MarsKid
Mitch Worden
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Last Active 01-01-70 12:00 am
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Build-an-Album II, R5(P1): N0 G0DS

Elimination is coming! Prepare for the wackiest round yet, in more ways than one!
1Paper Route
Absence

In our previous round: the genre was INDIETRONICA, the theme was GOLDEN CHORDS, and each record submitted had to be between 35 and 50 minutes. They could have as many as 12 tracks, but not one tune more! Albums had to abide by a “dumb rule” where their album art had to be custom made by contestants, and the very first “point of no return” rule was introduced. Woah! Action and excitement! How well did everyone did while approaching this particular genre, and where do things stand? Read and find your fate!
2Gang Gang Dance
Kazuashita

Bg’s album:
This was an overall strong record despite some entries that didn’t quite reach their potential. Some, like track 1, contained a very pleasant, dreamlike sound that the vocals complemented well. The singing itself, however, wasn’t really noteworthy, which became a recurring issue throughout this round. The dancey vibes of track 5 and the charismatic performance of track 3 made this record enjoyable for the most part. Solid stuff. 3.65
3Caribou
Swim

Sint’s album:
The album Sint made was designed for a certain kind of ethereal vibe, and for the majority of its duration, it succeeded. There were plenty of soothing vocal performances with a gentle tone to add to the ambiance, while also still sparing some moments for more powerful outings. It remained remarkably consistent throughout, having highlights such as track 10 and track 4’s duet style. A great blend of atmosphere and great singing! 4.1
4Stereolab
Dots and Loops

Steak’s album:
This was a fun time! It unfortunately did not have enough going on for it in order to take it to the next level, but it was pleasant overall. Track 3 was an ideal example of what the round needed: a genuine, emotive performance that had a wonderful tone and elevated the music around it. Everything else was pretty! But things became close enough where pretty could only go so far. That album art though… 3.7
5The Naked and Famous
Passive Me, Aggressive You

Sloth’s album:
Sloth came into this round swinging, and it shows: this is his best record yet, stocked to the brim with compelling vocal performances. It comes dangerously close to losing steam once hitting its middle portion, as the vocals became less and less of a presence. However, it began and ended on a strong run of tracks, such as the perfect vivacity of track 1. Great choices were made here and the vocals definitely helped this transform into an excellent listen. 4
6Lali Puna
Faking The Books

Johnny’s album:
Similar to Sint, Johnny’s album relied moreso on vocals complementing the mix than it did using them as a central feature. Fair play given the genre, but it DID have shortcomings when I felt the singing failed to emerge in any noteworthy way. Tracks 5 and 6 are the best instances of this direction paying off in dividends, featuring angelic female cleans that heightened the gentle atmosphere. Another excellent submission for sure on the whole. 3.9
7Lemon Demon
Spirit Phone

Rock’s album:
This was good! Yeah… that’s about it. Indietronica posed a pretty difficult challenge here in terms of finding songs that really had a lot to do with vocals, as most performances are designed more so to suit the vibe of a track than to conquer it. Rock’s record embodied that issue, where the experience as a whole was great, but the singing just didn’t have enough going on. Track 4 was very nearly an instrumental! Solid, but can’t reach for more. 3.6
8The Postal Service
Give Up

Shemson’s album:
The record Shemmy (I’m calling you Shemmy) submitted unfortunately faltered in its second half, but it also didn’t have any massive flaws to it; it just couldn’t maintain its energy. Track 2 was one of the best cuts from this round, and the majority of the songs added to this album maintained that level of quality. Track 8 debatably crossed the line between genres, but I’m not an expert here… good stuff for the most part, and a great entry. 3.8
9Porches
Pool

Pangea’s album:
Track 3 was great, only to be followed by the absolute dud that was track 4. Oops. This still managed to be good, even great, but it got stuck in a crowded range of 3-something ratings. Not much else to offer, really, that’s how the cookie be crumblin’ my dude.Too many instances of the vocals blending into the background or just not being something worth talking about. 3.75
10Cornelius
Point

David’s album:
I’m surprised nobody else used Imogen Heap’s work; her voice is not only the perfect addition to a dreamy indietronica soundscape, but it has a beautiful tone and vulnerability to it that makes it stand out. Unfortunately, she was the only highlight here, as the rest of the tracks hardly used vocals to their potential. Too many were lacking in that department to where it was hard to ignore their absence. The record was, as a result, more of a miss. 3.0
11Bloc Party
A Weekend in the City

Mort’s album:
From the brink of elimination to absolutely killing it in indietronica, Mort has definitely hit his stride. This, alongside Tyman’s album, was what I envisioned from this round, and it delivered on practically every track. The flow was great while still maintaining an impressive variety, including the endearing accent of track 6 and the James Mercer-esque singing on track 5. This was full of hooks, wonderful melodies, and a whole lot of emotion. Awesome. 4.15
12Joywave
Cleanse

