Interactive Poll 14 ~ It&#039;s The Guys Turn This Time

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Posted: August 03 2020 at 04:44

top 3

Nick Drake “Fruit Tree”

Jim Croce “Time In A Bottle"

Elliott Smith "Miss Misery"

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Posted: August 03 2020 at 04:26

Snicolette wrote:

Sufjan Stevens “Should Have Known Better” I really like this kind of style, again, reminds me a bit of Iron and Wine. It’s wistful and sad and pretty. I had heard of him, but never had a chance to listen. Going to search out some more, thank you.

His catalogue is phenomenally eclectic. Carrie & Lowell is fully singer/songwriter style. Seven Swans goes in the same direction. Many other albums come over as quite "progressive", of those I probably like "Michigan" best, but they're all worthwhile. And then Enjoy Your Rabbit is a proper (and good) electronic album.

Extra mention for the most interesting track truly goes to Holy Moly with Jandek. I loved the idea of a spooky song…and this was so atmospherically off-kilter. And to Micky for the John Denver Suite. Singer/songwriter prog indeed!

+1, should've mentioned these two as well. Didn't quite take enough time to get into the Jandek one but it has something for sure!

Edited by Lewian - August 03 2020 at 04:28

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 19:03

Well, the podium is for three, not four!

Ok,

1) John Denver

2) Jandek

3) Elliot Smith

-----

3) Nick Drake.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

5) Jorge Palma

6) Richard Shindell

7) Mark Eitzel

8) Frankie Miller

9) Sufjan Stevens.

"Happiness is real only when shared"

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 18:55

Ok here we are:

1) F. De Gregori: La Casa di Hilde.

oh, he was very young, very abstract and delicate. This song is taken from his first album. He was influenced by Bob Dylan, in fact: vocals and acoustic guitar and little else. Nice song, but musically it is very poor.

2) Bob Seger: Glenn Song. Song suffered, melancholic, but I do not seem to reach a great intensity of pathos.

3) Mark Eitzel: If You Have to Ask. Good melodic, conventional song.

It would take a more powerful singing and a more pronounced arrangement to better show the beauty of the melody.

4) Jorge Palma: Estrela do Mar. Classical piano melody, very refined melody and song. But little pathos. Minimalist song. Will it be enough to reach the podium?

5) Sufjan Stevens: Should Have Known Better.

Very delicate song that reminds me, for the melody, the arrangement and the voice those of Belle and Sebastian. This song, for example, as a setting could be a boring melodic folk song, but manages to be interesting in the details. Will it be enough to reach the podium?

6) Fred Eaglesmith: Soda Machine.

The name is Eaglesmith and it almost seems to me that his music is similar to that of the Eagles, but much more minimalist and sober.

7) Nick Drake: Fruit Tree. Ok, this is wonderful. Podium.

8) Richard Shindell: Wisteria. Competitor.

9) Elliott Smith: Miss Misery. Wonderful. Podium.

10) Frankie Miller: With You in Mind. very good. Competitor.

11) Jandek-Down: In A Mirror. Did this boy die of heroin? Ok, this is the deconstruction (post-rock) of the author's melodic song, because both the voice and the arrangement are out of tune, so the melody no longer knows what it is. It could suck, this song, be considered garbage, boring, pretentious, or it could be enhanced as a masterpiece. Said this, I like it.

It is not a masterpiece, in my opinion, because it lacks of variation, of a crescendo. But... Podium.

12) Jim Croce. Time in a Bottle. Nice guitar arpeggio, good vocals. But it is not enough.

13) Luis Llach: L'Estaca. Oh, protest folk song! Very simple but inspirated. Good folk music.

