Ok I got a bit busy during the weekend, then I sort of forgot about this thing and began procrastinating. Anyway, here are results:
Buddyhunter1abriction - Catch My Blood
First impression: Expected something organic, got electronic-ish Looking at the artwork here I full expected this to be full of acoustic guitars instead of synths, but I guess the lowercase name should have given it away. Anyway, this is an interesting combination of atmospheric sounds with some vocals that wouldn't feel that out of place in a high-charting Pop song. Which kind of puts me a little off, since the rest of the vibes are quite immaculate and surround you, and they kind of break that a bit for me.
3.75abriction - Stargazing
First impression: A bit more direct than what the artwork might suggest Now this is a bit more like what I expected the other song to sound like, at least at the beginning. This one feels firmly in the modern shoegazey, dreamy vibe you've been getting into lately. I quite like the vibe here, the vocals are great, and the song is well-structured. In particular the second half is great and quite climatic, I love the piano at the end.
While the song doesn't blow me away, it still manages to captivate me and make me curious about what else this group has done.
4twosuitslukeIhsahn - Celestial Violence
First impression: A very well-written piece, but will it be enough? The "Catastrophe" theme was for the songs' theme, not for your roulette strategy
. Jokes aside, I feel this doesn't change my opinions on Einar - a talented singer, that has very little nuance on his style, or at least not the sort of character I'm looking for in music these days. The music is pretty good, if a bit over the top - I like the strings and the explosive guitars are cool. But with Einar here, I just feel I'm listening to another Leprous song that's competent but just not for me.
3.25Gísli Gunnarsson - Amène-moi
First impression: Cinematic A pretty nice track, quite atmospheric and that takes its time to build up things. Feels like the soundtrack to a Nolan film, which can sometimes be a good thing. It's not the most original song of its kind, with its blend of Post Rock and Modern Classical, but it does the job fine. The climax takes quite a bit to get going, and it's pretty cathartic, but I just feel I've heard this done way better before. This one just feels... safe.
3.75IndisciplineGentle Giant - Wreck
First impression: You could say this is an acquired taste Hmnnn I think I've tried some Gentle Giant in the distant past but with little success. And this one leaves me a bit... cold. The vocal harmonies are fine, but they are a bit monotone to me, and make the song feel very repetitive. My favorite part was actually the first fade out, when they tried something different, only to go back to the old thing.
3Starsailor - A Way to Fall
First impression: Quite dramatic Wait, you sending me a band from this millennium? Damn, must be something special then. Well, it kinda is - I am reminded a bit of early Anathema, and some of the HOF-core I received in the roulette. An old school vibe but with an early 2000s approach, it certainly feel more up my alley than the other song. A pretty dramatic tune, and although I'm a sucker for those, I feel it's almost there, just not enough for me to want to score it higher. To me, a 4 answers to "Do I want to add this to my Favorites playlist and listen to it from time to time?", and I'm afraid it doesn't reach the threshold.
3.75ariichRioghan - Bruises
First impression: Half interesting sounds, half generic ones On the one hand, there are these interesting atmospheric bits and lovely synths, and the vocals reminds me of the Transistor OST, but on the other, there's this... kinda generic prog metal vibe that I'm just not much into these days. It's quite well executed, but it sort of leaves me cold tbh.
3.25Andrew Bayer - What Is Real
First impression: An interesting contrast, and a bit different from what I expected I'm actually familiar with some of his songs, from the
If It Were You, We'd Never Leave album, but not enough with the whole thing to rate it, so I was curious to hear what something from this other work sounded like. It kinda reminds me of the Jamie xx album I've been jamming these past few months, but the sound feels a bit less original, at least on the first section. That breakdown is quite interesting, with the strings pouring trough the vocals, easily my favorite part of the song. Then it slowly builds up to what was before, which to me feelt like... YouTube ad music
. Maybe it's just the particular sounds chosen that I found unappealing, since the song is quite nicely structured and has lots of energy.
3.5ScoreboardBuddyhunter1 54.25
twosuitsluke 53.75
ariich 52.5
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Indiscipline 52
Thanks for playing Indi! You were pretty consistent, and before scoring your songs I was unsure whether you or ariich would remain. You mostly targeted my renewed interest for
fogey old school music, and I thank you for that, I've got plenty of cool stuff to check out.
Ok, now it seems Buddy is almost there, but considering how you all 3 can still screw this up, I'd say it's anybody's game, really
. Send for the final round! So we can actually put an end to this lmao.