E2 Hippiedrill 9 fange 10

[rayge]

A Explosions in the Sky - Disintegration Anxiety



B Eddie Harris - Listen Here

[bungo the mungo]

i think this tie will divide preludin.

i'd love to hear a contemporary pick in this cup that i'd enjoy, but it hasn't happened yet. i will try and be nice to A and say that i enjoyed the drums, but there wasn't really a tune to get hold of.

i'm unfamiliar with harris and might check some more of his stuff out. although i'm not exactly WILD about this selection it's more my bag.

B

[oh oooh]

Sounds like A need time. I might grow to like it. It's that kind of thing. But it's not making me go WOOWWWWWW right now. It just sounds like people doing their exercises.

B has been a favourite since I heard it on a cheapo 'jazz n blues' comp tape many years ago. No competition really

[DayoRemix]

Explosions stuff works better in the context of their albums and I might have chosen something from an earlier work, but Jazz usually isn't my thing unless it's weird and this one is nice, but pretty basic...Vote A

[DarknessFish]

I was just listening to a Constellation comp earlier today, so I should be primed for some post-rock inaction. I have an EITS album somewhere, too, but I've always considered it a bit post-rock by numbers, you know, a bit formulaic, lacking the interesting middle section and concentrating too much on the crescendo. This is more interesting, with the jabbily picked guitar and meandering bass, though I'll probbaly find out this is actually off the album I own. Seems to just stop though, rather than have a thought out end, which is the opposite of what I was criticising them for.

Electrifying Eddie Harris sounds like a professional darts soubriquet. This started off a bit tame for my type o' jazz, but it's undoubtedly got a bit of a way with a groove, I like the way it's winding along in a slinky sashaying shtyle. Interesting match up, innit, post-rock titans (well, contenders for a European place, anyway) against an obscure jazz pick. Both understated and meandering, but I've gotta feel that the jazz fella is more successful, not only does he have a destination in mind, he's getting there in style.

Really good match-up, but I'm going with the darts legend.
B

[toomanyhatz]

A takes a while to get going then lurches in and out of lanes for a while. It's the rare thing that I think might be a little too short. I'd love to hear where it goes once it actually gets up to full speed, but it never does. Enough car metaphors for you?

B, on the other hand is very much in my wh...you know the rest.

[fange]

An interesting match up this one. I like elements of A quite a bit, especially the drums, but i'm with hatzy in that it could actually have used being a bit longer, so as to create a proper sense of a development. It just seems to fade off too quickly. B is quite special in its way, as i think it's one of the first uses of an "electric" saxophone - Harris became better known in the 70s for using a Varitone unit on his sax which amplified and extended the sounds he could produce; you can hear it really clearly during his playing when he gets these really low tones, the sort of thing that might normally come from a baritone sax rather than a tenor. Apart from his great playing, this tune is also full of fab latin percussion, and gets my vote here.

B

[Deleted]

A was okay, but felt like an intro stretched out. The drums seemed mixed too high and were a little jarring.

B has an easy swing which makes it easy to like. It feels a little standard for its type and isn't exactly ambitious, but it achieves it's modest aims.
B

[osgood]

Both most excellent picks, pity they haven't been paired with the turds in E1 instead of against each other.

B has a nice grove and features great solos all along. It's the kind of jazz that moves me. But I was more impressed with A. Love its development and how it builds up with some purpose. Cheers to the picker and sorry B, but

A

[fearlessfreap]

A bores the bejeezus out of me. I like some "post rock," but this is wallpaper
B is godhead

[Half Machine Lipschitz]

I'm not familiar with Explosions In The Sky, and if this is considered a good representation of their work then I will attempt to remain unfamiliar with them. This sounds like a throwaway that was caught only because someone happened to be rolling tape during a jam.

This Eddie Harris tune is okay in a background coffee shop kinda way, but it doesn't need much more than that to win this tie.


B

[morgan]

Both fairly interesting choices but A is more unusual so

A

[Sneelock]

I'll go A too. the Eddie Harris track is terrific. Maybe it's not so "electrifying" but only because he features the piano player quite a bit on the track.

I mentioned "sonic manipulation" before. it know it sounds pretty pretentious. I think music can be at it's best when a song gets caught in your head. I also think music can be at it's best when it doesn't try to do that with a ten foot pole. think "mood music" or movie music. I like music that tries to paint my mood with the music as the paintbrush. I think both tracks here do that but the first is the sort of thing I'm really enjoying these days.

[fonz]

When I play A it sounds very distorted. I can't tell if this deliberate. I'll assume it's not (otherwise it's an automatic fail).
I do prefer it to B-I like Jazz, but this is a bit dull.

A

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A