August 20, 20177 yr Author Oh Michael, I would've loved to hear a CD from you *_ (the compiler of that CD can reveal themselves when they're ready :P)
August 20, 20177 yr Oh that was mine, sorry! I must have missed that when it was posted. I'll try to type up a full response tonight :o
August 20, 20177 yr Ffs I wrote out all my initial thoughts in a pad whilst listening and then typed them and then my tablet froze as I was about to post and I lost it all :mellow: I'm way too jet lagged rn to redo it atm but I'll give a quick summary Bray I'm like 98% sure this was yours bc of the title and the amount of focus on the instrumentation part in every song 1. (10/10) I already love this from the intro alone, the mix of rock and electronics. OMG YES female vox! Something tells me you maybe knew this was for me :kink: omg I adore this on first listen, I will be saving this 100%. They/She (I presume it#s a band) kind of remind me of like a mix between Chvrches and Beautiful Bodies. Oh the sorta fake ending *.* I always love that sort of thing :lol: I feel a build coming, if this slays then its a solid 10... omg THOSE GUITARS!! This is amazing, perfect choice for track one as I'm hooked and excited to see what else you've included :cheer: 2. (6/10) This seems chiller. Omg this is lush just in the intro alone, the drums and piano are very twenty one pilots-y. Ooooh this feels kind of echosmith-y too. Mixed vocals, that's cool! Why do I recognise the guys voice?? Sounds a little like Chris Martin. This is nice but I'm hoping it builds to a bit more. Aw it didn't :(. I'm gonna put it at a 6 just because it is a little boring/monotonous but nice all the same, especially in the instrumental. 3. (2/10) This is sounding boppy. I feel it has the potential to either be a cat alarm, windows default tune thing or a bop. I need vocals. Please have vocals... This sounds like my 1st year music class when everyone would put on different tunes on their keyboards at the same time :mellow: Oh vocals! not quite what I was hoping for, but still :lol: The drums are cool at least but I didn't really like this one sorry :/ 4. (3/10) This is sounding better than the previous one, oh no more beeps with minimal vocals. It is more interesting that #3 though. I can get behind instrumentals, don't get me wrong but the beepy ones like this are very rarely my thing as I'm sure you probs know :kink: 5. (8/10) Foreign language? *.* I'm quite liking this, her voice is so pretty along with those drums :wub:. Nice bass part too with the layered harmonies, this is pretty cool! :wub: Oh it's English :kink: I do like the eastern vibe it has though, again the main thing that lets it down a bit is how repetative it is and there's not like a stand out chorus/middle 8. I guess her vocals are the main attraction though so I still appreciate! 6. (4/10) Oh more repetative beeps, maybe you didn't know I was getting your CD :kink: I've been pretty sure that Bray made this given the title and how heavily instrumental it's been so far but this song is quite dancey which makes me doubt that now. I can see the appeal of this sort of thing but yea its not really up my street. I do like the drop though! 7. (7/10) Owl City vibes? Yea this is more like it! Again, it's missing that build up/big chorus though. Decent but I think I need to give it a few more spins as it could be a grower. 8. (7/10) Liking this one quite immediately! Very 80s, I'm a sucker for a strong bass part *.* These off beat lyrics are cool too- again, I'm getting slight twenty one pilots vibes. These lyrics too :') 9. (9/10) NICEEEE INTRO! OMG YES AND THE DRUMS!!! This is lowkey punky, which I love *.* I feel a hard chorus coming (pls) aww no :/ I still like this a lot though! 10. (7/10) Nice guitar, bass and drums. Sorry these comments are messy af, I couldn't read my own handwriting in my notes half the time :mellow: I'm hoping to get another listen out of it so I can do a proper review but I'm not sure I'll get the time so these are just my initial thoughts/reactions. I think there was probably something for everyone on here, I know I was quite critical but I did enjoy a fair amount of them so I'm pleased with what I got!
August 21, 20177 yr Oh that was mine, sorry! I must have missed that when it was posted. I'll try to type up a full response tonight :oSo I'll admit this wasn't my strongest effort as I didn't have time to upload/download stuff to iTunes, plus it was fairly diverse as I chose not to know the recipient, so I'm willing to take on any criticism but I thank you Harve for listening so promptly, while the tracklist is still fresh in my memory. Here we go! 1. A lazy tempo, insistence on vocal harmonies, ad libs all over the place, lyrics made of 100% cheese. All of these are positive qualities that every R&B track should aspire to have. This track sounds like an amalgamation of everything that is late 90s, which would be why it sounds so familiar and yet I'm sure I've not heard it before. Oh and it's catchy as hell. A very solid start! 8 - This is actually from 2002 but late 90s is a very good guess. I checked to make sure it wasn't a UK hit, but it sounds enough like Ashanti and other artists of the time that I'm not surprised it sounds familiar. 15 years later I'd say it's aged pretty well, in fact I'm more of a fan now than I was back then. 2. Other than an energetic beat with some interesting sounds going on underneath, this is electronica-tinged indie rock by numbers. That kind of band you'd see during a 5pm Sunday afternoon slot at a festival. It sounds very polished though. 6.5 - Polished and indie rock by numbers make a good description, I quite like what I've heard from this band while I admit they don't reinvent the wheel. My fave is actually but I didn't have it on hand. 3. Female singer-songwriter making faintly noughties-sounding pop-rock, thankfully more in a Sara Bareilles way than an Avril Lavigne way. It's still not something I'd normally listen to as the genre ain't my thing. But don't worry: it's not you, it's me. The track itself is actually fairly interesting and there's a lot going on. 7 - Former BJSC artist if I remember correctly? She's a redhead and I'd actually say the much softer-voiced equivalent of Florence and the Machine. Mostly a balladeer with very few upbeat songs to pick from, but this one's a standout either way. 4. More radio-friendly indie rock. It's not really groundbreaking but it's actually quite a lovely track with loads of instruments. 