Four skinny indie kids, four skinny indie kids…
Iain Mew: Doing lots of ‘interesting’ things to not much effect vs. thrillingly cutting straight to the point – has to be the latter.
Alex Macpherson: The anthemic supremacy of Karen O and her boys simply shows up her competition in girl-fronted indie as total amateur chancers.
Cecily Nowell-Smith: I can’t like “Stillness is the Move” but I’m surprised by how much I want to: its stiltedness, the pile-up of vocals, the suggestion that all its little trickeries are only the necessary disguise for an emotion so mundane and so true it’s hard to say directly. By contrast, “Heads Will Roll” is so straightforwardly bombastic in its ping and peal and appealing hints of housiness, and of course Karen O’s incredible fox-in-the-woods yelp. Still, it’s the one that’s honestly likeable.
Tal Rosenberg: As much as I would like to put the Projectors in here, because I don’t think this song is nearly as bad as some make it out to be, I’m going for the Yeahs 3 because ultimately there’s just more drama, more motion, more more.
Jonathan Bradley: The Dirty Projectors’ indie R&B contains too often the worst features of indie rock: preciousness, sloppiness, and a tendency toward the abstruse. “Stillness is the Move,” though, is genuinely lovely. The off-kilter guitar-line flutters like the Indian motifs Timbaland was once obsessed with, and there’s some laudable proficiency in the vocal, even though its refusal to ease itself into the instrumentation distinguishes it as something distinct from the R&B mainstream. “Heads Will Roll”, though, slices like a serial killer. Karen O’s darkly glamorous death march is one of the best songs 2009 has to offer, and the Dirty Projectors’ charming left-field experiment in pop can’t compete.
Chuck Eddy: I never even heard the Dirty Projectors song before today; are they trying to sound like Frank Chickens? Well, in the “good” parts anyway. When they’re not trying to sound like Mariah Carey or twiddling their thumbs instead. But “Heads Will Roll” wins, by virtue of being one of those rare YYYs songs that doesn’t make me immediately run screaming for my old Pearl Harbor and the Explosions records.
Martin Kavka: Both of these songs have some weird mood swings in them. “Stillness Is the Move” is an Amerindie fusion of Ofra Haza and Joni Mitchell, and drowns in its own belief that combining two voices is equivalent to having a voice of your own. Karen O’s attempt to coo in the bridge “Heads Will Roll” fails quite magnificently, and I’m very glad when her tenderness returns to unite with her apparently supercilious snarl.
Frank Kogan: “Stillness” sounds like wooden puppets trying to emulate Minnie Riperton; is potentially intriguing but stillness isn’t much of a move, actually. Karen O’s not the most supple singer either, but this best-off is no contest as she gets feisty and encounters a fearsome dance of death while her band leaps unexpectedly to competence.
David Moore: In a year of stuff-I-clearly-don’t-get from Animal Collective and Maxwell and Fever Ray, “Stillness Is the Move” perplexes me most in trying to understand what on earth people who like it are actually hearing. I want to hear it — the intersection between Mariah Carey and Talking Heads should at least make for an interesting trainwreck — but it’s just a soggy mess of clumsy beats and half-way decent vocal melodies not particularly well-delivered (she’s not Mariah — she’s not even Mirah!).
Jessica Popper: I was all ready to pick YYYs over this until I saw the video. No idea who this band are but I’ll definitely be looking them up.
Edward Okulicz: “Heads Will Roll” still wants for a better chorus, but otherwise snaps and pouts in an altogether pleasing fashion. “Stillness Is the Move” is more unorthodox and certainly doesn’t go for the easy points, but its tricks are in the background; Karen O puts her trump cards up front in the massive shrieks of the pre-chorus of “Heads” and lets you know she’s there.
Alex Ostroff: “Stillness is the Move” is astounding and transcendent but tentative, where “Heads Will Roll” is all Karen O’s imperious voice bossing me around and crushing my will. Probably the toughest choice to make, but the Yeah Yeah Yeahs take it in the end.
Alfred Soto: Honestly, even DJ Quik and Kurupt would have a hard time knocking “Heads Will Roll” from atop my list of singles. “Stillness is the Move,” that cornucopia of quirk, gurgles loudly in the corner, hoping to get noticed.
Renato Pagnani: “Heads Will Roll” is a great rock song and all, but I just really, really dislike “Stillness is the Move.”
Al Shipley: The only deciding factor here is that one song has bowlcut fashionista Olive Oyl soundalike Karen O on it, and the other doesn’t.
Andrew Casillas: “Stillness is the Move.” If only for the “get a job as a wait-er-ess!” line.
Erika Villani: The lyrics to “Heads Will Roll” are frustratingly dumb. The lyrics to “Stillness is the Move” are also frustratingly dumb. I guess I choose the one that reflects just enough sunlight to sound good as a Solange Knowles song.
