Symphonic Album Mini-Game: FINAL

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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Please vote!

  • Lemonchick

    Votes: 7 33.3%
  • phillyfan26

    Votes: 14 66.7%

  • Total voters
    21
  • Poll closed .

phanan

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Please vote for the tracklisting you LIKE THE MOST.

We've finally arrived to the final of the Symphonic Album Mini-Game. The object of this game is to see which forum member can create the best concept album no longer than 80 minutes.

Congratulations to LemonMacPhisto for capturing third place with a 6-2 victory over Axver. I don't believe LMP has finished lower than third place in every contest he has entered.

Our last two standing are Lemonchick and phillyfan26. Updated figures for our two finalists:

Forum name: total competition points, won, lost, tie, votes for, votes against, votes difference
Lemonchick: 18, 6, 0, 0, 44, 19, +25
phillyfan26: 16, 4, 0, 2, 34, 26, +8.

phillyfan26 needs to win outright for the championship, as Lemonchick holds the advantage in tiebreakers.

Below are the tracklistings.


Forum name: Lemonchick

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God's Away On Business

Coming up with this concept has been far more difficult than I expected it to be. In my opinion it is still very loose and incredibly unclear, and I know that that might be a great disadvantage. However, I've thought about it for about two weeks and I can't seem to come up with anything more coherent so I'm just writing it the way it sounds in my mind. I see my playlist as divided into two parts: tracks 1-7 describe the setting where my character(s) live. A dark, rainy, impoverished town; a place for bankrupt deserted carnivals, circus freaks, orphans, cheap prostitutes, and back-alley abortions. While each one of these stories is clearly dark and miserable, I've always found something extremely fascinating about that dark side of human nature. Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows" summarizes these themes in an almost ironic and humorous tone. R.E.M's drive serves as a transition into what I consider to be the second part of my playlist. The mood and atmosphere is much more introvertive and personal...I almost see it as being narrated by a young man who has attempted to escape the world of darkness and corruption described in the first half. However, it is almost as though the world he encounters outside is just as dark and even more cold and desolate than the one he previously escaped. His loneliness is evident and his longing for love and something real makes his situation extremely dark and hopeless. There is a glimmer of hope and maybe the slight memory of a long-lost love (No One Would Riot For Less), but this is overshadowed by the reality of his situation..which eventually ends in death (Lacrimosa). I guess I chose the title "God's Away On Business" because I couldn't come up with anything better myself, and because it seems to summarize the themes of corruption, loneliness, and darkness of my playlist. I'm terribly sorry if none of this makes sense, I hope that people enjoy this playlist and if anyone is able to come up with a better concept for it I'd love to hear it ;)

1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "The Carny" - Your Funeral...My Trial (8:02)
2. Laurent Petitgand - "Zirkusmusik (Circus Music)" - Wings Of Desire: Original Soundtrack (5:38)
3. The Decemberists - "The Chimbley Sweep" - Her Majesty (2:53)
4. Tom Waits - "God's Away On Business" - Blood Money (2:59)
5. The Dresden Dolls - "Mandy Goes To Med School" - Yes, Virginia (4:39)
6. Pulp - "This Is Hardcore" - This Is Hardcore (6:25)
7. Leonard Cohen - "Everybody Knows" - I'm Your Man (5:32)
8. R.E.M - "Drive" - Automatic For The People (4:31)
9. Jurgen Knieper - "Urstromtal (The Glacial Valley)" - Wings Of Desire: Original Soundtrack (4:04)
10. Radiohead - "Exit Music (For A Film)" - OK Computer (4:24)
11. Pink Floyd - "The Final Cut" - The Final Cut (4:51)
12. U2 - "The Unforgettable Fire" - The Unforgettable Fire (4:55)
13. Bright Eyes - "No One Would Riot For Less" - Cassadaga (5:12)
14. The Arcade Fire - "My Body Is A Cage" - Neon Bible (4:47)
15. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - "Requiem: Lacrimosa" - Mozart: Requiem (3:27)

Total runtime: 1:12:17



Forum Name: phillyfan26

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Getting There

So, I entered my first Interference B&C competition. Originally, I was really excited, thinking to myself, "Hey! Now you can show these people some of your musical tastes!" Well, that excitement became worry for a while when I realized my musical tastes are somewhat limited. I started off with not even half of enough material, and I was just trying to find enough to fill 60 minutes. Then, I found a great transition in the middle, one with a lot of restrained hope that sort of came out of an almost nothingness. It's a feeling in those middle tracks. So, I built around it. I tried to frame the fall into nothingness before those tracks, then after them gradually gain the hope into something great at the very end. It's a full emotional journey, my tracklist. The beginning is a realization that the world is tougher than you ever thought, and that feeling makes you sink. It's a terrible realization. Then, hope climbs back into the picture and you cease it and try to make the best of it. It happens to everyone by their teenage years, but how many of us make it all the way back up? This is almost a lifetime in just over an hour. As I write this, I feel I'm making it sound too serious, cause I never felt that way about it, but analyzing it, that's sort of what it is. I can hear the meaning much better than I can speak it, if that makes sense.

