Round 5: Gorgeous Stuff - THE RESULTS
You guys have outdone yourselves. I'm a sucker for beautiful music, and I asked you to sent me beautiful music, and you delivered beautiful music! Some of these songs flattered me with their soundscapes, melodicness and clever songwriting. Let's see in particular
FIRST PLACE: Shadowninja, with "Varúð" by Sigur Rós
I've known about Sigur Rós for a few years now, but never checked out properly what they do. I once saw a music video on tv, I don't know the title of the song, but the video showed kids going all over cool landscapes and then flying off into the distance.
But anyways, Varúð is... like love itself. The beautiful, scratchy and kind of distorted atmosphere really works amazingly with the sweet vocals of the vocalist, often sung in a very high, but quiet, range. When the song reaches the chorus, my body reacts to it with goosebumps galore, and I have to admit - this is the first song in the roulette that left me completely amazed and made me jaw drop the first time. The final build-up is like climbing towards the sky and then getting lost in space. The description is as cheesy as Ayreon, but at least you get what I mean.
Congrats, shadowninja, you sent my favorite song in the roulette so far.
And so for you, a whopping
10 points.
SECOND PLACE: Sacul, with "White Foxes" by Susanne Sundfør
Being a pop song, this was risky, but I trust you Lucas, and you pay off always well. Indeed, this is another song where the soundscapes take the cake. All sorts of electronic sounds, synth arpeggios (Muse/Devin Townsend-worthy) and beats give the song this mechanical feeling, but it's in contrast with the stunning vocals, provided by Susanne. The chorus especially, has a nice chord progression and also makes me shiver. Once again, awesome stuff and easy to get into, even though this isn't the most simple pop song ever, and that's only a good thing.
9.5 pointsTHIRD PLACE: sneakyblueberry, with "Marvellous Things" by Eisley
I am in love. With the vocalist. I don't even know how she looks like, but the voice is enough for me.
This is a indie-ish 6/8 song, and the vocals absolutely steal the show. I really love both the vocal line and her voice, her timbre - coupled with beautiful acoustic guitars and a "swinging" type of rhythm, this was instant win. Even though it didn't win the round
Also in third place is Elite, with "The Canyon Behind Her" by dredg
I didn't know this band even by name, but good god, this is good stuff. It's your favorite song, and I can really get why. The beautiful shoegaze-ish guitars coupled with the chorus are stunning, and everything has this "celestial" feel to it. The title of the album is really fitting. The only negative thing are the lyrics, they are a bit clichè, you know "Does anybody feel this way", feels a bit overdone. But the music makes up for it, especially the sudden wacky riff going on after the second chorus, that was amazing
- I really love the outro also, that choir is really well done and I can make out every single voice off of it. Not always that happens, and when the production is that good, I just stand up and applaud.
Good job guys,
9 points to both of you.
FOURTH PLACE: Evermind, with "Pictured Within" by Jon Lord
This is a beautiful ballad by Deep Purple's keyboard man, Jon Lord. He sadly passed away some years ago, and this song has a bit of emotional value per se, but adding the recent events, it's even more emotional now. Nothing to really say about it, good vocal lines, lyrics and really touching at times. Simple but profound.
8.5 pointsFIFTH PLACE: Nekov, with "Puddles For Ocean" by Papadosio
This.
IS.
SO.
HAPPY
Not exactly "gorgeous" as I intended, but isn't happiness a part of beauty too? Good vibes, summer and sunshine are what come to mind when I listen to this song, and it's really fun each time. Given that it's also in 7/4 it also has that slightly technical side to it, that make it interesting, a thing that this type of songs lacked. So, yep, friggin' fun to listen to and to sing along to. You know, I hate going to the beach, but this must be the perfect beach song.
8 pointsSIXTH PLACE: Firstly, WebRaider with "Widower", by The Dillinger Escape Plan
When I first read that you sent Dillinger for this round, I was like "
WAT DOES NOT COMPUTE" - then I listened to it and... you were
kind of right. Yes, this has that slight beauty to it, but not that much compared to the rest of the stuff in here. But it's a great song nevertheless, and I would've rated it higher if this was an open round.
Then, Scorpion, with "Snowfall", by God Is An Astronaut
This
had beauty, but it didn't connect with me all that much sadly. Beautiful soundscapes, beautiful instrumental, a goddamn fitting title (and beautiful title, too) and great atmospheric vibes, but I don't know why, it didn't work that much for me.
Still, you both get
7 points.---
Guys, thank you for this round, one of my favorites yet, along Round 1 and 3. This roulette is going greatly, and I'm surprised that I'm not slowing down, the pace is going pretty good. Now that we are more than halfway over, we can start to speculate who's gonna win...
Sacul - 41.5 pts.
Elite - 41 pts.
Evermind - 40 pts.
Sneakyblueberry - 39.5 pts.
Shadowninja - 39 pts.
Nekov - 38 pts.
WebRaider - 37.5 pts.
Scorpion - 37 pts.
Looks like the initial situation, with WebRaider and Scorpion leading, is now completely the opposite, with Elite and Evermind almost on the lead, and Sacul sticking to the first place for the second round in a row.
BUT LOOK
IT'S EVERMIND'S ROUNDHe has decided that you have to send a power metal or an hard rock song, with a time limit of 5 minutes. Am I right, Ev? (dat short name)