Sorry for the wait! Let's GOOOOO
---ROUND 3 RESULTS---Puppies_On_Acid - Imogen HeapOne of the songs felt like a bit of a nothingburger, but the other has my interest. Haven’t really heard anything quite like it.There have been plenty of submissions thus far where I have very different opinions on one song versus the other. This is another one of those, and if I didn’t know that both these songs were from the same artist, I probably wouldn’t have guessed, though that might be partially due to I’m God being a collaboration. I definitely find this song to be the weaker of the two. While the warm, hazy vibe it has is quite nice and the looped vocals in the “choruses” create a pretty interesting effect, there’s not a ton to it beyond that. After the brief intro it’s largely just the same two sections repeated for the rest of the song without much noticeable variation. They’re nice enough to the point where I don’t really mind the repetition, but I was left wanting a bit more.
2-1 is far more interesting, and somewhat hard to describe. It’s a very dramatic piece, with a slow buildup and a lot of understated details in the background. The vocals are soft but emotional, and the strings that start introducing themselves as the song progresses convey a lot of weight. The climax of the song isn’t particularly loud or anything, but it still feels satisfying. I still feel like I haven’t described what makes this song so captivating, but it’s probably something that you feel more than you comprehend. To put it simply, I liked it a lot!
I’m God: 6.0
2-1: 7.5
Ariich - BTThere’s a lot to process here, but it could be worth it. The first song in particular seems promising.At seventeen minutes, this is the highest quantity of music I’ve gotten in a single submission so far, but after hearing these songs once, I wasn’t too worried about the quality. As my first impression says, I was initially excited about Suddenly the most, as it had that Celldweller-esque electronic rock production that I usually enjoy so much. And yeah, the production on this song is really great all around. It’s very textured and futuristic, there’s lots of detailed edits and effects, and the distorted guitars don’t feel out of place at all when they pop up. That said, having listened to this song a handful of times now, I feel like the songwriting is a little weak. Despite being eight minutes long, it has a very simple verse/chorus/verse/chorus structure and it feels a bit drawn-out because of that. I’m also not sure how I feel about the vocals; they don’t have a ton of personality here and they feel pretty strained during the choruses. The choruses themselves are also a bit too repetitive for my liking, as well. Even with those complaints though, I still enjoyed this song. There’s some really nice synth melodies that pop up here and there, and the production style is super up my alley. I’m definitely interested in trying the rest of this album to see if there’s some songs on it I enjoy even more.
Tomahawk, much to my surprise, ended up being my favorite song of the round. I was initially worried it might be too “big EDM festival” for me, as it’s largely composed of two long, repetitive builds that eventually transition into some louder, dubstep-esque drops. But despite being nine minutes long and pretty repetitive, this doesn’t feel drawn-out or boring to me at all. While that four-note melody that repeats throughout the builds isn’t super interesting, the patient, tense building of energy is executed super well, and it makes those drops feel even more satisfying. The noisier sections after the drops are just fantastic; I love those offbeat accents and the dirty, bubbly bass synths. They remind me a lot of the second part of Pendulum’s The Island, which I also really enjoy. I also love the thick snare drum that shows up part of the way through the second build. I’m really surprised at how much I ended up enjoying this; I figured it would be too repetitive to do this well, and literally up until doing these write-ups just now I was pretty sure another song would get the best of the round bonus. But I just kept enjoying this song more and more each time it came on, so with how I’m feeling right at this moment, I have to say it’s my favorite. Congratulations!
Suddenly: 7.0
Tomahawk - Original Mix: 8.0
+ 1 = 9.0The Walrus - Noble OakIt’s nice. Might be too low-impact, especially compared to a lot of the other stuff this round.These songs have definitely grown on me a bit. Yeah, they’re simple, but they aren’t boring and they are just so nice and soothing to listen to. Both have a very shimmery underwater vibe to them, created by piano soaked in reverb and delay. Evaporate couples this with some really sweet vocals which fit the mood perfectly and also carry a good, catchy melody during the choruses. The drum beat here actually goes pretty hard, but not to the point where it ruins the delicate atmosphere. Hypersleep is even more peaceful, and I love the guitar line that comes in after a little bit. It’s short, but it’s very beautiful. Not much else to say here. I definitely liked both of these songs, so I’ll probably give this album a listen at some point.
Evaporate: 7.5
Hypersleep: 7.0
Sacul - PerturbatorThis sounds like it would cannibalize other synthwave artists for breakfast.I had heard a little bit of this artist before, and they sounded pretty promising, so I was excited that someone decided to send them! And yeah, I can’t say I was disappointed. Despite having received a couple other synthwave artists so far, the sound of this is far closer to my usual tastes than either of them. It’s so gritty and dark, and it seems to take more influence from video game soundtracks than 80’s aesthetics. Tactical Precision Disarray is ominous as hell right from the first second, with deep, droning synths and some hard industrial beats. There’s also a really nice guitar(?) melody that comes in after a minute or so that feels both ominous and melancholy. There’s a cool tempo change shortly afterwards, things chill out a bit, and then BOOM you’re suddenly assaulted with a ridiculously loud guitar-like synth riff that’s super intense and gratifying. The 16th-note hi-hats and the swelling synth strings in the background make this section even better, though I was a bit disappointed it ended so quickly. Structure-wise this song does jump around a lot, kinda like a film score. I do wish it developed some of its ideas a bit more, but at least each section is enjoyable and the transitions between them never feel jarring.
