-
Prologue
Are you still brimming with music you want heard, but just can't seem to recommend it fast enough? Well then, you've come to the right place! So this will be my first time hosting a roulette. I've participated in 425's and twosuitluke's latest ones, and skimmed a few other recent and older ones, so I get the general flow of things, but I'm sure there will still be a learning curve with the roles reversed (kind of, we'll get to that in a bit). If I'm doing something really bizarre, or if you have tips for making things go more smoothly, let me know and we'll discuss it. It's a bit odd to host my own roulette before completing participation in one, but hey, I'm antsy to listen to and talk about more music. I also reserve the liberty to modify some rules as we go if I think it'll improve things or if I didn't think about them beforehand. I think it can be casual enough to not need to spell out every last detail, there's already enough text under this as it is.
***For those who just want the highlights, the plan is that most rounds I'm going to post a couple songs that are representative of part of my taste. You'll send me a song in the ballpark of one of those. Every few rounds there will be a free for all where you can send whatever you want.
*Now for a lot more details for those who want to be fully up to speed and have a better sense of how the roulette will work and my taste, so you can score well. Read at your own pace, I'll give a few days for people on the fence to mull it over.
*The basic idea here is reciprocity. It's my way of building anticipation on both sides of the roulette, hinting at facets of my taste, and effectively allowing me to also be a participant in my own roulette, though obviously you won't need to score and write up my 10/10 entries, though you're certainly free to discuss them. It also gives a bit of a theme to a chunk of the rounds. Initially there will be three cycles of 3-rounders. In the first two rounds of each set, I'll be sending you some music, and you'll be sending me some back. In the third, the topic will be an open free for all, so you can send whatever you like. We'll do that a few times, move onto some other themed rounds, and finally we'll crown a champion!
Basic Roulette Structure:
Round 1: Mystery songs (rock/metal)
Round 2: Mystery songs (other)
Round 3: Free for all
Round 4: Mystery songs (rock/metal)
Round 5: Mystery songs (other)
Round 6: Free for all
Round 7: Mystery songs (rock/metal)
Round 8: Mystery songs (other)
Round 9: Free for all
Round 10: Change my mind about music I'm not into
Round 11: Get me into bands I'm curious about
Round 12: Pre-90s music
Round 13: Free for all
Round 14: 45 minute EP
*I'm pretty confident I can keep the pace up enough to make these breeze by. If things seem like they're dragging I may consider eliminating a cycle of the mystery songs and FFA, and possibly rounds 10-13, but I don't think it'll get to that point. Part of me wants to do a fourth cycle of the mystery songs, FFA, and a second EP, or an album round, but unless I hear a clamor for them, I suspect that's overly ambitious, and 14 rounds is a lot anyway, so we'll stick to that for now.
*Send submissions to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com.
*If you can, send me both Youtube and Spotify links for your song. The Youtube link is so I can make my own playlist and rip the audio. The Spotify link is for the group playlist. If you can't or don't find both links I will find them myself, but the more of you that find both, the less extra work I have to do.
Mystery Songs:
*So the basic concept is to establish an overall theme for the round and to unveil a facet of my taste. The idea of the mystery songs is that at the start of those rounds, I will post Youtube links to two-three songs I like with a particular feel to them. You will listen to the songs, and send me back one song. It doesn't have to be a clone of the songs I linked, or necessarily even be in the same genre, particularly for topics that some of you might not have an extensive library of. Just that I should be able to listen to your song(s) and think, "ah, that's why they heard mine and chose theirs". Different people will be inspired by different aspects of the songs I've chosen, and that's part of the fun. I've intentionally chosen songs that you should be able to go in a number of directions with. No strict time limit, but be aware that songs past 10:00 are much rarer for me to consider as favorites, so choose wisely.
*This should also be easier and more interesting than trying to have a lengthy section describing my taste, which is complicated and confusing, though I'll at least touch on it in a bit. I'm perfectly willing to answer any questions about it in particular, and you might get some gist of it scanning the banned artist list and perusing my RYM account, or even stalking my post and thread history here if you want.
Mystery Songs Revealed:
Moved to the bottom of post #13.
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2942030#msg2942030 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2942030#msg2942030)
Group Playlists:
Moved to the bottom of post #13.
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2942030#msg2942030 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2942030#msg2942030)
Free for all rounds:
*I've found that both the single song and the time limit formats have benefits, so I want to utilize both. Whereas the mystery song rounds are limited to sending back a single song, for the FFA rounds I'll allow a time limit of 15:00. This allows for multiple songs and the possibility of creating mini-EP-like flow, and painting a broader picture of the artist you're recommending.
Round 10 - change my mind about music I'm not into:
*This should be a fascinating round. What I've found in all my time exploring music is that some genres are much harder to get into than others based on our own personal histories. In this round I'm looking for you to send me something you think I'll like from a style I typically don't care for much, or lack knowledge of.
Eligible Candidates: avant-garde, Britpop, country (pre-80s), death industrial, emo, experimental, experimental rock, free improvisation, free jazz, hardcore punk (non-Swedish), harsh noise, hip-hop (2010s-present), hyperpop, indie rock/pop/folk, industrial (the purer kind), J/K-pop/rock/metal, math rock, mathcore, metalcore (90s), neo-psychedelia, noise rock, opera, pop-punk, post-hardcore, post-rock, power electronics, show tunes. If you don't have anything in those categories, but have something else in mind that doesn't seem in my wheelhouse, but think I might like anyway, just PM me about it. Eligibility will be murky for this round, but essentially if I look up the album on RYM the primary genre listed should be something I don't already have an abundance of. When we get closer to the round I'll reveal tiered levels of difficulty with bonus points.
Round 11 - get me into bands I'm curious about:
*This one should be equally intriguing. When we reach this round, I'll reveal a list of popular/semi-popular bands that I'm curious about. I may know something about them, might have heard songs and sometimes albums from most of them, possibly even like them mildly, but I don't really "get" them yet. I'm hoping people here are familiar enough with them to recommend me the best song or three. I will be allowing previously submitted bands from earlier rounds that scored below 8.25, but they must be sent by a different person than originally submitted them. And I will allow duplicate bands in the same round, but not duplicate songs, so those will be on a first come, first served basis.
Round 12 - pre-90s music:
*This should be simple enough. I listen to way more music from the 90s and beyond than to the 80s and before. So send me your best stuff released in '89 or earlier. No jazz, I already have tons of that. Classic rock staples are very risky, I already know a ton of them, even if they aren't on the soft ban list. Deeper cuts are fine, or even more inventive choices and styles.
Round 14 - 45 Minute EP
Because I did not have the foresight to anticipate how much this post would balloon over the roulette, and may not have even encountered the 20k character limit per post, I'm moving this to the bottom of post #13, linked below.
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2942030#msg2942030 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2942030#msg2942030)
My Taste:
*My preferences are pretty ineffable and inscrutable even to myself at times, but I'll take a stab at explaining it. A great deal of music I adore across a broad swathe of genres tends to have a few traits in common. It's often a bit dark and melancholic, but melodic and at least a tad poppy. I generally err on the side of more polished and clean production and engineering. I value skilled musicianship, but get picky about when it's employed excessively (though my tolerance for excess is far higher than mainstream tastes, for example). Lyrics are rarely important, but vocals quite often are, though I enjoy a fair amount of instrumental music.
*I love contrasts and balances of musical elements (calm vocals over heavy music, thrashy riffs going into acoustic passages, piano and violin on the same track as growls and blast beats, etc., though not generally to avant-garde Mr. Bungle sort of extremes, there should be a bit more flow.) Increasingly over time I value atmosphere in music, with a lush sound and layering. If there's minimalism in notes, there's often maximalism in production and effects. I don't mind occasional moments of dissonance, noisiness, and general weirdness, but if they're excessively focused on it tends not to be to my taste. Meat and potatoes genres and bands generally don't move me as much, I like when bands blend together multiple styles, and incorporate interesting instrumentation, acoustic guitars, piano, synthesizers, saxophone, violin, flute, mandolin, tabla, etc. But generally in more of a chamber music/smaller ensemble fashion, regardless of genre, the overly orchestral approach can often be a bit much.
*The categories for round 10 should give you an idea of what not to send for normal rounds, unless you are brimming with atypical examples to send that you think I might like after all. The whiny and shouty vocal styles of some of those genres are often a turn-off, though there are always exceptions.
Niche styles I'm overall most fond of - atmospheric/ethereal doom metal, atmospheric rock, darksynth/synthwave, ethereal/dream/doom folk, ethereal wave/darkwave/dream pop, futurepop, gothic rock/metal, hard/post-bop, Hindustani Indian classical, jazz/fusion, melodic death metal, melodic doom/death metal, progressive/hard rock, progressive/power metal, roots reggae, synth/electro-pop, Swedish death metal, vocal trance/house.
*You can peruse my Rate Your Music account for more information.
https://rateyourmusic.com/~LithoJazzoSphere (https://rateyourmusic.com/~LithoJazzoSphere)
*The below list effectively serves as a very loose favorite artist list, especially the first 180 or so. The rest is a bit bloated and haphazardly added to, but still gives a decent idea of what I like. It's a bit more up to date than the favorite artist list on my main RYM page, which I haven't updated in awhile.
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/LithoJazzoSphere/artists-that-excited-me (https://rateyourmusic.com/list/LithoJazzoSphere/artists-that-excited-me)
*I also have a last.fm linked in my RYM page, and you can look at it if you want, but I haven't used it in over a decade, so it only really captures my listening habits circa late-00s. I still like all those artists, but the center and intensity of my preferences have evolved a lot since then.
*Something which I can't really control, but should put on the table, is that I have a form of pitch memory that can appear to others like perfect pitch. It makes me consciously aware fairly often of what keys, chords, and notes are being played. Over time I've developed favorite keys, which give a slight boost to some songs over others rather arbitrarily. Good songwriting and interesting musical elements can frequently overcome it though. But in particular, I have a sweet tooth for downtuned rock/metal in the Bbm-Cm range, and again in the Fm-Gm range (higher or lower), which tends to apply to most genres.
Round 1 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2947895#msg2947895 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2947895#msg2947895)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2948568#msg2948568 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2948568#msg2948568)
Round 2 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2952755#msg2952755 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2952755#msg2952755)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2953132#msg2953132 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2953132#msg2953132)
Round 3 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2957885#msg2957885 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2957885#msg2957885)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2958380#msg2958380 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2958380#msg2958380)
Round 4 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2961738#msg2961738 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2961738#msg2961738)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2962264#msg2962264 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2962264#msg2962264)
Round 5 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2966473#msg2966473 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2966473#msg2966473)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2967630#msg2967630 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2967630#msg2967630)
Round 6 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2973260#msg2973260 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2973260#msg2973260)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2973818#msg2973818 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2973818#msg2973818)
Round 7 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2979399#msg2979399 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2979399#msg2979399)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2979557#msg2979557 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2979557#msg2979557)
Round 8 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2986800#msg2986800 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2986800#msg2986800)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2987106#msg2987106 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2987106#msg2987106)
Round 9 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2992060#msg2992060 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2992060#msg2992060)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2993378#msg2993378 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2993378#msg2993378)
Round 10 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2997141#msg2997141 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2997141#msg2997141)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3000186#msg3000186 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3000186#msg3000186)
Round 11 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3005561#msg3005561 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3005561#msg3005561)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3007469#msg3007469 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3007469#msg3007469)
Round 12 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3013169#msg3013169 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3013169#msg3013169)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3014870#msg3014870 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3014870#msg3014870)
Round 13 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3019377#msg3019377 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3019377#msg3019377)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3018387#msg3018387 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3018387#msg3018387)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3020236#msg3020236 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3020236#msg3020236)
Round 14 Impressions & Results:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3025154#msg3025154 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3025154#msg3025154)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3029515#msg3029515 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3029515#msg3029515)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3029696#msg3029696 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3029696#msg3029696)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3030105#msg3030105 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3030105#msg3030105)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3030339#msg3030339 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3030339#msg3030339)
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3030790#msg3030790 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3030790#msg3030790)
Gladiators (join order):
twosuitsluke
TAC
HOF
Lethean
Tomislav95
senecadawg2
Puppies_On_Acid
romdrums (had to drop out after the second round)
Elite
Crow
ariich
soupytwist
Vmadera00
Buddyhunter1
Evermind
SoundscapeMN
Sacul
Nachtmerrie
Stadler
Gladiators (alphabetical):
1: ariich
2: Buddyhunter1
3: Crow
4: Elite
5: Evermind
6: HOF
7: Lethean
8: Nachtmerrie
9: Puppies_On_Acid
10: romdrums (had to drop out after the second round)
11: Sacul
12: senecadawg2
13: SoundscapeMN
14: soupytwist
15: Stadler
16: TAC
17: Tomislav95
18: twosuitsluke
19: Vmadera00
Final Cumulative Standings:
1: Nachtmerrie ---------------------- 132.75
2: Evermind --------------------------- 132
3: SoundscapeMN -------------------- 130.75
4: ariich -------------------------------- 130.5
5: Lethean ------------------------------ 129.75
6: TAC ------------------------------------ 129.5
7: soupytwist ------------------------------ 127.5
8: HOF -------------------------------------- 126.25
9: Vmadera00 ------------------------------- 123.75
10: Buddyhunter1 ---------------------------- 123.5
11: senecadawg2 --------------------------- 122.75
12: Tomislav95 ---------------------------- 120.75
13: Stadler ------------------------------- 120
14: twosuitsluke ------------------------ 119.5
15: Puppies_On_Acid ------------------ 119.5
16: Sacul ------------------------------ 118
17: Crow ----------------------------- 112.25
18: Elite ------------------------------ 88.5 (DNF)
19: romdrums --------------------- 14.25 (DNF)
-
Softly Banned Artists Preamble:
*Well, some of you wanted a banned list. Careful what you ask for. :P It's probably going to look overwhelming, and it's far from complete, it took long enough to put together as it was. However, there is some nuance to it.
*In short, I'm mostly looking for music I haven't heard yet. But if you feel strongly enough about an artist and feel I'm overlooking them, I'm perfectly fine with you sending me material from albums I haven't rated by artists I've heard other things by. That's why it's a soft ban. I'll probably even accept songs from albums I've rated 4 stars or less unless I'm overly familiar with them. Anything rated 4.5 or 5.0 is hard-banned though.
List of Softly Banned Artists:
The 11th Hour
2Pac
3 Doors Down
40 Watt Sun
Aaliyah
John Abercrombie
Abigail Williams
Abigail's Ghost
Above & Beyond
Above The Earth
The Absence
Adagio
Cannonball Adderly
Abscession
Absent Hearts
Absolute Priority
Abstract Void
Acolyte
Acoustic Alchemy
Acryl Madness
Act of Defiance
Adele
Ad Infinitum
Aenigmatum
Aeon
Aeon Spoke
Aeonian Sorrow
Aeternam
After Forever
Aghora
The Agonist
Ahab
Ajattara
Akercocke
Jan Akkerman
Akphaezya
Alcest
Howard Alden
Aleah
The Algorithm
Alice In Chains
All About Eve
All Ends
All Pigs Must Die
Alter Bridge
Amaran
Amaranthe
Amoral
Amorphis
Anaal Nathrakh
Anathema
Andain
And One
Android Lust
Angel
Angel Corpse
*Angel Dust
Angerot
Angtoria
Animal Logic
Animals As Leaders
The Animal In Me
The Anix
The Answer Lies in the Black Void
Anthrax
Anti-Cimex
Anti-Depressive Delivery
Antimatter
AntropomorphiA
Anubis Gate
Anything Box
AP2
Aphex Twin
Apocryphos
Apoptygma Berserk
Aranis
Arch Enemy
Arch/Matheos
Martha Argerich
Argyle Park
Ark
Armageddon
Arsafes
Artillery
Artrosis
Ashes of Ares
Susan Ashton
Badi Assad
Assemblage 23
At Dawn's Edge
At The Gates
Ataraxie
Atheist
Natacha Atlas
Atlas Grey
Atrium Carceri
Atrox
Audio Adrenaline
Brian Augur's Oblivion Express
Augury
Austra
Autechre
Autumn (NL)
Autumn (US)
Autumn's Grey Solace
Ava Inferi
Avatarium
Axamenta
The Aware
Sithu Aye
Ayreon
Ayria
Aythis
Azmari
Johann Sebastian Bach
Bad Brains
Bad Religion
Bad Sector
Baest
Baillie & The Boys
Bananarama
Banks
Alina Baraz
Sara Bareilles
Nik Bartsch
Julianna Barwick
William Baskinski
Bastard Grave
Bat For Lashes
Lisa Batiashvili
Francesca Battistelli
Batushka
The Beach Boys
The Beatles
Before The Dawn
Behemoth
Nicola Benedetti
Bering Strait
Chuck Berry
Beseech
Big Pun
The Birthday Massacre
Bjork
Black Sabbath
Black Sites
Black Sun Empire
Black Tape For a Blue Girl
Black Uhuru
Blackbriar
Art Blakey
Sarah Blasko
Blinded Colony
Blo.Torch
Blood Incantation
Blood Stain Child
Bloodbath
The Bloodening
Bloodshot Dawn
Blue Stahli
Bluetech
BlutEngel
Bohren & der Club of Gore
Joe Bonamassa
Natasha Borzilova
Boston
Anouar Brahem
Bozzio Levin Stevens
Michelle Branch
Breaking Benjamin
Michael Brecker
Bride
Karen Briggs
Nili Brosh
Dennis Brown
Dave Brubeck
Bruford
BRUIT
Burden of Grief
Burning Spear
Byzantine
CAB
Cacophany
Call Me No One
Callenish Circle
Cellar Darling
Colbie Caillat
Cain's Offering
Callenish Circle
Camel
Michel Camilo
Candlemass
Carcass
Cardamon
The Cardigans
Brandi Carlile
Carnation
Carnage
Carpenter Brut
Ron Carter
Eva Cassidy
Catacomb
Cathedral
Celldweller
Vanessa Carlton
Celtic Frost
Centaurus-A
Cerberus Shoal
Chain Collector
Paul Chambers
Sheila Chandra
Sarah Chang
Chaoswave
Ray Charles
Chastain
Hariprasad Chaurasia
Chicane
Chimp Spanner
Charlie Christian
Chrom
CHVRCHES
Cianide
Cipher System
circle&wind
Circle of Dust
Cities Last Broadcast
Clan of Xymox
Stanley Clarke
Jimmy Cliff
Cloakroom
Clouds
Cocteau Twins
Code 64
Code For Silence
Coffins
Avishai Cohen
Coldplay
Collibus
Keyshia Cole
Phil Collins
Colony 5
John Coltrane
Communic
Conquering Dystopia
The Contortionist
Control Denied
Coprofago
Core Device
Chick Corea
Coroner
Larry Coryell
Counter-World Experience
Covenant
The Cranberries
Creed
Crematory
Crimson Moonlight
Crimson Tears
Marilyn Crispell
The Crown
Cryptic Shift
Cryptopsy
Crypts of Despair
Crystal Viper
Curandero
The Cure
Curse of Jadis
Lisa Cuthbert
Cydonia
Cynic
D Creation
The Dadaists
Dagoba
Dana Jean Phoenix
Dance With the Dead
Dancing Fantasy
Dando Shaft
Danger Danger
Lars Danielsson
The Dark Element
Dark Globe
Dark Horse White Horse
Dark Lunacy
Dark New Day
Dark Princess
Dark The Suns
Dark Tranquillity
Dark Throne
Darkane
Darkest Hour
Darkher
Darkspace
Darzamat
Daughter
Miles Davis
Mike Dawes
Daylight Dies
Dayshell
dc Talk
Dead Astronauts
Dead Can Dance
The Dead Daisies
Dead Letter Circus
Deadlife
Deadlock
Deadly Circus Fire
The Deadstation
Deals Death
Death
Deathevokation
Deathspell Omega
Deathswarm
Decameron
Decapitated
Decoded Feedback
Deep Purple
Defleshed
Joey DeFrancesco
Defying
Dejafuse
Jack DeJohnette
Delain
Delight
Deliverance
Dellamorte
Demen
Demigod
Demiurg
Demolition Hammer
Demonical
Demons & Wizards
Depeche Mode
Depressed Mode
Desecresy
Destinity
Destiny Potato
Desultor
Desultory
Detonation
De/Vision
Devil Skin
DGM
Toumani Diabate
Diabolical Masquerade
Dido
Diemonds
Dimension Zero
Al DiMeola
Dimmu Borgir
Dirty Loops
Disarmonia Mundi
Disasterpeace
Disfear
Disma
Dismember
Disperse
Disrupted
Dissection
Divine Chaos
Divinefire
Djelmash
Dogs of Peace
Dokken
Fats Domino
Don Johnson Big Band
DOOM:VS
Drab Majesty
Draconian
Dragonland
Drain S.T.H.
Dreadnought
Dream Death
Dream Unending
Dream Theater
dredg
Dua Lipa
The Duke
Dungeon Serpent
The Duskfall
E-L-R
The Earth & I
Earth Rot
Earth Wind & Fire
Earthside
Ebony Ark
Ebony Tears
Echoes of Eternity
The Echoing Green
Edellom
Edenbridge
Edenfall
The Eden House
Edge of Dawn
Edge of Sanity
Editors
Eldar
Eleine
Elfonia
Duke Ellington
Elysion
Emerson Lake & Palmer
Tommy Emmanuel
Emperor
Empress
Enabler
Encryptment
End of the Dream
Endanger
Enditol
Engel
Ensnared
Enshine
Enter My Silence
Entombed
Entrails
Enya
Ephel Duath
Epica
Erasure
Esben and the Witch
Eternity's End
Ethel Cain
Eucharist
Evadne
Evanescence
Sara Evans
Eventide
The Everdawn
EverEve
Evergrey
Evils Toy
Evocation
Evoken
Exhumation
Exivious
Explorer's Club
Extreme
Eye of Purgatory
The Faceless
Fair To Midland
Faith and the Muse
Fall of the Leafe
Far Caspian
Farmakon
Fear Factory
Fear My Thoughts
Feared
Maynard Ferguson
The Few Against Many
Fields of the Nephilim
The Fifth Sun
The Fine Constant
Fiona
Fiora
First Signs of Frost
Fitz and the Tantrums
Tommy Flanagan
Flasket Brinner
Bela Fleck
Fleshgod Apocalypse
Ben Folds
Foo Fighters
Firewind
First Fragment
Flowing Tears
Flyleaf
FM-84
For Selena and Sin
Forbidden
The Foreshadowing
Fozzy
Fractal Universe
Brooke Fraser
Jennifer Frautschi
Freak Kitchen
Marty Friedman
Front Line Assembly
Jessie Frye
Fuming Mouth
Funeral
Funker Vogt
FVNERALS
Gus G.
Pablo Gad
Galactic Cowboys
Galaxy Hunter
Paul Galbraith
Galvanizer
Gambale/Hamm/Smith
Salman Gambarov
Gamma Ray
Garbage
Renaud Garcia-Fons
Garden of Shadows
Gardenian
Melody Gardot
Kenny Garrett
The Gathering
Danny Gatton
Sara Gazarek
genCAB
Gene Loves Jezabel
General Surgery
The Generals
Genesis
Stan Getz
Ghost Ship Octavius
Ghostheart Nebula
Giant Walker
Anneke van Giersbergen
Paul Gilbert
Vince Gill
Gloryhammer
God Dethroned
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Gold Spire
Goldfrapp
Gong
Dexter Gordon
Gorguts
GosT
Jeff Greinke
Grendel
Guthrie Govan
Grammatrain
Grand Cadaver
Amy Grant
Grave
The Great Discord
The Great Old Ones
Green Carnation
Grendel
Helene Grimaud
Grimes
Hannes Grossman
Grouper
Vince Guaraldi
Guardian
Trilok Gurtu
Tord Gustavsen
Haerts
Haji's Kitchen
Hilary Hahn
Hail of Bullets
Haken
Halcyon
Halifax Pier
Hallatar
The Halo Effect
Tigran Hamasyan
Hamferd
Lionel Hampton
Hanging Garden
Lisa Hannigan
Hante
Harakiri For the Sky
Hate
Heathen
Herbie Hancock
Paul Hankinson
Paul Hardcastle
Roy Hargrove
Harm's Way
Beth Hart
Haujobb
Anna von Hausswolff
Kate Havnevik
Warren Haynes
Imogen Heap
Head Control System
Headspace
Heart
Jeff Healey
Heathendom
Heaven Shall Burn
Heavenwood
Michael Hedges
Helevorn
The Hellecasters
Helloween
Helslave
Merit Hemmingsson
Joe Henderson
Jimi Hendrix
Arve Henriksen
Herbst9
Marko Hietala
High On Fire
Johnny Hiland
Gustaf Hildebrand
Earl Hines
Hocico
Hoedh
Joel Hoekstra
Joanne Hogg
Hole
Billie Holiday
Jennifer Holliday
Holy Fawn
Holy Soldier
Hooded Menace
Hooverphonic
Horrendous
Hour of Penance
How Like a Winter
Howlin' Wolf
Sierra Hull
The Human Abstract
Hungry Lucy
Charlie Hunter
Zakir Hussain
Hybrid
David Hykes & The Harmonic Choir
Hypocrisy
Hypocrite
Iced Earth
Icon of Coil
Idle Cure
Billy Idol
Ignea
Ihsahn
Illdisposed
Imagika
Immolation
Immortal
Immortal Souls
Impellitteri
Imperative Reaction
Imperia
Imperial Triumphant
In Flames
Inade
Incarnia
Indukti
Inferi
Infinite Tales
Informatik
Iniquity
Inno
The Innocence Mission
Insect Warfare
Instant Suppression
Interment
The Interrupters
Intervals
Intestine Baalism
Into Eternity
Invisius
Invocator
Iotunn
Iress
Iris
Iron + Wine
Iron Maiden
Gregory Isaacs
Isenordal
Island
ISON
Vijay Iyer
Arushi Jain
Samantha James
Janine Jansen
Sarah Jarosz
Keith Jarrett
Jars of Clay
The Jazzmasters
Jedi Mind Tricks
The Jelly Jam
Jess and the Ancient Ones
Jethro Tull
Maria Joao & Mario Laginha
Eddie Jobson
Jens Johansson
Elton John
Eric Johnson
Anna Maria Jopek
Jorn
Jotnar
Journey
Judas Priest
Julinko
Kaipa
Glenn Kaiser
Kalter
Kamelot
Kammarheit
KANGA
Kansas
Sofia Karlsson
Karnya
Kartikeya
Karyn Crisis' Gospel of the Witches
Katatonia
Manu Katche
Kate Boy
Kayak
Phil Keaggy
Kebnekaise
Wynton Kelly
Stacey Kent
cEvin Key
Ali Akbar Khan
Amjad Ali Khan
Bismillah Khan
Sultan Khan
Vilayat Khan
Khemmis
Kidneythieves
Killswitch Engage
Kaki King
King Crimson
King Curtis
King Woman
King's X
Kingfisher Sky
Kings of Convenience
John Carroll Kirby
Kitaro
KMFDM
Jennifer Knapp
Greg Koch
Koinonia
Thomas Koner
Kowai
Alison Krauss
Liv Kristine
Krypteria
Szymon Kuran
Lianne La Havas
Todd la Torre
James LaBrie
Lacuna Coil
Mon Laferte
Julian Lage
Lalu
Lana Lane
Shawn Lane
David Lanz
John Lawry
Lazerhawk
Nguyen Le
Led Zeppelin
Louise Lemon
Leather
Left Behind
Leaether Strip
Lenore S. Fingers
Lesoir
Lethian Dreams
Letters From the Fire
Letters To Cleo
Levin Brothers
Brent Lewis
Light Asylum
Light Field Reverie
Light This City
Lights
Lik
Lilitu
Linkin Park
Liquid Divine
Liquid Sky
Liquid Tension Experiment
Aynsley Lister
Little Richard
Little River Band
Living Colour
Lock Up
Julie London
Long Night
Look Right Penny
Jeff Loomis
Lords of Decadence
:LOR3L3Il:
Los Lobotomys
Joe Lovano
Love Outside Andromeda
Love Spirals Downwards
Paco de Lucia
Lucifer
Steve Lukather
LukHash
Lull
Lullacry
Luna Fawn Ripley
The Lurking Fear
Lustmord
Lykathea Aflame
Lyzanxia
Yo-Yo Ma
Macabre Decay
Tony MacAlpine
Machine Head
Madder Mortem
Made In Sweden
Magdalena Bay
Magenta
Mahavishnu Orchestra
Mammoth Grinder
Man-Eating Tree
Manticora
Herbie Mann
Darrell Mansfield
Mansion
The Mariana Hollow
Bob Marley
Marriages
Branford Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Mike Marshall
Charlotte Martin
Martyr
Mass Burial
Massive Attack
Master Boot Record
Master Musicians of Jajouka
Masterplan
Kathy Mattea
John Mayer
Del McCoury
Freddie McGregor
Sarah McLachlan
John McLaughlin
Katharine McPhee
Mecha Maiko
Mega Drive
Megadeth
Nicky Mehta
Melechesh
Melotron
Memoriam
Mentallo & the Fixer
Mephorash
Mercenary
Mercury Circle
Mesa
Messa
Mesh
Meshiaak
Meshuggah
Metallica
Anne Akiko Meyers
Lucia Micarelli
David Maxim Micic
The Midnight
Millencolin
mind.in.a.box
Charles Mingus
Minuit Machine
Minus The Bear
Miseration
The Mission UK
Mobius
Hank Mobley
Modern Day Babylon
Jane Monheit
Thelonious Monk
Monsoon
Wes Montgomery
Ruth Moody
Gary Moore
Morbid Angel
Morbid Saint
Mordrot
Lee Morgan
Morgana Lefay
Morphide
Mortal Love
Mostly Autumn
Mountain Home
Mourning Beloveth
Mourning Sun
Leszek Mozdzer
Mrs. Piss
Murcof
Murder Squad
Muse
Aziza Mustafa Zadeh
Vagif Mustafa Zadeh
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Muzsikas
My Dying Bride
MyGrain
MyHybris
Mystic Prophecy
Mystica
N.W.A.
Katelyn Nacon
Marissa Nadler
Naildown
Nails
Naughty By Nature
Meshell Ndegeocello
Neaera
Necessary Response
Necrophagist
Necrophobic
Necrot
Negative Format
Nekropolis
Josh Nelson
Nemesea
Neon Cross
NeraNature
Nero
Nerve
Mairead Nesbitt
Neuroticfish
Nevell
Nevermore
New Grass Revival
The Newsboys
Newtown
Niacin
Nickel Creek
Night Crowned
Night In Gales
Nightcrawler
Nightingale
Nightmare
Nightrage
NightStop
Nightwish
Nihilist
Nile
Anika Nilles
NINA
Nine Inch Nails
Nitzer Ebb
Niyaz
Nocturnal Rites
Nocturnus
No Doubt
The Nocturnes
Noeta
Noisia
Nonexist
Non-Human Level
Noumena
Novembers Doom
Shahin Novrasli
Nox
Nox Aurea
The O.C. Supertones
Agnes Obel
Obliveon
Obscura
Obsydians
The Ocean
OceanLab
Oceans of Slumber
Octavia Sperati
October Tide
Odyssey
Of Monsters and Men
Ogre
Ohm:
Old Man's Child
Angel Olsen
Renee Olstead
Annette Olzon
Omega Lithium
Omit
One Machine
One Way Mirror
One Without
OneHeadMan
Only Fate Remains
Oophoi
Opeth
Oracles
Oregon
Origin
Orphaned Land
Lindi Ortega
Johnny Osbourne
Ostura
Alice Sara Ott
Ozzy Osbourne
Outerheaven
Outworld
Paatos
Paganizer
Pain of Salvation
Tony Palacios
Palodine
Panopticon
Pantera
Pantokrator
Panzerballett
Panzerchrist
Ivo Papasov
Paradise Lost
Paramaecium
Charlie Parker
Aaron Parks
Gretchen Parlato
Arvo Part
Joe Pass
Passenger (SWE)
Passenger (UK)
Passport
Jaco Pastorius
Peeping Tom
Pennywise
A Perfect Circle
Perilaxe Occlusion
Periphery
Perkulatory
Perturbator
Persuader
Pestilence
Oscar Peterson
Petra
John Petrucci
Michel Petrucciani
Madeleine Peyroux
Phaenon
Phantom Elite
Phelios
Phlebotomized
Piano
Astor Piazzolla
Pineforest Crunch
Pink Floyd
Pissing Razors
Pitbulls in the Nursery
Planet X
Platypus
Plini
Plumb
Poisonblack
Chris Poland
Polyphia
Jean-Luc Ponty
Ana Popovic
Poppy
Porcupine Tree
Port-Royal
Portishead
Chris Potter
Praying Mantis
Present
Pride and Fall
The Prodigy
Professor Longhair
The Project Hate MCMXCIX
Project Pitchfork
Projected
The Provenance
Punch Brothers
Pure Reason Revolution
Purity Ring
Purtenance
Puscifer
Puteraeon
PVRIS
Pyramaze
QNTAL
Quarterflash
Queen
Queensryche
Quest of Aidance
Quo Vadis
Rage Against The Machine
Rainbow
Raintime
raison d'etre
Ustad Alla Rakha
Ram-Zet
Rammstein
Rancid
Vijay Raghav Rao
Alla Rakha
Robert Randolph
Rapoon
Rapture
Rational Diet
Raunchy
Ravenscry
Raving Season
Razed In Black
Recoil
Red Handed Denial
Red Moon Architect
Redemption
Joshua Redman
Regarde les hommes tomber
Regardless of Me
The Reign of Kindo
Rein
Remember Shakti
Remembrance
REMINA
Emily Remler
Renascent
Res
The Resistance
Return To Forever
Revel In Flesh
Revocation
Ribspreader
Buddy Rich
Riot
Ripped To Shreds
Rise To Fall
Lee Ritenour
Rivers of Nihil
ROB
Rogue VHS
Sonny Rollins
Rolo Tomassi
The Roots
Kurt Rosenwinkel
Don Ross
Rotersand
Rotten Sound
Royal Anguish
Jordan Rudess
Rudra
Bic Runga
Emma Ruth Rundle
Bic Runga
Rush
Ed Rush & Optical
Sabled Sun
Sacrilege
Sade
Sadus
Saint Vitus
Arturo Sandoval
Oumou Sangare
Santa Sabina
Santana
Mathilde Santing
Sapata
Eric Sardinas
Thayer Sarrano
Saraya
Satariel
Joe Satriani
Saturnus
Savatage
Saviour Machine
Say Lou Lou
Scandroid
Scarling.
Scar Symmetry
Scardust
Scariot
Scarlet Sins
Scarlet Stories
John Scofield
Scorpions
Scrapomatic
Seabound
Secret Garden
Secret Sphere
Sentenced
Serenity in Murder
Sephiroth
Set Fire To Flames
Setyoursails
Brian Setzer
Seven Day Jesus
Seven Lions
Sevendust
Sevil
Shadecrown
Shaded Enmity
Shaded Red
Shadow
Shadowgarden
Shadows Fall
Shakta
Shakti
ShamRain
Anoushka Shankar
Ravi Shankar
Shanu
Shape of Despair
Shatter Messiah
Shedfromthebody
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Derek Sherinian
Annicke Shireen/Shireen
Shirock
Wayne Shorter
Shout
Sick Speed
Sienna Root
Signal Void
Talvin Singh
Sinke Dus
Silent Civilian
Silentium
Horace Silver
Silver Lake
Silver Talon
Silverchair
Silversun Pickups
Sinergy
The Sins of Thy Beloved
Siouxsie & The Banshees
Sirenia
Sirens Cry
The Sisters of Mercy
Sixpence None the Richer
Ricky Skaggs
Skarlett Riot
Skeptic
Skillet
Skitsystem
Skrika
Skumring
Skyharbor
Skytah
Slash's Snakepit
Slayer
Slipknot
Slowdive
Slugathor
Slumber
Sly & Robbie
The Smashing Pumpkins
Jimmy Smith
Lonnie Smith
Snake River Conspiracy
Snarky Puppy
Snet
Ulf Soderberg
Soilwork
Solar Dawn
Solar Plexus
Solution .45
Solvent
Sonata Arctica
Sordid Pink
Soulbreach
Souldrainer
Soulrot
Soulscar
Spastic Ink
Special EFX
Spectral Voice
Spiritbox
Spiritual Beggars
Splendidula
Splender
Spoil Engine
StainD
Star One
The Steals
Steel Bearing Hand
Steel Pulse
Mike Stern
St0rk
Stormkeep
Straight Line Stitch
Strange Boutique
Strapping Young Lad
Street Cleaner
Strength in Numbers
Stryper
Stuck Mojo
Submersed
Sugar Ray
Suicide Commando
Sulphur Aeon
Begum Parveen Sultana
Sun Caged
Sunburst
Supuration
Susanne Sundfor
Svartkonst
Svavelvinter
Swallow The Sun
Dan Swano
Switchblade Symphony
Switchfoot
Sybreed
Sylvaine
Symphonian
Symphony X
System Divide
System of a Down
T.O.Y.
Tabla Beat Science
Ty Tabor
Tacere
Tangerine Dream
Tapping the Vein
Tarantella
Tarja
Art Tatum
Sara Tavares
Steve Taylor
The Tea Party
Tears For Fears
Tears of Anger
Susan Tedeschi
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Telemetrik
Telepopmusik
Temple Nightside
Vienna Teng
Teramaze
Terminal Function
Dan Terminus
Jacky Terrasson
TesseracT
Testament
Thalarion
The 3rd and the Mortal
The Ralph
Theatre of Tragedy
Chris Thile
Thin Lizzy
ThirdMoon
This Burning Effigy
This Ending
Tholen
Michael Thompson
ThouShaltNot
Threat Signal
Thronehammer
Thunderstone
Tiamat
Andy Timmons
To Cast a Shadow
To/Die/For
To-Mera
Todesbonden
Daniel Tompkins
The Tony Williams Lifetime
Tool
Torchbearer
Torture Division
Peter Tosh
Totengott
Toto
Tourniquet
Toxik
TOWER
Ralph Towner
Devin Townsend
TR/ST
Trail of Tears
Transwave
Trap Them
Tremonti
Trees of Eternity
Tribal Tech
A Tribe Called Quest
Tribulation
triosence
Triosphere
Triptykon
Tony Trischka
Tristania
Trivium
Trouble
Troum
Derek Trucks
Vassilis Tsabroupoulos
Turboslash
Steve Turley
Molly Tuttle
Shania Twain
Two Ton Shoe
McCoy Tyner
Type O Negative
U.K.
Hiromi Uehara
UFO
UltraKiller
Ulver
Uncle Moe's Space Ranch
Uneven Structure
Unexpect
Unicorn
Universum
Unleash the Archers
Unleashed
Univers Zero
Unlucky Morpheus
Unmoored
UnSun
Urza
V.S.O.P.
Vader
Steve Vai
Valborg
Vallenfyre
George Van Eps
Sharon Van Etten
Tara Vanflower
Vangelis
Van Halen
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Vehemence
Velvet Acid Christ
Vertical Horizon
Veruca Salt
Vespers Descent
Vetrar Draugurinn
VHS Glitch
Vila
Vintersea
Virgin Black
Visions of Atlantis
Vital Information
Vixen
VNV Nation
Voice of Eye
Voices From the Fuselage
VOLA
Volkor X
Volto!
Vornagar
Vorum
Votum
Vouna
Vulta
Vuolla
VUUR
Vuvr
Alexander Vynograd
The Wailin' Jennys
Tom Waits
Yuja Wang
Paul Wardingham
Warlock
Warning
Abigail Washburn
Watain
Watchtower
Sara Watkins
We Are The Catalyst
We Are The Fallen
Dave Weckl
Weezer
Emil Werstler
Weyes Blood
Wheel (FI)
When Nothing Remains
Emily Jane White
Whitecross
Whitesnake
White Heart
White Moth Black Butterfly
White Ward
White Willow
Widek
Wilderness King
A.A. Williams
John Williams
Cassandra Wilson
Steven Wilson
Teddy Wilson
Windhand
Wine From Tears
Wisdom of Crowds
Wishbone Ash
Witchbreed
Witchery
Witherfall
Witherscape
Within Temptation
Without Grief
Chelsea Wolfe
Wolfpack
Wolfsheim
Stevie Wonder
Moriah Woods
Phil Woods
Victor Wooten
The World Wide Message Tribe
Worm
Worm Ouroboros
Wu-Tang Clan
Zakk Wylde
Wytch Hazel
X-Fusion
Xandria
Xerath
XPQ-21
Yabby You
Yakuza
Rachael Yamagata
Yanni
Nikki Yanofsky
Yazoo
The Yeah You's
Trisha Yearwood
yelworC
Yen Pox
Yes
Larry Young
Lester Young
Dhafer Youssef
Youth Code
Yuri Yunakov
Frank Zappa
ZETA
Monica Zetterlund
Zierler
Znowhite
Zola Jesus
Zonaria
Jakub Zytecki
Banned During the Roulette:
***Due to lack of space, moved to the bottom of post #13.
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2942030#msg2942030 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2942030#msg2942030)
-
I've not read this post.
I'm in.
What a rookie banned list :lol
Edit: OK, I've checked the banned list now. The only artist I can send is Pizza Death, for every round.
-
Goddamn it’s like the fucking Roulette Olympics. :lol
In of course.
Litho, keep this thing on schedule or the cyber bullying will begin. ;D
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Goddamn it’s like the fucking Roulette Olympics. :lol
In of course.
Litho, keep this thing on schedule or the cyber bullying will begin. ;D
You better start limbering up!
No one is going to be surprised when Litho finishes this roulette before mine, he's super fucking organised and probably has write ups pre-prepared, for songs his own mental algorithm has forseen he will receive!
-
That’s an intimidating ban list and a lot of rounds AND an EP round, but I love the format so I’m gonna be a sucker and sign up anyway if you’ll have me.
-
Also, Luke sent King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard.
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Also, Luke sent King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard.
(https://media.tenor.com/lZaZ1JtbpDEAAAAC/pokemon-love.gif)
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Goddamn it’s like the fucking Roulette Olympics. :lol
In of course.
Litho, keep this thing on schedule or the cyber bullying will begin. ;D
TAC, go listen to Tonight's Decision and post some thoughts.
.
The banned list is probably too big for me, but I see a favorite band of mine that's not on there, so I'll give this a try.
But I'll probably fail miserably at the mystery song rounds.
-
So in
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Quick, somebody firm a band so I’ll have something to send.
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I'd like to play. I like this format. I've been thinking about this sort of thing for a while—using my favorite songs instead of round themes—but I don't have the gumption that you do to make it happen! (And if I did, I could never make it this involved :lol)
Also that's one hell of a banned list. I can't wait to send songs from artists I haven't heard of ;)
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Real talk, as much as I'd love to trust your abilities, 14 rounds is a lot. If each round takes one week, that's still 3.5 months, and I wouldn't count on being able to get through them that quickly considering this is your first roulette. Many first-timers have bitten of more than they can chew recently, and it has lead to some unnecessary frustration. And even if the pace is good at first, people tend to get burnt out when there's that many rounds.
I'd strongly suggest 8-10 rounds at most, and even then you might want to consider a hard cap on the number of participants or eliminations to keep the volume of music manageable.
I mean, I'm in regardless. :biggrin: But don't say I didn't warn you!
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No one is going to be surprised when Litho finishes this roulette before mine, he's super fucking organised and probably has write ups pre-prepared, for songs his own mental algorithm has forseen he will receive!
twosuitluke: Coheed and Cambria - "Welcome Home"
-5/10. Not enough didgeridoo.
Also, Luke sent King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard.
One of many notes I excised from the original, but will sprinkle in here and there, but I've now heard pretty much everything sent in 425 and Luke's current roulettes, so even if any of those artists aren't banned or rated, I'd recommend sending different songs than the ones featured there, because if I catch those I'll toss them back like the smelly trout they are.
The banned list is probably too big for me, but I see a favorite band of mine that's not on there, so I'll give this a try.
I'll probably be saying variations of this for awhile, but do note that it's a soft ban, it's mostly just an incomplete list of artists I already have an opinion of. I will accept music from artists on that mammoth list that I haven't rated 4.5 or higher unless I happen to already know it too well.
---
Edit: due to lack of omniscience, I hadn't thought to factor in how much the list of artists used during the roulette would balloon, and am out of characters to put them in the ban list. So I'll just add them here.
***Also below this list is the group Spotify/Youtube playlists and round 14 EP guidelines.
Banned During the Roulette:
*Except for round 11 and round 14, I'll talk about eligibility for those later.
10cc
A Novelist
Abduction
Actor|Observer
Agalloch
Agent Fresco
Alice Cooper
*Altherya
Amadeus Awad's Eon
Amenra
*Ancient Bards
Angra
Anthonie Tonnon
Apes & Androids
Arcane Roots
Archive
*Arcturus
*Árstíðir
Avishai Cohen
Barock Project
Beach House
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man
Better Lovers
Beyonce
*Beyond the Bridge
*Big Big Train
Black Anvil
*Black Peaks
Blanck Mass
Boards of Canada
Bob Dylan
*Bonobo
*Borknagar
Bring Me the Horizon
Brothers of Metal
*Brutus
Brymir
Caligula's Horse
*Camera Obscura
*Caro Emerald
*Carpenters
Chapel of Disease
Che Aimee Dorval
Chrome Waves
Chthonic
*Circus of Fools
Clouds
*Cobra The Impaler
Coheed and Cambria
Comus
Converge
Crimson Glory
*Crippled Black Phoenix
Cro-Mags
Daydream XI
Della Zyr
Dire Straits
*Dirt Poor Robins
*Dissona
dreamcrusher
*Dreamgrave
Drewsif Stalin's Musical Endeavors
DVNE
East of the Wall
Elder
*Eldren
Electric Light Orchestra
Enslaved
*Ereb Altor
Euphoreon
Evan Carson
Feed Me
Fishmans
Floating Points
Forest of Shadows
Foscor
*Full of Keys
Galahad
Gallowbraid
Gallows
Gazpacho
*Ghost
Gilad Hekselman
GoGo Penguin
*Golden Earring
*Greg Herriges
*Guilt Machine
*GUNSHIP
Hank Williams Jr.
Have a Nice Life
Helloween
Howe Wooten Chambers
Hypno5e
IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN
*In Vain
*Innellea
Insomnium
*Intronaut
IQ
*Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik
Jani Liimatainen
Jeff Beck
Jo Quail
*Joan Baez
Julia Holter
*Kalandra
Kampfar
Kardashev
Karnivool
Kate Bush
*Katzenjammer
Kauan
*Kayo Dot
Kendrick Lamar
*Kevin Gilbert
Khorada
*Kiko Loureiro
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Kingcrow
KISS
Knight Area
*Kosheen
*Leonard Cohen
Leprous
*Loreena McKennitt
*Lost Domain
*Lucifer's Friend
Lunatic Soul
*Mammal Hands
Manic Street Preachers
Marillion
Marina Osk
*Marketa Irglova
Mastodon
McStine & Minnemann
MESTIS
mew
mewithoutYou
Midnight Odyssey
Micah P. Hinson
Michael Nesmith
Michael Schenker Group
*Monica Heldal
Moonshade
Moonsorrow
Morrow
Motorhead
Mr. Bungle
Mutyumu
Ne Obliviscaris
Nicolas Jaar
NOFX
Nova Collective
Ocean Colour Scene
Okkervil River
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Oranssi Pazuzu
Ornette Coleman
Our Lady Peace
*Ours
*Paramore
*Pepe Deluxe
*Peter Heppner
Poly-Math
Public Service Broadcasting
*Rannoch
Replicants
Renaissance
Rishloo
*Rival Sons
*Riverside
*Rocket Moth
*Saga
*Sarah Fimm
*Seatbelts
*Seven Spires
*Seventh Wonder
Shade Empire
*Shylmagoghnar
Sieges Even
Sigh
*Ske
Skein
*Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Slushii
So Hideous
*Solefald
St. Vincent
Steely Dan
Stefano Panunzi
Sting
*Stortregn
*Submotion Orchestra
Sufi's Life
Sungazer
*Svalbard
*Sweet Billy Pilgrim
*Talk Talk
Tamino
The Amazing Devil
*The Black Queen
The Blue Nile
The Clientele
The Comet is Coming
The Cult
The Dear Hunter
The Fall of Troy
*The Far Meadow
The Mars Volta
*The Mask of the Phantasm
The Ocean
the pAper chAse
The Reign of Kindo
The Warning
The Week That Was
Threshold
Thrice
Thy Catafalque
*Timbre
*Ultravox
Victory Over the Sun
*Voyager
*Wilderun
Woe of Tyrants
Wormwood
*Yaatri
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Zeal and Ardor
Group Playlists
Round 7 playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3fzbndy2fWaJrRNC1lS6LC
+ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yX0EN_TG3U
Round 8 playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7zMhCKK6U4NfZgfOtVZ8rt
Round 9 playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/40nFVDZqoqSHgHY0hxeMwX
Round 10 playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5YjbdPyZTVrsoWDYArhsr6
Round 11 playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4IvQAexmcHUAMKUqlhHjCE
+ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctzY_BvWWDc
& two other songs not on either platform
Round 12 playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Gw5Be4b3vtE8aQovKLC9z
+
Lucifer's Friend - "Everybody's Clown"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3VAOMJj3cg
Michael Nesmith - "Wax Minute"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gueigpmBTzM
Michael Nesmith - "Capsule"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYrvrMOdB4
Michael Nesmith/The Monkees - "Listen To the Band"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f_nqaoWukI
Round 13 playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/07ghKZ4kKm3PTsfPlRkSQv
+
Seventh Wonder - "Unbreakable"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDKiemSbFhs
Seventh Wonder - "Alley Cat"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS2hgttkwck
Final Round 14 EP Guidelines:
*Up to 45 minutes
*No minimum time length, but quality + quantity is generally going to beat out just quality
*At least 3 different artists, no maximum limit
*No more than 15:00 from any one artist
*The ban on artists sent in earlier rounds is lifted for this round, except for entries that scored 8.25 or higher (they're indicated with a "*" at the bottom of post #13 in this thread, which is linked at the bottom of the soft ban list).
*Unlike earlier rounds, I will be factoring flow into the score
*Scores will be out of 30, so it will be the equivalent of three rounds of scoring in one. I'm not specifying how much of that will be devoted to flow, because since I haven't done this type of round before I'll only get a true sense of what I'm looking for as I listen through all the entries. But song quality is still a higher priority than flow, so a random collection of great songs would likely still beat out a collection of merely good songs with perfect flow.
*The submission format is the same as normal, if they are available, send both Youtube and Spotify links for the songs. But if it includes audio files not on streaming services, splices of songs for flow or other purposes, and/or is combined into a single audio file I will make that my primary listening for your entry for the round. If you do include an edited single file, please include timestamps of where any track splits are.
*Themes, narratives, stories, artwork and such are not required and won't directly be factored into the score, but if you think any of it will enhance my experience or your own by all means go for it
*Make it obvious what the title of the EP will be
*"The TAC rule: Banned list rules remain the same with one exception, known through the ages as the TAC rule: So that you can plan your EP ahead of time, if an artist you plan to use in your EP is used by someone else in an earlier regular round, you can PM me (after hangman is revealed but BEFORE first impressions are posted) and tell me that you plan to use that artist in your EP. However, once impressions are posted, you will be locked in to using that artist in your EP with at least a full song (i.e. not just a short intro/interlude), although you can choose whichever song(s) you like, including any sent already." (this rule is copied from ariich's current roulette)
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Buddy speaks wisely.
And with a banned list like that, what the hell do you need to run a roulette for!?!?! :lol :lol
I think I'll sit this one out, but will follow.
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wow that's way too many rounds and WOW that's a long banned list :lol
i'll think about it
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Yeah actually put me as a "maybe" until I read over the OP some more. With 14 rounds and that banlist I'm not even confident I'll have enough stuff to send! :lol
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Quick, somebody firm a band so I’ll have something to send.
TAC & The Wingers
Kip Winger - all the heavy lifting
Tim - kazoo
Real talk, as much as I'd love to trust your abilities, 14 rounds is a lot. If each round takes one week, that's still 3.5 months, and I wouldn't count on being able to get through them that quickly considering this is your first roulette. Many first-timers have bitten of more than they can chew recently, and it has lead to some unnecessary frustration. And even if the pace is good at first, people tend to get burnt out when there's that many rounds.
I'd strongly suggest 8-10 rounds at most, and even then you might want to consider a hard cap on the number of participants or eliminations to keep the volume of music manageable.
Yep, I've obviously thought about all of that, especially given the state of the other roulettes. You probably haven't read the whole dissertation yet, but I do reserve the right to chop off six of the rounds if things drag. And I really wanted more like 20 rounds originally, but realize that's probably not realistic. The other roulettes have been going on for 3-5 months or more anyway, so hopefully you won't get too sick of me, because I'm not going anywhere. :)
And with a banned list like that, what the hell do you need to run a roulette for!?!?! :lol :lol
I think I'll sit this one out, but will follow.
Well, one of the rounds will have growls, so maybe it was for the better. ;)
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I'm in! This will be a cake walk ;)
Actually this is the roulette I've been most excited to participate in.....at least until nick_z decides to run one, since he's my forum brother from another mother.
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the state of the other roulettes.
Some of us have feelings you know :sadpanda:
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the state of the other roulettes.
Some of us have feelings you know :sadpanda:
I know I do.... :sadpanda:
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(https://media.giphy.com/media/mGDvFv4tWxzZcw4Bn6/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e4753foh9ra9qpm9y4vtemxsdc4oxb2oq2es632xf77&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
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Cool concept, intimidating banned artists list.
Sounds exactly like my roulette to lose! Let’s go!
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ok i had just woken up when i saw this but ctrl+f'ing a lot of the kind of stuff i'd want to send absolutely none of it is pinging on the banned list so i probably don't even have to worry about it so yeah sure /in it's not like i have to send all 14 rounds all at once anyways :neverusethis:
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I call that the anti-Cyril rule. :p
Also, I would highly recommend checking your submissions on my RYM page under the artist search box since there's stuff I've rated and probably missed adding to the list. But there's tons and tons of music I haven't heard or don't know well, including lots of forum favorites and past roulette mainstays from scanning through some of them, so I doubt there is hardly anyone on the forum who wouldn't have enough to send. I mean, I have a whole round scheduled to try and acquaint myself with a lot of forum and music nerd favorites I'm aware of but just haven't really gotten around to, and it'll have dozens and dozens of artists to choose from.
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searched the same set of artists there and again none of them came up so i think i'm good
anyways i need to remember how to get my name changed here again bcuz this is the only place i still use Cyril and i'd rather just go by Crow from now on lmao
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(https://media0.giphy.com/media/R90fvailXdbry/giphy.gif?cid=790b76112f1912222fff8eb77b473fae34ba4ad37d5e39c3&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
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Yeah, you’re getting weird stuff from me, ok?
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Sure, I'm in - looks like fun!
Although damn, 14 rounds! Then again submissions are one song, so should be fine if you're able to spend enough time listening to music in any given week.
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Lots of little details some might gloss over, but the mystery song rounds are one song, the FFAs are 15:00. I listen to a lot of music, so I'm not too worried.
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Oh yes, I'd glossed over that point. To be entirely clear, the up to 15 mins should be from a single artist, right?
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Yep. I intend for rounds 10-12 to also be 15:00, but if things have been bogging down I might trim them to a song, or even cut them, but I hope not to need to do that.
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Current Standings:
ariich...................0
Cyril.....................0
Elite......................0
HOF.......................0
Lethean..................0
Puppies_On_Acid......0
romdrums..............0
senecadawg2.........0
TAC.....................0
Tomislav95..........0
twosuitluke.........0
I'm already in 9th place?
Oh....look who's already in First!
Congrats Ariich!
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Current Standings:
ariich...................0
Cyril.....................0
Elite......................0
HOF.......................0
Lethean..................0
Puppies_On_Acid......0
romdrums..............0
senecadawg2.........0
TAC.....................0
Tomislav95..........0
twosuitluke.........0
I'm already in 9th place?
Oh....look who's already in First!
Congrats Ariich!
That's just how these things go. :rollin
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I'd be tempted but you've banned Bananarama, so...... ;D
In all seriousness that ban list is awfully big.
I'll say I'll give it ago if you want another person, however if you have enough runners and ryders I'm happy to watch this from the sidelines.
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Current Standings:
ariich...................0
Cyril.....................0
Elite......................0
HOF.......................0
Lethean..................0
Puppies_On_Acid......0
romdrums..............0
senecadawg2.........0
TAC.....................0
Tomislav95..........0
twosuitluke.........0
I'm already in 9th place?
Oh....look who's already in First!
Congrats Ariich!
Hurrah, I win by alphabetical order! :lol
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If my name would be aElite, I would be in first place!
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Current Standings:
ariich...................0
Cyril.....................0
Elite......................0
HOF.......................0
Lethean..................0
Puppies_On_Acid......0
romdrums..............0
senecadawg2.........0
TAC.....................0
Tomislav95..........0
twosuitluke.........0
Oh....look who's already in First!
Congrats Ariich!
I have a crystal ball on my desk that I gaze at, and Puppies and I already had the prescience to foresee this.
ariich already won this roulette, we're just playing for second place.
Congrats Ariich! :jamaritard:
I'd be tempted but you've banned Bananarama, so...... ;D
In all seriousness that ban list is awfully big.
I'll say I'll give it ago if you want another person, however if you have enough runners and ryders I'm happy to watch this from the sidelines.
I'd love half the forum to be in on the fun if it was just up to me. I've built in some flexibility if things ever get out of hand. I'm putting you on the list. :coolio
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I'd be tempted but you've banned Bananarama, so...... ;D
In all seriousness that ban list is awfully big.
I'll say I'll give it ago if you want another person, however if you have enough runners and ryders I'm happy to watch this from the sidelines.
I'd love half the forum to be in on the fun if it was just up to me. I've built in some flexibility if things ever get out of hand. I'm putting you on the list. :coolio
Oh great. Now I'm in 10th place! :lol
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That's for speaking ill will of Jorn Lande.
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(https://i.imgflip.com/72kbha.jpg)
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:rollin
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TAC is now 12th...out of 11 players. :)
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When do we get our mystery songs? ;D
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TAC is now The Mystery Song.
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Kingshmegland is the Mystery Meat.
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When do we get our mystery songs? ;D
I want to give another day or two to see who else signs up. I've seen a few people around who are roulette participants that would add a lot of value if they joined. Dunno if they're burned out, too busy, thinking it over, or reading my OP or RYM and such to evaluate whether they're up for it.
You in, king? You have far more practice and skill at squabbling with TAC than I do, and I think we'd all miss that. :P
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In if there's still space.
Haven't read the OP, don't know what I'm getting into :metal
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When do we get our mystery songs? ;D
I want to give another day or two to see who else signs up. I've seen a few people around who are roulette participants that would add a lot of value if they joined. Dunno if they're burned out, too busy, thinking it over, or reading my OP or RYM and such to evaluate whether they're up for it.
You in, king? You have far more practice and skill at squabbling with TAC than I do, and I think we'd all miss that. :P
He'll do that regardless :biggrin:
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When do we get our mystery songs? ;D
I want to give another day or two to see who else signs up. I've seen a few people around who are roulette participants that would add a lot of value if they joined. Dunno if they're burned out, too busy, thinking it over, or reading my OP or RYM and such to evaluate whether they're up for it.
You in, king? You have far more practice and skill at squabbling with TAC than I do, and I think we'd all miss that. :P
He'll do that regardless :biggrin:
Shit, he's got my phone number. I hear it all day! :lol
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Alright I'm in, I should be able to play it fast and loose enough to send something decent for each round.
Also what does it mean when you have something listed as owned on your RYM but it has no rating? :lol
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Kingshmegland is the Mystery Meat.
Kingshmegland is hotdog.
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Kingshmegland is the Mystery Meat.
Kingshmegland is hotdog.
More like a weenie.
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Also what does it mean when you have something listed as owned on your RYM but it has no rating? :lol
Probably depends upon the example. Most likely that I have a physical or digital copy, but haven't gotten around to rating it yet (lots of those), or maybe haven't actually heard it yet. Or heard it and wasn't confident enough in a rating to give it one.
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Can Spotify listens transfer to RYM?
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Also what does it mean when you have something listed as owned on your RYM but it has no rating? :lol
Probably depends upon the example. Most likely that I have a physical or digital copy, but haven't gotten around to rating it yet (lots of those), or maybe haven't actually heard it yet. Or heard it and wasn't confident enough in a rating to give it one.
Okay, I'll ask you about the specific album when the time is right. ;D
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Can Spotify listens transfer to RYM?
Pretty much everything on RYM is input manually, but it's a great resource for keeping track of what you have and finding new music.
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Can Spotify listens transfer to RYM?
Pretty much everything on RYM is input manually, but it's a great resource for keeping track of what you have and finding new music.
How would you find new music? I feel like I have a number of resources now.
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Kingshmegland is the Mystery Meat.
Kingshmegland is hotdog.
More like a weenie.
;D
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Can Spotify listens transfer to RYM?
Pretty much everything on RYM is input manually, but it's a great resource for keeping track of what you have and finding new music.
Tah dah!!
https://rateyourmusic.com/~TACDTF
Now I have no idea what to do now. :lol
Apparently TAC was already in use....fucking asshole.
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Can Spotify listens transfer to RYM?
Pretty much everything on RYM is input manually, but it's a great resource for keeping track of what you have and finding new music.
Tah dah!!
https://rateyourmusic.com/~TACDTF
Now I have no idea what to do now. :lol
Apparently TAC was already in use....fucking asshole.
Nice! Now once you start adding stuff to your collection and rating albums and/or reviewing albums, RYM can start making recommendations. Here is what my recommendations (https://rateyourmusic.com/recommendations/puppies_on_acid/music/) looks like. You can also edit various filters to change what kind of recommendations you receive.
I mostly use it to keep track of my collection and rate stuff I listen to and write occasional reviews, but I do get some awesome rec's once in a while.
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You can also connect your Spotify account to RYM, but I'm not sure how much integration there is outside of auto creating playlists of recommendations.
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How do I add stuff? And rate it? I've been pressing a lot of buttons, but I'm going in circles.
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How do I add stuff? And rate it? I've been pressing a lot of buttons, but I'm going in circles.
Use the search at the top of the site to find albums or artists. Then you can rate albums on the album pages and add them to your collection there as well. It takes a minute to get used to the site, because it throws a lot of info at you. Which is another reason I like it, I can find info on just about any band I want.
On the artist pages there are little pull down tabs next to each of the albums where you can add them to your collection and/or rate them. I find this to be the easiest way for me.
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Live footage from Tim's house.
(https://i.giphy.com/media/de5bARu0SsXiU/giphy.webp)
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Jeez, is that Windows 3.11? I could see Tim using that still. :lol
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How do I add stuff? And rate it? I've been pressing a lot of buttons, but I'm going in circles.
Use the search at the top of the site to find albums or artists. Then you can rate albums on the album pages and add them to your collection there as well. It takes a minute to get used to the site, because it throws a lot of info at you. Which is another reason I like it, I can find info on just about any band I want.
Update! :metal :metal
https://rateyourmusic.com/~TACDTF
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/AthleticAdvancedAmethystsunbird-size_restricted.gif)
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Uh oh, he has it working, now we won't see him for about a decade.
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I approve of your Images and Words rating. :)
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I think I'll post the first two mystery songs tomorrow evening. Since I'm sure it'll take a bit for everyone to listen and send, that'll give a bit more time after that for any other stragglers to join.
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(https://i.imgflip.com/72kbha.jpg)
Do you have this saved somewhere? I swear it's like the fifth time you posted this. :lol
I really like the concept of mystery rounds, so I'm in! Gotta say though, 14 rounds and 15 participants (and counting) looks daunting. I definitely wouldn't be able to pull it off even when I could listen to music at work.
Can't wait to find out that the videos for mystery songs are not available in my country. :lol
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I'll list the artist and song titles, so if they're blocked for some reason you can try and look up alternate videos, or find them from other providers. Worst case scenario maybe I can just e-mail you MP3s.
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:tup
Titles should be enough, I can find the files should that be necessary.
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I’m not in to playl but I find it interesting you’ve banned Absent Hearts but not Voyager. Those two are super related.
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Also, I've scanned your banned list and Mastodon aren't there?! Are there going to be lots of other glaring omissions? I'm assuming there will be.
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I think I'll post the first two mystery songs tomorrow evening.
So if I have this straight, you'll send two mystery songs, and then we send a song in a similar style?
Do you have this saved somewhere? I swear it's like the fifth time you posted this. :lol
I have the picture saved, but not the caption, but the caption is always similar because he looks like he has to take a shit when he sings. :lol
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I think I'll post the first two mystery songs tomorrow evening.
So if I have this straight, you'll send two mystery songs, and then we send a song in a similar style?
So wait do we choose which song we want to send a song similar to? Or send two songs?
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I think I'll post the first two mystery songs tomorrow evening.
So if I have this straight, you'll send two mystery songs, and then we send a song in a similar style?
So wait do we choose which song we want to send a song similar to? Or send two songs?
I think two songs will have something in common, and we have to send another song similar to them.
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I think I'll post the first two mystery songs tomorrow evening.
So if I have this straight, you'll send two mystery songs, and then we send a song in a similar style?
So wait do we choose which song we want to send a song similar to? Or send two songs?
I think two songs will have something in common, and we have to send another song similar to them.
Send 5 songs, got it
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I think I'll post the first two mystery songs tomorrow evening.
So if I have this straight, you'll send two mystery songs, and then we send a song in a similar style?
So wait do we choose which song we want to send a song similar to? Or send two songs?
I think two songs will have something in common, and we have to send another song similar to them.
Send 5 songs, got it
And then 15 songs in the free for all rounds, right.
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Do you have this saved somewhere? I swear it's like the fifth time you posted this. :lol
I have the picture saved, but not the caption, but the caption is always similar because he looks like he has to take a shit when he sings. :lol
You should watch Ronnie Atkins sing.
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Yeah, but Jawn only looks like he's dying.
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Also, I've scanned your banned list and Mastodon aren't there?! Are there going to be lots of other glaring omissions? I'm assuming there will be.
Neither is Coheed! That's two bands I can send :metal
Though he does have 5 Mastodon albums on his RYM
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I’m not in to playl but I find it interesting you’ve banned Absent Hearts but not Voyager. Those two are super related.
Yeah, so that's because on August Earth the vocalist is Daniel Tompkins, one of my favorites. I guess technically someone could send their next one, which I believe has a different singer, but Dan's involvement was my main reason for liking them. And I've heard a few songs from Voyager, but no full albums yet, so they're on the table.
Also, I've scanned your banned list and Mastodon aren't there?! Are there going to be lots of other glaring omissions? I'm assuming there will be.
I'm sure there will be, but that's not really one of them, Vmad has found the key...
Though he does have 5 Mastodon albums on his RYM
To get a fuller picture, you have to combine the soft ban list with my RYM. I've heard enough Mastodon to know what they're about, but I haven't really been fully onboard with them yet. Their latest was the first album of theirs I thoroughly enjoyed, but even then I'm not super familiar with it. I like Brann's drumming, he's probably my favorite vocalist of them, I recognize their talent, and I like a couple songs, but on the whole they haven't hit for me. So they're up for grabs, as someone could potentially find a song(s) that connects with me, but they are a bit risky. Hardcore-derived bands in general to be that way for me, I'm more selective about them.
I think I'll post the first two mystery songs tomorrow evening.
So if I have this straight, you'll send two mystery songs, and then we send a song in a similar style?
I'm leaning towards sending two songs in the rock/metal-oriented rounds, and three in the other rounds, since they will be further out from standard DTF tastes and will give people more optionality (and me more songs/artists to recommend). So you listen to those, and send one song back. Doesn't necessarily have to be in the same genre, some of you probably won't have extensive libraries of those particular styles, but ideally I should be able to hear something in it that connects back to one of the songs I sent.
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Alright, so I'm gonna leave sign-ups open for quite some time. I'd love to get a few more in, I have a few in mind in particular, but I don't want to name anyone and have everyone else feel left out. :p I'll even allow people to come in rounds later like wolfking and I did in Luke's if they want once they see all the fun they've been missing out on. :biggrin:
But I'm going to open up round one submissions now. To keep my minuscule inbox here from going nuclear, send submissions to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com, but I'll try and check both just in case people forget. Youtube links are easiest for me to manage, but pretty much anything else is ok as well.
Round one should be a softball to warm up. Maybe not my specific slant on it, but the styles in general.
Kingfisher Sky - "To Turn the Tables" - from the To Turn the Tables EP, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqNziM06n-8
Odyssey - "Amon-Ra" - from the Odyssey EP, 1999
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CEhn5WeXVU
Send back one song that reminds me of something about the vibes of either of these.
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Jeez, 10 and 7 minutes? Didn't realize there'd be homework. :biggrin:
Listening now.
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I think I got a song to submit already! :metal
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Jeez, 10 and 7 minutes? Didn't realize there'd be homework. :biggrin:
"Reciprocity" is in the title, after all. ;)
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Jeez, 10 and 7 minutes? Didn't realize there'd be homework. :biggrin:
I haven't even finished reading the OP. ;D
This is going to cut into my Katatonia listening. :lol
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Litho, if you have other people in mind, just send out some PMs.
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Sent something, let me know if you got it.
By the way, I don't think you addressed this in the OP but are you accepting songs in other languages?
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Whoops. Sent to your inbox here. :facepalm: I'll send it to you via email as well, just in case.
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Sent! I hope it's in one of those magic keys. :D
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Jeez, 10 and 7 minutes? Didn't realize there'd be homework. :biggrin:
I haven't even finished reading the OP. ;D
This is going to cut into my Katatonia listening. :lol
These are the sorts of posts that keep me coming back to roulettes :rollin
Well done boys :tup
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Litho, if you have other people in mind, just send out some PMs.
I kind of hoped everyone would just find it organically and didn't want to really badger anyone, but I did just send a few invites to see if there are any bites.
Sent something, let me know if you got it.
By the way, I don't think you addressed this in the OP but are you accepting songs in other languages?
Received.
Yeah, those are fine for me. Sometimes I even prefer them. A good chance I suppose to point out again that lyrics are low on my list of priorities in evaluating music. They can enhance or detract, certainly, but I'm more concerned about vocal quality and delivery, instrumentation, production and such.
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Litho, if you have other people in mind, just send out some PMs.
I kind of hoped everyone would just find it organically and didn't want to really badger anyone, but I did just send a few invites to see if there are any bites.
I had never considered playing in a roulette until I received a PM invite, which I totally appreciated.
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Sent something that sort of has some similarities to the Kingfisher Sky song kinda maybe
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I have a RYM question.
When I set up my account, I listed my favorite 5 bands. How can I add to that list?
EDIT..Found it!
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Litho, if you have other people in mind, just send out some PMs.
I kind of hoped everyone would just find it organically and didn't want to really badger anyone, but I did just send a few invites to see if there are any bites.
I had never considered playing in a roulette until I received a PM invite, which I totally appreciated.
That's a good point, I'd returned to posting here regularly for over a year and was just overwhelmed skimming one or two, so I didn't even consider joining at first, but have subsequently found they're absolutely worth the bit of effort.
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I have listened to the two songs and have less of an idea of what to send than before.
The Egyptian feel of Amon-ra had me contemplating Nile, but they're banned!
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Sent. I tried not to overthink it because I kinda felt the same as twosuitsluke after listening.
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Sent. I tried not to overthink it because I kinda felt the same as twosuitsluke after listening.
Now I think about it, they both did sound a lot like the band I was planning to send anyway...
(https://media.tenor.com/TtuWYyYO1XkAAAAC/monkey-look-the-other-way.gif)
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Sent. I tried not to overthink it because I kinda felt the same as twosuitsluke after listening.
Now I think about it, they both did sound a lot like the band I was planning to send anyway...
The layers of the onion will get deeper as we go along. :) Part of the intention with the mystery song rounds is for people to go into them with no preconceived notions of what to send, and purely respond to what musical ideas the songs I send elicit. And then the pre-planned bands you've been thinking about are for the FFAs and possibly some of the later rounds.
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Fun fact: I've already listened to one song, and probably have enough for a write-up just from jotting down notes as they came to me. I just need to congeal them into a pithier first impression, and then obviously more listens later on to see how my opinion evolves and see what else I notice.
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Interesting picks for the first rounds songs. A Dan Swano one off band and a band I've heard of but never listened to before.....Challenge accepted! :corn
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I probably won't update this often later, but while things are fresh and I'm in the mood for it...
Listened to four songs so far. One is a bit better than the other three. Those are all virtually tied right now, each has aspects I like more about it than the others, and other facets I don't enjoy quite as much, though nothing that outright annoys me. I'll clearly need more listens to try and weigh all of that. All good songs though, no duds yet.
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All good songs though, no duds yet.
That's because I haven't sent my song yet.
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A Dan Swano one off band
Technically a two-off, but yes, he has lots and lots of those. That just happens to be one of my favorites. It was actually a relatively late substitution. I had two different candidate songs in that spot originally, but when lonestar started his top 50 countdown I decided I should plan to do one too in the near future, but don't want to overlap too much with anything here, and those other songs will be in that 50, so this was a perfect substitute.
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So the first thing I thought of sending after listening to that Kingfisher Sky song was Ten Courts of Diyu, but you've already rated the new Therion album :lol
Back to the drawing board :corn
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Therion is kind of on the borderline of being banned, even though they're not on the list. I've heard a decent number of their albums (including a few I haven't rated) and liked them, but haven't totally fallen in love with any of them yet. So yeah, I'd prefer you send something different, but I might give that song another listen and give you a quick impression anyway.
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Therion is kind of on the borderline of being banned, even though they're not on the list. I've heard a decent number of their albums (including a few I haven't rated) and liked them, but haven't totally fallen in love with any of them yet. So yeah, I'd prefer you send something different, but I might give that song another listen and give you a quick impression anyway.
Yeah, I definitely want to dig up stuff you haven't heard before. Don't worry, my music library is vast!
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Oh and I may have missed this in the OP, but do you prefer we just PM you the Youtube links?
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Oh and I may have missed this in the OP, but do you prefer we just PM you the Youtube links?
Email them.
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I'm not sure if I put it in the OP without checking, but if you can, try and send them to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com so my inbox here doesn't combust into a pile of cackling emojis.
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I'm not sure if I put it in the OP without checking, but if you can, try and send them to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com so my inbox here doesn't combust into a pile of cackling emojis.
Roger that. :tup
:jamaritard:
:zombiepile:
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Where'd you find that? :lol
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hey, I'm up for playing.
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Where'd you find that? :lol
Just one of the many secret forum emojis.
Aaaaaannnnd.....sent!
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Sent!
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Sent.
Trying not to think too much about these.
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Both of those are great tunes. I believe if I got any of those (especially Odyssey one) I would rate them almost perfectly. Litho, you have to join my roulette ;D
Sent something heavy.
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Sent something not heavy, as is my custom! We’ll see how that works out I guess! I was just glad the Kingfisher Sky song wasn’t that heavy.
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I'm in for this. I'm probably going to be an outlier in the sense of "you think THIS sounds like THAT?" but that's the Stadler secret sauce.
I'll be sending later today.
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I have to say, I haven't listened to metal much this year. From one listen, Kingfisher Sky song was enjoyable and I'd rank it somewhere around 7-7.5/10, I'm mildly interested in checking this band further. Odyssey however I didn't like much, wouldn't rank it higher than 5/10.
Sending in a few minutes. Just need to decide if I should go with prog rock or metal.
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Love the Kingfisher Sky song - instant reaction was send something by The Gentle Storm....surprising not on the ban list, but a quick check of your RYM and you've reviewed it, so that's out.
The Odyssey song reminds me of the more chuggy grunge bands AiC and Soundgarden - I like the song but much prefer the first one. I had a couple of options here (that don't appear on your ban or RYM) but to be honest I wasn't happy with either.
So I still looking, I have one in mind but it's very loose on sounding like either track, do we get penalties for straying to far from the sound you are after?
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I'm in for this. I'm probably going to be an outlier in the sense of "you think THIS sounds like THAT?" but that's the Stadler secret sauce.
That's exactly what I'm counting on. :tup
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Both of those are great tunes. I believe if I got any of those (especially Odyssey one) I would rate them almost perfectly.
Odyssey however I didn't like much, wouldn't rank it higher than 5/10.
Two opposite psychological strategies, I love it. ;D
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I would like to say I sent a way better song than that Odyssey song. :P
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I like both songs. The Kingfisher Sky especially. I'm sending the first thing that came to my mind when I heard it, but like Stadler said, a lot of my submissions are probably going sound like non sequiturs.
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but like Stadler said, a lot of my submissions are probably going sound like non sequiturs.
That's half the fun, that some entries hopefully will sound like similar (possibly better, but unlikely) versions of what I sent that I wouldn't have thought of, and others won't at all, but I can still see a connection between them, and they're serendipitously great anyway.
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Sent!
I have to say, I haven't listened to metal much this year. From one listen, Kingfisher Sky song was enjoyable and I'd rank it somewhere around 7-7.5/10, I'm mildly interested in checking this band further. Odyssey however I didn't like much, wouldn't rank it higher than 5/10.
Sending in a few minutes. Just need to decide if I should go with prog rock or metal.
So what have you been listening to this year? And where have you been? I haven't seen your name around here in a while.
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OK, sent :tup
Time to see what's up
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That's half the fun, that some entries hopefully will sound like similar (possibly better, but unlikely)
:lol
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That's half the fun, that some entries hopefully will sound like similar (possibly better, but unlikely)
:lol
Well mine will not sound similar, but will sound better.
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That's half the fun, that some entries hopefully will sound like similar (possibly better, but unlikely)
:lol
I've spent decades hunting high and low for music that uniquely suits my taste. The odds that you'll stumble in at the last minute and find something even better are stacked heavily against you. :p But hey, every once in awhile someone wins the lottery.
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Is there still room for me? I've only just found out about this ;D
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(https://media3.giphy.com/media/Y3HOoCbucVHlHDbvVe/giphy.gif?cid=790b761124fc38680a99801b3e3ed313fac0305c7fb4d7d8&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
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Missed this one.
So I still looking, I have one in mind but it's very loose on sounding like either track, do we get penalties for straying to far from the sound you are after?
No, just the further away they are (and if they don't happen to drift towards a different sound I like), the more risk there is that they won't connect with me. The safest strategy is to find songs just like them that I'm not familiar with. But music that's more distant from them but still shares some elements in common could resonate with me, you never know. I'm hoping for a spread of both approaches among the whole pool, and the ones I've listened to so far are definitely bearing that out.
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Litho, did you get my entry the other night? Having some trouble with that email account that I sent it from.
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Litho, in terms of what's banned - is there anything in the "soft banned list" that I wouldn't pick up if I just use your RYM (which is how I do my ban lists as well)? Just a little confusing having two separate sources if both are needed, but I can do it if necessary.
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Litho, in terms of what's banned - is there anything in the "soft banned list" that I wouldn't pick up if I just use your RYM (which is how I do my ban lists as well)? Just a little confusing having two separate sources if both are needed, but I can do it if necessary.
I did a quick search for someone I thought about sending on his RYM page and got a million unrelated results, so I didn't even bother after that!
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We have someone joining who is pretty swamped the next month and may not be sending in the early rounds, but should be more free after that. I'm gonna be pretty lenient in general, especially with all of the holidays, this is often the busiest time of year for a lot of people.
Litho, did you get my entry the other night? Having some trouble with that email account that I sent it from.
I did.
Litho, in terms of what's banned - is there anything in the "soft banned list" that I wouldn't pick up if I just use your RYM (which is how I do my ban lists as well)? Just a little confusing having two separate sources if both are needed, but I can do it if necessary.
I did a quick search for someone I thought about sending on his RYM page and got a million unrelated results, so I didn't even bother after that!
If your search has more common words it's going to pull in other artists that also have those words in their names or albums, but it should still be listed alphabetically, so you might need to scroll down or go to the next page or two. I'm sure there is music I'm familiar with that didn't make it to the soft ban list, other music that didn't make to RYM, and some that didn't make it to either. It's definitely best to check both the list and RYM if you can, but don't worry too much about it, if you send something I'm already too familiar with I'll let you know so you can resend.
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So what have you been listening to this year? And where have you been? I haven't seen your name around here in a while.
Mostly acoustic albums, lots of instrumental guitar and piano music. I still listen to metal I suppose, but I haven't been discovering anything new in the genre and also wasn't checking most of the new albums that came out. As for where I have been, I explained it in the post in Luke's roulette (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=56792.msg2932770#msg2932770). Him reaching out to me was actually the catalyst for me to start posting again.
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Big Hath (miss him) sent me Odyssey / Amon Ra in one of my roulettes. I enjoyed it bigly.
Jesus tap-dancing Christ ... 19 players and 14 rounds! :omg: Litho, I admire your zeal but man alive, that's a bold effort for a 1st roulette!
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So what have you been listening to this year? And where have you been? I haven't seen your name around here in a while.
Mostly acoustic albums, lots of instrumental guitar and piano music. I still listen to metal I suppose, but I haven't been discovering anything new in the genre and also wasn't checking most of the new albums that came out. As for where I have been, I explained it in the post in Luke's roulette (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=56792.msg2932770#msg2932770). Him reaching out to me was actually the catalyst for me to start posting again.
I'm glad you're back. :)
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So what have you been listening to this year? And where have you been? I haven't seen your name around here in a while.
Mostly acoustic albums, lots of instrumental guitar and piano music. I still listen to metal I suppose, but I haven't been discovering anything new in the genre and also wasn't checking most of the new albums that came out. As for where I have been, I explained it in the post in Luke's roulette (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=56792.msg2932770#msg2932770). Him reaching out to me was actually the catalyst for me to start posting again.
I'm glad you're back. :)
100% dude! I can't imagine how hard the last year or so has been for you, your friends your family. I'm glad you're back here and hoping that shooting the shit about music, with friends, is helping some.
I feel for old times sake we should do a plug.dj session and get loads of us involved :heart
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So what have you been listening to this year? And where have you been? I haven't seen your name around here in a while.
Mostly acoustic albums, lots of instrumental guitar and piano music. I still listen to metal I suppose, but I haven't been discovering anything new in the genre and also wasn't checking most of the new albums that came out. As for where I have been, I explained it in the post in Luke's roulette (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=56792.msg2932770#msg2932770). Him reaching out to me was actually the catalyst for me to start posting again.
I'm glad you're back. :)
:heart
I'm glad you're back here and hoping that shooting the shit about music, with friends, is helping some.
It does somewhat.
I had a good friend in Ukraine, known him for like 15 or 16 years, and now all of a sudden we're not friends anymore as he's blaming me for what's happening and I really can't argue this (I've tried but it's pointless), not with his parents' houses being bombed by the very country I live in.
I feel for old times sake we should do a plug.dj session and get loads of us involved :heart
I'd be down for that!
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I feel for old times sake we should do a plug.dj session and get loads of us involved :heart
I'd be down for that!
Apparently plug.dj doesn't work anymore. :lol
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So what have you been listening to this year? And where have you been? I haven't seen your name around here in a while.
Mostly acoustic albums, lots of instrumental guitar and piano music. I still listen to metal I suppose, but I haven't been discovering anything new in the genre and also wasn't checking most of the new albums that came out. As for where I have been, I explained it in the post in Luke's roulette (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=56792.msg2932770#msg2932770). Him reaching out to me was actually the catalyst for me to start posting again.
I'm glad you're back. :)
100% dude! I can't imagine how hard the last year or so has been for you, your friends your family. I'm glad you're back here and hoping that shooting the shit about music, with friends, is helping some.
I feel for old times sake we should do a plug.dj session and get loads of us involved :heart
Unfortunately Plug.dj is no more. I started a Discord server a while back for some of us DTFers to listen to music together, but then the Discord music bots all stopped working. I could potentially integrate my Plex server with the Discord server, but I haven't had time to look into that.
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I feel for old times sake we should do a plug.dj session and get loads of us involved :heart
I'd be down for that!
Apparently plug.dj doesn't work anymore. :lol
Ahhh dude, that sucks. Those sessions used to be so much fun. Surely there is something similar out there?
So what have you been listening to this year? And where have you been? I haven't seen your name around here in a while.
Mostly acoustic albums, lots of instrumental guitar and piano music. I still listen to metal I suppose, but I haven't been discovering anything new in the genre and also wasn't checking most of the new albums that came out. As for where I have been, I explained it in the post in Luke's roulette (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=56792.msg2932770#msg2932770). Him reaching out to me was actually the catalyst for me to start posting again.
I'm glad you're back. :)
100% dude! I can't imagine how hard the last year or so has been for you, your friends your family. I'm glad you're back here and hoping that shooting the shit about music, with friends, is helping some.
I feel for old times sake we should do a plug.dj session and get loads of us involved :heart
Unfortunately Plug.dj is no more. I started a Discord server a while back for some of us DTFers to listen to music together, but then the Discord music bots all stopped working. I could potentially integrate my Plex server with the Discord server, but I haven't had time to look into that.
Puppies, that sounds great. How much work would that be?
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I had a good friend in Ukraine, known him for like 15 or 16 years, and now all of a sudden we're not friends anymore as he's blaming me for what's happening and I really can't argue this (I've tried but it's pointless), not with his parents' houses being bombed by the very country I live in.
I'm so sorry to hear that. Maybe eventually he'll come around a little bit. Or not, but I hope so. Sometimes misdirecting anger helps people feel a little better or at least distracts them a little.
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Yeah, working customer service taught me that sometimes the problem people were excessively frustrated or angry with is just the most proximate and visible thing they can latch onto. They can't always address what's really bothering them, so you're a convenient target for them to unload on.
In roulette updates, I'm still waiting on submissions from a number of you. I'd rather listen to everything once before piling on multiple listens to the earliest entries.
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You've got mine right?
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Yep.
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Pretty sure I sent mine...
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Yep.
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I feel for old times sake we should do a plug.dj session and get loads of us involved :heart
I'd be down for that!
Apparently plug.dj doesn't work anymore. :lol
That's good because there'd be no way I would remember how it works. It was a damn miracle I figured it out in the first place.
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So what have you been listening to this year? And where have you been? I haven't seen your name around here in a while.
Mostly acoustic albums, lots of instrumental guitar and piano music. I still listen to metal I suppose, but I haven't been discovering anything new in the genre and also wasn't checking most of the new albums that came out. As for where I have been, I explained it in the post in Luke's roulette (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=56792.msg2932770#msg2932770). Him reaching out to me was actually the catalyst for me to start posting again.
I'm glad you're back. :)
100% dude! I can't imagine how hard the last year or so has been for you, your friends your family. I'm glad you're back here and hoping that shooting the shit about music, with friends, is helping some.
I feel for old times sake we should do a plug.dj session and get loads of us involved :heart
Unfortunately Plug.dj is no more. I started a Discord server a while back for some of us DTFers to listen to music together, but then the Discord music bots all stopped working. I could potentially integrate my Plex server with the Discord server, but I haven't had time to look into that.
Puppies, that sounds great. How much work would that be?
I think it will be relatively easy, I will just need to test a few things.
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So what have you been listening to this year? And where have you been? I haven't seen your name around here in a while.
Mostly acoustic albums, lots of instrumental guitar and piano music. I still listen to metal I suppose, but I haven't been discovering anything new in the genre and also wasn't checking most of the new albums that came out. As for where I have been, I explained it in the post in Luke's roulette (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=56792.msg2932770#msg2932770). Him reaching out to me was actually the catalyst for me to start posting again.
Well, like the others said, I'm really glad to see you back. Even though I haven't been around very much lately either, you've definitely been in my thoughts. :-* :-*
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Let's go slackers! Get your songs in!!!
(https://67.media.tumblr.com/3ca0733492ec67418337b18e039cd049/tumblr_mryio1OUee1s34yxlo4_250.gif)
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:rollin
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oh yeah i've been too busy all week stressing about a youtube premiere to even start thinking about this but i can check it now
where are the songs i need to listen to. show me
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oh yeah i've been too busy all week stressing about a youtube premiere to even start thinking about this but i can check it now
I saw it in my feed tonight, but...it's an hour long!
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oh yeah i've been too busy all week stressing about a youtube premiere to even start thinking about this but i can check it now
where are the songs i need to listen to. show me
send submissions to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com, but I'll try and check both just in case people forget. Youtube links are easiest for me to manage, but pretty much anything else is ok as well.
Round one should be a softball to warm up. Maybe not my specific slant on it, but the styles in general.
Kingfisher Sky - "To Turn the Tables" - from the To Turn the Tables EP, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqNziM06n-8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqNziM06n-8)
Odyssey - "Amon-Ra" - from the Odyssey EP, 1999
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CEhn5WeXVU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CEhn5WeXVU)
Send back one song that reminds me of something about the vibes of either of these.
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oh yeah i've been too busy all week stressing about a youtube premiere to even start thinking about this but i can check it now
I saw it in my feed tonight, but...it's an hour long!
yeah you wouldn't care about any of it anyways so :hat
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Could you, just to make it easier for us, place links to the post(s) containing the round’s songs in the OP?
Thank! Will try to send something today :)
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Sent something I'm surprised you didn't even have wishlisted :corn
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Could you, just to make it easier for us, place links to the post(s) containing the round’s songs in the OP?
That's a good idea, sure.
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i have sent
woe, plague be upon ye
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Sent
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Sent, first ever
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I might be ready to send this evening, but if not then should certainly be tomorrow. As I say, future rounds should be much quicker!
EDIT: Sent!
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So we now have 18/19 entries. You will never guess who is left. :neverusethis:
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Surely not my namesake!
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So we now have 18/19 entries. You will never guess who is left. :neverusethis:
Elate!
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(https://external-preview.redd.it/lbAXR9OHJiOeiqRW8QFUKxN3Z7Mg8Ap2hE-pxDd_gB4.jpg?auto=webp&s=25025725986e7448b484573aaec12d42708c631b)
Somebody wake up Elite!
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This is another reason why roulettes can last forever even if the host is quick. :lol
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Shame him on the thread title ;D
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Litho, want to start eliminations before we even get going? :rollin
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:lol
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I'll just say, his song better be worth the wait. :D
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I'll just say, his song better be worth the wait. :D
Did you not see what he sent in the last round for me? Good lord
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Isn't he in the Netherlands? A lot of my favorite vocalists are there, so if he's scrambling to record a brand new band to submit with Anneke van Giersbergen or something like that, that will definitely be an acceptable excuse. :hat
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I heard Elatebergen has already recorded their new album, but the record company is WAITING for them to deliver it.
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I have a question... will you take into account whether you can tell if someone put some thought into sending a similar track to the ones you sent? Will/how could that be reflected in the scoring?
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This reminds me of the time when I put lots and lots of thought into Puppies' Rush themed roulette, only to have people send stuff like "this song is poppy and so are some Rush songs..."
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I have a question... will you take into account whether you can tell if someone put some thought into sending a similar track to the ones you sent? Will/how could that be reflected in the scoring?
I'm not directly weighing it, per se. An unrelated great song is still a great song and can score well. But I can definitely tell some people thought about it more than others, with varying results, but it's probably at least subconsciously boosted a few entries. I'm looking for both stuff similar to my songs that I've overlooked, as well as music I'd never have even thought of, which is part of the benefit of having higher participation, so I'm more likely to get some of each.
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But trying to tailor a song in a similar style is...restrictive..for someone trying to do the right thing, as opposed to others that say fuck it and send whatever, no?
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Well, that might be riskier, particularly if you don't have a grasp of what I like. But some people probably don't care, and that's cool, I like having them anyway. :) The purpose of the mystery songs is to show people a particular side of my taste, to give a theme to the feel of each round, for me to recommend music, and to feel like I'm participating in my own roulette, particularly since I'm dozens of roulettes of participation behind a bunch of you. That's why I have a variety of types of rounds, some are more boxed-in intentionally, others are wide open.
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Got it. Just asking. :)
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And it also brings up something early on that I've been thinking about off and on since then.
And with a banned list like that, what the hell do you need to run a roulette for!?!?! :lol :lol
It's true, I have a lot of music, and I spend a lot of time looking for more. I don't need any new music, I already have more than I'll ever be able to fully digest. But I think it's the positive angle of FOMO. As much as I look, I have my own biases and blind spots, and sometimes other people can realize things about you that you don't even grok yourself. People here all have been on different musical journeys than me, have different things to offer, and this gives me an excuse to spend time thinking more deeply about whatever they have to share that they think I might find interesting.
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This reminds me of the time when I put lots and lots of thought into Puppies' Rush themed roulette, only to have people send stuff like "this song is poppy and so are some Rush songs..."
In hindsight I should have been more strict with the theme in that roulette, but eh.... I still enjoyed a lot of what you and everyone else sent. In the end it's all just fun and games. :corn :metal
And it also brings up something early on that I've been thinking about off and on since then.
And with a banned list like that, what the hell do you need to run a roulette for!?!?! :lol :lol
It's true, I have a lot of music, and I spend a lot of time looking for more. I don't need any new music, I already have more than I'll ever be able to fully digest. But I think it's the positive angle of FOMO. As much as I look, I have my own biases, and sometimes other people can realize things about you that you don't even grok yourself. People here all have been on different musical journeys than me, and this gives me an excuse to spend time thinking more deeply about whatever they have to share that they think I might find interesting.
This is why I still run roulettes. I mean my active music library consists of over 10,000 albums and that's after culling a bunch of albums I still had but hated, even after trying them multiple times. This also doesn't count all the classical music I have on vinyl and all the classic rock/pop/etc music that I grew up with and know quite intimately, but never bought those particular albums. I don't need new music, but I love the game and have fun running roulettes.....and participating in them.
-
I don't need new music, but I love the game and have fun running roulettes.....and participating in them.
Yes!
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And also, some of my favorite music is from discoveries I've made in the last few years that wasn't even on my radar at all a decade ago, sometimes new music or new to you music is better or more suited to your shifting tastes than all the music you already own is.
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Sent!
-
(https://media0.giphy.com/media/lA3qoZE4TKQhi/200w.gif?cid=6c09b9523db6w4uqzp4fn8k8ayyq596a6239g2otwtwgn4fj&rid=200w.gif&ct=g)
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Sent!
Pics or it didn't happen.
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(https://media.tenor.com/3am-okBuWsUAAAAM/yankee-doodle-pigeon-carrier-pigeon.gif)
-
??: ___________ - _____ ___ _______
??: _____ ___ _______ - ________ _____
??: ______ ____ - _ _______ _____
??: ______ _______ - _____ __ ___ ___
??: __ - _ _______
??: _______ - _______ _____ ____
??: ________ - _______ ____ ___ ___ ______
??: ____ ___________ - __ ______'_ ___
??: ______ - ______
??: _____ - _________
??: ________ __ _____ - _________
??: ___ ___ ______ - _ ______ _______
??: ________'_ _____ - _________
??: ____ - ____ ___ __
??: _ ________ - ______ ______
??: _______ ____'_ ___ - ___________
??: ____ ______ - __ ___ _______ ____ __ _____
??: ________ - _'__ ____ _______ _
??: ________ __ - ___________
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Caligula’s Horse - Marigold
IQ - A Missile
-
T
-
M
-
Can I Buy a Vowel? :laugh:
-
??: ___________ - _____ ___ _______
??: _____ t__ _m_____ - ________ ___t_
??: _____t ____ - _ M______ _____
??: ______ ______t - _____ T_ ___ ___
??: IQ - A Missile
??: _______ - _m_____ _____ ___t
??: __t_____ - _____m_ ____ ___ t__ T____t
??: ____ ___m_t_____ - M_ __t___'_ ___
??: T_m___ - ______
??: _____ - ____t____
??: ___t____ __ M_t__ - _________
??: T__ ___ M_____ - _ ___t__ _______
??: Caligula's Horse - _________
??: ____ - ____ __m __
??: _ _______t - _____t ___t__
??: _m_____ ____'_ ___ - _______t___
??: ___t __m___ - __ t__ ___t___ ___m __ ___t_
??: ________ - _'__ ____ _______ _
??: _______m __ - _____tt____
Letters guessed: T, M
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Cyril already sent A Novelist I see
-
E
Litho, can you keep a list of the chosen letters at the bottom?
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Caligula’s Horse - Marigold
Wrong song.
Can I Buy a Vowel? :laugh:
Gotta make sure the check clears first. :)
Litho, can you keep a list of the chosen letters at the bottom?
Yeah, definitely a learning curve to this.
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Daydream XI-Forgettable
I had asked for an E, please.
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Six Roaming Owls - The Great Migration (Part I)
give me the inaugural D
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I had asked for an E, please.
Saw it. I might experiment with this, but I wanna try letter updates in 2-unit increments, at least while I'm near a computer.
Six Roaming Owls - The Great Migration (Part I)
Let's make it eight.
(https://i.giphy.com/media/EeSHGOXz6eXi063dvl/giphy.webp)
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??: _e________e - ___e_ __e _______
??: _____ t_e _m___e_ - ______ed E__t_
??: _____t __e_ - _ M______ __ve_
??: ______ ____e_t - _____ T_ _ee ___
??: IQ - A Missile
??: ______d - Em___e_ _eve_ ___t
??: __t_____ - ____eme ____ ___ t_e T____t
??: ____ ___m_t___e_ - M_ __t_e_'_ ___
??: T_m___ - ______
??: Elder - Sanctuary
??: ___t_e__ __ Met__ - ___d_____
??: The Far Meadow - A Gentle Warrior
??: Caligula's Horse - D________
??: ____ - ___d __m __
Cyril: A Novelist - __ve_t _e_t__
??: _m_de__ ___d'_ E__ - _______t___
??: ___t D_m___ - __ t_e ___t___ ___m __ De_t
??: ________ - _'ve _ee_ _______ _
??: Daydream XI - Forgettable
Letters Guessed: T, M, E, D
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The Far Meadow - A Gentle Warrior
Elder - Sanctuary
-
Daydream XI is Tim
-
Daydream XI is Tim
Why would I solve my own? :lol
Daydream XI-Forgettable
-
Daydream XI is Tim
Why would I solve my own? :lol
Daydream XI-Forgettable
Why wouldn’t you!? Lol. Throw people off your scent.
I just scrolled right to the most updated Hangman …. Skipped over who solved what.
-
Wait...I have a scent?? :lol
-
I'll take the V. For Viva Emptiness.... :angel:
-
amadeus awad's eon (evermind)
caligula's horse song is dragonfly
-
N
-
??: _en_____n_e - ___e_ __e ___n_n_
??: _____ t_e _m___e_ - ______ed E__t_
??: _n___t __e_ - _ M_____n __ve_
??: ______ ____e_t - _____ T_ _ee ___
??: IQ - A Missile
??: ______d - Em___e_ Neve_ ___t
??: __t__n__ - ____eme ___n ___ t_e T___nt
??: __n_ ___m_t__nen - M_ __t_e_'_ __n
??: T_m_n_ - ______
??: Elder - Sanctuary
??: ___t_e__ __ Met__ - ___d_____
??: The Far Meadow - A Gentle Warrior
??: Caligula's Horse - Dragonfly
??: ____ - __nd __m __
Cyril: A Novelist - __ve_t _e_t__
Evermind: Amadeus Awad's Eon - _n___n_t__n
??: ___t D_m__n - _n t_e ___t_n_ ___m __ De_t_
??: ________ - _'ve _een _____n_ _
??: Daydream XI - Forgettable
Letters Guessed: T, M, E, D, V, N
-
think a few lines got bunched up into one there :rollin
I love __nd __m __CyrilA Novelist - __ve_t _e_t__EvermindAmadeus Awad's Eon - _n___n_t__n by ____ !!!
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Yeah, I'm sure there's more of that to come as I get used to manipulating all the code.
(https://i.giphy.com/media/quEsMOrr3hmQ8/giphy.webp)
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I'll try and narrow it down for the thread, but here's a link to my 1984 Spotify playlist I made a few years ago.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wGYDAki2KymgnMfKceHLU?si=72001a64c62f4c37
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The A Novelist one is Caveat Lector
Give me the A
-
I'll try and narrow it down for the thread, but here's a link to my 1984 Spotify playlist I made a few years ago.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wGYDAki2KymgnMfKceHLU?si=72001a64c62f4c37
Tim, was this meant for the other thread?
-
Lost Domain, probably Nick
-
I'll try and narrow it down for the thread, but here's a link to my 1984 Spotify playlist I made a few years ago.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wGYDAki2KymgnMfKceHLU?si=72001a64c62f4c37
Tim, was this meant for the other thread?
Yes! :facepalm:
:lol
-
I'll try and narrow it down for the thread, but here's a link to my 1984 Spotify playlist I made a few years ago.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wGYDAki2KymgnMfKceHLU?si=72001a64c62f4c37
Tim, was this meant for the other thread?
Yes! :facepalm:
:lol
As long as you now post hangman guesses in the other thread, order is restored.
But seriously, Litho you should probably check the other thread for Tim's guesses.
-
The night is still young!
-
R
-
Buddy sent Elder.
-
O
-
I'll try and narrow it down for the thread, but here's a link to my 1984 Spotify playlist I made a few years ago.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wGYDAki2KymgnMfKceHLU?si=72001a64c62f4c37
I don't even know where to start with this one. The pre-90s round is not until round 12. If you want to only limit yourself to '84 and go on hard mode, that's up to you. Youtube is better for me than Spotify. 118 songs is really overzealous. We're trying to post results before Luke, and that just throws a wrench into my plans. How many are you sending for round 2? I'm also pretty sure I banned Deep Purple, Dokken, Metallica, Rush, Stryper, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Whitesnake, Anthrax, Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Iron Maiden, and Queensryche. And tacdtf, what kind of username is that and how many bottles did it take for you to get to that level of keyboard mashing?
-
:lol
Posted in the wrong thread. ;D
TAC was taken on Spotify, so I just went with TACDTF. I ran into the same issue with opening a RYM account, so I'm TACDTF there too.
-
That's the worst excuse I've ever heard for "I got potato chips stuck under the all caps key".
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You just update the hangman! :P
-
I'll try and narrow it down for the thread, but here's a link to my 1984 Spotify playlist I made a few years ago.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wGYDAki2KymgnMfKceHLU?si=72001a64c62f4c37
I don't even know where to start with this one. The pre-90s round is not until round 12. If you want to only limit yourself to '84 and go on hard mode, that's up to you. Youtube is better for me than Spotify. 118 songs is really overzealous. We're trying to post results before Luke, and that just throws a wrench into my plans. How many are you sending for round 2? I'm also pretty sure I banned Deep Purple, Dokken, Metallica, Rush, Stryper, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Whitesnake, Anthrax, Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Iron Maiden, and Queensryche. And tacdtf, what kind of username is that and how many bottles did it take for you to get to that level of keyboard mashing?
:vomitard:
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??: Rena___an_e – A__e_ Are __rn_n_
??: _o_ra t_e _m_a_er – __or__ed Eart_
??: _n___t Area – A M____on __ve_
??: _aro__ _ro_e_t – _a___ To _ee _o_
??: IQ – A Missile
??: _a_a_ad – Em__re_ Never _a_t
??: __t_on__ – ___reme _a_n _or t_e T_rant
??: _an_ ___mata_nen – M_ _at_er'_ _on
??: Tam_no – _a____
Buddyhunter1: Elder – Sanctuary
??: _rot_er_ o_ Meta_ – ___dra___
??: The Far Meadow – A Gentle Warrior
??: Caligula's Horse – Dragonfly
??: _a_a – __nd __m __
Cyril: A Novelist – Caveat Lector
Evermind: Amadeus Awad's Eon – _n_arnat_on
??: Lost Domain – _n t_e _a_t_n_ Room o_ Deat_
??: _a__a__o – _'ve _een _a___n_ _
??: Daydream XI – _or_etta__e
Guessed Letters: T, M, E, D, V, N, A, R, O
-
IS one of the bands Brothers of Metal?
-
Galahad-Empires Never Last-Puppies?
Renaissance-Ashes Are Burning-Soundscape?
-
Seriously considered sending IQ, now I'm glad I didn't. Not quite sure about the song choice though.
-
Cobra the Impaler - Scorched Earth
And I didn’t send them, so I don’t know who did. TAC maybe?
-
IS one of the bands Brothers of Metal?
(https://comb.io/R0MwTM.gif)
I'll try and narrow it down for the thread, but here's a link to my 1984 Spotify playlist I made a few years ago.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wGYDAki2KymgnMfKceHLU?si=72001a64c62f4c37
I don't even know where to start with this one. The pre-90s round is not until round 12. If you want to only limit yourself to '84 and go on hard mode, that's up to you. Youtube is better for me than Spotify. 118 songs is really overzealous. We're trying to post results before Luke, and that just throws a wrench into my plans. How many are you sending for round 2? I'm also pretty sure I banned Deep Purple, Dokken, Metallica, Rush, Stryper, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Whitesnake, Anthrax, Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Iron Maiden, and Queensryche. And tacdtf, what kind of username is that and how many bottles did it take for you to get to that level of keyboard mashing?
:lol
Hold on here, trying to post before me? Well you just made my job a bit easier, I just wrote a one line review of your submission :corn
-
Jani Liimatainen - My Father's Son
-
Cobra the Impaler - Scorched Earth
And I didn’t send them, so I don’t know who did. TAC maybe?
I'm pretty sure it wasn't TAC ;)
More Belgium bands might find their way into the next rounds
-
Hold on here, trying to post before me? Well you just made my job a bit easier, I just wrote a one line review of your submission :corn
That's ok, because I only need one word for yours.
(https://i.giphy.com/media/3o84srlFElFgKejXFu/giphy.webp)
Jani Liimatainen - My Father's Son
Not sure what the protocol on people not in the roulette guessing entries is, but I like that it's so fun even people not playing are feeling part of it. :biggrin:
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Baroque Project-Happy To See You
S
-
??: Renaissance – Ashes Are Burning
??: Cobra the Impaler – Scorched Earth
??: _n___t Area – A M____on __ves
??: Barock Project – Happy To See You
??: IQ – A Missile
??: Galahad – Empires Never Last
??: __t_on__ – S__reme _a_n _or t_e T_rant
??: Jani Liimatainen – My Father's Son
??: Tam_no – _a____
Buddyhunter1: Elder – Sanctuary
??: Brothers of Metal – ___dras__
??: The Far Meadow – A Gentle Warrior
??: Caligula's Horse – Dragonfly
??: Sa_a – __nd __m __
Cyril: A Novelist – Caveat Lector
Evermind: Amadeus Awad's Eon – _n_arnat_on
??: Lost Domain – _n t_e _a_t_n_ Room o_ Deat_
??: _a__a__o – _'ve _een _a___n_ _
??: Daydream XI – _or_etta__e
Guessed Letters: T, M, E, D, V, N, A, R, O, S
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Chthonic-Supreme Pain For The Tyrant
Is Lonestar playing??
It's definitely Luke
-
Chthonic-Supreme Pain For The Tyrant
Is Lonestar playing??
It's definitely Luke
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/84/e9/0d/84e90df8695b892b987a6286f8893ea1.gif)
Caligula's Horse is Romdrums
-
Galahad-Empires Never Last-Puppies?
Evermind sent that to me once. Great tune
Jani Liimatainen - My Father's Son
^ Great fucking release this year.
Knight Area - A Million Lives
Amadeus Awad's Eon is Incarnation Not my fave song from that EP, but still :tup
Barock Project is King
Lost Domain - In the Waiting Room of Death - definitely Tim
Saga - Wind Him Up... Stads?
-
The Daydream XI song ....is Forgettable apparently. :lol
-
??: Renaissance – Ashes Are Burning
??: Cobra the Impaler – Scorched Earth
??: Knight Area – A Million Lives
??: Barock Project – Happy To See You
??: IQ – A Missile
??: Galahad – Empires Never Last
twosuitluke: Chthonic – Supreme Pain for the Tyrant
??: Jani Liimatainen – My Father's Son
??: Tam_no – _a____
Buddyhunter1: Elder – Sanctuary
??: Brothers of Metal – ___dras__
??: The Far Meadow – A Gentle Warrior
??: Caligula's Horse – Dragonfly
Stadler: Saga – Wind Him Up
Cyril: A Novelist – Caveat Lector
Evermind: Amadeus Awad's Eon – Incarnation
TAC: Lost Domain – In the Waiting Room of Death
??: _a__a__o – _'ve _een _a___n_ _
??: Daydream XI – Forgettable
Guessed Letters: T, M, E, D, V, N, A, R, O, S
-
BTW, if someone better with Paint than me has time to kill at work I wouldn't mind a Christmas hat on the egg. :)
-
OK, Romdrums didn't send Caligula's Horse. Clearly I'm destined to keep guessing Tomislav95 until I get it right.
OK, here goes...
Tomi sent Caligula's Horse
-
Wow. I don't recognize almost any of these submissions.
-
BTW, if someone better with Paint than me has time to kill at work I wouldn't mind a Christmas hat on the egg. :)
Calling Zydar. Zydar to the rescue!
-
BTW, if someone better with Paint than me has time to kill at work I wouldn't mind a Christmas hat on the egg. :)
Calling Zydar. Zydar to the rescue!
I tried using the photo thingy I did for my border, but the Alien Egg didn't have a face, so it couldn't put a hat on it.
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OK, Romdrums didn't send Caligula's Horse. Clearly I'm destined to keep guessing Tomislav95 until I get it right.
OK, here goes...
Tomi sent Caligula's Horse
I love Caligula's Horse. I love Bloom. And I love Dragonfly. But no, again.
;D
-
BTW, if someone better with Paint than me has time to kill at work I wouldn't mind a Christmas hat on the egg. :)
Calling Zydar. Zydar to the rescue!
I tried using the photo thingy I did for my border, but the Alien Egg didn't have a face, so it couldn't put a hat on it.
Sounds technical :lol
OK, Romdrums didn't send Caligula's Horse. Clearly I'm destined to keep guessing Tomislav95 until I get it right.
OK, here goes...
Tomi sent Caligula's Horse
I love Caligula's Horse. I love Bloom. And I love Dragonfly. But no, again.
;D
Goddammit dude, why can't you send something that I can guess? Bloody selfish if you ask me
-
And I thought I was predictable ;D
-
BTW, if someone better with Paint than me has time to kill at work I wouldn't mind a Christmas hat on the egg. :)
Calling Zydar. Zydar to the rescue!
Google to the rescue!
Am I doing it right?
(https://www.creativefabrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/27/christmas-hat-kawaii-egg-background-Graphics-19329730-1-1-580x387.jpg)
Wait, different egg?
-
Got this from google images. I suppose it could be cropped.
(https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Funwisdom.org%2Fchadspace%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Falien-000001.jpg&hash=0ca4158fe2d3cc201c1cc8a9a27051c383850268)
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There we go. My hack crop job hopefully does the trick. Great find TAC!
-
Amadeus Awad's Eon is Incarnation Not my fave song from that EP, but still :tup
I chose it because it reminded me of that Odyssey - Amon-Ra tune the most.
-
Cobra the Impaler - Scorched Earth
And I didn’t send them, so I don’t know who did. TAC maybe?
I'm pretty sure it wasn't TAC ;)
More Belgium bands might find their way into the next rounds
Right! You did then! I wondered who knew of them as well.
I sent stuff from Belgium too :) (and will probably do so later in the roulette as well)
-
RYM says I've heard 19 Belgian artists, my favorite of them being Hooverphonic and Azmari. Be interesting to see what you come up with. This is actually a fairly international round, which is cool.
-
This is actually a fairly international round, which is cool.
LET ME STAND UP LIKE A TAIWANESE!!
(https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/ar0/579ca15d010448f28f23512546768f31.jpg)
-
Tamino
L
-
??: Renaissance – Ashes Are Burning
??: Cobra the Impaler – Scorched Earth
??: Knight Area – A Million Lives
??: Barock Project – Happy To See You
??: IQ – A Missile
??: Galahad – Empires Never Last
twosuitluke: Chthonic – Supreme Pain for the Tyrant
??: Jani Liimatainen – My Father's Son
??: Tamino – _a____
Buddyhunter1: Elder – Sanctuary
??: Brothers of Metal – ___dras_l
??: The Far Meadow – A Gentle Warrior
??: Caligula's Horse – Dragonfly
Stadler: Saga – Wind Him Up
Cyril: A Novelist – Caveat Lector
Evermind: Amadeus Awad's Eon – Incarnation
TAC: Lost Domain – In the waiting Room of Death
??: _a__a__o – _'ve _een _al__n_ _
??: Daydream XI – Forgettable
Guessed Letters: T, M, E, D, V, N, A, R, O, S, L
-
Brothers of Metal song is Yggdrasil.
B
-
Gazpacho - I’ve been walking 1 (or 2)
-
Romdrums: Renaissance – Ashes Are Burning
Nachtmerrie: Cobra the Impaler – Scorched Earth
Soupy: Knight Area – A Million Lives
HOF: Barock Project – Happy To See You
Puppies: IQ – A Missile
Elite: Galahad – Empires Never Last
twosuitluke: Chthonic – Supreme Pain for the Tyrant
Soundscape: Jani Liimatainen – My Father's Son
Sacul: Tamino – _a____
Buddyhunter1: Elder – Sanctuary
Luke: Brothers of Metal – Yggdrasil
Ariich: The Far Meadow – A Gentle Warrior
Vmadera: Caligula's Horse – Dragonfly
Stadler: Saga – Wind Him Up
Cyril: A Novelist – Caveat Lector
Evermind: Amadeus Awad's Eon – Incarnation
TAC: Lost Domain – In the waiting Room of Death
Tomi: Gazpacho – _'ve _een _al__n_ _
Lethean: Daydream XI – Forgettable
-
I love the conviction up there!
-
No conviction whatsoever! :lol
-
??: Renaissance – Ashes Are Burning
Nachtmerrie: Cobra the Impaler – Scorched Earth
??: Knight Area – A Million Lives
??: Barock Project – Happy To See You
??: IQ – A Missile
??: Galahad – Empires Never Last
twosuitluke: Chthonic – Supreme Pain for the Tyrant
??: Jani Liimatainen – My Father's Son
??: Tamino – _ab_b_
Buddyhunter1: Elder – Sanctuary
??: Brothers of Metal – Yggdrasil
??: The Far Meadow – A Gentle Warrior
Vmadera00: Caligula's Horse – Dragonfly
Stadler: Saga – Wind Him Up
Cyril: A Novelist – Caveat Lector
Evermind: Amadeus Awad's Eon – Incarnation
TAC: Lost Domain – In the waiting Room of Death
??: Gazpacho – I've Been Walking I
Lethean: Daydream XI – Forgettable
Guessed Letters: T, M, E, D, V, N, A, R, O, S, L, B
-
3 out of 13!! :metal
Litho, Gazpacho has been solved as well as Yggdrasil.
-
I think you looked before I edited it. The songs are fixed, the senders are still not correct. You technically accused Luke of cheating, but two is 116 less than 118. :p
-
Sacul: Tamino – _a____
I've never heard of them :lol
-
You can keep guessing entry senders if you want, and the identity of the Tamino song should be as easy as a Steph Curry free throw, but I'm probably posting early impressions tomorrow if I can, been out of the house a lot lately. I'm actually well past the first listen, but more on that later. Getting the impressions right is really its own art form that I don't think I'm that great at yet, but I'll just have to get them out there, and maybe get a better hang of them by later rounds.
-
Can't believe you haven't posted results yet :neverusethis:
OK fuck it..
HOF sent Renaissance
Tomi sent Knight Area
Seneca sent Brothers of Metal
Puppies sent Liimatainen
Romdrums sent Galahad
Elite sent Barock Project
Ariich sent The Far Meadow
Soupytwist sent IQ
Soundscape sent Tamino
Sacul sent Gazpacho
-
You can keep guessing entry senders if you want, and the identity of the Tamino song should be as easy as a Steph Curry free throw, but I'm probably posting early impressions tomorrow if I can, been out of the house a lot lately. I'm actually well past the first listen, but more on that later. Getting the impressions right is really its own art form that I don't think I'm that great at yet, but I'll just have to get them out there, and maybe get a better hang of them by later rounds.
There's different ways to do it, but I just take a note of the first impression as I go through those first listens, and then sometimes go back and tweak the wording if there are a few where I want to say something similar (either conceptually, or different points but using similar language) to make it more fun. By the time I post them I'm inevitably well through my 2nd listen or sometimes even starting on my 3rd (depending on how much listening I can get in and how quickly hangman goes) but the first impressions stay as they were when I wrote them.
-
HOF sent Renaissance
Tomi sent Knight Area
Seneca sent Brothers of Metal
Puppies sent Liimatainen
Romdrums sent Galahad
Elite sent Barock Project
Ariich sent The Far Meadow
Soupytwist sent IQ
Soundscape sent Tamino
(https://media.tenor.com/gLS5dh6HX34AAAAC/luke-sky-walker.gif)
Except this one. :)
Sacul sent Gazpacho
-
I'll be honest, I only felt confident about that one and HOF. Did HOF send Tamino then?
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You can keep guessing entry senders if you want, and the identity of the Tamino song should be as easy as a Steph Curry free throw, but I'm probably posting early impressions tomorrow if I can, been out of the house a lot lately. I'm actually well past the first listen, but more on that later. Getting the impressions right is really its own art form that I don't think I'm that great at yet, but I'll just have to get them out there, and maybe get a better hang of them by later rounds.
There's different ways to do it, but I just take a note of the first impression as I go through those first listens, and then sometimes go back and tweak the wording if there are a few where I want to say something similar (either conceptually, or different points but using similar language) to make it more fun. By the time I post them I'm inevitably well through my 2nd listen or sometimes even starting on my 3rd (depending on how much listening I can get in and how quickly hangman goes) but the first impressions stay as they were when I wrote them.
Yes same here. My First Impression is a One listen impression. It's funny because, as Rich says, by the time I post them, I'm on multiple listens and they may no longer even be truly reflective about how I ultimately rank the song, good or bad.
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Yeah, I'd like to do that, but on a number of them I just wasn't sure what my impression was. A bunch were just, "hmm, I liked some elements, wasn't into other elements as much, I guess we'll see how things sort out on further listens". A few are still going to come across like that anyway, but it would have been too many. I don't know if it's just a skill I haven't developed, if my brain just isn't wired for those sort of initial concise observations, or it's just a consequence of theming the round and getting a decent number of similar-ish songs. So I'm going to call them "early impressions", because some of them took a second or third listen to get an idea of what I think, though I'm going to try and still capture the initial feeling rather than anything that might have grown on me or that I noticed on later listens. I might very well change my mind, but at the moment it feels like the impressions are harder to write than the full writeups, but I guess we'll see.
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Early Impressions. Good. Let's have 'em!
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Do you get audio alerts when I post or something? I think you posted before I could even edit in a couple things. :lol
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(https://i.imgflip.com/73wgcj.jpg)
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Yeah, I'd like to do that, but on a number of them I just wasn't sure what my impression was. A bunch were just, "hmm, I liked some elements, wasn't into other elements as much, I guess we'll see how things sort out on further listens". A few are still going to come across like that anyway, but it would have been too many. I don't know if it's just a skill I haven't developed, if my brain just isn't wired for those sort of initial concise observations, or it's just a consequence of theming the round and getting a decent number of similar-ish songs. So I'm going to call them "early impressions", because some of them took a second or third listen to get an idea of what I think, though I going to try and still capture the initial feeling rather than anything that might have grown on me or that I noticed on later listens. I might very well change my mind, but at the moment it feels like the impressions are harder to write than the full writeups, but I guess we'll see.
Yeah for sure. First impressions don't need to all be evaluative though. I'll sometimes go with something descriptive, e.g. "this reminds me of..." or "this sounds like..." which can be used even if I've no idea what I think of it yet.
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So this has answered a few questions I had about roulettes, but hadn't asked yet, or seen discussion of in any of the ones I skimmed. Namely, is it ok to talk up your song in PMs, and is it ok to send videos of the songs. It appears to be so, but I ignored all of that initially, purely going off the audio in my first three listens. So here they are without any further ado.
Early Impressions:
1: This is a melding of a branch of prog I find intriguing, and another I don't know as well, but I'm not sure there's quite enough payoff for all of the buildup.
2: Not what I was expecting, but actually now I'm not sure what I was expecting. You may have found some of the hacks into my taste though, because I'm really digging this, especially the heavy guitar tones.
3: You took a big risk, but it might pay off, this is more fun than I remembered.
4: A lot of really cool elements individually, but I'm not sure they all quite come together.
5: This feels like cheating, but like 425, I encourage cheating.
6: This might be the most impressive blending of some of the unique features of my two songs, but it also goes beyond them in other ways.
7: 24 hours after listening, I couldn't remember a note of it. After the second play, I had the chorus stuck in my head the next day. Go figure.
8: I really want to just replay this one again and skip the rest of my listening for the night. I love the enchanting vocals, and what tasty drum and cymbal tones.
9: A bold salvo, we'll see if it was worth it.
10: There is a lot of interest going on instrumentally, but I think the vocals are going to sink this one.
11: I was worried this might be the lowest scoring one of the round yet in the first minute or two, but it won me over by the end.
12: In a vacuum I should love this, especially with some of the more unique elements, but it's not standing out as much as I'd like it to.
13: I'm so glad you've brought this band back to my attention. Sick bass tone, and what a vocalist.
14: The guitars really carry this one, but I'm not sure it'll be quite enough.
15: You've found a golden loophole. Bravo!
16: I could see this band having other songs I would like more than this one.
17: Not quite what I thought they'd sound like. An intoxicating cinematic and moody vibe, but I'm not sure I'm into the vocalist.
18: What an inauspicious beginning, which turned out to be prophetic initially, because I couldn't remember a thing about it the next day. Maybe it'll grow on me though.
19: Heavier than I expected, and with some cool synths, this seems promising.
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So this has answered a few questions I had about roulettes, but hadn't asked yet, or seen discussion of in any of the ones I skimmed. Namely, is it ok to talk up your song in PMs, and is it ok to send videos of the songs. It appears to be so, but I ignored all of that initially, purely going off the audio in my first three listens. So here they are without any further ado.
I've done it before, but not always. If there's a certain part that stands out to me that makes it special, I may draw the attention of the host to it, namely a guitar solo, a vocal passage, or maybe the lyrics.
As a host, I generally encourage my players to tell me what they like about what they're sending.
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6: This might be the most impressive blending of some of the unique features of my two songs, but it also goes beyond them in other ways.
I put some thought into what I sent as it relates to the songs you sent, so..
Is this one mine?
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6: This might be the most impressive blending of some of the unique features of my two songs, but it also goes beyond them in other ways.
I put some thought into what I sent as it relates to the songs you sent, so..
Is this one mine?
Some of them I thought could be too obvious, but yep. ;)
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Oh good. I can go to bed now! :lol
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As a host, I generally encourage my players to tell me what they like about what they're sending.
It's definitely an interesting idea, although in some of my own submissions to 425 or Luke I wanted more of a tabula rasa effect and for them not to have any preconceived ideas about what the material would sound like. Ideally I might have drawn their attention to particular things later on.
I'll be honest, I only felt confident about that one and HOF. Did HOF send Tamino then?
Went back and noticed I hadn't addressed this. Still nope. It seems people kind of lose interest in previous parts of a roulette round once we're onto the next one, so I'm anticipating hangman guesses drying up, and at this point it's probably detective work for people for people to figure them out, or just lucky guesses. I'll fill them out in a day or two with the correct senders once impression guesses start petering out. Hopefully by then I'll be close to posting results. Theoretically I might already have enough notes to do it, but eight of these are over 9:00, so I think I need a few more listens to really give them the respect they deserve.
Barock Project is King
Also saw this nugget again. Someone not in the roulette guessing someone also not in the roulette. ;D
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Gonna guess 7 or 18. Best case, maybe 8 (at least I think the drum sound is pretty nice).
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I have no idea which one is mine.
But I will say, the track I chose was the 3rd or 4th track I picked, after thinking that a couple of others would have made sense, but not as much.
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Honestly I have no clue which one is mine, but I hope it’s the one where you couldn’t remember it nd then later had the chorus stuck in your head. (#7). It might also be 9/11/12 though.
Found out why I sent this song based on your songs yet? :biggrin:
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I don't know, maybe 5 given that it has Russell Allen on it?
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It seems people kind of lose interest in previous parts of a roulette round once we're onto the next one, so I'm anticipating hangman guesses drying up, and at this point it's probably detective work for people for people to figure them out, or just lucky guesses. I'll fill them out in a day or two with the correct senders once impression guesses start petering out. Hopefully by then I'll be close to posting results.
Litho, when it comes to Hangman and First Impressions, I never let either go over 48 hours. Just keeps things moving and on schedule. I have been pretty good about keeping my one week per round schedule. 10 days at the absolute most but that's an extreme rarity..
As a host, you just have to read the room on when Hangman or Impressions peter out. Not every player even participates or guesses letters.
The only time I didn't include Who Sent What was during my Anonymous Roulette.
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Litho, has anyone guessed theirs right yet? Just to help narrow mine down.
I feel mine could be either...
4, 9, 10, 12 or 17?
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Best case, maybe 8 (at least I think the drum sound is pretty nice).
Ding ding!
It might also be 9...though.
Found out why I sent this song based on your songs yet? :biggrin:
Yep.
Nope. Other than the Egyptian theme and scales in "Amon-Ra", and because Tamino is part-Egyptian and incorporates elements of that culture and instrumentation into his music (though not so much on the track you sent). Maybe that's all you meant, unless there's more to it?
I don't know, maybe 5 given that it has Russell Allen on it?
No, but you're close.
I feel mine could be either...12
There it is. Worried? :p
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I feel mine could be either...12
There it is. Worried? :p
Nah, you said it yourself, it's not standing out as much as you'd like it to. You want to love it, your body yearns for it...
(https://64.media.tumblr.com/f157d905013726f109ffca5b2ee2dc8f/tumblr_ps4govSn6u1tmhsds_400.gif)
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18.
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17?
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I feel mine could be either...12
There it is. Worried? :p
Nah, you said it yourself, it's not standing out as much as you'd like it to. You want to love it, your body yearns for it...
:lol
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Best case, maybe 8 (at least I think the drum sound is pretty nice).
Ding ding!
:coolio
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I feel mine could be either...12
There it is. Worried? :p
Nah, you said it yourself, it's not standing out as much as you'd like it to. You want to love it, your body yearns for it...
:lol
I've got his number ;)
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18.
Nope.
17?
Yep.
I've got his number ;)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/kOt8uLnsQnBba7bmyN/giphy.webp)
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Litho, can you update the Impressions with the correct guesses?
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10 steps ahead of you. :p
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Early Impressions:
1: This is a melding of a branch of prog I find intriguing, and another I don't know as well, but I'm not sure there's quite enough payoff for all of the buildup.
2: Nachtmerrie - Cobra the Impaler - "Scorched Earth" - Not what I was expecting, but actually now I'm not sure what I was expecting. You may have found some of the hacks into my taste though, because I'm really digging this, especially the heavy guitar tones.
3: You took a big risk, but it might pay off, this is more fun than I remembered.
4: A lot of really cool elements individually, but I'm not sure they all quite come together.
5: This feels like cheating, but like 425, I encourage cheating.
6: TAC - Lost Domain - "In the Waiting Room of Death" - This might be the most impressive blending of some of the unique features of my two songs, but it also goes beyond them in other ways.
7: 24 hours after listening, I couldn't remember a note of it. After the second play, I had the chorus stuck in my head the next day. Go figure.
8: HOF - The Far Meadow - "A Gentle Warrior" - I really want to just replay this one again and skip the rest of my listening for the night. I love the enchanting vocals, and what tasty drum and cymbal tones.
9: Elite - Tamino - "Habibi" - A bold salvo, we'll see if it was worth it.
10: There is a lot of interest going on instrumentally, but I think the vocals are going to sink this one.
11: I was worried this might be the lowest scoring one of the round yet in the first minute or two, but it won me over by the end.
12: twosuitluke - Chthonic - "Supreme Pain For the Tyrant" - In a vacuum I should love this, especially with some of the more unique elements, but it's not standing out as much as I'd like it to.
13: I'm so glad you've brought this band back to my attention. Sick bass tone, and what a vocalist.
14: The guitars really carry this one, but I'm not sure it'll be quite enough.
15: You've found a golden loophole. Bravo!
16: Brothers of Metal - "Yggdrasil" - I could see this band having other songs I would like more than this one.
17: Sacul - Gazpacho - "I've Been Walking I" - Not quite what I thought they'd sound like. An intoxicating cinematic and moody vibe, but I'm not sure I'm into the vocalist.
18: What an inauspicious beginning, which turned out to be prophetic initially, because I couldn't remember a thing about it the next day. Maybe it'll grow on me though.
19: Heavier than I expected, and with some cool synths, this seems promising.
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1?
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Nope.
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That's fair, their vocalist is certainly unique and his voice ended growing on me a lot, and I feel it fits their style quite well.
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Yeah, I might talk more broadly about this in some preliminary thoughts before posting results in a few days, but vocalists like that can be hard to give a fair shake in a single song format. Ideally you need more listens, more time inbetween, more songs, even more albums.
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Those vocals weren't that bad, especially in Pt. 1b.
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Well, it's a relative scale, but I don't want to spoil too much yet. :)
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Also, I'm not sure what other people do, but my current intention is to try not to take into account a band's other material. That has the potential for unfortunate consequences for multi-part songs that make more sense in a greater context, but I'm not sure it's fair to do it any other way.
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Also, I'm not sure what other people do, but my current intention is to try not to take into account a band's other material. That has the potential for unfortunate consequences for multi-part songs that make more sense in a greater context, but I'm not sure it's fair to do it any other way.
Pretty sure nobody takes anything other than the song submitted into consideration. Never heard of that, actually.
Oh, should I have waited in case you had to modify something. ;D
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18.
Nope.
16?
Also for stats
What's the breakdown of bands you've never heard of against the ones you knew. And songs you'd heard before against new ones to you.
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I hope 2 but 14 seems possible as well
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16?
Yes.
Also for stats
What's the breakdown of bands you've never heard of against the ones you knew. And songs you'd heard before against new ones to you.
Heard a couple albums – Renaissance - not that album, but possibly heard that song at some point separately, but didn't remember it
Heard an album – Saga - including that song once or twice, but didn't remember it
Heard a few songs – Brothers of Metal, Caligula’s Horse, IQ, Jani Liimatainen, Lost Domain - but not those particular ones to my recollection
Heard of, knew something about them, but hadn’t listened to that I can recall – A Novelist, Chthonic, Cobra the Impaler, Galahad, Gazpacho
Never heard of, or at least couldn’t have told you anything about them beforehand – Amadeus Awad’s Eon, Barock Project, Daydream XI, Knight Area, Tamino, The Far Meadow
I hope 2
Correct!
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Never heard of, or at least couldn’t have told you anything about them beforehand – Amadeus Awad’s Eon, Barock Project, Daydream XI, Knight Area, Tamino, The Far Meadow
:2metal:
I just hope it's not 2/10 or something. :lol
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Here are the filled out early impressions.
Early Impressions:
1: Tomislav95 - Galahad - "Empires Never Last" - This is a melding of a branch of prog I find intriguing, and another I don't know as well, but I'm not sure there's quite enough payoff for all of the buildup.
2: Nachtmerrie - Cobra the Impaler - "Scorched Earth" - Not what I was expecting, but actually now I'm not sure what I was expecting. You may have found some of the hacks into my taste though, because I'm really digging this, especially the heavy guitar tones.
3: Stadler - Saga - "Wind Him Up" - You took a big risk, but it might pay off, this is more fun than I remembered.
4: Vmadera00 - Caligula's Horse - "Dragonfly" - A lot of really cool elements individually, but I'm not sure they all quite come together.
5: ariich - Jani Liimatainen - "My Father's Son" - This feels like cheating, but like 425, I encourage cheating.
6: TAC - Lost Domain - "In the Waiting Room of Death" - This might be the most impressive blending of some of the unique features of my two songs, but it also goes beyond them in other ways.
7: Puppies_On_Acid - Knight Area - "A Million Lives" - 24 hours after listening, I couldn't remember a note of it. After the second play, I had the chorus stuck in my head the next day. Go figure.
8: HOF - The Far Meadow - "A Gentle Warrior" - I really want to just replay this one again and skip the rest of my listening for the night. I love the enchanting vocals, and what tasty drum and cymbal tones.
9: Elite - Tamino - "Habibi" - A bold salvo, we'll see if it was worth it.
10: Cyril - A Novelist - "Caveat Lector" - There is a lot of interest going on instrumentally, but I think the vocals are going to sink this one.
11: SoundscapeMN - Barock Project - "Happy To See You" - I was worried this might be the lowest scoring one of the round yet in the first minute or two, but it won me over by the end.
12: twosuitluke - Chthonic - "Supreme Pain For the Tyrant" - In a vacuum I should love this, especially with some of the more unique elements, but it's not standing out as much as I'd like it to.
13: senecadawg2 - Renaissance - "Ashes Are Burning" - I'm so glad you've brought this band back to my attention. Sick bass tone, and what a vocalist.
14: Buddyhunter1 - Elder - "Sanctuary" - The guitars really carry this one, but I'm not sure it'll be quite enough.
15: Evermind - Amadeus Awad's Eon - "Incarnation" - You've found a golden loophole. Bravo!
16: soupytwist - Brothers of Metal - "Yggdrasil" - I could see this band having other songs I would like more than this one.
17: Sacul - Gazpacho - "I've Been Walking I" - Not quite what I thought they'd sound like. An intoxicating cinematic and moody vibe, but I'm not sure I'm into the vocalist.
18: Lethean - Daydream XI - "Forgettable" - What an inauspicious beginning, which turned out to be prophetic initially, because I couldn't remember a thing about it the next day. Maybe it'll grow on me though.
19: romdrums - IQ - "A Missile" - Heavier than I expected, and with some cool synths, this seems promising.
Writeups are coming along nicely.
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I should add that right now the top and bottom few are fairly clear to me, but a bunch of you are clustered in the middle, and weighing high points of one song vs. another, or the high point of one vs. the consistency of another, has always been a struggle for me in evaluating and ranking bands, albums, and songs, and it's no different here. One additional listen can easily catapult a song 10 spots if I notice something else interesting about it. My rankings could very well be different in a few weeks, but at some point in the next few days I'll have to set them "in stone", oh well. And I've come to become fond of most of these, so even some of the lowest ranked ones you're going to read my writeups and think, "but wait, you seemed to like all these different things about it, so why is it ranked so low?" And yep, unfortunately that's how it'll have to be. Some will be more obvious than others what my hangup was.
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the vocals rule so we're probably not gonna get along, but that doesn't surprise me :corn
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Clearly I chose a song with the wrong title... :)
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the vocals rule so we're probably not gonna get along, but that doesn't surprise me :corn
Maybe I meant "sink", like "sink a hole-in-one". :neverusethis:
But on a few of these the tenor of my impression and their final score after many more listens may not match each other. We shall soon see...
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Done drafts of all the writeups with tentative scores, just need to edit and tweak them a bit. Aiming for tomorrow, depending upon what happens later today.
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Done drafts of all the writeups with tentative scores, just need to edit and tweak them a bit. Aiming for tomorrow, depending upon what happens later today.
Yea, you probably need to add a point or two to my score, let's be honest.
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(https://media2.giphy.com/media/l2Je2vlsUKiL6xqeY/giphy.gif?cid=790b7611b3baad0523766f131ff407c5f1cd164d255c73cb&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
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Fantastic. That first impression is looking tasty!
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(https://i.giphy.com/media/0DYipdNqJ5n4GYATKL/giphy.webp)
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So here comes my least favorite part of the roulette - disappointing people. I quite like most of the songs in this round, and some of them are going to be near the bottom. Some people have probably spent the last few days worried about my more negative impressions, and others will feel let down by more positive impressions not leading to high rankings. C'est la vie. There are plenty more rounds, and surely something else will hit better in one of them.
I should note that I'm a bit of a music theory/gear/production nerd, so I'll probably throw out things from time to time that piqued my interest and might look like Greek, but a few of you will probably understand it right away, and there should be enough that hopefully makes sense for everyone else regardless. Those in the Katatonia discography thread have probably already noticed this anyway.
Cyril - A Novelist - "Caveat Lector"
First Impression: "There is a lot of interest going on instrumentally, but I think the vocals are going to sink this one."
So, where to start with this. The first listen was a bit overwhelming, and I didn't really like it that much. After repeated listens the instrumentation kept growing on me as I got a feel for it and some of the details started becoming more noticeable.
There are a lot of cool harmonized guitar lines panned to either side. In other sections they're playing independent parts, still hard-panned, which keeps things fresh. Around 4:00 is particularly nice with the guitar melody ping-ponging from side to side in the mix. Some pretty sweet bass lines (4:29 is particularly good). Some nice organ playing, I especially like the ending with the revolving chromatic drones, and then how it ends unresolved on the second degree of the scale, it keeps the tension up. The drumming is pretty intense, but varied, with some effective tom beats, hat barks, some cross-sticking, all the way to some blasts and light speed double-bass here and there. They're a little overly triggered-sounding for my tastes, but this is definitely in the tech death direction, so that's pretty par for the course.
I like that there's some saxophone on the track, but something in the mixing is off about it, it's a bit too thin and squawky for my palate. However, I just can't get into these vocals. There seem to be three main different types of them, a varied pitch harsh delivery (probably the least rankling of the three), a moderately low-pitched clean, and a higher-pitched shouty clean, but none do anything for me. They strike me as a extreme metalified version of post-hardcore, but it's much more miss than hit. The clean harmonies in the last minute are probably the most intriguing-sounding of the vocal elements, but are just not nearly enough to save the song.
Score: 6/10
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soupytwist - Brothers of Metal - "Yggdrasil"
Early Impression - "I could see this band having other songs I would like more than this one."
This is the type of song that tends to either go right by me, or will have me pressing "repeat" over and over again. On an average album like this, 80-90% of the tracks will be the former, and maybe one or two will be the latter. Unfortunately, this is closer to the former. Numerous plays have made me appreciate it a bit more than I did at first, but I'm not sure it's going to click at this point. It has that sort of stereotypical triumphant, sing-along chorus that they're probably hoping to get 200,000 people to sing along to at Wacken. And maybe in a live environment this song really comes alive and achieves that effect. It just hasn't for me.
My favorite thing is the interplay between the vocalists. I could definitely see enjoying other material (maybe even in this band) from the primary vocalist, she has a pretty strong and melodic delivery. I notice that she guested on Orden Ogan's album last year, which I enjoyed, so I've already heard her in another context, outside of the few random songs of BoM's that I've checked out over the years. The co-vocalist has a cool gritty approach that reminds me a bit of Rene Pedersen, the current vocalist of Mercenary. Even knowing a decent amount of music theory, I've never been able to figure out what it is that makes some melodies catchy and others less so, but I suppose even hit songwriters don't have that completely down to a science either. It's just that this type of anthemic chorus you find in power metal a lot didn't hit for me here. Melodies from Swedish bands are frequently more memorable, but I suppose it doesn't always work.
Compared to many of the other songs in this round, the instrumentation is relatively bare, which is sometimes effective if the other elements are working, but here it just means there isn't enough to latch onto. I do like some of the guitar harmonies, like at 2:31 and 4:16, and there are some nice melodic bass lines.
I don't pay a whole lot of attention to lyrics and conceptual aspects of most albums, but I have always had a bit of a thing for mythology (Greco-Roman, Norse, Egyptian, etc.), so while it might not boost the score, it can't hurt. I'm not taking into account imagery either, but I have seen some of their other music videos in the past, and watched the one for this song to see if it would draw my attention to anything else musically of interest. The visuals are a bit hokey and gimmicky, which often falls flat for me, but maybe they also translate better live, and I suppose they do differentiate them from the sea of other bands.
Score: 6.5/10
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Elite - Tamino - "Habibi"
Early Impression - "A bold salvo, we'll see if it was worth it."
This is probably the most different song of the round from everything else. Increasingly over time I've come to love a lot of moody, haunting music somewhat like this. I can definitely hear the talent. He's very expressive and has an impressive amount of control over his voice. I'm not normally someone who cares about lyrics, but sometimes this type of music is more of a vehicle for storytelling and/or emotional catharsis, and from a quick glance at them it appears to be the latter. This is certainly a well-made song, and I can see how for the right type of listener this song is a powerful experience. I didn't put it in the impression, but another early vibe I had from this is that it feels a bit like an acoustic Muse song. I can still kind of hear that, but successive listens continued to establish it as more of its own entity.
But for me, I can't quite get there. The style is very minimalistic, which means I really need to connect with either the vocalist's voice or the melodies of the song. I was hoping with enough listens that at some point it would happen, but so far it hasn't. This could be a song I'll love next year, I'm not sure. Another way that songs with sparse instrumentation like this often resonate with me more is if there's more studio ambiance added, with richer reverbs, delays, and such. But that wasn't the direction they wanted to go with this, the intention seems to be for a more direct and intimate experience with vocal vulnerability. I also read that Thom Yorke is an influence of his, and that is another voice that doesn't usually gel with me. Vocal falsettos are often a risky area for me. There are examples where they work, but they aren't typical.
The instrumentation that is there does contain a number of interesting elements. I like the interplay between the two pianos panned to either side starting around 1:20. 3:07 has some cool counterpoint between the guitar on the left and the piano on the right.
Thematically, this song actually might have fit one of my later rounds better, but with this strategy, you'll probably be sending your prog metal masterpiece in that one. :-)
Score: 6.5/10
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Tomislav95 - Galahad - "Empires Never Last"
Early Impression - "This is a melding of a branch of prog I find intriguing, and another I don't know as well, but I'm not sure there's quite enough payoff for all of the buildup."
I must admit that my attention was piqued by the intro. It has a Tool-ish groove to it with the bass lick. The line over the verse at 2:33 is nice with some walking bits and all. The synthetic voice in the intro is also quite cool, and I was getting the feel of an epic journey. I particularly like how the riff evolves a bit over time, gradually going more to the sharp seventh instead of the flattened seventh to increase the tension. But ultimately, there wasn't quite enough payoff for me. One challenge is that I could never connect with the vocals.
The keyboards are definitely a nice touch and give a very unique feel among all the other songs in the round. The Rhodes in the verse in particular, but also some of the squelchy resonant acid patches that are most noticeable at a spot like 2:20. I don't like the ornamental patch so much at 3:44 and elsewhere, I'm not sure if it's the timbre or the panning, which I normally like. I like the arrangement of the patches around 0:57, with the fuzzier synth giving some bite, and the diminished chords in the other synth adding tension. The passage at 2:24 has some interesting orchestral patch hits in the background, which is a flavor I don't hear too often. Bringing in the overdriven organ at 6:55 also adds some interest to that section, but not quite enough, as it's one of a number of portions that seem to go on a bit too long for me. The choral patch at 7:49 adds some needed drama.
There is definitely some fascinating guitar work, such as a few neat harmonics starting around 0:18. I don't particularly like the muted clean guitar on the left at that spot though. Generally that sound needs more overdrive to sit in the mix right for me, or sometimes it can work with the right delay setting. The chorusing does probably make it the best of that type of sound in this round though. There are some other cool guitar tones though, like at 2:43. It makes for a really chill vibe along with the Rhodes piano. I also like the texture of the chorused guitar octaves at 5:19. The guitar solo is a little plain, it might have benefited from a bit more flair.
This is probably one of the most granular details, but it sounds like in the passages such as 2:33 that the drummer is playing the hat with his left foot, which is often a nice trick to add some interesting motion to an otherwise fairly straightforward rhythm. The flanged and ping-ponged drum loop at 7:15 is also fun. The Flintstones feet-style ending of the song with the bass and the band sting is another nice touch.
For rather inexplicable reasons the vocals and melodies just haven't fully connected with me. This song in many ways is quite similar to "Forgettable", which will come up later in the rankings, but it doesn't work as well for me. If I look at the individual components, I should like the song more, but somehow everything just doesn't add up to quite the sum of its parts.
Score: 7/10
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Sacul - Gazpacho - "I've Been Walking I"
Early Impression - "Not quite what I thought they'd sound like. An intoxicating cinematic and moody vibe, but I'm not sure I'm into the vocalist."
This is a band that occasionally pops up on lists of artists related to types of music I want to explore more, but I just never seem to get to them. The things I like about them, I really like, some of the most tantalizing and unique elements of the round. But it doesn't all completely come together, and the vocal style doesn't comport with me. If Anathema covered this and left some of the extant elements present this would likely be an amazing song. The vocals aren't so bad when they're softer, but I just don't care for his fuller timbre, it bothers me for some reason.
My favorite section is probably the last couple minutes, with the focus on ambiance and chamber strings, particularly violin. It reminds me a bit of The Village, which is one of my favorite film scores, and really, favorite albums period. It has a mysterious and haunting feel that I love. Then I also adore around 3:49, which has some beautiful understated piano, and with the exquisite elegiac vocals in the background.
The work from the rest of the band is solid as well. Some brush playing, sweeping tom fills, crunchy cymbals, delicate ride nuance at 2:25, a relaxing choral pad layering that section, some tasty organ in other spots, all are superb. Some chromatic percussion, a warm overdriven guitar tone, some acoustic chords, a bit of slide playing, and some punchy bass lines in spots, more great stuff.
Early on I was wondering if this song is going to be penalized for not being able to be placed in its proper context, as the first portion of a multi-part epic. I suppose that is still possible that it would work better with the second part, but I'm familiar enough with it now that it does seem to stand on its own, even if there's more to it. I will definitely be checking out the second part after this round just to see how it connects.
Score: 7.25/10
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romdrums - IQ - "A Missile"
Early Impression - "Heavier than I expected, and with some cool synths, this seems promising."
So this is a band that I knew a bit more about going in. I'm aware that they're a prominent exponent of the neo-prog scene (though I subsequently have read that they're a bit hesitant about associating themselves with it, but what band actually likes being labeled?). I've heard a few of their older songs a few times each, though not recently enough to really remember much about them. So fairly quickly, I was surprised at how relatively heavy they were compared to what else I've heard in the neo-prog scene, though I read that was one of their known attributes, so perhaps I don't recall the songs I heard well, or they weren't typical examples of their sound.
So while maintaining the heaviness, they are obviously quite keyboard-driven, with a lot of fabulous spacey synths and sound effects, which I really enjoy. There's also a lot of variety, with some Hammond organ work (though a tad low in the mix for my taste), and some cool dark choral patch elements punching in to accentuate some of the more unusual chord changes they move to. I love the atmosphere that creates, which gives a bit of extra "metal" kick, along with the phrygian primary melody. I went back and forth on the synth patch that becomes prominent around 2:01 and keeps coming back in various spots. It's quite bright and buzzy, at times seeming to add a unique flavor, and other times seeming a bit too much. I dig the theremin-esque melody doubling on the left around 3:43. I also like the chromatic percussion sound that peeked out a few times, such as 3:45 and the ending. Some cool warm synth bass in that section as well.
Concerning the drumming, I love high-pitched toms, and they're in abundance here, with all kinds of delectable rhythmic variety in the fills, going between triplet, herta, and 32nd note ones. The vocals are serviceable, but don't especially connect with me. The guitar work provides more of a backbone to add to the driving propulsion, but the 12-string-ish touches like around 3:43 are refreshing. Unexpected bass harmonics at 2:33, tremendous. The album cover art for this one is also pretty sweet.
All that said, I liked the song initially, but it didn't really grow any further on me, while most of the others did, and slowly leapfrogged it. It might be that I found the vocals rather plain, and there wasn't quite enough of interest from the guitars, as much as I relish the synth parts.
Score: 7.25/10
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Vmadera00 - Caligula's Horse - "Dragonfly"
Early Impression - "A lot of really cool elements individually, but I'm not sure they all quite come together."
This has been the hardest song in the round for me to get a handle on, and the one I put off 'til last for writing up, hoping for more clarity in the interim. In isolation, I like a great many things about it, which I'll get into shortly. But something about the structure and blending of them has been hard to wrap my head around. Maybe that makes it the most "progressive" song in this batch, I'm not sure.
The feel I get from them is Leprous meets Opeth. The former is a band I haven't really gotten to click yet, and maybe that's part of the issue. Based on the intro I was hoping I was going to love this, with the fingerpicked acoustics, piano, and the E-bow melody sustaining in the background. The bass and kick coordinate unusually well at 1:04 for a thick, tight, and punchy 6/8 groove, and that riff at 1:34 is pretty massive. There are a lot of interesting chord progressions, and I feel like on listen 20 or so this is going to hit me like a ton of bricks, but I'm not going to have time to get there in this roulette. Even as I work on this writeup I can feel the song very slowly growing on me, but maybe not quite enough to bump it up the rankings.
The vocals are fine in the lower and middle registers, but I don't care for the higher falsetto. That might be another part of the Leprous similarity that goes right by me. The unison section in 4:37 is pretty fun with all of the rhythmic experimentation. Some wonderful harmonies punctuate portions of the guitar solo afterwards as well. The tritonal tension in the chord at 6:55 might be favorite in the song, I keep looking forward to that moment when it reappears. Apparently their guest pianist also plays flute in other songs on this album, so I may need to check it out for those tracks.
Score: 7.25/10
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twosuitluke - Chthonic - "Supreme Pain For the Tyrant"
Early Impression - "In a vacuum I should love this, especially with some of the more unique elements, but it's not standing out as much as I'd like it to."
I was aware that Chthonic is one of the more acclaimed Asian metal bands, but for some reason I had thought they were closer to a purer strain of death metal, I didn't expect them to be this melodic. There is a lot to like here. A cornucopia of solid riffs, I particularly like the ones at 0:29 and 0:54. 1:06 is even more energetic with the same riff going, but now with stuttering double bass. For the guitars, it's not quite my preferred guitar tone, kind of Mors Principium Est-ish, but it works well enough once I acclimated to it. The solo could have been a bit longer, but they might have been going for short and sweet.
Easily the most piquant aspect was some of the traditional instrumentation they employed. There is erhu lurking around in the background fairly often, a very underrated instrument. I was initially frustrated with how low another unusual instrument was in the mix in the final section, but then it played solo to end the track, which was sublime. Apparently that is a moon lute, which is a new instrument to me. I'll definitely be looking at the rest of the album to hear how they incorporate shehnai, shakuhachi, dizi, and conch, they seem like the Taiwanese Eluveitie.
I'm pretty neutral on the vocals. They don't bother me, but they don't really catch my attention either. They sound best when they stack higher and lower ones together to emphasize certain moments. So this is yet another case of where I like many parts of it on their own, but it doesn't have quite the synergy I wish it did.
Score: 7.5/10
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Buddyhunter1 - Elder - "Sanctuary"
Early Impression - "The guitars really carry this one, but I'm not sure it'll be quite enough."
I'm finding it amusing that Mastodon was brought up early in the thread, and just in this round we have two bands a bit similar to them, that I like better than Mastodon, at least based on these tracks. The resemblance to the delivery of Brann Dailor (my favorite of their vocalists) is kind of uncanny. The drummer isn't up to that level though. And this is definitely a band where the guitars really take center stage.
The fuzzy guitar tone in stoner metal often does not work for me, but with this band it mostly does. There is a lot of textural variety in both the heavier and lighter parts, which keeps it quite engaging to listen to, which is important in a song this long, with minimal vocals and ornamental instrumentation. In particular I love the passage around 2:50 with the more chilled-out chords and then the psychedelic univibe solo. Then there's the fun passage switching between major and minor at 4:31, which perfectly foreshadows the brief key change at 5:17. I like the texture of the clean modulated arpeggios as well at 5:54. I didn't catch it the first time, but the clean riff on the right at 6:14 establishes a theme, which is brought back at 7:11 as a heavier riff. I love when bands build songs that way, and you notice all the details on later listens.
This is almost a three-for-one song. There was a partial pause to provide a segue to a different section earlier, but I like how the guitars completely ring out starting at 8:31, and then we get a brand new passage in lydian mode that sort of sounds like how Devin Townsend would come across if he tried his hand at this style of metal. Quite dreamy and hypnotic. I can see that this is one of the more intriguing things about roulettes, that you can dive a bit deeper into samples of styles that you normally tend to ignore. It's not on my list of genres I dislike or don't get, because there are a handful of other stoner-ish bands I enjoy, but the massive popularity of that style of doom-adjacent metal has tended to flummox me at times. Maybe the secret to better stoner metal is the prog elements, and maybe some of the post-metal-ish facets, such as how they are present here. But as exemplary as the guitar work is, it's not enough to overcome some of the next songs that are firing on more cylinders.
Score: 7.5/10
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Lethean - Daydream XI - "Forgettable"
Early Impression - "What an inauspicious beginning, which turned out to be prophetic initially, because I couldn't remember a thing about it the next day. Maybe it'll grow on me though."
Well, hopefully I haven't sent you spiraling into depression over the past few days worrying about this one. If I did, hopefully the bleakest Katatonia songs cheered you up. :-) As the impression hints, this was one of the two songs of the whole block that I couldn't remember anything about the next day. And somehow, just like "A Million Lives", it turned out that I just needed more time with it. By the fourth time that chorus was hitting like a hammer. I can tell I'm going to be sending mixed signals all roulette long, with two of the moodiest songs scoring low even though my tastes have drifted more and more in that direction over the years, and seemingly similar songs like this one and "Empires Never Last" that rely on a lot of build-up with repetitive riffs scoring quite differently. What can I say, some of it is just inexpressible, but I'll try.
The opening twinkling guitars playing a synchronized arpeggio is really appealing, it sort of simulates a 12-string. There are nice overdriven bass fills following it, which also come up again on occasion. The heavy guitar tone is pretty solid. They dip back into the pool again with that enigmatic passage at 6:15, with more dual acoustic guitar action (might be a piano doubling the line there as well). Some occasional fun DT-esque unison guitar/keyboard runs like at 6:09 that add panache. I love the build-up effect of 4:34 with the palm-muted chugging for one guitar part with the melodic line going for the other one. Another creative part is the teamwork at 1:07 where the left guitar starts a motif which the right guitar finishes with a stab, and it keeps cycling.
The vocals keep growing on me. At first I wanted to hear the song with a different vocalist, but by this point he's perfectly well-suited to the band. The power of that octave-unison with the high note at 1:50 knocked me back in my chair the first time I heard it, no idea why I didn't recall it the next day. 4:06 has a milder version of that trick that I relish as well. I now really look forward to 4:51 each time with the crazy tumbling lick from the whole band setting up the harmony vocals shining all by themselves for a few seconds, and how they really sell getting into that chorus. It's another one that really got stuck in my head at points over the past week or so. The interplay of the different vocal tracks ping-ponging back and forth in the stereo spectrum at 8:26 is another really cool moment.
Keyboards definitely aren't the focus here, but they add interest in a few spots. The organ patch sounds fake, but it's not a deal-breaker. There are all kinds of different pad textures that weave in and out of the mix that add some motion to what are sometimes rather static synchronized riffs from the guitars and drums. I also like the piano ending of the song.
Score: 7.75/10
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ariich - Jani Liimatainen - "My Father's Son"
Early Impression - "This feels like cheating, but like 425, I encourage cheating."
So Jani Liimatainen isn't a new name to me. The first four Sonata Arctica albums are incredible, and I really like his work with Anette Olzon in The Dark Element. I was aware he had a solo album this year, and I'd checked out a couple songs from it, but hadn't gotten around to the whole thing yet. I probably would have at some point, but I'm glad you've fast-tracked highlighting it for me.
I knew this album had some heavy-hitting special guests, but I couldn't remember exactly who, so I was trying to play a guessing game while listening. The most obvious one was the vocalist. There are moments when he's a dead-ringer for Tony Kakko. I thought at the time that Tony might have been on a track, so he was a real possibility, but there were lines vocally where he sounded different. I haven't spent nearly as much time with the post-Reckoning Night Sonata Arctica albums, so there's always the chance that vocalists sound different a decade or two than their early work that has been immortalized for you. So finding out that ultimately this wasn't Tony was perfectly fine, since this vocalist has a fascinating voice and I'll be interested in seeing what else he's done. The more aggressive chorus at 3:30 is really powerful, with splendid complimentary harmonies. In the opposite direction, I'm not normally crazy about vocal falsetto, but the brief moment around 8:32 is really pleasant.
There are also other musicians I like here, such as Rolf Pilve on drums, who has been in many bands I've liked, and while not doing anything particularly flashy, with the help of the mixing, has some fun tom work that is a joy to listen to as the different toms ping-pong around the stereo field. He tends to be buried a bit under the pile of guitars and synths, I could count at least four tracks of different guitar parts and three of synths, all seven going at once in spots. The offbeat ride bell in the 6/8 section at 5:12 is fun.
Then there's Jens Johansson, who is one of my favorite synthesizer wizards. The keyboards are quite fabulous for most of the songs with all of the sparkling synth lines and such, but there's no overt signature Jens solo or neoclassical harpsichord or such a trademark for him, so I'm not entirely clear what parts he is responsible for compared to Jani, who is also credited with keyboards on the album. The piano work in the middle is also nice. The synth part around 6:00 might be my favorite in the song.
This isn't my favorite guitar work of Jani's, but he does have some really neat moments. The acoustic solo is one, and the tone for the muted part at 4:21 is the perfect sound for that type of passage. 4:34 is a good lower-gain melodic short solo from him as well. The piano and muted guitar mirroring each other briefly at 4:40 is also delightful. Really, that whole mellower section has a lot of enjoyable rhythmic interaction between the instruments.
The main thing that bugged me about this song is the last few minutes. If starting at 7:58 was its own separate track on an album, I would probably be fine with it. It's an intriguing cinematic portion that swells nicely. It's clearly from a synthesizer and/or samples rather than being the real deal, but it doesn't irk me like some other similar songs do. The challenge is that as part of this song, if it had ended somewhere around 9:30, it probably would have capped the tune off splendidly. But it keeps going and building, so I was mentally preparing for the band to return for a final epic chorus or similar, which never came, so it was a bit anticlimactic. In isolation I really like both the band and the orchestral parts though.
Score: 7.75/10
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Evermind - Amadeus Awad's Eon - "Incarnation"
Early Impression - "You've found a golden loophole. Bravo!"
I don't know if you had any easy way to know this at the time, but Russ is one of my top 30 vocalists, and his voice is unmistakable even if the song title didn't have his name in it. And then later on noticing that it also has John Macaluso and Kevin Moore (making this a stealth DT side project) was even more serendipitous. It further has Amanda Somerville, who I haven't really directly listened to a lot, but tends to pop up all over the place in various projects and adds some welcome contrast and vivacity. I tend to like supergroup projects, so this type of venture is often exciting. Somehow I hadn't heard of it since it isn't listed under Russ's collaborations on Metal-Archives, they must not consider it "metal enough" or something.
But this is another example of where I like a lot of the elements individually, and I do really enjoy it overall, but it doesn't quite reach the heights I want it to. The melodies don't fully stick with me, and there's a certain haze in the production, particularly over the guitars and vocals, which seems to hold it back a bit. I don't know if it's that way on the CD, but both Youtube uploads of it sound that way.
A few blurbs I read described Amadeus Awad as "the Lebanese Arjen Anthony Lucassen", and I guess I can understand that, due to the consortium approach to the album, which I will absolutely be checking out later to hear the other appearances on this and other albums of his. But it's almost more apropos to call him "the Lebanese Michael Romeo" with that hyper-clean picking of his, so it's a natural pairing with Russ. He also has some savory acoustic work in the middle of the track. There is an all too brief harmony bit at 2:51, I'd have loved more of that.
This doesn't top Macaluso's work on Burn the Sun, but there's all kinds of tasty work going on with higher-pitched toms, percussion, effects cymbals and the like which is marvelous. I didn't realize Kevin Moore was still involved in the metal sphere, and he has some excellent complimentary work here with electronics, organ, piano and such.
This is another example where with the personnel involved, I could see them creating something even more ravishing, so I'll be investigating the full album for sure.
Score: 7.75/10
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senecadawg2 - Renaissance - "Ashes Are Burning"
Early Impression - "I'm so glad you've brought this band back to my attention. Sick bass tone, and what a vocalist."
This is certainly the band I came in knowing the most about. This is probably around the tipping point level of familiarity with a band before I tend to put them on the soft banned list. I'm cognizant that they've been a legend of the second or third tier of popularity of the original wave of classic prog, and felt they were probably worth exploring more in the future. I've heard Annie Haslam's name in particular come up many times over the years. I've heard two albums from the band, and own a third on vinyl that I snagged for a good deal, but hadn't gotten to dropping the needle on it yet. Neither of the two I'd heard was really a favorite yet though. The title of this song is familiar, and it's possible that I listened to it in isolation at some point or another in past years. So while this band is on my radar, I'm enjoying having them pushed to the front of the line now. I also notice that Gavin Harrison was part of the band at a later point, I may have to check that out.
Like many of the longer songs in this round, there is quite a lot of digest, and trying to weigh my feeling about each individual section into one cohesive score and ranking is a real nightmare. The bass lines start becoming more prominent around 3:17, and make for easily the best bass tone of the round. I was suspecting it's a Rickenbacher, and sure enough, live footage shows him playing one. Such a fat and distinctive sound. No question either about the 12-string guitar, organ (the percussive tone at 5:26 is quite a treat), piano, harpsichord, and bells, all are well-recorded and a joy to hear.
Annie Haslam is one of the notable highlights of this tune, though she's not in it for as long as I'd like. She has a very captivating pure tone, and I can see why she places well on some vocal lists. But not ours, where she's below Weird Al Yankovic. That ain't right. Additionally, I've read that Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash recorded the solo near the end, which was certainly another standout. I was expecting a Les Paul by the timbre, but it seems he's known more for Flying Vs. But it's a Gibson with a PAF humbucker, so close enough. I was worried that 70s and 80s bands wouldn't compete well with more modern ones, but so far they're doing quite well. I'm looking forward to spinning the album of theirs I have on vinyl after this round, it was clearly wrong of me to neglect it.
Score: 8/10
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SoundscapeMN - Barock Project - "Happy To See You"
Early Impression: "I was worried this might be the lowest scoring one of the round yet in the first minute or two, but it won me over by the end."
I'm not sure why I reacted negatively at first to the opening minute or so. I suppose it felt a bit generic, almost like stock music for a movie trailer. It didn't bug me as much on later listens. But things really get moving at 1:38, and kept getting better and better from there on out. Two of the songs from the first day of listening had completely faded from memory by listening session number two, but I still remembered the broad strokes of this one.
The keyboards seem to be the core focus of the band, and they are quite magnificent. There appear to be endless layers of cascading melodies weaving in and out throughout the piece. There is a really alluring organ solo, it sounds a bit synthetic, but isn't a big deal, it's so well-executed. I like the choral patch around 5:29, though it's a smidge loud in the mix and obscures the guitars a bit too much. The bandoneon? patch noticeable around 4:28 adds some charming additional timbral variety. Further, the violin parts are a gratifying touch, and give some lift to certain sections. The vocals are copacetic and competent. They don't really elevate it, but nor do they detract from everything else going on.
The drums are really effective, I enjoy how the kick pattern is a pretty driving four-on-the-floor beat for a good chunk of the more upbeat portions of the song, which anchors all of the other rhythms dancing around. There are lots of high-pitched toms and splashes, which always make me happy. There's some fun snare displacement, I was trying to predict it in parts the second time around and kept getting fooled.
Probably the peak of the track is the guitar solo. It has the best low-gain tone of the round, and I like how it becomes more saturated as it goes along and becomes more frenetic. I was predicting that it's a Strat, and sure enough, he's playing one live. There's also a compelling harmony that pipes in at 6:48.
The key change near the end especially put this over the top. This is one of those songs where I feel like I could listen to it another 100 times and keep noticing additional interlocking layers. It really rewards repeat listens with arrangement details that are constantly evolving, adding and subtracting to keep the song entrancing, which it succeeded with in spades.
Score: 8/10
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Puppies_On_Acid - Knight Area - "A Million Lives"
Early Impression - "24 hours after listening, I couldn't remember a note of it. After the second play, I had the chorus stuck in my head the next day. Go figure."
So out of the whole round, there were only two songs that when I looked at the song titles a day after the first play, I couldn't remember a thing about them. This was the other one of them. No idea why, because the second play was fantastic, the song seemed to improve as it progressed, and as I noted, the chorus became an earworm the next day. I adore the key change fakeouts. It modulates up for the chorus at 5:05, which was a common trope a few decades ago, but then modulates down to an in-between key for the final one, which is much less common. I love it when bands do things like that.
Here is an example of a song that isn't too over-the-top on instrumentation, but just about everything here works. Some dazzling synth leads (four of them, in fact!), a lot of savorous drumming (particularly the splashes and some of those sextuplet and triplet tom rolls), some sweet melodic bass lines in the mellow section in the middle and elsewhere. I love the texture of the synth pad over the choruses (probably a Mellotron). After the first minutes I'd figured this was another neo-prog-ish band like IQ where the synths take primacy over guitars for leads, so the guitar solo at 5:34 was a pleasant surprise, with some striking harmonies to end it as well. The guitars and keyboards also interact splendidly in the middle section, with a different arpeggio going on in each ear from them in the mellow middle portion. I'm quite appreciating the sound of the whole drum kit as well. The vocalist is just alright, but the chorus melody is so catchy that it doesn't matter.
For some reason artists from Sweden and the Netherlands tend to hit for me more often than most other countries, something about their melodic sensibilities connects with me. And for the fourth play, when I started to do some research on each artist, I found out that they're Dutch, and now things make more sense. I even notice that Peter Vink (of Ayreon, Star One and others) joined this group later on. Not that being from either of those two countries is a guarantee, every place has memorable and unmemorable artists, but I just find it amusing how lopsided the ratio is for me.
Score: 8/10
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Nachtmerrie - Cobra the Impaler - "Scorched Earth"
Early Impression: "Not what I was expecting, but actually now I'm not sure what I was expecting. You may have found some of the hacks into my taste though, because I'm really digging this, especially the heavy guitar tones."
This one sold me right from the intro, it has this really entrancing feel to it with the harmonics, open strings, and cymbal flourishes. As I alluded to in the impression, I think I had different expectations for this submission, but it pushed those aside and went down a path I didn't even know I wanted to go on, but I'm glad I did. I'm not typically a huge fan of stoner metal, so getting two songs in that vein in this round that I liked was rather serendipitous. I can't say it'll work again, but it is proof that every genre has its gems to be unearthed.
So the first exceptional note is the guitars. I don't know whether he's a conscious influence, but there's a lot of Nevermore to the parts and timbre, though a bit less flashy, but Loomis being one of my favorites, this makes them hard to not like. The whole thing sort of feels like Khemmis covering Nevermore. There are a lot of spots where it sounds like the right rhythm guitar is playing an octave higher than the left one, which is a cool trick that I'm not sure I've heard done that often. The harmonies starting around 2:43 are vibrant, and the riff that keeps cropping up starting at 3:25 is probably my favorite in the song. Also, this is a bit subtle, but the section that pops up around 0:51 and elsewhere gives it a bit of the feel of the scales in "Amon-Ra", so that's a fun little nugget.
I still can't tell if I like these vocals, or I just think they work perfectly for this song, but they do. I don't know if you had any easy way of knowing this, but Dirk Verbeuren is one of my favorite drummers, so discovering that he is playing on this was another pleasant discovery. In typical Dirk fashion, he takes what could be a mundane performance in the hands and feet of a less creative player and crafts some really scintillating parts. The intricacies of his ride and bell work on the intro is delightful, and he inserts those hyper-clean blasts and light-speed double bass in a few spots that adds a dash of bravura without overwhelming the song.
I love how Metal-Archives lists member Tace DC's instrument as "unknown", like, "yeah, he's in the band, but no one knows what he does." I see that he was a guitarist in Aborted, so maybe that's also his role here. I don't know which of the two is the primary guitarist, but either way, they win the award for the best heavy guitar tone of the round. I read somewhere that they were inspired by the sound of old Mastodon. I don't remember them sounding this similar, but maybe what I hear in this song is what Mastodon fans hear when they listen to Mastodon.
Score: 8.25/10
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TAC - Lost Domain - "In the Waiting Room of Death"
Early Impression - "This might be the most impressive blending of some of the unique features of my two songs, but it also goes beyond them in other ways."
I could swear I commented on this band in 425's roulette, but I went back and could find no evidence of it, so maybe I just didn't get to it. Anyway, I had listened to the two songs you sent in that round a couple times, and they were one of the better bands I've sampled in his roulette so far, but I don't think there was any way for you to know that unless I just missed a comment I made elsewhere. Well, now we have a third song from them, and my interest is really piqued.
Now this is a curious case study. I talked with regards to Knight Area how for some reason bands from the Netherlands and Sweden tend to create more appealing melodies to me on average. Well, here we have a band from Sweden, but it's not so much the melodies that I cherish. I wish I could have had a camera on my face when I heard the intro, because it definitely has some uncanny resemblances to "To Turn the Tables". And then the riff at 9:12 has some of the flavor of the riffing in "Amon-Ra", with the phrygian dominant scale.
The powerful and rich vocals elevate the song right away, though the chorus melody doesn't stick with me like it should. Given how long the tune is, I was wondering where it was going to go, and it was absolutely worth the travel. The changeup to acoustic guitars and Mellotron at 6:59 was good for a change of pace, but it was 8:01 that really capped things off, right out of the Opeth playbook. The filter sweep at 8:20 sets up the monster riffs after remarkably well, and I was not expecting the harsh vocals. Is she performing them as well? No other vocalists are listed in the online credits. Too small a sample of them to really say if I like them on their own, but they definitely kicked things into overdrive and made this one of the most spellbinding songs of the round.
There are lots of other satisfying moments, like the early synth solo, and the bits of piano and organ. The two tremolo-picked counterpoint guitar lines at 6:11 panned to either side are delectable. At first I didn't like the fuzz tone of the guitar solo at 7:33, but it grew on me, and it adds some diversity to the textures, as does the brief modulation-effected one at 10:04. The descending and slowing pitch of the ending is also snazzy. And no, the song is not in one of my "magic keys", but it didn't need to be.
Score: 8.25/10
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Stadler - Saga - "Wind Him Up"
Early Impression - "You took a big risk, but it might pay off, this is more fun than I remembered."
So I don't know if you looked at my RYM ratings, but even though Saga wasn't on the soft ban list, I had heard the album this song came from and rated it 3.5. Which, given that my ratings are more generous than RYM's in general, usually means I found something interesting about the album, but it didn't totally resonate with me. It's more or less my default rating for new music I hear and neither overtly like nor dislike. So this was definitely a risk. Well, oh boy did it pay off. I've known of Saga for a long time, but that's the only album I'd managed to get to at this point, so I'm glad to have them brought back to my attention, because I was clearly missing something, and you've helped me find it.
If you'd told me ahead of time that several 70s and 80s songs would be ranking near the top I'd have been surprised. And not that this tune is in this genre, but one of the fascinating things I find about the synthwave movement in the past dozen years or so is that the artists tend to pluck components from the 80s that have dated well, and jettison the ones that don't. What this effectively has done is to just get that balance right in the first place in the decade itself. No benefit of decades of perspective needed for them, they were Nostradamian. The synth patches all definitely feel of that time period, but I really like almost all of them. The funky synth bass, the ambient pads, the fizzy pads, the arpeggiations, all very nice. The most fun one might be that FM synthesis-derived ring-modulated patch around 3:00. 4:13 has a cool instrumental restatement of the chorus melody in a different key, which I didn't catch the first couple times, and then snuck up on me, Doug Helvering I am not.
Another impression I had when I first heard this but didn't put in the snippet, was that I felt this song ended too soon. It felt as if it was building up to something even bigger and grander, and then was done before it quite got there. Well, as it turns out, the payoff I was looking for is that chorus. It didn't stand out so much on the first or second play (which I suppose was technically the third or fourth), but by the third or so, wow, it really started to hit. So the buildup paid off both in just making me want to hear the whole song again, and in that addictive chorus, which has been stuck in my head quite a bit in the past week. And it's built over a chromatic chord progression, which makes it even more of a marvel how they constructed the rising tension and release of each cycle of it. The vocalist didn't really appeal to me at first, and I'm still not sure how other songs would sit with me, but the chorus is so infectious that I just don't care.
The instrumentation is quite enthralling as well, with all of the unison lines between the guitars and synths, which have this perky rhythmic vivaciousness. If I have to nitpick a tad, the muted guitar part around 2:30 has a more brittle tone than I'd prefer, like I've discussed in some earlier entries, but again, this song is too thrilling for me to worry about it, and in fact, around 2:45 where it's starting to become less of just repeating a note and more of a DiMeola impression, the tone actually kind of works for that bit. I also like the volume swells around 3:14.
This is probably the most meteoric graph line of my opinion of a song in this round. It went from me being worried because I know you sometimes send unusual choices (which I'm more than happy to continue to receive), and I'd already heard and given a just ok score to this track, to thinking maybe it'll be competitive in the middle of the pack, to pondering, "is this my favorite song in the round?" Well, not quite, but it came awfully close.
Score: 8.5/10
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HOF - The Far Meadow - "A Gentle Warrior"
Early Impression: "I really want to just replay this one again and skip the rest of my listening for the night. I love the enchanting vocals, and what tasty drum and cymbal tones."
So this is obviously my favorite song of the round. "Wind Him Up" briefly challenged it, but it remained regnant. It made an immediate impression with the timbre of that high tom and the splash. The whole drum kit sounds delicious, with a ringy snare I like, at least one other splash, some crunchy China, some tasty cross-sticking, and what sounds like some Moeller technique to drive the hat in the verses. It even sounds like he recreated one of Bruford's cymbals from "One Red Nightmare", such as on the left at 3:19. Definitely my favorite overall drum and cymbal sounds of the round.
I'm not as well-versed in the softer end of the classic and modern prog scenes as some here, but the overall vibe to me feels redolent of Yes mixed with Kaipa, but with richer vocals, which we'll get to later, and with some compelling chord changes in a few spots. I've spent far more time in the heavier prog metal end, but I've always gotten the feeling that given my love of keyboards that there would be much of value to explore in the milder neo-prog end, and this round is bearing that out with bands like these, so I'm ecstatic that people have been making me take notice of them.
In other songs some of the synth patches here could come across rather dated and precious, but they're effective in conveying a feeling of a mystical setting, a bit Wakeman-esque at times. I savor some of the piano ornamentation that pops in from time to time. One thing that I'm still unsure where it comes from is that not on the first listen, but on every subsequent listen the guitars and keyboards sound very slightly out of tune with each other. Not enough to take away from the song, but it's always noticeable, though sometimes it actually adds to the otherworldly vibe.
Speaking of the guitars, there is a lot of delightful textural variegation to them. The chord-melody style in the verses sounds pretty Stratty, though he seems to play a different guitar live from the clips I checked out. I enjoy the whammy dips and then volume swells in the section starting around 1:48, followed with a really scrumptious low-gain lead tone. In addition, there's a really spicy bass solo around 3:15, there are rarely enough of those to go around. It's clear and audible for the rest of the song as well, with a pleasant warm tone and some well-placed fills and passing tones.
And saving the best for the last, the vocals are radiant. I didn't know that what I needed in my life was the female counterpart to Jon Anderson, but there she is. Easily my favorite vocalist of the round (no small feat in a round with Russell Allen), and part of what kept me coming back to this song over and over. I like some of the vocal stacking she does for the harmonies as well, there's clearly a lot of care put into them, as they're not your typical straight chordal ones, but they artfully float between static and shifting notes. I'm sure one of the first things I'll be doing when this round is over is diving headfirst into their three albums.
Score: 9/10
---
Standings:
HOF ----------------- 9
Stadler --------------- 8.5
TAC -------------------- 8.25
Nachtmerrie ------------ 8.25
Puppies_On_Acid ------- 8
SoundscapeMN ---------- 8
senecadawg2 ------------- 8
ariich ----------------------- 7.75
Lethean --------------------- 7.75
Evermind -------------------- 7.75
Buddyhunter1 -------------- 7.5
twosuitluke ---------------- 7.5
Vmadera00 --------------- 7.25
romdrums --------------- 7.25
Sacul ------------------- 7.25
Tomislav95 ------------ 7
Elite ------------------- 6.5
soupytwist ----------- 6.5
Cyril ----------------- 6
---
I'll post the round two mystery songs tomorrow.
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Awesome! Well, let’s just hope this doesn’t turn out like Luke’s roulette where I won the first round and then sank like a stone.
So, I have to confess that while I’ve heard this album and the follow up, I had kind of forgotten about them since I first came across them a few years back. This album in particular (which I prefer of the two I’ve heard) has sat in my Amazon shopping cart for that whole time. It took this exercise to make them pop back into my mind (mostly because of the vocalist on the Kingfisher Sky album). This is the track that stood out to me most back then, and I’ve enjoyed spinning it again for this. I do really like the instrumentation, and there is a lot of subtle stuff going on, but I was worried it might be too subtle. Mostly though I like the groove and overall atmosphere of the track. They have songs that are a bit more extensive with more elaborate arrangements, but this is the one that connected with me the most. Glad you liked it!
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off to a great start :corn
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Classic 7/10, couldn't ask for more :biggrin:
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Middle of the pack!
Galahad got robbed, I think it scored a 9 in my roulette :)
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Solid start, and I pretty much agree with what you said, except I really like the vocals. There's something about how Taiwanese sounds when sung in this way, I think it's metal as fuck. There are a few other examples of when they sound particularly awesome, like in Takao...
https://youtu.be/e_UkowmQs30 (https://youtu.be/e_UkowmQs30)
Skip to 2:13 to see what I mean.
The addition of the Erhu (and other traditional Taiwanese elements) is also a huge part of why I love this band. Hope you dig a bit deeper into their music :tup
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I like it! To be honest, I'm not super familiar with Renaissance apart from Ashes Are Burning, but it is a good album. There's another gorgeous track on there I would have liked to send (At the Harbour) but I figured the title track was more roulette appropriate given that it's more of a journey. I'm going to have to listen to the songs that finished above me though. A lot of stuff I'm not familiar with. :lol
Looking forward to the getting the next mystery songs. I'm thinking I can get my highest scores in the non-rock/metal rounds. That's where I should have more variety to pull on, hopefully.
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Not bad! And yeah, I immediately made the Mastodon connection upon hearing that album too. I've gone on record saying that if you liked Crack The Skye and wish Mastodon did more albums like that, Elder is a great alternative.
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Vmadera00 - Caligula's Horse - "Dragonfly"
Early Impression - "A lot of really cool elements individually, but I'm not sure they all quite come together."
This has been the hardest song in the round for me to get a handle on, and the one I put off 'til last for writing up, hoping for more clarity in the interim. In isolation, I like a great many things about it, which I'll get into shortly. But something about the structure and blending of them has been hard to wrap my head around. Maybe that makes it the most "progressive" song in this batch, I'm not sure.
The feel I get from them is Leprous meets Opeth. The former is a band I haven't really gotten to click yet, and maybe that's part of the issue. Based on the intro I was hoping I was going to love this, with the fingerpicked acoustics, piano, and the E-bow melody sustaining in the background. The bass and kick coordinate unusually well at 1:04 for a thick, tight, and punchy 6/8 groove, and that riff at 1:34 is pretty massive. There are a lot of interesting chord progressions, and I feel like on listen 20 or so this is going to hit me like a ton of bricks, but I'm not going to have time to get there in this roulette. Even as I work on this writeup I can feel the song very slowly growing on me, but maybe not quite enough to bump it up the rankings.
The vocals are fine in the lower and middle registers, but I don't care for the higher falsetto. That might be another part of the Leprous similarity that goes right by me. The unison section in 4:37 is pretty fun with all of the rhythmic experimentation. Some wonderful harmonies punctuate portions of the guitar solo afterwards as well. The tritonal tension in the chord at 6:55 might be favorite in the song, I keep looking forward to that moment when it reappears. Apparently their guest pianist also plays flute in other songs on this album, so I may need to check it out for those tracks.
Score: 7.25/10
That's a fair assessment of this song. I would say is deff not their best on this album, so give it a try, but it is the closest to the songs you sent. I do see the similarities with Leprous, which is the reason I like this band (discovered them after Leprous).
Onto the next round :corn
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Leprous rules.
Quite happy with my score after the first impression. I'll have to go back and listen to my song again with all your comments in mind.
Of course, now I'm expecting that level of detail for every song in the Katatonia discography thread from here on out... :)
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Stadler - Saga - "Wind Him Up"
Early Impression - "You took a big risk, but it might pay off, this is more fun than I remembered."
So I don't know if you looked at my RYM ratings, but even though Saga wasn't on the soft ban list, I had heard the album this song came from and rated it 3.5. Which, given that my ratings are more generous than RYM's in general, usually means I found something interesting about the album, but it didn't totally resonate with me. It's more or less my default rating for new music I hear and neither overtly like nor dislike. So this was definitely a risk. Well, oh boy did it pay off. I've known of Saga for a long time, but that's the only album I'd managed to get to at this point, so I'm glad to have them brought back to my attention, because I was clearly missing something, and you've helped me find it.
If you'd told me ahead of time that several 70s and 80s songs would be ranking near the top I'd have been surprised. And not that this tune is in this genre, but one of the fascinating things I find about the synthwave movement in the past dozen years or so is that the artists tend to pluck components from the 80s that have dated well, and jettison the ones that don't. What this effectively has done is to just get that balance right in the first place in the decade itself. No benefit of decades of perspective needed for them, they were Nostradamian. The synth patches all definitely feel of that time period, but I really like almost all of them. The funky synth bass, the ambient pads, the fizzy pads, the arpeggiations, all very nice. The most fun one might be that FM synthesis-derived ring-modulated patch around 3:00. 4:13 has a cool instrumental restatement of the chorus melody in a different key, which I didn't catch the first couple times, and then snuck up on me, Doug Helvering I am not.
Another impression I had when I first heard this but didn't put in the snippet, was that I felt this song ended too soon. It felt as if it was building up to something even bigger and grander, and then was done before it quite got there. Well, as it turns out, the payoff I was looking for is that chorus. It didn't stand out so much on the first or second play (which I suppose was technically the third or fourth), but by the third or so, wow, it really started to hit. So the buildup paid off both in just making me want to hear the whole song again, and in that addictive chorus, which has been stuck in my head quite a bit in the past week. And it's built over a chromatic chord progression, which makes it even more of a marvel how they constructed the rising tension and release of each cycle of it. The vocalist didn't really appeal to me at first, and I'm still not sure how other songs would sit with me, but the chorus is so infectious that I just don't care.
The instrumentation is quite enthralling as well, with all of the unison lines between the guitars and synths, which have this perky rhythmic vivaciousness. If I have to nitpick a tad, the muted guitar part around 2:30 has a more brittle tone than I'd prefer, like I've discussed in some earlier entries, but again, this song is too thrilling for me to worry about it, and in fact, around 2:45 where it's starting to become less of just repeating a note and more of a DiMeola impression, the tone actually kind of works for that bit. I also like the volume swells around 3:14.
This is probably the most meteoric graph line of my opinion of a song in this round. It went from me being worried because I know you sometimes send unusual choices (which I'm more than happy to continue to receive), and I'd already heard and given a just ok score to this track, to thinking maybe it'll be competitive in the middle of the pack, to pondering, "is this my favorite song in the round?" Well, not quite, but it came awfully close.
Score: 8.5/10
Thank you; it's funny, you noted that maybe the Saga ended too quickly. That was the one thing I worried about. When I heard your songs, the vocals and the melody lines took me to Saga immediately. It was a gut feel; but I agonized about whether that was enough.
But I'm glad you liked what I sent; I'm not going to over think this too much; when I hear your offering, I'm going to try to stick with the initial gut instinct and see how it goes!
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glad you liked that Barock Project tune! ..I know stylistically, it only shared some aspects to the 2 tracks you gave to make a choice on, and like I said, I had 2 or 3 other songs in mind initially. But after listening to those 2 songs a 2nd time, it sort of hit me how the Barock Project fit in with the symphonic element like those 2.
You may want to check out the full Detachment album at some point. The whole album has a lot of that symphonic, somewhat retro prog sound ala Kansas or Renaissance in some ways like that tune.
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off to a great start :corn
You and me both :lol
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off to a great start :corn
You and me both :lol
Count me in :metal
Gazpacho have some great albums and a varied sound, sometimes they fuse traditional music from certain European countries with their style and end up with some wonderful stuff. If you ever warm up to his vocals, you're in for a treat overall. I can recommend you the first song on their last album, which is among their very best tunes.
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Here are the mystery songs for round 2:
Send back something reminiscent of any of these tracks. Doesn't necessarily have to be the same genre, I know some of you probably don't have a lot resembling these styles. That's the creative part, to see what everyone comes up with. Send to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com. Youtube links are preferred, but I'll accept pretty much anything.
Aziza Mustafa Zadeh - "New Baku" - from Generations, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtXXreKcnU8
Shakti - "Face To Face" - from Natural Elements, 1977
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzzkNfBRHnk
Sara Gazarek - "Lonely Hours" - from Thirsty Ghost, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_KVI1uoHyM
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TAC - Lost Domain - "In the Waiting Room of Death"
Early Impression - "This might be the most impressive blending of some of the unique features of my two songs, but it also goes beyond them in other ways."
I could swear I commented on this band in 425's roulette, but I went back and could find no evidence of it, so maybe I just didn't get to it. Anyway, I had listened to the two songs you sent in that round a couple times, and they were one of the better bands I've sampled in his roulette so far, but I don't think there was any way for you to know that unless I just missed a comment I made elsewhere. Well, now we have a third song from them, and my interest is really piqued.
Now this is a curious case study. I talked with regards to Knight Area how for some reason bands from the Netherlands and Sweden tend to create more appealing melodies to me on average. Well, here we have a band from Sweden, but it's not so much the melodies that I cherish. I wish I could have had a camera on my face when I heard the intro, because it definitely has some uncanny resemblances to "To Turn the Tables". And then the riff at 9:12 has some of the flavor of the riffing in "Amon-Ra", with the phrygian dominant scale.
The powerful and rich vocals elevate the song right away, though the chorus melody doesn't stick with me like it should. Given how long the tune is, I was wondering where it was going to go, and it was absolutely worth the travel. The changeup to acoustic guitars and Mellotron at 6:59 was good for a change of pace, but it was 8:01 that really capped things off, right out of the Opeth playbook. The filter sweep at 8:20 sets up the monster riffs after remarkably well, and I was not expecting the harsh vocals. Is she performing them as well? No other vocalists are listed in the online credits. Too small a sample of them to really say if I like them on their own, but they definitely kicked things into overdrive and made this one of the most spellbinding songs of the round.
There are lots of other satisfying moments, like the early synth solo, and the bits of piano and organ. The two tremolo-picked counterpoint guitar lines at 6:11 panned to either side are delectable. At first I didn't like the fuzz tone of the guitar solo at 7:33, but it grew on me, and it adds some diversity to the textures, as does the brief modulation-effected one at 10:04. The descending and slowing pitch of the ending is also snazzy. And no, the song is not in one of my "magic keys", but it didn't need to be.
Score: 8.25/10
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Stadler - Saga - "Wind Him Up"
Early Impression - "You took a big risk, but it might pay off, this is more fun than I remembered."
So I don't know if you looked at my RYM ratings, but even though Saga wasn't on the soft ban list, I had heard the album this song came from and rated it 3.5. Which, given that my ratings are more generous than RYM's in general, usually means I found something interesting about the album, but it didn't totally resonate with me. It's more or less my default rating for new music I hear and neither overtly like nor dislike. So this was definitely a risk. Well, oh boy did it pay off. I've known of Saga for a long time, but that's the only album I'd managed to get to at this point, so I'm glad to have them brought back to my attention, because I was clearly missing something, and you've helped me find it.
If you'd told me ahead of time that several 70s and 80s songs would be ranking near the top I'd have been surprised. And not that this tune is in this genre, but one of the fascinating things I find about the synthwave movement in the past dozen years or so is that the artists tend to pluck components from the 80s that have dated well, and jettison the ones that don't. What this effectively has done is to just get that balance right in the first place in the decade itself. No benefit of decades of perspective needed for them, they were Nostradamian. The synth patches all definitely feel of that time period, but I really like almost all of them. The funky synth bass, the ambient pads, the fizzy pads, the arpeggiations, all very nice. The most fun one might be that FM synthesis-derived ring-modulated patch around 3:00. 4:13 has a cool instrumental restatement of the chorus melody in a different key, which I didn't catch the first couple times, and then snuck up on me, Doug Helvering I am not.
Another impression I had when I first heard this but didn't put in the snippet, was that I felt this song ended too soon. It felt as if it was building up to something even bigger and grander, and then was done before it quite got there. Well, as it turns out, the payoff I was looking for is that chorus. It didn't stand out so much on the first or second play (which I suppose was technically the third or fourth), but by the third or so, wow, it really started to hit. So the buildup paid off both in just making me want to hear the whole song again, and in that addictive chorus, which has been stuck in my head quite a bit in the past week. And it's built over a chromatic chord progression, which makes it even more of a marvel how they constructed the rising tension and release of each cycle of it. The vocalist didn't really appeal to me at first, and I'm still not sure how other songs would sit with me, but the chorus is so infectious that I just don't care.
The instrumentation is quite enthralling as well, with all of the unison lines between the guitars and synths, which have this perky rhythmic vivaciousness. If I have to nitpick a tad, the muted guitar part around 2:30 has a more brittle tone than I'd prefer, like I've discussed in some earlier entries, but again, this song is too thrilling for me to worry about it, and in fact, around 2:45 where it's starting to become less of just repeating a note and more of a DiMeola impression, the tone actually kind of works for that bit. I also like the volume swells around 3:14.
This is probably the most meteoric graph line of my opinion of a song in this round. It went from me being worried because I know you sometimes send unusual choices (which I'm more than happy to continue to receive), and I'd already heard and given a just ok score to this track, to thinking maybe it'll be competitive in the middle of the pack, to pondering, "is this my favorite song in the round?" Well, not quite, but it came awfully close.
Score: 8.5/10
I definitely wasn't aware of any comment you did or didn't make about Lost Domain. I've used them before in roulettes, and they generally score pretty well. This was the title track of their debut album. They released a follow up in 2022, which is definitely good, but not nearly as powerful as their debut.
I thought of it as soon as I heard the Kingfisher Sky song (which I listened to first). I immediately decided I was going with female vocals.
I'll check out the Mystery Tracks tonight, and send something, likely tomorrow.
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They have songs that are a bit more extensive with more elaborate arrangements, but this is the one that connected with me the most. Glad you liked it!
Yeah, I've already listened to both of those albums now, and look forward to further plays. The first one has a different vocalist, I suppose I'll have to check it out as well out of curiosity.
When I heard your songs, the vocals and the melody lines took me to Saga immediately.
Yeah, I hardly heard anything in common between them, but I guess that's the "secret sauce". As long as it results occasionally in songs like that I think we're good. :tup
But I watched some live videos, and why does Ian Crichton look like Lars? :neverusethis:
(https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2J0P1HH/canadian-rock-band-saga-in-concert-at-hammersmith-odeon-guitarist-ian-crichton-10th-november-1983-2J0P1HH.jpg)
(https://myhero.com/images/guest/g233154/hero69234/g233154_u82994_lars-ulrich20.jpg)
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Here's my gifpressions of the Mystery Songs..
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/UntriedBogusGadwall-size_restricted.gif)
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/EducatedVeneratedAsianelephant-max-1mb.gif)
(https://media3.giphy.com/media/AAsj7jdrHjtp6/200w.gif?cid=6c09b952b3txjk9fg6xa1fji7d0qs4ba99i6jk0fzjy7kx1g&rid=200w.gif&ct=g)
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Yeah, the last one is going to be the most of an acquired taste for people not used to it. I'm pretty picky about that type of vocal, but I dunno, it just works when she does it (and there are plenty of ones where she doesn't). Plenty else to mine in that song besides it though.
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Who says I was talking about the vocals? ;D
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Do you have allergies to saxophone? :P
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Do you have allergies to saxophone? :P
He has allergies to good music :biggrin:
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Do you have allergies to saxophone? :P
He has allergies to good music :biggrin:
(https://gifimage.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/haha-gif-20.gif)
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Do you have allergies to saxophone? :P
He has allergies to good music :biggrin:
(https://gifimage.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/haha-gif-20.gif)
Tim when asked who that is in the gif he just posted...
(https://media1.giphy.com/media/jkSD9GTmHNRt6VaUXp/giphy.gif)
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I know who that is...
It's the guy from Battlestar Galactica!
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJegHA0UQAAprkN.jpg)
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BTW, I appreciate people mentioning other material afterwards for their artists. The ones with the highest scores I am more likely to investigate full albums sooner, but the ones that didn't perform as well I'm willing to listen to another song or two at a later point, I have a section for it in my constantly updated music listening queue.
I checked out all three Far Meadow albums, and Marguerita is a massive improvement upon their original vocalist, they struck gold there.
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BTW, I appreciate people mentioning other material afterwards for their artists. The ones with the highest scores I am more likely to investigate full albums sooner, but the ones that didn't perform as well I'm willing to listen to another song or two at a later point, I have a section for it in my constantly updated music listening queue.
I checked out all three Far Meadow albums, and Marguerita is a massive improvement upon their original vocalist, they struck gold there.
What’s funny is that I didn’t even know they had a third album (with a different singer) before now. You’re further into them than I was already!
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Sent. :)
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Sent!
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Sent :corn
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Got a few options for this round, think I know what I want to go for but will mull it over today and probably send this evening.
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Oh boy.. There's really nothing in my music universe that remotely blends those three songs together. :lol
I'm trying to decide if I prioritize the female vocal, or the musical feel (as best as I can).
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OK, sooner or later I end up asking this in every roulette, but what is your view on video game music?
Also, Elite in this round...
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8d/e4/3a/8de43a34390a70bdf7adf5a620e9c410.gif)
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I think it blows.. Oh you're asking Litho.. ;D
Elite may actually send before me this round.
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I think it blows.. Oh you're asking Litho.. ;D
Elite may actually send before me this round.
What if I told you we're in a simulation and it's all technically video game music?
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Those were some big fucking writeups. Pace yourself dude.
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Those were some big fucking writeups. Pace yourself dude.
Did you expect less :lol
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Sent.
Like the last round, there were definitely a few ways to go with this one. I had 2 artists that came to mind right off the bat. The 1 that didn't get picked might find their way into a later round however depending on how things go.
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(https://y.yarn.co/82bdc82c-10c0-45ab-b9db-506403971455_text.gif)
Those were some big fucking writeups. Pace yourself dude.
Did you expect less :lol
And I have zero doubt he'll keep it up! Might ask if he wants to be my ghost writer :lol
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I had 2 artists that came to mind right off the bat.
I have zero artists that come to mind. :lol
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I had 2 artists that came to mind right off the bat.
I have zero artists that come to mind. :lol
UFO never released a jazz album?
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I had 2 artists that came to mind right off the bat.
I have zero artists that come to mind. :lol
UFO never released a jazz album?
I would've sent it last night if they had! :lol
Actually, I had an intro stuck in my mind trying to come up with something, and I couldn't place it.
Finally it hit me...it was actually UFO.
I really had nowhere to turn. I almost just picked some random song off the Sara Gazarek Radio Spotify playlist. :lol
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Oh boy.. There's really nothing in my music universe that remotely blends those three songs together. :lol
You don't have to blend them together - just pick one of the 3:
Here are the mystery songs for round 2:
Send back something reminiscent of any of these tracks.
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Sent
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Sent. Once hangman's up, it may be fairly obvious which one's me...
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Also, Elite in this round...
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8d/e4/3a/8de43a34390a70bdf7adf5a620e9c410.gif)
:lol
Well, yes :lol
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So, the first track is awesome (thanks for introducing me to her music, great stuff!), the second is classic 70's John McLaughlin stuff, though I had never heard it before, the last one was alright, I guess.
Now some of my first immediate ideas are in your banned list, so that's a shame. Luckily, I have a few options left. Will send something definite tomorrow!
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Will send something definite tomorrow!
That's shameful. :lol
I mean, I had nothing, and even I sent.
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I'm still here waiting for LithoJazzoSphere to let me know his thoughts on video game music
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He just PM'd me to tell you it sucks.
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Just one question though (and excuse me if you've already clarified this somewhere, I must have missed it);
How strict is the 'list of softly banned artists'? (Actually, what does that mean, softly banned?)
I noticed a few artist on the banned list that show up in your RateYourMusic, but not with all albums rated (in some cases just one, while they have a lot more). I was wondering whether or not it would be possible to send something from albums that don't show up in your RYM profile. Of course I can work around, but I'm figuring out stuff to send for future rounds already and I'd like to know what I can work with :)
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Will send something definite tomorrow!
That's shameful. :lol
I mean, I had nothing, and even I sent.
I have too much, and I'm tired now, so I'll sleep first!
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OK, sooner or later I end up asking this in every roulette, but what is your view on video game music?
So I'm not really much of a gamer, though I did have periods of it in the past, and I still occasionally will get sucked into watching playthroughs of a particular game sometimes. But as I mentioned in another thread, the redbook soundtrack to Descent II is one of the most foundational albums for influencing a lot of the directions my musical taste took, and I do still occasionally stumble upon tracks from games that I really enjoy. I don't actively look for music of that type, but I certainly won't mind if you've found something interesting from that realm.
Those were some big fucking writeups. Pace yourself dude.
Did you expect less :lol
And I have zero doubt he'll keep it up! Might ask if he wants to be my ghost writer :lol
Calibrating how many times to listen to each submission and how long to make the writeups is definitely something that could be fluid. I may have to tone it back in some rounds if I get busier or the round is taking longer. At the moment it's not really a burden though. Reading all of them might be, but that's everyone's prerogative for how well they want to score. :laugh: I definitely get the sense in other roulettes that a chunk of people don't listen to or read writeups other than their own.
Oh boy.. There's really nothing in my music universe that remotely blends those three songs together. :lol
You don't have to blend them together - just pick one of the 3:
Yeah, that's part of the idea of upping the mystery songs from two to three in the non-metal/rock rounds, to give people more choices to generate ideas from in those rounds since they are more likely to be out of people's wheelhouses. I'm afraid to say that rounds 5 and 8 are going to be even further away from TAC's core listening, if that's even possible. :lol Also, to steal some songs I was originally going to send from later rounds when I had planned this out as an even more excessive 20-round roulette. I think TAC is high off of scoring well by managing to combine my round one songs. :)
So, the first track is awesome (thanks for introducing me to her music, great stuff!), the second is classic 70's John McLaughlin stuff, though I had never heard it before, the last one was alright, I guess.
Yeah, that's part of the ulterior motive for theming the rounds, to see if anyone bites on any of these artists. Aziza is criminally overlooked. Definitely check out Dance of Fire, Always, and then maybe Inspiration, you're probably going to know some of the guest players on those albums, and is part of why I'm often confounded why even other jazz fans seem oblivious to her work, somehow it has gone under most people's radars.
Just one question though (and excuse me if you've already clarified this somewhere, I must have missed it);
How strict is the 'list of softly banned artists'? (Actually, what does that mean, softly banned?)
I noticed a few artist on the banned list that show up in your RateYourMusic, but not with all albums rated (in some cases just one, while they have a lot more). I was wondering whether or not it would be possible to send something from albums that don't show up in your RYM profile. Of course I can work around, but I'm figuring out stuff to send for future rounds already and I'd like to know what I can work with :)
[Edit: I see that one of the times I updated the first posts I somehow missed copying back the soft ban preamble. It's back now and mostly summarizes what I said right below. Plus an update of artists banned during the roulette.]
I essentially have four tiers of preference. 1: Music I've never heard of. 2: Music I'm aware of and have maybe heard a little bit of. 3: Music I know, but have only explored part of. 4: Music I know far too well or like too much to receive in a roulette and is hard-banned (favorite artists, anything rated 4.5 stars or higher, artists that I've heard a lot of albums in their discography). Or songs I already know well but aren't on the list or rated, but I'll let you know if you send those.
Category 3 is borderline with the soft ban, and is partially either for people with more limited libraries (particularly in the further out styles) to have more people playing (I was worried with my massive banned list I'd only have a few people sign up at first), or if people have strong feelings about artists I've heard other albums from, or even feel I've overlooked an album I've rated 4 stars or lower. Saga was in this category, and it clearly paid off big time. Renaisssance to a slightly lesser extent.
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I'm afraid to say that rounds 5 and 8 are going to be even further away from TAC's core listening, if that's even possible. :lol
(https://i.gifer.com/1Knb.gif)
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Sent something out of this world
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Since I'm imagining this round will end somewhere between Christmas and new year's, it looks like Christmas is coming early, unwrapping these one by one. Gonna be at least a few positive early impressions for sure.
And BTW, on the first Far Meadow album, I think other people might like it even more than I do. Less comedic than the pastoral cover would suggest, oddly enough. More Gabriel-Genesis vibes rather than Yes, and "Lullabile" is a gorgeous instrumental acoustic guitar piece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5mQAMaeTQk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5mQAMaeTQk)
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Since I'm imagining this round will end somewhere between Christmas and new year's, it looks like Christmas is coming early, unwrapping these one by one. Gonna be at least a few positive early impressions for sure.
And BTW, on the first Far Meadow album, I think other people might like it even more than I do. Less comedic than the pastoral cover would suggest, oddly enough. More Gabriel-Genesis vibes rather than Yes, and "Lullabile" is a gorgeous instrumental acoustic guitar piece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5mQAMaeTQk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5mQAMaeTQk)
Ooh, that is nice.
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I listened to 2 minutes of New Baku and I already know what I'm sending. :)
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Gonna send Mahavishnu Orchestra :neverusethis:
But seriously, you're getting video game music :tup
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Gonna send Mahavishnu Orchestra :neverusethis:
Eh, that’s probably definitely banned. (but they were on my shortlist too)
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Gonna send Mahavishnu Orchestra :neverusethis:
Eh, that’s probably definitely banned. (but they were on my shortlist too)
They are, hence the neverusethis face
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I mean, the similarities between the second song are so obvious that I would be very surprised if they weren’t.
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I mean, the similarities between the second song are so obvious that I would be very surprised if they weren’t.
Yea, well they do both feature John McLaughlin
Edit: This has inspired my to dig out a few of my Dad's old Mahavishnu Orchestra records. He would have got such a kick out of this :heart
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Yeah, I like Mahavishnu Orchestra way too much to accept them. I was actually hesitant about using Shakti in the round because they're not really obscure, but I searched and there's been very little mention of them, mostly me, and one other poster years ago.
That is definitely a strategy that can work though in general, finding other projects from musicians I already like, but have overlooked.
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Just listened to the mystery songs and sent for Round 2.
(https://media1.giphy.com/media/Ta1Eww8MpsGMegxFWR/giphy.gif?cid=790b76119a3c06c52d1ab3410d2ad29d643170c0bee720ad&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
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The more I think about this, the more options I realise I have dammit!
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I'm pretty sure I only had one thing that would fit between songs 1 and 3, and so I didn't have to worry about overthinking except to choose a track from the album. For some reason I don't really remember what song 2 sounded like but I'll listen to it again.
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That first mystery song is fire!
Also, sent.
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Listening to the tracks now, hopefully will send something shortly.
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That first track was so good. Sent!
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Sent something :hat
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Oh shit, I know the album I need to chose my entry off. I just hope it's not banned! It's the best damn jazz I've ever heard.
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Sent something :hat
That's how I feel about the song I've send. It's good but it's not even close to anything I listen to.
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Sent something :hat
That's how I feel about the song I've send. It's good but it's not even close to anything I listen to.
I sent something relatively close to what I listen to, which means it isn't close to the Mystery Songs in any way. :lol
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Sent something :hat
That's how I feel about the song I've send. It's good but it's not even close to anything I listen to.
I sent something relatively close to what I listen to, which means it isn't close to the Mystery Songs in any way. :lol
(https://giffiles.alphacoders.com/145/145615.gif)
Also sent
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It's still amusing to be on the other side of a roulette this time. Several of you have been waffling about different choices to send over PM or e-mail, and several others have had to resend because I already knew an artist, so don't feel alone.
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Yes, but results when? :neverusethis:
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Yes, but results when? :neverusethis:
Yea, shouldn't take too long to weed the quality from the trash.
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And...resent. :facepalm:
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Yes, but results when? :neverusethis:
Well definitely not before I have everyone's entries, yours not being last this time. :p
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Yes, but results when? :neverusethis:
Yea, shouldn't take too long to weed the quality from the trash.
Who you calling trash? ;D
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Yes, but results when? :neverusethis:
Yea, shouldn't take too long to weed the quality from the trash.
Who you calling trash? ;D
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Da8QnxUU0AAW5JX.jpg)
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I need a little time; I had a visceral feel for what I was going to send and it's clearly banned.
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You can PM me what your gut reaction song was if you want, I'm kind of curious.
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Yes, but results when? :neverusethis:
Yea, shouldn't take too long to weed the quality from the trash.
Who you calling trash? ;D
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Da8QnxUU0AAW5JX.jpg)
Nice. A Taxi meme.
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:facepalm:
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Yes, but results when? :neverusethis:
Yea, shouldn't take too long to weed the quality from the trash.
Who you calling trash? ;D
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Da8QnxUU0AAW5JX.jpg)
Nice. A Taxi meme.
I was gonna call it and say 'inb4 TAC asks if it's a Twins meme'. Looks like you're always one step ahead :lol
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What's a Twins meme? ;D
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Yes, but results when? :neverusethis:
Yea, shouldn't take too long to weed the quality from the trash.
How do you know I've send a Slayer song
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Yes, but results when? :neverusethis:
Yea, shouldn't take too long to weed the quality from the trash.
How do you know I've send a Slayer song
Top quality jazz, I knew it
https://youtu.be/r7-aduHx5bo (https://youtu.be/r7-aduHx5bo)
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Andy's covers are fantastic. His attention to detail is absurd in syncing up his arrangement with what is being shown in the footage at the time. Them standing and staring at the wall of amps with birds chirping in the background instead of roaring feedback is comedy gold. He even worked in a bit of "Girl From Ipanema".
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Yes, but results when? :neverusethis:
Yea, shouldn't take too long to weed the quality from the trash.
How do you know I've send a Slayer song
Top quality jazz, I knew it
https://youtu.be/r7-aduHx5bo (https://youtu.be/r7-aduHx5bo)
That's impressive, thanks!
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??? : ______ _____ – _____ ____
??? : _______ _____ ____ – ______ ______
??? : ___ – __________ ______
??? : ____ ________ – ____ ______
??? : ________ ______ – ________ _
??? : _____ – ____ ____ __ ____
??? : ____ __________ – ________
??? : ____ _______ – _ ____ ____ __'_ ____
??? : ____ ______ ________ – ____'_ ___ ____
??? : ______ – _________
??? : ____-____ – _______ _ _____ _________
??? : ____ _______ – _____ ____ __ _____
??? : ____ ______ – ______
??? : ________ – __ ________ ______
??? : ____ ________ – ____ __ ____
??? : __ ____________ – ______ ___
??? : ________ – _________
??? : ___ _____ __ _____ – ___ _______ __ _______
??? : _________ – _____
Guessed Letters:
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Ne Obliviscaris - Forget Not
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I don't know any jazz artists :facepalm:
Ne Obliviscaris - Forget Not
Ruslan strikes again, dammit!
I'll guess M
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Ne Obliviscaris - Forget Not
Yes! No wonder you are legendary. :lol
I don't know any jazz artists :facepalm:
What makes you think everyone actually sent jazz? :p
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Ne Obliviscaris - Forget Not
Yes! No wonder you are legendary. :lol
I don't know any jazz artists :facepalm:
What makes you think everyone actually sent jazz? :p
That was the assignment
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Let's get an O
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??? : M_mm__ _____ – _____ ____
??? : _______ _o___ ___o – ______ ______
??? : m__ – _om_o_____ _o____
??? : ___o _o_____o – O_o_ ______
??? : __o_____ _o____ – Mo__m___ _
??? : _____ – _om_ _o__ __ __m_
??? : _o__ _o________ – ________
??? : ___o _m_____ – _ __o_ ____ __'_ M___
??? : _o__ _oo___ ___m____ – ____'_ ___ ____
??? : ______ – _________
??? : _o__-M___ – _____m_ _ _____ ___o_____
??? : _o_o _______ – _____ _o__ o_ __o__
??? : ____ ____o_ – O_____
??? : ________ – __ ________ ______
??? : ____ ________ – __m_ __ _oo_
??? : Ne Obliviscaris – Forget Not
??? : ________ – _________
??? : ___ _____ o_ ____o – ___ Mom____ __ ______
??? : _________ – _____
Guessed Letters: M, O,
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F to pay respects to all songs besides mine
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Ne Obliviscaris - Forget Not
Yes! No wonder you are legendary. :lol
I don't know any jazz artists :facepalm:
What makes you think everyone actually sent jazz? :p
That was the assignment
Some students were very naughty. Santa and I are discussing how many lumps of coal to place in their stockings.
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T
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??? : M_mm__ _____ – ____t F___
??? : _______ _o___ T__o – ______ ______
??? : m__ – _omfo_t___ _o____
??? : ___o _o_____o – O_o_ ______
??? : F_o_t___ _o__t_ – Mo__m__t _
??? : _t___ – _om_ _o__ __ T_m_
??? : _o__ _o____t___ – ________
??? : ___o _m_____ – _ __o_ T__t __'_ M___
??? : _o__ _oot__ ___m____ – ____'_ ___ ____
??? : ___t__ – _________
??? : _o__-M_t_ – _____m_ _ T____ ___o___t_
??? : _o_o _______ – _____ _o__ of __o__
??? : ____ ____o_ – Ot____
??? : __t_____ – __ F_______ F_____
??? : ____ ________ – __m_ __ _oo_
??? : Ne Obliviscaris – Forget Not
??? : ________ – __t______
??? : T__ _____ of ____o – T__ Mom__t_ __ __t____
??? : ___t___t_ – T____
Guessed Letters: M, O, F, T,
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E
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Mew - Comforting Sounds
Probably Paramacyrilcrow
Edit: also The Reign of Kindo - The Moments in Between possibly sent by Soundscape
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In what universe does someone listen to any of those three songs and think Ne Obliviscaris :lol
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Poly-Math?
Floating Points
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In what universe does someone listen to any of those three songs and think Ne Obliviscaris :lol
There was a violin at some point?
Mammal Hands - Quiet Fire, apparently
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A for All about that jazz.
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??? : Mammal Hands – Quiet Fire
??? : A____a_ _o_e_ T__o – ______ ______
??? : mew – Comforting Sounds
??? : ___o _o__e__o – O_o_ _e__e_
??? : Floating Points – Mo_eme_t _
??? : _t___ – _ome _o__ __ T_me
??? : _o_a _o__e_t__e – _a__a_e_
??? : _a_o Eme_a__ – _ __o_ T_at _e'_ M__e
??? : _o_e _oote_ __am_e__ – ____'_ E_e __e_
??? : _aat__ – ___a__a_a
??? : Poly-Math – A___em_ _ Te__a ___o___ta
??? : _o_o _e_____ – _e_e_ _o__ of __o__
??? : E_a_ _a__o_ – Ot__a_
??? : A_t_e__a – __ F_a__e__ F_e___
??? : __e_ _e____e_ – _ama _e _oo_
??? : Ne Obliviscaris – Forget Not
??? : ____a_e_ – __t_e_ea_
??? : The Reign of Kindo – The Moments In Between
??? : _eat_e_t_ – Ta___
Guessed Letters: M, O, F, T, E, A,
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Ne Obliviscaris - Forget Not
That's an odd pick for this round, wow
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Mew - Comforting Sounds
Probably Paramacyrilcrow
Edit: also The Reign of Kindo - The Moments in Between possibly sent by Soundscape
Right songs, wrong senders.
Ne Obliviscaris - Forget Not
That's an odd pick for this round, wow
(https://i.giphy.com/media/SmoCFhZCi1kzu/giphy.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/SmoCFhZCi1kzu/giphy.webp)
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I don’t know how well it fits the theme suggested by the mystery songs, but Comforting Sounds is probably going to be the best song sent this round (it wasn’t me).
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Have you inflicted the Galahad curse upon it? ;)
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I like mew and Ne Obliviscaris, but I hope they struggle this round.
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In what universe does someone listen to any of those three songs and think Ne Obliviscaris :lol
There was a violin at some point?
Yep, I think you nailed it.
The first song reminded me of a certain band, but they were on Litho's RYM, so I sent a song from one of the band's musician's solo project and as a bonus it also had a violin. It's nowhere near jazz though.
I mean there's no score for how close your song is to the mystery songs :lol
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C
I'm bad at figuring these out but at least I can guess a letter. :)
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Nova Collective - Cascades
Caro Emerald - I Know That He's Mine
also fairly sure one song is In Flanders Fields but no idea what the band/artist is
and also fairly sure there's Sting - Come Down in Time which didn't register at first because the artist wasn't Elton John
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Surely Nova Collective or Reign of Kindo are Ariich!
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Surely Nova Collective or Reign of Kindo are Ariich!
Do you think I'm more or less likely to send the one with my brother in? :P
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Surely Nova Collective or Reign of Kindo are Ariich!
Do you think I'm more or less likely to send the one with my brother in? :P
I mean, more. Although it could be a fake out.
Here goes...
Ariich sent Nova Collective
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:lol Yes indeed.
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I mean there's no score for how close your song is to the mystery songs :lol
Stylistically, my song last round was nothing like the examples.
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Sent. Once hangman's up, it may be fairly obvious which one's me...
Yeh
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Between the violin that is prominent throughout and the acoustic guitars, Forget Not seems like a logical choice. :corn
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I'm going to score shitty.
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S
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??? : Mammal Hands – Quiet Fire
??? : A__s_a_ Co_e_ T__o – ______ ______
??? : mew – Comforting Sounds
??? : ___o _o__e__o – O_os _e__es
??? : Floating Points – Mo_eme_t _
??? : Sting – Come Down In Time
ariich: Nova Collective – Cascades
??? : Caro Emerald – I Know That He's Mine
??? : _o_e _oote_ C_am_e_s – ____'s E_e __e_
??? : _aat__ – ___assa_a
??? : Poly-Math – A_c_em_ _ Te__a __co___ta
??? : _o_o _e_____ – Se_e_ So_s of __o__
??? : E_a_ Ca_so_ – Ot__a_
??? : A_t_e__a – In Flanders Fields
??? : __e_ _e____es – _ama _e _oo_
??? : Ne Obliviscaris – Forget Not
??? : S___a_e_ – C_t_e_ea_
??? : The Reign of Kindo – The Moments In Between
??? : Seat_e_ts – Ta___
Guessed Letters: M, O, F, T, E, A, C, S,
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Evan Carson.
Something is wrong with the line that starts with Sting.
Did Stadler send Sting?
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Floating Points - Movement (insert number here)
Seatbelts - Tank!
it's the cow boy beep boop song
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Evan Carson.
Evermind.
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??? : Mammal Hands – Quiet Fire
??? : A__s_a_ Co_e_ T__o – ______ ______
??? : mew – Comforting Sounds
??? : ___o _o__e__o – O_os _e__es
??? : Floating Points – Movement _
Stadler: Sting – Come Down In Time
ariich: Nova Collective – Cascades
??? : Caro Emerald – I Know That He's Mine
??? : _o_e _oote_ C_am_e_s – ____'s E_e __e_
??? : _aat__ – ___assa_a
??? : Poly-Math – A_c_em_ _ Te__a __co___ta
??? : _o_o _e_____ – Se_e_ So_s of __o__
Evermind: Evan Carson – Ot__a_
??? : A_t_e__a – In Flanders Fields
??? : __e_ _e____es – _ama _e _oo_
??? : Ne Obliviscaris – Forget Not
??? : S___a_e_ – C_t_e_ea_
??? : The Reign of Kindo – The Moments In Between
??? : Seatbelts – Tank!
Guessed Letters: M, O, F, T, E, A, C, S,
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Gimme the D
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R
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??? : Mammal Hands – Quiet Fire
??? : A__s_a_ Co_e_ Tr_o – ______ ______
??? : mew – Comforting Sounds
??? : ___o _o_re_ro – O_os _erdes
??? : Floating Points – Movement _
Stadler: Sting – Come Down In Time
ariich: Nova Collective – Cascades
??? : Caro Emerald – I Know That He's Mine
??? : _o_e _oote_ C_am_ers – __rd's E_e __e_
??? : _aatr_ – ___assa_a
??? : Poly-Math – A_c_em_ _ Terra __co___ta
??? : _o_o _e_____ – Se_e_ So_s of __or_
Evermind: Evan Carson – Otr_ad
??? : A_t_er_a – In Flanders Fields
??? : _re_ _err__es – Rama _e _ood
??? : Ne Obliviscaris – Forget Not
??? : S___a_er – C_t_erea_
??? : The Reign of Kindo – The Moments In Between
??? : Seatbelts – Tank!
Guessed Letters: M, O, F, T, E, A, C, S, D, R,
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Caro Emerald was sent by Nachtmerrie :)
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Kiko Loreiro - Ojos Verdes
Believe it or not, but this was actually on my shortlist to send as well :lol
No idea who sent this..
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Caro Emerald was sent by Nachtmerrie :)
:hefdaddy
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comforting sounds does not fit this theme but i can confirm it is the best song sent this round :lol
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Gogo Penguin-Seven Sons Of Bjorn
N
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??? : Mammal Hands – Quiet Fire
??? : A__s_a_ Co_en Tr_o – __n__n __n__n
??? : mew – Comforting Sounds
??? : Kiko Loureiro – Ojos Verdes
??? : Floating Points – Movement _
Stadler: Sting – Come Down In Time
ariich: Nova Collective – Cascades
Nachtmerrie: Caro Emerald – I Know That He's Mine
??? : _o_e _ooten C_am_ers – __rd's E_e __e_
??? : _aatr_ – ___assana
??? : Poly-Math – A_c_em_ _ Terra _nco_n_ta
??? : Gogo Penguin – Seven Sons of Bjorn
Evermind: Evan Carson – Otr_ad
??? : A_t_er_a – In Flanders Fields
??? : _re_ _err__es – Rama _e _ood
??? : Ne Obliviscaris – Forget Not
??? : S_n_a_er – C_t_erean
??? : The Reign of Kindo – The Moments In Between
??? : Seatbelts – Tank!
Guessed Letters: M, O, F, T, E, A, C, S, D, R, N,
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I don’t know how well it fits the theme suggested by the mystery songs, but Comforting Sounds is probably going to be the best song sent this round (it wasn’t me).
comforting sounds does not fit this theme but i can confirm it is the best song sent this round :lol
You're awfully confident for still having a third of the songs yet to be revealed (and assuming you've heard all the others that have). :p
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Cyril sent Poly-math
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Howe Wooten Champers - Bird’s Eye View
Avishai Cohen Trio
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I'm lost. :lol
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Avishai Cohen Trio
Pinzin Kinzin.
Not sure if I'd have chosen that track, but that album was the first thing I thought of when listening to the first mystery song for this round.
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comforting sounds does not fit this theme but i can confirm it is the best song sent this round :lol
You're awfully confident for still having a third of the songs yet to be revealed (and assuming you've heard all the others that have). :p
comforting sounds is quite literally my favorite song so i can very confidently say this, yes
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Comforting Sounds is a great tune, but as a fanatical Mew fan, I'm not sure it would even make my top 5 for them.
That being said, I would not have figured it would be submitted for this round based on the 3 tunes he provided, and I also wonder if Litho would already know it anyway. But Mew was not on the Banned List, so I guess not?
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I tried to get into Mew but no song came even close to Comforting Sounds, not even on the same album, to me.
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Wait did Cyril change his name again? I've still always been thinking Parama first...
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I tried to get into Mew but no song came even close to Comforting Sounds, not even on the same album, to me.
Agreed that Comforting Sounds is a cut above just about everything else from Mew. It’s just a wonderful song. I’ve had a hard time with their other albums beside that one and their last one, Visuals, which I really like. It’s more synth-pop and worth checking out it you haven’t.
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??? : Mammal Hands – Quiet Fire
??? : A__s_a_ Co_en Tr_o – __n__n __n__n
??? : mew – Comforting Sounds
??? : Kiko Loureiro – Ojos Verdes
??? : Floating Points – Movement _
Stadler: Sting – Come Down In Time
ariich: Nova Collective – Cascades
Nachtmerrie: Caro Emerald – I Know That He's Mine
??? : _o_e _ooten C_am_ers – __rd's E_e __e_
??? : _aatr_ – ___assana
??? : Poly-Math – A_c_em_ _ Terra _nco_n_ta
??? : Gogo Penguin – Seven Sons of Bjorn
Evermind: Evan Carson – Otr_ad
??? : A_t_er_a – In Flanders Fields
??? : _re_ _err__es – Rama _e _ood
??? : Ne Obliviscaris – Forget Not
??? : S_n_a_er – C_t_erean
??? : The Reign of Kindo – The Moments In Between
??? : Seatbelts – Tank!
Guessed Letters: M, O, F, T, E, A, C, S, D, R, N,
(https://www.reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/what_the_fuck_shatner.gif)
Really really glad I passed on this one now. I would be a fish out of water here.
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??? : Mammal Hands – Quiet Fire
??? : Avishai Cohen Trio – Pinzin Kinzin
??? : mew – Comforting Sounds
??? : Kiko Loureiro – Ojos Verdes
??? : Floating Points – Movement _
Stadler: Sting – Come Down In Time
ariich: Nova Collective – Cascades
Nachtmerrie: Caro Emerald – I Know That He's Mine
??? : Howe Wooten Chambers – Bird's Eye View
??? : _aatr_ – ___assana
Crow: Poly-Math – A_c_em_ _ Terra _nco_n_ta
??? : Gogo Penguin – Seven Sons of Bjorn
Evermind: Evan Carson – Otr_ad
??? : A_t_er_a – In Flanders Fields
??? : _re_ _err__es – Rama _e _ood
??? : Ne Obliviscaris – Forget Not
??? : S_n_a_er – C_t_erean
??? : The Reign of Kindo – The Moments In Between
??? : Seatbelts – Tank!
Guessed Letters: M, O, F, T, E, A, C, S, D, R, N,
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Cyril sent Poly-math
Cyril is not in this roulette.
Avishai Cohen Trio
Pinzin Kinzin.
Not sure if I'd have chosen that track, but that album was the first thing I thought of when listening to the first mystery song for this round.
The person who sent it originally sent something else, which was actually the first thing I thought someone might send based off of the first track, but I already knew the artist slightly too well.
and I also wonder if Litho would already know it anyway. But Mew was not on the Banned List, so I guess not?
I am not that well-versed in the indie canon. Obviously I've heard the name many times, but I'm not sure I'd ever even listened to a song.
Really really glad I passed on this one now. I would be a fish out of water here.
Well, every round is going to be very different. Particular ones are going to be more challenging for some than others. I'm especially curious what people will come up with for rounds 5 and 8. I hope you'll be in my second roulette though, whenever that is.
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Here are the filled-out artists and songs. Any final guesses on the identity of the senders?
??? : Mammal Hands – Quiet Fire
??? : Avishai Cohen Trio – Pinzin Kinzin
??? : mew – Comforting Sounds
??? : Kiko Loureiro – Ojos Verdes
??? : Floating Points – Movement
Stadler: Sting – Come Down In Time
ariich: Nova Collective – Cascades
Nachtmerrie: Caro Emerald – I Know That He's Mine
??? : Howe Wooten Chambers – Bird's Eye View
??? : Yaatri – Vipassana
Crow: Poly-Math – Alchemy _ Terra Incognita
??? : GoGo Penguin – Seven Sons of Bjorn
Evermind: Evan Carson – Otriad
??? : Altherya – In Flanders Fields
??? : Greg Herriges – Rama Be Good
??? : Ne Obliviscaris – Forget Not
??? : Sungazer – Cytherean
??? : The Reign of Kindo – The Moments In Between
??? : Seatbelts – Tank!
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Well, did Crow send comforting sounds?
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Elite sent Sungazer
romdrums sent Floating Points
Buddy sent GoGo Penguin?
twosuitsluke sent Seatbelts
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Someone already figured out that Crow sent Poly-Math.
twosuitsluke sent Seatbelts
Yes. No to the others.
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Some strange band names in this round.
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Buddy sent Sungazer
Elite sent GoGo Penguin?
Now?
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Buddy sent Sungazer
Elite sent GoGo Penguin?
Now?
Yes.
No.
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Some strange band names in this round.
Not like yours is so normal either. ;)
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Some strange band names in this round.
Not like yours is so normal either. ;)
I couldn't decide between Mammal Hands or Fish Flippers.
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Sacul: Mammal Hands – Quiet Fire
Elite: Avishai Cohen Trio – Pinzin Kinzin
soupytwist: mew – Comforting Sounds
Lethean: Kiko Loureiro – Ojos Verdes
senecadawg2: Floating Points – Movement
Stadler: Sting – Come Down In Time
ariich: Nova Collective – Cascades
Nachtmerrie: Caro Emerald – I Know That He's Mine
Vmadera00: Howe Wooten Chambers – Bird's Eye View
HOF: Yaatri – Vipassana
Crow: Poly-Math – Alchemy _ Terra Incognita
romdrums: GoGo Penguin – Seven Sons of Bjorn
Evermind: Evan Carson – Otriad
TAC: Altherya – In Flanders Fields
SoundscapeMN: Greg Herriges – Rama Be Good
Puppies_On_Acid: Ne Obliviscaris – Forget Not
Buddyhunter1: Sungazer – Cytherean
Tomislav95: The Reign of Kindo – The Moments In Between
twosuitluke: Seatbelts – Tank!
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Ahh, I was just about to guess those all completely right. I guess I win hangman.
(https://i.gifer.com/CKKF.gif)
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So far this might be an even better round than the first one. The top end is similar, the middle is just as if not more squished together, but the bottom end I think is a bit better than the first round. A few curious movements from first listen to later ones as well.
Round 2 Early Impressions:
1: This does way more with one note than it should be legal to get away with.
2: Some delightful and dreamy ideas are teased, but there's not quite enough payoff. I think (hope) the album might be better than the song.
3: The layering and building of the arrangement is really cool, but the vocals aren't vibing with me.
4: This is a sparse arrangement done right.
5: The first third is magnificent, but the middle section is a bit fatiguing due to overuse of [redacted], and the final third doesn't quite make up for it.
6: This incorporates a risky musical element, but makes more judicious use of it than several other songs did, making it feel more earned.
7: Am I in heaven? I don't know how you figured out how to combine elements of all three songs, but you did.
8: The presence of a certain entity from the previous round might have been risky if you read all the writeups, but this might circumvent it.
9: Not enough double bass.
10: This excels in combining two of my songs, while bringing in an element I'm not sure you knew I liked, but definitely makes this selection stand out.
11: Definitely on the more tenuous of connections to the round themes, but it does check a few boxes, and a good song is a good song.
12: There is a lot of interest going on instrumentally, but I think the vocals are going to sink this one.
13: Is Alec Baldwin about to take the stage?
14: I suspected that this person had this kind of range, but this demonstrably proves it.
15: The piano work here is excellent, but I'm not sure it's going to make up for the missed opportunity regarding another instrument with unactualized potential.
16: This would be a mess if amateurs tried to create it.
17: Another song that's a bit further out from the round selections, but has some intriguing keyboard textures.
18: Hey look, some vocal falsettos I don't mind.
19: This does more with some risky musical elements than many similar songs I've heard, but I'm not sure it's going to be quite enough to gain a leg up on the competition.
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Mines the double bass one.
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(https://media0.giphy.com/media/Yycc82XEuWDaLLi2GV/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47a1if9hhj64s60ade3hlcwztxsum2f0zkvsfahz9x&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
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Worst case I think mine might be one of these:
2: Some delightful and dreamy ideas are teased, but there's not quite enough payoff. I think (hope) the album might be better than the song.
3: The layering and building of the arrangement is really cool, but the vocals aren't vibing with me.
5: The first third is magnificent, but the middle section is a bit fatiguing due to overuse of [redacted], and the final third doesn't quite make up for it.
Best case, maybe one of these?
7: Am I in heaven? I don't know how you figured out how to combine elements of all three songs, but you did.
10: This excels in combining two of my songs, while bringing in an element I'm not sure you knew I liked, but definitely makes this selection stand out.
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11: Definitely on the more tenuous of connections to the round themes, but it does check a few boxes, and a good song is a good song.
This is definitely mine.
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Best case, maybe one of these?
7: Am I in heaven? I don't know how you figured out how to combine elements of all three songs, but you did.
Yes!
11: Definitely on the more tenuous of connections to the round themes, but it does check a few boxes, and a good song is a good song.
This is definitely mine.
(https://media2.giphy.com/media/s8X61m47R3GZW/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47lvaug17g8i1fpsuyoodeg0orvnkrw3f9p0lv4jx4&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
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Probably bloody 19 then!
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You're as bad at guessing mine as I am your's. :p
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I think mine is one of 2, 10, or 15.
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You're as bad at guessing mine as I am your's. :p
OK, I'll wait until everything is pretty much guessed, then swoop in with a wrong guess :tup
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11: Definitely on the more tenuous of connections to the round themes, but it does check a few boxes, and a good song is a good song.
This is definitely mine.
(https://media2.giphy.com/media/s8X61m47R3GZW/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47lvaug17g8i1fpsuyoodeg0orvnkrw3f9p0lv4jx4&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
Just trying to tread water for this round. :lol
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I have no idea what mine is. It could be any of the ones that don't have comments about vocals. It probably can't be 7 because no vocals, and I don't think it's sparse.
I don't know what the risky elements would be.
How about... 16?
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Best case, maybe one of these?
7: Am I in heaven? I don't know how you figured out how to combine elements of all three songs, but you did.
Yes!
*fist pump*
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I would suggest that some of you would probably guess better if you listened to all the other songs as well, but I do that, and it doesn't help me in Luke's, so what do I know? :lol
I think mine is...15.
Yep.
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Too many songs. I can just wait for the results. :lol
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Too many songs. I can just wait for the results. :lol
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So far this might be an even better round than the first one. The top end is similar, the middle is just as if not more squished together, but the bottom end I think is a bit better than the first round. A few curious movements from first listen to later ones as well.
Round 2 Early Impressions:
1: This does way more with one note than it should be legal to get away with.
2: Some delightful and dreamy ideas are teased, but there's not quite enough payoff. I think (hope) the album might be better than the song.
3: The layering and building of the arrangement is really cool, but the vocals aren't vibing with me.
4: This is a sparse arrangement done right.
5: The first third is magnificent, but the middle section is a bit fatiguing due to overuse of [redacted], and the final third doesn't quite make up for it.
6: This incorporates a risky musical element, but makes more judicious use of it than several other songs did, making it feel more earned.
7: Am I in heaven? I don't know how you figured out how to combine elements of all three songs, but you did.
8: The presence of a certain entity from the previous round might have been risky if you read all the writeups, but this might circumvent it.
9: Not enough double bass.
10: This excels in combining two of my songs, while bringing in an element I'm not sure you knew I liked, but definitely makes this selection stand out.
11: Definitely on the more tenuous of connections to the round themes, but it does check a few boxes, and a good song is a good song.
12: There is a lot of interest going on instrumentally, but I think the vocals are going to sink this one.
13: Is Alec Baldwin about to take the stage?
14: I suspected that this person had this kind of range, but this demonstrably proves it.
15: The piano work here is excellent, but I'm not sure it's going to make up for the missed opportunity regarding another instrument with unactualized potential.
16: This would be a mess if amateurs tried to create it.
17: Another song that's a bit further out from the round selections, but has some intriguing keyboard textures.
18: Hey look, some vocal falsettos I don't mind.
19: This does more with some risky musical elements than many similar songs I've heard, but I'm not sure it's going to be quite enough to gain a leg up on the competition.
these descriptions are so vague, I was only really able to eliminate the ones I added the strikes through.
I kind of wonder though
Mew - Comforting Sounds
"2: Some delightful and dreamy ideas are teased, but there's not quite enough payoff. I think (hope) the album might be better than the song. "
The Reign of Kindo - The Moments in Between
"15. The piano work here is excellent, but I'm not sure it's going to make up for the missed opportunity regarding another instrument with unactualized potential."
edit: so 15 is romdrums GoGoPenguin. That's a bit reassuring as I wonder what Litho's take on Kindo is, although given how relatively popular they have been for over 10 years, they are another 1 I'm kind of surprised he wouldn't know better.
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The impressions are really hard. My true ones would just outright give the songs away, so I have to abstract them a bit so they could apply to a few different ones, but less likely others, and hope the feeling in the wording transmits at least somewhat. I don't know if we have a king of impressions here, but it's definitely not me.
There is a nugget related to the last round "hidden" in there, I wonder if someone will catch it.
I've heard a little bit of The Reign of Kindo before, and may have given a tiny bit of an opinion about them somewhere if you search, though it may or may not reflect what I think about the particular song. I kind of wondered if you'd wind up sending them at some point, but obviously someone beat you to it. In general though anything too connected to the indie scene tends to be kind of a media black hole for me. I stumble upon some of them on occasion, but most I hear the names and just never bother to check them out because the hit ratio has been lower in that realm than most for me. I'm sure there's a lot of gold buried there though, I'm just not great at finding it, or have a severely imbalanced currency exchange rate for some of it.
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Avishai Cohen Trio
Pinzin Kinzin.
Not sure if I'd have chosen that track, but that album was the first thing I thought of when listening to the first mystery song for this round.
It was me! I actually thought of sending Tigran Hamasyan first, before settling on Avishai Cohen (the bassist, not the trumpet player!) and gave two different songs in the event LJS already knew Pinzin Kinzin.
I see lots of stuff that I would have wanted to send later; I briefly considered Sungazer but decided they were not the most suitable for this round. GoGo Penguin I have sent before as well.
I have no idea which of the impressipns is mine based on a quick glance.
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Reckon I'm number 3.
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Am I 4?
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Reckon I'm number 3.
Yep.
Am I 4?
Nope.
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Round 2 Early Impressions:
1: This does way more with one note than it should be legal to get away with.
2: Some delightful and dreamy ideas are teased, but there's not quite enough payoff. I think (hope) the album might be better than the song.
3: soupytwist - mew - "Comforting Sounds" - The layering and building of the arrangement is really cool, but the vocals aren't vibing with me.
4: This is a sparse arrangement done right.
5: Puppies_On_Acid - Ne Obliviscaris - "Forget Not" - The first third is magnificent, but the middle section is a bit fatiguing due to overuse of [redacted], and the final third doesn't quite make up for it.
6: This incorporates a risky musical element, but makes more judicious use of it than several other songs did, making it feel more earned.
7: HOF - Yaatri - "Vipassana" - Am I in heaven? I don't know how you figured out how to combine elements of all three songs, but you did.
8: The presence of a certain entity from the previous round might have been risky if you read all the writeups, but this might circumvent it.
9: Not enough double bass.
10: This excels in combining two of my songs, while bringing in an element I'm not sure you knew I liked, but definitely makes this selection stand out.
11: TAC - Altherya - "In Flanders Fields" - Definitely on the more tenuous of connections to the round themes, but it does check a few boxes, and a good song is a good song.
12: There is a lot of interest going on instrumentally, but I think the vocals are going to sink this one.
13: Is Alec Baldwin about to take the stage?
14: I suspected that this person had this kind of range, but this demonstrably proves it.
15: romdrums - GoGo Penguin - "Seven Sons of Bjorn" - The piano work here is excellent, but I'm not sure it's going to make up for the missed opportunity regarding another instrument with unactualized potential.
16: This would be a mess if amateurs tried to create it.
17: Another song that's a bit further out from the round selections, but has some intriguing keyboard textures.
18: Hey look, some vocal falsettos I don't mind.
19: This does more with some risky musical elements than many similar songs I've heard, but I'm not sure it's going to be quite enough to gain a leg up on the competition.
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2?
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I take it 16 was a no for mine?
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5?
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5?
Yes.
No to the other two.
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2, 10 or 14?
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Is mine 12?
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No to those.
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Let's go slackers! Don't you know your own songs?? ;D
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Guessing 2, 12 (barely) or 17.
I'm not really into guessing first impressions from 19 songs tbh.
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None of those.
Let's go slackers! Don't you know your own songs?? ;D
Luke would tell me I don't. :laugh:
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Does mine have a risky element? I have no idea what that would be though.
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Nope.
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Ok, how about 9.
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No.
I wonder if there's a precedent for giving hints. I'll try one here, think about what my meta expectations of your submission could have been.
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I actually never told anyone who the first impressions were for ahead of time. I just included them with my write-ups for the results, and I did it that way because that's how it was done in the roulettes I participated in before running mine. I'm not sure when people started revealing the impressions ahead of time.
But I have no idea what your expectations for mine would have been... Something as good as Katatonia every round? But that's impossible. :)
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I'll be optimistic this time and guess 10?
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Still not it.
I kind of like how having impressions in-between keeps people engaged a bit more in the interim of wrapping up hangman and posting results. And also apparently frustrates them a bit! Oh well. If we didn't have them there'd be more days of downtime and dead air while I rack up additional listens and work on the writeups. Maybe not a huge deal if you only have half a dozen participants, shorter songs, and only listened to each song a couple of times each, but I enjoy digging a bit deeper, and hopefully others appreciate it as well.
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I tried to keep my rounds on a fairly tight schedule. I'd want all songs submitted by the end of the weekend so I could launch Hangman after work on Monday. Maybe Sunday night if I had them all.
I'd keep that up for no more than 48 hours, that way I could put up First Impressions Wednesday and run those for 24 hours until Thursday.
On Thursday, I might drop some tidbits as I liked to get my scores up on Friday after work. I'd also start calling for the next round's songs to be submitted so we can keep things on track.
But I would start listening as soon as the current round's scores were posted. I'd usually have at least one listen in by the time I posted the next round's Hangman on Sunday night or Monday.
To me, the best engagement is a steady pace, and NO, I AM NOT DIRECTING THAT AT ANYONE!!!! :lol
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Yeah, though that works better for roulettes with a more standardized format that you can plan for weeks ahead of time. I've intentionally added an element of the unknown, which means people can't really properly plan anything for half a dozen of the rounds until I reveal the topic songs. Then there's time for people to listen to those and decide among their options. This all slows things down a bit, but hopefully makes things more interesting and unique.
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It's definitely interesting and unique. I'm ready for next round's Mystery Songs. ;D
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I suppose this is also a good time to mention that the next round, being third in the cycle, doesn't have the mystery songs. So it'll be up to 15 minutes of music from one artist instead of just one song. You can send anytime after I post results for the current round in the next few days. But of course it might benefit you to see if anything in the writeups sways your selections in a different direction. Then again, I'm not going to be surprised if certain people send particular artists regardless of what I have to say. :)
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Oh, so any 15 minutes of music from one artist, no gimmicks? Cool, I'll start working on that.
And nothing you say in the current round's writeups will sway me into anything. :lol
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Well, I would think it should, at least potentially. I'm the newest roulette "regular", and this is the first time on this side of one, so unless people have been paying unusually close attention to my other posts, my likes and dislikes have to be more of an unknown quantity than the vast majority of other roulette hosts. But some people just have particular music they want heard regardless of whether they think it'll score well with me in particular, and that's ok too.
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It's extremely rare for me to read comments on other songs. Usually the more I think the worse I do. :lol
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2?
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Well, I would think it should, at least potentially. I'm the newest roulette "regular", and this is the first time on this side of one, so unless people have been paying unusually close attention to my other posts, my likes and dislikes have to be more of an unknown quantity than the vast majority of other roulette hosts. But some people just have particular music they want heard regardless of whether they think it'll score well with me in particular, and that's ok too.
This is me. I send my favorite stuff that's not banned because I like sharing what I love. Probably why I've never won a roulette, but I'm Ok with that.
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Well, I would think it should, at least potentially. I'm the newest roulette "regular", and this is the first time on this side of one, so unless people have been paying unusually close attention to my other posts, my likes and dislikes have to be more of an unknown quantity than the vast majority of other roulette hosts. But some people just have particular music they want heard regardless of whether they think it'll score well with me in particular, and that's ok too.
This is me.
Yeah, no shit! :lol
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It's extremely rare for me to read comments on other songs. Usually the more I think the worse I do. :lol
I dunno if it was you, but I think I mentioned in some other roulette or thread that I'm also not sure whether it's a difference of personality, or you just being a more seasoned/jaded? roulette veteran and in a different stage of participation. I'm still hoping to win one and need all the edge on the competition I can get, you've already won 6 and may not care whether you win more.
2?
Nope. It'll definitely make sense once it's revealed though.
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It's extremely rare for me to read comments on other songs. Usually the more I think the worse I do. :lol
I dunno if it was you, but I think I mentioned in some other roulette or thread that I'm also not sure whether it's a difference of personality, or you just being a more seasoned/jaded? roulette veteran and in a different stage of participation. I'm still hoping to win one and need all the edge on the competition I can get, you've already won 6 and may not care whether you win more.
Nah, I'm not jaded. I've done shitty in plenty of roulettes. It's the half dozen 2nd place finishes that are crushing,.
My experience would tell you that overthinking it can be maddening. A good song is generally a good song no matter who the host is. Anything has the ability to work in a vacuum of a roulette round. For one roulette where I wasn't sure of the host's tastes, I checked out all of the songs this particular host sent in two other roulettes to other people, and tried to model my selections after those. I failed miserably.
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i mean activity is probably low right now because it is the holiday season and everyone's busy
i am everyone :corn
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1?
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I guess you'll eventually get it just by process of elimination. :smiley:
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That's what I'm doing. :)
4
-
1?
4
---
1?...4
---
14
There it is!
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I had ruled that out thinking it applied to vocal range.
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Kiko is indeed very talented.
