Ok for reals now
2
Nekov: Soft Electronic EP
Trentemoller -
Evil Dub (Original Mix)I like the pretty minimalist style here, reminds me a bit of Ricardo Villalobos' Alcachofa, but less repetitive. I love the synths that pop occasionally, and the inclusion of that bass/guitar was unexpected, but quite fitting, giving the song some sort of progression. The vibe here is soothing and ambient-ish, carefully produced, and being just enough engaging to be above typical background music. It gets a little repetitive tho, but I like this style. So yeah, a simple song, and an effective one without much more to it. I've had this album on my list for quite some time so I'm glad I'll finally have a chance to give it a listen.
+3.5/5Pantha Du Prince -
Lions LoveThe noisy beginning is quite surprising, because it's unexpected considering the calm nature of the previous track. But it's still pretty atmospheric and soothing, with many wonderful synths and simple beats, and the very interesting background vocals. Has quite a bit of emotion and melody, which is always welcomed on electronic music. However, it feels pretty one dimensional in terms of structure, with not much variance throughout it, sticking to a same mood and melodies I didn't mind that in Evil Dub but here it feels kind of... not grating, just not very interesting. Maybe it's more enjoyable in the album's context? But despite that, it's a pretty nice track.
3.5/5Telefon Tel Aviv -
Your MouthSynthpop? Oh boy. I definitely want to get into more of it since I fell in love with Hotline Miami and its bombastic soundtrack, so I'm glad I got plenty of those kind of tracks on this round. To start things off, I'm quite surprised at how layered this song is, with these pretty inventive beats along with layers of vocals and synths, there are always many things going on - it sadly is a bit too compressed. It's got plenty of 80s sounds, but the electronic feel written in a way that's closer to IDM than synthpop, so that makes it pretty interesting. Melodies are pretty catchy and memorable, and the sense of melancholy permeating the song is up my alley.
At first I was kind of underwhelmed, but I've really been digging this more and more, even relistening to it after making this writeup to make sure I got it right. One of my favorites of the round.
+4/5Telefon Tel Aviv -
You Are the Worst Thing in the WorldI swear the beginning of this song reminds of a certain Ulver track I can't point out right now, but luckily from there things go in a different way. I really like these synths, the excellent production, and the stronger feelings on this track. Lyrics are uuhhh okay I guess. The instrumental sections are pretty good, with all of the sample play. Very good chorus and melodies overall.
It may be a little repetitive or not as varied as Your Mouth, but this song's strengths are quite remarkable.
+4/5Telefon Tel Aviv -
Helen of TroyFairly upbeat track after the pretty melancholic ones before, but probably my least favorite out of the bunch from this artist. It's got that excellent production and layered vocals and synths are great like usual. However, this feels pretty short, with barely any instrumental sections or more developed ideas, so it's mostly a pretty straightforward song. Catchy and quite enjoyable, yes, but feels less inventive than the other two.
3.5/5FlowWell, the flow here is kind of a mess - first track is pretty minimalist, second opens with noisy synths but it's fairly soft, which leads well into the Your Mouth. However, the beginning of You're the Worst... feels disjointed, like maybe it flows from another track in the album. And Helen of Troy breaks with the mood the previous two songs had built. I think mixing up the tracklist would have helped - on my first several listens, I accidentally had them in a different order, almost reversed, and the TTA songs were in the order in which they appeared on the album, and the EP arranged in that way felt a little better than this one
. But I know you didn't have much time to put together this thing, so it could have been worse.
3/5Final scoreRP: 1.75
Flow: 3
EP Score: ((3.75 + 3.5 + 4.25 + 4.25 + 3.5) * 4) / 5 = 15.4 (out of 20)
Total: RP + Flow + EP score = 1.75 + 3 + 15.4 = 20.15
At first I didn't care much about your EP, but these tracks kept growing and growing on me with each listen. I'm very glad you and the rest of the top 3 players went with a more electronic approach, as it paid off very well. Sadly, it was a very tight competition, leaving you 0.17 points shy of the crown. So you get a gold star
. Thanks for playing! Am already checking out some of the things you've sent me, like that Leech album - good stuff
.
