We've had a fun run with our March Madness-themed search for the best album of the 90s. Along the way, we've met a lot of MS lurkers (one, interestingly enough who called herself MS Lurker) who stepped into the well-known (long time reader, first time commenter mode). Thank you for that. Now, the album that we selected is an obvious one, but our number of votes are not so great that I would advise you to use our results as definitive evidence.

Your winner is:

1. Radiohead - Ok Computer

Defeated: Nirvana's Nevermind 23-12

Anyway, we* loved this format so much, we are going to sometime soon launch a March Madness-themed tournament to find the best Radiohead song (hey, everyone has to have a niche). Details of where, how, and when that is going to go down shall come soon. But, inasmuch as we editors/writers/programmers/robots here are the ones drafting content, we feel this site is as much the communities as ours, so feel free to use our (working better every day) comments function to let us know if we're losers or gods for our recurring features. Stats don't lie - so we know you like the retrohump. We love music, and we love writing about it (otherwise we would sad creatures indeed), so let us know what you want to read.

* I'm quite confident that my co-Ms.com'ers concur, but, since I'm not in the business of being our Web site's spokesperson, consider this officially the royal We.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 08:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Before I reveal the winner of MerrySwankster's Album Insanity, I'd like to announce the tournament's worst album, based on criteria created by Slate's Sam Eifling.

How do you determine the worst team in the field? Simple: It's the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that lost to the NCAA champion.

So, what was the tournament's worst album?

14. Unrest – Perfect Teeth

Overall Ranking 54
[PF UR]
Year: 1992

Can you figure out who won? Well, can you? This post seems very Sesame Street-ish. Deal with it.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Starting in March, MerrySwankster and its readers held a tournament to determine the best album of the 90s. Styled after March Madness, it included 65 teams. Nirvana's Nevermind and Radiohead's OK Computer are the finalists. To vote on which album you think should win, click here or vote in the comments below.

If Album Insanity were a beauty pageant, this would be the interview portion of the competition...

I have to admit, I had to fight back my own '94-era despair while I was sorting through Youtube footage in search of some old interviews with our final two. Not only would Kurt have been nearly the same age that Thom is today, but I don't doubt the passage of time would've found him every bit as principled, eloquent and prolific. (We forget he was a baby, a real 23-year-old retard, when Nevermind swept the world.) And regardless of which pendant you're waving in the finals, I'd like to think I speak for everyone when I say we would've followed Kurt much like we've followed Thom, through all his own artistic reincarnations, solo and otherwise.

At any rate, please forgive the fact that some of these videos are more circa Bends and In Utero. But I post them lest we forget that the 1990s found both our young icons thrust in front of the cameras like real beauty contestants; suddenly they were speaking for "a generation," whether they felt equipped to or not.

So, bring on nostalgia... Here's a brief nod to the bygone days of immediate success, unwonted wealth, bad hair and youthful inarticulateness.

ON BEING MISINTERPRETED (THOM YORKE IN 1996 & KURT COBAIN IN 1993):

As a side note: I'm a little thrown by the way Thom looks like Kurt at the start of this interview.

ON HYPE & 'THAT SONG' (RADIOHEAD IN 1995 & NIRVANA IN 1991):

AND, AS AN ADDED BONUS...

NIRVANA RENOUNCING ROCK STAR CLICHES:

NIRVANA BEHAVING LIKE ROCK STAR CLICHES:

Why did we love Kurt? Ah yes, because he had no qualms about comparing himself to Bette Midler.

Posted by Koren Zailckas at 06:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Story behind the Nevermind baby (via):

Spencer Elden (born on July 9, 1991) is the model who appeared on the cover of Nirvana's album Nevermind. Nirvana considered using a stock photograph of a swimming baby, but when that proved too expensive, they hired photographer Kirk Weddle. Weddle's friends, Renata and Rick Elden, allowed their son Spencer to be photographed for about $200. The hook, line, and dollar were superimposed later. After seeing the photo, Kurt Cobain (Nirvana's lead singer) and his wife Courtney Love agreed that they would take Spencer out to dinner when he got older.

In a September 2006 interview with NME, Elden expressed his interest in meeting up with the remaining band members, and seems to be a fan of Nirvana, saying "Nevermind is fifteen years old now, but you still hear the singles being played on the radio and it just doesn't sound dated. Most bands around today can't even get near to what Nirvana did on that album, and I'll always be happy to be a part of it."

You think this helps him get chicks?

Posted by Merry Swankster at 03:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Starting in March, MerrySwankster and its readers held a tournament to determine the best album of the 90s. Styled after March Madness, it included 65 teams. Nirvana's Nevermind and Radiohead's OK Computer are the finalists. To vote on which album you think should win, click here or vote in the comments below.

"One baby to another says
I'm lucky to have met you
I don't care what you think
Unless it is about me
It is now my duty to completely drain you
I travel through a tube
And end up in your infection
- "Drain You"

"When I go forwards you go backwards and somewhere we will meet
- "Electioneering"

For an era of nonpareil stability and security, at least by current standards, the music sure was depressing.

OK Computer: Noted as a perfect album by The Source (not The Source).

Nevermind: Noted as the album of a generation by everyone (no link for that one, nerds).

Both incredible works and historical masterpieces that stand up to history as The Best there ever were... beyond the 90s... up there with the rest of them. Representing a moment in time when long-play brilliance unleashed a wave of crippling inferiority inside the hearts of hearts of lesser bands.

"We're in over our heads dudes," says my metaphorical drummer in a hastily arranged band meeting that ends with suggestions on new career choices for the group. "The dream is over, we can't compete."

Nevermind and OK Computer wipe the floor of shoddy competitors and delegate them to Division III JV squads, wishing them no ill will, but putting them into their proper place during a time of bar raising.

I can unflinchingly toss the two finalists of 90s Album Insanity together with the Best of all time. Because they both wear the yardstick that I consider essential to belonging in such a category so well. That list is: 1- An album that changes the rules. 2- An album with a deep notch in history's musical timeline - clearly distinguishing eras as either pre- and post- it's existence. 3- Albums that can never be replicated, making them Standard bearers.

I will focus on #3 as 1 and 2 are self explanatory. Influence has been a much deliberated topic in the healthy commenting instigated by this final round of competition. Full disclosure: My own words took up an unrepresentatively high percentage of that discussion space. I have a lot to say. No apologies (no pun intended).

The third number from the criteria listed above is probably the one that would draw the most heated response in those with strong convictions against the validity of its' inclusion; or, possible confusion requiring explanation for understanding the meaning behind what seems like an obvious point. I define and defend it by deflecting future imitators from cheapening the original artifacts. Excitement over once innovative sounds all erode with time and distance away from that first virginal listen, but this reality should hardly be a reason to detract from what always will be an innovative musical flashpoint. Nobody can make another Sgt. Pepper or Ziggy Stardust or Dark Side or Led Zeppelin IV or Funeral. Many will try, most will fail and only the best will come out unscathed with something that shines as bright as their influential guides without falling into a one-way bottomless pit of homage taken too far. And with each occurrence of this rare feat, a new classic that cannot be replicated.

Every part of me says that OK Computer should win this thing. Musicianship, originality, composition, vision, and arguably context are all "technically" better than Nevermind. OK Computer is what the snobby, smug, pompous and pontificating music blogger is supposed to choose. Right on page 1 of the articles of bloggery it says so: "ORDAIN OK COMPUTER AS BEST ALBUM OR RISK REVOCATION OF LICENSE." Ultimately however, it comes down to a personal choice. Both albums have been playing nonstop at Swankster HQ, an exclusive residence on my iPod/car/computer/stereo for over a week now. My choice solidified in the first 30 minutes of that listening window, and truthfully probably solidified in my subconcious way before this tournament forced MS writers to vote and go on record with a choice.

