Author Topic: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Final Results)  (Read 61856 times)

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Online TAC

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Comparisons!)
« Reply #1050 on: November 24, 2019, 06:36:34 PM »
I'm listening to it right now. :corn
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Crow

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Comparisons!)
« Reply #1051 on: November 24, 2019, 06:41:07 PM »
enjoy the 8/10's

Online TAC

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Comparisons!)
« Reply #1052 on: November 24, 2019, 06:42:41 PM »
enjoy the 8/10's

Don't forget the Double 8!
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Crow

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Comparisons!)
« Reply #1053 on: November 24, 2019, 06:44:15 PM »
whether i get nine 8's or ten 8's is irrelevant it still averages out the same

Online TAC

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Comparisons!)
« Reply #1054 on: November 24, 2019, 06:55:58 PM »
whether i get nine 8's or ten 8's is irrelevant it still averages out the same

You could also have five 8.5's and five 7.5's.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Crow

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Comparisons!)
« Reply #1055 on: November 24, 2019, 09:23:25 PM »
all the writeups are done atm but there's actually some genuine competition for round winner this time, three 4/5's that are all pretty good songs in their own right, but also completely different in style, and i think i need to do another relisten to just those three to really make a decision. i'm gonna set these aside for a moment and get back to them in an hour or two, i'll technically still have stuff posted tonight but it'll be later than i originally wanted, oh well  :P

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Comparisons!)
« Reply #1056 on: November 24, 2019, 09:26:16 PM »
At least you don't have to listen to my song again  :lol
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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Comparisons!)
« Reply #1057 on: November 24, 2019, 09:30:53 PM »
yes, correct  :P

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Comparisons!)
« Reply #1058 on: November 24, 2019, 11:07:36 PM »
Round 7 Results
Round 7 Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3CsqhiEs0tGr63Rwa7Hnvd

Dacul: Submotion Orchestra – Hymn for Him
Theme: Female-Fronted Jazz

First Impressions:
Two minutes in and I’m not quite getting where the jazz in this comes from. It’s mostly downtempo and chill. Oh, okay, there’s some slight jazziness to the drums at 2:30 or so and a trumpet that comes in. I guess we’ll call it jazz. This feels like trip-hop if you replaced the -hop with -jazz. So… trip-jazz? I don’t know. The sound of this is a bit cold to me and more technical than emotive, despite not really being a very flashy tune. It’s like The Reign of Kindo but instead of traces of jazz in a prog-pop space, it’s a trip-hop space, thus colder instead of warm. I’ve never been able to get too into TRoK for basically the same reason I’m not really feeling this one – the sound is good but it just doesn’t resonate with me at all and ends up a little boring. I kind of get what this song is trying to do but I’m having a hard time saying I find it at all appealing, mostly just boring.

Final Thoughts:
I think this song has the kind of unfortunate combination of being kind of boring while also having some elements that rub me the wrong way, basically preventing me from getting any enjoyment out of it whatsoever. Like, the entire song as a whole is too slow-paced and lacking in either atmosphere or emotive presence to really do much of anything for me, but then there’s elements I straight up dislike.

For one, the looping piano motif that plays throughout a lot of this song feels… awkward and stiff, it’s just not a good melody, and it’s what the core of the song is built upon. And I can’t say I much like the voice of the singer either. She doesn’t sound bad, but her tone isn’t working for me, and the echoing effects that show up sometimes don’t help either.

I do think the bits with the trumpet at least kinda work. The drums pick up there too and the piano motif goes away, and that jazzy trumpet motif is pretty slick and chill. There’s a sense of atmosphere there and the stuttering drums add a bit of an uneasy/dark jazz vibe to the whole ordeal. I do enjoy at least those parts of the song. I don’t love those parts, but I’d say they’re at least pleasant.

That’s at most half the song that I get some enjoyment out of, while the other half has just consistently left me cold on every relisten, and with how long the song drags on for it really starts to wear on me by the end. Like. It’s not the worst thing ever, I at least get more out of this than the Bill Bruford song, but that’s about it. I get why you thought I might like this but I just, don’t really care for it at all unfortunately.

