The Bolsters™ v3 Mini Roulette ★ [2017 Edition] ★ THE CONCLUSION

[Bolsters]

Elite: Perihelion Ship - The Sad Mountain (To Paint a Bird of Fire)

• Something you tend to do quite often in my roulettes is send me stuff like this. It's a style/genre I've heard a lot from and that submissions can generally be described as "good but not great" - but you have a tendancy to pick out things that either have a modicum of originality, or just have a really great sound to them, and occasionally something with both, which this song is.
  
  I mean let's face it, hammond organs and mellotrons are pretty overdone, but I can't honestly say I've heard many songs that contain both - but then in this song they both get utilised simultaneously. The result is that the sound in the chorus is quite familiar but refreshing at the same time, as the organ and mellotron sounds play off of each other and blend together to make something pretty original sounding.
  
  Add to that some pretty cool riffage from both the guitarist and keyboard player, some often busy but not overcomplicated drumming, and excellent use of dynamics...yeah, this pretty good stuff. My only real gripes are that the vocalist's clean style is maybe not the best but he's not exactly bad, and does pretty well when going harsh. I can't think of much else to complain about really, this is just the good stuff.

jingle.boy: Vandroya - Beyond The Human Mind (Beyond The Human Mind)

• So, this was a top 5 song of last year did you say? You might have been better off sending your top stuff (that wasn't already banned) than trying to send something you thought was similar to one of my favourite albums from last year (Masqued).
  
  So there's no surprises in this song, but it ticks a lot of boxes on the "good" side, and everything is executed well. A pretty good female vox performance? Check. Plenty of orchestral and piano for depth and variety? Check. Epic? Check. Catchy? Definitely a check. I'm also glad that this song doesn't get too carried away with really long instrumental sections.
  
  I know you had a harder time in this roulette than my last, I'm not sure if that was the 2017 restriction or not. This song is basically what I expected to get from you. But, what took you so long?

Puppies_On_Acid: White Ward - Homecoming (Futility Report)

• Well if there's one thing you can take away from this roulette (whether you won or not), you were by far the most consistent player, as you are the only person who scored silver or better in every round. This song continues your legacy of sending consistently good shit, once again appealing to most of the things I like in this genre and avoiding the more egregious elements. More saxaphone too, so I think you've been taking note of what I liked about other tracks, which has served you well.
  
  I think the only reason this didn't rank higher than Elite's submission this round is that the vocal style, while not unappealing, has no variety to it and is fairly guttural. The sound gets a bit cacophanous at times too, like there's a bit too much happening at once and certain frequencies overwhelm the mix temporarily. But there's still good dynamic shifts and this outro is pretty great (everything from the piano onwards). Pretty good stuff even if I have a couple gripes and even if I probably like your previous silver-awarded songs more.

TAC: Cønstantine - In Fading Light (Esthesia)

• While this is perhaps another song that is not breaking the mold in any way, it's saved by a few elements that elevate it above some of the other stuff you and Chad have been sending me. For one, I really dig this chorus and it wins the unofficial award for "biggest earworm of the round" (which is worth 0 points though I'm afraid). Probably my favourite of the songs you sent (though Horisont isn't too far behind) and finally you get something better than bronze.

soupytwist: The War On Drugs - Pain (A Deeper Understanding)

• I can definitely see why you'd send this to someone who listens to Dire Straits based on several things though most of all the vocals, but fortunately for you I quite liked the somewhat dreampop-like sound of this song, so even though you get bronze (and miss out on Catching 'em All) I did think this was a pretty alright track and to be honest, I can't really find much to complain about - I guess it just doesn't have that something extra to make me want to rank it above too many of the songs this round.

home: Mastodon - Roots Remain (Emperor of Sand)

• Mastodon happens to be the third artist I received here that was also sent in my first roulette. That song was The Motherload, sent by Sacul, and it wasn't exactly my favourite song from that roulette. I knew they had a new album out last year and that it was reasonably well-received on this forum (judging by the Top 5 Albums of the year thread) so I knew I'd be getting Mastodon again, and was curious about how the band had evolved.
  
  Well you've already seen which star you got for this song so it's no mystery that I didn't love it, but I didn't mind it at all actually, and it was a pleasant surprise because I must admit I went into this with low expectations, which you managed to thankfully surpass.
  
  The first thing that stands out is that there's more to differentiate the verses and choruses in this song than The Motherload, which was extremely same-y. The verses here go at a faster pace and rely on riffs more, but the chorus goes for lighter drumming, broken chords on the guitar, and higher register vocals. But the chorus takes second place to the instrumental section which is actually quite good and gives the song some dynamic variance.
  
