This was a very mellow, chilled out set of songs this round. Some good spring jams here, Spintunas, really made my walk to work this week a pleasure.
This was a difficult round to judge: I was caught between how much I enjoyed the song, how ambitious the take on the challenge was and how prominently the new skills were featured. Sucks to eliminate so many people who have put in such good work this contest. All the best for the future.
Balance Lost - Fade to White: I've never met a mix that wasn't improved by parallel compressing the percussion, they definitely cut through but I think they are simply mixed a little low. The reverb on the vocals is a cool effect and strengthens an already great vocal centrepiece. This is a good song overall, nice turns of phrase in the lyrics but I felt the story needed to be clearer.
Bubba & The Ghost of the Kraken - Castle Čachtice: It's one of great folk stories and this is a fun telling of it. Love the character of the singer in this, the verse is catchy and the chorus is a good change of pace, the music during the intro and outro are cool, solid solo. I feel like the bridge is a weak leak, it seems unnecessary.
Cavedwellers - The Wrong One: The guitar layering sounds awesome, all the guitars in this song sound cool really, appreciate how difficult it was to do something new after all that time. Everything about this song is highly competent but it doesn't carry enough interest lyrically to carry the track length but it's yet another good song about cricket so props.
Daniel Sitler - Everything Ends (Epilogue): This vocal performance and layering is so powerful, it gives me chills. The starkness of the acapella empowers how wounded the lyrics are. Improvising in the DAW is an interesting idea, the song drags a little in the 3rd quarter but overall this is fantastic work.
Governing Dynamics - Whisper Gentle Rain: The slide guitar is lovely and lonely, it needed to feature more. The 9/8 guitar picking was intricate but you already know you could have done more with the time signature. The lyrics and music blend well to deliver the regret and weariness of the song.
Ironbark - Bit By Bit: Learning the cello is ambitious, I think it sounds pretty good. I can definitely hear the progression, when it breaks away from the staccato it's lovely. This is a quirky mix of instruments that mostly gels and a thoughtful set of lyrics. The song is a little plodding although thematically it does fit.
Jealous Brother - No Harm Will Come Your Way: Given your prowess with other instruments the harmonium still stands strong, you've featured it carefully and well throughout the song. I love how the song builds and swells, there's a lot of detail in the arrangement, the guitars do good work throughout with variety. The melody could have been stronger, the lyrics are pretty vague.
Jeff Walker - With My Angels: The rapidfire vocals in the lyrics are strong, excellent work. The soundscape is delightful, love the mix of timbres, nice solo, great vibes listening to this. The lyrics are rambling by design, they evoke some fun imagery. I think the chorus and bridge needed to better explain the schizophrenia.
Mandibles - What Just Happened?: I love how you've featured the mandolin in this song, not just chords but picking too. There's a good variety between sections particularly in the melody capped with a huge solo. The chorus felt like it could be a pre chorus that led to a great chorus. Hope things work out for you personally.
Phlub - I Love Them Chickadees: This song is tremendous fun, relentless and catchy, the chickadee rhythm/bird song solo spiralling into chaos is super cool. Love the alternate falling and rising notes in accompaniment, the lyrics are quirky... I'm struggling not to just keep writing fun over and over, it's in every element of the song. Short and sweet all round! AND FUN!
Siebass - There's Music All Around: I think the beatboxing sounds great, don't be too hard on yourself. Talky bits around songs is risky for me, but I laughed so you got me. This song is eclectic, fantastic mix of elements, loved the progression between sections, strong melody but the beatboxing is the stand out for me.
Sober - O Sweet Death: The violin is a bit buried but sweet and I wanted to hear more, I would hope everyone would be forgiving given the nature of the challenge. The guitar/banjo? double team is excellent, the bass puts in strong work, I like the claps. The vocal performance powers a good set of lyrics. Dementia sucks, sympathies.
Stacking Theory - Something That Was Never There: Chord inversions are very useful tools and certain shape this piece nicely. It's a cool choice of topic, the dynamics in music bring the drifting of the lyrics between dreamlike and yearning to life. It's a good song but needs a little something more. A little more character defining in the addressee of the song perhaps, maybe some more complicated accompaniment.
Temnere - Destiny Awaits: Recording drums is tricky, I find the best place to start is the overheads. This is a fun song, love the variety, it's an epic rift. The vocals are bold but get lost in the mix at times, its a catchy chorus though. The mix overall is muddy, struggled to make out the details you were focusing on.
The Alleviators - Figure This: I find the mandolin to be the hardest of the guitar types to play, but it's bright and pretty in this song. Trying to record whilst on travels is always difficult. The back and forth in the duet is fun and sells the lyrics, drums are energetic and give the song a strong engine, the lyrics really are marvellous and messy, it should be too long but it's not.
The Pannacotta Army - From The Beginning: A decent dynamic mic can take you a long way and you proved it. Enjoyed the range of sounds you got from one guitar, there's great depth to the arrangement. The simplicity and positivity of the lyrics is carried wonderfully by the warmth and lightness of the lyrics. Excellent.
The Popped Hearts - Tusen Takk: The steel drum sounds fantastic, solos and everything, well done. There was real warmth in the performance and the transition to ska gave the song a real progression. Making the lyrics about learning Norwegian juxtaposes with the music, would have felt more cohesive to pick a country known for its steel drums even though I appreciate you may not have been there and apparently Trinidad and Tobago speak English anyways.
Tunes By LJ - Salty Air: This is a smooth jam, vocals are butter and carry a beautiful melody. There's great imagery in lyrics that's brought to life by the simple joy of the music. I think the arrangement could do with a few more details, the steel drum for example definitely could have added a lot more detail throughout.
chewmeupspitmeout - Condemn Me: I'm glad someone took the AI route with this challenge, I appreciate you had to manage ChatGPT but without knowing beforehand I would never know it was AI generated. Honestly AI scares me, I worry where we'll be in even five years. Anyways, I'm here to review songs. It's a good set of lyrics to be fair, the repetition builds like the chant of a crowd and the effects on the vocal couple with the distorted guitar to give the song a fitting harshness.
Hot Pink Halo - All The Information Is On The Task: What a creative take on the challenge, loved the bio. I feel like all ukuleles are a little broken in my experience. I like the main ukulele part, I think the second could have added more variety. You lost me with the lyrics, there's some good poetry in there though. Needed a stronger melody.
Mandrake - What if?: The synths are varied and cool, the main riff is rad, good dynamics. The lyrics are thoughtful but the vocals are lost in melody and mix. Believe me I know how difficult it is to put your vocals front and centre when you don't have faith in them, and hearing your voice back is unforgiving.
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