Okay, here's the first batch of results for round 1. As I mentioned, I'm going to post the results for three pools tonight. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish the other pools tomorrow, but we'll see how things go.
I've decided the way I'm going to do this is to give some thoughts about each submission without saying how I ranked it, then have a section at the end of each pool describing my ranking and some of the reasoning for it. For that reason, you should read nothing into the order in which I post the writeups. It's just going to be in alphabetical order by the submitter's username. The order of the pools is dictated by the order in which I received the final submission for each.
The outcomes here are probably going to be disappointing for some people. The very structure of this roulette is such that 1/3 of people are going to be happy with their result, 1/3 are going to be unhappy, and 1/3 are going to both wish it was better and be glad it wasn't worse. So I'll say at the outset that there was a lot of music I liked here. I genuinely got something out of each and every submission. But the task I set myself was to be somewhat ruthless. No escape hatch of "oh, yes, he got a 9, but you get a 7.5, so that's not so bad!" Each pool, there's a 3, a 2 and a 1. So here's where half of you landed in the first round.
Pool D:
kingshmegland: Mile Marker Zero - The Architect / 2020 / Propaganda
Impression: This has the sound I sort of expect to hear submitted by this person, but with a proggy slant I quite like.
As I mentioned in the impression, this has some of the trappings of what I see as kingshmegcore. But there’s also a proggy side to the approach, which I like. Artists with this kind of hard-rock, almost alt-rock sound, can be hit or miss with me, but these guys are a definite hit. They have a lot of interesting melodies, and enough twists and turns in the music to keep things interesting throughout. A lot of good instrumentation, too, that I didn't notice on first listen, but picked up on more and more.
The three songs here go well together. There’s a cohesive sound here with some variation between the songs. I think Propaganda has become my favorite of the three due to the epic chorus. But all three songs are really enjoyable and each has its own highlights. I've found myself several times this week singing something from one or another of these.
Stadler: Concrete Blonde - Joey / Little Wing / Lullabye
Impression: Interesting chill-ish sound, but I'm not connecting with the songs yet. Hopefully they'll be growers.
Yeah, my first impression of these songs wasn't overwhelmingly positive. I’d say they have proved to be growers at least to a certain point. I like Joey pretty well. The vocal melodies on that one are quite compelling. Similar situation with Lullabye—really good melodies. Little Wing is still less memorable to me.
I think what’s holding me back here is that I don’t find the instrumental element of their music that compelling. It usually does the work it needs to do to serve the vocal parts, but there’s not anything that jumps out at me as particularly impressive. The overall sounds works for me, but there’s not as much above and beyond creating a sound that complements the vocal parts. I feel like this definitely could hit home if I resonated a little more with the mood they’re trying to create, but it’s not quite on the mark for me.
The singer is certainly talented, and her voice is really well-suited to this style of music and the emotional tone of the songs.
Vmadera00: The Cyberiam - In SaN1tY / The Moral Landscape
Impression: They clearly have their own distinct sound, but not sure I like the vocals enough for them to stand out within this genre.
This is very solid prog rock. It’s definitely a band that seems to have carved out its own sound rather than producing generic-sounding prog. Both songs have a lot of interesting basslines, which is always nice to hear. My favorite part is probably the series of transitions near the end of The Moral Landscape’s instrumental section.
I mentioned the vocals in my first impression as not particularly standing out. I still think that’s true of the singer himself. I have nothing against him; he does solid work, but he doesn’t get me enthused, either. The vocal melodies, on the other hand, are pretty good, and grew on me with time. There are some memorable ones in both songs, espeically In SaN1tY. That’s probably still my favorite of the two, although it’s a close call. The Moral Landscape has a very strong chorus.
Pool D Decision:
There are things I liked quite well on all three submissions. However, Concrete Blonde didn’t quite resonate with me as well as I could have hoped, particularly on the instrumental side. Although I liked two out of three songs pretty well, I wasn’t left particularly invested in the band. So Stadler will finish third.
That leaves the choice between The Cyberiam and Mile Marker Zero. If I made this choice after the first round, I certainly would have placed Mile Marker Zero first. Those songs made a very strong initial impression. But the songs from The Cyberiam grew on me to the point where this is a difficult choice. I really could have gone either way. Since both these submissions were three songs from the same album, I ended up asking myself which album I’m more motivated to listen to based on what I’ve heard, and my answer remains Mile Marker Zero.
kingshmegland/Mile Marker Zero: 3 points
Vmadera00/The Cyberiam: 2 points
Stadler/Concrete Blonde: 1 point
Pool F:
Cyril: CHVRCHES - Leave a Trace / Science/Visions / How Not to Drown
Impression: I failed to connect with this artist years ago after liking a few songs, but now I can’t think why because I’m hearing everything I initially liked about them.
