WALRUS (cat 8 reveal sunday)

[tris]

huh. what's going wrong?

[schadd_]

oh well i can't get onto discord for some reason

i can try to sing along with the songs loudly enough for you to be able to hear them

[shaft.ed]

i got on
but now i'm busy

[schadd_]

agh

[schadd_]

CATEGORY 3 REVEAL !!!

Spoiler: 1st place: CHICKADEE

soko - first love never die
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 6.1 [4.5 wd/5]
CATFIT POINTS: 2.1
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.8
SUSPECTED USER: ARIEL
ACTUAL USER: chickadee
1st place: 2.0

11.0

really great one. two things in particular propel the enjoyment up a lot here, which are the stylistic vocalist and the b-section with a tempo change. there's a lot of feeling induced by the subtle and pensive speech - thinking, for example, of the way that the end of the phrase "i will never love again" is carved off, and it ends up with a sort of upward inflection in the melody which feels keenly like an unsatisfying conclusion rather than an open-ended statement. that tragic feeling is backed up by the tempo changes, which add a sudden burning of energy as if to provide a new perspective, at which point the chorus just restates the song's premise. the song grapples with the category a little bit since it is laid out pretty explicitly what she means by it, and the composition of the song is generally straightforward, but at the same time there's some combination of intangible things that make this song really fascinating to me, which is kind of exactly what i'm looking for here. it's mind-invading, it makes me feel personally at fault for this woman's tragedy, in spite of its simple and innocent presentation.

Spoiler: 2nd place: DAVSTO

can - vitamin c
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 5.6 [4.3/5]
CATFIT POINTS: 2.2
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.7
SUSPECTED USER: GeorgeBailey ?
ACTUAL USER: davsto.
2nd place: 1.5

10.0

i had given can a shot more than a year ago with their other big album and not gotten much from it. this one was good. it's a really snappy and emphatic song construction that builds a strong feeling of expectation and necessity to be picking up all of it, which makes the few missing pieces of comprehension seem quite dire. i think the drums are doing a lot of that conveying. the singer has an accent (iirc can is supposed to be "krautrock" but this person sounds french???) but it also seems like i'm generally capable of hearing what they're saying, i'm just convinced that the line is "you're losing, you're losing your flebicy". this has the davsto sound and era but something in my gut tells me GB likes can. i wanna say i saw it in his last.fm or something? it's not cheating if i'm not sure

Spoiler: 3rd place: CLEATORY6

deerhoof - this is god speaking
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 5.0 [4.0/5]
CATFIT POINTS: 2.2
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.8
SUSPECTED USER: MUSHSHAGANA ?
ACTUAL USER: cleatory6
3rd place: 1.0

9.0

neat little song. the construction here nearly nails what i am feeling like with the cat - a simple little thing, gentle and playful percussion accompanying a concerned conversation consisting of bwoaa bwaa bwa. it just naturally raises questions to me, like, should i be focusing more to try to parse this out? is the playful atmosphere trying to distract me from something i should be trying to draw info from? unfortunately it got dinged a little bit of points for the title, which i read and think "oh! ok :)" & it weakens the disinformativity of it all. i appreciate a shorter song.

Spoiler: 4th place: ARIEL

william fitzsimmons - the tide pulls from the moon
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 5.2 [4.1/5]
CATFIT POINTS: 1.4
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.8
SUSPECTED USER: davsto ??
ACTUAL USER: ariel

7.4

this song gets a lot of usefulness between its conflict of a tense presentation vs. a reassuring presentation. the singer has this gentle massage of a voice, that often has a really delicate and reassuring vocal harmony backing it up, but there's also a really fundamental uneasiness in whats being said. backing up the vocalist is what sounds like a combination of easy listening pop music and the centerfold guitar, which has a tense riff pattern mirroring a bunch of epic 2000s emo music. it leaves me unsure moment to moment how to be reacting to it exactly. i do like the singer a good bit.