Tyman’s album:
Tyman had the greatest grasp on the task compared to the rest of the competition. Indietronica doesn’t have the widest assortment of killer vocal performances, but he managed to narrow down his record to include plenty of excellent tunes. The instrumentals themselves matched the high energy level and backed a series of bombastic showings, ranging from the sweet love-y vibes of track 5 to the opener’s addicting refrain. It was a joy to listen to and brought plenty of entertainment to the table! 4.2
13Corey Feldman
Angelic 2 The Core

Storm’s album:
To make tracks specifically for this competition in such a short time span is a bold, ambitious strategy. As much as I do appreciate the effort and the willingness to take a risk, I can’t lie and say I enjoyed it; the vocals here were contorted painfully by effects, making them uncomfortable to listen to. Instrumentally, the layers are actually very well constructed, but given the theme of this round, I couldn’t give it a pass. 3.1
14Grandaddy
The Sophtware Slump

Phero’s album:
The covert art kinda embodied what this ended up being, sadly. Most of these tracks missed the mark on the theme entirely, or the choices made by the singing (track 5) were dire. Repetitive, unengaging instrumentals didn’t do this too many favors either. There was another bloated middle for this round, and this had no chance of battling out of it. 2.5
15Spinvis
Dagen van Gras, Dagen van Stro

Uzu’s album:
More of this needed to branch off of the energy provided by track 6. This had the previously mentioned issue of vocals blending rather than standing out, becoming indistinguishable from the atmosphere rather than a notable addition. The latter half had a handful of examples in particular, with the closing tune essentially blowing the vocals out of the mix with explosive synths. Overall OK to great, but couldn’t escape the middle ground. 3.5
16Paper Route
Absence

That is indietronica, folks! What a strange place that was. Huh. It is gone forever now, never to return. Or at least, not in this competition. Without further ado, let’s get to the good stuff: placements and points! Some big changes occurred!
FIRST PLACE: tyman (4.2)
SECOND PLACE: Mort (4.15)
THIRD PLACE: Sint (4.1)
This, again, featured quite the cluttered collection of records that were all good in certain ways, but couldn’t get to the 4.0 barrier. However, certain players got to score high, causing a bit of a shake-up in the points. Let’s see how that’s reflected in the overall standings:
17Genghis Tron
Board Up the House

LEADERBOARD TOP 10:
1. Johnny >>> 64
2. Steak >>> 51
3. {TIE} Bg >>> 36
3. {TIE} Sinternet >>> 36
5. Tyman >>> 34
6. Shemson >>> 33
7. Mort >>> 28
8. David >>> 22
9. Sloth >>> 18
10. Pangea >>> 17
18Genghis Tron
Board Up the House

LEADERBOARD FIRST4 OUT:
11. Uzu >>> 16
12. Rock >>> 13
13. Storm >>> 11
14. Phero >>> 5
19Macho Man Randy Savage
Be A Man

That was indietronica! At least, I think it was. I suppose it was a bit vaguer at certain points than expected. Oh well! That’s typically more of a ‘you’ problem than it is a ‘me’ problem. But you know what is worse than any kind of imprecise genre? One that was, at one point, incredibly popular to the point of being overbearing. One that has such a negative reputation that even the band who debatably started the style (likely) can’t bear it. Everything annoying and bad about it has been exposed to the point of the category being a parody of itself. Considering deathcore is off the table, there’s only a single other option that could bring so much misery.
20Periphery
Periphery IV: Hail Stan

Yeah. It’s DJENT. Normally I try to write a joke or introduce the genre but uh… no…
21Macho Man Randy Savage
Be A Man

The theme will be WE’RE NOT DOING DJENT. I wish I could do that. Anyways, the *actual* theme is going to be, as one might expect, IN THE GROOVE. Of the things djent can do, a positive trait is potentially how positively groovy it can be in the rare instance where it’s done well. That naturally never happens, so good luck trying to make this work! Find the funkiest, grooviest djent jams around. We will all be suffering, again, so just buckle up at this point.

Requirements will be different round. As you may recall, ELIMINATION COMES NEXT ROUND. The bottom four scoring contestants will be given the axe and shipped off. That raises the stakes quite a bit. To raise the difficulty, your mission is to construct an EP, not an album. There’s less space to work with, and therefore less room for error. No track limit again, but you cannot cross the 25-minute mark; every EP needs to clock in under that line. Don’t test me!
22Macho Man Randy Savage
Be A Man

To spice things up, there are TWO different “dumb rules” to take head of. That’s right, two of ‘em. The big guillotine is coming down and we need to see more insanity! Viewers at home (me, essentially) are clamoring for further gimmicks to insert arbitrary difficulty into proceedings. Say no more, my loyal fans; you asked and we delivered. The first rule is NO ‘SHUGGAH. I know you were thinking of them the moment this genre appeared. But nope! There is no Meshuggah allowed. Tomas Haake cannot save you here, and nor can his band be used as a crutch.
23Macho Man Randy Savage
Be A Man

The second rule is where things get… spicy. With elimination on the line, there’s extra incentive to beat everyone else and get to the top of the pile. We’re in DUEL MODE for this round. Not only will you need to get the highest score possible, you’ll also need to do better than another contestant that is assigned as your rival. If you defeat your rival, your point earnings are DOUBLED. That could be the difference between continuation and collapse. Prepare!
24Macho Man Randy Savage
Be A Man

