Where Music & Dance Fall Face First Into The Internet

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

SpinTunes #2 Round 4 Review

There is a NEW SpinTunes champion! The judges may have reviewed this round, but it's the previously eliminated competitors who voted for the new champion. Since once again everyone met the challenge, this is mostly just, "What would Travis want to listen to more in the future." You can also read reviews from the 5 other judges (and a special guest judge) over on the SpinTunes page of the blog.

Going into this challenge I thought the game people used to take their character from would play a major role in deciding victory. You can write a good song about any game probably, but picking a game your audience was unfamiliar with wouldn't bring up all the nostalgic feelings that could help win votes. For instance picking Pac-Man is a pretty safe bet because everyone knows Pac-Man. If you decide to write about a character from Dues Ex...well it's a great game with a lot of story possibilities...but a lot of your audience will not have any experience with it. I expected most people to play it safe by picking characters like Mario, Zelda, Sonic, Mega Man, etc... There were a couple people who dared to be a little different, and I wonder if that hurt them at all.

Mitchell Adam Johnson - (In Another Castle) - I expected lots of Mario this round, but I guess everyone figured it was too obvious...everyone but Mitchell at least. Obvious or not, I really enjoyed the direction this took. Everyone knows how useless the Princess seems to be in the regular Mario series, and it's a bit of a joke how often she gets captured, so why not explain WHY this keeps happening? It's cute, funny, and light; but it's what is SHOULD be. Great work with the game sound effects.

Chris Cogott (In Bright Falls) - During the LP I mentioned that this reminded me of The Munsters. That's not a bad thing, I love that theme song. This is another game I had never played though, and after looking it up on good old Wikipedia it seems like a very dark game. The music behind this song while very cool & fun...don't seem to fit the mood of the story being told. I could be wrong...again I'm just going by what Wikipedia told me. Everything else about it is great, and I have no other complaints.

Zarni De Wet (The Bleeding Effect) - Beautiful song that has the best line of the entire round in it.

"If I gotta shed some blood to save some
Then I'll save some"
How can that line not stand out? I had a little trouble with this song, mostly because I hadn't played the game before. (not Zarni's fault) I had heard of it...watched a trailer at one point, and I read the long summary that Zarni included on BandCamp. However that's just not a replacement for actually playing the game, and really learning about the character. This makes it really hard to judge compared to a game you may have experience with. I can't really complain about the song itself at all...it's beautiful, and if I had the money I'd buy the game. So well done.

PS: It kinda sucks having the more than 60 seconds of dead air at the end of the song. But I know you sent in the wrong file, and the deadline past before you could send the correct one. I'll upload the updated file sometime tonight. I don't hold it against the song...one of my favorite Song Fu songs did the same thing. *looks at Denise*

Rebecca Brickley (Where I Am) - Interesting character choice. I know of the game & what it's about, even if I haven't played it. I think I've seen a few episodes of the cartoon as well, but I think you're the first person I know who liked the game. The song just seemed...rough to me. Sometimes the lyrics don't seem to flow, and a word was dropped that shouldn't have been. (fun) Maybe you meant to leave that off, but it bugged me. It's not a bad song, and
"So let’s play hard to get
Follow my silhouette
And catch me if you can"
was honestly VERY catchy. Just felt like it needed a bit more work.

SHADOWS:

Charlie McCarron (The Pac-Man Duet) - Short & sweet. Fails to meet the time requirement, but as I've said in the past, I don't care when it comes to shadows. The last line Charlie & Nicole seem to be out of sync, but the ending was pretty much perfect.

Mark Humble (I'm Q*Bert, Babe) - It's a shame you didn't sign up for SpinTunes from the start, because this is great. Very relating song, and the sound effects from the game were used extremely well. I played Q*Bert a little as a kid, but I didn't get the 'Shoe*bert' reference? Just wondering what that is?

Brian Gray (Hard To Get) - You made me look up Greek mythology...and a couple other references, but I forgive you. :p This is probably my favorite song of the round. The lyrics were clever, the song fun & bouncy, and I can't help but smile while listening. Definitely a new take on the DK & Mario relationship. Loved it.

