Read on for Kris's full reviews.
Berni Armstrong - Sleep
- Strong word play with the subject manner
- Melody became repetitive which while it may sync with the lyrical message makes it a challenge to actively listen and engage with the song across the length
- Good flourishes in the third verse
The Pannacotta Army - Moar
- Love the spoken word choice
- The words hit with the beat
- The one word chorus is in sync and does not feel manufactured
- There is force and a positioning behind the song which comes through, it holds attention
- The melody uses rhythm well to wrap around the words
- Not a fan of the transition shift, it felt separate from the rest of the song
Yeslessness - White Feather
- Nice harmony on the first chorus, the choice made with the second chorus around the dissonance did not sync
- The mixing means it is a strain to clearly hear the words
- The messages of the lyrics and the melody are going somewhere strong together but they are not fully developed yet
- Throughout the song some of the choices with the layering were not clean
Bubba & The Ghost of the Kraken - Hideaway
- Mixing choices on the first verse did the song a disservice, but the first chorus came back clean
- Loving the bridge xylophone-esq pinging and the transition. Really echoed the rhythm of the words that followed for a bit there. Smartly done.
- Some ending components of the melody and vocals did not hit as fully matured but over all the song was original and engaging
chewmeupspitmeout - Love Song
- Getting some The Smiths circa The Queen is Dead vibes
- The interplay between lyrics saying slurring your words then the wrap up of the song being layered off kilter to back that up is a strong choice
- Not fully developed, a little off beat.
Stacking Theory - Breathe In and Hold It
- Solid floaty layering, clean.
- Loving the intersection of lyrics around breath and the choices with the backdrop beats and backdrop that echo the theme. Smart.
- Some of the melody at around 1:17 just isn’t as mature as the rest of the song but overall very well composed
- Strong slide into the wind down at the end
- A little unpredictable but in a good way and engaging way, the song has stickiness and depth
Jeff Walker - Unforgivable
- First verse starts off so strong that it raises the bar for the rest of the song, which works for and against the song. It’s hard to carry that level throughout.
- Getting a The National + Paul Simon + Merle Haggard with a little Darius Rucker mash up energy, which is a good kind of fusion.
- Really strong vocals, great guitar riffs, thoughtful lyrics if more simplistic which is style choice, which are pushed along with the evocative guitar solo-smart choices.
- Keeps the listeners attention, and makes the one word chorus seem natural and not like a forced choice
Daniel Sitler - Awkward
- Good transition into the intro and first verse
- Appreciate the lyrical composition, theme, and layering
- Good timing choices with the single word placement in the chorus
- The guitar picking with the melody could have added a little more harmony to add to the overall building of the song
- Good placement of the words within the music as the song tapers down
The Evil Genius formerly known as Timmy - Maria
- The disharmony with Mariaaa vs. the melody comes through well
- At 1:26 the song starts to lack clean layering, though that may have been an intentional choice to echo the subject matter of the lyrics it diminishes the overall composition of the song to the listener
- The song starts strong but does not end with the maturity of composition that it started with, the overall song therefore feels rushed and abrasive at times and does not intersect with the theme in an engaging way which limits the song’s ability to become a stronger composition
James Young - War
- The tune is strong but there are opportunities to use the melody to symbolize the lyrics in different ways that were missed, for instance having the melody as a counterbalance to the subject matter or to have the melody as a bit more emotionally driving
- The song is well composed, and the recording choice (if it was a choice) with the vocals to sounds radio-esq is a thoughtful choice to evoke more of a different time though with relevant subject matter.
Single Pint of Failure - Alone
- More time to compose the lyrics may have been of benefit, “a list of all the lists” may have had more punch as an opener if the term list had not been mentioned again until the end to tie the song together. Instead the song references itself in a way that becomes a little repetitive.
