Song Contest 96 (Results posted!)

[Parama]

Iceland – I had a lot of trouble deciding which song to send from these guys. Winter and Devout are probably my favorites but they’re a lot harsher and heavier and stuff. And this song is still really good, regardless, so. She’s such a great singer and plays off the music so well. Almost like a “country metal” feel to this one.

Finland – Okay, now I’m reeeally getting tired of the K-pop. Especially since this one’s worse than the previous ones. Really, really unpleasant production, the vocals are fine I guess though they have no personality whatsoever. But yeah, the production just utterly kills this for me. (BAD)

Equatorial Guinea – About a minute in and I already know this is getting my 12. About damn time someone else submitted some solid metal in one of these again. The singer is probably the weak link here though. He sounds like, halfway between James Hetfield and Chad Kroeger. Not the most memorable song or anything but I enjoyed it. (GOOD)

Sri Lanka – Strong psychedelic vibes off this one, especially when the vocals come in. Loving the strings. I guess the weakness of this one is that it’s a bit samey throughout, but it’s a pleasant sameyness, relaxing and warm. It’s the same vibe I get from a lot of post-rock; probably not something I’d actively seek out, but I can enjoy plenty while it’s on. (GOOD)

Sealand – Oh hey, another song I know. But I haven’t heard this one a billion times, so. I do think this is a nice enough song with solid singing, pleasant instrumentals, and kind of nihilistic lyrics but who’s keeping track of that. Not a song I particularly mind, not one I’d actively seek out either. (DECENT)

Central African Republic – Okay and this one I just know from rock band, where I’ve also only heard it a few times. I’m a scumbag. I actually have a really bad grasp on what kind of music The Doors tended to play since I’m not actually familiar with many of their songs. This is a pretty intense song for something that came out almost 50 years ago though. And it’s short enough to not overstay its welcome. Drums are pretty great. Yeah, it’s fine enough. (DECENT)

Hungary – Okay, so this isn’t a Cee Lo Green cover, sure. Super angsty lyrics are pretty offputting, and the monotone vocal delivery isn’t helping, but I’m fine with the instrumentals on this. Nice huge sound to the louder parts of this, but the vocals and lyrics are just aaugggh. Good and the bad balance each other out here pretty well in the end, I suppose. (DECENT)

USA – Oh god, I take back what I said about the last K-pop song, this is a thousand times worse. Intolerable vocals and rapping, obnoxious bass-heavy production with no ear for melody in the slightest, just a clattering dissonant mess. The only reason I finished this was to make sure it didn’t suddenly get worse later on. But there’s not really anywhere lower to go after even 45 seconds of this. (BAD)



this last set: probably half of my top 10, and some garbage k-pop. solid.

[Quilford]

Parama, out of interest, do you generally have a preference to male or female vocals? If so which

[Parama]

male vocals generally, but there are plenty of female vocals i like too. i am really tired of generic female pop vocals, and i'm tired of power metal-y female vocals like nightwish or whatnot.

[Natirasha]

Break my heart.

[notachipmunk]

Cote d’Ivoire – pretty. I didn’t like the male vocals but then I did. Then I just liked everything
Tajikistan – whimsical!
Spain – The vocals freaked me out but luckily there weren’t many of them bc I really liked the rest
Fiji – freaky
Uruguay – pretty mysterious
Australia – cool little tune
Iceland – that was more interesting than expected.
India – I like it.
Hungary – Kind of neutral to this in a positive way.
Philippines – eh. Some of it was good, some reminded me of songs I don’t like
Burkina Faso – Like some stuff from Garbage, didn’t love this. Ah apparently this is new from them.
Equatorial Guinea – I very much did not like parts of it, but other parts were ok.
Sealand – I mean, obv it’s a well-known type song. It’s ok, but I never go out of my way to listen to it.
Central African Republic – I don’t like the Doors in general. Was ok.
Sri Lanka – I don’t like the vocals
Finland – sometimes they sound like they’re trying to be Usher.
Republic of Ireland – mehhh.
Federated States of Micronesia – I never did like this song =p
USA – eeeek.
Bhutan – this man has too many phones
Chad – not my thing

[toolenduso]

Uruguay - Loyal Divide - Otto: This is pretty cool. That little electronic interlude beginning around 2:30 is neat. Reminds me of The Faint. Hey maybe I should enter them soon. Yep, I liked this one a lot. Let's say, for now, 8/10. Yeah this song is pretty awesome for a lot of reasons and it deserves my points. 8/10.

