15: ODESZA ft. Ólafur Arnalds - Light Of Day

[12-4-2-1-3-6-14]

 

This is such a nostalgic track. ODESZA puts together a fantastic piece with the synths and monologues, while Ólafur Arnalds composes really nice melodies for the piano and strings. When everything combines, it's a timeless piece which is going to give you a dreamy and happy feeling. The latter part is truly astounding. This is like a virtual hug. It's warm and it's comforting.

Edited December 31, 20222 yr by uhsting

14: Michael Canitrot - Oracle

[18-11-3-3-1-4-7-13-20-13-31]

 

And this is the track where it started all the big drop memes! :kink: The soundscape is simply amazing. I love the synths rolling in the background. The melody is amazingly crafted. The video provides a deeper insight into the visualisation of the soundscape of this piece. There are ups and downs here and I love the rich harmony in this lovely track.

13: Niechęć - Epilog

[10-5-7-22]

 

This grew a LOT while revisiting some of the earlier entries this year. I'm a bit baffled why this hasn't topped the chart. It's such an amazing post-rock track. The electric guitar runs riot here, as the dissonance creates a psychadelic listening experience, just like the feeling you get with an augmented Lydian mode (probably not the best simile here). It brings us to the ending which will feel familiar when listening to the song, by the use of a special instrument which I can't pinpoint. Amazing!

12: Highasakite - Can I come home

[15-6-3-2-1-6-36]

 

When Highasakite is not producing typical pop music, they excel with their ideas. They craft their tracks with sophisticated melody lines and instrumentation. This is relatively simple in terms of instrumentation, but the lyrics, the strings, the vibe, all give me goosebumps. It's so beautiful. It's tear-jerking. The bridge when the strings play arppegios, leads on to the epic choir in the final chorus. It is awe-inspiring.

11: Wezn - Lonely Garden

[(12)-2-1-3-4-13-37]

 

I pondered a lot about whether to send this beautiful song or Mavka to BJSC 143 this year. In the end, I went for the latter, but I enjoyed this song a lot since it was highly relatable with the loneliness theme. The strings are extremely beautiful. It brought tears to my eyes.

10: Gísli Gunnarsson - Reverence

[23-18-11-7-9-38]

 

This is such a beautiful and contemplative Icelandic ballad. I'm shocked I didn't put this to number 1 back then. This is the highest entry that did not get number 1 on weekly charts. The first half kinda went over my head a bit but it was again the strings in the latter half that brought the song to an extremely gorgeous soundscape. It gives me goosebumps. Wow!

Edited December 31, 20222 yr by uhsting

9: Of Monsters And Men - Lonely Weather

[28-9-4-2-2-1-5-5-13]

 

This is another highly relatable song. Sometimes things could get really overwhelming at times. The song gives me comfort with the beautiful strings and episodes of brass. It is truly gorgeous. Of Monsters And Men surprised me a lot with this heartfelt ballad.

8: Simon Goff - Vale

[11-4-1-3-13-48]

 

I was extremely upset when this didn't qualify in BJSC 145. It was such a beautiful piece. The tension created by the synths in the background, overlaid by extremely beautiful strings. It's truly a comforting piece. It gives me goosebumps all over. It would've been amazing if this had won, but alas. Really huge thank you to Quintessa for introducing us this fabulous piece of art.

7: KMRU, Aho Ssan - Resurgence

[4-2-1-4-15]

 

And Pavel gave us the best experimental entry for BJSC ever. This is such an astounding piece of art. The experimentation with the synths and traditional instruments. This is like homework for 20th century music, except it is modernised by the sound quality and the novel ideas all over the piece. The static noises, the distortion, the troughs and valleys, everything sounds spectacular. Particularly the instrumental chop at the end... that part is definitely the unique selling point of the piece. Truly impeccable.

6: Bloodywood - Aaj

[10-1-4-12-14-31]

 

This is so refreshing. This has so much power. I'm proud to have sent this metal track earlier in the year. It incorporates a lot of local Indian instruments too, though the "Indian flute" might just be a tin whistle. I love the vocal style in the chorus. The shouting is vigorous but it does not stray away from the melody. The bridge gives the song a well-needed break, and we are back with more craziness at the end. I absolutely adored this song!

