ST17.3 Reviews and Rankings - Denise Hudson

 Spintunas.

Here is your round three.  I loved all of these on some level and thusly hated ranking you. Apologies for that even though that was my purpose here. I dithered a bit over it

This was fun.. 

Denise

DUTCH WIDOWS - ‘A Wapiti’
This is weird. I like that you put in your bio a discarded idea. I love hearing about that because I have a huge vat of discarded ideas so I get it. Also—I did NOT know that about the Tarzan cry. I feel like this is one of those things that I should have known from doing sfx. Also … my god these lyrics! This is GREAT—but I do thank you for admitting you crowbarred these in because you fully did. You just thought, how can we over challenge this challenge, which amuses the hell out of me because this is also how I felt about this challenge. :) So yes this is WEIRD…. But they work SO well and fit into the music because of what you do rhythmically. To me most importantly I am amused and have a new band that I like—it’s just a good song to put on if I’m doing stuff around the house like everything I’ve heard from you this contest, and I don’t have much else honestly to say about this except for that because I think I’m just a fan of the Dutch Widows sound in particular after the now times. Bridge wins it for you and guitars are made of ear worms. This is endearing.

SOBER - ‘Until the Page is Torn
I think the best part of that is when you can feel your palpable joy as you show palpable breathing room around your playing style and in the mix and smash through the form. Something cool starts around verse two and progresses until halfway through that next chorus. The beginning is a skill display. I think that form break (more of a break-down, really) was better than all your rule following, and it was part of the whole presentation, because you wrote a song about this challenge and what it was to you. There’s something magical in hearing you set a stage for your love of the game—you can hear it in the execution of the lick that you provided us the music for, where you change the phrase shaping of its performance and how you go into and out of it. In the end, you write a song about yourself and how and why you want to be there. (Btw, the part at the end the strings sounded so percussive it was almost like a piano hammer strike!). This is thought-provoking. 

SEEMANSKI - ‘Never Odd or Even’
This is a REALLY good arrangement with the needed variety in orchestration to keep it subtle but interesting. Compelling arrival, but maybe could have come into the verses faster. The tempo maybe drags on a little 4/4 … but you throw in enough syncopation and have an emotional, slidey vocal that is a bit bluesy and well controlled (very distinctive as well), so that you are presenting yourself very well. Mix is great. Synth strings and interesting V2 harmonies picked the interest back up. Chorus effect you used on your voice distinctive and appropriate as usual.  You have a style that could evolve with a more refined piano that wasn’t so on the nose. There’s a lot of other subtleties and at times the piano does blend with some bassy tones. I also like the emotional stick of your lyrics (“ if only, I had pulled you backwords”). As standalone, they felt important—and so is this song.

CAVEDWELLERS - ‘Fun E nuF’
Love phonetic palindrome! Like that you didn’t spell it out and made it like a puzzle. Feels like maybe a gift that’ll keep on giving, which is nice.  If I’d been the character in this song and was obsessing about why I didn’t get to meet your family in question, I’d really be analyzing EVERY single nuance of this song. But I’m judging YOU, so I’ll just say I loved the sonic palindromes and counting the backward percussion. and in particular the finger cymbals—got a kick out of that! This would be a delightful exercise as something math-y. But I liked it as a standalone, and although it felt a bit chock full and busy at times it was more song-worthy than puzzling to me, because the chord progression was pleasant and the percussion intelligent. This song went to college.

JEALOUS BROTHER - ‘Dumb muD’
Already love this. What a great start! The way you hang on that inversion of the 7th is SO swamp and I dig it. The way you come off of the phrase “Dum-Mud” in first line of chorus feels too squeezed in—like this is one of those lines where seven words were used where 4-5 would have done. Guitar panned aggressively so far stage right to my right ear felt a little relentless. Love the first letter line idea. Upon a read I was excited to press play in the first place, because I had no idea what I was going to get, or what the palindrome guitar solo was going to be like. I really do appreciate words that fit a tune this well, because this doesn’t always happen. And you do this well. This is slick.

