versus
Frankie Rose, Interstellar
I played the Frankie Rose album first. Cool album art, by the way. After hearing the first couple of songs, I would've pegged the release date at 1985 or so, unless I knew better. Full of synth-pop that reminds me of equal parts Human League, New Order, and My Bloody Valentine, I thought the album was pretty good. Six hours after my first listen, however, I can only remember how the chorus of the first track annoyed me. The rest of the album was shimmery, relaxing, and dreamlike. One problem is that it was so dreamlike that it became hard to differentiate the songs.
Here's "Interstellar," the track I was talking about:
Julia Holter's Ekstasis seemed colder, more ethereal, and more experimental than Interstellar. Holter combines classical, pop, and electronica to come up with something that I haven't heard before. While I like many of the songs, I'm not sure if I like the clockwork-like, almost mathematical, manner that the songs unfold. My favorite track on this album was "Goddess Eyes II."
Anyhoo, based on my earlier listens, I would've guessed that Frankie Rose would win. Not the case.
Holter's Ekstasis advances to the next round. Sort of surprised me, but I'm trying to stay open-minded. Not the most impressive first matchup, but you can't fight randomness.
I'm thinking that this game will put "growers"--albums that don't impress on first listen--at a huge disadvantage. The winning album will have to be a good first listen and have a bit of staying power.
In any case, here are the brackets:
Julia Holter advances to the quarterfinals. For tomorrow: Chromatics versus Real Estate.
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