Here are your rankings from SpinTunes 20 Champion Ironbark:
Read on for Ironbark's reviews!
G'day SpinTuners. Thanks for the music. The good news is I enjoyed all your songs. The bad news from a judging perspective is I enjoyed all your songs. Ranking them was murder, and on another day they may well have been in a different order. If you're discouraged by where you ended up on my list, please keep in mind the basic absurdity of what we're doing here. For contests like this to work, we have to pretend for a while that songs can be neatly ranked, that a harp shanty can be meaningfully compared to a heavy metal epic.
Having to rank the songs made me focus on the negative more than I normally would. I hope my criticisms are constructive. If not, I'm just some bloke on the internet. Trust your own ears. If you think I've missed the point entirely or want me to elaborate, feel free to tear me a new one or give me a shout on the general Discord.
A couple of minor irritations cropped up often enough that I'll just address them here rather than repeat myself:
- By my rough count nearly a quarter of the submissions double-tracked the lead vocal throughout the entire song. I'm probably going to get punched in the head by the ghost of Elliott Smith for saying this, but I think double-tracking's a vastly overrated technique. It's often touted as an easy trick to help vocals cut through a mix, but it tends to create more problems than it solves, makes the song more tiring to listen to, and can sacrifice a lot of vocal nuance. (I'm not talking about harmony vocals here.) If you dig the sound, fill your boots, but I don't think a single song this round was improved by it.
- A surprising number of people here are using autotune as a sort of all-purpose condiment. I have nothing against autotuning a bum note, or even abusing autotune to get weird effects. What I struggle with is that synthetic smear you get when autotune is slopped on too liberally or lazily, turning an expressive voice into overcooked gloop. It used to be a sign of bad engineering, then it became cool. I've tried very hard to make my peace with it, but my ears just instinctively reject that sound. I recognise this is my problem, not yours, and I've tried not to let it affect my rankings, but bear in mind that there are probably others like me who are put off.
Shut up and get to the reviews, Ironbark! All right, all right. No need to take that tone.
GFS - Vertical Vision
A very skilled, well-considered arrangement to kick off the round. I admire all the sonic touches you've packed into the arrangement, from the large strokes down to the subtle details that repay close listening. (The understated organ part filling out the second half of each verse is perfectly judged.) If I'd argue with a couple of your production choices - the vocal doubling feels unnecessary, adding consonant clutter rather than filling things out, and the heavy treatment on 'looking up' cloys a little for me - these are just differences in taste, mine probably being wrong. You obviously know your stuff. The lyrics are heartfelt and earnestly delivered, maybe a tiny bit clunky at times. ('In my defence, experience was something unexplored' gets the general meaning across, but hits the ear oddly.) The way you say 'shit' as if it's naughty is charming to my Aussie ears (and I like how you lay the groundwork with an earlier line worrying about taking the lord's name in vain). Lovely harmony aahs on the bridge. The title phrase is a strong hook I was expecting the song to expand upon, but beyond the opening lines and a nod on the bridge, verticality is abandoned for other metaphors. Nothing wrong with that, but it might have been interesting to stick with and expand your central conceit so that by song's end the title line comes to mean more than simply 'I'm looking up'. Minor quibbles aside, this is a tight, assured piece of work, sumptuously produced and very catchy.
Berkeley Social Scene - Atop the Sutro Tower
I feel that this song frontloads its weaker stuff, so let's get my whinges out of the way first. The intro's a bit 'Generic Rock Riff #16', perhaps, and timing slips sap the opening energy a little. The audible autotuning on the lead vocal fits the song's robotopia theme, I guess, but I'd much prefer it without. And some more top end on the vocals might help brighten the mix. Okay, all done, good. Now we can talk about that bloody wonderful chorus, which is one of my favourite things this round. It feels like we're taking off, a great way to embody the vertical theme musically, and goes a long way towards justifying the relative flatness of the opening stretch. Everything comes together beautifully here - the bright stabs of guitar, the call-and-response harmonies. The solo/duo at the two minute mark is doing fine work, adding new colours and handing things back to the chorus satisfyingly. There's the occasional bit of first-draftism in the lyrics ('devoid of nearly any waste') but I like your eye for detail as you sketch out this shiny, happy, definitely-no-impending-revolution world.
