Song Contest - BOTB 5! (Results are in!)

[Parama]

there is ~not~ actually space on the entry form for backup submissions, btw
and as i do every time i'm submitting someone else's artist so i really need to fill the backup spot out

[Parama]

i looked over all the possible top three artists and

hmm, mouse on the keys, i looked into them a bit a month ago actually after forgetting they existed after that contest ended
i'm not familiar with any of their stuff yet though but maybe i'll look into that for later

also i wonder who's gonna enter sufjan in this botb. it's gonna happen. 0% chance of it not happening. whoever gets to him first i guess.

[Parama]

you better hurry because i'm p. sure there's time-based priority on same-artist entries
and i decided on my entry for this botb about two years ago so i've just been biding time waiting to enter it

gonna be mad salty if the person who entered them originally (who hasn't even posted on MS in years) submits them again even though it won't happen

[Parama]

so how do we submit backup entries then

[Parama]

well that's fine too then, i was one of the first to submit so unless [REDACTED] rises from their virtual grave i think i'm good

[Parama]

i guess i'm the only one who really already knew what they were submitting

to be fair i usually don't have a clue for botb, but this one has been a long time coming
last time i chickened out and ended up just sending gybe too that was kinda a cheap shot but w/e

[Parama]

i'm still pretty hyped for SC 91

[Parama]

i can't wait to start rabbling

[Parama]

i sniped DSO years ago, suckah

[Parama]

you're four hours early

[Parama]

y'all don't understand the sacred ritual of rabble

[Parama]

rabble begins the second after the entry deadline passes

[Parama]

quadz i'm not rabbling yet

[Parama]

ok rabble

[Parama]

i won't even be able to listen to these until sunday rabble

[Parama]

Iceland submitted the exact same song I was first going to submit.

yeah it's fairly easily one of my favorite songs ever so i basically had to

i am not hyped to hear another venetian snares song
i am super hyped to hear another algiers song.
i am super sick of woodkid
i am dreading tom waits
biffy clyro is something i should've laready checked out bcuz mike vennart worked with them for a while
F+TM is eligible? since when i thought they were already in a BotB too lol
that is not the kimbra song i would've selected tbh though iirc the live version was better than the album version
ahh, rishloo again, nice
i have heard nothing but horrible things about lana del rey

this sounds like "fun."

[Parama]

i guess i should do this

[Parama]

Mali – Alright, I can dig her voice + this music. Nice atmosphere, the drums keep things upbeat, and she’s a decent though not especially unique singer. But yeah she doesn’t really seem to have much personality as a singer, though she sings alright. The music is doing most of the work here. Constantly changing up while keeping a steady atmosphere.

St. Lucia – Man, I’m not a huge fan of how breathy her voice is. In contrast to the previous song though she has plenty of personality, at least. Lyrics are quite repetitive, it seems. And agh I don’t like any element of the post-chorus, not the bass, not the drums, definitely not the bubble sounds. The music’s alright overall though. Pretty chill sound. Yeah okay lyrics this repetitive are just a pet peeve but.

Belarus – That’s not even correct grammar. Jeez dude. I really don’t have much to say about this, he has a decent voice and the music’s alright without being anything too special. That stock “YAY” sound effect is kinda meh because I’ve heard it too many times. There’s some nice swell to this at points.

Hungary – Okay, this starts off a little meh but after the 1 minute mark it gets pretty cool for a bit. The louder parts of this are definitely the better parts but the singer does a pretty great job here especially. Yeah, I can dig this.

France – These guys had a song in rock band I think? I remember it being alright but nothing that special. This, on the other hand, is simply something I don’t care about. Synthpop. Not my thing. Vocals drowned in as many effects as possible to try and sound robotic. Nah. There’s just no emotional core to this kind of stuff at all, it’s dance-y music which I have no use for. It’s alright for what it is though?

