Please select at least 7 of any of the following 14 categories for submission.
ACT I: Revisits
1. Wholesome 2.0
wholesome, playful, wonder, confused, innocent, quirky
Hey, let's try this again! I feel like last time I wasn't clear enough with what I was aiming for. It's something I want to rectify, because I crave wholesome music still.
I want something that makes me think through the eyes of a child, which includes a range of: quirky and playful, wonder and confusion, and most notably innocence. There's a sense of exploration and awe juxtaposed with a lack of knowledge and self-awareness that we tend to lose over time, and I really want to be reminded of it.
Nuno Canavarro - "Crimine"
Inoyama Land - "Pon"
Visible Cloaks - "Circle"
Lorenzo Senni - "THINK BIG"
Katamari Damacy OST - "Cherry Blossom Color Season" - (winner of last time)
2. Calm (the bizarro Anxious)
calm, peaceful, soothing, meditative, otherworldly, ethereal
The Anxious cat was a highlight of my first walrus, something that I think many songs expressed rather well. I wanted to be unsettled, put on edge.
I am looking for the exact opposite now. Please help calm me down. The world and its minutiae does not matter to the truly meditative listener, and that's how I want to feel listening to your submission. There is nothing more I want than to be feeling like I am a feather floating on a cloud in the middle of a serene sky.
Steve Roach - "Structures from Silence"
Stars of the Lid - "December Hunting for Vegetarian $%#!face"
Sigur Rós - "Svefn-g-englar"
A Winged Victory for the Sullen - "We Played Some Open Chords and Rejoiced, for the Earth Had Circled the Sun Yet Another Year"
ACT II: Human
3. Masking
masking, inauthentic, suppression, denial, insecure, hidden
Humans wear masks, hide parts or all of themselves inside, for a variety of reasons -- to protect ourselves and others, often for reasons we do not even understand or are cognizant of. I am fascinated with music that touches on this phenomenon, whether it's full-blown denial or the conscious masking of insecurities or anything in between.
For any LGBT+ / non-neurotypical / etc. submitters, this could be an
I'm closeted (whether consciously aware or not) cat. That interpretation is up to the submitter, and is certainly welcome, but not required.
Kraftwerk - "The Hall of Mirrors"
Talking Heads - "Seen and Not Seen"
R.E.M. - "Shiny Happy People"
Ground-Zero - "Paraiso 2"
4. Euphoria
euphoria, liberation, contentment, pride, triumph, jubilation
Phew, alright, this will sound especially good after the masking category. This submission should exude that feeling of complete euphoria that can come for any number of reasons, whether accomplishing something meaningful or being true to one's self.
For any LGBT+ / non-neurotypical / etc. submitters, this could be an
I'm out of the closet now cat. That interpretation is up to the submitter, and is certainly welcome, but not required.
Yellow Magic Orchestra - "Rydeen"
SOPHIE - "Whole New World / Pretend World"
Blanck Mass - "Hush Money"
Pet Shop Boys - "Liberation"
ACT III: Reality
5. Existential
existential, mortality, insignificance, impermanence, suspense, inevitability
Death. Death is coming! Death is here.
This is distinct from the Funereal cat from last time, in which I wanted to hear a submission that evoked something bleak or mournful. Here I want a song that deals with or exemplifies the impermanence of human existence -- how we, as a species, deal with an existential crisis and/or the inevitability of our own mortality.
Coil - "Broccoli"
Brian Eno - "On Some Faraway Beach"
Sweet Trip - "Pretending"
Graham Lambkin - "The Currency of Dreams"
6. Surreal
surreal, demented, melting, dissonant, mysterious, avant-garde
I honestly believe I cannot possibly have enough surrealism in my music. So... I'll take more! Why not?
This submission should immerse me fully in a surrealist-esque soundscape painting. Surrealism in music is not-a-bug-but-a-feature practically always to me, and my favorite thing about it is when the artist takes something originally grounded in realism and re-appropriates or distorts it beyond recognition. The further from reality, the better.
Oneohtrix Point Never - "Child Soldier"
Meitei - "Man'yō"
Tim Hecker - "Stab Variation"
Robert Ashley - "Automatic Writing"
ACT IV: World
7. Urban
urban, nocturnal, isolation, concrete, illuminated, movement
The goal with this cat is to envision walking or driving around a big city at night when listening to the submission.
There are a few important elements to that in my mind. First is that the song's textures feel distinctly urban, gritty, echoing off of the surrounding concrete structures. Second is some aspect of movement, the passing of cars, the illumination of neon signs, street lights, etc. Last is that feeling of being engrossed in civilization and feeling isolated, like I'm an ant among so many, gazing up at the downtown buildings above.