Bhutan - Kevin Gates - 2 Phones: Huh. I thought this was just really silly and dumb until he started rapping. The way he matched his flow to the beat was something else. Chorus is kinda silly-dumb though for sure. Haha this song should just be all verses. Second one is good too. This was intriguing. 7/10. I'll admit I got this chorus coming up randomly in my head between the first contest listen-through and the second. Think I'm feeling a high 7/10.

Hungary - Archive - Fuck You: Omg so edgy this band. This band. So edgy. Band. This is pretty good though. The lyrics are kinda immature (I'm thinking of "If U C Jordan"), but the music's pretty decent, and the vocal delivery by itself is good. I just like the heaviness of it I guess, and the musical choices are somewhat creative. Cool. High 7/10. I like ittttttt. High 7/10.

Sealand - Otis Redding - Sitting on the Dock of the Bay: Oh look it's that guy Kanye sampled once! He's been blowing up ever since Yeezy bumped him, dude's gonna be huge. Seriously though, this is pretty good. So chill. So horns. Much whistling. So Otis. 7/10. Hmm, he is a very good singer isn't he? High 7/10.

Iceland - Oceans of Slumber - Suffer the Last Bridge: Pretty awesome rhythms going on here. Vocals are a little generic-metal (actually most of the song is), but it doesn't quite veer into the territory of metal that turns me off (hard to describe, but "I'm not a Metallica fan" might be a good way to put it). Yeah I can get down with a few parts of this song in particular, basically. It's good. High 7/10. Didn't notice this neat rocky lead guitar going on with the bendies, that's cool. Eh, it's still just kinda metally metal. Mid 7/10.

Chad - Logic - Till the End: Strong opening. This is pretty decent. It's also pretty straightforward, which is cool and all but I guess I like straightforward rap songs when they're more raw. Like Twista from a while back, that was pretty raw. Or like some of the stuff off Ready to Die. This is kind of in a middle-ground. I could probably learn to like it. I'll say low 7/10. Yeah that score feels right. Low 7/10.

Latvia - Nuttin But Stringz - Winner: Oh man. Shit is going down right now. This is pretty rad. I like the electric guitar in the background. I almost feel like this was too short! As in, I feel like they could've done more with it. I think part of my interest in this comes from its novelty. So, at least for now, low 7/10. Purty. Low 7/10.

Philippines - Angel Haze - CANDLXS: This...sounds like Rihanna. Which, I feel like everybody is trying to sound like her these days. So. The track is kinda cool! There's flute in there. And during the bridge I am pretty sure they are sampling guitar from Don't Stop Believin'. K, this is interesting enough anyway. Mmmmmmmmmmm, Low 7/10. Yeah, that's appropriate. Should be lower than Chad. Low 7/10.

Burkina Faso - Garbage - Blackout: I've heard of this band before. I associate them with The Pixies for some reason. Let's see, are they 90s grunge-tinged alt-rock? Yup. Maybe that's why. I can dig it. Mmm, I like this bridge. They really don't care about coherence in this song, and they find a way to make it work. So yeah this seems like more interesting alt-pop-rock. 7/10. Eh....low 7/10.

Australia - Rufus Du Soul - You Were Right: This is decent. Not unique at all, but decent. I like the chorus, which is like....two-thirds of the song, maybe more. High 6/10. Mmm this is enjoyable enough. Still just a high 6/10.

