Puppies (Re)Discovery EP Roulette V.4 (The Final Art!)

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

How old are you?  I have thick fingers bruh.

37,  Couldn't hurt to check.....well I suppose it could hurt...

[King Postwhore]

*snap of the glove*


Seriously,  I know. I'm 54.

[jingle.boy]

Go to your happy place, Puppers.

As for the flow, for rd 1, I specifically picked songs that transitioned well to/from one another naturally, though I think one was a bit off. Rd 2, three edits had to be made because it was gonna sound like shit otherwise. If I can pick songs that naturally blend well, that’s my first preference.

Work smarter, not harder.

Oh, and cheat.

[Deadeye21]

I’m just listening to my round two submission again and I’m not gonna lie, the natural flow in my choices is pretty strong imo.

I’m looking forward to seeing Pupper’s notes on As The Heavens Split Above though. Imo, that was pretty weak, but it’s not been outed yet and the last score was a 27/30, but I don’t know if we’re descending or ascending.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I don’t know if we’re descending or ascending.

Neither! These been in random order, to keep you all guessing. 

[Deadeye21]

I don’t know if we’re descending or ascending.

Neither! These been in random order, to keep you all guessing. 

Right. So I can come up in the dead middle and be worst on ground. Gotcha. That puts the fear of god into me.

[wolfking]

Really enjoyed reading that writeup thanks Puppies.  Glad you liked it.

Another Blaze recruit?  Mission accomplished.

Also, that was the only involvement Aresti had in Eidolon.  Just the one guest solo.

[wolfking]

I'm basing the songs I'm picking purely trying to reflect the story the best way possible.  Lyrics have always been the thing I neglect with music so trying a different approach with this roulette. 

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Elite - 2184: Inari's Penultimate Adventure

Martin O’Donnell – Ghosts of Reach (Halo 2 OST)
Blood Stain Child – Stargazer
VOLA – 24 Light-Years
Simon Chylinski – Red Alert (Subnautica OST)
Obsidian Kingdom – The Pump
Simon Chylinski – Fear the Reapers (Subnautica OST)
Muse – Panic Station
Cartographer – Built With Blood and Fears and Tears
Meshuggah – Dancers to a Discordant System
Andrew Prahlow – Into the Wilds (Outer Wilds OST)
Dyble Longdon - Heartwashing

First Impression - Strange song selection....and yet brilliant in places.

I like the way you used the soundtrack pieces interspersed throughout the EP and starting with Ghosts of the Reach followed by Stargazer, I almost feel like I could be watching the opening sequence and first part of an epic anime show or something. Not sure if that's was what you were going for, but that is what I thought every time I listened to this. I don't watch anime, so I may be way off base. I've seen some opening sequences and credits for various anime's and this just reminded me of those. Plus Stargazer makes me want to get up and headbang and dance and get in the pit all at the same time This song is just so catchy and cheesy and epic and weird and awesome....Tim would hate this Next is 24 Light-Years and while this starts off pretty good with a moody intro, I'm not as keen on this song as Stargazer. It's still a pretty good song, the problem is it just doesn't quite reach the climax I'm looking for. I left wanting more. Even when the song does kind of break out it's a little anticlimactic. I'm aware of Subnautica, it's one of my favorite games of all time and the soundtrack and sound design of the overall game is a big reason why. Having said that, I'm not sure I like Red Alert here (I understand why it's there for the story), nor do I care for The Pump (again I know why it's here). I like Obsidian Kingdom, but this song just leaves me a little cold (maybe that's the intention ). I do think Fear the Reapers has a great ominous tone to signify what it stands for in the story and I think it fits a little better for what I have in my mind stylistically for this story than Red Alert. Then we have Panic Station, which on first listen was the biggest WTF of the round. The more I listened to it and thought about how it relates to the story the more I liked it. Just the eccentricities of the song alone work so well (mostly the eccentricities of Matt Bellamy). It's a fun song with some neat disco grooves, but also hints at ominous undertones. Built With Blood and Fears and Tears is another interesting pick. As far as the instrumental/transitional tracks go, this one is the most interesting musically. And thankfully it's short enough that it doesn't lose my interest. The same cannot be said about Dancers to a Discordant System. I'm split about 50/50 when it comes to Meshuggah. Some songs I love and some I just don't. This falls into the latter category. I just don't feel this song at all, no matter how many times I listen to it. I can always appreciate what they are doing on a technical level, but this one just doesn't jump out at me as particularly interesting. Plus it's nearly 9 minutes long. Then we come to the final 2 tracks which are kind of the peace after the storm. I like both of these a lot! Overall the music is a bit of a mixed bag, but nothing was outright terrible. Just a couple out of place things and one that I just couldn't get into.
Song Score - 7.4/10

