Song Contest 200 (Results posted)

[Aristophanes]

You know I'm in

[Aristophanes]

I am so happy for the Song Contest. When I took my most recent hiatus, this was one of the things I missed most about the site. I've often seen it said that this is a place for many who otherwise don't feel they have a place on the site any longer, and while I navigate the waters of site culture, this definitely feels like a safe and happy place to be!

I haven't been around for a lot of its history. I mean, 14 years is so great and everyone who has hosted, entered and voted on songs, and helped to shape the contest as it stands today should be really proud of what we have! I know I am

Each time I vote in a song contest, I take the songs which ranked highest and put them into a playlist for later listening. Now I'm bad at actually doing said listening later, but I am really happy I have this song selection that I may have never listened to otherwise. It's not like, the top 3 or 5 or anything specific as a criteria, just the ones that really impressed me and I think are highest on my relisten radar. I also add my own entry each time, shifting it from my playlist of possible entries. Doing this has made me listen to songs so much more actively and critically than I already did. I listen for things that make a song pop, things that make it stellar, unique, or just plain of a higher caliber than your standard run of the mill radio bop. I shazam songs all the time now because I want to remember them in order to decide whether they are good enough to be entered here or if I will save them for my own enjoyment. I sometimes go to enter a song and find it's lost its magic, changing my mind to something I did not realize I wanted. It really has helped me explore music more critically and more openly, and I am so grateful it exists.

Anyway, I thought I'd share that ever growing playlist for your enjoyment.

[Aristophanes]

Spoiler: Happy 200th! =D

Sweden: Vintersorg - Lavin

The intro sets such a mood, I really like it. Great setting up of the cold woods feeling.

The vocals...I don't hate. And that's saying a lot for this style of music. It's so often not my thing, but they're actually singing and the harmonies/powerchords(?) are well used here.
The guitar break was a bit much for me, as was the annoying drum/scream break around the 3:30 mark.

HOnestly, this could be one of the highest ranking songs of this ilk that I've come across, depending on the rest of the contest of course. Save for the few parts listed above, I would almost say I liked this :O The outro could definitely be tightened up though

Slovenia: Scene Queen - 18+

Is this what Punk sounds like nowadays?

I uh, I don't know what to say. It's like Rebecca Black trying to be an edgy Avril Lavigne.

The jump from "I'm sick of good people being overlooked" to "stop being a pedophile" is jarring and makes little sense from how it is presented.

And like, I know people went off on Olivia Rodrigo for saying "Fuck" in Driver's License because she came off as if she was trying too hard to show she's a grown up. I feel like this is the epitome of trying to sound more grown up and political than you are and makes the other example laughable.

eSwatini: The Irish Descendants - Catch the Wind

This one's mine

I love how they portray this desire for love in such a specific way. This longing that they know is fleeting, untenable, yet so desired.
And the instrumentation I just love! The whole thing paints such a perfect picture of what they are going for and it's so lovely but sad.

I actually have been meaning to reexplore my Irish/Celtic/folk music as it used to be the majority of what I listened to and it is so good at emoting this feeling of longing. I may start a bit of a series of submissions here, we'll see.

Mali: Richard Hawley - Standing at the Sky's Edge

Ooo! This is moody and broody!

I love the reverb of the voice into the space of this song! It gives such an empty feeling, like a large abyss these poor souls are trapped in.
The build up to the instrumental is great and the shape of this piece is really round and complete.

It's giving my Alice Cooper Welcome to my Nightmare vibes. Honestly, I love it!

Using biblical names for the people in the story is such a good way to create a tension. It's subtle but striking.

Israel: Sunhiausa - Emotional Echoes

ASMR whispering to future techno to DDR fantasy was not what I expected!

I couldn't help grooving with this though, even when it sounded like it was sending a fax. Even when it started Space Invaders firing for its life. It's got a weird grooving power in its choppiness that I inexplicably enjoyed.

