Gauging of interest on music review thingey

[metroid composite]

Hahaha, yep, Grefter's list is LITERALLY the exact reverse of mine.  Called it!  (Well, other than the Demi Lovato = Macklemore; I order by just shuffling around tabs, so can't do "=".  I had Demi the better of the two).

Alex agrees with my #1, though, so I'll go with that.

[Cotigo]

A raving narcissist joins the fray. Blame Grefter for showing me terrible Dwarf Metal over skype and being way wrong about it being better than Myrath. Also MIA's voice is weird as shit but is fucking great beside that.

Anyway I'm drunk and bored so here goes.

Tax the heat - Generic as shit. 18 year old me would have loved it. 28 year old me has heard Cage the Elephant and has seen the same lyrical concept done better, also musically it is like Queens of the Stoneage but bad. Still, I would probably play this on Guitar Hero in a warmup, so I give this 2 chords out of 5, which is probably the same amount of chords that they played vs. how many chords they knew.

yves v & swaky tunes - Would dance to at the club. I don't really have much more to say than that? It seems like a song that was made for the music video instead of the other way around? I dunno. 2 occulus/5 rifts.

Demi Lovato - If someone played this without showing me the artist I would have thought that this was Adele. This isn't a bad thing? I'm going through a phase where I really appreciate vocalists with range and this hits all of that. 4 bad breakups out of 5 damaging relationships.

FEMM - Would dance to at the club, but then afterwards ask the DJ who the artist was so I could look them up afterwards. Musically I cannot really justify putting it above Demi Lovato but at the risk of sounding like VSM, I just *enjoyed* it more. 4 Wire Frames out of 5 Scissor Sisters.

Macklemore - Pretty dang good. I listened to these in order, and by this point was easily my favorite track (though reviewing them again FEMM won out and also Lovato's is just great). Played against other recent artists it doesn't really hold up, but I gather that's not really the point of these discussions so let's move on. 4 Pathologizing Normal Behaviors vs. 5 Giving Access to Help to People Who Need It.

Kawehi - If we're going by video, this is the easy winner. Musically... eh. Didn't really do anything for me? Catchy refrain, but nothing stuck out over anyone except Teenage Rock The Elephant. I'll grant it that it's a much better song than a lot of the things showcased here when I was checking the thread in the early days, though! Actually that this is my third least favorite says a lot about how good the other songs are here. Anyway, 3 Trumps out of 5 Please Don't Let Him Get Electeds.

Overall, I'm gonna have to go...

FEMM >= (Macklemore = Demi Lovato) > Kawehi > yves & Obama's Drone Strikes > White Boys bitching about Wage Slavery

[metroid composite]

Hmm...I don't have terribly strong opinions this week (which means if other people do I will probably listen to them).  Lots of K-pop artists imitating 70s music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbhmTM1cRro
마마무 (Mamamoo)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1T3hECK7O4
eddy kim

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GL9JoH4Sws
fifth harmony

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4IBBlzgfCE
CNBlue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ2RMOInfms
Sander Kleinberg ft Dev

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv5rNHZCGlo
David Gravell

[Ranmilia]

Mamamoo - You're the best... arouuund!  Noone ever gonna keep you downnnnn!  So this is Grease but with an extra half century of sexualization.  I'm disappointed that it isn't offbeat and creative like their previous featured song, but anyway, the execution is great.  Good variety of instruments and lines dropping in and out.  Just a well constructed fun song.  I don't have a strong opinion on it, vaguely positive. 

Eddy Kim - Same sort of retro kpop vibe, not executed as well as Mamamoo and I don't dig the fashion in this one as much.  Didn't hold my interest.

Fifth Harmony - The most effective manservice song I've seen in a while.  Musically uninspiring though.  Just not much of a song here and the lyrics aren't good.

CNBlue - Thiiiis is not a new song, just a new upload?  Wikipedia says it came out in 2010.  Rules sticklers may object.  I don't object, though.  The song is really good, even though I didn't think it would be after the extended intro.  I can't articulate precise reasons why.  It doesn't do anything overtly amazing and just stays in its groove... but that groove is really good.  It has a touch to it that made me think "oh this could actually BE a solid classic hit" even before I saw the comments and looked up the origins.  Hits the ears just right to earn that intro, comes off earnest.  Yell Break is also a lot more effective than Mamamoo's cherry break - aaaaaaaaand I just got the pun of that actually being a cherry break, oh my god, Mamamoo.  Anyway though, I'll probably bat for this track, it is good and pleasing.