Reward:
Bonus: 



ariich: Nevermore – Born
Theme: None

First Impressions:
Mmm the first minute of this is incredibly rough, so I hope it improves from there. This is one of those bands I’ve known about but has never sounded interesting to me, though what I’ve heard from them before was more downtempo, whereas this is kinda thrashy almost? I think there’s some good melodic guitar work in there but it’s mixed too low & it’s never really given the focus most of the time. And like, the production lives in the “early 2000’s so not everyone had good production yet” space which, hmm. Guitar solo is solid though maybe a bit too shreddy for me. Good guitar work can help a lot, but if the song aesthetically doesn’t appeal to me at all it can only cover up so much.

Final Thoughts:
The really heavy parts of this I just flat don’t like. The thrashy, tuneless bits, or the four-on-the-floor style guitar riffs with the wailing vocals, they have that right sound to them to just… annoy me. Well, the heaviest bits are kind of impenetrable at least, the other riff I mentioned there’s just something about it I don’t like.

Any part of this song with a melodic guitar lead going on is somehow much better for it though. The first main motif that pops up right after the heavier riffs has a great hook and sound to it, I dig the hell out of it, and the chorus is pretty cool too, both musically and the vocals on top of it, which is interesting since I don’t like the vocals anywhere else in the song, at all. The drums in the chorus stand out too. It’s like every element magically comes together for a pretty cool segment.

I think the guitar solo is cool too, both the backing instrumentation and the solo itself work pretty well to compliment each other and the backing is changing enough so that there’s a sense of momentum going through that entire section. I’ve commented on this before both with Scarlet Stories and Scar Symmetry but the backing music of a solo section is just as important as the solo itself and both of them are pretty dang solid here.

So overall, I like more of this than I dislike, even though my initial reaction to it was pretty negative. Unfortunately I do still feel pretty strongly negative towards the elements of this I dislike, and they’re recurrent throughout the song so it’s hard to ignore them or brush them aside, but there’s enough here that I can say I can at least kind of get into this one, even if it’s not exactly something I see myself returning to or digging further into.

Reward:



Puppies_On_Acid: Ludicra – Only A Moment
Theme: Female-Fronted Black Metal

First Impressions:
I think the risk with sending me black metal is that there are so many types of black metal, but I am mostly partial to specifically just the intense, atmospheric type. And the folky type can be okay I guess. Anything spacey and heavy is gonna do best with me, though. Whereas this is just, basically straight up black metal at its core. Kinda thrashy and with super raspy and prominent vocals. Towards the middle it turns a bit more towards I sound I dig, though. Yeah I think the rest of this is pretty solid, it’s more downtempo but more melodic and atmospheric to balance it out. Not huge on the first third or so of this, but the rest was pretty solid stuff.

Final Thoughts:
Yeah, pretty much nothing about my opinion towards this has changed on relistens. That riff at the very start is cool but the moment it breaks into this wall-of-sound style I lose interest. It’s not even necessarily that it’s lacking melody, but it’s the way it’s mixed. The vocals and drums are too loud and drown out the stuff I’d rather hear more – I commented on how I dug the guitar-centric mixing of Darkspace a lot, and similarly, Somn, another black metal band I’ve been digging lately, has a similar intense but guitar-oriented sound to their music that makes it really compelling.

Whereas what comes off the heavy parts of this is more “loud” rather than “massive” or “atmospheric”. It’s not an uncommon black metal sound at all but I just never get anything from it. I also can’t say I really care for the vocal style much either. If it was more buried I guess I wouldn’t mind it.

The song basically says “screw that noise” at around the 3:20 mark though and abandons it for a more downtempo sound that the mix flatters a lot more and has a lot more melody and texture to it. The vocals, at least the harsh ones, are still a bit too loud here, but the cleans are mixed well for the sound.

And the melodic riffs throughout the middle are all pretty solid, plus there’s a looot of layering going on here that keeps any one melody from getting stale  while just letting them all mix into this dense, wide spread of atmospheric metal. It’s maybe not an especially attention-grabbing sound but I do find it plenty enjoyable.

The song does kind of feel like it doesn’t really… go anywhere after a while, though, listening to it just now and despite having heard it several times I was still surprised at how suddenly and unceremoniously it ended. I feel like there’s something missing at the end, some climax to tie it all together, but I also worry that if they did one it’d be the heavier, more impenetrable stuff I don’t care for, so.