5: Yaroslav Molochnyk - The Victory of Truth

[3-2-1-2-4-10-19-35]

 

This is a piece I sent to BJSC no matter the cost, because this is just simply beautiful. The strings are absolutely gorgeous. It was also composed by the Ukrainian composer Yaroslav Molochnyk at a time where Ukraine is suffering from a brutal war, and the piece was dedicated to the brave Ukrainian people. This moved me in a special way and it was such a tear-jerking piece.

4: Weyes Blood - God Turn Me Into a Flower

[4-2-1-3-4-3]

 

Weyes Blood really created an extraordinary soundscape here. Her vocals are magical. I like how the song is structured. We have the first part of the song where we focus on her vocals and interpretation of the lyrics, which tells "the Greek myth of Narcissus, a hunter who becomes obsessed with his own reflection, attempting to draw modern meanings out of it that ring true in the digital age." After that, we transcend into impeccable soundscape, where we hear experimentation of the synths. The birds chirping creates a warm and cozy atmosphere. Everything is so beautiful and complete here. I'm totally obsessed :wub:

3: Florian Christl, NDR Philharmonie, Ben Palmer - Choral

[6-3-1-3-6-19]

 

This is super duper beautiful. The strings picture the soundscape magnificently. The harmonies are so good. The melodies give me goosebumps. There are a lot of ups and downs. This is truly one of the best compositions I've heard in my entire life. It's utterly phenomenal.

2: World's End Girlfriend, CRZKNY - BLACK BOX FAKE FACT

[1-2-2-3-2-7-13]

 

Now we move on to some of the best compositions ever to grace Earth. This is totally out of its league... so good that it broke the record of the highest new entry when "Slow Down" achieved the feat in 2020. Obviously, Unknown Pleasures 31 has lots of great discoveries, but this one simply blows my mind. Chez introduced me to "Jerusalem" a year ago and I was enthralled by the soundscape, but this is just astounding. The experimentation with synths and sounds is otherworldly. The structure is so well thought out. It creates tension in the buildups so well that it always keeps me in the frame. Even if this piece is 10 minutes long, I feel like it should've been a symphony! If you're listening to this for the first time, please be warned about the high-pitched single-frequency beep in various places of the track.

Edited December 31, 20222 yr by uhsting

1: Thomas Bergersen - Song for Ukraine
[2-1-2-2-1-3-4-5-5-11-21-31]

AND THOMAS BERGERSEN FINALLY DID IT!! I first knew about Thomas Bergersen back in 2016 when I started to fall in love with epic trailer music. Two Steps From Hell and Audiomachine are the two main ones I could recall. Thomas Bergersen from Two Steps From Hell continued to produce masterpieces after masterpieces. This piece dedicated to Ukraine is absolutely beautiful. I love how the Ukrainian national anthem is incorporated into the piece. The piece has its ups and downs. I find the melodies and harmonies here to be the strongest out of the 150 tracks I've listened to in full. The ending is simply wonderful. It's a revelation. It's tear-jerking. It's otherworldly. Thomas Bergersen has outdone himself again. What an amazing piece.

And that brings us to 2023,
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Edited January 1, 20232 yr by uhsting

I'll need to go through these because wolf is the only one I actually know. Sorry :(

Wow, with some heavy help from song contests, I actually know most of the songs in your top 10! (but much less so below that lol - love to see 'Fall To Pieces' making an appearance though, glad that was such a good discovery for you and I definitely endorse more attention for the HATE channel x)

 

'Wings For Ukraine' is a gorgeous piece and hit hard for the moment when it dropped so that's a great #1 <3 'BLACK BOX FAKE FACT' and 'Resurgence' are both iconic and captivating experimental tracks, 'Vale' was beautiful too and indeed a robbed entry, really liked 'The Victory Of Truth' from your entries too + I kept Gísli Gunnarsson on my radar from you previously entering him to Unknown Pleasures (iirc) and 'Reverence' is also a pretty stunning song. I haven't heard the Weyes Blood song yet but it sounded lovely from the clip in Jade's recap, I'll be checking out her album soon.

Oh wow, what a top 2 *.* Wings for Ukraine is beautifully epic as all Thomas Bergersen works are and I'm pleased you enjoyed BLACK BOX FAKE FACT, I was a little scared to share that as it could genuinely damage someone's hearing haha, but the rest of it is amazing, such an epic plethora of styles. The Victory of Truth has been a wonderful recent discovery for me from you too, just a shame it's not on Apple Music yet -_- Resurgence is another great BJSC pick.

