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Music League Archive

Zach

Submissions
128 total, 127 scored
Games
19
Votes cast
1013 total
Points received
730

Traits

Notable picks

Submission history

New beginnings

Fun with Friends Near and Far!

Music Through the Decades

The Singularity

  • I See A DarknessJohnny Cash - Irreplaceable - #4 - 4 points - On his second to last album, Cash sings about traditional male friendship. Stoic masculinity can create barriers: don't share, don't ask or look for help. The most interesting part of the song is emotionally complex: despite being desperate for help, he's unsure whether his lifelong friend can help or is even aware of his struggle. I don't think AI can replicate this emotion, or sing it the right way.
  • This Is AmericaChildish Gambino - Irreplaceable - #1 - 8 points - The mishmash of styles might be hard to copy without a human touch. But the real difficulty is in replicating the lyrics and music video. It requires a lot of difficult context, is highly critical of both those in power and those out of power, and would definitely violate sensitive content restrictions.
  • The Lazy SongBruno Mars - This is Fine - #4 - 3 points
  • Never Let You Go - 2008 RemasterThird Eye Blind - This is Fine - #3 - 4 points - AI Stephan Jenkins is never gonna give you up, but unlike Rick Astley, he seems somewhat likely to let you down, or turn around and hurt you.
  • Paranoid Android - RemasteredRadiohead - John Henry - #1 - 8 points - Radiohead decided they wanted to be artists instead of musicians and this was the turning point.
  • The Legend of John Henry's Hammer - Live at Folsom State Prison, Folsom, CA (1st Show) - January 1968Johnny Cash - John Henry - #7 - 0 points - **no need to give this song points, this is a bonus song** Do engines get rewarded for their steam? Before you complain this is too on the nose, this is the song that inspired this round and indirectly the whole league. The round title 'John Henry' is too good though; I didn't want to rename this round. so I gave myself a third song slot to share this with you. The artistic aspect of Cash playing a show for prisoners could also fit the 'limit pushing' theme
  • People Everywhere (Still Alive)Khruangbin - John Henry - #3 - 5 points - Still alive, still alive
  • StarseedOur Lady Peace - Embiggened Language Model - #2 - 6 points
  • De Do Do Do, De Da Da DaThe Police - Embiggened Language Model - #4 - 4 points - Sting was an English teacher. He says that simple lyrics have power ("Doo Wah Diddy").
  • Nobody Gets MeSZA - Man vs Machine - #3 - 6 points - Has a few electronic effects but I thought it was still a nice acoustic addition to the playlist
  • Instant Crush (feat. Julian Casablancas)Daft Punk, Julian Casablancas - Man vs Machine - Unranked - Score pending - Did someone say 'robots'?

Into the Void

  • DanceThe Lovemakers - Sweet Leaf - #6 - 8 points - NorCal legends, still playing live. Hope there are multiple hedonistic dancing songs this round.
  • FameIrene Cara - Wishing Well - #11 - 0 points
  • All Comes CrashingMetric - Neon Knights - #5 - 10 points - shades of tron: legacy. combat baby -> help i'm alive -> all comes crashing is metric's hero journey
  • Love SpreadsThe Stone Roses - Spiral Architect - #12 - 2 points - Skip to 4:10 if you're impatient. Ignore genius.com lyrics interpretations, all you need to know is that sisterly Love is his messiah, and for whatever reason, he chose to imagine a controversial appearance for her.
  • Sleeping in the FlowersThey Might Be Giants - Fairies Wear Boots - #6 - 7 points - Bizarre, whimsical and surreal? These guys got you covered.
  • Arsonist's LullabyeHozier - N.I.B. - #2 - 12 points

Beginnings

  • Do I Wanna Know?Arctic Monkeys - If At First You Don't Succeed - #7 - 3 points - The Arctic Monkeys didn't break out in the US until their fifth album, and they never became a household name. Still, AM is a leading candidate for the Last Great Rock Album, near the top of the daily streaming charts 12 years and 12 billion streams later.
  • The Last TimeAndrew Oldham Orchestra - Original - #5 - 7 points - a straightforward pick this time!
  • Baby DriverSimon & Garfunkel - Summer Starts - #8 - -1 points - summer is the season of sweet harmonies and swinging grooves
  • Girl, We Got With Your MomBig Mouth Cast, Ed Helms, Matt Rogers, Adam Levine - Beginnings - #10 - 2 points - before you got this party started before you were born this way me and adam levine banged your mom
  • Fire In CairoThe Cure - Debut - #9 - 3 points - teenage robert smith was H-O-T-T-O-G-O

Hey DJ!