7 - Almost sent this to Nuggets but found something I liked better. I really like the mellowness and the male/female vocal combo. Aside: I'm not a fan of peaches. 5. Ah! I recognised this immediately but I had to rack my brain to remember who exactly it was. This is The-Dream - Walkin' On The Moon. An accomplished songwriter and producer who, many times, almost made it big as an artist in his own right but never quite got there. I had a soft spot for back in the day. My favourite tracks were 'Yamaha' and 'F.I.L.A.', which are also from his 'Love...' trilogy. This track is great, and although it sounds dated today, it sounds like a much bigger hit than it actually was. Oh and Kanye kills his verse. Definitely my favourite so far. 8.5 - I'm kinda surprised anyone would recognize this even with Kanye on it! One of my faves from 2009, and yeah it is rather dated now. You actually seem more knowledgeable than me about The-Dream's overall discography, so I'll have to check out the other tracks you mentioned. 6. We've gone full 80s pop (although I presume it was released later) and I have no qualms with this. Male vocals with a rap verse. This is a jam. Funky and groovy. I'll definitely be listening to this again. *.* 9 SoulDecision "Faded" - This is from around 1999, a Canadian group trying to fit somewhere in the 'credible boyband' category. Lead singer is Trevor Guthrie who had a UK hit many years later. I'm determined to send it to BJSC one day. 7. This sounds like a melancholic version of HAIM. It's nice enough but it's a bit of a comedown compared to the juicy trilogy above. ^ 6 - Haim is a good comparison I wouldn't have made myself. This is probably the song I'm least attached to on this CD, and the one I've listened to least, but obvs like it enough to include here so yeah. 8. Pop-rock. Her voice is sickly sweet which contrasts well with the gritty guitars. Like #7, it's nice enough but if I had to describe it using an emoji it would be this: smile.gif 5 - Biiiiig fave of mine from around 2003/04 but the song definitely shows its age to an extent. I got her CD at a movie theater, we were seeing one of the Wild Thornberrys movies and I ordered a jumbo size drink and they actually stuck her CD single on the lid, which is some bizarre promo but I sure got a good discovery out of it. 9. This is rock proper. The longest track on the CD at 5:42 and it has a riff going right the way through the song's various sections. It's basically the Smashing Pumpkins but with female vocals. I approve! 7 - another highlight from 2009, and yes Smashing Pumpkins is the obvious comparison to make. I was intent on sending this to Nuggets too until another song of theirs was submitted, so now I can't. This would easily be my favorite on the CD so I'm glad you approve! Hopefully you didn't think all the vocals were female :kink: 10. An intrumental rock track, although honestly it's not terribly interesting and you could easily put vocals on top of it. It's a nice pause given that the previous track is full of energy. 5 - It takes a lot for an instrumental to grab my attention, but this one always has and I thought of it at the last minute to add to the CD. 11. Country! The first third is instrumental and then out comes these female vocals with a distinctive southern drawl. It then crescendoes into a chorus for the last third. 6 - Yup I can't make one of these without at least one country song :P Hopefully you found something in it to appreciate because LBT's one of my favorite artists and this is definitely not your standard country song. They're very good at pushing boundaries and the harmonies alone make them one of the best in the game, like a modern day Fleetwood Mac. 12. I had to listen to this multiple times simply to be able to describe it as it's quite banal. Folksy female vocals. Probably qualifies as indie rock. It would've been nice to have something a little more climactic as the final track though. This doesn't really go anywhere. </3 4 - I was mostly curious to see if the listener could recognize LP singing after the second chorus. I can see how it doesn't really work as a final track, ah well. Bonus track: This is a mashup mainly consisting of Dizzee Rascal - Sirens (from the glorious period where I would know every single track that hit the UK top 40) but inserts ad libs from all sorts of songs, some I can name (Killing In The Name, Papa Roach's Last Resort, Run DMC's It's Like That), some I only recognise and some I've never heard before. It works! 6.5 - That's how I have it saved on iTunes anyway. I have a handful of these mashups from like 2010, this one sounds the best in 2017 and I wanted to add something that was sure to get a reaction. So there you go! I liked this CD! My favourites were #1, #5, #6. A lot of the rest was radio-friendly pop rock or alt rock music whereas the rock music I enjoy has a Pitchfork-friendly indie slant (it's impossible to phrase this without sounding like a dickhead). So I tried to take this into account as this isn't the compiler's problem! Certainly there weren't any absolute duds, and none of it sounded particularly current and the one track I did know is a forgotten track that was never particularly acclaimed in the first place, so I imagine this is a selection of the user's personal favourite tracks spread out over a lifetime. And some inspired choices have been dug out: even though tracks such as #3 or #11 aren't necessarily my thing, I can definitely see how they would be part of someone's best of list. You are absolutely correct! I basically went all the way through my iTunes and picked out songs from 1999 to 2015; it wasn't meant to be some sort of personal chronology (especially since they're not in chronological order) but that is what it ended up being. I'm glad it landed in good hands, and especially glad the R&B tracks didn't go to waste! I've got no idea who made this. I would guess Iz were it not for the R&B inserts, or maybe Liam, were it not for the obscure-sounding tracks that are most likely too old for someone my age or younger to know. It's seems USA-centric. I don't think the user is from UK and is probably quite a bit older than me. Ooh correct here too, I'm "only" 26 though so we're probably not too far apart in age?
August 21, 20177 yr The person with my CD has posted in this thread ~ but it isn't Lindsey ;o I wasn't the only one to have so few tracks after all. The country part alone made me think that one Harve reviewed was Jordan's :D I seem to remember that The-Dream song being a very minor hit in the UK, I vaguely recall hearing it before.