1
Bolsters: NineteenEightyFour The Midnight -
NighthawksThis is a pretty chill track, with wonderful synths and neat vocoder vocals, with melodies that remind me a bit of Daft Punk but also of, well, the 80s. It's got a great production too. I find I don't have much to say about it, other than the ending is quite abrupt since this likely flows into the next track in the album. Other than that, it's a very solid and interesting way to begin your EP.
4/5Gunship -
Fly For Your LifeYeah I've definitely seen this album around quite a lot but never got around it for some reason. Now, I'm not surprised to hear this sounds exactly like its cover
. Synthpop with much emphasis on the pop, meaning pretty catchy melodies, but lame lyrics, mostly the chorus' ones. It also becomes fairly repetitive towards the end, and the chorus ain't even that great, the male/female duo being just ok. But it's got some very cool synths and beats, so props for that.
+3/5The Midnight -
NocturnalI love how this track begins, with subtle beats and synths until the actual beats drop. From there, I like how the song slowly incorporates new sounds while occasionally having a vocoder saying "Nocturnal". Around min 3 this becomes pure synth bliss - really, these are some excellent patches and the playing in general is pretty creative. Probably the most atmospheric track on your EP, and certainly an interesting shift from the Gunship song. It's a track that can be both enjoyed as background music as well as relaxing and following these great melodies. Solid songwriting, yup.
+4/5Scandroid -
Atom & E.E.V.Cools synths and beats, AND sax? Hell yeah. I mean, it only appears here and there, but it sounds so good it's a shame it's not more integrated into the music in general, not just the chill parts. When there's no sax there are these very cool melodies and synths that somehow remind me of 0edit's Neotokyo (amazing album btw), lots of energy here. But yeah, it's the sax that got this from a 4 to a
+4/5.
Scandroid -
DatastreamOh, now to a track with vocals, nice. Which reminds me of Celldweller quite a lot, and the whole song in general, like if he had gone full synthwave... which is actually what happened, huh
. Very cool riffs and synths, quite catchy melodies. Lyrics are kinda dumb. Great production as usual. I feel many of his songs aren't very good for the most part so this was quite pleasant and fun to listen to, surprisingly.
+4/5Gunship -
Tech NoirOh yes, the intro is great with the spoken word and the dark synths, both fitting quite well and setting the mood. Which isn't as dark as I'd have expected once the beats pop in. Sure, it's pretty melancholic but far from the apocalyptic vibe I was expecting. Well, ignoring that, I prefer this Gunship track better, probably because it's not as repetitive, and the songwriting's more varied and creative. However, I find the melodies kinda lacking, not being really that memorable, mostly on the chorus. Synths are on point tho.
+3.5/5Scandroid -
On The Face of The DeepYeah this has got a great buildup at the beginning, leading to a pretty interesting break, with menacing synths and triggered drums. It's.. curious ending for the EP, but somehow I get the feeling this is more of an interlude in an album or more fitting as a soundtrack rather than on its own, since I find myself enjoying it, but not being particularly amazed by anything in particular. But it's still quite enjoyable, yup.
3.5/5FlowFor the most part, you really nailed it keeping a style and sound quite consistent throughout the whole thing. However, I think there are little unbalances, like two instrumental tracks followed by three fairly catchy songs then another instrumental that felt more fitting as an interlude than as ending. But they are mostly minor issues really. Great job.
4/5Final scoreRP: 0.75
Flow: 4
EP Score: ((4 + 3.25 + 4.25 + 4.25 + 4.25 + 3.75 + 3.5) * 4 / 7) = 15.57 (out of 20)
Total: RP + Flow + EP score = 0.75 + 4 + 15.57 = 20.32
Your EP was my early favorite from the first listen, but as I started digging into the others, when it came to adding the scores, I was worried you'd end up in second or third place. And with such small margin, it shows you and the other top 3 guys sent some very good stuff indeed. Thanks for playing! It was a blast to have you, and it's funny I ended up last in your roulette while you get the crown here. So...
Again, thanks for playing everyone, and special thanks for bearing with me throughout this thing - took a little longer than what I had expected, and I know I can be a little frustrating to deal with
. I had a blast, and now I've got lots of music to check out (some of which I've already done while hosting this), from every single player, even from some that got cut in the elimination round. I'll try make little writeups for each of my favorites as I listen to them, and next week I'll try put together a 'best of roulette' compilation or something.
Topic: Sacul's controversial roulette v3. Less frustration™️, A REAL WINNER AT LAST!!!! (Read 64061 times)