My overall thoughts are basically that I don’t enjoy much about the first third of this, but the last two-thirds are pretty solid stuff. So… exactly what I said in my first impression, nothing has changed. Oh well. I’m turned off enough by the start of this to not really want to rate it higher than this, though, same with Nevermore, though this at least confines its bad stuff to a segment of the song, even if its good stuff isn’t quite as good either.

Reward:
Bonus:



Train of Naught: Astrosaur – Karakoram II
Theme: 2019 Post-Metal

First Impressions:
I vaguely remember that album cover so I feel like I might have checked this one out when it dropped a few months back, but I don’t really remember that well so maaaaybe not? I think the main riff of this is alright but even three minutes in it already feels like it’s been repeated too much – there are tempo shifts to more exciting stuff but the song went right back to the slower riff right after, so… I feel like besides that riff the song seems to be lacking much in the way of memorable motifs and melodies though, a lot of noisy guitar texture but not a ton of hook to any of it. It’s not unpleasant, and I kinda dig the overall sound, but it feels like it meanders a bit too much, though we’ll see if it grows on me on relistens.

Final Thoughts:
I do get why you’d send this after my reaction to Psychonaut, and I get why you think this corrects the problems that one had, but I think the big issue here is that the core sound of this just doesn’t appeal to me in the same way. I guess my main gripes is that it doesn’t feel like much of this has any real punch to it? That main riff is heavy, but it’s an awkward and disjointed riff that doesn’t really have any groove nor power to it, it just kind of… drags along cyclically.

The faster parts of this, there’s kind of a psychedelic edge to the guitar tone? I see this tagged as stoner rock which is kind of closer to what this is than post-metal, but it’s got enough of post-metal in it that I’m not going to reject the bonus very or anything. Anyways, the fast bits at least excite me more than the slower, sludgier bits, but there’s still something about them that just isn’t working for me about the general sound.

I feel like it may be that the overall sound is generally hookless? Like, the guitars have melody to them and they’re playing some kind of leads but I don’t find any of them that sticky or memorable, and while there are recurrent riffs there don’t seem to be so many recurrent melodies besides that. The only one I can recall off the top of my head is the one that plays during the first faster section, and then comes back towards the end.

There’s also not really any good transitions at any point in this song. It starts slow, gets faster awkwardly, even more awkwardly slows down, gets fast again and slowly bleeds tempo for a few minutes before kicking back into fast again, but I don’t think the transition is handled gracefully even once. There’s a solid degree of flow to that middle bit where there isn’t any harsh transition, but that’s the only part of the song that doesn’t feel real awkwardly stop-start.

I dunno, I’m trying to put into words why this one isn’t working for me and it’s really hard to pin down exactly where the issue lies, even with what I’ve put down here. I really am struggling to say much beyond “well the general sound just isn’t working for me” because that’s really the entire story here. It’s not bad or unpleasant, but I can’t imagine surviving a whole album of something like this either.

Reward:
Bonus:



Nekov: Kiev – Drag Bones
Theme: None

First Impressions:
The first thing coming off from this is that the guitars sound a bit noise rock-y? They’ve got that kind of buzzy and distorted sound, but nah, it’s overall too clean for that. My first impression right now is that none of the elements of this are really clicking. There’s a halfhearted attempt at a groove but the song doesn’t commit, the vocals sound nice but they’re not going for any sort of melodic hook or even power. I do like the break towards the middle with the kinda jazzy drums and understated bass groove, though, and there’s some degree of build coming off it. And the ending is pretty cool too. Wasn’t feeling this one at the start but it got better as it went on and I was pretty into it by the end.

Final Thoughts:
Weirdly, this is probably the song of the round that felt overall least memorable to me. It’s not that it sounds too much like something else in the round, or even in the roulette, I don’t think there’s any song quite comparable to how this one sounds, but just nothing about it really sticks in my head after it’s over. I can listen to it here and go “oh yeah, that one” but I suspect a day from now I wouldn’t be able to tell you how this one goes.

It sort of falls victim to having a “toneless groove” to it. The bass groove has a nice rhythm to it, and the drums accompany it well, but a lot of the guitar work sorta sounds like just noises, and even when there’s melody it’s mostly a one-note melody. It’s the same reason a lot of djent or groove metal-type stuff doesn’t work for me, but without any sort of heavy distortion. And it’s not loose or fun enough to have groove in a “funk” sort of way either.

