For those of you that haven't checked out the "SpinTunes" page of this blog...SHAME ON YOU! In short, it is the home of an online songwriting contest that I run. The 2nd SpinTunes contest started a couple weeks ago. On BandCamp, you can listen to (and download) ALL the songs from the first round for FREE. There's a permanent link to the contest right up above.
Now on to MY review of round 1:
As an alternate judge, I'll be doing reviews each round just in case a regular judge cannot complete their job. This round the judges only officially DQed 1 person for not meeting the challenge. I think everyone else met the challenge, with only a few walking a fine line of focusing too much on things other than their hometown. So in this round how well you met the challenge won't be as big a factor for me as it has in the past...but it is a factor.
If you haven't read my reviews in the past...I usually keep them simple. I'm not a musician, I know little of music, and just know what I like when I hear it. Often I can't even tell you why I like or dislike something. Yeah, I probably shouldn't be running a songwriting contest...or a music & dance blog. :P
I'll tell you what I tend to like in songs, hopefully that's helpful in some way. I don't like ambiguous lyrics, I like easy to follow stories. I don't like having to research a song just to know what it's about. I like humorous songs & songs that I can sing along with. (so it helps if I can understand your lyrics) Remember, even though it's called a songwriting contest...production & performance count.
These are ordered from favorite to least favorite, with reviews of the shadow songs at the very bottom. Please forgive me if I get repetitive with the feedback. Having no music background makes describing why I feel something for a song difficult at times.
Thank you to EVERYONE who submitted a song.
Zarni De Wet (Where I'm Gonna Go) - Well crap...I already said Rebecca had my favorite song... Ok, that's still true, but you're getting the highest ranking. You would think all the "gonna gonna go" stuff would get annoying (or at least make you need to tinkle), but I listened over & over...it never did. (for me at least) I loved the picture you painted, and the song itself was just purdy & catchy. The people on Twitter who told you that a good song is more important than top notch production...can now say, "I told you so."
Challenge: Met
Mitchell Adam Johnson (London) - I gotta say, whoever this Nicole Wilder chick is...you're lucky to have her provide vocals. I was into this song the entire time. It was light, bouncy, descriptive & fun to sing. For the first half of the song I'm sure most listeners aren't sure if it's about a place or person...but you get that across later in the song.
Challenge: Met
Edric Haleen (Lansing, Michigan) - Good thing I don't mind a little fiction in these songs. Everyone knows that any 1 city in Ohio is 10 times better than Lansing, Michigan. I think Edric decided to go acapella just so he could perform 4 times as much. Either way this work of fiction was a lot of fun. (singable x4) All the jokes hit with me, and this will end up near the top on my list I'm sure.
Challenge: Met (walked the line with the Ohio crack)
Ross Durand (From There) - Awesome harmonica. This is about what I expect from you, and I can see you being in the final round yet again. It's catchy, well produced, well performed & I can't find any faults worth mentioning.
Rebecca Brickley (Here) - This is my favorite song of the round. The ONLY reason it isn't in the top spot is because you walked the line. This song is about a relationship as much as it is about the hometown. Walking the line isn't always a bad thing, but you damn near crossed over. I can't knock it too much though (it wasn't DQ'ed so technically it met the challenge), but you fell a few spots for it.
Challenge: Met (walked a line while drunk & wearing roller skates)
Brian Gray (South Bend Aid) - Loved it...and I noticed no Ohio cities were put down...smart man this Mr. Gray. The music is only so-so, but lyrically you had me rolling.
Challenge: Met (walked a fictional line)
Austin Criswell (Mount Holly) - The joke was already made at the LP, but I just have to say you basically wrote 2 songs. The sweet song about going back to your hometown, and a dirty little bit of audio porn. :p This doesn't focus much on the town, but more on your feelings of that town...which in my book is fine. Mounting Hol...sorry...Mount Holly is still pivotal to the song. Your voice is amazing, and I wanna Mount Holly as well.
Challenge: Met
Ryan Ruff Smith (Golden Valley Sunday) - The Fred Astaire mention gets you points with me. This is going way up on my list but it's hard to say why. I just liked it...can it be that simple? I enjoy singing along even if the lyrics don't all hit with me. The mellow & relaxed feel of the song just hit the right spot with me somehow. It's well performed & produced...just...well done.
Challenge: Met
Ben Walker (Oxford) - This song had a chance at being my top pick. I've never been to Oxford, but I feel like I have been now. The one thing that I didn't like is the ending. I HATED it. I can see the similarities between the picture you painted & the fictional bar on TV. I still think taking 5 very famous lines from that theme song was a lame way to end a great song. It knocked you down my list.
