Welcome to the FINAL EPISODE EVER!!!! of Absolita's Music Taste. I didn't write an intro until I wrote the rest of this so you get this shit intro where I don't introduce anything.
Round 1 was a personal challenge to all of you, and I think you all really rose to the occasion in terms of MEETING that challenge, but when it comes to how well you fit my taste ALONG with it, some of you shined and some of you rusted. Let's get into it!!! (yuh)
AlexaVonTrayne - Baekhyun - Candy - Honestly I probably should’ve seen this king coming but I’m not mad at it either. This is a really good song I liked his EP when it came out it’s kinda crazy that it’s been a year since then??? The chorus is super funny I love him just listing candies in english. I think the instrumental fits his voice really well and there’s a lot of good vocal passages and idk... it’s just very stannable methinks. There’s a lot of points where he’s riding the beat really well like “lyrically” and obviously I have no idea what he’s saying but since it’s pop music it’s really MORE about the vibe.
tbrown_47 - Grimes - California - Heyy!!! Throwback Thursday amirite??? Back when Grimes was just a weirdo who WASN’T dating a billionaire… this song kinda still sticks but it’s not really one of my FAVES from her. The Ca-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-alifornia on the hook is like…. a bit obnoxious. The guitars are alright and I like the way they mix with the weird synths throughout the song (which there are a lot of) but sometimes the mix kinda gets a little crunchy tbh. I do really like the lyrics and MOST of the vocal performance, though.
cheritaisdelicious - nickisgonenow - as soon as i saw her - This kinda had me interested with the cover art, it’s SUPER cool-looking, and the instrumental is pretty weird and fun. Unfortunately… the vocal performance is pretty grating. I don’t like the vocal filter and the voice is just very, uhm, how do you say, whiny? And not in a way that sounds good unfortunately. I guess I appreciate the way the hook SOUNDS to an extent, and I get where the idea for this like really dejected, droney, ugly voice came from given the vibe. I just wish our friend Nick listened to this and realized a different vocal delivery where he’s not washing out his voice with autotune would have like, made this song listenable. :D
KingGeek - Gia Woods - Ego - Lol our queen… I remember when Cassidy got a business offer to cover her back when we like SORTA started a music blog, that was such a trip. Anyways I had no idea this existed until I listened to it rly (although I am like 8 months late but whatever). Obviously I knew what to expect, but I don’t hate what we got here. I like the instrumental a lot, the choruses hit appropriately even if I kinda… can’t make out half of what she’s saying? That’s kind of my biggest issue is that the mixing overshadows her voice and her voice is what should be carrying here, even if the instrumental is fine. The best parts are when I can understand her and the synths and guitar and bass all hit together in the chorus, or like in the outro with the vocals layered over it that are more just like “oooooo” and I don’t NEED to make everything out perfectly. So yeah this is pretty okay but maybe suffers from a few mixing issues that aren’t song-ruining.
MichelleObama - AFI - Miss Murder - This kinda caught me by surprise. I saw the thumbnail and I was like OKAY this is some Sydneycore so it probably won’t be for me but I’ll see what’s going on here and y’know maybe I’ll like it a LITTLE. However, I was surprisingly impressed? There’s a weird PATD energy given by the whole performance, like you cannot tell me that chorus wasn’t made with a little of that secret sauce of like a very bombastic chorus with some vocal “hey!”s to really make the entire thing hit. I also really appreciated the riffs??? For some reason. Usually I feel like I wouldn’t be too impressed but there’s a LOT of variety here and it’s really bringing it. I love how every verse sounds pretty different but the song isn’t suffering for it and trying to change TOO much. The bridge is like… I was kind of really thrown. I wasn’t expecting such an auditory kick in the ribs with the screamo-type vocals that were all growly and shit, and the instrumental change-up. Everything just really clicked for me in a way that I was not expecting at all.
So, this round was interesting to judge. I’m not gonna be all like “dramatic” for these judging reveals though only the final one, so basically the point is MichelleObama wins and cheritaisdelicious must leave the premises immediately. Everyone else was somewhere in the middle hugs. So we will move on with the final four and Cherry’s final two songs will be like, sent to the ether, basically. Although if she is curious she can message me and I will tell her what I think of her other songs. :3 And also I would like to tell her that she was a VERY pleasant surprise this season and I didn’t know we would have… anything musically in common at all!
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For Round 2, I challenged you all to send songs with no lyrics, just instrumentals!!! :0 I thought this would be a good theme because I like music with an instrumental focus a lot, so let’s see what I thought of your submissions.
