The Walrus's Lead-Free Roulette -- now exploring every roulette submission ever

[TAC]

Jean-Luc Ponty...8.5
Return To Forever...8.5
The Midnight...8.0
Tower Of Power...8.0
Caravan Palace..7.5
Steve Earle...7.5
Amethystium...7.0
Hall & Oates...7.0
Sarah McLachlan...7.0
Hiroyuki Sawano..6.5
Frank Zappa..6.5
Sublime...6..0
Federation Of The Disco Pimp...6.0
mum..5.8
Kip Winger 1...5.6
Julia Holter...5.5
Winger 2....5.5
Nicholas Jaar ..5.5
Mos Def......5.0

[Crow]

worse than winger 

[TAC]

I ain't gonna lie, that was pretty bad.

[Buddyhunter1]

  What was my first impression meme?


Also sent the best thing I'll send this whole roulette, it's all downhill from here.

[Sacul]

I actually sent you a Nicolas Jaar song last time, Killing Time, and it was quite dreamy and ambient but you hated it being so long. I'm still hurt yeah . But I'm glad you dug the AAL track, gives me a few ideas.

[TAC]

What was my first impression meme?

mum

[Puppies_On_Acid]

Wow, somehow Mos Def dropped to worse than Winger over the week.

[Buddyhunter1]

I sent Hiroyuki Sawano, not mum

[TAC]

I sent Hiroyuki Sawano, not mum

 

Hiroyuki Sawano

[Buddyhunter1]

Hey, that only applies to like, 2 or 3 of those songs.

Anyways if Katt approves what I just sent you'll definitely appreciate the lack of Disneyness

[Puppies_On_Acid]

I take it you didn't fall in love with Ms. Fat Booty, Tim?

[TAC]

Out of my league!

[Podaar]

I’ll take it! Really glad to hear you liked Watermelon In Easter Hay. I don’t think I’ll be able to send second round tomorrow. Maybe Saturday.

Edit: I forgot that I already had round 2 ready to go, so I've sent it.

[jingle.boy]

Not entirely unexpected. Time to drop the bomb.

[HOF]

Man, I’m a little pissed that jingle.boy bested me! Who’s the One is a great song, but also more in the rock/metal vein (I feel) than Another Way, which is a gem in my book. All good fun though.

At any rate, don’t shy away from Kip’s non-classical solo work. I didn’t send you anything from his best album (IMO) Songs from the Ocean Floor, or his first solo album which is more like Sting meets Peter Gabriel. Was afraid you’d find them too rock or progressive for this roulette. But Songs is one of my favorite albums by anyone, and is the first album where his classical background really started to show (he’d been doing string arrangements since the first Winger album, but after Songs he actually went back to school to seriously study classical composition). Definitely also check out his classical album though.

Random note about Ghosts, it was originally composed of just three movements, but after it got picked up to be choreographed for ballet, Kip was asked to write an extra movement (the one Jingle sent you). Then the actual order of the movements got rearranged. So what I sent you was originally the third and final movement as Kip originally wrote and released it. I much prefer that order, as the current 4th movement used to be the second movement and just doesn’t feel right as the conclusion. Thankfully, you can just rearrange them however you want thanks to technology. Curious to know what your thoughts on that are if you check out the whole piece.

[Indiscipline]

Sent a blind submission

[Puppies_On_Acid]

Sent a blind submission

Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles?

[Indiscipline]

Yes 

[Train of Naught]

Glad you liked it! I'm definitely more excited about my round 2 submission though.

I'll be super honest since I'm gonna assume according to my placement that this band is probably one you're not entirely sure you want to revisit. Walk Away is easily my favourite song by them, the others are more representative of the rest of the quality of the album (which is still great imo, but just a heads up).

[ariich]

ariich: Caravan Palace - 8.9
You dirty almost cheater. Punk? Ska? What the fuck is this, it's not really rock

It's definitely not rock. It's electroswing, baby!

So glad you liked it so much. Also really pleased that I managed to come 5th in both your and Tim's scorings.

Pretty sure I know what I want to send for round 2, so should send it this afternoon.

EDIT: Oh and based on your write-up, I think you'll love their first album especially, it's the one that all your favourites are from.

[Elite]

Elite: Sublime - 9.0
1. What I Got
2. Wrong Way
3. Same in the End
4. Santeria
5. Seed
6. Burritos
7. Caress Me Down

When I saw you sent Sublime, I kind of groaned. And on the first listen, I was kind of like... what? I'll admit, I've been prejudiced against this band and countless others since I was a teenager. I always lumped them in with a crowd of lame commercial bands that were popular therefore they sucked. If it didn't shred, it sucked in my eyes. Oh, boy. This is actually awesome, and in fact, Santeria plays over the stereo here at work all the time. I just never knew who sang it. I like all of these songs a whole lot. There are tons of lyrics I find funny or entertaining, and every song reminds me of my teenage years and early 20s, and a little bit of me now, even. At first I just thought the songs were okay, but I kept playing them over and over and over and fell in love with them. The singing in Spanish, the reggae elements, the horns, the way the singer has attitude but can carry a melody, these are such memorable songs. This was a huge fucking gamble that paid off in spades, you are possibly the luckiest, ballsiest person in this round. Well played. Thank you.