- The mixing prioritizes the reverb which does what otherwise is a good melody a bit of disservice
- The vocals at the end were a good choice, but lacked dynamics. When singing in a whisper in the future, consider playing around with singing through different parts of your body (stomach, chest, throat, etc) and changing the tension in your mouth to create some of those dynamics even if you are keeping the sound at a static soft volume.
Tunes By LJ - Capital
- Nice swing into the intro, keeping it light, the “ping” is a little far towards the off beat. May have benefited by more time to mature the mixing
- Having an upbeat tune as the backdrop to a song challenging capitalism is a great decision to create interest, unfortunately the summary notes wanting to create an uneasiness and the tune doesn’t quite evoke that. There needs to be a bit more of a stealthy disharmony or something to help that vision really shine
Balance Lost - Lost
- Starts strong but loses the audience and a bit of that built up interest on the chorus vocals, especially on the “looooooost”. The higher vocalists/vocals layer is not adding to the strength of the song. Even taking those layers out out and adding a musical echo to the staccato “lost” may have been more to the benefit of the song
- At 1:49 and 1:55 things fall apart a little, again with the echoing vocals. Curious if the song would hold more interest having blank space to create a sense of being a little lost, on the precipitate and waiting for the next note just to generate a bit of reciprocity with the lyrics.
Hot Pink Halo - Phosphorescence
- Subject matter is interesting and the chorus has a lovely haunting quality that the mixing serves, however the same mixing that benefits the chorus does not benefit the verses
- The melody could be dropped in volume to better here the precision of lyrics during the verses
- Shakiness interacting with notes on some of the verses which unfortunately negatively impacts the listeners engagement with the song
Also In Blue - Please
- Opening really grabs attention, a mature way to have an intro
- The layering is strong on the chorus and vocals interacted well with each other
- It is not quite a “moody pop song” per summary, the subtle moodyness and emotion was not fully realized , so it comes across as backdrop music for a scene in a TV show but perhaps not a main driving song for a scene
- The music volume could have been dropped a little for the vocals
Jealous Brother - Oumuamua
- “Looping around a brilliant sun” was a great line backed up with great musical choices
- The music and lyrics feel a little disconnected, while they flow they are not in conversation with each other which is a missed opportunity
- It is giving The Monkey’s and Beach Boy’s but lacks a driving force, and that means the song fades easily into a background instead of inviting the audience in and holding focus
Phlub - Tygart Dam
- Bluegrass and narrative songs are critical to our engaging in modern storytelling, and I commend that as a choice for a song
- However, to tell a story in a song especially as the tune’s used are typically repetitive as this one is as well (which is expected for this genre), the listener needs a lot of presence and emotion in the vocals. The story needs to come alive with the pain or joy that follows the recounting of the actions and without that the listener checks out.
- The song would benefit from maturing, leaving some more space and changing up which words have emphasis on them
Temnere - Deutsch
- Translated the words in google translate, and while the joke is appreciated, it would resonate further if it was a metaphor for something. The song itself would have meant more.
- The transitions are frequently a beat ahead, unless that was a goal to create a bit of tension, either way the result feels unpolished
- The chorus is repetitive in a way that is not satisfying
- It’s a good representation of the genre, and a take on Rammstien, but it’s generic as a song
The Popped Hearts - The Second Best Time To Plant A Tree
- The key is a little off with the vocals which could have been a choice but the result does not blossom into a welcoming listener experience
- Chorus could have benefited from more time, compositionally and for the vocal quality- again interaction with the notes is a little loose
- The outro was a solid choice but was not able to fully shine
Mandibles - Désirée
- The song is missing a layer or point of interest. It moves forward rather than driving forward.
- It feels a little safe, with many aspects of the song becoming predictable, the vocalist is clearly very capable and could potentially make more of a dynamic exchange with the listener.
