Song Contest 113 (Results posted!)

[Parama]

lol i haven't even started this yet whoops

[Parama]

Senegal – I find it hard to have any real opinion one way or another on this. It’s not obnoxious and it sounds pleasant enough, I guess. I don’t really care for the vocals, the female vocals are okay I guess but buried in the mix. It’s a bit samey across its runtime but it’s short enough that that’s not really a problem? This is just like the definition of average. (AVERAGE)

Cote d’Ivoire – Oh god, yeah, I hate this lol. It’s basically a cappella except for that clattery percussion and like, some dumb water drop sound effects. The vocals have that same overly sugary tone a lot of J-pop has and having like five layers of them doesn’t make it any better. Yeah, we’re done here. (DID NOT FINISH)

Hungary – Okay this is just a slightly better version of Senegal’s song. Like, vocals are a bit better, there’s a bit more atmosphere. But at the same time it’s also twice as long and just as lacking in variety or dynamics. Yeah I lied this isn’t better, it’s slightly worse because it goes on longer without having anything to offer beyond the first minute of the song. Ehh. It’s not bad but kind of dull. (AVERAGE)

Isle of Man – Tbh any metalcore that clearly has no interest in being interesting musically is metalcore I don’t really have any interest in. This is okay and the break in the middle was nice but besides that there’s really nothing particularly worth coming back to here. (AVERAGE)

USA – Like this right here, exactly. This isn’t really -core but it’s way more dynamic and musically interesting than the last song while still having a good hook when it needs to. I wouldn’t call it mind-blowingly good or anything but in direct contrast to the last song, yeah, I can definitely get behind this. (GOOD)

Bhutan – It’s like the bastard child of bland trap and K-pop that the world never asked for or needed. Like I’ll be fair in that it’s much better as a trap song than what gets popular in the US and she sounds decent enough but it’s still about the last thing I’d ever want to listen to. (BAD)

Burkina Faso – I’ll totally appreciate an artist being openly trans and owning it like this but it doesn’t really matter to me if the music just sounds bad, like this does. She just ain’t a great singer lol. And there’s not much to the beat either. There’s a few decent moments here I guess but on the whole, ehh, pass. (MEDIOCRE)


not a great start lol

[Parama]

Egypt – Not really a fan of how nasal her vocals are but besides that this is a pretty solid pop track? Like really not much else to say about it. It’s okay. (AVERAGE)

Scotland – Hmm, this isn’t exactly fresh territory but he has a pretty good voice and there’s a lot of passion in the performance. Also, I’ll always dig those touches of horns. Maybe goes on a bit long for what it is but maybe not, it’s pretty solid stuff. (DECENT)

Ireland – Oh god I cannot stand his voice at all. Do I have to suffer 9 minutes of this? Well probably not, I see this being a did not finish already. And it’s not exactly like this is musically something I want to hear, at all. I skipped ahead some and it’s basically just a 5 minute electric fiddle-thing solo in the back half which, yeah, bye. (DID NOT FINISH)

Spain – Okay I’ve seen this album cover before because this album was fairly popular this year. Cannot say I’m much a fan of these vocals though, especially when they title drop in the chorus, it just sounds goofy. Besides that yep this is definitely a punk rock type song alright. Okay. It’s… fine I guess. (AVERAGE)

Libya – I don’t really… have anything to say about this at all. It starts off a bit slow but pleasant. Second half is a bit more upbeat but doesn’t really have any unique flavor to it. I do kind of enjoy it and might like it more on relisten but I can’t say it’s doing that much for me. (AVERAGE)

China – I listened all the way through this and… I just can’t, really. Basic beat that ends with this really obnoxious passage that I just can’t stand. Vocals are serviceable and the harmonization is fine but nothing that really stands out. And a weird detour right at the end that amounts to nothing. Mmmno. (MEDIOCRE)

Latvia – Yup, this is definitely some electronic stuff with a bit of a rock edge to it. Vocalist sounds very 80’s darkwave to me. It’s got solid driving energy to it and decent texture at times too. I can kind of get into this but it could serve to be two minutes shorter, too. It’s one of the better songs in this set though. (DECENT)


yep, this is definitely A Contest

[Errantparabola]

For the last contest, I gave Iceland (Gunship) a 7 but I regret not giving it a 10 or 12, it's really stuck with me.

