9th June 2011, 07:40 am
Dieses Wochenende spiele ich als Aushilfsdrummer mit Suff-X zwei Auftritte hier in Konstanz. Schaut vorbei und rockt mit!
PS: Ich nehme an der aktuellen Runde des SpinTunes-Songwriting-Wettwerbs teil. Mal sehen, ob ich noch Lieder schreiben kann, die länger als 52 Sekunden dauern.
PPS: Happy Birthday, Natalie Portman!
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25th June 2010, 08:20 pm
Find out all about SpinTunes (what? why? who?)! Spoiler: It’s a songwriting contest.
Listen to all the songs! For free.
And here goes my review: at first I was put of by the lack of band names in the file names (of the album download). But then I figured it’s a blessing, because new and old faces/voices would have an equal chance of making a good (first) impression. I avoided listening to the whole bunch in order – take that, primacy and recency effect! I only knew I’d start with the Poodlz. And the rest is, well, not really silence.
- Godz Poodlz appear to think that opposites attract. Or at least that’s how “The Human Bomb” sounds. Combining the explosive superhero trait with a soft, sad song Russ and Rhod flirt with They Might Be Giants-like vocals and a few well-placed sudden stops. This is certainly a fluent transition from Song Fu to Spin Tunes.
- Jenny Katz has a really good voice but the song drifts off towards jazzy regions. The hurried performance would have worked better with more obvious irony/humor in the lyrics (in addition to all those clever rhymes); or the other way round: the dark prequel story could have had a more serious impact with a bit more depth to let the emotions unfold. Bottom line: excellent vocals and a solid tune, slightly beyond my personal taste.
- Edric Haleen plays with opposites as well, I think (am at 1:30 now). What sounds like a charming Broadway rendition of a love song is in fact the evil speech of evil, the insane view of, well, a superhero gone bad. The orchestra sounds give the song a great atmosphere and the vocal performance is among Edric’s best.
- Heather Miller provides a somewhat monotonous pop song. I didn’t get the superhero connection the first time around and I’m not tempted to get it again.
- I don’t really get what Bram Tant’s song has to do with the challenge. I’m confused.
- JoAnn Abbott’s entry has the feeling of an old movie’s musical number; you know, those black and white dramas/comedies where halfway through the protagonist breaks in to a song to illustrate his/her emotional state. Naturally, the idea of a black and white superhero movie in the times of the recent Bat-/Superman flicks is somewhat ironic. The sincerity of the song works surprisingly well and makes it easy to relate. The lyrics are great. This is my favourite song so far, slightly ahead of Edric’s.
- Buckethat Bobby Matheson spices up his relaxed blues with some tasteful accordion playing. The outburst at the end helps to maintain the plot throughout the whole song. The lyrical approach shows a lot of creativity, I think. If I were to vote for five songs or so, this would be a contender.
- Kevin Savino-Riker has probably the most 70s vibes in this round. The vocals are quite passionate, making the song worthwhile. The melody lines tend to stray; the fuzzy guitar and the constant changes of mood make it a bit difficult (for me) to focus on the actual song. So its individual parts that appeal more to me than the song as a whole.
- Ross Durand is another singer I haven’t heard of before. His sounds fine, but at times he seems to try too hard. Also, the backing vocals could have been more subtle, more melodic, less just hanging there. The song itself has enjoyable feature, namely melody and catchiness. Still, the entry as a whole doesn’t convince me 100% with regard to the challenge. Maybe 75%?
- Dr. Lindyke: my first thought was ‘Is Mike Lombardo shadowing?’ Well, he isn’t. Dr. Lindyke starts out with a moody, good piano solo rock piece (?) and just when you want it to become more the vocals accelerate and provide the necessary increase of drama. And then the chords become even more tense. The superhero theme is woven seamlessly into the song, making it a highlight of this round. I can imagine this one with a full band, although it’s already great as it is. (And just afterwards did I figure out that this is actually Dave Leigh of Leigh & Hoover fame and who I first heard/saw playing Jonathan Coulton songs on his keyboard with passion and talent – great to see/hear him here in perfect shape!)