Alpha Centauri: Adagio - The Mirror Stage

I'm pretty torn on this one.

On the one hand, the vocal parts are nice and smooth.

On the other hand, the song just breaks down every time the instruments get a chance to do anything, adding polyrhythms and dissonance and just feeling too intentional.
That might be what bugs me about this, how it sounds too intentional when doing things, like it's music theory, or I guess an attempt to provoke classical music theory.

It's the same problem I have with Schoenberg. It's just trying too hard to break out of the norms and that makes it less enjoyable.

Peru: Liars - Brats

What kind of drug induced looney tunes music video is this!?
I uh, paused it at the wrong moment to type that and...yeah. I may spoiler that image at the end of this. It's something.

Anyway, I guess I should focus on the song. I don't get it. I don't understand it. I don't understand them. I feel like it was all just noise for noise's sake. Cacophonous just because they can. Something I might leave a room if it is playing type noise.

I'm sorry to whomever submitted this, I just really do not understand.

Canada: Polkadot Stingray - Telecaster Stripe

This was fun! I liked her voice a lot, it fit well with the whole song and kept things lighter than I usually find songs that are this rocky to be.
The video concept with the costume changes in this Narnia washing machine thing was neat as well.

Iran: Circa Survive - Get Out

See, now this is a voice that is harsher and makes the rockiness of this song so much harder, not to mention the screechy electric guitars and pounding drums.
It's definitely not my thing. I don't know how to say that this would be better if it want fuller emo and less metal and have it make sense, but it's like right in the middle and doesn't feel right for either. If it leaned into the emo side a but more, I'd probably like it. It's just not quite right where it sits.

Iceland: Kate Bush - Get Out of My House

Get out, then Get out of my House. Was that purposeful? haha

What a unique sound. The vocals remind me of a musical, very dramatic. The backup music screaming thing is very off-putting though. It's an interesting combination.
I find myself distracted by the screams every time they come in though and it distracts from whatever I'm supposed to be getting from this though.
The whispering has a similar issue, it's too subtle or weirdly annunciated or something.

And I have no clue why they became donkeys three quarters of the way in and ended with the Chacarron

Wales: The Preatures - Is This How You Feel?

This is groovy! I really like her voice and the two of them together have such a nice sound.

Like, this is good overall. The way she slides into her high notes is so smooth it brings it to a whole other level for me. I'll definitely be listening to more of their catalogue if it's anything like this.

Gibraltar: JID - 2007

This sounds like he found some old diaries and decided to read the Coles Notes version to us.

I read the blurb in the video and I get that it's kind of the point of the song but that doesn't make it better.

"This my son. He came from deez nuts."
I have to admit that I laughed at that line XD
I likes that part though, the father storytelling was good.

It felt like a long winded answer to "why do you want to work here" in a job interview. He even has reference letters!

Chile: Young Gun Silver Fox - Love Guarantee

Another very smooth song. I think I'm realizing that this is a quality in music that I find pleasing.
The vocals here are so rounded and the deeper sond is really nice. The brass is also quite nice, possibly muted? It's not that in your face brass a lot of songs end up using.

That breakdown at 3ish minutes was really good. This is really good.

Ireland: Kesha - Praying

I love this song and I have since it came out. I remember following Kesha's story when she was going through her legal battles and while it's all a little fuzzy now, I remember how charged all of this was. How wronged she was. How badly everything went. The way she turned things around, came out swinging, never gave up, why it's inspiring. This song is all of that. It's her anthem after such a long silence. It's so raw and emotional. The music is there to build, to support, but never overshadows her story. This is her. Raw emotional power. Stepping out of the darkness and being the bigger person.

I didn't expect this to still have such a big pull for me, but it's been a while since I've heard it and I forgot just how powerful it is.