Anyway, rough contest. struggled to find even 7-8 for this list.

[empty]
--
USA (I the Mighty - Pet Names) - its got a good rhythm, nothing outstanding but it's just a solid song
Scotland (Paolo Nutini - Iron Sky) - He's got a nice voice. Smooth. Brass? Nice.
Greece (Bitter:Sweet - The Bomb) - I liked it?
CAR (Supertramp - Breakfast in America) - good job car
--
Libya (As Cities Burn - Lady Blue) - it was pretty good but didn't strike me in the way that i think it was trying to
Latvia (Iris - Lands of Fire) - It's a foot tapper.
Taiwan (Amara Touré - Lamento Cubano) - cool
Netherlands (Ira! - Envelheço na Cidade) - mhm
China (Ibeyi - River) - Nice voices but its all the same.
Wales (The Drones - Shark Fin Blues) - Fine. Why the dislikes i wonder?

[Creature]

Finally voted. Finally a good song contest.

[Parama]

Slovenia – Yup, this is some light acoustic folk thingy with a female singer alright. She sounds fine enough. There’s like, a slight Spanish feel to this I guess? It’s far from bad, it’s pleasant enough, but it’s not particularly ear-catching. (AVERAGE)

Wales – He sings like a slightly more tolerable Tom Waits. That’s not much of an improvement though. Musically this is just completely unremarkable. Like there’s some okay buildup but it’s not enough to save the song considering the vocals. (MEDIOCRE)

Central African Republic – “oh, this song” I feel like Davsto ran out of the good classic rock bands a long time ago and thus we’re just getting the dregs that nobody really remembers by name but are kind of familiar with. I don’t really care for this too much but it’s like, fine. Instrumentation is a bit too goofy for me. Vocals not my thing either. I dunno, it’s a bit on the edge. (AVERAGE)

United Kingdom – Why does anyone anywhere do the chipmunk vocal thing. It has never once sounded good or contributed to a song in a positive way. Like besides that? Yeah, pretty chill downbeat song with a solid vocal performance, I could see myself liking this… except for the chipmunk voice. Bleh. (AVERAGE)

Greece – I mean it’s upbeat and kind of fun, the instrumentation has its moments. It’s kind of… generic though, I feel like I’ve heard it before despite knowing I haven’t. Ehh. (AVERAGE)

Netherlands – Everything is tending so frustratingly towards the middle in this contest and it’s getting really tiresome. This is another one that doesn’t necessarily sound bad & gets some nice energy in the second half but it’s kind of just some kind of Spanish bluegrass thing and it’s just, not a genre I ever get much from. Probably the best in this set so far though, I guess. (AVERAGE)

Taiwan – There’s just something… off about this one. It’s not very dynamic, the guitar lines constantly seem just a little bit off-key, the bleepy bloopy sounding flute (?) in the background is really obnoxious, stuff just comes in and out with no real rhyme or reason. I can’t say it’s completely unlistenable but it bothers me in a way I can’t really describe. (MEDIOCRE)

Iceland – I love pretty much everything about this song, the slow & chill intro (that guitar tone GOSH), and especially the entire second half just jamming on that one groove. Such a great groove, the drums are friggin’ excellent. Ends way too soon if you ask me but it’s the kind of thing I’d be okay with just having loop forever.


there were a grand total of 3 songs that caught my interest in any positive way this contest.
christ.

[Vijarada]

im really dreading this one.

[Parama]

i'm sorry for getting your hopes down

[Creature]

I'm already pretty sure which song is winning. I'll just hope mine makes it to top 10 atleast.

[Song Contest]

Hey Creature remember to vote

[Song Contest]

And to everyone else, a more general

reminder that votes are due by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time tomorrow!

[Creature]

Hey Creature remember to vote

I thought I already did.

[Song Contest]

Hey Creature remember to vote

I thought I already did.

Yeah but you also asked me to remind you, so I am.

