1. Ben Walker: Great song. Loved the instrumentation and the lyrics, as well as the overall vibe. Feels very substantial and meaningful. The lyrics do a great job describing the town. The bridge is also fun and creative. The Cheers allusion does not bother me at all.
2. Chris Cogott: Finally, a rocking song! Nice basswork. Reminds me of some of the pop-punk I listened to in college. Guitar solo reminds me more of classic rock than punk though. This song really stands out, and I wish more entries were like this.
3. Governing Dynamics: Nice song, with a good flow and good lyrics. Causes feelings of nostalgia in me despite never being to Avalon. The bass sets the mood perfectly. The ambient instruments really carry me through Avalon.
4. Inverse T. Clown: Very quirky. Reminds me of Johnny Cash rapping over a synth pop song. A little They Might Be Giants inspiration maybe? Sounds like it could also be a Saturday morning cartoon theme song. One of the most creative songs in the selection.
5. Mitchell Adam Johnson: Nice vocals and instrumentation and has a great production quality. Has a very classic and fun feel that I appreciate. Seems to be inspired by music from a wide variety of times.
6. Zarni DeWet: Does a good job of building emotion, especially just for vocals and piano. I wish it had more instruments though. But it does it great job for what it had.
7. Gweebol: Great vocals and quirky. I really appreciated the banshee part.
8. wait WHAT: I love the humor of the song. The gay bar line made me laugh out loud. Still, it lacks what other songs had. It relies on stating things about the town in a hilarious matter-of-fact manner without letting me get a feel for the town's mood through the music. I would love to see a comedy video of this song though.
9. Brian Grey: I disliked this song until a few seconds in when I realized it was supposed to be funny. Seems too long for what it is supposed to be though. And I didn't really care for the music itself.
10. Austin Criswell: Nice vocals, and the reverb of all of the instruments adds to the song's longing feeling. It is nice and short, but overall, it lacks variety or and exciting moments.
11. Ryan "Ruff" Smith: Sometime I'd like to hear in a lazy jazz bar. The song actually does a good job of pulling off the "sleepy" feel without boring the listener.
12. Ross Durand: The music is thick, and the performance is good, but overall it is forgettable.
13. Common Lisp: Clever lyrics, and the skill is apparent, but the sleepy song didn't do it for me.
14. Edric Haleen: Funny, but cheesy. I like acapella, but I really don't like how the song breaks the fourth wall by addressing Spintunes.
15. Emperor Gum: I really liked the instrumention and the intro of the song, but the arrangement seemed a bit disoriented once the vocals kicked in. I also didn't care for the vocal production. Overall though, the song did have its moments.
16. Rebecca Brickly: The female vocals are excellent, but the song itself didn't keep me very interested in the town.
17. Charlie Wolf: The song seems mediocre, and it doesn't make me feel any connection to LA.
18. Danny Blackwell: Starts of kind of dull, but ultimately picks up a bit. However, nothing in particular stand out or makes the song exciting for me.
19. Russ Rogers: Decent lyrics, but repetitive.
20. Duality: Nice piano work, but I really did not like the vocal performance. It didn't seem to match the music.
21. Charlie McCarron: The song had nice keys, but I don't really like this genre of music.
22. Ominous Ride: I had a hard time looking past the production quality. The drums seemed off, and the guitar effect is annoying to me. Vocal performance (but not quality) is nice though.
23. Heather Miller: I gave it a chance, but I really didn't like the production or the genre. It could really use more emotion.
24. Steve Durand: I love the Hawaiian influence, but it seemed a bit too repetitive, and the vocals didn't do it for me.
25. The Boffo Yux Dudes: This songs was too lo-fi (and not in a good way) to hold my interest. I have been to a mall in Syracuse though.
26. Swatshots: I liked the sinister electronic tone until the vocals kicked in. Overall, the production was lacking.
27. JoAnn Abbott: This feels like a vocal demo instead of a song. I really wish this had any instrument at all.
28. David Ritter: I like the rock beat itself, but the vibe of the whole songs does not do it for me.
I'm thrilled to see you got the Johnny Cash feeling. The way the reviews were going, I was afraid that element was a complete flame-out.
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