FINAL RESULTS, part 1--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elite No EP as yet.
But I will be happy to update this if you send me one.
Roulette total = 7.8 + 8.0 + 7.5 + 7.2 + 7.9 + 8.4 + (n/a) = 46.8 after 6 rounds out of 7
Final position: Did not finishIf you find time to send me an EP then I'll happily update this post, but even if not then I still want to say thank you for playing the first 6 rounds and sending an interesting selection of music! I appreciate you trying to hit some overlap in tastes when it comes to jazz, even though you meet with mixed outcomes when doing so. But then again, your efforts to branch out led to your best and worst scores and ended up no better on average.
Wheel is the act I'm most excited to check out further, of course, but I'll check out the rest too. Thanks again for playing and hope things settle down for you soon!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glasser – Fuck The Flow: The Lonely Tampon1. Black Flag - Slip It In
2. S.O.D. - Premenstrual Princess Blues
3. Warrant - I Saw Red
4. Coven - Iron Dick
5. Dolly Parton - PMS Blues (live)
First impression: This was very entertaining and I can’t fault you for thematic coherence even if it was at the expense of quality. Novelty aside, this is an incredibly mixed bag with a couple of very good songs in amongst the weakest music I’ve possibly ever been sent in a roulette.
Favourite: Dolly Parton - PMS Blues (live)
Least favourite: S.O.D. - Premenstrual Princess BluesFinal opinion: Oh Tom, what did you do?!
You wanted to go down in roulette history, and I mean, what a way to go in your first ever roulette. The theme of this EP is highly entertaining and your use of some of the songs in this context - I Saw Red especially - is hilarious. But there are no points available for theme or story, only music quality and flow, for which this is kind of an epic fail.
Positives first. I've never really listened to much Dolly Parton, but I love this song. The music is fun, Dolly is incredibly charismatic, and the lyrics have a wonderful sarcastic wit to them. The Warrant is also very good; glam rock isn't an instant winner for me but the emotional sincerity here is nicely done and it's a very solid song.
I've obviously heard of Black Flag but I'm not sure I've heard them before, so I don’t know how representative this is. It's very messy, and I wasn't at all keen at first, but I've somewhat come around on most of it for the cool Queens of the Stone Age vibe it has. The sex scene at the end I could really do without though, and overall the song is still a bit average.
The other two songs are, unfortunately, the worst I've ever been sent. I even checked what I was sent in that round in my v2 roulette (11 years ago!) where I asked people to send me something so bad it was entertaining, with the worst songs getting the highest scores, and still I don’t think any were as bad as this.
Some of the thrash riffs are kind of passable on their own but still very mediocre and topped with horrible vocals and ridiculous lyrics. I picked out the S.O.D. as the worst only because the Coven has a somewhat fun guitar solo, but both are pretty equally awful. It takes a lot to send me something I actively dislike, so finding two at a time is an impressive feat. The quality range on this EP was so vast that I didn't know how to score it, so I had to settle for scoring each song and taking a weighted average (by song length).
Despite the thematic coherence lyrically, the flow isn't any better. Not only does it jump between mostly completely unrelated genres and moods, the production styles and volumes are so different as to make the listening experience actively and amusingly unpleasant. Like, why are the heaviest songs musically so quiet sonically? If I don't change volume between tracks, the Coven especially just sounds so weak and pathetic which contrasts hilariously with the lyrics. If this was deliberate then you, my friend, are a comic genius, but that doesn't mean I ever want to listen to it again.
Music quality score: 6.6
Flow score: 2.0
EP total: 8.6
Roulette total = 8.1 + 8.1 + 8.8 + 8.2 + 8.2 + 7.9 + (6.6 + 2.0) = 57.9
Final position: 23rdOh Tom, what a finish to your first roulette.
Looking at your line on the graph, I don't think "rise and fall" is enough to describe your journey. More the “Rise and Total Collapse of Glasser”. You were doing so well up until the last couple of rounds. Solid submissions in each of the first 5 rounds with one real standout in the form of Nospūn, which briefly put you as high as 5th place and the album for which I’m particularly excited to listen to. But really you sent me something in every round - yes, even the EP - that I’m looking forward to exploring further.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
faizoff – The Last of Me1. Deadmau5 - Avaritia
2. Deadmau5 - Strobe (Radio Edit)
3. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - Immigrant Song
4. Kendrik Lamar & SZA - All The Stars
5. A Perfect Circle - So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish
6. Soulfly - Flyhigh
First impression: This is a little different to anything else I’ve been sent, which is why I’ve loved having you in this roulette regardless of your scores. The EP takes a weird turn at the end but otherwise it’s good, and I may have been sleeping on one of the artists.
Favourite: Deadmau5 - Strobe
Least favourite: Soulfly - FlyhighFinal opinion: Alright so this is a solid EP, mostly both very good musically and flowing well but taking a dip in both regards at the end.
