90s Cup Round 6 Match 1 *Ranking Ted 10- Diamond Dog 14*

[never/ever]

A

Saint Etienne - Avenue





B

Radiohead - No Surprises

[Rayge]

A walks over

[Dayodead]

B

[toomanyhatz]

Easy B. This and Achtung Baby (and that Nirvana Unplugged thing) are the only huge records of the decade I will defend to the end.

Knew within the first few minutes that A wouldn't sway me, though it's perfectly pleasant.

[clive gash]

I find Saint Etienne more effective as tastemakers/compilers (the recent English Weather and Paris In The Spring comps should be on the shelves of every savvy BCBer) than musical artists. Having said that the wan Avenue is one of their best.

Oh Q-tastic, it’s Radiohead!

A

[Goat Boy]

Never liked the Radiohead. Dreary.

I actually picked Avenue for the cup one year. The production dates it but it's got a lovely gosaamer quality to it. Like lazing around stoned in a park in London on a summers day.

Easy choice.


a

[Polishgirl]

Don't like St Eitienne anyway, but I am CRAZY about No Surprises. There aren't many songs that would have beaten it.

B

[Purgatory Brite]

B

[Penk!]

Like Gash I always admired Saint Etienne's taste more than their actual music, which is too tasteful and polite to the point of sickliness, despite its smarts and prettiness.
B is perhaps a "safe" Radiohead pick though it doesn't stand out for me as one of their best moments.

[Ranking Ted]

Radiohead have their moments of greatness for sure but this isn’t one of them. They got more interesting but this is proto Coldplay. Against it is one of Saint Etienne’s finest, a shimmering swoon of a half remembered daydream, beautifully poised and perfectly delivered.

A

[fange]

I'd rather listen to A most days. B is not the Radiohead i like.


A

[Loki]

I like both of these.

[The Modernist]

A offers a delicate longing, B a dreary ugliness. Not a hard choice.

A

[algroth]

Both are just okay, far as I'm concerned, but A takes it for being somewhat less obvious a pick than a Radiohead single of all things.

[Diamond Dog]

A is like candyfloss... sticky, forgotten as soon as partaken in, and bad for you too.

B

[Darkness_Fish]

I'd forgotten the existence of Saint Etiene, but like Stereolab they were always quite pretty and light, pleasant to hear, never likely to stick in the memory too long. Which is perhaps harsh, because there's skill and craft here, it's just all a bit too high in the register, all a bit gossamer and floaty and tasteful and stuff. Really nice.

Unfortunately for A, I really absolutely love "No Surprises", it's the best thing Radiohead ever released by a massive distance. None of their God-awful prog tendencies, or pseudo-experimental shite. Just a music-box melody line, and Thom Yorke's voice being allowed the space it deserves. One of the pop singles of the decade for me. Stunning.

B

[copehead]

B but he should've drowned.
They are both quite similar musically weirdly
But B has far more weight beneath that gossamer twinkle.

[Jumper K]

A solid can't remember a fuckin thing about either of them 2 minutes after listening to them. Dull, dull, dull.
B. This cup get worse as we move along. When will it all end?

[C]

A



.

[BARON CORNY DOG]

Here is what I presume is the St. Etienne song for those who can't see the video in the opening post.