I do agree with my earlier assessment that in general the song starts picking up some steam as it goes on – I do like the chorus, that’s a pretty good hook even the first time it shows up, though the chorus at the end just has a bit more oomph to it overall, a lot more going on there. And the drum break through the noisy buildup to that chorus all happens fairly smoothly and effortlessly too.

I think this is closer to a 3 than your entry preceding it, but the overall dry sound of this combined with the noisy lack of melody and the need for a stronger, more physical groove to this just leaves me a bit flat, wanting a bit more than I’m getting out of it. It’s not a bad song, and there’s parts of it that do work pretty well, but it’s just missing that extra level of appeal to me that some of the better indie rock-ish songs this roulette have had.

Reward:

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Comparisons!)
« Reply #1059 on: November 24, 2019, 11:08:13 PM »
TAC: Vinsta – Fiachtn
Theme: Foreign Language Death Metal

First Impressions:
Like a minute in and I would’ve probably seen an argument that this could’ve fit in either black metal or death metal as I do hear some of both (the vocals are more black, the music is more death but toned enough that I could still see it as black). I’m inclined to say I don’t really like the vocals but they’re mixed low enough and generally incomprehensible enough that I can’t really complain that loudly. I do like the riffing style on display here, it’s got a cool 6/8 groove to it while having both atmosphere and melody and some rhythmic shifts every so often just to keep things interesting, though I do worry the song may end up feeling monotone if it keeps in this vein for the rest of its runtime? It does change up its riffs a little, I suppose, and there’s a guitar solo and some more melodic vocals that come in later too. I think the overall sound of this is pretty cool and up my alley but it feels like it could use a bit of diversity or dynamics considering how long it runs.

Final Thoughts:
This song is particularly weird in that I don’t think my impressions of it have developed or changed in any way whatsoever since my initial listen, and I don’t know what to do about it. I know what the overall sound of this one is, but beyond that it all is just… kind of a blur, I guess?

Like, the riffs are good, there’s no doubt in my mind about that. I am a sucker for 6/8 but they do lots of interesting twists on that time signature, there’s some nice and headbob-worthy grooves throughout a lot of this song. The one riff that has the offbeat groove to it is probably the most interesting and memorable of the lot.

I don’t really know what else to say beyond that though. The song is… really stagnant over its entire runtime, it feels like. Like, I’m halfway through it right now and I feel like I’m just hearing the same three riffs on repeat, and I don’t even remember if it changes things up much after this either. Maybe there have been more than just three riffs but it barely feels like it if so.

Not until like 4:30 is there any break from the constant volume and vibe of the song, with a nice quiet bit that sneaks in there for a moment before the guitar solo kicks in, and it kind of makes me wonder why more of the song doesn’t have prominent guitar leads like this since the riffs would be really easy to play off of and there’s a great tone to the leads here too.

I guess pretty much every part of the song after that does do things a bit different that what came before it, but there’s this stretch in the middle of the song where I just end up kind of bored because the riffs that make the start of the song interesting have gotten stale and the song hasn’t gotten to the part that changes things up enough to stay interesting. Which makes this an oddly easy song to fix the main problem of – just cut the first 4:30 in half or so, and then add in the rest of the song after it. Or just add something to break up the first two-thirds of this at least a little bit.

It’s frustrating because the sound of this is cool and there’s lots of elements I do like but there’s a solid two minutes in the middle of this one where I just feel flat bored and impatient waiting for something else, anything else to happen. I think it could’ve been a great song with a bit of the fat trimmed or a bit of a rewrite but as it stands it’s merely good, and frustrating.

Reward:



Evermind: Evan Carson – Otriad
Theme: None

First Impressions:
Alright Ev hit me with that djent baby. Djent Baby sounds like a parody djent band that does covers of pop songs tbh, eww. A minute in and I’m not yet quite sure what this one is trying to be. There’s some neo-prog-y vocals but it’s mostly a piano & percussion groove so far. The piano work on this is pretty diverse. It does feel like this is meandering without really “going” anywhere though. Is this like, the new wave of folk music or something? Lots of rhythms like that and a lot of strings popping in and out. It does build up some momentum as it goes on at least and develops into, like, an actual song by the end. I don’t think the overall sound of this one is necessarily for me, and it does feel like it meanders in its first half, but it gets better in the second half and is kinda neat.

