ariich’s inclusive roulette (v6) – EPic final results!

[ariich]

If you want to hear some more Liturgy, check out their album Aesthethica, it's interesting, to say the least. It includes the worst song of 2011 (possibly of the decade) followed directly by one of the best songs of 2011 (Glass Earth and Harmonia respectively) 

Or maybe just check out those 2 songs. 

As an album listener, and after my experience with HAQQ, I'll probably just pass.

For Aeons Past is where it's at for S.45.  The other two are good and honestly find it hard to choose which one I like more.

Anyway back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Arcane (LordCost - round 2)
Known/Learned is a great album - it's a bit overly long and there are some moments that do drag a little, but there's so much great stuff and I like the distinction between the two parts as well so all in all excellent stuff (4 stars). I thought I'd try some of their earlier stuff too so gave a listen to Chronicles of the Waking Dream, and it was good but definitely not as interesting (3.5 stars), so I don't think I'll bother with their first album.

Anamanaguchi (Buddy - round 2)
I mentioned this in I think Mike's roulette, but yeah I'm really liking their latest two albums. USA is probably slightly stronger simply because Endless Fantasy maybe drags on a little long, but both albums are really great, they have such a nice sound that incorporates the chiptune roots into more modern electropop (4 stars x 2). I agree with Sacul that Mermaid is a really cool song, but otherwise Dawn Metropolis isn't quite my cup of tea, though it's nice enough (3.5 stars).

Glass Beach (Cyril - round 2)
Just the one album, imaginatively called "the first glass beach album". Anyway it's great - I maybe even like it slightly more than the song selection you sent me as it's a very nicely balanced set of styles and ideas (4 stars).

Scarlet Stories (Elite - round 2)
Oh man, I like Necrologies as a whole even more than the songs you sent from it (4.5 stars). Which obviously isn't to say that you didn't send good songs, because they're great, but there's also some really epic, slower-paced and atmospheric moments/songs that are even more up my alley and really it's just such a great listen.

Seatbelts [Yoko Kanno] (Indi - round 2)
Limited options for me to check out on Spotify, so I went with the best of as it includes 3 of the 4 songs you sent me (the other isn't on Spotify at all anyway) plus it seems to be popular. And it's very enjoyable, but as I thought might be the case, as a soundtrack I don't get a huge amount from it without knowing the show it's from. And while it's very fun music, I don't think it's unique or exciting enough to properly grab me in its own right (3.5 stars).

Randy Newman (Katt - round 2)
So I've heard a full album of his that you sent me in the last roulette, but I thought I'd try another - particularly the one with Dixie Flyer as I loved that song in the selection you sent me this time. I still feel much the same way about the album though (3.5 stars), and I suspect he's probably an artist who I'll really like some songs by but never find any whole albums exciting enough.

The Mayan Factor (Evermind - round 2)
Alright, so In Lake 'Ch is a really weird and frustrating album. You did warn me when you sent me songs from it that the album wasn't all great, and I see what you mean although possibly for different reasons. It's very much an album in two halves. The first half is solid - it has the three songs you sent me, which are all great, and then it has two others which are fine but are basically weaker versions of Warflower. The second half is then a complete shift and is extremely inconsistent. I imagine some people won't like the rap vocals, but those don't bother me at all - in fact the rap sections and the nu-metal bit at the end of Going to Pieces are the only bits of the second half I like. It's the clean sections that are just so damn boring - all the melody and emotionality in the first half of the album is just non-existent and it's such a drag to listen to. All in all, it's still a good album because of a few excellent songs, but it's not a great one (3.5 stars). I'm not currently minded to check out the albums they've done since, unless you'd recommend anything.

[The Walrus]

Ah that's so cool you checked out more Randy! Yeah, he has great stuff on all of his records, but he's certainly got some duds and I wouldn't expect you to dig a whole record of his kind of material. But that album has several wonderful songs imo. Big influence for me personally, just love the way he writes lyrics and how he delivers them. The satire helps.

Re: Yoko Kanno, was The Egg And I one of the tunes you heard? I love that song and the scene in which it's used for Cowboy Bebop.

[wolfking]

Is there a method in the order of how you are checking everything out?

[ariich]

Ah that's so cool you checked out more Randy! Yeah, he has great stuff on all of his records, but he's certainly got some duds and I wouldn't expect you to dig a whole record of his kind of material. But that album has several wonderful songs imo. Big influence for me personally, just love the way he writes lyrics and how he delivers them. The satire helps.

