Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"

[Ranmilia]

Keith Urban - Country House, huh.  Okay.  I can groove with that.  Not the flashiest, but nice.

Zedd, Elley Duhé - Uhh.  Uhhhhhhh.  That sure is a video.  The song, eh, more kinda whatever to me.

French Montana - Good groove to this one.

Northward - Would put this in a Doom level.  This week's theme seems to be strong groove beats.

Dead Posey - The theme continues.  This was good and left me wanting more.

Andra Day - Is Hamilton.  Low energy song in a high energy pack though.  Oof.

Hard pack for me to rank, they all (well, 5/6) share roughly the same strengths to me.  I think Northward and Zedd are a little under the top three, but those three I could put in any order, pick your fave.  Nominal top to French Montana because supporting Africa is cool.

French Montana >= Dead Posey >= Keith Urban > Northward > Zedd > Andra Day

[metroid composite]

Pretty solid week this week too.  I have to admit, that's not the song I expected to be covered by the Berlin Symphony Orchestra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0UWT0dFSQE
Muse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg1BljLu9YY
LSD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0EyfBlqc1s
Alex Christensen & The Berlin Orchestra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6omREbNT9D0
The Vintage Caravan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=840vcVzth-0
Burning Witches

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL8i5GwlvIg
Visions of Atlantis

[Ranmilia]

Muse - Strongth.  Muse is another one of those mainstream bands I actually recognize and know a little about, and I like em.  This track in particular gets a great mood of pulsing otherworldly yearning, exactly what they're going for, with rocking instrumentals and a retro groove that feels restrained in a good way.  Speaks to me a lot.  Yeah I like this one, as you can tell from the gushing instead of "okay, not bad, kinda formulaic."

LSD - Fun video on this one, well made.  Okay, not bad, not formulaic really, but not in the same league as Muse to me though, and that's the challenge with this week.

Alex Christensen & The Berlin Orchestra - This on the other hand!  This is in the same league as the Muse.  Same thing I always say when covers come up here, have a reason to be a cover, add to the original.  This definitely does.  Great fresh take on a great song, applies the orchestra well.  The video is almost a letdown because it made me want to watch it, actively tab over to see, but it was 10% atmosphere shots and 90% dry production footage and that ratio needs to be reversed.  But that just makes it a slight second place to Muse... so far.

The Vintage Caravan - Okay, not bad, kinda formulaic for a while.  Gets really nice around 3 minutes when the "solo" hits, I love that part and in a weaker week I might be putting this 1st or 2nd.

Burning Witches - Okay, not bad, but definitely formulaic metal.  Feels a little threadbare on production value, like it's aiming for something bigger than it can support well.

Vision of Atlantis - Good atmosphere, just doesn't sweep me off my feet.  The drop I was waiting for all song doesn't happen until nearly 4 minutes in out of 5, and then it cuts back out and is over.

Top two way ahead of the rest for me here.

Muse > AC & Berlin Orchestra >> Vintage Caravan > Vision of Atlantis > Burning Witches > LSD

[Grefter]

Andra Day > Northward > Dead Posey > French Montana > Zedd > Keith Urban

I can spill a ton of ink about Keith Urban about his history and rise to fame and all about how he is carefully crafted career to never be to my tastes.

Zedd track was kind of okay but nothing earth shartenning, so I thought by track three I might be suggesting French Montana purely on the strength of a catchy tune and a great video.   Northward and Dead posey are both revival types of track in genres I like with Northward being super poppy hair mentally hard rock, like it is reaching back to that period before it was all super glam, but you are still righting a power ballad.   There is probably an essay in me about the overlap of pop metal and pop country and how I enjoy the first and absolutely loathe the latter.   Dead Posey is another 70s rock revival sounding group and do a killer job at it.  A few years ago when I was right in that groove I would have been all about this for s few weeks.

But Andra Day was bang right in the place I am at these days.   Big strong vocals and dysfunctional relationships.   I didn’t catch that it was Hamilton related until near the end.   Good clean singing and super well constructed track.   It makes sense that it has a strong narrative carrying it through if it is from a musical.   Regardless it totally works as a stand-alone track and for me personally is high and above the best related thing to drop out of it in isolation.

[Grefter]

Fuck.   How did I miss there was another page.   Goddammit.

[metroid composite]

>_> I didn't want to say anything, but...yeah, there was another page.

