"March" Madness 2021 | Done!

[samo🦕]

Preliminary Round #1: #1 Seeds vs. #6 Seeds – Set 1

Full Spotify playlist:


Spotify playlist for this set:

---

Ward Thomas f/ Cam - “Don't Be A Stranger” (Stranger, #1) vs. Veeze - “Law ‘n’ Order” (jtd, #6)

Haru Nemuri - “Bang” (Sambalada, #1) vs. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - “Intrasport” (wamdjones, #6)

Porter Robinson - “Look At The Sky” (Trilogy, #1) vs. romulous - “Rain On Me” (rom, #6)

Ariana Grande - “pov” (Cynthia, #1) vs. Sara Kays - “Remember That Night?” (woods, #6)

Christian Kuria f/ Alex Isley - “Toroka (Remix)” (stallie, #1) vs. Vegyn f/ Jeshi - “I See You Sometimes” (peacebone, #6)

Sorcha Richardson - “The Starlight Lounge” (walt91, #1) vs. Chika - “U Should” (Zach, #6)

Laura Marling - “Held Down” (willapted33, #1) vs. Morgan Wade - “Wilder Days” (Stacey, #6)

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) vs. Yazmin Lacey - “Morning Matters” (lyhom, #6)

[rom]

yea i sent rain on me as my extra i felt it was only right yknow

[samo🦕]

Apr 8, 2021 17:37:54 GMT -5 rom said:

yea i sent rain on me as my extra i felt it was only right yknow

i'd also like to commend you for having the bravery to send your own cover of it for us to judge! not many people have that kind of courage

[rom]

Apr 8, 2021 17:41:30 GMT -5 samo🦕 said:

Apr 8, 2021 17:37:54 GMT -5 rom said:

yea i sent rain on me as my extra i felt it was only right yknow

i'd also like to commend you for having the bravery to send your own cover of it for us to judge! not many people have that kind of courage

@ avatar

[keatonzab]

is the first set?

[maine]

Ward Thomas f/ Cam - “Don't Be A Stranger” (Stranger, #1) vs. Veeze - “Law ‘n’ Order” (jtd, #6)

Haru Nemuri - “Bang” (Sambalada, #1) vs. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - “Intrasport” (wamdjones, #6)

Porter Robinson - “Look At The Sky” (Trilogy, #1) vs. romulous - “Rain On Me” (rom, #6)
- Best discovery of the set.

Ariana Grande - “pov” (Cynthia, #1) vs. Sara Kays - “Remember That Night?” (woods, #6)

Christian Kuria f/ Alex Isley - “Toroka (Remix)” (stallie, #1) vs. Vegyn f/ Jeshi - “I See You Sometimes” (peacebone, #6)

Sorcha Richardson - “The Starlight Lounge” (walt91, #1) vs. Chika - “U Should” (Zach, #6)

Laura Marling - “Held Down” (willapted33, #1) vs. Morgan Wade - “Wilder Days” (Stacey, #6)

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) vs. Yazmin Lacey - “Morning Matters” (lyhom, #6)

[keatonzab]

Ward Thomas f/ Cam - “Don't Be A Stranger” (Stranger, #1) vs. Veeze - “Law ‘n’ Order” (jtd, #6)



Haru Nemuri - “Bang” (Sambalada, #1) vs. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - “Intrasport” (wamdjones, #6)



Porter Robinson - “Look At The Sky” (Trilogy, #1) vs. romulous - “Rain On Me” (rom, #6)



Ariana Grande - “pov” (Cynthia, #1) vs. Sara Kays - “Remember That Night?” (woods, #6)



Christian Kuria f/ Alex Isley - “Toroka (Remix)” (stallie, #1) vs. Vegyn f/ Jeshi - “I See You Sometimes” (peacebone, #6)



Sorcha Richardson - “The Starlight Lounge” (walt91, #1) vs. Chika - “U Should” (Zach, #6)



Laura Marling - “Held Down” (willapted33, #1) vs. Morgan Wade - “Wilder Days” (Stacey, #6)



Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) vs. Yazmin Lacey - “Morning Matters” (lyhom, #6)

[Butterflies & Hurricanes]

what’s the deadline???