Re: Yoko Kanno, was The Egg And I one of the tunes you heard? I love that song and the scene in which it's used for Cowboy Bebop.

Doesn't look like it was on the best of. There were a few really great tracks though.

Is there a method in the order of how you are checking everything out?

Er, apart from a few I checked out at the start, I'm working through in round order and roughly alphabetical in each round (so you'll be at the end of each round ). There are also a few artists I'm not going to bother with.

[Elite]

Awesome, glad you liked Scarlet Stories!

[wolfking]

Ok, that makes sense.  Was wondering I have only seen 1 of mine but I guess that answers that lol.

[ariich]

Be fair Kade, there are 22 of you! Cyril just got some extras because he sent me some extra stuff to check out after the roulette.

[wolfking]

Fine.....I'll try and be more patient! 

[ariich]

MOAR UPDATES

The Fringe (king - round 2)
Yeah the album is pretty much exactly what I expected from the songs you sent. A Second or Two is still fantastic, and the rest is all nice it not especially exciting (3.5 stars)

Arcturus (Lethean - round 2)
I started with Arcturian which most of the songs you sent me are from, and yeah I like it a lot! The music is still fairly experimental but there's enough melodic hook and the production, while still not amazing by any stretch, isn't detrimental to enjoying the album a great deal (4 stars). I also check out La Masquerade Infernale and it was much less appealing - the production really does harm it and it just doesn't work for the music which is already fairly dense and not very accessible (3 stars). I also figured I'd give another chance to the other albums I'd heard before, and I definitely liked them both more, though neither as much as Arcturian. The Sham Mirrors is very good and I can see why it's their most popular (3.5 stars). Sideshow Symphonies I felt pretty much the same as Masquerade and for basically the same reasons (3 stars).

IQ (lonestar - round 2)
I'd heard The Road of Bones before, so I gave Resistance (which you sent me songs from) a good go this time, and I have to say at the start I was really digging it. But the album does drag quite a lot for me. I just don't find myself engaging well with the vocal melodies, and over the course of a long album with not a huge variety of sound, it starts to get a little boring. So a solid album, but it hasn't changed my mind about them (3.5 stars).

In the Silence (Luoto - round 2)
A Fair Dream Gone Mad was exactly what I expected from the songs you sent from it - nothing particularly unique or special, just a really excellent moody, doomy, proggy metal album (4 stars).

Whispered (Puppies - round 2)
I have to say, I've actually been enjoying these guys even more than I thought I would. You sent really good songs, but the full albums also have some tunes on the more atmospheric side of melodic death metal and it's a really cool mix. The two albums you sent songs from are probably the strongest overall, but their debut Thousand Swords is great too - has some not very interesting tracks but is saved by some really fantastic ones. All three are great metal albums (4 stars x 3).

Fishmans (Sacul - round 2)
This is a little different - I wasn't going to check anything further out, but you kindly put together a fresh compilation so I could get a sense of their more regular music instead of the 30 minute meander you sent in the roulette. And indeed I like these much better - there's a cute, quirky kind of charm to these tracks and they're all very enjoyable. Nothing that really blows me away or hugely grabs me, but nice stuff. If I was rating this in the roulette, I guess it'd probably get something like a 7.8.


The next update should be in the next couple of days and will finish all my round 2 exploration, and then I can move onto round 3 at the weekend!

[wolfking]

Whispered are really really good.

[jingle.boy]

Whispered are really really good.

Yeah, but no wolfking updates.  You should take it personally at this point.   

[ariich]

Whispered are really really good.

Yeah, but no wolfking updates.  You should take it personally at this point.   

I'm punishing him for choosing a username that starts with a letter near the end of the alphabet.

I mean, what a joker right?

[ariich]

Let's finish round 2 - took longer than I thought it might as Ereb Altor have turned out to be a really consistently good band for quite a few years, plus I wanted to explore enough Tom Waits to get a good impression!