August 21, 20177 yr Ffs I wrote out all my initial thoughts in a pad whilst listening and then typed them and then my tablet froze as I was about to post and I lost it all :mellow: I'm way too jet lagged rn to redo it atm but I'll give a quick summary Bray I'm like 98% sure this was yours bc of the title and the amount of focus on the instrumentation part in every song 1. (10/10) 2. (6/10) 3. (2/10) 4. (3/10) 5. (8/10) 6. (4/10) 7. (7/10) 8. (7/10) 9. (9/10) 10. (7/10) I'll add in comments once I've had a nap lmao From the comments/marks I'm certain this will be mine Edited August 21, 20177 yr by RabbitFurCoat
August 22, 20177 yr <snip> Ooh correct here too, I'm "only" 26 though so we're probably not too far apart in age? Only 3 years! I overestimated the age of a lot of the tracks so correspondingly I thought you were older. The only artist I've actually heard of is Ratatat. It's odd how I found you rarely enjoy instrumentals and yet I found it boring when I could easily make 10 of these CDs full of instrumentals (it will happen when I get the right recipient).
August 22, 20177 yr From the comments/marks I'm certain this will be mine Ok so I managed to miss the first post above the one I replied to - oops! :hi: I've got a last minute thing A Last Minute Thing was indeed mine, given that title because I'd been holiday for almost all of the time the sign up thread was open, so only saw it on Tuesday which was when the CDs were due. Ffs I wrote out all my initial thoughts in a pad whilst listening and then typed them and then my tablet froze as I was about to post and I lost it all :mellow: I'm way too jet lagged rn to redo it atm but I'll give a quick summary Bray I'm like 98% sure this was yours bc of the title and the amount of focus on the instrumentation part in every song 1. (10/10) 2. (6/10) 3. (2/10) 4. (3/10) 5. (8/10) 6. (4/10) 7. (7/10) 8. (7/10) 9. (9/10) 10. (7/10) I'll add in comments once I've had a nap lmao Based on my recent and current obsessions being LCD Soundsystem's 'Call The Police' (7:06) and Everything Everything 'A Fever Dream' (5:59), as well as recently discovering the 90s band Ride, in particular 'Leave Them All Behind' (8:17) I decided to make a CD of long songs, of various different styles/genres and eras (kind of), so although only 10 tracks, it does last a few seconds shy of 69 minutes. Interesting to hear more from your marks although looking at them they don't surprise me as I'd made a CD that hopefully would have something on that everyone would like, though unlikely someone would like all of it (though not impossible, as I love them all) The tracklist (+ links) here. I'll give more explanations on them later, as it's almost midnight and it's not something I should be starting now. 1 - (5:20) 2 - (6:04) 3 - (7:12) 4 - (7:10) 5 - (6:54) 6 - (6:53) 7 - (6:50) 8 - (6:57) 9 - (7:25) 10 - (8:17)
August 22, 20177 yr :wub: at 'Drone Logic' and 'Ha Howa Ha Howa' (I prefer 'Kassidat El Hakka' from the latter - was my entry for the BJSC Halloween spinoff - but HHHH is brilliant as well, really should listen to the rest of the SEXWITCH album properly one of these days). I ended up... not getting around to listening to my CD over the weekend as I intended but rest assured I will get around to this in time. I did listen to some quick snippets of each of the track to give myself an early feel for it and 1) I think I already figured out whose CD this is and 2) I'm pretty sure I can already tell which will be my favourite song on there (heard lots of interesting sounding stuff though).
August 23, 20177 yr I'm happy the one I ended up with wasn't a load of long songs from seeing some of these - I'm much less familiar with those! Some really interesting selections so far
August 23, 20177 yr Review time for my very long received CD, High OST! In track order: #1 female vocal light, understated slow build no idea who this singer is 6.5/10 maybe. strong, but probably too slow burn + quiet for me to listen to much #2 this is more familiar female vocal again indiegirl I feel like I've listened to this artist or song before up my street. 8/10 #3 rockier, almost rhcp intro, by the way era vocalist, male, sounds familiar lyrics, i'm torn on. suit purpose but a bit casual/weird 7/10 #4 this is upbeat. running a line between slightly trashy and charmingly retro sounds a bit like the feeling but i could just as well see this as scandinavian reference to a tumor is not cool tho. eesh this is giving me abc (band) vibes okay this is cute but the constant tumor references are grossing me out 8/10 without those, if I'm just mishearing the lyrics, 7/10 with #5 what an interesting voice. almost nina simone sounds a bit indie band circa 07-08 trying to be creative / haunted house i cannot tell if this singer is male or female feel like this could be a grower tho its not my usual thing. also, i expected this cd to be soundtrack songs, I am surprised by this random selection instead of orchestral pieces. 7/10 for this one #6 and just as I say that we come to what seems like an instrumental. this is gorgeous though, might be my favourite one so far. okay, moves away from the lush intro in a direction I was not expecting. i actually still like it tho. very long song too groovy + classic + electronic. i don't know what genre you'd call this. 8.5/10 #7 another long one this is slightly familiar ah, it's a song from another contest. the french one from a recent BJSC I think. yeah, I like this song even though its more slowburn than I would normally go for. 7/10 #8 another slowish one. back to pure indieguyband now. vaguely recognise this voice understated. 7/10 #9 vaguely recognise this too. orchestral opening. interesting vocal. if this isn't an older band making a late comeback with new material it certainly sounds like it. 7/10 #10 another softly softly instrumental. this is cute but it does sound a lot like a john lewis ad. oh. not anymore. john lewis + dubstep. i am not sure how to feel about this. let's say 6.5/10 for creativity #11 this is familiar. is it a remix? i am tempted to google this one because it's so on the tip of my tongue. 