I listened to all 16 songs, but there’s no “Rain On Me”

[aerodynamite]

Ward Thomas f/ Cam - “Don't Be A Stranger” (Stranger, #1) vs. Veeze - “Law ‘n’ Order” (jtd, #6)

Haru Nemuri - “Bang” (Sambalada, #1) vs. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - “Intrasport” (wamdjones, #6)

Porter Robinson - “Look At The Sky” (Trilogy, #1) vs. romulous - “Rain On Me” (rom, #6)

Ariana Grande - “pov” (Cynthia, #1) vs. Sara Kays - “Remember That Night?” (woods, #6)

Christian Kuria f/ Alex Isley - “Toroka (Remix)” (stallie, #1) vs. Vegyn f/ Jeshi - “I See You Sometimes” (peacebone, #6)

Sorcha Richardson - “The Starlight Lounge” (walt91, #1) vs. Chika - “U Should” (Zach, #6)

Laura Marling - “Held Down” (willapted33, #1) vs. Morgan Wade - “Wilder Days” (Stacey, #6)

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) vs. Yazmin Lacey - “Morning Matters” (lyhom, #6)

[kimberly]

me coming back to the thread after listening to the playlist and typing up my comments:

[willapted33]

samo is a certified menace to society

[taylor is terrified]

Apr 8, 2021 20:38:13 GMT -5 kimberly said:

me coming back to the thread after listening to the playlist and typing up my comments:

I learned my lesson from last year’s Summertime madness lol.

Still almost fell for it tho 😭😭😭

[rom]

winner of this set:
me
i win
i also win march madness as a whole
have a good night everyone

[keatonzab]

Apr 8, 2021 21:31:07 GMT -5 rom said:

winner of this set:
me
i win
i also win march madness as a whole
have a good night everyone

[Az Paynter]

Yeah, hi. I have a life. And I'm in a different time zone to most of ya'll. So like. CHILL.

The actual official first round is coming in like 10 minutes.

[Az Paynter]

NOTES FOR FIRST TIMERS (Copy-pasted + edited from the STM 2020 thread)

We are continuing with the format of recent previous tournaments, as it made setup much easier. Essentially, it's this:

So basically for our preliminary rounds, we will be having a natural looking tournament as the #1 and #6 seeds will face off against each other, the #2 and #5 seeds, and finally the #3 and #4 seeds – instead of completely random like we used to.

We have 354 songs this year, which doesn't break up cleanly into the 128/64/32/etc. we've been accustomed to. This first preliminary round round should take 24 days when adhering strictly to 24-hour voting periods (broken down, this is 5 sets of 7 match-ups and a 3 sets of 8 match-ups for each seed grouping).

A cut of the top-performing winners (79 songs) from this first preliminary round will move straight on to the Top 128, as determined by their win ratios (ie. how many votes song X received divided by how many votes total in that round). The 98 songs that perform the worst (ie. any songs that won on tiebreaker or barely scraped a closely contested match-up) will compete in a second preliminary round for the remaining 49 spots. This should take an additional 6 days, with six sets of match-ups voted on in 24-hour periods (two of these sets will feature 9 match-ups, the other four will have 8).

The tournament will then proceed as normal from the Top 128 onwards complete with Challonge bracket.

A reminder for everyone since this gets brought up time and time again: please listen to every song, even those you are unfamiliar with. There are quite a few of us (myself included) that put songs out here for people to discover, so throw us a bone by actually listening to our selections. It makes the game more fun, and you may even discover some new favourites (or at least some new artists you want to further discover).

You will have approximately 24 hours to vote for these rounds. I will try to start the voting process around the same time every day. There won't be any extensions on voting if I can help it, so please make sure to vote as regularly as possible if you can so the numbers don't completely suck. Sometimes you'll randomly get a few extra hours, sometimes you'll lose a few extra hours; it just depends on when I'm available - most times this isn't an issue but #ThingsHappen.