That actually went even better than I hoped for! This is a very nice and fair write-up and I thank you for taking the time to listen to the songs and not dismiss them right away. There's a lot more to this band's music than you'd hear on surface level and some of the lyrical content is indeed funny, but also with serious undertones (there's a track on the album about looting and the Rodney King riots in 1992 - very topical right now, 'Wrong Way' is essential about child prostitution but in this kind-of messed up way). The way the band blends reggae, ska and dub with punk rock is different from (and better than) other bands that have tried the same thing. It also doesn't try to be a 'perfect' record, but it's fun, it's engaging and far more varied than listening to any one track might make you think.

And Santeria being on the radio is a little surprising to me, since I don't think they're that well-known over here at all. I knew they were bigger in States, but that song still being played is knew to me. That's okay though, Santeria is awesome. It's hard for me to pick a favourite, though I've always enjoyed 'Seed' and 'Same in the End' because they blend styles effortlessly, but there's some other cool tracks on the same album that are good and different in their own way. Highly recommended if you liked this selection!

(And TAC giving it a 6,0 - I wouldn't have sent it in TAC's roulette )

[Evermind]

Middle of the pack, I'm fine with that, just going to continue sending good stuff.

Sent! Surprised the band wasn't banned but alright.

[jingle.boy]

Middle of the pack, I'm fine with that, just going to continue sending good stuff.

Sent! Surprised the band wasn't banned but alright.

Sent.  Katt's gonna want an ice-pick for his ears.

[wolfking]

Will send something in the morning.

Thinking an Australian 80's pop/soft melodic rock band that had some very nice hits back in the day.

[jingle.boy]

I'm simply amazed he's never heard any of those Hall&Oates hits.   

[Kingly Gizz & Liz Wiz Bizzy]

I'm simply amazed he's never heard any of those Hall&Oates hits.   

Seriously!  Great pop tunes. 

[The Walrus]

Good morning, you pop-drinking, jazz-swinging, head-banging, chill-outing, angst-riddled, possibly high, lovable music geeks. I woke up with Spice Up Your Life by the Spice Girls stuck in my head.

I have read all the replies, and the reactions amuse me. For round 2, already we once again have an artist that is sent twice, with one song being shared in the submissions. This is also a group I banned from at least one previous roulette but was fair game for this one, which I'm sure at least one person is going to point out. It has been foretold. You may still reserve an artist for future rounds anytime between hangman and results, in case you'd like to use them.

For all the music recommendations, I do have a list of artists I want to explore immediately after the roulette. Some are obvious, like Mos Def's Black on Both Sides or The Ecstatic, and The Midnight's Endless Summer - others are less obvious, like Kip Winger's Conversations with Nijinsky, and Julia Holter's Have You In My Wilderness. There is a hierarchy to the list (see the ranking, after all) but due to my ravenous musical appetite, I would like to check out at least one album from (almost) every artist in this roulette. Unless I flat-out disliked it (which would get a shockingly low score), I would definitely give the artist a second chance. I'll share the list after the roulette wraps, and maybe make another thread where I talk about an album every day or something.

It's the day after results day, which means I'm taking a break from roulette listening. I have half the submissions already in - this is gonna be another fun round, clearly - and am going to start the day by listening to Caligula's Horse's first album which I never got around to until now, and then it's time to check out new releases. 

[Stadler]

HOF: Kip Winger - 7.9
jingle.boy: Kip Winger - 8.0

BIG fan of the Winger "Pull" album, especially "Down Incognito".   I love that performance.  There are solo guitar versions out there as well.

Stadler: Steve Earle - 8.2

Cash covered The Devil's Right Hand, not the other way around.   It's become something of a country standard, since Cash, Waylon Jennings, and The Highwaymen (a supergroup of Cash, Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson) have all covered.  So has Bob Seger. 

wolfking: Daryl Hall & John Oates - 8.7

If you have ANY interest, I would listen to "Family Man"; it's a pretty sophisticated song for a duo dismissed so regularly as "pop lightweights".   Don't let the music fool you; Daryl Hall is a MONSTER.  You should also check out "Live At Daryl's House"; the format is Daryl has a guest in - anyone from Joe Walsh to Ben Folds to the guy from Fall Out Boy - and they do a couple of that artists songs and a couple of Daryl's songs, live in the room.  The Cheap Trick episode is FANTASTIC (though Daryl's background vocals on "Surrender" are so different they're jarring).  Even the bands I don't like sound great in that format, and the ones I do like are sublime; that venue is where I realized that Joe Walsh is one of the best American guitar players EVER.

[The Walrus]

You must be high to think anything related to Cheap Trick is fantastic. But I will check out Live at Daryl's House

My dad named one of our cats Daryl and he thinks it's the funniest name for a cat ever.

[Puppies_On_Acid]

You must be high to think anything related to Cheap Trick is fantastic. But I will check out Live at Daryl's House

My dad named one of our cats Daryl and he thinks it's the funniest name for a cat ever.

My brother in law named his cat Catt Damon... He actually looks a lot like Daryl there. 

[The Walrus]

Catt Damon!!  Does he have a duck named Ben Aflac, too?

[Puppies_On_Acid]

Catt Damon!!  Does he have a duck named Ben Aflac, too?

Haha, no, but I'm going to tell he he needs to get one now. 

[Elite]

My dad's cat is called Kate, which is basically Dutch for cat with an additional E.

[The Walrus]

My dad's cat is called Kate, which is basically Dutch for cat with an additional E.

Should've named it Katt.

[Indiscipline]

The first cat I ever knew (my mom's and dad's) was named Rikki, because they loved Steely Dan.