OK Computer tickled greatness with the epicness of the music and the dystopian bleakness of Thom Yorke. Nevermind was and continues to serve as explosive catalyst to synapses exploding with uncomfortable feelings of doubt, fear, insecurity, pride, anger and excitement. It worked when I was fourteen and it still works today. Radiohead too, but the level of personality isn't there. An encouraging comfort can be found in Nevermind that still to this day weighs heavy in a private, and alternately from OK Computer, much more personal level.

Nevermind resonated so strongly through the (likely) unintended ways it allowed a generation to connect with Kurt Cobain. Self loathing may have reached critical mass in the 90s (re: Singles, Reality Bites, Seinfeld, Bill Clinton...), but it was Cobain who connected with the youth in saying everything is fucked up, we are all fucked up. For a dude that exuded so much negativity in his cryptic, yet simple poetry, they were words that encouraged many people to feel better. A paradox perhaps, but I believe a valid one. Ultimately we know that fate had an altogether different plan for Mr. Cobain. More irony from a decade drowning in too much of it already.

ESPN recap:

Nevermind takes the title from Radiohead in a classic. Thom Yorke fouled out with the game tied with only 0:05 seconds left in triple overtime. The loss of RH's star point guard, and surprisingly proficient shot-blocking ability, opened the door for an amazing four point play in which Cobain drains a clutch trey while getting fouled. The foul shot drops and seals the deal.

Exhausted, Radiohead is unable to recover and can't even get a shot up while Nirvana walks away triumphant. And by triumphant, I mean Cobain gives a vitriolic speech against the forces that pit artists against each other and storms off to write In Utero.

That is how it went down on my bracket anyway.

Posted by Merry Swankster at 02:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Starting in March, MerrySwankster and its readers held a tournament to determine the best album of the 90s. Styled after March Madness, it included 65 teams. Nirvana's Nevermind and Radiohead's OK Computer are the finalists. To vote on which album you think should win, click here or vote in the comments below.

These are Randall Monty's thoughts.

Nevermind and OK Computer in the final; has the “No Surprises” hand already been played?

I think there are a number of ways to approach the question, “What is the best album of the ‘90s?” Initially, most would assume that that question asks, “What is your favorite album?” But I don’t think that’s what the question means, although I do think it is possible to separate the two.

The next course of thought is probably, “What is the most artistically relevant album that came out at any time between January 1, 1990 and December 31, 1999?” But once again I don’t think that is the best way to look at it either, because that p.o.v. all but completely removes the listener from the equation. No, I want to take the question quite literally. In my estimation, the initial inquiry seeks to find the album that best embodies and summarizes the entire decade in question while also being simultaneously liked and creative. That is why my vote goes to Nevermind.

Taking nothing away from the prescient qualities of OK Computer, for which I’m sure other writers on this site will more eloquently opine, Radiohead’s coup de grace just doesn’t seem to hold the same cross-cultural impact of Nirvana’s breakthrough album. In fact, it’s not even close. Nevermind, for all its genre-specificity (after all, angst-fueled three piece r’n’r had been done), became a phenomenon: there is a certain ubiquity to the opening cords of this masterpiece that nothing on OK Computer can match. To continue that raw communicative emotion throughout an entire album that still sounds fresh today is nothing short of revolutionary.

I mean, it seemed like everybody loved “Teen Spirit”, even my dad and those friends who didn’t listen to “rock” music. Conversely, I could walk outside my door right now and find someone my age that has never heard “Airbag”. Perhaps that says more about my neighbors than necessary, but the fact of the matter remains: Nirvana meant (and still means) more to more people than Radiohead ever will. I don’t want to turn this argument into a strict popularity contest, but you can’t simply discredit it either, especially when it’s the music’s primary success.

The Beatles aren’t the greatest band of all time only because they were creative geniuses, or because they wrote wonderfully catchy songs. They are so regarded because they were creative geniuses that wrote wonderfully catchy songs that entire nations of people somehow managed to relate to. Perhaps not on that high a level, Nevermind continues with that same “accessibility without artistic compromise” aesthetic. People listen to this stuff, remember? OK Computer, on the other hand, is bourgeoisie, it sounds as though it were written for, and possibly by, robots.

I doubt this next part lends much critical weight to my argument, but I can imagine my offspring someday pulling out a copy of Nevermind (or uploading, or whatever they’ll do) and becoming transfixed by its rawness, power, and emotion. I hope that some day my kin will also appreciate OK Computer, and other complex albums, but I know that if and when they do, it will not be an immediate transformation; falling for OK is a careful measure that takes time. And that’s a good thing! But the ‘90s weren’t about calculated listening parties; they were all rough-shot race riots, presidential blowjobs, labor strikes by millionaires, and AIDS realizations. If you’re going to harp on how Radiohead managed to set the stage for music in the 21st Century*, then vote Computer the best album of the ‘00s. But when it comes to the decade of the nineteen-hundred and nineties, the conversation begins and ends with Nirvana.

* Which I don’t totally buy. OK Computer seems to be influencing this century’s music in a “1950’s, every-family-in-a-flying-car-by-1993” sort of way.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Starting in March, MerrySwankster and its readers held a tournament to determine the best album of the 90s. Styled after March Madness, it included 65 teams. Nirvana's Nevermind and Radiohead's OK Computer are the finalists. To vote on which album you think should win, click here or vote in the comments below.

Nirvana - Lounge Act (Live: Xxii II Mcmxciv)

Radiohead: No Surprises (Live: BoA Pavilion, Boston, MA 6-5-2006)

Answering the question is like trying to solve a double homicide in a gym packed with people with different motives. Where do you even begin?

The only similarity among the two seems to be sheer quality (Uh, they're both good). So many differences separate the two.

Nevermind is one of those albums that could not be made without total raw emotional involvement. OK Computer is one of those albums that could not be made unless approached dispassionately (or, at least jaded)

Nevermind was, in essence, the coda to the brief movement of thinking man's hard rock. A punk-ethos traditional rock record. OK Computer was a major point for rock bands to return to experimenting with electronics and operatic structures.

Nevermind has, as progeny, early The Who; OK Computer descends from early Pink Floyd.

To settle this, we will have to go with various head-to-head matchups.

First song

F' off, conventional wisdom. Smells Like may have been the song that helped Nirvana leave Bleach-era obscurity behind, but OK Computer (and, indeed, most of Radiohead's albums) starts off with a bang with Airbag. It completely sets the tone for the album - it kind of sounds like The Bends' opener Planet Telex, but with the flourishes that make this album distinct.
Winner: Radiohead

Best song

Lounge Act is, in my mind, one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded. In 2:36, Cobain demonstrates such a range of emotions. Diffidence to indifference to slight optimism to pure vitriol. Brilliance. Paranoid Android is a great song. But it's no Lounge Act and nearly three times as long.
Winner: Nirvana

Best worst song

Most bands would be happy to take either as their albums best song. Stay Away just sounds redundant next to better , while Climbing Up the Walls has the burden of being soporific and emotionally detached. The small details and flourishes make it close, but the slight victory to Stay Away.
Winner: Nirvana

Impact on the future of rock music

Two albums of such heft are likely going to inspire overconfidence or emulation in less-capable hands. OK Computer led to more bands experimenting with sounds and instruments outside of the usual range. Nevermindled more A&R reps to sign anyone with a flannel shirt. I think we know who history scorns here.
Winner: Radiohead

Intangibles

As you may have guessed, We Swanksters grew up in the 90s. I would argue (admittedly facilely) that these albums are 1-2 in our generation's hearts because we were young and emotionally confused when Nevermind came out - which, thankfully (compared to other generations) melded anger and frustration with intelligence, rather than whiny moping and trite lyrics. OK Computer came later in our life, when we had a little more sorted out and found like peculiar and complex - invested more in mockery than rage. If these album's release dates flip-flopped (which, admittedly, would require some vastly distance alternate universe, they might have bowed out in the Sweet 16. You won't get any proposition (from me, at least) that art criticism is unemotional.