Tom Waits (Tomi & Shadow - round 2)
Tomi sent me songs from his first album, Closing Time, and he did well so I figured I'd start there and work my way forward for a bit. I love both that album and The Heart of Saturday Night (4 stars x 2) - they have a great bluesy, gloomy vibe with lot of melody and emotion thrown in. After that, he starts to lose me a bit. There's the odd great song (Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis for example is superb) but for the most part I'm just not feeling it as much. I gave a listen or two to Small Change, Foreign Affairs, Blue Valentine and Rain Dogs, and they're all good but none of them hooks me in like those first two albums do (3.5 stars x 4).

Widespread Panic (Stadler - round 2)
I gave a listen to 'Til the Medicine Takes, as it contains easily my favourite song from the selection you sent, plus it's their highest rated album on RYM. And it's good for sure, but I basically feel exactly the same way I do about the songs you sent (3.5 stars). That song is great, and the rest is all fine (including some nice use of different sounds) but none of it nearly as interesting.

Ereb Altor (TAC - round 2)
Damn, these guys are remarkably consistent. I started with their latest which you included a song from, and that was great so I just worked my way backwards. Their latest five albums are all just really great doom/black/Viking metal (4 stars x 5) - intense but with a lot of melody and melancholy harmony that I'm a complete sucker for. I went back a couple more albums too, but Gastrike was a little meh (3 stars) and The End had some good stuff but wasn't nearly as strong as what they've done since (3.5 stars).

Algiers (Train - round 2)
What a weird and cool sound these guys have. The result doesn't always quite work for me, but it's easily most consistently strong on The Underside of Power which is just a really great and unusual album (4 stars). Their debut and their latest have some really good songs (including the two you sent me from their latest) but both also have a bunch of songs that just don't interest me at all, and so overall they're a bit weaker (3.5 stars x 2).

Pyramaze (wolfking - round 2)
Finally another update for you. And I'm pleased to say that this is some great stuff. It's interesting that their sound seems to be so driven by their singer. The latest two are right up my street, the general sound (including the vocal style) remind me so much of Borealis but if anything the music is even more consistently enjoyable. Both albums are fantastic (4 stars x 2 - but I should add that these are very solid 4 stars and I could potentially see them going even higher in future). Immortal with Matt Barlow almost sounds like Iced Earth, but again better than a lot of Iced Earth albums - and it's maybe a smidgen below the latest two but still excellent (4 stars). As I thought might be the case from the songs you sent, their first singer I find much less interesting and, as seems to be the case with this band, the music less exciting too - Legend of the Bone Carver was still good, but not great (3.5 stars) so I didn't bother with their debut.

[The Walrus]

From what little I've heard of Tom Waits after Closing Time, it sounds nothing as beautiful as Closing Time, which is a damn shame to me because CT is one of my favorite albums ever made. I don't like what he does with his voice on everything after...

[Crow]

would agree that underside is my fave of the three algiers albums. i really wasn't into the most recent one at all tho.

[ariich]

From what little I've heard of Tom Waits after Closing Time, it sounds nothing as beautiful as Closing Time, which is a damn shame to me because CT is one of my favorite albums ever made. I don't like what he does with his voice on everything after...

The Heart of Saturday Night (his second album) is also great and in a way kind of similar. I'd definitely check that out if you haven't already. But yeah the shift in his voice from that one to the next one (Small Change) is really weird, and honestly while I appreciate the weirdness, I just find his vocal style from that point onwards much less engaging.

[Sacul]

Yeah that's a fair assessment of Fishmans, I guess they just resonate quite a bit with me for some reason. Also yeah, The Underside of Power is awesome

[wolfking]

Yay an update for me and what an update.  Glad you liked Pyramaze mate.  My favs are definitely the last two also.  They have crafted a wonderful sound with the new singer and the melodies they are coming up with just hit the spot.  Hopefully another album is in the works.

[jingle.boy]

Yay an update for me and what an update.  Glad you liked Pyramaze mate.  My favs are definitely the last two also.  They have crafted a wonderful sound with the new singer and the melodies they are coming up with just hit the spot.  Hopefully another album is in the works.

I'm with ya - definitely like the albums with Terje most.  While I'm not a fan of Iced Earth at all, I really like Barlow's chemistry with Pyramaze.  It's too bad you (Rich) went with Legend of the Bone Carver to sample the King-era albums.  Their debut (for my tastes) quite a bit better.

[wolfking]

Hopefully another album is in the works.

Holy shit!!

[jingle.boy]

Hopefully another album is in the works.

Holy shit!!

Quite the premonition, eh?

[wolfking]

Hopefully another album is in the works.