  • 99 ProblemsHugo - Cover Me Badly - #8 - 4 points - what's wrong with this catchy bluegrass cover? first, it takes a song about discrimination and violence and turns it into a song about nothing. second, the guy covering the song is part of the Thai royal family and a soap opera star, who has at most one or two problems, neither of which are discrimination and violence.
  • These Walls (feat. Pierre de Maere)Dua Lipa, Pierre de Maere - $@#?! - #6 - 7 points - Look for a partner who sings 'I love you' as sweetly as Dua Lipa sings 'you're fucked'
  • Shooting StarsBag Raiders - The Big Ask - #7 - 4 points - Planetarium group outing! Flashmob is optional. The musical note falls from high to low, you ask the question, and when they say 'yes', everybody does a happy dance as the chorus comes in. Otherwise, comedic sad dance.
  • Everybody Bounce高爾宣 OSN - Tongue Twists - #9 - 5 points - The smoothest language switches you'll ever hear between two of the most different languages. Taiwan's OSN ('awr-shwen') can do Nu-Metal and raunchy R&B, but found the most commercial success with sensitive heartbreak rap-ballads. His swagger songs are better and suit you guys more. I bet you bounced!
  • 4 In The MorningGwen Stefani - Guilty Pleasures - #9 - 3 points

Change of Pace

Movie Music Magic

2024, we hardly knew you

Lady Chatterwhistle's Gossip-Drama League

  • PompeiiBastille - Drama, Actually... and Tease (Epilogue and Cliffhanger) - #2 - 9 points - Our three characters gather to say goodbye. But Martin had tampered with forces beyond understanding, and Lizzie and Evangeline neglected their duties (Falklands and the Church). As a result, an Argentinian Divine Time Paradox occurred, and London turned to ash. Alas, alas! Where do we begin, the rubble or our sins?
  • Heavenly Kind Of State Of MindLewis Capaldi - Bad Habit (the Nun's Tale) - #1 - 11 points - Confronted with a choice between devotion and earthly love, she chooses... BOTH. Whatever mental gymnastics are necessary.
  • Burn BrightThe Heavy - Bondage and Duty (the Queen's Tale) - #3 - 9 points - It's a love triangle with her coworker, Maj. Rocketman and her target, Cpt. Sparrow. But Lizzie can't go back to who she was before she met Jack, so she chooses the ocean over the sky. It may lead to a shorter life, but the flame that burns shortest also burns brightest...
  • Somewhere Only We KnowLily Allen - Bedroom Experiment (The Scientist's Tale) - #5 - 4 points - He succeeded in saving his long-ago love, the uptown girl, but at the cost of all her memories of the time they spent together. In the new future, she finds their old spot on an East London riverside. "Wait... I know this place, but how...?"
  • Footloose - From "Footloose" SoundtrackKenny Loggins - Grasping and Heaving (Story Goals) - #5 - 6 points - Just dance! Learn how to break rules and live life instead of doing what the sheriff tells you! Quit your job! (or maybe not that last one)
  • EvangelineMatthew Sweet - Throbbing Attraction (Character) - #1 - 8 points - This song was written about a fictional badass vigilante nun with a strong connection to the divine. Think of the possibilities! She can solve our story problems with a combination of prayers and violence!
  • Welcome to ParadiseGreen Day - Play Submission (Setting) - #4 - 5 points - Wild urban wasteland

