Splitting hairs

Sixteen more albums succumbed in the loser's bracket, but looking at the list, numbers 30 through 70 are potentially interchangeable. Almost all of these albums could have been listed on the "Could have been a contender category" because all 16 were good enough to make the final list, though lacked the consistency to warrant repeated plays five years down the road. I did select five, however, to make the final countdown. Added to the final 48 remaining, they will round out my top 53 albums of the year. I'll post those soon. First, the round-up:

*Could have been a contender: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Up From Below. Though the album has five outstanding songs and a bunch of OK songs, the group's best songs, "40 Day Dream" and "Home" are good enough to propel this album to propel this album into the top 40 or higher.

*Should have been a contender: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Again, the band was three or so more great songs away from a top 20 finish. Catch them live if you can. There are 10 or so band members crammed onto what is usually a tiny stage. Meanwhile, lead singer Alex Ebert, who resembles some sort of hippie Messiah, ventures into the crowd to bond with the audience and possibly find some more followers.

*Purchased the album, not buying the hype: Girls, Album. To be fair, I didn't have this album long enough to be in heavy rotation in time to snag a higher seed in the tournament. Also to be fair, I am buying the hype for half of this album, but it suffers from the same issues of inconsistency as the Edward Sharpe album.

*Check you out later: Megafaun, Gather, Form and Fly. This album reminds me of Blitzen Trapper's Wild Mountain Nation and Field Rexx albums: there were great songs on those albums but some of the album's momentum was negated by what my friend Lynne calls "noodling." Sometimes, Megafaun sounds like it is interested in experimentation and doesn't quite realize yet that it's a real band. I'll purchase Megafaun's next album based on potential. AFter all, Blitzen Trapper eventually settled on a sound and produced last year's stellar Furr, which would have been in my top 10 had I ever bothered to compile one.