[Sesq]

oh shit fuck

[SnowStorm]

Taiwan - It's ok. Some nice sounds.
USA - Terribly uninteresting.
Senegal - I like the instrumental. Vocals and lyrics not so much.
United Kingdom - This is pretty cool actually.
Libya - 1st half was interesting, 2nd half was just generic post-hardcore christian rock (ty wikipedia).
Scotland - Ok I guess. Not a fan of speeches in the middle of songs.
Slovenia - It has a nice vibe. Was expecting worse judging from that picture.
China - I like this.
Cote d'Ivoire - I don't like this.
Isle of Man - nope.
Netherlands - Not a fan, but nice seeing someone else entering songs in Portuguese. Happy birthday to you too.
Iceland - This sure is long.
Spain - Ok..
Egypt - This is nice.
Central African Republic - oh it's that song.
Hungary - eh, ok.
Wales - meh.
Latvia - no.
Ireland - that's pretty neat, but no.
Greece - ok.
Bhutan - ok, I'll give points to this.

It wasn't so bad. Liked some songs, disliked a few; an average contest imo.

[Parama]

Certified long

[Song Contest]

Reminder: Votes are due at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time tonight!

[toolenduso]

Top 10

----

Scotland - Paolo Nutini - Iron Sky: I like this dude's voice. Somewhere between Joe Cocker and Bob Marley. This is pretty cool. It's epic-sounding. Doesn't feel like six minutes. GOOD.

Greece - Bitter:Sweet - The Bomb: Hey now, this is cool. Lo-fi jazzy recording with what sounds like stand-up bass, synth and sax mixed in sparingly and creative, winding vocal melodies? Yes please! GOOD.

China - Ibeyi - River: Track is awesome. Reminds me of Lafawndah. Overall the song is a little bland. But I do like it. DECENT.

Netherlands - Ira! - Envelheco na Cidade: Sounds like hippie anthem rock, and that's fine but I don't dig it very much, man. The picked-up rhythm jam at the end helps though. DECENT.

Taiwan - Amara Toure - Lamento Cubano: It's all right. It's just pretty simple. It'd be a nice song to have playing live at a chill bar. Pairs nicely with a manhattan. Sounds ripe for hip hop sampling. None of the solos are anything that special. DECENT.

UK - Tokimonsta - Don't Call Me: Interesting track. Kind of like an evolved version of neo-soul or something. It's aight. DECENT.

Egypt - NAO - Girlfriend: Hey hey, you you, I don't like you're girlfriend! Nah jk. This is kinda neat. I like what she's doing with the rhythm. This is the kind of song where I like it, but I'm fairly confident I wouldn't be that into the rest of the artist's stuff. DECENT.

Ireland - That 1 Guy - Striped Light: This is pretty good for what it is. The thing about self-imposed musical restrictions like this is that they force the musicians to become creative with the little they have. But the limitations are so restrictive that even when they get creative they can't achieve as much as musicians with more conventional setups. So if I like one or two songs from a group with a self-imposed restriction, such as playing with one novel instrument, they're not going to be a group I listen to a lot. Anyway, this is fine and it'll probably get mid-to-high points. But it's not gonna get first and I'm not gonna check out more from this dude. DECENT.

Iceland - Solstafir - Djakninn: So many minutes of solo guitar riffing. OK it was only 2:50. Now at 6:30 and this song has pretty much been nonstop quarter-note jamming since the rhythm section kicked in. It gets a little tedious. There were some fun guitar moments. But it's like, if you were gonna stick within such a narrow range, why make it last so long? That only works when the song has an interesting atmosphere, and almost always those songs are slower than this. Yep, that was the whole song. This just did not need to be what it ended up being. I don't hate it, but I don't really like it either. DECENT.

CAR - Supertramp - Breakfast in America: Oh, it's this song? I had no idea this is what it was called. I'm kinda disappointed, actually. I already knew this song and liked Supertramp for it, so I was hoping to hear something from them that I hadn't heard yet. Oh well. This......might step over the line on my rule about songs being too well-known to be entered into the song contest. I mean, I really like this song. But it's super popular. I've heard it many times on the radio. GOOD.

[toolenduso]

Supertramp would've been higher if the song wasn't so well known.

[wilky]

Scotland - Ok I guess. Not a fan of speeches in the middle of songs.

Fun fact on the speech. The speech is Charlie Chaplin from the film "The Great Dictator"

[wilky]

Scotland - Ok I guess. Not a fan of speeches in the middle of songs.

Fun fact on the speech. The speech is Charlie Chaplin from the film "The Great Dictator"

[Parama]

Sorry you're so wrong, tool

[wilky]

Sorry you're so wrong, tool

Me?

[Parama]

No, tool, the user whose name starts with tool

[wilky]

No, tool, the user whose name starts with tool

Oops, my bad.