January Contest: Voting

[sevenoctaves]

Good listening month!

1. Keyman sam - ShortcircuitEd - nice flowing melody, good bass line, well constructed bridge, nice part going back to orig. bass line. Nicely filled 2 minutes .
2. Core - onefiftysix - I do love 6. (at least that's how I'm feeling it…) Funky as all get out. Funny rasta bass break. Very well played. Nice drum programming. Dig it! Slight wimp out on the ending.
3. Cyrosis - Take My Limbs... - creepy title, don't get the concept. Beautiful! sounds are amazing; real?, difficult to play if so! Love your composition style. Reminded me of Twink's Little Red Riding Hood mashup.
4. Bernadine - Never Alone - like the lyric-less vocal part. Adds a sweetness - yeah the distorted bass is cool. Just a nice song.
5. Rachmiel - 1+etc - using previous songs to hear the 156, although the pounded out whole note helps. Not sure how it would be accomplished without numerous players but I'd much rather hear this on a real piano. The ending (the last few rounds) is amusing sounding to me.
6. Musikjock Today - this is the kind of stuff that'll make me stop fiddling the dial on the radio…tho it's rarely on lately.
7. Me109 - Klezmer Kowboy - like the switch to 3 and a funny blend of genres (wasn't there a contest for that?) Nice pseudo guitar synth - not overdone. A coda!
8. Psy-T - Unimaginative funky break. Nice (albeit..unimaginative! ) use of filter sweeps. Real nice mood with a risky drumless little break. Don't do drugs. You already got the goods.
9. Napalm Bob - Hard Shranz - Well… you made me go and look up what shranz is. So thanks for that. According to what I read we have a healthy specimen here, including the nasty horn blast that made me think of the cover of DM's "Music for the Masses" - which for some reason always disturbed me. Hypnotic left-right cymbal stuff. Put together well - some cool work. Made me think about dancing; which made me think about when Monty Burns tries walking after being inspired by Homer's walk to work. Alright I'm done.
10. Phibeck - dnb - mastered a bit quiet compared to everyone else. I like all the elements here. Nice complimenting melodies and parts. Ending is cool
Hm - Deaf Dunderkwac - like the hard right panned sound, and all the sounds combined. Like the construction, is it the same midi just pasted at different increments of notation? How did you do that? Like I already said - very clever and it's a pliable and enjoyable theme with nice sounds.

Other hms - Driebel, Hovmod, Farlukar, Jerru, Liqih, JonnyQuest, and JackSolium.

ps - the rating numbers given were simply a means to help me put an order to the 11 songs already in my "best of" folder, and were not applied to all entries...since some might take offense to these i've removed them.
Apologies for post size. again.

[Jerru]

Welcome newcomers...
A lot of great music this month!

1). Tovokas - Almost There
Sensational from top to bottom. Loved the groove, vocals and Steve Howe like
guitar licks at the beginning.

2). Fgauer - 1st Thought
Fantastic first effort here! I could loop this and listen for hours.

3). Me109 - Klezmer Kowboy
Man, you just keep coming up with one gem after another!

4). Core - One Fifty Six
Really like the bass line. Good work with the drums as well.

5). Cyrosis - Take My Limbs..
When I commit my next crime, I want this playing in the background.
Wonderfully executed.

6). Sevenoctaves - The Wait Out
Standout percussion and choice of sounds.

7). Oddbod - A New Dimension
Great vocals as usual. I like the chorus especially.
Now if you can teach me how to make those comic book covers....

. Off The Wall - Wedding Waltz
James, you always play with such feeling.
It's a pleasure to listen to your songs.

9). Dreibel - Tamla 156/999
Nice production. Really like the bass sound on this one.

10). Aziraphal - Take It Easy
Dig the lyrics and your vocal performance.

HM's: DR X, Laura, Phibeck, Nikp2000, Beardedone
Good to see you back: Adj (happy 7 years!), Rockstar Not and Zeoy.

Off now to make my next masterpiece - See you around!
Jerry

[tovokas]

Lots of great entries to choose from...

01-core / onefiftysix
02-oddbod / a new dimension
03-fgauer / 1st thought
04-Barnadine / NeverAlone
05-rockstarnot / One5sicks
06-Psy-T / Unimaginative
07-Max el Belga / Maybe
08-Zeoy / HuileSurToile
09-musakjock / today
10-beardedone / ONEFIFTYSIX

Many others were right there... it was difficult to narrow it down, which I'm guessing is a good thing.

[folderol]

Once again there was an excellent range of submissions. With the beat fixed it meant I only had to decide on a mixture of originally, style and performance.

Not much to worry about then

01 fgaur 1st Thought
02 Max el Belga Maybe
03 Zeoy Huile Sur Toile
04 core onefiftysix
05 oddbod a new dimension
06 LauraMischelJarre Prelude156
07 me109 Klezmer Kowboy
08 offthewall Wedding Waltz
09 nicp2000 4chords
10 thomekk liveisfastcomplicatedandlovely

[fgauer]

What can I say, what an outstanding collection of music and artists. It's almost not fair to pick a top ten. I would have voted a lot of people higher, but there were just too many good entries!