1. Sting - "A Thousand Years" - Brand New Day (5:58)
2. The Police - "Invisible Sun" - Every Breath You Take: The Singles (3:44)
3. Gary Jules with Michael Andrews - "Mad World" - Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets (3:09)
4. Coldplay - "Clocks" - A Rush of Blood to the Head (5:07)
5. Passengers - "Miss Sarajevo (Radio Edit)" - The Best of 1990-2000 (4:32)
6. Explosions in the Sky - "Your Hand in Mine (With Strings)" - Friday Night Lights (4:08)
7. Daniel Lanois - "Sonhu Dourado" - Friday Night Lights (3:25)
8. U2 - "Heartland" - Rattle and Hum (5:03)
9. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Stadium Arcadium" - Stadium Arcadium (5:14)
10. Dave Matthews Band - "Grey Street" - Busted Stuff (5:06)
11. Franz Ferdinand - "Walk Away" - You Could Have It So Much Better (3:36)
12. The Beatles - "Yesterday" - 1 (2:05)
13. James Taylor - "Fire and Rain" - Greatest Hits (3:26)
14. Bruce Springsteen - "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" - The Essential Bruce Springsteen (Disc 1) (5:37)
15. Led Zeppelin - "Down by the Seaside" - Physical Graffiti (5:16)
16. Chicago - "Beginnings" - Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (7:50)

Total Runtime: 73:16



Competition master list.


Have fun!
 
Voted for myself, of course. :wink:

This is going to be close, I actually wouldn't be surprised if I lost. :lol:
 
Phillyfan, simply amazing! :cute: Go Philly! ;)

:dancing: ~But congrats to you both! You both deserved it!~ :dancing:
 
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They both are excellent, especially since they've made it this far, but I prefer Lemonchick's.

phanan said:
I don't believe LMP has finished lower than third place in every contest he has entered.

:wink:

How soon will Desert Island 4 start after this is over?
 
LemonMacPhisto said:

How soon will Desert Island 4 start after this is over?

I have the ULTIMATE playlist for that one. It makes my DI3 list look like something I threw together in 5 minutes. :shifty:
 
Good luck to you, Lemonchick. :up: You did a superb job here.

I've been testing a DI4 list for a month. Does that have some emphasis on the transitions even though it's not a symphonic album?
 
phillyfan26 said:
Does that have some emphasis on the transitions even though it's not a symphonic album?

Absolutely.

The better the flow, the farther you go. :wink:

(Unless your name is liamcool :( )
 
This is a long final, my friend. I definitely think Lemonchick has the playlist to make a run.
 
phanan said:


I'm thinking we should probably take a month or so off, but I'll let Axver and Screwtape weigh in with their opinions.

Yeah, I think Axver was less than enthusiastic about starting it up soon.

I vote for January.
 
LemonMelon said:
Yeah, I think Axver was less than enthusiastic about starting it up soon.

I vote for January.

I think there's been too many Desert Islands in too short a time. I feel this is evidenced by comparing voter turnout for Desert Island II with this mini-tournament.

I don't know what to do to reinvigorate interest in the tournaments, as not even all the contestants seem to be voting, but I think it will help massively to take an extended break, perhaps to January.

Oh, and are we doing critics' choice for this tournament? If so, I need to submit a ballot.
 
I think part of the problem with Desert Island is that after a few times, while the songs and concepts may be different, in the end you are seeing many of the same artists over and over. Which is to be expected - we all have our favorites. But it becomes a little too predictable. You're always going to see Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Muse, etc. Hell, you can usually predict Porcupine Tree showing up on a few all the time (like mine). It kind of takes away from the game a bit.

We should do a Desert Island where it takes place on December 31, 1969. That way, only music released up to that point could be used. And while you'd still see artists like The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, King Crimson, Yes, and others, you'd probably also see some overlooked artists from way back when that would give the playlists a different look.

Hell, we could do Desert Island by decade. Perhaps one edition could consist of songs only from the 90's, for example.

Or, if people wouldn't go for that, you could do some that are genre specific. We did it for Prog Island, so why not others? Personally, I'd be fascinated with something like Electronica Island. That would be fantastic to do.

Anyway, just thinking out loud here...
 
phanan said:
I think part of the problem with Desert Island is that after a few times, while the songs and concepts may be different, in the end you are seeing many of the same artists over and over. Which is to be expected - we all have our favorites. But it becomes a little too predictable. You're always going to see Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Muse, etc. Hell, you can usually predict Porcupine Tree showing up on a few all the time (like mine). It kind of takes away from the game a bit.

We should do a Desert Island where it takes place on December 31, 1969. That way, only music released up to that point could be used. And while you'd still see artists like The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, King Crimson, Yes, and others, you'd probably also see some overlooked artists from way back when that would give the playlists a different look.

Hell, we could do Desert Island by decade. Perhaps one edition could consist of songs only from the 90's, for example.

Or, if people wouldn't go for that, you could do some that are genre specific. We did it for Prog Island, so why not others? Personally, I'd be fascinated with something like Electronica Island. That would be fantastic to do.

Anyway, just thinking out loud here...

Those are some good ideas, actually, but it might be a bit difficult for some to fill out two CDs with those rules...they could make for interesting mini-tournaments, however.

DI will always be the biggest and most accessible of the tournaments, in my eyes. Anyone can throw in their two discs filled with any sounds they please, and that freedom is important to the success of the competition, IMO.
 
phanan said:
Hell, we could do Desert Island by decade. Perhaps one edition could consist of songs only from the 90's, for example.

Or, if people wouldn't go for that, you could do some that are genre specific. We did it for Prog Island, so why not others? Personally, I'd be fascinated with something like Electronica Island. That would be fantastic to do.

I remember proposing the decades idea after the first Desert Island tourney, but like LemonMelon said, it'd make a cool mini-tourney.

The same songs/artists do get repeated, but I think part of the allure is how the song fits in the playlist. There were like 3 uses of Gimme Shelter in the last tourney and all of them were used in a different contest. I've heard it about 6000 times before, but not in those ways; that shit was killer.
 
I really want to do Desert Island this time around, but I don't know if I have enough songs from one decade to make it work. :lol:

It's going to be interesting trying to make a full 2 disc album with a concept and some great music, but I'd love to challenge myself.
 
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