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CF Music Swap

jayjay

jayjay

Giga Poster
ENTRIES OPEN - PM MOUSE YOUR CHOICES

CF Music Swap: Judge other people's taste in music! Something shamelessly stolen from Reddit, I thought this would be exactly the sort of thing that CF likes.

In a nutshell, you give five of your favourite tracks to somebody else, and they will say what they think.

To Play:

Step 1: Post in this thread to let me know that you want to play

Step 2: Pick five tracks and PM them to me. These can be whatever you want, from mainstream pop to obscure jazz-hip-hop-flute fusion. Don't go too mad with track length though. Nobody needs to listen to half an hour of atmospheric prog-rock noodling.

Step 3: Write something about the tracks I PM to you. Everybody gets randomly paired up and sent each other's playlists. You can be funny, poetic, short, long, bitchy or pretentious. The only stipulation is you write some words (and don't go full Jarrett). I'll be sending tracks anonymously, so feel free to guess whose music you're rating.

Afterwards, I'll put all the results here and we can all shout at each other for having terrible taste in music. Sound fun? Put your name down!

Participants
Mouse
Gavin
GuyWithAStick
TilenB
Hixee
Benenen
 
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Go on then. I could do with some new recommendations.
 
Yeah, let's do it. :)

I'll try to send you my songs tomorrow.
 
I'll leave this open for the rest of today, and then start prodding people that have signed up. If it ends in an odd number, then I'll join in :D .
 
Going to call a close on this round of entries. Just waiting for a couple more lists of songs, then I'll send them out
 
****! This slipped my mind today. I will endeavour to send something back to you tomorrow.
 
Thanks for that :)

Just one left to go, so I'll post the first pair. Youtube links in the titles

Gavin on Mouse
Christine and the Queens - Tilted
I've been meaning to look into her since I saw her on Graham Norton a while back. She's definitely the kind of thing I'm generally into. However, I find this song a little bland/repetitive. A good reminder that I should at least check her album out though.

Michael Kiwanuka - Black Man in a White World
I liked this, especially the way the instrumentation builds up throughout the track. Great vocals. Lyrically, however, I found it lacking. All a bit basic in that respect.

The Avalanches - Frankie Sinatra
At first, I thought it was just going to be weird for the sake of being weird, but after about a minute in I started to really like it. A lot of different musical styles squeezed into one track. I'll probably look into this group more. There's a passing resemblance in style to Of Montreal, who I really like.

Rival Consoles - Afterglow
Nope. Not into it in the slightest. Sounds like an updated version of something from a bad '90s Sega Megadrive game.

Chili Gonzales - Advantage Points
Bored. End of review.


Mouse on Gavin

As soon as I saw the first track I knew this was Gavin's list :p

Kate Bush - Cloudbusting
Already a massive fan of Kate Bush, and this is one of my favourites of hers. The lyrics are great and follow an unusual story which is interesting. Kate's vocals (as usual) are spot on and I love the production - Particularly the mix of synthesised and real string sounds. I also love the section towards the end with the snare drums and backing vocals... so jealous I didn't see her do this live in 2014. 9/10
The video for this is amazing as well, one of the greatest music videos of the 80s in my opinion.

Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
Being a Kate Bush fan I've been constantly told I should listen to Tori Amos. Aside from a few tracks (that haven't blown me away) I haven't really listened to much of her work. Never heard this track before... I really like it! I like the funky lead piano and her vocals are great. This would make a great driving song! I'm now gonna go listen to some more Tori Amos... 8/10

Lil' Kim - No Matter What They Say
Heard a few tracks by Lil' Kim and none have stood out particularly... including this one. I don't mind it, but I wouldn't buy it. Its catchy and she's a good enough rapper, I'm just not keen on late 90s/early 00s latin pop in general. Is it unfair to compare her to Missy Elliot? I prefer Missy Elliot. 6/10

Janelle Monae - Tightrope
Heard some good things about Janelle Monae, but never got round to listening to her much. I like this track, her vocals and lyrics are good. However I must say I am a little bit disappointed by it... it just seems a bit cheesy? I'd imagine Glee clubs would enjoy covering it. I'm still enjoying listening to it though, its catchy and upbeat, and hasn't deterred me from wanting to listen to more of her work. 6.5/10