In other news, I don't know why eminem is so much lower volume than the other finalists this week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jol1da3hjxg
Black Violin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBdahVPD_K0
Jake Owen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuuU4ksIETg
Lee Jungpyo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWYlWvtEyio
Paul McCartney

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bvLphVWHpo
Nicki Minaj

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvSItvjFE1c
Eminem

[Ranmilia]

Black Violin - Exuberant and fun.  Not a lot else to say.  Liked it.

Jake Owen - There's like 200 people in that crowd and maybe two are nonwhite.  That's a pretty good summary of the song as well.  It's bouncy enough though.

Lee Jungpyo - Pretty but ultimately didn't do a ton for me beyond background.

Paul McCartney - Well... the name makes it hard to live up to.  Not sure what I expected.  This is pretty formulaic though?  Eh.

Nicki Minaj - This does a really good job of catching my interest musically.  It's rap, kinda, but doesn't really sound like it?  Very brain tingly.  The lyrics might be a little much for general audiences though.

eminem - Yeah rap mood this week for sure.  Good stuff. 

Nothing too eloquent to say here.  eminem slightly edges nicki minaj for me, sidestepping the question of "do I actually first place vote for MC to send her family a song about proper cunnilingus technique?"

eminem > Nicki Minaj > Black Violin > Jake Owen > Lee Jungpyo > Paul McCartney

[Grefter]

eminem > Nicki Minaj > Black Violin > Lee Jungpyo > Jake Owen > Paul McCartney


Black Violin - Its good.

Jake Owen - It is me and country.


Lee Jungpyo - Very pretty.

Paul McCartney - It is me and Paul McCartney.

Nicki Minaj - Yeah we know Nicki Minaj is one of the hardest working consistent artist in the last 10 or so years.

eminem - It is eminem, this is all apretty known quantity and his technique is unassailable at this point.

[metroid composite]

And here Jake Owen was my comfortable #1; found it catchy.  Not surprised to see the country song get slammed though.  So...I had a few others ahead of Eminem.  Not Nicki Minaj (which...actually was 7th for me, but I decided there was an extremely generic dance song that I could drop).  But yesI did have Black Violin ahead of eminem.

I'm going to go with the old rule of "better to pick stuff that gets #1 from some people than the song that gets #1 from nobody" though.

[metroid composite]

I think strong week this week?  But also kind of a weird week, where I had trouble nailing own a favourite.

https://twitter.com/VioletteVoid/status/1042542734832164864
Sarah Blasko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZCU3GBA0C8
Kitten Girls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rocRHgXfDBw
Megaherz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sesI9b_N92E
WJSN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxT5bGVPmWM
Two Year Vacation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6tNlYI3MdY
Justice

[Ranmilia]

Sarah Blasko - Wrong link? 

Kitten Girls - It's cute girl kpop.  Bouncy and fun, nothing really out of the ordinary for the style.

Megaherz - Kinda lite-metal?  At first I thought it sounded empty, then it grew on me, and it does fit the lyrics ("nicht genug" = "not enough").  Also props for a very well-shot concert video, usually I don't like those but this one was quite good.  Yeah this grew on me after first listen, certainly in the range where it could top.

WJSN - Ooh, this was really nice, lovely music, drew me in as I waited for the song to start - and then it ended, and what I thought was an extended intro was actually the entire piece.  Hm.  Hrm.  Well.  It was good.  The comments also seem divided on whether this is a standalone song/video or just a preview for a longer MV coming soon.  I dunno.

Two Year Vacation - Good radiolike song.  Pretty standard stuff again.  Catchy, stayed with me after listening.

Justice - Aaaaaaand easy winner for me.

Strong week, yeah.  Some unusual stuff here.  Not sure if Sarah Blasko's link is wrong or the song is buried somewhere in that Contrapoints video.

Justice > Megaherz > WJSN > Two Year Vacation > Kitten Girls > (Sarah Blasko?)

[Grefter]

Sarah Blasko - I am assuming it is this track because it came out this week.  I am incredibly biased here because Sarah Blasko is just one of the most consistently good performers from Aus for over a decade now.   Every album is good from front to back.  The highs aren't as high as some contemporaries, but she is always a well above average performer and is absolutely in my wheel house.   She is probably easily in my top 10.

Kitten Girls - Yeah pretty on the money with this one, I don't have much to say about it.

Megaherz - It is that same sort of Rammsteiny Deathstars sound that I like.   It rates pretty good, but I don' t think it is better than Deathstars is.  So it probably means it isn't really in competition with Justice and Sarah Blasko which are the favourites of the week.

WJSN - Hits that same kind of feeling as like Dead Boy's Poem by Nightwish, but feels slow and when you are slow compared to Prog Metal then you are pretty meandering.   Feels way longer than the 2 and a bit minutes it is... It is pretty, but doesn't really have much for me to cling on to.