Sander Kleinenberg - An entry in the genre of "house auditory mess," this is weird and requires a lot of listens to sort out whether it is weird in a good way or just bogus.  I'm leaning bogus though.  The lyrics are a negative to me, there's a whole verse rhyming "playing Monopoly" and "talking to me" and I'm just not there.  And... I'm betting I'm in the more charitable portion of listeners, since I kind of like the auditory mess half. 

David Gravell - Ahhh really?  This had a nice buildup but then wasted it on a generic overly loud brass break.  Disappointing.  The horns kill it all for me, even though the other parts are decent.

Meh.  None of this is very good, possibly excepting CNBlue, and that's actually an old song.  Still wins this batch hands down.  But seriously, we had some really strong weeks recently, consider going back and resurrecting the other Mamamoo song, or Kawehi, Dev, Julia Westlin, or Sabaton.  All those are strong tiers above this week's non-CNBlue.

CNBlue > yell break > Mamamoo > Sander K > Eddy Kim > Fifth Harmony > David Gravell

[Grefter]

<Grefter> the outfits in this mamamoo song are pretty amazing
<Alexchan> yes
<Grefter> also
<Grefter> it is lady marmalade
<Grefter> Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa & Pink - Lady Marmalade (HQ)
<Grefter> i do like slap bass, sweater vests and the pink polka dot suit in the next one
<Grefter> but
<Grefter> mammammoo has a greater volume of great outfits
<Grefter> And every second scene of this is serial killer as fuck
<Grefter> fifth harmony must be a setting on autotune
<Alexchan> yeah the barbie stuff was a little disturbing
<Grefter> is cnb like
<Grefter> a counterstrike clan?
<Grefter> and this is the introduction of the whole team?
<Alexchan> korean band names are intense
<Grefter> bass guitarist coolest dude in bande
<Grefter> i approve
<Grefter> i also really like michael jackson film clips, but these guys rerally miss some of the point
<Grefter> also the lead guitarist looks like a dude from some movie I have seen
<Grefter> like...
<Grefter> its either something like Volcano High or wassname
<Grefter> hunger games
<Grefter> but japanese
<Grefter> you know
<Grefter> the ting
<Grefter> yeah
<Grefter> its that or he is the dude from live action Death Note
<Grefter> i am too broken today to do party song
<Grefter> break at 54 seconds
<Grefter> also my post is probably just going to be this copy pasted
<Grefter> i might remove food talk
<Grefter> but probably not
<Alexchan> well then i need to spam SUPER HOT a few more times
<Grefter> This last one is pretty dense unintelligible meaningless chorus
<Grefter> but at least its divers
<Grefter> anthem break at 1:08
<Grefter> and they ruin all that hard work from the opening minute by not doing anything like
<Grefter> ever again?
<Grefter> wait we get another verse!
<Grefter> yay
<Grefter> but it does loop
<Grefter> booooooooooooooooo
<Grefter> booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
<Alexchan> yes
<Alexchan> i was out of that one as soon as the horns hit
<Grefter> The Ancient Booer: Boo. Boo. Boo.
<Grefter> Buttercup: Why do you do this?
<Grefter> The Ancient Booer: Because you had love in your hands, and you gave it up.
<Grefter> Buttercup: But they would have killed Westley if I hadn't done it.
<Grefter> The Ancient Booer: Your true love lives. And you marry another. True Love saved her in the Fire Swamp, and she treated it like garbage. And that's what she is, the Queen of Refuse. So bow down to her if you want, bow to her. Bow to the Queen of Slime, the Queen of Filth, the Queen of Putrescence. Boo. Boo. Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. Boo. Boo. Boo.
<Grefter> You should probably get on that SUPER HOT spam soon before I end
<Grefter> I think my favourite thing this week is Mamamoo's outfits
<Grefter> they are pretty good.
<Grefter> I would nearly describe them
<Grefter> as
<Grefter> SUPER HOT
<Grefter> c'mon alexchan, i set you up and everything
<Alexchan> ehSUPER HOT SUPER HOT SUPER HOT SUPER HOT SUPER HOT SUPER HOT SUPER HOT SUPER HOT<Alexchan> what do you even want me to do SUPER HOT SUPER HOT SUPER HOT SUPER HOT SUPER HOT SUPER HOT SUPER HOT SUPER HOT<Grefter> SUPER HOT
<Grefter> I am not evne shure how well that will copy paste
<Grefter> but that will do