Gabon – I’m listening to this and just getting no reaction from it. The vocals are unique enough to stand out but good enough to not be standing out in a bad way. The instrumentation is decent and has swell at the right moments, gets pretty full for the chorus. It’s vaguely pleasant, but nothing new on any front and not something I imagine I’ll care to return to. It mostly just comes off as generic, aside from the vocals.

Scotland – This is the point in the set where I’m generally bored and underwhelmed by what I’m hearing so this song gets to be the one to really suffer for it. Which is a shame, this song has some real power behind it at the chorus and her vocals get pretty intense. The quieter bits probably let this down a bit though.

Italy – I was sent Slow Show from these guys fairly recently, which was… ehh… okay. The singer’s voice was the most interesting part there and probably the most interesting part here too. This takes a while to get started though but once it does I like it a fair bit, the drums add a lot. Really help make the song sound full. Of course less than half the song is the good part of the song, everything up until then just being kinda dull.

[Parama]

Qatar – The drums are the only thing that sound like they have a pulse here, but that mostly just makes them feel out of place. Big booming snare while everything else is so low-key. It’s alright at building atmosphere, though. Not a fan of her voice, it’s lacking in any real personality. Also it’s funny that the youtube comments are comparing this to Lana Del Ray, considering that…

Portugal – …this is the next song on my randomized list. Uuhh it sounds like she’s singing a little bit offbeat, at least in this first verse. I like her voice slightly more, but it’s still kind of lacking in personality too. And… I really don’t think it fits with the music, which is… pretty decent, actually. I’m kind of biased towards the strings, though. But yeah. It doesn’t really feel like it quite adds up, but this is alright. But yeah she really is not quite singing on the beat which does bother me.

Burkina Faso – I mean, this does have a bit of flavor in it, a bit of nonstandard instrumentation going on and the electric guitar at parts adds a bit of crunch to the song. Her voice is nice, too. It doesn’t really do a ton with what it has, though. If it focused more on the nonstandard instrumentation than the rest then this would actually be pretty enjoyable, really. As it stands it’s mildly pleasant but a bit forgettable.

Spain – Okay, I’m really kinda regretting getting the Esben and the Witch album over this one. I still need to pick this album up. This isn’t as chaotic as Black Eunuch but it’s just as good, fantastic build up at the start to the first chorus and damn can that guy sing. Unsurprisingly this easily rockets into high consideration for my 12.

Chile – It’s impressive how much nothing this is doing for me. Instrumentation driven almost entirely by the drums with some bass and small touches thrown in just doesn’t work for me. His voice is decent but it gets kind of overpowered by the drums, which just shouldn’t happen. Bleh.

Wales – Immediately I go “oh god another swingy song” but this doesn’t just play it straight so it’s actually pretty alright. Actually quite like how high the bass is mixed here, and I like the half-time feel of the chorus. Also I think there are horns in the background somewhere but I’m not quite sure they’re horns? Okay that’s definitely a synth though, after the second chorus. Yeah, this is fun enough.

Western Sahara – Woooow you couldn’t pile more effects on the vocals here, it’s really quite grating. Doesn’t help that for the first minute or so there’s basically nothing else going on, either. I get the impression I wouldn’t like her vocals even without the effects, though. Oh yeah uhh I guess the instrumentation is actually pretty solid throughout but if I have to suffer through these vocals just to listen to it than I think I’d rather not.

Ecuador – Hmm. A little bothered by his voice, actually. This is fairly decent alt-rock, the strings are about the only thing really standing out though. Yeah, definitely was expecting a little bit more. this is alright and I might like it more on a second listen but it’s not doing a lot for me right now.

[Parama]

please do not skip spain

also thank you bins

[Parama]

mew actually has a male singer

[Parama]

Chad – I feel like me writing up anything about this is pointless since it’s rap. The lyrics seem like parody lyrics though. I know enough about Childish Gambino to know he’s actually one of the good ones, apparently? Well whatever.