7/10. I think I'm thinking the artist is someone else than it is. #12 SCISSOR SISTERS! A good choice especially from this underrated album. album tracks are the best 9/10 #13 another long one. ah, the long edit of Shura. good choice. I miss her. another 9/10 #14 another long one again. sounds more like an indie rock song this. sounds vaguely familiar too but that might just be the production. Not instrumental. Male vocal. Slightly emo-ish. It's decent. Niggling me as to who it is. I would estimate slightly older band. 7/10 #15 More rock! And again sounds like an older band, or if not, someone sounding like one. Sounds a bit like could be a soundtrack single or song used in a movie. Male vocal I think. No idea who this is. Vocal a bit punky/emo but instruments rockier. 6/10 not really my thing #16 soft, quieter. female vocal. vaguely familiar. recognise the singer. vocal style a bit like M0. oh, interesting electro elements come in after first minute, almost like peaches. a song of contrasts, this one. couldn't call the singer. I would guess scandinavian though. 7.5/10 #17 indie pop now, this has a pre-2010 feel to it but could just as easily be modern and aiming for that sound. female vocal, i think. this is completely unfamiliar. this song is going in directions i'm not expecting. shades of MNDR and kimbra on the vocal and production. i quite like it but it's weird. 7/10 #18 this is funky and retro. is it dolly parton? if it's not, someone's doing a good impression. this definitely sounds like dolly though, but i couldn't call the era. i'm really not sure if this is her or not, the vocal seems a bit restrained, but i'm used to her slightly deeper voice nowadays and the disco dolly era. anyways, I actually quite like this one. 7.5/10 #19 and this is different again. almost like a disco slow number from that intro, but quality would suggest something more modern. male vocal, i don't know the vocalist. i really have no idea who this is or when it's from, but this really jams with me. 8.5/10 #20 final track! a slightly longer one again. a little like purity ring from those first bars. its feeling like it will go more towards liquid though. oh, interesting. more straight electro, not where i expected it to go from that intro. female vocal, and instrumentation actually really 80s. reminds me a little of lay all your love on me. this also feels like it could be used in a film. also reminded a lot of the midnight (band). vocalist seems familiar so i'm wondering if she's a feature here. a rollercoaster of a track and a good closer. let's say 7/10 for that one. all in all a very interesting album. i suspect it ended up a little past the 80 minutes recommendation, but hey, what's a few extra minutes between pals. very enjoyable even as it was frustrating to listen not knowing what most of the songs were! i am unsure whose cd it is but it would have to be someone with more wide-ranging tastes than i was already aware of, which is tricky as most folk seem to generally post about the same kinds of things. looking forward to being enlightened!
August 23, 20177 yr Yay, this is the one I got! :dance: the title is '13 songs', a great CD with some real gems. My comments are BS, the titles tell everything you need to know. 1) postrock instrumental opener Great start! After about 10 seconds in I'm down to 4-5 people, so I'm pretty sure this will be an fairly easy guess at the end. The track is definitely something that gets me excited. 7,5/10 2) bollywood but twisted The title is not lying, this is bollywood but twisted. Love this to bits, the alternative bollywood style is always a win for me. This is the kind of BJSC entry that easily steals my 18 points. Yeah, that good - BUT still not my fave on this CD 9,5/10 3) pop a la oriental This is quite chilled, the female vocal is nice, I'd enjoy it a lot more if the oriental bits would be more stressed 6,5/10 4) pop a la magyar (what a coincidence!!) Ha! So you knew it's me! Okay, I know this one, of course, this is the Lotfi Begi remix of Rúzsa Magdi's 'Föld és ég'. Magdi's songs are okay and Lotfi Begi is like the Hungarian David Guetta, but his stuff gets old fairly quicky. 6/10 from me, but I heard it 100 times on the radio, so it might me a lot more interesting for others. 5) future boogie Again, like in 'pop a la oriental',I'd be a bit more interested in the stuff going on in the background, but it's still an okay track. Female vocals, reminds me a bit of a chilled CHVRCHES. 7/10 6) 808s & heartbreak Yay, male vocals! This is a hard one, first I wanted to compare it to Twenty One Pilots, but yeah, it's a shitty comparison. Sounds a bit like a bridge between part 1 and 2. Btw. this is a proper compilation, not a bunch of songs thrown one after the other (like mine). 7,5/10 7) icelandic hype Yass, I like this a lot! She's the icelandic Noga Erez, doesn't she? At least it really reminds me of 'Dance While You Shoot', which is an easy win. 10/10 - and I barely ever give scores like this. 8) intelligent dance music Wow, weird stuff. I'd say I've never heard anything like this before, but I'd lie as there is one track this reminds me of: 'Um.. - Don't copy us' which I really enjoyed in UP - but it was a slow grower. I guess it will be same with this one, I'd go with 7,5/10 9) tick tock Instrumental, could be a soundtrack? Builds up nicely, but I kinda miss the 'breakthrough'. Still, a cool one, definitely a grower. edit: Actually, I keep pointing it up and I can't stop listening to it... awesome stuff 9/10 10) back to the 90s Female vocals, the kind of (beginning of) 90s sound that most of BJ is into (but I'm not). Btw. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that it's from the past 3 years. 6/10 11) dark wave Can I call this instrumental? Dark wave is not my go to genre, but this one's enjoyable for what it is. Might be a grower? 7/10 12) witch trap I guess I can't call this one instrumental, right? Okay, I'm quite into this witchy stuff, thanks to bjsc, so my hopes are fairly high. This one delivers too, like it a lot, will take some more listens though to grow on me properly. 8/10 13) postrock instrumental closer A solid finish, I think I prefer this one to the opener. 8/10 Some of the choices make me quite confused, so I still can't guess for certain whose CD I'm listening to. My first guess was Bré, (after about 3 minutes of checking the songs), but I can't see him adding some of these tracks. My final guesses are Brade (strictly as a 'group effort') and maybe Chez. Thanks a lot, it really was a great expereince!