We identified with Thom Yorke, but we idolized Kurt Cobain. Does that make this a simple choice? Not at all - it confounds it. It would be too easy to either specifically rest our case with the emotional attachment or, later in life, distancing ourselves from our childish worship.

It's so hard to ignore how Nirvana just came out of nowhere and seized the public consciousness. Perhaps that's a demerit (S.F.W. anyone?). I can't find a vacuum large enough to fit me and my computer, so I go with Nevermind for its importance, its honesty, its voice, and its rage.

Winner: Nevermind

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 06:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)

Championship time.

Vote either in the comments or on our survey tool. Voting closes next Friday. Next week, we'll feature MS.com columnists arguing for their particular choice, as well as other Radiohead/Nirvana write-ups and treats.

1. Radiohead - Ok Computer

Defeated: 1. Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea 13-4




VS

1. Nirvana – Nevermind

Defeated: Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet 14-1

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here are your Final Four matchups. Vote either in the comments or on our survey tool. Voting closes Friday midnight. I would wholeheartedly listening to all four albums if you have them before your votes. Finalists will be announced Friday.

1. Radiohead - Ok Computer

VS

1. Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea

1. Nirvana – Nevermind

VS

1. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here are your Final Four matchups. Vote either in the comments or on our survey tool. Voting closes Friday midnight. I would wholeheartedly listening to all four albums if you have them before your votes. Finalists will be announced Friday.

1. Radiohead - Ok Computer

VS

1. Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea

1. Nirvana – Nevermind

VS

1. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Straight chalk, holmes. Straight chalk. Gripe in the comments, please.

ERIC B. BRACKET

1. Radiohead - Ok Computer

Overall Ranking: 1
[Pitchfork Rank 1]
Key songs: Paranoid Android, No Surprises
Year: 1997

Defeated 16. Rage Against the Machine S/T 4-0 Round One
Defeated 9. Mogwai - Young Team 33-1.
Defeated 5. Beck - Odelay 16-4
Defeated 3. Pixies – Bossanova 19-3

BOB DYLAN BRACKET

1. Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea

Overall Ranking: 4
[PF 4]
Key songs: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Two-headed Boy
Year: 1998
53%)
Defeated 16. Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love 4-0
Defeated 9. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head 18-12
Defeated 12. Daft Punk - Homework 11-8
Defeated 2. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted 12-9

LOU REED BRACKET

1. Nirvana – Nevermind

Overall Ranking: 2
[PF 6
Key songs: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium
Year: 1991

Defeated 16. Quasi – Field Studies 4-0
Defeated 8. Le Tigre – S/T 32-5
Defeated 4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines 20-0
Defeated 3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream15-6

IAN CURTIS BRACKET

1. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet

Overall Ranking: 3
[PF 17]
Year: 1990
Defeat 16. Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk At Cubist Castle 4-0
Defeated 8. Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole 28-5
Defeated 4. Belle and Sebastian – If You're Feeling Sinister 13-6
Defeated 2. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless 15-7

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For those of you who have come to love our survey tool (and hate our comments function)...

Here is where you can vote on all matchups (listed below)

LOU REED BRACKET

1. Radiohead's OK Computer vs. 3. Pixies' Bossanova

BOB DYLAN BRACKET

1. Neutral Milk Hotel - In An Aeroplane Over the Sea vs. 2. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted

ERIC B. BRACKET

1. Nirvana - Nevermind vs. 3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

IAN CURTIS BRACKET

Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet vs. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

ERIC B BRACKET

1. Nirvana – Nevermind

Overall Ranking: 2
[PF 6
Key songs: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium
Year: 1991

Defeated 16. Quasi – Field Studies 4-0
Defeated 8. Le Tigre – S/T 32-5
Defeated 4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines 20-0

NCAA team: UNC (1 seed)

The historical favorite, but people, because of their successful past, are sleeping a bit on them.

VS

3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

Overall Ranking: 10
[PF 18]
Key songs: Today, Cherub Rock
Year: 1993
Defeated 14. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory 2-0 (community vote was tied)
Defeated 11. Blur – Parklife 26-11
Defeated Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)13-6

NCAA team: Memphis (2 seed)

A good team and the best team from a weak conference (pop grunge (allow me some liberties) that shocked a sleeper favorite (Wu-Tang Clan) are expected to get easily bounced in the Elite 8Al

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

IAN CURTIS BRACKET

1. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet

Overall Ranking: 3
[PF 17]
Year: 1990
Defeat 16. Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk At Cubist Castle 4-0
Defeated 8. Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole 28-5
Defeated 4. Belle and Sebastian – If You're Feeling Sinister 13-6

NCAA Team: Kansas (1 seed)

Best team from a great (at least, as the top, conference) was a trendy pick to go all of the way. Like Kansas' youth and poor foul shooting, PE's undeniable patrician and anti-Semitic tendencies are its Achilles' heels.

VS

2. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

Overall Ranking: 6
[PF 2]
Year: 1991
Defeated 15. Silver Jews - American Water 4-0
Defeated 10. Lauryn Hill – Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 20-13
Defeated 6. Elliott Smith – XO 12-7

NCAA Team - UCLA (2 seed)

Their brand of play is not for everyone (distorted noise rock; tenacious D, offensive O) - you could, depending on the matchup (and, in this case voting public) could have been bounced immediately or take it to Hotlanta.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

BOB DYLAN BRACKET

1. Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea

Overall Ranking: 4
[PF 4]
Key songs: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Two-headed Boy
Year: 1998
53%)
Defeated 16. Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love 4-0
Defeated 9. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head 18-12
Defeated 12. Daft Punk - Homework 11-8

NCAA Team: Ohio State (1 seed)

Because a perceived bias (abstract, somewhat abrasive singing, Big Ten) some though it might be the first to exit. But they have a grinder (Oden, Mangum) that pushes them through. Also, the band (team) will likely be disassembled next year.

VS

2. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted

Overall Ranking: 5
[PF 5]
Key songs: Here, Conduit for Sale
Year: 1992
Defeated 15. Primal Scream – Screamadelica 4-0
Defeated 7. Cat Power – Moon Pix 22-7
Defeated 3. Portishead – Dummy 10-8

NCAA Team: Oregon (3 seed)

West Coast bias. And, of course, Oregon.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Picking chalk

Chalk may also refer to predicting the expected result ("picking chalk") or that result occurring, especially in sports or in the NCAA Division 1 College Basketball Tournament when predicting most or all of the favored teams to win.

We'll open up voting for who joins the final four tomorrow (if you're that desirous to start today, you can do so in the comments). Notice how eerily similar this tournament is to the actual tournament. Four one seeds; two three seeds; two two seeds in the Elite Eight.

LOU REED BRACKET

For the top of the bracket.

1. Radiohead - Ok Computer

Overall Ranking: 1
[Pitchfork Rank 1]
Key songs: Paranoid Android, No Surprises
Year: 1997

Defeated 16. Rage Against the Machine S/T 4-0 Round One
Defeated 9. Mogwai - Young Team 33-1.
Defeated 5. Beck - Odelay 16-4

NCAA Team: Florida (1 seed)

Returning champ (read: Pitchfork champ) is one of the most recent picks might be more ingrained in one's mind than say, Nevermind. Prevailing favorite. Still people question whether they might have the stamina to repeat.

VS

3. Pixies – Bossanova

Overall Ranking: 9
[PF 28]
Key songs: Velouria, Allison
Year: 1990

Defeated 14 seed Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children 4-0
Defeated 6 seed Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One 22-12
Defeated 10 seed Sonic Youth- Goo

NCAA team: Georgetown (2 seed)

The best team to come out of a historic conference (Big East, rock) in awhile (at the time of the Surfer Rosa), but it's not the best team they've ever fielded.

