Also In Blue - Howling At The Moon
This is a butt-shaking good time. I love the groove, the funky vintage keyboard sounds (that clav! Those organ glisses!) and the playful, bluesy vocals. While the circular aspect of this song is a lyric “about” compulsion and guilt, it sounds to me like a celebration of pleasure. It has fun with the werewolf tropes, internal rhymes, and of course that pro-howling chorus.
It fulfills the challenge on multiple fronts: circular theme, moon, chord loop, verse structure. The production and performance are great as always. While this is not the most profound, complex, or original entry, it radiates joy in all its little details, from the bass fills to the guitar solo to the vocal phrasing and harmonies, and makes me feel joy too -- and for that, it gets my top ranking.
Hot Pink Halo - Hexaflexagon
Such a fresh spin! It uses curiosity and imagination to recombine circular shapes, story openings and musical loops in ever-changing ways that are still tuneful, thanks to the modal composition that lets everything mix and match. There’s quite a bit of mystery here, which seems very intentional, as a way of suggesting that the world is full of these cool hidden layers. (And in the penultimate verse especially, that those layers move within us, too.) There’s a subtle polyrhythmic thing going on, which adds to the cultural fusion from the different story openings. Also, I’ve never heard a music box used this way before, and it’s really effective. The vocal, while understated, gets in some nice kind of post-punk yelps and broken syllables I like too.
The only thing that didn’t really do it for me was the dull-sounding midi strings. I can hear what you were going for with the composition and arrangement, though -- it’s strictly a production issue.
The song stands on its own merits, but I have to say I am quite taken with your music box paper process and want to try this at home!
Sober - It’ll Be Okay
I appreciate this kind of country song: one that’s honest about ordinary people’s struggles. It’s a believable account of someone trying to maintain equilibrium through these chemical and deployment cycles. I really like the level of external detail in the lyrics, from the place names to the jargon to the type of chewing tobacco, while still getting inside the narrator’s head. I feel like I’ve gotten a peek into a part of American society that’s been unfamiliar to me.
Musically, this goes down smoothly. As I’ve come to expect from you, the performance and production are full and clear. I like the band-locking-in moments in the choruses. The accordion after “if I were French” is a nice touch. At other times the twangy guitar fills (1:09, 2:01, 2:15) don’t really fit the mood of the lyrics, like stock licks that may have been placeholders. That said, there’s a nice build of instruments over the course of the song and an even nicer effect when they drop out and spotlight the final words. Kudos for the quietly unresolved ending as well.
Mandibles - Home Sweet Home At Last
Despite the guitar timing issues going into the chorus, I find this a particularly strong song. The standout strength for me is the vocal melody, easily the best this round. The composition in general is pretty interesting, with some borrowed chords and a longer progression. (There are quite a few short, circular chord sequences this round, and my ears are enjoying the contrast here.) The artful musical construction invites some empathy with our sadly mistaken narrator, even though the lyrics make the deluded perspective abundantly clear. If it weren’t for this tension, I would find the lyrics heavy-handed, but the music and the sweet, sincere vocal performance mitigate that.
Governing Dynamics - No Matter Who
This builds such a great atmosphere. I love the ambient guitar sounds. The style and sound, especially with this guest vocalist, are what I like best about this entry. It’s like sugar coating on the bitter pill of a song about sugar coating on a bitter pill. As with Mandibles’s song, a pretty vocal can really change the perception of a lyric, in this case one with a lot of sarcasm. Lovely, polished production.
Star Bear - Chapters
The theme is a refreshingly positive take on a circular journey. It’s not stasis, but homecoming. I picture you singing this to a beloved child while envisioning their life all the way to old age. The piano part feels very lullaby-like, and the singing is tender and quirky. I like the way the harmonies and guitar layer in.
The pacing is gentle, as it should be - I like the pauses and quiet dynamics - but I think it would benefit from cutting out the repetition of the “as time rolls on” stanza. This would give the song more movement and a more symmetrical structure, with the more energetic “hit your stride” contrasting section in the middle. Although you might want more of the early verses if you are actually using this to sing a baby to sleep!