Jupiter: Gang of Youths - Achilles Come Down

What a great song!
It may come as a surprise to you, but I really enjoy my Classical mythology. Who'd have guessed, I know!
Anyway, this song highlights the tragedy of Achilles and the choices he made after Patroclus' death. He did not have the strength, or courage in this case, to overcome. He metaphorically jumped. But the way this uses that story to push the choice, to remind us there was another option, is so well done. The dueling voices are so well done. It's full of emotion and turmoil. I'm really impressed.

Poland: Jann - Gladiator

This one was a little on the dark and creepy side for me. It's like Bad Guy meets Evanescence in a back alley to murder Adam Lambert.

Malta: Hilltop Hoods - Rattling the Keys to the Kingdom

I'd probably like this better if they had a guest singer for the chorus part. As it is they sound like they're trying to be Afroman or something in that part. "until the day that I die" sounds so much like "but then I got high" to me. As it is, I thought the rapping was pretty average. I'm not an expert here though.

Lithuania: Masayoshi Takanaka - Beleza Pula

Hold on a second, did they sample the monkey noises from DK Country here??

Are you sure!?

Honestly this sounds so video game beach level.

I thought it was finishing about 3 minutes in. I was wrong. It definitely got weaker after this point though. Which is unfortunate because the first part I really enjoyed.
The guitar that comes in does give it a second wind though.

USA: AJJ - Big Bird

What a raw intro. The only problem is that I didn't feel like he meant it. Raw vocals need to have emotion behind them, not just be raw.

I like the idea of the song, and I think it could be really good. I'd probably like a cover of this.

I actually think this could be really good if it went the other direction too, having it read by a Glados-like computer as if from the final note left by someone who couldn't go on.

Anyway, I've gone off track here. It didn't need to end with a minute of bird sounds, but it did.

Namibia: The Free Design - Kites Are Fun

I don't think I've ever heard this before, but it sounds so familiar. I can't put my finger on why.

It's so simple and innocent. They could use tighter harmonies, but I get that that's part of the aesthetic here.

West Saturn: Butch Walker - Synthesizers

Oh, this is going to be meta, is it? Okay!

Uhm, when was Sacagawea in a paint fight though?

Some of these similes are just odd, but again, that's the point I guess.

It grooved, but there's this wall of sound that builds and takes away from the song itself. I don't get why so many songs devolve into excessive layering of noise. By the end you can barely hear the vocals.
Now, maybe that's because he went to the club despite all his apparent shortcomings, I guess that makes sense. It just seems unneeded to me.

The Moon: Subwoolfer - Melocoton (The Donka Donk Song)

This was really silly and I really enjoyed it. They had fun with it and I did too.

The donka donk was well done, they had good voices, the mix was good, and it was funny. We needed this!

Spoiler: A Cursed Image

The top 3 were really hard for me to choose between here! I'm still torn on my ordering of them, they were all fantastic!

I actually really liked the top 6 and found the top 10 easy to choose but hard to order in a bunch of spots. After those ones it really dropped off hard though. There was a lot of diversity in this contest and a lot of it was just not for me. I'm glad a lot of it was though!

It was really nice to see so many submissions this round!

[Aristophanes]

Omfg the feedback I wrote for that song is almost exactly the same I wrote for the last one LOL I'M SORRY

Feedback? Where??

[Aristophanes]

Ooo okie! Well I look forward to it! I love reading others' thoughts on the songs here. I often get a new appreciation for ones I'd previously dismissed. Good call Pink ball

[Aristophanes]

Iran: Circa Survive - Get Out

See, now this is a voice that is harsher and makes the rockiness of this song so much harder, not to mention the screechy electric guitars and pounding drums.
It's definitely not my thing. I don't know how to say that this would be better if it want fuller emo and less metal and have it make sense, but it's like right in the middle and doesn't feel right for either. If it leaned into the emo side a but more, I'd probably like it. It's just not quite right where it sits.

Funny enough, this probably means you'd like the rest of the band's first three albums quite a bit (everything since then I haven't been too fond of). This song is pretty different from how they usually sound imo.

Ooo interesting! I'll have to give them a listen next time I get a chance then!