Final Thoughts:
I must’ve been really burnt out during my first impressions of this one too because I was pretty negative towards it for whatever reason but then I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit on at least my third listen onwards, if not even earlier. I guess it’s because it’s not really quite like any other song I’ve received in this roulette, or heard in general, really.

Like, there’s a lot going on here that’s driven mostly by piano, percussion, and vocals. There’s a slick and tight piano groove that’s pretty infections, there’s a banger of a chorus that occurs a few times throughout the song and seems to escalate every time. There’s some swells of strings that provide a few moments of solid build. The piano sound here is maybe not as organic as I’d like but it’s not as stiff as some other songs in this roulette either.

I do think the middle is probably the weakest bit – I’m not too into the bit with those fast piano runs, and there’s a really rough transition after that, but the song recovers pretty quickly following that with a folky, string-driven section. For whatever reason there’s an extra triplet thrown in at the end of every phrase of this section which… feels like the wrong decision, it sort of hurts the  momentum, but it’s a minor distraction. That section is kind of disconnected from the rest of the song overall, too, since it goes right back into the 4/4 feel of the rest of the song after, so it’s… a diversion, alright.

The strings do carry on to the next bit pretty well with some fun melodies and flute accompaniment, and returning to the chorus for a pretty solid climax and finale, with just more layers of vocals and strings sounding like they’re coming in as it repeats. It honestly sounds more intense than some of the metal I’ve received in this round, and that’s accomplished without any electric guitars (though I do think there is an acoustic one somewhere in the mix…)

I think in a void I’d struggle to place this one, but comparing it to previous round’s scores… it’s right around the same level of enjoyment as the strongest few of the 3’s for me, but I think I have enough little gripes combined with a lack of that real huge sense of impact this one leaves on me to quite call it on that tier, and if I pit it up against almost any other 4 it loses by a pretty hefty margin. I guess that’s the one failing of this scoring system, this feels like it deserves more than a 3 but less than a 4, and I don’t have anything in-between for you here. Still a cool and unique tune though, and I definitely want to at least check out the full album based on this one.

Reward:



Bolsters: Mree – To See the Light
Theme: None

First Impressions:
It’s nice to know that I’m always going to consistently have one non-metal song in the round at the very least. Though this song is in like, 7/4 or something, which is interesting for this downtempo kind of indie folk or whatever you call this. I like the subtle woodwinds that come in towards the middle, the type of instrumentation you rarely seem to hear in music like this. There’s a lot of smaller movements to this in the structure of a fairly straightforward song, too. It’s a nice song that both at its core sounds interesting and distinct and has a lot of little touches that only make it that much better.

Final Thoughts:
What a pleasant little song. This song’s just… nice. It makes a 7/4 feel, which is usually intentionally choppy and jagged, feel just… natural and smooth, almost effortless, and that’s maybe it’s biggest strength. You’ve got these dreamy synths and guitars, swells of strings and subtle but effective percussion, smooth and silky vocal melodies, all in this time signature that feels like it shouldn’t be able to support something this ethereal.

I think the biggest thing is that the drums are so restrained and low in the mix – they’re present when they need to be to drive the louder moments, mostly muted snare hits, but a lot of the time the rest of the instrumentation is left to carry the rhythm without rhythmic accompaniment, and it still manages to do so effortlessly while keeping that dreamlike feel going the whole way through.

It’s also pretty catchy – at the very least, that one synth line and the vocal melodies of the chorus both stuck with me in a big way, they’re probably the two most obvious hooks of the entire thing, but there’s a lot of little melodies throughout this that just fit in with the mood well. The instrumentation changes with pretty much every section of the song, and there’s even the additional layers of vocals that come in towards the end that make the song sound so much larger than you’d think it could.

It’s just a perfect little song, really. I can’t point at any gripes I have with this one whatsoever, the only thing it really lacks to take it to that next level is something really hard-hitting and powerful, or a strong emotional connection, but I think with the intent of this song it was almost never going to make that kind of connection with me. The lyrics aren’t… especially interesting or important here, anyways. I don’t think of that as a negative, not every song has to be a perfect 9/10+ song for me to still enjoy it anyways, and I enjoy this song quite a lot.