Two Year Vacation - Eh this ain't really me.   I like pop music, but this just isn't the kind of pop I dig.

Justice - Okay the video clip carries this pretty far.  It is solid Justice track but isn't quite as strong as some of their great classic.  Like there isn't as strong a wall of sound of one strong clear tone with that infinitely danceable beat like say D.A.N.C.E. has.   It is still a good track.


Sarah Blasko > Justice > Megaherz > WJSN > Two Year Vacation > Kitten Girls.


Same as Alex mostly but Sara Blasko is one of my personal favs, so eh .

[metroid composite]

Yeah, my bad, this is the right link for Sarah Blasko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FR5cyznYfk

[metroid composite]

And the reward for the most interesting choice of instruments this week goes to...Too Many Zooz.  Interesting week overall I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4Cxrk98ZBc
Jared Halley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp8hIRUIg8g
Chuck Roberts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FigVEysGjE
Kid Ink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7sOZ_TFUXg
Within Temptation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Bc3pLyij0
Marshmallow ft Bastille

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV7nHX2RLjQ
Too Many Zooz

[Ranmilia]

Jared Halley - Is what it says on the tin.  Pretty good, well produced, sounds nice.  No surprises here, only "negative" being that it is a cover medley and I might go for something that is also good and original over it.... okay scratch that, the later sections do have some surprises with vocal tricks to get the grunge in there.  Strong contender.  The end is the best part by far.

Chuck Roberts - Peak edutainment.  I could go on with this for two or three times the length and not be unsatisfied.  Very strong contender, I love things that are like "hey this is what this type of music is and why it's cool"

Kid Ink - Ooh.  Unusual sort of track where the music is really compelling and the rap over top is more of the complement.  Interesting to hear the same sort of sounds popping up here as in some of the Kpop stuff we see.  Probably falls a bit behind because this week is so strong and the rap/lyrics didn't impress me much, but loved the soundscape.

Within Temptation - Is good metal.  Not a lot to say, not because it is low quality, just fairly Standard Metal Stuff.  Loud drums and guitars and lyrics about defiant resistance.

Marshmallow - Standard happy life anthem stuff.  I did like the voice, but not really my cup of tea stylistically and this is a really strong week.

Too Many Zooz - Wow, incredibly creative.  Making this sound good instead of annoying is crazy impressive.

Very strong week!  In the end TMZ is the one I would link people and say "You gotta listen to this!" so that's my top vote, but I'd happily take any of the top four, WT is not bad either and Marshmallow is Not My Thing but may be for others.

Too Many Zooz > Chuck Roberts > Kid Ink > Jared Halley > Within Temptation > Marshmallow

[Grefter]

Too Many Zooz > Marshmallow ft. Bastille > Chuck Roberts >  Within Temptation > Kid Ink > Jared Halley 

I like Marshmallow with Bastille almost purely on the strength of Bastille.  The film clip is direct and manipulative, but that's what you do with Bastille.  Chuck Roberts is good and it feels great to hear some pure house again.   Within Temptation is a pretty standard Within Temptation track, but the video looks like a Mortal Kombat movie sequel.   Kid Ink just kinda is, I am less enamored with it than Alexchan, it just feels like a rap over trap to me?   Jared Halley is fine for people into it, I just am so very not into  A Capella medleys at the best of time and this is not my kind of tribute.   

Too Many Zooz is probably too unique as a modern thing to overlook though.  I prefer Marshmallow and Bastille, but eh, its good and fun and more people could get some non-conventional instrumentation into their life.

[Dhyerwolf]

Within Temptation - Is good metal.  Not a lot to say, not because it is low quality, just fairly Standard Metal Stuff.  Loud drums and guitars and lyrics about defiant resistance.

Hmm, if this was from a brand new band, do you think it would actually be considered metal?

[Ranmilia]

I think genre labels are broad and descriptive rather than prescriptive, so yes

[Grefter]

With those guitars and drums mixed that way?   Yeah definitely.   Metal tends to have the snare way more forward in the mix than other genres if you get those firework pops of a snare coming through strongly that is one of the triggers where I will talk about “metal sounding drums”.  Same with the bass line as well.   Those two together tend to make the backbone of a song for me.  Whatever you do up in the upper register is going to just flavour what the bass and percussion setup.


They are even keeping with the zeitgeist surprisingly well for a band celebrating their 20th anniversary.  Like check out some Bring Me the Horizon or someone like that. More melodic stuff, production tricks in the mix and especially synth work is pretty common at the moment in the right subgenres.