Firefly - Firephyte
I like the use of sound effects in the beginning. Nice guitars in the opening and in the solo in particular. I like the guitar-picking patterns. The pretty timbres and textures keep the looping chords from getting completely repetitive. The energy builds well. There is some vocal pitchiness and overreaching, but the vocals are clear and easy to make out. The lyrics were cryptic to me until I read the song bio - except that, weirdly, I got the Lizard King / Billy Joel references. To be fair, it’s not usually expected to hear a song sung from the point of view of a plant species, but once I know that, the lyrics do make poetic sense to me.
See-Man-Ski - Get Back (to where you came from)
Great energy! This has a really fun bouncy-angry loud-and-louder thing going on. I’m especially fond of the drumming. The filtered vocals also give this a Pixies vibe.
This may be a cultural gulf, but I don’t exactly get what the lyrics are referring to. The emotion is clear, and there’s some allusion to killing, and maybe a criticism of anti-immigrant sentiment? I like to think I keep up with the news. Maybe I’m overcomplicating this. I do get how the title line fulfills the challenge, though, and the harmonic and dynamic cycles do that as well.
Night Sky - Leave it on the TMB
I like the imagery here, and the idea of rambling around in the Alps to get perspective on one’s problems. The problems are vague, but that’s okay, as they recede behind mountains and gondolas and cowbells. The circular structure of each verse and locale is a nice touch, too.
The sax is lovely as always, and the vocals have more presence than I’ve heard before. I think this quieter setting works well for your voice.
I do think the rhythm and sequence of the chords would benefit from a little more syncopation and just generally not landing in all the predictable places. Especially when the verse begins and ends with the same line, having it also begin and end on the tonic makes the journey sound more static than it really should. Rather than go into these ideas in depth in this review, I’ll suggest learning more through collaboration, which I understand is encouraged in SpinTunes. (I’m new here.) I hear a lot of potential in this and other songs of yours I’ve heard.
Phlub - Eternal Return
It’s interesting to see how differently everyone is interpreting the prompt, and this is definitely the broadest, most overarching take. I like the novelty of that, and of the musical approach, but it is challenging for me to really engage with for long. Things I liked were the time signature change after the introduction, and the initial harmonic feeling of riding an airplane that keeps ascending -- I’m in some unfamiliar altitudes here. The vocals are not easy listening, and I’m not sophisticated enough to know whether that’s my response to the different tuning system or something else. The phrasing of the lyric ends up with unnatural-sounding stresses in this meter, and that may be shaping my response to the vocal as well.
Chewmeupspitmeout - Ad Homonym
I like the idea of a song based on homonyms, and the pun in the title, and the lyrics read on the page. Yet somehow the words don’t work for me in the context of this music. I think the witty aspect gets lost in the slow tempo and minor chords.
The composition does convey circularity. There are some pretty things happening instrumentally and dynamically around this four-chord loop -- I particularly like the entrances of the bass and the mallets, and I’m digging the momentum. But then the heavy distortion comes in and it is super unpleasant to me. Thankfully that goes away for the last verse, and the words end on the best zinger.
Melody Klein - Too Long
There are lots of circles, musically. Lyrically, I guess it’s about going around in circles with SpinTunes judges. This is not a dynamic I want to feed into.
SHADOWS
Micah Sommersmith - Ordinary Time
The melancholy and weariness are palpable in the soulful vocal as much as in the repeatedly deferred hopes through the changing settings of the verses. The repetitions of “still waiting” heighten the emotion, and the way you place them in the middle of the sentence makes me wait for the last line of the verse each time too.
The weaving-together of religious, seasonal and political aspects of the calendar is done well. I like having multiple types of “circles” to ponder. The chord movement also suggests circularity, and I very much like that it ends unresolved.
The Dutch Widows - Rejection is Hard
There’s a good, relatable story here. Healing from rejection can feel circular. I like that there is progress despite the greater pain felt by the older narrator, and the way the lyric cycles back to the beginning at the end.
The contemplative feel is enjoyable and appropriate. This quiet setting also enables me to hear and appreciate your vocals and lyrics better. The percussion is interesting without being overly distracting. The reed counterpoint is also pretty.
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