Boffo Yux Dudes (Floating Away) - You did a nice job of putting the listener into that ship. The background vocals made me feel like I was floating out in the middle of nowhere, and I felt sort of helpless at times. This would have been hard for me to judge in competition because I think you did achieve what you wanted, but in the end it's not the type of song I typically listen to. Well done in terms of stuffing my fat ass into that tiny ship though.

JoAnn Abbott (Go For The Eyes) - This is another tough one for me to judge/review. I think it's the best vocal recording I've heard from JoAnn, and Caleb did a fine job helping out with the music. It's a really nice tune, but it's just words to me. I've never played the game, and after reading a quick wiki article about the game I'm still in the dark about MOST of this. So unless I go buy the game & sit & play it, it's not going to make much sense to me. That isn't going to happen, so this probably won't get played by me much in the future...as I said...it's just gibberish put to a pretty tune. I'm sure fans of the game will like it though.

Boffo Yux Dudes (One Level Down) - Like your previous shadow the music in this one does a great job of putting the listener in the game. The way the music continues to speed up throughout the song really makes me a bit frantic...much like how the game can. The music also gets louder as the song goes along, and that works to a degree. I think it's a great idea, but you start off so low that I can't pick up the first 2 lines. Bump it up a little to start, and it's fine though. It's another time requirement fail, but who cares.

David Ritter (Pitfall!) - This is a really pretty & sleepy tune. Strikes me a bit odd for a game about "Pitfall!". You describe a lot of exciting things, but the music isn't trying to get me excited. So like I said, the overall picture you give me is a bit odd.

Boffo Yux Dudes (Elf Shot The Food) - This is one of the games I always wanted to own, but never have. I rented the hell out of it though. At first listen during the LP, I didn't care for this song...but of course I don't really pay a lot of attention to the music at the LP. (one bad thing about running the LP) But when I could actually give it my full attention I laughed a lot. The characters talking in the background, the in game voice, and everything together just works. Like I know Chris Cogott has been doing...I find myself saying, "The Elf Shot The Food" a lot lately.

Caleb Hines (The Writing On The Wall) - Like JoAnn's shadow it's another game I've not played & I don't really 'get' it. (I've been hearing cake jokes forever & I still don't know why. :p ) That's just the problem with picking a more current game. They take longer to play, and less people will be able to be in on the story. Writing about a 25 cent game is the safe route, but it doesn't mean this is bad. Just means I can't understand it without a lot of research or buying the game. (Less helpful or informative review EVAR!)

Governing Dynamics (One Four One 'Roach') - This will give the previous review a run for the title... Yeah, it's another game I don't have experience with. The chorus wasn't all that catchy to me, but I liked the delivery of the curse word. :p (Don't know why I even bother reviewing some of these...sorry these reviews suck.)

Inverse T. Clown (I'm Tops) - I didn’t care for the vocal performance at all, but I know you recorded this without working headphones...so you get a pass. I loved the story, and the fact you went with a lesser known character from a game. The music is something I could see being on a classic game. There's some classic themes from the 8-16 bit era that I can listen to all day. This could slide right into that category had it been on a game. Very well done.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

She's Working Her Way Through College (1952)

In She's Working Her Way Through College, Virginia Mayo plays a burlesque dancer who is trying to earn enough money to go to college. On what happens to be her last night as a dancer, she runs into Ronald Reagan, who plays her old high school teacher who is currently a college professor. Virginia ends up attending the same college her former teacher is currently employed by, and even rents a room from him & his wife.

This movie is centered around the jealousy of Ronald, his wife, and another female student who sees her man stray in favor of Virginia. As with a lot of musicals the whole group is involved with putting on a school musical. Add a little blackmail, a few song & dance routines, a happy ending, and you have a musical remake of "The Male Animal".

It was no masterpiece, but overall it was an enjoyable 90 minute flick. I couldn't really find much of the film on YouTube. I really wanted to share the number "Am I In Love?" performed by Gene Nelson. He was pretty amazing in the film overall, and that number showed some incredible athleticism. If you catch it on TV, the movie is worth watching.