[metroid composite]

Lot more instrumental pieces this week than usual.  This week's finalists:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2eKImKZviw
Muse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRCA_Fo0rWA
Beck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNyQpe80TRA&t=0s
Nita Strauss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXIg9swoQZ8
Nam Hye Seung, Park Sang Hee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD2EzioLovo
Parry Gripp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sRywPoYrkk
Synapson

[Ranmilia]

Muse - Good one to kick off October with.  Song is typical good Muse stuff, I like them a lot, didn't grip me IMMENSELY like some of their stuff does but this does have a very amusing video. 

Beck - Nice flute and vocals.  Kinda in the same line as Muse but I like the Muse a bit more?

Nita Strauss - Good.  Refreshing.  Contains fire.

Nam Hye Seung, Park Sang Hee - Strong stuff, drags on a bit though.

Parry Gripp - This was cute but also it's like 50 seconds and two bars long.

Synapson - Pretty haunting, in a good way.

Cool week.  Not a lot to say.

Nita Strauss > Muse > Beck > Mr. Sunshine > Synapson > Parry Gripp

[metroid composite]

Hmm...between Muse and Nita Strauss I think I lean towards Muse.  Something bugs me a little about the Nita Strauss video now that I'm watching it closer, and it's that it's really full of camera cuts; often the notes that you're hearing are not actually the notes that she's playing.  Which...ehh...they could still have the fire and stuff, I just like it when the fingers match up with the notes.

[metroid composite]

I actually don't have a good feel for how strong this week is.  Lots of big names, but they all feel kinda close to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjEngEpiJKo
melodysheep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th_j7RUu2vM
Pentatonix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA7WUDZpKzo
D-Sharp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uGVZoqJjn4
Lady Gaga

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUJGwSy0pRI
Sigala, Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZNb8A48USo
Halestorm

[Ranmilia]

Melodysheep - Nice strong science mix, good music, good sound.  Wish it was longer.  But even at 2min it doesn't feel incomplete, just makes me want to replay it.

Pentatonix - It is Pentatonix.  They are good.  You know what you are getting.  Their musical stuff is above par from what I am used to from them, so this is a very reasonable consideration.  Only thing holding it back for me is that... I just am not a huge fan of the original song?  And it is technically a Halloween+Christmas song but the emphasis is more on the Christmas side and it's still first half of October.

D-Sharp - Wow this works really well.  Getting some points for novelty although on a scan I think this is this artist's usual Thing and I just haven't heard them before?  This works really, really well though.

Lady Gaga - Not really my thing compared to the first three.

Sigala, Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor - Fine but not rockin my socks.

Halestorm - Good solid track, could win a weaker week for me but here I think it's hovering 3-4

So yeah first three listed knocked my socks off.  Think I'm going with D-Sharp on the "wow you gotta listen to this!" factor, novelty or not it's real good.  If it was December I'd up Pentatonix more but right now it feels out of season.  Even with that though the top three are really close for me.

D-Sharp > Melodysheep > Pentatonix > Halestorm > Lady Gaga > Sigala &co

[Grefter]

melodysheep - Feynman quotes are still great.  I don't think 2018 deserves him.  I am also hoping he never did anything sketch that will ruin his legacy.   Works pretty well.

Pentatonix - Pentatonix doing musical songs is like so not me.  They are good and incredibly proficient, but this is directly outside my wheelhouse.

D-Sharp - Alex is pretty spot on here.  This is killer and works amazingly well.

Lady Gaga - I have said if she did an accoustic piano album before it would be like my favourite thing.   This is absolutely not that since it is for a thing, so it doesn't really have her belting out at full range and bleeding her heart out on a piano solo, but you know what?  I have said it before and will stick by it.  This is pretty basic Movie Soundtrack Single work and it is really good and her work on it is great.  There isn't much behind the song but it is still a great example of what it is and song writing is like the backbone of her career.

Sigala, Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor - I don't think this really is a super good use of any of the people here, its just verse chorus verse between all three of them and then for some reason French Montana gets a Featuring on it and is the best part of the track?

Halestorm - Halestorm doing some very Alice Cooper stuff.  I dig this a lot.  The top 4 is all pretty strong and like in a different week with less diverse top end this would probably just as easily be number 1 as it is number 4.

I don't think it is a week with a massive high, but it is a good chunk of just solid tracks




Lady Gaga > D-Sharp > Melodysheep > Halestorm > Sigala &co > Pentatonix