Song Contest 137 (Results posted!)

[Vi]

You should probably explain what the procedures are around "reserved countries", and for that matter what generally happens if two people try to choose the same country.

(also why not talk about the previous contest in the previous contest thread, but that's less important)

[Vi]

I've submitted. I thought this contest was really rough tbh; my first tier this time lines up with my third and fourth tiers from the previous one.

At least there's a reasonable chance I won't be top snowflake this time? Maybe?

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Posting this so I don't forget it:

9/9 - Do I feel like my life is unambiguously better after listening to this?
8/9 - Did I enjoy listening to this?
7/9 - Did I replay this immediately after it ended?
6/9 - Is this solid on its merits?
5/9 - Could I put this on in the background and not mind it?
4/9 - Did I have any impression about this?
3/9 - Was I distracted by all the things I didn't like about this?
2/9 - Do I feel like there is nothing I can enjoy in this?
1/9 - Would I refuse to play this again?
0/9 - Did I feel visceral revulsion from this?

not a strict ordering of considerations but p.good benchmarks

[Vi]

I would have submitted The Garden of Fire except most of y'all piss your pants over harsh vocals

You should submit it anyway if you think the group needs such enlightenment.

[Vi]

I apologize. I misread your previous post, so my previous post was coming from the wrong direction.

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I suppose there's not much point in sitting on my reviews. If people want to strategically change how they vote based on this then I kind of feel bad for them.

Spoiler: but I'll hide it in case people don't want to be subconsciously swayed

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===TIER: Songs I willingly listened to again after the mandatory second pass

(12) ICELAND -- Wilderun {Far From Where Dreams Unfurl} -- These lyrics own. The music is decent-to-very-good. The problem is that the song is ~aspirational~ and wants to be like three different things at once, heavily skewing the awesome-lyrics-to-things-that-aren't-the-awesome-lyrics ratio. This could have totally cleared 8/9 if someone forced the band into an editing room and made them cut three minutes. 6.4/9

...also, yeah. Submitting this over The Garden of Fire was the correct choice. It's partly that I don't understand the appeal of harsh vocals - not as in dislike, but actual lack of understanding - and partly that their normal vocals are :quality: . I got totally blindsided by the power move that was the last 40 seconds though.

===TIER: Songs that didn't disappoint me that much

(10) SAN MARINO -- The Audition {It's Gonna Be Hard (When I'm Gone)} -- It's generically decent. Choosing between this and Red Bull & Hennessy was a matter of taste/whimsy on my part. 5.75/9

(8) PORTUGAL -- Jenny Lewis {Red Bull & Hennessy} -- This is pretty listenable. The vocals aren't in my style and there are some odd mixing choices - also those last few seconds happened - but the vocalist has serious pipes. 5.7/9

(7) POLAND -- Les Friction {Your World Will Fail} -- This is an entry that stakes its existence on being intense, yet... I want it to be a lot more so. It has such a cool title, and yet I don't feel like it was realized. It still sounds nice though. 5.25/9

===TIER: Songs remaining that I affirmatively want to give points to

(6) COSTA RICA -- Jamiroquai {Just Another Story} -- I am legit angry about how the entry would be way better if the first two and a half minutes were cut entirely. And probably the last bit of it too. It starts off sounding like a middling sample project on a music sequencer, and then it cuts to some raw funk I can get into. 4.75/9

(5) CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC -- Suede {We Are the Pigs} -- This style of wAvErInG vocal doesn't work for me. Other than that, it's generic radio material. Barely landing above Blood Eagle because I don't have to try as hard to listen to it. 4.5/9

(4) DJIBOUTI -- Periphery {Blood Eagle} -- So it's not actually easy to throw your whole body forward and keep playing your instrument... I'm actually very much the kind of person who would appreciate an entry that sounds like someone getting their tongue stuck in an industrial fax machine - admittedly ironically - but it's kind of one-note. 4.4/9

===TIER: Somebody's going to be disappointed because I had a hard time ordering these sensibly

(3) ECUADOR -- BROTHERS OF METAL {Yggdrasil} -- This is... surprisingly ordinary. I appreciate the effort to thicken the vocals with the man growling behind the woman, but it only succeeded in giving the entry an edge like a plastic knife and made it much harder to listen to. The woman needs a fancier face tattoo. 3.9/9

(2) ROJAVA -- Aeternam {Nightfall on Numidia} -- I feel like this entry never really committed to any of the ideas it wanted to have, so it became rather middling in every way. 3.85/9 (possibly underrated)