AlexaVonTrayne - Zsundere - Less - Zsundere is a funny artist name and also this song has like 50k listens on yt… I was excited from the minute I pressed play. This instrumental certainly MOVES, I like how much it does from the outset without like, doing too much. There’s some cool little vocal edits near the start, the bass REALLY hits as it leads up to the drops. The first drop is really nice (talking about the one around a minute in even though there is kind of one earlier), and I like how this song kind of has a pop sensibility to it where it returns back to that one passage every so often. I thought the second verse was a cool change-up as well, I almost wish this song went longer so all the ideas that kind of get touched on could be expanded further. I guess my only big critique about this song is I wish the FINAL chorus really punched, like it didn’t feel like it hit any bigger than the first two times we got a chorus??? I think that’s the only thing I was unimpressed by, though. Otherwise this was epic.
tbrown_47 - Tyler, the Creator - Enjoy Right Now, Today - Yup yup! I love Tyler. This instrumental is definitely not like one of his STRONGEST songs I would say, as obviously his rapping and his vocal style are what people come to him for, but this is kind of an interesting little addendum to Flower Boy for what it is- telling people to really live in the moment and I dunno, probably go after their dreams. One thing I found interesting is that even though I listen to this album a ton, I was kind of picking this song apart and finding things I didn’t even know were in this song - there’s a synth passage that kind of runs off the beat around 30 seconds in that I really liked but it was gone as soon as I really started taking notice of it. Maybe that is supposed to be like, part of the point. I also love the string section after Tyler counts off a little further in this song, there’s some nice little lines of bass there too that I really liked. The vocals come back in a little later and there’s some little surges of string again that sound pretty nice. I kind of prefer the first half, I think it’s a little more instrumentally dense overall, but the back half is a bit more chilled.
KingGeek - Machine Girl - Cyan Hardcore - This was pretty weird. I am listening to it right now and I can’t really tell if I like it or not? I think that can probably be really triangulated by just listening more, but a lot of this competition is about first impressions. I don’t listen to songs over and over to really unpack everything about them, unfortunately. Anyways, I kind of like the song structure so far. It has a similar poppy angle to Von’s song where it has one sound it introduces early on and goes back to a few times. There’s a lot of ideas here, but I think my favorites are how the chorus evolves and develops every time it’s gone back to. A personal favorite is the way the chorus sounds at like 1:30-ish. I also appreciate some of the instrumental passages, and it kind of loses its shit a little much further into the song and kind of starts playing all these whacked-out synths and the drum-n-bass piece gets really quick and funky, which is great. Idk overall this song is really hard to make sense of but there’s not really any ideas I can point to and be like “well I don’t like this part” I really enjoy everything and there’s definitely a sense of flow here… but it’s kinda a wild 5 minutes.
MichelleObama - Animal Crossing - Stale Cupcakes - Oh brother… this song is so peaceful and quiet and sad… um, I definitely love it, but I don’t know where to place it in terms of THESE songs. It feels instrumentally, I mean, a bit bare? Like obviously there’s only a few instrumental lines and it doesn’t really BUILD very much, which I guess it’s necessary, but it’s hard to compare it to these other songs that are much more instrumentally dense without noticing the clear difference. So I think that is my main criticism. Otherwise, this song’s obviously great - it gives me those yummy relaxing vapor-wave-y vibes that I really love in music that trigger some nostalgia that I can’t place. The lower piano lines near the end of the song are some of my favorites. Idk I still cannot decide how to accurately judge this song but it really hits me hard emotionally I just wish there was more to really sink my teeth into musically. Kinda crazy how a couple sparkly synth lines can have a bitch crying on her bathroom floor.
Okay, so this round was REALLY VERY SUPER hard to judge so please take that to heart if you are eliminated tonight and know that all 4 of these songs were some of my favorites that were sent allllll season and I really had to nitpick about which one to eliminate.
KingGeek, you are the winner, MichelleObama, I’m going to have to send you home tonight. I had a lot of fun listening to your songs miss girl and I think you gave me 4th in your music game a while ago??? Or maybe I got elimmed like second from yours??? So either way idk I was very happy you played and you sent plenty of songs I really loved. <3
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Final 3!!! OMG I’m so proud of you all. Tim, Von, Ashanti… you’ve all come so far. This is the longest anyone has ever had to wait for a music taste finale results reveal I think (I wonder if I could get away with the excuse that I was doing that on purpose…? Probably not. :D). So I just wanna start this piece out by letting you all know that I’m really honored that you all played. You all sent TONS of interesting stuff and of course, Von/Ashanti had a lot of scope for what I like/love in music so they definitely had the right idea coming in (and to be fair, both of you girls do have a lot of PULL when it comes to what i listen to/am interested in) while Tim definitely played it by ear and I think we just had a lot of common ground musically with lots of his songs (which was a VERY pleasant surprise I didn’t know I would find someone whose taste I loved as well, I kinda thought this season would be 3 of my friends in the finale again). I’m glad that I can finally self-motivate to the point where I got this out, which tbh was probably not the problem after like a couple weeks, I really just forgot this existed. Always finish your blog games, kids. That’s the lesson here. And show more respect to your contestants than I do. :3
So let’s get into what I thought of your songs!!!