Burial - "Archangel"
Jam City - "Strawberries"
Underworld - "Mmm...Skyscraper I Love You"
Bowery Electric - "Fear of Flying"
8. Natural
natural, lush, foliage, watery, weather, organic
This is the counterpiece to urban, so instead of being inside my apartment sheltering in place for COVID-19 because I work from home, I want to feel like I'm transported somewhere entirely natural, of this Earth.
Rushing water, chirping birds, the sun shining on my back, water dripping off branches, feet crunching on leaf litter as I walk, etc. Hopefully that helps paint the picture. The setting could take place in a forest, in the ocean, at the beach, in the snow... it's your choice, as long as it's
vivid.
GAS - "Pop 3"
Fennesz - "Endless Summer"
Cluster - "Zum Wohl"
Biosphere - "Kobresia"
ACT V: Beats
9. Rhythmic
For this cat just think of it like I'm like the Cookie Monster of rhythm.
OM NOM NOM RHYTHM. This submission should be driven by its rhythm.
I am looking for something
very specific in terms of how this song implores me to move. I want to be at the optimal amount of
chair dancing. Basically I want to be moving around the most I can in my desk chair, but I simultaneously don't want to be getting up and actually dancing. Help find me that sweet spot. It's a guaranteed "banger" zone for me.
Andrea - "TrackQY"
Machinedrum - "GBYE"
Fela Kuti - "Expensive $%#!"
Four Tet - "As Serious As Your Life"
10. Hypnotic
This submission should entrance me
literally. I want the song to conclude and then for me to snap out of that trance and be like, "huh, I have no clue how long that was" right before I inevitably look at how long it was.
In stark contrast to Rhythmic, I'm looking for something to utterly zone out to. If movement happens, great, but I don't want to be thinking about it. Nothing exists but the song and my body.
For any of you who have played Undertale, Fishmans - "Long Season"
Carl Stone - "Shing Kee"
Cocteau Twins - "Heaven Or Las Vegas"
Panda Bear - "Bros"
ACT VI: Dungeons & Dragons
This should be fun, hehe. This is the musical version of D&D alignments. Does your song exude Good, Neutral, or Evil? I really want to feel it. Get creative!
EASY / HARD MODE: These three categories can be submitted to in either EASY or HARD mode. EASY mode is just like a normal category, send me the submission, and I judge for enjoyment and catfit.
If you elect to try HARD mode, then along with your submission, please tell me whether your submission is Lawful X, Neutral X, or Chaotic X (where X depends on which of category 11-13 you are currently subbing to), and if I
agree with you, I will award you up to
a max of +1.0 bonus catfit point! Essentially, a full point of agreement on a 1-10 scale, where 2 is something like okay this pretty barely fits but it works enough (and you get +0.2) and 10 is like wow this is absolutely perfect (and you get +1.0). However, if I
disagree with you, I will instead
deduct catfit points up to a max of -1.0 (using a 1-10 scale for disagreement)! I think this will be a super fun experiment, so let's try it out.
Note, however,
that each modifier can only be elected once (and True Neutral counts for a Neutral modifier). So once you have selected one of Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic modifiers that you cannot sub another song with that modifier to another category. For example, you can sub Chaotic Good, Lawful Neutral, and Neutral Evil. You cannot sub Chaotic Neutral if you have already subbed Chaotic Good the category before.
11. Good
Mort Garson - "Plantasia" - (Lawful Good)
Squarepusher - "Iambic 9 Poetry" - (Neutral Good)
Arca - "Mutant" - (Chaotic Good)
12. Neutral
Jan Jelinek - "Tendency" - (Lawful Neutral)
Eliane Radigue - "Kyema (Intermediate States)" - (True Neutral)
Autechre - "Pen Expers" - (Chaotic Neutral)
13. Evil
SHXCXCHCXSH - "SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs" - (Lawful Evil)
Suicide - "Frankie Teardrop" - (Neutral Evil)
Aphex Twin - "Come to Daddy (Pappy Mix)" - (Chaotic Evil)
FINAL ACT: EVERYTHING
14. C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!
How many categories can you simultaneously evoke with a single submission? The more catfits, the better your score. I want my head to explode from you absolutely nailing so many categories at once.
The trick with this one is how risk-averse or risk-seeking you are willing to be.
You must tell me exactly how many and which categories your song falls into. Unlike typical categories, feel free to explain your category selections.
You cannot submit multiple D&D alignments for this, so only one of Good, Neutral, or Evil may be selected.
This will work similarly to how the bonus points worked in the D&D cats, but with a
more pronounced catfail reward and penalty. For each catfit that I agree with, your catfit bonus will increase by
+0.25 bonus catfit points per catfit! But for each catfit that I disagree with, you catfail will cause a score decrease by
-0.50 bonus catfit points per catfail!
Global Communication - "14:31" - 4 categories (Calm, Surreal, Hypnotic, Neutral)
Lilien Rosarian - "Theme for Empty Village" - 5 categories (Wholesome 2.0, Surreal, Existential, Natural, Good)
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Originally Posted by nutella
