Prologue
Are you still brimming with music you want heard, but just can't seem to recommend it fast enough? Well then, you've come to the right place! So this will be my first time hosting a roulette. I've participated in 425's and twosuitluke's latest ones, and skimmed a few other recent and older ones, so I get the general flow of things, but I'm sure there will still be a learning curve with the roles reversed (kind of, we'll get to that in a bit). If I'm doing something really bizarre, or if you have tips for making things go more smoothly, let me know and we'll discuss it. It's a bit odd to host my own roulette before completing participation in one, but hey, I'm antsy to listen to and talk about more music. I also reserve the liberty to modify some rules as we go if I think it'll improve things or if I didn't think about them beforehand. I think it can be casual enough to not need to spell out every last detail, there's already enough text under this as it is.
***For those who just want the highlights, the plan is that most rounds I'm going to post a couple songs that are representative of part of my taste. You'll send me a song in the ballpark of one of those. Every few rounds there will be a free for all where you can send whatever you want.
*Now for a lot more details for those who want to be fully up to speed and have a better sense of how the roulette will work and my taste, so you can score well. Read at your own pace, I'll give a few days for people on the fence to mull it over.
*The basic idea here is reciprocity. It's my way of building anticipation on both sides of the roulette, hinting at facets of my taste, and effectively allowing me to also be a participant in my own roulette, though obviously you won't need to score and write up my 10/10 entries, though you're certainly free to discuss them. It also gives a bit of a theme to a chunk of the rounds. Initially there will be three cycles of 3-rounders. In the first two rounds of each set, I'll be sending you some music, and you'll be sending me some back. In the third, the topic will be an open free for all, so you can send whatever you like. We'll do that a few times, move onto some other themed rounds, and finally we'll crown a champion!
Basic Roulette Structure:
Round 1: Mystery songs (rock/metal)
Round 2: Mystery songs (other)
Round 3: Free for all
Round 4: Mystery songs (rock/metal)
Round 5: Mystery songs (other)
Round 6: Free for all
Round 7: Mystery songs (rock/metal)
Round 8: Mystery songs (other)
Round 9: Free for all
Round 10: Change my mind about music I'm not into
Round 11: Get me into bands I'm curious about
Round 12: Pre-90s music
Round 13: Free for all
Round 14: 45 minute EP
*I'm pretty confident I can keep the pace up enough to make these breeze by. If things seem like they're dragging I may consider eliminating a cycle of the mystery songs and FFA, and possibly rounds 10-13, but I don't think it'll get to that point. Part of me wants to do a fourth cycle of the mystery songs, FFA, and a second EP, or an album round, but unless I hear a clamor for them, I suspect that's overly ambitious, and 14 rounds is a lot anyway, so we'll stick to that for now.
*Send submissions to lithojazzosphere@outlook.com.
*If you can, send me both Youtube and Spotify links for your song. The Youtube link is so I can make my own playlist and rip the audio. The Spotify link is for the group playlist. If you can't or don't find both links I will find them myself, but the more of you that find both, the less extra work I have to do.
Mystery Songs:
*So the basic concept is to establish an overall theme for the round and to unveil a facet of my taste. The idea of the mystery songs is that at the start of those rounds, I will post Youtube links to two-three songs I like with a particular feel to them. You will listen to the songs, and send me back one song. It doesn't have to be a clone of the songs I linked, or necessarily even be in the same genre, particularly for topics that some of you might not have an extensive library of. Just that I should be able to listen to your song(s) and think, "ah,
that's why they heard mine and chose theirs". Different people will be inspired by different aspects of the songs I've chosen, and that's part of the fun. I've intentionally chosen songs that you should be able to go in a number of directions with. No strict time limit, but be aware that songs past 10:00 are much rarer for me to consider as favorites, so choose wisely.
*This should also be easier and more interesting than trying to have a lengthy section describing my taste, which is complicated and confusing, though I'll at least touch on it in a bit. I'm perfectly willing to answer any questions about it in particular, and you might get some gist of it scanning the banned artist list and perusing my RYM account, or even stalking my post and thread history here if you want.
Mystery Songs Revealed:
Moved to the bottom of post #13.
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2942030#msg2942030Group Playlists:
Moved to the bottom of post #13.