RACKWAGON - ‘Backwards in Heels’
These sounds are cool together and almost don’t go with the lead Vox in the space until it hits the end of the first phrase then you sound like a cool mystery novel. Love the spring of that percussive piano and that twang and those hammers saloon-ing out a very cool timing shift when guitars came in. The vocals are on the edge of being campy but it comes of as almost sophisticated. I don’t know what it is. The guitars help. This is just a really interesting thing that I almost forget is a challenge exercise. Tempo change is cool. As was the Vocal performance. I think I like this because it feels like musical theater. This was very elegant. 

DAVID HARRINGTON - ‘Was it a Rat I Saw’
This intro reminds me of the carefree feel I used to get playing a racing car game in an aracde in college, so this is a good sound palate for a throwback gaming kind of feel. Sometimes it does get a bit busy and samesy, but curiously never gets too much. That bass snaps and your mix is tight and horn hits are tasteful, guitars don’t ever get grating. This grew on me a lot on subsequent listens, steadily rising in rank. It just was a good solid song with a lot of consistency that I’d listen to over—one of those tunes that showcases that you’re a good act. And that fadeout is one of the best fades I’ve ever experienced in all my days. This song is cool. 

ALSO IN BLUE - Mr. Alarm
Out of all of these, I am the most tickled that Mr. Alarm is a palindrome, which I did NOT think of ever before this week. Love the bpm palindrome. This was fun. But you know, you did another sort of palindrome that you didn’t really report because maybe we were inspiring a stickler-like coverage of challenge requirements. This whole concept of laying in bed with time ticking up and then time ticking down—and the way one emotionally feels about this when they are trying to sleep—is palindromic. I thought about this twice during the week when I had someplace to be and was hitting snooze. he whole subject matter feels like a palindrome. UGH that psychotic alarm sound tho! But nice harmonies and really good tempo drive throughout. Over too soon—but, and may I just say, not a second too late. You could have been super precious and done the time stamp palindrome thing too, but (I think) wisely refrained. Impertinent though, in a fun way!

JON POROBIL - ‘Boomerang (Viv & Hannah)’ (feat. Mo Ouyang)
This is a song that gets better and less awkward as it goes on and then it seems to get more comfortable with itself. There’s some parts that don’t quite land and feel a bit rough around the edges—the chorus is a tad clunky until its last iteration without the orchestration and the backup vocals. That end palindrome at the chorus is a bit awkward but goes into next verse nicely. And again, first time through, it felt  jarring to have that spread between high and low registers in the pre-choruses. At times too, your voice was reaching. But it was clever to construct the whole thing around that mini ABBA palindrome because it was really yummy in the last verse. Like it seems to really enjoy itself, and makes sense that an entire plot palindrome would have been constructed around how fun it was to sing “poolABBAloop” The section (“Alone in a hotel bed Viv cries / She’s broken from the weight of her own lies”) is super tasteful and also dramatic, and all the vocal risks and layering you take at the end pay off and are fun, groovy, not at all cheesy, and if was that tight the whole time this would be way more formidable. By the end, you are sailing and the arrangement is palm trees and sunshine! Groovy.

EMKAYDEEBEE - ‘In Words Drown I’
Now this is cheery. Chorus palindrome. Love idea of saying the phrase and feeling the sound and making a palindrome out of the phonetics of it. This is something I played with and I really am pleased someone did this. But oooo! That kick drum! Feels a bit relentless; kind of wish it was a bit softer. The percussion made it feel like things drummed on a while although the snare though was a charming addition. Lyrics were fun overall, and entertaining to go for the Sea Shanty angle. It seems to fit in well with the palindrome challenge especially since ‘PAL-in-DROme’ seems so fun to say in sing-songsy pirate rhythm. This is quirky. 