1) Cyrosis (I bow in your direction)
2) Thomekk (kick ass guitar work)
3) PhilBeck (you're in the zone dude)
4) Tovakas (I want to go to your concert - in a stadium)
5) Spirulence (intelligent, intelligent, intelligent)
6) MusikJock (you made me 'feel' something - good 'feel')
7) EchoVoodoo (I need to learn mixing from you and how to pick synth leads)
BeardedOne (intelligent + performance = beardedone)
9) MaxElBelga (just a good tune - performed well)
10) Emerald Tablet (your work make me feel good)

HM: KeyManSam, Jerru (kick ass bass work dude), SevenOctaves , Zeoy, me109, Core, Dreibel, ZombieQueen, Dr. Apostrophe, Psy-T, RockStarNot, OddBod…crap just about everyone else - if I didn't mention you - my apologies - I listened to every file on the site that I could download (i had trouble with a couple of files)

I would have put you all in the top ten…you all are exceptional and refreshing artists...

[jwatte]

Can you take all the different ideas presented here, and cram them into a number? No, you can't. Some pieces had clear ideas but they just aren't the kind of stuff I'd keep on my playlist. Apologies for the subjectivity, but all of the contributions I vote for (and then some) are truly delightful to my ear!

Code: Select all

1) ***** cyrosis: Take my limbs, for I no longer need them
           (just brilliant! don't ask me why)
2) ***** oddbod: A New Dimension
           (shows that a catchy up-tempo song can get you in anywhere!)
3) ***** fgauer: 1stThought
           (it would do even better with more "authentic" orchestral samples)
4) ****/ spirulence: New Square
           (well executed)
5) ****/ me109: Klezmer Kowboy 
6) ****  rockstar_not: one5sicks
           (Would be even better with a funky slap bass)
7) ****  Neptune: War
           (maybe sharpen up that noise/hihat sound?)
8) ****  thomekk: Liveisfastcomplicatedandlovely
           (nice lick sounds!)
9) ****  beanpole: Reluctant Superhero
           (vocals and lyrics are a good thing!)
10) ****  Max el Belga: Maybe
           (again, vocals and lyrics are a good thing!)

[keyman_sam]

This is my first time participating and voting. I loved some songs, and hope to participate next month also.

Here's my vote :

1). mellotronaut- Juliette : Nice intro, deep bass (mildly annoying), fantastic intro - especially the vocal part is very spacey, dreamy.
2). sevenoctaves - The Wait out : Very good melody. Nice arrangement complementing the melody very nicely. Good ending too.
3). Cryosis - Take my limbs : All acoustic, clean recording. Would serve as good sample fodder for remixers.
4). core - onefiftysix : Me Likee.

5). pascaul - Accidente : very amon tobin-esque. Loved it. Would have been better if you had more samples accompanying the drums.
6). rockstar_not - one5sicks : Peppy and a good background for games.
7). offthewall - WeddingWaltz : Nice tune. Fits very well with the title. The ac. Guitars could have been less loud.
. Beardedone - very energetic. Somewhat random.
9). spirulence - New Square : Good basses, nice drums, decent piece.
10). Laguna Rising - Charlotte on 156th : Nice variation. Would make a good country song if you change the arragement.

[Cyrosis]

1. Zeoy. These Catchy, repetitive tracks don't normally gather my attention, but yours is in my number one, so I think thats saying something.
2. ADJ. This gave me all sorts of dark and just weird imagery with its 'off' sound. The guitar fiddling throughout the foreground and background get a thumbs up.
3. Core. Nice groove, love the bass.
4. Seven Octaves. Good contrast between melody and glitch, fun listen.
5.LauraMichelJarr. Samples may not be the most realistic, but the song prevailed in my book.
6. Thomekk. Good song, unique riffs.
7. Jonny Quest. Pretty straight rock, but works quite well.
8. keyman_sam. Flute and tech backings, cool.
9. Echo Voodoo. The vintage tone pulled me in.
10. Sepheritoh. Puts ideas of travel in my head.

[S.HUSH]

1. OddBod: Honestly, no offense to anyone here but compared to most of the other submissions this month, i really cannot see how anyone would vote this any less than top 3 (for those who voted otherwise). Well constructed pop gem, well mixed, sounds complete. Good job Odds you piece of shit nugget. More of these and less ballads por favor.

2. Jack Solium: This is eerie. I can hear this one going well for a horror/suspense flick (ala the Exorcist or The Ring).

3. Cyrosis: Another one that sounds well crafted, mixed etc. Sounds like time was put into it and that's appreciated (something i could have done with some of my past submissions).

