Slanted and Enchanted is the Kevin Durant of this tournament: just an absolutely amazing arsenal of skills, but when it comes right down to it, it's something we've all seen before. (Oversized swing-man with a nice J, guitar-oriented indie rock.)

Aeroplane, on the other hand, is combarable to Greg Oden: possesses a sort of dominant, influential greatness that we only see two or three times a decade.

I think that these are two of the four best albums of the decade in question, with Aeroplane getting the slight edge.

Monty, you ignorant slut...

In what sense is Aeroplane not guitar oriented indie rock? NMH is working in the convicted nonsense shadow that Malkmus himself cast, but, I feel like there's more to Slanted and Enchanted. More sly word tricks and hidden agendas, where NMH is all raw emotion, strum and wail. More importantly, there's more rawk to Slanted. More low end, better drumming, more crackle and fuzz. And its funnier, and cooler, and just MORE. It's my favorite album ever, and no matter how much I love certain albums that come out each year, I can't see that changing.

Pavement.

Your opening line is the title of my next album.

I think the moment you incorporate the saw, the jaw harp, Uilleann pipes and something called the "wandering genie"* into your repertoire, you cease being typecast as guitar oriented indie rock. Aeroplane is a complete anamoly in the music world; where the fuck did it come from?

S&E is firmly entrenched in the 90s, and if that's the deciding factor for success in this tournament, then by all means, go with your hometown favorite. But outside of the vaccuum that is this bracket, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is just a better record.

And "Holland, 1945" pounds harder, faster and rockier than anything on S&E.

*At least three of those things are being posted on this site for the very first time.