So I liked Mamamoo best because of outfits. 

Context of me saying it is Lady Marmalade isn't quite like when I go "I liked this better when it was X".  I like this version better than Lady Marmalade.  Lady Marmalade always does 0 for me.

[metroid composite]

Mmm...yeah, Julia Westlin was #1 from me, #1 from Grefter, tied  for #2/#3 from Alex.  (While both Grefter and me agreed Beyonce was the pick).  But like...in terms of sheer consensus, that's the most the three of us have agreed in ages.  So...of Alex's "go back and pick one of these instead", I think it's the one to grab.

Also, whoops, totally didn't realize CNBlue was a reupload >_<

[Grefter]

The outfits in this week's Mamamoo are really that good though.

[metroid composite]

It was actually hard to narrow this week down to 6.  Which typically either means it's a really strong week, or a really weak week.  (I sometimes have trouble telling which, since I live in a one-week bubble).  Oh, also, Lee Hi is probably a singer that Grefter will like in general if he doesn't already know her.  K-Pop Jazz singer.  A lot of her big releases were before this series though, so this might be my first time linking her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k1-AW5B2es
Bobina

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2plu0rEr7c
Daddy's Groove

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI1ondD4FGU
GTA (Skrillex Remix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLBH7DdeWIU
Pep & Rash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuUEnho33so
Lee Hi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4oWpvJ0f8Q
Riton

[Ranmilia]

Bobina - Trance, with good composition at the base level.  Too much distortion on the high end for my taste, though, and the video is... unpleasant.  Not what I want to associate with this kind of song.  I wish the contrast with the music box part had been worked up more.  It's close to being very good, if those issues were tuned up, but as is not something that's going in my trance rotation.

Daddy's Groove - Nice, clean production, very easy on the ears, very singable.  Smart video.  Lyrics fall a little flat for me, the general theme part is okay but "then we go all out" isn't a compelling conclusion.  Feels short even though it's a solid length, like it could have used one more verse - probably again pointing to the lack of resolution.  Not emotionally moving for me, and that's going to keep it out of top tier, but musically well made.

GTA/Skrillex - Shameless Alexbait.  Great mesh with the video and song - both start in uncanny valley territory, move into startle/horror, and then go to a weird action vibe with a dramatic finish.  This is Skrillex at his best, taking elements and twisting them into constantly shifting, constantly interesting sound sculptures.  Every few seconds are different, yet they all go together.  The track does not shy away from harsh dubstep sounds, which may not be for everyone, but that's the only negative I can lay on it.  Great song, for me it's hard to top this.

Pep & Rash - Strong bassline, resulting in an amazing blend of "soul" sound into modern house music.  That's... really all there is to this one, it's a rather shallow one trick pony, but the trick is good.

Lee Hi - As MC said, Kpop jazz fusion.  Bit less jazz in this track, but I still hear it.  The question is what do I think of it, and... I'm not sure.  It's interesting, it's new, it's fresh, it's well produced... but it's also weird and doesn't blend that well to me.  Two great tastes that don't taste great together, the kpop elements and the jazz/americana elements feel like they constantly have a layer of something separating them.  Switching between languages contributes to this.  I agree Grefter will probably love it, I might love it myself in time, but as of right now, I'm not getting a lot of satisfaction.

Riton - I love the delivery and the strong sense of tone from this track.  In those respects it beats out everything else here!  But it's so SHORT and leaves me wanting more.  Looping it is probably amazing though, I could really sink into this groove for hours.  But I can't do that with the single version because it's so brief.

