Here are your Round 2 rankings from SpinTunes 22 Champion Tunes By LJ:
Read on for LJ's reviews!
This was a fantastic round of songs, some of the best work I’ve heard yet in my (admittedly short) Spintunes career!
I did have a couple criticisms I found myself repeating, which are worth surfacing here in the intro:
- There are some impressively well-crafted songs in this batch that did the bare minimum to meet the challenge. Just adding a simple vocal echo to your chorus is not very prominent or creative, even if the song is otherwise excellent. The artists that scored highest with me this round embraced the spirit of the challenge and built their whole song around it and engaged with it thematically.
- I noticed a number of songs this round had a slower tempo than usual - at least, it felt that way to me as I was reviewing them. There’s nothing wrong with slowing things down, but it can really amplify problems with rhythm and timing. Amateur vocalists and instrumentalists often struggle with rushing ahead of the beat (I am as guilty of this as anyone). It’s a running joke amongst audio engineers that you can really tighten up a vocal performance by just dragging the whole track back a few ticks. Editing your performance to align more closely to the timing of the grid (“in the pocket” of the groove, as they say) can go a long way to leveling up your sound.
Jeff Walker - Such Good Friends
This is softer and more subdued than the other songs I’ve heard from you. The slide guitar performance is flawless, well balanced across the mix, pure ear candy. Nice chord progression choices, the move to the major 2nd adds a welcome brightness to the chorus and bridge. The “oh ay oh” backup vocals are a nice touch, I like the way you panned different takes to either side, but the underlying purpose they solve in terms of “call and response” is a bit underwhelming, as they don’t really echo or interact with the rest of the song. The bass and drums are so simple and canned in this, it feels like they aren’t adding much to the overall soundscape, just repeating the same basic patterns, which contributes to a general lack of dynamic variety. Lyrically this was also fairly unremarkable, and I know you’re capable of better, especially given your entry from the previous round.
Stacking Theory - Marco Polo
Masterful blending of vocal textures and harmonies, so many layers here that are mixed beautifully. The vocal patch on the lead is a little grainy/lo fi and buzzy, perhaps just a tad overdone. The slow pace of the song leaves room for timing hiccups - I caught you rushing and halting in a few places, particularly the strums of the acoustic, which didn't quite align to the drums in a few parts. Lyrically this was very well done: you took the challenge title and embraced it quite literally, using the pool game to frame a beautiful and poignant meditation on the slow tragedy of a childhood bond coming apart over time. Thematically a home run, but this song dragged a bit for me, like it was lacking a spark of energy to compensate for its slower pace. Regardless, I found it an effective and interesting take on the challenge, infusing both the lyrical theme and the performance.
Berkeley Social Scene - I Need a Vacation
This song is quirky and scattered, some fun ideas offset by a lack of polish. The drums and guitar come in a little off-kilter out of the gate, stumbling a bit around each other, and the groove never really settles. Your vocal mix sounds a little better than the previous round, but some parts didn’t quite work - the pre-chorus compression and EQ flattening is a bit excessive, draining some of the high-frequency sparkle from the mix. The guitar/bass call and response bridge is great, but it's rather short and inessential to the overall song, and felt a little tacked on just to check the box for meeting the challenge. This one overall just didn’t work for me - the sum is little more than its parts, none of which really stood out.
Joy Sitler - First and Prospect
Lots of propulsive energy in this song. Great dynamic range across sections, culminating in an excellent chorus that executes nimbly on the call and response challenge prompt. The vocal harmony is a little sloppy in certain parts but it imparts an organic and authentic vibe. The third verse is weak - not really sure what it’s doing there, it doesn't blend into the final chorus well, and your alternate vocalist doesn’t offer the same charisma that you bring to the prior verses. Regardless, this was a fun listen with a straightforward and capable take on the challenge.
glennny - The Alaskan Camper
Bright, goofy, and effervescent. The upbeat mood is seemingly at odds with the context that inspired it, but your song bio offers a fitting explanation and a heartfelt tribute - my heart goes out to you. Nice bloopy wah guitar/bass pedal, a risky choice but it works well, fun and fresh throughout. I like that you’ve gone wide with the panning on the acoustic rhythm, it creates a nice fullness in the mix. This is a delightfully fun take on the call and response that earns its humor. Some of the background vocal panning is a little too hard to one side or the other - I see what you were going for but it throws the balance off a bit to have the low dum da dums on the left and the high ooo’s on the right. This song is an earworm, stays committed to the challenge, and ended up being one of my faves of the round.