Challenge: Met
Governing Dynamics (Stars Over Avalon) - I often have problems with your lyrics. In this case I loved them. I often have problems with your vocals, but recently the emotion you've expressed in your vocals have endeared me to your songs. In this case...it didn't happen. I think you mentioned you recorded the vocals early in the morning? Don't do that. :p With better vocals this could be...my favorite song I've heard from you. I can't really complain about anything else. A song this good shouldn't land you in the middle of the pack...but as I said production & performance both count with me.
Challenge: Met
Chris Cogott (Fairfield) - Musically this was rockin', and well produced. The performance was alright, but you've done much better. Lyrically it's hit & miss. It's very descriptive, but seems very random. I can't see you being in danger of elimination, but this is middle of the pack for me.
Challenge: Met
Steve Durand (In Paradise With You) - I dug the lyrics, and you sure know how to stand out in a crowd. It's not a favorite of the round, but definitely nowhere near the bottom. I wanna see you team up with Molly Lewis for a uke duet just so I can watch Joe's head explode. :p
Challenge: Met
Common Lisp (Leaving Ann Arbor) - This is 2 different songs smashed into each other. Neither is bad (2nd is better), but I'd rather you pick 1 and run with it. Overall it's middle of the pack...but upper middle of the pack...it does stand out a bit. :p
Challenge: Met
wait WHAT (LBC) - I laughed at about 50% of the places I think I was supposed to. The gay bar with the upside down stools...old joke. I really liked the relaxing music & even the vocal performance. I'll admit I've been singing "LBC" a lot lately, but since the jokes didn't all hit with me the song felt empty. I think Godz Poodlz would be envious of you fitting your name into the song that many times.
Challenge: Met
Gweebol (Darktown) - Wow, another great singer, I love your pipes. Music is interesting & the production is good. Lyrics weren't in my breadbasket, but you should be safe (hoping you're safe) from elimination this round.
Challenge: Met
Danny Blackwell (A Song About Woodsetts) - The production, well it's purdy low. Bands are supposed to turn in files that meet BandCamp specs, but if for some reason they can't I'll work with them best I can. Danny turned in a YouTube video (same one embedded in the blog)...and we all know how great the audio is on YouTube. So I had to rip the video, and well that probably didn't help things. Even with the low production value I can hear a good song in there. He gave me a pretty good picture of his town & his childhood. The vocals were solid, but I'd love to hear them under better conditions. They almost lull me to sleep during the slow parts (relaxing, not boring), but the song always picks up in time to keep me engaged.
Challenge: Met
Duality (To The End Of The World) - This is my favorite collab from Denise & Joe so far. The reason it's not higher on my list is because that's not a big achievement since I've pretty much panned their collabs in the past (while liking A LOT of their individual songs). This is the first song of theirs that will have a life on my MP3 player after the contest. Some of the lyrics, especially toward the end don't really hit with me. The piano & vocals were great, but nothing really stuck with me. (needs hook) Probably middle of the pack material...from my pov at least.
Challenge: Met
Heather Miller (Fairfield) - There's what seems to be an occasional glitch in the mix. Like right at 1:16 there's some little beep? Not bad it just needs polish. I think you did a better job than most in describing your town, and the song overall pretty good. I think it's my favorite song that I've heard from you so far. I hope it earns you a spot in round 2.
Challenge: Met
Ominous Ride (San Francisco) - Some of your lines really worked for me, while others seemed pretty random. I'm unsure of how I feel about the vocals & guitar...even though I've listened to this song 6-7 times now. The environmental backgrounds at the beginning & end was a nice touch. This makes me want to hear more from you, but it's not enough to put you real high in my rankings.
Challenge: Met
(judges mix is different from bandcamp version)
Charlie McCarron (Stillwater MN Air) - To me this was a lot like Duality's entry. It didn't give me anything to hold on to, and I had to really focus to follow along. Might be my favorite vocals from Charlie so far, and it wasn't a bad song. Unfortunately it didn't stand out from the pack.
Challenge: Met
The Boffo Yux Dudes (It's My Hometown, Syracuse, Baby!) - The overlapping vocals killed this for me. Other than that I had no major issues with the song. It didn't really stick out though either. You sure listed a shit load of things about Syracuse, I'm sure everyone from the area could connect with numerous lines.