August 24, 20177 yr That was indeed mine Frank! And no input from Jade :o I did say my recipient should be able to guess it was me relatively easily, I think I included pretty much all of the niches that I'm into, and a couple of songs by my former BJSC artists, not that you'd have known about that of course :kink: I'm not actually going to reveal all of the song titles on here at this moment because a couple of them were shameless self promo of my future song contest entries... (well not the actual songs, but the artists). Will fill you in once the injunction on them is over if I remember :lol: I tried to tailor this to your tastes as much as possible (I obviously did know I was making it for you, hence the token Hungarian song), essentially by looking back at which of my BJSC entries you liked and picking similar sounding songs. I could easily have bloated the tracklist with some more random songs that you may or may not have enjoyed and I kind of wish I did based on seemingly most other CDs being a lot longer than mine but I'm glad you seem to have enjoyed it on the whole anyway. 01 And So I Watch You From Afar - S Is For Salamander a song that used to get played on nighttime Radio 1 quite a lot a few years back, had the idea of opening and closing with some great postrock instrumentals and this seemed like a good explosive one to open on, while saving a slightly more chill one for the closer ~ 02 Shreya Ghoshal - Silsila Ye Chaahat Ka (SOOHAN Remix) this is one I discovered at the same time as my BJSC entry 'Big Chillum' (one of the many songs of mine you've given 15 points :kink:), both via clicking on recommended videos on BÖ's 'Waqqaberry' - I would have been tempted to send this one instead if it weren't for the fact A) Shreya had been sent before and me recycling artists in BJSC is a big nono and B) this is also sampled in one of Chase And Status' better known earlier songs 'Eastern Jam', though I'm not sure if many people on BuzzJack know of it anyway really. I expected you to have guessed this was my CD based on this song alone, although admittedly it's totally plausible that it could have been Chez as well. 03 The Shanghai Restoration Project - Miss Shanghai (feat. DEZ) first of the songs by Persephonia artists - unfortunately in my limited digging into TSRP's back catalogue I haven't really found any songs that have the same spooky and enchanting aesthetic as 'The Wandering Songstress', this one is my favourite of the others I've listened to however, basically reminds me of Clean Bandit but with some East Asian influences in the instrumental. I'll admit this is probably one of the weaker songs I included. 04 Rúzsa Magdolna - Ég És Föld (feat. Lotfi Begi and Madarász Gábor) haha, you got it in one :D I wasn't actually aware this was a well-known song / one that got radio airplay, oops! Maybe should have guessed considering Magdi is a former ESC participant but there you go. Another one that isn't exactly my favourite song on the disc but it's a former BJSC potential of mine, I got rid of it from my potentials after you sent Lotfi Begi yourself, so you blocked me from having probably my only ever proper pop entry :D 05 Cannons - Evening Star this one was a bit of a last minute replacement as I had a song I wanted to include but I couldn't source a decent mp3 for it - was the one I originally wanted to include, and it would have been a few tracks later alongside the other weird instrumentals, so check that out as a bonus track if you want :lol: 'Evening Star' is another former BJSC potential of mine and included for no real reason. Probably would have DNQed, I was never really seriously considering it. I loaded too many of the more average songs on here near the start in retrospect. 06 Kevin Abstract - Echo second appearance by a Persephonia act (and another former BJSC potential, yes this CD is rather heavy on those) - Kevin is the member of BROCKHAMPTON who sung the hook on 'GOLD'. This one is a bit older, I titled it '808s & Heartbreak' on the CD because it sounds just like a song that would have fit in well on the Kanye album of the same name. I actually listened back to this on iTunes after I uploaded the CD and was a little disappointed that the instrumental on the mp3 is different (and IMO inferior) to that in the , should have checked that before uploading it! Still good enough anyway... (thank you @ the comment about this being a 'proper compilation', I did try to make it flow nicely but wasn't sure if that would come across well!) 07 Reykjavíkurdætur - Hæpið yet another old BJSC potential, you may have seen me mentioning that I was planning to send Icelandic feminist hip-hop at some point, well... here it is! This is in fact a group with like 20 members (although only 3 with vocals on this song), I can definitely see the comparison to Noga Erez anyway! Delighted that you're such a fan of this :wub: I shall also recommend by them (which I was also considering for BJSC - and who knows, maybe one of these two songs might still appear in the contest ONE DAY :P), a bit longer and showing off more of their members ~ 'Hæpið' is the Icelandic word for 'hype' so the title on the CD was a literal one! Lol 08 Space360 - 3 Lines Between Me And You I let out a bit of a laugh at you saying 'dont copy us' is the only song like this you remember hearing before, considering that was one of my own UP entries :lol: This was a song I discovered during the first BJSC Worldvision spinoff after being drawn Thailand and doing a SoundCloud search for Thai electronic music, this was so intriguingly weird (sounding like a very deep Aphex Twin cut or something) that I couldn't help but love it :D I do wonder how this would have gone down if I didn't ultimately pussy out and send a novelty T-pop song about cats. 09 Thomas Veith - Time soundtrack is a good enough guess, this is one of the many wonderful pieces of original music composed for one of my favourite YouTube channels, , who make really super high quality educational videos about all sorts of topics. This bit of music in particular always stood out to me as a beautiful piece to listen to in its own right. Pleased that this was a grower for you! 10 Sunscreem - Perfect Motion (Boys Own Mix) this is in