Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi all,
Vanilla are planning an update to the site on April 24th (next Wednesday). It is a major PHP8 update which is expected to boost performance across the site. The site will be down from 7pm and it is expected to take about an hour to complete. We appreciate your patience during the update.
Thanks all.
Vanilla are planning an update to the site on April 24th (next Wednesday). It is a major PHP8 update which is expected to boost performance across the site. The site will be down from 7pm and it is expected to take about an hour to complete. We appreciate your patience during the update.
Thanks all.
Homer J. Fong IS The Walrus - Grand Reveal!
-
13-01-2020 8:13pm#1Ladies and gentlemen,
Welcome to my Walrus extravaganza!
Many thanks to tusk who collected all the submissions and anonymised them for me; I will give him some bonus points at the end, just not enough to affect the overall standings! :cool:
We have 17 participants in this game, by sheer coincidence the 17 sexiest people on boards (except for yours truly, of course
) and they are:
Also Starring LeVar Burton
Barney92
beakerjoe
Electric Nitwit
Green&Red
MicksJaguar
mustang shelly
Necro
osh
phatkev
Pretzill
Rikand
Sheridan81
Spook_ie
Triceratops Ballet
Trigger
tusk
BUT we won't be referring to them by name here. My helper has kindly assigned each boardsie to a very creative alias; I have no idea which alias belongs to which boardsie, and as I'm only 3/5 of the way through scoring I don't even know which alias submitted which song in my final two rounds yet. So this is still very much an anonymised work in progress; you are all of course welcome (encouraged) to comment on submissions, praise/judge my wonderful/horrible taste in music (delete as appropriate) and speculate on who may be who, though perhaps try not to make it too obvious which alias you are when you see your song appear!
So here are the 17 aliases that we are going to be meeting tonight and who shall join us for five lovely rounds:
Aleshark
Countess Bathrobinson Bailecoffin
Fanghoward
Harmony Cullran
Hayesshine
Helraham Jamesorty
Jameslon Barspell
Kingolas
Lolliclarke
Marflutter
Marshallazora Satanwest
Mediphira
Palka Stephenflame
Rosparkle
Spencerpop
Yollins Roseverse
Yompson Hamoondancer
.....I have no idea how tusk came up with these, and I'm not sure I even want to know; artistic geniuses don't reveal their methods!
For each round I'm going to provide my pre-listening comments (my first reaction on seeing the submission), listening notes (what went through my mind as I played/replayed each song) and my final verdict. Scoring system is quite simple; first place in each round gets 17 points, second place gets 16 and so on. Also I apologise in advance if I give a low score to a beloved song of yours; one (wo)man's pain is another (wo)man's pleasure and all that. Please be assured that it's nothing personal (and even if I did want to make it personal, the anonymity killed that off!)
So we're almost ready to kick off then. A reminder of our first round:1. "Can you paint with all the colours of the wind"
It's time to sing a rainbow, and all the other colours too! Give me a song with a colour in its title. Simples.
Will today be a Blue Monday after Storm Brendan's Purple Rain left the sky all Violet? Will someone Paint It Black before they turn a Whiter Shade of Pale and then Fade to Grey? We're all Silver Souls waiting for the Green Light.....so Let's Gold! (Sorry, I promise I won't do lame wordplay on every submission....or at least I'll try not to be!)
12
Comments
-
-
-
-
Our first song of the evening comes to us from Mediphira who occupies the safe middle ground with 9th place and 9 points for Icehouse - Electric Blue
Pre-listening notes:
I know an Arcade Fire song called Electric Blue, I don’t suppose this is the same one….nope, we’re in the 80’s I see. Holy Mullet, Batman!! :eek:
Listening notes:
Hmmm should I know this song? Over 5 million hits on Youtube but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before, and the band Icehouse certainly doesn’t ring a bell. Well it’s definitely very 80’s anyway, synthy pop-rock with a big sax and even bigger hair! He’s got a nice voice. Song’s perhaps a little anodyne but undeniably rather catchy. Found myself nodding along a bit more on my second listen than I did on the first, so that’s a good sign that it’s a grower.
Verdict:
Not the kind of thing I’d usually go out of my way to listen to but certainly not unpleasant. Would drunkenly and dreadfully sing-along to this. Might even add it to my 80’s-playlist, probably wouldn’t queue it but happy to hear it come on shuffle.0 -
-
Advertisement
-
We're staying in the 1980's for now with a 10th place finish and 8 points for Countess Bathrobinson Bailecoffin
who gives us Elton John - I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
Pre-listening notes:
Must admit I’ve never been a fan of Sir Elton. Maybe I’ll discover something I’ve been missing in this song which, to be fair, I’m not even sure I’ve ever listened to in full.