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Well, the last week or two has been even busier than I expected with life stuff to deal with, but hopefully things are settling back down and we can pick the pace back up a bit. I have drafts of everything, I just need to do some fleshing out of the writeups and tweaking of the scores, and results shouldn't be too far away, maybe by Thursday. In the meantime, here are the filled-out early impressions to chew on.
Round 2 Early Impressions:
1: Elite - Avishai Cohen Trio - "Pinzin Kinzin" - This does way more with one note than it should be legal to get away with.
2: senecadawg2 - Floating Points - "Movement 7" - Some delightful and dreamy ideas are teased, but there's not quite enough payoff. I think (hope) the album might be better than the song.
3: soupytwist - mew - "Comforting Sounds" - The layering and building of the arrangement is really cool, but the vocals aren't vibing with me.
4: Nachtmerrie - Caro Emerald - "I Know That He's Mine" - This is a sparse arrangement done right.
5: Puppies_On_Acid - Ne Obliviscaris - "Forget Not" - The first third is magnificent, but the middle section is a bit fatiguing due to overuse of [redacted], and the final third doesn't quite make up for it.
6: Sacul - Mammal Hands - "Quiet Fire" - This incorporates a risky musical element, but makes more judicious use of it than several other songs did, making it feel more earned.
7: HOF - Yaatri - "Vipassana" - Am I in heaven? I don't know how you figured out how to combine elements of all three songs, but you did.
8: Evermind - Evan Carson - "Otriad" - The presence of a certain entity from the previous round might have been risky if you read all the writeups, but this might circumvent it.
9: Stadler - Sting - "Come Down In Time" - Not enough double bass.
10: SoundscapeMN - Greg Herriges - "Rama Be Good" - This excels in combining two of my songs, while bringing in an element I'm not sure you knew I liked, but definitely makes this selection stand out.
11: TAC - Altherya - "In Flanders Fields" - Definitely on the more tenuous of connections to the round themes, but it does check a few boxes, and a good song is a good song.
12: Buddyhunter1 - Sungazer - "Cytherean" - There is a lot of interest going on instrumentally, but I think the vocals are going to sink this one.
13: twosuitluke - Seatbelts - "Tank!" - Is Alec Baldwin about to take the stage?
14: Lethean - Kiko Loureiro - "Ojos Verdes" - I suspected that this person had this kind of range, but this demonstrably proves it.
15: romdrums - GoGo Penguin - "Seven Sons of Bjorn" - The piano work here is excellent, but I'm not sure it's going to make up for the missed opportunity regarding another instrument with unactualized potential.
16: Vmadera00 - Howe Wooten Chambers - "Bird's Eye View" - This would be a mess if amateurs tried to create it.
17: ariich - Nova Collective - "Cascades" - Another song that's a bit further out from the round selections, but has some intriguing keyboard textures.
18: Tomislav95 - The Reign of Kindo - "The Moments In Between" - Hey look, some vocal falsettos I don't mind.
19: Crow - Poly-Math - "Alchemy | Terra Incognita" - This does more with some risky musical elements than many similar songs I've heard, but I'm not sure it's going to be quite enough to gain a leg up on the competition.
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I'm ready for my 10/10 whenever you are.
Also, who's Alec Baldwin?
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(https://media4.giphy.com/media/rI9O6UXkCjvTG/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47fm2824kyot07rn090gz4g5b8ru5t6vap40qxxbl7&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
Assuming you're not trolling, maybe he's not as well-known across the pond. Very famous actor here. Do you know Saturday Night Live? He's been the most common guest host of it. The pre-monologue music the band plays (or at least used to, I haven't watched as much in quite awhile), kind of had that feel with the big band arrangement, saxophone heroics and such.
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Good thing mine barely has any vocals, then. :P
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I've got no clue what risky element my song has, hell yeah :metal
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I wonder given you have 18 songs to go through with these, it might be helpful to divide up your work on them in half.
I.e., do the 1st 9, and then the 2nd 9. It might delay some things, but it could make your workload a little easier.
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(https://media4.giphy.com/media/rI9O6UXkCjvTG/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47fm2824kyot07rn090gz4g5b8ru5t6vap40qxxbl7&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
Assuming you're not trolling, maybe he's not as well-known across the pond. Very famous actor here. Do you know Saturday Night Live? He's been the most common guest host of it. The pre-monologue music the band plays (or at least used to, I haven't watched as much in quite awhile), kind of had that feel with the big band arrangement, saxophone heroics and such.
(https://media.tenor.com/0RYl5iC_k98AAAAM/mod-city-best-buds.gif)
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I'm ready for my 10/10 whenever you are.
Also, who's Alec Baldwin?
:o :lol
Waiting for Stadler....
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Not looking super promising for me! Hopefully the submission grew on you after that first impression. It's very much a mood piece though, and perhaps slightly odd for a roulette.
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(https://i.giphy.com/media/2Cd3A8QQAGCFqIMNMh/giphy.webp)
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Buddyhunter1 - Sungazer - "Cytherean"
Early Impression - "There is a lot of interest going on instrumentally, but I think the vocals are going to sink this one."
So what no one caught (or did and didn't point out), was that this is the exact same impression I gave for Crow's in the first round, but it was a fakeout, because it applies to this one instead (and one other, but we'll get to that later). Anyway, this track feels like the fusion equivalent of vaporwave. There is a vaguely nostalgic vibe about the square wave synthesizer parts in particular that bounce around the stereo spectrum.
The drumming is easily the highlight of the track. This is even more illuminated by the drummer having a playthrough video, which I watched, and made it more obvious what some of the more intriguing things he was doing were. In some parts I wondered if it was programmed because it didn't seem possible to physically execute the rhythms that were going on simultaneously, but the video cleared that up. The micro-piccolo snare is an unusual and charming texture, and with the side snare on the right in a different tuning, adds some welcome variety. I also enjoy the interplay between the hat and the stack.
I can't turn down saxophone, though it's not really given as much prominence as I'd like, with mostly just some line doubling, and only the occasional line where it peaks out on its own. Credit info says there is also bass clarinet on the track, but it's either another doubling texture or I just completely overlooked it.
But what drags the song down is the vocal. I wouldn't call it a vocal-centric song, per se, but in a round with a lot of instrumentals and where even the vocal songs sometimes have extended instrumental sections, it sticks out more. The pitch-shifted spoken parts I at first surmised were samples, and contributed to that vaporwave feel as well. But even in the sung parts, I just don't care for the vocal timbre, and applying pitch-shifting to it nettled me even more. So for my fourth listen when I began to do some research on the songs, it turns out that the culprit is Adam Neely of all people. I've watched a fair number of his videos, and he always has scintillating musical analysis in often unexpected directions, and is a killer bass player (not nearly as evident as I'd prefer on this track though). But based on this track I'd rather he stick to talking and playing than singing, it just brings me down, and the rest of the instrumentation is pleasant enough, but not sufficient to match the rest of the songs in the round.
Score: 6.5/10
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Crow - Poly-Math - "Alchemy | Terra Incognita"
Early Impression - "This does more with some risky musical elements than many similar songs I've heard, but I'm not sure it's going to be quite enough to gain a leg up on the competition."
So I don't know if I said it here, or it might have been in Luke's thread, but while I'm heavily leaning against eliminations at the moment, I do want to keep them as an option if necessary later on, but hopefully will find a way to avoid them. Well, it turns out that we did need one elimination....Cyril. That round 1 submission just wasn't up to snuff, so Cyril has been given the axe. I think we've found a better substitute though, I can already see that Crow has managed to stay out of last place, and hopefully that is portent of even better things to come later.
Like the song in the last round, there are certainly a few interesting musical elements going on here, but the two things that hold it back for me is that the buildups aren't quite effective enough, and there is a bit too much focus on noisy textures for my taste. They are better employed here than I've heard in many other similar songs, but it's just not enough to compete with the rest of the stronger songs in the round.
For a few positive aspects, in two submissions in a row of yours the bass has been one of the stronger points. I don't know if it's a coincidence or if you read my writeup on Renaissance, but I was pleased to find that this song has a music video, and the bass player has a Rickenbacker. No wonder the tone is so fat, with just a bit of grit to it.
I also really like the chorused clean guitar tone throughout this track. A micro bit I liked is the volume swell accompanied with a pitch rise of the guitar at 5:27, or the quick break for the ring-modulated guitar part at 1:39. The organ additionally adds some background atmosphere in spots. I wasn't expecting it from this type of song, but the percussion bits around 2:52 are unexpectedly delightful. The repeating tom fills at 4:51 and beyond are fun.
So one of the risky elements I referred to in some of my impressions is the use of noise as a significant musical component. A certain amount of it can add interest to a composition, but excessive amounts of it tend to irk me, and this comes a bit too close to that at times. I have a lot of effects pedals, and it can be fun to run a static tone or sequence through them and just spend hours twiddling knobs and seeing what happens. But it's more fun to do yourself than to listen to others experiment with, I've found. I've recorded a few of these jams, but I highly doubt I could ever release them.
So for example, 2:50 begins a portion of the song that structurally is quite bare, a 2-3 note riff that very slowly increases in intensity, a few chord changes with that bass riff as a pedal-tone to anchor it. Around 4:07 the most significant change is all the sound effects as the rate knob is being sped up and slowed down. It's interesting from an engineering standpoint, but doesn't add quite enough of melodic substance, making the build feel a tad overly long to me. There are similar examples around 2:03 (also with the hard clipping distortion), and 8:15 (though that one is fine since it's just part of the ambiance ringing out). In a way I appreciate being exposed to songs like this that are a little outside of my normal listening ambit, because that's how you make breakthroughs and discover music that wasn't even on your radar in prior years. But for the moment, there are just too many other songs I prefer listening to in this round to give it a higher score. But at least this is progress, pretty much only up to go from here, right? :-)
Score: 6.75/10
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soupytwist - mew - "Comforting Sounds"
Early Impression - "The layering and building of the arrangement is really cool, but the vocals aren't vibing with me."
Last round it was Galahad, this round is was mew. Will someone complementing a song ahead of time in round three and that song scoring relatively low be a third time's the charm situation, or do bad things come in sets of threes? Maybe we'll find out! I often like this epic sort of building structure, where a song begins in a very barebones fashion, gradually adding layer after layer, culminating in an explosive finale. And it obviously has this effect for fans of theirs as you can see in a number of live videos. The better post-rock works do this well, often multiple times in a single track. And that is certainly the stronger side of this song. As this entry went along fairly early I suspected it might try and do just that, and it executed it almost precisely like I thought it would.
The arrangement is quite well put-together, with the left and right panned-guitars interlocking, sometimes in a call and response fashion, other times harmonizing with each other, and then slowly adding keyboard textures into the mix as well. The keyboard pad underlaying the driving 8th notes in some spots also adds contrast and rhythmic interest. There is additionally a lot of variety timbrally with the guitars, such as the very slight crunch in the beginning, the chimier parts at 1:17, the mellow higher tones at 3:33, the increasing levels of saturation as the end approaches, and the biting tremolo picking at 7:57. The ascending pitch of the grinding patch at 7:42 is one the better uses of a noisier element in this round as well.
But ultimately, two things held this song back for me. First, it is quite harmonically simple, and even after numerous listens none of the melodies really latched onto me. And second, the vocalist's style and timbre is just not for me. These frail tenor falsetto deliveries work wonders on some people, should I dare say they find them "comforting"?, but with the occasional exception, I'm not often one of them. My hit rate for Nordic bands is higher than average, so I was really hoping maybe this would grow on me more, but alas, not enough.
Score: 6.75/10
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Puppies_On_Acid - Ne Obliviscaris - "Forget Not"
Early Impression - "The first third is magnificent, but the middle section is a bit fatiguing due to overuse of [redacted], and the final third doesn't quite make up for it."
So this is another band that isn't unfamiliar to me, but other than one album I enjoyed but don't know well, and the odd other song or two here and there, I'm certainly not well-acquainted with them. They are sometimes billed as "Opeth with violin", but despite Opeth being one of my absolute favorite bands, I don't actually tend to seek out other Opeth-esque bands that actively, most of the ones I run across are only very superficially similar and don't really give me the same vibes.
There was a lot of greatness in the first third. A song this long tends to bask in setup, and I'm quite fine with that. My favorite element by far is all of the violin work. It's such a marvelous instrument, and it is played superbly here. The way he plays with blending in harmonics at 2:00 is spectacular. The bass playing is also quite excellent, with many complementary lines. There is a playthrough video that I watched, which helps to highlight some of them. It's a bit sloppier than the studio take, but I'm not here to grade that part.
The vocals were mostly kind of just there for me. Neither the cleans nor the harshes really moved me, though the melisma at 6:42 and a few other spots started to nettle me a bit. I expected to see some female background vocal credits for the section at 8:19 on the right, but either online credits are incomplete or that's an impressively blended falsetto. Like Chthonic last round, the vocals generally sounded best in the sections where the cleans and harshes were in unison. The electric guitars did their job and for the most part didn't particularly stand out, though I did enjoy some of the nylon-string work in the first few minutes of the song. The sliding 5ths on the right at 5:24 are kind of fun. Also, the fills such as at 10:03 are more entertaining than the actual solo.
However, the drums are the facet that really overstayed its welcome. Most of the first half is copacetic enough. The China as heard on the right at 2:32 even sounds very similar to one of my own Sabian Holy Chinas, with a very distinctive thwack (he's definitely using a different kit in the playthrough version though). The ride and bell work like at 4:13 is scrumptious. But at 5:24 the double bass drums come in, and they're ok for awhile, but they kept going, and going, and going, and I was starting to look at the time to see how long those constant 16th notes had been hammering away. Well, as it turns out, they end at 9:15, for almost four minutes solid. It was actually almost a relief that the drumming went even further into overdrive with blasts at that point to have something different, but I kept not looking forward to this whole section and being distracted by them.
I like double bass in smaller doses, with more rhythmic variety, and this portion of the song just kept wearing me out. I read that the drummer won some competition for Australia's fastest feet, and apparently that's sort of a risk, with the need to put them on display constantly. Even more noticeable from watching the playthrough is that there is this snare, high tom, snare, high tom, lower tom roll fill such as at 5:08, and it gets overused a bit. I did like the tom pattern at 9:46 with the bass and acoustic though.
Score: 7/10
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romdrums - GoGo Penguin - "Seven Sons of Bjorn"
Early Impression - "The piano work here is excellent, but I'm not sure it's going to make up for the missed opportunity regarding another instrument with unactualized potential."
This track started really well. The piano parts are intricate and vibrant, the drumming is propulsive and tasty with the ride and snare interplay, and there are some nice upright bass fills and accompaniment. But after a couple minutes while it was feeling agreeable enough, I kept wondering if it was going to build to something grander.
Well, that began the more vexing aspect. The most frustrating thing about this piece is that it felt like it was setting up for a majestic violin or cello solo. Early in the song I had been hearing higher string parts in the background, so when the overdriven and delayed bit came in at 2:19 I started getting excited. But it never came, just a whole minute of sliding and bowing noises. Those have their place in more limited usages to add some tension and pulpiness to a song, but when they're the whole enchilada, I stare at my plate and surmise that the runner brought the entree for the wrong table. If there had been 30 seconds added of something more melodic in the middle or the end of the solo maybe I would have considered it worth the wait.
For many years I've tried to appreciate some of the more noisy styles of music that don't have much to grasp onto melodically. One way to do that I suppose is to acquaint yourself more with material that incorporates smaller doses of those elements, and this song actually ends up accomplishing a dash of that. But like with Poly-Math, it isn't going to contribute to scoring as highly as other tunes. Earlier I had thought it was a separate instrument playing the solo, but based on the double bass drop out and the credits, it must be the double bass itself. So ultimately I like the sparkling piano playing and basic groove enough to keep it from the bottom, but the missed opportunity with the upright bass leads me to hearing a version of the song in my head that I would have preferred, but wasn't what the band was going for.
Score: 7/10
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senecadawg2 - Floating Points - "Movement 7"
Early Impression - "Some delightful and dreamy ideas are teased, but there's not quite enough payoff. I think (hope) the album might be better than the song."
This is an album that I saw mentioned quite a lot in 2021, it was on all kinds of end of the year lists. I wanted to hear it because it was so ubiquitous, but never got around to it. Curiously enough, my first exposures to Pharaoh Sanders were from his time in some of John Coltrane's later quartets. Earlier Coltrane is some of my favorite music ever, but while people really into the free jazz and avant-garde scenes eat up his last few albums, for me it mostly just goes off the rails. Sun Ship is probably the album I appreciate most from that era, as the experimentation is more reigned in, always coming back to stability and not completely devolving into chaos. So part of my delay in not checking out this album earlier is that Pharaoh was never one of my favorite players. I respect his legendary status, and it's unfortunate that the world lost him since this album came out. But like later Coltrane, his oeuvre tended towards the avant-garde and free jazz scenes, which I probably unfairly and hypocritically have tended to dismiss as "hipster jazz".
Well, I am happy to confirm that this is mostly not that. It's on the minimalistic side for my tastes, but it is very well-performed, and Pharaoh's saxophone playing blends well with the Tangerine Dream-esque electronics. I especially like a lot of the background violin-esque gliding swells from the synthesizers. They're in moments reminiscent of organ (which is also present in a sprinkles here and there elsewhere), but more clearly become their own voice as the track goes along. In on particular spot the synth line blends into a very piquant timbre gradually starting around 5:14, where it's clearly two separate parts and sounds, but they blur together in a sonic vortex. Other moments are more theremin-esque. I'll have to look into the making of this album more to see if Floating Points describes any of the process of creation for this album.
Overall there's kind of a relaxing and meditative vibe, and some of the synth textures are reminiscent of bird chirps. At times I felt like I was levitating in a dream. There is a good sense of space, probably in both senses of the word. Pharaoh's playing stays on the softer, breathier end for quite awhile, and I wondered what it was leading to, whether there would be an maelstrom of sorts closer to the end. Well, it never quite came, though it was hinted at. 7:27 is where it gets more intense, though not for long. It's on the squawkier side of what I prefer, but it doesn't reach too extreme of levels, like I was worried it could given the history of players like him associated with the more out there jazz substyles.
This is also billed as featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, but they don't seem to be particularly present on most of this track. Perhaps they're responsible for a few of the moments of chromatic percussion. This will definitely be an album I'll have to investigate at some point to see how the saxophone, electronics, and orchestral elements blend together.
Score: 7/10
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ariich - Nova Collective - "Cascades"
Early Impression - "Another song that's a bit further out from the round selections, but has some intriguing keyboard textures."
For a time I was a pretty big Haken fan, especially when I saw them live and bought a hoodie that I still occasionally wear around and fascinatingly enough has gotten a couple people to approach me about them. For some reason (and surely much to Lethean's dismay) this has not yet happened with my Katatonia one. So while my fandom has cooled off somewhat over time, I am still curious about music in their orbit, so even in spite of the more direct connection you have to them, I'm happy to finally give this side project a bit more time.
There are a lot of compelling elements here, such as the guitar tapping intro with some savory cymbal work, which returns in a different form at 3:04, doubling with the ride, and ornamented with the bells and such. I love the guitar tone at 4:13 with the sustained chords supporting the keyboard solo. 4:55 is interesting in bringing back a unison line from earlier in the song (possibly a variation of it), but the timbres are stronger now, giving it a fresh feel. 5:20 is a joy with the drum and then guitar solo, with some nice whammy dips and a dash of bravura, leading into that atmospheric tremolo-picked ending.
There are many groovy bass lines, and I enjoyed how they synchronized with the tom accents like in the section at 0:30. There are some neat tom fills throughout as well, 2:41 is such a classic prog-style passage with the herta tom fills and all. Also some tasty snacks of cymbal stacks. There is not quite enough incorporation of the splash cymbal, but some is better than none. I also relish the side piccolo snare at 3:26.
The guitar/keyboard unison lines like at 0:55 are striking. The one at 1:23 is even better with the keyboard harmony on the left, with a really nice tone there. I like the grittiness of the tremolo Wurlitzer patch at 2:12 and later. The keyboard motif at 2:16 is also rather catchy. The organ punches in at certain moments, though it sounds a bit plain, like a stock ROMpler sample. The Wurlitzer solo at 4:12 is definitely one of the highlights, with some nice phrasing there, and the delay effect on it gives it a spacey vibe. The sound at 3:27 is easily the most enigmatic one of the song. For the life of me I can't quite work out what it is. The glides have a synthesizer portamento quality, but the run at 4:00 sounds picked. It could be an actual guitar synthesizer I suppose. The delayed mirror of moments of it on the left also adds mystery to it. I wouldn't mind if your inside source spilled the beans as to how that sound was made. :-)
Ultimately this is where the round starts becoming hard to rank, because while everything before it had at least one glaring flaw that held it back, this doesn't really have any. It's well-executed fusiony prog rock and I certainly won't mind listening to their other material, however, I just dug the songs later even more.
Score: 7.5/10
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Elite - Avishai Cohen Trio - "Pinzin Kinzin"
Early Impression - "This does way more with one note than it should be legal to get away with."
So here we have another artist that I have dabbled with, having heard and enjoyed an album, but definitely did not know well. When I first discovered Aziza Mustafa Zadeh I thought of her as a singularity, being a relatively newer strain derived from jazz, but modernized, and with the inclusion of an array of other elements, in her case, classical and regional spices from her homeland. While I still do not pay nearly the attention to new-ish jazz artists as I'd like to, having spent the bulk of my time in past years steeped in the 50s-60s era, I've slowly been running across artists like Avishai (also Tigran and others) who do have some commonalities in approach of amalgamating jazz with other styles.
I could swear that intro is a quote from something, but exactly what it is has eluded me thus far. Perhaps it'll hit me later, or you or someone else knows. The central trick of this piece is anchoring most of the chords and melodies to that E pedaltone (which shifts to the 4th and or the 5th in a few spots), with the shifting progressions and rhythms dancing around it. It's almost modal jazz without being modal jazz. I appreciate how effortlessly it switches between the minor and major 3rds and 6ths.
There are lots of other small highlights, like the timbre of the hats, such as at 1:45, and how they bounce around with the percussive attack of Avishai's upright parts. Other salient items of note are the texture of the stack at 2:01, the flammed tom fills such as in the section starting at 4:27, the bass break at 2:43, and the buildup of how the bass mostly locks in with the piano right hand to ground the changes, but at 1:45 they simultaneously add a lot of movement to give the song a greater sense of direction. This is one of those fascinating puzzle piece songs, where each instrument only partially makes sense on its own, but they integrate so well as part of the full rhythmic picture of the composition.
Score: 7.5/10
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Stadler - Sting - "Come Down In Time"
Early Impression - "Not enough double bass."
I almost wondered if I may have cursed you by talking about Elton John in a recent thread. I don't know if that was the catalyst for choosing this song, or if you would have come up with it anyway, but the timing seemed suspicious. I know I've heard the original before, but it wasn't one of my more played songs of Elton's. But Sting has always been an artist I've wanted to become more familiar with. I'm a casual fan of The Police, and have heard a few solo songs of his here and there over the years, and even own a few of his CDs (unplayed), but could never seem to bump him up higher in my listening queue. So this helps with that.
My first impression was definitely one of disappointment, it felt like another overly sparse arrangement, with minimal instrumentation, and nothing interesting production-wise either. Those are highly risky, because it places such a high burden on the vocalist and melodies, and there are only so many singers who can pull that off (this will come up again much later). There was some footage of Sting talking about choosing this song, and stripping it down so much was clearly his intention. It's just a bit much for me, I especially wanted to hear more movement from his bass playing than just almost exclusively roots and octaves. But for a superficially simple song, it does have some striking and unconventional chord changes and playing around with alternating aeolian and dorian modes.
Ultimately I did wind up listening to this song quite a lot, as there is something compelling about the melody and Sting's vocals and delivery of it, which did save it from being near the bottom of the heap like it initially was, and it leapfrogged a number of songs which are more instrumentally dense and my writeups might otherwise suggest I should like them more than this one.
Score: 7.5/10
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Evermind - Evan Carson - "Otriad"
Early Impression - "The presence of a certain entity from the previous round might have been risky if you read all the writeups, but this might circumvent it."
So as I alluded to in my impression, if you noticed from last round, Jim Grey from Caligula's Horse was one of the complicated facets of that band that contributed to me saving their entry for last to give myself time to make sense of how I thought about his vocals. That continues to an extent here, and I still find his mid-range more palatable than his upper range. Partly a tad more familiarity, and partially his lesser usage of his higher range does make his voice less of a distraction here. Overall, this is definitely a song that grew on me, both in terms of the song itself becoming better and better as it goes along, and in my feelings about it over the course of numerous listens.
I've enjoyed some of iamthemorning's work, so having their pianist onboard to craft motifs is gratifying. I might have to try and learn the opening piano run and add it to my repertoire. That sequence of sextuplet runs at 3:46 is quite flavorous. In a round with a number of songs with chord progressions more opaque and complex than I can work out without picking up an instrument and parsing through them, it's nice to hear some simpler harmonic tricks that I can figure out from my chair, like more usage of the phrygian dominant scale from the previous round.
As my inclusion of Shakti for the round might suggest, I'm a bit of a sucker for violin in non-classical contexts, and it is well-employed here, like with the piano/violin octaves at 4:35, the soloing such as at 5:04, or the unisons at 6:24. The tin whistle in that last section is enchanting as well. Percussion is often an underrated and neglected spice to add some panache to a recording, and the bodhran here certainly delivers.
Score: 7.5/10
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Vmadera00 - Howe Wooten Chambers - "Bird's Eye View"
Early Impression - "This would be a mess if amateurs tried to create it."
But these are no amateurs. So these players are all familiar to me in varying degrees. Dennis has performed for lots of other fusion artists I've heard, like Niacin, CAB and such. Victor has been all over the place, and I've even seen his solo band live a couple times. I've heard the least from Greg, but I know I've heard something or another at a few points. And I actually have a digital copy of this particular album on one of my hard drives, and have possibly heard it a time or two before, but if so it's been a very long time. So that makes this another entry in the artists I'm aware of but have ignored too much category, and for that I'm grateful, because Howe in particular deserves a lot more props.
He has a dazzling command of clean and funky rhythm parts, with some splendid textural chorused comping. And that hybrid-picked line at 1:22 that repeats a few times is just impossibly cool. But the real highlight is that he's an even better soloist than I'd realized. His panoply of rhythmic variety, texture, and phrasing is just immaculate. There are lots of fun whammy dips and such, and the pinch harmonics at 4:21 are especially electrifying. I'm a huge Tony MacAlpine fan, but when it comes to this style, at least based on this tune, Greg might be better. It's kind of funny that all of these former Shrapnel players used to be criticized for being one-trick shred ponies early in their careers, and yet the most prominent ones have all gone on to display great versatility - Paul Gilbert, Richie Kotzen, Tony MacAlpine, Marty Friedman, Jason Becker, etc. Maybe they had something to prove, or perhaps they had it in them all along, but Greg certainly makes his case here.
Dennis and Victor anchor everything well, that high snare cuts through the mix really well, and the bass harmonics really pop out, along with all kinds of great fills and such. And while obviously the highlight is on the three main players, even the keyboards get in on the action with some complementary parts and an energetic wah Rhodes solo later on.
Score: 7.75/10
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Tomislav95 - The Reign of Kindo - "The Moments In Between"
Early Impression - "Hey look, some vocal falsettos I don't mind."
As I hinted back a couple pages ago, I've checked out a bit of their material before. Their name has kept popping up, and there was something strangely intriguing about it. This is quite a feast for the ears of rhythmic patterns. The guitar rhythm sounds a bit more broken up, the piano is mostly playing triplets, and the ride is playing this crazy 4/3 pattern which is rather unusual. And that's not even the coolest part, which is the ride rhythm at 3:55. The dance of rhythms between the piano and the clean guitar parts in the verse is quite captivating. The little piano flourish at 0:50 is nice, or the break at 1:46. I also like the guitar swells such as at 2:36.
Particularly in the previous round, I noted that vocal falsettos can be a rankling element for me at times, but here I don't mind them at all. The chorus was starting to stick in my head after a few plays. There are some exquisite vocal harmonies as well. I love the interlocking lead and backing vocals like at 4:26.
With so many longer songs in the first couple rounds, I've become accustomed to lengthier song structures, so I found myself saying "aww man, it's already over" the first few times after the initial play. At first I wasn't sure I liked it as much as a few of the songs of theirs I'd listened to last year, but it's definitely grown on me and this will be a priority band to spend more time with in the new year.
Score: 8.25/10
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twosuitluke - Seatbelts - "Tank!"
Early Impression - "Is Alec Baldwin about to take the stage?"
So as I alluded to in my PM, I have a slight bit of history with this song. In college one of the elective courses I took was on jazz history, which fueled this burgeoning area of my taste. At some point one enterprising student in the class showed this song to the teacher, Cowboy Bebop being a more popular show for the younger demographic at the time (though unknown to me), and the teacher wound up playing it for the whole class later. So this song has the approval of a professional saxophone player and jazz connoisseur/historian. I know I found it online at the time and listened to it a few times, but I had kind of forgotten about it and hadn't heard it in a long time, so I'm glad you've brought it back to my attention.
This is easily the most fun song of the round. It's basically a 12-bar blues made jazzier, with the double bass and acoustic doubling the bluesy bass line, the delicious bongo accompaniment, the excellent saxophone solo, the snappy hi-hat barks, the horn section flourishes (the left/right-panned call and response at 0:39 is a nice moment), the punchy Hammond organ in the background, it all works together really well. The shaker hard-panned on the left is almost constant, but the hard right-panned acoustic is more intermittent, but in moments when they sync up rhythmically it almost fools the ear into making it sound like there are two acoustics playing at once, another enjoyable novel element. 1:58 and 2:16 almost sound like the saxophone is laughing, which is indicative of the good time this tune is.
Score: 8.25/10
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Lethean - Kiko Loureiro - "Ojos Verdes"
Early Impression - "I suspected that this person had this kind of range, but this demonstrably proves it."
So here we have another example of a musician I know, but mostly in other contexts. I've heard the last few Megadeth albums, a few Angra albums, have watched various Youtube videos, and heard his solo album from '20, plus the occasional other random track here and there. I had heard that he had some less rock and metal-centric output, but hadn't really ever gotten more than a taste of it.
I really like his style and phrasing here. There is a perfect balance of percussive precision when called for, Al DiMeola-ish at times, and incredible fluidity in other spots. The tone and some of the whammy dips are very Jeff Beck-esque, with another great low-gain lead tone. The solo from 2:06 to 3:10 is just masterful. 2:36 in particular is a really delightful small segment.
I'm not familiar with the other players on this recording to my knowledge, but they more than hold their own. The drumming is really tasty, with the tight snare that really pops out, the higher-pitched toms and accents (the small bit in the solo at 5:10 is fabulous), and the ride bell patterns. There is also some solid piano comping and soloing. The bass doesn't really get any solo attention, but has quite engaging lines on its own underpinning the other instrumentation, and the guitar/piano/bass unisons are excellent.
Score: 8.25/10
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TAC - Altherya - "In Flanders Fields"
Early Impression - "Definitely on the more tenuous of connections to the round themes, but it does check a few boxes, and a good song is a good song."
This has a bit of an unusual intro, where it takes five chords to climb to the key of the song, I suppose almost like being dropped right into battle, which the poem it is based on memorializes. Supposedly the poem was sometimes used for war propaganda, but this gives it a more properly somber tone, which is elevated with the vocal earnesty. I enjoy how it is bookended with both a piano intro and outro.
This is not normally the type of song I would expect the bass playing to be one of the highlights, so that was quite serendipitous. It has a really nice full tone, and some creative lines and fills most noticeable in the softer sections. The guitar solo felt a bit underwhelming on the first listen, but a few listens later and now it feels just right, letting notes linger at times, and with just the right amount of flair in a few choice spots, particularly the triplet descent at 4:37, which scales right back up nicely with the reverse octave lick, a rather uncommon one that grabbed my attention on subsequent listens.
So I must say it was a little jarring when I checked out the Rate Your Music entry for the album this song is from, and observed that the ratings are pretty mediocre. Sometimes the hive mind there is just plain wrong, and hopefully when I check out the whole album they'll bear that out. One review from another site I skimmed did indicate that this was the best song on the album though.
Score: 8.25/10
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SoundscapeMN - Greg Herriges - "Rama Be Good"
Early Impression - "This excels in combining two of my songs, while bringing in an element I'm not sure you knew I liked, but definitely makes this selection stand out."
As my selection of Shakti as one of the round themes hints at, the merging of elements of Indian classical music with Western music is an area that has long fascinated me. And I am thrilled that this is such a stellar blending of them. My first reaction that would have been too specific is that this kind of sounds like a mixture of Shakti and artists associated with the CandyRat label. Many plays later I don't hear that so much, it definitely has its own personality, but it would certainly have appeal to fans of that sort of instrumental, virtuosic but tasteful sound, of which I am obviously one.
One of the instruments I play is mandolin, including octave mandolin, which is somewhat similar to the bouzouki that Greg is playing in this, so I enjoy that flavor. Like Avishai Cohen's piece earlier, this really makes a lot of usage out of the drone D that anchors most of this song, mixing mixolydian and aeolian modes very fluidly, while suggesting the presence of what in more proper Indian classical would be the role of the tanpura to ground the piece. The auxiliary guitar work also melds well with Greg's primary parts. I always looked forward to that little flurry of notes at 1:24 and other spots, it's synchronized impossibly well among all of the instruments. The tabla playing is splendid, and mixes superbly with the other percussion, which is hard to find information online for, it appears to be some type of frame drum.
The biggest surprise of the song was certainly the vocals, and is definitely one of the resplendent standouts of this live version over the studio recording. One of my absolute favorite vocalists is Sheila Chandra, and I'm always but never frequently enough on the hunt for other similar vocalists, so I'll have to look into Pooja's other efforts.
Score: 8.75/10
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Sacul - Mammal Hands - "Quiet Fire"
Early Impression - "This incorporates a risky musical element, but makes more judicious use of it than several other songs did, making it feel more earned."
In earlier entries I noted that noisier components can bring a song down if they are too prominent, but this is a song that gets it right. The interlocking of the different saxophone and piano motifs is sublime, sometimes playing different but similar patterns, other times trading off between taking more of a background role while the other shines. Around 3:28 the saxophone work gets squawkier for a bit, with some background ambiance that is a bit tricky to make out. But more than earlier songs, here it actually feels earned, and instead has a more entrancing effect.
The drum work is noteworthy all around, with cross-sticking, tom accents and such. The cymbals have a drier sound than I expected, with a much quicker decay, but it's effective here. Normally I notice the absence of bass more often, but somehow the bass drum and lower end of the piano makes up enough for it to not be too noticeable unless I'm really looking for it, though having Avishai Cohen from an earlier song or a similar cat might have made this song more extraordinary.
Score: 8.75/10
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HOF - Yaatri - "Vipassana"
Early Impression - "Am I in heaven? I don't know how you figured out how to combine elements of all three songs, but you did."
Now this is a masterclass in arranging. There are so many different elements coming in and out, and it all just works so seamlessly, with endless colorful variation. This song must be a synesthesiast's dream. 100 listens in and I'm sure I'll continue to notice bits I previously overlooked, which is always a good quality for a song to have if it can keep them from being overwhelming.
For the first few plays this was my favorite song of the round, and I was marveling at the sorcery involved for you to strike gold twice in a row. At first I wasn't sure this song could be beaten. Well, by the fourth listen the next song had caught fire and edged it out, but I am gracing both with the same score, regardless, they are more or less equals in very different ways.
My favorite moment is that while the vocals are drier when they are doubling the guitar line, at 1:32 and other spots the reverb and a vocal double-track is faded in, which really makes the song bloom and gives it this celestial feel, which is intoxicating. The former part has a bit of a Return To Forever Light As a Feather vibe with the vocals and Rhodes keyboard. To go along with the increase in vocal ethereality, the half-step chord progression is quite riveting.
There is much else to cherish here as well though, like the textured hat work and how it blends with the other percussion, or the saxophone and trumpet parts creating an engaging sonic concoction with the synthesizer patches. 4:13 is fascinating in how it's a repeat of an earlier section, but there's a bit more urgency, and bringing in the lower range piano to double the line really adds some weight to it. 4:42 is likewise piquant, continuing the half-step progression, with seemingly not as much going on, but with a really lush feel with the synthesizer pads, and all of the delectable percussion. There is so much going on that it would be easy to overlook the foundation the bass is laying, but it provides great complementary lines and a few fills to undergird the other elements. This song does so much right that I think I might have been ok with it ending in a more chill fashion, but the drums propelling the song to an aural wash of delight at the conclusion made it even more euphoric.
Score: 9/10
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Nachtmerrie - Caro Emerald - "I Know That He's Mine"
Early Impression - "This is a sparse arrangement done right."
So with Tomino not quite working for me, Sting outperforming early expectations, but ultimately bringing up the middle of the pack, we have our first minimalistic arrangement that knocks it out of the park. I found it intriguing right away, but thought it might still just remain a bit above average for the round. Well, by the fourth listen the embers had turned into a blaze, and I could just not stop listening to this one.
There are two keys to this song for me. Most important are the vocals, which are my favorite of the round by a decent margin. A really good vocalist and a melody that sticks with you are coveted musical commodities, and this song has both in spades. I periodically go on binges of trying to find more great Dutch vocalists in the rock/metal arena, but this is proof that I need to broaden my scope to other genres as well. Caro has a wonderful tone, a slight vibrato in the right spots, and I love how she smoothly goes in and out of straight rhythms vs. the triplet feel of some passages.
The second key is that while the instrumentation is quite bare, there is a magic echo box that turns out to be a secret ingredient. It's quite subtle at first, but starts being incorporated increasingly at various points, which contributes a layer of production interest and panache. With the vocals it adds this rolling burble on the right, and with the acoustic guitar it's a bit more varied, with these shimmering holds and slapback delays at certain moments. Turns out that apparently it's a temperamental old Italian analog unit, but it worked wonders on this track.
Like the Sting track, the upright bass is mostly in the background, and I wouldn't have minded if it was just a tad more active, but there were at least a few more sliding tones, walking lines and passing notes to look forward to. If everything else in the track wasn't working so well for me I might find the guitar solo a bit barren for my tastes, but with the magic echo box at work I don't mind it so much. At 1:11 there's also that fun James Bond-esque 5th, minor 6th, major 6th, minor 6th movement.
I also checked out several other arrangements of this song on other releases of Caro's, and it never ceases to amaze me how many different things you can do with the bones of a song, completely changing the feel with alternate instrumentation and mood. This was the right selection though, with it being a showcase for her vivacious vocal prowess. There are other songs in the round with more exemplary instrumentation, but the ensorcelling vocals really put this over the top.
Score: 9/10
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Current Standings:
HOF ----------------- 18
Nachtmerrie --------- 17.25
SoundscapeMN ------- 16.75
TAC --------------------- 16.5
Lethean ----------------- 16
Sacul --------------------- 16
twosuitluke --------------- 15.75
Stadler --------------------- 15.5
ariich ------------------------ 15.25
Evermind --------------------- 15.25
Tomislav95 -------------------- 15.25
Puppies_On_Acid -------------- 15
senecadawg2 ----------------- 15
Vmadera00 ------------------ 15
romdrums ------------------ 14.25
Buddyhunter1 ------------- 14
Elite ----------------------- 14
soupytwist --------------- 13.25
Crow -------------------- 12.75
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Round 3:
Remember, no mystery songs for round 3. Just send up to 15:00 of music from one artist to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com, Youtube links preferred. Just make sure they're in order if you're hoping to create some mini-EP-like flow, though I'm not grading it on that quality per se.
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Should have sent The Comet Is Coming instead. :P
Also I'm pretty sure that's the only song on that album with Adam Neeley's vocals so you might enjoy the rest of it more.
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looking at three of the bottom 4 placements i think we're just not gonna get along :lol
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I wonder given you have 18 songs to go through with these, it might be helpful to divide up your work on them in half.
I.e., do the 1st 9, and then the 2nd 9. It might delay some things, but it could make your workload a little easier.
19 actually! I'll keep that possibility in mind if I need to change things up at some point, but I don't think it would suit my workflow very well. In receiving and giving the first three listens to everything I'm pretty structured and methodical, but by later listens it becomes very spontaneous, and after I post the impressions I work on whichever writeups I feel like at the moment. Round one I started with my suspected favorite songs of the round, and this one I did the opposite, trying to crank out the ones that didn't appeal to me as much first. The final edits became more systematic again trying to tighten up all of the details and make sure I didn't overlook anything, but inbetween I just work on whatever comes to me as I listen to whatever I feel like in the moment, sometimes listening to the top songs more because I really like them, sometimes to bottom ones to try and hear what maybe I'm missing regarding them, or the middle ones because they bunch up and establishing a hierarchy is a bit more maddening, particularly at first.
It's about the same amount of time either way, and I don't suspect having the "burden" of doing half at first would really help, especially when I'm not even sure what half that would be yet, unless it's strictly alphabetical or in order of submission reception. Particularly when I'm likely to feel an urge to listen to an earlier song and notice some other little detail I didn't catch in prior listening sessions, but by then the writeup would already be out. This was just a harder round because of holidays, end of year distractions, and unexpected life issues to deal with. I'm sure there will be rougher spots in later rounds too at times, but it should be generally more smooth sailing now, I had anticipated this round would be a tough one.
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Awesome! Now I have to come up with something to send. Almost easier with the mystery songs as a prompt!
There are two Yaatri albums (one is technically an EP) and I think you’d enjoy them both if you liked that song. Really like their blend of Asian/Indian music and modern jazz. This most recent one also has some more rock/prog type moments as well, but both are great.
Edit: I should have been in bed an hour ago, but sent!
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Not a bad score. :)
I like Kiko's playing a lot, and more than that I think he's a great songwriter.
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Oh man I suck! ;D
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Got some work to do, gotta step up my game for future rounds :hat
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Stadler - Sting - "Come Down In Time"
Early Impression - "Not enough double bass."
I almost wondered if I may have cursed you by talking about Elton John in a recent thread. I don't know if that was the catalyst for choosing this song, or if you would have come up with it anyway, but the timing seemed suspicious. I know I've heard the original before, but it wasn't one of my more played songs of Elton's. But Sting has always been an artist I've wanted to become more familiar with. I'm a casual fan of The Police, and have heard a few solo songs of his here and there over the years, and even own a few of his CDs (unplayed), but could never seem to bump him up higher in my listening queue. So this helps with that.
My first impression was definitely one of disappointment, it felt like another overly sparse arrangement, with minimal instrumentation, and nothing interesting production-wise either. Those are highly risky, because it places such a high burden on the vocalist and melodies, and there are only so many singers who can pull that off (this will come up again much later). There was some footage of Sting talking about choosing this song, and stripping it down so much was clearly his intention. It's just a bit much for me, I especially wanted to hear more movement from his bass playing than just almost exclusively roots and octaves. But for a superficially simple song, it does have some striking and unconventional chord changes and playing around with alternating aeolian and dorian modes.
Ultimately I did wind up listening to this song quite a lot, as there is something compelling about the melody and Sting's vocals and delivery of it, which did save it from being near the bottom of the heap like it initially was, and it leapfrogged a number of songs which are more instrumentally dense and my writeups might otherwise suggest I should like them more than this one.
Score: 7.5/10
No, it wasn't the Elton John reference that triggered this; that was a coincidence. I heard your mystery songs and as I've noted I'm going with gut feel gut reaction here, and it took about 4 seconds for me to think "Vince Guaraldi". I often cite "Linus and Lucy" as my favorite song of all time, but I've dug into Vince beyond his work with the Peanuts gang and he's one of my favorites. THere's just not a lot LIKE him out there that resonates with me the same way. He's got a bounciness to him but with a different sensibility than a lot of the jazz in that style (I'm not an aficionado, so I don't know what words to use here). Sting has - sometimes effectively, sometimes pretentiously - forayed into that jazz realm, and "Come Down In Time" - maybe because it's on a compilation and not one of his albums - seemed to be the nice middle ground for that.
If you're interested in pursuing more "Sting", his first three or four solo albums are each very different. I personally like "Ten Summoner's Tales" the best; it's a great mix of the pop he's so good at (but looks down his nose at) and the jazz he loves (but disappears up his ass with too often). Then "...Nothing Like The Sun" or "The Soul Cages"; ...NLTS is the better album, but TSC has the deeper meaning and the better story (it's about his father dying and confronting the writer's block he got after that event). I don't like "The Dream Of The Blue Turtles" (his first solo album); it's too pretentious, and Sting doesn't play any bass on the record, it's all Darryl Jones (The Stones) who is good, but I want to hear STING play bass. He's got a great individual style I like a lot.
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Top 3 of the round let's goooo :metal.
Sad to see such a low score for Comforting Sounds but I certainly understand why it wasn't your thing.
Now that I kinda know what you like, let's see what I can find ;D
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So the two songs I want to send for this round come out to... 14 minutes and 59 seconds. Fuck yeah. :metal
EDIT: And sent. Hoping for my strongest submission thus far!
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just wondering if more than 1 song is sent for this "Free For All" round, can songs from more than 1 Artist/Band be part of that, just as long as it's no more than 15 minutes?
I suppose part of the score is to have those multiple songs flow together in some ways would support sending multiple songs from 1 band/artist and likely from the same album.
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There are two Yaatri albums (one is technically an EP) and I think you’d enjoy them both if you liked that song. Really like their blend of Asian/Indian music and modern jazz. This most recent one also has some more rock/prog type moments as well, but both are great.
Spoiler alert: I've already listened to their album from this year and it'll definitely be somewhere on my year-end-list. None of the other tracks were quite as good as that one, and I probably won't have time for multiple listens to see if they grow on me since I need to throw my lists together in the next few days before all the roulette submissions trickle in. But they're definitely priority listening going forward.
On that note, I also checked out Avishai Cohen's from this year. I don't know if this will make Elite feel better or worse, but while I did like the song from the round despite it not quite placing in the top half, I think I like his '22 album even more.
just wondering if more than 1 song is sent for this "Free For All" round, can songs from more than 1 Artist/Band be part of that, just as long as it's no more than 15 minutes?
I suppose part of the score is to have those multiple songs flow together in some ways would support sending multiple songs from 1 band/artist and likely from the same album.
Just one artist, but multiple songs from them are perfectly fine, even encouraged, as long as they don't add up to more than 15 minutes of music. I'm not scoring flow, but it does give people some flexibility to find songs that sequence well together to enhance the listening experience, whether they're in the same order on the album, or even on separate ones. If it's just a few random songs from an artist in no particular order that's ok as well, as long as the songs are good enough. It also gives the potential to showcase different sounds and the breadth of an artist if you want to do that, since sometimes that's difficult to demonstrate with a single song. The possibility of including multiple artists in the same submission will be for the custom EP round later on.
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That went pretty well.
Round 3 sent.
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(https://i.imgflip.com/76h099.jpg)
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And without a hint of jazz even! Well, it has the same score as the three below (above?) it, and those may or may not always actually be in order, so you really can only be sure it's top 8, but hey, still not bad!
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Sent my mystery songs for the next round!
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Sent
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I sent a reply. :lol
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Litho, what are the rules for the 45 minute EP going to be? Minimum number of bands? Max number of tracks from the same band, anything like that?
Also, if you have unrated albums on your rate your music, does that mean you really haven't heard the album or just never got around to rating it?
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We have to make an EP? I gotta read the OP.
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TAC has outed himself in the same day as not reading the rules in either mine or Luke's. :rollin
I haven't really hammered down exactly what they are yet, particularly since it'll be at the very end of the roulette, probably a couple months away at minimum. Standard procedure for other roulettes seems to be at least three different artists, and with mine being 45 rather than the 30 or 40 for some, I might make that at least four different artists, I'll have to ponder it more. I'm thinking that no artist should dominate more than a third of the runtime, something like that. You can start thinking about it now for sure, but I'd definitely advise not putting too much effort into it this early unless that's just really fun for you, since you're probably going to figure out a lot more about my taste in the upcoming rounds, and get confused about even more of it. :lol
For unrated albums, it really depends on the particular one, it could easily be either. Just PM me if you're really curious about one or two in particular.
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I'm not really working on the EP yet - just wanted an idea in case I might save some bands for it vs using them now. Or maybe if I wanted to send slightly more than 15 minutes of a band, I could do that in the EP (but I'm thinking no on that one).
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Sent. :)
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If you have an artist you have more than 15 minutes of music you want me to hear from, just pick the best 15 for a round (probably one of the free-for-alls, though the ending EP could work) and tell me what other song or two you want me to hear outside of the round. I already have a small list of songs I'd said I'd give quick opinions on from the first two that I'll get to sometime later.
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sent.
Pretty curious to hear your take.
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I sent a reply. :lol
Re-sent. You aren't allowed to reject this one.....even if someone else sent it (I doubt it...) :neverusethis:
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Sad to see such a low score for Comforting Sounds but I certainly understand why it wasn't your thing.
I can accept the low score, but I'm having a harder time accepting it scored worse than a bloody Sting song ;D
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Sent something :corn
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Dammit Litho, the song I was going to send this round is from an album you checked out and rated on your RYM since this roulette started.
How dare you check out a new artist when there's a roulette going on! :P
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Ok sent!
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Sent something :corn
Sent a reply. :)
Dammit Litho, the song I was going to send this round is from an album you checked out and rated on your RYM since this roulette started.
How dare you check out a new artist when there's a roulette going on! :P
Yes, how dare i continue to listen to other music while I'm doing things not conducive to writing more roulette notes. ;D
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Sad to see such a low score for Comforting Sounds but I certainly understand why it wasn't your thing.
I can accept the low score, but I'm having a harder time accepting it scored worse than a bloody Sting song ;D
Hey now!!!! Rest easy; it's a cover of an Elton John song. :) :) :)
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Sad to see such a low score for Comforting Sounds but I certainly understand why it wasn't your thing.
I can accept the low score, but I'm having a harder time accepting it scored worse than a bloody Sting song ;D
Hey now!!!! Rest easy; it's a cover of an Elton John song. :) :) :)
Wow, beaten out by both Gordon and Reginald.
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Dammit Litho, the song I was going to send this round is from an album you checked out and rated on your RYM since this roulette started.
How dare you check out a new artist when there's a roulette going on! :P
Yes, how dare i continue to listen to other music while I'm doing things not conducive to writing more roulette notes. ;D
While I was obviously being tongue-in-cheek, just to be clear I wasn't referring to listening to any other music at all, only to checking out new artists you don't already know. Of course everyone has the right to do roulettes the way they want and this one is very nicely designed so far, so I'm not complaining. Just interested really - when I do my own roulettes, I check out new albums from artists I already know (and who would therefore be banned anyway) but if there's an artist I have the opportunity/interest to check out that I've not rated before, I put them aside until the roulette's finished in case anyone intends to send them to me.
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Hah, I'm a quite patient person, but not that patient. :) There is so much music out there that whatever I check out during but outside of a roulette is such a minuscule drop in the bucket. I'm particularly more likely to check out current year releases in case they'll place well on my year-end lists. But there are a large number of bands that I've intentionally held off of listening to because I know they have fanbases here, and won't mind if someone submits them for a round. Some of them will be explicit mentions in round 11. Some of them might have even been selected for this very round!
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Not even thought about what to submit yet, how many of us are yet to submit? Just so I feel a little better
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Not even thought about what to submit yet, how many of us are yet to submit? Just so I feel a little better
Just get on with it, slacker.
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Not even thought about what to submit yet, how many of us are yet to submit? Just so I feel a little better
Just get on with it, slacker.
I'm only a slacker if 80% have sent. If only 15% have sent then I'm just not a kiss ass (unlike some) :lol
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Not even thought about what to submit yet, how many of us are yet to submit? Just so I feel a little better
Just get on with it, slacker.
I'm only a slacker if 80% have sent. If only 15% have sent then I'm just not a kiss ass (unlike some) :lol
Results were posted almost 48 hours ago. You became an official slacker 24 hours ago. ;D
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TAC might not be, but I'm fine with people slacking this round, gives me more time to work on my '22 lists (which I've been distracted by with a Caro Emerald binge, but this is partly why we have these roulettes to find such artists!) :) And the singles for her new rebranded album next (err, "this") year are technically '22 releases as well, so I can actually accomplish both at once!
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Not even thought about what to submit yet, how many of us are yet to submit? Just so I feel a little better
Just get on with it, slacker.
I'm only a slacker if 80% have sent. If only 15% have sent then I'm just not a kiss ass (unlike some) :lol
Results were posted almost 48 hours ago. You became an official slacker 24 hours ago. ;D
Who appointed you roulette monitor? Did you make your own sash?
(https://64.media.tumblr.com/c21a6830730ee3ce36551d0a41708c4e/tumblr_oeke4c37V51vbcnq8o1_500.gif)
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:lol
Someone needs to do it.
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:lol
Someone needs to do it.
Maybe secret santa can sort you out next Christmas
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Not even thought about what to submit yet
(https://i.giphy.com/media/dWHvFbbXfAbYMeebdb/giphy.webp)
You've been working on how to cram King Gizzard's Wizzard Lizzard down my throat, you just need to listen to all 4,000 songs again first to decide which ones.
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I think TAC needs to appoint himself roulette monitor in another roulette... Does that roulette even exist, or did I just dream that I was participating in another one...
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I think TAC needs to appoint himself roulette monitor in another roulette... Does that roulette even exist, or did I just dream that I was participating in another one...
Someone needs to PM/e-mail/text him, he hasn't even logged in for 4-5 days. If he's still that busy almost a month later, the break should probably be a hiatus. Is Tomi or Crow up next? I have songs to send!
-
You shouldn't be asking for more on your plate. I may be doing the rest of the discography posts, but I need some musician time stamp details, so chop chop.
-
:lol
-
Some of them will be explicit mentions in round 11. Some of them might have even been selected for this very round!
Happy to oblige. ;D
-
Not even thought about what to submit yet
(https://i.giphy.com/media/dWHvFbbXfAbYMeebdb/giphy.webp)
You've been working on how to cram King Gizzard's Wizzard Lizzard down my throat, you just need to listen to all 4,000 songs again first to decide which ones.
It's just a matter of time dude!
So I've got an idea of what to send. I checked your RYM and the album I'm looking at is in your list but it's not rated. Does that mean you've listened once and just not rated the album? Is it sendable?
-
If it's unrated and on the wishlist, I'm consider that being something Josh hasn't listened to and is eligible to send. If it's showing as owned but unrated that'd be a bit different.
-
Hi guys! I'm back after more than a week of holiday and fun :)
I'll take that score for Avishai Cohen. It's cool to see what other people brought up in this round and I might just send stuff I didn't send this round in future rounds anyway. Also, I must say I really like reading your write-ups. It seems like you take the time to figure out stuff you actually enjoy and don't in songs and manage to articulate that as well. Props! :tup
On that note, I also checked out Avishai Cohen's from this year. I don't know if this will make Elite feel better or worse, but while I did like the song from the round despite it not quite placing in the top half, I think I like his '22 album even more.
Honestly, I haven't even heard that one yet :lol between other new music released, studying and backtracking though a lot of older discographies this past year, this one slipped past me I suppose.
-
So I've got an idea of what to send. I checked your RYM and the album I'm looking at is in your list but it's not rated. Does that mean you've listened once and just not rated the album? Is it sendable?
As ariich said, if it's wishlisted I probably haven't heard it. If it's listed as part of my physical or digital collection but not rated it could be either. Just e-mail or PM me about it if you want to know.
-
Let me also highlight something from the first page that some of you have definitely glossed over, because it has affected a few submissions this round already. I've heard pretty much all of the songs sent in 425's and Luke's current roulettes 2-4 times already, so even if those artists aren't banned or rated, I'm already a bit too familiar with those particular songs, so I want something fresher. So if you want to send those artists, pick different songs than the ones used in those roulettes.
-
So I've got an idea of what to send. I checked your RYM and the album I'm looking at is in your list but it's not rated. Does that mean you've listened once and just not rated the album? Is it sendable?
As ariich said, if it's wishlisted I probably haven't heard it. If it's listed as part of my physical or digital collection but not rated it could be either. Just e-mail or PM me about it if you want to know.
Cool, the album I'm thinking is just on your wishlist. I'll send soon, haven't got time to over think it as Tim will give me a ticket!
By the way, if you're listening to all the submissions in my roulette too, could you just send me write ups of the songs and I'll edit them to suit my feelings. Might get results in a week then, cheers.
-
I haven't sent yet, it's Christmas holidays here and I'm in another city until tomorrow evening. Best case scenario I'll send tomorrow, but it'll probably be on January 9th.
Luke, same goes for your roulette.
-
No problem at all, I'm busy juggling notes for Night is the New Day and corralling '22 releases in the meantime. :)
By the way, if you're listening to all the submissions in my roulette too, could you just send me write ups of the songs and I'll edit them to suit my feelings. Might get results in a week then, cheers.
Sure thing, here's the first one.
LithoJazzoSphere - [redacted] - "[redacted]"
This is one of the best songs I've ever heard.
Score: 10/10
How's that?
-
:lol
-
By the way, if you're listening to all the submissions in my roulette too, could you just send me write ups of the songs and I'll edit them to suit my feelings. Might get results in a week then, cheers.
Sure thing, here's the first one.
LithoJazzoSphere - [redacted] - "[redacted]"
This is one of the best songs I've ever heard.
Score: 10/10
How's that?
(https://media.tenor.com/HBjyopzzyUEAAAAM/that-hardly-seems-likely-spock.gif)
OK, I'm just about to send and blow my chances of winning this roulette, at this early stage.
This shit is weird as fuck but you're one of the few people I feel might get it. Don't let me down dude!
And sent
-
Sent
-
Before I post hangman, anyone want to guess any artists? It's quite possible to get a few if you don't think too hard. The hint is that apparently round 3 is the "send a band I love regardless of whether they might appeal to the particular host or not" round, at least for a few people. Fair enough, since I spent the first two rounds "forcing" you to pick something more similar to things I already like, and will do so again in the next two. :)
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The hint is that apparently round 3 is the "send a band I love regardless of whether they might appeal to the particular host or not" round, at least for a few people. :)
That's what every round is for me. :)
-
Well, at least your first two submissions were topical. No idea what you'll come up with for 5 and 8.
-
The hint is that apparently round 3 is the "send a band I love regardless of whether they might appeal to the particular host or not" round, at least for a few people. :)
That's what every round is for me. :)
Speaking of which, TAC is gonna get The Great Cold Distance and Night Is the New Day in his next roulette if he doesn't stop fooling around listening to Alice Cooper so he can give his first (or 10th) impressions....
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Well, at least your first two submissions were topical. No idea what you'll come up with for for 5 and 8.
Of course they were - I at least attempt to follow the rules. :) I got very very lucky with round 3 though.
And I mean, I know hardly any of the songs on your 2022 list. So having the same favorite band probably doesn't mean anything at all. But I have to hope that you at least won't despise my other favorites....
-
Yeah, a sizeable number of them are a decent distance from standard DTF fare. And compared to the average I probably try and spread out my listening over more artists rather than obsessing over a smaller number, though there are obviously exceptions.
-
I don't know if I want to guess certain bands because I might want to use them in a future round if they aren't being used now....
-
What about Coheed and Cambria sent by twosuitsluke?
-
Very close!
-
Sent by Vmadera00?
-
Nope.
Bit of a ghost town at the moment, how dare everyone get lives! :p I suppose my hint still applies even though I'm posting the skeleton now.
And unfortunately, romdrums has had to drop out, says he's way too busy for the next few months. I'll keep his spot open in case things change and he wants to rejoin later though.
-
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ' _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ ’ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ' _ _ _ _ _
4: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ ' _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ ' _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ ' _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
4: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ & _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ & _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ( _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ )
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _
Guessed Letters:
-
T
-
King Gizzard..sent by Luke
-
King Gizzard..sent by Luke
(https://i.giphy.com/media/ummeQH0c3jdm2o3Olp/giphy.webp)
-
Was my T correct? ;D
Oh that's right, you do them in pairs.
I'll take an A!
-
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t t
1: T _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ ' _ _ _ _ a _
2: T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ a _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ ’ _ T _ a t _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ a t _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t t _ _ a _
2: A _ a _ _ _ A _ _ t _ _ _ a _
3: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ' _ _ a _ _
4: T _ t _ _ _ _ a
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: T _ _ _ _ t _
2: _ _ _ _ t ' _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ a _ _ _ t a _ _ _ _ _ _ a
1: _ _ _ a _ _
2: _ _ t _ _ _ t a _ a _
3: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ ' _ _ _ _ _
1: _ a _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ t
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: A _ _ _ _ t a _ _ a _ a _
2: T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ t A _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ a t _ _ a _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _
??? :
??? : T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a _ _
2: ( _ _ a _ ' t _ _ _ _ T _ ) _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
4: T _ _ A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ a _ _ a a _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a t _
2: T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ a _ _ _ _ a _ _
1: _ _ a t _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _
??? :
twosuitluke: K i n g G i z z a r d & T h e L i z a r d W i z a r d
1: _ a _ - T _ _ _ _ & T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ A _ t _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a _ t
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ a _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: T _ a t T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t ( T _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ t _ a _ )
??? :
??? : A _ _ _ _ a
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ t
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ a
Guessed Letters: T, A,
Normally I'd want people to at least alternate in guessing letters, but in the interest of getting this going I'll take those two in a row.
-
B
-
L
-
??? :
??? : L _ _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t t
1: T _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ ' _ _ _ _ a _
2: T _ _ B _ _ _ _ _ _ a _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ l _ _ t _ _ _ a l _
2: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : B _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ ’ _ T _ a t _ _ _ l
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ a _ _ _ L _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ a t _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t t _ _ a _
2: A B a _ _ _ A _ _ t _ _ _ a _
3: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ l ' _ B a _ _
4: T _ t _ _ _ _ a
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: T _ _ _ _ t _
2: _ _ _ _ t ' _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ a _ _ _ t a _ _ _ l _ _ a
1: _ _ B a _ _
2: _ _ t _ _ _ t a _ a _
3: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ ' _ L _ _ _
1: B a l _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ t
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ l _ _ _
1: A _ _ _ _ t a _ _ a _ a _
2: T _ _ _ l _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ t A _ _
??? :
??? : L _ _ _ _ _ _
1: B _ l a t _ _ a l
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _
??? :
??? : T _ _ _ l _ _ _ t _ l _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ B _ a _ _
2: ( _ _ a _ ' t _ _ _ _ T _ ) _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: B _ _ _ _ l _ _
4: T _ _ A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a _ l _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ l a _ _ a a _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ l _ _ _ _ _ _ a t _
2: T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : B l a _ _ _ _ a _ _
1: _ _ a t _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _
??? :
twosuitluke: K i n g G i z z a r d & T h e L i z a r d W i z a r d
1: _ a _ - T _ _ _ _ & T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ _ _ b A l t _ _
1: _ l _ _ _ _ B _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a _ t
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? :
??? : _ a _ _ l l _ _ _
1: _ a _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ l _ _
2: T _ a t T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t ( T _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ t _ a _ )
??? :
??? : A _ _ _ _ a
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ B l _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ t
??? :
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ a
Guessed Letters: T, A, B, L,
-
Leprous-Bilateral
-
Han-Tyumi & the Murder of the Universe
…interesting choice. :biggrin:
Forced Entry :metal :metal :metal
What's with the completely blank entries?
-
N
What's with the completely blank entries?
Maybe who sent it?
-
C
-
??? : L _ _ _ _ n a _ c _ _ n n _ t t
1: T _ _ _ _ _ t _ c ' _ _ _ _ a _
2: T _ _ B _ n n _ _ _ a n _
??? : _ _ a n _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ l _ _ t _ n _ a l _
2: _ _ _ n _ t _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _
??? : B _ _ _ n c _
1: _ ’ _ T _ a t _ _ _ l
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ a _ _ _ L _ _ _ _ n _
??? : _ a t _ _ n _ a _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ n _ _ t t _ _ a _
2: A B a _ _ n A _ _ t _ _ _ a _
3: _ _ _ _ _ _ n t _ _ _ _ _ _ l ' _ B a c _
4: T _ t _ _ _ _ a
??? : _ _ n _ c _ _ _
1: T _ _ _ _ t _
2: N _ _ _ t ' _ _ _ _ c _ n _ _ n _
3: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ n _ _ _ _ _
??? : _ a _ _ _ t a _ _ _ l _ _ a
1: _ _ B a c _
2: _ _ t _ _ _ t a _ a _
3: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _
??? : _ _ _ _ ' _ L _ _ _
1: B a l _ a n _ _ _ _ _ t
??? : _ _ _ _ _ _ l _ _ _
1: A N _ _ _ t a n _ a _ a _
2: T _ _ _ l _ _ _ _ n _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ t A _ _
??? : L e p r o u s
1: B i l a t e r a l
2: F o r c e d E n t r y
??? : T _ _ C l _ _ n t _ l _
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ B _ a c _
2: ( _ C a n ' t _ _ _ _ T _ ) _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ n _
3: B _ c _ c l _ _
4: T _ _ A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a c l _ _
??? : N _ c _ l a _ _ a a _
1: N _ _ n _ _ _ l _ _ _ _ n _ a t _
2: T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ n _ _
??? : B l a n c _ _ a _ _
1: _ _ a t _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _
twosuitluke: K i n g G i z z a r d & T h e L i z a r d W i z a r d
1: H a n - T y u m i & T h e M u r d e r o f t h e U n i v e r s e
??? : _ _ _ b A l t _ _
1: _ l _ _ n _ B _ n _ n _
2: _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ n _ _ _ _ a _ t
??? : _ n _ _ _ n _ _ _
1: _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ n _ _ _ n
??? : _ a _ _ l l _ _ n
1: _ a _ _ _ _ t C _ _ c l _ _
2: T _ a t T _ _ _ _ _ N _ _ _ t ( T _ _ _ _ _ _ t _ t _ a _ )
??? : A _ _ n _ a
1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ n B l _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ _ n _ _ n _
3: _ _ _ _ t
??? : _ _ _ n _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ _ a
Guessed Letters: T, A, B, L, N, C,
-
What's with the completely blank entries?
Maybe who sent it?
That's what I thought at first too, but there's already a spot for them. Don't blame me, this monstrosity of a spreadsheet is ariich's work. :p Or maybe I've just screwed it up. :lol I'm deleting them anyway, hope that doesn't have some other unforseen consequences. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
-
super spaced out hangman :lol
anyways, loreena mckennitt
-
super spaced out hangman :lol
Yeah Litho if you're using Ariich's spreadsheet you're copypasting from the wrong place I think. :lol There should be an output column with the proper spacing.
-
It should start around E131 on the second tab of his original. It will update letters and senders, but not artists or songs, so I've had to manually edit those. Not sure what might be going on.
-
Someone sent I n s o m n i u m - S h a d o w s o f t h e D y I n g S u n
-
Yeah, what buddy said - that spacing doesn't look right!
EDIT: the output is column BZ
-
I can't copypaste that though, it doesn't have the blank lines for unguessed letters, and is mostly "#VALUE!" lines.
-
test
-
test
-
I can't copypaste that though, it doesn't have the blank lines for unguessed letters, and is mostly "#VALUE!" lines.
Hmm, then something must have gone wrong along the way. It should look like the Artist + Multi Songs tab of this template: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19nfluLW42RhoixfkpaJHG1oOpkaeKc4Ceg6YWJdIe2A/edit?usp=sharing (feel free to take a fresh download and try again, and let me know if I can help at all!)
EDIT: I've also added a Guidance tab which includes the step-by-step pointers I've normally sent people in a PM when sending them the spreadsheet. The guidance is slightly different for the multi-song tab and the standard (single song or album) one.
-
How dare someone else send Leprous!
-
Someone sent I n s o m n i u m - S h a d o w s o f t h e D y I n g S u n
Wolfking
-
Also N i c o l a s J a a r
-
Also N i c o l a s J a a r
S a c u l
-
:neverusethis:
-
: n e v e r u s e t h i s :
-
I'll take an E..
maybe an update..
and this hangman is hurting my eyes. :lol
-
I've tried a million different things and can't get it to work right with the method that apparently everyone else uses. Maybe something obvious I'm overlooking trying to get into the nitty-gritty of it. Although, the issue seems to be the multi-song format. 425's has that, but how common are those? The single song one seemed to work OK with some tweaks, but I copy the data from a different spot than you're supposed to. You'll probably just have to put up with s p a c e d o u t h a n g m a n for now. I'm putting the blame firmly at the feet of some of your songs, you'll see soon enough. :p Maybe better luck in round 6 perhaps, I'll experiment with things between then and now. One method that I thought might work can't even be checked because it exceeds the 20k character limit, and I worry I'm breaking something by chopping it in half to test it. This brings back memories of the early days of trying to debug my websites manually.
Edit: Ah, that guidance tab definitely wasn't in the original I found, so I "learned" it by trial and error. Maybe a fresh slate for R6 will resolve things if I go through it more methodically. Right now more time trying to figure this out is just going to drive me bonkers, and cut into song listening time.
-
I've tried a million different things and can't get it to work right with the method that apparently everyone else uses. Maybe something obvious I'm overlooking trying to get into the nitty-gritty of it. Although, the issue seems to be the multi-song format. 425's has that, but how common are those? The single song one seemed to work OK with some tweaks, but I copy the data from a different spot than you're supposed to. You'll probably just have to put up with s p a c e d o u t h a n g m a n for now. I'm putting the blame firmly at the feet of some of your songs, you'll see soon enough. :p Maybe better luck in round 6 perhaps, I'll experiment with things between then and now. One method that I thought might work can't even be checked because it exceeds the 20k character limit, and I worry I'm breaking something by chopping it in half to test it. This brings back memories of the early days of trying to debug my websites manually.
Edit: Ah, that guidance tab definitely wasn't in the original I found, so I "learned" it by trial and error. Maybe a fresh slate for R6 will resolve things if I go through it more methodically. Right now more time trying to figure this out is just going to drive me bonkers, and cut into song listening time.
The guidance tab is new - I'd have messaged you those pointers if I'd sent you the spreadsheet (like I have to everyone else who I've sent it to), but you presumably got it second hand from someone else. I've added it so that if this happens again in future to someone else, at least it'll all be in one place.
-
OK, I'll settle for an update. ;D
-
??? : L o r e e n a M c K e n n i t t
1: T _ e _ _ _ t _ c ' _ _ _ e a _
2: T _ e B _ n n _ _ _ a n _
??? : _ _ a n _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ e a _ _ e l _ _ t e n _ a l _
2: _ _ _ n _ t _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _
??? : B e _ _ n c e
1: _ ’ _ T _ a t _ _ _ l
2: _ _ e e _ _ _
3: _ a _ _ _ L e _ _ _ n _
??? : _ a t _ e n _ a _ _ e _
1: _ e _ _ n _ _ t t _ _ a _
2: A B a _ _ n A _ _ t e _ _ a _
3: _ e _ _ _ _ n t _ e _ e _ _ l ' _ B a c _
4: T _ t _ e _ e a
??? : _ _ n _ c _ _ _
1: T _ e _ _ t _
2: N _ _ _ t ' _ _ e _ c e n _ _ n _
3: E _ e _ _ t _ _ n _ _ _ e _
??? : _ a _ _ e t a _ _ _ l _ _ a
1: _ _ B a c _
2: _ _ t _ _ _ t a _ a _
3: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ e e _
??? : _ _ _ _ ' _ L _ _ e
1: B a l _ a n _ _ _ _ _ t
??? : _ e _ e _ e l _ _ e
1: A N _ _ _ t a n _ a _ a _
2: T e _ _ l e _ _ _ n _ e _ _ _ _ e
3: _ _ _ e _ _ _ _ t _ e _ _ _ _ t A _ _
??? : L e p r o u s
1: B i l a t e r a l
2: F o r c e d E n t r y
??? : T _ e C l _ e n t e l e
1: _ _ _ _ e _ _ B e a c _
2: ( _ C a n ' t _ e e _ T _ ) _ a _ e _ _ _ _ _ n e
3: B _ c _ c l e _
4: T _ e A _ e _ _ _ _ _ a c l e _
Sacul: N i c o l a s J a a r
1: N _ _ n e _ _ l _ _ _ _ n _ a t _
2: T _ e _ _ _ e _ n _ _
??? : B l a n c _ _ a _ _
1: _ e a t _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ e _ _ . _ _ _ _ e
twosuitluke: K i n g G i z z a r d & T h e L i z a r d W i z a r d
1: H a n - T y u m i & T h e M u r d e r o f t h e U n i v e r s e
??? : E _ e b A l t _ _
1: E l _ e n _ B _ n _ n _
2: _ _ t _ _ _ _ e _ n _ _ _ e a _ t
??? : I n s o m n i u m
1: _ _ t e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: S h a d o w s of f t h e D y i n g S u n
??? : _ a _ _ l l _ _ n
1: _ a _ _ _ e t C _ _ c l e _
2: T _ a t T _ _ e _ _ N _ _ _ t ( T _ e _ _ _ _ t _ t _ a _ )
??? : A _ e n _ a
1: _ e _ _ _ _ _ n B l _ e _
2: _ e E _ e n _ e n _
3: _ _ _ _ t
??? : _ _ _ n _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ e a
Guessed Letters: T, A, B, L, N, C, E,
-
The Clientele
Beyonce?....is K-Lox playing??
If Wolfking didn't send Insomnium, then Ariich did.
-
Someone sent I n s o m n i u m - S h a d o w s o f t h e D y I n g S u n
Wolfking
TAC strikes again! :biggrin: Wolf is not in this roulette. I wish he was, especially for the next round, but it sounded like he's way too overloaded lately.
-
The Clientele
Beyonce?....is K-Lox playing??
If Wolfking didn't send Insomnium, then Ariich did.
Yes.
Yes. No. Apparently slightly before/after my time. Also AKA "The Walrus", right?
Yes.
-
Marillion, but give me a sec to work out the songs.
Edit: it’s Warm Wet Circles and That Time of The Night (The Short Straw) sent by Stadler.
-
Tim sent Ereb Altor
EDIT: With Fire in My Heart. Not sure of the other one.
-
??? : L o r e e n a M c K e n n i t t
1: T _ e _ _ _ t _ c ' _ _ _ e a _
2: T _ e B _ n n _ _ _ a n _
??? : _ _ a n _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ e a _ _ e l _ _ t e n _ a l _
2: _ _ _ n _ t _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _
??? : B e y o n c e
1: _ ’ _ T _ a t _ _ _ l
2: _ _ e e _ _ _
3: _ a _ _ _ L e _ _ _ n _
??? : _ a t _ e n _ a _ _ e _
1: _ e _ _ n _ _ t t _ _ a _
2: A B a _ _ n A _ _ t e _ _ a _
3: _ e _ _ _ _ n t _ e _ e _ _ l ' _ B a c _
4: T _ t _ e _ e a
??? : _ _ n _ c _ _ _
1: T _ e _ _ t _
2: N _ _ _ t ' _ _ e _ c e n _ _ n _
3: E _ e _ _ t _ _ n _ _ _ e _
??? : _ a _ _ e t a _ _ _ l _ _ a
1: _ _ B a c _
2: _ _ t _ _ _ t a _ a _
3: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ e e _
??? : _ _ _ _ ' _ L _ _ e
1: B a l _ a n _ _ _ _ _ t
??? : _ e _ e _ e l _ _ e
1: A N _ _ _ t a n _ a _ a _
2: T e _ _ l e _ _ _ n _ e _ _ _ _ e
3: _ _ _ e _ _ _ _ t _ e _ _ _ _ t A _ _
??? : L e p r o u s
1: B i l a t e r a l
2: F o r c e d E n t r y
??? : T h e C l i e n t e l e
1: _ _ _ _ e _ _ B e a c _
2: ( _ C a n ' t _ e e _ T _ ) _ a _ e _ _ _ _ _ n e
3: B _ c _ c l e _
4: T _ e A _ e _ _ _ _ _ a c l e _
Sacul: N i c o l a s J a a r
1: N _ _ n e _ _ l _ _ _ _ n _ a t _
2: T _ e _ _ _ e _ n _ _
??? : B l a n c _ _ a _ _
1: _ e a t _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ e _ _ . _ _ _ _ e
twosuitluke: K i n g G i z z a r d & T h e L i z a r d W i z a r d
1: H a n - T y u m i & T h e M u r d e r o f t h e U n i v e r s e
TAC: E r e b A l t of r
1: E l _ e n _ B _ n _ n _
2: _ _ t _ _ _ _ e _ n _ _ _ e a _ t
ariich: I n s o m n i u m
1: _ _ t e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: S h a d o w s of f t h e D y i n g S u n
Stadler: M a r i l l i o n
1: W a r m W e t C i r c l e s
2: T h a t T i m e o f N i g h t ( T h e S h o r t S t r a w )
??? : A _ e n _ a
1: _ e _ _ _ _ _ n B l _ e _
2: _ e E _ e n _ e n _
3: _ _ _ _ t
??? : _ _ _ n _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ e a
Guessed Letters: T, A, B, L, N, C, E,
-
test
-
??? : L o r e e n a M c K e n n i t t
1: T _ e _ _ _ t _ c ' _ _ _ e a _
2: T _ e B _ n n _ _ _ a n _
??? : _ _ a n _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ e a _ _ e l _ _ t e n _ a l _
2: _ _ _ n _ t _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _
??? : B e y o n c e
1: _ ’ _ T _ a t _ _ _ l
2: _ _ e e _ _ _
3: _ a _ _ _ L e _ _ _ n _
??? : _ a t _ e n _ a _ _ e _
1: _ e _ _ n _ _ t t _ _ a _
2: A B a _ _ n A _ _ t e _ _ a _
3: _ e _ _ _ _ n t _ e _ e _ _ l ' _ B a c _
4: T _ t _ e _ e a
??? : _ _ n _ c _ _ _
1: T _ e _ _ t _
2: N _ _ _ t ' _ _ e _ c e n _ _ n _
3: E _ e _ _ t _ _ n _ _ _ e _
??? : _ a _ _ e t a _ _ _ l _ _ a
1: _ _ B a c _
2: _ _ t _ _ _ t a _ a _
3: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ e e _
??? : _ _ _ _ ' _ L _ _ e
1: B a l _ a n _ _ _ _ _ t
??? : _ e _ e _ e l _ _ e
1: A N _ _ _ t a n _ a _ a _
2: T e _ _ l e _ _ _ n _ e _ _ _ _ e
3: _ _ _ e _ _ _ _ t _ e _ _ _ _ t A _ _
??? : L e p r o u s
1: B i l a t e r a l
2: F o r c e d E n t r y
??? : T h e C l i e n t e l e
1: _ _ _ _ e _ _ B e a c _
2: ( _ C a n ' t _ e e _ T _ ) _ a _ e _ _ _ _ _ n e
3: B _ c _ c l e _
4: T _ e A _ e _ _ _ _ _ a c l e _
Sacul: N i c o l a s J a a r
1: N _ _ n e _ _ l _ _ _ _ n _ a t _
2: T _ e _ _ _ e _ n _ _
??? : B l a n c _ _ a _ _
1: _ e a t _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ e _ _ . _ _ _ _ e
twosuitluke: K i n g G i z z a r d & T h e L i z a r d W i z a r d
1: H a n - T y u m i & T h e M u r d e r o f t h e U n i v e r s e
TAC: E r e b A l t o r
1: E l _ e n _ B _ n _ n _
2: _ _ t _ _ _ _ e _ n _ _ _ e a _ t
ariich: I n s o m n i u m
1: _ _ t e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: S h a d o w s o f t h e D y i n g S u n
Stadler: M a r i l l i o n
1: W a r m W e t C i r c l e s
2: T h a t T i n e o f N i g h t ( T h e S h o r t S t r a w )
??? : A _ e n _ a
1: _ e _ _ _ _ _ n B l _ e _
2: _ e E _ e n _ e n _
3: _ _ _ _ t
??? : _ _ _ n _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ e a
Guessed Letters: T, A, B, L, N, C, E,
-
Crow sent B e y o n c e
Litho if you want to just send me a link to your spreadsheet I can fix it for you and sit out the rest of this hangman. :lol
-
HOF sent The Clientele
-
Crow sent B e y o n c e
Litho if you want to just send me a link to your spreadsheet I can fix it for you and sit out the rest of this hangman. :lol
Likewise I'm also happy to troubleshoot/fix it, being the creator of the thing. :lol
-
The Mystic's Dream
The Bonny Swans
I'm That Girl
Freedom
Daddy Lessons
-
Kingcrow:
The Moth
Night's Descending
Everything Goes
-
I'd like to offer that I would have no clue how to fix it. :lol
I still do my Hangmans using the old fashioned space bar and _ _ s.
-
Pepe Deluxe:
A Night and a Day
Temple of (the) Unfed Fire
Riders of the First Ark
-
Bicycle
No One Is Looking At U
The Governor
Eldens Boning
With Fire In My Heart
EDIT: Ok I think that's it for now. :lol
-
I've done so much tweaking it would probably be a nightmare to go through right now, but I will definitely take one of you up on that offer in R6 if I'm still having problems then.
Sorry this round is becoming a comedy of errors, but it does make this an even more unique roulette. :lol
-
Sorry this round is becoming a comedy of errors, but it does make this an even more unique roulette. :lol
No worries, it's not stopping us from doing the roulette! Just makes it funny to read. :lol
-
??? : L o r e e n a M c K e n n i t t
1: T h e M y s t i c ' s D r e a m
2: T h e B o n n y S w a n s
??? : _ _ a n _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ e a _ _ e l _ _ t e n _ a l _
2: _ _ _ n _ t _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _
Crow: B e y o n c e
1: I ’ m T h a t G i r l
2: F r e e d o m
3: D a d d y L e s s o n s
??? : _ a t _ e n _ a _ _ e _
1: _ e _ _ n _ _ t t _ _ a _
2: A B a _ _ n A _ _ t e _ _ a _
3: _ e _ _ _ _ n t _ e _ e _ _ l ' _ B a c _
4: T _ t _ e _ e a
??? : K i n g c r o w
1: T h e M o t h
2: N i g h t ' s D e s c e n d i n g
3: E v e r y t h i n g G o e s
??? : _ a _ _ e t a _ _ _ l _ _ a
1: _ _ B a c _
2: _ _ t _ _ _ t a _ a _
3: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ e e _
??? : _ _ _ _ ' _ L _ _ e
1: B a l _ a n _ _ _ _ _ t
??? : P e p e D e l u x e
1: A N i g h t a n d a D a y
2: T e m p l e o f U n f e d F i r e
3: R i d e r s o f t h e F i r s t A r k
??? : L e p r o u s
1: B i l a t e r a l
2: F o r c e d E n t r y
HOF: T h e C l i e n t e l e
1: _ _ _ _ e _ _ B e a c _
2: ( _ C a n ' t _ e e _ T _ ) _ a _ e _ _ _ _ _ n e
3: B i c y c l e _
4: T _ e A _ e _ _ _ _ _ a c l e _
Sacul: N i c o l a s J a a r
1: N o o n e i s l o o k i n g a t u
2: T h e G o v e r n o r
??? : B l a n c _ _ a _ _
1: _ e a t _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ e _ _ . _ _ _ _ e
twosuitluke: K i n g G i z z a r d & T h e L i z a r d W i z a r d
1: H a n - T y u m i & T h e M u r d e r o f t h e U n i v e r s e
TAC: E r e b A l t o r
1: E l d e n s B o n i n g
2: W i t h F i r e i n M y H e a r t
ariich: I n s o m n i u m
1: _ _ t e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: S h a d o w s o f t h e D y i n g S u n
Stadler: M a r i l l i o n
1: W a r m W e t C i r c l e s
2: T h a t T i n e o f N i g h t ( T h e S h o r t S t r a w )
??? : A _ e n _ a
1: _ e _ _ _ _ _ n B l _ e _
2: _ e E _ e n _ e n _
3: _ _ _ _ t
??? : _ _ _ n _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ _ _ e a
-
Give me an I
-
??? : L o r e e n a M c K e n n i t t
1: T h e M y s t i c ' s D r e a m
2: T h e B o n n y S w a n s
??? : _ _ a n _ _ i _ a _ _ _ _
1: _ i _ e a _ i e l i _ t e n _ a l i
2: _ _ _ n _ t i _ _ i t _ _ i _ a _ _ _ _ _ _
Crow: B e y o n c e
1: I ’ m T h a t G i r l
2: F r e e d o m
3: D a d d y L e s s o n s
??? : _ a t _ e n _ a _ _ e _
1: _ e _ _ n _ i t t _ _ a _
2: A B a _ i n A _ _ t e _ _ a _
3: _ e _ _ _ _ n t _ e _ e _ i l ' _ B a c _
4: T _ t _ e _ e a
??? : K i n g c r o w
1: T h e M o t h
2: N i g h t ' s D e s c e n d i n g
3: E v e r y t h i n g G o e s
??? : _ a _ _ e t a I _ _ l _ _ a
1: _ _ B a c _
2: _ i t _ _ _ t a _ a _
3: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ e e _
??? : _ _ _ i ' _ L i _ e
1: B a l _ a n _ _ i _ i t
??? : P e p e D e l u x e
1: A N i g h t a n d a D a y
2: T e m p l e o f U n f e d F i r e
3: R i d e r s o f t h e F i r s t A r k
??? : L e p r o u s
1: B i l a t e r a l
2: F o r c e d E n t r y
HOF: T h e C l i e n t e l e
1: _ _ _ _ e _ _ B e a c _
2: ( I C a n ' t _ e e _ T _ ) _ a _ e _ _ _ _ i n e
3: B i c y c l e _
4: T _ e A _ e _ _ _ i _ a c l e _
Sacul: N i c o l a s J a a r
1: N o o n e i s l o o k i n g a t u
2: T h e G o v e r n o r
??? : B l a n c _ _ a _ _
1: _ e a t _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ e _ _ . _ _ _ _ e
twosuitluke: K i n g G i z z a r d & T h e L i z a r d W i z a r d
1: H a n - T y u m i & T h e M u r d e r o f t h e U n i v e r s e
TAC: E r e b A l t o r
1: E l d e n s B o n i n g
2: W i t h F i r e i n M y H e a r t
ariich: I n s o m n i u m
1: _ _ t e I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2: S h a d o w s o f t h e D y i n g S u n
Stadler: M a r i l l i o n
1: W a r m W e t C i r c l e s
2: T h a t T i n e o f N i g h t ( T h e S h o r t S t r a w )
??? : A _ e n _ a
1: _ e _ _ _ _ i n B l _ e i
2: _ e E _ e n _ e n _
3: _ _ i _ t
??? : _ _ _ n _ _ _ _ _ _
1: _ i _ e a
Guessed Letters: T, A, B, L, N, C, E, I,
-
I'd like to offer that I would have no clue how to fix it. :lol
I still do my Hangmans using the old fashioned space bar and _ _ s.
You and me both. I do it all on my phone as well :lol
-
I don't understand how people do that. I can type way too quickly to put up with limiting myself to two digits. :biggrin:
-
I'd like to offer that I would have no clue how to fix it. :lol
I still do my Hangmans using the old fashioned space bar and _ _ s.
You and me both. I do it all on my phone as well :lol
I wouldn't do it all on my phone, but I could update it while at work on my phone.
-
Literally 100% of my DTF posting/browsing is on my phone :rollin
-
Literally 100% of my DTF posting/browsing is on my phone :rollin
Wow, that's some dedication to run a roulette from a phone :lol
-
Literally 100% of my DTF posting/browsing is on my phone :rollin
Wow, that's some dedication to run a roulette from a phone :lol
The only computer I have is my work laptop :lol
You see now why it's so poorly run :facepalm:
-
I browse stuff more than I post usually. When you see a longer post from me, it’ll be from my computer, but I’m more often than not away from home so the shorter posts like this one are usually from my phone. Being busy in real life is the major contributing factor to me posting less lately as well, though I do browse the forums often and read a lot.
-
Puppies: Moonsorrow - Pimeä
The other Insomnium song is Mute Is My Sorrow
-
Puppies: Moonsorrow - Pimeä
Dammit, I nearly guessed Puppies sent Moonsorrow as my blind guess.
-
??? : L o r e e n a M c K e n n i t t
1: T h e M y s t i c ' s D r e a m
2: T h e B o n n y S w a n s
??? : _ _ a n _ _ i _ a _ _ _ _
1: _ i _ e a _ i e l i _ t e n _ a l i
2: _ _ _ n _ t i _ _ i t _ _ i _ a _ _ _ _ _ _
Crow: B e y o n c e
1: I ’ m T h a t G i r l
2: F r e e d o m
3: D a d d y L e s s o n s
??? : _ a t _ e n _ a _ _ e _
1: _ e _ _ n _ i t t _ _ a _
2: A B a _ i n A _ _ t e _ _ a _
3: _ e _ _ _ _ n t _ e _ e _ i l ' _ B a c _
4: T _ t _ e _ e a
??? : K i n g c r o w
1: T h e M o t h
2: N i g h t ' s D e s c e n d i n g
3: E v e r y t h i n g G o e s
??? : _ a _ _ e t a I _ _ l _ _ a
1: _ _ B a c _
2: _ i t _ _ _ t a _ a _
3: _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ e e _
??? : _ _ _ i ' _ L i _ e
1: B a l _ a n _ _ i _ i t
??? : P e p e D e l u x e
1: A N i g h t a n d a D a y
2: T e m p l e o f U n f e d F i r e
3: R i d e r s o f t h e F i r s t A r k
??? : L e p r o u s
1: B i l a t e r a l
2: F o r c e d E n t r y
HOF: T h e C l i e n t e l e
1: _ _ _ _ e _ _ B e a c _
2: ( I C a n ' t _ e e _ T _ ) _ a _ e _ _ _ _ i n e
3: B i c y c l e s
4: T _ e A _ e _ _ _ i _ a c l e _
Sacul: N i c o l a s J a a r
1: N o o n e i s l o o k i n g a t u
2: T h e G o v e r n o r
??? : B l a n c _ _ a _ _
1: _ e a t _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ e _ _ . _ _ _ _ e
twosuitluke: K i n g G i z z a r d & T h e L i z a r d W i z a r d
1: H a n - T y u m i & T h e M u r d e r o f t h e U n i v e r s e
TAC: E r e b A l t o r
1: E l d e n s B o n i n g
2: W i t h F i r e i n M y H e a r t
ariich: I n s o m n i u m
1: M u t e I s M y S o r r o w
2: S h a d o w s o f t h e D y i n g S u n
Stadler: M a r i l l i o n
1: W a r m W e t C i r c l e s
2: T h a t T i m e o f N i g h t ( T h e S h o r t S t r a w )
??? : A _ e n _ a
1: _ e _ _ _ _ i n B l _ e i
2: _ e E _ e n _ e n _
3: _ _ i _ t
Puppies_On_Acid: M o o n s o r r o w
1: P i m e a
Guessed Letters: T, A, B, L, N, C, E, I,
-
Katzenjammer
Demon Kitty Bag
A Bar in Amsterdam
Hey Ho On the Devil's Back
To The Sea
Elite sent Leprous?
-
Elite sent Leprous?
How dare someone else send Leprous!
I did not :lol
-
Katzenjammer
Demon Kitty Bag
A Bar in Amsterdam
Hey Ho On the Devil's Back
To The Sea
Yep.
-
did Elite send leprous?
-
Did Crow send Kingcrow? :neverusethis:
-
:lol
I have no idea what the other songs are, so I'll just request an M
-
Did I send Linear Sphere?
-
??? : L o r e e n a M c K e n n i t t
1: T h e M y s t i c ' s D r e a m
2: T h e B o n n y S w a n s
??? : _ _ a n _ _ i _ a _ _ _ _
1: _ i _ e a m i e l i _ t e n _ a l i
2: _ _ _ n _ t i _ _ i t _ _ i _ a _ _ _ _ _ _
Crow: B e y o n c e
1: I ’ m T h a t G i r l
2: F r e e d o m
3: D a d d y L e s s o n s
??? : K a t z e n j a m m e r
1: D e m o n K i t t y R a g
2: A B a r i n A m s t e r d a m
3: H e y H o O n t h e D e v i l ' s B a c k
4: T o t h e S e a
??? : K i n g c r o w
1: T h e M o t h
2: N i g h t ' s D e s c e n d i n g
3: E v e r y t h i n g G o e s
??? : M a _ _ e t a I _ _ l _ _ a
1: _ _ B a c _
2: _ i t _ _ _ t a M a _
3: M _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ e e _
??? : _ _ _ i ' _ L i _ e
1: B a l _ a n _ _ i _ i t
??? : P e p e D e l u x e
1: A N i g h t a n d a D a y
2: T e m p l e o f U n f e d F i r e
3: R i d e r s o f t h e F i r s t A r k
??? : L e p r o u s
1: B i l a t e r a l
2: F o r c e d E n t r y
HOF: T h e C l i e n t e l e
1: _ _ _ _ e _ _ B e a c _
2: ( I C a n ' t _ e e m T _ ) M a _ e _ _ _ M i n e
3: B i c y c l e s
4: T _ e A _ e _ _ M i _ a c l e _
Sacul: N i c o l a s J a a r
1: N o o n e i s l o o k i n g a t u
2: T h e G o v e r n o r
??? : B l a n c _ M a _ _
1: _ e a t _ _ _ _ _
2: _ _ _ _ e _ _ . _ _ _ _ e
twosuitluke: K i n g G i z z a r d & T h e L i z a r d W i z a r d
1: H a n - T y u m i & T h e M u r d e r o f t h e U n i v e r s e
TAC: E r e b A l t o r
1: E l d e n s B o n i n g
2: W i t h F i r e i n M y H e a r t
ariich: I n s o m n i u m
1: M u t e I s M y S o r r o w
2: S h a d o w s o f t h e D y i n g S u n
Stadler: M a r i l l i o n
1: W a r m W e t C i r c l e s
2: T h a t T i m e o f N i g h t ( T h e S h o r t S t r a w )
??? : A m e n _ a
1: _ e _ _ _ _ i n B l _ e i
2: _ e E _ e n m e n _
3: _ _ i _ t
Puppies_On_Acid: M o o n s o r r o w
1: P i m e a
Guessed Letters: T, A, B, L, N, C, E, I, M,
-
Did I send an artist that clearly nobody else on here knows considering it still hasn't been guessed yet? :neverusethis:
-
Three of the remaining ones seem like they should be obvious to me, but then again I do have the cheat sheet. :) The final two will be a bit harder, particularly since one is pretty obscure. The other not so much, but they have weird lettering.
-
Ooh Evermind sent Marketa Irglova - Without a Map (beautiful song), I'll get back to you on the other two.
EDIT: Go Back and My Roots Go Deep. One from each album, nice.
-
Yep, easy, like I said. :)
Did I send an artist that clearly nobody else on here knows considering it still hasn't been guessed yet? :neverusethis:
Well, it is a kind of music that very few other people here listen to.
-
Did I send an artist that clearly nobody else on here knows considering it still hasn't been guessed yet? :neverusethis:
Well, it is a kind of music that very few other people here listen to.
True, but there's at least a couple other people I'd definitely send them to in a roulette if possible!
-
TAC? :neverusethis:
-
I see Stadler is the one that Marillion blocked me! :censored :biggrin:
-
Ah, yes
Amenra
-
Ooh Evermind sent Marketa Irglova - Without a Map (beautiful song), I'll get back to you on the other two.
EDIT: Go Back and My Roots Go Deep. One from each album, nice.
Damn, great picks, Ev, hope they do score well. I wasn't that big on her last album, but it's got some lovely tracks like that one and High & Dry.
-
Ooh Evermind sent Marketa Irglova - Without a Map (beautiful song), I'll get back to you on the other two.
EDIT: Go Back and My Roots Go Deep. One from each album, nice.
Damn, great picks, Ev, hope they do score well. I wasn't that big on her last album, but it's got some lovely tracks like that one and High & Dry.
I loved High & Dry, My Roots Go Deep and Alchemy of Love. In fact I liked her last album quite a bit, not as much as Muna, but I thought it was a good effort and it was probably the album I spun the most in 2022.
I've been listening to her albums a lot in 2022 as Time Immemorial was the first track you introduced me to, and never has its lyrical message resonated with me as much as it did this last year.
-
High n Dry is one of my favorite albums, but I definitely like On Through The Night. Pyromania is ok, but it'd be better with real drums.
-
I posted my opinion about the song me, Rich and Lucas know, that points out the futility of war and preaches against it, saying that was one of the most poignant tracks for me in 2022.
You posted a High n Dry based Def Leppard joke.
We are not the same. :biggrin:
-
Here is h a n g m a n filled out. Impressions hopefully later today.
senecadawg2: L o r e e n a M c K e n n i t t
1: T h e M y s t i c ' s D r e a m
2: T h e B o n n y S w a n s
Elite: O r a n s s i P a z u z u
1: O i k e a m i e l i s t e n S a l i
2: H y p n o t i s o i t u v i h a r o k o u s
Crow: B e y o n c e
1: I ’ m T h a t G i r l
2: F r e e d o m
3: D a d d y L e s s o n s
soupytwist: K a t z e n j a m m e r
1: D e m o n K i t t y R a g
2: A B a r i n A m s t e r d a m
3: H e y H o O n t h e D e v i l ' s B a c k
4: T o t h e S e a
Tomislav95: K i n g c r o w
1: T h e M o t h
2: N i g h t ' s D e s c e n d i n g
3: E v e r y t h i n g G o e s
Evermind: M a r k e t a I r g l o v a
1: G o B a c k
2: W i t h o u t a M a p
3: M y R o o t s G o D e e p
Vmadera00: S u f i ' s L i f e
1: B a l k a n S p i r i t
SoundscapeMN: P e p e D e l u x e
1: A N i g h t a n d a D a y
2: T e m p l e o f U n f e d F i r e
3: R i d e r s o f t h e F i r s t A r k
Lethean: L e p r o u s
1: B i l a t e r a l
2: F o r c e d E n t r y
HOF: T h e C l i e n t e l e
1: O r p h e u s B e a c h
2: ( I C a n ' t S e e m T o ) M a k e Y o u M i n e
3: B i c y c l e s
4: T h e A g e o f M i r a c l e s
Sacul: N i c o l a s J a a r
1: N o o n e i s l o o k i n g a t u
2: T h e G o v e r n o r
Buddyhunter1: B l a n c k M a s s
1: D e a t h D r o p
2: H o u s e V s . H o u s e
twosuitluke: K i n g G i z z a r d & T h e L i z a r d W i z a r d
1: H a n - T y u m i & T h e M u r d e r o f t h e U n i v e r s e
TAC: E r e b A l t o r
1: E l d e n s B o n i n g
2: W i t h F i r e i n M y H e a r t
ariich: I n s o m n i u m
1: M u t e I s M y S o r r o w
2: S h a d o w s o f t h e D y i n g S u n
Stadler: M a r i l l i o n
1: W a r m W e t C i r c l e s
2: T h a t T i m e o f N i g h t ( T h e S h o r t S t r a w )
Nachtmerrie: A m e n r a
1: D e D o o d i n B l o e i
2: D e E v e n m e n s
3: S p i j t
Puppies_On_Acid: M o o n s o r r o w
1: P i m e a
-
Round 3 Early Impressions:
1: Didn't I ban Porcupine Tree?
2: Crow - Beyonce - Now this is why you need people who are willing to send unexpected artists. Dunno if I'm going to love these songs, but the vocals are on fire.
3: HOF - The Clientele - Apparently the law of gravity might apply to roulette submissions as well. I'm hearing a better version of these songs in my head with the vocals from other bands.
4: Am I playing Myst and Riven again? I've clearly been overlooking this artist for way too long.
5: Did you accidentally overlay three separate songs on top of each other?
6: I don't know if these tunes are catchy enough, and the instrumentation is a bit plain, but at least the vocals are solid.
7: I didn't realize I was in the mood to have this much fun. We're gonna party like it's 1899!
8: twosuitluke - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Look forward to the writeup, not to the score.
9: Wow, I'm gonna need 100 listens to unpack all the layers in this.
10: Elite - Oranssi Pazuzu - I'm not high enough for this.
11: This is an artist I've wanted to get more into, and there are certainly elements that seem promising, but I'm not sure these are the right songs.
12: KoRn goes to college.
13: TAC - Ereb Altor - I might have made a serious error in ignoring this genre.
14: Oh boy are my opinions about this going to send mixed signals about my taste.
15: ariich - Insomnium - There is nothing wrong with this, why don't I like it more?
16: A lot of people would probably relegate this to a novelty tourist shop, but you may have found the right person to send it to.
17: This is definitely adjacent to music I really like, but I'm not sure there's quite enough to latch onto.
18: Do I smell pews burning?
-
10
Right?
-
Mine's the one where you dislike it
-
I hoped I could give these a shot for some round, but I didn't know if I could pull it off. I'm still not sure I did, but I tried. Doubtful I can repeat it, it's too exhausting, but we have GIFpressions this round! Some of them will have a similar tenor to the text version, others not so much.
First, me this round:
(https://i.giphy.com/media/qeAVCeUwLavsP6JD61/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/TbPh7p3cfUAPC/giphy.webp)
1: Buddyhunter1 - Blanck Mass
(https://i.giphy.com/media/939RsumhGX9n4amBlN/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/OQrzlc6o5xPSx1y3Sr/200.webp)
2:
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/HandsomeRegularHuman.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/k_58sEEMDocAAAAC/strum-guitar-jared-dines.gif)
3: SoundscapeMN - Pepé Deluxe
(https://i.giphy.com/media/3oEjHJDIebzqFecyFG/200w.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/sadGvM-AMVMAAAAM/groovy-swing-it.gif)
4: Puppies_On_Acid - Moonsorrow
(https://i.giphy.com/media/ypQyYdjj6wy9a/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/lWZSeobRKH4hW14mq0/200.webp)
5: soupytwist - Katzenjammer
(https://i.giphy.com/media/l396Yxgh7n88Lyda0/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/a1wyl0YQrCGm4/200.webp)
6: twosuitluke - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
(https://i.giphy.com/media/KetyXkm8cy19oSRlek/200w.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/rn79UlSTDfDlS/200.webp)
7: Evermind - Marketa Irglova
(https://i.giphy.com/media/h0VzgrFX9AKXK/200.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/btjkkkawtefIY/giphy.webp)
8: Elite - Oranssi Pazuzu
(https://i.giphy.com/media/SYrMAmJZT4YcU/200w.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/YnRv4okRwube0/200.webp)
9:
(https://i.giphy.com/media/hv53DaYcXWe3nRbR1A/giphy.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/MqZJNJIjcCUAAAAM/mr-bean-cant-sleep.gif)
10: TAC - Ereb Altor
(https://i.giphy.com/media/HsIfksJN0Q6rJJfL5F/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/DrcqyC7RW0Dyu798GJ/giphy.webp)
11: Tomislav95 - Kingcrow
(https://i.giphy.com/media/gkpnGTiy8Sq08/200.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/4tlkVBk7mm6iY/200.webp)
12:
(https://i.giphy.com/media/v98g8s9mNEDcI/200.webp)
13: Sacul - Nicolas Jaar
(https://i.giphy.com/media/hyjEHZuOVf8Z83gG4r/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/LFjMavdsJD59AKpVAM/200w.webp)
14: Vmadera00 - Sufi's Life
(https://i.giphy.com/media/5t9FRQZuCEwg992s54/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/Kf9eJCu1Pc6UMdthF5/200w.webp)
15:
(https://i.giphy.com/media/CM2G0NiOzjWjC/200w.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/O49dtqx21nMAAAAM/yorkshire2019-cycling.gif)
16: Nachtmerrie - Amenra
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/LongTidyGrouse.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/JxYcC04MT2Noc/200.webp)
17:
(https://i.giphy.com/media/Ll2fajzk9DgaY/200w.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/NfzOqaLHp7j44/200.webp)
18:
(https://i.giphy.com/media/bPTXcJiIzzWz6/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/koTAN2V1PTOzC/200.webp)
-
I have no clue.
It should be #2, because Einar's vocals are always on fire imo. But I doubt Leprous could be considered unexpected.
11 is my more realistic guess.
-
Neither.
10
Right?
Yep.
People should specify text or GIF for their guesses.
-
Uh oh...
3: Apparently the law of gravity might apply to roulette submissions as well. I'm hearing a better version of these songs in my head with the vocals from other bands.
-
Yeah, uh oh...
There will probably be some other shakeups this round too. Anarchy might ensue!
-
Mine's gotta be 6, but you're missing a vital gif...
(https://media.tenor.com/yMv8tnVo8cIAAAAM/sick-throw-up.gif)
-
6/10 you say? I don't know if it was that good.
-
13th gif? 14th text impression?
-
Yep, nope.
-
Round 3 Early Impressions:
2: Now this is why you need people who are willing to send unexpected artists. Dunno if I'm going to love these songs, but the vocals are on fire.
5: Did you accidentally overlay three separate songs on top of each other?
8: Look forward to the writeup, not to the score.
9: Wow, I'm gonna need 100 listens to unpack all the layers in this.
10: I'm not high enough for this.
11: This is an artist I've wanted to get more into, and there are certainly elements that seem promising, but I'm not sure these are the right songs.
14: Oh boy are my opinions about this going to send mixed signals about my taste.
15: There is nothing wrong with this, why don't I like it more?
16: A lot of people would probably relegate this to a novelty tourist shop, but you may have found the right person to send it to.
17: This is definitely adjacent to music I really like, but I'm not sure there's quite enough to latch onto.
Gotta be one of these?
-
Narrow it down to 4 or so first. :)
-
GIF 13
-
10:
(https://i.giphy.com/media/HsIfksJN0Q6rJJfL5F/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/DrcqyC7RW0Dyu798GJ/giphy.webp)
and one of these..
Round 3 Early Impressions:
15: There is nothing wrong with this, why don't I like it more?
17: This is definitely adjacent to music I really like, but I'm not sure there's quite enough to latch onto.
18: Do I smell pews burning?
-
Round 3 Early Impressions:
8: Look forward to the writeup, not to the score.
10: I'm not high enough for this.
14: Oh boy are my opinions about this going to send mixed signals about my taste.
16: A lot of people would probably relegate this to a novelty tourist shop, but you may have found the right person to send it to.
OK, one of these then.
-
are the impressions and gifpressions numbers the same submissions each time? :corn
-
Gif 1 or 5 I reckon.
-
GIF 13
Nope, Sacul already claimed that one.
...
Yep to GIF #10, but none of those texts.
Round 3 Early Impressions:
8: Look forward to the writeup, not to the score.
OK, one of these then.
There it is.
are the impressions and gifpressions numbers the same submissions each time? :corn
Nope.
Gif...5 I reckon.
Yes.
-
Litho, can you please update the Impressions with the correct guesses?
-
GIF 1 could maybe be mine - there is a vocal sample in House Vs. House that kinda sounds like a dog barking. :lol
-
Wow, I'm gonna tank real hard. Guess you weren't ready for Han-tyumi's chunky shrapnel!
There's time for you to come to dark side. Like his vomit, the monologue creeps up on you, sliding up legs and crawling down throats. Before you know it you'll just be quoting "I am a black hole shitting into the void" at 2am.
-
Wow, I'm gonna tank real hard. Guess you weren't ready for Han-tyumi's chunky shrapnel!
There's time for you to come to dark side. Like his vomit, the monologue creeps up on you, sliding up legs and crawling down throats. Before you know it you'll just be quoting "I am a black hole shitting into the void" at 2am.
Um... ?
I feel scared for Litho...
-
Wow, I'm gonna tank real hard. Guess you weren't ready for Han-tyumi's chunky shrapnel!
There's time for you to come to dark side. Like his vomit, the monologue creeps up on you, sliding up legs and crawling down throats. Before you know it you'll just be quoting "I am a black hole shitting into the void" at 2am.
Are you really surprised? :lol I think Murder Of The Universe is hilarious but I would never send it in a roulette. Still, probably the best song about the entire universe being destroyed by vomit.
-
Round 3 Early Impressions:
6: I don't know if these tunes are catchy enough, and the instrumentation is a bit plain, but at least the vocals are solid.
14: Oh boy are my opinions about this going to send mixed signals about my taste.
16: A lot of people would probably relegate this to a novelty tourist shop, but you may have found the right person to send it to.
One of these then?
-
Wow, I'm gonna tank real hard. Guess you weren't ready for Han-tyumi's chunky shrapnel!
There's time for you to come to dark side. Like his vomit, the monologue creeps up on you, sliding up legs and crawling down throats. Before you know it you'll just be quoting "I am a black hole shitting into the void" at 2am.
Are you really surprised? :lol I think Murder Of The Universe is hilarious but I would never send it in a roulette. Still, probably the best song about the entire universe being destroyed by vomit.
I mean no, I'm not really surprised :lol it's basically Litho's own fault. I know he's been checking out the Gizz songs I've submitted in other roulettes so I thought "oh, you think you got a grasp on this band, wait till you fucking hear this!"
Also, I think roulettes are easier for me when I think I've got no chance of winning, it frees me up to send what I like, or think others need to hear, without the pressure of keeping my #1 spot.
-
Litho, can you please update the Impressions with the correct guesses?
Always the master of asking me to do things I'm already doing. :)
GIF 1 could maybe be mine - there is a vocal sample in House Vs. House that kinda sounds like a dog barking. :lol
Yip!
One of these then?
Nope.
-
Round 3 Early Impressions:
2: Now this is why you need people who are willing to send unexpected artists. Dunno if I'm going to love these songs, but the vocals are on fire.
7: I didn't realize I was in the mood to have this much fun. We're gonna party like it's 1899!
11: This is an artist I've wanted to get more into, and there are certainly elements that seem promising, but I'm not sure these are the right songs.
Third time's a charm?
-
it's basically Litho's own fault. I know he's been checking out the Gizz songs I've submitted in other roulettes so I thought "oh, you think you got a grasp on this band, wait till you fucking hear this!"
Gaslighting attempt: failure!
I had no grasp at all on the band. :lol That's why I warned you about sending them. Though to be fair I did taunt you about them after that. :biggrin:
-
it's basically Litho's own fault. I know he's been checking out the Gizz songs I've submitted in other roulettes so I thought "oh, you think you got a grasp on this band, wait till you fucking hear this!"
Gaslighting attempt: failure!
I had no grasp at all on the band. :lol That's why I warned you about sending them. Though to be fair I did taunt you about them after that. :biggrin:
:lol
It was always gonna happen and although I know it was a risky choice, I thought out of anyone, you'd get it.
-
Third time's a charm?
Strike three....and you're out!
Still, probably the best song about the entire universe being destroyed by vomit.
You have a top 10 of these? :corn
-
okay, gonna throw in my hat into the ring and say i'm impression #2, no clue about gifpressions though :lol
-
#14? :biggrin:
-
Round 3 Early Impressions:
5: Did you accidentally overlay three separate songs on top of each other?
9: Wow, I'm gonna need 100 listens to unpack all the layers in this.
13: I might have made a serious error in ignoring this genre.
Taking out the Porcupine Tree, Korn, and video game references, these are the three that are left..
-
Still, probably the best song about the entire universe being destroyed by vomit.
You have a top 10 of these? :corn
I have a top 1. :neverusethis:
-
Also, I think roulettes are easier for me when I think I've got no chance of winning, it frees me up to send what I like, or think others need to hear, without the pressure of keeping my #1 spot.
So you're saying I'm doing you a favor? Glad to be of service. :tup
okay, gonna throw in my hat into the ring and say i'm impression #2, no clue about gifpressions though :lol
Yep.
I feel like almost all of the GIFpressions are way too on the nose, but maybe that's just me. Some of them I have an image in my head, but finding one online that's close can be a challenge. Other times I stumble upon something even cooler than I could have come up with on my own, but might be somewhat less close than what my actual impression is.
#14? :biggrin:
Yep.
13: I might have made a serious error in ignoring this genre.
Probably not the easiest one to get.
-
I might have made a serious error in ignoring this impression. ;D
-
5: Did you accidentally overlay three separate songs on top of each other?
9: Wow, I'm gonna need 100 listens to unpack all the layers in this.
Maybe?
-
Text impressions 15?
GIF 9?
-
5: Did you accidentally overlay three separate songs on top of each other?
9: Wow, I'm gonna need 100 listens to unpack all the layers in this.
Maybe?
Of course, part of the design of these is that they could apply to several different artists, so those might not be inaccurate, but no, that's not the one I'm going for.
Text impressions 15?
GIF 9?
Nope, nope. Particularly for the GIFs, some of these people might need to alternate between thinking abstractly and literally to get them.
-
Lol @ the GIFs. Mine is definitely 8 :)
-
For sure. :)
-
Oh wait I missed the write ups!
I'll go 16 on that then.
-
Nope.
-
my guesses:
16: A lot of people would probably relegate this to a novelty tourist shop, but you may have found the right person to send it to.
(https://i.giphy.com/media/3oEjHJDIebzqFecyFG/200w.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/sadGvM-AMVMAAAAM/groovy-swing-it.gif)
-
Yes to the GIFs, no to the text.
-
GIF: 7
Text: no idea
-
16th text impression? :justjen
-
Nope.
6?
-
GIF: 7
Yes.
16th text impression? :justjen
No.
6?
Nope.
-
It's so obvious :lol GIF 11
-
GIFs: 4 could be me, otherwise it's Puppies' Moonsorrow song.
Impressions: Maybe one of these:
11: This is an artist I've wanted to get more into, and there are certainly elements that seem promising, but I'm not sure these are the right songs.
14: Oh boy are my opinions about this going to send mixed signals about my taste.
15: There is nothing wrong with this, why don't I like it more?
17: This is definitely adjacent to music I really like, but I'm not sure there's quite enough to latch onto.
-
Impressions: 18
GIF: 16 or 17
Maybe..
-
It's so obvious :lol GIF 11
Yep.
GIFs:....otherwise it's Puppies' Moonsorrow song.
Impressions: Maybe one of these:
15: There is nothing wrong with this, why don't I like it more?
These.
Impressions: 18
GIF: 16
Nope.
Yes.
-
Hmm well hopefully on further listens, you realise how gorgeous their music is. If not then your ears might be broken. :neverusethis:
-
Hmm well hopefully on further listens, you realise how gorgeous their music is. If not then your ears might be broken. :neverusethis:
Love the Mute pick. One of their best guitar melodies. Shadows though was one that was never quite a fav of mine.
But I agree, Lithos ears may be broken. ;D
-
It's definitely confirmed if he doesn't like the Han-tyumi and the Murder of the Universe Suite!
-
Round 3 Early Impressions:
14: Oh boy are my opinions about this going to send mixed signals about my taste.
-
It's definitely confirmed if he doesn't like the Han-tyumi and the Murder of the Universe Suite!
You know, once you finish your roulette there will be no waiting list anymore. You could just start your V3 roulette immediately, and then I could spam you with all the weirdest stuff I love and see if anything sticks. :)
Round 3 Early Impressions:
14: Oh boy are my opinions about this going to send mixed signals about my taste.
Nope.
-
Interesting, I was sure it would be that one. How about on of these two?
Round 3 Early Impressions:
5: Did you accidentally overlay three separate songs on top of each other?
17: This is definitely adjacent to music I really like, but I'm not sure there's quite enough to latch onto.
Probably 17.
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Neither.
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I have drafts of all the writeups done, I just need to edit them into shape and solidify all the rankings. Should have them up by Saturday if nothing unusual happens. Here are the filled-out early impressions to nibble on in the meantime.
Round 3 Early Impressions:
1: Tomislav95 - Kingcrow - Didn't I ban Porcupine Tree?
2: Crow - Beyonce - Now this is why you need people who are willing to send unexpected artists. Dunno if I'm going to love these songs, but the vocals are on fire.
3: HOF - The Clientele - Apparently the law of gravity might apply to roulette submissions as well. I'm hearing a better version of these songs in my head with the vocals from other bands.
4: senecadawg2 - Loreena McKennitt - Am I playing Myst and Riven again? I've clearly been overlooking this artist for way too long.
5: Sacul - Nicolar Jaar - Did you accidentally overlay three separate songs on top of each other?
6: Evermind - Marketa Irglova - I don't know if these tunes are catchy enough, and the instrumentation is a bit plain, but at least the vocals are solid.
7: soupytwist - Katzenjammer - I didn't realize I was in the mood to have this much fun. We're gonna party like it's 1899!
8: twosuitluke - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Look forward to the writeup, not to the score.
9: SoundscapeMN - Pepe Deluxe - Wow, I'm gonna need 100 listens to unpack all the layers in this.
10: Elite - Oranssi Pazuzu - I'm not high enough for this.
11: Stadler - Marillion - This is an artist I've wanted to get more into, and there are certainly elements that seem promising, but I'm not sure these are the right songs.
12: Lethean - Leprous - KoRn goes to college.
13: TAC - Ereb Altor - I might have made a serious error in ignoring this genre.
14: Buddyhunter1 - Blanck Mass - Oh boy are my opinions about this going to send mixed signals about my taste.
15: ariich - Insomnium - There is nothing wrong with this, why don't I like it more?
16: Vmadera00 - Sufi's Life - A lot of people would probably relegate this to a novelty tourist shop, but you may have found the right person to send it to.
17: Nachtmerrie - Amenra - This is definitely adjacent to music I really like, but I'm not sure there's quite enough to latch onto.
18: Puppies_On_Acid - Moonsorrow - Do I smell pews burning?
Round 3 GIFpressions:
1: Buddyhunter1 - Blanck Mass
(https://i.giphy.com/media/939RsumhGX9n4amBlN/giphy.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/939RsumhGX9n4amBlN/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/OQrzlc6o5xPSx1y3Sr/200.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/OQrzlc6o5xPSx1y3Sr/200.webp)
2: Lethean - Leprous
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/HandsomeRegularHuman.webp) (https://thumbs.gfycat.com/HandsomeRegularHuman.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/k_58sEEMDocAAAAC/strum-guitar-jared-dines.gif) (https://media.tenor.com/k_58sEEMDocAAAAC/strum-guitar-jared-dines.gif)
3: SoundscapeMN - Pepe Deluxe
(https://i.giphy.com/media/3oEjHJDIebzqFecyFG/200w.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/3oEjHJDIebzqFecyFG/200w.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/sadGvM-AMVMAAAAM/groovy-swing-it.gif) (https://media.tenor.com/sadGvM-AMVMAAAAM/groovy-swing-it.gif)
4: Puppies_On_Acid - Moonsorrow
(https://i.giphy.com/media/ypQyYdjj6wy9a/giphy.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/ypQyYdjj6wy9a/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/lWZSeobRKH4hW14mq0/200.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/lWZSeobRKH4hW14mq0/200.webp)
5:soupytwist - Katzenjammer
(https://i.giphy.com/media/l396Yxgh7n88Lyda0/giphy.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/l396Yxgh7n88Lyda0/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/a1wyl0YQrCGm4/200.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/a1wyl0YQrCGm4/200.webp)
6: twosuitluke - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
(https://i.giphy.com/media/KetyXkm8cy19oSRlek/200w.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/KetyXkm8cy19oSRlek/200w.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/rn79UlSTDfDlS/200.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/rn79UlSTDfDlS/200.webp)
7: Evermind - Marketa Irglova
(https://i.giphy.com/media/h0VzgrFX9AKXK/200.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/h0VzgrFX9AKXK/200.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/btjkkkawtefIY/giphy.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/btjkkkawtefIY/giphy.webp)
8: Elite - Oranssi Pazuzu
(https://i.giphy.com/media/SYrMAmJZT4YcU/200w.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/SYrMAmJZT4YcU/200w.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/YnRv4okRwube0/200.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/YnRv4okRwube0/200.webp)
9: ariich - Insomnium
(https://i.giphy.com/media/hv53DaYcXWe3nRbR1A/giphy.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/hv53DaYcXWe3nRbR1A/giphy.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/MqZJNJIjcCUAAAAM/mr-bean-cant-sleep.gif) (https://media.tenor.com/MqZJNJIjcCUAAAAM/mr-bean-cant-sleep.gif)
10: TAC - Ereb Altor
(https://i.giphy.com/media/HsIfksJN0Q6rJJfL5F/giphy.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/HsIfksJN0Q6rJJfL5F/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/DrcqyC7RW0Dyu798GJ/giphy.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/DrcqyC7RW0Dyu798GJ/giphy.webp)
11: Tomislav95 - Kingcrow
(https://i.giphy.com/media/gkpnGTiy8Sq08/200.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/gkpnGTiy8Sq08/200.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/4tlkVBk7mm6iY/200.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/4tlkVBk7mm6iY/200.webp)
12: Crow - Beyonce
(https://i.giphy.com/media/v98g8s9mNEDcI/200.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/v98g8s9mNEDcI/200.webp)
13: Sacul - Nicolar Jaar
(https://i.giphy.com/media/hyjEHZuOVf8Z83gG4r/giphy.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/hyjEHZuOVf8Z83gG4r/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/LFjMavdsJD59AKpVAM/200w.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/LFjMavdsJD59AKpVAM/200w.webp)
14: Vmadera00 - Sufi's Life
(https://i.giphy.com/media/5t9FRQZuCEwg992s54/giphy.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/5t9FRQZuCEwg992s54/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/Kf9eJCu1Pc6UMdthF5/200w.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/Kf9eJCu1Pc6UMdthF5/200w.webp)
15: HOF - The Clientele
(https://i.giphy.com/media/CM2G0NiOzjWjC/200w.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/CM2G0NiOzjWjC/200w.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/O49dtqx21nMAAAAM/yorkshire2019-cycling.gif) (https://media.tenor.com/O49dtqx21nMAAAAM/yorkshire2019-cycling.gif)
16: Nachtmerrie - Amenra
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/LongTidyGrouse.webp) (https://thumbs.gfycat.com/LongTidyGrouse.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/JxYcC04MT2Noc/200.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/JxYcC04MT2Noc/200.webp)
17: senecadawg2 - Loreena McKennitt
(https://i.giphy.com/media/Ll2fajzk9DgaY/200w.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/Ll2fajzk9DgaY/200w.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/NfzOqaLHp7j44/200.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/NfzOqaLHp7j44/200.webp)
18: Stadler - Marillion
(https://i.giphy.com/media/bPTXcJiIzzWz6/giphy.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/bPTXcJiIzzWz6/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/koTAN2V1PTOzC/200.webp) (https://i.giphy.com/media/koTAN2V1PTOzC/200.webp)
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Yeah I'd have never guessed that was my impression :lol
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Well, that's promising! :corn
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14: Buddyhunter1 - Blanck Mass - Oh boy are my opinions about this going to send mixed signals about my taste.
Well uh... maybe there's a chance you like it and it actually goes against your normal musical taste? :lol
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Well this is definitely the first time I've heard Leprous compared to Korn.
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ah, makes sense.
there's a ton of layers and instruments packed into their music, including many *vintage* instruments, 1 specifically they waited many years to be able to use.
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I’m gonna regret including Bicycles in my submission I guess. It’s a personal favorite, but it’s a bit out there.
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Yeah that makes sense to me, because I wasn't familiar with the Myst and Riven reference. The GIFs were easier to guess, but still a little confusing. I'm hoping the first is more along the lines of, what what can I possibly say? this is beautiful rather than, what's the point of this?
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The music in "The Mystic's Dream" definitely has some vibes from some of the music in the scores for those games. Generating an image-based impression for the last two entries in particular was the hardest for me to come up with, which is why I went for more generic placeholder "I just can't come up with anything" GIFs. At that point I just start being literal in looking at words in the band/album/song names (Kingcrow was the same way as well, sort of The Clientele also). So seeing "The Bonny Swans" I searched for swan GIFS, and while scrolling through found a dancing one that was just too cool not to use, no matter that I believe it's actually a duck. :)
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"The instrumentation is a bit plain" is kind of a theme in all her work though. Perfectly alright with me (in fact, I got one of her songs in my own roulette and that's how I became a fan) but different tastes I suppose.
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Yeah, if it hasn't been obvious yet through my writeups, I tend to like more elaborate instrumentation, and if it lacks that, then either there has to be something interesting going on production-wise or rhythmically, or I have to really connect with the vocals and/or melodies.
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I can see that for Go Back, which is also the first song of the three. It's from her first album which is pleasant but not that exciting. But the other two songs are gorgeous, especially Without a Map which I still find so beautiful every time I hear it.
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You'll both find out soon enough. :)
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Should have them up by Saturday if nothing unusual happens.
Right, so something unusual happened - new Katatonia is out - let's reconvene in March everyone! :neverusethis:
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Since you write it in limegreen and not green, see you in March :biggrin:
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It was fun while it lasted. :)
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New Katatonia and Riverside out, it's both happy and sad day.
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(https://i.giphy.com/media/VhpuNI1KejNbBGXCxS/200.webp)
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twosuitluke - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - "Han-Tyumi & The Murder of the Universe"
Early Impression - "Look forward to the writeup, not to the score."
So here we are. Hopefully the score isn't quite as low as you worried it might be. No 4/10 for you! :soupnazi: There is definitely some intriguing material happening, but some of it is just a bit too much for me. I had around half a dozen unique impressions that came to me just throughout the course of the first listen, which I'll sprinkle a few of in here and there. I like a lot of somewhat cheesy sci-fi shows and films, so the ridiculousness of the "plot" of the song doesn't put me off per se, it's just that I'm not keen on some of the execution, and it's not that common for humor in music to work well for me in listening to it.
The biggest offender is the text-to-speech narration that drives most of the runtime. It's a technique which can be effective from a storytelling point of view, and would be more efficacious in visual media where there is more going on for it to frame. And it works better in music video form like the one they produced for this song. But here, just as a musical listening experience, particularly on numerous repeated listens, it becomes annoying. And it's not unique to this song, there are other tracks from bands I love where I dig the instrumentation, but find them exhausting to listen to because they have lengthy samples or narrations which wear out their welcome quickly. Our own Dream Theater and also Velvet Acid Christ are two bands among others that have some songs which have this problem. But if you took out the narration for this tune, the music in the background likely wouldn't be able to stand on its own, as it would be too overly repetitive and bare.
I get the impression from doing a bit of reading about them that they're a bit of a modern Grateful Dead in terms of the level of obsession they tend to create in their fandom, though perhaps a bit more varied and odder in style, going for more of a retrofuturism approach. So you can correct me if you want, but I presume the first few minutes are more representative of what the "typical" KGLW song sounds like, to the extent such a thing even exists. Another issue is that their sound, at least for this track and the ones I heard in 425's roulette, is heavily predicated upon a lower-fi, garage-esque, 70s throwback style. That may be the vibe they're going for, but it just isn't one that often resonates with me. Opeth is one of the few bands who've tried to ape that production aesthetic in a way that appealed to me.
Also, the vocal style for the primary melodic vocals doesn't really comport with me. Another impression I had was "David Bowie didn't die, he just went home." The vocals have a bit of a patina of his timbre, but don't really have the rich depth of his voice. Perhaps their vocals grow on you over time, but with that bastard Han-Tyumi hogging all the track time, it's probably just not going to happen without a lot more songs and albums.
Conceptually, I feel like space rock is a genre I should like much more than I do, given how much I like synthesizers. And there are certainly moments that I enjoy, but overall they aren't enough to really keep my interest over everything else going on. One of the nicer moments is the Mellotron flute at 8:53, or the Mellotron choir shortly after. There is also a cool sparkling synth patch at 4:35 that appears on the left, and then reappears on the right. Ironically, this is a better example of how to incorporate a few noisier moments more effectively. For example, at 1:00 and similar sequences later on that are more Black Sabbath-esque, they have some more clangorous tones momentarily heightening the intensity, which works surprisingly well.
The drumming is pretty solid, with a variety of well-executed fills. There were parts that definitely aren't possible to pull off with just one drum track, so I surmised that either there were two drummers in the band, like the Allman Brothers and some other artists from the era they're hearkening back to, or there were two separate drum tracks panned left and right. Turns out it's the former. There are also some splendid active bass lines, such as 6:07 or 8:53. Additionally, there are some tasty guitar licks and harmonies with unique scales, such as at 7:37, or 8:53. Ultimately, I wish I could hear a less messy version of this song without the narration, covered by modern Opeth.
Score: 5.5/10
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Sacul - Nicolás Jaar - "No one is looking at U", "The Governor"
Early Impression - "Did you accidentally overlay three separate songs on top of each other?"
So now we have the start of a challenging aspect of multi-song rounds, where I have to decide if a stronger track lifts up a whole set of songs, whether a weaker one drags them all down, or if I try to weigh them equally. All three approaches might feel right or wrong for specific sets of songs.
Here, I definitely like the first song more than the second. "No one is looking at U" is fairly relaxing, and somewhat closer to other electronic music I listen to. I've talked in previous rounds about pitch-manipulated vocals, and will need to do so again later in this round. It's employed here a fair amount, and while I still don't love that approach, it doesn't vex me quite as much as it does with some other songs. The tease of conventional vocals at 1:43, only for them to rarely return in normal form, was disappointing at first, but I did get used to it after a number of listens. I suppose I can understand why from a creator's perspective it's fun to take some vocal samples and have fun slicing them up and rearranging them in various ways. But as a listener the technique just often leaves me cold. I'm more of a vocal purist in general, I suppose. There are all kinds of glitchy sounds going on throughout the track, and I'm not always sure how many of them are just less obvious iterations of vocal sample manipulations, or if they're other elements altogether. Either way, they mostly don't bother me, and at times add a bit of rhythmic variety to an otherwise normally pulsing albeit subdued 4/4 dance groove. 0:52 also brings in this percussion motif that starts out fairly softly, becomes slightly more prominent, and then mostly vanishes back into the mix again, only to become stronger at 3:10. Overall the song is a bit abstract and experimental for my tastes, but it's reasonable enough.
Now "The Governor" doesn't work as well for me. There are certainly aspects I enjoy about it. The synth bass tone is nice and thick-sounding, and has some interesting lines on occasion, especially at 1:51. The chordal piano passage at 1:14 is probably the coolest aspect of the track, and sounds a little reminiscent of some moments of Radiohead. I was curious when I heard the bass clarinet at 3:09, since that's a more unusual instrument, but it mostly was employed in a way that frustrated me. Like a few songs in the previous round, the focus here seems to be more on experimenting with odd textures via overblowing and producing a lot of squawking noises. A certain amount of that can be ok with me, like there was in the track you sent last round from Mammal Hands, but here it's pretty much the whole meal, and just isn't satisfying.
The rest of the track is also a bit too much in the eccentric and nebulous direction for me. The rapidly whirling percussive sound that starts around 3:34 and gradually becomes brighter as they open the filter on it would be an intriguing rhythmic component if there was more meat in the rest of the song for me to grasp onto. But ultimately, heading into around the 5:00 is where this track goes off the rails for me, and where my impression comes from. The squawky bass clarinet, the drum and bass-esque loops, the piano motif, the whirling percussive sound, and the white noise on the left all just seem disconnected, like they were layers of three or four separate songs and were just mashed together. Also not as big of a deal, but the vocals on this track aren't really my preference either. I still can't determine if the challenge is the vocal timbre or the melody, but either way, it just fell flat for me.
Score: 6/10
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HOF - The Clientele - "Orpheus Beach", "[I Can't Seem to] Make You Mine", "Bicycles", "The Age of Miracles"
Early Impression - "Apparently the law of gravity might apply to roulette submissions as well. I'm hearing a better version of these songs in my head with the vocals from other bands."
Well, apparently lightning can't strike three times in a row in the same spot. Let's just hope this round was the anomaly, right? :-)
Instrumentally, this is quite soothing music. The tremolo electric parts that he is quite fond of playing sound great. "Bicycles" has a more subtle modulation effect, but has some snazzy jazzier chords here and there. There are a lot of groovy, active bass lines, which I'll probably never complain about. The drumming is competent enough. "[I Can't Seem To] Make You Mine" sounds like the drummer might be playing the snare with a brush and the ride with a rod, which I'm sure has been done before, but no other examples are coming right to mind. "The Age of Miracles" at 1:24 on the left has a delightful section where the ride gets a bit heavier, with some China cymbal accents. The ancillary instrumentation overall is also pleasant, particularly with violin and piano.
Overall my favorite song of the batch by a decent margin is "The Age of Miracles". The melodies are more effective and memorable here, and I like the interplay between the nylon-string and steel-string guitars as well as the piano. I also enjoy the horn/string melody at 4:07.
But well, the vocals just aren't working for me. His timbre is a bit nasal for my palate, and I keep wondering how some of these songs would sound like covered by a different artist, everyone from Kings of Convenience to Fleet Foxes to Nick Drake come to mind as possibilities. "Bicycles" is probably the one where the vocals work the best, mostly because they're drenched in so much reverb that the effect becomes as much of the vocal as the singer does. Between the softening of the vocal and some of the guitar chords, it's not obvious that you should have dropped that song, there's no clear weakest track, just an obvious stronger one. Oh well, maybe better luck next round!
Score: 6.5/10
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Nachtmerrie - Amenra - "De Dood In Bloei", "De Evenmens", "Spijt"
Early Impression - "This is definitely adjacent to music I really like, but I'm not sure there's quite enough to latch onto."
Well, it looks like we have your first partial misfire. I know this album was fairly widely talked about in '21 at various places, and I may have even sampled a track or two, but I didn't really recall anything specific about it. It did grow on me a bit over the course of many listens, and moved up a few spots, but ultimately there just isn't quite enough here to bump it up any further.
My favorite of the three tracks is actually "De Dood In Bloei", which is just a beautiful piece of dark ambient, which I listen to a fair amount of. I could easily take them doing a whole album of pieces like that one. Of course, the sparse and minimalistic nature of that style means other works might be riskier, particularly in the limited confines of a roulette round, but this one in particular hits more satisfactorily.
The challenge is the centerpiece of the submission, "De Evenmens", which has several promising features, but not quite enough flavor to it for my taste. On the positive side, the production is solid, and the guitar tone is thick and heavy, which is essential for the style. It sounds especially good fading out at the end of the track with the harmonic overtones simmering. The bass likewise has a quite full tone, with it sounding like they've either split the signal in two, or double-tracked it, since there are both normal clean subfrequencies well below the guitars, in addition to a fuzzier timbre very distinct from the guitars. The drumming, while not really standing out, at least doesn't get in the way. The clean vocals towards the end are OK, but are just too short in duration to help much, and the spoken word sections don't really add or detract to the composition. But I don't really care for the higher-pitched harsh vocals, they seem more hardcore-influenced, which has always been an approach that just often doesn't resonate with me. There are sometimes exceptions, but based on this song, they aren't one of them.
In this style, I tend to like more atmospheric and melodic components, which tend to come in other music from more focus on clean vocals, piano, violin/cello, synthesizers, more melodic guitar playing, or even less conventional instrumentation. So with minimal clean vocals and none of the other elements as a part of this track, it puts all of the weight on the guitars. And they just can't quite carry it for me. The riffs present are perfectly serviceable for rhythm guitar, but are just too bare most of the time to take this song to the next level. The section at 2:44 is the closest it comes to making it work, but it's not quite enough. "Spijt" mostly continues in the style of "De Evenmens", just with a bit murkier production.
Score: 6.75/10
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Puppies_On_Acid - Moonsorrow - "Pimea"
Early Impression - "Do I smell pews burning?"
So I've heard a few songs of theirs over the years, but I'm not sure I've ever listened to a whole album. Curiously enough, we have three examples of black metal-originated styles, which started out all across the spectrum of ranking distributions, between them, Oranssi Pazuzu, and Ereb Altor, who will come later. There are definitely some compositional elements of interest to talk about, but I can't get over the similarity of several aspects of their sound to Burzum, hence my early impression. The sudden screams like at 0:40 and many other spots are oddly Varg-like. I think I burst out laughing after about the dozenth howl. The guitar tone is not nearly as low-fidelity as Burzum's, but it's still in that ratty aesthetic that they helped make a frustratingly inseparable facet of second wave black metal sonics. And then even the background keyboards also have an eerily similar timbre to some of Burzum's, and might even be the same synth patch. Compare the background keyboard melody timbre at 5:28, or 8:05, to 7:05 in Burzum's "Tohmet", for one example. Sure enough, a bit of research into their origins, and Burzum was a huge influence on them early on, and Hvis lyset tar oss in particular around the time they recorded this album is listed as inspirational for Moonsorrow.
Obviously they have a number of departures stylistically from such second wave black metal bands, so those deviations do appeal to me more. For one, the bass is pretty audible, and there are even a few band dropouts to highlight it, such as 2:43 and 3:47, which demonstrate a gnarly and meaty tone.
The acoustic guitar strumming at 7:31 provided a much needed break and change of pace. The fingerpicking provides a similar function at 10:28, though it should have been a bit longer, particularly to make more usage of the accordion, which having more prominence for would go along well with their style. It's playing the melody at 7:00 and a few other spots, but the mix is so dense there it doesn't stand out much. Perhaps the uncompressed audio would help there a bit, as we discussed a bit over e-mail - I'm not sure, other deeply-layered bands manage to make it work in lossier formats. The guitar solo at 9:18 with some shreddier moments and dive bombs seems a bit unusual for this style, though perhaps it is more common with some of the more epic bands - this has definitely been a subgenre that I've not spent quite enough time with. 7:53 builds well with the slow volume swell into the pick slide.
The drum engineering is rather unique. It sounds more full and organic than some similar productions, and the toms are panned with the higher-pitched ones sequenced to the right, and the lower to the left, which is the opposite of how a typical drum kit is set up and miced. Some of the fills are also a neat way to get extra mileage out of the same rhythms by applying them to different parts of the kit. At 9:02 and also a few earlier spots there is a broken-up descending tom fill, and then at 9:50 a very similar fill is employed with the same rhythmic structure, but now with double bass flourishes rather than toms.
It seems like right around this score is where I do legitimately start liking entries and finding many enjoyable things about them, but they still feel held back by certain elements. Perhaps the largest issue is the track runtime. Granted, they're going for an epic feel, and they do a fair amount with the ideas they have, more so than many other black metal bands I've heard. But it just feels a little overly long. I think it could have been rearranged to chop out 2-3 minutes and it would have had more punch while still being quite epic. Part of it may be that it's rare for songs much over 10:00 to grab me. Unless it's something in the background, but by that point I'm usually starting to yearn for some different ideas, and here was no different.
Score: 6.75/10
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Elite - Oranssi Pazuzu - "Oikeamielisten sali", "Hypnotisoitu viharokous"
Early Impression - "I'm not high enough for this."
So this is probably the closest we've gotten yet in this roulette to truly avant-garde music. My ears are so attuned to melody, I've struggled to listen to the more out-there styles which are noisier, dissonant, more atonal and such. I don't mind occasional moments of it, but the more there are, the higher the risk the song isn't going to resonate with me. I do try and every now and then explore these realms to see if my opinion has shifted though. There are certain more out-there artists I've come to appreciate more over time, like Krzysztof Penderecki or Univers Zero, but they are far from typical of my taste.
I must say that I've gradually come to enjoy this significantly more than I did at first. It might be a case study for why I try and get in as many listens to each track as I can, because sometimes they don't bloom immediately, and may take a dozen plays to really take off. This entry started at the very bottom of the rankings, but has moved up a number of spots by the time I finalized my rankings. I don't quite know how much is a combination of brute force repetition breeding familiarity and relative comfort, the elements of the songs that do appeal to me, or the "keys" the songs are in or modulate to.
I still doubt they're likely to become a favorite anytime soon, but I did enjoy the challenge of spending more time with their music, and could see myself returning to them if the right mood hits. I enjoy them more than many of the other stranger very broadly similar artists I've listened to such as Deathspell Omega, Portal, Ulcerate, Ad Nauseam and others, perhaps partially because they're not quite as extreme as those ones are. Obviously each of them is their own thing, though people who don't listen to any of them probably find them to all sound virtually identical. Strangely Gorguts has always had a bit more appeal to me for more inexplicable reasons. Anyway, Oranssi Pazuzu's music has enough groove, production value, and memorability that they are an easier listen than I worried they might be based off early listens and the album I checked out a couple years ago. It's still just too noisy, weird, and not melodic enough to compete with later entries though.
The best thing both tracks have going for them is the engineering and the interaction between the bass and drums. They work so well together they could power just about any style. 0:34 in "Hypnotisoitu viharokous" is just a ridiculously good bass tone, kind of the metal equivalent of a Reese bass in some electronic styles. It peaks out again at 4:00, which leads to easily the craziest passage of the set, it's like demented circus music on a bad acid trip, but it slowly becomes more and more endearing over time, against my better judgment. The synth on the center-right at 1:46 is also a wild sound that slowly appealed to me on later listens. I also kind of weirdly like the woozy guitar on the right at 2:29 in "Hypnotisoitu". The vibraphone in that section is unexpected but works surprisingly well, though it's mostly pretty hidden in the mix.
"Oikeamielisten sali" opens with a nice atmospheric guitar tone on the right, but in Pazuzuland, nothing stays nice for long. The orchestral sample on the right has this very digital pitch bend on occasion, which is kind of unsettling. I suppose that's probably the point, but I rarely tend to like the harsher effect of digital pitch-shifting any more for instrumentation than I do for vocals. 4:58 is probably the best of this song synthesizer-wise, the pitch glides there are actually more effective, giving a really ethereal feeling. The lead guitar in that spot doesn't fare as well for me. It's challenging to talk about this music because I suspect part of the intention is to make things uncomfortable, but I just can't get into that tone, it sounds like plugging the guitar straight into a distortion pedal and then right into the mixing board, it's just too shrill. There's also this interesting stuttering noise particularly noticeable at 6:15 flying around the stereo spectrum - although it actually starts earlier, but becomes more salient when the lead guitar part stops.
Score: 6.75/10
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Stadler - Marillion - "Warm Wet Circles", "That Time of the Night (The Short Straw)"
Early Impression - "This is an artist I've wanted to get more into, and there are certainly elements that seem promising, but I'm not sure these are the right songs."
Well, I kind of hoped someone would send them in a round, but I didn't expect two people to try and do so within hours of each other. And with both of you trying to send "That Time of the Night (The Short Straw)", you'd think the universe was saying something to me. I've heard a few of their albums here and there, and some random songs, but they've just never fully clicked. So I'm frustrated why I'm not liking them more than I do. I don't know if this would have moved the needle, but there was 4:37 of runtime left for the submission, which would have been enough for another song. This is definitely a band I'm going to want to continue checking out more from though, because they've been a huge influence on some other bands I like, and are obviously a favorite here on this forum for many others.
Individually, there are a lot of attractive elements. The clean chorused guitar early in "Warm Wet Circles" sounds great. There is some nice harmony interaction between it and the keyboards in the second verse. The drumming is reasonably varied, with some flavorous tom fills and such. The cymbal work in the second verse of "Warm Wet" is neat with the triplet hat accents into the downbeats, like at 1:34. The bass is playing a lot of tasty and active lines as well.
I like the guitar solo in "Warm Wet" at 2:55, with some piquant note choices. The solo at 0:58 in "That Time" is also savory, soaked in delay and reverb - I'm hearing a touch of Lifeson here and there. It's surprising how huge the chimey cleans at 3:52 in "That Time" sound, they even overpower the overdriven rhythm guitar and synths there. 5:21 was a very intriguing section with the backing vocals, and some of the chord voicings - kind of Eric Johnson-ish. Maybe it's vice versa, I don't know if they had that kind of tone earlier than this album.
Fish is obviously a legendary vocalist, but I'm still unsure of how I feel about his delivery. It has some similarities with Phil Collins' and Peter Gabriel's voices, but I don't like it quite as much in the softer range of it. It immediately improves when he becomes more aggressive and adds some grit to it. But for some reason the melodies in "That Time" just aren't sticking with me, though obviously it must work for other people if two of you tried to send it. "Warm Wet" feels a little light and fluffy in the first few minutes, but the second half of it, starting around 2:25, was my favorite two minutes of the whole entry. I'm unsure of how much is due to the key. But overall, it's just not long enough to boost the overall score higher.
Score: 7/10
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Crow - Beyoncé - "I'M THAT GIRL", "Freedom", "Daddy Lessons"
Early Impression - "Now this is why you need people who are willing to send unexpected artists. Dunno if I'm going to love these songs, but the vocals are on fire."
Hey, we have an upward trajectory now! Of course I've heard various tunes of her's over the years, including catching a few random performances of songs, but never really considered any of it very compelling. I knew she could sing, but she's definitely up a level or two from where I thought she was. I occasionally try and look into modern R&B and neo-soul to try and find more great vocalists, but sometimes some of the great ones are right there, hidden in plain view, and that certainly seems to be the case here.
Now, these songs are a somewhat more mixed bag. "I'M THAT GIRL" in particular has both the coolest elements of the set, as well as the most nettling. On the positive side, it has some of the most dazzling smooth and melodic lines, and quite exquisite vocal harmonies and layering (1:36 in particular). And the synth pad underlaying much of the track is a really entrancing sound, with some quite captivating chord voicings. It's also interesting to hear a soca beat in a more unfamiliar context. However, the heavily-modulated opening sample, while an intriguing sound at first, is really overused throughout the track, to the point that it starts becoming grating, especially on repeated listens. I could also do without the monologue at 0:27, it just detracts from the song for me.
"Freedom" is a perfect contrast, with a much more powerful delivery, with some fabulous vocal grit at times. It's a joy how the harmony vocal at 1:47 alternates between harmonizing and doubling with the lead vocal line. The instrumental hook at 1:24 is pretty unusual-sounding, with two quite different heavily modulated sounds hard-panned. I had a period in the 00s where I explored a lot of the history of hip-hop, but I lost track of it by the 10s, so I'm really behind on the more modern artists. But I have heard Kendrick Lamar on a few tracks, and he seems to be arguably the most acclaimed of the most recent wave. The verse at 2:55 is fine overall. 3:12-3:28 is an impressive segment, seeming to be executed on just a single breath. 4:02 isn't nearly as effective though. The vocal distortion provides an interesting timbral contrast, but his cadence there is just too outréé for my tastes.
"Daddy Lessons" is as a whole the most well-balanced and strongest song, with the most appealing elements and not really anything at all that bugs me. The horn section opening and the baritone saxophone solo towards the end were particular highlights of it. The bass and acoustic doubling the fill at 2:10 is also a short but striking moment. There are additionally some joyous bluesy harmonica licks scattered about. Not to mention, there is an alternate extended version of this song that I enjoyed even more, with broader instrumentation and also featuring The Chicks. I can't say that I'm going to become part of the Bey Hive just yet, but Beyoncé's voice is marvelous enough, and there are sufficient enough moments in these songs that I'll have to sift through her discography to see if there are other tunes that catch my attention even more.
Score: 7/10
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Tomislav95 - Kingcrow - "The Moth", "Night's Descending", "Everything Goes"
Early Impression - "Didn't I ban Porcupine Tree?"
So obviously Porcupine Tree are one of their biggest influences, and some of the riffs in the first and last songs in particular sound quite reminiscent of 00s Porcupine Tree heavier moments. I guess they're really more of re-filtered Tool riffs, and the punchy bass tone and fills go along well with that. And I suppose the rapid acoustic-to-heavy transitions are also probably Opeth influences seeping in, who naturally are listed as another large inspiration to them. Over more listens more of their own qualities did start to stand out though.
Still, this is another band that I'm not I'm quite sure why I don't enjoy more than I do, given the proximity to some of my favorite music. It's a good thing I had you sub out one of the original songs that I had already heard a number of times from checking it out in 425's roulette (and I'd also heard a song or two at points even prior to that), because the substitution song, "Night's Descending", is easily the best song here, and actually one of the best songs of the round. Part of it is the presence of Daniel Gildenlow's vocals. I used to be a pretty big Pain of Salvation fan in the early/mid-00s. I kind of fell off for some reason though and have never really binged on them heavily since then, but I still do hold Daniel's vocal chops in high regard, which helped elevate this song. The opening Rhodes' arpeggios have a delightful texture, with a rapidly rotating Leslie speaker effect. I also enjoyed the overlayed piano/bell line at 2:37.
"The Moth" starts with an abbreviated version of a mixing technique which I mentioned in the first round and will mention again in a later entry, of having a guitar panned to one side (in this case the right) play the first few notes of a line, and then the guitar on the left responds, in this case with a chord. It's these sort of stereo ear candy tidbits that help tend to make me much more a fan of studio recordings over seeing bands live. I also like the interplay of the acoustic at 0:34 with the electric lead lines, though the first one in particular is unfortunately far too brief. I think part of the issue though may be the heavy rhythm guitar tone, which is just too thin and not chunky enough for my taste.
I like when bands are able to effectively alternate between normal time and half-time, or vice versa, as they pull off at 1:27 in "The Moth". The acoustic section at 3:34 in the same song has a clever vocal arrangement, particularly when at 3:45 one set of vocals is doubling the guitar lead line, and the other set of backing vocals becomes its own arrangement, which gradually takes over the whole mix as the melody and acoustics fade out, and then yet a third layer of backing vocals starts piping in. It's quite creative, like a Russian doll of backing vocals.
"Everything Goes" is probably the weakest of the three tracks, though it is intriguing in how it keeps essentially the same guitar motif over a descending chromatic chord progression at 0:47, and then applies the same motif to a keyboard patch at 1:43. The major/minor third alternation in the ending is also charming and a bit Opeth-esque.
Score: 7.25/10
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Lethean - Leprous - "Bilateral", "Forced Entry"
Early Impression - "KoRn goes to college."
Leprous is one of those bands that I've heard a little of and thought I had something of the gist of, but hadn't really tried to explore more deeply beyond a couple album and individual track listens. I'm more familiar with their current drummer, Baard Kolstad, since he's guested with a number of other artists I've heard, and has some cool street drumming clips on Youtube. I initially liked this more than their '21 album mostly because there seemed to be more of instrumental interest and it was less vocal-centric than I recalled that album being.
So the KoRn comparison is for a number of reasons. They're probably still a somewhat polarizing band for some people, perhaps less so than they used to be, so I don't know if this bugged you or not, your reaction seemed to suggest it might. I think KoRn did some rather interesting and inventive things at times. A key similarity is that some of Einar's quirkier vocal stylings, particularly in the moments where he goes into his more aggressive midrange like at 1:20 in "Forced Entry", are kind of Jonathan Davis-esque. 7:26 in the same song in particular is reminiscent of him. Just to make sure I wasn't going crazy and imagining things, I Googled this and there are definitely other people noting the resemblance as well. Of course Einar has far more range and versatility, which I'll discuss shortly. Another likeness is the usage of almost seasick-sounding heavily-effected sounds, like the rapid rate of the chorusing in 0:30 in "Forced Entry", that give this otherworldly vibe. KoRn would often have similar clean parts with this type of vibe. Also, the apparent tuning of much of "Forced Entry" is the same as KoRn's primary tuning.
I can't say Einar is a favorite vocalist yet, but he does have an impressive amount of ability, and a far more interesting falsetto range than a number of vocalists so far. I didn't like the falsetto spots initially, but I've grown more fond of them over the course of this round. 5:30 in "Forced Entry" is a really intoxicating moment where a scream from Einar blends smoothly into a held guitar note. And 8:37 in the same song is just bonkers.
"Bilateral" has a really irresistible bass synth sound, with a juicy resonance spike at 0:28. I really like the evolving keyboard patch at 2:53 in "Forced Entry", it has this really ethereal sound that at first seemed like it might be excessive, but grew on me over the course of a number of plays. They get a lot of mileage out of guitar/synth harmony patterns with djenty syncopated one-note grooves, like the opening of "Forced Entry" or 1:48 in "Bilateral". The brief key change at 1:29 in "Forced Entry" is my favorite passage of the song, also including the second half at 1:50, with some really unique vocal harmonies. It repeats at 4:49, and was easily the section of the song I most looked forward to coming back to each listen.
Even without Baard, there are some rather interesting drumming and rhythmic moments. 3:03 in "Bilateral" is a fun tom pattern. 8:02 in "Forced Entry" has a tasty flammed tom pattern. It's remarkable how fluid they are at transitioning between different rhythmic subdivisions in "Forced Entry", from 16th notes at 0:29, to 32nds at 0:43, and in-between to sextuplets at 0:58. 3:05 in "Forced Entry" also has some splendid bass lines.
2:07 in "Forced Entry" has another fun call and response part, where the guitar on the left begins an idea and holds it, and then the guitar on the right answers with another, and this goes back and forth. It's not too dissimilar actually from how Daydream XI used a comparable approach in the song for the first round. I wasn't sure what to make of the guitar solo at first, but as I've gotten used to it I've enjoyed it more. It has a lot of rhythmic variety and some well thought out phrasing, with just the right amount of outside notes and brief moments of dissonance to heighten the tension.
Score: 7.5/10
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ariich - Insomnium - "Mute Is My Sorrow", "Shadows of the Dying Sun"
Early Impression - "There is nothing wrong with this, why don't I like it more?"
Alright, so this has been puzzling me for years, and I don't mind the excuse to do some detective work and figure out what's going on here. For some time what I would call this newer "Insomnium Gatherum" style has seemed to become the most popular style of melodeath, which has somewhat nettled me for awhile. It seems mostly centered on Finnish bands, although others fit in with it as well from other places, like Be'lakor in Australia. My history and preference has been much more with Swedish-style melodic death bands, either the more traditional 90s style or the 00s clean vocal and synth-heavy variations. I've heard a few albums of Insomnium's in the past and enjoyed them, but they just haven't had a lot of repeat listening value. I've wondered if the Insomnium style is caught in a middle ground where it doesn't quite appeal enough to any one particular set of my sensibilities. I've pondered whether it's because it lacks some of the faster thrashy moments, but no, that's here in the verse of "Mute Is My Sorrow". I've wondered if it's maybe lacking in acoustic guitar passages, but no, they're definitely present in that same track. Sometimes the tracks from the more Finnish-style bands can be a bit doomier, but not quite enough so as to appeal to the part of me that likes atmospheric doom. The jury is still out on that one.
Everything seems to check the right boxes. It's well-produced. The growls sound fine. Maybe there aren't as many clean vocals as I'd like (they're present a bit in "Shadows of the Dying Sun", though they're mostly just backing vocals), though that's not always necessary for my enjoyment. There are plenty of harmony guitar lines, both electric and some acoustic ones as well. The sustained guitar line at 1:26 in "Mute" effectively contrasts the faster riffing and drumming in that section. 4:26 in "Mute" has a nice more atmospheric one.
"Shadows" has a piquant fat and thick gritty bass tone in the intro, which you can't always count on elsewhere. It seems to be playing a more interesting line at 2:57 in "Shadows", though it's a bit buried in the mix there. It seems to pop out a bit more at 3:25.
The synths are mostly in the background or doubling melodic lines, but they are definitely additive to the song, 3:54 in "Shadows" being one such example. I also like the soft bell tone melody at 5:47 of "Shadows", it's a wonderful way to close things out. I actually didn't notice the first few times how early it actually shows up, around 1:32, but it's much more in the background there. I know by the second listen I caught it at 2:57, where it's a bit more prominent in the mix. It goes along nicely with the ride bell at 3:25 as well.
I just have to wonder if part of it is the tunings and keys the songs are in. I can be picky about them in general, and they seem to affect certain genres more than others for me. This style in general tends to cluster around Dm, as opposed to the more common Bm-Cm of the Swedish bands. As a too small sample size test of this, "Mute" even briefly goes to Bm at 4:09, and might be my favorite part of the two songs, though it's far too short (and I wish the piano was utilized a bit more there). It seems superficial, but maybe the key really is part of the struggle for me. I'm not quite sure how much closer I am to solving this than I was at the start, but it's been vexingly enjoyable. But ultimately, maybe I'm actually praising it with faint damnation, because it is in the top half of the round. It just seems like it could/should be higher than it is, but my arbitrary preferences hold it back some.
Score: 7.5/10
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Buddyhunter1 - Blanck Mass - "Death Drop", "House Vs. House"
Early Impression - "Oh boy are my opinions about this going to send mixed signals about my taste."
So "Death Drop" is fire. I feel like I must have heard some symphonic-ish electro-industrial before, but nothing comes right to mind. This song is pretty noisy, which is probably going to confuse people, but it's a type of noise I really dig. I love most of the synthesizer textures, and there are a lot of cool melodic lines and arpeggios. 4:06 might be my favorite section, all of the different patterns interlock so well, particularly once it adds that additional layer at 5:56 on the center-right.
It always fascinates me how similar to extreme metal and yet unique this sort of vocal style is, where it's produced more synthetically with a distortion box rather than organically like in death and black metal and such, but yet it achieves the same effect of the vocals becoming another rhythmic instrument and increasing the intensity of the delivery.
Unfortunately, "House Vs. House" doesn't fare so well. The first problem is that repetitive sample that opens it. At first it kind of sounded like a yippy Chihuahua. By the second time it hit me that it sounds kind of like Chun-Li's lightning kick in Street Fighter, which I used to play a ton of, hence my impressions. It wouldn't be such a big deal if it was used more sparingly, but it's all over the song. At 3:22 there are even two layers of similar samples, with a higher-pitched version of them more centered but lower in the mix. As much as I don't mind being probably unintentionally reminded of the days of playing that game, I just don't really want it in music form, kind of like my struggles with "Han-Tyumi." The relentless nature of those samples really drag the song down.
And then, again, "House Vs. House" has heavily pitch-shifted vocals. It's just fairly rare for me to appreciate those. 5:46 is even worse when it adds another layer of them in the chipmunk range as well. It's a shame, since the melodic elements and synth textures in the track are rather brilliant. The line on the right at 4:48 is especially scrumptious. Take out the samples and replace the vocals with the distorted ones from the first track, and this would have been one of the strongest submissions of the round. As it is, this might be the perfect song to send if I ever find myself in a TAC roulette and desire to get kicked out. :-) Apparently the musician behind Blanck Mass has joined Editors recently, which is a group I liked the early releases of, but felt lost a few steps on later recordings. Maybe his presence rejuvenates their newer material, I may have to check out the album from last year in the near future.
Score: 7.75/10
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Vmadera00 - Sufi's Life - "Balkan Spirit"
Early Impression - "A lot of people would probably relegate this to a novelty tourist shop, but you may have found the right person to send it to."
I was worried this wouldn't be quite enough music to score well, but it looks to have done respectably enough. My early impression comes from a store I visited one vacation awhile back that was playing music loosely similar to this over the speakers, and they had a variety of Indian, Middle Eastern and other chillout compilations for sale which I purchased. I should really track those down again and give them another listen, it's been quite some time. Short of that, maybe some Thievery Corporation. Some music like this has the potential to sound rather generic, like a hastily-executed pastiche, but this track just hits all the right notes for me. I have to imagine this was constructed mostly out of samples rather than contracting specific performers for this particular recording - tracking down information about it online was difficult, but the song still works well.
I was definitely not expecting the didgeridoo opening (I own one but haven't been successful at really learning how to play it), and the tabla accents work well ping-ponging back and forth with the main groove. The vocal sample seems to be taken from a Bulgarian folk tune, though I couldn't determine the specific performance it was lifted from. It's a bit reminiscent of some of Ivo Papasov's music. I really like the synth line at 6:24, slowly opening up the filter into the psychedelic acid realm. I used to listen to a lot of psytrance and psybient with those types of sounds and am realizing I kind of miss them. The main missed opportunity is the lead patch at 2:37 and a few other spots, which sounds just a bit too stock. Replacing or doubling it with a unique wind instrument would have improved it.
Score: 8/10
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Evermind - Markéta Irglová - "Go Back", "Without a Map", "My Roots Go Deep"
Early Impression - "I don't know if these tunes are catchy enough, and the instrumentation is a bit plain, but at least the vocals are solid."
I found this entry surprisingly difficult to write about at first, and had fewer notes regarding it in my first listening sessions for it than any other submission. It's beautiful piano-driven music with great vocals, almost like something recorded in the 70s, seemingly lost to time, and only recently uncovered. I had seen her name periodically around the forum, including in skimming a couple roulettes, and hoped someone might send something of her's in a round, because I didn't seem to get around to checking any of it out on my own, even with a new releases last year (maybe I subconsciously held back, knowing she seems to be a bit of a roulette darling).
"Go Back" is definitely my favorite of the tunes. Interestingly, in terms of production, instrumentation, and overall mood, it reminds me a lot of a slower version of "It Comes And It Goes", my favorite track on Dido's Safe Trip Home, arguably her most underrated album. Yet sites characterize Anar as indie folk, and STH as mainstream pop. I suppose it has to be more pedigree than sound, which may show the fickle nature of music journalism and categorization. Anyway, on "Go Back" I love the horn arrangements, the piano accompaniment, and how it builds and becomes a bit more propulsive at 1:38. The background vocals are surprisingly well-written and dynamic, eschewing traditional harmonies to accent certain phrases, and forming more of their own bubbling undercurrent, which gives them a bit more personality.
"Without a Map" has the most resplendent opening of the three songs, and continues the approach of having more varied and interactive backing vocals later on, a bit more choral. Around 4:06 there are three layers of them, with Marketa's own more conventional single harmony, but it shifts notes in the harmony independently of the melody, like The Far Meadow's in round one, which is often a good sign of extra thought being put into the crafting of it.
Curiously enough, "My Roots Go Deep" is my least favorite of the three, but has the most to talk about instrumentally. 1:39 has a lively string flourish that almost sounds like something from a film score before something magical is about to happen.
The drumming is surprisingly dynamic and ornamental for this type of song. At 2:20 the hat comes in extremely lightly, and then becomes a bit more forward at 3:00, and with some occasional subtle barks. 3:51 has an incredibly simple "fill" of eight eighth notes on the open hat, which for the life of me I can't think of another song that does that. 4:59 even has a surprisingly flashy ride bell fill. 2:11 has a striking percussion bit, which returns at least one other time later on.
The strings in "My Roots" are fairly dynamic as well, starting out with mostly held notes earlier on, become a bit more active at 3:21, and by 4:42 are sawing away to give the song more motion. Around 4:15 the song starts to add a bit of mandolin in, but it's so subtle and low in the mix, I wish it would have been a tad more present. And then vocally, it's the only track of the three that her vocals are double-tracked on, and has a somewhat less prominent approach to backing vocals. Ultimately the frail radiant elegance of her voice propels this to being one of the stronger submissions of the round.
Score: 8.25/10
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senecadawg2 - Loreena McKennitt - "The Mystic's Dream", "The Bonny Swans"
Early Impression - "Am I playing Myst and Riven again? I've clearly been overlooking this artist for way too long."
So Loreena is definitely one of the more familiar names to me in this round. I've been aware of her for a long time, and enjoyed a song or two here and there, but for some reason have just never really gotten around to checking out any albums. Well, that turns out to have been a big mistake. Over time I've noticed that there is a fair amount of music I've liked that is heavily informed by Celtic folk music, so I'm thrilled to be able to explore another artist who incorporates that feel. My father was a fan of Celtic music, so he would play it sometimes, but somehow he didn't discover her, though he was far less explorative than I am and relied on a much smaller pool of artists. Of course I've read that some of Loreena's music has Middle Eastern flavors as well, which are also welcome.
She is clearly a master of weaving a rich tapestry of textures throughout these songs. In "The Mystic's Dream" all of the percussion layers interlock well, sometimes with 4-5 separate parts synchronizing seamlessly, including tabla, possibly my favorite percussion instrument. "Mystic's" is effectively a semi-modal piece, with the keyboards outlining some chord changes, but the oud sustains a pedal-tone riff which gives it a hypnotic quality. Loreena's voice is a quite enchanting soprano, and plays well off of the male choir. The Uilleann pipes are also such a distinctive spice to add to the stew of sounds.
"The Bonny Swans" is definitely the superior song of the two. I like the dynamic between the electric and the violin at 0:26, which continues throughout, but is a bit stronger at 6:03, with the call and response motif, going down and back up octaves with each successive iteration of it. 5:34 is easily the highlight of the entry, with the back-to-back violin and electric solos. I also like the violin tremolo at 6:48. Really, the only thing I don't like is that the balalaika starts soloing at 6:58, but by that point the song has nearly faded out, so you don't really get to hear any of it. That has long been a pet peeve of mine when other songs do that. But it's hardly enough to undermine the sublime excellence of everything else going on. Interestingly enough, I actually have a small balalaika that my grandparents had purchased when they visited Russia, so that was an amusing coincidence. Good thing my '22 lists are more or less finished, I'm going to have a bunch of albums to check out right after this round ends and before new submissions start pouring in.
Score: 8.5/10
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SoundscapeMN - Pepe Deluxé - "A Night and a Day", "Temple of Unfed Fire", "Riders On the First Ark"
Early Impression - "Wow, I'm gonna need 100 listens to unpack all the layers in this."
So what is it with these Nordic (in this case Finnish) groups? Even the non-metal ones are often fascinating, regardless of genre. Although, I was surprised to find that Kai Hahto of Wintersun, Nightwish and others is drumming on this album. That's quite some range there. The variety Pepe Deluxé has of some quirkier styles reminds me of a non-hip-hop version of another Helsinki artist, the Don Johnson Big Band, who curiously enough, they've done some remixes for. I'm definitely going to be checking out more from this group.
These tunes are truly a masterclass in orchestration. "A Night and a Day" in particular was a burst of sonic color, and it really hit the facet of me that likes hearing something I hadn't noticed before in previous listens. I've read that they're very meticulous about obtaining access to more unusual instrumentation, and the effort really shows. I'm sure if you opened the original tracks for this in a digital audio workstation (though perhaps it was recorded in analog, I don't recall from my research) it would have hundreds of tracks. However much the engineering and mixing team was paid to work on this, I doubt it was enough. And like one of the next bands, it's astounding how cohesive these songs are given the wild variegation in instrumentation.
I don't listen to a lot of 60s pop/rock, but this really extracts a lot of the best of that era in a refreshing form. It's actually rather like an expanded version of the first Fitz & The Tantrums album, which I believe we both enjoy. It feels less like it now, but at first "A Night" felt a bit like a more whimsical tune from Garbage through a retro filter. I thought all of the various sound effects going on in it were just a part of the song initially, so finding out later that they go along with a music video for it and synchronize perfectly is further evidence of the immense amount of planning the creation of this project must have taken. I'm surprised how well some of the monophonic traits they've adopted from the 60s era work, like panning the drums hard to the right. That tends to rankle me in some recordings from that period, but here there is so much going on that it's not so distracting. Really, it's almost the opposite, I especially like the ride and then hat work starting around 1:24 in "Riders On the First Ark", or the cymbal flourish at 0:50 in "A Night".
I hardly know where to begin when it comes to more specifics, there is something enthralling happening almost every given second of each song. I think of myself as more of a Hammond organ fan, but there's quite an array of timbres from other types of organs here, possibly Farsifa and Vox Continental organs, pipe organ, and on another track a Stalacpipe organ, apparently recorded just a few hours from me in Luray. "A Night" is easily the most spellbinding tune, because it could very easily be a metal song, just without any typical metal instrumentation, which is so amply demonstrated by that chromatic riff being doubled at 1:25 by tuned percussion, possibly a glockenspiel or similar.
The arrangement of "A Night" is fascinating, where in the first verse there are staccato chordal strikes from the guitar on the left, but then in the second verse, now they are reverb tank slaps at first. The tremolo guitar solo at 3:46 in "Riders" is normally a timbre I don't like, but here it just fits into the aesthetics they're going for. Even more so the buzzy shredded speaker effect on the solo at 1:24 in "Temple of Unfed Fire". I don't even know what you would call some of the most interesting sounds, like the scraping percussive noise at 1:06 in "A Night". The crazy synthesizer arpeggio at the ending of "A Night" almost sounds out of place, being a bit more common for 70s artists, but the arrangement is so entrancing that it can get away with it. The ascending scalar bit of "Riders" at 1:59 is pretty unusual and riveting, particularly with how they dance across the stereo spectrum, and with the bass sometimes doubling and other times performing a counterpoint line to them.
Somehow I haven't even mentioned the vocals yet. Really, with so many different flavors going on at once, they're just another instrument in the buffet, but they work quite well, particularly on "Riders" with the dual contrasting ones. 2:42 in "Riders" has especially interesting layering going on, with them sometimes harmonizing, and sometimes doubling each other. 2:32 in "A Night" also has an intriguing semi-synthetic a cappella one as well.
What's almost as fascinating is that there are some live performances of these songs on Youtube, and I'm astonished at how well it translates even without all of the extra bells and whistles. I still prefer them of course with all of the engineering ear candy, but it can be a sign that you have a really good song at the core when it works in a simplified form as well. I would not have expected in a round with prog metal and avant-garde black metal that some throwback pop songs would have arguably the most complicated and dense arrangements, but here we are. I could probably keep going in noting other scintillating moments of these songs, but as it is my thoughts on it are already kind of a rambling train of thought and stream of consciousness, in contrast to the fastidious nature of the songs themselves. Hopefully they're not too difficult to parse.
Score: 8.75/10
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TAC - Ereb Altor - "Eldens Boning", "With Fire In My Heart"
Early Impression - "I might have made a serious error in ignoring this genre."
So as the impression indicates, I haven't really paid much attention to viking metal. I heard some old Bathory albums many years ago and thought they were interesting, but scarcely gave any thought to more recent bands in the style. I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with black metal and its derivative genres, and with its fanbase. There is some controversy over whether viking metal is even a real genre, sometimes being just a more epic and folkier version of black metal. And bands like Amon Amarth complain about being labeled viking metal, as while they have the thematic connection, their style is different in approach.
But here we have a splendidly synthesized mixture of black metal elements that at times is reminiscent of some old melodeath as well. And that is where it really differentiates itself from Moonsorrow from earlier in the round, who definitely have some broad similarities, and arguably a leg up on Ereb Altor in a few facets (acoustic guitars, auxiliary instrumentation (notably the accordion) in particular, and the drumming is similar). But it really makes up for it in other areas. The clean vocals are an integral part of that. "Eldens Boning" started off sounding more like Ex Deo, but then added in the viking choir, and eventually some powerful cleans later on - it really does almost have the feel of some ancient warriors about to head off to battle. Not quite ICS Vortex level, but more than good enough. The ending starting at 4:23 in "Eldens" is especially majestic for gradually adding additional layers of vocal stacks.
The guitars are arguably an even more key part of what makes Ereb Altor stand out. The tone, especially on "With Fire In My Heart..." is so much more full and warm, and sounds especially fantastic on the harmony sections. Back to the viking choir again on "Eldens Boning", at 1:12 when the guitar solo begins, it really gives a grander sense of scale, with the contrast between the sustained choral notes and the fierier soloing. Even the riffing is fairly dynamic. For example, the riff in "Eldens" at 0:36 starts out palm-muted, but then at 0:42 opens up, transitioning well to the next riff. They manage to get quite a bit of mileage out of the primary harmony guitar riff, by first having it overdriven, then bringing it back for the clean guitars in the middle, having a different slower and more static harmony riff, and then bringing back the original harmony riff by the end, which at this point sounds fresh again and is probably not even noticeable as being refused on the first few listens for most people.
Higher-pitched toms are always a treat to hear, and they're utilized a bit here, though I wouldn't have minded more of them. They also have the same reverse panning of the mix in terms of pitch, like Moonsorrow did. I'm starting to wonder if this is a common trick in this style. [Yes, I checked to make sure I'm wearing my headphones correctly and tested my audio settings with a couple calibration videos. :-)] The variegated ride work in the section at 2:24 in "Eldens" is enjoyable to listen to, and again, the ride cymbal is in the left ear, the reverse, which definitely helps this stand out. Even the types of rhythms are fairly varied. I like how 3:11 in "Eldens" brings in a fairly standard thrash sort of beat, and then at 3:23 increases the intensity by adding double bass underneath of it. "With Fire" has a nice bass intro, which is always welcome. It doesn't otherwise stand out too much in the rest of the song, but is always audible, and has a few independent lines here and there.
Not so music-related, but it was serendipitous to see that Kristian Wahlin did the cover art for Jartecken, given his pedigree.
Score: 8.75/10
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soupytwist - Katzenjammer - "Demon Kitty Rag", "A Bar in Amsterdam", "Hey Ho On the Devil's Back", "To the Sea"
Early Impression - "I didn't realize I was in the mood to have this much fun. We're gonna party like it's 1899!"
Well boy does this group winning the first round have the potential to misrepresent what I normally like. Quite a lot of my favorite music I would say verges towards the more serious and often somber side, and is often even kind of dark and depressing. But you just never know what's going to hit. Sometimes something different and refreshing is exactly what you need. I can't say other similar artists might also have this kind of success, but if anyone has something equally awesome, by all means go for it. At first I wondered if my liking of them was just riding the wave of some of the Caro Emerald material I had been listening to, which a decent chunk of is much livelier and bouncier than the song that won last round. But the feeling these tunes gave me just kept going and going. In my second and third rounds of listening I kept looking forward to revisiting this set of songs the most. Even by the end of my third blind listen, I'm pretty sure I was still smiling all the way through each song.
So this group really takes me back to the late 00s/early 10s when there was this giant wave of music that brought back a lot of dormant sounds, styles, and instrumentation, probably most known for acts like Mumford & Sons. I even briefly played mandolin in a local band not too off from the revivalist sound of that era. But Katzenjammer seems to predate that fad, has a much wider palette of sounds, with more jazz trappings (possibly part of why you sent them), and is just plain way cooler. There really is something about these Nordic bands. Katzenjammer is almost like a peppier Tom Waits. It's really remarkable how distinct and memorable each song is despite a broad similarity in approach and similar tempos among them. I have no idea what kind of staying power they'll have, I can definitely conceptualize them wearing out at some point, or of me needing to be in the right mood to put them on. But many plays later into the round and I'm still totally relishing this vibe, and the magic hasn't worn off yet.
The joy of these songs is something that I feel like a lot of folk metal bands try to capture, but for me those bands often fall flat. Maybe the metal was the problem? lol. Normally I like trying to identify each unique instrument, but between them and Pepe Deluxé, the panoply of sounds is just too bewildering to keep up with, but fortunately not in a negatively overwhelming way.
I initially thought all of the songs might have the same lead vocalist, but there was at least one song where it seemed like it might be someone different, but apparently they all take turns on one song or another. All four songs are great, but "Demon Kitty Rag" definitely has the most "wow" factor, between that slippery violin ditty, the piano glissandos punctuating certain moments, and the extremely dynamic vocals, which were all over the place in a very thrilling way, it's rare to find so much exploration of different timbres and deft rhythmic play while still remaining infectious and melodic. I could see how others might view them as too over the top, but they just really worked for me this round. This whole batch of songs really should be a mess and shouldn't work, but it's amazing how coherent all of it is. I had trouble figuring out whether to listen to the vocals or to the instrumentation, both were so entertaining and euphoric.
"To the Sea" has a lot of rather delightful violin work as well with all of the slides and trills. And then "A Bar in Amsterdam" really gives the trumpet a workout, as well as the accordion. It makes me want to bust mine out again. Really, each song has at least one little signature riff, the grace note piano blues lick at 1:23 in "Hey Ho On the Devil's Back" being another favorite, with it and the "Demon Kitty" riff also being doubled with a second instrument The ascending tremolo octaves at 2:26 in "Hey Ho" are also wondrous. They additionally get a lot of usage out of percussion breaks like at 2:43 in "Hey Ho", and the section starting at 1:13" in "A Bar" has another.
Apparently Katzenjammer were even more rapturous live than on record, and from watching a few videos, I can see that. The gargantuan balalaika bass is definitely a standout. Most of the bass playing is of the alternating root and fifth approach, but there are some occasional walking lines and tasty fills here and there as well. This album will definitely be the first thing I listen to after I post these results.
Score: 9/10
For a bit of extra fun, here were the top seven songs of the round (one per artist):
1: Katzenjammer - "Demon Kitty Rag"
2: Pepe Deluxé - "A Night and a Day"
3: Ereb Altor - "With Fire In My Heart"
4: Blanck Mass - "Death Drop"
5: Markéta Irglová - "Go Back"
6: Loreena McKennitt - "The Bonny Swans"
7: Kingcrow - "Night's Descending"
Current Standings:
SoundscapeMN ------------------ 25.5
TAC -------------------------------- 25.25
HOF --------------------------------- 24.5
Nachtmerrie ------------------------- 24
Evermind ----------------------------- 23.5
Lethean -------------------------------- 23.5
senecadawg2 --------------------------- 23.5
Stadler ----------------------------------- 23
Vmadera00 ------------------------------- 23
ariich ------------------------------------ 22.75
Tomislav95 ---------------------------- 22.5
soupytwist --------------------------- 22.25
Sacul ------------------------------- 22
Buddyhunter1 -------------------- 21.75
Puppies_On_Acid --------------- 21.75
twosuitluke -------------------- 21.25
Elite -------------------------- 20.75
Crow ------------------------ 19.75
Had to drop out:
romdrums - 14.25
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I'll put up the links to the mystery songs for round four tomorrow.
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"House Vs. House" has heavily pitch-shifted vocals. It's just fairly rare for me to appreciate those.
*crosses Death's Dynamic Shroud off my list* :P
Hmm, both of the Blanck Mass albums I've heard use pitch-shifted and chopped up vocals pretty frequently, so if they bother you that much that might make it difficult for you to get into them.
THAT SAID, if you loved Death Drop you owe it to yourself to listen to Rhesus Negative, which is the previous album's equivalent to that song and even better imo. Only reason I didn't send it was because it's nine minutes and I couldn't fit it into the time limit while also sending something else.
Also, poor Puppies, never getting a good score from Moonsorrow. :lol I admire the commitment though!
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Holy shit, I didn't expect that! :lol
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I didn't either. :lol
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Also, poor Puppies, never getting a good score from Moonsorrow. :lol I admire the commitment though!
It's funny because if you look at their RYM page, they are a fairly universally loved band.....Just not by most people here. :lol
At any rate, I will enjoy them by myself if I have to. :)
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At any rate, I will enjoy them by myself if I have to. :)
Says Lethean after every round that he sends Katatonia.
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Also, poor Puppies, never getting a good score from Moonsorrow. :lol I admire the commitment though!
It's funny because if you look at their RYM page, they are a fairly universally loved band.....Just not by most people here. :lol
Maybe switch it up with a song from Jumalten Aika instead next time. ;)
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Bah, feels like I maybe just didn’t send you the right Clientele songs, though if you really don’t like the vocals that’s always gonna be an issue with this band I guess. I find his voice pleasant enough and it’s just part of the overall dreamy atmosphere of the band. But if it’s not your thing it’s not your thing! I’m a big fan of the instrumentation they use, and they have been one of the bigger revelations for me over the last 3-4 years or so. I’ll say that The Age of Miracles is probably my favorite song of theirs, and if you like that you ought to at least check out the album and see if the rest of it clicks, as that’s the general sound.
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Well, at least I'm glad Marketa did fine :lol
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Marketa Irglova's music is subime and dreamy at times. I actually prefer it in some ways to The Swell Season/Once stuff (although I still enjoy that stuff as well).
So, great to see you really got into Pepe and those Queen of the Wave tunes. I wasn't sure, but given your appreciation for layers and complex production, I figured you may get into it, despite the aesthetic and era it seems to draw from.
That Stalac Pipe organ, I guess they had to go to great lengths and waiting time to access to use. 6 years.
That's sort of become Pepe's M O per their latest record from 2021 "The Phantom Cabinet Vol.1 ," they had to wait many years to access certain rare, vintage instruments as well.
You probably will want to give the rest of Queen of the Wave a go given the detail you went into with those 3 tunes. I'd be curious to hear your take on it. It is a massive favorite of mine, so I have my bias, but I've become rather surprised how little interest there seems to be among the people around here and just the progressive rock communities with them.
I kind of concluded in 2021, they are sort of a band who you either totally love or totally don't get. All the stuff they cram into their music, the layers and the organic sounding instrumentation can be a bit too much for some Prog heads who aren't used to it? Or maybe it's the vocal style? unsure. Their vocals are actually really good, just they sound like they come from other genres in some ways, lol. I dunno, time only really does tell. Queen of the Wave was the #1 album in 2012 on rateyourmusic's chart for a period of time, and a decade later it has fallen off (downrated by many?) to #411. Is that due to time not being kind to it? or was that high just initially due to hype? I can't really figure it out, other than if more people eventually discover it, it shouldn't really matter I suppose.
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Dude, I'm always astounded by your ability to articulate all your thoughts, as well as really break down a song. Regardless of my score I always look forward to your thoughts, as mine (for my submission) are 'pukey Cyborg go brrrr'.
Can't say I'm surprised by my score, but also a little disappointed. I don't regret it, as it's all part of my plan to bring the Gizzverse to DTF.
As to the song, Han-tyumi and the Murder of the Universe is quintessentially Gizz, whilst also being given unlike anything else they've ever released. That's part of the beauty of their sound. They release such a variety of music but it always sounds like THEM. As for the lo-fi, garage rock production, yes that is pretty much their MO, but honestly I don't really notice it, and am well aware I don't audibly pick up on things that others do.
You need to go check out the whole Murder of the Universe album now, then check out my specially curated playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1FMmAVVl3bc58AVsrFksFj?si=x_L6Y8KkRzyu01CW6gb1bw&utm_source=copy-link (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1FMmAVVl3bc58AVsrFksFj?si=x_L6Y8KkRzyu01CW6gb1bw&utm_source=copy-link) , then become a fully fledged member of the Weirdo Swarm.
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Well, at least I'm glad Marketa did fine :lol
Yeah, after that first impression I expected a 7 :lol I think I might just send her in Luke's as well while we're at it.
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hey, i'll take it :lol
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I seem destined for mid-table in this roulette. :lol But then we're only 3 rounds in, so plenty of time to balls it up and drop to the bottom like I did in Luke's roulette. :P
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I'm glad you enjoyed! I more or less knew that Bonny Swans was going to be your favorite of the two, and in hindsight maybe I should've sent something a bit more energetic in place of the Mystic's Dream, but I can't complain about that score.
Also, I second Luke's comments about the write-ups. Very well done.
Looking forward to the mystery songs.
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Queen of the Wave was the #1 album in 2012 on rateyourmusic's chart for a period of time, and a decade later it has fallen off (downrated by many?) to #411. Is that due to time not being kind to it? or was that high just initially due to hype? I can't really figure it out, other than if more people eventually discover it, it shouldn't really matter I suppose.
I listened to the rest of the album and enjoyed it. Not nearly to the level of those three tunes (which is unfair comparing single listens to the dozen+ I have to the ones for the round). It'll probably take more plays to get a better sense of them, not sure how soon I'll have time to get to them. I suspect the RYM ranking plummeting is a combination of overhype (I read that there was one person in particular spamming them all over at the time) and tastes shifting, the flavors RYM likes collectively have definitely evolved a lot in the past decade.
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I'll take it, I agree that some of the samples feel a bit genetic, and at times repetitive. But for me, I just like all the little elements they add throughout, specially the synth part you mentioned.
Ready for the mystery :corn songs
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Ready for the mystery :corn songs
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Here are the mystery songs for round 4. Should be more up your alley for a number of you, less so others. You should know the drill now, just like the first two rounds. Send one song similar to one or both songs to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com, Youtube links are easiest.
Eventide - "Achenar" - from the Elemental Nightmares - III split, 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gregTW3pq0I
Demiurg - "Life is a Coma" - from Slakthus Gamleby, 2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohkB21mGM5c
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This round for me is going to be like the jazz round was for TAC.
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Well, guess I'll send something heavy as fuck, but it'll prob not be melodeath :lol
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Sent
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Sent something heavy and pagan.
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Sent.
Leprous' previous drummer Tobias was great. I think Baard is even better, but I'm glad you found the drumming on these older tracks interesting.
Einar grew on me a lot over time. Initially I was more a fan of their songs overall; thought he was fine but didn't really have strong feelings. The more I listened, the more I realized he was actually quite good, no, he was great, etc. Hopefully you'll keep listening. :)
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Eventide - "Achenar" - from the Elemental Nightmares - III split, 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gregTW3pq0I
:metal :metal :metal
I like this!
Got a few songs brainstormed. Will narrow it down on Sunday.
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Sent!
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Pretty sure you've already heard every band that's ever played in that 90s/00s Swedish melodeth style. :P
But I'll try and find something that captures a similar vibe.
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Litho, thinking about sending a song in French...would you mind?
Another question regarding the Round 14 45 minute EP...
Any guidelines on this?
You gonna send us a Mystery EP? :lol
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That's fine.
Another question regarding the Round 14 45 minute EP...
Any guidelines on this?
You gonna send us a Mystery EP? :lol
Don't tempt me. :P I think this came up a couple rounds ago, and I still haven't really settled on the details, but my feeling right now is just that no more than a third of the runtime should be from any one particular artist. A Youtube or Spotify playlist would be fine, or from what I understand some people like creating custom files with more seamless transitions and such, which is also ok. Personally I don't know if it's worth thinking too hard about it until at least after round 8 when I've sent all the mystery songs. I don't know if you're wondering anything else in particular.
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What is fine? I asked two questions. ;D
Is French a turn off for you or does it really not matter?
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I'll copy and paste this one from earlier.
By the way, I don't think you addressed this in the OP but are you accepting songs in other languages?
Yeah, those are fine for me. Sometimes I even prefer them. A good chance I suppose to point out again that lyrics are low on my list of priorities in evaluating music. They can enhance or detract, certainly, but I'm more concerned about vocal quality and delivery, instrumentation, production and such.
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Pretty sure you've already heard every band that's ever played in that 90s/00s Swedish melodeth style. :P
I definitely haven't because I run across new ones all the time! It's certainly a rut I'm sure I've run through far more than most here though, no doubt. If someone wants to send those songs to Kade and have him be their designated hitter this round I'm not sure I'll complain. :lol
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I'll copy and paste this one from earlier.
By the way, I don't think you addressed this in the OP but are you accepting songs in other languages?
Yeah, those are fine for me. Sometimes I even prefer them. A good chance I suppose to point out again that lyrics are low on my list of priorities in evaluating music. They can enhance or detract, certainly, but I'm more concerned about vocal quality and delivery, instrumentation, production and such.
OK, thank you. You're open to it so that's good. I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't be a total turnoff from the start.
Personally I don't know if it's worth thinking too hard about it until at least after round 8 when I've sent all the mystery songs. I don't know if you're wondering anything else in particular.
So, in particular, I guess I was wondering if you were looking for something themed, or just a 45 minute random playlist. Probably going to have to dig deep for it, so I wanted to at least start brainstorming things for it.
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So, in particular, I guess I was wondering if you were looking for something themed, or just a 45 minute random playlist. Probably going to have to dig deep for it, so I wanted to at least start brainstorming things for it.
I'm pretty flexible on it. If you can come up with a cool theme (especially something that lines up with my interests, I tend to drop breadcrumbs here and there), that's great, or if it's just a bunch of random awesome songs that sort of work together, that's fantastic as well. It's mostly just a chance for people to send more than one artist in a round to have a greater chance for me to find something I'll like, and for people to have an opportunity to be extra creative if they want.
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I would also say just check my RYM and make sure that none of the songs on it are on an album I've rated 4.5 or 5.0, which is basically standard submission protocol anyway.
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I would also say just check my RYM and make sure that none of the songs on it are on an album I've rated 4.5 or 5.0, which is basically standard submission protocol anyway.
Yeah, I've been checking all of my selections so far against the RYM. In coming up with tracks for THIS round, I keep coming across songs that don't exactly fit, but that I might want to save for later, so that's why I started thinking about the EP.
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I've got a lot of ideas for this one, gotta think before I pick a track. I'll send something in 24 hours.
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I would also say just check my RYM and make sure that none of the songs on it are on an album I've rated 4.5 or 5.0, which is basically standard submission protocol anyway.
Yeah, I've been checking all of my selections so far against the RYM. In coming up with tracks for THIS round, I keep coming across songs that don't exactly fit, but that I might want to save for later, so that's why I started thinking about the EP.
Yeah, I mean honestly that's why I have 2 EPs already tentatively built for 425 if he ever comes back and I don't send total trash and get knocked out before the EP rounds, because I have way more music I think he might like than would have fit in the rounds so far.
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Sent something heavy and pagan.
Same. :biggrin:
After listening to both songs the song I was reminded of the most was actually Antaresian by Mare Cognitum, but you've got that album rated on your RYM so I couldn't send it. :P I like the song I sent better anyways, though.
I also tried looking up more stuff for that Elemental Nightmares project (cuz I did enjoy that song) and it seems like you're the only person on the internet who knows about it. :lol
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Ah yeah, if you'd sent "Antaresian" I'd have had to have you resubmit, it's my favorite song on that album, and I know it way too well. I might need to bump that one to 4.5, I've listened to it a decent amount since first rating it. I do generally prefer music I haven't rated, but technically anything rated 4.0 or less is fair game if you feel strongly enough about sending it, just potentially risky because I might already know it too well.
There are some other songs from that split floating around online, but I must admit I know very little about it myself, I just stumbled upon it because I've been following Eventide for a long time and periodically check to see if they've done anything new (dormant almost a decade now though). Some of their other songs have some pretty good clean vocals, violin, and synthesizers as well, but none of them have as much of everything else as the song for the round does.
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I think that song's fantastic but the rest of that album was very unmemorable for me. I haven't listened to any other solo Mare Cognitum album, but I did enjoy the Wanderers: Astrology Of The Nine album he did with Spectral Lore, and I thought the Mare Cognitum songs on it were usually the best ones.
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If you have an album Wishlisted on rym but not Rated, and the artist is not on the Banned List, I assume they are good to go?
This round is a little tricky per I'm running into music or potential artists who I know or who I think of the entire albums vs specific standout songs.
That being said, there are some good potential choices, I just have to do some comparisons.
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If you have an album Wishlisted on rym but not Rated, and the artist is not on the Banned List, I assume they are good to go?
Most likely, yes.
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Yay! Even if I suck like I did in the first two rounds at least I've given you one act to enjoy! And yes Katzenjammer were (unfortunately they disbanded a few years ago) an amazing live act, lucky enough to see them 3 times.
I'll listen to the new songs tomorrow and get something sent afterwards.
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someone suggested Katzenjammer to me a few years ago and I remember checking out 1 of their albums and liking moments of it, but never went back to it.
edit: it was their debut album "Le Pop" which I'll have to go back to again.
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Sent en francais!
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Sent en francais!
Foux du Fafa
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You want to order four falafels?
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OK, so you basically want extreme metal. I've got 7 bands lined up as potentials.
My initial thought, after hearing the first song, was to send The Haunted. They would've been perfect if you hadn't already heard them.
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Will send shortly, I think I have something descent in mind.
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Stadler - Marillion - "Warm Wet Circles", "That Time of the Night (The Short Straw)"
Early Impression - "This is an artist I've wanted to get more into, and there are certainly elements that seem promising, but I'm not sure these are the right songs."
Well, I kind of hoped someone would send them in a round, but I didn't expect two people to try and do so within hours of each other. And with both of you trying to send "That Time of the Night (The Short Straw)", you'd think the universe was saying something to me. I've heard a few of their albums here and there, and some random songs, but they've just never fully clicked. So I'm frustrated why I'm not liking them more than I do. I don't know if this would have moved the needle, but there was 4:37 of runtime left for the submission, which would have been enough for another song. This is definitely a band I'm going to want to continue checking out more from though, because they've been a huge influence on some other bands I like, and are obviously a favorite here on this forum for many others.
Individually, there are a lot of attractive elements. The clean chorused guitar early in "Warm Wet Circles" sounds great. There is some nice harmony interaction between it and the keyboards in the second verse. The drumming is reasonably varied, with some flavorous tom fills and such. The cymbal work in the second verse of "Warm Wet" is neat with the triplet hat accents into the downbeats, like at 1:34. The bass is playing a lot of tasty and active lines as well.
I like the guitar solo in "Warm Wet" at 2:55, with some piquant note choices. The solo at 0:58 in "That Time" is also savory, soaked in delay and reverb - I'm hearing a touch of Lifeson here and there. It's surprising how huge the chimey cleans at 3:52 in "That Time" sound, they even overpower the overdriven rhythm guitar and synths there. 5:21 was a very intriguing section with the backing vocals, and some of the chord voicings - kind of Eric Johnson-ish. Maybe it's vice versa, I don't know if they had that kind of tone earlier than this album.
Fish is obviously a legendary vocalist, but I'm still unsure of how I feel about his delivery. It has some similarities with Phil Collins' and Peter Gabriel's voices, but I don't like it quite as much in the softer range of it. It immediately improves when he becomes more aggressive and adds some grit to it. But for some reason the melodies in "That Time" just aren't sticking with me, though obviously it must work for other people if two of you tried to send it. "Warm Wet" feels a little light and fluffy in the first few minutes, but the second half of it, starting around 2:25, was my favorite two minutes of the whole entry. I'm unsure of how much is due to the key. But overall, it's just not long enough to boost the overall score higher.
Score: 7/10
If there's even a LITTLE BIT that attracts you to Marillion in either of those two songs, you at least ought to take an hour and a half and listen to the entire album as well as Misplaced Childhood. Both are solid, both are song suites (concept albums) and both are much more than the sum of their parts.
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Sent!
I did not send them, but how come Ensiferum isn't banned?
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My initial thought, after hearing the first song, was to send The Haunted. They would've been perfect if you hadn't already heard them.
I actually just decided to wipe my ratings for their later albums. I remember hearing them and being really underwhelmed a long time ago, but I don't know how much was them not living up to At The Gates, and how much was the zeitgeist of my friend group at the time, who didn't like them at all. I'd been meaning to revisit their albums in the last few years, and only got to the debut, which was better than I remembered, though still not really amazing. So I guess they're technically up for grabs if you find a killer song, but they might be risky.
If there's even a LITTLE BIT that attracts you to Marillion in either of those two songs, you at least ought to take an hour and a half and listen to the entire album as well as Misplaced Childhood. Both are solid, both are song suites (concept albums) and both are much more than the sum of their parts.
Yeah, I have heard other music from them I liked, though I haven't really revisited it much, and even in those songs from the round there were parts I liked, so I'm certainly not giving up on them.
I did not send them, but how come Ensiferum isn't banned?
I'm pretty sure I listened to them a long time ago, and I still have an album or two floating around on a hard drive, but I don't remember them standing out. Dunno if that means they'd be more along the lines of Bathory or Moonsorrow to me, or more like Ereb Altor.
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I must say that a 6.75 is a little on the low side, but I appreciate the write-up and for what it's worth, it took a while for me to get into them as well, although I was drawn in by their unusual sound. I agree that on multiple listens it makes more sense what they're doing and their blend of psychedelica, black metal, repetitive groves and drone music actually works really well in some cases. I still recommend you listen to the song I mentioned in my PM, which I didn't send because it was too long.
Will listen to the new tracks soon and probably send something different :)
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Well, let's just say based on the first listen they wouldn't have even made it to 6. If I'd stopped after 3-4 listens they'd have probably been in the low 6.x range. It's the dozen+ listens that got them to 6.75, and actually, I'm kind of drawn to hear them again more than many other songs in the round, so they might go even higher at some point, though of course it's too late now. That's the risk in sending really unusual stuff, sometimes it just takes awhile to sink in, but I do appreciate receiving them. I did actually listen to the other song you mentioned, but it's kind of the same deal, it's not hitting on the first listen. Sometimes I get in weird moods where I want to hear really bizarre music, and in those they might actually be way too conventional, but maybe we'll see.
And I kind of like having a handful of people send music nothing like the other entries, it definitely gives some variety and a break from many others who will inevitably be slogging it out in the 7.x range while I agonize over which similar music I like slightly more. Those are the least safe submissions, but sometimes they work.
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And I kind of like having a handful of people send music nothing like the other entries, it definitely gives some variety and a break from many others who will inevitably be slogging it out in the 7.x range while I agonize over which similar music I like slightly more. Those are the least safe submissions, but sometimes they work.
I'm sorry..but which are the least safe submissions?
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The ones that don't really have anything to do with the topic songs for the round.
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ok gotcha
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I know which artist I'm going to send, but haven't chosen a song yet - it'll need to be tomorrow now!
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I know which artist I'm going to send, but haven't chosen a song yet - it'll need to be tomorrow now!
(https://media.tenor.com/-HfTRwXMWT0AAAAM/kid-thinking.gif)
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Sent something that will get me a 3/10 :metal
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didn't realize round 4 songs had been posted oops
*checks them out*
ahh so this is the melodeath round, got it, sent!
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Sent my Round 4 song.
This was both hard to figure out what to send, but also nice in that there's a few other choices I could have easily chosen, so they may be available for later rounds.
I am a little surprised Litho wouldn't be a fan of the artist I sent, but, they're sort of cult-ish in following at best. I do worry though that he may have even heard them before given he does have some of their albums Wishlisted on rym, but perhaps even so, listening to a song by them now may get him to check them out again and in more in-depth.
Also the 10+ minute song length thing definitely impacted my choice per often times the longer tunes are what I prefer the most. And a lot of "Epic Metal" of course by nature, has longer compositions.
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Sent something that hopefully won't need me to resubmit, but I also wouldn't be surprised.
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Sent round 4!
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Sent round 4!
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ahh so this is the melodeath round, got it, sent!
Well, the first track, yes. Somewhat less so the second. The submissions so far are definitely slanted more towards the first song this round for some reason, they tended to be a bit more balanced in the first two rounds.
I am a little surprised Litho wouldn't be a fan of the artist I sent, but, they're sort of cult-ish in following at best. I do worry though that he may have even heard them before given he does have some of their albums Wishlisted on rym, but perhaps even so, listening to a song by them now may get him to check them out again and in more in-depth.
Also the 10+ minute song length thing definitely impacted my choice per often times the longer tunes are what I prefer the most. And a lot of "Epic Metal" of course by nature, has longer compositions.
I might try and convey this image at times, but I assure you I have not heard everything. :D Actually, as I said in the e-mail, I know the name and a tiny bit about them, but lots of stuff just passes me by, which is part of the fun of this roulette, honing in on both unfamiliar bands as well as ones I've just overlooked or given more cursory listens to.
By the 10+ minute comment do you mean my mention earlier in the thread that I generally don't go for the longer songs? It's probably a good time again to mention (now that almost all of you have sent!, oh well) that 5-10 minutes tends to be a sweet spot for a lot of my favorite songs (though it does vary somewhat by genre). That's often enough time to develop a number of ideas, but generally not long enough to risk boring me. Sometimes I have a mental block when I see that the track length takes four digits, and I put extra pressure on the song, "this better be worth it". But as my scores for the first three rounds have proven, both songs under 5 and over 10 have scored pretty well, so the right song can make it work. But if you're on the fence about a few songs in the future, it can be a good rule of thumb.
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Sent something that hopefully won't need me to resubmit, but I also wouldn't be surprised.
I'm guessing I don't need to resubmit then?
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ahh so this is the melodeath round, got it, sent!
Well, the first track, yes. Somewhat less so the second. The submissions so far are definitely slanted more towards the first song this round for some reason, they tended to be a bit more balanced in the first two rounds.
I am a little surprised Litho wouldn't be a fan of the artist I sent, but, they're sort of cult-ish in following at best. I do worry though that he may have even heard them before given he does have some of their albums Wishlisted on rym, but perhaps even so, listening to a song by them now may get him to check them out again and in more in-depth.
Also the 10+ minute song length thing definitely impacted my choice per often times the longer tunes are what I prefer the most. And a lot of "Epic Metal" of course by nature, has longer compositions.
I might try and convey this image at times, but I assure you I have not heard everything. :D Actually, as I said in the e-mail, I know the name and a tiny bit about them, but lots of stuff just passes me by, which is part of the fun of this roulette, honing in on both unfamiliar bands as well as ones I've just overlooked or given more cursory listens to.
By the 10+ minute comment do you mean my mention earlier in the thread that I generally don't go for the longer songs? It's probably a good time again to mention (now that almost all of you have sent!, oh well) that 5-10 minutes tends to be a sweet spot for a lot of my favorite songs (though it does vary somewhat by genre). That's often enough time to develop a number of ideas, but generally not long enough to risky boring me. Sometimes I have a mental block when I see that the track length takes four digits, and I put extra pressure on the song, "this better be worth it". But as my scores for the first three rounds have proven, both songs under 5 and over 10 have scored pretty well, so the right song can make it work. But if you're on the fence about a few songs in the future, it can be a good rule of thumb.
that's good to keep in mind. Per, I was debating between a few tunes, but the 1 I was leaning towards was over 10 minutes (not much though), so I may end up sending it in a later round.
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Sent something that hopefully won't need me to resubmit, but I also wouldn't be surprised.
I'm guessing I don't need to resubmit then?
You probably haven't checked your e-mail. Yeah, you're fine.
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Sent something that hopefully won't need me to resubmit, but I also wouldn't be surprised.
I'm guessing I don't need to resubmit then?
You probably haven't checked your e-mail. Yeah, you're fine.
Yea, was sat waiting for a PM.like dickhead :rollin
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A few people seem to prefer using the PM system here over e-mail, but I do try and have as much of it as I can over e-mail so I don't have to worry as much about managing my inbox. The 25 message limit is seriously crazy in 2023.
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sent by email
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A few people seem to prefer using the PM system here over e-mail, but I do try and have as much of it as I can over e-mail so I don't have to worry as much about managing my inbox. The 25 message limit is seriously crazy in 2023.
Sorry, I sent through PM. You want me to send by e-mail instead?
I have a 150 message inbox, maybe it’s because of the green stars.
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I have a 150 message inbox, maybe it’s because of the green stars.
Yeah, if people have donated they can be added to the alumni user group, which has a much bigger inbox. I think some other non-donating user groups might also have slightly bigger inboxes, but can't remember.
Also, what about outboxes for sent items? Mine is unlimited, but I don't know if that's because I'm a mod, or whether everyone has this, or again certain user groups do.
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Sorry, I sent through PM. You want me to send by e-mail instead?
Yeah, that's better in general.
I think some other non-donating user groups might also have slightly bigger inboxes, but can't remember.
Where's the "started browsing in '99 and posting in '02" veteran group? Oh right, I'm in the "abandoned DTF for over a decade" doghouse. :P
Also, what about outboxes for sent items? Mine is unlimited, but I don't know if that's because I'm a mod, or whether everyone has this, or again certain user groups do.
Haven't run into a limit there yet, so it's well over 25, and there's no status bar telling me what percentage of it I'm using, so I hope it's unlimited.
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Sorry, I sent through PM. You want me to send by e-mail instead?
Yeah, that's better in general.
I think some other non-donating user groups might also have slightly bigger inboxes, but can't remember.
Where's the "started browsing in '99 and posting in '02" veteran group? Oh right, I'm in the "abandoned DTF for over a decade" doghouse. :P
Also, what about outboxes for sent items? Mine is unlimited, but I don't know if that's because I'm a mod, or whether everyone has this, or again certain user groups do.
Haven't run into a limit there yet, so it's well over 25, and there's no status bar telling me what percentage of it I'm using, so I hope it's unlimited.
If it's unlimited, then the trick is to just quote-reply to the PMs you receive (even if all you say is "thanks"), then the quoted version is in your outbox and you can happily delete it from your inbox.
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Hmm, not a bad idea, actually.
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???: __ ____ – ________ __ ___ _________ ____
???: ________ – _________
???: ______ – ______
???: _________ – ___ __ _____ ___ ___ ___________
???: ___________ – ___ ___ _____
???: _____ ______ – ____ __ __________
???: _____ _____ – __ ___
???: _________ – ___ _____ ____
???: __ _______ – __________
???: _________ – _________ __ _____
???: _______ – ________
???: ______ – ________
???: ________ – ____ ___
???: ___ __ _______ – _____ ___ _____ __ ___ ______
???: _____ ______ – ____-____ _______
???: ___ _____ – ___________: ____ ___ _______
???: _______ – _______
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G I V E M E T H E D
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T
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F!
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Ok, I figured out one thing I was doing wrong last round. Not sure if that alone will fix the multi-song one, we'll see later on I guess.
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??? : __ ____ – F___t___ __ t__ _________ T_d_
??? : ___d____ – _________
??? : ______ – ______
??? : __d__t___ – ___ __ _____ ___ ___ f_________t
??? : __________d – ___ __d _____
??? : _____ ______ – __d_ _f D_________
??? : _____ _____ – __ ___
??? : __t_____d – ___ T____ ___d
??? : __ __d____ – ___t______
??? : _t__t____ – _____t___ _f ____t
??? : ____f__ – ____d___
??? : ______ – ________
??? : ________ – ____ D__
??? : ___ _f T____t_ – _____ t__ F____ _f t__ _____d
??? : ___d_ ______ – __t_-__f_ _______
??? : T__ _____ – ___________: __t_ t__ _______
??? : _______ – D______
Guessed Letters: D, T, F,
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Am I just not seeing my song, or is it not in the hangman?
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Damnit Luke, your errors are contagious! :rollin
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In Vain - Floating on the Murmuring Tide
Gotta be Elite
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??? : ___t___ & _________ – D__t__t __d___
??? : __ ____ – F___t___ __ t__ _________ T_d_
??? : ___d____ – _________
??? : ______ – ______
??? : __d__t___ – ___ __ _____ ___ ___ f_________t
??? : __________d – ___ __d _____
??? : _____ ______ – __d_ _f D_________
??? : _____ _____ – __ ___
??? : __t_____d – ___ T____ ___d
??? : __ __d____ – ___t______
??? : _t__t____ – _____t___ _f ____t
??? : ____f__ – ____d___
??? : ______ – ________
??? : ________ – ____ D__
??? : ___ _f T____t_ – _____ t__ F____ _f t__ _____d
??? : ___d_ ______ – __t_-__f_ _______
??? : T__ _____ – ___________: __t_ t__ _______
??? : _______ – D______
Guessed Letters: D, T, F,
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In Vain - Floating on the Murmuring Tide
Gotta be Elite
Yes.
No.
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Damnit Luke, your errors are contagious! :rollin
(https://cdn.quotesgram.com/img/66/19/370019038-22b5527563dd2c1247807e62281aef50.jpg)
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LexisNexis is a useful research site. SexisNexis must be useful for entirely different reasons.
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I've never heard of either.
I'll take an S!
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HOF sent McStine & Minnemann
Also B
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HOF: McStine & Minnemann – D_st__t B_d__s
??? : In Vain – Floating On the Murmuring Tide
??? : ___d____ – __ss_____
??? : ______ – __b__s
??? : _bd__t___ – ___ __ _____ __s __s f_____ss__t
??? : ______b___d – ___ __d _s___
??? : S____ S____s – __ds _f D_b_______
??? : B____ _____ – _s __s
??? : __t_____d – ___ T____ ___d
??? : S_ __d___s – __st______
??? : St__t____ – _____t___ _f ____t
??? : ____f__ – ____d___
??? : B_____ – ________
??? : ________ – ____ D__
??? : ___ _f T____ts – B____ t__ F___s _f t__ _____
??? : S__d_ ______ – __t_-__f_ S______
??? : T__ _____ – __s________: __t_ t__ _______
??? : _______ – D_s____
Guessed Letters: D, T, F, S, B,
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Abduction - Par ce coeur les lys fleurissent
Sent by TAC
So Hideous
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Yep.
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Oui
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You took notes on my song of the year last year didn't you? :P
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Seven Spires - Gods of Debauchery
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HOF: McStine & Minnemann – D_st__t B_d__s
??? : In Vain – Floating On the Murmuring Tide
??? : ___d____ – __ss_____
??? : ______ – __b__s
TAC: Abduction – Par ce coeur les lys fleurissent
??? : ______b___d – ___ __d _s___
??? : Seven Spires – Gods of Debauchery
??? : B____ _____ – _s __s
??? : __t_____d – ___ T____ ___d
??? : So Hideous – __st______
??? : St__t____ – _____t___ _f ____t
??? : ____f__ – ____d___
??? : B_____ – ________
??? : ________ – ____ D__
??? : ___ _f T____ts – B____ t__ F___s _f t__ _____d
??? : S__d_ ______ – __t_-__f_ S______
??? : T__ _____ – __s________: __t_ t__ _______
??? : _______ – D_s____
Guessed Letters: D, T, F, S, B,
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Gonna hazard a few guesses and say Soupytwist sent Seven Spires and Evermind sent So Hideous (I'm sure he's sent them before)
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Oui oui.
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I thought Kingshmegland was so hideous.
Oh wait, we're talking about the songs?
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Yesteryear
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Stortregn-Evocation Of Light
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E
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A!
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HOF: McStine & Minnemann – D_sta_t B_d_es
??? : In Vain – Floating On the Murmuring Tide
??? : ___de___ – _asse__e_
??? : ______ – E_be_s
TAC: Abduction – Par ce coeur les lys fleurissent
??? : _a____b_a_d – _a_ a_d As_e_
soupytwist: Seven Spires – Gods of Debauchery
??? : B_a__ A____ – As _as
??? : __t___ead – __e T_a__ ___d
Evermind: So Hideous – Yesteryear
??? : Stortregn – Evocation of Light
??? : _a__fa_ – ____d_a_
??? : B_____ – _a__a___
??? : ____e__e – _a_e D_e
??? : __e _f T__a_ts – B_ea_ t_e Fa__s _f t_e ____ed
??? : S_ade E____e – A_t_-__fe Sa_____
??? : T_e __ea_ – _es__e_a___: __t_ t_e ___a___
??? : _a_____ – Des_a__
Guessed Letters: D, T, F, S, B, E, A,
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Woe Of Tyrants-Break The Fangs Of The Wicked
R
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Shade Empire - Anti-Life Saviour sent by Ariich
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Embers?
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Is Stortregn Puppies?
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Shade Empire - Anti-Life Saviour
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Y
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HOF: McStine & Minnemann – D_sta_t B_d_es
??? : In Vain – Floating On the Murmuring Tide
??? : ___der__ – _asse__er
??? : __rr__ – Embers
TAC: Abduction – Par ce coeur les lys fleurissent
??? : _a____bra_d – _a_ a_d As_e_
soupytwist: Seven Spires – Gods of Debauchery
??? : B_a__ A____ – As _as
??? : __t_r_ead – __e Tra__ ___d
Evermind: So Hideous – Yesteryear
??? : Stortregn – Evocation of Light
??? : _a__far – ____d_a_
??? : Bry__r – Ra__ar__
??? : ____er_e – _a_e D_e
??? : Woe of Tyrants – Break the Fangs of the Wicked
??? : Shade Empire – Anti-Life Savior
??? : T_e __ea_ – _es__e_a___: __t_ t_e ___a__y
??? : Ra_____ – Des_a_r
Guessed Letters: D, T, F, S, B, E, A, R, Y,
The Shade Empire and Stortregn sender guesses aren't correct.
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Gallowbraid - Oak and Aspen
Tomi?
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Brymir- Ragnarok
Nick?
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Yes on the bands and songs, no on the senders.
And yet again, TAC guesses someone not in the roulette. ;)
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Yes on the bands and songs, no on the senders.
And yet again, TAC guesses someone not in the roulette. ;)
In TACs defense, with 3 hangman's going on simultaneously it's only a matter of time before I guess either myself in my own roulette, or the host in theirs.
Also, he's quite old
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(https://i.imgflip.com/78qp01.jpg)
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Yes on the bands and songs, no on the senders.
And yet again, TAC guesses someone not in the roulette. ;)
In TACs defense, with 3 hangman's going on simultaneously it's only a matter of time before I guess either myself in my own roulette, or the host in theirs.
Also, he's quite old
I mean, in Tomi's I was ready to check my outbox and make sure I didn't accidentally send two of the songs.
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Shade Empire - Anti-Life Saviour sent by Ariich
Not me, but it's a great song that I've sent to other people. Could be Crow, he sent it to me originally.
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Yes on the bands and songs, no on the senders.
And yet again, TAC guesses someone not in the roulette. ;)
In TACs defense, with 3 hangman's going on simultaneously it's only a matter of time before I guess either myself in my own roulette, or the host in theirs.
Also, he's quite old
I mean, in Tomi's I was ready to check my outbox and make sure I didn't accidentally send two of the songs.
I didn't join Tomi's. He seemed to have enough players, plus I needed to sit one out here for a little break.
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Shade Empire - Anti-Life Saviour sent by Ariich
Not me, but it's a great song that I've sent to other people. Could be Crow, he sent it to me originally.
And so it is.
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Black Anvil-As Was
N
How 'bout an update Litho?
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I've heard of only 2 or 3 of these bands, damn :lol
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HOF: McStine & Minnemann – D_stant B_d_es
??? : In Vain – Floating On the Murmuring Tide
??? : ___der_n – _assen_er
??? : __rr__ – Embers
TAC: Abduction – Par ce coeur les lys fleurissent
??? : Gallowbraid – Oak and Aspen
soupytwist: Seven Spires – Gods of Debauchery
??? : Black Anvil – As Was
??? : __t_r_ead – _ne Tra__ __nd
Evermind: So Hideous – Yesteryear
??? : Stortregn – Evocation of Light
??? : _a__far – ____d_an
??? : Brymir – Ragnarok
??? : __n_er_e – _ane D_e
??? : Woe of Tyrants – Break the Fangs of the Wicked
Crow: Shade Empire – Anti-Life Saviorr
??? : T_e __ean – _es__e_a___: _nt_ t_e _n_anny
??? : Rann___ – Des_a_r
Guessed Letters: D, T, F, S, B, E, A, R, Y, N,
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Motorhead - One Track Mind, sent by Stadler?
Also a track called Passenger
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Yep to those.
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Motorhead - One Track Mind, sent by Stadler?
Dammit Stadler!
Also a track called Passenger
By Wilderun, which I am surprised they're not banned.
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Like lots of these bands, I've heard an album or two and/or maybe a few tracks, but they haven't hit for me yet. Compared to most people here I'm probably more on the breadth than depth side.
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Also a track called Passenger
By Wilderun, which I am surprised they're not banned.
Yea, I'd have bet on them being banned. I'm guessing Elite? And Puppies sent Woe of Tyrants.
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The Ocean - Mesopelagic: Into the Uncanny :tup
Sacul: Converge - Jane Doe
In Vain could be Tomislav
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rannoch - despair
puppies? idk
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HOF: McStine & Minnemann – D_stant B_d_es
??? : In Vain – Floating On the Murmuring Tide
Elite: Wilderun – Passenger
??? : __rr__ – Embers
TAC: Abduction – Par ce coeur les lys fleurissent
??? : Gallowbraid – Oak and Aspen
soupytwist: Seven Spires – Gods of Debauchery
??? : Black Anvil – As Was
Stadler: Motorhead – One Track Mind
Evermind: So Hideous – Yesteryear
??? : Stortregn – Evocation of Light
??? : _a__far – ____d_an
??? : Brymir – Ragnarok
Sacul: Converge – Jane Doe
Puppies_On_Acid: Woe of Tyrants – Break the Fangs of the Wicked
Crow: Shade Empire – Anti-Life Saviorr
??? : The Ocean – Mesopelagic: Into the Uncanny
??? : Rannoch – Despair
Guessed Letters: D, T, F, S, B, E, A, R, Y, N,
The In Vain and Rannoch sender guesses aren't correct.
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How about an I?
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HOF: McStine & Minnemann – Distant B_dies
??? : In Vain – Floating On the Murmuring Tide
Elite: Wilderun – Passenger
??? : __rr__ – Embers
TAC: Abduction – Par ce coeur les lys fleurissent
??? : Gallowbraid – Oak and Aspen
soupytwist: Seven Spires – Gods of Debauchery
??? : Black Anvil – As Was
Stadler: Motorhead – One Track Mind
Evermind: So Hideous – Yesteryear
??? : Stortregn – Evocation of Light
??? : _a__far – ___idian
??? : Brymir – Ragnarok
Sacul: Converge – Jane Doe
Puppies_On_Acid: Woe of Tyrants – Break the Fangs of the Wicked
Crow: Shade Empire – Anti-Life Saviorr
??? : The Ocean – Mesopelagic: Into the Uncanny
??? : Rannoch – Despair
Guessed Letters: D, T, F, S, B, E, A, R, Y, N, I,
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No clue on the other bands..
Did Nick send Gallowbraid?
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No clue on the other bands..
Did Nick send Gallowbraid?
Gallowbraid is probably Tomi (is he playing in this one?) :lol
Stortregn is probably Wolfking (is he playing in this one?) :biggrin:
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No clue on the other bands..
Did Nick send Gallowbraid?
Not playing in this roulette ;)
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No clue on the other bands..
Did Nick send Gallowbraid?
Not playing in this roulette ;)
You're not? Oops.
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A good way to gauge if someone is NOT playing in a roulette is if Tim guesses them for hangman :biggrin:
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ariich sent The Ocean
-
ariich sent The Ocean
Negative.
-
OK here goes...
Lethean sent In Vain
Tomi sent The Ocean
Romdrums sent Rannoch
Nachtmerrie sent Stortregn
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ariich sent The Ocean
Negative.
Surprising!
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Gallowbraid is probably Tomi (is he playing in this one?) :lol
I wish I was. Unless it score badly, then I'm glad I didn't.
Tomi sent The Ocean
C'mon man, will you ever guess my song correctly :lol said that, The Ocean is something you could expect from me more than the band I actually sent
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Kampfar - Ophidian
The Ocean sent by Cyril
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Did Nick send Gallowbraid?
Not playing in this roulette ;)
Nick would have won this roulette, so he's being generous in letting everyone else think they would have had a chance. Just know that everybody else is really playing for second. ;)
Stortregn is probably Wolfking (is he playing in this one?) :biggrin:
You guys know there's a participant list in the OP, right? :p
OK here goes...
Lethean sent In Vain
Tomi sent The Ocean
Romdrums sent Rannoch
Nachtmerrie sent Stortregn
[insert "the real Luke" Skywalker "every word you said..." GIF]
Romdrums at least was in this roulette, but had to drop out after round 2.
Tomi sent The Ocean
C'mon man, will you ever guess my song correctly :lol
He's trying to be a trickster.
Kampfar - Ophidian
The Ocean sent by Cyril
Yep.
Cyril was reported missing weeks ago, but was nowhere near a body of water. The pinch hitter Crow bears a striking resemblance to Cyril, but seems to have superior taste. We'll talk contract renegotiations later.
-
What a shit show :lol
-
What a shit show :lol
I've literally sent my song in your roulette as well as others. :rollin
-
Crow sent The Ocean?
-
Crow sent The Ocean?
He probably should've, that songs a banger.
-
Crow sent The Ocean?
He probably should've, that songs a banger.
Oceans of Slumber? ...And Oceans? Frank Ocean?
-
Kingshmegland sent Billy Ocean.
-
Ocean Colour Scene?
-
I'm struggling with impressions this round even more than the others. I have drafts of all them, but they feel so generic. I'm gonna try to get at least one more runthrough of everything first and see if anything else pops out, but if not I'll just have to go with what I have. Here is hangman filled out in the meantime.
HOF: McStine & Minnemann – Distant Bodies
SoundscapeMN: In Vain – Floating On the Murmuring Tide
Elite: Wilderun – Passenger
Lethean: Morrow – Embers
TAC: Abduction – Par ce coeur les lys fleurissent
Buddyhunter1: Gallowbraid – Oak and Aspen
soupytwist: Seven Spires – Gods of Debauchery
Vmadera00: Black Anvil – As Was
Stadler: Motorhead – One Track Mind
Evermind: So Hideous – Yesteryear
ariich: Stortregn – Evocation of Light
senecadawg2: Kampfar – Ophidian
Tomislav95: Brymir – Ragnarok
Sacul: Converge – Jane Doe
Puppies_On_Acid: Woe of Tyrants – Break the Fangs of the Wicked
Crow: Shade Empire – Anti-Life Savior
twosuitluke: The Ocean – Mesopelagic: Into the Uncanny
Nachtmerrie: Rannoch – Despair
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It's hard to tell one melodic death metal band from another, I imagine.
-
A bunch are more black than death, actually. It didn't seem quite as challenging with all the similar prog metal in round one though. Maybe it's all the harsh vocals, but there is a decent amount of variety among them, and a fair amount of cleans. I still like extreme metal, but I think I can't take quite as much of it at once as I used to, I can sense temporary burnout of the style coming up once I really pile on the listens. Regardless, I'm definitely looking forward to the palate cleanser next round.
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I got that experience after exploring it for a few years, it became more and more about mood music for me.
I mean it's great at times, but it's also not something I have ever become addicted to over many years like Prog.
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I got that experience after exploring it for a few years, it became more and more about mood music for me.
I mean it's great at times, but it's also not something I have ever become addicted to over many years like Prog.
This is me. I like a good dose of Black and Death metal, but as the years go by it has become something I need to be in the mood for.
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We might have the whole gamut of experiences with it just in the roster here, because at least one was never into it at all, and at least one other didn't discover it 'til relatively recently, but seems all in on it.
-
Are you saying that this round could be a slog for you to get through?
Some rounds are like that as a host.
Usually, I like to have a set number of listens in a round. Usually five. But there's been rounds where I'm wondering WTF was I thinking and just cut it off at three and call it a day.
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I got that experience after exploring it for a few years, it became more and more about mood music for me.
I mean it's great at times, but it's also not something I have ever become addicted to over many years like Prog.
It's all about mood for me. And that's why melodeath is mostly replaceable for me. A lot of midtempo, same structure type of songs. If I go for mood the change to doom is so easy because that's aĺl about mood. If I go want death I prefer some techdeath.
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Are you saying that this round could be a slog for you to get through?
Some rounds are like that as a host.
Usually, I like to have a set number of listens in a round. Usually five. But there's been rounds where I'm wondering WTF was I thinking and just cut it off at three and call it a day.
It could be. I've been trying to get in at least a dozen listens to everything sent (the later ones are sometimes more passive), but that might not always work. I find that some entries don't bloom in the first half-dozen listens (Oranssi Pazuzu last round being a good example). This round has just reminded me of how slanted the metal community elsewhere (maybe not so much here) has been towards extreme metal, ignoring most other styles. A lot of the popular publications, podcasts, Youtube influencers and such gave their best of '22 lists a month or two ago, and it kind of annoyed me that it was mostly all extreme metal (death, black, grind, some hardcoreish stuff), maybe with a token power or throwback trad album. Some lists were purely of the dissodeath/dissoblack type and such.
I don't mind a bit of that, and really, there's no accounting for taste (I certainly have my own niches I've dug more deeply into), but in general I like more variation, so seeing those kind of lists vexed me a bit, and this round has reminded me that I like the extremity in smaller doses. I think it's also the contrast of being spoiled with all over the variety in round 3. I kind of thought this could happen, but it's interesting to be right in the thick of it now.
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A lot of the popular publications, podcasts, Youtube influencers and such gave their best of '22 lists a month or two ago, and it kind of annoyed me that it was mostly all extreme metal (death, black, grind, some hardcoreish stuff), maybe with a token power or throwback trad album. Some lists were purely of the dissodeath/dissoblack type and such.
I get that. I just feel like it's these genres where you're more likely to find a diamond in the rough, as there seems to be more experimentation going on than in traditional formats. It's really the reason that I decided to check out some harsh vocals bands to begin with.
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Yeah, there's definitely some unique gems out there, but it can take a lot of digging, which can be a chore, more so for some people than others. I'm guessing this is probably a common experience, but I'm definitely learning more about myself in the process of running this than I expected to.
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But, but.... You already knew you were kind of sick of extreme metal yet you asked for 19 (?) people to send you exactly that?
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I've had the layout planned since September or so. And I'm not quite sick of it yet, I'm just fearing it's going to happen over the next week. But it's not a huge deal, I'll make it through regardless. Next round will be something quite different, and then I'm sure round 6 will be all over the place again, so it'll be fine.
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i haven't made my 2022 list yet because i'm always way behind on those
but uhh yeah the metal on it does veer extreme lol the modern prog metal scene has devolved into either samey djent-prog or power-prog and i just have no interest in either so prog death tends to be where i get my prog fix nowadays and then black metal is the only form of atmospheric metal that doesn't bore me to tears so i pick it over doom or post metal
think i've been listening to a lot more pop/non-rock/metal stuff just to balance that out :lol
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I like discovering new things and getting into new styles, but I can't really imagine losing interest in styles I've liked for a while. It's different when getting into something for the first time - all those first things you hear in thsy style can be exciting simply by virtue of the style, but I normally get past that phase quite quickly and from then on it's more a case of whether the specific writing/melodies/atmosphere/whatever hit me in the right place or not.
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I feel a little better about it now. I think it's like believing you want some ribs and cheesecake, and you have in mind a few chops and slices, but the food arrives and it's this massive full rack of them and an entire cheesecake, and you're figuring out how on earth you're going to scarf it all down at once. Particularly freshly after my initial three listening sessions with 2.5 hours of music to go through, which are pretty intense concentration while I make notes and are quite fatiguing, more so than for other genres, as I've just discovered. But successive listens go down a bit easier, and interspersing them with Loreena McKennitt also helps.
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If only there was some way you could've avoided putting yourself in this position :rollin
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If only there was some way you could've avoided putting yourself in this position :rollin
:lol
Yeah themed rounds with a lot of music do run this risk.
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I like discovering new things and getting into new styles, but I can't really imagine losing interest in styles I've liked for a while.
Sort of agree, yet I've kinda lost all interest in prog music tbh, I barely listen to new stuff from bands I already like in that vein (haven't touched the new Riverside yet for instance), and am more into other stuff these days. I used to be big on Downtempo / Trip Hop music a few years ago, but I can't see myself going back to exploring that stuff again, at least not as obsessively as I used to lol.
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Impressions tonight?
-
Tomorrow I think, had some other stuff come up I've had to deal with.
-
Tomorrow I think, had some other stuff come up I've had to deal with.
No worries.
Paint stripping?
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I think I've successfully managed to browbeat out the worst elements of earlier submissions from everyone, so even what I suspect will be the lowest-ranked songs are ones that I kind of like and will score better than earlier rounds, but the top end isn't quite as high as early rounds either at this point. That means even more clustering in the middle, and my decisions probably coming down to seemingly arbitrary and nitpicky details.
Round 4 Early Impressions:
1: I think you have definitely found the closest thing in the round to a doppelganger for my first song.
2: Sacul - Converge - This band is not nearly as noisy and is much more melodic than I remember them being a while back.
3: HOF - McStine & Minnemann - The drumming is as great as I hoped it would be, but it's unknown if the other elements will grow on me.
4: This feels like trying to get lunch by eating samples at Costco. You get a taste of a variety of different flavors, but still leave hungry.
5: I suspect I might like other songs by this artist more, but it's probably going to be good enough to continue your upward trajectory.
6: SoundscapeMN - In Vain - This really hits on a lot of different things I like - I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to this artist earlier, but late is better than never.
7: There are some cool ideas here, but it sounds like a home demo.
8: There was an intriguing element teased near the end that might have made it stand out more if it was employed earlier, but as it is I'm not sure this has enough interesting ideas to score higher.
9: Elite - Wilderun - I think I've been sleeping on this band. They probably combine more elements of my two songs than any other band in this round, but also go some other places.
10: TAC - Abduction - The drumming is killer, although I'm not sure if it's the accent, but the harsh vocals seem more effective than the cleans.
11: I feel like I'm turning into Luke in feeling like I've heard all this before, and I'm perhaps not as into it as I used to be.
12: Nachtmerrie - Rannoch - Now This is how guitars should sound.
13: This is more laid-back than I was expecting, and I'm not sure this is my kind of thing, but these tones are classic.
14: I'm starting to get the feeling that this band got better and better and more suited to my tastes as their discography went along.
15: This band has an interesting sound, but the song doesn't really start getting good until the last minute or two, which might not be enough to save it.
16: soupytwist - Seven Spires - I think I'm slowly starting to see what the hype about this band is. The vocals are especially impressive.
17: This seems like such an obvious pairing of genres that I'm surprised I can't think offhand of other bands who've done it.
18: These guitars just aren't heavy enough for me, but it did have a really nice minute or two towards the end.
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Is 2 Converge?
-
It is.
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Nice. Most of that album is super noisy and heavy as fuck tho, but that track manages to balance it out with some melody and it hits so hard - the screams near the end just give me chills. I recommend looking up the lyrics and the meaning behind the record, it's a lot deeper than it may seem at first.
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Yeah, I can see that there's a fair amount of behind the scenes material on the album. I'm trying to do a bit more research on these this round. It might make the round take slightly longer, but I think it'll be worth it.
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Hmm is 5 me?
-
Nope.
-
Nope.
Ok. I'll try 16....if it isn't that I fear it'll be one of the more negative impressions.
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15 or 18 :sadpanda:
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Nope.
Ok. I'll try 16....if it isn't that I fear it'll be one of the more negative impressions.
Fear not!
15 or 18 :sadpanda:
Neither.
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4?
-
Nope.
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7 maybe? The sound isn't great on mine, though if I recall correctly I listened to it on their bandcamp site and it was a bit better.
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Nope. Although like I noted in previous rounds, some of these do have the potential to accurately apply to more than one song, and you'll get a sense of that once the writeups are out.
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12 for me?
-
Yes!
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6 or 9?
-
9?
Yep.
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Cool! :)
-
18?
-
Pinning my hopes on #6
-
Neither.
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Neither.
I only guessed one :neverusethis:
OK, how about #10?
Also, out of curiosity, is #7 sounding like a demo made at home, or a demo of Dream Theater's Home?
I hope there's sex noises either way
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Nope.
"Home", by Michael Buble.
Lemmy is pretty sexy, I must admit.
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1: I think you have definitely found the closest thing in the round to a doppelganger for my first song.
Is this me?
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6: This really hits on a lot of different things I like - I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to this artist earlier, but late is better than never.
?
-
No.
Yes.
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Am I 4 or 7?
-
Nope.
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Oh...I know..it's 10!
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3, 4, or maybe 17?
-
Oh...I know..it's 10!
Yep, I actually thought it was way too obvious. :p
3.
There it is.
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Oh...I know..it's 10!
Yep, I actually thought it was way too obvious. :p
That's what I get for skimming instead of reading.
-
11?
-
Nope.
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Round 4 Early Impressions:
7: There are some cool ideas here, but it sounds like a home demo.
...
18: These guitars just aren't heavy enough for me, but it did have a really nice minute or two towards the end.[/i]
Probably #7?
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Dude, could we get the updated impressions on this page please?
Also, mines going to be 15 isn't it? :loser:
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Neither of those.
Round 4 Early Impressions:
1: I think you have definitely found the closest thing in the round to a doppelganger for my first song.
2: Sacul - Converge - This band is not nearly as noisy and is much more melodic than I remember them being a while back.
3: HOF - McStine & Minnemann - The drumming is as great as I hoped it would be, but it's unknown if the other elements will grow on me.
4: This feels like trying to get lunch by eating samples at Costco. You get a taste of a variety of different flavors, but still leave hungry.
5: I suspect I might like other songs by this artist more, but it's probably going to be good enough to continue your upward trajectory.
6: SoundscapeMN - In Vain - This really hits on a lot of different things I like - I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to this artist earlier, but late is better than never.
7: There are some cool ideas here, but it sounds like a home demo.
8: There was an intriguing element teased near the end that might have made it stand out more if it was employed earlier, but as it is I'm not sure this has enough interesting ideas to score higher.
9: Elite - Wilderun - I think I've been sleeping on this band. They probably combine more elements of my two songs than any other band in this round, but also go some other places.
10: TAC - Abduction - The drumming is killer, although I'm not sure if it's the accent, but the harsh vocals seem more effective than the cleans.
11: I feel like I'm turning into Luke in feeling like I've heard all this before, and I'm perhaps not as into it as I used to be.
12: Nachtmerrie - Rannoch - Now This is how guitars should sound.
13: This is more laid-back than I was expecting, and I'm not sure this is my kind of thing, but these tones are classic.
14: twosuitluke - The Ocean - I'm starting to get the feeling that this band got better and better and more suited to my tastes as their discography went along.
15: This band has an interesting sound, but the song doesn't really start getting good until the last minute or two, which might not be enough to save it.
16: soupytwist - Seven Spires - I think I'm slowly starting to see what the hype about this band is. The vocals are especially impressive.
17: Evermind - So Hideous - This seems like such an obvious pairing of genres that I'm surprised I can't think offhand of other bands who've done it.
18: These guitars just aren't heavy enough for me, but it did have a really nice minute or two towards the end.
-
I don't think I guessed yet, either #7 or #17.
-
#17.
Yep.
-
13 or 18?
-
Nope.
-
I fear 11 or 4
-
Neither.
-
15?
-
Nope.
-
14?
-
There we go.
-
Well that's positive at least
-
Here are the filled-out early impressions to nibble on while I polish up the writeup drafts and finalize scores. Should have results out by Thursday.
Round 4 Early Impressions:
1: ariich - Stortregn - I think you have definitely found the closest thing in the round to a doppelganger for my first song.
2: Sacul - Converge - This band is not nearly as noisy and is much more melodic than I remember them being a while back.
3: HOF - McStine & Minnemann - The drumming is as great as I hoped it would be, but it's unknown if the other elements will grow on me.
4: Lethean - Morrow - This feels like trying to get lunch by eating samples at Costco. You get a taste of a variety of different flavors, but still leave hungry.
5: Crow - Shade Empire - I suspect I might like other songs by this artist more, but it's probably going to be good enough to continue your upward trajectory.
6: SoundscapeMN - In Vain - This really hits on a lot of different things I like - I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to this artist earlier, but late is better than never.
7: Buddyhunter1 - Gallowbraid - There are some cool ideas here, but it sounds like a home demo.
8: senecadawg2 - Kampfar - There was an intriguing element teased near the end that might have made it stand out more if it was employed earlier, but as it is I'm not sure this has enough interesting ideas to score higher.
9: Elite - Wilderun - I think I've been sleeping on this band. They probably combine more elements of my two songs than any other band in this round, but also go some other places.
10: TAC - Abduction - The drumming is killer, although I'm not sure if it's the accent, but the harsh vocals seem more effective than the cleans.
11: Puppies_On_Acid - Woe of Tyrants - I feel like I'm turning into Luke in feeling like I've heard all this before, and I'm perhaps not as into it as I used to be.
12: Nachtmerrie - Rannoch - Now This is how guitars should sound.
13: Stadler - Motorhead - This is more laid-back than I was expecting, and I'm not sure this is my kind of thing, but these tones are classic.
14: twosuitluke - The Ocean - I'm starting to get the feeling that this band got better and better and more suited to my tastes as their discography went along.
15: Vmadera00 - Black Anvil - This band has an interesting sound, but the song doesn't really start getting good until the last minute or two, which might not be enough to save it.
16: soupytwist - Seven Spires - I think I'm slowly starting to see what the hype about this band is. The vocals are especially impressive.
17: Evermind - So Hideous - This seems like such an obvious pairing of genres that I'm surprised I can't think offhand of other bands who've done it.
18: Tomislav95 - These guitars just aren't heavy enough for me, but it did have a really nice minute or two towards the end.
-
1: ariich - Stortregn - I think you have definitely found the closest thing in the round to a doppelganger for my first song.
Interested to see how I perform in this round, and the extent to which matching more closely to the mystery songs is beneficial!
-
6: SoundscapeMN - In Vain - This really hits on a lot of different things I like - I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to this artist earlier, but late is better than never.
for what it's worth, In Vain I believe have finished work on a new album and it'll likely be released this year.
-
I'm really bad with guessing impressions. I had ruled out that one because I didn't think of that track as having that much variety. In any case, hopefully it grew on you a little.
-
I'm really bad with guessing impressions.
Well, probably not quite as bad as Luke. He got lucky this round, but you know, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
-
6: SoundscapeMN - In Vain - This really hits on a lot of different things I like - I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to this artist earlier, but late is better than never.
for what it's worth, In Vain I believe have finished work on a new album and it'll likely be released this year.
I just checked out this tune, and it's awesome!
-
Saying a one-man black metal project sounds like a bedroom demo is a bit redundant. :lol
-
I'm really bad with guessing impressions.
Well, probably not quite as bad as Luke. He got lucky this round, but you know, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Well who the fuck has 18 participants? :lol
Saying a one-man black metal project sounds like a bedroom demo is a bit redundant. :lol
:rollin
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Saying a one-man black metal project sounds like a bedroom demo is a bit redundant. :lol
Well, I wrote it before I looked it up to find that out. But I guess probably over half of black metal releases are from one-man projects anyway, so it's probably not a bad assumption. But not all of them sound that way, Ripped To Shreds started as one-man-death metal, for example, and doesn't sound that different from normal full band releases.
I'm really bad with guessing impressions.
Well, probably not quite as bad as Luke. He got lucky this round, but you know, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Well who the fuck has 18 participants? :lol
I'm not saying I'm any better, I think I incorrectly guessed at over half of your impressions when you only had 2/3 of that number left. :facepalm:
-
Well who the fuck has 18 participants? :lol
*raises hand*
If anything, that's on the low end for me these days.
-
I still wonder what the record is. If the lists in the tracker thread are accurate, I remember seeing one with 22, but it's possible I overlooked one with even more, especially if the number of participants was deceptively high due to shorter user names.
-
Yeah that was my v6 that had 22 participants throughout. Fairly certain it's the record. Every round was submissions up to 21 minutes as well (or longer if a single song). That was a big undertaking. :lol
Way back in 2013 (TEN YEARS AGO, WHAT THE) Chad's v2 started with 22 players as well, but he quickly whittled them down to 11 with a couple of prelim rounds.
Other than those, there have been a bunch in the 18-20 players range.
-
(https://i.giphy.com/media/SthzNsgEAocOsBWZav/giphy.webp)
-
senecadawg2 - Kampfar - "Ophidian"
Early Impression - "There was an intriguing element teased near the end that might have made it stand out more if it was employed earlier, but as it is I'm not sure this has enough interesting ideas to score higher."
This is a challenging one to write about. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, it just feels like the template guide track for a melodic black metal tune before tweaking and filling out the arrangement to make it more unique. It's pretty well-produced, which always tend to be a worry in this style. And the bass is at least audible, which can be another frequent concern. It even starts out sounding a bit like Behemoth, but not nearly as heavy. Even the music video for it has a very Behemoth flavor to it with the imagery.
Behemoth is actually a salient jumping point to briefly discuss a dichotomy which has blurred a lot over time, but used to rankle me, and is relevant to this band and others this round and likely beyond it. Depending upon the release, they would alternate between a mixture of black and death metal influences. I've generally considered myself more of a death metal than a black metal fan, often because it used to be more common for it to have lower-tuned, heavier guitars and more massive-sounding production, which comports with me more. But black metal often has the potential for more melody and atmosphere, which appeals to a separate angle of my preferences. Melodic death metal, in its best forms, manages to at times bring together the best of both worlds for me.
But back to Kampfar, unfortunately, on successive listens none of the riffs or even the melodic vocal line stuck with me. In the latest plays and checking out a few live videos I've gotten familiar enough with this selection that I can feel a bit more of a spark slowly emerging, and maybe this one will keep growing on me after the round is over, but I don't think there's quite enough to make it leapfrog anything else yet. There are a few choral stabs that pop up near the end, but they're so brief that they just don't deliver on making it feel very epic. The hi-hat barks at 2:15 which transfer to ride accents later are kind of an interesting pattern, but it's a minor detail in the scope of the track. It just seems like they came up with the basic riffs and structure and stopped there before ornamenting it with anything that would make it stand out more.
Score: 6.75/10
---
Puppies_On_Acid - Woe of Tyrants - "Break the Fangs of the Wicked"
Early Impression - "I feel like I'm turning into Luke in feeling like I've heard all this before, and I'm perhaps not as into it as I used to be."
So I don't know if you noticed that I'd already rated this on my RYM (and even have it on my obscure metal RYM list, but it's been so long since I've heard it and I didn't remember it well), but here's the flip side where sometimes an old rating is more of a ceiling for a band for me. I used to listen to a truckload of this more technical stuff in the mid-late 00s, so I guess I have a baseline level of nostalgia for it, but it also isn't what I typically reach for these days. It's all very well-played, and they've put some thought into the arrangement, with some very tight composition and execution, particularly with how the tom fills often sync up the transitional guitar riffs.
But there's a combination of two things that hold it back for me. One is the thin production, which is probably influenced by Necrophagist or similar, and tries to emphasize the razor-sharp precision of all of the speedy riffing and soloing. I really have to strain to hear any bass in the mix - it's all low midrange from the guitars. This is then compounded with the emphasis on flashiness. That can work with the right band, but there has to be something extra special for it to work, and I'm just not finding it here. It's pretty much at 10 the whole time, without much variation or contrast. If I think back to it, I can remember there was a flurry of notes, but nothing particularly memorable stands out. There are harmony guitar riffs all over the place, which I do tend to like, but they mostly go in one ear and out the other.
Ultimately, it's fine, and if I get in the right mood and have worn out Quo Vadis, Blooshot Dawn, Inferi, Arsis and such maybe I'd put this on again, but lately it just feels like more style over substance for me, and I'm not quite as enthused about this sound as I used to be. This is probably coming across overly negative, I do actually like it, I just don't enjoy it as much as the other entries. Which I know isn't much of a consolation prize, but well, it has to happen every round.
Score: 6.75/10
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Vmadera00 - Black Anvil - "As Was"
Early Impression - "This band has an interesting sound, but the song doesn't really start getting good until the last minute or two, which might not be enough to save it."
I wanted to like this band more, as they have a rather intriguing and unique sound, kind of like Type O Negative trying to play melodic black metal. The production is solid, and I enjoy the reverb and mild chorus-laden sheen over everything. But unfortunately, not a lot really stuck out as being noteworthy other than a few small details. The rhythm guitar part using thirds rather than power chords at 1:49 is a cool choice. The bass tone is pretty nice. I think I have an addiction to offbeat China cymbal sections, like at 3:44 or 6:08. I was trying to figure out where they were going with the "happy" section at 4:06 - I was half-ready for them to launch into a cover of "Paradise City". And then the best part of the song starts at 4:40, with a more interesting riff. 5:47 is my favorite moment, which sounds like a sped-up descending chromatic Type O Negative riff. And I love the discordant ending with two guitar tracks ringing out with feedback at slightly different pitches. But overall it's just not quite enough to compete with the stronger entries this round.