Mandrake - Volume
Some solid synth work here. The smashed glass snare is a nice touch, and I like those sinuous vocal melodies. Volume feels like a bit of a stretch on the verticality theme, perhaps, but as a noise-sensitive snowflake currently living in an inner-city house with cardboard walls, I fully endorse the song's message. 'So optimistic yet so down' - I should probably get that on a t-shirt. The mix feels quite flat and a little tiring to my ears. Part of the problem is that everything's clumped in the centre, with no width or depth to the arrangement (apart from the one synth ping that occasionally pops up in the background). I think a bit of panning and subtle reverb would do wonders here. And it feels like you're still missing some top end on your vocals, which makes them less immediate. It's as though you're singing on the other side of a (cardboard) wall. Good song otherwise. (I fear GFS is going to have a word with you about taking the lord's name in vain.)
Jim Tyrrell - A Hole In The Rain
Nice arrangement, anchored by prowling bass and organ stabs, with lots of well-considered choices. The flute and ambient noises add a great deal to the mood. There's a deliberate coolness to the sound that distances me slightly but absolutely fits the song. The lyrics are beautifully constructed, presenting a simple scene then patiently building out the metaphor until it feels like it's taking in the whole human condition. Excellent stuff. I could do without that effect you're slapping on your voice, and in my opinion you could probably tighten it up by half a minute, but this is a fine piece of work.
chewmeupspitmeout - i was just the gravity
You mention time limitations in your notes, so you're aware of how underdeveloped a lot of this feels. The groaning guitars and the glockenspiel are great, but the rest of the arrangement feels sketchy and hesitant - the listless drums and block piano chords in particular. This doesn't particularly bother me - you've left enough clues for us to fill out the arrangement in our heads. At least until 1:40, where that rat-a-tat placeholder riff feels like we've wandered past the 'under construction' tape to find some bloke in a hard hat still jackhammering a hole for the foundations. At this point it feels like the listener is doing more work than you are. And that 'always' with its emphasis on the wrong syllable, prominently repeated in the outro, is a niggling note to end things on. By now you probably think I hate the song. Plot twist: for all its roughness, I love it. Some songs have a certain alchemy, and your gorgeous, soaring voice on the chorus gives me shivers, for which almost all is forgiven. This will be bloody hard to rank. I expect I'll have to ding it down a bit for the aforementioned problems, but it holds a high place in my non-judge heart.
The Pannacotta Army - Still Coming Up Short
I really interested in the carpentry side of songwriting: the way the best songs fit together like a well-made chair. This is a damn good chair. So many of my favourite things are here. Inventive chord changes delivered naturally? Tick. An arrangement full of light and shade? Tick. Subtle, original instrumentation? Tick. (Particularly enjoyed the rapid-octave dulcimer bits.) And your amiably sad-sack lyrics and delivery tie it all together. I can't really find anything to criticise here. Um, you didn't hire a live clarinet player? This song is a gem, and it was a literal coin toss between you and Sober for my top spot..
iveg - Flames Descend
So much intensity packed into a minute and a half. I can imagine you singing with one eye on the encroaching fires. The way you almost miss the entry on both verses makes me suspect you only had time for one lead take, but I think the raw urgency of the vocal just adds to the power of the song. I'd like your voice a little lower in the mix though - it's quite difficult to hear the rest of the arrangement. The 'flames descend' section is very striking, almost apocalyptic; there's real fear and drama in those harmonies. Strong stuff.
Stacking Theory - One More Love Song
It's been a very solid round, but rarely a surprising one, so I love these chanted opening moments where it's unclear what sort of song we're headed for. Great use of space and dynamics throughout the song, swinging from quiet murmurs to those deliberately overwrought vocal harmonies. That core idea of love as a Sisyphean labour is really embodied in the music, a sense of weight, pushing up and up until you run out of fretboard. As someone more at home with emotional understatement, I find the angsty intensity quite a pill to swallow. Then after all this fretting and struggle, we get the swan song at last: an almost weightless thing with your cheesiest 'baby' on top. A wonderfully weird choice. It's an odd song, swinging between balls-to-the-wall melodrama and playfulness, and I still haven't quite got a fix on it. (I'll say this once and then shut up about it: that autotune effect you use on your voice is a small but real barrier to my enjoyment of your songs. At best, I find it distracting; at worst, it stops me connecting emotionally. But you obviously hear it differently, so follow your own road. I continue to respect your right to put tomato sauce on your chips; I remain baffled as to why you'd do such a thing.)