Reward:



Elite: Kaunis Kuolematon – Paha Ihminen
Theme: Foreign Language Death Metal

First Impressions:
We finally have dueling bonus themes, in round 7 of the roulette. About time! This has that downtempo melodeath sound to it that I always have really mixed feelings about, alright. Okay, but the riff that comes in towards the halfway point is at least pretty groovy. I dunno, I always just hear this sound as “growly Katatonia” which, like, fine. I do think of the two songs going for this bonus theme, this one is less likely to end up with it, based on first impressions, but we’ll see. Like, the riffs are heavy and the vocals are solid and there’s some atmosphere and melody and all that good stuff but none of it really stands out or plays into a kind of sound I like. This is one of those styles where I know I’m supposed to feel some kind of emotional connection coming off the music but most of the time I just don’t get that, and I’d say the same about this.

Final Thoughts:
One of the bigger growers of the round for me. This one left me a bit cold at first but on relistens a lot of stuff did start to pop out at me. For one, the main motif of this song is actually really strong and recurs enough times with both quieter and louder renditions that it really ties the whole thing together well. Great use of a good motif.

I also don’t quite know where I got the “growly Katatonia” vibes coming from because that… isn’t really true. The quieter moments of this have that dark folk-esque sound to them and while the song takes its time to build up to the heavier stuff it doesn’t feel overlong or drawn out, there’s a good build to the whole process of getting to that heavy explosion, kicking off again with that main motif.

And the heavy, groovy riff towards the middle is pretty cool in its own right, but I also dig the synth melody going on in the background, it complements the heavier sound well without really diminishing the impact, and it transitions smoothly into the similarly-styled guitar lead that follows as well. And after that they show that they’re able to pull off a pretty solid sludgy, doom-y type riff pretty effectively too. The song is pretty constantly changing but the transitions are all smooth and natural and there’s still an overall cohesiveness to the sound.

I have no clue what about this I found boring or uninteresting on first listen. The first impression reads to me like it’s discussing an entirely different song than the one I’m reviewing here, even though I’m certain it’s the same song both times. Either something about this one clicked for me and I didn’t notice it, or I just went completely insane writing that first impression. Maybe I misinterpreted the intent of the song? It’s definitely more of a heavy rocker than it is an emotive, downtempo song, but it has enough of a slow start to it I could see myself misinterpreting it from that.

In any case, wow, yeah, this is pretty good stuff isn’t it. I even am rating it higher here than I was expecting to only a single listen ago, because I’m pretty into this sound and am eager to hear more when this album drops. Maybe I won’t even like the rest of the album as much, or maybe it’ll leave me just as cold on first listen but end up being a lot of growers as well. Either way I’m glad I at least ended up appreciating this one by the end of the round ‘cause it does deserve it, I feel.

Reward:
Bonus:



Buddyhunter1: Anamanaguchi – Sunset By Plane
Theme: None

First Impressions:
Well I’m worried as hell about this one but we’ll see. The first 20 seconds sounded promising but then the chiptune bass came in and I immediately got worried again. Alright when the song kicks in it’s fine. It’s not “just chiptune” which is, I think, where I tend to have a problem. If you incorporate some of those sounds in the framework of a more organic sound I’m not gonna complain as much. I think the vocals are the part of this I find least agreeable, actually, they’re a bit too saccharine and breathy. This sounds kind of like an anime opening at points. I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good thing, but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing either.

Final Thoughts:
I think when I’m saying “I don’t like chiptune” I’m specifically thinking of like, 8-bit stuff. It isn’t necessarily even bad on its own, there are some 8-bit games with bangin’ soundtracks to be sure. But the “chiptune” elements of this are more like 16-bit tones or maybe even 32-bit, it gets hard to distinguish after a point, and they’re not even really the focus of the song either. I guess some of the tones sound a bit airy and thin but that’s really my biggest gripe with them.

The vocals, as well, I think work best when there are some harmonies going on – a single voice on its own does have that same breathy sound to it, but two or more voices harmonizing kind of buries that aspect of the vocals and makes it kind of irrelevant, especially with how strong a lot of the vocal melodies in this tend to be. Like, there are some damn good melodies here and I just wish the vocals themselves were better to match.

