NCAA Tournament?

[Juan Horsetown]

So oon the old board it was always fun to have a list of Features songs and vote for the best from all of them in a March Madness style voting tournament.  I realized that March will be upon us soon, and it had me wondering if anyone was interested or if there were still enough people checking regularly to even make it worthwhile.

I know Digsy tried for it last year, but it seemed a little too late.  So I'm asking now...should we or could we try to do it again?  Any thoughts?

 

[Tom Foolery]

Good call, YDDD Juan.  Just the other day, I was reading through some old posts about the tournaments from the days of yore, and I wondered if anyone would be interested in trying to revive the tradition.

I think this new message board system lets you do multiple polls in one thread.  That would make it much easier to conduct the voting.

However, I don't think we should do the tournament if there are only going to be two or three people voting... not much fun in that.  Maybe we should set a threshold and vow not to run the tournament unless 5, 10, or however many people vote for it.

To get you in the mood, here's a link to the topic in which jamiecarroll invented the tournament:  NCAA Tournament of Features Songs
Has it really been 8 years?!?  I feel so old sometimes.

[Smorph]

Sounds cool to me... being new to the message board this would be my first go around!

[Juan Horsetown]

The results have been favorable enough that it looks like we're going to try it.  We will start it in a few days.  Looking at the brackets, the release of the Contrast EP and Some Kind of Salvation certainly reduce the number of rare Features songs that will make it to the tournament. 

Make your case now for why we should save any of the most popular songs that have never received the honor of an officially released or leaked studio copy.

[Smorph]

Speaking of the Contrast Ep.... I put together another video which ironically (or not I guess) is for Contrast. So in honor of "The Tournament" and the first time I and the Contrast Ep will be involved (first for me for sure...) Here you go:

Contrast Typography Animation

[Tom Foolery]

First of all, Smorph, that video is amazing!  I really appreciate the painstaking 3D recreation of the EP's cover.

Second of all, I'm a full member now (again)... so woohoo for me... and all ya'll can suck it!

Now down to business...

Make your case now for why we should save any of the most popular songs that have never received the honor of an officially released or leaked studio copy.

If that's the standard you're using for inclusion in the tournament, there some really great songs that might not make the cut:
 - The Design
 - Action
 - The Damage Is Done
 - Moonlight
 - Look Out Below

I'd much rather see these in the tourney than some of the lesser Sergio-era songs like "Rabbit March", "That's Me", "Button My Shirt", or "Attention."

Side Discussion:  What will be the ultimate legacy of "Hold You Alone" and "Arcata"?  Those are two really great songs that seemed destined to be the next big songs for the band, but they ended up having really short lives.  Since they were never recorded (as far as I know), I would assume the band wasn't very happy with them.  Am I over-estimating their importance in The Features songbook since their lives were so well documented by the message board?  Are they destined to be minor blips in The Features' canon like "Captain Williams" or "Disco"?

[Smorph]

Ok since I started following this forum and Digsy's fantastic tumblr I have increased my Features song knowledge 100 fold, going from what was on iTunes and what I picked up from them at their merch booth to really digging into some of this classic stuff. Some of these songs (i.e. Moonlight ) are however still not familiar to me, will there be a "tournament link" to some of these lesser known songs or could digsy maybe pick the tumblr back up to some of these songs? (request with all the deserved respect) that would make this easier for me, (poor guy stuck in Pennsylvania far from the great Tennessee) All though I may be the only one who doesn't know all these tracks... I would appreciate hearing any songs I have not yet heard.

[Juan Horsetown]

The live versions on the Tumblr for those particular songs are as good as you'll hear since none of the recordings have ever been leaked of those songs.  I heard a rumor that Moonlight was being re-recorded for a new record, but I have nothing with which to back that up.

In regards to Tom's first question, I would much rather see the Sergio songs listed than the ones that have never been truly committed to tape.  If anything I'd rather take out "Waffle House Menu" than some of the others.

Finally, I think Hold You Alone was reliant on Parrish and the new keyboards he'd picked up with their record deal money, and that's probably why that one didn't re-surface.  If anything didn't survive the keyboard player switch, I don't expect to see it pop up again.  Except for Moonlight.

[mindylieu]

I think all songs should be considered, recorded or not, because some of my most favorite songs are the new ones. Also, if a song like "Hold You Alone" wins, then maybe, just maybe, the guys will consider bringing those out of the vault. I recently had a conversation with Rollum about HYA...we both love that song. Perhaps we can try to convince Matt to resurrect it. 

[Juan Horsetown]

Also, if a song like "Hold You Alone" wins, then maybe, just maybe, the guys will consider bringing those out of the vault. I recently had a conversation with Rollum about HYA...we both love that song. Perhaps we can try to convince Matt to resurrect it. 

Circus wasn't being played much at all until it won the tournament the first year.  Then it returned from an occasional encore to an opener again and eventually being put on Exhibit A.

The trouble is we can't list them all because the bracket only allows for 64 songs, and there are now more than 64 Features songs.