---ROUND 2 RESULTS---Puppies_On_Acid - GrimesProduction’s interesting. Vocals are going to be a hurdle.I’ll get my main complaint out of the way first: the vocals here are hard for me to enjoy. They’re very high-pitched, cutesy, and kinda baby-like, and while I can also say that about Poppy or some of the vocalists that appear on some Anamanaguchi songs, they aren’t quite this extreme. The way they’re mixed in both of these songs is also a bit questionable, for different reasons. In World Princess it sounds like there’s a filter on them cutting out all the low frequencies, making them sound even more shrill-sounding. They’re a bit more full-bodied on My Name Is Dark, but they’re slathered in so much reverb and echo that they just become an overwhelming haze. I get that it’s done for effect, but I wish they dialed it back just a little bit.
Thankfully, everything else here is done quite well. These two songs have very different vibes, but I really enjoy the production on both of them. World Princess is really quirky and strange, but in a good way. Its upbeat groove is quite infectious, and I really enjoy that synth line in the choruses. My Name Is Dark has this dark, brooding bassline paired with some suitably dirty and murky tones. I’m not entirely sure how well it suits the vocals, but I still love the instrumental here. This is a pretty long song too (for a pop song, anyways) at almost six minutes, but it doesn’t feel stretched-out or boring. If I enjoyed the vocals more, you probably would have gotten the best song of the round bonus twice in a row.
World Princess Part II: 6.5
My Name Is Dark: 7.5
Ariich: Nested ShapesGood music for drifting through space.I would have felt bad shitting on your brother’s music, so it’s a good thing I enjoyed it! What I really like about both of these songs is that while they’re quite spacey and ambient, they feel very meticulously composed. Rather than being sequences of loops that occasionally get added to or subtracted from to create variety, these feel like they were actually written, with effective shifts in chords, melody, and intensity. Orbit in particular feels a bit like a prog mini-epic converted into an atmospheric electronica piece. It’s eight minutes long, but it stays interesting throughout with a good flow and buildup. There’s a lot of glitchy textures constantly fluttering around, and they all feel fitting. There’s something missing that would push this over the edge to “great” territory; maybe it’s still a bit too low-key and chill for me, but I still think the execution is excellent.
Sleep is very pretty and meditative, almost more spacey than the actual space-themed song here! The 7/4 time signature gives the delicate piano work and atmospheric electronics a unique foundation, and I definitely appreciate the changes in chords and melodies here and there. I don’t usually go for stuff quite this relaxed, but I sincerely hope this guy gets more attention in the future.
Orbit: 7.5
Sleep: 6.5
Sacul: St. VincentIt’s pretty upbeat, but I’m not quite sure what to feel about this.It’s hard to put my finger on what exactly it is, but something about the sound here just isn’t doing it for me, especially on Los Ageless. It’s got an upbeat, quirky beat, but the sleazy vibe here feels kinda gross and unpleasant for whatever reason. I kinda like the fuzzy guitars earlier on, but that riff in the bridge feels like a wet fart rather than hitting hard like it should. The vocal melodies don’t do much for me either; the verses are pretty unremarkable, and the repetitive chorus gets a bit grating. Finally, the song’s topped off with a minute-long outro that just feels pointless to me. Fear The Future, while not great either, has a lot less to dislike. The production’s quite busy, but it compliments the simple melodies and song structure well, I think. I particularly like the outro where everything picks up and it feels like a ship being put into hyperdrive. Short, but decently sweet. Doubt I’ll check out more of this artist though; doesn’t really seem like my vibe.
Los Ageless: 5.5
Fear The Future: 6.5
The Walrus: EmancipatorThis is quite beautiful. It conjures up such vivid images of natural landscapes, while still having enough electronic elements.The atmosphere is easily the strongest thing about both of these songs. Like I said in my first impressions, it feels very naturalistic - wind in the trees, soaring landscapes, waves crashing on the shore cliffs… it’s a pleasant place to be in. Himilayan has a really good mix of electronic and natural instruments; the electronics create a good beat, and then the clean guitars, strings, and distant saxophone provide the vivid imagery. Blue Dream is shorter, but even stronger in its atmosphere. The background ambiance created by both the nature samples and the looping electronics is superb, and I love that chime-like synth and the periodic swells of echoing piano. These songs are very dreamy and beautiful; maybe on speakers they sound a bit underwhelming, but when I sit down with some good headphones and really soak it all in, they’re very enjoyable.
Himilayan: 7.0
Blue Dream: 7.5
Evermind: AmethystiumMore lively than I was expecting. I don’t listen to Enya but this sounds like Enya.I suppose I’ll start off by saying that when I said “don’t send pure ambient”, this certainly wouldn’t qualify. It’s got melody, it’s got a beat, and it has a solid structure; just one of those things would disqualify it from “pure ambient” in my mind, let alone all three! Anyways, while the atmosphere here is quite vivid, I have mixed feelings on the production. For something so inspired by new-age and world music, some more natural instruments would have been nice, especially in Autumn Interlude. While Emancipator made me feel like I was hiking through a serene, natural landscape, this makes me feel like I’m adventuring through a computer-generated forest in an old-school MMORPG. These songs are also a bit too long, too. Treasure is easily the better of the two; it’s got a more defined song structure, the vocals are better utilized, and the instruments sound a bit more alive. I particularly like the break after the first chorus and the violin(?) solo towards the end. So yeah, this is some nice electronic world music, but it’s no Afro Celt Sound System or anything. I might have to share this with my dad though; he’d probably dig it!