(1) UNITED KINGDOM -- Akira Takemoto {MJ-xx} -- Background music is very background music. I've wondered if submitting something from Umineko would do well at all, and I decided against because I didn't think it would. I think this may have validated my opinion. 3.8/9

NETHERLANDS -- Namco Music Saloon {Word Games for Two} -- I SAY LOUIE LOUAY... er... FLINTSTONES! MEET THE FL... hm... PETTAN~PETTAN~TSURUmaybe not? Between its vapidity and its "tastefully off-key" lyrics to its intentional garishness, this is definitely something Young Emo Vi would have slammed the door on, but I actually appreciate how the sheer pep in this song feels. This song spends a lot of energy trying to make the listener happy and I'm kind of a fan. I honestly think I may have stuffed up by putting it in a position where I'm not giving it any points :/ 3.7/9 (possibly underrated)

URUGUAY -- Big Thief {Haley} - what the heck is rhythm - what is what - This song doesn't really work for me for a bunch of reasons. It seems much like college-hipster music. On the other hand, it does kind of remind me of college... This would probably be rated more highly by people who are affected by nostalgia. 3.25/9 (possibly underrated)

===TIER: AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa

GREENLAND -- Desaparecidos {Man and Wife, The Former (Financial Planning)} -- 2.4/9

YEMEN -- Hella {Biblical Violence} -- 1.7/9

USA -- 3776 {歳時記} -- 0.9/9 (possibly overrated)


Japan -- あさき {雫} -- I'm not sold on how well this master came out, and I'm not really charmed by the off-key note in the second verse, but heck if this isn't going to be the most "different but actually in a good way" song in this contest. If you were wondering, the lyrics are oblique in Japanese and virtually untranslatable. There are vids that try to provide a translation, and I intentionally didn't link them. This is also probably Asaki's most approachable song; his other work starts at J-Emo and dives into extravagantly creepy.

So like twelve years ago someone I was on a forum with was really into PoMu, and sent me stepcharts for this. (yes, yes) I liked the song so much I started looking into other Bemani stuff, and now I know way more about an obscure rhythm game I've never played than most people you'll meet. Quite an influence you never thought you'd have on someone, eh, Loomy?

I've listened to this quite a bit and I'm familiar with its issues, and yet I still don't think I can rate it lower than 7.5/9. I am completely okay with being the only person who thinks that way if the results suggest that.

[Vi]

If people want to strategically change how they vote based on this then I kind of feel bad for them.

Is this a thing? I thought the whole point of this was to expose people to music they might not otherwise be exposed to. We all have our own taste in music, so I know that not everyone is going to like the music I put in, but maybe one or two people are exposed to some new stuff theyll enjoy.

Nah. But that's why I would feel bad for anyone who's that invested in manipulating the votes :V
I think there's at most one person who's actively, strategically trying to win, and it shocks me how little I care about that.

(That said, because this is a contest of people showing each other things they like or at least think are important enough to pass around, I'm trying to stick to a rule of not dumping on things unless I'm also giving it points. If you're okay with me publishing the sick burns in my notes for your entries, though, let me know~)

(also I don't look at others' comments until I'm done because I know I'll gravitate toward sympathy votes and spite votes)

[Vi]

Ear hurting music. I need these ears to hear and stuff

I read this in the voice of your avatar.

[Vi]

<obsessively refreshes page>

[Vi]

Nice

watching Ecuador closely, I see

[Vi]

Indeed congratulations!

I'm so glad I was able to show my entry to a few people who enjoyed it. (and also several people who thought it was okayish but put up with it)

[Vi]

But who was closest to the group consensus? Well...

==SHEEPLE==

ceejayvinoya
Xtoxm
davsto
Vi
VashtaNeurotic
Dr Easy Bake
Save The Dragons
Formerfish
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MiniDeathStar
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pickemgenius
schadd_
tris = toolenduso
InflatablePie = Parama
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Aurathebirb

==SNOWFLAKE==

(Fixed with revised formulae)

pandabird coming in with the cajun takes itt

[Vi]

First time my vote affected the outcome! Congrats Ecuador

Oh yeah good point
I'm under the weather and so math is kind of hard but I think the higher you rate on the sheeple index, the more your vote affected the outcome (with complicating factors like how close the vote was to begin with)

Without you the final standings would have looked like

69 Uruguay
67 San Marino
67 Costa Rica
66 Portugal
66 Japan
64 Ecuador
64 Poland
60 Iceland
59 Djibouti
57 USA
48 Central African Republic
46 Greenland
44 United Kingdom
39 Yemen
34 Rojava
3 Netherlands