 

Obvs huge :heart: for Can I Come Home too, Highasakite really knocked it out of the park with that and Autopsy and made up the first part of the year's listening for me.

 

 

 

 

here's what I know and like from the chart! especially Light of Day and Oracle which made my Top 200!

 

60. Raye – Black Mascara.

43: Emilie Nicolas - Easy

34: Aamourocean - Parmi Les Mortels

23: Luca Eck, Nur Jaber - Fall to Pieces

17: Cornelia Jakobs - Hold Me Closer

15: ODESZA ft. Ólafur Arnalds - Light Of Day

14: Michael Canitrot - Oracle

6: Bloodywood - Aaj

5: Yaroslav Molochnyk - The Victory of Truth

1: Thomas Bergersen - Song for Ukraine

I'll need to go through these because wolf is the only one I actually know. Sorry :(

The top 50 is quite alternative-heavy tracks tbf x Hope you might recognise a couple from BJSC though ^_^

 

Wow, with some heavy help from song contests, I actually know most of the songs in your top 10! (but much less so below that lol - love to see 'Fall To Pieces' making an appearance though, glad that was such a good discovery for you and I definitely endorse more attention for the HATE channel x)

 

'Wings For Ukraine' is a gorgeous piece and hit hard for the moment when it dropped so that's a great #1 <3 'BLACK BOX FAKE FACT' and 'Resurgence' are both iconic and captivating experimental tracks, 'Vale' was beautiful too and indeed a robbed entry, really liked 'The Victory Of Truth' from your entries too + I kept Gísli Gunnarsson on my radar from you previously entering him to Unknown Pleasures (iirc) and 'Reverence' is also a pretty stunning song. I haven't heard the Weyes Blood song yet but it sounded lovely from the clip in Jade's recap, I'll be checking out her album soon.

Omggggg you know most of the songs from the top 10!! :w00t: :w00t: Fall to Pieces is such a hit I can not not include it in my year-end x Did you just use the overused meme for Wings for Ukraine? :thinking: :thinking: Love that experimental tracks are sent on the forum. They are great discoveries and I hope we will see more of them in the future, particularly in Unknown Pleasures. Great to hear you like a couple of contemporary classical pieces too. Maybe you will discover some more here :wub:

 

Oh wow, what a top 2 *.* Wings for Ukraine is beautifully epic as all Thomas Bergersen works are and I'm pleased you enjoyed BLACK BOX FAKE FACT, I was a little scared to share that as it could genuinely damage someone's hearing haha, but the rest of it is amazing, such an epic plethora of styles. The Victory of Truth has been a wonderful recent discovery for me from you too, just a shame it's not on Apple Music yet -_- Resurgence is another great BJSC pick.

 

Obvs huge :heart: for Can I Come Home too, Highasakite really knocked it out of the park with that and Autopsy and made up the first part of the year's listening for me.

Yayyyy!! The high-pitched sound in BLACK BOX FAKE FACT can be an issue but it's such an enjoyable track with varying timbre. I hope Yaroslav Molochnyk uploads his latest tracks to Apple Music soon! I really love Can I Come Home. I think I have it even higher than Autopsy last year probs x

 

here's what I know and like from the chart! especially Light of Day and Oracle which made my Top 200!

 

60. Raye – Black Mascara.

43: Emilie Nicolas - Easy

34: Aamourocean - Parmi Les Mortels

23: Luca Eck, Nur Jaber - Fall to Pieces

17: Cornelia Jakobs - Hold Me Closer

15: ODESZA ft. Ólafur Arnalds - Light Of Day

14: Michael Canitrot - Oracle

6: Bloodywood - Aaj

5: Yaroslav Molochnyk - The Victory of Truth

1: Thomas Bergersen - Song for Ukraine

Great to see you like a couple of entries in the top 20 :o Great to hear you love Oracle :wub: Light Of Day is another amazing record too :wub: Would have smashed BJSC if I were allowed to send :lol:

 

'Sweetest Way to Die', Amouraocean and 'Fall To Pieces' are great tracks!

They all are! :wub: Aamourocean remains to be one of the best BJSC winners in 2022 imo. Hope we will see some inspiring wins this year x