[Parama]

equatorial guinea: yeah, this is still my 12.
sri lanka: the lyrics kinda bothered me a bit on relisten, but this is still solid enough.
latvia: the violin work here remains pretty good but i imagine i'd get tired of this after a few listens.
spain: yeah, this is just a bit too long and a bit too slow for me. those awkward transitions don't help matters. but it's solid overall
fiji: i legitimately don't remember a single second of this one lol but it's nice. i'll also probably forget it again shortly
micronesia: i guess i should actually listen to this to rank it properly lol. nice, 1.3 billion views. i don't have anything new to say about this.
central african republic: it's probably a good thing this is so short, it'd be easy to get sick of if it went on longer.
hungary: both the lyrics and the vocals just reeeeally drag this down, agh. the back half of the song is pretty good on the whole but i cannot stand the first half
india: i lied, the bassline of this gets old by the end of the song it seems like. this is kinda there, but in a slightly positive way. i don't mind it, but i'll never seek it out
phillipines: this is easily the song in the "decent" pile closest to being in the tier below, and the one i least want to listen to
burkina faso: i don't have anything new to say about this other than "kinda dislike the lyrics"
sealand: a very talented man i'm sure, but i'm just not particularly interested in this style of music

wow, it's easy to pick a top 10 when only 12 of the songs were even worth considering in the first place

[Quilford]

Oh balls, I just do not have enough time to do this. Sorry all and I guess I'll be sitting the next contest out.

[Song Contest]

Friendly reminder that votes are due by midnight tomorrow night!

And a heads up that I will be traveling tomorrow and the day after -- so I may be delayed in posting the results, depending on how things go.

[evilpacman18]

Need some new music. Might vote

[Parama]

hi guy

[Willowmeadow]

Been busy again so I was skeptical I'd get my votes in, but luckily I got sick last morning. Streams of thoughts and whatever else below. Somewhat gives direction towards what I ended up voting:

Spain - Starting off strong, especially loving the last part.
C.A.R. - It's the Doors. Just very very regular as expected. Felt longer than 2:30.
Cote d'Ivoire - Started off quite bland but I'd be lying if I said the chorus didn't get my toes tapping. Repetitive.
Hungary - I'm not in the mood for this kind of lyrics right now. Liking the voice though. Get's pretty cool after the 2-minute mark.
Micronesia - Oh, I've heard this before. Very decent but could be worse. I kinda hope I don't have to give this any points.
Iceland - It's cool but just goes on and almost gets boring, but then the cool part @ 2:40 hits.
Finland - No.
Burkina Faso - Liking the voice. Interestingly written song overall. Will definitely get points.
Sealand - Yeah I know this. Soothing song, lovely voice.
Equatorial Guinea - Hit me like a brickwall, first in a bad way after Sealand's song, but then I started enjoying this a lot. Noisy and pretty original considering the genre overall.
USA - I hate myself for this but this is quite catchy.
Uruguay - Liking the voice. Loving the electronic elements. The crackling throughout is a fantastic little detail.
Sri Lanka - Heard worse voices but eh. The instrumental is pretty nice. The vibrato or whatever on the guitar is kinda ruining it.
Republic of Ireland - hghgf.
Australia - ...house? Not my thing.
Chad - WHOAH, good rap. I might now know what I'll submit next contest.
Tajikistan - Oh no. I know this one too from a shitty online rhythm game. It's not a bad song. Just gives bad memories. The music box part is fun. The overall composition is very beautiful.
Latvia - I don't get it.
India - Very Verve. Might get points even though it shouldn't.
Bhutan - Okay now here's the terrible rap for a change.
Philippines - I just honestly don't know what to think of this but I managed to finish it although it's longer than it should be.

[TheWayItEnds]

I was real torn on which Logic song to submit for this contest.

Til the End was the song that made me go look up and listen to the full album so I just went with that.

I'm glad a couple people liked it.

[TheWayItEnds]

Bounce is the other song I was considering that would be accessible without the rest of the album behind it.

But its like the radio song for the album and I think the others are more representative.

[evilpacman18]

hi guy

Suh doo

[evilpacman18]

I missed mafia so I signed up for a mini normal. Some of you should join, you're my faves

[Parama]

I'm already in my one mafia game for the year sorry

[SnowStorm]

Spain - Not feeling it. and it's so long...