Madagascar – I also do not like Tom Waits. His voice, mostly. Even then, this song is so understated that his voice can’t even annoy me because this sounds so empty in every regard. It sounds like “bad live recording” quality and the fact that the instruments barely sound like they’ve been mixed adds to that. Maybe that’s what he was going for, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I legit don’t understand the appeal of this.

Greece – I’unno, this sounds a bit empty to me too. Like, I’m all in favor of a primarily string-driven song and what the strings do here is fine. The vocal melodies are making me think this is like something from a play though. Or cabaret or whatever. Probably cabaret. Her voice is fine enough though, yeah. Really not getting much from this but it’s alright, I like it way more than the other two thus far in this set.

Cote d’Ivoire – When the electric guitar enters in the chorus I barely noticed it because it was mixed so low. I mean, it doesn’t need to overpower everything else but it feels like it should’ve been a bit louder. Anyways this is fun and has piano and horns and all sorts of that stuff, pretty strong bassline too, I can dig it. Wouldn’t particularly say that it stands out or that I’ll want to check out more from these guys, but. Good.

Slovenia – The song you entered last time from them was pretty good but not outstanding and when I checked out both that album and this album I wasn’t really blown away by either, so maybe you can make me interested again or something. I feel like… the quality of the audio is off? I think it’s that the bass is too loud, it’s kind of drowning out everything else a little. That’s a little weird honestly. It makes this really annoying to listen to though, honestly. I like that this takes a lot of different moods in its short runtime and musically it’s totally fine, probably better than Feathergun, though it doesn’t have a catchy riff like that one did. Yeah, the last one I wouldn’t really call “prog” but this one, definitely would. We’ll see if I like this more on relisten then.

Republic of Kugelmugel – I mean I’m gonna guess I won’t like this one either judging by my reaction to the first song from him. Literally last contest. Yeah wow I don’t even like the music here at all so it’s even worse. Nice.

Iceland – This song is the kind of song basically destined to become one of my favorites, so naturally it has. Outstandingly beautiful front-to-back and the build in the back half of the song is one of my favorite things ever, honestly I always feel it’s way too short. I love Bjerre’s voice too. The instrumentation is simple on every front, and that’s probably why it works; none of the instruments get in the way of each other and instead they all build to a soaring climax. Beautiful music. One of the few songs I would rate a 10/10 track.

The Gambia – Oh hey these guys again. Wow that guitar work in the intro sure is… something. Hmm. Really all the instruments here reeeally are clashing with each other, fighting to be the dominant instrument, but… it kinda works to create a chaotic sound. Okay then the song decides to be a lot more upbeat and straightforward. For a bit. Hmm. Okay, the tempo change feels a bit strange to have then. I like this, but I dunno if I love it.

[Parama]

those are super pretty tho

[Parama]

Netherlands – I dunno, this is trying to have interesting instrumentation, but it ends up sounding really generic anyways. His voice isn’t really great and the lyrics are a bit repetitive at points. There’s some rawness to this that I do admire and it’s a decent listen but it doesn’t really feel like something I haven’t seen done better elsewhere.

Uruguay – Oh jesus christ, an 11 minute Woodkid track? At least it seems to not just be “GOTTA BE LOUD AND EPIC RAH” like every other Woodkid track I’ve ever heard, or not yet. 6 minutes in and still not yet. And I mean, yeah, it’s very pretty music, but this is just not something you can drag out this long and keep interesting the whole way through. Oh okay, 8 minutes into an 11 minute song you finally decide to have the song come to life? Too little, too late, sorry man. Okay, I was curious, so I looked it up. APPARENTLY only the first piano part of the song and the loud part of the song are ~actually~ The Golden Age and the rest in the middle is just… I dunno, really, but the song works so much better that way than it does so horribly stretched out like this is. The song comes alive halfway through instead of for the last quarter or so.