LOU REED BRACKET

1. Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea

Overall Ranking: 4
[PF 4]
Key songs: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Two-headed Boy
Year: 1998
53%)
Defeated 16. Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love 4-0
Defeated 9. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head 18-12
Defeated 12. Daft Punk - Homework 11-8

NCAA Team: Ohio State (1 seed)

Because a perceived bias (abstract, somewhat abrasive singing, Big Ten) some though it might be the first to exit. But they have a grinder (Oden, Mangum) that pushes them through. Also, the band (team) will likely be disassembled next year.

VS

2. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted

Overall Ranking: 5
[PF 5]
Key songs: Here, Conduit for Sale
Year: 1992
Defeated 15. Primal Scream – Screamadelica 4-0
Defeated 7. Cat Power – Moon Pix 22-7
Defeated 3. Portishead – Dummy 10-8

NCAA Team: Oregon (3 seed)

West Coast bias. And, of course, Oregon.

IAN CURTIS BRACKET

1. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet

Overall Ranking: 3
[PF 17]
Year: 1990
Defeat 16. Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk At Cubist Castle 4-0
Defeated 8. Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole 28-5
Defeated 4. Belle and Sebastian – If You're Feeling Sinister 13-6

NCAA Team: Kansas (1 seed)

Best team from a great (at least, as the top, conference) was a trendy pick to go all of the way. Like Kansas' youth and poor foul shooting, PE's undeniable patrician and anti-Semitic tendencies are its Achilles' heels.

VS

2. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

Overall Ranking: 6
[PF 2]
Year: 1991
Defeated 15. Silver Jews - American Water 4-0
Defeated 10. Lauryn Hill – Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 20-13
Defeated 6. Elliott Smith – XO 12-7

NCAA Team - UCLA (2 seed)

Their brand of play is not for everyone (distorted noise rock; tenacious D, offensive O) - you could, depending on the matchup (and, in this case voting public) could have been bounced immediately or take it to Hotlanta.

ERIC B BRACKET

1. Nirvana – Nevermind

Overall Ranking: 2
[PF 6
Key songs: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium
Year: 1991

Defeated 16. Quasi – Field Studies 4-0
Defeated 8. Le Tigre – S/T 32-5
Defeated 4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines 20-0

NCAA team: UNC (1 seed)

The historical favorite, but people, because of their successful past, are sleeping a bit on them.

VS

3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

Overall Ranking: 10
[PF 18]
Key songs: Today, Cherub Rock
Year: 1993
Defeated 14. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory 2-0 (community vote was tied)
Defeated 11. Blur – Parklife 26-11
Defeated Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)13-6

NCAA team: Memphis (2 seed)

A good team and the best team from a weak conference (pop grunge (allow me some liberties) that shocked a sleeper favorite (Wu-Tang Clan) are expected to get easily bounced in the Elite 8

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

Overall Ranking: 10
[PF 18]
Key songs: Today, Cherub Rock
Year: 1993
Defeated 14. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory 2-0 (community vote was tied)
Defeated 11. Blur – Parklife 26-11

VS

2. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Overall Ranking: 7
[PF 36]
Key songs: Da Mystery of Chessboxin, Method Man
Year: 1993
Defeated 15. Galaxie 500 – This is Our Music 3-1
Defeated 10. Jeff Buckley - Grace 5-0 (in overtime)

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

1. Nirvana – Nevermind

Overall Ranking: 2
[PF 6
Key songs: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium
Year: 1991

Defeated 16. Quasi – Field Studies 4-0
Defeated 8. Le Tigre – S/T 32-5

Comments

I know I know. It's almost cliche to pick Nevermind at this point. But when a modest little band is transformed into a Collosus by an album it's because said album has caused a turning point in history. Note all the top 40 copycats working today. Every riff, of every song is genius here. Even when I was sick of hearing it, I knew that.

Le Tigre was over-ranked as an 8 seed. No chance here.

VS

4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines

Overall Ranking: 15
[PF 85]
Key songs: Blue Lines, Unfinished Symphony
Year: 1991
Defeated 13. The Breeders - Pod 3-1
Defeated 5. Nas – Illmatic 20-17

Comments

Almost a nostalgia vote, Massive Attack was the background music for many get togethers in the 90's. But this is a close one. Nas' album was a turning point both for him and East Coast Hip-Hop. But judging from sound and impact, Nas has to take this one.

Coin flip.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

6. Elliott Smith – XO

Overall Ranking: 22
[PF 68]
Year: 1998
Defeated 11. Air – Moon Safari 3-1 (Community voted once more for Elliott)
Defeated 3. Bjork – Post 18-15

VS

2. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

Overall Ranking: 6
[PF 2]
Year: 1991
Defeated 15. Silver Jews - American Water 4-0
Defeated 10. Lauryn Hill – Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 20-13

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 06:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

1. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet

Overall Ranking: 3
[PF 17]
Year: 1990
Defeat 16. Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk At Cubist Castle 4-0
Defeated 8. Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole 28-5

VS

4. Belle and Sebastian – If You're Feeling Sinister

Overall Ranking: 14
[PF 14]
Year: 1996
Defeated 13. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space 4- 0
Defeated 12. Nine Inch Nails – Downward Spiral 21-13

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 06:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

3. Portishead – Dummy

Overall Ranking: 12
[PF 48]
Key songs: Roads, Sour Times
Year: 1994
Defeated 14. Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West
Defeated 6. Guided by Voices – Bee Thousand 19-12

Comments

Dummy vs anything. Dummy wins (except Mezzanine and OK Computer)
Too smooth to lose. A great haunting album.

VS

2. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted

Overall Ranking: 5
[PF 5]
Key songs: Here, Conduit for Sale
Year: 1992
Defeated 15. Primal Scream – Screamadelica 4-0
7. Cat Power – Moon Pix 22-7

Comments

Yeah, I just love this album. Cat Power is fantastic but I've downed way too many pints to Slanted and Enchanted at my local bar not to give it a nod.

wow. no album art on this one?
looks like you've become the Merry Slackster

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

1. Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea

Overall Ranking: 4
[PF 4]
Key songs: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Two-headed Boy
Year: 1998
53%)
Defeated 16. Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love 4-0
Defeated 9. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head 18-12

Comments

[Aeroplane] Start to finish, brilliant. Check your head has moments of shoddiness.

The better abstract rhymer is Jeff Magnum.

VS

12. Daft Punk - Homework

Overall Ranking: 45
[PF 65]
Key songs: Around the World, Revolution 909
Year: 1997

Defeated 5. Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes 4-0
Defeated 4. Pulp - Different Class 17-13

Comments
None for Daft Punk.

Different Class is less exhausting, and although you can dance to it, it has more than one use.

This might be Pulp's last win.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

3. Pixies – Bossanova

Overall Ranking: 9
[PF 28]
Key songs: Velouria, Allison
Year: 1990

Defeated 14 seed Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children 4-0
Defeated 6 seed Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One 22-12

Comments

Pixies rock all the time all the time. Too good. Too original.

Yo La at their best beat Pixies at being competent. Plus, there's no Pixies song as sweet and personal as "Autumn Sweater," their charms lie elsewhere.

VS

10. Sonic Youth- Goo

Overall Ranking: 40
[PF 82]
Key songs: Kool Thing, Dirty Boots
Year: 1990

Defeated 10 seed Ghostface Killah - Ironman 4-0
Defeated 15 seed PJ Harvey – Rid of Me 21-13

Comments

Best full album since daydream nation beats P.J. Harvey easily.
Cinderella in a filthy dress.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 07:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Ladies and gentlemen, we're down to the top 16 albums of the 1990s. Risking disaster, we're moving the voting back to the comments. If you can't get through, e-mail me at keith.obrien@gmail.com.

