LogFAQs > #970992453

First four of the day, featuring the second of the three controversial decisions:

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#238: Broken Social Scene - Windsurfing Nation (4:35):
https://youtu.be/FjltvPzzYog

and

Broken Social Scene - Swimmers (2:55):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enJgAKUV9H0

Nominator: Kateee [8/21 Remaining]

Initial Score: 57.10
Revised Score: 70.00
Final Score: 70.56

(First Reaction: I'll admit, I am curious how the next song on the album goes. I should hate how this song seems to just end a few seconds into the next song, but somehow it's almost charming here?

*proceeds to listen to Swimmers*

Neat. More a typical pop sound, but I like typical pop these days, so no complaints. It's a bit odd that Swimmers actually ends completely instead of leading directly into the next track, since I just kinda assumed this was going to be one of those "every song segues directly into the next" albums, but that's not quite the case. Huh. Well, I enjoyed both songs. Time will tell if I think they'd be better off as one long song instead of divided like this, but it was fun.)

!There is something oddly mesmerizing about this track. I do wish it were paired with Swimmers though; I really, really love that seamless transition and I find the shorter pop song pairs incredibly well with Windsurfing as an intro.

...can I retroactively pair this nomination with Swimmers and give the duo 70 points? I suppose I can't because they're very much two different songs and I can't find a way to objectively treat them as one long song... I am still considering it though. And for health reasons this is probably going to be my last giant ranking topic, so it's not like I have to try to preserve my credibility; if I wish to destroy everything by factoring in a song that *quite literally is not nominated* then I don't see how anyone can stop me.

....Yeah, I'm actually doing this. Windsurfing Nation + Swimmers are henceforth combined into one nomination and getting 70 points. (If you *insist* then I can give a lower score for Windsurfing Nation by itself, but I really like combining the two songs.)

[Final Thoughts: I still think this song absolutely needs Swimmers attached to it. The odd way Windsurfing Nation plays the first little bit of Swimmers & stops abruptly is quite off-putting--it's not like they invented the idea of songs seamlessly transitioning into each other (see: just about every nominated Dear Hunter song), but somehow the abrupt end here kinda annoys me. It's like the song ends, starts playing the next song, and then just stops playing after a few seconds. I wouldn't call it triggering, exactly, but it is very unpleasant. Adding Swimmers as a sort-of coda to the song (I'm probably grossly misusing that word) with its mellow, easy-listening vibes makes everything flow smoothly to a satisfying conclusion. I cannot fathom separating the two tracks, so I'm sticking with my absurd decision to keep them together.]

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#237: Radical Face - Ghost Towns (3:53):
https://open.spotify.com/track/0qCqz7oecY7QqS8lhW62XI?si=VeZldivnT3CNOLUQg3ngaA

Nominator: Jesse Custer [10/29 Remaining]

Initial Score: 70.00
Revised Score: 76.00
Final Score: 70.035 [Upgraded to 70.565]

(First Reaction: [this space was accidentally left blank or deleted, but it had a good score so please pretend there were some generic platitudes that you've already read in approximately 275 other writeups copied here.[)

!...Bold of past me to think there'd only be 275 songs with virtually identical writeups. I'm also going to... pass on talking about this for now. Cheating to not have any writeup for the first two parts, but hey, we'll all be surprised by what the actual writeup is! Presuming I make one at the FInal Score part. Which isn't looking likely.

[Final Thoughts: Some great, painful lyrics here. Traveling with no past, no future, no way to go back, and living a lie because the lie is all you've got. This is the type of story that plays quite well for me. I'm not quite as into the song itself as I was the second time, but I still really like it.]

[Later: This is the song that got lost when I was making so many edits to the list, so any comments I may have made since the backup file was created are also lost. This is an oddly cursed song... it lost its First Reaction, it's "Later" additions, and its entire existence.]

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#236: Blues Traveler - The Mountains Win Again (5:05):
https://open.spotify.com/track/2BLkpiR7oE09eY8DHUk6Bx?si=ce33309b5fee4b32

Nominator: CPU [9*/30 Remaining]

Initial Score: 60.00
Revised Score: 82.07
Final Score: 70.58

(First Reaction: Another good song for the 60 point Clump.)

!Jumping this up two tiers. Just a good song.

[Final Thoughts: And back down one tier. I really like this song, but I don't think I'd say I love it. They're a good, mainstream pop band with a good sound to them & there's a good amount of pain and hope in the track. It's not as infectious as Run-Around--*pauses to go listen to that song because now she's not going to get anything accomplished while that's stuck in her head*--but this track's also got a good sound to it. I may try looking at the full album someday... two songs that I really like is more than most albums have at least.]

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#235: Garrett Williamson - Windows 95 but it's a PHAT hip hop beat [2:36]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMUDuL_gyRU

Nominator: paulg [10/52 Remaining]

Initial Score: 60.00
Revised Score: 71.35
Final Score: 70.81

(First Reaction: It is a great beat... I was going to put this in the 59 point range, but decided to bump it up to the Clump of songs at the last moment.)

!Let's go ahead and move this beat up an entire tier level, because this is great.

[Final Thoughts: A much better beat than expected, this is unironically great.]

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