---

Preliminary Round #1: #1 Seeds vs. #6 Seeds – Set 1

Full Spotify playlist:


Spotify playlist for this set:

---

More Fatter - “Weirdo” (DistrictTwelve, #1) vs. Mac Ayres - “Every Time” (stallie, #6)

Miley Cyrus - “Gimme What I Want” (woods, #1) vs. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - “Job’s Lament” (rom, #6)

Ashley McBryde - “Sparrow” (indulge, #1) vs. Arlo Parks - “Just Go” (Harry, #6)

Taylor Swift - “August” (nickd, #1) vs. Pity Party (Girls Club) - “i hope that u think of me” (Tanooki, #6)

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) vs. Dua Lipa - “That Kind Of Woman” (Juan Carlos, #6)

SZA - “Good Days” (Zach, #1) vs. Kings Of Leon - “The Bandit” (Adrian C., #6)

Brent Faiyaz - "Dead Man Walking" (filthy, #1) vs. Still Corners - “White Sands” (Geometrical, #6)

---

SPOILER: Click to show

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[Leo ✔]

SZA - “Good Days” (Zach, #1) vs. Kings Of Leon - “The Bandit” (Adrian C., #6)

This match up is pure evil.

[Butterflies & Hurricanes]

you mean Samo posted a FAKE 1st round???

[Darkest Hour]

Good Days in the first set huh...

[fearlessarrow]

Apr 9, 2021 10:39:49 GMT -5 Butterflies & Hurricanes said:

you mean Samo posted a FAKE 1st round???

Seems like someone was too busy dancing along the edge to fully read what was going on in the thread!

.... I’ll see myself out.

[kimberly]

More Fatter - “Weirdo” (DistrictTwelve, #1) vs. Mac Ayres - “Every Time” (stallie, #6)

Miley Cyrus - “Gimme What I Want” (woods, #1) vs. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - “Job’s Lament” (rom, #6)
- "Job's Lament" was interesting but too long for me to enjoy what was going on. "Gimme What I Want" is a bop.

Ashley McBryde - “Sparrow” (indulge, #1) vs. Arlo Parks - “Just Go” (Harry, #6)
- "Sparrow" won me over with the instrumental break, that was delicious. But "Just Go" wins this for me holistically.

Taylor Swift - “August” (nickd, #1) vs. Pity Party (Girls Club) - “i hope that u think of me” (Tanooki, #6)
- Can't believe my favorite song on folklore was not sent for WTM! "i hope that u think of me" was also strong.

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) vs. Dua Lipa - “That Kind Of Woman” (Juan Carlos, #6)
- I like "LTDO" (it just went Top 10 on my chart!) but I love "That Kind of Woman."

SZA - “Good Days” (Zach, #1) vs. Kings Of Leon - “The Bandit” (Adrian C., #6)

Brent Faiyaz - "Dead Man Walking" (filthy, #1) vs. Still Corners - “White Sands” (Geometrical, #6)

[Fire]

More Fatter - “Weirdo” (DistrictTwelve, #1) vs. Mac Ayres - “Every Time” (stallie, #6)

Miley Cyrus - “Gimme What I Want” (woods, #1) vs. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - “Job’s Lament” (rom, #6)

Ashley McBryde - “Sparrow” (indulge, #1) vs. Arlo Parks - “Just Go” (Harry, #6)

Taylor Swift - “August” (nickd, #1) vs. Pity Party (Girls Club) - “i hope that u think of me” (Tanooki, #6)

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) vs. Dua Lipa - “That Kind Of Woman” (Juan Carlos, #6)

SZA - “Good Days” (Zach, #1) vs. Kings Of Leon - “The Bandit” (Adrian C., #6)
i really enjoy both of them but i'm pretty sure i know what's gonna win so i'm giving an underdog vote to kings of leon

Brent Faiyaz - "Dead Man Walking" (filthy, #1) vs. Still Corners - “White Sands” (Geometrical, #6)

[Deleted]

More Fatter - “Weirdo” (DistrictTwelve, #1) vs. Mac Ayres - “Every Time” (stallie, #6)

Miley Cyrus - “Gimme What I Want” (woods, #1) vs. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - “Job’s Lament” (rom, #6)

Ashley McBryde - “Sparrow” (indulge, #1) vs. Arlo Parks - “Just Go” (Harry, #6)

Taylor Swift - “August” (nickd, #1) vs. Pity Party (Girls Club) - “i hope that u think of me” (Tanooki, #6)

i hope u think of me gives me 2012 indie pop song that got big on tiktok vibes. 

