Toad
Jade
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Reviews 17
Approval 97%

Soundoffs 124
Album Ratings 1539
Objectivity 90%

Last Active 07-12-21 3:40 am
Joined 04-19-14

Review Comments 2,065

 Lists
04.25.24 TOAD'S TOP 100 SONGS OF ALL TOAD ♦05.26.23 Top 15 Bars In RXK's "Long Song"
05.03.18 Ambient Pop Ascension ♦04.18.18 Help Toad Edit His Poetry (4th Sputvers
11.12.17 SPUTNIKPOEMS (Toad Gets Published!)10.02.17 PERFUME CONTEST: THE FINAL ROUND
09.03.17 Everything's a Five07.11.17 Girls
06.20.17 Elite Sputnik Vibes (New Users Please L05.04.17 SPUT'S FAVE RAPPER: MF DOOM ♦
05.02.17 SPUTNIK'S FAVE RAPPER: FINAL 4 ♦05.01.17 SPUTNIK'S FAVE RAPPER: ELITE 8
04.28.17 SPUT'S FAVE RAPPER: SWEET 1604.26.17 SPUTNIK'S FAVE RAPPER: ROUND 2
04.25.17 SPUTNIK'S FAVE RAPPER: ROUND 104.21.17 SPUT'S FAVORITE RAPPER TOURNEY (SUBS)
04.15.17 BIGQUINT Appreciation Thread04.12.17 Rec me sum Hippity Hop, suckas
More »

PERFUME CONTEST: THE FINAL ROUND

Hey y'all. I accidentally deleted my last perfume contest thread to my own dismay and shame. This time, I'm drawing inspiration from the locals of sput here: the contest will be song recs instead of albums for practicality's sake. Each round, songs will be rated on the sput scale of 1 - 5, and the top half of contestants will pass through. HOWEVER, points will be cumulative, meaning that if you score a 5 one round and a 2.5 the next, you will be judged by your two round score of 7.5 instead of your most recent score of 2.5. The ultimate cumulative winner will get their choice of a decant of one of my favorite bottled perfumes. To help you know what sort of stuff to rec, I've offered my top ten records below along with the ten fragrances you get to choose from should you win.
1Ichiko Aoba
0%

Interlude Man by Amouage
Hyper-masculine, smokey, sweet-spicy incense. Interlude is a beast of a fragrance with depth and power like no other. Imagine a vista from a sacred forest temple where herbs and spices are being burnt.
2Radiohead
Kid A

Tuscan Leather by Tom Ford
Classiest motherfucker alive. Raw leather calmed by raspberry and suede notes grants this fragrance a deep, soothing texture that's undeniably smooth, yet uncompromising.
3The National
Alligator

L'Air du Desert Marocain by Tauer
The embodiment of a desert mirage: sparkling, spicy, dry, sexy, and intoxicating. A blend of dry spices and amber that tempers its spacious ambition with an alluring sweetness. A beautiful jack of all trades.
4Sun Kil Moon
Ghosts of the Great Highway

Jubilation XXV by Amouage
A juicy blackberry note interwoven among holiday spices like cinnamon and clove with frankincense and myrrh to make for a regal, phosphorescent winter fragrance. Heavenly.
5Swans
Soundtracks for the Blind

Tobacco Vanille by Tom Ford
Fresh-cut tobacco leaf gives an earthy natural edge to the fresh-cut vanilla bean that accompanies it. Very faithful to its name in the best way possible and another gem of a holiday fragrance.
6Bjork
Vespertine

Rose 31 by Le Labo
This is the best springtime fragrance I've ever put my nose on - green, fresh, beautiful, and masculine (weighed by beautiful pepper and woods notes) while preserving the boldness of the rose. If you like the smell of rain or spring, you'll be floored by this one.
7Laurel Halo
Quarantine

Aventus by Creed
Often referred to as "The King," Aventus pairs a photorealistic pineapple with a smoky birch wood note to make for a fragrance that's as adored by women as it is loved by men. Imagine Fierce by Abercrombie upgraded to suit George Clooney in a tuxedo.
8Arcade Fire
Funeral

Dior Homme Cologne by Dior
Dior's name carries a stylistic weight in the fashion world for a reason: Dior Homme Cologne, like others in its line, outperforms other summer scents through class and simplicity. The result is a gorgeous citrus fragrance whose classy lemonade-esque aroma will wow others whether in the office or at the gym. Marvelously practical.
9Boards of Canada
Geogaddi

The Dreamer by Versace
Now we're getting a bit old-school. The dreamer is a floral-tobacco fragrance that shouldn't work by any means but somehow does anyway. It's an incredibly soft yet sexy fragrance with a unique identity that asserts itself without ever stepping into the obnoxious. Mystical.
10Talk Talk
Laughing Stock

Havana by Aramis
Havana is the embodiment of masculinity - fresh, dry tobacco anchoring a barbershop-esque masculine blend that's spicy, unrelenting, and beautiful. Imagine a summer drive through the country with an old-school filter on it overcast with the aesthetic of a classic Hollywood film.
11Kuniaki Haishima
Monster

Fripp: SAFE
David Sylvian - "For The Love of Life"
Gorgeous ambient art-pop. A hymn to pop music. 4.5/5
12King Krule
The OOZ