OMINOUS RIDE - ‘La Minimal’
These lyrics are exquisite! You’re a very good lyricist! Beautiful even. I almost want them to be set against something more melancholy or slow in tempo or feel because they are a bit pensive in tone. There is also a flow to them and some very high points (“What wonder will you know”-is a particularly tasty sounding moment) that needed some breathing time around them against that distortion of guitar. Sometimes there is too much vocal and it could have done with just your voice singing these wonderful words more thoughtfully. I also think that keeping your musical palindrome conventions simple was nothing to apologize for in your bio and actually served you well because any more complication might have further obscured your neat turns of phrase. This is thoughtful. 

HOT PINK HALO - ‘I Hear the Roar’
Another one of those that felt like something interweaving was happening. You do a good job with soundscapes, though drums got a bit itchy and somewhat much—felt distort-y in my throat. But I did really like the swell sorts of sounds. Lyrics take quite a while to begin, but are really very nice when they get there. Your words themselves and where they were in the song spatially  felt like they were in a nice jelly donut maze which was very palindrome-y. I like that you followed your vocal line with a synth, it was a really nice effect. A bit cartoony and confectionary, digestible (I don’t mean in a cloying way at all), and by the end of the song the percussion was a lot more palatable. This is very fanciful. 

VOM VORTON  - ‘Won’t Lovers Revolt Now’
Really nice title palindrome. And another one with really well stacked structure. Appreciate you getting right into it. Vocals low at times and guitar lick gets a bit grating, but nice slow layering. Too many similar sounds stacked in the same sonic area after a while. Don’t like the cheery fist pump of a palindrome in bridge, it doesn’t seem to fit the song, which felt more reflective and narrative to me. Harmonies sit really well, better than the harmonica did to my ears. Also—your bio made me chuckle. Somebody needs to start a band called Sarah Palin’s Personal Gladatorial Arena. This is a solid tune.

GOOD GUY SôJàBé - ‘Deified
A well stacked showing of thechallenge elements. And the lyrics hit for me on an emotional level about a number of things so this is appreciated. This sounded the way a good final mix for a 90s sort of radio song would. Great vocal, proper guitars. This felt very prog-rock-like to me, in both vocal and instrumental performance. Sometimes, I feel like there were a lot of things that happened where things were working at cross purposes to one another. Times when more of a bass presence was needed, like I wanted more spread in the choruses. It felt more like a statement of a genre sometimes, but because of the subject matter and the kind of genre wash, in general it was very cathartic. This is a solid song. 

SHADOWS

MENAGE A TUNE - ‘Looking For Fairies’ (SHADOW)
This is really lovely JoAnn. Your waterfall sounds went with this well constructed melody nicely. I think it rose and fell and the manipulations that you did in your software came off nicely so that they were not really noticeable in the recording. If you had any vocal straining at all, it came across as earnest and whimsical. The end is particularly evocative of fantasy. This is charming.

ALL THE ROBOTS - ‘One Megaton’ (SHADOW)
That is one cool palindrome! And this instrumental arrangement is lickety-split! Great vocals! So sad a tale but some funny little one-liners worthy of a good country song. Instead, this is a real party and not so much sad as real can-do type of tune. Like if Sober’s pet robot got dumped and Sober said “hey, you don’t need her anyway!” and made him come along to the bluegrass festival to cheer up and then he was inspired to go home and write a motivational tune so he could get on with his life. This is tight. 

CYBRONICA - ‘Serenade’ (SHADOW)
This whole thing is just a really clever presentation of a  palindrome that folds beautifully down into a sonic flower. I think it shimmers and turns more successfully than it presents itself turned around Paul is Dead styled—I think this use of effects and the dorian give you mirrors and corridors that allow you to express two different styles of languages arrival points. Where one backward is the accompaniment to the forward-mixed one, and the shared mode always is able to form an interesting cadence whatever the arrival points. Like early example— 
that cadence at :50 is really, really gorgeous. And I almost can’t describe what a strange style soup this is except that I feel like I am a ghost going through a just rained in forest. Also, the music sounds like what the words are saying—which I always really appreciate as a lyricist and a composer. Nicely, you get this across in French to an English speaker—but this is as usual I suspect.