Fiona Apple - Get Gone
Never really heard anything by Fiona Apple. The first thing that jumped out at me were her raw, intimate vocals. I really like her understated style of singing, works particularly well with the quieter opening section but she can also lead the busier instrumental sections effectively. The song and production is good, although maybe a little bit dull - still an enjoyable track and I will certainly listen to more stuff by Fiona Apple! 7/10

Overall this is a good list, I will be sure to listen to more stuff by these artists! If I were to rate the whole list it would be an 8/10.
=========
There's one more pair ready to go. Will remember to post it tomorrow.
 
Alright, pair no. 2... GuyWithAStick and Benenen

GWAS on Benenen

Blink 182 - Bored to Death
Pretty good. I'm not that big into this type of rock, but I liked it. A tad repetitive towards the end, but nothing too overkill. I got the message loud and clear, and can ever so slightly relate to it. 7/10

Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools (Drank)
I despise this kind of music. Not much talent(aside from the script writing), bad messages, and it all just gets rather repetitive after a while. I get why some people would like this, but I'm certainly not one of them. I did like the falling effect in the video, though. 3/10

Korpiklaani - Tuoppi Oltta
I really liked this one! Great instrumentals, nice tone, and I loved the energy and power in the guy's voice! I'd totally listen again. 8.5/10

Parkway Drive - Sleepwalker
I really enjoyed the video, but I hate screamo. Even more than rap. I can't comprehend how that lead singer can even talk after screaming so much! I couldn't understand anything until the end where he slowed down a bit. I would give this a 1/10, but because the video was good, I'll give it a 2.5/10.

The Chemical Brothers - The Salmon Dance
Aha. that's brilliant! Great visuals, catchy tune, and educational all at the same time. I'm definitely adding this to my playlist.
9/10


Benenen on GWAS
I was excited to see this was a load of songs I barely know so cheers to whoever sent these are for giving me something new to ponder over this morning. Anyway, enough chit chat, let's get reviewing!

David Bowie - Life on Mars
I assumed I had a reasonably good understanding of pop music so it was worrying to see a Bowie song with 50 million hits that I didn't recognise the tune of. This is a very big sounding song and a pleasant four minutes. I also love the mix of tinkly piano and screeching guitar you don't get much of in songs these days.

Cast of Rent - Rent
Now onto the first of many musical numbers! Now I've never seen a musical or listened to musical songs on my own accord before so please pardon my presumably n00bish comments coming up. I wasn't sure where this was going at first but when the power kicked in and everyone started dancing I did have a big grin to myself. I'd be curious to see the whole musical to see how this fits in but just this little slice was fun, I was enjoying watching, the audience sounded like they were having a blast, it was an all round good time.

Cast of Hamilton - Non Stop
Again I'm not too sure of the context within the plot but this was another fun song. I liked how there were fun boppy sections mixed in with some slower more vocal heavy sections. It also grabs my attention hearing lots of different people singing the same song.

Daft Punk ft Julian Casablancas - Instant Crush
This is an absolute belter of a song. I'm a real sucker for Daft Punk but I find the robot voice grates on me so I struggle listening to the new album in one go. Listening to the odd song is great though and this one is super catchy. It's very versatile too, I could imagine going nuts to this in a club but also listening to it while sat around on a rainy afternoon doing nothing.

Cast of "In the Heights" - 96,000
Oooooh, bit of funky hip hop musical number! Really nice groove to this song and I enjoyed how it keeps building up in each section.
 
jayjay said:
Alright, pair no. 2... GuyWithAStick and Benenen
Parkway Drive - Sleepwalker
I really enjoyed the video, but I hate screamo. Even more than rap. I can't comprehend how that lead singer can even talk after screaming so much! I couldn't understand anything until the end where he slowed down a bit. I would give this a 1/10, but because the video was good, I'll give it a 2.5/10.
Click to expand...
Parkway Drive are not very good, I'll grant you - and that's largely down to Winston Mcall only being able to do one type of vocals and that one sort not being very pleasant on the ears. However, they're metalcore, not screamo.

