Song Fu 5 Round 3 Review

Once again a lot of people didn't send in a song for this round, but there was still over 20 entries. I mentioned that I was disappointed not to see songs from Steve Chatterton & Ian "2 Shades" Johnson in the previous round. The good news is they're back for this round, the bad news is that 2 more favorites of mine "Buckethat" Bobby Matheson & Jason Morris had to sit this round out. This challenge really didn't excite me much, but it's definately better then the round 1 challenge. Here's the description posted by Ken Plume:

"Your song can reference the holidays, but must not be explicitly about them. However, it should incorporate instruments and/or a style that evokes the holidays. Your song must run no shorter than 1 minute 30 seconds."

My picks are below: along with some honorable mentions & brief notes. Just remember my opinion means little, and I'm not a musician. If I criticize your work, I'm just trying to give you an idea of what 1 fan is thinking while contemplating his votes. I suggest you go vote for your favorites HERE, but only after listening to all the songs for yourself.

Song Fu #5: Round #3:

(Right click "Save As" to download MP3's.)
1. Chas Lilly - Salvation Army - Another great performance from Chas, and I loved the whole idea for the song.
2. Joe "Covenant" Lamb - Ghoul Tide - Honestly I getting tired of Joe hogging all my votes. I've voted for him in each round of Song Fu 5. Christmas is coming Joe, try sharing or I'm telling Santa about all the dead Furbies in your closet.
3. Jonathan Mann - Jesus Christ At Christmas Time - I asked Jonathan to participate in Song Fu, so I was starting to feel bad about not voting for him. I loved his song this round, and I'm extremely pleased I'm able to vote for him this round. This is why I wanted him in Song Fu.
4. Godz Poodlz - A Gift From Godz Poodlz - Maybe it's because I'm always shamelessly self promoting my blog, but I enjoyed this song. The song references were really cool, and I don't think I've ever heard a better commercial in my life. Jingle Fu or Commercial Fu better look out for this duo.
5. Josh Holober-Ward - Snow Day - I struggled (which is normal) with this last pick. A few songs were being considered, but I think Josh captured the utter joy I used to feel on snow days. Those memories got him my last vote.

Honorable Mentions:

Caleb Hines - Finals Week - I liked the idea, liked the music, but the vocals just weren't good enough to knock Josh out of the #5 spot. Mad props to Caleb for a good song though.
Kylie Petto - Snow Drift - Honestly I thought she was getting too many votes the first couple rounds. But I relistened to all 3 of her songs and she's definitely better with each passing round. This time I think she earned any votes that she gets. Considering that she's only 17, I'm even more impressed. I like the idea for the song, but I think she would have been better served to cut all the phone chatter once the song actually started, and maybe close with a cute little monologue at the end. I love the girls voice, but she seems to be afraid of using instruments?
Jubilee Jews - All Because I'm Not With My Heart - Aside from reaching for a few notes they probably shouldn't have, I enjoyed this song. It made me a little sad though, and I can't vote for everyone.
Denise Hudson - Mistakes Were Made - I loved the piano throughout this song, and I thought the performance from Denise was great. What ultimately dropped this song from my top 5 was the topic. Denise told me what the song was about as I started listening to the song for the first time. Here's the problem I had; I thought to myself later on..."What if Denise wouldn't have told me about the song first, would I have got what the song was about?" I relistening to the song again a few times I came to the conclusion probably not. It's a good song, but not one the average joe is going to "get" without CliffsNotes.
Gorbzilla - Festivus For The Rest Of Us - Made me think of "Seinfeld"...not a bad thing. I considered voting for this song for awhile.
Lex Vader - Ewoks - It's about as jolly as you could ever expect Lex to be. If I was more of a Star Wars nerd maybe I would have voted for it.
Steve Chatterton - My Epic Battle With Gravity - I really liked the tune that Steve came up with, and thought it might be the most catchy of the round. However I didn't get the lyrics, maybe that's just me, but the battle with gravity threw me.
Edric Haleen - The Night Before - I'm not going to lie, I'm a big fan of Edric. I've enjoyed a number of his Song Fu entries in the past, and even this one. However this song didn't stand a chance in hell of getting my vote. Just last week I did a Song Fight review in which I ranted about certain things that I look for in picking songs I will vote for. This song reminded of something I neglected to mention. To put it simply, I want something I can sing to. I loved Edric's song, it was a good idea, done well, and it was so darn sweet I might have shed a tear (but don't tell anyone). All that being said, you can't freakin' sing to it.

Shadow Entries

You wanna know why TMA is Too Much Awesome? Well this Song Fu round is a good example. Besides all the regular competitors who are TMA members, the only 2 shadow entries have ties to TMA. Mike Lombardo (The Elfs Lament) & Boffo Yux Dudes (Our Winter Love) both provided good songs. Since they're shadow entries you can't vote for them, but they're both worth a listen.

Props to everyone who participated, I look forward to more Song Fu'ness in the future. Please listen to all the songs, and support these great artists. You can find links to their various sites with their profiles HERE.

Jesus Christ at Christmas Time
Here's the video Jonathan Mann posted with his song.


PS: Joe "Covenant" Lamb won Song Fu by default because Ken failed to get a "Master". Joe was still kind enough to write a final song for Song Fu #5. Right click, "Save As" --> HERE to download & listen to "Life Is Hard (… Then You Die)”. I didn't officially review the final round, but I did make a blog about it's ending HERE.