Matt Cibula: Whoa, another surprise. I didn’t think I liked Dirty Projectors until re-listening to this rai-reggae jam, while “Heads Will Roll” is less than the sum of its parts for me.
Rodney J. Greene: Indie musicians have been copping dance motifs all this damn decade, whereas the Dirty Pros’ appropriation of mainstream urban radio fodder is brave new territory. Theoretically, this should put the advantage of an easy, seamless, if forseeable, aesthetic into hands of the YYYs, while the DPs have the greater ability to shock and impress, but have to clunk their way into it. However, the synthesis within “Stillness Is the Move” is so fully-formed, that the Projectors improbably bypass any awkward learning curve. Their song feels both original and comfortable. It feels like it came right out of a mold that doesn’t yet exist.
Tom Ewing: This is weirdly hard! “Heads Will Roll” is brilliant but, dammit, “Stillness Is The Move” has really GOT something. Maybe it’s the glass darts guitars or the way the singers hop around like girls on stepping stones, but right now if I had to play one it would be that. On the other hand – “OFF OFF OFF WITH YOUR HEAD”. Actually though, I sort of hate the “glitter’s all wet” line, so that makes my heart feel better about the way my gut is voting here.
Ian Mathers: Like I said in round one, I’m not a huge fan of “Heads Will Roll” compared to what else is on the YYYs’ album, and I’d gladly vote a lot of the other songs I have to pass up over it. Luckily for it, “Stillness Is the Move” is a turgid piece of crap that never ought to have seen the first round of our tournament, let alone second. Everything potentially great in it was done better by Talking Heads in the late 70s/early 80s, and the lyrics… ugh.
John Seroff: A cursory listen of Bitte Orca hasn’t enthralled but “Stillness” is the Jam, crisp R&B held aloft on an Beninese-sounding guitar hook. I hate to piss on anyone’s parade, but I still don’t get the YYY love on this board and am looking forward to seeing them shuffled out of this playlist ASAP.
Michaelangelo Matos: YYYs, even though I like them both a lot. It’s so much more fierce.
Jordan Sargent: In the toughest choice in this round, I’m choosing Karen O.’s campy and murderous city street romping — barely — over the Projector girls’ rather beautiful vibrato. As far as rallying cries go, few songs from this year have “Heads Will Roll” beat.
Pete Baran: Barely a battle; the Yeah Yeah Yeahs play their strongest hand over a track that is just that little bit too mannered to work as the pop oddity it could possibly be.
John M. Cunningham: For most of the year, I’ve been tepid on the Dirty Projectors, but that’s starting to change, in part because “Stillness Is the Move,” with its hiccupy vocals and tricksy guitar figures, continues to intrigue and impress; nothing against the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who give good snarl on the chic, dance-fueled “Heads Will Roll,” but this one goes to the upstarts.
Erick Bieritz: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs do a good enough Ladytron impression, but cower before the ferocity of “Stillness Is the Move,” which is all flaring flanges and like a deep sea beastie.
Anthony Miccio: Neither is totally convincing, but only one drags…
“Stillness Is the Move” – 11 (Chris Boeckmann, Jessica Popper, Andrew Casillas, Al Shipley, Tom Ewing, John Seroff, John M Cunningham, Erick Bieritz, Erika Villani, Rodney J Greene, Matt Cibula)
“Heads Will Roll” – 22 (Martin Skidmore, Iain Mew, Chuck Eddy, Frank Kogan, Alex Macpherson, Cecily Nowell-Smith, Mallory O’Donnell, Anthony Easton, Martin Kavka, Michaelangelo Matos, Pete Baran, Ian Mathers, Edward Okulicz, David Moore, Alfred Soto, Anthony Miccio, Jordan Sargent, Renato Pagnani, Alex Ostroff, Jonathan Bradley, Briony Edwards, Tal Rosenberg)
Well, that was easy.
And now, ladies and gents, Mr Graham Kelly with our quarter-final line-up:
Graham Kelly: Hello.
The draw for the quarter-finals of The Singles Jukebox End-of-Year Best-Off 2009 is as follows:
versus
“Loba” by Shakira
“Hey Playa! (Moroccan Blues)” by DJ Quik & Kurupt
versus
“House of Flying Daggers” by Raekwon featuring Inspectah Deck, Method Man, GZA and Ghostface
“Fifteen by Taylor Swift
versus
“Trap Goin’ Ham” by Pill
“9xs Outta 10” by DJ Quik & Kurupt
versus
“Heads Will Roll” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
That completes the draw.
Many thanks, Graham.
So yes, eight songs remain. With any luck, we can get this all sorted out by the end of the week, cos fuck knows there’s a hell of a lot of other stuff we need to get looking at. Girl on bleachers vs. woman in cupboard will kick us off tomorrow…