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2942030#msg2942030
Free for all rounds:
*I've found that both the single song and the time limit formats have benefits, so I want to utilize both. Whereas the mystery song rounds are limited to sending back a single song, for the FFA rounds I'll allow a time limit of 15:00. This allows for multiple songs and the possibility of creating mini-EP-like flow, and painting a broader picture of the artist you're recommending.
Round 10 - change my mind about music I'm not into:*This should be a fascinating round. What I've found in all my time exploring music is that some genres are much harder to get into than others based on our own personal histories. In this round I'm looking for you to send me something you think I'll like from a style I typically don't care for much, or lack knowledge of.
Eligible Candidates: avant-garde, Britpop, country (pre-80s), death industrial, emo, experimental, experimental rock, free improvisation, free jazz, hardcore punk (non-Swedish), harsh noise, hip-hop (2010s-present), hyperpop, indie rock/pop/folk, industrial (the purer kind), J/K-pop/rock/metal, math rock, mathcore, metalcore (90s), neo-psychedelia, noise rock, opera, pop-punk, post-hardcore, post-rock, power electronics, show tunes. If you don't have anything in those categories, but have something else in mind that doesn't seem in my wheelhouse, but think I might like anyway, just PM me about it. Eligibility will be murky for this round, but essentially if I look up the album on RYM the primary genre listed should be something I don't already have an abundance of. When we get closer to the round I'll reveal tiered levels of difficulty with bonus points.
Round 11 - get me into bands I'm curious about:*This one should be equally intriguing. When we reach this round, I'll reveal a list of popular/semi-popular bands that I'm curious about. I may know something about them, might have heard songs and sometimes albums from most of them, possibly even like them mildly, but I don't really "get" them yet. I'm hoping people here are familiar enough with them to recommend me the best song or three. I will be allowing previously submitted bands from earlier rounds that scored below 8.25, but they must be sent by a different person than originally submitted them. And I will allow duplicate bands in the same round, but not duplicate songs, so those will be on a first come, first served basis.
Round 12 - pre-90s music:*This should be simple enough. I listen to way more music from the 90s and beyond than to the 80s and before. So send me your best stuff released in '89 or earlier. No jazz, I already have tons of that. Classic rock staples are very risky, I already know a ton of them, even if they aren't on the soft ban list. Deeper cuts are fine, or even more inventive choices and styles.
Round 14 - 45 Minute EPBecause I did not have the foresight to anticipate how much this post would balloon over the roulette, and may not have even encountered the 20k character limit per post, I'm moving this to the bottom of post #13, linked below.
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2942030#msg2942030My Taste:
*My preferences are pretty ineffable and inscrutable even to myself at times, but I'll take a stab at explaining it. A great deal of music I adore across a broad swathe of genres tends to have a few traits in common. It's often a bit dark and melancholic, but melodic and at least a tad poppy. I generally err on the side of more polished and clean production and engineering. I value skilled musicianship, but get picky about when it's employed excessively (though my tolerance for excess is far higher than mainstream tastes, for example). Lyrics are rarely important, but vocals quite often are, though I enjoy a fair amount of instrumental music.
*I love contrasts and balances of musical elements (calm vocals over heavy music, thrashy riffs going into acoustic passages, piano and violin on the same track as growls and blast beats, etc., though not generally to avant-garde Mr. Bungle sort of extremes, there should be a bit more flow.) Increasingly over time I value atmosphere in music, with a lush sound and layering. If there's minimalism in notes, there's often maximalism in production and effects. I don't mind occasional moments of dissonance, noisiness, and general weirdness, but if they're excessively focused on it tends not to be to my taste. Meat and potatoes genres and bands generally don't move me as much, I like when bands blend together multiple styles, and incorporate interesting instrumentation, acoustic guitars, piano, synthesizers, saxophone, violin, flute, mandolin, tabla, etc. But generally in more of a chamber music/smaller ensemble fashion, regardless of genre, the overly orchestral approach can often be a bit much.
*The categories for round 10 should give you an idea of what
not to send for normal rounds, unless you are brimming with atypical examples to send that you think I might like after all. The whiny and shouty vocal styles of some of those genres are often a turn-off, though there are always exceptions.
Niche styles I'm overall most fond of - atmospheric/ethereal doom metal, atmospheric rock, darksynth/synthwave, ethereal/dream/doom folk, ethereal wave/darkwave/dream pop, futurepop, gothic rock/metal, hard/post-bop, Hindustani Indian classical, jazz/fusion, melodic death metal, melodic doom/death metal, progressive/hard rock, progressive/power metal, roots reggae, synth/electro-pop, Swedish death metal, vocal trance/house.