Score: 6.75/10
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Buddyhunter1 - Gallowbraid - "Oak and Aspen"
Early Impression - "There are some cool ideas here, but it sounds like a home demo."
It didn't hit me until quite a few listens in, and this might have made for a more fun early impression, but I had a late epiphany based on the intro that this is effectively a black metal cover of "Dust in the Wind". I don't know if I feel clever for realizing it now or dumb for that taking so long to strike me.
One of the things that tends to irk me about a lot of black metal is that so much of it is poorly-recorded, sometimes on purpose, and sometimes just by circumstance, which might be the case here. I learned when I did a bit of research that this is effectively a one-man-black-metal project (just outsourcing the drums, and some vocals on another track), and it sounds like it. It's not as raw-sounding as it could be, but it definitely doesn't come up to the level of polish that I tend to prefer. Most notable is first that the acoustic guitar at 3:18 is out of tune, which nettles me. Even the piano at 0:18 sounds like it could use a retuning, though it's not quite as rankling. And then secondly, when the drums are played faster, like the double bass at 5:41 and other spots, while I kind of dig that it doesn't sound triggered and clicky like many bands struggle with, it's just not mixed that well, and everything turns to mush there.
There are some interesting ideas here and there though, like the acoustic guitars in the intro, the guitar harmony at 6:36, the guitar melody at 7:20, and the acoustic guitar + tremolo electric line at 10:43. And most importantly, the clean vocals are really cool, sounding kind of Woods of Ypres-y. In spite of my qualms with everything else, those alone might make me check out the rest of the album, and probably saved the song from being at the bottom of the rankings, but I can't justify placing it any higher due to its flaws.
Score: 7/10
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Tomislav95 - Brymir - "Ragnarök"
Early Impression - "These guitars just aren't heavy enough for me, but it did have a really nice minute or two towards the end."
I was not surprised to see that this was another Finnish melodeath band, they definitely have more of that Insomnium sound, but are more symphonic, and unfortunately, fluffier. The main issue is that there is just no weight or power to the guitars. It's an issue throughout the song, but the worse offender is the verses such as at 0:56. It's just way too brittle a tone for me for this style of music. The bass is almost inaudible as well, which doesn't help.
Also, the vocal choral patch is fine, but the symphonic aspect is also fairly weak, being quite noticeably fake and just coming from a keyboard. It's especially obvious at 1:56 when it almost completely buries the band. In general I'm not a huge fan of overtly symphonic metal, I prefer it when it's a bit more subtle and complements the other instrumentation rather than being a focus for its own sake. It can be a fine line, as some later entries will demonstrate, but this song is a bit on the wrong side of that line.
In spite of this, I dig the sections starting at 3:34, which have a more fun symphonic black metal-esque vibe, and then segue into a really cool guitar harmony bit, which both almost single-handedly save the song from being at the bottom of the rankings. Another bright spot is that the harsh vocals are pretty powerful and solid. But in the end, it's not enough to compete with everything else.
Score: 7/10
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Stadler - Motörhead - "One Track Mind"
Early Impression - "This is more laid-back than I was expecting, and I'm not sure this is my kind of thing, but these tones are classic."
You seem to have a knack for sending me songs that upon first listen I worry I'm not going to like, but then over the course of the round manage to worm their way up the rankings higher than I would have expected, often because they lack some of the more glaring errors that lower submissions tend to have.
So obviously I've heard of a fair amount of Motorhead lore over the years, and I've sampled enough songs to have a general idea what they're about, but just never bothered to check out any full albums, suspecting they're probably not really a band for me. I'm still not sure they are, but I'm definitely a bit more open to them than I used to be. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or if people are starting to figure it out from my writeups, but for male voices I generally tend to prefer lower registers, or if they're more mid or upper-pitched, to at least have some power and grit to them, and Lemmy does fall kind of in the middle of that. His bass tone is also quite rightly legendary, and I'm sure is at least indirectly an inspiration to some of the other dirtier bass tones I've liked in this round and earlier ones. The drumming is also pretty solid, with some nice triplet fills and such, and I always enjoy more unique sounds like the rototoms as shown in the music video for this song.
I've been a fairly casual fan of more classic rock-styled bands, but Thin Lizzy was always one of the better bands of that stripe, so having Brian Robertson aboard on this track was probably a wise choice, although it seems he left the harmonies behind with Lizzy. I didn't even have to look to tell this is a classic Les Paul into Marshall tone, just with more chorus and reverb than I was expecting based on Motorhead's reputation, but that's quite all right with me. I like some of the slide moments such as at 2:46, though I wouldn't have minded more of them.
Overall this is a bit on the simple side of what I normally prefer, as it's easy to see how this would be quite easy to pull off live in a power trio format, but for what it is it's fairly effective, with a nice groove to it. I could potentially see them having songs I'd like even more, so while I'm not over the moon about this particular one, I am a bit more interested in hearing more from them than I was before.
Score: 7/10
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Lethean - Morrow - "Embers"
Early Impression - "This feels like trying to get lunch by eating samples at Costco. You get a taste of a variety of different flavors, but still leave hungry."
This is a really hard song to evaluate. I can't figure out whether it's a post-rock song trying to be metallic, or a black metal song trying to be more atmospheric. There are a lot of individual elements that are really alluring, but they don't quite add up to the sum of their parts.
The most intriguing texture is the muted string pizzicato that opens the track, with some kind of held reverb function that somehow lets it sustain. I'm not sure I've heard a sound quite like it before. The cello also sounds splendid, though I wouldn't have minded a bit more of it. But I can't make my mind up about the guitar sounds. There are many spots where they're pretty texturally varied and have a lot of shades of nuance. 4:05 is a great example where it's constantly oscillating in and out of feedback and is a rather potent sound. The solo at 6:01 is nice and subdued as well, with a good mixture of muted and sustained phrasing.
But there are moments where it sounds like the song is trying to get heavier, but the tones just don't work for those types of parts. 3:11 is a good example, they're attempting to build with some muted chugs, but there's no power to the rhythm guitars. The bass doesn't help either, as while it has a nice midrange timbre that is useful for other parts (5:23 is a cool passage), it doesn't really reinforce the guitars in those parts. I wish I could merge this song with the guitars from Amenra last round, since they each have elements that the other lack. And when it gets faster, like at 7:14, it becomes kind of a chaotic mess, with the mixing making everything sound like mud. Maybe that was their intention, but it's just a bit hard to listen to for me, though I do like the independent guitar melodies panned to either side there - I just can't savor them quite as much as I'd like to contrary to if it was engineered more clearly. I did listen to the song on Bandcamp as well, and the issue is also present there.
Additionally, the drumming is most interesting in the quieter portions with the subtle ride and snare ghost note work. Further, the acoustic guitar passage at 8:28 is certainly my favorite section of the track. I like how they keep the sound of fret movement squeaks in - there was a time when it was in fashion to edit those out, which tended to vex me. I also really love the ethereal synthesizer patches at the end over the record crackle, especially the shimmery mid-register of it that comes in at 9:52 (it might be an overdriven electric piano, it's difficult to tell). It was hinted at around 4:49, but I had wished it was louder in the mix then.
Score: 7/10
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HOF - McStine & Minnemann - "Distant Bodies"
Early Impression - "The drumming is as great as I hoped it would be, but it's unknown if the other elements will grow on me."
So Marco Minnemann is one of my favorite drummers, and pretty much everything he's playing here is the highlight of the track. I was worried at first that the middle section and ending of the song were too happy-sounding for me, but it grew on me over time, and was kind of refreshing in contrast to most of the other songs in the round. And the intro and third quarter or so are a bit darker, so it's not oppressively happy. Many listens in, and I still can't tell what I think of the vocals. I didn't like them at first, but I suppose at this point I'm neutral on them.
There are quite a few piquant guitar tones in this song, such as at 1:54 and 3:35. Those are the types of tones that would fall flat in the average metal song, but you can really get away with them in this type of tune. Even the fuzz bass at 1:07 is delightful. The clean guitar passages at times were giving me Polyphia vibes. This is different enough from what I typically listen to that my interest is piqued to hear more later at some point, particularly because there are clearly a lot of albums Marco has played on that I haven't made time for yet.
Score: 7.25/10
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Crow - Shade Empire - "Anti-Life Saviour"
Early Impression - "I suspect I might like other songs by this artist more, but it's probably going to be good enough to continue your upward trajectory."
So this makes significant usage of an element that I tend to not be too crazy about in general, especially on repeat listens. Which is to say, spoken word samples. It's not nearly to 9000+ Han-Tyumi levels, but depending upon how I felt on any given listen, it did bug me a bit. It does set a mood for the first listen, but after that I'm rarely up for narration. Mercifully, it starts getting drowned out less than a minute in. It comes back much later in the song, but it's a bit easier to tune out by that point. This song also has some robotic vocals at 6:10, which fortunately I generally don't mind.
The best thing this band has going for it is the production, especially on the thick and chunky-sounding guitars, and slightly less so on the drums. The bass doesn't stick out quite as much as it did on some of your first submissions (other than the section at 5:03), where it was one of the stronger facets of them, but it's enough that it supports the riffing well. I generally like my metal to have a lot of low-end. On the opposite end of guitar textures, most noticeable at 7:09 is the sustained E-bow line, though it comes in earlier as well. The longer duration of the notes contrasts well with the double bass and faster-picked guitar lines underneath it, though I wouldn't have minded if it was slightly higher in the mix. The section at 3:35 is cool, with the guitars alternating muted chugs and slightly longer notes, to then at 4:04 transitioning to having them fully open. Also, there is a short harmony line at 4:10 that I wish they would have incorporated a bit more throughout the piece.
I generally try to avoid exploring any of a band's other discography during a round, partially for lack of time, and partially because I like to try and evaluate the song as a stand-alone unit, though for some artists I've already heard something from them and thus it's not really possible to not be informed by that knowledge to some extent. In this case I'm fairly confident that I've listened to a few of their other songs in the past, though I don't really know them well. And I seem to recall them being a bit heavier and faster, which often works better in this style for me, as long as it has some contrast.
I kept vacillating about the symphonic elements. They are a tad better-balanced than some of the weaker entries, as I'm rarely happy if they overpower the band, like too much of symphonic metal is prone to doing. It looks like they hired someone for the orchestration who has worked with Delain and others, so that seems to have helped. The horns at 7:01 are punchier than typical, for example, with some bloom and movement to the timbre as the lines are held. The orchestration does bury the guitar solo at 4:45 a bit though.
So ultimately, this continues your upward ascent. I'm looking forward to the 9.75 you'll be sending by round 15. :-)
Score: 7.5/10
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twosuitluke - The Ocean - "Mesopelagic: Into the Uncanny"
Early Impression - "I'm starting to get the feeling that this band got better and better and more suited to my tastes as their discography went along."
So as much as I do have a general preference for receiving bands I don't know anything about, I do appreciate getting bands that I've heard a bit from, but am not that deep into yet. Of course, this is one of them. I heard an album or two of their earlier material closer to when it came out, and while I saw some potential, sludge metal was really not my thing at all at that point. I'm still not sure it's really my thing, but I've gradually found more bands I like who play versions of that sound, and their '20 album was pretty good, proggier than I anticipated, and having Jonas Renkse on a track certainly didn't hurt.
Well, this song seems somewhere in-between those two approaches, but probably significantly closer to their current style. And probably in the ballpark of the better side of a band like Mastodon. The drumming is not Dailor-level, but it's pretty competent. I especially like the tom rim work at 2:30. There are some nice bass lines there as well, particularly at 3:03 and 5:05. They also have a firm command of rapid quiet to loud transitions in the middle portion of the track.
I was not expecting there to be cello on this tune, so that was also serendipitous. There is some tasty synth work on the track as well, but it's generally kind of buried. There is a snazzy resonant filter sweep that pans across the stereo spectrum at 4:50 (and another touch of it at 5:49), though the song could have used even more of it.
Interestingly, while you couldn't really call this song melodeath in the slightest, I enjoy how it does have some similarities in approach, with the juxtaposition of quieter and heavier parts, and even has some cool guitar harmonies from time to time such as at 3:00. Further, while this song relies more on energy for the uptempo parts than heaviness, that ending chord at 5:29 makes me optimistic that their slower parts might appeal to me more than I remembered, as that is just the sort of tone I like.
Score: 7.5/10
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TAC - Abduction - "Par ce coeur les lys fleurissent"
Early Impression - "The drumming is killer, although I'm not sure if it's the accent, but the harsh vocals seem more effective than the cleans."
It's kind of funny that we had a discussion about French lyrics before you submitted, and then at first I wasn't quite sure what to make of the vocalist's accent. But over a number of plays I became acclimated to it and it was fine. I still might prefer the harsh vocals, but the cleans have some variety and effectively contrasted the harsh vocals at many points. So much of the metal I like is European, but I probably tend to overlook France as a source too often.
The strong point of this band is definitely the drummer. He has quite a panoply of different types of rhythms, fills, and ornamentation that helps keep the song engaging throughout the runtime, which are especially needed to offset all of the blasts and double bass sections, which have the potential to be monotous if they aren't reigned in. It's hard to even identity specific spots because there are so many of them, but 7:19 is especially salient, notably for the cymbal work in a calmer part.
One thing that puzzles me is how on many plays of these songs in general, how some things annoy me more over time, others grow on me, and yet others remain the same. For example, one contrast I noticed the first time through is how different the tom work sounds at 9:23 compared to 11:27. The former section ironically felt too dry and sparse at first, since it sounds like a rack tom and consequently typically too high-pitched for that type of part. Whereas the latter, while much more rhythmically simple, sounds like a lower-pitched floor tom with more reverb, which gives more weight and spaciousness to it. But what became obvious on later plays is that it's the rest of the arrangement around the part that changes the feel. The latter section still has the guitar arpeggios, but rather than the soft background vocal oohs, now has a tremolo-picked lead line that fills out some of the absent rhythms from the earlier passage.
The clean guitar tone is a bit plain, but there are enough layers of it in appropriate spots that it mitigates the issue, 5:08 being a perfect example, as it slowly builds over the next minute. Even the electric lead lines take a similar approach, such as at 7:50 where it adds an additional lead, making a tonal swarm out of them. Or 8:52, which brings back the section from 4:45, but this time with an extra melodic line.
Score: 7.5/10
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Sacul - Converge - "Jane Doe"
Early Impression - "This band is not nearly as noisy and is much more melodic than I remember them being a while back."
So this is a curious case where technically-speaking I've been saying that artists I've rated anything from 4.5 or 5.0 are hard-banned, but this is a rather unique situation, and I suppose there's more of a grey area in those ratings than I had anticipated. Their latest album Bloodmoon: I is rated 4.5 stars for me on RYM, but it's a collaboration with Chelsea Wolfe, one of my absolute favorite artists, and from everything I've read and what else I've heard from them, is quite different than all of their earlier material, and the rating is more for the contributions of Chelsea (and also Ben Chisholm, her production and atmospherics wizard) - it's less about Converge.
The zeitgeist among many of the music aficionados I knew in the mid-00s was all about Converge, the album this song was taken from in particular, so I had listened to this back then and didn't like it at all, and for a long time it had a quite low rating on my RYM account. But the album with Chelsea made me realize that since it's been such a long time, I probably need to reevaluate Converge more freshly. I listened to their album prior to this at that point and went down a bit of a rabbit hole of watching Kurt Ballou interviews, but my attention was diverted by other things before I ever got back around to revisiting Converge's earlier albums. So I'm quite glad I'm having the opportunity to give this another shot, and see if they can maintain my interest even without Chelsea and Ben's involvement.
And like my impression notes, this is much less chaotic and far more memorable than I had thought their output in this era had the potential to be based on my recollection. There is still some dissonant riffing going on at times, but it's just the right amount to not put me off, and it effectively contrasts with the more melodic chorus, which is more resplendent and melancholic than I realized they had the capability of being in this period. One of the things I like about melodic death metal is that contrast of heavier and lighter elements, and while obviously this is much more metalcore/punk-leaning, it captures a different flavor of that approach. One of the more interesting examples is also in the chorus, with three layers of melodicism happening simultaneously, with the primary vocal melody, the melodic guitar line on the left, and then at 2:17 on the left another guitar line begins with more of a flanged sound. There is also a lot more structure than I was expecting with repeated sections, and a serendipitously epic ending.
Additionally, the production is also much more listenable than I remember. My memory is of it being much muddier and murkier, and I'm unsure how much is just that over a decade and a half of listening to a variety of other music has made me much better at picking up things than I was back then. Both the guitar and drum engineering is quite full and crisper than I expected, the guitars are quite beefy, and the snare pops. A drum bit I especially liked is the little open hat and ride bell flourish at 2:45 and other spots. I also like the guitar line on the left at 6:18 with the flanger again, and the riff at 7:06, which is quite irresistible, especially with that unison bend and the harmonics. The bass is more felt than heard much of the time, but it does peak through in a few moments.
I can't directly factor it into the ranking, but I also watched the '16 Roadburn live version of this song with Brodsky, and might even prefer it to the original slightly, partially because it sounds like he might be using an HM2 pedal, which helps give it one of the more monstrous live tones I've heard. That's one of the things from Demiurg that I don't believe anyone really picked up on in any of the entries, but part of my interest in giving Converge another shot is that I know they cite Entombed as a major inspiration.
I'm still not generally crazy about hardcore-style vocals, but through exposure and familiarity I think Bannon's are slowly starting to grow on me. It's not really a tremendous leap from a favorite of mine like Tomas Lindberg, who has a lot of punk/hardcore influences. I'm not really diving into other songs on this album or on others in this time period yet, though from a limited sample it seems some of them might be wilder than this one, so I suppose I'm going to need to give them another listen in the near future as well, but for now, this is a good next step in reconsidering this band.
Score: 7.75/10
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Evermind - So Hideous - "Yesteryear"
Early Impression - "This seems like such an obvious pairing of genres that I'm surprised I can't think offhand of other bands who've done it."
By the impression I mean orchestral blackgaze, a merging of blackgaze and symphonic black metal. Perhaps there are others who play it, and I've just overlooked them because I'm not deep into the style, but it's a surprisingly effective sound. Apparently this also counts as screamo, which is curious since I've listened to very little in that genre, since it used to be the default disparaging term for people who knew nothing about extreme music to call anything with harsh vocals. But if this also counts as an example of that style it's proof that there is gold to be mined in genres like that that I'm unfamiliar with. Additionally, it's proggier than I expected, with the opening being in 7/4. A short video on the concept behind this revealed that the album/song has to do with brain activity seven minutes after death, so that is a fascinating tie-in.
This piece also confuses me, because in an objective sense at least for my standards, it's not mixed that well, feeling kind of hollow, with no lower midrange to the guitars, mostly just being a wash of sound, but perhaps there is just enough bass to make it work. The tone of the lead guitars is a highlight though, with some of that wooly Godspeed You! Black Emperor-esque overdrive. The melodies from the guitars and strings are really captivating. My favorite is probably over the cinematic chromatic-ish progression at 5:39. It probably would have been even better if a single violin played the line at some point rather than the whole string ensemble, but it's sublime enough that I can't complain too much.
I like the contrast of the sustained strings over the broken up bass drum patterns towards the end, it gives some variety from the more steady double bass of earlier in the song, and is a more unique choice when I suspect some bands would just be tempted to go into full blast mode at that point. I also don't like how quickly the fadeout at the end is - it's really abrupt, and I'd have preferred swelling to a final chord with a slow and held fadeout, but it's not enough to ding the score much.
Score: 7.75/10
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ariich - Stortregn - "Evocation of Light"
Early Impression - "I think you have definitely found the closest thing in the round to a doppelganger for my first song."
This is just a really solid cut, compacting many of the things about my first song in a somewhat streamlined package. The harsh vocals in the upper range are a bit reminiscent of Mikael Stanne, which is never a bad thing, particularly in this round. Guitar melodies abound, and they are fairly uniformly gratifying. 2:42 is a splendid transition, with the short slower melodic lead transforming into a beautiful nylon-string passage.
The drumming doesn't top Minnemann's or Abduction's in other submissions, but there are various delectable snippets here, like at 2:06 where it taps into one of my minor musical pleasure centers with the offbeat China. Or at 2:13 there's a bit of savory hat work, as well as at 2:35 and 4:14. Some of the tom fills are quite striking in how they quickly pan across the stereo spectrum, in a variety of spots, but a particularly dazzling moment being at 3:10. I also glad to have the bass audible.
Also in non-musical terms, I'm thrilled that this also has another Kristian Wåhlin cover.
Score: 8.25/10
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Elite - Wilderun - "Passenger"
Early Impression - "I think I've been sleeping on this band. They probably combine more elements of my two songs than any other band in this round, but also go some other places."
Well, it looks like we have your biggest hit yet. And with a band that I'd heard their latest two albums from, but wrote off as interesting, albeit not a high priority to check out further. Seems like I was wrong about that. They are compared a lot of Opeth, and as a pretty big Opeth fan, this type of comparison often piques my interest, but rarely do any of these bands turn out to be anywhere near as appealing. Well, we definitely have a new contender now that I'll have to pay more close attention to as I give their full albums another shot. I still don't think they sound that close to Opeth in totality, but I can hear that they have a similar approach in incorporating a wide array of types of sounds into an extreme metal context. And perhaps most critically, they have a songwriting sense of going unexpected places with chord changes that aren't really predictable unless you're familiar with their style. That sense of wonderment kept this as one of the more riveting listens of the round each time.
I'm not sure how they're going about executing the lower male choral vocals (they sound far better on the studio recording than in the behind the scenes production video I watched), but they're certainly a unique touch that sets them apart from Opeth and many other bands. They have some intoxicating harmonies starting at 3:41. In addition, both they and the vocals from the bass/keyboard player's wife provide a refreshing juxtaposition. I suppose the vocal stacking, along with the occasional usage of lydian mode makes this a good halfway point between Opeth and Devin Townsend. I also really like the vocal melody at 4:28, it is certainly one of the more enthralling moments of the song.
There are lots of delightful guitar moments, like the chords at 2:42. 5:10 has a neat flanged tone, though it was far too short. 7:34 is a rather unusual sound with the guitar chugs bouncing off of the muted upper guitar line. I'm kind of surprised given their ubiquity in the prog scene that there haven't been more songs sent so far with incorporation of cymbal stacks, but we have them briefly at a few spots like 5:46 and 7:07 in this song. I have a bit of an effects cymbal sweet tooth. Further, the symphonic elements of this piece fare better than in some of the earlier submissions - they're employed unobtrusively enough that they enhance, rather than detract from the proceedings. There is also a dash of mandolin in the song, and it can be seen in the music video, but hopefully other songs have even more of it.
Score: 8.5/10
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SoundscapeMN - In Vain - "Floating on the Murmuring Tide"
Early Impression - "This really hits on a lot of different things I like - I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to this artist earlier, but late is better than never."
I'm not sure I realized before this round just how much I like small, controlled amounts of guitar feedback, between the ending of the track from Black Anvil, certain moments of Morrow, and the opening of this cut. We even get a bit more of it in the section at 1:53 overtop of the sustained E-bow lines, which I'm thrilled that I'm getting a number of tracks with this round as well. With at times at least three of those sustaining layers, it's quite efficacious as a satisfying replacement for a keyboard or string pad.
I was unsure at first of what to make of the acoustic passage at 4:25, as sometimes I feel like I'm allergic to major keys in metal, but it actually worked unexpectedly well, especially once the slow melodic lead was integrated. 8:23 is probably my favorite solo of the round, with a sparkling tone, and with a savorous mixture of melodicism and bravura, and a tasty whammy dip at 8:34. Though like I've noted in a few other writeups, it does nettle me a bit when they fade a solo out at the end of a track, as they unfortunately do here. But this song does so much else right that I can't dock it too much for that.
Serendipitously, but I suppose appropriately given the broad theme of the round, this is the second vocalist who reminds me of Mikael Stanne, mostly with the baritone cleans at 6:14. And to complete the game of melodeath charades, the guitar harmony section at 7:17 is quite reminiscent of some Amorphis passages. The harsh vocals are pretty varied as well, I particularly like the stack of them at 0:49 and a few other moments.
It's curious how many of the songs this round have some form of orchestral backing, especially given that neither of my theme songs for the round had any of it. But they're utilized effectively enough here, and it helps that they're from live violin and cello players probably multi-tracking their parts to simulate a slightly larger ensemble. And of course the cherry on top is the two saxophone passages, I'm always glad to see them implemented in more melancholic and melodic ways.
Score: 8.5/10
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soupytwist - Seven Spires - "Gods of Debauchery"
Early Impression - "I think I'm slowly starting to see what the hype about this band is. The vocals are especially impressive."
Well, this roulette is certainly proving that there are many bands I've heard before, didn't really hit me initially, but over the course of a number of listens have blossomed. I'd heard their latest two albums and thought they were interesting, but didn't convince me at that point that I should spend more time with them.
The vocals here are easily the most impressive facet. Right from the opening harmonies I could tell this was going to be special, with the two vocal tracks moving independently between unison, dissonance, and more conventional harmonies. 5:52 is also a rather unusual powerful and gritty clean that I can't think offhand of a comparison for. And the harsh vocals move between a range of different pitches, my favorite of which are the upper range goblin-esque ones, which sound uncannily like some of Lauren Babic's. The pitch sweep up to them at 4:06 is quite exhilarating. I'm sort of surprised she doesn't have more frequent use of the small ensemble backing choral vocals like at 6:09, though I suppose they might be more impactful in smaller doses.
This song also has one of the better guitar tones in the round. The bass mostly stays in the background, but is always audible and has a few nice lines here and there, like at 5:15 and 7:57. I like how it establishes the At The Gates-ish main verse riff on its own first at 2:53 before it melds with the guitar riff. I also like the interplay of the guitar and keyboard riffs at 4:10. They're not playing quite the same riff like it initially almost sounds like they could be, but it's similar, and then it continues to work well when the guitar line goes down an octave. Additionally, this tune further confirms that there's something magical about a song resolving the root minor chord to major, and then going back to the VI chord, as it does at 2:25 and numerous other spots.
I'm certainly quite curious to revisit this album and the prior one again now that I have a better grasp on their sound. I like to think that after hearing thousands of albums that I have an ear for noticing fairly quickly if something new will be worth devoting more time to, but as bands like they and Wilderun this round demonstrate, I don't always get that right.
Score: 8.75/10
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Nachtmerrie - Rannoch - "Despair"
Early Impression - "Now This is how guitars should sound."
Wow, this one doesn't waste any time. That first riff is spellbinding, it's like this swirl of chromatic concentric circles. It seems like a riff someone must have come up with before, but I can't think of anything else like it. I'm not sure whether it's more arresting in the higher or the lower octave like on successive repeats, or when it's harmonized later at 3:10. And you don't have to wait long for it to let it ring out for a bit at 0:40, something surprisingly few more technically-adept bands give space for - they often feel the need to cram every single nook and cranny with more notes. And the guitar tone there is just immense, easily the best of the round.
At 1:39 we get some beautiful downtuned acoustics, some ethereal sustained guitar melodies, and a powerful bass tone at 1:51. So not even two minutes into the song and we have more timbral variety than it takes many bands a whole album to bring out. They kind of remind me of a meatier-sounding and faster Daylight Dies. Starting at 2:05 is fascinating to listen to the two different rhythm tracks panned on either side playing similar, but not quite identical parts that work together well. 3:50 is another flavorful tone that I'm sure has been done before by someone earlier, but the distinctive sound of the left rhythm guitar emphasizing the 5th has this harmonic bite to it that reminds me of TesseracT at times. The riff is quite simple, and lesser bands might make it seem monotonous in keeping it going for too long, but the drum pattern is constantly evolving to keep it engaging, particularly once the ride starts synchronizing with the riff at 4:09. And then a different riff momentarily breaks it up, for it to return with the soundscapes in the background becoming more salient.
I'm sure some of the drums are triggered, but they have a fair amount of oomph and avoid the trap of being clicky-sounding that too many bands fall into.
This song really has everything. I was not expecting the riffing to seamlessly transition into a dark ambient passage towards the 6-minute mark, and then just as smoothly to move into a folkier passage with acoustics, percussion, and some Alice In Chains-ish vocal harmonies, and then the delightful harmony and octave dual lead section. In just those two minutes and the first two they accomplish what many bands are unable to in an entire career. This is what makes all of these listens so worth it, to find both bands I've heard of or casually listened to and overlooked, and others like this one that I wasn't even aware existed, but now will hopefully be a favorite for years to come if their other songs are anywhere near this good.
Score: 9/10
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Standings:
SoundscapeMN ----------------- 34
Nachtmerrie --------------------- 33
TAC ------------------------------- 32.75
HOF -------------------------------- 31.75
Evermind --------------------------- 31.25
ariich -------------------------------- 31
soupytwist --------------------------- 31
Lethean ------------------------------- 30.5
senecadawg2 -------------------------- 30.25
Stadler ---------------------------------- 30
Sacul ------------------------------------- 29.75
Vmadera00 ------------------------------- 29.75
Tomislav95 ------------------------------ 29.5
Elite ------------------------------------ 29.25
Buddyhunter1 ------------------------ 28.75
twosuitluke -------------------------- 28.75
Puppies_On_Acid ------------------- 28.5
Crow -------------------------------- 27.25
romdrums ------------------------- 14.25 (had to drop out after the second round)
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I'll post the topic songs for round 5 tomorrow.
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Wow, Results already! Nice.
I'll take the 7.5.
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I think you should post them now. Very curious about what genre I'm going to have to come up with.
I thought my song would be considered post metal. I can live with that score though.
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Slipping, but maybe the next mystery songs will be kinder to me.
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I think you should post them now. Very curious about what genre I'm going to have to come up with.
Nah, I like a bit of breathing space between results and starting the next round, both for me to decompress and for other people to take some time and read other writeups if they want more clues about what things I like and don't like as much.
I thought my song would be considered post metal. I can live with that score though.
Their Bandcamp says black metal/ambient/art rock/minimalism, Rate Your Music says atmospheric black metal, Metal-Archives says atmospheric/post-black metal. Stir that in a cauldron and I guess it's somewhere in there. It's just not heavy like a lot of post-metal is, though I suppose it's a broad enough style that less heavy but still metallic music can fit under it.
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Nah, I like a bit of breathing space between results and starting the next round, both for me to decompress and for other people to take some time and read other writeups if they want more clues about what things I like and don't like as much.
It's extremely rare for me to read the other writeups. :lol
Oh, and you have a roulette to sign up for.
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I know, I haven't had time to read it yet. :)
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My goal is to now get one 8/10 before this roulette is over. :lol
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If round 3 had been a single song round and you'd only sent "Death Drop" you'd already have it. :D
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Nice, a definite improvement! Glad you liked it. Interested to know what you thought of that more recent and frantic Stortregn song you'd checked out from someone else's roulette!
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we stay mildly succeeding :hat
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Wow! That went a lot better than previous round. I liked the write-up too, it’s cool to read how you dissect songs and what stuff you pay attention to. Now go enjoy the rest of their music!
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Me and Crow bringing up the rear. All is right in the universe :neverusethis:
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I feared this result; it's good to know my instincts aren't wrong. Onwards and upwards!
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Can't wait to send this round's mystery songs through my Metal Converter.
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SoundscapeMN - In Vain - "Floating on the Murmuring Tide"
Early Impression - "This really hits on a lot of different things I like - I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to this artist earlier, but late is better than never."
I'm not sure I realized before this round just how much I like small, controlled amounts of guitar feedback, between the ending of the track from Black Anvil, certain moments of Morrow, and the opening of this cut. We even get a bit more of it in the section at 1:53 overtop of the sustained E-bow lines, which I'm thrilled that I'm getting a number of tracks with this round as well. With at times at least three of those sustaining layers, it's quite efficacious as a satisfying replacement for a keyboard or string pad.
I was unsure at first of what to make of the acoustic passage at 4:25, as sometimes I feel like I'm allergic to major keys in metal, but it actually worked unexpectedly well, especially once the slow melodic lead was integrated. 8:23 is probably my favorite solo of the round, with a sparkling tone, and with a savorous mixture of melodicism and bravura, and a tasty whammy dip at 8:34. Though like I've noted in a few other writeups, it does nettle me a bit when they fade a solo out at the end of a track, as they unfortunately do here. But this song does so much else right that I can't dock it too much for that.
Serendipitously, but I suppose appropriately given the broad theme of the round, this is the second vocalist who reminds me of Mikael Stanne, mostly with the baritone cleans at 6:14. And to complete the game of melodeath charades, the guitar harmony section at 7:17 is quite reminiscent of some Amorphis passages. The harsh vocals are pretty varied as well, I particularly like the stack of them at 0:49 and a few other moments.
It's curious how many of the songs this round have some form of orchestral backing, especially given that neither of my theme songs for the round had any of it. But they're utilized effectively enough here, and it helps that they're from live violin and cello players probably multi-tracking their parts to simulate a slightly larger ensemble. And of course the cherry on top is the two saxophone passages, I'm always glad to see them implemented in more melancholic and melodic ways.
Score: 8.5/10
I'm actually unfamiliar with both Black Anvil, Morrow? and Mikael Stanne. But I probably should check them out.
I think among other things, the way In Vain uses non-traditional instrumentation (Sax especially) with Metal is 1 of the big reasons I wondered if you'd enjoy them.
edit: Stanne is with Dark Tranquillity and was in Hammerfall and In Flames? go figure. I know them, but not the band members names so much :p.
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Cool!
Two rounds in the top 2, and two rounds in the bottom 2.
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Fair score and about what I expected :)
The band came out with a new album last year which is pretty good (IMO). I like their style a bit more than other black metal bands.
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You made my day with this score!
New album should be out this year with Dan Presland (former Ne Obliviscaris) taking care of the drums.
Your reviews continue to impress me. A lot of focus on details while you have a lot of music to digest in a few days. :hefdaddy
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So here are the songs for round 5. I'm sure we're now way out of the wheelhouse of some people, but hopefully at least somewhat into that of others.
Marissa Nadler - "Under an Old Umbrella" - from The Saga of Mayflower May, 2005
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCTDMzeJdv4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCTDMzeJdv4)
Vila - "Liminal Space" - from the Liminal Space EP, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rG9CBUvH-Y (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rG9CBUvH-Y)
Louise Lemón - "Egyptian Darkness" - from the Purge EP, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgK7QwMc_8U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgK7QwMc_8U)
Send back one song reminiscent of one or more of these to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com. Youtube links are best, but I'll accept almost anything.
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I'm actually unfamiliar with both Black Anvil, Morrow?...But I probably should check them out.
Well, I'm not that familiar with them either, just that they were two of the other submissions this round, so I know a song from each, plus a bit of background research.
Cool!
Two rounds in the top 2, and two rounds in the bottom 2.
The anti-ariich! :coolio
New album should be out this year with Dan Presland (former Ne Obliviscaris) taking care of the drums.
Ooh, nice, it's always great to get into bands and discover that new material is just around the corner. Hopefully Dan shows a bit more double bass restraint than on "Forget Not" from round two though. ;D
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Sent!
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The Metal Converter hath spoken and I am sent too.
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Well my options here are limited but I think I've got an ace up my sleeve.
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I has sent!
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Alrighty, this round is right up my alley but the challenge will be finding something you either don't already know or hasn't already been sent earlier in the roulette. :lol
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Sent.
I like those songs and in theory play to my listening habits. So based on how this roulette is going for me I'll be in the bottom 3!
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Sent.
I like those songs and in theory play to my listening habits. So based on how this roulette is going for me I'll be in the bottom 3!
I'll fight you for that bottom.three slot dude!
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sent.
This round was definitely a case of not necessarily what artist to send, but what song from that artist per the artist I sent has has several good tracks to send.
That Louise Lemon piece is really good; per I am going to want to hear more from them.
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Sent something :corn
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Sent!
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Listening to the songs right now!
Marissa Nadler - "Under an Old Umbrella" - from The Saga of Mayflower May, 2005
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCTDMzeJdv4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCTDMzeJdv4)
Vila - "Liminal Space" - from the Liminal Space EP, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rG9CBUvH-Y (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rG9CBUvH-Y)
Man, this is very good, right up my alley. If I ever host another roulette - which will probably happen this year unless I'm drafted, imprisoned or gone into hiding - I hope you'll participate.
The problem is, you know most of the artists I wanted to send in this round, Joan Baez is 4/5 on RYM, A.A. Williams is also 4/5, I'm going to go dig deeper for this one.
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That Louise Lemon piece is really good; per I am going to want to hear more from them.
Definitely check out the full Purge album to start, which has the songs of the EP plus a few more. I struggled for a long time with what third song to send because it could so heavily influence the direction of the songs I receive, and it's hard to get all the elements I'm looking for in just a small batch of songs. I still failed in fully capturing it but it was a start. I dismissed that song at first because I tend to prefer people only be influenced by the sound and not the visual aesthetics, and the other two copies of it on Youtube are a low-quality rip and one that attaches a separate song at the end. But I decided ultimately that it having a music video was a silly reason to reject it, it does too many things well that I like that complement the other two.
If I ever host another roulette - which will probably happen this year unless I'm drafted, imprisoned or gone into hiding - I hope you'll participate.
If I'm not rouletted out by then I'm sure I will, I have years of song-sending catchup to do compared to everyone here.
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btw Sacul sent Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Funny Time of Year
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Lots of people trying to make their songs do double or triple-duty in roulettes, so I also wondered if that could be a possibility. :) If he sends it I'll have to reject it though, I've already listened to it several times from Tomi's roulette. Another song from them could work though, I don't know her solo career as well as Portishead.
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Sent!
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This was a round I was looking forward to from the start. I've gone with something rather terrifying.
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The problem is, you know most of the artists I wanted to send in this round, Joan Baez is 4/5 on RYM, A.A. Williams is also 4/5, I'm going to go dig deeper for this one.
Indeed. Also Susanne Sundfor, 4/5. And some idiots used up Marketa Irglova and Loreena McKennitt in earlier rounds. :P
Anyway I've got a great choice that doesn't seem to be banned. A song I love and a great match to the first of the mystery songs IMO.
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A reminder again that I will sometimes take music from albums I've rated 4.0 or lower if I'm not overly familiar with them, although for most of the artists mentioned above I do know them too well to fairly accept them.
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A reminder again that I will sometimes take music from albums I've rated 4.0 or lower if I'm not overly familiar with them, although for most of the artists mentioned above I do know them too well to fairly accept them.
I do find that quite surprising as 4.0 is a good score - for me 4.0 or more used to be the cut-off for the artist completely, although more recently I've tended to just say if I've rated the album it's banned, if I've not then it's good to go even if I've rated other albums by that artist highly.
Anyway, sent!
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Generally if I rate an album by an artist 4.5 or higher that means they made a connection with me, and I consider them a favorite on some level and will likely listen to them more in the future (or have already exhausted them). Even if they have other albums I haven't heard yet, those aren't the sort of artists I need to be reminded of in a roulette, and it's kind of unfair to the other entries.
You might have slightly different criteria for rating albums than me, and might have more listens sunk into lower-rated albums that lessen the likelihood there's more to be gained from additional listens. There are lots of albums that I've rated lower and only heard once or twice. Those have the potential to grow on me, and was the case for Saga and Converge in earlier rounds (though I'd wiped my rating for Jane Doe well before the roulette), and didn't work so well for Woe of Tyrants.
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Sent something new
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Sent an incredibly underrated band.
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Sent...something... :corn
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Replied. :facepalm:
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Replied. :facepalm:
Son of a.....
It was Ariich, I know it!
You're on my shit list now Ariich :biggrin:
edit: and the only reason I know that is because Kattelox isn't around :lol
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Re-sent :corn
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:corn
Very curious about what you tried to send...
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Replied. :facepalm:
Son of a.....
It was Ariich, I know it!
You're on my shit list now Ariich :biggrin:
edit: and the only reason I know that is because Kattelox isn't around :lol
Ah is Josh not allowing two people to send the same artist in the same round? That seems harsh when there are so many players.
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"Harsh"? You guys know how much music is out there, right? ;D
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Sure, although 1. a lot of it isn't very good, and 2. we can only send what we know which, even for people like me and Pup, is a small fraction of what's out there.
That said I think we all ban sent artists from future rounds. The main reason I stopped blocking people duplicating in the same round a few roulettes ago was because I'm not a fan of first-come-first-serve.
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*listening to the first two songs* oh my god liiho you're gonna kill this crowd *listening to the third song* oh well okay maybe not quite as much
figuring out something to send and will so so shortly
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I dunno, every round I've come up with several artists that either are not on the Banned List and only are wishlisted on rym.
Maybe it's just me? but I think there's still a lot of music out there that fits the criteria/style that he doesn't know, unless you're someone who in certain styles only are into a select few artists, most of which are either on the Banned list or already sent.
Or I guess it helps to be someone who seeks out a lot obscure music that barely anyone knows? lol.
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Sure, although 1. a lot of it isn't very good, and 2. we can only send what we know which, even for people like me and Pup, is a small fraction of what's out there.
That said I think we all ban sent artists from future rounds. The main reason I stopped blocking people duplicating in the same round a few roulettes ago was because I'm not a fan of first-come-first-serve.
Well, I'm open to ideas, and there's some situational flexibility. Particularly when for some styles some people just aren't going to have as large of libraries, but that's part of why I've been fine with accepting completely different styles, since you can find common threads across genres. It might be riskier, but my scores are evidence that it can work. But having two people with the same song, and thus the exact same ranking and writeup doesn't seem optimal. So the options are to have one of them pick something different (but which one, if submission order isn't relevant?) If it's a different song by the same artist, I suppose that's at least workable, though it feels less than ideal, and I'd rather be exposed to different artist. I understand I'm probably biased in likely having one of the larger music libraries here, but if it's not a huge imposition for others I just prefer receiving a greater variety of different artists. I'm sure once we reach the EP round I'm probably going to by necessity have to be more accepting of duplicates, both across submitters and in my own collection.
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Sure, although 1. a lot of it isn't very good, and 2. we can only send what we know which, even for people like me and Pup, is a small fraction of what's out there.
That said I think we all ban sent artists from future rounds. The main reason I stopped blocking people duplicating in the same round a few roulettes ago was because I'm not a fan of first-come-first-serve.
Well, I'm open to ideas, and there's some situational flexibility. Particularly when for some styles some people just aren't going to have as large of libraries, but that's part of why I've been fine with accepting completely different styles, since you can find common threads across genres. It might be riskier, but my scores are evidence that it can work. But having two people with the same song, and thus the exact same ranking and writeup doesn't seem optimal. So the options are to have one of them pick something different (but which one, if submission order isn't relevant?) If it's a different song by the same artist, I suppose that's at least workable, though it feels less than ideal, and I'd rather be exposed to different artist. I understand I'm probably biased in likely having one of the larger music libraries here, but if it's not a huge imposition for others I just prefer receiving a greater variety of different artists. I'm sure once we reach the EP round I'm probably going to by necessity have to be more accepting of duplicates, both across submitters and in my own collection.
Oh it's really no problem for me. I mean I'm working with a music library that's 100,000 songs deep now. Finding a replacement was easy.
However, that was the first song I thought of after listening to all 3 songs you posted and as soon as I saw you replied to my email, I knew Ariich had already sent it :rollin
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Particularly when for some styles some people just aren't going to have as large of libraries, but that's part of why I've been fine with accepting completely different styles, since you can find common threads across genres.
Yeah that's very true, and one of the good things about your approach to the mystery songs.
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This round I think my song is closer to the mystery songs than other songs I've sent. I actually feel confident :lol
I was worried about being cock blocked, but I think realistically it was only Tomi who had a chance may of sending the same band.
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I'm 100% sure we didn't send the same band :P
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The main reason I stopped blocking people duplicating in the same round a few roulettes ago was because I'm not a fan of first-come-first-serve.
I'm not a fan of disallowing duplicate submission, but I agree it's up to the host. Also this:
Particularly when for some styles some people just aren't going to have as large of libraries, but that's part of why I've been fine with accepting completely different styles, since you can find common threads across genres.
Yeah that's very true, and one of the good things about your approach to the mystery songs.
Litho has been very fair and not strict about "themes" at all, so no ragequits complaints from me.
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1. a lot of it isn't very good
:hifive:
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1. a lot of it isn't very good
:hifive:
I didn't see the context for this and thought this was a first impression. :rollin
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Just every song summarized into 1 impression
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The main reason I stopped blocking people duplicating in the same round a few roulettes ago was because I'm not a fan of first-come-first-serve.
I'm not a fan of disallowing duplicate submission, but I agree it's up to the host.
So you guys just give multiple people the same score and writeups? And what if you had a system where rather than scoring you ranked them?
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The main reason I stopped blocking people duplicating in the same round a few roulettes ago was because I'm not a fan of first-come-first-serve.
I'm not a fan of disallowing duplicate submission, but I agree it's up to the host.
So you guys just give multiple people the same score and writeups? And what if you had a system where rather than scoring you ranked them?
I've only ran one roulette where I used rankings, and I don't remember having the same songs.
But I do believe I've had the same song sent to me in a round, maybe even a couple of times, and it's just one less writeup that I have to do.
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Oops, forgot to comment on my submission. Yeah that's fair, I feel this track is very powerful as a closer as it balances the melodic side and the extreme harshness with the song's theme. My interpretation is that the whole album is about breakup and the grief of separation, and on this final song, the other person becomes a stranger, and the pain is just too much, hence the final screams near the end that are just pure agony.
Anyway, time to send some ballad I guess.
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The main reason I stopped blocking people duplicating in the same round a few roulettes ago was because I'm not a fan of first-come-first-serve.
I'm not a fan of disallowing duplicate submission, but I agree it's up to the host.
So you guys just give multiple people the same score and writeups? And what if you had a system where rather than scoring you ranked them?
I've only ran one roulette where I used rankings, and I don't remember having the same songs.
But I do believe I've had the same song sent to me in a round, maybe even a couple of times, and it's just one less writeup that I have to do.
Yeah, I'd rather have the additional song. :)
My PSA would be in general for everyone in future submissions to have a backup selection in mind in case it happens, preferably a different artist, but if you're desperate enough another song from the original artist will be ok.
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Just an hour ago, I was on the subway on my way home from an art-rock gig from a local band I'm fond of, and suddenly I realized I had a perfect artist for this round, Melody Gardot, and I totally forgot about her when I was considering what to send. My thought process was "man, this is what I should've sent" -> "oh shit, I've got to ask Litho to change my entry" -> "eh, he probably knows her anyway" -> "but what if he doesn't".
I came home and yeah, figures
(https://s1.hostingkartinok.com/uploads/images/2023/02/59573a0f4181b91e6122daf662fcf6c0.png)
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Heh, funny that you thought of her this round and not from the Sara Gazarek song in round 2. Was there a particular song you were thinking of? I probably would've rejected it because as your image proves, I did like her enough to purchase several of her albums on CD, but I haven't listened to them in a few years and wouldn't mind the nostalgia.
And interestingly, that image must be from a sorting mechanism that only shows albums of her's I own and have rated, because there's another CD of her's I have catalogued but never got around to rating, and another I don't own, but have heard and rated. And yet another that is wishlisted.
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Lot of damn names I've never heard of in this round. :lol
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Hah, wait 'til everyone sends and I post hangman.
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Heh, funny that you thought of her this round and not from the Sara Gazarek song in round 2. Was there a particular song you were thinking of? I probably would've rejected it because as your image proves, I did like her enough to purchase several of her albums on CD, but I haven't listened to them in a few years and wouldn't mind the nostalgia.
And interestingly, that image must be from a sorting mechanism that only shows albums of her's I own and have rated, because there's another CD of her's I have catalogued but never got around to rating, and another I don't own, but have heard and rated. And yet another that is wishlisted.
Nah, I've just cut the image so it doesn't take that much space. Full thing looked like this:
(https://s1.hostingkartinok.com/uploads/images/2023/02/7a0d56f2f1c6b48ff9f3040529fe7758.png)
I thought of sending If Ever I Recall Your Face.
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Ah yeah, that's a nice one. It's kind of in-between the feel of this round and "Lonely Hours". "Goodnite" on the Putumayo compilation in the image (and also on Worrisome Heart) is actually what turned me onto her.
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I just thought it was a better fit for this round than my song. However I'm listening to my song again and I'm 100% behind it, score be damned.
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I've been listening to the songs, but don't know exactly what to send yet :(
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I've been listening to the songs, but don't know exactly what to send yet :(
You live in a country that probably has per capita more vocalists I like than any other. Getting at least an 8 this round should be a shoe-in. No pressure. :p
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I've been listening to the songs, but don't know exactly what to send yet :(
WTF? :lol
Let's go Gandma!
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You're gonna have to get on your secretary too, she's also tardy.
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She's at the spa on the weekends.
Maybe she'll send you a band you hate too. :lol
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Looks like nobody sent iamthemorning. :lol
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horizontal hangman is real
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Yeah, I'm trying to do it from Google Drive now, but it turns out that repasting edits from there is complicated, so I had to quickly throw back up the Excel version, and you caught it before I added back in the line breaks. Growing pains...
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H for hangman
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Nails are done, song is sent!!! :)
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Stadlate :neverusethis:
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Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Mysteries
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Also a shot in the dark but
Beth Hart - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
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(https://media.tenor.com/cWNpE2earJkAAAAC/chris-pratt-rubbing-hands.gif)
Time to start guessing participants who aren't actually in the roulette.
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Also a shot in the dark but
Beth Hart - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Hmmmmm.
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T
Also a shot in the dark but
Beth Hart - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Hmmmmm.
Is this J-boy?
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??? : ____h ____ – _t___ __ __
??? : Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – Mysteries
??? : _h_ _____ ______ – _____ ___ ___
??? : T_____ – ___ht ____ ___t____ ____ th_ ___
??? : ________ _____ _h_____ – _______
??? : ____h H____ – __th
??? : ______ H_____ – ___ ____ th_ ___th
??? : __ _____ – _____
??? : _t ______t – _t_____ _____
??? : ________ – _______
??? : ____h _ H_____ – _____th th_ ____
??? : _____ ___ – _h_t ___h___ ____ ______
??? : ______ ___ – _____ h_____ ___ _ h____ þ____ h_____
??? : ____ ____ – Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
??? : _____ H__t__ – ____tt_ _t______ __ __ ______
??? : H________ – _______
??? : _____t __th – _____h
??? : ____ __ ____ – _______ ______
Guessed letters: þht
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E!
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Beth Hart - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Close, but Beth Hart was hard-banned.
Beth Hart - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Hmmmmm.
Is this J-boy?
Time to start guessing participants who aren't actually in the roulette.
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Beth Hart - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Close, but Beth Hart was hard-banned.
Why? Because she's so awful?
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You were just about the last person on the forum I'd have expected to have a problem with someone turning the air blue.
Guessed letters: þht
Also, this is amusing since the closest translation of "þ" in English is "th". You guys were onto something!
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What does turn the air blue mean? :lol
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Beth Hart - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Close, but Beth Hart was hard-banned.
I'd say Joan Baez but I thought she's also banned?
Otherwise, no idea then.
Beth Hart - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Close, but Beth Hart was hard-banned.
Why? Because she's so awful?
Have you heard her work? I actually think you'd dig some of it.
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I think it was Chad that sent me her cover of Babe I'm Gonna Leave You and I thought it was brutal.
Seems I actually saw her open for DT in '96 I think. I have zero recollection, but my wife said that all she did was swear.
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Beth Hart - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Close, but Beth Hart was hard-banned.
I'd say Joan Baez but I thought she's also banned?
It's her, and nope, she wasn't banned, if you check the list and my RYM, it's 4.5 and 5.0 artists that are banned. I've heard an album or two and a few songs, but I'm not that well-versed in her material. If you're referring to the exchange a few pages ago of candidates people tossed out I already know too well, that was more referring to A.A. Williams and Susanne Sundfor.
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Joan Baez's version, live from 1962, is pretty solid. It's one of the first things that Page and Plant listened to together, and formed a fair amount of the blue print for not only their version on the first album, but also the band in general ("light and dark").
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Joan Baez's version, live from 1962, is pretty solid.
Trying to put the Galahad/mew curse on the poor soul who sent this, sneaky. :)
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D
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??? : ____h ____ – _t___ __ __
??? : Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – Mysteries
??? : _he ___ee D_____ – ____d _ed ___
??? : T____e – ___ht ____ ___te___ _ee_ the ___
??? : ______ed _____ _h_e___ – _e_____
??? : _e__h H___e – __th
??? : ______ He_d__ – ___ ____ the ___th
??? : __ _____ – ____e
??? : _t ____e_t – _t____e _e___
??? : _____d__ – ___de__
??? : ____h _ H_____ – _e_e_th the ___e
??? : De___ ___ – _h_t ___he__ ____ _e___e
??? : ______ ___ – _ed__ h__d__ ___ _ he_d_ þ____ h_____
??? : Joan Baez – Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
??? : _____ H__te_ – ___ette _t___ded __ __ _____d
??? : He____ee_ – _______
??? : ____et __th – _____h
??? : ____ __ _e__ – _____de ___d_e
Guessed letters: þhted
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Crippled Black Phoenix - Nebulas
for what it's worth, Litho, this band was the safer option I mentioned in my PM :lol
not this song tho i don't actually know this one
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Yep. Which song were you considering?
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Julian Holter
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"Julia", but close enough.
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Now that is Crow
No one gonna guess Helloween?
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Not The Three Degrees?
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Yep, yep, nope.
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Julian Holter
Nice, shame the song is not I Shall Love 2, but Lucette Stranded on the Island is a an ok choice.
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Let's get an A
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(https://media.tenor.com/13ku4fLxqw8AAAAC/no-more-letters-ellie-haworth.gif)
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N
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??? : _a_ah ____ – _t___ __ __
??? : Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – Mysteries
??? : _he A__ee D___a_ – ____d _ed __n
??? : T____e – N__ht ____ N__te___ _ee_ the __n
??? : Crippled Black Phoenix – Nebulas
??? : _ea_h H___e – __th
??? : __n__a He_da_ – ___ ____ the N__th
??? : __ __a__ – ____e
??? : _t __n_ent – _t_an_e _e___
??? : _a_and_a – ___de__
??? : ___ah _ H_n__n – _eneath the ___e
??? : De__a ___ – _hat ___he__ _an_ _e___e
??? : _a__na ___ – _edan h_nd_n __n _ hend_ þ_nn_ h_____
??? : Joan Baez – Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Crow: Julia Holter – Lucette Stranded on an Island
??? : Helloween – __n__n_
??? : ____et __th – ____ah
??? : ____ __ _e__ – _____de ___d_e
Guessed letters: þhtedan
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Helloween in this round? :lol Is that Stadler or TAC?
Genuinely curious what was the reasoning behind sending Helloween. Was it "three songs Litho posted had a woman singing and Pink Bubbles Go Ape album cover has a woman on it"? :biggrin:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru/e/e3/Helloween_%E2%80%94_Pink_Bubbles_Go_Ape.jpg)
Edit: oh, the song is not Mankind, it's Longing, that makes a bit more sense!
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Helloween in this round? :lol ...TAC?
Genuinely curious what was the reasoning behind sending Helloween...Edit: oh, the song is not Mankind, it's Longing, that makes a bit more sense!
My thinking is more that it's the only slow song in his library and the best chance to sneak his favorite vocalist in. :)
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.
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F
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Beach House
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Helloween in this round? :lol Is that Stadler or TAC?
Genuinely curious what was the reasoning behind sending Helloween. Was it "three songs Litho posted had a woman singing and Pink Bubbles Go Ape album cover has a woman on it"? :biggrin:
Edit: oh, the song is not Mankind, it's Longing, that makes a bit more sense!
When I was listening to the first mystery song, Longing instinctively started playing in my head, not so much thinking to send, but it just hit me. Then while listening to the second mystery song, I noticed there was a little bit of dissonance in it, and Longing also has a small bit of it as well.
So...I went with it.
Helloween in this round? :lol ...TAC?
Genuinely curious what was the reasoning behind sending Helloween...Edit: oh, the song is not Mankind, it's Longing, that makes a bit more sense!
My thinking is more that it's the only slow song in his library and the best chance to sneak his favorite vocalist in. :)
So yes, there's that too! ;D
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Helloween in this round? :lol Is that Stadler or TAC?
Genuinely curious what was the reasoning behind sending Helloween. Was it "three songs Litho posted had a woman singing and Pink Bubbles Go Ape album cover has a woman on it"? :biggrin:
Edit: oh, the song is not Mankind, it's Longing, that makes a bit more sense!
When I was listening to the first mystery song, Longing instinctively started playing in my head, not so much thinking to send, but it just hit me. Then while listening to the second mystery song, I noticed there was a little bit of dissonance in it, and Longing also has a small bit of it as well.
So...I went with it.
I looked at __n__n_ in hangman and thought the song was Mankind. I was flabbergasted. :lol
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It takes Stadler to make that level of interconnection between songs. :)
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It takes Stadler to make that level of interconnection between songs. :)
:tup
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(https://media.tenor.com/13ku4fLxqw8AAAAC/no-more-letters-ellie-haworth.gif)
Who is that actress?
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Felicity Jones.
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F
You missed this one.
M
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It takes Stadler to make that level of interconnection between songs. :)
Which is why he was my first guess even though I know Tim loves Kiske. :lol
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Didn't miss it, I mostly update two letters at a time.
??? : _a_ah F_mm – _t___ _f __
??? : Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – Mysteries
??? : _he A_mee D___a_ – ____d _ed __n
??? : T_m__e – N__ht ____ N__te___ _ee_ the __n
??? : Crippled Black Phoenix – Nebulas
??? : Beach House – M_th
??? : M_n__a He_da_ – ___ F__m the N__th
??? : __ __a__ – F___e
??? : _t __n_ent – _t_an_e Me___
??? : _a_and_a – ___de__
??? : M__ah _ H_n__n – _eneath the ___e
??? : De__a ___ – _hat ___he__ _an_ _ef__e
??? : Ma__na ___ – Medan h_nd_n m_n _ hend_ þ_nn_ h_____
??? : Joan Baez – Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Crow: Julia Holter – Lucette Stranded on an Island
TAC: Helloween – Longing
??? : ____et M_th – ___mah
??? : F___ _f _e__ – _____de ___d_e
Guessed letters: þhtedanfm
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Sarah Fimm
Che Aimee Dorval
dacul, i don't know how to tell you that i don't care about any julia holter albums besides have you in my wilderness
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:corn
Yes on Fimm and Dorval.
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dacul, i don't know how to tell you that i don't care about any julia holter albums besides have you in my wilderness
I tried that album a couple of years ago and that was it for my Julia Holter discovery phase, I remember I gave it one spin and didn't like it :biggrin: I don't even remember what I didn't like, I should maybe spin it again.
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This might be my favorite part of roulettes.
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Beach House - Myth
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dacul, i don't know how to tell you that i don't care about any julia holter albums besides have you in my wilderness
I tried that album a couple of years ago and that was it for my Julia Holter discovery phase, I remember I gave it one spin and didn't like it :biggrin: I don't even remember what I didn't like, I should maybe spin it again.
i can't imagine it's your thing but then again it's been like twenty years since your last roulette so idk what evermind-core is anymore
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Ok, still being relatively new to these roulettes, I'm coming across a dilemma, which might have affected some past rounds slightly, but could affect this round more, as well as future ones, so I want to put it on the table now. Most of the songs I receive are studio versions, but a few are live recordings. Obviously sometimes there are no live recordings (or only ones recorded on cell phones), and while they haven't come up in this roulette, I know there are songs with only live recordings and no studio versions. When I'm doing research, I will often find the other that you didn't send (a live or a studio recording) and listen to it for context if it's available, but it doesn't directly impact my score for the song.
If you've read many of my writeups, you've probably noticed I tend to like a lot of the production details you sometimes find in a studio recording and often are absent in live recordings. This can make more of a difference for me than the average DTF member, I suspect. But also, sometimes there's something different about the studio vs. live recordings that can be even more substantial, like a different arrangement, different special guests and such, which can really shift how the song comes across. The Greg Herriges song a few rounds ago was a perfect example of this.
So I'm trying to decide what's fair now. I'm wondering if I should have an ongoing rule starting next round that if there is a studio and a live version that I notice (or you point out to me), I will listen to both and pick the one I like better. I don't think I can retroactively apply this rule to this or prior rounds and be fair, because it might have changed what songs or performances other people sent.
Any thoughts on the matter? I don't know how this has been handled in previous roulettes (surely it's come up? I can't be that idiosyncratic, can I?). I know some have specifically had rounds geared towards live versions of songs, but it can affect any song. This might be a consequence of me trying to learn more about the artist/song than average, but I surely can't be the first to have this concern.
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Shouldn't it just be the version that the person sends you? If I really wanted you to score based on the live version, that's what I'd send in the first place. But if you do listen to it and like it better, I don't see why you couldn't use it.
In my roulette I did that once- heard the live version and really liked it so I kind of just abandoned the studio version. Since that song won the round, I don't think the sender (Stadler) minded. :)
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Sent for the next round early. Check your email for the reason why :biggrin:
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Shouldn't it just be the version that the person sends you? If I really wanted you to score based on the live version, that's what I'd send in the first place. But if you do listen to it and like it better, I don't see why you couldn't use it.
In my roulette I did that once- heard the live version and really liked it so I kind of just abandoned the studio version. Since that song won the round, I don't think the sender (Stadler) minded. :)
It's curious that you say that, since yours in round 2 was actually the first time I noticed this could be an issue, because the first link you sent me was to a live version, and we talked about that via PM, and you said to go with the studio version instead. I'm not sure that particular example would have made a difference, they were similar enough. Sacul's Converge submission last round is what started making me second guess this, because it's possible given more listens I might have preferred the '16 Roadburn version of "Jane Doe". But this round, while it's still early, I've found at least one where the version sent might be inferior (at least for my tastes) to the opposite (studio/live), so I want to get ahead of this before it bugs me even more.
And this doesn't even get into submissions where people don't even send links, they just tell me the artist and song. That's generally not a huge deal, but sometimes songs are rerecorded, and some people who are true audiophiles and even nitpickier than me will have massive preferences for particular remasters from specific years and such (that has already come up, but the difference was subtle enough for me not to care).
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I’d say grade the version people send you and don’t make extra work for yourself. :-)
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Mine was just a screw up, but as you said I don't think the versions are all that different anyway. :) I just didn't look too closely at the youtube video and it didn't say live so it never crossed my mind.
If you had scored it on the live version it would have been my own fault so I wouldn't have been upset.
And I don't think anyone would be upset if you decide to seek out live versions on your own and pick the version you like most.
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Hmm, contradictory opinions so far...
I’d say grade the version people send you and don’t make extra work for yourself. :-)
The extra work is part of the fun though. While I'm perfectly fine with just receiving isolated cool songs, I also have an eye towards what artists would be worth diving more deeply into their other work, and also find connections they have to other artists I'm familiar with that enrich and enlarge my mental music map.
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Ok, still being relatively new to these roulettes, I'm coming across a dilemma, which might have affected some past rounds slightly, but could affect this round more, as well as future ones, so I want to put it on the table now. Most of the songs I receive are studio versions, but a few are live recordings. Obviously sometimes there are no live recordings (or only ones recorded on cell phones), and while they haven't come up in this roulette, I know there are songs with only live recordings and no studio versions. When I'm doing research, I will often find the other that you didn't send (a live or a studio recording) and listen to it for context if it's available, but it doesn't directly impact my score for the song.
If you've read many of my writeups, you've probably noticed I tend to like a lot of the production details you sometimes find in a studio recording and often are absent in live recordings. This can make more of a difference for me than the average DTF member, I suspect. But also, sometimes there's something different about the studio vs. live recordings that can be even more substantial, like a different arrangement, different special guests and such, which can really shift how the song comes across. The Greg Herriges song a few rounds ago was a perfect example of this.
So I'm trying to decide what's fair now. I'm wondering if I should have an ongoing rule starting next round that if there is a studio and a live version that I notice (or you point out to me), I will listen to both and pick the one I like better. I don't think I can retroactively apply this rule to this or prior rounds and be fair, because it might have changed what songs or performances other people sent.
Any thoughts on the matter? I don't know how this has been handled in previous roulettes (surely it's come up? I can't be that idiosyncratic, can I?). I know some have specifically had rounds geared towards live versions of songs, but it can affect any song. This might be a consequence of me trying to learn more about the artist/song than average, but I surely can't be the first to have this concern.
Overthinking things again? :lol
I'm not aware of it ever coming up.
In my last roulette, in the Devin Townsend Round, I got the Studio and Live version of Kingdom. I'm pretty sure I scored them the same.
In my first roulette, I actually had a Live Round, and all people did was bitch about it.
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Overthinking things again? :lol
You're damn right I am. :) I'm just trying to be as fair and reasonable as I can be, and I fear some people are shooting themselves in the foot because they don't understand some of my listening quirks. :) I'm hosting this roulette, but I'm not a dictator, so I'm open to ideas and suggestions. There are a lot of roulette conventions people are used to that I'm following, a few I'm altering to my preferences, and this is becoming one that I'm torn about.
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I cannot believe I'm going to encourage this....but check your emails. :lol
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Overthinking things again? :lol
You're damn right I am. :) I'm just trying to be as fair and reasonable as I can be, and I fear some people are shooting themselves in the foot because they don't understand some of my listening quirks. :) I'm hosting this roulette, but I'm not a dictator, so I'm open to ideas and suggestions. There are a lot of roulette conventions people are used to that I'm following, a few I'm altering to my preferences, and this is becoming one that I'm torn about.
I don't think I understand your listening quirks at all, but I don't necessarily think that means shooting myself in the foot. At least not anymore than sending TAC Katatonia multiple times in the same roulette.... :) I don't really care about production and so I'm never going to send a live vs studio version based on what I think, or what I think you think, has better production. I'd only do it if I really thought the live energy was so incredible it outweighed the (likely) better sounding studio version.
(It also doesn't matter how much you wrote about rounds 1 and 2; you were getting Leprous in round 3. :))
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Overthinking things again? :lol
I'm not aware of it ever coming up.
Yeah this. :lol I've not played in every roulette, but I've never seen the host checking out alternate versions (if they exist) for every song before. Not sure how it would work reliably either as there are often tons of live recordings, both pro and fan-shot. Nothing wrong with it of course, and each host should run things the way they want to.
Personally I would always want to rate the song and version that I was sent, as much as possible in isolation of anything else, as to my mind that's the fairest way to do things. But it's not the only way, and for sure I can see why you might find it a small bonus to some people if they got a better score because you found a version of the same song that you liked more.
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I think you should listen to every live version (including the shitty quality ones recorded by fans) of every song you get. :biggrin:
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I think you should listen to every live version (including the shitty quality ones recorded by fans) of every song you get. :biggrin:
Results for this round in 2024 :corn
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Overthinking things again? :lol
I'm not aware of it ever coming up.
Yeah this. :lol I've not played in every roulette, but I've never seen the host checking out alternate versions (if they exist) for every song before. Not sure how it would work reliably either as there are often tons of live recordings, both pro and fan-shot. Nothing wrong with it of course, and each host should run things the way they want to.
Personally I would always want to rate the song and version that I was sent, as much as possible in isolation of anything else, as to my mind that's the fairest way to do things. But it's not the only way, and for sure I can see why you might find it a small bonus to some people if they got a better score because you found a version of the same song that you liked more.
The thing is, even if I didn't check out alternate versions, this would have still come up just from the submissions. For example, there was one where they sent the studio version originally, and then replied back saying to use a live version they linked instead. It's still early, and I could change my mind, but at the moment there are a number of things that I don't like as much about the live version as the studio version that seem to outweigh any other differences the live version had. Particularly when a lot of songs are clustered together, small, sometimes subjective differences like that can add up and make a difference in score and ranking. Production/engineering details, including texture and such are probably a significantly bigger deal for me than most people here.
I'm just tempted to say that in the future, it's probably safest for people to submit the studio version, and if they want, to just link a live or alternate version, if one exists,as food for thought, unless there's a really compelling reason to prefer me scoring the live version. I think four of the songs in this round are live versions. One of them is pretty radically different from the studio recording, and another I think might be the primary recording of the song, so those two make more sense as justifications for sending the live version instead, but the other two are more questionable.
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Overthinking things again? :lol
I'm not aware of it ever coming up.
Yeah this. :lol I've not played in every roulette, but I've never seen the host checking out alternate versions (if they exist) for every song before. Not sure how it would work reliably either as there are often tons of live recordings, both pro and fan-shot. Nothing wrong with it of course, and each host should run things the way they want to.
Personally I would always want to rate the song and version that I was sent, as much as possible in isolation of anything else, as to my mind that's the fairest way to do things. But it's not the only way, and for sure I can see why you might find it a small bonus to some people if they got a better score because you found a version of the same song that you liked more.
When I run a roulette, I do almost no outside listening for the duration of the roulette. That includes checking out other things by bands in any current round I'm in. I have, from time to time, pulled up a live version. In fact, there were two songs in my current round where I did just that. But it was only because I was interested. It's still a rare move.
I'm big on judging these songs in a vacuum. I feel that's the most fair way for me to evaluate.
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I’d say grade the version people send you and don’t make extra work for yourself. :-)
This. If I send you a specific version of a song then I want that to be scored, not something else :P
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Please, don't check how my guy sounds live, I'm scared
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I think you should listen to every live version (including the shitty quality ones recorded by fans) of every song you get. :biggrin:
Results for this round in 2024 :corn
There's a live video of Miley Cyrus singing a version of the song I sent. I actually dig it a lot (that woman can sing) but the visuals... I'm not sure if I want to condone that. :) :) :)
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I hope no one sends Pull Me Under!
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Please, don't check how my guy sounds live, I'm scared
At least I didn't score Lethean on the '13 Wacken performance of "Forced Entry". Oof.
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Ok, so between TAC's impressions, Tomi's results, and Luke and king's stomach issues, everyone was totally distracted from hangman. Here are the artists/songs filled out. Any sender guesses? I should be posting impressions tomorrow.
??? : Sarah Fimm – Story of Us
Sacul: Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – Mysteries
??? : Che Aimee Dorval – Blood Red Sun
??? : Timbre – Night Girl Nycteris Sees the Sun
??? : Crippled Black Phoenix – Nebulas
??? : Beach House – Myth
??? : Monica Heldal – Boy From the North
??? : Jo Quail – Forge
??? : St Vincent – Strange Mercy
??? : Kalandra – Borders
??? : Micah P Hinson – Beneath the Rose
??? : Della Zyr – What Orpheus Sang Before
??? : Marina Osk – Medan hondin min I hendi þinni hvilir
Stadler: Joan Baez – Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Crow: Julia Holter – Lucette Stranded on an Island
TAC: Helloween – Longing
??? : Rocket Moth – Qismah
??? : Full of Keys – Suicide Bridge
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Did Sacul send Beach House?
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Nope. Is that the only artist of those you've heard of other than Helloween? :p
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Nope. Is that the only artist of those you've heard of other than Helloween? :p
Nope. I've heard of Joan Baez too! :lol
Someone sent me Beach House, and I think it may have been that song. We'll have to compare scores on it. ;D
EDIT: Yes, it was that same song sent by Shadow Ninja in my 2nd roulette.
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Nope. Is that the only artist of those you've heard of other than Helloween? :p
Nope. I've heard of Joan Baez too! :lol
Someone sent me Beach House, and I think it may have been that song. We'll have to compare scores on it. ;D
EDIT: Yes, it was that same song sent by Shadow Ninja in my 2nd roulette.
Helloween, Joan Baez, and my entry are the only ones I’ve heard of too. I guess Rustin Man as well.
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Sacul sent Beth Gibbons?
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And Stadler sent Joan Baez?
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Yep, and yep.
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Ariich sent St. Vincent?
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Nope.
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Sacul sent St. Vincent
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Already confirmed for Beth Gibbons.
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Nah, I think you got it wrong
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You looked over my shoulder at my scores too, didn't you? ;)
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I know Crow loves St. Vincent but seems she didn't send it :neverusethis:
Ariich sent Sarah Fimm?
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Here's the rest. Early impressions later today.
senecadawg2: Sarah Fimm – Story of Us
Sacul: Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – Mysteries
Puppies_On_Acid: Che Aimee Dorval – Blood Red Sun
SoundscapeMN: Timbre – Night Girl Nycteris Sees the Sun
twosuitluke: Crippled Black Phoenix – Nebulas
soupytwist: Beach House – Myth
ariich: Monica Heldal – Boy From the North
Nachtmerrie: Jo Quail – Forge
Vmadera00: St Vincent – Strange Mercy
Evermind: Kalandra – Borders
Tomislav95: Micah P Hinson – Beneath the Rose
Buddyhunter1: Della Zyr – What Orpheus Sang Before
Elite: Marina Osk – Medan hondin min I hendi þinni hvilir
Stadler: Joan Baez – Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Crow: Julia Holter – Lucette Stranded on an Island
TAC: Helloween – Longing
HOF: Rocket Moth – Qismah
Lethean: Full of Keys – Suicide Bridge
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So in general, this might be my favorite round so far. I could easily see myself checking out more from even some of the lower-ranked artists. I'm not sure if people are getting a better sense of what I like, if it was the perfect palate cleanser from the previous round, if it's that this is a broad area of music I've been working on expanding more than most in the last few years, or if I'm just lucky. Average scores will likely be slightly higher, though probably even more compressed in the middle than ever, and of course, there's always some that are lowest-ranked, no way around that.
I'm sure everyone who runs a roulette has to deal with this at some point, but it's interesting to notice how after a couple listens, I start to get a sense of the hierarchy of my rankings, and subconsciously at times and consciously at others, I have to start polarizing songs to justify why some should score better than others, and this can lead to overly negative-sounding writeups on the lower end. Not sure there's any good way to avoid that either. On a more positive note, I'm not even sure what my favorite song of the round is yet, it's only the second round so far like that.
Anyway, here we go:
Round 5 Early Impressions:
1: I was not expecting a synth lead to stand out.
2: Is this song too happy for me?
3: This does way more with its runtime than I expected it to.
4: Oops, you accidentally sent something that actually fits the round songs this time.
5: Backing vocals as lead vocals, this is rather different.
6: Is a metronome counting me in? I'm not sure I'm ready to punch in yet!
7: I think I mistakenly called myself a vocalist purist in an earlier round. That's not right - apparently I love robot choirs.
8: Lethean - Full of Keys - Ooh, I see what you did there, very sneaky. I thought it might be too sparse at first, but it picked up partway through.
9: HOF - Rocket Moth - I was definitely not expecting the drumming to be such a highlight, particularly the toms.
10: TAC - Helloween - Do I prefer this vocalist in a different context, or a different era?
11: This was more propulsive than I had anticipated.
12: At first I thought I was playing a 90s fantasy video game, but then the magical journey took an unexpected turn halfway through.
13: This might be the flip side of having so many layers.
14: I'm a bit surprised the tags for it don't even hint at this, but this song has overtones with not only my first song, but a style I toyed with including a fourth song for.
15: Yeah, this was definitely a better choice.
16: Is there too much cursive singing in this?
17: Not as depressing as expected.
18: This would make a fantastic intro to a song.
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17?
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Nope.
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Regarding overly negative write ups.... I don't think it's necessary if it's not how you truly feel about a song. I had at least one round where I liked most or all of the songs and my write ups reflected that, and I just had to say that I liked the other songs in the round a little more.
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Not 8 is it?
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10: Do I prefer this vocalist in a different context, or a different era?
14: I'm a bit surprised the tags for it don't even hint at this, but this song has overtones with not only my first song, but a style I toyed with including a fourth song for.
One of these two?
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4 seems the obvious answer :lol
Fun fact, I'm a big fan of the band I sent (no shit) but I'm not really a fan of the song I sent :rollin it seemed to fit the theme best and so I went with it. I generally don't like sending stuff that I'm not completely in love with, but here we are.
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Think mine is 9, but if not probably 11.
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Regarding overly negative write ups.... I don't think it's necessary if it's not how you truly feel about a song. I had at least one round where I liked most or all of the songs and my write ups reflected that, and I just had to say that I liked the other songs in the round a little more.
Yeah, but sometimes it's easier to articulate what holds a song back some than it is to explain what makes one song slightly better than another.
Not 8 is it?
Oh it is.
10: Do I prefer this vocalist in a different context, or a different era?
One of these
Yep.
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4 seems the obvious answer :lol
Which is why it's obviously wrong. :p
Think mine is 9
Yes.
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10: Do I prefer this vocalist in a different context, or a different era?
One of these
Yep.
This is either good news or bad news. :lol
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3 or 11
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Regarding overly negative write ups.... I don't think it's necessary if it's not how you truly feel about a song. I had at least one round where I liked most or all of the songs and my write ups reflected that, and I just had to say that I liked the other songs in the round a little more.
Yeah, but sometimes it's easier to articulate what holds a song back some than it is to explain what makes one song slightly better than another.
I think the opposite might be true for me; probably not always but maybe as a general rule.
Not 8 is it?
Oh it is.
Oh well good. I was indeed trying to be sneaky and I was surprised not to find them on your RYM.
But I guess the second part of the impression threw me.
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Think mine is 9
Yes.
The very excellent Paul Craddick (better known for Enchant) on drums.
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18?
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15! I hope.
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could be 15 given my earlier comments :corn
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3 or 11
Nope.
18?
Nope.
15! I hope.
Indeed.
could be 15 given my earlier comments :corn
Nope.
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Round 5 Early Impressions:
1: I was not expecting a synth lead to stand out.
2: Is this song too happy for me?
3: This does way more with its runtime than I expected it to.
4: Oops, you accidentally sent something that actually fits the round songs this time.
5: Backing vocals as lead vocals, this is rather different.
6: Is a metronome counting me in? I'm not sure I'm ready to punch in yet!
7: Evermind - Kalandra - I think I mistakenly called myself a vocalist purist in an earlier round. That's not right - apparently I love robot choirs.
8: Lethean - Full of Keys - Ooh, I see what you did there, very sneaky. I thought it might be too sparse at first, but it picked up partway through.
9: HOF - Rocket Moth - I was definitely not expecting the drumming to be such a highlight, particularly the toms.
10: TAC - Helloween - Do I prefer this vocalist in a different context, or a different era?
11: This was more propulsive than I had anticipated.
12: SoundscapeMN - Timbre - At first I thought I was playing a 90s fantasy video game, but then the magical journey took an unexpected turn halfway through.
13: This might be the flip side of having so many layers.
14: I'm a bit surprised the tags for it don't even hint at this, but this song has overtones with not only my first song, but a style I toyed with including a fourth song for.
15: senecadawg2 - Sarah Fimm - Yeah, this was definitely a better choice.
16: Is there too much cursive singing in this?
17: Sacul - Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Not as depressing as expected.
18: This would make a fantastic intro to a song.
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17?
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3 or 4?
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17?
Yes.
3 or 4?
No.
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The next round is a free for all, right.
Is there a time limit?
Just one song?
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Up to 15 minutes, one artist, as few or as many songs as you want to fit in that time frame. Basically the same as round three was. I'll have a PSA about the live recording issue after this round as well.
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Up to 15 minutes, one artist, as few or as many songs as you want to fit in that time frame. Basically the same as round three was.
OK. I wanted to start working on that.
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18 most likely, if not then 1 or 7
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7
Yes.
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Never thought of it as "robot choirs" but I guess it makes sense :lol
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I know what it actually is, and I'll talk more about that in the writeups, but I think that makes for a more interesting impression. :)
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Never thought of it as "robot choirs" but I guess it makes sense :lol
Saw them opening for Leprous this week. I wouldn't call it robot choirs. You didn't send a live recording:).
The contrast with Monuments coming after them was pretty big. Interesting package.
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Should be 13 with the looping exercise I've send
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Never thought of it as "robot choirs" but I guess it makes sense :lol
Saw them opening for Leprous this week. I wouldn't call it robot choirs. You didn't send a live recording:).
Litho probably checked a live recording out anyway. :biggrin:
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Not really too sure which is mine. 1?
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Round 5 Early Impressions:
6: Is a metronome counting me in? I'm not sure I'm ready to punch in yet!
14: I'm a bit surprised the tags for it don't even hint at this, but this song has overtones with not only my first song, but a style I toyed with including a fourth song for.
I'll go with the more obvious first, #6?
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Should be 13 with the looping exercise I've send
No.
Not really too sure which is mine. 1?
Nope.
I'll go with the more obvious first, #6?
Neither.
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I have no clue, honestly. I'll guess when there's two left.
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3 or 11
Nope.
12, 14 or 16?..(5 out of 12 numbers is hardly *guessing* anymore, lol)
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12
Yep.
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Don’t know with the remaining impressions.
2?
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Yep.
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:lol
In one turn!!
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Been busier than expected the last few days. I have drafts of everything, but I'm not liking how some of the writeups are coming out, so I need to rewrite them and work on everything else. In the meantime, here are the filled-out impressions.
Round 5 Early Impressions:
1: Vmadera00 - St. Vincent - I was not expecting a synth lead to stand out.
2: Elite - Marina Osk - Is this song too happy for me?
3: Tomislav95 - Micah P. Hinson - This does way more with its runtime than I expected it to.
4: Stadler - Joan Baez - Oops, you accidentally sent something that actually fits the round songs this time.
5: Buddyhunter1 - Della Zyr - Backing vocals as lead vocals, this is rather different.
6: soupytwist - Beach House - Is a metronome counting me in? I'm not sure I'm ready to punch in yet!
7: Evermind - Kalandra - I think I mistakenly called myself a vocalist purist in an earlier round. That's not right - apparently I love robot choirs.
8: Lethean - Full of Keys - Ooh, I see what you did there, very sneaky. I thought it might be too sparse at first, but it picked up partway through.
9: HOF - Rocket Moth - I was definitely not expecting the drumming to be such a highlight, particularly the toms.
10: TAC - Helloween - Do I prefer this vocalist in a different context, or a different era?
11: twosuitluke - Cripped Black Phoenix - This was more propulsive than I had anticipated.
12: SoundscapeMN - Timbre - At first I thought I was playing a 90s fantasy video game, but then the magical journey took an unexpected turn halfway through.
13: Crow - Julia Holter - This might be the flip side of having so many layers.
14: ariich - Monica Heldal - I'm a bit surprised the tags for it don't even hint at this, but this song has overtones with not only my first song, but a style I toyed with including a fourth song for.
15: senecadawg2 - Sarah Fimm - Yeah, this was definitely a better choice.
16: Puppies_On_Acid - Che Aimee Dorval - Is there too much cursive singing in this?
17: Sacul - Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Not as depressing as expected.
18: Nachtmerrie - Jo Quail - This would make a fantastic intro to a song.
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I almost guessed that one for my submission, but decided against it :-X
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see i have no clue what that impression even means :lol
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Well, for me, all my submissions were spot on, since all were first impressions.
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I almost guessed that one for my submission, but decided against it :-X
Well, it's only semi-accurate, but remember that I try and do these based on blind first listens, and only add in knowledge learned later if I couldn't really come up with anything interesting enough from the initial one.
see i have no clue what that impression even means :lol
This must be TAC posting from Crow's computer. :)
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Not surprised it was that one, hopefully that's not a negative because it's not for me!
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Hmm, I don't really think of Che as a cursive singer. She can sometimes get a bit of a twang in her voice though :dunno:
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No idea if my first impression is positive or not :facepalm:
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Hmm, I don't really think of Che as a cursive singer. She can sometimes get a bit of a twang in her voice though :dunno:
Is a "cursive singer" a thing? I thought that might actually be mine, because Baez sings in a flowery way with a lot of frills; sort of the "cursive" (handwriting) version of vocals, most of which are more block letters.
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No idea if my first impression is positive or not :facepalm:
Me neither.
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No idea if my first impression is positive or not :facepalm:
Me neither.
Yup me third.
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I guess mine makes a fantastic intro into a great review
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Made some progress on untangling these writeups. Probably still not going to be my favorite writing, but it should all be sorted out enough by Friday.
Hmm, I don't really think of Che as a cursive singer. She can sometimes get a bit of a twang in her voice though :dunno:
Is a "cursive singer" a thing? I thought that might actually be mine, because Baez sings in a flowery way with a lot of frills; sort of the "cursive" (handwriting) version of vocals, most of which are more block letters.
You probably don't listen to many. It's a relatively recent phenomenon, and is sometimes also called "hip singing" and "indie girl voice". Lots and lots of material to read and watch about it online. From my casual research in the last few years it seems no one can quite figure out where it came from, who properly started it, or even what to call it, though you can certainly argue for some precursors. But it's much more common in indie pop/folk/rock and some mainstream pop in the past decade or two. Artists like Halsey and Sia are often associated with it.
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Made some progress on untangling these writeups. Probably still not going to be my favorite writing, but it should all be sorted out enough by Friday.
Hmm, I don't really think of Che as a cursive singer. She can sometimes get a bit of a twang in her voice though :dunno:
Is a "cursive singer" a thing? I thought that might actually be mine, because Baez sings in a flowery way with a lot of frills; sort of the "cursive" (handwriting) version of vocals, most of which are more block letters.
You probably don't listen to many. It's a relatively recent phenomenon, and is sometimes also called "hip singing" and "indie girl voice". Lots and lots of material to read and watch about it online. From my casual research in the last few years it seems no one can quite figure out where it came from, who properly started it, or even what to call it, though you can certainly argue for some precursors. But it's much more common in indie pop/folk/rock and some mainstream pop in the past decade or two. Artists like Halsey and Sia are often associated with it.
I’ve never heard the term but I think I know exactly the style you’re talking about.
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(https://i.imgur.com/zbGTcj5.gif)
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Many listens more, and this is still my overall favorite round so far. As I previewed a few days ago, I'll probably be digging further into the discographies of even some of the lower-ranked artists. It's hard to say since I kind of have to grade a bit on a curve, but in general 7.0 seems around the point at which I do genuinely start liking a song overall, but may have some reservations about it, which might be amplified a bit more than necessary to justify to myself why I scored some songs lower.
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Crow - Julia Holter - "Lucette Stranded On an Island"
Early Impression - "This might be the flip side of having so many layers."
So I've heard more material from her than most other artists before this round. I know she's become a bit of a critical darling for the music connoisseur community, and I've heard five of her albums and found them intriguing, but nothing had really stuck with me yet. I think you said this was the only album of her's that you liked, although the one that stood out the most on my cursory listens was Aviary. I was kind of glad you sent her, because I felt like it might be the sort of music that needs more listens to begin to unravel. But well, I've certain given this song quite a few plays, and there are still many layers to go for me to quite make sense of it.
I still can't figure out entirely what to make of this song. If I isolate each individual component, there's nothing really wrong with it, to the contrary, I like most of the separate components. The opening bell-like percussive texture is pretty unique. I love how the drum kit is pretty evenly panned around the stereo spectrum. And piano, violin, and harp are textures I'm almost always happy to hear. Apparently there is also saxophone on other tracks on the album, which I don't remember from my cursory listen awhile back. Some of the blurbs about the album I sampled indicate that it is a bit "bigger" sounding than some of her other work, and her voice is more out-front than it typically is, which would normally help.
But somehow it just doesn't fit altogether like I want it to. I think it's a bit too much in the abstract and artsy direction for me. When I listen to it, it's an enjoyable experience to hear all of the different layers bouncing off of each other, but when I'm not listening to it, I can't really remember much about it other than a lot seemed to be happening, and the "the birds can sing a song" line. In contrast to some of the heavily-layered songs in previous rounds, this one just feels kind of messy and cluttered. It's as if they had a bunch of ideas in the studio session and just pasted them altogether. I read an interview snippet where she says that she writes in a stream of consciousness flow, sometimes to an excess, and I think that might be the challenge for me. Maybe it's just not the right song. But still, better to be nebulous and a bit busy than overly minimalistic in general for me.
Score: 7/10
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Vmadera00 - St. Vincent - "Strange Mercy"
Early Impression - "I was not expecting a synth lead to stand out."
Here is an artist that I've heard an album and a few separate songs from, but is another that I'm only cursorily familiar with. And well, here we have exhibit A for why it might be risky to send a live version of a song as the primary entry. There are certainly elements I appreciate about this song, but the live version magnifies a few quibbles that bug me about it.
First, a few things I admired. As my impression alludes to, the tone at 1:37 and other spots is easily the most alluring of the song. I thought it was a synthesizer at first, but obviously once you watch the video you can see that she's playing it live, and it's likely going through some kind of pedal that gives it a synthier timbre, or is even being processed by a synthesizer somewhere else in the room. It's a texture that while still quite interesting live, is diluted a bit and pulled back in the mix, and the timbre is a tad more piquant on the studio recording. I also kind of like the rising swell texture at 3:27. Overall I dig the relaxed vibe of the track, and in spite of what I'm about to say, the overall experience was still positive.
So onto what I struggled with. One problem is that in general the mix sounds really narrow and boxy. Everything is just squashed into the center of the left-right spectrum, and it loses the stereophonic richness that the studio version has. The next issue is that the song has this sort of unadorned trap-style beat that propels much of it, and makes it feel too static. Even though in the live performance it's clearly being played on a pad, there are no dynamics to it - it seems programmed so that every hit of the pad is at exactly the same volume. Supposedly the drummer is fairly well-regarded, so maybe I just don't get along with his groove, but it's even more noticeable live than the album version, even when he switches from the pad to the hi-hat.
The next challenge for me is the fuzzy, broken speaker guitar tone she uses starting at 2:44. There are probably contexts where that might be an interesting sound for contrast, but it just doesn't work for me here, and the timbre is even more obtrusive on the live version than the studio one. And then a further concern is that at 3:32 when the synth guitar lead returns, this time it's being doubled by another instrument an octave up, but they aren't in-tune with each other, which is distracting.
Score: 7/10
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Sacul - Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - "Mysteries"
Early Impression - "Not as depressing as expected."
Which for me isn't always a good thing. It can be fascinating when an artist from a more well-known project does solo or collaborative work, to see if they lean even more heavily into the sound of their main project, or whether they go for something completely different. In this case, it appears that she's done the latter. I'd heard this album at some point before, but didn't realy know it. I'm more of a casual Portishead fan, but I generally like the darker grittiness of them, so you could say I was a bit sad this was so happy. It's certainly not a bad song, but it just doesn't really move me as much as I'd like it to, and I think I prefer her work with Portishead.
It seems silly and superficial, but when the melodies don't hook me, it appears that it can boil down to it just having too many major chords for me, the intro being deceptively minor. It's also a bit on the minimalistic side for my tastes, with mostly just a single guitar and lead vocal, with some backing subdued choral vocals. A few interesting background textures start popping up around 3:38, but it's not really enough to move the needle. I still like her voice enough to keep it from the bottom, and maybe another song on the album would work better for me. A blurb described this album as "Billie Holiday fronting Siouxsie & The Banshees", which should be right up my alley, but I guess I just don't hear it on this tune, it's pleasant, but not indelible like I wish it was.
Score: 7.25/10
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Elite - Marína Ósk - "Meðan höndin mín í hendi þinni hvílir"
Early Impression - "Is this song too happy for me?"
Well, so you have picked an interesting vocalist, but this is probably not the right song. I'm beginning to feel a theme here with some of these first few tracks. I'm wondering if this is one of the least jazz-oriented songs that Marina's done, which might have been a mistaken, even if technically we've already had "the jazz round." It's not a bad song by any means, and there are certainly enjoyable things about it, but there are just too many other cuts this round that I like more. I think it might just be a weakness in my taste, that with some exceptions, it's more rare for brighter-sounding music to resonate with me as much as more melancholic songs. I'm not sure if I'd want nothing but sorrowful music all roulette long, because some more positive songs will occasionally hit, it's just less common.
Stylistically, this probably could have been a minor hit in the 90s, as it's not that far off from some Dave Matthews material and some country songs of the time. Although, it does have some more unique characteristics, like Marina's voice, and the rounder guitar tone often played in octaves and with tremolo. 2:26 is the "we might also play jazz" tease with the grace note, but unfortunately that's about all you get. I do also find that the light drumming, a few bass runs, and increased presence of backing vocals and harmonies gives it some lift in a few spots. I'll probably have to check out more of her work, because I could imagine other songs appealing to me more.
Score: 7.25/10
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TAC - Helloween - "Longing"
Early Impression - "Do I prefer this vocalist in a different context, or a different era?"
So Helloween is not an unfamiliar band to me. When I was discovering power metal, I kept running across people recommending the Keeper of the Seven Keys pair of albums, which I purchased and listened to a number of times ("I Want Out" was my favorite song of theirs), and some other scattered songs here and there, and while I understand their importance in laying the foundation for the style, building upon Rainbow's work, they just never quite appealed to me the way some of the later bands did. Well, their reunion albums a few years ago with Kiske, Hansen, and Deris joining forces renewed my interest in them a bit, and I enjoyed them more than I expected I would, since later-era releases from older bands can be pretty hit or miss. Well, Kiske's performance on those albums was probably the most surprising facet - his voice seemed to have aged much better than Deris' or Hansen's.
But here, we're back to the first decade of their output, and frankly, I think I prefer the more current version of him. He's perfectly fine here, which is probably less than you want to hear. But without refreshing my memory more strongly with the Keepers albums, I'm torn between wondering whether he sounds better with the complement of the full band, or if I just prefer the more refined and polished later incarnation of him. Regardless, it does show a greater amount of range and shade of vocal timbre than I was aware he had. This holds up much better than some of the Timo Kotipelto ballads of the 90s and early 00s, for example.
After my first listen I had an impression of the string accompaniment feeling really dated, but on later listens, it was not as bad as I recalled. They sound ok in the upper and midrange, and it's just the lowest-pitched ones that sound like they're based upon a dated keyboard sample, most noticeable at 3:29.
Score: 7.25/10
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Tomislav95 - Micah P. Hinson - "Beneath the Rose"
Early Impression - "This does way more with its runtime than I expected it to."
I was a bit worried at first, because with the sub-three minute runtime and the opening, I thought this might be the sort of overly simple indie folk that generally doesn't connect with me. But as it went along, it really picked up steam, and I was surprised with how much it packs into its length. We get some upright bass, some vocal double tracking, some slide guitar at 1:09 (possibly the first use of it in this roulette - I love that sound), some accordion, and some piano triplets in sync with the acoustic, but a different pattern, so there's a sneakily large amount going on by the ending. And he has a more unpolished voice than I normally prefer (it feels really weird scoring him higher than Kiske, but the instrumentation is also doing some heavy lifting here), but I actually kind of dig it, the vibe just really works. And I guess this is where the fickle nature of my tastes comes out a bit, because this is also on the happier side of what I normally like, which perhaps keeps it from scoring a bit higher, but it would have placed solidly in the middle in most other rounds.
Score: 7.5/10
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Nachtmerrie - Jo Quail - "Forge"
Early Impression - "This would make a fantastic intro to a song."
So here we have another song that might have been hurt a bit by sending the live/performance version instead of the studio one. It's definitely riveting to watch, particularly with the more detailed runthrough she does of how she's constructing it on the fly. But as a complete piece of music, it's just missing something, and feels like an extended intro to a full album or a more conventional song. I don't know about the album as a whole, but I did listen to the studio version of this song for comparison, and while it's not perfect either, it does have more parts and elements that might have made this score a bit higher.
So as people may be figuring out, I really do love violin and cello as solo instruments, generally much more than in large symphonic ensembles, where I find too often the individual brilliance of a particular performance is just lost in the wash of sound. And this is a pretty enthralling composition in how Jo uses nothing but the cello itself to produce a pretty staggering array of different sounds, from body percussion to atmospheric parts to more driving rhythmic motifs. But a bit like Amenra a couple rounds ago, it's just lacking something melodically. It's not intended to be as heavy as that one, and it has much more ambiance than "De Evenmens" did, but it is also light on anything memorable to hook me in. The closest it gets is the ending solo of sorts, but even that is more texture than melody, and is a bit lower in the mix than it should have been, as she notes in the explanation video. There were some more melodic electric guitar parts in the studio recording that would have come at least a bit closer, but they're not even mimicked at all in this live performance rendition.
The construction of the piece is quite impressive, noticing how it is in an odd time signature, with different layers having different cycles where they resync with each other, kind of a Meshuggah concept applied to chamber-ish music. It was probably done long before them, but they're an obvious metal example of it. I've seen a lot of different uses of live looping technology used to create pieces, generally on guitar and sometimes on vocals, but this is definitely one of the more unique and striking ones. The slicer effect on the high note at 3:55 is also delightful. Towards the end it becomes something of industrial chamber music.
The biggest surprise was finding out that Jo performed the cello parts on Emma Ruth Rundle's "Blooms of Oblivion" and "Citadel". The former song in particular is one of my absolute favorite tracks of the decade so far, and while it's mostly from Emma's contributions, the cello work did help set the mood as well. That can't really directly help the score of this song, but those sort of connections do make me even more likely to check out more material from an artist. And it's always nice to find more chamber music that isn't strictly classical or Apocalyptica.
Score: 7.75/10
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ariich - Monica Heldal - "Boy From the North"
Early Impression - "I'm a bit surprised the tags for it don't even hint at this, but this song has overtones with not only my first song, but a style I toyed with including a fourth song for."
So by this I mean that this song to me clearly has some alt-country overtones, even if the RYM page for it doesn't list them as tags. Her voice disguises it, but the acoustic and electric work and tones definitely have a bit of that flavor to me, as well as it being in the dorian mode and some of the bluesy vocal lines. And as I locked in example songs for the round, I experimented with a few different tunes in the third and unlikely but potential fourth spots that would have had stronger hints in that direction, but ultimately decided against it. So it's cool to get something that unknowingly nods to that, especially that two of you independently thought it would be a good fit.
But ultimately, while I like song quite a lot, this is yet another scenario where I suspect I might like others even more. Part of me wants to say it's just a bit too sparse, though my example songs aren't really that dense either, and another song that's even more stripped-back scored even higher.
A few things in particular that stood out are that there were a few teases of harmony guitar parts I wouldn't have minded more of, like at 1:40 and 2:04. I dig the vibe at 2:15 as well. There is a really interesting texture that becomes noticeable around 3:28, with a few seconds of buildup prior, that repeats again later. It's hard to tell if it's a cymbal swell that's been processed, or an ambient noise sample that's been added in, but it gives a rather unique crescendo into that final chorus. I also really the vocal effect at 4:04.
Score: 8/10
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Buddyhunter1 - Della Zyr - "What Orpheus Sang Before"
Early Impression - "Backing vocals as lead vocals, this is rather different."
I suppose the vocal style here is a bit closer to the more pure origin of dream pop as the less abrasive other side of the coin to shoegaze, where the vocals are often quite washed-out, a bit indecipherable, and almost more of an instrumental texture than a traditional lead vocal. It's a really lush and rich sound for the overall atmosphere, but the lead vocals being back in the mix and often harmonized does make them a bit harder to latch onto as hooks.
When I saw the track runtime, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I rather intrigued how many different sections this song has. I'm not sure they are quite as seamless or flow as well together as they could, but it does provide a lot of variety over the duration. 3:21 is an especially engrossing section, you could kind of call it dream country with the acoustics and alternating root/5th bass lines. I have some music that experiments with that feel, and this adds another dimension to it, being a bit more upbeat. The fingerpicked acoustic guitar work in general is definitely a highlight of the song. I also like the plucked pizzicato sound at 7:11.
Well, this round had some grade inflation, but it looks like you have your first 8/10. What's the next goal, 8.25, or a top third placement? :-p
Score: 8/10
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soupytwist - Beach House - "Myth"
Early Impression - "Is a metronome counting me in? I'm not sure I'm ready to punch in yet!"
So Beach House is a name I hear over and over again, and I've listened to a song here and there and wasn't quite sure they were for me. I'm pretty certain I've heard this song before, though I didn't really know it that well. I think it's easily the best song of theirs I've heard so far. Dream pop has been a style I've worked on exploring more than most in the last few years, not really knowing hardly anything about it at all closer to a decade or more ago. Most of what I've liked has leaned more into the ethereal wave sister style to it, and this seems to come from more of the indie side of things, which I'm much less familiar with.
I really like the guitar tone in this song, that chimey, chorused sound. I suspected it was coming from a Fender Strat, and bingo, I'm right on the money again. It works well in interlocking with the piano arpeggios, and also makes for an effective climax with the tremolo picking near the ending at 3:27. I'm still undecided on the vocal style, but I found some of the melodies to have some earworm qualities, which helped a bit.
I know you've been confounded by the roller coaster ride of scores your entries have received thus far, and while this doesn't really move the standings at all, I suppose being in the middle in a round is at least a new spot to be in? :-)
Score: 8/10
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Puppies_On_Acid - Ché Aimee Dorval - "Blood Red Son"
Early Impression - "Is there too much cursive singing in this?"
So this solves a puzzle piece that I didn't even know I was missing. I'm a big fan of Devin Townsend, but not enough of one to have heard everything he's done yet. I knew that Casualties of Cool was a thing, but hadn't realized that it was a collaboration with her, and also Morgan Ågren, a great Swedish drummer. It will definitely have to go on my list of priorities to check out, along with her solo work. I don't know if this is also a coincidence, but apparently she's on Icons Creating Evil Art, the same label that Louise Lemón is on, so I might have to look into some of the other artists on their roster.
This is also an interesting contribution to my ongoing dilemma with what to do with live music going forward. This is a perfect example of why you might prefer sending a live version of a song, as I listened to the original as well, and while the bones and melodies of it are still present, the changes in arrangement are quite obvious. This more laid-back version does quite a lot with some fairly simple but close guitar arpeggiations, utilizing some tasty half-step progressions and major/minor alternation for contrast and variety.
This is a great vocal performance, and I can see why Devin picked up on her talent. I've oscillated a bit on some of the vocal inflections, the way she says "touched" and a few other words from time to time is a bit strange, hence the impression, but ultimately it's not that big a deal.
I'm not sure what the accordion-like instrument she's playing in parts of the tune is, but it definitely adds some flavor. That device, along with the shimmery reverb on the guitar, is often part of the key to keeping simple performances like these from sounding too dry. This song is on an album from this year, so I have a good start on getting into that already now - I love that sort of dual-purpose listening.
Score: 8/10
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twosuitluke - Crippled Black Phoenix - "Nebulas"
Early Impression - "This was more propulsive than I had anticipated."
Here we have another artist that I've heard an album from, and hear brought up frequently, but definitely didn't have much of a grasp on yet. This was the era in which Daniel Änghede was a vocalist and guitarist for them, and I'm familiar with his work with Draconian and ISON, two artists I have tremendous fondness for, and even if my love for them is not primarily due to his contributions, sometimes even proximity to greatness helps.
I don't know if the rest of the album sounds anything like this, but either I was misremembering, or it's rather unique song, because I was expecting something much slower. The tags at Rate Your Music don't mention it, but this has a lot of post-punk energy to it. The toms at 3:51 inject even more life, and then it really breaks open at 4:07, and adding the vocal from Daniel underneath gives this a quite cool feel to it. with the contrast between their voices
This really has a cornucopia of tantalizing guitar tones. The various textures are pretty consistently compelling, kind of gothic-rock influenced, with a nice chorused and delayed tone. And then when it pulls back some in the verses, I really enjoy the flanger tone on the second guitar, as well as the synth patch there. My favorite timbre might be the sustained notes at 3:10, which are a bit Type O Negative-ish, though not quite as lush. The ambient break at 3:28 is nice as well.
Score: 8.25
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senecadawg2 - Sarah Fimm - "Story of Us"
Early Impression - "Yeah, this was definitely a better choice."
I'm probably not ready for your original selection yet - at least for it to score this high. This is more up my alley, given that when I was exploring electronic music more heavily I had a substantial trip-hop phase, and this song falls right in line with that. The drum loop is quite splendid, with some creative chopping and slicing of it to keep it from sounding too static. The little percussive bits like at 0:09 are especially delightful.
The Rhodes electric piano and the stereo panning and delay on the electronics are also refreshing. Additionally, this is a style that more often goes for chill than for epic, but the thick bass line at 3:47 provides just a little bit of extra juice near the end of the song, especially when most songs this round are bereft of prominent bass playing. The overall vibe gives me unexpected nostalgia for some old memories I hadn't reminisced about in awhile, even though it's a new tune to me.
Score: 8.25
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Lethean - Full of Keys - "Suicide Bridge"
Early Impression - "Ooh, I see what you did there, very sneaky. I thought it might be too sparse at first, but it picked up partway through."
Well, you've somehow done it. You've snuck in a Katatonia-adjacent artist I hadn't explored into my roulette. When I saw the name, it looked oddly familiar, and a few clicks later, aha, it's the guest vocalist on "Vanishers"! I've checked out many of the bands in the Katatonia guest and touring orbit, but somehow hadn't gotten to this one yet. I might have if we'd reached City Burials in the discography discussion, but here we are. There are also some backing vocals on "City Glaciers" and possibly another track or two on the album that also don't sound like Jonas, and I wonder if she's also uncredited on those.
Anyway, I love these sort of moody piano ballads. I'm not sure if it would have worked quite as well if it had kept the minimalistic piano accompaniment throughout the whole song, but halfway through the string arrangement joins in, and provides enough additional ornamentation without overpowering the vocal or piano parts. It actually starts picking up with a spooky background texture around 1:55, with that descending glissando bit, which might be from a theremin. The string arrangement itself is surprisingly dynamic, particularly with how it gives an alternate version of that spooky line at 3:01, gradually adding in a tremolo swell, then with its own descending glissando, a bit more prominent in the mix this time. At 2:04 they alternate between short pizzicato hits and longer held notes, which gives some welcome variation.
I also adore how as the song becomes more intense with the piano adding an extra upper octave, it adds the darker phrygian flattened second chord at 2:59 and other spots, giving some extra weight to the song - it reminds me of Charlotte Martin's version of k.d. Lang's "Constant Craving" in that regard.
Score: 8.25
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HOF - Rocket Moth - "Qismah"
Early Impression - "I was definitely not expecting the drumming to be such a highlight, particularly the toms."
So I've heard of Enchant on occasion, but this seems to be one of those side projects that somehow never gained any traction, which is a shame. The core of the band being the vocalist and the drummer seems to be a fertile ground, and is the same dynamic that powers Kingfisher Sky from my first round sample songs. A few other songs of Rocket Moth's had been revealed in the hangman for 425's roulette, so I'd given them a cursory listen, but since the results are still in limbo, I hadn't gotten to the additional listen or two, and didn't really remember how they sounded.
So the flow of the song was quite unexpected. It's just so well-executed. It's another of those songs that starts out rather deceptively, and for the first minute and a half I thought it might remain calm all the way through. The entrance of the toms at 1:30 was serendipitous, but even when they had a few bar solo break at 1:50 for some reason I still was not anticipating how much energy the song would have later. These are some of the better-recorded toms I've heard, and despite sounding like cannons, they don't feel out of place with the softer elements somehow. 4:57 when the ride is brought in during the solo is really when everything explodes, and I'm kind of still marveling at how much ground they'd covered by that point in the song.
The guitar work is quite nice as well. It's mostly rhythmic and textural, even during the solo, but it's quite effective, with the vocals and violin providing more than enough of melodic interest elsewhere. 0:52 is a delightful reversed guitar effect, the first in the roulette, I believe. The harmonics in the bit at 1:10 are nice as well. The tone in the chorus at 1:30 is surprisingly full and warm.
The violin in a number of spots, but especially in the solo at 2:22, really adds a lot. It has a surprisingly dark tone at first that I almost pondered if maybe I was hearing viola or even cello, though the higher range later on gives it away. Of course, there is another Kingfisher Sky parallel (though they have cello).
The vocals are really pleasant as well. Sometimes vocalise, like in a few spots here such as 0:08 and 1:10, can come off as trite, but in ideal circumstances, like here, they blend as an additional instrument. I also dig the panned delay on them at 4:42, it's more of the sort of part you'd find on an electronic track, but it adds additional panache here.
I suppose this shares the most DNA with my first and third songs. The latter cut turned out to be critical, with the full band feel, because with the first two having no real band or drumming propulsion behind them, the risk was excluding songs like this one. Maybe you'd have come up with it anyway, but it certainly opened the door for it. I'm going to need to check out Enchant now, and also The Wishing Tree, which has the same nucleus, plus two Marillion members, to tie together two of the rounds.
Score: 8.5
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Stadler - Joan Baez - "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You"
Early Impression - "Oops, you accidentally sent something that actually fits the round songs this time."
So I've been periodically searching for more melancholic, darker acoustic music for probably a dozen years now, and really only over the past half-dozen years or so have my efforts been more than very sporadically successful. As I've honed in on what I like, I've been trying to trace the origins of it, and too much that I've checked out only seems tangentially related to what I'm looking for. Well, this song turns out to be one of the earliest precursors I've heard that lays the groundwork for this sound. Arguably the song that kicked off the search for me (and was at one point a potential 4th song placeholder) is Sarah Jarosz' "Run Away", which while having a more modern production and more of a bluegrass/Americana slant, is clearly derived, albeit generations later, from the sort of atmosphere that Joan has created here.
I've been unable to track down exactly which rendition of this song this particular one is, as it seems to be a different recording than the one on the '62 In Concert album. But they're very similar performances, so I don't know if it matters very much.
I've found it fascinating that Joan is compared so much with Bob Dylan. I understand that they had a relationship at one point, are of the same era and broad genre, and had some similar themes, but I can't really listen to Dylan. He has one of my least favorite voices in popular recorded music, and I much prefer his songs as sung by other people, whereas Joan has a far more radiant voice. She has an unusually rapid vibrato, which doesn't work for a lot of vocalists, but it does for her. I wouldn't be shocked if someone like Anneke van Giersbergen had been inspired by her at one point, they have a similar vocal quality at times in their upper ranges. I've been aware of Joan for a long time, and had enjoyed an album or two and maybe another song here and there, but this is clearly evidence that I need to dig deeper into her work.
I'm only a very casual Led Zeppelin fan, so I hadn't heard their origin story and how it relates to this song, so that is quite fascinating to hear. It's perhaps blasphemous if some of the LZ fans somehow stumble upon this writeup for some reason, but I prefer her version over their's. It's much simpler, which normally would go against my tastes (although the flamenco-ish fingerpicking pattern I suspect is subtly more complex than it sounds, not having attempted to play it, and it has that harmonic minor flavor), but this just has that haunting and ineffable je ne sais quoi.
Score: 8.75
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SoundscapeMN - Timbre - "Night Girl: Nycteris Sees the Sun"
Early Impression - "At first I thought I was playing a 90s fantasy video game, but then the magical journey took an unexpected turn halfway through."
This is really quite a unique song. You seem to have a hopefully endless well of these. Besides the feeling from the impression, I found the contrast in the intro quite intoxicating, with the darker and more mysterious phrygian scale being used for the melody, a quite common one for metal, but less commonplace elsewhere, paired with the gentle sounds of the harp, horn section, choral backing vocals later on, and the ethereal semi-operatic delivery of the melody.
One of the more dazzling sections of the song began where the song picks up at 3:24. The harp is playing a lengthier motif, with the cello holding out notes on the left, and the oboe on the right performing a counterpoint to it, and on a later repeat, the cello ascends into a higher register. And then at 4:02 they're all playing different lines melodically, but each with the same faster but steady rhythmic cadence. I love this sort of classical orchestration technique ported into a rock-ish format, but in a non-cliché fashion. 4:47 is fun as well, with the cello effectively filling the role of electric guitar power chords, with the higher harp chording and the triplet tom fills. Piano rock is definitely a thing, but maybe harp rock should be as well if other artists could craft something equally as entrancing.
Speaking of the drums, this is another great example like Rocket Moth of how I was blown away by how spellbinding the drumming would become based on how mellow the earlier minutes of the song were with mallets on the toms and cross-sticking on the snare. The drums have a fairly open room sound to them, which really expands the dynamic and scope of the song. There's even a few moments of double bass, such as at 5:03 (and is even more obvious in the Audio Tree live version). Maybe I missed one in a song earlier somewhere in the roulette, but this is also probably the first usage of cymbal swells, such as at 0:09, 2:08, and 5:20.
Score: 8.75
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Evermind - Kalandra - "Borders"
Early Impression - "I think I mistakenly called myself a vocalist purist in an earlier round. That's not right - apparently I love robot choirs."
So this has really been a round to confirm that I need to spend more time with a number of these artists. I had stumbled upon a few songs from Kalandra last year, and had them in a list of artists to investigate further, but this is probably the most promising song from them yet.
The amount of subtle atmospheric layering and building is really impressive here. I love how sometimes artists can build from almost nothing to something grand later in a song. The music video version which you sent opens with some nature sounds that the album version doesn't have, but I think it makes it even more epic. It transitions from those to a solitary vocal line with reverb, to subtly incorporating the vocoder harmonization and synthetic water/wind noise, and then adding more layers of synthesizer and guitar. Things gradually continue to open up and bloom, it's quite majestically done. Even without anything else this would be a very nice ambient-ish pop song, but it's the vocoder harmonies that really add something special. Technically it's a form of pitch-shifting, but the synthetic voice and it being a backing vocal instead of a lead vocal abstracts it enough that I really cherish it. It reminds me a lot of Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek", which is a more overt example.
So then if I think about the vocal distortion on Blanck Mass a couple rounds ago, or even the Leslie speaker effect on Marissa Nadler's voice in the template song for the round, there are clearly "unnatural" vocal usages I like, so it may just be when pitch-shifting is used for a primary melodic vocal. Those examples and the ones in this song are great. There are just too many other songs in dream pop and other styles which use them in ways I don't like, so mercifully the entries this round have avoided them.
I also really love the lush texture of the background synth pads, probably best heard around 3:46. It has this rolling cloudy feel to it which pairs well with some of the more sizzling filter sweeps from other synth patches in other moments.
Score: 8.75
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Current Standings (after 5 rounds):
SoundscapeMN ----------------- 42.75
Nachtmerrie --------------------- 40.75
HOF -------------------------------- 40.25
Evermind --------------------------- 40
TAC ---------------------------------- 40
ariich --------------------------------- 39
soupytwist ---------------------------- 39
Lethean -------------------------------- 38.75
Stadler ---------------------------------- 38.75
senecadawg2 -------------------------- 38.5
Sacul ---------------------------------- 37
Tomislav95 --------------------------- 37
twosuitluke -------------------------- 37
Buddyhunter1 ---------------------- 36.75
Vmadera00 ------------------------ 36.75
Elite ------------------------------- 36.5
Puppies_On_Acid ---------------- 36.5
Crow ----------------------------- 34.25
romdrums ---------------------- 14.25 (had to drop out after the second round)
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Announcement
Ok, so here's my PSA about sending live music. I talked about it more specifically in a few of the writeups (the ones for St. Vincent and Jo Quail in particular, a bit less so for Ché Aimee Dorval and Joan Baez), but to generalize it, here's my overall suggestion. When in doubt, sending studio versions of songs is safer for me, because the common drop in audio quality and lack of studio ear candy is likely to hold back a song for me more than a bit of live energy and vibe will help it. If the song(s) you want to send have cool live, performance, or alternate versions, by all means send me a link to them as well, and I'll give them a listen as supplemental material for context (I may or may not have found it on my own anyway later.) But of course many songs sent don't even have them at all and have still scored well.
But in general I would recommend against making a live recording the primary submission. The exceptions would generally be if the live version has a special guest that is not on the studio recording that really brings it to life, or if it's a very different arrangement from the studio version, good examples being the Greg Herriges one from a few rounds ago or the Ché Aimee Dorval one this round. Or with something like the Joan Baez song, the primary version is a live one, and I don't even know if a studio version exists (at least I didn't come across one), so that's fine.
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So anyway, for the next round we're back to the free for all open round. One artist, up to 15 minutes, as many or as few songs as will fit in that time frame. Send entries to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com. YouTube works best, but I'll make do with almost anything.
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yeehaw back to the bottom :2metal:
time to send something bad, probably
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And so begins my downward spiral..
Sent!
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yeehaw back to the bottom :2metal:
If it's an ascending loop that restarts a point higher every 4 rounds, maybe it'll work out after all. (https://i.imgur.com/0E3o3tN.gif)
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HOF - Rocket Moth - "Qismah"
Early Impression - "I was definitely not expecting the drumming to be such a highlight, particularly the toms."
So I've heard of Enchant on occasion, but this seems to be one of those side projects that somehow never gained any traction, which is a shame. The core of the band being the vocalist and the drummer seems to be a fertile ground, and is the same dynamic that powers Kingfisher Sky from my first round sample songs. A few other songs of Rocket Moth's had been revealed in the hangman for 425's roulette, so I'd given them a cursory listen, but since the results are still in limbo, I hadn't gotten to the additional listen or two, and didn't really remember how they sounded.
So the flow of the song was quite unexpected. It's just so well-executed. It's another of those songs that starts out rather deceptively, and for the first minute and a half I thought it might remain calm all the way through. The entrance of the toms at 1:30 was serendipitous, but even when they had a few bar solo break at 1:50 for some reason I still was not anticipating how much energy the song would have later. These are some of the better-recorded toms I've heard, and despite sounding like cannons, they don't feel out of place with the softer elements somehow. 4:57 when the ride is brought in during the solo is really when everything explodes, and I'm kind of still marveling at how much ground they'd covered by that point in the song.
The guitar work is quite nice as well. It's mostly rhythmic and textural, even during the solo, but it's quite effective, with the vocals and violin providing more than enough of melodic interest elsewhere. 0:52 is a delightful reversed guitar effect, the first in the roulette, I believe. The harmonics in the bit at 1:10 are nice as well. The tone in the chorus at 1:30 is surprisingly full and warm.
The violin in a number of spots, but especially in the solo at 2:22, really adds a lot. It has a surprisingly dark tone at first that I almost pondered if maybe I was hearing viola or even cello, though the higher range later on gives it away. Of course, there is another Kingfisher Sky parallel (though they have cello).
The vocals are really pleasant as well. Sometimes vocalise, like in a few spots here such as 0:08 and 1:10, can come off as trite, but in ideal circumstances, like here, they blend as an additional instrument. I also dig the panned delay on them at 4:42, it's more of the sort of part you'd find on an electronic track, but it adds additional panache here.
I suppose this shares the most DNA with my first and third songs. The latter cut turned out to be critical, with the full band feel, because with the first two having no real band or drumming propulsion behind them, the risk was excluding songs like this one. Maybe you'd have come up with it anyway, but it certainly opened the door for it. I'm going to need to check out Enchant now, and also The Wishing Tree, which has the same nucleus, plus two Marillion members, to tie together two of the rounds.
Score: 8.5
Nice! So Enchant are pretty different than this, more a Rush/DT type neo-prog group, but they are one of my favorite bands. Steve Rothery from Marillion produced their debut album and when he put together his side project The Wishing Tree he essentially found/recruited Hannah Stobart to sing on it and then had Paul Craddick from Enchant do the drums. They ended up getting married and more or less dropped out of the music world aside from this Rocket Moth album and one other The Wishing Tree album (Hannah also sang a track on the one Sound of Contact album). It’s a shame because this album was brilliant, but I don’t think many people heard it or even knew they mad an album together. There was some talk a little while back of them writing some songs for a follow up, but who knows if/when it will happen.
Rocket Moth are much closer to The Wishing Tree than Enchant, and I think you would at least enjoy those two Wishing Tree albums. Definitely check out Enchant too if you get a chance (my favorite is Break, but the debut is a good place to start).
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Eh, still middle of the pack given how good this round was, but I'll take the 8! :lol Give that whole EP a listen (though at 39 minutes it might as well be an album), it's only four songs and all of them are quite good.
I have already sent. :biggrin:
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Going well so far, average score of an 8 per round! Glad you liked it.
Soundscape's total score is insane. :lol
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Soundscape's total score is insane. :lol
I've been refraining from commenting about this in case it turned out to be fluky, but after five rounds I'm not so sure it is. Either he has way more overlap in taste with me than I suspected, or he's just preternaturally good at figuring out people's tastes and the rest of you should be begging to have him in your own roulettes. :biggrin:
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Vmadera00 - St. Vincent - "Strange Mercy"
Early Impression - "I was not expecting a synth lead to stand out."
Here is an artist that I've heard an album and a few separate songs from, but is another that I'm only cursorily familiar with. And well, here we have exhibit A for why it might be risky to send a live version of a song as the primary entry. There are certainly elements I appreciate about this song, but the live version magnifies a few quibbles that bug me about it.
First, a few things I admired. As my impression alludes to, the tone at 1:37 and other spots is easily the most alluring of the song. I thought it was a synthesizer at first, but obviously once you watch the video you can see that she's playing it live, and it's likely going through some kind of pedal that gives it a synthier timbre, or is even being processed by a synthesizer somewhere else in the room. It's a texture that while still quite interesting live, is diluted a bit and pulled back in the mix, and the timbre is a tad more piquant on the studio recording. I also kind of like the rising swell texture at 3:27. Overall I dig the relaxed vibe of the track, and in spite of what I'm about to say, the overall experience was still positive.
So onto what I struggled with. One problem is that in general the mix sounds really narrow and boxy. Everything is just squashed into the center of the left-right spectrum, and it loses the stereophonic richness that the studio version has. The next issue is that the song has this sort of unadorned trap-style beat that propels much of it, and makes it feel too static. Even though in the live performance it's clearly being played on a pad, there are no dynamics to it - it seems programmed so that every hit of the pad is at exactly the same volume. Supposedly the drummer is fairly well-regarded, so maybe I just don't get along with his groove, but it's even more noticeable live than the album version, even when he switches from the pad to the hi-hat.
The next challenge for me is the fuzzy, broken speaker guitar tone she uses starting at 2:44. There are probably contexts where that might be an interesting sound for contrast, but it just doesn't work for me here, and the timbre is even more obtrusive on the live version than the studio one. And then a further concern is that at 3:32 when the synth guitar lead returns, this time it's being doubled by another instrument an octave up, but they aren't in-tune with each other, which is distracting.
Score: 7/10
That's fair regarding live version. Since this was more a session recording that went through a lot of processing, I figure it was as close to studio as you could get. However, the main reason I sent the version I did was because of 1 small change from the studio version that I think added to the emotional aspect of the song. At 2:44, when the lyrics go "If I ever meet that, dirty policemen who roughed you up", the second time through in the version I sent she changes the word "Roughed" to "F***ed", and to me that adds a lot to the song.
Regarding the tones, yeah, St. Vincent, specially in her latest releases has experimented with different combinations of effects. The Fuzz pedal at 2:44 combined with Overdrive pedal (I think) is what gives it that rough sound, which combined with the lyrics create a great combination of sound, lyrics and emotion (Just my thoughts). The lead is double at the end with a vocoder, it never bothered me as much, but I guess they are slightly out of tune. I think this was one of the last album of hers that I liked, everything after the self titled album has been very Meh to me, to the point I had tickets to see her for the MassEduction tour and sold my tickets.
Alright, will sent something weird for next round (Maybe) :corn
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Nice! For what it's worth, there are a couple lovely covers by Lingua Ignota that might pique your interest, particularly her cover of Wicked Game. But yeah, I'm glad I changed my submission :lol
That Sarah Fimm album is one of my all-time favorites, and I don't typically listen to many artists of that flavor.
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You rejected Lingua Ignota because she was too scary? Coward! :lol
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Sent something
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Soundscape's total score is insane. :lol
I've been refraining from commenting about this in case it turned out to be fluky, but after five rounds I'm not so sure it is. Either he has way more overlap in taste with me than I suspected, or he's just preternaturally good at figuring out people's tastes and the rest of you should be begging to have him in your own roulettes. :biggrin:
thanks for the kind words.
I have no idea if it's just luck, or something else. Like I mentioned to you, I kind of stopped doing these, mostly due to time, but also wasn't sure I'd be able to submit stuff a lot of people around here don't know and would like. My taste seems to be into obscure stuff, that maybe a lot of it is obscure for a reason, per it's more esoteric. But I suspect you often gravitate to that kind of thing, even if a lot of people don't?
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Sent something I hope wouldn't have been useful in one of the subsequent rounds.
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The rest of the album gets darker and more depressing the further you go into it, I'd give it a try :P
Now, I think I know what to send...
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Since this was more a session recording that went through a lot of processing, I figure it was as close to studio as you could get.
Yeah, sometimes live recordings are either captured well enough or tweaked later on that they're close or sometimes even better than the studio version, it just wasn't the case there.
However, the main reason I sent the version I did was because of 1 small change from the studio version that I think added to the emotional aspect of the song. At 2:44, when the lyrics go "If I ever meet that, dirty policemen who roughed you up", the second time through in the version I sent she changes the word "Roughed" to "F***ed", and to me that adds a lot to the song.
Yeah, I had skimmed a few reviews to see what people preferred about that version and noticed that someone pointed out that change, but as I've said earlier in the roulette, lyrics aren't something I prioritize, and especially just changing a single word, even if it heightens the emotional impact for her, just isn't likely to have that significant a shift in my feelings about it.
Regarding the tones, yeah, St. Vincent, specially in her latest releases has experimented with different combinations of effects. The Fuzz pedal at 2:44 combined with Overdrive pedal (I think) is what gives it that rough sound, which combined with the lyrics create a great combination of sound, lyrics and emotion (Just my thoughts). The lead is double at the end with a vocoder, it never bothered me as much, but I guess they are slightly out of tune.
Yeah, fuzz can be a tricky effect to get right. It often has a distinctive sound from conventional amp or boost pedal overdrive, and can really work well in some settings and contexts, but that was an example that didn't gel with me.
I'll have to rewatch the video, that's an unusual vocoder setting if that's what it is there.
Edit: Yeah, you may be the right, the keyboard player is singing/speaking at the same time as the line, so it could be. I was thinking it was just a background vocal to go along with it, and Kalandra was hogging all of the vocoder space in my head this round.
Nice! For what it's worth, there are a couple lovely covers by Lingua Ignota that might pique your interest, particularly her cover of Wicked Game. But yeah, I'm glad I changed my submission :lol
Hmm, I guess I'll have to listen to that one. I'll tell you about the other track sometime later, though you'll get a sense of it with my next response. And oddly enough, another artist from the round, Sarah Fimm, I noticed has also covered "Wicked Game", definitely a great song to work with.
You rejected Lingua Ignota because she was too scary? Coward! :lol
Yeah, maybe I am. :) Stuff like Arch Enemy, Nuclear Death, or electro-industrial or aggrotech is one thing, but some of the further out industrial-related music is a stretch for me. Most of the more harsh and noisy styles like death industrial, power electronics, black noise and such are just too abrasive for me generally.
I have no idea if it's just luck, or something else. Like I mentioned to you, I kind of stopped doing these, mostly due to time, but also wasn't sure I'd be able to submit stuff a lot of people around here don't know and would like. My taste seems to be into obscure stuff, that maybe a lot of it is obscure for a reason, per it's more esoteric. But I suspect you often gravitate to that kind of thing, even if a lot of people don't?
I dunno, I think a lot of people here have some specific obscure niches they're into that others aren't. I mean, prog rock/metal like DT isn't really mainstream to begin with, and tends to attract people who have somewhat more unusual tastes. But even some of the artists you've picked that other people here know a little better like In Vain and Barock Project have been working. Sometimes I feel my tastes aren't obscure enough, I can't always get into the really weird and experimental music that some other people can. I've wondered how people you probably remember like tyke/mulletguy16 or Rick/richeym from the olden days would do hosting or participating in these, they were so deep into really out-there music.
The rest of the album gets darker and more depressing the further you go into it, I'd give it a try :P
Yeah, I'm hoping you just sent the wrong track. I think I slightly preferred the one you sent to Tomi a few weeks ago, which is towards the end of the album, so it's hard to say. As I noted, I've heard the whole thing, and none of the other ones stood out on the initial listen or two either, but I'll probably try again later down the road.
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You rejected Lingua Ignota because she was too scary? Coward! :lol
Yeah, maybe I am. :) Stuff like Arch Enemy, Nuclear Death, or electro-industrial or aggrotech is one thing, but some of the further out industrial-related music is a stretch for me. Most of the more harsh and noisy styles like death industrial, power electronics, black noise and such are just too abrasive for me generally.
I dunno what song you were sent, but her most recent album actually had some pretty mellow and beautiful songs on it like Pennsylvania Furnace.
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The song was "IF THE POISON WON'T TAKE YOU MY DOGS WILL". I've also heard the '21 album and wasn't really crazy about it. Something about her delivery is overly affected, theatrical and melodramatic in a way that is offputting to me. I like a lot of vocalists that can be described that way, but so far she just hasn't been one of them. At times it goes too far into the intensity of Diamanda Galás land, where I like maybe two albums of her's I've heard and really dislike everything else I've tried. It's unfortunate, because there seems to be a large overlap in Lingua's fanbase with that of other artists I love like Chelsea Wolfe or Anna von Hausswolff, so I'm still open to trying more of her music, but it hasn't worked yet. At this point I may not even have a whole lot extra to say to seneca about why I advised him that sending her was risky, and he wisely took the hint. :lol
Edit: I'm listening to "Wicked Game" right now, and this might be the best thing I've heard from Ignota (the key and lack of harshness probably help), but my struggle with her voice still remains.
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That's better than I expected tbh. It's hard to follow the theme when host know all music ever :P
Also sent some epicness :metal
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It's hard to follow the theme when host know all music ever :P
Yeah :lol, yet I just managed to send some stuff I'm surprised was only wishlisted.
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Sent the best I've sent yet.
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That's a shame, I was hoping to to a little bit better than that, but yes, do check out her other work if you at least like the voice. It might be one of the least 'jazz' songs on the album, indeed.
Will figure out something for round 6.
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Will figure out something for round 6.
Sent Round 6 through PM
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That's better than I expected tbh. It's hard to follow the theme when host know all music ever :P
It's funny that people keep complaining (hopefully jokingly) that there's not much music left to send me. I know my ban list is pretty large and I have a lot of RYM ratings, but the irony is that a ton of that is stuff that wouldn't cross most people's radars here anyway, and on the other side, I would think I'm actually easier to send for because I'm the newest roulette regular and have still not heard tons and tons of stuff that I see frequently makes the rounds in these roulettes. People who've been doing roulettes for over a decade and have been active on this forum in the same period I would think would be the toughest, because they've probably already heard most of the standards here. :dunno:
That's a shame, I was hoping to to a little bit better than that, but yes, do check out her other work if you at least like the voice. It might be one of the least 'jazz' songs on the album, indeed.
It doesn't really help your score last round, of course, but sometimes the point of the roulette hopefully is as much to expose people to artists they might be interested in even if the particular song sent doesn't connect. Is there a more jazzy song or two of her's you'd suggest?
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Still waiting on submissions?
(https://media.giphy.com/media/NipFetnQOuKhW/giphy.gif)
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I have no idea if it's just luck, or something else. Like I mentioned to you, I kind of stopped doing these, mostly due to time, but also wasn't sure I'd be able to submit stuff a lot of people around here don't know and would like. My taste seems to be into obscure stuff, that maybe a lot of it is obscure for a reason, per it's more esoteric. But I suspect you often gravitate to that kind of thing, even if a lot of people don't?
I dunno, I think a lot of people here have some specific obscure niches they're into that others aren't. I mean, prog rock/metal like DT isn't really mainstream to begin with, and tends to attract people who have somewhat more unusual tastes. But even some of the artists you've picked that other people here know a little better like In Vain and Barock Project have been working. Sometimes I feel my tastes aren't obscure enough, I can't always get into the really weird and experimental music that some other people can. I've wondered how people you probably remember like tyke/mulletguy16 or Rick/richeym from the olden days would do hosting or participating in these, they were so deep into really out-there music.
I know what you mean. Obviously most of the music people here are into is not popular or mainstream, with a few exceptions.
I guess it goes to different levels. If you're a hunter like myself, and also often try and find new things, new music, or music you're unfamiliar with. Such as Ultravox, I don't think I'd ever heard them until a couple of years ago in 1 of this guy who does a Twitch Video show every week named Jake Rudh, played Vienna by them. His playlist is largely 80's New Wave, Post-Punk or "Classic Alternative" as he calls it. But Ultravox actually is more artsty in their music.
Yeah I remember Tyke and Richeym (not to be confused with Rich Taylor, whose also a friend of mine on rym), both of them have quite wide a pallete of tastes with music, so yeah if they participated or ran a Roulette, I could see them pulling out some diamonds in the rough.
I just find a lot of the MPAR bands especially are quite limited in how much of a following they seem to get; yet occasionally someone will discover them and go kind of apeshit over them like I do. I sort of find even if 1 person does, it's worth telling people about them. But it does come with the process of posting about them many repeated times before it may, if ever happen.
Anyway, you probably saw it, but if not, I did send my email for the current round the other day to you, in case you missed it.
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Still waiting on submissions?
(https://media.giphy.com/media/NipFetnQOuKhW/giphy.gif)
Finally got them in yesterday, had to wait for a good time when I can keep up with hangman.
Fun fact: this round is "music you know, not sent by who you know".
Edit: And it looks like the multi-song format works just fine with Google Sheets. H A N G M A N N O M O R E ! ! !
-
??? : ____í_ð_
1: _____
2: _íð____ ___ð___
??? : _________
1: _______
2: ________
??? : ______ ___ _______
1: ________
2: ___ ____ _________
3: ___________ & ___________
??? : _____ ______
1: ______
2: __ __ _________
3: ____ __ _ _____ _______
4: _____
5: ______ ______
??? : ___ _____ _____
1: ___'__ ___ __ ____ ____'_ ___
2: ___ _____ __ ____ ____ ___ ____ __ ____ ____
3: _____ ____ ______ _____
??? : ____ & ________
1: ____ _______ ____ _______
2: ______ & _____
3: _________
??? : _____
1: Ä____ _____
??? : ______ _______ ____________
1: _____ ______
2: ___ ___
3: ___ _ __
??? : _________
1: _______
2: _______
3: _______
??? : ____ ____ _______
1: __ ____ ____ _____ ___
2: _______ __ ____ ____
3: ___ _____ _
??? : ____ _ ____ ____
1: _________
2: _____ __ __ ____
3: ____, ____
??? : ______ __ _______
1: ____ __ _____
2: ____ __ ___ ____
??? : ______ _____
1: ____ ___ _____
2: ___ ___ _____
??? : ________
1: ___________ ________ _______
2: __________ ____ __________
??? : ________
1: ___ __________ ____
2: ______ _ä____ä__
??? : _______ ________ _____
1: ____ ________
2: ___ _ ____ ____
??? : _________
1: _______ ___ ___ ___
2: ______ ______ ___ ______
??? : ______ ___ _______
1: __ _______ _______ __ ______ _____: _
2: _______'_ _____
Guessed letters: ðíÄä
-
U for umlaut.
-
Give me an O
-
I think I may have been lazy about diacritics in early rounds, and have been learning that some of them are actually considered separate characters in various languages, so I'm trying to pay more attention to them now.
??? : ____í_ð_
1: _____
2: _íð____ ___ð___
??? : _u__o__o_
1: ____o__
2: O_____o_
??? : _o____ ___ _______
1: __o_o_u_
2: ___ ____ _________
3: ___________ & _u_________
??? : _____ _____o
1: ____o_
2: __ __ _________
3: ____ o_ _ __ou_ _______
4: _____
5: ____o_ ______
??? : ___ _____ _____
1: _ou'__ O__ o_ ____ ____'_ _ou
2: ___ _____ o_ _ou_ ____ ___ ____ o_ _ou_ ____
3: _____ ____ ______ _u___
??? : ____ & ____o___
1: ____ _o_____ ____ _o_____
2: _o____ & _____
3: _________
??? : __u__
1: Ä____ __u_u
??? : _u____ _______ __o_________
1: _____ ______
2: ___ ___
3: _ou _ __
??? : ______oo_
1: ___o_o_
2: _o_____
3: _______
??? : ____ _oo_ _o_____
1: __ _o__ _ou_ _____ Ou_
2: ____o__ _o ____ ____
3: ___ _____ _
??? : ____ _ ____ ____
1: __oo_____
2: _____ __ _o _oo_
3: ____, ____
??? : ______ o_ _______
1: _o__ o_ _o___
2: _o__ o_ ___ _o__
??? : ______ _oo__
1: ____ ___ _o___
2: O__ ___ __oo_
??? : ____u_u_
1: ___________ __o_____ __o____
2: ____u___o_ _o__ __________
??? : _o___oo_
1: ___ ____o_____ _o__
2: _u____ _ä____ä__
??? : _______ ________ __ou_
1: _o__ _o___o__
2: _u_ _ ____ _o__
??? : _________
1: _______ ___ ___ ___
2: ______ ______ ___ ______
??? : _o____ ___ _______
1: __ _______ _______ o_ ______ _____: _
2: _______'_ U__o_
Guessed letters: ðíÄäuo
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D
-
Kauan
Aiden Laulu
Wonderful song. Senecadawg, maybe?
-
T
-
??? : ____í_ð_
If you guys thought it looks like Árstíðir, but it doesn't quite fit, fear not! This is Árstíðir, but Litho got it wrong :lol
Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth III
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??? : ____í_ð_
If you guys thought it looks like Árstíðir, but it doesn't quite fit, fear not! This is Árstíðir, but Litho got it wrong :lol
Gee, that's diacritical.
-
??? : Árstíðir
1: _____
2: _íð__t_ ___ð___
??? : _u__o__o_
1: ____o__
2: O_____o_
??? : _o___d __d _______
1: __o_o_u_
2: T__ D___ ___t_____
3: ___________ & _u_________
??? : ____t _____o
1: ____o_
2: __ __ ___t_____
3: ____ o_ _ __oud __t____
4: ____t
5: ____o_ ____t_
??? : T__ _____ _____
1: _ou'__ O__ o_ T___ ____'t _ou
2: T__ _____ o_ _ou_ ____ t__ ____ o_ _ou_ ____
3: D____ __t_ D____t _u___
??? : ____ & __d_o_d_
1: ____ _o_____ ___t _o_____
2: _o____ & _____
3: _______d_
senecadawg2: Kauan
1: Äidin Laulu
??? : _u____ _______ __o_d___t___
1: _____ ______
2: T__ __t
3: _ou _ __
??? : ______oo_
1: __do_o_
2: _o___t_
3: T____t_
??? : D__t _oo_ _o_____
1: _t To__ _ou_ ____t Out
2: ____o__ To __d_ ____
3: T__ ____t _
??? : ____ _ ____ ____
1: __ood____
2: T____ __ _o _ood
3: D___, D___
??? : ______ o_ D______
1: _o_d o_ _o_d_
2: _o__ o_ t__ _od_
??? : ______ _oot_
1: ____ t__ _o__d
2: O__ t__ __oo_
??? : ___tu_u_
1: __________d __o_t___ __o____
2: ____u_t_o_ _od_ D________d
??? : _o___ood
1: T__ ____o__t__ _o_d
2: _u____ _äd___ä_d
??? : _______ ________ __ou_
1: _o_t _o___o__
2: _ut _ ___t _o__
??? : ___d_____
1: __t____ ___ __d ___
2: ____d_ ______ __d ______
??? : Coheed and Cambria
1: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
2: _____t_'_ U__o_
Guessed letters: ðíÄäuodt
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Did Ariich send Wormwood to you too?
-
The other (other) coheed song is Gravity's Union
-
Did Ariich send Wormwood to you too?
How did you guess? :lol
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Arcade Roots
Half the World and Off the Floor (not the order i would send these two songs in lol)
Dirt Poor Robbins
Arcturus
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Kauan
Aiden Laulu
Wonderful song. Senecadawg, maybe?
:metal :metal
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??? : Árstíðir
1: _____
2: _íð__t_ ___ð___
??? : _u__o__o_
1: ____o__
2: O_____o_
??? : Coheed and Cambria
1: __o_o_u_
2: T__ D___ ___t_____
3: ___________ & _u_________
??? : ____t _____o
1: ____o_
2: __ __ ___t_____
3: ____ o_ _ __oud __t____
4: ____t
5: ____o_ ____t_
??? : T__ _____ _____
1: _ou'__ O__ o_ T___ ____'t _ou
2: T__ _____ o_ _ou_ ____ t__ ____ o_ _ou_ ____
3: D____ __t_ D____t _u___
??? : ____ & __d_o_d_
1: ____ _o_____ ___t _o_____
2: _o____ & _____
3: _______d_
senecadawg2: Kauan
1: Äidin Laulu
??? : _u____ _______ __o_d___t___
1: _____ ______
2: T__ __t
3: _ou _ __
??? : ______oo_
1: __do_o_
2: _o___t_
3: T____t_
??? : Dirt Poor Robbins
1: _t To__ _ou_ ____t Out
2: ____o__ To __d_ ____
3: T__ ____t _
??? : ____ _ ____ ____
1: __ood____
2: T____ __ _o _ood
3: D___, D___
??? : ______ o_ D______
1: _o_d o_ _o_d_
2: _o__ o_ t__ _od_
??? : Arcane Roots
1: Half the World
2: Off the Floor
??? : Arcturus
1: __________d __o_t___ __o____
2: ____u_t_o_ _od_ D________d
ariich: Wormwood
1: T__ ____o__t__ _o_d
2: _u____ _äd___ä_d
??? : _______ ________ __ou_
1: _o_t _o___o__
2: _ut _ ___t _o__
??? : ___d_____
1: __t____ ___ __d ___
2: ____d_ ______ __d ______
??? : Coheed and Cambria
1: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
2: Gravity's Union
Guessed letters: ðíÄäuodt
-
M
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The other Coheed songs are...
Prologue
The Dark Sentencer
Gravemakers & Gunslingers
-
With the exception of IKSSE3, some strange Coheed picks being sent.
-
With the exception of IKSSE3, some strange Coheed picks being sent.
No such thing, every song is perfection.
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With the exception of IKSSE3, some strange Coheed picks being sent.
No such thing, every song is perfection.
Assuming you sent IKS and Gravity's Union
-
??? : Árstíðir
1: _____
2: _íð__t_ ___ð___
??? : _u__o__o_
1: M___o__
2: O_____o_
??? : Coheed and Cambria
1: Prologue
2: The Dark Sentencer
3: Gravemakers & Gunslingers
??? : ____t _____o
1: ___mo_
2: __ __ ___t_____
3: ____ o_ _ __oud __t____
4: ____t
5: ____o_ ____t_
??? : T__ _____ _____
1: _ou'__ O__ o_ T__m ____'t _ou
2: T__ _m___ o_ _ou_ ____ t__ ____ o_ _ou_ ____
3: D____ __t_ D____t Mu___
??? : ____ & __d_o_d_
1: M___ _o_____ ___t _o_____
2: _o____ & _____
3: _______d_
senecadawg2: Kauan
1: Äidin Laulu
??? : _u____ _______ __o_d___t___
1: _____ ______
2: T__ __t
3: _ou _ M_
??? : ______oo_
1: __do_o_
2: _o___t_
3: T__m_t_
??? : Dirt Poor Robbins
1: _t To__ _ou_ ____t Out
2: ____om_ To __d_ ____
3: T__ ____t _
??? : ____ _ ____ ____
1: __ood____
2: T____ __ _o _ood
3: D___, D___
??? : ______ o_ D______
1: _o_d o_ _o_d_
2: _o__ o_ t__ _od_
??? : Arcane Roots
1: Half the World
2: Off the Floor
??? : Arcturus
1: __________d __o_t___ __o____
2: ____u_t_o_ _od_ D________d
ariich: Wormwood
1: T__ ____om_t__ _o_d
2: _u____ _äd___ä_d
??? : M______ ________ __ou_
1: _o_t _o___o__
2: _ut _ ___t Mo__
??? : ___d_____
1: __t____ ___ __d ___
2: ____d_ ______ __d ____m_
twosuitluke: Coheed and Cambria
1: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
2: Gravity's Union
Guessed letters: ðíÄäuodtm
-
L
-
With the exception of IKSSE3, some strange Coheed picks being sent.
No such thing, every song is perfection.
Assuming you sent IKS and Gravity's Union
(https://i.redd.it/6mlvfhbryi501.jpg)
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Not saying Litho will feel the same, but this was TAC's reaction to the song in his last roulette :lol
The beginning of Gravity's Union might be the single worst sound I've ever heard come from a guitar.
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Not saying Litho will feel the same, but this was TAC's reaction to the song in his last roulette :lol
The beginning of Gravity's Union might be the single worst sound I've ever heard come from a guitar.
Always knew his ears were broken.
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Not saying Litho will feel the same, but this was TAC's reaction to the song in his last roulette :lol
The beginning of Gravity's Union might be the single worst sound I've ever heard come from a guitar.
Always knew his ears were broken.
To be fair, he did gave it a descent score and a good write up.
Let's get an I for the hangman
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??? : Árstíðir
1: __i__
2: _íð__t_ ___ð___
??? : _u__o__o_
1: Mi__o__
2: O_li_io_
??? : Coheed and Cambria
1: Prologue
2: The Dark Sentencer
3: Gravemakers & Gunslingers
??? : ____t _____o
1: ___moi
2: __ I_ Li_t__i__
3: ____ o_ _ _loud __t____
4: ____t
5: __llo_ Li__t_
??? : T__ _____ _____
1: _ou'__ O__ o_ T__m ____'t _ou
2: T__ _m_ll o_ _ou_ ____ t__ ____ o_ _ou_ ____
3: D_i__ _it_ D____t Mu_i_
??? : ____ & __d_oid_
1: M___ _o_____ L__t _o_____
2: _o____ & _____
3: _i____id_
senecadawg2: Kauan
1: Äidin Laulu
??? : _u_li_ ____i__ __o_d___ti__
1: _____ __ll__
2: T__ _it
3: _ou _ M_
??? : ____i_ool
1: _idolo_
2: _oli_t_
3: T__m_t_
??? : Dirt Poor Robins
1: It To__ _ou_ ____t Out
2: __l_om_ To L_d_ __ll
3: T__ __i_t I
??? : ____ _ _i__ Li__
1: _lood__il
2: T____ I_ _o _ood
3: D___, D___
??? : _____l o_ Di_____
1: _oid o_ _o_d_
2: _o__ o_ t__ _od_
??? : Arcane Roots
1: Half the World
2: Off the Floor
??? : Arcturus
1: __i_______d __o_ti__ _io____
2: ____u_tio_ _od_ D__i_____d
ariich: Wormwood
1: T__ ____om_ti_ _o_d
2: _u____ _äd___ä_d
??? : Mi____l ________ __ou_
1: Lo_t _o_i_o__
2: _ut I ___t Mo__
??? : ___d_____
1: __t____ ___ __d ___
2: ___id_ _li___ __d ____m_
twosuitluke: Coheed and Cambria
1: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
2: Gravity's Union
Guessed letters: ðíÄäuodtmli
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Not saying Litho will feel the same, but this was TAC's reaction to the song in his last roulette :lol
The beginning of Gravity's Union might be the single worst sound I've ever heard come from a guitar.
Always knew his ears were broken.
To be fair, he did gave it a descent score and a good write up.
I love Gravity's Union but the guitar sound at the beginning is...different.
Crow sent The Paper Chase
-
Michael Schenker Group
Lost Horizons
But I Want More
Stadler!
-
Karnivool again
-
Dirt Poor Robins (from Anthems to the Edge of the Earth)
1: It Tore Your Heart Out
2: Welcome To Lady Hell
3: The Saints I
-
???: Árstíðir
1: __i__
2: _íð__t_ ___ð___
???: _u__o__o_
1: Mi__o__
2: O_li_io_
???: Coheed and Cambria
1: Prologue
2: The Dark Sentencer
3: Gravemakers & Gunslingers
???: ____t _____o
1: ___moi
2: __ I_ Li_t__i__
3: ____ o_ _ _loud __t____
4: ____t
5: __llo_ Li__t_
Crow: The Paper Chase
1: _ou'__ O__ o_ T__m ____'t _ou
2: T__ _m_ll o_ _ou_ ____ t__ ____ o_ _ou_ ____
3: D_i__ _it_ D____t Mu_i_
???: ____ & __d_oid_
1: M___ _o_____ L__t _o_____
2: _o____ & _____
3: _i____id_
senecadawg2: Kauan
1: Äidin Laulu
???: _u_li_ ____i__ __o_d___ti__
1: _____ __ll__
2: T__ _it
3: _ou _ M_
???: Karnivool
1: _idolo_
2: _oli_t_
3: T__m_t_
???: Dirt Poor Robins
1: It Tore Your Heart Out
2: Welcome To Lady Hell
3: The Saint I
???: ____ _ _i__ Li__
1: _lood__il
2: T____ I_ _o _ood
3: D___, D___
???: _____l o_ Di_____
1: _oid o_ _o_d_
2: _o__ o_ t__ _od_
???: Arcane Roots
1: Half the World
2: Off the Floor
???: Arcturus
1: __i_______d __o_ti__ _io____
2: ____u_tio_ _od_ D__i_____d
ariich: Wormwood
1: T__ ____om_ti_ _o_d
2: _u____ _äd___ä_d
Stadler: Michael Schenker Group
1: Lost Horizons
2: But I Want More
???: ___d_____
1: __t____ ___ __d ___
2: ___id_ _li___ __d ____m_
twosuitluke: Coheed and Cambria
1: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
2: Gravity's Union
Guessed letters: ðíÄäuodtmli
-
something & Adroids?
R
-
Karnivool again
Eidolon
Goliath
Themata
-
Eidolon
Wolfking
-
Stadler: Michael Schenker Group
1: Lost Horizons
2: But I Want More
Litho, a couple of points here..
Two excellent drummers here..
Lost Horizons has Simon Phillips and But I Want More has Cozy Powell.
Also, we talk about Mt. Rushmores of guitarists and for my personal Guitarist Mt. Rushmore, Michael Schenker is the first head up there.
Also, they are both on his excellent One Night At Budokan album. I have always personally preferred the live version of Lost Horizons, with Powell's heaviness as opposed to Phillips' pitter patter drumming.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0PKi9j6ZaFGvO8NsOU3xRD?si=C3vMpnYIRwKJQrKs0hqP8w
-
??? : Árstíðir
1: __i__
2: _íð__t_ ___ð___
??? : _u__or_o_
1: Mirror_
2: O_li_io_
??? : Coheed and Cambria
1: Prologue
2: The Dark Sentencer
3: Gravemakers & Gunslingers
??? : ____t _r___o
1: ___moi
2: __ I_ Li_t__i__
3: ____ o_ _ _loud __t___r
4: ____t
5: __llo_ Li__t_
Crow: The Paper Chase
1: _ou'r_ O__ o_ T__m _r__'t _ou
2: T__ _m_ll o_ _our ____ t__ ____ o_ _our ____
3: D_i__ _it_ D____t Mu_i_
??? : Apes & Androids
1: M___ _or___r L__t _or___r
2: _o____ & __r__
3: Riverside
senecadawg2: Kauan
1: Äidin Laulu
??? : _u_li_ __r_i__ _ro_d___ti__
1: ___r_ __ll__
2: T__ _it
3: _ou _ M_
??? : Karnivool
1: Eidolon
2: Goliath
3: Themata
??? : Dirt Poor Robins
1: It Tore Your Heart Out
2: Welcome To Lady Hell
3: The Saint I
??? : ____ _ _i__ Li__
1: _lood__il
2: T__r_ I_ _o _ood
3: D___, D___
??? : _____l o_ Di_____
1: _oid o_ _ord_
2: _o__ o_ t__ _od_
??? : Arcane Roots
1: Half the World
2: Off the Floor
??? : Arcturus
1: __i__r____d _ro_ti_r _io___r
2: ____u_tio_ _od_ D__i___r_d
ariich: Wormwood
1: T__ ___rom_ti_ Ro_d
2: _u____ _äd___ärd
Stadler: Michael Schenker Group
1: Lost Horizons
2: But I Want More
??? : __rd_____
1: __t____ ___ __d ___
2: ___id_ _li___ __d ____m_
twosuitluke: Coheed and Cambria
1: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
2: Gravity's Union
Guessed letters: ðíÄäuodtmlir
-
Eidolon
Wolfking
He's not in this roulette. He would have spontaneously combusted last round. :)
-
Apes & Androids-Riverside
-
Stadler: Michael Schenker Group
1: Lost Horizons
2: But I Want More
Litho, a couple of points here..
Two excellent drummers here..
Lost Horizons has Simon Phillips and But I Want More has Cozy Powell.
Also, we talk about Mt. Rushmores of guitarists and for my personal Guitarist Mt. Rushmore, Michael Schenker is the first head up there.
Also, they are both on his excellent One Night At Budokan album. I have always personally preferred the live version of Lost Horizons, with Powell's heaviness as opposed to Phillips' pitter patter drumming.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0PKi9j6ZaFGvO8NsOU3xRD?si=C3vMpnYIRwKJQrKs0hqP8w (https://open.spotify.com/album/0PKi9j6ZaFGvO8NsOU3xRD?si=C3vMpnYIRwKJQrKs0hqP8w)
Helping Stadler win the round, I see. I love that sort of cutthroat competition. (https://i.imgur.com/AWn95Rn.gif)
-
Have a Nice Life
Bloodhail
There Is No Food
probably Elite
-
Tomi sent the other C&C?
Mirrors
Oblivion
You & Me
Give an S
-
No on Elite and Tomi.
??? : Árstíðir
1: S_i__
2: Síð_st_ ___ð___
??? : _u__or_o_
1: Mirrors
2: Oblivion
??? : Coheed and Cambria
1: Prologue
2: The Dark Sentencer
3: Gravemakers & Gunslingers
??? : ____t _r_s_o
1: ___moi
2: __ Is List__i__
3: ___s o_ _ _loud __t___r
4: ___st
5: __llo_ Li__ts
Crow: The Paper Chase
1: _ou'r_ O__ o_ T__m _r__'t _ou
2: T__ Sm_ll o_ _our ____ t__ ____ o_ _our ____
3: D_i__ _it_ D____t Musi_
??? : ___s & __droids
1: M___ _or___r L_st _or___r
2: _o____ & S_r__
3: Ri__rsid_
senecadawg2: Kauan
1: Äidin Laulu
??? : _u_li_ S_r_i__ _ro_d__sti__
1: ___r_ __ll__
2: T__ _it
3: You + Me
??? : Karnivool
1: Eidolon
2: Goliath
3: Themata
??? : Dirt Poor Robins
1: It Tore Your Heart Out
2: Welcome To Lady Hell
3: The Saint I
??? : Have a Nice Life
1: Bloodhail
2: There Is No Food
3: D___, D___
??? : _____l o_ Dis__s_
1: _oid o_ _ords
2: So__ o_ t__ _ods
??? : Arcane Roots
1: Half the World
2: Off the Floor
??? : Arcturus
1: S_i__r____d _ro_ti_r _io___r
2: ____u_tio_ _od_ D__i___r_d
ariich: Wormwood
1: T__ ___rom_ti_ Ro_d
2: Su___s _äd___ärd
Stadler: Michael Schenker Group
1: Lost Horizons
2: But I Want More
??? : __rd_s___
1: __t____ S__ __d S__
2: __sid_ _li__s __d ___sms
twosuitluke: Coheed and Cambria
1: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
2: Gravity's Union
Guessed letters: ðíÄäuodtmlirs
-
Chapel of Disease
- Void of Words
- Song of the Gods
-
Chapel of Disease
- Void of Words
- Song of the Gods
Buddyhunter1?
-
Have a Nice Life
Bloodhail
There Is No Food
probably Elite
Have a Nice Life is a good pick. Wish I'd thought to send them. :corn
-
Chapel of Disease
- Void of Words
- Song of the Gods
Buddyhunter1?
Yep.
-
Agent Fresco-He Is Listening
-
Yep.
-
The Arcturus songs are:
Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer
Evacuation Code Deciphered
-
Yep.
-
F
-
N
-
I guessed who sent the other Coheed submission, but I guessed it in a different roulette thread, just saying :lol
-
Just link the post. :)
???: Árstíðir
1: S_in_
2: Síð_st_ ___ð__n
???: _u__or_on
1: Mirrors
2: Oblivion
???: Coheed and Cambria
1: Prologue
2: The Dark Sentencer
3: Gravemakers & Gunslingers
???: Agent Fresco
1: _n_moi
2: He Is Listening
3: ___s of _ _loud __t___r
4: _n_st
5: __llo_ Li__ts
Crow: The Paper Chase
1: _ou'r_ On_ of T__m _r_n't _ou
2: T__ Sm_ll of _our ____ t__ N___ of _our N___
3: D_in_ _it_ D___nt Musi_
???: ___s & _ndroids
1: M___ For___r L_st For___r
2: _o_nn_ & S_r__
3: Ri__rsid_
senecadawg2: Kauan
1: Äidin Laulu
???: _u_li_ S_r_i__ _ro_d__stin_
1: ___r_ __ll__
2: T__ _it
3: You + Me
???: Karnivool
1: Eidolon
2: Goliath
3: Themata
???: Dirt Poor Robins
1: It Tore Your Heart Out
2: Welcome To Lady Hell
3: The Saint I
???: Have a Nice Life
1: Bloodhail
2: There Is No Food
3: D___, D___
Buddyhunter1: Chapel of Disease
1: Void of Words
2: Song of the Gods
???: Arcane Roots
1: Half the World
2: Off the Floor
???: Arcturus
1: Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer
2: Evacuation Code Deciphered
ariich: Wormwood
1: T__ ___rom_ti_ Ro_d
2: Sunn_s _äd_nfärd
Stadler: Michael Schenker Group
1: Lost Horizons
2: But I Want More
???: __rd_s___
1: __t___n S__ _nd S__
2: __sid_ _liffs _nd ___sms
twosuitluke: Coheed and Cambria
1: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
2: Gravity's Union
Guessed letters: ðíÄäuodtmlirsfn
-
Apes & Androids-Riverside
-
Also, Vmadera00 sent Prize Fighter Inferno?
(https://media.giphy.com/media/jOawfvTuyfZSYNCBu0/giphy.gif)
You sent Coheed in Litho's too right?
I did, I did, sorry :)
-
Anemoi
Eyes of the Cloud Catcher
Angst
Don't remember the last song
-
Arcturus is either Puppies or Ariich.
-
It is not, especially since ariich was already guessed for Wormwood.
Evermind : Árstíðir
1: S_in_
2: Síð_st_ ___ð__n
??? : _u__or_on
1: Mirrors
2: Oblivion
Vmadera00: Coheed and Cambria
1: Prologue
2: The Dark Sentencer
3: Gravemakers & Gunslingers
Elite : Agent Fresco
1: Anemoi
2: He Is Listening
3: Eyes of a Cloud Catcher
4: Angst
5: __llo_ Li__ts
Crow: The Paper Chase
1: _ou'r_ On_ of T__m _r_n't _ou
2: T__ Sm_ll of _our ____ t__ N___ of _our N___
3: D_in_ _it_ D___nt Musi_
??? : Apes & Androids
1: M___ For___r L_st For___r
2: _o_nn_ & S_r__
3: Riverside
senecadawg2: Kauan
1: Äidin Laulu
??? : _u_li_ S_r_i__ _ro_d__stin_
1: ___r_ __ll__
2: T__ _it
3: You + Me
??? : Karnivool
1: Eidolon
2: Goliath
3: Themata
??? : Dirt Poor Robins
1: It Tore Your Heart Out
2: Welcome To Lady Hell
3: The Saint I
??? : Have a Nice Life
1: Bloodhail
2: There Is No Food
3: D___, D___
Buddyhunter1: Chapel of Disease
1: Void of Words
2: Song of the Gods
??? : Arcane Roots
1: Half the World
2: Off the Floor
Lethean : Arcturus
1: Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer
2: Evacuation Code Deciphered
ariich: Wormwood
1: T__ ___rom_ti_ Ro_d
2: Sunn_s _äd_nfärd
Stadler: Michael Schenker Group
1: Lost Horizons
2: But I Want More
??? : __rd_s___
1: __t___n S__ _nd S__
2: __sid_ _liffs _nd ___sms
twosuitluke: Coheed and Cambria
1: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
2: Gravity's Union
Guessed letters: ðíÄäuodtmlirsfn
-
It is not, especially since ariich was already guessed for Wormwood.
Not only that, but I guessed that too. :lol
-
Is Acturis Lethean, then?
-
Yes.
It is not, especially since ariich was already guessed for Wormwood.
Not only that, but I guessed that too. :lol
Goldfish brain is the new pandemic!
-
Agent Fresco sounds like Elite
-
Soundscape sent Dirt Poor Robins
Evermind sent Árstíðir
Vmadera00 sent Arcane Roots
-
Vmadera00 sent Arcane Roots
I mean, I wished I could've sent 2 bands, but you already guessed mine :lol
-
Oh dear, it's already spreading...
-
The Wormwood songs are The Achromatic Road and Sunnas Hädanfärd
-
Yes.
Just an expectation-lowering note as I contemplate early impressions to post in a couple days. I may have to take back what I said earlier about maybe people starting to get a better sense of my taste. :p This is the weakest round yet, with nothing initially above an 8.0 and several below 7.0. I feel like I've said this every round, but I think it might be mathematically provable, but of course that compresses the middle even more than before. It could probably take a bit longer to sort everything out and to get a grasp on a few of these than the last multi-song round, definitely some challenging submissions this time for a variety of reasons, and nothing I outright love yet. I'll be glad if some of them have grown on me though, but if not, you've been warned. (https://i.imgur.com/TDLqusj.gif)
-
You seem to be mistaken, I sent Coheed and Cambria!
-
There's something interesting about that that I might get into later...
-
I can completely understand - I mean, two people sent you C&C!
-
I can completely understand - I mean, two people sent you C&C!
:lol
Just an expectation-lowering note as I contemplate early impressions to post in a couple days. I may have to take back what I said earlier about maybe people starting to get a better sense of my taste. :p This is the weakest round yet, with nothing initially above an 8.0 and several below 7.0. I feel like I've said this every round, but I think it might be mathematically provable, but of course that compresses the middle even more than before. It could probably take a bit longer to sort everything out and to get a grasp on a few of these than the last multi-song round, definitely some challenging submissions this time for a variety of reasons, and nothing I outright love yet. I'll be glad if some of them have grown on me though, but if not, you've been warned. (https://i.imgur.com/TDLqusj.gif)
Oh boy. So the trick is to not suck too much more than everyone else.
I sent some beautiful and fulfilling music though.
-
see i personally find it boring to send basically the same thing twice or try to chip away at what exactly peoples' specific tastes are because giving you exactly what you want is boring for both of us
sending stuff that you may or may not like but haven't specifically said you dislike? now that's the stuff
-
see i personally find it boring to send basically the same thing twice or try to chip away at what exactly peoples' specific tastes are because giving you exactly what you want is boring for both of us
imo, there's a difference between 'sending what a host wants' and 'sending what a host might like'. Most roulette hosts just want music they'll enjoy. I tend to stay away from roulette's where I have no idea what the hosts tastes are; it can be a frustrating experience for both to continually send/receive music that is unappealing - as you may recall from participating (and rage-quitting) during one of my roulettes. :)
-
Oh boy. So the trick is to not suck too much more than everyone else.
Yeah, well, I got overly optimistic when you talked about how much everything sucked in your second round, and then it seems like a bunch of it grew on you. Either you thought mine sucked too at first, or a bunch of stuff surpassed it on later listens. :p
see i personally find it boring to send basically the same thing twice or try to chip away at what exactly peoples' specific tastes are because giving you exactly what you want is boring for both of us
sending stuff that you may or may not like but haven't specifically said you dislike? now that's the stuff
Well, a number of people in the roulette have yet to figure out exactly what I want anyway. :p I guess I'm looking for some of both - music that is right up my alley that I either don't know about or haven't paid enough attention to, and also to stretch my tastes a bit. Of course, people who try to stretch them significantly are taking the bigger risk in terms of their scores, as long as they don't care too much about that. More on that in some of the writeups...
imo, there's a difference between 'sending what a host wants' and 'sending what a host might like'. Most roulette hosts just want music they'll enjoy. I tend to stay away from roulette's where I have no idea what the hosts tastes are; it can be a frustrating experience for both to continually send/receive music that is unappealing
Yeah, though unless you know someone really well, it's probably too subtle a distinction to even bother figuring out. Especially if someone is more spread out in their preferences. I imagine I'm gonna experience the other side of this in ariich's roulette. It's already fascinating in this one, where I seem to have the whole spread, people who are almost always sending stuff I like, people who are mostly sending music I'm not as into, people who seem perpetually locked in the middle, and people who yo-yo from top to bottom round to round.
-
I don't think you're necessarily guilty of this but to go back to what you said a round or two ago about it sometimes being easier to focus on what you don't like about songs in your write-ups over what you do like, I think that can make it harder for people to grow an understanding of your tastes. There's been some roulettes where after a few rounds I still have no idea what the host likes, I just have a growing list of things they don't like, which really doesn't make picking things for them any easier. :lol
Anyways I sent two songs from the best album of 2018 so if you don't like it that's on you. :loser:
-
Eh, it's a scaling issue. In the songs scoring above 8.0 I'm almost exclusively talking about things I like. It's the songs hovering around 7.0 where I find myself arguably overly focusing on the negative facets to explain why they're towards the bottom of the rankings, even if on net my feeling towards them is still positive, it just might not seem that way from the writeup.
I'm also trying to emphasize what I don't like so I get less of it in future rounds. Of course, I'm sure numerous people aren't reading any writeups other than their own (which is perfectly fine, it's a fair amount of reading (though not really any more than Crow's, from the skimming I've done), you just shouldn't be complaining too much if you're not scoring as high as you'd like :) ) Theoretically average scores should go up over time if people heed my advice, though the scores will likely be lower this round unless there's a tidal shift, which is a bit frustrating, but maybe it'll be an anomaly. I have some minor statistical comparisons I may or may not do in a few rounds.
-
I'm also trying to emphasize what I don't like so I get less of it in future rounds. Of course, I'm sure numerous people aren't reading any writeups other than their own.., you just shouldn't be complaining too much if you're not scoring as high as you'd like :) ) Theoretically average scores should go up over time if people heed my advice, though the scores will likely be lower this round unless there's a tidal shift, which is a bit frustrating, but maybe it'll be an anomaly. I have some minor statistical comparisons I may or may not do in a few rounds.
Are you saying that I'll be complaining about my score this round? :lol
-
I've never really had a roulette where the average quality of submissions has a clear upwards trajectory over time... if anything it's usually the opposite; a lot of people send all their best stuff early and then run out as the rounds go on. :P
Tastes are so esoteric that even with incredibly good write-ups, it's hard to communicate them effectively. And even if you do, people on here have a wide variety of their own tastes, so certain participants will have a natural advantage (whether they're aware of it or not), based on what music they like listening to and how well it aligns with the host. Unless you're like, Ariich, who literally listens to everything ever made, ever. :biggrin:
-
People are also not always consistent in what they like and don't like. Two bands/songs may have a lot of similarities, but for whatever reason there's one I'll like and one I won't. It doesn't always make sense and it's hard to explain sometimes. So even if we think we know what you're tastes are, there's almost no way to know for sure if something will hit you the same way as something else we know you'll like. The only way to really know is to send it and find out how you like it!
-
see i personally find it boring to send basically the same thing twice or try to chip away at what exactly peoples' specific tastes are because giving you exactly what you want is boring for both of us
sending stuff that you may or may not like but haven't specifically said you dislike? now that's the stuff
I've said it before but that's why I love having you in my roulettes. You never outright bomb. Sometimes you challenge for the title, others you linger around mid table, but you always send me some stuff that challenges me in interesting ways.
-
see i personally find it boring to send basically the same thing twice or try to chip away at what exactly peoples' specific tastes are because giving you exactly what you want is boring for both of us
sending stuff that you may or may not like but haven't specifically said you dislike? now that's the stuff
I've said it before but that's why I love having you in my roulettes. You never outright bomb. Sometimes you challenge for the title, others you linger around mid table, but you always send me some stuff that challenges me in interesting ways.
I agree. Sometimes Crow sends things so bad, they're actually good. :lol
-
Yeah, and I'm sure even the lowest-scoring participants I'm sure have something incredible up their sleeve at some point.
I'm also trying to emphasize what I don't like so I get less of it in future rounds. Of course, I'm sure numerous people aren't reading any writeups other than their own.., you just shouldn't be complaining too much if you're not scoring as high as you'd like :) ) Theoretically average scores should go up over time if people heed my advice, though the scores will likely be lower this round unless there's a tidal shift, which is a bit frustrating, but maybe it'll be an anomaly. I have some minor statistical comparisons I may or may not do in a few rounds.
Are you saying that I'll be complaining about my score this round? :lol
(https://i.giphy.com/media/9SINEn8jWy7xzFquPG/giphy.webp)
I've never really had a roulette where the average quality of submissions has a clear upwards trajectory over time... if anything it's usually the opposite; a lot of people send all their best stuff early and then run out as the rounds go on. :P
Eh, I dunno if I buy that. It's not like there are hundreds of rounds. Anyone who doesn't have an incredibly small library is gonna have hundreds, maybe thousands of great songs to send, it's a matter of figuring out which slices of them to zero in on.
-
Most of my roulettes have seen the quality increase generally, maybe with the odd dip later on.
I think it also depends on the host. Quite a lot get roulette fatigue later on.
-
Auto-correct is really tired of your shirt.
-
People are also not always consistent in what they like and don't like. Two bands/songs may have a lot of similarities, but for whatever reason there's one I'll like and one I won't. It doesn't always make sense and it's hard to explain sometimes. So even if we think we know what you're tastes are, there's almost no way to know for sure if something will hit you the same way as something else we know you'll like. The only way to really know is to send it and find out how you like it!
This is how I feel. I don't think there's a scientific way to figure out what someone is and isn't going to like based on what else they like/don't like. I've read all of my write ups of course and a sampling of other write ups each round, but I think unless I change my whole approach to listening to music, I'm not going to crack some code to then be able to send only stuff that Litho scores with a 10.
For this round, I don't really expect to score that high. Arcturus was a long (long) term grower for me. I avoided their most off the wall stuff but what I did send is still kinda weird. If Litho's going to like them, it'll probably be "one day" rather than today. But it has to start somewhere right? Maybe it starts now and a few years down the road long after I've lost this roulette, he'll be playing these songs more and more, not quite sure why they're so compelling. Or not, but I gotta try. :)
-
Auto-correct is really tired of your shirt.
:lol
-
Wait, you guys are sending stuff you think the host will like?
-
Wait, you guys are sending stuff you think the host will like?
Not really :neverusethis:
-
Wait, you guys are sending stuff you think the host will like?
Not really :neverusethis:
You been sending Moonsorrow every round?
-
Yeah, I'm just sending the stuff I like.
-
Auto-correct is really tired of your shirt.
:rollin
Edited.
-
Wait, you guys are sending stuff you think the host will like?
Not really :neverusethis:
You been sending Moonsorrow every round?
At least once in every roulette :metal
-
Auto-correct is really tired of your shirt.
:lol
Haha
-
Wait, you guys are sending stuff you think the host will like?
Not really :neverusethis:
Yeah, I'm just sending the stuff I like.
Yeah, this is the risk. If there's enough overlap in taste, it can be successful. If not, well... (https://i.imgur.com/mj4SnDN.gif)
In other roulettes I always send music I like, but I intentionally try and target specific attributes from my collection when I can discern certain things the host seems to be looking for, maybe pushing at the margins here and there (sometimes too much!). My submissions to 425, Luke, Tomi, and TAC have all been fairly different, though maybe a bit in common here and there.
-
Yeah, I'm just sending the stuff I like.
Yeah, this is the risk. If there's enough overlap in taste, it can be successful. If not, well... (https://i.imgur.com/mj4SnDN.gif)
I won't mind my 6/10 (or lower) score if that's what it comes to. The most important thing is that I stand behind my submissions, I do really love what I send. :)
-
BTW, I'm still suspecting scores will be lower than past rounds, but not quite as much of a gap as I first thought there would be. Some songs have been growing on me a bit, as I hoped they would. I have something interesting I'm working on for impressions, more on that later...
-
Does that mean I'll be doing less complaining? :lol
-
Does that mean I'll be doing less complaining? :lol
This seems unlikely under any circumstance. :biggrin:
-
Does that mean I'll be doing less complaining? :lol
This seems unlikely under any circumstance. :biggrin:
Can't complain about that! :P
Oh wait..
-
Impressions coming soon, I have a lot to do tomorrow, so let's say Wednesday to be safe. Here is hangman filled out in the meantime.
Evermind: Árstíðir
1: Shine
2: Síðasta kveðjan
TAC: Euphoreon
1: Mirrors
2: Oblivion
Vmadera00: Coheed and Cambria
1: Prologue
2: The Dark Sentencer
3: Gravemakers & Gunslingers
Elite: Agent Fresco
1: Anemoi
2: He Is Listening
3: Eyes of a Cloud Catcher
4: Angst
5: Yellow Lights
Crow: The Paper Chase
1: You're One of Them Aren't You
2: The Small of Your Back the Nape of Your Neck
3: Dying With Decent Music
SoundscapeMN: Apes & Androids
1: Make Forever Last Forever
2: Johnny & Sarah
3: Riverside
senecadawg2: Kauan
1: Äidin Laulu
HOF: Public Service Broadcasting
1: Every Valley
2: The Pit
3: You + Me
Nachtmerrie: Karnivool
1: Eidolon
2: Goliath
3: Themata
soupytwist: Dirt Poor Robins
1: It Tore Your Heart Out
2: Welcome To Lady Hell
3: The Saints I
Sacul: Have a Nice Life
1: Bloodhail
2: There Is No Food
3: Deep, Deep
Buddyhunter1: Chapel of Disease
1: Void of Words
2: Song of the Gods
Tomislav95: Arcane Roots
1: Half the World
2: Off the Floor
Lethean: Arcturus
1: Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer
2: Evacuation Code Deciphered
ariich: Wormwood
1: The Achromatic Road
2: Sunnas hädanfärd
Stadler: Michael Schenker Group
1: Lost Horizons
2: But I Want More
Puppies_On_Acid: Kardashev
1: Between Sea and Sky
2: Beside Cliffs and Chasms
twosuitluke: Coheed and Cambria
1: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
2: Gravity's Union
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HOF: Public Service Broadcasting
1: Every Valley
2: The Pit
3: You + Me
Damm it, wish I would've thought of them. Good choice for this roulette, though not sending Gagarin is a missed opportunity. Otherwise great choices :tup
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HOF: Public Service Broadcasting
1: Every Valley
2: The Pit
3: You + Me
Damm it, wish I would've thought of them. Good choice for this roulette, though not sending Gagarin is a missed opportunity. Otherwise great choices :tup
He already listened to that one in 425s roulette, so it would have been out even if I had sent it!
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Ok, first let's have some fun. Some of these will probably be really hard to get and you'll have to think outside of the box for. Comparing them to the text impressions for some will likely help.
Round 6 Emojipressions:
1: :spitcoffee: (https://i.imgur.com/2yT455w.gif)
2: TAC - Euphoreon - (https://i.imgur.com/uoPONfh.gif) (https://i.imgur.com/vhoTMuZ.gif)
3: (https://i.imgur.com/3bvF54b.gif)
4: (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/eek.gif) (https://i.imgur.com/ZPJi5K0.gif)
5: :biggrin: (https://i.imgur.com/PnLNxZj.gif)
6: :lol :lol (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/loser.gif)
7: :tup (https://i.imgur.com/d7b2M0r.gif)
8: (https://i.imgur.com/Nl6gDzm.gif)
9: (https://i.imgur.com/0dqVMCH.gif)
10: (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/rolleyes.gif) :slowclap: (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
11: :letam:
12: (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/panda1.gif)
13: (https://i.imgur.com/GEFABWg.gif) (https://i.imgur.com/0O1HMkD.gif)
14: (https://i.imgur.com/qXN57MU.gif)
15: (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/glasses.gif)
16: (https://i.imgur.com/9Po5i1a.gif)
17: (https://i.imgur.com/1C7FEmC.gif)
18: :vomitard:
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Now get the Prozac ready... Remember that I sometimes incorporate information I uncovered later, but I still try and base them on my feelings from the first listen, so I might think a bit differently about some of these now and in a few days than I did at first, but I'm still trying to capture that initial vibe.
Round 6 Early Impressions:
1: Vmadera00 - Coheed & Cambria - The guitar work is even better than I remember. The vocals are not.
2: Now I know why people have eliminations. ;-)
3: Are these tracks really all from the same artist? And when in doubt, steal someone's band who's scoring more than you!
4: This sounds like a backing track with half of the vocals missing.
5: HOF - Public Service Broadcasting - These songs are missing the film they're supposed to go with.
6: The first song feels like it repeats the same idea over and over while slowly turning the volume knob up and down.
7: Buddyhunter1 - Chapel of Disease - Clean, Dry Guitar Solos: The Final Frontier. This straddles two quite different genres, but is missing the better elements of both.
8: This might be a middling "safe" submission, which in this round could be all you need.
9: SoundscapeMN - Apes & Androids - Uh oh, did you get jinxed?
10: The drumming is fantastic. The guitar tones and vocals are not. And will I remember any of it?
11: The second song took this from pleasant background music to something a bit more special.
12: Did Dark Tranquillity do a black/folk metal side project I missed?
13: Stadler - Michael Schenker Group - Lighter on riffs than expected, but the solos deliver.
14: You may have sent the wrong songs.
15: TAC - Euphoreon - I feel like I'm supposed to be riding a dragon and wielding my steel, but oh wait, now it's nighttime and rainy and I can't see where we're going!
16: I love violin, but this one sounds fake.
17: You have probably overcompensated this round in one direction, but pushed it too far in the wrong direction on a different dimension.
18: Lethean - Arcturus - You're cheatin' hard and I love it.
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1: The guitar work is even better than I remember. The vocals are not.
2: Now I know why people have eliminations. ;-)
6: The first song feels like it repeats the same idea over and over while slowly turning the volume knob up and down.
17: You have probably overcompensated this round in one direction, but pushed it too far in the wrong direction on a different dimension.
:metal
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5: These songs are missing the film they're supposed to go with.
This one.
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TAC - (https://i.imgur.com/UBbYa4z.gif)
HOF - (https://i.imgur.com/ki1MslS.gif)
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10: The drumming is fantastic. The guitar tones and vocals are not. And will I remember any of it?
12: Did Dark Tranquillity do a black/folk metal side project I missed?
:corn
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(https://i.imgur.com/9vo518q.gif)
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Good lord, I don't even know where to begin :rollin
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Clean, Dry Guitar Solos: The Final Frontier. This straddles two quite different genres, but is missing the better elements of both.
No it's not
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12 emojipression? 11 text impression?
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You really need to work on your hidden emote game. There's a couple up there that have a hidden code.
:dunno:
:birch:
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I think I have that first one one saved somewhere as well in an album. I've only relatively recently started collecting these - was getting bored of the stock ones and started trawling old forums I used to be on for more. I know we have a few more of them, but for some reason the code wasn't working so I just used a link instead.
Clean, Dry Guitar Solos: The Final Frontier. This straddles two quite different genres, but is missing the better elements of both.
No it's not
(https://i.imgur.com/lBVKEzr.gif) :laugh:
12 emojipression? 11 text impression?
(https://i.imgur.com/9vo518q.gif)
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Oh boy, I'm 0-6..
Let's try these...
13: Lighter on riffs than expected, but the solos deliver.
14: You may have sent the wrong songs.
15: I feel like I'm supposed to be riding a dragon and wielding my steel, but oh wait, now it's nighttime and rainy and I can't see where we're going!
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Let's try these...
15: I feel like I'm supposed to be riding a dragon and wielding my steel, but oh wait, now it's nighttime and rainy and I can't see where we're going!
(https://i.imgur.com/JbI22Ms.gif)
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18?
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:tup
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2: (https://i.imgur.com/uoPONfh.gif) (https://i.imgur.com/vhoTMuZ.gif)
This one?
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(https://i.imgur.com/s9woO8Q.gif)
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9: (https://i.imgur.com/0dqVMCH.gif)
9: Uh oh, did you get jinxed?
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9: Uh oh, did you get jinxed?
Might need to see if Buddy has a voodoo doll of you. (https://i.imgur.com/0bul0dA.gif)
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10: (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/rolleyes.gif) :slowclap: (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
Round 6 Early Impressions:
1: The guitar work is even better than I remember. The vocals are not.
3: Are these tracks really all from the same artist? And when in doubt, steal someone's band who's scoring more than you!
13: Lighter on riffs than expected, but the solos deliver.
14: You may have sent the wrong songs.
One of these? Let's start with the obvious one in #3.
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13: Lighter on riffs than expected, but the solos deliver.
Michael Schenker?
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(https://i.imgur.com/ki1MslS.gif)
Round 6 Early Impressions:
1: The guitar work is even better than I remember. The vocals are not.
:corn
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Surely this one. :lol
12: Did Dark Tranquillity do a black/folk metal side project I missed?
But if not then maybe:
8: This might be a middling "safe" submission, which in this round could be all you need.
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Think I'll go 10 for :omg: and 3 for text.
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6 on the impressions?
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8 or 14 for text, sad panda for emojis
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Round 6 Emojipressions:
1: :spitcoffee: (https://i.imgur.com/2yT455w.gif)
2: TAC - Euphoreon - (https://i.imgur.com/uoPONfh.gif) (https://i.imgur.com/vhoTMuZ.gif)
3: (https://i.imgur.com/3bvF54b.gif)
4: (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/eek.gif) (https://i.imgur.com/ZPJi5K0.gif)
5: :biggrin: (https://i.imgur.com/PnLNxZj.gif)
6: :lol :lol (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/loser.gif)
7: :tup (https://i.imgur.com/d7b2M0r.gif)
8: (https://i.imgur.com/Nl6gDzm.gif)
9: (https://i.imgur.com/0dqVMCH.gif)
10: (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/rolleyes.gif) :slowclap: (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
11: :letam:
12: (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/panda1.gif)
13: (https://i.imgur.com/GEFABWg.gif) (https://i.imgur.com/0O1HMkD.gif)
14: (https://i.imgur.com/qXN57MU.gif)
15: (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/glasses.gif)
16: (https://i.imgur.com/9Po5i1a.gif)
17: HOF - Public Broadcasting Service - (https://i.imgur.com/1C7FEmC.gif)
18: :vomitard:
Round 6 Early Impressions:
1: Vmadera00 - Coheed & Cambria - The guitar work is even better than I remember. The vocals are not.
2: Now I know why people have eliminations. ;-)
3: soupytwist - Dirt Poor Robins - Are these tracks really all from the same artist? And when in doubt, steal someone's band who's scoring more than you!
4: This sounds like a backing track with half of the vocals missing.
5: HOF - Public Service Broadcasting - These songs are missing the film they're supposed to go with.
6: The first song feels like it repeats the same idea over and over while slowly turning the volume knob up and down.
7: Buddyhunter1 - Chapel of Disease - Clean, Dry Guitar Solos: The Final Frontier. This straddles two quite different genres, but is missing the better elements of both.
8: Nachtmerrie - Karnivvol - This might be a middling "safe" submission, which in this round could be all you need.
9: SoundscapeMN - Apes & Androids - Uh oh, did you get jinxed?
10: Elite - Agent Fresco - The drumming is fantastic. The guitar tones and vocals are not. And will I remember any of it?
11: The second song took this from pleasant background music to something a bit more special.
12: ariich - Wormwood - Did Dark Tranquillity do a black/folk metal side project I missed?
13: Stadler - Michael Schenker Group - Lighter on riffs than expected, but the solos deliver.
14: twosuitsluke - Coheed & Cambria - You may have sent the wrong songs.
15: TAC - Euphoreon - I feel like I'm supposed to be riding a dragon and wielding my steel, but oh wait, now it's nighttime and rainy and I can't see where we're going!
16: I love violin, but this one sounds fake.
17: You have probably overcompensated this round in one direction, but pushed it too far in the wrong direction on a different dimension.
18: Lethean - Arcturus - You're cheatin' hard and I love it.
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Round 6 Emojipressions:
1: :spitcoffee: (https://i.imgur.com/2yT455w.gif)
Is this one, isn't it? :)
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(https://i.imgur.com/UBbYa4z.gif)
But my reaction was similar to that, so not far offtrack.
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I have no ideas on the emojis. Maybe 17?
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#5 then? :justjen
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HOF: (https://i.imgur.com/ki1MslS.gif)
Vmad: (https://i.imgur.com/9vo518q.gif)
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Written impression 10 is mine?
11 is possible too I guess?
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6 on the impressions?
8 or 11 then?
Could be 10 based on the drumming but the guitar tone and vocals are just as great:)
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Written impression 10 is mine?
8
:)
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Last try, #6? :corn
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This one?
6: The first song feels like it repeats the same idea over and over while slowly turning the volume knob up and down.
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(https://i.imgur.com/UBbYa4z.gif)
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I'm 14 aren't I...
(https://media.tenor.com/C_lBkCPJrncAAAAC/mac-god-dammit.gif)
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(https://i.imgur.com/XmbqBzV.gif)
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(https://i.imgur.com/XmbqBzV.gif)
FYI, when it comes to Coheed there are no wrong songs!
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Did KGLW have wrong songs? (https://i.imgur.com/ss3DKi8.gif)
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Did KGLW have wrong songs? (https://i.imgur.com/ss3DKi8.gif)
No, just wrong hosts
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Well, you have two active ones to get a better score out of it from. :)
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10th emoji thingy? 16th text one?
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(https://i.imgur.com/JuBgMxV.gif)
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4th emoji one...? 6th text impressión...?
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Well, you have two active ones to get a better score out of it from. :)
No chance they score anywhere decent with TAC. I might have some luck with Tomi though, he's young and hip :rollin
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Well, you have two active ones to get a better score out of it from. :)
No chance they score anywhere decent with TAC. I might have some luck with Tomi though, he's young and hip :rollin
(https://media.tenor.com/E3WCe-24PIsAAAAd/obama-why.gif)
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What's KGLW anyway?
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King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
4th emoji one...? 6th text impressión...?
(https://i.imgur.com/9vo518q.gif)
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What's KGLW anyway?
KingshmeGland Learns to Write (properly) :neverusethis:
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What's KGLW anyway?
KingshmeGland Learns to Write (properly) :neverusethis:
Oh, then this is his emoji..
(https://i.imgur.com/d7b2M0r.gif)
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I’m afraid this round was so bad we killed Litho’s enthusiasm for music.
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I’m afraid this round was so bad we killed Litho’s enthusiasm for music.
This is actual footage of Litho after the first listen:
(https://media0.giphy.com/media/ggJLITvI3D8xIZh1pw/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b9529b849ca27d8014cc7a45b06a85aa46743eee7626&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
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I've given up on music and taken up sculpting now. You like?
(https://i.giphy.com/media/l0HlLkqsEV07tK7ok/giphy.webp)
No seriously, I've been working on the writeups, they're just taking awhile, as I suspected early on. Doesn't help that there's been more offline stuff in the last few days as well. I'll post the solved impressions later today for something else to distract everyone in the meantime though.
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Probably the 2nd impression :loser:
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Here are the filled-out impressions. Some of the emojis might be more self-explanatory than others.
Round 6 Emojipressions:
1: Stadler - Michael Schenker Group - :spitcoffee: (https://i.imgur.com/2yT455w.gif)
2: TAC - Euphoreon - (https://i.imgur.com/uoPONfh.gif) (https://i.imgur.com/vhoTMuZ.gif)
3: Tomislav95 - Arcane Roots - (https://i.imgur.com/3bvF54b.gif)
4: Crow - the pAper chAse - (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/eek.gif) (https://i.imgur.com/ZPJi5K0.gif)
5: Evermind - Árstíðir - :biggrin: (https://i.imgur.com/PnLNxZj.gif)
6: Vmadera00 - Coheed & Cambria - :lol :lol (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/loser.gif)
7: Lethean - Arcturus - :tup (https://i.imgur.com/d7b2M0r.gif)
8: Nachtmerrie - Karnivool - (https://i.imgur.com/Nl6gDzm.gif)
9: Sacul - Have a Nice Life - (https://i.imgur.com/0dqVMCH.gif)
10: twosuitluke - Coheed & Cambria - (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/rolleyes.gif) :slowclap: (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
11: ariich - Wormwood - :letam:
12: SoundscapeMN - Apes & Androids - (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/panda1.gif)
13: Elite - Agent Fresco - (https://i.imgur.com/GEFABWg.gif) (https://i.imgur.com/0O1HMkD.gif)
14: soupytwist - Dirt Poor Robins - (https://i.imgur.com/qXN57MU.gif)
15: senecadawg2 - Kauan - (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/glasses.gif)
16: Puppies_On_Acid - Kardashev - (https://i.imgur.com/9Po5i1a.gif)
17: HOF - Public Broadcasting Service - (https://i.imgur.com/1C7FEmC.gif)
18: Buddyhunter1 - Chapel of Disease - :vomitard:
Round 6 Early Impressions:
1: Vmadera00 - Coheed & Cambria - The guitar work is even better than I remember. The vocals are not.
2: Crow - the pAper chAse - Now I know why people have eliminations. ;-)
3: soupytwist - Dirt Poor Robins - Are these tracks really all from the same artist? And when in doubt, steal someone's band who's scoring more than you!
4: Puppies_On_Acid - Kardashev - This sounds like a backing track with half of the vocals missing.
5: HOF - Public Service Broadcasting - These songs are missing the film they're supposed to go with.
6: Tomislav95 - Arcane Roots - The first song feels like it repeats the same idea over and over while slowly turning the volume knob up and down.
7: Buddyhunter1 - Chapel of Disease - Clean, Dry Guitar Solos: The Final Frontier. This straddles two quite different genres, but is missing the better elements of both.
8: Nachtmerrie - Karnivool - This might be a middling "safe" submission, which in this round could be all you need.
9: SoundscapeMN - Apes & Androids - Uh oh, did you get jinxed?
10: Elite - Agent Fresco - The drumming is fantastic. The guitar tones and vocals are not. And will I remember any of it?
11: Evermind - Árstíðir - The second song took this from pleasant background music to something a bit more special.
12: ariich - Wormwood - Did Dark Tranquillity do a black/folk metal side project I missed?
13: Stadler - Michael Schenker Group - Lighter on riffs than expected, but the solos deliver.
14: twosuitluke - Coheed & Cambria - You may have sent the wrong songs.
15: TAC - Euphoreon - I feel like I'm supposed to be riding a dragon and wielding my steel, but oh wait, now it's nighttime and rainy and I can't see where we're going!
16: senecadawg2 - Kauan - I love violin, but this one sounds fake.
17: Sacul - Have a Nice Life - You have probably overcompensated this round in one direction, but pushed it too far in the wrong direction on a different dimension.
18: Lethean - Arcturus - You're cheatin' hard and I love it.
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Didn't guess the "pleasant background music" impression because with the first song, it gets a little intense in "Oh god" section. Although I may be biased because I'm very familiar with the song.
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Well, I thought some sad music would be a good idea, but seems I've made a huge mistake yet again :lol
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Writeups are done. Just need to finish editing them, tweak the scores, and iron out all the fine details and such. Results tomorrow evening.
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I'm ready for some Mystery Songs!
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I'm ready for some Mystery Songs!
We'll see if you are. :p
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I have no idea what to take from that emoji - I guess it's not positive though?
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Don't drive yourself crazy thinking about whether they're negative or positive. Just look more carefully at it and the titles of the songs you sent. They don't necessarily always relate to the titles, but yours does.
Arcade Roots
Half the World and Off the Floor (not the order i would send these two songs in lol)
One of my favorite things is skimming back through the posts for each round at the end or right after the round, seeing how over or under-confident comments played out (commenting on those right now would spoil the results for tonight though), and noticing things that I wasn't familiar enough with the songs yet to have much of an opinion on. In this case (and also in Stadler's), the initial submission was for only the first song, I guess they were mixed up and forgot that the open rounds can be multi-song, unlike the mystery song rounds. So if they'd realized this beforehand they might have sent them in the opposite order, potentially. Not that I'm scoring flow in the multi-song rounds per se, but it probably doesn't hurt if you put a bit of thought into the order, since I do listen in the order the songs are arranged in the submission. At first anyway, I carve up the playlist all sorts of ways later on.
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I'm gonna tank so hard in this round! It's gonna be worse than Han-tyumi and the Murder of the Universe!
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(https://i.giphy.com/media/PcfozPlZSzARO/giphy.webp)
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Crow - the pAper chAse - "You're One of Them Aren't You?", "The Small of Your Back the Nape of Your Neck (The Blizzard)", "Dying With Decent Music"
Early Impression - "Now I know why people have eliminations. ;-)"
So of course the impression is tongue-in-cheek. Even if so far some of your submissions are totally missing me, they definitely aren't boring, and stand out from many of the others. I feel like in some future round you're gonna send something unusual that really connects with me. So even if I'm not really liking some of these I do appreciate receiving them, even if the payoff doesn't come during this roulette.
But as for this artist, I've listened to these songs way more times than I'd ever allow myself to outside of the confines of an experiment like this roulette, and I just can't get into them. I think I heard the first song a couple times since you sent it in Luke's roulette, but that was all I could tolerate at the time. Really dissonant music is highly risky for me. For the most part I like melodious music, even when it's quite aggressive, heavy and hard, and I can only put up with strong dissonance in smaller amounts.
I occasionally get into really bizarre moods where I'm up for really strange music, and usually at those times I just go full-bore into even more extreme music - 20th century avant-garde classical like Penderecki, avant-prog/Rock-In-Opposition like Univers Zero and such, that's even more dissonant and discordant. Or in extreme metal I generally can't stomach much dissodeath or dissoblack, though there are occasional exceptions like Gorguts and some of Deathspell Omega's work. Even then, those are rarely favorites, they just better suit my palate when I'm in fairly specific and irregular modalities.
TPC occupies a more challenging middle ground where there is a conventional song in the center of each tune, but the arrangement is designed to make it much more off-kilter on purpose. In my research, it was a bit discombobulating to see John perform a live solo acoustic version of "You're One of Them Aren't You", where he doesn't even try and keep the dissonant elements in, which makes it almost feel like a completely different song.
For what they're going for, this seems well-constructed and executed enough that I can understand why people who are into this kind of music would like it. A rather different genre, but it reminds me a bit of some of Bela Bartok's work, particularly some of his string quartets, where there's a similar juxtaposition of more traditionally melodic music with regular bursts of "something's not quite right" discordance.
So my challenge is twofold. First is the dissonance and strangeness of the instrumentation, which is its own struggle. The other is John's vocal style, which is pretty singular among anything I've ever listened to. And frankly, I just don't really care for it at all. I think with the right vocalist, I could grow at least somewhat accustomed to some of the more out-there music undergirding it over time. But the combination of the two is just too much for me, and it was a chore to make it through these each time, hoping maybe something would eventually click, but very little of it ever did.
1:23 of "You're One of Them, Aren't You?" is probably one of the relatively few moments I liked, it had a bit of a King Crimson feel to the guitar lead, which is another one of the few groups who semi-regularly explore dissonance that I love. Then there's the piano lick at 2:52 in "The Small of Your Back the Nape of Your Neck" before the playful irreverence of the chorus. And the rhythmic clacking at 0:20 in the same song is cool. Or the shrieking violin bit at 1:48 in "Dying With Decent Music" is rather fun.
John Congleton is kind of an enigma to me, since the number and variety of artists he's produced is pretty staggering, given how niche the appeal of this group is. Most of them are either ones I don't know or only know very vaguely, some with a small amount of material I've heard. But he has worked with some artists I really like, which makes me see more potential for incorporation of some of the more jarring elements.
In particular, he produced Chelsea Wolfe's Abyss, which is one of my favorite albums. I knew very little about Congleton beforehand other than occasionally hearing the name, but now having read more about him and listened a lot to these tracks, I can see some of his influence on that album, which gives me hope that perhaps smaller portions of this style can be effective. Chelsea's song "The Abyss" especially seems to have John's fingerprints all over it, with the out-of-tune, dissonant piano motif that plays throughout the first half of the song, and then the similarly unnerving chamber string work in the second half. It's far from my favorite song on the album, but I love her vocals and other work enough that I can get into it much more.
"Crazy Love" on the same Congleton-produced album has a somewhat more subtle incorporation of strangeness, with a reasonably conventional ballad structure, but a rather alarming string backing in the chorus, which I imagine could easily have been a production idea he came up with. So with the right artist, perhaps some of these ideas can work.
So in finality, I suppose that 5/10 is probably my lower limit for a participation score. These songs were a tougher listen for me than that, and I definitely like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard more than 0.5 more than this, but I suppose this is my threshold. I still don't currently plan to have eliminations, so I guess I'm stuck with your musical mad science lab for now and whatever concoction you come up with next. :-) Maybe I'll love it!
Score: 5/10
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Sacul - Have a Nice Life - "Bloodhail", "There Is No Food", "Deep, Deep"
Early Impression - "You have probably overcompensated this round in one direction, but pushed it too far in the wrong direction on a different dimension."
Yeah, so this is one of the risks of arguably overreacting to one particular type of comment I've made. Here we have music that has more of a melancholic vibe and atmosphere I like, but it's just too raw and underproduced for me. I've known about this band for a long time, and probably even sampled something from them before, but I can see now why they don't quite hit for me. There's a superficial similarity to other music I love, I know there's some overlap in the fanbase for them with fans of Katatonia's late 90s-era work, for example. And this is one of the earlier albums people tend to cite as "doomgaze" (in particular the droning style of "There Is No Food"), an emergent niche that has been proliferating more rapidly in recent years and I've enjoyed music similar to, so I've kind of wanted to explore HaNL more, so I appreciate the submission even just for that alone.
But this is just too lo-fi for my tastes. I read that it cost them only $1,000 to record this album, and unfortunately, it sounds like it. Not that great music has to be expensive, there's some excellent recordings made with nothing more than a laptop, but generally I prefer music to sound more polished, and while there are exceptions, this isn't one of them. It's a bit of a shame, because there are definitely good songs and ideas buried in here, and tidied up and/or covered by a different band like The Cure or someone like that, this could be a substantially stronger entry.
Let's first look at a few things I liked. Even as murky as it is, the chorused guitar tone early in "Bloodhail" is pretty cool, as is the slow lead at 3:24, and the line opening "There Is No Food". The bass is pretty audible, which I'll rarely complain about. The synth notes with a rapid decay starting at 3:50 in "Bloodhail" are splendid. I'll talk more about other concerns with the vocals later, but the backing vocal interplay at the end of "Bloodhail" is rather intriguing.
"Deep, Deep" is kind of a frustrating song to listen to. The basic post-punk-ish groove of it has a nice energy to it, and I like the synth melody that plays over it at 1:32. The chord progression and guitar playing is messier than I'd prefer, but I sort of dig the vibe to it in spite of myself. The vocals are double-tracked, but not quite in unison, which is kind of a fascinating sound. But for a song that's almost five and a half minutes, it becomes too repetitive and overstays its welcome. It either needs to be shorter or it needs some type of other section in the middle to break things up and give it some variety. Also, even beyond my general issues with the production of the songs overall, the mix on "Deep, Deep" is really odd. It seems to randomly become brighter at times and more muffled at others, with the snare in particular suddenly becoming significantly louder, probably most easily heard around 2:30, though the first verse at 0:34 is similar, and I found this really distracting.
Also, this is going to be a recurring theme, and I'm not sure of an easy solution to it. The vocals on these songs, as well as others later in the round, are buried in the mix and pretty boxy-sounding. On one hand, I tend to be picky about vocalists, and somewhat hiding them in the mix if I don't care for their voice is a way to make it less of a negative. On the other hand, I generally tend to like vocals that are a bit more forward, and if there's not, it tends to make songs less memorable and more like background music, which this leans towards too much of the time. The vocal melodies in general verge on the monotonous, so when I think back to these songs, I tend to remember the things that bugged me more than the elements I liked.
Score: 6.75/10
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Elite - Agent Fresco - "Anemoi", "He Is Listening", "Eyes of a Cloud Catcher", "Angst", "Yellow Lights"
Early Impression - "The drumming is fantastic. The guitar tones and vocals are not. And will I remember any of it?"
So here we have a band I'd heard an album from before, but didn't really remember anything about. And unfortunately, I think I now know why. The drumming is quite impressive throughout, and there are aspects and moments here and there that I really enjoyed, but overall this isn't connecting with me.
"Anemoi" started out fairly auspiciously, the piano intro and using tom and/or snare rims for a clacking rhythm is a rather underused technique. It actually reminds me a bit of The Reign of Kindo, a promising band I need to spend more time with from earlier rounds. I like the ride bell work at 1:39 as well, along with the piano harmonies there, and earlier at 0:40. The intro of "Eyes of a Cloud Catcher" is really cool, the drumming reminds me of some Minus The Bear songs, and the piano with it is a charming bonus. In general there's a lot of cool rhythmic interplay driven by the drumming and sometimes the guitars. The bass playing is also fairly solid. Some of the slow ascending glissando string work is useful in building tension, like at 2:05 in "Anemoi".
But most of my issues center around the vocals and the guitars. Vocal-wise, I just don't really care for the timbre of them. It's a bit of a challenge to listen to throughout, but it's most noticeable in the upper ranges. "Yellow Nights" is probably the best song to illustrate this. At 1:09 he goes up quite a lot into his falsetto range, and that's just a very risky style for me in general. And then at 1:55 when things become more intense, he does more caterwauling, and all that warbling just tends to be grating for me.
And then most of the guitar tones are just a miss for me. When they try to go heavier, the tone is just really scratchy and brittle, across a variety of different rhythm sounds. Karnivool in a later writeup will occasionally use sounds like these for contrast, but here they're the main focus, and just feel really thin and weak. Even the more Meshuggah-ish low tones like at 0:42 in "Angst" lack the power they need to sound more effective. The acoustic at 3:11 in "Eyes of a Cloud Catcher" is nice, but it's such a brief section. And then "Yellow Nights" at 0:04 probably has the most acceptable electric ones, there's a compressed funkiness to them that works better for that rhythm part. And then while I don't love the tone of it, the seesawing riff at 0:36 is pretty cool.
Score: 6.75/10
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twosuitluke - Coheed and Cambria - "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3", "Gravity's Union"
Early Impression - "You may have sent the wrong songs."
Back in the 00s there seemed to be this massive wave of all of these bands coming out of the post-hardcore and emo scenes that were a bit in the alternative rock direction, and also had elements that appealed to progressive rock fans. Coheed and Cambria seems to have become one of the ones with the most staying power and has maintained a more revered status for a lot of people. I'm not sure how much is simple longevity and how much is the musicianship and proggier musical tendencies. I sampled a lot of these bands back then, and found interesting elements at times musically, but one fairly constant turn-off for me was how many had this thin, nasal, helium vocal style, and C&C fall right into that. I know I listened to at least one of their albums at the time, and saw a few videos. I've mostly ignored them since then, though Claudio in particular has popped up on a few other things I've heard here and there.
My musical preferences have evolved a fair amount since then, so are things any better now? Well, not really. There are a lot of engaging guitar parts scattered throughout their work, and I can see their appeal in that regard. But Claudio's vocals don't resonate with me any more now than they did back then. They're not as bad as some of the other vocals in earlier rounds or even in this one, and there are some fairly catchy melodies from time to time (the section at 5:02 in "Gravity's Union" is especially hooky), but I still find them distracting on the whole, and wonder if they would connect with me more with a different vocalist.
I suppose it's hardly a new problem for prog bands, many of the OG ones had polarizing vocalists as well. The most obvious comparison here is Rush. Part of what has held me back from being a superfan of Rush is Geddy's voice, which I perhaps had an advantage in hearing fairly early on, so I had more time to acclimate to it, but it's always been a sticking point for me with them, and C&C have a similar, but arguably even worse problem, since the gap between the vocals and the instrumentation/songwriting is even larger. I'm not sure how much of it is inherently Claudio's voice vs. their background in post-hardcore/emo, which are genres I've historically found very little from to be compelling, so far anyway, I haven't explored them deeply.
But in these songs, there's an additional issue, in that the mixes for the albums are really muddy-sounding, most noticeably on the guitars, though a bit on the drumming (particularly the cymbals) as well. And it's not like sludge metal where the murkiness of the tones is part of the point. There are some razor-sharp riffs and playing, but the opacity of how they're recorded renders them a lot weaker than they could be. You're definitely going to have to read my writeup for Vmad's selections to see what happens on an album where they finally get that facet right.
Someone earlier pointed out that TAC called the opening tone of "Gravity's Union" the worst sound he'd ever heard a guitar make. Well, I have a whole lot of worse sounds I've heard that I could show him than that... I don't actually find it all that bad other than the general issue with how it sounds like there's a blanket over the speakers, particularly for the guitar tones. That sound is just from an octave fuzz pedal, very similar to the one Jimi Hendrix used in the 60s and many artists have employed since then. The more frustrating one is at 0:20 on "In Keeping Secrets", which sounds like emphasizing the harmonics with an E-Bow, but the tone is more brittle than in various songs from earlier rounds with a similar tone.
Drum-wise, I particularly like the snare ghost notes at 0:19 on "In Keeping Secrets". The bass playing is pretty solid, with some nice independent lines from time to time. There are also some tasty synth parts here and there, though they mostly tend to be buried. I imagine the "whoas" at 6:51 are intended primarily for live crowd participation, Iron Maiden-style.
Score: 7/10
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SoundscapeMN - Apes & Androids - "Make Forever Last Forever", "Johnny & Sarah", "Riverside"
Early Impression - "Uh oh, did you get jinxed?"
Well, I guess it had to happen eventually, that you'd send something I'd only like mildly. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Instrumentally, there are some intriguing elements, but the vocals really pull it down for me. They're arranged pretty interestingly, with a lot of harmonies and layers going on, but they're mostly in a falsetto range and tone that doesn't really work for me. Even when they're in a more moderate range like some of "Johnny & Sarah" they have a weird feel to them that doesn't really appeal to me.
The songwriting in general is certainly interesting, with some unusual chord changes at times. On "Make Forever Last Forever" they have quite a lot happening in terms of synthesizer, organ, electric guitar, and percussion parts (particularly at 1:55) coming in and out of the arrangement. The overdriven clavinet is an especially piquant tone. The funky vibe in general is quite refreshing. I also like the synth arpeggio at 0:48 that pans from the right to the left, those types of audio engineering tricks are often delightful. Additionally, the shuffle beat also has a nice vibe to it.
On "Johnny & Sarah" the opening guitar riffs are pretty cool, but they have a similar thin and brittle tone that Agent Fresco's from this round did that isn't really to my taste. "Riverside" is rather unique with the incorporation of horns and acoustic guitar, I particularly enjoyed the opening fingerpicking bit. The guitar harmony at 3:38 is pretty nice - kind of Queen-like.
It's just that the number of thrilling elements isn't as high as it was like with say, Pepe Deluxé, and the vocals dilute the enjoyment of what I do like. Well, maybe we can just write this round off as a chance for a few others to prevent your lead from becoming insurmountable. :-)
Score: 7/10
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HOF - Public Service Broadcasting - "Every Valley", "The Pit", "You + Me"
Early Impression - "These songs are missing the film they're supposed to go with."
So of course I'd heard the songs that someone else had submitted a few months ago in 425's roulette. Technically I guess this is considered post-rock, which is a style I've tended to struggle with over the years. Conceptually, it can be an intriguing idea, of combining rock instrumentation with classical (sometimes) and different structural ideas for a broader scope. There are some fantastic bands of that stripe (early Godspeed You! Black Emperor probably being the best), but quite a lot of it that I've heard doesn't fully engage me, and that continues here. It's enjoyable enough as background music, and seems perfect to accompany a film, documentary, or other intriguing visuals, but listening to it by itself, it's just lacking some pizzazz and memorability.
The narration is another challenging aspect. As I've mentioned in some other writeups, it's generally ok on a first play to set a tone, but on repeat listens it can grow quite tiresome to hear over and over again. It's one of the elements that holds GY!BE from being a top-tier band for me. Thankfully the excerpts are generally fairly brief here.
The first cut, "Every Valley", is perfectly serviceable as a cinematic opening, and in a full album would probably be fine to set the table for grander things to come, but it's just essentially background music that I can't really remember afterwards, and eats up a third of the submission runtime. The chromatic percussion and tremolo effect on the electric guitar does make for a nice texture though. I also like the guitar feedback at 4:08.
"The Pit" is a bit more interesting, with a rather compelling tom groove (the offbeat hat accents are a nice touch as well), augmented by electronics, guitar, and that recurring descending brass glissando swell is really delectable. The clarinet (I think?, the range sounds too low, but the timbre sounds wrong for the other instruments I could find credits for) at 1:27 and other spots is also a welcome addition, it's a quite underused instrument. It has the bones of a more tantalizing song, but instrumental music can be challenging to compete with vocal tracks in this context, because without a strong melody to latch onto, there has to be something extra special, and this doesn't really get to that level.
"You + Me" is the best overall song, and from what I read, is rather unique in their discography in being quite vocal-driven, which isn't auspicious for getting into their other work. But on its own, it is a fairly effective track and makes this entry a bit more memorable than it would have otherwise been. 2:32 was a section I vacillated on a lot. On one hand, it's really sparse for my tastes, with the very light drumming, and unadorned clean electric tones. Generally my ears want to hear more effects or production magic to find parts that minimal of any lasting interest. But it does build rather nicely, gradually adding in two layers of harmony, and then eventually leading back into the chorus. The vocal duet format is potent, particularly on the octave unisons later on, though I wouldn't have minded some harmony in spots as well to give it a bit extra.
Score: 7/10
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Buddyhunter1 - Chapel of Disease - "Void of Words", "Song of the Gods"
Early Impression - "Clean, Dry Guitar Solos: The Final Frontier. This straddles two quite different genres, but is missing the better elements of both."
I must say that this group certainly has a rather unique sound. Mark Knopfler attempting to play death metal is a pretty good summary of their approach. There are undeniably many cool riffs and licks throughout both songs. For what they're trying to accomplish, it's pulled off fairly well, and it's overall fairly enjoyable. But for me I think it occupies a middle ground where it doesn't quite capture the other elements I like from either genre. It lacks have the heaviness and crushing guitar tone that I tend to seek out in death metal, and is bereft of the strong melodic vocals of hard rock. So I think to listen to them I would need to be in a fairly specific mood, which I'm not sure how often it would come up.
There are some nice bass tones and lines throughout both songs. The reverb-laden guitar solo at 3:29 in "Void of Words" is one of the cooler moments, as is the lick at 1:18 in "Song of the Gods". But the guitar solo at 5:03 in "Void of Words" is probably the one I struggled with the most. My guitar tone preferences for quite awhile tended to be that I either liked heavily distorted ones, or purely acoustic ones, with any in the middle tending not to appeal to me. Over time I've developed more appreciation for mildly-overdriven tones, both in rhythm and in lead playing.
But one of the final ones that I've never gotten fully onboard with is purely clean electric solos, with the occasional exception. And the one in that section of the song falls right into that kind of tone. It just seems to lack a richness that you have either from acoustic guitars or from adding a bit of gain to an electric tone. I think it's the same reason I've never really been able to get into traditional electric blues without rock influence, I just find that timbre rather bland. And as if to exemplify the difference, at 6:28 they kick on the drive, and the bit of grit instantly improves the sound, though it's a case of too little, too late.
"Song of the Gods" is definitely the overall better song of the two. 5:21 in it with the pedaltone lick and double bass makes for an effective build, and then the ending with the snare on every beat, bringing back in the double bass, the earlier main riff being played in a new key and then an octave higher later on, and switching from the open hat to riding the crash - it's probably the high point of the set.
Score: 7/10
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TAC - Euphoreon - "Mirrors", "Oblivion"
Early Impression - "I feel like I'm supposed to be riding a dragon and wielding my steel, but oh wait, now it's nighttime and rainy and I can't see where we're going!"
So overall, this is a pretty solid set of songs in the extreme power metal style. Some sites seem to call them melodic death, but the vocals are way more black metal-sounding to me. They're surprisingly understandable, with better enunciation than average. I also like the offbeat ride bell at 5:54 in "Mirrors", though it could have been a tad louder.
What holds things back a bit is that they're trying to make their sound more epic by incorporating symphonic keyboard elements, but they don't really have the budget to do it justice. Some bands can get away with using a keyboard to emulate an orchestra or even just a string section by clever programming, and pulling it back in the mix so that it adds a layer of depth without being too prominent. But they take the risk of going all-in and even having the fauxchestration exposed by itself, such as at 3:56 in "Mirrors" or 7:08 in "Oblivion", which highlights that they aren't real. This is why in most cases I generally find that if bands can't afford to hire an orchestra, they're better off with contracting individual players, or using more obviously synthetic sounds that aren't trying to fool you into thinking they're something that they aren't. It's a shame they couldn't at least hire a violinist for some of the more prominent orchestral lead lines, or at least make them guitar or synth melodies instead.
In that regard, the opening synth line of "Oblivion" is my favorite patch of the entry - that's a really cool sound, though it's forgotten about or buried in the mix for the rest of the track. Some other moments are nice, for example, the opening piano and chromatic percussion layer in the intro of "Mirrors" is a splendid sound. 5:26 in "Oblivion" is similar with the piano and two bell-like textures, though it's soured a bit by the fake violin patch again. The synth line at 1:10 in "Oblivion" (or at 3:44 when it doubles the guitar line) is a bit video game-y, but it's enchanting enough.
The octave guitar line at 2:14 in "Mirrors" is probably my favorite melody of the songs. Also, the guitar riff at 3:31 is very Stratovarius-y. In addition, 6:04 in "Oblivion" was the most serendipitous passage. It gets way heavier there, and while I suppose the contrast makes that moment stand out more, it also makes its absence more noticeable in the rest of the songs. I don't know if they brought out different guitars there, or just cranked up the bass, but that sound plays more into my wheelhouse, there just isn't enough of it. But I think between it and that opening synth line, it makes "Oblivion" the better song of the two.
Score: 7.5/10
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Tomislav95 - Arcane Roots - "Half the World", "Off the Floor"
Early Impression - "The first song feels like it repeats the same idea over and over while slowly turning the volume knob up and down."
This is a great example of why I like having some of these rounds with the possibility of multiple songs, because sometimes a single song is misleading as to the capabilities of a band. Here we have an example where the second song is noticeably better than the first, and it's a good thing I noticed that you had plenty of runtime left for the second one.
I think the challenge with "Half the World" is that it keeps essentially the same 3-4 chord progression throughout most if not all of the runtime. The verses are much more subdued, with heavier choruses, which works for the first few minutes with a typical loud/quiet/loud/quiet/loud sort of dynamic (and the roaming toms and rim clicks and the gradual guitar volume swell towards the two minute mark is a nice arrangement build), but then at 3:06 it tries to gradually crescendo and then decrescendo for the remaining duration of the track. However, I think the 7:00+ runtime might be a bit long for what is essentially a radio rock song, though one that gradually grew on me more over time. To be more effective, I think it would either need to trim that down some, or preferably, to have another section somewhere in the middle of it to break things up with a different chord progression, or at least some kind of a solo.
"Off the Floor" is much more appealing. The combination of the funkier lighter gain parts and the heavier rhythms along with the vocals give me a lot of Fair To Midland vibes. That constant percussive sound under the clean guitar in the verse gives some extra propulsion to it. And then 2:02 is an especially cool riff. I also like the guitar harmonics in the verses such as at 0:26 in "Half the World".
Score: 7.5/10
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Stadler - Michael Schenker Group - "Lost Horizons", "But I Want More"
Early Impression - "Lighter on riffs than expected, but the solos deliver."
Here we have another group that I know well in name, and have heard various Scorpions and UFO albums that Schenker has played on, but never got around to checking out his solo group (kind of an oxymoron now that I write it).
So as the impression notes, I was kind of anticipating songs that are more of riff-fests, and maybe I'm just selectively comparing them to certain Scorpions and UFO songs, and MSG isn't as much about that, or perhaps other tracks have more of them. Not that it's really a bad thing, Schenker is still generally more known for his lead playing anyway. And in that regard he doesn't disappoint. I feel like I've absorbed a lot more Schenker from his influence on Michael Amott in Arch Enemy, who is a massive Schenker fan, so it's fun to go back to the original source here. I like how he often lets notes bloom into harmonics, like 3:29 on "Lost Horizons". 6:35 on "But I Want More" is interesting in how his tone suddenly becomes less biting and more rounded, I'm not sure if he's switching to the neck pickup there or just picking closer to the fretboard. 5:34 on the same song also has a fun partial harmony. It's curious that both of these songs have chord progressions with semi-chromatic movements, I don't know if that's a coincidence or that's just a common trope of their writing style.
As I noted in a later writeup (that I happened to write earlier) I tend to mostly avoid other people's reviews when I write these, but I did glance at a few mentions that seem to indicate that Gary Bardens is not a well-regarded vocalist. I would prefer someone like Klaus Meine, but I dunno, Gary doesn't really bother me at least on these tracks. He's not really a highlight, but he seems serviceable enough for the style.
But the biggest surprise here was the fretless bass playing on "Lost Horizons". I tend to pay attention when fretless bass players are mentioned, but I'm not familiar with Mo Foster, so I'll have to look into his other work to see if it's similar.
TAC mentioned preferring the One Night at Budokan live version of "Lost Horizons" because it has Cozy Powell rather than Simon Phillips, and I gave that a listen to compare, but honestly for me it's a less enjoyable version of the song, because I find that live recording too boxy-sounding, particularly with how the drums are captured, and any possible increased energy from Cozy is dissipated by the way the live album is mixed. I've also heard Simon on more various projects than Cozy, so if anything I'm more partial to his playing - maybe TAC is just more of a Cozy fan in general.
I feel like this should score higher, because there's nothing really overtly wrong with it, but I guess while I enjoy listening to Schenker play in the moment, nothing really sticks with me later on, unlike say, various Scorpions tunes. And maybe that is Bardens' fault, or perhaps the focus is on guitar acrobatics more than vocal melody writing, hard to say.
Score: 7.5/10
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Puppies_On_Acid - Kardashev - "Between Sea and Sky", "Beside Cliffs and Chasms"
Early Impression - "This sounds like a backing track with half of the vocals missing."
Their album last year had been on my list of releases to check out, because I kept hearing people talk about it as being "deathgaze". For some reason black metal fuses much more easily with shoegaze and/or post-rock than death metal does. One of the early exceptions to that is Katatonia's Brave Murder Day, but for some reason despite the popularity and acclaim of that album, very few have attempted to take that idea further. But Kardashev has been touted as doing so, though clearly in a quite different way. I'm not sure how much further along in sonic development that album from last year is in comparison to this one, but I can certainly see some of the ideas emerging, and I'm intrigued.
These songs have much of the heaviness I look for in death metal, but with a lot of more melodic and atmospheric richness to them. I adore the guitar melody at 0:21 (and also later spots) in "Beside Cliffs and Chasms". It also foreshadows the vocal line mirroring and then doubling it later. There are also some wonderful bass lines throughout, particularly the tapping at 3:39 on "Beside Cliffs and Chasms".
But two things that hold it back a bit are that the vocals, mainly the harsh ones, are just a bit on the -core side of things for my palate. They're not bad, just that I could imagine ones I'd enjoy more. The contrast between the low and high ones does provide some variety though. And then the cleans are also a bit in the background for my tastes. This is probably partially the shoegaze influence at work, since it tends to have more indecipherable vocals buried under the wall of sound. There are definitely more vocals going on than I noticed the first time around (which led to the impression), but they do still feel like more of an afterthought at times. At times they feel like an extreme metal version of Skyharbor, but without as good of vocals.
Score: 7.75/10
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Vmadera00 - Coheed and Cambria - "Prologue", "The Dark Sentencer", "Gravemakers & Gunslingers"
Early Impression - "The guitar work is even better than I remember. The vocals are not."
Well, so we have the first time a band was successfully sent twice in a round. It almost happened a few other times, but the second submitter volunteered a different artist when I mentioned it. Now being in "all Coheed all the time" mode for parts of this round, I can see some of the advantages and disadvantages of it. One is obviously that I have a direct comparison, but this means that some might draw the short end of the stick. And well, not even being one of the most prominent fans of the band, you've managed to pick a selection of songs that appeals to me a bit more and has fewer of the issues the first batch of songs had. You'll have to read the writeup for Luke's to get a fuller sense of those.
Even though I'm not grading this as an EP, one of the things I like about multi-song submissions is that it does have the opportunity for some EP-like flow, and this submission definitely set the mood. The "a month or two overdue for the piano tuner visit" intro is actually kind of charming, and then I adore the synths in the second half of "Prologue". I'm not crazy about the narration, but it doesn't fare quite as badly as some other voiceovers have in other rounds. Perhaps because it's a tad shorter and a bit back in the mix, it's easier to tune it out and just focus on the synth ambiance. All the synth tones and white/pink noise hisses are great. It helps give these two tracks a quite epic feel. I'm not as into concept albums as a lot of people here, but sci-fi is a theme that does generally resonate with me. 6:18 is another standout synth timbre. And ending the song with a brief passage of more normal piano almost makes the first two tracks loopable by themselves.
But wow, what really pops out about "The Dark Sentencer" is the guitar sounds. The tones on this song are some of my favorites of the whole roulette, with a really nice warm and crunchy timbre. I'm hoping the whole album sounds like that and it isn't just an anomalous track. Between the texture of them and the dazzling riffs and harmonies, I'm actually distracted from Claudio's voice some of the time. I still don't love it, but either due to that, perhaps because he's reigned it in a tad like Geddy Lee did over time in Rush, or perhaps just because of more infectious vocal melodies, it's not nearly as much of a negative as it is in other tracks from C&C. It also helps that there are some occasional backing vocals to break things up primarily from who I assume is Claudio's wife Chondra.
Also, those offbeat "hey"s in the first minute or two of the song remind me that such a chant was more of an arena rock crowd participation staple before the "stomp clamp hey" bands of a decade ago coopted it.
"Gravemakers & Gunslingers" isn't quite as good as "The Dark Sentencer", but even in spite of being much earlier in their career, doesn't have nearly as much of the muddy tone as the earlier C&C songs did, and also brings some more energy to the table. I don't really like the pitch-shifted duet/narration at 2:19 - as I've mentioned in other rounds, I generally don't like vocal pitch-shifting, and this one in particular is even cheesier, but maybe it serves to make Claudio's voice itself less annoying by contrast. This track seems to have some extra drum firepower over their others, which can probably be explained by having Chris Pennie or Taylor Hawkins guesting on it. In my brief research I couldn't determine who played on which tracks. Additionally, the reverse delay moment at 3:09 lead into the solo is fun.
Score: 7.75/10
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senecadawg2 - Kauan - "Äidin Laulu"
Early Impression - "I love violin, but this one sounds fake."
In '21 there was a lot of hype about this band when Ice Fleet came out, and I kept thinking I ought to check them out, and maybe even sampled at least part of a song, but for some reason they just got lost in the shuffle of everything I was looking into and I never got around to them. Now I'm wishing I'd explored them earlier, but of course it's never too late. This is definitely in the ballpark of how my taste has been shifting in the past decade, with a focus on slower, more atmospheric, pretty, but still heavy bands.
They have a lot going for them, with beefy guitars, piano, audible bass, a variety of vocal styles, and a thick melancholic ambiance. The idea of a Russian band singing in Finnish is rather intriguing. Their sound felt a little bland for the first few plays, but over time it grew on me a fair amount, and now is one of the better songs of the round. One thing that I really love that not many other doom bands do is the integration of synth leads, like at 0:33, or the one in the background under the "violin" (more on that in a minute) at 4:54. I also love how the guitars ring out at the end, it's not nearly often enough in metal that bands will just let the sound oscillate by itself for seconds at a time.
The most frustrating thing about this song is hinted at in the impression. I checked out the original recording of this song on Tietäjän laulu, which is a different arrangement, with similar bones, but it is much more raw and less rich-sounding overall. However, the advantage it has is that the violin lines are actually played on a real instrument. Why they opted to rerecord the song for this version on Muistumia with much better-recorded guitars and then cheap out and play or program the violin parts on a keyboard patch is beyond me, especially when before and after they've regularly worked with violinists, but it does hold it back a bit.
Violin is one of the most expressive instruments, so it's harder to do justice with technology, the note transition transients, slides, and vibrato are especially difficult to accurately recreate digitally. The drums also appear to be programmed, but it's usually less of a deal, heck, Type O Negative did that for a long time. On net this is probably the better version to have sent, but the inauthenticity of the violin did vex me some, because almost everything else about it is great.
Score: 8/10
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Nachtmerrie - Karnivool - "Eidolon", "Goliath", "Themata"
Early Impression - "This might be a middling "safe" submission, which in this round could be all you need."
So Karnivool is one of many bands that had a lot of hype earlier on, I checked out their albums, liked them a fair amount, but other than the occasional song listen here and there, just never really got too deep into them. And based on these songs, I've definitely been missing out by not spending more time with them. I tend to inherently like the Tool-inspired heavy alt/prog sound instrumentally, but I typically find with those bands that they often don't have vocalists I like (not everyone can be Maynard James Keenan), and/or they don't have nearly the memorable songwriting that Tool had at their peak. I'm still not sure if I really love the vocal style here, but it has grown on me a bit, and at least doesn't really detract from everything else like I initially worried it might.
I try and avoid reviews and reactions for the most part when writing these so that I can mostly just give my own hopefully at least somewhat original thoughts, but I couldn't help but notice that it seems some people were not happy with the direction of their latest (though now a decade old) album. It's been years since I've heard it, so I can't really remember what the rest of it sounds like, but "Eidolon" actually provides for a more refreshing mellower side, particularly with the chromatic percussion in the background.
The bass playing in general is probably the biggest highlight here. All the songs have some cool lines in spots, and the opening tone in "Goliath" is just monstrous. It's also quite impressive how much mileage they're able to get out a riff constructed of just three of the same notes in that song by constantly changing everything else revolving around them. They keep the primary rhythm guitar panned to the left, but have a call and response echo in the intro, that Twilight Zone-ish circular riff on the right at 0:49, the chimey part at 1:01, alternating those, then building to combinations and variations of them at 1:51. The chording tone at 2:53 is really nice as well.
"Themata" is a good example of how to use thinner guitar tones to provide contrast, which some earlier entries weren't as effective with. The restatement of one of the primary phrygian dominant riffs at 0:32 with a reedier, buzzier tone would be really weak if it was the primary tone for the riff, but juxtaposed with the main rhythm parts, it adds some interest and variety. The verse rhythm even has a small bit of flanger at 0:50 which provides a useful cue to lead into the vocals of the verse. The song also does the same thing with the vocal lines that it did with the guitars, where in the first verse the vocals are EQed very narrowly, but they open up for the second one, which does a lot to give the song a sense of movement, which is definitely needed when much of the time is spent on establishing what could otherwise be fairly static rhythmic grooves.
The drumming is also pretty fun, with some nice incorporation of splashes at various spots. You can hear some tasty snare ghost notes in the intro to "Goliath", though they get buried a bit by the bass once it comes in. I love the build with the toms at 3:20 as well.
Score: 8/10
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ariich - Wormwood - "The Achromatic Road", "Sunnas hädanfärd"
Early Impression - "Did Dark Tranquillity do a black/folk metal side project I missed?"
I'm starting to feel like the guy who says every exotic animal tastes like chicken based on my comments in round four for a couple bands, but I dunno, I've been listening to Dark Tranquillity for over two decades, did a few short back-to-back comparisons, and Wormwood's vocalist totally has a Stanne-like quality to my ears.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect with the opening percussive keyboard texture, but this turns into some pretty solid metal. Maybe a bit more atmospheric version of Stortregn that you sent a few rounds ago. The guitar tones are full, the drumming is robust (I especially enjoy the cymbal work at 6:00 in "Achromatic" and some of the effects cymbal accents in various spots), and there are some tasty bass lines and slides in places. There's some variety to the guitar parts, with the strummier bit in "The Achromatic Road" at 2:19, the clean passage at 3:58, and also the ending solo keeps the variety up. The central riff of the song is pretty interesting in how it seamlessly goes between sustained notes from the rhythm guitar, slower palm-muted notes, tremolo-picked ones, and pinch harmonics from the lead lines.
"Sunnas hädanfärd" makes a great companion piece, with some faster blast beat sections, the folkier melodies, a bit of clean vocals, another clean passage, and the fiddle melody at the ending is the cherry on top. It has a bit of a lilting feel like the opening of Opeth's "Folklore".
Score: 8/10
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Lethean - Arcturus - "Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer", "Evacuation Code Deciphered"
Early Impression - "You're cheatin' hard and I love it."
Well, waddya know, two rounds in a row and we have another Katatonia guest! This time a further layer removed, but it's definitely working so far. Arcturus is one of those bands in the Norwegian (post) black metal scene that I know a decent amount about just from general metal culture immersion, but have never really dove into them like I've wanted to. I heard all their albums at the time back in the mid-late 00s, and still have them sitting on a hard drive, but other than the occasional song here and there, have just never made time to get back around to them. I knew they were sort of a supergroup, but had no idea offhand who was in the band at the time of this release.
ICS Vortex was immediately identifiable, and I've always liked his voice from the scattered Dimmu Borgir, Borknagar and such I've checked out over the years. The real surprise was Silje Wergeland being on these two cuts, and apparently only these two. Of course she's the guest vocalist on "The One You Are Looking For Is Not Here", one of the best tracks on one of the best albums, i.e., Dead End Kings. I've also loved her work in The Gathering and Octavia Sperati, but never got around to revisiting her guest appearances with other projects.
Anyway, ICS is one of the better parts of these songs in general. He does some demented cackling in a couple spots that I'm not crazy about, but other than that it's mostly fantastic. 4:10 in "Evacuation Code Deciphered" is easily the most memorable section of the entry, with ICS and Silje singing together. I was surprised at how few harsh vocals there were in these songs. Maybe the earlier albums are different, or my memory is just off, but I thought I recalled there being a somewhat more even mixture, not that I'm complaining. It's curious how much of the black metal feel they're able to retain with almost only clean vocals, little to no blast beats, and minimal tremolo picking.
Of course, the Nordic metal scene being quite incestuous like the other countries nearby as well, I've heard the other members here and there in other projects - Ulver, Jorn, Covenant and others, especially the ubiquitous Hellhammer. His drumming is pretty consistently stellar. This is another interesting set of songs in that the toms are miced with the higher ones on the right, and the lower ones on the left, the opposite of how a kit is normally set up, so descending tom rolls sweep from right to left, such as at 2:39 in "Evacuation".
And since in live videos I checked out Hellhammer has it set up normally, it's clearly an intentional studio choice. Given that Moonsorrow and Ereb Altor in a prior round had the same peculiarity, I may have to do some more research and find out if this is a common trait these bands stole from an earlier black metal act. Also, audible bass in anything black metal-adjacent is always a plus, especially when it isn't strictly tied to playing an octave below the rhythm guitar, and there are some nice walking lines and fills throughout these songs.
Often in tracking metal rhythm guitars, they'll try and overlay the exact same part, double, triple, or even quad-tracked, but with different gear, but these songs seem to take the approach of having similar, but slightly different yet complementary parts, which probably works better for this type of song, which isn't as reliant on a crushing syncronized riff. I love that screaming high tone in "Shipwrecked" at 2:28, the chords and wah/delay at 3:21, and the harmonies and riffs at 6:12 in "Shipwrecked".
The synth parts are quite nice. A few highlights are the harpsichord in the background of "Evacuation" at 0:47, the piano in "Shipwrecked" at 4:26, the square wave lead at 6:47 in "Shipwrecked", in "Evacuation" at 2:23 and 4:39, and the whooshing filter sweep at 5:21 in "Evacuation". The opening pizzicato strings of "Evacuation" are bemusing to me, in that while clearly from a keyboard and not real, they don't bug me like fake ones sometimes do, including some others earlier this round. It might be an uncanny valley effect, where they're more obviously an emulation, but some later-era patches try to be more realistic, but still aren't quite right, which can give an unsettling vibe.
Score: 8.25/10
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Evermind - Árstíðir - "Shine", "Síðasta kveðjan"
Early Impression - "The second song took this from pleasant background music to something a bit more special."
Intentionally doing this writeup right after the pAper chAse was quite a contrast and palate-cleanser. I had listened a couple times to the songs you sent in Luke's final round, and they didn't particularly stand out, so I wasn't sure how well this artist was going to work. On my initial listen I was worried this might be a bit insipid and minimalistic for me, but the second song really picked things up, the songs started growing on me, and I've increasingly really looked forward to subsequent listens - there's a real beauty to these songs.
It seems that they are most known for their vocal harmonies, and they're certainly quite good. But easily the highlight for me is the chamber string work, particularly halfway through "Shine", and the solo at 5:57 in "Síðasta kveðjan". I especially like some of the sliding in and out of notes, and emphasizing the harmonics at 6:20. The minute of gradual buildup starting around 2:21 in "Shine" is especially radiant.
I thought they might stick with the piano/vocals/violin/cello format throughout, so the two layers of acoustic guitars in "Síðasta" was a delight. Much of the mix is drier than I tend to prefer, so I was somewhat surprised at how atmospheric these songs felt, though "Shine" does bring in some ambiance starting around 1:13, and I wonder if "Síðasta" could have been even better with a bit of that as well. "Shine" is interesting in how it uses that simple offbeat repeated rhythm throughout much of the song to anchor it, starting around 0:32.
I also see that they also have an album collaboration with Anneke van Giersbergen that I somehow didn't know about, so I'm definitely going to have to check that one out as well.
Score: 8.25/10
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soupytwist - Dirt Poor Robins - "It Tore Your Heart Out", "Welcome To Lady Hell", "The Saints I"
Early Impression - "Are these tracks really all from the same artist? And when in doubt, steal someone's band who's scoring more than you!"
Well, so we have at least the second band that I've noticed SoundscapeMN promoting on occasion (The Reign of Kindo a few rounds ago being another) that someone has stolen out from under him. And it definitely paid off this round. It's also shown me that "fun" music can work for me with the right bands (Katzenjammer that you sent a few rounds ago being another great example), contrary to how I tend to think of myself usually preferring more melancholic and darker music. That's been a serendipitous aspect of this roulette, discovering facets of my taste that I'd been overlooking or thought had been more dormant. On the first listen this was my favorite band of the lot, though it was a softer liking than some earlier top favorites, probably only earning a mild 8.0 if I'd had to grade it right then.
There's sort of a modernized yet retro 60s feel to their music, almost a bit Beatles-ish at times. That's a sound I enjoyed a bit years ago, but had mostly ignored in more recent years. Pepe Deluxé (another earlier Soundscape entry) had a similar but different vibe, so apparently this is a niche that I need to consider exploring more. I rarely actively listen to 60s music, and I'm not sure if the difference in bands like these is the more current production aesthetic or the less-dated vocal styles, but so far some of it is working pretty well. This is also another example of where there's a lot of layering going on, and it makes each listening pretty riveting as I try to notice new details that I didn't catch on previous listens.
On my first play "Welcome To Lady Hell" was the standout, it has a really addicting melody in the chorus. But on subsequent listens "It Tore Your Heart Out" grew on me, and now I'm not sure which one I prefer, the latter sounds like a totally different song now than it did on the first pass. I've had both stuck in my head a lot, my mind playing snippets from both back and forth as if they're from the same song. Initially all three tunes felt extremely different from each other, hence my impression. The first two gelled enough that apparently my internal music player considers them more similar, with "The Saints I" being the most divergent, and it took the longest to grow on me.
As for some more nuanced details:
There are all kinds of joyous little bits in "It Tore Your Heart Out". The shimmering synth sound at 0:24 and other spots, the contrast of the lower guitar power chords on the left in the verses with the chords of the guitar on the right, the synthesizer arpeggios in the chorus, the Leslie speaker-ish effect on the vocals at 2:30, and the octave-doubled guitar solo at 2:51.
In "Welcome To Lady Hell", I love the contrast of the vocals in the verse vs. the chorus. In the verses they're narrowly squished into the center of the mix and squashed with a bandpass filter (kind of a telephone effect), so they really explode in the choruses when they're brought back to a wider stereo scope. I also really like all the subtle brass accents, as well as various bass fills. The semi-chromatic ascending piano run at 1:23 is savory, and the guitar line at 2:18 is striking. 2:56 is really delightful, with the group vocals + drums/percussion leading perfectly into the final chorus. Briefly taking away the chordal instrumentation makes it all the more impactful when it returns - it's a wonderful arrangement trick.
Heavily string section-driven ballads can tend to be too fluffy and schmaltzy for my tastes, but the execution of "The Saints I" is well above average. It being set in the dorian mode and some of the more unusual chord changes gives it a dreamier feel, and the Mellotron flutes (which were also employed a bit in "It Tore"), piano, and brass section ornamentation keeps the backing instrumentation from being too monotonous.
Score: 8.25/10
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Here are the top 7 songs of the round:
1: Dirt Poor Robins - "Welcome To Lady Hell"/"It Tore Your Heart Out"
2: Árstíðir - "Síðasta kveðjan"
3: Arcturus - "Evacuation Code Deciphered"
4: Karnivool - "Themata"
5: Coheed and Cambria - "The Dark Sentencer"
6: Wormwood - "Sunnas hädanfärd"
7: Arcane Roots - "Off the Floor"
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Round 6 Scores:
Evermind --------------------------- 8.25
Lethean --------------------------- 8.25
soupytwist ----------------------- 8.25
ariich ---------------------------- 8
Nachtmerrie ------------------- 8
senecadawg2 ----------------- 8
Puppies_On_Acid ------------ 7.75
Vmadera00 ----------------- 7.75
Stadler --------------------- 7.5
Tomislav95 ---------------- 7.5
TAC ---------------------- 7.5
Buddyhunter1 ---------- 7
HOF -------------------- 7
SoundscapeMN ------- 7
twosuitluke ---------- 7
Elite ----------------- 6.75
Sacul --------------- 6.75
Crow -------------- 5
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(https://i.giphy.com/media/65NO1TrKrJUT6/giphy.webp)
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Current Cumulative Standings (after 6 rounds):
SoundscapeMN ---------------- 49.75
Nachtmerrie -------------------- 48.75
Evermind ------------------------ 48.25
TAC -------------------------------- 47.5
HOF --------------------------------- 47.25
soupytwist --------------------------- 47.25
ariich ---------------------------------- 47
Lethean --------------------------------- 47
senecadawg2 ---------------------------- 46.5
Stadler ---------------------------------- 46.25
Tomislav95 ---------------------------- 44.5
Vmadera00 -------------------------- 44.5
Puppies_On_Acid ------------------ 44.25
twosuitluke ----------------------- 44
Buddyhunter1 ------------------- 43.75
Sacul ---------------------------- 43.75
Elite ---------------------------- 43.25
Crow -------------------------- 39.25
romdrums ------------------- 14.25 (had to drop out after the second round)
Round Score Breakdown:
ariich: 7.75 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 = 47
Buddyhunter1: 7.5 + 6.5 + 7.75 + 7 + 8 + 7 = 43.75
Crow: 6 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 7 + 5 = 39.25
Elite: 6.5 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 8.5 + 7.25 + 6.75 = 43.25
Evermind: 7.75 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.25 = 48.25
HOF: 9 + 9 + 6.5 + 7.25 + 8.5 + 7 = 47.25
Lethean: 7.75 + 8.25 + 7.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 8.25 = 47
Nachtmerrie: 8.25 + 9 + 6.75 + 9 + 7.75 + 8 = 48.75
Puppies_On_Acid: 8 + 7 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 = 44.25
romdrums: 7.25 + 7 + x + x + x + x = 14.25
Sacul: 7.25 + 8.75 + 6 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 6.75 = 43.75
senecadawg2: 8 + 7 + 8.5 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 8 = 46.5
SoundscapeMN: 8 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 8.5 + 8.75 + 7 = 49.75
soupytwist: 6.5 + 6.75 + 9 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.25 = 47.25
Stadler: 8.5 + 7.5 + 7 + 7 + 8.75 + 7.5 = 46.25
TAC: 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 7.5 = 47.5
Tomislav95: 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 7 + 7.5 + 7.5 = 44.5
twosuitluke: 7.5 + 8.25 + 5.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7 = 44
Vmadera00: 7.25 + 7.75 + 8 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.75= 44.5
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All GIF jokes aside, the scores for this round were indeed still the lowest yet (also with the lowest floor and ceiling), but some submissions did keep growing on me, even up through the last day or two and I bumped a few up from what they were. So it turned out to be a more decent round than it seemed like at first.
I'll post the mystery songs for round 7 tomorrow.
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Fauxchestration! :metal
Oof, still in 4th place, but tenuously.
Josh, regarding the Schenker, I find his first solo album has a real thin production. There's simply no power behind it. Simon's drums have a pitter patter sound to them, where the first album's songs just sound so much fuller and stronger on the live album.
I'm not a huge Gary Barden guy. Something about that second album works for me, but I find Schenker's first album a lot weaker.
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where the first album's songs just sound so much fuller and stronger on the live album...Something about that second album works for me, but I find Schenker's first album a lot weaker.
Yeah, I just didn't find that notable of a difference between the production of those two tracks. Maybe the rest of the albums make it more obvious, or how they're situated against the rest of their discography. I know there are Scorpions albums in that era that I prefer sonically, for example. But sometimes it's hard to tell in the vacuum of a roulette. And both songs sound worse live to me aesthetically. It's fun to watch Michael shred it up though.
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Bottom 3 of the roulette let's goooooo :2metal: :2metal: :2metal:
That's fair, I forgot you were picky about production. I personally love the lo-fi sound of that album, even if part of it was accidental (they lost the high res masters and only had some 128kbps MP3s laying around), it just adds to the whole vibe of it.
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where the first album's songs just sound so much fuller and stronger on the live album...Something about that second album works for me, but I find Schenker's first album a lot weaker.
Yeah, I just didn't find that notable of a difference between the production of those two tracks. Maybe the rest of the albums make it more obvious, or how they're situated against the rest of their discography. I know there are Scorpions albums in that era that I prefer sonically, for example. But sometimes it's hard to tell in the vacuum of a roulette. And both songs sound worse live to me aesthetically. It's fun to watch Michael shred it up though.