I thought the story was borne from an intriguing concept, which was told quite well with the music you chose, actually nearly perfectly, in my humble opinion. I would have probably swapped out Red Alert for something else, but that's just me. The story reads like part Horizon: Zero Dawn and part Fallout and part The 100. That's 2 video games and 1 TV show if Tim is reading this I liked the twists you put on it and would like to see this world fleshed out a bit. I gotta say that I love the way you ended with Into the Wilds and Heartwashing, it's a great ending, with a possibility for a continuing story. Would probably make for an interesting TV show, maybe pitch this to a producer
Story Score - 9/10 +1 for bonus theme

The way this flows is also pretty well done. You made nice use of edits here to make it all work together pretty well. The only part I wasn't too sold on was going from Dancers to a Discordant System to Into the Wilds. There were some transitions that were almost imperceptible or nearly perfectly executed even though I could tell the change in song. Overall well done.
Flow Score - 8/10

Overall Score - 25.4/30

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Ariich - Void I: Ghost of Innocence

Alcest - Abysses (intro)
Antimatter - Wish I Was Here
Evergrey - In the Absence of Sun
Phideaux - Helix
Borealis - The Ghosts of Innocence
Netherbird - Void Dancer

First Impression - Congrats Ariich
Bonus point for best song: Antimatter - Wish I was Here

The Abysses intro is a great way to start this, but seeing as it's just an intro track, let's move on to the real meat and potatoes. Wish I Was Here is probably the most moving and incredible track I've heard in a long time. I think it also benefits from how you blended the intro track with it. Between the incredible buildup with those vocals and lyrics to that epic Anathema-like climax to the amazing, emotive guitar solo, the flutes....Just a beautiful song and earned you the best song of the round and a bonus point. Oddly enough this is from the only Antimatter album I don't have. Guess I need to pick it up now. In the Absence of Sun is a newer Evergrey track and one that I enjoy quite a bit. I actually don't actively dislike Tom Englund's vocals here. This is another song with a great atmospheric buildup. This one also has a great explosion leading into the chorus. Then a great little melodic guitar solo. This might be the most I've enjoyed an Evergrey song in a while. Helix is next and is one that almost felt out of place on my first few listens, but then I noticed how well it links up with the first 2 proper songs with that piano motif that sounds very similar to the piano in both the Antimatter and Evergrey songs. Nice! I'm not big on the vocals here. I'm not a fan of her timbre and her choices of vocal melodies. This is my least favorite song here. Then more piano to start out Ghosts of Innocence. I'm started to wonder if you did this on purpose This song feels very epic. I especially like the harmonized vocals in the chorus and the female vocals here are way more to my liking than on Helix. Netherbird closes us out here with some Symphonic Black Metal, which surprisingly works in context and even stylistically with everything that came before. And surprisingly this is a black metal band I haven't heard of before. Interesting. And they have 6 albums under their belt....guess I have some listening to do. I think the reason this works to well is because it's basically just a symphonic power metal song with harsh vocals and tremolo'd guitars instead of fast riffing. It's sonically very similar. That is until you get to the blast beat part. This is a great selection of songs that all work very well together, musically.
Song Score - 8.5/10 +1 for best song of the round

This story shares some similarities with Cyril's story. People trapped in a place that isn't actually real. Again this has a bit of a Matrix vibe to it, with a little bit of the storyline from a Star Trek Deep Space 9 episode, where Chief O'Brien gets put in a prison, but it's all in his head and blah blah blah, nobody cares and Tim has no idea what I'm talking about   Interesting concept. The way you told the story with the chosen songs is really good. Each song makes sense. I could see this being turned into a movie. I'd watch that. Maybe you and other Rich need to get together with Cyril and write a screenplay for a movie
Story Score - 9/10 +1 for bonus theme

Flow was, as usual for your EPs, really well done. However I had a little issue with the transition between the last 2 tracks. It's almost perfect, but just noticeable enough to be troublesome. It's analogous to the uncanny valley. It looks perfect, but something seems off. I don't know, there probably wasn't a way to do it any differently. Like the piano melody that ends Ghosts of Innocence and the guitar melody that begins Void Dancer are nearly identical, but just different enough to sound odd back to back. Then there's the issue of Void Dancer being audibly lower in the mix compared to the rest of the tracks. Little nit-picks, I know, but felt the need to point them out.
Flow Score - 8/10

Overall Score - 27.5/30

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I will post the last writeup tomorrow. Then I'm hoping to have everyone's round 2 EPs by the weekend sometime.