Humans Are Such Easy Prey is much more focused and feels like a super intense boss fight theme from a video game. The sound here is just oppressive as hell; I have no idea how they managed to mix every synth so loud without them overpowering each other. The galloping rhythm is very metal and provides a good foundation, but the best moments come from the synth layers on top of it. I really like the arpeggios, especially the glitchy pitch-shifted ones, and there’s a fantastic synth melody in the second half that really increases the video game soundtrack vibes. Finally, the song ends with an awesome outro that dramatically increases the tempo then gradually speeds up even further until it cuts out. It’s super cathartic. You’ve sold me on this artist, so I’ll definitely be checking them out further. And if you’ve got more stuff that sounds like this, please inject it directly into my inbox.
Tactical Precision Disarray: 7.5
Humans Are Such Easy Prey: 8.0
Shadow Ninja 2.0 - The Black QueenThe sound is good, though not much about the songs themselves stuck out on my first listen.While neither of these songs are bad, they’re both cases where I feel like the great production carries a somewhat unremarkable tune. They’re both nice while they’re on, but I wish they had some more memorable moments to them. Taman Shud is probably my favorite of the two. It has a nice, slow groove to it, and I quite enjoy the dark atmosphere it has. I particularly like the bass guitar that comes in around the halfway point. The last couple minutes of the song take a bit of a turn, with the introduction of some brighter melodies and some more ethereal-sounding synths, like a light at the end of a dark tunnel. It feels a bit disconnected from the rest of the song, but it does add some variety. The ending feels kinda abrupt though.
Ice To Never has a good, punchy drum beat, and the spacey ambiance that hangs around in the background creates a cool atmosphere, though it doesn’t feel quite as dark as Taman Shud. There seems to be a greater emphasis on the vocal melodies here, but I don’t find them to be all that memorable, even in the choruses. That weird bit with the mumbled vocals before the last chorus is so inconsequential that I literally forgot it existed until writing this just now. While these songs in particular didn’t resonate with me too much, I definitely think you’re on the right track in terms of the aesthetic and production style. If you send more stuff like this, it might do better!
Taman Shud: 6.5
Ice To Never: 6.5
Evermind - Didier Marouani & SpaceIronically, I doubt this will outperform the artists emulating this style rather than, well, actually being it.This artist (artists?) was a bit of a non-starter for me, which is unfortunate given that some 80’s-inspired stuff actually did quite well this round. As a bit of an aside, when someone sends me live recordings in a roulette, I’ll almost always give the studio version(s) a try as well, mostly out of curiosity but also to see if I like them more, as I hardly ever listen to live versions of songs. In this case it didn’t change much; the decent song was still just decent, and the studio version of the song that didn’t really do anything for me wasn’t noticeably better. Child is the decent one, mostly carried by its first couple verses. The first verse has a nice mood created by the delicate piano and the dark, pulsing synth bass. I also quite like the deep vocals; they sound a lot like David Gilmour to me. This verse transitions nicely into the synth hook which is decently catchy, and we also get the introduction of some electric guitar here. There’s some nice guitar flourishes in the second verses as well. I’m not sure about the last couple minutes though. That children’s choir wears out its welcome pretty quickly and the main melody gets beaten into the ground a bit too much here. Not a bad song, but I’m not crazy about it.
The second song, Deliverance, just isn’t really my thing. While Child had an alright synth rock sound, this is more of a 70’s disco song and there’s not really any part of it that I find satisfying. The whole thing just sounds so sparse and barren; it starts with a big build up, and when the full band finally kicks in after a couple minutes, it barely feels like anything. It’s a pretty long song too, and a lot of it is built around a repeating choir melody that is memorable enough, but isn’t all that enjoyable. Finally, the vocalist spends most of the song delivering these gospel-eque inflections, and he doesn’t seem like the best fit for them. Deliver me somewhere else, please!
Child: 6.0
Deliverance: 5.0
Cyril - GunshipThe sound here was considerably darker than I was expecting, which for this style is a good thing.This caught me by surprise. I had heard a little bit of this artist before, and my general impression was that they leaned a bit too much into 80’s worship for me to really be interested in them. Upon revisiting them here, that observation still holds true somewhat, but these songs are so great that it doesn’t really matter. They still have a very glossy production, they still have those 80’s synth toms that I don’t really care for, but damn it, both of these songs are just executed so well. Tech Noir has a very moody vibe, established through the opening narration and really capitalized on in the verses with a pulsing, murky bassline and some hazy, somber synth melodies. This mood is contrasted well by the choruses which are much brighter and have a really catchy vocal melody. But what really elevates the song to another level is the bridge, with its emotional swells of ethereal synth melodies and soaring wordless vocals. So smooth.