SacramentoJam Vol 7 - Honorary Sacramentan Edition

  • Disintegration - Band Instrumental DemoThe Cure - No vocals needed - #7 - 2 points - My premature victory lap song: an indulgent, slightly repetitive, moody track. Quite possibly I'll get negative score and slip to a lower place. The original version with vocals is even longer and devastatingly emo. New Wave didn't end because the '80s ended, it ended because everyone locked themselves in a dark room with their eyes closed listening on repeat to this, THE GREATEST ALBUM EVER MADE, and gave up trying to top it. My only complaint is that this song needs more Robert Smith meowing.
  • Low SunHermanos Gutiérrez - No vocals needed - #3 - 6 points - I think this round will favor pure instrumentals and non-covers (unless those covers are AMAZING). I found this Swiss-Ecuadoran artist through another music league. They create a really complex, full sound with just two guys. I stayed away from the Spanish-sounding song titles because I thought a few of you might have Español trauma.
  • You Got ItRoy Orbison - Childhood nostalgia - #3 - 6 points - I didn't know until this week that this was released posthumously in the late 80s! I just always assumed my dad was listening to an old classic.
  • Mrs. Robinson - From "The Graduate" SoundtrackSimon & Garfunkel - Childhood nostalgia - #2 - 8 points - So many songs to choose from, but I'm going with one of the most obvious Si-funk-on songs. All the signature Gar-mon-kel elements are there: poetic, somewhat cerebral lyrics, playful acoustic guitar, close harmonies. Random fact: This version doesn't actually appear on The Graduate soundtrack - recording was finished after the movie was released.
  • The NightsAvicii - Party picks - #3 - 8 points - Some songs are guaranteed to get the party started. But this one is more "they're tired, keep them dancing for one more song." I think this particular song probably gains and loses appeal depending on your stage in life, and I'm betting you all are in the right life stage for this. Would you play this at a birthday party?... Maybe? 🤔
  • Push It - Radio VersionSalt-N-Pepa - Party picks - #8 - 3 points - I'm fully expecting you guys to come up with even better bangers, but I chose this song because this might be my favorite beat ever, and I think it could be an underrepresented genre this round.
  • ZITTI E BUONIMåneskin - Words don't matter - #1 - 8 points - My mainstream pick this round. Hopefully hits a lot of people's sweet spot: Glam rock, Eurovision, and they also did that cover of Frankie Valli's Beggin'...
  • Baba YetuPeter Hollens, Malukah - Words don't matter - #4 - 4 points - As the theme song for the video game Civilization IV, this is aimed at a global audience who won't understand Swahili. But even if you didn't know that the words are the christian Lord's Prayer, I think the song gets its spirituality across. For me, the subtext of the song is that even though we have vastly different traditions and values, every culture and every human is driven to seek sustenance and then higher needs. Humanity strives, struggles, and transcends.

SacramentoJam Vol 6 - Whoa

SacramentoJam Volume 5 - Mr. Wiffles' Catnip Jams

  • Hey Ya - solo versionObadiah Parker - Cover me! - #3 - 6 points - This is a popular song to perform as a stripped down acoustic cover. This is the first such version I remember hearing on the radio, and it kind of blew everybody's mind how dark the song was. Scrubs did a similar version and used it totally inappropriately...
  • Forever YoungScary Pockets, Madison Cunningham - Cover me! - #6 - 3 points - I considered a lot of more unique genre covers. Out of all the funk covers to choose, why this one? Original is a familiar 80s song. It's fine, but the cover is definitely better in my opinion. Many of the other songs I can't say theyre actually better than the original, so...
  • Love Theme From "The Godfather"Nino Rota, Carlo Savina - Let's go to the movies! - #5 - 4 points - Just when I thought I was out of music league, they pull me back in. An unforgettable film series, except for that third one.
  • Soul Bossa NovaQuincy Jones - Let's go to the movies! - #3 - 6 points - Any of my friends who downvotes this must have been replaced by a FemBot.
  • Comedown - RemasteredBush - Say what now? - #4 - 4 points - This one's for The Other (Australian) Elaine. The 90s were a wild time for music lyrics. Interpretation: this song is about Gavin Rossdale failing to write understandable poetry and coasting by on his good looks.
  • ChocolateThe 1975 - Say what now? - #7 - 1 points - IMO this song is better if you don't look up the lyrics and meaning. I've been trying to fit this song into the league FOREVER, since before the food round. Lyrics are part misheard, part confusing, and not actually about chocolate :(
  • You Oughta Know - 2015 RemasterAlanis Morissette - We're going HARD! - #2 - 6 points - Emotionally hard! This is me having fun with the category. Thanks Yorick! It was either this or 2pac & Biggie. I don't know about you guys, but on a scale of You Oughta Know to Someone Like You, most people seem to be more like Alanis than Adele after a breakup. Maybe that's just the cities I've lived in though? What do you think?
  • Show Me How to LiveAudioslave - We're going HARD! - #2 - 6 points - I will be surprised if this gets a lot of upvotes, but this supergroup comprised of Rage Against the Machine members + Chris Cornell of Soundgarden was mind-blowing at the time. It's not the hardest of their songs, but I think some of you might appreciate this one.

