SpinTunes 16 Round 2 Reviews

Doing these reviews in a bit of a rush this time.  No shadow reviews, but I’ll give a tip of the cap to PigFarmer Jr who had my favorite shadow this round.  I normally break down how I rank these things; in short I’ll focus on lyrics a lot.  No time for more details, besides you should know me by now.  First up…

Caravan Ray - Peak Misery
Didn’t care for the overlapping vocals at the start.  Probably wouldn’t have been as annoying if it were a softer vocal, maybe a female, more in the background repeating “The pressure was building up”.  As is, it just made it hard for me to follow the lyrics.  I liked the use of the title in the song, even though this isn’t Song Fight, it was well done.  The counting in both instances worked for me.  Overall this was a very Caravan Ray song.  Some good ideas, kinda catchy at times, lots of repetition…but not always all that memorable as a whole.  This is the first song I’ve listened to this round, and without having heard the other songs yet, I would guess this is a middle of the pack track.

Timothy Patrick Hinkle - Number Line
-1 point for using all 3 of your names.  I will now refer to you as Tinkle P. to save time & make up for the time lost reading the extra name.  Your song was tough for me.  On 1 hand you picked a topic that not many people are going to relate to.  On the other hand...you did a decent job with it despite that.  I assume that was the sound of the wind & the freeway in your song.  I kinda liked that, it helped me get in your mindset.  I think the song is too long unless you do something to mix it up because it mostly sounds the same throughout.  I don’t see this song competing for the win this round (unless all the other judges get vertigo walking over the freeway on a regular basis), but I think you’ll end up being safe.  Nice work Tinkle P.

Jocko Homomorphism - Discretion
I didn’t understand your explanation of the song, so I sure as heck didn’t understand the song itself.  You’re teaching this shit, so you obviously have a very specific audience in mind.  Unfortunately I’m not in one of your classes, and as an average joe, this just leaves me lost.  And believe it or not I will listen to educational music from time to time.  For instance I subscribe to acapellascience on YouTube.  Even though I don’t understand all their science jibber jabber, I normally come away with the general ideas they’re singing about (I’m sure the video helps that a lot), but with your song I’m just lost.  Musically I can’t say I found anything catchy in this, and the singing could use work.  Unfortunately I’m guessing you’ll be near the bottom of my rankings.

BucketHat Bobby Matheson - Countin’ Dice
Another topic that I’m pretty clueless about, but at least I’m able to follow this story.  It actually flows really well, the music & singing is pleasant, and despite not understanding what it all means it’s still singable. So far, this simple little diddy is sittin’ pretty.

Steve Stearns - The Fibonacci Sequence
The music had me right off.  The lyrics flowed while teaching me something new.  I get the School House Rock vibe you were going for, but the vocals don’t have the same character those performers had.  Not that your vocals are bad, they aren’t, just doesn’t have the same feel.  This just knocked Bobby down a peg.  You sir are the new leader.  Well done.

Faster Jackelope - Limerence
You just creeped me out in the most beautiful way.  The vocals were lovely, and you did a good job of not letting the friend’s intervening being too abrupt or distracting.  It really came together nicely.  When it was over I was shocked it was over 4 minutes.  Didn’t really seem that long to me.  A few of the lines I had trouble getting their meaning, but I think it’s safe to say you’ll be in the upper half of my rankings.

Rob From Amersfoort - Count Me Out
At the start it sounded like any other song from Rob, but when the chorus started the music changed I was honestly a little intrigued.  Your darker than usual music kept my attention, and your vocals came across a little angry & with more emotion than I’m used to from you.  Is this song going to win the round?  No, but this might get you into round 3, and was my favorite song from you thus far.  Keep up the good work.

Vowl Sounds - Blood On The Tracks
What the hell is wrong with you people?  First you go all dark in Nur Ein with a big twist halfway through the contest, and then you hook me in with this song only to go dark again.  Seriously, who hurt you?  Actually the dark turn was a good thing here.  It was a sweet little story, but honestly I was on the verge of boredom so this made it memorable.  It’s a little odd to have such a dark tale be told by such an angelic voice, but I’m getting used to it.  This isn’t a round winner for me, but you should move onto round 3 easily.

The Quantifiers - The Terrible Trivium
People compete in this contest for various reasons.  If this song is meant to actually compete & move you onto round 3, I think you’re in trouble.  If this was just another challenge to overcome & improve as you are both new to this, that’s fine.  Unless someone is familiar with the book, this song is going to be hard to follow.  And if the story is hard to follow you better hope the music is catchy & the performance is killer to make up for it.  And well...there was very little music, and the performance wasn’t stellar.  All that being said...for first timers getting past round 1 is good.  Continuing to attack these challenges will only make you better.  Keep working & learning.

Good Guy Sôjàbé - The Wire
Not really my type of music, but this did do a good job of creating a feeling of fear & paranoia. Since I’m not 100% sure what is going on in the song, it’s good that it created a tangible feeling for the listener.  The guitar work after the 2 minute mark was pretty cool.  You should be safe this round, and I look forward to hearing your next entry.