AlexaVonTrayne - Nicki Minaj - Itty Bitty Piggy - I mean, this was a pretty good choice. This really is like a CLASSIC Nicki song. I would have been really shook if you took like a more pink-friday type route, but I do love her old mixtape attitude and for how late 2000s this song sounds, it holds up surprisingly well. I like the instrumental, the “yup yup” is kind of a funny idea for a beat and she obviously rides the shit outta the entire thing. I also love the whole idea of running the track back during the first verse, like there is SUCH a mixtape-y feel to this song and that energy really helps the song feel super iconic even if it would probably read as crunchy to me if someone who wasn’t Nicki Minaj did it. Overall this song is obviously amazing and I think it reflected your story arc in this competition well - you definitely came to win and show these bitches who’s who.
tbrown_47 - Hayley Williams - Watch Me While I Bloom - So honestly I REALLY did try to get into Petals for Armor but it didn’t really stick for me which… I mean it happens. I listen to a lot of music so if something doesn’t stick and I don’t force it to, it won’t. That being said, I was pretty intrigued by this and figured it’d be pretty solid, which it was. I really like the lead-up to the chorus, it was pretty low-key so once that instrumental really starts kicking it gets me excited. There’s such a weird, interesting sound to the entire piece. The guitar lines carry the melody but there’s a lot of weird little synths and electronic noises throughout that I keep catching, specifically on the second chorus and the bridge. It’s hard to even describe how they sound, some of them have more of a buzzy tone to them, and some of them are more soft and cute. I love it all, though. I guess my one critique is I wish she gave me a LITTLE more vocally. Like, for example, there’s lots of really pretty vocals on the final chorus and I wish there was more of that… earlier in the song. Either way, I still enjoy the entire thing a ton, and I thought it was the most creative finale song in terms of concept.
KingGeek - Doja Cat - Better Than Me - The best pussy. I love the song choice and I see what you were going for here. Those guitar lines are sooo pretty, there’s just the right amount of reverb on them. I could see them being SUPER washed if another artist was making this song, but there’s a nice level of echo without it sucking the sound out of the actual guitar either. I also love her vocals on this song. Doja obviously has such an interesting delivery in general, but she switches up a few times here and it fits well with the LEVEL the song is at. Like she’s not going for some Ain’t Shit level of vocal delivery here, but if she had, it wouldn’t have worked. I like her second verse on this song a ton, something about it is pretty SIMPLE vocally but in that way where it feels effortless. Anyways, yeah, I love this, lyrics are maybe a little meh, but the sound here really does work. Love the concept too. I hope this means you’re my wifey now.
So… another very strong round!!! You guys made this very hard on me, which is great! :D I’m glad you all proved why you’re the top three. I have nothing left to say except that I love you all and I’m really sorry this like died for 8 months right at the end of the season for no real reason other than… idk, I’m lazy. Lol.
Let’s get to the winner reveal!!! I’m really excited because no matter who wins I think it’s a good winner tbh.
I guess we should start with third place, right? Idk.
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Third place goes to my girl KingGeek. Kinda funny that you get third in another game of mine. You know I love you but idk, I feel like for how MUCH we talk about music I was left wanting a little more from you. Either way, I think you did excellent and you came in this game to fuck it up and you did JUST that. Well done, even though I’m sure you were hoping for more.
So, it’s between Tim and Von. Short names, but long careers as DJs ahead of both of you. :D I wonder who will win!!! Just kidding. I already decided. The winner is………………!
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OMG ALEXAVONTRAYNE!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are winner. Congrats. I can’t sit here and say I’m SURPRISED, but I am impressed. Your submissions really were like 15 for 15 overall tbh, I don’t think you sent a single song I didn’t at least like and you had FAR more absolute hits than misses. Overall you had 3 wins and 5 high placements, and that one song you sent week 2 was maybe my fave song the entire season. Really excellent work, and congrats on this very, very late win!! :3
tbrown_47, I’d also like to take some time to congratulate you. Coming into this game, I had no idea what to expect from you, but every week you gave me songs I really loved and I found that we had a ton in common taste-wise, which was an amazing surprise. You introduced me to quite a few artists I was pretty unfamiliar with and I really can’t thank you enough. I hope you had fun playing and are proud of how far you got!! :]
That’s really it. This is a long blog and I don’t know if it will all post as one blog, which is awkward. I have nothing else special to say other than thanks to everyone who played. I really did enjoy this while it lasted.
Here’s the chart, and I’ll tag the other contestants who didn’t make the finale in the comments probably since they may be interested. :o
cries. I mean I knew I'd be out haha but I sent the songs and waited 6 months for this so I will need to hear your thoughts (and also lowkey reminder of what I sent?)
HowLovely
ItsAustin
turkeylover
mathboy9
Shenellica