SacramentoJam Volume 4 -Alicorn Stardust

  • Nothing's Gonna Stop Us NowStarship - Guilty Pleasures - #1 - 7 points - Written for the 80s film Mannequin, about a guy who falls in love with a mannequin who (he thinks) comes to life after the department store closes. It's fair to say that this song has far outlasted both the movie and department stores. I thought about Hot Topic anthems and shallow teenybopper love songs, but I think this one is more embarrassing than MMMbop or wearing black eyeliner. I definitely would laugh at you if you told me this was one of your favorite songs - but I'd sing along too.
  • Let's Get It StartedBlack Eyed Peas - Guilty Pleasures - #3 - 5 points - Would you boogie down to a song that told you to get retarded? The world collectively lost its mind with this song (which has been scrubbed from the internet and replaced with a clean version). At some point the Black Eyed Peas became uncool, but this _is_ a bop. Bonus: watch the music video and see Fergie, 8-time Grammy winner, dancing like she's Smeágol and just caught a fish. Hire a choreographer!
  • One More Sleep ’til ChristmasKermit - But Wait—There’s Myrrh - #1 - 7 points - This is actually a pretty great movie if I remember correctly, it's been a while...
  • Back Door SantaClarence Carter - But Wait—There’s Myrrh - #4 - 4 points - Jingle All the Way I'm paranoid this is a duplicate. But it was either this or Star Wars Holiday Special.
  • Our HouseMadness - I Love You, Man? - #5 - 3 points - I couldn't find any Matchbox Twenty for Elaine's enjoyment, so, instead, I'm forced to submit a song that is actually listenable. It's an old favorite: Endlessly singable, infectious bass and horns (a missed opportunity for the "Horn-y" round), and makes you smile. It's cheesy in a good way. Irrelevant trivia: Morrissey wrote a song about his friendship/crush on this band's singer called "You're the one for me, fatty" which I was considering for the infatuation round a few games ago.
  • White Woman’s InstagramBo Burnham - I Love You, Man? - #5 - 3 points - Slightly stretching the category here for a reminder that excessively loving "basic" stuff like avocados, latte art and Rob Thomas songs is A-OK. But also funny. (The music video is a trip). This has a bit of a shared theme with Our House. While Our House says that the people close to us created a precious thing, WW'sI is partly about how being able to appreciate little precious things can be a way of honoring the memory of those who were close to us. It's not basic, it's just living life.
  • Blister In The SunViolent Femmes - Back to Basics: School of Rock 101 - #5 - 3 points - I heard that the majority of us might not really "get" guitar music. So I'm staying conservative with songs. Rock 001A: Riffs/Rhythm guitar Unlike other genres, rock emphasizes a lot of texture chords on top of, but following, the bass&drums. That's the role of riffs and/or rhythm guitars: chords to get your head nodding ("Zombie") or be a sweet groove to come home to ("Layla") A lot to say about this song, but basically this guitar lick is unforgettable and instantly makes people happy.
  • Corazon Espinado (feat. Mana)Santana, Maná - Back to Basics: School of Rock 101 - #8 - -1 points - Mansplain Rock 001B: Solos/Lead guitar The lead guitar, unlike rhythm guitar, is meant to contrast with other instruments/take the song new places. Usually through a solo, but also thru call-and-response melody. I don't care much about how fast a lead guitarist can play, but about how expressive and dynamically they choose to play - Santana's guitar sings for him! In music nerd friend league, I won the guitar solo round with this song. The biggest nerd said using Santana was like cheating.