Central African Republic - So this is what they sound like. cool.

Cote d'Ivoire - Err... That male voice. This feels too gimmicky retro. - The only song of hers I like is New in Town, and I found out now it's not even the album version, which sounds awful compared to the one I'm used to. (And I spent way too much looking for the version I remembered to make sure I wasn't insane)

Hungary - I was kinda weary of this, but it's pretty cool actually. A little heavy on the lyrics though.

Federated States of Micronesia - Ugh, it's this song.

Iceland - I was both relieved and excited when I realized it had a female vocalist; with a nice voice even. Liking it.

Finland - These JK Pop guys make such cool videos, and really catchy songs, unfortunately.

Burkina Faso - I love Garbage. One of the few bands/artists I've been listening since I was little. They have much better songs, but this is new and it's still good; and even though every time they release something new I say "eh, not as good as the last one", I always end up hooked on it. I had thought about entering something from Garbage or Version 2.0 before, but I never knew which song to pick and it would have felt almost like cheating. So I just listened to their new album and entered the song I liked the most.

Sealand - Ok.

Fiji - Nice. They should probably change their name though.

Equatorial Guinea - I was so distracted looking at the bunnies I didn't notice the signs... The long hair, the douchey backwards cap with sporty sunglasses, the beanie and tattoos... then it hit and I cringed... then it got tolerable, enjoyable even.

USA - Not as cool as Finland. Song is worse too. But it all sounds and looks the same anyway. I swear both these songs sound like the other JK pop songs that have been entered in previous contests.

Uruguay - I'm liking it. It's nice.

Sri Lanka - This is ok. Pretty chill. Not a fan of his voice.

Republic of Ireland - Ehhhhh... No. It sounds really dated.

Australia - A club song.

Chad - Bleh. I like the ending.

Tajikistan - Nope! I just don't get the appeal of this kind of music.

Latvia - *listens apprehensively* It's what I expected and I don't like it.

India - Nice.

Bhutan - Has he ever heard about dual-sim? This is horrible.

Philippines - It's ok.

[evilpacman18]

Didn't vote lol. What's the average wait time between these lately though? I'll sign up for the next

[Plotinus]

you can probably vote still since the results haven't been posted yet. seems to be about a week in between contests, maybe a little less.

[Pala]

I'm only going to listen to these now. Hopefully votes will still be accepted!

Spain - This is the only DJ Shadow album I've listened to, but I've listened to it a lot. I would've probably entered Midnight in a Perfect World. Points for sure, how much depends on other entries.

Central African Republic - Another song I'm super familiar with. This one feels more like a cheat since it's such a popular song from a popular band. Well, at least it isn't Light My Fire, I guess. Mid to low points most likely.

Cote d'Ivoire - Pretty catchy pop tune. I'm a bit of a sucker for 80s pop and this has that retro sound so probably points.

Hungary - Was starting to think this was just going to be a recitation instead of a song. It gets good towards the end, but the first half is just eh.

Federated States of Micronesia - I've heard of this band but never listened to any song of theirs. I wasn't missing much.

Iceland - Vocals and instrumental passages seem to belong to two different songs. They're each decent on their own but just don't work together for most of the track. Conflicted about this one.

Finland - The tune sounds vaguely familiar. Wonder if it's a cover. Not the worst of a genre that doesn't really appeal to me. Maybe low points.

Burkina Faso - I didn't know Garbage were still around. Used to like them quite a bit back in the 90s. I remember their first couple of albums sounding much better than this. Still, possible points.

Sealand - Another familiar name. Don't think I've ever heard any song of his though. So different from the rest of this contest. Refreshingly so. Points.

USA - No

That's all the time I have now. Will have to finish the others later. =/

[Parama]

i really dunno why people think the vocals and music can't go together

[Marquis]

i think this is the first time i didn't find time to vote o well

[Parama]

Ban Contest

[Song Contest]

I am going to extend the voting deadline through midnight Sunday and plan on posting results Monday the 4th. I will accept votes up until I post the final results.