For the top of the bracket.

1. Radiohead - Ok Computer

Overall Ranking: 1
[Pitchfork Rank 1]
Key songs: Paranoid Android, No Surprises
Year: 1997

Defeated 16. Rage Against the Machine S/T 4-0 Round One
Defeated 9. Mogwai - Young Team 33-1.

Comments

Can you really feel OK Computer the way you can experience Young Team?
Because I can't.

OK Computer changed what music would sound like in the 21st century.

VS

5. Beck - Odelay

Overall Ranking: 17
[PF 19]
Key songs: Where It's At, The New Pollution
Year: 1996

Defeated 12 seed Outkast - Aquemini 4-0
Defeated 4 seed Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin 22-12

Comments

Soft Bulletin? More like "Soft Defense"! Odelay's leading scorer, "Where It's At" is too much for the Sooners to handle.

tough one... Beck wins but should realize that the Lips were not full strength. If they threw Yoshimi at him he would have had no shot.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 07:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

WU wins 5-0.

Before we can set the slate for the final sweet sixteen matchup, we have a 19-19 deadlock.

First one to five votes in the comments wins. If comments prove too slow, click here to vote.

10. Jeff Buckley - Grace

Overall Ranking: 39
[PF 69]
Key songs: Eternal Life, Last Goodbye
Year: 1994
Defeated 7. DJ Shadow - Entroducing 3-1

VS

2. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Overall Ranking: 7
[PF 36]
Key songs: Da Mystery of Chessboxin, Method Man
Year: 1993
Defeated 15. Galaxie 500 – This is Our Music 3-1

Here is what people have said already

1 No sentiment here. Jeff Buckley particularly on this album gives us something that we've never heard before and haven't heard since. Hypnotic, beautiful and given his fate, often haunting, This album sticks in your veins like heroine without the nods.
2 wow...easily the toughest call out of all of these. i hope i can vote for both.
3 Man or woman, pop or rock, I'm hard pressed to love mellismic singing.
4 I'm sensing that the Wu is about to go on a tremendous run. Buckley is just the next victim.
5 wu tang clan ain't nothin' to fuck wit

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 06:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

All of the matchups have been set for the second round. The name of each bracket is a link to its respect survey function. Feel free to comment below on anything, but vote there.

Given that we've reached what we consider a critical mass, the winner of each matchup will be decided by popular vote and popular vote alone. My vote is now equal to yours (though, it probably should have always been).

Voting will remain live until Sunday 4pm. On Monday, we will begin Sweet 16 matchups. Enjoy.

Eric B. bracket

Ian Curtis bracket

Bob Dylan bracket

Lou Reed bracket

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

To vote on who goes to the Sweet 16 from the Eric B. bracket, click here.

1. Nirvana – Nevermind

Overall Ranking: 2
[PF 6
Key songs: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium
Year: 1991

Defeated 16. Quasi – Field Studies 4-0

VS

8. Le Tigre – S/T

Overall Ranking: 31
[PF UR]
Key: Deceptacon, Hot Topic
Year: 1999

Defeated Tricky - Maxinquaye 3-1

5. Nas – Illmatic

Overall Ranking: 18
[PF 33]
Key songs: It Ain't Hard to Tell, NY State of Mind
Year: 1994

Defeated 12. Elastica – S/T 3-1

VS

4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines

Overall Ranking: 15
[PF 85]
Key songs: Blue Lines, Unfinished Symphony
Year: 1991
Defeated 13. The Breeders - Pod 3-1

3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

Overall Ranking: 10
[PF 18]
Key songs: Today, Cherub Rock
Year: 1993
Defeat 14. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory 2-0 (community vote was tied)

VS

11. Blur – Parklife

Overall Ranking: 42
[PF 54]
Key songs: Parklife, Girls & Boys
Year: 1994
Defeated 6. Snoop Dogg – Doggystyle 3-1

10. Jeff Buckley - Grace

Overall Ranking: 39
[PF 69]
Key songs: Eternal Life, Last Goodbye
Year: 1994
Defeated 7. DJ Shadow - Entroducing 3-1

VS

2. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Overall Ranking: 7
[PF 36]
Key songs: Da Mystery of Chessboxin, Method Man
Year: 1993
Defeated 15. Galaxie 500 – This is Our Music 3-1

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 08:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

To vote on who from the Ian Curtis bracket makes it to the Sweet 16, click here.

1. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet

Overall Ranking: 3
[PF 17]
Year: 1990
Defeat 16. Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk At Cubist Castle 4-0

VS

8. Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole

Overall Ranking: 30
[PF UR]
Year: 1997
Defeat 9. Dismemberment Plan – Emergency & I

12. Nine Inch Nails – Downward Spiral

Overall Ranking: 46
[PF UR]
Year: 1994
Defeated 5. Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out 2-1 [MS.com editors were tied]

VS

4. Belle and Sebastian – If You're Feeling Sinister

Overall Ranking: 14
[PF 14]
Year: 1996
Defeated 13. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space 4- 0

6. Elliott Smith – XO

Overall Ranking: 22
[PF 68]
Year: 1998
Defeated 11. Air – Moon Safari 3-1 (Community voted once more for Elliott)

VS

3. Bjork – Post

Defeated 14. Unrest – Perfect Teeth 4-0






10. Lauryn Hill – Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Overall Ranking: 38
[PF UR]
Year: 1998
Defeated 7. Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs 2-1 (MS.com tied)

VS

2. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

Defeated 15. Silver Jews - American Water 4-0

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here are winners from the second bracket. To vote on the Second Round of this bracket, click here.

After the jump, how they fared in the first round.

Continue reading "Album Insanity: Bob Dylan second-round voting" »

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 02:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

To vote on who makes it to the Sweet Sixteen, click here.

Below is the results from the first round.

For those of you scoring at home, an album could receive a maximum of four points (one point for my vote, one points for the aggregate of the other Swankster's vote, and two points from the community). In the case of a tie (which happened twice), the album with the highest victory percentage from either constituency (the community or MS.com) won. These albums will face each other in the next round. If you wish to vote on the fourth bracket's first round, click here. Voting for all other three brackets have closed.

1. Radiohead - Ok Computer

Overall Ranking: 1
[Pitchfork Rank 1]
Key songs: Paranoid Android, No Surprises
Year: 1997

Defated Rage Against the Machine S/T 4-0

VS

9. Mogwai - Young Team

Overall Ranking: 33
[PF 97]
Key songs: Katrien, Mogwai Fear Satan
Year: 1997

Defeated Hole - Live Through This 3- 1

5. Beck - Odelay

Overall Ranking: 17
[PF 19]
Key songs: Where It's At, The New Pollution
Year: 1996

Defeated 12 seed Outkast - Aquemini 4-0

VS

4. Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin

Overall Ranking: 16
[PF 3]
Key songs: Waitin' for a Superman, A Spoonful Weighs a Ton
Year: 1999

Defeated Wilco Summerteeth 3-2. Holy crap was this close. Keith voted Summerteeth; Swanksters voted 2-1 for Summerteeth (66%); publics voted 11-5 for Soft Bulletin (68.75%)

3. Pixies – Bossanova

Overall Ranking: 9
[PF 28]
Key songs: Velouria, Allison
Year: 1990

Defeated 14 seed Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children 4-0

VS

6. Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One

Overall Ranking: 24
[PF 25]
Key songs: My Little Corner of the World, Autumn Sweater
Year: 1997

Defeated 11 seed GZA/Genius - Liquid Swords 3-1

10. Sonic Youth- Goo

Overall Ranking: 40
[PF 82]
Key songs: Kool Thing, Dirty Boots
Year: 1990

Defeated 10 seed Ghostface Killah - Ironman 4-0

VS

15. PJ Harvey – Rid of Me

Overall Rankings: 57
[PF 52]
Key songs: Rid of Me, 50ft Queenie
Year: 1993

Defeated 2 seed - Liz Phair -Exit in Guyville 3-1 (another close one; Keith: Liz Phair; Swankster editors PJ Harvey; community: PJ Harvey) Our biggest upset yet.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Randall points out the truth: "The new voting format sure is easier, but it's not half as fun as the comments sections."

