BJSC 130

Host Country: Cor Lupus

Overview

As another BJSC season drew to a close it was a time of reflection for us as we experienced our most challenging year so far with just a solitary top 10 result alongside three DNQs and three bottom 3 finishes, resulting in an EOY final position of 37th. Preparations for a bounce back in form for the following year were already underway but meanwhile we essentially had a 'free hit' of sorts for 130 so went a bit rogue for the first time in a while. This contest memorably started off as a bit of a disaster in the semis with half of our votes not making the final cut. Cor Lupus were the hosts once again for a contest won for a second time by Land of DW. In the EOY leaderboard for 2020, Altyr Muunilinst came out on top ahead of Hendinia & Aeroche, all 3 nations separated by a mere 48 points.

Dobago's Entry

Result: DNQ (26th in Semi)

The aforementioned "rogue" entry was this hip hop banger from a then much less-known American rapper under her previous guise of Mulatto. We had long toyed with the idea of sending a rap entry more out of sheer curiosity rather than expectation and this 'end of school year' contest presented the perfect opportunity to throw one of our random discoveries out there. This is a swift, action-packed rap track full of attitude and personality, akin to likes of Megan Thee Stallion whom had had a big commercial breakthrough earlier in the year. Most likely the shortest entry we've ever sent clocking in at just over 2 and a half minutes, it's just a bit of fun that was totally against the grain of our typical sound and rather predictably, it bombed in the contest although did pick a semi-respectable 9 votes. Not a song I've actively dug out much since however Latto would go on to enjoy commercial success of her own in the coming years, becoming the first ever Dobagan representative to subsequently chart in the UK top 40. A neat little badge of honour there!

Winning Entry

Country: Land of DW

2020 was certainly a good year for winners whereby we were already familiar with several of their past works. South African DJ Nora En Pure had been a bit of a favourite of ours for a good while, even achieving a #1 single during the Personal Charts era with 'Tell My Heart'. Her unique take on deep and progressive house, often encompassing delicate and reflective sounds won many fans across the Forum and it was likely only a matter of time before she struck gold in this contest. Coincidentally, just like with previous winners Everglow, she had scored a 18th position on debut before going all the way to the top on second attempt. Like much of her discography, 'Wetlands' is a beautiful and enchanting piece that truly absorbs you into the music, expertly incorporating the animal sound effects to further enhance an authentic listening experience. That said, this entry had a lot going against it from a winning perspective, it being an instrumental and an extremely short one at that, not even breaching the 2 and half minute threshold. Because of this I personally found it an extremely surprising winner, it managing to achieve widespread admiration from all pockets of voters, amassing a seriously impressive 361 points. This included 7 from Dobago, so it was nice to end the year on a strong suit once again. It probably deserved more from us but I remember feeling, and still in fact do, that the version sent was simply too short from a personal preference. Luckily there exists an extended mix that scratches this particular itch.

18-Pointer

Country: Kluminican Republic (result: 10th)

Not one I immediately recognise from title alone and even listening to it back now I don't vividly recall it from the contest. It's an abrasive serving of EDM containing elements of dubstep and trap, which samples a classical piece of J.S. Bach. The way the violin sections are intertwined with the bludgeoning contemporary production is highly impressive and makes for an all round fascinating listen. That said, I'm surprised this got our gold medal, a third for Kluminican Republic, as it certainly doesn't hold up quite so well today. That may be because dubstep in general has dated rather a lot worse than other subgenres but generally I just don't hold the same level of affinity for this sort of sound as I once did. It's definitely an intriguing song that has a lot going for it but would fall considerably down the order now on a retrospective review. Our 15 & 13 pointers meanwhile have stood out as long-term massive faves, those being the utterly glorious power metal yuletide anthem of 'Ghost of Christmas Past' and the brilliant dance-Kpop bop of 'Dream Of You' which are extremely difficult to separate but I have to just about give it to the former. A true essential every year when the weather's getting colder and the nights are getting longer. In a very strong contest, other standouts include the 2000s eurotrance hit 'The Lonely One', the dramatic and theatrical 'sad magic' and a self-described "intense symphonic metal cover" of 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik'. Of course we had to have a good old fashioned Mozart vs Bach scrap which, in this case at least, was comfortably won the latter.

I wouldn't classify myself as much of a K-Pop fan but 'La Di Da' has held up really well for me as a post-contest grower! I think its synth-pop elements and infectious, rapid pace have kept me coming back. I can see why it was a landmark moment for the genre in the contest.

The beautiful 'Wetlands' was my 18 so I was delighted that won 130, definitely ended the year on a high

Reading that back I'm so glad I afforded Alestorm an entry, I love the band on the whole but that was definitely the right choice, full throttle profanity and glorious nonsense, very glad to get an 18 from you for that <3

EVERGLOW a great winner, as was 'Wetlands', again, haven't thought much of 'Lord & Master' in a long time but it still sounds quite decent.

Think your highlights for me in 2020 were definitely The Tempest and MASTER BOOT RECORD, both real good bangers.