Listening notes:
So it seems to be a pretty straightforward song about a man who’s going to be separated from his lover for a while but telling her not to be too sad because they’ll be together again when he returns. But the lyrics don’t really offer an answer as to why it’s called “the blues”, or even what “it” is. I presume he’s referring to depression/melancholy rather than blues music, but there’s some deeper meaning I’m not getting perhaps? Bernie Taupin has much to answer for. Anyway this is musically and vocally quite pleasant but it doesn’t blow me away or inspire repeated listenings.
Verdict:
I’m still none the wiser about why “it” is called the blues. This song has failed to answer its basic premise, damn it! But anyway, I can respect that this song is quite well written and performed without necessarily being in a rush to listen to it again. If it comes on the radio I won’t run to switch the station but I also wouldn’t be going out of my way to listen to it out of choice.0 -
-
Join Date:Posts: 49327
Electric Nitwit wrote: »Oh hello, reveal time
As this is anon should we not be claiming songs when they come up?
That's what I was thinking but best to let Homer make the call I figured0 -
-
Electric Nitwit wrote: »Oh hello, reveal time
As this is anon should we not be claiming songs when they come up?
Ideally not but it's not the end of the world if someone does; I'm gonna learn your identities eventually anyway so if there's a "slip" on thread I'm not gonna get mad or anything. Plus I don't want to stifle any of the discussion.
If completely anonymous doesn't work for the whole thread then we can do the "this boardsie = this alias" after the second or third round (via spoiler tags), I just need to keep it anon for myself until I finish scoring the two remaining rounds.0 -
Advertisement
-
-
[Deleted User] wrote: »Ideally not but it's not the end of the world if someone does; I'm gonna learn your identities eventually anyway so if there's a "slip" on thread I'm not gonna get mad or anything. Plus I don't want to stifle any of the discussion.
If completely anonymous doesn't work for the whole thread then we can do the "this boardsie = this alias" after the second or third round (via spoiler tags), I just need to keep it anon for myself until I finish scoring the two remaining rounds.
I'll try to celebrate my first place quietly then
EDIT: sorry, just reread the OP properly0 -
-
-
Speaking of anonymity....
Grabbing a not-too-shabby 10 points for 8th place is Yollins Roseverse with Slade - Ruby Red
Pre-listening notes:
Oh, I wonder who this could be? There is of course no way to know, or even begin to guess. Such is the curse of anonymity, it can be quite unnerving…..even a little spooky, one might say! :pac:
Listening notes:
Intro rocks quite hard, they’re definitely brining the “noize” on this one anyway…wait, did he just say “let me satisfy your appetite with coq au vin on rice”?!!....Yes, yes he did. Those are the actual words. Well that does sound like a nice meal, in fairness. What’s he saying now…. “Ruby Red, better use your ruby head. Ruby Red, lying in your ruby bed” – Jaysus, this is absolutely ridiculous. Complete and utter nonsense. And I’m enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would enjoy a song like this!
Verdict:
My inner music snob in me wants to decry this as meaningless “Dad rock” but it’s actually a bit of a CHOOON, isn’t it? Great easy sing-along chorus and some nice guitar licks. My only concern is that this guy might be a “feeder” and is feeding poor Ruby until she’s too fat to get out of her (ruby) bed. 
0 -
-
-
-
-
A decent 11th place finish and 7 juicy points go to Harmony Cullran for The NPG - Cherry Cherry
Pre-listening notes:
Red and yellow and green and…cherry? Must have missed that verse of the rainbow song! An obscure choice for a colour, and also possibly for the music. The NPG are….oh, Prince’s backing band. Now that I see the full name in writing “New Power Generation” it has me going “yes, of course that’s who they are”. How sweet are their cherries though? Taste test time….
Listening notes:
I wouldn’t know enough by Prince to call myself a “fan”, I know his greatest hits and for the most part they’re great tunes. Man was ridiculously prolific, would take forever to listen to his whole back catalogue. Gentle piano and bells intro, sweet vocals, quite sad lyrics (rhyming ‘basketball’ with ‘camisoles’ is a bit of a stretch though!) Yeah this is a nice enough, soulful number….woah, lyrics really take a turn in that last verse don’t they?
Verdict:
It’s not a song that sets my world on fire but it’s perfectly grand for what it is. The contrast between the gentle, understated music and the melodramatic lyrics (and is that a police siren at the end?) is interesting. Not exactly a Purple classic though.0 -
Advertisement
-
-
I've an idea who this might be based on previous Walrus submissions.