Spoiler: tied 5th place: TRIS

regina spektor - 20 years of snow
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 5.4 [4.2/5]
CATFIT POINTS: 1.0
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.5
SUSPECTED USER: chickadee
ACTUAL USER: tris

6.9

regina spektor is someone i respect a lot as being really creative in subtle ways that give her a really notable songwriting character in spite of a lot of conventional stylistic choices. the piano has a really elaborate but extemporaneous-feeling sound, which makes it sound a little bit uncanny when she plays the same pattern twice in a row, sort of like two perfectly identical plants right next to each other. there's also a few moments where she seems to be saying multiple different things, including this moment at 0:35 where she sort of seems to be doing a polyphonic throat-singing sort of thing. that said, there's still a pretty clearly evocative style here, it seems to be written somewhat as a stream of consciousness but i also feel like i'm in tune with what the consciousness is. she also kind of sounds like fiona apple here who i would call a powerful force in anti-inscrutability

Spoiler: tied 5th place: SHAFTY

jan wilhelm mortenson, eva nordwall, knut sonstevold - unisono
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 5.0 [4/5]
CATFIT POINTS: 1.1
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.8
SUSPECTED USER: tris ???
ACTUAL USER: shaft.ed

6.9

this tradition of academic experimental music is something i would generally struggle to find particularly inscrutable in the spirit of this cat. in particular i usually want to take them at face value - this song is called unisono, and so i imagine its about these two epic performers that are fighting about their unisonity. so they just angrily and sporadically go to town on their instruments at each other. 0.6 of the catfit points here come from the dual presence of some sort of plucked sound as well as a typical harpsichord sound. maybe i'm not familiar with all the ways you can play a harpsichord or maybe there are multiple performers but i am compelled to visualize somebody mashing on the keys and then like instantly fluttering over to the bare rear of the instrument where they trill away on the strings directly. this is a powerful deconstructive force. anyway it is quite the engaging listen

Spoiler: 7th place: PJ

shugo tokumaru - tracking elevator
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 6.0 [4.5/5]
CATFIT POINTS: 0.3
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.5
SUSPECTED USER: PJ
ACTUAL USER: PJ -0.1

6.7

what i think happened here is that PJ submitted a song from an artist whose musicianship he knows i like, and it's supposed to fit to the cat because i don't understand the language. which is classic. i do like it a lot. it sounds like he's prepared us this huge obstacle course, but is then calmly leading us through all of it with these couple of reassuring repeated melodic phrases. it's quite pretty, smile-inducing. however in spite of its grandeur it struggles with the cat - almost everything in the song feels comfortably within reach. it gets 0.3 points based on a bunch of moments where it seems like it will make some sort of change and then doesn't.

Spoiler: 8th place: GeorgeBailey

the fiery furnaces - benton harbor blues
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 4.0 [3.5/5]
CATFIT POINTS: 1.7
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.7
SUSPECTED USER: cheetory6 ?
ACTUAL USER: georgebailey !!

6.4

though i don't usually find their music very interesting i do have to give the FF's credit as an act committed to the art of the weird perceptual journey. i like the little electronic organ hook, and it'll do a carefree switch into a different pattern for a few moments that seems to make sense musically but also create the feeling of an unanswered question. i know about eleanor friedberger growing up somewhat close to where i did but she sounds somewhat convincingly unlike a native speaker here. there's little things in the song like the reverse-speech moment that don't work wonders but add to the vibe for sure.

Spoiler: tied 9th place: SLEAPS

tsunscreen - one-winged ogre
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 4.8 [3.9/5]
CATFIT POINTS: 0.8
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.5
SUSPECTED USER: sk
actual user: sk -0.1

6.0

this is another one of several problematic entries in this cat where there's like a self-evident fact of what the song is that prevents me from feeling like i don't get it. its a mashup of all star and some kind of epic song from final fantasy. it works pretty well as a song though. this gets pretty much all 0.8 of its catfit points from the rambling and pained character taken on by steve harwell here - i can't help but feel a bit uneasy hearing his voice brutally coerced into the orchestral rhythmic patterns of the final fantasy song.

Spoiler: tied 9th place: JUN

candy claws - night ela (mystic thing)
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 5.2 [4.1/5]
CATFIT POINTS: 0.9
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.0
SUSPECTED USER: jun -0.1
6.0

struggling with how exactly to score this. on the one hand the sheer vibe insularity here earns it at least a bit of catfit points. on the other hand i remember listening to this album and generally letting any sort of thematic content soar over my head bc i was just so distracted by how fun and good the music was. winnie told me at some point later that there's a whole concept album situation here about this girl and her seal and i was like huh????? like it didn't even register to me that the album could have been harboring such a thing. i just like the voices and the jungley production of it all. interesting track choice

POST REVEAL ANNOTATION: i had it at 4.0/5 enjoyment initially, and 0.2 unfamiliarity. i wanted to move it up to 4.1 enjoyment. davsto suggested to take points away from the unfamiliarity score to balance it out, which ended up making sense bc of this artist being listed in the OP of the thread (cat 1 example)