Neither one of those albums has a great production. Roger Glover (I think) did the first and Ron Nevison did the second. Most albums on Chrysalis never sounded great tbh.
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Clearly I need the mystery songs to springboard off of. I guess you could call PSB post rock. Their whole thing is kind of making musical documentaries around bits of archival material (speeches, propaganda films, interviews, etc.). This one in particular is about the closing of the Welsh coal mines. I wouldn’t want to listen to too much music like this, but I think this album in particular is a really compelling story. The Race for Space can be quite moving in places as well. Their latest album is less of that documentary style, but also a bit less interesting to me perhaps because of that.
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(they lost the high res masters and only had some 128kbps MP3s laying around)
Eek, that doesn't help.
Clearly I need the mystery songs to springboard off of.
I want to see if the pattern continues to hold for the next three rounds, but there has definitely been a statistical dip for the open rounds on average. Vmad is for some reason the only person who consistently has scored better when I take the guard rails away. For everyone else I probably should have made every round mystery song round. (https://i.imgur.com/0E3o3tN.gif)
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:metal :metal
I won a round, and with Arcturus!! (Ok tied, but tied for first so I count that as a win).
Everything ICS Vortex does is pretty awesome to me, and that includes his demented laughing (at just the right places). :)
Everyone complains about the production of that album; I'm glad it wasn't much of an issue for you. It's one of my favorite albums and I think it's a fun coincidence that Silje guests on both it and Dead End Kings.
Harsh vocals aren't really their focus except the first album; it's mostly harsh. Also their most recent album, Arcturian, has more of a mix of clean and harsh. My favorites are the two with Simen; Sideshow Symphonies that these two tracks are from, and Arcturian. But the first three are pretty awesome as well.
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And well, not even being one of the most prominent fans of the band, you've managed to pick a selection of songs that appeals to me a bit more and has fewer of the issues the first batch of songs had.
Well, maybe I don't post much about then here, but I do love their music, and have not miss a single local show from them since the first time I saw them in 2011, except for 1 in 2018.
I agree with your assessment about their guitar tone. Specially early on their career, it was very thin and pitchy, but I think their tone has been pretty consistent since Good Apollo albums. The album with The Dark Sentencer, Vaxis I, won Claudio and Travis "Prog Guitarist of the year" (Though I'm not so sure they were the most deserving for 2018). It's a pretty good album (IMO) with couples of great tunes.
In keeping Secrets is a staple for their live show, and the song that gets the best crowd reaction besides "Welcome Home". In fact, when the second chorus comes in and the lyrics go "Man your own jackhammer", might be my favorite part of a Coheed show.
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I agree with your assessment about their guitar tone. Specially early on their career, it was very thin and pitchy, but I think their tone has been pretty consistent since Good Apollo albums.
The weird thing is that it sounded better on "Gravemakers & Gunslingers" (2007) than "Gravity's Union" (2013), (not even counting the controversial intro), so it might just be an album-to-album grab-bag, some bands are like that. Guitar tones can be so subjective, "thin" isn't really how I'd describe it, more kind of murky and flabby, but everyone seems to hear and describe them differently.
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Climbing up!
As far as I'm concerned, the last writeup wins the round, so soupytwist won this one and I won the last.
Also wow 5/10 :lol That's almost 4/10!
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I'm sure Crow feels cheated. Gonna have to work harder to get a 4/10 out of me. :)
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Climbing up!
As far as I'm concerned, the last writeup wins the round, so soupytwist won this one and I won the last.
Also wow 5/10 :lol That's almost 4/10!
I concur 😊
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Stadler - Michael Schenker Group - "Lost Horizons", "But I Want More"
Early Impression - "Lighter on riffs than expected, but the solos deliver."
Here we have another group that I know well in name, and have heard various Scorpions and UFO albums that Schenker has played on, but never got around to checking out his solo group (kind of an oxymoron now that I write it).
So as the impression notes, I was kind of anticipating songs that are more of riff-fests, and maybe I'm just selectively comparing them to certain Scorpions and UFO songs, and MSG isn't as much about that, or perhaps other tracks have more of them. Not that it's really a bad thing, Schenker is still generally more known for his lead playing anyway. And in that regard he doesn't disappoint. I feel like I've absorbed a lot more Schenker from his influence on Michael Amott in Arch Enemy, who is a massive Schenker fan, so it's fun to go back to the original source here. I like how he often lets notes bloom into harmonics, like 3:29 on "Lost Horizons". 6:35 on "But I Want More" is interesting in how his tone suddenly becomes less biting and more rounded, I'm not sure if he's switching to the neck pickup there or just picking closer to the fretboard. 5:34 on the same song also has a fun partial harmony. It's curious that both of these songs have chord progressions with semi-chromatic movements, I don't know if that's a coincidence or that's just a common trope of their writing style.
As I noted in a later writeup (that I happened to write earlier) I tend to mostly avoid other people's reviews when I write these, but I did glance at a few mentions that seem to indicate that Gary Bardens is not a well-regarded vocalist. I would prefer someone like Klaus Meine, but I dunno, Gary doesn't really bother me at least on these tracks. He's not really a highlight, but he seems serviceable enough for the style.
But the biggest surprise here was the fretless bass playing on "Lost Horizons". I tend to pay attention when fretless bass players are mentioned, but I'm not familiar with Mo Foster, so I'll have to look into his other work to see if it's similar.
TAC mentioned preferring the One Night at Budokan live version of "Lost Horizons" because it has Cozy Powell rather than Simon Phillips, and I gave that a listen to compare, but honestly for me it's a less enjoyable version of the song, because I find that live recording too boxy-sounding, particularly with how the drums are captured, and any possible increased energy from Cozy is dissipated by the way the live album is mixed. I've also heard Simon on more various projects than Cozy, so if anything I'm more partial to his playing - maybe TAC is just more of a Cozy fan in general.
I feel like this should score higher, because there's nothing really overtly wrong with it, but I guess while I enjoy listening to Schenker play in the moment, nothing really sticks with me later on, unlike say, various Scorpions tunes. And maybe that is Bardens' fault, or perhaps the focus is on guitar acrobatics more than vocal melody writing, hard to say.
Score: 7.5/10
I prefer the Gary Barden albums by a long shot. I think that's only a function of when I got on board with MSG; when I saw the Michael Schenker Fest show a couple years ago (with all his singers: Barden, Bonnet, McAuley, and White), Barden couldn't really keep up. But he's a cool guy and his first three records with the band will likely always be my favorite.
(https://i.imgur.com/TFUtK39.jpg)
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SoundscapeMN - Apes & Androids - "Make Forever Last Forever", "Johnny & Sarah", "Riverside"
Early Impression - "Uh oh, did you get jinxed?"
Well, I guess it had to happen eventually, that you'd send something I'd only like mildly. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Instrumentally, there are some intriguing elements, but the vocals really pull it down for me. They're arranged pretty interestingly, with a lot of harmonies and layers going on, but they're mostly in a falsetto range and tone that doesn't really work for me. Even when they're in a more moderate range like some of "Johnny & Sarah" they have a weird feel to them that doesn't really appeal to me.
The songwriting in general is certainly interesting, with some unusual chord changes at times. On "Make Forever Last Forever" they have quite a lot happening in terms of synthesizer, organ, electric guitar, and percussion parts (particularly at 1:55) coming in and out of the arrangement. The overdriven clavinet is an especially piquant tone. The funky vibe in general is quite refreshing. I also like the synth arpeggio at 0:48 that pans from the right to the left, those types of audio engineering tricks are often delightful. Additionally, the shuffle beat also has a nice vibe to it.
On "Johnny & Sarah" the opening guitar riffs are pretty cool, but they have a similar thin and brittle tone that Agent Fresco's from this round did that isn't really to my taste. "Riverside" is rather unique with the incorporation of horns and acoustic guitar, I particularly enjoyed the opening fingerpicking bit. The guitar harmony at 3:38 is pretty nice - kind of Queen-like.
It's just that the number of thrilling elements isn't as high as it was like with say, Pepe Deluxé, and the vocals dilute the enjoyment of what I do like. Well, maybe we can just write this round off as a chance for a few others to prevent your lead from becoming insurmountable. :-)
Score: 7/10
not everyone loves Apes & Androids, and the vocals specifically may be why. I happen to think their vocals are a HUGE part of what makes them stand out. But Vocals often can make or brake a band/artist for many. I know it does for me too per bands like Circa Survive or Radiohead namely, among others.
I often describe them in a way like making music like of Montreal, but these guys actually can sing. But they do use a lot of falsetto, so that can ultimately be a detractor, rather than an appealing factor.
Apes & Androids (or Call Florence Pow, the band name they went under previously), just may not be for you. But I would say while these 3 are favorite songs of mine and many of their fans, the Blood Moon album itself does cover a lot of ground, it may be worth hearing as-a-whole at some point.
But I'll have to keep the accessible vocal element in mind from now on.
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Here are the mystery songs for round 7. This is the final rock/metal mystery round, so I'm bumping the song count up one. This is more of a grab-bag set of songs, though you can certainly see throughlines between combinations of any two of them, perhaps all three if you squint hard enough.
Round 7:
Hallatar - "My Mistake" - from No Stars Upon the Bridge, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoxuJhKP_nI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoxuJhKP_nI)
*Silver Talon - "Touch the Void" - from Decadence and Decay, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe704AGFC7Y (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe704AGFC7Y)
Above The Earth - "All Our Dreams" - from Every Moment, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zzd9B6xlTo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zzd9B6xlTo)
There is also an alternate version of "All Our Dreams" from the s/t 2012 EP. Same song, but it is a slightly more \m/ rendition with a different mix, altered arrangement, and a different guest. You can listen to either or both versions if you want for ideas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_E0GUqhrDI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_E0GUqhrDI)
*A note on "Touch the Void". I've talked in a number of writeups about spoken word dialogue/samples in songs. It has a bit of that, but is set back in the mix enough that it becomes a background texture, rather than a central feature. So I'd I'd be cautious with treating it as a central element of the song for anything similar you find, as something more prominent could be riskier.
Announcement
Since it seems to be popular in TAC's roulette, and I steal ideas from everywhere, I'm going to start making Spotify playlists of the songs for the rounds. This will mean a slight alteration for sending your songs. Send me one song reminiscent of one or more of the mystery songs to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com. If you can, send me both Youtube and Spotify links for your song. The Youtube link is so I can make my own playlist and rip the audio. The Spotify link is for the group playlist. If you can't or don't find both links I will find them myself, but the more of you that find both, the less extra work I have to do. :)
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I'm glad the song grew on you! I've never been too bothered about the violin sound. I'm sure you're right about it, but for me, what was gained from the new production was significantly greater than what was lost.
As for other Kauan, I think Ice Fleet is a great one to check out. That's been one of my most-listened-to albums since it came out.
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I'm sure Crow feels cheated. Gonna have to work harder to get a 4/10 out of me. :)
you understand i'm now going to take this as a challenge, right? :hat
because i do have worse
-
Here are the mystery songs for round 7. This is the final rock/metal mystery round, so I'm bumping the song count up one. This is more of a grab-bag set of songs, though you can certainly see throughlines between combinations of any two of them, perhaps all three if you squint hard enough.
Round 7:
Hallatar - "My Mistake" - from No Stars Upon the Bridge, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoxuJhKP_nI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoxuJhKP_nI)
*Silver Talon - "Touch the Void" - from Decadence and Decay, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe704AGFC7Y (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe704AGFC7Y)
Above The Earth - "All Our Dreams" - from Every Moment, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zzd9B6xlTo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zzd9B6xlTo)
There is also an alternate version of "All Our Dreams" from the s/t 2012 EP. Same song, but it is a slightly more \m/ rendition with a different mix, altered arrangement, and a different guest. You can listen to either or both versions if you want for ideas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_E0GUqhrDI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_E0GUqhrDI)
*A note on "Touch the Void". I've talked in a number of writeups about spoken word dialogue/samples in songs. It has a bit of that, but is set back in the mix enough that it becomes a background texture, rather than a central feature. So I'd I'd be cautious with treating it as a central element of the song for anything similar you find, as something more prominent could be riskier.
Announcement
Since it seems to be popular in TAC's roulette, and I steal ideas from everywhere, I'm going to start making Spotify playlists of the songs for the rounds. This will mean a slight alteration for sending your songs. Send me one song reminiscent of one or more of the mystery songs to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com. If you can, send me both Youtube and Spotify links for your song. The Youtube link is so I can make my own playlist and rip the audio. The Spotify link is for the group playlist. If you can't or don't find both links I will find them myself, but the more of you that find both, the less extra work I have to do. :)
Oh, we have some interesting songs this round. I'm already a fan of Above the Earth :metal I'll see what I can come up with... :corn
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Here are the mystery songs for round 7. This is the final rock/metal mystery round, so I'm bumping the song count up one. This is more of a grab-bag set of songs, though you can certainly see throughlines between combinations of any two of them, perhaps all three if you squint hard enough.
Round 7:
Hallatar - "My Mistake" - from No Stars Upon the Bridge, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoxuJhKP_nI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoxuJhKP_nI)
Finally some Heike Langhans ;) That album is so tragic and dark yet so beautiful.
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That Above The Earth song sounded pretty cool (not that I really listen to any music like that that you won’t already know though). Have my work cut out for me again here.
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Here are the mystery songs for round 7. This is the final rock/metal mystery round, so I'm bumping the song count up one. This is more of a grab-bag set of songs, though you can certainly see throughlines between combinations of any two of them, perhaps all three if you squint hard enough.
Round 7:
Hallatar - "My Mistake" - from No Stars Upon the Bridge, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoxuJhKP_nI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoxuJhKP_nI)
Finally some Heike Langhans ;) That album is so tragic and dark yet so beautiful.
Yeah, "Dreams Burn Down" on the same album with Aleah Starbridge (or anything from Trees of Eternity) can be hard to listen to, given it's probably the last thing she ever recorded, but it's sublime.
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I'm sure Crow feels cheated. Gonna have to work harder to get a 4/10 out of me. :)
you understand i'm now going to take this as a challenge, right? :hat
because i do have worse
I think I've already heard you send worse in other roulettes. (https://i.imgur.com/GVpS0rU.gif)
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> listens to 3rd song
> dammit, can't send Poppy or Destiny Potato
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> listens to 3rd song
> dammit, can't send Poppy or Destiny Potato
Well, Above The Earth is essentially Kirkland Signature Destiny Potato anyway. But because David and Aleksandra D. are gods, it's still great. And Aleksandra R. was in both of course.
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Apologies in advance for the length of the song I just sent. :biggrin:
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Have no idea what to send, might take me a bit to select a song :\
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Sent something I'm surprised wasn't banned.
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I can tell you now I won't have anything until probably tomorrow AM. Sorry.
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Now listen to Yellow Nights again and then play the song backwards (do it please)
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I can tell you now I won't have anything until probably tomorrow AM. Sorry.
No hurry, I'm not gonna release the TACken for awhile yet, particularly since there's no real chance to have prepared for the mystery song rounds ahead of time.
Now listen to Yellow Nights again and then play the song backwards (do it please)
I'm not sure what you mean.
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right, this is the "atmospheric metal" round, got it :lol
i have some options but i'm with buddy in the "i will not apologize about the length" camp but i'm sending a backup just in case
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Do keep in mind I have very few favorite songs in the 13:00+ range, but if it's exceptional, it could be worth it.
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i think it's exceptional, but i think that about all three paper chase songs i sent, so :corn
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Here are the mystery songs for round 7. This is the final rock/metal mystery round, so I'm bumping the song count up one. This is more of a grab-bag set of songs, though you can certainly see throughlines between combinations of any two of them, perhaps all three if you squint hard enough.
Round 7:
Hallatar - "My Mistake" - from No Stars Upon the Bridge, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoxuJhKP_nI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoxuJhKP_nI)
*Silver Talon - "Touch the Void" - from Decadence and Decay, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe704AGFC7Y (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe704AGFC7Y)
Above The Earth - "All Our Dreams" - from Every Moment, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zzd9B6xlTo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zzd9B6xlTo)
There is also an alternate version of "All Our Dreams" from the s/t 2012 EP. Same song, but it is a slightly more \m/ rendition with a different mix, altered arrangement, and a different guest. You can listen to either or both versions if you want for ideas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_E0GUqhrDI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_E0GUqhrDI)
(https://faildesk.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/I-was-in-college-the-other-day-and-saw-a-very-cute-old-man-trying-to-read-from-a-computer-screen-Imgur1-600x486.jpg)
I don't see it. :lol
I have no idea how these songs are related. This is the first round where nothing jumped out at me.
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The theme is definitely more tenuous this time, though I could certainly list at least half a dozen things all three have in common, but I've listened to each dozens and dozens of times, so I have an unfair advantage, and I'd rather see what everyone comes up with anyway.
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The theme is definitely more tenuous this time, though I could certainly list at least half a dozen things all three have in common, but I've listened to each dozens and dozens of times, so I have an unfair advantage, and I'd rather see what everyone comes up with anyway.
Drums
Guitar
bass
Vocals
lyrics
Youtube links
Yeah, I can also easily list a half dozen things they have in common too. ;D
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right, this is the "atmospheric metal" round, got it :lol
i have some options but i'm with buddy in the "i will not apologize about the length" camp but i'm sending a backup just in case
Crow sent either An Abstract Illusion - Skeletons of Light or Extremeties - The Inward Eye
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(https://i.imgur.com/UBbYa4z.gif)
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Ugh.. So I have a band that blends elements of the three songs. I was planning on using them for the next Open Round. I suppose it doesn't matter though. I have a song in mind.. I think.
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Some bands are better suited for multi-song rounds than others, so I guess you'll have to make a judgment call.
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Just listened to the three songs. I think I'll likely be leaning heavily into the style of the first song :corn
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Some bands are better suited for multi-song rounds than others, so I guess you'll have to make a judgment call.
They fit this round's mystery songs though.
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right, this is the "atmospheric metal" round, got it :lol
i have some options but i'm with buddy in the "i will not apologize about the length" camp but i'm sending a backup just in case
Crow sent either An Abstract Illusion - Skeletons of Light or Extremeties - The Inward Eye
so far off-base that it's not even funny, but i'll laugh anyways :lol
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right, this is the "atmospheric metal" round, got it :lol
i have some options but i'm with buddy in the "i will not apologize about the length" camp but i'm sending a backup just in case
Crow sent either An Abstract Illusion - Skeletons of Light or Extremeties - The Inward Eye
so far off-base that it's not even funny, but i'll laugh anyways :lol
I took a stab in the dark :biggrin:
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Sent something bony
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did crow send the apologist :neverusethis:
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OK so we have atmospheric post-metal, intricate prog metal, and pop djent. I can see there are common threads between them, but some pretty big differences too! :lol
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Sent a song and a potential replacement!
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Sent. Dammit!
Now I can get going on my own roulette round. :lol
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OK so we have atmospheric post-metal
Hmm, I don't think I've ever heard them called post-metal before, but I can see some overlap and similar aesthetics I suppose.
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OK so we have atmospheric post-metal
Hmm, I don't think I've ever heard them called post-metal before, but I can see some overlap and similar aesthetics I suppose.
:huh:
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Sent something
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So wait. .. I can now say that I’ve officially heard atmospheric post metal?!
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I’m probably gonna send some atmospheric pre-metal instead.
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OK so we have atmospheric post-metal
Hmm, I don't think I've ever heard them called post-metal before, but I can see some overlap and similar aesthetics I suppose.
Yeah in fairness I only listened the once and that was the vibe I got. I gather they're more of a doom metal band. Sounds pretty cool anyway.
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Sent some atmospheric post-metal
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I was about to send something, then realized Shape of Despair is banned...
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Sent!
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Wow, Hanging Garden is also banned.
as is Evoken. Hmm
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sent.
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Struggling here, this isn't my ballpark. Will send something tomorrow for sure.
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Sent :corn
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I’m probably gonna send Sent some atmospheric pre-metal instead.
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I was about to send something, then realized Shape of Despair is banned...
That was my first option as well. I found something very similar
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Sent something I've not sent in a roulette for over 5 years! This seems to tick boxes for all three mystery songs but you've clearly got a better ear than me and will be able to disect why I am wrong :lol
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Still waiting on, say it all together now...
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ELATE!!!
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Slackul!
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ELATE!!!
I guess he took my rating for Agent Fresco a bit hard, he hasn't even logged in for over three days.
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Slackul!
I did send many days ago :loser:
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I'm just hoping for Elatebergen by the end of the roulette.
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Seems he's too busy with his new guitar according to his IG stories ;D
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That's a different story than he told me over email. Caught red handed! (https://i.imgur.com/zYFTuOQ.gif)
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Both are correct!
The work came first, then the new guitar :)
Sending within the hour.
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I sent something!
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hangmanen when :corn
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??: __________ – _________
??: ____ ___ – ___ __ _____ ___ _ ____
??: ___ __________ – _______á___ _é_______
??: __________ – _____ ___
??: _______ – __ ___ ____ _____ ___ _____
??: ______ __ _______ – ____ _________ _______
??: ______ – __ ___ _____ __ __ _____
??: _____ _____ _______ – _________ ____
??: _______ – _______ ___
??: _______ ______'_ _______ _________ – ______
??: _______ _____ – _____
??: ________ _______ – ____ _ ______ _________
??: ____ – _Í-___
??: ______ – __ ______ _ _________
??: ______ _____ – _ _____ ________
??: __ô____ – ______
??: _____ – ______
??: ___ _______ – _________
Guessed letters: áéÍô
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T
-
OK, the hieroglyphics really don't help.
-
d
-
??: D_________ – _______t_
??: ____ D_t – __d __ ____t ___ _ ___t
??: T__ __t_______ – _______á___ _é____t__
??: ________t_ – _____ ___
??: _______ – __ t__ __t_ T____ t__ ____t
??: _____t __ ___d___ – ____ ______t_d T_____t
??: ____d_ – __ t__ _____ __ __ T____
??: ____t _____ _______ – ________t ____
??: D______ – ___t___ ___
??: D______ _t____'_ _______ __d______ – ______
??: ______t ___d_ – ____t
??: __d____t _d_____ – ____ _ ______ ___t____d
??: D___ – _Í-___
??: ______ – D_ ______ _ __t___d__
??: ______ _____ – _ _____ _______d
??: __ô__d_ – ______
??: _____ – ______
??: T__ _______ – _______t_
Guessed letters: áéÍôtd
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DVNE-Si-XIV
Elite?
-
Yep, nope.
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Kayo Dot
N
-
Kayo Dot
Buddyhunter1
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Kayo Dot
Buddyhunter1
Nope, I haven’t been able to get into them.
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U for Update!
-
??: D_________ – __nu__nt_
??: Kayo Dot – _nd __ _u__t ___ _ ___t
??: T__ __t_____u_ – _____u_á___ _é____t__
??: _______nt_ – _____ ___
??: _______ – __ t__ __t_ T____ t__ N___t
??: _____t __ ___d___ – ____ _n____t_d T____nt
??: ___ud_ – _n t__ ____n __ __ T____
??: ____t _____ _______ – ___n____t ___n
??: D____n_ – _n_t___ ___
??: D______ _t___n'_ _u_____ _nd______ – ______
??: _n___nt ___d_ – ____t
Crow: Midnight Odyssey – From a Frozen Wasteland
??: Dvne – SÍ-XIV
??: ______ – D_ ______ _ __t_n_d__
??: ______ _____ – _ _____ _______d
??: __ô__d_ – ______
??: ____n – ______
??: T__ ___n_n_ – _n_____t_
Guessed letters: áéÍôtdnu
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Midnight Odyssey-From A Frozen Wasteland - Crow
That song is a little short, no?
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Dang, I was really hoping to use Kayo Dot in a future round.
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Midnight Odyssey-From A Frozen Wasteland - Crow
That song is a little short, no?
The runtime on just four of the first few songs sent: 63:33. :p
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Kayo Dot
Buddyhunter1
Nope, I haven’t been able to get into them.
Same to be honest. There's one album I thought was alright (and I've listened to most of them).
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E
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Dang, I was really hoping to use Kayo Dot in a future round.
The song is And He Built Him a Boat, by the way. Fantastic choice.
-
??? : D_e______e – __nu_ent_
??? : Kayo Dot – And He Built Him a Boat
??? : T__ __t_____ue – ___e_u_á___ _é_e_ete_
??? : _e_____nt_ – _____ ___
??? : _____e_ – __ t_e __t_ T__e_ t_e N___t
??? : ___e_t __ ___d___ – _e__ _n____ted T___ent
??? : ___ud_ – _n t_e __e_n __ __ Te___
??? : Sweet Billy Pilgrim – ___n____t ___n
??? : D____n_ – _n_t_e_ ___
??? : D_e____ _t___n'_ _u_____ Ende_____ – _____e
??? : Ancient Bards – Light
Crow: Midnight Odyssey – From a Frozen Wasteland
??? : Dvne – SÍ-XIV
??? : ______ – De ____e_ _ __t_n_de_
??? : _____e ___e_ – _ ___e_ ___e__ed
??? : __ô__d_ – ______
??? : __e_n – ____e_
??? : T_e ___n_n_ – _n_____t_
Guessed letters: áéÍôtdnue
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Ancient Bards - Light ...
J-Boy Lethean
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Sweet Billy Pilgrim, Stadler
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Sweet Billy Pilgrim, Stadler
Takes one to send one.
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Sweet Billy Pilgrim, Stadler
Takes one to send one.
:tup
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Right bands/song, wrong senders.
-
S
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Thy Catafalque
Evermind: Skein - Rapier
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??? : D_e______e – __nu_ents
??? : Kayo Dot – And He Built Him a Boat
??? : Thy Catafalque – ___e_u_á__s _é_e_ete_
??? : _e_____nts – _____ ___
??? : _____e_ – _s t_e __t_ T__es t_e N___t
??? : ___est __ S__d__s – Se__ _n____ted T___ent
??? : ___uds – _n t_e __e_n __ __ Te__s
??? : Sweet Billy Pilgrim – S__n_s__t ___n
??? : Dissona – Another Sky
??? : D_e_s__ St___n's _us____ Ende____s – _____e
??? : Ancient Bards – Light
Crow: Midnight Odyssey – From a Frozen Wasteland
??? : Dvne – SÍ-XIV
??? : __s___ – De ____es _ __t_n_des
??? : _____e ___es – _ ___e_ __se__ed
??? : __ô__d_ – _ss___
Evermind: Skein – Rapier
??? : T_e ___n_n_ – _n___s_t_
Guessed letters: áéÍôtdnues
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Dissona-Another Sky
I added that very song to my Litho Roulette playlist on Spotify on Jan 22nd. :lol
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(https://i.imgur.com/9Po5i1a.gif)
-
Damn, I should've sent Thy Catafalque!
-
R
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??? : Dre___r__e – __nu_ents
??? : Kayo Dot – And He Built Him a Boat
??? : Thy Catafalque – ___e_u_ár_s _é_e_ete_
??? : Re_____nts – _____ __r
??? : _____er – _s t_e __t_ T__es t_e N___t
??? : __rest __ S__d__s – Se__ _n____ted T_r_ent
??? : ___uds – _n t_e __e_n __ __ Te_rs
??? : Sweet Billy Pilgrim – S__n_s__t _r_n
??? : D_ss_n_ – _n_t_er S__
??? : Dre_s__ St___n's _us____ Ende___rs – __r__e
??? : Ancient Bards – Light
Crow: Midnight Odyssey – From a Frozen Wasteland
??? : Dvne – SÍ-XIV
??? : __s__r – De __r_es _ __t_n_des
??? : __r__e ___es – _ _r_e_ __ser_ed
??? : __ôr_d_ – _ss___
Evermind: Skein – Rapier
??? : T_e __rn_n_ – _n___s_t_
Guessed letters: áéÍôtdnuesr
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Dvne is TAC?
How about an F.
-
Dissona-Another Sky
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Dreamgrave - "Monuments"
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Clouds - In the Ocean of my Tears
-
Dvne is TAC?
No.
Dissona-Another Sky
That's the hard thing about sometimes editing the post, you occasionally forget to also update the source file.
-
??? : Dreamgrave – Monuments
??? : Kayo Dot – And He Built Him a Boat
??? : Thy Catafalque – ___e_u_ár_s _é_e_ete_
Stadler : Re_____nts – _____ __r
??? : _____er – _s t_e __t_ T__es t_e N___t
??? : F_rest _f S__d__s – Se_f _nf___ted T_r_ent
??? : Clouds – In the Ocean of My Tears
??? : Sweet Billy Pilgrim – S__n_s__t _r_n
??? : Dissona – Another Sky
??? : Dre_s_f St___n's _us____ Ende___rs – __r__e
??? : Ancient Bards – Light
Crow: Midnight Odyssey – From a Frozen Wasteland
??? : Dvne – SÍ-XIV
??? : F_s__r – De __r_es _ __t_n_des
??? : __r__e ___es – _ _r_ef __ser_ed
??? : __ôr_d_ – _ss_f_
Evermind: Skein – Rapier
??? : T_e __rn_n_ – _n___s_t_
Guessed letters: áéÍôtdnuesrf
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DVNE-Si-XIV
Elite?
Dvne wasn’t banned? :o
My oversight clearly, I’m usually find of sending them!
-
The Rembrants is Stadler
-
Not The Rembrandts, but that entry indeed is Stadler.
-
Forest of S**d**s?
-
Forest Of Shadows-Self Inflicted Torment - Puppies
M
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Not Puppies, though it feels like a Puppies song. :)
??? : Dreamgrave – Monuments
??? : Kayo Dot – And He Built Him a Boat
??? : Thy Catafalque – M__e_u_ár_s _é_e_ete_
Stadler: Re_____nts – _____ __r
??? : _____er – _s t_e __t_ T__es t_e N___t
??? : Forest of Shadows – Self Inflicted Torment
??? : Clouds – In the Ocean of My Tears
??? : Sweet Billy Pilgrim – S__n_s__t _r_n
??? : Dissona – Another Sky
??? : Dre_s_f St___n's Mus____ Ende___rs – M_r__e
??? : Ancient Bards – Light
Crow: Midnight Odyssey – From a Frozen Wasteland
??? : Dvne – SÍ-XIV
??? : F_s__r – De M_r_es _ M_t_n_des
Puppies_On_Acid : Chrome Waves – A Grief Observed
??? : __ôr_d_ – _ss_f_
Evermind: Skein – Rapier
??? : T_e __rn_n_ – _n_m_s_t_
Guessed letters: áéÍôtdnuesrfm
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Chrome Waves-A Grief Observed
Now this is Puppies! :lol
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The Rembrants is Stadler
Not The Rembrandts, but that entry indeed is Stadler.
How the hell did you know it was me without even knowing the BAND? :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
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The Rembrants is Stadler
Not The Rembrandts, but that entry indeed is Stadler.
How the hell did you know it was me without even knowing the BAND? :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
I actually know who the band is, but I'm blanking big time on the name.
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The Rembrandts is more like...
(https://y.yarn.co/f82ffb04-a163-4d38-8e65-eaf4d0a4433a_text.gif)
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ClearFrayedBighornsheep-mobile.mp4)
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Molekuláris Gépezetek
Foscor
<someone>'s Musical Endeavors
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The Warning-Animosity ....Vmadera
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I see four bands I could have sent aside from the one I actually sent
ariich sent Dissona
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Tomi or Buddy sent Thy Catafalque. I'll go Buddy
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??? : Dreamgrave – Monuments
??? : Kayo Dot – And He Built Him a Boat
Buddyhunter1: Thy Catafalque – Molekuláris Gépezetek
Stadler: Re_____nts – _____ __r
??? : _____er – _s t_e __t_ T__es t_e N___t
??? : Forest of Shadows – Self Inflicted Torment
??? : Clouds – In the Ocean of My Tears
??? : Sweet Billy Pilgrim – S__n_s__t _r_n
ariich: Dissona – Another Sky
??? : Dre_s_f St___n's Musical Endeavors – M_r__e
??? : Ancient Bards – Light
Crow: Midnight Odyssey – From a Frozen Wasteland
??? : Dvne – SÍ-XIV
??? : Foscor – De M_r_es _ M_t_n_des
Puppies_On_Acid: Chrome Waves – A Grief Observed
??? : __ôr_d_ – _ss_f_
Evermind: Skein – Rapier
??? : The Warning – Animosity
Guessed letters: áéÍôtdnuesrfm
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So maybe Tomi sent DVNE.
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Foscor is Elite.
De Marges I Matinades
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And let's have a B
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??? : Dreamgrave – Monuments
??? : Kayo Dot – And He Built Him a Boat
Buddyhunter1: Thy Catafalque – Molekuláris Gépezetek
Stadler: Re_____nts – _b___ B_r
??? : _____er – _s t_e __t_ T__es t_e N___t
??? : Forest of Shadows – Self Inflicted Torment
??? : Clouds – In the Ocean of My Tears
??? : Sweet Billy Pilgrim – S__n_s__t _r_n
ariich: Dissona – Another Sky
??? : Dre_s_f St___n's Mus____ Ende___rs – M_r__e
??? : Ancient Bards – Light
Crow: Midnight Odyssey – From a Frozen Wasteland
Tomislav95: Dvne – SÍ-XIV
Elite: Foscor – De Marges I Matinades
Puppies_On_Acid: Chrome Waves – A Grief Observed
??? : __ôr_d_ – _ss_f_
Evermind: Skein – Rapier
??? : The Warning – Animosity
Guessed letters: áéÍôtdnuesrfmb
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Replicants-Ibiza Bar
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Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Slingshot Grin
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??? : Dreamgrave – Monuments
??? : Kayo Dot – And He Built Him a Boat
Buddyhunter1: Thy Catafalque – Molekuláris Gépezetek
Stadler: Replicants – Ibiza Bar
??? : _____er – _s t_e __t_ T__es t_e N___t
??? : Forest of Shadows – Self Inflicted Torment
??? : Clouds – In the Ocean of My Tears
??? : Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Slingshot Grin
ariich: Dissona – Another Sky
??? : Dre_s_f St___n's Mus____ Ende___rs – M_r__e
??? : Ancient Bards – Light
Crow: Midnight Odyssey – From a Frozen Wasteland
Tomislav95: Dvne – SÍ-XIV
Elite: Foscor – De Marges I Matinades
Puppies_On_Acid: Chrome Waves – A Grief Observed
??? : __ôr_d_ – _ss_f_
Evermind: Skein – Rapier
??? : The Warning – Animosity
Guessed letters: áéÍôtdnuesrfmb
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So maybe Tomi sent DVNE.
Finally. I love that albums so much. Ironically, I never got into their debut. Maybe I should check it out now since I'm still waiting on a few slackers for round 6...
-
A
-
???: Dreamgrave – Monuments
???: Kayo Dot – And He Built Him a Boat
Buddyhunter1: Thy Catafalque – Molekuláris Gépezetek
Stadler: Replicants – Ibiza Bar
???: ___a_er – As t_e __t_ Ta_es t_e N___t
???: Forest of Shadows – Self Inflicted Torment
???: Clouds – In the Ocean of My Tears
???: Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Slingshot Grin
ariich: Dissona – Another Sky
???: Dre_s_f Sta__n's Mus__a_ Endea__rs – M_ra_e
???: Ancient Bards – Light
Crow: Midnight Odyssey – From a Frozen Wasteland
Tomislav95: Dvne – SÍ-XIV
Elite: Foscor – De Marges I Matinades
Puppies_On_Acid: Chrome Waves – A Grief Observed
???: __ôrada – _ss_f_
Evermind: Skein – Rapier
???: The Warning – Animosity
Guessed letters: áéÍôtdnuesrfmba
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Drewsif Stalin's Musical Endeavors - Mirage
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Voyager - As The City Takes the Night
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Almost everything has been guessed, so I'll just fill out the last couple. You can keep guessing senders if you want, I'll probably post early impressions by Friday.
??? : Dreamgrave – Monuments
??? : Kayo Dot – And He Built Him a Boat
Buddyhunter1: Thy Catafalque – Molekuláris Gépezetek
Stadler: Replicants – Ibiza Bar
??? : Voyager – As the City Takes the Night
??? : Forest of Shadows – Self Inflicted Torment
??? : Clouds – In the Ocean of My Tears
??? : Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Slingshot Grin
ariich: Dissona – Another Sky
??? : Drewsif Stalin's Musical Endeavors – Mirage
??? : Ancient Bards – Light
Crow: Midnight Odyssey – From a Frozen Wasteland
Tomislav95: Dvne – SÍ-XIV
Elite: Foscor – De Marges I Matinades
Puppies_On_Acid: Chrome Waves – A Grief Observed
??? : Khôrada – Ossify
Evermind: Skein – Rapier
??? : The Warning – Animosity
Here's the playlist.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3fzbndy2fWaJrRNC1lS6LC (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3fzbndy2fWaJrRNC1lS6LC)
Plus this one that isn't on streaming. Awful bitrate, I had to resort to some dormant dark arts to conjure up a higher resolution one. If you really like this one I could probably send it to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yX0EN_TG3U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yX0EN_TG3U)
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Ugh, that was probably too optimistic. I was already feeling under the weather yesterday, but was hoping I'd feel better today. I'm not. :( No universe-annihilating projectile vomit yet. Hard to concentrate though, tweaking the impressions will probably have to wait another day or two. As a teaser though, this round is much better again. Two songs in particular were instant favorites, and probably about another eight that had an argument for third best, at least based on the first listen. Sorting the rankings for those out is still a ways away.
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So maybe Tomi sent DVNE.
Finally. I love that albums so much. Ironically, I never got into their debut. Maybe I should check it out now since I'm still waiting on a few slackers for round 6...
I actually prefer the debut, but enjoy both :)
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Luke sent Drewsif
Seneca sent Khôrada
HOF sent SBP
Lethean Sent Voyager
J Boy sent Ancient Bards
Natch sent Forest Of Shadows
Soundscape sent Clouds
Soupy sent Warning
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J Boy sent Ancient Bards
He and wolfking might as well be in this roulette the number of times their ghosts have been incorrectly summoned. (https://i.imgur.com/jYPvjM1.gif)
??? : Dreamgrave – Monuments
Sacul : Kayo Dot – And He Built Him a Boat
Buddyhunter1: Thy Catafalque – Molekuláris Gépezetek
Stadler: Replicants – Ibiza Bar
Lethean: Voyager – As the City Takes the Night
??? : Forest of Shadows – Self Inflicted Torment
??? : Clouds – In the Ocean of My Tears
HOF: Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Slingshot Grin
ariich: Dissona – Another Sky
twosuitluke: Drewsif Stalin's Musical Endeavors – Mirage
??? : Ancient Bards – Light
Crow: Midnight Odyssey – From a Frozen Wasteland
Tomislav95: Dvne – SÍ-XIV
Elite: Foscor – De Marges I Matinades
Puppies_On_Acid: Chrome Waves – A Grief Observed
senecadawg2: Khôrada – Ossify
Evermind: Skein – Rapier
??? : The Warning – Animosity
Nachtmerrie
SoundscapeMN
soupytwist
TAC
Vmadera00
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Sacul sent Kayo Dot
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He and wolfking might as well be in this roulette the number of times their ghosts have been incorrectly summoned.
Chad and I appreciate that we are so wonderful and beautiful that people wish we were in this roulette. It's hard to let the people down sometimes but it is what it is.
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I guess we'll just wait for Final Impressions? :lol
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I'm starting to feel a little better today, so I might try and polish up the impressions tonight. That kind of set me back a couple days. I may or may not do another tidbit as well.
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I'm starting to feel a little better today, so I might try and polish up the impressions tonight. That kind of set me back a couple days. I may or may not do another tidbit as well.
Well, glad you're feeling better. :tup
I do my First Impressions literally as each song finishes for the first time. It's usually the first thing that pops in my head. One sentence.
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I try and do a quick draft of them after my first listen as well, but sometimes it's not very interesting. Sometimes the final ones maybe aren't very interesting either. :P But on second and third listens often something else will grab my attention that I didn't catch at first.
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Right. I can't say "That was cool" after every song. :lol
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First, the filled-out hangman with senders.
TAC: Dreamgrave – Monuments
Sacul: Kayo Dot – And He Built Him a Boat
Buddyhunter1: Thy Catafalque – Molekuláris Gépezetek
Stadler: Replicants – Ibiza Bar
Lethean: Voyager – As the City Takes the Night
Vmadera00: Forest of Shadows – Self Inflicted Torment
Nachtmerrie: Clouds – In the Ocean of My Tears
HOF: Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Slingshot Grin
ariich: Dissona – Another Sky
twosuitluke: Drewsif Stalin's Musical Endeavors – Mirage
soupytwist: Ancient Bards – Light
Crow: Midnight Odyssey – From a Frozen Wasteland
Tomislav95: Dvne – SÍ-XIV
Elite: Foscor – De Marges I Matinades
Puppies_On_Acid: Chrome Waves – A Grief Observed
senecadawg2: Khôrada – Ossify
Evermind: Skein – Rapier
SoundscapeMN: The Warning – Animosity
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So, these impressions came out more negative than I recalled when initially workshopping them, so a few of you should know that the later impressions and results may not reflect these, even by the second listen or further. One other small thing coming tomorrow as well.
Round 7 Early Impressions:
1: HOF - Sweet Billy Pilgrim - The second half is fairly repetitive and goes on for quite awhile. Good thing I like it.
2: In a more perfect world this would be the kind of music rock radio would play.
3: TAC - Dreamgrave - This is all over the place, but in a way that appeals to me.
4: I like the spaciousness of the atmosphere, but the guitars have no weight to them.
5: This definitely captures some of the feeling of the third song.
6: The synths are really cool when they appear, but they aren't present enough.
7: The only thing I could remember about it were the tom rolls.
8: The guest vocals seem rather underutilized.
9: The basic sound is pretty cool, but I'm not sure how memorable it's going to be.
10: This is the metal version of a kid walking into a candy store.
11: This seems to have most of the right elements, but for some reason isn't clicking with me.
12: This song only has enough ideas to support half of its runtime.
13: soupytwist - Ancient Bards - I've heard many, many songs like this, but I couldn't help being pulled in by the end.
14: The instrumental arrangement is a bit bare-bones, but the vocals seem like they could be infectious.
15: It became unexpectedly epic in the middle, but might have gone on a minute or two too long.
16: The harsh vocals might be holding this back some.
17: I don't remember taking LSD, but I somehow must have.
18: This is definitely the sound from the first song I'm looking for, but will this one grow on me?
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1, 11, 12, or 16?
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0/4.
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Guessing 1 or 12!
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2: In a more perfect world this would be the kind of music rock radio would play.
?
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Guessing 1
Yep.
2: In a more perfect world this would be the kind of music rock radio would play.
?
I could see that, but that's not the one I was going for.
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3 or 10?
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3
Yep.
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12?
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Nope.
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Let's try 13.
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Yep.
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Me: 4, 14, or 17.
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12?
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2?
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Yes to Stadler, no to Evermind and Lethean, although that could make sense for Voyager.
Round 7 Early Impressions:
1: HOF - Sweet Billy Pilgrim - The second half is fairly repetitive and goes on for quite awhile. Good thing I like it.
2: In a more perfect world this would be the kind of music rock radio would play.
3: TAC - Dreamgrave - This is all over the place, but in a way that appeals to me.
4: I like the spaciousness of the atmosphere, but the guitars have no weight to them.
5: This definitely captures some of the feeling of the third song.
6: The synths are really cool when they appear, but they aren't present enough.
7: The only thing I could remember about it were the tom rolls.
8: The guest vocals seem rather underutilized.
9: The basic sound is pretty cool, but I'm not sure how memorable it's going to be.
10: This is the metal version of a kid walking into a candy store.
11: Stadler - Replicants - I don't remember taking LSD, but I somehow must have.
12: This song only has enough ideas to support half of its runtime.
13: soupytwist - Ancient Bards - I've heard many, many songs like this, but I couldn't help being pulled in by the end.
14: The instrumental arrangement is a bit bare-bones, but the vocals seem like they could be infectious.
15: It became unexpectedly epic in the middle, but might have gone on a minute or two too long.
16: The harsh vocals might be holding this back some.
17: This seems to have most of the right elements, but for some reason isn't clicking with me.
18: This is definitely the sound from the first song I'm looking for, but will this one grow on me?
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4?
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Nope.
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12
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No.
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Results are still a ways out, but while you continue to ponder the impressions, here's another tidbit to chew on as well, shamelessly stolen from other roulettes.
Round 7 Previous Round Artist Comparisons:
ariich: Dissona > Wormwood
Buddyhunter1: Thy Catafalque ? Chapel of Disease
Crow: Midnight Odyssey > the pAper chAse
Elite: Foscor > Agent Fresco
Evermind: Skein < Árstíðir
HOF: Sweet Billy Pilgrim > Public Service Broadcasting
Lethean: Voyager < Arcturus
Nachtmerrie: Clouds ? Karnivool
Puppies_On_Acid: Chrome Waves < Kardashev
Sacul: Kayo Dot > Have a Nice Life
senecadawg2: Khôrada ? Kauan
SoundscapeMN: The Warning > Apes & Androids
soupytwist: Ancient Bards < Dirt Poor Robins
Stadler: Replicants < Michael Schenker Group
TAC: Dreamgrave > Euphoreon
Tomislav95: DVNE ? Arcane Roots
twosuitluke: Drewsif Stalin's Musical Endeavors > Coheed and Cambria
Vmadera00: Forest of Shadows < Coheed and Cambria
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wow no way
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Obviously Arcturus is better. :)
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Results are still a ways out, but while you continue to ponder the impressions, here's another tidbit to chew on as well, shamelessly stolen from other roulettes.
Round 7 Previous Round Artist Comparisons:
soupytwist: Ancient Bards < Dirt Poor Robins
This is true.
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Results are still a ways out, but while you continue to ponder the impressions, here's another tidbit to chew on as well, shamelessly stolen from other roulettes.
Round 7 Previous Round Artist Comparisons:
Stadler: Replicants < Michael Schenker Group
As it should be.
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5: This definitely captures some of the feeling of the third song.
?
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Nope.
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Nice
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Stadler: Replicants < Michael Schenker Group
As it should be.
(https://www.pabsttheatergroup.com/assets/img/media_michael-schenker-16-x-9-b5512ac923.jpg)
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That question mark is ominous
-
More than the "<"?
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Litho, question about some of the upcoming rounds..
Is the Pre 90's round just one song, or one artist for 15 minutes?
and
the EP..any guidelines on this?
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So I've kind of been in a dilemma. Over the past half-year I've read the whole tracker thread and skimmed parts of a bunch of different roulettes, so while I'm sure there's still plenty I'm behind on relative to other roulette vets, I have a much better sense of their evolution now than I did when I jumped in blind to 425's, or even when I started this one. I can see that the original idea seemed to be to get a song from half a dozen different people, listen to each a time or two, and quickly give a score/ranking in the next day or two. But it has evolved a lot since then, with various hosts turning it into more of an art form, doing all kinds of different interesting things with them over time.
But it seemed that even relatively recently there'd still been something of an expectation that generally rounds would take a week or so, so I entered in a historically somewhat unusual period last summer/fall where all of the active roulettes were running a bit longer, to be generous. :-) So my initial expectations were set a bit differently about how they worked, and I thought perhaps I would try and push the pace a bit. Well, pretty quickly I discovered that I don't think speed is really my comparative advantage. I've been trying instead to go for depth, with more listens, some research, and more detailed writeups. I could go faster, but I'd enjoy it less, because it would mean cutting back on one or more of those categories.
But still, circumstances have changed a bit since I started. By the time I was into the second or third round, there was only one other active roulette and no waiting list. Now there are two others currently running and a waiting list of three. Granted, two of those are nearing the end. And I did want to have this roulette be a bit larger, partially to make up for missing out on years of roulettes before I returned to the forum, and also figuring a way to make some of my own submissions be part of the roulette itself. But still, I want to try and be considerate to the waiting list, especially since I know a number of people have talked about possibly doing one later this year that aren't even on the official list yet, and we only usually run three of these at a time.
So ideally, I would keep those upcoming rounds at the 15:00 time like the open rounds have been. But I've been increasingly considering whether I should knock them down to 10:00, or even be single song, so this roulette doesn't take over half a year to complete. I'm less concerned about my own endurance than trying everyone else's patience. So any thoughts on all of this are welcome.
As for the final round EP, I don't know if you have any specific questions, since I've already talked a bit about it in earlier rounds when it's come up, and I still don't know myself what I want the final details to be - but essentially I'm just looking for up 45 minutes, no more than a third from any one artist, and I'll be taking structure and flow into consideration more than I have for the open rounds so far (which has really not been at all, per se).
And I guess while we're at it, I should give an update that I have drafts of well over half the writeups done, so while this round has been a bit slower again, I'm still making steady progress on it.
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I've no issue with the pace in this roulette which has been pretty good. It's a LOT of rounds, but none of the rounds feel like they've taken too long.
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As for the final round EP, I don't know if you have any specific questions
Would you allow artists that have been included in this roulette before (obviously different songs)?
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I've no issue with the pace in this roulette which has been pretty good. It's a LOT of rounds, but none of the rounds feel like they've taken too long.
Same.
I also have been enjoy the more detailed write ups, so if they take a bit longer, that's ok by me. In terms of length, I don't think I sent anything overly long yet, so pushing the limit down to 10 mins is also find by me.
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Yea dude, you're fine. I was grateful people on here had the patience to put up with my abysmally slow pace, so you're absolutely fine. Especially as your writeups are so detailed.
-
So I've kind of been in a dilemma. Over the past half-year I've read the whole tracker thread and skimmed parts of a bunch of different roulettes, so while I'm sure there's still plenty I'm behind on relative to other roulette vets, I have a much better sense of their evolution now than I did when I jumped in blind to 425's, or even when I started this one. I can see that the original idea seemed to be to get a song from half a dozen different people, listen to each a time or two, and quickly give a score/ranking in the next day or two. But it has evolved a lot since then, with various hosts turning it into more of an art form, doing all kinds of different interesting things with them over time.
But it seemed that even relatively recently there'd still been something of an expectation that generally rounds would take a week or so, so I entered in a historically somewhat unusual period last summer/fall where all of the active roulettes were running a bit longer, to be generous. :-) So my initial expectations were set a bit differently about how they worked, and I thought perhaps I would try and push the pace a bit. Well, pretty quickly I discovered that I don't think speed is really my comparative advantage. I've been trying instead to go for depth, with more listens, some research, and more detailed writeups. I could go faster, but I'd enjoy it less, because it would mean cutting back on one or more of those categories.
But still, circumstances have changed a bit since I started. By the time I was into the second or third round, there was only one other active roulette and no waiting list. Now there are two others currently running and a waiting list of three. Granted, two of those are nearing the end. And I did want to have this roulette be a bit larger, partially to make up for missing out on years of roulettes before I returned to the forum, and also figuring a way to make some of my own submissions be part of the roulette itself. But still, I want to try and be considerate to the waiting list, especially since I know a number of people have talked about possibly doing one later this year that aren't even on the official list yet, and we only usually run three of these at a time.
So ideally, I would keep those upcoming rounds at the 15:00 time like the open rounds have been. But I've been increasingly considering whether I should knock them down to 10:00, or even be single song, so this roulette doesn't take over half a year to complete. I'm less concerned about my own endurance than trying everyone else's patience. So any thoughts on all of this are welcome.
As for the final round EP, I don't know if you have any specific questions, since I've already talked a bit about it in earlier rounds when it's come up, and I still don't know myself what I want the final details to be - but essentially I'm just looking for up 45 minutes, no more than a third from any one artist, and I'll be taking structure and flow into consideration more than I have for the open rounds so far (which has really not been at all, per se).
And I guess while we're at it, I should give an update that I have drafts of well over half the writeups done, so while this round has been a bit slower again, I'm still making steady progress on it.
Jeez..ask a simply question... :lol
First off, your pace is just fine. There's a lot of participants and there's a lot of music to comb through each round. As a participant in a roulette, I appreciate it if the host is engaged which you clearly are. It may not be realistic to turn around some of these rounds in a week.
To me, if someone hosts a roulette, they make a commitment to run it relatively efficiently. There are waiting lists and you have participants that a host has an obligation to.
Obviously things come up in people's lives, and people are understanding of that. Over the past year, it seems that some the hosts have been... I don't know..not engaged.
As far as the Waiting List, my roulette will be completed likely by next Wednesday, but absolutely no later than Friday. So someone will be moving up a slot.
I was asking because I spent a little time thinking about me EP and Pre 90's round last night.
-
As for the final round EP, I don't know if you have any specific questions
Would you allow artists that have been included in this roulette before (obviously different songs)?
My current thought is that any artist I've scored less than 8.0 is fair game. Also in round 11 I'll temporarily lift the ban on artists submitted early in the roulette if someone wants to take another crack at any artist I already checked out here. The caveat will be that it can't be one you yourself submitted earlier. But if you think you have a better set of songs for an artist I scored 7.75 or below that someone else already submitted, that's fine for those two rounds.
Jeez..ask a simply question... :lol
Well, I've been thinking about it periodically for awhile now and increasingly in the last month or so, your question just brought it back to the surface, and I feel better now having gotten it off my chest. :)
First off, your pace is just fine.
You're the person I most wanted to hear this from. :) There are a few other people I kind of wanted to be in the roulette that aren't in it, but are also at times a bit more on the impatient end of things, which makes me a bit nervous. If they're lurking they might know who they are. :)
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Harassing a host is usually just banter on my part. But there were a couple of roulettes where the rounds were taking way too long, and frankly, it's harder to stay engaged if I don't feel the host is engaged.
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Yea dude, you're fine. I was grateful people on here had the patience to put up with my abysmally slow pace, so you're absolutely fine. Especially as your writeups are so detailed.
+1 for the detailed writeups.
Also: 15 on the impressions??
-
Also: 15 on the impressions??
No.
-
Ok, getting a lot closer to results now. Irony of all ironies, I've been having some writer's block on a few of these, and they might wind up being shorter and less-detailed than I wanted. This is looking to be the second-highest scoring round so far though. I just need to finish editing all the writeups, lock down the scores, and sort out all the administrative details and such. Probably results tomorrow night. Filled-out impressions in the meantime.
Round 7 Early Impressions:
1: HOF - Sweet Billy Pilgrim - The second half is fairly repetitive and goes on for quite awhile. Good thing I like it.
2: Elite - Foscor - In a more perfect world this would be the kind of music rock radio would play.
3: TAC - Dreamgrave - This is all over the place, but in a way that appeals to me.
4: Crow - Midnight Odyssey - I like the spaciousness of the atmosphere, but the guitars have no weight to them.
5: Lethean - Voyager - This definitely captures some of the feeling of the third song.
6: Tomislav95 - DVNE - The synths are really cool when they appear, but they aren't present enough.
7: Sacul - Kayo Dot - The only thing I could remember about it were the tom rolls.
8: twosuitluke - Drewsif Stalin's Musical Endeavors - The guest vocals seem rather underutilized.
9: Evermind - Skein - The basic sound is pretty cool, but I'm not sure how memorable it's going to be.
10: ariich - Dissona - This is the metal version of a kid walking into a candy store.
11: Stadler - Replicants - I don't remember taking LSD, but I somehow must have.
12: Buddyhunter1 - Thy Catafalque - This song only has enough ideas to support half of its runtime.
13: soupytwist - Ancient Bards - I've heard many, many songs like this, but I couldn't help being pulled in by the end.
14: SoundscapeMN - The Warning - The instrumental arrangement is a bit bare-bones, but the vocals seem like they could be infectious.
15: senecadawg2 - Khôrada - It became unexpectedly epic in the middle, but might have gone on a minute or two too long.
16: Puppies_On_Acid - Chrome Waves - The harsh vocals might be holding this back some.
17: Vmadera00 - Forest of Shadows - This seems to have most of the right elements, but for some reason isn't clicking with me.
18: Nachtmerrie - Clouds - This is definitely the sound from the first song I'm looking for, but will this one grow on me?
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7: Sacul - Kayo Dot - The only thing I could remember about it were the tom rolls.
fuck yeah :metal
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(https://i.giphy.com/media/wD7BsjK5zqLew/giphy.webp)
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Stadler - Replicants - "Ibiza Bar"
Early Impression - "I don't remember taking LSD, but I somehow must have."
I don't think I've ever heard of this band, but I am a casual Pink Floyd fan, so I may have heard the original at some point, but it's not a song of theirs I knew well, certainly. I did listen to it for comparison though. Conceptually, it's an interesting idea, to take some classic songs and revitalize them for a newer era. I can enjoy a good cover, either sticking fairly close to the original but adding a dash of a band's own flavor, or totally reworking the song in a thoughtful way. But unfortunately, this seems to be the first true misfire from you, because it doesn't quite capture either the things I liked about Pink Floyd originally, or what can make the 90s alt rock bands unique in the musical ecoscape.
So this group is comprised of members of Failure (a band I've heard some rave reviews about, but nothing from the limited amount I've sampled has stuck yet), and Paul D'Amour, formerly of Tool, one of my favorite bands, though more for the Justin Chancellor era.
The intro is rather clever, both incorporating a heartbeat, as Dark Side of the Moon does, plus a sample of an orchestra tuning to A440, which is hardly a novel trick, but both together is a bit different. The ending is also rather unique, with the audience applause gradually turning into static. The baby cry might be another reference of sorts (perhaps a track on The Wall?, or possibly another ending of a PF song/album), but I'm not quite a big enough fan of theirs to be certain.
Perhaps one of the elements that they replicate (wait, did I really just type that?) is how PF were integral in bringing more atmosphere and audio manipulation into rock, that you could do more with the texture of notes and sound in a studio environment. More specifically, my favorite thing about it is easily that psychedelic tremolo guitar chording that propels much of the song. I've always loved effects pedals on guitar, and that is a really cool sound. It seems blended at times with another track of more normal clean electric strumming, which gives it a bit more bite through the chord changes so it's not just an amorphous cloud.
The more lead-ish reversed guitar bits are all over the place, both in the stereo spectrum, and in how they alter my enjoyment of it. At times they add a bit of spice, and in other moments they might go a bit too much into the realm of atonal-ish noisy noodling for me. I'm not generally a fan of noise rock or adjacent styles, though I admittedly haven't heard a ton of them, but as I've noted in various earlier writeups, those sorts of elements generally only work for me in limited doses to accent an otherwise already well-working track, and this wasn't quite to that point yet, as I'll go into further.
The vocals are also a bit of a challenge. They've always been one of my least-favorite aspects of Pink Floyd, and here they kind of mimic that descending pitch fall-off that PF does a lot, and it doesn't really work any better for them. The organ in the background is a tad bland, but it's not that prominent, and without it the track would be even more sparse, which would likely be to its detriment. Given that the original is a full-band arrangement, I'm curious about their decision to strip it back so much, and whether other covers on this album are like that. It just seems a bit long to plod along as it does without drums and not much in the way of dynamics, which was one thing that alternative rock bands tended to excel at.
Score: 6.75/10
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Puppies_On_Acid - Chrome Waves - "A Grief Observed"
Early Impression - "The harsh vocals might be holding this back some."
Instrumentally, this tune is pretty solid. I love the sound of the synthesizer filter sweeps in the opening, and the violin throughout creates a beautiful atmosphere. I wish it was used for a bit more than mostly just held note drones, but it does elevate the song a bit. The clean-ish chorused guitar tones have a nice texture to them, and the short melodic leads like at 1:39 and other spots are nice. I also like the cymbal work on the ride, bell, and China in the section at 5:15.
But the vocals unfortunately aren't doing much for me. The cleans are alright, but the harshes just aren't really the type I like, they're too much in the hardcore-influenced direction for my palate.
Score: 7/10
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Crow - Midnight Odyssey - "From a Frozen Wasteland"
Early Impression - "I like the spaciousness of the atmosphere, but the guitars have no weight to them."
I'm starting to suspect that you have no end to the variety of different ways your submissions are going to challenge my tastes. They're mostly not scoring that well, but they are certainly making me think more deeply and in different ways about why I do and don't like various musical elements, which is useful in its own right. So now the challenge isn't noisiness or hard to swallow vocals, but length, cohesion, and guitar tones. I've heard one Midnight Odyssey album before, and it was alright, but didn't entice me to explore any further. Conceptually, the idea of the general genre of the band is intriguing. I like some ambient music, and I love space and cosmic themes.
As I've noted a number of times, it's fairly rare for a song much past 10:00 to be an enduring favorite of mine. I'm not entirely sure why, if I try and deconstruct it. There are plenty of full albums I love, and those are quite often more than a half-hour in duration, sometimes well over an hour. My times of actually sitting down for that full duration and doing nothing but listening to the album are pretty nonexistent though, even less so nowadays than in the past. Part of the fun of this roulette has been forcing myself to do nothing but listen to the songs and take notes for the first three plays.
I think maybe the challenge is the unit of consumption. It's a bit easier to just listen to a few songs at a time, having the ability to pick back up on the next track later if necessary than it is to just pause at a specific timestamp and resume later in a single song. But I have no issue doing that with podcasts, long-form videos and such, so it may be some kind of mental block, I'm not sure.
I just have to wonder how much more digestible this would be as 4-5 separate movements, or even just a couple. As it is, it's also challenging to give it as much time as other songs in the roulette. While I did listen to it a fair number of times, I'm not sure I've quite reached the dozen+ I usually try to go for. 22 minutes is just a big meal to take in all at once, since I prefer listening to it when I can hear it in full to properly contextualize it.
So more specifically about the song itself, I really like how it begins - the first four minutes or so have a great ambient vocal quality, and I could probably enjoy a whole album of just that if done well. Honestly, the key probably helps a bit too. The second quarter of the song is just ok, but it introduces probably my biggest problem, which is that guitar tone. It's just such a thin, staticy sound, and it's ubiquitous among many second wave, raw black metal, and other atmospheric black metal bands I've checked out. I mostly like chunkier guitar sounds, and this one bugs me. The closest I come to liking them is in the section starting at 8:28. For the next minute or so they have this fascinating digital oscillating grind to them that is actually kind of piquant.
The guitar work also puts it into a weird realm, where it's a bit too abrasive a sound to make for effective ambient music, but it's too weak (and without drums at this point) to have the power of good metal. The third quarter of the song improves a bit, although once the drums enter it continues to exist in that liminal space of being way too intense and frantic to be properly atmospheric, but there is so much reverb that the murkiness keeps the metallic aspect from being hard-hitting and punchy enough. Conceptually I love the idea of combining metal with more atmosphere, but I find it much easier to execute in death-doom or even some prog/djent-adjacent material than in black metal. Although I do have a few other potential candidates to try out in your next roulette, assuming I don't get bounced in a prelim. 14:23 is probably the high point of the song for me, with the most epic feeling, though the guitars continue to hold it back.
Score: 7/10
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Buddyhunter1 - Thy Catafalque - "Molekuláris Gépezetek"
Early Impression - "This song only has enough ideas to support half of its runtime."
Well, so here we have another super-long song. I suppose you could apply some of my same qualms with this type of tune from Midnight Odyssey to this one as well. I guess this one of the ways that I'm less of a prog fan than some people here, because I know you guys seem to eat these up, but they rarely connect with me as much. A lot of my favorite songs are more in the 5-10 minute range, with a smaller but decent number a few minutes over that, but I historically haven't had much success with durations longer than that. I've been willing to explore them some in this roulette, but so far nothing has really changed my paradigm there yet. But this song is also challenging for somewhat different reasons.
I've heard a bit of Tamás' work before. There was some hype about him back in the mid-00s, and between that and curiosity about the odd name I know I listened to at least one album at the time and remember liking it, but it wasn't something I came back to. Fast forward well over a decade and I decided to dip my toes back in with Naiv, which made me question my memories of his earlier work a bit because of its flaws. Then Vadak resonated with me a bit more, but what I'm hearing in this track is a tad closer to Naiv, which had a lot of interesting ideas, but felt half-baked.
Going along with the length, I think one of the challenges of auteurs like him that are primarily responsible for much of what you hear on the album is that at times he's badly in need of an editor or outside voice. There is a better 10-minute song buried in here, but he lets some of these ideas run for too long. And as with Midnight Odyssey, this song is a lot to take in, so it's harder to get in quite as many listens compared to others in the roulette, which hampers it from having as much of a chance to grow on me.
The drums are pretty obviously programmed, which is quite common with these types of projects, and while they sound ok, I always tend to wonder, particularly for projects that have been going on for as long as this one has, why he couldn't wait a bit longer and hire someone to perform them, which would have a better chance at elevating the material. The drums sound best near the ending, which has more of an industrial metal feel, so the synthetic quality is more amenable to that vibe.
But this plagues other elements as well. For example, that saxophone motif that pops up at 8:41 and other spots is kind of a cool melody, but it's so blatantly unnatural-sounding that it really detracts from my enjoyment of it. Especially when some of the other instruments in that section are much better handled. The sine wave-ish synth sounds cool, and the violin and clarinet in that part are actually played, which helps a lot. And then the guest vocals are great.
And unfortunately, that whole middle portion of the song from a little before 6 minutes to a little after 15 is just way too long for what it accomplishes. There are a few captivating segments scattered about it, but so much of it is either highly repetitive or just feels like filler without much progression. Maybe it would sound better in an altered state of being. It's paradoxical, because in ways it feels like not enough is happening, and in other ways particularly with the first and last quarters of the song added back in, it feels like he's just throwing in every idea he can think of, including the kitchen sink, and not quite enough of it really lands.
There are elements I enjoyed more though. For example, the bass solo at 3:00 is pretty cool. The rim clacking at 14:34 is nice. I like the guitar tone at 4:16, and while it probably wouldn't work as a rhythm tone, it is effective for that type of part. There is an tasty melody at 1:33, probably from a synthesizer, but it's regrettably buried too much in the mix. The aquatic sound textures in the section starting at 5:49 are pretty delightful. I enjoy the timbre of the one at 7:40 as well, and the sparkling pad on the left at 8:57. The one at 7:09 simultaneously makes me feel like playing a fantasy video game, and also sounds kind of like the instrumental middle of Type O Negative's "Red Water (Christmas Mourning)".
Score: 7/10
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Vmadera00 - Forest of Shadows - "Self Inflicted Torment"
Early Impression - "This seems to have most of the right elements, but for some reason isn't clicking with me."
On paper, I should enjoy this more. A Swedish doom band, a low tuning, solid growled vocals mixed with some cleans, occasional acoustic guitar, a few melodic leads, audible bass playing, and a lot of Mellotron throughout. The clean vocals are a bit weird but oddly comforting, sounding a tad like a cross between Mikael Stanne and Tom G. Warrior. And running through them through a Leslie speaker at 0:29 is an intriguing effect.
So this song was a bit of an enigma to me. It seems to have most of the right ingredients, but it just didn't all quite come together for me and wasn't quite memorable enough. Maybe it's just not the right song from the artist, because the combination of everything else makes me think there's a higher possibility for me to like something from them than most entries that typically score in this range. I could say it felt a bit overlong for the amount of different ideas it has, but I suspect if I liked the ideas more I wouldn't mind marinating in them for longer. The Mellotron is an especially unusual timbre to have in this type of song, so maybe another tune with it but which focused on the lower range of the tuning more would hit better.
It looks like at least on this album, this is a one-man-band. Conceptually I should like that a lot more, given that I'm a multi-instrumentalist myself. And while listening to it, it's not obvious that it's all coming from one person. But for some reason it's pretty rare for projects coming from a single individual to be my favorites. It just seems there's some ineffable chemistry that's often lost in that setting, and it generally sounds better when you have contrasting ideas from multiple people happening simultaneously, at least for my tastes. I don't know, when something isn't quite working, I start looking to more tentative possible explanations like that to try and make sense of things.
Score: 7.25/10
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twosuitluke - Drewsif Stalin's Musical Endeavors - "Mirage"
Early Impression - "The guest vocals seem rather underutilized."
And the winner for the weirdest band name of the round goes to... I can see why he just goes as DSME or Drewsif now, the full name is kind of cringey and probably concocted after a night of way too much fun. But the music is what's most important for me anyway. I'd heard a few of his tunes in the past, including this one, but hadn't really spent much time on them yet (maybe because of the name?, hmm...these sorts of bands have a habit of shooting themselves in the foot in that fashion).
A lot of people on this forum and elsewhere in music super-fandom seem to be over and done with anything too djent-related, but honestly I still enjoy it quite a bit when it's done well, as it is here. The opening drum figure is pretty cool, and pretty well-programmed. The Anup Sastry drum cover of an early demo of this is fun to watch as well, it's too bad he couldn't have hired him to record it originally, since Anup has done great work for a lot of similar bands.
As the impression notes, Nikki seems underused for just a 20-second interlude and some backing harmony vocals. I think it's a case of expectations, when a guest vocalist is listed as being featured, I generally anticipate they're going to be incorporated more. Drew's voice is ok, and doesn't knock the score down any, but it's not quite strong or rich enough on its own compared to the best bands in this style, though certainly much more listenable than the worst exponents of it. The growls might be a smidge better than the cleans.
That transition at 3:44 from piano to the heavy riff and guitar harmonies is a lot of fun. And then I love how much mileage he gets out of the tapping harmony riff starting at 4:32, starting with the slow filter sweep, having another guitar harmony become more prominent for a bit at 4:39, and then that slicer effect at 5:11 is thrilling.
Score: 7.75/10
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Tomislav95 - DVNE - "SÍ-XIV"
Early Impression - "The synths are really cool when they appear, but they aren't present enough."
This was another one that grew on me a decent amount over time - even when trying to finalize the scores I started to dig it a bit more while listening to it again and bumped it up a notch. I've heard a few of their tracks before, most notably because I heard a lot of buzz about them in the last album cycle. Nothing stood out enough to make me want to check out a full album at the time though.
Regarding the impression, I did notice a bit more synth work throughout on later listens, but I suppose the intro did make me think it might be highlighted more frequently. It's a bit of a common frustrating trope when bands have cool synthesizer intros and then they mostly disappear for the rest of the song. I love how they gradually open the frequency cutoff filter in this one in the intro and the timbre slowly becomes brighter. The rapid slicer effect on the synths at 4:29 is another nice touch.
There are also a lot of cool guitar feedback textures in the intro as well - they are fairly adept at utilizing longer tones for ambiance, and they're also quite effective later such as with the E-bow solo at 4:26. 3:08 has a fun harmony riff. 5:53 is another rather exhilarating phrygian dominant riff, especially with the guitar effect, I adore how thickly it saturates it, easily the higlight of the song.
The bass is pretty audible throughout, which is always nice. 2:51 is a tasty drum fill. And this is also another song with the reverse tom panning trick that I'm surprised how frequently I'm spotting now, such as at 2:51.
Score: 8/10
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Elite - Foscor - "De Marges i Matinades"
Early Impression - "In a more perfect world this would be the kind of music rock radio would play."
The first minute of this with some of the note choices and the vocal timbre really gave me some 00s post-grunge vibes, but executed in a more interesting way. Guitar-wise, I particularly enjoy the contrast of the held arpeggios in the verse from the left guitar with the muted picking of the right guitar. That's a great tone for that type of part. Drum-wise, I also continue to enjoy offbeat ride bell work like in that section as well. Or the slower offbeat China at 5:49, which gives a similar effect.
The bandoneon at 3:29 is another surprising touch, but it's quite effective. Part of me was wondering if there would be a more traditional guitar solo, and I was initially a bit underwhelmed at the more chordal and sustained melody style of it, but I eventually became acclimated to it, and the chord textures at 4:21 and tapping lick at 5:31 are cool enough anyway.
Score: 8/10
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Evermind - Skein - "Rapier"
Early Impression - " The basic sound is pretty cool, but I'm not sure how memorable it's going to be."
The bass playing is pretty nice, with a cool fuzzy tone and some independent lines, sometimes playing in a higher register in the verses. I like the interaction between it and the two different but interlocking lines from the guitars as well.
I kind of knew I had an E-bow addiction, but this roulette is really confirming it, like with the lines at 3:45. I guess it makes sense, as it's a method to achieve a tone halfway in-between an electric guitar and a violin. And this track has even more fun with it, incorporating two separate parts for them in either ear in various sections.
The harmony vocals at 7:52 add a lot, with some creative choices of complementary lines. I was really not at all expecting those few lines of growled vocals near the end, but it serendipitously added some extra intensity to the song, making it feel like a more climactic journey.
Score: 8/10
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senecadawg2 - Khôrada - "Ossify"
Early Impression - "It became unexpectedly epic in the middle, but might have gone on a minute or two too long."
It's curious that this is a splinter group from Agalloch, since Agalloch is another band that for some reason even though they get rave reviews from a lot of people with broadly similar taste to me, have yet to click. But this is quite different-sounding from what I can recall though.
This song took awhile to make sense of, there's so much going on in it. It almost sounded like a totally different track the second time through. The opening is really tantalizing, the synths on it remind me of Disasterpeace's score to It Follows, one of my favorite film scores. 2:44 also has a nice synthesizer sine wave lead on the right.
The first riff of the song has such an infectious feel to it, which is surprising with such a simple seesawing kick/snare pattern, though also integrating a few snare ghost notes, and the bounce of that super-downtuned riff and pinch harmonics. The percussive second guitar riff at 0:45 is really complementary as well. I also like the chorused tone of the left guitar at 1:14. 3:32 is another rather salient guitar tone, probably from a wah pedal, but it's emphasizing the overtones in an unconventional but compelling way. It also returns at 8:04, but this time over a different riff, which completely alters the feel in an intriguing fashion.
5:56 is a short but nice harmony line, which leads into the tremolo line on the left (eventually two layers of it), and the song at this point was feeling quite epic. I suppose initially I thought that the song was nearly over near the 7-minute mark, but it still keeps going for a bit. At first it felt anticlimactic, but now being used to it the length feels fine. Also, 10:55 is a fun trick of turning up the rate knob on an effects pedal to get it to squelch out.
In terms of drumming, 4:20 is a really enjoyable section with the guitar pick slide leading into a nice tom groove. 8:20 threw me off at first, because I'm not used to hearing that 6/8 rhythm overlayed with a thrash meat beat/slow blast outside of something like In Flames' "Food For the Gods", so it's an somewhat unexpected but nostalgic sound.
The vocals are really unusual-sounding, and after many listens in I'm still not sure what to make of them, and whether they remind me of someone. The nice thing about more baritone-range vocals for me is that even if I can't quite make sense of them they're less likely to detract from my enjoyment of an artist than some of the higher falsetto-range vocals of earlier rounds, which I tend to be pickier about.
Score: 8/10
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Nachtmerrie - Clouds - "In the Ocean of My Tears"
Early Impression - "This is definitely the sound from the first song I'm looking for, but will this one grow on me?"
This is a band that came onto my radar a couple years ago when their latest album was released and I enjoyed it, and I'd also given a cursory listen to a few other tunes of theirs, including this one, but they were in danger of being neglected if I didn't have a specific reason to listen to them more. They certainly check a lot of boxes for me in falling into the type of music I've been increasingly drawn towards a lot in the past decade or so. And I'm not intimately familiar with all of Natalie's work and guest appearances, but I have heard Shape of Despair, Depressed Mode, and Collapse of Light, so she's a somewhat familiar voice.
The intro is pretty unique with the pan flute. I definitely wasn't expecting it, and wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but it has grown on me some. I wish they'd used real cello instead of the keyboard patch (the vibrato is noticeably artificial), particularly given that there is real violin credited for other tracks, but it's a small and background enough element to not harm it too much. Although, it does seem to go on a bit long, particularly after checking out a live version where Natalie does some Lisa Gerrard-esque vocalizations over part of it, which helped break it up more. I like that they bring back the pan flute in over the band near the end as well, so it's not just isolated to the intro.
I also savored the false ending right after the 7-minute mark, where the guitars were allowed to ring out for a few seconds (a technique which not enough metal subgenres allow to happen very often), and then the track picks back up. I also enjoy the use of multi-tracking to achieve a choral sound starting around 8:08, which is impressively large-sounding for just a multi-tracked single vocalist. Overall, I didn't find the vocal melody quite as addictive as I hoped it might be, but the atmosphere and overall feel is solid enough. The guitar tone is also pretty full and thick. And while funeral doom isn't generally a genre you think of for interesting drum fills, but the one at 7:38 is pretty nice.
Score: 8/10
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SoundscapeMN - The Warning - "Animosity"
Early Impression - "The instrumental arrangement is a bit bare-bones, but the vocals seem like they could be infectious."
This is yet another band I kept hearing mentioned a lot lately, so I was kind of hoping they'd eventually show up in this roulette, and here they are. I think I may have checked out a song or two previously, but don't recall them. Interestingly, this is probably your most straightforward submission yet, but it still works quite well. Overall it's just a very solid and catchy tune. Everywhere on the internet this seems to be getting called hard rock with some alt rock and post-grunge elements (possibly just the album overall). Maybe it's just me, but I can't help hearing a hint of punk as well with the higher tempo and energy, prominent driving bass, guitar octave melodies and midranged palm-muted rhythms, and some of the edge in the vocals.
It reminds me a bit of The Donnas, but with much better vocals and songwriting, though not quite as good of guitar work and tones. That's really the main thing this could use to put it over the top - a slightly beefier guitar tone, and maybe a nice solo in the middle. I don't know if they just didn't think this song needed one, or if that just isn't in their wheelhouse. The drumming is pretty competent, though it stands out least among the elements here, although the splash cymbals such as at 0:43 are a nice touch, and quite underutilized in more uptempo tunes like this one.
Score: 8/10
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Lethean - Voyager - "As the City Takes the Night"
Early Impression - "This definitely captures some of the feeling of the third song."
When I made my as of yet unrevealed list for the upcoming round 11, I knew there was a good chance I would get a decent number of them well before that round. Voyager is yet another of those, where I'd heard a few songs here and there and was starting to be enticed, but just had never gotten around even to a full album to explore them further. Well, I'm glad they're in this round, because they're clearly another band I need to look further into.
The guitar tone is pretty modern and processed, but I enjoy that type of sound, and it works well for this sort of song. I also really like that first higher guitar riff at 0:43. The second verse might be the coolest, starting with the bass highlight, and then the stuttering guitar parts ping-ponging back and forth in the stereo spectrum, and the drumming is pretty entrancing in that section as well.
I'm really curious about some of their other tunes now, because I'd thought they were supposed to be a more electronic-oriented band in their style, somewhat akin to VOLA, but other than some of the piano and a bit or two here and there most of the electronic elements are pads and smaller parts just kind of burbling in the background. I'm a sucker for nice piano intros and/or outros though, as this one has.
Also, even the vocals have some fun manipulation on them though, like the effect at 4:32. That actually leads into probably my favorite sequence of the song with the way it continues to build, particularly when it reaches the double-time chorus for some extra energy, and then that triplet riff at 5:51 to decelerate into the ending.
Score: 8.25/10
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Sacul - Kayo Dot - "And He Built Him a Boat"
Early Impression - "The only thing I could remember about it were the tom rolls."
This was definitely a song that grew on me a lot after the first play, more than a full point. I'd have to look back more carefully through all my past initial scores, but it's probably the most or second most a song has grown on me from the first to the second listen and beyond.
Kayo Dot and anything associated with Toby Driver like maudlin of the Well, Tartar Lamb and such was really revered back in the mid-late 00s among other music connoisseurs. I listened to a number of those albums back then, but I don't think I was ready for them at the time. I still have them sitting on a hard drive somewhere, but hadn't listened to those albums since then. I did listen to their latest release a couple times when it came out and was pleasantly surprised that they sounded better than I recalled the early albums being, but they still didn't stick for me.
Though they're in quite different genres, I wonder if this could be another example like Converge where it's a band that I checked out way too early and didn't think they were for me, but now in reevaluation I like them much more, at least some of their work. I also curious if this is the more accessible end of their material, and perhaps I might appreciate that side of them, but could struggle with anything weirder they do.
Overall this song just has a really cool feel to it. Obviously from my impression those speedy sextuplet tom rolls were rather distinctive, but the drums throughout sound quite good, including the slower tom beats as well in the verses. It also has a milder version of the reverse panning of the toms I've mentioned in some other writeups in earlier rounds, which gives a rather unique sound to them.
The guitars sound quite tasty as well, particularly at 3:02 with the tremolo picking, or like in the opening - I love that sort of post-rock-esque guitar tone even if the genre overall can be iffier for me. I also really treasure the choral vocals throughout the middle of the song, both on their own and in how they interact in a call and response fashion with Toby.
Even though I do still recommend sending studio versions of songs, I quite often look for and listen to quality live recordings of these songs when I can as well to see how differently they come across in that environment. And with this particular song it made me notice that the keyboards on this track are quite buried in most of the studio recording. The guitars and vocals don't work as well live, but it did make me wish the keyboards here were closer to how they are live, with some rather intriguing patches in spots. Noticing this doesn't harm the score here, I'm just always looking for how a song could be even better.
Score: 8.25/10
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HOF - Sweet Billy Pilgrim - "Slingshot Grin"
Early Impression - "The second half is fairly repetitive and goes on for quite awhile. Good thing I like it."
So I had listened a few times to the songs of theirs that you sent in 425's roulette, and I didn't remember anything in particular standing out about them. But this song just seems to have something a bit more special. It's really two songs in one, with the rootsier rock feel of the first half, which is pretty cool in its own right. Even the change from the verse to the chorus is quite striking, with the bluesy vocal melodies and major/minor key play leading to the more full but somewhat calmer chorus. I especially enjoy the longer held notes where he gradually adds the operatic vibrato, such as at 0:18 and other spots.
The second half is where it really hit me though. Even as it becomes more homogenized in feel and is essentially just a vamp over a single root note, it just has a really relaxing and hypnotic soulful feel to it as it continues the vocal tradeoffs. I particularly love how they bring back the original chorus melody at 4:08, but now over a different chord, which totally changes the vibe of it. The horns coming in near the end was really the icing on the cake and made me look forward to coming back to it each time. I'm really curious about the rest of the songs on the album now, because if there are others anywhere close to this one the current Rate Your Music rating for this is truly a travesty.
Score: 8.25/10
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soupytwist - Ancient Bards - "Light"
Early Impression - "I've heard many, many songs like this, but I couldn't help being pulled in by the end."
So this group is part of the Ayreon multi-verse, with Sara being on The Theory of Everything, which is unfortunately an album that I haven't gotten to really connect with me yet. I know I checked out one Ancient Bards album, and thought it had potential, but hadn't been compelled to investigate them any further. Part of it was that I read somewhere that they played 7-string guitars, which generally makes me excited. My limited recollection of the album was that they weren't incorporated well enough on it, and didn't really provide the heaviness I tend to seek in power and symphonic metal. But perhaps they're better at other sorts of songs, like this one. They seem like they might be a bit like Visions of Atlantis in that regard, who aren't so great at their metal side, but have fantastic vocals of late since Clémentine Delauney joined.
And well, this type of song certainly has the potential to go wrong and be unmemorable. As I've mentioned in other writeups, keyboard emulations of orchestral instruments can be rather dicey, as bands try to sound more epic and grand, but sometimes I find them inauthentic and distracting. Here, though they're a bit on the syrupy "Disney metal" side of symphonic metal, they don't bug me as much as they do with some other artists. Part of it might be that they're layered with piano, which helps disguise them a bit.
The arrangement on its own is nothing particularly original. Most of the instrumentation is rather straightforward. The bass is fairly present in the mix with a few fills, there are some nice snare ghost notes in the verse, and there's a short but sweet guitar solo later, but nothing that really moves the needle.
But wow, the vocals. Arjen in Ayreon always has had a knack for finding great ones, and I can see why he selected Sara. A great vocal performance can often overcome a less invigorating musical accompaniment, and that's exactly what happens here. I'm not sure if she got lost in the sea of vocals on The Theory of Everything, or washed out in the more driving power metal numbers on the album I heard, but Sara really shines here.
The key change starting with the guitar solo was a bit unexpected, but grabbed my attention. She doesn't even repeat the original chorus melody at all, but the vocal improvisations over the choral backing is just executed really well, and I can't help a bit of euphoria coming on each time it reaches the final refrains of this song. I think that in a lot of ways I'm a pop music fan in metalhead/prog fan's clothing, and in being caught between those worlds my fondness for these sorts of songs when done well is difficult to suppress.
Score: 8.25/10
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ariich - Dissona - "Another Sky"
Early Impression - "This is the metal version of a kid walking into a candy store."
Well, you've sent your best song yet. I hardly know where to begin, this one is just overloaded with coolness. Outstanding drumming and guitar playing throughout, a variety of different types of vocals, some bass soloing, interesting bits of electronics throughout. 4:32 is especially intriguing, I can't think of anything else quite like that with the alternation between the growls and synth swells, guitar harmonies, and glitchy synth textures.
They even get away with using some fake instrumentation from the keyboards better than most, with the sitar patch at 1:58 and other spots. 5:09 has cool guitar harp harmonics as well, that's not a technique I'm used to seeing in a metal band. A good sign with this song and a couple of the other top ones of this round is that I'm not ready to let go of them yet. As many times as I've listened to them, I still feel like I'm hearing new things each listen. But apparently not as much as I'd thought I'd be writing. I thought I'd have more to say, but hopefully the score is enough. And this will certainly be one of the first artists I'll be checking out more from once this round is over.
Score: 9/10
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TAC - Dreamgrave - "Monuments"
Early Impression - "This is all over the place, but in a way that appeals to me."
And here we go, this might be your best entry yet as well. It's so different from Ereb Altor that it's hard to compare. This is the sort of quirky metal that just hits all the right marks for me. It has so many different things going on from moment to moment in a way that some might find abrupt and disjointed, but for me keeps each listening session enthralling.
It's in a sweet spot where it has enough unusual darker chord and melodic movements to make it more engrossing than stock prog metal bands, but steers enough away from the sort of Mr. Bungle-esque genre-hopping which can feel too frantic and random. It reminds me more of bands I like such as Ram-Zet and Akphaezya, particularly with the violin for the former, and the subtle jazz influences of the latter. "Dreamgrave" superficially sounds like kind of a corny name, and I guess it sort of is, but it oddly kind of suits their sound and works for me.
I also love how it balances some of the odder and less melodic-sounding sections with catchier parts. The passage at 3:09 is especially addicting. Each instrument has its moment to shine at one point or another. 5:05 is particularly delectable for the bass. I love the 3/2 triplet layering of the snare over the ride bell at 2:56. That is one delicious triplet tom fill at 3:51 with the ping-ponging of how it's panned.
And like Dissona, there's a lot of vocal variety to keep things engaging. The upwardly cascading bit at 6:14 is especially enjoyable. 4:02 with the acoustics and 5:21 with the full band are relaxing and refreshing sections to give a bit of a break from the madness, and make for a perfect interlude before the intensity of the climax.
Score: 9/10
---
Round 7 Scores:
ariich --------------------------------- 9
TAC ---------------------------------- 9
HOF --------------------------------- 8.25
Lethean ---------------------------- 8.25
Sacul ------------------------------ 8.25
soupytwist ----------------------- 8.25
Elite ----------------------------- 8
Evermind ---------------------- 8
Nachtmerrie ------------------ 8
senecadawg2 ---------------- 8
SoundscapeMN ------------- 8
Tomislav95 ---------------- 8
twosuitluke --------------- 7.75
Vmadera00 -------------- 7.25
Buddyhunter1 ---------- 7
Crow ------------------- 7
Puppies_On_Acid ----- 7
Stadler --------------- 6.75
---
Current Cumulative Standings (after 7 rounds):
SoundscapeMN ---------------- 57.75
Nachtmerrie -------------------- 56.75
TAC ------------------------------- 56.5
Evermind -------------------------- 56.25
ariich -------------------------------- 56
HOF ----------------------------------- 55.5
soupytwist ----------------------------- 55.5
Lethean --------------------------------- 55.25
senecadawg2 ---------------------------- 54.5
Stadler ---------------------------------- 53
Tomislav95 ---------------------------- 52.5
Sacul --------------------------------- 52
twosuitluke ------------------------- 51.75
Vmadera00 ------------------------ 51.75
Elite ------------------------------- 51.25
Puppies_On_Acid ---------------- 51.25
Buddyhunter1 ------------------ 50.75
Crow --------------------------- 46.25
romdrums -------------------- 14.25 (had to drop out after the second round)
---
Round Score Breakdown:
ariich: 7.75 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 9 = 56
Buddyhunter1: 7.5 + 6.5 + 7.75 + 7 + 8 + 7 + 7 = 50.75
Crow: 6 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 7 + 5 + 7 = 46.25
Elite: 6.5 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 8.5 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8 = 51.25
Evermind: 7.75 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 8 = 56.25
HOF: 9 + 9 + 6.5 + 7.25 + 8.5 + 7 + 8.25 = 55.5
Lethean: 7.75 + 8.25 + 7.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.25 = 55.25
Nachtmerrie: 8.25 + 9 + 6.75 + 9 + 7.75 + 8 + 8 = 56.75
Puppies_On_Acid: 8 + 7 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 + 7 = 51.25
romdrums: 7.25 + 7 + x + x + x + x + x = 14.25
Sacul: 7.25 + 8.75 + 6 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8.25 = 52
senecadawg2: 8 + 7 + 8.5 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 = 54.5
SoundscapeMN: 8 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 8.5 + 8.75 + 7 + 8 = 57.75
soupytwist: 6.5 + 6.75 + 9 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.25 + 8.25 = 55.5
Stadler: 8.5 + 7.5 + 7 + 7 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 6.75 = 53
TAC: 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 9 = 56.5
Tomislav95: 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 7 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8 = 52.5
twosuitluke: 7.5 + 8.25 + 5.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7 + 7.75 = 51.75
Vmadera00: 7.25 + 7.75 + 8 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.25 = 51.75
---
I'll post the mystery songs for round 8 tomorrow.
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(https://i.imgur.com/GVjVlGN.jpg)
Dammit Ariich!
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I'm all for a good highway song robbery. Soundscape picked the wrong animal to send in R6 too, and soupy swooped in and flew off with the other.
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I had it in my Litholist.
I mentioned that I was torn between sending one band or saving them for the next open round. I still have them ready to go. It wasn't Dissona though. I didn't think of them for this round, actually.
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Solid result! It's an odd choice because I think most people who are fond of Agalloch found that album underwhelming; it's rare that I've had the opportunity to send it to someone who doesn't have as much positive baggage to look past.
On another note, I can't recommend Hubardo and Choirs of the Eye highly enough. I was definitely going to send something from CotE in the "change my mind" round.
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I'm dreading the Mystery Songs. :lol
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I had it in my Litholist.
I mentioned that I was torn between sending one band or saving them for the next open round. I still have them ready to go. It wasn't Dissona though. I didn't think of them for this round, actually.
I reviewed the play and there's no penalty, you already mentioned them a couple weeks ago.
Dissona-Another Sky
I added that very song to my Litho Roulette playlist on Spotify on Jan 22nd. :lol
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I'm dreading the Mystery Songs. :lol
I hoped you upgraded to a top of the line metal conversion kit 3D printer. :)
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I'm dreading the Mystery Songs. :lol
I hoped you upgraded to a top of the line metal conversion kit 3D printer. :)
Gotta stop off at the store for some extra supplies I think for the next round.
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Alright, I survived the last metal round! If you like Slingshot Grin I’m fairly confident you will like the Mortorcade Amnesiacs album. It’s a masterpiece. I also think if any one song by Sweet Billy Pilgrim doesn’t quite grab you, just keep listening to other stuff because what they do is so unique and unpredictable that there’s gonna be something that grabs you and it will tend to reveal the rest of what they do (at least that’s how it happened for me).
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Hah, you can always be TAC or Puppies and send metal in non-metal rounds. You actually haven't sent any at all. It's curious the crowd that DT draws, for an ostensibly metal band, they have a lot of fans who no longer or maybe never were into that side of them.
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I went through a metal phase that coincided with when DT were my favorite band. But I never got that deep into it, and never really cared for anything especially heavy or extreme. I definitely have less interest in heavier music the older I get. There are still things I listen to and enjoy that are heavier, but it’s a relatively small percentage of what I listen to. Of the bands I know and like, very few would be unfamiliar to most roulette hosts around here, so I generally just don’t even try to send it.
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Got close to that same score the last time I sent it in a roulette. Fair points, but not ones that I find relevant, myself. I like how long the middle section is because it's such a good section and it changes often enough to not get boring! And the whole song has such a unique, unnatural, almost alien atmosphere to it that harping on some instruments sounding obviously fake is kinda missing the point. That saxophone line is meant to be a loop - it wouldn't have been improved at all by being performed live.
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Hah, you can always be TAC or Puppies and send metal in non-metal rounds. You actually haven't send any at all. It's curious the crowd that DT draws, for an ostensibly metal band, they have a lot of fans who no longer or maybe never were into that side of them.
Wait, I sent metal in a non metal round? :corn
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I'm all for a good highway song robbery. Soundscape picked the wrong animal to send in R6 too, and soupy swooped in and flew off with the other.
:)
I'd just point out Dirt Poor Robins are one of my favorite bands, been a fan for about 5 years......since I got introduced to them by Soundscapes thread on here ;D
Can't believe I did so well in this round, that was a total panic send after listening to those 3 songs and not having anything really that fitted the bill....
I think that in a lot of ways I'm a pop music fan in metalhead/prog fan's clothing
You and me both!
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I'll take my score and remain comfy neat the bottom of the table.
I'm not particularly in love with DSME, or the song I sent, but I felt it fit the theme pretty well. The next round is another Mystery Song round?
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I'm all for a good highway song robbery. Soundscape picked the wrong animal to send in R6 too, and soupy swooped in and flew off with the other.
:)
I'd just point out Dirt Poor Robins are one of my favorite bands, been a fan for about 5 years......since I got introduced to them by Soundscapes thread on here ;D
Can't believe I did so well in this round, that was a total panic send after listening to those 3 songs and not having anything really that fitted the bill....
thanks for mentioning it. I owe it to some of The Dear Hunter fans a guy on another message board telling me about them, but I feel like I'm still pretty new to them given they began recording more than 15 years ago.
I had thought about sending something from them, and likely would have eventually had you not Soupy. Although I likely would have submitted some different choices, but the tunes you did obviously did the job.
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Damn, finally a good fucking score :metal
On another note, I can't recommend Hubardo and Choirs of the Eye highly enough.
This, I personally prefer Hubardo, but haven't revisited either in years tbh. I should fix that now I guess.
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Got an 8 and still in the bottom half of the round, apparently a very strong round indeed :)
Bring the mystery songs on!
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And the whole song has such a unique, unnatural, almost alien atmosphere to it that harping on some instruments sounding obviously fake is kinda missing the point. That saxophone line is meant to be a loop - it wouldn't have been improved at all by being performed live.
Part of it might be that I actually play the saxophone, so I'm particularly sensitive to when it sounds off. Another factor is that in general I'm pickier about in-between sounds, I mostly like them to sound either very natural, or very synthetic. The song had numerous examples of both, and that one really stuck out. If not actually on a real saxophone, I'd have preferred it as a synth lead patch. Woodwinds and bowed stringed instruments are the most likely to nettle me if they sound fake.
Wait, I sent metal in a non metal round? :corn
Ne Obliviscaris in the jazz round. :p
I'd just point out Dirt Poor Robins are one of my favorite bands, been a fan for about 5 years......since I got introduced to them by Soundscapes thread on here ;D
Yeah, sometimes it's arbitrary who I associate with certain bands, but I've just heard their name more often from his posts, and he did start the thread, so that's why I consider them "his band".
I'll take my score and remain comfy neat the bottom of the table.
I'm not particularly in love with DSME, or the song I sent, but I felt it fit the theme pretty well. The next round is another Mystery Song round?
Yep. The last one. :'(
And your song fit just fine, and had an equal or higher score than all but two of the round averages so far, you just happened to have sent it in a stronger round.
I had thought about sending something from them, and likely would have eventually had you not Soupy. Although I likely would have submitted some different choices, but the tunes you did obviously did the job.
I don't know if either of you ever check the "what album are you listening to" thread, but I posted there that one of the cool things about these roulettes is that in exploring an artist's discography afterwards you sometimes find even better music than what was sent in the round itself. As much as I liked those three songs that soupy sent, I've listened to their entire discography since then and found at least another dozen songs I like about as much or more than the ones I scored. The last three minutes of "No Land Beyond" in particular is some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard, probably would have easily scored a 9.5 if it had been sent.
Damn, finally a good fucking score :metal
You've been a bit of a wildcard, but you did almost get a 9 with Mammal Hands. :)
Got an 8 and still in the bottom half of the round, apparently a very strong round indeed :)
Technically you might have placed as high as 7th out of 18, I don't think too hard about the exact ordering of songs once I determine that they have the same score. All the 8s aren't terribly far off from 3rd either, which was just 0.25 higher. Just one of those rounds, it was tight all the way from the first listen. I hoped for more separation after a lot of plays, but it didn't happen, I liked a bunch of them for wildly different reasons.
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Here are the mystery songs for round 8. This is the final mystery song round, so I'm bumping the song count up one again (and they're not super-long, one is actually fairly short). This might be the furthest out yet for some of your comfort zones, so it should be fascinating to see what I receive back.
Round 8:
Liquid Divine - "Comagirl" - from Autophobia, 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFB7I9340T4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFB7I9340T4)
DEADLIFE - "Neo Anima" - from God in the Machine, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdqaOy-x73U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdqaOy-x73U)
mind.in.a.box - "Whatever Mattered" - from R.E.T.R.O., 2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR18VvV7Ai8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR18VvV7Ai8)
Kate Havnevik - "Into Dark" - from Lightship, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sXarhjXWlg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sXarhjXWlg)
Send me one song reminiscent of one or more of the mystery songs to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com. If you can, send me both Youtube and Spotify links for your song. The Youtube link is so I can make my own playlist and rip the audio. The Spotify link is for the group playlist. If you can't or don't find both links I will find them myself, but the more of you that find both, the less extra work I have to do.
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> electronic round
(https://i.redd.it/2jli2cgb2ya31.png)
Now to figure out what to actually send. :P
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I'll find something to send tomorrow! :)
The 8 I'll take for Foscor, though I think it's better than both the Dissona and Dreamgrave tracks. I believe I thought of Dreamgrave as a possible choice to send here too. The only album of theirs I know and own is 'Presentiment', which is enjoyable. You'll probably like that one too.
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Wow, I have a song that's a dead fuckin' ringer for that Kate Havnevik song. But do I send that or one that I enjoy a bit more... :corn
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Sent an artist I thought for sure would be banned, glad it wasn't :corn
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Wow, I have a song that's a dead fuckin' ringer for that Kate Havnevik song. But do I send that or one that I enjoy a bit more... :corn
Given that we seem to like some similar styles, but wildly different songs in them, who knows? :lol Whichever one you decide on, I'd love to hear the other sometime later as well though.
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No clue.. :lol
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No clue.. :lol
Yep
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Haven’t listened yet but I may struggle with an electronic round too. But maybe not!
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Haven’t listened yet but I may struggle with an electronic round too. But maybe not!
Well, the HOF -> LJS translator has worked pretty well in 4/5 so far in the mystery rounds, so let's hope McStine/Minnemann was the only ok entry of them!
No clue.. :lol
I suspected as much. :p
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I get my first Roulette free evening in two months and I have to spend it listening to electronic music??
(https://i.imgflip.com/7g2vfb.jpg)
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"Neo Anima" could almost be a metal song if you swapped the lower-range synths with guitars. Darksynth has actually become a pretty popular secondary genre for a lot of metalheads, and tends to have some 80s vibes, so you never know, you could surprise yourself!
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BTW, some of you may have already noticed this, but usually within a day or so of each round I update various things in the OPs, including links to the mystery songs, impressions and results for each round, the current standings, the artists submitted so far and so forth. I also sometimes edit details on future rounds and such, as I just did on rounds 10 and 11.
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Sent something I'm not sure why I didn't think of right away.
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> electronic round
Woot!
Now, how many rounds in this roulette can I send my brother's music? :neverusethis:
Although it might be a bit on the ambient side based on the mystery songs. Got lots of other options to choose from though so I'll have a think.
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Just checked that first song and wtf why am I not listening to something like this. You send something like that in my roulette, you get a round winner for sure :lol
I still need to listen to the rest but I think I know a band to send at least.
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Just checked that first song and wtf why am I not listening to something like this. You send something like that in my roulette, you get a round winner for sure :lol
(https://i.imgur.com/9Po5i1a.gif) I guess it depends upon what it is you like about that song. It's kind of singular even in their discography. I do have some other stuff kind of in the same ballpark though. I get nervous about sending anything electronic since I have less of an idea of your tastes there. And there are only two slots left in your roulette, and four songs in my queue that are already fighting for spots. I'll have to ponder this.
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Sent. I get that what I sent isn't even that close to the mystery songs, but it's what I thought of first, and that's been the rule this roulette for me.
Plus, well, Erik Estrada.
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Just sent. This was very easy to pick, hope you dig some awesome sythwave :metal
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Sent.
I also put together my first draft for my EP. My roulette EPs usually hover around 30 minutes but for this one I had to cut out a bunch just to make the 45 minute limit. :lol Probably because I'm going more conceptual for it than I usually do.
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I'm going to be unable to listen to these songs till Thursday, hope that won't be an issue? If it is I can throw something remotely electronic your way tonight if you'd prefer?
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I'm going to be unable to listen to these songs till Thursday, hope that won't be an issue? If it is I can throw something remotely electronic your way tonight if you'd prefer?
I doubt all 18 will have sent by then, so take your time.
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I have some electronic music in my arsenal but it mostly has shitty production due to being released in 80s. I also didn't like any of your songs much so there's that :lol
Amethystium and Delerium are on your RYM wishlist so I'm probably not sending that. I'll see what I can do!
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this round there's a lot of ways to go, although I had noticed how Litho enjoys some electronic-rock and so that was a big reason I submitted Apes & Androids. I wonder though if the Electronic-part of their sound really impacted his feeling on the music.
But "Indietronica" is a genre that has a lot of music to consider alone. I sort of see Apes & Androids as my favorite and the most interesting/creative artist to be classified in that so-called genre.
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Sent!
Briefly considered sending Schiller ft. Tarja Turunen - Tired of Being Alone (https://open.spotify.com/track/13qWyDPTheuXihu8CVeWxZ?si=ac14253f3e79472e) but Tarja is on the banned list so I went another route.
this round there's a lot of ways to go
Not for all of us for sure :lol
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I don’t really listen to any entirely electronic music, but lots of music that I like incorporates some degree of electronic elements. It can get a bit boring on it’s own, but can add an interesting dimension along with more acoustic instrumentation. I really liked that Kate Havnenik song though.
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If people are having trouble, just steal a song from the electronic-only roulette I ran a couple years ago! :biggrin:
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Gee I must've missed that one. :neverusethis:
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Oh I forgot to say, delighted you liked the Dissona so much! You should definitely check that album out, it's superb.
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Lol, this is reminding me of the contrast from round 1.
Both of those are great tunes. I believe if I got any of those (especially Odyssey one) I would rate them almost perfectly.
Just checked that first song and wtf why am I not listening to something like this. You send something like that in my roulette, you get a round winner for sure :lol
Odyssey however I didn't like much, wouldn't rank it higher than 5/10.
I also didn't like any of your songs much so there's that :lol
The asymmetry is so fascinating, since Evermind is scoring higher. It might explain why I'm doing better in Tomi's roulette, but might also portend that I'll struggle in Evermind's next one. :lol
Briefly considered sending Schiller ft. Tarja Turunen - Tired of Being Alone (https://open.spotify.com/track/13qWyDPTheuXihu8CVeWxZ?si=ac14253f3e79472e) but Tarja is on the banned list so I went another route.
Generally speaking, the soft ban doesn't apply to guest appearances (and finding ones from my favorites I've overlooked can sometimes be an effective "cheat code"). With Tarja I've heard a couple albums of her solo material in recent years, so I already have an opinion on it, but it's not hard-banned since I didn't rate it 4.5 or higher.
although I had noticed how Litho enjoys some electronic-rock and so that was a big reason I submitted Apes & Androids. I wonder though if the Electronic-part of their sound really impacted his feeling on the music.
That facet was fine, it was mostly the vocals that just didn't connect with me.
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Gee I must've missed that one. :neverusethis:
You don't remember doing this? :biggrin:
Well, anyway, here are the Crankpressions..
The Weeknd
(https://i.imgflip.com/4szri0.jpg)
Amon Tobin
(https://i.imgflip.com/4szs2a.jpg)
Ed Harrison
(https://i.imgflip.com/4sztx0.jpg)
Radiohead
(https://i.imgflip.com/4szsct.jpg)
The Browning
(https://i.imgflip.com/4szsla.jpg)
Portishead
(https://i.imgflip.com/4szt2m.jpg)
Burial
(https://i.imgflip.com/4sztiy.jpg)
Depeche Mode
(https://i.imgflip.com/4sztpl.jpg)
CHVCHES
(https://i.imgflip.com/4szufj.jpg)
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Oh shit! :lol
Schneiderpressions. I think I still have them on my computer.
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although I had noticed how Litho enjoys some electronic-rock and so that was a big reason I submitted Apes & Androids. I wonder though if the Electronic-part of their sound really impacted his feeling on the music.
That facet was fine, it was mostly the vocals that just didn't connect with me.
well I just sent my Round 8 song. It does fit the Mystery Song theme a lot, and but I can't promise anything with the vocals with this one like the Apes & Androids.
In other words, I'm going with my go-to SONG in this style in a lot of ways, per there were several others I waivered on sending instead, but it came down to was the song better and did it fit the Theme better, etc.
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Well I've gone from having zero options (other than stuff you already know) to one option :lol
Just got to select a song, but should be sending in the next 24.
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I'm generally pleased with the Voyager score. They were a band that I found easy to enjoy immediately, but it took a little time for them to become a favorite.
Sent for round 8.
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Sent.
I have less confidence in this song than anything I've ever possibly sent in a roulette :lol
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Sent.
I have less confidence in this song than anything I've ever possibly sent in a roulette :lol
Sounds like you need to listen to more electronic music!
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Sent.
I have less confidence in this song than anything I've ever possibly sent in a roulette :lol
Sounds like you need to listen to more electronic music!
As I said to Litho in the email I sent him, the extent of my electronic listening I'd basically NIN and Ulver :lol
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Sent.
I have less confidence in this song than anything I've ever possibly sent in a roulette :lol
Sounds like you need to listen to more electronic music!
Nobody needs to listen to more electronic music.
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Sent.
I have less confidence in this song than anything I've ever possibly sent in a roulette :lol
Sounds like you need to listen to more electronic music!
Nobody needs to listen to more electronic music.
Litho's exact thoughts after hearing what I've sent.
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Well, Hybrid is banned.... :yeahright
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As is Imogen Heap.....guess I need to dig deeper.
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Sent.
I have less confidence in this song than anything I've ever possibly sent in a roulette :lol
Sounds like you need to listen to more electronic music!
Nobody needs to listen to more electronic music.
It's me, I'm Nobody.
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I can be No One.
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I can't even go the Djent-wave route because The Algorithm and Master Boot Record are also banned. :lol
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Sent... :corn
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Sent... :corn
:facepalm: :lol Check your e-mail.
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Sent... :corn
:facepalm: :lol Check your e-mail.
Resent! :neverusethis:
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Everyone in yet?
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Almost, a number of people had to resend.
-
Well, here are the results we've all been waiting for, this has been a long and exciting roulette, but you've all persevered!
---
425 - Kamelot - "The Haunting (Somewhere In Time)"
Outstanding.
Score: 9.75/10
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DragonAttack - Grand Funk Railroad - "Footstompin' Music"
Vivacious.
Score: 9.75/10
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faizoff - Volbeat - "Rebel Monster"
Impressive.
Score: 9.75/10
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hefdaddy42 - Jeff Buckley - "Last Goodbye"
Stupendous.
Score: 9.75/10
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jingle.boy - Epysode - "Obsessions"
Astounding.
Score: 9.75/10
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kingshmegland - Peter Gabriel - "Sledgehammer"
Marvelous.
Score: 9.75/10
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lonestar - Band-Maid - "Choose Me"
Incredible.
Score: 9.75/10
---
ReaperKK - Black Map - "Run Rabbit Run"
Fantastic.
Score: 9.75/10
---
Revenge319 - Daisuke Ishiwatari - "Play the Hero"
Amazing.
Score: 9.75/10
---
nick_z - Dawn of Solace - "Lead Wings"
Tremendous.
Score: 9.75/10
---
wolfking - Kip Winger - "Miles Away"
Immaculate.
Score: 10/10
---
Final Cumulative Standings (after 404 rounds):
wolfking - 404
nick_z - 403.75
425 - 402.75
DragonAttack - 401.75
faizoff - 400.75
hefdaddy42 - 399.75
jingle.boy - 398.75
kingshmegland - 397.75
lonestar - 396.75
ReaperKK - 395.75
Revenge319 - 394.75
I thought nick had this all locked up, but Kade pulled out all the stops on this one and stole the last minute photo finish, congrats!
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:lol
Brutal.
Lead Wings was my SOTY for 2020.
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:lol
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The Roulette That Should Not Be
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Wolfking did have the best song this round. Won fair and square.
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"Do I like Winger?..c'mon, do I look like a guy who never wore hairspray?"
:lol
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It all makes sense now. Litho is just Scar in disguise. I knew it!
-
Spicy
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9.75 was the lowest score Scar ever gave. Absolute trash music.
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394.75 points is the best I've ever done in a roulette! Although I suppose that means in the other 403 rounds, I got an average score of 0.955/10 each round... :lol
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upset and offended that you didn't include me with a 4/10 submission mixed into all the high scores :getoffmylawn:
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True to form, of course I didn't submit anything :neverusethis:
-
When did I join this roulette?
And I still couldn't beat Revenge :facepalm:
-
Well, here are the results we've all been waiting for, this has been a long and exciting roulette, but you've all persevered!
DragonAttack - Grand Funk Railroad - "Footstompin' Music"
Vivacious.
Score: 9.75/10
Final Cumulative Standings (after 404 rounds):
wolfking - 404
nick_z - 403.75
425 - 402.75
DragonAttack - 401.75
faizoff - 400.75
hefdaddy42 - 399.75
jingle.boy - 398.75
kingshmegland - 397.75
lonestar - 396.75
ReaperKK - 395.75
Revenge319 - 394.75
I thought nick had this all locked up, but Kade pulled out all the stops on this one and stole the last minute photo finish, congrats!
I came here to drink milk and kick axe, but you were all out of milk!😉
Glad to have participated. I often do my best work with little effort or thought behind it.😀😀
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??? : ________ _______ – ______
??? : _______ – _______ ______
??? : _____ _______ – _ ____ ______
??? : _____ __ ___ _______ – ________ _____
??? : ______ - __________ ____
??? : ______ – ___ ______
??? : ____ __ – ______ ________
??? : ___ _____ _____ – ___ __ _____
??? : _______ – _____
??? : ________ – ___ ______
??? : _________________________ – __ ____ ___ _________
??? : ____ _________-_ó___ – ______ __ ____
??? : _______ ____ – ____
??? : _______ – ____ ___ ___
??? : _______ – _______
??? : ________ ______ – ____ _'_ _____
??? : ______ __ ______ – ______ ______
??? : _________ – _____ _______ ____ ___
Guessed letters: ó
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I thought nick had this all locked up, but Kade pulled out all the stops on this one and stole the last minute photo finish, congrats!
Nice :lol
:lol
Brutal.
Lead Wings was my SOTY for 2020.
Yep, and that was quite a roulette debut for me...first round and I (unknowingly, to be clear ;)) stole Tim's song of the year!
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Z
-
T
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TAC is gonna be so confused about who is in the roulette and guessing senders now that I've drawn out a bunch of people who aren't in it. :lol
394.75 points is the best I've ever done in a roulette! Although I suppose that means in the other 403 rounds, I got an average score of 0.955/10 each round... :lol
Why do you think I was so excited to finally have a good round? :)
upset and offended that you didn't include me with a 4/10 submission mixed into all the high scores :getoffmylawn:
You don't know how many people were eliminated many rounds ago. :neverusethis:
And I still couldn't beat Revenge :facepalm:
The growl-free strategy has its limits. ;)
-
???: __tt____ _______ – ______
???: _______ – ______t ______
???: __t__ _______ – _ ____ ______
???: _____ __ T__ ____z__ – _______t _____
???: ______ - __________ T___
???: ______ – T__ ______
???: ____ __ – ______ ____t___
???: T__ _____ _____ – ___ T_ _____
???: _______ – __t__
???: ________ – ___ T_____
???: ___T_______________T_____ – __ ____ ___ _____t___
???: ____ ________z-_ó__z – ______ __ ____
???: ____t__ ____ – ____
???: _______ – ____ ___ ___
???: _______ – _____t_
???: __t_____ T_____ – ____ _'_ _____
???: ______ __ ______ – ______ ______
???: _________ – ____t _______ ___t T__
Guessed letters: ózt
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Clueless on this round, but I'll take an E for Electric.
-
N for the 10 I’m going to score this round.
-
I'd be shocked if I have heard of one band in this round.
-
??? : __tt___e ____e__ – _e__e_
??? : _______ – ____ent __e___
??? : _ete_ _e__ne_ – _ ___e ____ne
??? : ___n_ _e T_e ____z_n – n______t ___e_
??? : E___en - _________e T__n
??? : __n___ – T_e _ee_e_
??? : _ee_ _e – __ne__ ___nt__n
??? : T_e _____ __een – __e T_ Ne_e_
??? : ____een – __t__
??? : _nne__e_ – _e_ T__e__
??? : ___T_E_______N_____T__E_N – _e ___e ___ _e_e_t___
??? : ____ _______ez-_ó_ez – ______ __ _e__
??? : __n_t__ ____ – ____
??? : __N____ – ____ ___ ___
??? : ______e – ____et_
??? : _nt__n_e T_nn_n – __en _'_ ___n_
??? : ______ __ __n___ – _____n ______
??? : ___e____e – N___t _e____n ___t T__
Guessed letters: ózten
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How about an S :corn
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Bring Me The Horizon
A
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Anthonie Tonnon
-
??? : __tt___e S___e_s – _e__e_
??? : S__s___ – Sa__ent __ea_s
??? : _ete_ _e__ne_ – A ___e ____ne
??? : Bring Me The Horizon – n_____st ___es
??? : E___en - A___a___se T__n
??? : __n___ – T_e _ee_e_
??? : _ee_ _e – __ne__ ___nta_n
??? : T_e __a__ __een – __e T_ Ne_e_
??? : __s_een – _at__
??? : _nne__ea – _e_ T__ea_
??? : _A_T_E_______N____AT__EAN – _e ___e ___ _e_est_a_
??? : __a_ _______ez-_ó_ez – S____a As _e__
??? : __nat__ S___ – ____
??? : __NS___ – _a__ A__ _a_
??? : A_____e – ____ets
??? : Anthonie Tonnon – __en _'_ ___n_
??? : __a__s __ _ana_a – _a__an ______
??? : ___e_s__e – N___t Sess__n _a_t T__
Guessed letters: óztensa
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Night Session something something
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R
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Lets get an I
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gimme the d
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Litho, I've just realised I missed a trick in this round. Hypothetically, would you have accepted another King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard submission? Their electronic stuff is better than any of the mystery songs you posted soooo....
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Litho, I've just realised I missed a trick in this round. Hypothetically, would you have accepted another King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard submission? Their electronic stuff is better than any of the mystery songs you posted soooo....
Shhh, let it go, man. Let it go. It's okay.
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We all missed a trick this round.
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Litho, I've just realised I missed a trick in this round. Hypothetically, would you have accepted another King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard submission? Their electronic stuff is better than any of the mystery songs you posted soooo....
Shhh, let it go, man. Let it go. It's okay.
I guess I'll just have to spam him with more Gizz as recompense.
We all missed a trick this round.
And I think it's clear some of us will have missed by more than others.
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M
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Riverside-Night Session Part Two
Riverside isn't banned???
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??? : __tt___e S_r_ers – _e__er
??? : S__s_ii – Sa_ient Dreams
??? : _eter _e__ner – A ___e Di_ine
??? : Bring Me The Horizon – ni_i_ist ___es
??? : E_dren - A___a___se T__n
??? : __n___ – T_e _ee_er
??? : _eed Me – __ne__ M__ntain
??? : T_e __a__ __een – I_e T_ Ne_er
??? : __s_een – _at__
??? : Inne__ea – Red T_read
??? : IAMT_E_ID____N____ATIMEAN – _e ___e ___ _e_estia_
??? : _mar R_dri__ez-_ó_ez – S___ia As _e__
??? : __nati_ S___ – ___d
??? : __NS_I_ – Dar_ A__ Da_
??? : Ar__i_e – ____ets
??? : Anthonie Tonnon – __en I'm _r_n_
??? : __ards __ _anada – Da__an ______
??? : Riverside – Night Session Part Two
Guessed letters: óztensaridm
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Slushii
Omar Rodriguez
Boards of Canada
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The Black Queen-Ice To Never
Boards Of Canada-Dayvan Cowboy
I considered BoC for this round.
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Litho, I've just realised I missed a trick in this round. Hypothetically, would you have accepted another King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard submission? Their electronic stuff is better than any of the mystery songs you posted soooo....
Bands previously sent in the roulette are banned other than rounds 11 and 14. And in those rounds I'd need them to be sent by someone other than the original sender. So if you can sweet talk Buddy into sending them in those rounds... :p But I'm definitely not done with them yet. I can see that some people are really into them, and from what I've read they have a wide variety of material, so I'm sure something is bound to hit at some point. When I have an actual break inbetween rounds at some point I'll probably listen to the first hour or two of that massive playlist you made. And I also listened to the songs you sent to TAC and Tomi in their recent rounds.
Riverside isn't banned???
I've heard and enjoyed a few albums of theirs, but they haven't really clicked as a favorite yet.
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When I have an actual break inbetween rounds at some point I'll probably listen to the first hour or two of that massive playlist you made.
:lol
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Which part of what are you reacting to? I have a hunch, but I'm not entirely sure :)
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Which part of what are you reacting to? I have a hunch, but I'm not entirely sure :)
I bolded..
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Boards Of Canada-Dayvan Cowboy
Great song, probably my favorite from them.
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Which part of what are you reacting to? I have a hunch, but I'm not entirely sure :)
I bolded..
He didn't make it specifically for me (although the timing was curious :) ), but it's in the official KGLW thread. I definitely appreciate it anyway, I made a 20-song or so Katatonia playlist of sorts last year and posted it somewhere, it's useful when people more familiar with artists with large discographies can curate their work.
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??? : __tt___e S_r_ers – _e__er
??? : Slushii – Sa_ient Dreams
??? : _eter _e__ner – A ___e Di_ine
??? : Bring Me The Horizon – ni_i_ist ___es
??? : E_dren - A___a___se T__n
??? : __n___ – T_e _ee_er
??? : _eed Me – __ne__ M__ntain
??? : The Black Queen – Ice To Never
??? : __s_een – _at__
??? : Inne__ea – Red T_read
??? : IAMT_E_ID____N____ATIMEAN – _e ___e ___ _e_estia_
??? : Omar Rodriguez-López – S___ia As _e__
??? : __nati_ S___ – ___d
??? : __NS_I_ – Dar_ A__ Da_
??? : Ar__i_e – ____ets
??? : Anthonie Tonnon – __en I'm _r_n_
??? : Boards of Canada – Dayvan Cowboy
??? : Riverside – Night Session Part Two
Guessed letters: óztensaridm
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óztensaridm sounds like a band name, what kind of music do they play?
-
Hungarian folk metal
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I'm half-expecting to look that up in Metal-Archives and find out it's a real group.
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When I have an actual break inbetween rounds at some point I'll probably listen to the first hour or two of that massive playlist you made.
:lol
I've added a few more songs, so it's over 7 hours now :lol
Please remember, this is playlist of stuff they most often (and do) play at any live show. There is still the rest of their catalogue that they are less likely to play. So you could say, these are the hits :tup
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Your zealousness may have slightly altered my plans for Tomi's round 8 as well.
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"Welcome to an altered future".
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Butthole Surfers
-
Feed Me, Lonely Mountain, Ariich
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Lunatic Soul
-
L
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Red Thread
Salient (Sapient?) Dreams
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??? : Butthole Surfers – _e__er
??? : Slushii – Sapient Dreams
??? : _eter _e__ner – A L__e Di_ine
??? : Bring Me The Horizon – ni_ilist _l_es
??? : Eldren - A___al__se T__n
??? : __n___ – T_e _ee_er
ariich: Feed Me – Lonely Mountain
??? : The Black Queen – Ice To Never
??? : __s_een – _at__
??? : Innellea – Red Thread
??? : IAMT_E_ID____N____ATIMEAN – _e L__e ___ _elestial
??? : Omar Rodriguez-López – S___ia As _ell
??? : Lunatic Soul – __ld
??? : __NS_I_ – Dar_ All Da_
??? : Ar__i_e – __llets
??? : Anthonie Tonnon – __en I'm _r_n_
??? : Boards of Canada – Dayvan Cowboy
??? : Riverside – Night Session Part Two
Guessed letters: óztensaridml
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Lunatic Soul
Cold
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Gunship, Dark All Day, Crow
That might be a round winner.
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Crow...round winner.
:eek
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??? : Butthole Surfers – _e__er
??? : Slushii – Sapient Dreams
??? : _eter _e__ner – A L__e Di_ine
??? : Bring Me The Horizon – ni_ilist _l_es
??? : Eldren - A___al__se T__n
??? : __n___ – T_e _ee_er
ariich: Feed Me – Lonely Mountain
??? : The Black Queen – Ice To Never
??? : __s_een – _at__
??? : Innellea – Red Thread
??? : IAMT_E_ID____N____ATIMEAN – _e L__e ___ _elestial
??? : Omar Rodriguez-López – S___ia As _ell
??? : Lunatic Soul – Cold
Crow: GUNSHIP – Dark All Day
??? : Ar__i_e – __llets
??? : Anthonie Tonnon – __en I'm _r_n_
??? : Boards of Canada – Dayvan Cowboy
??? : Riverside – Night Session Part Two
Guessed letters: óztensaridml
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Lol I just assumed Gunship was banned
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I'm gonna tank so hard this round. :lol
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Lol I just assumed Gunship was banned
I've heard their first album and a few other songs (including the one sent), but nothing of theirs had quite clicked yet.
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I'm gonna tank so hard this round. :lol
Err, you and me both. Especially as there were actually more viable electronic options I'd clearly overlooked :facepalm:
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IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN-We Love You Celestial...Buddy
Peter Heppner-A Love Divine
C
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??? : Butthole Surfers – _e__er
??? : Slushii – Sapient Dreams
??? : Peter Heppner – A Love Divine
??? : Bring Me The Horizon – ni_ilist _l_es
??? : Eldren - A__cal__se T__n
??? : __n___ – T_e _ee_er
ariich: Feed Me – Lonely Mountain
??? : The Black Queen – Ice To Never
??? : __s_een – Catc_
??? : Innellea – Red Thread
Buddyhunter1: IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN – We Love You Celestial
??? : Omar Rodriguez-López – S___ia As _ell
??? : Lunatic Soul – Cold
Crow: GUNSHIP – Dark All Day
??? : Arc_i_e – __llets
??? : Anthonie Tonnon – __en I'm _r_n_
??? : Boards of Canada – Dayvan Cowboy
??? : Riverside – Night Session Part Two
Guessed letters: óztensaridmlc
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Apocalypse Town
Catch
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I tried to send Gunship - Dark All Day, but Crow beat me to it. :corn
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Nobody has a clue who sent what? (I certainly don't).
Bring Me the Horizon - Stadler? Just thinking they're a bigger band I think) and Stadler usually tends to send those.
-
Nobody has a clue who sent what? (I certainly don't).
Totally clueless.
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Sacul : Omar Rodriguez-López – S___ia As _ell
Lethean : Lunatic Soul – Cold
Stadler : Anthonie Tonnon – When I'm Wrong
HOF : Boards of Canada – Dayvan Cowboy
Tomislav : Riverside – Night Session Part Two
??
-
Nobody has a clue who sent what? (I certainly don't).
Bring Me the Horizon - Stadler? Just thinking they're a bigger band I think) and Stadler usually tends to send those.
Never heard of them. Seriously.
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Nobody has a clue who sent what? (I certainly don't).
Bring Me the Horizon - Stadler? Just thinking they're a bigger band I think) and Stadler usually tends to send those.
Never heard of them. Seriously.
Is this some sort competition with Tim to see who is more out of touch? :lol
If so, it's a dead tie!
-
I mean, TAC and Stadler are not that band's target demographic. :lol
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I mean, TAC and Stadler are not that band's target demographic. :lol
I would wholeheartedly agree. However, Stads said he'd never even heard OF them, which surprises me. They are a pretty big name in the scene to be honest.
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I mean, TAC and Stadler are not that band's target demographic. :lol
I would wholeheartedly agree. However, Stads said he'd never even heard OF them, which surprises me. They are a pretty big name in the scene to be honest.
First of all, I'm not the demographic of ANY band sent in this round. :lol
And I've only seen Bring Me The Horizon sent in previous roulettes. If not for that, I have no clue.
Oh, and did I mention that I'm much younger than Stadler? Just wanted to get that out there. ;D
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I mean, TAC and Stadler are not that band's target demographic. :lol
I would wholeheartedly agree. However, Stads said he'd never even heard OF them, which surprises me. They are a pretty big name in the scene to be honest.
They were a big name with the high school scene kids of the early 2010s. :P
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I mean, TAC and Stadler are not that band's target demographic. :lol
I would wholeheartedly agree. However, Stads said he'd never even heard OF them, which surprises me. They are a pretty big name in the scene to be honest.
They were a big name with the high school scene kids of the early 2010s. :P
This is true, but also maybe it's a UK thing. They are headlining Download Festival this year alongside Metallica and Slipknot, so someone out there likes them.
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I mean, TAC and Stadler are not that band's target demographic. :lol
Well I tried. :) I don't know anything about them either other than hearing the name outside of places like this. And if they're big with kids, Stadler has kids so... Not a total insane guess, even though I was wrong.
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I mean, TAC and Stadler are not that band's target demographic. :lol
Well I tried. :) I don't know anything about them either other than hearing the name outside of places like this. And if they're big with kids, Stadler has kids so... Not a total insane guess, even though I was wrong.
Lethean, I certainly didn't mean to shame you with that. I was being truthful, but I thought a little funny too. I honestly HAVEN'T heard of them, but while I think I'm pretty aware, as it was said, I'm not their target audience.
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Oh no it's all good. I was just trying to contribute a guess and that was all I could come up with. :)
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Yea, this is one of the hardest hangman's to guess who sent what! There are no silly guesses here.
Stadler sent Butthole Surfers
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Yea, this is one of the hardest hangman's to guess who sent what! There are no silly guesses here.
There's ONLY silly guesses.
-
Sacul : Omar Rodriguez-López – S___ia As _ell
I've never listened to his stuff so no :P
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Most of the sender guesses weren't correct.
Stadler: Butthole Surfers – _e__er
??? : Slushii – Sapient Dreams
??? : Peter Heppner – A Love Divine
??? : Bring Me The Horizon – ni_ilist _l_es
??? : Eldren – Apocalypse Town
??? : __n___ – T_e _ee_er
ariich: Feed Me – Lonely Mountain
??? : The Black Queen – Ice To Never
??? : __s_een – Catch
??? : Innellea – Red Thread
Buddyhunter1: IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN – We Love You Celestial
??? : Omar Rodriguez-López – S___ia As _ell
??? : Lunatic Soul – Cold
Crow: GUNSHIP – Dark All Day
??? : Arc_i_e – __llets
??? : Anthonie Tonnon – When I'm Wrong
??? : Boards of Canada – Dayvan Cowboy
??? : Riverside – Night Session Part Two
Guessed letters: óztensaridmlc
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The hardest part is remembering who is in which roulette :lol
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The hardest part is remembering who is in which roulette :lol
I'm in all roulettes ;)
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(https://i.imgflip.com/7h87c7.jpg)
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BMTH song is Nihilist Blues
Archive - Bullets??
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Stadler: Butthole Surfers – _e__er
??? : Slushii – Sapient Dreams
??? : Peter Heppner – A Love Divine
??? : Bring Me The Horizon – nihilist blues
??? : Eldren – Apocalypse Town
??? : __n___ – T_e _ee_er
ariich: Feed Me – Lonely Mountain
??? : The Black Queen – Ice To Never
??? : __s_een – Catch
??? : Innellea – Red Thread
Buddyhunter1: IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN – We Love You Celestial
??? : Omar Rodriguez-López – S___ia As _ell
??? : Lunatic Soul – Cold
Crow: GUNSHIP – Dark All Day
??? : Archive – Bullets
??? : Anthonie Tonnon – When I'm Wrong
??? : Boards of Canada – Dayvan Cowboy
??? : Riverside – Night Session Part Two
Guessed letters: óztensaridmlc
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Puppies sent Archive, seneca sent Boards of Canada, Elite sent Lunatic Soul?
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Here's hangman filled out. I'll probably post early impressions tomorrow. This is looking to be another pretty strong round. I'm half-tempted to cancel the open rounds and remaining themes and just do more mystery songs, it seems to result in the best music. :P Don't let me down next open round! :biggrin:
Stadler: Butthole Surfers – Pepper
Puppies_On_Acid: Slushii – Sapient Dreams
Evermind: Peter Heppner – A Love Divine
soupytwist: Bring Me The Horizon – nihilist blues
SoundscapeMN: Eldren – Apocalypse Town
Vmadera00: Bonobo – The Keeper
ariich: Feed Me – Lonely Mountain
Sacul: The Black Queen – Ice To Never
Nachtmerrie: Kosheen – Catch
TAC: Innellea – Red Thread
Buddyhunter1: IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN – We Love You Celestial
twosuitluke: Omar Rodriguez-López – Sophia As Well
senecadawg2: Lunatic Soul – Cold
Crow: GUNSHIP – Dark All Day
Tomislav95: Archive – Bullets
HOF: Anthonie Tonnon – When I'm Wrong
Elite: Boards of Canada – Dayvan Cowboy
Lethean: Riverside – Night Session Part Two
Edit: Oh, and I'll put in a Spotify link to everything in a bit.
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Here's hangman filled out. I'll probably post early impressions tomorrow. This is looking to be another pretty strong round. I'm half-tempted to cancel the open rounds and remaining themes and just do more mystery songs, it seems to result in the best music. :P Don't let me down next open round! :biggrin:
Take this as a vote for that. I know more work for you, but I love that idea of listening and reacting, and it's FAR FAR more likely to inspire something profound. I find myself scrambling and guessing in the open rounds. Just my two cents.
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nice to see Archive on there.
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I like having open rounds. I say keep it as it is. The mystery rounds are cool too, but I don't listen much to some of the stuff I sent in the mystery rounds. (Voyager and Riverside are awesome though.)
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Ok, here's the playlist.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7zMhCKK6U4NfZgfOtVZ8rt (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7zMhCKK6U4NfZgfOtVZ8rt)
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I've been generally clueless on the mystery rounds, especially the last two. Plus I have a pretty good submission for the next open round and a cool pre-90's submission.
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Litho, while we wait, I thought I'd send you some Mystery Impressions for my song. Be sure to include inspiration from one of all three of them.
Wow, I am shocked how much I like this
Tremendous use of the theme and an excellent choice
You really knocked it out of the park with this one
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Nah, I already got something better for yours. :p
I'll have them up a little later tonight.
-
Round 8 Early Impressions:
1: They're not kidding about the title, are they? I was not anticipating that ending.
2: There some interesting textural parts here, but I'm not sure there's enough memorable melodic content for me.
3: I'm impressed at this artist's stylistic range, but years later, the vocals still aren't doing much for me.
4: I dig the vibe, but I wonder if it's a bit too sparse and simple.
5: Buddyhunter1 - IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN - Yep, I see what you mean about the similarity. It actually does a few things better than my song, though a few others not as well.
6: Wow, the layers, the dynamics, the [redacted], easily your best entry yet. I don't know why I hadn't already listened to this dozens of times before.
7: I'm not sure the last minute or two are enough payoff. It's on the subtle side for me, and it seemed to drag before the drums entered.
8: This is pretty straightforward, but really hits some nostalgic vibes for me, even though I don't think I've heard it before.
9: It seems like you probably read my writeup from last round and tried to fix what didn't work from the last song, but I'm not sure the different balance of elements worked on this one either. It probably feels like trying to play Wac-A-Mole.
10: I love when opposite styles meet together, such as this being almost industrial pop, and what a fantastic arrangement of percussive elements.
11: TAC - Innellea - You used the Spotify similar artist radio station trick you threatened to do in an earlier round, didn't you? :-)
12: This might be too happy for me, and I'm not sure I'm sold on the melody, but the last minute unexpectedly picks up steam, and the last half-minute definitely helps.
13: It became surprisingly more energetic in the last couple minutes, but the vocals there might be a bit repetitive, and despite the theme of this round, live drums might have suited it better.
14: I'm not sure whether this is a chopped up vocal sample or a synth patch, but it's a pretty intriguing sound.
15: That's some seriously cool-sounding bass thump. I think this is the best thing you've sent yet.
16: This feels like an extended intro to another song, and though [redacted] certainly helps out, this might be too minimalistic for me.
17: I've always been surprised how rare true synth solos are in electronic music, so I'm glad to find one here.
18: I wasn't sure what to expect based on this artist's early work, so I was pleasantly surprised that something useful came out of the acquisition last week.
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4: I dig the vibe, but I wonder if it's a bit too sparse and simple.
8: This is pretty straightforward, but really hits some nostalgic vibes for me, even though I don't think I've heard it before.
11: You used the Spotify similar artist radio station trick you threatened to do in an earlier round, didn't you? :-)
I'm definitely one of these three.
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5
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3 ?
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15?
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2, 4, 12, 14?
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2
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11: TAC - Innellea - You used the Spotify similar artist radio station trick you threatened to do in an earlier round, didn't you? :-)
:lol
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/NiftyEverlastingBison-size_restricted.gif)
I can't say I had any options in my Spotify Library for this round. I had to do a lot of...looking around. I literally wanted to chop my ears off. :lol
Still, I couldn't send something that I couldn't stand behind, and I kind of like my song. Just hoping not to do a complete nosedive in the standings.
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7
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6, and [redacted] is saxohpone :hat
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Round 8 Early Impressions:
1: They're not kidding about the title, are they? I was not anticipating that ending.
2: There some interesting textural parts here, but I'm not sure there's enough memorable melodic content for me.
3: I'm impressed at this artist's stylistic range, but years later, the vocals still aren't doing much for me.
4: I dig the vibe, but I wonder if it's a bit too sparse and simple.
5: Buddyhunter1 - IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN - Yep, I see what you mean about the similarity. It actually does a few things better than my song, though a few others not as well.
6: Crow - GUNSHIP - Wow, the layers, the dynamics, the [redacted], easily your best entry yet. I don't know why I hadn't already listened to this dozens of times before.
7: I'm not sure the last minute or two are enough payoff. It's on the subtle side for me, and it seemed to drag before the drums entered.
8: This is pretty straightforward, but really hits some nostalgic vibes for me, even though I don't think I've heard it before.
9: It seems like you probably read my writeup from last round and tried to fix what didn't work from the last song, but I'm not sure the different balance of elements worked on this one either. It probably feels like trying to play Wac-A-Mole.
10: I love when opposite styles meet together, such as this being almost industrial pop, and what a fantastic arrangement of percussive elements.
11: TAC - Innellea - You used the Spotify similar artist radio station trick you threatened to do in an earlier round, didn't you? :-)
12: This might be too happy for me, and I'm not sure I'm sold on the melody, but the last minute unexpectedly picks up steam, and the last half-minute definitely helps.
13: It became surprisingly more energetic in the last couple minutes, but the vocals there might be a bit repetitive, and despite the theme of this round, live drums might have suited it better.
14: Puppies_On_Acid - Slushii - I'm not sure whether this is a chopped up vocal sample or a synth patch, but it's a pretty intriguing sound.
15: That's some seriously cool-sounding bass thump. I think this is the best thing you've sent yet.
16: This feels like an extended intro to another song, and though [redacted] certainly helps out, this might be too minimalistic for me.
17: I've always been surprised how rare true synth solos are in electronic music, so I'm glad to find one here.
18: I wasn't sure what to expect based on this artist's early work, so I was pleasantly surprised that something useful came out of the acquisition last week.
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Still, I couldn't send something that I couldn't stand behind, and I kind of like my song.
If you like that one there's a truckload more you could learn to like. In your own roulettes you've had growl and acoustic rounds, I think your next roulette needs an electronic round. :coolio I definitely have stuff that I'd bet you'd like more than you'd expect you would.
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Still, I couldn't send something that I couldn't stand behind, and I kind of like my song.
If you like that one there's a truckload more you could learn to like. In your own roulettes you've had growl and acoustic rounds, I think your next roulette needs an electronic round. :coolio I definitely have stuff that I'd bet you'd like more than you'd expect you would.
I most definitely do not need an Electronic Round! :lol
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You're telling me it'd be worse for you than your Winger round was? :)
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You're telling me it'd be worse for you than your Winger round was? :)
The only thing worse than that would be an Electronic Winger Round.
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17?
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Surely 17.
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10 or 18?
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13?
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I think mine is 13.
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4
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8?
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Litho, were you..um..electrocuted??
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Not quite. I'm actually going out of town for a number of days soon, and I've had a mountain of other stuff to take care of. I thought I'd be able to squeeze more time in, but it's been eluding me. I should have some time here and there to continue to work on the writeups while I'm away as well, but it'll definitely still be a bit before results. I might throw in some comparisons and possibly something else in the next few days as well though.
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Round 8 Early Impressions:
1: SoundscapeMN - Eldren - They're not kidding about the title, are they? I was not anticipating that ending.
2: There some interesting textural parts here, but I'm not sure there's enough memorable melodic content for me.
3: I'm impressed at this artist's stylistic range, but years later, the vocals still aren't doing much for me.
4: I dig the vibe, but I wonder if it's a bit too sparse and simple.
5: Buddyhunter1 - IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN - Yep, I see what you mean about the similarity. It actually does a few things better than my song, though a few others not as well.
6: Crow - GUNSHIP - Wow, the layers, the dynamics, the [redacted], easily your best entry yet. I don't know why I hadn't already listened to this dozens of times before.
7: I'm not sure the last minute or two are enough payoff. It's on the subtle side for me, and it seemed to drag before the drums entered.
8: Nachtmerrie - Kosheen - This is pretty straightforward, but really hits some nostalgic vibes for me, even though I don't think I've heard it before.
9: It seems like you probably read my writeup from last round and tried to fix what didn't work from the last song, but I'm not sure the different balance of elements worked on this one either. It probably feels like trying to play Wac-A-Mole.
10: I love when opposite styles meet together, such as this being almost industrial pop, and what a fantastic arrangement of percussive elements.
11: TAC - Innellea - You used the Spotify similar artist radio station trick you threatened to do in an earlier round, didn't you? :-)
12: This might be too happy for me, and I'm not sure I'm sold on the melody, but the last minute unexpectedly picks up steam, and the last half-minute definitely helps.
13: Tomislav95 - Archive - It became surprisingly more energetic in the last couple minutes, but the vocals there might be a bit repetitive, and despite the theme of this round, live drums might have suited it better.
14: Puppies_On_Acid - Slushii - I'm not sure whether this is a chopped up vocal sample or a synth patch, but it's a pretty intriguing sound.
15: That's some seriously cool-sounding bass thump. I think this is the best thing you've sent yet.
16: This feels like an extended intro to another song, and though [redacted] certainly helps out, this might be too minimalistic for me.
17: ariich - Feed Me - I've always been surprised how rare true synth solos are in electronic music, so I'm glad to find one here.
18: soupytwist - Bring Me The Horizon - I wasn't sure what to expect based on this artist's early work, so I was pleasantly surprised that something useful came out of the acquisition last week.
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Ah, must be 7.
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#4 or #7?
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None of those.
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1?
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Yep.
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15?
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Let's try 10, and if not then 4.
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None of those.
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3...?
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We still guessing guys??
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Yeah, I have no idea! 2 or 12?
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I thought I guessed 4 before, apparently not, so 4?
But honestly I'm ready for results.
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Round 8 Early Impressions:
1: SoundscapeMN - Eldren - They're not kidding about the title, are they? I was not anticipating that ending.
2: There some interesting textural parts here, but I'm not sure there's enough memorable melodic content for me.
3: I'm impressed at this artist's stylistic range, but years later, the vocals still aren't doing much for me.
4: Evermind - Peter Heppner - I dig the vibe, but I wonder if it's a bit too sparse and simple.
5: Buddyhunter1 - IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN - Yep, I see what you mean about the similarity. It actually does a few things better than my song, though a few others not as well.
6: Crow - GUNSHIP - Wow, the layers, the dynamics, the [redacted], easily your best entry yet. I don't know why I hadn't already listened to this dozens of times before.
7: I'm not sure the last minute or two are enough payoff. It's on the subtle side for me, and it seemed to drag before the drums entered.
8: Nachtmerrie - Kosheen - This is pretty straightforward, but really hits some nostalgic vibes for me, even though I don't think I've heard it before.
9: It seems like you probably read my writeup from last round and tried to fix what didn't work from the last song, but I'm not sure the different balance of elements worked on this one either. It probably feels like trying to play Wac-A-Mole.
10: I love when opposite styles meet together, such as this being almost industrial pop, and what a fantastic arrangement of percussive elements.
11: TAC - Innellea - You used the Spotify similar artist radio station trick you threatened to do in an earlier round, didn't you? :-)
12: HOF - Anthonie Tonnon - This might be too happy for me, and I'm not sure I'm sold on the melody, but the last minute unexpectedly picks up steam, and the last half-minute definitely helps.
13: Tomislav95 - Archive - It became surprisingly more energetic in the last couple minutes, but the vocals there might be a bit repetitive, and despite the theme of this round, live drums might have suited it better.
14: Puppies_On_Acid - Slushii - I'm not sure whether this is a chopped up vocal sample or a synth patch, but it's a pretty intriguing sound.
15: That's some seriously cool-sounding bass thump. I think this is the best thing you've sent yet.
16: This feels like an extended intro to another song, and though [redacted] certainly helps out, this might be too minimalistic for me.
17: ariich - Feed Me - I've always been surprised how rare true synth solos are in electronic music, so I'm glad to find one here.
18: soupytwist - Bring Me The Horizon - I wasn't sure what to expect based on this artist's early work, so I was pleasantly surprised that something useful came out of the acquisition last week.
But honestly I'm ready for results.
Yeah, been way too swamped the last few days making preparations for a trip to make much progress on them, so they're still a ways out. I've listened to everything a fair amount, have a pretty decent idea of the scores and orders now, but I need time to get to the writeups. I always have the last resort option if at some point things are taking way too long to just drop scores and a couple sentence writeups, but I don't want to have to go to that just yet.
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I'm gonna try and get comparisons up tonight for something else to chew on, and I'm chipping away at the writeups, but I don't think I'll have enough time to finish them until after I get back in town in a few days.
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Meant to post these last night and got distracted by Crow's results. :facepalm:
These are less ambiguous than last round. Even almost all of the "?" entries I have an idea of which way I'm leaning, but I'm just denoting that it's close.
Round 8 - Comparisons to Previous Round:
ariich: Feed Me < Dissona
Buddyhunter1: IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN > Thy Catafalque
Crow: GUNSHIP > Midnight Odyssey
Elite: Boards of Canada < Foscor
Evermind: Peter Heppner ? Skein
HOF: Anthonie Tonnon < Sweet Billy Pilgrim
Lethean: Riverside < Voyager
Nachtmerrie: Kosheen > Clouds
Puppies_On_Acid: Slushii > Chrome Waves
Sacul: The Black Queen > Kayo Dot
senecadawg2: Lunatic Soul < Khôrada
SoundscapeMN: Eldren ? The Warning
soupytwist: Bring Me the Horizon < Ancient Bards
Stadler: Butthole Surfers ? Replicants
TAC: Innellea < Dreamgrave
Tomislav95: Archive < DVNE
twosuitluke: Omar Rodriguez-López < Drewsif Stalin's Musical Endeavors
Vmadera00: Bonobo > Forest of Shadows
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Obvious comparison.
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I mean, I'll take that! Expected my entry to tank pretty hard (even though I really enjoy it).
Curious to see both Riverside and Lunatic Soul not doing so good.
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I mean, I'll take that! Expected my entry to tank pretty hard (even though I really enjoy it).
Songs sometimes grow on me, and since the initial impression I've figured out why his name and voice seemed oddly familiar.
Curious to see both Riverside and Lunatic Soul not doing so good.
I don't know about Lunatic Soul, but that's definitely not a typical Riverside song from what I recall of their other work.
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That's interesting—Khorada was definitely the submission I felt more trepidation about.
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I'm gonna bomb.
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I'm gonna bomb.
I hear you!
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just know that, for the record, i disagree :corn
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just know that, for the record, i disagree :corn
Interesting, you didn't even have Midnight Odyssey in your Spotify list. Maybe you already had something you consider even better there representing that type of sound, or they don't have any "short" songs that would fit with that playlist.
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yeah, i was trying to keep that list mostly to shorter tunes but i proooobably should've had midnight odyssey there anyways, i kinda threw it together really quick so i could have it up in time :lol
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Only at a place like DTF is 16/30 songs being 5:00+ "shorter tunes". ;D
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Waiting for the scores in the round is like knowing you're gonna get a whipping from your father when he gets home, except now he's working a double.
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Waiting for the scores in the round is like knowing you're gonna get a whipping from your father when he gets home, except now he's working a double.
I'm getting déjà vu
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More like working a triple this round.
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What round are we even on?
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Sacul: The Black Queen > Kayo Dot
:metal :metal :metal
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I mean, I'll take that! Expected my entry to tank pretty hard (even though I really enjoy it).
Songs sometimes grow on me, and since the initial impression I've figured out why his name and voice seemed oddly familiar.
Curious to see both Riverside and Lunatic Soul not doing so good.
I don't know about Lunatic Soul, but that's definitely not a typical Riverside song from what I recall of their other work.
It's not, but I thought it fit the round. Maybe I should have saved them for a free round and sent my favorite songs "regular" of theirs... But this track is my favorite of their bonus tracks. Feels sad and hopeful at the same time, like so much of their stuff does.
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Back in town, have some things to sort out first, but I'm gonna get back to working on the writeups as soon as I can.
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:tup
:corn
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Sorry, everyone, this has just not been my month. Apparently I contracted something else while out of town, and I've just been completely zapped the last few days. I'm hopefully starting to recover, but still have barely any energy, and I feel like this round is getting stale. I'm just going to take this as an exercise in concision and finish up abbreviated versions of the writeups and post them tomorrow. Here are the filled-out impressions in the meantime.
Round 8 Early Impressions:
1: SoundscapeMN - Eldren - They're not kidding about the title, are they? I was not anticipating that ending.
2: Elite - Boards of Canada - There some interesting textural parts here, but I'm not sure there's enough memorable melodic content for me.
3: twosuitluke - Omar Rodriguez-López - I'm impressed at this artist's stylistic range, but years later, the vocals still aren't doing much for me.
4: Evermind - Peter Heppner - I dig the vibe, but I wonder if it's a bit too sparse and simple.
5: Buddyhunter1 - IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN - Yep, I see what you mean about the similarity. It actually does a few things better than my song, though a few others not as well.
6: Crow - GUNSHIP - Wow, the layers, the dynamics, the [redacted], easily your best entry yet. I don't know why I hadn't already listened to this dozens of times before.
7: Tomislav95 - Archive - I'm not sure the last minute or two are enough payoff. It's on the subtle side for me, and it seemed to drag before the drums entered.
8: Nachtmerrie - Kosheen - This is pretty straightforward, but really hits some nostalgic vibes for me, even though I don't think I've heard it before.
9: Stadler - Butthole Surfers - It seems like you probably read my writeup from last round and tried to fix what didn't work from the last song, but I'm not sure the different balance of elements worked on this one either. It probably feels like trying to play Wac-A-Mole.
10: Sacul - The Black Queen - I love when opposite styles meet together, such as this being almost industrial pop, and what a fantastic arrangement of percussive elements.
11: TAC - Innellea - You used the Spotify similar artist radio station trick you threatened to do in an earlier round, didn't you? :-)
12: HOF - Anthonie Tonnon - This might be too happy for me, and I'm not sure I'm sold on the melody, but the last minute unexpectedly picks up steam, and the last half-minute definitely helps.
13: Tomislav95 - Archive - It became surprisingly more energetic in the last couple minutes, but the vocals there might be a bit repetitive, and despite the theme of this round, live drums might have suited it better.
14: Puppies_On_Acid - Slushii - I'm not sure whether this is a chopped up vocal sample or a synth patch, but it's a pretty intriguing sound.
15: VMadera00 - Bonobo - That's some seriously cool-sounding bass thump. I think this is the best thing you've sent yet.
16: Lethean - Riverside - This feels like an extended intro to another song, and though [redacted] certainly helps out, this might be too minimalistic for me.
17: ariich - Feed Me - I've always been surprised how rare true synth solos are in electronic music, so I'm glad to find one here.
18: soupytwist - Bring Me The Horizon - I wasn't sure what to expect based on this artist's early work, so I was pleasantly surprised that something useful came out of the acquisition last week.
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Nothing like an electric round if you’re lacking energy. ;D
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Litho, have you given this round extra listens, considering its length? How would you rate this round overall? Is my song the worst? :lol
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Probably a bit more, though not proportionally to the timeframe it's taken. I haven't finished crunching the numbers (and since each round is kind of graded on a curve, you can't necessarily compare to the scores of previous rounds), but this is probably the second best round so far (behind round 5), though it's possible it could numerically tie or exceed round 5 for a variety of reasons, one of which I don't want to spoil yet. You'll find out the final judgment on yours soon enough. :)
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(https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExNTdmNGUyZTM4ZmVlOTNiMDI3YmYxN2IyYTNhNzY4NjI4Yjk5NDMzMiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZzX2dpZklkJmN0PWc/1QddXJJNgwNjDqOnnV/giphy.gif)
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So as I noted yesterday, these are going to be abbreviated writeups this time with less detail than normal, which I guess is its own challenge in a way.
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Stadler - Butthole Surfers - "Pepper"
Early Impression - "It seems like you probably read my writeup from last round and tried to fix what didn't work from the last song, but I'm not sure the different balance of elements worked on this one either. It probably feels like trying to play Wac-A-Mole."
I don't remember consciously listening to them before (the name always kind of put me off, and I'm not usually big on humor in music, although I imagine Beavis & Butt-Head had a field day with them back then on MTV), but this song sounded vaguely familiar. I'll bet it was played at some point or another in the late 90s/early 00s when I listened to more mainstream rock radio.
As noted in the impression, it has a bit of the feel of the Replicants' tune you sent in the past round, with the tremolo guitar and swirling leads, but a bit more controlled, and now with a beat. Those leads and some of the synth ornamentation is kind of cool, on the bright side. But I'm not sure what to make of the vocals, mostly in the verses. They have this odd quality of being halfway-inbetween a conventional hip-hop flow and a spoken word monologue. In the monotone delivery there's a snarky apathy to them that I think is just kind of lost on me.
Score: 6.75/10
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twosuitluke - Omar Rodriguez-López - "Sophia As Well"
Early Impression - "I'm impressed at this artist's stylistic range, but years later, the vocals still aren't doing much for me."
I've never been able to quite get into The Mars Volta, though admittedly I haven't tried very hard in awhile now. Inexplicably I love "Eriatarka" and listen to that song occasionally, but nothing else of the limited amount I've sampled has stuck with me. I mistakenly assumed that Omar was TMV's lead vocalist, and this was just a more subdued performance. I now see that Cedric is actually TMV's vocalist. Regardless though, I just find the vocals more on the bland side for my tastes, and the falsetto range bits sound a little off. Some of the synth work is pleasant (the icy piano-ish doubling in the bridge is particularly notable), and there are some striking sudden stop transitions in spots, but in the end nothing about it quite grabs my attention enough. He seems extraordinarily prolific, so I imagine somewhere in his discography there is surely music I would love more though.
Score: 7/10
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Elite - Boards of Canada - "Dayvan Cowboy"
Early Impression - "There some interesting textural parts here, but I'm not sure there's enough memorable melodic content for me."
There are a handful of songs from them I've really enjoyed over the years, and I've heard a few albums, but I've never really fully gotten into them like a lot of people have. Individually, there is some interesting sonic manipulation going on with the loops, tremolo guitar, soundscapey effects and such which is nice, but it just doesn't quite all come together. There ultimately isn't enough melody that sticks with me to make it more than background music, and it's a touch repetitive.
Score: 7/10
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Tomislav95 - Archive - "Bullets"
Early Impression - "It became surprisingly more energetic in the last couple minutes, but the vocals there might be a bit repetitive, and despite the theme of this round, live drums might have suited it better."
It was fascinating to discover this was the song for a trailer for the game Cyberpunk 2077. I'm not really a gamer anymore, but I've watched a bit of some playthroughs of the game since I like the cyberpunk theme for films and such, loving Blade Runner and the like. It doesn't seem to fit the world as much as I'd have expected though. The filtered piano and synthetic percussion in the first half are intriguing, but the vocals are a bit overly repetitive and without enough flavor, and it feels like a live drum performance in the second half would have suited it better, the synthetic ones just seem to dissipate the energy that it's trying to build.
Score: 7/10
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Lethean - Riverside - "Night Session Part Two"
Early Impression - "This feels like an extended intro to another song, and though [redacted] certainly helps out, this might be too minimalistic for me."
Between this and Lunatic Soul I suppose this is expanding my view of what Mariusz and co. are capable of. I've moderately enjoyed the Riverside I've heard so far, but they haven't really clicked yet. Some of the ideas here are quite enjoyable, particularly the saxophone playing (though there's not nearly enough of it given the lengthy runtime), and the bits of mandolin in spots. But in the final analysis it really just has the feel of an overly extended ambient intro track that drags too much to rise above being musical wallpaper for me on its own, and without the saxophone bits would probably be half a point lower.
Score: 7.25/10
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HOF - Anthonie Tonnon - "When I'm Wrong"
Early Impression - "This might be too happy for me, and I'm not sure I'm sold on the melody, but the last minute unexpectedly picks up steam, and the last half-minute definitely helps."
You'd sent a few songs from him in other roulettes which I'd given a cursory listen to, although I don't recall too much about them. This has an interesting feel, almost like 80s Genesis/Phil Collins, with Kiwi flair. There's just not quite enough payoff for me at the end though. There are a lot of layers going on there, but it seems lacking in rhythmic propulsion to generate an effective enough climax. The chamber strings at the very end were a pleasant surprise though. Major key-oriented songs are probably always going to be a challenge for me. Sometimes they work, like the second half of Sweet Billy Pilgrim last round, but they just don't always resonate with me as much. I also often hate that this is sometimes a factor, but I can't control it, that certain song keys require the song to work more to make me love it.
Score: 7.25/10
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senecadawg2 - Lunatic Soul - "Cold"
Early Impression - "I'm not sure the last minute or two are enough payoff. It's on the subtle side for me, and it seemed to drag before the drums entered."
This is certainly a useful round for adding to my knowledge of the variety and capabilities of a number of artists, now with a Riverside extracurricular project. That early guitar riff reminds me of Depeche Mode's "Dream On". Mariusz has a pretty cool voice, and I want to like this song more than I do. I guess it just feels overly long for the level it builds to by the end. There's some tasty drumming there for sure, and some delightful synth textures and ambiance, especially including the first verse bass line and the effect over the vocals, but just not quite enough to really hook me into the song.
Score: 7.25/10
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Puppies_On_Acid - Slushii - "Sapient Dreams"
Early Impression - "I'm not sure whether this is a chopped up vocal sample or a synth patch, but it's a pretty intriguing sound."
In ways this is a more intriguing version of "No One Is Looking At U" from Nicolas Jaar from an earlier round, in using what I'm supposing are vocal samples (possibly vocaloid or something like that) and experimenting with them rhythmically and texturally. There's not quite enough to latch onto to compete with the stronger songs this round, but it's certainly listenable and engaging enough and has a pretty nice drum loop that is sort of trap-like, but more dynamic.
Score: 7.5/10
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ariich - Feed Me - "Lonely Mountain"
Early Impression - "I've always been surprised how rare true synth solos are in electronic music, so I'm glad to find one here."
I'm quite familiar with his track "One Click Headshot", which has a really cool groove, but is spoiled with a quite annoying and repetitive dialogue sample. Never checked out anything else though. There is quite a piquant mixture of things here. Some time ago I used to post on the Jordan Rudess forum, and other members were always releasing songs with these dazzling synth leads, and this is a bit reminiscent of those. A bit more dubstepy and mainstream-ish of course, but pretty fun regardless. As many synth melodies as you can find in electronic music, I don't understand why it's exceptionally rare to find them with the creativity and virtuosity of prog rock-style synth leads, but it's here and certainly a treat. This almost might be the first time I've heard an alarm clock incorporated as an offbeat accent.
Score: 7.75
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Buddyhunter1 - IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN - "We Love You Celestial"
Early Impression - "Yep, I see what you mean about the similarity. It actually does a few things better than my song, though a few others not as well."
This is a pretty solid tune. It doesn't have quite the pizzazz or richness of "Into Dark" (and I have a decade and a half of fondness for Havnevik's music also giving an unfair advantage), but there some rather splendid synth tones and arrangements here. The grittiness of the opening tone and the layers of lead lines and vocals near the ending are especially nice. One of disadvantages sometimes though of a song having some more obvious similarities to my sample ones is that it makes their flaws a bit more apparent. The melodic choices are more conventional, the song transitions don't pop as much, it's not as lush, and the drum programming is excessively blocky. This is the sort of song where I wonder if it would have kicked up a notch if the tempo had gone into double-time at a point or two.
Score: 7.75/10
---
soupytwist - Bring Me the Horizon - "nihilist blues"
Early Impression - "I wasn't sure what to expect based on this artist's early work, so I was pleasantly surprised that something useful came out of the acquisition last week."
I don't know if you quite got what I was hinting at with the impression, but Elon Musk's relationship with Grimes is one of the more bizarre happenings in the music world for me, and possibly proof we're living in some kind of simulation. Regardless, I was pretty hooked on a lot of her music in the past decade, more for the songwriting and synthesizer work than her vocals, but still, this was serendipitous as a guest appearance. And my limited exposure to BMTH's early work was hard to parse, because while they had some fantastic production work (particularly on the guitar tones) courtesy of going to Frederik Nordström, who has produced many of my favorite metal albums, I didn't really like their early vocal style at all, and metalcore/deathcore in general for me is rather spotty in terms of its appeal to me.
Anyway, I'd heard they'd radically changed their style, so I had no idea what I'd be getting into here. It's certainly more compelling than I expected. I'm not so much into the falsetto range vocals later on and would have preferred Grimes just take all those lines as well, but this has pretty catchy refrain, a nice build, and some driving and interesting rhythmic propulsion and fills particularly by the end for a four-on-the-floor number, and that bass timbre leading into the first verse is quite tasty.
Score: 7.75
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SoundscapeMN - Eldren - "Apocalypse Town"
Early Impression - "They're not kidding about the title, are they? I was not anticipating that ending."
This is the only song in the round to pick up on the otherwordly lydian modal vibe of "Into Dark", though perhaps it was subconscious here. It has a great feel in general though, and is also fun to watch a live version of, which while not quite as good, is always intriguing to see how much of the instrumentation a band can pull off live. The funky guitar comping and violin lines are also flavorous. I'm not crazy about the main lead vocal timbre, but there are enough layers and harmonies that they don't bug me as much as I was initially worried they might. Finally, the sudden heaviness and then literally apocalyptic ending were also unexpected and notable.
Score: 8/10
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TAC - Innellea - "Red Thread"
Early Impression - "You used the Spotify similar artist radio station trick you threatened to do in an earlier round, didn't you? :-)"
Ok, so Buddy's a Boston native, isn't he? I think I'm gonna have to task him with checking out the local clubs there to make sure you're not moonlighting as a DJ somewhere. :-) This is just a really cool tune to pick out of the ether in what I'm guessing is a few minutes/hours of listening at most. Maybe there's hope for you in rock/metal styles after all. ;-) I especially like the rhythmic interplay of the evolving triplet synth line overlay over the more static 4/4 beat, which creates an engaging tension throughout, and the vocals from Nala are fairly captivating. Some of the synth patches are really rich texturally, and it's gratifying to hear how they shift over time, which is one thing that I find electronic music does far better than most rock-based songs do.
Score: 8.5/10
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Evermind - Peter Heppner - "A Love Divine"
Early Impression - "I dig the vibe, but I wonder if it's a bit too sparse and simple."
This is almost certainly the song that grew on me the most this round. Something seemed oddly familiar about the vocals, and finding out this is the solo project of Wolfsheim's vocalist made the light bulb in my head go off, because they did come to mind in the initial listens before I did any research to find out who he is. I've heard more of Wolfsheim's music than I've gotten around to rating on RYM, so this will probably help expedite that as well.
I had them softly banned anyway, because I've enjoyed what I've heard enough that I might get back around to them at some point, but like other artists in previous rounds, sometimes a nudge like this to circumvent it is just what I need. Peter has a rather intoxicating and unique vocal style, and the spooky vibes from the thermin-ish sine wave synth patches are delightful.
Score: 8.5/10
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Vmadera00 - Bonobo - "The Keeper"
Early Impression - "That's some seriously cool-sounding bass thump. I think this is the best thing you've sent yet."
One of the more daunting things about exploring electronic music, even for as long and how much time I've spent on it, is how many different versions of songs there often are, frequently with a remix being a superior and sometimes definitive version. The former seems to be the case here. I listened to the original for comparison, and it's a rather nice song that also would have scored well, but this adds some extra dimension and bravura. There are stellar vocals from Andreya with some panache in how the held reverb is applied to them, excellently incorporated acoustic guitar, and the bass drum has such a satisfying impact to it.
Score: 8.75/10
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Nachtmerrie - Kosheen - "Catch"
Early Impression - "This is pretty straightforward, but really hits some nostalgic vibes for me, even though I don't think I've heard it before."
Retrospectively the release year for this makes sense, because it was just a little before the time I started more frequently exploring these types of songs, though I'm pretty sure I haven't heard it before. It's certainly one of the least explorative songs of the round, but has infectious melodies and vocals, and so many flavorful layers of synth timbres, particularly the one that ends the song, which is reminiscent of some of the patches on my Virus TI keyboard. It's also probably another example of my irrepressible general preference for certain song keys giving it a bit of a boost, sometimes I just can't help it.
My only slight complaint is that the bass drum is mixed a bit too low, though it hardly holds it back. If this song had been released a decade later I imagine they'd have just given it a straight four-on-the-floor pattern (or a remix with one would have been the more popular version), which can be fun for driving a song at times, but I generally prefer more interesting and dynamic rhythmic patterns that songs like this one and others this round have.
Score: 8.75/10
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Sacul - The Black Queen - "Ice To Never"
Early Impression - "I love when opposite styles meet together, such as this being almost industrial pop, and what a fantastic arrangement of percussive elements."
Unlike Peter Heppner, I did not initially recognize the voice here. I saw The Dillinger Escape Plan awhile back on Gigantour long before I was ready for them - the intensity of their live show was certainly something to behold, though I didn't "get it" at the time. They were a big deal for most of the music community it seemed, but the chaos of the mathcore sound has always been mostly lost on me. Nevertheless, I did buy a couple of their CDs at the time to try and see what other people saw in them. I was unable to, but the much more melodic "Unretrofied" did stick with me some, and I still occasionally cue that one up, so maybe that subtly prepared me for this round. The other members have worked in some capacity with Nine Inch Nails, it seems Trent always had an ear for working with talented synthesists.
So, this just hits all the right notes and beats for me. That percussive loop is spellbinding, and it has these industrial-derived elements that are a true joy to hear, as well as some of the Depeche Mode-ish piano layers. And wow, Greg turns out to have a spectacular voice for this kind of music. I did not see that coming. Apparently he's heavily influenced by soul vocalists, which it not something I would have anticipated based on the limited TDEP I've heard, but it really works wonders here. There's a pitch-shifted vocal section later on I don't love, but it's just enough in the background and the song does everything else so well that I don't really care. Without it I'd almost be tempted to give the first 9.25.
Score: 9/10
---
Crow - GUNSHIP - "Dark All Day"
Early Impression - "Wow, the layers, the dynamics, the [redacted], easily your best entry yet. I don't know why I hadn't already listened to this dozens of times before."
Oh wait, here it is. Maybe I've been too stingy with my scores, wondering when something would deserve over a 9. I think it's time, this being the first song to push me over the edge to give one out. Turns out Buddy was right. As I said in my PM, I've heard this song a couple times, and am kind of perplexed why it's not already a song I'd listened to heavily. I'd flagged it as interesting the first time I heard it, and I can't remember now whether it was listening to Indiana's solo album that prompted me to give it a second go, or vice versa, but it hadn't quite connected yet. I'd also heard GUNSHIP's debut album and found it less entrancing than most of their peers in the synthwave scene, so that may have been part of a mental block for me.
This just executes everything at a phenomenal level. The intrigue of the opening synth line, the nocturnal moody vibe, the rapturous atmospheric synth patches, the dynamics of the shifts between normal and cut time, the vocal arrangements. People who actually lived through more of the 80s than I did probably find the Simmons toms dated and vexing, but I enjoy them in tasteful amounts like they are here and in synthwave in general. And I especially love how well the saxophone is incorporated regularly, rather than just for a token solo or repeated melody line like many other songs do. It sounds like a fascinating comeback story for Tim, a guy that for many years was lost to history and had just become a meme.
Score: 9.25/10
Watch out everyone, The Crow is coming for your scores.
(https://i.giphy.com/media/uywEAIf4qrZBe/giphy.webp)
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Round 8 Scores:
Crow....................................... 9.25
Sacul..................................... 9
Nachtmerrie.......................... 8.75
Vmadera00.......................... 8.75
Evermind........................... 8.5
TAC................................. 8.5
SoundscapeMN................ 8
ariich............................ 7.75
Buddyhunter1............... 7.75
soupytwist................... 7.75
Puppies_On_Acid......... 7.5
HOF........................... 7.25
Lethean.................... 7.25
senecadawg2........... 7.25
Elite...................... 7
Tomislav95........... 7
twosuitluke......... 7
Stadler.............. 6.75
Current Cumulative Standings (after 8 rounds):
SoundscapeMN ---------------- 65.75
Nachtmerrie -------------------- 65.5
TAC ------------------------------- 65
Evermind -------------------------- 64.75
ariich -------------------------------- 63.75
soupytwist ---------------------------- 63.25
HOF ------------------------------------- 62.75
Lethean ---------------------------------- 62.5
senecadawg2 ----------------------------- 61.75
Sacul --------------------------------------- 61
Vmadera00 ------------------------------- 60.5
Stadler ---------------------------------- 59.75
Tomislav95 ---------------------------- 59.5
Puppies_On_Acid ------------------- 58.75
twosuitluke ------------------------ 58.75
Buddyhunter1 ------------------- 58.5
Elite ----------------------------- 58.25
Crow --------------------------- 55.5
romdrums -------------------- 14.25 (had to drop out after the second round)
---
Round Score Breakdown:
ariich: 7.75 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 9 + 7.75 = 63.75
Buddyhunter1: 7.5 + 6.5 + 7.75 + 7 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 7.75 = 58.5
Crow: 6 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 7 + 5 + 7 + 9.25 = 55.5
Elite: 6.5 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 8.5 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8 + 7 = 58.25
Evermind: 7.75 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8.5 = 64.75
HOF: 9 + 9 + 6.5 + 7.25 + 8.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 = 62.75
Lethean: 7.75 + 8.25 + 7.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.25 = 62.5
Nachtmerrie: 8.25 + 9 + 6.75 + 9 + 7.75 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 = 65.5
Puppies_On_Acid: 8 + 7 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.5 = 58.75
romdrums: 7.25 + 7 + x + x + x + x + x + x = 14.25
Sacul: 7.25 + 8.75 + 6 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 9 = 61
senecadawg2: 8 + 7 + 8.5 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 7.25 = 61.75
SoundscapeMN: 8 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 8.5 + 8.75 + 7 + 8 + 8 = 65.75
soupytwist: 6.5 + 6.75 + 9 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.75 = 63.25
Stadler: 8.5 + 7.5 + 7 + 7 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 6.75 = 59.75
TAC: 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 9 + 8.5 = 65
Tomislav95: 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 7 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8 + 7 = 59.5
twosuitluke: 7.5 + 8.25 + 5.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7 + 7.75 + 7 = 58.75
Vmadera00: 7.25 + 7.75 + 8 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 8.75 = 60.5
---
Round 9 is an open round again, up to 15 minutes of music from one artist. If you can, send me both Youtube and Spotify links for your song. The Youtube link is so I can make my own playlist and rip the audio. The Spotify link is for the group playlist. If you can't or don't find both links I will find them myself, but the more of you that find both, the less extra work I have to do.
I'll also reveal more details about round 10 once I have all the submissions for round 9 so you can start preparing for it.
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TAC - Innellea - "Red Thread"
Early Impression - "You used the Spotify similar artist radio station trick you threatened to do in an earlier round, didn't you? :-)"
Ok, so Buddy's a Boston native, isn't he? I think I'm gonna have to task him with checking out the local clubs there to make sure you're not moonlighting as a DJ somewhere. :-) This is just a really cool tune to pick out of the ether in what I'm guessing is a few minutes/hours of listening at most. Maybe there's hope for you in rock/metal styles after all. ;-) I especially like the rhythmic interplay of the evolving triplet synth line overlay over the more static 4/4 beat, which creates an engaging tension throughout, and the vocals from Nala are fairly captivating. Some of the synth patches are really rich texturally, and it's gratifying to hear how they shift over time, which is one thing that I find electronic music does far better than most rock-based songs do.
Score: 8.5/10
(https://media.tenor.com/_WZ_d44HvJIAAAAC/electric-super-powers.gif)
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TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol
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He also got a higher score than Elite in the jazz round. :lol No metal at all this time though, now that's spooky... Tim has to be some kind of CIA psyop, too much about him just doesn't add up. :p
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(https://media4.giphy.com/media/d3mlE7uhX8KFgEmY/giphy.gif)
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Vmadera00 - Bonobo - "The Keeper"
Early Impression - "That's some seriously cool-sounding bass thump. I think this is the best thing you've sent yet."
One of the more daunting things about exploring electronic music, even for as long and how much time I've spent on it, is how many different versions of songs there often are, frequently with a remix being a superior and sometimes definitive version. The former seems to be the case here. I listened to the original for comparison, and it's a rather nice song that also would have scored well, but this adds some extra dimension and bravura. There are stellar vocals from Andreya with some panache in how the held reverb is applied to them, excellently incorporated acoustic guitar, and the bass drum has such a satisfying impact to it.
Score: 8.75/10
Glad you liked it. Goes without saying that I recommend listening to his stuff if you enjoyed this song. Not sure if you heard of Bonobo before this song, but he is a pretty talented artist. It's been a while since I saw him live, but he puts up good live shows, sometimes with a full band.
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I'd heard the name, and I've sampled so much over the years it's possible I'd heard something at some point, but not consciously that I can recall.
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Wait, is my score 58.75 or 58.95?
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Oops. :lol Yeah, definitely check my math, especially this round! Excel shouldn't make mistakes, but my addled brain definitely can.
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Also I'm even more salty that Crow beat me to that Gunship song. As I said in the email I originally sent, it was low hanging fruit... :sadpanda:
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Also I'm even more salty that Crow beat me to that Gunship song. As I said in the email I originally sent, it was low hanging fruit... :sadpanda:
Blame Litho for not accepting double submissions like every other host. :lol
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highest scoring song of the roulette, still comfortably in last :hat
i'll figure out a submission for the next round that's suitably terrible when i get a chance i haven't even had time to work on videos or my own roulette for a few days now o o p s
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TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol
He also got a higher score than Elite in the jazz round. :lol No metal at all this time though, now that's spooky... Tim has to be some kind of CIA psyop, too much about him just doesn't add up. :p
What the hell? :lol A roulette savant, or just plain lucky?
Well, I scored just about as I expected. Doesn't look like I'm gonna be lucky to end mid table.
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I'm clearly doing something right in this roulette, I just need to figure out what is it :lol
This round took so long I kinda forgot what I had planned for round 9. I'll think of something today/tomorrow.
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That one didn’t turn out too well. FWIW, while that’s probably the most electronic track on the album it’s not necessarily one of my favorites. A lot of the strength of the track is in the lyrics which never seems to factor in Roulette scores. I actually wouldn’t have known that was in a major key if you hadn’t told me. It’s got more of a somber tone than I associate with major keys, but I am not a trained musician.
I should have been planning for this open round. I have an idea though. We’re still doing the open round, 15 minute max, right?
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Hell yeah, knew you'd like it but not this much, can't complain - that whole album is excellent :metal
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Sent something with more [redacted]
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I'll send no later than tomorrow. Gotta sort through a few options.
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Sent!
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Will send later today.
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It's a free for all round right?
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Sent!
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Sent something more suited to round 10.
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Sent something :corn
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Sent something more suited to round 10.
Same
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Man I'm going to take a risk here. Probably won't go well but I definitely should send this while I have the chance (it's not Beyond the Bridge).
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Nice to see you enjoyed my mainstream pick.
Sent something for round 9
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Sent something more suited to round 10.
Funnily enough one of the options I was considering, I realised was in a round 10 genre. So I saved that for the actual round 10. :lol
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yeah i have my round 10 genre locked and loaded and i've been avoiding sending it for the sake of variety
struggled to find a niche i haven't sent for this round and very amused by what i ended up on approaching the round from that angle :lol
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I have no clue what I'm going to do for Round 10.
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Sent more low hanging fruit, that I'm sure Evermind already sent before me... :|
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Blame Litho for not accepting double submissions like every other host. :lol
I just want more music, not less. :biggrin:
What the hell? :lol A roulette savant, or just plain lucky?
Well, it sure didn't have any jazz in it, but the TAC Roulette Panic Button seems surprisingly effective. R10 could be insurmountable though!
A lot of the strength of the track is in the lyrics which never seems to factor in Roulette scores.
Yeah, especially mine. I can conceive of scenarios where they could, but I just rarely pay attention to them, and I'm honestly more likely to notice if they're especially bad than especially good.
We’re still doing the open round, 15 minute max, right?
Yep. As many songs as can fit in 15 minutes.
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OK, what is my round 10 assignment?
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We’re still doing the open round, 15 minute max, right?
Yep. As many songs as can fit in 15 minutes.
Oh, wait, I need to resend. I completely forgot about the 15 minute time limit. :lol
So disregard the previous email.
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Resent!
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Sent something rather theatrical
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Resent.
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TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol
Sigged in infamy! ;D
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RIP to “mark of a great song.” We had a good run.
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RIP to “mark of a great song.” We had a good run.
(https://media0.giphy.com/media/ONhlNuhUgyJSNNiruF/200w.gif?cid=6c09b9524jmk7900h5t4oc6mk16zgggl5n6gef9z81pkufg3&rid=200w.gif&ct=g)
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TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol
Sigged in infamy! ;D
Hell yeah, think that's a first for me!
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Sent
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sent.
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Everyone in yet?
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Nope. A surprising number of people I guess were confused again that the open rounds like this are multi-song, up to 15 minutes, so a few people have sent something, but only one song so far, and there are also still a couple who haven't sent at all yet.
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OK resent :metal
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Sent!
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Sent!
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Sent, and sort of resent! :) (I know I blanked on the 15-minute-multiple-song aspect).
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T
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We're very close, but not quite all in yet, one more person has to resend because I already knew one of the songs.
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We're very close, but not quite all in yet, one more person has to resend because I already knew one of the songs.
I'm assuming that's not me?
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Nope.
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Cool, cool :hat
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Wtf guys, I sent on Monday and I thought I was late. It's Friday here now.
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Wtf guys, I sent on Monday and I thought I was late. It's Friday here now.
It's even Friday here too.
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T
A
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T
A
Z
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O
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R
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Wtf guys, I sent on Monday and I thought I was late. It's Friday here now.
Sending slow in Tomi's as well I guess. I've still kind of been on impulse power, and had a couple busy nights, but I received the last song yesterday, so here we go...
??? : ______ ____
1: T__a_
2: ________ ___: ___r_a_a___
??? : ____ot_o_ Or____tra
1: _ar_ To _ta_
2: _____t _o_r
??? : ____r___ _a_ar
1: _.A.A._. __t_
2: A_r___t
3: T__ __a___r t__ __rr_
??? : __r___ o_ _oo__
1: _r__ (To t__ _a_r__t O__)
2: R____t____ A__or_a__t_
3: __t__ t__ _or__ ____
??? : T_r___o__
1: ____o___o_
2: ___ot __ t__ ___ o_ _r_a__
??? : T__ _ar_ _o_ta
1: Ta__ t__ ____ __r___ Ta_t
2: __a______t _____
3: _ra___ar_ _o__
??? : ____o__
1: ____t O_ t__ __tr_____ __a
2: _a_____
??? : T__ A_az___ _____
1: ___r_t _or___
2: T__ _a_____
??? : T__ ____ T_at _a_
1: _t'_ A__ _o__ ____t
2: T__ A_r_ort _____
3: ___t_r_a_'_ _a__r
??? : R____oo
1: ___t a R___
2: _a_______
??? : _a_t o_ t__ _a__
1: ____ar _a___r_
2: T__ A_o_o___t
3: R______ Ta_ o_ ____t____
??? : O_r _a__ __a__
1: _tar____
2: ______
3: _a_
??? : _r_t__
1: ___ar _ra_o_
2: A__ A_o__
3: __at _a__ __ _o__
??? : Z_a_ a__ Ar_or
1: Ro_ Ro_
2: __ _a_'t __ _o___
3: _o____ __ar
4: _ött_r_ä___r___
??? : ___a_ _______a_
1: _o___
2: _a_t _o____ ___t_r_
3: _a_t Tra__ _o__
4: __a__ ____ _o _o__
??? : T__ _o__t __ _o____
1: ___a_ _______
2: _o__
??? : O_r_
1: _or_t T_____ __a_t____
2: __r__r
3: _o__t____
??? : _a__ra O____ra
1: _r____ _a__
2: _o__ _a__ _ar_ar_t
3: __a__
4: ___ __o__ _'_ R_a__ To __ __art_ro___
Guessed letters: öätazor
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Ours?
How about an H to go with all those Ts.
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Now Evermind just needs to swoop in and guess everything. :biggrin:
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Rishloo
Zeal and Ardor
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Rishloo
Zeal and Ardor
Rishloo probably Evermind.
Zeal and Ardor, is Train in this roulette?
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Zeal and Ardor, is Train in this roulette?
(https://media.tenor.com/B8KbgdhKkiUAAAAd/theres-a-name-ive-not-heard-in-many-years.gif)
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The Mars Volta
Landmines..awesome tune!
Just A Ride
Our Lady Peace-Stadler
The Amazing Devil
Ogre?
S
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Brutus? If so, it's Buddy
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Rishloo wasn't banned? Oh well.
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East Of The Wall-Crow
Linear Failure
The Apologist
Running Tab Of Sweetness
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Gilad Hekselman-HOF
Last Train Home
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??? : S____s ____
1: T__a_
2: S_______ ___: ___r_a_a___
??? : S___ot_o_ Or_h_stra
1: Har_ To Sta_
2: ____st Ho_r
??? : ____r___ _a_ar
1: _.A.A._. __t_
2: A_r__ht
3: Th_ __a___r th_ __rr_
??? : __r__s o_ _oo_s
1: _r_s (To th_ _a_r_st O__)
2: R____t__ss A__or_a__t_
3: __t__ th_ _or__ ___s
??? : Thr_sho__
1: _h__o___o_
2: ___ot __ th_ S__ o_ _r_a_s
??? : The Mars Volta
1: Ta__ th_ ____ __r___ Ta_t
2: __a_____ht Sh___
3: _ra___ar_ _o__
??? : H___o__
1: ___ht O_ th_ __tr_____ S_a
2: _a_____
??? : The Amazing Devil
1: S__r_t _or__s
2: Th_ _a_____
??? : Th_ ____ That _as
1: _t's A__ _o__ ____t
2: Th_ A_r_ort ____s
3: __st_r_a_'s _a__r
??? : Rishloo
1: Just a Ride
2: Landmines
Crow: East of the Wall
1: Linear Failure
2: The Apologist
3: Running Tab of Sweetness
Stadler: Our Lady Peace
1: Stars___
2: ____s_
3: _a_
??? : Brutus
1: S__ar _ra_o_
2: A__ A_o__
3: _hat Ha__ __ _o__
??? : Zeal and Ardor
1: Ro_ Ro_
2: __ _a_'t __ _o___
3: _o____ __ar
4: _ött_r_ä___r___
??? : Gilad Hekselman
1: Ho__s
2: _ast _o____ ___t_r_
3: Last Train Home
4: __a__ ____ _o Ho__
??? : Th_ _o__t _s _o____
1: ___a_ _____s_
2: _o__
??? : Ours
1: _orst Th___s __a_t____
2: __r__r
3: So__t___s
??? : _a__ra O_s__ra
1: _r___h _a__
2: _o__ _a__ _ar_ar_t
3: S_a_s
4: H__ __o__ _'_ R_a__ To __ H_art_ro___
Guessed letters: öätazorhs
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_a__ra O_s__ra looks like something Lonestar would send.
I can't believe Threshold isn't banned.
Gilad is not HOF?
N
-
_a__ra O_s__ra looks like something Lonestar would send.
I can't believe Threshold isn't banned.
Gilad is not HOF?
N
I am not Gilad. I highly doubt anyone has heard of my entry before.
-
Wait wait wait... The Mars Volta, Rishloo, Our Lady Peace, and Threshold were all up for grabs? Dang.
-
More bands I've heard something from, but I am certainly not familiar enough with to call favorites.
??? : S____s ___n
1: T__a_
2: S____n__ ___: _n_r_a_a___
??? : S___ot_on Or_h_stra
1: Har_ To Sta_
2: __n_st Ho_r
??? : __n_r___ _a_ar
1: _.A.A._. __t_
2: A_r__ht
3: Th_ __a___r th_ __rr_
??? : __r__s o_ _oo_s
1: _r_s (To th_ _a_r_st On_)
2: R___nt__ss A_nor_a__t_
3: _nt__ th_ _or__ _n_s
??? : Threshold
1: _h_no__non
2: ___ot _n th_ S__ o_ _r_a_s
??? : The Mars Volta
1: Ta__ th_ ____ __r__n Ta_t
2: __a_____ht Sh_n_
3: _ra___ar_ _o__
??? : H__no__
1: N__ht On th_ __tr_____ S_a
2: _a___n_
??? : The Amazing Devil
1: S__r_t _or__s
2: Th_ _a___n_
??? : Th_ ____ That _as
1: _t's A__ _on_ ____t
2: Th_ A_r_ort __n_s
3: __st_r_a_'s _a__r
??? : Rishloo
1: Just a Ride
2: Landmines
Crow: East of the Wall
1: Linear Failure
2: The Apologist
3: Running Tab of Sweetness
Stadler: Our Lady Peace
1: Stars___
2: ____s_
3: _a_
??? : Brutus
1: S__ar _ra_on
2: A__ A_on_
3: _hat Ha__ __ _on_
??? : Zeal and Ardor
1: Ro_ Ro_
2: __ _an't __ _o_n_
3: _o___n __ar
4: _ött_r_ä___r_n_
??? : Gilad Hekselman
1: Ho__s
2: _ast _o__n_ __nt_r_
3: Last Train Home
4: __a__ ____ No Ho__
??? : Th_ _o__t _s _o__n_
1: __na_ _____s_
2: _o__
??? : Ours
1: _orst Th_n_s __a_t____
2: __r__r
3: So__t___s
??? : _a__ra O_s__ra
1: _r_n_h Na__
2: _o__ _a__ _ar_ar_t
3: S_ans
4: H__ __o__ _'_ R_a__ To __ H_art_ro__n
Guessed letters: öätazorhsn
-
Sieges Even
Thought they were banned for sure.
Also Kendrick Lamar
-
Sieges Even
Thought they were banned for sure.
A lot of that going around this round it seems :lol
-
Starseed is the first OLP song.
-
Threshold songs are:
Phenomenon
Pilot In The Sky Of Dreams
Submotion Orchestra-Ariich
Hard To Stay
Finest Hour
M
-
Hypno5e
-
Hypno5e
Evermind, Sacul?
-
The Comet is Coming
-
Hypno5e
Evermind, Sacul?
Evermind yes, Sacul no
-
??? : Sieges Even
1: T__a_
2: S____n__ ___: _n_r_a_a___
ariich: Submotion Orchestra
1: Hard To Stay
2: Finest Hour
??? : Kendrick Lamar
1: m.A.A._. __t_
2: A_r__ht
3: Th_ __a___r th_ __rr_
??? : __r__s o_ _oo_s
1: _r_s (To th_ _a_r_st On_)
2: R___nt__ss A_norma__t_
3: _nt__ th_ _or__ _n_s
??? : Threshold
1: Phenomenon
2: Pilot in the Sky of Dreams
??? : The Mars Volta
1: Ta__ th_ ____ __r__n Ta_t
2: __a_____ht Sh_n_
3: _ra___ar_ _o__
Evermind: Hypno5e
1: N__ht On th_ __tr_____ S_a
2: _a___n_
??? : The Amazing Devil
1: S__r_t _or__s
2: Th_ _a___n_
??? : Th_ ____ That _as
1: _t's A__ _on_ ____t
2: Th_ A_r_ort __n_s
3: __st_r_a_'s _a__r
??? : Rishloo
1: Just a Ride
2: Landmines
Crow: East of the Wall
1: Linear Failure
2: The Apologist
3: Running Tab of Sweetness
Stadler: Our Lady Peace
1: Starseed
2: ___ms_
3: _am
??? : Brutus
1: S__ar _ra_on
2: A__ A_on_
3: _hat Ha__ __ _on_
??? : Zeal and Ardor
1: Ro_ Ro_
2: __ _an't __ _o_n_
3: _o___n __ar
4: _ött_r_ämm_r_n_
??? : Gilad Hekselman
1: Hom_s
2: _ast Mo__n_ __nt_r_
3: Last Train Home
4: __a__ ____ No Hom_
??? : The Comet Is Coming
1: __na_ _____s_
2: _o__
??? : Ours
1: _orst Th_n_s __a_t____
2: M_r__r
3: Som_t_m_s
??? : _am_ra O_s__ra
1: _r_n_h Na__
2: _om_ _a__ Mar_ar_t
3: S_ans
4: H__ __o__ _'m R_a__ To __ H_art_ro__n
Guessed letters: öätazorhsnm
-
e
-
Camera Obscura...HOF?
-
Mars Volta songs are
Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt
Blacklight Shine (for some reason)
Graveyard Love (again, for some reason)
Weird picks, if I'm being honest.
-
I always wonder in other roulettes how the host and sender feel, but personally I love seeing comments about how unusual some song choices are, it lets me know maybe there's more hope for certain bands. And in round 11 some people might have an opportunity to give some of these artists from earlier rounds a second shot.
I should say that someone tried to send "Eriatarka", which is the only TMV song I know well and I had to reject it, so I don't know the fan consensus on all the other songs.
We're doing fairly well on artists, not so much on senders guessed.
??? : Sieges Even
1: T__a_
2: Se__en_e ___: _n_rea_a__e
ariich: Submotion Orchestra
1: Hard To Stay
2: Finest Hour
??? : Kendrick Lamar
1: m.A.A._. __t_
2: A_r__ht
3: The __a__er the _err_
??? : __r__s o_ _oo_s
1: Er_s (To the _a_rest One)
2: Re_ent_ess A_norma__t_
3: _nt__ the _or__ En_s
??? : Threshold
1: Phenomenon
2: Pilot in the Sky of Dreams
??? : The Mars Volta
1: Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt
2: Blacklight Shine
3: Graveyard Love
Evermind: Hypno5e
1: N__ht On the _etr___e_ Sea
2: _a___n_
??? : The Amazing Devil
1: Se_ret _or__s
2: The _a___n_
??? : The _ee_ That _as
1: _t's A__ _one ___et
2: The A_r_ort __nes
3: _ester_a_'s _a_er
??? : Rishloo
1: Just a Ride
2: Landmines
Crow: East of the Wall
1: Linear Failure
2: The Apologist
3: Running Tab of Sweetness
Stadler: Our Lady Peace
1: Starseed
2: ___ms_
3: _am
??? : Brutus
1: S__ar _ra_on
2: A__ A_on_
3: _hat Ha_e _e _one
??? : Zeal and Ardor
1: Ro_ Ro_
2: _e _an't _e _o_n_
3: _o__en __ar
4: _ötter_ämmer_n_
??? : Gilad Hekselman
1: Homes
2: _ast Mo__n_ _ent_r_
3: Last Train Home
4: __a_e ___e No Home
??? : The Comet Is Coming
1: __na_ E____se
2: _o_e
??? : Ours
1: _orst Th_n_s _ea_t____
2: M_r_er
3: Somet_mes
??? : Camera Obscura
1: _ren_h Na__
2: _ome _a__ Mar_aret
3: S_ans
4: He_ __o__ _'m Rea__ To _e Heart_ro_en
Guessed letters: öätazorhsnme
-
Tim probably sent Rishloo
-
Nope. But hyping up his own song doesn't sound beneath him. (https://i.imgur.com/0E3o3tN.gif) There may have been some other chicanery afoot in other comments as well so far...
I could also see öätazorhsnme being another band name.
-
Nope. But hyping up his own song doesn't sound beneath him. (https://i.imgur.com/0E3o3tN.gif) There may have been some other chicanery afoot in other comments as well so far...
I could also see öätazorhsnme being another band name.
Oranssi Pazuzu
NǽnøĉÿbbŒrğ VbëřřĦōlökäävsŦ
Öxxö Xööx
-
:biggrin:
-
Row Row
We Can't Be Found
-
eriatarka is a banger, i agree with puppies that those TMV choices are wack
kendrick songs are m.A.A.d city, alright, and the blacker the berry
-
Mars Volta songs are
Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt
Blacklight Shine (for some reason)
Graveyard Love (again, for some reason)
Weird picks, if I'm being honest.
Yea, I love the latest album, I really do, but these are weird picks. If we're talking a showcase of TMV's greatest works, these don't get a look in. Maybe it's because they were trying to show a few songs in the 15 minute limit?
-
eriatarka is a banger, i agree with puppies that those TMV choices are wack
kendrick songs are m.A.A.d city, alright, and the blacker the berry
:rollin
-
many of the go-to's for The Mars Volta are the longer, sprawling epics (go figure), which is why picking songs to sample from them for a Roulette could be more challenging.
-
The Week That Was??? Interesting name.
it's All Done (Blank)? It's All Gone Quiet?
Relentless Abnormality?
-
Sacul sent Kendrick Lamar
-
Soundscape definitely sent Ours
-
Tidal
Sequence III: Unbreakable
Night On The Petrified Sea
Calling
Secret Worlds
The Calling
Clumsy
4am
What Have We Done
-
Zeal And Ardor-Luke
Gilad- Elite
Brutus-Nach
TMV-VMadera
Rishloo-Tomi
Threshold-Soupy
I'll start with these..
-
TMV-VMadera
:tup
And given all the comments on the songs I sent, I'm ready for my 5/10 score :corn :lol
-
TMV-VMadera
:tup
And given all the comments on the songs I sent, I'm ready for my 5/10 score :corn :lol
It's bad form to slag another guy's songs before scores.
-
It is what it is, I just hope it doesn't affect Litho's opinion on the songs :)
-
Airport lines?
Yesterday's paper?
-
eriatarka is a banger, i agree with puppies that those TMV choices are wack
kendrick songs are m.A.A.d city, alright, and the blacker the berry
:rollin
I uhh
Fail to see what's funny here? ???
-
same lol
-
(https://i.imgflip.com/7k614g.jpg)
-
Well, it sounds like he's singing about a black girl's snatch, and not fruit salad.
I pulled up the lyrics, no, he's talking about his dick. Oh, and he seems to hate white people. Weird, because there were a lot of white people at his concerts last year, including my son and his friends.
-
i uhh
think you've only raised more questions and concerns with that reply actually
-
What would be concerning? You could go a lot of different ways with that song title. I took it as he had a preference to black girls. No big deal. I wasn't expecting the actual lyrics to be what they were and have such a serious and angry tone to them.
-
Apparently Kendrick has initiated Wary Father Mode for TAC. No matter, I had a pretty massive hip-hop phase a ways back and still listen to some older stuff on occasion, so I'm used to it, but my analysis is likely to be mostly musical anyway.
Anyway, there's been some spillover from the last round to this one in slowly getting back to normal, so initial listens have taken a bit longer, and my notes are a bit less detailed, so there will probably be somewhat shorter writeups again. I still want to try and get at least another listen in to polish up the early impressions, but tomorrow I'm going to attempt to fill out hangman, put up the Spotify list, and have some more details about round 10 to chew on, which may be likely to need to some discussion regarding anyway because it'll be the trickiest to nail eligibility for.
Hopefully I caught all the guesses as well.
??? : Sieges Even
1: Tidal
2: Sequence III: Unbreakable
ariich: Submotion Orchestra
1: Hard To Stay
2: Finest Hour
Sacul: Kendrick Lamar
1: m.A.A.d. City
2: Alright
3: The Blacker the Berry
??? : __r__s o_ _oo_s
1: Er_s (To the _a_rest One)
2: Relentless Abnormality
3: _nt__ the _or__ En_s
??? : Threshold
1: Phenomenon
2: Pilot in the Sky of Dreams
VMadera00: The Mars Volta
1: Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt
2: Blacklight Shine
3: Graveyard Love
Evermind: Hypno5e
1: Night On the Petrified Sea
2: Calling
??? : The Amazing Devil
1: Secret Worlds
2: The Calling
??? : The Week That Was
1: It's All Gone Quiet
2: The Airport Lines
3: Yesterday's Paper
Tomislav95: Rishloo
1: Just a Ride
2: Landmines
Crow: East of the Wall
1: Linear Failure
2: The Apologist
3: Running Tab of Sweetness
Stadler: Our Lady Peace
1: Starseed
2: Clumsy
3: 4am
Nachtmerrie: Brutus
1: S__ar _ra_on
2: A__ A_on_
3: What Have We Done
twosuitluke: Zeal and Ardor
1: Row Row
2: We Can't Be Found
3: _o__en __ar
4: _ötter_ämmer_n_
Elite: Gilad Hekselman
1: Homes
2: _ast Mo__n_ _ent_r_
3: Last Train Home
4: __a_e ___e No Home
??? : The Comet Is Coming
1: __na_ E____se
2: _o_e
SoundscapeMN: Ours
1: _orst Th_n_s _ea_t____
2: M_r_er
3: Somet_mes
??? : Camera Obscura
1: _ren_h Na__
2: _ome _a__ Mar_aret
3: S_ans
4: He_ __o__ _'m Rea__ To _e Heart_ro_en
Guessed letters: öätazorhsnme
-
3: Somet_mes
Give me an I. :biggrin:
-
Fast Moving Century?
Murder?
-
Hangman solved:
Puppies_On_Acid: Sieges Even
1: Tidal
2: Sequence III: Unbreakable
ariich: Submotion Orchestra
1: Hard To Stay
2: Finest Hour
Sacul: Kendrick Lamar
1: m.A.A.d. City
2: Alright
3: The Blacker the Berry
TAC: Circus of Fools
1: Eris (To the Fairest One)
2: Relentless Abnormality
3: Until the World Ends
Lethean: Threshold
1: Phenomenon
2: Pilot in the Sky of Dreams
VMadera00: The Mars Volta
1: Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt
2: Blacklight Shine
3: Graveyard Love
Evermind: Hypno5e
1: Night On the Petrified Sea
2: Calling
senecadawg2: The Amazing Devil
1: Secret Worlds
2: The Calling
HOF: The Week That Was
1: It's All Gone Quiet
2: The Airport Lines
3: Yesterday's Paper
Tomislav95: Rishloo
1: Just a Ride
2: Landmines
Crow: East of the Wall
1: Linear Failure
2: The Apologist
3: Running Tab of Sweetness
Stadler: Our Lady Peace
1: Starseed
2: Clumsy
3: 4am
Nachtmerrie: Brutus
1: Sugar Dragon
2: All Along
3: What Have We Done
twosuitluke: Zeal and Ardor
1: Row Row
2: We Can't Be Found
3: Golden Liar
4: Götterdämmerung
Elite: Gilad Hekselman
1: Homes
2: Fast Moving Century
3: Last Train Home
4: Place Like No Home
Buddyhunter1: The Comet Is Coming
1: Final Eclipse
2: Code
SoundscapeMN: Ours
1: Worst Things Beautiful
2: Murder
3: Sometimes
soupytwist: Camera Obscura
1: French Navy
2: Come Back Margaret
3: Swans
4: Hey Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken
-
The playlist for the round:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/40nFVDZqoqSHgHY0hxeMwX (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/40nFVDZqoqSHgHY0hxeMwX)
I need to make a few more tweaks to the round 10 details, that might have to wait for tomorrow.
-
>be buddy
>send the comet is coming
>not include blood of the past
>4/10
>surprised_pikachu.jpg
-
>be buddy
>send the comet is coming
>not include blood of the past
>4/10
>surprised_pikachu.jpg
> be Litho
> dislike spoken word
Believe me I was tempted, Final Eclipse and Blood Of The Past add up to 15:00 minutes exactly. :lol
-
>be buddy
>send the comet is coming
>not include blood of the past
>4/10
>surprised_pikachu.jpg
> be Litho
> dislike spoken word
Wait really? My first song has two long spoken word sections. :lol
-
>be buddy
>send the comet is coming
>not include blood of the past
>4/10
>surprised_pikachu.jpg
> be Litho
> dislike spoken word
Believe me I was tempted, Final Eclipse and Blood Of The Past add up to 15:00 minutes exactly. :lol
Damn :lol
-
Ok, so some more details about round 10.
I'm breaking up musical styles into tiers of challenge, based on video game-esque difficulty levels. This is to provide a slight incentive and reward for picking more challenging genres, though you should be increasingly wary of them. To make it less subjective and easier to arbitrate, the basic litmus test for eligibility is going to be whether the topline primary bolded genre listing on Rate Your Music matches one of the genres. It can be a co-primary with another genre, but not be a non-bolded secondary genre. Hopefully this will be intuitive even for those who don't use RYM often, but if not I can link to examples. I may have to step in and make judgment calls if the songs seem to be outliers in regards to the style.
I will also accept less common styles not listed and potentially assign difficulty points, though if I'm completely unfamiliar with the style the default assumption will be that it's an easy mode genre. I will reject genres that I know too much about, the point is to expand my horizons some in this round.
Easy Mode - country ('79 and earlier only), experimental rock, indie pop/rock/folk, J/K-pop/rock/metal, neo-psychedelia, pop punk, post-rock
*no bonus points for picking these genres
*I don't think I actually dislike these styles, I certainly have artists/albums/songs I like in them, and some have already scored very well in this roulette. I just have slightly negative feelings about them for sometimes arbitrary reasons likely based on poor earlier exposures to particular niches of them.
Medium Mode - metalcore (90s only), Britpop, emo, experimental, math rock, mathcore, hardcore punk (no Swedish artists), opera, hip-hop (2010-present only), show tunes
*automatic + 0.25 to your score for the round for selecting one of these
Hard Mode - avant-garde x, death industrial, free improvisation, free jazz, hyperpop, industrial (industrial rock/metal and electro-industrial don't count), noise rock, post-hardcore
*automatic + 0.5 to your score for the round for selecting one of these
Nightmare Mode - harsh noise, power electronics
*automatic + 0.75 to your score for the round for selecting one of these
---
*I would be cautious about hard and nightmare modes in particular, the vast majority of what I've heard in them would not score well, hence the difficulty bonus.
*Also, feel free to ask about particular styles and I can give a quick synopsis of what I struggle with about them (it may very well be something I've already written about in various writeups).
I'm still working on early impressions for round 9, those should come in the near future.
-
Nightmare Mode - harsh noise, power electronics
*automatic + 0.75 to your score for the round for selecting one of these
Sacul, your time is now!
-
Nightmare Mode - harsh noise, power electronics
*automatic + 0.75 to your score for the round for selecting one of these
Sacul, your time is now!
My time is not now!
-
I should also note that on RYM for albums that have more ratings you will often be able to click the check mark to the far right of the screen for genres to see the vote breakdown by track, which is useful for albums that are more stylistically all over the place.
-
What is Avant Garde-X? I couldn't find that on RYM.
-
It's just a stand-in for any genre "avant-garde" is affixed to. Avant-garde jazz, avant-prog, and avant-garde metal are the most common ones.
-
OK, and perhaps this is addressed elsewhere, but is this one song or 15 minutes ?
-
Do we need to prove the artist fits the genre? I look at 'Britpop' and see it as more an time period era than a defined sound - a whole bunch of different acts were labelled it. I mean even to two big Britpop acts Blur and Oasis sound completely different. If Sgt Peppers was released in 95 it would have been called a Britpop album!
-
It's just a stand-in for any genre "avant-garde" is affixed to. Avant-garde jazz, avant-prog, and avant-garde metal are the most common ones.
I've already sent you avant-garde metal in this roulette and it got a 7/10, doesn't seem that risky. :lol
-
This might be the hardest round yet for me. Will have to think of something unpleasant to send you.
-
I know what I'm zeroing in on.
-
OK, and perhaps this is addressed elsewhere, but is this one song or 15 minutes ?
15 minutes.
Do we need to prove the artist fits the genre? I look at 'Britpop' and see it as more an time period era than a defined sound - a whole bunch of different acts were labelled it. I mean even to two big Britpop acts Blur and Oasis sound completely different. If Sgt Peppers was released in 95 it would have been called a Britpop album!
Yeah, some of these are arguably not really genres per se, but it's listed as one on Rate Your Music, so I'm just going by whether the albums/songs are voted as such there.
-
It's just a stand-in for any genre "avant-garde" is affixed to. Avant-garde jazz, avant-prog, and avant-garde metal are the most common ones.
I've already sent you avant-garde metal in this roulette and it got a 7/10, doesn't seem that risky. :lol
Lethean scored quite well with Arcturus earlier in the roulette (though the specific songs he sent were voted by RYM as prog metal rather than avant-garde), and Ram-Zet that I sent to Crow was voted avant-garde metal, so there is certainly music I like in the style, but they tend to be the exception rather than the rule in my experience.
-
OK, and perhaps this is addressed elsewhere, but is this one song or 15 minutes ?
15 minutes.
Do we need to prove the artist fits the genre? I look at 'Britpop' and see it as more an time period era than a defined sound - a whole bunch of different acts were labelled it. I mean even to two big Britpop acts Blur and Oasis sound completely different. If Sgt Peppers was released in 95 it would have been called a Britpop album!
Yeah, some of these are arguably not really genres per se, but it's listed as one on Rate Your Music, so I'm just going by whether the albums/songs are voted as such there.
Ok gotcha.
So if it's 15 minutes do all the songs have to be from the same artist or can it be different artists as long as they are defined by the same genre?
-
One artist.
-
I should also note that on RYM for albums that have more ratings you will often be able to click the check mark to the far right of the screen for genres to see the vote breakdown by track, which is useful for albums that are more stylistically all over the place.
I am having trouble figuring this out. I click the checkmark next to the genre and I have to agree to some thing, but I don't see tracklistings and corresponding genres.
-
I hope you don't have to have an account and be logged in to see it. Can you see this page and click on the songs on the left (you might have to scroll down below the fold)?
https://rateyourmusic.com/rgenre/set?album_id=4613378 (https://rateyourmusic.com/rgenre/set?album_id=4613378)
-
We're not sending for this round just yet are we?
I'll probably go the hardcore punk route, or possibly post-hardcore.
-
No, I'm just giving everyone extra time to think about it and ask questions since it'll be the trickiest round to figure out what acceptable submissions are.
-
I hope you don't have to have an account and be logged in to see it. Can you see this page and click on the songs on the left (you might have to scroll down below the fold)?
https://rateyourmusic.com/rgenre/set?album_id=4613378 (https://rateyourmusic.com/rgenre/set?album_id=4613378)
OK, gotcha. I think there was one step to where I was and to where you are. I got it now. If an album is all over the place, you want the targeted genre as either the top of 2nd highest rated genre. In other words, for example, if I was sending Black Metal, that would have to be what most users rated it.
In our PM's, we should identify the genre we're going for?
-
Hard mode seems like my thing :tup
-
I hope you don't have to have an account and be logged in to see it. Can you see this page and click on the songs on the left (you might have to scroll down below the fold)?
https://rateyourmusic.com/rgenre/set?album_id=4613378 (https://rateyourmusic.com/rgenre/set?album_id=4613378)
OK, gotcha. I think there was one step to where I was and to where you are. I got it now. If an album is all over the place, you want the targeted genre as either the top of 2nd highest rated genre. In other words, for example, if I was sending Black Metal, that would have to be what most users rated it.
In our PM's, we should identify the genre we're going for?
Well, as long as it's a bolded primary genre, it doesn't matter if there are multiple other primaries or secondaries. I'm just trying to avoid situations where the majority of an album is an eligible genre, but people send tracks that are wildly different, just to prevent too much gaming of the system.
Sure, though this will be probably be the first and only round where I'll need to do a slight bit of research before my initial listens, just to make sure it looks like it should count.
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this is just one song right?
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I hope you don't have to have an account and be logged in to see it. Can you see this page and click on the songs on the left (you might have to scroll down below the fold)?
https://rateyourmusic.com/rgenre/set?album_id=4613378 (https://rateyourmusic.com/rgenre/set?album_id=4613378)
OK, gotcha. I think there was one step to where I was and to where you are. I got it now. If an album is all over the place, you want the targeted genre as either the top of 2nd highest rated genre. In other words, for example, if I was sending Black Metal, that would have to be what most users rated it.
In our PM's, we should identify the genre we're going for?
Well, as long as it's a bolded primary genre, it doesn't matter if there are multiple secondaries. I'm just trying to avoid situations where the majority of an album is an eligible genre, but people send tracks that are wildly different, just to prevent too much gaming of the system.
Sure, though this will be probably be the first and only round where I'll need to do a slight bit of research before my initial listens, just to make sure it looks like it should count.
Gotcha!
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Nightmare Mode - harsh noise, power electronics
*automatic + 0.75 to your score for the round for selecting one of these
Sacul, your time is now!
:2metal:
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this is just one song right?
OK, and perhaps this is addressed elsewhere, but is this one song or 15 minutes ?
15 minutes.
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oh okay good :corn
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Litho, did you get my PM? Can you let me know if my submission has been accepted or do you still have to double check the genres? PM me when you can..
Also, Impressions?
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Yeah, I saw it. For R10 I'm probably gonna need to give each entry a cursory listen to make sure I can officially approve them, but I should be able to do that a bit later tonight on yours.
I have drafts of the impressions but I'm not happy with a few, should hopefully have something slightly less mediocre by Saturday.
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:tup
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Do subgenres of the genres you listed for Round 10 count? e.g. Emo -> Screamo, Indie Rock -> Slowcore?
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Do subgenres of the genres you listed for Round 10 count? e.g. Emo -> Screamo, Indie Rock -> Slowcore?
Only if they rhyme.
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Do subgenres of the genres you listed for Round 10 count? e.g. Emo -> Screamo, Indie Rock -> Slowcore?
It'll have to be on a case-by-case basis, but generally, yes.
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WTF is Slowcore??
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WTF is Slowcore??
The opposite of Too Fast Too Furious-core.
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It's the opposite of grindcore. Started by the band Glacier Life.
So I suspect this will be lower scoring than the mystery song rounds, just like the other two open rounds have been so far, but we'll see. Two artists I really liked right off the bat, some others with potential. I have a slightly different idea for comparisons this time, I'll see if I can pull it off on a later day. Here are early impressions for now.
Round 9 Early Impressions:
1: This is exactly what I expected from them, but it's quite well done, so it could work.
2: They have a rather unusual hybrid approach between a few genres, but I keep wanting them to take it in certain directions that they might not intend to go in.
3: soupytwist - Camera Obscura - Maybe I do like some happier, upbeat music after all.
4: Killer drumming, but there's just a messiness to this style of guitar playing that doesn't usually appeal to me, and oh yeah, those vocals...*mutters*
5: HOF - The Week That Was - All these overlapping and interlocking layers are really unique and fascinating, the question is how well I'll remember them.
6: ariich - Submotion Orchestra - This is a really chill and intoxicating mixture of styles.
7: As I suspected from the songs I've sampled in the past, this mashup works better than it should on paper, though I'm unsure how much staying power these particular tunes will have.
8: TAC - Circus of Fools - Now this is the kind of band that seems custom-made for me.
9: Good grief the chorus on the first song is addicting. I'm not so sure about the second tune though.
10: I'm not sure there's quite enough happening over the runtime for me, though the ending of the second song might elevate it a bit.
11: Crow - East of the Wall - This is definitely better than I feared it might be, though the vocals and noodliness might put a cap on the level it can reach.
12: SoundscapeMN - Ours - I didn't realize that U2 and The Tea Party did an album together.
13: Man, I feel like I'm 14 again.
14: It's kind of repetitive, but the vibe is trippy and cool, so let's see how much it grows on me.
15: There are some really nice elements scattered throughout these songs, but they aren't prominent enough, and this is still a style that's quite challenging to consistently pull off the way I'd like to hear it.
16: The bass and drum grooves are pretty tasty, but I wish the guitars were a bit weightier, and I'll probably continue to struggle with this vocal style.
17: Here we have a better example of how to execute a genre I typically haven't cared for.
18: My tastes in this broad style are mostly frozen decades ago, and this might be a bit abstract an update for me, but there are certainly some piquant traits that could blossom.
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I can usually spot my impressions, but I really can't here. I'll start with these and then narrow it down from here.
I know this grouping is large but can you at least confirm if mine is in here?
1: This is exactly what I expected from them, but it's quite well done, so it could work.
2: They have a rather unusual hybrid approach between a few genres, but I keep wanting them to take it in certain directions that they might not intend to go in.
4: Killer drumming, but there's just a messiness to this style of guitar playing that doesn't usually appeal to me, and oh yeah, those vocals...*mutters*
5: All these overlapping and interlocking layers are really unique and fascinating, the question is how well I'll remember them.
7: As I suspected from the songs I've sampled in the past, this mashup works better than it should on paper, though I'm unsure how much staying power these particular tunes will have.
8: Now this is the kind of band that seems custom-made for me.
15: There are some really nice elements scattered throughout these songs, but they aren't prominent enough, and this is still a style that's quite challenging to consistently pull off the way I'd like to hear it.
16: The bass and drum grooves are pretty tasty, but I wish the guitars were a bit weightier, and I'll probably continue to struggle with this vocal style.
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Guessing 5 to start.
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Yep, and yes to TAC.
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just gonna shoot my shot on #16 tbh
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Yep, and yes to TAC.
OK.. Hmm..
I'll try 2 positive and 2 negative..
1: This is exactly what I expected from them, but it's quite well done, so it could work.
4: Killer drumming, but there's just a messiness to this style of guitar playing that doesn't usually appeal to me, and oh yeah, those vocals...*mutters*
8: Now this is the kind of band that seems custom-made for me.
16: The bass and drum grooves are pretty tasty, but I wish the guitars were a bit weightier, and I'll probably continue to struggle with this vocal style.
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Updated TAC's.
just gonna shoot my shot on #16 tbh
Not quite, but you're getting warm...
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Updated TAC's.
I can't help but feel there's a bit "but..." coming. :lol
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I try 3.
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Yep.
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Based on the impressions that could be mine, this doesn't bode well. :sadpanda:
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10: I'm not sure there's quite enough happening over the runtime for me, though the ending of the second song might elevate it a bit.
Definitely Hypno5e
17: Here we have a better example of how to execute a genre I typically haven't cared for.
18: My tastes in this broad style are mostly frozen decades ago, and this might be a bit abstract an update for me, but there are certainly some piquant traits that could blossom.
One of these is Kendrick.
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(https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExODQ5YzZlNDM1NzczNTQxN2JmMjM1NjI5MmFjZDAzNWE1Y2MyNDIzZCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZzX2dpZklkJmN0PWc/3oKIP8quIMUnLdfTAQ/giphy.gif)
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#10 could be Rishloo?
Shocked it's not Hypno5e though.
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just gonna shoot my shot on #16 tbh
Not quite, but you're getting warm...
4? 11? idk
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11 it is.
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@ Ariich..unless you're already familiar, don't listen to the band I sent. If they're not on your list, they're going to be on mine. ;D
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Mine must surely be 2, 6 or 9.
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@ Ariich..unless you're already familiar, don't listen to the band I sent. If they're not on your list, they're going to be on mine. ;D
I don't do much checking out of submissions in other roulettes at the best of times, but especially not when I have a roulette of my own approaching or in progress.
I don't know them so you're good.
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Mine must surely be 6.
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Mine must surely be 6.
Great, that's the one I was hoping for as it's how I feel about their stuff too!
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12: I didn't realize that U2 and The Tea Party did an album together.
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Yep.
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Getting my EP edited. :corn
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Getting my EP edited. :corn
I worked on it a bit a few weeks ago. Mostly adding possible songs. I do have a direction so there's that.
I do need to get back to it.
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Getting my EP edited. :corn
I worked on it a bit a few weeks ago. Mostly adding possible songs. I do have a direction so there's that.
I do need to get back to it.
It's the longest EP I've made for a roulette (except for maybe the concept album round from your EP roulette, if that counts), and it might be my favorite too. It's some Grade-A TAC Repellent, though. :biggrin:
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Getting my EP edited. :corn
I worked on it a bit a few weeks ago. Mostly adding possible songs. I do have a direction so there's that.
I do need to get back to it.
It's the longest EP I've made for a roulette (except for maybe the concept album round from your EP roulette, if that counts), and it might be my favorite too. It's some Grade-A TAC Repellent, though. :biggrin:
Has some good vocals, huh?
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Getting my EP edited. :corn
I worked on it a bit a few weeks ago. Mostly adding possible songs. I do have a direction so there's that.
I do need to get back to it.
It's the longest EP I've made for a roulette (except for maybe the concept album round from your EP roulette, if that counts), and it might be my favorite too. It's some Grade-A TAC Repellent, though. :biggrin:
Has some good vocals, huh?
Not a single harsh vocal to be found. :biggrin:
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Electronic EP!!
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Did I miss the EP rules somewhere?
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4 or 16, but could be 2 as well.
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9 maybe?
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Did I miss the EP rules somewhere?
They're pretty loose and I haven't finalized them yet, but the basic idea is up to 45 minutes, at least three different artists, but no more than a third of the runtime should come from any one artist.
Round 9 Early Impressions:
1: This is exactly what I expected from them, but it's quite well done, so it could work.
2: They have a rather unusual hybrid approach between a few genres, but I keep wanting them to take it in certain directions that they might not intend to go in.
3: soupytwist - Camera Obscura - Maybe I do like some happier, upbeat music after all.
4: Vmadera00 - The Mars Volta - Killer drumming, but there's just a messiness to this style of guitar playing that doesn't usually appeal to me, and oh yeah, those vocals...*mutters*
5: HOF - The Week That Was - All these overlapping and interlocking layers are really unique and fascinating, the question is how well I'll remember them.
6: ariich - Submotion Orchestra - This is a really chill and intoxicating mixture of styles.
7: twosuitluke - Zeal and Ardor - As I suspected from the songs I've sampled in the past, this mashup works better than it should on paper, though I'm unsure how much staying power these particular tunes will have.
8: TAC - Circus of Fools - Now this is the kind of band that seems custom-made for me.
9: Good grief the chorus on the first song is addicting. I'm not so sure about the second tune though.
10: I'm not sure there's quite enough happening over the runtime for me, though the ending of the second song might elevate it a bit.
11: Crow - East of the Wall - This is definitely better than I feared it might be, though the vocals and noodliness might put a cap on the level it can reach.
12: SoundscapeMN - Ours - I didn't realize that U2 and The Tea Party did an album together.
13: Man, I feel like I'm 14 again.
14: It's kind of repetitive, but the vibe is trippy and cool, so let's see how much it grows on me.
15: There are some really nice elements scattered throughout these songs, but they aren't prominent enough, and this is still a style that's quite challenging to consistently pull off the way I'd like to hear it.
16: The bass and drum grooves are pretty tasty, but I wish the guitars were a bit weightier, and I'll probably continue to struggle with this vocal style.
17: Here we have a better example of how to execute a genre I typically haven't cared for.
18: Elite - Gilad Hekselman - My tastes in this broad style are mostly frozen decades ago, and this might be a bit abstract an update for me, but there are certainly some piquant traits that could blossom.
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Gonna be bold and say 17.
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Nope.
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at least three different artists, but no more than a third of the runtime should come from any one artist.
it is mathematically impossible to satisfy the second condition without at least four different artists :neverusethis:
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at least three different artists, but no more than a third of the runtime should come from any one artist.
it is mathematically impossible to satisfy the second condition without at least four different artists :neverusethis:
:lol
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16 then? If not then 14 or 15
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None of those.
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at least three different artists, but no more than a third of the runtime should come from any one artist.
it is mathematically impossible to satisfy the second condition without at least four different artists :neverusethis:
I mean someone could technically have a submission of exactly 15:00 each from three different artists.
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2 or 7 I suppose
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7 I suppose
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None of those.
I could keep guessing but that'd pretty much be cheating. Let's just say I've no idea instead.
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Did some major work on my EP today and I think I have it completed. Cross checked all bands against the RYM.
43 minutes.
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10 or 18?
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Did some major work on my EP today and I think I have it completed. Cross checked all bands against the RYM.
43 minutes.
I've started work on what may be the weirdest EP I've ever put together. I'm at right about 44 minutes at the moment.
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Is the EP supposed to have a theme, flow or consistent music style/genre? Or can it just be a bunch of songs?
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Is the EP supposed to have a theme, flow or consistent music style/genre? Or can it just be a bunch of songs?
Seems like the EP portion of the OP has been deleted. Litho said he'd have details soon.
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18
Is the EP supposed to have a theme, flow or consistent music style/genre? Or can it just be a bunch of songs?
Seems like the EP portion of the OP has been deleted. Litho said he'd have details soon.
I don't think I ever had specifics there in the first place that I can recall. Since none of the roulettes I've been in have had them (425's stalled out and Crow axed that portion), nor most of the ones I've skimmed, I'm actually not entirely sure what the expectations are for them, and I've kind of just been waiting as long as I can to finalize details. For the most part I'm pretty flexible and I'll leave it up to people to be as creative as they want.
Even if it's just a semi-random collection of cool songs that'll probably be ok. But I will be paying more attention to flow and factoring that somewhat into the score. Having a theme is up to you, if it's cohesive and interesting that might boost the score a bit. Multiple styles can work if you can sequence them together in a way that isn't too jarring. Mostly it's just a chance for people to send multiple artists in the same round and piece songs together in intriguing ways.
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I don't think I ever had specifics there in the first place that I can recall.
.......
Even if it's just a semi-random collection of cool songs that'll probably be ok. But I will be paying more attention to flow and factoring that somewhat into the score. Having a theme is up to you,
Yeah, this was pretty much all it was.
I'm on my third listen of the day of my EP. I feel like it's finished, unless I find a song that that pops one out.
Happy with my theme and concept.
How's the current round going, Litho? Any tidbits?
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18
Is the EP supposed to have a theme, flow or consistent music style/genre? Or can it just be a bunch of songs?
Seems like the EP portion of the OP has been deleted. Litho said he'd have details soon.
I don't think I ever had specifics there in the first place that I can recall. Since none of the roulettes I've been in have had them (425's stalled out and Crow axed that portion), nor most of the ones I've skimmed, I'm actually not entirely sure what the expectations are for them, and I've kind of just been waiting as long as I can to finalize details. For the most part I'm pretty flexible and I'll leave it up to people to be as creative as they want.
Even if it's just a semi-random collection of cool songs that'll probably be ok. But I will be paying more attention to flow and factoring that somewhat into the score. Having a theme is up to you, if it's cohesive and interesting that might boost the score a bit. Multiple styles can work if you can sequence them together in a way that isn't too jarring. Mostly it's just a chance for people to send multiple artists in the same round and piece songs together in intriguing ways.
I have fairly standard EP rules outlined in my roulette OP's https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=52942
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One EP rule TAC has done that I really like is that you can choose to "lock down" bands you're going to use for the EP ahead of time. A lot of preparation goes into them and it'd really suck if someone snipes one of the bands you were going to use and you have to re-do the whole thing. However, you can only lock down a band before results for them are posted, and you're committed to using them once you do. This prevents the reserving from being unfair, since you don't know how well the band will do, and even if someone else sends them before the EP round and they do terribly, tough shit, you still have to send them in your EP.
This is all done privately of course, so it doesn't spoil the fun of revealing who sent what or anything.
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One EP rule TAC has done that I really like is that you can choose to "lock down" bands you're going to use for the EP ahead of time. A lot of preparation goes into them and it'd really suck if someone snipes one of the bands you were going to use and you have to re-do the whole thing. However, you can only lock down a band before results for them are posted, and you're committed to using them once you do. This prevents the reserving from being unfair, since you don't know how well the band will do, and even if someone else sends them before the EP round and they do terribly, tough shit, you still have to send them in your EP.
This is all done privately of course, so it doesn't spoil the fun of revealing who sent what or anything.
I did an early rendition of this rule, which turned into the ragequit rule. TAC's implementation is much better.
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Yep, I included "the TAC rule" in my v6 roulette EP round and will be doing the same in my v8.
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Yep, I included "the TAC rule" in my v6 roulette EP round and will be doing the same in my v8.
Yeah, you phrased it much better than me, too!
There's definitely one artist I'd want to lock down for my own EP, the others I'm fairly certain have a snowball's chance in hell of being sent by anyone else. :lol
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How's the current round going, Litho? Any tidbits?
So this malaise has kind of continued and made it more difficult to concentrate still and be as productive as normal, but I'm working on posting comparisons, probably tomorrow or the next day. My listening so far has been a bit more uneven than normal, and I've concentrated more on the stronger entries so far. There are five submissions that especially stand out, with a few others with a particular notable song. I need to give a bit more time to the entries that didn't stand out as much to make they have a fair chance to grow on me.
I have fairly standard EP rules outlined in my roulette OP's https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=52942 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=52942)
I may wind up using a version of that when we get closer and I set the rules for it "in stone". So far I've just preferred to keep it more flexible, with the minimum requirements, and answer questions about what I'm looking for.
Yep, I included "the TAC rule" in my v6 roulette EP round and will be doing the same in my v8.
I've seen it before and pondered it briefly, and it definitely seems worth considering. Just never having experienced the implementation of it, I wonder about unforseen consequences of it. Is it generally pretty uncontroversial in practice?
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I have fairly standard EP rules outlined in my roulette OP's https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=52942 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=52942)
I may wind up using a version of that when we get closer and I set the rules for it "in stone". So far I've just preferred to keep it more flexible, with the minimum requirements, and answer questions about what I'm looking for.
I think your current rules are good. Puppies' rule of no more than 2 songs per artist feels like a bit much to me, especially since you already have the 1/3rd rule that prevents a single artist from dominating the EP.
Yep, I included "the TAC rule" in my v6 roulette EP round and will be doing the same in my v8.
I've seen it before and pondered it briefly, and it definitely seems worthy considering. Just never having experienced the implementation of it, I wonder about unforseen consequences of it. Is it generally pretty uncontroversial in practice?
I haven't seen anyone complain about it.
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Yeah, I probably won't use that particular rule of his.
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I have fairly standard EP rules outlined in my roulette OP's https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=52942 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=52942)
I may wind up using a version of that when we get closer and I set the rules for it "in stone". So far I've just preferred to keep it more flexible, with the minimum requirements, and answer questions about what I'm looking for.
I think your current rules are good. Puppies' rule of no more than 2 songs per artist feels like a bit much to me, especially since you already have the 1/3rd rule that prevents a single artist from dominating the EP.
I don't even remember putting that rule in there :lol but yeah, don't use that rule...
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I'm still soliciting opinions on the TAC rule for EPs if anyone else wants to chime in. I'm honestly just leaning towards trying to be more flexible in that round, but if someone or enough people really like that rule I'm still open to considering it, though I suppose it likely has less value being implemented now than if it was in place all roulette long. Certainly all kinds of things to think about when the time for v.2 arrives.
Anyway, here are the filled-out impressions. I should have comparisons up later tonight.
Round 9 Early Impressions:
1: Lethean - Threshold - This is exactly what I expected from them, but it's quite well done, so it could work.
2: Evermind - Hypno5e - They have a rather unusual hybrid approach between a few genres, but I keep wanting them to take it in certain directions that they might not intend to go in.
3: soupytwist - Camera Obscura - Maybe I do like some happier, upbeat music after all.
4: Vmadera00 - The Mars Volta - Killer drumming, but there's just a messiness to this style of guitar playing that doesn't usually appeal to me, and oh yeah, those vocals...*mutters*
5: HOF - The Week That Was - All these overlapping and interlocking layers are really unique and fascinating, the question is how well I'll remember them.
6: ariich - Submotion Orchestra - This is a really chill and intoxicating mixture of styles.
7: twosuitluke - Zeal and Ardor - As I suspected from the songs I've sampled in the past, this mashup works better than it should on paper, though I'm unsure how much staying power these particular tunes will have.
8: TAC - Circus of Fools - Now this is the kind of band that seems custom-made for me.
9: Puppies_On_Acid - Sieges Even - Good grief the chorus on the first song is addicting. I'm not so sure about the second tune though.
10: senecadawg2 - The Amazing Devil - I'm not sure there's quite enough happening over the runtime for me, though the ending of the second song might elevate it a bit.
11: Crow - East of the Wall - This is definitely better than I feared it might be, though the vocals and noodliness might put a cap on the level it can reach.
12: SoundscapeMN - Ours - I didn't realize that U2 and The Tea Party did an album together.
13: Stadler - Our Lady Peace - Man, I feel like I'm 14 again.
14: Buddyhunter1 - The Comet Is Coming - It's kind of repetitive, but the vibe is trippy and cool, so let's see how much it grows on me.
15: Sacul - Kendrick Lamar - There are some really nice elements scattered throughout these songs, but they aren't prominent enough, and this is still a style that's quite challenging to consistently pull off the way I'd like to hear it.
16: Tomislav95 - Rishloo - The bass and drum grooves are pretty tasty, but I wish the guitars were a bit weightier, and I'll probably continue to struggle with this vocal style.
17: Nachtmerrie - Brutus - Here we have a better example of how to execute a genre I typically haven't cared for.
18: Elite - Gilad Hekselmen - My tastes in this broad style are mostly frozen decades ago, and this might be a bit abstract an update for me, but there are certainly some piquant traits that could blossom.
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I'm still soliciting opinions on the TAC rule for EPs if anyone else wants to chime in. I'm honestly just leaning towards trying to be more flexible in that round, but if someone or enough people really like that rule I'm still open to considering it, though I suppose it likely has less value being implemented now than if it was in place all roulette long. Certainly all kinds of things to think about when the time for v.2 arrives.
The biggest thing is that people put a lot of time, energy, and thought into their EP's. They've evolved over the roulettes to be more than just a playlist. As soon as a roulette has an EP Round, wheels are turning. I'd venture to guess that close to half of the EPs in this roulette are completed.
Mine is pretty much set. I'd just hate to lose a band because someone used it in the Pre-90's round.
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On one hand, I may have the benefit of being a bit more obsessive than most in collecting a ton of different artists so it's relatively easy for me to swap things out, and I also tend to pick things that most people aren't likely to send when I'm on the other side of the roulette. But I also may just need to be more lenient with EP selections, and see how much of a burden it would be for people to alter them. There's only likely to be another dozen or two artists that would score high enough to be banned in the next few rounds anyway.
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For me, the purpose of EP rounds is not so much about maximising new discoveries but rather encouraging people to be creative and put some thought into curating something that flows well, which is why I allow some flexibility including a certain proportion being from banned artists (which contribute to the flow score but not the music quality score).
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Also, maybe this is just me, but I'd personally be wanting to hold off as long as I could on fully committing myself to particular artists in case I learn more about the host's taste, given that I suspect most people have less of a sense of what I like than most other roulette regulars, just for the fact that I'm still relatively new to them compared to almost everyone else. Although I suspect at least a few people have given up on figuring me out (or never really tried to in the first place), just sending me their favorites that they use regardless of host.
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Or like me, you leave it very last minute and try to cobble something together while giving the impression you put more time into it than you did.
Honestly, I think I've ever really crafted one EP that flowed really nicely. I've made a few others that were pretty good though.
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I'm going through what to include on the EP for this and for a Prog EP Contest that the YouTube Channel 365 Days of Prog is doing. Although I suspect both EPs will not include any of the same songs.
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Let's do something slightly different for comparisons this time.
Triplets and Twins:
Circus of Fools > Brutus > The Amazing Devil
East of the Wall > Rishloo ? The Mars Volta
Submotion Orchestra > The Comet Is Coming > Gilad Hekselman
Threshold ? Sieges Even > Hypno5e
Camera Obscura > The Week That Was
Ours > Our Lady Peace
Zeal and Ardor > Kendrick Lamar
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Interesting
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Middle of the round is my M.O. for this roulette!
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see i know you weren't gonna like this as much as gunship but that's interesting :corn
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Zeal and Ardor > Kendrick Lamar
In other news, water is wet.
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Akshually, water is not wet, but what is touched by water is, by definition. Thus, about that comparison...
(https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/310/510/748.jpg)
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Akshually, water is not wet, but what is touched by water is, by definition. Thus, about that comparison...
(https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/310/510/748.jpg)
A post after my own heart. :)
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and a Hot-Water-Heater doesn't make Hot Water, Hot.
i.e. a Water-Heater isn't a Hot-Water-Heater.
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and a Hot-Water-Heater doesn't make Hot Water, Hot.
i.e. a Water-Heater isn't a Hot-Water-Heater.
(https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/418/139/756.jpg)
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and a Hot-Water-Heater doesn't make Hot Water, Hot.
i.e. a Water-Heater isn't a Hot-Water-Heater.
Two winners in a row! :)
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A little progress update, I've done the bulk of the writeups, but this round has some of the longest time to blooming submissions yet, so scores have been creeping up for a fortunate few of you. It's turning out to be one of the better rounds in the roulette so far, which is quite serendipitous given that normally there's a steep drop-off from the mystery song rounds to the open ones. But that also has meant that I've needed to rewrite some parts of the writeups to more accurately reflect my updated opinions on them. Also, despite not having as many notes from my first listens, I've had more to say than I expected given the circumstances of the past month, so some of them are closer to "normal" length, which I'm having some mixed feelings on, but I may have a workaround for that later, I may talk about it after this round and try it out in the next one.
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Waiting for that sweet 4/10 :metal
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I can't help feeling I've made a terrible mistake sending Zeal and Ardor (not that it makes any difference to my chances of winning anything here).
Can you give bonus awards at the end of the roulette? You know, like 'most improved', 'best King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard submission' or 'best hangman-er'?
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Ok, I think I have almost everything buttoned up, should have results tonight.
Can you give bonus awards at the end of the roulette? You know, like 'most improved', 'best King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard submission' or 'best hangman-er'?
"Most quotable" wasn't enough? (https://i.imgur.com/XmbqBzV.gif)
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Can you give bonus awards at the end of the roulette? You know, like 'most improved', 'best King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard submission' or 'best hangman-er'?
That's the type of stuff that used to end friendships in Mario Party.
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I mean, I think right now soupytwist has "most improved" locked up. From next to last out of 19 after round 2 to now less than 3 points out of first. I should listen to that Brothers of Metal album sometime and see if that song was still a dud and maybe there was an 8.0+ on it he should have sent instead.
Luke has worst and best Lizard Wizard Blizard, at least until round 11 if someone is feeling really bold.
Evermind I think always hold the heavyweight title for "best hangman-er" unless someone else makes a strong move for the belt, though I don't recall if he's done anything particularly spooky in my particular roulette just yet.
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Evermind I think always hold the heavyweight title for "best hangman-er" unless someone else makes a strong move for the belt, though I don't recall if he's done anything particularly spooky in my particular roulette just yet.
I don't think I did. As the war began and I left DTF and then got back thanks to Luke's roulette, I just don't think my heart is in it for now.
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Evermind I think always hold the heavyweight title for "best hangman-er" unless someone else makes a strong move for the belt, though I don't recall if he's done anything particularly spooky in my particular roulette just yet.
I don't think I did. As the war began and I left DTF and then got back thanks to Luke's roulette, I just don't think my heart is in it for now.
But we're so happy to have you regardless :heart
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I mean, I think right now soupytwist has "most improved" locked up. From next to last out of 19 after round 2 to now less than 3 points out of first. I should listen to that Brothers of Metal album sometime and see if that song was still a dud and maybe there was an 8.0+ on it he should have sent instead.
I initially struggled with the rounds whereby we follow the songs you've chosen, for whatever reason I just get really lost picking something. The Brothers of Metal is that in a nutshell, I don't overly like the band or the song, and it didn't even fit the brief that well - but somehow that's what I sent!!
It's the open rounds where I've done much better (which may about to change).
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(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DeterminedSmoggyBass.webp)
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So this has definitely been one of the better rounds, even the weakest entries are better than some in earlier rounds, and even if they have elements I don't care for as much, they have some positive attributes to balance them out. And fascinatingly, this is almost a preview of the next round as well, since almost half of the entries are or could be argued to be in round 10 styles. Maybe some of you were testing the waters.
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Vmadera00 - The Mars Volta - "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt", "Blacklight Shine", "Graveyard Love"
Early Impression - "Killer drumming, but there's just a messiness to this style of guitar playing that doesn't usually appeal to me, and oh yeah, those vocals...*mutters*"
So TMV is one of those bands that's been really hard to avoid the hype for over the years (decades now at this point). I tried to get into them a long time ago, listening to a few albums, including buying Frances the Mute on CD on a whim, and while they had some intriguing qualities, they just didn't really work for me. Except for "Eriatarka". For rather inexplicable reasons I really like that song. And while I can hear in the abstract things it has in common with "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt", for example, being from the same album, it just doesn't have anywhere near the same magic for me.
However, Jon's drumming is easily the highpoint, Flea continues to put in excellent guest work, and the Mellotron break in the middle is nice - but then we return to reality, where Omar just has this kind of chaotic guitar style and tone, that while it seems rather unique and has moments of brilliance, is mostly just a case of lightning being unable to strike twice for me.
As for the "weird choices" from their most recent album that other people seemed to think were bad selections, honestly I actually prefer those songs to "Cerpin Taxt", even though it's from one of their most iconic albums. They have a really nice groove to them, some cool melody lines, some delicious percussion work (which "Cerpin Taxt" has a bit of as well, especially around 4:58 from Lenny Castro), flavorous electronic pulses and such. The synth lead that starts on the left at 2:36 in "Graveyard Love" and pans around is especially splendid, contributing to it being the best song of the batch. I especially like the writing of the vocal melodies in it.
But what just kills it all is Cedric's voice. I still can't figure out how I either tune it out or it doesn't bug me so much on "Eriatarka", but I just can't do it on any of these cuts. It's just this kind of unhinged, super-high and nasal style that vexes me, less so on the more recent tunes, but it's still present too often. I could imagine digging these songs more with a different vocalist that is less frequently like nails across a chalkboard to me.
Score: 7/10
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Sacul - Kendrick Lamar - "m.A.A.d. City", "Alright", "The Blacker the Berry"
Early Impression - "There are some really nice elements scattered throughout these songs, but they aren't prominent enough, and this is still a style that's quite challenging to consistently pull off the way I'd like to hear it."
I have to say that this was probably the deepest down a rabbit hole I went on doing some research this round. Kendrick has been one of the most ubiquitous figures in the music industry over the past decade or so, so it's been virtually impossible to not absorb at least a few things already, even having not really intentionally listened to him. I've heard the isolated song or two here and there from him or on collaborations (and two of these songs were part of his Super Bowl appearance medley that I saw a few years ago). I'd also initially forgotten that this isn't even his first appearance in this roulette, since he had a couple of guest verses on Beyoncé's "Freedom" in an earlier Crow submission.
And this is one of those examples where it's probably impossible to live up to the hype - I've heard so many mountains of praise heaped upon him that anything less than absolute perfection would be disappointing. But I've tried to temper my expectations anyway. I had a phase of listening to a lot of hip-hop back in the 00s back at the height of my adventurousness in exploring genres, and it lasted quite a bit longer than I expected it to. But it eventually tapered off, I finished college, started working full-time, and it's never really recovered. I hear names of recommendations from time to time, but just lack motivation to investigate any of them - I've been pretty content whenever I'm in the mood for the style to just stick to some old classics. And honestly whenever I do hear anything more recent I feel like maybe the newer strains of the genre have moved on from me.
So with all of that background, this winds up being a mixed bag. One thing that I've discovered is that Kendrick apparently plays different characters in some of his songs, so there's a surprising amount of variety of types of flow, some of which I initially thought were guest artists (and there are some of those as well), but numerous listens, some videos, a bit of research, and I have a slightly better idea of his range over what I knew of it from prior exposure. So his versatility it rather impressive, but unfortunately, most of his types of delivery are a bit nasal for my tastes.
The worst examples are right away in "m.A.A.d. City". There's a strange affectation to his voice in the first verses that I find rather offputting. He clearly puts a lot of thought into his work, so it's obviously born of a specific intention to portray it that way. And maybe if I dove more into the lyrics perhaps it would make more sense, but yeah - even in a genre like hip-hop, I'm still much more about the instrumentation and vocal timbre and delivery than the words. And while static samples and loops are to some degree to be expected in the style, even his flow there is fairly unvaried rhythmically. But the odd thing is that his style of presentation isn't even consistent. I watched a performance of the song on the Arsenio Hall show, and his delivery of the same lines is rather different and a bit more palatable.
Back to the studio recording, I think I prefer the timbre and delivery of MC Eiht's guest verses to Kendrick's, it's just an easier voice to listen to. Kendrick's final verse is particularly vexing with the steady pitch manipulation and panning. It's probably another artistic choice for how he wants the lyrics to come across, but aesthetically it just doesn't jive with me. On a different note for the same song again, I find the studio recording a bit bland and generic in attempting an old-school gangsta rap style, but on the stage it does come alive a bit with the heavier drum beat and live distorted guitars, but I guess that's probably what hip-hop heads would call the "rockist" mentality in me. But it does seem almost ripe for a metal cover to kick it up another notch.
But it's certainly not all bad. Even in that song, "m.A.A.d. City", at 5:24 I like the classic worm lead synth tone, although it's too brief. The next two songs pick up quite a bit though. I suspecting that if I wind up checking out a full album of his eventually, it's probably going to be To Pimp a Butterfly, which is reportedly the most jazz-influenced, and there are certainly elements of it here. A Tribe Called Quest and similar artists were always some of the more interesting hip-hop acts, so it's a useful well to draw from. The basic beat and choral vocal of "Alright" is pretty cool, and I'm not going to turn down saxophone, although it's a bit too much in the background for me. The segment of the verse from 1:55 to 2:07 is quite impressive vocally, which appears to be done on a single breath, and is a lot of words to string together that fluently.
"Blacker the Berry" has the best minute of the entire submission, the last minute with the Rhodes piano, that super dry hat - I want a whole song of that groove. And TAC reportedly doesn't like his angrier delivery on the song, but honestly it's actually the most palatable his voice is to me, overdriving his vocals a bit obscures the whinier qualities it tends to take on elsewhere. The guest chorus from Assassin is also sort of refreshing. The vocal style is overused in certain more aggressive offshoots of reggae and such, but in a more controlled amount it works reasonably well here. Now the pitch-shifted title hook quotation taken from 2Pac, not so much.
Also, I think it took me awhile to figure this out back in the day, but at least for me a lot of the better hip-hop has an interesting parallel with some of the later waves of melodic death metal that I like, where you have the more aggressive delivery that is centered more around rhythm, contrasted with more melodic vocal sections (sometimes choruses, bridges, or even verses). And this set of songs is pretty light on that. Even some of the sections that have it like 0:21 in "Blacker the Berry" have a similar odd nasal vocal delivery issue.
Score: 7/10
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Tomislav95 - Rishloo - "Landmines", "Just a Ride"
Early Impression - "The bass and drum grooves are pretty tasty, but I wish the guitars were a bit weightier, and I'll probably continue to struggle with this vocal style."
I think I've checked out a song or two of theirs at some point, but some bands blend together and it's possible my memory is faulty. This has been one of the harder entries for me to quite make sense of my thoughts on. It seems to occupy a middle ground between a few different approaches, and doesn't fully connect with me. I think a difference between this and a superficially similar artist like Karnivool is that I prefer a bit more focus on chunkier, lower-end riffing, particularly in heavier sections, and they don't seem as interested in that, which is fine, it just means that they have less of what I look for in the style.
These songs are from their latest album, and I've read that apparently they became more influenced by The Mars Volta and Coheed & Cambria over time, and moved away from their earlier Tool influences. Given that Tool is one of my favorite bands, and my scores and writeups for TMV and C&C show that I've struggled more with them, this could be part of the issue.
The other is that this another example of a number in this roulette of vocalists who have higher, thinner, more falsetto-leaning ranges, which I've just found to be inherently riskier in terms of whether they'll work for me or not. Although somehow it works a bit better through the lo-fi filter at 3:19 in "Landmines". And in general the more aggression he puts into it the better it sounds - I just don't find it as effective in the softer range.
And then as the impression notes, the saving point is the drum and bass interplay, which are always in the pocket, with some nice tom beats and accents and splash cymbal ornamentation from time to time.
