Song Contest - BOTB 7 (Results posted!)

[xyzzy]

hot take: the deadline for song contest entries should be 24 hours. no dillydallying over deciding which song to enter, just pick a damn tune

[Plotinus]

i keep a playlist of "potential song contest candidates" that i add to when I'm listening to music and come across something i really feel like sharing. that makes it easier for me to pick

[PJ.]

hot take: the deadline for song contest entries should be 24 hours. no dillydallying over deciding which song to enter, just pick a damn tune

We tried the whole shorten the entry deadline thing, tool hated it and it resulted in less entries.

[Aristophanes]

i keep a playlist of "potential song contest candidates" that i add to when I'm listening to music and come across something i really feel like sharing. that makes it easier for me to pick

I literally have a Youtube playlist with this exact name and purpose! :O

[PJ.]

Y'all crazy. I just hit random on Spotify and go "sounds good"

[vizIIsto]

The extension of the extended deadline is extended to some extent under extenuating circumstances.

But don't try to expand an extended deadline, because an expansion of an extension is extensively expensive! It will to some extent be at your own expense!

[Parama]

I'm still in support of shorter submission times btw there isn't really correlation with shorter submission deadlines and # of entries as far as I've seen, just that SC in general has kinda been dying for a while

[Aristophanes]

Only because MShas been dying slowly for a while now...

[Parama]

rip tool

[Song Contest]

Sorry about the dead air everyone. Getting entries up today.

[Song Contest]

Entries posted!

[Parama]

surprisingly i remember how most of these artists sound

[InflatablePie]

have we really entered The Hush Sound this many times and not gone with Honey or We Intertwined

I mean Medicine Man is gr8, honestly, don't get me wrong, just... huh.

[PJ.]

Are we sure perch patchwork wasn't entered before?

[toolenduso]

Are we sure perch patchwork wasn't entered before?

I'm the only one who's entered Maps and Atlases, and I didn't enter that one before

[Plotinus]

Liechtenstein was unavailable in my country. here is an alternate version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R_3mXZBsuU

[Aristophanes]

I've wound up with a litre of barrel-aged stout and a free evening, so let's do this! =D

[Aristophanes]

Liechtenstein: Sufjan Stevens - Impossible Soul

Oh god this sing is 25 minutes long. Imma leave this for another night because like, my computer's battery seems to be worse than ever and it'll probably take a full charge for this one so Imma move on for now. The first 15 seconds sound interesting though

USA: Sokoninaru - Gou Ni Moyu

Nice J-Rock choice!
I mean, not what I'd go out of my way to listen to, but very interesting.
I like the sound they got, though the jumping in energy and instrumentation feels really choppy to me tbh.
Like I get that they were going for that. The video should almost have a seizure warning! But it's just a little too jolting for my liking.

Iceland: Closure in Moscow - Happy Days

Oh yes! Classic RocknRolla style really got me here
Honestly, this is the kind of rock I can listen to! And the vocals are great!

Egypt: Mitski - Geyser

This was good! Great sound and a lot of emotion!

Hungary: Tori Amos - Purple People

This is simple and beautiful <3
It will rank highly.

Slovenia: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Hypnotic

Alright, which one of you put in a brass ensemble?? Hunh?!
I'm on to you Brassherald!
Loved it btw! I'm a sucker for dat brass!

Sweden: The Birthday Massacre - Control

I did not expect to enjoy this but it got fun!

Mali: Arthur Beatrice - Every Cell

Nice! Started out really soft and worked itself up well!

Welp I went from full charge to 10% just on this part of the contest so...bye for now! I'll be back to finish this later!
(also, see below for another song because w/e )


United Kingdom: The Wombats - Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)

Well I ended up listening to this first since the tabs screwed up when opening.
Damn, this is fun and energetic! I like the dance vibe and it really keeps one moving along with it! Love it!
Oh, at ~2:40 it just solidified itself as a fantastic contender here! =D

[Aristophanes]

Liechtenstein: Sufjan Stevens - Impossible Soul

Alright, I left this one to last but I 've played with my power settings and should be able to listen no problem!
So far (I'm about 7 minutes in) I found that this is a decent 5 minute song that descends into unnecessary abstractions after that point.
Like, they should have listened to their own advice honestly. "Don't be distracted" they say. But distracted is exactly what this song is!
Oh god, autotuned at 11 minutes is just...why?
I just hit 16 minutes and I thought it was over. But it kept repeating. and repeating. and repeating. WHAT IS THE POINT!?!?
21 minutes in it also sounds like the song is going to end. it descends into a literal standstill. It fucking flatlines! And yet it is Still. Not. OVER!!!
The next like is "I never meant to cause you pain" which is...I mean tbh I didn't mind this, but it's just so many songs in one and didn't need to bee all one. It was excessive despite being alright. Honestly the length lost this a lot of marks.
Like, the last 4 minutes could have been as effective as a 20 second outro. Why is it so long!?!?!?

Ireland: Dotan - Let The River In

Unavailable in my region. Here's a link! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaVxerA1AMs

Wow, this is beautiful! <3
I love everything about it!

Bhutan: Jónsi - Around Us

I did not expect these vocals! :O Wow!
It's so hard to sing in that range! I'm impressed!

Greenland: Linkin Park - Iridescent

Shit yes! Linkin Park did this!? Holy Shit!
Contender for top spot for sure! So much emotion. So much feels. Fucking YES!

Portugal: Walk the Moon - Portgual

Before I even listen to this...LOL Portugal submitted Portugal!
Now on to the song
Didn't wow me, but a nice song. It'd be a MEDIOCRE by Parama standards...I think.