fact a legit 90s song!! I had to include some 90s dance for you, aww at it falling a little bit flat but this is still a tune for me at least :P moving on ~ 11 [redacted] a song by my forthcoming BJSC 98 artist, it's not half as good as the one I have sent to the actual contest (although if darkwave isn't your thing in general then I don't expect you to be majorly loving that either - I'll live in hope though :P) but the clear highlight of the other four songs that exist by them. 12 Øfdream - Ninth Gate and the final appearance by a former Persephonian artist, this was one I nearly sent in place of 'Thelema' and I'm pretty certain it would have done a lot better than that did, but nonetheless I do still prefer that song so no regrets. This is largely the same kind of sound but with vocals (a sample of an unreleased (?) song by Cassie, 'Balcony' to be precise). You didn't actually vote for 'Thelema' but I included this one anyway based on you being generally a fan of other witchy entries. 13 [redacted] and this one I will also not comment too much on just yet, apart from to say expect another song by this group *ahem* elsewhere on the forum from me in the near future. As I mentioned earlier, decided to wrap up with another slightly more chilled postrock track. I hope the complete lack of guitars between the opener and closer didn't make these postrock songs sound out of place, but I had to include SOME rock stuff for a thing taking place in this forum, and postrock is probably my favourite of the subgenres of rock / indie. ~ sorry that was such a self-indulgent response, and now my own review is gonna end up just being 'this is k' for every song xxx (I'll try and put as much effort into that as I did into this post)
August 25, 20177 yr Really, no Jade? :o Well, to tell the truth, my original comments were a lot more Persephonia-centered, but I chickened out as I didn't want to look like a complete fool in case I'm wrong... For example , for Shreya Ghoshal I originally had 'This is the kind of Persephonia entry that easily steals my 18 points in BJSC' - which is a lie, as it would've got 15 (lol) points (but definitely 18 in the next contest). I remembered you mentioning Lotfi Begi before + the Icelandic hip-hop potential + the 'don't copy us' reference wasn't a real coincidence, either. The ones I found trickier were 'Miss Shanghai' (seriously, I didn't connect the dots at all) and 'Evening Star' (145 (Poodles) is awesome btw) + 'Echo' a bit, but the I had the aaah moment with the music video. Again, great compilation, would recomment it to at least half of the bunch here.
August 27, 20177 yr That HAARM track in RFC's cd is great, never heard of them before but I shall be searching for more... Plus I've only just realised that my CD has been reviewed! StillJupiter, you got mine... I shall put the track listing up soon but glad you seemed to be broadly positive about it! ^_^
August 27, 20177 yr And here are the tracks... I ended up putting this together pretty last minute so yes I ignored the maximum time element completely and just went with a general theme of a selection of songs that I could imagine sounding good in a soundtrack to a stylised film. Consequently there isn't really a rhyme or reason to my choices, I just wanted it to be quite varied as I usually send things that are almost too coherent to the CDSwaps and that can make for a boring listen for the recipient if it doesn't gel - this time I opted for lots of different sounds and track lengths in the hope that some of it may go down well - glad to see that strategy may have worked! ^_^ SPOTIFY PLAYLIST FOR ANYONE WHO IS VAGUELY INTERESTED 01 CHARLOTTE - The Best Thing 02 WENS - If 03 Fujiya & Miyagi - Collarbone 04 Jens Lekman & LouLou Lamotte - Evening Prayer 05 Sarah Vaughan - Please Mr. Brown [Pontus Winnberg Remix] 06 The Black Madonna - He Is The Voice That I Hear 07 Peter Peter - Bien réel 08 The Radio Dept. - The Worst Taste In Music 09 Visage - Fade To Grey [Extended Orchestral Version] 10 Max Cooper & Tom Hodge - Fragments of Self 11 St. Vincent - New York 12 Scissor Sisters - Somewhere 13 Shura - White Light 14 New Order - Singularity 15 Placebo - Allergic (To Thoughts of Mother Earth) 16 Astre feat. Amelia - Romance 17 Half Waif - Turn Me Around 18 Margo Price - About to Find Out 19 Alex Cameron - Candy May 20 Marsheaux - Safe Tonight Edited August 27, 20177 yr by dandy*
August 28, 20177 yr And here are the tracks... I ended up putting this together pretty last minute so yes I ignored the maximum time element completely and just went with a general theme of a selection of songs that I could imagine sounding good in a soundtrack to a stylised film. Consequently there isn't really a rhyme or reason to my choices, I just wanted it to be quite varied as I usually send things that are almost too coherent to the CDSwaps and that can make for a boring listen for the recipient if it doesn't gel - this time I opted for lots of different sounds and track lengths in the hope that some of it may go down well - glad to see that strategy may have worked! ^_^ SPOTIFY PLAYLIST FOR ANYONE WHO IS VAGUELY INTERESTED 01 CHARLOTTE - The Best Thing 02 WENS - If 03 Fujiya & Miyagi - Collarbone 04 Jens Lekman & LouLou Lamotte - Evening Prayer 05 Sarah Vaughan - Please Mr. Brown [Pontus Winnberg Remix] 06 The Black Madonna - He Is The Voice That I Hear 07 Peter Peter - Bien réel 08 The Radio Dept. - The Worst Taste In Music 09 Visage - Fade To Grey [Extended Orchestral Version] 10 Max Cooper & Tom Hodge - Fragments of Self 11 St. Vincent - New York 12 Scissor Sisters - Somewhere 13 Shura - White Light 14 New Order - Singularity 15 Placebo - Allergic (To Thoughts of Mother Earth) 16 Astre feat. Amelia - Romance 17 Half Waif - Turn Me Around 18 Margo Price - About to Find Out 19 Alex Cameron - Candy May 20 Marsheaux - Safe Tonight I was going to guess Placebo for that one! Guesses broadly on point then, thanks for the CD and the track names now :3