Autumn Interlude: 6.0
Treasure: 6.5
Cyril: Billie Eilish“Sleepy” is usually an insult right? It might be a compliment here.Obviously I’ve heard of Billie Eilish before, and I’m somewhat familiar with Bad Guy, but I haven’t actually sat down and listened to any of her songs front to back before. I was surprised to not see any songs from her full-length album, looks like just singles she has released afterwards? I also wasn’t expecting both of these songs to be so low-key and meditative. They’re definitely pop songs, but they feel almost like lullabies. Everything I Wanted is especially sedated - too much for my tastes, really. It is quite dreamy and peaceful though, and the vocal melodies and harmonies are pleasant to listen to. My Future has a more whimsical, soaring mood to it, which I enjoy. It’s still peaceful, but not nearly as dreary. I’ve caught myself humming it a few times throughout the week, for what that’s worth. These songs are nice, though they do make me want to fall asleep a little.
Everything I Wanted: 6.0
My Future: 6.5
Shadow Ninja 2.0: FM-84Both songs were nice, but I get the feeling the second one is going to pull all of the weight here.To get the complaints out of the way first once again, I definitely think the production here could be a bit better. It’s some very, VERY 80s-sounding synthwave, with super glossy and clean synths and drums. From my limited experience with synthwave, I think I prefer stuff that has a bit more grit to it than this; it’s like watching an old VHS tape but without any of the grain or discoloration. It’s not bad or anything, it just feels a bit overly-pristine. As for the songs themselves, my first impression holds true. Running In The Night is alright, it’s got a nice dreamy vibe, but I don’t find the melodies to be all that strong and there’s not too many memorable sections.
Never Stop, in terms of songwriting, is much, much better. Out of all the songs I’ve gotten in the roulette thus far, this might be the most flawless in terms of flow and structure. Every section lasts just as long as it should, the verses transition into the excellent choruses superbly, and we even get an awesome synth solo before the final chorus. While the production is still a tad bit underwhelming, the quality of that amazing chorus and the flow of the song makes up for it. I think this just barely beats out Grimes for the best song of the round, so congrats!
Running In The Night: 6.0
Never Stop: 7.5
+ 1 = 8.5Elite: DJ ShadowI was worried this might not be to my liking, but I ended up really enjoying the production here.To clarify my first impressions, I was worried this might fall into the same category as Portishead where the heavy use of samples felt too natural and not electronic enough. While the first song here is entirely samples to my knowledge, I wouldn’t say it feels natural, especially once the drum beat starts getting really chopped up and stuttery in the middle. All of the layers here work really well together. The looping piano and drum beat is a good foundation, that low piano chord enhances the mood a lot, and I like that cold, eerie choir melody. It’s a bit repetitive, but the subtle variations in loops and funky middle section inject just enough variety for this not to be an issue.
My Lonely Room feels much more futuristic with its glitchy percussion, but it still has a nocturnal, noir-esque atmosphere to it created by the dark, swelling synth chords. The bassline and the synth melodies also feel quite ominous, resulting in a really oppressive and captivating mood. Things get a bit stranger towards the end, with some frenetic percussion and a jazzy flute sample; not quite as atmospheric, but still interesting. I’m not sure if I’d enjoy a full album of stuff like this, but I definitely liked both of these tracks.
Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt: 7.0
My Lonely Room: 7.0
Romdrums - 65daysofstaticActually, I feel kind of spooky.These are both interesting pieces, albeit a bit formless. Monolith is from the No Man’s Sky soundtrack from the looks of it, and it definitely has a film soundtrack quality to it (I know No Man’s Sky is a video game, not a film). I like the droning guitars in the first section. They create a pretty apocalyptic vibe and remind me a lot of the last Altar Of Plagues album, of all things. After this we get a driving middle section with a decent build, more droning guitars, and a pretty sweet synth arpeggio that comes in a little after the four minute mark. I’m not entirely sure about the noisier section at the end; I think it could compliment an intense moment in a film or game quite well, but it feels a bit odd on its own. I’m not sure how often I’d return to something like this, but it’s quite interesting while it’s on.
Bad Age is just spooky as hell. The repetitive, off-kilter kick drum pattern, the ominous synth melody, and what sounds like a wailing guitar in the background create an incredibly dark and oppressive atmosphere. I really enjoy that, though there’s not all much else to this song otherwise. It does get a bit more intense in the second half, but not by much. This isn’t the most engaging submission I got this round, but it’s definitely not the worst either and it’s a big improvement from the last round.
Monolith: 6.5
Bad Age: 6.5
---STANDINGS---1: Puppies_On_Acid: 29
2: Ariich: 28.5
2: The Walrus: 28.5
4: Shadow Ninja 2.0: 27.5
5: Sacul: 26.5
6: Evermind: 26
7: Cyril: 25.5
7: Elite: 25.5
9: Romdrums: 24
---ARTISTS BANNED THIS ROUND---DJ Shadow
Emancipator
Poll
Topic: Buddyhunter1's ELECTRONIC ROULETTE (v5) - FINAL RESULTS!!! (Read 26368 times)