Spoiler: 11th place: HELLBOOKS

Роза Рымбаева - Арай
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 4.6 [3.8/5]
CATFIT POINTS: 0.2
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.8
SUSPECTED USER: hellbooks ??????????????
actual user: hellbooks -0.1

5.5

i thot this sounded like kate nv telefon and so i went to that song and the top youtube comment linked this song. guessing winnie just on that basis - sorry if i am correct. this sounds like a sunshiny pop song with a clear construction. i guess i don't understand the words of being said bc i dont speak russian, but thats not really what i had in mind - i'm not doomed to fail to understand it, if i rly wanted to i could learn russian. giving .2 points for the slightest tinge of an unreality feeling in the brief dissonant vocal harmony at the end of the choruses. the song is very pleasant.

Spoiler: 12th place: N

mashd n kutcher + dan andrews - get on the beers
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 4.4 [3.7/5]
catfit points: 0.1
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.7
SUSPECTED USER: N
actual user: N -0.1

5.3

pretty entertaining. doesn't really work for the cat for me because although it's a goofy little song it doesn't give me the impression that there's anything going on that i'm missing - presumably its a bunch of people talking about corona edited to sound like they're having fun and talking about getting crunk. the ole hippie sabotage switcheroo. moreover the way the song is repeated a couple times makes it hard to feel like anything is missed. i like the sound of the way the guy says "beers" - after a while it sounds like "bees" which is why i gave you 0.1 catfit points. but then i took it away from the unfamiliarity points bc of the trump samples. ain't that just the way.

Spoiler: 13th place: MUSHSHAGANA

ed rush, optical, ryme tyme - long stay
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 3.6 [3.3/5]
CATFIT POINTS: 0.3
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.8
SUSPECTED USER: shaft.ed ???
actual user: mushshagana

4.7

there's something to be said abt the constant tense and fast energy being confounding for this song, but it's hard to feel like things aren't clear when i spend a bunch of time listening to a sort of electronic production that just sounds a lot like stuff that i've listened to. it kind of feels like the rapper bought out 5 minutes of production time but then wasn't able to make use of all of it.

Spoiler: 14th place: SIRIUS9121

rachie ? - the disappearance of hatsune miku (english cover)
ENJOYMENT POINTS: 2.3 [2.3/5]
CATFIT POINTS: 0.7
UNFAMILIARITY POINTS: 0.8
SUSPECTED USER: sirius9121
ACTUAL USER: sirius9121 -0.1

3.7

there's something to be said about making something inscrutable to me by like repelling me away from the effort of pulling meaning from it. hatsune miku is this concept that strongly does not desire my attention and this song seems to be a flurry of presentation about how things suck for her, which is like something that i have no desire to opt into. it seems like there's an elaborate universe being constructed here which i respect however i generally did not like the song.

[shaft.ed]

6.9
noice

but I think you meant 6.90411

[Chevre]

is it too late to join this? I saw my presence was requested but it seemed far, far too late

sorry

[schadd_]

hemememem.... umumumum.... if u can throw 2gether a submission of the other categories in the next few days then i can slot u in

[caledfwitch]

i epically did not even KNOW candy claws was in the op (or i totally forgot) i literally forgot all the example songes i am sorry

[schadd_]

its ok i forgot too

it was more like i realized i liked the song more than i thot i did while it was playing for the reveal so i came up w a way to penalize it so that it wouldn't change the ordering

[Chevre]

hemememem.... umumumum.... if u can throw 2gether a submission of the other categories in the next few days then i can slot u in

ok! I'm in it 2 win it and I will get you those entries tomorrow night! I'm sorry for missing the deadline!

I feel like I'm going to fail -- our tastes overlap so much that it's hard to find songes and it seems like everyone else did a really good job -- I don't think I'd heard of a single artist from today's round. Whereas I'm like "have you listened to lord huron they're so trendý"

[tris]

i get that. i've found so much of my favorite music via schadd and/or hellbooks

[Cheetory6]

same.
if I had to submit music I first heard this last last year I would be in trouble.

[shaft.ed]

i think i listened to one new album last year

[hellbooks]

our tastes overlap so much that it's hard to find songes

This was also a core problem for me and my solution was to try and find music that was markedly out of his taste

i get that. i've found so much of my favorite music via schadd and/or hellbooks

<3

[MUSHSHAGANA]

That Ed Rush song was also a definite weak submission on my part egh

[schadd_]

hemememem.... umumumum.... if u can throw 2gether a submission of the other categories in the next few days then i can slot u in

ok! I'm in it 2 win it and I will get you those entries tomorrow night! I'm sorry for missing the deadline!