South Korea: My Chemical Romance - Planetary (GO!)

MCR!!!! <3
So much yes! Great song choice! =D

Poland: The Hush Sound - Medicine Man

She has really smooth vocals!
I feel like I'm running out of things to say other than that I like it, so I'll leave it at that.
The interlude after the tap dancing was great as well, and I got chills at the end!

North Korea: Maps and Atlases - Perch Patchwork

This is really pleasant!
He sings about eyeholes a lot which is weird but I like it.
Only thing against it is that it feels like it should be a 2 minute song but it's like, almost 6 minutes and that's a little excessive imo.

Central African Republic: The Kinks - Autumn Almanac

Good, classic feel!
Not gonna rank highly but not because of dislike.

Djibouti: Lindsey Stirling - Shadows

Honestly, this is probably my favourite of her original pieces <3
Not only is the video so cool, but the song itself is so driven and just, smooth!
Energetic but not out of control. Iunno, I just love it

India: Motorpsycho - The Bomb-Proof Roll and Beyond

Oh no, this is gonna be really metal isn't it.
There always has to be one...
This was actually doing alright until that fucking noise machine took over at, like, the 3 minute mark. Fuck that noise!
Honestly, I tried, but I nope'd out of this one when it started hurting.

Greece: Emilie Simon - Fleur de Saison

I really like this! And not just because I speak French - she sang waaaaay too fast for me to understand a lot of it!
But I got the gist of it and the song itself was a good listen!

[Aristophanes]

Might have to relisten and revote but submitted this for now while it's semi-fresh. This is why I prefer doing it all at once though.

[Parama]

Iceland – This album is actually kinda shaky and their first album is way better, but this song is great fun & pretty straightforward & catchy. Could’ve sent something off the first album too but it was what was entered previously, like, a decade ago but whatever lol.

Sweden – Probably better than it has any right to be due to the vocals & lack of harsh vox, but it’s kind of just… pop fluff pretending to be something it isn’t. Ehh. (AVERAGE)

Mali – Uhh yeah this is pretty nice and fun I guess. The chorus is way too repetitive though, repeating one line over and over is not a chorus y’all. But yeah, I liked this well enough. (DECENT)

Greenland – I’ve never really loved Linkin Park, but I generally at least like them. And this one’s… pretty solid, yeah! I don’t think it hits me particularly strong but it’s well-enough made and does make me feel a nonzero amount of emotions, so. (DECENT)

Slovenia – Eeehhh the one looping motif that played throughout basically the entirety of this track made it get old so fast & I’m just not huge on brass in general, especially on their own. Not unlistenable but surprisingly annoying for the short length. (MEDIOCRE)

Bhutan – Actually have been listening to this album recently. A few songs I don’t like much, a few songs I like a fair bit. This is closer to the latter though I wouldn’t put it as my favorite either. But again, only listened to this like 2-3 times total. It’s nice, though. (DECENT)

Hungary – This is pretty nice and laidback. Low-key jazzy. Different from what I’ve heard from her before but I kinda dig it, yeah. (DECENT)

[vizIIsto]

Just sent in my votes.

I had already saved my ratings for each of the songs when I listened to them about a week ago. Wanted to keep them like that so I could perhaps listen to them again some time later if I felt like it and had time, but I think it's good like how things stood.

Everybody best of luck with winning!

[Parama]

Liechtenstein – Be aware that there is a 90% chance this is not getting finished. I listened to about 5 minutes of this and sure it’s nice I guess but. I started skipping ahead and it continued being “fine”. If I rated the 5 minutes I listened to they’d probably be a low “DECENT” but I am not sitting here for 25 minutes listening to one single song, lol.

Portugal – I think what I expect from this band is some kind of decent groove. Whereas this is more a bright synthpop affair. And it’s. Alright, I guess. Music this aggressively bright I generally have difficulty being too into if it’s not also atmospheric. This kind of makes me think of M83 actually, just not as glittery or glossy. Ehh. (AVERAGE)

United Kingdom – This is like. Basically the exact same song as the last song I listened to, except it has a bit more groove and I like the vocals a bit less. Still not something I’m particularly into, regardless. (AVERAGE)

USA – Okay, this is pretty dang cool. The chorus kind of has that “generic anime song” vibe to it but the rest of the song has a lot of great instrumental work, though the vocals generally fall flat for me. I dig this a lot regardless though just on the strength of the music. (GOOD)

Poland – Okay I mean technically yes this falls in the BOTB ruleset but they were entered literally last contest. By the same person. Did you really just have nothing else. Granted, I don’t really remember that song much. This has that kind of showtune-y vibe to it I don’t tend to like much (the dear hunter can pull it off sometimes but not consistently) and feels kind of shallow overall but I mean. It’s okay. (AVERAGE)

Djibouti – Her violin playing is really nice, to be sure, but I’m not big into the electronic background it’s playing on top of. It keeps the focus on the violin, fair enough, but it’s just super generic and probably louder than it should be. Dunno. This kind of instrumental rarely does it for me nowadays, I want instruments collaborating and playing off each other, not a solo over a bland backdrop. I’m gonna enter some good instrumental stuff next time, I think. (AVERAGE)

Greece – Part of me wants to like this less than I do, part of me wants to like it more than I do to spite the other part of me, but I am genuinely not interested in music that sounds… like this. I don’t know exactly how to describe “this” precisely, but. (AVERAGE)


ooof

[Parama]

Ireland isn't available in the US.
Alt link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaVxerA1AMs

[Aristophanes]

Yee, same like I embedded

Shoulda made a new post for that I guess