Deadmau5 is very much the artist I've been sleeping on. I've known about him for many years, since before I really got into electronic music, and I'm sure I've heard a track or two but never explored further. I love both these tracks. I picked out Strobe as the favourite just because it has such a nice lushness to it, but I also love the slower build of Avaritia so it sounds like the full version of Strobe might be even better.
I'll have heard the Reznor/Ross version of Immigrant Song when I saw the film, but it's pretty cool. Doesn't blow me away but I like the vibe. The Lamar/SZA collaboration is better. Really great in fact, and I'm minded to agree with Litho that SZA's parts are the most interesting, very richly melodic and engaging.
A Perfect Circle have never really excited me, and I don't think this really changes my mind. But it's a solid enough song, with a nice chorus and some grand use of strings. The Soulfly is the same but more so. I remember them from my teens and early 20s and never had any interest in them, and this does nothing to change that. It's not unpleasant, there's just not really anything here that hits my tastes.
In terms of flow, most of the EP is pretty good. Some of the transitions between songs are slightly jarring, I think mainly due to quite different production styles, but this is largely compensated for by some consistent threads including poppy and electronic elements, and relatedly a sort of pulsating beat that permeates throughout. The APC song deviates slightly but still feels close enough in vibe. But the Soulfly song definitely feels like too much of a departure. There's a sort of steady beat I suppose, but most elements of the song and the sound are too different to the rest and it ends up being very disconnected.
Music quality score: 8.2
Flow score: 3.7
EP total: 11.9
Roulette total = 7.2 + 8.2 + 8.3 + 7.0 + 8.1 + 7.7 + (8.2 + 3.7) = 58.4
Final position: 22ndLike I said in my first impression, I’ve loved having you in this roulette because of the interesting range of things you’ve sent me, even if you’ve ended up ranked low. Which really is just because when you’ve missed the mark, you’ve missed it by quite a long way.
But you’ve hit the mark more often than not. Very much so with Van She and Deadmau5, but you’ve also made me want to explore NIN and Coldplay more as well. Thanks for being involved and for being such a good sport!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stadler – The Arc of the Curve1. Scorpions - Loving You Sunday Morning
2. Scorpions - Falling In Love
3. Scorpions - We’ll Burn the Sky
4. Fish - View From the Hill
5. Fish - Sunsets on Empire
First impression: To varying degrees I’m familiar with these artists, and all but one of the songs have increased my interest in exploring further. The first few songs remind me of what you achieved in round 2.
Favourite: Scorpions - We’ll Burn the Sky
Least favourite: Fish - View From the HillFinal opinion: Last time I did an EP round, yours was one the weakest. This time you've sent me one of the stronger ones. The music is pretty great throughout, it flows well and is enhanced by an engaging emotional narrative.
Evermind sent me a quieter and more acoustic selection of Scorpions songs in my fogey roulette. It scored well but none of the albums I followed up on quite hit the mark. You've very much rekindled my interest with three songs from their more rocking side. To varying extents I really like all three songs. Falling in Love is probably the least exciting - the chorus is pretty weak - but it's still an enjoyable song. The other two are excellent. Sunday Morning is deceptive - it starts pretty straightforward but develops into some really engaging ideas later in the song, and that development is interesting in itself. And We'll Burn the Sky is just fantastic. Great hooks and a lot of emotion and passion.
I've never been especially enthralled with any era of Marillion and so never felt compelled to explore any of Fish's other work. View From the Hill is nice, but pretty much along the lines I would have expected. Stylistically, Sunsets on Empire isn't much different, but it has an emotional resonance - possibly affected by the theme of your EP - that makes it much more compelling and definitely encourages me to give his stuff a try.
The EP flows very nicely. The only minor thing against it really is that the two halves are quite distinct stylistically, which is the only reason it doesn’t score even higher. But on the plus side, the loose narrative about the rise and fall of a relationship works great and helps gel it all together. Narrative isn't necessary to these EPs and indeed musical and sonic flow should be the priority, but you've done both and used the narrative to good effect to enhance something that already flowed smoothly.
Music quality score: 8.2
Flow score: 4.2
EP total: 12.4
Roulette total = 7.9 + 8.4 + 7.9 + 7.4 + 8.0 + 7.4 + (8.2 + 4.2) = 59.4
Final position: 21stSo you didn’t manage to get into the higher part of the table by sending the best submission of the roulette this time, like you did two years ago, but you’ve managed to maintain once again a solid record of increasing my interest in older artists. Not everything was a hit, but even those that didn’t reach the 8/10 mark had some great stuff in them - for example, it just so happens that I’ve started digging into a couple of those Black Sabbath albums and I think you may have finally found one that I actually love in the form of Headless Cross. But I’m most excited to check out Fleetwood Mac, that Whitesnake live album and more Scorpions albums that I missed last time. Thanks as ever!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click the graphs to enlarge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Topic: ariich's DARK TO LIGHT roulette (v8) - Post-roulette updates (ongoing) (Read 91794 times)