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) vs. Dua Lipa - “That Kind Of Woman” (Juan Carlos, #6)

SZA - “Good Days” (Zach, #1) vs. Kings Of Leon - “The Bandit” (Adrian C., #6)

Brent Faiyaz - "Dead Man Walking" (filthy, #1) vs. Still Corners - “White Sands” (Geometrical, #6)

this was close. i rlly like these both. 

[Deleted]

More Fatter - “Weirdo” (DistrictTwelve, #1) vs. Mac Ayres - “Every Time” (stallie, #6) Both of these were pretty good, but Every Time was slightly better.

Miley Cyrus - “Gimme What I Want” (woods, #1) vs. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - “Job’s Lament” (rom, #6) I actually liked Jobs Lament despite it being 8 minutes, but I preferred the Miley song overall.

Ashley McBryde - “Sparrow” (indulge, #1) vs. Arlo Parks - “Just Go” (Harry, #6)

Taylor Swift - “August” (nickd, #1) vs. Pity Party (Girls Club) - “i hope that u think of me” (Tanooki, #6) august is one of the best songs on folklore. The other song here didn’t do much for me.

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) vs. Dua Lipa - “That Kind Of Woman” (Juan Carlos, #6) Leave the Door Open is one of Bruno’s best, whereas TKOW doesn’t do anything for me

SZA - “Good Days” (Zach, #1) vs. Kings Of Leon - “The Bandit” (Adrian C., #6) Good Days is a top 3 SZA song so it has to win this round for me

Brent Faiyaz - "Dead Man Walking" (filthy, #1) vs. Still Corners - “White Sands” (Geometrical, #6) both of these were pretty great, but Dead Man Walking just beats White Sands for me

[Deleted]

let's gooo
    🧢
👉😁👈

More Fatter - “Weirdo” (DistrictTwelve, #1) {5} vs. Mac Ayres - “Every Time” (stallie, #6) {7}
- not liking these vocals on weirdo honestly. mac ayres remains being the most "pretty good" artist to date

Miley Cyrus - “Gimme What I Want” (woods, #1) {4} vs. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - “Job’s Lament” (rom, #6) {7.5}
- lol

Ashley McBryde - “Sparrow” (indulge, #1) {7} vs. Arlo Parks - “Just Go” (Harry, #6) {7}
- this won't be an easy matchup to tackle, i could see myself going either way. check back in the next 18 ish hours to see if my vote has changed

Taylor Swift - “August” (nickd, #1) {8.5} vs. Pity Party (Girls Club) - “i hope that u think of me” (Tanooki, #6) {5.5}
- sorry tanooki 🙏 i'll help you in the gentamicin of white people if that's okay

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) {8.5} vs. Dua Lipa - “That Kind Of Woman” (Juan Carlos, #6) {7.5}
- Dula Peep & The Big Wide World

SZA - “Good Days” (Zach, #1) {7} vs. Kings Of Leon - “The Bandit” (Adrian C., #6) {6}
- the world if kings of leon never introduced nfts to the mainstream: 🕴🚙🚎✈️🚄🎢🗼🌃

Brent Faiyaz - "Dead Man Walking" (filthy, #1) {4.5} vs. Still Corners - “White Sands” (Geometrical, #6) {8}
- i think i'm having a breakthrough here, i didn't like the last exit by still corners last madness but it grew on me after wtm ended and apparently their other song here is good???

[dremolus - solarpunk]

More Fatter - “Weirdo” (DistrictTwelve, #1) vs. Mac Ayres - “Every Time” (stallie, #6)

Miley Cyrus - “Gimme What I Want” (woods, #1) vs. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - “Job’s Lament” (rom, #6)

Ashley McBryde - “Sparrow” (indulge, #1) vs. Arlo Parks - “Just Go” (Harry, #6)

Taylor Swift - “August” (nickd, #1) vs. Pity Party (Girls Club) - “i hope that u think of me” (Tanooki, #6)

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) vs. Dua Lipa - “That Kind Of Woman” (Juan Carlos, #6)

SZA - “Good Days” (Zach, #1) vs. Kings Of Leon - “The Bandit” (Adrian C., #6)

Brent Faiyaz - "Dead Man Walking" (filthy, #1) vs. Still Corners - “White Sands” (Geometrical, #6)
this one was actually the most difficult to decide but I went with White Sands because it sounded more complete, even if I really enjoy the melodies on Dead Man Walking a lot.