4. Mellotronaut: You know what this sounds like to me? This sounds like a prog rock band that went up to cloud 11. Only Mello can get away with something like this and make it enjoyable. The non status quo of song structure makes it a fun ride. This sits nicely with your prog submission a while back.


5. Frankie Rocco: Aahhh...the good ol days of walking into the independent music store and hearing something like this playing over the sounds system. Totally alternative. I dig.

6. Johnny Quest: This month sounds like music made for movies. You have that "Tarantino" sound going again with this one. Cool classic, kick back vibe.

7. Emerald Tablet: This is nice. Mellow and "spacey"...maybe even "aquatic". Weak start but it does pick up when that FM sounding synth starts playing the main chord melody. I would love to hear a Drum and Bass version of this.

8. Zombie Queen: you weirdo...........keep em coming!

9. ADJ: I like the music but the main vocals IMO seem to be out of place. It's this nice singing over what seems to call for more of a Tom Waits style or maybe even a trumpet solo. I voted for it because i would like to hear more of this vibe, instrumental wise, adding more experimentation with the vocals.

10. Spirulence: It starts out really cool until the ambient synths come in. I would have loved it to go the cheese blip direction as opposed to the Kraftwerkish meets trance route. But i voted for it to say "do as I say or you will no longer have the worthy of my votes".

No HMs cause the rest of you suck wiener balls. I could flush a toilet and get a better groove/mix going.

[Sepheritoh]

1. fgauer - 1stThought
2. Huile sur toile - Zeoy
3. Never Alone - Barnadine
4. Take It Easy - Aziraphal
5. Liveisfastcomplicatedandlovely - thomekk
6. Take my limbs, for I no longer - Cyrosis
7. 8inchfloppy - EmeraldTablet
8. Maybe - Max el Belga
9. WeddingWaltz - offthewall
10. a new dimension - oddbod

[phibeck]

1. Aziraphal, Take it Easy
2. Dreibel, Tamla 156/999
3. mellotronaut, Juliette
4. thomekk, Liveisfastcomplicatedandlovely
5. adj, Meat Drum
6. liqih, Ritmo
7. funkychickendance, Benazir Bhutto
8. oddbod, a new dimension
9. beanpole, Reluctant Superhero
10. sevenoctaves, The Wait Out

[zeoy]

01.) Barnadine - Never Alone

02.) xander - Meat Drum

03.) Psy-T - Unimaginative

04.) Mellotronaut - Juliette

05.) musakjock - Today

06.) Cyrosis - Take my limbs, for I no longer need them.

07.) pascual - Accidente

08.) oddbod - A new dimension

09.) EmeraldTablet - 8inchfloppy

10.) LagunaMello - Charlotte on 156th


PS1: I found a way to avoid that silly instead of 8 )
PS2: HMs to all participants, reviewers, voters, organizers etc.

[core]

1. oddbod
2. barnadine
3. musakjock
4. zombie queen
5. zeoy
6. emerald tablet
7. cryosis
8. me109
9. fgauer
10. seven octaves

next top 10: beardedone, xander, phibeck, rockstar_not, farlukar, tovokas, beanpole, thomekk, max el belga, liqih.

some usual suspects in my list this month (where's knockman?)
thanks everyone for the music, good to see a lot of new faces this month!

[auto_moment]

First thanks to 'all' who voted for my entry. Even made it to no.1 on 'A' list which is absurd. If I hadn't been in such a rush to upload and secure 42nd place , I dare say I coulda made it a bit less worse. Also I'd like to thank those who have the time/inclination to pass fair and amusing comments.
1 Aziraphal - take it easy
2 Oddbod - a new dimension
3 lagunamello - charlotte on 156th
4 Barnadine - never alone
5 Jack solium - from hate and despair
6 Zombie queen - hats
7 Farlukar - days
8 Emerald tablet - 8inchfloppy
9 Core - onefiftysix
10 Fgauer - first thought

[napalmbob]

1- Barnadine - Shithouse quality, but there's just something about the singing and heavy distorted guitar that haunts me. Beautiful.
2- Zeoy - Love how that kick drives the track along and how the track develops.
3- Emerald Tablet - Only because of how it sounds at half speed. This is my most listened to track this month.
4- Core - This has really shmicko drumming, and it really works with the other sounds.
5- Nerdhappy - This track just leaps out and throttles me everytime. It has a certain moshability no other track has this month.
6- Psy-T - I'm a sucker for well-made acidlines and jazz/funk drumming. Almost a throwback to the ReBirth years.
7- Seven Octaves - Seriously, I can visualise playing Marsupilami at 2am to this track.
8- Spirulence - Ever heard mid-90's Westbam, Pascal FEOS, Humate and Rabbit In The Moon? The last decent dance music.
9- Phibeck - Well made and a stunning arrangement. Only reason you're down here is the mediocre sounds. Can I have the MIDI for this track? Pleeeeeae?
10- Hovmod - The most atmospheric track this month. Would suit being in an Alien movie easily.