Elite's Roulette v. So Long and Thanks for All the Fish: THE END

[Xanthul]

So that's like another month and a half in Elite Roulette Time right?   

[Scorpion]

I calculated that I need an 8 and a 9 on the remaining two songs to fulfill my contract, and since hell will probably freeze over before that happens, I'm gonna just say thanks for having me to Elite and that it was a blast playing with you all.

[Elite]

You wait for the results before you exit just yet, son.

[Nekov]

Bump

[Elite]

I told you Saturday, so Saturday it shall be. Just one more day.

[Scorpion]

IT'S SATURDAY SO I WANT RESULTS

[Nekov]

I wasn't putting pressure on you, I just didn't want the thread to go into the second page. That's like falling into the abyss

[Elite]

I get it

Just a thought before I finish writing out everything and posting the stuff tonight; do you guys even want a 10th round? I was thinking; this roulette has to be the slowest moving one already and this last round was huge, so a tenth round isn't really going to add that much. I'm saying this from a completely neutral point of view; I don't have the second results yet and I don't know who sent what en what their contracts were while listening through the songs, so I have no clue who's winning this at the moment.

Please reply with a 'yes' or a 'no' regarding there being a tenth round. If half of you say no, this Roulette will be over tonight.

[Scorpion]

I'd be fine with you ending it now, I think.

[Xanthul]

If it's going to be a quick round, I'd be OK with another one, but if you're still very busy maybe it should end tonight, Mr. Anderson

[jingle.boy]

I get it

Just a thought before I finish writing out everything and posting the stuff tonight; do you guys even want a 10th round? I was thinking; this roulette has to be the slowest moving one already and this last round was huge, so a tenth round isn't really going to add that much. I'm saying this from a completely neutral point of view; I don't have the second results yet and I don't know who sent what en what their contracts were while listening through the songs, so I have no clue who's winning this at the moment.

Please reply with a 'yes' or a 'no' regarding there being a tenth round. If half of you say no, this Roulette will be over tonight.

First... it hasn't been the absolute slowest - Sigz gets that honor, and I think he's purposefully not finishing it on principle.  Second, 9 rounds (with this one being pretty huge and you getting a lot of songs) ought to be enough.  I'm sure the next players on the list would like their chance.

[Elite]

I'm sure the next players on the list would like their chance.

This is what I was thinking of as well, there's been a couple of roulettes that have finished already in the time that mine has been going too. I've had my time.

[MoraWintersoul]

Either way it's been a great ride, I am completely fine with finishing it now.

[kári]

It's your call

[Scorpion]

YOU SAID SATURDAY AND NOW IT'S SUNDAY ALREADY

[Elite]

Shut up, two seconds.

[Elite]

Do you have any idea how long this took me?

Over 2 months after starting this roulette I finally conclude it with this single post. It's been one hell of a ride during a very busy time for me. You guys have been amazingly patient and great participants. I set myself a time limit for rounds in the first post and I think I only fulfilled ONE of them, while (almost) all of you got their songs in on time. And what an amazing songs you've sent me! I have lots of great stuff to check out and already some of your submissions have been translated to CD's in my rack and there's probably more to come. Thanks everybody for your participation, this last round especially was really tough for me. Lots of good stuff was sent, but also some stuff I didn't really enjoy. The most 'interesting' part of it was the contract choosing; some of you made the right choice, but there's some unfortunately errors here and there where you could have scored more points. Initially I wanted to do a last round with the top 2 scorers on the winning team and the top scorer on the losing team, but it's been long enough already. Besides, the results are quite compelling and there's no way how I could make my idea for this last round work. The whole 'Team Coffee' vs. 'Team Tea' thing didn't turn out as I wanted to it to be. Perhaps for my next roulette (when the time comes in another two years) I'll see if I can set up a real team game, because here my idea didn't really work. It's been a blast, thanks (once again) for joing in on this and being the awesome people that you are. For now; enjoy the results and until next time.

