Song Contest 92 (Results posted!)

[Quilford]

thx bb

[Apricity]

Lol, Quil why is practically everything a B? Are they all really about the same quality to you?

[Parama]

quil doesn't give A's to anything unless it's basically perfect and anything lower than a B is a failure so he gives it an F

[Davsto]

In terms of shortening the deadlines, I feel like doing what you did last contest is a good idea. That is, set the deadline for a week (and make sure everyone knows ), and if you don't get the full 26 entries, you push it forwards a week. If you do, start the contest then and there. Minimise cut entries and hopefully deadlines if possible.

I'd say do the same for voting (that is, put up the results once all votes are in rather than when the two-week deadline finishes) but have we

ever

have everyone enter votes?

[Quilford]

I just have a set of things I look for in my music, I like it to be really, really catchy in a kind of classic pop, Bacharach/David way, I like it to use lots of instruments both electronic and acoustic, I prefer it when the lyrics don't have too much of a narrative in them, I want the music and lyrics to really give me the sensation that each is essential to the other. Usually if you can hit two of those you're in A range.

I only give Fs to things I really couldn't stomach, like, I was actually trying to tune it out as much as possible. If I think it's bad but not quite that bad it gets a B–, because I don't really think it's worth it to put effort into distinguishing between various shades of bad. Various shades of great, yes: that's why I have an A range that goes unused so much of the time.

[Quilford]

B is average. B+ is good! B+ means I like this, there's some sort of seed of greatness here, but it's not enough for me to listen to it regularly.

Anyway maybe I'll just change to emoji grades or something next time so that people don't get confused that I'm giving everyone Bs forever.

[ChannelDelibird]

Anyway maybe I'll just change to emoji grades or something next time so that people don't get confused that I'm giving everyone Bs forever.

May I recommend badger metaphors?

[Tammy]

Yay! I didn't get cut.

I'd be cool with one week entry periods.

[Song Contest]

OK, I've created a survey asking people about changing the deadlines:

http://goo.gl/forms/P2ukHHS4iM

Participating in the survey is not required for this contest, but your input is appreciated!

[Psyche]

im bawling guys this is beautiful

[Psyche]

ok not really

[Bins]

i narrowed it down to like 12 songs really fast but now idk what to do

[Psyche]

play them all simultaneously and give your twelve to the one that stands out the most from the din

[Bins]

good idea


will post results

[Bins]

3/10 would not recommend

[Parama]

unrelated to anything, 1. i've been spinning algiers album, it's great 2. i ordered the julia holter album yesterday with my monthly music haul
anyways


Chad – Yup, I hate everything about this. Even the music is just awful. Legitimately one of the worst songs I’ve heard in a while.

Iceland – Honestly I could’ve picked basically any song of this album, Driftwood is particularly good while Butcher the Song and A Gentleman Caller are probably way too weird, while The Recluse is way too safe, this feels just right. Amazing album though that everyone should check out.

Western Sahara – Oh good, female-fronted synthpop. Just what the doctor ordered. This isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever heard or anything but it’s really repetitive and kind of obnoxious, but mostly boring. God, this is only 4 minutes long? It feels like it goes on forever.

Spain – This is pretty alright. It’s also pretty old apparently. It feels like the kind of throwback song a modern artist would try to make, except it’s not. Not fantastic or anything but passable.

China – Honestly I don’t know what to think of this. I like the kind of clunkiness induced by the triplet drums vs. the 8th note guitars, and it sounds plenty pleasant. But it doesn’t really grab me in any way. Ehh. I still enjoy it more than anything else thus far.

Burkina Faso – This is a mess. The intro doesn’t flow into the main song well at all. The drums and synth don’t feel like they belong into the same song. The singing is almost intentionally offkey. There’s barely any melody here. It’s almost constantly noisy. I kinda dig it. The singer sounds kind of like Lorde also which might help matters.

Mali – Generally pleasant and it gets decently interesting by the end but I don’t get a lot from this regardless, it’s just “nice”.

St Kitts and Nevis – Sounds like The Beatles. Apparently this is from the 80’s. I guess there’s a bit of that sound to it but it really feels like someone trying to copy The Beatles, and honestly doing a decent enough job at it, it’s got a similar sound but enough to keep it distinct.

Cote d’Ivoire – Oh, female-fronted metal. Something I’ve never been that big into. I dunno. A lot of female metal singers sound really similar. There’s a symphonic element to this, because of course there is. But I mean yeah this is pretty solid and I still enjoy it well enough. Just not that unique. But I’m a sucker for metal, even when it’s kinda bland.


all things considered, this was actually a quite solid group

[Apricity]

Parama, are you going to comment about all the videos or just those? I'm curious.