Singapore – This was the track out of all of them that I felt benefitted the most from the live version. For one, the piano that sounds slightly offbeat on the actual album is onbeat here. On top of that the song just sounds a lot more full and Kimbra’s performance is better than the album as well. Didn’t really appreciate this track until I first heard this version and now I can only be a little disappointed in the version we did get. Anyways what I’m trying to say is good on you for picking this version of the song and you’re probably gonna get high points.

USA – Oh god, I hate this guy’s voice. I can’t even say why, it just makes me want to punch him. The rest of this song is alright, pretty good even, it’s upbeat and fun, nothing special, but with that voice in front of the mic I can’t really enjoy this very much. Even the backing vocals are fine. Man. I’m sad, this would be really good with a better singer. Ooh and that swing feel at the end too. That’s great. Siiiigh. Might still get points, dunno, maybe the voice will grow on me?

Fiji – “Abomination” is in the title. Do I have to listen to this. Uuuuggh. This is actually painful though. I know the point of this is to sound like the track is having audio errors but that’s, secretly, not pleasant to listen to, in any way? I don’t understand the appeal of this in the slightest. Yeah no I’m skipping out on this, I can’t stand this.

Taiwan – Her voice is pretty good, but other than that this is painfully generic and bland. There’s just nothing about this interesting, no riffs, no bassline, no drumming, no vocal lines, it’s not bad or anything, it’s totally fine, there’s some crunch to it, but beyond that it just really bores me, this song feels way long than the 3.5 minutes it is.

India – Yup, this is definitely a jazz cover of an iconic SMB2 track. I dunno, I’m way past the phase of “wow they played this song but with different instruments which somehow makes it way better apparently?” covers. I mean yeah, the instrumentation is good, they do some nice things with it, but at the end of the day it’s the same melodies for the most part.


Each of the four groups' top pick from me is legitimately quite good, though one of the four I knew beforehand so that's a bit diminished, this was a pretty solid contest all-around though, I feel like my top 10 will have at least "good" songs even at the 1 and 2 point levels.

[Parama]

i'll do my votes now so i can listen to the new baroness album streaming after, ok

[Parama]

i like how i always seem to do pretty decent in BotB contests without ever entering artists i entered the first time around
but then i suck in every other contest

[Parama]

i know of lana del rey because i vaguely pay attention to the billboard charts but i don't actually listen to a lot of the songs bcuz a lot of radio fodder is mindless garbage

[Parama]

even with the superior version of the song, Two Way Street still isn't one of the better tracks on the album

Settle Down, Cameo Lover, Sally I Can See You, and Warrior are all better tracks IMO, aside from the obvious Come Into My Head

[Parama]

yup, that's the one that would've easily been top 3 in this contest
i do think as a whole i was a bit underwhelmed by this contest though, my top points went to artists who got top points from me the first time around

[Parama]

rabble

[Parama]

i am at the age where i have bought over 50 albums this year with the vast majority of them being from artists i didn't know about until this year

i have about 3 years worth of SC entries now

[Parama]

rabble to the left

rabble to the right

three rabbles this time

[Parama]

comforting rabble

[Parama]

let me tell you a secret

rabble

[Parama]

quadz u okay bro?

[Parama]

ahh main i'm doing terrible

[Parama]

the top 3 is actually pretty good considering it's three of my top 4, nice

[Parama]

this is like my worst BotB in a while though i top 5'd the past few

[Parama]

go little algiers song, i believe in you

[Parama]

the next vote will only be the 26th vote tho, but from all the red it looks like about the last one
were there just 4-5 non-voters???

[Parama]

well how about that then, that's disappointing
not the final results just the large amount of non-voters

[Parama]

anyways now i can finally enter the song i wanted to send two-three months ago once the next contest goes up

[Parama]

that'd be good news for me if i didn't already have a guaranteed entry

[Parama]

Any news?

[Parama]

nay, this rabble has sailed

[Parama]

You hear a quiet voice on the wind...

...rabble...