August 28, 20177 yr Author Safe Tonight and Drone Logic :wub: :wub: Both wonderful BJSC discoveries (most of that Bre CD looks pretty wonderful from the descriptions ;o) -x- Right here's my review of Truffle Shuffle, I went in not knowing what to expect here even knowing who created it so I was interested to hear this. Apologies if I use the same words over and over, I always run out of things to say halfway and scoring always seems a bit difficult after just a few listens but here it is nonetheless. Track 1 – We start with a rather lovely indie-pop synth track. This sounds very familiar, an awful lot like CHVRCHES, I don’t think it’s them but it has all the elements - Delicate female vocals, very synthy 80s-esque production and a catchy chorus with a somewhat morose feel that surrounds most of their songs. CHVRCHES are one of my favourite current bands so any mimic of them is usually fine by me, a keeper for sure 9/10 Track 2 – This one is another female lead, I definitely recognise this vocal, in fact I’m pretty certain this is MØ (or MslashO as I like to call her), but I don’t think I’ve heard the song. I’ve really liked everything she’s done and I like this one too, has a minimal, almost tropical-esque feel to the production and the vocals get more intense and strained as they go on which works quite well with the mood. Again enjoying this, this CD off to a good start ;o 8/10 Track 3 – This one’s a bit less polished, for want of a better word, than the last two. The instrumental kept confined to a single guitar. This is a female vocal that sounds quite a bit like Lana Del Rey, but it’s a bit more raspy and soulful. Don’t have that much more to say about it, but again, no qualms. 7.5/10 Track 4 – Ooh, this is a bit different. Very relaxed and breezy feel of it all and quite a few distorted vocals and jarring production after the opening. Sounds a bit like a song from one of those Majestic Casual dance or SuicideSheep Youtube playlists. Sometimes I tire of this sound, but as a stand-alone it’s sounds lovely in the sun and is certainly a pleasant listen 7/10 Track 5 – Another jump, hip hop ;o I’ll give this a chance even if this isn’t always genre of choice. I do like the production here and while the lyrics and rap verses aren’t exactly profound, they’re decent enough, something about getting to the top. It kinda peaks early and probably isn’t something I’ll come back to a lot, but certainly decent 6.5/10 Track 6 – I’m guessing a band that has featured at one point on indieshuffle, NME or Guardian New Music? Sounds very much like that nonetheless. Quite a subtle guitar line and repeated chorus line though it does give in to some lovely strings three quarters of the way through. It’s pretty infectious alt-pop actually, I can get down to this 7.5/10 Track 7 - Very synthy, exotic affair, that sounds straight out of the 80s. The strumming guitar and some light female vocals create quite a lovely summery atmosphere. I particularly love the synth breaks that come in here, certainly wins on production 7.5/10 Track 8 – Again with the electro synth-pop sound, though while the last one sounded summery, this one almost sounds almost other-worldly and space-like, especially with its lyrics referencing ‘see you in the next life’. Really into the instrumental, in fact I kinda wish it was just that as it’s interesting enough to stand on its own 7/10 Track 9 – A much more hushed restrained affair with a subtle, brooding guitar line before the synths come in as the track intensifies in its dying moments. For a song less than three minutes long, it leaves quite a big impression and is a solid dark number, would’ve been higher if it were longer 7/10 Track 10 – Something very different now, no synths! A single guitar line gives way to a quite distinctive, punk rock-esque voice that builds and the chorus is pretty explosive in it’s telling of ‘no rivers holding you back’. Feel like this voice is familiar but can’t place, nonetheless, quite the standout here 8/10 Track 11 – A slightly urban-electro track with a vocalist that sounds a little like Kelis with a lot of blip-bloop sound effects throughout. Wouldn’t sound out of place on any party compilation from any decade. OK, though I did find this one didn’t leave much of a lasting impression. 6/10 Track 12 – Some rather nice indie-pop guessing called some variation of ‘Let Go’, definitely the sort of thing I would be really into back in my days of scouring The Guardian and Digital Spy for new music. Again, it could be pretty much any of these female fronted blogosphere bands, but it’s a nice listen 7/10 Track 13 – We’re still in the indie-pop blog kinda bands, though this one feels a bit more epic in scale, maybe cos it’s the longest track on the CD at almost 5 minutes in length and there’s heavier guitars, and some rather great production, this is a good one 7.5/10 Track 14 – Most of the pop so far has been dabbling in indie a bit, but this is pretty solid pop in the vein of McFly/Busted. I’m not against this genre, but it has some pretty basic guitar-led production and nothing jumped out at me of being out of the ordinary for this sort of song, srry 5/10 Track 15 – Ooh, this is sounding a lot better. Quite an intense, dark Electro-R’n’B track, I’m reminded a bit of Rihanna, though maybe cos this is the sort of thing I’d love to hear from her, but I doubt she’d produce anything like this these days. Nonetheless, really like this 8/10 Track 16 – Another very downbeat and dark track, production very much secondary to the vocals here that are filled with remorse…although the lyrics about ‘flavour’ and ‘milky way’ are almost making it sound like an ode of ice cream or something, interested to see what it’s about. Nonetheless, a good one 7/10 Track 17 – More hip hop but (and just to show I do enjoy this genre when it’s good) this one was actually one of the highlights. I really like the production and it helps that there’s a good mix of samples, rap verses and a really catchy chorus. Seems to go a lot of places actually, really great. I certainly wouldn’t call it ‘music to numb your brain’ as the track implies~ 8.5/10 Track 18 – At 2:40, this track is the shortest on here and…it’s sort of just there. I mean there’s not much notable that happens, there’s a few guitars, a few ‘na na na’s and then that’s it. I’d probably like it was longer, but it doesn’t give me any real chance for me to get a sense of what it is. 4/10 Track 19 – Some building guitars come in straight off the bat, yep this is a Paramore-esque bit of pop punk, though perhaps a bit more restrained. It’s a fairly typical example of its genre that I’d imagine seeing on the channel, Kerrang! a lot, can't find a whole lot else to say about it but I like her vocals and it’s a nice listen. 