*You can peruse my Rate Your Music account for more information.
https://rateyourmusic.com/~LithoJazzoSphere*The below list effectively serves as a very loose favorite artist list, especially the first 180 or so. The rest is a bit bloated and haphazardly added to, but still gives a decent idea of what I like. It's a bit more up to date than the favorite artist list on my main RYM page, which I haven't updated in awhile.
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/LithoJazzoSphere/artists-that-excited-me*I also have a last.fm linked in my RYM page, and you can look at it if you want, but I haven't used it in over a decade, so it only really captures my listening habits circa late-00s. I still like all those artists, but the center and intensity of my preferences have evolved a lot since then.
*Something which I can't really control, but should put on the table, is that I have a form of pitch memory that can appear to others like perfect pitch. It makes me consciously aware fairly often of what keys, chords, and notes are being played. Over time I've developed favorite keys, which give a slight boost to some songs over others rather arbitrarily. Good songwriting and interesting musical elements can frequently overcome it though. But in particular, I have a sweet tooth for downtuned rock/metal in the Bbm-Cm range, and again in the Fm-Gm range (higher or lower), which tends to apply to most genres.
Round 1 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2947895#msg2947895https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2948568#msg2948568Round 2 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2952755#msg2952755https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2953132#msg2953132Round 3 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2957885#msg2957885https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2958380#msg2958380Round 4 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2961738#msg2961738https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2962264#msg2962264Round 5 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2966473#msg2966473https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2967630#msg2967630Round 6 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2973260#msg2973260https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2973818#msg2973818Round 7 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2979399#msg2979399https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2979557#msg2979557Round 8 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2986800#msg2986800https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2987106#msg2987106Round 9 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2992060#msg2992060https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2993378#msg2993378Round 10 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg2997141#msg2997141https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3000186#msg3000186Round 11 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3005561#msg3005561https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3007469#msg3007469Round 12 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3013169#msg3013169https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3014870#msg3014870Round 13 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3019377#msg3019377https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3018387#msg3018387https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3020236#msg3020236Round 14 Impressions & Results:https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3025154#msg3025154https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3029515#msg3029515https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3029696#msg3029696https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3030105#msg3030105https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3030339#msg3030339https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57950.msg3030790#msg3030790Gladiators (join order):twosuitsluke
TAC
HOF
Lethean
Tomislav95
senecadawg2
Puppies_On_Acid
romdrums (had to drop out after the second round)
Elite
Crow
ariich
soupytwist
Vmadera00
Buddyhunter1
Evermind
SoundscapeMN
Sacul
Nachtmerrie
Stadler
Gladiators (alphabetical):1: ariich
2: Buddyhunter1
3: Crow
4: Elite
5: Evermind
6: HOF
7: Lethean
8: Nachtmerrie
9: Puppies_On_Acid
10: romdrums (had to drop out after the second round)
11: Sacul
12: senecadawg2
13: SoundscapeMN
14: soupytwist
15: Stadler
16: TAC
17: Tomislav95
18: twosuitsluke
19: Vmadera00
Final Cumulative Standings:
1: Nachtmerrie ---------------------- 132.75
2: Evermind --------------------------- 132
3: SoundscapeMN -------------------- 130.75
4: ariich -------------------------------- 130.5
5: Lethean ------------------------------ 129.75
6: TAC ------------------------------------ 129.5
7: soupytwist ------------------------------ 127.5
8: HOF -------------------------------------- 126.25
9: Vmadera00 ------------------------------- 123.75
10: Buddyhunter1 ---------------------------- 123.5
11: senecadawg2 --------------------------- 122.75
12: Tomislav95 ---------------------------- 120.75
13: Stadler ------------------------------- 120
14: twosuitsluke ------------------------ 119.5
15: Puppies_On_Acid ------------------ 119.5
16: Sacul ------------------------------ 118
17: Crow ----------------------------- 112.25
18: Elite ------------------------------ 88.5 (DNF)
19: romdrums --------------------- 14.25 (DNF)
Topic: LithoJazzoSphere Roulette V1: Variety & Reciprocity (Post-Roulette Playlist) (Read 112868 times)