Cheslain - Stranger Danger
That driving bluesy rhythm just absolutely kills, high and tight and gritty. This is expertly crafted, performances are locked in throughout, and the production quality in particular is impeccable. So many little guitar flourishes neatly nestled into the mix, panned effectively. Vocals sound great across various states of modulation/distortion/EQ, and once again, I can’t overstate how well this is mixed. The dynamic shift in the bridge when everything falls away is just solid by-the-books songwriting. You are clearly a seasoned pro. You definitely clear the bar for the challenge, but your approach isn’t particularly novel - the “call and response” you’ve employed here is more stylistic than anything, splitting the chorus between separate takes, with lyrics that don’t really merit that treatment. All in all this is a shiny object, but you played it a bit too safe.
The Pannacotta Army - Can’t Do Nothing
This song is absolutely bristling with confidence. It struts past the listener’s ears, swagger on full display. Lots of little touches stacked together here - delicate guitar runs, piano tinkle, accordion, standup bass… I need to know how much of this is live instrumentation! Flawless performance across the board, impeccably mixed, all the way to a perfectly dialed outro. This is one of the best songs I’ve heard from you, at least on a technical level, I can’t find a single thing to criticize in this instrumental. How you put this together in a week is a mystery to me. The self-deprecating lyrics are a humorous foil to the considerable talent on display - if nothing else you sure can write and record songs that are damn good. You opted for a relatively simple but effective take on the challenge: myriad call-and-responses across instruments and melodies, tasteful flourishes that add a distinct stylistic touch. Any of them individually wouldn’t impress me much, but taken together they are sufficient to put you on my podium once again.
See-Man-Ski - All For You
Nice chord progression and piano rhythm, grabs my attention out of the gate and holds it. Is this the right drum beat though? I’m not sold on it, though perhaps it's just the patch I’m not loving - the high hats are a little tiresome and the double snare feels a little too aggressive against an otherwise subdued instrumental. I do like the way the piano and wurly patches play off each other, the e-piano in particular adds a nice cooling effect that balances the density of the song’s other parts. The slower pace is a risky move - it helps cultivate a groove and opens up space, but you’re filling that space gratuitously with stacks of wailing legato vocals, and the result is a little overwrought. The final chorus is a well-designed climax though, as vocals and piano jump up the octave and level up the intensity. As for the challenge… aside from alluding lyrically to “call and response” in the first verse I’m not really hearing an obvious use of the technique. You’ve got dueling vocals over most of the song but they aren’t overtly echoing each other. Maybe I’m missing something, but after a few listens I can’t really pick out anything significant. Overall a decent song that falls disappointingly short of what I expected from the challenge prompt.
Ironbark - Last Call
This song, and particularly its ending, absolutely knocked the wind out of me - especially on repeat listens, when the broader ambition of your call and response came into focus. With only a few short and lovely vocal lines you’ve imparted set and setting, isolation and longing, the narrator reaching out into the infinite emptiness with a delicate tinkle of piano. A few moments of silence, and the incoming response arrives, a soft echo with a touch of reverb and modulation. As these “little waves” dance and intermingle it creates a brief moment of hope and connection, a high point that masterfully sets up the song’s devastating and lonely conclusion. You had me on the edge of my seat waiting for those final moments. You’ve accomplished something special here, far and away the most interesting interpretation of the challenge this round. The slow pace of the song exposes some rhythmic misalignment, mostly in the vocal, which rushes ahead in parts. I’m not bothered by it though, I rarely am in your compositions - you find a way to defy gravity in practically every song I’ve heard from you.
Chamomileon - Cool Kona Breeze
You have a remarkably smooth voice and good harmonic sensibilities, both of which are let down by a weak and flimsy instrumental. Spotlighting a midi electric guitar as the call-and-response melodic counterpart is a pretty unfortunate choice that cheapens the rest of the song beyond redemption. The little “bend” notes are actually missing their target in a few cases, sliding up a whole step instead of a half, creating a subtle but jarring conflict with the underlying chords. My advice is to run away from anything in midispace that tries to simulate a string instrument (at least until the DAWs have good enough AI to smooth it out… look out Spintunes 23!) Vocals rush ahead of the beat in the bridge at “consequence remains,” creating a sloppy moment that trips up momentum on an otherwise interesting dynamic shift. I can tell you have a lot of good ideas and solid fundamentals but this one was a dud for me.
▷ - Brain Brain
Mandrake you are going to be famous if you keep this up. This song demonstrates mastery of advanced and highly technical musical concepts, effortlessly traversing the 5/4 meter, hopping between scales, and never once alienating the listener. An intellectual exercise on paper and a theme park ride for the ear. The rhythmic production touches - the whoops in the chorus! - just spectacular, and the synth work is similarly unparalleled. I’m normally not a fan of spoken word skits but this song has won me over, an absolute triumph of affable whimsy and technical competency. You fully committed to the challenge, with profound clarity of purpose and creative intent. Your vocals are sounding better than ever here, maybe you don’t need that new mic after all… Welcome to the podium, I can’t wait to see what you do next.