This roulette explicitly permits a form of cheating, which is looking at songs I’ve loved in the past but where I haven’t looked into the artists enough to ban them. This is very much in that vein.
The actual story of me and CHVRCHES is that Cyril sent me a couple of songs several years ago, and I really liked those songs. Then I listened to an album a couple of times and just didn’t really connect with it. Hard to say exactly why, but I didn’t listen to this artist again since then.
Not sure exactly what happened then, because once again, I’m finding myself really liking their material. There’s a sense of melody on these songs that I really enjoy, and the sound falls exactly into that category of synth pop that works for me. Leave a Trace is the best entry here in this regard, with a really nice, memorable chorus. But I also like How Not to Drown. The quiet end of this one with the male vocals is really appealing.
Science/Visions comes closest to a side of synthpop that doesn’t appeal to me—the more “pulsing,” percussive beat isn’t my favorite. But there’s enough I like on the vocal side to where I quite enjoy this one, too.
romdrums: Toto - Better World / Jake to the Bone
Impression: Just a lot of good progginess here.
I like the sound of these songs. There’s sort of free-wheeling progginess to them with pieces of traditional song structures that assert themselves from time to time. Better World is the better song, and here I particularly like the second half, which features a proggy and epic instrumental section that leads well into the final chorus. It definitely has the feeling of combining pop rock and prog, which is a good combination in my book.
Jake to the Bone is an enjoyable song from the perspective of instrumental theatrics, though it doesn’t quite have the epic sound of Better World. It's one of those almost over-the-top instruments that I can often have a lot of fun with, but doesn't have the deep emotional impact that other songs do.
TAC: Lost Domain - Silent Cry / Rise of Isolash
Impressions: This is a sound I really like—definitely within my comfort zone—and my first impression of the songwriting is positive.
Stylistically, this is a type of music that I’m very apt to enjoy. Love prog metal, love epic choruses, love female vocals. These songs deliver that, and with songwriting that I like pretty well.
If anyone is wondering what type of use of harsh vocals is most likely to work for me, Silent Cry is a great example. It’s mainly clean vocals, with the harsh vocals used to emphasize particularly intense moments in the music. Definitely adds something to the song, in my opinion. And it’s a very good track!
Rise of Isolash is a more challenging song to wrap my head around. Where Silent Cry is a fairly straightforward piece, this one has a lot of twists and turns. I feel like I still haven't fully digested it, but I've listened to it enough to know that I like a lot about it. There are a lot of strong riffs and really good vocal sections. The main thing that holds it back a little bit for me is that it feels designed to be epic, with a lot of sections that sound like build up, and some intermediate payoffs, like the "Step into the darkness" chorus. But it doesn't have the sort of climactic moment or section that I would hope for in a song with some of these hallmarks. Some kind of high note or epic guitar solo would take this song to a higher level. That said, there's still much to enjoy here.
Pool F Decision:
Cheating paid off this round for Cyril. CHVRCHES is the submission here that I enjoyed most and that most increases my motivation to listen to a full album. So it gets 1st place.
The tougher call is over who places second. This is probably the strongest pool this round. At the very least, it's very likely to be the one with my favorite third-place submission. It's hard to put any of these in last place, considering how much I enjoyed them. But in the end, I'm going to give second place to Lost Domain. I really like what this group is doing on these two songs, and I feel like Rise of Isolash is still revealing itself to me. Toto gets third, but not because I think romdrums did anything particularly wrong in deciding what to send. I had a good time with both those songs, and I'm much more interested in investigating Toto than I was before. Just tough competition this time.
Cyril/CHVRCHES: 3 points
TAC/Lost Domain: 2 points
romdrums/Toto: 1 point
Pool A:
Lethean: Katatonia - Evidence / Lacquer / Neon Epitaph
Impression: Not feeling the emotional connection I think I’m supposed to with this artist. I guess we’ll see if that changes.
So, my experience with this band, having heard probably something like 10-15 songs, is that I think they’re extremely capable songwriters who capture a particular mood and write really memorable vocal melodies.
The obstacle has always been that the mood does not really connect with me. I mean, I recognize the emotion they are going for. It just doesn’t resonate with or affirm anything deep inside me. Lethean mentioned in his message to me that many people experience Katatonia’s music on a really deep emotional level as both sad and uplifting, but I’ve never really felt that.