SacramentoJam Disk 3 - Hamster Edition

  • Too Bad On Your BirthdayJoan Jett & the Blackhearts - Happy Birthday! - #9 - 1 points - I fixed our league's tragic lack of Joan Jett songs. You're welcome.
  • Feliz CumpleañosNelly Furtado - Happy Birthday! - #4 - 7 points - I was choosing between either this or a happier song from an artist that I like but wouldn't have gotten any points. So you all get this, another unhappy birthday song! I'm sure everybody's high school Spanish is up to the task. Nelly has a lot of good songs on Mi Plan and Loose! Bit of a guilty pleasure for me.
  • Pork And BeansWeezer - Hungry for more - #1 - 12 points - Mike Sugar knows the way to the top of the round / Maybe if I play like him I won't get voted down This one's only slightly about eating food, but it is literal about it. (When I was young my family always tried to stop me from putting butter & cinnamon sugar on my onion-flavored bagels)
  • Cookie JarDoja Cat - Hungry for more - #10 - 1 points - C is for Cookie, and cookies are for me. I don't know why you guys are posting so many sex-metaphor songs, this one is clearly about Oreos and tacos.
  • DuetRachael Yamagata - It takes two - #7 - 2 points - Ok, so this is one of the first songs that comes up when you search Duet on Spotify (at least for me, but I frequently listen to this artist.) The male part is sung by Ray LaMontagne. When you get into a fight with Big Mouth Woman/Man, listen to this harmony and make up!
  • Long-Legged Guitar Pickin' ManJohnny Cash, June Carter Cash - It takes two - #3 - 7 points - I hope this has caused somebody to think their spouse picked it, and then get annoyed at their Big Mouth Woman/Man. I wanted to pick Jackson from the Folsom Prison live but I think this captures June & Johnny's fiery dynamic while being more of a love song.
  • Singing In My SleepSemisonic - I have a dream! - #2 - 9 points - My favorite Semisonic song. Maybe people will argue about whether this song is about dreams or merely has the word dream in it, but I think it is right on target: the song is about how he's hearing the person and songs in his dreams. Re-release the Sugar mixtapes! Fun fact: the frontman Dan Wilson would go on to write a lot of songs for other people, including one ditty called "Someone Like You".
  • Dream A Little Dream Of MeMama Cass Elliot - I have a dream! - #7 - 4 points - Mama Cass' solo recording is a little swingier and has more jazz in the melody and chords than the track she recorded for The Mamas and The Papas, which is basically a pop song. Ella Fitzgerald's classic take is great too, but I think this crowd will like this one more.

"Sacramen-toJam - Disk 2, hidden tracks - Halloween"