Apologies for inadvertantly cutting off the discussion, but no more. Here's a smattering of comments from Zoomerang re: the Ian Curtis bracket. Have it out below.

Emergency & I v. Dig Your Own Hole

"Dismemberment Plan is straight up bad [in a bad way], and you can't convince me otherwise..."

"I love the Brothers, but i love the Plan way more."

Fear of a Black Planet v. Dusk at Cubist Castle

"The sheer force of this album [Fear of a Black Planet] could maim office spaces..."

"Public Enemy is one of the most important groups of their genre. This matchup should be no contest."

"I would hate to be a girl musician. Even when you're good, or in the case of Sleater-Kinney, really, really good, you won't be successful unless you sell your "sexuality" and/or "image"."

69 Love Songs v. Miseducation

"I'll avoid any Sasha Frere Jones/Stephen Merritt jokes [re: the matchup]."

Loveless v. American Water

"American Water got seed shafted..."

Shut up about seeding. I tried my best.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 06:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Thank you to all who have participated so far. Unfortunately the comments function has been a mess, and apparently, per Google searches, Movable Type does not have the best comments function in the business. As a result, I've moved voting to a survey system called Zoomerang. After the jump, you will find the eight matchups that you can vote on at this link.

If this is your first visit, click here to learn about what we're doing here.

The voting will be open until late Tuesday. First round winners for the first two brackets will be announced tomorrow. Feel free to use the comments if you feel like it.

Continue reading "Album Insanity: Ian Curtis bracket" »

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 05:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We've run through three of the brackets in the past three days, but we're still looking for voters.

Click on any of these matchups to vote in the comments thread. Which album will make it to the next round. If you're joining us from the Morning News or elsewhere, here's the post that explains what we're doing.

Eric B. bracket

1. Nirvana – Nevermind v. 16. Quasi – Field Studies

8. Le Tigre – S/T v. 9. Tricky - Maxinquaye

4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines v. 13. The Breeders - Pod

5. Nas – Illmatic v. 12. Elastica – S/T

3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream v. 14. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory

6. Snoop Dogg – Doggystyle v. 11. Blur – Parklife

7. DJ Shadow - Entroducing v. 10. Jeff Buckley - Grace

2. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) v. 15. Galaxie 500 – This is Our Music

Bob Dyan bracket

1. Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea v. 16. Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love

8. Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup v. 9. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head

5. Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes v. 12. Daft Punk - Homework

4. Pulp - Different Class v. 13. Dr. Dre - The Chronic

6. Guided by Voices – Bee Thousand v. 11. Pearl Jam – Ten

3. Portishead – Dummy v. 14. Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West

7. Cat Power – Moon Pix v. 10. Dr. Octagon – Dr. Octagonecologyst

2. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted v. 15. Primal Scream – Screamadelica

Lou Reed bracket

1. Radiohead - Ok Computer v 16. Rage Against the Machine – S/T

8. Hole – Live Through This v. 9. Mogwai - Young Team

4. Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin v. 13. Wilco – Summer Teeth

5. Beck - Odelay v. 12. Outkast – Aquemini

6. Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One v. 11. GZA/Genius - Liquid Swords

3. Pixies – Bossanova v. 14. Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children

7. Ghostface Killah – Ironman v. 10. Sonic Youth- Goo

2. Liz Phair – Exile In Guyville v. 15. PJ Harvey – Rid of Me

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've broken down the various years and the albums they represent. Monty, you want to take a stabbing leap as to proscribe NCAAB conferences to the respective years?

My initial thoughts are 1993 is like the Big 12 - not a lot of depth there - but those top three (Texas, A&M, and Kansas) could make a serious run. 1994 is like the Big East - a lot of teams, but do you really think any of them will be hanging around by the Elite 8?

1990: 6

(number denotes seed)
1 Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
3 Pixies – Bossanova
10 Sonic Youth- Goo
13. The Breeders - Pod
15 Galaxie 500 – This is Our Music

1991: 6

1. Nirvana – Nevermind
2. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines
11. Pearl Jam – Ten
14. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
15. Primal Scream – Screamadelica

1992: 6

2 Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
5 Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes
9. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head
13. Dr. Dre - The Chronic
14. Unrest – Perfect Teeth
16. Rage Against the Machine – S/T

1993: 5

2. Liz Phair – Exile In Guyville
2. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
6. Snoop Dogg – Doggystyle
15. PJ Harvey – Rid of Me

1994: 8

3. Portishead – Dummy
5. Nas – Illmatic
6. Guided by Voices – Bee Thousand
8. Hole – Live Through This
10. Jeff Buckley - Grace
11. Blur – Parklife
12. Nine Inch Nails – Downward Spiral
16. Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love

1995: 5

3. Bjork – Post
4. Pulp - Different Class
9. Tricky - Maxinquaye
11. GZA/Genius - Liquid Swords
12. Elastica

1996: 7

4. Belle and Sebastian – If You're Feeling Sinister
5. Beck - Odelay
7. Ghostface Killah – Ironman
7. DJ Shadow - Entroducing
8. Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup
10. Dr. Octagon – Octagonecologyst
16. Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk At Cubist Castle

1997: 8

1. Radiohead - Ok Computer
5. Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
6. Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One
8. Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
9. Mogwai - Young Team
12. Daft Punk Homework
13. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space Overall
14. Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West

1998: 8

1. Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea
6. Elliot Smith – XO
7. Cat Power – Moon Pix
10. Lauryn Hill – Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
11. Air – Moon Safari
12. Outkast – Aquemini
14. Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children
15. Silver Jews - American Water

1999: 7

4. Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
7. Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs
8. Le Tigre – S/T
9. Dismemberment Plan – Emergency & I
13. Wilco - Summerteeth
16. Quasi – Field Studies
16. Low - Secret Name

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

Overall Ranking: 10
[PF 18]
Key songs: Today, Cherub Rock
Year: 1993

v.

14. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory

Overall Ranking: 55
[PF 65]
Key songs: Scenario, Check the Rhyme
Year: 1991

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

6. Snoop Dogg – Doggystyle

Overall Ranking: 23
[PF UR]
Key songs: Gin and Juice, What's My Name?
Year: 1993

v.

11. Blur – Parklife

Overall Ranking: 42
[PF 54]
Key songs: Parklife, Girls & Boys
Year: 1994

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

2. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Overall Ranking: 7
[PF 36]
Key songs: Da Mystery of Chessboxin, Method Man
Year: 1993

v.

15. Galaxie 500 – This is Our Music

Overall Rankings: 58
[PF UR]
Key songs: Summertime, Melt Away
Year: 1990

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

7. DJ Shadow - Entroducing

Overall Ranking: 26
[PF 7]
Key songs: Why Hip Hop Sucks in '96. ...Building Steam With a Grain of Salt
Year: 1996

v.

10. Jeff Buckley - Grace

Overall Ranking: 39
[PF 69]
Key songs: Eternal Life, Last Goodbye
Year: 1994

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines

Overall Ranking: 15
[PF 85]
Key songs: Blue Lines, Unfinished Symphony
Year: 1991

v.

13. The Breeders - Pod

Overall Ranking: 50
[PF 81]
Key songs: Happiness is a Warm Gun, Iris
Year: 1990

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

5. Nas – Illmatic

Overall Ranking: 18
[PF 33]
Key songs: It Ain't Hard to Tell, NY State of Mind
Year: 1994

v.