West Of Vine - Come Up On The Front Porch
I like this rich Americana sound - warm and loose at the edges. You have an open, honest voice that invites the listener in. There's something odd going on with the velocity on your drums, but I enjoy those syncopated snare thumps on the final line of the verse. The lyrics are just right for the genre, and do a good job sketching out the story in a few short verses. 'You said that I stole your heart but it's not the kind of crime that pays' is a great line. What torpedoes the song from a judging perspective is how you pretty much ignore the 'Y-Axis' challenge. I don't feel it was a tricky bar to clear, but beyond that 'up' (and only a couple of steps up onto a porch at that) your song doesn't really tackle the verticality theme at all. It's a shame, as I really enjoyed it. Try to engage with the challenge a bit more in future rounds so I can rank you higher!
The Popped Hearts - You're Getting High, I'm Getting Down
Your vocal delivery here is an absolute bloody hoot, landing somewhere between Count Dracula, a pouting toddler and that bloke off the B-52s. I imagine it'll be a bit divisive, and but I love it. A perfect match for the pithy lyrics (though I needed your notes to get the Liz Phair reference). The rest of the song's a blast too, a propulsive groove with a side of moody surf rock. And it's exactly as long as it needs to be. I could invent things to moan about - a couple of sloppy moments towards the end of the guitar solo; the way the verse and chorus vocals tread on each other - but they don't honestly bother me. I grin through this every time.
nightingale's fiddle - Ballad of Susie Ann
Pleased to see a harpist at SpinTunes. This is a wonderful arrangement, excellently played. The occasional buzzing of the low strings just adds to the atmosphere for me. The switch into A for the Celtic-tinged instrumental is a lovely touch. You have a good voice too, hitting each twist of the very vertical melody with ease, though there's a precise, slightly distant quality to your vocal performance: aside from the end of the chorus you rarely add a lot of emotional colour. I don't mean this as a criticism. Without the performance pushing a particular interpretation, the lyrics stay intriguingly open. Is the song humorous? Tragic and regretful? A cautionary tale? Deeply bawdy? Each time I listen I take it a little differently. Very curious to hear more from you. (Shame about the abrupt cut at the end. Do you have access to a better microphone? You sound a little muffled here.)
Ominous Ride - Vertigo
There's a hushed, closed-in feeling to the sound here, which becomes suitably oppressive as the song goes on. It reminds me a little of the Mamas & the Papas' version of 'California Dreaming', another dark, harmony-drenched song I admire but find slightly claustrophobic. You've managed a perfect marriage of story and mood here. The lyrics are very evocative, and I think they hold meaning beyond the situation described in your notes. There's something universal here. I found the lighthouse verse particularly striking. You call the tempo shift at the end awkward, but it feels expertly judged to me: the changes of gear into and out of the 'so it seems' section are my favourite parts of the song. Haunting.
Braylee Pierce - Dig Deep
At first blush, this song's not a great fit for the crowded first round of a song contest. It's five minutes long, and builds very slowly. For the bulk of its length it just cycles through the same basic chords. It's not well recorded. Its lyrics are largely variations on a theme. This puts all the weight of the song on your performance. Fortunately, your voice is outstanding - technically strong, but also very open and expressive. If we were judging purely on vocal performance, you'd be right up there. The way you sing this is a masterclass in slow burn storytelling, gradually extending and building the melody, stoking the emotional embers until that key change brings a surge of ragged determination, a glimpse of light. It is a long song, though. Yes, it needs to feel long so that the shift in key brings a sense of relief, and if I were listening in a live venue I'd be transfixed for the full five minutes, but as a recording it could be trimmed down. Halve the strummed intro for a start. Perhaps cut a verse or condense two verses into one? Or if you're set on this length, gradually and subtly filling out the arrangement would help, I think. P.S. While I think your voice absolutely warrants a better microphone, there's nothing wrong with a phone recording. Still, I think it's worth taking the time to edit out the clunks at the start and end. (There are plenty of free tools you can use for this, e.g. Audacity.)