Sacramen-toeJam

  • EverlongFoo Fighters - I Want to Love You - #1 - 14 points - Dave Grohl wrote this contender for "best song of the 90s" in 45 minutes. He was newly divorced, no bank acct access, semi-homeless,& his FF bandmates were leaving him. At that lowpoint he wrote about how it felt to be so crazy about someone that being together feels like singing together in harmony ("breathe out so I can breathe you in"), and the result became the final encore of every Foo Fighters concert. I like the Rick Astley and acoustic versions too, but the original is still the best.
  • PhysicalDua Lipa - I Want to Love You - #8 - 2 points - Dua Lipa is my guilty pleasure. The chorus "let's get physical" is confirmed as a homage to the Olivia Newton-John song.
  • Here With MeDido - Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay - #4 - 5 points - Dido is Lump. A list of things Dido can't/won't do until you're resting here with her: *Move a thing *Call friends *Leave bed *Hide *Go *Sleep *Breathe *Be
  • LumpThe Presidents Of The United States Of America - Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay - #4 - 5 points - Your relaxing vacation songs merely adopted the sloth. Lump was born in it, molded by it.
  • SatisfiedRenée Elise Goldsberry, Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton - I Want It All - #5 - 5 points - This is Lin Manuel Miranda's world, and we're just living in it. Obviously you could submit My Shot (or Lose Yourself) here and it would be great, and that was my first thought, but even though My Shot is more relevant, Satisfied is the more interesting narrative and genre. Alexander is free to pursue his ambition but Angelica is not. They both have to marry for wealth and social status, but Angelica is cautious of Alexander's motives.
  • RoyalsLorde - I Want It All - #6 - 4 points - I like the minimalist, almost a capella feeling to this song. Definitely an intentional aesthetic choice to emphasize the song's meaning. I was going to pick something a bit more obscure, but this song was popular for good reason...
  • Can't Tell Me NothingKanye West - You're So Vain - #5 - 5 points - One of our most prominent contemporary egoists (he has a song called "I Am A God") . The song title has a few meanings, one of which is self-criticism over his arrogance and self-destructive tendencies. He is a real-life example of the literary "difficult man": from "Rabbit, Run" to "The Sopranos", we love art that shows monsters who feel bad about being monsters, and then double down on their behavior. It resonates with our own self-criticism. Kanye loves and hates himself, but mostly loves.
  • Sk8er BoiAvril Lavigne - You're So Vain - #3 - 7 points - People think this song is just like You Belong With Me, but what makes them different is the hubris and pride of Sk8er Boi's mean girl, whereas TSwift's nemesis just has compatibility problems.

Sacramen-toeJam

  • Another One Bites The Dust - Remastered 2011Queen - Next! - #3 - 6 points - No commentary needed here, I think. A VOTE FOR THIS ONE IS A VOTE FOR DISCO2000 (hey I'm gonna get you too)
  • AnimalNeon Trees - Next! - #1 - 8 points - This is my attempt at tricking those of you guessing who submitted which song. But I did tell you I'm a sucker for these kinds of pop songs, right? EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT (take a bite of my heart tonight). A VOTE FOR THIS IS A VOTE FOR DISCO2000
  • Sad Trombone (with Shaggy)Sting, Shaggy - Horn-y - #5 - 4 points - Same Shaggy from 90's meme song "It Wasn't Me", but a different kind of 'boning. It's an interesting album. I like to think of this song as "Killing Me Softly With His Womp-Womp."
  • Close To MeThe Cure - Horn-y - #3 - 6 points - The Cure is still my favorite band. They have several versions of this song with and without trumpets, including an acoustic version which just has Robert Smith making trumpet noises.
  • Ode to My Family - Acoustic VersionThe Cranberries - Back in time - #1 - 10 points - I like this stripped down version. I think the vocals are more confident, less reliant on fancy technique and just letting the melody speak for itself.
  • Disco 2000Pulp - Back in time - #7 - 0 points - I think around '11 I did karaoke once with Mike and.. Fok? and I sang this song. He was like, I guess it's a cool song but nobody knows it. Unfamiliar, despite the fact that Pulp are one of the top 13 bands to come out of the 90s Brit-rock scene! Ever since that day, at karaoke I mostly stick to songs everybody knows. But now you all know this song, and if this group ever does KTV again, I'm making you all sing along to the chorus.
  • Come Back HomePete Yorn - Haven't seen you in a while - #8 - 0 points - I randomly had this song in my mp3 library for many years, so even though it's not the most unique or popular song for this week's theme, it's the one I associate the most with it.
  • Return of the MackMark Morrison - Haven't seen you in a while - #6 - 3 points - Pretty sure someone else will put in my first choice, "Take Me Home Country Roads". This one isn't as pretty a song but it's just as much of an earworm IMO.

Vote scope

Votes given - "Sacramen-toJam - Disk 2, hidden tracks - Halloween"

Votes given - "Sacramen-toJam - Disk 2, hidden tracks - Halloween"
RecipientVotesNetAverageComments
Emily Neubauer Sugar111
Jason111
lainey3eb111
Michael Sugar111
Yorick111

Votes received - "Sacramen-toJam - Disk 2, hidden tracks - Halloween"

Votes received - "Sacramen-toJam - Disk 2, hidden tracks - Halloween"
VoterVotesNetAverageComments
Emily Neubauer Sugar122
Michael Sugar122
lainey3eb111
Yorick100
Zach