2024 Album Showdown Results: Final Tier 6 Results and Upcoming Attractions

This post documents the remaining Tier 6 showdowns, two from this week and a couple of stragglers from the previous cycle.  The divergences here between the prime results and those of the Viewer’s Choice is pretty striking, but it's these differences that make running the parallel brackets so interesting (not unlike divergent endings in the old Choose Your Own Adventure books…).

Tier 7 will continue this week and into the next, with the prime results being posted in short-form videos published in the microblogging portal of your choice.  Tier 7 results produce the preliminary Fall Top 12, a list that will be finalized after the group’s top contributor replaces one album on the list with one favorite eliminated album from Tier 6. 

After finalizing the Fall Top 12, the group will need to select saves for the finals.  A Google Doc of eligible Tier 6  albums will be made available on Wednesday, Nov. 20, and close on Friday at noon on Nov. 22.  All participants will select six favorites from this list, and the most-voted for albums will advance directly to the finals.

Finals will begin on Friday, Nov. 22.  Completing all showdowns by the end of the year will require EIGHT showdowns a week for five weeks.  That’s a lot.  The good news is that the majority of these albums will be ones that we are already familiar with.  The bad news is that they will all be good.  I don’t want folks to get overwhelmed, so I see a couple of options to help with the pacing.

• Option 1: Four showdowns twice a week in the same Friday and Monday pattern that we have sustained all year long

• Option 2: Two showdowns four times a week Friday through Monday.

I will release a poll in the group alongside these results to get a sense of what works best for everyone.  

One last thing, if you want to participate in the finals, now is the perfect time to jump on board.  Previous participation is not a requirement.  Contact me through my Patreon account for details on how to be involved.  The more people pitch in, the more rigorous the final list will be.  

Kofi Flexxx - Flowers in the Dirt VS. The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble - Open Me: A HIgher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit

Kofi Flexxx - Flowers in the Dirt

Given its relatively subdued tone, it is easy to overlook the genius moments throughout Open Me. Flowers in the Dirt has many similar moments, but with a defiant tone that I find appealing.

Alcest - Les Chants de l'Aurore VS. Cloakroom - Dissolution Wave

Cloakroom - Dissolution Wave

Dissolution Wave has been a serious sleeper this season.  There’s a part of me that fondly remembers participating in the 90s Dallas music scene, and this album activates a sense of nostalgia for live bands from that era.  Musically, Alcest is arguably the superior group, but their languid vocal delivery makes for a confusing expressive rift in the album’s emotive capacity, allowing Dissolution Wave to take this one.

Kalandra - A Frame of Mind VS. The Decemberists - As It Always Was, So It Will Be Again

The Decemberists - As It Always Was, So It Will Be Again

I have a lot of personal affection for the heavy-folk-lite-prog of Kalandra, their more recent album lacks some of the psychedelic elements that made their debut so distinctive.  Additionally, the Decemberists can simply write great, singable tunes with tear-jerking lyrics, which is hard to beat in this year’s showdown environment.

Debashish Bhattacharya - The Sound of the Soul VS. Dewa Alit & Gamelan Salukat - Chasing the Phantom

Dewa Alit & Gamelan Salukatt - Chasing the Phantom

So tricky, as these are both outstanding contemporary examples of traditional music from different culture-groups  Debashish Bhattacharya is inarguably brilliant, and The Sound of the Soul is an excellent, low-commitment introduction to the sounds of Hindustani classical music.  Situations like this, however, can boil down to personal preference, and I just love the wicked intensity and structure of Balinese gamelan.  Dewa Alit’s unique tuning approach and the fiery virtuosity of Gamelan Salukat make my hairs stand on end, and I have to recognize that.  Chasing the Phantom goes on.