- Danny Blackwell: the guitar seems to be slightly out of tune; or maybe it’s just too loud. At any rate I struggle to follow the lyrical plot and the despite a few nice chord progressions I don’t mind that the tune is over after less than two minutes.
- Emperor Gum almost blow my speaker. And then things go to hell. I was intrigued by the song title, but the mellow vocals and the indistinguishable background noise are a bad combination. What I can make out from the lyrics the challenge was met well; still, this entry became a victim of the unbalanced production and the artifical drums.
- Charlie McCarron starts out more promising than the previous song. Is this going to be a Toto-ballad? No. The overly dramatic (?) vocals are irritating at first, but soon I found myself appreciating the change of tone. Bonus points for originality! The end comes rather suddenly. I’ll keep this one around and give it a few more spin(tune)s.
- Ryan Welton plays his e-piano very well. Too bad I’m more of a punk rock-inspired pop music junkie. The song does have its appeal – the vocals are fine and self-assured – but I just can’t connect. Sorry.
- Jon Eric plays his camp fire guitar well. Too bad I’m more of a punk rock-inspired pop music junkie. The song does have its appeal – the vocals come from the heart and sound good – but I just can’t connect. Sorry.
- Boffo Yux Dudes remind of the time I played in a big band. Songs like this make me wonder why there aren’t more geek musicals around. The tune becomes a bit repetitious after a while. Maybe a middle-eight in minor would have spiced things up. The vocals are a bit too much on the safe side – as a comparison, Jon Eric’s voice isn’t Freddie Mercury’s, but he managed to transport some kind of feeling better.
- Denise Hudson is behind the second song where the title had me curious. The song is a little opera in itself. The glockenspiel/vibes/whatever is really sublime. The vocals fit the song perfectly; they could have been more prominent in the mix, though. Good tune, anyway.
- The Offhand Band – Caleb Hines plays progressive rock? I like the parallel of superman and supervision. The orchestral parts sounds great. The vocals don’t; I mean, the melody lines are just too ambitious, so while not destroying the song they leave me with mixed feelings once the song is over. If I were to rank all entries this one would come before several alleged better songs. Still, it’s no top five candidate.
- Gorbzilla locked out Nick Nolte and pulled out his 60s folk singer personality. Frankly, I do like the general atmosphere of this song. The feeling of departure lingers even though I can’t really follow the story of all the -mans in the lyrics. The guitar playing is a nice contrast to all the digital recording loops that prevail in several of the other songs. The vocals are a bit low on the long run for my taste; how about a soaring middle-eight the next time around?
- Steve Durand must have known that I have a weak spot for minor chords. I’m not a big fan of brass, but hey, it just works fine here. The rhythm changes are great. The plethora of instruments is mixed well. A positive surprise from an artist I hadn’t heard (of) before.
- Caleb Hines – finally! Good intro. Is this a condensed audio book? Or is there an actual song coming? Ah, yes. The clock noises are awesome. The harmonies are, as expected, flawless. And just like that the chorus comes around and turns out to be something They Might Be Giants would have been proud of having written it. Too bad Caleb only has one voice. The chorus would be even better with a “dialogue”, meaning two voices trading parts. Anyway, beautiful song. Oh, and the middle part sounds different and while I’m still wondering why this is the clock starts ticking again and I realize it was the absence of something I had noticed. Vote – if I could vote. (Oh wait, I can!)
- Radiohead, eh no, Governing Dynamics start out promising. The vocals are a bit too soft and, wait, 1:25 now, here is the gripping vibration of charismatic vocal chords. I don’t really pay attention to the lyrics because I’m busy pretending they’re about rainy weather and how rainy weather isn’t so bad, after all, although it’s, well, rainy. /me likes “Origin”.
- Sara Parsons sings one of those songs that sound good but don’t linger on. I envy her talent for harmony vocals.
So all in all I’m (a) pleasantly surprised with the quality of this round – there’s some great stuff here – and (b) glad I didn’t participate because I have no idea what to do with the challenge. In the end I voted for Caleb, JoAnn and Gorbzilla for three very original and inventive songs. And Dave Leigh gets an imaginary vote from me for his excellent shadow entry.