I was already impressed by Tech Noir, but Dark All Day might be even better. It carries on the dark vibe, but increases the energy a bit with a harder bassline, more detailed production, and some wailing saxophone that permeates the entire song. My one complaint here is that the production may be a bit too busy at times; there’s some moments in the verses where it feels like my attention’s split between the vocals, the synth melodies, and the saxophone all at once, and it might have been a slight improvement to have the saxophone pop up a bit less frequently. The saxophone works incredibly well elsewhere though, especially when it trades off with the vocal melodies in the choruses. Speaking of those choruses, they might be my favorite of the entire roulette thus far. I love the doubling of the tempo, the arpeggiated bassline is awesome, and the vocal melodies are just so damn catchy and enjoyable. This whole song is the complete package though; the slower verses are great, the saxophone solos in the intro and bridge are suitably moody, and the whole song strikes a great balance between being dark and being upbeat.
I was so incredibly close to giving Dark All Day the best song of the round award, but one of Ariich’s songs snuck up and stole that honor at the very last minute. That said, congratulations on having the best overall submission of the roulette thus far! I’ll definitely be checking both of these albums out.
Tech Noir: 8.0
Dark All Day: 8.0
Elite - BjörkAbove all else, this is very unique. And I think at least one of these songs will do quite well.Björk is certainly one of those artists whom I should probably be more familiar with than I am. I had only ever heard Army Of Me, which I rejected, and I feel a little bad about that because I think it would have done a bit better than Quicksand. That song is certainly interesting; it has a very intricate drum beat that does its best to make a normal 6/8 groove sound as off-kilter as possible, though that might actually work to the song’s detriment to me. The vocal melody is very formless already, and stacking it on top of a beat this unusual results in the song not having much for me to grab onto… you could almost say it feels like quicksand. There’s not too much else I can say about it; the strings are nice and a lot of the elements work well enough by themselves, but I’m not really feeling how they come together.
Jóga is better in basically every aspect to me. Björk gives an incredibly passionate, emotional performance here, and the instrumentation supports it very well, rather than distracting from it. The strings sound much fuller and more grandiose here, and they meld with the vocal melodies perfectly. I also really like the percussion and bass, when they appear. There’s even a somewhat-industrial breakdown in the middle which acts as a good palate-cleanser. I’m not absolutely loving this song, but I don’t really have any complaints about it either. I’m sure this artist has more stuff I’ll enjoy, though I might need a bit more to really motivate me to jump into her discography myself.
Quicksand: 6.0
Jóga: 7.5
Romdrums - Aphex TwinThere’s elements here I think are kinda cool and others I find to be just plain annoying.I’ve heard of this artist so many times, so I wasn’t surprised at all to see them being sent. As the first impression suggests, I have somewhat mixed feelings about these songs. Come To Daddy initially rubbed me off the wrong way because the vocal samples are quite silly, but this song’s actually pretty cool. The main synth riff is badass, and I love the feedback effects right before it repeats. The energetic drum beat compliments it well, and I generally enjoy this style of percussion wherever it pops up. I like the second half of this song the most; the riff switches up a bit and there’s this really harrowing, shrieking synth solo, then the great main riff comes back, and the song ends with a really awesome beat with some PEW PEW PEWs and some bizarre, slowed down noises in the background. Weird stuff, and maybe a bit too silly at points, but for the most part I dig it.
I find Bucephalus Bouncing Ball a bit irritating to listen to, but there’s parts of it I enjoy as well. The beats here are quite interesting, and there’s a really groovy bassline towards the start, but the sharp, brittle percussion just isn’t that appealing to me. Listening to it with headphones actually hurts my ears a bit, but that might just be me. After a more melodic section in the middle, the song devolves into an extended sequence of bouncing marble noises manipulated through various effects, which is a bit too indulgent for me; they don’t start to resemble an actual beat until a minute or two in, and at that point the song’s nearly over. Despite all these complaints though, there’s something about this song I find quite captivating. Maybe I just can’t help but admire the creativity and production skills that went into it, even if I don’t find the end result super enjoyable. I’d probably give a full album from Aphex Twin a shot eventually. Given how influential he is I feel like I kinda have to, yeah?
Come To Daddy (Pappy Mix) - 7.0
Bucephalus Bouncing Ball - 6.0
---STANDINGS---1: Ariich - 44.5
2: The Walrus - 43
3: Puppies_On_Acid - 42.5
4: Sacul: 42
5: Cyril: 41.5
6: Shadow Ninja 2.0 - 40.5
7: Elite - 39
8: Evermind - 37
8: Romdrums - 37
---ARTISTS BANNED THIS ROUND---BT
Gunship
Noble Oak
Perturbator
Best round so far! I'm interested to see what you all send next
Poll
Topic: Buddyhunter1's ELECTRONIC ROULETTE (v5) - FINAL RESULTS!!! (Read 26389 times)