecstasy vs. Scott Walker - Scott Walker 3
3. Blind Faith - Blind Faith vs. The Cure - Bloodflowers
4. The Heartbreakers - L.A.M.F. vs. Faust - Faust IV
???
And when is the deadline for voting for the first group?

Thanks!

I think I can trust you not to infect my computer.

Yes, those will be the first matches.

There will be a week to vote per group.

I have spent a lot of time looking for ways to listen to music free on the internet, and the best website i have found is listen.grooveshark.com. It is completely free to listen (but not if you want to download) and I can find almost anything on there.