[wheatsquares33]

Glad this is starting! I only have ~125 songs on my personal chart right now because Discover Weekly has turned all but completely useless the past few months (usually have 150-160 on average in my chart playlist), so hoping for some new discoveries to come back to.

More Fatter - “Weirdo” (DistrictTwelve, #1) (strong 6 to light 7) vs. Mac Ayres - “Every Time” (stallie, #6) (decent to strong 6)
Weirdo was a pretty nice first listen, wasn't in love with at the beginning when it kinda just sounds like a not-too-great Glass Animals song, but the chorus really does pop, takes a surprising turn for the disco-y and I dig it. I think this one will end up growing on me. Similarly, was not immediately won over with Every Time, I just can't say I'm a big fan of this guy's vocals. But, I will say I ended up liking this. The production is really smooth and slick, and even if I never quite thought the vocal performance matched its energy, the chorus is definitely an earworm. I'm gonna give it to Weirdo, but both of these were solid discoveries.

Miley Cyrus - “Gimme What I Want” (woods, #1) (decent to strong 6) vs. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - “Job’s Lament” (rom, #6) (decent to strong 6)
Hmm, this one could go either way. While I do appreciate Miley's dive into 80s pop rock with her most recent project, just not many songs have stood out to me apart from Midnight Sky and Prisoner, even though I do appreciate the aesthetic, and that's just kind of the case for this one. Chorus is okay and I do like the darker atmosphere, but I just can't say that I'll end up remembering it. Even though I can enjoy some post-rock, I don't think my brain has ever been big enough to really go around championing Godspeed in the same way others do. I mean, this song is fine enough, but I think God Is an Astronaut and Long Distance Calling have both been consistently releasing better post-rock instrumentals for the last year. I'm gonna give it to Miley, both are fine.

Ashley McBryde - “Sparrow” (indulge, #1) (decent to strong 6) vs. Arlo Parks - “Just Go” (Harry, #6) (decent to strong 6)
Sparrow was a pleasant enough listen, has a very nice weepy guitar solo that I liked and it built very nicely towards the end, decent song, I have no problems with it...don't think I'll come back to it? But maybe if I stumbled on it again relistening to the full playlist or something I'd end up feeling more strongly about it (or similarly apathetic). Either way, not a bad song, left more of an impression on me than many of the similar country tracks that are in these. Arlo Parks seems to consistently dance around greatness with every track I hear from her. I feel I should really be into this artist, every song I hear from her is like...why don't I like this more than I do? And that was kinda the case here. The vocal harmonies were nice and I liked the instrumental too, but there's just something about it that doesn't quite click for me, and I can't put my finger on what. I think I do slightly prefer it to Sparrow, but this is just another tossup of 6/10 songs.

Taylor Swift - “August” (nickd, #1) (light to decent 7) vs. Pity Party (Girls Club) - “i hope that u think of me” (Tanooki, #6) (decent to strong 6)
Hm, guess we still have some Folklore songs left that haven't been in a Madness yet, eh. And yet, I've still somehow never listened to the album in full (though I think I *did* listen to all of Evermore for some reason?) Anyway, this one's good. Maybe it's a bit premature for me to say that it's my favorite track I've heard from the album not named Exile, but I did really like it, chorus is great, builds very nicely, and there's some hints of woodwinds throughout that do add some texture, it's a good song. This Pity Party song was...uh, okay. I don't know if it *is* actually some Tik Tok alt thing (do I sound old) but it does have that vibe with its repetitive nature, short runtime, bedroom pop-py vibe. It's a decent listen, really like the bass here and the way it weaves in between my headphone channels, definitely this one would've suffered if I had listened to it with one earbud in at work as I usually do. But I mean, not suffer that much, I'm giving it to Taylor anyway.

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) (decent to strong 9) vs. Dua Lipa - “That Kind Of Woman” (Juan Carlos, #6) (decent to strong 7)
Well this is frustrating. Idk if I can say it without sounding pretentious, but I think Leave the Door Open is so self-evidently and obviously an incredible song that it's boring? It's one of my favorite songs of the year for sure, it's hard to beat. Which makes it kinda annoying that it's up against my favorite discovery in this set so far (and also the best Dua Lipa song I've heard since Physical was released as a teaser?) I really like this track, I'm going to come back to it for sure, but...I still gotta give it to Silk Sonic.

