Updated 31st December to include the final results for orcus!RESULTS – ROUND 2 (KEYBOARDS)Ħ: Supertramp – School
Rich 2.5 + Other 2.5 = 5.0Nice song this, takes a little while to get going but it has a nice groove, and once the piano solo kicks in the song gets a lot more energy. Wouldn’t say I love it, but I enjoyed it a fair bit.
Familiarity with this song, and its enormous popularity, helped you here. It has a great piano riff, but I've always known it for its fantastic bass line. It's one of the few songs I know where being the bassist would be pretty cool. Not quite what we were going for with the theme, but not bad. You got .5 extra for getting me to listen to the original album version (which I'd never heard) as opposed to the radio edit, and I think the cut that appears on the Greatest Hits. This one is different, with the obviously longer piano portion.
lonestar: Martin Orford – Power and Speed
Rich 2.5 + Other 3.0 = 5.5I enjoyed this, nice proggy instrumental rock with quite an upbeat atmosphere. The playing nice and the melodies are good, but on both listens I did find myself tuning out a bit towards the end.
Another solid entry from lonestar. Not perfect though, some parts where he seems to run out of ideas about where the song should go. Seems for the first couple of minutes or so he has a great line that builds and repeats, but then he's all over the place. But, as with the last round, I liked.Nekov: Martin Orford – Power and Speed
Rich 2.5 + Other 3.0 = 5.5See above.
See lonestar’s review.kingshmegland: Rocket Scientists – Earthbound
Rich 3.0 + Other 3.5 = 6.5This is very old school sounding (even though it was only recorded in 2007) but I dig it a lot. Nice synthesisers with quite a warm sound, even if they are a bit dated. I was finding the start of the song a bit meandering but then when it reaches the vocal parts it’s very nice 70s style rock.
Nearly Perfect! I don't think I blinked during that entire video. The only thing that bothered me was that they added singing; the singing was good, don't get me wrong, it just wasn't necessary. Well done.Ultimetalhead: Ozric Tentacles – Coily
Rich 3.0 + Other 3.0 = 6.0The opening of this song is really cool, I was engaged right from the start. As with the Martin Orford song above, it starts to drag a little towards the end and I lose a bit of interest, but the music itself is really very good, quite experimental with the sounds which I dig and which suits the rounds theme nicely.
Incredible stuff, my only concern is the difference between a synthesizer and keyboard. This song is one big synthesizer. I don't have an issue with it, but hair splitters might argue you strayed from the theme. Still, an excellent entry.
skydivingninja: Fair to Midland – Coppertank Island
Rich 3.0 + Other 2.5 = 5.5Already a big FTM fan so I know this song pretty well. I like the way they use the keyboard sound throughout this song, which is a bit unusual for them, but other than that it’s pretty standard FTM fare, with a huge chorus and terrific vocals. Great stuff.
Keyboards with some crunch, the best kind of keys! I like the dancy beat too, very Kevin Moore-y in the way that Kevin's playing never overpowered a song. Not bad at all.obscure: Vitalij Kuprij – Symphonic Force
Rich 1.5 + Other 2.5 = 4.0Hmm, not sure this is entirely my thing. It’s fairly enjoyable, but I just find it a bit chaotic, and not very tight. This kind of neo-classical prog metal needs to be sharp, but this recording is just a bit too rough for me. The track doesn’t really go anywhere either, and doesn’t really flow. Sorry Nem!
The first comment on the youtube vid is that song is mis-titled. Regardless, it was pretty good; sounded like a bunch of different artists rolled into one. Kinda like Planet X, kinda like some old Symphony X. Ran on at the end though, could have ended at the 4 minute mark. Still, very interesting.lateralus: The Fury Abstract – The Astronomer
Rich 3.0 + Other 2.5 = 5.5It’s clear these guys are new as the production is a little rough and the song does go on a bit long, but I really liked the song and dug the ideas throughout. And you’re right about the keys – they’re subtle but they do add so much to the sound. If they can refine their ideas and tighten their guitar sound, these guys could be great.
More keyboards with crunchy guitars around them. I didn't like his tone, and the whole thing sounded very artificial in spots, like one guy in his basement making all this in sections then piecing it all together. Still it moved along pretty decent, so it was ok.jingle.boy: Affector - Harmageddon
Rich 2.5 + Other 2.5 = 5.0Well, I couldn’t ask for more in terms of fitting the theme, what with all the keyboard solos! I enjoyed the song a fair bit, lots of nice ideas, but the song didn’t really seem very coherent. I appreciate that it may need the rest of the album around it to make sense, but it did seem like a collection of ideas rather than a song.
I was on the fence over this one. I'm not a fan of this particular vocalist, but the instrumental passages, and in particular the requested keyboards, were outstanding. Overall I found myself liking it in spite of the singing. Definitely might have to check more of this disc.TheVoxyn: Efterklang – Modern Drift
Rich 2.5 + Other 2.0 = 4.5This is a cute song, but I’m not sure it really fits the theme at all. There’s piano in there, but the far more prominent sounds are acoustic instruments like the strings. Still, it’s a very pleasant listen, I can imagine sitting back on a summer day and just chilling out to it.