Butcherboy: SAFE
King Krule - "THE OOZ"
A mystical, textured combination of post punk, r&b and downtempo with enough of a melodic backbone to hook onto. Beautiful, intoxicating stuff. 4/5
13Typhoon (USA-OR)
White Lighter

bgillesp: SAFE
Typhoon - "Young Fathers"
This is as well-produced, unpredictable and emotional as the best indie rock. A wonderful voyage in the course of a track. 3/5
14Shlohmo
Places

Conmaniac: SAFE
Shlohmo: "Places"
A groovy, smoov testament to just being and grooving. Not bad at all. 3/5
15Flotation Toy Warning
Bluffer's Guide to the Flight Deck

Losing California for drusky
Experimental, sample-bearing, driving progressive indie rock with a chord progression and organ line to die for. This feels like a mercury rev track stripped of its muddying fuzz and given room to breathe and sprawl. The guitar arpeggios in the back end are a great way to end the track. This is some really good shit.
5/5

CONMANIAC TOTAL: 8/10 *SAFE*
16Supercar
HIGHVISION

Storywriter – Supercar
Ambitious dreampop track with lil breakbeat element thrown in at the beginning and some nifty gating effects. This shit is really up my alley. That delayed guitar has my U2 upbringing on lock. Pretty nice crescendo to the noisy, then ambient finale.
4/5

FRIPP TOTAL: 8.5/10 *SAFE*
17Sonic Youth
Rather Ripped

Pink Steam – Sonic Youth
Great autumn guitar rock with some jamming and melodic catharsis. Feels a bit like a Mogwai track at times. I dig the delayed entrance of the vocals. A pretty solid track and I’ll be spinning the record this fall.
3.5/5

BUTCHERBOY TOTAL: 7.5/10 *ELIMINATED*
18Pinback
Blue Screen Life

Penelope – Pinback
Really soft, pleasant guitar-anchored indie rock. I like the tangents this takes in the back half and the harmonies that enter half-way through to buffer the melodic development. Really nice.
3.5/5

BGILLESP TOTAL: 7.5/10 *ELMINATED*
19Douji Morita
A Boy

Douji Morita – The Girl of celluloid
Racing minor chord guitar arpeggio, haunting female vox, nice dramatic strings. verse & chorus repeats, strings swell/solo, crashing. overall – very theatrical, arrangement goes from very simple to ornate and explosive. Very impressive. 4/5
20Boredoms
Vision Creation Newsun

Boredoms – (SPIRAL)
psychedelic synths and tribal drums open. goofy hachachas = auto boost. some phase filter effects enter the mix. Splash cymbals and weaving guitar lines. Now we’re rockin with a rollicking bass line and further noisy arpeggiation. Very tribal, exciting stuff. We then go into a melodic hurricane supplemented by cymbal-heavy drums. HERE COMES THE GATED WALL OF SOUND FROM FRIPP’S PREVIOUS REC! Really good stuff. First round ends up even. 4/5
21Songs: Ohia
Didn't It Rain

Songs: Ohia – Blue Factory Flame
Spacy, crisp, snare heavy drums float under an assertive drum kit and slow guitar chords to make for a barroom weeper. Digging the hell out of the mournful, hyper-specific lyrics. The harmonies/backup vocals here occupy an enthralling space between beauty and haunting distance. “Paralyzed by the emptiness” and “Every mile for ten thousand miles” indeed. Very spacey, patient track with a good dose of poetry. 3.5/5
22IT IT
Formal Odors

IT IT: After or With Me
Some good creepy lo-fi harmonies, static, and the a groovy-as-hell snare click rhythm and some more spoken word from Con – someone really read into my Soundtracks for the Blind rec. Smoove flutes here with a clipped vox sample and a very very tasty rhythm here overall. A lot of super-interesting and satisfying stylistic shifts in this track – definitely in line with the second round rec. I’m impressed. Definitely a victory for Con this round, leaving us dead-even going into the final one. 4/5
23Destroyer
Destroyer's Rubies

Destroyer – European Oils
I’ve already dipped my toes in with Destoyer so this track is already at an advantage. Loving the plush arrangement here. The nonsensical bridge is serviceable; Bejar’s singing here is among the most expressive I’ve heard and I love how the piano adds lovely riffs and supplements the track from a number of angles. The aggressively overdriven guitar in the track’s middle section is pretty great and acts as a challenge to the rest of the track to follow it up; the gradual, celebratory explosion of the song’s final few minutes do a pretty good job at doing so. A great track. I’ll be checking this album out at once.
4.5/5
24Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
High Visceral Pt. 1

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Denmark / Van Gogh and Gone
Soft chords and indiscernible vocals that flood in and out of focus. This is a really warm, immersive track, leaping and diving with its vocal melodies early in the track. The electric guitar here just sounds fabulous. The interplay between solo and rhythm parts is really smooth and complementary. The vocals, pleasant and serviceable, add less to the track than they could, but it’s difficult to complain about given how their prettiness complements the rest of the arrangements. The second quarter of this track is essentially a drumless melodic groove. When the drums kick it, it’s as satisfying as one can hope, with leaping fills and a steady crash simultaneously anchoring and shattering the track. This is just heavenly and rich stuff. It really reminds me of the soaring britpop of yonder updated production-wise, in the best way possible. Wow. 5/5 WINNER CONTEST 1: CONMANIAC
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