Weird week, I can see how it would be difficult.  There's a lot of tracks playing with genre blends here, which are much harder to evaluate and compare than the usual crop of "paint by numbers" single genre pieces that rely on execution and small twists.  I feel like opinions on this group might be very diverse.  For me, the GTA/Skrillex works wonders and is an easy first.  Riton and Pep & Rash are doing similar things, but I feel Riton does it better.  Lee Hi is... definitely not bad, but I still don't feel it.  And the last two are more standard pieces that don't stand out.

GTA > Riton > Pep&Rash >? Lee Hi > Daddy's Groove > Bobina

[Grefter]

Bobina - lol getting 1 bag out, these guys are shit at payday 2.  Also a bad soundtrack for a Payday 2 map, even the other people other than Simon Viklund do better than this.

Daddy's Groove - This is a pretty good mix of a party track and a throwback to alt contemporary safe guitar stuff from the 90s.

I also don't really get who the nostalgia is targeted at.  40 year olds that still listen to party tracks?  Or people that actually babies in 94?

GTA (Skrillex Remix) - Its a Skrillex Track.  Of course I like it.  Brostep life.  The film clip is also pretty great.  It is somewhere between Tool film clips and The Cell (not as pretty as The Cell but not much is).

Pep & Rash - Jackson 5 + nice dirty big bass stuff with blaxploitation film clip .... Damn.  That is probably the best way you could follow up a Skrillex track.  Now I have no idea what.

This is pretty fucking amazing.

Lee Hi - Yeeeeeep you are pretty right there.  If the last two tracks didn't exist this would be easy number one.  As is it is probably competing with Skrillex remix track... but I think Pep & Rash is better, which answers the struggle I was just having.

I dig the bass line of course and I do like the lounge style singing.  Ridiculously strong top this week.

Riton - Its a party track, buuuuut I like the dirty samples and the vocal sample is pretty amazing and well delivered.  Film clip works great as well.  Does the repetetive looping perfectly to hammer the point home.

I think the winner is Pep & Rash for me, in part because it is the complete package with a video, but its great just as a track.  GTA (Skrillex Remix) or Lee Hi would be easy winners in other weeks.  Riton would always get respect.

[metroid composite]

Alright, well, let's see...not surprised that this is pretty split since my ordering was changing constantly.  The ordering I left with at the end of Thursday night:

Bobina > Lee Hi > skrillex > pep & rash > daddy’s groove > riton

Looks like Bobina is like 6th for Grefter/Alex, so let's throw that out.

Lee Hi is like...2nd, 4th, 2.5th = 8.5 total

Skrillex is 3rd, 1st, 2.5th = 6.5 total

pep & rash is 1st, 4th, 3rd = 8 total

Riton... 6th, 2nd, 4th = 12 total  (Did spent some time much higher than 6th, though.  Even if I had this at 1st it still only adds up to 7)

(And Daddy's Groove is the only song that didn't get a high finish from at least one of us).

Looks like GTA/Skrillex

[metroid composite]

Alright, so I'm going to be at GDC all week this week, which means we have three options:

1. An old song that got snubbed but we still want to pick.

2. A music video that comes out this week if something Beyonce-level drops

3. One of the songs I listened to before leaving for GDC--this is everything that was in B-range, and hasn't been filtered down at all--but it also represents about 1/3 of the musical week, which is enough that there's probably some solid stuff in here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oUS2Fj8IoQ
솔비

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSCmfEcQffY
twisted measure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivMUf5Nf9h8
young brother

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7WvgNdMyDQ
gwen stefani

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ermjTIW5nqA
almanac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCP6sXi33JE
Birdy

[Grefter]

I haven't watched the others yet, but holy crap that Almanac track is great.

HISTORY LESSONS SO METAL.

Also I am pretty sure this was put together by someone's cousin.

[metroid composite]

Guess I'll wait for more input; not well-equipped to judge these at GDC.

[Ranmilia]

Solbi - Main gimmick here is the 360 degree camera in the video.  It is neat but murders my framerate.  Music is pretty good though, especially after 3min when it goes through some transitions.  The last minute is extremely my jam.  I wish it was four minutes of that, both in video and music, instead of a couple minutes of comparatively boring walking and tame audio.