The Moon Bureau - Never Knew
I’m pleased to report that the genre concerns I had with your previous entry have been corrected here. This is a much more musically inventive entry, to my untrained ear at least. Instrumentally this is fantastic - guitar tones are flawless, and the hard left/right panning on them is balanced nicely. Synth work in the intro especially is tasteful retro ear candy. You have an excellent voice in your upper register, but the low vocal melody sounds strained and forced. Switching back and forth between the octave doesn't quite work for me, a passable but uninspired interpretation of the challenge prompt that strays a little too far outside your Q zone. The lyrics tell a mopey paint-by-numbers breakup story that failed to make much of an impact on me. I wanted to like this song more than I did.
The Dutch Widows - Johnny Roadhouse
Rich and lush instrumental with good spatial balance, numerous guitars and pianos panned and layered without cluttering the mix. Drums are perfectly EQ’d, the jingle bell shaker is a nice high frequency rhythmic touch. Great guitar solo that embraces its simplicity and excels as a climax. Vocals are a little too low-pitched and low-energy to keep up with the otherwise upbeat vibe of the song, but it still sounds clean. This is a good song, but it comes up short on the challenge for me. The “questions” do act as a sort of lyrical counterweight but it took me a few listens to realize they had a different mix treatment from the lead. It sounds more like a single lead melody with occasional doubling, rather than a back and forth call and response. I think you’ve got an interesting angle here - I’m interpreting it as a curious and empathetic narrator trying to see and understand the human behind these heinous deeds, a la Sufjan’s John Wayne Gacy. It took several reads of the lyrics and several cycles through the song for me to reach that conclusion though. Interesting idea, but too buried and vague, lacking sonic distinction.
chewmeupspitmeout - Nobody likes a Purist
Lots of interesting ideas and novel production touches in this song, but it’s too chaotic and scattered to form a coherent whole. This is one of the more sonically creative entries of the round, full of risky decisions, some of which paid off better than others. The off-kilter descending chromatic synth scales are actually kind of genius, providing a microtonal dissonant halloweeny spookiness that works better than it should. The rhythm guitar work falls a bit flat, particularly the tone you opted for, which mostly sounds washed out and small, missing brightness or spark (though I did enjoy the dueling solos). Vocals are sloppy but they work well in context, I won’t ding you on that. However, your interpretation of the challenge comes up short. You’ve put some lyrics in parentheses to try and delineate a call/response pattern but I’m just not hearing it - even taking your word for it I’m not really seeing anything about the lyrics that aligns creatively to the challenge prompt. I guess that makes me the titular Purist…
The Alleviators - Hear Me Out
This song is delicate and earnest, building gradually over time, culminating in a powerful chorus that showcases a fresh take on the challenge. The man/woman call and response is tough to do without sounding like a Disney musical number, and once that thought crossed my mind I couldn’t un-hear it. Regardless, it's well delivered here, and I’m ranking it accordingly. Instrumentally this is lush and tasty per your usual style, though it falls a little short of your phenomenal round one installment. Drums are clean, piano and guitar nicely filling out the mix, chords ringing out and balancing the vocals perfectly. Love that mobile bass, ambling around tastefully during the chorus. Still not loving the guitar solo - the attempt at the end just doesn't quite work for me, but it's balanced out by those delightful piano octaves. Strong work overall with a clear commitment to the challenge.
Hot Pink Halo - Looking At You
I love how personal this is, a glimpse into the vulnerability of creating art, sharing it, and receiving judgment from others. (Hey, that sounds familiar!) Your voice and lyrics are rightly taking center stage here, and your signature style is on full display in all its glory, confident command of vocal melody and flourish. Musically this was also quite pleasant, though the four-on-the-floor disco drum loop is a little too mechanical for the otherwise washy and vibey instrumentals - makes me wish this had live drums. Unfortunately I can’t really hear much of a call and response here. I appreciate what you intended to do, giving the “echo” its own vocal treatment to channel the feedback from your guest book, a clever and deliberate approach that certainly reflects a creative engagement with the challenge prompt. The execution doesn’t really do it justice though, it works better on the page than it does in the ear.
Governing Dynamics - Feverishness
You have some of the best vocals in the game. I keep re-using the word “lush” to describe your submissions and I don’t plan to stop anytime soon. Great evocative chord progressions, cycles of tension and release, surprising variety of vocal melody across verses. Something I’ve noticed on a few of your songs now is an issue with timing misalignment, particularly on your arpeggiated rhythm guitar chords/harmonics. Slower paced songs can really expose that sloppiness, and in this case it’s enough to distract from the otherwise impressive quality on display. I love the energy of the chorus, but the changing guitar tone loses some fidelity in a way that drops the lower-mid fullness out of the mix. These are all minor qualms though, this is a rich and succulent tune. I appreciate that you built your whole song around various flavors of call-and-response. The guitar solo dueling call and response was a fun idea, the execution is a little lacking but it works well overall. Impressive work as usual!