Viewer’s Choice 

Madlib - Sound Ancestors VS. The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble - Open Me: A HIgher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit

The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble - Open Me: A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit

Alcest - Les Chants de l'Aurore VS. Mandy, Indiana - I’ve Seen a Way 

Alcest - Les Chants de l’Aurore

Kalandra - Frame of Mind VS. The Decemberists - As It Always Was, So It Will Be Again

Kalandra - Frame of Mind

Debashish Bhattacharya - The Sound of the Soul VS. Dewa Alit & Gamelan Salukat - Chasing the Phantom

Deabashish Bhattacharya - The Sound of the Soul

2024 Album Showdown Results: Tier 6 Part 5

Leprous - Melodies of Atonement VS. Birth - Born

Leprous - Melodies of Atonement

Born is a beefy chunk of retro-prog, for sure, and one packed with technical, patinated playing.  I don’t necessarily walk away humming their songs, though, while Melodies of Atonement’s more pop-inspired aspects have an earwormish way.  It also doesn’t hurt that those tunes are imprinted with Einar Solberg’s vocals.

Azmari - Maelstrom VS. Altin Gun - Ask

Azmari - Maelstrom

Both of these European cross-cultural ensembles are equally seductive and inventive.  Of the two, however, I would venture to say that Azmari is the more musically adventurous.

Mo Dotti - Opaque VS. The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field

The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field

Its the tunes, plain and simple.  Mo Dotti’s are excellent, especially within their shoegaze frame, but The Beth’s melodicism and energy wins out.

Floating Points - Cascade VS. Disasterpeace - Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar

Disasterpeace - Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar

Huge, huge, HUGE upset here.  Floating Points has been behind some of my absolute favorite music for the past two years, which probably casts a bit of an unfair shadow on Cascade.  It is an absolutely brilliant EDM album - probably one of the best I’ve heard in years - but it just doesn’t break genre barriers in the way that I am used to hearing from Floating Points.  The arresting compositional craft of Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar, coupled with its inherent nostalgic qualities, gave it a surprising edge.

Viewer’s Choice

Leprous - Melodies of Atonement VS. Bill Fisher - How to Think Like a Millionaire

Bill Fisher - How to Think Like a Millionaire

Azmari - Maelstrom VS. Glass Beams - Mahal

Azmari - Maelstrom

Mo Dotti - Opaque VS. The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field

The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field

Floating Points - Cascade VS. Disasterpeace - Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar

Floating Points - Cascade

2024 Album Showdown Results: Tier 6, Part 4

Chrystabell & David Lynch - Cellophane Memories VS. Bill Rieflin - Birth of a Giant

Bill Rieflin - Birth of a Giant

Cellophane Memories is must-have for any David Lynch enthusiast.  It sheds light on a different corner of his universe and, as is usually the case, unearths new perspectives as much as it conceals others.  It is, however, niche listening for the patient Lynch fan.  One could argue that Birth of a Giant holds a similar place in the King Crimson timeline, but the performances are more overtly charismatic (especially those of Robert Fripp).  Additionally, as a Tier 1 survivor, time has been kind to the album as repeated listenings have revealed deeper musical structures.

Allan Holdsworth - Metal Fatigue VS. Peter Gabriel - i/o (Bright Side Mix)

Peter Gabriel - i/o (Bright Side Mix)

Both of these albums are flawed masterpieces from top-notch artists, but i’o’s high points outshine those found on Metal Fatigue.  It looks like very soon, we will need to decide which mix of i/o, the bright or dark side, will represent Peter Gabriel in the finals.

Jack White - No Name VS. Polyphia - Remember That You Will Die

Jack White - No Name

Although I have had reticence with Remember That You Will Die this year, the album has grown on me significantly.  Jack White’s surprise release, however, recaptures the energy that defined him in an arresting way.  