I think what I appreciate the most about this song is how much energy it has, though, in what otherwise felt like a pretty sleepy and downtempo round overall. I mean, I guess there are other “upbeat” songs here but there’s all, like, dark and heavy stuff, whereas this song is bright and optimistic and just generally makes me happy to listen to.

Like, gotta be honest, all the nitpicks I have? They don’t really matter. The use of chiptune doesn’t really matter, the breathy vocals don’t really matter, because unless I’m really intently focusing on the song I’m not even really hearing those elements. I’m just hearing the stuff that makes me like this song – that killer main motif that shows up several times throughout the song, the dreamy vocal melodies contrasted with energetic but low-key percussion on the verses, the driving bridge with that brief guitar lead and very nice resolution in the vocals after it. I just enjoy listening to it.

It’s maybe not the most perfect or amazing song of the round, and I do feel the gripes I have with it are at least enough to keep it from even thinking about that highest rating, though maybe it’ll again be another that continues to grow on me with repeat listens, which it is definitely going to get, because yeah. I’m surprising even myself with how highly this one ranked, but it does deserve it.

Reward:
Round Winner Bonus:



Current Standings:
Bolsters: 29
Elite: 27
Evermind: 24
ariich: 23
Dacul: 23
TAC: 23
Nekov: 22
Puppies_On_Acid: 22
Buddyhunter1: 22
Train of Naught: 20

Offline Crow

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1060 on: November 24, 2019, 11:20:42 PM »
stuff updated. send by 8 AM PST on 11/27!
bolsters is basically already qualified for the finals and should probably start working on an EP. i'm gonna give everyone up to a week after the last normal round ends to submit an EP because those take time. it might go all the way to round 10 though  :lol

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1061 on: November 25, 2019, 12:01:31 AM »
Damn, let me just say I really hoped for 4 after seeing the positive comparison.

Oh well, at least I'm still doing reasonably well.
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1062 on: November 25, 2019, 12:04:20 AM »
Down down lower I go.

Fair enough about the heavy stuff, in an of itself it's not my thing either but it's the contrast between the intense and the melodic that I think works so well in their music. Still, at least I managed 2 strawberries again.

Ariich is a freak, or somehow has more hours in the day than everyone else.
I be am boner inducing.

Offline Train of Naught

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1063 on: November 25, 2019, 01:07:01 AM »
How do you determine which is the last normal round? Just when a big enough group has reached the 30 berries?
people on this board are actual music fans who developed taste in music and not casual listeners who are following current fashion trends and listening to only current commercial hits.

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1064 on: November 25, 2019, 01:21:03 AM »
How do you determine which is the last normal round? Just when a big enough group has reached the 30 berries?
yup, once 5 or more people reach 30 we go to the final round

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1065 on: November 25, 2019, 01:34:37 AM »
How about we all start sending shitty stuff so this roulette goes forever :lol
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (join you infidels)
« Reply #1066 on: November 25, 2019, 01:39:23 AM »
If 10 rounds pass and the 5 slots have not been filled, the highest-scoring remaining players below 30 will be pulled into the finals. 2 additional strawberries will be awarded to all qualifying players based on half (rounded down) the # of strawberries below 30 that the lowest scoring player in the final has. (For example, 23 strawberries would award qualifying players 3 bonus strawberries, 26 would award 2, etc.) Note that any player who does not qualify will not receive these bonus strawberries, regardless of how close they are to 30.
try it if you want

this is colloquially referred to as the "You disappoint me" rule.

don't make me a sad panda

Online Evermind

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1067 on: November 25, 2019, 03:10:37 AM »
I actually intend to win the next round and qualify to the finals

Now I just need to pick the song :lol
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Comparisons!)
« Reply #1068 on: November 25, 2019, 04:40:31 AM »
I'm guessing I'll still get to berries but you liked this one more than the last one?  :lol


Called it, even with the typo

I'll send later today
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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1069 on: November 25, 2019, 07:54:40 AM »
Finally got a golden strawberry! My work here is done. :biggrin:

In all seriousness, I'm really glad that resonated with you. The main motif and the energetic instrumentation of that song are just killer.