Original Trailer
Since I couldn't find many clips, hopefully this will give you a better picture of what the film is like.


I'll Be Loving You
Gene Nelson & Virginia Mayo make a good team. (Bonnie Lou Williams dubbed Mayo's voice)

Friday, November 26, 2010

Song Fight Review: Future On The Road

The last challenge over at Song Fight was titled "After Hours", and I predicted that Ross Durand would win. Well I was right, and Ross did add yet another Song Fight victory to his collection. There's a whole new batch of songs over at Song Fight, so I suggest you go pick your favorite songs for the current round. My picks are listed below:

Voted For:
(Right Click "Save As" on the artist's name for a MP3 of their entry.)

Todd McHatton - It's funny that you entered this fight, it was about a week ago that Glen Phillips brought you up in a discussion over in ArtiFiction. As for the song; it boarders between catchy & annoying. I swear I've listened multiple times on multiple days, and sometimes it falls into one catagory & sometimes the other. It definitely feels like the song is driving the listener...that may be the thing that strikes me as annoying at times.

Rycehat - Did you just write a Back To The Future related song? Intereting take on the challenge. Unfortunately this song ends before I wanted it to. Just felt like there was more story that could have been told.

Architects Of Desire - Mood music...good mood music, but still mood music. It's so long & slow that any story you might be telling doesn't hold my attention past the 2 minute mark. Sounds pretty, I'm happy to fall asleep to this anytime. :p

Berkeley Social Scene - When the chorus starts at 1:20 it gets difficult to pick up the vocals. Musically BSS is always interesting, even when I dislike the entry. Not being able to pick up chunks of the lyrics is a deal breaker with me though.

Others:
(Head over to Song Fight to listen to these songs.)

Bad Boys At Bat Mitzvahs - Whatever you did to the vocals actually startled me at first. Later it just became annoying. I could have good things to say about this with a new vocal track, but as is, it's not something I would listen to a 2nd time.

Monotone Max and His Long Band Name - Why the heck is this even entered? I can't see how it relates to the prompt at all. Sorry, but I considered this a waste of my time.

The Semolina Pilchards - Musicially it's mellow & interesting, but lyrically felt weak. If I don't really pay attention I don't pick up the lyrics.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Two Girls And A Sailor (1944)

So...lets see how long I can put off the next Song Fight review. :p Just kidding, I did some of it already. I just haven't finished yet, and I threw this post together the other night as I was watching the film. So it was either post this or nothing today.

"Two Girls And A Sailor" is the best movie EVER! Ok, not really, but it was darn good for what it was. During the war years (WW2...it's sad I have to clarify that), you could expect to see a new movie come out every month that basically followed the same formula. Create a very thin story line (usually connected to Broadway or Vaudeville), with lots of excuses to include musical numbers (and cameos), and have happy endings for EVERYONE! (not those kind of happy endings...you sick-o) It's like Hollywood was trying to package unicorns, kittens, rainbows & everything else feel-goodie into a 2 hour period. Taking peoples minds of the problems of the real world, and bringing them as much sheer joy as possible.

This film doesn't do anything outstanding, it follows the same recipe mentioned above. It just does everything a little bit better than most. June Allyson & Gloria DeHaven play sisters who grow up on the stage. June, being the older sister, always looks out for her sister especially when it comes to men. This film is about the sisters falling for the same man (Van Johnson). (No worries, the runner up gets Tom Drake.) Unbeknownst to both sisters the man they fall for is a millionaire who sends them lots of expensive gifts. Nothing all that original...so no need for me to continue describing the story line.

What you should know is that the number of A-List cameos is pretty awesome. Ben Blue, Lena Horne, Lee & Lyn Wilde, Xavier Cugat, Harry James & many more all contribute music or dance numbers. I couldn't find video of the Virginia O'Brien number, but she is amazing...as usual. They apparently deleted a scene with Buster Keaton in it (WHY!), and Ava Gardner has an uncredited appearance. (I totally missed it when watching the movie though) Jimmy Durante plays a supporting role in the film, and he does a few of his standards. I don't care who you are, you have to smile when watching Jimmy.