Brain Weasels - Root To Rise (Overdrive)
That jittery riff creates a real sense of anticipation, skittering off-track before the intro's even over. There's a strong drive to the verses, and the unexpected A major chord you substitute in the second verse is a great choice, along with that probing bass. The 'shoulders back' interlude is lovely, and provides a vivid contrast to the busy verses: a treasured moment of simplicity and serenity before we plunge back into the chattering noises of the mind. And in under a minute, you've made your journey. My real problem with the song (and one unfortunately compounded by repeated listening) is that you then continue for another minute and a half, with no new lyrics and only minor variations in instrumentation and performance, until eventually the nervy energy becomes a little wearing. If a song wants to be a minute long, it should be a minute long. A side-effect of this repetition is that it adds (intentionally?) a pessimistic edge to the song. Despite trying to fly clear, the protagonist keeps falling back, trapped in old ways. The mantra fails. If that's your intended meaning, I think a single repeat of the opening verse after the first interlude would have served just as well. Hmm, this is a tough one. I fear you'll be landing low in my rankings, and I worry I'm being unfair. I remember liking this song far more on first listen, but I'm now stuck here with ears that've heard the same verse far too many times. Apologies. You're both talented; don't let my grouchiness discourage you.
Phlub - Straight to Hell
This is a lot of fun. The chorus is perfect, with that sparkling mandolin against the bass, and I share the obvious pleasure you take in singing that leap to the third 'down'. Excellent stuff. The lyrics, while simple, are sly and satisfyingly crafted, doing exactly what they need to. I particularly enjoyed the pill-stealing and the wink to Folsom Prison. My only complaint is the length. I don't think this needs to run over four minutes. Shame there isn't any obvious fat you could trim. (Stares pointedly at the two extended guitar solos.) Enjoyed this thoroughly, thumbs up, would descend to hell again.
Jeff Walker - Solid Ground
You've mastered that burnished Knopfler-esque sound. No criticisms on the musical front: it's an accomplished, well-considered arrangement, lush and full of detail. Hats off. I struggled to connect with the meat of the song, however. It's not so much the lyrics (though there are a couple of spots where rhymes lead you into awkward phrasing: e.g. 'lets boredom be even in the cards'). It's more the framing device you've chosen. My first thought was that this song would work better in first person. The moment you outsource these frailties onto a straw man or woman, it becomes a song about a narrator observing someone else's flaws, which muddies the philosophical waters considerably. It's not necessarily a bad choice - this human layer adds colour to what could be a dry topic - but the 'she' of the song isn't allowed much interior life; we only hear her motives as filtered through the narrator's not-particularly-charitable viewpoint, and it all tips towards the hallowed but possibly over-represented songwriting tradition of 'man generously points out a woman's flaws for her'. You have interesting points to make about boredom, but my curiosity keeps twisting back towards the dynamic between the narrator and the bored Heidegger fan: why does he assume the worst of her and anticipate her comeuppance so keenly? It's an interesting set-up: a narrator who presents himself as neutral but quietly has a finger on the scale. Perhaps you could lean into the unreliability of the narrator a little more purposefully. You have a beautiful, rich voice that carries genial authority; it might be interesting to subvert the expectations that brings. Am I angling for a Jeff Walker murder ballad? Maybe!
The Dutch Widows - Above It All
The first time I listened, my brain interpreted the opening lines as 'Hi! Above it all...' and I've since decided that every song needs to start like this. ('Hi! Look at all the lonely people!' 'Hi! We're caught in a trap, I can't walk out.') This was the sleeper hit of the round for me. It's not a song (or a vocal performance) that forces itself upon you: you're sitting there soaking in the warm pop sound, only to find intriguing phrases pulling you in. 'Are we not gold? Are we not patient anymore?' Your voice has a resigned understatement that perfectly conveys the narrator's situation: past anger and blame, just tired and ready to move on. There's a gentle, ironic humility in the way you sing 'High above it all', and I find the sad shrug on 'Think that's enough for me' more affecting than any dramatic table-flip. In many ways, I found this the most emotionally moving song this round. The only element that doesn't really work for me is the electric guitar. I like the occasional bits of back-and-forth between the two panned parts, but they're too loud in the mix and never take a break, distracting from the rest of the arrangement. They almost obliterate the pleasant bloopy synth and obscure the lyrics. (I needed the lyric sheet to realise you weren't singing 'Lovecraft down the autumnal sound'.) Maybe EQ around the vocals a little for clarity. Wonderful song otherwise.
