None of the Round Two Montauk Madness matchups have been laughers so far, but this is the first one I’ve found truly difficult.
Lucinda Williams advanced easily over Garbage, picking up 91% of the votes, while The Shins won in more of a squeaker, besting Coldplay with 55%. I voted for both of them in those battles. But who should I vote for here? Continue reading
Our next Round Two contestants are around the same age and have each been recording for five decades, making for a nice heavyweight matchup.
Peter Gabriel defeated Josh Rouse in Round One, picking up 67% of the vote. Van Morrison has an even easier time, dispatching Barenaked Ladies with 91%. Continue reading
OK, now it gets interesting! Welcome to Round Two of Montauk Madness. The 32 artists who survived Round One now advance to face each other in a battle to reach the Sweet Sixteen.
Both Billy Joel and Frank Sinatra cleared Round One without breaking a sweat. Joel received 95% of the vote in a matchup against Michael Penn, while Sinatra picked up 86% against my beloved Tift Merritt.
How will they fare against each other? Continue reading
I’m interrupting my normally scheduled Random Weekend selection to offer up a quick appreciation of the HBO show The Leftovers, which ended its three-season run a week ago.
The show, based on a book by Tom Perrotta (one of my favorite authors), was developed for television by Damon Lindelof, of Lost fame. It takes place in a world where an unexplained “Departure” has seen 2% of the world’s population disappear without explanation. Think of the Biblical Rapture, but affecting people of all faiths (and no faith).
I was shocked to see that today’s Random iTunes Selection has never been featured on this blog. ‘Mad About You’ is not only my favorite Sting song but one of my favorite songs by anybody.
Hearing this makes me feel just fine about (spoiler alert!) Sting’s runaway win over Sinead O’Connor in the first round of Montauk Madness.