Edited by jamesbaldwin - August 02 2020 at 18:59

"Happiness is real only when shared"

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These were my “hadn’t heard ‘em before and am taking into consideration” folks:

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 18:49

Raff: Francesco De Gregori “La casa di Hilde”

George: Mark Eitzel “If You Have to Ask”

Meltdowner (Samuel): Jorge Palma “Estrela Do Mar”

Lewian Sufjan Stevens “Should Have Known Better”

Lorenzo: Francesco De Gregori “Rumore di niente”

Mike: Fred Eaglesmith “Soda Machine”

Suitkees: LLuis Llach “L’estaca”

Holy Moly: Jandek “Down In A Mirror”

Cristi: Frankie Miller “With You In Mind”

Dr wu23: Elliott Smith “Miss Misery”

The Winners

1. Lewian Sufjan Stevens “Should Have Known Better” I really like this kind of style, again, reminds me a bit of Iron and Wine. It’s wistful and sad and pretty. I had heard of him, but never had a chance to listen. Going to search out some more, thank you.

2. Cristi: Frankie Miller “With You In Mind” I am still amazed I never heard of him, he is so like others of that time that we enjoyed so much. Perhaps he just didn’t make it across the Atlantic for whatever reason, when music was more regional. Very soulful, wonderful voice.

3. Raff: Francesco De Gregori “La casa di Hilde” I love the stripped down to basics guitar and the ballad style of this. Great story, too, of the zither with the diamonds hidden inside.

Lorenzo, if you had switched, I may have voted for Fossati instead of Raff’s De Gregori. I am certainly going to seek out some more of both, actually.

If your track made this list, I’m pretty much going to check out your choices further. If it didn’t it’s really only because I knew of it already, or the artist was too familiar to me, so I felt it might sway me subconsciously, which I try to avoid, trying to listen with new ears.

Again, huge thanks to everyone who joined in, this was very difficult for me….that seems to be a hallmark of these, there are so many great contributions that it’s really hard to come to a decision. Again, also kudos to Lorenzo for the wonderful twist on polls.

And looking forward to hearing the rest of how people came to their voting conclusions......

"Into every rain, a little life must fall." ~Tom Rapp

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 18:41

jamesbaldwin wrote:

mathman0806 wrote:

You could also add me to the list. I noted elsewhere that I preferred Fossati.

So Fossati's Treno di Ferro would have been a possible winner..... Cry

I think it was a winner, anyway. To me, these poll "wins" aren't as important as the discovery of new music brought by others. Big smile

"Into every rain, a little life must fall." ~Tom Rapp

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 18:34

My votes went to Nick Drake, John Denver, and Sufjan Stevens.

All the selections were solid as were the alternate selections as well.

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 18:30

Once again, there has been some great music this time around. Sorry I haven't been able to participate more this time around, but it's probably going to be like this for a while.

1. Sufjan Stevens - "Should Have Known Better" I have had this guy on my radar for several years now, but have only become familiar with two of his many albums, so I was not familiar with this song. This track only affirms that I need to get to know his music much better. Excellent choice Lewian.

2. Elliot Smith - "Miss Misery" This one struck me right from the first time I heard it. It was a late entry, but I'm very happy Dr. Wu was able to sneak it in there. Another artist I need to get more familiar with. In fact I'm listening to more of his music right now, and I really like it a lot.

3. Richard Shindell - "Wisteria" I heard this right after Nickie posted it and knew that she was setting the bar high from the outset. Yet another artist to add to the list of artists to listen to.

I really liked some of the other alternate choices that were included too, some I already am familiar with, and again, I love Nick Drake, but I also knew (and already love) that track. I'm very curious about Jandek's style, and hope that I can explore his music more soon. I also added William Fitzsimmons, Ted Hawkins, E, Jorge Palma, Ivano Fossati and Frencesco Guccini to my list and I'm already a huge fan of John Prine (Paradise is one of my favorites), Kris Kristofferson (Sunday Morning is an all-time fav), and Toussaint.

Edited by TCat - August 02 2020 at 18:40

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 18:22

Lewian wrote:

Gutted that you didn't nominate Francesco Guccini, that one would've won the poll for me.