Score: 7/10
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twosuitluke - Zeal and Ardor - "Row Row", "We Can't Be Found", "Golden Liar", "Götterdämmerung"
Early Impression - "As I suspected from the songs I've sampled in the past, this mashup works better than it should on paper, though I'm unsure how much staying power these particular tunes will have."
So I'd heard of the origin of this concept as something of a joke/challenge online, and had sampled a song or two over the years. It's an idea that shouldn't work, but kind of does. The bluesier aspects vocally are actually slightly better done to me of the different elements. The black metal-ish portions are a bit spottier and feel a little generic, with some overly simplified repetitive riffing and rhythms. "Row Row" is probably the best overall song, with the most interesting riffing. The rest feel a bit more standard, and I'd probably need to be in a fairly specific mood to come back to them. But there are other various details I enjoyed.
For example, "Götterdämmerung" actually gets away with a bit more, with that 3-hit riff alternating starting on the downbeat or the upbeat, which changes the feel of the groove. 0:34 is also a fun mixing trick with starting the riff in just the left ear, and then bringing it into both in the next cycle. The overdriven bass tone in "We Can't Be Found" is pretty tasty. I like how the riff at 2:01 in "Row Row" starts out muted and then slowly opens up, which helps give the part more dynamics. The toms sound pretty powerful at 2:36 in "Golden Liar".
Score: 7.25/10
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Elite - Gilad Hekselman - "Homes", "Fast Moving Century", "Last Train Home", "Place Like No Home"
Early Impression - "My tastes in this broad style are mostly frozen decades ago, and this might be a bit abstract an update for me, but there are certainly some piquant traits that could blossom."
I also talk about this a little bit later in the writeup for The Comet is Coming, but it's been an interesting challenge to explore the intersection of jazz and electronic music in some of entries in this roulette. For the most part I'm all about the classic era of the 40s to the 70s, from bebop to the earlier jazz-fusion and some jazz-rock groups. There are artists in the last few decades I've come to enjoy (heck, I used two of them for my mystery songs for round 2), but for the most part I've found more modern developments in jazz rather inconsistent in their appeal to me, but I'm glad people are making me check them out even if they aren't always working.
Whereas The Comet is Coming is more rooted in an electronic style, mostly porting over some sonic trappings of jazz, Gilad's work is clearly coming from the opposite direction, taking a more modern approach to jazz and augmenting it with some electronics and other influences. And the challenge here is that it's pleasant enough when I'm listening to it, but his approach to the genre is a bit too abstract for me. The "filler" tracks of "Homes" and "No Place Like No Home" are the most comfortable and relaxing for me - they're more traditional in approach, and easily could have been portions of ballads on releases on Blue Note or Columbia. "Last Train Home" (the Pat Metheny cover) has a cool pattern of interesting layers of percussion, but just doesn't feel like it goes anywhere as a song.
"Fast Moving Century" is the one with my most complicated feelings on. On one hand, it has the most energetic propulsion, with some more exciting passages that are enjoyable to enjoy the roller coaster ride of, the overdriven electric piano, 5:44 is fairly thrilling with the climactic thump of the drum groove, and adding in the chromatic percussion doubling of the riff there. But it's also loaded with more dissonance and a lot of "outside" lines, which don't always work as well for me. It might be the type of song that the duration of a roulette isn't enough to really get into it. I may need some time away and to come back to it at a later point and may find out that it's grown on me. Right now it's still just a little overwhelming when my pop hook brain and my traditionalist jazz aesthetic sides are stretched.
Another struggle is that I'm generally much more into jazz saxophone or piano than I am guitar. And even there, I tend to gravitate towards more singing tones with a bit of overdrive and maybe some rock influence than the cleaner timbres that Gilad seems to prefer. There's a touch of grit to it on the dissonant tonal clusters on "Fast Moving Century", but it's dialed back on the single note lines, and completely absent on the other three tracks.
Score: 7.25/10
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Stadler - Our Lady Peace - "Starseed", "Clumsy", "4am"
Early Impression - "Man, I feel like I'm 14 again."
As I mentioned by PM or e-mail, I think the only OLP tune I know well is "Superman's Dead". And I think that fact and a couple others gave it some unexpected plot armor this round. In an objective sense, their vocals are probably worse for my tastes than a number of other singers I've complained about in various rounds. Yet I think already being familiar with them has inoculated me somewhat to them in a way that some artists newer to me don't benefit from. It probably also helps that they're a little reminiscent of Billy Corgan's, another vocalist that I dislike, but who I've gotten quite good at putting up with because I like some of his older songwriting and guitar playing (and Chamberlin's drumming, for that matter).
But overall this really taps into my sense of nostalgia, since I was listening to a fair amount of this sort of music in my early teens and still put it on occasionally for old time's sake. It's entirely possible that I heard one or more of these songs on the radio at some point back then, there's a very vague sense of familiarity in hearing them that could suggest that, and they were all singles at some point, though I certainly didn't know them, and they weren't one of the artists my circle of friends at that point was really into. I also saw Armageddon somewhere in that era, so if "Starseed" plays in the movie or credits I probably heard it then.
That song in particular kind of scratches an itch I think I'd forgotten I even have at times, with the acoustic guitar intro, the drop-D riffing, some cool harmonies, that rocking guitar tone crunch that wouldn't work for metal but gives more energy than the calmer alt rock bands do, and a pretty tasty drum beat. The drum sequence and fill starting at 2:48 is especially gripping with how it fluidly changes up the subdivisions. Apparently the original song was written in 5 minutes and recorded in 20. I'll bet that's an exaggeration, but I did slightly prefer the Armageddon version for sounding a bit more polished.
As for the other songs, "Clumsy" has really catchy melodic lines, and I love the opening percussion accompaniment. I think this is three rounds in a row you've sent something with a tremolo guitar effect, I certainly can't complain about that. The vocals don't hold it back as much as they should in the abstract, but I do wonder how it would sound covered by a different singer. I guess it's a bit of an enigma why sometimes familiarity doesn't save some artists, like The Mars Volta, but it does help out others, like this one. "4am" is also a pretty solid alt rock power ballad. If my math is right your next alt rock submission should either also score 7.5 or jump up to 8.25. :-p
Score: 7.5/10
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senecadawg2 - The Amazing Devil - "Secret Worlds", "The Calling"
Early Impression - "I'm not sure there's quite enough happening over the runtime for me, though the ending of the second song might elevate it a bit."
The basic sound of this is nice, and the vocal format and interplay is always enjoyable. The rolling toms keep a certain amount of energy going when they're present in both songs, and they do have some dynamics to them, particularly with the ending of "The Calling". But the vocal melodies just never quite stuck in my head like I wanted them to. I can't really recall the tunes when I'm not actively listening to them. The guitar work is fairly static, with a lot of open strumming and some simple repetitive fingerpicking patterns. There's some string work going on in the background, but it's a bit too buried to make much of a difference. I like the overall vibe, but I wanted to love it, and I can't quite get there. I have to wonder if some different songs might work better. Certainly a pleasant enough entry, but I can see the potential for more.
Score: 7.5/10
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Buddyhunter1 - The Comet Is Coming - "Final Eclipse", "CODE"
Early Impression - "It's kind of repetitive, but the vibe is trippy and cool, so let's see how much it grows on me."
It's been fascinating to explore some of these nu-jazz artists in this roulette. I like jazz and electronic music separately, but historically I haven't found them to mix particularly well. This seems a step in the right direction though. I think one challenge is that they tend to be based on opposite fundamental concepts. Jazz is strongly associated with improvisation, where often no two performances of a song will be the same. Electronic music is generally much more about repetition, with slowly evolving structures and timbres. So when you throw them together the effect can be a bit jarring.
But the overall vibe here is intriguing enough that I just can't help but be drawn in more than I expected I would be. I worry that the highly repetitious nature and relative lack of variation in their sound might wear a bit thin on full album listens, but for a couple tracks in a roulette it's a quite unique experience.
I'm a bit torn, because "Final Eclipse" has a lo-fi filter on the saxophone that I would prefer if it were lifted a bit, though I do like the slapback echo on it. "CODE" has the saxophone a bit more upfront, but the reverb trail isn't quite as interesting. But overall, "Final Eclipse" just has a snazzier feel to it. Part of what helps it is the drumming, particularly with the snare accents in the more kinetic moments. The synth patches on the studio recordings aren't one of the stronger points in general (though I dig the grittiness of the synth bass patch on "CODE"), but surprisingly on some of the live versions they seem to beef them up a bit.
Oh, and at least one person mentioned "Blood of the Past" as having been a song that you should have sent. I gave it a cursory listen, and yep, I probably would have found that voiceover distracting, though the instrumentation seemed promising in a cursory listen. Lengthy narration can be risky, especially for as many listens as I try to give songs in these rounds.
Score: 7.75/10
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Crow - East of the Wall - "Linear Failure", "The Apologist", "Running Tab of Sweetness"
Early Impression - "This is definitely better than I feared it might be, though the vocals and noodliness might put a cap on the level it can reach."
I remember hearing The Postman Syndrome mentioned a lot years ago, and didn't realize the connection between them until now. So I grouped TMV, Rishloo, and EotW together because they all sort of lean on this frenetic, paint splatter riffing style. I suppose you could put Brutus there as well, though they're somewhat different and we'll get to them later. But it's rather fascinating how there are various genres that have versions of this riffing style - you can see it in some of the busier conventional prog rock bands, prog metal, technical death metal, jazz/fusion, etc. Each have their own methodology for how to convey busy playing. This more hardcore-influenced strain, which EotW shares with TMV and others, is the one I'm least familiar with, so it's rather intriguing to dive a bit deeper into.
The drumming is easily the highlight here, especially a lot of the cymbal work with bells, China and such. The whole band is clearly quite capable, but even then the drums steal the show for me. That offbeat 6/8 ride bell and then China groove at 1:18 in "Running Tab of Sweetness" is especially nice, anyone who followed the Katatonia discography discussion would know I have something of a sweet tooth for that type of groove. The bass work is quite stellar as well, both in playing and in tone. Simultaneously having three electric guitarists and a bass player who is effectively playing guitar lines an octave down, and yet not having the whole concoction not sound like a mess, is rather impressive. It has an unusual feel somewhere inbetween normal composed music and improvised jams.
It feels odd that I'm even hearing some hints of Opeth at times, which is not something I was expecting at all. Rate Your Music says this also counts as atmospheric sludge metal, though it sounds far less sludgy than any other music I've heard in that style - it's far more precise and virtuosic. The mixture of technicality and atmosphere is quite engrossing.
I don't love the vocals, either the cleans or the harshes, but they seem a bit back in the mix more so than some other artists, so they aren't as distracting or nettling to me like some of them can be. The production is also fairly solid all-around. Additionally, while guitars/bass/drums dominate their sound, the synth pad at 3:24 in "The Apologist" is a nice ethereal touch as well.
Score: 7.75/10
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HOF - The Week That Was - "It's All Gone Quiet", "The Airport Line", "Yesterday's Paper"
Early Impression - "All these overlapping and interlocking layers are really unique and fascinating, the question is how well I'll remember them."
This is certainly one of the most original artists I've received in this roulette. I'm not sure I've heard anyone else quite like them, but the way all of the chromatic percussion, piano, percussion/drums, guitar, strings and other elements weave together is really mesmerizing. The Rate Your Music tags seem woefully inadequate, I'd have expected some sort of chamber pop tags or something similar. I don't know if you ever saw any of those videos of Animusic, but they seem a bit like that sound turned into a band format, and imagery from some of those came into my head while listening to these pieces. The vocals are slightly on the bland side, but they don't really detract from the instrumentation, I could just imagine a more charismatic vocalist elevating the material even more.
Score: 8/10
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Evermind - Hypno5e - "Night on the Petrified Sea", "Calling"
Early Impression - "They have a rather unusual hybrid approach between a few genres, but I keep wanting them to take it in certain directions that they might not intend to go in."
This is one of the entries that benefitted the most from piling on additional plays. I immediately liked the intricate acoustic guitar work on its own, but I found the format rather jarring for a number of listens. By themselves the acoustic guitars remind me a tad of Opeth, or maybe The Human Abstract, but the insistence on incorporating a full drum kit made me antsy for the song to get heavier at some point with electric guitar firepower. I'm still not sure I wouldn't slightly prefer either for them to have actually done that (which to my understanding, since this is from an acoustic album, they very well might do a version of on other albums), or have toned it back a bit and just kept it purely mellower with percussion instead of the entire drum set. For awhile it existed in a no man's land between those approaches that rankled me.
But I did grow more accustomed over time to the way they've arranged it, and have been able to appreciate it for how it is. "Night On the Petrified Sea" is easily the better of the two tunes. I don't know if I'm crazy about the spoken word passages, but I think the fact that they're in a foreign language (French, I presume) probably helps make it less distracting, since it's easier to tune out and focus on the instrumentation. The sung vocals could probably be better, but they don't hold it back.
Score: 8/10
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Puppies_On_Acid - Sieges Even - "Tidal", "Sequence III: Unbreakable"
Early Impression - "Good grief the chorus on the first song is addicting. I'm not so sure about the second tune though."
So as the impression hints at, "Tidal" probably set a land speed record in this roulette for the fastest a chorus has gotten stuck in my head. That panned vocal harmony round of "we are" is just irrepressible. There are some nice heavy riffs (wouldn't have minded even more), a splendid classical guitar solo, and some tasty drumming, particularly with the herta tom fills into the chorus and the splash accents. The lo-fi filter over the mix and the record crackle near the end is also a delightful touch of contrast. It's just an outstanding poppy prog metal number, and I really hope they have more of them in their catalog. The vocalist sounds kind of like a budget Damian Wilson, but as I'll get into slightly more in a later entry, that's not a bad bar to not quite clear, so I'll take it.
"Sequence III: Unbreakable" isn't nearly as effective though. It's pleasant enough, but it just has a languid, plodding feel for most of the runtime, even with the more uptempo minute or two in the middle. It just doesn't differentiate itself enough from many other similar "prog metal ballads" I've heard over the years. I like that is has some audible and active chording bass, a bit of acoustic guitar, a synchronized harmony riff, etc. but it just doesn't really move me. And of course there's the "I swear we didn't steal this from Rush" riff at 5:02.
This was a tricky one to score. "Tidal" would be a few levels up, but "Unbreakable" is a few levels down, and occupied almost 2/3 of the submission runtime, so I'm probably being a bit generous in splitting the difference and giving a nod to how strong "Tidal" is.
Score: 8/10
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Lethean - Threshold - "Phenomenon", "Pilot in the Sky of Dreams"
Early Impression - "This is exactly what I expected from them, but it's quite well done, so it could work."
Comparing the more standard prog metal entries this round was a bit of a challenge. Neither of these songs is quite at the level of "Tidal" from Sieges Even, but they're both better than "Unbreakable". Normally a high peak can eclipse consistency for me in evaluating artists/albums/songs, but in this case consistency wins out, if ever so slightly. As I'd mentioned, I've heard a number of their albums and am familiar with a few of their songs (including at least one other I forgot to list for you), but they're just one of those bands I can't seem to get to often enough. Given that Damian Wilson is one of my favorite vocalists (though honestly it's mostly for his exemplary work in Star One and Ayreon), I was probably more likely to get back around to his albums with them at some point. But Mac is actually quite a strong and unique vocalist as well, so I've been glad to sink my teeth in a bit more here.
The guitar work continues a cool trend from a few other bands where the rhythm guitar tracks are not quite identical, but work well together, which gives a bit more dimension and variety to them. There's nothing especially novel about their sound, but it's executed quite well on all fronts, and novelty is often overrated anyway.
Score: 8/10
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Nachtmerrie - Brutus - "Sugar Dragon", "All Along", "What Have We Done"
Early Impression - "Here we have a better example of how to execute a genre I typically haven't cared for."
So entries like this one are perfect for challenging my preconceptions of how certain styles are. I'd heard some acclaim for their album last year and gave it a casual listen at the time, and even saved two of the tracks (different ones from these) as possibilities of interest for later on, but it didn't fully connect with me. I'm not sure how long it would have taken me to revisit them (probably not at least 'til another new album from them), so it seems I needed this nudge to give them another shot.
Two major things that work much better for me with them compared to other artists that are considered post-hardcore (such as one of the Mars Volta songs earlier in the writeups) is the vocal and guitar work. Her vocal style sits better here, riding the line between melodic and a more gritty intensity, and is much more listenable for me. And the guitar parts are in a bit less chaotic and messy spot that gives them a bit more focus and coherence. They also have a tone that is a tad more pleasant to hear and works well with the types of riffs they play.
The power trio format has always fascinated me, how there is such a need (especially live) for each member to generate more sound for the overall presentation to not come across as too empty and hollow. For the most part I tend to like music that is more heavily layered, which generally requires multiple guitarists, keyboardists, auxiliary instrumentation, lots of studio overdubs and such. But they do surprisingly well with just the three of them. I think there's an additional layer of impressiveness for drummers that are also lead vocalists, getting four limbs coordinated along with vocals is a level of difficulty beyond playing guitar and singing at the same time is.
"All Along" is quite captivating in how it inverts the beat halfway through the verse. I was also not expecting some blast beats, but they work fairly well.
Score: 8.25/10
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ariich - Submotion Orchestration - "Hard To Stay", "Finest Hour"
Early Impression - "This is a really chill and intoxicating mixture of styles."
"Hard To Stay" was immediately one of the best and coolest songs of the round. It takes the lusher modern alt-R&B elements, swelling synths, and rich backing vocals of an artist I like such as the earlier works of Banks, and adds a bit of variety with the mellower trumpet lines and percussion. "Finest Hour" seemed to have potential, but took a bit longer to come together. I particularly enjoy the cascading layers of piano and electric piano latticework. It feels a bit like a more relaxed version of Björk's "Play Dead", one of my favorites of her's. Some of the bubbling vocal echoes like in the 2:46 section are also delightful. You seem to have a knack for submissions that I wind up liking, but have less to say about than most of the others. But I guess if they continue to score well, neither of us can complain, can we?
Score: 8.75/10
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SoundscapeMN - Ours - "The Worst Things Beautiful", "Murder", "Sometimes"
Early Impression - "I didn't realize that U2 and The Tea Party did an album together."
Yeah, so "The Worst Things Beautiful" is a deadringer for the type of anthemic tunes U2 used to be great at and then eventually lost the knack for. It's a perfect alt-rock/pop tune with just the right amount of quirkiness and a soaring chorus. "Murder" sounded like a completely different band if not for the vocals, much more reminiscent of some of The Tea Party's material. The still thumbnail for the music video for "Sometimes" even looks a bit like something from TTP's "Temptation" music video.
It's embrangling how one song can come across as overly repetitive and boring, while another with similar attributes can be hypnotic, but "Murder" is certainly much more of the latter. The studio version has increased dynamics with the full band, but even an acoustic live version I watched centered on the mostly 2-note riff and vocals has similar qualities. Jimmy has a really haunting and charismatic voice, and kind of puts a spell on me in a vocal range that is generally riskier for most singers, such as at 2:29 - I'm not sure I've heard anything quite like that before, he has such a rich and unique tonal character. The horn parts in the song add some pizzazz as well. "Sometimes" was the song I initially worried the most about, but was ironically the first that became an infectious earworm - something about the held note over the second degree in the minor scale often resonates with me.
A lot of the bands that music aficionados gravitate towards are more obscure for good reasons, but then there are some where it's a bit of a mystery why they weren't more popular, and I can certainly get that vibe here. They just seem like they should have had more cross-appeal to both mainstream listeners and yet also to pickier listeners like us. They've definitely won me over.
Score: 8.75/10
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soupytwist - Camera Obscura - "French Navy", "Come Back Margaret", "Swans", "Hey Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Hearbroken"
Early Impression - "Maybe I do like some happier, upbeat music after all."
You know, you think you have an established sense of the types of music you like that form a cohesive musical identity, and then these bands keep coming along that just blow it apart. This is definitely yet another of them, and I'm glad that a few of you seem to have a proclivity for finding these bands that I've really been missing out on. I think I just don't even know how to find some of these types of bands, despites decades of experience in music exploration. This was easily the quickest band to bring a smile to my face in later listening sessions.
It also answers a question which I've long had but have seen relatively few examples of (though I admittedly haven't looked hard for), of what would happen if you took an old Motown-ish sound and brought it into the modern era. The first album from Fitz & The Tantrums was probably my gold standard for this, but this band takes a slightly different angle that is probably just as if not more effective. But like Pepe Deluxé from earlier rounds, though in a rather different way, it's more proof of concept that some elements of 60s music can be effectively ported into modern times.
Also, the chord progression and some of the melody lines in "French Navy" are a bit reminiscent of Carlos Santana/Michelle Branch's "The Game of Love", which has long been one of my favorite pop songs. I apparently can't resist the urge to keep name-dropping bands, but one of my first favorite groups was the Beach Boys, and despite not really being that similar to Camera Obscura other than belonging to or tapping into the zeitgeist of an era (and maybe a tad of the guitar and organ work), they hit upon a similar sense of nostalgic joy.
"French Navy" is definitely the standout track here, though all the songs are quite good. I watched a few live versions and actually might even prefer the trumpet playing the string section motif, which is probably the most dated element with the way it's mixed, but it still works well. The snare on every beat in the chorus, the tambourine, the organs (this reminds me that I really need to familiarize myself better with the differences between Vox Continental and Farsifa organs, because despite being a keyboard player I can never remember which is which), all the retro elements work so well. "Swans" has a fun riff with the guitar and xylophone riff doubling each other, panned to either side.
Tracyanne's vocals are possibly the most enigmatic element. In the abstract they're a bit raw and sleepy, and yet are somehow also quite endearing and charming. It's amusing, when a song isn't working right, my mind leaps to blaming various things, the production, the key, the guitar tones, the vocal timbre, the sparseness, the lack of melancholy, but bands like this one are more proof positive that they can be overcome with the right selections.
Score: 8.75/10
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TAC - Circus of Fools - "Eris (To the Fairest One)", "Relentless Abnormality", "Until the World Ends"
Early Impression - "Now this is the kind of band that seems custom-made for me."
You've definitely struck gold with this one. It just executes so many elements well, and combined in a way that not enough bands attempt. A massive production and guitar sound down in the sweet spot, the contrast of the growls (or the lower range cleans like in "Until the World Ends") with the clearer melodic vocals, the electronic flourishes, and what really puts it over the top is the electric viola soloing. I'm surprised how more bands don't try and incorporate that texture, it's a great and refreshing alternative to the typical electric guitar solo. And it's not just the solo, but it's employed throughout the songs - having a string player as a full member of the band really helps.
The low and deep chanting in "Eris (To the Fairest One)" is a nice diversion as well. Full-on symphonic metal often underwhelms me, as they tend either to prioritize the orchestration over the band (later Nightwish being a key offender), or just lack the budget or skill to pull it off (too many other bands). But here it's incorporated in more subtle ways, as ornamentation rather than the focus. I think that's part of the secret for why Ad Infinitum works as well as they do for me and possibly some others - the orchestral elements are added in later for augmentation, rather than being the centerpiece.
The other unexpected thing here is how many similarities they have with another of my favorite bands, Deadlock, who perhaps not coincidentally are also German (and I picked up by the accents in "Relentless Abnormality" that CoF is) and were early on innovating components of this sort of approach to metal. And wow, you can't make this stuff up, when doing some research I noticed that CoF has a guest appearance on another song from John Gahlert, the current harsh vocalist for Deadlock, so apparently even CoF was influenced by them or at least noticed the commonality.
You had also mentioned that CoF was upcoming in response to Ad Infinitum being posted in one of the other threads, and I'm not sure how much is their sound, or that both rely on visual gimmicks, Ad Infinitum with the bird masks, and CoF with the clown corpse paint. I watched a few music videos for other songs, and that's definitely not what draws me to either, but I suppose in the crowded metal landscape bands will do almost anything to get attention. No matter though, they clearly take their music seriously, which is by far what's most important. They don't have a vocalist quite on the level of Melissa Bonny in Ad Infinitum (or even Sabine Scherer in Deadlock for that matter), but they are more than adequate vocally.
They use one of my favorite arrangement tricks, where at 0:23 in "Eris" the rhythm guitar begins in the one ear, then in the next cycle it switches to the other ear, and then in the cycle after that it explodes with both together as the rest of the band picks up in intensity. The frequent switching between half-time and double-time also adds a lot of dynamics to the arrangement. Even the short triplet sequence at 1:33 adds some spice to the song.
If I have to complain about anything they could probably benefit from a bit more flair guitar-wise, and perhaps they do on other songs, and too much of it might detract from the superb acoustic and electric viola work, so it's a minor quibble. There are plenty of other bands with guitar pyrotechnics anyway, this is a splendid change. This is the type of band I'm always on the hunt for, but apparently was unable to find on my own, and is why running a roulette is great. Maybe I did come across them at some point and wrote them off instantly just based on the name or the imagery, I know I had at least seen the name somewhere one way or another. Either way, you've really been on a roll lately.
Score: 9/10
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Round 9 Scores:
TAC ................................................. 9
ariich .............................................. 8.75
SoundscapeMN ................................ 8.75
soupytwist ..................................... 8.75
Nachtmerrie .................................. 8.25
Evermind ..................................... 8
HOF ........................................... 8
Lethean ..................................... 8
Puppies_On_Acid ....................... 8
Buddyhunter1 .......................... 7.75
Crow ...................................... 7.75
senecadawg2 ......................... 7.5
Stadler ................................. 7.5
Elite .................................... 7.25
twosuitluke ......................... 7.25
Sacul ................................ 7
tomislav95 ....................... 7
Vmadera00 ..................... 7
Round 9 Top 9 Songs:
1 - Circus of Fools - "Eris (To the Fairest One)"
2 - Submotion Orchestra - "Hard To Stay"
3 - Camera Obscura - "French Navy"
4 - Sieges Even - "Tidal"
5 - Ours - 3-way tie
6 - Brutus - "Sugar Dragon"
7 - Hypno5e - "Night on the Petrified Sea"
8 - The Week That Was - "It's All Gone Quiet"
9 - The Comet is Coming - "Final Eclipse"
Current Cumulative Standings (after 9 rounds):
SoundscapeMN -------------- 74.5
TAC ---------------------------- 74
Nachtmerrie -------------------- 73.75
Evermind ------------------------- 72.75
ariich ------------------------------ 72.5
soupytwist ------------------------- 72
HOF --------------------------------- 70.75
Lethean ------------------------------ 70.5
senecadawg2 ------------------------- 69.25
Sacul --------------------------------- 68
Vmadera00 ------------------------- 67.5
Stadler ----------------------------- 67.25
Puppies_On_Acid ----------------- 66.75
Tomislav95 ----------------------- 66.5
Buddyhunter1 ------------------- 66.25
twosuitluke --------------------- 66
Elite ---------------------------- 65.5
Crow -------------------------- 63.25
romdrums ------------------- 14.25 (had to drop out after the second round)
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Round Score Breakdown:
ariich: 7.75 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 9 + 7.75 + 8.75 = 72.5
Buddyhunter1: 7.5 + 6.5 + 7.75 + 7 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.75 = 66.25
Crow: 6 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 7 + 5 + 7 + 9.25 + 7.75 = 63.25
Elite: 6.5 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 8.5 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8 + 7 + 7.25 = 65.5
Evermind: 7.75 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8.5 + 8 = 72.75
HOF: 9 + 9 + 6.5 + 7.25 + 8.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 8 = 70.75
Lethean: 7.75 + 8.25 + 7.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 8 = 70.5
Nachtmerrie: 8.25 + 9 + 6.75 + 9 + 7.75 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 + 8.25 = 73.5
Puppies_On_Acid: 8 + 7 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 8 = 66.75
romdrums: 7.25 + 7 + x + x + x + x + x + x + x = 14.25
Sacul: 7.25 + 8.75 + 6 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 9 + 7 = 68
senecadawg2: 8 + 7 + 8.5 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 7.25 + 7.5 = 69.25
SoundscapeMN: 8 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 8.5 + 8.75 + 7 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 = 74.5
soupytwist: 6.5 + 6.75 + 9 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 = 72
Stadler: 8.5 + 7.5 + 7 + 7 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 7.5 = 67.25
TAC: 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 9 + 8.5 + 9 = 74
Tomislav95: 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 7 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8 + 7 + 7 = 66.5
twosuitluke: 7.5 + 8.25 + 5.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.25 = 66
Vmadera00: 7.25 + 7.75 + 8 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 8.75 + 7 = 67.5
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It's a little hard evaluating round to round, as I kind of grade everything on a bit of a curve, and I'm never sure if some rounds I'm feeling overly generous or being excessively critical, but here are the round averages so far:
Round 1 - 7.58
Round 2 - 7.75
Round 3 - 7.42
Round 4 - 7.58
Round 5 - 7.92
Round 6 - 7.40
Round 7 - 7.88
Round 8 - 7.83
Round 9 - 7.86
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Remember for round 10 it's up to 15 minutes of music from one artist, in a style from the lists below, or something similar, which we can discuss if you want. Send the submission to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com. If you can, send me both Youtube and Spotify links for your song. The Youtube link is so I can make my own playlist and rip the audio. The Spotify link is for the group playlist. If you can't or don't find both links I will find them myself, but the more of you that find both, the less extra work I have to do.
*Here are the details and style challenge levels (mostly verbatim, but slightly modified from last time with a couple extra styles).
I'm breaking up musical styles into tiers of challenge, based on video game-esque difficulty levels. This is to provide a slight incentive and reward for picking more challenging genres, though you should be increasingly wary of them. To make it less subjective and easier to arbitrate, the basic litmus test for eligibility is going to be whether the topline primary bolded genre listing on Rate Your Music matches one of the genres. It can be a co-primary with another genre, but not be a non-bolded secondary genre. Hopefully this will be intuitive even for those who don't use RYM often, but if not I can link to examples. I may have to step in and make judgment calls if the songs seem to be outliers in regards to the style.
I will also accept less common styles not listed and potentially assign difficulty points, though if I'm completely unfamiliar with the style the default assumption will be that it's an easy mode genre. I will reject genres that I know too much about, the point is to expand my horizons some in this round.
Easy Mode - country ('79 and earlier only), experimental rock, indie pop/rock/folk, J/K-pop/rock/metal, neo-psychedelia, pop punk, post-rock
*no bonus points for picking these genres
*I don't think I actually dislike these styles, I certainly have artists/albums/songs I like in them, and some have already scored very well in this roulette. I just have slightly negative feelings about them for sometimes arbitrary reasons likely based on poor earlier exposures to particular niches of them.
Medium Difficulty - Britpop, emo, experimental, garage rock, math rock, mathcore, hardcore punk (no Swedish artists), hip-hop (2010-present only), metalcore (90s only), opera, show tunes, sludge metal
*automatic + 0.25 to your score for the round for selecting one of these
Hard Mode - avant-garde x, death industrial, free improvisation, free jazz, hyperpop, industrial (industrial rock/metal and electro-industrial don't count), noise rock, post-hardcore
*automatic + 0.5 to your score for the round for selecting one of these
Nightmare Mode - harsh noise, power electronics
*automatic + 0.75 to your score for the round for selecting one of these
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*I would be cautious about hard and nightmare modes in particular, the vast majority of what I've heard in them would not score well, hence the difficulty bonus.
*Also, feel free to ask about particular styles and I can give a quick synopsis of what I struggle with about them (it may very well be something I've already written about in various writeups).
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Oohh..Nice!
Hopefully Ariich feels the same. :lol
I've already sent for Round 10.
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Cool! In case you didn’t uncover this yourself, The Week That Was is a one-off side project by one half of the duo that make up Field Music, so the music is somewhat similar to that band. Those guys are endlessly creative and hard to pigeon hole into one style, but Chamber Pop is certainly one of the appropriate labels at times. Glad you liked this.
I still have to decide on something for this next round.
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this is what we in the business call an "i'll take that yeah"
their sound really shines on the full album 'cause i'm kinda just sending pieces of a larger whole here but they're pieces that work pretty well on their own so
the bass has always been the highlight of this album for me but the drums are killer too, for sure
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Puppies_On_Acid - Sieges Even - "Tidal", "Sequence III: Unbreakable"
The vocalist sounds kind of like a budget Damian Wilson, but as I'll get into slightly more in a later entry, that's not a bad bar to not quite clear, so I'll take it.
You take that back! Damian Wilson wishes he had Arno's voice!
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Budget Damian Wilson is redundant.
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I'll take a Hard Mode for +0.5 (sent)
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Puppies_On_Acid - Sieges Even - "Tidal", "Sequence III: Unbreakable"
The vocalist sounds kind of like a budget Damian Wilson, but as I'll get into slightly more in a later entry, that's not a bad bar to not quite clear, so I'll take it.
You take that back! Damian Wilson wishes he had Arno's voice!
Damian is a top 50, possibly top 40 vocalist for me, so it's a very tough standard to meet.
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So what I want to send isn't on YouTube or Spotify. It is on Bandcamp, or I could probably send you the MP3s. Would you accept either option?
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MP3s should work.
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Huh, I just noticed that my top 9 songs of the round (one per artist) were all the opening tracks of their submissions. Pretty sure it wasn't that way in round 3 or 6, now I'll have to go check.
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this is what we in the business call an "i'll take that yeah"
their sound really shines on the full album 'cause i'm kinda just sending pieces of a larger whole here but they're pieces that work pretty well on their own so
the bass has always been the highlight of this album for me but the drums are killer too, for sure
Have you already sent Actor|Observer for this round or should I do it?
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this is what we in the business call an "i'll take that yeah"
their sound really shines on the full album 'cause i'm kinda just sending pieces of a larger whole here but they're pieces that work pretty well on their own so
the bass has always been the highlight of this album for me but the drums are killer too, for sure
Have you already sent Actor|Observer for this round or should I do it?
Oh, I thought I was going to send it :lol
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:corn
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Actually I've got something else in mind :corn
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Sent, but let me know if that doesn’t work.
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Thank for the lengthy write-up! I do indeed think he gets better with subsequent listens and maybe the tracks are better in the context of their albums. I once saw Gilad Hekselman live and it was otherworldly, so even though this might not be your favourite cup of tead, if you do get the chance to see him, I recommend you give it a go :)
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You seem to have a knack for submissions that I wind up liking, but have less to say about than most of the others. But I guess if they continue to score well, neither of us can complain, can we?
Indeed! Of the things I've sent you that you've liked a lot, there have been a couple that you've not needed to dissect in detail to appreciate, as well as some where you have done a detailed analysis. Very pleased to have hit the mark in different ways.
For round 10, I'm a little torn between a couple of "Easy" options and a "Medium" one. I know it's fine, but Easy feels less in the spirit of the round somehow.
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Question, for the Opera category, can it be a prelude from an Opera (No vocals?) or are you looking for vocals?
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I suspect if I was anywhere near the top of the standings I would be more conservative this round, but I've gone for something from the "Hard" category. I'm thinking if you don't enjoy this particular song you probably won't like much else from this artist.
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Question, for the Opera category, can it be a prelude from an Opera (No vocals?) or are you looking for vocals?
Vocals of course! ;D
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For round 10, I'm a little torn between a couple of "Easy" options and a "Medium" one. I know it's fine, but Easy feels less in the spirit of the round somehow.
I suspect if I was anywhere near the top of the standings I would be more conservative this round, but I've gone for something from the "Hard" category.
I'm actually surprised so far how many people are going for "hard" categories. I suppose some people either feel really strongly about bands in those categories, or really want the bonus points and think the reward outweighs the risk. Should be interesting to see how it shakes out. Lots of people still not in yet of course, but if I don't really get much in the way of the first two categories I might need to have a round just for those in a later roulette.
Question, for the Opera category, can it be a prelude from an Opera (No vocals?) or are you looking for vocals?
I suppose if there's a cool instrumental intro/outro/middle segue of sorts included that could be interesting, but it should be over half vocal-oriented, or it's not really opera.
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I suspect if I was anywhere near the top of the standings I would be more conservative this round, but I've gone for something from the "Hard" category. I'm thinking if you don't enjoy this particular song you probably won't like much else from this artist.
Sent a reply.
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I'm gonna wait until tomorrow to see if Crow responds (or Litho confirms the Actor|Observer thing), if not, I'm sending them; if they're taken, I'll pick something else.
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I'm gonna wait until tomorrow to see if Crow responds (or Litho confirms the Actor|Observer thing), if not, I'm sending them; if they're taken, I'll pick something else.
I mean, you could just go ahead and send them. Or I could. :P
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I'm gonna wait until tomorrow to see if Crow responds (or Litho confirms the Actor|Observer thing), if not, I'm sending them; if they're taken, I'll pick something else.
Check your e-mail.
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why would i tell you what i sent ahead of time (yes obviously i sent them)
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Wow, such drama and suspense in the roulette.
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That's fair, thought this would score a little higher, but I knew it was risky anyway.
Sending some power electronics soon :metal
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Trying to beat Crow to the first 4/10? :biggrin:
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Updated my submission
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Sent
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I've never even heard of power electronics as a music genre.
Oh god, am I turning into Tim?!
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I've never even heard of power electronics as a music genre.
Oh god, am I turning into Tim?!
That TACitis is making its rounds on the forums the last few days :lol
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Sent something medium difficulty.
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I've never even heard of power electronics as a music genre.
Oh god, am I turning into Tim?!
That TACitis is making its rounds on the forums the last few days :lol
:lol
Don't fight it. :lol
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I've never even heard of power electronics as a music genre.
Oh god, am I turning into Tim?!
It's an industrial subgenre (the "real" industrial, though I usually prefer the "fake" stuff).
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I'll send in ~2 hours, apologies for the delay.
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I'll send in ~2 hours, apologies for the delay.
Same, except maybe 4 hours
Edit: Sent something.
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Sent!
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I forget, if the total length of the songs goes to about 16 minutes, is there a problem?
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A few seconds over isn't a big deal for me (especially since it could often be eliminated if you cut silence at the beginning/end of songs and just sent custom MP3s), but a minute is a bit too much.
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i modified it and sent my submission in. My original selection of tracks would have been over 16 minutes.
Of course it's now I re-read some of the details of this round and realize another artist I could have sent that might have fit this round a little better, but so be it.
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Sent some hardcore punk :metal
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Finally sent, sorry for slacking. It's probably obvious which genre I sent ;D
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While I'm still waiting for everything to roll in, a tiny post-round listening update is that while checking out albums from high-scoring submissions last round, Submotion Orchestra's "All Yours" might be an even better song than the two ariich sent. Dirt Poor Robins had a similar effect a few rounds ago, as did Caro Emerald (I think I was too busy or distracted at the time to mention that "Home" from a different album has been a smash hit for me).
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Pretty much every song on their debut and the 1968 EP is amazing but yeah I'm sure your standouts will differ from mine. Hard to Stay is my definite number 1 though.
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That was easily still my favorite on that EP after one listen through it. I imagine some of the others will grow on later plays, but "All Yours" on Finest Hour just bowled me over instantly. I don't love trumpet nearly as much as saxophone, but it's just perfection there.
Also, Circus of Fools might have one of the steepest growth climbs I've seen. Their Ikarus/Obsidian Black EP in '14 is pretty rough, you can see the germ of some good ideas, but they sound closer to how they look there, whereas the releases in the last few years now are pretty stellar.
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Also, Circus of Fools might have one of the steepest growth climbs I've seen. Their Ikarus/Obsidian Black EP in '14 is pretty rough, you can see the germ of some good ideas, but they sound closer to how they look there, whereas the releases in the last few years now are pretty stellar.
Yeah, I really like them. I got onto them with Contracult. They had a change of female singers between Contracult and A Broadcast From Gen .0. Their new singer, Tammy, is excellent. I think she's more versatile than Carolin, though she had a great tone.
I really don't care for the outfits and all, but they hit a spot for me.
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It's gonna take some time to be able to tell the differences in vocalists, but Contracult is criminally underrated on RYM (super low number of ratings to be enough of a sample size to say much though, and no reviews to explain their folly).
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Yeah, that's a really good album. I should rate it.
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There are few enough ratings that if you and ariich both rate it decently it might rise to an acceptable level. :lol
Ah, Tammy was on "Relentless Abnormality" with the super-thick but endearing accent. I still have that "nutty as a fruitcake" line stuck in my head at times. :coolio
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Also, I thought about putting this in my writeup but couldn't figure out where to fit it at the time, but the Dutch viola player even has some fun playthroughs of various songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGG8ySs-vxg
-
There are few enough ratings that if you and ariich both rate it decently it might rise to an acceptable level. :lol
I'm still waiting for Ariich to rate it decently. :lol
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....... stepping into thread looking around,,,, wow you all are so awesome I have no idea whats going on but I know its beyond my abilities to do,, :tup :corn
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....... stepping into thread looking around,,,, wow you all are so awesome I have no idea whats going on but I know its beyond my abilities to do,, :tup :corn
You have the ability to love music and tell people about it. You already got it, bro!
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....... stepping into thread looking around,,,, wow you all are so awesome I have no idea whats going on but I know its beyond my abilities to do,, :tup :corn
You have the ability to love music and tell people about it. You already got it, bro!
wow who knew I was sooooo good brother !! Im a natural : )
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....... stepping into thread looking around,,,, wow you all are so awesome I have no idea whats going on but I know its beyond my abilities to do,, :tup :corn
Hosting is mostly just a bunch of time listening to music, writing about it, and a thousand administrative details, but anyone on the forum could join one as a participant. It could easily be you in the next one! Once ariich finishes in a couple months I think lonestar will be running one. You could give it a try, you might become addicted like the rest of us. :biggrin:
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....... stepping into thread looking around,,,, wow you all are so awesome I have no idea whats going on but I know its beyond my abilities to do,, :tup :corn
Hosting is mostly just a bunch of time listening to music, writing about it, and a thousand administrative details, but anyone on the forum could join one as a participant. It could easily be you in the next one! Once ariich finishes in a couple months I think lonestar will be running one. You could give it a try, you might become addicted like the rest of us. :biggrin:
Id love to be active but I just dont have the time ,,, but THANK YOU for the kind invite and ye never know,.. but its totally awesome and you guys are even more awesome
-
Sent round 10 by PM
-
Is this one song or a block?
-
Is this one song or a block?
Up to 15 minutes
-
As many songs as will fit in 15 minutes. All the remaining rounds will likely be that way except for the EP.
-
Stadler, I replied to your e-mail.
-
??? : _____ _____
1: ___ ________ ___
2: ____ ____
??? : ___
1: ___________ _
2: __ ____ ____
??? : _______ _______
1: ______ _____
2: ____________
??? : ____________
1: ____ __ __ (___ ______)
2: _ _____ ___ ____ _____ ____ __ ________
3: __ _ _______ ______ ____
??? : ____________
1: _________ __ _____
2: ____________
??? : ___ ____ __ ____
1: _______ ___: _________ __________
2: _______ __: _____ ___ _____ _____
??? : ______ ______ _____
1: ___ _____ ____
2: ______
3: ___ _________ ____
??? : ___-____
1: __________ ___
2: ____
??? : ________ _____
1: __ ____ ____ _ __ _______
2: ___ ____
??? : ________
1: ____ _____
2: ______ __ _______
3: ___________
??? : _______
1: _____ -__ _ _-
2: ___ _____ ___________
3: _'____ ___ ____
??? : _____ ______ _________
1: _ ______ ___ ____
2: _________
3: ____ ____ _____ __ ___ ______
??? : __________ _______ ______
1: _________
2: ________
??? : ____ ________ __.
1: ___ ________ __ __
2: ____ _____ ____'__ ____ ___ ____
3: _ _______ ___ ___ _______
??? : ________
1: ____ ___ _______
2: __________________
3: ______ ____ _ _____
??? : ____
1: ______
2: __ ________ __________
??? : ______________
1: ___ _____ ___ ____
2: __________
3: __________
??? : _______
1: ____ ___ ______
2: ____ ________ _____
3: _______ ____
4: __ ___ _____ __ _ _____
Guessed letters:
-
Wow, that was quick! Good job people!
T
-
S!
-
??? : _____ ____s
1: T__ _______t S__
2: S___ S__s
??? : S__
1: __s________ _
2: __ ____ ____
??? : ____tt_ _______
1: ______ _____
2: __________t_
??? : ____t___t___
1: ____ __ __ (___ S_____)
2: _ ___ss ___ ____ S____ ___t _t ___t___s
3: __ _ S___t__ ______ ___t
??? : ________s___
1: __t______ __ __t_s
2: _s__________
??? : T__ ____ __ T___
1: ____t__ ___: __st_____ _______s_s
2: ____t__ __: __t__ t__ _____ _____
??? : __t___ ______ S____
1: __t _____ ____
2: _____s
3: T__ ________t S___
??? : ___-___s
1: ________s_ ___
2: ____
??? : ________ _____
1: S_ ____ ____ _ __ ___t___
2: ___ ____
??? : S_______
1: ____ _____
2: __st__ T_ S______
3: ______s___t
??? : __t____
1: __t__ -__ _ _-
2: ___ _____ __________t
3: _'____ _st ____
??? : _____ St___t ________s
1: _ __s___ ___ ____
2: __st_____
3: ____ ____ _____ _s __t ______
??? : S_____t___ _______ __s___
1: ______t__
2: __t__s_s
??? : ____ _______s __.
1: T__ ___ss___ _s __
2: ____ _____ T__t'__ ____ t__ ____
3: _ ____t__ ___ ___ S______
??? : S_______
1: S___ T__ St_____
2: T_tt__t_tt__t__st_
3: __t_ts ____ _ _____
??? : S___
1: _____s
2: __ _______s ____s_____
??? : __t_____s_____
1: T__ _____ ___ ____
2: ____tt__t_
3: __________
??? : ______s
1: ____ t__ ___t__
2: ____ ________ ____s
3: _______ S___
4: __ t__ _____ __ _ S____
Guessed letters: ts
-
R
-
??? : _____ St___t ________s
Is this Stadler?
-
It is not.
-
A
-
fine i'll take the D then
-
??? : __a__ __a_s
1: T__ __d____t S__
2: S___ S_as
??? : S__
1: __s_______a _
2: _a ___a __da
??? : _r__tt_ _____a_
1: ______ ___a_
2: _______a__t_
??? : ____t___t___
1: ____ A_ __ (A_d S_ad__)
2: A __ass _a_ ____ S____ __at _t ___ta__s
3: __ a S__at_r ___r__ ___t
??? : dr_a__r_s__r
1: _at__dra_ __ __t_s
2: _s__d____d_r
??? : T__ _a__ __ Tr__
1: __a_t_r ___: __sta____ _a___r_s_s
2: __a_t_r __: __t_r t__ __a__ D____
??? : __t___ _____r S____
1: __t _____ A_a_
2: A____s
3: T__ R___r__at S___
??? : _r_-_a_s
1: A___a___s_ ___
2: ____
??? : ____r___ R___r
1: S_ ____ _a__ _ A_ _a_t___
2: __r R_a_
??? : S_a__ard
1: ____ ____d
2: __st__ T_ S______
3: __ar__s___t
??? : __t____
1: __tr_ -__ _ a-
2: d__ _____ ___d_r____t
3: _'____ _st D___
??? : _a___ Str__t _r_a___rs
1: A D_s___ __r ____
2: A_stra__a
3: ___r ____ A____ _s __t ______
??? : S_____t___ __r___a __s___
1: A____at__
2: __t__s_s
??? : _a__ _____a_s _r.
1: T__ _r_ss_r_ _s __
2: ____ Dadd_ T_at'__ _a__ t__ ____
3: A ____tr_ ___ _a_ S_r____
??? : S____a_d
1: S___ T__ St_r___
2: T_tt__tatt__t__st_
3: __t_ts __dd _ __rd_
??? : S___
1: _____s
2: __ ____r__s D___s___a_
??? : A_t_r___s_r__r
1: T__ D____ ___ ____
2: D___tta_t_
3: _ar__d___a
??? : _a____s
1: ____ t__ R__t__
2: ____ _r___d__ ____s
3: A_a_d__ S___
4: __ t__ _____ __ a S_ar_
Guessed letters: tsrad
-
Hank Williams Jr.-Stadler
Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line
Manic Street Preachers
Australia
I
-
Svalbard
Open Wound
Listen to Someone
Pearlescent
didn't know anyone on DTF knew this band other than me :corn don't think i've ever even sent 'em in a roulette
RYM says Tomi has rated them so i'm gonna go with that as the sender :P
-
Svalbard
Open Wound
Listen to Someone
Pearlescent
didn't know anyone on DTF knew this band other than me :corn don't think i've ever even sent 'em in a roulette
RYM says Tomi has rated them so i'm gonna go with that as the sender :P
I could have sworn I featured this album in my Black Metal album of the week, but I just looked and I did not. Perhaps I was planning on featuring this next and then forgot all about it. Maybe I should resurrect that thread.
-
E
-
Svalbard
Open Wound
Listen to Someone
Pearlescent
didn't know anyone on DTF knew this band other than me :corn don't think i've ever even sent 'em in a roulette
RYM says Tomi has rated them so i'm gonna go with that as the sender :P
Oddly enough I listened to an interview with them a few years ago on a podcast I occasionally listen to and probably heard a song or two there, but I never got any further than that. And it's not Tomi.
-
??? : __a__ _ea_s
1: T_e _id_i__t S__
2: S___ Seas
??? : S_e
1: I_s____i_ia I
2: _a ___a __da
??? : _r_ette ___e_a_
1: ___e__ ___a_
2: ____e_ia_it_
??? : _e_it___t___
1: ____ A_ I_ (A_d S_ad__)
2: A __ass _a_ ____ S_i__ __at It ___tai_s
3: I_ a S_eater ___r__ __it
??? : drea__r_s_er
1: _at_edra_ __ __t_s
2: _se_d__e_der
??? : T_e _a__ __ Tr__
1: __a_ter III: __sta__i_ _a__eris_s
2: __a_ter I_: E_ter t_e __a__ De___
??? : __ti__ _____r S_e_e
1: _et _____ A_a_
2: A_i_is
3: T_e Ri_er__at S___
??? : _r_-_a_s
1: A___a___se ___
2: ____
??? : Okkervil River
1: S_ ___e _a__ I A_ _aiti__
2: __r Rea_
??? : Svalbard
1: Open Wound
2: Listen To Someone
3: Pearlescent
??? : __t____
1: i_tr_ -i_ _ a-
2: die E_i_e _ieder____t
3: _'_ei_ est Die_
??? : Manic Street Preachers
1: A Desi__ __r _i_e
2: Australia
3: ___r ___e A___e Is __t E_____
??? : S_ee__ti_e __ri__a __se__
1: A____at__
2: __t_isis
Stadler: Hank Williams Jr.
1: T_e _ress_re Is __
2: Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
3: A ____tr_ ___ _a_ S_r_i_e
??? : S__e_a_d
1: S___ Ti_ St_r_e_
2: Titte_tatte_te_sti
3: _itets _idd I _erdi
??? : Sigh
1: Voices
2: I_ _e__ries De__si__a_
Crow : Actor|Observer
1: T_e De_i_ ___ ____
2: Di_etta_te
3: _areid__ia
??? : _a____s
1: _i__ t_e R__t__
2: ___e _rie_d__ ____s
3: A_a_d__ S_i_
4: I_ t_e _e___ __ a S_ar_
Guessed letters: tsradie
-
Actor|Observer, Crow
-
Yep. Surprised that wasn't guessed earlier.
-
Sigh
Voices
dunno the other one rn
Okkervil River
-
Yep.
-
The Devil You Know
Dilettante
Pareidolia
Doesn't even include the two best songs. :P
-
Doesn't even include the two best songs. :P
Dilettante
Pareidolia
???
the only reason i didn't include in your ways was bcuz it would've exceeded the time limit, tbh
-
N
-
I would've swapped Devil You Know for In Your Ways.
-
??? : _r_ette ___e_a_
1: ___e__ ___a_
2: ____e_ia_it_
Elite: Ornette Coleman
1: Lonely Woman
2: Congeniality
-
Okkervil River tracks are
For Real
So come back, I am waiting.
Brilliant band, not sure I'd have selected those tracks personally, but be interested how they score.
-
Let's get a B in the Hangmanemang! :metal
-
??? : _r_ette ___e_a_
1: ___e__ ___a_
2: ____e_ia_it_
Elite: Ornette Coleman
1: Lonely Woman
2: Congeniality
:o
-
I didn’t send Svalbard or Sigh, but bravo to whoever did, both excellent bands that I could’ve sent.
-
The Fall of Troy -
Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms
Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon
Great band, but not the songs I would’ve picked personally.
Also, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
-
Everyone's a critic. :lol
The Devil You Know
Dilettante
Pareidolia
Doesn't even include the two best songs. :P
I would've swapped Devil You Know for In Your Ways.
Okkervil River tracks are
For Real
So come back, I am waiting.
Brilliant band, not sure I'd have selected those tracks personally, but be interested how they score.
The Fall of Troy -
Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms
Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon
Great band, but not the songs I would’ve picked personally.
-
The Fall of Troy -
Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms
Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon
Great band, but not the songs I would’ve picked personally.
Just checked this out...this is some good shit!
-
The Fall of Troy -
Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms
Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon
Great band, but not the songs I would’ve picked personally.
Just checked this out...this is some good shit!
Granted, not as good as Sleep Token, but pretty good :neverusethis:
-
The Fall of Troy -
Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms
Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon
Great band, but not the songs I would’ve picked personally.
Just checked this out...this is some good shit!
Granted, not as good as Sleep Token, but pretty good :neverusethis:
Yeah, not as good.....but waaaay better. I mean, I like Sleep Token, but The Fall of Troy is head and shoulders above.
The Fall of Troy -
Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms
Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon
Great band, but not the songs I would’ve picked personally.
Just checked this out...this is some good shit!
If you liked those, might as well check out that whole album. One of the best mixes of Post-Hardcore and Prog Metal out there.
-
If you liked those, might as well check out that whole album. One of the best mixes of Post-Hardcore and Prog Metal out there.
I put it in my Spotify Library. I may hit it tonight.
Yeah, not as good.....but waaaay better. I mean, I like Sleep Token, but The Fall of Troy is head and shoulders above.
After sampling both bands, The Fall Of Troy wins....easily.
-
If you liked those, might as well check out that whole album. One of the best mixes of Post-Hardcore and Prog Metal out there.
I put it in my Spotify Library. I may hit it tonight.
Yeah, not as good.....but waaaay better. I mean, I like Sleep Token, but The Fall of Troy is head and shoulders above.
After sampling both bands, The Fall Of Troy wins....easily.
Yea, I couldn’t agree more to be honest. Doppelgänger is where it’s at for me though :metal :metal
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Yea, I couldn’t agree more to be honest. Doppelgänger is where it’s at for me though :metal :metal
Haven't listen to this band in years, but yeah that album is awesome :metal
-
??? : Black Peaks
1: The Midnight Sun
2: S___ Seas
??? : S_e
1: Ins___bi_ia I
2: _a N_na _nda
Elite: Ornette Coleman
1: Lonely Woman
2: Congeniality
??? : _e_it___t___
1: ____ A_ I_ (And S_ad__)
2: A __ass _an _n__ S_i__ __at It __ntains
3: In a S_eater ___r__ _nit
??? : drea__r_s_er
1: _at_edra_ __ __t_s
2: _se_d__ender
??? : The Fall of Troy
1: Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms
2: Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon
??? : __ti_n _____r S_ene
1: _et B___n A_a_
2: A_ibis
3: T_e Ri_erb_at S_n_
??? : _r_-_a_s
1: A___a___se N__
2: ____
??? : Okkervil River
1: So Come Back I Am Waiting
2: For Real
??? : Svalbard
1: Open Wound
2: Listen To Someone
3: Pearlescent
??? : __t____
1: intr_ -i_ _ a-
2: die E_i_e _ieder__n_t
3: _'_ei_ est Die_
??? : Manic Street Preachers
1: A Desi_n __r _i_e
2: Australia
3: ___r ___e A__ne Is N_t En____
??? : Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
1: A_b__at_n
2: __t_isis
Stadler: Hank Williams Jr.
1: T_e _ress_re Is _n
2: Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
3: A ___ntr_ B__ _an S_r_i_e
??? : S__e_a_d
1: S_n_ Ti_ St_r_en
2: Tittentattente_sti
3: _itets _idd I _erdi
??? : Sigh
1: Voices
2: In _e__ries De__si_na_
Crow: Actor|Observer
1: The Devil You Know
2: Dilettante
3: Pareidolia
??? : _a____s
1: _i__ t_e R__t__
2: ___e _riend__ B__bs
3: Aband_n S_i_
4: In t_e Be___ __ a S_ar_
Guessed letters: tsradienb
-
Black Peaks
The Midnight Sun
-
Yep.
Doesn't even include the two best songs. :P
Brilliant band, not sure I'd have selected those tracks personally, but be interested how they score.
Great band, but not the songs I would’ve picked personally.
Everyone's a critic. :lol
That's exactly what I like. I love hearing alternate song choices, and I can listen to them during or after the round. It won't affect the score for the round, but it may very well help me actually get into the artist. Part of why I like the multi-song format for some rounds, even though it's more time and work for me, is that it gives a greater chance that something will land. As some of you have surely noticed, I have some odd quirks about things that can bug me, some of which I can't really help much, but sometimes the right song can overcome them. And since neither of us know beforehand which song it'll be, so often the more shots, the better the chance something will connect.
-
If you liked those, might as well check out that whole album. One of the best mixes of Post-Hardcore and Prog Metal out there.
I put it in my Spotify Library. I may hit it tonight.
Yeah, not as good.....but waaaay better. I mean, I like Sleep Token, but The Fall of Troy is head and shoulders above.
After sampling both bands, The Fall Of Troy wins....easily.
Yea, I couldn’t agree more to be honest. Doppelgänger is where it’s at for me though :metal :metal
You misspelled Manipulator :biggrin:
-
the only reason i didn't include in your ways was bcuz it would've exceeded the time limit, tbh
I would've swapped Devil You Know for In Your Ways.
y'all :rollin
i literally couldn't! i know in your ways is better than the devil you know! but there's a fifteen minute time limit!
-
Oh :lolpalm: Well I'm an idiot :lol
-
The Fall of Troy is the first band I saw live when I was 15. Great memories.
-
I believe I saw The Fall of Troy back in 2008 with The Dear Hunter. It's odd though, as Tera Melos was on the bill as well, and I used get TFOT and Tera Melos mixed up. Although from memory, Tera Melos were an all-instrumental band from memory.
Also the singer from TFOT sang on the Woods Brothers album from 2016, which was produced by Casey from The Dear Hunter.
-
I believe I saw The Fall of Troy back in 2008 with The Dear Hunter. It's odd though, as Tera Melos was on the bill as well, and I used get TFOT and Tera Melos mixed up. Although from memory, Tera Melos were an all-instrumental band from memory.
Also the singer from TFOT sang on the Woods Brothers album from 2016, which was produced by Casey from The Dear Hunter.
Tera Melos is another great band, but yeah, they are all instrumental. They also lean way more heavily into the technical aspects.
-
M
-
??? : Black Peaks
1: The Midnight Sun
2: S___ Seas
??? : S_e
1: Ins___bi_ia I
2: _a N_na _nda
Elite: Ornette Coleman
1: Lonely Woman
2: Congeniality
??? : mewithoutYou
1: ____ Am I_ (And S_ad__)
2: A __ass _an _n__ S_i__ __at It __ntains
3: In a S_eater ___r__ _nit
??? : dream_r_s_er
1: _at_edra_ __ M_t_s
2: _se_d__ender
??? : The Fall of Troy
1: Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms
2: Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon
??? : M_ti_n _____r S_ene
1: _et B___n A_a_
2: A_ibis
3: T_e Ri_erb_at S_n_
??? : _r_-Ma_s
1: A___a___se N__
2: ____
??? : Okkervil River
1: So Come Back I Am Waiting
2: For Real
??? : Svalbard
1: Open Wound
2: Listen To Someone
3: Pearlescent
??? : M_t__m_
1: intr_ -i_ _ a-
2: die E_i_e _ieder__n_t
3: _'_ei_ est Die_
??? : Manic Street Preachers
1: A Desi_n __r _i_e
2: Australia
3: ___r ___e A__ne Is N_t En____
??? : Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
1: Amb__at_n
2: __t_isis
Stadler: Hank Williams Jr.
1: T_e _ress_re Is _n
2: Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
3: A ___ntr_ B__ _an S_r_i_e
??? : S__e_a_d
1: S_n_ Ti_ St_rmen
2: Tittentattente_sti
3: _itets _idd I _erdi
??? : Sigh
1: Voices
2: In Mem_ries De__si_na_
Crow: Actor|Observer
1: The Devil You Know
2: Dilettante
3: Pareidolia
??? : _a____s
1: _i__ t_e R__t_m
2: __me _riend__ B_mbs
3: Aband_n S_i_
4: In t_e Be___ __ a S_ar_
Guessed letters: tsradienbm
-
mewithoutyou
-
Dreamcrusher
Catherdral Of Moths
Alibis
-
I see A Country Boy Can Survive, but I have no idea what the other Hank Williams song is.
-
Oh and Solefald
Tittentattenteksti
Song til Stormen
Vitets vidd i verdi
-
And Gallows
Kill the Rhythm
Come Friendly Bombs
Abandon Ship
In the Belly of a Shark
Is this Luke?
-
Mutyumi
intro - il y a
die Ewige Wiederkunft
L'œil est Dieu
Wasn't expecting to see this band. Is this Sacul????? No wait, Soundscape?
-
??? : Black Peaks
1: The Midnight Sun
2: S___ Seas
??? : S_e
1: Ins___bi_ia I
2: _a N_na _nda
Elite: Ornette Coleman
1: Lonely Woman
2: Congeniality
??? : mewithoutYou
1: ____ Am I_ (And S_ad__)
2: A __ass _an _n__ S_i__ __at It __ntains
3: In a S_eater ___r__ _nit
??? : dreamcrusher
1: Cathedral of Moths
2: _se_d__ender
??? : The Fall of Troy
1: Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms
2: Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon
??? : M_ti_n _____r S_ene
1: _et B___n A_a_
2: Alibis
3: T_e Ri_erb_at S_n_
??? : _r_-Ma_s
1: A___a___se N__
2: ____
??? : Okkervil River
1: So Come Back I Am Waiting
2: For Real
??? : Svalbard
1: Open Wound
2: Listen To Someone
3: Pearlescent
SoundscapeMN: Mutyumu
1: intro -il y a-
2: die Ewige Wiederkunft
3: L'oeil est Dieu
??? : Manic Street Preachers
1: A Desi_n __r _i_e
2: Australia
3: ___r ___e A__ne Is N_t En____
??? : Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
1: Amb__at_n
2: __t_isis
Stadler: Hank Williams Jr.
1: T_e _ress_re Is _n
2: Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
3: A Country Boy Can Survive
??? : Solefald
1: Song Til Stormen
2: Tittentattenteksti
3: Vitets Vidd I Verdi
??? : Sigh
1: Voices
2: In Mem_ries De__si_na_
Crow: Actor|Observer
1: The Devil You Know
2: Dilettante
3: Pareidolia
twosuitluke: Gallows
1: Kill the Rhythm
2: Come Friendly Bombs
3: Abandon Ship
4: In the Belly of a Shark
Guessed letters: tsradienbm
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The first word of my one is wrong. :lol
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The first word of my one is wrong. :lol
That's why I couldn't figure it out.
Ocean Colour Scene
Get Blown Away
The Riverboat Song
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The first word of my one is wrong. :lol
That's why I couldn't figure it out.
Ocean Colour Scene
Get Blown Away
The Riverboat Song
Nice one. :tup
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Motion Colour Scene :lol
Man, The Riverboat Song takes me back, great pick dude!
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Motion Colour Scene :lol
:lol
Man, The Riverboat Song takes me back, great pick dude!
Yeah just too iconic to not include.
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Motion Colour Scene :lol
:lol
Man, The Riverboat Song takes me back, great pick dude!
Yeah just too iconic to not include.
It takes me right back to playing this PlayStation 1 football game (Three Lions). The intro used to get so pumped and I've loved the song since then. Anyone else play this?
https://youtu.be/EJ-h6Bs82uY (https://youtu.be/EJ-h6Bs82uY)
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Motion Colour Scene :lol
:lol
Man, The Riverboat Song takes me back, great pick dude!
Yeah just too iconic to not include.
It takes me right back to playing this PlayStation 1 football game (Three Lions). The intro used to get so pumped and I've loved the song since then. Anyone else play this?
https://youtu.be/EJ-h6Bs82uY (https://youtu.be/EJ-h6Bs82uY)
Can't say I did.
Also that's Hundred Mile High City, not Riverboat Song. :P
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Motion Colour Scene :lol
:lol
Man, The Riverboat Song takes me back, great pick dude!
Yeah just too iconic to not include.
It takes me right back to playing this PlayStation 1 football game (Three Lions). The intro used to get so pumped and I've loved the song since then. Anyone else play this?
https://youtu.be/EJ-h6Bs82uY (https://youtu.be/EJ-h6Bs82uY)
Can't say I did.
Also that's Hundred Mile High City, not Riverboat Song. :P
:lol as you can see, I'm a big fan!
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Riverboat song always reminds me of TFI Friday.
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Riverboat song always reminds me of TFI Friday.
God, I loved the 90s
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Riverboat song always reminds me of TFI Friday.
Thankfully I already knew the song well before I ever watched any of that show.
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As usual, I have no idea what we’re talking about. :lol
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As usual, I have no idea what we’re talking about. :lol
The UK in the 90s. Probably a niche area of discussion on DTF. :lol
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Girl Power!
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The first word of my one is wrong. :lol
:facepalm: I noticed that earlier and corrected it in all the documents except for the one I posted hangman from. :cow:
As usual, I have no idea what we’re talking about. :lol
The UK in the 90s. Probably a niche area of discussion on DTF. :lol
Girl Power!
(https://i.giphy.com/media/PoGjMSWqt4RHHunrmy/giphy.webp)
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??? : Black Peaks
1: The Midnight Sun
2: S___ Seas
??? : S_e
1: Ins___bi_ia I
2: _a N_na _nda
Elite: Ornette Coleman
1: Lonely Woman
2: Congeniality
??? : mewithoutYou
1: ____ Am I_ (And S_ad__)
2: A __ass _an _n__ S_i__ __at It __ntains
3: In a S_eater ___r__ _nit
??? : dreamcrusher
1: Cathedral of Moths
2: _se_d__ender
??? : The Fall of Troy
1: Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms
2: Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon
ariich: Ocean Colour Scene
1: Get Blown Away
2: Alibis
3: The Riverboat Song
??? : _r_-Ma_s
1: A___a___se N__
2: ____
??? : Okkervil River
1: So Come Back I Am Waiting
2: For Real
??? : Svalbard
1: Open Wound
2: Listen To Someone
3: Pearlescent
SoundscapeMN: Mutyumu
1: intro -il y a-
2: die Ewige Wiederkunft
3: L'oeil est Dieu
??? : Manic Street Preachers
1: A Desi_n __r _i_e
2: Australia
3: ___r ___e A__ne Is N_t En____
??? : Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
1: Amb__at_n
2: __t_isis
Stadler: Hank Williams Jr.
1: T_e _ress_re Is _n
2: Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
3: A Country Boy Can Survive
??? : Solefald
1: Song Til Stormen
2: Tittentattenteksti
3: Vitets Vidd I Verdi
??? : Sigh
1: Voices
2: In Mem_ries De__si_na_
Crow: Actor|Observer
1: The Devil You Know
2: Dilettante
3: Pareidolia
twosuitluke: Gallows
1: Kill the Rhythm
2: Come Friendly Bombs
3: Abandon Ship
4: In the Belly of a Shark
Guessed letters: tsradienbm
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As usual, I have no idea what we’re talking about. :lol
The UK in the 90s. Probably a niche area of discussion on DTF. :lol
The older I get, the more I feel the UK in the 90s was peak everything. What a great moment in time. If there's isn't a 90s nostalgia thread on the General Discussion, then there should be!
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give me the U
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Did Sacul send Sigh?
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No.
??? : Black Peaks
1: The Midnight Sun
2: S___ Seas
??? : S_e
1: Ins__ubi_ia I
2: _a N_na _nda
Elite: Ornette Coleman
1: Lonely Woman
2: Congeniality
??? : mewithoutYou
1: ____ Am I_ (And S_ad__)
2: A __ass _an _n__ S_i__ __at It __ntains
3: In a S_eater ___r__ _nit
Sacul : dreamcrusher
1: Cathedral of Moths
2: _seud__ender
??? : The Fall of Troy
1: Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms
2: Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon
ariich: Ocean Colour Scene
1: Get Blown Away
2: Alibis
3: The Riverboat Song
??? : _r_-Ma_s
1: A___a___se N__
2: ____
Tomislav95 : Okkervil River
1: So Come Back I Am Waiting
2: For Real
Nachtmerrie : Svalbard
1: Open Wound
2: Listen To Someone
3: Pearlescent
SoundscapeMN: Mutyumu
1: intro -il y a-
2: die Ewige Wiederkunft
3: L'oeil est Dieu
??? : Manic Street Preachers
1: A Desi_n __r _i_e
2: Australia
3: __ur ___e A__ne Is N_t En_u__
??? : Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
1: Ambu_at_n
2: __t_isis
Stadler: Hank Williams Jr.
1: T_e _ressure Is _n
2: Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
3: A Country Boy Can Survive
??? : Solefald
1: Song Til Stormen
2: Tittentattenteksti
3: Vitets Vidd I Verdi
??? : Sigh
1: Voices
2: In Memories Delusional
Crow: Actor|Observer
1: The Devil You Know
2: Dilettante
3: Pareidolia
twosuitluke: Gallows
1: Kill the Rhythm
2: Come Friendly Bombs
3: Abandon Ship
4: In the Belly of a Shark
Guessed letters: tsradienbmu
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BTW, having given it slightly more thought (though perhaps still not enough), I guess I'm going to implement the TAC EP rule. My reasoning is that it's voluntarily self-imposed, so no one has to use it if they don't want to. So I'm just going to copy/paste ariich's formulation of it.
"The TAC rule: Banned list rules remain the same with one exception, known through the ages as the TAC rule: So that you can plan your EP ahead of time, if an artist you plan to use in your EP is used by someone else in an earlier regular round, you can PM me (after hangman is revealed but BEFORE first impressions are posted) and tell me that you plan to use that artist in your EP. However, once impressions are posted, you will be locked in to using that artist in your EP with at least a full song (i.e. not just a short intro/interlude), although you can choose whichever song(s) you like, including any sent already."
If you have questions about how it works, ariich and TAC, you have the floor. :lol
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Did Sacul send Sigh?
lol no, i like a few songs here and there but that's about it
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In Memories Delusional
Sacul sent dreamcrusher. The fucking balls. :metal Was this the only nightmare difficulty submission?
BTW, having given it slightly more thought (though perhaps still not enough), I guess I'm going to implement the TAC EP rule. My reasoning is that it's voluntarily self-imposed, so no one has to use it if they don't want to. So I'm just going to copy/paste ariich's formulation of it.
"The TAC rule: Banned list rules remain the same with one exception, known through the ages as the TAC rule: So that you can plan your EP ahead of time, if an artist you plan to use in your EP is used by someone else in an earlier regular round, you can PM me (after hangman is revealed but BEFORE first impressions are posted) and tell me that you plan to use that artist in your EP. However, once impressions are posted, you will be locked in to using that artist in your EP with at least a full song (i.e. not just a short intro/interlude), although you can choose whichever song(s) you like, including any sent already."
If you have questions about how it works, ariich and TAC, you have the floor. :lol
Since I've submitted by EP already I'll definitely use this if I need to! But realistically, only one of the bands is popular enough to have any chance of being sent by someone else, and if you look at the tracklist you can probably guess which one. :lol
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Sacul sent dreamcrusher. The fucking balls. :metal Was this the only nightmare difficulty submission?
Yep. :corn
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Sacul sent dreamcrusher. The fucking balls. :metal
Go hard or go home :2metal:
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No, you didn't go hard, you went nightmare. :p 2/3 of the roulette went hard, actually. I'm definitely taking my time this round to even give some of these submissions a chance and learn some things by immersing myself. Even with the point bonuses this would probably be by far the worst round of the roulette yet based on the first listens, as expected based on the parameters.
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:corn :corn :corn
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:lol I'm looking forward to the write-ups.
EDIT: Incidentally, in a future roulette I should probably resurrect my "so bad it's good" round or something similar. :lol
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:lol I'm looking forward to the write-ups.
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OK let's try this for a round of who sent what...
Lethean - Sigh
Tomislav95 - Okkervil River
senecadawg2 - Manic Street Preachers
Puppies_On_Acid - Solefald
Vmadera00 - The Fall of Troy
Buddyhunter1 - Black Peaks
Evermind - Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Nachtmerrie - Svalbard
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Tomislav95 - Okkervil River
Nachtmerrie - Svalbard
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OK let's try this for a round of who sent what...
Lethean - Sigh
Tomislav95 - Okkervil River
senecadawg2 - Manic Street Preachers
Puppies_On_Acid - Solefald
Vmadera00 - The Fall of Troy
Buddyhunter1 - Black Peaks
Evermind - Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Nachtmerrie - Svalbard
Hey, I'm playing too! :lol
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Tomislav95 - Okkervil River
Nachtmerrie - Svalbard
At least I got Tomi's right for once!
Puppies DIDN'T send Solefald? *surprised Pikachu face
Hey, I'm playing too! :lol
None of these seemed like what you'd send, so I guess yours is one of the unguessed?
The fuck do I know though? TAC sent Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.
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I'd probably never send Solefald in a roulette.
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I'd probably never send Solefald in a roulette.
To be fair, they seemed the most 'puppies' of the bunch, but I'm clearly not getting better at this, no matter how many roulettes I play.
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OK let's try this for a round of who sent what...
Lethean - Sigh
Tomislav95 - Okkervil River
senecadawg2 - Manic Street Preachers
Puppies_On_Acid - Solefald
Vmadera00 - The Fall of Troy
Buddyhunter1 - Black Peaks
Evermind - Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Nachtmerrie - Svalbard
I got Sleepytime Gorilla Museum in one of my roulettes and I think I rated it 3/10 or close to that.
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OK let's try this for a round of who sent what...
Lethean - Sigh
Tomislav95 - Okkervil River
senecadawg2 - Manic Street Preachers
Puppies_On_Acid - Solefald
Vmadera00 - The Fall of Troy
Buddyhunter1 - Black Peaks
Evermind - Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Nachtmerrie - Svalbard
I got Sleepytime Gorilla Museum in one of my roulettes and I think I rated it 3/10 or close to that.
So you decided to pay it forward, eh? :biggrin:
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The fuck do I know though? TAC sent Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.
Never heard a single song by them. ;D
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The fuck do I know though? TAC sent Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.
Never heard a single song by them. ;D
Yea, that should've been in green text, my sarcasm wasn't clear.
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The fuck do I know though? TAC sent Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.
Never heard a single song by them. ;D
Yea, that should've been in green text, my sarcasm wasn't clear.
You're always sarcastic. You should put your serious texts in green. :P
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Ok, I'm gonna fill out the rest of the artists and songs for hangman. You can still guess senders if you want for now. I'll fill out senders tomorrow night, and post early impressions on Friday, that'll give everyone a day or two if for some reason they want to use the TAC EP rule.
??? : Black Peaks
1: The Midnight Sun
2: Slow Seas
??? : Ske
1: Insolubilia I
2: La Nona Onda
Elite: Ornette Coleman
1: Lonely Woman
2: Congeniality
??? : mewithoutYou
1: Wolf Am I! (And Shadow)
2: A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains
3: In a Sweater Poorly Knit
Sacul : dreamcrusher
1: Cathedral of Moths
2: Pseudogender
??? : The Fall of Troy
1: Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms
2: Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon
ariich: Ocean Colour Scene
1: Get Blown Away
2: Alibis
3: The Riverboat Song
??? : Cro-Mags
1: Apocalypse Now
2: 2020
Tomislav95 : Okkervil River
1: So Come Back I Am Waiting
2: For Real
Nachtmerrie : Svalbard
1: Open Wound
2: Listen To Someone
3: Pearlescent
SoundscapeMN: Mutyumu
1: intro -il y a-
2: die Ewige Wiederkunft
3: L'oeil est Dieu
??? : Manic Street Preachers
1: A Design For Life
2: Australia
3: Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
??? : Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
1: Ambugaton
2: Phthisis
Stadler: Hank Williams Jr.
1: The Pressure Is On
2: Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
3: A Country Boy Can Survive
??? : Solefald
1: Song Til Stormen
2: Tittentattenteksti
3: Vitets Vidd I Verdi
??? : Sigh
1: Voices
2: In Memories Delusional
Crow: Actor|Observer
1: The Devil You Know
2: Dilettante
3: Pareidolia
twosuitluke: Gallows
1: Kill the Rhythm
2: Come Friendly Bombs
3: Abandon Ship
4: In the Belly of a Shark
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Did TAC send Cro-Mags?
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Did TAC send Cro-Mags?
:lol
That’d be Glasser.
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Did TAC send Cro-Mags?
:lol
That’d be Glasser.
We're he in the roulette I'd have totally guessed him. You must be Solefald or Ske then!
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"Hey, let's form a band"
"Cool"
"Anyone got any names?"
"Sleepytime Gorilla Museum"
"THAT'S IT!"
Haha
(Not dogging on the band, just the process of how bands come up with names).
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"Hey, let's form a band"
"Cool"
"Anyone got any names?"
"Sleepytime Gorilla Museum"
"THAT'S IT!"
Haha
(Not dogging on the band, just the process of how bands come up with names).
Don't get me started on the lore. :biggrin:
Actually don't, I don't understand any of it. :lol
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Ok, here's hangman filled out. I'll post early impressions tomorrow.
Evermind: Black Peaks
1: The Midnight Sun
2: Slow Seas
HOF: Ske
1: Insolubilia I
2: La Nona Onda
Elite: Ornette Coleman
1: Lonely Woman
2: Congeniality
senecadawg2: mewithoutYou
1: Wolf Am I! (And Shadow)
2: A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains
3: In a Sweater Poorly Knit
Sacul: dreamcrusher
1: Cathedral of Moths
2: Pseudogender
Puppies_On_Acid: The Fall of Troy
1: Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms
2: Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon
ariich: Ocean Colour Scene
1: Get Blown Away
2: Alibis
3: The Riverboat Song
Vmadera00: Cro-Mags
1: Apocalypse Now
2: 2020
Tomislav95: Okkervil River
1: So Come Back I Am Waiting
2: For Real
Nachtmerrie: Svalbard
1: Open Wound
2: Listen To Someone
3: Pearlescent
SoundscapeMN: Mutyumu
1: intro -il y a-
2: die Ewige Wiederkunft
3: L'oeil est Dieu
soupytwist: Manic Street Preachers
1: A Design For Life
2: Australia
3: Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
Buddyhunter1: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
1: Ambugaton
2: Phthisis
Stadler: Hank Williams Jr.
1: The Pressure Is On
2: Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
3: A Country Boy Can Survive
Lethean: Solefald
1: Song Til Stormen
2: Tittentattenteksti
3: Vitets Vidd I Verdi
TAC: Sigh
1: Voices
2: In Memories Delusional
Crow: Actor|Observer
1: The Devil You Know
2: Dilettante
3: Pareidolia
twosuitluke: Gallows
1: Kill the Rhythm
2: Come Friendly Bombs
3: Abandon Ship
4: In the Belly of a Shark
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Oh, and here is the playlist for the round. "Get Blown Away" from Ocean Colour Scene might not show up, and the Ske songs don't seem to be on streaming, so you'll have to find alternate methods or get HOF to send them to you if you're interested in checking them out.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5YjbdPyZTVrsoWDYArhsr6 (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5YjbdPyZTVrsoWDYArhsr6)
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Oh, and here is the playlist for the round. "Get Blown Away" from Ocean Colour Scene might not show up, and the Ske songs don't seem to be on streaming, so you'll have to find alternate methods or get HOF to send them to you if you're interested in checking them out.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5YjbdPyZTVrsoWDYArhsr6 (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5YjbdPyZTVrsoWDYArhsr6)
The Ske songs can be streamed at Bandcamp only for whatever reason:
https://skeskeskeskeske.bandcamp.com/album/insolubilia?from=search&search_item_id=1994193360&search_item_type=a&search_match_part=%3F&search_page_id=2621310442&search_page_no=0&search_rank=2&logged_out_mobile_menubar=true
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TAC, I had no clue you liked Sigh. Are getting in training for Lonestar's roulette or something? :lol
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TAC, I had no clue you liked Sigh. Are getting in training for Lonestar's roulette or something? :lol
I checked out Heir To Despair when it came out and thought it was really interesting. I've had it in my Spotify library ever since. It was probably the first band I thought of and was happy they weren't banned.
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TAC, I had no clue you liked Sigh. Are getting in training for Lonestar's roulette or something? :lol
I checked out Heir To Despair when it came out and thought it was really interesting. I've had it in my Spotify library ever since. It was probably the first band I thought of and was happy they weren't banned.
Yea, I've been toying with sending them literally every roulette currently going, as I don't think they're banned in any. Clearly underrated around here. Heir to Despair is my favourite, such a good album.
Actually, they might be banned in Crow's, as I know they at least like some of their albums.
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TAC, I had no clue you liked Sigh. Are getting in training for Lonestar's roulette or something? :lol
I checked out Heir To Despair when it came out and thought it was really interesting. I've had it in my Spotify library ever since. It was probably the first band I thought of and was happy they weren't banned.
Yea, I've been toying with sending them literally every roulette currently going, as I don't think they're banned in any. Clearly underrated around here. Heir to Despair is my favourite, such a good album.
Actually, they might be banned in Crow's, as I know they at least like some of their albums.
They are banned in Crow's. Thought of them for the Weird Round.
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sigh are definitely banned for my roulette yes :corn
the weird round is probably going to be a disaster but we'll see
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the weird round is probably going to be a disaster but we'll see
TAC's acoustic round, your weird round, my current round, why do we do this to ourselves? :lol
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Hmm, these didn't come out quite as pessimistically as I worried they might (especially after Crow's latest impressions), but I guess you'll have to be the judge of that. As always, I'm way past the first listen, and may already feel differently about some of them. I still try and capture some of the initial feeling, but sometimes doing them later (technically revising in a lot of cases) probably softens some of them.
I will also say I find it amusing that I have three Brits in my roulette - two of them sent Britpop, one did not. :laugh:
Round 10 Early Impressions:
1: The first song feels like a funhouse mirror version of a style I like, but the second is more appealing, so we'll have to see how it balances out.
2: Puppies_On_Acid - The Fall of Troy - Did someone sneak The Mars Volta in again?
3: soupytwist - Manic Street Preachers - This seems kind of middle of the road, but you might have accidentally? stumbled upon some sneaky cheatin' points for an element of one of the songs.
4: So apparently there's at least two sides to this style, and I'd only checked out the one I really have to be in the right mood for, because I'll probably be in the mood for this much more frequently.
5: Two of these songs are kind of cool, but I feel like I'm observing a scuffle between two demons arguing over who gets to devour this poor sinner's kidneys first.
6: TAC - Sigh - This is really hard to parse. There are certainly elements I like here, but other elements I thought might be present are missing, the production is a bit rough, and I wonder if these are the right songs to have sent.
7: The non-metal facets of this are easily the strongest, but the metal ones and the production hold it back.
8: Now this is going to take some getting used to, I feel like I'm in one of those dreams where everything's a little off, but you can't quite put your finger on what it is.
9: This is close to a style that I like (though don't always love), but it might be a too stripped-down version of it.
10: ariich - Ocean Colour Scene - The last song is really infectious, but the jury will be deliberating on the first two for a bit I suspect.
11: The key for some of the better submissions this round might be being adjacent to genres/artists I do like, and this one achieves that with a lush, beautiful and powerful sound.
12: This has more promising elements than some of what I've heard in this genre that makes me feel negatively about it, but still leans way too much into the things that bug me about versions of this style, particularly vocally.
13: There are some cool instrumental ideas here, but the growing array of types of vocals that vex me in this genre continues to frustrate me.
14: Normally I dislike instrumental versions of vocal albums, but this might be one of those exceptions where I could need it.
15: This isn't really my sort of style, but I have to admit it was getting a bit more fun and unexpectedly varied as it went along.
16: Getting the right balance of vocals that don't annoy me and guitar work that isn't overly fidgety seems to be a key for getting this style right, and this is one of the ones that comes closest to nailing it.
17: There are a surprisingly high number of different components I like here, though there aren't quite as many of any of them in particular as I'd like.
18: Sacul - dreamcrusher - This is so grating and obnoxious you may have driven me back into the comforting, loving arms of Han-Tyumi.
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Have no idea lol
Maybe 12? I hope is not 18
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Nope.
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18, but that means you love Han-tyumi now right?
(https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/490/511/148.jpg)
You asked for hardcore punk, and got some of the UKs best, imo.
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I know you wanted that one but sorry it's not yours. :p
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Awwww, I wanted to be the obnoxious one.
But, back to Han-tyumi, big fan now right? Good man.
Well, mine will be one of the ones you don't like then.
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Round 10 Early Impressions:
1: The first song feels like a funhouse mirror version of a style I like, but the second is more appealing, so we'll have to see how it balances out.
4: So apparently there's at least two sides to this style, and I'd only checked out the one I really have to be in the right mood for, because I'll probably be in the mood for this much more frequently.
I'm going to start with these two.
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Hmm, could be quite a few of them but I like to try and narrow it down to three so let's try these ones:
3: This seems kind of middle of the road, but you might have accidentally? stumbled upon some sneaky cheatin' points for an element of one of the songs.
10: The last song is really infectious, but the jury will be deliberating on the first two for a bit I suspect.
17: There are a surprisingly high number of different components I like here, though there aren't quite as many of any of them in particular as I'd like.
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Neither on TAC's.
10: The last song is really infectious, but the jury will be deliberating on the first two for a bit I suspect.
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Round 10 Early Impressions:
6: This is really hard to parse. There are certainly elements I like here, but other elements I thought might be present are missing, the production is a bit rough, and I wonder if these are the right songs to have sent.
7: The non-metal facets of this are easily the strongest, but the metal ones and the production hold it back.
8: Now this is going to take some getting used to, I feel like I'm in one of those dreams where everything's a little off, but you can't quite put your finger on what it is.
11: The key for some of the better submissions this round might be being adjacent to genres/artists I do like, and this one achieves that with a lush, beautiful and powerful sound.
13: There are some cool instrumental ideas here, but the growing array of types of vocals that vex me in this genre continues to frustrate me.
16: Getting the right balance of vocals that don't annoy me and guitar work that isn't overly fidgety seems to be a key for getting this style right, and this is one of the ones that comes closest to nailing it.
17: There are a surprisingly high number of different components I like here, though there aren't quite as many of any of them in particular as I'd like.
Am I at least in this group somewhere?
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No idea.
1, 6 or 7?
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TAC, yes.
Evermind, No.
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11 or 16, please. ;D
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11?
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Nope.
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Oof. My score is going down by the guess.
I'll say 7.
If not, just out me out of my misery.
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1 or 17?
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It's bad enough that Litho robbed me of every decent impression. Now he's signed off and I'm left hanging. :lol
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(https://i.gifer.com/1zGx.gif)
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Pretty sure I'm 3.
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Either 6 or 18
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It's bad enough that Litho robbed me of every decent impression. Now he's signed off and I'm left hanging. :lol
I know, it sucks that our fake offline lives interfere with our real online ones, doesn't it? :p
Pretty sure I'm 3.
Indeed.
18
Unfortunately so.
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Which one is mine? I'm all guessed out. ;D
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2: Did someone sneak The Mars Volta in again?
(https://media.tenor.com/OI4rHG9VpXIAAAAC/ryan-reynolds-goddammit.gif)
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(https://i.imgur.com/s9woO8Q.gif)
Which one is mine? I'm all guessed out. ;D
I often find it beneficial to sit on them for a bit. In other roulettes I'll come back hours/a day later and sometimes it'll stand out then, having subconsciously mulled it over some.
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I mulled mine over, and I was wrong on all counts. :lol
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I'm either 6,8,13, or 17.
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6
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6
Interesting. Not sure how I feel about that, which I guess is what you're thinking too. :lol
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This is definitely not a usual round, by design. I'm kind of flabbergasted how frequently the ranking contours tend to hold, although there are always a few people a bit out of place, and probably even more so this time.
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(https://i.imgur.com/s9woO8Q.gif)
To be fair the songs I sent are way better than any of The Mars Volta songs you got. :corn
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Am I 11?
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18
Unfortunately so.
Well, hope the songs end up growing on you, I personally love that album. It's tough to get into it, but so worth it if you like dance music and noise.
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no clue so uhh. 12, 13, or 16? idk
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18
Unfortunately so.
Well, hope the songs end up growing on you, I personally love that album. It's tough to get into it, but so worth it if you like dance music and noise.
I think he made it pretty clear in the definitions for this round that he doesn't like noise... :P
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No on HOF and Crow, though both of you aren't that far off.
18
Unfortunately so.
Well, hope the songs end up growing on you, I personally love that album. It's tough to get into it, but so worth it if you like dance music and noise.
It will definitely be one of the more interesting writeups, no matter what happens.
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uuhh. idk. 4? 11? 17? a lot of the remaining ones i can't see applying to mine. not funhouse, no demons, literally not metal, not stripped down, not an instrumental version of a vocal album, not much else works :V
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I’ll guess 4 as well.
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Round 10 Early Impressions:
1: The first song feels like a funhouse mirror version of a style I like, but the second is more appealing, so we'll have to see how it balances out.
2: Puppies_On_Acid - The Fall of Troy - Did someone sneak The Mars Volta in again?
3: soupytwist - Manic Street Preachers - This seems kind of middle of the road, but you might have accidentally? stumbled upon some sneaky cheatin' points for an element of one of the songs.
4: HOF - Ske - So apparently there's at least two sides to this style, and I'd only checked out the one I really have to be in the right mood for, because I'll probably be in the mood for this much more frequently.
5: Two of these songs are kind of cool, but I feel like I'm observing a scuffle between two demons arguing over who gets to devour this poor sinner's kidneys first.
6: TAC - Sigh - This is really hard to parse. There are certainly elements I like here, but other elements I thought might be present are missing, the production is a bit rough, and I wonder if these are the right songs to have sent.
7: The non-metal facets of this are easily the strongest, but the metal ones and the production hold it back.
8: Now this is going to take some getting used to, I feel like I'm in one of those dreams where everything's a little off, but you can't quite put your finger on what it is.
9: This is close to a style that I like (though don't always love), but it might be a too stripped-down version of it.
10: ariich - Ocean Colour Scene - The last song is really infectious, but the jury will be deliberating on the first two for a bit I suspect.
11: The key for some of the better submissions this round might be being adjacent to genres/artists I do like, and this one achieves that with a lush, beautiful and powerful sound.
12: This has more promising elements than some of what I've heard in this genre that makes me feel negatively about it, but still leans way too much into the things that bug me about versions of this style, particularly vocally.
13: There are some cool instrumental ideas here, but the growing array of types of vocals that vex me in this genre continues to frustrate me.
14: Crow - Actor|Observer - Normally I dislike instrumental versions of vocal albums, but this might be one of those exceptions where I could need it.
15: This isn't really my sort of style, but I have to admit it was getting a bit more fun and unexpectedly varied as it went along.
16: Getting the right balance of vocals that don't annoy me and guitar work that isn't overly fidgety seems to be a key for getting this style right, and this is one of the ones that comes closest to nailing it.
17: There are a surprisingly high number of different components I like here, though there aren't quite as many of any of them in particular as I'd like.
18: Sacul - dreamcrusher - This is so grating and obnoxious you may have driven me back into the comforting, loving arms of Han-Tyumi.
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not an instrumental version of a vocal album
You're not quite reading it right, but I'll give it to you.
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see, this is where we don't get along :loser:
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Well, you're less alone this time. Half a dozen people picking that genre winds up being almost literal roulette, in reverse.
I'm going to try and put up comparisons of some kind tomorrow.
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Ok, here are the impressions filled out. Depending upon how the rest of the day goes I'll throw up comparisons either tonight or tomorrow.
Round 10 Early Impressions:
1: Elite - Ornette Coleman - The first song feels like a funhouse mirror version of a style I like, but the second is more appealing, so we'll have to see how it balances out.
2: Puppies_On_Acid - The Fall of Troy - Did someone sneak The Mars Volta in again?
3: soupytwist - Manic Street Preachers - This seems kind of middle of the road, but you might have accidentally? stumbled upon some sneaky cheatin' points for an element of one of the songs.
4: HOF - Ske - So apparently there's at least two sides to this style, and I'd only checked out the one I really have to be in the right mood for, because I'll probably be in the mood for this much more frequently.
5: Lethean - Solefald - Two of these songs are kind of cool, but I feel like I'm observing a scuffle between two demons arguing over who gets to devour this poor sinner's kidneys first.
6: TAC - Sigh - This is really hard to parse. There are certainly elements I like here, but other elements I thought might be present are missing, the production is a bit rough, and I wonder if these are the right songs to have sent.
7: SoundscapeMN - Mutyumu - The non-metal facets of this are easily the strongest, but the metal ones and the production hold it back.
8: Buddyhunter1 - Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Now this is going to take some getting used to, I feel like I'm in one of those dreams where everything's a little off, but you can't quite put your finger on what it is.
9: Vmadera00 - Cro-Mags - This is close to a style that I like (though don't always love), but it might be a too stripped-down version of it.
10: ariich - Ocean Colour Scene - The last song is really infectious, but the jury will be deliberating on the first two for a bit I suspect.
11: Nachtmerrie - Svalbard - The key for some of the better submissions this round might be being adjacent to genres/artists I do like, and this one achieves that with a lush, beautiful and powerful sound.
12: Tomislav95 - Okkervil River - This has more promising elements than some of what I've heard in this genre that makes me feel negatively about it, but still leans way too much into the things that bug me about versions of this style, particularly vocally.
13: senecadawg2 - mewithoutYou - There are some cool instrumental ideas here, but the growing array of types of vocals that vex me in this genre continues to frustrate me.
14: Crow - Actor|Observer - Normally I dislike instrumental versions of vocal albums, but this might be one of those exceptions where I could need it.
15: twosuitluke - Gallows - This isn't really my sort of style, but I have to admit it was getting a bit more fun and unexpectedly varied as it went along.
16: Evermind - Black Peaks - Getting the right balance of vocals that don't annoy me and guitar work that isn't overly fidgety seems to be a key for getting this style right, and this is one of the ones that comes closest to nailing it.
17: Stadler - Hank Williams Jr. - There are a surprisingly high number of different components I like here, though there aren't quite as many of any of them in particular as I'd like.
18: Sacul - dreamcrusher - This is so grating and obnoxious you may have driven me back into the comforting, loving arms of Han-Tyumi.
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16: Evermind - Black Peaks - Getting the right balance of vocals that don't annoy me and guitar work that isn't overly fidgety seems to be a key for getting this style right, and this is one of the ones that comes closest to nailing it.
:metal
Hopefully it didn't plummet during subsequent listens!
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I'm trying to remember if I had any entries that I had a positive first impression of and then fell off later on. It might have been traumatic enough that the submitter would remember even better than I would, but nothing is coming right to mind. If there hasn't been, there will eventually be a first though, and since I still have a number of listens and a ways to go on the writeups, let's definitely hope you won't be the first? victim!
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8: Buddyhunter1 - Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Now this is going to take some getting used to, I feel like I'm in one of those dreams where everything's a little off, but you can't quite put your finger on what it is.
You know, that's exactly what makes this band so great to me. They've got this atmosphere to them that's... just unsettling enough that it's incredibly captivating and evocative. Their second album in particular almost feels like you've stumbled across something that you shouldn't have, with its bizarre but uncomfortably specific depictions of humanity being wiped out by nature and other strange occurrences.
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:corn
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11: Nachtmerrie - Svalbard - The key for some of the better submissions this round might be being adjacent to genres/artists I do like, and this one achieves that with a lush, beautiful and powerful sound.
It´s not really my genre as well but this is a band is really like. I´m hoping to see them live later this year.
J
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16: Evermind - Black Peaks - Getting the right balance of vocals that don't annoy me and guitar work that isn't overly fidgety seems to be a key for getting this style right, and this is one of the ones that comes closest to nailing it.
:metal
Hopefully it didn't plummet during subsequent listens!
Ooh nice, I definitely considered Black Peaks but figured the more screamy vocals would presumably be what Litho doesn't like about post-hardcore.
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Since like a third of the entries or more are in that broader area, and many of my quibbles (sometimes more than a quibble, actually) are vocal-oriented with them, I may need a separate section rather than trying to repeat some things too much, I'll have to see how everything flows when I'm closer to finishing the writeups.
I'm also toying with the idea of doing short paragraph summaries of the main points for some of the lengthier writeups. While I kind of enjoy the process of thinking about them and writing them, some of them get a bit long, and I suspect a lot of people (maybe most) don't read most of the writeups that aren't about theirs or bands they really like/are curious about. Which is fine, time is a limited resource, but I may have been shooting myself in the foot in that my issues with various bands and styles tend to resurface, and it may partially be because people don't see the sections of various writeups where I discuss those. So if more entries have a summary paragraph there's probably a greater chance more people will at least read those even if they don't read the rest of the details on each submission.
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Yeah I think that's fair. I'll normally do a skim read through writeups and maybe dive into ones where I know the artist reasonably well, but the longer the write-ups are, the more of a "skim" it is.
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16: Evermind - Black Peaks - Getting the right balance of vocals that don't annoy me and guitar work that isn't overly fidgety seems to be a key for getting this style right, and this is one of the ones that comes closest to nailing it.
:metal
Hopefully it didn't plummet during subsequent listens!
Ooh nice, I definitely considered Black Peaks but figured the more screamy vocals would presumably be what Litho doesn't like about post-hardcore.
I thought they weren't on your RYM and planned to use them for your EP. Looked again just now and apparently they are! :lol
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Ok, let's get in on the horizontal colored arrows game this time.
Note that these are unadjusted comparisons, so if you chose a genre with a style difficulty bonus the adjusted score could potentially be above the final score from the previous round. And as always, since I still have more listens and writing to do, some things could still grow (or sour, though less likely) on me.
Round 10 Comparisons:
TAC: Circus of Fools -> Sigh: v
ariich: Submotion Orchestra -> Ocean Colour Scene: v
SoundscapeMN: Ours -> Mutyumu: v
soupytwist: Camera Obscura -> Manic Street Preachers: v
Nachtmerrie: Brutus -> Svalbard: ^
Evermind: Hypno5e -> Black Peaks: ^
HOF: The Week That Was -> Ske: ^
Lethean: Threshold -> Solefald: =?
Puppies_On_Acid: Sieges Even -> The Fall of Troy: v
Buddyhunter1: The Comet Is Coming -> Sleepytime Gorilla Museum: ^
Crow: East of the Wall -> Actor|Observer: v
senecadawg2: The Amazing Devil -> mewithoutYou: v
Stadler: Our Lady Peace -> Hank Williams Jr.: ^
Elite: Gilad Hekselman -> Ornette Coleman: ^
twosuitluke: Zeal and Ardour -> Gallows: v
Sacul: Kendrick Lamar -> dreamcrusher: v
Tomislav95: Rishloo -> Okkervil River: v
Vmadera00: The Mars Volta -> Cro-Mags: v
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Congrats ariich!
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down! lower! to the bottom!!!!
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:corn :corn :corn
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Higher! Into the sun!
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Continuing my downward streak :metal :corn
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Congrats ariich!
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So little green! :lol
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Before someone bumps this, I'll just note that I'm chipping away at the writeups, but I've had a couple of offline issues I've had to deal with that have been chewing away at my time, but both are close to being resolved, so I should be able to devote more time to cranking out the rest of them then.
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Yeah cool. I'll be away for a whole weekend and I've got some important family stuff to do Monday evening after work, so I won't be able to send my next entry until Tuesday anyway. Take your time. :biggrin:
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Litho, are you giving us a list of bands to pick from for the next round? Will you include what you've already heard by each of them?
When will you be releasing the list? After Results?
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Yeah, so most likely the day after I post results I'll post a list of eligible bands. There should be enough variety that I have a hard time imagining there won't be multiple easy choices for pretty much everyone. I'm fine with people submitting the same band as others (and a few will be bands that have already been sent in earlier rounds). But I don't want duplicate songs, even from earlier or from other entries in the round, so there will be a bit of a first come, first served aspect to it. I'll try and put it up in a late morning even if it has to be the next day after that so both continents should have at least the evening to get an early drop on a submission if they want.
I'm still struggling with what exactly to do about listing what I've already heard from these artists. It's been easier in earlier rounds with more unfamiliar bands to handle the smaller number of ones I did know a bit about and make judgement calls on what to accept as it came in. But quite a few of these will be ones I've at least heard a little bit from. There are some really obvious songs that I know far too well, but a lot of borderline cases where I've heard certain songs a number of times but can't necessarily recall them by looking at the titles. I'm leaning towards just listing the most obvious songs and just have people pick an artist that they know they have a few backup songs that could easily be swapped out if necessary if I turn out to know more of the songs than I remembered, or if someone else already submits the same songs from the same artist earlier.
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So, and you've probably said somewhere before, but does the ? mean they're too different to compare, or you're leaving some of the comparisons a mystery? :)
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It just means I can't decide if I like it more or less than the artist from the previous round.
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I guess that's a good sign - that you don't hate it at least. :)
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Writeups, scores and everything are done, I just need to edit it all tonight, and should be able to post everything tomorrow evening.
This round has definitely been something of a struggle to get through, but I've enjoyed aspects of it more than I expected to, digging a bit deeper than usual, challenging myself in numerous ways, and learning quite a lot in the process. Honestly I could probably keep going, but I have to cut it off at some point, it's been a bit longer round as I had fully anticipated, and I don't want to keep TAC, err I mean everyone waiting too long. :D
I'll see how these work, but I've added sentence summaries at the beginning of each writeup, which wind up being a cross between a less vague impression and a writeup summation. Let me know if they are helpful at all. There's also a special section which broadly addresses essentially a third of the entries and will keep me from overly repeating myself in those.
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and I don't want to keep TAC, I mean everyone waiting too long. :D
:lol
Anyway sounds good! Interested to see the list of options for the next round...
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Hurry up!...DTF is going down in 40 minutes!!!
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(https://i.giphy.com/media/IBd4FBqsP2hWg/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/3jhF8ZBMP1vna/giphy.webp)
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Preliminary thoughts and personal history on -core styles:
So over a third of the people in this roulette have chosen some form of -core or adjacent music this time, most often post-hardcore, but also some more straight up hardcore and New York hardcore/crossover thrash. Growing up not far from DC in the US, I would occasionally have people puzzled at why I wasn't really into the hardcore scene, since it has significant historical origins nearby. But that was never my circle of friends growing up, and even the ones who were into adjacent punk, indie, emo scenes and such didn't seem to have as much in common with me musically, so I was never really native to it.
It was kind of a long road to gain some appreciation for a lot of these styles. There was various pop-punk that I considered guilty pleasures at the time around in high school, but it took until my 20s to really start getting into more "authentic" forms of punk, primarily a few skate punk bands and The Clash (and their later stuff is often considered more questionable anyway). And I gradually began to increasingly appreciate some of the influences, energy, and ethos the punk sound brought to other genres from thrash and beyond, and especially some of the offshoots of it like the gothic rock, ethereal wave and darkwave scenes and so forth.
But even then the more intense hardcore forms of punk mostly eluded me. It was and to this day still is one of the final frontiers of music for me. Extreme metal is notorious for people not being able to handle the growls and shrieks that constitute the main vocal deliveries for them. I've long conquered that challenge, but a lot of the shouty/yelly/barking sort of vocals that you find in hardcore just don't tend to sit well with me aesthetically. There are of course always exceptions, but it remains an ongoing struggle. Usually the more extreme hardcore-related bands I like have significant metal components.
And then on paper post-hardcore should work better, because those bands tend to have broader palettes of influences. But oftentimes it's actually even more difficult for me to warm to, because the clean vocals are too commonly more of the nasal, whiny type, and those frequently don't often resonate with me. I like a lot of melodic death metal that alternates between harsh and clean vocals, but when post-hardcore bands do their version of it, it often feels like the broken mirror world version where I don't like either style of vocal approach.
It seems like there's a particular strain of post-hardcore that is kind of adjacent to prog rock/metal and is quite popular here. Again, on paper I would think I could get into it more, since I generally like prog rock/metal. But the way the influence manifests doesn't often seem to comport with my tastes. So there's a reason I'm giving bonus points for these styles, because I generally anticipate they will score lower, and it will be even more random than normal whether something will score well. But of course in this round I'm intentionally pushing people towards them to see what shakes out. I still find it hilarious that four of you were fighting over sending Actor|Observer, but more on that later...
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Sacul - dreamcrusher - "Cathedral of Moths", "Pseudogender"
Early Impression - "This is so grating and obnoxious you may have driven me back into the comforting, loving arms of Han-Tyumi."
Final Summary:
The production is just far too abrasive to physically be able to listen to this normally, though the melodic and structural elements do make me optimistic that a less extreme version of this sound might be more palatable.
Details:
Yeah, so there was a reason this style is in nightmare mode. Part of me hoped no one would even dare pick it because nothing I've ever heard in the broad harsh noise category has ever compelled me to listen to it again, and most of it is among the worst music I've ever heard. But there are a lot of complexities to get into here, and dreamcrusher does challenge my view of a number of them, so there's certainly a number of things to talk about.
So as my interest in electronic music expanded over time, I was increasingly drawn to a lot of industrial-derived artists, generally in the areas of industrial rock/metal, futurepop, EBM, and electro-industrial. At one point I decided it was time to do a more thorough investigation of the origins of the genre to gain a greater understanding of it. Conceptually I found it rather fascinating, with a deep well of history that I've barely begun to crack the surface of. But what I discovered is that while a lot of techniques that tend to be associated with it, from more aggressive percussive timbres, unconventional items used as percussion, manipulation of found sound recordings, very in your face types of distortion and recording techniques, I tend to only like as ornamental elements in more blended styles. The more purely industrial music is, the harder a time I have actually listening to it.
It was fascinating back then reading about acts like Throbbing Gristle, homemade electronics that Chris Carter would make, seeing some noise artists in action with how they tweak effects pedals and devices to create unusual sounds. I met a lot of people online that were really into these types of music, and while I sampled a decent variety of different artists, I just couldn't into the harshest strains of it, notably power electronics and harsh noise (which I know technically has a different origin than industrial-derived music, but has a similar listening function).
Even as intense as a lot of metal can get, and people who aren't into it will sometimes mistakenly call it "noise", music of the actual noise type just goes levels beyond it in harshness, aggression, and abrasiveness. Generally any sense of melody and harmony are abandoned, and the focus is more on rhythm (and sometimes that isn't particularly discernable or categorizable), texture, and in a more meta sense, the emphasis on process over result in composition and production.
So, getting more specifically to dreamcrusher, much of what I find exceptionally difficult about this type of music is on full display. The harsh clipping style of production is the core element here, and frankly it's the primary thing that makes this nigh unlistenable. People who complain about clipping on something like Metallica's Death Magnetic as making it impossible to get through need to hear this to get some perspective. I immediately had to lower my volume even more, as I suspected I might. It's just an extraordinarily abrasive aesthetic that is fatiguing to listen to for any significant chunk of time. The clipping is worse in "Cathedral of Moths", but it's intense in both songs. My first feeling was that while I often try to give each submission a dozen listens or more, this might be one I would have to tap out on much earlier, and thought I might stop at just two plays and call it a day.
Well, I did come up with some workarounds. One is that all of my successive listens to this were at very low volume, which causes its own issues, which I'll get into shortly, but at least I could continue listening to it and see if it provoked additional thoughts, which I suppose it did. The other that I tried briefly, but failed at, was applying a parametric equalizer to the mix to see if I could attenuate some of the most conspicuous frequencies. This was completely unsuccessful, as they are quite evenly spread out over the treble spectrum. Perhaps chopping out frequencies over 10k hz helps slightly, but not enough to save it.
In my earlier explorations, I have heard even more over the top versions of this style that I enjoy even less, but it's still quite headache-inducing. It's the type of sound (most often applied to metal, particularly the extreme varieties) that people who've never really heard it say "that's not music", and while I disagree, it makes the sentiment a bit more resonant. If music listening was a video game, and this style was the final boss, I'm not sure I could ever win.
Now, mostly I've just given my own listening background on this type of music or focused on the negative aspects. But there is a somewhat positive side in that it has given me a slight bit of hope that there could be music of this type that with some tweaks, could appeal to me more. Underneath the nearly impenetrable wall of production, there actually is some structure and something of a tune here. It's on the simplistic side, and the nature of the way it's recorded obscures the fine details of it, but with the right song, I could see a version of this being at least more tolerable. It would require dialing back the clipping distortion quite a bit, but I could potentially see a modified version working somewhat better.
To people who don't listen to anything anywhere close to this, a song from an earlier round like Blanck Mass's "Death Drop" probably doesn't sound that far off from it with the distorted vocals and rhythms. A lot of other electro-industrial, aggrotech and such operates on a similar principle, and that's an area where I'm much more musically comfortable. Maybe dial up the noise a bit more in those styles and perhaps something similar would be more listenable and still count as noise or more pure industrial of some type. I know I've heard artists like Skinny Puppy and Autechre release songs that are somewhat closer to this than their normal output, so the potential might be there.
It's just that as presently constructed, each listen presents an unsolvable dilemma. Either listen at low volume so it isn't ear-piercing, but then you miss out on any possible details in the rest of the musical composition, or keep the volume normal, and suffer. I just can't do it. The closest it comes to being normally listenable is at 4:32 in "Cathedral" when it's more of a conventional and warmer overdrive effect, though even that becomes harsher and harsher as it goes along. In my research I read that apparently a few artists like :wumpscut: and Combichrist have experimented with this style, and I like some of their other work, so at least this submission has given me the impetus to give something potentially similar another shot at some point.
Some other random observations are that the cover of this album reminds me of some of the earlier Type O Negative covers, and apparently there's an EP called "Katatonia"? Curious. There is an interesting mini-documentary/interview with dreamcrusher that I watched, and along with some other reading, they do seem to be conceptually a rather fascinating artist, and quite in line with the original ideas in industrial music of confrontational subversion, iconoclasm and such.
And well, you probably already scrolled down below to the score, and yep, you broke my scale. I thought previously that the 5/10 for the pAper chAse could potentially wind up as the lowest scoring entry in the roulette in the normal rounds, but knew there was the possibility for something worse in this round. Overall, I just can't give this the same score as tpc, because as many problems as I had with them, they're still much more tolerable than this is. My true feelings are that this is closer to maybe a 2/10, but I don't want to completely destroy anyone's score who sends something like this, but provide at least some strong incentive to avoid it again, though the experience has been somewhat enlightening.
Score: 4/10 + 0.75 power noise style bonus = 4.75/10
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Tomislav95 - Okkervil River - "So Come Back, I Am Waiting", "For Real"
Early Impression - "This has more promising elements than some of what I've heard in this genre that makes me feel negatively about it, but still leans way too much into the things that bug me about versions of this style, particularly vocally."
Final Summary:
The first song builds surprisingly well, with varied instrumentation, but the warbly pitch of the vocals confirms my worries about some types of indie folk/rock.
Details:
So when you described this as "raw", I was really nervous. It's not as bad as I feared (actually much better in some regards), but it does seem to at least partially come out of the camp of indie folk and rock that I've always struggled with. When I was first hearing about the style and checking out some of the bands in it, I would too often find artists who were deep into the lo-fi, amateur end of it. Some of them can barely play their instruments, don't really bother tuning them, have mistakes all over the place on their albums, and the production sounds like a cheap recorder improperly capturing the band from another room. Fortunately, this is not that. I've subsequently found a variety of artists of the indie folk/rock/pop stripe that I enjoy, including a few from earlier in this very roulette, but I still have negative associations with it from the past, like I do with raw black metal and some other genres.
But the main challenge I have here still is the vocal style. It's very unpolished and often not quite in-tune. Whether this is intentional or just an attempt at an emotional, earnest delivery isn't quite clear, but I just find it a bit exhausting to listen to. I suppose for some people there's probably an appealing attempt at authenticity and catharsis in artistic vulnerability, but it's just wearing for me to hear. And it's more prominent in quieter moments which place all the weight on the vocal performance, and there is a sizeable portion here like that. Micah P. Hinson worked better for me in comparison.
On the more positive side, the musicianship is much more competent. There's variety to the arrangements, and "So Come Back, I Am Waiting" is rather unexpectedly epic by the ending. I was initially worried they would just draw out the first few minutes and it would be overly long, repetitive, and minimalistic, and it kind of is for awhile, but it does build fairly satisfyingly by the end. There are a variety of sounds with the horns, strings, electric piano, active bass lines and such which are enjoyable. I'm not crazy about the fuzzy guitar tones at 1:55 and 3:25 in "For Real", but they aren't really a deal-breaker compared to the vocals. Overall that is the better song of the two though.
Score: 6.25/10
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senecadawg2 - mewithoutYou - "Wolf Am I! (And Shadow)", "A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains", "In a Sweater Poorly Knit"
Early Impression - "There are some cool instrumental ideas here, but the growing array of types of vocals that vex me in this genre continues to frustrate me."
Final Summary:
Musically there are some quite enjoyable moments, particularly on "In a Sweater Poorly Knit", especially with the harp playing, but the vocal style just really does this one in for me.
Details:
So this one of those bands I've heard mentioned many times over the years, but never got around to looking into. The personal nature of their name actually made me mentally group them with artist from earlier in the roulette such as Ours. I had gotten the impression they were more on the indie folk/rock side of things, I guess closer to how Okkervil River is, and I didn't realize they have a more aggressive facet to their sound. Apparently there's some controversy over even the genre there, but 2/3 songs have the post-hardcore tag, so this gets the bonus.
Unfortunately, while in terms of musicianship they're reasonable enough, they add to the bewildering number of different vocal styles that I just can't seem to get onboard with. I will say, his delivery is rather unique, I certainly can't think of anyone else similar, but I just find the whole talky/shouty approach when they're more aggressive to be offputting, and even in the more melodic section, he just has a cadence and timbre (whether affectation or natural) that doesn't work for me at all. At 3:36 in "In a Sweater Poorly Knit" when they are layered with background vocals they're more tolerable, but when isolated don't connect with me at all.
Which is somewhat of a shame, as musically "In a Sweater" is actually pretty neat. I especially adore that harp ending, and it's also incorporated early in the song as well. The melodica, horns, and the drum rim stick clacking also adds some spice. The other two tracks aren't quite on the same level, but with a different vocalist would probably be more than salvageable as well. "Wolf Am I! (And Shadow) in particular has a fun energy to it. "A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains" also has a nice wah solo at 3:08.
Score: 6.25/10 + 0.5 post-hardcore bonus = 6.75/10
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Puppies_On_Acid - The Fall of Troy - "Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms", "Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon"
Early Impression - "Did someone sneak The Mars Volta in again?"
Final Summary:
This feels like a rehash of everything I liked and disliked about The Mars Volta, with a few variations, and without the better elements of the more recent TMV songs that apparently their fans like less than I do.
Details:
I know that I've heard something from this band before, but I no longer recall what, as it's been far too long. So somewhat unlike ariich, if I like or dislike a particular artist or style, there's a much greater (though far from guaranteed) chance that I will feel similarly about other examples of it. In this case, they really lean into many of the same sorts of things that bugged me about "Take the Cerpin Veil Taxt" from TMV in the prior round, except that while TFoT's drummer is also pretty good, I don't think he's quite at the level of Jon Theodore, and they don't have Flea on this recording either, although the bass playing does have its moments.
I find it hard exactly to put into words what it is about much of this type of guitar playing that frustrates me. It's not that I inherently dislike notey, busy, complex riff writing, I enjoy plenty of prog metal, jazz/fusion, various death metal, bluegrass, etc. But there's all too frequently kind of a messy, random chaos to the way some of these riffs are written, that almost sounds AI-generated. It's like they programmed in a key, a tempo, a list of techniques, and had a random riff generator spit them out. They feel like they're trying way too hard for each riff to sound unique, and it often doesn't feel organic, like the tech death version of hardcore.
I also tend to prefer heavier, chunkier, lower range riffing, with higher-range lines being complementary, rather than being the exclusive or primary focus. Some of the guitar effects experimentation is interesting at times, and I might enjoy it more if I liked the rest of what was going on more. From my readings I was running into the term "Swancore", which I've heard increasingly over the last few years, and from the description seems to capture or be adjacent to a lot of the musical elements I struggle with in bands similar to this.
And then vocally, they're almost a carbon copy of TMV's vocal style, with maybe a few harsher lines here and there, at least on these songs. And it's not really any more agreeable for me with them than it is with TMV. In the section at 2:28 in "Nostalgic Mannerisms", the screams there are impressive in terms of range and endurance, I will certainly at least give credit for that.
Back to the drumming though, there are admittedly some cool sections, such as the Bonham triplets at 5:30 or so in "Nostalgic Mannerisms". Or the beat at 1:52 in "Enter the Black Demon", which is rather nice. Additionally, I like the glockenspiel doubling the guitar at times, like at 4:21 in "Nostalgic Mannerisms", or the moments of strings in a few spots, though they're a bit buried.
Score: 6.25/10 + 0.5 post-hardcore bonus = 6.75/10
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Vmadera00 - Cro-Mags - "Apocalypse Now", "2020"
Early Impression - "This is close to a style that I like (though don't always love), but it might be a too stripped-down version of it."
Final Summary:
I enjoy some thrash, but this hardcore version of it doesn't have enough going on to hold my attention, with overly simple riffing and vocals that don't do much for me.
Details:
When I had a sizeable exploration binge on hardcore awhile ago, this is one of many bands I sampled something from, with an earlier album. Compared to other more pure hardcore bands, they seemed more promising, as they clearly have some metallic influence to them that many others lack. So you're getting the genre challenge bonus points, but this overall feels to me like it leans much more into the crossover thrash style. But it's a really simplified version of it. And that can be a risk of being too close to another style, while not having enough of that genre's attributes, which can sometimes be the opposite of a sweet spot.
I grew up on a lot of thrash, but this is just missing some of the meat that you get in that style. For being an 8:00+ minute long song, "Apocalypse Now" has surprisingly little happening. The double-time riff in the middle is a pretty solid moment, and it has a decent solo in that section, but it's just not enough to make up for everything else. The rest is just too plodding, with excessively repetitive riffs that I've heard dozens of other thrash bands do. I'm not usually one to harp on the necessity of originality - much of the time I think novelty is overrated and I'm just fine with a band pulling off an existing style well, but there isn't quite enough to chew on here.
The second half of "Apocalypse Now" is essentially just a rotation of 2-3 basic chugging riffs. For me that sound is kind of a Goldilocks situation, where I often want a certain amount of it for heaviness and groove, but there has to either be some variation to it, or something else more exciting on top of it, and there isn't enough here.
I didn't realize the Dave DiCenso (who played on Petrucci's Suspended Animation and other things) is playing here, and while his kit sound is actually fairly good, he doesn't have a ton to do here either. And while thrash is probably home to more quirky vocalists than most other genres, most of the less or unfamiliar ones would take longer than the time I have in a roulette for me to grow accustomed to. The vocalist here is no different. I've certainly heard worse, and he doesn't outright detract from anything, but he doesn't really add to it for me either, which would have been needed to boost this.
And then "2020" unfortunately is mostly a decades later revisiting of the same sort of thing as the first cut, but in a smaller package. There are different vocals this time, but they're not really any more appealing. There are more overly simplified riffs without much else of interest to make them work well enough. There is some ok-ish lead playing, though it's a bit buried and seems kind of an afterthought in the arrangement. I could imagine they have the capability of making something more compelling, but I don't think I've found it yet in these songs. This probably come off as perhaps excessively negative and without even many positive attributes for me, but I suppose the basic thrash feel and energy of it does elevate it above a few of the lower-ranked submissions.
Score: 6.5/10 + 0.25 New York hardcore bonus = 6.75/10
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Crow - Actor|Observer - "The Devil You Know", "Dilettante", "Pareidolia"
Early Impression - "Normally I dislike instrumental versions of vocal albums, but this might be one of those exceptions where I could need it."
Final Summary:
There are some aspects of instrumental brilliance, particularly in the verses of "Pareidolia", but I just can't connect with this vocal style at all.
Details:
Yeah, so unfortunately this relies on too many of the aspects of post-hardcore that don't often work for me. Like a number of other entries this round, most of the instrumentation is ok or better. Some of it is actually quite good, but more on that later. Regrettably, the vocal style is almost a textbook example of the sort of shouty/screamy hardcore vocals that I've never been able to gel with for the most part. It's hard to tell how much of it is the vocal timbre, and how much is the vocal cadence, or maybe just a combination of them.
"Pareidolia" is a perfect summary of the dichotomy of what makes a band like this vexing for me. Because the vocals in the verses are over purely ambient guitars, they are really exposed. It starts with the harsher vocals, and then when the chorus comes in, it switches to the whinier clean style, so it has both styles that bug me. Unfortunately, that song actually has the prettiest soundscapes instrumentally. The swirling delayed clean guitars there sound spectacular. But being mixed with those vocal styles just ruins it for me. The ambient outro is rather nice though with the glitchy effects.
"The Devil You Know" is the second most interesting song instrumentally, with some pretty tantalizing riffs, particularly in the chorus, and another lush, reverb-laden guitar break that appeals to me more sonically. However, this track in particular adds a third vocal type, since it also has a more melodic screaming approach in a few moments, but I don't know, none of it hits for me vocally. "Dilettante" is a somewhat weaker version of the same idea.
So the vocals hold it back from getting a more solid score like a couple later entries did, but the instrumentation in moments is gorgeous enough to levitate it above the weaker post-hardcore entries. Oh, and I gave a few bonus listens to "In Your Ways", which at least three people seemed to think was a better song than these. For me it is not, it actually would have been the weakest of the four, unless it grew significantly on me over many more listens, which is certainly possible, but seems unlikely. I am clearly not on the same wavelength as a number of you when it comes to this sort of music.
Score: 6.5/10 + 0.5 post-hardcore bonus = 7/10
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twosuitluke - Gallows - "Kill the Rhythm", "Come Friendly Bombs", "Abandon Ship", "In the Belly of a Shark"
Early Impression - "This isn't really my sort of style, but I have to admit it was getting a bit more fun and unexpectedly varied as it went along."
Final Summary:
I've never been into most of the more pure strains of hardcore punk, though this does a bit more with it than I expected it to, with a fun energy and expanded instrumentation.
Details:
As I foreshadowed earlier, I've mostly been unable to get into more traditional styles of hardcore, despite trying a number of times over the years. I like Bad Brains, but it's more that I tolerate their hardcore parts to enjoy their reggae side. I like a lot of Swedish crust and D-beat style bands, mostly because of the proximity to Swedish death metal. There are some melodic hardcore bands that I like, but they're almost always more of the skate punk variety, which is really its own beast. But most of the more standard hardcore bands I've sampled over the years have either annoyed me or just didn't connect with me at all.
So this is certainly one of the entries that grew on me a little bit, though not quite enough. It has more of the shouty hardcore vocal style that I don't often enjoy, though it isn't as overtly offputting as some of the earlier bands in this round. Their basic sound is kind of an an awkward spot, where it isn't as heavy and beefy as some of the metalcore I like, but it's not particularly melodic and at times verges on dissonant.
But I must say that it did become a bit more enjoyable as the songs went along, and watching a bit of live footage (particularly the '09 Reading Festival set), I can see how it's probably a blast to experience live. I have the feeling they're another of the bands in the style that has some more conscious metal influences, with a few of the riffs, particularly the chuggier ones, a few guitar harmonies, incorporation of double bass and such. For some reason overdriven bass breaks like at 1:01 in "In the Belly of a Shark" almost always seem to work, and this is no exception. I was not expecting the dashes of organ and such, which helps a tad. It's also incorporated in a section with one of my favorite production tricks, at 2:25 in "Abandon Ship" where the guitar is briefly EQed with a lo-fi filter and squashed into the middle of the mix, only to explode shortly after.
So even though this isn't my bag, if I get in the mood for a more pure strain of hardcore, I'm definitely more likely to give them another spin than many of the other broadly similar bands I've sampled over the years, making them the best of the group of hardcore bands that didn't quite hit. I actually enjoy them a smidge more than the tracks from Sigh next, though the style difficulty bonus vaults Sigh slightly past them.
Score: 6.75/10 + 0.25 hardcore bonus = 7/10
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TAC - Sigh - "Voices", "In Memories Delusional"
Early Impression - "This is really hard to parse. There are certainly elements I like here, but other elements I thought might be present are missing, the production is a bit rough, and I wonder if these are the right songs to have sent."
Final Summary:
Some of the more exotic or less common instrumentation is delightful, but the unpolished production and lack of cohesion pull it down.
Details:
My experience with avant-garde metal has been very spotty. In practice there seems to be no set definition of it, just that it's metal that's kind of weird, tries unusual ideas (sometimes in instrumentation, or in incorporating less common genres), and generally doesn't fit well under any other grouping of metal. Much of what I've heard seems so half-baked, like they had a few decent ideas, but didn't know how to stretch them into full-length songs or albums, or at least not in a way that I generally have any interest in revisiting beyond occasional novelty.
So Sigh is another band that I was aware of quite some time ago, and I know I heard something or another from them at the time, but I don't remember anything at all about it. Unlike a number of earlier submissions in prior rounds, this takes the idea of metal with a variety of other influences, but never manages to make them feel cohesive or flowing. In isolation there are certainly some intriguing things happening. The piano playing in "Voices", some of the synthesizer work (apparently Mirai is a big fan of analog synths, which is usually a good sign), the hand percussion, the shamisen in "In Memories Delusional", all of that is splendid.
These two tracks were recorded 17 years apart, and yet both struggle from the same production issue, in that while it isn't irritatingly lo-fi like some metal can be, it still sounds more like a demo recording. The guitars are kind of thin, and the drum production is a bit odd. Supposedly it is actually played on "In Memories Delusional", but it sounds programmed. It may just be overly triggered, but I would think that a band that has been around as long as they have would have figured out how to make them sound good by now, so either it's an intentional choice or something went wrong. The lack of dynamics in the snare fills are one of the dead giveaways, they're an Images & Words-level of static. The guitar solo in "Voices" is kind of awkward. The tone is thin there as well, and while moments of the phrasing certainly indicate a bit of playing experience, other moments feel rather amateur.
The vocals are also kind of all over the place. The harmony cleans in "In Memories Delusional" are kind of interesting, but the harshes sound almost like a cartoon black metal version with the speed they're going at.
Also, with a few other people picking up on my interest in it, and Sigh being known for having someone who occasionally plays saxophone, I thought maybe one of these tracks would have some on it. There's no guarantee I'd like how they incorporate it given how scattershot everything else is, but at least for my own curiosity I'll probably have to hunt down some other tracks sometime later just to see how they utilize it.
Score: 6.75/10 + 0.5 avant-garde metal bonus = 7.25/10
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Stadler - Hank Williams Jr. - "The Pressure Is On", "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line", "A Country Boy Can Survive"
Early Impression - "There are a surprisingly high number of different components I like here, though there aren't quite as many of any of them in particular as I'd like."
Final Summary:
This has serendipitously diverse instrumentation and stylistic influences for the genre, which helps me start to get a foothold into an era of country music that mostly predates my own listening experiences.
Details:
So early on when growing up there was a lot of country played in the house. My parents at the time were big fans of the mainstream country of the mid-80s to early 90s, and I managed to absorb quite a lot of it, though I didn't really have any desire to play most of it on my own. My mother mostly lost interest in it over time, though my father still listens to a decent amount of it. But for whatever reason they rarely ventured into the older country of the 70s and earlier. Getting into music exploration on my own, a mantra I heard from other people frequently was "anything but country", which I couldn't agree with. But those types of people would occasionally admit that someone like Johnny Cash was alright, though in my own journeys I couldn't even get into his music either. So I've felt for awhile that it's been a gap in my listening, and this definitely is a step in the right direction towards filling it.
I think part of what helps here is that there are a variety of other influences other than just pure country, and quite a broad range of instrumentation. There's some blues, there's funk, there's Hammond organ, dobro, pedal steel, fiddle, electric piano, sitar, harmonica, horns, piano, and probably more. The Hammond especially sounds great on "The Pressure Is On". Of course the challenge with so many different instruments is that most of them are rarely able to shine for more than a few seconds at a time, so it leaves me wanting more.
Slap bass on "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" was completely unexpected, but works astonishingly well. The guitar solo and fills in that track are especially good - the timbre reminds me a lot of the Little River Band, which was one of my favorite bands growing up. Some of the guitar work in the other tracks could use a tad more bite like that one has, clean electric guitar tones have always been kind of iffy for me. "A Country Boy Can Survive" also has a fun moment with the whammy dip at 2:58. But "Only Daddy" is easily the best track here, where even the drumming is pretty surprisingly fantastic with high-pitched toms, triplet fills and all.
Score: 7.75/10
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ariich - Ocean Colour Scene - "Get Blown Away", "Alibis", "The Riverboat Song"
Early Impression - "The last song is really infectious, but the jury will be deliberating on the first two for a bit I suspect."
Final Summary:
A more traditionalist take on Britpop, with two ok but not particularly outstanding tunes, and then a monster of a closer in "The Riverboat Song".
Details:
So I must say that I have a pretty limited knowledge of Britpop. "Wonderwall" from Oasis has been a punchline to jokes about playing guitar at parties for a long time, though I don't ever remember hearing the song myself until well into my 20s. I know I heard some material from Blur ("Song 2" in particular seemed to be a staple here, though RYM says it's alt/garage rock), and various others over the years, but nothing ever really caught my ear. As a few people noted, it's probably not really an actual genre, and the wide divergence in the two different bands classified as such this round lend credence to that notion.
OCS seems to have more of a traditional slant on it, of taking some of the trappings of 60s British pop/rock and porting them into the 90s. The first two songs here are perfectly serviceable, and I wouldn't skip the channel if they came on the radio, but I wouldn't actively seek them out either. The driving piano in "Get Blown Away" is probably my favorite thing about the first two, but otherwise they never really stuck in my head like I hoped they might.
But it's "The Riverboat Song" that easily steals the show. This has to be the best song the Rolling Stones never wrote. The vocalist even sounds kind of like Jagger on it, which has to be intentional. It's such a simple but hypnotic riff, and the lilting drum pattern gives it an endless flow of life. The panning of the killswitch flickering at 3:08 is a barrel of fun. I still need to figure out the difference between a Farsifa and a Vox Continential organ, but the moments it punches in give it some lift as well.
Score: 7.5/10 + 0.25 Britpop bonus = 7.75/10
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SoundscapeMN - Mutyumu - "Intro / II y a", "die Ewige Wiederkunft", "L'oeil est Dieu"
Early Impression - "The non-metal facets of this are easily the strongest, but the metal ones and the production hold it back."
Final Summary:
While the string and piano work in particular is quite pleasant, even beautiful, the muddy drum production and guitar sound in the metallic portions brings this down a decent amount.
Details:
This is probably the start of the entries where the proximity to other styles I either like or at least am more familiar with helps keep submissions from sliding too far down. In this case, a good chunk of this is essentially chamber-scale symphonic metal. And in that sense I tend to like it more than some of the more bombastic "we want a 120-piece orchestra scored by Howard Shore, but we only have the budget for a mid-tier keyboard workstation" sort of bands. The piano work and the strings in particular are quite good. Apparently they have a full-time violinist, which usually helps. The clean vocals are pretty solid, though not particularly a standout, and are a bit buried at times. Melodically it's a bit plain, but it's not a deal-breaker.
But what holds it back is that the main thing that makes this avant-garde is that they're trying to graft an almost raw black metal underpinning to the heavier sections. And for me they just don't really mesh together. The drums and bass sound ok in the more moderate moments, but in the more intense passages with blast beats and such the mixing gets really messy, and everything just turns to mush. And not in an ethereal wall of sound sort of way that can work for other artists. It just sounds way too sloppy. And the guitar tone, mostly for the heavier bits, is of the paper-thin and brittle type that has no weight to it.
Score: 7.5/10 + 0.5 avant-garde metal bonus = 8/10
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soupytwist - Manic Street Preachers - "A Design For Life", "Australia", "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough"
Early Impression - "This seems kind of middle of the road, but you might have accidentally? stumbled upon some sneaky cheatin' points for an element of one of the songs."
Final Summary:
Like Ocean Colour Scene, the first two cuts are alright, but the final tune really takes the cake in elevating this submission a bit, with a more relatively modern flavor of Britpop.
Details:
So you'll have to read the intro of ariich's writeup to see my very brief history with Britpop. The Manic Street Preachers demonstrate that there are at least two different sides to Britpop, with Ocean Colour Scene having a more traditional 60s flavor, and MSP having a more relatively contemporary sound for the 90s and later. It's actually not worlds away from some of the American pop/rock of the time. Interestingly enough, this has a similar build that OCS did. The first two songs are good though not stellar ("Australia" is the better of the two to me), but then takes a leap going to the final song of the set. That drum outro on "A Design For Life" with piles of reverb is kind of a unique conclusion to a track though.
Something seemed oddly familiar about "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough", but I was pretty sure I'd never it before. Turns out it's the guest vocalist. The Cardigans is probably one of my most long-running casually favorite bands, since I started more frequently listening to modern radio in the mid-late 90s, and "Lovefool" was one of the first songs I taped and listened to obsessively. I never internalized Nina's name despite picking up other music of theirs over time, but it's such a familiar voice that I don't know why I didn't pick up on it instantly. I guess this technically makes it Swedepop in addition to Britpop?
Even aside from that, "Your Love" is just the catchiest of the lot, and with perfect production for the style, with an excellent light crunch on the guitars, and a cool but not quite long enough guitar lead. I have an ever-expanding summertime music playlist with Gin Blossoms, Goo Goo Dolls, Splender and others on it, and this is going right on that.
Score: 7.75/10 + 0.25 Britpop bonus = 8/10
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Elite - Ornette Coleman - "Lonely Woman", "Congeniality"
Early Impression - "The first song feels like a funhouse mirror version of a style I like, but the second is more appealing, so we'll have to see how it balances out."
Final Summary:
I've had an aversion to free and avant-garde jazz for some time, but perhaps the origins of it aren't all that bad, with "Congeniality" in particular tapping into friendlier post-bop listening territory for me.
Details:
I've known about Ornette Coleman for quite some time, and definitely listened to this album at some point a long time ago. I wasn't quite ready for it then, and I'm still not sure I am now, but I'm certainly closer, and this is not as over the top as I worried it might be. Back when I devouring everything on jazz that I could, one of the things I did was to read Miles Davis' autobiography. I remember that he had some less than kind things to say about Ornette, which probably poisoned the well for any possible enjoyment of Ornette's music back then. I also knew that John Coltrane, my favorite saxophonist, was directly influenced by Ornette in his last few years, and I didn't/don't? like that era of his career for the most part. Well, I'm somewhat less impressionable these days, so it's as good as time as any for a reevaluation.
I've heard a fair amount of truly bizarre avant-garde and free jazz, from later Coltrane to far beyond. A lot of it I find quite unlistenable, with a completely unmoored sense of melody, harmony, rhythm, and an excessive focus on dissonant tonal clusters, overblowing, various squawking effects and so forth. I can put up with it in small amounts (Trane's Sun Ship for example, has sections of more "out there" sonic explorations interspersed with more traditional playing), but when it's the focus for extended periods of time I generally just can't do it.
So I suppose I was serendipitously surprised that this album, being near the beginning of the explorations of avant-garde jazz, is actually still fairly rooted in post-bop sensibilities. His idea of harmolodics sounds interesting, and I may have to look into it further at a later point. I did a bit of self-directed study in philosophy awhile back, so I didn't realize worlds were going to collide, with Derrida having interviewed Ornette at one point.
On to the music, "Lonely Woman" is the more challenging piece to wrestle with. Significant chunks of it feel like normal modal jazz, but the saxophone and trumpet are intentionally a bit out of sync with each other in the repeated motifs in terms of pitch and rhythm, which is a little jarring. I understand that they're trying to convey a theme topically with the dissonance, but it is a bit fatiguing to listen to.
On the other hand, "Congeniality" for the most part could appear on almost any other recording of the era. It has the typical swing of the drums, the walking basslines, the harmonized head, and fairly normal soloing, perhaps a bit more outside in note choice than usual in spots. I get what they're trying to do in not having a chording instrument for accompaniment, though I'm so fond of piano in this era that I'm always going to miss it (even Sonny Rollins would do this at times to my disappointment). It frees them up more in terms of having less dictation of their harmonic choices, but it does make the sound a tad sparse and hollow. Still, it otherwise has a very familiar feel that I'm probably always going to enjoy.
I'm pretty sure I recall reading that Ornette used a plastic saxophone here. It's certainly far from my favorite saxophone timbre, but it's richer sounding than I would have expected.
Score: 7.75/10 + 0.5 avant-garde jazz bonus = 8.25/10
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Lethean - Solefald - "Song Til Stormen", "Tittentattenteksti", "Vitets Vidd I Verdi"
Early Impression - "Two of these songs are kind of cool, but I feel like I'm observing a scuffle between two demons arguing over who gets to devour this poor sinner's kidneys first."
Final Summary:
One of the most unique submissions in a sea of unique submissions this round, this rises with two quite melodic and memorable pieces and a third "memorable" one in "Tittentattenteksti" which is memorable for stranger reasons.
Details:
I've heard their band name mentioned many times over the years, but for some reason I had the impression they were some kind of folk metal band. "Song Til Stormen" really isn't avant-garde at all, it's just a pretty and melodic warmup tune. I like how in some of the vocal harmonies they will hold one note constant and shift the other notes around it, that's a rather unusual harmonizing technique. "Vitets Vidd I Verdi" is a bit more experimental, but it's a really joyous combination of elements, with the horns, the organ arpeggios, the choir, and even the cowbell! The ride bell work such as in the section at 0:31 is delicious as well. The song does contain a shorter section of insanity more relevant to the middle song though.
Now "Tittentattenteksti", I'm not quite sure about this one. Instrumentally it's alright, perhaps a bit plain. But wow are these vocals out of left field. The melodic ones are fine, but the harsh?, (that's probably not quite the right word, but it'll have to do), vocals are so comical that I don't know whether to laugh or sit in bewilderment. Some of it sounds like demented jazz scatting. One of the songs from an earlier round in the roulette was "Demon Kitty Rag", which seems way more appropriate a title to this song than to that one. Maybe that's what "Tittentattenteksti" means in Norwegian!
Normally I don't care much about lyrics, but I just had to try and locate these to see what the heck was going on. Finding them and Google translating them was hardly of any help. Some were already in English, and some of it is probably gibberish. What I could make out or read wasn't auspicious anyway, something about rats and butts - maybe I don't even want to know.
My biggest complaint is that the guitar tone is kind of thin and ratty-sounding, which in weaker submissions would hold it back more, but so much else is so indelible that I can't ding it too much.
Score: 8.25/10 + 0.5 avant-garde metal bonus = 8.75/10
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Buddyhunter1 - Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - "Ambugaton", "Phthisis"
Early Impression - "Now this is going to take some getting used to, I feel like I'm in one of those dreams where everything's a little off, but you can't quite put your finger on what it is."
Final Summary:
Easily the biggest sleeper hit of the round, some rather unusual music becomes increasingly endearing over time with the eclectic percussion and other instrumentation.
Details:
Like some other style-related genres, you may have to read the first bit of my writeup on Sigh for a tiny bit of my personal experience with avant-garde music, or even Ornette Coleman's, Ske's, or Mutyumu's. Avant-garde groups seemed to be a hot commodity awhile back, and I always mentally grouped StGM with other weird, genre-hopping explorers like Mr. Bungle, Estradasphere, Secret Chiefs 3 and various others. Each had interesting things about them, but I generally found the whole packages unpalatable for sustained listening, especially over time. But I haven't really revisited most of them in quite awhile now, though I apparently relistened to Of Natural History half a dozen years ago and found it decent, albeit I remember nothing about it.
So this group turns out to be a perfect example for me of how I find additional listens to be very helpful in some cases, particularly for much more challenging music. If I'd had to grade this after the first listen, I'm not sure it would have passed a 6/10. It took quite awhile for it to grow on me, but it's obviously risen quite a bit since that initial session. Music this dense and unusual is really hit or miss for me (often much more miss than hit), but some of the attributes started warming me to it.
One is that there is quite a lot of King Crimson DNA here, and they have had more staying power for me than a lot of the earlier prog acts, and possibly because of KC's influence on Tool and the downstream effects of that. Apparently Tony Levin is even a big fan of StGM. There's a lot of fascinating-sounding percussion and cymbal work scattered throughout, which supposedly is a combination of conventional gear, and found or homemade objects. There's almost this tribal feel to it (especially watching a few live performances) that Sepultura and then the nu-metal scene tried to tap into, but StGM at least on moments of these tracks flirts with a far more interesting version of it.
Then there's the electric violin, which makes a welcome second appearance in this roulette, and some of the vocals in the second song, which give it some fantastic contrast. When the music is this outré, there's a temptation to make all the vocals bizarre as well, but having them be a bit more conventional at points grounds it a bit more.
Score: 8.25/10 + 0.5 avant-prog bonus = 8.75/10
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Evermind - Black Peaks - "The Midnight Sun", "Slow Seas"
Early Impression - "Getting the right balance of vocals that don't annoy me and guitar work that isn't overly fidgety seems to be a key for getting this style right, and this is one of the ones that comes closest to nailing it."
Final Summary:
In an ocean of post-hardcore entries, this is the first with more digestible vocals and some chunkier riffs.
Details:
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised that even when selecting from genres I don't have as much fondness for, that people scoring higher in this roulette would be able to find me more appealing examples of that style. And that is exactly what is happening here. In this case, it's probably helped by this also being considered progressive rock, but yet not in the more chaotic style that some earlier bands in this round and the last one are part of.
One sizeable difference is that the guitar work connects with me much more. It has a lot of cool textures and some effects experimentation, but not in as unrestrained of a way, and the playing is less jittery, and with some much-needed crushing riffs, especially in "Slow Seas". The acoustics are a superb touch there as well, and with some excellent bass work throughout. I'm hearing a fair amount of Tool influence in numerous spots, which is usually a good sign. The other is the vocals, which both harsh and clean, are much more pleasing to the ears than some earlier entries.
Score: 8.5/10 + 0.5 post-hardcore bonus = 9/10
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HOF - Ske - "Insolubilia I", "La Nona Onda"
Early Impression - "So apparently there's at least two sides to this style, and I'd only checked out the one I really have to be in the right mood for, because I'll probably be in the mood for this much more frequently."
Final Summary:
Avant-prog seems to come in a gentler and more melodious form than I've previously encountered, which along with the panoply of varied and intoxicating instrumentation makes me more likely to revisit this band than other similar ones.
Details:
Well, so I've spent a bit of time exploring the more intense variants of avant-prog, from the earlier Rock In Opposition bands to the more modern brutal prog and Windmill Scene bands. The jury is still out on the latter, but the former tends to appeal to me in highly specific moods that don't arise that often. But as it turns out, there's a calmer and more melodic but still piquant and tasty side to avant-prog that is adjacent to more conventional symphonic prog rock, just a bit more unusual.
There's a neverending litany of different timbres here, with piano, chromatic percussion, flute, vocals, woodwinds, guitars, violin, synthesizers, organ, saxophone, and surely more. Kind of like Hank Williams Jr., but in a very different way, the presence of so many different sounds is almost overwhelming at times, and makes me wish I could hear more of each individual one, but everything comes together so well that I can only complain so much. You also seem to have a knack for finding bands with interesting and exceptionally well-captured drumming, it's so crisp here.
A lot of avant-garde music seems somewhat random, like they don't really care about songwriting and structure and just want to try whatever weird idea they can come up with. And in some cases I imagine that's true, either consciously or incidentally. But here there are actual builds, particularly in "La Nona Onda", which becomes surprisingly epic towards the end. These are quite exquisite compositions with compelling orchestration that feel like they deserve to be more fully dissected, but would need much more time than I can give them in the crowded context of a roulette. I just know that I really like them.
Score: 8.5/10 + 0.5 avant-prog bonus = 9/10
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Nachtmerrie - Svalbard - "Listen To Someone", "Open Wound", "Pearlescent"
Early Impression - "The key for some of the better submissions this round might be being adjacent to genres/artists I do like, and this one achieves that with a lush, beautiful and powerful sound."
Final Summary:
The overall sound of this just hits it out of the park, with the right mixture of meaty guitars doused in ambiance.
Details:
Now we have the best example yet of how to get a style I'm mostly not into to succeed. This sort of feels like a combination of Alcest and Sylvaine. I was pretty late on getting into the blackgaze scene, but they've been probably the two that have resonated the most with me, and this really lands with a similar vibe. As I mentioned earlier in the round, I'd listened to an interview with this band a couple years ago, and I imagine a song or two was played somewhere during it, but I'd never managed to follow up on them.
Apparently this also counts as "screamo", which of course is often the word people unfamiliar with extreme music genres mistakenly tend to call all metal bands. But it's also a actual subgenre that I have heard relatively little of, so perhaps that inches me in that direction as well, I've been a bit surprised by a few other artists I've come across with that tag in recent years.
As for Svalbard's sound, getting the guitars to sound heavy enough, to have rhythmic propulsion, and to have it be really rich, atmospheric and spacious can be a challenge, but this accomplishes it. The combination of the lower rhythm guitar with the higher post-rock-esque wooly leads is quite enrapturing.
I'm actually a little puzzled that Crow likes this band, because the drums are pretty hot in the mix, but for my tastes, I don't mind punchy drum production. "Open Wound" is the strongest song here, the fluidity in switching subdivisions really gives a lot of dynamics to it. Double-time isn't uncommon, and quadruple-time isn't unheard of either, but I think this has sections where the backbeat is slow enough that it's actually octupling it if you start counting from there. If it had blast beats like "Listen To Someone" does in moments it could have gotten to 16x, I believe.
The instrumentation is easily the high point here, but when too often the vocals in this style rub me the wrong way, these are fine. The cleans tend to follow more of the shoegaze mushy wall of sound approach, but it works, particularly on "Pearlescent", where they're a bit more upfront. "Listen To Someone" is the weakest song of the batch, but it's still quite good.
So it took a round style bonus to get there, but this actually winds up tying the score for the highest of the roulette yet.
Score: 8.75/10 + 0.5 post-hardcore bonus = 9.25/10
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Round 10 Adjusted Scores:
Nachtmerrie ......................................... 9.25
Evermind ............................................ 9
HOF .................................................. 9
Buddyhunter1 ................................... 8.75
Lethean .......................................... 8.75
Elite .............................................. 8.25
SoundscapeMN .............................. 8
soupytwist ................................... 8
ariich ......................................... 7.75
Stadler ..................................... 7.75
TAC ........................................ 7.25
Crow ..................................... 7
twosuitluke ........................... 7
Puppies_On_Acid .................. 6.75
senecadawg2 ...................... 6.75
Vmadera00 ....................... 6.75
Tomislav95 ...................... 6.25
Sacul ............................. 4.75
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Round 10 Top 8 Songs:
1: Svalbard - "Open Wound"
2: Black Peaks - "Slow Seas"
3: Manic Street Preachers - "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough"
4: Solefald - "Vitets Vidd I Verdi"
5: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - "Phthisis"
6: Ske - "La Nona Onda"
7: Ocean Colour Scene - "The Riverboat Song"
8: Ornette Coleman - "Congeniality"
Bonus nods to the instrumentation of the verse of Actor|Observer's "Pareidolia" and the harp ending of mewithouYou's "In a Sweater Poorly Knit".
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Current Cumulative Standings (after 10 rounds):
Nachtmerrie ---------------------------- 83
SoundscapeMN -------------------------- 82.5
Evermind --------------------------------- 81.75
TAC ---------------------------------------- 81.25
ariich --------------------------------------- 80.25
soupytwist ---------------------------------- 80
HOF ------------------------------------------ 79.75
Lethean --------------------------------------- 79.25
senecadawg2 ---------------------------------- 76
Buddyhunter1 ---------------------------------- 75
Stadler ----------------------------------------- 75
Vmadera00 ----------------------------------- 74.25
Elite ------------------------------------------ 73.75
Puppies_On_Acid --------------------------- 73.5
twosuitluke -------------------------------- 73
Sacul -------------------------------------- 72.75
Tomislav95 ------------------------------- 72.75
Crow ------------------------------------- 70.25
romdrums ------------------------------ 14.25 (had to drop out after the second round)
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Round Score Breakdown:
ariich: 7.75 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 9 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 7.75 = 80.25
Buddyhunter1: 7.5 + 6.5 + 7.75 + 7 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.75 + 8.75 = 75
Crow: 6 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 7 + 5 + 7 + 9.25 + 7.75 + 7 = 70.25
Elite: 6.5 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 8.5 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8 + 7 + 7.25 + 8.25 = 73.75
Evermind: 7.75 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8.5 + 8 + 9 = 81.75
HOF: 9 + 9 + 6.5 + 7.25 + 8.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 8 + 9 = 79.75
Lethean: 7.75 + 8.25 + 7.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 8 + 8.75 = 79.25
Nachtmerrie: 8.25 + 9 + 6.75 + 9 + 7.75 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 9.25 = 83
Puppies_On_Acid: 8 + 7 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 8 + 6.75 = 73.5
romdrums: 7.25 + 7 + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x = 14.25
Sacul: 7.25 + 8.75 + 6 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 9 + 7 + 4.75 = 72.75
senecadawg2: 8 + 7 + 8.5 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 6.75 = 76
SoundscapeMN: 8 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 8.5 + 8.75 + 7 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 + 8 = 82.5
soupytwist: 6.5 + 6.75 + 9 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8 = 80
Stadler: 8.5 + 7.5 + 7 + 7 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 7.5 + 7.75 = 75
TAC: 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 9 + 8.5 + 9 + 7.25 = 81.25
Tomislav95: 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 7 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 6.25 = 72.75
twosuitluke: 7.5 + 8.25 + 5.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.25 + 7 = 73
Vmadera00: 7.25 + 7.75 + 8 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 8.75 + 7 + 6.75 = 74.25
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Wow, so we have our second lead change, the first since round 3, and our third separate leader. Things have tightened up a bit near the top, with several in striking distance - we definitely have ourselves a competition now!
The clustering was rather interesting this round, with nothing much in the low-mid low-7s range, which is usually the tipping point for when my issues with artists become smaller, or are outweighed by other elements.
I'll post the list of eligible bands for the next round mid-late tomorrow morning assuming something pressing doesn't come up.
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Nice to see Svalbard do so well, great band. I personally don’t hear much post-hardcore in their sound, but probably just me.
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Woo! Back to the 9s (with an assist from the bonus point). That whole album is just delicious musically. I think you’ll really enjoy it. That drummer and drum sound are amazing for sure. There was an earlier Ske album that is a bit more out there, but this one seems to strike the right balance between technicality, randomness, and being memorable.
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Nice to see Svalbard do so well, great band. I personally don’t hear much post-hardcore in their sound, but probably just me.
That seemed to be the secret this round, to find things labeled one genre that are probably closer to another in actuality.
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I'm losing ground.
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an above average score for me in this round, let's goooo :metal
also yeah clearly you are not gonna enjoy the genre ever if you are resistant to a major factor of its appeal (both its usual vocal styles) so idk what to tell you, i got to send one of my favorite bands and not completely tank so there's that i guess :corn
frankly if i don't see something i can reasonably send for round 11 out of my own library i'm probably just gonna drop out of the roulette after this 'cause we clearly don't jive and i really don't feel like digging thru pre-90's music (a thing i don't listen to) or making a 45 minute EP for this roulette at this point, sorry :lol
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Damn, I somehow jumped to the middle of the rankings after the round we were all supposed to tank in? I must have made a deal with the donkey-headed adversary of humanity. :biggrin:
Of Natural History is definitely their best album, but their debut has some real highlights that I couldn't fit into the submission, namely Sleep Is Wrong and Powerless. Their third album never clicked with me - to me it just lacks the dark, unsettling atmosphere that made the first two so unique. But I know it has its fans.
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an above average score for me in this round, let's goooo :metal
also yeah clearly you are not gonna enjoy the genre ever if you are resistant to a major factor of its appeal (both its usual vocal styles) so idk what to tell you, i got to send one of my favorite bands and not completely tank so there's that i guess :corn
frankly if i don't see something i can reasonably send for round 11 out of my own library i'm probably just gonna drop out of the roulette after this 'cause we clearly don't jive and i really don't feel like digging thru pre-90's music (a thing i don't listen to) or making a 45 minute EP for this roulette at this point, sorry :lol
I may never be able to love the genre as a whole, but if I can at least add a few more bands I enjoy in the style I consider that a win. And over time that can snowball into shifting my whole opinion on a style, you never know. Occasionally things I don't normally like break through.
Next round is going to to have a pretty massive and varied list, so I'd be shocked if you can't find something in it. And I understand if you don't feel up to putting your usual meticulous amount of effort into an EP, but even just quickly throwing together a bunch of songs is bound to have something that'll hit, you've already had a few moderate ones and one huge one.
Damn, I somehow jumped to the middle of the rankings after the round we were all supposed to tank in? I must have made a deal with the donkey-headed adversary of humanity. :biggrin:
Yeah, it's tight enough in many spots still that a strong round can catapult someone up a number of places.
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So when do we get the list of bands?
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Tomorrow mid-late morning.
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Good job on that 4/10, Lucas :metal
Also good to see I'm in the Top 3 but since we have a pre-90s round coming soon I expect Tim to overtake me.
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it's interesting per as I commented right after my submission, I thought of a possible better choice for this round. However, reading some of the comments Litho made, I'm not sure if the band I was thinking of would have made as much sense now.
Dunno, however I guess I could include them in the EP round potentially.
I honestly have never had major issues with the production on the Mutyumu music that you describe, nor have I really thought of them as Metal really. Maybe "Post Metal" I guess in some ways, but their other styles have always stood out much more, rather than sounding all that heavy.
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Well, that went quite well!
Love your write-ups, very well worded and detailed. :)
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Pretty happy to get out of that round with a OK score. Was annoyed when I discovered I couldn't feature any songs from 'The Holy Bible' which is the Manic's masterpeice, because it wasn't classed as 'Britpop'.....but I wouldn't have included 'Your Love....' if that was the case, and that song seemed to have saved me. ;D
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Ok, here are the details for round 11. Here are a bunch of bands I'm curious about to choose from. I've heard something from many of them, I even like some of them to a certain extent, but I don't feel I've gotten over the hump in considering myself a fan of theirs, so that's where you come in. For the people who think I know everything, you'll be shocked at the names on this list.
Eligible Candidates - Agalloch, Alice Cooper, Angra, Arena, Artificial Language, Atomic Rooster, Band-Maid, Baroness, Battle of Mice, Between the Buried and Me, Beyond the Bridge, Big Big Train, Blackfield, Blind Guardian, Bon Iver, Boris, Borknagar, Brian Eno, Bruce Dickinson, Buckethead, Caravan, Carole King, Cat Power, Chaos Divine, Chris Stapleton, Chroma Key, Circus Maximus, Conception, Cradle of Filth, Crimson Glory, Crowbar, Curved Air, Death Grips, The Descendants, Destiny's Child, Devil Doll, Dinosaur Jr., Dio, Dir en Grey, Elliott Smith, Enslaved, Envy, Explosions in the Sky, Faith No More, Fallujah, Fates Warning, Fen, Fleetwood Mac, Florence & the Machine, Flying Colors, Flyleaf, Frank Ocean, Gacharic Spin, Gentle Giant, Ghost, Gillian Welch, Girlschool, Gojira, Husker Du, In This Moment, Intronaut, IQ, Isis, Janis Joplin, Japanese Breakfast, Jason Isbell, Jeff Buckley, Jefferson Airplane, Jimmy Eat World, Jinjer, John Legend, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Joy Division, Julia Holter, Kansas, Kate Bush, Keep of Kalessin, Kevin Gilbert, Kimbra, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, KISS, Klone, Kyuss, Lamb of God, Leprous, Lita Ford, Lonesome Blue, Lovebites, Madonna, Mahogany Rush, Manowar, Marillion, Mary's Blood, Mastodon, maudlin of the Well, Metric, Mindmaze, Mitski, Motorhead, Mr. Bungle, Mutoid Man, My Bloody Valentine, Myrath, Ne Obliviscaris, Neal Morse, Nemophila, Neurosis, Nick Cave, nofx, No-Man, Obsidian Kingdom, Oceansize, O.S.I., Pagan's Mind, Pallbearer, Parkway Drive, Paramore, Pat Benatar, Patti Smith, Pelican, Pendragon, Persefone, Peter Gabriel, PFM, Pharaoh Sanders, Phish, Phoebe Bridgers, PJ Harvey, Prince, Queens of the Stone Age, Radiohead, Rage, Rina Sawayama, Riverside, Robert Rich, Run the Jewels, Scale the Summit, Seventh Wonder, Shade Empire, Shadow Gallery, Sigh, Sigur Ros, SikTh, Sleater-Kinney, Sonic Youth, Spock's Beard, St. Vincent, Steely Dan, Sting, Sufjan Stevens, Sun Ra, Talking Heads, Talk Talk, Tame Impala, Taylor Swift, Television, Textures, Thank You Scientist, The Acacia Strain, The Arcade Fire, The Birthday Party, The Dead Kennedys, The Dear Hunter, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Dixie Dregs, The Dresden Dolls, The Flaming Lips, The Flower Kings, The Grateful Dead, The Pretenders, The Pretty Reckless, The Runaways, The Velvet Underground, The Who, The Winery Dogs, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Theocracy, They Might Be Giants, Thrice, Tim Hecker, Tori Amos, Traffic, Transatlantic, Triumph, Uriah Heep, Usher, Van der Graaf Generator, Vanden Plas, Voivod, Warpaint, Wolverine, Yusuf Lateef, Zao, ZZ Top
*Remember for this round it's as many songs as you can fit into 15 minutes, from one artist on the above list.
*Send your submission to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com. If you can, send me both Youtube and Spotify links for your song(s). The Youtube link is so I can make my own playlist and rip the audio. The Spotify link is for the group playlist. If you can't or don't find both links I will find them myself, but the more of you that find both, the less extra work I have to do.
*Also remember that just because an artist is on the list doesn't mean I'm going to like them, take my normal taste preferences into account. I could definitely regret having listed some of these. Some of these artists have already been featured earlier in this roulette, so if they are, I'd highly advise reading the writeups on them to see what did and didn't work before.
*If you are choosing an artist from the list that has already been used in an earlier round, it can't be one you yourself sent, or songs I already received.
*I played around with listing what I've already heard from these artists, but it's too much and too subjective what to include. I would just recommend to try and pick a band that you can easily substitute songs for if I'm already too familiar with some, especially if you pick singles or more well-known songs of theirs. You can also ask about a few specific artists via PM or e-mail.
*As I mentioned earlier, I'm fine with receiving the same band from multiple senders, but I don't want the same songs, so that's on a first come, first served basis.
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Luke is sending NOFX. :lol (EDIT: Or he's sending King Gizzard again)
Shame RJ isn't playing, there are several j-metal bands on the list. :lol
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I honestly have never had major issues with the production on the Mutyumu music that you describe, nor have I really thought of them as Metal really. Maybe "Post Metal" I guess in some ways, but their other styles have always stood out much more, rather than sounding all that heavy.
Yeah, I think they'd be way better off if they left the metallic elements behind, or at least really cleaned them up.
Was annoyed when I discovered I couldn't feature any songs from 'The Holy Bible' which is the Manic's masterpeice, because it wasn't classed as 'Britpop'
I have a long running list of things to listen to after, so I'll probably get to it at some point, particularly if people highlight where to go next. The highest scoring ones get first preference, so I won't get to many until well after the roulette, but I'd theoretically love to listen to everything that's maybe 7.5 and above at some point, and maybe even some below if I felt there is potential in their sound but maybe the songs weren't the right ones.
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Luke is sending NOFX. :lol (EDIT: Or he's sending King Gizzard again)
Shame RJ isn't playing, there are several j-metal bands on the list. :lol
I’m going to send Destiny’s Child, but I assume that’s what everyone is doing?
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Luke is sending.... :lol (EDIT: Or he's sending King Gizzard again)
*If you are choosing an artist from the list that has already been used in an earlier round, it can't be one you yourself sent, or songs I already received.
(https://i.imgur.com/EFbiUEh.gif)
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Luke is sending.... :lol (EDIT: Or he's sending King Gizzard again)
*If you are choosing an artist from the list that has already been used in an earlier round, it can't be one you yourself sent, or songs I already received.
(https://i.imgur.com/EFbiUEh.gif)
You fucker!! I’ll find a damn loophole.
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Sent
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Ooh, I have some choices to make.
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Sent. :biggrin:
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Damn, I’m running out of Destiny’s Child songs to send, slow down everyone. But seriously, I love Destiny’s Child!
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Good job on that 4/10, Lucas :metal
Thanks Ev, took a lot of effort, but it was worth it :2metal:
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I don’t know what to do.
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I don’t know what to do.
Same!
There are a lot of bands I love on this list... but from the first glance, I'm not sure any of them will be Litho's cup of tea.
I'll send in ~25-26 hours.
Nemophilia
I thought it was either Nemophila or Necrophilia.
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this is an interesting list.
Part of my mentality on what to send/what artist to send and what not to send, is I know several of them will be sent by others, while many others will definitely not be sent by others.
Also interesting how you include the likes of
-The Dresden Dolls and not Amanda Palmer
-Oceansize and not Vennart
am I to assume that was intentional? or could those 2 also be included?
note: Vennart and much of Oceansize's music are not on Spotify.
Also the Neal Morse-Spock's Beard as well.
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There might be a little leeway on artists that are connected by solo and/or side projects, like I know Amanda is a member (maybe the primary one?) of Dresden Dolls, same with Neal/SB, and a quick Google tells me the same about Oceansize (I've heard the name Vennart, but know absolutely nothing else about him).
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i'd send oceansize but half their discog (including their best album) isn't on spotify anymore and i'm too lazy to work around that :lol
i do have some options though yes hm
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Stadler sent Kiss.
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i'd send oceansize but half their discog (including their best album) isn't on spotify anymore and i'm too lazy to work around that :lol
Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODw2B1ZL4Ps Not like there's really any room to fit any other song in. :lol
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too lazy :loser:
and after the comforting sounds disrespect litho doesn't deserve that one anyways
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:lol
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Stadler sent Kiss.
HAHA, and I was going to type "TAC's got Alice Cooper!"
I've actually struggled a bit; I'm torn between Kiss and an English Neo-Prog band.
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Let's hive mind this shit and all send Madonna! ;D
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It just hit me that this is going to be the easiest hangman ever. :biggrin:
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Good job on that 4/10, Lucas :metal
Also good to see I'm in the Top 3 but since we have a pre-90s round coming soon I expect Tim to overtake me.
Oh I forgot we had a round like that. I kinda doubt I have anything that isn't banned.
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Good job on that 4/10, Lucas :metal
Also good to see I'm in the Top 3 but since we have a pre-90s round coming soon I expect Tim to overtake me.
Oh I forgot we had a round like that. I kinda doubt I have anything that isn't banned.
Considering I did 3 rounds of that in my last roulette (and a few people carried on with it in the later rounds) I should hopefully have a few options I can call on.
Elite will send trad jazz. :lol
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In planning for the pre-90s round, it might be worth remembering that the only things hard-banned are artists I've rated something 4.5 or higher from on RYM. I can be talked into some of the softly banned artists if I don't happen to know the particular songs overly well.
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Elite will send trad jazz. :lol
Except that I'm trying to avoid that in that round, that's by far what I have the most of in those decades (and I have way more than is listed on RYM), I don't really need any more of it. :lol
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Elite will send trad jazz. :lol
Except that I'm trying to avoid that, that's by far what I have the most of in those decades (and I have way more than is listed on RYM), I don't really need any more of it. :lol
I won't send any.
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*Remember for this round it's as many songs as you can fit into 15 minutes, from one artist on the above list.
I feel like I need way more than 15 minutes for this round....
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Elite will send trad jazz. :lol
Except that I'm trying to avoid that in that round, that's by far what I have the most of in those decades (and I have way more than is listed on RYM), I don't really need any more of it. :lol
Just try and stop him. :lol
Elite will send trad jazz. :lol
Except that I'm trying to avoid that, that's by far what I have the most of in those decades (and I have way more than is listed on RYM), I don't really need any more of it. :lol
I won't send any.
How thoughtful of you. :lol
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*Remember for this round it's as many songs as you can fit into 15 minutes, from one artist on the above list.
I feel like I need way more than 15 minutes for this round....
I suspect many feel this way.
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*Remember for this round it's as many songs as you can fit into 15 minutes, from one artist on the above list.
I feel like I need way more than 15 minutes for this round....
I suspect many feel this way.
I'm hoping this is more accurate than the people earlier insisting there's nothing left to send me. :lol There will still be the open round 13 and then the EP to cram a few more things into as well if any of these still seem like better choices by then.
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I forgot about the Open Round. I still haven't figured out this round.
I'll send this round tomorrow after work. I'm perseverating too much over which second song to send. Gonna sleep on it.
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Sent! Wish I could have sent 20-25 minutes instead. :corn
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Sent!
-
Elite will send trad jazz. :lol
Except that I'm trying to avoid that in that round, that's by far what I have the most of in those decades (and I have way more than is listed on RYM), I don't really need any more of it. :lol
I’ll work my way around! :lol
Pre-90s is super easy to find stuff for anyway :biggrin:
Busy day at work today, I’ll send for this round tomorrow. Already have some ideas, quite some stuff to choose from with that list!
-
*Remember for this round it's as many songs as you can fit into 15 minutes, from one artist on the above list.
I feel like I need way more than 15 minutes for this round....
I suspect many feel this way.
I'm hoping this is more accurate than the people earlier insisting there's nothing left to send me. :lol There will still be the open round 13 and then the EP to cram a few more things into as well if any of these still seem like better choices by then.
I just said that about the pre 90s round. I'm sure I'll find something but nothing's coming to mind at the moment.
Can you add the EP rules to the first post when you get a chance?
I'll either send for the next round in a few minutes or I'll wait until tomorrow. Like Puppies, I wish I had 20 minutes for this round. :)
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Sent!
Like Puppies, I wish I had 20 minutes for this round. :)
I've found myself wishing for just an extra 1 minute (16 total) pretty much every round, for some reason 15 minutes is a really awkward total - but I guess that's the fun of the roulette.
-
Sent!
EDIT: And yeah I'd have loved to have a few more minutes and send an extra track that's a little different to the ones I've sent, but no matter.
-
Already have some ideas
Same. Narrowed it down to 196 bands.
-
Already have some ideas
Same. Narrowed it down to 196 bands.
I’m at 195 currently
-
I'm almost thinking of taking a bunch of names and drawing 2-3 of them out of a hat, lol.
-
Sent!
Like Puppies, I wish I had 20 minutes for this round. :)
I've found myself wishing for just an extra 1 minute (16 total) pretty much every round, for some reason 15 minutes is a really awkward total - but I guess that's the fun of the roulette.
Well, it is... depending on the band, of course, there are a TON of songs that fit in the 3:00 to 4:00 minute range, so unless you can find something good in a 2:00 zone, you've got a lot of dead space to fill. That was my dilemma. Three songs at 4:00, and that's a total of 12:00, leaving less than three minutes to fill.
-
Sent a PM.
-
Sent!
Like Puppies, I wish I had 20 minutes for this round. :)
I've found myself wishing for just an extra 1 minute (16 total) pretty much every round, for some reason 15 minutes is a really awkward total - but I guess that's the fun of the roulette.
Well, it is... depending on the band, of course, there are a TON of songs that fit in the 3:00 to 4:00 minute range, so unless you can find something good in a 2:00 zone, you've got a lot of dead space to fill. That was my dilemma. Three songs at 4:00, and that's a total of 12:00, leaving less than three minutes to fill.
Mine was trying to get 3 songs in, but I settled for 2. And I think I have 3 minutes left as well.
Sent!
-
Sent!
Like Puppies, I wish I had 20 minutes for this round. :)
I've found myself wishing for just an extra 1 minute (16 total) pretty much every round, for some reason 15 minutes is a really awkward total - but I guess that's the fun of the roulette.
Well, it is... depending on the band, of course, there are a TON of songs that fit in the 3:00 to 4:00 minute range, so unless you can find something good in a 2:00 zone, you've got a lot of dead space to fill. That was my dilemma. Three songs at 4:00, and that's a total of 12:00, leaving less than three minutes to fill.
I've been pondering this off and on myself. On one hand, there's never quite enough time, I'm always wishing I could somehow squeeze one more song in. But anecdotally, in a minuscule sample size, without even really trying I've been doing pretty well at maximizing runtime in ariich's roulette with 20-minute blocks. But in 425's, at 15-minute blocks, it did seem like I often had 2-3 minutes left, and not many bands have much to choose from in that range.
I may try increasing the limits for rounds 12 and 13 to 20 minutes to see how that works.
-
As it stands now at 15 minutes, you're getting one 12 minute song in Round 12.
And finalizing this round right now.
-
I don't have any problem with 15 minutes, whatever you think gets the balance right. If I need to send fewer songs and have a few minutes spare, so be it - I'll still try and pick the best ones. It's just a bit of a shame when it would be nice to give a broader idea of an artist's style, but really not a big deal and already more than a lot of roulettes which just ask for a single song.
As host, I think 20 minutes is the sweet spot. I actually did 25 minutes for my fogey roulette, but I was confident I'd have fewer players and that some people (those less into older music) would send some shorter submissions, and indeed both those things happened. 20 minutes for me is perfect to get enough sense of what the artist is like and to allow players enough freedom to send what they want. It's still a LOT of music but thankfully manageable for me.
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Ok, I have sent my submission which includes the OG progressive metal song.
-
Hey how are Leprous and Riverside on the list when I've already sent them during this roulette?
(Though - Riverside should still be on the list since I sent an instrumental bonus track.)
-
They didn't score 8.25 or higher, but I'm still quite interested in them, so I'm just hoping you didn't send the right songs. :p
Normally bands sent in earlier rounds are banned for later ones, but for rounds 11 (the current one) and 14 (the EP), that rule is temporarily lifted for artists that scored 8.0 or lower.
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Can you add the EP rules to the first post when you get a chance?
Oh, and I forgot about this. As I've mentioned a number of times on occasion but it probably gets lost in a sea of posts if you only check the thread occasionally, I haven't completely finalized the rules yet, I've just given some broad guidelines and answered questions when prompted. I think I'll finalize and post them after this round ends.
I'm actually nervous about how to deal with the hangman part of the EP round, I may need to hunt for some other EP roulettes/rounds and see how it's handled.
-
I'm actually nervous about how to deal with the hangman part of the EP round, I may need to hunt for some other EP roulettes/rounds and see how it's handled.
You'll probably just want to split the EPs into a handful of batches, then once each batch is mostly completed move onto the next one.
-
Can you add the EP rules to the first post when you get a chance?
Oh, and I forgot about this. As I've mentioned a number of times on occasion but it probably gets lost in a sea of posts if you only check the thread occasionally, I haven't completely finalized the rules yet, I've just given some broad guidelines and answered questions when prompted. I think I'll finalize and post them after this round ends.
I'm actually nervous about how to deal with the hangman part of the EP round, I may need to hunt for some other EP roulettes/rounds and see how it's handled.
My whole hangman process for v6 started here and went on for PAGES: https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=55161.msg2674975#msg2674975
:lol
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They didn't score 8.25 or higher, but I'm still quite interested in them, so I'm just hoping you didn't send the right songs. :p
Normally bands sent in earlier rounds are banned for later ones, but for rounds 11 (the current one) and 14 (the EP), that rule is temporarily lifted for artists that scored 8.0 or lower.
*Sigh*
Forced Entry is a 5 star song. 10/10. 100/100. I know it's stressful sometimes doing these roulettes so I'll excuse it as you being a little under the listening weather.... ;)
-
Lethean - Solefald - "Song Til Stormen", "Tittentattenteksti", "Vitets Vidd I Verdi"
Early Impression - "Two of these songs are kind of cool, but I feel like I'm observing a scuffle between two demons arguing over who gets to devour this poor sinner's kidneys first."
Final Summary:
One of the most unique submissions in a sea of unique submissions this round, this rises with two quite melodic and memorable pieces and a third "memorable" one in "Tittentattenteksti" which is memorable for stranger reasons.
Details:
I've heard their band name mentioned many times over the years, but for some reason I had the impression they were some kind of folk metal band. "Song Til Stormen" really isn't avant-garde at all, it's just a pretty and melodic warmup tune. I like how in some of the vocal harmonies they will hold one note constant and shift the other notes around it, that's a rather unusual harmonizing technique. "Vitets Vidd I Verdi" is a bit more experimental, but it's a really joyous combination of elements, with the horns, the organ arpeggios, the choir, and even the cowbell! The ride bell work such as in the section at 0:31 is delicious as well. The song does contain a shorter section of insanity more relevant to the middle song though.
Now "Tittentattenteksti", I'm not quite sure about this one. Instrumentally it's alright, perhaps a bit plain. But wow are these vocals out of left field. The melodic ones are fine, but the harsh?, (that's probably not quite the right word, but it'll have to do), vocals are so comical that I don't know whether to laugh or sit in bewilderment. Some of it sounds like demented jazz scatting. One of the songs from an earlier round in the roulette was "Demon Kitty Rag", which seems way more appropriate a title to this song than to that one. Maybe that's what "Tittentattenteksti" means in Norwegian!
Normally I don't care much about lyrics, but I just had to try and locate these to see what the heck was going on. Finding them and Google translating them was hardly of any help. Some were already in English, and some of it is probably gibberish. What I could make out or read wasn't auspicious anyway, something about rats and butts - maybe I don't even want to know.
My biggest complaint is that the guitar tone is kind of thin and ratty-sounding, which in weaker submissions would hold it back more, but so much else is so indelible that I can't ding it too much.
Score: 8.25/10 + 0.5 avant-garde metal bonus = 8.75/10
---
Tittentattenteksti is a mix of English/gibberish - there are some plays on words and stuff like that, so kind of clever but I don't think you're missing much by not looking into it more. There are two harsh vocalists - the guitar/bass player/lyricist of Solefald and also a guest female vocalist. The other two songs are in Norwegian and from what I've read, it's this "high Norwegian" that's not really used for everyday speech and Google translate doesn't do too well with it. Regardless of not getting a great handle on the lyrics, I love this album. It's definitely off the wall, as is a lot of their stuff. I enjoy other Solefald albums too, but none of them quite like this one. I'm glad you sorta kinda enjoyed this submission. :)
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Tied for 4th in the round is a bit better than "sorta". (https://i.imgur.com/0bul0dA.gif)
-
*Sigh*
They're available too, possibly to TAC's chagrin. (https://i.imgur.com/GVpS0rU.gif)
-
*Sigh*
They're available too, possibly to TAC's chagrin. (https://i.imgur.com/GVpS0rU.gif)
I kind of thought you'd dig them, honestly. It's not so much the score that was disappointing, it's the fact that I was a complete miss on the songs, after running through a ton of them. Those were the ones I picked because I thought they'd translate.
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Never heard of Sigh. TAC must not have sent them to me in my roulette...
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Never heard of Sigh. TAC must not have sent them to me in my roulette...
I had never sent them before, and probably won't send them again. :lol
-
*Sigh*
They're available too, possibly to TAC's chagrin. (https://i.imgur.com/GVpS0rU.gif)
I kind of thought you'd dig them, honestly. It's not so much the score that was disappointing, it's the fact that I was a complete miss on the songs, after running through a ton of them. Those were the ones I picked because I thought they'd translate.
It's possible with their production style they might always have a harder time hitting, and what songs connect often seems random from both our perspectives, and probably even more so when it's a more unusual or experimental sort of band.
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Just woke up, sending in an hour or two.
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I think I found something I can send for the pre-90s round. :)
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Think I might go for the record amount of songs sent in a single round. This may well break hangman :lol
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Napalm Death isn't on the list... :justjen
Though I have my suspicions about which one you're picking.
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Think I might go for the record amount of songs sent in a single round. This may well break hangman :lol
Was I right with my original guess then? :lol
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Napalm Death isn't on the list... :justjen
Though I have my suspicions about which one you're picking.
Yea, it’s not too hard. I’ll send my submissions in a bit. I ended up picking 10 songs that fit in the 15 minute limit, so not as many as I’d initially hoped. I was nearly able to send a song from each of their albums, but it went over 15 minutes so revised my list.
Think I might go for the record amount of songs sent in a single round. This may well break hangman :lol
Was I right with my original guess then? :lol
:corn
Edit: sent
-
sent.
I kept thinking about many of the artists I didn't send, I can always end up sending something from them in the EP round.
But damn, when your go-to songs are usually longer tunes (6+ minutes at least), it really kills the ability to choose them. I.e., 2nd, 3rd, 4th choices end up being picked instead mostly because of length.
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Well, it should still be easier to pick than the more common one-song rule, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna try the 20-minute ariich length in the next round and see how that goes.
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Round 10 was a surprise. Glad you enjoyed Svalbard.
Sent round 11.
-
Everyone in yet??
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Yeah, but today was too crazy to be able to run hangman. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon/evening.
-
You should be able to guess a number of these with no letters at all. :) One is split in half.
??? : _____
1: ___ ______
2: _____ ______
??? : ________
1: ____ ___ _______ ____
??? : ________
1: ___ _____ __ ___ ________
2: ___ _______
??? : ____ ____
1: _________
??? : _________
1: ___ ______ __ ___ ________
2: ___ ____ ____ _____
??? : ________
1: _____ ______
2: ____ __ ____
3: ____ ____ _ _____ ____
??? : _____ ______
1: ____ __ _____
2: ____ ___ ___ ______
??? : _________
1: ____ _____
2: ___ ________ _____ __ _ _____ _______
??? : ____ ____ _____
1: ____
2: ____ ____
3: _____ ____ ____
4: ____
??? : _____ _______
1: ____ __ ___
2: __________
3: _______ ____ ___
??? : ____
1: _____ ____
2: ____ ___
3: ______ ______ __ ___ ______ ____
4: _ _____ __ __ _________
5: ______ ___ __________
??? : ______
1: _______ __ ___ _____
2: ________
3: ____ ___ ___ _____
??? : ________
1: _____ ____
2: _____ __ _______
3: ___ ____ ______
??? : ____
1: ___
2: ____ '__ ___ _____ '__
3: _____
4: ___ __ __ ____ '_ ____
??? : ________
1: ____ _____
2: ____-_______ ___
3: ____ _____
4: ___ ____
??? : ___ ___ _____
1: ___ __________
2: _________
??? : __. ______
1: ________
2: ___ ___-___________ _________
3: ___ ________
??? : ____
1: _________ ____ ___
2: ____________ ____
3: ___ ___ _ ______
4: ___ __________ __ ______ ___ _____
5: _**_ ___ ____
??? : _________
1: ____ ___
Guessed letters:
-
T
-
Luke sent NOFX :P
A
-
??? : A___a
1: T__ __a_a_
2: _____ ______
??? : A_a_____
1: __t_ t__ _a__t__ ____
??? : ____a___
1: T__ ___t_ __ t__ ____ta__
2: T__ _at____
??? : _at_ ____
1: ______a__
??? : _____a_a_
1: T__ ______ __ t__ ____ta__
2: T__ ____ T_at _____
??? : _a_t____
1: __a__ T_____
2: T___ T_ T___
3: ____ T_a_ _ _____ ____
??? : A____ ______
1: _a__ __ _____
2: _a__ t__ ___ A_____
??? : __t___a_t
1: _a_t _____
2: T__ ________ ____t __ a _at__ _a_____
??? : __a_ __a_ __a__
1: ____
2: ____ ____
3: __a__ ____ ____
4: _a__
??? : _____ ______t
1: _a__ __ ___
2: __a___a___
3: ___a___ ____ ___
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: _____ ____
2: ____ ___
3: ______ ______ at t__ T_____ ____
4: _ _a__a __ A_ A________
5: ______ t__ _________t
??? : T_____
1: _______ __ ___ __a__
2: _a__a___
3: ____ A__ ___ __a__
??? : _a_t____
1: _____ __t_
2: ____t __ _a____a
3: ___ ____ _a____
??? : ____
1: ___
2: ____ '__ a__ __a__ '__
3: _____
4: __t __ __ ____ '_ ____
??? : _a_a____
1: _a__ T____
2: ____-_______ ___
3: _a__ _a___
4: T__ ____
??? : ___ ___ T_a__
1: T__ ______t___
2: _____a___
??? : __. ______
1: _a______
2: T__ A__-_____t_____ ____t_a__
3: A__ ________
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: _____a___ ____ ___
2: ________a___ ____
3: T__ _a_ _ ______
4: T__ ___a_at___ __ ______ a__ __at_
5: _**_ t__ ____
??? : _________
1: ___t __t
Guessed letters: ta
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Agalloch - Into The Painted Grey
I approve :tup I might have sent Agalloch if their best album wasn't banned. And if I had to send them I might have gone with The Melancholy Spirit instead, but Into The Painted Grey is probably the 2nd best song that could have been sent with the time limit and allowed albums.
-
give me the D
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I see a big train, a big big train.
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Ah I was too slow, but based on the initial no-letters post I was going to guess that Luke's submission was spread across two with 5 songs each. :lol
I'll try and figure out the songs but I don't know all their albums that well.
-
??? : ____
1: ___
2: ____ '__ a__ __a__ '__
3: _____
4: __t __ __ ____ '_ ____
Stadler-Kiss
She
Love 'em And Leave 'em
Deuce
Let Me Go Rock n Roll
-
Someone sent Alice Cooper. Maybe Chad, as Kiss was surely sent by Stads?
-
Someone better have sent Destiny’s Child. If not then fuck it, I’ll do a DC EP
-
??? : A___a
1: T__ __a_a_
2: _____ ______
??? : Agalloch
1: Into the Painted Grey
??? : ____a__d
1: T__ ___t_ __ t__ ____ta__
2: T__ _at____
??? : _at_ ____
1: ______a__
??? : _____a_a_
1: T__ ______ __ t__ ____ta__
2: T__ ____ T_at _____
??? : _a_t_d__
1: __a__ T_____
2: T___ T_ T___
3: ____ T_a_ _ ____d ____
??? : Alice Cooper
1: _a__ __ _____
2: _a__ t__ ___ A____d
??? : __t___a_t
1: _a_t _____
2: T__ ________ ____t __ a _at__ _a_d___
??? : __a_ __a_ __a__
1: ____
2: ___d ____
3: __ad_ ____ ____
4: _a__
??? : _____ ______t
1: _a__ __ ___
2: __a___a___
3: ___a___ ____ ___
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: _____ ____
2: ____ ___
3: ______ D_____ at t__ T_____ ____
4: _ _a__a __ A_ A________
5: ___d__ t__ _________t
??? : T_____
1: D______ __ ___ __a__
2: Da_da___
3: ____ A__ ___ __a__
??? : _a_t_d__
1: _____ __t_
2: ____t __ _a____a
3: D__ ____ _a____
Stadler: KISS
1: She
2: Love 'Em and Leave 'Em
3: Deuce
4: Let Me Go Rock 'N Roll
??? : _a_a____
1: _a_d T____
2: ____-______d ___
3: _a__ _a___
4: T__ ____
??? : Big Big Train
1: T__ ______t___
2: _____a___
??? : __. ______
1: _a______
2: T__ A__-___d_t____d ____t_a__
3: A__ ______d_
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: D____a___ ____ D__
2: ________a___ ____
3: T__ _a_ _ _____d
4: T__ ___a_at___ __ ______ a_d __at_
5: _**_ t__ __d_
??? : _______d_
1: ___t __t
Guessed letters: tad
-
Alright here are most of the NOFX songs, the last few not jumping out at me yet:
Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
I Wanna Be An Alcoholic
Murder the Government
Dinosaurs Will Die
The Man I Killed
The Separation of Church and Skate
Fuck the Kids
EDIT: Oh of course, Monosyllabic Girl as well
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I might have sent Agalloch if their best album wasn't banned.
Not technically banned, but I have heard it and just didn't rate it 4.5 stars or more.
Someone sent Alice Cooper. Maybe Chad
TAC's ways are rubbing off on you! Chad wimped out on the roulette when he heard there would be growls. :p
Someone better have sent Destiny’s Child. If not then fuck it, I’ll do a DC EP
Heck, I certainly wouldn't complain. Crow sending Beyoncé in an earlier round made me realize that I liked her vocals even more than I thought I might, but what songs hit in that style is so random, and I'm hoping maybe some of the 90s/00s R&Bisms might work better, who knows.
-
Ok I had to look things up on Spotify but based on number of letters which can't be the ones so far revealed, and also songs that are short enough to fit in with the rest, I'm guessing the last two NOFX songs are Green Corn and Punk Guy.
-
It’s a punk rock party up in here!
-
Angra:
The Shaman
not sure of the other one, possibly a more recent song
-
Enslaved:
something
The Watcher (great song)
EDIT: Maybe Puppies?
-
Enslaved:
something
The Watcher (great song)
EDIT: Maybe Puppies?
I was gonna say Puppies before your edit.
Did HOF send BBT?
How about an N
-
Ooooooh and Thrice:
Digging My Own Grave
Daedalus
Come All You Weary
Great selection. I'd written off the whole of the Alchemy Index but actually you only rated the first album.
-
Maybe Crow sent Thrice, but I don’t think the song selection is very Crow. I’d have expected Words in Water or Beggars or something.
-
Alright here are most of the NOFX songs, the last few not jumping out at me yet:
Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
I Wanna Be An Alcoholic
Murder the Government
Dinosaurs Will Die
The Man I Killed
The Separation of Church and Skate
Fuck the Kids
EDIT: Oh of course, Monosyllabic Girl as well
Wow, that's some inspirational music. :lol
-
This prompted me to put on Come All You Weary and I'd forgotten how much I adore this song, just hits me right in the feels.
-
??? : Angra
1: The Shaman
2: _____ ______
??? : Agalloch
1: Into the Painted Grey
Puppies_On_Acid: Enslaved
1: T__ ___t_ __ t__ ___nta_n
2: The Watcher
??? : _at_ ____
1: _n____a__
??? : ____na_a_
1: T__ ______ __ t__ ___nta_n
2: T__ ____ T_at ___n_
??? : _a_t_d_n
1: __a__ T_n___
2: T___ T_ T___
3: ____ T_an _ ____d ____
??? : Alice Cooper
1: _a__ __ _____
2: _a__ t__ __n A___nd
??? : _nt__na_t
1: _a_t _____
2: T__ _n______ ___nt __ a _at__ _and_n_
??? : __a_ __a_ __a__
1: ____
2: ___d ___n
3: __ad_ ____ ____
4: _a__
??? : ____n ______t
1: _a__ _n N__
2: __a___a___
3: __na___ ____ ___
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Green Corn
2: Punk Guy
3: Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
4: I Wanna Be An Alcoholic
5: Murder the Government
??? : Thrice
1: Digging My Own Grave
2: Daedalus
3: Come All You Weary
??? : _a_t_d_n
1: _____ __t_
2: ____t __ _a____a
3: D__ __n_ _a____
Stadler: KISS
1: She
2: Love 'Em and Leave 'Em
3: Deuce
4: Let Me Go Rock 'N Roll
??? : _a_a____
1: _a_d T____
2: ____-______d ___
3: _a__ _a___
4: T__ N___
HOF: Big Big Train
1: T__ _____nt_n_
2: _n___a___
??? : __. __n___
1: _a______
2: T__ A__-__nd_t__n_d N___t_a__
3: A__ _____nd_
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Dinosaurs Will Die
2: Monosyllabic Girl
3: The Man I Killed
4: The Separation of Church and Skate
5: F**k the Kids
??? : _______d_
1: ___t __t
Guessed letters: tadn
-
Alright here are most of the NOFX songs, the last few not jumping out at me yet:
Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
I Wanna Be An Alcoholic
Murder the Government
Dinosaurs Will Die
The Man I Killed
The Separation of Church and Skate
Fuck the Kids
EDIT: Oh of course, Monosyllabic Girl as well
Wow, that's some inspirational music. :lol
This won’t be your thing at all Tim but the songs aren’t anywhere near as depressing as they sound :lol It’s all upbeat, melodic hardcore punk. The songs are all really short, fuck it give ‘em a go!
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BTW, I don't particularly care about censorship, I just don't think those two words should be three letters from each other, and Spotify seems to agree. :lol
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BTW, I don't particularly care about censorship, I just don't think those two words should be three letters from each other, and Spotify seems to agree. :lol
:lol Only on the compilation. It's uncensored on the live album.
And I'm sure it's obvious but for the avoidance of doubt, the song is obviously about older generations screwing over the younger generations, rather than... well, yeah. :lol
-
Internaut
Mastodon
M
-
??? : Angra
1: The Shaman
2: _____ ______
??? : Agalloch
1: Into the Painted Grey
Puppies_On_Acid: Enslaved
1: T__ ___t_ __ t__ M__nta_n
2: The Watcher
??? : _at_ ____
1: _n____a__
??? : ____na_a_
1: T__ ___m__ __ t__ M__nta_n
2: T__ ____ T_at ___n_
??? : Mastodon
1: __a__ T_n___
2: T___ T_ T___
3: M___ T_an _ ____d ____
??? : Alice Cooper
1: _a__ __ _____
2: _a__ t__ __n A___nd
??? : Intronaut
1: _a_t ___m_
2: T__ _n______ ___nt __ a _at__ _and_n_
??? : __a_ __a_ __a__
1: ____
2: ___d ___n
3: __ad_ ____ ____
4: Ma__
??? : ____n ______t
1: _a__ _n N__
2: _ma__ma___
3: __na___ ____ ___
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Green Corn
2: Punk Guy
3: Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
4: I Wanna Be An Alcoholic
5: Murder the Government
??? : Thrice
1: Digging My Own Grave
2: Daedalus
3: Come All You Weary
??? : Mastodon
1: _m___ __t_
2: ____t __ _a____a
3: D__ __n_ _a____
Stadler: KISS
1: She
2: Love 'Em and Leave 'Em
3: Deuce
4: Let Me Go Rock 'N Roll
??? : _a_am___
1: _a_d T_m__
2: ____-______d ___
3: _a__ _a___
4: T__ N___
HOF: Big Big Train
1: T__ _____nt_n_
2: _n___a___
??? : M_. __n___
1: _a______
2: T__ A__-__nd_t__n_d N___tma__
3: A__ M____nd_
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Dinosaurs Will Die
2: Monosyllabic Girl
3: The Man I Killed
4: The Separation of Church and Skate
5: F**k the Kids
??? : _______d_
1: ___t __t
Guessed letters: tadnm
-
Thrice is probably Evermind
-
Mr. bungle
The air-conditioned nightmare
-
Wait, someone sent Intronaut and didn't send Any Port? wat...
-
Also did someone send the Yeah Yeah Yeahs?
-
Wait, someone sent Intronaut and didn't send Any Port? wat...
*Fast Worms
-
Can't believe no one took The Dear Hunter.
-
Can't believe no one took The Dear Hunter.
I strongly considered it and had a nice selection of 4 songs from The Color Spectrum lined up but decided to go a different route in the end.
-
Yea I very much considered it as well, but if someone is encouraging a NOFX submission I’m going to make them live to regret it.
-
Mastodon
1: Black Tongue
2: Toes To Toes
3: More Than I Could Chew (You have this album rated on your RYM?)
-
??? : Angra
1: The Shaman
2: _____ ______
??? : Agalloch
1: Into the Painted Grey
Puppies_On_Acid: Enslaved
1: T__ ___t_ __ t__ M__nta_n
2: The Watcher
??? : _at_ ____
1: _n____a__
??? : ____na_a_
1: T__ ___m__ __ t__ M__nta_n
2: T__ ____ T_at ___n_
??? : Mastodon
1: Black Tongue
2: Toes To Toes
3: More Than I Could Chew
??? : Alice Cooper
1: _a__ __ _____
2: _a__ t__ __n A___nd
??? : Intronaut
1: Fast Worms
2: T__ _n______ ___nt __ a _at__ _and_n_
??? : Yeah Yeah Yeahs
1: ____
2: ___d ___n
3: __ad_ ____ ____
4: Ma__
??? : ____n ______t
1: _a__ _n N__
2: _ma__ma___
3: __na___ ____ ___
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Green Corn
2: Punk Guy
3: Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
4: I Wanna Be An Alcoholic
5: Murder the Government
Evermind: Thrice
1: Digging My Own Grave
2: Daedalus
3: Come All You Weary
??? : Mastodon
1: _m___ __t_
2: ____t __ _a____a
3: D__ __n_ _a____
Stadler: KISS
1: She
2: Love 'Em and Leave 'Em
3: Deuce
4: Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll
??? : _a_am___
1: _a_d T_m__
2: ____-______d ___
3: _a__ _a___
4: T__ N___
HOF: Big Big Train
1: T__ _____nt_n_
2: _n___a___
??? : Mr. Bungle
1: _a______
2: The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
3: A__ M____nd_
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Dinosaurs Will Die
2: Monosyllabic Girl
3: The Man I Killed
4: The Separation of Church and Skate
5: F**k the Kids
??? : _______d_
1: ___t __t
Guessed letters: tadnm
-
So you *can* send songs from albums you've rated this round? Did I miss something? :lol
-
Elite sent Mr. Bungle
-
So you *can* send songs from albums you've rated this round? Did I miss something? :lol
That's always been the case, you're confusing me with ariich. :p It's only artists that I've rated something 4.5 or higher from that are hard-banned. It's just that artists/albums I've rated 4.0 or lower have a greater chance I might already know it, or that could be the top end of the score.
Elite sent Mr. Bungle
Yes.
-
E
-
??? : Angra
1: The Shaman
2: ___e_ _e_e__
??? : Agalloch
1: Into the Painted Grey
Puppies_On_Acid: Enslaved
1: T_e ___t_ __ t_e M__nta_n
2: The Watcher
??? : _ate ____
1: _n____a_e
??? : ____na_a_
1: T_e ___me_ __ t_e M__nta_n
2: T_e ___e T_at ___n_
??? : Mastodon
1: Black Tongue
2: Toes To Toes
3: More Than I Could Chew
??? : Alice Cooper
1: _a__ __ ___e_
2: _a__ t_e __n A___nd
??? : Intronaut
1: Fast Worms
2: T_e _n___e__ E_ent __ a _ate_ _and_n_
??? : Yeah Yeah Yeahs
1: _e__
2: ___d ___n
3: _ead_ ____ ____
4: Ma__
??? : _e__n ____e_t
1: _a__ _n N__
2: _ma_ema_e_
3: __na___ __e_ ___
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Green Corn
2: Punk Guy
3: Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
4: I Wanna Be An Alcoholic
5: Murder the Government
Evermind: Thrice
1: Digging My Own Grave
2: Daedalus
3: Come All You Weary
??? : Mastodon
1: Em_e_ __t_
2: ____t __ _a_e__a
3: D__ __ne _a__e_
Stadler: KISS
1: She
2: Love 'Em and Leave 'Em
3: Deuce
4: Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll
??? : _a_am__e
1: _a_d T_me_
2: ___e-_____ed ___
3: _a_e _a___
4: T_e Ne__
HOF: Big Big Train
1: T_e ____ent_ne
2: _n___a___
Elite: Mr. Bungle
1: _a____e_
2: The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
3: A__ M___end_
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Dinosaurs Will Die
2: Monosyllabic Girl
3: The Man I Killed
4: The Separation of Church and Skate
5: F**k the Kids
??? : ___e___de
1: _e_t __t
Guessed letters: tadnme
-
The Roots Of The Mountain
Upper Levels
-
The Roots Of The Mountain
And there's also
The Rhymes of the Mountain.
And The Fire that Burns
Borknagar
-
Paramore
Hard Times
The News
-
Litho, is the next round officially 20 minutes?
-
give me the Q
-
give me the Q
I'll take an X while we are at it.
-
??? : Angra
1: The Shaman
2: Upper Levels
??? : Agalloch
1: Into the Painted Grey
Puppies_On_Acid: Enslaved
1: The Roots of the Mountain
2: The Watcher
??? : _ate ____
1: _n____a_e
??? : Borknagar
1: The Rhymes of the Mountain
2: The Fire That Burns
??? : Mastodon
1: Black Tongue
2: Toes To Toes
3: More Than I Could Chew
??? : Alice Cooper
1: _a__ __ ___e_
2: _a__ t_e __n A___nd
??? : Intronaut
1: Fast Worms
2: T_e _n___e__ E_ent __ a _ate_ _and_n_
??? : Yeah Yeah Yeahs
1: _e__
2: ___d ___n
3: _ead_ ____ ____
4: Ma__
??? : _e__n ____e_t
1: _a__ _n N__
2: _ma_ema_e_
3: __na___ __e_ ___
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Green Corn
2: Punk Guy
3: Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
4: I Wanna Be An Alcoholic
5: Murder the Government
Evermind: Thrice
1: Digging My Own Grave
2: Daedalus
3: Come All You Weary
??? : Mastodon
1: Em_e_ __t_
2: ____t __ _a_e__a
3: D__ __ne _a__e_
Stadler: KISS
1: She
2: Love 'Em and Leave 'Em
3: Deuce
4: Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll
??? : Paramore
1: Hard Times
2: ___e-_____ed ___
3: _a_e _a___
4: The News
HOF: Big Big Train
1: T_e ____ent_ne
2: _n___a___
Elite: Mr. Bungle
1: _a____e_
2: The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
3: A__ M___end_
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Dinosaurs Will Die
2: Monosyllabic Girl
3: The Man I Killed
4: The Separation of Church and Skate
5: F**k the Kids
??? : ___e___de
1: _e_t __t
Guessed letters: tadnmeqx
-
Litho, is the next round officially 20 minutes?
Yes, as is round 13 (the final open free for all, like rounds 3, 6, & 9 were).
give me the Q
I'll take an X while we are at it.
Congrats, you two solved a grand total of two characters. :loser:
-
Kate Bush
Ember City
Ghost Of Karelia
Dry Bone Valley
L
-
??? : Angra
1: The Shaman
2: Upper Levels
??? : Agalloch
1: Into the Painted Grey
Puppies_On_Acid: Enslaved
1: The Roots of the Mountain
2: The Watcher
??? : Kate Bush
1: _n___la_e
??? : Borknagar
1: The Rhymes of the Mountain
2: The Fire That Burns
??? : Mastodon
1: Black Tongue
2: Toes To Toes
3: More Than I Could Chew
??? : Alice Cooper
1: _al_ __ _l_e_
2: _a__ t_e __n A___nd
??? : Intronaut
1: Fast Worms
2: T_e _nl__el_ E_ent __ a _ate_ Land_n_
??? : Yeah Yeah Yeahs
1: _e__
2: __ld L__n
3: _ead_ __ll __ll
4: Ma__
??? : _e__n __l_e_t
1: _a__ _n N__
2: _ma_ema_e_
3: __nall_ __e_ ___
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Green Corn
2: Punk Guy
3: Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
4: I Wanna Be An Alcoholic
5: Murder the Government
Evermind: Thrice
1: Digging My Own Grave
2: Daedalus
3: Come All You Weary
??? : Mastodon
1: Ember City
2: Ghost of Karelia
3: Dry Bone Valley
Stadler: KISS
1: She
2: Love 'Em and Leave 'Em
3: Deuce
4: Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll
??? : Paramore
1: Hard Times
2: ___e-__l__ed ___
3: _a_e _a___
4: The News
HOF: Big Big Train
1: T_e _l__ent_ne
2: _n___all_
Elite: Mr. Bungle
1: _a____el
2: The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
3: A__ M___end_
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Dinosaurs Will Die
2: Monosyllabic Girl
3: The Man I Killed
4: The Separation of Church and Skate
5: F**k the Kids
??? : ___e___de
1: Le_t __t
Guessed letters: tadnmeqxl
-
Big Big Train songs are : The Florentine and Snowfalls. Interesting choices - fitting BBT into 15 minutes isn't an easy task!
-
Apart from my own submission, of course, I hope Thrice scores highly. As much as I enjoy Digging My Own Grave, I would've probably gone for something else. Daedalus and Come All You Weary are unimpeachable.
Agalloch - Into The Painted Grey
I approve :tup I might have sent Agalloch if their best album wasn't banned. And if I had to send them I might have gone with The Melancholy Spirit instead, but Into The Painted Grey is probably the 2nd best song that could have been sent with the time limit and allowed albums.
:metal :metal
There are so many great Agalloch choices in the 15-20 minute range, but I can't complain about Into the Painted Grey or The Melancholy Spirit
-
Big Big Train songs are : The Florentine and Snowfalls.
Yep.
Apart from my own submission, of course, I hope Thrice scores highly. As much as I enjoy Digging My Own Grave, I would've probably gone for something else.
As always, I love alternate suggestions I can listen to later.
-
I'm a sucker for almost everything Thrice has released, but for the purposes of this roulette, I might've gone Words in the Water, A Song for Milly Michaelson, Broken Lungs, Hurricane, or Salt and Shadow. But this is just me getting nitpicky. Digging My Own Grave does a nice job of showcasing their versatility even just within the space of The Alchemy Index.
-
i would not have picked thrice for this round bcuz i would've been inclined to go for the more post-hardcore songs and we already saw how that turned out
-
i would not have picked thrice for this round bcuz i would've been inclined to go for the more post-hardcore songs and we already saw how that turned out
I mean, I did kind of like two of their other albums classified as post-hardcore, so they could be closer to say, Black Peaks, but I also haven't really been compelled to return to them yet, so... :corn
-
Ok, here are the artists and songs filled out. You can guess any other senders you want for now (some I'm surprised haven't been guessed yet), and I'll fill them out tonight. Then early impressions will be sometime tomorrow.
This is definitely going to be a much better round than the previous one. By design, of course, by sort of hand-picking bands (though admittedly there were a decent number in the original list I'd never consciously heard, I just know something about them by reputation) I think I've established something of a floor, which means I actually at least moderately like pretty much everything sent. The top end seemed like it could be lower than some rounds, but a number have already been rising, and there's lots more listening to come which could boost some of the ones that weren't quite as auspicious initially.
??? : Angra
1: The Shaman
2: Upper Levels
??? : Agalloch
1: Into the Painted Grey
Puppies_On_Acid: Enslaved
1: The Roots of the Mountain
2: The Watcher
??? : Kate Bush
1: Snowflake
??? : Borknagar
1: The Rhymes of the Mountain
2: The Fire That Burns
??? : Mastodon
1: Black Tongue
2: Toes To Toes
3: More Than I Could Chew
??? : Alice Cooper
1: Halo of Flies
2: Pass the Gun Around
??? : Intronaut
1: Fast Worms
2: The Unlikely Event of a Water Landing
??? : Yeah Yeah Yeahs
1: Zero
2: Gold Lion
3: Heads Will Roll
4: Maps
??? : Kevin Gilbert
1: Back in NYC
2: Imagemaker
3: Finally Over You
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Green Corn
2: Punk Guy
3: Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
4: I Wanna Be An Alcoholic
5: Murder the Government
Evermind: Thrice
1: Digging My Own Grave
2: Daedalus
3: Come All You Weary
??? : Mastodon
1: Ember City
2: Ghost of Karelia
3: Dry Bone Valley
Stadler: KISS
1: She
2: Love 'Em and Leave 'Em
3: Deuce
4: Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll
??? : Paramore
1: Hard Times
2: Rose-Colored Boy
3: Fake Happy
4: The News
HOF: Big Big Train
1: The Florentine
2: Snowfalls
Elite: Mr. Bungle
1: Carousel
2: The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
3: Ars Moriendi
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Dinosaurs Will Die
2: Monosyllabic Girl
3: The Man I Killed
4: The Separation of Church and Skate
5: F**k the Kids
??? : Riverside
1: Left Out
-
Did Wolfy send Angra?
-
Did Nelson sent Kevin Gilbert?
-
Kade isn't in the roulette, and nope on seneca.
-
Riverside from Lethean (or did he already send them)?
Kate Bush from Sacul?
-
Yeah, he already sent them in an earlier round.
Yes on Sacul.
-
Kade isn't in the roulette, and nope on seneca.
I now just assume all the regulars are in every roulette, sozzers.
-
Kade isn't in the roulette, and nope on seneca.
I now just assume all the regulars are in every roulette, sozzers.
I'm in every roulette! Except for 425's, but that was a unique circumstance.
-
Did Nelson sent Kevin Gilbert?
I definitely considered it, but no.
-
Here is hangman filled out. I should have early impressions ready for tomorrow evening.
And here is also the playlist for the round. The Kevin Gilbert songs are not on Spotify, and only one is on Youtube, so you're on your own for those, or talk to Soundscape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctzY_BvWWDc
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4IvQAexmcHUAMKUqlhHjCE
Lethean: Angra
1: The Shaman
2: Upper Levels
senecadawg2: Agalloch
1: Into the Painted Grey
Puppies_On_Acid: Enslaved
1: The Roots of the Mountain
2: The Watcher
Sacul: Kate Bush
1: Snowflake
ariich: Borknagar
1: The Rhymes of the Mountain
2: The Fire That Burns
Nachtmerrie: Mastodon
1: Black Tongue
2: Toes To Toes
3: More Than I Could Chew
TAC: Alice Cooper
1: Halo of Flies
2: Pass the Gun Around
Crow: Intronaut
1: Fast Worms
2: The Unlikely Event of a Water Landing
soupytwist: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
1: Zero
2: Gold Lion
3: Heads Will Roll
4: Maps
SoundscapeMN: Kevin Gilbert
1: Back in NYC
2: Imagemaker
3: Finally Over You
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Green Corn
2: Punk Guy
3: Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
4: I Wanna Be An Alcoholic
5: Murder the Government
Evermind: Thrice
1: Digging My Own Grave
2: Daedalus
3: Come All You Weary
Vmadera00: Mastodon
1: Ember City
2: Ghost of Karelia
3: Dry Bone Valley
Stadler: KISS
1: She
2: Love 'Em and Leave 'Em
3: Deuce
4: Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll
Tomislav95: Paramore
1: Hard Times
2: Rose-Colored Boy
3: Fake Happy
4: The News
HOF: Big Big Train
1: The Florentine
2: Snowfalls
Elite: Mr. Bungle
1: Carousel
2: The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
3: Ars Moriendi
twosuitsluke: NOFX
1: Dinosaurs Will Die
2: Monosyllabic Girl
3: The Man I Killed
4: The Separation of Church and Skate
5: F**k the Kids
Buddyhunter1: Riverside
1: Left Out
-
Kevin Gilbert's stuff is notoriously hard to find anywhere, for some reason.
-
It's due to the estate reporting and having his music pulled per wanting to release all forms of it in a physical form.
There reasons are puzzling other than the history of people sharing files (a lot of unreleased music included) and with streaming, the artist receives no direct income.
But they very well know, streaming could lead to people buying the music later, but I don't think that means enough to them.
The plan is for once the Multi-disc The Shaming of the True is released, that will be it. No other physical releases will come out from Kevin Gilbert's estate. And I guess at that point, they will plan to upload his music to likely as many platforms as possible, including on his official site.
-
Round 11 Early Impressions:
1: Now I remember what the inside of a squirrel's brain feels like.
2: This could be the best thing you've sent me, with an artist that has more range than I realized.
3: Hmm, maybe the second time's (third time?) the charm.
4: This is on the minimalistic and repetitive side of what I like, but it's so haunting and beautiful that it might overcome it.
5: I don't know if this drastically moves the needle on my overall preexisting opinion of them, but the drumming is still just as stellar as I expected it would be.
6: This band used to constantly be compared to one of my absolute favorite bands, and I still don't really see it, but they're decent enough on their own merits.
7: Memorability is going to be the question, but the sound and elements are there. I may have been sleeping on this band.
8: I didn't realize that this band had this sound in them. Let's see if it blossoms on later plays.
9: Unlike an earlier round, this could turn out to be a photo finish.
10: I have the feeling this might translate better in a more theatrical live environment than it does on album, but it is certainly a fascinating historical exercise.
11: Crow - Intronaut - This might be the second best thing you've sent me. As I had anticipated, the bass playing is a highlight.
12: HOF - Big Big Train - I was worried that this would be too overly simple and happy for me at first, but the way it builds is impressive and gradually becomes more to my taste.
13: Yeah, so this is the miscreant little brother of a style I casually like.
14: I'm probably unlikely to ever truly love this group, but this is a solid batch of songs that's probably better than what most have heard from them.
15: This might be a bit too quirky for my taste, but maybe it'll grow on me.
16: I wish the first song had the production quality of the second, but I may have been sleeping on this band too.
17: Here's the other band that is even more frequently compared to one of my absolute favorites, and while they're alright, I wish I could splice the two of them together into one band, but I guess that would actually just create a different version of the band they're compared to.
18: This is some of the most unusual and difficult to categorize of the accessible rock/pop I've heard, which could be its strength.
-
11? :omg: or 5 maybe idk
-
11? :omg:
:tup
-
2 (probably not), 4 or 14?
-
(https://i.imgur.com/UBbYa4z.gif)
-
5?
-
9?
-
(https://i.imgur.com/9vo518q.gif)
5?
No, but you're getting warm-ish.
-
6 (or 17)?
-
(https://i.imgur.com/RLKgXa1.gif)
-
2?
-
You'll probably have to mull this one over.
-
Or just keep guessing until I hit it. 12?
-
(https://i.imgur.com/zYFTuOQ.gif)
-
2?
-
Nope.
-
I feel like mine must be the third one and I love the triple play on words if so. :lol
-
2, 6, or 17 seems likely.
-
3?
-
18 is the only one that stands out to me.
-
2,4,or 10?
-
Ignore my previous guess, I thought these were Ariich’s first impressions :lol
6?
-
18 could be mine
-
4
-
Round 11 Early Impressions:
1: Now I remember what the inside of a squirrel's brain feels like.
2: This could be the best thing you've sent me, with an artist that has more range than I realized.
3: Buddyhunter1 - Riverside - Hmm, maybe the second time's (third time?) the charm.
4: Sacul - Kate Bush - This is on the minimalistic and repetitive side of what I like, but it's so haunting and beautiful that it might overcome it.
5: I don't know if this drastically moves the needle on my overall preexisting opinion of them, but the drumming is still just as stellar as I expected it would be.
6: This band used to constantly be compared to one of my absolute favorite bands, and I still don't really see it, but they're decent enough on their own merits.
7: Memorability is going to be the question, but the sound and elements are there. I may have been sleeping on this band.
8: Evermind - Thrice - I didn't realize that this band had this sound in them. Let's see if it blossoms on later plays.
9: Unlike an earlier round, this could turn out to be a photo finish.
10: TAC - Alice Cooper - I have the feeling this might translate better in a more theatrical live environment than it does on album, but it is certainly a fascinating historical exercise.
11: Crow - Intronaut - This might be the second best thing you've sent me. As I had anticipated, the bass playing is a highlight.
12: HOF - Big Big Train - I was worried that this would be too overly simple and happy for me at first, but the way it builds is impressive and gradually becomes more to my taste.
13: Yeah, so this is the miscreant little brother of a style I casually like.
14: I'm probably unlikely to ever truly love this group, but this is a solid batch of songs that's probably better than what most have heard from them.
15: This might be a bit too quirky for my taste, but maybe it'll grow on me.
16: I wish the first song had the production quality of the second, but I may have been sleeping on this band too.
17: Puppies_On_Acid - Enslaved - Here's the other band that is even more frequently compared to one of my absolute favorites, and while they're alright, I wish I could splice the two of them together into one band, but I guess that would actually just create a different version of the band they're compared to.
18: SoundscapeMN - Kevin Gilbert - This is some of the most unusual and difficult to categorize of the accessible rock/pop I've heard, which could be its strength.
-
3, 7 or 8?
-
I feel like mine must be the third one and I love the triple play on words if so. :lol
No, but if my subconscious somehow came up with it, I'll gladly take all the credit for it. ;D
8?
(https://i.imgur.com/s9woO8Q.gif)
-
3?
-
(https://i.imgur.com/uoPONfh.gif)
-
Hell yeah.
What am I missing with the "(third time?)"? I thought they were only sent once before this. :lol
-
Oh boy.
-
Hell yeah.
What am I missing with the "(third time?)"? I thought they were only sent once before this. :lol
In the same round seneca sent Lunatic Soul, Mariusz' side project.
-
18?
-
(https://i.imgur.com/ZdqsIxq.gif)
-
Hell yeah.
What am I missing with the "(third time?)"? I thought they were only sent once before this. :lol
In the same round seneca sent Lunatic Soul, Mariusz' side project.
Ah. I'm a big Riverside fan but I've barely listened to that project. :lol
-
13?
-
Nope.
-
Gonna be 14 ain’t it
-
(https://i.imgur.com/RLKgXa1.gif)
-
Ok I'll try 14 then.
-
Nope.
-
Ok I'll try 14 then.
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Litho, can you please remind me what's banned as far as RYM goes.
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@Tomi - nope.
@TAC - basically any album by an artist that I've rated something of theirs 4.5 stars or above. If nothing is above 4.0, I could potentially be talked into them even if they're on the soft ban list, though I might already be too familiar with the album or could have a lower rating ceiling for them, particularly if I've rated numerous albums by them.
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@TAC - basically any album by an artist that I've rated something of theirs 4.5 stars or above. If nothing is above 4.0, I could potentially be talked into them even if they're on the soft ban list, though I might already be too familiar with the album or could have a lower rating ceiling for them, particularly if I've rated numerous albums by them.
OK, so I was considering a band for the next round. I looked them up on your RYM, and you have one album rated a 4.0, but none of their other albums rated. If I don't use that album, can I still use them?
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You could potentially even use something from that album, there's just a higher chance that'll have to resend or have a more middling score. But it's a risk that has paid off a number of times already in this roulette for various people (and not as well for a few others).
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You could potentially even use something from that album, there's just a higher chance that'll have to resend or have a more middling score. But it's a risk that has paid off a number of times already in this roulette for various people (and not as well for a few others).
:tup
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7?
and because i'm running out of options - optimistically 2?
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1: Now I remember what the inside of a squirrel's brain feels like.
5: I don't know if this drastically moves the needle on my overall preexisting opinion of them, but the drumming is still just as stellar as I expected it would be.
14: I'm probably unlikely to ever truly love this group, but this is a solid batch of songs that's probably better than what most have heard from them.
One of these? Maybe 5
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Neither on soupy's.
#5 is extremely close on Vmad's.
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Idk what that means :lol close in number or description? If number, am I #6?
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My hint will actually be round #6.
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I want to mention one thing now because people are getting lucky with it lately, but in general it's probably detrimental to people's scores. I'm not quite sure what the philosophy people have on not relatively maximizing their runtime is. If there's 0-3 minutes left, that's understandable, it's more rare for artists to have substantive songs of that length (of course it's somewhat genre-dependent). But there seem to be an increasing number with 4-6 minutes of runtime leftover, and when I check the artist's discographies, it's not like they don't have plenty of songs in that range.
I wonder if people are worried about consistency, but I will note that I am much more inclined to boost a submission based on the strongest song than lower it based on the weakest (maybe there have been a few salient counterexamples that are scaring people off, but those are the exception, not the rule). And the strongest song for me might not be the one you think it is, as I'm sure some of you have noticed. So if you are on the fence or even slightly leaning against including an additional song because you think it might weaken the submission, in the majority of situations that's probably not likely to be the case.
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I think this round is probably the most time I’ve left on the table. I could have gotten you a short interlude type track, but not sure that would have moved the needle much. Can still send you one if you want!
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I think your's was technically one second over, actually. :P
And it's too late to include it in the official submission, but yeah, I'd love to hear it anyway.
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I think your's was technically one second over, actually. :P
And it's too late to include it in the official submission, but yeah, I'd love to hear it anyway.
Oh, yours is 15:00, Ariich’s is 20:00.
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Yeah, this round and the earlier open rounds were 15:00, though I'm stealing his format and going to 20:00 for the next two rounds.
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Hell yeah.
What am I missing with the "(third time?)"? I thought they were only sent once before this. :lol
In the same round seneca sent Lunatic Soul, Mariusz' side project.
Ah. I'm a big Riverside fan but I've barely listened to that project. :lol
It took me a while to really start listening to Lunatic Soul. I had the first two albums on my PC for years but never seriously got around to it. But then when I finally did (and he had released at least two more), I loved it. Beautiful and melancholic.
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I feel like there's a good bit of Vortex in the Borknagar song choices, and yet... There is not enough Vortex. :) (Having said that, "everyone" says the old albums have really bad production so maybe it's good nothing was sent from those.)
Fun fact Litho - the clean singer from Solefald is also a member of Borknagar and you can hear him in both of these songs.
Unrelated, I hate that *now* I'll have 20 minutes in the one round where I don't need it... :P
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Oh yeah I forgot that my guess was wrong. :lol
Probably one of these then:
5: I don't know if this drastically moves the needle on my overall preexisting opinion of them, but the drumming is still just as stellar as I expected it would be.
6: This band used to constantly be compared to one of my absolute favorite bands, and I still don't really see it, but they're decent enough on their own merits.
7: Memorability is going to be the question, but the sound and elements are there. I may have been sleeping on this band.
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5, 9 or 14 on the impressions?
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Round 11 Early Impressions:
1: Now I remember what the inside of a squirrel's brain feels like.
2: Tomislav95 - Paramore - This could be the best thing you've sent me, with an artist that has more range than I realized.
3: Buddyhunter1 - Riverside - Hmm, maybe the second time's (third time?) the charm.
4: Sacul - Kate Bush - This is on the minimalistic and repetitive side of what I like, but it's so haunting and beautiful that it might overcome it.
5: Nachtmerrie - Mastodon - I don't know if this drastically moves the needle on my overall preexisting opinion of them, but the drumming is still just as stellar as I expected it would be.
6: This band used to constantly be compared to one of my absolute favorite bands, and I still don't really see it, but they're decent enough on their own merits.
7: ariich - Borknagar - Memorability is going to be the question, but the sound and elements are there. I may have been sleeping on this band.
8: Evermind - Thrice - I didn't realize that this band had this sound in them. Let's see if it blossoms on later plays.
9: Vmadera00 - Mastodon - Unlike an earlier round, this could turn out to be a photo finish.
10: TAC - Alice Cooper - I have the feeling this might translate better in a more theatrical live environment than it does on album, but it is certainly a fascinating historical exercise.
11: Crow - Intronaut - This might be the second best thing you've sent me. As I had anticipated, the bass playing is a highlight.
12: HOF - Big Big Train - I was worried that this would be too overly simple and happy for me at first, but the way it builds is impressive and gradually becomes more to my taste.
13: twosuitsluke - NOFX - Yeah, so this is the miscreant little brother of a style I casually like.
14: I'm probably unlikely to ever truly love this group, but this is a solid batch of songs that's probably better than what most have heard from them.
15: This might be a bit too quirky for my taste, but maybe it'll grow on me.
16: I wish the first song had the production quality of the second, but I may have been sleeping on this band too.
17: Puppies_On_Acid - Enslaved - Here's the other band that is even more frequently compared to one of my absolute favorites, and while they're alright, I wish I could splice the two of them together into one band, but I guess that would actually just create a different version of the band they're compared to.
18: SoundscapeMN - Kevin Gilbert - This is some of the most unusual and difficult to categorize of the accessible rock/pop I've heard, which could be its strength.
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(Having said that, "everyone" says the old albums have really bad production so maybe it's good nothing was sent from those.)
I kind of liked them when I first heard them many years ago, but my rating standards were even much looser then. And there are certain types of Scandinavian extreme metal from that era that are objectively not well-produced by modern standards, but have nostalgic appeal.
Fun fact Litho - the clean singer from Solefald is also a member of Borknagar and you can hear him in both of these songs.
Yeah, those scenes were so incestuous. I think the title track from Winter Thrice, which wasn't sent, but is the only Borknagar song I'm moderately familiar with, has some combination of at least three of Garm, ICS Vortex, Vintersorg, and Lars. Pretty epic.
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How about 2?
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(https://i.imgur.com/FaR0RG7.gif)
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13 then?
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(https://i.imgur.com/d7b2M0r.gif)
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Process of elimination says mine might be
1: Now I remember what the inside of a squirrel's brain feels like.
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6?
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15?
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(https://i.imgur.com/h1caUZV.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/UBbYa4z.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/RLKgXa1.gif)
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Here are the early impressions filled out. Comparisons will either be tonight or tomorrow.
Round 11 Early Impressions:
1: Elite - Mr. Bungle - Now I remember what the inside of a squirrel's brain feels like.
2: Tomislav95 - Paramore - This could be the best thing you've sent me, with an artist that has more range than I realized.
3: Buddyhunter1 - Riverside - Hmm, maybe the second time's (third time?) the charm.
4: Sacul - Kate Bush - This is on the minimalistic and repetitive side of what I like, but it's so haunting and beautiful that it might overcome it.
5: Nachtmerrie - Mastodon - I don't know if this drastically moves the needle on my overall preexisting opinion of them, but the drumming is still just as stellar as I expected it would be.
6: senecadawg2 - Agalloch - This band used to constantly be compared to one of my absolute favorite bands, and I still don't really see it, but they're decent enough on their own merits.
7: ariich - Borknagar - Memorability is going to be the question, but the sound and elements are there. I may have been sleeping on this band.
8: Evermind - Thrice - I didn't realize that this band had this sound in them. Let's see if it blossoms on later plays.
9: Vmadera00 - Mastodon - Unlike an earlier round, this could turn out to be a photo finish.
10: TAC - Alice Cooper - I have the feeling this might translate better in a more theatrical live environment than it does on album, but it is certainly a fascinating historical exercise.
11: Crow - Intronaut - This might be the second best thing you've sent me. As I had anticipated, the bass playing is a highlight.
12: HOF - Big Big Train - I was worried that this would be too overly simple and happy for me at first, but the way it builds is impressive and gradually becomes more to my taste.
13: twosuitsluke - NOFX - Yeah, so this is the miscreant little brother of a style I casually like.
14: Stadler - KISS - I'm probably unlikely to ever truly love this group, but this is a solid batch of songs that's probably better than what most have heard from them.
15: soupytwist - Yeah Yeah Yeahs - This might be a bit too quirky for my taste, but maybe it'll grow on me.
16: Lethean - Angra - I wish the first song had the production quality of the second, but I may have been sleeping on this band too.
17: Puppies_On_Acid - Enslaved - Here's the other band that is even more frequently compared to one of my absolute favorites, and while they're alright, I wish I could splice the two of them together into one band, but I guess that would actually just create a different version of the band they're compared to.
18: SoundscapeMN - Kevin Gilbert - This is some of the most unusual and difficult to categorize of the accessible rock/pop I've heard, which could be its strength.
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:corn
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6: senecadawg2 - Agalloch - This band used to constantly be compared to one of my absolute favorite bands, and I still don't really see it
I'm not sure I see it either, based on the bands you've rated most highly on your RYM account. Who we talking about?
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Opeth.
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Opeth.
They're more of a ripoff of the first Ulver album, except better. :lol
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agalloch and opeth are nothing alike, what :lol
whoever was telling you that was lying
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It also was a better reference a couple decades ago before the Cascadian scene exploded and there were far more and more comparable choices, but I still hear the comparison a surprising amount.
But even now they're still in the first couple dozen results for each other for similar artists on Metal-Archives and Last.fm, for example.
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I’m lost. :lol
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Opeth, Agalloch, and folky extreme metal.
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YYY's to quirky, fair enough - I'd dismissed that impression as you'd enjoyed the far more quirkier (imo) Katzenjammer in an earlier round! Let's hope it has grown on you :D
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Like any other musical attribute, quirkiness has a wide variety and range, and there are various sweet spots along the spectrum of it.
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This has overall been a pretty good round, certainly much better than the past one, which is hardly surprising given the artificial limitations on both of them. Next time I run a roulette I could easily see doing a version of this round again, though I will probably wind up investigating a few of the bands on the list that didn't get picked after the roulette anyway, but even in the process of this one I came up with a number of bands I probably should have had on the list, and I'm sure I'll think of even more later.
For the comparisons, to complicate things a bit, they are based on the raw scores before the style bonuses of last round, which in a few cases makes things murkier.
Round 11 Comparisons:
Nachtmerrie: Svalbard -> Mastodon: v
Evermind: Black Peaks -> Thrice: v
HOF: Ske -> Big Big Train: =?
Buddyhunter1: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum -> Riverside: ^
Lethean: Solefald -> Angra: =?
Elite: Ornette Coleman -> Mr. Bungle: v
SoundscapeMN: Mutyumu -> Kevin Gilbert: ^
soupytwist: Manic Street Preachers -> Yeah Yeah Yeahs: v
ariich: Ocean Colour Scene -> Borknagar: ^
Stadler: Hank Williams Jr. -> KISS: v
TAC: Sigh -> Alice Cooper: ^
Crow: Actor|Observer -> Intronaut: ^
twosuitsluke: Gallows -> NOFX: =?
Puppies_On_Acid: The Fall of Troy -> Enslaved: ^
senecadawg2: mewithoutYou -> Agalloch: ^
Vmadera00: Cro-Mags -> Mastodon: ^
Tomislav95: Okervill River -> Paramore: ^
Sacul: dreamcrusher -> Kate Bush: ^
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#1 here I come!!! :corn
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Oof.
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green, baby, green!
...i would disagree in this case but hey it works in my favor!!
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After how bad I did, I don't think a green means much :lol
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agalloch and opeth are nothing alike, what :lol
whoever was telling you that was lying
Opeth.
They're more of a ripoff of the first Ulver album, except better. :lol
As a big fan of both bands, I guess you could say "Agalloch is to BM what Opeth is to death metal" or vice versa. But yeah, generally I'm not sure the comparison does justice to either of them.
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Yeah, maybe you could say that in ways, though it misses a lot from both ends. I've actually already gotten into a bit more of it in the writeups already. Probably easily a thread's worth of discussion there to be had at some point. It probably already exists in various places here and elsewhere.
Speaking of the writeups, most are already written now, but I have a few more to crank out, and then editing and getting all the other ducks in a row and such in the next few days.
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A thread's worth of discussion about Agalloch sounds good to me. :corn
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Yeah, maybe you could say that in ways, though it misses a lot from both ends. I've actually already gotten into a bit more of it in the writeups already. Probably easily a thread's worth of discussion there to be had at some point. It probably already exists in various places here and elsewhere.
Speaking of the writeups, most are already written now, but I have a few more to crank out, and then editing and getting all the other ducks in a row and such in the next few days.
...next few DAYS??
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I know you get paid to post here, but unfortunately, I don't. :p
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Pretty much everything is done, I just need to double check everything on fresh eyes. Results should be up tomorrow evening.
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Was there a time limit on Round 12?
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Was there a time limit on Round 12?
Three weeks apparently. ;D
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(https://i.giphy.com/media/AnTdtqwJSzW5W/giphy.webp)
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Was there a time limit on Round 12?
20 minutes, as many songs as you can fit. One artist, 1989 or earlier.
Also 20 for round 13, except it's completely open, like rounds 3, 6, and 9 were.
And I'll finalize the EP guidelines in the next few days so people can get those going if they haven't already.
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I have not done any prep on my EP. Might name the EP ‘winging it’, all songs related to blagging it/flying by the seat of my pants.
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A Winger EP, you say? Sounds like the one to beat!
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A Winger EP, you say? Sounds like the one to beat!
Yeah, the one to beat up!
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A Winger EP, you say? Sounds like the one to beat!
Yeah, the one to beat up!
(https://i.imgflip.com/7qx7b6.jpg)
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A Winger EP, you say? Sounds like the one to beat!
Yeah, the one to beat up!
(https://i.imgflip.com/7qx7b6.jpg)
(https://media.tenor.com/zGudI2cj148AAAAC/yes-batman.gif)
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(https://media.tenor.com/s8hIm9KshIAAAAAd/theres-something-very-familiar-about-all-this-deja-vu.gif)
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Wow, so limiting the round selection largely to bands I already liked to a limited extent or had heard promising things about has done wonders for the overall scores. This is the highest scoring round yet. Of course, that means that the competition was stiffer, so some entries that would have placed a bit higher in previous rounds are lower in comparison for this one, but that's just how it goes.
It was amusing to uncover some unexpected connections between some of these artists, ncluding one between Kevin Gilbert and Big Big Train that's too somber to fit in this section. But we have Thrice and then Borknagar's album Winter Thrice. Angra covered Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights". Hayley Williams of Paramore and Fat Mike of NOFX appear to have some beef between them. And of course we have dueling Mastodons and the third appearance of Mariusz Duda of Riverside. Alice Cooper also had an album called DaDa, close enough, right? And various other easter eggs I've scattered about in the writeups. But enough frivolous divertissement for now...
Oh, and I'm still a bit undecided on how to include the final summaries. For now I've kept them all, and they seem like they could be useful for the longer writeups to get the essence across without needing to read a whole essay, but they seem a bit redundant and perfunctory for the shorter writeups. I'll have to ponder it more, or see if anyone has any further opinions on the matter.
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twosuitsluke - NOFX - "Green Corn", "Punk Guy", "Seeing Double at the Triple Rock", "I Wanna Be An Alcoholic", "Murder the Government", "Dinosaurs Will Die", "Monosyllabic Girl", "The Man I Killed", "The Separation of Church and Skate", "F**k the Kids"
Early Impression - "Yeah, so this is the miscreant little brother of a style I casually like."
Final Summary:
There is a nice energetic vibe instrumentally to some of the songs that is not too dissimilar to other skate punk I like, but the songs are too weighted towards silliness, and Fat Mike's vocals are a struggle for me.
Details:
Alright, so skate punk was really my first big inroads into attempting to get into some punk bands. As I foreshadowed last round in my preliminary thoughts on -core styles, I kind of had an adversarial relationship with punk in high school, but did have a few guilty pleasures of the pop-punk that was popular on the radio back in the late 90s/early 00s, particularly The Offspring and Green Day, I suppose the former of which is both pop-punk and skate punk depending upon the release/song. But it was plowing through albums from Bad Religion, Pennywise, Rancid, and Millencolin in particular that really convinced me that there was validity to the style, with an irrepressible and infectious energy that really couldn't be properly duplicated in any other genre. But for whatever reason even though I was well-aware of the name NOFX (there was even one guy who used them as his alias in an online video game I played a lot back then), I just never got around to checking them out.
Now, at their core, they have many of the same attributes that other skate punk bands do, with the high-tempo, kinetic feel and a certain catchiness to them. On my first listen I was a bit worried, because "Green Corn" initially struck me as sounding more amateur and unpolished production-wise than some other similar bands. I think I've grown much more acclimated to it over time, because it doesn't really bug me anymore. And most of the others are fine in terms of production. "Seeing Double at the Triple Rock" in particular has the punchiest and meatiest sound to it, which makes me wonder if Wolves in Wolves' Clothing has a consistent production style like that song, or if it varies across the album. If it's the former, I suspect it could be the best album to dip into at some point and see if any other tracks stand out.
One somewhat complicated issue with this set of songs is that we probably have different goals in checking out bands. There are eight different albums represented here, which I suppose in one sense gives a brief snapshot of a broader array of their discography. But to achieve that, so many of these tracks are quite short, and while punk has always leaned towards shorter song lengths, some of these are really more of skits and interludes than they are songs, particular the sub-1:00 ones. Perhaps this works to convey NOFX's musical personality, although it seems hard to miss it in their songs at any length, but it just makes them a bit harder to get into than the still brief, but more substantial tracks. "F%~@&$*#!" the Kids" is basically the Napalm Death "You Suffer" of punk.
I have to wonder if they'd have come across slightly better by cutting out the shorter pieces for another track or two like "Seeing Double", "Dinosaurs Will Die", and "The Separation of Church and Skate". Those are just more complete as songs and I have a greater chance of revisiting them later on than the micro-songs, which are one-offs that I honestly will probably never listen to again once this round is over.
What really holds everything back for me though is Fat Mike's vocals. Like thrash metal, punk-adjacent bands seem to have one of the most eclectic sets of unusual vocalists that you dislike, learn to tolerate, or some even love because they're unique and have a lot of character. I imagine for you it's probably the latter, but I'm much closer to the former, and I'd need someone more like say, Greg Graffin, for it to really work. Although, I must admit that the occasional harmony vocal bit works better than the solo lines, such as at 0:56 in "Green Corn".
I'm also generally not that into humor in music, and that seems to be a major part of their shtick. I think the closest something like this comes to working for me is Devin Townsend's Punky Brüster project, which I kind of ignore the narrative aspect of, and his voice works better for. I imagine part of the fun of the NOFX experience is their live shows (I heard they suck, and they're getting even worse at them!), and I watched some of these songs being played live, and I get the feeling the stage banter and spontaneity in the evolving lyrics adds to the appeal for some people.
Of course, there is a fair amount that does appeal to me throughout these songs though. "Seeing Double" has an excellent primary riff. "The Separation" has a neat almost surf-punk one driving it. "Dinosaurs" has that fun bass break right near the ending. "The Separation" has some tasty cymbal work at 1:46. Shortly after it has a cool guitar solo, as does "Green Corn".
I think a band like this (or even, say, KGLW) illustrates a fundamental difference in what the two of us are drawn to in music. You seem to place a much higher priority on "whoa, check this out, dude" novelty, and music that's mostly about fun, good times party vibes. I don't mind a bit of music like this on occasion, but I think I just have much less of a consistent appetite for it than you seem to.
Obviously you can correct me if you think I'm mischaracterizing this, it's just my perception of what I've been increasingly noticing over time and why certain music seems to resonate with you a lot more than it does with me. I'm more than happy to continue checking out bands like these, and every now and then something will hit (Seatbelts from an earlier round is one example from your submissions, or Katzenjammer from soupy), though I think they're generally more likely to continue to be the exception to the rule. But I suspect you're at the point in the roulette where you're just sending whatever feels the most fun and exciting to you in the moment, and that's cool too. A well-balanced roulette participant pool has all kinds of different types of entries to keep things fresh.
Score: 6.75/10
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Elite - Mr. Bungle - "Carousel", "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare", "Ars Moriendi"
Early Impression - "Now I remember what the inside of a squirrel's brain feels like."
Final Summary:
My enduring feeling about them has been upheld, that while they're a very talented group of musicians with a lot of interesting ideas, the way they're mashed together is just too frantic and chaotic for me.
Details:
So Mr. Bungle has always been my go-to example of experimentation going a bit too far, with them even appearing in the OP and a few of my earlier writeups. But it's honestly been such a long time since I've actually listened to them that I suppose it was time to reevaluate them. I've dipped into a variety of Patton's projects at various points and haven't really been into them for the most part, the best of them being Peeping Tom, which has some really great tracks.
There's certainly lots of fun to be had scattered about. The central theme of "Carousel" fits in well with all the third wave ska that was popular in the 90s that I listened to quite a bit, with the horns, funky guitar work and such. The Beach Boys-esque vocalizations on "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare" are kind of cool.
The central problem is that this is really the start of all the genre salad bands. I'm sure it had been tried before by someone, but all of the Estradaspheres and Secret Chiefs 3s and such I believe were directly inspired (and some members might even have some contributions to the California tracks if I recall correctly) by Mr. Bungle. It's an entertaining idea initially, but I find that the novelty wears off quickly, and it becomes like the audio version of changing the TV channel every couple seconds. "Ars Moriendi" is the worst in this regard. It has some tantalizing moments that remind me of Bulgarian wedding music like Ivo Papasov and others, but the abrupt transitions between unrelated sections makes Dream Theater's worst tendencies in that regard seem quite tame.
It has such a disjointed feel to it (intentionally) that I just find it fatiguing to listen to for that long. It seems like they take a lot of musical ideas that are kind of cool on their own with the variety of style and instrumentation, put 50 of them on scraps of paper in a hat, draw them at random, and that's the song.
The other issue is that Patton is such a bizarre vocalist, that he has moments of brilliance (I love how he holds out "suicide" and "comfortable" in the section at 1:39 in "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare"), but then so many other moments where he's just trying to be outlandish for the sake of it (the retching at 3:45 in "Carousel" is particularly annoying). From my recollection it's toned down from what he does with say, Fantômas, but it's still just too over the top, all over the place, and just plain wacky for me to want to hear it more frequently than the rare occasion when I'm in an unusual mood.
Score: 6.75/10
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senecadawg2 - Agalloch - "Into the Painted Grey"
Early Impression - "This band used to constantly be compared to one of my absolute favorite bands, and I still don't really see it, but they're decent enough on their own merits."
Final Summary:
There is much to enjoy melodically and compositionally, but the less refined production and especially the thin guitar tones fail to boost this enough above other atmospheric black metal.
Details:
So as I teased earlier in the thread, for whatever reason this band often seems to come up as being an artist I should love, since like Opeth, they're also an extreme metal band that has a folky side to them. I've listened to a few albums here and there, but nothing ever really stuck, and the comparison seemed very superficial, which is especially weird because I've heard many people make the comparison who otherwise seemed fairly well-versed in metal.
Melodically, this is actually a fairly nice song. I especially like the increasing and stacking layers of interwoven lines at 0:53, or that ascending/sliding line in the break at 5:33, which is reprised a bit later on as well. The drums actually sounded quite good in the first couple seconds - I almost wondered if I'd accidentally started playing a Mastodon track instead. But in the parts where they're blasting away, it gets a little mushy for my tastes.
But my biggest beef is with the guitar tone. I've sampled a lot of atmospheric black metal over the years, and the vast majority of it has this thin, weightless tone derived from Burzum. This is on the better end of what I've heard, but it's still a bit too insubstantial for me. Even compared to Opeth, this is a much lighter tone that just doesn't have the impact I want.
It appears to be a very popular sound among black metal fans, and like with the vocals in post-hardcore in the previous round, it seems to be an area where I just don't see eye to eye with a lot of other people on the forum on. It's much better timbre-wise than say, Space Odyssey from a few rounds ago, but it's still not really very close to the range I like. My speed is more Behemoth, White Ward, or Batushka - chunkier and heavier. Basically, black metal that retains atmosphere, but has a more crushing death metal-like timbre. Or even a couple artists later in this roulette are a bit closer.
And then the acoustic guitars here are barely present. From my recollection they're more prominent in some of their other work, but the way they're mixed in this song is just as some filler on the side. The production and mixing in general just seems to be in a no-man's land. It's not as spacious and lush as some of the better ABM has the potential to be, nor does it have much punch to it. So while I do mildly like the song compositionally, it just doesn't have the presentation to elevate it enough. The Wikipedia entry for this album even says that in moving from Ashes Against The Grain to this album, they considered AATG "too polished, and opted for a more raw sound". That's the kind of blurb that's always going to make me nervous about how an album is going to come across.
Score: 7.25/10
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Stadler - KISS - "She", "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em", "Deuce", "Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll"
Early Impression - "I'm probably unlikely to ever truly love this group, but this is a solid batch of songs that's probably better than what most have heard from them."
Final Summary:
Their brand of hard rock just isn't one that's going to be a favorite of mine, but "She" in particular is has a nice vibe to it, and I could see myself revisiting it on occasion.
Details:
So KISS is one of those bands that is so omnipresent that it's kind of hard to avoid them even if you try. I've heard a variety of their hits over the years, and have always been rather indifferent on them. My parents even had Destroyer on vinyl for some reason, which is odd since neither of them like KISS. I had one friend let me borrow a greatest hits of theirs at one point, and the only song that really stood out was "Detroit Rock City". So it's been fascinating how polarizing they are, with some people railing on them as an embarrassment to music, and others (including a number of my favorite musicians) citing them as highly inspirational to their own careers.
I've mostly just watched these squabbles with amusement, having no real dog in the fight, but maybe leaning slightly towards thinking they're more of an entertainment spectacle than a normal band. My curiosity was piqued a bit though as I noticed that they seem to have a bit of a fanbase here, and a podcast I listen to occasionally did a deep dive on their discography, and one tune that stood out that they played was "Rocket Ride".
So my initial impression of this set was mildly positive, and still is, though I think it's tapered off ever so slightly. "She" is the best song of the lot, with a cool groove to it, some tasty riffs, and some splendid harmonizations in the guitar solo. The others are perfectly serviceable classic hard rock, the kind of songs I wouldn't turn if they came up on the jukebox, but probably wouldn't put in a quarter for them either. "Love 'Em Leave 'Em" does have a fun stuttering volume toggle trick at 2:57 though.
Not really knowing them well enough to know who sings what, I watched a few live videos of these songs, and it seems like this is a pretty Gene-heavy selection. I'm still more curious about their Stanley-centric tunes, as he's often been compared as something of a prototype for one of my favorite vocalists, Matt Barlow, who has even covered a few KISS songs, most notably "Creatures of the Night" and "God of Thunder" back when he was in Iced Earth, so those are two songs that I know much better as covers.
It seems by reputation that Peter Criss is supposedly a poor drummer. I don't hear anything particularly offensive in these songs, so I don't know if that's a live issue, something from other albums, or I think I've heard rumors of other players ghost writing/playing the drums on certain songs/albums.
Score: 7.25/10
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soupytwist - Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Zero", "Gold Lion", "Heads Will Roll", "Maps"
Early Impression - "This might be a bit too quirky for my taste, but maybe it'll grow on me."
Final Summary:
We might have another case of this not being quite the right group of songs, but it's also possible that the peculiarities of the vocal style make them seem less melodically-driven than would be ideal to elevate them above a moderate level of enjoyment.
Details:
So this was one of those bands that stood out for having an odd name. I always associated them with a far more obscure pop group The Yeah You's. I never really got around to ever checking them out though, despite hearing various things about them over the years.