On to the clips!
(I couldn't find half the clips I wanted to embed...sorry.)

My Mother Told Me
Gloria DeHaven being sexy...and doing it well.


Concerto For Index Finger
One of the best bits of the movie is when Jose Iturbi is arguing with Albert Coates about conducting Gracie Allen.

The Young Man With A Horn
June Allyson sings & dances with Arthur Walsh, while Harry James supplies the music.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

YouTube Treasure Hunt #18

The YouTube Treasure Hunt is something I had been doing on the "Songs Of The Day" page of the blog. But I've decided to start posting these monthly blogs on the main page of the site. If you're unfamiliar with this project, this is what I do a few times each month to decide who I'll feature.

1. Search for "Original Song" in the YouTube search bar.
2. Search options set as: Videos, Relevance, Today & Music.
3. I will look through the first 7 pages of results only.
4. Anyone who sits down in front of a camera & sings an original song could be featured in the "YouTube Treasure Hunt". I do try to find lesser known YouTubers with around 100 subscribers or less, but that part is flexible as you'll see.
5. I can feature older videos from people I stumble across & related videos.
6. Unlimited searches allowed.

The following are my favorite original songs that I stumbled onto while sifting through all the crap on YouTube during the past weeks. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the new talent & check out their personal channels.

Just Like Her by Lindsay Jacobs (3 subs)


lindsayjacobsmusic & @lindsayjacobs

"Good Bye" & "Man Song" by Kersten Capra (10 subs)

KerstenCapraMusic
(featured video is actually on a third parties channel)

Stronger Than The Sickness by Danna Richards (9,129 subs)

DannaRichards & @mynine2five
(This is not the first time I've featured Danna, I've stumbled onto her randomly a few times. Each time I've done so I've enjoyed her video more than the previous time. I finally broke down & subbed. She's like a female Jonathan Mann, writing a song every day.)

Hey Love by Michael Carreon (11,652 subs)

mcarreon89 & @michaelcarreon

Stay Tonight by Mike Finkelstein (4 subs)

MrMikeFink

Cupid by Autumn Andersen (453 subs)

tumnusLOVE & @autumnandersen

Doormat by Robert Borden (2,548 subs)

RobertBordenMusic & @RobertGBorden

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

YouCube

This website made me smile & annoyed the heck out of me. YouCube is a website that allows you to share 6 YouTube videos on what is basically a photocube. It's a neat idea, but the site is buggy. It takes awhile to load, and it took me 3 tries just to save mine. At one point the whole site went down, so hopefully it's working again now? If it doesn't play my cube, you can find it in the archieves titled as "Make 6" by Travis.

If it's not working, you can kill some time with the other 3 updates I posted today, and then come back & try again.

Monday, November 15, 2010

This Is Me (Medley)

I thought Charlie McDonnell was pretty creative in promoting his new album.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

SpinTunes #2 Round 3 Review

Everyone met the challenge this round, and nobody was DQed. I won't be taking the challenge into consideration much when ranking songs this time. This is mostly just, "What would Travis want to listen to more in the future." You can also read reviews from the 5 other judges (and a special guest judge) over on the SpinTunes page of the blog. The round 3 eliminations were also announced.

Zarni DeWet (Eric) - I like this because it's about a subject I'm really interested in, it's performed beautifully, and it's something I didn't expect. It got the biggest emotional reaction from me this round, and it was on my MP3 after just 1 listen.
Challenge: Met

Inverse T. Clown (I Have A Leap) - Before I even get to the song, I should mention this is one of my favorite TV shows of all time. Even with the fictionalization being ok, I didn't expect this. One could argue it doesn't meet the challenge because Sam is a popular figure in media history...cultural history is history after all. But in Sam's world, he is unknown...so you can argue both sides. This song makes me want to get out my season 1 DVD set, and start watching all the episodes from the beginning. I just hope that all the judges were fans of the show, because if not there are other good songs that will probably leap this in the rankings. The ending was perfect btw.
Challenge: Met...creatively...