"Happiness is real only when shared"

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 18:21

mathman0806 wrote:

You could also add me to the list. I noted elsewhere that I preferred Fossati.

So Fossati's Treno di Ferro would have been a possible winner..... Cry

"Happiness is real only when shared"

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 17:27

Relistening now, my first two picks are Jorge Palma - Estrela do Mar and Jim Croce - Time in a Bottle. Then it becomes very difficult. I like Wisteria more than at first listening, and Mark Eitzel less. The Francesco de Gregori song nominated by raff is quite nice actually, though too much lyrics-oriented for my taste. Gutted that you didn't nominate Francesco Guccini, that one would've won the poll for me. I have voted for Nick Drake before, if I do it again he might become complacent (it's pretty good that song though). I could imagine voting for Bob Seger when I'm in the right mood for it, but today I'm not.

Ultimately sod it, voted before or not, the Nick Drake song belongs to the medal winners.

I didn't have as much time as I wanted today, which has to do with me travelling from tomorrow for a week, so I may not participate in the next poll, but have a good time! (Maybe I can tune in, who knows?)

Edited by Lewian - August 02 2020 at 17:27

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 16:56

You could also add me to the list. I noted elsewhere that I preferred Fossati.

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 16:38

Lewian wrote:

mathman: Mark Etzel is my winner among yours. Very nice and atmospheric, the other two rather sound as if I heard much of that stuff already (ignoring lyrics of course).

Meltdowner: Estrelo dol Mar is very good and dreamy; Ja chega de ilusoes is a bit of a mess, no?

jamesbaldwin: Francesco de Gregorio: Inventive and surprising, but the turn this takes in the second half isn't my cup of tea. The song of Ivano Fossati works much better for me, very emotional and well balanced between calm verse and more energetic chorus. John Hiatt's song is much more predictable than the Italians, so Fossati is the clear winner here. Carmen Consoli: This isn't exactly an instant winner for me, but at least makes me curious of her other work.

There's too much stuff in life, probably I have no chance to get through them all before the poll begins.

I missed this message!

Oh yes, now I'm sure: I've done a mistake nominating De Gregori. The reasons are two: 1) In these days I have little time to partecipate as I would 2) Ivano Fossati is more known than De Gregori (he was the foundator of Delirium). Anyway happy that Nicky, Christian and Meltdowner like Il Treno di Ferro by Ivano Fossati!

"Happiness is real only when shared"

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 16:16

jamesbaldwin wrote:

Well,

maybe I should have chosen Ivano Fossati given your opinion and Meltdowner's.

...and mine... seems you missed my comments on your nominations, normally you respond (although of course you don't have to).

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 16:02

Just cast my votes. As I already said, it wasn't easy, but in any case there were three songs that I liked more than the rest. My #1 was definitely Sufjan Stevens - probably the only artist in the list (barring De Gregori) whose work I'd like to explore more. De Gregori was #2, though I like the track I suggested (which is from is very first album) better than this one. Jorge Palma took the #3 slot for sounding different from the others (the Portuguese language, which I love, helped too).

As a final remark, I'd like to say that all the artists featured in this round are excellent in their own way. The fact that they're not my cup of tea does not reflect on the worth of their music.

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 15:32

suitkees wrote:

Do we have one vote or three votes ? (I vote for three votes... Pleeeease)

yes, three votes

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 12:32

I need to listen to everything before I can vote. I will try to do so later today. As I already stated, this is not my favourite kind of music, but I am sure I'll find something to my taste.

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 11:56

I voted for Jim Croce "Time In A Bottle" and Nick Drake's "Fruit Tree". The common denominator being that they are incredibly sad in the prescient manner in which the lyrics mirrored the artist's demise.

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Posted: August 02 2020 at 11:51

Technically, 3 votes. Even this can almost be impossible! Best of luck! Smile

"Into every rain, a little life must fall." ~Tom Rapp

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