12. Elastica – S/T

Overall Ranking: 47
[PF UR]
Key songs: Connection, Waking Up
Year: 1995

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)

8. Le Tigre – S/T

Overall Ranking: 31
[PF UR]
Key: Deceptacon, Hot Topic
Year: 1999

v.

9. Tricky - Maxinquaye

Overall Ranking: 34
[PF 66]
Key songs: Overcome, Suffocated Love
Year: 1995

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 07:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

1. Nirvana – Nevermind

Overall Ranking: 2
[PF 6
Key songs: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium
Year: 1991

v.

16. Quasi – Field Studies

Overall Rankings: 63
[PF UR]
Key Songs: Me & My Head, Bon Voyage
Year: 1999

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 07:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

2. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted

Overall Ranking: 5
[PF 5]
Key songs: Here, Conduit for Sale
Year: 1992

VS

15. Primal Scream – Screamadelica

Overall Rankings: 60
[PF 77]
Key songs: Loaded, Come Together
Year: 1991

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

We upgraded our server, I think? So comments should go down effortlessly now, I hope?

6. Guided by Voices – Bee Thousand

Overall Ranking: 21
[PF 10]
Key songs: Awful Bliss, I am a Scientist
Year: 1994

VS

11. Pearl Jam – Ten

Overall Ranking: 44
[PF UR]
Key songs: Once, Jeremy
Year: 1991

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)

3. Portishead – Dummy

Overall Ranking: 12
[PF 48]
Key songs: Roads, Sour Times
Year: 1994

VS

14. Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West

Overall Ranking: 53
[PF 29]
Key songs: Teeth Like God's Shoeshine, Doin' the Cockroach
Year: 1997

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

If you're having trouble with comments, you can e-mail answers to keith.obrien@gmail.com.

7. Cat Power – Moon Pix

Overall Ranking: 28
[PF UR]
Key songs: Cross Bones Style, American Flag
Year: 1998

VS

10. Dr. Octagon – Dr. Octagonecologyst

Overall Ranking: 37
[PF 71]
Key songs: Blue Flowers, Half-Shark Alligator Half Man
Year: 1996

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

5. Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes

Overall Ranking: 20
[PF UR]
Key songs: Silent All These Years, Crucify
Year: 1992

VS

12. Daft Punk - Homework

Overall Ranking: 45
[PF 65]
Key songs: Around the World, Revolution 909
Year: 1997

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Welcome new visitors, full details of the competition are here.

4. Pulp - Different Class

Overall Ranking: 13
[PF 61]
Key songs: Common People, Mis-Shapes
Year: 1995

VS

13. Dr. Dre - The Chronic

Overall Ranking: 52
[PF 79]
Key songs: Let Me Ride, Nuthin' But a G Thang
Year: 1992

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 09:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)

1. Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea

Overall Ranking: 4
[PF 4]
Key songs: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Two-headed Boy
Year: 1998

VS

16. Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love

Overall Rankings: 61
[PF 24]
Key songs: Stab, Dystopian Dream Girl
Year: 1994

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 08:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)

8. Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup

Overall Ranking: 29
[PF 51]
Key songs: OLV 26, Les Yper-Sound
Year: 1996

VS

9. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head

Overall Ranking: 36
[PF 34]
Key songs: So What'cha Want?, Pass the Mic
Year: 1992

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 07:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

Based on some internal discussions, we've made two slight rule changes.

Wither integrity?

One, in the case of a tie, whereby the community and MS.com editors differ in opinion, the album with the highest percentage of votes win. If Ms.com editors are unanimous (this will rarely happen), their pick wins. if only two of them like one album, then the preferred album of the community only needs two-thirds majority.

Make sense?

Two: We allow the first rounds to extend. You can vote on the first three brackets until Sunday morning 10am. At that time, they will include the words "Voting Closed" on their individual entries. The fourth bracket, introduced on Monday, can be voted on until Wednesday.

Make sense? Let's get it.

Cool.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

2. Liz Phair – Exile In Guyville

Overall Ranking: 8
[PF 30]
Key songs: Stratford-On-Guy, Fuck and Run
Year: 1993

VS

15. PJ Harvey – Rid of Me

Overall Rankings: 57
[PF 52]
Key songs: Rid of Me, 50ft Queenie
Year: 1993

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 02:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

3. Pixies – Bossanova

Overall Ranking: 9
[PF 28]
Key songs: Velouria, Allison
Year: 1990

VS

14. Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children

Overall Ranking: 56
[PF 35]
Key songs: Rue The Whirl, Roygbiv
Year: 1998

If you're having trouble commenting, just e-mail your pick at keith.obrien@gmail.com.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

7. Ghostface Killah – Ironman

Overall Ranking: 25
[PF UR]
Key songs: Daytona 500, Motherless Child
Year: 1996

VS

10. Sonic Youth- Goo

Overall Ranking: 40
[PF 82]
Key songs: Kool Thing, Dirty Boots
Year: 1990

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

8. Hole – Live Through This

Overall Ranking: 32
[PF – UR]
Key songs: Violet, Doll Parts
Year: 1994

VS

9. Mogwai - Young Team

Overall Ranking: 33
[PF 97]
Key songs: Katrien, Mogwai Fear Satan
Year: 1997

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)

6. Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One

Overall Ranking: 24
[PF 25]
Key songs: My Little Corner of the World, Autumn Sweater
Year: 1997

VS

11. GZA/Genius - Liquid Swords

Overall Ranking: 41
[PF 87]
Key songs: Shadowboxin, Liquid Swords
Year: 1995

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

We've entered our first round, so now it's time to launch the contest. Be the one to pick the final four albums (one winner from each bracket), the finalists (Dylan winner plays Reed winner); Eric B. winner plays Curtis winner) and the overall winner. One point to each final four correctly selected, two points to each finalist correctly selected, and three points to whomever accurately picks the winner. Brackets can be found here.

Contest winner gets CDs from Of Montreal, Beirut (EP) and another surprise CD. Maybe more, if we get a lot of entries.

Vote here in the comments or e-mail keith.obrien@gmail.com. Entries for contest prognostication ends at 2pm.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

1. Radiohead - Ok Computer

Overall Ranking: 1
[Pitchfork Rank 1]
Key songs: Paranoid Android, No Surprises
Year: 1997

VS

16. Rage Against the Machine – S/T

Overall Ranking: 65
[PF UR]
Key songs: Killing in the Name, Fistful of Steel
Year: 1992
Genre: HardcoreGrunge?
Buy Album

First round results: Beat Low's Secret Name 4-1
Keith: Low
MS Editors: RATM
Community: RATM
Best comment: RATM

Best comment (though editor disagrees with the latter part): Although RATM seemd to inspire nothing but crap music-wise (and Che Guevara t-shirt sales among white college students), Low strikes me as possibly the least interesting band of all time. But what about the music? Rage, and it's not as close as the score would suggest

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 09:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)

While the crowds determine the fate of Rage Against the Machine v. Low, let's get to some first-round serious biz.

4. Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin

Overall Ranking: 16
[PF 3]
Key songs: Waitin' for a Superman, A Spoonful Weighs a Ton
Year: 1999

VS

13. Wilco – Summer Teeth

Overall Ranking: 49
[PF 31]
Key songs: Can't Stand It, Candy Floss
Year: 1999

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

VOTING CLOSED

5. Beck - Odelay

Overall Ranking: 17
[PF 19]
Key songs: Where It's At, The New Pollution
Year: 1996

VS

12. Outkast – Aquemini

Overall Ranking: 48
[PF 50]
Key songs: Rosa Parks , Slump
Year: 1998

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

If you want to know what's going on, click here.