Cavedwellers - Z-Axis
Looks like someone's put on the magical fez and discovered a third dimension. There's a good full sound to this - the acoustic and electric make a solid blend. The addition of tambourine on the chorus is a nice touch, but I wonder if you could mix up the arrangement a little more. Apart from that well-judged moment of breathing space leading the bridge back into the final chorus, the two guitars and double-tracked vocal never let up. Clever lyrics chock-full of axial wordplay. Too much wordplay? Maybe. There's a good song here about emotional distance, but I think it's suffocating under the compulsive punning. 'You just justify farther away goodbyes' is quite an awkward line to hold such a prominent spot, and it feels intentionally awkward. The slightly convoluted phrasing throughout is a good mirror for a relationship where the parties seem incapable of direct emotional connection. I admire all that, but in the end it kept me at a distance too. Or maybe I'm overthinking things and it's all just an enjoyably snarky 'well actually' to the Y-Axis challenge writer.
Hanky Code - The Bends
I smile every time at 'sharks is/sharks are'. A lovely piece of pop, this. Those backing oohs and aahs are wonderful and fill the sound out beautifully. I think double tracking the main vocal makes it sound like your delivery on some of those syllable-dense lines is sloppier than it actually is, and the guitar solo feels fairly perfunctory. (I like how it disintegrates at the end though.) Otherwise an extremely winning and likeable song, one I enjoy every time it comes up on the playlist. I feel I need to keep writing because this review's shorter than the others, but I'd just be repeating myself. Um, how about that local sports team?
Tunes By LJ - Beneath You / Over It
I love this sparse but rich sound. You have an excellent ear for arrangement, using only what you need and blending it all perfectly - there's no competition between sounds. Your approach to lyrics is similar, supplying just enough evocative detail to set the scene and tell the story. Those opening lines carry a lot of subtext, and the chorus is both a clever take on the theme and a pithy condensation of the narrator's situation. This is a style of music I generally associate with convertibles cruising in the Californian sun, but it adapts well to chilly weather and emotional detachment. I got on my soapbox earlier about double-tracked vocals, but I think this is one case where they don't detract. They add a certain colour and don't clutter the mix. Great song.
Hot Pink Halo - Aim High
Well, flying to Paris and climbing the Eiffel Tower just for SpinTunes is a hell of a flex. (You'll enjoy next week's challenge: 'Mariana Trench'.) I think I'm starting to recognise certain hallmarks of the HPH sound: largely monotone verses with limited harmonic movement leading into grand, flowing choruses. It's a good match for this challenge, those vertical lines rising up from the flatness. What I love about this song is how it meshes its sound with its meaning: the upward look and the long, dull trudge. It strikes me as a very honest representation of how it feels to attempt any kind of good in this world. The belief/delusion that things can be better and the determination to plod on. I wish the mix was a little clearer, particularly around the vocals. I had to consult the lyric sheet more times than I'd like. (I got the chance to visit Paris for the first time in decades last year and was saddened by the huge piss-off fence they've built around the Eiffel Tower to keep away the unwashed. Public art!)
Jealous Brother - Climbing the Fascist Ladder
Excellent arrangement. Love those splashes of honky-tonk piano. And it's an inspired choice, pairing this upbeat music with scathing despair. 'Climbing the Fascist Ladder' is a great title. I'm tempted to say it's a problematically good title - it sums up so much so succinctly that the rest of the lyrics can seem almost redundant. This song feels aimed at American listeners, for whom I imagine it's pretty cathartic. (Australian politicians are generally dickheads rather than fascists.) Fitting use of the Truck Driver's Gear Change: grind up a semitone or two and just keep chugging on. I really admire the musicianship here, a great performance, but I think this song would be twice as effective at about half the length. It starts to feel like a good joke you've heard too many times. Or maybe double down and keep grinding those key changes for a few more minutes until they're grimly funny again, like Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes.
