Round 4 JJJ

[rayge]

A Elliot Smith – Waltz No. 2



B The Von Bondies - C'mon C'mon

[Deleted]

The energy of the Bondies is good, but never liked the vocal..A is Smith doing what he does well..Vote A

[toomanyhatz]

...Well, he's still got Jack White's fist marks on his face, probably.

A isn't a particularly deep Elliot Smith cut, but he's gotta be pretty high up on the list of artists that fit the theme for me.

[Mr. FOLLARD]

I know a couple of the good folk here really rate Elliot Smith as a songwriter, and now and again I'll go back and give his music another listen, but to be frank I'm always underwhelmed. This one's good but not great. It sounds lovely, there's a sweet/melancholy mood throughout, but it's as soporific as everything else I've heard by him. Val Doonican for the Starbucks generation.

The other thing is rubbish.

I'll give it to 

A

[Deleted]

I was into Smith quite a bit years ago, although I prefered his more stripped down Roman Candle and s/t era. You couldn't really waltz to this but that's the feel he was going for, I guess. B is just junk indie.

A.

[osgood]

Surprised to have on this theme two songs that I know well. Somebody gave me that Von Bondies record at the time, I may have played it three or four times and B is precisely the song that stands out ... which says a lot. A is a thing of beauty and a clear winner here.

A

[DarknessFish]

Vocally this feels like a throwback to the Kinks track of the previous round, but in a studied, particularly boring way to be retro. His post-death popularity seems to be waning somewhat, and it's not surprising when he turned out thin retro gruel like this. Bon Iver does the same kinda thing, and probably better. I dunno if that's true, I can't remember the last time I heard him, but it sounds accurate.

This reminds me of the stuff that was coming out in the early 00s, like The Vines, The Hives, all that kind of short and spiky poshed-up punk. Kinda generic, but it has some energy, and it's not unpleasant in what it does.

B

[Deleted]

Mar 8, 2020 20:23:20 GMT DarknessFish said:

Vocally this feels like a throwback to the Kinks track of the previous round, but in a studied, particularly boring way to be retro. His post-death popularity seems to be waning somewhat, and it's not surprising when he turned out thin retro gruel like this. Bon Iver does the same kinda thing, and probably better. I dunno if that's true, I can't remember the last time I heard him, but it sounds accurate.

Bon Iver never got close to the intimate bitterness on Roman Candle. Smith at his best was closer to Mark Kozalek or Daniel Johnston. I think he lost a bit of that focus when he was backed with a band, definitely that was the case with Figure 8 which followed this.

[Deleted]

I don't think either are very interesting. Smith does his constrained good taste thing, it has a veneer of sophistication that probably fools people into thinking it's cleverer than it is. B is pretty clichéd Emo that hasn't an original bone in its body, but it might be alright if you're 16.

I dunno.....A

[fonz]

B’s the best thing I’ve heard this round.

Deffo B

[neige]

B does very well what it does, the urgency, the relentless riff, but no contest against the sad loveliness of A

[rayge]

Whenever old Potato Face comes up in cups, my stock answer is that I liked Heatmiser, but find his solo work much less interesting. Cut and paste. Even his happy songs seem depressed. I don't know whether this is his suicide casting a shadow over his work, but anyway...less annoying than usual, because a little bit of pretty piano, and a jaunty tempo, almost a pop feel, the odd harmony. Possibly the closest thing to an enjoyable track I ever heard from him.

This is better, much closer to the sort of thing I want to hear. Vaguely reminded of a slew of British acts around this time, such as Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party, light tenor vocals over choppy guitars.

B

[Sneelock]

B by a smidgen. all those Gen X'ers trying to shove E.Smith down my throat didn't do him any favors.

[Deleted]

A

[oleandermedian]

The great Elliott

A