Also, I like this game - I'm tempted to play if we do another round. Though I disagree that nobody needs to listen to half an hour of atmospheric prog rock :p
 
And the last set of entries until we have another go: Hixee and TilenB

Hixee on TilenB
Stromae - Bâtard
I quite like the build up of this song, with notably different parts of quiet, pre-chorus and chorus. It's pretty catchy, with nice changes in tempo and a good baseline. Unfortunately my French is terrible, so no idea what it's about, although a cursory Google search suggests it's something about being yourself and not part of the crowd.

Raphael Gualuzzi - Lady "O"
Big fan of the jazz/blues vibe - very chilled and "foot-tapping". Quite a nice voice, especially during the chorus. Although again, due to my lack of Italian, no idea what it's about. :p

Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire
This is a blast from the past for me. I remember it being on Tony Hawks Underground 2, a game which my brother and I would play endless hours on during miserable days in the holidays from school. This song was featured on it, and so will always remind me of it. I mean, it's a classic song for a reason. It'll be going round in my head all day now!

Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark
The intro to many of these Iron Maiden songs is really dramatic. "I am a man who walks alone...". Brilliant. Whilst it's not the sort of music I generally listen to, I can't deny that I don't find it pretty enjoyable to listen to. Generally a pretty impressive collection of musical ability too - singing, drums and guitar are all pretty full on for the full seven minutes!

Hardwell - Eclipse
Unfortunately this isn't really my cup of tea. Feels like it would be best placed in a gym spin class, or something like that. I suppose I can see the appeal, but I can't imagine myself ever just wanting to listen to that on my iPod. It's a little too repetitive and soulless for me.


TilenB on Hixee
Not Your Fault - Awolnation
Started off really promising and I have to say I quite liked it, but it got a tad repetitive halfway through (for my taste at least). Still a nice song, but not exactly something I'd put on my playlist.

Reflections - Bliss n Esso
This was pretty good. Nice and relaxing song. It sort of reminded me of some of Macklemore's work. Definitely liked it better than the first one. :)

The Impression That I Get - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
This sounded like a bit of a mess in most of the parts. But sounded weirdly familiar, quite similar to some Slovenian songs our TV Stations put on air when they have nothing better to broadcast/play. :p

Man On The Street - Imperial Leisure
Sounded like the combination of the 1st and 3rd song from your list. A bit repetitive and a bit of a mess. But I liked it. Fab song :)

Average Man - Reel Big Fish
Sounds fun, but not exactly my style. Or I'm just not in the right mood for it after a day of studying.
 
Cheers for doing this jayjay, would definitely be up for another round! Is it the shouting at each other for having terrible music opinions now? Yay!

GuyWithAStick said:
Not much talent(aside from the script writing)
Click to expand...
Well that's bollocks. Saying Kendrick Lamar has not much talent is like saying Donald Trump has not much fake tan. To rap like he does takes exceptional talent and loads of practice, its not a case of simply talking against a backing track. To be a good rapper requires an impeccable sense of rhythm and timing, not just to fit the words in time with the music but to also know how to deliver parts of a line (eg stressing or extending certain syllables). It also requires the same vocal and breath control as a singer, particularly breath control as each breath needs to be timed and executed perfectly or a whole line will be messed up. Vocal control is needed as rapping is more than just talking, each stress or change of pitch is often deliberate and needs to be executed right in order to stick to the flow of the music. The lyrical writing is often very complex and rhythmical (especially in Kendrick Lamar's case) and the delivery needs to be spot on so not to detract from the value of the lyrical and musical content. Acting talent is also required in order to be convincing and authentic in the lyrics. It basically requires the same amount of talent as singing, only with less pitch variation and more rhythmical awareness. Sure, there are rappers that aren't as talented as others, same as with singers. But to be a great rapper takes a whole lot of talent, talent which Kendrick Lamar definitely has.
 
More to the point, pretty much all rappers write their own stuff anyway, as most rap is about personal story-telling.

Swimming Pools was interesting in that it is a song about alcoholism disguised as a drinking anthem, which gets it radio play and mainstream populism. But cleverly, the drinking anthem aspect works with the actual meaning as a reflection of peer pressure and addiction.
 
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