SUMMARY:
Genre = Djent
Theme = In the Groove
Requirement: EP format; any # of tracks, but less than 25min. duration
“dumb rule”: No Meshuggah; Rival Mode activated
“point of no return”: no repeat songs allowed
DEADLINE: August 27th
25Paper Rival
Dialog

RIVALRIES:
Pangea vs. Rock
Mort vs. Tyman
Uzu vs. Sinternet
Steak vs. Shemson
David vs. Phero
Bg vs. Sloth
Johnny vs. Storm
26Plini
Handmade Cities

bg's EP:
1. Plini- Electric Sunrise
2. Intervals- I'm Awake
3. AAL- Kascade
4. TesseracT- Eden

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6nRfi8BYsPUHsjK2MfTpQq?si=462175fbc7aa4fe8
27After the Burial
Wolves Within

Sloth's EP:
1. Periphery- New Groove - Instrumental
2. Arch Echo- Hip Dipper
3. The Omniffic - Khimaira
4. Ghost Iris - Dream Catching A nightmare
5. Polyphia - O. D.
6. Vitalism- Pagan, Pt. 2

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Bghv6StDn29qPh1i4ggnU?si=35fea4af2acd4219
28Neuma
Neuma

David's EP:
1. Neuma - There's No Second To Be Lost
2. Frontierer - This Magnetic Drift (feat. Will Haven)
3. Car Bomb - Gratitude
4. Kobong - The Cloud Is Gone

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdbV0-YdRPrUrGuaj8L5ZKO8Z2q92qSTY
29Periphery
Juggernaut: Omega

Shemson's EP:
1. Periphery - The Bad Thing
2. Spiritbox - Holy Roller (feat. Ryo Kinoshita)
3. Decapitated - Spheres of Madness
4. Loathe - Loathe
5. Thornhill - Coven

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7spgdAyskQRqnbCka0prYf?si=epWaPaanQoiB0tYLqHzMZg
30Corelia
Nostalgia

Sint's EP:
1. corelia - mute swan (essentially intro to number 2)
2. corelia - blood petals
3. spiritbox - perennial
4. vildhjarta - langstmedan
5. cloudkicker - we're goin' in. we're going down.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5maNTMHY6qAWS4dt3tVwxV?si=7b1cb5aa3a8f4485
31TesseracT
One

Uzu's EP:
TesseracT - Lament
Chimp Spanner - Spirals
Means End - Lied von Leid
Textures - New Horizons
After the Burial - Your Troubles Will Cease and Fortune Will Smile Upon You

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBaS8ZeoZ_XCZuQgNVklztiiMgGnbXsCh
32Vildhjarta
Måsstaden

Steak's EP:
1. Vildhjarta - Dagger
2. Veil of Maya - Unbreakable
3. Textures - Laments of an Icarus
4. Monuments - Atlas
5. VOLA - Smartfriend

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ac4Jv6GKW650oTkEEZcRx
33TesseracT
One

tyman's EP:
Tesseract - Sunrise
Vildhjarta - Deceit
Uneven Structure - Higher Quiddity
Monuments - Empty Vessels Make The Most Noise
VOLA - The Same War

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5M3L0cr7Jcg32u4bSb0lJb?si=61082c80bff34d2e
34Chimp Spanner
At the Dream's Edge

Pangea's EP:
1. Chimp Spanner - Supererogation
2. Cloudkicker - Oh, God
3. Animals As Leaders - Private Visions of the World
4. Sithu Aye - Formation

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1cr0mFS7GHMGgO0nnieWFD?si=798949dceb064cfb
35David Maxim Micic
Bilo 2.0

Johnny's EP:
1. David Maxim Micic - Mbinguni Amina
2. Sikth - Philistine Philosophies
3. Novallo - Betty Phage Goes to Bronxton
4. Cloudkicker - Viceroy

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7AUFKyGH9uLjLWgPZ0taWq?si=19401df3a94c4468
36Andromida
The Void

Rock's EP:
1. Andromida - The Abyss
2. The Dali Thundering Concept - The Sea Starts Here
3. Babymetal - KARATE
4. James Norbert Ivanyi - Malignant Inhabitants

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7eQfJAL2O8GFJzuw4Fvrfa?si=39b62a88f07f41a8
37Frontierer
Unloved

Mort's EP:
1. frontierer - electric gag
2. cloudkicker - la after rain
3. uneven structure - egocentric focus
4. animals as leaders - physical education

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4k4ScOnL5NDSUbcS2NvR1o?si=ChOwEKmzSHW9DIShRl18_A&utm_source=copy-link
38Animals As Leaders
The Joy of Motion

Storm's EP:
1. The Woven Web by Animals as Leaders
2. Remstage - Unexplored
3. Mudvayne - Death Blooms
4. Geezer Butler - Pull The String
5. Brad Done - Trust
39Cloudkicker
Beacons

Phero's album:
Cloudkicker, Push it Way Up
Destiny Potato, Indifferent
Sikth, Summer Rain
Vildhjarta, Eternal Golden Monk
AUGUS7INE オーガスティン - SEE YOU IN THE FUTURE
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