Twisted Measure - Maybe I'm spoiled by other amazing artists, but this is not really meeting my bar for awesome acapella.  The beatboxing/percussive parts are poor, and I can't get past that.  Good beatboxing shouldn't sound like a guy spitting into the mic.  Male soloist lacks energy too.  It is good for casual listens, and extremely good for a university group, but not on the level of Pentatonix or such.

Young Brother - Interesting.  Ambitious choice to have a sort of muted pullback instead of a standard break and drop.  I'm not sure it works, though, because the track doesn't compensate with any energy elsewhere or capitalize on the nonstandard drop.  The end result is okay, but nothing special, and lacks a hook or punch to make me want to come back to it.

Gwen Stefani - Nice beat, poor lyrics.  At least for me as a person who has never done drugs.  Standard structure, nice singing.  But the lyrics just don't connect at all.

Almanac - A clear front runner.  Unusually for metal, they have a brass and strings section, and do a lot of playing with starting in a minor key and then moving to a major key for resolution.  This gives them a blend between the "dark metal" sound and a "classical movie score" sound.  Not quite as good as Self Blinded Eyes, but very technically impressive to me.  Their sheet music for this has to be NUTS. 

Birdy - Standard breakup/strength/will overcome anthem.  Struggling to find things to say.  Very stock.

Almanac and Solbi way ahead of the other four for me.  Not a really strong group (but that's to be expected from circumstances)

Almanac > Solbi >>> Young Brother > Birdy > Twisted Measure > Gwen Stefani

[metroid composite]

This week's finalists are super mainstream (at least...mainstream by KSotW standards).  A US radio song, a UK radio song, a metal song by probably the most mainstream metal band--at least if we judge mainstream by youtube views.  (And a few not-so-mainstream options, but that's to be expected).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyq9WP-Y_fk
3oh!3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvD3CHA48pA
Babymetal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMTAUr3Nm6I
Meghan Trainor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGhVoUapFXU
September Mourning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFU1S1HeFDQ
Sarah Rzek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYAghEq5Lfw
Troye Sivan

[Grefter]

This is easy, its Babymetal.  Easily.  That is just a great track and I am super pumped for the album.

I was worried they were going to go the way of normal Idol tradition and rotate out the singers as they aged.  They are 18 for the lead singer and 16 now and have all grown significantly since they started a few years back.  Suzuka Nakamoto's voice has got more solid for the clean vocal parts.  I have hope for them just sticking with this and becoming a legit solid metal band in the coming years more than just a gimmick.

[Ranmilia]

3oh!3 - I like a lot of the musical stuff going on here, they have a strong high/low contrast, clean lines, good vocals, and a clear idea of what they want to do.  Shame about the lyrics though.  Not only are they needlessly vulgar, the chorus rhymes "fuck" with... "fuck."  Twice.  Guys please.

Babymetal - Everything Grefter said.  Song started and I thought "okay, nice visual effects, wonder if it's coasting on them a bit" and then the vocals came in and wowwww.  I can't overstate how much I like this.  Everything about it is incredible.

Meghan Trainor - Good song, good clear lyrics, nice tones.  Very "mainstream radio" vibe, but not in a bad way.  Just very well produced and fun to listen to.  This is what a *good* mainstream song sounds like, to me.  I like it.

September Mourning - Nice costuming and visual effects.  I want to like this a bit more than I actually do.  Aesthetics are great, but the music isn't quite up to their level.  Lyrics are noticeably meh, too many cliches and repeated unemotive phrases.  Delivery and execution are stock in tone and a little flat.  I guess that's what they were going for, with the calm before the storm stuff, but I'd have preferred to see the storm... and just when it looks like it's getting there, it's over.  I still enjoyed it because of aesthetic bias, and I can see this group doing great stuff, but the quality isn't quite there yet.

Sarah Rzek - This blew past before I could dig into it.  Like bottled water, it is clean and refreshing, yet plain and without emotion.  A town exists, somewhere, and people live there.  That's cool I guess?

Troye Sivan - And this is a meh mainstream song.  Stock sound, stock themes, neither of which appeal to me at all.  Minor points for implications of queer normalization.  Nothing original here though.