I feel like I'm going to fail -- our tastes overlap so much that it's hard to find songes and it seems like everyone else did a really good job -- I don't think I'd heard of a single artist from today's round. Whereas I'm like "have you listened to lord huron they're so trendý"

its ok !!!! excited to see what you produce

i have not listened to lord huron !!!!!!! moreover people should generally not be ashamed if they submitted epic pop songs / are chevre and looking to submit epic pop songs bc there's plenty of them that i am not familiar with and would love a reason to epically pore over them for grading purposes

That Ed Rush song was also a definite weak submission on my part egh

i looked back at your reasons for it after grading it & i think your idea made sense, its just hard for me with that cat in particular to -discover- aspects of something that are inscrutable over the week of bouncing a song around. this was also a problem with hellby's entry i believe

[MUSHSHAGANA]

It was weak, no point making excuses for it. I thought of a much better option (a Tear Garden song, Ka-Spel is good for inscrutable) only after you had posted the scores.

[MUSHSHAGANA]

And no before the obvious gets asked I wouldn’t ever force someone to sit through You and Me and Rainbows no matter how fucking tempting it would be to submit that goddamn helltrip in that category

Was thinking Circles in the Sand. Not asking for (in fact refusing in case one is offered) a rescore, just... yeah.

[shaft.ed]

0.6 of the catfit points here come from the dual presence of some sort of plucked sound as well as a typical harpsichord sound. maybe i'm not familiar with all the ways you can play a harpsichord or maybe there are multiple performers but i am compelled to visualize somebody mashing on the keys and then like instantly fluttering over to the bare rear of the instrument where they trill away on the strings directly.

my thinking was in one part the pairing. When one thinks of bassoon and harpsichord pairings (granted, most probably don't at all) you get some sort of Baroque ensemble music as probably the only possible genre fit. I took the dissonance between the title and the actual performance a little different from yourself. I found it quite interesting that if you listen to the lines that both the harpsichord and bassoon play, they follow eachother quite closely in most places. What makes the duet interesting to me is that by phasing in and out of unison, it creates a really great tapestry that fits together better than if they were actually in unison

Also, this is a single player on each instrument. The symmetry I liked is that both musicians are playing unusually. You picked up on the plucking harpsichord. There is also a lot of note bending and growling coming from the bassoon. Feeds in well with the personalities you were conveying to the lines.

[schadd_]

yes i suppose one would expect a baroque thing from those instruments - that hadnt occurred to me though

i guess the thing about this is that the whole construction of the song immediately makes me think of it as art music and so i just naturally look for the creative artistic choices in it, which automatically creates an affirmative character for it. like i would envision the artists hearing whatever interpretation i offered and being like "oh that's interesting, i see where you're coming from!! :)" maybe i should have helped you out by picturing them as snooty french academics with mustaches that would be like "oh hon hon hon.... but the messáge is right there in front of you and you eáre missing ít!!!". i had noticed and enjoyed the thing where they're mostly in unison, or closely imitating each other, but then would desynchronize aggressively at moments - it felt like two predatory creatures stalking around each other and occasionally making lunges to attack

don't think i noticed the note bending of the bassoon though. thats definitely something that coulda made me go "i have no idea how you would do that." other than that idk if there was a way i would have given it that much more inscrutability points, but i probably undersold you for the enjoyment points, it was a rly interesting song. great sub in any case, was rly excited to look up the submitter in my spreadsheet and see shafted ??

i think i already tenuously recommended it to you deep in the bowels of one of the monthly music posts that were hard for you to read, but i wonder if you would like the coin coin series by matana roberts

[shaft.ed]

i wonder if you would like the coin coin series by matana roberts

I will check it out

In my previous life, I played bassoon
I had this track on a CD that I played the heck out of back in HS
although I underappreciated it at the time

Also, note bending on a bassoon is super easy. It's harder to keep in tune lol
Had a part in a song that was meant to represent a drunkard and I got to play all kinds of bendy out of pitch for that

I naively didn't expect you to think so hard about the incongruence and more just think "wtf are they doing to those instruments?"

[schadd_]

another thing i should have done is given you provisional points for that name "knut sönstevold"

[shaft.ed]

another thing i should have done is given you provisional points for that name "knut sönstevold"

oh thats not your fault
I couldn't find knut's album on Youtube
I got an upload from a harpsichord album
it had 2 views

[schadd_]

i listened to it on spotify where knut was credited as one of the artists