16. Low - Secret Name

Overall Rankings: 64
[PF UR]
Key songs: Immune, Don't Understand
Year: 1999
Genre: Slowcore
Buy Album

VS

16. Rage Against the Machine – S/T

Overall Ranking: 65
[PF UR]
Key songs: Killing in the Name, Fistful of Steel
Year: 1992
Genre: HardcoreGrunge?
Buy Album

Vote in the comments or at keith.obrien@gmail.com

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 02:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

In short, this is a March Madness-styled tournament focusing on seminal 90s albums and populist nostalgia instead of basketball. You, the reader, will help determine which album goes onto the next round.

To learn why I'm doing this, click here. For those of you that were here yesterday, the schedule and the seeds.

Click here for all four regions and seeds.

But first - the rules.
Each album will be contending for a majority of five possible points.
The winner of the community's vote - you can vote either in the comments or e-mail (keith.obrien@gmail.com) will receive two points. I will give out one point. Fellow MerrySwankster.com editors will combine to give out one point. The best argument made in the community, determined by MerrySwankster.com editors, will make up the fifth vote.

So, in essence, the community has the strongest vote. But only if you get out and vote!

Each matchup will feature its own post (you'll see that happen with the play-in game today).

Now, the schedule

Today - unveiling of seeds and play-in game (play in game will go live around 1:30pm)
Wednesday - First round games Lou Reed bracket
Thursday - First round games Bob Dylan bracket
Friday - First round games Eric B. bracket
Monday - First round games Ian Curtis bracket
Tuesday - Second round games Lou Reed and Bob Dylan brackets
Wednesday - Second round games Eric B. and Ian Curtis brackets
Thursday/Friday - break in action for actual basketball
Monday - Sweet Sixteen games Lou Reed and Bob Dylan brackets
Tuesday - Sweet Sixteen games Eric B. and Ian Curtis brackets
Wednesday - Elite 8 games
Thursday - Final Four games
Friday - Championship

Finally, the bracket. Download file

After the jump, you will find the first round matchups, as well as the straight seeding.

Continue reading "Album Insanity - It begins" »

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 09:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

The four Brackets

Winner of Bob Dylan will face Lou Reed

and

Winner of Ian Curtis will face Eric B.

See all after the jump

Continue reading "Album Insanity - The Brackets" »

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 08:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We asked... and the people responded.

As a result, we have added A Tribe Called Quest's Low End Theory and Wilco's Summerteeth. In the process, we've eliminated Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt and Mazzy Star's So Tonight That I Can See. Onto the brackets.

Readers' comments via e-mail, after the jump.

Continue reading "Album Insanity - addition, subtraction" »

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 07:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you're at all curious as to what some of those tough first round matchups will be, I give you, one of the 7-10 contests that will be unveiled tomorrow.

7. DJ Shadow - Entroducing
Overall Ranking: 26
[PF 7]
Year: 1996

v.

10. Jeff Buckley - Grace
Overall Ranking: 39
[PF 69]
Year: 1994

It begins, oh, how it begins. It's awesome, baby?

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

At the onset, I would like to say what shall become part of your Internet checklist for the next few weeks was a snap. I would love to say that I dreamed it up one night, and I finished the entire thing before my coffee pot finished brewing. That would be swell.

In fact, the below took forever and, at times, sapped my will to live. So here it goes.

In the spirit of NCAA March Madness (fair use, litigious NCAA lawyers), I have assembled a collection of 65 albums from the 90s. They are seeded based on a secret formula (the seeds will be revealed tomorrow). In the first round, each album will go up against another album. You, the public, are to help determine which album should "win" the battle. More on that tomorrow. It is, essentially, a single-elimination tournament to determine the best album of the 90s. Not only will you get the chance to pick the winners of each game, tomorrow you will be asked to prognosticate the final four albums remaining and the champion. The winner will get a few tasty CDs.

So you know, I only allowed one album per band (see Pavement), but allowed for individual albums by members of bands already in the pool (see Ghostface, Wu-Tang).

For Bracketologist devotees and fans of March Madness, I have further explanation for the impetus and my procedures at the end of this post.

What follows below is the alphabetical list of 65 teams currently slated for the tournament. This is not meant to be a definitive list, but it was determined using the procedures for March Madness as a guide.

Air – Moon Safari
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head
Beck - Odelay
Belle and Sebastian – If You're Feeling Sinister
Bjork – Post
Blur – Parklife
Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children
Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love
Cat Power – Moon Pix
Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
Daft Punk Homework
Dismemberment Plan – Emergency & I
DJ Shadow - Entroducing
Dr. Dre - The Chronic
Dr. Octagon – Octagonecologyst
Elastica - S/T
Elliot Smith – XO
Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
Galaxie 500 – This is Our Music
Ghostface Killah – Ironman
Guided by Voices – Bee Thousand
GZA/Genius - Liquid Swords
Hole – Live Through This
Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Lauryn Hill – Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Le Tigre – S/T
Liz Phair – Exile In Guyville
Low - Secret Name
Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
Mazzy Star – So Tonight That I Might See
Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West
Mogwai - Young Team
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
Nas – Illmatic
Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea
Nine Inch Nails – Downward Spiral
Nirvana – Nevermind
Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk At Cubist Castle
Outkast – Aquemini
Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
Pearl Jam – Ten
Pixies – Bossanova
PJ Harvey – Rid of Me
Portishead – Dummy
Primal Scream – Screamadelica
Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
Pulp - Different Class
Quasi – Field Studies
Radiohead - Ok Computer
Rage Against the Machine – S/T
Silver Jews - American Water
Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Snoop Dogg – Doggystyle
Sonic Youth- Goo
Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space
Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup
The Breeders - Pod
Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Unrest – Perfect Teeth
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One

I am willing to swap out exactly one album for another, suggested by the public, based on the best argument. Not liking rap is not a valid one. Never hearing of Low is another invalid argument. Keep in mind that this is a list I derived to the best of my ability that combined pure art and 90s nostalgia.

To make a case for another album to be included, use the comments or e-mail me at keith.obrien@gmail.com. Make sure you say which album currently on the list should fail to make the cut.

Here's the blank bracket if you want to see how it will go down.

Download file

Here's the timeline for the tournament:

Today - unveiling of 65 teams
Tomorrow - unveiling of seeds and play-in game
Wednesday - First round games Lou Reed bracket
Thursday - First round games Bob Dylan bracket
Friday - First round games Eric B. bracket
Monday - First round games Ian Curtis bracket
Tuesday - Second round games Lou Reed and Bob Dylan brackets
Wednesday - Second round games Eric B. and Ian Curtis brackets
Thursday/Friday - break in action for actual basketball
Monday - Sweet Sixteen games Lou Reed and Bob Dylan brackets
Tuesday - Sweet Sixteen games Eric B. and Ian Curtis brackets
Wednesday - Elite 8 games
Thursday - Final Four games
Friday - Championship

Won't that be fun?

Further explanation for March Madness nerds.

If you're reading this, you'll agree that March Madness is perhaps the greatest sporting event known to man. Up until one week ago, basically every division one basketball team had a shot to make national championship tournament. In theory, they still have a chance to make the tournament up until a group of athletic directors and conference directors pick the brackets. To seed albums, I used Pitchfork's Top 100 albums of the 90s list as an RPI of sorts. As mentioned to the community above, this is not a definitive list. To contemplate Rage Against the Machine in, but, not, say, Talk Talk's Laughing Stock is to imagine if College of Charleston beat Davidson.

I'd like to think of release year to be conferences; it will be interesting to see which conference emerges with the best W/L percentage (I have my own guess). Anyone want to guess in the comments? I used straight S curve seeding (basically I seeded each seed 1 - 4), so the top seed has, in its bracket, the worst second seed, the best third seed, and the worst fourth seed). I could have gotten even nerdier based on release years, but I do have a life.

Any questions? keith.obrien@gmail.com. Hope you will enjoy this as much I as do.

Posted by Keith O'Brien at 08:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)