Final Standings before the full last round (including extra points for bands in first half of round 9):

Nekov: 34 points
kári: 30+2+1= 33 points
Zantera: 31+1 =32 points
ReaperKK: 31 points
Xanthul: 26+3+1= 30 points
MoraWintersoul: 28 points
Ravenheart: 25+1= 26 points
Scorpion: 21+3= 24 points

So now, RESULTS! (in alphabetic order)



Participant: kári

Artist - Song: Kyte - These Tales of Our Stay
Score: 7/10
Artist - Song: Mew - Comforting Sounds
Score: 8/10

Artist - Song: Talk Talk - I Believe in You
This is alright, but nothing more than that. I liked the song, but it's a bit too bland for me, since it doesn't really go anywhere. It's ambient, but without direction and that's the problem with some post-rock; if it doesn't go anywhere it's basically not good. 5/10

Artist - Song: This Will Destroy You - Threads
You do know how to send awesome post-rock, don't you? This song is just your typical post-rock stuff with not really anything special, but it works for me. The only thing about it is that it's not the best post-rock song I have received in my roulette, let alone in this round. 7/10

Total score: (8+7+7)/3= 7,3

Contract C with 30 points
Required score: 7,2
Contract FULFILLED, gaining 30 points

Total amount of points: 7,3 + 30 = 37,3 points

---

Participant: MoraWintersoul

Artist - Song: Dissona - Nest
Score: 8/10
Artist - Song: Lunatic Soul - Wanderings
Score: 7/10

Artist - Song: Frequency Drift - Dead
I've seen these people live at Night of the Prog last summer and like the whole male audience I was amazed at their female singer. The band put on a great show and I recognise this song from their setlist. It's unfortunate the band could capture the same atmosphere in the studio recording (which I hadn't heard up to this point). I enjoyed the band live, but the studio version sounds a bit lacking, unfortunately. Still a good song though, but I can't help but feel it could have been better. 6/10

Artist - Song: Chroma Key - On The Page
You said this was (one of) your favourite song(s) and I have to agree that this is absolutely mind-blowingly beautiful. From the frantic piano intro towards the wonderfully constructed verse, Kevin Moore delivers this whole song with a passion that I've from him for years. This man is too underrated for words. 8/10
Total score: (8+8+7)/3= 7,7

Contract B with 6 points
Required score: 6,4
Contract FULFILLED, gaining 4,2 points

Total amount of points: 7,7 + 4,2 = 13,9 points

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Participant: Nekov

Artist - Song: Moon Safari - Heartland
Score: 9/10
Artist - Song: Aghora - Anugraha
Score: 8/10

Artist - Song: Iluvatar - In the Eye
HOLY FUCKING SHIT. You said that this was your secret weapon and I am glad that you sent this. I'm a complete sucker for this kind of stuff and you knew it. From front to back, this is an amazing progressive metal song. How do I get the album this song came from? I want it now. 9,5/10. Seriously, it's that good.

Artist - Song: Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays - Ozark
This is just a completely random piano improvisation meant to show off one's incredible skill. Yeah, the piano player is good, but in this song he shows that he can't really build up a piece or make sense out of the billion notes he plays. I'm not too fond of random instrument wankery and this song is no exception. 4/10

Total score: (9+8+9,5)/3= 8,8

Contract A with 34 points
Required score: 5,8 (<- You could have gone with a higher contract, mister)
Contract FULFILLED, gaining 17 points

Total amount of points: 8,8 + 17 = 25,8 points

---

Participant: Ravenheart

Artist - Song: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Up Jumped the Devil
Score: 8/10

Artist - Song: Moonspell - Mephisto
Where your first song was awesome in its moderation, this song really fails to capture any mood for me. It's heavy indeed, but the choruses just sound so silly and the vocals are way too harsh for what the song is tryig to accomplish, I believe. The composition is pretty alright, but it's nothing special. In some way the song is quite compelling though and it does keep your attention very well. Repeatedly listen made me appreciate it more, but it has yet to make a real impression on me. 5/10.