Holy shit!!

Quite the premonition, eh?

I'm a little scared to be totally honest.   

[ariich]

Yay an update for me and what an update.  Glad you liked Pyramaze mate.  My favs are definitely the last two also.  They have crafted a wonderful sound with the new singer and the melodies they are coming up with just hit the spot.  Hopefully another album is in the works.

I'm with ya - definitely like the albums with Terje most.  While I'm not a fan of Iced Earth at all, I really like Barlow's chemistry with Pyramaze.  It's too bad you (Rich) went with Legend of the Bone Carver to sample the King-era albums.  Their debut (for my tastes) quite a bit better.

I might get round to checking out their debut at some point, but to be honest his whole style is just less interesting to me so I'm not going to prioritise that while I have so much other stuff to be exploring.

Anyway this was on a break as I was on holiday all week, but now I'm back so here's an update to kick round 3 off!


Destrage (Buddy - round 3)
You never actually got a proper write up for these guys. So here it is I guess. Are You Kidding? No is pretty much what I expected from the songs you said - I love the balance of intensity, melody and quirkiness which they seemed to hit a sweet spot with on this album and which is so damn entertaining - in fact, feeling how it all balances so well makes me like it even more than the selection you sent (4.5 stars). The rest of their stuff is a bit less consistent, but I've also found myself really digging The King Is Fat'N'Old and, oddly enough given it seems less popular, their latest The Chosen One (4 stars x 2). Their other two albums are also good, but neither is as strong despite having some really good songs on them still (3.5 stars x 2).

Billie Eilish (Cyril - round 3)
As I expected, Don't Smile at Me was an instant hit for all the reasons I loved the songs you sent me, a really great rich sound and nice balance of fun ideas with a sincere undertone (4 stars). When We All Fall Asleep I was less sure about at first as it's a lot less immediately impactful, but it was a real grower - there's subtlety and a quiet, restrained anger that's quite different and really engaging (also 4 stars).

Marketa Irglova (Evermind - round 3)
Her music really is very gorgeous. Muna is another example of the album being consistently great that I like it even more than the selection of songs you sent - Without a Map is still the standout but there are a couple of other very emotive songs and just some really beautiful music (4.5 stars). Anar is slightly more straightforward perhaps and not quite as exciting, but it's still very lovely (4 stars).

Dire Straits (Indi - round 3)
Congrats on successfully changing my mind, for one album at least - Love Over Gold is great. The two songs you sent were of course fantastic, as is Private Investigations - the other two are a bit more bland and more like what I'd heard from them before, but overall it's a very strong album (4 stars). I checked out the album before - Making Movies - and also gave Brothers in Arms another shot, but yeah they're pleasant but neither is nearly as interesting (3.5 stars x 2).

Primal Fear (jingle - round 3)
I tried out both albums you sent songs from, and yeah they were pretty much as I expected really, although I'm glad to say I think the band has come a long way since the earlier stuff I'd heard that I really wasn't very keen on. They have a good sound now, and do the whole "rock'n'roll" side of power metal in a very slick and convincing way. But for the most part the hooks aren't strong enough and I'm still not a huge fan of the vocal style (3.5 stars x 2). That said, We Walk Without Fear is still a fantastic song!

The Protomen & Inter Arma (Cyril - post-roulette)
Just a quick update to say that I checked out another album or two by each of these bands (self-titled and The Cover Up by The Protomen, and Sky Burial by Inter Arma plus I checked out the first few songs of Paradise Gallows) and I didn't find any of it as interesting as the albums you sent me by each. The Protomen ones are fun, but the debut isn't nearly as melodically interesting and The Cover Up is cool but covers albums just don't excite me all that much unless there's something special or unique about them (3.5 stars x 2). And the Inter Arma had some good stuff but the albums are long and it gets a bit monotonous - I suspect their full-lengths won't be quite to my tastes (3.5 stars).

[Evermind]

Looking back on this roulette, I really sent a lot of good stuff  Yeah, Muna is consistently great.

[Sacul]

It is

[Buddyhunter1]

Yeeeeeah first 4.5/5!

I've tried several times to check out other Destrage albums but each time they've just gone in one ear and out the other. Though I haven't tried the first two albums yet.