Easy ordering.  Babymetal is multiple orders of magnitude ahead of anything else here - or in most other weeks for that matter.  Anyone who had doubts about them being a gimmick should be completely sold now.  That sound is magnificent, the composition and effects are top notch, yeah.  Not even remotely close.  Meghan Trainor is very nice as well and would be a solid winner for me in other weeks.  The same would go for 3oh3, except for the objectionable lyrics, they put together a great track.  Then the other three are not winner level.

Babymetal >>>>> Meghan Trainor > 3oh!3 > September MOurning > Sarah Rzek > Troye Sivan

[metroid composite]

For what it's worth, my top 3 (which varried a lot with no clear winner) were Babymetal, Meghan Trainor, and September Mourning. With maybe September Mourning spending the most time at #1?  Not sure.

[metroid composite]

I think this is a really, strong week with a lot of DL-bait.  It's also an interesting situation--there's a sort-of soft rule against doing the same thing two weeks in a row.  For example, normally we wouldn't pick the same band two weeks in a row, but...well it's a rule I've broken before (once ever for Lily Allen in 2013).  Is Babymetal on the level of Lily Allen to deserve that kind of rule breaking?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE3XNZN9C2Y
Nemesea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuxwLV-13bQ
Sammus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZRvO0S-TLU
Babymetal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4W12k0MYC0
Smooth McGroove

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0adMxZeoGQ
Girls Girls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XQy2Zmxqtg
Boy Pierce

(And a bonus one that was in the top 6, and fell out when it was giving me a headache.  Spacecats)

[Grefter]

Will listen later, but obviously the answer is Yes.


Nemesea - You are right, this is a very DL friendly week.  This song is unlucky that Dhyer/Super/Ciato don't respond to this because this is way more their style than mine.  Its that same kind of clean female lead pop-metal that early 2000s gave us.  Unfortunately I like my stuff like that to be about dead people, suicide or angst.

Sammus - This was pretty good.  It is tightly put together and has lots going for it.  The sample is rad as fuck

Babymetal - This is the best.  Babymetal doing a Power Ballad.  Fuck yes.

Smooth McGroove - Was better when it was him doing Megaman 2 which was better when it was original Megaman 2.

Girls Girls - Teflon

Boy Pierce - Still teflon, but better.

[Ranmilia]

Nemesea - Strong track.  Well produced, all the elements are clear and create a great sound.  There's nothing particularly special going on with the composition, pretty stock metal, but the execution is on point.  My one real quibble is with the lyrics, which are pretty dire.  After the first listen I mentally replaced with "Day Man!  Fighter of the Night Man!" for obvious reasons of comparison and quality.

Sammus - As Grefter said, very tight and well constructed.  I'm sold on the car ride atmosphere.  It unfortunately lacks wow factor, which probably sinks it for "song of the week in a strong pack" purposes, but I enjoyed listening to this and the raw quality is well above average for most weeks.

Babymetal - So, last week, we heard a metal song with a touch of idol influence.  This week's entry I would say is more of an idol style song with some metal influence.  I am... actually slightly disappointed, given the hype?  It is good, but I did not enjoy it nearly as much as I enjoyed Karate, or their earlier songs.  The second half in particular gets pretty repetitive.  But it is still very good, the production is ace, the singing is double ace, I'm just not into the composition as much.

Smooth McGroove - Great to see he's back to making tracks!  Same stuff as before applies, though - it's mostly direct covers that are very impressive if you haven't heard him before, but all sound the same once you've heard a few, with some exceptions where Smooth does major arrangement work.  This isn't one of those exceptions.  That's a shame, because Megalovania in particular is an *extremely* popular track for people to arrange, cover and remix.  I've heard dozens of serious attempts in the six months since the game came out, so my standards are really high here.  For people who have heard neither Smooth songs nor Megalovania covers (admittedly perhaps a large portion of column readers?) this is great, but for people who *have* heard them, this is neither good-for-Smooth nor good-for-a-Mega-mix.   I think his version of Death By Glamour is quite good though...

