@ZackTeibloom Here we are. Finally. A week into January and we’ve arrived at the finals. Last year The Black Keys took down LCD Soundsystem so convincingly that LCD was forced to break up forever. Let’s hope Young the Giant either beats The Black Keys, or decides to stick it out for another dozen years or so anyway. I really don’t even know who I’m voting for here. I personally had The Black Keys winning it all, but this is not even their best song. This is by far Young the Giant’s best song and it’s one for the ages. I’ll remember this year as theirs, so I may just pull for them. But ahh The Black Keys! The new kings of rock! I want them to win everything. I hope this decision is as tough for you. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom I clearly over-thought my bracket. I had Young the Giant as my #1 overall song and then had them not making the finals. Whoops. Now only My Morning Jacket stands in their way. If you’re reading this on your lunch break, try not to have food in your mouth as you read Andy’s reasoning for why you should pick MMJ. I had some stir fry in my mouth that almost went flying. The winner of this match-up has the challenge of taking down returning champion The Black Keys. I think if either song has a shot, it’s Young the Giant, but My Morning Jacket has surprised me time after time in the last few years, so who knows what they’re capable of. Let’s get to it. Seriously, don’t be eating something. I warned you… Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom If found it interesting that Andy and Caitlin decided to break down the venue each of today’s contestants performs in and how the crowd reacts to them, without knowing the other were doing it. Andy defends the newly anointed stadium rockers, The Black Keys, while Caitlin bleeds for the indie rock heroes The Drums, who even get the Austin club hipsters moshing and crowd surfing. There’s a lot to say for each. The Drums are great down to each unique, odd member, while The Black Keys fill the arena with Patrick and Dan only needing help from Danger Mouse. One of the two will see themselves in the finals. For The Black Keys, it would be a return. It would be a cinderella story for The Drums, who no one had going this far, even Caitlin, their biggest fan. Let’s vote: Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Could we have a repeat of champions by both the band (The Black Keys) and bracketologist (Caitlin)? The Black Keys look poised for a final slot in their bracket, having avoided Adele and now facing The Drums, who have already over-performed. Caitlin may have been heartbroken that Bright Eyes didn’t make the final 16, but she’s laughing now with 12/16 points and her final match-up still intact. Rob, Sadie and I are close behind, but we had M83 going much farther, and I think only me and the others who have The Black Keys winning it all have a shot.

Only four songs remain, and I can’t wait to see how it goes down. The Black Keys, Young the Giant, My Morning Jacket and The Drums represent the year pretty well. Sure, Adele and M83 and even Kanye and Jay-Z might be what we think of when we think of 2011, but it wasn’t meant to be for them. Here’s the bracket standings: Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Simmons asked if he should pull his starters and throw in the reserves for his column this week. I told him I’d read every word, so he better make it his best stuff. Well, I feel his pain. It’s the Friday before New Years and you’ve likely checked out somewhere around Christmas, but we’ve got two worthy songs who deserve out attention, so let’s give it to them. These are two passion bands for Andy and I. Justice had Andy doing car dances that got attention from everyone else on the road. He went through a number of favorite tracks off the new album before settling on “New Lands” and he’s picked a winner, but I’m not sure it’s going to top Young the Giant. “My Body” catapulted them from a band getting some attention at SXSW ’11 to selling out two nights of Stubbs in ’12, and they don’t even have to play the fest. I sure wish Justice would come by Austin some time, SX or not. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Now this is a battle of heavyweights. The Black Keys only waited a year and a half after Brothers to give us El Camino for Christmas. I hope you didn’t make your best of albums list without giving this one a few spins. Lady Gaga sold a ton of her follow-up album Born This Way by making it ninety-nine cents on Amazon. Personally, I’d rather spend $30 for El Camino on vinyl. I’ll save my Gaga bashing (as best as I can.) It’s just not for me. Andy will try to sell me on it by saying it has a country twang. Again, not my thing. It’s nice that Brian May plays guitar, and it makes this one listenable enough, but I’d rather have a rock band in their prime than a guest spot on an otherwise uninspiring track.  Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom We’ve reached the end of round 1. I’ll do a full recap tomorrow, showing you the standings for your brackets and giving a recap of all the match-ups, but we’ve got one more match-up of two of my favorites. Up until this point, it’s been easy to pick who among me and Andy will write about which band, since we each picked 8 songs. Today, my pick of Ezra Furman made the tourney as a wildcard and faces my #1 seed Young the Giant, so we let Andy take Young the Giant, since he’s seen them twice and was totally into it. I honestly don’t know who I’m going to vote for. Ezra put out his best album to date and this song warms my heart, but how can you compete with this phenom that is “My Body?” When I first saw Young the Giant, I said they had one headline-ready hit and a couple strong ones to go with the rest of their catalog. I’ve come around on the rest of the album and don’t skip any, but my god, “My Body” is a first track on the mix tape. And Ezra has always been a last song on a mixtape kind of guy. Which I completely love him for as well. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom An international battle goes down in today’s contest. We have Justice representing ze French and Joy Formidable, formed in Wales and now based in London. Justice had a monster breakout in 2007, when they were making everyone “D.A.N.C.E.” and stealing awards that Kanye should have won, according to Kanye. Oh, and speaking of stealing awards from Kanye, he and Jay-Z watched the round one crown get taken from them by My Morning Jacket. Justice battles newcomers Joy Formidable, who have dropped their debut album in January, and have been blowing up (in an indie sense) thanks to a number of well-timed performances. They were introduced to the U.S. when they opened for Passion Pit at sold out shows at NYC’s Terminal 5 shows, but got bigger in the U.S. thanks to opening for Foo Fighters at a Lolla club show and getting their own Lollapalooza early day set that me and Caitlin loved and an afternoon set at Fun Fun Fun that got them in the hearts of a whole lot of bandana-clad hipsters. Justice debuts their new live show on New Years day in 2012. Are they ready to conquer in 2011, or is next year their year? We know how the French do in battle. Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore Today’s matchup pits one of the biggest superstar collaborations of our generation against a band in My Morning Jacket that, despite headlining spots at major festivals like ACL and Lollapalooza, still feels like it hasn’t garnered all of the attention it deserves. Jay Z and Kanye know the power they hold over the music world and put out one of the most talked about albums of the year. Yim Yames also knows his way around a super group (Monster of Folk), yet My Morning Jacket continues to put out albums worthy of the superstar treatment. It’s an interesting matchup. Different strokes for different folks. Who ya got? Read the rest of this entry »