I'm getting the feeling this is another group where I may only mildly-moderately like their sound as a whole, but there will be a couple random songs per album that will connect with me. I suppose that's the case with a lot of genres and artists, but probably even more so with pop groups where the sound palette on each song is very different, and there isn't something consistent instrumentally to latch onto regardless of song like there often is with a lot of metal bands, for example.
I suppose the draw for a lot of people for them is probably Karen O's delivery, but it's just not always hitting for me. She seems more of a character/energy sort of vocalist, where a lot of her lines are only half-sung, and she pretty frequently has all of these idiosyncratic exclamations that she inserts. Maybe over time they become more endearing as they certainly have more personality than average, but I just can't quite get there at this point. It's probably a situation like with Gwen Stefani in No Doubt, who while I don't consider a particularly amazing vocalist, I've had over two and a half decades to be used to her quirks. But most of my favorite vocalists are generally a bit more melodically-focused. I'm not saying she's a poor vocalist, there just may have been an incongruity between my expectations and the type of vocals she employs.
Instrumentally everything is ok, there's a wide variety of timbres that keeps things from ever feeling too stale, but there's just nothing in particular that really stands out. The most interesting one is probably the synth lead at 2:19 in "Zero". Or maybe the grindier lower-range sound at 2:58 in "Heads Will Roll", which is probably guitar but could possibly be a synth patch as well.
And then we get into nitpicky things like how certain keys connect with me less frequently than others, and three of these are in ones that I typically find blander, although to the extent this facet of my tastes can be gamed, the people in the roulette that I know are musicians haven't even really been taking that much of an advantage of it anyway.
I feel like in rereading this the score seems like it should be lower than the text reflects, but it's more that my expectations were probably a bit high and they couldn't quite meet them.
Score: 7.5/10
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Evermind - Thrice - "Digging My Own Grave", "Daedalus", "Come All You Weary"
Early Impression - "I didn't realize that this band had this sound in them. Let's see if it blossoms on later plays."
Final Summary:
Something of a theme of this round is uncovering artists who I've heard certain types of material from, but didn't realize that their discography was even more expansive, and they certainly fall into that category, where there could potentially be numerous styles that I like their dabblings with.
Details:
Yeah, so my limited knowledge of this group, despite them being frequently mentioned for years and years, is vague memories of their more intense post-hardcore albums, and "Red Sky", which is more of an atmospheric alt rock tune with electronics. This slab of songs is nothing like either of those. These have a more relaxing feel, with an array of excellent auxiliary instrumentation with the melodica, piano, and acoustic guitar, and the Hammond organ in "Come All You Weary" sounds especially fantastic. There are a lot of fun interactions between the two rhythm electric parts throughout "Daedalus", as well as some great bass playing to go with them, and some tasty tremolo guitar work in "Come All".
That sort of multi-dimensionality tends to help a lot in improving my perception of bands, even when they are more focused on a different sound. I think ultimately what this entry is going to do is make me revisit the louder Thrice albums and see if they're more along the lines of Black Peaks in terms of post-hardcore that appeals more to me because of vocals I don't mind as much, or even like. The potential seems to be there based on the climax for "Daedalus", for example.
I'm sure this is a rookie mistake, but if you'd asked me beforehand whether the vocalist for them was Dustin Kensrue or Dallas Green, I'm not sure I could have beaten a coin flip, but now I know. And if Borknagar has Winter Thrice, maybe this is Spring Thrice? Naw, I got nothin'.
Score: 7.75/10
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Puppies_On_Acid - Enslaved - "Roots of the Mountain", "The Watcher"
Early Impression - "Here's the Other band that is even more frequently compared to one of my absolute favorites, and while they're alright, I wish I could splice the two of them together into one band, but I guess that would actually just create a different version of the band they're compared to."
Final Summary:
I'm happy when bands blossom over the course of a round for me, and this turns out to be another example, as "Roots of the Mountain" really delivers the goods with a plethora of engaging components and makes me think this is yet another band I've been overlooking.
Details:
So Enslaved is sometimes called "the black metal Opeth", and I don't entirely see that comparison either, but they are probably slightly closer at least than Agalloch is, due to the proggier nature of some of their material, and having a full-time keyboard player these days. I've heard a number of their albums (probably including a few others that I didn't get around to rating on RYM), and I've liked them, but haven't found anything I've really loved yet. I'm still not entirely there, but I think I'm definitely inching towards it. And even nearing the end of the round, I feel like it's grown on me even more and moved up slightly again, it's certainly a bit of a grower.
I find "The Watcher" a bit bland, though decent enough, but "Roots of the Mountain" is quite an intriguing tune. It has all the right ingredients, with a fairly full production, a better guitar tone, a good contrast of vocal styles (including the choral-esque bit at 4:27), and all kinds of spices here and there. The chorus especially is quite an earworm, and is a perfect melodic juxtaposition with the more traditionally black metal-sounding intro riff that is repeated in various spots. The solo at 2:49 is killer, and the tremolo-picked passage over acoustic guitar at 6:49 is just gorgeous. There's also the delicious bass break at 4:13.
The keyboards could probably even be a bit more prominent than they are (and perhaps other tracks highlight them more), as I like the Mellotron flute break at 1:42, but the Mellotron strings at the very end are briefer than I'd like.
I'm actually no longer sure exactly what I had in mind with the early impression in terms of how you would combine them with Agalloch to achieve something more similar to Opeth. It might be that from my memory Agalloch tends to have more overt folky acoustic passages on other songs than the one sent in this round, and while there's a bit of acoustic here, it's mostly just a bit of background strumming. Enslaved has more of the other elements though, and I could certainly see more material of theirs appealing to me if it's at all like this.
I used to consider bands like these "Banger-core", because Sam Dunn's Banger TV Youtube channel tended to prominently feature bands like Enslaved, Mastodon, and a few others, and I historically haven't quite gotten them, but one by one I'm having to walk back my opinions on some of them. I'll be thrilled if at some point I run out of bands I've considered to be overrated, because that just means more music I like.
Score: 8/10
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TAC - Alice Cooper - "Halo of Flies", "Pass the Gun Around"
Early Impression - "I have the feeling this might translate better in a more theatrical live environment than it does on album, but it is certainly a fascinating historical exercise."
Final Summary:
Numerous plays brought unexpected depth out of these tracks, revealing additional layers to Alice that I was previously unaware of, piquing my interest in further exploration.
Details:
This is the funny thing about first impressions, and for me the importance of numerous plays and immersion. KISS had a more immediate somewhat positive impression and I was more skeptical of how well Alice might do, with these cuts seeming perhaps too experimental, but the immediacy of KISS slipped a bit over time and I've gotten into these songs a bit more. There's a lot more depth, nuance, and replayability to this set.
As I've mentioned a number of times, I think there's generally a lower ceiling for most artists in this era for me, but greater familiarity with it is pushing him up closer towards the top of that ceiling. And I've mentioned, I believe via PMs, that I know a few of Alice's hits, but I don't think I've ever made time for any full-length releases, so this is definitely a side of him that I didn't realize he was capable of. I think I also forgot to mention that I'm quite familiar with "Dead Babies", but from the Iced Earth cover of it. Actually, I guess that's another connection between artists, as I noted in the KISS writeup that they've covered them as well.
I think the image of Alice as a shock rocker who was more about image than substance was already long shattered by his Wayne's World guest appearance, but even then, I definitely didn't realize he was capable of a proto-prog metal tune (really still hard rock, but you can see where it was heading given the period, and a live version I watched with more juice on the guitars definitely amps it up some), and a sort of art rock opera. I'm definitely intrigued to check more of his catalog out at some point, I could see some of it growing on me even more with additional context for it.
That lengthy solo in "Pass the Gun Around" is easily the highlight here, it's such a fantastic use of slathering delay and reverb over it, which gives it a spaciousness you don't hear often enough with relatively harder acts. The whole song actually isn't too far off from a bit of an Elton John or Queen feel to it, though I don't have the advantage of decades of familiarity with it like I do some of their material with that vibe, but it has still grown to have more appeal than I initially worried it might. It's curious, I don't think of myself as liking rock operas, but I do like Ayreon, some of Savatage's works of that kind, Dirt Poor Robins from earlier in the roulette has that element at times, so maybe I need to reconsider that notion.
Additionally, "Halo of Flies" even has that sort of proto-Iron Maiden galloped rhythm at 2:36, and a lot of interesting active bass work. He also unexpectedly sneaks in a snippet of the Sound of Music "My Favorite Things" melody at 2:10.
Score: 8/10
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Lethean - Angra - "The Shaman", "Upper Levels"
Early Impression - "I wish the first song had the production quality of the second, but I may have been sleeping on this band too."
Final Summary:
It seems this could be a band that I might enjoy their later releases more due to a sleeker production, but even the earlier track has noteworthy properties, making this another artist that look forward to hearing more from.
Details:
Angra is another of those bands I've known about seemingly forever, but just never spent a lot of time with. I'd heard Temple of Shadows, which was considered a classic, and enjoyed it, but was just never compelled to revisit it. Even when their name kept popping back up with Aquilles Priester auditioning for DT and Kiko Loureiro taking the Megadeth co-guitar slot, I just never made the effort to investigate them further. I'm kind of regretting that a bit, but hey, that's exactly why I'm having this round, because later is better than never.
It's curious that aggregation sites seem to consider Holy Land, the album "The Shaman" is from, to be much better than Secret Garden, the originating album for "Upper Levels". Perhaps it's an issue of consistency, but at least these particular songs go in the opposite order for me. "The Shaman" is a nice enough song, I enjoy some of the hand percussion and auxiliary instrumentation in particular (the didgeridoo in the ending especially, I own one myself, but am awful at trying to play it), but the overall production feels really time-locked to the mid-90s, with some dated keyboard patches and a fairly weak guitar tone.
"Upper Levels" on the other hand, just has a much richer feel to me, a higher-budget sound, meatier guitars, and still with some hand percussion and other intriguing components here and there. I was kind of hoping one of these tracks would have Aquilles, as I've seen him live when he toured with Tony MacAlpine, plus the DT audition, and a few Youtube playthroughs here and there, but he seems to have been inbetween these eras. No matter though, I can check out that material later, and his replacement is more than capable, with some quite piquant arrangements and great drum mixing, especially on the toms.
Kiko's soloing is another highlight, as I hoped it would be based on everything I've heard from him before (and you sending him in an earlier round). He really is a complete soloist, seamlessly going between some jazzy phrasing, blues licks, the shredding you expect in prog/power metal, and he's again especially adept with whammy dips, which I find quite addicting. There is some fantastic bass work throughout as well, most notably in the intro of "Upper Levels" and at 4:06 inbetween the solos. And I assume Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee were given writing credit for that whole section at 4:36, the resemblance is kind of uncanny.
Vocally they're nothing particularly notable, with a fairly conventional prog/power sort of vocal style. I was surprised to learn that Fabio Lione of Rhapsody has been their vocalist for awhile now. Rhapsody was actually one of the very first power metal bands I listened to, though they were never one of my favorites, and it's been so long and I've listened to so very little of them since then, which likely explains why I didn't make the connection at first. That harmony section at 3:10 in "Upper Levels" is quite stunning though, I kind of hope they do that more often on other songs.
Score: 8/10
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Sacul - Kate Bush - "Snowflake"
Early Impression - "This is on the minimalistic and repetitive side of what I like, but it's so haunting and beautiful that it might overcome it."
Final Summary:
This settles on just the right notes to be more entrancing than I worried it might be.
Details:
It's interesting that if you look at who are often considered to be the most revered female singer-songwriters, you seem to get a generational split, with older generations mentioning perhaps Joni Mitchell, and with younger generations suggesting Björk, and sometimes Fiona Apple. But the constant artist that both generations seem to adore is Kate, with her Stranger Things inclusion fairly recently giving her even more of a spotlight, but she was quite renowned even before then.
She even has much cross-genre influence, with Angra from this round covering "Wuthering Heights", but what has most piqued my interest in investigating her material more is that Kingfisher Sky, one of my mystery song artists from round one, covered "The Man With the Child In His Eyes" awhile back, and just earlier this year did a whole tour filled with Kate Bush songs. They released a professional teaser for the tour, which will hopefully turn into a DVD or at least a pro-shot Youtube video of it, since cellphone footage of the live shows doesn't really do the arrangements justice. So I own and have heard a few of Kate's albums and am familiar with some of the hits, but I've never seemed to be able to quite get her work to click for me yet.
Anyway, well, this one really had the potential to go off the rails. I worry more about shorter submissions with room left for decent-sized songs. This selection is quite sparse, with just a handful of motifs that are drawn out and alternated between. If I didn't like these particular ones as much as I do, I could easily see this having done more poorly. And also, it seems that the bulk of the vocals on this track are not delivered by Kate, but by her young son, so her contribution is primarily in the writing, the piano playing, and the refrain vocal. But it does have such a hypnotic and magical feel to it that I can't help but feel pulled in. Some of the piano voicings are quite elegant. I wondered whether it was going to build up to a crescendo by the end, which never came, but I suppose not every song needs one.
I'm certainly going to have to do more exploring of her discography outside of the roulette, but it suppose it does make the submission a success by threading the needle.
Score: 8/10
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Nachtmerrie - Mastodon - "Black Tongue", "Toe To Toes","More Than I Could Chew"
Early Impression - "I don't know if this drastically moves the needle on my overall preexisting opinion of them, but the drumming is still just as stellar as I expected it would be."
Final Summary:
The likely unplanned coordination in two people sending me a different selection of songs from the same band seems to wind up helping both submissions, with me starting to feel I could get into this band more, with this particular set having a bit broader range of types of songs from them.
Details:
So Mastodon is another of those bands that's been so ubiquitous in the metal landscape that it's kind of hard to avoid them even if you want to, to the point that I've long known the names and faces of all of the members even without really putting any effort into attempting to do so. I've heard a number of their albums, but I've always been pretty lukewarm on them. I remember Brann's fills really standing out on their early albums when I first heard them, but the sludgy sound just didn't appeal to me much at the time. They also lean into the stoner metal angle, which is a genre I'm especially picky about, since much of it doesn't feel like it goes anywhere and you probably need to live up to the name of the genre to get full enjoyment out of it. Fortunately this doesn't apply so much to Mastodon.
They had gradually grown on me a bit over time, with "The Motherload" being the first song of theirs I actually have given a fair number of plays to, and then Hushed and Grim a couple years ago was the first full-length album of theirs that I liked more or less in full. But even then, having given it a couple plays that year, I still haven't revisited it since then. Well, so with you and Vmad giving me a double dose of Mastodon this round, I think it's been effective in getting me more into them than I was, and I'm starting to see more of what I think other people see in them. Still easily their strongest attribute is Brann's playing. I'm glad that he has playthrough videos of some of these songs and others, which helps to shade in some of the nuance of what he does. The fluidity with which he changes subdivisions of rhythms in his fills is quite remarkable.
I think one of the obstacles of getting into them earlier on was their vocal styles. I knew that they had multiple lead vocalists, but didn't follow them closely enough to know who sang what. Brann's voice has been my favorite of the three, as it's the most distinct to me. I can tell now that it's Troy's vocals that I find the most unusual. I'm still not completely sold on them, but they do have a lot of character, and I think are probably most useful in contrasting the others as part of a multi-lead vocal attack. He seems to be the predominant vocalist in this set of songs though, which might hold them back slightly. I don't think there's quite enough of a sample size of Brent's in the six total songs to always distinguish him from Troy.
This group of songs seems to give a somewhat more comprehensive view of their sound, though the songs aren't quite as catchy. "Toe To Toes" has the acoustic playing, particularly in the intro, which is a side of them I'm not sure I was aware they had. "More Than I Could Chew" adds to that with the Mellotron intro. I knew they had a prog rock/metal bent to them, but I assumed it was more to do with the complexity of their songs and sometimes exploring conceptual material, but the auxiliary instrumentation certainly adds additional interest. This batch of songs also represents three different tunings they've employed. Additionally, Brent has a somewhat unusual but intriguing soloing style, which seems to be derived from his more banjo-style playing technique.
1:28 in "Black Tongue" is probably my favorite passage of these songs, with quite a mystical-sounding riff. "More Than I Could Chew" has perhaps the most interesting backing vocal work, with a number of sections of quite ghostly vocals, such as at 2:09, or at 4:15 when they add the upper octave for a bit more forward example.
Score: 8/10
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Vmadera00 - Mastodon - "Ember City", "Ghost of Karelia", "Dry Bone Valley"
Early Impression - "Unlike an earlier round, this could turn out to be a photo finish."
Final Summary:
The forced immersion into the land of Mastodon seems to have worked, with this set of songs from them being a tad more monolithic, but catchier and riffier.
Details:
I suppose you'll have to read the entry for Nachtmerrie for some brief personal history with Mastodon and my general feeling about them now.
And so of course with the impression I'm referring to you and Luke both sending Coheed and Cambria a few rounds ago. It seems maybe your secret to success is finding someone else to tag-team a band with and just sending the better set of songs. :-) Although in this case it's a virtual deadlock. The differences between them are relatively minute, but this grouping of songs sticks with me slightly more ("Ember City" was the first one to get stuck in my head), due to a bit more incorporation of Brann's vocals, and a tad more interesting collection of riffs, though with a slightly narrower scope of their sound. The submissions work very well in tandem though. I especially like how the "Ember City" opening riff starts in unison, but after a few cycles it turns into a harmonized riff.
Score: 8/10
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ariich - Borknagar - "The Rhymes of the Mountain", "The Fire That Burns"
Early Impression - "Memorability is going to be the question, but the sound and elements are there. I may have been sleeping on this band."
Final Summary:
So as it turns out, memorability was no issue at all - "The Fire That Burns" is still an earworm, and this roulette is rightfully starting to club me over the head with the idea that I need to pay more attention to the proggier Norwegian groups.
Details:
I'm feeling another shorter writeup coming, you somehow keep having that effect on me. I may have jinxed it by lampshading it, but we'll see. This round, and to a lesser extent the roulette, has been a bit of a hall of fame of black metal bands that tend to appeal to prog fans, between Agalloch, Enslaved, or in earlier rounds like Arcturus, Ne Obliviscaris, Solefald, Moonsorrow (or do they just appeal to Puppies?...), etc. So naturally it's time to reevaluate Borknagar, who as you've noticed, like Insomnium, I heard some of their earlier albums (possibly even more than I've rated, my memory is really fuzzy back that far), liked them moderately, but never really made an effort to keep up with them much after that.
Their status as a supergroup of sorts does seem to do them favors though, as we started discussing earlier in the thread, I do somewhat know the title track from Winter Thrice since it's a bit more famous for having a revisitation from Fiery G. to cool off ICS. But this duo of tracks is essentially similar to Enslaved, albeit a level up, with "Rhymes of the Mountain" being good, but "The Fire That Burns" being a bit more special. I don't understand how essentially a one-note chorus is so damn catchy, but it is. There's other tasty stuff from time to time, a solid production job, electric pianos, cool bass fills, guitar solos, some cleaner electric moments, a bit of synthesizer, and some violin (wouldn't have minded more). Kolstad doesn't stand out as much on "Rhymes" as I'd hoped he might, but he certainly doesn't hold it back either. The vocoder effect at 3:25 in "Rhymes" was also a serendipitous moment.
And since this has been a round of responding to specious band comparisons I've heard over the years, I'll proffer a questionable one of my own. Borknagar is black metal Soilwork. The earlier releases from both were a bit trver, but over the time they've become more melodic, polished, and proggier. But regardless, it's clear my Scandinavian axis of listening has been a bit too slanted towards Sweden over the years, and I need to tilt it at least slightly back in the direction of Norway. It seems that this came out slightly longer than I expected, but I suppose there's no direct correlation between writeup length and submission quality anyway.
Score: 8.25/10
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Crow - Intronaut - "Fast Worms", "The Unlikely Event of a Water Landing"
Early Impression - "This might be the second best thing you've sent me. As I had anticipated, the bass playing is a highlight."
Final Summary:
In actuality, the bass playing and the drumming are highlights, with "Fast Worms" having a cornucopia of delights, making this another band I'm at least a decade behind on, but it's never too late.
Details:
As I mentioned in my PM, I've seen these guys live when they opened up for Katatonia, along with TesseracT and Cult of Luna. I think I'd heard that they had a bit more flair in the bass department than normal, and I seem to recall that being the case during the show, but for whatever reason, I just never got around to following up on them. Well, I'm definitely glad I'm able to look into them now.
It's starting to get freaky with how common these submissions this round with a pair of songs will have one decent-good one, and one great one. And I don't know if they're always the ones people would expect. But in this case it's "The Unlikely Event of a Water Landing" that's pretty solid, but "Fast Worms" really steals the show. My memory of how they sounded was so fuzzy that I didn't know quite what to expect, but it certainly wasn't for it to have quite so many dazzling elements to it.
After a cool cliché but always effective lo-fi to full resolution explosion, the intro is a great mix of faster and slower heavy riffs, and the vocals are surprisingly decent, sounding a little like Threat Signal. The ping-ponging riff at 2:56 is just the delightful sort of studio mixing trick I love, and that whole instrumental section in the middle with the jazz chords and the fretless soloing is absolutely worth the price of admission. I play a little bit of fretless bass myself, so it's always a treat to hear players that are way better at it than I am. Obviously from the impression the bass playing was the initial standout, but from repeated listens and checking out some drum playthrough videos, the playing there is quite excellent as well.
And as if the world of this round isn't small enough already, one of their rehearsal videos shows them playing a stripped-down version of this song to Brent Hinds of Mastodon. Between the artists voluntarily associating with each other and me making some additional connections, this round has become a miniature nexus of the prog music community. Which might be better than the metal community, or at least some of it. The sole Metal-Archives review for this album gives it a 0%. I'm speechless.
Score: 8.5/10
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HOF - Big Big Train - "The Florentine", "Snowfalls"
Early Impression - "I was worried that this would be too overly simple and happy for me at first, but the way it builds is impressive and gradually becomes more to my taste."
Final Summary:
In truth, the way "The Florentine" builds is a microcosm of how the whole submission unfurled on me, continuing to prove to me that I've been too frequently ignoring bands of this type for too long.
Details:
This roulette has been really fascinating in exposing me to musical niches that I'm often aware of but have mostly neglected. A number of your submissions have certainly fallen into that category. When it comes to "prog" music, it seems that I've frequently had an often unconscious divide, that for more modern artists I generally lean into ones more on the metal side, and for prog artists in the 80s and before (even the 90s to an extent), I generally lean towards the rock side. It might just be the peculiarities of my taste, but advancements in learning to properly capture heavy downtuned guitars in the 90s and beyond is much noticeably greater than other technological improvements to record lighter styles.
So BBT is an artist that I hear about all the time, and I've seen D'Virgilio in some other contexts, but I think I'd only heard one proper album of theirs to this point, and as we briefly discussed over PM, their discography is a bit daunting to explore for a relatively modern group. It's interesting to try and recall exactly how I felt the first time I heard a song even a couple weeks ago now. I was worried I'd find them a bit insipid, but the song length gave some hope that "The Florentine" would at least go to some interesting places, and it most certainly did. Even now I think I actually even like the opening that had initially given me some pause, though it's hard to divorce it from the rest of the context now.
But it's really quite spellbinding how it slowly develops and moves through different passages, with the violin solos, the organ, the synth leads, guitar solos, the various combinations of harmony vocals, NDV's always exciting drumming. It kind of reminds me of more recent Anathema mixed with a more traditional prog band.
The opening of "Snowfalls" made me believe it was going to have a different feel than it ultimately did with the 12-string guitar, it took awhile longer to grow on me, and doesn't reach quite the heights of "The Florentine", but it is quite a nice piece as well, with the Mellotron, the slide guitar bits, and the post-rock-ish leads near the end. That fill NDV pulls off at 5:06 is bonkers. I also didn't realize that in their lineup they have Rikard Sjöblom from Beardfish, who I saw live awhile ago.
I've said in earlier rounds that it's generally safer to send me studio versions of songs and suggest live versions to listen to and/or watch on the side if they're particularly interesting, though this seems to be an example where it probably doesn't matter, they're both great and similar enough in production and quality that I don't mind. The studio version does have mandolin though, which is such an underused instrument. I also might actually like the version from The Boerderij in Zoetermeer just as much, which I believe has their current vocalist and violinist/backing vocalist.
I imagine you and Soundscape (and maybe seneca for that matter) already both are quite familiar with the Kevin Gilbert connections, but I'll leave those for that writeup. It's clear that I need to spend more time with the various neo-prog and modern prog rock bands, as there is evidently much I've been missing out on.
Score: 8.75/10
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Tomislav95 - Paramore - "Hard Times", "Rose-Colored Boy", "Fake Happy", "The News"
Early Impression - "This could be the best thing you've sent me, with an artist that has more range than I realized."
Final Summary:
I love to find out that a band I've been curious about for a long time, but never really explored, turns out to have multiple eras with a variety of different splendid sounds to explore.
Details:
I think I might have had them on an earlier draft list of my eligible artists for this round even when this roulete started, but you sending "The News" to TAC definitely piqued my interest, made me make sure they were on the list, and I was hoping someone would pick them. I only gave "The News" a single listen at the time, but it seemed interesting, and is a bit of a different side of them than the handful of songs I've heard before, essentially just from their first few albums. But then the other three songs show yet another facet of them that I was completely in the dark on. So it appears they might have at least three distinct eras that I might enjoy each for different reasons.
I still can't decide though whether I prefer "The News" or "Hard Times", though both are great, but in different ways. The latter starts out sounding like one of those phone notifications with the chromatic percussion ditty, but it turns it into a killer song that I can't get out of my head and don't want to either. There is some fantastic orchestration between the various layers of guitar and keyboards, playing off of each other in endlessly interesting ways. Even now, having heard this song many times at this point, I listen back more closely and every few seconds I notice another little detail and think, "was that there before?", which is one thing I really love when a song makes me do.
"Rose-Colored Boy" and "Fake Happy" are also good tunes, though they don't bring me quite as much joy as the other two. "Fake Happy" starts with a very narrowly mixed approach that soon after widens to the normal mix, which is a production trick used several other times in this round, but although that section is a tad long, the contrast is always fascinating to hear develop, no matter how many times I've heard it before. "Rose-Colored Boy" also is quite engaging in how it blends the drum patterns with some subtle layers of percussion, and is probably the third best song of the batch.
"The News" is fantastic throughout, but my favorite section of it is the pre-chorus ("So I, Turn, On...") with the melisma delivery drenched in delay and reverb. The rest of her vocals there are great as well, and she has a better version and balance of melody and character than a lot of similar vocalists.
Score: 8.75/10
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SoundscapeMN - Kevin Gilbert - "Back in NYC", "Imagemaker", "Finally Over You"
Early Impression - "This is some of the most unusual and difficult to categorize of the accessible rock/pop I've heard, which could be its strength."
Final Summary:
All three songs have a quite unique blend of styles and influences in ways I don't believe I've heard anything else quite like, so I'm thrilled that this submission succeeded.
Details:
Kevin seems to have become one of those larger than life figures that sometimes happens for people who have untimely passings. I've heard him mentioned many times over the years, had some idea he was involved with Toy Matinee (sloppy reading years ago briefly had me thinking it was "Manitee" for a bit at first) and Giraffe (maybe it was the subconscious animal connection?), and had heard something about his work on a Sheryl Crow album. I didn't realize that it goes far deeper, with work for Michael Jackson, Madonna, Keith Emerson, Eddie Money, and especially that he unfortunately missed the Genesis audition to replace Phil Collins. It's morbidly fascinating when we also have Big Big Train in the round, of whom David Longdon was also strongly considered for that role by them. And then Nick D'Virgilio being involved with Kevin as well.
So Kevin is another artist that I tend to associate with you, and cautiously wondered whether he might come up at some point, and I guess my list for the round finalized the deal. And it looks like it has worked out, because he is clearly a quite rare type of artist that I can see why he would resonate with people. One of the most fascinating things is how timeless this music feels in a way. At any given moment I can pick out elements from numerous prior decades that he has synthesized into something that feels quite singular.
Like so many other artists you've sent, there's a quite riveting amount of layers in these songs that I'm sure I'll still be unpacking long after the roulette is over. It's a real art to have what would probably be dozens if not hundreds of individual elements in a DAW for each track, some that just punctuate the song periodically, and have it all feel cohesive, but that is some of the magic of the best pop production that I think some rock/metal fans miss out on.
"Back in NYC" is quite an intriguing cover. On a prog forum the standards are just way too high, but among general music fans I'd consider myself a reasonably large Genesis fan, though I admittedly gravitated towards their 80s work for various reasons, and have heard and enjoyed but am not deeply familiar with the first few albums (though the transition period between Gabriel and Collins is probably the most enduringly interesting).
Listening to both the original and Kevin's cover back to back, it's remarkable in how it transforms the song stylistically (ironically resembling some of Genesis' better moments in the 80s, which is perhaps why he was sought after for that position), yet retains some of the unique features, melodies, and motifs of it. Some of the heavy modulation effects on the guitars are rather enthralling. I think I even hear some mbira in spots, which is an instrument I've been fascinated by and wish more artists would utilize.
"Imagemaker" is quite unusual, it's almost like industrial blues rock/pop, which doesn't sound on paper like it should work at all, but somehow does. While all three songs are excellent, "Finally Over You" really takes the cake for me. The addicting melodies, exquisite vocal harmonies, that intoxicating horn/chromatic percussion unison riff, and the out of nowhere lo-fi ragtime ending that remarkably fits perfectly.
I've been a big Paul Gilbert fan for a long time, and have heard a bit of Bruce Gilbert, but I think it's time to start incorporating another Gilbert into my collection. And I think I actually own that Sheryl Crow album Kevin was involved with, but am not sure I ever got around to listening to it, so despite the mess that apparently came about after it, I'm quite curious to hear it.
Score: 8.75/10
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Buddyhunter1 - Riverside - "Left Out"
Early Impression - "Hmm, maybe the second time's (third time?) the charm."
Final Summary:
This is right in a sweet spot of prog rock/metal excellence, with all the right ingredients, simultaneously feeling both old-school and contemporary in the appropriate ways.
Details:
I already touched on a bit of my Riverside experience in the writeups for round 8, so it looks like I don't need as much room in this one. But yeah, so this is the sound I remembered?/hoped they were capable of, but wasn't quite there either in earlier rounds, or in their album from this year, which I listened to a few months ago. Maybe it is and I just overlooked it, but it's undeniable here.
This just has the perfect combination of elements to create a transcendent vibe. The spacious, melancholy feel, active bass lines, killer riffs, great guitar tones and soloing, tasty drumming (particularly the higher-pitched toms), magnificent Hammond organ, atmospheric piano, a bit of keyboard and electronic augmentation, and I think Mariusz' voice is gradually growing on me as well. 3:02 with the keyboard melody and the haunting backing vocals is especially intriguing. And then I also adore the sound of the piano and soon after the chorused clean guitar in the section at 6:48.
And there we have it, you, Tomi, and Crow in the top 5 for the round, just as I knew it would play out. :-)
Score: 9/10
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Round 11 Scores:
Buddyhunter1 .............................. 9
HOF .......................................... 8.75
SoundscapeMN .......................... 8.75
Tomislav95 .............................. 8.75
Crow ..................................... 8.5
ariich ................................... 8.25
Lethean .............................. 8
Nachtmerrie ....................... 8
Puppies_On_Acid ............... 8
Sacul .............................. 8
TAC ............................... 8
Vmadera00 ................... 8
Evermind .................... 7.75
soupytwist ................. 7.5
senecadawg2 ............ 7.25
Stadler .................... 7.25
Elite ....................... 6.75
twosuitsluke ........... 6.75
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Round 11 Top 9 Songs:
1: Paramore - "The News"/"Hard Times"
2: Riverside - "Left Out"
3: Big Big Train - "The Florentine"
4: Kevin Gilbert - "Finally Over You"
5: Borknagar - "The Fire That Burns"
6: Intronaut - "Fast Worms"
7: Enslaved - "Roots of the Mountain"
8: Kate Bush - "Snowflake"
9: Angra - "Upper Levels"
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Current Cumulative Standings (after 11 rounds):
SoundscapeMN ------------------------- 91.25
Nachtmerrie ----------------------------- 91
Evermind --------------------------------- 89.5
TAC ---------------------------------------- 89.25
ariich --------------------------------------- 88.5
HOF ------------------------------------------ 88.5
soupytwist ------------------------------------ 87.5
Lethean ---------------------------------------- 87.25
Buddyhunter1 ---------------------------------- 84
senecadawg2 ---------------------------------- 83.25
Stadler ---------------------------------------- 82.25
Vmadera00 ---------------------------------- 82.25
Puppies_On_Acid -------------------------- 81.5
Tomislav95 ------------------------------- 81.5
Sacul ------------------------------------ 80.75
Elite ------------------------------------ 80.5
twosuitsluke -------------------------- 79.75
Crow --------------------------------- 78.75
romdrums -------------------------- 14.25 (had to drop out after the second round)
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Round Score Breakdown:
ariich: 7.75 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 9 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 7.75 + 8.25 = 88.5
Buddyhunter1: 7.5 + 6.5 + 7.75 + 7 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.75 = 84
Crow: 6 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 7 + 5 + 7 + 9.25 + 7.75 + 7 + 8.5 = 78.75
Elite: 6.5 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 8.5 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8 + 7 + 7.25 + 8.25 + 6.75 = 80.5
Evermind: 7.75 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8.5 + 8 + 9 + 7.75 = 89.5
HOF: 9 + 9 + 6.5 + 7.25 + 8.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 8 + 9 + 8.75 = 88.5
Lethean: 7.75 + 8.25 + 7.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 8 + 8.75 + 8 = 87.25
Nachtmerrie: 8.25 + 9 + 6.75 + 9 + 7.75 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 9.25 + 8 = 91
Puppies_On_Acid: 8 + 7 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 8 + 6.75 + 8 = 81.5
romdrums: 7.25 + 7 + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x = 14.25
Sacul: 7.25 + 8.75 + 6 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 9 + 7 + 4.75 + 8 = 80.75
senecadawg2: 8 + 7 + 8.5 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 7.25 = 83.25
SoundscapeMN: 8 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 8.5 + 8.75 + 7 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.75 = 91.25
soupytwist: 6.5 + 6.75 + 9 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8 + 7.5 = 87.5
Stadler: 8.5 + 7.5 + 7 + 7 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 7.5 + 7.75 + 7.25 = 82.25
TAC: 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 9 + 8.5 + 9 + 7.25 + 8 = 89.25
Tomislav95: 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 7 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 6.25 + 8.75 = 81.5
twosuitsluke: 7.5 + 8.25 + 5.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.25 + 7 + 6.75 = 79.75
Vmadera00: 7.25 + 7.75 + 8 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 8.75 + 7 + 6.75 + 8 = 82.25
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*Remember for round 12 it's the pre-90s round - as many songs as you can fit into 20 minutes (remember, this is a change from earlier rounds that were only 15 minutes), from one artist, on releases from 1989 or earlier.
*I would prefer to avoid anything too overtly jazz-centric, I already have a lot of that.
*I would also note that my parents were big classic rock/pop fans, so if you pick something that was or still is a radio staple, there's a good chance I already know it too well, but if it's a deeper cut or is a forgotten hit it might be ok, just be ready to swap songs out if need be.
*Send your submission to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com. If you can, send me both Youtube and Spotify links for your song(s). The Youtube links are so I can make my own playlist and rip the audio. The Spotify links are for the group playlist. If you can't or don't find both links I will find them myself, but the more of you that find both, the less extra work I have to do.
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Oh that's neat, after sending it I was quite worried you may find that song too repetitive, but glad you dug it. That album is wonderful, and has some great guests there.
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Oof.
Be careful when you pull the knife from my heart. It could get messy.
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(https://media.tenor.com/YRrbQWlhXK4AAAAC/ai-the-somnium-files-kaname-date.gif)
Anyways, go listen to the rest of Anno Domini High Definition. The rest of the album is pretty much on par with that song - one of the best prog albums ever.
And yeah, that Agalloch score is too low. Can't win em all, I guess. :angel:
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Well, that went better than expected. Glad it resonated a bit.
Usually in my roulettes, after I post results my eyes glaze over reading all of the "you should check (this album) out next".
If you ever decide to follow up with Alice Cooper, shoot me a PM and I'll walk you through it.
Going to send something similar in this coming round.
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i like both intronaut songs a ton but if you liked fast worms, the rest of the album is a lot more in line with that :lol wanted to send one heavier tune and one lighter tune, so
prehistoricisms should also be up your alley, that's their second best imo
round 12 sent
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Lethean - Angra - "The Shaman", "Upper Levels"
Early Impression - "I wish the first song had the production quality of the second, but I may have been sleeping on this band too."
Final Summary:
It seems this could be a band that I might enjoy their later releases more due to a sleeker production, but even the earlier track has noteworthy properties, making this another artist that look forward to hearing more from.
Details:
Angra is another of those bands I've known about seemingly forever, but just never spent a lot of time with. I'd heard Temple of Shadows, which was considered a classic, and enjoyed it, but was just never compelled to revisit it. Even when their name kept popping back up with Aquilles Priester auditioning for DT and Kiko Loureiro taking the Megadeth co-guitar slot, I just never made the effort to investigate them further. I'm kind of regretting that a bit, but hey, that's exactly why I'm having this round, because later is better than never.
It's curious that aggregation sites seem to consider Holy Land, the album "The Shaman" is from, to be much better than Secret Garden, the originating album for "Upper Levels". Perhaps it's an issue of consistency, but at least these particular songs go in the opposite order for me. "The Shaman" is a nice enough song, I enjoy some of the hand percussion and auxiliary instrumentation in particular (the didgeridoo in the ending especially, I own one myself, but am awful at trying to play it), but the overall production feels really time-locked to the mid-90s, with some dated keyboard patches and a fairly weak guitar tone.
"Upper Levels" on the other hand, just has a much richer feel to me, a higher-budget sound, meatier guitars, and still with some hand percussion and other intriguing components here and there. I was kind of hoping one of these tracks would have Aquilles, as I've seen him live when he toured with Tony MacAlpine, plus the DT audition, and a few Youtube playthroughs here and there, but he seems to have been inbetween these eras. No matter though, I can check out that material later, and his replacement is more than capable, with some quite piquant arrangements and great drum mixing, especially on the toms.
Kiko's soloing is another highlight, as I hoped it would be based on everything I've heard from him before (and you sending him in an earlier round). He really is a complete soloist, seamlessly going between some jazzy phrasing, blues licks, the shredding you expect in prog/power metal, and he's again especially adept with whammy dips, which I find quite addicting. There is some fantastic bass work throughout as well, most notably in the intro of "Upper Levels" and at 4:06 inbetween the solos. And I assume Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee were given writing credit for that whole section at 4:36, the resemblance is kind of uncanny.
Vocally they're nothing particularly notable, with a fairly conventional prog/power sort of vocal style. I was surprised to learn that Fabio Lione of Rhapsody has been their vocalist for awhile now. Rhapsody was actually one of the very first power metal bands I listened to, though they were never one of my favorites, and it's been so long and I've listened to so very little of them since then, which likely explains why I didn't make the connection at first. That harmony section at 3:10 in "Upper Levels" is quite stunning though, I kind of hope they do that more often on other songs.
Score: 8/10
Just perusing these comments, as there are a lot bands I like...particularly fond of early Angra. Litho, do yourself a favor a give the full Holy Land album (that's where The Shaman is from) a listen. It's excellent. Admittedly, it might be "especially special" for me because it came out during a time of full blown music discovery, but Angra kicked it up a notch from their (already great) debut. They were very influenced by Helloween on that one (although with more than a bit of distinct personality already), while with Holy Land they truly came into their own. There's plenty of power metal still (not that you can hear much of it on The Shaman), but all mixed in with a bunch of cool influences, including classical and ethnic music. The production could be a little warmer, but it works. And Andre Matos (RIP) is great on this one.
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Oof.
Be careful when you pull the knife from my heart. It could get messy.
Yeah, that's one thing that's kind of painful about roulettes, from both a hosting and participating side. Sometimes it's easier to send stuff you like but isn't an absolute favorite because you're a bit more detached from the outcome. I did like it, and it's better than a lot of similar music, but it's just a style that I've always struggled with. Part of why I try and include more detailed notes on what worked and didn't is in hopes that maybe people can pick up on them and find other music that takes all that into account.
Usually in my roulettes, after I post results my eyes glaze over reading all of the "you should check (this album) out next".
If you ever decide to follow up with Alice Cooper, shoot me a PM and I'll walk you through it.
Nah, I make note of all that for future listening purposes, and I have no doubt that I'll be coming back long after the roulette is over to keep checking things out with comments and suggestions in mind.
If you want, you can make an hour or two-long Alice Cooper playlist and I'll listen to it at some point, I imagine he has the volume and breadth of discography to support it. As part of the research process for the round I actually watched a few music videos of some of his other songs and can see that he's done a range of things.
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Now I really feel like I need to start that Enslaved discography thread. Litho, I think you'd come to an even greater appreciation for the band by listening through in chronological order. :metal
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I know what HOF is sending for round 12 ;) Unless he already sent them earlier and I wasn't paying attention. :corn
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Now I really feel like I need to start that Enslaved discography thread. Litho, I think you'd come to an even greater appreciation for the band by listening through in chronological order. :metal
Sure, though if you want me to follow along and participate in real-time you'd probably need to wait 'til after the last round.
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I know what HOF is sending for round 12 ;) Unless he already sent them earlier and I wasn't paying attention. :corn
Hah, he's actually already mentioned a number of possibilities over PM, but between those and some older stuff I've seen him send in other roulettes, even with inside information I don't really know yet. :lol
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I've got no clue on what to send pre-90s, time to delve deep into my library and hope I've got something you haven't listened to :corn
EDIT: lmao the first thing that came to mind has no ratings on your RYM hell yeah
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Usually in my roulettes, after I post results my eyes glaze over reading all of the "you should check (this album) out next".
If you ever decide to follow up with Alice Cooper, shoot me a PM and I'll walk you through it.
Nah, I make note of all that for future listening purposes, and I have no doubt that I'll be coming back long after the roulette is over to keep checking things out with comments and suggestions in mind.
If you want, you can make an hour or two-long Alice Cooper playlist and I'll listen to it at some point, I imagine he has the volume and breadth of discography to support it. As part of the research process for the round I actually watched a few music videos of some of his other songs and can see that he's done a range of things.
OK, I'll work on it in the next few weeks. Yeah, there's a lot to it.
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Oh, and sent for the next round.
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Now I really feel like I need to start that Enslaved discography thread. Litho, I think you'd come to an even greater appreciation for the band by listening through in chronological order. :metal
Sure, though if you want me to follow along and participate in real-time you'd probably need to wait 'til after the last round.
I probably won't be able to start it until November. So as long as you are done by then... :neverusethis:
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Now I really feel like I need to start that Enslaved discography thread. Litho, I think you'd come to an even greater appreciation for the band by listening through in chronological order. :metal
Sure, though if you want me to follow along and participate in real-time you'd probably need to wait 'til after the last round.
I probably won't be able to start it until November. So as long as you are done by then... :neverusethis:
It's gonna be close.
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Now I really feel like I need to start that Enslaved discography thread. Litho, I think you'd come to an even greater appreciation for the band by listening through in chronological order. :metal
Sure, though if you want me to follow along and participate in real-time you'd probably need to wait 'til after the last round.
I probably won't be able to start it until November. So as long as you are done by then... :neverusethis:
It's gonna be close.
Nah, I can almost guarantee Luke's record will be safe. :p
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i dunno, if puppies ever gets his results out he might take the record back :corn
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Slackcul has just sent 20 mins of epic 80s music :2metal:
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i dunno, if puppies ever gets his results out he might take the record back :corn
:biggrin:
And sent.
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Sent!
I might be on track for the lowest score of the roulette.
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Whoo boy I might have some Grade-A cheating material for the second-to-last round :corn
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(https://i.imgur.com/9Po5i1a.gif)
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Cool, yeah your description of the Fire That Burns chorus is so true, it is basically one note {with a brief dip and return) and yet it's still so catchy. I was aware that Rhymes (and indeed Winter Thrice in general) isn't so strong in terms of hooks but it's just such a great encapsulation of their current sound so I thought the two in combination would be good. In terms of melodies, I really think you might like True North a lot. Even though I like the sound of WT more, TN is my favourite precisely because so many of the songs are so memorable.
OK for the next round I currently have 3 leading options to choose from, all completely different genres and moods so I have no idea which to go for. :lol
Also when you say you'd rather not get more jazz, do you mean any jazz or mainly the more traditional and/or well known 40s-60s stuff?
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Cool, yeah your description of the Fire That Burns chorus is so true, it is basically one note {with a brief dip and return) and yet it's still so catchy. I was aware that Rhymes (and indeed Winter Thrice in general) isn't so strong in terms of hooks but it's just such a great encapsulation of their current sound so I thought the two in combination would be good. In terms of melodies, I really think you might like True North a lot. Even though I like the sound of WT more, TN is my favourite precisely because so many of the songs are so memorable.
OK for the next round I currently have 3 leading options to choose from, all completely different genres and moods so I have no idea which to go for. :lol
Also when you say you'd rather not get more jazz, do you mean any jazz or mainly the more traditional and/or well known 40s-60s stuff?
I find it kind of funny that we both picked Norwegian proggy black metal bands and you happened to pick the song Rhymes of the Mountain and I picked Roots of the Mountain. :lol
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twosuitsluke - NOFX - "Green Corn", "Punk Guy", "Seeing Double at the Triple Rock", "I Wanna Be An Alcoholic", "Murder the Government", "Dinosaurs Will Die", "Monosyllabic Girl", "The Man I Killed", "The Separation of Church and Skate", "F**k the Kids"
Early Impression - "Yeah, so this is the miscreant little brother of a style I casually like."
Final Summary:
There is a nice energetic vibe instrumentally to some of the songs that is not too dissimilar to other skate punk I like, but the songs are too weighted towards silliness, and Fat Mike's vocals are a struggle for me.
Details:
Alright, so skate punk was really my first big inroads into attempting to get into some punk bands. As I foreshadowed last round in my preliminary thoughts on -core styles, I kind of had an adversarial relationship with punk in high school, but did have a few guilty pleasures of the pop-punk that was popular on the radio back in the late 90s/early 00s, particularly The Offspring and Green Day, I suppose the former of which is both pop-punk and skate punk depending upon the release/song. But it was plowing through albums from Bad Religion, Pennywise, Rancid, and Millencolin in particular that really convinced me that there was validity to the style, with an irrepressible and infectious energy that really couldn't be properly duplicated in any other genre. But for whatever reason even though I was well-aware of the name NOFX (there was even one guy who used them as his alias in an online video game I played a lot back then), I just never got around to checking them out.
Now, at their core, they have many of the same attributes that other skate punk bands do, with the high-tempo, kinetic feel and a certain catchiness to them. On my first listen I was a bit worried, because "Green Corn" initially struck me as sounding more amateur and unpolished production-wise than some other similar bands. I think I've grown much more acclimated to it over time, because it doesn't really bug me anymore. And most of the others are fine in terms of production. "Seeing Double at the Triple Rock" in particular has the punchiest and meatiest sound to it, which makes me wonder if Wolves in Wolves' Clothing has a consistent production style like that song, or if it varies across the album. If it's the former, I suspect it could be the best album to dip into at some point and see if any other tracks stand out.
One somewhat complicated issue with this set of songs is that we probably have different goals in checking out bands. There are eight different albums represented here, which I suppose in one sense gives a brief snapshot of a broader array of their discography. But to achieve that, so many of these tracks are quite short, and while punk has always leaned towards shorter song lengths, some of these are really more of skits and interludes than they are songs, particular the sub-1:00 ones. Perhaps this works to convey NOFX's musical personality, although it seems hard to miss it in their songs at any length, but it just makes them a bit harder to get into than the still brief, but more substantial tracks. "F%~@&$*#!" the Kids" is basically the Napalm Death "You Suffer" of punk.
I have to wonder if they'd have come across slightly better by cutting out the shorter pieces for another track or two like "Seeing Double", "Dinosaurs Will Die", and "The Separation of Church and Skate". Those are just more complete as songs and I have a greater chance of revisiting them later on than the micro-songs, which are one-offs that I honestly will probably never listen to again once this round is over.
What really holds everything back for me though is Fat Mike's vocals. Like thrash metal, punk-adjacent bands seem to have one of the most eclectic sets of unusual vocalists that you dislike, learn to tolerate, or some even love because they're unique and have a lot of character. I imagine for you it's probably the latter, but I'm much closer to the former, and I'd need someone more like say, Greg Graffin, for it to really work. Although, I must admit that the occasional harmony vocal bit works better than the solo lines, such as at 0:56 in "Green Corn".
I'm also generally not that into humor in music, and that seems to be a major part of their shtick. I think the closest something like this comes to working for me is Devin Townsend's Punky Brüster project, which I kind of ignore the narrative aspect of, and his voice works better for. I imagine part of the fun of the NOFX experience is their live shows (I heard they suck, and they're getting even worse at them!), and I watched some of these songs being played live, and I get the feeling the stage banter and spontaneity in the evolving lyrics adds to the appeal for some people.
Of course, there is a fair amount that does appeal to me throughout these songs though. "Seeing Double" has an excellent primary riff. "The Separation" has a neat almost surf-punk one driving it. "Dinosaurs" has that fun bass break right near the ending. "The Separation" has some tasty cymbal work at 1:46. Shortly after it has a cool guitar solo, as does "Green Corn".
I think a band like this (or even, say, KGLW) illustrates a fundamental difference in what the two of us are drawn to in music. You seem to place a much higher priority on "whoa, check this out, dude" novelty, and music that's mostly about fun, good times party vibes. I don't mind a bit of music like this on occasion, but I think I just have much less of a consistent appetite for it than you seem to.
Obviously you can correct me if you think I'm mischaracterizing this, it's just my perception of what I've been increasingly noticing over time and why certain music seems to resonate with you a lot more than it does with me. I'm more than happy to continue checking out bands like these, and every now and then something will hit (Seatbelts from an earlier round is one example from your submissions, or Katzenjammer from soupy), though I think they're generally more likely to continue to be the exception to the rule. But I suspect you're at the point in the roulette where you're just sending whatever feels the most fun and exciting to you in the moment, and that's cool too. A well-balanced roulette participant pool has all kinds of different types of entries to keep things fresh.
Score: 6.75/10
I mean, you’re not wrong on many points. I’ll start by saying that I have never had the intention of sending NOFX in any roulette. I think they are an acquired taste, even if you are into punk rock.
You rightly nailed that a big part of their appeal is that their live show is part stand up comedy, and I love the way they interact with each other and the crowd. Yes Fat Mike can be kind of an opinionated jerk, and his mouth is definitely going faster than his brain at times. He may not be the best vocalist or lyricist, but I kinda love him anyway.
In hindsight, sending a smaller selection of ‘proper’ songs would’ve gotten me a higher score, but at this point I am out of the running anyway. I couldn’t help but try to submit the most number of songs I could (whilst still sending songs I genuinely love). Other than the obvious one, all the other short songs that I have in my playlist of all time favourite songs. I love a short song, and these guys are masters of that style of song for me.
I definitely don’t exclusively listen to high energy, singalong party music, however when I think of my all time favourite songs, then a high percentage fall into that category. Music gives me a high like nothing else, and blasting my favourite songs in the car, singing at the top of my voice, drumming on the steering wheel etc, that is when I can just let myself go. It’s the same as being at a show. Those high energy songs do pump me up, and I love to sing, so NOFX are my all time favourite punk band partly for this reason.
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Awesome, I've managed to wrangle an essay out of Luke. ;D
Cool, yeah your description of the Fire That Burns chorus is so true, it is basically one note {with a brief dip and return) and yet it's still so catchy. I was aware that Rhymes (and indeed Winter Thrice in general) isn't so strong in terms of hooks but it's just such a great encapsulation of their current sound so I thought the two in combination would be good. In terms of melodies, I really think you might like True North a lot. Even though I like the sound of WT more, TN is my favourite precisely because so many of the songs are so memorable.
Fascinating, I had a note about preferring the production on "Rhymes" that didn't make it into the writeup, but yeah, based on that song "Fire" is a bit more indelible.
OK for the next round I currently have 3 leading options to choose from, all completely different genres and moods so I have no idea which to go for. :lol
Also when you say you'd rather not get more jazz, do you mean any jazz or mainly the more traditional and/or well known 40s-60s stuff?
I guess I'm mainly looking to hear things that I don't already have a truckload of (bebop/hard bop/post-bop/fusion) or have been exposed to a lifetime of (standard oldies/classic rock radio fodder).
Rhymes
I find it kind of funny that we both picked Norwegian proggy black metal bands and you happened to pick the song Rhymes of the Mountain and I picked Roots of the Mountain. :lol
Hah, in my continual noticing of coincidences, I caught early on about the "mountain" motif, and then forgot to put it somewhere in my observations. :lol
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OK for the next round I currently have 3 leading options to choose from, all completely different genres and moods so I have no idea which to go for. :lol
Also when you say you'd rather not get more jazz, do you mean any jazz or mainly the more traditional and/or well known 40s-60s stuff?
I guess I'm mainly looking to hear things that I don't already have a truckload of (bebop/hard bop/post-bop/fusion) or have been exposed to a lifetime of (standard oldies/classic rock radio fodder).
Ok thanks. I was asking in relation to a potential fourth option which I don't think would really fit into any of those definitions, but I think I'll just leave it off and focus on choosing between the other options. :lol
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Sent some dad rock
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HOF - Big Big Train - "The Florentine", "Snowfalls"
Early Impression - "I was worried that this would be too overly simple and happy for me at first, but the way it builds is impressive and gradually becomes more to my taste."
Final Summary:
In truth, the way "The Florentine" builds is a microcosm of how the whole submission unfurled on me, continuing to prove to me that I've been too frequently ignoring bands of this type for too long.
Details:
This roulette has been really fascinating in exposing me to musical niches that I'm often aware of but have mostly neglected. A number of your submissions have certainly fallen into that category. When it comes to "prog" music, it seems that I've frequently had an often unconscious divide, that for more modern artists I generally lean into ones more on the metal side, and for prog artists in the 80s and before (even the 90s to an extent), I generally lean towards the rock side. It might just be the peculiarities of my taste, but advancements in learning to properly capture heavy downtuned guitars in the 90s and beyond is much noticeably greater than other technological improvements to record lighter styles.
So BBT is an artist that I hear about all the time, and I've seen D'Virgilio in some other contexts, but I think I'd only heard one proper album of theirs to this point, and as we briefly discussed over PM, their discography is a bit daunting to explore for a relatively modern group. It's interesting to try and recall exactly how I felt the first time I heard a song even a couple weeks ago now. I was worried I'd find them a bit insipid, but the song length gave some hope that "The Florentine" would at least go to some interesting places, and it most certainly did. Even now I think I actually even like the opening that had initially given me some pause, though it's hard to divorce it from the rest of the context now.
But it's really quite spellbinding how it slowly develops and moves through different passages, with the violin solos, the organ, the synth leads, guitar solos, the various combinations of harmony vocals, NDV's always exciting drumming. It kind of reminds me of more recent Anathema mixed with a more traditional prog band.
The opening of "Snowfalls" made me believe it was going to have a different feel than it ultimately did with the 12-string guitar, it took awhile longer to grow on me, and doesn't reach quite the heights of "The Florentine", but it is quite a nice piece as well, with the Mellotron, the slide guitar bits, and the post-rock-ish leads near the end. That fill NDV pulls off at 5:06 is bonkers. I also didn't realize that in their lineup they have Rikard Sjöblom from Beardfish, who I saw live awhile ago.
I've said in earlier rounds that it's generally safer to send me studio versions of songs and suggest live versions to listen to and/or watch on the side if they're particularly interesting, though this seems to be an example where it probably doesn't matter, they're both great and similar enough in production and quality that I don't mind. The studio version does have mandolin though, which is such an underused instrument. I also might actually like the version from The Boerderij in Zoetermeer just as much, which I believe has their current vocalist and violinist/backing vocalist.
I imagine you and Soundscape (and maybe seneca for that matter) already both are quite familiar with the Kevin Gilbert connections, but I'll leave those for that writeup. It's clear that I need to spend more time with the various neo-prog and modern prog rock bands, as there is evidently much I've been missing out on.
Score: 8.75/10
Awesome! BBT are a bit on the soft side for most people who lean towards metal in their prog, but there is a whole world of sounds in their music to explore, and I'm glad these ones got your attention. I am almost always with you on studio v. live performances, but the live performance of The Florentine on their Empire DVD really did seem to have a better energy and richer sound to me. Which is amazing because all of their studio albums sound really good. I'm glad you checked out the Zoetermeer performance as well. There is also one of Snowfalls with their new singer, which is really good and worth checking out.
If you are interested in exploring BBT (and haven't already heard it), I'd recommend starting out with The Underfall Yard and just going forward from there.
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7.75 is a little bit low but at least it's not 6.75!
No idea what to send for this round, but I'll definitely send something in the next 22 hours as I won't be around much during the weekend.
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from a massive fan of the Andre Matos period Angra, while "The Shaman" is a great track, but I would have probably gone with something else 1st.
I actually did think about sending them.
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SoundscapeMN - Kevin Gilbert - "Back in NYC", "Imagemaker", "Finally Over You"
Early Impression - "This is some of the most unusual and difficult to categorize of the accessible rock/pop I've heard, which could be its strength."
Final Summary:
All three songs have a quite unique blend of styles and influences in ways I don't believe I've heard anything else quite like, so I'm thrilled that this submission succeeded.
Details:
Kevin seems to have become one of those larger than life figures that sometimes happens for people who have untimely passings. I've heard him mentioned many times over the years, had some idea he was involved with Toy Matinee (sloppy reading years ago briefly had me thinking it was "Manitee" for a bit at first) and Giraffe (maybe it was the subconscious animal connection?), and had heard something about his work on a Sheryl Crow album. I didn't realize that it goes far deeper, with work for Michael Jackson, Madonna, Keith Emerson, Eddie Money, and especially that he unfortunately missed the Genesis audition to replace Phil Collins. It's morbidly fascinating when we also have Big Big Train in the round, of whom David Longdon was also strongly considered for that role by them. And then Nick D'Virgilio being involved with Kevin as well.
So Kevin is another artist that I tend to associate with you, and cautiously wondered whether he might come up at some point, and I guess my list for the round finalized the deal. And it looks like it has worked out, because he is clearly a quite rare type of artist that I can see why he would resonate with people. One of the most fascinating things is how timeless this music feels in a way. At any given moment I can pick out elements from numerous prior decades that he has synthesized into something that feels quite singular.
Like so many other artists you've sent, there's a quite riveting amount of layers in these songs that I'm sure I'll still be unpacking long after the roulette is over. It's a real art to have what would probably be dozens if not hundreds of individual elements in a DAW for each track, some that just punctuate the song periodically, and have it all feel cohesive, but that is some of the magic of the best pop production that I think some rock/metal fans miss out on.
"Back in NYC" is quite an intriguing cover. On a prog forum the standards are just way too high, but among general music fans I'd consider myself a reasonably large Genesis fan, though I admittedly gravitated towards their 80s work for various reasons, and have heard and enjoyed but am not deeply familiar with the first few albums (though the transition period between Gabriel and Collins is probably the most enduringly interesting).
Listening to both the original and Kevin's cover back to back, it's remarkable in how it transforms the song stylistically (ironically resembling some of Genesis' better moments in the 80s, which is perhaps why he was sought after for that position), yet retains some of the unique features, melodies, and motifs of it. Some of the heavy modulation effects on the guitars are rather enthralling. I think I even hear some mbira in spots, which is an instrument I've been fascinated by and wish more artists would utilize.
"Imagemaker" is quite unusual, it's almost like industrial blues rock/pop, which doesn't sound on paper like it should work at all, but somehow does. While all three songs are excellent, "Finally Over You" really takes the cake for me. The addicting melodies, exquisite vocal harmonies, that intoxicating horn/chromatic percussion unison riff, and the out of nowhere lo-fi ragtime ending that remarkably fits perfectly.
I've been a big Paul Gilbert fan for a long time, and have heard a bit of Bruce Gilbert, but I think it's time to start incorporating another Gilbert into my collection. And I think I actually own that Sheryl Crow album Kevin was involved with, but am not sure I ever got around to listening to it, so despite the mess that apparently came about after it, I'm quite curious to hear it.
Score: 8.75/10
Great to see this stuff worked for you.
my wife loves "Finally Over You"...and it really is the only song by him she's ever enjoyed, lol. I think a lot of it due to it's pop/power-pop nature.
Although she's a big Sheryl Crow fan, so I frequently point out how he wrote and played on a lot of Tuesday Night Music Club.
I am one to enjoy layered music certainly, and most of Kevin Gilbert's music there's no exception to that. He was a studio hound/rat. Constantly recording-re-recording as a perfectionist, so naturally there's a lot to discover within his recordings.
I guess when you do dive deeper into some of his stuff, I'd be curious to hear your thoughts. I know some stuff works better than others for some, Toy Matinee is 1 I often think of, but it's interesting how there's several people on this forum alone, who don't find it all that engaging. Which maybe he's not for them, or maybe it's not the best thing for them to hear? (Thud, Giraffe or The Shaming of the True, might work better?)
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As great as some of Kevin Gilberts bigger productions are, I really enjoy some of the more minimalist stuff he did. Song for a Dead Friend and Lonely Road are the two that especially come to mind.
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Sent!
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Okay, let's just say I completely disagree with you on Mr. Bungle :lol this collection of tracks would be at least a 9/10 if I had to rate them, with Ars Moriendi being Bungle's Magnum Opus as far as I'm concerned. Alas, it was not meant to be.
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Nachtmerrie - Mastodon - "Black Tongue", "Toe To Toes","More Than I Could Chew"
Early Impression - "I don't know if this drastically moves the needle on my overall preexisting opinion of them, but the drumming is still just as stellar as I expected it would be."
Final Summary:
The likely unplanned coordination in two people sending me a different selection of songs from the same band seems to wind up helping both submissions, with me starting to feel I could get into this band more, with this particular set having a bit broader range of types of songs from them.
Details:
So Mastodon is another of those bands that's been so ubiquitous in the metal landscape that it's kind of hard to avoid them even if you want to, to the point that I've long known the names and faces of all of the members even without really putting any effort into attempting to do so. I've heard a number of their albums, but I've always been pretty lukewarm on them. I remember Brann's fills really standing out on their early albums when I first heard them, but the sludgy sound just didn't appeal to me much at the time. They also lean into the stoner metal angle, which is a genre I'm especially picky about, since much of it doesn't feel like it goes anywhere and you probably need to live up to the name of the genre to get full enjoyment out of it. Fortunately this doesn't apply so much to Mastodon.
They had gradually grown on me a bit over time, with "The Motherload" being the first song of theirs I actually have given a fair number of plays to, and then Hushed and Grim a couple years ago was the first full-length album of theirs that I liked more or less in full. But even then, having given it a couple plays that year, I still haven't revisited it since then. Well, so with you and Vmad giving me a double dose of Mastodon this round, I think it's been effective in getting me more into them than I was, and I'm starting to see more of what I think other people see in them. Still easily their strongest attribute is Brann's playing. I'm glad that he has playthrough videos of some of these songs and others, which helps to shade in some of the nuance of what he does. The fluidity with which he changes subdivisions of rhythms in his fills is quite remarkable.
I think one of the obstacles of getting into them earlier on was their vocal styles. I knew that they had multiple lead vocalists, but didn't follow them closely enough to know who sang what. Brann's voice has been my favorite of the three, as it's the most distinct to me. I can tell now that it's Troy's vocals that I find the most unusual. I'm still not completely sold on them, but they do have a lot of character, and I think are probably most useful in contrasting the others as part of a multi-lead vocal attack. He seems to be the predominant vocalist in this set of songs though, which might hold them back slightly. I don't think there's quite enough of a sample size of Brent's in the six total songs to always distinguish him from Troy.
This group of songs seems to give a somewhat more comprehensive view of their sound, though the songs aren't quite as catchy. "Toe To Toes" has the acoustic playing, particularly in the intro, which is a side of them I'm not sure I was aware they had. "More Than I Could Chew" adds to that with the Mellotron intro. I knew they had a prog rock/metal bent to them, but I assumed it was more to do with the complexity of their songs and sometimes exploring conceptual material, but the auxiliary instrumentation certainly adds additional interest. This batch of songs also represents three different tunings they've employed. Additionally, Brent has a somewhat unusual but intriguing soloing style, which seems to be derived from his more banjo-style playing technique.
1:28 in "Black Tongue" is probably my favorite passage of these songs, with quite a mystical-sounding riff. "More Than I Could Chew" has perhaps the most interesting backing vocal work, with a number of sections of quite ghostly vocals, such as at 2:09, or at 4:15 when they add the upper octave for a bit more forward example.
Score: 8/10
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Good to see these two submissions might get you more into Mastodon.
Dissapointed you didn't mention that killer intro riff on More Than I Could Chew ;)
Will send something this weekend but this is gonne be a hard one.
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Will send something this weekend but this is gonne be a hard one.
Here you go:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWWzBc3TOlaAV?si=7de34ad5292d41f3
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Hah, I've probably heard the bulk of those though.
I was asking in relation to a potential fourth option which I don't think would really fit into any of those definitions, but I think I'll just leave it off and focus on choosing between the other options. :lol
If it's different enough it could certainly work, I'm just trying to expand my tastes a bit.
There is also one of Snowfalls with their new singer, which is really good and worth checking out.
Yeah, I did listen to that one as well, though it didn't stand out quite as much.
7.75 is a little bit low but at least it's not 6.75!
7.75 is actually above average in over half of the rounds, you just happened to send in a high-scoring round. Granted, your average score is higher than that, but oh well, not every band is going to work quite as well, and it's still high enough that I'm quite likely to investigate them further.
Dissapointed you didn't mention that killer intro riff on More Than I Could Chew ;)
It's good, it just doesn't stand out from some of the others. And it's just a bit outside of the tuning range that appeals most to me, which I know is pretty arbitrary, but I can't really help it.
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Sent!
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As great as some of Kevin Gilberts bigger productions are, I really enjoy some of the more minimalist stuff he did. Song for a Dead Friend and Lonely Road are the two that especially come to mind.
This, especially. The lyrics on Song for a Dead Friend still blow me away.
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As great as some of Kevin Gilberts bigger productions are, I really enjoy some of the more minimalist stuff he did. Song for a Dead Friend and Lonely Road are the two that especially come to mind.
This, especially. The lyrics on Song for a Dead Friend still blow me away.
I'm not much of a Gilbert fan, but that song destroys me.
Anyway sent!
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Lethean - Angra - "The Shaman", "Upper Levels"
Early Impression - "I wish the first song had the production quality of the second, but I may have been sleeping on this band too."
Final Summary:
It seems this could be a band that I might enjoy their later releases more due to a sleeker production, but even the earlier track has noteworthy properties, making this another artist that look forward to hearing more from.
Details:
Angra is another of those bands I've known about seemingly forever, but just never spent a lot of time with. I'd heard Temple of Shadows, which was considered a classic, and enjoyed it, but was just never compelled to revisit it. Even when their name kept popping back up with Aquilles Priester auditioning for DT and Kiko Loureiro taking the Megadeth co-guitar slot, I just never made the effort to investigate them further. I'm kind of regretting that a bit, but hey, that's exactly why I'm having this round, because later is better than never.
It's curious that aggregation sites seem to consider Holy Land, the album "The Shaman" is from, to be much better than Secret Garden, the originating album for "Upper Levels". Perhaps it's an issue of consistency, but at least these particular songs go in the opposite order for me. "The Shaman" is a nice enough song, I enjoy some of the hand percussion and auxiliary instrumentation in particular (the didgeridoo in the ending especially, I own one myself, but am awful at trying to play it), but the overall production feels really time-locked to the mid-90s, with some dated keyboard patches and a fairly weak guitar tone.
"Upper Levels" on the other hand, just has a much richer feel to me, a higher-budget sound, meatier guitars, and still with some hand percussion and other intriguing components here and there. I was kind of hoping one of these tracks would have Aquilles, as I've seen him live when he toured with Tony MacAlpine, plus the DT audition, and a few Youtube playthroughs here and there, but he seems to have been inbetween these eras. No matter though, I can check out that material later, and his replacement is more than capable, with some quite piquant arrangements and great drum mixing, especially on the toms.
Kiko's soloing is another highlight, as I hoped it would be based on everything I've heard from him before (and you sending him in an earlier round). He really is a complete soloist, seamlessly going between some jazzy phrasing, blues licks, the shredding you expect in prog/power metal, and he's again especially adept with whammy dips, which I find quite addicting. There is some fantastic bass work throughout as well, most notably in the intro of "Upper Levels" and at 4:06 inbetween the solos. And I assume Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee were given writing credit for that whole section at 4:36, the resemblance is kind of uncanny.
Vocally they're nothing particularly notable, with a fairly conventional prog/power sort of vocal style. I was surprised to learn that Fabio Lione of Rhapsody has been their vocalist for awhile now. Rhapsody was actually one of the very first power metal bands I listened to, though they were never one of my favorites, and it's been so long and I've listened to so very little of them since then, which likely explains why I didn't make the connection at first. That harmony section at 3:10 in "Upper Levels" is quite stunning though, I kind of hope they do that more often on other songs.
Score: 8/10
Just perusing these comments, as there are a lot bands I like...particularly fond of early Angra. Litho, do yourself a favor a give the full Holy Land album (that's where The Shaman is from) a listen. It's excellent. Admittedly, it might be "especially special" for me because it came out during a time of full blown music discovery, but Angra kicked it up a notch from their (already great) debut. They were very influenced by Helloween on that one (although with more than a bit of distinct personality already), while with Holy Land they truly came into their own. There's plenty of power metal still (not that you can hear much of it on The Shaman), but all mixed in with a bunch of cool influences, including classical and ethnic music. The production could be a little warmer, but it works. And Andre Matos (RIP) is great on this one.
I, of course, completely concur with this recommendation. Yet another confession that I don't care about production, but in this case I really hope if it's that bad, it's something you (Litho) can get past to listen to the album. Because the songs on Holy Land are awesome. So creative and unique and just all around fantastic. And Andre Matos doesn't really sound much like anyone else to me.
Secret Garden is a great album imo. I don't like the title track, and there's a song or two that I'm indifferent to, but it's very strong. I'd recommend Omni over it, but Omni doesn't have Kiko so maybe just listen to them both. :)
from a massive fan of the Andre Matos period Angra, while "The Shaman" is a great track, but I would have probably gone with something else 1st.
I actually did think about sending them.
I can see that. There are some longer tracks that I wanted to send but didn't have time for. And I didn't want to send the "hits" thinking Litho has maybe already heard them somehow and even if not, it'll be easy enough for him to find them if he starts looking into Angra. The Shaman is pretty awesome and I wanted a track that had a lot of the Brazilian elements to it.
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Sent for round 12.
Also, very glad to see that Riverside won round 11. :metal
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Just sent mine.
This was a lot more difficult a round to figure out than I assumed it would be.
Mostly because my taste in pre 1990 music is Classic Rock, Prog, or Jazz Fusion for the most part.
Well the Jazz Fusion doesn't work as he stated
Classic Rock standards also don't work as he stated
And sending some of the big names of Prog, even deeper tracks seems a little less unique. Even just scanning Litho's rym, a lot of names I was thinking of, he has some if not a lot of music already from, many rated, etc.
Or some of the things I thought of, there really was only like 1 track I would feel good about sending him (or only 1 track I really know from said artist. Like several artists from the 80's, like a 1-hit wonder or, they just happen to have 1 really good tune, etc).
So, I had to come up with something that I knew he wouldn't know, but also would potentially like, but wasn't predictable, etc.
I'm sure I'll probably come up with a handful of artists I could have sent him later, which seems to happen to me and I imagine others. But, I try (and maybe fail miserably at it) to avoid doing too much overthinking with this stuff, lol.
from a massive fan of the Andre Matos period Angra, while "The Shaman" is a great track, but I would have probably gone with something else 1st.
I actually did think about sending them.
I can see that. There are some longer tracks that I wanted to send but didn't have time for. And I didn't want to send the "hits" thinking Litho has maybe already heard them somehow and even if not, it'll be easy enough for him to find them if he starts looking into Angra. The Shaman is pretty awesome and I wanted a track that had a lot of the Brazilian elements to it.
yeah, it was the length of some of them that shyed me away. I also figured someone else might send them (or Shaman itself, although they weren't in the list of artists I don't think).
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Just sent mine.
This was a lot more difficult a round to figure out than I assumed it would be.
Mostly because my taste in pre 1990 music is Classic Rock, Prog, or Jazz Fusion for the most part.
Well the Jazz Fusion doesn't work as he stated
Classic Rock standards also don't work as he stated
And sending some of the big names of Prog, even deeper tracks seems a little less unique. Even just scanning Litho's rym, a lot of names I was thinking of, he has some if not a lot of music already from, many rated, etc.
Or some of the things I thought of, there really was only like 1 track I would feel good about sending him (or only 1 track I really know from said artist. Like several artists from the 80's, like a 1-hit wonder or, they just happen to have 1 really good tune, etc).
So, I had to come up with something that I knew he wouldn't know, but also would potentially like, but wasn't predictable, etc.
I'm sure I'll probably come up with a handful of artists I could have sent him later, which seems to happen to me and I imagine others. But, I try (and maybe fail miserably at it) to avoid doing too much overthinking with this stuff, lol.
Oh brother.. :lol
I can see why you're leading this roulette. :lol
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Just sent mine.
This was a lot more difficult a round to figure out than I assumed it would be.
Mostly because my taste in pre 1990 music is Classic Rock, Prog, or Jazz Fusion for the most part.
Well the Jazz Fusion doesn't work as he stated
Classic Rock standards also don't work as he stated
And sending some of the big names of Prog, even deeper tracks seems a little less unique. Even just scanning Litho's rym, a lot of names I was thinking of, he has some if not a lot of music already from, many rated, etc.
Or some of the things I thought of, there really was only like 1 track I would feel good about sending him (or only 1 track I really know from said artist. Like several artists from the 80's, like a 1-hit wonder or, they just happen to have 1 really good tune, etc).
So, I had to come up with something that I knew he wouldn't know, but also would potentially like, but wasn't predictable, etc.
I'm sure I'll probably come up with a handful of artists I could have sent him later, which seems to happen to me and I imagine others. But, I try (and maybe fail miserably at it) to avoid doing too much overthinking with this stuff, lol.
Oh brother.. :lol
I can see why you're leading this roulette. :lol
A match made in heaven. :lol
-
:rollin
-
Oh brother.. :lol
I can see why you're leading this roulette. :lol
:rollin
-
It’s a 20 minute limit for this round now right? Only stipulation is before 1990? Got it.
Edit: also, are movie scores on the table?
-
Yeah, 20 minutes, 1989 or earlier.
I suppose so.
-
Yeah, 20 minutes, 1989 or earlier.
I suppose so.
Ha! You don’t sound thrilled by the prospect. It’s ok, I don’t think I will send a movie score.
-
Yeah, 20 minutes, 1989 or earlier.
I suppose so.
AKA Please Don't! :lol
-
Yeah, 20 minutes, 1989 or earlier.
I suppose so.
AKA Please Don't! :lol
He’s used to me sending shit by now :lol
Gonna send shortly. I’m actually more confident in my submission than I have been in this roulette for a long time :corn
Edit: sent
-
Yeah, 20 minutes, 1989 or earlier.
I suppose so.
AKA Please Don't! :lol
Two of my favorite albums of all time are film scores. I don't listen to others particularly frequently though, so while I certainly don't have any particular opposition to them, I just hadn't given enough thought to the idea of receiving them yet. They could certainly work if they were the right ones, but it's kind of like that for almost anything, really.
-
Yeah, 20 minutes, 1989 or earlier.
I suppose so.
One artist?
-
Yeah, 20 minutes, 1989 or earlier.
I suppose so.
One artist?
I just realized Litho never answered you here, but yeah it's one artist.
also :corn
-
Ah, yeah, we already resolved it over e-mail.
Still waiting on one person (who could it be?), and if they don't respond to my PMs by tomorrow I'll probably just put hangman up then and add them in later.
-
Is it someone named after a great Deftones song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDeGSXVDihk)? :neverusethis:
-
Or it might be a cool song from a band highlighted a couple times in ariich's roulette. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3lJXbUT-qE
He actually sent, but I already knew one of the songs too well. I have a few errands to run, but I'll throw up hangman this evening, with one song short if need be.
-
but I'll throw up
Murder of the Universe AGAIN! Knew I’d convert you.
-
(https://i.imgur.com/RSyNBpF.gif)
-
??? : __________
1: __'__ ____ ____ _____
2: (____ ____ __ __) _____ __ ___
3: ___ __ ___ _____
??? : ____ ____
1: ____'_ ______
2: _______ ___
3: _______ ____ ___ ___
??? : _____
1: ___ ______
2: ____ __ _____
??? : ____
1: _'_ ___ __ ____
??? : ____ _______
1: _______ ______________
2: ____ ____ ____
3: ________ __ ____
??? : ______ _______
1: ______
2: ___ ______ __ _______ _____
3: _______ __________
??? : ___ ____
1: ___ _____ _________
2: ___ ____
3: ____ _____
4: ____ _______ _______
??? : ___ _____
1: ___ ___ ____ ________
2: _______ __ _______
3: __'_ _______ __ (_'_ ____ ________)
??? : ___
1: _____ ________
2: __. ____ ___
3: ___ _____ __ ______ ____
4: _____ _ ______ ____
??? : ____ ____
1: _____
2: ______ __ _______ _____
3: ____
??? : ________
1: _______ ____ _____ __ __ ____
2: ___ ___ ___
3: ___ __ ___ ______
4: ________
??? : __________
1: _________
2: _____ ____ ___ _______
3: _______ __ ____
??? : ______ ___
1: ______ _____
2: ___ ___________
3: ___________
??? : _____ _____
1: ___ ____ ____
2: ______ ____ ___ ____
3: ______ __ ____ _________
4: ___
??? : ___ ____ ____
1: _ ____ ______ ___ ________
2: ____ ___ ________
3: ______
4: ___ _____ ___ ____
??? : _______'_ ______
1: _________'_ _____
2: _______ _______
??? : _______ _____
1: _______ _____
2: __ ____ ______
3: _______ _______
??? : _______ _______
1: ___ ______
2: _______
3: ______ ___
4: _____ ____
5: ______ __ ___ ____
??? : ____ _______
1: _________ ____
Guessed letters:
-
D
-
T
-
I know When Dream & Day Unite came out in '89, but DT is banned.
-
??? : ______t___
1: __'__ ____ ___t _____
2: (T___ ____ T_ __) _____ T_ ___
3: T__ __ t__ ____d
??? : ____ ____
1: ____'_ ______
2: _______ ___
3: ___d___ ____ ___ __t
??? : _____
1: T__ _____d
2: ____ T_ _____
??? : ____
1: _'_ __t __ ____
??? : D___ _t___t_
1: _____t_ _____t___t____
2: ____ ____ ___d
3: ___t____ __ ____
??? : ___d__ _______
1: ______
2: ___ ______ __ _t_____ _____
3: _______ __________
??? : T__ ___t
1: ___ _____ ____t____
2: ___ ____
3: ____ _____
4: ____ _______ _______
??? : ___ D____
1: ___ T__ ____ ________
2: _______ __ _______
3: _t'_ ______t __ (_'_ ____ ____d___)
??? : ___
1: _____ ____t___
2: __. ____ ___
3: T__ D____ __ ______ ____
4: _____ _ __tt__ ____
??? : T___ T___
1: _____
2: ______ __ ___t___ ____d
3: _d__
??? : __t_____
1: D______ __t_ T____ __ __ ____
2: __t __d ___
3: ___ __ T__ ____d_
4: ______d_
??? : ______t___
1: ______t__
2: _____ D___ __d ___d___
3: ___d___ T_ ____
??? : _t____ D__
1: D_____ _____
2: __d ___________
3: __d____tt__
??? : D____ D____
1: T__ ___d ____
2: ______ ____ t__ ____
3: ______ __ ____ ____t____
4: ___
??? : T__ ____ ____
1: _ ____ ______ t__ ____t___
2: ____ t__ ______d_
3: _____t
4: T__ _____ ___ D___
??? : _______'_ _____d
1: _______d_'_ _____
2: _______ _______
??? : _______ _____
1: ____t_d _____
2: __ D___ ______
3: _______ ___d___
??? : _______ _____t_
1: ___ ____t_
2: _______
3: ______ ___
4: _____ __d_
5: ___t__ T_ t__ ___d
??? : D___ _t___t_
1: T________ ___d
Guessed letters: dt
-
F
-
Talk Talk
-
F
Too hasty to assume your grade, it was like an A last round. :p
-
Did Tim send Kix? :lol
-
Did Tim send Kix? :lol
What..no!
I actually liked them when they first came out circa 1983.
M
-
??? : ______t___
1: __'__ ____ ___t _____
2: (T___ ____ T_ __) _____ T_ ___
3: T__ _f t__ ____d
??? : __ff ____
1: ____'_ ______
2: F______ __m
3: ___d___ ____ ___ __t
??? : __m__
1: T__ _____d
2: ____ T_ __m__
??? : ____
1: _'m __t __ ____
??? : D___ _t___t_
1: _____t_ _____t___t____
2: ____ ____ ___d
3: ___t____ __ __m_
??? : ___d__ _______
1: __m___
2: ___ F_____ __ _t_____ _____
3: M______ _m________
??? : T__ ___t
1: ___ _____ ____t____
2: ___ ____
3: F___ __m__
4: ____ __m____ M______
??? : ___ D____
1: ___ T__ M___ M_______
2: _______ _f _______
3: _t'_ ______t M_ (_'m ____ ____d___)
??? : ___
1: _____ ____t___
2: M_. ____ ___
3: T__ D____ _f ______ __m_
4: _____ _ __tt__ ____
??? : Talk Talk
1: _____
2: ______ __ ___t___ ____d
3: _d__
??? : __t_____
1: D______ __t_ T____ __ M_ ____
2: __t __d ___
3: M__ _f T__ ____d_
4: ______d_
??? : ______t___
1: ______t__
2: _____ D___ __d M__d___
3: ___d___ T_ ____
??? : _t____ D__
1: D_____ _____
2: __d ______m____
3: __d____tt__
??? : D____ D____
1: T__ ___d ____
2: ______ ____ t__ ___f
3: ______ __ ____ ____tm___
4: ___
??? : T__ ____ ____
1: _ ____ ______ t__ ___ft___
2: ____ t__ ______d_
3: _____t
4: T__ _____ ___ D___
??? : ____f__'_ F____d
1: _______d_'_ _____
2: _______ _______
??? : ___m___ _____
1: ____t_d _____
2: __ D___ ______
3: _______ ___d___
??? : M______ ___m_t_
1: ___ M___t_
2: _______
3: ______ ___
4: _____ __d_
5: ___t__ T_ t__ ___d
??? : D___ _t___t_
1: T________ ___d
Guessed letters: dtfm
-
Duran Duran
-
??? : T__ ___t
1: ___ _____ ____t____
2: ___ ____
3: F___ __m__
4: ____ __m____ M______
Stadler: The Cult
She Sells Sanctuary
Sun King
Fire Woman
Love Removal Machine
-
Not Stadler.
-
I should note that this might be the round that I'd heard the most music from beforehand. I'd already heard at least something from every artist included, though some it wasn't all that much, and I had to toss a few songs back that I knew too well, but there are others that I recognized, but hearing every few years in a public space vs. privately at home can be a different experience.
-
Not Stadler.
Wow, that's one of his Go Tos.
N
-
Sacul sent Talk Talk if he’s playing in this one.
-
Yep.
-
Duran Duran
The Wild Boys
Hungry Like The Wolf
Lonely In Your Nightmare
Rio
I'm surprised this got through.
E
-
I know I've heard "Hungry Like the Wolf" a number of times over the years, but I don't really know it well, and less so the others.
-
??? : ____ente__
1: _e'_e _n__ ___t _e__n
2: (T_e_ __n_ T_ _e) ____e T_ ___
3: T__ _f t_e ____d
??? : _eff _e__
1: _e__'_ ___e__
2: F_ee___ __m
3: ___d__e ____ __e __t
??? : __m__
1: T_e _e___d
2: __n_ T_ __m__
??? : ____
1: _'m N_t _n ___e
??? : D__e _t___t_
1: _____te _n_e_t___t__n_
2: ___e __e_ ___d
3: ___t_e__ _n __m_
??? : ___den E____n_
1: __m___
2: __e F___e_ _N _t__n_e __n__
3: M_____n _m_______e
??? : The Cult
1: She Sells Sanctuary
2: Sun King
3: Fire Woman
4: Love Removal Machine
??? : ___ D___n
1: _ne T__ M_n_ M__n_n__
2: _____n_ _f ____nn_
3: _t'_ ______t M_ (_'m _n__ __eed_n_)
??? : E__
1: _____ __e_t__e
2: M_. ___e ___
3: T_e D____ _f _____e __m_
4: ___ne _ __tt_e ___e
Sacul: Talk Talk
1: _enee
2: ____n_ _n _n_t_e_ ____d
3: Eden
??? : __t_____
1: D_n__n_ __t_ Te___ _n M_ E_e_
2: __t _nd __n
3: M_n _f T__ ____d_
4: _e_en_de
??? : ____ente__
1: ___e__t__
2: ___n_ D___ _nd M_nd___
3: ___d__e T_ ___e
??? : _tee__ D_n
1: De___n ___e_
2: __d _____em__ne
3: __d____tt__
??? : Duran Duran
1: The Wild Boys
2: Hungry Like the Wolf
3: Lonely In Your Nightmare
4: Rio
??? : T_e ___e N__e
1: _ ____ ______ t_e ___ft___
2: __e_ t_e ______de
3: _e__et
4: T_e ___e_ __e D__n
??? : ____fe_'_ F__end
1: E_e____d_'_ ____n
2: ___n___ ____e_n
??? : ___m__n _____
1: ___nted ___e_
2: _n D___ ____e_
3: ___n_n_ ___d_e_
??? : M____e_ Ne_m_t_
1: ___ M_n_te
2: ______e
3: _____e ___
4: _e___ __d_
5: ___ten T_ t_e __nd
??? : D__e _t___t_
1: Te_e_____ ___d
Guessed letters: dtfmne
-
:lol
So someone did actually send Telegraph Road.
-
(https://i.giphy.com/media/vf5WJrfZ7rYbK/giphy.webp)
-
Is there a band called Lucifer’s Friend?
Also, Steely Dan.
-
Yes on both. There's also Lucifer, Satan, and many others. :lol
-
The other two Talk Talk songs are Renee and Living in Another World.
Jeff Beck?
-
:lol
So someone did actually send Telegraph Road.
Damnit, why didn't I think to send that. :facepalm:
-
??? : ____ente__
1: _e'_e _n__ ___t _e__n
2: (T_e_ __n_ T_ _e) ____e T_ ___
3: T__ _f t_e ____d
??? : Jeff Beck
1: _e__'_ ___e__
2: F_ee___ __m
3: ___d__e ____ __e __t
??? : __m__
1: T_e _e___d
2: __n_ T_ __m__
??? : ____
1: _'m N_t _n ___e
??? : D__e _t___t_
1: _____te _n_e_t___t__n_
2: ___e __e_ ___d
3: ___t_e__ _n __m_
??? : ___den E____n_
1: __m___
2: __e F___e_ _N _t__n_e __n__
3: M_____n _m_______e
??? : The Cult
1: She Sells Sanctuary
2: Sun King
3: Fire Woman
4: Love Removal Machine
??? : ___ D___n
1: _ne T__ M_n_ M__n_n__
2: _____n_ _f ____nn_
3: _t'_ ______t M_ (_'m _n__ __eed_n_)
??? : E__
1: _____ __e_t__e
2: M_. ___e ___
3: T_e D____ _f _____e __m_
4: ___ne _ __tt_e ___e
Sacul: Talk Talk
1: Renee
2: Living In Another World
3: Eden
??? : __t_____
1: D_n__n_ __t_ Te___ _n M_ E_e_
2: __t _nd __n
3: M_n _f T__ ____d_
4: _e_en_de
??? : ____ente__
1: ___e__t__
2: ___n_ D___ _nd M_nd___
3: ___d__e T_ ___e
??? : Steely Dan
1: De___n ___e_
2: __d _____em__ne
3: __d____tt__
??? : Duran Duran
1: The Wild Boys
2: Hungry Like the Wolf
3: Lonely In Your Nightmare
4: Rio
??? : T_e ___e N__e
1: _ ____ ______ t_e ___ft___
2: __e_ t_e ______de
3: _e__et
4: T_e ___e_ __e D__n
??? : Lucifer's Friend
1: E_e____d_'_ ____n
2: ___n___ ____e_n
??? : ___m__n _____
1: ___nted ___e_
2: _n D___ ____e_
3: ___n_n_ ___d_e_
??? : M____e_ Ne_m_t_
1: ___ M_n_te
2: ______e
3: _____e ___
4: _e___ __d_
5: ___ten T_ t_e __nd
??? : D__e _t___t_
1: Telegraph Road
Guessed letters: dtfmne
-
Well Telegraph Road is Dire Straits.
-
ELO (rather than Electric Light Orchestra?). Mr. Blue Sky is one of them. Stadler?
-
Not Stadler. You know, I really should have had him be required to send something from the past decade, because I think the newest of his submissions is from the late 90s. This is what happens when jingle, king, and lonestar aren't in my roulette. :lol
-
Did Stadler send Jeff Beck?
-
Nope.
-
I
-
:lol
So someone did actually send Telegraph Road.
Damnit, why didn't I think to send that. :facepalm:
I was minutes away from sending it, but it the end went with different songs as I wanted to use the new 20-minutes limit to my advantage.
-
??? : ____ente__
1: _e'_e _n__ ___t _e__n
2: (T_e_ __n_ T_ _e) ____e T_ ___
3: T__ _f t_e ____d
??? : Jeff Beck
1: _e__'_ ___e__
2: F_ee___ __m
3: ___d__e ____ _ie __t
??? : __m__
1: T_e _e___d
2: __n_ T_ __m__
??? : ____
1: I'm N_t In ___e
Evermind: Dire Straits
1: __i__te In_e_ti__ti_n_
2: ___e __e_ ___d
3: ___t_e__ In __m_
??? : ___den E___in_
1: __m___
2: __e F_i_e_ _N _t__n_e _in__
3: Mi__i_n Im____i__e
??? : The Cult
1: She Sells Sanctuary
2: Sun King
3: Fire Woman
4: Love Removal Machine
??? : ___ D___n
1: _ne T__ M_n_ M__nin__
2: _i_i_n_ _f ____nn_
3: It'_ ___i__t M_ (I'm _n__ __eedin_)
??? : ELO
1: _____ __e_t__e
2: Mr. Blue Sky
3: T_e Di___ _f _____e _im_
4: __ine _ _itt_e ___e
Sacul: Talk Talk
1: Renee
2: Living In Another World
3: Eden
??? : __t_____
1: D_n_in_ _it_ Te___ In M_ E_e_
2: __t _nd __n
3: M_n _f T__ ____d_
4: _e_en_de
??? : ____ente__
1: ___e__t__
2: __in_ D___ _nd M_nd___
3: ___d__e T_ ___e
??? : Steely Dan
1: De___n ___e_
2: _id _____em__ne
3: __d_i__tt__
??? : Duran Duran
1: The Wild Boys
2: Hungry Like the Wolf
3: Lonely In Your Nightmare
4: Rio
??? : T_e ___e Ni_e
1: _ ____ ______ t_e ___ft___
2: __e_ t_e _i___ide
3: _e__et
4: T_e _i_e_ __e D__n
??? : Lucifer's Friend
1: E_e____d_'_ ____n
2: ___ni__ ____e_n
??? : __im__n _____
1: __inted __ie_
2: In D___ ____e_
3: ___nin_ __id_e_
??? : Mi___e_ Ne_mit_
1: ___ Min_te
2: ______e
3: _i___e ___
4: _e___ __d_
5: _i_ten T_ t_e __nd
??? : Dire Straits
1: Telegraph Road
Guessed letters: dtfmnei
-
Steely Dan
Kid Charlemagne
-
The Blue Nile
-
Yep.
-
10cc - I’m Not in Love
-
Yep.
-
10cc - I’m Not in Love
Crow.
-
Other Dire Straits songs are Private Investigation, Love Over Gold, and Brothers in Arms. Private Investigation is just ok, but the other three are among my all time favorite songs. I'm actually very surprised Litho didn't hear Brothers in Arms before. It is a grower, for sure.
-
The Blue Nile sent by HOF.
EDIT: Two of the songs are Over the Hillside and The Wires Are Down
-
The Blue Nile sent by HOF.
EDIT: Two of the songs are Over the Hillside and The Wires Are Down
Ha, I actually guessed this long before the hangman started :lol
-
The Blue Nile sent by HOF.
EDIT: Two of the songs are Over the Hillside and The Wires Are Down
Ha, I actually guessed this long before the hangman started :lol
You knew!
-
A
-
Crimson Glory
Painted Skies
In Dark Places
-
Crimson Glory
Painted Skies
In Dark Places
Wolfking. Or Nick.
-
??? : _a__ente__
1: _e'_e _n__ ___t _e__n
2: (T_e_ __n_ T_ _e) ____e T_ ___
3: T__ _f t_e ____d
??? : Jeff Beck
1: _e__'_ ___e__
2: F_ee_a_ _am
3: ___d__e ____ _ie _at
??? : __m__
1: T_e _e_a_d
2: __n_ T_ __m__
Crow: 10cc
1: I'm Not In Love
Evermind: Dire Straits
1: Private Investigations
2: Love Over Gold
3: Brothers In Arms
??? : ___den Ea__in_
1: __m_a_
2: __e F_i_e_ _N _t_an_e _in__
3: Mi__i_n Im____i__e
??? : The Cult
1: She Sells Sanctuary
2: Sun King
3: Fire Woman
4: Love Removal Machine
??? : ___ D__an
1: _ne T__ Man_ M__nin__
2: _i_i_n_ _f ___anna
3: It'_ A__i__t Ma (I'm _n__ __eedin_)
??? : ELO
1: _____ __e_t__e
2: Mr. Blue Sky
3: T_e Dia__ _f ___a_e _im_
4: __ine a _itt_e ___e
Sacul: Talk Talk
1: Renee
2: Living In Another World
3: Eden
??? : __t_a___
1: Dan_in_ _it_ Tea__ In M_ E_e_
2: __t and __n
3: Man _f T__ ____d_
4: _e_enade
??? : _a__ente__
1: ___e__ta_
2: _ain_ Da__ and M_nda__
3: ___d__e T_ ___e
??? : Steely Dan
1: Dea__n ___e_
2: Kid Charlemagne
3: __d_i_att_a
??? : Duran Duran
1: The Wild Boys
2: Hungry Like the Wolf
3: Lonely In Your Nightmare
4: Rio
HOF: The Blue Nile
1: A _a__ A_____ t_e ___ft___
2: Over the Hillside
3: _e__et
4: The Wires Are Down
??? : Lucifer's Friend
1: E_e____d_'_ ____n
2: __ani__ _a__e_n
??? : Crimson Glory
1: Painted Skies
2: In Dark Places
3: ___nin_ __id_e_
??? : Mi__ae_ Ne_mit_
1: _a_ Min_te
2: _a____e
3: _i___e ___
4: _e___ _ad_
5: _i_ten T_ t_e _and
??? : Dire Straits
1: Telegraph Road
Guessed letters: dtfmneia
-
Crimson Glory
Painted Skies
In Dark Places
Wolfking. Or Nick.
0/2 again on people who are even in the roulette. :p
-
No more monkeying around. I see Michael Nesmith.
-
And no Glasser is not in the roulette either. :p
-
Carpenters
Rainy Days and Mondays
-
Ultravox
Dancing With tears In My Eyes
Cut And Run
Man Of Two Worlds
Serenade
-
10cc - I’m Not in Love
Crow.
repeating myself 'cause i've got nothing to lose :corn
-
Ultravox
Dancing With tears In My Eyes
Cut And Run
Man Of Two Worlds
Serenade
Huh, I was just listening to Vienna this morning :o
-
Listen To The Band
Wax Minute
-
??? : Carpenters
1: _e'_e _n__ ___t _e__n
2: (T_e_ __n_ T_ _e) ____e T_ ___
3: T__ _f t_e ____d
??? : Jeff Beck
1: _e__'_ ___e__
2: F_ee_a_ _am
3: ___d__e ____ _ie _at
??? : __m__
1: T_e _e_a_d
2: __n_ T_ __m__
Crow: 10cc
1: I'm Not In Love
Evermind: Dire Straits
1: Private Investigations
2: Love Over Gold
3: Brothers In Arms
??? : ___den Ea__in_
1: __m_a_
2: __e F_i_e_ _N _t_an_e _in__
3: Mi__i_n Im____i__e
??? : The Cult
1: She Sells Sanctuary
2: Sun King
3: Fire Woman
4: Love Removal Machine
??? : ___ D__an
1: _ne T__ Man_ M__nin__
2: _i_i_n_ _f ___anna
3: It'_ A__i__t Ma (I'm _n__ __eedin_)
??? : ELO
1: _____ __e_t__e
2: Mr. Blue Sky
3: T_e Dia__ _f ___a_e _im_
4: __ine a _itt_e ___e
Sacul: Talk Talk
1: Renee
2: Living In Another World
3: Eden
??? : Ultravox
1: Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
2: Cut and Run
3: Man of Two Worlds
4: Serenade
??? : Carpenters
1: ___e__ta_
2: Rainy Days and Mondays
3: ___d__e T_ ___e
??? : Steely Dan
1: Dea__n ___e_
2: Kid Charlemagne
3: __d_i_att_a
??? : Duran Duran
1: The Wild Boys
2: Hungry Like the Wolf
3: Lonely In Your Nightmare
4: Rio
HOF: The Blue Nile
1: A _a__ A_____ t_e ___ft___
2: Over the Hillside
3: _e__et
4: The Wires Are Down
??? : Lucifer's Friend
1: E_e____d_'_ ____n
2: __ani__ _a__e_n
??? : Crimson Glory
1: Painted Skies
2: In Dark Places
3: ___nin_ __id_e_
??? : Michael Nesmith
1: Wax Minute
2: _a____e
3: _i___e ___
4: _e___ _ad_
5: Listen To the Band
??? : Dire Straits
1: Telegraph Road
Guessed letters: dtfmneia
-
Bob Dylan-One Too Many Mornings
Mission Impossible
-
Buddy sent Comus - The Herald and Song To Comus.
-
Bob Dylan - It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
Edit: Also One Too Many Mornings
Edit 2: And the final artist is Golden Earring but I don't know any of their songs. :P
-
And the final artist is Golden Earring but I don't know any of their songs. :P
Bombay
She Flies On Strange Wings
Mission Impossible
-
??? : Carpenters
1: _e'_e _n__ ___t _e__n
2: (T_e_ __n_ T_ _e) ____e T_ ___
3: T__ _f t_e ____d
??? : Jeff Beck
1: _e__'_ ___e__
2: F_ee_a_ _am
3: ___d__e ____ _ie _at
Buddyhunter1: Comus
1: The Herald
2: Song To Comus
Crow: 10cc
1: I'm Not In Love
Evermind: Dire Straits
1: Private Investigations
2: Love Over Gold
3: Brothers In Arms
??? : Golden Earring
1: Bombay
2: She Fliles ON Strange Wings
3: Mission Impossible
??? : The Cult
1: She Sells Sanctuary
2: Sun King
3: Fire Woman
4: Love Removal Machine
??? : Bob Dylan
1: One Too Many Mornings
2: _i_i_n_ _f ___anna
3: It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
??? : ELO
1: _____ __e_t__e
2: Mr. Blue Sky
3: T_e Dia__ _f ___a_e _im_
4: __ine a _itt_e ___e
Sacul: Talk Talk
1: Renee
2: Living In Another World
3: Eden
??? : Ultravox
1: Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
2: Cut and Run
3: Man of Two Worlds
4: Serenade
??? : Carpenters
1: ___e__ta_
2: Rainy Days and Mondays
3: ___d__e T_ ___e
??? : Steely Dan
1: Dea__n ___e_
2: Kid Charlemagne
3: __d_i_att_a
??? : Duran Duran
1: The Wild Boys
2: Hungry Like the Wolf
3: Lonely In Your Nightmare
4: Rio
HOF: The Blue Nile
1: A _a__ A_____ t_e ___ft___
2: Over the Hillside
3: _e__et
4: The Wires Are Down
??? : Lucifer's Friend
1: E_e____d_'_ ____n
2: __ani__ _a__e_n
??? : Crimson Glory
1: Painted Skies
2: In Dark Places
3: ___nin_ __id_e_
??? : Michael Nesmith
1: Wax Minute
2: _a____e
3: _i___e ___
4: _e___ _ad_
5: Listen To the Band
??? : Dire Straits
1: Telegraph Road
Guessed letters: dtfmneia
-
Edit 2: And the final artist is Golden Earring but I don't know any of their songs. :P
You don't know "Twilight Zone"? That's the only one of theirs I know well. I guess these roulettes continually surprise each other with what we each do and don't know.
-
Edit 2: And the final artist is Golden Earring but I don't know any of their songs. :P
You don't know "Twilight Zone"? That's the only one of theirs I know well. I guess these roulettes continually surprise each other with what we each do and don't know.
And Radar Love.
-
Holy crap is this a strong round. Holy mackerel. Telegraph Road? GTFO. Golden Earring? Ultravox? Steely Dan? The Cult? Jeff Beck? GTFO.
-
Shine A Little Love
The Diary Of Horace Wimp
-
Edit 2: And the final artist is Golden Earring but I don't know any of their songs. :P
You don't know "Twilight Zone"? That's the only one of theirs I know well. I guess these roulettes continually surprise each other with what we each do and don't know.
And Radar Love.
Just skimmed that one, I've definitely heard it before a few times, but I wouldn't say I really know it.
-
Edit 2: And the final artist is Golden Earring but I don't know any of their songs. :P
You don't know "Twilight Zone"? That's the only one of theirs I know well. I guess these roulettes continually surprise each other with what we each do and don't know.
And Radar Love.
Just skimmed that one, I've definitely heard it before a few times, but I wouldn't say I really know it.
The gem there is "She Flies On Strange Wings".
-
Steely Dan
Deacon Blues
-
Holy crap is this a strong round. Holy mackerel. Telegraph Road? GTFO. Golden Earring? Ultravox? Steely Dan? The Cult? Jeff Beck? GTFO.
I thought you’d be into this round. To be fair it looks like a round of songs entirely sent by you :lol
-
Holy crap is this a strong round. Holy mackerel. Telegraph Road? GTFO. Golden Earring? Ultravox? Steely Dan? The Cult? Jeff Beck? GTFO.
I thought you’d be into this round. To be fair it looks like a round of songs entirely sent by you :lol
:rollin
I was thinking the same thing. Stadler sent EVERYTHING!
-
Well, people already tried to guess him for three bands he didn't send. :loser:
-
Did Stadler send Bob Dylan or Carpenters?
-
Nope.
-
Two people sent The Carpenters?
One of them is Soundscape and he will win the round with it.
-
No, it's one person and it's not Soundscape... :corn
-
Yeah, but Soundscape's still gonna win the round. Did I get that part right? :lol
-
I'm actually not sure he's flat-out won a round yet. Sometimes the more critical thing is avoiding most of the landmines. :justjen
-
I'm actually not sure he's flat-out won a round yet. Sometimes the more critical thing is avoiding most of the landmines. :justjen
I've stepped on all the landmines in this roulette :lol
-
Carpenters
We've Only Just Begun
Top of the World
(They Long to be) Close to You
Despite me figuring some of these out, I don't mind The Carpenters, but am not versed in their music like my wife who has read the Karen Carpenter biography in fact.
-
Edit 2: And the final artist is Golden Earring but I don't know any of their songs. :P
You don't know "Twilight Zone"? That's the only one of theirs I know well. I guess these roulettes continually surprise each other with what we each do and don't know.
And Radar Love.
When the Lady Smiles
-
??? : Carpenters
1: We've Only Just Begun
2: (They Long To Be) Close To You
3: Top of the World
??? : Jeff Beck
1: _e__'_ ___e__
2: F_ee_a_ _am
3: ___d__e ____ _ie _at
Buddyhunter1: Comus
1: The Herald
2: Song To Comus
Crow: 10cc
1: I'm Not In Love
Evermind: Dire Straits
1: Private Investigations
2: Love Over Gold
3: Brothers In Arms
??? : Golden Earring
1: Bombay
2: She Fliles ON Strange Wings
3: Mission Impossible
??? : The Cult
1: She Sells Sanctuary
2: Sun King
3: Fire Woman
4: Love Removal Machine
??? : Bob Dylan
1: One Too Many Mornings
2: _i_i_n_ _f ___anna
3: It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
??? : ELO
1: _____ __e_t__e
2: Mr. Blue Sky
3: The Diary of Horace Wimp
4: Shine a Little Love
Sacul: Talk Talk
1: Renee
2: Living In Another World
3: Eden
??? : Ultravox
1: Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
2: Cut and Run
3: Man of Two Worlds
4: Serenade
??? : Carpenters
1: ___e__ta_
2: Rainy Days and Mondays
3: ___d__e T_ ___e
??? : Steely Dan
1: Deacon Blues
2: Kid Charlemagne
3: __d_i_att_a
??? : Duran Duran
1: The Wild Boys
2: Hungry Like the Wolf
3: Lonely In Your Nightmare
4: Rio
HOF: The Blue Nile
1: A _a__ A_____ t_e ___ft___
2: Over the Hillside
3: _e__et
4: The Wires Are Down
??? : Lucifer's Friend
1: E_e____d_'_ ____n
2: __ani__ _a__e_n
??? : Crimson Glory
1: Painted Skies
2: In Dark Places
3: ___nin_ __id_e_
??? : Michael Nesmith
1: Wax Minute
2: _a____e
3: _i___e ___
4: _e___ _ad_
5: Listen To the Band
??? : Dire Straits
1: Telegraph Road
Guessed letters: dtfmneia
-
I honestly don’t have a clue who sent what.
-
The 3rd Crimson Glory song is Burning Bridges.
-
Stad sent Michael Nesmith.
-
Stad sent Michael Nesmith.
Nope.
-
I'm still not convinced that Stadler didn't send all the unguessed bands at this point. :biggrin:
-
Yep, think I’ll keep guessing Stadler to be honest. Litho just trolling us all.
-
Stadler sent Dylan
-
Stadler sent Dylan
Nah, I guessed that one already
-
Michael Nesmith
Can we get an R?
-
Michael Nesmith
Holy shit, how'd you ever guess that?
-
??? : Carpenters
1: We've Only Just Begun
2: (They Long To Be) Close To You
3: Top of the World
??? : Jeff Beck
1: _e__'_ ___er_
2: Free_a_ _am
3: ___d__e __r_ _ie _at
Buddyhunter1: Comus
1: The Herald
2: Song To Comus
Crow: 10cc
1: I'm Not In Love
Evermind: Dire Straits
1: Private Investigations
2: Love Over Gold
3: Brothers In Arms
??? : Golden Earring
1: Bombay
2: She Fliles ON Strange Wings
3: Mission Impossible
??? : The Cult
1: She Sells Sanctuary
2: Sun King
3: Fire Woman
4: Love Removal Machine
??? : Bob Dylan
1: One Too Many Mornings
2: _i_i_n_ _f ___anna
3: It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
??? : ELO
1: _____ __ert_re
2: Mr. Blue Sky
3: The Diary of Horace Wimp
4: Shine a Little Love
Sacul: Talk Talk
1: Renee
2: Living In Another World
3: Eden
??? : Ultravox
1: Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
2: Cut and Run
3: Man of Two Worlds
4: Serenade
??? : Carpenters
1: ___er_tar
2: Rainy Days and Mondays
3: ___d__e T_ ___e
??? : Steely Dan
1: Deacon Blues
2: Kid Charlemagne
3: __d_i_att_a
??? : Duran Duran
1: The Wild Boys
2: Hungry Like the Wolf
3: Lonely In Your Nightmare
4: Rio
HOF: The Blue Nile
1: A _a__ A_r___ t_e R__ft___
2: Over the Hillside
3: Re_ret
4: The Wires Are Down
??? : Lucifer's Friend
1: E_er___d_'_ ____n
2: __ani__ _a__e_n
??? : Crimson Glory
1: Painted Skies
2: In Dark Places
3: Burning Bridges
??? : Michael Nesmith
1: Wax Minute
2: _a____e
3: _ir__e ___
4: _e___ _ad_
5: Listen To the Band
??? : Dire Straits
1: Telegraph Road
Guessed letters: dtfmneiar
-
twosuitsluke:Michael Nesmith
TAC:The Carpenters
Lethean:The Cult
Tomislav95: Golden Earring
Puppies_On_Acid:Crimson Glory
Elite:Ultravox
ariich:The Carpenters
soupytwist:Dire Straits
Vmadera00:Duran Duran
Seneca:Bob Dylan
SoundscapeMN:ELO
Nachtmerrie:Lucifer's Friend
Stadler:Jeff Beck
(https://media.tenor.com/_C04V12HzcwAAAAC/bam-cooking-show.gif)
-
At least one of those is wrong :)
-
Michael Nesmith
Holy shit, how'd you ever guess that?
Woops, was looking at the hangman at the top of the last page.
-
I don’t even know who Michael Nesmith is. Stadler probably sent him.
-
twosuitsluke:Michael Nesmith
TAC:The Carpenters
Lethean:The Cult
Tomislav95: Golden Earring
Puppies_On_Acid:Crimson Glory
Elite:Ultravox
ariich:The Carpenters
soupytwist:Dire Straits
Vmadera00:Duran Duran
Seneca:Bob Dylan
SoundscapeMN:ELO
Nachtmerrie:Lucifer's Friend
Stadler:Jeff Beck
(https://media.tenor.com/gLS5dh6HX34AAAAC/luke-sky-walker.gif)
Except seneca/Robert Zimmerman.
If you're so confident in the Carpenters winning the round you should have sent them. :rollin I actually don't have a clear favorite yet. There are about half a dozen in contention for it at this point.
-
twosuitsluke:Michael Nesmith
TAC:The Carpenters
Lethean:The Cult
Tomislav95: Golden Earring
Puppies_On_Acid:Crimson Glory
Elite:Ultravox
ariich:The Carpenters
soupytwist:Dire Straits
Vmadera00:Duran Duran
Seneca:Bob Dylan
SoundscapeMN:ELO
Nachtmerrie:Lucifer's Friend
Stadler:Jeff Beck
(https://media.tenor.com/_C04V12HzcwAAAAC/bam-cooking-show.gif)
Crimson Glory is a band I might have sent, but not this time.
-
Well, someone's gotta guess or we'll never get Impressions.
-
Actually, I'm still waiting on a song replacement for those anyway. ;D It probably won't materially change anything, but just in case...
-
We have an extra song added to the mix, and it changes everything!
I'm aiming for early impressions tomorrow evening.
??? : Carpenters
1: We've Only Just Begun
2: (They Long To Be) Close To You
3: Top of the World
??? : Jeff Beck
1: _e__'_ ___er_
2: Free_a_ _am
3: ___d__e __r_ _ie _at
4: __atter_rain
Buddyhunter1: Comus
1: The Herald
2: Song To Comus
Crow: 10cc
1: I'm Not In Love
Evermind: Dire Straits
1: Private Investigations
2: Love Over Gold
3: Brothers In Arms
??? : Golden Earring
1: Bombay
2: She Fliles ON Strange Wings
3: Mission Impossible
??? : The Cult
1: She Sells Sanctuary
2: Sun King
3: Fire Woman
4: Love Removal Machine
senecadawg2: Bob Dylan
1: One Too Many Mornings
2: _i_i_n_ _f ___anna
3: It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
??? : ELO
1: _____ __ert_re
2: Mr. Blue Sky
3: The Diary of Horace Wimp
4: Shine a Little Love
Sacul: Talk Talk
1: Renee
2: Living In Another World
3: Eden
??? : Ultravox
1: Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
2: Cut and Run
3: Man of Two Worlds
4: Serenade
??? : Carpenters
1: ___er_tar
2: Rainy Days and Mondays
3: ___d__e T_ ___e
??? : Steely Dan
1: Deacon Blues
2: Kid Charlemagne
3: __d_i_att_a
??? : Duran Duran
1: The Wild Boys
2: Hungry Like the Wolf
3: Lonely In Your Nightmare
4: Rio
HOF: The Blue Nile
1: A _a__ A_r___ t_e R__ft___
2: Over the Hillside
3: Re_ret
4: The Wires Are Down
??? : Lucifer's Friend
1: E_er___d_'_ ____n
2: __ani__ _a__e_n
??? : Crimson Glory
1: Painted Skies
2: In Dark Places
3: Burning Bridges
??? : Michael Nesmith
1: Wax Minute
2: _a____e
3: _ir__e ___
4: _e___ _ad_
5: Listen To the Band
??? : Dire Straits
1: Telegraph Road
Guessed letters: dtfmneiar
-
Freeway Jam
Scatterbrain
-
twosuitsluke:Ultravox
TAC:Michael Nesmith
Lethean:Steely Dan
Tomislav95: The Cult
Puppies_On_Acid:Lucifer's Friend
Elite:Duran Duran
ariich:Dire Straits
soupytwist:Jeff Beck
Vmadera00:ELO
SoundscapeMN:Golden Earring
Nachtmerrie:Crimson Glory
Stadler:The Carpenters
-
Wrong again :corn
-
Sadly, yes. (https://i.imgur.com/RLKgXa1.gif) Maybe the third time will be the charm? ;D
-
Wait...not ONE right??
-
(https://i.imgur.com/UBbYa4z.gif)
-
Last guess, and then I'll just wait for the solved Hangman.
twosuitsluke: Crimson Glory
TAC:Michael Nesmith
Lethean: Duran Duran
Tomislav95: ELO
Puppies_On_Acid:The Carpenters
Elite:Steely Dan
ariich: Ultravox Dire Straits
soupytwist: The Cult
Vmadera00: Jef Beck
SoundscapeMN: Michael Nesmith
Nachtmerrie: Golden Earring
Stadler:Lucifer's Friend
-
??? : Carpenters
1: We've Only Just Begun
2: (They Long To Be) Close To You
3: Top of the World
??? : Jeff Beck
1: _e__'_ ___er_
2: Freeway Jam
3: ___d__e __r_ _ie _at
4: Scatterbrain
Buddyhunter1: Comus
1: The Herald
2: Song To Comus
Crow: 10cc
1: I'm Not In Love
Evermind: Dire Straits
1: Private Investigations
2: Love Over Gold
3: Brothers In Arms
Nachtmerrie: Golden Earring
1: Bombay
2: She Fliles ON Strange Wings
3: Mission Impossible
??? : The Cult
1: She Sells Sanctuary
2: Sun King
3: Fire Woman
4: Love Removal Machine
senecadawg2: Bob Dylan
1: One Too Many Mornings
2: _i_i_n_ _f ___anna
3: It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
??? : ELO
1: _____ __ert_re
2: Mr. Blue Sky
3: The Diary of Horace Wimp
4: Shine a Little Love
Sacul: Talk Talk
1: Renee
2: Living In Another World
3: Eden
ariich: Ultravox
1: Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
2: Cut and Run
3: Man of Two Worlds
4: Serenade
??? : Carpenters
1: ___er_tar
2: Rainy Days and Mondays
3: ___d__e T_ ___e
??? : Steely Dan
1: Deacon Blues
2: Kid Charlemagne
3: __d_i_att_a
??? : Duran Duran
1: The Wild Boys
2: Hungry Like the Wolf
3: Lonely In Your Nightmare
4: Rio
HOF: The Blue Nile
1: A _a__ A_r___ t_e R__ft___
2: Over the Hillside
3: Re_ret
4: The Wires Are Down
??? : Lucifer's Friend
1: E_er___d_'_ ____n
2: __ani__ _a__e_n
??? : Crimson Glory
1: Painted Skies
2: In Dark Places
3: Burning Bridges
SoundscapeMN: Michael Nesmith
1: Wax Minute
2: _a____e
3: _ir__e ___
4: _e___ _ad_
5: Listen To the Band
??? : Dire Straits
1: Telegraph Road
Guessed letters: dtfmneiar
Unguessed:
Elite
Lethean
Luke
Puppies
soupy
Stadler
TAC
Tomi
Vmad
-
I got three right!!
I'll just wait now for all to be unveiled tomorrow.
-
Or maybe one of the 17 others on the sidelines will help pitch in. :corn
And I didn't see you clamoring for Golden Earring. Nachtmerrie is only 0.25 behind, after all. ;)
-
I could see TAC sending Jeff Beck, maybe. Or Lucifer's Friend?
-
Has anyone guessed Stadler for Duran Duran yet?
-
Surprisingly not, and yes!
Also correct on TAC/Lucifer's Friend.
-
Steely Dan
Bodhisattva
-
Toni must’ve sent Dire Straits
-
Toni must’ve sent Dire Straits
So obvious :biggrin: even commented on how much I like Telegraph Road
-
Toni must’ve sent Dire Straits
So obvious
I’ve been stung before :lol
-
One of the Lucifer's Friend songs is Spanish Galleon (great song). I don't think I know the other one.
ELO is 10538 Overture. I had to look up the numbers. :lol
-
Here is hangman filled out.
twosuitsluke: Carpenters
1: We've Only Just Begun
2: (They Long To Be) Close To You
3: Top of the World
Elite: Jeff Beck
1: Beck's Bolero
2: Freeway Jam
3: Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
4: Scatterbrain
Buddyhunter1: Comus
1: The Herald
2: Song To Comus
Crow: 10cc
1: I'm Not In Love
Evermind: Dire Straits
1: Private Investigations
2: Love Over Gold
3: Brothers In Arms
Nachtmerrie: Golden Earring
1: Bombay
2: She Fliles ON Strange Wings
3: Mission Impossible
Puppies_On_Acid: The Cult
1: She Sells Sanctuary
2: Sun King
3: Fire Woman
4: Love Removal Machine
senecadawg2: Bob Dylan
1: One Too Many Mornings
2: Visions of Johanna
3: It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
soupytwist: ELO
1: 10538 Overture
2: Mr. Blue Sky
3: The Diary of Horace Wimp
4: Shine a Little Love
Sacul: Talk Talk
1: Renee
2: Living In Another World
3: Eden
ariich: Ultravox
1: Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
2: Cut and Run
3: Man of Two Worlds
4: Serenade
twosuitsluke: Carpenters
1: Superstar
2: Rainy Days and Mondays
3: Goodbye To Love
Vmadera00: Steely Dan
1: Deacon Blues
2: Kid Charlemagne
3: Bodhisattva
Stadler: Duran Duran
1: The Wild Boys
2: Hungry Like the Wolf
3: Lonely In Your Nightmare
4: Rio
HOF: The Blue Nile
1: A Walk Across the Rooftops
2: Over the Hillside
3: Regret
4: The Wires Are Down
TAC: Lucifer's Friend
1: Everybody's Clown
2: Spanish Galleon
Lethean: Crimson Glory
1: Painted Skies
2: In Dark Places
3: Burning Bridges
SoundscapeMN: Michael Nesmith
1: Wax Minute
2: Capsule
3: Circle Sky
4: Hello Lady
5: Listen To the Band
Tomislav95: Dire Straits
1: Telegraph Road
Here's the playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Gw5Be4b3vtE8aQovKLC9z (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Gw5Be4b3vtE8aQovKLC9z)
A few songs are not on Spotify.
Lucifer's Friend - "Everybody's Clown"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3VAOMJj3cg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3VAOMJj3cg)
Michael Nesmith - "Wax Minute"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gueigpmBTzM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gueigpmBTzM)
Michael Nesmith - "Capsule"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYrvrMOdB4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYrvrMOdB4)
Michael Nesmith/The Monkees - "Listen To the Band"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f_nqaoWukI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f_nqaoWukI)
-
I'll be out for a bit, but I wanted to toss these up and see what happens.
Round 12 Early Impressions:
1: I can't say I didn't warn you. :-)
2: Maybe I should have expected it, but I was surprised by how cool the bass playing was.
3: There's a pretty high floor to this sound, but often a relatively lower ceiling, so we'll see how it goes.
4: Even with 20 minutes of music I'm still not quite sure what this band actually sounds like, but there are certainly many cool moments, especially in the middle track.
5: If you're trying to get to the bottom of the standings, this will not do. Not at all.
6: I'm not instantly sold on any of these songs in particular, but there's definitely a creativity to the arrangements that I'm hoping will reveal itself through additional plays.
7: This is way more melodic than I remember it being, and with an appealing variety of superb instrumentation, but some of these vocals...um...
8: In a normal round I'm not sure this would score quite as high, but it might have a better shot here since it reminds me of a couple other contemporary and later bands I like.
9: So I thought I knew this song, but I didn't actually know it, because it has some lusher details than I realized.
10: There's stylistic appeal to this merging of genres on paper, and I do like it in practice, but I can't quite put my finger on why I don't love it.
11: The guitar playing is excellent, but the vocals probably hold it back, and I'm not sure there's quite enough payoff.
12: One of the songs is not really what I was expecting from this artist, but maybe that will work in its favor?
13: This is a quite different side of this artist than I've heard before, and the playing is very good, though I worry that there's not nearly enough to latch onto melodically to make it memorable enough.
14: This has possibly the coolest synth sounds of the round, and a vocal memorability that some other entries lack.
15: It's all your favorite classic rock bands rolled into one! This might be a bit too straightforward for me, though a few songs do have some more intriguing properties.
16: Even in a round with exclusively 40+ year old music, this still somehow feels dated, but we'll see it it grows on me.
17: I don't understand how this is both fairly layered and yet also quite minimalistic, and yet, it is.
18: This is not really connecting with me yet melodically, but these are some killer bass lines.
-
15?
-
I have no idea.
-
17?
-
5, 16, or 18.
-
I hope I'm 5.
I believe I'm 1.
-
6?
-
9 :corn
-
17
-
4
If not, then 7 or 12
-
Round 12 Early Impressions:
1: senecadawg2 - Bob Dylan - I can't say I didn't warn you. :-)
2: Maybe I should have expected it, but I was surprised by how cool the bass playing was.
3: There's a pretty high floor to this sound, but often a relatively lower ceiling, so we'll see how it goes.
4: Even with 20 minutes of music I'm still not quite sure what this band actually sounds like, but there are certainly many cool moments, especially in the middle track.
5: If you're trying to get to the bottom of the standings, this will not do. Not at all.
6: I'm not instantly sold on any of these songs in particular, but there's definitely a creativity to the arrangements that I'm hoping will reveal itself through additional plays.
7: This is way more melodic than I remember it being, and with an appealing variety of superb instrumentation, but some of these vocals...um...
8: In a normal round I'm not sure this would score quite as high, but it might have a better shot here since it reminds me of a couple other contemporary and later bands I like.
9: Crow - 10cc - So I thought I knew this song, but I didn't actually know it, because it has some lusher details than I realized.
10: There's stylistic appeal to this merging of genres on paper, and I do like it in practice, but I can't quite put my finger on why I don't love it.
11: The guitar playing is excellent, but the vocals probably hold it back, and I'm not sure there's quite enough payoff.
12: One of the songs is not really what I was expecting from this artist, but maybe that will work in its favor?
13: This is a quite different side of this artist than I've heard before, and the playing is very good, though I worry that there's not nearly enough to latch onto melodically to make it memorable enough.
14: This has possibly the coolest synth sounds of the round, and a vocal memorability that some other entries lack.
15: Puppies_On_Acid - The Cult - It's all your favorite classic rock bands rolled into one! This might be a bit too straightforward for me, though a few songs do have some more intriguing properties.
16: Even in a round with exclusively 30+ year old music, this still somehow feels dated, but we'll see it it grows on me.
17: HOF - The Blue Nile - I don't understand how this is both fairly layered and yet also quite minimalistic, and yet, it is.
18: This is not really connecting with me yet melodically, but these are some killer bass lines.
---
I should note a couple things. One, I made sure to very lightly skim the intro and a couple spots in each song to make sure none of them were songs I was already intimately familiar with. But one of the first I did that with was 10cc, at which point I told Crow if it had been Stadler (who was guessed for half of these anyway!) sending them I'd probably have rejected them since I know he has a far deeper catalog to draw on from than Crow does, since just from first couple seconds of the intro I could already hear a few other sections of the song in my head. But it was also one of the first songs I listened to in full, before many other submissions had arrived, and it made me realize that hearing these songs in public places or once in a while years ago on family/relative's stereos is not at all the same as an intimate and attentive listen.
So yeah, people who are older than me and listened even more to radio than I was exposed to might be surprised at a few of these that I don't already know them. And a number of these are definitely ones I've heard a number of times over the years. And I had to toss back a few that I did just know too well. But the 10cc experience convinced me to be a bit more lenient than I thought I'd be before starting this round. And some I think are extended versions or alternate cuts that probably didn't receive as much airplay.
-
14?
-
(https://i.imgur.com/9vo518q.gif)
-
14 is surely mine?
-
Got it in one! :metal
-
8?
-
Surely 5
-
2,3 or 6 then
-
Don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
-
3: There's a pretty high floor to this sound, but often a relatively lower ceiling, so we'll see how it goes.
6: I'm not instantly sold on any of these songs in particular, but there's definitely a creativity to the arrangements that I'm hoping will reveal itself through additional plays.
8: In a normal round I'm not sure this would score quite as high, but it might have a better shot here since it reminds me of a couple other contemporary and later bands I like.
11: The guitar playing is excellent, but the vocals probably hold it back, and I'm not sure there's quite enough payoff.
One of these?
-
Round 12 Early Impressions:
1: senecadawg2 - Bob Dylan - I can't say I didn't warn you. :-)
2: Maybe I should have expected it, but I was surprised by how cool the bass playing was.
3: There's a pretty high floor to this sound, but often a relatively lower ceiling, so we'll see how it goes.
4: Even with 20 minutes of music I'm still not quite sure what this band actually sounds like, but there are certainly many cool moments, especially in the middle track.
5: twosuitsluke - Carpenters - If you're trying to get to the bottom of the standings, this will not do. Not at all.
6: I'm not instantly sold on any of these songs in particular, but there's definitely a creativity to the arrangements that I'm hoping will reveal itself through additional plays.
7: This is way more melodic than I remember it being, and with an appealing variety of superb instrumentation, but some of these vocals...um...
8: In a normal round I'm not sure this would score quite as high, but it might have a better shot here since it reminds me of a couple other contemporary and later bands I like.
9: Crow - 10cc - So I thought I knew this song, but I didn't actually know it, because it has some lusher details than I realized.
10: There's stylistic appeal to this merging of genres on paper, and I do like it in practice, but I can't quite put my finger on why I don't love it.
11: The guitar playing is excellent, but the vocals probably hold it back, and I'm not sure there's quite enough payoff.
12: One of the songs is not really what I was expecting from this artist, but maybe that will work in its favor?
13: This is a quite different side of this artist than I've heard before, and the playing is very good, though I worry that there's not nearly enough to latch onto melodically to make it memorable enough.
14: ariich - Ultravox - This has possibly the coolest synth sounds of the round, and a vocal memorability that some other entries lack.
15: Puppies_On_Acid - The Cult - It's all your favorite classic rock bands rolled into one! This might be a bit too straightforward for me, though a few songs do have some more intriguing properties.
16: Even in a round with exclusively 40+ year old music, this still somehow feels dated, but we'll see it it grows on me.
17: HOF - The Blue Nile - I don't understand how this is both fairly layered and yet also quite minimalistic, and yet, it is.
18: This is not really connecting with me yet melodically, but these are some killer bass lines.
-
I’m kinda more confident the Carpenters will score well than anything else I’ve sent you.
-
7,8, or 10
-
(https://i.imgur.com/RLKgXa1.gif)
-
16?
-
Wow, I’m 0-9. :lol
-
One of the "bassline" ones for me, I just have to decide which one...
-
Round 12 Early Impressions:
1: senecadawg2 - Bob Dylan - I can't say I didn't warn you. :-)
2: Maybe I should have expected it, but I was surprised by how cool the bass playing was.
3: There's a pretty high floor to this sound, but often a relatively lower ceiling, so we'll see how it goes.
4: Sacul - Talk Talk - Even with 20 minutes of music I'm still not quite sure what this band actually sounds like, but there are certainly many cool moments, especially in the middle track.
5: twosuitsluke - Carpenters - If you're trying to get to the bottom of the standings, this will not do. Not at all.
6: I'm not instantly sold on any of these songs in particular, but there's definitely a creativity to the arrangements that I'm hoping will reveal itself through additional plays.
7: Buddyhunter1 - Comus - This is way more melodic than I remember it being, and with an appealing variety of superb instrumentation, but some of these vocals...um...
8: In a normal round I'm not sure this would score quite as high, but it might have a better shot here since it reminds me of a couple other contemporary and later bands I like.
9: Crow - 10cc - So I thought I knew this song, but I didn't actually know it, because it has some lusher details than I realized.
10: There's stylistic appeal to this merging of genres on paper, and I do like it in practice, but I can't quite put my finger on why I don't love it.
11: The guitar playing is excellent, but the vocals probably hold it back, and I'm not sure there's quite enough payoff.
12: TAC - Lucifer's Friend - One of the songs is not really what I was expecting from this artist, but maybe that will work in its favor?
13: This is a quite different side of this artist than I've heard before, and the playing is very good, though I worry that there's not nearly enough to latch onto melodically to make it memorable enough.
14: ariich - Ultravox - This has possibly the coolest synth sounds of the round, and a vocal memorability that some other entries lack.
15: Puppies_On_Acid - The Cult - It's all your favorite classic rock bands rolled into one! This might be a bit too straightforward for me, though a few songs do have some more intriguing properties.
16: SoundscapeMN - Michael Nesmith - Even in a round with exclusively 30+ year old music, this still somehow feels dated, but we'll see if it grows on me.
17: HOF - The Blue Nile - I don't understand how this is both fairly layered and yet also quite minimalistic, and yet, it is.
18: Stadler - Duran Duran - This is not really connecting with me yet melodically, but these are some killer bass lines.
-
Maybe the Carpenters will help me get back to like mid table?
-
Maybe 7? I could see you not liking the vocals but them being weird and freaky is... kind of the whole vibe of that album. :lol
-
(https://media.tenor.com/XX1uM6xiE5EAAAAC/jim-carrey-bingo.gif)
-
4?
-
I'm guessing it's none of the ones I guessed. So let's go with this one.
12: One of the songs is not really what I was expecting from this artist, but maybe that will work in its favor?
-
Have I guessed #12 yet?
-
Is mine #12?
-
Is mine #12?
No, it's 18! See above!
-
4?
Yep.
Have I guessed #12 yet?
Nope!
I'm guessing it's none of the ones I guessed. So let's go with this one.
12: One of the songs is not really what I was expecting from this artist, but maybe that will work in its favor?
No.
-
OK, 12 then.
-
Litho, Ok I know I asked this before but a band I’m considering for the next round…you have one of their albums rated and you gave it 4 stars. Are they off the board completely or can I use stuff from other albums?
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You can use it, just be ready to swap out songs if I happen to know it too well.
-
2: Maybe I should have expected it, but I was surprised by how cool the bass playing was.
10: There's stylistic appeal to this merging of genres on paper, and I do like it in practice, but I can't quite put my finger on why I don't love it.
13: This is a quite different side of this artist than I've heard before, and the playing is very good, though I worry that there's not nearly enough to latch onto melodically to make it memorable enough.
Well that leaves one of these three, and I don't think 2 and 10 fit the artist.
so, must be 13
-
I guess I'm 11.
Didn't have a clue when you posted the impressions but time should solve this.
-
Round 12 Early Impressions:
1: senecadawg2 - Bob Dylan - I can't say I didn't warn you. :-)
2: Maybe I should have expected it, but I was surprised by how cool the bass playing was.
3: There's a pretty high floor to this sound, but often a relatively lower ceiling, so we'll see how it goes.
4: Sacul - Talk Talk - Even with 20 minutes of music I'm still not quite sure what this band actually sounds like, but there are certainly many cool moments, especially in the middle track.
5: twosuitsluke - Carpenters - If you're trying to get to the bottom of the standings, this will not do. Not at all.
6: I'm not instantly sold on any of these songs in particular, but there's definitely a creativity to the arrangements that I'm hoping will reveal itself through additional plays.
7: Buddyhunter1 - Comus - This is way more melodic than I remember it being, and with an appealing variety of superb instrumentation, but some of these vocals...um...
8: In a normal round I'm not sure this would score quite as high, but it might have a better shot here since it reminds me of a couple other contemporary and later bands I like.
9: Crow - 10cc - So I thought I knew this song, but I didn't actually know it, because it has some lusher details than I realized.
10: Vmadera00 - Steely Dan - There's stylistic appeal to this merging of genres on paper, and I do like it in practice, but I can't quite put my finger on why I don't love it.
11: The guitar playing is excellent, but the vocals probably hold it back, and I'm not sure there's quite enough payoff.
12: One of the songs is not really what I was expecting from this artist, but maybe that will work in its favor?
13: This is a quite different side of this artist than I've heard before, and the playing is very good, though I worry that there's not nearly enough to latch onto melodically to make it memorable enough.
14: ariich - Ultravox - This has possibly the coolest synth sounds of the round, and a vocal memorability that some other entries lack.
15: Puppies_On_Acid - The Cult - It's all your favorite classic rock bands rolled into one! This might be a bit too straightforward for me, though a few songs do have some more intriguing properties.
16: SoundscapeMN - Michael Nesmith - Even in a round with exclusively 30+ year old music, this still somehow feels dated, but we'll see if it grows on me.
17: HOF - The Blue Nile - I don't understand how this is both fairly layered and yet also quite minimalistic, and yet, it is.
18: Stadler - Duran Duran - This is not really connecting with me yet melodically, but these are some killer bass lines.
-
3
-
Nope.
-
8 or 11 or reveal them already :lol
-
#11 is really, really, really close. I will probably be revealing them tomorrow though, and then posting comparisons on Saturday.
-
So 11 is Tomislav, got it
-
Yep, that is Knopfler in a nutshell, especially live ;D
-
8?
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I'm sure they were posted at some point in the near 60 pages of this thread, but are there more specific guidelines for the EP round than 45 minutes of music?
-
I'm polishing up the finalized version of them and will probably put them up to kill time in-between comparisons tomorrow and results hopefully early next week.
-
I guess I should start putting together an EP......or maybe I already did, I can't remember. :rollin
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Round 12 Early Impressions:
1: senecadawg2 - Bob Dylan - I can't say I didn't warn you. :-)
2: Nachtmerrie - Golden Earring - Maybe I should have expected it, but I was surprised by how cool the bass playing was.
3: Elite - Jeff Beck - There's a pretty high floor to this sound, but often a relatively lower ceiling, so we'll see how it goes.
4: Sacul - Talk Talk - Even with 20 minutes of music I'm still not quite sure what this band actually sounds like, but there are certainly many cool moments, especially in the middle track.
5: twosuitsluke - Carpenters - If you're trying to get to the bottom of the standings, this will not do. Not at all.
6: soupytwist - Electric Light Orchestra - I'm not instantly sold on any of these songs in particular, but there's definitely a creativity to the arrangements that I'm hoping will reveal itself through additional plays.
7: Buddyhunter1 - Comus - This is way more melodic than I remember it being, and with an appealing variety of superb instrumentation, but some of these vocals...um...
8: Lethean - Crimson Glory - In a normal round I'm not sure this would score quite as high, but it might have a better shot here since it reminds me of a couple other contemporary and later bands I like.
9: Crow - 10cc - So I thought I knew this song, but I didn't actually know it, because it has some lusher details than I realized.
10: Vmadera00 - Steely Dan - There's stylistic appeal to this merging of genres on paper, and I do like it in practice, but I can't quite put my finger on why I don't love it.
11: Tomislav95 - Dire Straits - The guitar playing is excellent, but the vocals probably hold it back, and I'm not sure there's quite enough payoff.
12: TAC - Lucifer's Friend - One of the songs is not really what I was expecting from this artist, but maybe that will work in its favor?
13: Evermind - Dire Straits - This is a quite different side of this artist than I've heard before, and the playing is very good, though I worry that there's not nearly enough to latch onto melodically to make it memorable enough.
14: ariich - Ultravox - This has possibly the coolest synth sounds of the round, and a vocal memorability that some other entries lack.
15: Puppies_On_Acid - The Cult - It's all your favorite classic rock bands rolled into one! This might be a bit too straightforward for me, though a few songs do have some more intriguing properties.
16: SoundscapeMN - Michael Nesmith - Even in a round with exclusively 30+ year old music, this still somehow feels dated, but we'll see if it grows on me.
17: HOF - The Blue Nile - I don't understand how this is both fairly layered and yet also quite minimalistic, and yet, it is.
18: Stadler - Duran Duran - This is not really connecting with me yet melodically, but these are some killer bass lines.
-
Lol, I kind of knew this was coming, a round of music from an era where I have very few top favorites comparing unfavorably to the prior round of essentially hand-picked bands I often knew I already liked to a certain degree.
Round 12 Comparisons:
Buddyhunter1: Riverside -> Comus: v
HOF: Big Big Train -> The Blue Nile: v
SoundscapeMN: Kevin Gilbert -> Michael Nesmith: v
Tomislav95: Paramore -> Dire Straits: v
Crow: Intronaut -> 10cc: v
ariich: Borknagar -> Ultravox: v
Lethean: Angra -> Crimson Glory: =?
Nachtmerrie: Mastodon -> Golden Earring: =?
Puppies_On_Acid: Enslaved -> The Cult: v
Sacul: Kate Bush -> Talk Talk: v
TAC: Alice Cooper -> Lucifer's Friend: =?
Vmadera00: Mastodon -> Steely Dan: v
Evermind: Thrice -> Dire Straits: v
soupytwist: Yeah Yeah Yeahs -> Electric Light Orchestra: v
senecadawg2: Agalloch -> Bob Dylan: v
Stadler: KISS -> Duran Duran: =?
Elite: Mr. Bungle -> Jeff Beck: ^
twosuitsluke: NOFX -> Carpenters: ^
-
Good job, team!
-
yeah you're probably right
-
Sacul: Kate Bush -> Talk Talk: v
cringe take tbh
-
:corn
-
Puppies_On_Acid: Enslaved -> The Cult: v
This seems right, since Enslaved is about 1000 times better than The Cult.
-
Big oof.
-
:lol Niiiiiice.
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Puppies_On_Acid: Enslaved -> The Cult: v
This seems right, since Enslaved is about 1000 times better than The Cult.
In terms of suckage, sure. :) :) :)
Sorry, I love The Cult.
-
Good job, team!
:rollin
-
I just noticed; there are some HOT takes in that comparison:
Paramore -> Dire Straits: v
Borknagar -> Ultravox: v
Mastodon -> Golden Earring: =?
Enslaved -> The Cult: v
Mastodon -> Steely Dan: v
Thrice -> Dire Straits: v
Yeah Yeah Yeahs -> Electric Light Orchestra: v
I'll have to see the songs, but on their face, none of those make sense in the Newtonian universe. :) :) :) :)
-
I just noticed; there are some HOT takes in that comparison:
Paramore -> Dire Straits: v
Borknagar -> Ultravox: v
Mastodon -> Golden Earring: =?
Enslaved -> The Cult: v
Mastodon -> Steely Dan: v
Thrice -> Dire Straits: v
Yeah Yeah Yeahs -> Electric Light Orchestra: v
I'll have to see the songs, but on their face, none of those make sense in the Newtonian universe. :) :) :) :)
Well, yeah, but this is the Stadler Round so you would think that. :P
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I just noticed; there are some HOT takes in that comparison:
Paramore -> Dire Straits: v
Borknagar -> Ultravox: v
Mastodon -> Golden Earring: =?
Enslaved -> The Cult: v
Mastodon -> Steely Dan: v
Thrice -> Dire Straits: v
Yeah Yeah Yeahs -> Electric Light Orchestra: v
I'll have to see the songs, but on their face, none of those make sense in the Newtonian universe. :) :) :) :)
Well, yeah, but this is the Stadler Round so you would think that. :P
:lol
-
When we getting scores Litho? Feeling so good about this I’d even except 1 trillion points.
-
:lol
-
I just noticed; there are some HOT takes in that comparison:
Paramore -> Dire Straits: v
Borknagar -> Ultravox: v
Mastodon -> Golden Earring: =?
Enslaved -> The Cult: v
Mastodon -> Steely Dan: v
Thrice -> Dire Straits: v
Yeah Yeah Yeahs -> Electric Light Orchestra: v
I'll have to see the songs, but on their face, none of those make sense in the Newtonian universe. :) :) :) :)
Well, yeah, but this is the Stadler Round so you would think that. :P
This is the round where I try and pass the fogey taste test and fail miserably.
When we getting scores Litho?
Whenever it is, it won't be soon enough for TAC. ;D
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If it was Ariich's 5 y/o, we'd have them already. ;D
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This is the round where I try and pass the fogey taste test and fail miserably.
I did a whole roulette of it and I think I just about scraped a pass. Lower scores on average than my more open roulettes, but I made a lot of great discoveries.
-
my experience with my latest roulette has told me that i need to make every round the weird round next time :corn
litho add an emergency weird round to this roulette it'll be fun :P
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my experience with my latest roulette has told me that i need to make every round the weird round next time :corn
litho add an emergency weird round to this roulette it'll be fun :P
If I could guarantee receiving more Katzenjammers and Dreamgraves and Arcturuses and fewer Lizard Wizards, pAper chAses, dreamcrushers, Butthole Surfers and NOFXs, sure, but nah, I think I'm good. :p
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I meant to post these last night, but it totally slipped my mind.
Remember we still have round 13 to get through first, but I want to get this out now to give you time to finalize (or start!) your work on these, because even trying to resist TAC's pressure to get me to rush, the final round will be upon us before everyone is ready. :)
Final Round 14 EP Guidelines:
*Up to 45 minutes
*No minimum time length, but quality + quantity is generally going to beat out just quality
*At least 3 different artists, no maximum limit
*No more than 15:00 from any one artist
*The ban on artists sent in earlier rounds is lifted for this round, except for entries that scored 8.25 or higher (they're indicated with a "*" at the bottom of post #13 in this thread, which is linked at the bottom of the soft ban list).
*Unlike earlier rounds, I will be factoring flow into the score
*Scores will be out of 30, so it will be the equivalent of three rounds of scoring in one. I'm not specifying how much of that will be devoted to flow, because since I haven't done this type of round before I'll only get a true sense of what I'm looking for as I listen through all the entries. But song quality is still a higher priority than flow, so a random collection of great songs would likely still beat out a collection of merely good songs with perfect flow.
*The submission format is the same as normal, if they are available, send both Youtube and Spotify links for the songs. But if it includes audio files not on streaming services, splices of songs for flow or other purposes, and/or is combined into a single audio file I will make that my primary listening for your entry for the round. If you do include an edited single file, please include timestamps of where any track splits are.
*Themes, narratives, stories, artwork and such are not required and won't directly be factored into the score, but if you think any of it will enhance my experience or your own by all means go for it
*Make it obvious what the title of the EP will be
*"The TAC rule: Banned list rules remain the same with one exception, known through the ages as the TAC rule: So that you can plan your EP ahead of time, if an artist you plan to use in your EP is used by someone else in an earlier regular round, you can PM me (after hangman is revealed but BEFORE first impressions are posted) and tell me that you plan to use that artist in your EP. However, once impressions are posted, you will be locked in to using that artist in your EP with at least a full song (i.e. not just a short intro/interlude), although you can choose whichever song(s) you like, including any sent already." (this rule is copied from ariich's current roulette)
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Yes, let me continue to work on my EP.
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You mean I need to find 3 more artists you never heard of? That's too much work :)
I'll start planning for it soon.
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I totally forgot there was another free for all round before the EP.
-
I totally forgot there was another free for all round before the EP.
This roulette is pretty epic. :lol
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(https://i.imgflip.com/7sv3eh.jpg)
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(https://i.imgflip.com/7sv3eh.jpg)
LOL
-
We still have many rounds to go to get back to round 404, whereupon I have eliminated all of you and crowned the conspicuously MIA Kade with the Kip Winger Trophy.
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We still have many rounds to go to get back to round 404, whereupon I have eliminated all of you and crowned the conspicuously MIA Kade with the Kip Winger Trophy.
If it's truly for the Kip Winger Trophy, Kade would not be MIA and my absence would not be conspicuous.
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i think we can make it to a full year, at the rate we're going. i wanna believe, anyways :corn
-
Very close to finishing the results, I'm oddly more excited than usual about these. :corn I won't have quite enough time to put the finishing touches on them tonight, so expect them tomorrow evening.
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Very close to finishing the results, I'm oddly more excited than usual about these. :corn
Not according to the comparisons. :corn
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Well, it doesn't entirely revolve around the musical experience of it, although that came out better and better over time and I don't want to ruin anything yet.
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I predict I will be in the top three scores of the round, but remain in the bottom three of the overall standings.
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Maybe you should use your Nostradamusian powers and predict the winner of round 13 and snipe their submission right out from under them. :justjen
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I pulled in some special guest judges specially for this round...
(https://i.imgur.com/MzbRFew.gif)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/xT1R9HBciRrZDz22wU/giphy.webp)
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So this has turned out to be a pretty good round. Not one of the best, and with a bit lower peaks, but better than I anticipated given that my general listening preferences are still generally more modern.
---
senecadawg2 - Bob Dylan - "One Too Many Mornings", "Visions of Johanna", "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"
Early Impression - "I can't say I didn't warn you. :-)"
Final Summary:
He is a great songwriter in generating the raw material for other artists to sculpt, but his own versions lack instrumental zest and feature his voice and harmonica playing, neither of which his brand of have much appeal for me.
Details:
It's been pretty much impossible to avoid Dylan's music in popular culture. I've heard various hits of his over the years, and as I told you via PM, I've tended to find his voice to be grating. But of course part of the thrill of these roulettes is that sometimes my preconceived notions can be shattered. But here, sadly they've been mostly confirmed. I think that short of a paradigm shift in how I approach listening (which does happen from time to time), he's unlikely to resonate with me in the near future.
When I look at why people seem to like him, it's often the stream of consciousness poetry and storytelling nature of his lyrics, and how he addresses various social issues, which are mostly extracurricular elements to the music, as important as they are to him and to his fans. None of those have ever really been a priority in music listening for me. I did read through the lyrics to each of these songs to see if it would spark anything, and they do seem well-constructed, and if you're the type to dig in and analyze the meaning of them, I see the appeal in that regard, but it's almost never one of my modalities of music consumption.
So what we're left with is his voice, which I don't really enjoy the timbre of at any point, but is more tolerable in some moments than others. The worst spots are this frequent cadence he employs where he slides down from one note to another and then into oblivion. I've heard many parodies of it over the years, and they're all accurate. With vocal-driven folky music the delivery of the singing is often the most important thing, so there's only so much that can be salvaged from that point. They say opposites attract, so it's fitting that his former girlfriend Joan Baez has a polar opposite voice to his for me from an earlier round.
And then we have the instrumental accompaniment, which is generally relatively bare-bones and without much atmosphere. A lot of simple acoustic guitar chordal strumming, some dry and unadorned thin and plinky electric lead guitar leads with sloppy bluesy bends, some organ that's generally too low in the mix to help much, light drumming, and oh, his harmonica playing. Yeah. That's the other key thing about him I'm not just not into. That lazy cowboy chordal style of harmonica playing just doesn't do anything for me. Generally the harmonica playing I like is either a more finessed bluesy style with bends, often overdriven with a bullet mic, or the precise and nimble style of Stevie Wonder or say John Popper of Blues Traveler. Or heck, even in this very round, the playing in Talk Talk's "Living In Another World", which is somewhere in-between but leaning towards the former. Bob's playing isn't really any of those though.
So ultimately Dylan for me is a great songwriter, and I have great respect for him due to that, because I've heard countless tunes of his come alive with other artists under their voices and arrangements, but Bob's own music just isn't something that excites me, and more often bugs me. He's such a central figure to music history that I don't consider the time spent listening and researching wasted though. I already had learned a bit about him in researching Baez in round 8, and more here, so it's at least useful from a historical standpoint.
Score: 5.75/10
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HOF - The Blue Nile - "A Walk Across the Rooftops", "Over the Hillside", "Regret", "The Wires Are Down"
Early Impression - "I don't understand how this is both fairly layered and yet also quite minimalistic, and yet, it is."
Final Summary:
While the vocals might work better on other songs, these just don't have quite enough instrumentally or melodically to them to stand out.
Details:
My final feeling is that the minimalistic nature of their music is just a bit too dominant for me. It's a little too sparse in the arrangements, and without quite enough lushness or notable moments to compete with everything else in the round. Some of the bass playing is rather interesting, particularly on "A Walk Across the Rooftops". The vocals are better than some slightly better-scoring artists in this round, so I could see the potential for the right song to connect, but regrettably these aren't quite working for me. There's nothing particularly wrong with this group, they're just a bit lacking in pizzazz, and not quite atmospheric and enveloping enough to be the sort of moody and relaxing music I like, so it's kind of caught in a challenging middle ground.
"A Walk" with the bass playing and a few more dramatic vocal crescendos, and some of the frequency modulation synthesis bell-like synth tones on "The Wires Are Down" are what stand out the most. Most of the vocal melodies are just a bit too sleepy and blend into the background too much.
Score: 6.75/10
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soupytwist - Electric Light Orchestra - "10538 Overture", "Mr. Blue Sky", "The Diary of Horace Wimp", "Shine a Little Love"
Early Impression - "I'm not instantly sold on any of these songs in particular, but there's definitely a creativity to the arrangements that I'm hoping will reveal itself through additional plays."
Final Summary:
We're back a bit too far on the lighter side of music that doesn't always hit right for me, and the vocals often aren't really my thing, though it is fairly well-orchestrated with the variety of instrumentation.
Details:
Here we have another group that I'm sure I've heard various songs from, but if pressed probably could have only come up with "Evil Woman" prior to this round off the top of my head. I knew I'd heard the title of "Mr. Blue Sky" before, and it was one of a number of examples in this round of "oh, that song", where I'd definitely heard it various times over the years, but never really paid much attention to it. "10538 Overture" didn't sound familiar at all by title, but had a similar feeling of déjà vu when hearing it, but again, it's a song I've heard as background noise in some other context.
And interestingly, they kind of represent the two opposite sides of this submission. Unfortunately, most of "Mr. Blue Sky" is the kind of whimsical tune that just doesn't do much for me. It has this lightweight, bouncy feel to it that fails to captivate me. The vocal delivery doesn't help, it seems to have this affected nasal approach that I can't get into. The changeup at 3:43 is a bit more interesting though.
"The Diary of Horace Gimp" has a similar uptempo rollicking feel to it, but has a bit more interesting set of chord progressions, particularly the descending one in the chorus, which it shares with "10538 Overture", which is the most interesting song of the batch for me. It's pretty straightforward structurally, but has that delicious contrast of starting with a major chord, but cycling through more complex ones in the progression and various other sections of the song, which provides an endless cycle of interest. The jury is still out on the heavy use of vocoder in a couple of these tracks. On one hand, it provides a certain retrofuturistic variety to the sound palette, but it's at times used with a bit too much levity for my taste.
I'm not inherently opposed to disco, but "Shine a Little Light" just seems too much like a lot of Bee Gees songs that don't really connect with me, albeit perhaps a tad better with a bit more rock guitar gallop and leads and some of the synth textures, in addition to the more typical octave bass lines and funky clean guitar comping.
Score: 7.25/10
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SoundscapeMN - Michael Nesmith - "Wax Minute", "Capsule", "Circle Sky", "Hello Lady", "Listen To the Band"
Early Impression - "Even in a round with exclusively 30+ year old music, this still somehow feels dated, but we'll see if it grows on me."
Final Summary:
I may have found the exact midpoint of the roulette, music that I can neither find anything I particularly love nor dislike. I'm flummoxed.
Details:
This was by far the hardest set of songs for me to wrap my head around, and for me to assemble my thoughts regarding, and I'm not even sure I've quite done that. It grew on me a bit over the last few days, but this might be the ceiling for it, and I'm not entirely sure why. My mother was a bit of a fan of the Monkees, so I've heard their big hits, but I don't think she ever really explored their deeper cuts or Michael's solo career, so it seems I've escaped hearing these tunes as far as I can tell, or it's been so long that I can't remember them. In retrospect with more listening time under my belt, they don't feel quite as dated relative to everything else in the round as they initially seemed, and it might have been more a consequence of the wildly different mixing and production styles on each song.
Other than that lack of consistency (which the variety of can sometimes be a strength), I can't really find anything wrong with these songs per se, they just don't especially connect with me. There are different vibes to each song, and a variety of instrumentation, which helps a bit, but I just can't find any particular high or low points. They're just all...fine? And now I'm sounding like Crow... I dunno, these songs have given me worse writer's block than anything else in the roulette so far. I have my notes about instrumentation as I noticed it from my initial listens, but it feels perfunctory to go over it. Apparently he plays a 12-string electric a lot, which is a sound I often like, though I don't hear much of it here.
Update: I had put off writing this entry 'til last because the first time through I was just drawing a blank, and did the same when editing it, hoping inspiration might strike later, though it didn't. It could be a function of being tired by then as well. A revisiting after knocking out 1,000 details of administrative Whac-A-Mole and a couple things finally stand out a smidge more.
"Wax Minute" probably has the only melody that I could really remember after listening. I'm generally not a big pedal steel fan, though the solo on it does have an interesting chromatic descending doubled run at the end of it that was a bit unexpected. And conceptually I love Hammond organ solos, though the one on that track feels a bit random. "Capsule" has a kind of cool bass line, and an interesting groove, although it becomes a bit overly repetitive and static - it feels more like a song for dancing than for listening. It does have a bit of saxophone though, which helps a tad, though not really quite enough to move the needle. "Circle Sky" is just starting to bloom a bit, with some interesting basslines, the chromatic riff break, and the vocal melody is starting to stand out just slightly.
This could be a case of maybe a different song will connect more later, as at least his voice is more interesting than some other entries in this range. I'm probably more likely to check out other music from him later on than most similarly-scoring entries, and at this point in the roulette you've probably earned the benefit of the doubt anyway.
Score: 7.25/10
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Evermind - Dire Straits - "Private Investigations", "Love Over Gold", "Brothers In Arms"
Early Impression - "This is a quite different side of this artist than I've heard before, and the playing is very good, though I worry that there's not nearly enough to latch onto melodically to make it memorable enough."
Final Summary:
I didn't realize that their sound had these mellower dimensions, but unfortunately it's a bit stripped-back for my tastes, and while I adore Mark's guitar playing - his voice...not so much.
Details:
So the exposure to Dire Straits that I've had is more from some of their more straightforward tunes like "Sultans of Swing" and "Money For Nothing". My father was a bit of a fan of theirs, so I heard some of those a lot, though he didn't seem to dig very deep into their catalog. Like previous rounds with Mastodon and Coheed and Cambria, getting a double dose of them has certainly broadened my perception of their capabilities. When you mentioned that "Telegraph Road" was your favorite song of theirs but didn't work with the submission, I made a note to give it a single listen on the side later, and then of course once Tomi sent it, it was clear it would be getting a lot more listening than that.
This is definitely a more subdued, minimalistic batch of songs from them than some of the hits I know better. Obviously there are many exceptions in both directions, but on the side of maximalism/minimalism, I'm definitely slant in general a bit more towards the former, which makes songs like these a bit more of a struggle. It puts more stress on each particular element to be stellar, especially the vocals.
And I'm just not crazy about Mark's voice. It's perhaps a bit better than some of the talk-singing he does like on "Sultans of Swing", but it's a bit bland and still doesn't really appeal to me. I've really enjoyed a few of his guest appearances with some other artists as a guitarist and backing vocalist, but when his vocals are more front and center they just don't work as well. It's interesting that I saw a number of comparisons between him and Bob Dylan, and while his voice isn't that vexing, I can see a few similarities at times (including a milder version of that descending and sliding cadence rolloff) and maybe that's why they don't really connect with me in a lead role.
The music video for "Private Investigations" is rather illustrative of my challenge with their music. It makes it more obvious to me that some of these more sparse songs don't quite have enough going on by themselves, with a sprinkling of piano, chromatic percussion, organ and such. It works in the video context as background music for underscoring and punctuating a film scene, when there is more going on visually in the frame, but removed from the visual backdrop, there isn't quite enough to latch onto. The dashes of fretless bass are probably the most conspicuous thing going, or the three-way guitar/piano/chromatic percussion duel in "Love Over Gold". I'm glad to see that Omar Hakim is drumming on Brothers In Arms, since he's one of my favorite players, but that track doesn't really give him any room to shine.
So while there is not really enough going on in the rest of the arrangements for the instrumentation to hold my interest enough, by far the best feature is Mark's guitar playing, as I suspected and hoped it would be. He really has a masterful sense of touch and nuance, with a seemingly limitless well of expression and fantastic phrasing. The volume swells, when to pluck the strings a bit harder or more softly, and his tone in general - it's truly a masterpiece in a more generally subdued style of playing here. I know him mostly as an electric player, and was aware he's also done some acoustic work, but the nylon-string guitar explorations in "Private Investigations" are a nice touch.
Score: 7.25/10
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Tomislav95 - Dire Straits - "Telegraph Road"
Early Impression - "The guitar playing is excellent, but the vocals probably hold it back, and I'm not sure there's quite enough payoff."
Final Summary:
Much of what applies to the other collection of songs also applies here, and while this is a superior tune with more substance, it still doesn't quite have enough oomph or memorability to catapult it higher.
Details:
So quite a lot of what I have to say about them in general is already in Evermind's writeup, so I suppose you'll have to read that as well. This song does build to more intensity in a few spots, particular the ending, which helps a bit. And everything I like about his guitar playing there and elsewhere is also in full effect here. But while this does actually go somewhere by the end, it just doesn't feel like it pays off quite enough for me. I mildly to moderately enjoy it in the moment while I'm actively listening to it, but it just doesn't stick with me afterwards.
And honestly that's probably more of the struggle of his voice being the focal point. I could see this song working better with a more dynamic vocalist with a more appealing timbre. It's not nettling like some vocalists in earlier rounds have been for me, but it just lacks sufficient flavor. Also, while his guitar playing is magnificent for slower-paced songs, and works fine for shorter numbers like "Sultans of Swing", I'm not sure it has quite enough firepower here to properly cap off a 14:00+ track. It's perhaps a tad restrained on gain and speed to elevate it. This is probably the prog metal fan in me speaking, and I wouldn't want that all the time, but he's holding back a bit too much to make this truly epic.
It's good, but it's not quite great, at least for me. Although, I must admit that final listens did push this song up ever so slightly, so maybe reduce the intensity of whatever feeling is conveyed with the rest of the writeup by like 5-10%.
Score: 7.5/10
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Stadler - Duran Duran - "The Wild Boys", "Hungry Like the Wolf", "Lonely In Your Nightmare", "Rio"
Early Impression - "This is not really connecting with me yet melodically, but these are some killer bass lines."
Final Summary:
There's quite a lot to like here instrumentally, particularly in the bass department and various other flourishes here and there, though I don't fully connect with the vocals and the songwriting.
Details:
"Hungry Like the Wolf" was a title I immediately recognized, but I couldn't recall quite how it went. Brief skimming of it led me to realize it's another of those songs that I "know", but don't know. And it further strengthens the notion that songs I recognize but haven't really spent any significant time listening to on my own can tend to have a lot of obscured details that are completely lost in more public contexts. In the case of "Hungry", it's all the little synth details, like the phased pads or the bubbly and percussive sequenced synthesizer parts that run throughout the song. There are some similar textures in other songs, such as in "Rio", that are nice but aren't quite as captivating. "Wild Boys" and "Hungry" also have some cool electronic percussion throughout. And then "Rio" further has some really piquant tom work in the intro, though I don't recall it returning later in the song.
The biggest surprise throughout the songs was how great the bass playing was, with a variety of interesting lines, some slap playing, a bit of fretless and such. I also like the sustained guitar countermelody that goes throughout the choruses of "Rio". That song additionally has a saxophone solo, which is a spotlight I'll rarely turn down. The combination of those makes "Rio" the most interesting song from an instrumental perspective.
On the other side, I'm a bit less enthused about the vocals. They're alright, but don't particularly boost the songs. "Wild Boys" really is the only one with vocal melodies that stuck with me, and is the best song of the lot on that front.
Score: 7.5/10
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Puppies_On_Acid - The Cult - "She Sells Sanctuary", "Sun King", "Fire Woman", "Love Removal Machine"
Early Impression - "It's all your favorite classic rock bands rolled into one! This might be a bit too straightforward for me, though a few songs do have some more intriguing properties."
Final Summary:
Too much of this feels like a lot of standard older rock radio fodder, which I mildly like but don't frequently find thrilling enough, but some of the ornamental guitar textures in spots make it stand out a bit from those types of acts.
Details:
Here we have another band that I've sampled a bit from but never really invested any serious time into. I've definitely listened to a later album, and I feel like I gave Sonic Temple a spin at some point, but if I do I made no record of it nor do I have any recollection about it. Other than that cover, which is pretty legendary.
My listening experience with them this round has been a bit of a roller coaster. The chorused guitars and acoustics early in "She Sells Sanctuary", and the bass intro and wet sustained guitar melodies in the "Sun King" intro were auspicious, as those are all types of sounds I generally like. But then by "Love Removal Machine" it was really starting to feel like generic hard rock. That song in particular feels like a pastiche of the main riff of the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up" with a more AC/DC feel in the guitar tone and drumming, and then the "baby, baby, baby" bit, which is so obviously a Robert Plant-ism, that I was starting to sour on them. That's all the sort of stock classic rock that I don't hate, but never feel the need to listen to on my own because I've mostly had my fill of it from overexposure culturally for the last few decades.
Although I will say that in a round with mostly lighter music, the rock/metal fan in me nevertheless feels a certain amount of comfort here, as these are some pretty solid guitar tones, energetic tunes, and some of the textural variation I mentioned particularly from the first couple songs, or the 12-string guitar work in "Fire Woman" helps put this at a level above say, KISS from last round. And even the most plain song, "Love Removal", at least has that tempo change near the end to add some verve. Finally, the vocals are competent enough, though I don't find them particularly dazzling, so that's an element that holds it back a bit as well.
Score: 7.5/10
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Crow - 10cc - "I'm Not In Love"
Early Impression - "So I thought I knew this song, but I didn't actually know it, because it has some lusher details than I realized."
Final Summary:
This is a fairly simple and pleasant song without a whole lot going on instrumentally to note, except that those backing vocals are so ahead of their time and dreamy that it doesn't really matter.
Details:
So I kind of already gave my first thought process on this song early in the round, how it was really the track that convinced me that even some of these other tunes that I was lightly familiar with might be worth revisiting here, where I'm listening with headphones and paying much more close attention than I would be in public settings. And the main reason for that is that while I could instantly hear some of the later melodies in my head just from the intro, I don't think I've ever really heard those lush backing vocals that effectively form a dynamic pad for much of the song. It's fairly rare to hear anything that ethereal in this era before more modern production techniques started emerging.
Reading a bit on the making of the song was rather fascinating. It's a similar but possibly more elaborate version of how the synth intro to Foreigner's "Waiting For a Girl Like You" was created, which is one of my all-time favorite intros, so it seems to be a quite successful studio technique.
And I think this extended version of the song is one that probably never plays on terrestrial radio, but gives a bit more spaciousness for the song to breathe in. It's quite a nice selection with indelible melodies and a comfy phased Rhodes piano underneath. But of course, it's just one song, which makes it more challenging to compete with some of the later entries. Some blurbs were characterizing them as "the British Steely Dan", which piques my curiosity, so I will probably have to check out some of their other material post-roulette.
And interestingly, both this song and ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky" are on the Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix compilations. Reading what "10cc" is theorized to be a reference to, and well, Star-Lord picking them makes more sense, lol.
Score: 7.75/10
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Vmadera00 - Steely Dan - "Deacon Blues", "Kid Charlemagne", "Bodhisattva"
Early Impression - "There's stylistic appeal to this merging of genres on paper, and I do like it in practice, but I can't quite put my finger on why I don't love it."
Final Summary:
Certainly one of the most musically interesting entries of the round, the arrangements and instrumental inflections here are quite alluring, though like several earlier entries, the vocals are the weaker point.
Details:
So coming off of 10cc, and speaking of ribald references, I learned a bit about Williams S. Burroughs back some time ago when I was educating myself on industrial music, but I have not read or seen Naked Lunch, and did not know the origin of Steely Dan's name either until this round, lol.
This is another group that I'm probably a bit more familiar with than most other artists in this round. I've always wanted to do a deeper dive on them but could never seem to summon the motivation, so as with a number of previous submissions, sometimes I apparently need that extra push. Late in elementary school I discovered the local smooth jazz station for a period of time, which set me up for the "real" stuff later on, and there were a number of their songs that the DJs seemed to include on their playlists, and my vague recollection is that they would play a few other cuts even more often ("Hey Nineteen" and "Do It Again" come to mind, and "Reelin' In the Years" more on classic rock radio), occasionally spin the first two selections here, though my memory from a few decades ago is a bit foggy at this point.
And the latter two tracks are occasionally discussed in guitar circles (particularly Carlton's solo on "Kid Charlemagne"), so I know I've given them an additional listen from that perspective. Not to mention I have one album of theirs on vinyl and two on CD, all of which I've heard but am not overly familiar with.
Obviously I like a lot of jazz, and I also enjoy a decent amount of pop rock, but too frequently in my listening they're completely separate categories. For whatever reason I've tended to look more into metal that has jazz influences, most of which are a bit too subtle. So Steely Dan tries to merge pop rock with jazz, which has an intriguing intellectual appeal, but I've never quite been able to get them to click. I'm still not sure it has happened in this round either, but I'm definitely a few steps closer to it than I was before.
This is kind of becoming something of a theme this round, but instrumentally, this is easily one of the most compelling entries. I still feel like there are many layers to unravel in these songs, but generally the instrumentation is quite good, with an endless litany of intriguing entrancing chord work and progressions. The horn parts are excellent, as well as the saxophone and guitar solos, or the clavinet in "Kid Charlemagne". The 2-part guitar harmony in the intro of "Bodhisattva" becoming 3-part in later cycles is also a treat, or the guitar/synth duel later on in it. Bernard Purdie's drumming is a bit understated, but there are some nice grooves, and savory fills on "Deacon Blues".
I start feeling like a broken record, but I think I'm pickier about vocals than anything else, and that is the primary culprit for why I didn't take to them enough earlier, and while I can certainly see myself getting into them more now, may still hold them back from ever becoming an absolute favorite band. They're not bad by any means, I've heard actually irritating vocals in other rounds (or even in this one), but they're just a bit weak, and they have a knack for writing melodies that never stick in my head when I'm done listening. I can see why Steely Dan is a musician's delight, and they certainly appeal to that side of me, but my penchant for earworms precludes them quite rising to the top.
Score: 7.75/10
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Buddyhunter1 - Comus - "The Herald", "Song To Comus"
Early Impression - "This is way more melodic than I remember it being, and with an appealing variety of superb instrumentation, but some of these vocals...um..."
Final Summary:
The array of instrumentation is outstanding, but the male vocalist on "Song To Comus" makes some of the experience a bit bizarre.
Details:
They were one of those cult favorite bands earlier in my explorations that I kept hearing everyone rave about. I especially remember reading that Mikael Åkerfeldt was a huge fan of theirs. I am almost positive I listened to this album back at that time to see what the hype was over. The experience of hearing them in this round seems to belie that idea though, as they are quite different from whatever my imprinted memory of them was. In particular, I seem to recall them being much more dissonant and avant-garde in their melodic sensibilities, which really isn't the case. Much of this is just beautiful music that sounds way ahead of its time, and I can definitely hear why Mikael was inspired by them, with the intricacy of the acoustic guitar work.
I might just not listen to or participate in enough avant-garde music discussion, but it seems without doing further research that they may have also been an inspiration to bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor in how they rub objects near the bridge pickup on higher strings to produce these more warbly astral sounds. Much of the other instrumentation is fantastic as well, with the violin work, flute and oboe musings, sizzling percussion and such. It might get a bit abstract in moments of "The Herald", but it's generally not an issue. I especially love the violin/flute harmony in 3:00 on "Song To Comus". Honestly these two songs might have my favorite instrumentation of the entire round.
But then we are on to the matter of vocals. Bobbie's are pretty great, with a more ethereal delivery. But the male ones are well, kind of distracting. He sounds like a demented forest goblin or gnome, and it makes those moments feel like it's some 70s fantasy B-movie characters breaking out into a musical. The predilection for repeating certain words at the end of some phrases like they're creating their own echo box is also really odd.
It's entirely possible that in the many years since I first heard this that I subconsciously rearranged my memory of the strangeness of the vocals to apply to the whole sound of the band. I feel like I should ding the score more for those vocals given how frequently that happens in general in this roulette, but the 12:00+ song doesn't have them, and there are various instrumental parts even in "Song To Comus", much of which is enrapturing enough that it makes me care a bit less about vocal quibbles. Earlier in my midway evaluations I had this scoring a bit lower, but I suppose also that additional plays made me enjoy the instrumentation even more and I grew begrudgingly a bit more accustomed to the stranger vocals.
Score: 8/10
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Elite - Jeff Beck - "Beck's Bolero", "Freeway Jam", "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", "Scatterbrain"
Early Impression - "There's a pretty high floor to this sound, but often a relatively lower ceiling, so we'll see how it goes."
Final Summary:
One of the artists I was a bit more familiar with beforehand gets a slight boost with some superb playing.
Details:
And now we have another of the artists in this round that I was already more familiar with, though I've never really gotten over the hump in considering him a favorite. I own a couple albums of his and have heard a couple others, and watched a variety of clips of his over the years, including the whole '09 Ronnie Scott's gig. The two songs of his that really stood out prior to this round were his cover of Stevie Wonder/Syreeta's "'Cause We've Ended As Lovers" (which Dann Huff also has a stellar version of on Youtube)" and "Starcycle", which the Derek Sherinian cover of made me rediscover the original as well. And even of songs in the round, I was more familiar with Charles Mingus's original of "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", or again the Sherinian rendition, which sort of makes it another cover of a cover.
Arguably one of the single most influential discoveries for me was Joe Satriani, which led me directly to Dream Theater, but I would also hear often that Jeff Beck was really the first one to make a career out of instrumental rock guitar, so Jeff has long been in my radar, but I've never spent as much time with his work as I'd like to. So this is certainly helpful in that respect.
It is fascinating that we have Jeff and Mark Knopfler in the same round. Both are in ways kind of similar guitarists, who grew to eschew using picks in favor of the greater nuance of their picking fingers directly manipulating the strings, for quite an array of tones and a wide panoply of expression. Jeff's tone doesn't seem to be as consistently good as Mark's, it's at times a bit jagged or brittle, but there is also more power to it, with the fusiony vibe, and more noticeable live in later shows, his dexterity with the whammy bar is quite distinctive. The ring modulator on portions of "Goodbye Pork" is also an arrest effect.
It seems something went wrong in the original recording of "Beck's Bolero", as every version I could find, remastered or otherwise, has this weird and erratic cutting out in the stereo spectrum throughout, that was quite vexing on early listens, though I became somewhat used to it after additional plays. The other three are quite fine though, and are thoroughly enjoyable tunes. Really the only issue is hinted at in my impression, that this style is quite comfortable for me, but the improvisational nature of it means while I tend to love listening to it in the moment for all of the twists and turns and explorations, it's also lighter on melody, which makes me not recall it as well later on and it's harder to rise to absolute favorite levels for me. But it's enough to do pretty well here.
Score: 8/10
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Lethean - Crimson Glory - "Painted Skies", "In Dark Places", "Burning Bridges"
Early Impression - "In a normal round I'm not sure this would score quite as high, but it might have a better shot here since it reminds me of a couple other contemporary and later bands I like."
Final Summary:
This is a fascinating peek into the underexplored origins of prog metal for me, with strong instrumentation and a classic vibe working fairly well, though I suppose the vocals could be a bit better.
Details:
So in my past explorations of the genesis of prog metal, I think I've probably overlooked them more than most others. I'm pretty sure I've heard at least a song or two at some point, but I'm not sure I ever got around to a full album. So this has been one of the most pleasant surprises of this round. The overall feel of the music to me feels quite a lot like Iced Earth, with the half-step downtuning, the layered acoustic guitar arpeggiations, and the classic darker metal vibe.
But then they have quite spellbinding lead playing, which I was not really anticipating at all. And the vocals are kind of like a lesser version of Geoff Tate, though still competent enough. I suppose that's more or less a fairly typical prog/power vocal template, which they were probably part of the inspiration for later bands. It's not quite my preferred vocal style, and someone more to my taste could propel them even higher (I suppose like Barlow), but here at least it gets the job done.
There's also maybe a hint of Sanctuary, early Stratovarius, and King Diamond in their sound as well in terms of music they remind me of. Additionally, the higher-pitched tom fills are a delicious ornamentation - I can never get enough of those.
Score: 8/10
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TAC - Lucifer's Friend - "Everybody's Clown", "Spanish Galleon"
Early Impression - "One of the songs is not really what I was expecting from this artist, but maybe that will work in its favor?"
Final Summary:
The first song is fairly good on its own, but it definitely gets a lift from the variegated instrumental brilliance of the second song, from a group that I didn't realize had the ability to go in proggier/fusion-esque directions.
Details:
Well, having investigated the beginnings of prog metal a bit both with Crimson Glory this round and prog hard rock last round with Alice Cooper, now we get closer to the origins of metal itself. I've had a number of spates of looking into late 60s/early 70s bands to attempt to trace the development of hard rock into heavy metal, and I remember Lucifer's Friend coming up often in those discussions, so I had at least listened to a track or two from them, but I'm not sure I ever got to a full album.
"Everybody's Clown" is pretty much exactly what I expected, a high-powered driving rocker for the era, not too dissimilar from many other similar acts at the time, though the Hammond organ makes it a bit more special. Not quite spectacular, but pretty solid. John Lawton in his aggressive moments actually sounds a tad like a precursor to Chris Cornell, who I like, but if I recall correctly wasn't a favorite of yours.
"Spanish Galleon" was quite serendipitous though. I had no idea they had this proggy/fusiony side to them. Ironically their drummer for a brief period of time later on was Curt Cress, the drummer of Passport, that I sent in your roulette. There's just so much ensorcelling stuff going on in this track, with the excellent drumming (I especially like how the ride sounds later on, such as at 10:04), the active bass lines, the horns, saxophone solo, synth solo, etc. 3:14 really reminds me of either another vocalist or another song which I can't quite put my finger on, because I can't imagine this song having had radio play in the US at any point.
Score: 8.25/10
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Sacul - Talk Talk - "Renee", "Living In Another World", "Eden"
Early Impression - "Even with 20 minutes of music I'm still not quite sure what this band actually sounds like, but there are certainly many cool moments, especially in the middle track."
Final Summary:
"Living In Another World" really sells this submission, but the other two cuts have grown on me a fair amount as well in spite of their relative minimalism, so with this being one of the artists I'd heard the least of coming in, it has turned out splendidly.
Details:
At the time of posting comparisons this was at a soft 8.0, and I was going to tell you that red arrows don't meant entries can't have the same score. But in the last few days "Eden" has grown on me a bit more, so the whole submission has nowhere to go but up.
I'm not sure I've ever consciously listened to anything from them before, but have heard their name countless times over the years, so it's been a treat to actually hear what they sound like finally. [Edit: Strike the first half of that, I know I listened one time to their original of "It's My Life" to compare it to the No Doubt rendition, which I'm much more familiar with.] And the impression is still kind of accurate - these songs all sound quite different, though I've gotten familiar enough with them and read enough to be able to extrapolate a bit more now than I could at the start of the round. I know their last two albums are generally considered part of the origin point for first-wave post-rock - I guess out of curiosity I'll have to give those a listen at some point.
"Living in Another World" immediately impressed me. Someone described it as the musical version of an Escher illusion, which is an entrancing way to think about it. It does feel like the kind of song that could go on for a half-hour and somehow not feel boring. I think my favorite example of this beforehand was Depeche Mode's "Behind the Wheel", which is a more compact distillation of the idea, based on sharing a D pedal-tone throughout the chord progression, whereas Talk Talk goes about it in a more broad way with the cyclical nature of its structure.
But my favorite moment on "Living In" is when Steve Winwood's guest organ work brings about the first key shift, which is rather euphoric. The harmonica soloing is a delight as well though, and is a more appealing use of it than the more traditional folk style. Plus, there's all the various percussion augmentations which add spice to it. Incidentally, I serendipitously discovered that one of my favorite artists, Lights, has done a great cover of this tune that I somehow was not aware of, in a more subdued style, ironically closer to the feel of the other two cuts here, though much more electronic and modernized.
Mark Hollis' voice is quite enigmatic. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first - it's rather singular. But I think it's grown on me over the round, and while I'm not positive I'd love it in every context, it works quite well for the first two songs in particular.
Then there are other nuances like the fretless bass playing, bits of muted trumpet, the synth pad at 1:34 in "Renee" and such. "Eden" might be a tad on the minimalistic side for me, but even it has its moments. Which are moments that I've come to enjoy a bit more and found more of in the last few days. I don't want to totally trash talk the other roulettes, since my format has its disadvantages too, but taking a bit longer for more research, more listens, and more time for songs like these to breathe benefits this sort of submission more. If I had to cram it in under a week I still would have loved "Living In Another World", but the other two probably wouldn't have had time to blossom and this would have stayed as a sub-8.0 submission.
So yeah, at the time of comparisons this entry as a whole was inferior to Kate Bush last round (though "Living In Another World" was individually better), but now I prefer this submission as a total package to "Snowflake", though that piece does still slightly edge out the other two Talk Talk songs.
Score: 8.25/10
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ariich - Ultravox - "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes", "Cut and Run", "Man of Two Worlds", "Serenade"
Early Impression - "This has possibly the coolest synth sounds of the round, and a vocal memorability that some other entries lack."
Final Summary:
This does what most other entries this round can't quite do, which is to have both engrossing instrumentation and memorable songwriting.
Details:
I can't recall now if I knew it by title, but I did recognize "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" upon hearing it as a song I know I've heard before at a few points. And it was the immediate standout, with such an infectious chorus. The vocals aren't quite my favorite style, but are noticeably more tuneful than most lower scoring entries. I also love the chorused guitar and the short solo as well - it's a bit Alex Lifeson-lite.
"Man of Two Worlds" is more subtle, but really grew on me over the round, and I've taken to the more somber moodiness of it quite a bit as well, to the point that I'm not sure which I prefer now. "Man of" also has a groovy and propulsive bassline. Plus, the guest vocal is a joy as well - in fact, the whole song sounds a bit like The Cure's "Let's Go To Bed" mixed with Rush's "Time Stands Still".
The other two songs are also fairly good, though not quite at the same level, with each bringing to bear a slightly different set of elements. "Cut and Run" has a really fat bass synth sound, that striking high-range icy synth pad, and a hint of piano. "Serenade" has even more piano motifs, and some clever arrangements of the different components.
I keep lampshading this, but somehow your submissions continue to bring out a lot of my shortest and clunkiest writing, but it's great music, so we both still win.
Score: 8.25/10
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Nachtmerrie - Golden Earring - "Bombay", "She Flies On Strange Wings", "Mission Impossible"
Early Impression - "Maybe I should have expected it, but I was surprised by how cool the bass playing was."
Final Summary:
I've been meaning to spend more time with this band, and based on these songs, it should be well worth it, with such a variety of enchanting elements that it's hard to boil them down to just a sentence.
Details:
So as I mentioned earlier in the round, I know "Twilight Zone" fairly well, and I definitely recognized "Radar Love" when I sampled it again, though I don't know it as well, but as far as I can tell these three songs are new to me. But I'm glad I've heard them. I've been wanting to explore their music more, and I think I listened to an album a few years back and then got sidetracked, so this will definitely expedite that process now. I also had temporarily forgotten that Barry Hay is on one of Ayreon's early tracks, so that had also piqued my interest.
It's fascinating how different each of these tracks sound from each other, though you can certainly tell that it's the same band. "She Flies On Strange Wings" is my favorite of the batch, though the other two are excellent as well. The middle section of "She Flies" is kind of Pink Floydy, with a great synth bass and organ pad. The saxophone bits earlier in the song are a tad short, but they are also welcome.
"Bombay" has a number of really fascinating riffs, with the octave melody panned on either side, or the unusual harmony of the clean riff that comes right after. 1:46 with the percussive and effected tone and the percussion is also splendid. "Mission Impossible" has a great groove to it and a rather catchy chorus. The section at 3:13 is quite atmospheric and yet riveting - some of the swirling layers of leads remind me a bit of Trevor Rabin's work. There is also some fabulous tom worked sprinkled throughout the song. And of course, as the impression indicates, the basslines are another highlight throughout all of the songs. One great example of the arrangement of it is on the lick at 1:42 in "Bombay", where the bass drops out at first to highlight the guitar line, but then the bass joins in for the last phrase of it.
Score: 8.25/10
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twosuitsluke - Carpenters - "We've Only Just Begun/(They Long To Be) Close To You", "Top of the World", "Superstar", "Rainy Days and Mondays", "Goodbye To Love"
Early Impression - "If you're trying to get to the bottom of the standings, this will not do. Not at all."
Final Summary:
This fits very nicely into a missing piece of my taste, with a surprising amount of instrumental variety and sublime vocals.
Details:
Well, you hit the jackpot on this one. It's funny how sometimes artists are hiding in plain sight. I've been aware of them for a long time, and I know I've heard various songs of theirs over the years, but "Superstar" is the only one of these which I instantly recognized. And while I've definitely heard their version, I'm more familiar with it from hearing a multitude of other artists cover it over the years. It's technically a Delaney & Bonnie tune, but the Carpenters made it much more popular. And wow, their original and later versions from others don't do the Carpenters' version justice. What sells these songs more than anything else is Karen's voice. She's probably my second favorite vocalist of the whole roulette so far, with an incredibly pure and elegant tone. Once I get more listening time in my top 25 vocalist list I submitted for Kev's thread last year is probably going to get shaken up some.
I know my mother liked them to a certain extent - I remember on at least one occasion hearing her having a discussion with my aunt about Karen's tragic struggles with anorexia. Her time of listening to them was probably before I was alive or conscious of music though. But I'll need to look back through my parent's vinyl collection I inherited from them - it's entirely possible I have some LPs of theirs and don't even realize it.
It probably also helps to a certain extent to know Karen is also an excellent drummer, which I was already aware of, but I refreshed my memory of it for this round. Both she and Richard have jazz backgrounds, which is barely even hinted at in these songs, so I suppose I'm going to have to dig through their discography to see if it crops up anywhere. The music is certainly way on the lightweight, fluffy and sappy side of what I like, but part of the point of the roulette is to fill in some of those gaps in my taste, and when the vocals are this good I don't mind at all. Not all my music can be dark and/or heavy.
I don't know if anyone else noticed what I was doing by splitting this up into two entries for hangman, because I couldn't resist doing that to yours two rounds in a row, since you had the highest song count both times if you count the first slash track as two separate songs that have been merged (which is actually the case). I understand why with only 20 minutes of runtime you might have chosen for variety for this submission, but I listened to the full version of "(They Long To Be) Close To You" as well, and their compilation chopping off the ending of that song doesn't feel right, those are some stellar and exquisite vocal harmonies towards the end.
But otherwise, not really knowing their other material, this seems to be a quite well-selected sampler of their music. "Top of the World" offers a hint of country flavor, "Superstar" and "(They Long To Be) Close To You" has that Chicago-esque horn backing vibe, "Rainy Days and Mondays" brings in the saxophone and harmonica, and "Goodbye To Love" unfurls the cinematic chord progressions and a serendipitous dash of rock grit. The first four/five songs don't seem to have a hard rock bone to be found, so while the guitar solo on "Goodbye" has kind of a harsh and brittle tone that in some other contexts I wouldn't love, here it's just refreshing for a change and caps things off well.
These songs also make me realize how underused oboe is as a soloing instrument. Comus had a very brief moment of it, but I'm not sure it has appeared anywhere else in the roulette, and yet it is the perfect timbre for some of those melodies to add some spice.
Score:
100 TRILLION PIKACHUS!!!
Oops, I mean,
Score: 8.5/10
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Round 12 Scores:
twosuitsluke - Carpenters ................................................. 8.5
ariich - Ultravox ............................................................. 8.25
Nachtmerrie - Golden Earring ......................................... 8.25
Sacul - Talk Talk .......................................................... 8.25
TAC - Lucifer's Friend .................................................. 8.25
Buddyhunter1 - Comus .............................................. 8
Elite - Jeff Beck ....................................................... 8
Lethean - Crimson Glory ......................................... 8
Crow - 10cc ......................................................... 7.75
Vmadera00 - Steely Dan ....................................... 7.75
Puppies_On_Acid - The Cult ................................. 7.5
Stadler - Duran Duran ........................................ 7.5
Tomislav95 - Dire Straits ................................... 7.5
Evermind - Dire Straits .................................... 7.25
SoundscapeMN - Michael Nesmith .................... 7.25
soupytwist - Electric Light Orchestra ............... 7.25
HOF - The Blue Nile ..................................... 6.75
senecadawg2 - Bob Dylan .............................5.75
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Round 12 Top 6 Songs:
1: Talk Talk - "Living In Another World"
2: Carpenters - "Superstar"
3: Comus - "The Herald"
4: Ultravox - "Man of Two Worlds"/"Dancing With Tears In My Eyes"
5: Golden Earring - "She Flies On Strange Wings"
6: Lucifer's Friend - "Spanish Galleon"
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Current Cumulative Standings (after 12 rounds):
Nachtmerrie ----------------------------- 99.25
SoundscapeMN --------------------------- 98.5
TAC ----------------------------------------- 97.5
ariich ---------------------------------------- 96.75
Evermind ------------------------------------- 96.75
HOF -------------------------------------------- 95.25
Lethean ----------------------------------------- 95.25
soupytwist --------------------------------------- 94.75
Buddyhunter1 ------------------------------------ 92
Vmadera00 -------------------------------------- 90
Stadler ------------------------------------------ 89.75
Puppies_On_Acid ------------------------------ 89
Sacul ------------------------------------------ 89
senecadawg2 -------------------------------- 89
Tomislav95 --------------------------------- 89
Elite --------------------------------------- 88.5
twosuitsluke ----------------------------- 88.25
Crow ------------------------------------ 86.5
romdrums ----------------------------- 14.25 (had to drop out after the second round)
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Round Score Breakdown:
ariich: 7.75 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 9 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 7.75 + 8.25 + 8.25 = 96.75
Buddyhunter1: 7.5 + 6.5 + 7.75 + 7 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 9 + 8 = 92
Crow: 6 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 7 + 5 + 7 + 9.25 + 7.75 + 7 + 8.5 + 7.75 = 86.5
Elite: 6.5 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 8.5 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8 + 7 + 7.25 + 8.25 + 6.75 + 8 = 88.5
Evermind: 7.75 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8.5 + 8 + 9 + 7.75 + 7.25 = 96.75
HOF: 9 + 9 + 6.5 + 7.25 + 8.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 8 + 9 + 8.75 + 6.75 = 95.25
Lethean: 7.75 + 8.25 + 7.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 8 + 8.75 + 8 + 8 = 95.25
Nachtmerrie: 8.25 + 9 + 6.75 + 9 + 7.75 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 9.25 + 8 + 8.25 = 99.25
Puppies_On_Acid: 8 + 7 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 8 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.5 = 89
romdrums: 7.25 + 7 + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x = 14.25
Sacul: 7.25 + 8.75 + 6 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 9 + 7 + 4.75 + 8 + 8.25 = 89
senecadawg2: 8 + 7 + 8.5 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 7.25 + 5.75 = 89
SoundscapeMN: 8 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 8.5 + 8.75 + 7 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.75 + 7.25 = 98.5
soupytwist: 6.5 + 6.75 + 9 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8 + 7.5 + 7.25 = 94.75
Stadler: 8.5 + 7.5 + 7 + 7 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 7.5 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 7.5 = 89.75
TAC: 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 9 + 8.5 + 9 + 7.25 + 8 + 8.25 = 97.5
Tomislav95: 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 7 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 6.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 = 89
twosuitluke: 7.5 + 8.25 + 5.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.25 + 7 + 6.75 + 8.5 = 88.25
Vmadera00: 7.25 + 7.75 + 8 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 8.75 + 7 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 = 90
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Some lead-frogging near the top again, including another lead change! With the two rounds left, including the extra points and potential spread of the EPs, this could be closer than it looks. These last three themed rounds have been far more fascinating with a lot of people doing unexpectedly much better or worse than normal.
*Remember for round 13 we're back to the open round format - as many songs as you can fit into 20 minutes (remember, this is a change from earlier rounds that were only 15 minutes), from one artist. Last chance to send that killer group you've been saving all roulette long for a coupe de grâce before we get into the constrictions of the final EP round.
*Send your submission to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com. If you can, send me both Youtube and Spotify links for your song(s). The Youtube links are so I can make my own playlist and rip the audio. The Spotify links are for the group playlist. If you can't or don't find both links I will find them myself, but the more of you that find both, the less extra work I have to do.
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Cool, I'll find something with better vocals :)
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twosuitsluke
100 TRILLION PIKACHUS!!!
:rollin
Anyway really glad you liked Ultravox, pretty much agree with everything you said!
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Hot damn. I don’t know why, but I just knew when I sent the Carpenters that they’d strike a chord with you. I’ve said all the way through the run up to this round that I felt confident.
Sending them coincided with me falling in love with a ‘singles greatest hits’ compilation I was given by my neighbours. Honestly, they are not my normal thing at all but they are undeniably great and I love singing along to them. As you mentioned, Karen’s story is such a sad one and you can hear the sadness in her voice so often. I think she’s incredible and I generally don’t like female vocalists.
Well that’s likely the best you’ll get out of me, and as predicted I came top 3 in the round but bottom 3 in overall rankings. It’s Crow deja vu all over again.
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Been on a surprising of a streak these past few rounds... would be nice if I could break into that upper cluster that soupy is currently gatekeeping. :biggrin:
That album really does have a timeless quality to it. That said, the weird male vocals are on most of the songs, and The Herald is pretty much the only song on it that doesn't have a sort of demented quality to it, so it might not be your thing.
Will send soon!
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Woah, this is great. Glad you took your time to digest these tracks, Talk Talk are amazing, but I've had quite bad luck with them in roulettes for some reason. The Colour of Spring is probably my favorite pop album of all time, and I had a hard time choosing what to send lol. Their earlier pop work is lovely, and the latter minimalist albums have a very interesting quality to them, I urge you to read about the writing process, it was absolutely wild.
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It's a shame you didn't connect more with the greatest living American artist. But I can't say you didnt warn me.
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I've got an interesting concept outlined for my EP, but I suppose I should find something to send for the open round :corn
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Man, that’s a shame The Blue Nile flipped so badly. Particularly since Talk Talk (a band/singer who are right in that same sweet spot for me, but admittedly is a little more ambitious in scope) did so well. The Blue Nile are definitely more of a vibe than anything else, and I guess you just have to get into it to appreciate them. But I probably should have employed another more upbeat track.
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Well, that score was a surprise. Nice!
I was actually going to include Thus Spoken Oberon (https://open.spotify.com/track/4sxy7cu8ezlER7m1MAhIev?si=b19987fe194a4b1d), which is also from the same album as Spanish Galleon. It's just to properly introduce someone to Lucifer's Friend, something from the first album has to be included. Considering it was released in 1970, they're basically the German Deep Purple. Everybody's Clown really puts that on display.
OK...sent 19:59 of :metal for next round. My EP has been done for a while now and I'll get that off in the next couple of days.
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I wonder if I can even finish in the Top 3 at this point :lol
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I kind of went over why I went with what I did right after sending the email, but needless to say, I had a few other names to choose instead, that may have made more sense logically for your taste, but they felt either more predictable or iffy if you knew them or would like them (1 of them I found something suggesting you finding this artist highly overrated).
Nesmith is a bit of niche artist, and his music is pretty varied. I think had I just sent The Monkees and some of their more popular tunes, you either would have known them, or just not found them to have as much to discover/reveal, etc. A lot of their best known tunes are ones Micky Doienz sings..even some of the songs Nesmith wrote. It's tough though as he wrote a lot of good songs with The Monkees, but I don't find any 1 or 2 that are clearly the biggest standouts, say compared to some of the other Monkees. Peter's "Can You Dig It" for example, etc. And Nez's solo stuff, a lot of the tunes are more rooted in Country or are slower. Like his best known track "Rio" is a nice tune, but I worry you might consider it too slow. That 1 and "Joanne" are his most well known solo songs, and they are both more Pop Ballads. Or say something like "Different Drum" which Linda Ronstadt made famous. I figured you already know that anyway, plus Ronstadt's version is much better anyway.
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would be nice if I could break into that upper cluster that soupy is currently gatekeeping. :biggrin:
It's amusing how tight things have gotten in some spots, but you're definitely the one the most on an island by yourself. :lol
Man, that’s a shame The Blue Nile flipped so badly. Particularly since Talk Talk (a band/singer who are right in that same sweet spot for me, but admittedly is a little more ambitious in scope) did so well. The Blue Nile are definitely more of a vibe than anything else, and I guess you just have to get into it to appreciate them. But I probably should have employed another more upbeat track.
Yeah, I actually had a comment about the similarity in an earlier draft of my writeups that I took out later. But now that you bring it up, that definitely is a frustrating thing on both sides, how similar things can score so differently. And I like to think that I can evaluate songs by themselves, but sometimes it does seem as though liking one song from an artist can lead to unlocking others. It feels like that happened with Talk Talk, because there was a much wider gap between my opinion of "Living In Another World" and the other two at first. If you suggest a more upbeat track or two from The Blue Nile I can try and give them a listen later on and see if they work any better.
Slower music is kind of a complicated matter for me. I want to say that it's a bit riskier on average, but then I also have to acknowledge that quite a lot of the newer music I've gotten into in the past decade and especially the last few years has been more on the slower and more atmospheric side, but much of it is in styles that very few if any on DTF seem to have much familiarity with.
Like his best known track "Rio" is a nice tune, but I worry you might consider it too slow.
I often will watch music videos and live videos of at least one song to see if they put things into a different perspective, and I couldn't really find decent ones with video of the Nesmith ones you sent (just one for the Monkees' "Circle Sky"), but I did find a set where he did some others, and "Rio" was one I watched. It didn't really work for me either, but of course it was just a single listen.
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Sent. Maybe I can get as low as 5 this round
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Sent
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So, short story time. I kept hearing about the vinyl resurgence for years and kept putting off getting into it, until finally giving in probably half a dozen years ago. I was pretty into it for a few years, until the pandemic shifted my spending patterns, at which point vinyl was starting to get ridiculously expensive too, so I slowed way down. But early in that process I knew that my parents had a decent if not particularly impressive collection that they hadn't used in many years. I basically just took them all and figured I'd sort things out later.
I went through them back then and separated out ones I was most interested in and added them to the growing stacks I'd been purchasing on my own. But there were a whole bunch I wasn't particularly interested in at that time, but still kept because you never know when inspiration will strike. Well, due to this round, it has. So I went back through those piles, and wow, looks like Christmas came early!
Some things I found relevant to the roulette that I hadn't already added to my more active stacks:
Carpenters - The Singles 1969-1973 - yes, I thought I might, and I did!
Electric Light Orchestra - ELO's Greatest Hits - apparently either the full name or the abbreviation works
Monkees - numerous albums - worth a shot
Alice Cooper - School's Out - hey, who'd have thought! My parents weren't really hard rock fans, so this was as much a surprise as Led Zeppelin's II or KISS's Destroyer, which I already knew they'd had.
It's so great when you can make these discoveries of stuff you already have, so much cheaper too!
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Alice Cooper - School's Out - hey, who'd have thought! My parents weren't really hard rock fans, so this was as much a surprise as Led Zeppelin's II or KISS's Destroyer, which I already knew they'd had.
School's Out is one of my favorite all time albums. It's one of those albums where I belt out the lyrics unmercilessly.
I have an Alice 70's playlist I did put together for you, and from School's Out, I put Blue Turk, My Stars, and Alma Mater on it.
I actually almost sent Blue Turk in the Fogey Round.
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Carpenters - The Singles 1969-1973 - yes, I thought I might, and I did!
I too have this on vinyl, and happened to spin it this morning over breakfast. Last time I spun it, and today, my wife kinda gives me a weird look (as I’m singing all the words) and says “you’re really vibing with this, aren’t you”. She finds it weird that I love this sort of music when most of what I listen to is more on the extreme metal end of the spectrum.
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You told her "hey, this just won me a roulette round!" right?
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Yea, the mere mention of roulettes make her eyes roll :lol
It’s just some nerd thing I do as far as she’s concerned, and she’s not wrong.
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Yea, the mere mention of roulettes make her eyes roll :lol
It’s just some nerd thing I do as far as she’s concerned, and she’s not wrong.
Not wrong, but also her loss... :biggrin:
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Sent for Round 13! :metal
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Sent my Round 13 submission...maybe the easiest submission in the whole roulette.
I wonder how close I can come to predicting what Monkees albums your parents had.
-The Monkees
-More of the Monkees
-Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones
-Headquarters
also maybe:
-Head
-The Bird the Bees and the Monkees (Daydream Believer is on this 1)
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I also sent you a PM, Litho :corn
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Sent!
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Yea, the mere mention of roulettes make her eyes roll :lol
It’s just some nerd thing I do as far as she’s concerned, and she’s not wrong.
Apparently you need to work on her more, since Soundscape's is presumably gonna have her own roulette in the near future. :p
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Alice Cooper - School's Out - hey, who'd have thought! My parents weren't really hard rock fans, so this was as much a surprise as Led Zeppelin's II or KISS's Destroyer, which I already knew they'd had.
School's Out is one of my favorite all time albums. It's one of those albums where I belt out the lyrics unmercilessly.
I have an Alice 70's playlist I did put together for you, and from School's Out, I put Blue Turk, My Stars, and Alma Mater on it.
I actually almost sent Blue Turk in the Fogey Round.
I'll probably literally "drop the needle" on these sometime later, but in the meantime I did listen to those particular tracks. Too early to say on the others, but "Blue Turk" really stood out, some quite cool elements there.
-
Sent!
-
Sent!
-
oh yeah i need to send for this round, is this just another "20 minutes of music by one artist" round? or 15 or whatever
edit: ok yes it is good good sending in a sec then
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I wonder how close I can come to predicting what Monkees albums your parents had.
-The Monkees
-More of the Monkees
-Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones
-Headquarters
also maybe:
-Head
-The Bird the Bees and the Monkees (Daydream Believer is on this 1)
It's possible I missed one or two because after grabbing several of them I might have just stopped and figured I'd dig them out again if I made it through the first batch, but they definitely had (and I now have), Headquarters, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones LTD., More of the, and The Birds, the Bees, & the Monkees, so that's at least four of those. The cover of the s/t debut also looks really familiar, so either I missed that or they had it on CD (and I have a lot of their CDs too, so I could have it somewhere).
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What's the latest? I can't do it now, but I will try to do it tomorrow morning. If not, is Monday too late?
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As long as you can beat E-late. :)
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As long as you can beat E-late. :)
He's not been online for a week and a half and was pretty inactive for another week or two before that, so it's possible you won't get anything.
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Sent before anyone moaned at me, woohoo.
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素晴らしい曲をたくさん送ってくれた。
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後のローンスター回でも登場するのかな。
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Falsche Sprache, ihr Verrückten
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Nein, es ist die perfekte Sprache dafür.
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Lo siento, no entiendo idiomas imperialistas ;D
後のローンスター回でも登場するのかな。
:neverusethis:
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enthay oybay oday iyay avehay ethay anguagelay orfay ouyay ! :biggrin:
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ඞ
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Does anything on this page translate to Hangman is coming tonight?
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нет.
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enthay oybay oday iyay avehay ethay anguagelay orfay ouyay ! :biggrin:
I don't speak Jar-Jar.
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enthay oybay oday iyay avehay ethay anguagelay orfay ouyay ! :biggrin:
I don't speak Jar-Jar.
Yousa seem to besa confusen pig latin wit gungan. Me think yousa needen a lesson in da gungan language. Hmm, now me'm tempted to completen roulette and write all da final write ups liken disa
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(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/WindingGrimyAnaconda.webp)
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For the EP round, would 15:26 from one artist be acceptable, or is 15:00 a hard cap?
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For the EP round, would 15:26 from one artist be acceptable, or is 15:00 a hard cap?
I'll allow it :biggrin:
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I've already figured my way around that but let the question stand in case people run into the same problem. :lol
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For the EP round, would 15:26 from one artist be acceptable, or is 15:00 a hard cap?
I'll allow it :biggrin:
(https://media3.giphy.com/media/lHQuX9d5DBhug/100.webp?cid=ecf05e472k3mzf0ka78tozer5requdv1dkuag3h71xp19siq&ep=v1_gifs_related&rid=100.webp&ct=g)
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We're missing one from you know who, I'll add it in later if he sends something.
??? : _____ _______
1: _______ ____
2: ______ ______
??? : ____ __ø_____ & _____ ______
1: _______á
2: __ _ø___ __ ___
3: __ _ø___ __ ___
??? : _______ ______
1: ___________
2: _____ ___
3: ___ ___ _____
??? : ________
1: _____ ________
2: _____ _____
3: _______ ______
??? : ___ ____ __ ___ ________
1: ___/____/_____/_____
2: ____ ______
3: ____ _ _______
??? : _______ _______
1: ___ ___ _
2: _'_ _______ __ ____
3: _____ _____ (_____ ___ ___ __ ____)
4: ___ ___ _____
??? : _______ _____
1: _________
2: ___ ____ __ ______
3: ______ ____ ________
4: _____ ____ ___
??? : ___ ____ ______
1: _______
2: _ _____ __ ___ ____
3: _____
??? : ______
1: ______
2: ______ _____
3: ______
4: __ _______
5: ____ ____
??? : _________
1: ___ __________
2: ___________ ________
3: _ _________ _______
??? : ______ ___ ______
1: ___ ______ ______
2: _______ __ _________
3: ___ __________ __ _____
??? : ______ ______
1: ___________ ___________
2: __ _____ __
3: ______ __ _____
4: ___ ____ __ __ ______
??? : _____ ____
1: ___ ____ ___ ____
2: ________ ___ ____
3: _____ _____
4: ________
??? : _____________
1: __________
2: __ ___ ____ ____ __ ____
??? : ____
1: __________
2: ____
3: _____
??? : _____
1: ______ ______
2: ____ ____
3: ________
4: _____ _____
5: ____ _______
??? : _______ ____ ___ ___
1: _____ ____ ___ _____
Guessed letters: øá
-
Z
-
T
-
??? : ____t _______
1: T___t__ ____
2: ______ _t___t
??? : ____ __ø_____ & _____ ______
1: _______á
2: __ _øt__ __ ___
3: __ _ø___ __ ___
??? : _____t_ ______
1: ___________
2: _____ __t
3: T__ ___ _____
??? : ________
1: ____t ________
2: _____ _____
3: ___t___ _____t
??? : T__ ____ __ t__ ____t___
1: ___/____/_____/___t_
2: ___t ______
3: ____ _ ____t__
??? : _t_____ _____z_
1: ___ ___ _
2: _'_ _______ __ ____
3: T____ _____ (_____ ___ ___ __ ____)
4: T__ ___ _____
??? : _______ _____
1: _________
2: ___ ___t _t ______
3: ______ ____ _______t
4: _t___ ____ ___
??? : T__ ____ ___t__
1: _______
2: _ ____t __ t__ T___
3: _____
??? : ___T__
1: ______
2: ___t__ ____t
3: ______
4: __ ___t_z_
5: ____ ____
??? : _________
1: T__ __t______t
2: _______t___ ____z___
3: _ _________ _______
??? : ______ t__ ______
1: T__ ______ ______
2: _______ T_ _____t___
3: T__ __________ __ _____
??? : __tt__ ______
1: ___________ ___t______t
2: __ _____ __
3: ______ __ _____
4: ___ ____ __ __ ______
??? : _____ ____
1: ___ ____ t__ ____
2: ________ ___ T___
3: _____ ___t_
4: ________
??? : _____________
1: T_________
2: __ ___ ___t ____ T_ ____
??? : ____
1: __t______t
2: ____
3: __t__
??? : ____t
1: ______ ______
2: ____ Z___
3: T___t___
4: __t__ _____
5: ____ _t_____
??? : ___t___ ____ t__ ___
1: T____ ____ t__ _____
Guessed letters: øázt
-
X
-
Victory Over The Sun-Thorn Woos The Wound
Sent by Crow!
N
-
??? : ____t _____n_
1: T___t__ ____
2: ____n_ _t___t
??? : ____ __ø_n__n & __n__ ______
1: _______á
2: N_ _øt__ __ ___
3: N_ _ø___ __ ___
??? : ____nt_ __n___
1: _n_________
2: _____ __t
3: T__ ___ _____
??? : ______n_
1: N___t ______n_
2: _____ _____
3: ___t___ _____t
??? : T__ ____ __ t__ ___nt___
1: ___/____/_____/___t_
2: _x_t ___n__
3: ____ _ ____t__
??? : _t___n_ __n_nz_
1: ___ _n_ _
2: _'_ _____n_ __ ____
3: T____ _____ (_____ ___ ___ __ ____)
4: T__ ___ ____n
??? : ___n___ ____n
1: _____n___
2: ___ __nt _t ______
3: ______ ____ ___n___t
4: _t___ ____ ___
??? : T__ ____ __nt__
1: __n____
2: _ N___t _n t__ T__n
3: _____
??? : ___T__
1: ______
2: __nt__ ___nt
3: ______
4: __ ___t_z_
5: ____ ____
??? : ___n_____
1: T__ _nt___n__t
2: _______t_n_ ____z_n_
3: _ _________ _______
??? : ____n_ t__ ______
1: T__ ______ ____n_
2: _______ T_ _____t__n
3: T__ _______n__ __ ____n
??? : __tt__ ______
1: ___________ ___t_____nt
2: __ _n___ __
3: ______ __ _____
4: ___ ____ __ _n _n____
??? : _____ __n_
1: ___ ____ t__ ____
2: ________ _n_ T___
3: _____ ___t_
4: ________
??? : __________n__
1: T__n___n__
2: __ ___ ___t ____ T_ ____
??? : ___n
1: _nt___n__t
2: __nn
3: __t__
??? : ____t
1: ______ ______
2: ____ Z___
3: T__nt___
4: __t__ _____
5: ____ _t__n__
Crow: Victory Over the Sun
1: Thorn Woos the Wound
Guessed letters: øáztxn
-
D
-
E
-
wow gee how did you get it that fast :neverusethis: :neverusethis2: :metardica: :jamaritard: :vomitard:
-
??? : ____t _____ne
1: T___ted ____
2: _e__nd _t_eet
??? : ____ __ø_n__n & E_n__ _e____
1: _______á
2: N_ Døt_e __ ___
3: N_ _ød_e __ ___
??? : _e_ent_ __nde_
1: _n__e_____e
2: ___e_ __t
3: T_e _ed ___e_
??? : ______n_
1: N___t ______n_
2: _____ _____
3: _e_t_e_ _e___t
??? : T_e ____ __ t_e ___nt___
1: _ed/___e/_____/___te
2: Ex_t ___nd_
3: ___e _ ____t__
??? : _te__n_ __n_nz_
1: ___ _nd _
2: _'_ _ee__n_ __ ___e
3: T___e ___d_ (___d_ __e ___ _e ___e)
4: T_e _e_ ____n
??? : _e_n__d ___en
1: _____n__e
2: ___ __nt _t D___e_
3: ______ ___e ___n___t
4: _tee_ ____ ___
??? : T_e De__ __nte_
1: __nd___
2: _ N___t _n t_e T__n
3: ___e_
??? : _E_T__
1: _ed___
2: _ent_e ___nt
3: _e____
4: E_ _e_t_z_
5: ____ __d_
??? : ___n___de
1: T_e _nt___n__t
2: E_e____t_n_ ____z_n_
3: _ D_e___e__ _____e_
??? : _e__nd t_e ___d_e
1: T_e ______ De__nd
2: D______ T_ _____t__n
3: T_e D___e_en_e __ ____n
??? : _ette_ ___e__
1: ___________ ___t_____nt
2: __ _nde_ __
3: _e___e __ _____
4: __d __de _e _n _n____
??? : _____ __n_
1: ___ __e_ t_e ___d
2: __e____e _nd T__e
3: _e___ ___t_
4: D_____de
??? : __________n__
1: T__n__en_e
2: __ ___ ___t ___e T_ ____
??? : __en
1: _nt___n__t
2: __nn
3: __t__
??? : ____t
1: _____e ____e_
2: _e__ Ze__
3: T_ent_e_
4: __t__ ____e
5: ___e Ete_n__
Crow: Victory Over the Sun
1: Thorn Woos the Wound
Guessed letters: øáztxnde
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Well, I see The Dear Hunter.
Not banned??
M
-
Seventh Wonder...Chad?
-
Ghost
Square Hammer
Year Zero
Twenties
Witch Image
Life Eternal
-
wow gee how did you get it that fast :neverusethis: :neverusethis2: :metardica: :jamaritard: :vomitard:
Now that Litho has changed to 20-minute submissions, I wonder how many people will just send the exact thing they sent me. :lol
-
Seventh Wonder...Chad?
Unbreakable
Alley Cat
The Red River
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The Dear Hunter AND Ghost! Damn, looking like a good round. I didn’t send either, but should’ve.
Nick sent Ghost?
Dear Hunter songs are
Mandala
A Night on the Town
Waves
-
??? : ____t M____ne
1: T___ted ____
2: _e__nd _t_eet
??? : ____ __ø_n__n & E_n__ _e____
1: _______á
2: N_ Døt_e __ ___
3: N_ Mød_e __ ___
??? : Seventh Wonder
1: Unbreakable
2: Alley Cat
3: The Red River
??? : ____m_n_
1: N___t ______n_
2: _____ _____
3: _e_t_e_ _e___t
??? : T_e M___ __ t_e ___nt__m
1: _ed/___e/_____/___te
2: Ex_t ___nd_
3: ___e _ ____t__
??? : _te__n_ __n_nz_
1: ___ _nd _
2: _'m _ee__n_ __ ___e
3: T___e ___d_ (___d_ __e ___ _e ___e)
4: T_e _e_ __m_n
??? : _e_n__d ___en
1: _____n__e
2: ___ __nt _t D___e_
3: __m___ ___e ___n___t
4: _tee_ ____ ___
??? : The Dear Hunter
1: Mandala
2: A Night On the Town
3: Waves
??? : ME_T__
1: _ed___
2: _ent_e ___nt
3: _em___
4: E_ Me_t_z_
5: ____ __d_
??? : M__n___de
1: T_e _nt___n__t
2: E_e____t_n_ ____z_n_
3: _ D_e_m_e__ ___m_e_
??? : _e__nd t_e ___d_e
1: T_e ___m__ Dem_nd
2: D______ T_ _____t__n
3: T_e D___e_en_e __ __m_n
??? : _ette_ ___e__
1: ___________ ___t_____nt
2: __ _nde_ __
3: _e__me __ _m___
4: __d M_de Me _n _n_m__
??? : _____ __n_
1: ___ __e_ t_e ___d
2: __e____e _nd T_me
3: _e___ ___t_
4: D_____de
??? : ____m_____n__
1: T__n__en_e
2: __ ___ M__t __me T_ ____
??? : __en
1: _nt___n__t
2: __nn
3: __t__
??? : Ghost
1: Square Hammer
2: Year Zero
3: Twenties
4: Witch Image
5: Life Eternal
Crow: Victory Over the Sun
1: Thorn Woos the Wound
Guessed letters: øáztxndem
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Well, I see The Dear Hunter.
Not banned??
Yep, but nope. :corn
Seventh Wonder...Chad?
Nick sent Ghost?
More people not in the roulette. :lol I'm still annoyed that Nick joined ariich's and rejoined Luke's and turned mine down. (https://i.imgur.com/5C8ZynR.gif) And Chad (and Kade for that matter) are missing out on dozens and dozens of points for music people think they submitted but couldn't have. (https://i.imgur.com/9Po5i1a.gif)
Now that Litho has changed to 20-minute submissions, I wonder how many people will just send the exact thing they sent me. :lol
I don't know if it's laziness or people thinking we have the same taste. It's clearly not the latter, so it has to be the former. :neverusethis:
-
So Nick did send Ghost?
-
Now that Litho has changed to 20-minute submissions, I wonder how many people will just send the exact thing they sent me. :lol
I don't know if it's laziness or people thinking we have the same taste. It's clearly not the latter, so it has to be the former. :neverusethis:
Sometimes it works as there is some overlap, for example you both liked Kalandra.
-
A
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for me it's that i do not care about my score and want to send the thing i am currently obsessed with :corn
-
Finally some of you guys sent Beyond the Bridge (RJ?)
The Primal Demand
Doorway to Salvation
The Difference Is Human
Also Leonard Cohen (Nelson?)
don't know the song (Suzannnne? :lol )
You Want It Darker
Famous Blue Raincoat
Steer Your Way
-
Now that Litho has changed to 20-minute submissions, I wonder how many people will just send the exact thing they sent me. :lol
I don't know if it's laziness or people thinking we have the same taste. It's clearly not the latter, so it has to be the former. :neverusethis:
Sometimes it works as there is some overlap, for example you both liked Kalandra.
Yeah I'd say there's enough overlap in our tastes, certainly for people who don't try too hard to exactly match every submission to the host.
for me it's that i do not care about my score and want to send the thing i am currently obsessed with :corn
The fact that you won my roulette with this (broadly speaking) this strategy is quite remarkable really. Then again quite a few of my winners have been people who didn't overthink their submissions, so what do I know.
-
Now that Litho has changed to 20-minute submissions, I wonder how many people will just send the exact thing they sent me. :lol
I don't know if it's laziness or people thinking we have the same taste. It's clearly not the latter, so it has to be the former. :neverusethis:
Sometimes it works as there is some overlap, for example you both liked Kalandra.
Yeah I'd say there's enough overlap in our tastes, certainly for people who don't try too hard to exactly match every submission to the host.
for me it's that i do not care about my score and want to send the thing i am currently obsessed with :corn
The fact that you won my roulette with this (broadly speaking) this strategy is quite remarkable really. Then again quite a few of my winners have been people who didn't overthink their submissions, so what do I know.
I sent some overlap in these three roulettes. All three are "dig deep" roulettes, and If I come up with something that I really like, then I'll use it in both roulettes if they're not banned. It's not so much laziness, but if I think it'll do decently, I'll use it.
-
L for Litho we need an update!
-
??? : ___lt Ma___ne
1: T___ted ___l
2: Leland _t_eet
??? : __a_ __ø_n__n & E_na_ _el___
1: _______á
2: N_ Døt_e a_ _a_
3: N_ Mød_e a_ __l
??? : Seventh Wonder
1: Unbreakable
2: Alley Cat
3: The Red River
??? : ____man_
1: N___t ______n_
2: ____a ____a
3: _eat_e_ _e___t
??? : T_e Ma__ __ t_e __anta_m
1: _ed/_l_e/_la__/___te
2: Ex_t ___nd_
3: L__e a __a_t__
??? : _te_an_ _an_nz_
1: ___ and _
2: _'m _eel_n_ __ _l_e
3: T___e ___d_ (___d_ A_e All _e _a_e)
4: T_e _ea __man
??? : Leonard Cohen
1: A_alan__e
2: You Want It Darker
3: Famous Blue Raincoat
4: Steer Your Way
??? : The Dear Hunter
1: Mandala
2: A Night On the Town
3: Waves
??? : ME_T__
1: _ed__a
2: _entle __ant
3: _em_la
4: El Me_t_z_
5: ___a __da
??? : M__n__ade
1: T_e Anta__n__t
2: E_e_la_t_n_ ____z_n_
3: A D_eamle__ _l_m_e_
??? : Beyond the Bridge
1: The Primal Demand
2: Doorway To Salvation
3: The Difference Is Human
??? : _ette_ L__e__
1: _a_______al _a_t____ant
2: __ _nde_ __
3: _e__me __ _mall
4: __d Made Me An An_mal
??? : ___al __n_
1: All __e_ t_e __ad
2: __e____e and T_me
3: _e_al ___t_
4: Da____de
??? : ___lma____na_
1: T_an__en_e
2: A_ All M__t __me T_ _a__
??? : __en
1: Anta__n__t
2: __nn
3: L_t__
??? : Ghost
1: Square Hammer
2: Year Zero
3: Twenties
4: Witch Image
5: Life Eternal
Crow: Victory Over the Sun
1: Thorn Woos the Wound
Guessed letters: øáztxndemal
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The Mask of the Phantasm
1: Red/Blue/Black/White
2: Exit Wounds
3: Like a Wraith
Great stuff, though might lean a bit towards post-hardcore for Litho's tastes?
-
Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik, probably King Puppies
-
Guilt Machine:
1: Twisted Coil
2: Leland Street
TAC: Moonshade
3: A Dreamless Slumber
-
for me it's that i do not care about my score and want to send the thing i am currently obsessed with :corn
Naturally I intentionally set up a false dilemma to preclude such options. :p
Now that Litho has changed to 20-minute submissions, I wonder how many people will just send the exact thing they sent me. :lol
I don't know if it's laziness or people thinking we have the same taste. It's clearly not the latter, so it has to be the former. :neverusethis:
Sometimes it works as there is some overlap, for example you both liked Kalandra.
Well, there are definitely large portions of overlap. It seems that HAERTS and Submotion Orchestra might fit somewhere in that niche as well, just to mention other recent commonalities.
Finally some of you guys sent Beyond the Bridge (RJ?)
Another person who is not in my roulette, but should be. And also, :corn
Then again quite a few of my winners have been people who didn't overthink their submissions, so what do I know.
Damn, I'm doomed for ever winning one of yours, aren't I? :sadpanda:
The Mask of the Phantasm
...
Great stuff, though might lean a bit towards post-hardcore for Litho's tastes?
:corn
-
Now that Litho has changed to 20-minute submissions, I wonder how many people will just send the exact thing they sent me. :lol
I don't know if it's laziness or people thinking we have the same taste. It's clearly not the latter, so it has to be the former. :neverusethis:
Sometimes it works as there is some overlap, for example you both liked Kalandra.
Well, there are definitely large portions of overlap. It seems that HAERTS and Submotion Orchestra might fit somewhere in that niche as well, just to mention other recent commonalities.
Hell yes. :heart
Then again quite a few of my winners have been people who didn't overthink their submissions, so what do I know.
Damn, I'm doomed for ever winning one of yours, aren't I? :sadpanda:
Well, let's just say you're not at risk of underthinking your submissions. :biggrin:
-
??? : Guilt Machine
1: Twisted Coil
2: Leland Street
??? : Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik
1: _______á
2: N_ Døt_e a_ _a_
3: N_ Mød_e a_ __l
??? : Seventh Wonder
1: Unbreakable
2: Alley Cat
3: The Red River
??? : ____man_
1: N___t ______n_
2: ____a ____a
3: _eat_e_ _e___t
??? : The Mask of the Phantasm
1: Red/Blue/Black/White
2: Exit Wounds
3: Like a Wraith…
??? : _te_an_ _an_nz_
1: ___ and _
2: _'m _eel_n_ __ _l_e
3: T___e ___d_ (___d_ A_e All _e _a_e)
4: T_e _ea __man
??? : Leonard Cohen
1: A_alan__e
2: You Want It Darker
3: Famous Blue Raincoat
4: Steer Your Way
??? : The Dear Hunter
1: Mandala
2: A Night On the Town
3: Waves
??? : ME_T__
1: _ed__a
2: _entle __ant
3: _em_la
4: El Me_t_z_
5: ___a __da
??? : Moonshade
1: T_e Anta__n__t
2: E_e_la_t_n_ ____z_n_
3: A Dreamless Slumber
??? : Beyond the Bridge
1: The Primal Demand
2: Doorway To Salvation
3: The Difference Is Human
??? : _ette_ L__e__
1: _a_______al _a_t____ant
2: __ _nde_ __
3: _e__me __ _mall
4: __d Made Me An An_mal
??? : ___al __n_
1: All __e_ t_e __ad
2: __e____e and T_me
3: _e_al ___t_
4: Da____de
??? : ___lma____na_
1: T_an__en_e
2: A_ All M__t __me T_ _a__
??? : __en
1: Anta__n__t
2: __nn
3: L_t__
??? : Ghost
1: Square Hammer
2: Year Zero
3: Twenties
4: Witch Image
5: Life Eternal
Crow: Victory Over the Sun
1: Thorn Woos the Wound
Guessed letters: øáztxndemal
-
Shylmagoghnar
Transience
As All Must Come To Pass
Puppies!
-
Better Lovers
God Made Me An Animal
-
Better Lovers
God Made Me An Animal
This is just their entire debut EP.
30 under 13, don't know the names of the other two.
-
stefano panunzi, presumably sent by HOF
first song is You and I
-
Soen-Antagonist
-
oh and the last leonard cohen song is avalanche
-
Soen-Antagonist
Oh good, someone sent some cool swingy jazzy fusion stuff :biggrin:
-
??? : Guilt Machine
1: Twisted Coil
2: Leland Street
??? : Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik
1: _______á
2: N_ Døt_e a_ _a_
3: N_ Mød_e a_ __l
??? : Seventh Wonder
1: Unbreakable
2: Alley Cat
3: The Red River
??? : ____man_
1: N___t ______n_
2: ____a ____a
3: _eat_e_ _e___t
??? : The Mask of the Phantasm
1: Red/Blue/Black/White
2: Exit Wounds
3: Like a Wraith…
HOF: Stefano Panunzi
1: You and I
2: _'m _eel_n_ __ _l_e
3: T___e ___d_ (___d_ A_e All _e _a_e)
4: T_e _ea __man
??? : Leonard Cohen
1: Avalanche
2: You Want It Darker
3: Famous Blue Raincoat
4: Steer Your Way
??? : The Dear Hunter
1: Mandala
2: A Night On the Town
3: Waves
??? : ME_T__
1: _ed__a
2: _entle __ant
3: _em_la
4: El Me_t_z_
5: ___a __da
??? : Moonshade
1: T_e Anta__n__t
2: E_e_la_t_n_ ____z_n_
3: A Dreamless Slumber
??? : Beyond the Bridge
1: The Primal Demand
2: Doorway To Salvation
3: The Difference Is Human
??? : Better Lovers
1: _a_______al _a_t____ant
2: 30 Under 13
3: _e__me __ _mall
4: God Made Me An Animal
??? : ___al __n_
1: All __e_ t_e __ad
2: __e____e and T_me
3: _e_al ___t_
4: Da____de
Puppies_On_Acid : Shylmagoghnar
1: Transience
2: As All Must Come To Pass
??? : Soen
1: Antagonist
2: __nn
3: L_t__
??? : Ghost
1: Square Hammer
2: Year Zero
3: Twenties
4: Witch Image
5: Life Eternal
Crow: Victory Over the Sun
1: Thorn Woos the Wound
Guessed letters: øáztxndemal
-
Soen-Antagonist
Oh good, someone sent some cool swingy jazzy fusion stuff :biggrin:
:rollin
-
So, Shamalama is not Puppies?
Did Nach send Ghost?
Soundscape send Seventh Wonder?
Lethean send BTB?
-
Oh, oops, I guess I missed filling out the sender column for Puppies. The others aren't correct though.
-
So, Shamalama is not Puppies?
As far as I know, I'm the only one that has sent this band in roulettes. I think...
-
Soen wasn't banned :eek the other songs are Jinn and Lotus
-
Litho had some of their albums rated but not Atlantis, so I figured it was fair game as they reworked some of the songs for it.
-
Moonshade songs are
The Antagonist
Everlasting Horizons
-
Did Nach send Ghost?
Nope, I would probably choose The Backstreet Boys over Ghost
Other Soen songs are Jinn and Lotus
-
twosuitsluke...Moonshade
Lethean...Ghost
Tomislav95...The Dear Hunter
senecadawg2...Seventh Wonder
Elite...Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik
ariich...Guilt Machine
soupytwist...Beyond the Bridge
Vmadera00...Soen
Buddyhunter1....Better Lovers
Evermind...Leonard Cohen
SoundscapeMN...The Mask of the Phantasm
Sacul...ME_T__
Nachtmerrie...____man_
Stadler...___al __n_
-
Who the hell are Moonshade? :lol
If Tomi didn’t send Dear Hunter I’m guessing he sent Seventh Wonder.
-
Who the hell are Moonshade? :lol
It's completely random. ;D
-
Who the hell are Moonshade? :lol
It's completely random. ;D
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/NearSardonicAfricanclawedfrog-max-1mb.gif)
-
Did Nach send Ghost?
Nope, I would probably choose The Backstreet Boys over Ghost
Ooh, shots fired! :biggrin:
twosuitsluke...Moonshade
Lethean...Ghost
Tomislav95...The Dear Hunter
senecadawg2...Seventh Wonder
Elite...Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik
ariich...Guilt Machine
soupytwist...Beyond the Bridge
Vmadera00...Soen
Buddyhunter1....Better Lovers
Evermind...Leonard Cohen
SoundscapeMN...The Mask of the Phantasm
Sacul...ME_T__
Nachtmerrie...____man_
Stadler...___al __n_
It's impressive how many you can miss. The only one correct is Stadler's, which has the least cohesive characters to go off of. :lol And didn't you mean to guess Ghost for Elite. :neverusethis:
-
??? : Guilt Machine
1: Twisted Coil
2: Leland Street
??? : Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik
1: _______á
2: N_ Døt_e a_ _a_
3: N_ Mød_e a_ __l
Tomislav95: Seventh Wonder
1: Unbreakable
2: Alley Cat
3: The Red River
??? : ____man_
1: N___t ______n_
2: ____a ____a
3: _eat_e_ _e___t
??? : The Mask of the Phantasm
1: Red/Blue/Black/White
2: Exit Wounds
3: Like a Wraith…
HOF: Stefano Panunzi
1: You and I
2: _'m _eel_n_ __ _l_e
3: T___e ___d_ (___d_ A_e All _e _a_e)
4: T_e _ea __man
??? : Leonard Cohen
1: Avalanche
2: You Want It Darker
3: Famous Blue Raincoat
4: Steer Your Way
SoundscapeMN : The Dear Hunter
1: Mandala
2: A Night On the Town
3: Waves
??? : ME_T__
1: _ed__a
2: _entle __ant
3: _em_la
4: El Me_t_z_
5: ___a __da
TAC: Moonshade
1: The Antagonist
2: Everlasting Horizons
3: A Dreamless Slumber
??? : Beyond the Bridge
1: The Primal Demand
2: Doorway To Salvation
3: The Difference Is Human
??? : Better Lovers
1: _a_______al _a_t____ant
2: 30 Under 13
3: _e__me __ _mall
4: God Made Me An Animal
Stadler: ___al __n_
1: All __e_ t_e __ad
2: __e____e and T_me
3: _e_al ___t_
4: Da____de
Puppies_On_Acid: Shylmagoghnar
1: Transience
2: As All Must Come To Pass
Evermind: Soen
1: Antagonist
2: Jinn
3: Lotus
??? : Ghost
1: Square Hammer
2: Year Zero
3: Twenties
4: Witch Image
5: Life Eternal
Crow: Victory Over the Sun
1: Thorn Woos the Wound
Guessed letters: øáztxndemal
-
SoundscapeMN send Dear Hunter?
-
didn't you mean to guess Ghost for Elite. :neverusethis:
:lol Poor Elite
-
SoundscapeMN send Dear Hunter?
Yep.
-
Here are the rest of the artists and songs solved. You can guess at senders more if you want (a bunch of them strike me as fairly easy to guess, and I haven't been playing in these nearly as long as most of you), I'll reveal them tonight, and impressions will start tomorrow, I have something special planned. (https://i.imgur.com/fl7blJL.gif)
??? : Guilt Machine
1: Twisted Coil
2: Leland Street
Lethean : Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik
1: Skuggsjá
2: Ni Døtre av Hav
3: Ni Mødre av Sol
Tomislav95: Seventh Wonder
1: Unbreakable
2: Alley Cat
3: The Red River
Sacul : Fishmans
1: Night Cruising
2: Pokka Pokka
3: Weather Report
??? : The Mask of the Phantasm
1: Red/Blue/Black/White
2: Exit Wounds
3: Like a Wraith…
HOF: Stefano Panunzi
1: You and I
2: I'm Feeling So Blue
3: Those Words (Words Are All We Have)
4: The Sea Woman
senecadawg2 : Leonard Cohen
1: Avalanche
2: You Want It Darker
3: Famous Blue Raincoat
4: Steer Your Way
SoundscapeMN: The Dear Hunter
1: Mandala
2: A Night On the Town
3: Waves
??? : MESTIS
1: Sedosa
2: Gentle Giant
3: Semila
4: El Mestizo
5: Pura Vida
TAC: Moonshade
1: The Antagonist
2: Everlasting Horizons
3: A Dreamless Slumber
ariich : Beyond the Bridge
1: The Primal Demand
2: Doorway To Salvation
3: The Difference Is Human
twosuitsluke : Better Lovers
1: Sacrificial Participant
2: 30 Under 13
3: Become So Small
4: God Made Me An Animal
Stadler: Rival Sons
1: All Over the Road
2: Pressure and Time
3: Feral Roots
4: Darkside
Puppies_On_Acid: Shylmagoghnar
1: Transience
2: As All Must Come To Pass
Evermind: Soen
1: Antagonist
2: Jinn
3: Lotus
soupytwist : Ghost
1: Square Hammer
2: Year Zero
3: Twenties
4: Witch Image
5: Life Eternal
Crow: Victory Over the Sun
1: Thorn Woos the Wound
-
Fishmans is Sacul, Better Lovers is Luke, Leonard Cohen is senecadawg
-
The anti-TAC! :tup
Unguessed senders:
ariich
Buddyhunter1
Lethean
Nachtmerrie
soupytwist
Vmadera00
-
Fishmans is Sacul, Better Lovers is Luke
Yep! Nice, I’ve listened to a few Fishmans albums this week.
Ariich sent Phantasm
Lethean sent Beyond the Bridge or Ivar and Einar
-
Did vmadera send Ghost?
-
Lethean for Ivar/Einar is the only correct one. Einar must be Lethean's favorite name.
-
Did vmadera send Ghost?
As a wise person here said: "Nope, I would probably choose The Backstreet Boys over Ghost" :)
-
Soupy sent Ghosty
Ariich sent Beyond the Bridge?
-
Did vmadera send Ghost?
As a wise person here said: "Nope, I would probably choose The Backstreet Boys over Ghost" :)
Ya know, I kind of doubted myself as soon as I sent it.
-
No kidding, Ghost is the only concert I can remember feeling the need to leave mid set.
-
No kidding, Ghost is the only concert I can remember feeling the need to leave mid set.
I was only showing my apprecation for the Backstreet Boys but now I remember a festival where I left before the Ghost headline show ;D
-
Did vmadera send Ghost?
As a wise person here said: "Nope, I would probably choose The Backstreet Boys over Ghost" :)
You guys are gonna be kicking yourselves when Luke wins the whole roulette with a come from behind victory with a perfectly-scoring Backstreet Boys/*NSYNC/98 Degrees EP.
Soupy sent Ghosty
Ariich sent Beyond the Bridge?
Yep.
-
Did vmadera send Ghost?
As a wise person here said: "Nope, I would probably choose The Backstreet Boys over Ghost" :)
You guys are gonna be kicking yourselves when Luke wins the whole roulette with a come from behind victory with a perfectly-scoring Backstreet Boys/*NSYNC/98 Degrees EP.
Wait, NSYNC is not banned? :)
-
Nor are Boyzone, One Direction, New Kids on the Block, and BTS. :)
-
WTF is Boyzone? :lol
Or BTS for that matter.
-
WTF is Boyzone? :lol
When Phil was talking about the boys being back in town, he surely meant them.
-
WTF is Boyzone? :lol
Or BTS for that matter.
(https://media.giphy.com/media/UurFWROK7ZMvKLNvio/giphy.gif)
-
WTF is Boyzone? :lol
You mean these absolute mad lads?..
(https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExM2dkdmVra25nZHp1OTd6aTVucjkydHJqdTlidTM1N2M0NzVtcWNmbSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/l0Iy0WIw7biDtpXAQ/giphy.gif)
When me and the boys used to do regular karaoke back in the day we’d sometimes do a Boyzone/Westlife number, complete with a seated performance into a stand with the key change.
(https://media.tenor.com/kOfOxmaeQFoAAAAC/westlife-boyband.gif)
-
Nor are Boyzone, One Direction, New Kids on the Block, and BTS. :)
Don't forget about Boys to Men. Or was it Boys 2 Men. I don't remember.
-
WTF is Boyzone? :lol
When Phil was talking about the boys being back in town, he surely meant them.
He surely didn't.
-
Nor are Boyzone, One Direction, New Kids on the Block, and BTS. :)
Don't forget about Boys to Men. Or was it Boys 2 Men. I don't remember.
You joke, but...
:corn
-
Nor are Boyzone, One Direction, New Kids on the Block, and BTS. :)
Don't forget about Boys to Men. Or was it Boys 2 Men. I don't remember.
Boyz II Men. Silly name, but I think they might have been a step above some of those others. They have some decently-rated albums too it would appear, as does BTS for that matter.
-
Boyz II Men were legit.
-
Backstreet Boys are where it was at.
Time to break this old chestnut out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlBYdiXdUa8
-
(https://i.imgur.com/PBApt7l.gif)
-
Backstreet Boys are where it was at.
Time to break this old chestnut out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlBYdiXdUa8
I knew it was going to be this before even clicking. It is iconic :heart
-
When I saw Billy Joel in Philly a few years ago, Boyz II Men joined him on stage for The Longest Time (the song ;)), and it was pretty awesome.
-
C'mon Son! :laugh:
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b4/b9/22/b4b922af83cee51c39e53170f8260d66.jpg)
-
C'mon Son! :laugh:
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b4/b9/22/b4b922af83cee51c39e53170f8260d66.jpg)
Awe yeah! A Player Named Gus approves.
-
C'mon Son! :laugh:
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b4/b9/22/b4b922af83cee51c39e53170f8260d66.jpg)
(https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExb3c5YXBjbTdreWRkMzY3cHk4MWJrcWM1NGJrb29lNzgwdWc3ejNjbSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/89No6UHzuUam4/giphy.gif)
-
Here is the playlist filled out. Impressions tomorrow.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/07ghKZ4kKm3PTsfPlRkSQv (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/07ghKZ4kKm3PTsfPlRkSQv)
Two songs are not on Spotify.
Seventh Wonder - "Unbreakable"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDKiemSbFhs
Seventh Wonder - "Alley Cat"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS2hgttkwck
Buddyhunter1: Guilt Machine
1: Twisted Coil
2: Leland Street
Lethean: Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik
1: Skuggsjá
2: Ni Døtre av Hav
3: Ni Mødre av Sol
Tomislav95: Seventh Wonder
1: Unbreakable
2: Alley Cat
3: The Red River
Sacul: Fishmans
1: Night Cruising
2: Pokka Pokka
3: Weather Report
Vmadera00: The Mask of the Phantasm
1: Red/Blue/Black/White
2: Exit Wounds
3: Like a Wraith…
HOF: Stefano Panunzi
1: You and I
2: I'm Feeling So Blue
3: Those Words (Words Are All We Have)
4: The Sea Woman
senecadawg2: Leonard Cohen
1: Avalanche
2: You Want It Darker
3: Famous Blue Raincoat
4: Steer Your Way
SoundscapeMN: The Dear Hunter
1: Mandala
2: A Night On the Town
3: Waves
Nachtmerrie: MESTIS
1: Sedosa
2: Gentle Giant
3: Semila
4: El Mestizo
5: Pura Vida
TAC: Moonshade
1: The Antagonist
2: Everlasting Horizons
3: A Dreamless Slumber
ariich: Beyond the Bridge
1: The Primal Demand
2: Doorway To Salvation
3: The Difference Is Human
twosuitsluke: Better Lovers
1: Sacrificial Participant
2: 30 Under 13
3: Become So Small
4: God Made Me An Animal
Stadler: Rival Sons
1: All Over the Road
2: Pressure and Time
3: Feral Roots
4: Darkside
Puppies_On_Acid: Shylmagoghnar
1: Transience
2: As All Must Come To Pass
Evermind: Soen
1: Antagonist
2: Jinn
3: Lotus
soupytwist: Ghost
1: Square Hammer
2: Year Zero
3: Twenties
4: Witch Image
5: Life Eternal
Crow: Victory Over the Sun
1: Thorn Woos the Wound
-
oh yeah didn't say it yet but sending guilt machine and then not sending either season of denial or perfection? is an epic fail
sending both is too long so i get that
leland street is the one i always forget what it sounds like so it's probably better than over, and better than green and cream which i've never liked
twisted coil's good but it doesn't hold a candle to the other two
guilt machine is probably my favorite arjen album so i have strong opinions on it
-
oh yeah didn't say it yet but sending guilt machine and then not sending either season of denial or perfection? is an epic fail
sending both is too long so i get that
leland street is the one i always forget what it sounds like so it's probably better than over, and better than green and cream which i've never liked
twisted coil's good but it doesn't hold a candle to the other two
guilt machine is probably my favorite arjen album so i have strong opinions on it
- In order to send two songs I literally had to send either Leland Street or Over? which are the two weakest songs on the album but Leland Street is clearly the superior of the two
- Twisted Coil always seems to do well when I send it and is a great introduction to the album so I sent it over Season Of Denial or Perfection? even though they're just as good if not maybe a bit better
- Green And Cream is super underrated and might be my favorite song on the album, y'all need to appreciate it more, the groove is fucking sick and it's got more energy than any other song on the album
- Guilt Machine IS the best Arjen album, you are correct
-
Yeah, there we go! When I called you "gladiators" in the OP, that's what I wanted more of. (https://i.imgur.com/cxeka7S.gif)
-
The penultimate round, and we have GIFpressions again! After doing them in round 3 I'm glad I did them at least once, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to do them again. I pondered them every round again starting with round 6, but wasn't sure I'd be able to come up with enough good material. I still don't know if I did, but I tried!
I'll have regular early impressions as well probably on Sunday. Spreading these out should make the gap between comparisons and results a bit less as well.
1: Tomislav95 - Seventh Wonder
(https://i.giphy.com/media/IwYXRW8IXRftS/giphy.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/TEyJjF0neFsAAAAC/unbreakable.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/Jyoi6QM.gif)
2: TAC - Moonshade
(https://i.giphy.com/media/3oEduLK4QMPuHS1Td6/giphy.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/QKl8V69jjDUAAAAd/its-dark-and-were-wearing-sunglasses-sunglasses-at-night.gif)
3:
(https://media.tenor.com/rObe8p1aJgUAAAAd/slam-head-banger.gif)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/jq0GElfMAi8CGwTkBX/giphy.webp)
4: Puppies_On_Acid - Shylmagoghnar
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/SecondhandLazyBarb.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/r5E0uV2Facm2c/giphy.webp)
5:
(https://media.tenor.com/-1lhIUJ1vrYAAAAC/huge-guitar.gif)
(https://media.tenor.com/DDRJeskukPkAAAAC/science-mathematics.gif)
6:
(https://media.tenor.com/EVCicq5T6_UAAAAC/vending-machine-loop.gif)
(https://media.tenor.com/rzkKO61zNyoAAAAC/bh187-minion.gif)
7: Crow - Victory Over the Sun
(https://media.tenor.com/_OCVuSjrggcAAAAM/chaos-fire.gif)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/HSxKYjDLc9A6A/giphy.webp)
8: ariich - Beyond the Bridge
(https://i.giphy.com/media/12LnrobNhlcHbq/giphy.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/JHcYKt4AXEIAAAAC/doorway-anotherplace.gif)
9: senecadawg2 - Leonard Cohen
(https://i.imgur.com/l4qoE0U.gif)
(https://media.tenor.com/o-DtnKPn1IMAAAAC/nightmare-alley-guillermo-del-toro.gif)
10: SoundscapeMN - The Dear Hunter
(https://i.giphy.com/media/jQTJVqu3Q1hmg/giphy.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/uvdhe2dK7XgAAAAC/mandala.gif)
11:
(https://media.tenor.com/DH2eEBSGJGcAAAAC/will-ferrel-chris-katten.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/HJMBxFs.gif)
12: HOF - Stefano Panunzi
(https://i.giphy.com/media/3og0IMh7rRNPtNSK9q/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/pOEbLRT4SwD35IELiQ/giphy.webp)
13: soupytwist - Ghost
(https://media.tenor.com/g-hhS7PBl3IAAAAC/creepy-piano.gif)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/W5rXveDngb0D6/200w.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/4v5SJ9mKUFwAAAAM/pumpkins-halloween.gif)
14:
(https://i.imgur.com/ioSfC1a.gif)
(https://media.tenor.com/wFNRPaLEaVIAAAAC/star-wars-credits.gif)
15: Vmadera00 - Mask of the Phantasm
(https://media.tenor.com/HDkw8hmrSoMAAAAM/phantasm.gif)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/cAHfy7VD1uHdK/200w.webp)
16:
(https://media.tenor.com/IlMQQgr4rS4AAAAd/sun-viralhog.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/KdyR3Hu.gif)
17:
(https://media.tenor.com/nPYP4sxiU1QAAAAd/arriving-izuniy.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/vUjZ6hF.gif)
18:
(https://i.giphy.com/media/XbC8Uy0rEhdTtF6lVa/giphy.webp)
-
9? I have no idea. :lol
-
(https://i.imgur.com/9vo518q.gif)
-
no clue, so i'm going to guess in order until i'm right.