Steve Durand (Cuban Missile Mambo) - This is the best thing since "Mambo No. 5". :p Ok, so that's not a GREAT song, but I can still remember that cheesy 1 hit wonder over a decade later. Being memorable & standing out is a hard to do...but you do it often. Looks like Dean Martin's "Mambo Italiano" isn't the only mambo I'll be listening to in the future. I'll just pretend I sing like Dean & not Steve. :p
Challenge: Met

Charlie McCarron (Queen Of Heart) - Wow, Charlie has impressed the shit out of me the last 2 rounds. This got one of the most emotional responses from me in this round. White guilt for the win?! Charlie's story telling seems to have improved a lot from ST1 to ST2. I see him as a real threat to win if he makes it into round 4.
Challenge: Met

Ross Durand (Ivan Vaughan) - I wonder how many times Ivan Vaughan got laid telling girls how he introduced John & Paul? This seemed like it was coming from a guy just hanging out at a bar telling stories to a bartender. I'm not a Beatles fan, but I enjoyed learning this bit of history. Good idea, well executed.
Challenge: Met

Gweebol (She Said, As She Handed Him The Telephone) - I know little about Gweebol, but after 3 rounds of competition I know the girl can sing. This song...has moved up & down in my rankings like a bouncing ball. I find myself singing "So you can take this train to Philadelphia" often, but I honestly don't think I've made up my mind about this song yet (and I've listed 10+ times easy). So I'm sticking it right in the middle. It's fun to sing, and I enjoyed the organ a lot.

Side Note: I wanna hear you & Edric duet "Anything You Can Do".
Challenge: Met

Chris Cogott (Final Flight) - For the first few seconds I enjoyed that pickin' sound...but then it just gets way too busy. Eventually it calms down, and it's a pretty rockin' song. Can't really complain about anything else. With the opening, and it just being a tough round, it stays middle of the back.
Challenge: Met

Governing Dynamics (Los Alamos) - I enjoyed this a lot, even though I'm guessing we have very different opinions about Little Boy & Fat Man. Whether it's for the greater good or not, I can definitely understand how someone would be conflicted about being part of something like that. Your song does a good job of reflecting just some of the emotions I'm sure people on that project had to deal with. My favorite lines were:

"I guess when you wake a sleeping giant
It's no surprise that he looks for a club"
Challenge: Met

Mitchell Adam Johnson (Pictures Of Love) - Another song about the Beatles that I actually learned something from. It also kind of sounded like a Beatles song. I'm finding it hard to move this up real high, but I honestly can't find anything bad to say. It's a good song, just not my thing...I did mention I'm not a Beatles fan.
Challenge: Met

Rebecca Brickley (Oh Mercy) - I wish the remix had been turned in before the deadline, because that would have jumped you up on my list a lot (at least 3 spots maybe more). You can still hear a quality song in the original mix, but production does count with me, and it is a bit distracting at times. You probably have the best chorus of all the songs in this round. Don't know what to complain about since you fixed all my complaints in the new mix.
Challenge: Met

Edric Haleen (I Was There) - It's singable...I just don't want to sing it. Too slow for my tastes. The big issue I have with the song is the performance. Edric is a great performer, but him doing both parts keeps putting a silly picture in my mind. I'm completely fine up until "MAN 2" starts, and then I'm picturing Edric in blackface. I was actually reminded of a Sophie Merry video (Solo Duet). It's a serious song meant to get an emotional reaction, and I wasn't getting it because this stupid image in my head. Song still wouldn't have ranked really high with me (no fun to sing), but that image hurt his standing.
Challenge: Met...twice

Ryan Ruff Smith (The Driver 'Dallas, 1963') - I expected a JFK song, but this kinda surprised me. I liked the static & radio transmissions being played with the music (but you could cut a few seconds off the end). For me this had a lot of good parts, but 2 didn't seem to fit together. The music (& performance) seemed a little too carefree for the subject matter. I'm sure you knew what you were doing & it has a purpose for being that way...but I didn't 'get it'. That's nothing new though, people often have to beat me over the head with something before I 'get it'. One reason I love it when people post Song Bio's. I don't always read them, but there's been a lot of times when I will read one to clarify a question I had about the song.
Challenge: Met

SHADOWS:


Duality (Columbia) - Great song, probably would have been in my top 4 if it wasn't a shadow. I was hoping someone who do a song about the space race, Challenger or maybe the rover landers. Congrats on a moving song that gave me the space theme song I was hoping for. This lyrical style is a lot of fun for me as well.
Challenge: Met

David Ritter (Portal Of Doom) - You totally would have got the nerd vote if this wasn't a shadow. Loved the guitar, and the performance was pretty great. Lyrically I didn't care for a few lines that seemed just thrown in, but overall this is my new favorite David Ritter song.
Challenge: Met

Duality (Historical Verity) - I normally check the lyrics on each song, but when I got to this I just said "screw it". Aside from me not being able to read some of the lyrics, this song was great. It was catchy & used humor to meet the challenge perfectly.
Challenge: Met

JoAnn Abbott (Candle In The Dark) - I like the idea & Caleb did a great job helping with the instrumentation. Here's my problem, I've listened to soooo much kids music (old & new) that it usually drives me nuts. This isn't bad, but my dislike for the type of music makes this not fun for me. That's not your fault, so don't be discouraged. Sounds like you hit the mic at the 47 sec mark, might wanna clean that up in another mix. Good work, but this just isn't for me.
Challenge: Met

Duality (St. Andrews) - Someone is being held...about to be burned? Don't know who or why. Witches were burned...but I don't know if that's it. I'm used to not understanding Denise, and if this was a regular entry I would probably have asked her or found out what it's about for sure. Since it's a shadow, and there were no notes attached I'll just go without knowing for now. I liked Denise's performance...just wish I understood it. But I am someone you have to spoon feed lyrics to.
Challenge: I don't know...think so...

Common Lisp (Sherman's Lament) - This fails to meet part of the challenge, but I don't really care since it's a shadow. It's an great idea, and I enjoyed the song a lot. Some of the audio clips from the show worked well, while others just annoyed me. (didn't like the one at 0:32) Liked Joe & Denise singing together (didn't expect that), and this brought up some fond memories from childhood. Ended up being a sad song, but I felt happy after listening.
Challenge: Not Met (major historical even fail)

Duality (Triangle) - I didn't know what the heck this was about & how it met the challenge. Dave mentioned a couple times to me that it was about Amelia Earhart? I don't see that, and the notes you provided just baffled me even more. The good thing about submitting 4 songs & working on a 5th with someone else is that I've already said something nice about your work at some point. I'm not going to find anything nice for this one. Sorry. BTW it really is amazing that you both turned in 4 tracks.
Challenge: Not Met

Subjects I expected people to write about...but they didn't:
1. 911
2. Pearl Harbor
3. D-Day
4. Christopher Columbus "discovering" America
5. Great Depression
6. Jackie Robinson (or some other historic MLB moment)
7. Release of the Atari 2600
(Yes these are all U.S. related events...deal with it.)

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Meet The Baron (1933)

I've been watching TV...now you must suffer through my random thoughts & opinions.

2 bumbling fools (Jack Pearl & Jimmy Durante) get lost in a jungle & happen to stumble across the famous explorer Baron Munchausen, who the public fears is also lost. When the supply of water gets low, the Baron decides to ditch the fools & save himself. Fortunately for the halfwits a search party looking for the Baron finds them, and they assume Jack Pearl is the Baron. To save themselves Jack & Jimmy play along, and are treated as heroes upon their return home. Most of this movie is involves Jack & Jimmy humorously pretending to be the Baron & his manager.

For me the coolest part of the movie was seeing the Three Stooges with Ted Healy. Most people know the stooges, but most people don't remember Ted, who all 4 of the main stooges (Moe, Shemp, Larry & Curly) worked for at some point.

Overall the movie wasn't a terrible, but unless you're a Three Stooges fan I'd probably avoid it. It was a short film (about 70 minutes), so it doesn't take long to watch if you decide to give it a shot. You can also find the entire movie on YouTube...even if the audio is a little off.

Clean As A Whistle
The comedy was better than the 3 musical numbers in the film. This is the best of the bunch, and only because of the girls.