Challenge: Met
Inverse T. Clown (The Pinpoint Accurate Telling Of The Origin Of Salem, OH) - I was talking to a close friend of Inverse awhile back (very close), and he pretty much described the song for me. Imagine Johnny Cash is half asleep in history class...this is the type of thing he might be dreaming of. The challenge doesn't say you can't use fiction as long as it's still about your hometown. This was definitely a risky move...love it or hate it type move. I personally didn't mind the fiction since it's blended with actual history of the town. The reason this song dropped down on my list is that I can't really connect with the crazy ass characters in any way. It's just flat out too weird for me. Performance, and everything else is alright...but next time I strongly suggest sending notes along with your song if it's going to be that far out in left field.
Challenge: Met (walked a fictional line)
Charlie Wolf (I Love LA) - I think I mentioned I like clear stories...this isn't one. Performance wise it's fine, but lyrically it does nothing for me.
Challenge: Met (walked a 2 minute line)
Russ Rogers (Song For St. Michael) - Production is really bad, but I know Russ about ran out of time. It's a get it done NOW or miss the deadline type of deal...and something is better than nothing if you want a chance to compete in round 2. I think you could have a REALLY rough draft of a solid song. Needs something to mix it up a bit, it's really repetitive. But I have a feeling I'm not going to tell you anything you don't know since it's a rush job.
Challenge: Met
Emperor Gum (Cheltenham) - It felt like someone reading me a grocery list over the intercom at McDonald's. It's not your singing, but your recording. I've knocked you for your production value in the past, and I've seen a couple steps forward, but you seem to have stayed in place here. You've put a lot of your town in this song, but work more of a story into it as well.
Challenge: Met
JoAnn Abbott (Not In Copiague) - JoAnn got a lot of praise in SpinTunes #1. She doesn't really play any instruments, and was new to the whole competition thing. (not to mention her tech issues) So she over came a lot, and earned some respect. The respect isn't going anywhere, but the praise taking a leave of absence. Vocals alone just ain't gonna cut it, and you really need to be branching out to learn how to make your own music. I know you had plans that fell through, someone else was going to provide music for you. But that's what happens when you have to rely on others in a contest with tight time constraints. Not trying to be harsh, but you earned the praise in SpinTunes #1, now you need to bring it up a level if you want more...from me at least. I don't know if it'll be in time to save you in round 2 (if you get there), but I have faith you can take it to another level.
As is without music this song feels 5 minutes long...and it's not. Lyrically it's not bad, but you've got 2 major challenges ahead of you. Making your own music & learning how to produce a song. I really do wish you luck.
Challenge: Met
(judges mix is different from bandcamp version)
Swatshots (Level) - Couldn't understand your vocals. That fact alone will put you at the bottom of my list every single time. If you remove the vocals...the music was dark & menacing. I wanted to play "Twisted Metal Black" on my PS3 with this music playing.
Challenge: Met
David Ritter (Fired) - This quote is your description of your own song off your website:
"This song is about a guy who gets fired from his IT job and get’s kind of excited to get to play with his ‘toys’.I wanted to share that because apparently even you know this isn't a song about your hometown. The challenge does say that you have to use the name of your hometown in the song. You did that, but it's still not ABOUT your hometown. This isn't a bad entry, but it is the only one the judges decided to DQ as a group. So it has to go at the bottom of all the rankings. Sorry.
Even more excited is he to wipe his computer so not to let management gain knowledge off of him to do his work once he is gone."
Challenge: Not Met
Shadows:
Duality (I Just Can't Find A Virgin) - This doesn't hit the challenge square between the eyes as much as your regular entry, but honestly I like it more. You know how I said your other song was the best you've done together (IMHP)....well now I'm saying this one is. And THIS one would have been higher on the list...in the top 10 somewhere. It does get a little repetitive, so I'd cut out a few lines at the end, but I'm probably nitpicking.
Challenge: Met
via Satellite (From Home) - I think I've complained about vocal effects in a couple of Kylie's previous songs. In this one she sound great...when you can hear her. The music over powers Kylie in this mix. The music ain't bad, and honestly I bet it's an easy fix for them. My biggest gripe is the lyrics. (read the start of the review) Not a bad effort, and if they had made the deadline they might have moved on to round 2.
Challenge: Met
Bram Tant (Living In The Countryside) - I liked the guitar, and the fact that you took risks (lyrics). One of your better efforts thus far, and next time you need to stop making excuses and sign up by the deadline. I can see some disliking it for a few of the lines...but that's what happens when you take risks...some will love it, others hate it. Overall it would have been a middle of the pack song.
Challenge: Met
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