I'd definitely recommend checking out that album, though I'd temper your expectations a little bit - there's only a few songs on the record with vocals, and some tracks definitely lean more on the 8-bit instrumentation than others, but there aren't really any where it's the only thing going on. Pretty much every song uses other synths and those tasty, tasty live drums show up in quite a few other places too. It's probably gonna end up around my top three for this year, I'd say.

Anyways, time to have my hopes at reaching the EP round squashed yet again. Will probably send something else totally risky that you'll either love or hate, but I'm still thinking about it.
« Last Edit: November 25, 2019, 10:44:09 AM by Buddyhunter1 »
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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1070 on: November 25, 2019, 09:00:21 AM »
Sent some boomer rock
people on this board are actual music fans who developed taste in music and not casual listeners who are following current fashion trends and listening to only current commercial hits.

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1071 on: November 25, 2019, 09:06:24 AM »
Sent Sarah McLachlan
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1072 on: November 25, 2019, 10:31:53 AM »
Well damn, I like how all over the place I've been on this roulette so far :lol

In all seriousness, I'm really glad that resonated with you. The main motif and the energetic instrumentation of that song are just killer.

I'd definitely recommend checking out that album, though I'd temper your expectations a little bit - there's only a few songs on that record with vocals, and some tracks definitely lean more on the 8-bit instrumentation than others, but there aren't really anything where it's the only thing they do. Pretty much every song uses other synths and those tasty, tasty live drums show up in quite a few other places too. It's probably gonna end up around my top three for this year, I'd say.
I'm surprised Cyril liked this one so much, but I agree with you, the album is great :metal

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1073 on: November 25, 2019, 10:47:02 AM »
Sent
When Ginobili gets hot, I get hot in my pants. 

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1074 on: November 25, 2019, 01:36:47 PM »
Oh boy. Will send for another raspberry tonight.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1075 on: November 25, 2019, 05:43:51 PM »
Oh boy. Will send for another raspberry tonight.
Oh there's your problem, you've been playing for raspberries this whole time. You are supposed to be playing for strawberries  :biggrin:
aka Puppies_On_Acid
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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1076 on: November 25, 2019, 05:57:12 PM »
Oh boy. Will send for another raspberry tonight.
Oh there's your problem, you've been playing for raspberries this whole time. You are supposed to be playing for strawberries  :biggrin:

But I've been getting raspberries. :lol
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1077 on: November 25, 2019, 06:28:18 PM »
Just wait until Cyril unveils the Moonberry
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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1078 on: November 25, 2019, 06:29:52 PM »
That's what the winner is getting tbh I need to get the sprite though

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1079 on: November 25, 2019, 07:28:21 PM »
Sent some more electronic stuff.
BUDDYHUNTER | Debut Demo Out Now! FREE DOWNLOAD: https://buddyhunter.bandcamp.com/
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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1080 on: November 25, 2019, 08:19:16 PM »

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1081 on: November 25, 2019, 08:23:46 PM »
just missing ariich and Elite now, it looks like

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1082 on: November 25, 2019, 08:24:12 PM »
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1083 on: November 25, 2019, 11:50:25 PM »
just missing ariich and Elite now, it looks like
Not anymore you're not.

Ariich is a freak, or somehow has more hours in the day than everyone else.
I be am boner inducing.

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Re: Cyril's Roulette v6 (Round 7 Results!)
« Reply #1084 on: November 26, 2019, 08:31:07 PM »
Hangman!

ariich: _v___t____ _v___t____ - To T__ _____
Train of Naught: ____o____ ______ - _ov_____
Buddyhunter1: ________ - _____
Dacul: _____ __oo_ - _ov___
Elite: ________tt - __v_t_ ___
Puppies_On_Acid: _o_______ - To __oo_
Evermind: ________ _t _____ _________ - _______
TAC: _o__t____ _____ - _t______
Nekov: __t_ - ____t____
Bolsters: ____ _o____ - _t___ ____

Letters Guessed:
OTV

Bolsters waits 3
Puppies waits 2
TAC waits 1

No who-sent-what's because nobody has even been attempting them.
Also, thank you all for sending really short songs, this is maybe the shortest 10-song round I've ever had, under 50 minutes in total  :lol
Gonna do first impressions in a bit, jamming the new Midnight Odyssey right now though
« Last Edit: November 26, 2019, 08:56:21 PM by Cyril »