Song Contest 117 (Results posted!)

[Parama]

I forget if I had anything good lined up for this one, if not I'll just send some garbage again

[Parama]

I forget if I had anything good lined up for this one, if not I'll just send some garbage again

turns out i had video game music lined up

[Parama]

this is how we rabble, this is how we roll

[Parama]

This contest already looks dire but we'll see

[Parama]

There are two kinds of people in the world

[Parama]

Czech Republic – A lot of this makes me think of a late 00’s Timbaland/Justin Timberlake song. Though the sing-rap is more like Ed Sheeran’s Don’t. Which is like one of the few songs of his I like. Dunno, this is sort of generic in a sense but at the same time it’s got a good groove and it’s pretty fun. I’m fine with it. (DECENT)

USA – Dunno, this just seems like… some pop-punk song. And that’s it. An okay one with a kinda sticky main riff during the chorus but that’s really all that stands out here at all, it’s just… fine. (AVERAGE)

Ecuador – Man you wouldn’t believe how uninterested in new APC and Tool I am nowadays. I didn’t even really like The Thirteenth Step that much. This just has no personality whatsoever though. Like it’s fine enough? I like the melodies on the chorus & the instrumentation is a lot more interesting than, well, the song I listened to just before this. But it sounds like friggin’ Viva La Vida with more guitar, that’s basically what it is. Again, fine enough but not giving a strong reason why the band should be revived after 15 years. (DECENT)

Burkina Faso – That’s a password, not an artist name, what the heck. Not even long enough to be a secure password either. This is both rap and very angry music and neither of those appeal to me much at all & the folk instrumentation isn’t particularly my thing either. Uhh yeah, not a single thing about this I like, honestly. (BAD)

Djibouti – Wasn’t really expecting to hear a folk ballad from a Queen song but, there it is alright. It’s… fine enough, I really don’t have anything else to say on it. Pleasant, sure, but not really striking in any way. (AVERAGE)

Italy – I sat through the entire thing for some reason but I really have no interest in this whatsoever. (BAD)

Slovenia – Ahh, Xandria, one of the many b-list nightwish clones. To be fair I actually dig a lot of the guitar work here, that chuggy riff is pretty punchy and the hooks on the guitar lines are pretty cool too. Vocalist is eehh, she sounds good enough tonally but really dry, not very emotive. Surprised at how low the strings are in the mix though, it feels a bit too low really. I can critique this all I want but at the end of the day this is still pretty solid enough, it at least has some flavor to it. I’m alright with it. (DECENT)

Iran – Honestly I’m tempted to just skip this outright as I am not the slightest bit interested in Kendrick but sure let’s go. Yeah no clue what’s going on here, it sounds like a mishmash of samples for the first 45 secs. Which was kinda interesting but that gives away to a less interesting beat with the samples just… there. And Kendrick is talented as a rapper, sure, but like I’ve said a hundred times in the past rap doesn’t do much for me. So ehh. It’s the best of the three rap songs so far but still not something I’m particularly interested in. (MEDIOCRE)

Chad – God, I hate this album cover so much. Rammstein’s vocal style is also one that’s never really appealed to me and their style is reeeeally damn basic too. Heavy, chuggy riff making up the core of the song. Low-pitch vocal style. The chorus of this is at least solid though I guess. The song basically doesn’t develop beyond either of those two moods though. Again it’s not bad or anything but it just evokes no interest from me. (AVERAGE)

[Parama]

Jordan – Haha yugioh? Okay. This is… sure is a song. I dunno. I guess it’s fine enough but it’s definitely a J-rock song, yep. (AVERAGE)

Seychelles – Okay, I vastly prefer Queen’s take at a folkier tune than this. I never like this style of vocal & the rest of the song doesn’t convince me I should, doesn’t really sound particularly unique either and it’s a live performance so there’s just all sorts of things about this I’m not interested in. It doesn’t sound like complete garbage but it’s not very good or interesting. (MEDIOCRE)

Latvia – Yup, that sure is some anime. I have literally nothing else to say. I feel like I’ve heard this exact song before a dozen times and it’s already a style I’m not interested in. (MEDIOCRE)