Girls Girls - I like this, this is my style.  Articulating exactly why is hard.  It's catchy and quirky and experimental.  Not all of it works though... I feel like I like it more than it 'deserves' for k-club fare, and even then it is clearly not on the technical level of Nemesea or Babymetal.  It's just nice to listen to.

Boy Pierce - *blink*  Grefter likes this better than Girls Girls?  Metroid likes this enough to top six?  I don't get it... is this a joke song?  Or a weird taste collision for me?  Ultra creepo white guy singing off beat and off tune about stalking some girl?  Yeah I gave it another listen just in case, but if it's a joke it's over my head, and if it's not a joke, well, it sounds completely terrible to me.

Spacecats - Cute but gave me a headache too.


Strong week overall, yeah.  Boy Pierce is "O_O ew what?" to me, and the Smooth piece is, well, read comments, but everything else very good in various ways.  Though... nothing really cracks excellent tier for me either.  I am not convinced that Babymetal deserves a repeat week, but neither would I object to it, they've certainly donned different enough masks.  Top three could be convinced to go in any order, ranking just on kneejerk personal affection.

Girls Girls >= Nemesea >= Babymetal > Sammus > McGroove > Spacecats > Boy Pierce

[Grefter]

Oh yeah there was another track.  Has been ages since I heard some hard dance.  Decent stomp track, but yeah the clip is terrible.

[metroid composite]

Boy Pierce - *blink*  Grefter likes this better than Girls Girls?  Metroid likes this enough to top six?  I don't get it... is this a joke song?  Or a weird taste collision for me?  Ultra creepo white guy singing off beat and off tune about stalking some girl?  Yeah I gave it another listen just in case, but if it's a joke it's over my head, and if it's not a joke, well, it sounds completely terrible to me.

He's rapping, so I'm not so worried about the off-tune.  And...Boy Peirce is someone we've picked a not once but twice in the past:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeSe61dfTA8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIJ0RyoRXmU

Truth be told this one wasn't really resonating -that- well with me either, though (it was originally around 8th; wasn't even going to make the top 6.  Just...it's an artist with some history in KSotW, and actually one of the few artists that chats with me on twitter which I'm sure biases me a little, and Spacecats had just fallen out of the top 6, and the 7th place option was something really generic that...just wasn't getting picked.  Let's see...seventh was...Against the Current I think?  Which...I'm sure you will tell me is better, and yeah, probably, but like...overall nobody is going to pick that over Nemesea, whereas Boy Pierce was at least different enough that maybe Grefter would tell me it was great.  There's some really strong moments with the instrumentation, especially early on).

Alright, let's see....

My top 3 shifted around a lot, but it was usually some combination of Smooth McGroove, Girls Girls, and Babymetal (with maybe Girls Girls being a bit lower than the other two, although all three spent some time at #1).

Babymetal is like... 2, 1, 3, total rank of 5

McGroove is getting lower marks from both Alex and Casey.

Girls Girls is like 2ish, 5ish, 1, total rank of 8

Hmm...anything that was a little off my radar getting ranked high by Grefter/Alex...I guess Nemesea?  Looks like 2, 3, and was 4ish for me, total rank of 7.  Sammus was 4, 2, 4ish from me, total rank 8.  Eh, neither of these have anyone picking them as their #1, though.  Like...two people still prefer babymetal over Nemesea, and the final person has a >=.

OK, so...Girls Girls or Babymetal...honestly, I think Babymetal will just be better received.  (It was pretty well-received last week, and this is a more accessible song.  Whereas at least my family claims to be not as into electronic music--although that doesn't always seem to be true either).

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I'm not sure if this is a strong week, but it was certainly a week with a lot of big names.  Like...Cindi Lauper released her first music video since the 80s o_O  (Didn't quite make the top 6).  Iggy Azalea (also cut from the top 6).  Mamamoo (also cut from the top 6).  There was a new Rihanna song (mediocre).  But then there was also all of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WbCfHutDSE
Ariana Grande

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTQyFzTl5GA
acapellascience

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6qYxXGH_-U
I.O.I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZscv36UUHo
David Bowie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9LJDwZOprY
Pentatonix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC3Ejf7vPEY
Rick Astley