Song Fu 6 Round 1 Review

Masters Of Song Fu 6 has been under way for awhile now. Round 1 songs have been completed, and are up for your listening pleasure. I've been slow about voting myself, mainly because I couldn't decided who to vote for. So I gave all the songs a second listen...some of them a 3rd, and a few even more. Finally I made my selections which are posted below. The challenge for this round was:

"Write a song that is about (or at least has key to the central narrative) RAIN (the meteorological phenomena). At some point (or throughout) the song, you must utilize an instrument (or vocals) that represent the rain. You are free to write your song in any style that you choose. Your song must run no shorter than 1 minute 30 seconds."

My Votes:
Right Click "Save As" on the names of the artist to download a MP3 of their entry.

Mike Lombardo (Sit And Watch The Rain) - It's been awhile since Mike has competed in Song Fu, and his voice has definately improved since. I'm still waiting to hear a bad Song Fu entry from him...I have a feeling I could be waiting very long time.

Godz Poodlz (Rain Is Pouring Down) - This is certainly a change for Rhod & Russ in Song Fu. They don't have to be light & funny to be entertaining. At first I liked this song, but it's grown on me even more since the first listen. Best song from the Poodlz yet.

Dave Leigh & William Hoover (Summer Rain) - Since I first started listening to Dave's music, I've been a fan of his performances. With this song William provided some very sweet lyrics, and Dave's performance sealed the deal to get my vote.

Ian "2 Shades" Johnson (Downpour) - Song Fu 5 was Ian's first attempt at the Fu. In the past I thought he struggled with his lyrics, and a couple times during this song I didn't think they exactly flowed....but only a couple. This is by far my favorite song I've heard from Ian, and if keeps improving the way he has from Song Fu 5 to Song Fu 6....Ian is going to be a beast in the future. I'm very happy to vote for Ian for the first time, and I don't think it'll be the last.

"Buckethat" Bobby Matheson (Forget About The Rain) - Very light & fun song to listen to. Unlike in real life, the constant dripping was actually relaxing.

Honorable Mentions:
To listen to the following songs you'll have to go to "A Site Called Fred". Please listen to all the songs, then vote for yourself.

Glen Raphael (Can't See The Sky) - For me at least, Glen was the guy battling the hardest for my 5th vote with Bobby. The song is only about 2 minutes, but I would have liked the first 17 seconds taken off this song. I really enjoyed the song, but it took awhile to get going, and he still would have barely made the time requirement without those 17 seconds. Great 1st entry for this noob...if only I had a 6th vote to give.

Inverse T. Clown (Sexy In The Rain) - This was strange for me to listen to. I enjoyed it, but I kept waiting for Inverse to call the girl a whore, or take some other funny unexpected turn. In the end I thought this song was missing something. At first I thought it was something to do with the type of music & how Inverse makes his music. Then someone mentioned that it was the tempo of the song. So after relistening a couple times I think the song would be a lot better if it was sped up. Not a bad 1st entry for the noob though.

Common Lisp (Polly Loves The Rain) - I once said something like, "Edric had no chance at getting my vote because I couldn't sing to his song." I have the same problem with this song. The only part that has any actual singing is the chorus, and Joe "Covenant" Lamb helped Paul out with that. The song was enjoyable, and made me laugh at spots. Besides not being able to sing to it, I do have 1 other complaint. During the chorus someone should turn Paul's mic down a little more...sorry...we still hear you. :P Wow, this makes 3 noobtastic songs this round.

Caleb Hines (Water Cycle) - I hate not being a musician because it's sometimes extremely hard for me to say what I liked or didn't like about a song. I'm going to make this very simple...this song made me smile...isn't that enough?

Governing Dynamics (Rain in Chicago) - This is a solid entry from Travis. Like I said about Ian, this is my favorite song from Travis so far.

Shadow Entries:

Joe "Covenant" Lamb (Rain) - If this wasn't a 'shadow entry', it might have gotten my 5th vote. The only shadow entry of the round was a good one.

Side Notes:

- I think I've made my opinions on instrumentals very clear in the past. Even good ones don't belong Song Fu. It's not a bad tune, but it's only half a song. I'm going to paraphrase what someone else said to me about this. "The song could very well be about rain, but it could also be about an alien abduction, his stamp collection or a half dozen other things." Maybe Zer0guy just didn't have time to add lyrics, and I know sometimes that will happen. There are talented people that couldn't get into Song Fu, who actually do write lyrics. So if this continues I'm likely to keep complaining, it just irritates me.

- Edric & Denise...2 great vocal & piano performances. Your story or lyrics just didn't grab me for whatever reason. I really can't say anything bad about either song though. Denise's voice was hot, and Edric's last note....*stands an applauds*.

- Taryn Miller....other then knowing you're a friend of Ian's, I hadn't heard of you before hand. So I listened to some of the music on your MySpace page. That was actally very cool, but this was the complete opposite. I can't think of anything good to say about your entry, but your MySpace stuff keeps hope alive for you in my eyes. Just bring more fu in round 2.

- If you didn't see your song mentioned don't assume I just hated everything about it. It obviously wasn't a favorite of mine, but you can feel free to ask me about it if you see me in the TMA chat room.

- There's too much whining about how unfair the voting is right now. It doesn't do you any good to complain about it in the middle of the competition, and honestly I think it makes you look like a very bad sport. The time to complain & work something out that is fair is before the competition starts. The issue is with the voting system itself, and it could be fixed, but most of the whining isn't directed at the 1 person in charge of the competition. If you want to cry about something...at least cry to the right person at the right time. I know I do more then my share of whining about it, but as a fan I don't have to worry about looking like a bad sport or causing fights among the challengers. Try holding your tongues until after Song Fu 6...then try blowing some hot air in the RIGHT direction. I know I will...as nicely as possible of course. :P

Rain Is Pouring Down
Rhod & Russ made a simple but effective video for their Song Fu entry.


Summer Rain
Dave Leigh performing the song he entered. Lyrics by William Hoover.

Forget About The Rain
This is "Buckethat" Bobby Matheson playing his entry to Song Fu.


Polly Loves The Rain
Paul Potts performing his very impressive Song Fu song.

Sexy In The Rain
Dave has too much spare time on his hands. Not only does he enter his own song, but he covers Inverse T. Clown's song. If you've got that much time Dave, Spintown could use some new music. :P