Wesley Fuller - All Fuller, No Filler VS. The Lemon Twigs - A Dream Is All We Know

Wesley Fuller - All Fuller, No Filler

Big upset here,, especially as The Lemon Twigs were darlings due to the incredible artistic success of Everything Harmony last year.  That album may have hurt A Dream Is All We Know to a degree, because the likelihood that they would recapture the magic of that album was low and objectively comparing two albums released that close to one another is just plain difficult.  There is a sense, however, that A Dream Is All We Know was an attempt to nostalgically recapture an aesthetic rather than reinventing a well-trod style.  Fuller is a retro-rocker as well, but his playful nature and wry sense of melody is nearly irresistible.  

Viewer’s Choice Results

Chrystabell & David Lynch - Cellophane Memories VS. Bill Rieflin - Birth of a Giant

Bill Rieflin - Birth of a Giant

Allan Holdsworth - Metal Fatigue VS. Peter Gabriel - i/o (Bright Side Mix)

Peter Gabriel - i/o (Bright Side Mix)

Jack White - No Name VS. Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth

Jack White - No Name

Wesley Fuller - All Fuller, No Filler VS. The Lemon Twigs - A Dream Is All We Know

Wesley Fuller - All Fuller, No Filler

2024 Album Showdown Results" Tier 6, Part 2

This week has been very interesting, with a couple of very big upsets and significant divergences between the Viewer’s Choice and the prime list.  Read on!

Low - Things We Lost In the Fire VS. Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown

Low - Things We Lost In the Fire

First upset of the week.  Low has risen in my esteem in the past few years, and even earned Album of the Year with Hey, What! a couple of years ago.  Things We Lost In the Fire predates that album by quite a bit, and initially, I didn’t find it as engaging as I anticipated.  Like many albums that returned in Tier 5 from Tier 1, however, it gained a new life in recent months.  Beth Gibbons’ album is also quite stellar, but also has some intermittent songwriting shortcomings that allowed the emerging genius of this early Low album to shine more brightly.

Ora the Molecule - Human Safari VS. Joanna Wang - Hotel La Rut

Joanna Wang - Hotel La Rut

Human Safari really is great, and its 80’s influenced psychedelic dance approach has made it a go-to for family car rides and evening meals.  Hotel La Rut, however, hits me a bit closer to home.  Its subtly complex pop songwriting and progressive rock interludes remind me of what it is I love about both of those genres while also challenging their conventions.

Death’s Dynamic Shroud - Keys to the Gate VS. Various Artists - Heiladans 3

Death’s Dynamic Shroud - Keys to the Gate

The Heiladans 3 compilation is unquestionably an interesting and engaging compilation of electronica.  Death’s Dynamic Shroud is simply next-level stuff.  

Willow - Empathogen VS. Mdou Moctar - Funeral for Justice

Mdou Moctar - Funeral for Justice

This was a huge, huge upset, because I genuinely think that Willow’s album is ingenious and going into this showdown, I thought for sure that she would plow right over Mdou.  In my research, however, I watched Willow’s Tiny Desk concert in which she played a couple of songs from Empathogen and her performance felt insincere.  Don’t misunderstand, I have a huge amount of respect for Willow, especially for pushing on the boundaries of her musicianship.  She is obviously on a quest to find her unique voice, and Empathogen is an impressive step forward, but it seems like she still is not quite sure what she is trying to say, even though the way that she is saying it is impressive.  When I put that up against Funeral For Justice, an album by a guy who literally taught himself to play guitar in the desert and is using his platform to speak out against colonial power imbalances, the convictions that drive the album add a weight to his musical voice (even though he sings in a non-English language).

Viewer’s Choice

somesuprises - Persieds VS. Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown

somesuprises - Persieds

Ora the Molecule - Human Safari VS. Joanna Wang - Hotel La Rut

Ora the Molecule - Human Safari

Death’s Dynamic Shroud - Keys to the Gate VS. Various Artists - Heiladans 3

Death’s Dynamic Shroud - Keys to the Gate

Willow - Empathogen VS. boygenius - the Record

Willow - Empathogen