Governing Dynamics - Predestination
- Vocals are overshadowed by other layers, the mixing choices don’t land well
- The bass is kind of droning in the beginning especially
- Lyrics are in conversation with the music, but not in a way that would lead me to expect them to be treated as equal
Cavedwellers - Owzat! (Dismissed)
- Predictable pacing
- Clever wordplay at appropriate moments
- Good balance between vocals and instruments throughout most of the piece
- Clean tones
- Good length of guitar solo based on length of song
- Overall a little repetitive
thanks, brain - Strange
- The mixing doesn’t seem fully matured. The vocals feel overshadowed in the first half.
- Fun and lyrically appropriate use of “ghostly sounds”
- Good pacing
- New layer at 2:15 is good, but is not incorporated smoothly into the rest of the piece. Needs some more work
- Enjoyable layering of vocals, but would actually like to hear more of the higher part in the mixing
JW Hanberry - Maladjusted
- Vocals are overshadowed by instrumentation
- Reminiscent of several genres from the ‘80s
- Hard to connect with due to the heavy use of dissonance
- Interesting experimentation but does not land with the listener
“BucketHat” Bobby Matheson - Time Enough At Last (Vellichor)
- Has a certain cleaned up garage band vibe
- Solid mixing/balance between instrumentation and vocals
- Guitar solo could have been longer and a little more dynamic (heavy use of reverb limited the clarity) - although it did match the emotion of the song well
Brother Baker feat. Father - Free
- Use of harmony is very effective emotionally
- Matched the emotion of the lyrics to the instrumentation
- Lyrics could use maturing
- Very effective use of dynamics, rhythm, and pacing throughout
- Recommend considering alternate instruments in places, without changing the melody
- Drawn out ending allows the listener to savor the overall experience of the song.
Good Niche Gracious - Katzenfrühstück
- Funny concept
- Meowing incorporated surprisingly well into the song
Sober - Home
- It takes until 1:43 for the yodeling to incorporate successfully into the overall song. Before that point, it sounds more incidental and unexpected.
- Additional steel guitar or banjo could help add dynamics to what is otherwise a fairly repetitive instrumentation.
The Alleviators - Sigh
- Aimee Mann energy, and parts of the song are shockingly matured for the amount of time provided for this contest
- Layering with “sigh” was strong in terms of the layer, the melody and the concept- the right choice for the right lyric
- The song has space and dynamics which invite the listener in and hold attention
- Hard at parts to hear the lyrics over the music, could benefit from more precise mixing especially since the vocalist has to chops to be featured out in front,
- Bridge is predictable but well done, guitar solo emotion syncs well with the overall song drive and melts with the final push on the exit
Siebass - Home
- Good emotion in the intro verse, but loses a bit of the emotion when the build continues a beat or two too long
- Keeping the same note can be a powerful choice but the dynamics and emotion are not quite sustained. Perhaps could use some more finessing
- Good mixing of vocals and instrumentation
- Overall solid song
Ironbark - Désolé
- Poignant blending of lyrics and instrumentation and feel natural to be a waltz
- Lyrics could use workshopping in a few places
- Steccato at 2:20ish seems a little rough or unexpected, but blends well after the initial introduction
- Very listenable
Jerkatorium - Yeah
- Lyrics are a fun reflection on the process, but while the sound isn’t “stale” it is a little repetitive and one note
- The vocals are solid, but the song overall lacks an emotional exchange with the listener
- Would enjoy more of the experimental instrumental from the ending components to be placed throughout the song
Simon Purchase James - Existe los Regalos
- The guitar is so delicate, the lyrics are lovely but I am almost wanting a slightly more gossamer liting sound from the vocals
- The vocals are strong as are the lyrics
- The Spanish being sung with English spoken word is a captivating touch and elevates the song beyond what otherwise could have been passe due to the repetitive picking. An excellent lesson in the importance how there can be interplay between vocals and a simple melody
- The transition to and back from the slower sections to quicker strumming and vocals needs a bit of maturing, not certain the song needed that part.
No comments:
Post a Comment