Well, it had keyboards. The video had rutting deer, and a woman running naked in a field. The deer never mounted the woman despite my desires to see it happen. They might have been caribou, or elk. So many horny animals it's hard to know.Zantera: M83 – Outro
Rich 3.5 + Other 2.5 = 6.0This was not what I was expecting from this round at all, but I found it quite beautiful. Such atmosphere, lovely rich keyboard sounds, and a really fantastic build-up and climax. Very post-rock-esque. Going to have to check out more of M83’s stuff.
Sounded like a Vangelis offering, say from Blade Runner. If music is supposed to invoke a feeling, this song did. It made me sad. His singing, though not my style, was excellent at making me feel something. Weird song. Also, it had keyboards but no rutting deer at least.Gorille: Ed Harrison - Haka
Rich 3.0 + Other 2.5 = 5.5I liked this a lot. Great sampling and layering of sounds, and a cool down-tempo vibe. The track does stop and start a bit, which is a little jarring, but other than that it’s very nice.
It had some interesting sounds, but was a pretty bland ambient offering to be honest. Nothing really wrong with it, but not much memorable about it either.Heretic: Dead Letter Circus - Next in Line
Rich 3.0 + Other 2.5 = 5.5Another solid submission from you, again with a band I know nothing about but really enjoyed. Great sound, particularly with the keys/synth going all throughout, nice heavy vibe and anthemic chorus.
Good, good, could have been a 3. Should really have been a 3, but there’s something about it, possibly a bit weak on the repeat listen value. Though I did listen twice for the keyboards, as they were quite subtle.
Sigz: Rolo Tomassi - I Love Turbulence
Rich 2.0 + Other 2.0 = 4.0I was really digging this until the vocals came in.
It gets better again though, totally mad and experimental. My limited experience of Tomassi has always been like this – I enjoy the wacky innovation, but just find his vocals too much. Fortunately this time they’re not used too extensively.
Noisy. I went through this phase when I was younger, it's not bad as such, just different. Like industrial math death metal or some such. A lot of the noises sound thrown in for effect which, I guess, is the point.kari: Portishead – The Rip
Rich 2.5 + Other 1.5 = 4.0This is an attractive song, but I’ve heard more interesting stuff from Portishead. I like their sound and their style, but a lot of the time I find them more suitable as background music than as something to pay attention to, and I’m afraid to say that’s the case with this song as well.
Sticking to your guns, kari, I can respect that. Not my think though.Marvellous G: Destroyer - Bay of Pigs
Rich 2.5 + Other 3.0 = 5.5Afraid I don’t love this as much as your last submission, but I did find it intriguing. You used a very apt word – haunting – to describe it. Reminds me of an electronic Roger Waters. Cool stuff, but there wasn’t enough going on to keep my attention for 11 minutes.
Another one that reminded me of Vangelis, and Buckethead even. I won't lie, this is certainly something I'd never normally listen to, but his spoken word style held my attention. Then a dancey beat. Although then he said the word "antlers" and I couldn’t stop laughing.YtseBitsySpider: Dead by April – Angel of Clarity
Rich 2.0 + Other 3.0 = 5.0I feel like I should have enjoyed this a lot more – it starts so well, cool riffing and tight playing. But the vocals really bug me (and you know me, I’ve nothing against growls) and the chorus just seems quite out of place. I like mixing heavy with melodic, but I don’t think these guys get it right.
Wow... Growling, dance beats, Bieber-esque vocals, and of course keyboard-infused metal. I wouldn't have believed it, but it somehow worked in a big way. And they kept it short so as not to annoy people.orcus: Justice – The Waters Of Nazareth
Rich 2.5 + Other 1.5 = 4.0Groovy song. Nice solid beat, and cool synth sounds. Nothing that particularly wowed me though, or made me want to listen again, but I liked it.
Better late than never, right? Well, no. Never would have been better. Ok so it's not THAT bad, but it's not really all that good. Moving on.The scores after round 2:Heretic - 11.5
lonestar - 11.5
kingshmegland - 11.5
Nekov - 11
Ultimetalhead - 11
Zantera - 10.5
jingle.boy - 10
Marvellous G - 10
Gorille85 – 10
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Ħ - 9.5
skydivingninja - 9.5
Sigz - 9
TheVoxyn - 9
orcus116 – 9
kári - 8.5
obscure - 8.5
YtseBitsySpider - 8
lateralus88 – 8
Sorry to those who didn’t make it, and congrats to those who did!
Round 3 – HeavyThis doesn’t have to mean heavy in the sense of aggressive or “metal”, but can be heavy in tone or mood as well. Either blow as away or depress the shit out of us!
Remember, I'm away for 10 days now, so there's no urgent rush. Orcus, if I'm able to hear your round 2 submission while I'm away then I will do. Otherwise, you might want to submit for round 3 as well, in case you progress!
Poll
Topic: Roulette of Champions - FINAL RESULTS, pg 15! (Read 58660 times)