So, did these songs change that impression? Evidence is probably the closest I’ve come to resonating with them. The long refrain at the end is really good and does make me feel something. All three songs really are quite good, and they’ve probably on the whole moved me closer to listening to more from this band. But I don’t think my impression has fundamentally shifted.
Of the three songs, Evidence is definitely my favorite because of the refrain I already mentioned. Neon Epitaph is my least favorite due to just not being as memorable to me, and Lacquer is in the middle. The “road to the grave is straight as an arrow” part is really memorable.
I feel a little bad for continuing to do this to Lethean, but I think where I still am with Katatonia is that I'm conflicted. There's a lot that is genuinely good here and there are things I really like, but it hasn't opened up for me on that deeper level. I could see them ending up as a band I listen to occasionally, like Opeth, but I find it hard to see myself falling in love with them.
Sacul: Deftones - Swerve City / Entombed / Pompeji
Impression: I just don't think this band's sound is likely to be for me.
This… actually feels similar to Katatonia in some ways. Not exactly, but it’s another instance of prog-inflected metal that focuses a lot on atmosphere, much of which is typically pretty downcast. AND it's someone sending me a band that I know is really important to them, but that might not resonate fully with me me.
Entombed and Pompeji are impressive songs. Entombed has a powerful, memorable chorus, and some interesting synth work, which combined make it my favorite of the three. Pompeji has some good softer verses, and a good melody for the contrasting heavy part.
Pompeji does engage more in incorporating abrasive-sounding elements into the music, like harsh distortion of the vocals and weird electronic noises. Not particularly a fan of that stuff, so I'm sort of left torn two ways on that song. Some things I like a lot and some I don't.. And I don’t really find Swerve City to be especially memorable. It's a solid piece of music, but I find it hard to remember it when I'm not actually listening.
This is obviously a very talented artist, and I like some of the things they're doing. But the full picture of these three songs is not something that resonates with me as much as Sacul would probably like it to. The more depressive sound and especially the distorted stuff on Pompeji just takes it a little outside my wheelhouse.
senecadawg2: The Killers - West Hills / Runaway Horses / In the Car Outside
Impression: One of these songs is more upbeat than the other two, and I like it best so far.
The first thing to say about these songs is that I’m really impressed with how well-done they are. They were clearly going for a particular atmosphere on these, and they absolutely nailed it. There’s a lot of emotion in all three of these.
The limiting factor here is that this is definitely in the category of music that is bleak in a way that makes it difficult for me to listen to it very much. There’s a feeling of desolation in a song like West Hills that is really well-done, but just not something I’m often going to want to experience. The lyrics and samples contribute to this. I’m not especially comfortable with lyrics that deal explicitly with drug use in the way West Hills does, and the story about a horse’s death that is told at the beginning of Runaway Horses just feels gratuitous, especially given the narrator’s detachment.
In the Car Outside gets away from this more than the other two, being a somewhat more upbeat love song (albeit a somewhat off-kilter one). I think it might actually be the least well-done song of the three, but it’s certainly the one I liked the best.
This is the hardest type of submission to talk about, because I think very highly of the songs here. But at least two or three are just not really the sort of music I’m going to fall in love with.
Pool A Decision:
It’s kind of funny that these three submissions all ended up together. All three are definitely feeling out my boundaries on dark, depressing music (which I don’t mind people doing). And all three probably end up falling into the category of music I am impressed by in certain ways and can enjoy in a particular mood or with a particular focus, but am unlikely to seek out very often.
So, who wins and who loses? Every pool has to have one winner and one loser.
Last place is going to go to Deftones. They had one song I quite liked in Entombed. I was up and down on Pompeji, liking some aspects and not others, and the third song didn't make a strong impression. On the whole, I think I just wasn't as impressed by these songs as I was by the best songs from the other two artists. Entombed is pretty good, but it was probably my #4 song out of this pool, with the top three coming from the other two artists.
Katatonia is probably the artist out of these that I’m closest to devoting more time to, but I don’t think that’s owing only to these songs. When I think of what I like about them, I still think about My Twin at least as much as I do Evidence. On the other hand, The Killers had my favorite song of this pool with In the Car Outside, and my third favorite in West Hills (Evidence was second). I came away really impressed with the artistry of those songs. So The Killers get first place and Katatonia take second.
All three artists are ones that I’m glad to have heard, but not likely to be ones I’ll fall in love with. They often do a very good job of producing a certain emotion or certain atmosphere, but they’re just not emotions I want to feel most of the time.
senecadawg2/The Killers: 3 points
Lethean/Katatonia: 2 points
Sacul/Deftones: 1 point
Topic: 425's Roulette v5: Short break (Read 41157 times)