[Crow]

i haven't enjoyed anything else by the protomen or inter arma either so no worries there 

[The Walrus]

I forgot everything I sent in this so if you even look into the rest of my submissions I will be pleasantly surprised

[ariich]

Yeeeeeah first 4.5/5!

I've tried several times to check out other Destrage albums but each time they've just gone in one ear and out the other. Though I haven't tried the first two albums yet.

You might like The King is Fat'N'Old - it's not as mad or entertaining as Are You Kidding but it's probably closest in both style and quality and it's very good. The first is a bit more straightforward metalcore really, so it's fine but not as interesting.

[jingle.boy]

Completely fair vis-a-vis Primal Fear.

[lonestar]

Lol didn't even know you were doing this. Aeternam was probably the best concert surprise of my life. I went for Orphaned Land the headliner, and had no clue about them. They were amazing, and probably my favorite band of the 'surprise opener at a concert' classification for me.



As to your assessment of IQ, someday you'll mature enough to appreciate their greatness to the fullest. 

[ariich]

Ok so I've been forgetting to post updates, but I've been continuing to work my way through, so a slightly bigger update this time!


The Night Flight Orchestra (Katt - round 3)
These guys are just great. You sent some really killer tracks, and their latest three albums have a bunch more as well - some are a bit more middle of the road but they're all good and there are enough really cool songs to make those albums quite excellent (4 stars x 3). Their first two albums seem enjoyable enough as well, though less exciting (3.5 stars x 2).

Southern Empire (king - round 3)
Yep this was pretty much what I expected from the songs you sent, which is no bad thing. They're obviously influenced by Transatlantic, but there's more sonic and instrumental variety and richness that distinguishes them. Both their albums are fantastic (4 stars x 2).

Borknagar (Lethean - round 3)
Took me quite a while to check out these guys because they have quite a lot of albums, all good with great ones peppered throughout their career. I really love the sound they have now, their latest two albums are just amazing (4.5 stars x 2). At the other end of the spectrum in both time and quality was their debut, which is pretty weak (2.5 stars). And then everything in between ranges from good to great - the standouts for me are the ones that are most richly melodic, so The Archaic Course, Empiricism and Urd (4 stars x 3). The rest are all good, but don't grab me in the same way (3.5 stars x 5).

Kiyosen (lonestar - round 3)
I gave Drumatica a go as it has my favourite from your selection on it, and it's a thoroughly enjoyable bit of jazz fusion. They're both incredibly talented (I already loved Senri's drumming). Overall I feel pretty much the same as I did about the tracks you sent - some great tracks and some alright ones to make a good but not amazing album overall (3.5 stars).

MyGrain (Luoto - round 3)
These guys clearly have a sound that they stick to and which, while not at all original, they do very well. I checked out the two full lengths that are on Spotify (which you sent me songs from) plus the EP, and they were all great (4 stars x 3). I haven't bothered to source either of their first two albums - I assume they're just more of the same so I probably don't need them.

Portico Quartet (Nekov - round 3)
These guys are such an interesting group. I love their latest three normal full-lengths - Portico Quartet, Art in the Age of Automation and Memory Streams (4 stars x 3). The last of those I wasn't sure about at first as it's a bit less immediately accessible, but I wanted to keep going back to it and it grew on me. I think the electronic influences they've added to their sound really make it a very rich sound. I checked out Isla which was based largely around the Hang and it was pretty cool in a hipster kind of way, but it got a bit samey (3.5 stars). I understand their first album was the same. I also gave the electropop album they did as just Portico and again it was pretty cool but turned out to be a little blander than I was expecting given how creative their regular stuff is (also 3.5 stars).

Thematic (romdrums - round 3)
These guys are incredibly talented and Skyrunner has a few cracking songs (including most of the ones you sent me), but it also felt like there was quite a bit of filler too - or at least, songs that are perfectly competent and skillfully played but which don't really stand out to me at all. So it ends up being a solid if not especially thrilling listen (3.5 stars).

Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man (Sacul - round 3)
I don't have much to say here as everything I said in the roulette itself applies to the whole album, really gorgeous stuff (4 stars).

[The Walrus]

  NFO is killer. Glad you enjoyed.

[jingle.boy]

So is Southern Empire.  You got them right too.  Good call Joe.

[Sacul]

Yeah that album is lovely . If you're curious, I'd check out Rustin Man's solo stuff, his album Drift Code might interest you, it's sorta art rock / canterbury scene prog.