Radio Interview
This is the beginning of one of the funniest bits in the film. Jack Pearl pretending to be the Baron Munchausen during a radio interview. You can watch the rest of this clip by starting the above video from the beginning.

Fun Facts:
- Healy's was the first caricature drawn by Alex Gard to grace the walls of Sardi's, a legendary restaurant located in the New York City theater district.

- Shemp was technically the 2nd stooge of The Three Stooges...joining Healy's act in 1923. Larry Fine didn't come along until 1925, and Moe of course was the first.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

SpinTunes #2 Round 3 Songs

I posted the third album from SpinTunes #2 last night. You can listen to & download all the songs for FREE! Just click on the large image below to go to the BandCamp album. After you listen to everything you can head on over to the SpinTunes page of the blog & vote for your favorite entries.


Other Updates I Posted Today:

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Song & Dance Collab Cover

Now this is my kind of YouTube collab. Not only do you get a cover of Beyonce's "Ego", but you get pole dancing as well.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Spintown Reviews

I collected all the reviews I've done from various songwriting competitions, and linked them all here. Many of them can't even be called reviews, some of them are just me picking my favorites for a given round. I need to go back & edit the format to some of these links, but I'll do that soon. I'll include links to a couple guest reviews as well. I'll post links to future reviews here as well.

SpinTunes 1: Round 1
SpinTunes 1: Round 2
SpinTunes 1: Round 3
SpinTunes 1: Round 4
SpinTunes 2: Round 1
SpinTunes 2: Round 2
SpinTunes 2: Round 3
SpinTunes 2: Round 4
SpinTunes 3: Round 1
SpinTunes 3: Round 2
SpinTunes 3: Round 3
SpinTunes 3: Round 4

Nur Ein 5: Round 0
Nur Ein 5: Round 1
Nur Ein 5: Round 2
Nur Ein 5: Round 3
Nur Ein 5: Round 4
Nur Ein 5: Round 5
Nur Ein 5: Round 6
Nur Ein 5: Round 7
Nur Ein 6: Round 0
Nur Ein 6: Round 1
Nur Ein 6: Round 2
Nur Ein 6: Round 3
Nur Ein 6: Round 4
Nur Ein 6: Round 5
Nur Ein 6: Round 6
Nur Ein 6: Round 7

Song Fight: Under Over
Song Fight: Isle Dauphine
Song Fight: Bag Of Bones
Song Fight: Who Said I'm Dead
Song Fight: If I Had One
Song Fight: Cloud-Cuckoo-Land
Song Fight: Beaten Man
Song Fight: Vest Factory
Song Fight: Disco Tony
Song Fight: Favourite LEGO Bricks (Look At The Sea)
Song Fight: Boron Rod
Song Fight: Via Sunderland
Song Fight: Cakes
Song Fight: Looking At The Sea
Song Fight: Susan
Song Fight: I'm Eating A Wasp (Part 1)
Song Fight: Look At The Sky
Song Fight: Future On The Road
Song Fight: After Hours
Song Fight: Crashing Car, Awarding Stars
Song Fight: You Believed It Yourself
Song Fight: We Do All The Style
Song Fight: The Rumor Lives Strong
Song Fight: When Did You Know
Song Fight: The Middle Part
Song Fight: Hardly A Moment
Song Fight: Hello My Old Heart
Song Fight: Peace Is Rest
Song Fight: Hard Landing
Song Fight: Dirt Nap
Song Fight: Dana Wears Dresses
Song Fight: Jewel Of India
Song Fight: What Kind Of Love Are You Looking For
Song Fight: Down For A While
Song Fight: Ease Your Storm
Song Fight: Double Life/Half Life
Song Fight: Front And Center
Song Fight: Robot Ninja Zombie Bear
Song Fight: Double Take
Song Fight: Please Stop *
Song Fight: Lets Get Bloody
Song Fight: The Road To Hanna *
Song Fight: Keep All Your Promises
Song Fight: Crush
Song Fight: Frostbite
Song Fight: Cost Of Living
Song Fight: Your New Dress
Song Fight: She Already Knows
Song Fight: Welcome Home Frank
Song Fight: Who Needs Sleep
Song Fight: Monkeys On My Back
Song Fight: Ring Them Bells
Song Fight: Made To Be Played
Song Fight: Sometimes It's Hard To Keep Yourself Moving
Song Fight: Back To The Well
Song Fight: Nothing Is Everything
Song Fight: Dry Spell
Song Fight: I Will Be Acquitted