Governing Dynamics - Get Lost!
After 2 seconds the volume kinda jumps up a lot.  Took just long enough for me to reach over & turn it up because I just thought my volume was too low.  Not a big fan of the buzz, drone, or whatever that noise is throughout the song.  Lyrically you lost me, but your vocals were really good.  Despite the chorus being kinda catchy, I couldn’t get by the buzzing noise.

Outlyer - Napalm
Whatever you did to your vocals...stop it.  This showed some promise, but each time you got to the chorus, the vocals made me cringe.  I didn’t really follow the story you were telling, but the music held my attention at the start.  The problem is it never really changed much.  Just seems too repetitive for a 3+ minute song.  I look forward to your round 3 song, but you’ll need to really bring it that round.

Nick Work - Reasons (That I Love You)
I really enjoyed this.  I mean it’s not the most original idea for a song, but as long as you do a good job with it that’s fine….and you did.  The one thing this song does lack for me is a great hook.  I found myself more interested in the verses than the chorus.  I enjoyed the guitar work, and the music overall.  Really nothing bad to say other than I wish the hook was stronger.

Ross Durand - Don’t Blink
So far...the best piece of storytelling in the round.  Your restrained performance made it feel like you were just sitting back reflecting to yourself.  It’s something that everyone is going to be able to relate to at some level, and evokes real emotion.  At the moment at least, this is my top song of the round.

Glen Raphael - Song Of Many
The first meta song.  It’s actually an interesting idea though, and I could kinda see something like this on an old episode of Sesame Street.  If you ever record it up to 5, I’d like to hear that version.  All the “Badela dah ba da….” near the end does sound a bit messy though.  Just becomes kinda a mess to listen to.  Overall, this is pretty solid, and I would think it moves you onto the next round.

Temnere - Cynics Anxiety
I wonder if I’ve tweeted anything that’s inspired a song now?  Somewhere there could be a song about murdering people in Minecraft & I could be the inspiration.  Your song is an interesting take on traveling to Mars.  I mean most people do think of the positives of being able to reach that point, but the negatives in your song would probably be more accurate. I think I’ve said this in the past, but I really wish your vocals were more upfront in the mix.  It does come off really dreamy & spacey (probably intended), but I do struggle to hear them unless I crank the volume more than I like to.  Overall...good song, and it didn’t feel like it was 4 minutes.

Jerkatorium - 8-bit Love
Fuck Ross, you my new jam.  From the computerized vocals, the great backing vocals, smart & catchy lyrics, the story telling...loved it all.  Everything you did in this song just seems to fit together perfectly & I’m sorry but I have no constructive criticism to share.

Ominous Ride - Seven Naughty Children
I had to double check the name when this started.  Sure doesn’t sound like Ominous Ride, but I’ll trust that Dave didn’t mix up the songs.  I started to lose interest right when the first dark turn happened, and from then on I was hooked.  Looked forward to finding out how each little brat was about to meet their doom.  There were a couple moments when I thought a line might have needed redone or something tweaked.  For instance the line, "They barked up the wrong tree" seems to come in a bit late?  With a short deadline & A LOT of lyrics in what’s a 5 minute song...I can see having to leave a few things like that for later.  For a 5 minute song it DID hold my attention.  Not my favorite song of the round, but it’s in the top 5 somewhere.

Mandibles - Breathe
The vocals were killer.  The obvious is out of the way now.  This song clocked in at well over 5 minutes, and didn’t hold my interest nearly that long.  I think the main reason is the topic.  I understand this was based on something in real life, but that doesn’t mean it’s a great song topic without a little flair added to the story.  So at the start I’m all in...person being woke up from a panic attack...serious stress & emotion at play here…something really bad must be going down.  But then, the song doesn’t go where it should go, what the hell is creating all that panic & creating the drama?  I’m not trying to downplay panic attacks, they’re a serious thing, but it doesn’t make for an interesting song.  It’s a jumping off point to get to something more interesting.  I’m also not trying to pry & find out what sparked your attack, but make some shit up.  Without giving the listener the cause of the panic & justifying a reaction from them...the instructional about how to calm oneself down again near the end just seemed pointless.  This should be a ride the listener goes on with you.  Instead this song took 5 minutes to say, “I had a panic attack, and here’s how I calmed myself down.”  The music itself was enjoyable.  Could have used a bit of a changeup in there somewhere (not the END), but it was relaxing & pleasant.

Boffo Yux Dudes - When The Band Counts Down
2nd meta song of the round.  It’s an interesting idea considering the challenge this round.  What I don’t like is the first verse of your song is complaining about having to wait for the music, and then you make us wait through 15 seconds of other bands counting down.  Also, while the idea is kinda interesting, I got bored with the lyrics.  You don’t have to be funny all the time, but this could have used some humor.

Final Rankings:
Jerkatorium
Ross Durand
Steve Stearns
BucketHat Bobby Matheson
Ominous Ride
Faster Jackelope
Nick Work
Temnere
Vowl Sounds
Good Guy Sôjàbé
Mandibles
Caravan Ray
Glen Raphael
Rob From Amersfoort
Governing Dynamics
Timothy Patrick Hinkle
Outlyer
Boffo Yux Dudes
Jocko Homomorphism
The Quantifiers