7/10 Track 20 – A quite…glossy track for want of a better word, there’s something quite prestigious and glamourous about the vocals, although it’s again one that sounds like something I’d do scouring blogs for, which a lot of this CD reminded me of so I suppose it’s fitting that it ends like this! 6.5/10 Overall: I liked this CD a lot, clearly a lot of the quite subtle indie-pop blogosphere kinda sound, nothing too in-your-face but there is a fair range of genres without ever sounding too erratic, like I said before, this kind of sound did make up quite a sizeable proportion of my music taste before I just branched into...well, even weirder stuff, so I guess I was the right recipient, though I feel like there's at least something here anyone can enjoy. If I were being picky, I'd say I wish there was something a bit more ~edgy~ or distinct, but that wasn't to say there weren't any standouts, #1. #11 and #17 in particular I'm interested to see who did them. Final score I'd say 7.5/10, seems about right. I know who made this obvs but I'll let you reveal yourself, and thank you for making this, was a lovely bit of bank holiday listening~
August 28, 20177 yr Yes, that was mine. As it happens I'm about to reply almost right away :3 Interestingly enough most of the picks also come from circa 2013-14, the time when I also was more into indie blogosphere kinds of music to the exclusion of anything else. I didn't know who I was making for, so I deliberately went for a breath of genres and artists that generally fitted into the indie spectrum or that I wanted to share along, so, we're about on the same page there! In terms of what you liked, I'm stoked to see I've established a new fan of track #17, as the artists involved there were actually some of the most well-known on the entire album. Unfortunately I don't quite recall where I found a lot of the tracks as it was a pre-Spotify era for me - probably youtube and then finding related video links via that, which is why some of the choices are completely left-field as opposed to even tracks that might have been spotted on blogs. Going through the list again: Track 1 - 9/10 I do see the CHVRCHES comparison now you mention it, but at the time this track reminded me more of a Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks song that now escapes me. This one is Closure by Owl Eyes. Track 2 – 8/10 Good shout, this is indeed MØ from her first album, before she hit the bigtime post-Lean On. I knew as soon as this was announced I wanted to share something from that period of her career because I was a big fan at the time and thought that was as far as she'd go. This track's called Maiden. Track 3 – 7.5/10 I also don't have a lot to say about this one, I liked it a real lot when it first came out but it's not one I go back to so often. I'd also offer the band Vaults as a comparison; this is More Scrapes by Arthur Beatrice. Track 4 – 7/10 Yes, I played this in plug the other night, it's another before-they-were-famous song, All I Want by Bondax. The vocal sample is actually from a Supremes song, believe it or not. Track 5 – 6.5/10 Yes, switching it up a wee bit, this is Flume's On Top featuring T-Shirt. Track 6 – 7.5/10 This is Microlite by Trophy Wife Track 7 - 7.5/10 A slightly older one now (only 2011 or so though), this is the first appearance of Little Dragon on this album; Maximum Balloon featuring Little Dragon - If You Return Track 8 – 7/10 Going to my country now, this is Irish band Young Wonder's To You Track 9 – 7/10 Yes, I think this band are inactive now, they have a few songs of similar sound and vein though, this is Silver Swans' song Secrets Track 10 – 8/10 Funky eh? This is You Don't Even Know Where It's At, by Evan Voytas Track 11 – 6/10 One of the most recent tracks on this album, from earlier this year, this is Little Dragon's second appearance. The song is Sweet and comes from their latest album Season High Track 12 – 7/10 Close, it's called Echo My Love. It's by Tilly and the Wall, who despite being a quite unknown US band actually had one UK chart hit with a poppier song, Beat Control, in around 08/09, but usually stick firmly within indie. This lifts from their fourth album Heavy Mood and wasn't a single. Track 13 – 7.5/10 This is Sorrow by Frankie Rose, formerly of the Dum Dum Girls. Frankie's a slightly older artist who releases erratically, and has just landed a new song on my personal charts this week after a five year or so break from releasing solo stuff. Track 14 – 5/10 And the newest track gets the lowest score. Tbh I just threw this in for a bit of variety, it might have been someone else's favourite though mind. This is West Coast - Lenno Remix by Pretty Sister. Track 15 – 8/10 Another from circa 2014 now, this is Operate by ASTR. Track 16 – 7/10 You might be surprised at who this is, it's probably the biggest name on the album. This is, as you noted, Flavor, by Tori Amos. Track 17 – 8.5/10 Probably my favourite track on the album, or definitely up there, this is Numb by Cassie (of Me & U fame) and Rick Ross. It lifts from her 2013 rap collab mixtape RockaByeBaby. Track 18 – 4/10 This is quite short hey? I never noticed that before. This is Secret Xtians by Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Track 19 – 7/10 That was an interesting description, again, a comparison I had not noticed before but definitely valid. Going against their normal M.O. of slower, ethereal tracks, this is Electrify by Say Lou Lou. Track 20 – 6.5/10 Yes, this is another one of the newer tracks which is probably why it sounds a bit jarring against the rest of the 2013-14 crowd, this is Good Girl by Dominique, which released last year. Glad you enjoyed! I'll definitely keep in mind to be weirder next time, I definitely have tracks of that kind kicking about too, this was quite a safe go round for the first time doing one of these. Edited August 28, 20177 yr by StillJupiter
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