Song Fighter Of The Year: 2000
Song Fighter Of The Year: 2001
Song Fighter Of The Year: 2009

Masters Of Song Fu 5: Round 1
Masters Of Song Fu 5: Round 2
Masters Of Song Fu 5: Round 3
Masters Of Song Fu 6: Round 1
Masters Of Song Fu 6: Round 2
Masters Of Song Fu 6: Round 3
Masters Of Song Fu 6: Round 4

Circle Of Titles
Songwriting Cycle
Songwriting Cycle 2
White Elephant Club: Skultar

Hxaro Guide: Part 1
Hxaro Guide: Part 2
Hxaro Guide: Part 3

Masters Of Song Fu 6: Round 1 (Travis Norris)
Masters Of Song Fu 6: Round 2 (Mike Lombardo)
SpinTunes 3: Round 1 (Noah McLaughlin)

Monday, November 1, 2010

Song Fight Review: After Hours

The last challenge over at Song Fight was titled "Crashing Cars, Awarding Stars", and I predicted that Steve Durand would win. unexpected bowtie ended up taking the win by a landslide. Looks like a case of friend flooding, because I can't see that many level headed individuals picking that song. Of course this IS the internet...and most of us aren't level headed. There's a whole new batch of songs over at Song Fight, so I suggest you go pick your favorite songs for the current round. My picks are listed below.

Voted For:
(Right Click "Save As" on the artist's name for a MP3 of their entry.)

Ross Durand - I'm only halfway through the songs at this point, but so far you could have farted into the mic & got my vote. I'm glad you went this route though. A sweet & simple song about a man longing for a girl working the late shift at a local diner. It's a setting you see all the time on film, and it's a situation I find easy to imagine myself in.

Sober - Whenever you try to hold a note it annoys me. I don't know if it's just your voice or if you're trying to sing with an accent not natural to you. There were a couple places the lyrics didn't seem to flow well, but overall I enjoyed your entry. Something I could listen to after a hard days work at the bar.

Others:
(Head over to Song Fight to listen to these songs.)

BlooTattue - This song doesn't do anything for me, but your performance makes me look forward to your future entries. I like the piano as well...the lyrics just couldn't hold my attention for such a slow song.

Berkeley Social Scene - Your vocals get lost in the music. I enjoyed the music, but the story & lyrics are always my main focus. When I can make out the lyrics, I'm not sure I like the vocal performance...especially the last 30 seconds.

Oddments - First off...I had to crank the volume WAY up just to here the music & what I'm guessing is singing. The pizza faced kid working the late shift at taco bell sounds clearer over the drive through speaker than you do in this recording. It's a shame because I think I like the music. You might even be able to sing/perform...I just can't say one way or another with this shit recording. I'm not even going to mention the lyrics, because nobody in their right mind is going to pay attention to them with this recording anyways.

Sockpuppet - As I listened I was about to do a facepalm, but then I laughed at the last line. It's stupid, but it got a reaction from me...which is more than some who entered a real song were able to do.

Shorty And The Shetlands - This song does not justify 4 minutes. It feels long & it's repetitive. Cut it down or add something that mixes it up a little. The whole thing sounds the same, and does nothing to hold the listeners interest that long. From what I can hear you have the tools to play & sing pretty well...just be more creative.

Hate Noise - I don't think you hate noise at all, I think you hate music.

Side Notes:
Last week was pretty weak...this week was a little better. Honestly I expected more though. I really thought it was a good prompt this time, but I guess you can never tell what will happen no matter the prompt.

LATE ENTRY:
Hostess Mostess - Next time, finish your song by the deadline, because this was one of my favorites this Fight. Loved the music, but at times didn't care for the vocals. It still would have got a vote from me. For the first 35 seconds or so I was just "meh" about it, but then the funk came in...very cool sound.