  Overall a very decent song that I am glad was able to remove my biases against the band, and I look forward to checking out the album now.

Parama: Venenum - Trance of Death - Part III: There Are Other Worlds... (Trance of Death)

• This was this round's "mixed bag" song, in the sense that it has things I genuinely enjoy but there's a lot of stuff that I don't really like all that much. And yeah, probably more on the not liking side since this is down at pink-level.
  
  So, I don't mind the intro at all but then it leads into a section that does not appeal to me at all. I'm no into this breathy, almost spoken word harsh vocal style here. I'm not into the thrashy, blastbeat stuff either. Thankfully the song chills out and there's a slower paced section which I actually quite liked, there's more interesting riffing and melody and the drumming is better. The second solo section is decent enough too.
  
  Once we get to around 10 minutes though the song gets extremely repetitive. On one hand I like the sound of this section, but on the other it just gets dragged out for way too long and the blastbeats ruin it towards the end anyway. So while I dig some things about this song there's a lot of elements that I don't like and it is just far too long, to be honest I looked forward to hearing this song the least every time I sat down to listen to these nine songs.
  
  You were lined up for bronze early in the round but other songs started to grow on me, and you ended up here. Good thing you hate winning I guess.

Sacul: David Bowie - Killing A Little Time (No Plan EP)

• Well you kind of expected this so I won't feel too bad about it, though I wouldn't go so far as to say "hate" regarding this song. I like the sound for one, the prominent bass and thud of the kick give the song a powerful low end that works in contrast to the vocals and cymbals.
  
  The downside? The song is pretty repetitive, in particular that one particular drum beat that underlines the vast majority of the song, but the guitar grated on me quite a bit as well. The song unfortunately seems like it goes for a lot longer than it actually does as a result.

Train of Naught: Zeal & Ardor - Come On Down (Devil is Fine)

• Turns out Parama was right about something. There were some decent little guitar moments here and there (1:04 to 1:36 is an example) but a lot of the other stuff didn't really sit all that well with me. The drumming is pretty boring and I don't like the vocal effects and constant repetition of the title of the song, and that huge scream might have worked going into a climax of some sort but the repetition of it diminishes any impact it could have had. This is definitely not one of the better things you've sent in this roulette I'm afraid.

[Crow]

by my math elite wins, which makes this his third roulette win in a row 
i probably should've changed my entry to red oak tree by hacride but i wouldn't have won regardless with how much you liked both elite's and puppies' songs, so no real loss

[Bolsters]

Yes, as everyone would have already guessed, the winner of this roulette is Elite! Although you probably had far less to choose from than the other participants because of the crossover in our tastes, that same crossover apparently means that what was left over was also appealing to me, and you did a better job than anyone else. So congrats on your third win in a row!

I'll also give a shout-out to the Pupster, a newcomer who didn't play in either of my previous roulettes but did very well here all the same, leading or being tied for the lead right up until the very end, and was also the most consistent player, never scoring lower than silver.


Well, I suppose everyone wants to know what those stars were worth this time. Parama was very close but I tricked him by doing something I've never done before: I used half-points.

That makes the final standings look something like this:

Like last time, I also made a best-of playlist, though this time I've just put them all in alphabetically instead of trying to put them in any kind of logical order.

Diamond Playlist:  [Spotify Playlist] [spotify:user:bolsters.s:playlist:0oIrQnjIKBFbzbPe4qEjnE]

Well there we have it, see you next time?

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Funny thing is, I was going to send that exact track by Perihelion Ship, but I could have sworn I saw that album in your banned list (apparently I didn't look at it hard enough)  , so I went with White Ward instead. Anyways, congrats to Elite!

Also, Perihelion Ship's first album is superior, imo. 

[Crow]

the gap between pink and diamond was really narrow, huh 

[Bolsters]

I did say I wanted this one to be easier to catch up in, since there were only five rounds.

[Crow]

this is the best i've ever done in any of your roulettes, regardless 

[Bolsters]

this is the best i've ever done in any of your roulettes, regardless

By far.

Funnily enough I found that Shade Empire album saved in Spotify earlier today, given how far down it was it'd been there a while, so good thing for you I never actually got around to listening to it.

[soupytwist]

..and so ends my first roulette.

I really enjoyed it, thanks Bolsters - and Congrats to Elite.

