SpinTunes #4 Round 4 Review

Steve Durand - A Beautiful Voice
From the get go it sounds fuller than most. Meaning you found more creative ways to make sounds...so that's good. I think former SpinTunes judge Dave Santucci would have loved this cause of the whistling (Dave is a professional whistler). There was not "An irritating noise" in this song, and it would be hard to listen to without smiling. You win this round...at least in my eyes...or ears...you know what I mean.

Jess Scherer - Threadbare
Great topic & title for this particular challenge. The backing vocals do a great job of filling up the song, but at times it does feel like it still needs something. (don't ask me what, I don't know) Up until I heard this, Steve didn't really have much competition for my top spot. Lyrically, vocally, concept...all great...but Steve made me smile just a little to much. Great song nonetheless.


David LeDuc - Fear
The beat boxing wasn't bad, and the rubbing of your arm was a creative sound that really helped add something different. The spoken word approach wasn't a bad idea for this particular challenge, and at times it flowed nicely. However, there were also times in which the flow seemed awkward. Not a bad entry, but it didn't blow me away, and I think it leaves the door open a bit too much for someone else.

Edric Haleen - Exultation!
Lion Kingy. It's certainly joyful, but it's hard to say much else. I don't know if this is a real language or just gibberish that Edric made up. Technically I could see someone wanting this DQed without some clarification from Edric. If it's a different language that's fine, if it's gibberish...well in my mind that probably wouldn't count as lyrics. Either way I don't understand it, and I rank heavy on lyrics & story. So at the bottom you go...

Jacob Haller - What Do We Need?
I like the idea, but it gets too repetitive lyrically. And without a really compelling musical track to help it along the repetitive lyrics get old fast. As an idea & rough draft this kinda works, but it needs a lot of work still. I suggest practicing your finger-buzzing solo, and taking another crack at this.

Drei Viertel Drei - Igor's Jigsaw
Aside from Steve, you set a mood better than anyone else this round. I'm glad someone decided to take advantage of the loophole about processing the various sounds your body can make. Creepy idea that works well with your ability to tell stories. It's your strongest entry of the contest.

Brian Gray - Before You Go
If this wasn't a shadow, it would get consideration for my top spot of the round. At first I was a little disappointed because I thought it was going to be all vocals, and this isn't an a cappella challenge. But when the first chorus kicked in I was sold. The vocals seem a little off at times (don't know if it's the recording or any processing they went through), but everything fit nicely together & it filled up the song well. The trick for this round was recording a song that sounded like you weren't limited in anyway...while you actually were. You pulled it off.


Menage A Tune - Don't Miss The Rainbow
Great work in terms of lyrics & creating an interesting sound throughout. The backing vocals & sounds were all great. My only gripe about this is the lead vocal performance. Just didn't hold my interest, and lacked personality. Excellent song though.

SpinTunes #4 Round 3 Review

I'm posting my reviews really early this time, but not including the rankings until after the judges post their reviews. (they are now ranked) One advantage of running the contest is early access to the songs, but I still didn't have much time to sit & stew about these since I'm posting this so early. Anyways...without spell checking...here they are. Oh, and shadow reviews WILL be posted in a day or 2. (they are now posted below)

This review is brought to you by the letters S - P - I - N - T - O - W.

Steve Durand - A Song About Letters
Sounds like it came from Sesame Street & you sound like a muppet. Perfectly done. I thought a lot of people would go in this direction, but I didn't expect anyone to nail it this well. You're my top pick this round...just loved it.
5 Bonus Points

Jess Scherer - This Twisted Tongue
In the past 3 contests it was a noob who won each time. You're one of the noobs that I consider a major contender this time around. I don't really have anything negative to say. I've had the "tongue twister" idea for a challenge written down for awhile now, and this song just makes me want to use it more. This is a tough round, and I'm not posting my rankings yet, but you'll probably be near the top.
5 Bonus Points

Edric Haleen - The Terrible Things That Transpired Today
What? The challenge wasn't hard enough? I don't have a problem with you using just 1 letter, even without the opening line. Relatable, funny, it gave me a speech impediment & gets props for going the extra mile. Some people struggled to avoid the Yoda effect with 7 letters, you avoided it with just 1. Great job.
4 Bonus Points

Ross Durand - Advice (Easy As ABC)
Apparently Ross isn't too picky about his letters & just takes the first 7 he happens upon. I was wondering if anyone would take the 'listing' approach to their lyrics this round (Denise should like that). Not a bad way to work around the limitations for this round. "Easy as abc" was more memorable than I thought it would be. You & Steve should do a children's album together.
0 Bonus Points