Hungary – Oh god another one. This is the best of them though. There’s like, some actual intensity and level of dynamic to this. The music is still functional and nothing more & I’m not hugely into the singer’s voice, but this actually evokes some degree of emotion so that’s like, something. (DECENT)

Brazil – Oh god don’t let this be another o- it is. Jesus christ people. Find something interesting to listen to for christ’s sake. Yeah this one’s generic too. Pleasant enough, I guess, but very much lacking in flavor. It feels kinda like a folk ballad version of Pompeii by Bastille. I’d rather just listen to that song, I like that song. (AVERAGE)

Iceland – Just my favorite song from my favorite game of the year so far. Excellent game, excellent tune. Enough said.

China – I feel like this entire contest has been custom curated to be my own personal hell. Not a fan of the sing-rap in the verses, the chorus is weak, the synth tone is obnoxious, and despite all this it manages to sound not the slightest bit unique. (BAD)

Lebanon – This has solid groove to it and pretty slick sounding production work. And compared to basically everything else in this contest it’s just leagues more enjoyable. Really all that I need to say at this point. (DECENT)

Central African Republic – I feel like Davsto ran out of the really good classic rock songs a while back and aside from the occasional cool track most of these recent ones have just been. Existing. Inconsequential. This is sugary and flat in all the ways I’d expect it to be and doesn’t challenge me as a listener in any way nor does it evoke any sort of emotion. It’s the most perfectly bland song I’ve heard in a while. (AVERAGE)

Greece – The only thing I know about this band is that a youtube review I follow has given this album his lowest rating ever. The lyrics, looking into them, are cringeworthy as heck but honestly the rest of this is fine? It’s pleasant enough, they’re not great singers but I’ve heard worse. I dunno. I was expecting something a lot worse and what I got is just… okay. Passable, even. It’s certainly more interesting than half this contest was. (DECENT)

honestly i'm not gonna enter any more contests, this is an obligation that's long felt tired and like a waste of my time and the absolute blandness of the last few contests isn't convincing me otherwise

[Parama]

That kind of vid only works in the US I believe, those - Topic vids are always a bad choice for sending bcuz of that

[Parama]

I already said several contests ago y'all were boring me to death with these and it hasn't gotten any better, I'm plenty competent at finding music I like by myself anyways & mostly only enter these to share music now but it ain't worth the effort

[Parama]

I got a YouTube playlist in my sig, haven't updated it in a while tho
Maybe should make a spotify one instead dunno

[Parama]

Incredibly same

[Parama]

congrats you've figured out why i don't have the drive to participate in any more of these

[Parama]

some comments on relistens:

1. okay actually that ajr song b l o w s this would work as some kind of cheesy ballad but no they play it up and wring every last ounce of drama out of it that they could wow and also none of them can sing, like, at all i don't know how i missed that
2. the ELO song is just a weaker version of Come On, Eileen
3. The Xandria song is way worse the second time, especially the lyrics
4. the APC song is actually really good, I dig the lyrical conceit, but it doesn't sound like an APC song at all
5. Lebanon is still far and away the best song here
6. Eurovision is today. I hope the Czech Republic song does ok

[Parama]

i'm aware come on eileen came out later but that doesn't mean the ELO song can't be a weaker version of it regardless
the vocal styles are pretty similar & not just the presence of the violins but the kinds of melodies are really similar as well
anyways you can say you don't hear similarities but that doesn't mean i don't hear similarities

[Parama]

looks like they did ok

[Parama]

rabble towards the end of the world

[Parama]

I didn't even realize that was a cover tbh but I gave that one decent points so I dunno

[Parama]

Lol no surprise there @ the winner

Y'all need to go play Celeste it's fantastic

Also davsto just send me the song I'll maybe listen to it

[Parama]

it literally won by over 20 points, it's pretty decisive

[Parama]

it was me, harambeyb

[Parama]

Celeste seems to be a more plotty, less weird Super Meat Boy? I'm not that great at platformers but I'm sure there's a let's play out there..

it actually has an easy mode if you really want
tho the song i sent is from one of the postgame extra-hard levels anyways :V