Governing Dynamics - Downfall
There's a clipped, twitchy energy to those opening drums, which contrasts nicely with the expressive, melancholy guitar line. Lovely guitar work throughout. I like the slow rise and fall of the song, building up to an anguished peak then ebbing away. The lyrics are strong, full of evocative phrases and vivid metaphors, but I don't feel I ever quite found my way in. Often I'm happy for things to remain allusive, and given the state of the world it's not like we need to justify our angst. But without any particulars to ground the song, there's something slightly remote about the narrator and his plight. We don't know who he is, how he rose, why he fell. Your touching vocal performance does go a long way towards filling in the gaps. I expect this one will grow on me.
Pigfarmer Jr - Nowhere To Go But Down
Good solid opening. The verse melody is very effective and shows off your vocal strengths - I love how you sing those long final syllables, that little touch of understated vibrato. I don't think it would hurt to evolve the melody a little. You repeat it four times each verse without variation, and the chorus begins with a similar pattern. Lyrically, this is a moving story, plainly and honestly told. I like the contrast between the documentary-style verses and the more poetic chorus. I wonder if it's worth reworking the final verse a little. After the line about the siren, the ICU beeps and the final flatline tell us all we need to know, so there's room to spend the rest of the song digging a bit deeper, giving a little more insight into the relationship between the narrator and his friend, perhaps.
Temnere - Into the Darkness
Excellent opening verses, laying out the scene with vivid efficiency. And that main riff is perfect. You can almost feel the sweat of the galloping horses. This is one of my favourite flavours of metal - 100% committed while keeping a sense of humour about itself. You don't tackle the Y-Axis challenge until quite late, and even then it doesn't seem particularly central to the song. The whole thing feels more horizontal to me - gazing off towards a distant keep, guitars neighing and galloping across the plain - but as Cavedwellers will point out, horizontal is technically on theme. It's quite long. I realise that you'd have to hand back your Metal Card if you made a song lasting under four minutes, but as solid as the instrumental is, I don't think you'd lose too much if you ended at 2:30. Rousing stuff!
Eric Novak - Low Road
That's a great opening couplet. Good lyrics throughout, in fact. There's an interestingly woozy feel to the arrangement, with that striking up-and-down vocal melody and the slightly detuned guitars. The slump into a tango-inflected groove works very nicely. Your performance conveys emotion very effectively, but the vocal take feels a little rough to me - at times it's as if you're still searching out where the melody's going to go. (This is where you tell me you're being microtonal like Frédéric Gagné and I feel like a jackass.) Likewise, the guitars don't always seem to hit the notes they're intended to hit. There's a strong, evocative song here, it just feels like it needs a little longer in the oven.
Sober - On Penobscot Bay
I like your lived-in, unshowy approach to the theme - the rise and fall of the tide feels like it's in the song's marrow. This is an excellent piece of craft, and a joy to listen to. Outside of the bluegrass setting where a certain amount of belting is required to cut through, your voice has a relaxed warmth that makes even the slight bit of phlegm at 1:43 sound great. 'Penobscot' is a gift of a word to sing; I'm tempted to believe you made it up. I love how the instrumental feels like it's tucking the song to bed, before plumping at the last moment for one more chorus. The waters rise and fall. Your arrangement and performance are pretty much faultless to my ears. The worst thing you could say about this song is it contains no surprises, and on another day maybe I'd chafe at that. Today I just feel lucky to hear someone at the top of their game, singing a beautiful, warm-hearted song, in a tradition they clearly love and respect.
Frédéric Gagné - Slump
Choosing an upright for a microtonal song is an inspired choice, given the long, proud history of poorly tuned bar-room pianos. This is great fun. One of the challenges for Westerners singing microtonally is that, without a certain amount of 'yes, that's the pitch I'm meaning to hit, deal with it!' vocal confidence, it can often come across as just missing the note. There's some of that going on here, I think, but there's a charm to your deadpan, slightly diffident delivery. Nicely constructed song too, taking some pleasing harmonic and rhythmic turns while staying bold and catchy. There's something really satisfying about that little shift into (what this standard tuning normie would call) B minor at 1:54. There's an air of mischief to the music that makes me wonder if the outwardly mild lyrics are more subversive than they appear.
