Half-Way update!
So, I'm just going to post about half the songs sent now and the rest will follow very soon, but I can assure you I listened to the songs even more than with the previous rounds. So, here's the first 14 songs, but I'm not saying who sent what just yet, partly because I'm not completely sure myself either (I threw everything in playlist to not be biased), partly because I don't want to reveal everything yet. Make that a fun game to guess it or whatever, do with it what you like. I got the following songs:
RESULTS
Artist/Song: Mew - Am I Wry? No
What a very cool song. It reminds me very much of My Bloody Valentine or what they would sound like if the ocals could be heard, or something. I found the first half to be a lot better than the second half of the song and that's mainly because of the outro that drags a bit. Overall though, this song is a very satisfying listen and I'll have to give it 7 points. Also, you're getting an extra point for the band, which won't count towards your round average.
Artist/Song: Blackmill ft. Veela - Let it Be
As if I had always been kept in the dark. How have I never heard this stuff before, always thinking electronic music was repetitive and not renewing? This song is amazing, it's got this ambient vibe with a little bit of dubstep interspersed and it was unlikely anything I had heard before. I really enjoyed this track and I definitely going to check out the rest of the album. 8 points
Artist/Song: Kyte - These Tales of Our Stay
I honestly had to look up whatever genre it was I was hearing and wikipedia isn't really revealing there either. Out of the genres listed, 'dream pop' comes closest to my perception of what I'm hearing. It's a slow moving song, heavily influenced by electronic music and ambient stuff, even a bit post-rock-ish. I did enjoy this, but it wasn't as good as some other similar stuff I have gotten in the overall roulette. 7 points
Artist/Song: Dissona - Nest
If there ever was a weird song, this would be it. This is complete madness and therefore it's amazing. It's a progresisve metal song of the weirdest kind and it incorporates a lot of elements from different music styles. I have no clue what it's supposed to be about, but that chorus is amazing, even though the lyrics seemingly don't make any sense. I'm going to check out the full album of this band, because it's bound to be good. 8 points
Artist/Song: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Up Jumped the Devil
That piano lick makes the song, you know which I mean if you know the song. The song is slow moving, almost dawdling, but it's groovy as fuck and it makes for a very awesome song, an experience almost from start to finish. I love how the singer increases the intensity of his voice with every verse as the song gets heavier gradually. Amazing stuff. 8 points
Artist/Song: Moon Safari - Heartland
Awesome progressive rock, that's it. Really, I could write an in-depth review about the song's structure and progression, but it's not really necessary, this song is just killer from front to back, with nothing major to complain about at all. It has all the ingredients to be a great song and the execution is almost flawless. 9 points
Artist/Song: Judas Priest - Beyond the Realms of Death
Wow, this song did almost nothing to me. The opening is cheesy and the guitar lead over that is horrendously bad. When the vocals kick in it gets slightly better and the chorus is actually pretty good, but I'm not a fan of that vocal style at all and going back to that bad verse is a chore after chorus, so luckily the song goes to a guitar solo after the second one, shich is actually pretty decent. I'm giving this 4 points; the chorus, but mainly the guitar solo at the end kind of saved the song, but I wouldn't listen to it again.
Artist/Song: Extreme - Midnight Express
This is some very relaxing stuff, with amazing acoustic guitar work. That guitarist is a beast, but he's not all for the show-off, because it's him that makes the song and he does it effortlessly, laying line after line, melody after melody while going all-out every once in a while. Awesome instrumental stuff, I really enjoyed that, 8 points.
Artist/Song: The Smashing Pumpkins - Thru the Eyes of Ruby
I knew exactly one Smashing Pumpkins song before hearing this one and I always wondered why the hell people would put the album this song came from in their top 50s, for the song I heard before I didn't find that special at all. I can see now why people would like them, because this is definitely different from other stuff, but it just doesn't appeal to me. I think it's his voice, mainly. 5 points
Artist/Song: Incubus - Redefine
I had heard of the band before, but never knew they made this kind of alternative metal. I enjoyed this song and it has quite some inventive stuff thrown in, with expeditions to funk-metal-ish stuff and the scratching is the chorus, which is the best part of the song hands now. Nice stuff, but nothing overwhelmingly brilliant. 6 points
Artist/Song: Cradle of Filth - The Forest Whispers My Name
Another band I had heard of but never bothered to check out, mainly because of their name and their reputation within the music scene. I just never thought it would be my thing in any way. Well, that does actually turn out to be the case, but it's not as black & white as that. I'm not a fan of the vocals; they're too extreme for me, especially when they're just wordless screams, like there are in this song. The music however I think is very good and considering this was a song on their first album, I may like to check out some later albums if they're any better. For now, I'm giving this one 6 points.
Artist/Song: Aghora - Anugraha
The award for strangest band name and song combination easily goes to this one. I don't even know what it means, but as the song doesn't really have lyrics (I don't count wordless wailing as lyrics) I suppose it doesn't really matter. This song is pretty rhythmic, enforced by the drums at all times, over which strange bass-guitar, guitar and sitar patterns are played, with a woman singing wordlessly over them (think Great Gig in the Sky, only the woman there is much better). What makes this song good is the music over which she sings. Although pretty much the whole song is in 4/4 meter, it sounds like you're listening to something infinitely more complex and a quick listen to all the instrumental layers and harmonies soon learns that the underlying structure is indeed pretty difficult to grasp. I have yet to listen to more of their stuff, but i will do this, it'll be interesting to see what the rest of it sounds like. 8 points
Artist/Song: Mew - Comforting Sounds
The second Mew song I received is much longer than the first and where I didn't like the extension of 'Am I Wry? No', here the band takes a completely different approach in the overall songwriting, starting off much slower and with less intensity. The song is constructed like a post-rock song would be, gradually building up to end in a massive and amazing wall of sound. I liked this one better than the other Mew song, but cnsidering they're on the same album anyway, I'm going to hear both more often, because I will be checking them out. 8 points and like with the other one, an extra point for the band.
Artist/Song: Lunatic Soul - Wanderings
So, I just looked up this band and found out it's actually a solo project by Mariusz Duda, the bassist/singer from Riverside, a band I love. Knowing that now makes me feel kind of stupid that I didn't recognise his voice, but ah well. The song starts off with a recurring keyboard motif, that keeps on going throughout the whole song, while the intensity and instruments used increases with every minute. The best part of the sng is the singer, who's powerful on this track, but the underlying music sets the stage really well for this song. Not what I would have expected from the Riverside man (yes, it's really different), but a good track nonetheless. 7 points
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More soon!
Topic: Elite's Roulette v. So Long and Thanks for All the Fish: THE END (Read 33589 times)