Dobago Entries of 2020 Ranking

1 Pendulum - The Tempest

2 Noisestorm - Crab Rave

3 MASTER BOOT RECORD - BAYAREA.BMP

4 Utah Jazz - Take No More

5 Wow & Flutter - Hot (Club Mix)

6 Felix Snow - Born To Love Buffalo

7 Unknown Brain (feat. Marvin Divine) - MATAFAKA

8 Farhad Mahdavi & Tricia McTeague - You Can Run

9 Latto - No Panties

10 Money Aujla (feat. Nesdi Jones & Yo Yo Honey Singh) - London

Winning Entries of 2020 Ranking

1 Rebecca & Fiona - Fet House Mode

2 Tei Shi - Die 4 Ur Love

3 Nora En Pure - Wetlands

4 Nova Miller - Mi Amor

5 Everglow - LA DI DA

6 Betty Who - The One

7 Sheppard - Die Young

8 NINA - Automatic Call

9 Smith & Thell - Goliath

10 Klangkarussell & GIVVEN - Ghostkeeper

18-Pointers of 2020 Ranking

1 Fractal Dreamers - Azure Of The Horizon

2 KAS:ST - Hell On Earth

3 Vacant - Hidden

4 Alestorm - f***ed with an Anchor

5 Amnesia Scanner - AS Tearless (feat. Lalita)

6 Music Instructor - Rock Your Body (Brainbug Remix)

7 DJ Paul Elstak & Klubbheads - Memories

8 Apashe - Lord & Master

9 Randy Dominguez - Warrior

10 SHAUN - Way Back Home

BJSC 131

Host Country: Land of DW

Overview

Into 2021 now and with everyone once again stuck in a deep long lockdown BJSC continued to provide welcome escapism. More importantly though, this was going to be Dobago's year! With a bit more time on our hands there presented the opportunity to explore more realistic options to get some more hits back in the bag after a real lull in the previous year. Starting the year strongly was paramount therefore we had stockpiled a handful of juicy instrumentals, which had historically proven to yield our most consistently strong finishes. After their victory in 130, Land of DW was the destination in a contest ultimately won for a third time by our good friends Danæviia.

Dobago's Entry

Result: 8th

Kicking off the year with this quite gorgeous and emotive piece which, judging by popular YouTube comments, we had in all likeliness discovered via an F1 social clip. It certainly lends itself well to the stereotypical rousing and reflective sporting montage with the angelic xylophone strikes punctuated by more intense drumming sections. It's certainly a track that draws you slowly in then hits you with a delightful fusion of mightily pleasant sounds. Still a fantastic listen now, this was an entry with which we had rare reasonable optimism and thus so it proved, easily qualifying from its semi in 3rd place then going on to land home 8th in the final, both personal bests since our zenith with Cam back in 120. Of course, as previously documented 8th place was certainly nothing new to Dobago, with this being our sixth entry to finish there which still remains a national record for a single position to this very day. It also matched our start from 2019 which ended up being our joint best year in the game, was this to finally be our opportunity to crack the year end top 10?

Winning Entry

Country: Danæviia

Electronic producer Worakls was a name familiar to us from Club Bizarre vol 3. indeed being the act to end our winning run from that sister contest. That particular song 'Elea' was a very slick deep house/classical music crossover but did lack a bit of punch to be fully on board with. 'Storm' however recaptured its best elements and consolidated them with a quite exceptional bassy synth segment which adds a whole new dimension to the track. At 7 minutes, it's quite the ride but I really enjoy the slow, gradual build-up with the flutters of violin culminating in said switch-up. The track effortlessly blends together many different instruments and production techniques to result in a truly commendable piece of electronica. It isn't top, top tier BJSC for me, there are parts that drag perhaps a little bit but it still received a not-to-be-sniffed-at haul of 10 points from Dobago and would likely challenge for even more on a re-ranking. Impressively, it meant back-to-back instrumental victories in the contest which of course boded well for our future plans if this was to be the flavour of the time!

18-Pointer

Country: Land of DW (result: 29th)

A second maximum score to the host country in 4 contests and perhaps surprisingly, a first ever 18-pointer for a nation which has most certainly become a bit of favourite of ours in more recent times. Keys N Krates of course had already been entered once by Land of DW back in 106 with a track which has stuck with me more than the follow-up, yet it was this one which took home our gold medal. They are relatively similar sonically but I feel this one definitely has more of a flow to it which probably helped with there being a more instant click. For all intents and purpose this is another instrumental unlike 'U Already Know' but those eerie vocal inflections certainly add another layer to another all round solid piece. That said, I haven't gone back to it all that much and as mentioned would lean far more towards their first entry which just packs that bit more a punch and indeed finished two positions higher in its content. In a similar vein, I would rate our silver and bronze tracks higher now too, namely 2 more excellent EDM tunes in 'New Reality' and 'Wanted' - the former notable for being a presumably quite rare husband/wife BJSC entry and the latter for definitely taking our retrospective gold now. 131 was in fact ALL about the dance music from our perspective with our entire top 7 as well as 12 out of 15 of our vote list comprising songs from such sphere so there was plenty of good stuff to chew on during the long cold winter!

Oh, I loved 'Colorful Kites In The Sky' easily among my top 20 fave bjsc entries.

'Double Dutch' was my 18 that contest as well my whole top 3 didn't really light the scoreboard on fire (Land of DW - 29th, FSR Rontvia - 27th and Cumulonimbia - 34th 😭) but I did give that lovely Dan winner 7 points, so that was a silver lining!