[Elite]

Whaa 

I did not expect to wake up to this, honestly. Thanks for the Star Trophy; the third time of playing it worked out

Although you probably had far less to choose from than the other participants because of the crossover in our tastes, that same crossover apparently means that what was left over was also appealing to me, and you did a better job than anyone else. So congrats on your third win in a row!

That certainly seemed the case, yes. I didn't think my final entry would actually take the win, but I'm glad it did nonetheless. It's a good track from a good album. Thanks for having me! Your roulettes are always fun to play in and the scoring system really makes it exciting until the end. I'll catch up with what all the others have sent through your Diamond Playlist and I guess there will be stuff in there that's appealing to me as well.

Thanks for the excellent hosting!

 

Funny thing is, I was going to send that exact track by Perihelion Ship, but I could have sworn I saw that album in your banned list (apparently I didn't look at it hard enough)  , so I went with White Ward instead. Anyways, congrats to Elite!

Also, Perihelion Ship's first album is superior, imo. 

You know, I had this track saved for the final round for some reason. If you had sent it in a previous round, I would have been screwed with not a whole lot of stuff as a 'back-up'. And yes, their first album is better, but that one's not from 2017

[jingle.boy]

jingle.boy: Vandroya - Beyond The Human Mind (Beyond The Human Mind)

• So, this was a top 5 song of last year did you say? You might have been better off sending your top stuff (that wasn't already banned) than trying to send something you thought was similar to one of my favourite albums from last year (Masqued).
  
  So there's no surprises in this song, but it ticks a lot of boxes on the "good" side, and everything is executed well. A pretty good female vox performance? Check. Plenty of orchestral and piano for depth and variety? Check. Epic? Check. Catchy? Definitely a check. I'm also glad that this song doesn't get too carried away with really long instrumental sections.
  
  I know you had a harder time in this roulette than my last, I'm not sure if that was the 2017 restriction or not. This song is basically what I expected to get from you. But, what took you so long?

Glad you enjoyed.  Yeah, that Masqued decision was clearly the wrong one.  As for my other pink star... I was just trying to mix things up a bit.  I'm happy with 4th here, and glad I was able to give you a couple that ranked well. 

Nicely run Roulette here Dave.   

[home]

Thanks for hosting this! 

I think our tastes aren't that well of a match, given most of my top 20 albums of last year aren't on your banned list, but I didn't really focus on similiarites anyway. Rather I just sent some of my favourites, glad you at least like Manchester Orchestra 

[Bolsters]

I do intend to check out all five of the albums your submissions were from, maybe I'll find more to like in them.

This is actually the list of albums I will listen to as a result of the roulette...it's almost all of them. 37 out of 44.

Arcane Roots - Melancholia Hymns
Brand New - Science Fiction
Constantine - Esthesia
Converge - The Dusk In Us
Damnations Day - A World Awakens
Daydream XI - The Circus Of The Tattered And Torn
Der Weg Einer Freiheit - Finisterre
Dirt Poor Robins - The Raven Locks Act 3
Eagleheart - Reverse
Enslaved - E
Golden Caves - Collision
Harem Scarem - United
Horisont - About Time
Lesoir - Latitude
Loch Vostok - Strife
Lor - In Forgotten Sleep
Lunatic Soul - Fractured
Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile to the Surface
Masqued - The Light In The Dark
Mastodon - Emperor Of Sand
Mew - Visuals
Nothing But Thieves - Broken Machine
Nothing More - The Stories We Tell Ourselves
Paramore - After Laughter
Perihelion Ship - To Paint A Bird Of Fire
Persefone - Aathma
Semistereo - Trans Earth Injection
Shade Empire - Poetry Of The Ill-Minded
Sleep Party People - Lingering
The Hirsch Effekt - Eskapist
The Thirteenth Sun - Stardust
The War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
Van William - The Revolution EP
Vandroya - Beyond the Human Mind
Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner and James McAlister - Planetarium
Voyager - Ghost Mile
White Ward - Futility Report

[jingle.boy]

Even my two pink's get a 'check-it-out' rating!   

I'd be interested in a follow up (eventually) on what were the top 10 albums.  Sometimes, a mediocre song can come from an absolutely killer album, or vice-versa... even a crappy album can have a gem or two buried in the sea of filth.

[Crow]

proud to be responsible for 2 of the 7 you hated 

[Sacul]

Nice, don't forget about adding Hesitation Marks

[Bolsters]

Nice, don't forget about adding Hesitation Marks

I've got it saved in Spotify aswell.