[Deadeye21]

I will post the last writeup tomorrow.

Wait, does that mean I’m the only one not posted yet? Nice. I love the suspense.








This isn’t killing me at all…

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I will post the last writeup tomorrow.

Wait, does that mean I’m the only one not posted yet? Nice. I love the suspense.








This isn’t killing me at all…

[Crow]

Congrats ariich!

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Congrats ariich!

I know right?

[ariich]

Not a bad start at all! Although I'm still 0.2 behind Cyril despite getting the best song bonus point.

Yes fair enough about the transition into Void Dancer, there was only so much I could do for the shift from bright piano to moody acoustic guitar. I'd argue the score (while still good of course!) has been punished a little much, given the effort I put in to gradually slowing down the piano outro to Ghosts so that the tempo matched the start of Void Dancer. I also did the same for the end of In the Absence of Sun flowing into Helix, plus I chopped the start and end of Helix off as the quirky prog sound didn't fit with the flow or style.

I don't think the overall volume of Void Dancer is materially quieter than the previous tracks, but it's a different production style so maybe ends up sounding like a bigger difference than it actually is.

[Elite]

Thanks for listening and I'm glad you enjoyed all of that, at least for the most part. It was fun putting stuff together and the sons I chose are probably not all the best possible choices, but I made do with what I had and knew and I think it worked out quite alright!

Shame you didn't like the Meshuggah track, because it takes up about a quarter of the EP as for the transition to the final two tracks.. I thought it worked really well actually you have that fadeout with the breakdown at the end and the suddenly you get the banjo from the penultimate track that starts out really dissonant before gradually turning into consonance. I must say this effect was better with headphones on than on loudspeakers.

and I might send some more Cartographer in a next round, they are(were?) a pretty cool local post-rock group that I saw live at least twice. Their only album, of which this track comes is an enjoyable listen!

For those who would like to listen to this EP, here's a link to the music and story/lyrics. Maybe I should flesh out all of this a bit more indeed, if I ever get time. It was fun trying to build a world that made sense. I actually scrapped a lot of stuff that I intended to get in there, but it became a lot to type out! I took inspiration from Altered Carbon and random sci-fi stuff I've seen and then made it into a story that hopefully kind of makes sense!

[jingle.boy]

Well, you already gave 2 each to Joe and Chad so...

I just went back and checked the flow scores, cuz I didn't think I wow'd Pup with my flow.

TAC - 6.5
me - 7
King - 8

You got some weird math man.  You may want to switch to decaf in the evenings. 

[Elite]

Sent for Round 2!

[ariich]

My round 2 is finally coming together and I'm really pleased with it. I should be good to have rounds 2 and 3 both ready to send you before I go on holiday next Tuesday. Not sure I'll be able to fit in round 4 but hopefully I'll be able to get to that when I'm back!

[wolfking]

Okay, for round 2, my EP is done and story is written but need to break down the story a little more, so was hoping to have it in this morning but that's probably not gonna happen.  Puppies, when's the cutoff for round 2 submissions?

[Elite]

I have sent, so naturally everyone else should have by now.

[wolfking]

I have sent, so naturally everyone else should have by now.

Jesus, I am behind. 

I'll finish the writeups today in the office actually haha.

[Lonk]

I have sent, so naturally everyone else should have by now.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Okay, for round 2, my EP is done and story is written but need to break down the story a little more, so was hoping to have it in this morning but that's probably not gonna happen.  Puppies, when's the cutoff for round 2 submissions?

I was hoping to get everything in by Saturday.

[jingle.boy]

 

I have sent, so naturally everyone else should have by now.

 

[wolfking]

Okay, for round 2, my EP is done and story is written but need to break down the story a little more, so was hoping to have it in this morning but that's probably not gonna happen.  Puppies, when's the cutoff for round 2 submissions?

I was hoping to get everything in by Saturday.

Easy.