Siebass - It's Going Down
Sadly, I did most of my listening at home, so I didn't get to test this on the dance floor. Feels like you're tipping your lid to 90s dance pop, with a little hint of 'You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)' for good measure. Your vocal performance is charismatic and fully committed, leaning right into those slides. You keep up a pummelling level of intensity throughout, which is a double-edged sword - inspiring if you're dancing, maybe a bit exhausting at home. Quite a big, busy mix. I'm very fond of the dinky little drum machine around the two minute mark. Lyrics are one of the main aspects we're asked to consider while judging, and while yours are fine for the task, there's not a lot here that doesn't fall out of my head the minute the song's over. It feels rough to mark down a dance song for perfectly fine, genre-standard 'we are indeed dancing, sex would be nice' lyrics. On the other hand, I know you've got more interesting lyrics in you, and they'd have lifted this beyond 'convincing recreation of a style of dance music I didn't have strong feelings about in its heyday'. Look, it's possible I just hate fun.
Glennny - Crazy Climber
I love those interlocking riffs at the start. They manage to be both full of melody and a bit discordant, clean and messy at the same time. It's a great sound. The whole song is basically hook after catchy hook. The minor key interlude is a delight. Never played the game, and after ten seconds on YouTube I'm fine with that, but here's proof that a skilled songwriter can write a good song about anything. As with Berkeley Social Scene, I'm not sure the juice on the vocals add much here. (In fact, that's you singing in both, isn't it? I feel like I need a Venn diagram of SpinTunes/SongFight bands.) And the slapdash end-of-phrase timing on the panned vocals is probably the bad kind of messy. But it's a banger. Love it.
Boffo Yux Dudes - EDL (Entry, Descent and Landing)
A great take on the theme with some strong imagery, though it takes a little while to warm up. I feel you waste those crucial opening lines on generalities when you could be cutting straight to the story. Some very nice details in the arrangement - love the little tumbling piano bit at 0:58. The song could use a little more room to breathe, I think, and more light and shade. From the moment the vocals enter they run without a break, repeating a similar metrical pattern throughout the different sections, with little variation in singing register or intensity. The constant double-tracking adds to this denseness and might have been more effective if used sparingly. It's probably a fault with the way I absorb information, but at a certain point my brain just stops taking it all in. Which might be the effect you're aiming for - it certainly mirrors the information overload of an EDL. That guitar twanging out into space is a perfect note to end on.
Bob Barton - American Dream (SHADOW)
Nice contrast between your smooth, mellow delivery and the injustices you describe. It feels like you could get a tighter take than this, but there's a pleasantly improvisatory feel to your delivery and a few of your chord choices. The lyrics seem on point to this Aussie, but probably hit harder for a home crowd more invested in this myth. Like the blobfish, the American Dream looks weird and improbable outside its native waters.
Jon Porobil - Frayed Elevator Cable (SHADOW)
Lovely mandolin. A powerfully emotive, frayed-cable vocal performance. At first I wondered if it'd be worth holding back a little - by coming in at full emotional intensity you leave yourself little room to build - but that heightened, edge-of-mortality vividness is right for the song, I think. An accomplished, thoughtful piece of work that lingers in the mind. (I did find the 'bring her bag in' line puzzling. The way you pause for emphasis suggests it carries some deeper meaning that escapes me.)
d667254c-6384-4ff0-8c55-75315906d518 - Rise (SHADOW)
It's been a surprisingly well-behaved round, so many thanks for this. It pummels me pleasantly, and the breakdowns in the middle and end are great. A bit more space in the mix perhaps? Feels like it could have found a home on Warp Records in the 1990s.
7278584d-ced3-4d64-80c2-972ab564a757 - Floating Away (SHADOW)
Great match between form and content. Moody, intriguing, probably a bit self-indulgent. Good stuff. See above re vocal top end and flatness of mix. It's almost like you're rendering to mono instead of stereo.
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