1?
actually 1 is obviously Seventh Wonder give me 2
-
Correct on Seventh Wonder, wrong on yours.
-
9 is Leonard Cohen
10 is The Dear Hunter
13 is Ghost
give me 3
-
Ghost is 13, right?
Is mine 8?
-
Going with 12, but maybe 8 or 17.
-
give me 4
-
Updated and added one.
Vmad and Crow didn't guess right.
-
Mask Of The Phantasm is obviously 15.
Phantasm scared the shit out of me when I was a kid.
-
TAC gets a pop culture reference that Vmad whiffed on for his own. Roulette history is being made! Keep it comin' guys!
-
Well, is Phantasm a pop culture reference? It might have been in 1982. :lol
I recognized the flying ball right away.
I have no clue on my own..
-
I mean, it's a movie...
-
Give me 5.
-
(https://i.imgur.com/RLKgXa1.gif)
-
I mean, it's a movie...
I'll have you know that I was a huge pop culture (movie) person....until I met my wife. She hates going to the movies.. I really used to love it. The thing is, I could watch movies at home, but I just can't get motivated.
The last non children's movie I saw at the theaters was The Blair Witch Project! :lol
-
Am I 3 or 4?
-
(https://i.imgur.com/UBbYa4z.gif)
-
TAC gets a pop culture reference that Vmad whiffed on for his own. Roulette history is being made! Keep it comin' guys!
:lol
-
4 or 17?
-
give me 6!
-
4
(https://i.imgur.com/uoPONfh.gif)
-
give me 7? :corn
-
(https://i.imgur.com/0O1HMkD.gif)
-
8?
-
(https://i.imgur.com/h1caUZV.gif)
-
Is mine the Vikings?
-
can i have an 8, bob?
-
Am I 5?
-
Honestly zero idea.
-
can i have an 8, bob?
You already had it the time before. The emoji served as an alternate impression as well. :p
All others are wrong. Some of these seem super obvious to me, at least if you think about them the right way. I'd like to think that it would be more clear if everyone had listened to the playlist (not really fair yet since it wasn't posted until last night), but I've listened to all the songs and still struggled to figure impressions out in other roulettes too. :lol
-
2 or 3?
-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRHBB6wJjv0
-
I might not repost the whole thing again until it's complete since that post is probably the biggest CPU-hog going on DTF, but here's a hotlink back to it for the new page.
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3017809#msg3017809 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3017809#msg3017809)
2
(https://i.imgur.com/FaR0RG7.gif)
-
Am I 5?
Years old? Sure!
-
Am I 5?
Years old? Sure!
STFU you Puppy Guppy.
-
Am I 5?
Years old? Sure!
STFU you Puppy Guppy.
Fun Fact: I used to have a personalized license plate that said MUDGUPY
-
Am I 5?
Years old? Sure!
STFU you Puppy Guppy.
Fun Fact: I used to have a personalized license plate that said MUDGUPY
What did that stand for?
-
Am I 5?
Years old? Sure!
STFU you Puppy Guppy.
Fun Fact: I used to have a personalized license plate that said MUDGUPY
What did that stand for?
Mud Guppy :lol
-
Am I 5?
Years old? Sure!
STFU you Puppy Guppy.
Fun Fact: I used to have a personalized license plate that said MUDGUPY
What did that stand for?
Mud Guppy :lol
It's not a fun fact if we don't know the significance of Mud Guppy. Was that your nickname?
-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRHBB6wJjv0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cd7HqFDwGo
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Surely 8 for me.
-
Surely 8 for me.
Indeed. I even snuck Glasser and his spectacular exit of shame in there. ;D
-
Am I 5?
Years old? Sure!
BTW, I totally thought of this same joke, but I think I was already nearing my daily allotment of TAC antagonism, so I was mentally wagering who would make it first for me, and it was between you and Buddy. :lol
-
Am I 5?
Years old? Sure!
BTW, I totally thought of this same joke, but I think I was already nearing my daily allotment of TAC antagonism, so I was mentally wagering who would make it first for me, and it was between you and Buddy. :lol
(https://www.gifs.nl/media/what-gifs-WvnYVo.gif)
I don't antogonize TAC if he wasn't even talking to me. Are you confusing me with King? :lol
-
Am I 5?
Years old? Sure!
BTW, I totally thought of this same joke, but I think I was already nearing my daily allotment of TAC antagonism, so I was mentally wagering who would make it first for me, and it was between you and Buddy. :lol
:lol
It's all good!
-
Ok, here are the solved GIFpressions. I'll have the normal ones up tonight.
Round 13 GIFpressions:
1: Tomislav95 - Seventh Wonder
(https://i.giphy.com/media/IwYXRW8IXRftS/giphy.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/TEyJjF0neFsAAAAC/unbreakable.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/Jyoi6QM.gif)
2: TAC - Moonshade
(https://i.giphy.com/media/3oEduLK4QMPuHS1Td6/giphy.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/QKl8V69jjDUAAAAd/its-dark-and-were-wearing-sunglasses-sunglasses-at-night.gif)
3: twosuitsluke - Better Lovers
(https://media.tenor.com/rObe8p1aJgUAAAAd/slam-head-banger.gif)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/jq0GElfMAi8CGwTkBX/giphy.webp)
4: Puppies_On_Acid - Shylmagoghnar
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/SecondhandLazyBarb.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/r5E0uV2Facm2c/giphy.webp)
5: Nachtmerrie - MESTIS
(https://media.tenor.com/-1lhIUJ1vrYAAAAC/huge-guitar.gif)
(https://media.tenor.com/DDRJeskukPkAAAAC/science-mathematics.gif)
6: Buddyhunter1 - Guilt Machine
(https://media.tenor.com/EVCicq5T6_UAAAAC/vending-machine-loop.gif)
(https://media.tenor.com/rzkKO61zNyoAAAAC/bh187-minion.gif)
7: Crow - Victory Over the Sun
(https://media.tenor.com/_OCVuSjrggcAAAAM/chaos-fire.gif)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/HSxKYjDLc9A6A/giphy.webp)
8: ariich - Beyond the Bridge
(https://i.giphy.com/media/12LnrobNhlcHbq/giphy.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/JHcYKt4AXEIAAAAC/doorway-anotherplace.gif)
9: senecadawg2 - Leonard Cohen
(https://i.imgur.com/l4qoE0U.gif)
(https://media.tenor.com/o-DtnKPn1IMAAAAC/nightmare-alley-guillermo-del-toro.gif)
10: SoundscapeMN - The Dear Hunter
(https://i.giphy.com/media/jQTJVqu3Q1hmg/giphy.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/uvdhe2dK7XgAAAAC/mandala.gif)
11: Sacul - Fishmans
(https://media.tenor.com/DH2eEBSGJGcAAAAC/will-ferrel-chris-katten.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/HJMBxFs.gif)
12: HOF - Stefano Panunzi
(https://i.giphy.com/media/3og0IMh7rRNPtNSK9q/giphy.webp)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/pOEbLRT4SwD35IELiQ/giphy.webp)
13: soupytwist - Ghost
(https://media.tenor.com/g-hhS7PBl3IAAAAC/creepy-piano.gif)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/W5rXveDngb0D6/200w.webp)
(https://media.tenor.com/4v5SJ9mKUFwAAAAM/pumpkins-halloween.gif)
14: Evermind - Soen
(https://i.imgur.com/ioSfC1a.gif)
(https://media.tenor.com/wFNRPaLEaVIAAAAC/star-wars-credits.gif)
15: Vmadera00 - Mask of the Phantasm
(https://media.tenor.com/HDkw8hmrSoMAAAAM/phantasm.gif)
(https://i.giphy.com/media/cAHfy7VD1uHdK/200w.webp)
16: Stadler - Rival Sons
(https://media.tenor.com/IlMQQgr4rS4AAAAd/sun-viralhog.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/KdyR3Hu.gif)
17: Lethean - Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik
(https://media.tenor.com/nPYP4sxiU1QAAAAd/arriving-izuniy.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/vUjZ6hF.gif)
18: Elite - ?
(https://i.giphy.com/media/XbC8Uy0rEhdTtF6lVa/giphy.webp)
-
Oh I'd have never guessed that for Fishmans, nice I guess :lol
-
So overall this is seeming like quite a strong round again. After three rounds in a row of tighter constraints either a number of you have been saving some of the best for (near) last, possibly gotten a better handle on what I like, or maybe just luck again, but no matter if the music's good.
Round 13 Early Impressions:
1: This is definitely a comfortable sound, but will it stand out?
2: Back on the roller coaster, here we go!
3: HOF - Stefano Panunzi - What if the weather channel music was way cooler?
4: ariich - Beyond the Bridge - This seems like such low-hanging fruit I'm surprised it took this long for someone to pluck it.
5: Puppies_On_Acid - Shylmagoghnar - This might be the best thing you've sent yet.
6: Now here is some relative minimalism that is mostly done right.
7: Buddyhunter1 - Guilt Machine - Well, this is better than I remember. Why didn't I already know this? Oops.
8: twosuitsluke - Better Lovers - There are some interesting elements here, though it might be a bit chaotic and manic for me.
9: I didn't get the hype about them when they came out, and I still don't really get it now, but this does improve my opinion of them a decent amount.
10: TAC - Moonshade - My preferences in this style probably seem arbitrary from the outside, and though this doesn't quite hit the bullseye, it's still pretty good.
11: It's a bit too abstract and weird for me, but at least it's definitely better than I recalled.
12: Well this is definitely the biggest surprise of the round.
13: soupytwist - Ghost - Good thing I'm judging this entry, not the participants or various slices of music fandom.
14: Vmadera00 - Mask of the Phantasm - Not only does this have more memorable vocals, it also has cool trippy guitars and crazy drumming.
15: I often find this style enjoyable but not exciting, but this one has a little somethin' extra to it.
16: Evermind - Soen - There's no good reason I don't already know this band well enough to ban them, but I don't, so you're probably grabbing the free points on the table that no one else noticed.
17: Lots of cool ideas here, but it seems like it's missing something melodically.
-
10?
-
(https://i.imgur.com/UBbYa4z.gif)
-
1 or 2?
-
(https://i.imgur.com/9vo518q.gif)
-
1 or 3
-
3 maybe?
-
probably 2! if not, then 8
-
4 or 7?
-
Could be 4, 9 or 16?
-
8?
-
9 I guess, because of the hype comment.
-
Updated, although Crow is close, and I'll let the drama on soupy's hang for a bit longer first.
-
1 or 10 for me?
-
5, 10, or 16
-
Updated.
-
17?
-
Then maybe 14?
-
Ouch!
-
Updated.
-
OK final guess, 5 or 12.
-
16.
-
5
:tup
-
So overall this is seeming like quite a strong round again. After three rounds in a row of tighter constraints either a number of you have been saving some of the best for (near) last, possibly gotten a better handle on what I like, or maybe just luck again, but no matter if the music's good.
Round 13 Early Impressions:
1: This is definitely a comfortable sound, but will it stand out?
2: Back on the roller coaster, here we go!
3: HOF - Stefano Panunzi - What if the weather channel music was way cooler?
4: ariich - Beyond the Bridge - This seems like such low-hanging fruit I'm surprised it took this long for someone to pluck it.
5: This might be the best thing you've sent yet.
6: Now here is some relative minimalism that is mostly done right.
7: Buddyhunter1 - Guilt Machine - Well, this is better than I remember. Why didn't I already know this? Oops.
8: twosuitsluke - Better Lovers - There are some interesting elements here, though it might be a bit chaotic and manic for me.
9: I didn't get the hype about them when they came out, and I still don't really get it now, but this does improve my opinion of them a decent amount.
10: TAC - Moonshade - My preferences in this style probably seem arbitrary from the outside, and though this doesn't quite hit the bullseye, it's still pretty good.
11: It's a bit too abstract and weird for me, but at least it's definitely better than I recalled.
12: Well this is definitely the biggest surprise of the round.
13: Good thing I'm judging this entry, not the participants or various slices of music fandom.
14: Vmadera00 - Mask of the Phantasm - Not only does this have more memorable vocals, it also has cool trippy guitars and crazy drumming.
15: I often find this style enjoyable but not exciting, but this one has a little somethin' extra to it.
16: There's no good reason I don't already know this band well enough to ban them, but I don't, so you're probably grabbing the free points on the table that no one else noticed.
17: Lots of cool ideas here, but it seems like it's missing something melodically.
By the way, they used to play "Mihalis" from David Gilmour's first solo album quite a lot during the "Weather on the 8's" or whatever it was.
-
Updated, although Crow is close, and I'll let the drama on soupy's hang for a bit longer first.
Drama
Drama
Drama
Has enough time passed? Let's try optimistically 12. And then also could it be 13? - Maybe because of the TikTok fandom?
-
I know very little about TikTok fandoms, but yes, that's the one.
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I know very little about TikTok fandoms, but yes, that's the one.
Wasn't really aware of any other issues?
-
I guess it depends upon what music media you consume.
-
1 or 15 I guess
-
(https://i.imgur.com/h1caUZV.gif)
-
1, 5 or 16?
-
8 months and this thing is STILL going on??
(https://media2.giphy.com/media/NRXleEopnqL3a/giphy.gif)
This has to be the longest non-hiatus/abandoned roulette ever, no?
-
8 months and this thing is STILL going on??
(https://media2.giphy.com/media/NRXleEopnqL3a/giphy.gif)
This has to be the longest non-hiatus/abandoned roulette ever, no?
We've had 4 others start and finish since this one started!
-
This is the "Light of Day, Day of Darkness" of roulettes.
-
I gather somewhere about 60% of the duration is simply from Litho typing.
This is the "Light of Day, Day of Darkness" of roulettes.
It's the King Gizzard of roulettes!
-
16?
(https://i.imgur.com/ZdqsIxq.gif)
-
I gather somewhere about 60% of the duration is simply from Litho typing.
This is the "Light of Day, Day of Darkness" of roulettes.
It's the King Gizzard of roulettes!
Here I am at the end after processing all the songs.
(https://i.giphy.com/media/kQ2zIWHb9yEes/giphy.webp)
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It's the King Gizzard of roulettes!
Litho gonna pull a Gizztober and announce three extra rounds in October, can’t wait.
I gather somewhere about 60% of the duration is simply from Litho typing.
This is the "Light of Day, Day of Darkness" of roulettes.
It's the King Gizzard of roulettes!
Here I am at the end after processing all the songs.
(https://i.giphy.com/media/kQ2zIWHb9yEes/giphy.webp)
The spatter becomes a spray, the spray becomes a stream
And the stream becomes the waterfall
Munt is finally cascading from my input
The creeping sick moves from my breath
And into my heart where it is pumped to every inch of my body
I feel it snake through the knots of my deepest veins
And eats through the walls of my cells
It bleeds through the pores of my skin
And it smells good
It drops from my crotch on to the floor
And with a heavy slap it hits the ground and spreads
Inside my body
The pressure is too great
And like some ancient geyser I erupt
My head hits the roof and my body breaks apart with the force of the liquid blast
Vomit bomb
Chunky shrapnel tears through everything around me
I am vomit vomiting
I grow and disperse
Bleeding through walls
I force myself upon others
I slide up legs and crawl down throats
-
This is the "Light of Day, Day of Darkness" of roulettes.
it's the bull of heaven of roulettes, actually
-
9?
-
Updated for the new page.
Round 13 Early Impressions:
1: This is definitely a comfortable sound, but will it stand out?
2: Back on the roller coaster, here we go!
3: HOF - Stefano Panunzi - What if the weather channel music was way cooler?
4: ariich - Beyond the Bridge - This seems like such low-hanging fruit I'm surprised it took this long for someone to pluck it.
5: Puppies_On_Acid - Shylmagoghnar - This might be the best thing you've sent yet.
6: Now here is some relative minimalism that is mostly done right.
7: Buddyhunter1 - Guilt Machine - Well, this is better than I remember. Why didn't I already know this? Oops.
8: twosuitsluke - Better Lovers - There are some interesting elements here, though it might be a bit chaotic and manic for me.
9: SoundscapeMN - The Dear Hunter - I didn't get the hype about them when they came out, and I still don't really get it now, but this does improve my opinion of them a decent amount.
10: TAC - Moonshade - My preferences in this style probably seem arbitrary from the outside, and though this doesn't quite hit the bullseye, it's still pretty good.
11: Crow - Victory Over the Sun - It's a bit too abstract and weird for me, but at least it's definitely better than I recalled.
12: Well this is definitely the biggest surprise of the round.
13: soupytwist - Ghost - Good thing I'm judging this entry, not the participants or various slices of music fandom.
14: Vmadera00 - Mask of the Phantasm - Not only does this have more memorable vocals, it also has cool trippy guitars and crazy drumming.
15: I often find this style enjoyable but not exciting, but this one has a little somethin' extra to it.
16: Evermind - Soen - There's no good reason I don't already know this band well enough to ban them, but I don't, so you're probably grabbing the free points on the table that no one else noticed.
17: Lots of cool ideas here, but it seems like it's missing something melodically.
-
You could've left my impression on the last page. :lol
I might be sending my EP tonight.
-
8 months and this thing is STILL going on??
(https://media2.giphy.com/media/NRXleEopnqL3a/giphy.gif)
This has to be the longest non-hiatus/abandoned roulette ever, no?
(https://media.giphy.com/media/FoH28ucxZFJZu/giphy.gif)
-
uhh. 17? idk. you're wrong if it's that one though.
-
15
-
(https://i.imgur.com/9vo518q.gif)
uhh. 17? idk. you're wrong if it's that one though.
It's not that one.
-
well it's definitely not 1 or 6 which only leaves 11, 12, and 15
two of these are good impressions so it's probably 11 but the "better than i recalled" is throwing me off
-
so it's probably 11 but the "better than i recalled" is throwing me off
11 it is. And if you "recall", my PM indicated that I'd already heard it once. :p
-
i'm literally a crow do you think i can read
-
i'm literally a crow do you think i can read
You can type with your beak, so....
-
i'm literally a crow do you think i can read
Yep.
(https://e0.pxfuel.com/wallpapers/699/994/desktop-wallpaper-phone-reading-raven-android-phone-book-crow-thumbnail.jpg)
-
i'm literally a crow do you think i can read
You can type with your beak, so....
why do you think my rankdown took me so long
-
Here are the early impressions filled out. I should have comparisons ready tomorrow.
Round 13 Early Impressions:
1: Tomislav95 - Seventh Wonder - This is definitely a comfortable sound, but will it stand out?
2: Sacul - Fishmans - Back on the roller coaster, here we go!
3: HOF - Stefano Panunzi - What if the weather channel music was way cooler?
4: ariich - Beyond the Bridge - This seems like such low-hanging fruit I'm surprised it took this long for someone to pluck it.
5: Puppies_On_Acid - Shylmagoghnar - This might be the best thing you've sent yet.
6: Lethean - Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik - Now here is some relative minimalism that is mostly done right.
7: Buddyhunter1 - Guilt Machine - Well, this is better than I remember. Why didn't I already know this? Oops.
8: twosuitsluke - Better Lovers - There are some interesting elements here, though it might be a bit chaotic and manic for me.
9: SoundscapeMN - The Dear Hunter - I didn't get the hype about them when they came out, and I still don't really get it now, but this does improve my opinion of them a decent amount.
10: TAC - Moonshade - My preferences in this style probably seem arbitrary from the outside, and though this doesn't quite hit the bullseye, it's still pretty good.
11: Crow - Victory Over the Sun - It's a bit too abstract and weird for me, but at least it's definitely better than I recalled.
12: senecadawg2 - Leonard Cohen - Well this is definitely the biggest surprise of the round.
13: soupytwist - Ghost - Good thing I'm judging this entry, not the participants or various slices of music fandom.
14: Vmadera00 - Mask of the Phantasm - Not only does this have more memorable vocals, it also has cool trippy guitars and crazy drumming.
15: Stadler - Rival Sons - I often find this style enjoyable but not exciting, but this one has a little somethin' extra to it.
16: Evermind - Soen - There's no good reason I don't already know this band well enough to ban them, but I don't, so you're probably grabbing the free points on the table that no one else noticed.
17: Nachtmerrie - MESTIS - Lots of cool ideas here, but it seems like it's missing something melodically.
-
13: soupytwist - Ghost - Good thing I'm judging this entry, not the participants or various slices of music fandom.
Here a quick looky round the 'net and still don't really get this.
-
13: soupytwist - Ghost - Good thing I'm judging this entry, not the participants or various slices of music fandom.
Here a quick looky round the 'net and still don't really get this.
I think it's because some of us expressed disliked for Ghost, so he is saying it's a good things he is not considering our opinion of the band.
-
13: soupytwist - Ghost - Good thing I'm judging this entry, not the participants or various slices of music fandom.
Here a quick looky round the 'net and still don't really get this.
They're also one of the biggest and most polarizing metal-ish acts of the past dozen years or so. I'll probably get into it a bit more in the writeup.
-
13: soupytwist - Ghost - Good thing I'm judging this entry, not the participants or various slices of music fandom.
Here a quick looky round the 'net and still don't really get this.
They're one of the biggest and most polarizing metal-ish acts of the past dozen years or so. I'll probably get into it a bit more in the writeup.
This might not have been what you were implying in your impression at all, but big and polarizing doesn't automatically mean a shit fanbase. They're not Tool, at least. :lol
-
13: soupytwist - Ghost - Good thing I'm judging this entry, not the participants or various slices of music fandom.
Here a quick looky round the 'net and still don't really get this.
They're one of the biggest and most polarizing metal-ish acts of the past dozen years or so. I'll probably get into it a bit more in the writeup.
This might not have been what you were implying in your impression at all, but big and polarizing doesn't automatically mean a shit fanbase. They're not Tool, at least. :lol
Or Dream Theater. :neverusethis:
-
2: Sacul - Fishmans - Back on the roller coaster, here we go!
If your GIFpressions weren't obtuse enough, this actual impression is on another level of indirection :lol
-
Glad to be of help. :lol The comparison will be even more useful. :p
-
I think whenever I run another roulette I'll try to have the most weird, unhinged impressions I can muster ;D
-
Round 13 Comparisons:
twosuitsluke: Carpenters -> Better Lovers: v
ariich: Ultravox -> Beyond the Bridge: ^
Nachtmerrie: Golden Earring -> MESTIS: v
Sacul: Talk Talk -> Fishmans: v
TAC: Lucifer's Friend -> Moonshade: v
Buddyhunter1: Comus -> Guilt Machine: ^
Elite: Jeff Beck -> ??? : :dunno:
Lethean: Crimson Glory -> Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik: ^
Crow: 10cc -> Victory Over the Sun: v
Vmadera00: Steely Dan -> The Mask of the Phantasm: ^
Puppies_On_Acid: The Cult -> Shylmagoghnar: ^
Stadler: Duran Duran -> Rival Sons: ^
Tomislav95: Dire Straits -> Seventh Wonder: ^
Evermind: Dire Straits -> Soen: ^
SoundscapeMN: Michael Nesmith -> The Dear Hunter: ^
soupytwist: Electric Light Orchestra -> Ghost: ^
HOF: The Blue Nile -> Stefano Panunzi: ^
senecadawg2: Bob Dylan -> Leonard Cohen: ^
-
After that first impression it better be ^ :biggrin:
-
EP sent!
-
Hmm, one more 9, possibly? :corn
-
excited
-
Results are getting pretty close. Let's say Monday to be safe, though tomorrow is a possibility, we'll see.
-
:corn :corn :corn
-
Round 13 Comparisons:
Lethean: Crimson Glory -> Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik: ^
I completely agree. :)
Here are the early impressions filled out. I should have comparisons ready tomorrow.
6: Lethean - Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik - Now here is some relative minimalism that is mostly done right.
Interesting. I don't think I'd have described it as minimalism, but then again I suppose I've never really thought about music that way.
-
That's why I put the "relative" qualifier there. I know it's not "true" minimalism. I may seem a bit pedantic at times, but trust me, I am a true rank amateur compared to many others I've encountered.
-
I may seem a bit pedantic at times
(https://64.media.tumblr.com/ae354175dbf395a6eef7793ff9958d85/tumblr_nr5psmRfrf1tnjoguo9_250.gif)
-
(https://i.giphy.com/media/xBqg5gAf1xINizpek6/giphy.webp)
-
So this was the highest scoring round yet. Some of you are definitely trying to pull out all the stops now. It's also the second best vocal round of the whole roulette, behind round 5.
---
Sacul - Fishmans - "Night Cruising", "Pokka Pokka", "Weather Report"
Early Impression - "Back on the roller coaster, here we go!"
Final Summary:
There are a variety of pleasing moments instrumentally, especially the main groove in "Weather Report", but the ideas don't quite sustain the length of the tracks, and the vocals are often too strange and warbly for me.
Details:
Fishmans is one of those groups that Rate Your Music has really latched onto, and I had heard Long Season awhile back and thought it had some interesting ideas, but was rather underwhelmed by it. And that continues here. However, as random as it might seem, the old Saturday Night Live "Night at the Roxbury" GIF actually does kind of capture the strength of these tunes, primarily "Weather Report". I dig the chilled trip-hop-esque groove there, and it has a sweet bassline over a pretty cool chord progression. But, the track is quite long at almost 9 minutes, and without quite enough variation or melodic appeal to keep it from overstaying its welcome.
The alternate version of this song (music video?, in-studio performance?, I'm not sure) actually has some different ideas that would have helped a bit, though that one is even longer at approaching 12 minutes. It has a cool doubled guitar/violin melody towards the end with ornamentation that would have boosted it a tad, for example. If you could maybe combine the ideas from the two into a 6-7 minute-ish track that wasn't quite so repetitive it still wouldn't be topping the round, but it would be somewhat more effective. I'm not generally a fan of single edits, but this might be one that needs it.
It does have a few other salient aspects though, like that filter-swept sound effect that pops up at 1:24 and a few other spots, the cascading sound effect at 3:00, or the hand percussion in some spots. "Night Cruising" has a nice piano motif at 4:50, and then "Pokka Pokka" has a neat part at 1:04 with the guitar riff and chromatic percussion, and the string arrangement later on is nice as well. Although, that weird sound at 3:02 in "Weather Report" (maybe a pitch-shifted vocal sample) doesn't really work for me. The guitar tones are a bit much on the fuzzier/muddier side, particularly in "Pokka Pokka", though it's not a rock/metal track so it's not as big a deal as some other songs. The electric piano tone and synth pad are a bit bland as well.
The key thing holding back all the songs though is the vocals. They're just really strange. Dream pop-adjacent music often goes for more floating, ethereal-style vocals, but these are just often kind of bizarre. 3:23 in "Night Cruising" for the next minute or so is probably the worst offender, where it just sounds like out of tune, squeaky caterwauling.
Score: 6.5/10
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Crow - Victory Over the Sun - "Thorn Woos the Wound"
Early Impression - "It's a bit too abstract and weird for me, but at least it's definitely better than I recalled."
Final Summary:
This is really not my style of music, but it is better than I was anticipating and certainly has thought-provoking ideas worth investigating.
Details:
Based on my previous listen to this song and minor recollection of some banter about it in ariich's roulette, and my general feeling about this style, I was worrying that it would get one of the lowest roulette scores yet. And well, I'm happy to report that it's not actually all that bad. Probably not the score you want for it, but there's a lot more to appreciate about it than I thought there'd be.
So generally I'm not that into anything too much resembling dissodeath/dissoblack. I have my exceptions, but for the most part it's just a lot of weird experimentation for the sake of it without anything very melodic or memorable to latch onto for replay. There is a curiosity about some of it that I'll get into a bit later, but the pop hook part of my brain is still pretty active even in more extreme genres. The closest thing to an exception on a larger scale is the Swedish old-school death scene and some of the adjacent crust punk/D-beat bands, where the Boss HM-2 pedal guitar tone and other elements intoxicate me, even though it's generally pretty grimy and not particularly tuneful music. But as I think Buddy described it in ariich's roulette, there's a "sour" quality to a lot of the dissonant, avant-garde style bands that just doesn't sit right with me. If anything, I'm generally more about the mixture or contrast of sweet and sour.
Overall this does lean a bit too much for me towards the latter, with a lot of dissonant or even borderline atonal riffs that I just don't tend to remember well, but it does have a number of positive qualities. While still not quite my ideal, the rhythm guitar parts mixed with the bass in spots gives this a bit weightier tone than a lot of the atmospheric black metal and such I've been receiving and heard in other roulettes and my own listening. So that's a few steps of progress. It's also nice to hear a lot of more gratifying independent lines for the bass, which is all too commonly put on the backburner in black metal mixes.
I find it fascinating that you don't listen to much older music, because the way the drums are captured on this track sounds very 70s-esque. The bass drums have a bit more attack to them, but everything else about the drums has a fairly dry retro vibe. 5:44 in particular sounds like a bit more outré version of parts of Opeth's "The Garroter". 7:54 is especially interesting, with a kind of creepy ambiance that reminds me of the mellower moments of FVNERALS, and maybe a hint of Bohren & der Club of Gore. The harmonized arpeggios at 15:52 are definitely a little otherworldly-sounding, though just a bit too on the queasy side of being in tune with each other. Super-long songs like this are a bit harder to evaluate in general, particularly in less comfortable styles, but it was fascinating to watch some common threads weave together, like a clean restatement at 14:10 of a much earlier theme from 1:19.
Another challenge with this type of project is it's 90+% the work of one person. Like other earlier submissions in the roulette such as Gallowbraid, I find the idea of solo multi-instrumentalists conceptually thrilling, being a multi-instrumentalist myself, but it's just so rare for them to be as successful in my listening as band projects. It just seems there's often a synergy and cohesion lost without more collaborative input.
However, I am quite taken with the idea of the microtonal music on the previous album of VotS on an instrument that Vivian made dividing the scale up into 17 equal parts. I may not be crazy about the final product there either, but I'm definitely curious to at least give it a listen if you have a track suggestion or two. I like a lot of Indian and Middle Eastern music that has microtonal elements, and I feel it's generally underexplored in more western genres, so that certainly piques my interest.
Overall, this sound is just not and might never be in my wheelhouse, but it did exceed my expectations, so that's a start. And I don't know if this is any further consolation or not, but at some point Youtube auto-played "Madeline Becoming Judy", which had a really irresistible intro melodically, and I actually enjoyed that one a bit more than this soft song - I think the more prominent synths in it helped some.
There's one other detail relating to this album that I'll PM you about shortly.
Score: 6.75/10
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twosuitsluke - Better Lovers - "Sacrificial Participant", "30 Under 13", "Become So Small", "God Made Me An Animal"
Early Impression - "There are some interesting elements here, though it might be a bit chaotic and manic for me."
Final Summary:
The wilder songs are still a bit much for me, but "Sacrificial Participant" is such a strong song, and Greg Puciato's performance is mostly stellar enough that I've enjoyed it much more than I thought I might.
Details:
This was a really hard one to score. The bulk of the last three tracks are not too far off from Gallows that you sent a few rounds ago - perhaps a bit heavier, but with less varied instrumentation. It's that 90s/00s style of metallic hardcore/mathcore that I associate with Converge, Dillinger Escape Plan and such that I've never really been able to get into. It's too over the top and crazy for me generally, with a lot of panic chords and random-feeling riffage that I'd have to listen to dozens of times to remember anything specific about.
But "Sacrificial Participant" is something a bit different. It's much more melodic in the riffing and leads and with the clean chorus, is much closer to a lot of the melodic metalcore that I like. Plus, it has that beautiful atmospheric middle section. Even the riff at 1:32 has some pretty tricky rhythmic arrangements to it - I wasn't quite expecting a prog feel from them, but there one is. If all the songs were like it this would certainly score much higher. Incidentally, it's the one that online fans of this band seem to dislike the most. Go figure. The title track is a bit more melodic as well, though it isn't quite as effective. The lead line at 1:59 is rather nice though, or the heavier riff at 3:34. It's certainly the second best track of the batch. "30 Under 13" also has a fun change halfway through with the impromptu thrash riff and solo.
The other thing that pulls this up a decent amount is that I've kind of become fascinated with Greg Puciato ever since Sacul sent The Black Queen a few rounds ago. Not too many people have had the type of life he's had, and produced the variety of music he has. But here specifically, while I'm pickier about hardcore-style vocals in general, he has the sort of voice that works perfectly for it, and it's hard to believe the same set of lungs is producing such a range of sounds even just between this band and TBQ. It's fascinating how discovering that someone is skilled at something you didn't realize about them can make you reappraise their other abilities as well.
I really want to hear Greg in a 00s-styled melodeath band - just imagine him replacing both Tomas Lindberg and Tom Englund's parts in Nightrage's "Hero" that I sent in ariich's roulette - he'd be perfect for it. His delivery is a bit too nasal in the cleans on the title track here and maybe leans a bit much on falsetto in the "Sacrificial Participant" bridge, but broadly speaking his performance is easily the strongest aspect of the band.
Between you sending this and Sacul sending Converge and The Black Queen, I suppose I'm going to have to revisit a bunch of albums from both Converge and Dillinger Escape Plan after the roulette. I'm expecting much of their music to be too ugly and frantic and not tuneful enough for me, but scattered among their albums I may find some other more melodic and captivating tracks that might appeal to me more, such as "Sacrificial Participant" or "Jane Doe" or "Unretrofied".
It's a shame they had to come out in such a high-scoring round, because this isn't really a bad score at all despite the lower ranking, there are just too many stronger submissions this time.
Score: 7.5/10
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Nachtmerrie - MESTIS - "Sedosa", "Gentle Giant", "Semila", "El Mestizo", "Pura Vida"
Early Impression - "Lots of cool ideas here, but it seems like it's missing something melodically."
Final Summary:
I'm glad to gain a deeper appreciation for the playing of Javier Reyes, but while chock-full of intriguing song ideas, they still feel too much like skeletal demos that need a stronger melody to really take off as songs.
Details:
And here we have another entry that in more normal rounds wouldn't rank this low. So I've always suspected that Javier Reyes was a much more important part of Animals As Leaders than he is generally given credit for, and this batch of songs certainly lends credence to that notion. He is clearly a quite skilled player, and there are a lot of snippets here that would be good building blocks for a song. But a good chunk of it feels a bit incomplete to me. This is kind of back somewhat to earlier artists you sent like Jo Quail and Amenra, who have cool sounds, but seem more like idea generation sessions that need an extra element to really make them stand out. I like a fair amount of djent-derived or adjacent music, but the artists that really rise above almost always have stronger melodic components to elevate the songs above just collections of cool riffs, like Plini, Intervals, David Maxim Micic and such.
This is kind of a peek behind the curtain of AAL to see that their music has more of Javier's musical stamp than most people (including myself) realize, but I think is better as a visual or live experience to see the noteworthy things that he is playing than as a pure listening experience. I have the same challenge with Animals As Leaders themselves, for that matter. While I quite like them, it's more enjoyable to watch the playthroughs that Tosin and Matt have up generally than it is to put their albums on. Even then, Tosin often adds a bit more of a melodic component than I hear with what Javier does with MESTIS.
"Sedosa" is my favorite tune of this batch. It has the most engaging vibe, and is the closest to having a more prominent melody. The others are loaded with a lot of inventive riffs and chord work (some particularly great jazzier chords in various spots), with a lot of percussive flair that in the context of AAL most people probably just assumed was Tosin, and some cool basslines. But as tasty as much of it is, it's still evidence of why rhythm guitarists, while I would agree are often undervalued, still tend not to make it as high up on my favorite guitarist lists - my ear is just too drawn to more prominent melodies. Even songs like "Pura Vida" that have some more melodic moments just don't make them quite arresting enough.
The other thing is that while I'm thrilled to hear that Matt Garstka was involved in the drum programming, it's disappointing that they remained programmed rather than being played. I'm not sure it really directly affected the score per se, but even in more precise, complex and technical music, I still think it's important for that human element to come into play. As good as drum programs have gotten over time, they're still not and probably never will be a complete substitute for the more tactile nuances that come with actually playing the songs.
Score: 7.5/10
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SoundscapeMN - The Dear Hunter - "Mandala", "A Night On the Town", "Waves"
Early Impression - "I didn't get the hype about them when they came out, and I still don't really get it now, but this does improve my opinion of them a decent amount."
Final Summary:
This band and style remain a bit of an enigma for me, but the vocals don't bother me as much as I was concerned they could, there is an appealing variety of instrumentation, and "Waves" is an especially notable song.
Details:
When you sent them, I was initially quite worried. My experiences with them have been limited to the first couple albums, which I heard when there was a lot of buzz about their release in the first few years. I'm pretty sure I heard but didn't even rate Act II, but Act I has my default RYM "I don't outright dislike this but I'm quite underwhelmed with it" score. I think I mentioned earlier this year that I like the vocal arrangement of "Battesimo del fuoco" in spite of myself and listen to it occasionally.
But Casey's vocal timbre there and on what I recalled of the rest of the album and possibly the next was too much in the tradition of post-hardcore-derived singing that often rubs me the wrong way, which makes sense given he came from The Receiving End of Sirens. And Prog Archives says "falling somewhere between The Mars Volta and Coheed and Cambria, The Dear Hunter may appeal to some fans of either band". Given my lukewarm scores for those two in earlier rounds, this could have been a disaster.
Well, I'm relieved to report that Casey's vocals have gotten more palatable over the years. I still don't particularly love them, but they're much less off-putting on these tracks than I somewhat dreaded they could be. "Mandala" from '11 still has a bit of a nasal edge to it, but the '15 tracks soften it a tad more.
I've been having a bit of a more complicated relationship with rock opera-related music this year. I touched on this in my writeup for Alice Cooper that TAC sent a few rounds ago since one his songs there has those elements, but historically I haven't really considered myself a fan of rock operas despite loving Ayreon and a few other adjacent artists. I can't entirely put my finger on what it is, since I do tend to like the idea of drama in music as a musical tool. Dirt Poor Robins has been challenging my feelings about the approach, but I'm still not totally onboard with it, and they remain one of a number of outliers in my taste.
So "A Night On the Town" definitely leans into that a bit more. I do appreciate the variety of songwriting and instrumentation (particularly the oboe towards the end), which gives a lot of layers to it. It's just that much of it doesn't fully connect with me, and I'm not entirely sure why. 6:02 is probably the most unusual part of it, the augmented piano arpeggio and slight detuning with the strings gives it this hazy feel - it seems suited for a sci-fi reveal scene in an A24 film.
"Mandala" has more dream-like ambient and electronic flourishes, which I enjoy texturally, but the songwriting doesn't have quite the impact I wish it had. "Waves" on the other hand, actually clicks. That is easily the strongest song here. The melodies feel more compelling, as do the string arrangements and various other instrumental orchestrations. Idiosyncratic pseudo-intangibles like the key help a bit as well.
Score: 7.75/10
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HOF - Stefano Panunzi - "You and I", "I'm Feeling So Blue", "Those Words (Words Are All We Have)", "The Sea Woman"
Early Impression - "What if the weather channel music was way cooler?"
Final Summary:
There are a lot of rich instrumental textures here, and while a couple of the songs are a bit plain melodically, "I'm Feeling So Blue" is quite a vibrant highlight.
Details:
One of the things I'm liking about the 20-minute length for these rounds is that the sheer volume of music relative to the average single-song roulette gives a greater chance that at least one particular song will resonate with me. There are a number of these, including two in a row now, that would have scored somewhat less were it not for one exceptional song. But it's probably quite difficult to predict which one they will be ahead of time.
In this case, it's "I'm Feeling So Blue". That cut is just outstanding. It has some of the most piquant and enthralling synthetic textures of the whole roulette. That layered patch at 0:19 with the ethereal synth lead and percussive bell timbre is such a dazzling sound. There are also some splendid bass lines, and the flugelhorn and piano flourishes are scintillating additions. The mellower timbre of the flugelhorn makes it a much better solo instrument than the trumpet in my experience. But it is kind of a kitchen sink song, since I didn't realize I needed some rock guitar chording towards the end, but hey, why not? Throw that in too!
The other selections are pleasant enough, but aren't nearly as notable. "The Sea Woman" literally does feel like weather channel music, just more enjoyable with some less obvious chords and more radiant synth patches, particularly the percussive one at 2:42. Panunzi's synthesizer programming is certainly one of the strongest elements in general, even more so on the other two songs as well. "You and I" is a bit sleepier though. The crooning vocal style is kind of refreshing, and not too dissimilar from The Blue Nile that you sent last round, actually. With a song with a more compelling melody it would probably be more effective.
"These Words (Words Are All We Have)" has a more generic vocal style, but the melodies are a bit more memorable, and it has probably the most engrossing drum and percussion arrangements (I love the little triplet tom fills such as at 3:11). I was surprised to learn that the bass on that track is an acoustic double bass, since some of the fills sounded more like a fretless electric bass at first, but after researching it and listening back it makes more sense now. The guitar chording at 1:50 is a delightful subtle use of whammy bar shimmer. The synth lead and chromatic percussion section is nice too. Certainly the second best song of this bunch.
It looks like Panunzi has other work with Gavin Harrison, Pat Mastelotto, Richard Barbieri, and other prog figures to explore as well.
Score: 7.75/10
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TAC - Moonshade - "The Antagonist", "Everlasting Horizons", "A Dreamless Slumber"
Early Impression - "My preferences in this style probably seem arbitrary from the outside, and though this doesn't quite hit the bullseye, it's still pretty good."
Final Summary:
While this isn't quite my preferred variation of melodeath, it has a variety of elements that work very well.
Details:
Despite being from Portugal (kind of like Be'Lakor being Australian), this feels very much in the Finnish style of more straightforward melodeath, a la Mors Principium Est (particularly the guitar tones and keyboard orchestrations) or Insomnium (the instrumental and melodic stylings), with maybe a hint of melodic metalcore in spots. And as such, it's a variety of it that I enjoy, though it doesn't quite reach the heights of my top favorites, who often come from or congregate a bit more around the Swedish flavor of this sound.
But otherwise, all the components are here. There is a solid variety of vocals, though the cleans are a bit more sparse and generally a bit more in the background when they're present. I may have to look into guest Sofia Beco's band, in which she also apparently is the violinist. The guitars here are quite good, particularly the solo in "Everlasting Horizons", with some more unusual Marty Friedman-style bends. The acoustic guitar fingerpicking with piano and the more melodic lead at the end of "A Dreamless Slumber" is a nice touch as well. Although the drumming doesn't particularly stand out otherwise, I love the usage of higher-pitched toms in the fills.
This is a challenging entry to pick the best song in. "The Antagonist" has the best vocals, "Everlasting Horizons" has the most charming guitar melodies and soloing, while "A Dreamless Slumber" has that acoustic outro.
Score: 8/10
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soupytwist - Ghost - "Square Hammer", "Year Zero", "Twenties", "Witch Image", "Life Eternal"
Early Impression - "Good thing I'm judging this entry, not the participants or various slices of music fandom."
Final Summary:
Sometimes I avoid overly popular and/or gimmicky-seeming artists for arbitrary reasons, but this one turns out to be a lot of fun - one of my kinds of fun anyway.
Details:
It may just be that I've been a bit more plugged into the metal community, but I'm surprised that you didn't appear to be aware that Ghost seems to be a magnet for divergent opinions. Obviously they have an enormous fanbase for a metal-adjacent band, but that popularity has generated an outsized number of people who seem to go out of their way to trash them (heck, we seem to have a couple in this roulette, but I've heard many others elsewhere). It might be more of a US issue, because they appeared to encounter a lot more resistance here, particularly in the first half-decade of their existence. But the occult themes seem to repel a lot of mainstream music fans, while the increasingly poppier elements over time tend to rile up the more hardcore metal fans and some music aficionados. And I'm sure a solid chunk find them to be image over substance.
But for me? I've listened to a few albums here and there and never really got the big deal either way. But after digging into them a decent amount this round, they seem pretty cool and fun, so they're definitely a few notches on the positive side of the ledger. They're often dismissed as "Scooby Doo chase music", but honestly that type of spooky merriment is more my style than many others. I enjoy a lot of horror films and Type O Negative is one of my favorite bands, so I don't mind a bit of campiness of this stripe.
I feel obligated to point out they aren't even the first Swedish hard rock band called "Ghost". One of Dan Swanö's first bands he started as a child had that name, though obviously they didn't really take off like this one did. But there does seem to be something about Sweden, because I could see a lot of people saying they're just modern KISS, but I find the more modern production a smoother listen, and the melodies more appealing. All of the little production details add up as well, with organ, bell, and other ornamentations, the Latin-esque chants like in "Year Zero", the flanged vocals at 2:32 in "Square Hammer", the orchestral horns opening "Twenties", the subtle possible nod to Psycho with the dissonant stab on the left in the opening of "Witch Image", etc.
It's really kind of hilarious how inoffensive Tobias' voice is given their image and lyrics and his background in death metal bands like Repugnant, but I guess that's just part of the juxtaposition that makes them more riveting. Apparently he originally asked some other famous Swedish vocalists to front the band instead of himself, including Messiah Marcolin. That would have made for quite a different experience. But Tobias makes the most of his fairly plain voice with a lot of clever vocal arrangements and harmonizations, and the live versions of some of these songs with the ghoulettes definitely adds a lot of flair as well. I don't know if TAC will agree, but Tobias sounds a bit like Alice Cooper in the verses of "Twenties". This might ruin their commercial appeal, but it would be interesting to see a version of the band with a more powerful lead vocalist and a bit beefier guitar tone.
"Twenties" is probably the most potent song here. It has a head-scratchingly low rating of 2.15 at Rate Your Music, but I just don't agree at all. People point to the silliness of the lyrics, but as far as I can tell most of their lyrics are fairly tongue-in-cheek, so I don't get the commotion. But musically it has a soca beat, which is so uncommon to find in metal (Omega Lithium's "Stigmata"'s chorus is probably my favorite example) and gives it quite a unique rhythmic verve. And that main riff that goes with it is unusually heavy at least for what I've heard of them so far, with the double bass flourish, the propulsiveness of it and that muted descending chromatic triplet slowdown at 0:37. And there's also a killer solo from Fredrik Åkesson, who now that I know plays most if not all of the guitar parts on their latest album, is going to make me want to revisit it for sure. You could even consider that a subtle bit of cheating (of the kind I absolutely encourage), though I don't even know whether you were aware of his presence there or not.
My favorite song of this batch though might be "Witch Image", which has the most memorable chorus. The wet guitar and harpsichord in the verse, the sustained guitar melodies and synth countermelodies, a nice harmonized melodic guitar solo (there are a number of others of those elsewhere as well), the drum fill at 2:28, etc. There are some savory chord changes and melodies in "Life Eternal" too.
It's amusing that Imperial Triumphant is an active band in lonestar's current round, who also have a mask gimmick, but sound much more like the average person would think Ghost would sound just looking at them.
Score: 8.25/10
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Vmadera00 - The Mask of the Phantasm - "Red/Blue/Black/White", "Exit Wounds", "Like a Wraith..."
Early Impression - "Not only does this have more memorable vocals, it also has cool trippy guitars and crazy drumming."
Final Summary:
I don't know if this qualifies as either a supergroup or a side project, but I'm glad I've had a chance to hear them, as they have some rather entrancing musical qualities.
Details:
It's curious that people thought this would be too post-hardcore for me. Obviously I can see the connection, having two former Mars Volta members, but this avoids the pitfalls of that style. It has more of an alt-prog feel to me. The vocals are much better, stronger without being whiny, or having the harsher shouting style which is riskier. They sometimes veer a smidge excessively into cursive singing in the softer portions at times, but it's not a huge deal.
The guitar riffs feel much more defined and textural, without the excessive jitteriness that TMV and The Fall of Troy had. It's a bit more restrained style that's more atmospheric, particularly with the more sparkling astral sounds of "Exit Wounds". That's probably my favorite song of this set.
When TMV originally showed up earlier in the roulette I wondered if one of the selections might turn out to be from the era that Thomas Pridgeon was in the band, since I've always kind of been spellbound with his playing from the various clips I've watched over the years. They turned out not to be, but he's all over these tracks, which is a joy. There is some excellent bass work throughout as well. In addition, the keyboards add to the vibe, with some cool organ playing and various moodier patches, and a serendipitous solo at the end of "Red/Blue/Black/White".
The main missed opportunity is having a woodwind player, but not incorporating them quite enough. You get a bit towards the end of "Exit Wounds" with some saxophone, but otherwise they're mostly either absent or more in the background, possibly doing some doubling in various spots, most noticeably the thickening in the back portion of "Like a Wraith...".
Score: 8.25/10
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Tomislav95 - Seventh Wonder - "Unbreakable" "Alley Cat", "The Red River"
Early Impression - "This is definitely a comfortable sound, but will it stand out?"
Final Summary:
The answer is yes, "The Red River" is a fantastic song especially, and Karevik's vocals have really been starting to stand out.
Details:
For awhile I didn't get the buzz about Tommy Karevik. I listened to a few Seventh Wonder songs, gave cursory listens to a bit of later Kamelot, and he was a prominent part of the last few Ayreon albums, which I considered some of the weaker ones. Well, I am glad that I am in need of revising my opinion about him.
Instrumentally, they are a fairly standard-sounding prog metal band. They have solid guitar playing, synthesizer solos, some unison runs between various instruments, and even some excellent bass solos. But Karevik's vocals are really starting to grow on me.
The first two tunes are competent if unremarkable for the style, but I've really been taking to "The Red River", which has a quite infectious chorus in particular. I love how it modulates up a step for the final chorus, but then modulates back down to the original key for the ending. That's an arrangement trick I don't hear often enough. And then the final riff repeats twice, starting with the original broken up kick pattern, and then brings in the steady double bass for the finale. It initially brings in the snare on every beat, but then drops back to the normal 2 & 4 pattern. Personally I might have flipped that last bit in the arrangement, but the rest is cool enough to overcome it.
But what really elevates it is not only that song, but Karevik's voice, which I'm really starting to see the appeal of now. I'm probably going to need to revisit the later Ayreon and Kamelot albums now, since my fandom of both (more so Ayreon) is based much more on the earlier ones with different vocalists.
Score: 8.25/10
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Lethean - Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik - "Skuggsjá", "Ni Døtre av Hav", "Ni Mødre av Sol"
Early Impression - "Now here is some relative minimalism that is mostly done right."
Final Summary:
These submissions continue to club me over the head with the notion that I need to pay more attention to the rich musical history of Norwegian metal-adjacent artists.
Details:
So a couple rounds ago I talked about how it's clear I've been neglecting all of these Norwegian artists in favor of other European countries, particularly Swedish ones (and also often Dutch ones). I still think Sweden has the highest hit rate (and I've just added several others in this round with Ghost, Seventh Wonder (I'm not sure I even knew they were Swedish), and Soen), but this continues to prove that there are even more layers to the onion I've been undervaluing. Ivar was represented a couple rounds ago with Enslaved, but I'm less familiar with Einar's work. I've been curious about Wardruna because some other artists I like have mentioned them as favorites or influences (Chelsea Wolfe in particular), but I haven't really taken the dive yet. So I imagine this will serve as a launching point to explore them as well later on.
I heard the songs from them that you submitted in 425's roulette last year, though it's been a while at this point and I didn't recall a lot about them (and I think they might have been different songs anyway). So this is quite a nice collaboration, which executes more stripped-back ideas better than most, though still feeling appropriately epic in certain spots. All three songs are majestic, but "Skuggsjá" is easily my favorite. Throughout the pieces there are fantastic vocal harmonies, sometimes in more choral form, ravishing violin work, and ensorcelling unusual instrumentation, which gives it a rather singular flavor that you don't find in a lot of other music.
Score: 8.25/10
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senecadawg2 - Leonard Cohen - "Avalanche", "You Want It Darker", "Famous Blue Raincoat", "Steer Your Way"
Early Impression - "Well this is definitely the biggest surprise of the round."
Final Summary:
This certainly blew away any expectations I had, with two particularly great songs in "Avalanche" and "You Want It Darker", delivered in a vocal type that works astonishingly well.
Details:
So I really had no idea what to expect going into this. I've heard his name many times over the years, but never consciously listened to him. Like Bob Dylan, I knew that he was a renowned songwriter, and I've heard dozens of versions of "Hallelujah", plus various covers of other songs of his (Madeleine Peyroux's Billie Holiday-esque take on "Dance Me To the End of Love" probably being my favorite). But while I think I'd heard a few burblings here and there, I never knew quite what to expect from his own music, hoping for the best but fearing for the worst based on last round.
Fortunately, in a round full of varying degrees of serendipity, this easily exceeded my expectations by the most. My impression for Ivar and Einar could have easily worked for Leonard as well. As I periodically note, I often struggle with minimalism in music, but it's not so much of an issue here. I don't know if you caught this or not, but Crow's guest rankdown wound up giving a sneak peak at some idea of my feeling about "Famous Blue Raincoat". Although it was probably misleading, as that is probably my least favorite of these. It's a good song for sure, but the others are even better.
"Avalanche" is probably my favorite, it's quite haunting and actually a bit similar to a gloomier version of Joan Baez' "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You", which scored quite well in round 5. It achieves a lot of mood and drama without having to do a whole lot, which can be quite a challenge to achieve for me. "Steer Your Way" has a lot of lovely violin work throughout.
It was "You Want It Darker" that really triggered an epiphany for me, which is how similar to Tom Waits Leonard is. He has a less gritty and bluesy voice than Tom, but it's a very unique bass one of the type that there don't seem to be enough of, Peter Steele's having a very similar effect on me in a rather different genre. Leonard's is not particularly polished and a bit shaky at times, but this is the type of character voice that really works for me. The way he says "hineni, hineni" in particular is so powerful on "You Want It Darker", those are notes that few vocalists on the planet can hit with authority, but he can. The instrumental bass line and light choral backing help augment it as well.
Score: 8.25/10
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Stadler - Rival Sons - "All Over the Road", "Pressure and Time", "Feral Roots", "Darkside"
Early Impression - "I often find this style enjoyable but not exciting, but this one has a little somethin' extra to it."
Final Summary:
Bands playing in much older styles tend to be a mixed bag, but this one manages to bring the past into the present in a fresh way with a lot of panache.
Details:
I'm not quite sure when this retro rock/metal scene really began - I imagine there are many precursors and isolated examples, but it definitely seems to have been in full-swing somewhere around a decade ago. I've mostly not paid much attention to it, though I check out some of the artists on occasion and a few have been big hits for me (Wytch Hazel probably chief among them). I know Greta Van Fleet received a lot of attention for sounding quite a lot like Led Zeppelin, and while I've only heard a limited amount from GVF, it seems that Rival Sons is doing a better job of it. I didn't hear RS specifically attached to LZ so much as just being a modern throwback band, but there are certainly some undeniable similarities in moments (particularly on the higher, more intense vocals such as in "Time and Pressure", and maybe a bit of Bono on occasion as well), but they add some of their own spices as well.
"All Over the Road" started a bit inauspiciously for me, as while it's a decent enough tune I suppose, it feels like more of a standard filler energetic tune, and is the weakest of the group. Fortunately, the other three tracks resonate with me much more. There's some great acoustic playing and slide guitar work throughout. I was initially underwhelmed with some of the fuzzier, woolier tones, as I'm pickier about that effect in general, but they've grown on me a tad here. The drumming reminds me a bit of Jason Bonham's in Black Country Communion. "Feral Roots" is kind of reminiscent of Aerosmith's "Dream On". "Darkside" is a rather epic tune that sneaks up on you, and it's difficult to decide which of the two I like more.
The main thing they could use is a bit more keyboard presence, I could especially see a bit of Hammond organ boosting them even more in some spots. There's a bit of a Leslie rotary effect (and sometimes tremolo) on the guitars in "Darkside", but that's such a different sound, as cool as it is. There is also a bit of piano with glissandos on "All Over", but the others could perhaps benefit from a touch as well, and maybe some Rhodes or Wurlitzer. Maybe they employ on other albums/songs.
Score: 8.25/10
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Puppies_On_Acid - Shylmagoghnar - "Transience", "As All Must Come To Pass"
Early Impression - "This might be the best thing you've sent yet."
Final Summary:
A more powerful and colorful sound than I expected, with indelible melodies and songcraft - this is definitely a hit.
Details:
So my initial GIFpression, based on some superficial sonic elements and your tendency to send a lot of black metal in roulettes, is that this is an upgrade over most bog standard atmospheric black metal bands, that happens to hit more of my aural preferences. But the more I listen and think about it, what I'm liking is their adjacency to a lot of melodic death bands, and that really, they're kind of their own thing, sitting somewhere between those, melodic black metal, and a veneer of symphonic black metal in spots as well.
Their basic sound is quite pleasing, with a heavier, bassier approach than a lot of black metal, while still retaining a lot of ambiance. The guitar tones on their own might be a tad thin, but paired with the more prominent bass in the mix it works. And then even more importantly, they seem to be able to generate an endless array of engaging melodies. They even merge them with more overt independent bass lines and runs in various passages.
I know I'd heard their name before, but don't think I'd ever gotten around to checking them out. I'm kind of surprised they're from the Netherlands with this sound, but leave it to Dutch bands to craft some of the most memorable melodies - it's been a theme in my own listening, and has continued with a fair number of submissions in this roulette, and we're about to have another...
Score: 8.5/10
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Buddyhunter1 - Guilt Machine - "Twisted Coil", "Leland Street"
Early Impression - "Well, this is better than I remember. Why didn't I already know this? Oops."
Final Summary:
I have my reasons that I get into a bit below, but I should be smacking myself on the wrist for not listening to this more earlier, it has a fair amount of what I already love about Ayreon in a slightly different package.
Details:
On a prog forum it's quite a challenge to clear the often high bar for superfandom of more popular artists. I think of myself as a decently-versed Ayreon fan, but I do get the feeling there are even bigger fans of them here. But this is one of Arjen's projects that I just never quite got into. I'm not entirely sure how much was that the vibe is a bit more subdued here, more along the lines of his The Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer album. It's probably more that the biggest draw for me in his other work is hearing all of the different vocalists bouncing off of each other. It has led to countless discoveries in an ever-expanding prog web. So I believe my reaction at the time this came out was disinterest in the idea of just listening to a single vocalist for a whole album - I already had hundreds, maybe thousands of other bands to listen to that do that. I'm sure I gave it a cursory listen, but it didn't stick with me at the time.
But what this entry is making me realize is that there actually is a fair amount of energy and heaviness to these songs, much more than I recalled, even if it does lean more into Arjen's Pink Floyd influences than his normal albums, much less Star One. And I do love the way he synthesizes older style prog sounds with more relatively modern flavorings, even separate from whatever vocalists he has deliver his material. Jasper is still far from my favorite vocalist Arjen has worked with, the standards are just too astronomically high, but he is a better and more effective vocalist as a vessel for the project than I had realized. He actually reminds me a bit of Ashe O'Hara.
One mistake though, possibly not. I own the Electric Castle Live and Other Tales DVD, so I've seen that rendition of "Twisted Coil", but not being familiar with this album, I know I skipped it on most successive watches. First, I probably need to do that less, since I'm clearly missing out on cool songs. But it has Damian Wilson covering the vocals on this song. Yeah, Jasper is not on Damian's level. If Damian had sung this whole album it would probably make this get closer to the 9 you were hoping for (except that it probably would have already been hard-banned), but it's getting close enough even with Jasper.
This submission is also making me want to reevaluate Chris Maitland's drumming. My recollection is that when Gavin Harrison took over for him in Porcupine Tree on In Absentia, the level of the drumming went up drastically. Now I don't know if that's a false memory or not. I never listened to the early PT albums nearly as much as later ones, so perhaps the difference is not so stark, he improved over the next decade after leaving, or perhaps Arjen gets better performances out of him than Steven Wilson did, or even perhaps the material is more suited for him. Regardless, as much as I love Ed Warby's playing on other Ayreon albums, I'm ok with hearing Chris on this album instead, it's quite scrumptious for a different take on the material, with some exquisitely rapturous sounds, especially on the ride and China cymbals.
Most of the typical Arjen-isms I like are quite present here, delightful synthesizer timbres, organ work, textural guitar lines, a few choice heavier riffs, Ben Mathot's violin work, the guitar/violin octave melodies and so forth. If I didn't know that Lori Linstruth was playing the solos on this album I'm not sure I would have realized the difference. Her technique seems a bit more advanced than Arjen's, but they both apparently have a heavy Steve Vai influence, and he's producing the tones the way he would his own, such that it fits in the same as Arjen's own playing would, which is perfectly fine.
And for another intra-round nugget, they even cover Leonard Cohen's "The Stranger". I'll have to pay more attention to that track later.
Score: 8.5/10
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ariich - Beyond the Bridge - "The Primal Demand", "Doorway To Salvation", "The Difference Is Human"
Early Impression - "This seems like such low-hanging fruit I'm surprised it took this long for someone to pluck it."
Final Summary:
Here we have another of those bands that is as good as I hoped they would be, with a sublime mixture of elements.
Details:
So this is one of those bands that I'm not sure I'd heard much about before rejoining DTF, but since then I seem to see them name-dropped all the time in roulettes and possibly other threads. But even despite having them on my "I'm curious about this artist" list a few rounds ago, no one has sent them yet, and as far as I remember I've never even heard a song of theirs, though the descriptions I'd caught piqued my interest. So the free points go to you and not most of the other participants.
I also find the synchronicity we're having right now rather hilarious, both having sent Hiromi Uehara in lonestar's current round, and me having sent one of Magali Luyten's former bands to Jamesman last round (dunno if you'd already picked this band before then), given that Maggy did some live shows with Beyond the Bridge in '14. I really wish there was a professionally recorded version of this, but the Youtube cellphone footage will have to do, I suppose. Shame they didn't seem to release anything further either, oh well.
The other names aren't really familiar, but I know I've heard Herbie in a variety of contexts - Firewind, Lighbringer of Sweden and a few others. But this really just hits all the right notes. Alluring prog metal with great contrasting dual lead and harmonizing vocals, some thrashier melodeath-esque influences, great instrumental work all-around, lots of earworms (I think 6:44 in "The Difference Is Human" is my favorite) - it even hits some of my finicky key preferences in a lot of spots - there's way too much to like for this not to score well. You don't need to reinvent the wheel most of the time, just execute an existing style superbly. The epicness of "The Difference Is Human" is delectable, but the ferocious energy of sequences of "Doorway To Salvation" slightly edges it out for my favorite track of these.
Score: 8.75/10
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Evermind - Soen - "Antagonist", "Jinn", "Lotus"
Early Impression - "There's no good reason I don't already know this band well enough to ban them, but I don't, so you're probably grabbing the free points on the table that no one else noticed."
Final Summary:
This meets at a perfect intersection of a lot of my musical interests, bringing my attention to a band I've been neglecting to my detriment.
Details:
The former drummer of Opeth, playing in a Tool-ish style, with a vocalist who just guested on the latest Katatonia album. Yeah, I think I've screwed up by having this band still up for grabs, but you're benefitting from it by noticing what no one else did. Not to say that boiling down liking an artist to individual elements like that always works, but sometimes it just does. In my feeble defense, I have heard a few of their albums, though only cursory listens, and I think the comparison idea backfired at the time. If I evaluate each of those individual elements they don't quite live up to their origins or previous work, and I think I held that against them. "Wow, a newer band on the first play doesn't quite measure up to some all-time favorites" - what a surprise. But they don't have to rise to all those individual levels in comparison to still be a fabulous band in their own right.
Anyway, this truly excels on most dimensions. They really do somehow manage to blend stylistic elements of both Opeth and Tool together in a way that I can understand more casual listeners might just view as a pastiche, but the deeper you listen the more you realize that they're doing what every other great band does, which is to amalgamate those influences (and others) into their own unique concoction. I listened to the original album versions, and it's remarkable how different they are, while clearly retaining the same song DNA. The reimaginings here are marvelous, with the contrasting backing vocalists and the chamber string section.
I love that smaller-scale symphonic influence - everyone seems to go gaga over the 120-piece orchestra, 100-member choir productions or even the bands that try to emulate it on a single keyboard workstation, and occasionally it works, but sometimes it's overkill and the original band and songs get lost in the process - this puts them on more equal and complimentary ground.
My favorite song here is "Antagonist", what a beautiful and wonderous rendition. The punch of the alt-prog sound, the elegance of classical influences, and the soulfulness of the bluesier low-gain guitar leads all meeting in perfect harmony. And Joel has a fabulous voice - listening to Katatonia's "Impermanence" with him guesting on it is going to feel like a more fresh experience again. "Jinn" has such a radiant section with the Chancellor-esque bassline over the hand percussion at 1:43. "Lotus" has an especially sizzlingly great solo with fantastic phrasing and tasty whammy dips.
This highlights a different facet of Soen than I've heard before, though like with Tomi sending Paramore a couple rounds ago, I think I'm going to wind up liking all of their various sides for different reasons. I love when bands can play heavier tunes well, can chill back with calmer ones equally effectively, or like on this album, manage to reach a middle ground between them that is just as resplendent.
Another inter-round nugget - Martin Lopez wearing an Alice Cooper shirt.
Score: 8.75/10
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Round 13 Scores:
ariich - Beyond the Bridge .............................................. 8.75
Evermind - Soen .......................................................... 8.75
Buddyhunter1 - Guilt Machine ....................................... 8.5
Puppies_On_Acid - Shylmagoghnar ............................... 8.5
Lethean - Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik .......................... 8.25
senecadawg2 - Leonard Cohen .................................... 8.25
soupytwist - Ghost .................................................... 8.25
Stadler - Rival Sons .................................................. 8.25
Tomislav95 - Seventh Wonder ................................... 8.25
Vmadera00 - The Mask of the Phantasm .................... 8.25
TAC - Moonshade .................................................. 8
HOF - Stefano Panunzi .......................................... 7.75
SoundscapeMN - The Dear Hunter ......................... 7.75
Nachtmerrie - MESTIS ........................................ 7.5
twosuitsluke - Better Lovers ............................... 7.5
Crow - Victory Over the Sun ............................. 6.75
Sacul - Fishmans ........................................... 6.5
Elite - ? ....................................................... ?
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Round 13 Top 14 Songs:
1: Seventh Wonder - "The Red River"
2: Soen - "Antagonist"
3: Beyond the Bridge - "Doorway To Salvation"
4: Better Lovers - "Sacrificial Participant"
5: Stefano Panunzi - "I'm Feeling So Blue"
6: Rival Sons - "Feral Roots"/"Darkside"
7: Mask of the Phantasm - "Exit Wounds"
8: Shylmagoghnar - "Transience"/"As All Must Come To Pass"
9: Guilt Machine - "Twisted Coil"/"Leland Street"
10: Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik - "Skuggsjá"
11: Leonard Cohen - "Avalanche"
12: The Dear Hunter - "Waves"
13: MESTIS - "Sedosa"
14: Ghost - "Witch Image"
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Current Cumulative Standings (after 13 rounds):
Nachtmerrie ------------------------- 106.75
SoundscapeMN ----------------------- 106.25
ariich ----------------------------------- 105.5
Evermind -------------------------------- 105.5
TAC --------------------------------------- 105.5
Lethean ------------------------------------ 103.5
HOF ----------------------------------------- 103
soupytwist ----------------------------------- 103
Buddyhunter1 -------------------------------- 100.5
Vmadera00 ------------------------------------ 98.25
Stadler ------------------------------------------ 98
Puppies_On_Acid ------------------------------ 97.5
senecadawg2 --------------------------------- 97.25
Tomislav95 ---------------------------------- 97.25
twosuitsluke ------------------------------- 95.75
Sacul -------------------------------------- 95.5
Crow ------------------------------------- 93.25
Elite ------------------------------------- 88.5 + ?
romdrums ----------------------------- 14.25 (had to drop out after the second round)
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Round Score Breakdown:
ariich: 7.75 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 9 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 7.75 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 = 105.5
Buddyhunter1: 7.5 + 6.5 + 7.75 + 7 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.5 = 100.5
Crow: 6 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 7 + 5 + 7 + 9.25 + 7.75 + 7 + 8.5 + 7.75 + 6.75 = 93.25
Elite: 6.5 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 8.5 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8 + 7 + 7.25 + 8.25 + 6.75 + 8 + ? = 88.5 + ?
Evermind: 7.75 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8.5 + 8 + 9 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 8.75 = 105.5
HOF: 9 + 9 + 6.5 + 7.25 + 8.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 8 + 9 + 8.75 + 6.75 + 7.75 = 103
Lethean: 7.75 + 8.25 + 7.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 8 + 8.75 + 8 + 8 + 8.25 = 103.5
Nachtmerrie: 8.25 + 9 + 6.75 + 9 + 7.75 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 9.25 + 8 + 8.25 + 7.5 = 106.75
Puppies_On_Acid: 8 + 7 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 8 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.5 + 8.5 = 97.5
romdrums: 7.25 + 7 + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x = 14.25
Sacul: 7.25 + 8.75 + 6 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 9 + 7 + 4.75 + 8 + 8.25 + 6.5 = 95.5
senecadawg2: 8 + 7 + 8.5 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 7.25 + 5.75 + 8.25 = 97.25
SoundscapeMN: 8 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 8.5 + 8.75 + 7 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.75 + 7.25 + 7.75 = 106.25
soupytwist: 6.5 + 6.75 + 9 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 8.25 = 103
Stadler: 8.5 + 7.5 + 7 + 7 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 7.5 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 8.25 = 98
TAC: 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 9 + 8.5 + 9 + 7.25 + 8 + 8.25 + 8 = 105.5
Tomislav95: 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 7 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 6.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 8.25 = 97.25
twosuitsluke: 7.5 + 8.25 + 5.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.25 + 7 + 6.75 + 8.5 + 7.5 = 95.75
Vmadera00: 7.25 + 7.75 + 8 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 8.75 + 7 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 + 8.25 = 98.25
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*Wow, the race has really tightened now. I don't know if this is just more luck, or the savvy veteran roulette skills of Evermind and ariich in knowing how to lay low towards the end, then swoop in for the kill with overlooked gems to make the placements a photo finish. The title is still up for grabs, and a really strong EP could potentially swing the top contenders' fates here. I almost feel like a Hollywood script writer has wrested control of my roulette from me.
***I will be out of town for a chunk of the next couple weeks, so the final round will start a bit slowly, I might be a bit longer on responding about EPs, and my unpredictable availability means I might have to delay starting hangman a bit depending upon when I receive all the EPs, but I'll be getting to listening in the meantime. Given the sheer quantity of music I'm about to take on, I'll probably have to reduce my number of listens per submission, amount of research a bit, and the amount of detail I get into or we'll still be here in October, but I have a few other fun mini-games and such shamelessly stolen from other roulettes, so I'll have ways to keep things entertaining anyway.
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Final Round 14 EP Guidelines:
*Up to 45 minutes
*No minimum time length, but quality + quantity is generally going to beat out just quality
*At least 3 different artists, no maximum limit
*No more than 15:00 from any one artist
*The ban on artists sent in earlier rounds is lifted for this round, except for entries that scored 8.25 or higher (they're indicated with a "*" at the bottom of post #13 in this thread, which is linked at the bottom of the soft ban list).
*Unlike earlier rounds, I will be factoring flow into the score
*Scores will be out of 30, so it will be the equivalent of three rounds of scoring in one. I'm not specifying how much of that will be devoted to flow, because since I haven't done this type of round before I'll only get a true sense of what I'm looking for as I listen through all the entries. But song quality is still a higher priority than flow, so a random collection of great songs would likely still beat out a collection of merely good songs with perfect flow.
*The submission format is the same as normal, if they are available, send both Youtube and Spotify links for the songs to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com. But if it includes audio files not on streaming services, splices of songs for flow or other purposes, and/or is combined into a single audio file I will make that my primary listening for your entry for the round. If you do include an edited single file, please include timestamps of where any track splits are.
*Themes, narratives, stories, artwork and such are not required and won't directly be factored into the score, but if you think any of it will enhance my experience or your own by all means go for it
*Make it obvious what the title of the EP will be
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That’s a fine score for this one, and I agree with the write up for the most part. I just stumbled upon Panunzi’s album on Bandcame recently, but it’s one of my favorites of this year. I haven’t checked out any of his other stuff yet but plan to soon.
My EP is in already BTW.
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So King Gizzard are back on the table :hat
Glad to see I’m off the bottom of the scoreboards! So one of my songs was the fourth best in the round but still the low (relative) score, damn. Well definitely check out more by Puciato, he’s an insane vocalist for sure. Maybe try Killer Be Killed as well, featuring Troy Sanders and Max Cavelera, all sharing vocal duties.
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I was hoping for a higher score this time around, but if you're going to look into it further, then really that's as much as I can hope for. :)
Sent my EP, which I've thoroughly enjoyed listening to. :)
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So King Gizzard are back on the table :hat
If this is your playing style, I suppose.
(https://i.giphy.com/media/l44QpeDQ3e82NsBz2/giphy.webp)
Well definitely check out more by Puciato, he’s an insane vocalist for sure. Maybe try Killer Be Killed as well, featuring Troy Sanders and Max Cavelera, all sharing vocal duties.
I'm sure I will later on, although Sanders is probably the weirdest part of Mastodon for me based on a few rounds ago, so who knows how that will go.
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There are definitely fans of The Dear Hunter who find the music and specifically, Casey's vocals easier to digest and enjoy with the more recent albums.
If you're not so much into "Rock Opera" elements or theatrical/story based stuff, than The Color Spectrum or Migrant might be worth hearing. Although both of those were recorded well over 10 years ago. And I think many people feel his vocals have just sounded better, especially since Act IV.
Act IV though has maybe the most consistent run of songs, which "Waves" maybe is the most accessible.
I guess use your own discretion, but if you may find more to like with The Dear Hunter checking out the newer records at some point. Antimai and the 2 most recent Acts albums. Or say his non-conceptual project "Honorary Astronaut" even.
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Well, I was really concerned with that First Impression. Still got an 8 and actually picked up ground on the two guys in front of me, except now I am joined by two others now in my place.
My EP has been sent, and I feel like it's going to be a long shot, so...here goes..
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I can take you not digging Fishmans' music that much, even saying the singer's voice is weird (kinda sus of you but ok)... but scoring way below Ghost? Now I am offended :lol
Time to prepare a revenge EP I guess.
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I can take you not digging Fishmans' music that much, even saying the singer's voice is weird (kinda sus of you but ok)... but scoring way below Ghost? Now I am offended :lol
Time to prepare a revenge EP I guess.
It's gonna be hard to score below dreamcrusher, but you can certainly try! :rollin
Not sure what's suspicious about me not liking those vocals.
And it turns out that a decade of new satanic panic is not Tobias' most iconoclastic move, but offending the sensibilities of my roulette participants!
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Just made an EP of purely harsh noise
And it turns out that a decade of new satanic panic is not Tobias' most iconoclastic move, but offending the sensibilities of my roulette participants!
I listened to Meliora the other day, and it was just spooky dad rock so :lol
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Time to prepare a revenge EP I guess.
Just made an EP of purely harsh noise
Damn..in 15 minutes?
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soupytwist - Ghost - "Square Hammer", "Year Zero", "Twenties", "Witch Image", "Life Eternal"
Details:
It may just be that I've been a bit more plugged into the metal community, but I'm surprised that you didn't appear to be aware that Ghost seems to be a magnet for divergent opinions. Obviously they have an enormous fanbase for a metal-adjacent band, but that popularity has generated an outsized number of people who seem to go out of their way to trash them (heck, we seem to have a couple in this roulette, but I've heard many others elsewhere). It might be more of a US issue, because they appeared to encounter a lot more resistance here, particularly in the first half-decade of their existence. But the occult themes seem to repel a lot of mainstream music fans, while the increasingly poppier elements over time tend to rile up the more hardcore metal fans and some music aficionados. And I'm sure a solid chunk find them to be image over substance.
But for me? I've listened to a few albums here and there and never really got the big deal either way. But after digging into them a decent amount this round, they seem pretty cool and fun, so they're definitely a few notches on the positive side of the ledger. They're often dismissed as "Scooby Doo chase music", but honestly that type of spooky merriment is more my style than many others. I enjoy a lot of horror films and Type O Negative is one of my favorite bands, so I don't mind a bit of campiness of this stripe.
I feel obligated to point out they aren't even the first Swedish hard rock band called "Ghost". One of Dan Swanö's first bands he started as a child had that name, though obviously they didn't really take off like this one did. But there does seem to be something about Sweden, because I could see a lot of people saying they're just modern KISS, but I find the more modern production a smoother listen, and the melodies more appealing. All of the little production details add up as well, with organ, bell, and other ornamentations, the Latin-esque chants like in "Year Zero", the flanged vocals at 2:32 in "Square Hammer", the orchestral horns opening "Twenties", the subtle possible nod to Psycho with the dissonant stab on the left in the opening of "Witch Image", etc.
It's really kind of hilarious how inoffensive Tobias' voice is given their image and lyrics and his background in death metal bands like Repugnant, but I guess that's just part of the juxtaposition that makes them more riveting. Apparently he originally asked some other famous Swedish vocalists to front the band instead of himself, including Messiah Marcolin. That would have made for quite a different experience. But Tobias makes the most of his fairly plain voice with a lot of clever vocal arrangements and harmonizations, and the live versions of some of these songs with the ghoulettes definitely adds a lot of flair as well. I don't know if TAC will agree, but Tobias sounds a bit like Alice Cooper in the verses of "Twenties". This might ruin their commercial appeal, but it would be interesting to see a version of the band with a more powerful lead vocalist and a bit beefier guitar tone.
"Twenties" is probably the most potent song here. It has a head-scratchingly low rating of 2.15 at Rate Your Music, but I just don't agree at all. People point to the silliness of the lyrics, but as far as I can tell most of their lyrics are fairly tongue-in-cheek, so I don't get the commotion. But musically it has a soca beat, which is so uncommon to find in metal (Omega Lithium's "Stigmata"'s chorus is probably my favorite example) and gives it quite a unique rhythmic verve. And that main riff that goes with it is unusually heavy at least for what I've heard of them so far, with the double bass flourish, the propulsiveness of it and that muted descending chromatic triplet slowdown at 0:37. And there's also a killer solo from Fredrik Åkesson, who now that I know plays most if not all of the guitar parts on their latest album, is going to make me want to revisit it for sure. You could even consider that a subtle bit of cheating (of the kind I absolutely encourage), though I don't even know whether you were aware of his presence there or not.
My favorite song of this batch though might be "Witch Image", which has the most memorable chorus. The wet guitar and harpsichord in the verse, the sustained guitar melodies and synth countermelodies, a nice harmonized melodic guitar solo (there are a number of others of those elsewhere as well), the drum fill at 2:28, etc. There are some savory chord changes and melodies in "Life Eternal" too.
It's amusing that Imperial Triumphant is an active band in lonestar's current round, who also have a mask gimmick, but sound much more like the average person would think Ghost would sound just looking at them.
Score: 8.25/10
Litho - at the very least you should check out the whole of Prequelle (the album Witch Image and Life Eternal are from) and the latest one, Impera. Since you clearly enjoy the details in music, when it comes to the arrangements and instrumentation, I'm pretty sure you will appreciate the care that goes into all of these aspects in Ghost's songs, beneath their more obvious immediacy. It's truly fantastic stuff - the rare instance where something is enjoyable right away (because it's so catchy!) and it actually gets even better with further listens.
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Time to prepare a revenge EP I guess.
Just made an EP of purely harsh noise
Damn..in 15 minutes?
He just held a microphone up to a speaker at high volume for a minute, maxed out the gain, looped it 45 times and published it as Uslac.
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Litho - at the very least you should check out the whole of Prequelle (the album Witch Image and Life Eternal are from) and the latest one, Impera. Since you clearly enjoy the details in music, when it comes to the arrangements and instrumentation, I'm pretty sure you will appreciate the care that goes into all of these aspects in Ghost's songs, beneath their more obvious immediacy. It's truly fantastic stuff - the rare instance where something is enjoyable right away (because it's so catchy!) and it actually gets even better with further listens.
See, even without playing you understand me better than most here. I'm not starting V2 until you're available. :D
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Did I read an Alice Cooper reference in that review? I'll check it out.
I mean, it's pretty obvious that without Alice Cooper, there'd be no Ghost.
EDIT: Yeah, I definitely hear Alice in Twenties, but I hear Alice in almost everything I hear.
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Ok just made my actual EP, never done one so quickly and I'm very content with it. I'll send it soon, let's hope Litho accepts it.
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Litho - at the very least you should check out the whole of Prequelle (the album Witch Image and Life Eternal are from) and the latest one, Impera. Since you clearly enjoy the details in music, when it comes to the arrangements and instrumentation, I'm pretty sure you will appreciate the care that goes into all of these aspects in Ghost's songs, beneath their more obvious immediacy. It's truly fantastic stuff - the rare instance where something is enjoyable right away (because it's so catchy!) and it actually gets even better with further listens.
See, even without playing you understand me better than most here. I'm not starting V2 until you're available. :D
:biggrin:
After this marathon, you'll probably need a couple years to recuperate ;)
Did I read an Alice Cooper reference in that review? I'll check it out.
I mean, it's pretty obvious that without Alice Cooper, there'd be no Ghost.
EDIT: Yeah, I definitely hear Alice in Twenties, but I hear Alice in almost everything I hear.
Tim - I'm still waiting to hear your more in-depth thoughts on Ghost ;) I can't quite recall what I had recommended when you asked for one album...maybe Meliora? Really, any of the last three will do.
Speaking of Alice Cooper...maybe not his most representative period, but there is a song on that same album (Impera...where Twenties is from), Spillways, on top of which you can almost sing the Poison's chorus melody...
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Tim - I'm still waiting to hear your more in-depth thoughts on Ghost ;) I can't quite recall what I had recommended when you asked for one album...maybe Meliora? Really, any of the last three will do.
Speaking of Alice Cooper...maybe not his most representative period, but there is a song on that same album (Impera...where Twenties is from), Spillways, on top of which you can almost sing the Poison's chorus melody...
Just listened to the first part of Spillways including the chorus. WOW! That is definitely Poison 2.0!
I haven't given anything a listen yet. These roulettes lately have been pretty intense, and I've been all kinds of busy in real life.
Nothing major, but...
I'm trying to find the motivation. Honestly, I don't really care for Tobias Forge. He kind of seems like a dick. I suppose if you "get him" and it clicks then I'm sure it's great. the music does seem interesting enough.
I thought the band I saw opening for Iron Maiden was awesome, despite is vomit inducing stage banter.
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Speaking of Alice Cooper...maybe not his most representative period, but there is a song on that same album (Impera...where Twenties is from), Spillways, on top of which you can almost sing the Poison's chorus melody...
Just listened to the first part of Spillways including the chorus. WOW! That is definitely Poison 2.0!
Yeah, in my research I noticed people mentioning this, as since "Poison" is one of the few Alice songs I already knew, I had to check this out. The reason they sound similar is because they use the I V vi IV (technically vi IV I V) chord progression which is one of the most common, but both use the ruse of making it sound more interesting by modulating it to other keys a few times to make it sound more complex than it actually is.
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they use the I V vi IV (technically vi IV I V) chord progression which is one of the most common, but both use the ruse of making it sound more interesting by modulating it to other keys a few times to make it sound more complex than it actually is.
(https://i.imgflip.com/7uyozz.jpg)
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Honestly, I don't really care for Tobias Forge. He kind of seems like a dick. I suppose if you "get him" and it clicks then I'm sure it's great. the music does seem interesting enough.
I haven't formed much of an opinion of Forge as an individual, but he seems like a pretty talented songwriter. I think that's really where his strengths lie. He surrounds himself with good musicians to fully bring to life what, I believe, is almost entirely his music.
As another example, one of my favorite songs from last year, Kaisarion (the opener proper of Impera) - basically a mix of Rush, arena rock and power metal, and it works!
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no clue when i'll be able to have an EP ready but it looks like you have no clue by when you'll need an EP so i'm probably fine :lol
i also have. literally no clue what to send you, so.
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no clue when i'll be able to have an EP ready but it looks like you have no clue by when you'll need an EP so i'm probably fine :lol
i also have. literally no clue what to send you, so.
This has 9.0+ written all over it.
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they use the I V vi IV (technically vi IV I V) chord progression which is one of the most common, but both use the ruse of making it sound more interesting by modulating it to other keys a few times to make it sound more complex than it actually is.
(https://i.imgflip.com/7uyozz.jpg)
:lol
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Tim - I'm still waiting to hear your more in-depth thoughts on Ghost ;) I can't quite recall what I had recommended when you asked for one album...maybe Meliora? Really, any of the last three will do.
Speaking of Alice Cooper...maybe not his most representative period, but there is a song on that same album (Impera...where Twenties is from), Spillways, on top of which you can almost sing the Poison's chorus melody...
Just listened to the first part of Spillways including the chorus. WOW! That is definitely Poison 2.0!
I haven't given anything a listen yet. These roulettes lately have been pretty intense, and I've been all kinds of busy in real life.
Nothing major, but...
I'm trying to find the motivation. Honestly, I don't really care for Tobias Forge. He kind of seems like a dick. I suppose if you "get him" and it clicks then I'm sure it's great. the music does seem interesting enough.
I thought the band I saw opening for Iron Maiden was awesome, despite is vomit inducing stage banter.
I've never seen Ghost, but I guess I'd assumed that they didn't have much stage banter. What was vomit inducing about it?
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no clue when i'll be able to have an EP ready but it looks like you have no clue by when you'll need an EP so i'm probably fine :lol
Same :lol
My EP is half-ready but I need to work on it and I'm on vacation in another city right now. I'll try to send something this week.
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I have the idea of the EP now I just need to find some songs that fit it ;D I'll say you'll receive it on Wednesday if that's OK?
Regarding Ghost - your early impression said "Good thing I'm judging this entry, not the participants or various slices of music fandom.".
It was the participants part I didn't really understand - like the bands were all dicks (or worse, or much much worse).
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Chris Maitland is a great drummer, both in Porcupine Tree and here. He just suffers the unfortunate fate of being compared to Gavin fucking Harrison. :P
Also I haven't heard Night Cruising but putting Fishmans dead last is a big L. Pokka Pokka literally made me cry once (granted it was more the external circumstances than the song itself, but still, what a beautiful song).
You already have my EP!
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Also I haven't heard Night Cruising but putting Fishmans dead last is a big L.
Typical Buddy W, you love to see it :2metal:
Pokka Pokka literally made me cry once (granted it was more the external circumstances than the song itself, but still, what a beautiful song).
:hug:
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I have the idea of the EP now I just need to find some songs that fit it ;D I'll say you'll receive it on Wednesday if that's OK?
Regarding Ghost - your early impression said "Good thing I'm judging this entry, not the participants or various slices of music fandom.".
It was the participants part I didn't really understand - like the bands were all dicks (or worse, or much much worse).
Well, it was me that thought Forge comes off as a dick. I’m probably completely wrong. I’m not sure he’s been the best of band bosses either.
I saw them open for Iron Maiden, and other than the stupid ass stage banter, I thought they were great. Especially the band. I bought the live album from that tour and honestly I’ve only listened to it once. No reason, really.
I check out every new song that gets posted. They are usually fine. I don’t dislike Ghost. I've just never been drawn enough to get into them.
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i had two bad ideas for EPs so i made them both and sent them both but you are allowed to use the less bad idea as indicated
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i had two bad ideas for EPs so i made them both and sent them both but you are allowed to use the less bad idea as indicated
..You used a Wild Card™?
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soupytwist - Ghost - "Square Hammer", "Year Zero", "Twenties", "Witch Image", "Life Eternal"
Litho - at the very least you should check out the whole of Prequelle (the album Witch Image and Life Eternal are from) and the latest one, Impera. Since you clearly enjoy the details in music, when it comes to the arrangements and instrumentation, I'm pretty sure you will appreciate the care that goes into all of these aspects in Ghost's songs, beneath their more obvious immediacy. It's truly fantastic stuff - the rare instance where something is enjoyable right away (because it's so catchy!) and it actually gets even better with further listens.
I was quite vocal about disliking Ghost. It's not my type of music and the whole thing with the masks and the whole story is something I will never get into with any band. But having said that the music is insanely catchy with a lot of care put into the details. So yes, I totally get the hype.
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I'll come up with something by tomorrow (hopefully)
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i had two bad ideas for EPs so i made them both and sent them both but you are allowed to use the less bad idea as indicated
..You used a Wild Card™?
it's more like a bonus submission, if the bonus submission was the litho equivalent of a dentist drill tenderly inserted into your ears
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Working on my EP now. It's basically done, with a story and everything. I'm just making album art to go along with it. :metal
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EP sent. It's probably trash :)
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they use the I V vi IV (technically vi IV I V) chord progression which is one of the most common, but both use the ruse of making it sound more interesting by modulating it to other keys a few times to make it sound more complex than it actually is.
(https://i.imgflip.com/7uyozz.jpg)
Even my explanation is easier than it appears. Have you ever seen those "50 songs played with just 4 chords" videos? It's the same chord progression.
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I have the idea of the EP now I just need to find some songs that fit it ;D I'll say you'll receive it on Wednesday if that's OK?
Yeah, there's really no rush at the moment (until Tim starts badgering everyone :P ).
Regarding Ghost - your early impression said "Good thing I'm judging this entry, not the participants or various slices of music fandom.".
It was the participants part I didn't really understand - like the bands were all dicks (or worse, or much much worse).
Yeah, if it was about the band itself I would have said "band members", or "nameless ghouls", or something like that.
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Also I haven't heard Night Cruising but putting Fishmans dead last is a big L.
Typical Buddy W, you love to see it :2metal:
Pokka Pokka literally made me cry once (granted it was more the external circumstances than the song itself, but still, what a beautiful song).
:hug:
This must be that famed Sacul/Zantera/Buddy music I keep hearing about. :neverusethis:
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Zantera really needs to start playing in roulettes.
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Also I haven't heard Night Cruising but putting Fishmans dead last is a big L.
Typical Buddy W, you love to see it :2metal:
Pokka Pokka literally made me cry once (granted it was more the external circumstances than the song itself, but still, what a beautiful song).
:hug:
This must be that famed Sacul/Zantera/Buddy music I keep hearing about. :neverusethis:
I'm just going to assume it's not for me. ;D
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Yeah, they just assume you're a lost cause. :p
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It's a fairly short song if you want to sample it.
https://open.spotify.com/track/2diC2THH55uAw4GGpZQjwn
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Sent!
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Zantera really needs to start playing in roulettes.
Yeah, I've even invited him to every single roulette I've made but to no avail :'(
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Nachtmerrie - MESTIS - "Sedosa", "Gentle Giant", "Semila", "El Mestizo", "Pura Vida"
I like a fair amount of djent-derived or adjacent music, but the artists that really rise above almost always have stronger melodic components to elevate the songs above just collections of cool riffs, like Plini, Intervals, David Maxim Micic and such.
Score: 7.5/10
I was thinking about this part of your review and this is so true. AAL took a big step in that direction with their last one but in terms of melodic components Plini is playing in another league.
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Sorry I haven't send my EP.
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Sorry I haven't send my EP.
Same. How long have I got before it gets real awkward?
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I'm still on vacation. Won't be sending until Sunday.
This roulette has been going for 8 months and I haven't had a vacation for 8 months :lol I hope a couple more days is not a big deal.
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I'm still on vacation. Won't be sending until Sunday.
This roulette has been going for 8 months and I haven't had a vacation for 8 months :lol I hope a couple more days is not a big deal.
I hope you weren’t postponing your vacation until this roulette was done!
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:rollin
Nah, just a coincidence.
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Well if you time it right you get to read the final results of the whole roulette on your 2024 holiday.
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You're just trying to buy more time to send your EP :lol
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Everyone take your time and go the best you can!
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Everyone take your time and go the best you can!
IMO everyone should mail it in as quickly and with as little thought/effort as possible.
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I'm still on vacation. Won't be sending until Sunday.
This roulette has been going for 8 months and I haven't had a vacation for 8 months :lol I hope a couple more days is not a big deal.
I hope you weren’t postponing your vacation until this roulette was done!
Oof. Apparently I'm running a sweatshop here. :lol "Trapped inside this..."
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Make it obvious what the title of the EP will be
my EP (or 45 minute mix/playlist?) is basically done, but I'm struggling a bit with this, and how creative, or lack their-of, I'm able to get with this.
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Everyone take your time and go the best you can!
IMO everyone should mail it in as quickly and with as little thought/effort as possible.
Good thing I’m so patient. ;D
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Make it obvious what the title of the EP will be
my EP (or 45 minute mix/playlist?) is basically done, but I'm struggling a bit with this, and how creative, or lack their-of, I'm able to get with this.
Let's just say there are definitely some people going for it so far. :biggrin: :corn
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Make it obvious what the title of the EP will be
my EP (or 45 minute mix/playlist?) is basically done, but I'm struggling a bit with this, and how creative, or lack their-of, I'm able to get with this.
"SoundscapeMN's Super Awesome EP"
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Make it obvious what the title of the EP will be
my EP (or 45 minute mix/playlist?) is basically done, but I'm struggling a bit with this, and how creative, or lack their-of, I'm able to get with this.
"SoundscapeMN's Super Awesome EP"
I was thisclose to using that for my EP title too.
I was torn between that and Buddyhunter’s Electronic Wall Of Noise EP.
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I was torn between that and Buddyhunter’s Electronic Wall Of Noise EP.
I'm saving that for Sacul's next roulette. :neverusethis:
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You're just trying to buy more time to send your EP :lol
Of course
Everyone take your time and go the best you can!
(https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExbzZzYWJrb3g3eTJjcmxoaWNyc3lybWEyaG00MjU3Y2N2MXZ1NTl0aCZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/xUySTIOsf7QxHx1gk0/giphy.gif)
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My work is done here. This final round should take us up through Halloween anyway so there’s really no rush. ;D
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sent the ep/mix/playlist.
done/el fine, etc.
with 18 people in this Roulette, and 18 EPs = approximately 13.5 hours of music to go through (or you could say 13 very detailed Albums?)
Over/Under:
Hangman? September 1st
First Impressions? September 21st
Writeups? October 15th
Make it obvious what the title of the EP will be
my EP (or 45 minute mix/playlist?) is basically done, but I'm struggling a bit with this, and how creative, or lack their-of, I'm able to get with this.
"SoundscapeMN's Super Awesome EP"
part of this is right.
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with 18 people in this Roulette, and 18 EPs = approximately 13.5 hours of music to go through (or you could say 13 very detailed Albums?)
Over/Under:
Hangman? September 1st
First Impressions? September 21st
Writeups? October 15th
:corn :corn :corn :corn :corn :corn :corn
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I was torn between that and Buddyhunter’s Electronic Wall Of Noise EP.
I'm saving that for Sacul's next roulette. :neverusethis:
I don't even know if I'll ever run one again :lol. But to be fair, last time I wasn't on my meds and had a lot going on, so maybe if I just run a very simple one with no fancy rules, I could manage it... :justjen
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Ok, so here's a fun mini-game, mostly stolen from Crow's roulette. I've curated a playlist from the first 13 rounds of a song sent from each of you. Not necessarily my absolute favorite, but one of them, trying to vary things a bit, not pick too many super-long songs, and avoiding the ones too close to normal prog rock/metal that would overly imbalance the results.
You don't have to play, but the more that do the more interesting it is. Just give a listen to the playlist, and send me a ranked order (1 being best, 18 being least best) of the songs. lithojazzosphere@outlook.com is best as usual, but I'm sure a few will prefer PM as normal. I'll tally them and publish the results in a number of days in the downtime between now and whenever hangman begins.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7qEPvlvLZe1zSjzxnFTR4b (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7qEPvlvLZe1zSjzxnFTR4b)
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Nice. I see one song on there already I miiiight like more than my own. :corn
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Does this mean everyone is in?
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Ok, so here's a fun mini-game, mostly stolen from Crow's roulette. I've curated a playlist of a song sent from each of you. Not necessarily my absolute favorite, but one of them, trying to vary things a bit, not pick too many super-long songs, and avoiding the ones too close to normal prog rock/metal that would overly imbalance the results.
You don't have to play, but the more that do the more interesting it is. Just give a listen to the playlist, and send me a ranked order (1 being best, 18 being least best) of the songs. lithojazzosphere@outlook.com is best as usual, but I'm sure a few will prefer PM as normal. I'll tally them and publish the results in a number of days in the downtime between now and whenever hangman begins.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7qEPvlvLZe1zSjzxnFTR4b (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7qEPvlvLZe1zSjzxnFTR4b)
Oh shoot.. I thought it was one song from everyone's EPs..
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Yeah, still have over 1/3 of those to come, and not a ton of time for first listens yet either, which is why I figured this'll be a good way to keep things going in the meantime.
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Yeah, still have over 1/3 of those to come, and not a ton of time for first listens yet either, which is why I figured this'll be a good way to keep things going in the meantime.
Oh no, that's fine. It was my misunderstanding. I opened up wondering what song you picked from my EP and I was like....wait a minute.. :lol
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I'll edit the initial post just in case anyone else gets confused at first as well.
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influenced by a roulette that started after and finished before yours, i see :corn
will try to get to this soon, but my song's winning
even if it's the most boring pick you could've made
but like yeah fair :lol
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It remains the highest scoring song of the roulette and I'm pretty sure Puppies is still steaming that you beat him to sending it, so it can't be that boring. :coolio I'm half-tempted to run another of these for the worst songs everyone sent. :justjen
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It remains the highest scoring song of the roulette and I'm pretty sure Puppies is still steaming that you beat him to sending it, so it can't be that boring. :coolio I'm half-tempted to run another of these for the worst songs everyone sent. :justjen
Oh, that song.... :censored
:biggrin:
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I'm half-tempted to run another of these for the worst songs everyone sent. :justjen
Making everybody listen to dreamcrusher? Hell yeah :metal
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Ok, so here's a fun mini-game, mostly stolen from Crow's roulette. I've curated a playlist from the first 13 rounds of a song sent from each of you. Not necessarily my absolute favorite, but one of them, trying to vary things a bit, not pick too many super-long songs, and avoiding the ones too close to normal prog rock/metal that would overly imbalance the results.
You don't have to play, but the more that do the more interesting it is. Just give a listen to the playlist, and send me a ranked order (1 being best, 18 being least best) of the songs. lithojazzosphere@outlook.com is best as usual, but I'm sure a few will prefer PM as normal. I'll tally them and publish the results in a number of days in the downtime between now and whenever hangman begins.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7qEPvlvLZe1zSjzxnFTR4b (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7qEPvlvLZe1zSjzxnFTR4b)
Cool!
Are we supposed to rank our own song in the ranking or just the others?
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I will do this when I get a chance :tup
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Sent some songs, I'll listen to the playlist later today.
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I'm half-tempted to run another of these for the worst songs everyone sent. :justjen
Making everybody listen to dreamcrusher? Hell yeah :metal
There's a free roulette spot open, you and Crow could run an emergency weird song mini-roulette. ;)
Are we supposed to rank our own song in the ranking or just the others?
Part of the incentive of participating is that you can potentially boost your own song's ranking (unless you like something else better), so yeah, it's definitely allowed.
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checked them all out.
Some good tracks in there.
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nah fam i'm good for about four years
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I've still got seven more songs to go but I'm pretty sure Crow's playlist was better than this one. :lol
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I've still got seven more songs to go but I'm pretty sure Crow's playlist was better than this one. :lol
I'm positive it wasn't.
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this is what we call "the fogey divide"
i'm doing this now but i am certain i will not enjoy this playlist as much as the one i handcrafted to be full of good songs i enjoyed
i'm assuming you have this blanck mass song at or near the bottom, TAC :corn
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i'm assuming you have this blanck mass song at or near the bottom, TAC :corn
I'd be disappointed in myself if it wasn't. :biggrin:
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this is what we call "the fogey divide"
:lol
i'm assuming you have this blanck mass song at or near the bottom, TAC :corn
I'd be disappointed in myself if it wasn't. :biggrin:
I haven't listened to the playlist yet. ;D
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See, and these comments perfectly explain your relative positions in the standings. :p Although, only maybe three of these would really count as fogey songs. Maybe 4-5 if you squint really hard. I count at least three fogey songs on Crow's too. ;) But my equivalent red meat song of "Night's Descending" (which I could have had here too since Tomi sent it) would have been Riverside's "Left Out", but come on, that one's just too obvious (and also too long).
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well congrats, there's a song here that would be the second worst song in my entire last roulette had it been sent there :lol not done with the playlist yet but i straight up had to skip some of this song because i could not take it anymore
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I'll give this a try and send later today or tomorrow
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well congrats, there's a song here that would be the second worst song in my entire last roulette had it been sent there :lol not done with the playlist yet but i straight up had to skip some of this song because i could not take it anymore
I honestly don't have a clue which one you would think it is, this should be interesting... :corn
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One song in and the Black Peaks song is already better than the Carpenters song you picked. Man, I used to listen to Black Peaks so much a few years ago (Can’t Sleep and Home were my faves off this album). I saw them at Arctangent in 2018 as well, shout out to Train for recommending them back in like ‘17 or something.
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I thought about picking "Sacrificial Participant", but I thought I already had a fair amount of heavy music, and not enough older music. :lol
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Just sent my rankings. There were like 6 decent songs in the list.
Kind of brutal, actually. :lol
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Just sent my rankings. There were like 6 decent songs in the list.
Kind of brutal, actually. :lol
Maybe I’ll check it out after all then!
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:lol
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When Crow and TAC don't like it, you know it's gotta be good. :hat
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When Crow and TAC don't like it, you know it's gotta be good. :hat
We've actually done fairly well in each other's roulettes.
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You don't have comparable roulette strategies though.
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i am now done, more songs here i liked than not but most of my faves were the ones i already knew :lol
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Up to the Loreena McKennitt song. Surprisingly good, but not sure I agree with the choice to put Dave Mustaine on the album cover.
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Up to the Loreena McKennitt song. Surprisingly good, but not sure I agree with the choice to put Dave Mustaine on the album cover.
I'm not sure I'm going to be able to unsee that now. :lol
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Up to the Loreena McKennitt song. Surprisingly good, but not sure I agree with the choice to put Dave Mustaine on the album cover.
This song did not need to be seven minutes long. :lol
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But your Thy Catafalque song needed to be 20. :tup
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But your Thy Catafalque song needed to be 20. :tup
oh ABSOLUTELY. :tup
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I do get it though, if you like something enough, you're more comfortable luxuriating in it, but if not, it gets tiresome. "The Bonny Swans" is certainly a little repetitive, and I don't think it would be my first choice to have someone else hear in a roulette. It just happens that I love the vibes of it, so it's more mesmerizing for me. And you probably don't notice the little details of development later on that justify the length the first time through it either.
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Up to the Loreena McKennitt song. Surprisingly good, but not sure I agree with the choice to put Dave Mustaine on the album cover.
This song did not need to be seven minutes seconds long. :lol
..
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I don't use Spotify, but I'm tempted to send a ranking based on the 30 second samples. :)
I think I only lasted 10 seconds of the Demon Kitty song, if that much, so maybe that comes in last. Or The Carpenters. Didn't know that Carpenters song was the Carpenters but I didn't like it when I heard it in my parents car and it turns out I still don't.
On the other hand, there weren't any vocals in the Loreena sample, but the music was very pleasant.
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Finally getting a chance to listen through the playlist.
I haven't listened to Black Peaks in a few years. I don't remember this song being this good or sounding a bit Mastodon-ish in places. :metal
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I don't use Spotify, but I'm tempted to send a ranking based on the 30 second samples. :)
If you're interested I can send you Youtube links to everything.
Didn't know that Carpenters song was the Carpenters but I didn't like it when I heard it in my parents car and it turns out I still don't.
It's possible you've heard one of the many other versions of that song instead (which isn't originally even by the Carpenters), but most of them are probably a ways out of your wheelhouse.
I haven't listened to Black Peaks in a few years. I don't remember this song being this good or sounding a bit Mastodon-ish in places. :metal
A few months ago I probably would have said it's more how I wish Mastodon sounded, although a few rounds ago my opinion of Mastodon went up a bit.
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Okay, I'm home!
Will work on my EP and the minigame ranking today and tomorrow. You'll have both my EP and the rankings in ~36 hours.
Good to see more people liking that Black Peaks song!
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Finally back from holiday, EP is done and sent!
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EP sent! I think this is the most deranged EP I've ever sent in roulettes. Flow score: 4/10
Gotta grind the minigame rankings now.
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I've got to Death Drop (second song in the playlist and the first song was mine) and I kinda want to turn it off now. :lol
Edit: yeah I think rankings will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm obviously not in a positive frame of mind right now. :)
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I’m gonna go from top two in Crow’s to bottom two in this one. :lol
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EP sent! I think this is the most deranged EP I've ever sent in roulettes. Flow score: 4/10
PM sent.
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EP sent! I think this is the most deranged EP I've ever sent in roulettes. Flow score: 4/10
PM sent.
On it!
Edit: added some growls to my EP per Litho's request. PM sent!
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:metal
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I’m gonna go from top two in Crow’s to bottom two in this one. :lol
I knew that one was going to be a hard sell for this crowd. It's one of the niches of my taste that probably won't come out in most other roulettes, lol. I imagine it sounds a bit to other people like dreamcrusher sounds to me.
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Honestly sorry for the delay in getting my EP to you. I’m cranking it up a notch tonight.
Just so I remember rightly. Is anything rated on RYM banned, or just those above a certain rating?
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Artists that I've rated an album from 4.5 or 5.0 are hard-banned. Any other artists I've rated 4.0 or less or are unrated are technically fair game if I don't know the songs well.
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Ranking sent and also updated hangman spreadsheet with brand spanking new EP tab especially for you.
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Ok I’ve got a cool theme, and probably 60% of the songs picked out. I’ll have a play around with flow tomorrow and adding a few more songs that fit. Hoping to send within 48 hours.
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Ok I’ve got a cool theme, and probably 60% of the songs picked out. I’ll have a play around with flow tomorrow and adding a few more songs that fit. Hoping to send within 48 hours.
(https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExNDhvaGRhaW1icmIwc2M1Mjl6M2gxNWFvNTd2Y2hodWdwN3N1YXpxeSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/7FfUhvnmzsgow/giphy.gif)
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Ok I’ve got a cool theme, and probably 60% of the songs picked out. I’ll have a play around with flow tomorrow and adding a few more songs that fit. Hoping to send within 48 hours.
(https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExNDhvaGRhaW1icmIwc2M1Mjl6M2gxNWFvNTd2Y2hodWdwN3N1YXpxeSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/7FfUhvnmzsgow/giphy.gif)
Dude, you can’t post gifpressions of your own EP, it’s too early for one.
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Maybe I should do a poll on what everyone thinks Luke's theme will be. More Wizard Lizards? The Death of Pizza? Make that Destiny's Child EP a reality? Battle of the Boy Bands? Something even more exciting?
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Pizza Lizards
Here's his EP Cover..
(https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.4433404070.2150/poster,504x498,f8f8f8-pad,600x600,f8f8f8.u1.jpg)
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(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1010411107069988894/1140416686487519312/puppies_on_acid_a_lizard_wizard_eating_pizza_92e27d63-09f1-4d53-b846-d23d0775517e.png?width=892&height=892)
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(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1010411107069988894/1140416686487519312/puppies_on_acid_a_lizard_wizard_eating_pizza_92e27d63-09f1-4d53-b846-d23d0775517e.png?width=892&height=892)
New avatar, cheers dude
Well my theme is neither pizza or lizard themed. It’s really quite mundane compared to all that, but I like it. If I do change my mind it’s only gonna cause further delays and I’m sure we don’t want that.
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(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1010411107069988894/1140416686487519312/puppies_on_acid_a_lizard_wizard_eating_pizza_92e27d63-09f1-4d53-b846-d23d0775517e.png?width=892&height=892)
New avatar, cheers dude
Well my theme is neither pizza or lizard themed. It’s really quite mundane compared to all that, but I like it. If I do change my mind it’s only gonna cause further delays and I’m sure we don’t want that.
:lol Awesome!
The theme of my EP is.....well, more death and destruction. Apparently that's the only kind of story I can write for EPs.
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The theme for my ep is that it's fucking great :metal :metal :metal
Also just sent the minigame rankings.
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(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1010411107069988894/1140416686487519312/puppies_on_acid_a_lizard_wizard_eating_pizza_92e27d63-09f1-4d53-b846-d23d0775517e.png?width=892&height=892)
OMG!!! :rollin :rollin :rollin
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I don't need hangman to know that Puppies' EP probably ends with the universe dying. :P
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I don't need hangman to know that Puppies' EP probably ends with the universe dying. :P
Ah, not this time! :corn :biggrin:
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I don't need hangman to know that Puppies' EP probably ends with the universe dying. :P
Ah, not this time! :corn :biggrin:
So.. just Earth?
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I don't need hangman to know that Puppies' EP probably ends with the universe dying. :P
Ah, not this time! :corn :biggrin:
So.. just Earth?
:neverusethis:
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What Spotify thinks you should like, from cloning your playlist and looking at the suggestions:
- Thy Catafalque
- The Cult Of Luna / Julie Christmas album
- Ulver's The Assassination Of Julius Ceasar
- Ihsahn
Excellent suggestions tbh :biggrin:
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What Spotify thinks you should like, from cloning your playlist and looking at the suggestions:
- Thy Catafalque
- The Cult Of Luna / Julie Christmas album
- Ulver's The Assassination Of Julius Ceasar
- Ihsahn
Excellent suggestions tbh :biggrin:
Is this Puppies' or yours?
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What Spotify thinks you should like, from cloning your playlist and looking at the suggestions:
- Thy Catafalque
- The Cult Of Luna / Julie Christmas album
- Ulver's The Assassination Of Julius Ceasar
- Ihsahn
Excellent suggestions tbh :biggrin:
Is this Puppies' or yours?
Neither, I'm talking about the minigame playlist.
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What Spotify thinks you should like, from cloning your playlist and looking at the suggestions:
- Thy Catafalque
- The Cult Of Luna / Julie Christmas album
- Ulver's The Assassination Of Julius Ceasar
- Ihsahn
Excellent suggestions tbh :biggrin:
I wish that was the actual playlist!
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thy catafalque was already sent earlier the roulette but i forget if it did well :lol
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I've liked other stuff from Thy Catafalque before, I just found the track Buddy sent a bit overly long. I've heard the Cult of Luna/Julie Christmas album, the Ulver album, and various things from Ihsahn as well. But I'm not entirely sure most of them would quite fit on that particular playlist. :dunno:
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Is everyone in yet?
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Definitely not.
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Definitely not.
It’s not just me left, right?
Edit: EP is finished! I’ll send after work this evening with an accompanying write up. I’m real proud of this one. These songs have fucking character, and I love it, I’ll be spinning it loads!
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Gonna have to pass on the minigame. Everytime I think I've got some free time to start the playlist a member of my family tells me I have other things to do!
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I think I'll also gonna pass on the minigame. Although I'll still give a playlist a go as soon as I've got time. If I'm on time to submit rankings, good, if not, so be it.
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Definitely not.
It’s not just me left, right?
Nope, still waiting on a number of others as well.
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That is amazing.
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And I was so anxious to actually keep my promise and send on Sunday :lol
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Well, the earlier people sent, the earlier I've been able to listen and start allowing them to soak in, which might yield an advantage theoretically. :)
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Well, the earlier people sent, the earlier I've been able to listen and start allowing them to soak in, which might yield an advantage theoretically. :)
this is where my comeback begins
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Well, the earlier people sent, the earlier I've been able to listen and start allowing them to soak in, which might yield an advantage theoretically. :)
I sent mine months ago, but I don't think that advantage will mean much. :neverusethis:
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Sent an incredible EP that might get me from 17th to 16th :metal
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Sent an incredible EP that might get me from 17th to 16th :metal
..of August?
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Sent an incredible EP that might get me from 17th to 16th :metal
..of August?
It’s so good it’ll keep me going until Litho wrap ups the roulette in 2024!
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I can’t stop listening to my EP! I’ve never done one I’m so proud of. I just sent it to my brother (who I share barely any musical taste with) as the theme will kinda appeal to him. Might post his reactions :lol
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I've listened to mine a few times too, definitely one of my favourites. Didn't write such a detailed story as I did in Puppies' roulette though (but that one had a lot of points on offer for story so it was worth it) :lol But I think it works great. I'll post it here after hangman.
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I had tunes I thought of after sending mine I wish I had included, but I kind of ran into; how can I include that 1 if I would have to remove something else?
Always seems to be the case..would could shoulda. I guess maybe those will have to be saved for the next Roulette, lol (if there is 1, haha).
Also, I wonder if the Hangman's are going to be in a Super Small Font, or if Litho will have to make multiple Hangman posts to include 18 EPs with 45 mins of music which could 5-10+ tracks a piece. 180 or more Songs?
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Also, I wonder if the Hangman's are going to be in a Super Small Font, or if Litho will have to make multiple Hangman posts to include 18 EPs with 45 mins of music which could 5-10+ tracks a piece. 180 or more Songs?
My recent roulette had 23 EPs and a total of 150 tracks. I started with a simple one for EP titles (starting here (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=58332.msg3010944#msg3010944)), and then did the songs in 3 batches (starting here (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=58332.msg3012085#msg3012085)). Good times.
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My EP is not my favourite, but to be fair I spent all my inspiration on Ariich's EP.
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And to be fair it was one of the best I received, Crow just did enough to hold you off.
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You should have rankings from me today. I still think Crow's playlist is a bit better, but that's mostly because of the 3 or 4 worst songs on this one. If you took those out they'd be about the same, for my tastes.
Edit: Sent!
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i slapped together my EP in this roulette in a few minutes tbh but it's still pretty cool because i like a lotta good music
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Ironing out final issues on people's EPs, so we're getting pretty close on those.
I'm gonna throw up (no, not that kind you reptiles) part 1 of the minigame rankings in a bit. If anyone else still wants to send rankings I'll keep it open and adjusting tallies will be quite easy, those aren't really set in stone like normal rankings anyway.
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Ok, so here is part 1 of the minigame rankings:
The participants were ariich, Buddyhunter1, Crow, Puppies_On_Acid, Sacul, SoundscapeMN, TAC, and twosuitsluke.
---
18th Place
Joan Baez - "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You"
Submitted by Stadler
ariich - 15th
Buddyhunter1 - 18th
Crow - 17th
Puppies_On_Acid - 18th
Sacul - 9th
SoundscapeMN - 12th
TAC - 12th
twosuitsluke - 18th
Sum - 119
Her version of this song is partially responsible for the formation of Led Zeppelin, but I guess it's not quite as inspirational for everyone in the roulette. I get it, it's old, and it's quite bare, so it kind of either works for you or doesn't. It also might show the stylistic preferences of the people who participated in the minigame, I imagine a few of the ones who didn't might have scored it slightly higher. Oh well.
---
17th Place
Ornette Coleman - "Congeniality"
Submitted by Elite
ariich - 16th
Buddyhunter1 - 16th
Crow - 12th
Puppies_On_Acid - 15th
Sacul - 10th
SoundscapeMN - 17th
TAC - 7th
twosuitsluke - 16th
Sum - 109
Not really a surprise either. Old-school jazz isn't DTF's thing, even with a hint of avant-garde flair.
---
16th Place
Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik - "Skuggsjá"
Submitted by Lethean
ariich - 6th
Buddyhunter1 - 12th
Crow - 5th
Puppies_On_Acid - 13th
Sacul - 13th
SoundscapeMN - 16th
TAC - 16th
twosuitsluke - 10th
Sum - 91
Another hard sell with the slowly-developing droniness of it. If the atmosphere doesn't mesmerize you, you're probably out on it.
---
15th Place
Katzenjammer - "Demon Kitty Rag"
Submitted by soupytwist
ariich - 4th
Buddyhunter1 - 17th
Crow - 16th
Puppies_On_Acid - 8th
Sacul - 4th
SoundscapeMN - 15th
TAC - 9th
twosuitsluke - 17th
Sum - 90
Close call here. I suspected this might be a bit much for some, and even two 4th place votes didn't quite save it. Another of my kinds of fun that definitely isn't quite up everyone's alley.
---
14th Place
Carpenters - "Superstar"
Submitted by twosuitsluke
ariich - 18th
Buddyhunter1 - 15th
Crow - 9th
Puppies_On_Acid - 16th
Sacul - 12th
SoundscapeMN - 6th
TAC - 10th
twosuitsluke - 3rd
Sum - 89
The last three are all tightly packed and could have easily been in a different order if someone had voted ever so slightly differently. More older music, which might seem too middle-of-the-road for some, particularly if you aren't enthralled with her voice like Luke and I are. And if Luke hadn't participated it probably would have fared worse. Quite a spread of scores here too.
---
13th Place
The Black Queen - "Ice to Never"
Submitted by Sacul
ariich - 13th
Buddyhunter1 - 7th
Crow - 11th
Puppies_On_Acid - 11th
Sacul - 2nd
SoundscapeMN - 13th
TAC - 13th
twosuitsluke - 15th
Sum - 85
So it doesn't have quite my personal highest score of the roulette, but this might be my favorite song of the whole thing, as I continue to play this a lot. It's a really fascinating blend of electronics and soulfulness - Greg says he was heavily inspired by Jodeci, who I'll have to look more into. But neither of those elements are DTF's forte, even with a few of the participants being more amenable to electronic music than most here, so I'm not shocked at the ranking.
---
12th Place
Blanck Mass - "Death Drop"
Submitted by Buddyhunter1
ariich - 3rd
Buddyhunter1 - 1st
Crow - 7th
Puppies_On_Acid - 17th
Sacul - 3rd
SoundscapeMN - 18th
TAC - 18th
twosuitsluke - 14th
Sum - 81
Wow, probably the most polarizing song here. It seems to heavily split by age. I'm kind of surprised it didn't score a lot lower, actually, electro-industrial is not a style I'd expect DTF to latch onto.
---
11th Place (tie)
Circus of Fools - "Eris (To the Fairest One)
Submitted by TAC
ariich - 9th
Buddyhunter1 - 14th
Crow - 15th
Puppies_On_Acid - 12th
Sacul - 15th
SoundscapeMN - 5th
TAC - 1st
twosuitsluke - 9th
Sum - 80
Definitely one of my top songs of the whole roulette, it seems almost custom-made in a lab for one of the niches of my taste, so I'm not surprised it wasn't quite a top scorer, though it didn't do too poorly after all.
---
11th Place (tie)
Loreena McKennitt - "The Bonny Swans"
Submitted by senecadawg2
ariich - 7th
Buddyhunter1 - 13th
Crow - 18th
Puppies_On_Acid - 5th
Sacul - 11th
SoundscapeMN - 7th
TAC - 8th
twosuitsluke - 11th
Sum - 80
Yeah, apparently swans and crows don't get along, territorial things they are. This isn't a sound I'd expect DTF to go for, so this isn't such a bad placement. And it's reignited a mostly dormant interest in Celtic music in me this year.
---
9th Place
Pepe Deluxé - "A Night and a Day"
Submitted by SoundscapeMN
ariich - 11th
Buddyhunter1 - 11th
Crow - 13th
Puppies_On_Acid - 14th
Sacul - 8th
SoundscapeMN - 1st
TAC - 14th
twosuitsluke - 6th
Sum - 78
I had no idea how this would do, it's kind of an unfamiliar sound for me. Right in the middle, it turns out, the barometer that all other rankings are judged by.
---
Part 2 of the minigame ranking results will come tomorrow.
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It occurs to me that I should have split it at 10, since there are 18 of these. Oh well, it was a sneak peek. :lol
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yeah never been a big Swans fan, just don't get that band :lol
have all of my top 4 but i'm fascinated the yaatri song is still here, interesting :corn
also shouldn't it be a tie for 10th, not 11th?
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I suppose it's a glass half-empty/half-full thing - it depends on if you're drinking or pouring. In my case I was counting down, so it's 11th. But sure, you could say they're tied for 10th too.
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I'll take 12th with this crowd. :lol I like how the two highest rankers for that song besides myself are the two people I've won the roulettes of. :biggrin: :heart
...though they also both ranked Demon Kitty Rag just underneath it, so that leaves some questions about their taste.
Some other random thoughts about songs:
Skuggsjá
Cool atmosphere but it just doesn't go much of anywhere, compositionally. Also I thought you disliked spoken word. ;)
Superstar
The verses here are quite nice but that chorus just annoys me.
Ice to Never
I'm surprised I ranked this the second-highest out of everyone since I think it's just okay. :lol The production is great but songwriting-wise it leaves a bit to be desired.
Eris (To the Fairest One)
This isn't terrible but if the whole beauty-and-the-beast vocal duo, generic metal riffs sound is custom-tailored to your tastes, that explains a lot of my scores this roulette. :lol
The Bonny Swans
HEE HEE HO AND ME BONNY OH
HEE HEE HO AND ME BONNY OH
HEE HEE HO AND ME BONNY OH
HEE HEE HO AND ME BONNY OH
HEE HEE HO AND ME BONNY OH
HEE HEE HO AND ME BONNY OH
HEE HEE HO AND ME BONNY OH
I actually really like the instrumentation on this one but it does wear on my patience a bit. :lol
A Night and a Day
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/BeautifulUntriedCrow-max-1mb.gif)
Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You
(https://media.tenor.com/ZVHnr6zYRfkAAAAC/jeb-bush-please-clap.gif)
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Skuggsjá...Also I thought you disliked spoken word. ;)
Apparently it's not as much a problem when it's not in English. :lol Hypno5e didn't fare too poorly either with the Spanish?/French? And I like the timbre of his voice, which helps.
Superstar
The verses here are quite nice but that chorus just annoys me.
Is it the love song nature of it or the repetition of "baby"? Sometimes it's an advantage not caring as much about lyrics, but I can see how it could be a bit annoying if you're not used to it.
Ice to Never...songwriting-wise it leaves a bit to be desired.
Yeah, we definitely have different thoughts about songwriting. :D
Eris (To the Fairest One)
This isn't terrible but if the whole beauty-and-the-best vocal duo, generic metal riffs sound is custom-tailored to your tastes, that explains a lot of my scores this roulette. :lol
Executed at that high a level it certainly is. The heavy guitar sound is nearly the best in the roulette (Rannoch is even better) even if the riffs themselves aren't the most imaginative, the electric viola work, and it reminds me a lot of Deadlock, which I sent in ariich's roulette and is one of my top 20 bands or so.
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Mostly the baby baby baby baby for the Superstar chorus, but the instrumentation also becomes a bit too whimsical for my tastes there.
I got Ice To Never in my last roulette, as well as Dark All Day and a different Bonobo song, funnily enough. I think I mentioned in my write-up for Ice To Never that I had listened to the song like five times and completely forgot about the break before the last chorus until I was in the middle of doing the write-up, because of how little it adds. :lol
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Mostly the baby baby baby baby for the Superstar chorus, but the instrumentation also becomes a bit too whimsical for my tastes there.
Interesting, I think the oboe-driven instrumental breaks have the most whimsy to them, but it feels like a fantasy journey of sorts, which I enjoy. The chorus instrumentally sounds a lot like Chicago with the horns and the looseness of the drumming and fills, which I consider one of the better bands of the time.
I think I mentioned in my write-up for Ice To Never that I had listened to the song like five times and completely forgot about the break before the last chorus until I was in the middle of doing the write-up, because of how little it adds. :lol
That's my least favorite part of the song, and an example of how in a much weaker song those pitch-shifted vocals would probably irritate me more. But I love everything else so much and basking in the ambiance of the texture of the synths there that I can pretty easily put up with it.
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You Carpenters hating heathens!
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You Carpenters hating heathens!
How dare they build fuckin' houses and shit.
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Here is the second and last part of the minigame results. EP title hangman will begin probably Saturday, but possibly tomorrow. I'll just add the last couple EPs in when they arrive.
---
8th Place
Yaatri - "Vipassana"
Submitted by HOF
ariich - 14th
Buddyhunter1 - 10th
Crow - 14th
Puppies_On_Acid - 10th
Sacul - 7th
SoundscapeMN - 2nd
TAC - 11th
twosuitsluke - 5th
Total: 73
The second part of an incredibly strong one-two punch from HOF at the beginning of the roulette, I'm pleasantly surprised that it's reasonably appealing here as well, given the ethereal and fusiony elements that DTF generally seems less into than I am.
---
7th Place
Bonobo - "The Keeper"
Submitted by Vmadera00
ariich - 12th
Buddyhunter1 - 6th
Crow - 4th
Puppies_On_Acid - 7th
Sacul - 5th
SoundscapeMN - 4th
TAC - 17th
twosuitsluke - 13th
Total: 68
This one is even more of a slow burn, so it's nice to see it placing reasonably high.
---
6th Place
Paramore - "The News"
Submitted by Tomislav95
ariich - 17th
Buddyhunter1 - 4th
Crow - 8th
Puppies_On_Acid - 9th
Sacul - 6th
SoundscapeMN - 10th
TAC - 5th
twosuitsluke - 8th
Total: 67
A really tight grouping with these last two being just a point apart. I have a much longer set of observations related to this one still formulating, but I think I want to save most of them for after the roulette.
---
5th Place
Shylagoghnar - "As All Must Come To Pass
Submitted by Puppies_On_Acid
ariich - 5th
Buddyhunter1 - 9th
Crow - 6th
Puppies_On_Acid - 4th
Sacul - 18th
SoundscapeMN - 11th
TAC - 4th
twosuitsluke - 7th
Total: 64
Probably the most thoroughly \m/ song here, which I think explains the voting breakdown, lol.
---
4th Place
Rannoch - "Despair"
Submitted by Nachtmerrie
ariich - 10th
Buddyhunter1 - 8th
Crow - 3rd
Puppies_On_Acid - 3rd
Sacul - 16th
SoundscapeMN - 14th
TAC - 2nd
twosuitsluke - 2nd
Total: 58
Another of my absolute top favorites of the roulette, this just has it all - massive sound, monster riffs and soloing, great vocals, a dark ambient section, acoustics and percussion - this song alone is better than a whole album from many other bands, so I'm glad to see it do quite well. I'm kind of loving that Sacul and TAC's lists are basically the inversions of each other, heh.
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3rd Place
Dissona - "Another Sky"
Submitted by ariich
ariich - 1st
Buddyhunter1 - 2nd
Crow - 2nd
Puppies_On_Acid - 6th
Sacul - 17rd
SoundscapeMN - 9rd
TAC - 3rd
twosuitsluke - 12th
Total: 52
I thought this would do well, but thought it could be lower, with the more unusual vocals, the dubstepy electronics to throw off the metal fans, but still being pretty intense and technical for the less into metal crowd, but I suppose the progginess gives it enough cross-appeal.
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2nd Place
Black Peaks - "Slow Seas"
Submitted by Evermind
ariich - 2nd
Buddyhunter1 - 5th
Crow - 10th
Puppies_On_Acid - 2nd
Sacul - 14th
SoundscapeMN - 8th
TAC - 6th
twosuitsluke - 1st
Total: 48
Another band it seems almost everyone can agree on. In recent years especially I've been on the hunt for -core related bands that are more palatable, and this one seems to straddle other fences enough to be a near-universal hit.
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1st Place
Gunship - "Dark All Day"
Submitted by Crow (and attempted by Puppies_On_Acid)
ariich - 8th
Buddyhunter1 - 3rd
Crow - 1st
Puppies_On_Acid - 1st
Sacul - 1st
SoundscapeMN - 3rd
TAC - 15th
twosuitsluke - 4th
Total: 36
Not a photo finish at all. I figured this song would score highly, but I wasn't sure it would score this high. Poor TAC, he just doesn't get it. :-p Yep, my highest scoring song of the whole roulette, this also feels custom-built for me in a lab, so I'm not entirely sure why everyone else loves it so much, but I certainly don't mind. I suppose it's at least partially because it has an unusual amount of dynamics for a synthwave tune, which is a trait that fairly reliably tends to reel prog fans in. Maybe it's part of the minor backlash prog fans often feel about the static nature of most standard pop and rock songs, but this has the hooks as well, so it gets to eat the whole cake and still have another one sitting there.
Luke, are you sure this isn't too 80s poppy for you? ;-)
I'm nervous about checking the rest of this album out though for fear of disappointment. I'd heard their first album a few years earlier, since they're a pretty big name in synthwave, but found it a bit underwhelming at the time. And on its own it would still be a pretty good tune, but it's the guest vocals from Indiana and guest saxophone from Tim Capello that really put it over the top. There are several slated tracks on their upcoming album next month which look to be potential spiritual sequels (the one with Tim Capello and Lights especially has me intrigued), but lightning doesn't always strike twice.
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Final Participant Rankings:
18th - Joan Baez - "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" .......................................... 119
17th - Ornette Coleman - "Congeniality" .................................................... 109
16th - Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik - "Skuggsjá" ........................................ 91
15th - Katzenjammer - "Demon Kitty Rag" ............................................... 90
14th - Carpenters - "Superstar" ............................................................. 89
13th - The Black Queen - "Ice to Never .................................................. 85
12th - Blanck Mass - "Death Drop" ....................................................... 81
11th/10th (tie) - Circus of Fools - "Eris (To the Fairest One) ................... 80
11th/10th (tie) - Loreena McKennitt - "The Bonny Swans" .................... 80
9th - Pepe Deluxé - "A Night and a Day" ........................................... 78
8th - Yaatri - "Vipassana" .............................................................. 73
7th - Bonobo - "The Keeper" ......................................................... 68
6th - Paramore - "The News" ....................................................... 67
5th - Shylagoghnar - "As All Must Come To Pass" .......................... 64
4th - Rannoch - "Despair" ......................................................... 58
3rd - Dissona - "Another Sky" .................................................. 52
2nd - Black Peaks - "Slow Seas" .............................................. 48
1st - Gunship - "Dark All Day" ................................................ 36
BTW, how do the "..."s in these and my other results display for everyone? On my desktop computer they have an aesthetically pleasing ascending slope to them, but when I look on my phone they're randomly uneven.
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Poor TAC, he just doesn't get it. :-p
Been feeling this way a lot lately. :lol
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Poor TAC, he just doesn't get it. :-p
Been feeling this way a lot lately. :lol
Out of curiosity, have you listened to that whole song by Gunship?
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Poor TAC, he just doesn't get it. :-p
Been feeling this way a lot lately. :lol
Out of curiosity, have you listened to that whole song by Gunship?
You mean all 5 minutes? Am I missing something?
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Pepe Deluxe:
As I posted a few years ago on the Phantom Cabinet page on rym
"I guess it's either you totally get it, or you don't get it at all."
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Having heard three of their albums now though, they have a decent range of sounds, so I could see people liking some songs and not others, or even just parts of them and not others. Definitely one of the most unique bands I've received in the roulette.
And other than you, their ranking range is 6-14, which is fairly compressed, one of the most, really.
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8th out of 18 for Yaatri, not bad!
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Guess I should post my comments, rankings, scores etc. now :lol
1st: Dark All Day by Gunship - 9.5/10
I mean if you're gonna call this the best song of the entire roulette I'm not gonna disagree? I probably like Kitsune off their debut slightly more but this song's still incredible, so.
2nd: Another Sky by Dissona - 8/10
See, it's funny because I'm pretty sure I introduced this band to DTF way back in 2016 after seeing them in concert, so it's like I get two songs here :lol This is honestly still pretty cool and wild prog metal even nowadays though.
3rd: Despair by Rannoch - 8/10
I don't know if I'm directly responsible for this one too but I did post about these guys before anyone else on DTF did, at the very least :lol Anyways this is probably my least fave of the four full tracks on this album, oops! Still good though.
4th: The Keeper by Bonobo - 7.5/10
Pretty cool, dark atmospheric vibes. Kinda took a while to get going but it was pleasant the whole way through and did kinda pop off towards the end, just has a neat sound the whole way through.
5th: Skuggsja by Skuggsja - 7.5/10
Got this one in a roulette many years ago myself, it takes its time getting going but it's really cool when it does get going, even if the style will never 100% be my thing I still like it nowadays more than I expected to.
6th: As All Must Come to Pass by Shylmagoghnar - 7.5/10
I spun this album a good few times back when it dropped and I remember liking it but finding it a bit… much. Overindulgent? Still pretty much true but hey at least it's a sound I like!
7th: Death Drop by Blanck Mass - 7.5/10
Lot of really cool sounds here, potentially, but some of the mixing & muddy sounds don't quite do it for me? It's like electronic black metal, including the weird production choices I don't always like. Still dug it though.
8th: The News by Paramore - 7/10
Paramore are a band I've never fully got but this is a pretty cool tune, yeah. Bit of an edge to it, the lyrics describing our existential nightmare pretty succinctly, just a solid tune all aroun. Wouldn't say I loved it, but, cool, yeah.
9th: Superstar by Carpenters - 7/10
Karen Carpenter has a lovely voice but I've never loved this group's music - however this does have a lot more going for it compositionally and isn't as saccharine sweet as I'm used to. Think I've heard it before somewhere.
10th: Slow Seas by Black Peaks - 7/10
This album was such a disappointment and a step down from their debut and I'm still not completely over it. This is… solid but it lacks the edge and energy that made that debut cool. And also there's no real strong hook either.
11th: Ice to Never by The Black Queen - 7/10
I liked this, but it's a bit… too faithful of an 80's pop pastiche, both in terms of the really blocky sounding percussion I've never loved and the overly cluttered moments where way too much is happening at once, but it's a fun tune so ehh.
12th: Congeniality by Ornette Coleman - 7/10
This gets kinda Seinfelded for me in that I'm sure it was innovative and fresh at the time but over 60 years later I've heard a lotta jazz in this lane to the point where this doesn't stand out and it's hard to to appreciate the nuances of it. Still fun though.
13th: A Night and a Day by Pepe Deluxe - 7/10
Not… completely sure what to do with this one honestly? For as many slightly off-kilter elements as it had it felt surprisingly normal, but it was at least a solid enough tune that I enjoyed it.
14th: Vipassana by Yaatri - 6.5/10
Well this is pleasant but like, nothing about it really stood out to me. It's like, Sonic Adventure 2 Rouge The Bat Stage Music. It gets a little neat towards the end, I guess?
15th: Eris (To the Fairiest One) by Circus of Fools - 6.5/10
Some primo beauty-and-the-beast-core that does not stand out in any way and I have nothing to say about it. It was fine.
16th: Demon Kitty Rag by Katzenjammer - 6/10
This brand of… swing? Ragtime? Cabaret?? I dunno, will never be my thing. It's a bouncy tune but nothing about it appeals to what I'm looking for in music. Nothing wrong with it though, I guess.
17th: Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You by Joan Baez - 6/10
Uuugh, she puts waaaay too much vibrato in her singing - it takes talent to do, I'm sure, but it does not sound great! Otherwise this is. Fine. Minimal folk is very hit or miss for me.
18th: The Bonny Swans by Loreena McKennitt - 5/10
Congrats on finding a sound I enjoy even less than ragtime and minimal folk? This sounds like goddamn christian music. It's seven minutes long. I only listened to about half of it before skimming the rest, which does not change even a tiny bit uuugh. No thanks.
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14th: Vipassana by Yaatri - 6.5/10
Well this is pleasant but like, nothing about it really stood out to me. It's like, Sonic Adventure 2 Rouge The Bat Stage Music. It gets a little neat towards the end, I guess?
:rollin
I'm a little surprised Dark All Day won considering TAC voted, but I guess it's deserving of it. It was one of the best songs I got in my last roulette and it's still one of the best here, though I still find the production way too busy at points. Kind of a song that sounds better in my head than when I'm actually listening to it. And I think I've tried listening to that full album multiple times and couldn't finish it... might try again at some point though. I just remember it being pretty boring, and I don't usually like my synthwave that clean and glossy.
That Dissona track was wild. For a prog metal song released in the late 2010s, it sounded surprisingly fresh and exciting. I gave the full album a listen this morning and a lot of it was disappointingly low-energy by comparison, though.
The News really surprised me as well. Never been into Paramore myself either, but that song's catchy as hell and really well-written. I've already listened to that album a couple times and will probably be returning to it at least a little in the future.
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another sky is definitely the best song on the album yeah (it was the one they opened with when i saw them live and i was instantly sold)
but i do think the whole album is pretty cool, so :corn
and yeah dark all day (the album) is... meh. kinda just more of the same as their debut but not as good, to my ears. i've spun it a decent number of times and don't ever remember anything off it besides dark all day (and when you grow up, your heart dies but only bcuz it was a single and it's not particularly notable otherwise)
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Just for funsies, here are my rankings from both Litho's and Crow's playlists combined together.
Excellent
Void Of Words
Death Drop
Another Sky
Captain Awkward
Great
Dark All Day
The News
Will To Believe
Good
Slow Seas
Empty Nest
Famous Blue Raincoat
Cosmic
レプリカ
Untie
The Keeper - Alex Banks Remix
Ice To Never
Despair
Decent
Someone Great
As All Must Come To Pass
Night's Descending
Vipassana
Hmm...
A Night And A Day
Skuggsja
Woman In Chains
Strangers
The Bonny Swans
Not for me
Nearly Dead Bat Make-Up
Eris (To The Fairest One)
The Glow, Pt. 2
Come Alive (War Of The Roses)
Superstar
Escaping
Congeniality
Real vomit hours
Demon Kitty Rag
Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You
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Not for me
Nearly Dead Bat Make-Up
Eris (To The Fairest One)
Aww.. gee.
:lol
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Not for me
Nearly Dead Bat Make-Up
Eris (To The Fairest One)
Aww.. gee.
:lol
You still did better than both of Stadler's songs. :lol
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1st: Dark All Day by Gunship - 9.5/10
I mean if you're gonna call this the best song of the entire roulette I'm not gonna disagree? I probably like Kitsune off their debut slightly more but this song's still incredible, so.
Well, highest scored. As I indicated, "Ice to Never" has grown past it a bit over time to be probably my favorite at this point, and there are some individual songs from high-scoring batches that challenge it, but it's still really high. I'll probably do something of a ranking or at least listing of the best songs after the whole roulette is over.
I gave "Kitsune" another listen and it didn't really stand out for me, but maybe it'll grow on me later, who knows.
That Dissona track was wild. For a prog metal song released in the late 2010s, it sounded surprisingly fresh and exciting. I gave the full album a listen this morning and a lot of it was disappointingly low-energy by comparison, though.
another sky is definitely the best song on the album yeah
More energy isn't always better though. Honestly I like "Totality" about as much.
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conclusion: litho loves 80's-styled synthpop/synthwave
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conclusion: litho loves 80's-styled synthpop/synthwave
it's weird, a few years ago I was seeking out something similar to this.
Really, I wanted/still want to find bands who made music, or captured the sound of the 80's Cinematic Dark/Electronic vibe ala Apes & Androids and like something out of Night of the Comet. I didn't ultimately really find much, although Ultravox may be sort of what I was looking for and they are kind of a work in progress for me (I love Vienna).
it may be Soundtracks that I really need to find.
I love sort that post-industrial Scifi element, like music that narrates an adventure in the future. Blood Moon does that, and I always think of movies from the 80's like Night of the Comet or The Hidden perhaps, that did that.
That being said, I actually mean to seek out more from Gunship along with Yaatri, Bonobo and Circus of Fools. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but all of those tunes had me going back to them. I actually mentioned it on YouTube the other day in fact.
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I'm not surprised the Dissona track and most of the prog metal stuff ended up quite high on most lists. I was frankly bored to tears from most of them, I had to skip them :lol
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Luke, are you sure this isn't too 80s poppy for you? ;-)
Yes, it’s true I don’t like 80s pop, it’s probably my least favourite era/genre of music. However, as a kid of the 80s, I love 80s films/TV shows. The 80s synthy stuff like Gunship I like more because it could’ve been on the Transformers soundtrack or something. That is a sweet spot for me and gets me all nostalgic. But make no mistake, 80s pop is 99% trash.
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I'm not surprised the Dissona track and most of the prog metal stuff ended up quite high on most lists. I was frankly bored to tears from most of them, I had to skip them :lol
Yeah, not surprised you didn't like Black Peaks. :lol
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I'm not surprised the Dissona track and most of the prog metal stuff ended up quite high on most lists. I was frankly bored to tears from most of them, I had to skip them :lol
Evil TAC be like
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Luke, are you sure this isn't too 80s poppy for you? ;-)
Yes, it’s true I don’t like 80s pop, it’s probably my least favourite era/genre of music. However, as a kid of the 80s, I love 80s films/TV shows. The 80s synthy stuff like Gunship I like more because it could’ve been on the Transformers soundtrack or something. That is a sweet spot for me and gets me all nostalgic. But make no mistake, 80s pop is 99% trash.
if 80's Pop is trash (which I personally don't agree), than at least the Billboard "Pop" music that has come since (90's-since) is beneath trash, whatever that is, lol.
https://pudding.cool/2017/03/music-history/
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This site is really cool. 80s pop isn’t all trash, I was definitely exaggerating, but when it comes to what was in the charts I prefer the 60s, 70s, 90s and (early) 00s. Like, 90s pop just had it all and I loved how alt rock was just in the mainstream in the 90s. 80s pop is better than 10s and 20s pop for me though.
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Who are we waiting on for EPs?
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I think we're at the shaming point, yeah. :biggrin:
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This site is really cool. 80s pop isn’t all trash, I was definitely exaggerating, but when it comes to what was in the charts I prefer the 60s, 70s, 90s and (early) 00s. Like, 90s pop just had it all and I loved how alt rock was just in the mainstream in the 90s. 80s pop is better than 10s and 20s pop for me though.
It really depends on what you count as pop tho, or what level of mainstream success you're referring to. Because bland popular music has always existed, we've just forgotten most of it :P
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yeah, people love to point to the classics as if the hundreds of mediocre imitators didn't exist at the same time :lol
popular music has always had gradients of quality
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When I say pop in the context I was talking about here, it’s not the genre but ‘popular music’, meaning the stuff that was/is in the charts. My preference for 90s popular music is definitely influenced by the fact that it was the period of my life where I was actively listening to more music in the charts than any other decade. I am not exposed to what is in the charts now, and don’t seek it out so I am out of the loop, by choice. Due to that, I appreciate my take on 20s chart music is pretty unsubstantiated.
I love the 90s partly because the quality and types of songs on the charts was all over the place. You still had novelty hits in the 90s and all the genres were covered.
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That's pretty much the universal phenomenon, that you connect with the music you hear in your teenage years or thereabouts.
conclusion: litho loves 80's-styled synthpop/synthwave
Yeah, pretty much.
That being said, I actually mean to seek out more from Gunship along with Yaatri, Bonobo and Circus of Fools. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but all of those tunes had me going back to them. I actually mentioned it on YouTube the other day in fact.
Haven't really had time to watch many of yours in awhile (I think I saw part of the Dirt Poor Robins one though for sure), but I had to check that one. I think with the Local Natives collaboration you're confusing Loreena McKennitt with Sharon Van Etten, unless there's another track that doesn't Google as easily. I had some more details on the Gunship track in the minigame writeup. I know the experience on sometimes one track being misleading as to the quality of the rest of an album/discography, although I will say that while "Vipassana" was my favorite still, "Riddoem" was another standout on a different album of theirs, and lonestar really liked "In the Cloud Part 1" when HOF sent it recently in his roulette.
With Bonobo's "The Keeper", Andreya Triana is the guest vocalist, Alex Banks is the guy that did a totally revamped electronic remix of it, which is the version Vmad sent. This is the original if you want to compare.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K0SOZ0EWc0
I'm not surprised the Dissona track and most of the prog metal stuff ended up quite high on most lists. I was frankly bored to tears from most of them, I had to skip them :lol
Evil TAC be like
Which reference to use? "The dark rises, and the light to meet it." "Perfectly balanced, as all things should be." I just have no idea which is which. :biggrin:
Who are we waiting on for EPs?
Elite (love to have one from him, but I'm not counting on it anytime soon), and Stadler (he said to go on without him if need be, which is fine, I can just add his in later or score it separately after).
EP title hangman coming in just a moment. :corn EP song hangman is going to be...interesting. I think I know what I'm doing in my head, but the execution, we'll see. :cow: Who other than ariich has run 150-song EP hangman before?
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Here's EP title hangman. Had some trouble getting the spreadsheet to do what I wanted it to and didn't want to spend too much time finessing it when there's bigger fish to fry, so I found a workaround. I'll spot everyone a few letters since these will be harder to guess by their nature. A few had to be truncated, apparently I'm not the only one with a verbosity problem! :0
??: * – [Redacted's] __A_ (_____n ________i__ A__ ____) _a__l__
??: * – _a_a__n_ _f ___a_i_n, A__i____ _f __an__
??: * – L_ __i ___ ____, _i__ La __in_!
??: * – _____ & _i_a_ ____ __li____
??: * – I_'_ _a__ f__ _____n_ __ ___ l___ ____, _a____ __ill _
??: * – ___ _a__ _a__ __ A____a ____ali_
??: * – __i__in_ _______ ___ n___in_n___
??: * – ____n_ __an___ (__ __i_i__?)
??: * – A_an_-___al I_ Li__ __i___n N___l_ ____ F__ ___ ___l
??: * – I ____ _i_ ___ la_n___, i_ n_ l_n___ __n_all_ ill
??: * – __ ___ I_lan_
??: * – ______ ___ini___n__ _a__ _: L___ in ___ __a___a__ _f _
??: * – __a__if_l __n__ ___ ____l_ _n__ (___ __i_ _a__ __ Li__
??: * – _a__l ___ _i___
??: * – __a_____a_ in ___ _._.A.
??: * – F___ ___ ___ _f ___ _____
Guessed letters: final
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Who other than ariich has run 150-song EP hangman before?
I mean, I ran hangman for Puppies' concept albumround and that was like, 130 songs but i spread it out over 13 rounds of ten to keep the thread busy while puppies was doing first listens and impressions and vacation stuff or something
anyways give me the Final D
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T
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Banana In My D.N.A.?
something something Island
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gimme the D
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I mean, I ran hangman for Puppies' concept albumround and that was like, 130 songs but i spread it out over 13 rounds of ten to keep the thread busy while puppies was doing first listens and impressions and vacation stuff or something
Maybe you should have spread it over 26 rounds of 5 and he'd have finished it. :p
anyways give me the Final D
There could be three more for song hangman.
??: * – ___da_t_d'__ __A_ (__d__n ________i__ A_t ____) _a__l__
??: * – _a_a__n_ _f ___ati_n, A__it___ _f __an__
??: * – L_ __i __t ___t, _i__ La __in_!
??: * – D_d__ & Di_a_ D__t D_li__t_
??: * – It'_ _a_d f__ _____n_ t_ __t l__t ____, _a_d__ _till t
??: * – T__ Da__ _at_ T_ A____a ____ali_
??: * – __i__in_ t______ t__ n_t_in_n___
??: * – ____nd __an___ (__ __i_id_?)
??: * – A_ant-__tal I_ Li__ __i___n N__dl_ ____ F__ t__ ___l
??: * – I ___t did t__ la_nd__, i_ n_ l_n___ __ntall_ ill
??: * – To the Island
??: * – _t___d ___ini___n__ _a_t _: L__t in t__ __a___a_d _f _
??: * – __a_tif_l __n__ ___ ____ld _n__ (__t T_i_ Ta__ T_ Lit_
??: * – _a__l t__ _it__
??: * – __a_t___a_ in t__ _._.A.
??: * – F___ t__ __d _f t__ ___d_
Guessed letters: finaldt
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R
-
B
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??: * – [Redacted's] __AR (__d_rn _r__r___i__ Art R___) _a__l__
??: * – _ara__n_ _f _r_ati_n, Arbit_r_ _f __an__
??: * – L_ R_i __t __rt, _i__ La R_in_!
??: * – D_d__ & Di_a_ D__t D_li__t_
??: * – It'_ _ard f_r _____n_ t_ __t l__t __r_, _ard_r _till t
??: * – T__ Dar_ _at_ T_ A_r_ra B_r_ali_
??: * – __i__in_ t_r____ t__ n_t_in_n___
??: * – ____nd __an___ (_r __i_id_?)
??: * – A_ant-__tal I_ Li__ __i___n N__dl_ ____ F_r t__ ___l
??: * – I ___t did t__ la_ndr_, i_ n_ l_n__r __ntall_ ill
??: * – To the Island
??: * – _t___d R__ini___n__ _art _: L__t in t__ _ra___ard _f _
??: * – B_a_tif_l __n__ ___ ____ld _n__ (__t T_i_ Ta__ T_ Lit__
??: * – _a__l t__ _it__
??: * – __artbr_a_ in t__ _._.A.
??: * – Fr__ t__ B_d _f t__ ___d_
Guessed letters: finaldtrb
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Are some of these cut off?
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Yes.
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Heartbreak In The N.W.A.
Free The Bud Of The Birdy
E
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I think I made a version of Ariich's hangman spreadsheet for super long titles if you want it.
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Heartbreak In The N.W.A.
I suppose that's when Ice Cube started starring in Disney movies.
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I think I made a version of Ariich's hangman spreadsheet for super long titles if you want it.
Is it based on the latest version ariich just tweaked a week ago? I think it's too late at this point, I'd be afraid of breaking something in the formulas, but I guess it couldn't hurt to have for future reference and possible later roulettes if you want to e-mail it to me.
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Heartbreak In The N.W.A.
I suppose that's when Ice Cube started starring in Disney movies.
You seemed to have cut off the (Eazy-E's Lament)
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I just did the laundry, I'm no longer mentally Ill.
Has to be Luke.
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??: * – [Redacted's] __AR (__dern _r__re__i_e Art R___) _a__le_
??: * – _ara__n_ _f _reati_n, Arbiter_ _f __an_e
??: * – Le R_i E_t __rt, _i_e La Reine!
??: * – D_de_ & Di_a_ D_et Deli__t_
??: * – It'_ _ard f_r ___e_ne t_ _et l__t _ere, _arder _till t
??: * – T_e Dar_ _at_ T_ A_r_ra B_reali_
??: * – __i__in_ t_r____ t_e n_t_in_ne__
??: * – _e__nd __an_e_ (_r __i_ide?)
??: * – A_ant-_etal I_ Li_e __i__en N__dle ____ F_r t_e ___l
??: * – I just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
??: * – To the Island
??: * – Et__ed Re_ini__en_e _art _: L__t in t_e _ra_e_ard _f _
??: * – Bea_tif_l __n__ ___ ____ld _n__ (_et T_i_ Ta_e T_ Lit__
??: * – _a_el t_e _it__
??: * – Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
??: * – Fr__ t_e Bed _f t_e ___d_
Guessed letters: finaldtrbe
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I just did the laundry, I'm no longer mentally Ill.
Has to be Luke.
Certainly doesn't have to be.
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I think I made a version of Ariich's hangman spreadsheet for super long titles if you want it.
Is it based on the latest version ariich just tweaked a week ago? I think it's too late at this point, I'd be afraid of breaking something in the formulas, but I guess it couldn't hurt to have for future reference and possible later roulettes if you want to e-mail it to me.
Sent.
You'll need to make a copy of it to edit.
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The dark path to Aurora borealis
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Avant metal is like chicken noodle soup for the soul
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I think I made a version of Ariich's hangman spreadsheet for super long titles if you want it.
Is it based on the latest version ariich just tweaked a week ago? I think it's too late at this point, I'd be afraid of breaking something in the formulas, but I guess it couldn't hurt to have for future reference and possible later roulettes if you want to e-mail it to me.
Sent.
You'll need to make a copy of it to edit.
Cool, though it's probably still not long enough for one of the alternate titles one person sent me. (https://i.imgur.com/1C7FEmC.gif)
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??: * – [Redacted's] __AR (__dern _r__re__i_e Art R___) _a__le_
??: * – _ara__n_ _f _reati_n, Arbiter_ _f __an_e
??: * – Le R_i E_t __rt, _i_e La Reine!
??: * – D_de_ & Di_a_ D_et Deli__t_
??: * – It'_ _ard f_r ___e_ne t_ _et l__t _ere, _arder _till t
??: * – The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
??: * – __i__in_ t_r____ t_e n_t_in_ne__
??: * – _e__nd __an_e_ (_r __i_ide?)
??: * – Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
??: * – I just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
??: * – To the Island
??: * – Et__ed Re_ini__en_e _art _: L__t in t_e _ra_e_ard _f _
??: * – Bea_tif_l __n__ ___ ____ld _n__ (_et T_i_ Ta_e T_ Lit__
??: * – _a_el t_e _it__
??: * – Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
??: * – Fr__ t_e Bed _f t_e ___d_
Guessed letters: finaldtrbe
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[REDACTED'S] FEAR (Modern Progressive Art Rock) Sampler
Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Chance
Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still t
Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard
From the Bed of the World
Beautiful Songs ... (Get This Tape to Litho)
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Avant metal is like chicken noodle soup for the soul
The full, non-truncated title?
"Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul, If the Noodles Were Snakes and the Soup Was Blood"
And no, that's not even close to the longest. (https://i.imgur.com/52czC8u.gif)
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??: * – [Redacted's] MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
??: * – Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
??: * – Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
??: * – Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
??: * – It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
??: * – The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
??: * – __i__in_ t_r____ t_e n_t_in_ne__
??: * – _e__nd __an_e_ (_r __i_ide?)
??: * – Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
??: * – I just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
??: * – To the Island
??: * – Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
??: * – Bea_tif_l __n__ ___ ____ld _n__ (_et T_i_ Ta_e T_ Lit__
??: * – _a_el t_e _it__
??: * – Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
??: * – From the Bed of the Woods
Guessed letters: finaldtrbe
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O
From the bed of the something
somethings of creation, Arbiters Of chance
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i updated with one more btw but i couldn't solve the middle
give me the S to help solve the middle idk
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Damn, I guess we're finishing this tonight it looks like. I'll take a week to guess the senders though while I prepare early impressions. :corn
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Mine should be easy to figure out.
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??: * – [Redacted's] MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
??: * – Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
??: * – Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
??: * – Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
??: * – It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
??: * – The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
??: * – S_i__in_ t_ro___ t_e not_in_ness
??: * – Se_ond __an_es (or S_i_ide?)
??: * – Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
??: * – I just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
??: * – To the Island
??: * – Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
??: * – Bea_tif_l Son_s _o_ S_o_ld _no_ (_et T_is Ta_e To Lit__
??: * – _a_el t_e _it__
??: * – Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
??: * – From the Bed of the Woods
Guessed letters: finaldtrbeso
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dacul is probably the one who sent the laundry EP because only he and buddy would have a title like that
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Beautiful Songs ... (Get This Tape to Litho)
don't ignore this mostly correct answer :P
(the ... is You Should Know so it's Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape to Litho))
Shining Through the Nothingness
Second Chances (Or Suicide?)
Hazel the Witch
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SoundscapeMN: * – [SoundscapeMN's] MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
ariich: * – Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
Evermind: * – Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
??: * – Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
??: * – It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
??: * – The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
??: * – Swimming through the nothingness
??: * – Second Changes (or Suicide?)
??: * – Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
Sacul: * – I just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
??: * – To the Island
Puppies_On_Acid: * – Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
??: * – Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape To Litho)
??: * – Hazel the Witch
??: * – Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
??: * – From the Bed of the Woods
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Hazel the Witch
i updated this post like five times so you might've missed this
feel like MPAR might be Soundscape? Stadler might be Heartbreak in the USA
idk without knowing, like, the songs on each EP it's hard to say :P
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He said Stadler hadn't submitted yet
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feel like MPAR might be Soundscape?
That's what I was thinking.
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Updated. I'm probably gonna stop updating soon, unless someone has another good minigame to run while I work on impressions. :lol
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Updated. I'm probably gonna stop updating soon, unless someone has another good minigame to run while I work on impressions. :lol
Don't leave us hanging!!
Dudes and Divas-Luke
Beautiful songs-J-Boy
Etched Reminiscience-Pup
Paragons-Ariich
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Remaining EP title guesses courtesy of random.org!
Puppies_On_Acid - Paragons
Nachtmerrie - Le Roi
TAC - Dudes & Divas
senecadawg2 - It's hard
Buddyhunter1 - The Dark Path
Crow - Swimming
HOF - Second
soupytwist - Avant-Metal
Lethean - Island
ariich - Etched (this one's probably right tbh)
Vmadera00 - Beautiful Songs
twosuitsluke - Hazel the Witch
Evermind - Heartbreak
Tomislav95 - From the Bed
jingle continues to not be in this roulette
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jingle continues to not be in this roulette
I don't even know who's in this roulette.
I just figured everybody was. :lol
And I am definitely not Dudes and Divas! :lol :lol
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??: * – It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
Is this one Crow?
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Le Roi is Evermind?
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Dudes and Divas-Luke
That does sound like a Luke title, doesn't it? I'm not sure he'd know enough songs to fill an EP of it though.
Beautiful songs-J-Boy
For reference, people not in my roulette that are guessed a lot: jingle.boy, kingshmegland, lonestar, nick_z, ReaperKK, wolfking. They all need to be in V2 whenever that rolls around though.
Updated the rest.
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Dark path maybe Buddy? Didn't he do a space EP for Ariich?
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Crow already tried that.
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every single RNG guess being wrong is pretty funny :lol
beautiful songs is probably seneca tho. or at least that's generally his brand
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also sorry to the aurora borealis submission but i can only think of steamed hams when i read that title
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Crow - Swimming
(https://c8.alamy.com/comp/EWTENF/a-crow-standing-on-a-sign-reading-no-swimming-EWTENF.jpg)
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Is Crow Second Changes?
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i'll give you a hint i generally don't guess my own stuff in hangman
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i'll give you a hint i generally don't guess my own stuff in hangman
So that's a no? :neverusethis:
Right, I missed that. No, nobody guesses their own hangman.
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have a second hint because i wanna see hangman progress
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DeWsTOjXkAEidtp.jpg)
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Crow sent Worm Noodle Soup For The Soul
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yummy
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Mine's probably not one you'd guess for me
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Mine's probably not one you'd guess for me
I feel like the most UnBuddy title here is Heartbreak In The USA.
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Mine's probably not one you'd guess for me
I feel like the most UnBuddy title here is Heartbreak In The USA.
You got it. :rollin
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Glad I could participate in this part of the roulette :yeahright
Litho, you hit 100 pages for this roulette (for those cultured enough to use 335 posts per page)! Is that a record?
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335 posts per page? That's a lot.
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335 posts per page? That's a lot.
Amateur. You’ll need it for the 150 song hangman!
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Litho, you hit 100 pages for this roulette (for those cultured enough to use 335 posts per page)! Is that a record?
Probably. And it makes sense given this roulette has had, like, a million rounds. :lol
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Litho, you hit 100 pages for this roulette (for those cultured enough to use 335 posts per page)! Is that a record?
Currently third, behind TAC (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54416) and ariich (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=55161).
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Litho, you hit 100 pages for this roulette (for those cultured enough to use 335 posts per page)! Is that a record?
Currently third, behind TAC (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54416) and ariich (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=55161).
That one actually finished on page 99, but then there were a bunch of post-roulette updates. Almost identical in my latest roulette too, which will be the same once I get round to the post-roulette updates which should be starting soon.
Either way, with an epic amount of hangman imminent, Litho's roulette will far surpass both quite soon!
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Glad I could participate in this part of the roulette :yeahright
Litho, you hit 100 pages for this roulette (for those cultured enough to use 335 posts per page)! Is that a record?
33500 posts so far in this thread eh? :neverusethis:
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Glad I could participate in this part of the roulette :yeahright
Litho, you hit 100 pages for this roulette (for those cultured enough to use 335 posts per page)! Is that a record?
33500 posts so far in this thread eh? :neverusethis:
With the in depth write up Litho spits out, it feels like it.
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That's pretty much the universal phenomenon, that you connect with the music you hear in your teenage years or thereabouts.
conclusion: litho loves 80's-styled synthpop/synthwave
Yeah, pretty much.
That being said, I actually mean to seek out more from Gunship along with Yaatri, Bonobo and Circus of Fools. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but all of those tunes had me going back to them. I actually mentioned it on YouTube the other day in fact.
Haven't really had time to watch many of yours in awhile (I think I saw part of the Dirt Poor Robins one though for sure), but I had to check that one. I think with the Local Natives collaboration you're confusing Loreena McKennitt with Sharon Van Etten, unless there's another track that doesn't Google as easily. I had some more details on the Gunship track in the minigame writeup. I know the experience on sometimes one track being misleading as to the quality of the rest of an album/discography, although I will say that while "Vipassana" was my favorite still, "Riddoem" was another standout on a different album of theirs, and lonestar really liked "In the Cloud Part 1" when HOF sent it recently in his roulette.
With Bonobo's "The Keeper", Andreya Triana is the guest vocalist, Alex Banks is the guy that did a totally revamped electronic remix of it, which is the version Vmad sent. This is the original if you want to compare.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K0SOZ0EWc0
ah you're right. Although the name "Loreena McKennit" still does sound familiar. But it was Sharon Von Etten who was the guest vocalist on Sour Lemon. She has a good voice anyway, so I may have to hear more from her.
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DeWsTOjXkAEidtp.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/FaR0RG7.gif)
Glad I could participate in this part of the roulette :yeahright
Sorry, these animals solved it in just slightly over 2 hours. Is that a record too? (https://i.imgur.com/jYPvjM1.gif)
Either way, with an epic amount of hangman imminent, Litho's roulette will far surpass both quite soon!
I didn't set out on making roulette history, but after a certain point, you know...
(https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExOGptYmx2aWwzNHlxMjMxcXNwbjZkcm5uMmZsNjF2a2ZwZHJtaGx6dyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/1yn16TSMX4zo9GrGaX/giphy.gif)
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SoundscapeMN: * – SoundscapeMN's MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
ariich: * – Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
Evermind: * – Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
??: * – Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
??: * – It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
??: * – The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
??: * – Swimming through the nothingness
??: * – Second Chances (or Suicide?)
Crow: * – Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
Sacul: * – I just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
??: * – To the Island
Puppies_On_Acid: * – Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
??: * – Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape To Litho)
??: * – Hazel the Witch
Buddyhunter1: * – Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
??: * – From the Bed of the Woods
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Glad I could participate in this part of the roulette :yeahright
Sorry, these animals solved it in just slightly over 2 hours. Is that a record too?
It’s cool, I’m just fucking with you. But on a deadly serious note, first impressions when?
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chill out, we have fifteen rounds of song hangman to get through first :corn
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But on a deadly serious note, first impressions when?
Early-mid this week hopefully. I'll fill out the senders tomorrow if no one has guessed any more of them.
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I'll take some stabs in the dark...
Seneca: * – Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
Nachtmerrie: * – It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
Tim: * – The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
Lethean: * – Swimming through the nothingness
Luke: * – Second Chances (or Suicide?)
HOF: * – To the Island
Soupy: * – Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape To Litho)
Tomi: * – Hazel the Witch
Vmadera: * – From the Bed of the Woods
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That grumpy Luke Skywalker GIF is so useful. Here's the filled out one anyway.
SoundscapeMN: * – SoundscapeMN's MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
ariich: * – Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
Evermind: * – Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
soupytwist: * – Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
twosuitsluke: * – It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
Nachtmerrie: * – The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
Tomislav95: * – Swimming through the nothingness
Lethean: * – Second Chances (or Suicide?)
Crow: * – Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
Sacul: * – I just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
Vmadera00: * – To the Island
Puppies_On_Acid: * – Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
HOF: * – Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape To Litho)
TAC: * – Hazel the Witch
Buddyhunter1: * – Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
senecadawg2: * – From the Bed of the Woods
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generally i like doing song hangman before ep title hangman because the titles are basically impossible to match up without the songs, for future reference :P
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I'll definitely consider that in the future, but for now I'm just copying ariich mostly since I've never had this type of round before. :p
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Aurora Borealis?! At this time of day, in this part of the forums, localized entirely within Litho’s roulette?!
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DZ_BIOkUMAAtzre?format=jpg&name=900x900)
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Song title hangmanen when :corn :corn :corn
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Impressions first. The sheer volume makes this a challenge to wrap my head around, but I should definitely have them up tomorrow.
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I say hangman now.
(I'm on a long and boring work meeting and thought I'd finally have time to participate in some hangman.)
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Hangman will be ongoing for a number of days I'm sure. Unless you're going on vacation in the next week you'll get more of it than anyone can handle.
Two impressions each this time, one in each set of 16. Some of these are probably even harder to guess than usual.
Round 14 Early Impressions:
1: This has one of the best Christmas songs I've ever heard.
2: Crow - This is what happens when the promoters screw up and book the Ringling Brothers and the local death metal act for the same venue at the same time.
3: Lethean - O I C what U did there.
4: This is Goldilox the EP. One third is too weird, one third is too bland, and the other third is just right.
5: Puppies_On_Acid - This is definitely slickly edited, maybe almost too much?
6: Wow, this is a treat. It's a version of a genre I love, but haven't received all roulette.
7: This might be the best batch of songs, but with the least comprehensible flow.
8: There is a style that was hinted at here but never really appeared, but in retrospect it probably wasn't necessary anyway.
9: Am I in an early 2010s Apple commercial?
10: This is still lacking melodically in spots, but there's more in other sections, and enough cool stuff going on that it might work.
11: I'm surprised at how well you can feel the storytelling here, even in the instrumental portions.
12: I think I'm unlikely to love this style as a whole, but this is a better selection of songs in it than I was expecting.
13: This makes me want to make a kind of music that I don't think exists.
14: Much of this is adjacent to the type of music I've been getting into the most in the past few years.
15: Getting the right vibe with this approach is a tricky endeavor, but this does better than I worried it might.
16: This dances around the edges of the sounds I like, and that's probably good enough.
17: One song in particular stands out in unique ways, though the useage of samples makes me curious to hear how different it is from the source(s).
18: Buddyhunter1 - This 80s virtual reality dating app is so realistic!
19: Crow - There are elements I like here, but the overall package might be a bit much.
20: ariich - One song sounds like part of a holy grail long lost Disney musical that there have only been whispers regarding.
21: Here we have more bands and songs that I probably should know well enough to ban, but I don't.
22: It feels like this ends rather abruptly, which is a little frustrating, but the journey was epic enough otherwise that I can only complain so much.
23: This has some really tasty and crisp drumming.
24: I love the stylistic textures of much of these songs, the question is going to be if the melodies and vocalists stand out.
25: A lot of this is in a style or two of music adjacent to one I love, but which I tend to neglect exploring, so this is useful as a foothold to look into these artists further.
26: twosuitsluke - This has a surprisingly cinematic feel, like moving through different scenes meeting various characters in a variety of settings.
27: I'm not sure these styles normally live in the same area of town, but your theme makes it work well enough, I suppose.
28: SoundscapeMN - This has some of the most fascinating instrumental parts of the round, though some of the vocals are kind of odd.
29: The "ending" came out of nowhere, though I mind it less than I thought I would.
30: One track has one of the coolest openings I've heard in awhile.
31: The nice thing about my rating philosophy in general for this is that a couple good songs are more likely to pull the rating up a bit than a couple weaker songs are to drag it down.
32: I probably complain an uncomfortable amount about the keys songs are in, but possibly the best song is in one of my least favorite keys, which is the sign of a really good song.
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26, 27 and 28?
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#26 is right. Though some of yours do have some odd vocals, but there's a reason for that. :p
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Soundscape is 7. ;D
I’m 12, 6, or maybe 3.
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How many first impressions have we got each? 2?
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Soundscape is 7. ;D
I’m 12, 6, or maybe 3.
(https://media2.giphy.com/media/3o6Mbr5qqmp094peJa/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e4730o3k34nlbako652pgye0etvsbof1ea7nwkb9gm2&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
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I still don't know what songs are on any EPs so it's hard to match anyone else's but #2 is probably mine :lol
idk about the other one but maybe 19
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DZ_BIOkUMAAtzre?format=jpg&name=900x900)
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nailed it :lol
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5 maybe? I was going to say 2 as well, but I guess that's Crow's. :corn
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(https://i.imgur.com/s9woO8Q.gif)
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18? Like with Ariich's there's too damn many of these. :P
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18? Like with Ariich's there's too damn many of these. :P
nah you just have to be smart and guess both your impressions in one shot, it's easy :loser:
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18? Like with Ariich's there's too damn many of these. :P
Yep! Exact same ratio as before though. :p
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I dunno
21? or maybe 28 or 29..
also unclear on something. Are some of these impressions are applying to more than 1 EP? or some just for songs? per we have what 18 people playing, thus 18 EPs, but well over 18 impressions.
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romdrums dropped out, elite is MIA, and i guess someone else (Stadler it looks like) didn't submit yet idk
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Two impressions each this time, one in each set of 16.
I gather you mean everyone has one in 1-16 and another in 17-32?
Let's try and narrow down a bit. I'll do my usual three from each batch and see where we get to.
Round 14 Early Impressions:
8: There is a style that was hinted at here but never really appeared, but in retrospect it probably wasn't necessary anyway.
11: I'm surprised at how well you can feel the storytelling here, even in the instrumental portions.
14: Much of this is adjacent to the type of music I've been getting into the most in the past few years.
-------------------
20: One song sounds like part of a holy grail long lost Disney musical that there have only been whispers regarding.
21: Here we have more bands and songs that I probably should know well enough to ban, but I don't.
25: A lot of this is in a style or two of music adjacent to one I love, but which I tend to neglect exploring, so this is useful as a foothold to look into these artists further.
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3 and 21?
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Updated.
Edit: Err, new page, so let's just repost the update.
Round 14 Early Impressions:
1: This has one of the best Christmas songs I've ever heard.
2: Crow - This is what happens when the promoters screw up and book the Ringling Brothers and the local death metal act for the same venue at the same time.
3: Lethean - O I C what U did there.
4: This is Goldilox the EP. One third is too weird, one third is too bland, and the other third is just right.
5: Puppies_On_Acid - This is definitely slickly edited, maybe almost too much?
6: Wow, this is a treat. It's a version of a genre I love, but haven't received all roulette.
7: This might be the best batch of songs, but with the least comprehensible flow.
8: There is a style that was hinted at here but never really appeared, but in retrospect it probably wasn't necessary anyway.
9: Am I in an early 2010s Apple commercial?
10: This is still lacking melodically in spots, but there's more in other sections, and enough cool stuff going on that it might work.
11: I'm surprised at how well you can feel the storytelling here, even in the instrumental portions.
12: Tomislav95 - I think I'm unlikely to love this style as a whole, but this is a better selection of songs in it than I was expecting.
13: This makes me want to make a kind of music that I don't think exists.
14: Much of this is adjacent to the type of music I've been getting into the most in the past few years.
15: TAC - Getting the right vibe with this approach is a tricky endeavor, but this does better than I worried it might.
16: This dances around the edges of the sounds I like, and that's probably good enough.
17: One song in particular stands out in unique ways, though the useage of samples makes me curious to hear how different it is from the source(s).
18: Buddyhunter1 - This 80s virtual reality dating app is so realistic!
19: Crow - There are elements I like here, but the overall package might be a bit much.
20: ariich - One song sounds like part of a holy grail long lost Disney musical that there have only been whispers regarding.
21: Here we have more bands and songs that I probably should know well enough to ban, but I don't.
22: Lethean - It feels like this ends rather abruptly, which is a little frustrating, but the journey was epic enough otherwise that I can only complain so much.
23: This has some really tasty and crisp drumming.
24: HOF - I love the stylistic textures of much of these songs, the question is going to be if the melodies and vocalists stand out.
25: A lot of this is in a style or two of music adjacent to one I love, but which I tend to neglect exploring, so this is useful as a foothold to look into these artists further.
26: twosuitsluke - This has a surprisingly cinematic feel, like moving through different scenes meeting various characters in a variety of settings.
27: I'm not sure these styles normally live in the same area of town, but your theme makes it work well enough, I suppose.
28: SoundscapeMN - This has some of the most fascinating instrumental parts of the round, though some of the vocals are kind of odd.
29: The "ending" came out of nowhere, though I mind it less than I thought I would.
30: One track has one of the coolest openings I've heard in awhile.
31: Tomislav95 - The nice thing about my rating philosophy in general for this is that a couple good songs are more likely to pull the rating up a bit than a couple weaker songs are to drag it down.
32: TAC - I probably complain an uncomfortable amount about the keys songs are in, but possibly the best song is in one of my least favorite keys, which is the sign of a really good song.
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So yeah, each person has an impression in both 1-16 and in 17-32. No word from Elite in over a month, though it looks like he did log in a few days ago, so he's still haunting these halls somewhere. Nothing from Stadler yet, so I figure he hasn't had time lately to finish it or at this point maybe just isn't wanting to hold everything up. It wouldn't really all that much though.
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12 and 31?
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You've got that Crow magic going on!
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27?
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(https://i.imgur.com/UBbYa4z.gif)
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Updated.
Edit: Err, new page, so let's just repost the update.
Round 14 Early Impressions:
4: This is Goldilox the EP. One third is too weird, one third is too bland, and the other third is just right.
11: I'm surprised at how well you can feel the storytelling here, even in the instrumental portions.
15: Getting the right vibe with this approach is a tricky endeavor, but this does better than I worried it might.
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24: I love the stylistic textures of much of these songs, the question is going to be if the melodies and vocalists stand out.
25: A lot of this is in a style or two of music adjacent to one I love, but which I tend to neglect exploring, so this is useful as a foothold to look into these artists further.
30: One track has one of the coolest openings I've heard in awhile.
??
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1 down, 1 to go!
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1 down, 1 to go!
OK, not the worst impression I've had lately! :lol
Let's try Part II!
21: Here we have more bands and songs that I probably should know well enough to ban, but I don't.
22: It feels like this ends rather abruptly, which is a little frustrating, but the journey was epic enough otherwise that I can only complain so much.
29: The "ending" came out of nowhere, though I mind it less than I thought I would.
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I suspect you won't get it other than by random guessing or process of elimination, if that suggests anything.
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If the second one isn't 21, could it maybe be 22?
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I suspect you won't get it other than by random guessing or process of elimination, if that suggests anything.
Well, not including the impression about the samples...this is all that's left. :lol
23: This has some really tasty and crisp drumming.
27: I'm not sure these styles normally live in the same area of town, but your theme makes it work well enough, I suppose.
32: I probably complain an uncomfortable amount about the keys songs are in, but possibly the best song is in one of my least favorite keys, which is the sign of a really good song.
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(https://i.imgur.com/ZdqsIxq.gif)
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:lol
I have no idea with that impression. :lol
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24 or 21?
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1 down, 1 to go!
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8 and 27?
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(https://i.imgur.com/RLKgXa1.gif)
Although #27 does kind of work for it.
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I'd say 21 or 27. but struggling to see something in the first 16 - let's try....4 or 16?
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Hmnnnn maybe 6, 9, 17, 23, 27?
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I think 29 describes mine well.
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11 or 16?
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25? but honestly I feel like a lot of the numbers could be a fit
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Ok second attempt on the first batch.
10: This is still lacking melodically in spots, but there's more in other sections, and enough cool stuff going on that it might work.
13: This makes me want to make a kind of music that I don't think exists.
16: This dances around the edges of the sounds I like, and that's probably good enough.
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(https://media.tenor.com/kJ5_iac0HA0AAAAC/spiffyknighttf2.gif)
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Congrats Ariich!
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Congrats Ariich!
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Well, I have Stadler's EP now. Two songs on it are banned, so I'm not counting them towards the score, but they kind of hold the theme together, so I'll leave them in hangman and the tracklist for fun and listen to them with the rest for flavor anyway. And I'll pre-solve his impressions and add them to the end. You'll find out his EP title when I post part 1 of hangman in the near future.
Round 14 Early Impressions:
1: This has one of the best Christmas songs I've ever heard.
2: Crow - This is what happens when the promoters screw up and book the Ringling Brothers and the local death metal act for the same venue at the same time.
3: Lethean - O I C what U did there.
4: Sacul - This is Goldilox the EP. One third is too weird, one third is too bland, and the other third is just right.
5: Puppies_On_Acid - This is definitely slickly edited, maybe almost too much?
6: Wow, this is a treat. It's a version of a genre I love, but haven't received all roulette.
7: This might be the best batch of songs, but with the least comprehensible flow.
8: There is a style that was hinted at here but never really appeared, but in retrospect it probably wasn't necessary anyway.
9: Am I in an early 2010s Apple commercial?
10: This is still lacking melodically in spots, but there's more in other sections, and enough cool stuff going on that it might work.
11: Buddyhunter1 - I'm surprised at how well you can feel the storytelling here, even in the instrumental portions.
12: Tomislav95 - I think I'm unlikely to love this style as a whole, but this is a better selection of songs in it than I was expecting.
13: This makes me want to make a kind of music that I don't think exists.
14: Much of this is adjacent to the type of music I've been getting into the most in the past few years.
15: TAC - Getting the right vibe with this approach is a tricky endeavor, but this does better than I worried it might.
16: ariich - This dances around the edges of the sounds I like, and that's probably good enough.
17: Sacul - One song in particular stands out in unique ways, though the useage of samples makes me curious to hear how different it is from the source(s).
18: Buddyhunter1 - This 80s virtual reality dating app is so realistic!
19: Crow - There are elements I like here, but the overall package might be a bit much.
20: ariich - One song sounds like part of a holy grail long lost Disney musical that there have only been whispers regarding.
21: Here we have more bands and songs that I probably should know well enough to ban, but I don't.
22: Lethean - It feels like this ends rather abruptly, which is a little frustrating, but the journey was epic enough otherwise that I can only complain so much.
23: This has some really tasty and crisp drumming.
24: HOF - I love the stylistic textures of much of these songs, the question is going to be if the melodies and vocalists stand out.
25: Nachtmerrie - A lot of this is in a style or two of music adjacent to one I love, but which I tend to neglect exploring, so this is useful as a foothold to look into these artists further.
26: twosuitsluke - This has a surprisingly cinematic feel, like moving through different scenes meeting various characters in a variety of settings.
27: soupytwist - I'm not sure these styles normally live in the same area of town, but your theme makes it work well enough, I suppose.
28: SoundscapeMN - This has some of the most fascinating instrumental parts of the round, though some of the vocals are kind of odd.
29: senecadawg2 - The "ending" came out of nowhere, though I mind it less than I thought I would.
30: One track has one of the coolest openings I've heard in awhile.
31: Tomislav95 - The nice thing about my rating philosophy in general for this is that a couple good songs are more likely to pull the rating up a bit than a couple weaker songs are to drag it down.
32: TAC - I probably complain an uncomfortable amount about the keys songs are in, but possibly the best song is in one of my least favorite keys, which is the sign of a really good song.
33: Stadler - Even your initial tracklist submission was (unintentionally?) in character.
34: Stadler - This is a slightly different side of a number of artists than I'm used to hearing from them.
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Well, I have Stadler's EP now. .
And......
Congrats Ariich!
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34: Stadler - This is a slightly different side of a number of artists than I'm used to hearing from them.
I mean, this is like Stadler's MO really.
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Congrats Ariich!
:lol
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34: Stadler - This is a slightly different side of a number of artists than I'm used to hearing from them.
I mean, this is like Stadler's MO really.
:lol
True!
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34: Stadler - This is a slightly different side of a number of artists than I'm used to hearing from them.
I mean, this is like Stadler's MO really.
Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. There are certainly some cases where he seems to intentionally do that, and others where it's exactly what I'd have expected based on my prior knowledge of the artist.
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14 or 15 maybe
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34: Stadler - This is a slightly different side of a number of artists than I'm used to hearing from them.
I mean, this is like Stadler's MO really.
Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. There are certainly some cases where he seems to intentionally do that, and others where it's exactly what I'd have expected based on my prior knowledge of the artist.
Yeah... it's in your sig.
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I'd say 21...
This is meant for another EP, but it does also apply to yours, yes.
14 or 15 maybe
15 is already solved. It is not 14.
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Is 21 mine?
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Nope, I've heard relatively little from your artists. Heard of almost all of them beforehand, certainly.
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14 or 15 maybe
15 is already solved.
It doesn't look like so :P
Hmnnnn maybe 8? It can't be 10 though, there's lots of melody on every song ;D
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Oh, oops, I had updated it in the one at the top of the page, but forgot to do so in the text file I pasted the latest one from I guess.
It is neither 8 nor 10.
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4 or 7...?
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11 13 or 14?
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Updated.
I'll catch other stray guesses between now and sometime earlier tomorrow, fill them out then, and then I think we can get song hangman rolling tomorrow night.
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While I think my EP is 100% "just right", I'm not sure I get the weird part, but we shall see :P
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Niiice, I was hoping for that one.
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7? :lol
And maybe 21.
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Here are the impressions filled out. I'll start up part 1 of song hangman later today.
Round 14 Early Impressions:
1: SoundscapeMN - This has one of the best "Christmas songs" I've ever heard.
2: Crow - This is what happens when the promoters screw up and book the Ringling Brothers and the local death metal act for the same venue at the same time.
3: Lethean - O I C what U did there.
4: Sacul - This is Goldilox the EP. One third is too weird, one third is too bland, and the other third is just right.
5: Puppies_On_Acid - This is definitely slickly edited, maybe almost too much?
6: Vmadera00 - Wow, this is a treat. It's a version of a genre I love, but haven't received all roulette.
7: Evermind - This might be the best batch of songs, but with the least comprehensible flow.
8: twosuitsluke - There is a style that was hinted at here but never really appeared, but in retrospect it probably wasn't necessary anyway.
9: soupytwist - Am I in an early 2010s Apple commercial?
10: Nachtmerrie - This is still lacking melodically in spots, but there's more in other sections, and enough cool stuff going on that it might work.
11: Buddyhunter1 - I'm surprised at how well you can feel the storytelling here, even in the instrumental portions.
12: Tomislav95 - I think I'm unlikely to love this style as a whole, but this is a better selection of songs in it than I was expecting.
13: HOF - This makes me want to make a kind of music that I don't think exists.
14: senecadawg2 - Much of this is adjacent to the type of music I've been getting into the most in the past few years.
15: TAC - Getting the right vibe with this approach is a tricky endeavor, but this does better than I worried it might.
16: ariich - This dances around the edges of the sounds I like, and that's probably good enough.
17: Sacul - One song in particular stands out in unique ways, though the useage of samples makes me curious to hear how different it is from the source(s).
18: Buddyhunter1 - This 80s virtual reality dating app is so realistic!
19: Crow - There are elements I like here, but the overall package might be a bit much.
20: ariich - One song sounds like part of a holy grail long lost Disney musical that there have only been whispers regarding.
21: Evermind - Here we have more bands and songs that I probably should know well enough to ban, but I don't.
22: Lethean - It feels like this ends rather abruptly, which is a little frustrating, but the journey was epic enough otherwise that I can only complain so much.
23: Vmadera00 - This has some really tasty and crisp drumming.
24: HOF - I love the stylistic textures of much of these songs, the question is going to be if the melodies and vocalists stand out.
25: Nachtmerrie - A lot of this is in a style or two of music adjacent to one I love, but which I tend to neglect exploring, so this is useful as a foothold to look into these artists further.
26: twosuitsluke - This has a surprisingly cinematic feel, like moving through different scenes meeting various characters in a variety of settings.
27: soupytwist - I'm not sure these styles normally live in the same area of town, but your theme makes it work well enough, I suppose.
28: SoundscapeMN - This has some of the most fascinating instrumental parts of the round, though some of the vocals are kind of odd.
29: senecadawg2 - The "ending" came out of nowhere, though I mind it less than I thought I would.
30: Puppies_On_Acid - One track has one of the coolest openings I've heard in awhile.
31: Tomislav95 - The nice thing about my rating philosophy in general for this is that a couple good songs are more likely to pull the rating up a bit than a couple weaker songs are to drag it down.
32: TAC - I probably complain an uncomfortable amount about the keys songs are in, but possibly the best song is in one of my least favorite keys, which is the sign of a really good song.
33: Stadler - Even your initial tracklist submission was (unintentionally?) in character.
34: Stadler - This is a slightly different side of a number of artists than I'm used to hearing from them.
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I hope the flow grows on you a bit. :lol I did try for it to make sense.
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Round 14 Early Impressions:
1: SoundscapeMN - This has one of the best "Christmas songs" I've ever heard.
28: SoundscapeMN - This has some of the most fascinating instrumental parts of the round, though some of the vocals are kind of odd.
I follow 28, but 1? I'm not sure I associate of any of the songs on my EP with Christmas, but maybe I need to re-read some of the lyrics?
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Oh, I didn't even realize there were two impressions per person.
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It's not about the lyrics, it's the sound, primarily in the chorus of one of them. I'll explain it in the writeup anyway if it hasn't hit you by then.
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Oh, I didn't even realize there were two impressions per person.
I received EPs from over a dozen more people for the final round to steal ariich's record for most participants in a roulette. :p
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Oh, I didn't even realize there were two impressions per person.
I received EPs from over a dozen more people for the final round to steal ariich's record for most participants in a roulette. :p
Heh, I didn't even count, just figured we have a ton of people in this roulette, but was probably confusing it with ariich's.
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If I had 34 participants I think my writeups would need to be TAC-sized. :biggrin:
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If I had 34 participants I think my writeups would need to be TAC-sized. :biggrin:
Scar sized.
10/10 Great EP!
:biggrin:
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If I had 34 participants I think my writeups would need to be TAC-sized. :biggrin:
Scar sized.
10/10 Great EP!
:biggrin:
Or Luke's final round of his last roulette.
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Had to look up the Apple Commercial comment.....and yes apparently you are! ;D
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If I had 34 participants I think my writeups would need to be TAC-sized. :biggrin:
Scar sized.
10/10 Great EP!
:biggrin:
Or Luke's final round of his last roulette.
Woah there, shots fucking fired. My write ups weren’t that bad!
*heads off to double check*
Edit: ok yea, far point. Tim, my write up for your songs was basically “yea, it’s thrash. 7/10”.
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I'll start up part 1 of song hangman :soon:
:corn :corn :corn
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(https://media.tenor.com/himbGmuY4cgAAAAC/turtle-friends.gif)
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(https://i.giphy.com/media/uz1jRbSNrzKbC/giphy.webp)
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0: 0: _____ ______ – ___________ ______ – ______
0: 0: ____ ___. – ___________ ___. – _______
0: 0: _____ __ – ____ ___________ __ – ____ ______
0: 0: _____'_ _______ ______ – ____ & __________'_ _______ ______ – ____ & _____
0: 0: ___ ______ _____ – _______ ___ ________ ______ _____ – _______ ___ _____
0: 0: ___ ___ ___ _______ – __________ ___ ___ _______ – _______
0: 0: ___ _______ – _____'_ ___ _ ______ _______ – _____'_ ___ _ ___
0: 0: _________ – ____ __ _____________ – ____ __ ____
0: 0: ______ _____ – ___ ____ __________ _____ – ___ ____ ____
0: 0: ______ ___ – _______ _________ _____________ ___ – _______ _________ _______
0: 0: _______ – ________________ – _________
0: 0: _____ _______ – ________ __ ____ ____ ____________ _______ – ________ __ ____ ____ _______
0: 0: ______ ____ – ________________ ____ – __________
0: 0: _____'_ _______ ______ – ________ ______________'_ _______ ______ – ________ _________
0: 0: __________ – ___ ___ __ __________________ – ___ ___ __ ________
0: 0: ________'_ _____ – _____ ___ __ ___________'_ _____ – _____ ___ __ ___
0: 0: ____________ – __ _____ _______ ___ ____________________ – __ _____ _______ ___ ________
0: 0: __________ – _________________ – _______
0: 0: ____ ________ – _____ ___ ________ ________ – _____ ___ ____
0: 0: ___ ____ ____ – ____ ____ _ ____ __ _______ _______ ____ ____ – ____ ____ _ ____ __ _______ ____
0: 0: ______ _____ _________ – _______ ___ _____ __________ _____ _________ – _______ ___ _____ ____
0: 0: _______ – _____ ____________ – _____ _____
0: 0: ___ ____ _____ – ___ ________, ___ __________, ___ ___ _______ ____ _____ – ___ ________, ___ __________, ___ ___ ____
0: 0: ___ ___________ – ____ ____ _______ ___________ – ____ ____ ____
0: 0: ___ _____ – ___ ___ ____ (__ _____ _______ ___)___ _____ – ___ ___ ____ (__ _____ _______ ___)
0: 0: _ ______ __ _____ – ________ __ ___ _____ ______ __ _____ – ________ __ ___ ____
0: 0: ______ – ____________ – ______
0: 0: _________ – ___________________ – __________
0: 0: ______ ________ – _____________ ________ – _______
0: 0: ___ ____ _____ – __________ _______ ___ _ _________ ____ _____ – __________ _______ ___ _ ______
0: 0: __________ – _____ _______________ – _____ _____
0: 0: _______ ____ ___ _____ – __ _ ______ ____ ___ ____ ________ ___________ ____ ___ _____ – __ _ ______ ____ ___ ____ ________ ____
0: 0: ________ – __________________ – __________
0: 0: _______ ____ – _____ __ ____ _______ ______________ ____ – _____ __ ____ _______ _______
0: 0: ______ ______ ___ ___ ________ _____ – __________ ______ ___ ___ ________ _____ – ____
0: 0: __________ ____ – _________ __________________ ____ – _________ ________
0: 0: _____ ___ – ______________ ___ – _________
0: 0: __ – ____ _______ – ____ _____
0: 0: ____ – __________ – ______
0: 0: ________ – __ __________ ____________ – __ __________ ____
0: 0: ______ ____ – _________ ____ – ___
0: 0: _______ – _____________ – ______
0: 0: ____ _______ – ___'_ ____ __ __________ _______ – ___'_ ____ __ ______
0: 0: ______ ___ – __ ___ __________ ___ – __ ___ ____
0: 0: ____ _____ – _____________ _____ – _________
0: 0: ___________ – __ ______ ________________ – __ ______ _____
0: 0: _______ _____ – _____ _______ ___________ _____ – _____ _______ ____
0: 0: ____ ___ ____ – _____ __ ___ ___ ___________ ___ ____ – _____ __ ___ ___ _______
0: 0: ______ – _______ (____ _)______ – _______ (____ _)
0: 0: ___ _______ – ______ __ ____________ _______ – ______ __ _________
0: 0: ____ ___ ___ – ________ _____ ________ ___ ___ – ________ _____ ____
0: 0: ____ ____ – _______ ___ _______ ____ – _______ ___ ___
ariich: Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
Buddyhunter1: Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
10: –
Crow: Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: – A Forest of Stars - Gatherer of the Pure
5: –
Evermind: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
HOF: Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape to Litho)
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
Lethean: Second Chances (or Suicide?)
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
Nachtmerrie: The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
Puppies_On_Acid: Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
Sacul: i just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
10: –
11: –
senecadawg2: From the Bed of the Woods
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
SoundscapeMN: SoundscapeMN's MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: – Kiss Kiss – T_ro___ t_e ___
8: –
9: –
10: –
soupytwist: Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
Stadler: Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
TAC: Hazel the Witch
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
Tomislav95: Swimming through the nothingness
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
10: –
twosuitsluke: It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
1: – Frank Turner - Eulogy
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
10: –
11: –
Vmadera00: To the Island
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
Guessed letters:
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T
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E
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F
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0: 0: F____ T___e_ – E_____F____ T___e_ – E_____
0: 0: ____ ___. – _e_e_______ ___. – _e_e___
0: 0: ____e __ – ____ ____e_____e __ – ____ ____e_
0: 0: _e_t_'_ _______ ______ – ____ & __ee__e_t_'_ _______ ______ – ____ & __ee_
0: 0: T_e F_____ __e_t – _e_e_t_ t_e ____eT_e F_____ __e_t – _e_e_t_ t_e ____e
0: 0: ___ ___ t_e ____te_ – F_________ ___ t_e ____te_ – F______
0: 0: _ef _e_____ – _____'_ __t _ ____ef _e_____ – _____'_ __t _ ___
0: 0: _et_e____ – ____ _f _____et_e____ – ____ _f ____
0: 0: ___e_t ____e – T_e ____ ___t___e_t ____e – T_e ____ ___t
0: 0: ______ _e_ – ___t_e_ _e____e_t ____e________ _e_ – ___t_e_ _e____e_t ____e__
0: 0: ______e – ____e__e_______e – ____e__e_
0: 0: ____t ____e__ – T__et_e_ _e ____ ___e F__e_e_____t ____e__ – T__et_e_ _e ____ ___e F__e_e_
0: 0: ______ ____ – T_______te______ ____ – T_______te
0: 0: _e_t_'_ _______ ______ – __f___te _t________e_t_'_ _______ ______ – __f___te _t_______
0: 0: ___e_____e – T_e ___ _f ___e_t_____e_____e – T_e ___ _f ___e_t__
0: 0: ________'_ ____e – _____ F__ __ __e________'_ ____e – _____ F__ __ __e
0: 0: ___t________ – T_ _____ ___t__t ___ __e________t________ – T_ _____ ___t__t ___ __e_____
0: 0: ___te_____ – _e________te_____ – _e_____
0: 0: _e__ _____te_ – __e_t F__ ___e_e__ _____te_ – __e_t F__ ___e
0: 0: _et ____ ____ – ___t ___e _ ___e T_ _e_e__e T____et ____ ____ – ___t ___e _ ___e T_ _e_e__e T___
0: 0: ______ _____ ____e_t__ – ___t__e F__ ____t __________ _____ ____e_t__ – ___t__e F__ ____t ____
0: 0: ______e – _____ ____e______e – _____ ____e
0: 0: T_e ____ ___e_ – T_e ___e_e__, T_e _______e__, ___ t_e __t_T_e ____ ___e_ – T_e ___e_e__, T_e _______e__, ___ t_e __t_
0: 0: T_e E__e_____e_ – ____ ____ ____T_e E__e_____e_ – ____ ____ ____
0: 0: ___ ___e_ – ___ ___ ____ (__ __eet _______ ___)___ ___e_ – ___ ___ ____ (__ __eet _______ ___)
0: 0: _ F__e_t _f _t___ – __t_e_e_ _f t_e ___e_ F__e_t _f _t___ – __t_e_e_ _f t_e ___e
0: 0: ____e_ – __________e_ – ______
0: 0: __e_____e – __f_________e_____e – __f_______
0: 0: ______ T_______ – ____fe_______ T_______ – ____fe_
0: 0: T_e ____ ___e_ – E_e__t____ ____e__ F__ _ _e____T_e ____ ___e_ – E_e__t____ ____e__ F__ _ _e____
0: 0: ____e____e – F___t _________e____e – F___t _____
0: 0: _______ __t_ ___ _____ – _f _ ______ ___t _ff T___ T_tte_e_ ___t_______ __t_ ___ _____ – _f _ ______ ___t _ff T___ T_tte_e_ ___t
0: 0: E__e_e_e – __________E__e_e_e – __________
0: 0: __tt_e_ ____ – ____e _e _e_e ___t___ _____t___tt_e_ ____ – ____e _e _e_e ___t___ _____t_
0: 0: E_____ _____e ___ t_e ____et__ _e___ – ___eE_____ _____e ___ t_e ____et__ _e___ – ___e
0: 0: _e___e____ ____ – _______e_ ____f____e___e____ ____ – _______e_ ____f___
0: 0: _____ _e_ – ______ff______ _e_ – ______ff_
0: 0: __ – _t__ ____e__ – _t__ ____e
0: 0: __e_ – ___te___e_ – ___te_
0: 0: ________ – __ _e________ ____________ – __ _e________ ____
0: 0: ______ ____ – _________ ____ – ___
0: 0: ______e – _____e______e – _____e
0: 0: ____ _______ – ___'t ___e __ ____e_____ _______ – ___'t ___e __ ____e_
0: 0: ______ _e_ – __ t_e ___e______ _e_ – __ t_e ___e
0: 0: ____ _____ – ______e______ _____ – ______e__
0: 0: ___________ – __ ______ ________________ – __ ______ _____
0: 0: ____t__ __e__ – _____ _e___e_ ________t__ __e__ – _____ _e___e_ ____
0: 0: ___t ___ ____ – T__e_ _f t_e ___ __e__e____t ___ ____ – T__e_ _f t_e ___ __e__e_
0: 0: _____e – ______e (___t _)_____e – ______e (___t _)
0: 0: T__ ____e__ – ______ _f _e_te____T__ ____e__ – ______ _f _e_te____
0: 0: ____ _e_ _e_ – T_______ _e_e_ ___e____ _e_ _e_ – T_______ _e_e_ ___e
0: 0: ____ ____ – T______ t_e _______ ____ – T______ t_e ___
Guessed letters: tef
-
this is peak overstimulation help :lol
-
The way I've divvied up the songs, part 2 will be smaller, and part 3 even a little smaller. I wanted shock & awe, but I admit I might have overdone myself. :rollin
-
I don't see Def Leppard, do I?
S
-
You do.
And it's supposed to look epic, but not that epic. I've noticed that the reason why is that it's repeating the entries twice on each line. We have another version of the h a n g m a n snafu, folks. :facepalm: I ran into that in earlier trials for title hangman, I'm trying to remember how exactly I resolved that.
-
Yeah, I was gonna say...
-
Billy's Got A Gun
Is this part of Lethean's Suicide EP?
-
Yes, but no.
-
A Forest Of Stars-Gatherer Of the Pure-Pup...or Crow, but likely Pup.
Frank Turner-Eulogy Luke? Ariich?
-
Here's a somewhat cleaned up one that is less of an eyesore in the meantime.
0: 0: ____e __ – ____ ____es____e __ – ____ ____es
0: 0: _e_t_'s _______ s_____ – ____ & __ee_
0: 0: T_e F_____ __est – _e_e_t_ t_e ____e
0: 0: _s_ ___ t_e ____te_ – F______
0: 0: _et_e____ – ____ _f _____et_e____ – ____ _f ____
0: 0: ___est ___se – T_e ____ ___t
0: 0: ______ _e_ – ___t_e_ _e____e_t ____ess
0: 0: ______e – S___e__e_______e – S___e__e_
0: 0: ____t ___se__ – T__et_e_ _e ____ ___e F__e_e_
0: 0: ______ ___s – T_______te
0: 0: _e_t_'s _______ s_____ – __f___te St_______
0: 0: ________'s ___se – S___s F__ __ __e
0: 0: ___t________ – T_ S___s __st__t ___ __e_____
0: 0: ___te_____ – _e________te_____ – _e_____
0: 0: _et S___ ___s – ___t ___e _ ___e T_ _ese__e T__s
0: 0: ______ S____ ____est__ – __st__e F__ S___t ____
0: 0: ______e – _____ ____e______e – _____ ____e
0: 0: T_e ____ ___es – T_e S__e_e_s, T_e S______e_s, ___ t_e __ts
0: 0: T_e E__e_____es – ____ ____ ____
0: 0: ___ ___e_ – ___ ___ ____ (_s S_eet _______ ___)
0: 0: ___se_ – _____s___se_ – _____s
0: 0: __e__s__e – __f_________e__s__e – __f_______
0: 0: ______ T_______ – ____fe_______ T_______ – ____fe_
0: 0: T_e ____ ___es – E_e__t____ ____e_s F__ _ _e_s__
0: 0: S___e___se – F__st ___s_
0: 0: S_____s __t_ ___ ____s – _f _ S_____ __st _ff T__s T_tte_e_ ___t
0: 0: E__e_e_e – __________
0: 0: __tt_e_ ____ – ____e _e _e_e ___t___ _____ts
0: 0: E_____ S____e ___ t_e ____et__ _e__s – ___e
0: 0: _e___e____ S___ – __s____e_ ____f___
0: 0: _____ _e_ – ______ffs
0: 0: __ – St__ ____e__ – St__ ____e
0: 0: __e_ – S_ste___e_ – S_ste_
0: 0: ________ – __ _e________ ____
0: 0: ______ ___s – _________ ___s – ___
0: 0: ______e – __s__e______e – __s__e
0: 0: ____ ______s – ___'t __se __ ____e_
0: 0: ______ _e_ – __ t_e ___e______ _e_ – __ t_e ___e
0: 0: ____ _____ – ______e______ _____ – ______e__
0: 0: __s____s___ – __ ______ ____s
0: 0: ____t__ S_e__ – _____ _e___es S___
0: 0: ___t __s ____ – T__es _f t_e ___ __e__e_
0: 0: _____e – _____se (___t _)
0: 0: T__ ____ess – _____s _f _este____
0: 0: ____ _e_ _e_ – T_______ _e_e_ ___e
??: Def Leppard – Billy's Got a Gun
??: Bend Sinister - Quest For Love
Guessed letters: tefs
-
A Forest Of Stars-Gatherer Of the Pure-Pup...or Crow, but likely Pup.
Frank Turner-Eulogy Luke? Ariich?
-
Ashenspire-The Law Of Asbestos-that's Crow
Kiss Kiss
Bend Sinister-Quest For Love...isn't this an Ariich band?
-
Those are correct.
I'll e-mail the file to ariich before I call it a night so he can save the day while I have nightmares. ;D
-
I added a third guess while you posted.
Ashenspire-The Law Of Asbestos-that's Crow
Kiss Kiss
Bend Sinister-Quest For Love...isn't this an Ariich band?
-
Ashenspire-The Law Of Asbestos-that's Crow
Kiss Kiss
Bend Sinister-Quest For Love...isn't this an Ariich band?
Kiss Kiss is likely Soundscape, me and him are the only ones likely to send them and I don't remember sending them this round :biggrin:
Bend Sinister could be King
-
King is not in the roulette.
Yes on Kiss Kiss being Soundscape.
Bend Sinister is not ariich.
-
Litho, are you able to update the thing?
-
Slowly...
-
OK, don't hurt yourself. :lol
Take an R when you can.
-
The Family Crest-Beneath The Brine
-
When it comes to Excel:
me:
(https://www.mana.md/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/weightlifting-kid.jpeg)
ariich:
(https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/ronnie-coleman.jpg)
-
Let's add another vowel while we're at it to keep you busy.
0: 0: _o_o ___. – _e_es_s
0: 0: ____e __ – _o__ ____es
0: 0: _e_t_'s _______ s_ro__ – ____ & __ee_
0: 0: Os_ ___ t_e ____ter – F_or___
0: 0: _et_er___ – _r__ of ____
0: 0: _o_est _o_se – T_e _o__ __rt
0: 0: __ro__ _e_ – __ot_er _er___e_t ___ress
0: 0: __o___e – S_rre__er
0: 0: ____t ___se__ – To_et_er _e ____ ___e Fore_er
0: 0: ____r_ _o_s – Tro__o__te
0: 0: _e_t_'s _______ s_ro__ – __f___te St_r_____
0: 0: ___t_o__ro__ – To So__s __st__t ___ _re_____
0: 0: ___ter____ – Re_____
0: 0: _et S_o_ _o_s – ___t ___e _ _o_e To _eser_e T__s
0: 0: _____o S____ Or__estr_ – __st__e For S___t __r_
0: 0: ______e – _o___ _r__e
0: 0: T_e ____ ___es – T_e S__e_ers, T_e S_ro___ers, ___ t_e R_ts
0: 0: T_e E__e_____es – _o__ _o__ _o__
0: 0: ___ ___e_ – ___ ___ ____ (_s S_eet _______ _o_)
0: 0: O__se_ – ___ros
0: 0: O_e__s__e – __f______r
0: 0: __r___ T_____r_ – ____fer
0: 0: T_e ____ ___es – E_er_t____ ____e_s For _ Re_so_
0: 0: S__re___se – F_rst _r_s_
0: 0: E__ere_e – _o_or_____
0: 0: __tt_e_ _oo_ – ____e _e _ere ___t___ R____ts
0: 0: E___r_ S__r_e ___ t_e ____et__ _eros – _o_e
0: 0: _er__e__o_ S___ – __s____e_ R___f___
0: 0: _r___ _e_ – ______ffs
0: 0: __ – St__ ____e
0: 0: __er – S_ster
0: 0: _or_____ – O_ _e_____o__ ____
0: 0: ____r_ _o_s – ___
0: 0: ____ _o____s – _o_'t _ose __ ____er
0: 0: __ro__ _e_ – O_ t_e ___e
0: 0: ____ _r___ – _r____e__
0: 0: __s____s_o_ – __ ______ _o_rs
0: 0: ____to_ S_e__ – __oo_ _e_o_es S___
0: 0: ___t __s _or_ – T__es of t_e O__ _re__er
0: 0: _r___e – _ro__se (__rt _)
0: 0: T__ _o__ess – _or__s of _ester___
0: 0: ____ _e_ Re_ – To_orro_ _e_er ___e
0: Sailors With Wax Wings - If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
0: Midlake - Roscoe
0: Caligula's Horse - Songs For No One
0: Bend Sinister - Quest For Love
0: The Family Crest - Beneath the Brine
0: Def Leppard - Bill's Got a Gun
Guessed letters: tefsro
-
Looking at the hangman, I have no idea how it got messed up like that. I've used Ariich's hangman spreadsheet for all my roulettes and never run into any of the issues you have :dunno:
-
Forest Horse
Midlake-Roscoe
Caligula's Horse-Songs For No One
-
Second two are correct.
-
Sailors With Wax Wings-If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Spot
-
Yep.
-
Looking at the hangman, I have no idea how it got messed up like that. I've used Ariich's hangman spreadsheet for all my roulettes and never run into any of the issues you have :dunno:
Well, the other main two issues I had were that it added extra blank characters in-between each character in the multi-song tab which I first used in round 3 (as opposed to the single song tab), and that Excel won't properly display the output in the pink column. At least one, possibly both were resolved by just uploading the sheet to Google Sheets and copying from there instead. I don't remember if there were any other significant issues between then and now.
-
D
-
Sailors With Wax Wings-If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Spot
Is this Sacul?
-
A song called Surrender
N
-
Sailors With Wax Wings-If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Spot
Is this Sacul?
It is not.
-
A song called Sister
-
0: 0: _ono _n_. – Ne_es_s
0: 0: ____e __ – _o_d ____es
0: 0: de_t_'s d_n____ s_ro_d – __n_ & __een
0: 0: Os_ _nd t_e ____ter – F_or__n
0: 0: _et_er__n – _r__ of ____
0: 0: _odest _o_se – T_e _o_d __rt
0: 0: __ro__ _e_ – _not_er _er__nent _ddress
0: __on__e – Surrender
0: 0: ___nt __nse__ – To_et_er _e ____ ___e Fore_er
0: 0: ____r_ _o_s – Tro__od_te
0: 0: de_t_'s d_n____ s_ro_d – _nf_n_te St_r_____
0: 0: __nt_o__ro_d – To So__s D_st_nt _nd Dre___n_
0: 0: __nter____ – Re_____
0: 0: _et S_o_ _o_s – ___t ___e _ Done To Deser_e T__s
0: 0: D____o S__n_ Or__estr_ – __st__e For S__nt __r_
0: 0: __d___e – _o_n_ _r_de
0: 0: T_e __n_ ___es – T_e S__e_ers, T_e S_ro_n_ers, _nd t_e R_ts
0: 0: T_e E__end___es – Do_n Do_n Do_n
0: 0: __n ___en – ___ __d ____ (_s S_eet _______ No_)
0: 0: Od_se_ – ___ros
0: 0: O_e_ns__e – _nf______r
0: 0: _dr__n T_____r_ – ____fer
0: 0: T_e __n_ ___es – E_er_t__n_ ____ens For _ Re_son
0: 0: S__re___se – F_rst _r_s_
0: 0: E__ere_e – _o_or___nd
0: 0: __tt_e_ _ood – ____e _e _ere __nt_n_ R____ts
0: 0: Ed__rd S__r_e _nd t_e ___net__ _eros – _o_e
0: 0: _er__e__on S___ – __s____ed R__nf___
0: 0: _r_nd Ne_ – __nd__ffs
0: 0: __ – St__ ____e
0: 0: __er – Sister
0: 0: _or_____ – On _e__n__o__ ____
0: 0: ____r_ _o_s – _DD
0: 0: ____ _o___ns – Don't _ose __ N___er
0: 0: __ro__ _e_ – On t_e ___e
0: 0: __n_ _r__n – _r____e_d
0: 0: D_s____s_on – _n ____n_ _o_rs
0: 0: ___nto_ S_e__ – __ood _e_o_es S_nd
0: 0: ___t __s Nord – T__es of t_e O_d Dre__er
0: 0: _r__ne – _ro__se (__rt _)
0: 0: T__ _o_ness – _or_ds of _esterd__
0: 0: __n_ De_ Re_ – To_orro_ Ne_er ___e
0: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
0: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
0: Midlake – Roscoe
0: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
0: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
0: Def Leppard – Billy's Got a Gun
Guessed letters: tefsrodn
-
death's dynamic shroud at least twice
modest mouse
oceansize - unfamiliar
brand new - handcuffs
the expendables - down down down
lana del rey - tomorrow never came
-
L
-
Diable Swing Orchestra
Blut Aus Nord
-
Nemesis
-
Tales of the Old Dreamer
-
Everything Happens For A Reason
-
Phil Collins-Don't Lose My Number...Stadler or HOF
Tim Bowness-Worlds Of yesterday
-
Let's get a B while we're at it. :corn
-
ariich: Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
1: Disillusion – In Waking Hours
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
Buddyhunter1: Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: death's dynamic shroud – _nf_n_te Staral__a
8: –
9: –
10: death's dynamic shroud – __n_ & __een
Crow: Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
1: Ashenspire – The Law of Asbestos
2: –
3: –
4: A Forest of Stars – Gatherer of the Pure
5: –
Evermind: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
HOF: Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape to Litho)
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
Lethean: Second Chances (or Suicide?)
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
Nachtmerrie: The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
1: – Blut aus Nord - Tales of the Old Dreamer
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
Puppies_On_Acid: Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
Sacul: i just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
1: – Viagra Boys - Troglodyte
2: –
3: –
4: – Viagra Boys - ADD
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
10: –
11: –
senecadawg2: From the Bed of the Woods
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
SoundscapeMN: SoundscapeMN's MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: Kiss Kiss – T_ro___ t_e D__
8: –
9: –
10: –
soupytwist: Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
Stadler: Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
1: Phil Collins – Don't Lose My Number
2: –
3: –
4: – Def Leppard - Billy's Got a Gun
5: –
6: –
7: Van Halen – Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
TAC: Hazel the Witch
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
Tomislav95: Swimming through the nothingness
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
10: –
twosuitsluke: It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
1: Frank Turner – Eulogy
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
10: –
11: –
Vmadera00: To the Island
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
-
Is The Expendables Luke?
-
Is Def Leppard HOF or Stadler?
-
0: _ono _n_. – Nemesis
0: 0: ____e __ – _o_d ____es
0: death's dynamic shroud – __n_ & __een
0: 0: Os_ _nd t_e ____ter – F_or__n
0: 0: _et_er__n – _r__ of ____
0: Modest Mouse – T_e _old __rt
0: 0: __ro__ _e_ – _not_er _er__nent _ddress
0: __on__e – Surrender
0: 0: ___nt __nse__ – To_et_er _e ____ ___e Fore_er
0: 0: ____r_ _o_s – Tro__od_te
0: death's dynamic shroud – _nf_n_te St_r_l___
0: 0: __nter____ – Re_____
0: 0: _et S_o_ _o_s – ___t ___e _ Done To Deser_e T__s
0: Diablo Swing Orchestra – __st__e For S__nt __r_
0: 0: T_e __n_ ___es – T_e S__e_ers, T_e S_ro_n_ers, _nd t_e R_ts
0: 0: __n ___en – ___ __d ____ (_s S_eet _______ No_)
0: 0: Od_se_ – ___ros
0: 0: _dr__n T_____r_ – ____fer
0: T_e __n_ Bl_es – Everything Happens For a Reason
0: 0: S__re___se – F_rst _r_s_
0: 0: E__ere_e – _o_or___nd
0: 0: __tt_e_ _ood – ____e _e _ere __nt_n_ R____ts
0: 0: _er__e__on S___ – __s____ed R__nf___
0: 0: __ – St__ ____e
0: 0: __er – Sister
0: 0: _or_____ – On _e__n__o__ ____
0: 0: ____r_ _o_s – _DD
0: 0: __ro__ _e_ – On t_e ___e
0: 0: __n_ _r__n – _r____e_d
0: 0: D_s____s_on – _n ____n_ _o_rs
0: 0: ___nto_ S_e__ – __ood _e_o_es S_nd
0: 0: _r__ne – _ro__se (__rt _)
0: Midlake – Young Bride
0: Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros - Home
0: Xanthrochroid - To Souls Distant and Dreaming
0: Tim Bowness – Worlds of Yesterday
0: The Expendables – Down Down Down
0: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
0: Brand New – Handcuffs
0: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
0: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
0: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
0: Midlake – Roscoe
0: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
0: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
Guessed letters: tefsrodn
-
Blut aus Nord could be Nachtmerrie or maybe Crow.
-
Xanthochroid-The Souls Distant And Dreaming....Pup or Crow
-
Updating letters or partially guessed entries is kind of a pain right now, since reposting means finding and chopping off all the duplicates. So that'll take a bit longer.
Edit: Ok, actually guesses for either just sender or just artist aren't bad in batches, but yeah, letters are hard to update right now.
The Expendables is not Luke.
Xanthochroid is not Crow or Pup.
-
Maybe Buddy sent Expendables? If not I have no idea who else would...
-
Not Buddy either.
The Blut aus Nord and Def Leppard guesses were right, BTW.
Ok, gonna e-mail/PM ariich and next update tomorrow should have the "B" as well.
-
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Home
-
Midlake - Young Bride
-
Yep.
-
Ok, gonna e-mail/PM ariich and next update tomorrow should have the "B" as well.
I've fixed your spreadsheet. :) We share the blame - there was an error in my formulae that meant the track number got duplicated if neither artist or song was guessed, but also you were using it wrong as well. :P
Obviously you'll need to reupload to Google Sheets for it to function properly!
-
Got a bit to catch up on!
I didn’t send The Expendables, but is that the ska punk band? It’s the sort of thing I totally could send, but who else would even send them?
Mono Inc.
Osi and the Jupiter - Fjörgyn
Clint Mansell - Together We Will Live Forever
Viagra Boys - Troglodyte (Sacul)
Pet Shop Boys - What Have I Done to Deserve This
-
Sailors With Wax Wings-If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Spot
Is this Sacul?
I've never heard of them :P
death's dynamic shroud is my buddy Buddyhunter1
Also, is that Winger - Sister sent by TAC? :neverusethis:
-
I've never heard of them. ;D
-
I've never heard of them. ;D
Wait, didn't you play drums for Winger? :corn
-
I've never heard of them. ;D
Wait, didn't you play drums for Winger? :corn
I played with myWanger. ;D
-
death's dynamic shroud is my buddy Buddyhunter1
Yup. I think normally that group would get around the same score as dreamcrusher given Litho's tastes, but the album all of the songs I sent are from swaps out the glitchy, experimental vaporwave with smooth, atmospheric synthpop, which I think will go over much better. :lol
-
I've never heard of them. ;D
Wait, didn't you play drums for Winger? :corn
I played with myWanger. ;D
That sounds about right.... :lol
-
Let’s have an A then
-
Let’s have an A then
..for Alarm clock because it seems Litho is sleeping in today.
-
Let’s have an A then
..for Alarm clock because it seems Litho is sleeping in today.
The spreadsheet maintenance has finished him off.
-
I thought Ariich was running it today?
-
The spreadsheet maintenance has finished him off.
(https://media.tenor.com/JIS_KDKKsgYAAAAd/guaton-computadora.gif)
-
Ok, who leaked that footage of me last night? :censored
-
i'm always watching.
-
0: _a__e __ – Lo_d _la_es
0: Modest Mouse – T_e _old _art
0: L_on__e – Surrender
0: __nter_a__ – Re___al
0: The __n_ Blues – T_e S__e_ers, T_e S_ro_n_ers, and t_e Rats
0: Od_sea – _abros
0: Adr_an Taba_ar_ – L___fer
0: T_e __n_ Bl_es – Everything Happens For a Reason
0: Sabrepulse – F_rst _r_s_
0: Ellere_e – Colorblind
0: _att_e_ _ood – ___le _e _ere __nt_n_ Rabb_ts
0: _er__el_on S___ – __s_la_ed Ra_nfall
0: __ – Stay Alive
0: _aer – Sister
0: Gorillaz – On _elan__ol_ __ll
0: __ro_a _e_ – On t_e _a_e
0: __n_ _ra_n – _ra___ead
0: __anto_ S_ell – Blood Be_o_es Sand
0: Arcane – _ro__se (_art _)
0: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
0: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
0: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
0: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
0: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
0: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
0: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
0: Midlake – Young Bride
0: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
0: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
0: Tim Bowness – Worlds of Yesterday
0: The Expendables – Down Down Down
0: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
0: Brand New – Handcuffs
0: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
0: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
0: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
0: Midlake – Roscoe
0: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
0: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
Guessed letters: tefsrodnlba
-
Let’s have an A then
..for Alarm clock because it seems Litho is sleeping in today.
As you can see, I had to spend today keyboard and monitor shopping.
-
0: Modest Mouse – T_e _old _art
The Old Fart...
Joe, Modest Mouse wrote a song about you!!!!
-
You just rewired my brain so thoroughly I had to look up what the real title is. :lol
-
0: Modest Mouse – T_e _old _art
The Old Fart...
Joe, Modest Mouse wrote a song about you!!!!
That's actually The Bold Fart :biggrin:
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Ok, gonna e-mail/PM ariich and next update tomorrow should have the "B" as well.
I've fixed your spreadsheet. :) We share the blame - there was an error in my formulae that meant the track number got duplicated if neither artist or song was guessed, but also you were using it wrong as well. :P
Obviously you'll need to reupload to Google Sheets for it to function properly!
I sent you a more detailed e-mail, but I want to publicly thank you for fixing some of my spreadsheet messes even if we're both still perplexed at what exactly caused the main issue last night. :) I'd be doing something a bit less ambitious or at least technologically different if I didn't have you as a fall back. ;)
-
Also, is that Winger - Sister sent by TAC? :neverusethis:
It is not, but let's all keep pretending it is. :biggrin:
-
Any and all Viagra Boys is Sacul
-
In this case, yes, though in general everyone should specify each time, because this won't always be the case.
-
Chroma Key - Another Permanent Address
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Justice For Saint Mary
Disillusion
Arcane
-
Yep.
-
Disillusion-In Waking Hours is Ariich
Aetherian-Army Of Gaia..either Crow or Pup
-
Not Crow or Pup.
-
Not Crow or Pup.
Probably Nachtmerrie
-
Chroma Key - Another Permanent Address
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Justice For Saint Mary
Very nice.
Sabrepulse
The [...] Blues
-
Van Halen-Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
Obviously Stadler.
-
Yep, that and Phil Collins were the two banned ones I'm keeping anyway.
Not Crow or Pup.
Probably Nachtmerrie
Nope.
-
Colorblind
Stay Alive
Gorrilaz
-
Yep. New page. Blocks moving soon.
-
0: _a__e __ – Lo_d _la_es
0: Modest Mouse – T_e _old _art
0: L_on__e – Surrender
0: __nter_a__ – Re___al
0: T_e __n_ Bl_es – T_e S__e_ers, T_e S_ro_n_ers, and t_e Rats
0: Od_sea – _abros
0: Adr_an Taba_ar_ – L___fer
0: Sabrepulse – F_rst _r_s_
0: Ellere_e – Colorblind
0: _att_e_ _ood – ___le _e _ere __nt_n_ Rabb_ts
0: _er__el_on S___ – __s_la_ed Ra_nfall
0: __ – Stay Alive
0: _aer – Sister
0: Gorillaz – On _elan__ol_ __ll
0: __ro_a _e_ – On t_e _a_e
0: __n_ _ra_n – _ra___ead
0: __anto_ S_ell – Blood Be_o_es Sand
0: Arcane – _ro__se (_art _)
0: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
0: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
0: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
0: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
0: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
0: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
0: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
0: Midlake – Young Bride
0: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
0: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
0: Tim Bowness – Worlds of Yesterday
0: The Expendables – Down Down Down
0: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
0: Brand New – Handcuffs
0: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
0: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
0: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
0: Midlake – Roscoe
0: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
0: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
Guessed letters: tefsrodnlba
-
ariich: Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
1: Disillusion – In Waking Hours
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
Buddyhunter1: Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
1: –
2: Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: death's dynamic shroud – _nf_n_te Staral__a
8: –
9: –
10: death's dynamic shroud – __n_ & __een
Crow: Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
1: Ashenspire – The Law of Asbestos
2: –
3: –
4: A Forest of Stars – Gatherer of the Pure
5: –
Evermind: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
HOF: Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape to Litho)
1: Tim Bowness – Worlds of Yesterday
2: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: Chroma Key – On t_e _a_e
8: –
9: –
Lethean: Second Chances (or Suicide?)
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
Nachtmerrie: The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
1: Blut aus Nord – Tales of the Old Dreamer
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
Puppies_On_Acid: Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: Matthew Good – While We Were Hunting Rabbits
5: –
6: –
7: –
Sacul: i just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
1: Viagra Boys – Troglodyte
2: –
3: –
4: Viagra Boys – ADD
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
10: Jamie xx – Loud Places
11: –
senecadawg2: From the Bed of the Woods
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: Ellereve – Colorblind
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
SoundscapeMN: SoundscapeMN's MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
1: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: Kiss Kiss – T_ro___ t_e Da_
8: –
9: –
10: –
soupytwist: Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
Stadler: Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
1: Phil Collins – Don't Lose My Number
2: –
3: –
4: Def Leppard – Billy's Got a Gun
5: –
6: –
7: Van Halen – Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
TAC: Hazel the Witch
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
Tomislav95: Swimming through the nothingness
1: Midlake – Roscoe
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: Midlake – Young Bride
8: –
9: –
10: –
twosuitsluke: It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
1: Frank Turner – Eulogy
2: –
3: –
4: The King Blues – The Schemers, The Scroungers, and the Rats
5: –
6: –
7: –
8: –
9: –
10: The King Blues – Everything Happens For a Reason
11: –
Vmadera00: To the Island
1: –
2: –
3: –
4: –
5: –
-
I
-
reminder that my EP title literally has "avant-metal" in it
if it ain't weird as hell metal, don't bother guessing me :corn
-
I think people could probably get a few of these if they looked back over the titles of everyone's EPs.
-
0: _a_ie __ – Lo_d _la_es
0: Modest Mouse – T_e _old _art
0: Lioni_e – Surrender
0: _inter_a__ – Re_i_al
0: The King Blues – T_e S__e_ers, T_e S_ro_n_ers, and t_e Rats
0: Odisea – _abros 0: Adrian Taba_ar_ – L__ifer
0: T_e _in_ Bl_es – Everything Happens For a Reason 0: Sabrepulse – First _r_s_
0: Ellere_e – Colorblind
0: _att_e_ _ood – __ile _e _ere __ntin_ Rabbits
0: __ – Stay Alive
0: _aer – Sister
0: __ro_a _e_ – On t_e _a_e
0: _in_ _ra_n – _ra___ead
0: __anto_ S_ell – Blood Be_o_es Sand
0: Arcane – _ro_ise (_art _)
0: Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
0: Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill
0: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
0: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
0: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
0: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
0: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
0: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
0: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
0: Midlake – Young Bride
0: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
0: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
0: Tim Bowness – Worlds of Yesterday
0: The Expendables – Down Down Down
0: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
0: Brand New – Handcuffs
0: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
0: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
0: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
0: Midlake – Roscoe
0: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
0: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
Guessed letters: tefsrodnlbai
-
gorillaz song is on melancholy hill (good pick)
-
Yep.
-
Perihelion Ship-Misplaced Rainfall
-
Yep.
-
Is it The King Blues?
-
Yep.
-
0: _a_ie __ – Lo_d _la_es
0: Modest Mouse – T_e _old _art
0: Lioni_e – Surrender
0: _inter_a__ – Re_i_al
0: The King Blues – T_e S__e_ers, T_e S_ro_n_ers, and t_e Rats
0: Odisea – _abros
0: Adrian Taba_ar_ – L__ifer
0: Sabrepulse – First _r_s_
0: Ellere_e – Colorblind
0: __ – Stay Alive
0: _aer – Sister
0: __ro_a _e_ – On t_e _a_e
0: _in_ _ra_n – _ra___ead
0: __anto_ S_ell – Blood Be_o_es Sand
0: Arcane – _ro_ise (_art _)
0: Matthew Good – While We Were Hunting Rabbits
0: The King Blues – Everything Happens For a Reason
0: Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
0: Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill
0: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
0: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
0: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
0: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
0: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
0: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
0: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
0: Midlake – Young Bride
0: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
0: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
0: Tim Bowness – Worlds of Yesterday
0: The Expendables – Down Down Down
0: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
0: Brand New – Handcuffs
0: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
0: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
0: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
0: Midlake – Roscoe
0: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
0: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
Guessed letters: tefsrodnlbai
-
Matthew Good - While We Were Hunting Rabbits
-
Matthew Good-While We Were Hunting Rabbits
Seneca, Sacul, Reaper?
-
Not from any of those.
-
The Cold Part
Baer
Lionize
The Schemers The Scroungers and the rats....Is this Luke?
Habros
First Crush
Jaime xx-Loud Places
Ellereve
Lucifer
-
0: _inter_a__ – Re_i_al
0: Odisea – _abros
0: _in_ _ra_n – _ra___ead
0: __anto_ S_ell – Blood Be_o_es Sand
0: __ – Stay Alive
0: _aer – Sister
0: Chroma Key – On t_e _a_e
0: _in_ _ra_n – _ra___ead
0: Arcane – _ro_ise (_art _)
0: Adrian Tabacaru – Lucifer
0: Sabrepulse – First Crush
0: Ellereve – Colorblind
0: Jamie xx – Loud Places
0: Lionize – Surrender
0: Modest Mouse – The Cold Part
0: Matthew Good – While We Were Hunting Rabbits
0: Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
0: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
0: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
0: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
0: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
0: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
0: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
0: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
0: Midlake – Young Bride
0: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
0: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
0: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
0: Brand New – Handcuffs
0: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
0: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
0: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
0: Midlake – Roscoe
0: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
0: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
Guessed letters: tefsrodnlbai
-
0: _inter_a__ – Re_i_al
0: Odisea – _abros
0: Adrian Taba_ar_ – Lucifer
0: _in_ _ra_n – _ra___ead
0: __anto_ S_ell – Blood Be_o_es Sand
0: __ – Stay Alive
0: _aer – Sister
0: __ro_a _e_ – On t_e _a_e
0: _in_ _ra_n – _ra___ead
0: __anto_ S_ell – Blood Be_o_es Sand
0: Arcane – _ro_ise (_art _)
We have doubles..
-
Yeah, I copied something wrong apparently.
-
Matthew Good-While We Were Hunting Rabbits
Seneca, Sacul, Reaper?
Never heard of him ;D
Adrian Tabacaru
Did buddy send Gorillaz, Chroma Key, Diablo Swing Orchestra? Tim Bowness has to be HOF, maybe Lana del Rey as well.
-
Yes on Gorillaz and Bowness.
-
The King Blues is Luke. Evidently gone for a folk punk theme!
Matthew Good is probably Pup.
-
Matthew Good is probably Pup.
Indeed
-
The King Blues is Luke. Evidently gone for a folk punk theme!
You’ll definitely appreciate my EP dude, you definitely like/know at least half the songs.
-
I just had a couple comments on my first impressions.
5: Puppies_On_Acid - This is definitely slickly edited, maybe almost too much?
I fail to see the problem here.... :corn
But seriously, for the story I wanted to tell and the time constraints we were working with, I had to make some cuts/edits that were possibly less than ideal. I guess we'll see how it all works out for you in the end.
30: Puppies_On_Acid - One track has one of the coolest openings I've heard in awhile.
I'm curious which track this is referring to. I'd like to say it's probably the first song, but I feel it could also be the last song, which funnily enough has a large portion chopped off of the beginning.
-
yeah my EP was also kind rough on the transitions bcuz i had to fit it under the time limit :corn
-
I also ended up doing some "radio edits" on a few songs to cut out a repetition or two and get the EP under the time limit. All of them were in the middle of songs though, not the starts or ends. If you can't figure out where, I've done my job well. :corn
-
Wild guesses to move things along...
Nach0: Adrian Tabacaru – Lucifer
0: Sabrepulse – First Crush
Seneca0: Ellereve – Colorblind
Sacul0: Jamie xx – Loud Places
Romdrums0: Lionize – Surrender
Ariich 0: Modest Mouse – The Cold Part
0: Matthew Good – While We Were Hunting Rabbits
Nach0: Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
0: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
Soundscape0: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
HOF0: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
Vmadera0: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
Buddy 0: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
0: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
Soundscape0: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
Tomi0: Midlake – Young Bride
Tomi 0: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
Soupy0: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
Seneca0: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
Lethean 0: Brand New – Handcuffs
Soupy0: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
Ariich 0: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
Vmadera0: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
Tomi0: Midlake – Roscoe
Buddy0: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
Ariich0: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
-
I just listened back to my EP and now I'm unhappy with it :lol
I think I needed a 50 minute time limit, which would have improved things quite a bit. I still like the story I came up with and I'm planning on continuing it in the EP for 425's roulette.
-
TAC knocked a few out out, let's see if we can get a few more.
0: _inter_a__ – Revival
0: _in_ _ra_n – _ra___ead
0: Phantom S_ell – Blood Becomes Sand
0: __ – Stay Alive
0: _aer – Sister
0: _in_ _ra_n – _ra___ead
0: Arcane – Promise (Part _)
0: Odisea – Cabros
0: Adrian Tabacaru – Lucifer
0: Sabrepulse – First Crush
0: Lionize – Surrender
0: Modest Mouse – The Cold Part
0: Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
0: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
0: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
0: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
0: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
0: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
0: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
0: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
0: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
0: The Expendables – Down Down Down
0: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
0: Brand New – Handcuffs
0: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
0: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
0: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
0: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
0: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
Guessed letters: tefsrodnlbai
-
30: Puppies_On_Acid - One track has one of the coolest openings I've heard in awhile.
I'm curious which track this is referring to. I'd like to say it's probably the first song, but I feel it could also be the last song, which funnily enough has a large portion chopped off of the beginning.
Depending on how things go, either the best/worst tracks portion, or just in the writeup itself.
-
Winterfall - Revival
Odisea - Carbos but it's mispelled
Mind Brain - Braindead
Phantom Shell - Blood Becomes Sand
<numbers> - Stay Alive
Gaer - Sistser
Mind Brain - Braindead (again)
Arcane - Promise (Part <number)
did zero fact-checking on this so some of it is definitely wrong but "mind brain - braindead" is funny to me
-
Did ariich send The Family Crest? I think someone sent me a song from them on my roulette, but not sure who.
-
Did ariich send The Family Crest?
No, because that's who I assigned him to in my guesses.
-
Family Crest is most likely Soundscape
-
Yep, Family Crest is Soundscape. Crow filled in a few words and missed some others ("Winterfall" must be the Games of Thrones-ish version of that band), but we're close enough on those that'll I'll just solve them now. Let's get some more sender guesses, I'll solve whatever remains tomorrow afternoon and we'll start on part 2 that evening.
0: Winterhawk – Revival
0: Phantom Spell – Blood Becomes Sand
0: J2 – Stay Alive
0: Maer – Sister
0: King Prawn – Crackhead
0: Arcane – Promise (Part 2)
0: Odisea – Cabros
0: Adrian Tabacaru – Lucifer
0: Sabrepulse – First Crush
0: Lionize – Surrender
0: Modest Mouse – The Cold Part
0: Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
0: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
0: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
0: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
0: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
0: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
0: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
0: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
0: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
0: The Expendables – Down Down Down
0: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
0: Brand New – Handcuffs
0: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
0: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
0: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
0: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
-
I sent all of these
-
Pet Shop Boys and Lana Del Rey, iconic purveyers of avant-garde metal.
-
Ok I’ll try…
TAC - Winterhawk – Revival
Crow - Arcane – Promise (Part 2)
Soundscape - Modest Mouse – The Cold Part
Sacul - Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
King - Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
Rich - Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
Evermind - Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
Sacul - Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
Crow - Brand New – Handcuffs
Crow - Oceansize
Tomi - Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
Soundscape - Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
-
again, my EP is comprised exclusively of avant-garde metal :corn
-
Too many guesses and songs for me to have kept up properly. I went in blind and some of these have probably already been guessed. Also, too many artists I have no clue about.
Litho, did Tomi send any of the ones I guessed for Crow?
-
I did send Brand New. The other two wouldn't fit in :corn
-
The only one linked to me so far is a metal band and yet people keep guessing indie folk type stuff for me. :lol
-
Did Tomi send Lana del Rey? Crow sent Xanthochroid?
-
Here's part 1 solved. Should start to be easier to fill things in tonight.
ariich: Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
1: Disillusion – In Waking Hours
2: –
3: –
4: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
5: –
6: –
7: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
Buddyhunter1: Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
1: Sabrepulse – First Crush
2: Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: death's dynamic shroud – Infinite Staralgia
8: –
9: –
10: death's dynamic shroud – King & Queen
Crow: Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
1: Ashenspire – The Law of Asbestos
2: –
3: –
4: A Forest of Stars – Gatherer of the Pure
5: –
Evermind: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
1: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
2: –
3: –
4: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
5: –
6: –
7: J2 – Stay Alive
8: –
9: –
HOF: Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape to Litho)
1: Tim Bowness – Worlds of Yesterday
2: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
3: –
4: –
5: –
6: –
7: Chroma Key – On the Page
8: –
9: –
Lethean: Second Chances (or Suicide?)
1: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
2: –
3: –
4: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
5: –
Nachtmerrie: The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
1: Blut aus Nord – Tales of the Old Dreamer
2: –
3: –
4: Maer – Sister
5: –
6: –
Puppies_On_Acid: Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
1: Arcane – Promise (Part 2)
2: –
3: –
4: Matthew Good – While We Were Hunting Rabbits
5: –
6: –
7: Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
Sacul: i just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
1: Viagra Boys – Troglodyte
2: –
3: –
4: Viagra Boys – ADD
5: –
6: –
7: Odisea – Cabros
8: –
9: –
10: Jamie xx – Loud Places
11: –
senecadawg2: From the Bed of the Woods
1: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
2: –
3: –
4: Ellereve – Colorblind
5: –
6: –
7: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
8: –
SoundscapeMN: SoundscapeMN's MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
1: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
2: –
3: –
4: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
5: –
6: –
7: Kiss Kiss – Through the Day
8: –
9: –
10: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
soupytwist: Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
1: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
2: –
3: –
4: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
5: –
6: –
7: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
8: –
9: –
Stadler: Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
1: Phil Collins – Don't Lose My Number
2: –
3: –
4: Def Leppard – Billy's Got a Gun
5: –
6: –
7: Van Halen – Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
TAC: Hazel the Witch
1: Adrian Tabacaru – Lucifer
2: –
3: –
4: Phantom Spell – Blood Becomes Sand
5: –
6: –
7: Winterhawk – Revival
8: –
Tomislav95: Swimming through the nothingness
1: Midlake – Roscoe
2: –
3: –
4: Modest Mouse – The Cold Part
5: –
6: –
7: Midlake – Young Bride
8: –
9: –
10: Brand New – Handcuffs
twosuitsluke: It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
1: Frank Turner – Eulogy
2: –
3: –
4: The King Blues – The Schemers, The Scroungers, and the Rats
5: –
6: –
7: King Prawn – Crackhead
8: –
9: –
10: The King Blues – Everything Happens For a Reason
11: –
Vmadera00: To the Island
1: The Expendables – Down Down Down
2: –
3: –
4: Lionize – Surrender
5: –
-
:corn
-
:corn
-
Part 2, here we go!
0: ___ ____ _____ – ___'_ ____ ___ ________
0: ___ ___________ – _________
0: ________ – _______ __ ___ ___
0: _______ ___ _____ – ____ ___ _____ __ ___ _ ____
0: _____ ___ – _____
0: ________ – _____ ____
0: ________ – _____
0: ___ ______ – ___'_ ___ __
0: _____ ____ – ___________
0: ___ _______ ____ – ______ __ __ ___ ____
0: ___________ – ___ ____ _______
0: ______ __ _____ – _ ____ __ _____
0: ___ ______ – ____ ____ ___ _____
0: __ ________ ________ – ____ ____ ______ __ ____
0: _____ ___________ – ________ ___ ____
0: ____ _______ – _____
0: ___ _______ – __________
0: ____________ – ____
0: ______ – ___ ____
0: ___ _______ _______ – ____ _____
0: ______ ___ – ________
0: ______ – ________ _____
0: _______ – _______
0: ____ __ – ___________, __. _ (___________)
0: ___ ___ ____ – _____ ___ ____ ____
0: ______ _____ _________ – ______ ___________
0: ___ – ___ _____ ______________
0: ___ ____________ – ___ _______ _____ __ _____/______
0: _____ _______ – ___ _____ ___ _____ __ ______
0: ______ – _______ ______
0: ______ – ___ _____
0: _____ ______ – ________ __ __ ____
0: ___ __ ____ – ________
0: ___ _______ & _________ ____ – _________ _____ ___ ______ ____
0: ______ ____ – ____ ____ _____
0: _________ – ______ _____
0: ___ ________ – ___ ____________
0: _____'_ _______ ______ – _____
0: _____ _______ – ___ _____ __ _____
0: ______ ___ – ___
0: _____ ______ – ______
0: ____ ____ – ____ ______ ____
0: _____ ___ – ____ _____/_____
0: ____________ – ___ _____ __ ______ _____
0: ______ – _____ _____
0: ___ ________ – ____ __ __ ___ _____
Guessed letters:
-
And the track list refreshed for the new page.
ariich: Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
1: Disillusion – In Waking Hours
2: –
3: –
4: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
5: Xanthochroid – The Sound of Hunger Rises
6: –
7: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
Buddyhunter1: Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
1: Sabrepulse – First Crush
2: Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill
3: –
4: death's dynamic shroud – Games
5: –
6: –
7: death's dynamic shroud – Infinite Staralgia
8: –
9: –
10: death's dynamic shroud – King & Queen
Crow: Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
1: Ashenspire – The Law of Asbestos
2: –
3: –
4: A Forest of Stars – Gatherer of the Pure
5: Fleshvessel – The Void Chamber
Evermind: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
1: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
2: –
3: –
4: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
5: –
6: –
7: J2 – Stay Alive
8: –
9: –
HOF: Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape to Litho)
1: Tim Bowness – Worlds of Yesterday
2: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
3: –
4: –
5: Tim Bowness & Giancarlo Erra – Beautiful Songs You Should Know
6: –
7: Chroma Key – On the Page
8: –
9: –
Lethean: Second Chances (or Suicide?)
1: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
2: Fates Warning – The Light and Shade of Things
3: –
4: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
5: –
Nachtmerrie: The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
1: Blut aus Nord – Tales of the Old Dreamer
2: –
3: –
4: Maer – Sister
5: –
6: –
Puppies_On_Acid: Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
1: Arcane – Promise (Part 2)
2: –
3: –
4: Matthew Good – While We Were Hunting Rabbits
5: –
6: –
7: Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
Sacul: i just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
1: Viagra Boys – Troglodyte
2: –
3: –
4: Viagra Boys – ADD
5: Against All Logic – This Old House Is All I Have
6: –
7: Odisea – Cabros
8: SIAMES – The Wolf
9: –
10: Jamie xx – Loud Places
11: –
senecadawg2: From the Bed of the Woods
1: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
2: –
3: –
4: Ellereve – Colorblind
5: –
6: –
7: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
8: –
SoundscapeMN: SoundscapeMN's MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
1: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
2: –
3: –
4: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
5: –
6: –
7: Kiss Kiss – Through the Day
8: –
9: –
10: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
soupytwist: Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
1: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
2: –
3: –
4: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
5: –
6: –
7: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
8: –
9: –
Stadler: Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
1: Phil Collins – Don't Lose My Number
2: –
3: –
4: Def Leppard – Billy's Got a Gun
5: –
6: –
7: Van Halen – Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
TAC: Hazel the Witch
1: Adrian Tabacaru – Lucifer
2: Tanith – Falling Wizard
3: –
4: Phantom Spell – Blood Becomes Sand
5: –
6: –
7: Winterhawk – Revival
8: –
Tomislav95: Swimming through the nothingness
1: Midlake – Roscoe
2: –
3: –
4: Modest Mouse – The Cold Part
5: The Hotelier – Two Deliverances
6: –
7: Midlake – Young Bride
8: –
9: –
10: Brand New – Handcuffs
twosuitsluke: It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
1: Frank Turner – Eulogy
2: –
3: –
4: The King Blues – The Schemers, The Scroungers, and the Rats
5: The King Blues – Let's Hang the Landlord
6: –
7: King Prawn – Crackhead
8: –
9: –
10: The King Blues – Everything Happens For a Reason
11: –
Vmadera00: To the Island
1: The Expendables – Down Down Down
2: –
3: –
4: Lionize – Surrender
5: –
-
give me the penultimate D
-
And a H
-
No Everminding this time I guess.