Eric Baer - We Work Together
This has a distinct and alluring texture to it, which is difficult to achieve with so few components. The banjo in particular is a nice touch and blends well with the guitar, but the sloppy timing really trips things up. Some amount of that is ok and adds authenticity, but it feels a little too bootleg here, and it makes me think this song was rushed. You have a great voice, vocal harmonies are well handled, and the hippy feelgood lyrics don’t bother me too much. As for the challenge, I’m at a loss. I can’t find a single thing that reads as a call and response. The banjo echoing the guitar? The vocal harmony? None of it really works for me unfortunately, and the lack of a song bio means I’m clueless as to what you intended to achieve here.
Sober - The Morning Call
Flawless instrumentals on display, that banjo is perfect throughout - incredibly tight picking rhythm, the double-tracked takes lined up so precisely it sounds like a single take. Maybe it is and you’ve pitched it down an octave? How are you doing that so cleanly? The mix is fantastic, good driving rhythm from the distorted guitar, wisely tucked in the back, allowing the banjo to shine. Vocal call and response sounds so smooth, the harmonic echoes are really well done. The buildup in the bridge is a great moment, quiet tension and anticipation building to a goosebump-inducing climax that flows seamlessly into the final chorus. Great lyrical message, simple and unpretentious, direct and meaningful, well delivered. There are a lot of songs this round where the call and response challenge is met, but isn’t particularly central to the lyrical theme or otherwise part of some broader creative design. This is among the best of them - you’ve cleared the challenge and created a phenomenal song to boot, but others were more creative in their approach to the prompt.
Winterloper - I Keep Calling
This is a tough song to review for a number of reasons. It's not really a song - it sounds more like an instrumental backing track for the first ever rap verse in 5/4 that has yet to materialize. It sort of meets the challenge instrumentally, but otherwise feels like an unfinished demo. Comparing this to your previous entry tells an interesting story: you are clearly a sophisticated musician, but you struggle with the practical skills necessary to express your ideas. The 5-part vocal harmony on this is insanely ambitious, but it sounds raw and unmixed. The time signature jumps deftly between 5 and 4 as complex jazzy chord progressions unfold, but the midi instruments sound harsh and cheap. You have your work cut out for you from here: learn how to fully take advantage of DAW software, learn the limits of midi (and how to stretch those limits with proper tweaking and blending), learn how to tease out the best mix of your voice. If you invest the time into this stuff with the talent you clearly have, it will pay off in spades.
Dream Bells - Sugar Plums (Just Enough)
The way you seamlessly blend percussion and synths is enviable. Your signature style, while distinct, is clearly capable of encompassing a range of sounds. That being said, the heavily tuned and effected vocals are a little alienating - it’s hard to tell how much that’s a stylistic choice, or a crutch you are using to mask shortcomings in your own voice. I’d like to hear a bit more vocal variety from you in future submissions. Your song bio was helpful for understanding your vision, I’m not sure I would have otherwise picked up on the deeper meanings here (and the vocals are still pretty hard to map without keeping the lyrics sheet handy). The echo between your vocals and the synth melody is pleasant and straightforward, and it works fine as an interpretation of the challenge. This song didn’t have the same immediate appeal to me as your previous round’s submission, but it sure does go down smooth, and I think this competition is made much more interesting by the aesthetic diversity you bring to the table.
Temnere - Sons Of The North
This song makes me wish I was manning a galley with my boys. Goosebump-inducingly epic. You aren’t afraid to fully commit to this goofy fantasy aesthetic without a hint of irony, and I admire you for that. This has such a compelling vibe, touching on the hallmarks of that epic power metal sound - ripping double kick drums, double-tracked guitar solos, pitch-perfect energetic vocals. I love the intro synth section, right away I know I’m in for a banger, though I wish you revisited that sound later in the song. The chorus in particular is a great release, I love that you let the power chords ring out, and the melody over the whole thing is so victorious. I have some complaints about the mix, it’s missing some of the characteristic fullness I would have expected, though I’m not sure I can pinpoint the exact issue there. I can only imagine how good this would be if you worked on it with audio engineers in a studio with live drums. I’m surely not the first to point out that your submissions are difficult to judge in comparison to others, given the genre you operate in follows its own set of rules, but the more restrictive challenges give us a little more to go by at least. The “row!” section is your attempt at checking this box. It’s epic, its cool as fuck, and it only lasts for a few seconds. I wanted every reason to rank you higher with this song, but I need more to work with than that.
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