Brian Gray - One Of Us
Lyrically the only thing I'm going to remember is the "One of us" bit. I expected a lot of Yoda-like lyrics this round, and lines that just wouldn't sound natural. You covered yours up with some really cool & catchy music. You sold your lyrics with the performance as well. Take away those 2 things though, and I just didn't think you hit the mark lyrically as well as some others this round. Overall it's still a very enjoyable tune, so well done.
4 Bonus Points

Kevin Savino​-​Riker - The Tin Knight
Dang, this is really good for a rough recording. Nice story telling, especially with the limitations this round. This might have got the biggest emotional response from for the round. "I'm a tin knight too"
4 Bonus Points

Governing Dynamics - Go To Sleep
And sad Travis is back, that didn't take long. My first question concerning this song is why do I understand your lyrics better when we severely limit the words you're allowed to use? I kinda thought this challenge would push people into doing different things musically than they're usued to, but you stuck to what you do & it worked just fine. Didn't care for the instrumental bit around the 1:30 mark, but otherwise it'll go on my MP3 player.
2 Bonus Points

Rebecca Angel - My Tights
One thing at always affects my rankings is whether or not I can sing the song. I feel a little strange singing about "my tights". Lucky for you there are 2 female judges this round who might be more inclined to enjoy singing about tights (and Dave). I enjoyed the performance & the music was fun & cheerful. Singability is low for me, but it's a good entry.
3 Bonus Points

David LeDuc - Seven Letters
OOOoooo...creative title. The music is so cool it actually makes you feel a bit cooler just by listening. Feels like it needs a chorus to make it a bit more catchy, cause it does get a little repetitive. It's not a big problem cause it's a short song, but the ending was cool so I would have used a little more of that. Very solid entry.
4 Bonus Points

The Orion Sound - It Never Said He Wasn't
There are places where your vocals need brought up a little & bleed together. I thought the idea was funny & so far I've enjoyed the type of songs you've entered. Funny & upbeat is usually the best way to get high on my rankings (not that THAT matters). The piano was great & it's nice to hear you adding something new to one of your tracks.
3 Bonus Points

Jacob Haller - Come To Me Now
I was talking to someone about your song, and told them you used (for the most part) just one line & repeated it over & over for your lyrics. That person then asked what the line was, and I couldn't think of it off the top of my head. Granted I'm posting these reviews only after a few listens this time, but that says something about how memorable it was. The vocals & music aren't bad at all...rather good actually. But this challenge beat you, or you just picked a bad direction to take lyrically. Even though your vocals weren't bad, Barry White is the only one who could have sold this one line over & over.
4 Bonus Points

Gold Lion - Crossfire
Song bio...write one. This is my favorite song from you yet. I liked the way it built & flowed. I saw the time on this & I was pretty sure I would be harping about the length of the song. That's not the case though, because it didn't FEEL long, and I never once lost interest. There are still times when I don't really get a few lyrics, but it's a minor complaint this time. GREAT WORK.
4 Bonus Points

Common Lisp - I​.​O​.​U.
Nice title. You mention in your song bio the reasons for the repeating & overlapping. I completely understand the reasoning, but the fact that a few people did manage to write lyrics in which you may not have noticed the constraints means that you probably didn't need to do that (cause you are good with lyrics). It's another purdy song musically, and I didn't hate your vocals either. The lyrics are so repetitive (and hard to make out when overlapping) that it's hard for me to get into, but it's so darn purdy I wouldn't ever skip it if the song came on.
3 Bonus Points

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Noah McLaughlin - va falloir
I don't understand a word of this because I got a D- in highschool French. The music was purdy, but I don't know how to review this...so I won't.

Menage A Tune - Please Come Back
I enjoyed the simple piano, and the lyrics weren't bad considering the restrictions. The multiple vocal tracks didn't really work well together for me. Doesn't really have much replay value for me since it lacks a good hook & it's not really my type of music.

Drei Viertel Drei - Carnival
The funny voices from the get go made it difficult to understand, and since it wasn't causing any side splitting laughter on my part, what's the point? Having no hook & non-funny funny vocals just made this hard to focus on throughout.

Caleb Hines - The Quetzalcoatlus
Had the previous round not kicked your ass, you could have made the finals with this gem. Even though you said "Quetzalcoatlus" 10+ times, I still can't freakin' say it correctly. This annoys me. Extremely well done, you just won the round 3 shadow trophy. It'll ship within 57-64 years.

NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT

An Unfair And One-Sided Review by Howie Kapow

SpinTunes #4 Round 2

You can leave comments for Howie below, on Ocean Of Bees, YouTube or on Twitter.

(Normally people seem to put the disclaimers at the bottom, but this should probably go up top...and in bold. Howie's reviews do not reflect that of Spintown's, and have no influence over the contest whatsoever. The over the top reviews in Sammy's "NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT" series aren't meant to be 'constructive', and you should read the sub title. If you think he's picking on you...just listen the reviews he wrote for the others...he can be an equal opportunity ass. - Spin)