0: _h_ ____ _____ – ___'_ H___ _h_ ___d___d
0: _h_ _____d_____ – _________
0: ________ – _______ __ _h_ ___
0: _______ ___ _____ – _h__ __d H____ __ ___ _ H___
0: ____d ___ – D____
0: ________ – _____ ____
0: D_____D_ – H____
0: ___ ______ – D__'_ ___ __
0: ____d ____ – ___________
0: _h_ ___d___ ____ – ______ __ __ __d ___d
0: ____h______ – _h_ ___d _h_____
0: ______ d_ H__d_ – _ ____ __ ___d_
0: _h_ ______ – ____ ____ D__ _____
0: __ ________ ________ – D___ _h__ ______ __ D___
0: _____ ___________ – ________ _h_ D___
0: ____ _______ – _____
0: ___ _______ – __________
0: __________h_ – ____
0: ______ – _h_ ____
0: _h_ _______ _______ – D___ _____
0: _h____ ___ – __d_____
0: ______ – ________ _____
0: ____d__ – _______
0: ____ __ – __h________, __. _ (___________)
0: ___ ___ ____ – _____ ___ ____ ____
0: D_____ _____ ___h_____ – ______ _____h_____
0: ___ – _h_ _____ D_____________
0: _h_ D___________ – _h_ _______ _____ __ _____/_____d
0: _____ _______ – _h_ ___h_ __d _h_d_ __ _h____
0: _____h – _______ _____d
0: ______ – _h_ _____
0: _____ ______ – ________ __ __ ____
0: D__ __ ____ – _____H__
0: ___ _______ & _________ ____ – _________ _____ ___ _h___d ____
0: ______ ____ – ____ ____ _____
0: H________ – ______ ____h
0: _h_ H_______ – ___ D___________
0: d___h'_ d______ _h___d – _____
0: _____ _______ – _h_ _____ __ _____
0: ______ ___ – _H_
0: _____ ______ – ______
0: D__d ___d – ____ ______ ____
0: ____d ___ – ____ _____/____h
0: ____h__h___d – _h_ ____d __ H_____ _____
0: ______ – _____ _____
0: _h_ ________ – ____ __ __ _h_ _____
Guessed letters: dh
-
bold of you to assume i would even be looking at the wall of titles until there's at least 5 letters on the board
there's too many. i'm not parsing them yet :lol
-
Gimme another letter each to get it going.
-
I
-
M
-
0: D____ID_ – H____
0: _i_ _i____ – D__'_ ___ __
0: ____d ____ – ___________
0: _h_ M__d___ _i__ – ______ __ __ __d M_id
0: ____h______ – _h_ __id _h_m___
0: ____i_ d_ H__d_ – _ ____ __ ___d_
0: _h_ __i___ – _i__ ____ Di_ _____
0: __ ________ I____i__ – D___ _hi_ ______ __ D___
0: _____ ___i_______ – ________ _h_ D___
0: ____ _______ – _____
0: ___ _i__i_m – _______i__
0: ___m______hi – ____
0: _I_M__ – _h_ ____
0: _h_ _i_____ _______ – D___ _im__
0: _h__m_ ___ – __d_____
0: ______ – I__i_i__ _____
0: ____d__ – _______
0: M___ __ – I_h__i_____, __. _ (___m__i_i__)
0: ___ ___ ___i – _i___ ___ ____ ____
0: Di____ __i__ ___h_____ – ______ _____h_____
0: __I – _h_ _____ Di_____i__m___
0: _h_ D___m___i___ – _h_ ____i__ __m__ I_ _____/____id
0: _____ ____i__ – _h_ _i_h_ __d _h_d_ __ _hi___
0: ___i_h – ____i__ _i___d
0: ____i_ – _h_ ___m_
0: _____ ______ – ________ __ M_ _i__
0: Di_ __ ____ – _I___H__
0: _im _______ & _i_______ ____ – _____i___ _____ ___ _h___d ____
0: _i____ ____ – ____ ____ _____
0: H________ – ___mi_ ____h
0: _h_ H____i__ – ___ D__i________
0: d___h'_ d___mi_ _h___d – __m__
0: _i___ _______ – _h_ _____ I_ _m___
0: _i____ ___ – _H_
0: _____ ______ – _i____
0: D__d ___d – __i_ ______ _i__
0: ____d ___ – __m_ ___i_/____h
0: ____h__h__id – _h_ ____d __ H_____ _i___
0: _im___ – __m__ _____
0: _h_ M___m___ – ____ M_ __ _h_ _____
Guessed letters: dhim
-
E
-
T
-
0: The _i__ ___e_ – _et'_ H___ the ___d___d
0: The E__e_d___e_ – ____i_i_e
0: ________ – ____i__ T_ the _e_
0: ___i__t ___ ___i_ – Thi_ __d H___e I_ ___ I H__e
0: ____d _e_ – D_i__
0: ___i____ – M__i_ _it_
0: D____IDE – He__t
0: _i_ _i__e_ – D__'t _et __
0: ____d ___t – __ee_____e_
0: The Me_d___ _i_e – ___e_t __ __ __d M_id
0: __e_h_e__e_ – The __id _h_m_e_
0: Te__i_ de H__de – _ ___e __ ___d_
0: The __i_t_ – _i_e E__t Die _____
0: __ ___t___t I____i__ – D___ Thi_ ____et __ D__t
0: ____e ___i___tee_ – ________ the D___
0: _e__ _____e_ – ____e
0: ___ _i__i_m – _e____ti__
0: ___m______hi – Te__
0: _I_ME_ – The ____
0: The _i_t__e _______ – D___ Time_
0: _h__m_ _e_ – __de_t__
0: ______ – I__i_ite _____
0: T___d__ – _t_e___
0: M___ __ – I_he_it___e, _t. _ (__em__iti__)
0: ___ ___ ___i – _i___ _et ____ ____
0: Di____ __i__ ___he_t__ – _e____ __eethe__t_
0: __I – The __e_t Di_____i_tme_t
0: The Decemberists – The ___ti__ __mes I_ ___es/_e__id
0: __te_ ____i__ – The _i_ht __d _h_de __ Thi___
0: T__ith – ____i__ _i___d
0: __e_i_ – The T_eme
0: _____ T___e_ – ___e_e__ T_ M_ _it_
0: Dir En Grey – _I__SH__
0: Tim ____e__ & _i_______ E___ – _e__ti___ _____ ___ _h___d ____
0: _i____ ____ – ____ ____ ___e_
0: He__e__e_ – ___mi_ T__th
0: The H_te_ie_ – T__ De_i_e____e_
0: Ei___ ____e__ – The _____ I_ Em_t_
0: _i____ ___ – _HE
0: _____ T___e_ – _i_e__
0: De_d ___d – E_i_ ______ _i__
0: ____d _e_ – __me ___i_/Teeth
0: ___th__h__id – The ____d __ H___e_ _i_e_
0: _im___ – __me_ ___e_
0: The M__eme_t – T__e Me T_ the __e__
Guessed letters: dhimet
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Death's Dynamic Shroud...Buddy again?
a song called The Theme
Dir En Grey
The Decemberist
S
-
Song title Heart maybe?
-
The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes In Waves
-
The Movement-Take Me To The Ocean
-
More Diablo Swing Orchestra
The Hotelier - Tomi?
Heavenly - Probably Chad wait, he isn't in this roulette is he......Tim?
-
0: The _i__ ___es – _et's H___ the ___d___d
0: The E__e_d___es – S___i_i_e
0: ____s___ – ____i__ T_ the Se_
0: ___i_st ___ ___i_ – This __d H__se Is ___ I H__e
0: ____d _e_ – D_is_
0: ___i____ – M__i_ _it_
0: D___SIDE – Heart
0: _i_ _i__e_ – D__'t _et __
0: ____d ___t – S_ee_____e_
0: The Me_d___ _i_e – _s_e_t __ __ __d M_id
0: __esh_esse_ – The __id _h_m_e_
0: Te__i_ de H__de – _ ___e __ ___ds
0: The S_i_ts – _i_e E_st Die _____
0: __ __st___t I___si__ – D___ This ____et __ D_st
0: ____e S__i__stee_ – ________ the D__s
0: _e__ _____e_ – ____e
0: ___ _i__i_m – _e____ti__
0: ___m______hi – Te__
0: _h__m_ _e_ – __de_t__
0: ______ – I__i_ite ____s
0: T___d__ – St_e___
0: M_s_ __ – I_he_it___e, _t. _ (__em__iti__)
0: ___ ___ ___i – _i___ _et ____ ___s
0: Diablo Swing Orchestra – _e____ S_eethe__ts
0: __I – The __e_t Dis____i_tme_t
0: T__ith – ____i__ _i___d
0: __e_i_ – The T_eme
0: _____ T___e_ – ___e_e__ T_ M_ _it_
0: _i____ ___s – ____ ____ __se_
0: Ei___ S___e__ – The ___ss Is Em_t_
0: _i____ ___ – SHE
0: _____ T___e_ – _i_e_s
0: De_d ___d – E_i_ _____s _i_s
0: ____d _e_ – S_me ___i_/Teeth
0: _im___ – __me_ ___e_
0: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
0: The Movement – Take Me To the Ocean
0: Hexvessel – Cosmic Truth
0: Fates Warning – The Light and Shade of Things
0: Musk Ox – Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)
0: Dir En Grey – VINUSHKA
0: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
Guessed letters: dhimets
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"The Theme" and "Heavenly" aren't correct.
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Hexvessel-Cosmic Truth
-
Fates Warning-The Light And Shade Of Things
Evermind?
-
Yep, yep, but not Evermind.
-
Xanthochroid-The Sound Of Hunger Rises....Ariich?
-
SIAMES - The Wolf - Probably Sacul
-
Musk Ox-Inheritance Pt.1 (Premonition)
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Dir En Grey is probably Sacul or Buddy.
-
All correct, except Dir En Grey is neither.
-
All correct, except Dir En Grey is neither.
It's not TAC either. ;D
-
BTW, it might be worth rereading both the titles of the EPs and the impressions, both have hints about where to place things.
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3025154#msg3025154 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3025154#msg3025154)
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Dir En Grey song is Vinushka
-
So did Crow send Dir En Grey? :corn This seems unlikely...
Also is that Thundra I see?
Oh and Tanith - Falling Wizard which is probably Tim
Fates Warning is probably Lethean
-
Not Crow, no Thundra, otherwise correct.
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Against All Logic - This Old House is All I Have probably Sacul
Let's see R
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L for Let's move this to the new page!
-
The Vintage Caravan - Dark Times Lethean maybe
Tim Bowness & Giancarlo Erra - Beautiful Songs You Should Know gee, I wonder who this is :biggrin:
-
Hefdaddy?
-
Hefdaddy?
More like HOFdaddy :corn
-
:lol
-
That is pretty good. (https://i.imgur.com/jYPvjM1.gif)
L for Let's move this to the new page!
One day you'll get with the times and become a 50-message-per-page power user. One day....
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0: The E__e_d__les – S__ri_i_e
0: R___s___ – R___i__ T_ the Se_
0: _r__d _e_ – D_is_
0: __rill__ – M__i_ _it_
0: D_R_SIDE – Heart
0: _i_ _i__er – D__'t Let __
0: _l__d __lt – Slee___l_er
0: The Me_d___ Li_e – _s_e_t __ __ _ld M_id
0: Ter_i_ de H_rde – _ R__e __ __rds
0: The S_i_ts – Li_e E_st Die _____
0: __ __str__t Ill_si__ – Dr__ This _l__et __ D_st
0: _r__e S_ri__stee_ – R_______ the D__s
0: _e__ ____le_ – _r__e
0: ___ _illi_m – Re__l_ti__
0: ___m______hi – Te_r
0: _hr_m_ _e_ – __dert__
0: ____r_ – I__i_ite L___s
0: T___dr_ – Strel__
0: ___ ___ ___i – _ill_ _et ___r ___s
0: Diablo Swing Orchestra – _e_l_r S_eethe_rts
0: __I – The _re_t Dis____i_tme_t
0: _leri_ – The Treme
0: _r___ T_r_er – __re_ell T_ M_ _it_
0: _i__r_ ___s – ____ R___ L_ser
0: Ei__r S_l_er_ – The _l_ss Is Em_t_
0: _i____ ___ – SHE
0: _r___ T_r_er – Ri_ers
0: De_d L_rd – E_il _l___s _i_s
0: _r__d _e_ – S_me L__i_/Teeth
0: _im_r_ – __me_ L__er
0: _r__d _e_ – S_me L__i_/Teeth
0: _im_r_ – __me_ L__er
0: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
0: The Movement – Take Me To the Ocean
0: Hexvessel – Cosmic Truth
0: Musk Ox – Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)
0: Dir En Grey – VINUSHKA
0: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
Guessed letters: dhimetsrl
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106 guests are viewing this topic...
Are we trending on Twitter now or something?
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The King Blues-Let's Hang The Landlord....Luke again? That's a Luke title for sure.
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Sure is.
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Fleshvessel-The Void Chamber-Crow
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106 guests are viewing this topic...
Are we trending on Twitter now or something?
Yeah, what the hell? :lol
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106 guests are viewing this topic...
Are we trending on Twitter now or something?
Yeah, what the hell? :lol
I believe it's called X. Get with the times Lithonoob.
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106 guests are viewing this topic...
Are we trending on Twitter now or something?
Yeah, what the hell? :lol
I believe it's called X. Get with the times Lithonoob.
Elon Musk, is that you? :biggrin:
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(https://media.tenor.com/U7O0nCA-ajMAAAAM/elon-musk-dance.gif)
-
It might be X Æ A-Xii.
-
New page.
ariich: Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
1: Disillusion – In Waking Hours
2: An Abstract Illusion – Drop This Planet of Dust
3: –
4: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
5: Xanthochroid – The Sound of Hunger Rises
6: –
7: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
Buddyhunter1: Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
1: Sabrepulse – First Crush
2: Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill
3: –
4: Gorillaz – Magic City
5: death's dynamic shroud – Games
6: –
7: death's dynamic shroud – Infinite Staralgia
8: Anamanaguchi – Tear
9: –
10: death's dynamic shroud – King & Queen
Crow: Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
1: Ashenspire – The Law of Asbestos
2: –
3: –
4: A Forest of Stars – Gatherer of the Pure
5: Fleshvessel – The Void Chamber
Evermind: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
1: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
2: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Kevlar Sweethearts
3: –
4: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
5: –
6: –
7: J2 – Stay Alive
8: –
9: –
HOF: Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape to Litho)
1: Tim Bowness – Worlds of Yesterday
2: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
3: –
4: Chroma Key – Undertow
5: Tim Bowness & Giancarlo Erra – Beautiful Songs You Should Know
6: –
7: Chroma Key – On the Page
8: –
9: –
Lethean: Second Chances (or Suicide?)
1: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
2: Fates Warning – The Light and Shade of Things
3: –
4: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
5: –
Nachtmerrie: The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
1: Blut aus Nord – Tales of the Old Dreamer
2: Terzij de Horde – A Robe of Words
3: –
4: Maer – Sister
5: –
6: –
Puppies_On_Acid: Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
1: Arcane – Promise (Part 2)
2: –
3: –
4: Matthew Good – While We Were Hunting Rabbits
5: –
6: –
7: Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
Sacul: i just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
1: Viagra Boys – Troglodyte
2: Viagra Boys – Punk Rock Loser
3: –
4: Viagra Boys – ADD
5: Against All Logic – This Old House Is All I Have
6: –
7: Odisea – Cabros
8: SIAMES – The Wolf
9: –
10: Jamie xx – Loud Places
11: –
senecadawg2: From the Bed of the Woods
1: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
2: –
3: –
4: Ellereve – Colorblind
5: –
6: –
7: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
8: Dir En Grey – VINUSHKA
SoundscapeMN: SoundscapeMN's MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
1: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
2: –
3: –
4: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
5: –
6: –
7: Kiss Kiss – Through the Day
8: –
9: –
10: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
soupytwist: Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
1: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
2: –
3: –
4: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
5: –
6: –
7: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
8: –
9: –
Stadler: Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
1: Phil Collins – Don't Lose My Number
2: Jon Bon Jovi – Billy Get Your Guns
3: –
4: Def Leppard – Billy's Got a Gun
5: Bruce Springsteen – Rockaway the Days
6: –
7: Van Halen – Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
TAC: Hazel the Witch
1: Adrian Tabacaru – Lucifer
2: Tanith – Falling Wizard
3: –
4: Phantom Spell – Blood Becomes Sand
5: –
6: –
7: Winterhawk – Revival
8: –
Tomislav95: Swimming through the nothingness
1: Midlake – Roscoe
2: Brand New – Same Logic/Teeth
3: –
4: Modest Mouse – The Cold Part
5: The Hotelier – Two Deliverances
6: –
7: Midlake – Young Bride
8: Brand New – Daisy
9: –
10: Brand New – Handcuffs
twosuitsluke: It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
1: Frank Turner – Eulogy
2: Frank Turner – Rivers
3: –
4: The King Blues – The Schemers, The Scroungers, and the Rats
5: The King Blues – Let's Hang the Landlord
6: –
7: King Prawn – Crackhead
8: –
9: –
10: The King Blues – Everything Happens For a Reason
11: Frank Turner – Farewell To My City
Vmadera00: To the Island
1: The Expendables – Down Down Down
2: –
3: –
4: Lionize – Surrender
5: –
-
0: The E__e_d__les – S__ri_i_e
0: R___s___ – R___i__ T_ the Se_
0: _r__d _e_ – D_is_
0: __rill__ – M__i_ _it_
0: _i_ _i__er – D__'t Let __
0: _l__d __lt – Slee___l_er
0: The Me_d___ Li_e – _s_e_t __ __ _ld M_id
0: Ter_i_ de H_rde – _ R__e __ __rds
0: The S_i_ts – Li_e E_st Die _____
0: __ __str__t Ill_si__ – Dr__ This _l__et __ D_st
0: Bruce Springsteen – R_______ the D__s
0: _e__ ____le_ – _r__e
0: ___ _illi_m – Re__l_ti__
0: ___m______hi – Te_r
0: _hr_m_ _e_ – __dert__
0: ____r_ – I__i_ite L___s
0: T___dr_ – Strel__
0: ___ ___ ___i – _ill_ _et ___r ___s
0: __I – The _re_t Dis____i_tme_t
0: _leri_ – The Treme
0: _r___ T_r_er – __re_ell T_ M_ _it_
0: _i__r_ ___s – ____ R___ L_ser
0: Ei__r S_l_er_ – The _l_ss Is Em_t_
0: _i____ ___ – SHE
0: _r___ T_r_er – Ri_ers
0: Dead Lord – E_il _l___s _i_s
0: _r__d _e_ – S_me L__i_/Teeth
0: _im_r_ – __me_ L__er
0: _r__d _e_ – S_me L__i_/Teeth
0: _im_r_ – __me_ L__er
0: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
0: The Movement – Take Me To the Ocean
0: Hexvessel – Cosmic Truth
0: Musk Ox – Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)
0: Dir En Grey – VINUSHKA
0: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
0: DARKSIDE – Heart
Guessed letters: dhimetsrl
-
Games is one song too early in my EP.
Did seneca send Dir En Grey?
Did Tomsilav send The Decemberists?
DARKSIDE
Dead Lord
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Kevlar Sweethearts, probably also Evermind
-
All yes except no on Tomi/Decemberists.
-
Back to just 6 guests. Must be news from the Kardashians or someone diverted all the attention away from us.
-
well, i see bruce springsteen
-
You do.
-
Back to just 6 guests. Must be news from the Kardashians or someone diverted all the attention away from us.
Yeah, that was weird. :corn
-
Rivers?
How about a B
-
Also maybe Don't Let Go
-
0: The E__e_d_bles – S__ri_i_e
0: R___s___ – R___i__ T_ the Se_
0: Br__d _e_ – D_is_
0: __rill__ – M__i_ _it_
0: _i_ _i__er – Don't Let Go
0: _l__d __lt – Slee___l_er
0: The Me_d___ Li_e – _s_e_t __ __ _ld M_id
0: Ter_i_ de H_rde – _ R_be __ __rds
0: The S_i_ts – Li_e E_st Die _____
0: __ _bstr__t Ill_si__ – Dr__ This _l__et __ D_st
0: Bruce Springsteen – R_______ the D__s
0: _e__ B___le_ – _r__e
0: ___ _illi_m – Re__l_ti__
0: ___m______hi – Te_r
0: _hr_m_ _e_ – __dert__
0: ____r_ – I__i_ite L___s
0: T___dr_ – Strel__
0: ___ B__ ___i – Bill_ _et ___r ___s
0: __I – The _re_t Dis____i_tme_t
0: _leri_ – The Treme
0: _r___ T_r_er – __re_ell T_ M_ _it_
0: _i__r_ B__s – ____ R___ L_ser
0: Ei__r S_lber_ – The _l_ss Is Em_t_
0: _i____ ___ – SHE
0: _r___ T_r_er – Rivers
0: Dead Lord – E_il _l___s _i_s
0: Br__d _e_ – S_me L__i_/Teeth
0: _imbr_ – __me_ L__er
0: Br__d _e_ – S_me L__i_/Teeth
0: _imbr_ – __me_ L__er
0: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
0: The Movement – Take Me To the Ocean
0: Hexvessel – Cosmic Truth
0: Musk Ox – Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)
0: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
0: DARKSIDE – Heart
Guessed letters: dhimetsrlb
-
An Abstract Illusion?
-
Luke sent Frank Turner - Rivers
-
Kimbra - Cameo Lover twice
-
Einar Solberg
An Abstract Illusion could be Crow
-
The Expendables and Brand New (sent by Tomi) are in there again.
-
well, i see bruce springsteen
Stadler
-
Drop This Planet Of Dust
Ariich?
-
Give us A
-
Drop This Planet Of Dust
Ariich?
:tup
-
0: The Expendables – Sa_ri_i_e
0: R___s___ – R___i__ T_ the Sea
0: Gorillaz – Ma_i_ _it_
0: _i_ _i__er – Don't Let Go
0: _l__d __lt – Sleepwalker
0: The Me_d__a Li_e – As_e_t __ a_ _ld Maid
0: Ter_i_ de H_rde – A R_be __ __rds
0: The S_i_ts – Li_e East Die _____
0: _e__ B___le_ – _ra_e
0: _a_ _illiam – Re__l_ti__
0: _hr_ma _e_ – __dert__
0: ____ra – I__i_ite L___s
0: T___dra – Strel_a
0: ___ B__ ___i – Bill_ _et ___r ___s
0: A_I – The Great Disappointment
0: _ra__ T_r_er – _are_ell T_ M_ _it_
0: _ia_ra B__s – ____ R___ L_ser
0: Einar Solberg – The _lass Is Em_t_
0: _i___a _a_ – SHE
0: Dead Lord – E_il Al_a_s _i_s
0: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
0: The Movement – Take Me To the Ocean
0: Hexvessel – Cosmic Truth
0: Musk Ox – Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)
0: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
0: DARKSIDE – Heart
0: Kimbra – Cameo Lover
0: Cleric – The Treme
0: Viagra Boys – Punk Rock Loser
Guessed letters: dhimetsrlba
-
Jon Bon Jovi-Billy Get Your Guns-Stadler
Gorillaz
Sleepwalker
Grave?
Anamanaguchi
AVI_the Great Disappointment
Cleric
Viagra Boys-Punk Rock loser-Luke?
N
-
Kimbra is probably Sacul
Hexvessel might be Soundscape
Anamanaguchi is Buddy
-
Not Grave, not AVI, not Luke, not Sacul, not Soundscape, everything else is good. The "N" will come in the next repost.
-
The Skints-Live East Die Young... Sacul?
-
AFI probably lol
-
Frank Turner-Farewell to my city..Luke?
-
free solves for y'all
Sacrifice
Magic City
Chroma Key
Toundra
Frank Turner - Farewell To My City
The Glass is Empty
Evil Always Wins
-
Chroma Key - Undertow, HOF again
Viagra Boys, Sacul again :P
-
I haven’t even been able to spot my own songs on the list, LOL.
-
0: R___s___ – R___i__ T_ the Sea
0: _i_ _i__er – Don't Let Go
0: _l__d __lt – Sleepwalker
0: Terzij de Horde – A R_be __ __rds
0: _e__ B___le_ – _ra_e
0: _a_ _illiam – Re__l_ti__
0: ____ra – I__i_ite L___s
0: Toundra – Strel_a
0: _i___a _a_ – SHE
0: The Mendoza Line – Aspect of an Old Maid
0: Cleric – The Treme
0: Dead Lord – Evil Always Wins
0: Einar Solberg – The Glass Is Empty
0: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
0: The Movement – Take Me To the Ocean
0: Hexvessel – Cosmic Truth
0: Musk Ox – Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)
0: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
0: DARKSIDE – Heart
0: Kimbra – Cameo Lover
0: The Skints – Live East Die Young
0: AFI – The Great Disappointment
0: The Expendables – Sacrifice
Guessed letters: dhimetsrlba
-
Oh Terzij de Horde
-
Yep.
-
The Skints-Live East Die Young... Sacul?
If I had a dollar for every band I've never even heard of, that you guys guess for me having sent, I could probably pay the hosting for this site for the next 5 years or so :P
Also Buddy sent the Gorillaz, again.
-
The Mendoza Line-Aspect Of An Old Maid
Cloud Cult
-
O
-
Van William-Revelation
-
0: _i_ _i__er – Don't Let Go
0: Toundra – Strel_a
0: Jeff Buckley – Grace
0: Fjokra – Infinite Loops
0: Royksopp – Running To the Sea
0: Winona Oak – SHE
0: Van William – Revolution
0: Cloud Cult – Sleepwalker
0: The Mendoza Line – Aspect of an Old Maid
0: Cleric – The Treme
0: Dead Lord – Evil Always Wins
0: Einar Solberg – The Glass Is Empty
0: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
0: The Movement – Take Me To the Ocean
0: Hexvessel – Cosmic Truth
0: Musk Ox – Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)
0: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
0: DARKSIDE – Heart
0: Kimbra – Cameo Lover
0: The Skints – Live East Die Young
0: AFI – The Great Disappointment
0: The Expendables – Sacrifice
Guessed letters: dhimetsrlbao
-
Winona Oak
-
Terzij de Horde song is A Robe of Words, which is also technically a collab with Ggu:ll. This is probably Nachtmerrie
-
Royksopp-Running To The Sea
-
Fjorka-Infinite Loops
-
There's one left that I'm honestly shocked is taking this long to figure out. :lol
-
Jeff Buckley-Grace
-
Yes, but not that one, actually. :biggrin:
-
Royksopp Ariich? Maybe it's an interlude. :lol
-
Not ariich. A few of the solved ones should be gimmees if you look at the track lists. Actually, a lot of them, really, but probably most people haven't heard most of these songs.
-
Let’s get these last two. Give me the W.
-
;D :corn
-
0: _i_ Wi__er – Don't Let Go
0: Toundra – Strelka
0: Jeff Buckley – Grace
0: Fjokra – Infinite Loops
0: Royksopp – Running To the Sea
0: Winona Oak – SHE
0: Van William – Revolution
0: Cloud Cult – Sleepwalker
0: The Mendoza Line – Aspect of an Old Maid
0: Cleric – The Treme
0: Dead Lord – Evil Always Wins
0: Einar Solberg – The Glass Is Empty
0: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
0: The Movement – Take Me To the Ocean
0: Hexvessel – Cosmic Truth
0: Musk Ox – Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)
0: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
0: DARKSIDE – Heart
0: Kimbra – Cameo Lover
0: The Skints – Live East Die Young
0: AFI – The Great Disappointment
0: The Expendables – Sacrifice
Guessed letters: dhimetsrlbaow
-
ariich: Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
1: Disillusion – In Waking Hours
2: An Abstract Illusion – Drop This Planet of Dust
3: –
4: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
5: Xanthochroid – The Sound of Hunger Rises
6: –
7: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
Buddyhunter1: Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
1: Sabrepulse – First Crush
2: Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill
3: –
4: Gorillaz – Magic City
5: death's dynamic shroud – Games
6: –
7: death's dynamic shroud – Infinite Staralgia
8: Anamanaguchi – Tear
9: –
10: death's dynamic shroud – King & Queen
Crow: Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
1: Ashenspire – The Law of Asbestos
2: –
3: –
4: A Forest of Stars – Gatherer of the Pure
5: Fleshvessel – The Void Chamber
Evermind: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
1: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
2: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Kevlar Sweethearts
3: –
4: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
5: –
6: –
7: J2 – Stay Alive
8: –
9: –
HOF: Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape to Litho)
1: Tim Bowness – Worlds of Yesterday
2: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
3: –
4: Chroma Key – Undertow
5: Tim Bowness & Giancarlo Erra – Beautiful Songs You Should Know
6: –
7: Chroma Key – On the Page
8: –
9: –
Lethean: Second Chances (or Suicide?)
1: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
2: Fates Warning – The Light and Shade of Things
3: –
4: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
5: –
Nachtmerrie: The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
1: Blut aus Nord – Tales of the Old Dreamer
2: Terzij de Horde – A Robe of Words
3: –
4: Maer – Sister
5: –
6: –
Puppies_On_Acid: Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
1: Arcane – Promise (Part 2)
2: –
3: –
4: Matthew Good – While We Were Hunting Rabbits
5: –
6: –
7: Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
Sacul: i just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
1: Viagra Boys – Troglodyte
2: Viagra Boys – Punk Rock Loser
3: –
4: Viagra Boys – ADD
5: Against All Logic – This Old House Is All I Have
6: –
7: Odisea – Cabros
8: SIAMES – The Wolf
9: –
10: Jamie xx – Loud Places
11: –
senecadawg2: From the Bed of the Woods
1: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
2: –
3: –
4: Ellereve – Colorblind
5: –
6: –
7: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
8: Dir En Grey – VINUSHKA
SoundscapeMN: SoundscapeMN's MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
1: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
2: –
3: –
4: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
5: –
6: –
7: Kiss Kiss – Through the Day
8: –
9: –
10: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
soupytwist: Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
1: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
2: –
3: –
4: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
5: –
6: –
7: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
8: –
9: –
Stadler: Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
1: Phil Collins – Don't Lose My Number
2: Jon Bon Jovi – Billy Get Your Guns
3: –
4: Def Leppard – Billy's Got a Gun
5: Bruce Springsteen – Rockaway the Days
6: –
7: Van Halen – Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
TAC: Hazel the Witch
1: Adrian Tabacaru – Lucifer
2: Tanith – Falling Wizard
3: –
4: Phantom Spell – Blood Becomes Sand
5: –
6: –
7: Winterhawk – Revival
8: –
Tomislav95: Swimming through the nothingness
1: Midlake – Roscoe
2: Brand New – Same Logic/Teeth
3: –
4: Modest Mouse – The Cold Part
5: The Hotelier – Two Deliverances
6: –
7: Midlake – Young Bride
8: Brand New – Daisy
9: –
10: Brand New – Handcuffs
twosuitsluke: It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
1: Frank Turner – Eulogy
2: Frank Turner – Rivers
3: –
4: The King Blues – The Schemers, The Scroungers, and the Rats
5: The King Blues – Let's Hang the Landlord
6: –
7: King Prawn – Crackhead
8: –
9: –
10: The King Blues – Everything Happens For a Reason
11: Frank Turner – Farewell To My City
Vmadera00: To the Island
1: The Expendables – Down Down Down
2: –
3: –
4: Lionize – Surrender
5: –
-
Who will go down in glory for solving it? (https://i.imgur.com/atkya8G.gif)
-
Well the Toundra song is Strelka and that could be either Evermind or Seneca possibly.
The Don't Let Go song, I have no idea who the artist is. I have a handful of tracks called Don't Let Go in my library, but none of the artists fit.
-
Yes on the Toundra song, though it's neither of them.
Think more broadly about the last song, maybe try some other sources.
-
Is that... Kip Winger? TAC's favorite???!!??!? :metal :metal :metal
-
(https://i.imgur.com/PXuPjbU.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/34ebIyT.gif)
-
0: Kip Winger – Don't Let Go
0: Toundra – Strelka
0: Jeff Buckley – Grace
0: Fjokra – Infinite Loops
0: Royksopp – Running To the Sea
0: Winona Oak – SHE
0: Van William – Revolution
0: Cloud Cult – Sleepwalker
0: The Mendoza Line – Aspect of an Old Maid
0: Cleric – The Treme
0: Dead Lord – Evil Always Wins
0: Einar Solberg – The Glass Is Empty
0: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
0: The Movement – Take Me To the Ocean
0: Hexvessel – Cosmic Truth
0: Musk Ox – Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)
0: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
0: DARKSIDE – Heart
0: Kimbra – Cameo Lover
0: The Skints – Live East Die Young
0: AFI – The Great Disappointment
0: The Expendables – Sacrifice
-
I'll be offline soon, so everyone can try and match some more songs and senders in the meantime, but whenever I get some time later tomorrow I'll fill out whatever's left, and then tomorrow night or Thursday we'll start on the last part of hangman.
-
I've just realized, how monstrous each EP writeup will be, with 1 post each... guess I'll be lucky to have mine for Christmas ;D
-
Well, they certainly won't be proportionately equal to my writeups for the individual song rounds early on. But they will be even lengthier than usual just because there's so much to cover and closure to achieve. It'll definitely be broken up into several parts. Once hangman is completed I'll be posting the massive Spotify playlist so people can do their own rankings of EPs if they want, and I'll also do favorite/least favorite tracks to keep people busy with the massive amount of writing I still have left (and I still don't quite have my mind made up on a decent number of the EPs, though I have a broad idea of the rankings in mind). Let's just say that there could be a few shakeups in the final rankings given that scores are out of 30. :corn My guess is results somewhere around labor day, but we'll just see how it goes.
-
Stadler: Kip Winger – Don't Let Go
Stadler: Jeff Buckley – Grace
Ariich: Fjokra – Infinite Loops
Tomi/Soundscape: Einar Solberg – The Glass Is Empty
Tomi/Soundscape: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
Vmadera: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
Sacul: AFI – The Great Disappointment
Vmadera: The Expendables – Sacrifice
-
Ariich: Fjokra – Infinite Loops
Not me. That would be a terrible fit for my EP! :lol
I was going to suggest it was you. Won't be Crow as it's not avant-garde metal.
Tomi? Can't remember if I sent any Fjokra in his roulette.
-
Kip Winger could be HOF.
-
Ariich: Fjokra – Infinite Loops
Not me. That would be a terrible fit for my EP! :lol
I honestly put little thought into what would fit with which EP, clearly :lol
-
Stadler: Kip Winger – Don't Let Go
Stadler: Jeff Buckley – Grace
Ariich: Fjokra – Infinite Loops
Tomi/Soundscape: Einar Solberg – The Glass Is Empty
Tomi/Soundscape: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
Vmadera: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
Sacul: AFI – The Great Disappointment
Vmadera: The Expendables – Sacrifice
Apparently I'm not playing?? ;D
One of these is mine, and it's NOT Winger!
-
Stadler: Kip Winger – Don't Let Go
Stadler: Jeff Buckley – Grace
Ariich: Fjokra – Infinite Loops
Tomi/Soundscape: Einar Solberg – The Glass Is Empty
Tomi/Soundscape: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
Vmadera: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
Sacul: AFI – The Great Disappointment
Vmadera: The Expendables – Sacrifice
Apparently I'm not playing?? ;D
One of these is mine, and it's NOT Winger!
Fjorka!
The reason I didn’t guess any of yours Tim is because all your bands so far have been ones I’ve never heard of! I should’ve done this…
Tim: Toundra – Strelka
Tim: Winona Oak – SHE
Tim: Van William – Revolution
Tim: Cloud Cult – Sleepwalker
Tim: The Mendoza Line – Aspect of an Old Maid
Tim: Cleric – The Treme
Tim: Dead Lord – Evil Always Wins
Tim: The Movement – Take Me To the Ocean
Tim: Hexvessel – Cosmic Truth
Tim: Musk Ox – Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)
Tim: DARKSIDE – Heart
-
See..you got one right!!!
-
Dead Lord is probably Tim :lol
-
See..you got one right!!!
Was it Fjorka or one of the others?
-
Dead Lord is probably Tim :lol
This guy gets it.
-
Dead Lord is probably Tim :lol
This guy gets it.
Well I guessed it first
(https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExMXUwZDFrd3AyOW9qZDNucHBremxwdzl2aWRkNTJ3bG13emdlbDR1dSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/hiBJxXGzetLMc/giphy.gif)
-
Stadler: Kip Winger – Don't Let Go
Stadler: Jeff Buckley – Grace
Ariich: Fjokra – Infinite Loops
Tomi/Soundscape: Einar Solberg – The Glass Is Empty
Tomi/Soundscape: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
Vmadera: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
Sacul: AFI – The Great Disappointment
Vmadera: The Expendables – Sacrifice
Apparently I'm not playing?? ;D
One of these is mine, and it's NOT Winger!
And while I like both songs, neither of the two attributed to me are from me.
-
Sacul: AFI – The Great Disappointment
If I had a dollar for every band I've never even heard of, that you guys guess for me having sent, I could probably pay the hosting for this site for the next 5 6 years or so :P
-
Vmad sent Royksopp, The Decemberists, and The Movement
-
Vmad sent Royksopp, The Decemberists, and The Movement
I think I sent one of those :corn
-
Vmad sent Royksopp, The Decemberists, and The Movement
I think I sent one of those :corn
You should have committed to your theme more, then. :biggrin:
-
Sacul: AFI – The Great Disappointment
If I had a dollar for every band I've never even heard of, that you guys guess for me having sent, I could probably pay the hosting for this site for the next 5 6 years or so :P
I honestly don’t know who the fuck would send AFI. I’m drawing a blank to be honest, to the point where I thought maybe I’d sent them and forgotten.
-
I know who AFI is. I did not send them.
-
Could be Tomi
-
I could see Ariich sending them but I can’t see them fitting with his EP.
Maybe Vmadera? Fuck knows. Puppies?
-
Puppies sent me AFI years ago in one of my album roulettes.
-
Sacul: AFI – The Great Disappointment
If I had a dollar for every band I've never even heard of, that you guys guess for me having sent, I could probably pay the hosting for this site for the next 5 6 years or so :P
These roulettes have literally changed my outlook on music in general, for that reason. I do not even RECOGNIZE (let aline know their music) over half of the bands submitted in the roulettes I'm in. Another 25% are bands I've heard of - from these roulettes - but don't really know their music. It's just fascinating to me that I actually pay attention to music, diligently sometimes, and yet there is SO much out there I can't possibly consume.
-
These roulettes have literally changed my outlook on music in general, for that reason. I do not even RECOGNIZE (let aline know their music) over half of the bands submitted in the roulettes I'm in. Another 25% are bands I've heard of - from these roulettes - but don't really know their music. It's just fascinating to me that I actually pay attention to music, diligently sometimes, and yet there is SO much out there I can't possibly consume.
It's amazing, really.
-
Ok, so here's part 2 solved. I'll see if tomorrow evening looks like a good one for part 3 tomorrow.
ariich: Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
1: Disillusion – In Waking Hours
2: An Abstract Illusion – Drop This Planet of Dust
3: –
4: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
5: Xanthochroid – The Sound of Hunger Rises
6: –
7: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
Buddyhunter1: Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
1: Sabrepulse – First Crush
2: Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill
3: –
4: Gorillaz – Magic City
5: death's dynamic shroud – Games
6: –
7: death's dynamic shroud – Infinite Staralgia
8: Anamanaguchi – Tear
9: –
10: death's dynamic shroud – King & Queen
Crow: Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
1: Ashenspire – The Law of Asbestos
2: Cleric – The Treme
3: –
4: A Forest of Stars – Gatherer of the Pure
5: Fleshvessel – The Void Chamber
Evermind: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
1: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
2: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Kevlar Sweethearts
3: –
4: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
5: Winona Oak – SHE
6: –
7: J2 – Stay Alive
8: Royksopp – Running To the Sea
9: –
HOF: Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape to Litho)
1: Tim Bowness – Worlds of Yesterday
2: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
3: –
4: Chroma Key – Undertow
5: Tim Bowness & Giancarlo Erra – Beautiful Songs You Should Know
6: –
7: Chroma Key – On the Page
8: Kip Winger – Don't Let Go
9: –
Lethean: Second Chances (or Suicide?)
1: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
2: Fates Warning – The Light and Shade of Things
3: –
4: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
5: Einar Solberg – The Glass Is Empty
Nachtmerrie: The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
1: Blut aus Nord – Tales of the Old Dreamer
2: Terzij de Horde – A Robe of Words
3: –
4: Maer – Sister
5: Toundra – Strelka
6: –
Puppies_On_Acid: Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
1: Arcane – Promise (Part 2)
2: Jeff Buckley – Grace
3: –
4: Matthew Good – While We Were Hunting Rabbits
5: AFI – The Great Disappointment
6: –
7: Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
Sacul: i just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
1: Viagra Boys – Troglodyte
2: Viagra Boys – Punk Rock Loser
3: –
4: Viagra Boys – ADD
5: Against All Logic – This Old House Is All I Have
6: –
7: Odisea – Cabros
8: SIAMES – The Wolf
9: –
10: Jamie xx – Loud Places
11: DARKSIDE – Heart
senecadawg2: From the Bed of the Woods
1: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
2: Hexvessel – Cosmic Truth
3: –
4: Ellereve – Colorblind
5: Musk Ox – Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)
6: –
7: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
8: Dir En Grey – VINUSHKA
SoundscapeMN: SoundscapeMN's MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
1: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
2: Fjokra – Infinite Loops
3: –
4: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
5: Kimbra – Cameo Lover
6: –
7: Kiss Kiss – Through the Day
8: Cloud Cult – Sleepwalker
9: –
10: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
soupytwist: Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
1: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
2: Van William – Revolution
3: –
4: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
5: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
6: –
7: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
8: The Mendoza Line – Aspect of an Old Maid
9: –
Stadler: Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
1: Phil Collins – Don't Lose My Number
2: Jon Bon Jovi – Billy Get Your Guns
3: –
4: Def Leppard – Billy's Got a Gun
5: Bruce Springsteen – Rockaway the Days
6: –
7: Van Halen – Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
TAC: Hazel the Witch
1: Adrian Tabacaru – Lucifer
2: Tanith – Falling Wizard
3: –
4: Phantom Spell – Blood Becomes Sand
5: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
6: –
7: Winterhawk – Revival
8: Dead Lord – Evil Always Wins
Tomislav95: Swimming through the nothingness
1: Midlake – Roscoe
2: Brand New – Same Logic/Teeth
3: –
4: Modest Mouse – The Cold Part
5: The Hotelier – Two Deliverances
6: –
7: Midlake – Young Bride
8: Brand New – Daisy
9: –
10: Brand New – Handcuffs
twosuitsluke: It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
1: Frank Turner – Eulogy
2: Frank Turner – Rivers
3: –
4: The King Blues – The Schemers, The Scroungers, and the Rats
5: The King Blues – Let's Hang the Landlord
6: –
7: King Prawn – Crackhead
8: The Skints – Live East Die Young
9: –
10: The King Blues – Everything Happens For a Reason
11: Frank Turner – Farewell To My City
Vmadera00: To the Island
1: The Expendables – Down Down Down
2: The Expendables – Sacrifice
3: –
4: Lionize – Surrender
5: The Movement – Take Me To the Ocean
-
Litho, keep this thing on schedule or the cyber bullying will begin. ;D
10 months later....
-
Litho, keep this thing on schedule or the cyber bullying will begin. ;D
10 months later....
I think that was the schedule :biggrin:
-
Part 3 should be much easier to match a lot of the senders now.
0: ___ ________ – ____ ______
0: ___ ______ – _________
0: ______ ____ – ___'_ __ _____
0: ____ ______ – _____ __ _________
0: ____________ – ____ _____
0: ______ _____ – _ _________ ____
0: __________ _____ ___ – _.
0: ________ – _______ ___ ___ ____
0: _____ ____ – ____ ____ __ __ ___ _____ ____
0: _________ – _____ __ ____
0: ______ ______ – _____'_ _______
0: ____________ – __ ____ ___ _______ _______
0: ______ – ____ ______
0: __________ – _______ _________ _______
0: _________ – ___________
0: _____ ______ – __ ____ _ _____
0: ____ _______ – ____ _______
0: ___ ______ – ____ ___ ____
0: _________ – _________ _____ ___ ______
0: _____ __ – ____
0: ________ – ____ _____
0: ___ ____ _____ – __________ ____ ________ _____
0: ____ __ ____ – __ ___ __
0: _____ _____ ___ ___ _________ _____ – ___ ______ ______
0: ___ _____________ – ___ _________
0: _._. ______ – _____ ___ ___
0: ___ _______ – _____ __ _______ ______, __. _
0: ________ – ___ ____ ____ __ __ ___ __. _ & _
0: ___________ – ___ __________
0: _____ _____ & ____ ______ – ____ ______
0: _______ – _______ _____
0: ___ _____ _______ – _____ ______
0: _____ _______ ___ – ___ _______ ________
0: _____ – __ ___ _____ __ ____
0: _____ ____ ___ ____ – ________/_______
0: ___ ________ – ____ ____ ____
0: ____________ – __ ___
0: ________ – ________
0: ___ ______ – ______________ __ ___ ______ _______
Guessed letters:
-
D
-
T
-
0: T__ __t_____ – ___t ______
0: ___ ______ – ___d___d_
0: ______ ____ – ___'t __ T____
0: ____ D_____ – __t__ __ _t______t
0: ____________ – ____ ____t
0: __d__t _____ – _ D_______t __t_
0: ______tt__ __t__ ___ – _.
0: ____t___ – _______ ___ t__ ____
0: __d__ ____ – ____ __t_ __ T_ t__ _t___ __d_
0: _________ – T____ __ ____
0: _____t _____t – _____'_ _______
0: ___t_______d – T_ ___t __d ______t ___d___
0: _d____ – ____ __t___
0: _________t – _____t_ _________ _____t_
0: _________ – ___________
0: _____ T_____ – __ ____ _ _t___
0: ____ _______ – ___t ___d___
0: ___ ______ – ____ ___ ___d
0: ____t____ – ________d _____ t__ ______
0: _____ __ – ____
0: ________ – ____ _____
0: T__ ____ _____ – __d_____t_ T___ _______t ____t
0: ___t __ ____ – __ ___ __
0: _____ _____ __d t__ ____dd___ T____ – T__ ______ _____t
0: T__ _______d_____ – T__ ___d_____
0: _._. T_____ – _____ __d ___
0: T__ _______ – _____ __ D__t__t ______, _t. _
0: _______t – ___ ___t ____ T_ __ __d _t. _ & _
0: D__________ – T__ ______t___
0: _____ _____ & ____ T_____ – ____ ______
0: _______ – D__t__t _____
0: T__ _____ _______ – T____ T_____
0: _____ __d____ D__ – T__ _______ ___t____
0: _____ – _t t__ _____ __ D___
0: D____ ___d ___ ____ – D_______/_______
0: T__ __t_____ – ____ D___ ___t
0: ____________ – __ D__
0: D__d_d__ – ___d____
0: T__ ____t_ – ___t_____t____ __ t__ __d___ __d____
Guessed letters: dt
-
Q
-
(https://media.tenor.com/O_R7Dy-pX0sAAAAd/so-be-it-q-star-trek.gif)
0: T__ __t_____ – ___t ______
0: ___ ______ – ___d___d_
0: ______ ____ – ___'t __ T____
0: ____ D_____ – __t__ __ _t______t
0: ____________ – ____ ____t
0: __d__t _____ – _ D_______t __t_
0: ______tt__ __t__ ___ – _.
0: ____t___ – __q____ ___ t__ ____
0: __d__ ____ – ____ __t_ __ T_ t__ _t___ __d_
0: _________ – T____ __ ____
0: _____t _____t – _____'_ _______
0: ___t_______d – T_ ___t __d ______t ___d___
0: _d____ – ____ __t___
0: _________t – _____t_ _________ _____t_
0: _________ – ___________
0: _____ T_____ – __ ____ _ _t___
0: ____ _______ – ___t ___d___
0: ___ ______ – ____ ___ ___d
0: ____t____ – ________d _____ t__ ______
0: _____ __ – ____
0: ________ – ____ _____
0: T__ ____ _____ – __d_____t_ T___ _______t ____t
0: ___t __ ____ – __ ___ __
0: _____ _____ __d t__ ____dd___ T____ – T__ ______ _____t
0: T__ _______d_____ – T__ ___d_____
0: _._. T_____ – _____ __d ___
0: T__ _______ – _____ __ D__t__t ______, _t. _
0: _______t – ___ ___t ____ T_ __ __d _t. _ & _
0: D__________ – T__ ______t___
0: _____ _____ & ____ T_____ – ____ ______
0: _______ – D__t__t _____
0: T__ _____ _______ – T____ T_____
0: _____ __d____ D__ – T__ _______ ___t____
0: _____ – _t t__ _____ __ D___
0: D____ ___d ___ ____ – D_______/_______
0: T__ __t_____ – ____ D___ ___t
0: ____________ – __ D__
0: D__d_d__ – ___d____
0: T__ ____t_ – ___t_____t____ __ t__ __d___ __d____
Guessed letters: dtq
-
R
-
0: T__ __t____r – ___t ______
0: ___ _____r – ___d___d_
0: ____r_ ____ – ___'t __ T____
0: ____ D_____ – __t__ __ _t_r____t
0: ____________ – _r__ ____t
0: __d__t _____ – _ D____r__t __t_
0: ____r_tt__ __t_r ___ – _.
0: ____t_r_ – R_q____ __r t__ ____
0: _rd__ ____ – ____ __t_ __ T_ t__ _t__r __d_
0: _________ – Tr___ __ __r_
0: R___rt _____t – _____'_ R______
0: ___t____r__d – T_ ___t __d ______t __rd___
0: _d____ – ____ __t___
0: _________t – _____t_ _________ R____t_
0: _______r_ – _____r_____
0: _r___ T_r__r – __ ___r _ _tr__
0: ____ _______ – ___t ___d___
0: ___ _____r – ____ ___ __rd
0: ____t____ – ________d _____ t__ ______
0: _____ __ – __r_
0: __r_____ – __r_ _____
0: T__ ____ _____ – __d_r___t_ T___ _______t ____t
0: ___t __ ____ – __ ___ __
0: _r___ ___r_ __d t__ __r_dd___ T__r_ – T__ __r___ R____t
0: T__ __r____d_____ – T__ ___d_r___
0: _._. T_____ – _____ __d ___
0: T__ _______ – _____ __ D__t__t _____r, _t. _
0: __r____t – ___ ___t ____ T_ __ __d _t. _ & _
0: D__________ – T__ ____r_t___
0: _____ _____ & ____ T_____ – ____ ______
0: ___r___ – D__t__t _____
0: T__ R___r ____r__ – T_r__ T___r_
0: _____ _rd____ D__ – T__ _______ ___t__r_
0: _r___ – _t t__ _r___ __ D___
0: D____ ___d ___ ____ – Dr______/_______
0: T__ __t____r – ___r D___ R__t
0: ____________ – __ D__
0: D_rd_d__ – ___d_r__
0: T__ ____t_ – ___t_____t____ __ t__ __d_r_ R_d____
Guessed letters: dtqr
-
C
-
Dordeduh
E
-
Aviators - Requiem for the King
That Q ended up being quite useful after all. :lol
-
0: D_rd_d__ – ___d_r__
Dardudeeee - Sandsrotm
;D
-
N
-
Did a vampire take over this roulette?
-
Hey can I redo my EP? I want to change the last song :biggrin:
-
can i redo most of this roulette? i want to change all the songs that did poorly
-
can i redo most of this roulette? i want to change all the songs that did poorly
Actually I want to do this :lol
-
Did a vampire take over this roulette?
Yeah, sorry, a lot of stuff has happened the last few days. Nothing gravely serious, but it's limited my time for updates and writeups. We're still on track to finish long before candy is handed out though. He'll handle things in the meantime.
(https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExaW1oNTcyOGtocTZjdjFlMDFiZnJhaGZ1Y3lhb3ZwY2t5MmlybXl5OCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/1NyEQGqsyM9RuzeWLc/giphy.gif)
0: D_rd_d__ – ___d_r__
Dardudeeee - Sandsrotm
;D
Hah, yeah, that would definitely be banned.
can i redo most of this roulette? i want to change all the songs that did poorly
Actually I want to do this :lol
Guess you'll have to wait for V2. :laugh:
-
ariich: Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
1: Disillusion – In Waking Hours
2: An Abstract Illusion – Drop This Planet of Dust
3: Xanthochroid – To Lost and Ancient Gardens
4: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
5: Xanthochroid – The Sound of Hunger Rises
6: Disillusion – The Liberation
7: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
Buddyhunter1: Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
1: Sabrepulse – First Crush
2: Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill
3: Anamanaguchi – Prom Night
4: Gorillaz – Magic City
5: death's dynamic shroud – Games
6: Gorillaz – Fire Flies
7: death's dynamic shroud – Infinite Staralgia
8: Anamanaguchi – Tear
9: Anamanaguchi – We Die
10: death's dynamic shroud – King & Queen
Crow: Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
1: Ashenspire – The Law of Asbestos
2: Cleric – The Treme
3: Dordeduh – Pandarul
4: A Forest of Stars – Gatherer of the Pure
5: Fleshvessel – The Void Chamber
Evermind: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
1: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
2: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Kevlar Sweethearts
3: –
4: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
5: Winona Oak – SHE
6: –
7: J2 – Stay Alive
8: Royksopp – Running To the Sea
9: –
HOF: Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape to Litho)
1: Tim Bowness – Worlds of Yesterday
2: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
3: Kip Winger – Landslide
4: Chroma Key – Undertow
5: Tim Bowness & Giancarlo Erra – Beautiful Songs You Should Know
6: Kip Winger – Only One Word
7: Chroma Key – On the Page
8: Kip Winger – Don't Let Go
9: Tim Bowness – Songs of Distant Summer, Pt. 2
Lethean: Second Chances (or Suicide?)
1: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
2: Fates Warning – The Light and Shade of Things
3: Leprous – Distant Bells
4: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
5: Einar Solberg – The Glass Is Empty
Nachtmerrie: The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
1: Blut aus Nord – Tales of the Old Dreamer
2: Terzij de Horde – A Robe of Words
3: –
4: Maer – Sister
5: Toundra – Strelka
6: –
Puppies_On_Acid: Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
1: Arcane – Promise (Part 2)
2: Jeff Buckley – Grace
3: –
4: Matthew Good – While We Were Hunting Rabbits
5: AFI – The Great Disappointment
6: Devil Sold His Soul – Drowning/Sinking
7: Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
Sacul: i just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
1: Viagra Boys – Troglodyte
2: Viagra Boys – Punk Rock Loser
3: Viagra Boys – Ain't No Thief
4: Viagra Boys – ADD
5: Against All Logic – This Old House Is All I Have
6: Odisea – Casa Latina
7: Odisea – Cabros
8: SIAMES – The Wolf
9: Jamie xx – Girl
10: Jamie xx – Loud Places
11: DARKSIDE – Heart
senecadawg2: From the Bed of the Woods
1: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
2: Hexvessel – Cosmic Truth
3: –
4: Ellereve – Colorblind
5: Musk Ox – Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)
6: –
7: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
8: Dir En Grey – VINUSHKA
SoundscapeMN: SoundscapeMN's MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
1: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
2: Fjokra – Infinite Loops
3: –
4: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
5: Kimbra – Cameo Lover
6: –
7: Kiss Kiss – Through the Day
8: Cloud Cult – Sleepwalker
9: The River Empires – Three Tigers
10: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
soupytwist: Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
1: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
2: Van William – Revolution
3: –
4: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
5: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
6: –
7: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
8: The Mendoza Line – Aspect of an Old Maid
9: –
Stadler: Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
1: Phil Collins – Don't Lose My Number
2: Jon Bon Jovi – Billy Get Your Guns
3: Robert Plant – Billy's Revenge
4: Def Leppard – Billy's Got a Gun
5: Bruce Springsteen – Rockaway the Days
6: B.J. Thomas – Billy and Sue
7: Van Halen – Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
TAC: Hazel the Witch
1: Adrian Tabacaru – Lucifer
2: Tanith – Falling Wizard
3: –
4: Phantom Spell – Blood Becomes Sand
5: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
6: –
7: Winterhawk – Revival
8: Dead Lord – Evil Always Wins
Tomislav95: Swimming through the nothingness
1: Midlake – Roscoe
2: Brand New – Same Logic/Teeth
3: Modest Mouse – A Different City
4: Modest Mouse – The Cold Part
5: The Hotelier – Two Deliverances
6: The Hotelier – Soft Animal
7: Midlake – Young Bride
8: Brand New – Daisy
9: The Hotelier – Your Deep Rest
10: Brand New – Handcuffs
twosuitsluke: It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
1: Frank Turner – Eulogy
2: Frank Turner – Rivers
3: Frank Turner – If Ever I Stray
4: The King Blues – The Schemers, The Scroungers, and the Rats
5: The King Blues – Let's Hang the Landlord
6: The Skints – Contemplations of the Modern Rudeboy
7: King Prawn – Crackhead
8: The Skints – Live East Die Young
9: The King Blues – Underneath This Lamppost Light
10: The King Blues – Everything Happens For a Reason
11: Frank Turner – Farewell To My City
Vmadera00: To the Island
1: The Expendables – Down Down Down
2: The Expendables – Sacrifice
3: –
4: Lionize – Surrender
5: The Movement – Take Me To the Ocean
-
0: T_e __te__er – ___t _n____
0: ___ __n_er – __nd___de
0: ____r_ ____ – __n't N_ T__e_
0: ___e D___ne – __t_n _n _t_r____t
0: _n___n___c__ – _r__ N___t
0: __de_t ____e – _ D___erent C_t_
0: C___rette_ __ter _e_ – _.
0: _rden ___n – C__e __t_ _e T_ t_e _t_er __de
0: _ce_n___e – Tr___ __ __re
0: R__ert ___net – _____'_ Re_en_e
0: __nt__c_r__d – T_ ___t _nd _nc_ent __rden_
0: _d__e_ – C___ __t_n_
0: ___c__n__t – _____te C_n_en___ Re___t_
0: _______re – ____er____e
0: _r_n_ T_rner – __ E_er _ _tr__
0: _e__ __c__e_ – ___t ___d__e
0: ___ __n_er – _n__ _ne __rd
0: ___nt____ – ______ced ___n_ t_e _n_e__
0: ____e __ – __r_
0: __r_____ – __re ___e_
0: T_e __n_ ___e_ – _nderne_t_ T___ _______t ____t
0: C__t __ __n_ – _n __e __
0: _r__n _c_r_ _nd t_e __redd_n_ Te_r_ – T_e __r__e R_c_et
0: T_e __re___d___n_ – T_e _n_der_n_
0: _._. T_____ – _____ _nd __e
0: T__ ___ne__ – __n__ __ D__t_nt ____er, _t. _
0: __r___nt – ___ ___t C__e T_ _n End _t. _ & _
0: D_________n – T_e ___er_t__n
0: _e_en __ne_ & ____ T_____ – ____ ___ee_
0: _e_r___ – D__t_nt _e___
0: T_e R__er E___re_ – T_ree T__er_
0: _en__ _rd_n__ De_ – T_e __e____ ___t__r_
0: _r__n – _t t_e _re__ __ D__n
0: De___ ___d ___ ____ – Dr__n_n_/__n__n_
0: T_e __te__er – ___r Dee_ Re_t
0: _n___n___c__ – _e D_e
0: Dordeduh – __nd_r__
0: T_e ___nt_ – C_nte____t__n_ __ t_e __dern R_de___
0: Aviators – Requiem For the King
Guessed letters: dtqrcen
-
I see
Cult of Luna
Disillusion again (Rich)
The River Empire (Soundscape)
Give us an L as well
-
Disillusion again (Rich)
The Liberation
-
0: T_e __tel_er – ___t _n___l
0: ___ __n_er – L_nd_l_de
0: ____r_ ____ – __n't N_ T__e_
0: __le D___ne – __t_n _n _t_rl___t
0: _n___n___c__ – _r__ N___t
0: __de_t ____e – _ D___erent C_t_
0: C___rette_ __ter _e_ – _.
0: _rden ___n – C__e __t_ _e T_ t_e _t_er __de
0: _ce_n___e – Tr__l __ __re
0: R__ert _l_net – __ll_'_ Re_en_e
0: __nt__c_r__d – T_ L__t _nd _nc_ent __rden_
0: _d__e_ – C___ L_t_n_
0: ___c__n__t – ___l_te C_n_en___ Re_l_t_
0: _______re – ____er___le
0: _r_n_ T_rner – __ E_er _ _tr__
0: _e__ __c_le_ – L__t ___d__e
0: ___ __n_er – _nl_ _ne __rd
0: ___nt____ – ____l_ced ___n_ t_e _n_el_
0: ____e __ – __rl
0: __r_ll__ – __re _l_e_
0: T_e __n_ _l_e_ – _nderne_t_ T___ L______t L___t
0: _r__n _c_r_ _nd t_e __redd_n_ Te_r_ – T_e __r_le R_c_et
0: T_e __re___d___n_ – T_e _n_der_n_
0: _._. T_____ – __ll_ _nd __e
0: T__ ___ne__ – __n__ __ D__t_nt ____er, _t. _
0: __r___nt – _ll ___t C__e T_ _n End _t. _ & _
0: _elen __ne_ & __ll T_____ – __l_ __lee_
0: Le_r___ – D__t_nt _ell_
0: _en__ _rd_n__ De_ – T_e _le____ ___t__r_
0: _r__n – _t t_e _re__ __ D__n
0: De__l __ld ___ ___l – Dr__n_n_/__n__n_
0: T_e __tel_er – ___r Dee_ Re_t
0: _n___n___c__ – _e D_e
0: Dordeduh – __nd_r_l
0: T_e ___nt_ – C_nte__l_t__n_ __ t_e __dern R_de___
0: Aviators – Requiem For the King
0: Cult of Luna – In Awe Of
Guessed letters: dtqrcenl
-
Cult Of Luna is In Awe Of
-
The Hotelier again
-
Luke sent another Frank Turner song?
Leprous-Distant Bells
A
-
Luke sent another Frank Turner song?
Luckily for Litho, yes I did.
-
Luke sent another Frank Turner song?
Luckily for Litho, yes I did.
If Ever I Stray
-
Luke sent another Frank Turner song?
Luckily for Litho, yes I did.
If Ever I Stray…
…from the path I follow, take me down to the English channel, throw me in where the water is shallow and then drag me on back to shore :heart
-
Luke sent another Frank Turner song?
Luckily for Litho, yes I did.
If Ever I Stray…
…from the path I follow, take me down to the English channel, throw me in where the water is shallow and then drag me on back to shore :heart
So you have to be dragged out of shallow water? Can't you just stand?
-
Cigarettes After Sex - K.
Gimme the H
-
Modest Mouse-A Different City-Tomi
-
can someone finish off the last song on my EP so i can post it already :corn
-
The Skints-Comtemplations Of The Modern Rudeboy-Luke
A song called Landslide
M
-
A song called Landslide
Who could that be by? (https://i.imgur.com/9Po5i1a.gif)
0: The Hotelier – ___t An_mal
0: ___ __n_er – Landslide
0: __a_ra ____ – A_n't N_ Th_e_
0: _ale D___ne – _atan _n _tarl__ht
0: Anamana__ch_ – _r_m N__ht
0: _rden __an – C_me __th Me T_ the _ther __de
0: _cean___e – Tra_l __ __re
0: R__ert _lanet – __ll_'_ Re_en_e
0: _anth_chr__d – T_ L__t and Anc_ent _arden_
0: _d__ea – Ca_a Lat_na
0: ___ch_na_t – ___late C_n_en___ Real_t_
0: _a__a__re – ___mer___le
0: _e__ __c_le_ – La_t ___d__e
0: ___ __n_er – _nl_ _ne __rd
0: A_anta__a – M___laced Am_n_ the An_el_
0: _am_e __ – __rl
0: __r_lla_ – __re _l_e_
0: The __n_ _l_e_ – _nderneath Th__ Lam____t L__ht
0: _r_an _car_ and the _hredd_n_ Tear_ – The __r_le R_c_et
0: The __re_had___n_ – The _nader_n_
0: _._. Th_ma_ – __ll_ and __e
0: T_m ___ne__ – __n__ __ D__tant __mmer, _t. _
0: H_r___nt – All M__t C_me T_ An End _t. _ & _
0: Helen M_ne_ & __ll Th_ma_ – Hal_ A_lee_
0: _en__ _rd_n__ De_ – The _lem__h ___t_ar_
0: Ar__n – At the _rea_ __ Da_n
0: De__l __ld H__ ___l – Dr__n_n_/__n__n_
0: The H_tel_er – ___r Dee_ Re_t
0: Anamana__ch_ – _e D_e
0: Dordeduh – _andar_l
0: Aviators – Requiem For the King
0: Leprous – Distant Bells
0: Cigarettes After Sex – K.
0: Cult of Luna – In Awe Of
Guessed letters: dtqrcenlahm
-
Avantasia - Misplaced Among The Angels
The Hotelier, again (why didn't you just reveal both? :P)
-
The King Blues-Underneath The Lamppost light-Luke
Helen Money & Will Thomas-Half Asleep
Arion-At The Break Of Dawn
BJ Thomas-Billy And Sue-Stadler
Xanthochroid-To Lost And Ancient Gardens-Ariich
-
Arion-At The Break Of Dawn
Evermind probably
-
Viaga Boys-Ain't No Thief
-
Buddy: Anamanaguchi - Prom Night and We Die
TAC: Orden Ogan - Come with me to the other side
Oceansize - Trail of Fire
Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears - The Purple Rocket
-
TAC: Orden Ogan - Come with me to the other side
Negative. :)
-
Helen Money & Will Thomas - Half Asleep
-
Viagra Boys Sacul again,
Oceansize Soundscape again
-
Viagra Boys Sacul again,
No way
-
Is Leprous Lethean?
-
0: ___ __n_er – Landslide
0: _ale D___ne – _atan _n _tarl__ht
0: R__ert _lant – __ll_'_ Re_en_e
0: _d__ea – Ca_a Lat_na
0: ___ch_na_t – ___late C_n_en___ Real_t_
0: _a__a__re – ___mer___le
0: _e__ __c_le_ – La_t ___d__e
0: ___ __n_er – _nl_ _ne __rd
0: _am_e __ – __rl
0: __r_lla_ – __re _l_e_
0: The __re_had___n_ – The _nader_n_
0: T_m ___ne__ – __n__ __ D__tant __mmer, _t. _
0: H_r___nt – All M__t C_me T_ An End _t. _ & _
0: _en__ _rd_n__ De_ – The _lem__h ___t_ar_
0: De__l __ld H__ ___l – Dr__n_n_/__n__n_
0: Dordeduh – _andar_l
0: Aviators – Requiem For the King
0: Cigarettes After Sex – K.
0: Cult of Luna – In Awe Of
0: Avantasia – Misplaced Among the Angels
0: The Hotelier – Your Deep Rest
0: Helen Money & Will Thomas – Half Asleep
0: Arion – At the Break of Dawn
0: Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears – The Purple Rocket
0: Oceansize – Trail of Fire
0: Orden Ogan – Come With Me To the Other Side
Guessed letters: dtqrcenlahm
-
The Hotelier, again (why didn't you just reveal both? :P )
Part 3 has the least songs of the three batches, but it's still a ton of songs and I missed it. :lol
Arion-At The Break Of Dawn
Evermind probably
нет
Oceansize Soundscape again
Nope.
-
(https://media.tenor.com/Ppkau374d40AAAAC/angry-rage.gif)
-
Robert Plant-Billy's Revenge...obviously Stads
Tim Bowness-Songs Of Distant Summers Pt. whatever-HOF
Odisea-Casa Latina-Sacul
Another Gorillaz song
Only One Word?
Pandarul
-
Odisea-Casa Latina-Sacul
(https://y.yarn.co/396060cf-caa2-464d-b036-f0f07d6c2444_text.gif)
:neverusethis:
-
We need an I.
-
I need an update before I can go any further.
And an S
-
0: _i_ _in_er – Landslide
0: _ale Di_ine – Satan in Starli_ht
0: _s_ch_na_t – _i_late C_nsens_s Realit_
0: _assa_ire – S__mersi_le
0: _e__ __c_le_ – Last ___d__e
0: _i_ _in_er – Only One Word
0: _amie __ – _irl
0: Gorillaz – _ire _lies
0: The __reshad__in_ – The _naderin_
0: H_ris_nt – All M_st C_me T_ An End _t. _ & _
0: _en_s _rdinis Dei – The _lemish __it_ar_
0: De_il S_ld His S__l – Dr__nin_/Sin_in_
0: Dordeduh – Pandarul
0: Aviators – Requiem For the King
0: Cigarettes After Sex – K.
0: Cult of Luna – In Awe Of
0: Avantasia – Misplaced Among the Angels
0: The Hotelier – Your Deep Rest
0: Helen Money & Will Thomas – Half Asleep
0: Arion – At the Break of Dawn
0: Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears – The Purple Rocket
0: Oceansize – Trail of Fire
0: Orden Ogan – Come With Me To the Other Side
Guessed letters: dtqrcenlahmis
-
Kip Winger-HOF ;D Twice dammit!
The Foreshadowing-The Wandering (is there a spelling error in the song name?)
Passafire-Submersible
Devil Sold His Soul-Drowning/Sinking
Psychonaut-Violate Consensus Reality
-
Getting pretty close! I imagine if someone looked at the titles and other tracks they could probably place the bulk of these.
0: _ale Di_ine – Satan in Starli_ht 0: _e__ __c_le_ – Last ___d__e
0: _amie __ – _irl
0: Gorillaz – _ire _lies
0: H_ris_nt – All M_st C_me T_ An End _t. _ & _
0: _en_s _rdinis Dei – The _lemish __it_ar_
0: Devil Sold His Soul – Drowning/Sinking
0: Passafire – Submersible
0: The Foreshadowing – The Wandering
0: Psychonaut – Violate Consensus Reality
0: Dordeduh – Pandarul
0: Aviators – Requiem For the King
0: Cigarettes After Sex – K.
0: Cult of Luna – In Awe Of
0: Avantasia – Misplaced Among the Angels
0: The Hotelier – Your Deep Rest
0: Helen Money & Will Thomas – Half Asleep
0: Arion – At the Break of Dawn
0: Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears – The Purple Rocket
0: Oceansize – Trail of Fire
0: Orden Ogan – Come With Me To the Other Side
Guessed letters: dtqrcenlahmis
-
Fire Flies
-
Satan in Starlight
Jamie xx - Girl, Sacul
Gorillaz, Buddy
Horisont - All Must Come To An End
-
Devil Sold His Soul could be Puppies, he's sent them to me before.
The Hotelier is Tomi.
Dordeduh could be Nachtmerrie.
-
Getting even closer. Dordeduh is not Nachtmerrie.
0: _ale Di_ine – Satan in Starlight
0: _e__ __c_le_ – Last ___d__e
0: _en_s _rdinis Dei – The _lemish __it_ar_
0: Horisont – All Must Come To An End Pt. 1 & 2
0: Passafire – Submersible
0: The Foreshadowing – The Wandering
0: Psychonaut – Violate Consensus Reality
0: Aviators – Requiem For the King
0: Cigarettes After Sex – K.
0: Cult of Luna – In Awe Of
0: Avantasia – Misplaced Among the Angels
0: Helen Money & Will Thomas – Half Asleep
0: Arion – At the Break of Dawn
0: Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears – The Purple Rocket
0: Oceansize – Trail of Fire
0: Orden Ogan – Come With Me To the Other Side
Guessed letters: dtqrcenlahmis
-
Then Dordeduh is Crow
-
I think Crow's Spotify is even "CyrilPanda", definitely a layup.
-
Also, Stadlers EP is hilarious :lol
-
Also, Stadlers EP is hilarious :lol
Stads, you're missing one of the great "Billy" songs of all time though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JBq9iD2Mnc
-
finally i can post the thing :rollin
EP: https://mega.nz/file/2Aky3ABR#rLWgIGq9bBJWBZ-lZxUNy3BAMwhDDsK7PSY8DlZ69m4
EP but it's a spotify playlist so you can have song titles and lengths: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2gfaSyuZvlz4tyX5ecWCav
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Ok, so I think everyone is kind of hangman'd out now. Here are everyone's EPs.
ariich: Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change
1: Disillusion – In Waking Hours
2: An Abstract Illusion – Drop This Planet of Dust
3: Xanthochroid – To Lost and Ancient Gardens
4: Aetherian – Army of Gaia
5: Xanthochroid – The Sound of Hunger Rises
6: Disillusion – The Liberation
7: Xanthochroid – To Souls Distant and Dreaming
Buddyhunter1: Heartbreak in the U.S.A.
1: Sabrepulse – First Crush
2: Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill
3: Anamanaguchi – Prom Night
4: Gorillaz – Magic City
5: death's dynamic shroud – Games
6: Gorillaz – Fire Flies
7: death's dynamic shroud – Infinite Staralgia
8: Anamanaguchi – Tear
9: Anamanaguchi – We Die
10: death's dynamic shroud – King & Queen
Crow: Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Noodle Soup For the Soul
1: Ashenspire – The Law of Asbestos
2: Cleric – The Treme
3: Dordeduh – Pandarul
4: A Forest of Stars – Gatherer of the Pure
5: Fleshvessel – The Void Chamber
Evermind: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!
1: Mono Inc. – Nemesis
2: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Kevlar Sweethearts
3: The Foreshadowing – The Wandering
4: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Justice For Saint Mary
5: Winona Oak – SHE
6: Genus Ordinis Dei – The Flemish Obituary
7: J2 – Stay Alive
8: Royksopp – Running To the Sea
9: Aviators – Requiem For the King
HOF: Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape to Litho)
1: Tim Bowness – Worlds of Yesterday
2: Chroma Key – Another Permanent Address
3: Kip Winger – Landslide
4: Chroma Key – Undertow
5: Tim Bowness & Giancarlo Erra – Beautiful Songs You Should Know
6: Kip Winger – Only One Word
7: Chroma Key – On the Page
8: Kip Winger – Don't Let Go
9: Tim Bowness – Songs of Distant Summer, Pt. 2
Lethean: Second Chances (or Suicide?)
1: Caligula's Horse – Songs For No One
2: Fates Warning – The Light and Shade of Things
3: Leprous – Distant Bells
4: Sailors With Wax Wings – If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat
5: Einar Solberg – The Glass Is Empty
Nachtmerrie: The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis
1: Blut aus Nord – Tales of the Old Dreamer
2: Terzij de Horde – A Robe of Words
3: Psychonaut – Violate Consensus Reality
4: Maer – Sister
5: Toundra – Strelka
6: Cult of Luna – In Awe Of
Puppies_On_Acid: Etched Reminiscence Part 1: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation
1: Arcane – Promise (Part 2)
2: Jeff Buckley – Grace
3: Oceansize – Trail of Fire
4: Matthew Good – While We Were Hunting Rabbits
5: AFI – The Great Disappointment
6: Devil Sold His Soul – Drowning/Sinking
7: Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
Sacul: i just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill
1: Viagra Boys – Troglodyte
2: Viagra Boys – Punk Rock Loser
3: Viagra Boys – Ain't No Thief
4: Viagra Boys – ADD
5: Against All Logic – This Old House Is All I Have
6: Odisea – Casa Latina
7: Odisea – Cabros
8: SIAMES – The Wolf
9: Jamie xx – Girl
10: Jamie xx – Loud Places
11: DARKSIDE – Heart
senecadawg2: From the Bed of the Woods
1: Osi and the Jupiter – Fjorgyn
2: Hexvessel – Cosmic Truth
3: Helen Money & Will Thomas – Half Asleep
4: Ellereve – Colorblind
5: Musk Ox – Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)
6: Cigarettes After Sex – K.
7: Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever
8: Dir En Grey – VINUSHKA
SoundscapeMN: SoundscapeMN's MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler
1: The Family Crest – Beneath the Brine
2: Fjokra – Infinite Loops
3: Jeff Buckley – Last Goodbye
4: Oceansize – Unfamiliar
5: Kimbra – Cameo Lover
6: Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears – The Purple Rocket
7: Kiss Kiss – Through the Day
8: Cloud Cult – Sleepwalker
9: The River Empires – Three Tigers
10: Bend Sinister – Quest For Love
soupytwist: Dudes & Divas Duet Delights
1: Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This
2: Van William – Revolution
3: Avantasia – Misplaced Among the Angels
4: Lana Del Rey – Tomorrow Never Came
5: The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
6: Arion – At the Break of Dawn
7: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
8: The Mendoza Line – Aspect of an Old Maid
9: Orden Ogan – Come With Me To the Other Side
Stadler: Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
1: Phil Collins – Don't Lose My Number
2: Jon Bon Jovi – Billy Get Your Guns
3: Robert Plant – Billy's Revenge
4: Def Leppard – Billy's Got a Gun
5: Bruce Springsteen – Rockaway the Days
6: B.J. Thomas – Billy and Sue
7: Van Halen – Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
TAC: Hazel the Witch
1: Adrian Tabacaru – Lucifer
2: Tanith – Falling Wizard
3: Pale Divine – Satan in Starlight
4: Phantom Spell – Blood Becomes Sand
5: The Vintage Caravan – Dark Times
6: Horisont – All Must Come To An End Pt. 1 & 2
7: Winterhawk – Revival
8: Dead Lord – Evil Always Wins
Tomislav95: Swimming through the nothingness
1: Midlake – Roscoe
2: Brand New – Same Logic/Teeth
3: Modest Mouse – A Different City
4: Modest Mouse – The Cold Part
5: The Hotelier – Two Deliverances
6: The Hotelier – Soft Animal
7: Midlake – Young Bride
8: Brand New – Daisy
9: The Hotelier – Your Deep Rest
10: Brand New – Handcuffs
twosuitsluke: It's hard for someone to get lost here, harder still to get found
1: Frank Turner – Eulogy
2: Frank Turner – Rivers
3: Frank Turner – If Ever I Stray
4: The King Blues – The Schemers, The Scroungers, and the Rats
5: The King Blues – Let's Hang the Landlord
6: The Skints – Contemplations of the Modern Rudeboy
7: King Prawn – Crackhead
8: The Skints – Live East Die Young
9: The King Blues – Underneath This Lamppost Light
10: The King Blues – Everything Happens For a Reason
11: Frank Turner – Farewell To My City
Vmadera00: To the Island
1: The Expendables – Down Down Down
2: The Expendables – Sacrifice
3: Passafire – Submersible
4: Lionize – Surrender
5: The Movement – Take Me To the Ocean
-
Here is the Spotify playlist.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6q2WfmrpC9rsohmYnLX1Hn (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6q2WfmrpC9rsohmYnLX1Hn)
A number of songs are not available on Spotify.
"Games", "Infinite Staralgia", and "King & Queen" from death's dynamic shroud for Buddy's. Actually, the middle one is there, but is a different version of sorts from the one in the EP. I imagine Buddy will just post a link to the whole EP single file soon enough.
#4 on Lethean's:
Sailors With Wax Wings - "If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat"
https://youtu.be/wgoH-KrtOGM (https://youtu.be/wgoH-KrtOGM)
#3 on Puppies:
Oceansize - "Trail of Fire"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWXdAKHN9Zg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWXdAKHN9Zg)
#4 on Soundscape's:
Oceansize - "Unfamiliar"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeWYy9YIDjk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeWYy9YIDjk)
#9 on Soundscape's:
The River Empires - "Three Tigers"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6WIwNfB9Zs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6WIwNfB9Zs)
King's Prawn's "Crackhead" and The King Blues' "Everything Happens For a Reason" on Luke's. They might just be region-locked out of the US, but if you want to hear those you can check with Luke.
---
You can listen to these EPs and rank them if you want. Note that ariich, Buddy, Crow, and Puppies sent their EPs as single files, which may have edited versions of some of the songs. Crow's is already linked above, and I imagine the other three might link to theirs soon enough.
In the meantime I'm still at work on the writeups. I'll post favorite/least favorite tracks from each EP probably Thursday, possibly tomorrow depending upon how much progress I can make in the meantime.
-
I imagine Buddy will just post a link to the whole EP single file soon enough.
Here you go!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q-6ZrICpyX48SEBWkV7PXjYzKD9DnmFf/view?usp=sharing
Heartbreak In The U.S.A.
An album about new love, the pain of losing it, and the sunshine after the rain.
Act I: Red
(0:00) 1: Sabrepulse - First Crush
(5:24) 2: Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill
(9:07) 3: Anamanaguchi - Prom Night
(12:58) 4: Gorillaz - Magic City
Act II: Blue
(16:57) 5: death's dynamic shroud - Games
(21:30) 6: Gorillaz - Fire Flies
(25:21) 7: death's dynamic shroud - Infinite Staralgia
Act III: White
(30:26) 8: Anamanaguchi - Tear
(32:51) 9: Anamanaguchi - We Die
(39:03) 10: death's dynamic shroud - King & Queen
Total length: 43:16
A couple fun facts:
We Die might sound like an instrumental, but it does have some lyrics buried underneath the wall of sound. This live version makes them a lot more obvious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWi_wNtYq5g&t=1656s
The last song is basically a cover of the Boyz II Men song It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday. Which is why I found it funny that the prospect of someone sending them was being discussed earlier in the thread. :lol
-
I just looked at the time and not the songs and for a second I thought every song kept getting longer and longer :facepalm:
-
Here's my EP, complete with a story as usual - I didn't make it as detailed as in Puppies' roulette as there's no points for story, but I really liked how it came together and how well the lyrics fit.
story and all the lyrics are in this google doc:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15YrSWYdEvGOP2RXy3f6CbVCDpD4pGl4txujTKw8OXSc/edit?usp=sharing
The doc includes the link to the single edited mp3, which is also here:
https://mega.nz/file/ATQBDLaA#imMKUqvctdrknoLR6WT5oPOShYkvlng3edBrSjvslF8
And for ease of reference, here are the timestamps:
1. 00:00 - 01:54 | Disillusion - In Waking Hours (intro)
2. 01:54 - 08:48 | An Abstract Illusion - Drop This Planet of Dust
3. 08:48 - 11:34 | Xanthochroid - To Lost and Ancient Gardens
4. 11:34 - 17:55 | Аеthеriаn - Army оf Gаiа
5. 17:55 - 23:55 | Xanthochroid - The Sound of Hunger Rises
6. 23:55 - 35:44 | Disillusion - The Liberation
7. 35:44 - 41:24 | Xanthochroid - To Souls Distant and Dreaming
And finally, you asked for playlists as well, so here they are:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3fQOfJFhk5eC4BSeBtdaWR?si=80bd007860684597&pt=05e30b63fd3a60b9ca38eaf588ec1d4e
Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSyX5ePHFJiOepFJmcwXXXemF0SGDAJqb
-
i've heard literally all of this one before except the aetherian song, i think :lol
aethereus on the other hand... (metal bands diversify your names more jesus christ :rollin)
-
Aephanemer
Aesmah
Aeternam
Aetherian
Aethereus
Bound to be more of them.
-
Aenigmatum
Aeon
Aeon Spoke (not metal, but a Cynic offshoot)
Aeonian Sorrow
Aeon Zen
AEolian
AEries
Allegaeon
Solitude Aeternus
Sulphur Aeon
-
Archspire
Ashenspire
-
Spiral Architect. :neverusethis:
-
Here's my EP: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wq6GVc03bkL-va7Um803ps3WKgdSujLc/view?usp=sharing
And the stupid story that goes with it :lol https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fn5aiZ8_F2988RKvo-YOIspt--Q0StBmmQEEqbiYLZs/edit?usp=sharing
-
oh yeah and
Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa
-
Ok, here's mine. I tried to create an album in a 1970's Occult style. It's all retro hard rock. Maybe the fogeys will dig it. ;D
Here's an edited version of the PM I sent Litho. The playlist is in the quote.
Hazel The Witch
(https://i.imgur.com/ZKSSpmv.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/Ii2DD7G.jpg)
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4RJr5rVi3DfNaNTkV22hMN?si=20662fa2b7d546ef
Side 1
1. Adrian Tabacaru-Lucifer
2. Tanith-Falling Wizard
3. Pale Divine-Satan In Starlight
4. Phantom Spell-Blood Becomes Sand
Side 2
1. The Vintage Caravan-Dark Times
2. Horisont-All Must Come To An End, Part 1&2
3. Winterhawk-Revival
4. Dead Lord-Evil Always Wins
The story loosely is that Hazel is seduced by the Lucifer and joins him in the first song, and views him as a "Fallen Wizard". Once she sees Satan In Starlight, she realizes her inescapable mistake in Blood Becomes Sand. (I put Blood Becomes Sand at the end of Side 1 as many old albums closed out Side 1 with an epic or slower track).
With Dark Times and All Things Must Come To An End, Hazel's story basically comes to a close. (If you're familiar with The Wicker Man starring Nicholas Cage, you know that after he is killed, the women are back out looking for their next victim..) Revival basically signifies the next fool to come along. And finally the closer is Evil Always Wins. It's short, punchy, and sarcastic similar to how Only The Good Die Young closes Seventh Son.
-
Oh yeah, forgot to post the album art I made for mine.
(https://i.imgur.com/G26oJqA.png) (https://i.imgur.com/CLWueHq.png)
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Looks hot!
-
In the words of our Gizzard overlords…
Lava
Sticky like peanut butter
Lava
The ultimate stonecutter
-
Is that creamy or chunky peanut butter?
-
Is that creamy or chunky peanut butter?
Always crunchy mate.
-
Is that creamy or chunky peanut butter?
Always crunchy mate.
I’m creamy. :neverusethis:
-
Is that creamy or chunky peanut butter?
Always crunchy mate.
I’m creamy. :neverusethis:
I’m sure you are, but here in the UK we prefer to say smooth. Are you smooth? I’m not sure that you are.
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Is that creamy or chunky peanut butter?
Always crunchy mate.
I’m creamy. :neverusethis:
I’m sure you are, but here in the UK we prefer to say smooth. Are you smooth? I’m not sure that you are.
Oh I’m smooth! ;D
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I heard he's loose!
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Here are my favorite and least favorite tracks from each EP. In many cases I still enjoy even the weakest tracks, and sometimes the spread is quite narrow and difficult to choose one in either direction. But you'll find out more soon enough when the results start rolling in...
Final Round EP Favorites/Least Favorites:
ariich:
Favorite - Xanthochroid - "To Lost and Ancient Gardens"
Least Favorite - Aetherian - "Army of Gaia"
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Buddyhunter1:
Favorite - Anamanaguchi - "We Die"
Least Favorite - Gorillaz - "Magic City"
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Crow:
Favorite - Dordeduh - "Pândarul"
Least Favorite - Cleric - "The Treme"
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Evermind:
Favorite - Röyksopp - "Running To the Sea"
Least Favorite - Genus Ordinis Dei - "The Flemish Obituary"
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HOF:
Favorite - Tim Bowness & Giancarlo Erra - "Beautiful Songs You Should Know"
Least Favorite - Kip Winger - "Landslide"
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Lethean:
Favorite - Leprous - "Distant Bells"
Least Favorite - Fates Warning - "The Light and Shade of Things"
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Nachtmerrie:
Favorite - Psychonaut - "Violate Consensus Reality"
Least Favorite - Toundra - "Strelka"
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Puppies_On_Acid:
Favorite - Jeff Buckley - "Grace"
Least Favorite - AFI - "The Great Disappointment"
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Sacul:
Favorite - SIAMÉS - "The Wolf"
Least Favorite - Jamie xx - "Girl"
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senecadawg2:
Favorite - Cigarettes After Sex - "K."
Least Favorite - Dir En Grey - "VINUSHKA"
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SoundscapeMN:
Favorite - Kimbra - "Cameo Lover"
Least Favorite - The Family Crest - "Beneath the Brine"
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soupytwist:
Favorite - Arion - "At the Break of Dawn"
Least Favorite - The Mendoza Line - "Aspect of an Old Maid"
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Stadler:
Favorite - Def Leppard - "Billy's Got a Gun"
Least Favorite - Bruce Springsteen - "Rockaway the Days"
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TAC:
Favorite - Phantom Spell - "Blood Becomes Sand"
Least Favorite - Horisont - "All Must Come To An End, Part I & II"
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Tomislav95:
Favorite - Midlake - "Young Bride"
Least Favorite - Brand New - "Same Logic/Teeth"
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twosuitsluke:
Favorite - The Skints - "Live East Die Young"
Least Favorite - The King Blues - "Underneath This Lamppost Light"
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Vmadera00:
Favorite - The Movement - "Take Me To the Ocean"
Least Favorite - Passafire - "Submersible"
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I'm aiming to post the first batch of results on Saturday.
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Royksopp Ariich? Maybe it's an interlude. :lol
Evermind:
Favorite - Röyksopp - "Running To the Sea"
:lol
I really don't have any faith in my EP because it was so half-assed, I just hope I don't fall out of the top 10.
Puppies_On_Acid:
Least Favorite - AFI - "The Great Disappointment"
Yeah that tracks :lol
ariich:
Favorite - Xanthochroid - "To Lost and Ancient Gardens"
I think that's my favourite Xanthochroid track overall although I do like Of Aching Empty Pain quite a bit too.
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Favorite is definitely correct. :tup
Magic City definitely wouldn't be my least favorite but I probably wouldn't argue with it being the least good of the three Gorillaz tracks.
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I’ll take that. Can’t say I expected any song to be a particular favourite for you, but hoped for Crackhead.
However, ‘least favourite’ - VINUSHKA? For shame.
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Between that and Sigh, apparently my J-metal tastes are more in line with lonestar's.
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Between that and Sigh, apparently my J-metal tastes are more in line with lonestar's.
Yep, my two favourite Japanese metal bands there. Next you’ll tell me you think Nobuo Uematsu sucks!
I’ve also just realised that with only a 13.5 point gap between first and last place, and this round being scored out of 30, literally anyone could win this thing!
Apologies if you’ve already stated this dude, but are you going to post results one at a time, based on final rankings for the whole roulette?
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Yeah, there will probably be a few surprises... (https://i.imgur.com/9Po5i1a.gif)
It'll probably be in 3-4 batches, likely one a day.
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Next you’ll tell me you think Nobuo Uematsu sucks!
I love this song, so definitely not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANgBasKA7m8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANgBasKA7m8)
But to be honest I've never played any of the FF games, I've just seen and heard scattered bits and pieces over the years.
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However, ‘least favourite’ - VINUSHKA? For shame.
Litho and Ariich underappreciating amazing Dir En Grey tracks
(https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/012/468/shakeee.jpg)
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:lol
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That's Guile and Balrog, right? :neverusethis:
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That's Guile and Balrog, right? :neverusethis:
Depends where you’re playing it
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That's Guile and Balrog, right? :neverusethis:
Nah, it's Tosin and Petrucci.
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Tosin really has been turning into JP, hasn't he...
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that scans, the weirdest song is your least favorite and the most normal one is your favorite :lol
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Tosin really has been turning into JP, hasn't he...
I think it was because of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--bBecmI6NM
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OMG, how have I not seen that before! :rollin
Edit: Oh, it's only a month old. To be frank even though I come here every day I pay basically no attention to DT news.
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TAC:
Favorite - Phantom Spell - "Blood Becomes Sand"
Least Favorite - Horisont - "All Must Come To An End, Part I & II"
I would've picked that as the least fave as well. It's just I really couldn't find anything else for that spot. The song said what I wanted to say, and they have a great vibe. I do like the song a lot though.
Least Favorite - Kip Winger
:lol
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I knew you would appreciate that.
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OMG, how have I not seen that before! :rollin
Edit: Oh, it's only a month old. To be frank even though I come here every day I pay basically no attention to DT news.
DT :huh:
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I was more worried about how some of the Chroma Key tracks would play for you, and I think that Kip Winger track is pretty great, so hopefully this is a positive sign!
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ariich:
Favorite - Xanthochroid - "To Lost and Ancient Gardens"
I think that's my favourite Xanthochroid track overall although I do like Of Aching Empty Pain quite a bit too.
I'd wondered if it might be a bit cheesy but now I'm glad I stuck with it. Kind of surprised it's the outright favourite, but not surprised at Xanthochroid being top and Aetherian being bottom which is what I expected!
Least Favorite - AFI - "The Great Disappointment"
Was it a great disappointment? :neverusethis:
However, ‘least favourite’ - VINUSHKA? For shame.
Litho and Ariich underappreciating amazing Dir En Grey tracks
(https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/012/468/shakeee.jpg)
:lol
Fine by me.
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Least Favourite is no surprise at all ;D
Favourite though - that's not what I was expecting, as I said when I sent the ep that was the 'throwaway/placeholder in case I think of something better' track!
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I'd wondered if it might be a bit cheesy but now I'm glad I stuck with it. Kind of surprised it's the outright favourite, but not surprised at Xanthochroid being top and Aetherian being bottom which is what I expected!
Yeah, I can see how it could be viewed as cheesy (and hence the Disney reference), but I attempted to explain how it comes across more in the writeup. I will say that it was very close between it and another song though.
Least Favourite is no surprise at all ;D
Favourite though - that's not what I was expecting, as I said when I sent the ep that was the 'throwaway/placeholder in case I think of something better' track!
This is part of why I'm not generally onboard the "trim the filler" movement for album lengths. Sometimes the hits bore me and the B-sides are my favorites.
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Final Round EP Favorites/Least Favorites:[/size]
SoundscapeMN:
Favorite - Kimbra - "Cameo Lover"
Least Favorite - The Family Crest - "Through the Brine"
interesting. I almost removed Kimbra for another artist (or even a different tune from her), for something else.
I figured you would really like ("Beneath" not "Through") the Brine from The Family Crest, but then again you were only luke warm on The Dear Hunter tunes from the last round, so I suppose it isn't so surprising. For what it is worth, it is often considered their go-to or most appreciated track, but they have other songs that are very different.
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Oops, I did a lot of that list from memory, so I must have conflated the title with something else, I think it's correct in my other documents. Fascinating how many people almost didn't send my favorite songs on their EPs. :biggrin:
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Hmnnn not surprised you didn't enjoy that Jamie xx track as much as the rest, but surprised the SIAMÉS track ended up so high. Not complaining tho, it's an excellent track. Wished they'd tour again, I missed them last year.
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Interesting, I wasn't expecting either of those songs for either most or least favorite. :corn
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So has anyone listened to any of the other EPs? There's a ton of great music not to be missed there which should appeal to more than just me.
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So has anyone listened to any of the other EPs? There's a ton of great music not to be missed there which should appeal to more than just me.
I haven’t yet, but I really should because I definitely want others to check out mine. Maybe I’ll try a few this evening.
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Lethean:
Favorite - Leprous - "Distant Bells"
Least Favorite - Fates Warning - "The Light and Shade of Things"
Not my song (or even a roulette I'm part of ;)) but it makes me a little sad anyway. Love this tune. Litho, what have you heard from Fates Warning?
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Lethean:
Favorite - Leprous - "Distant Bells"
Least Favorite - Fates Warning - "The Light and Shade of Things"
Not my song (or even a roulette I'm part of ;)) but it makes me a little sad anyway. Love this tune. Litho, what have you heard from Fates Warning?
yeah, that's a huge favorite of mine and many Fates fans.
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Lethean:
Favorite - Leprous - "Distant Bells"
Least Favorite - Fates Warning - "The Light and Shade of Things"
Not my song (or even a roulette I'm part of ;) ) but it makes me a little sad anyway.
That's what makes me sad. :(
Love this tune. Litho, what have you heard from Fates Warning?
I own No Exit, though I haven't heard it much, and then the scattered song here and there. Definitely a bit of a blind spot for me. Note that for some EPs I quite like even the worst songs, but something has to be at the bottom.
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I've been sent The Light And Shade Of Things from three different people in roulettes (only the first was successful, obviously) and it only did alright for me so I think it's maybe a bit over-appreciated. :lol
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Interesting. I considered it for James’ roulette. I have a listen for the first time in years, and it seems to have lost its luster a little.
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Not my song (or even a roulette I'm part of ;) ) but it makes me a little sad anyway.
That's what makes me sad. :(
Sorry ;) Next one! (although I imagine you'll need a few years to recuperate, after this marathon :biggrin:)
Love this tune. Litho, what have you heard from Fates Warning?
I own No Exit, though I haven't heard it much, and then the scattered song here and there. Definitely a bit of a blind spot for me. Note that for some EPs I quite like even the worst songs, but something has to be at the bottom.
No Exit is a very "transitional" album, first with Alder and still in-between eras in terms of songwriting. You should give Parallels a serious shot - it's pure melodic bliss with some seriously awesome playing (all of them...guitars, drums and bass)
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Yeah, they're definitely a band I want to try and prioritize checking out in the near future. If all goes well they'll be banned whenever the next roulette rolls around, lol.
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(https://media.tenor.com/4ejtmLp-UE4AAAAd/you-have-been-so-incredibly-patient-dwayne-johnson.gif)
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19th Place
romdrums
Final Cumulative Score: 14.25 (DNF - completed two rounds)
Final Overall Thoughts:
Well, you might not normally be reading this organically, but hopefully you caught my PM, so for my own sense of finality, here are a few brief thoughts. I wish you'd been able to stay in my roulette longer. I get the vibe from your submissions in other roulettes before and after mine that you're probably a bit more into djent-adjacent sounds than many on DTF are. We're both drummers, so maybe that sense of off-kilter rhythmic propulsion has an appeal that not all get. I imagine you could have had some hits at some point dipping into that, it's hard to say. But even as it is, though you didn't really have much time to test things out and score well, I still nevertheless hope to dip into both of your submissions more eventually.
I've long been interested in IQ, as the neo-prog scene is one in which I've been curious about for some of the keyboard-heavy sounds it has produced, and I know IQ is a favorite of other forum stalwarts like lonestar. So I'm sure I'll dig into an album or more from them later. And I've already listened to Gogo Penguin's '22 EP, which I enjoyed and found had some of what I liked in the song you sent in round 2, but with less of the not as melodic experimentalism that held it back. I'll probably listen to other works of theirs later on as well. So I was glad that you were part of the roulette for the brief time that you were actively participating, and hopefully you'll join again whenever I have my second one.
---18th Place
Elite
Final Cumulative Score: 88.5 (DNF - completed 12 rounds)
Final Overall Thoughts:
I suppose things have probably gotten hectic for you in the past month or two, and that's ok. We all have those periods of life. If you come back to this thread at some point and want to send me a 20-minute batch of songs from one artist for round 13 and a 45-minute EP for the final round, I'll listen to them later, score and write them up like any other entry, and add them to the final standings.
But for now, you've certainly given me some music to look further into. Oranssi Pazuzu might be the most slowly and dramatically rising artist all roulette. I didn't really like them at all at first, but in the months since then I've found them strangely alluring, and even as recently as the last few weeks I've dipped back into the songs from the round and a few others I've stumbled upon. I even said at the time that I suspected this could happen, so they and you were kind of robbed score-wise back then. Avant-garde metal is a total crapshoot for me, which I'll get into even more later in Crow's writeup, but I could see them being one of the more compelling ones to me if I'm able to get further into their overall sound and check out additional albums later on.
Wilderun is one of the artists I'd been sleeping on the most prior to the roulette, so I'll definitely want to check out more from them later. I already owned the Ornette Coleman album you sent music from, but had clearly been neglecting it since I'd considered it out of my wheelhouse, but I've slowly warmed to certain avant-garde music over time. I was glad to get a bit deeper into Jeff Beck's music as well. Foscor was new to me, and I'll have to check out more from them. They didn't score quite as well in the roulette, but I imagine there's other music I'd like from Marina Ósk, Gilad Hekselman, and Avishai Cohen too. I'd already heard something from Cohen before the roulette, and enjoyed his '22 album after round 2, so he's already become a success.
---17th Place
Crow - "Avant-Metal Is Like Chicken Soup For the Soul, If the Noodles Were Snakes and the Soup Was Blood"
1: Ashenspire - "The Law of Asbestos"
2: Cleric - "The Treme"
3: Dordeduh - "Pândarul"
4: A Forest of Stars - "Gatherer of the Pure"
5: Fleshvessel - "The Void Chamber"
Early Impressions - "This is what happens when the promoters screw up and book the Ringling Brothers and the local death metal act for the same venue at the same time." - "There are elements I like here, but the overall package might be a bit much."
Favorite - Dordeduh - "Pândarul"
Least Favorite - Cleric - "The Treme"
Final Summary:
I can feel these songs very slowly growing on me the more I listen to them, but everything is just a bit too outré for a higher placement at this point. The moments and elements I like are too few and far between to counter the more frequent discordance that occurs.
Details:
Ultimately, this is along the lines of what I worried it would be. Avant-garde metal is one of my least favorite styles of metal, and this leans too heavily into what frustrates me about the style. There are many building blocks that I like scattered about this set of songs, but they just aren't common enough, and are too often dowsed in excessive noisiness and what feels like experimentation for the sake of experimentation. I don't mind a bit of it at times, but there's just way too much of it here. It's pretty random what music of that type will connect with me, and though I've learned over time to be a bit more receptive to it than I used to be, much of this just doesn't quite hit the mark. Your emporium has more good ideas than the sign would have you believe, though it's missing some of them here.
Ashenspire's "The Law of Asbestos" definitely has some of the better instrumental work on the EP. One thing that vexes me in avant-garde metal is that on one hand it seems more commonplace than most other styles of metal to feature less typical instrumentation, which on the surface of things is very appealing. But on the other, often those instruments are employed in too chaotic of ways for my taste. In this song, they fare a bit better. Most prominent are saxophone, violin, and hammered dulcimer, which provides for a much richer textural palette. Not a whole lot of it particularly sticks with me, but it's mostly pleasant enough to listen to. The talk-shouting vocal style doesn't really do much for me though.
Cleric's "The Treme" doesn't comport with me quite as well, and much of what's going on feels too random and dissonant. It does have a bit better guitar tone though, and sections like 10:46 feel like the start of something more intriguing happening with the heavier riffing, but it just doesn't really feel like it goes anywhere with it. 13:33 is probably my favorite section though - that riff is weird, but actually sounds pretty cool, and I like how it's punctuated with piano stabs in successive repetitions of it.
Dordeduh's "Pândarul" is probably the most consistently interesting song of the lot, with a rather mysterious atmosphere throughout, punctuated with the hammered dulcimer and various recorders. The synthesizers in the background give a lot of dimension as well, in addition to the variety of vocal styles. The section starting at 23:04 is easily the highlight. This is probably the artist I'm most likely to check out an album from at some point.
A Forest of Stars' "Gatherer of the Pure" is kind of all over the place. There are scattered sections and moments I enjoy (especially some of the violin and accordion bits, some of the former melodies being some of my favorite moments of the whole EP), which are occasionally nice in a funhouse mirror version of psychedelic/folk metal sort of way, but the overall feel is just a bit too disjointed and odd for me. Although I will certainly admit that part of this could be planting seeds that won't blossom until later on, perhaps after the roulette. As I mentioned in my overall final thoughts regarding Elite's roulette submissions, this has been happening with Oranssi Pazuzu. Music this dense and unusual can be especially challenging to get into in the context of a roulette, I think.
Fleshvessel's "The Void Chamber" is largely what one of my impressions was based off of. There are certainly a fair number of moments I like here, the wet guitars, the viola work, the darbuka, bits of acoustic guitar, and the muted trumpet, but they never seem to last long enough before it's back to circus madness. I'm kind of surprised that you presumably like the drum production here, those hyper-speed kicks are pretty out-front in the mix, which is especially noticeable given that apparently they're programmed rather than played.
Score: 19/30
Final Cumulative Score: 6 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 7 + 5 + 7 + 9.25 + 7.75 + 7 + 8.5 + 7.75 + 6.75 + 19 = 112.25
Final Overall Thoughts:
I suspect the difference in your placement in my roulette vs. my placement in yours is mostly more indicative of a difference in our roulette strategies, but also illuminates some things about our core tastes. Probably our -core tastes too, actually, lol. For the most part we seem to be into fairly different music of late - a lot of your central favorites are just not really in my wheelhouse, for now anyway. But a few are, and aside from a certain portion of the prog and metal canon that probably a decent chunk of the forum likes or might like if they'd heard it, it seems we may have more common in some electronic styles than in other genres. I'd clearly been overlooking "Dark All Day", for example, the highest scoring song of the entire roulette prior to this round. Intronaut and East of the Wall are on the proggier side of post-metal, which is a style I clearly need to pay more attention to. I suspect Shade Empire, Julia Holter, and 10cc have more material I would enjoy. Beyoncé is a powerhouse vocalist that had been hiding in plain sight, and I'm sure I'll find other songs from her I'll vibe with at some point (probably some Destiny's Child as well I imagine).
Even if a number of entries you sent didn't really connect with me at all, your submissions in general were easily some of the most unique and impossible to forget. There is an academic I occasionally follow that would note of most of his colleagues that when they'd present their latest research, his response would be, "eh, maybe", and then he'd forget about their research soon after. But when one of his other colleagues would discuss his latest research, he'd say "no way!" or "that can't be!", and then he'd think about it for years after. Your entries are sometimes the equivalent of that.
Even with probably my least favorite thing you sent, the pAper chAse, realizing that John Congleton produced and contributed to one of my favorite albums, Chelsea Wolfe's Abyss, has made me think about it differently, which made it a worthwhile endeavor just for that. So whenever my next roulette is, I hope you'll be part of it. I'm sure it will be challenging and frustrating for both of us at times, but it's useful to have someone push you in directions you otherwise probably wouldn't go. That's where musical growth often comes from.
---16th Place
Sacul - "i just did the laundry, im no longer mentally ill"
1: Viagra Boys - "Troglodyte"
2: Viagra Boys - "Punk Rock Loser"
3: Viagra Boys - "Ain't No Thief"
4: Viagra Boys - "ADD"
5: Against All Logic - "This Old House Is All I Have"
6: Odisea - "Casa Latina"
7: Odisea - "Cabros"
8: SIAMÉS - "The Wolf"
9: Jamie xx - "Girl"
10: Jamie xx - "Loud Places"
11: DARKSIDE - "Heart"
Early Impressions - "This is Goldilocks the EP. One third is too weird, one third is too bland, and the other third is just right." - "One song in particular stands out in unique ways, though the usage of samples makes me curious to hear how different it is from the source(s)."
Favorite - SIAMÉS - "The Wolf"
Least Favorite - Jamie xx - "Girl"
Final Summary:
This set of songs is something of a mixed bag, with the front and closing portions incorporating some vocal elements that didn't work that well for me, but even those sections have their strengths, and the middle batch of songs is quite good.
Details:
My thoughts on this EP have morphed a bit over time. To explain the impression, at first I considered the Viagra Boys songs to be too weird and by far my least favorite segment, the Jamie xx and DARKSIDE songs too bland, and the middle segment easily my favorite. Over time I've grown a bit more accustomed to the Viagra Boys section - there's an oddly charming infectiousness to them that kind of snuck up on me. I'm still a bit on the fence about them, with a few qualms I'll get into shortly, but they grew on me in a way that the last three songs didn't.
I guess dance-punk is a fairly unfamiliar style to me, RYM says I haven't even rated anything that has it as a primary genre. I can hear where some of the various influences are being drawn from, but I haven't really heard it packaged in quite that way very much. "Troglodyte" (someone needs to get this one to Glasser) has a nice post-punk-esque rhythmic propulsion to it, and "Ain't No Thief" has a really fat pulsating beat to it that is rather thrilling. The main thing that holds all of them back is that they're just a bit light on memorable melodies, and the vocal styles just don't quite connect with me. They vary from a kind of talk-sung approach that isn't quite tuneful enough, to pitch-shifted vocals that are always risky for me, to more of a Beastie Boys-esque not quite rapped delivery, none of which are particularly offputting, but just don't hit the mark. But overall, given their strange name, they were better than I expected and than I thought of them in the first listen. You can't always judge a band by their name (*coughDestinyPotatocough*). Apparently they have a saxophone player, though I didn't notice too much in that regard in this batch of tunes.
Hip-hop and electronic music that prominently use samples always present a dilemma, that sometimes you're unsure how much credit to give to the original songs that they draw from vs. what they do to recombine and expand them in various ways. In this case, the main guitar groove and some of the vocals in Against All Logic's "This Old House Is All I Have" are heavily taken from Mike James Kirkland's "Doin' It Right", mixed with the beat from his "Love Insurance", and then augmented less obviously with part of David Axelrod's "The Warnings Part II". I had heard of none of these before, but "Doin' It Right" is quite a snazzy old-school soul tune, so it's heavily piggybacking off the quality of that song. I do think the crisp hat work from "Love Insurance" does give a nice drive to it, plus the various other audio manipulation that's happening is fairly interesting. It's my second favorite song of the EP, so I suppose this winds up being a redemption tour for Nicolás Jaar. There are a number of attempts at that in other EPs as well - it's fascinating to reevaluate other music from artists I heard months earlier.
Both Odisea tracks are great. They're fairly straightforward but excellent tunes with enough engaging and quirky instrumentation going on in the background to keep them from feeling too generic, particularly with the horns, piano, and bass lines. "The Wolf" from SIAMÉS is even better, with a bit heavier beat and better vocals, and is easily my favorite song of the whole EP.
The last three tracks just didn't grow on me much. Jamie xx's "Girl" has a nice spacious feeling to it, but it relies way too on those abstract pitch-manipulated vocal samples. Apparently Erlend Øye of Kings of Convenience was involved with that song. I love KoC, but maybe his electronic work is spottier. "Loud Places" is the best of the three, with a more normal vocal delivery, plus the more choral-esque backing vocals, and some tasty percussive elements. It just didn't stick in my head like I wanted it to. And then with DARKSIDE's "Heart" we have more Jaar again, though it didn't hit as well. It's alright, but didn't really move me.
Score: 22.5/30
Final Cumulative Score: 7.25 + 8.75 + 6 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 9 + 7 + 4.75 + 8 + 8.25 + 6.5 + 22.5 = 118
Final Overall Thoughts:
While Luke might fancy himself as the biggest wildcard of the roulette, and Crow fought valiantly for it, nope, it's you. Yes, you've previously sent my least favorite music of the whole roulette with dreamcrusher, but you've also sent my favorite of the first thirteen rounds with The Black Queen's "Ice To Never". Talk Talk's "Living In Another World" was another mega-smash hit (and I'll give you indirect credit for helping me discover the Lights cover of it, which I somehow didn't realize existed). You've also sent other new music I certainly want to get further into, particularly Mammal Hands. My interest in Kate Bush's music is piqued even more than it already was. The Beth Gibbons/Rustin Man track only worked mildly, but you did put that album back on my radar, since I did already like her work with Portishead, and Rustin Man of course is part of Talk Talk, another artist that I'm more interested in now. You've gotten me to reevaluate Kayo Dot and Converge, and between The Black Queen and Luke sending Better Lovers, I'll have to look more into Greg Puciato's work as well. I'll probably even wind up finally checking out Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, maybe something on it will resonate more with me.
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15th Place
Puppies_On_Acid - "Etched Reminiscence Part I: Lost in the Graveyard of Creation"
1: Arcane - "Promise (Part 2)"
2: Jeff Buckley - "Grace"
3: Oceansize - "Trail of Fire"
4: Matthew Good - "While We Were Hunting Rabbits"
5: AFI - "The Great Disappointment"
6: Devil Sold His Soul - "Drowning/Sinking"
7: Perihelion Ship - "Misplaced Rainfall"
Early Impressions - "This is definitely slickly edited, maybe almost too much?" - "One track has one of the coolest openings I've heard in awhile."
Favorite - Jeff Buckley - "Grace"
Least Favorite - AFI - "The Great Disappointment"
Final Summary:
I really appreciate the effort put into this, and it's a solid first draft, but while I rather like a few of the songs, some of the vocals in others are a bit offputting, some of the transitions feel rushed, and the story doesn't come through quite as strongly as some of the other thematic EPs. I'm certainly glad to have experienced it though.
Details:
This was one of the hardest EPs for me to get a handle on. The artwork is outstanding as I've come to expect from you, and you've clearly put a lot of thought in this. When I read your commentary before the first listen the story seemed clear enough and intriguing, though it would need a lot more fleshing out (albeit I'm not scoring that part anyway), but you could certainly build a film off of it. When listening to it the concept is a bit less clear though. The song titles work for the sections they're connect to, but the overall feel of the songs seems a bit disconnected from the story itself. I'm not entirely sure how much is the particular songs chosen, how they flow together, or the various edits to get them to fit into a reasonable timeframe.
Musically, Jeff Buckley's "Grace" is the standout here. I own this album on CD, due to the glowing reviews I kept hearing about it, but I don't think I made it past the first listen back then. It's clear now that I've really been sleeping on it. The editing obscures it a bit, but that clean guitar intro is incredibly cool and the source of the second impression. It's obvious what a vocal talent Jeff is and why so many revere him. It's especially impressive since his vocal type is more of the kind that's often riskier for my tastes. What surprised me even more is the drumming. I randomly stumbled upon a Drumeo lesson of Matt Johnson's years ago and recall him seeming like a fascinating guy, and his playing here is resplendent. I especially love during the verses how he's splashing the hi-hat with his left foot every third 8th note in 6/8 while keeping the tom pattern going - you don't hear that done frequently enough.
I'm getting quite a lot of Jim Grey in this roulette. Vmad sent Caligula's Horse in the first round, Jim guested on an Evan Carson track from Evermind in the second round, Lethean sent another Caligula's Horse track in his EP, and of course Jim is the voice of Arcane here. It's a fine enough track, the piano motifs are fairly nice, and he certainly has a distinctive voice, but unfortunately it doesn't particularly move the needle on my opinion of him.
Oceansize is gradually growing on me. They seem rather beloved, and I'd heard one album and enjoyed it, but hadn't quite been motivated to go any further with them yet. "Trail of Fire" is a quite good song though, and edges me a bit more towards wanting to check out more music of theirs. I'm not sure there was quite enough room to breathe before this song started though. Matthew Good is another name I've heard off and on throughout the years but never consciously listened to in my recollection. It's another fairly solid song, and the orchestral timpani is a majestic and somewhat unusual touch. I gave a listen to the full version as well, and it's unfortunate that you had to hack the ending off, as it really gave epic closure to the song, though it's understandable in that it's not the actual ending of the EP itself.
Now here is where we get into the rougher part of the EP. AFI is yet another band I've seen referenced on countless occasions, but never took the time to check out. Now I see why. Instrumentally the song is decent enough, I especially dig the active bass lines. But those vocals... I just can't do it. There are way too many bands out there with similar ones, and the higher up in pitch they go, the more they nettle me. And then with Devil Sold His Soul, the music gets cooler - I love the heavier guitars and some of the clean atmospheric passages, that's right up my alley. But again, the vocals... Sorry, I just can't get into that whinier clean vocal style. There are occasional exceptions that are more or less vaguely similar (say Chester Bennington or Daniel Tompkins), but the ones here just don't work at all for me and really bring it down. The more choral group vocals towards the end are more tolerable, but it's just not quite enough to save it. The harsh ones aren't really to my taste either, but I can deal with them more than the cleans.
Perihelion Ship I'm thinking might have gotten the shortest end of the stick. I don't think I'd really heard them before, but my understanding is that they're rather Opeth-influenced, which on paper I should like, though often many of those bands just don't have the execution down. Their sound seems reasonable enough, with a Opeth-lite sound (which still seems like it has a lot of potential), though with less flavorful vocals than Åkerfeldt and less overall finesse, but some splendid organ work. There are way too many songs this round to do a detailed comparison between them, but hacking over three minutes off of the song I'm suspecting dilutes the impact of it. They seem mostly chopped off of the beginning and ending, but I don't know if there was more taken out. I'm still curious about pursuing them further, but this might be a consequence of really needing more time for the EP to fully flesh it out. Also, the sudden transition from Devil Sold His Soul to them was a bit jarring.
I do admire a good story about the annihilation of the planet though. I'm just hoping part of the "particular set of skills" (are we casting de-aged Liam Neeson in this film?) Jim has is the ability to build a spacecraft, or he's toast.
Score: 22/30
Final Cumulative Score: 8 + 7 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 8 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.5 + 8.5 + 22 = 119.5
Final Overall Thoughts:
It seems like we probably have more overlap in artists we already both know than your ranking would make it appear, but you nevertheless managed to pull out a variety of enticing artists I'll have to explore more from. I'd heard a bit from Enslaved, The Cult, and Ne Obliviscaris beforehand, but will have to look into more of their work. Knight Area, Ché Aimee Dorval, Kardashev, Slushii, Sieges Even, and Shylmagoghnar were less familiar to me, but will certainly need to become more familiar to me over time.
---14th Place
twosuitsluke - "It's hard for someone to get lost here, Harder still to get found"
1: Frank Turner - "Eulogy"
2: Frank Turner - "Rivers"
3: Frank Turner - "If Ever I Stray"
4: The King Blues - "The Schemers, The Scroungers, and the Rats"
5: The King Blues - "Let's Hang the Landlord"
6: The Skints - "Contemplations of the Modern Rudeboy"
7: King Prawn - "Crackhead"
8: The Skints - "Live East Die Young"
9: The King Blues - "Underneath This Lamppost Light"
10: The King Blues - "Everything Happens For a Reason"
11: Frank Turner - "Farewell To My City"
Early Impressions - "There is a style that was hinted at here but never really appeared, but in retrospect it probably wasn't necessary anyway." - "This has a surprisingly cinematic feel, like moving through different scenes meeting various characters in a variety of settings."
Favorite - The Skints - "Live East Die Young"
Least Favorite - The King Blues - "Underneath This Lamppost Light"
Final Summary:
This has a surprising variety of different sounds and moods that convey the theme quite well. Not all of the music is what I'd normally go for, but it rounds out the various flavors here, and "Least East Die Young" is the most serendipitous song.
Details:
Well, this EP really does take you on a journey. From the opening horn refrain of Frank Turner's "Eulogy", you really do get a sense of the theme. Even relistening to it as I proof-roof, the arrangement gives me warm and fuzzy feelings, and I've never even been to England. There's an unexpectedly large variety of sounds that encompass this EP, though as the impression hints at, I was sort of wondering if it was ever going to go full-bore punk at some point, but it never quite gets there. I was curious if at some point it was going to turn into an English version of the Dropkick Murphys or something like that, though I suppose it gets close at a few points. But I don't think it was needed regardless.
It's fascinating how you always hear about people's accents disappearing when singing, and I don't know how much of that is sometimes an intentional Americanizing of their voices, or a globalizing/internationalizing of them, but here it seems most of them keep or even overemphasize them. It works wonderfully for conveying different characters and settings, though some of them seem so specific and more jargon-heavy that I'd have to be in more particular moods to explore them more outside of the context of this EP. Frank Turner is probably the one that seems like he could be the most consistently listenable. He has the most "normal" and versatile voice of the lot. "Rivers" in particular is an excellent song, I especially love the mandolin and the violin break in the middle.
The King Blues songs are a bit more idiosyncratic. "The Schemers, The Scroungers, and the Rats" is quite a unique stylistic mixture. The bones of it has a country/bluegrass vibe to it with the strumming, root/5th bass note style, and the banjo picking, which feels strange coming from you. But then it also has a pub sing-a-long feel to it in the choruses (and the organ adds some nice texture to it), which it also shares with "Let's Hang the Landlord", which also has more violin. I suppose the latter song and moments of "Everything Happens For a Reason" are the closest things get to full-on punk, though they still feel a bit subdued.
That type of sing-along in "The Schemers" and "Let's Hang" (or a lot of their sort of talk-singing style of vocals) isn't really the sort of thing I normally go for stylistically, but it works well for fleshing out the journey here. 3:24 with the ukulele and lo-fi vocals in "Let's Hang" is a nice contrast as well. "Underneath the Lamppost Light" is supposed to be the more tender side of the band, although I couldn't help almost cracking up at the "I know it smells of piss but, you look beautiful tonight" line. It's a nice enough song, but it sounds like a Fat Mike pick-up line, lol. "Everything Happens For a Reason" is my favorite of The King Blues tracks.
The middle section is my favorite of the entire EP though. The Skints' "Contemplations of the Modern Rudeboy" and even more so King Prawn's "Crackhead" are quite fun songs. You mentioned that King Prawn doesn't really fit story-wise, but it absolutely works in feeling like a vignette with the short appearance of a new over-the-top character in the story. This whole section brings me back to all the third wave ska I was listening to in the late 90s - there are some great horn lines and bass parts there, and scrumptious drum timbres and fills. They transition quite well together too. The biggest surprise of the EP was "Live East Die Young" though. I'll talk even more about this in Vmad's writeup, but we're now into full-blown reggae territory here, which is a style I love but hasn't appeared in the roulette until this round. I've mostly ignored modern versions of it, so it's opened my eyes to the realization that I should look into that scene more. It's by far the best song of the EP, and one of the best songs of the whole round. I'll certainly have to investigate more of their work.
It's also amusing that I mentioned Dizzee Rascal in one of our PMs tangential to these styles, and it turns out that The King Blues has covered him. Small world, apparently.
Score: 23.75/30
Final Cumulative Score: 7.5 + 8.25 + 5.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.25 + 7 + 6.75 + 8.5 + 7.5 + 23.75 = 119.5
Final Overall Thoughts:
"So here it is, the ending. The one that neither of us ever thought was coming..." While our core music tastes seem to clash a bit, particularly when you go for more of the Crow strategy of just sending some of your pet favorites regardless of how you think they might fit into my own tastes, I think that works endlessly well for overall entertainment value, and to make me check things out I'd probably otherwise ignore, which occasionally results in gems. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard is just the gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving, and giving... I'll certainly be at least digging a bit into that playlist of theirs you curated. While they're probably overall not my sort of thing, they have so much music and such a variety of it that something is bound to hit. And touché on your 5D chess move of getting Nachtmerrie into them a bit, that's already resulted in me checking out the best song of theirs I've heard so far with "Dragon".
You've also gotten me to reevaluate music like Seatbelts, The Ocean, Crippled Black Phoenix, Drewsif Stalin's Musical Endeavors, and especially The Carpenters (probably my second favorite vocals of the whole roulette). Or artists I hadn't heard much material from like Chthonic and Better Lovers. Even music that didn't score as well like nofx I consider to have filled a gap in my musical education and I feel like a more complete person for having properly experienced it.
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:corn :corn :corn
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Nice, I definitely took a chance with Viagra Boys and the final tracks. I personally love everything I sent ofc, but didn't expect you to really like the Against All Logic tune that much - that album is quite nice and the use of samples is excellent. Glad you enjoyed Odisea, another great record. SIAMÉS have a few other amazing tracks, and I think they just released a second album, which I'll check out soon.
The Black Queen has 2 records so far, and while I prefer the first one by far, the other has a few gems, hope you dig that project, and the other stuff I sent.
Thanks for having me! It was quite a lot of fun throughout the year ;D
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So I wasn't too concerned with my final score, but was secretly hoping for a massive come from behind podium finish. However, I will say this was the first EP I've put together where I 100% made sure the lyrics supported the story I was trying to tell. I did take a few liberties by adding the story intro, since none of that was referenced in the songs, but think of it more like the prologue. In hindsight I would have dropped The Great Disappointment entirely and fixed the other transitions and let the rest of the songs shine a bit more.
Anyhow, I intentionally titled it part 1 because I have more to tell in the story and I'm working on adding to the story in 425's EP round.
Overall this has been a fun roulette and I look forward to your next one. Thanks for having me!
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The Black Queen has 2 records so far, and while I prefer the first one by far, the other has a few gems, hope you dig that project
I already listened to both of them after that round, and liked them, though nothing popped out quite like "Ice To Never". I did make note that "No Accusations" and "Spatial Boundaries" seemed more promising though. Hopefully at some point I'll give additional plays to those albums and see if anything else is salient, and have post-roulette updates for them if so.
However, I will say this was the first EP I've put together where I 100% made sure the lyrics supported the story I was trying to tell. I did take a few liberties by adding the story intro, since none of that was referenced in the songs, but think of it more like the prologue. In hindsight I would have dropped The Great Disappointment entirely and fixed the other transitions and let the rest of the songs shine a bit more.
Yeah, that would have definitely helped a fair amount. And unfortunately I'm the wrong person for lyrics/story, though it was fun reading everything anyway. Hopefully some other people will check it out though.
Anyhow, I intentionally titled it part 1 because I have more to tell in the story and I'm working on adding to the story in 425's EP round.
You're gonna have plenty of time to work on that one. :neverusethis:
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sounds about right :lol
i absolutely killed it this round, in the sense that i think my weird picks might've killed litho. that's why it's called a murder of crows, eh? :lol
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Lethean:
Favorite - Leprous - "Distant Bells"
Least Favorite - Fates Warning - "The Light and Shade of Things"
Not my song (or even a roulette I'm part of ;)) but it makes me a little sad anyway. Love this tune. Litho, what have you heard from Fates Warning?
yeah, that's a huge favorite of mine and many Fates fans.
It kinda makes me sad too...? But... Maybe he thinks it's totally awesome and he just likes all the other songs even more! (I can dream.)
BTW, Caligula's Horse played the song I sent you Litho and it was awesome.
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sounds about right :lol
i absolutely killed it this round, in the sense that i think my weird picks might've killed litho. that's why it's called a murder of crows, eh? :lol
I found photographic evidence of the murder weapon with your new alter-ego from ariich's roulette.
(https://www.shutterstock.com/shutterstock/photos/1674643999/display_1500/stock-vector-isolated-vector-illustration-raven-or-crow-in-a-hat-standing-on-vintage-revolver-or-pistol-black-1674643999.jpg)
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But... Maybe he thinks it's totally awesome and he just likes all the other songs even more! (I can dream.)
:corn
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Was hoping to place a little higher but I’ll take it. Glad you liked some of these songs. I’d say definitely check out the following albums…
Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones
King Prawn - Surrender to the Blender
The Skints - Live. Breathe. Build. Believe and Part & Parcel.
Kinda surprised you liked Live East Die Young the most, but they’re all banging songs so I guess it’s not that surprising.
Thanks for having me in this monster debut roulette. I guess I never came back from Han-Tyumi, but I regret nothing. When’s the second roulette coming then?
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Anyhow, I intentionally titled it part 1 because I have more to tell in the story and I'm working on adding to the story in 425's EP round.
You should have plenty of time to work it out.
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The Black Queen has 2 records so far, and while I prefer the first one by far, the other has a few gems, hope you dig that project
I already listened to both of them after that round, and liked them, though nothing popped out quite like "Ice To Never". I did make note that "No Accusations" and "Spatial Boundaries" seemed more promising though. Hopefully at some point I'll give additional plays to those albums and see if anything else is salient, and have post-roulette updates for them if so.
Oh they're definitely growers in my experience, give them some time.
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Kinda surprised you liked Live East Die Young the most.
At the risk of spoiling upcoming results, I'll just tease that it will make more sense fairly soon.
When’s the second roulette coming then?
I have some thoughts on this and a few other things, but I want to wait until I've posted all the results first and let them soak in.
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(https://media.tenor.com/mSJc0ZghmDMAAAAC/count-count-dooku.gif)
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13th Place
Stadler - "Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)"
1: Phil Collins - "Don't Lose My Number"
2: Jon Bon Jovi - "Billy Get Your Guns"
3: Robert Plant - "Billy's Revenge"
4: Def Leppard - "Billy's Got a Gun"
5: Bruce Springsteen - "Rockaway the Days"
6: B.J. Thomas - "Billy and Sue"
7: Van Halen - "Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)"
Early Impressions - "Even your initial tracklist submission was (unintentionally?) in character." - "This is a slightly different side of a number of artists than I'm used to hearing from them."
Favorite - Def Leppard - "Billy's Got a Gun"
Least Favorite - Bruce Springsteen - "Rockaway the Days"
Final Summary:
Even with two banned songs, this excels on the storytelling front, and gives a more complete picture of the sounds of a few artists. None of it really blows me away, but it's an enjoyable enough listen.
Details:
It's just like Big Bad Bill to try and smuggle some contraband songs past customs, isn't it? He got caught, but that sure didn't stop him, did it? Phil Collins' "Don't Lose My Number" is my true favorite song of the bunch, but that's been the case for quite awhile - I could immediately hear the chorus as soon as I saw the tracklist. I've long been a fan of Genesis' pop era and Phil's solo work, and it actually took me longer to warm up to their earlier material with Peter Gabriel.
And then the other banned song bookending the batch is Van Halen's "Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)". Now this one I didn't recognize from the title, but since I own the album on vinyl and cassette I figured I might recognize it once it started playing. And sure enough, I did. It's not one of theirs that I know well, but they often would have at least a song on each album that significantly deviated from their normal kinetic hard rock style, and it's a refreshing one for that with the Dixieland jazz-esque atmosphere. And of course it holds the theme together quite well. I actually like David Lee Roth's vocal delivery on this song much more than on their more conventional material. Eddie Van Halen is one of my absolute favorite guitarists and "Respect the Wind" is one of the primary reasons I learned guitar (though there's much less guitar in "Big Bad Bill"), but part of the reason I've never listened to Van Halen quite as much as a band as I'd like is because I historically haven't been a fan of DLR or Sammy Hagar. Paying more close attention to this song does shine a bit of unexpected new light on DLR though, though I don't know if it'll move the needle on his normal shtick.
Overall the EP is a quite well-executed concept, and you can definitely feel the storytelling and redemption arc for the eponymous main character (and semi-cheeky meta relevance for the final round itself). These are almost all artists I've heard varying amounts of material from beforehand, but it certainly shows a few of them in a bit different light than I was expecting. B.J. Thomas is the one I've heard the least from, mostly just a bit by reputation. Stylistically he's probably the furthest away from my normal interests, and I at first was expecting it to be the weakest track, but I was reeled in by it a bit more than I expected I would be around the time the key change occurred.
Def Leppard's "Billy's Got a Gun" is easily the closest to what I was anticipating. I'm familiar with some of their singles, particularly "Photograph" from the same album, Pyromania. Mutt Lange really worked some magic there, everything just sounds really rich and detailed. It's kind of a bit more subdued but atmospheric take on a lot of the glossier hard rock of the time. I suppose Jon Bon Jovi's "Billy Get Your Guns" isn't terribly far off from other Bon Jovi I've heard, just a tad bluesier than some of their bigger hits of the era, almost a bit Aerosmith-like. There's a surprisingly stacked cast on this one, with Jeff Beck on guitar, Randy Jackson on bass, Elton John on piano, and Kenny Aronoff on drums. Those are quite some heavy hitters. It's probably the second best song of the batch, with easily the best musicianship, but just not quite as arresting of a sound or melody.
Robert Plant's "Billy's Revenge" is definitely a bit out of left field for me. I've heard a decent amount of Led Zeppelin, and several of his more recent collaborations with Alison Krauss, but the decades in-between were a bit of a mystery box for me. I'm not even sure what exactly you'd call the overall style of the song - it seems to mash a variety of different elements together, but it's a rather revitalizing surprise and not something I'd have thought he was capable of. Bruce Springsteen's "Rockaway the Days" is probably the hardest sell for me. Structurally it works well to transition into the reformation story of the last two songs, so it's effective thematically. I've just never been able to get into much of Springsteen's music. It's well-done for what it is, and a bit different from most of what I've heard from him, but I still just can't connect with his work and voice for whatever reason.
Score: 22/30
Final Cumulative Score: 8.5 + 7.5 + 7 + 7 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 7.5 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 22 = 120
Final Overall Thoughts:
So when I was trying to find a few more people to fill out my roulette, and you hadn't noticed it yet, I'm not even sure I knew your age. I had just noticed that in 425's roulette you'd been sending some off-the-beaten path stuff compared to some others, and I wanted some variety in submissions. I didn't realize at the time that it would mostly be some older music that I'd been overlooking, but it's a strategy that has worked quite well on a number of occasions. Even one of the relatively newer bands that did well, Rival Sons, hearkens back to older styles. But I need that sort of range, since all the best music is spread out over the decades, and I tend to overly focus on the last few. I think Michael Schenker, Hank Williams Jr., Motörhead, and Duran Duran were the ones I'd heard the least from before the roulette, with more of just a surface-level understanding of their places in music history and some scattered songs here and there, so I'll certainly dig into more of their work at some point. I knew slightly more about Saga, Joan Baez, Sting, Marillion, Our Lady Peace, and KISS, but certainly have much to explore there as well.
---12th Place
Tomislav95 - "Swimming through the nothingness"
1: Midlake - "Roscoe"
2: Brand New - "Same Logic/Teeth"
3: Modest Mouse - "A Different City"
4: Modest Mouse - "The Cold Part"
5: The Hotelier - "Two Deliverances"
6: The Hotelier - "Soft Animal"
7: Midlake - "Young Bride"
8: Brand New - "Daisy"
9: The Hotelier - "Your Deep Rest"
10: Brand New - "Handcuffs"
Early Impressions - "I think I'm unlikely to love this style as a whole, but this is a better selection of songs in it than I was expecting." - "The nice thing about my rating philosophy in general for this is that a couple good songs are more likely to pull the rating up a bit than a couple weaker songs are to drag it down."
Favorite - Midlake - "Young Bride"
Least Favorite - Brand New - "Same Logic/Teeth"
Final Summary:
Surprisingly, three of the four bands here each have a song in my trio of favorites for this EP, and even the one that doesn't (The Hotelier) has instrumental elements I enjoy. This will likely continue to be a genre that I'm pickier about than normal, but this does provide several splendid tunes to branch out from.
Details:
When you mentioned that this was going to be an indie EP I became nervous again. But I guess that's what often happens near the end of roulettes - when people realize they're at the point where they're not really in contention anymore they feel more free to just send whatever they're into with less fear of consequence. And this time, it actually kind of works. I think I talked about this more a few rounds ago regarding Okkervil River, but often the indie philosophy and my own are at odds. Collectively they tend to be much more comfortable with rawness, sloppiness, and particular types of quirkiness than I am. But here it's actually not so much of an issue.
Midlake's "Young Bride" is certainly the standout of the EP. That violin melody is just gorgeous, as well as the various exquisite ornamentations later in the song. They remind me a bit of Fleet Foxes, which is a sort of indie artist that I like more. "Roscoe" isn't as strong of a selection, but it's pleasant enough that I think it could be worth checking Midlake out to see if more of their music resonates with me.
I was a bit worried about seeing Modest Mouse on the playlist since the very limited selection of their music that I've heard has had odd vocals that didn't really appeal to me much. But "The Cold Part" is probably my second favorite song of the whole EP. It helps that it's more heavily slanted towards instrumental bits, and the vocals present are more subdued. I adore the overall atmosphere and melancholic vibe, it almost feels like how Katatonia might sound if they were an indie rock band, with a hint of Black Tape For a Blue Girl. There's delightful violin work, and some tasty more unusual instrumental flourishes and effects scattered throughout. "A Different City" is alright, with a more propulsive post-punk-ish groove, though the vocals are less appealing. I imagine they're the sort of band I might enjoy particular songs from but might struggle with albums as a whole.
The Hotelier have pretty consistently great guitar tones throughout the three songs here. That alone helps a fair amount. I started off really disliking the vocals, though I've gotten a bit more accustomed to them over time. I still don't really like them, per se, but they don't bug me quite as much as they did initially.
Brand New is a bit more all over the map. "Handcuffs" is probably my third overall favorite song of the EP. I've found that some indie bands either intentionally or due to lack of interest can be pretty loose in tuning their instruments, but here they seem to intentionally tune the rhythm electric early on just slightly off, but in a way that adds a more ethereal vibe to the proceedings. And at least for this set, violin seems to continue to be a magic ingredient, as it certainly elevates the song when it appears later, as does the sustained chromatic percussion towards the end. "Daisy" is a rather fun song, relatively simple, but just off-kilter enough in an enchanting way. "Same Logic/Teeth" is probably the most frustrating song from them. The refrain is kind of catchy, the slow bends/vibrato in the guitar lead are rather enigmatic and yet charming, the acoustic and bass work are quite nice, but the shouted vocals don't really work for me in this song.
Score: 23.5/30
Final Cumulative Score: 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 7 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 6.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 23.5 = 120.75
Final Overall Thoughts:
I'm still kind of in disbelief at my placement in your roulette, since it seems some of our primary listening interests are rather different. Regardless, you've certainly given me a variety of music to look into further. Paramore has already been one of the big hits of the roulette for me, and I'll certainly have to check out more from Reign of Kindo, Seventh Wonder, Dvne, Arcane Roots, and Micah P. Hinson. Reign of Kindo in particular was quite a steal since I thought that might be a band Soundscape would have sent at some point.
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11th Place
senecadawg2 - "From the Bed of the Woods"
1: Osi and the Jupiter - "Fjörgyn"
2: Hexvessel - "Cosmic Truth"
3: Helen Money & Will Thomas - "Half Asleep"
4: Ellereve - "Colorblind"
5: Musk Ox - "Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)"
6: Cigarettes After Sex - "K."
7: Clint Mansell - "Together We Will Live Forever"
8: Dir En Grey - "VINUSHKA"
Early Impression - "Much of this is adjacent to the type of music I've been getting into the most in the past few years." - "The "ending" came out of nowhere, though I mind it less than I thought I would."
Favorite - Cigarettes After Sex - "K."
Least Favorite - Dir En Grey - "VINUSHKA"
Final Summary:
This mostly occupies a mellower, but moodier side of music that has been resonating with me in recent years, and captures a variety of different approaches to it that I really enjoy.
Details:
It was hinted at with my round five mystery songs, but generally speaking, slower-paced, atmospheric, darker, melancholic, (and often folky) music has been arguably my biggest exploration focus over the past few years. Some of it winds up getting tagged with some version of "dark folk", "neofolk", or even "psychedelic folk", though those styles tend to have more specific meanings and scenes they're attached to where the core of them doesn't always work for me. Others land somewhere in the dream pop/ethereal wave/slowcore range. And often I seek out more vocal-oriented music, but even some of the instrumental pieces here capture some of these vibes.
You sent "Hollowed" from Osi and the Jupiter in a couple other recent roulettes, which I found intriguing, and this seems to hit on a slightly different side from them. The guest cello work here is really fantastic, and it sets the table well for the entrees to come. Hexvessel's "Cosmic Truth" was giving me more of gothic country vibes with the tremolo guitar effects, though Rate Your Music calls them psychedelic folk/rock. Perhaps this particular track is somewhere in-between there, but it's great regardless.
Helen Money & Will Thomas' "Half Asleep" has a similar feel to "Fjörgyn", just with less string droning accompaniment and more piano chording, but it's equally efficacious. Finding me more atmospheric music in a roulette format has proved a bit risky so far for many, but this EP is working quite superbly in this regard.
As I mentioned over PM, I already knew two Ellereve songs, but hadn't gotten around to hearing any more. This is definitely right up my alley. A haunting, lighter, airier song this time with more delicate piano work - it does feel kind of as if successive songs take elements from previous ones and reconfigure them. I was aware she had an album out this year, but this will definitely ensure I make time for it. Musk Ox's "Inheritance, Pt. 1 (Premonition)" is back to more of the template of the first and third songs, but with some nylon-string guitar ornamentation. It's the weakest song so far, but is still fairly good.
"K." from Cigarettes After Sex is one of the most unexpected and enthralling delights of the whole roulette. It's more in the dream pop realm, but is absolutely stellar. They're another band with an odd name that probably turned me off from ever investigating them beforehand. Well, turns out it was quite a loss for me. The ambiance here is magnificent. I thought initially it was a female vocalist, though a bit of research confirmed that it was not. It kind of reminds me of the first time I heard Silversun Pickups and had the same initial thought and puzzling realization after looking into it. It's just a really relaxing and ethereal vibe that I cherish though. My only small gripe is that I'm not crazy about how the vocals are panned mostly to the right. And I've tried to dial down the gear nerd in me, but watching live videos of this song makes it impossible to suppress. Greg has the exact same model and color of Parker Nitefly that I have, down to the pickup configuration, and the keyboardist has a smaller version of the Virus TI keyboard that I have. Apparently my love of this song was predestined.
For Clint Mansell's "Together We Will Live Forever", it's always fascinating to hear music from a film score to a movie I've never seen. You always wonder what potentially poignant moment it's attached to and how that could alter your perception of it. But good music can stand on its own, and this piece most certainly does.
Dir En Grey's "VINUSHKA" definitely sticks out like a sore thumb. I suppose there's a bit of a tie-in with some of the folkier passages in the song to the rest of the EP, but the extreme metal-ish sections were certainly a bit unexpected. I've meant to check out some of their music, and I suppose this is a toe in the water, but it'll probably take a lot more music from them to really get a sense of them. I don't dislike it, but I'm not sure I quite "get" it yet. Some of the vocal harmonizations are rather piquant though. This might be a rare example of my final opinion being a bit more negative than my initial impression. I did listen to it a few times in isolation as well, but in the context of the EP this song just feels out of place. Something more like, I don't know, possibly Opeth or Oceans of Slumber might have threaded the needle of connecting the gloomier folkiness of the other songs with a more extreme approach. The rest of the EP is too good for it to weigh it down too much, fortunately.
Score: 25.5/30
Final Cumulative Score: 8 + 7 + 8.5 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 7.25 + 5.75 + 8.25 + 25.5 = 122.75
Final Overall Thoughts:
You'd had quite a last minute push the past two rounds to finish a number of spots higher than you were. And you've probably sent me a wider variety of artists in the roulette than most. I've already listened to most of Loreena McKennitt's discography now, which turns out to have been a glaring oversight for me, since I used to listen more to some Celtic-related music, but mostly forgot about it for awhile. That has changed now and I sense I'm going to be binging on some other loosely-related artists in the near future. Renaissance was another artist that I'd heard some material from, but really should have dug deeper into earlier, since they seem to be an origin point for the ideas of some other artists I like, and I'll have to spend much more time with them soon. There are various other artists I'll certainly have to check further into in varying degrees too, from Floating Points (+ Pharaoh Sanders) to Sarah Fimm to Kauan to Khôrada to Leonard Cohen. Even Agalloch, who I know you were disappointed didn't score higher, is still back on my radar more, as I could see there being other music I'd enjoy more from them, and there seems to be so much overlap in their fanbase with those of many other artists I adore.
---10th Place
Buddyhunter1 - "Heartbreak in the U.S.A."
Act I: Red
1: Sabrepulse - "First Crush"
2: Gorillaz - "On Melancholy Hill"
3: Anamanaguchi - "Prom Night"
4: Gorillaz - "Magic City"
Act II: Blue
5: death's dynamic shroud - "Games"
6: Gorillaz - "Fire Flies"
7: death's dynamic shroud - "Infinite Staralgia"
Act III: White
8: Anamanaguchi - "Tear"
9: Anamanaguchi - "We Die"
10: death's dynamic shroud - "King & Queen"
Early Impressions - "I'm surprised at how well you can feel the storytelling here, even in the instrumental portions." - "This 80s virtual reality dating app is so realistic!"
Favorite - Anamanaguchi - "We Die"
Least Favorite - Gorillaz - "Magic City"
Final Summary:
This is a different flavor of electronic music than what I normally prefer, but it undergirds and reinforces a surprisingly cohesive and effective concept, though the overall execution is stronger than the individual tracks.
Details:
First bit-crush, amirite? I really wasn't sure exactly how this was going to come out given the title of the EP, and the fact that I've listened to very little from any of the artists consciously, though I've heard the names thrown around a decent amount. Thematically, it's quite strong. From the titles of the songs and the musical feelings of them, you can sense a fairly simple but complete story. I listened to the full versions of some of the songs separately at one point, and I can hear some bits and pieces missing, but overall it works fairly well. This is fascinating in how efficacious it is as an overall package, though I'm not particularly crazy about any specific song or especially motivated to check out any of the artists individually.
I suppose a central feel running throughout the songs is that these are pretty heavily in or influenced by the genres of chiptune and bitpop, which has a heavily novelty feel stylistically. This gives it this near-constant 8-bit video game sound which ties together the theme, but is a sound I'm less likely to come back to outside of the context of hearing the EP.
"First Crush" has a nice and energetic drum and bass sort of vibe, though the frequent arpeggiated power-up style sounds get a bit much after awhile. The transition between it and "On Melancholy Hill" is pretty clever, with the station tuning static and lo-fi sample of part of Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A." chorus (which is lyrically referenced later in death's dynamic shroud's "Games"). "On Melancholy Hill" is probably the easiest listen instrumentally, almost an indietronica vibe, with the catchiest instrumental melodies. The vocal delivery is pretty sleepy though.
"Prom Night" is probably the closest to something I would normally listen to, and would be fascinating to hear a remix that subbed in more "normal" synthpop/electropop sorts of sounds. "Magic City" is decent enough, it just doesn't really stand out in any special way. "Fire Flies" fares a bit better with the funky synth bass throughout. "Games" has a pretty lush atmosphere, and would probably be more of a highlight with stronger vocals. As it is it's probably the third best song here.
"Infinite Staralgia" is rather fascinating. The versions I could find online seem to be pitched an octave lower, which gives it a totally different mood, kind of like some of those "slowed + reverb" mixes that seem popular on Youtube. I don't know if you used a different version that isn't available or is difficult to find online, or you just tried pitching up the audio file an octave and it restores it to "normal". I wouldn't think that would work properly, but my audio editing skills have atrophied from a place of never being that great in the first place.
Regardless, "Infinite Staralgia" provides the most cinematic vibe of the whole EP. I'm getting this vision in my head of this hypothetical 80s-ish teen movie where this couple is laying on the grass staring at the stars, and then it alternates between match cuts of that with them laying on the floor of a roller rink staring at the oscillations of a disco ball overhead in the spots where the stars were in the sky. I don't have synesthesia, but that song almost makes me momentarily feel like I do. I'd love to hear someone like The Midnight cover their songs.
Anamanaguchi's "Tear" has some of the fullest, lushest synth moments, I especially like how massive they sound in the passage at 32:08. "We Die" has an almost euphoric, anthemic feel to it, kind of an instrumental-ish, but more epic, punchier version of some of Lights' material, but with the heavier sidechain compression towards the end. It probably could have ended there, but I suppose "King & Queen" gives it an epilogue/ending credits feel to it.
Score: 23/30
Final Cumulative Score: 7.5 + 6.5 + 7.75 + 7 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.5 + 23 = 123.5
Final Overall Thoughts:
We're probably two of the bigger fans of electronic music on the board, though it seems our interests in it are in somewhat different areas. Nevertheless, you've certainly gotten me interested in exploring more from Blanck Mass, IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN, and The Comet Is Coming. Avant-garde metal is a really tricky area laced with landmines that have sunk other competitors, but you managed to sneak one through that worked quite well with Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. It's possible I've already heard the best Comus has to offer for my tastes now, but I'll probably revisit that album anyway sometime just in case. Two of your biggest successes were redirecting my attention to artists I'd already heard, but hadn't given enough of a chance yet with Riverside and Guilt Machine. And I'm sure I'll investigate more from Elder and Della Zyr as well at some point.
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Top 10! Not bad, thanks for running this, even with how long it ran for. :lol
All of the death’s dynamic shroud songs on the EP are re-made versions of earlier songs that were a lot more vaporwave-y, so the versions of Infinite Staralgia you were finding were probably the original. The only edit I made to it was cutting out like 1 repitition from the finale, I certainly didn’t fuck with the pitch of anything.
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Firstly, thanks for having me, it was fun :tup
I didn't expect you to like the EP as much as you did but now I know what you don't like the most about "emo" music.
I'm still kind of in disbelief at my placement in your roulette, since it seems some of our primary listening interests are rather different.
I get what you might like, I just don't have such a huge library to choose from :lol
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Surprised I'm still on the board lol, I expect I'll appear in the next batch :corn
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(https://i.giphy.com/media/nYYtQdLqwwlTe3ccKh/giphy.webp)
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9th Place
Vmadera00 - "To the Island"
1: The Expendables - "Down Down Down"
2: The Expendables - "Sacrifice"
3: Passafire - "Submersible"
4: Lionize - "Surrender"
5: The Movement - "Take Me To the Ocean"
Early Impressions - "Wow, this is a treat. It's a version of a genre I love, but haven't received all roulette." - "This has some really tasty and crisp drumming."
Favorite - The Movement - "Take Me To the Ocean"
Least Favorite - Passafire - "Submersible"
Final Summary:
I kind of knew that reggae never actually died, but I hadn't been acting like it in my listening and exploration before. This takes elements of the old-school sound I love and adds some more modern elements in a tantalizing way.
Details:
Well, so this was one of the most serendipitous submissions of the whole roulette. I kind of wish you'd found another 15-20 minutes of music like this to send, it probably would have scored even higher (although the gap to the next tier would have been likely prohibitive to break into). I used to be really into roots reggae. I was one of those guys who'd be wearing Bob Marley hoodies and t-shirts around campus sometimes. Of course, there's way more to reggae, but I pretty much stuck to the 70s/early 80s era or artists. To be honest I wasn't as crazy about the direction it started taking later into the 80s. But these groups remind me that forms of it remained alive, and for whatever reason I never got around to checking them out, mostly just sticking to the early classics I found at first and some lesser known gems of the earlier era that I ran across now and then whenever I got in that mood.
But I really like what these artists are doing with the template. The Expendables add this rock edge with riffing and soloing that on paper I'm not sure I would have thought would work, but they really pull it off. I mentioned this for Luke's EP, but I used to really be into third wave ska in the late 90s, and even before I heard reggae proper I liked some of the influences it had on those sorts of bands, though the ones I listened to didn't really go fully into it. And awhile after exploring reggae on its own some and trying to get more into hardcore, Bad Brains appealed to me more because they had some legitimate reggae in-between the rest of the intensity of their sound.
But The Expendables actually seem to be coming at it from more of a hard rock approach rather than a punk/hardcore direction. I doubt they're the first to do so (heck, Rush dabbled very lightly in it), but it's a mixture I've somehow managed to avoid that I now have much exploring to do for, so this has been quite a joy. A few of the older reggae bands that were in my rotation would have the occasional rock solo, but the incorporation of heavier riffing is a newer angle for me. There are great guitar tones all around with them, both clean and more saturated.
Passafire is probably the weakest of the batch, but are still pretty good, with some nice synchronized riffing, the acoustic solo, and the melodica. Lionize incorporates a lot of cool keyboard work between the spacier synths, organ, piano, and clavinet, not to mention the percussion, or some of the delay trail experimentation on the guitars. Plus, the vocal ad lib at 3:14 is on fire. And man, "Take Me To the Ocean" from The Movement sounds like it would probably be used to advertise tropical vacations or cruises, but it just really hits a sweet spot for me melodically. It has such a multidimensional sound, infectious melodies, a wonderful chromatic percussion sound and riff, and the electric piano soloing at the end caps it off oh so nicely.
I'm definitely going to have to be checking albums from three of these artists. It'll make a great pairing with The Skints from Luke's EP.
Score: 25.5/30
Final Cumulative Score: 7.25 + 7.75 + 8 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 8.75 + 7 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 + 8.25 + 25.5 = 123.75
Final Overall Thoughts:
Like seneca, you've managed to leap-frog a few other participants with a strong showing in the last couple rounds. You also happened to be involved in both band battles in the roulette. One with Mastodon, which essentially ended in a draw. The other was with Coheed & Cambria, where you sent the better batch of songs, much to Luke's chagrin. :-) I'm not sure they're a band I can get into as a whole, particularly due to the vocals, but the guitars on "The Dark Sentencer" sounded so perfect that I'll still definitely at least be checking out that album at some point. You also sent a variety of things I want to look into further, from Bonobo to The Mask of the Phantasm to Sufi's Life. Even though St. Vincent didn't score as well I suspect at least something of her's would interest me. And then I had already heard some Howe/Wooten/Chambers and Steely Dan, but you've raised my interest in revisiting them again.
---8th Place
HOF - "Beautiful Songs You Should Know (Get This Tape To Litho)"
1: Tim Bowness - "Worlds of Yesterday"
2: Chroma Key - "Another Permanent Address"
3: Kip Winger - "Landslide"
4: Chroma Key - "Undertow"
5: Tim Bowness & Giancarlo Erra - "Beautiful Songs You Should Know"
6: Kip Winger - "Only One Word"
7: Chroma Key - "On the Page"
8: Kip Winger - "Don't Let Go"
9: Tim Bowness - "Songs of Distant Summer, Pt. 2"
Early Impressions - "This makes me want to make a kind of music that I don't think exists." - "I love the stylistic textures of much of these songs, the question is going to be if the melodies and vocalists stand out."
Favorite - Tim Bowness & Giancarlo Erra - "Beautiful Songs You Should Know"
Least Favorite - Kip Winger - "Landslide"
Final Summary:
Well, they still don't stand out as much as I'd like them to, but that doesn't mean there aren't quite a variety of things I appreciate about this batch.
Details:
I feel like I should know Chroma Key. Of course they're one of Dream Theater's earlier "side projects", and given that "Space Dye Vest" is one of my absolute favorite songs of theirs, I would think I should like Kevin Moore's work, well "more". I know I heard some of it much earlier, but I guess it failed to captivate me. It seemed at the time that there was a lot of overlap between fans of the DT albums with Kevin, his side projects, and electronic music in general, which would take a number of years for me to really get into more deeply. In retrospect I think I would have blamed the part of me at the time that was generally more into the uber-technical and virtuosic sides of music - all the prog and power metal I was mainlining back when I was looking into the DT-adjacent bands.
But my tastes have broadened quite a bit since then, so I would think this would appeal to me more now. And I guess it kind of does, just not quite as much as I want it to. I like it, but I still don't quite "love" it. I'm not entirely sure why. [Although I have to note that in editing writeups it has slowly grown on me a smidge more and I bumped the score up a bit, so you might need to mentally reduce the intensity of any criticism down 10-20%.] Kevin is a more palatable vocalist to me than James LaBrie is, but I guess I just don't find the melodies in these songs as indelible as I'd like them to be. I do enjoy some of the instrumentation though, the tremolo/Leslie effect at 0:09 and other spots in "Another Permanent Address" is a particular favorite, for example. There are some splendid effects cymbal accents and bass fills in "Undertow" and "On the Page". The latter of course has the title drop for the parenthetical half of the title, and the piano riff is rather hypnotic. Even more so than some other styles, this might be a case where it could be other tracks on an album that would hit more strongly and everything would cohere more.
Tim Bowness is kind of a similar story. In this case he's Porcupine Tree-adjacent, which is another band that I like the music of, but don't enjoy the vocals from as much. Tim's are alright, I suppose, but aren't even quite as effective as Kevin Moore's are. The instrumental backing of the Bowness tracks is really what intrigues me the most though. Especially on "Worlds of Yesterday", the lush 12-string textures and some of the atmospherics remind me a bit of a band I really love, Autumn's Grey Solace. But there's this proggier flair to the music, with the fretless bass, the Melotron, the flute, the slide guitars, sustained leads, atmospheric ornamentation and such. The heavier modulation effects in "Songs of Distant Summers, Pt 2" are also a welcome addition.
Autumn's Grey Solace is more ethereal and with vocals I like more, and I really want to mash the two bands together to create a super-band in the "progressive ethereal wave" subgenre, which as far as I know doesn't really exist. Reading that the Tim Bowness/Giancarlo Erra album has a guest appearance from Julianne Regan (one of my favorite vocalists, of All About Eve, who have some sonic similarities to AGS) piques my interest even more. "Beautiful Songs You Should Know" is the highlight of the EP though, the sublime cello work there lifts it, and the melodies are more memorable. That track and the Regan connection alone are probably enough to get me to check this album out.
Kip Winger is basically a meme at this point on DTF, and this could be a case of just picking the wrong songs. In 425's prior roulette I remember you sending some of his work, and I gave a few listens to those at the time, as well as a number of others that came up on autoplay (back when I had more time for listening to music outside of my roulette). I remember enjoying those a bit more than these tracks. There's nothing wrong with them, really, I just remember there being even better ones that I'll have to revisit. So much to TAC's chagrin, I'm probably going to have to explore more of Kip's work as well. But Jordan Rudess worked with Kip, and JR is part of DT, so yeah, checkmate Tim. *mic drop*
"Landslide" might be my least favorite song of the EP, but even it has some intriguing qualities, like some of the bass lines, and the percussion, some of which sounds like an udu, one of my favorite hand percussion aerophone/idiophones. "Only One Word" has more of that rich and delightful 12-string guitar texture, and an excellent guitar solo with a savory tone. The solo in "Don't Let Go" is tasty as well.
So ultimately I like the flavors of a lot of these songs even if they don't particularly become earworms after listening. For whatever reason we just have less overlap in some of the more minimalistic-leaning, atmospheric artists than some of the more densely-packed ones. Still, it's a fairly good EP, and grew on me a bit even as I was finalizing everything, so I do like it even a tad more than the overall tone comes across. I hope you run your own roulette at some point, because even some of your lower-scoring entries give me ideas that other participant's submissions don't, and it would be a joy to immerse myself in some of those headspaces a bit more.
Score: 23.25/30
Final Cumulative Score: 9 + 9 + 6.5 + 7.25 + 8.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 8 + 9 + 8.75 + 6.75 + 7.75 + 23.25 = 126.25
Final Overall Thoughts:
You've had one of the most fascinating trajectories of any participant. Right out of the gate you started out with two smash hits I'd never even heard of with The Far Meadow and Yaatri, both of which are still some of my favorite music of the roulette. From there on was quite a lot of seesawing, with your submissions either tending to work really well or just not really connecting with me much. It seems like the more heavily-layered the music you sent was, the better it did. Our taste in sparser, atmospheric music might not be quite the same. But you really filled in a gap in my musical taste that I didn't even realize was there, focusing more on the lighter end of the modern and neo-prog scenes with those artists, plus Ske and Big Big Train being especially big big hits. Or artists that are a bit more loosely affiliated with that sound like Rocket Moth, Sweet Billy Pilgrim, The Week That Was, or Stefano Panunzi. Even with an artist that didn't score quite as well like McStine & Minnemann, given my penchant for Marco's playing, I'm still likely to investigate more of their work.
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7th Place
soupytwist - "Dudes & Divas Duet Delights"
1: The Pet Shop Boys - "What Have I Done To Deserve This" - with Dusty Springfield
2: Van William - "Revolution" - with First Aid Kit
3: Avantasia - "Misplaced Among the Angels" - with Floor Jansen
4: Lana Del Rey - "Tomorrow Never Came" - with Sean Lennon
5: The Decemberists - "The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid" - with Shara Nova
6: Arion - "At the Break of Dawn" - with Elize Ryd
7: Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros - "Home"
8: The Mendoza Line - "Aspect of an Old Maid" - with Will Sheff
9: Orden Ogan - "Come With Me To the Other Side" - with Liv Kristine
Early Impressions - "Am I in an early 2010s Apple commercial?" - "I'm not sure these styles normally live in the same area of town, but your theme makes it work well enough, I suppose."
Favorite - Arion - "At the Break of Dawn"
Least Favorite - The Mendoza Line - "Aspect of an Old Maid"
Final Summary:
This is possibly the widest varying EP of the whole round in terms of quality, with one of my favorite songs of the round ("At the Break of Dawn"), and also one my least favorite ("Aspect of an Old Maid"). The clash of styles between power metal and indie folk/pop works better than it has any right to though.
Details:
So either by paying closer attention than most or by happy accident, you've discovered that this format is definitely a musical trope that I find quite irresistible. And I never thought that power metal and indie folk/pop could happily coexist, but it turns out they actually have more than a few things in common. This also ends up being a fun "which song is the most out of place" game, where I could see multiple correct answers being plausible.
The best candidate might just happen to be the opening track. It's much older than the other songs, and is much more broadly electronic in nature. I have a couple of Pet Shop Boys CDs, including this particular one, so it always feels a little weird when people recommend me music that I already own. But this roulette has proven time and time again that I clearly need those recommendations. I hadn't even rated this CD yet, and the only song from it that I know without relistening is "It's a Sin". I think I heard the Gamma Ray (hey, there's more power metal!, maybe these songs secretly do have more in common after all...) cover of it first. Maybe that's how I first heard about PSB in the first place, but it's been so long that I don't trust my memory there. And of course Ghost from last round has a cover of that song too. But enough of a tangent on a song that's not even in the round... "What Have I Done To Deserve This" is one I was lukewarm on at first, but it's grown on me a decent amount. Generally the synthpop I like in this era is a bit more melancholic than this, but it's actually rather charming.
We've already broached the topic of power metal, so we might as well dive full-bore into that next. On paper I should like Avantasia, with the epic guest lists that I love with an artist like Ayreon. And I've listened to a number of albums of theirs and various other tracks, but they've never quite clicked. Edguy was one of the first few power metal bands I got into, but I grew weary of Tobias' voice after awhile. I think that put me off listening to them as much, although I've been slightly warming back up to Tobias over the last few years again. And of course Floor is one of my favorite vocalists, so I'm pretty sure I at least gave a cursory listen to "Misplaced Among the Angels" at some point. And it's a pretty fun track. I love a good belter-off, and it excels on that front. I'm handing Floor the win, but I think I already disqualified myself a few sentences ago. But wait, apparently I'm still the judge though for some reason, so I guess that's the verdict.
Speaking of Ayreon earlier, now we have the improperly-spelled dollar store knock-off "Arion"'s "At the Break of Dawn" - a song I know I stumbled upon at some point because I find Elize easily the best part of Amaranthe, but I somehow didn't really know it yet. Which turns out to be fortunate for you, because this is just a tremendous firing-on-all-cylinders slab of power metal. That chorus has nuclear-grade hooks. A great solo, tasty synth work, sprinklings of piano, the cornucopia of delights abound. I never get tired of that slow low pass filter sweep to fade the song in either. It's definitely the best song of the lot, and one of the top tracks of the round. Good thing you didn't can it. Maybe they're not such a dollar store knock-off after all - oops, those pesky homophones.
Orden Ogan's "Come With Me To the Other Side" is pretty good, but doesn't quite reach those same heights. I enjoyed one of their albums a few years ago, and like a lot of Liv Kristine's projects, though they usually aren't quite my absolute favorites of their type. That drum fill at 0:55 to kick the song into high-gear kind of comes out of nowhere, but I look forward to it now. I also like how towards the end it modulates down a step rather than up to subvert the cliché key change, but then subverts that by raising back up to the original key again - that's a fun sort of fakeout.
Now we swing back and look at the more indie folk/pop sort of songs. I was momentarily confused because Van Williams was Nevermore's drummer, definitely not an indie folk artist and if anything far closer to power metal. The lack of the "s" in the last name turns out to be crucial. I must say that I had some mild resentment towards First Aid Kit because they single-handedly wrecked my score for 425's last roulette, stealing the second round away from Kingfisher Sky. But you know, that's not really their fault, it's your fault for sending them. :-p "Revolution" is a pretty rousing song though, that simple bass drum and snare/tambourine back and forth is astoundingly effective - it should not work that well, but yet it does. I can't get that trumpet melody out of my head either. I enjoyed my rushed single listen to First Aid Kit's '22 album (and more than the earlier album I'd heard), but I clearly need to check them out further, they're FAKing good.
Then for Lana Del Rey's "Tomorrow Never Came", it's been a long slow journey trying to get into more of her music. It's adjacent to a lot of other music I like, but I've never fully gotten onboard with her, though I slowly add more songs I like over time. This one is pretty solid, though Sean Lennon doesn't do much for me on it. And I don't like the "isn't life crazy I said, now that I'm singing with Sean" line, it's a bit too self-referential and on-the-nose.
The Decemberists' "The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid" is basically four-songs-in-one. And they're all quite good. I know I used to listen to them a little bit, and apparently even heard this album at the time, but I don't really remember it. I remember The Crane Wife seeming better and listening to it more, but based on this song I'll probably need to reevaluate The Hazards of Life. The mixture of baroque pop/folk and sort of blues rock is pretty addictive here. You were worried about whether I'd like Colin's voice, and you needn't have been, he's perfectly fine.
Now we get to the most challenging section of the EP. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros' "Home" is where my impression was drawn from. This song apparently is something of an inflection point in the indie folk takeover of TV commercials for awhile. I've never been a huge TV watcher, but there was a vague familiarity to it, so I imagine I must have heard this song or others inspired by it at various points. Other than by occasionally stumbling upon things I just didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the indie scene though, so even a lot of the more famous and/or renowned music from it tended to pass me by. Apparently some people think a song I relish, "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men, is a ripoff of this song, but I can only hear rather superficial similarities.
Between the whistling, the group "hey!"s and "ho!"s in the background, and that amusing but silly and nonsensical middle skit of sorts in "Home", apparently indie folk can be even cheesier than three power metal songs, cheesier than a five-cheese Ziti al Forno. Checkmate, hipsters. That chorus is so undeniably catchy though, I just can't hate this song. Even that utterly ridiculous but impossible to take your ears away from skit segues so seamlessly back into the chorus it's maddening. For some reason I get this visual from The Wizard of Oz of Dorothy/Toto, the tinman, the scarecrow, and the cowardly lion bouncing along down the yellow brick road side-by-side to that chorus. I've probably ruined this song for you now, haven't I? ;-)
The Mendoza Line's "Aspect of an Old Maid" though. Oof, this one's not so good. The vocal stylings of both vocalists (uh oh, Okkervil River again), the Bob Dylan-esque harmonica noodlings, the cringey lyrics, there's probably some irony to this song that's just completely going over my head, but yeah, this one's just not working for me. You knew I wouldn't like it and yet you sent it anyway. Crow would approve of this strategy. :-) Fortunately one of my impressions for Tomi's EP works for yours as well, and the better songs easily outweigh the weaker ones here.
Score: 24.5/30
Final Cumulative Score: 6.5 + 6.75 + 9 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 8.25 + 24.5 = 127.5
Final Overall Thoughts:
You had easily the most meteoric rise of the roulette. Being near the bottom after the first two rounds, a strong series of submissions rocketed you briefly into the top third after the sixth round, and then you pretty much continued to hover right around the fringe of it for the rest of the roulette. Your most outstanding entries were from bands I'd never even heard of with Katzenjammer and Camera Obscura. Most of your other submissions were improving moderately to majorly my opinions of other artists like Seven Spires, Ancient Bards, Ghost, Beach House, Bring Me the Horizon, and Manic Street Preachers. And of course, we'll always have Dirt Poor Robins - easily one of my favorite artists of the whole roulette at this point, and you managed to swoop in and send them before Soundscape did. Even Yeah Yeah Yeahs, while not scoring quite as well, I imagine have other material I'd enjoy, so I'll probably investigate them further at some point.
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:corn
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Guess I should check out The Expendables.
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'Little talks' was actually on the EP originally - was quite annoyed when I found it in your RYM page :P
I won't post to much now as what I intend to do (if it's any interest to you?) Is post once all the results are in with an analysis of the songs I chose, the reasons behind them and the scores they got.
Other than that I'll just end here with a it's been fun, thanks 'Lizzo'.
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Arion took their name from Greek mythology and isn't supposed to be related to Ayreon. :)
I haven't thought about Orden Ogan for a while - not a huge fan, but they do have a bunch of cool songs and their set at ProgPower the year they played was a lot of fun.
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I have to confess, my library of interesting music to send felt pretty barren by the time we made it to the EP round! But it was a fun roulette and I got to send some stuff I’ve never sent before. I’m just glad I finished the marathon! Also glad you liked so much of what I sent.
I went with the more mellow stuff from Kip’s solo catalog to kind of fit it in with the Bowness and Chroma Key stuff. Not that he has a ton of rocky solo stuff (that’s more what Winger is for), but if these were too low key there is more upbeat stuff there. I’m surprised Landslide didn’t do as well just because that track is so immersive to me. But it also fits better within the context of that album. Those solos on Only One Word and Don’t Let Go are by Andy Timmons, BTW, someone I know you’ve mentioned being a fan of before. His work on Kip’s first two solo albums is outstanding, so I definitely recommend you at least check those out.
I figured Bowness and Moore’s voices would be a sticking point for you. To me they both fit the music they make very well, but obviously neither are especially gifted vocalists. Still I enjoy what they each do with what they have. Bowness is especially adept at just making his voice another sound texture in the whole musical picture. I think you’d definitely like both the album with Giancarlo Era and also Lost In The Ghost Light which is more of a 70s prog affair.
Chroma Key I think you should also explore those full albums because if you liked those tracks well enough there are others you should like too. Some of them I prefer but didn’t include here because I had to fit everything into the EP requirements. Dead Air for Radios is my favorite of the Chroma Key albums, so at least check it out, but You Go Now is good too.
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Guess I should check out The Expendables.
Oh, a comment you made earlier made me think you already knew them. I guess you just knew of them.
I won't post to much now as what I intend to do (if it's any interest to you?) Is post once all the results are in with an analysis of the songs I chose, the reasons behind them and the scores they got.
I'm definitely interested. Though I think you might be mistaking the scores for each of the 14 rounds adding up to the cumulative total, for an EP song score. I didn't score those individually, doing near 150 of them probably would have broken my brain.
Other than that I'll just end here with a it's been fun, thanks 'Lizzo'.
I unearthed that gem when skimming 425's previous roulette and couldn't resist it. I'm half-tempted to make my user text as something like "King Lizzo & The Jazz O'Spheres" to be trendy. :p
Arion took their name from Greek mythology and isn't supposed to be related to Ayreon. :)
It's so much more fun my way though. :)
Those solos on Only One Word and Don’t Let Go are by Andy Timmons, BTW, someone I know you’ve mentioned being a fan of before. His work on Kip’s first two solo albums is outstanding, so I definitely recommend you at least check those out.
Oh, wow. Yeah, due to the sheer volume of music I didn't have time to do as much research as I normally try to do, so I didn't get around to checking who played on those tracks, and just assumed it was Kip or some anonymous studio guy.
I figured Bowness and Moore’s voices would be a sticking point for you. To me they both fit the music they make very well, but obviously neither are especially gifted vocalists.
They weren't a problem, really, there were plenty of vocalists throughout the roulette that rankled me far more, they just didn't give it the pizzazz say, Vincent Cavanagh or Garm could have given it. But everyone has different vocal tastes.
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Thanks for having me, I had a good time :metal
Yeah, As I mentioned in my email, I really had no time to work on the EP much, obvious by the fact that I did not finish it :lol (August and the first have of this month have been consumed by work and other personal obligations). I could have come up with an extra 3-4 songs that would have made up for a nice EP (with a story), but guess I'll need to save the songs for the next one :corn
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:corn
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Thanks for having me, I had a good time :metal
Yeah, As I mentioned in my email, I really had no time to work on the EP much, obvious by the fact that I did not finish it :lol (August and the first have of this month have been consumed by work and other personal obligations). I could have come up with an extra 3-4 songs that would have made up for a nice EP (with a story), but guess I'll need to save the songs for the next one :corn
I'm surprised you didn't add some Tomorrows Bad Seeds to go with The Expendables. I think Litho would like them if he liked Expendables.
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I don't know a lot of their music, but I actually had R.O.M.P. on the "maybe" list. I need to check out more of their music
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I'm definitely interested. Though I think you might be mistaking the scores for each of the 14 rounds adding up to the cumulative total, for an EP song score. I didn't score those individually, doing near 150 of them probably would have broken my brain.
Sorry, I meant I've do a write about all of my selections starting with round 1 and ending on the roulette.
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I could have come up with an extra 3-4 songs that would have made up for a nice EP (with a story), but guess I'll need to save the songs for the next one :corn
Heh, well three of those bands may very well be banned by then. ;) Maybe there are more I won't find by whenever that is.
I'm definitely interested. Though I think you might be mistaking the scores for each of the 14 rounds adding up to the cumulative total, for an EP song score. I didn't score those individually, doing near 150 of them probably would have broken my brain.
Sorry, I meant I've do a write about all of my selections starting with round 1 and ending on the roulette.
Oh, oops, I thought you were misinterpreting me, but it was me that was misinterpreting you. :biggrin:
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(https://i.giphy.com/media/z5cNqbFbMTDA4/giphy.webp)
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6th Place
TAC - "Hazel The Witch"
Side 1:
1: Adrian Tăbăcaru - "Lucifer"
2: Tanith - "Falling Wizard"
3: Pale Divine - "Satan In Starlight"
4: Phantom Spell - "Blood Becomes Sand"
Side 2:
5: The Vintage Caravan - "Dark Times"
6: Horisont - "All Must Come To An End, Pt. 1 & 2"
7: Winterhawk - "Revival"
8: Dead Lord - "Evil Always Wins"
Early Impressions - "Getting the right vibe with this approach is a tricky endeavor, but this does better than I worried it might." - "I probably complain an uncomfortable amount about the keys songs are in, but possibly the best song is in one of my least favorite keys, which is the sign of a really good song."
Favorite - Phantom Spell - "Blood Becomes Sand"
Least Favorite - Horisont - "All Must Come To An End, Part I & II"
Final Summary:
While my tastes are generally more modern, this throwback-style EP outperforms expectations with engaging musicianship and a cohesive feel.
Details:
I must confess that while the wordplay is clever and the concept is intriguing, I was a bit apprehensive going in about how the execution would come out. Wytch Hazel is easily my favorite of the current retro-styled bands, but explaining what it is about them that is so appealing is quite difficult to do. A lot of it is in intangibles relating to their guitar tone, production style, songwriting, vocal character, and even their tuning and keys they perform in that are difficult if not impossible to boil down to a concrete formula. But to praise with faint damnation, if I'd come across this EP idea in the abstract in 2019 I'd have expected it to score less than it actually will. It's also fascinating that I knew next to nothing about any of these artists. Admittedly I don't seek out these type of bands very frequently, but I like to think I at least have my ear to the ground, and yet I think I might have heard one song each from Tanith and Winterhawk before, and never even heard of any of the other artists before this.
Adrian Tăbăcaru's "Lucifer" really sets the tone immediately. Of course he'd be Romanian, that Dracula-esque accent is just unmistakable. And it's a pretty good song to boot, with those fascinating sustained guitar lines, the contrast between the organ/vocal bits and the heavier passages, and then the last minute or so with the solo and guest vocals is particularly strong. Tanith's "Falling Wizard" is fairly straightforward, but with some solid playing, nice guitar harmonies, some tasty high-pitched toms, and more variety in the vocal format. Pale Divine's "Satan in Starlight" continues in the same vein, with more excellent playing and harmonized soloing.
Phantom Spell's "Blood Becomes Sand" was easily the more serendipitous song of the set. It sounds like an Iced Earth-Thin Lizzy collaboration that I didn't even realize I wanted. It has an outstanding epic feel, starting from just the acoustics, flanged electric fingerpicking, and delicious tone on the lightly overdriven harmonies. I'm unsure how exactly the chimier sustained guitar tones are being achieved, but they really add a lot, as well as the Melotron backing a couple minutes in. And then halfway through it becomes quite a journey with the tempo change, some superb harmonies, and the solo gets increasingly voluminous-sounding applying all the reverb and flanger to it while the drums go to having the snare on every beat. Then we get the sparkling synths panning across the stereo spectrum as it fades out, this is really just a magical track. All it really needs is a vocalist on the level of Matt Barlow or Phil Lynott to be complete.
We're back to more straight-ahead territory with The Vintage Caravan's "Dark Times", which is pretty good, but doesn't stand out as much. Apparently this is the heavy modulation section of the EP though with the strong effects on the vocals around 2:47. Horisont's "All Must Come To An End Part I & II" is pretty decent, and the piano is a nice contrast, though the song is a bit more on the lo-fi side production-wise than the others, and the vocals sound distractingly like Ozzy in many spots (although the lyrical reference is of course to Maiden).
Winterhawk's "Revival" might be the best song instrumental performance-wise of the set. It has quite a bit of Rush DNA to it. It has probably the best solo of the EP, some fabulous bass work, lively drumming (more vibrant higher-pitched toms), but nettlingly true to the early Rush experience, the vocals are a little overbearing in the higher range. Dead Lord's "Evil Always Wins" is a capable enough closer, with some more striking guitar work and harmonies. The vocals remind me of someone, but I can't put my finger exactly on who it is.
Score: 24/30
Final Cumulative Score: 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 9 + 8.5 + 9 + 7.25 + 8 + 8.25 + 8 + 24 = 129.5
Final Overall Thoughts:
You're probably a bit disappointed with your sudden dip in the standings in the last few rounds, but I think it has more to do with the unusually strong last minute push from a few of your competitors. More generally you seem to have a chameleon ability to mold many of your submissions to what people are looking for, which explains why you seem to perform unusually well at many of these roulettes. Circus of Fools and Dreamgrave in particular were two artists I knew nothing about, but out of hundreds of artists sent in the roulette seemed like part of a small handful that felt uniquely-suited to me. Lost Domain, Ereb Altor, Altherya, Abduction, Euphoreon, and Moonshade all interest me in varying degrees to listen to more from them. Even some of your more arguably self-indulgent submissions like Alice Cooper, Lucifer's Friend, and Helloween have expanded my views of them and I'll probably pursue them further as well. I might as well remind you again about that Alice Cooper playlist you've talked about, thought I imagine you probably haven't forgotten anyway. And outscoring Buddy with Innellea was a coup for the ages.
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5th Place
Lethean - "Second Chances (or Suicide?)"
1: Caligula's Horse - "Songs For No One"
2: Fates Warning - "The Light and the Shade of Things"
3: Leprous - "Distant Bells"
4: Sailors With Wax Wings - "If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat"
5: Einar Solberg - "The Glass Is Empty"
Early Impressions - "O I C what U did there." - "It feels like this ends rather abruptly, which is a little frustrating, but the journey was epic enough otherwise that I can only complain so much."
Lethean:
Favorite - Leprous - "Distant Bells"
Least Favorite - Fates Warning - "The Light and Shade of Things"
Final Summary:
I don't know if I'm yet 100% sold on some of these artists, but this is a much stronger foot forward for several of them, accomplishing the goal of the EP in spades.
Details:
So this is a rather fascinating mixture of artists. I've heard material from all of them before (sometimes in ways I didn't realize at first), so the title makes perfect sense. I already talked briefly about how I seem to be getting quite a lot of Jim Grey in this roulette in my writeup for Puppies, which has a different Caligula's Horse song. But you're the first one to actually submit a song that makes me think I've been undervaluing this band more than I realized. I don't know if you went back and read my writeup for "Dragonfly", which appeared in the first round, but one of the things that didn't quite work for me was Jim's upper range. This song thankfully mostly avoids it, or when it's there it's part of backing vocals awash in enough effects to make it more palatable. It also focuses more on the heavier, bassier riffing feel which works well for their sound, and has a lot of notable guitar work. So this is definitely the best thing sent from them or Jim yet.
Fates Warning is one of those gaping holes in my musical knowledge. I own one of their earliest albums, but I've heard a miniscule amount of their work since then. This is unfortunately the weakest track on the EP, but that says something about how marvelous everything else is, because even here while I'm not blown away, I am still interested in pursuing Fates Warning further, and I've only heard a limited amount of Ray Alder, but I can see why he's become a fairly revered vocalist, as his vocals here are definitely the strong point of the song. I also particularly like the quieter middle part of the song at 6:14 with the acoustics, flanged clean electric, and slide lead work. Jarzombek's playing is perhaps a bit more restrained than I would have expected, but still supports the material quite well and adds some flair. I'll have to listen to their earlier work to hear Mark Zonder, who I've always been a bit curious about.
I suspect Leprous is still going to be a lengthier process for me to really get more into, but I think you've struck gold with this particular song. I still worry superficially-similar ones from them are not going to work as well, but "Distant Bells" manages to strike the right chords. Einar's vocal style is not one of my normal preferred types, but he's so good at it, and the melodies and dynamics are so exceptional that he makes it work better than it has any right to. That more fragile male falsetto range often nettles me, but he threads the needle here, reminding me a bit of Sam Smith, one of the more skilled practitioners of that approach. The piano, cello and harp accompaniment and the two layers of percussive but heavily-delayed guitar in the five minute range also add quite a lot, including the pizzicato strings at the ending. Kolstad's drumming is rather tasty as well, though I still feel like I've mostly heard him in more relatively subdued modes.
Jumping ahead, where Einar remains the central feature of the final song, "The Glass is Empty", the first half of the song is quite excellent with the interaction of the string arrangements, piano, and choral backing vocals. My main quibble is that the last six-ish minutes of the song have this nearly constant slow build, and then it cuts off right as it reaches maximum tension. I guess the "progressive" thing may be to subvert your expectations, but it just builds up so much pressure with no release for it that it is a bit rankling, even on repeat listens where I know what is going to happen. It's tempting to make a custom cut of the song that just splices in a repeat of the section at 4:10, which would achieve a more proper catharsis. Given the title of the song, "The Glass Is Empty", that's probably not the artistic intention, but it would make it a more fulfilling listening experience, for me at least.
And then we circle back to the crowning achievement of the EP, somehow sneaking in some Jonas Renkse. Now all is clear what you meant in the initial PM. It's possible I've been remiss in hearing other guest appearances of his as well, but apparently this is one that I really overlooked. Perhaps I heard it years ago and since he's a bit buried in the mix, just never consciously thought to return to it, I'm not sure. I was really missing out though, because it's quite a magnificent track. Those exquisite harmonies, the cello and sublime drenched guitar tone in the middle, it's almost like a Godspeed You! Black Emperor/Katatonia collaboration I didn't even realize I needed.
And just reading lightly about them, they really are a supergroup of sorts. I've heard some of Aidan Baker's ambient work, Colin Marston has been in a bunch of bands I've listened to, I know I've heard something or another of Prurient's at one point, Hildur Guðnadóttir has done some stellar film/show scoring (and I didn't realize that her brother is in Agent Fresco, and guested on "The Glass Is Empty"), David Tibet is an iconic figure in the industrial scene, plus there are guest spots from Aaron Stainthorpe and Marissa Nadler. I've already given cursory listens to several other songs from this album, and will have to sink much more time into them later.
Score: 26.25/30
Final Cumulative Score: 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 9 + 8.5 + 9 + 7.25 + 8 + 8.25 + 8 + 26.25 = 129.75
Final Overall Thoughts:
I can't seem to find the quotation now, but I remember you saying something awhile back about us having Katatonia as a shared favorite band not really meaning anything about our tastes having much in common. While that's technically true, your placement here would certainly indicate that we do though. I'm not quite as into some of your favorite bands as you are (yet?), and I'm sure I have many pockets of favorites that aren't your thing, but we do seem to both have an affinity for certain varieties of bands, especially the somewhat more somber ends of the global prog metal scene in particular. I had kind of gotten away from it to a certain extent over time, but a lot of your entries have made me realize it's still a vital aspect of my taste that'll probably never go away. I'll certainly be looking forward to hearing more from Voyager, Solefald, Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik, Kiko Loureiro, Angra, Threshold, Crimson Glory, Riverside, and Daydream XI. And it's quite a feat for you to have snuck in at least three loosely Katatonia-affiliated artists with Arcturus, Full of Keys, and now Sailors With Wax Wings. Your strong performance in the final few rounds has managed to catapult you from 8th place after round 11, now to finishing in the top 5. Bravo, bravo!
---4th Place
ariich - "Paragons of Creation, Arbiters of Change"
1: Disillusion - "In Waking Hours"
2: An Abstract Illusion - "Drop This Planet of Dust"
3: Xanthochroid - "To Lost and Ancient Gardens"
4: Aetherian - "Army of Gaia"
5: Xanthochroid - "The Sound of Hunger Rises"
6: Disillusion - "The Liberation"
7: Xanthochroid - "To Souls Distant and Dreaming"
Early Impressions - "This dances around the edges of the sounds I like, and that's probably good enough." - "One song sounds like part of a holy grail long lost Disney musical that there have only been whispers regarding."
Favorite - Xanthochroid - "To Lost and Ancient Gardens"
Least Favorite - Aetherian - "Army of Gaia"
Final Summary:
This is a pretty safe submission, but I'm quite often perfectly fine with safe, and this late in the game, it's all it takes to finish well.
Details:
So it seems that we generally have slightly different flavors of melodeath we prefer, but they're still overall close enough to be safe bets. And we send each other these heavy EPs with lots of harsh vocals, and what are our favorite tracks on them? The folky acoustic ones with nary a hint of aggression in sight. Yeah, go figure.
Disillusion's "In Waking Hours" makes for a great intro. I find a lot of those shorter acoustic pieces that these type of bands release quite addicting. Sometimes the ones with string accompaniments can be a bit more artificial than I'd like when they're keyboard-generated, but here it's clear that the patch is more of a synth pad that is obviously electronic, but has the timbral characteristics you'd want from a string section, so it merges the worlds quite nicely. I've heard a bit of Disillusion before, but they're one of far too many bands that I have just never gotten around to familiarizing myself enough with. "The Liberation" is probably my second favorite song of the batch, it feels somewhere in the ballpark of Soilwork covering Opeth, but with enough unique characteristics to not sound just like a clone (though sometimes the clones are a lot of fun too). The modulation effects on the clean vocals about a half-hour in and some of the doomier riffs are a nice touch as well. I clearly need to check out more of their work.
An Abstract Illusion seems to be becoming one of the bigger names of late, particularly here. As you pointed out, I did check out their album last year fairly early on in the roulette to see if it was worthy of a high placement on my too hastily thrown-together best of the year list. I enjoyed it but found it too dense to rocket up the list very quickly, and my time was stretched extra-thin as it was anyway. So this is quite useful to see that their earlier work is also of a high quality. "Drop This Planet of Dust" doesn't move me quite as much as I'd like it to, but it's still close enough to what I like that I'm interested in exploring more of their material as well. The more prominent bass work, sustained guitar lines, synthesizer lead incorporation, and piano are auspicious to more of their work having a chance to resonate even more with me.
Easily the most enchanting piece here is Xanthochroid's "To Lost and Ancient Gardens". There's a certain whimsical quality to it which generated the impression, and the vocals are rather amusingly anodyne for a metal band, almost Glee-like, but I enjoy those sort of contrasts, and it's just an ensorcelling bit of songwriting with quite charming interwoven acoustic guitar tapestries, almost dulcimer-like. I can't help but be drawn to it. It reminds me a little of Green Carnation's "Transparent Me".
Then "The Sound of Hunger Rises" opens with that sort of dramatic Latin chanting that has been done quite a lot, but it's another trope that I just can't resist. The metallic parts of it aren't particularly compelling, and the croaky harsh vocals are a bit odd, but the pipe organ and acoustic ending with the choral vocals are engaging enough to elevate it some. I also particularly enjoy the chromatic percussion doubling the riff at 19:16. :"To Souls Lost and Dreaming" has some excellent soloing, atmospheric clean guitar work, a splendid bass-driven intro, and it seems too on-the-nose to be just a happy accident, but the percussive acoustic guitar work evokes my worst submission in your roulette. Maybe not all was lost there. ;-)
Aetherian's "Army of Gaia" sounds impressively Insomnium-like. I still don't entirely know why that particular slant on melodeath is one I often like but don't completely fall for, but it's fairly well-done. They have a rather unique-sounding percussive attack to some of the synchronized riffs that I haven't heard anything exactly like before.
As I told you earlier, I appreciate the extra effort in crafting a story of sorts, picking artwork and such. Part of me wants to hand out extra points to the few of you that went above and beyond in that regard, though it wouldn't technically be fair via the guidelines I created earlier. This EP is solid enough to not really need them anyway though.
Score: 25/30
Final Cumulative Score: 7.75 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 9 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 7.75 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 25 = 130.5
Final Overall Thoughts:
You are one of the relatively few people left from the "glory days" of the forum, and though I don't recall us interacting a whole lot back then, from what I can recall, while the specifics differ a bit, we've had broadly similar musical trajectories. Sometimes the oddest things stick in your head years later though. I remember at one point earlier on way back then grapping with the spelling of your username and making some pirate joke about how I thought it was or should be "arrich", lol. You've given me quite a lot of music to chew on now though, with Monica Heldal being one of my most-listened-to artists of the roulette so far (with poor Puppies having had yet another artist stolen out from under him), and Dissona and Submotion Orchestra being two other top favorites. Nova Collective, Stortregn, Wormwood, Ocean Colour Scene, Ultravox, and Beyond the Bridge were also less familiar to me (in sound if not in name), and I'll have to explore more from them. And then you've further stoked my interest in Jani Liimatinainen, Insomnium, Feed Me, and Borknagar as well.
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Who are the final three now?
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Evermind, Soundscape and Natchmerrie?
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Yeah but there's no way I'll clear the 1.25 point gap. My first impression said "the least comprehensible flow". :biggrin:
And obviously Lethean managed to sneak in some Jonas Renske on his EP :lol
Good luck Nachtmerrie and Soundscape!
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Yeah but there's no way I'll clear the 1.25 point gap.
Vmadera00 and Lethean cleared larger gaps than that.
[LJS's secretary posting who has not yet been informed of the last three results] :corn
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Yeah but there's no way I'll clear the 1.25 point gap. My first impression said "the least comprehensible flow". :biggrin:
And obviously Lethean managed to sneak in some Jonas Renske on his EP :lol
Good luck Nachtmerrie and Soundscape!
Thanks! I´ll stay awake until we get the final results :corn
Good to see Litho likes Disillusion. Ayam might be might favorite 2022 release in hindsight.
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5th Place
Lethean - "Second Chances (or Suicide?)"
1: Caligula's Horse - "Songs For No One"
2: Fates Warning - "The Light and the Shade of Things"
3: Leprous - "Distant Bells"
4: Sailors With Wax Wings - "If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat"
5: Einar Solberg - "The Glass Is Empty"
Early Impressions - "O I C what U did there." - "It feels like this ends rather abruptly, which is a little frustrating, but the journey was epic enough otherwise that I can only complain so much."
Lethean:
Favorite - Leprous - "Distant Bells"
Least Favorite - Fates Warning - "The Light and Shade of Things"
Final Summary:
I don't know if I'm yet 100% sold on some of these artists, but this is a much stronger foot forward for several of them, accomplishing the goal of the EP in spades.
Very glad to hear this!
Details:
So this is a rather fascinating mixture of artists. I've heard material from all of them before (sometimes in ways I didn't realize at first), so the title makes perfect sense. I already talked briefly about how I seem to be getting quite a lot of Jim Grey in this roulette in my writeup for Puppies, which has a different Caligula's Horse song. But you're the first one to actually submit a song that makes me think I've been undervaluing this band more than I realized. I don't know if you went back and read my writeup for "Dragonfly", which appeared in the first round, but one of the things that didn't quite work for me was Jim's upper range. This song thankfully mostly avoids it, or when it's there it's part of backing vocals awash in enough effects to make it more palatable. It also focuses more on the heavier, bassier riffing feel which works well for their sound, and has a lot of notable guitar work. So this is definitely the best thing sent from them or Jim yet.
I didn't re-read that writeup. I just absolutely love this song, and it was between this one and Graves. Graves was too long to be able to fit everything else, so the choice was easy. For me, this song is just about an emotional connection and the lyrics are incredible.
Fates Warning is one of those gaping holes in my musical knowledge. I own one of their earliest albums, but I've heard a miniscule amount of their work since then. This is unfortunately the weakest track on the EP, but that says something about how marvelous everything else is, because even here while I'm not blown away, I am still interested in pursuing Fates Warning further, and I've only heard a limited amount of Ray Alder, but I can see why he's become a fairly revered vocalist, as his vocals here are definitely the strong point of the song. I also particularly like the quieter middle part of the song at 6:14 with the acoustics, flanged clean electric, and slide lead work. Jarzombek's playing is perhaps a bit more restrained than I would have expected, but still supports the material quite well and adds some flair. I'll have to listen to their earlier work to hear Mark Zonder, who I've always been a bit curious about.
Yes, I'm sure that there are better Fates Warning songs to showcase the drumming a bit more. For me, this song is absolutely about Ray Alder and I definitely wanted to showcase him. I sometimes underrate him when thinking about my favorite singers, but every time I hear him I correct myself. He has a very expressive delivery and is a huge part of what makes Fates so special.
I suspect Leprous is still going to be a lengthier process for me to really get more into, but I think you've struck gold with this particular song. I still worry superficially-similar ones from them are not going to work as well, but "Distant Bells" manages to strike the right chords. Einar's vocal style is not one of my normal preferred types, but he's so good at it, and the melodies and dynamics are so exceptional that he makes it work better than it has any right to. That more fragile male falsetto range often nettles me, but he threads the needle here, reminding me a bit of Sam Smith, one of the more skilled practitioners of that approach. The piano, cello and harp accompaniment and the two layers of percussive but heavily-delayed guitar in the five minute range also add quite a lot, including the pizzicato strings at the ending. Kolstad's drumming is rather tasty as well, though I still feel like I've mostly heard him in more relatively subdued modes.
:metal I'm pretty sure I mentioned in the pm that this song was a grower for me; I wasn't sure it was the best idea to send in a roulette but decided to go for it. I'd had the album for quite a while and thought it was a pleasant enough song, then one day it *really* hit me and it's been a favorite ever since. Another emotional heavy hitter for me. And I saw this on a live stream where Einar was on fire and embellishing his vocals and that only made it even that much more important to me.
Jumping ahead, where Einar remains the central feature of the final song, "The Glass is Empty", the first half of the song is quite excellent with the interaction of the string arrangements, piano, and choral backing vocals. My main quibble is that the last six-ish minutes of the song have this nearly constant slow build, and then it cuts off right as it reaches maximum tension. I guess the "progressive" thing may be to subvert your expectations, but it just builds up so much pressure with no release for it that it is a bit rankling, even on repeat listens where I know what is going to happen. It's tempting to make a custom cut of the song that just splices in a repeat of the section at 4:10, which would achieve a more proper catharsis. Given the title of the song, "The Glass Is Empty", that's probably not the artistic intention, but it would make it a more fulfilling listening experience, for me at least.
I get this and probably felt the same way at first. Especially since it closes the whole album. But I guess I got used to it because it doesn't bother me anymore. And I would agree that it fits with the song title.
And then we circle back to the crowning achievement of the EP, somehow sneaking in some Jonas Renkse. Now all is clear what you meant in the initial PM. It's possible I've been remiss in hearing other guest appearances of his as well, but apparently this is one that I really overlooked. Perhaps I heard it years ago and since he's a bit buried in the mix, just never consciously thought to return to it, I'm not sure. I was really missing out though, because it's quite a magnificent track. Those exquisite harmonies, the cello and sublime drenched guitar tone in the middle, it's almost like a Godspeed You! Black Emperor/Katatonia collaboration I didn't even realize I needed.
I think this was the crowning achievement of the entire roulette. :) I definitely wanted you to discover his vocals while listening to the song vs reading about it first, so I'm glad it worked out that way. There might or might not be others you're missing based on your rym - I'm pretty sure you've heard both The Ocean tracks for example even though one of the albums is just on a wishlist. What about Long Distance Calling? I was really tempted to send that one but I thought there was a greater chance you'd have heard it before.
I can't seem to find the quotation now, but I remember you saying something awhile back about us having Katatonia as a shared favorite band not really meaning anything about our tastes having much in common. While that's technically true, your placement here would certainly indicate that we do though. I'm not quite as into some of your favorite bands as you are (yet?), and I'm sure I have many pockets of favorites that aren't your thing, but we do seem to both have an affinity for certain varieties of bands, especially the somewhat more somber ends of the global prog metal scene in particular. I had kind of gotten away from it to a certain extent over time, but a lot of your entries have made me realize it's still a vital aspect of my taste that'll probably never go away. I'll certainly be looking forward to hearing more from Voyager, Solefald, Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik, Kiko Loureiro, Angra, Threshold, Crimson Glory, Riverside, and Daydream XI. And it's quite a feat for you to have snuck in at least three loosely Katatonia-affiliated artists with Arcturus, Full of Keys, and now Sailors With Wax Wings. Your strong performance in the final few rounds has managed to catapult you from 8th place after round 11, now to finishing in the top 5. Bravo, bravo!
That's awesome. Aside from Crimson Glory and Daydream XI (both of which I do like just fine), and Full of Keys and Sailors (which I only know a little), the other bands listed are favorites of mine. I hope you enjoy discovering them and getting more into them.
Glad to have had a strong finish to the roulette, and it was a lot of fun to participate.
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6th Place
TAC - "Hazel The Witch"
Oh..bummed to fall out of the Top 5.
But 6th out of this many participants is pretty strong.
Thanks for running this marathon of a roulette. That was a lot of rounds.
Personally, I actually love my EP and it's probably my favorite one I've made, but I knew it was chancy, and very happy it exceeded expectations.
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And obviously Lethean managed to sneak in some Jonas Renske
And on not just any random roulette host, but on a huge Katatonia fan. Quite pleased with myself. :)
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Great job, Litho. This was fun.
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Great job, Litho. This was fun.
Still is :P
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Great job, Litho. This was fun.
Still is :P
:lol
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I think this was the crowning achievement of the entire roulette. :) I definitely wanted you to discover his vocals while listening to the song vs reading about it first, so I'm glad it worked out that way. There might or might not be others you're missing based on your rym - I'm pretty sure you've heard both The Ocean tracks for example even though one of the albums is just on a wishlist. What about Long Distance Calling? I was really tempted to send that one but I thought there was a greater chance you'd have heard it before.
Yeah, probably. It didn't take more than a few seconds for me to go "wait, is that...? Yes, yes it is." :)
The Ocean was borderline being banned by the philosophy of my original ban list, since Mesozoic | Cenozoic was a near 4.5 star album for me, and I know "Jurassic | Cretaceous" quite well. I even prematurely put The Ocean on my "artists that excited me" RYM list due to that, partially because they're one of the relatively few sludge metal bands I've taken a liking to. Of course, I've heard a few other albums of theirs, but don't really know any of them well, and Luke sent them in an earlier round. I've listened to "Devonian: Nascent", but don't know it as well, so maybe you could have slipped it through. Same deal with "The Nearing Grave" - heard it, don't know it terribly well.
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I think this was the crowning achievement of the entire roulette. :) I definitely wanted you to discover his vocals while listening to the song vs reading about it first, so I'm glad it worked out that way. There might or might not be others you're missing based on your rym - I'm pretty sure you've heard both The Ocean tracks for example even though one of the albums is just on a wishlist. What about Long Distance Calling? I was really tempted to send that one but I thought there was a greater chance you'd have heard it before.
Yeah, probably. It didn't take more than a few seconds for me to go "wait, is that...? Yes, yes it is." :)
:biggrin:
The Ocean was borderline being banned by the philosophy of my original ban list, since Mesozoic | Cenozoic was a near 4.5 star album for me, and I know "Jurassic | Cretaceous" quite well. I even prematurely put The Ocean on my "artists that excited me" RYM list due to that, partially because they're one of the relatively few sludge metal bands I've taken a liking to. Of course, I've heard a few other albums of theirs, but don't really know any of them well, and Luke sent them in an earlier round. I've listened to "Devonian: Nascent", but don't know it as well, so maybe you could have slipped it through. Same deal with "The Nearing Grave" - heard it, don't know it terribly well.
I like Devonian: Nascent better of the two, so I definitely recommend giving it more of a listen. And The Nearing Grave - it's so so so good. I should send you the concept album I sent TAC a while back. :)
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Didn't quite crack the top 3, but still a solid finish - glad you liked it!
This was one epic roulette.
Great job, Litho. This was fun.
Still is :P
Nah all the important stuff is finished now, NEXT PLEASE
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(https://media.tenor.com/HXx16SVlJaYAAAAC/rihanna-queen.gif)
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3rd Place
SoundscapeMN - "SoundscapeMN's MPAR (Modern progressive Art Rock) Sampler aka allmediareviews-core mix"
1: The Family Crest - "Beneath the Brine"
2: Fjokra - "Infinite Loops"
3: Jeff Buckley - "Last Goodbye"
4: Oceansize - "Unfamiliar"
5: Kimbra - "Cameo Lover"
6: Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears - "The Purple Rocket"
7: Kiss Kiss - "Through the Day"
8: Cloud Cult - "Sleepwalker"
9: The River Empires - "Three Tigers"
10: Bend Sinister - "Quest For Love"
Early Impressions - "This has one of the best "Christmas songs" I've ever heard." - "This has some of the most fascinating instrumental parts of the round, though some of the vocals are kind of odd."
Favorite - Kimbra - "Cameo Lover"
Least Favorite - The Family Crest - "Beneath the Brine"
Final Summary:
It's fascinating how this broad style, older progressive rock, and the indie rock scene (a la Tomi's EP) often have such creative songwriting and instrumentation, but I suppose sometimes it's a bit too much creativity vocally for my palate. But also like Tomi's EP, but even more so, the strong material overpowers the weaker, with half of the songs having much appeal to me in a variety of ways.
Details:
So I don't know if it hit you which song my impression refers to, but it's Kimbra's "Cameo Lover". It's hidden a bit in the verse, but it has some tambourine accents, that bell patch, and once the chorus hits the reverb widens a fair amount, the tambourine becomes more prominent on the half-time backbeat, then constant on the normal second half of the chorus, and there's that Motown-styled snare on every beat propulsion, all with these icy high piano stab ornaments. I love this song, and even though lyrically it has nothing to do with Christmas, it's going on my "I wish stores would play this instead of the same old tired and worn-out tunes they always do" list for that time of the year. It puts me in the mood for that time of the year.
Even the less Christmas-y details on it are radiant, like the pizzicato strings in the first half of the first chorus, the backing harmony vocals in the second verse that scoop into the notes from right below them, the horn arrangement in the chorus with the alternation between punctuations and volume swells, or the interaction of the clean guitar and piano in the bridge. This was definitely the risk of the round, and apparently you almost didn't send it. The one album I'd heard from her prior to the roulette disappointed me, but I'd heard a few other scattered songs that were auspicious enough that I still wanted to give her other music a shot. So this one really paid off.
A lot of the rest of the songs I suppose are somewhere in the ballpark of the alt-prog scene, which I know you've talked about at various points, here, on Rate Your Music and on your Youtube channel. There are a lot of branches of it, and historically I've tended to go more for the Tool and/or Porcupine Tree-esque versions of it. I'm much less familiar with other facets of it, some of which I suppose derive from The Mars Volta, and probably some other artists depending upon how you slice it up. I often find a lot of artists in this musical orbit fascinating instrumentally, but the vocal styles are often less to my taste. But I want to dig further into them to find ones that connect with me more.
The strength of "Beneath the Brine" from The Family Crest is the cello and string arrangements individually, as well as the choral integration. The vocals aren't particularly vexing, but are a bit out of my wheelhouse though. But somehow the different elements don't fully congeal for me. It's interesting that you just mentioned The Dear Hunter as a reference here, as in my initial notes for this track I had one that there's a slight instrumental clash reminiscent of "A Night On the Town". Generally I do often like a lot of heavily-layered music, but sometimes the individual components seem to fight each other a bit much, which is what seems to have happened here.
Fjokra's "Infinite Loops" is a similar story, though with a different mixture of elements. A lot of the synth work is quite splendid, particularly the pads in the verses and the piano and sparkling textures around 3:05. It also has a vivacious energy with the bass lines and doubling of them with guitar riffs in the choruses. The vocals don't do as much for me though, that sort of talk-singing style is one that often doesn't work that well for me.
Then we get to Jeff Buckley, who I already talked about a bit in the writeup for Puppies' EP. He is clearly a talent that I've been ignoring for far too long. You'd think Katatonia covering "Nightmares By the Sea" from him would have turned me onto him earlier, but for whatever reason it didn't happen. He's really fantastic at what he does though, and I'm going to have to explore more of his music. That central bass-driven riff at 0:36 is quite intoxicating especially, as well as that piquant doubled riff at 2:34. Apparently you and Puppies must have subconsciously collaborated on your EPs with each other, because then we have a different song from Oceansize, making you the only two participants to share two separate artists in your EPs. Fortunately, they're one that increasingly appeals to me, so I'll certainly be looking into them more. Those kind of gamelan/King Crimson-ish ping-ponging clean guitars at 3:15 are especially tantalizing. And their vocals are fine.
Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears' "The Purple Rocket" took a bit of time to wrap my head around. The transitions between the surf/Beach Boys-esque parts and the fusion-esque unison bits seemed a little jarring for awhile, but they're kind of fun, and with some dazzling bass lines. It's actually somewhat like a more coherent version of Mr. Bungle's "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare" from a few rounds ago, though I'm not particularly crazy about the vocals here either. That also goes for Kiss Kiss' "Through the Day", where the vocals aren't really up my alley, but the crazy string riffs and bursts of dissonance are rather intriguing.
Cloud Cult's "Sleepwalker" has my favorite instrumental moment of the whole EP, with what sounds like a tongue drum similar to one I have, mixed with glockenspiel. The writing there is quite enrapturing. The heavier guitars that come in later with the grinding synth augmentation are potent as well. But again, I'm not sure what to do with the vocals, lol. They're not really overtly offputting per se, I just find myself wishing they were different. They're a bit better later on when they're more aggressive and layered. The vocal cadence of that "I know you're on it" line keeps reminding me of Steely Dan's "Peg" with the "I know I love you better" line.
"Three Tigers" from The River Empires might be my second favorite song here, pretty much everything works on this tune. A fun rhythmic groove, lively bass lines, piano, organ, and even the vocals work this time. The interplay in the a cappella section is particularly ravishing. Apparently this is a Dear Hunter-affiliated band - I'm not sure I realized he did production for other bands, though I suppose it makes more sense in retrospect. Then we close with Bend Sinister's "Quest For Love". This might have the strongest duality of what I like and dislike. The instrumentation is superb with all of the guitar, organ, synth, and bass soloing and unisons, but what bugs me about it? You guessed it, the vocals. The more they remind me of The Mars Volta or Coheed & Cambria the more likely they are to vex me.
Score: 24.5/30
Final Cumulative Score: 8 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 8.5 + 8.75 + 7 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.75 + 7.25 + 7.75 + 24.5 = 130.75
Final Overall Thoughts:
You were one of the other few people I recalled from the forum a decade and a half or so ago, though I believe our tastes were further apart then. I think some combination of your posts and lists here, on RYM and your Youtube videos convinced me that you were much more versed in some areas of music I wanted to get more into, kind of a more eclectic mix of things in a similar way to HOF. Convincing you to join even though you're not a roulette regular has proven to be a great decision. Prog metal of sorts has been such a home base historically that when I've branched out in various other genres I've often neglected to pay attention to the less-metallic artists under the prog umbrella. I guess it often felt too obvious, but meant I missed out on a great many artists.
So I have a ton to check out more music from, from Pepe Deluxé to Kevin Gilbert to Timbre to Greg Herriges to Eldren to the Barock Project, or even somewhat less connected artists like Ours and The Warning, or In Vain. I'm still nervous about The Dear Hunter, but they're such a favorite of some people that I'll certainly have to give them more chances as well. I was kind of astonished that you were leading the roulette for a good chunk of it in the middle, I was not expecting us to have quite that many things in common musically. Some strong performances from a couple others in the second half eroded and overcame your lead eventually, but it's still clear that there's more overlap than I anticipated, and even a number of artists that you didn't send but I've noticed you discussing more than most did well, like Dirt Poor Robins and The Rein of Kindo.
---2nd Place
Evermind - "Le Roi Est Mort, Vive La Reine!"
1: Mono Inc. - "Nemesis"
2: Diablo Swing Orchestra - "Kevlar Sweethearts"
3: The Foreshadowing - "The Wandering"
4: Diablo Swing Orchestra - "Justice For Saint Mary"
5: Winona Oak - "SHE"
6: Genus Ordinis Dei - "The Flemish Obituary"
7: J2 - "Stay Alive"
8: Röyksopp - "Running To the Sea" - with Susanne Sundfør
9: Aviators - "Requiem For the King"
Early Impressions - "This might be the best batch of songs, but with the least comprehensible flow." - "Here we have more bands and songs that I probably should know well enough to ban, but I don't."
Favorite - Röyksopp - "Running To the Sea"
Least Favorite - Genus Ordinis Dei - "The Flemish Obituary"
Final Summary:
This EP is all over the place stylistically, but, so is my taste, and this touches on many different musical elements I like.
Details:
The first couple paragraphs coming up here are triggered by your structure making me consciously aware of flow more than most other EPs, though I'm going to generalize a bit so that I can have people refer back to this if questions arise about my thought process on incorporating flow in these EPs. So when I knew that I wanted to have an EP round in this roulette I realized that they're a bit of an eagerly-anticipated tradition by some of the roulette regulars. But I was less sure of how exactly I wanted to handle the execution of them, and part of why I put off laying down too many specific rules until towards the end of the roulette. I think some people are definitely more album-oriented listeners than I am. While I listen to them a decent amount, it's just as often for the sake of convenience. I probably have less of a defined sense of how an album should flow than other participants probably do, particularly ones like ariich who weigh flow as an entire third of an EP's score.
I did want people to put some thought into it and see what resulted from it, but ultimately what I've settled on is mostly using it as a ceiling raiser for participant's scores rather than a floor lowerer. I've noticed as I wrote the writeups that I mostly stuck to my usual method of commenting primarily on artists and songs, and had to keep occasionally reminding myself to think about the transitions between everything as well. Still, there's relatively little commentary on that compared to everything else, so I've factored it in mostly when it was conspicuous or particularly exemplary. My primary goal was still to receive the best possible set of songs, and I didn't want people fussing too much over not including songs just because they didn't fit an ideal perfectly-flowing EP.
Now, more specifically onto your EP, this actually felt more targeted to me than many of the other EPs, enjoyable as some of them are. I'm not entirely sure how much of it is you managing to start figuring out my tastes towards the end of the roulette (though the more average scores for Thrice and Dire Straits might belie that) vs. us just having a decent overlap of musical taste, but I guess it doesn't particularly matter for the moment. Diablo Swing Orchestra, The Foreshadowing, and Röyksopp were all artists I've heard more music from beforehand, the others were much less familiar.
I've heard most of The Foreshadowing's output and have told myself I needed to listen to them more, but it hasn't seemed to happen enough yet, though that may start changing now with you nudging me in that direction. The clean guitar swells, flowing melodic leads, octave doubled vocals - it's such a comfortable feeling sound, that I suspect they're in the Soen category of bands I should be a bigger fan of, but needed some external prompting to realize. That melancholic, slightly dramatic bass/baritone vocal is right in the sweet spot for my tastes. Diablo Swing Orchestra is a band I've heard at least an album from and a few scattered songs from, and have been intrigued by, but just never got around to spending much time with them.
And then I'm familiar with Röyksopp's collaborations with Kate Havnevik, and had heard the Susanne Sundfør tunes she'd guested on with them once or twice, but since she's a relatively newer artist to me I hadn't really gotten that acquainted with them yet. So you caught me in the right place in the cycle there. The other artists are all new to me (other than a cursory listen to the J2 track you sent recently in another roulette), but seem promising.
Mono Inc.'s "Nemesis" is right in my wheelhouse. The moody vibe, the acoustic fingerpicking, great lead vocals, the choral backing vocals, the piano accents, even the melodica soloing is unexpectedly delightful. It would fit well on Green Carnation's The Acoustic Verses. Both Diablo Swing Orchestra tracks are quite enjoyable, I don't seem to remember the string arrangements being as prominent on what I had previously heard from them, but they work quite well. I remembered them having horns, which are a gratifying inclusion, as well as the bass lines and acoustic guitar work. "Justice For Saint Mary" was especially quite a ride, I sensed something bigger was coming, and it definitely paid off, almost too much. The dubstep elements at the end kind of took me out of it at first, though I've gotten used to them now. The way they build up towards the conclusion is quite breathtaking though, with the acoustic hits panning back and forth, the deep pizzicato strings, the horn swells, it's a great application of compositional panache.
Winona Oak's "SHE" is just the perfect sort of darker pop song I like, that was certainly an excellent choice. J2's "Stay Alive" is a much more cinematic version of that, and another fantastic song. Röyksopp's "Running To the Sea" is also quite straightforward, and the steady four-on-the-floor drive seems like a format that much of DTF shies away from, but with the right vocalist and melodies, I can't resist them, and that's exactly what we have here.
Aviators' "Requiem For the King" is a brilliant marriage of elements, I love how seamlessly the acoustic guitars and harp-like textures fit with the glitchy and industrial-ish percussion. Swinging back to the hardest song to evaluate, Genus Ordinis Dei's "The Flemish Obituary", I'm still not entirely sure what to make of it. The overall darker vibe is nice, with the contrast between the choral vocals, pipe organ, piano, and the heavier riffing. It's pleasant enough when I'm listening to it, but for whatever reason none of it really sticks with me melodically afterwards. And the harsh vocals are kind of unusual, though I don't mind them per se. I see that Lacuna Coil's drummer was a member for awhile, and Cristina guests on a different track, so I will have to check that one out though.
Score: 26.5/30
Final Cumulative Score: 7.75 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8.5 + 8 + 9 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 8.75 + 26.5 = 132
Final Overall Thoughts:
Well, you've probably been the most serendipitous contestant of the roulette. You were understandably away from the forum for awhile for half the time I'd rejoined before starting this roulette, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect from your submissions. They tended to either significantly boost my interest in an artist I'd heard a bit from before, like Soen, Thrice, Kalandra, and Peter Heppner - or be alluring music from artists I knew very little about, like Black Peaks, Marketa Irglova, Árstíðir, Skein, Hypno5e, Amadeus Awad's Eon, Evan Carson, or So Hideous. You started out in the middle, slowly worked your way up the standings, seemed to be slipping towards the end, and then pulled this surprise upset second place finish over Soundscape at the last minute with two extremely strong last rounds. It's been nine months, so you can finally take that well-needed and deserved vacation now. :-p
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1st Place
Nachtmerrie - "The Dark Path To Aurora Borealis"
1: Blut aus Nord - "Tales of the Old Dreamer"
2: Terzij de Horde - "A Robe of Words"
3: Psychonaut - "Violate Consensus Reality" - with Stefanie Mannaerts and Colin H. Van Eeckhout
4: Maer - "Sister"
5: Toundra - "Strelka"
6: Cult of Luna - "In Awe Of"
Early Impressions - "This is still lacking melodically in spots, but there's more in other sections, and enough cool stuff going on that it might work." - "A lot of this is in a style or two of music adjacent to one I love, but which I tend to neglect exploring, so this is useful as a foothold to look into these artists further."
Favorite - Psychonaut - "Violate Consensus Reality"
Least Favorite - Toundra - "Strelka"
Final Summary:
This grew over time to become of the stronger EPs, which while still not being as melodic in spots as I'd like, isn't as much of an issue over a whole EP as in a single song round. It also has intoxicating styles I want to explore more, bolstered by the single best song of the entire roulette ("Violate Consensus Reality"), which was enough to fend off would-be challengers for the crown.
Details:
I was a bit apprehensive at first when listening to this EP. The first two tracks hearken back to some of the issues I had with Amenra much earlier in the roulette. But as the EP progressed and plays of it started stacking up, my opinion evolved. Blut aus Nord's "Tales of the Old Dreamer" is quite an unusual piece of music. It's bereft of most of what I look for melodically, but it has such an entrancing atmosphere to it that has kept growing on me, and now I think it's a perfect song to set the mood. I've never heard anything quite like it before, and wonder how similar their other music is to it. Rate Your Music calls it "atmospheric black metal", but it's nothing like anything else I've heard in that genre, with all of these eerie, otherworldly swirls of guitars floating around. It seems perfect for a film adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft novel.
Then Terzij de Horde's "A Robe of Words" is back to the Amenra conundrum. I love that sort of massive low-end guitar sound and it excels on that front. I don't find it particularly memorable though outside of the sheer immensity of the sound. I don't think it would score particularly well by itself in a round, but as part of an EP, it actually works, just to bask in the weight of the sound for five minutes.
Then something truly special happens. I don't know how long you've been saving this up for, but Psychonaut's "Violate Consensus Reality" is the coup de grâce that prevented Evermind from overtaking both you and Soundscape in these final two rounds. It is the single best song of the entire roulette. I'd probably have given it a 9.5 in a single song round (9.75 and 10.0 being reserved only for longstanding favorite songs I've had much more time to absorb). And speaking of Amenra again, Colin's guest appearance here gives them a partial redemption I suppose. But this song really has almost everything. The moody opening, the guest appearance of Stefanie from Brutus, a lush, immersive, increasingly weightier and crushing sound as it goes along, some killer riffs, a good contrast of vocal types, some delectable accents in the drumming and cymbal work, and some simple but effective moments for the bass to stand out. The slowly building tension for when the guitars drop an octave and it explodes at 4:10 is delicious, rapturous, and oh so satisfying.
It actually reminds me a lot of a few tracks from the Thou/Emma Ruth Rundle collaborations. My pet term for that sound is "dream sludge", with a perfect balance of heaviness, atmosphere, ethereality, and melody. And what this song and some others you've sent has made me realize is that there is a lot in the realms of atmospheric sludge metal and post-metal that I haven't spent nearly enough time exploring. Doom metal in general has gradually become one of my favorite styles in the past decade or so. But while I like some acts here and there, I'm not as much drawn to the sort of doom that is more typically associated with it, like more traditional doom, stoner metal and such. I prefer a bit more focus on ambiance and texture than just primarily on riffing. So what I've been finding is that some of these more atmospheric sludge and post-oriented bands have more of what I've been looking for. I used to think all of it sounded more like Neurosis, who I've never really gotten to click - what I've heard of their sound overly focuses on the more abrasive and uglier aspects. But a song like "Violate Consensus Reality" perfectly calibrates them.
You originally tried to send Cellar Darling's "The Spell", which would have been a perfect addition to this EP. Oddly enough, while they were technically softly banned even at the beginning of the roulette, I wasn't overly familiar with anything of theirs until earlier this year. I had a heavier binge on them in-between rounds a number of months ago, which is what made have to disqualify "The Spell", since it's my favorite song of theirs. But on the positive side, that binge has given me a greater fondness for Anna Murphy's work, so Maer's "Sister" is still quite a good substitute. I've especially been relishing the sound of the hurdy gurdy this year, so it makes for a resplendent companion in this EP. I've liked what I've heard of iamthemorning so far as well, so Mariana being part of this collaboration is promising for future material from them as well. It also has guest playing from members of Ne Obliviscaris and Agent Fresco, so there's a bit of a second chance for them partially fulfilled as well.
Toundra's "Strelka" is closer to the side of post rock/metal that I don't mind, but don't tend to actively seek out. It's enjoyable as background music, but just doesn't have quite enough going on melodically to keep my attention, or even the enigmatic verve that "Tales of the Old Dreamer" has. But somewhat like "A Robe of Words", it's less of a deal-breaker in the context of a whole EP like this than it would be on its own.
Then we have Cult of Luna's "In Awe Of". By the standards of my far too long ban list, they probably should have been on it and could be considered an oversight. But what this roulette has shown me time and time again is that there are tons of bands that I like a certain amount, but probably should be a much bigger fan of. I saw them live awhile back with Katatonia, TesseracT, and Intronaut, I've heard and enjoyed a few of their albums, and have a couple of particular tracks I return to more frequently, but they aren't really part of my inner circles of favorites like they could potentially be. And this song moves them a bit closer towards that. They don't have quite the full force in any one area that some of the other artists here do, but they touch on many of them. This song just has a great atmosphere to cap things off, with some tasty drumming, and enjoyable synthesizer and effected guitar lines.
Score: 26/30
Final Cumulative Score: 8.25 + 9 + 6.75 + 9 + 7.75 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 9.25 + 8 + 8.25 + 7.5 + 26 = 132.75
Final Overall Thoughts:
Well, I wonder if you're going down in roulette history now. I guess Bolsters will have to check, but has anyone else ever won the first roulette they ever participated in? Other than the first few years of them here when everyone was new to them, there certainly can't be too many, I'd imagine. I had noticed before this roulette that we seemed to have a number of artists in common in various threads that aren't really DTF staples. I figured it could be a risk asking you to join if those turned out to be anomalies, but it has really paid off. Whether it's increasing my interest in artists I'd heard a bit from like Brutus, Karnivool, Clouds, Mastodon, Golden Earring, or MESTIS, or artists I'd heard next to nothing from like Cobra the Impaler, Jo Quail (other than the ERR guest appearances), Kosheen, or Svalbard (other than an interview), you've consistently sent a disproportionally high amount of the best music of the roulette, which is why you've won. Besides your overall score, you've sent the best vocalist and one of my already new favorite artists of the roulette (Caro Emerald), the best heavy guitar tones (Rannoch), and now the best song with "Violate Consensus Reality". If that's not justification for winning, I don't know what is. Thank you so much for all the music.
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Round 14 Scores:
Evermind ................................................... 26.5
Lethean .................................................... 26.25
Nachtmerrie ............................................. 26
Vmadera00 ............................................. 25.5
senecadawg2 ......................................... 25.5
ariich ................................................... 25
SoundscapeMN .................................... 24.5
soupytwist ......................................... 24.5
TAC ................................................. 24
twosuitsluke .................................... 23.75
Tomislav95 .................................... 23.5
HOF ............................................ 23.25
Buddyhunter1 ............................ 23
Sacul ...................................... 22.5
Puppies_On_Acid .................... 22
Stadler ................................. 22
Crow .................................. 19
---Round 14 Top Songs:
1: Psychonaut - "Violate Consensus Reality"
2: Kimbra - "Cameo Lover"
3: Cigarettes After Sex - "K."
4: The Skints - "Live East Die Young"
5: Arion - "At the Break of Dawn"
Honorable Mentions:
Against All Logic - "This Old House Is All I Have"
Aviators - "Requiem For the King"
Blut aus Nord - "Tales of the Old Dreamer"
Disillusion - "The Liberation"
J2 - "Stay Alive"
Jeff Buckley - "Grace"/"Last Goodbye"
Leprous - "Distant Bells"
Maer - "Sister"
Midlake - "Young Bride"
Modest Mouse - "The Cold Part"
Mono Inc. - "Nemesis"
Phantom Spell - "Blood Becomes Sand"
Röyksopp - "Running To the Sea"
Sailors With Wax Wings - "If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat"
SIAMÉS - "The Wolf"
The Expendables - "Sacrifice"/"Down Down Down"
The Movement - "Take Me To the Ocean"
The River Empires - "Three Tigers"
Tim Bowness & Giancarlo Erra - "Beautiful Songs You Should Know"
Xanthochroid - "To Lost and Ancient Gardens"
Winona Oak - "SHE"
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Final Cumulative Standings (after 14 rounds):
1: Nachtmerrie ---------------------- 132.75
2: Evermind --------------------------- 132
3: SoundscapeMN -------------------- 130.75
4: ariich -------------------------------- 130.5
5: Lethean ------------------------------ 129.75
6: TAC ------------------------------------ 129.5
7: soupytwist ------------------------------ 127.5
8: HOF -------------------------------------- 126.25
9: Vmadera00 ------------------------------- 123.75
10: Buddyhunter1 ---------------------------- 123.5
11: senecadawg2 --------------------------- 122.75
12: Tomislav95 ---------------------------- 120.75
13: Stadler ------------------------------- 120
14: twosuitsluke ------------------------ 119.5
15: Puppies_On_Acid ------------------ 119.5
16: Sacul ------------------------------ 118
17: Crow ----------------------------- 112.25
18: Elite ------------------------------ 88.5 (DNF)
19: romdrums --------------------- 14.25 (DNF)
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Round Score Breakdown:
ariich: 7.75 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 9 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 7.75 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 25 = 130.5
Buddyhunter1: 7.5 + 6.5 + 7.75 + 7 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.5 + 23 = 123.5
Crow: 6 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 7 + 5 + 7 + 9.25 + 7.75 + 7 + 8.5 + 7.75 + 6.75 + 19 = 112.25
Elite: 6.5 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 8.5 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8 + 7 + 7.25 + 8.25 + 6.75 + 8 + ? + ? = 88.5 + ? + ?
Evermind: 7.75 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8.5 + 8 + 9 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 8.75 + 26.5 = 132
HOF: 9 + 9 + 6.5 + 7.25 + 8.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 8 + 9 + 8.75 + 6.75 + 7.75 + 23.25 = 126.25
Lethean: 7.75 + 8.25 + 7.5 + 7 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 8 + 8.75 + 8 + 8 + 8.25 + 26.25 = 129.75
Nachtmerrie: 8.25 + 9 + 6.75 + 9 + 7.75 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 9.25 + 8 + 8.25 + 7.5 + 26 = 132.75
Puppies_On_Acid: 8 + 7 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.5 + 8 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.5 + 8.5 + 22 = 119.5
romdrums: 7.25 + 7 + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x + x = 14.25
Sacul: 7.25 + 8.75 + 6 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 9 + 7 + 4.75 + 8 + 8.25 + 6.5 + 22.5 = 118
senecadawg2: 8 + 7 + 8.5 + 6.75 + 8.25 + 8 + 8 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 7.25 + 5.75 + 8.25 + 25.5 = 122.75
SoundscapeMN: 8 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 8.5 + 8.75 + 7 + 8 + 8 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.75 + 7.25 + 7.75 + 24.5 = 130.75
soupytwist: 6.5 + 6.75 + 9 + 8.75 + 8 + 8.25 + 8.25 + 7.75 + 8.75 + 8 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 8.25 + 24.5 = 127.5
Stadler: 8.5 + 7.5 + 7 + 7 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 6.75 + 6.75 + 7.5 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 22 = 120
TAC: 8.25 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 7.25 + 7.5 + 9 + 8.5 + 9 + 7.25 + 8 + 8.25 + 8 + 24 = 129.5
Tomislav95: 7 + 8.25 + 7.25 + 7 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 6.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 23.5 = 120.75
twosuitsluke: 7.5 + 8.25 + 5.5 + 7.5 + 8.25 + 7 + 7.75 + 7 + 7.25 + 7 + 6.75 + 8.5 + 7.5 + 23.75 = 119.5
Vmadera00: 7.25 + 7.75 + 8 + 6.75 + 7 + 7.75 + 7.25 + 8.75 + 7 + 6.75 + 8 + 7.75 + 8.25 + 25.5 = 123.75
---
Well, I suppose that just about wraps it all up. This roulette has turned out a bit differently than I envisioned it would, but I'm quite happy with it. I've received music I like from everyone involved, and have many months/years ahead of me to explore more of it. I'm glad everyone has (mostly :-p) had the patience to keep up with everything and put up with my occasional technological challenges, drawn-out pace, and other various quirks. Thanks to everyone for participating!
I have a variety of meta, technical and philosophical post-roulette thoughts to get out later, I'll probably occasionally give some updates on various things I check out over the coming weeks/months, and maybe a little later some discussion of related or tangential future plans, but I don't want to steer away from the results just yet, you've earned them.
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Congrats Nachtmerrie!
Litho, Based on your writeup about Blut aus Nord, I think you may have fun falling down that rabbit hole. There really isn't another band quite like them. While their core sound has always been rooted in black metal they tend to go through phases of experimentation with other genres, like Dungeon Synth, Dark Ambient, Industrial, Avant-garde, Doom, Post-Metal, and Prog Metal. Easily one of the more interesting bands in the Black Metal arena and one of my favorites.
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Congrats Nach.
Evermind made a huge leap there at the end. Wow.
I thought Soundscape was taking this the whole time.
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Man, did I finish strong in this one! I'll take the second place for sure. Great roulette, kinda felt like one of those DTF Championship roulettes. Thanks for having me and congrats Nachtmerrie!
Litho, if I run my v3 roulette, I expect you to participate :P
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Evermind made a huge leap there at the end. Wow.
I thought Soundscape was taking this the whole time.
So did I for awhile, that was an impressive holding of the middle of the roulette (rounds 3-9 + 11) by Soundscape. HOF had a hare's sprint of an opening two rounds too. At that point I didn't know everyone's tastes and personalities that well, so I wondered if he might win it.
And interestingly, after first listens, I thought Evermind might leapfrog both Soundscape and Nachtmerrie. There were several days between finishing my first listen to Ruslan's and then getting to second plays where I seriously contemplated whether he was going to take it all. I liked "Violate Consensus Reality" right away, but its emergence as a colossal juggernaut of a song and "Tales of the Old Dreamer" and "Sister" growing on me more held Ruslan off.
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Litho, if I run my v3 roulette, I expect you to participate :P
Well, I certainly will, though you disliking half of my mystery songs doesn't bode well for me. :D
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I really liked Hallatar though! :)
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I really liked Hallatar though! :)
So one out of 17 mystery songs, that's probably good enough for next to last place. ;D
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I can't say I loved many of them either. :lol
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Ooh 2nd place for the EP (with lots of Einar). That's even better than I thought. :)
Glad to sneak into the top 5 at the last minute.
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My EP was high risk/high reward, and it ultimately sunk me. But I was married to the concept.
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I've really struggled with my EP. Been swapping songs in and out for half a year basically. I'm still unhappy with it and half-heartedly submitted it after delaying for a week.
Ended up having the best EP :lol
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Congrats to Nachtmerrie on an impressive roulette debut.
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Wow! Congrats Nachtmerrie!
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congrats
ariichNachtmerrie
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Huge congrats Nachtmerrie, that’s a hell of an achievement!
Thanks for running this gargantuan effort Lizzo, it was a real experience and an impressive undertaking for a first roulette. Your taste has been questionable at times but your write ups have been consistently comprehensive. Maybe one day I’ll find the time to sit and read back through them all, as well as listen to all the EPs.
Nice surprise to see Live East Die Young rank in your top 5 songs of the EP round.
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Just got around to checking out The Expendables and yes, they are very much up my street. Very Sublime/Mad Caddies.
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Wow! Winning as a rookie. Things can only go downhill from this point on. I guess I have to stop at my peak to keep my 100% score :D
Thanks Litho for inviting me. It had fun selecting the music and reading your detailed reviews.
Seems I did pretty well with the artist from the Netherlands and Belgium. Really glad you love that Psychonaut song. You´re way better in describing what you´re hearing but you were right. We have quite some overlap in genres that come together in bands like Psychonaut, Cult of Luna and Brutus among other.
Thanks all, for the congrats. Above all this roulette made me humble seeing the sheer amount of good music I haven´t even heard of. There a lot of good music to discover compared to the time we have to listen to it.
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Above all this roulette made me humble seeing the sheer amount of good music I haven´t even heard of. There a lot of good music to discover compared to the time we have to listen to it.
No truer words spoken my friend! It’s what always brings me back to DTF. It’s a perfect combo of a really good community, diverse music tastes and like minded thirsty music nerds. Love to you all :heart
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Congrats Nachtmerrie!
Litho, Based on your writeup about Blut aus Nord, I think you may have fun falling down that rabbit hole. There really isn't another band quite like them. While their core sound has always been rooted in black metal they tend to go through phases of experimentation with other genres, like Dungeon Synth, Dark Ambient, Industrial, Avant-garde, Doom, Post-Metal, and Prog Metal. Easily one of the more interesting bands in the Black Metal arena and one of my favorites.
I second that. I few of there albums might be called ´atmospheric even progressive black´ but others like Deus Salutis Meae are more like icecold blackened, disssonant chaos. Unique band.
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Congrats Nach! Thanks for running this Litho, and for actually finishing it ;D
All of this is tempting me to run another roulette, now that I'm kind of slowly getting back into my music habits (not always :lol). Let me think about it.
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Seems I did pretty well with the artist from the Netherlands and Belgium.
Yeah, I've known for quite some time that I have a weakness for Dutch artists (Swedish too for that matter), and while there are a few Belgian ones I liked before, you've definitely highlighted a number more. It seems that perhaps there's more commonality there than with France or Germany, from the relatively limited amount I've heard.
All of this is tempting me to run another roulette, now that I'm kind of slowly getting back into my music habits (not always :lol). Let me think about it.
I have tons of stuff for it. I'll just assume I'm anchoring last place, and any place above that is a bonus, like in Crow's. :)
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Wow! Winning as a rookie. Things can only go downhill from this point on. I guess I have to stop at my peak to keep my 100% score :D
Thanks Litho for inviting me. It had fun selecting the music and reading your detailed reviews.
Seems I did pretty well with the artist from the Netherlands and Belgium. Really glad you love that Psychonaut song. You´re way better in describing what you´re hearing but you were right. We have quite some overlap in genres that come together in bands like Psychonaut, Cult of Luna and Brutus among other.
Thanks all, for the congrats. Above all this roulette made me humble seeing the sheer amount of good music I haven´t even heard of. There a lot of good music to discover compared to the time we have to listen to it.
If I ever do run another roulette (still need to finish my last one that's been on hiatus for almost a year....), I'd love to have you join. Your music tastes seem very close to mine. :corn
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The intransitivity of music taste never ceases to amaze me.
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Intransitivity? Lithostadlersphere?
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Person A's music taste is similar to person B's. Person C's music taste is similar to person B's. Yet person C's taste is not so similar to person A's.
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Person A's music taste is similar to person B's. Person C's music taste is similar to person B's. Yet person C's taste is not so similar to person A's.
Gotcha.
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Hey, this was a lot of fun. Glad you enjoyed Cameo Lover as much as you do.
I had another reply written out but lost it, but I wanted to mention, how the Sing Sing version of that tune is maybe even better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaTEySLiLmc
The Christmas thing, I can sort of hear in spirit. The whole "Open Up Your Heart" and uplifting/inspiring nature of it. I have a huge amount of nostalgia for that tune as I often think of when it came out 2011 and my then girlfriend enjoying it, and that time kind of how things were simpler and the whole "honeymoon" period in a relationship, etc. The rhythmic chanting just gets me everytime. Kimbra said she would sing like a drummer might play a fill. She does that kind of thing on a few other tunes, namely from that debut album "Vows" of hers (Two Way Street I am thinking of especially).
As for the rest of my EP, I chose tunes that I enjoyed a lot but also thought you would enjoy and were often 1 of, if not the most accessible.
You do seem to be sensitive on vocals, which many are including myself (1 reason I don't like Tame Impala or say Radiohead or some others like Circa Survive or The Flaming Lips). I do think sometimes they can grow on you, etc.
The Dear Hunter, they may always be sort of overrated to you, I don't know. Or maybe you just haven't heard the song or album that they totally blew you away. I do think their influence on many smaller/obscure bands is apparent, sometimes for the better.
Anyway, thanks for the kind words. It was a lot of fun doing this. I didn't know if you would be into a lot of the stuff I champion, but as it turned out you were. I mean the alt-prog/progressive art rock stuff is somewhat diverse and there is a lot of it out there. And maybe you wouldn't have been into it 10 or 15 years ago. But like you said, so much of the stuff on a Dream Theater fans site is naturally going to be about Prog Metal, which makes sense and I'm one who loves a lot of that stuff as well. But, I've talked about this issue I've had for so many years with being into a style of music for so long. I have felt for the last 20 years at least, in wanting to find other kinds of music to enjoy you know. The art rock stuff sort of did that, although even with that, it's still has a certain recipe in some ways. I guess I have tried to take a buffet sort of approach. Looking for the creme of the crop. Some exceptions I suppose with long time favorites. Kevin Gilbert of course.
But, I do hope you find some of those bands/artists worth diving deeper into like Pepe Deluxe and Dirt Poor Robins (or The Reign of Kindo), which was kind of the point of this (and most) roulettes anyway of course.
I'm not sure if/when I will end up participating in another 1 of these. The 1 I have signed up for on the Stickied topic for my wife, I honestly have no idea when I will do. In fact given my wife's habits, I may just end up doing 1 for myself instead. But that may be awhile down the road per time. I'm kind of trying to get through stuff on my YouTube channel right now (Vinyl A-Z right now, and then an Albums of the Year series), so my time to use to run a Roulette as well may not be available for many weeks.
Unsure, but I'll see.
Hats off to Nachtmerrie and others.
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I had another reply written out but lost it, but I wanted to mention, how the Sing Sing version of that tune is maybe even better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaTEySLiLmc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaTEySLiLmc)
I watched that one during the round. It's always cool to see a well-captured live performance of a song I love, but it doesn't hold up to the original for me. While I like some of the vocal ad libs she does, the production is less lush, the live backing vocals are not as good as her own on the album (particularly the ones in the second verse), it's missing the horns, and the pianist is playing an octave or two down from the record, which the unique upper-register timbral characteristics of it were one of the many details I loved about the studio version. I see that there are other performances from that session though, so once I familiarize myself with those originals I'll watch the Sing Sing versions and maybe some of those will fare better.
You do seem to be sensitive on vocals, which many are including myself (1 reason I don't like Tame Impala or say Radiohead or some others like Circa Survive or The Flaming Lips). I do think sometimes they can grow on you, etc.
Yeah, vocals are certainly one of my most common sticking points. And there's just not enough time in a round for things to grow very much on you other than by sheer brute force. Sometimes it takes multiple albums over a period of years to shift your opinion on things that bugged you at first.
The Dear Hunter, they may always be sort of overrated to you, I don't know. Or maybe you just haven't heard the song or album that they totally blew you away.
Well, I now have two songs of theirs as footholds, "Battesimo Del Fuoco" from years ago, and I can now add "Waves" from your submission. If two can connect with me there are probably more I'll find whenever I eventually get to some more full albums.
But, I've talked about this issue I've had for so many years with being into a style of music for so long. I have felt for the last 20 years at least, in wanting to find other kinds of music to enjoy you know. The art rock stuff sort of did that, although even with that, it's still has a certain recipe in some ways. I guess I have tried to take a buffet sort of approach. Looking for the creme of the crop. But, I do hope you find some of those bands/artists worth diving deeper into like Pepe Deluxe and Dirt Poor Robins (or The Reign of Kindo), which was kind of the point of this (and most) roulettes anyway of course.
Yeah, one of my favorite things about music exploration is finding a particular niche or two and gradually digging deeper into it over time. And then finding people who are experienced in niches that you were more in the dark on, but have lots of buried treasures that they know how to find. I don't know if I'd have given a chance to artists like those on my own, at least not nearly as quickly.
I'm not sure if/when I will end up participating in another 1 of these. The 1 I have signed up for on the Stickied topic for my wife, I honestly have no idea when I will do. In fact given my wife's habits, I may just end up doing 1 for myself instead. But that may be awhile down the road per time.
Unsure, but I'll see.
Well, if/when either happen I'm definitely up for it. I'm skeptical the results will work as well in the opposite direction (either trying to figure out what you or she would like but haven't heard yet, or just sending some of my other pet favorites), but it's worth a shot.
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Ok, so over a few posts over a number of days I want to get out some post-roulette deconstruction thoughts.
Not having done one of these before, my visions in my head of how things would go and how they actually went down were rather different. Let's just get this right out of the way...
*I'm pretty confident I can keep the pace up enough to make these breeze by.
:rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
Yeah, I didn't intend on having the longest non-hiatus roulette ever apparently, it just worked out that way. When I started the roulette we were in a period where the other current roulettes were also going at a let's say "leisurely" pace, and I thought, "well, my rounds couldn't take much longer than those, right?" If TAC and ariich were hosting the others at the time I'd likely have had different expectations. And I did want to make it a bit more epic than normal, since I've missed out on doing years of these, and wanted to figure out sort of a way for me to kind of participate in my own roulette via the mystery songs.
But what I quickly found out in the first few rounds is that speed probably isn't my comparative advantage. Especially for early rounds I was trying to get in three complete listens to each set while doing nothing else other than listening and taking notes. That proved not to be sustainable, especially for the multi-song rounds (which became the only kind of round in the second half), so I had to drop that back to just two completely undistracted listens for those (and just one for the EPs).
I was also more enjoying the process of getting in a lot of listens total (often a dozen or more, sometimes 20 or so probably to higher-scoring ones) to see what grew on me, over time more and more research to learn about the bands and sometimes a bit about the genres they were related to especially if they were less familiar to me. I'd often watch a music video and/or a live video if they were available, familiarized myself more with various music databases to find the ones that proved most consistently useful, etc. And then the writeups were often fun to do, though they take more time, even as fast as I can type.
All this did mean other hobbies mostly going on the backburner during the roulette, which is fine, I volunteered to do this. I just need to ponder how to do a more limited version of it in a later one.
My current thought is for a fun challenge, to try and do the complete opposite next time. Have it be a much shorter roulette, maybe 5-7 rounds, but try to get even more participants, and intentionally try and have much shorter writeups and round turnarounds, and possibly even a linear stacked ranking possibly like lonestar's, just to make myself try it out. The tentative title for it would be "Volume II: Celerity & Concision". But I'll think more about it in the upcoming months.
I have some other assorted songs that a number of you have sent or mentioned at various points that I'll listen to at some point and give a few brief comments on.
I'll probably also post a large Spotify "best of" list at some point, with most of the songs that did or would have scored 8.25 or above, and maybe a few other salient ones that have grown on me over time.
That's probably good for the moment, more to come later on later days.
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Yeah definitely make it shorter in scope next time ;D
Also, congrats on your 5000th post!
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A few more thoughts for today:
Next time my ban list will be much smaller (though still probably relatively large). I went into the roulette primarily wanting artists I'd never heard of before, but over and over I discovered how much I underrated the idea of being exposed to more material from artists I'd already heard something from. In ways it might be even more important, since sometimes the most valuable music was right under your nose the whole time, but you'd been ignoring it.
I still like the idea of mixing submission length durations. I'm thinking 20 minutes winds up being more useful than 15 and a less awkward time, but there are still advantages to single song rounds as well. There are some bands that are more suited for one format than the other, as I keep noticing through participating in other roulettes. I also like the idea of the TAC wildcard, usable once a roulette per contestant, to give one extra song to choose between.
Not knowing about the 20k character limit was a pain all roulette long. I kept having to move things to post #13 because I was constantly at the limit. Saving several placeholder posts at the beginning will definitely be a priority. Also, something like ariich's format where round playlists, impressions, results and such are all in spot is definitely much more convenient and something I'll steal next time.
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I also like the idea of the TAC wildcard, usable once a roulette per contestant, to give one extra song to choose between.
Yeah, I put that in because it sucks being torn between two songs not knowing what to send. This was, for one round, why not be able to send both.
For me, I give each song ONE listen and decide. It is extremely rare that I give them two listens. It's most often an easy choice. What I've found is that generally, they are not similar songs. There's a legit submission, but the second one is usually a high risk/high reward track. People use it as a freebie....a shot in the dark. Sometimes people are quite surprised at the song I pick.
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Yeah, I wound up being surprised that you chose the track without any guitars, but maybe the bigger deal was that the other one didn't have any conventional drums.
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Ok, I just finished curating a best of from the roulette. One song per artist, these all did, roughly would have, or grew on me enough later to have scored about 8.5 or higher. It could get revised slightly later, I made three tiers of interesting songs from the roulette, and there were some songs cut that are on the tier below, but it's getting pretty long as it is.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2yUJDYkGgvluq7XgZbHZt8 (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2yUJDYkGgvluq7XgZbHZt8)
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Does it start or end with Murder of the Universe?
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Of course it ends with it, that was just assumed, no need to add it to the playlist.