Artist - Song: My Dying Bride - The Songless Bird
The same thing applies to this song, only here it's a lot worse. I'm not one to dismiss music easily, but this one didn't do anything to me. The vocals are bad and the mixing is terrible and doesn't really make any sense. The guitar riffs I didn't like and overall it felt like the band was trying to be heavy, but in my opinion they failed. Would not listen again, 3/10.

Total score: (8+5+3)/3= 5,3

Contract A with 10 points
Required score: 5,8
Contract FAILED, losing 10 points

Total amount of points: 5,3 - 10 = -4,7 points

---

Participant: ReaperKK

Artist - Song: Blackmill ft.- Veela - Let It Be
Score: 8/10
Artist - Song: Incubus - Redefine
Score: 6/10

Artist - Song: Michael Kelsey - The Free Spirit
This man is an incredible acoustic guitar player, but for some reason he fails to keep my interest for very long. It's like he's dragging out his music to such an extent that it becomes meaningless at some point (if that makes any sense whatsoever). It's not bad at all though, just a bit too long for what it is. 6/10

Artist - Song: The Jezabels - Dark Storm
The singer is absolutely adorable and she makes the song, which in itself is pretty good as well. The verses are okay, but the chorus is absolutely gorgeous and the end is amazing. Is the rest of their stuff anything like this? Because I will be checking this out, another band to go on my ever-growing list. Thanks! 8/10

Artist - Song: Mogwai - Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home
I was expected more from an name I've seen more often. This was pretty much the most bland post-rock song I recieved, apart from the outburst at the end, which I didn't like for the horrible guitar sound. The voices in the beginning and at the end didn't really help in me enjoying this song, I felt like it would be better without them there. 5/10

Total score: (8+8+)/3= 7

Contract A with 20 points
Required score: 5,8
Contract FULFILLED, gaining 20 points

Total amount of points: 7 + 20 = 27 points

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Participant: Scorpion

Artist - Song: Judas Priest - Beyond the Realms of Death
Score: 4/10
Artist - Song: Extreme - Midnight Express
Score: 8/10

Artist - Song: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Gates to the Garden
This song is really laid-back and to make that work, it will have to grab your attention. This song, like the other song by the same artist I received does this effortlessly. However, the other song I like slightly better, mainly for the groove that one had. All in all, this is not a bad song at all and I really did enjoy it. 7/10

Artist - Song: Queens of the Stone Age - God Is on the Radio
I'm not really a fan of QOTSA when I tried them in the past and this song shows that to me once again. I didn't really find it interesting to listen to at all, it's repetitive, I'm not a fan of the vocal style, because they seem way too monotonous for me and the riffs aren't all that great. This has basically confirmed me not liking QOTSA, what a shame. 4/10

Total score: (8+7+4)/3= 6,3

Contract C with 21 points
Required score: 7,2
Contract FAILED, losing 21 points

Total amount of points: 6,3 - 21 = -14,7 points

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Participant: Xanthul

Artist - Song: Cradle of Filth - The Forest Whispers My Name
Score: 6/10
Artist - Song: Mew - Comforting Sounds
Score: 8/10

Artist - Song: Bon Iver - Skinny Love
Bon Iver is another artist I've heard more of, both on the forums and outside of them, but I never tried them out, because I didn't feel like they were for me. I have some problems with voice still, but overall this is a fine song. I might try them out more in the future, after I'm done with all the other stuff I got in this roulette. 6/10

Artist - Song: God is an Astronaut - Shadows
This is the best post-rock song I received all roulette and that's not an exaggeration. This song gets really intense in a short amount of time and I really like that. It starts out with a great drum groove backed by a guitar line, before completely exploding into post-rocky goodness. What makes this song very different from most other post-rock tunes is its non-linear build-up and its tempo; the intense sections are fast. Very, very good and a blast to listen to. I will enjoy this band more when I check out the rest of their stuff. 9/10