Also, are we supposed to rank them publicly or just if we want to?

[Tammy]

You don't have to rank them publicly, just if you want to. Most people just do it privately.

[Parama]

i do the songs in groups, i don't do them all at once

[Willowmeadow]

I wish I had the patience to write.

Maybe I'll do some kind of public grading for once though.

[Natirasha]

Ukraine(City & Color)--It has a solid beat, but the vocals are really boring and generic.
Portugal(Yoko Kanno)--One of the most enduring anime OPs of all time. Good shit, 10/10.
Central Africa Republic(Wings)--[[cries internally]]
Wales(Flume)--Nah
Spain(Roxy Music)--This is alright, classic-ish rockish thing.
St Kitts & Nevis(Split Enz)--This is classic stuff better left forgotten.
Netherlands(The Corrs)--A bit basic, but I can get behind this.
Cote d'Ivoire(Delain)--They're really good live!!
Suriname(The Dears)--I wouldn't say remarkable, but listenable.
Germany(The Matches)--I like the parts where they let loose.
Iceland(Cursive)--I had a lot of hope, but it let me down just a little.
USA(The Ongoing Concept)--That was a bit much even for me...
St. Lucia(The Strike)--I zoned out but the parts I listened to were good.
China(hedgehog)--I liked it.
Burkina Faso(Georgia)--k
Nauru(Death Grips)--I've heard a lot about the Death Grips, but this is my first time listening to them. Not really my thing...
Fiji(Braids)--This was some airy femmy dream pop stuff all right.
Botswana(ANOHNI)--You know, I liked where this one was heading.
Finland(Infinite)--Male Asian Pop is a little below Female Asian Pop in terms of 'Quality'.
Male(Turin Brakes)--This was better than most indieish stuff.
Chad(Twista)--This was pretty cool.
Greece(Dessa)--++ I've been a fan of Dessa for a while now.
Lithuania(Oh Wonder)--in the shrug zone
Western Sahara(Vitas)--meh
Tibet(M83)--Never really liked them.
Republic of Kugelmugel(Action Bronson)--This was a bit repetitive, but overall on the better side of that gorge.

[Davsto]

Central Africa Republic(Wings)--[[cries internally]]

I think I'm gonna do well this contest

[Apricity]

I'll just respectfully but vehemently disagree with you about male vs female kpop...

Yeah, was that a *cry so beautiful* or a *cry can't tolerate*?

[Davsto]

It's my entry, so it'll be "can't tolerate" for sure

[Parama]

Wales – I don’t really like the loud, drunken percussion, just not something I have any desire to listen to. Her voice is fine and all but beyond her voice and the percussion there isn’t a lot else to this, and when I dislike one of the two major components of the song it’s hard to get too into. The glitchy breakdown near the end is really grating too.

Portugal – Like, I dunno. This is okay, but it just feels like 5 minutes of the same exact thing. There’s very little dynamic diversity to this, it’s a lot of synths with frantic drums and a nice but not particularly impressive female vocalist.

Germany – I sort of figured this was going to be some degree of rock song but the intro tricked me with a soft synth atmosphere. But then after I got what I expected. Solid power ballad kind of song but it doesn’t really stand out. If I had any emotional connection to this I’d probably love it though. But I don’t. Solid though.

Netherlands – Ahh nice it’s folk metal. Yep, definitely a folk tune with added instrumentation. I dunno, it’s impossible for me to react to this kind of stuff anymore. It’s nice but I’ve heard it all before. Too much Arjen Lucassen.

Nauru – Ahh, something I can entirely dislike before even listening to it. I know who Death Grips are. I know what kind of music they make. This song isn’t going to change my mind. And… it didn’t. What a nice waste of 4 minutes.

St. Lucia – Ahh yes, vaguely ska-influenced indie rock. It’s “fine”.

Fiji – The drums on this are the only thing giving this any energy at all, but I kind of like the contrast. This is fine but kind of feels like it never goes anywhere, doesn’t do a lot for me.

Tibet – M83 is one of those groups that I’ve probably heard something from but wouldn’t actually know, but I do know of them. Anyways this song is… okay. A nice bright energy to it, I suppose. Piano is cool. Kinda bland overall though.

USA – The intro: I’m gonna hate this aren’t I. The song kicks in: …I stand by my previous statement honestly. This is the blandest kind of chugcore, just pure pointless heaviness. The clean vocals on the chorus are kind of alright I guess. The last few minutes are kind of okay too but it’s not really that related to the main song. I’d still pick this over a few of the songs in this contest, but not most of them.