Spencerpop takes 7th place and wins 11 points for Sunny Lax - Bluebird (Daniel Kandi Remix)
Pre-listening notes:
So dance music wouldn’t generally be my thing. I don’t really know the distinction between techno, trance, house, etc. so I probably sound like a total idiot if I try to talk about dance music. I suspect this is going to really drag me out of my comfort zone, which is part of the essence of Walrus I guess!
Listening notes:
Starts off with your fairly standard uns-uns-uns….ok, nice bleeps kicking in at 30 seconds, extra layers being added now…at least it’s building and not staying flat……it’s all gone quiet at 3 minutes, and then picks up again. It moves along nicely without ever getting too repetitive.
Verdict:
So I went on a little bit of a daydream with this one. I’ve never been much of a clubbing person, but I’m willing to accept that I’ve probably only been to shít clubs! The idea of being among a group of happy, buzzing people and dancing like mad to something like this without any other care in the world is a really nice thought. I’ve recently entered my thirties, maybe this is the decade that I’ll somehow fall into that scene?! I doubt I’ll ever be a connoisseur of dance/electronic music but the important question for any song regardless of genre is; would I listen to this again? And in this case the answer is yes, I think I would.
0 -
-
Our 12th place finisher tonight is Helraham Jamesorty who gets 6 points for Xavier Rudd - Dark Shades of Blue
Pre-listening notes:
Xavier Rudd….that name does ring a bell, though I can’t think of what I actually know by him.....oh wait, the top video on Youtube is a song called "Follow The Sun", I have heard that song before. He seems to be a folky, new-agey type of guy? ….
Listening notes:
….ok, maybe he’s not always a folky, new-age type! This has quite a sludgy, hard rock intro. Pretty good voice, in fairness. Song plods along a bit though, no real “wow” moment. Drags a bit at the end in particular, think at least thirty seconds could probably be shaved off. Overall though it’s not a bad song by any means but it hasn't blown me away either.
Verdict:
This is a perfectly fine song. Nothing "wrong" with it per se. But I’m not really in a rush to listen again. Sorry.0 -
-
Fanghoward is gently rapping at my chamber door and as a result wins 12 points and 6th place with Alan Parsons Project - The Raven
Pre-listening notes:
Ah yes, that well-known colour raven! Tempted to award marks for thinking outside the box here, as it’s not the first colour that comes to mind unless perhaps you’ve just dyed your hair. So I’m not sure what this song is but my first guess is that it’s going to be Edgar Allen Poe’s poem set to some music. Which could potentially be quite wonderful, actually! Let’s find out…..
Listening notes:
Well it’s kind of what I thought it would be, and yet so very different! I was expecting a Vincent Price-esque voice recital set to some eerie background music, whereas this is…..I’m not sure what this is, really. Electronic-soft rock-funk? Whatever it is I quite like it. Once you get past the initial “wtf” feeling, it’s a nice little tune. And the little crescendo at the end followed by the choral voices is very nice. Yeah, I like this. Very inventive.
Verdict:
This is the kind of strange submission I was expecting to find in the Joker round. Wouldn’t have even made the connection between this and the Colours round. I don’t know how often I’ll listen to this again but I’m certainly glad to know it exists. Good job, submitter!0 -
13 is unlucky for some, but a 13th place finish in this game means at least you're not in the relegation zone! Marflutter gets 5 points for Blonde Redhead - Pink Love
Pre-listening notes:
I’ve heard of Blonde Redhead but have never listened to them before. Now's a good as any to rectify this. On we go....
Listening notes:
Ooh, strange intro. Very unusual sounds coming from those instruments. Hmmm not mad about the vocals here to be honest. I quite like the music and the “bleeps” that permeate throughout thugh Do you need drugs to unlock the full power of this? Feels like that kind of song!
Verdict:
On paper this sounds like something I’d really be into – dreamy, trippy, vaguely shoegazey. Unfortunately the vocals here, particularly the male voice, are putting me off scoring this higher. Get me an instrumental version of this and it will probably jump a few places up the table. Either that or drugs! :pac:
0 -
-
-
Advertisement
-
![[Deleted User]](https://wa.vanillicon.com/v2/a6734f9e45541efceb67bf368d9bc1c2.svg)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUFOVu1CurM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6KYAVn8ons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaFwXV9cF-k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1CpQYZwzKg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1C9UrDCPro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ctpcrlOxFY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAE1XTvKLXA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x40ZDD94V10Advertisement