Song Contest 93 (Results posted!)

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ego my lego

...

again

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Use the format of the URL in this song. The number after end= is in seconds.

https://www.youtube.com/v/NVnP-JkVg0c&e ... autoplay=1

It may not work with certain songs. I was going to demonstrate it on Never Gonna Give You Up, and then for some reason it thought it wasn't playing on YouTube anymore and because Vevo owns that video it wouldn't allow off-site playback.

As for the restrictions on entering songs, I think the rule is based on the idea that the contest is for people to find new music -- if people can re-enter the same artists with any degree of frequency, that artist could then become a regular staple and take up slots that people would otherwise use to submit artists that other people don't know.

That being said, if the deadlines do become permanently shorter then that means it will take less time for artists to become eligible again.

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Damn, this is a very solid contest. Usually don't say anything, but I was impressed with a lot of stuff. Will probably be quite tough to pick the top 10.

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Looked like Moby with tats.

this is actually literally what I thought.

never listened to moby tho, so.

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Portugal - Jaga Jazzist - One-Armed Bandit: We got a Frank Zappa ova here! Seriously though, if you played this for me without telling me who it was I would probably think this was a remastered song off The Grand Wazoo. Which is awesome, tbh. They can emulate Zappa as much as they please. The song continues to be cool, switching up the rhythm and instrumentation while remaining coherent. Gonna go with a high 8/10. This is the kind of song where you have to stop everything you're doing, close your eyes and listen closely if you even want to hope to appreciate everything they're doing. This is layered, well-arranged and played super tight. And it's

fun

. And it's

creative

. Funny enough, despite all that, it doesn't grab hold of me and fascinate me like my favorite music does. So while this is super cool and I like it a lot, I can't give it a 9 or 10. I am gonna stick with a high 8/10.

New Zealand - Tha Los - Open Your Eyes: OK, this is pretty cool. Definitely a good singer and a unique spin on that piano love ballad sound. Gotta give this an 8/10. GOD THIS IS SO FUCKING COOL. It's weird, I can't even entirely articulate why, this is just awesome to me. He's a really frickin good singer for one. I guess it's a cover? Makes me want to check out the original, and then check out more from Tha Los. High 8/10.

St. Lucia - Nomak - Korean BBQ: OK now this is interesting techno. They're playing around with volume and muting, changing up the rhythm, they're panning, using cool samples and overall just making it a detailed carving instead of a smooth soundscape. Def liked this one, gonna say low 8/10. Actually I like this one better than Brown Bird, so I'm gonna say middle 8/10.

India - Gal Costa - Vou Recomecar: Damn, this is a good contest. Like this one a lot too. It's kinda like The Beatles in Portuguese. High 7/10. Gal Costa knows how to rock. Low 8/10.

USA - Sokoninaru - Emerald Green: This is pretty cool! I'm thinking for now a high 7/10. OK so last time I didn't notice how badass the guitar solo was. I'm gonna say low 8/10.

Netherlands - Brown Bird - Thunder and Lightning: I already liked it when they picked up the tempo. I always appreciate a band that can make a song interesting with few instruments. Kinda reminds me of Dustin Kensrue's solo stuff, the little I've heard of it? This is cool! 8/10. OK yeah, this is still cool but not as cool as Jaga Jazzist. So I'm gonna say low 8/10.

Hungary - Leander Rising - Szomoru Vasarnap: Just from what I've heard so far and the brief bits of songs I heard while checking to make sure the links worked, this appears to be a pretty piano-heavy contest. Then it goes all metal, which I was kind of expecting given the artwork that came along with it. Oh shit, screaming! Such a rarity in the song contest. It's not particularly mind-blowing metal, but I do like the song overall. High 7/10. Ha, I didn't watch the video last time. It's pretty silly. Metal has a way of being silly. Musically, I still agree with a high 7/10.

CAR - The Police - Synchronicity II: I was pretty surprised to see nobody'd submitted The Police before now. I'm generally a fan of their music but I don't know if I've listened to anything that wasn't a single before, so looking forward to this one. Ohhhhhh this one. I have heard this one. This is cool. Is that Sting saying something about being kicked in the crotch? Sounded like it. I probably shouldn't be surprised at anything Sting does. Think I'll give this one a high 7/10. Yup, still like this one quite a bit. I've seen a lot of people saying they don't think this fits in a song contest because it's a single from one of the most famous rock bands, and that's made me think about things. Because the only time I've ever not given something points in a song contest deliberately for that reason, it was The Beatles. And I've still given high points to stuff I already knew, like Fleet Foxes and Cursive. So here's my rule, clarified. I won't give something points if it's so ridiculously well-known that you can't reasonably expect any given person not to know about it. Everybody on the frickin planet has heard The Beatles, so I don't feel like they belong here. And if somebody submitted Bohemian Rhapsody I'd feel the same way. If they'd submitted Message in a Bottle, I'd feel the same way. But a less-played single from The Police? That's on the right side of the line in my book. Besides, this one is good. High 7/10.

Mali - Laura Marling - False Hope: This was kinda cool I suppose. High 6/10. Better than I remembered. Middle 7/10.

Burkina Faso - Mass Gothic - Nice Night: Can't tell if it's the high strings on a bass or the low, perhaps downtuned strings on a guitar in this song. Either way I like it. This one was pretty cool! Middle 7/10. I still agree with a middle 7/10.

This was the first contest in a while where I really had trouble deciding between my top two. Both were awesome and I think I will check out more from each.

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Wait, is Open Your Eyes the only thing Tha Los has done?

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Best I've ever done in a song contest, yay! Glad people liked it. If you're looking for more from The Dear Hunter, I recommend...

Jesus, basically everything. They're one of my favorite bands and I love almost everything they do.

Since they won't be eligible for anything but BotBs in the future, I feel compelled to give a short list of individual songs to check out that'll give a good sampling:

-Act I: 1878
-Act II: The Lake and the River
-Act III: In Cauda Venenum
-Act IV: A Night on the Town
-Orange: But There's Wolves?
-Blue: Tripping in Triplets
-Indigo: Mandala
-Violet: Too Late
-Migrant: Shame

If you liked the song I entered in this contest, I'd recommend just listening all the way through Act II. Act I is similar to that but shorter and more raw; Act III is more experimental and playful and Act IV introduces more poppiness and ballads into the mix.

They also did a project called The Color Spectrum where they did a four-song EP for every color in the visible spectrum plus black and white -- so nine total. The sound of each EP reflects the "mood" of that color. Violet is the most like their stuff off the Act albums, Indigo is probably the most experimental of them. Others incorporated influences of classic rock, electronica, folk, indie, latin, etc.

And then there's Migrant, the only album they've done that wasn't themed in any way. It's probably my least favorite, but still worth checking out.

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Btw, I was checking the song list and noticed a couple of errors in the last contest. Greece's entry is listed twice and my name and country are switched.

Oh no! You mean the wiki page with the song list?

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Nvm I found what you were talking about and fixed it. Thanks for letting me know!

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I might be more interested in that, actually. I'm still not totally clear on how to define djent, but I know people call Animals as Leaders djent and I basically love them, so.

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animals as leaders kinda blows tho, just pointless technical showboating that bores me to tears

cafo is like the only aal song that's any good and it isn't great or anything either

but didn't you say you hadn't listened to their latest album? because that's the main one I like and also you blow

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jk parama

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It's whichever song had more 12s. If they had the same number of 12s, it goes to 10s, then 8s and so on.