[Deadeye21]

Mine went in yesterday. I’m way more excited about that one than I am my first. I’m hoping in Puppies’ book, that’s justified.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Deadeye - As the Heavens Split Above

David Bowie – Space Oddity
Ayreon – Journey On the Waves of Time
The Long Winters – The Commander Thinks Aloud
Mastodon – Oblivion
Avenged Sevenfold – Higher

First Impression - One song feels kind of out of place
Bonus point for best EP title

I thought it was funny I got both Space Oddity and the song that was based off of it (Major Tom (Coming Home)) in the same round. I still like this song better. It's just a classic Bowie song. It's a great example of using space and dynamics in a song. Sure it may be a little cheesy at times, but it's a well constructed song. Journey On the Waves of Time, is a song I know, but it's from one of my least liked Ayreon albums. I'm not a big fan of the vocals on this song (I believe this is Ralph Scheepers, not a fan), but on the other hand I like the keyboard melodies on this song. When it comes to Ayreon this song is just average/standard/vanilla. He has much better stuff, in my opinion. Next is The Commander Thinks Aloud and this is the most out of place song on any EP I think I've ever received in my roulettes It's not a bad song, but the vocals kind of grate after a while and the piano melody is a little incessant. After this we have Oblivion. Now we are talking. This album should have probably been banned, as it was my 2009 album of the year, but I wanted to give you guys options and I wanted to see how you guys would mix songs I already knew with songs I didn't together. So I guess I got exactly what I wanted. Oblivion is a great track! Then again, Crack the Skye is Mastodon's crowning achievement. The we have Higher from my favorite Avenged Sevenfold album. Another great track and one with a good buildup with piano and harmonized vocals. The meat of the song is full of everything I love about A7X these days. Great face melting guitar solos, incredible drumming, and M Shadows ever improving vocals. Plus they have a knack for great melodic hooks. This also works well as a closing track for your EP.
Song Score - 8/10

The story is interesting and fairly short. Which actually works in your favor a bit here. It's a depressing story for sure. I like the way you used Space Oddity as the beginning of the mission (used similarly to the way Kingshemland used Major Tom). The the Ayreon song talks about the mission in general, where they are going, etc. The Commander Thinks Aloud is used to great effect for the story and the end of this song is where the story gets depressing. Even though the mission has just barely begun, it all ends in tragedy. Then I like the way you used both Oblivion and Higher to give the points of view of the crew members final thoughts and final demise. I feel the story could have been fleshed out a bit more. Perhaps a bit more explanation of the mission at hand, but it is what it is. Sounds like it could be the synopsis or the start of a good story. On the other hand I really liked the EP title, so you will get the bonus point for that.
Story Score - 7.2/10 +1 for bonus theme +1 for best EP title

I'll be blunt, most of the songs here did not flow well for me. The beginning and end of the Ayreon track needed editing, and so did the transition from The Commander Thinks Aloud to Oblivion. Going from Oblivion to Higher actually worked quite well. The other probably I had was the complete style shift with The Commander Thinks Aloud. I know lyrically it works, but musically it did not and really took me out of the whole experience. Hopefully this can be improved upon for the next round.
Flow Score - 4.5/10

Overall Score - 21.7/30

Standings
Cyril - 27.7
Ariich - 27.5
Elite - 25.4
Wolfking - 25.3
TAC - 24
Kingshmegland - 23.6
Jingle - 21.9
Deadeye - 21.7
Vmadera - 21.4
Stadler - 19.8

[Deadeye21]

Yeah, well, I did better than I thought. I love that my score is actually my birthday date!! Quite a long way to go to improve my standing here though.

[Crow]

i guess i need to figure out how to finish my EP now lol

[Elite]

I have sent, so naturally everyone else should have by now.

You got it, right? I hope so! Just arrived at holiday destination, no way I can change anything from here!

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I have sent, so naturally everyone else should have by now.

You got it, right? I hope so! Just arrived at holiday destination, no way I can change anything from here!

Yep, you're good 

[Lonk]

Sorry for the delay in submitting, been really busy at work/after work, but I should be able to send tonight or tomorrow. I have all my songs and their order, just have a few edits I want to do

[ariich]

Sorry for the delay in submitting, been really busy at work/after work, but I should be able to send tonight or tomorrow. I have all my songs and their order, just have a few edits I want to do

He's given us until Saturday so there's plenty of time.