SZA - “Good Days” (Zach, #1) (strong 6 to light 7) vs. Kings Of Leon - “The Bandit” (Adrian C., #6) (decent to strong 6)
I've somehow avoided hearing Good Days till now. I mean, not actively, I like SZA decently, but not enough for me to seek it out and I haven't caught it on the radio or w/e. And uh it's fine. I like the instrumental and this is indeed a SZA song. It's fine. The Bandit has ended up growing on me, I didn't care much for that track at all the first time I heard it, but I guess I've grown to like the darker sound that Kings of Leon are going for here, the guitar work is nice, and the little synth touches throughout are nice too. Still think I prefer SZA though

Brent Faiyaz - "Dead Man Walking" (filthy, #1) (decent to strong 5) vs. Still Corners - “White Sands” (Geometrical, #6) (light to decent 7)
Uhh Brent Faiyaz song didn't do too much for me. I think some of the production choices were interesting, the like sustained strings were kinda cool, but idk, not in love with the vocals, chorus doesn't pop, kinda just run-of-the-mill R&B. White Sands was alright. I didn't get to comment on the Still Corners song in WTM because I'm bad at commenting in rankdowns as opposed to tournament style madnesses, but I did like the song there even if it did sound like...The Killing Moon almost exactly. White Sands does carry over the moody atmosphere from that track, but I can listen to it without comparing it to another song the whole time. Nice guitar work too, think this one will grow on me.

[wrip]

More Fatter - “Weirdo” (DistrictTwelve, #1) vs. Mac Ayres - “Every Time” (stallie, #6)
- “Weirdo” is a jam! Definitely makes sense being a D12 pick, it’s fun and makes me want to dance I’ve gotten into quite a few Mac Ayres songs, he definitely makes some nice chill songs. Really loving the instrumental here, has a nice groove tbh. Saved both of these songs to my library so I am a bit conflicted on which song to choose here.

Miley Cyrus - “Gimme What I Want” (woods, #1) vs. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - “Job’s Lament” (rom, #6)
- Haven’t gotten into too many of the songs from Miley’s new album yet but “Gimme What I Want” is a jam! Ahh “Job’s Lament” is so good too! The slow buildup throughout the song just really gives it a nice touch *Insert Spongebob Ascending picture here* Really love both of these songs, I’ll give my vote to “Job’s Lament” though.

Ashley McBryde - “Sparrow” (indulge, #1) vs. Arlo Parks - “Just Go” (Harry, #6)
- Ashley McBryde has such a pleasant voice. Not sure how to describe it but I just find “Sparrow” to be very comforting to listen to. Ahh I really love “Just Go”, in fact I’ve loved everything I’ve heard from Arlo Parks. This matchup is so hard to choose between, really want to see both of these get some love :/

Taylor Swift - “August” (nickd, #1) vs. Pity Party (Girls Club) - “i hope that u think of me” (Tanooki, #6)
- “August” is definitely a highlight on Folklore. Surprised it took this long for it to be sent in a madness haha. “I hope that u think of me” is so cool, could see myself coming back to it a bit. Really like both of these, going to give my vote to Pity Party since Taylor will probably get a lot of votes anyways.

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) vs. Dua Lipa - “That Kind Of Woman” (Juan Carlos, #6)
- “That Kind Of Woman” has some nice synths in it. The verses drag on just a bit for me but the chorus slaps. “Leave The Door Open” is groovy and fun to listen to, definitely happy to see it doing so well right now on the charts. Giving my vote to Silk Sonic.

SZA - "Good Days" (Zach, #1) vs. Kings Of Leon - “The Bandit” (Adrian C., #6)
- It will take *a lot* for me to vote against “Good Days” lol. It’s currently my most played song of the year, just a near perfect song for me. I could probably write quite a bit about why I love it but I’ll keep it short. “The Bandit” is a solid rock song, I could see it growing on me more as time goes on.

Brent Faiyaz - "Dead Man Walking" (filthy, #1) vs. Still Corners - “White Sands” (Geometrical, #6)
- “Dead Man Walking” is nice. I think I might need to listen again for it to click with me even more, but honestly it’s a pleasant song. The moody atmosphere of “White Sands” really works for me. Kind of has Western movie vibes to me, it definitely clicked with me on first listen.