Total score: (9+8+6)/3= 7,7

Contract B with 26 points
Required score: 6,4
Contract FULFILLED, gaining 18,2 points

Total amount of points: 7,7 + 18,2 = 25,9

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Participant: Zantera

Artist - Song: Mew - Am I Wry? No
Score: 7/10
Artist - Song: Smashing Pumpkins - Thru The Eyes of Ruby
Score: 5/10

Artist - Song: Polkadot Cadaver - Forever and A Day
The song is really weird, but in a good way. I can't really put my finger on the genre of this song, but I think something 'progressive' or 'alternative' would do. The chorus is easily one of the better parts of the song, though the overall thing is pretty amazing in itself, with some unexpected instrumentation and quirky stuff. I have to hear more from these people. 8/10

Artist - Song: Pendulum - Watercolour
My roommate two years ago used to listen to drum 'n bass all the time and it drove me crazy. This is unlike anything he ever played though and might well be the best drum 'n bass stuff I've ever heard. That still isn't saying much though, because this song hasn't yet turned me on to the genre, but it has sparked my interest in checking this band out more. Nice! 7/10

Total score: (7+7+8)/3= 7,3

Contract C with 20 points
Required score: 7,2
Contract FULFILLED, gaining 20 points

Total amount of points: 7,3 + 20 = 27,3 points

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FINAL SCORES:

kári: 33+37,3= 70,3 points
Nekov: 34+25,8= 59,8 points
Zantera: 32+27,3= 59,3 points
ReaperKK: 31+27 = 58 points
Xanthul: 30+25,9= 55,9 points
MoraWintersoul: 28+13,9= 41,9 points
Ravenheart: 26-4,7= 21,3 points
Scorpion: 24-14,7= 9,3 points

---

So, there you have it. kári, congratulations.
Nekov, as a consolation to you; you sent me the best stuff overall and lots of stuff to hear more from, so thanks a lot.
The rest of the participants; THANKS YOU (for the last time)

Elite's out, goodnight.

[Scorpion]

I knew it.

Oh well, it was fun to play and I could have done worse.

Congrats to kári!

[ReaperKK]

Great man, glad to be part of your roulette!! Glad you enjoyed some of my stuff

[MoraWintersoul]

Check that Dissona album out, I think it's still streamed somewhere thanks for running this

[Nekov]

So close!

Anyway, it was a fun roulette all in all with great people. As far as getting that Iluvatar CD it totally beats me, it's from somewhere in the 90's and they were never big so good luck with that

Congrats Kari

[kári]

Great roulette I had tons of fun. And if Nekov had picked a better contract he would have won Song wise he is the real winner!

[Elite]

That's it mainly, yes. Your contract choice along with the amount of points bet mattered a lot in the scoring, as you can see. I actually kind of wanted Nekov to win because of his songs overall, but especially in the last round and he could have if he chose C or higher.

Well, it's all a game eh?

[kári]

Of course. The main point is you now have some new music to indulge yourself in.

Surprised you don't like Talk Talk though. Keep in mind the song is from 1988 from the album Spirit of Eden which is considered by many as the album that created post rock or something...

Also I strongly disagree with "if it doesn't go anywhere it's basically not good" but oh well

[Xanthul]

Great roulette, would play again.

Congrats kári, you and Nekov sent some amazing stuff.

[Elite]

Also I strongly disagree with "if it doesn't go anywhere it's basically not good" but oh well

I was a bit harsh with that statement and I don't necessarily always agree with it myself. It's just when ou have to write out that much text about that many different songs stuff like this slips in unnoticed

Great roulette, would play again.

thanks!

[kári]

Haha OK I get it.
I can see why some people would think that though I just don't.