Okay, first of all: no more Anathema.
A bunch of great songs this time. Also, unsurprisingly, everybody pegged themselves fairly high, with a few people vying for first. Only one song can get the top spot, unfortunately.
7th placeNominator: WindMaster
Artist: Rishloo
Song: El Empe
An unusual tune, for sure. It's certainly metal (that is to say, I'm hearing some definite "wrath" in this one). Good melodies, apt songwriting, plenty of emotion. The production's not very good, but I suppose that could be a plus in some respects. Favorite moments include the quiet, sonic section in the middle, and the "stay wheeeeeere you" in the last chorus, which was very impressive vocally.
It was a fine song, but it didn't grab me. It was missing something, and yes, that is as specific as I can be.
1 point.
6th placeNominator: MasterShakezula
Artist: The Cure
Song: A Forest
A good song. Very relaxed, very groovy, very 80's. I do enjoy this type of music; I envision its being a very good driving song. It's mysterious, creative, and sonic, yet simple and accessible. It gets
2 points but only because this was a very competitive round. AGAYN AND AGAYN AND AGAYN AND AGAYN AND AGAYN AND AGAYN
5th placeNominator: jingle.boy
Artist: Gowan
Song: A Criminal Mind
More 80's, huh? But this song is
really 80's. Like, I listen to it, and I might as well be watching the A-Team and drinking New Coke. Anyway, being 80's isn't necessarily a good or a bad thing, but it does lend the song a certain charm that it would almost certainly suffer without were it released today.
Anyway, this is a fine song. It's repetitive and a bit too long for its own good, but it's catchy and ambient and it accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. The bass is also quite tasty, and I particularly enjoyed the echoey synth drums during the second verse.
3 points.
4th placeNominator: lonestar
Artist: Martin Orford
Song: Out in the Darkness
Now, here's where the judging got incredibly difficult. In a lesser round, any of the remaining songs could have gotten 1st place, but this was a tough one.
Okay, so first of all: if you sent this song to me with my religious persuasions in mind, well done.
The description for the Youtube video calls this the greatest atheist anthem since XTC's "Dear God", and that's probably an accurate description. The lyrics deal with the artist's disbelief in God in no uncertain terms, but they're subtle and poetic enough not to be cringe-worthy. The music is excellent as well, taking cues from classic prog. (Minus the vocals, the music rather sounds like 80's Rush to me, which is always a good thing.) The riffs are catchy, yet smart, which is probably the best combination you can ask for. A musical highlight is the middle section featuring the multi-part vocal harmony. A well-earned
4 points to hopefully elevate lonestar from his funk.
3rd placeNominator: kingshmegland
Artist: Shudder to Think
Song: X-French Tee Shirt
shmeg's PM to me really talked up this song, gushing particularly about how the song only has 3 chords. I was obviously unimpressed, because Green Day does this to little effect every day.
However, as a music lover, I have to admit that I've never heard anything quite like this. Listening to this song is nothing short of an experience. The vast majority of this song hangs on an unimbellished Bb power chord, but it's hard to describe the musical effect the band draws from such simplicity. The vocals make great use of the Lydian mode, which gives the last 2 minutes a certain degree of dissonance and tension and yet beauty in spite of the complete lack of musical progression. The chorus, while brief, is also excellent; there's something unusual going on with its second chord, which I can't quite pick out by ear. I'll definitely be looking into this later.
3 chords is quite few, even for a pop song (which normally makes use of 4 if not more), but I'm amazed by how much substance was pulled from them. I'll be thinking about this one for a while, and making me think was the point, wasn't it?
5 better-than-Green Day points.
2nd placeNominator: Elite
Artist: Anathema
Song: Thin Air
1st placeNominator: Nekov
Artist: Anathema
Song: Untouchable pt. 1
Now, I'd never heard any Anathema before today. 2 people submitted Anathema songs and they got the first 2 places. It is now illegal to submit any more Anathema songs because unless these two songs are exceptionally, unusually good, any other Anathema will probably also get first place.
These songs are very perfect. I suppose they're sort of structurally similar in that they start off with a quiet guitar riff which serves as a rhythmic/melodic motif that will be repeated throughout the piece, before heading into loud, majestic, and synth string-filled territory. That's not a bad thing, though, because it works. Great songwriting, great musicianship, great vocals. This is just great, expertly executed modern prog.
Both songs were deserving of the number one spot, but I had to give the edge to Nekov because his song was just a bit more perfect in all respects: the songwriting was a bit more controlled and tight, the production was fuller and clearer, etc.
To Nekov,
7 a-bit-better-than-Elite points, and to Elite,
6 a-bit-worse-than-Nekov points.
BONUSES:ESP1: nobody correctly guessed their placement. I won't reveal the exact guesses (you can reveal your own if you want), but interestingly, everybody overestimated themselves, except Nekov and Elite, who underestimated themselves by just a bit.
0 points for everybody, but don't worry, because there will be further opportunities later in the roulette to prove your psychic worth.
1. kingshmegland - 20 + 5 = 25
2. Nekov - 11 + 7 = 18
3. Elite - 11 + 6 = 17
4. MasterShakezula - 13 + 2 = 15
5. jingle.boy - 11 + 3 = 14
5. lonestar - 10 + 4 = 14
7. WindMaster - 11 + 1 = 12
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ROUND 5 - JUST DON'T SEND ANATHEMABonuses: BITSOW (2 point), The King is Dead (steal 1 point/participant)Deadline: Sunday, July 15 @ 9:00 PM Central Time (~48 hours from now)BITSOW (2 points) : Brevity is the soul of wit, they say, or as the more witty among them say, BITSOW. The shortest song submitted gets a 2 point bonus. Remember that I won't judge your song more kindly if it's especially short, so you don't want to send LA Drone from How the West Was Won. Sending LA Drone would be a good way to guarantee yourself 3 points for the coming round, though.
The King is Dead (steal 1 point/participant) : The participants who get 1st and 2nd place in round 5 (NOT overall, just for the round) will be able to steal 1 point each from the opponent of their choosing. Stealing is fun!
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Topic: theseoafs' song roulette v. unbelievable. (Read 36150 times)