[Butterflies & Hurricanes]

wow, right off the bat i found three amazing discoveries that i'm going to add to my personal charts right away:

More Fatter - “Weirdo” (DistrictTwelve, #1) vs. Mac Ayres - “Every Time” (stallie, #6)
...this might end up contending for my personal #1 in the near future - thanks D12!

Miley Cyrus - “Gimme What I Want” (woods, #1) vs. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - “Job’s Lament” (rom, #6)
...these are very different but i liked both about the same

Ashley McBryde - “Sparrow” (indulge, #1) vs. Arlo Parks - “Just Go” (Harry, #6)
...Sparrow exceeded my expectations & i haven't liked anything i've heard from Arlo Parks - until now...this one is great - thanks Harry!

Taylor Swift - “August” (nickd, #1) vs. Pity Party (Girls Club) - “i hope that u think of me” (Tanooki, #6)
...i've hated everything Taylor Swift has ever done - until now...the other song is good, but i figure i might as well indicate the coming of the apocalypse & do something i've never done before, vote for TS

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) vs. Dua Lipa - “That Kind Of Woman” (Juan Carlos, #6)
...as difficult as the prior match-up but i like both of these even more

SZA - “Good Days” (Zach, #1) vs. Kings Of Leon - “The Bandit” (Adrian C., #6)
...don't get the hype for either of these...they're fine songs, but nothing spectacular

Brent Faiyaz - "Dead Man Walking" (filthy, #1) vs. Still Corners - “White Sands” (Geometrical, #6)
...another stellar discovery - thanks Geo!

[rom]

More Fatter - “Weirdo” (DistrictTwelve, #1) (8) vs. Mac Ayres - “Every Time” (stallie, #6) (7)

weirdo: damn district, the king of bops.. sent a bop. who could've guessed. gotta say, its a bop. btw i love how he just straight up forgets the r when he says weirdo so hes just saying "weed-o" lol

Miley Cyrus - “Gimme What I Want” (woods, #1) (5) vs. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - “Job’s Lament” (rom, #6) (9)

gimme what i want: uhh... this is mixed really weirdly... like i get that they were trying to get that 80s drum feel but it just seems like they distorted a regular drum instead. they also kinda got something wrong with miley's vocal mixing it sounds really weird here
jobs lament: yeah i purposely sent too few songs so i could show off my favorite band's new album before anyone else. im a strategic genius, what can i say

Ashley McBryde - “Sparrow” (indulge, #1) (6) vs. Arlo Parks - “Just Go” (Harry, #6) (8)

sparrow: i just dont think this type of country will ever be for me. almost all the songs range on a plane from boring to alright and this one's near alright. cool guitar solo though

Taylor Swift - “August” (nickd, #1) (7) vs. Pity Party (Girls Club) - “i hope that u think of me” (Tanooki, #6) (7)

Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open” (fearlessarrow, #1) (8) vs. Dua Lipa - “That Kind Of Woman” (Juan Carlos, #6) (8)

leave the door open: i cant find it but i SWEAR one of my friends on rym had a review for this song that just said "fellas, fellas, relax, i can only get so erect!" so just like... think i said that yknow
that kind of woman: HOW MANY SONGS ARE ON FUTURE NOSTALGIA?????

SZA - “Good Days” (Zach, #1) (8) vs. Kings Of Leon - “The Bandit” (Adrian C., #6) (7)

good days: if this becomes a bigger hit than it already is we are living in the correct timeline
the bandit: these guys are the first names that i saw attached to the words "non-fungible transaction" and nothing has been good ever since

Brent Faiyaz - "Dead Man Walking" (filthy, #1) (8) vs. Still Corners - “White Sands” (Geometrical, #6) (8)

wow. hardest matchup there was in this set. both of these are super vibey for me but i went with dead man walking because i saw there were fewer votes for it
dead man walking: those drums man... so good
white sands: i remember someone saying that i couldve sent the last exit (the song by still corners that was sent for wtm) and tbh i didnt vibe with that as much as that person wouldve assumed. this one does fit my vibe though, very beach house-y despite being more uptempo than most of beach house's songs.