Here are your rankings from Ben:
Read on for Ben's reviews!
OK, lets deal with the elephant in the room first. Those two shadows from my fellow judges have no right to be as good as they are. Kinda just bragging at this point, no?
Now back to the task at hand, judging round 1 submissions. This is my first time dipping my toes into the SpinTunes water. I’ve never competed, judged, or even listened to an album before this. Right off the bat, I have to say I am completely blown away. The quality of submissions is super high, but more importantly, the community you all have built up here is incredible. Lurking in the Discord server is a pure joy. Wait, was I doing something here? Oh yeah, reviews!
Because this challenge was focused on a full day, I listened to each of the songs three times. Once in the morning over coffee. Once during the day while working. And a final listen and judging in the evening with a glass of bourbon. I listened for how closely a song met the challenge, the performance and production, lyrics, and overall creativity. I firmly believe the enjoyment of music is subjective, so I also heavily weight my own internal vibe check into the equation. I also love “Bonus Points" (who doesn’t?) so I throw those in there when I see something that deserves them. I always know it when I see it.
Enough preamble? Let’s do it.
Falcon Artist - School Bus Driver
The production seemed rushed and not quite as fleshed out as it could be. I want to hear the version of this demo after it gets fully fleshed out and comes to life. I wanted a story or to get some kind of feeling from it and it left me with a description.
Wendy Wiseman Fisher - Where the Pumpkins Lie
And so the violence begins… The bass tone in this one hit me right where I want it, especially during the little break near the end of the song. The break really amped up the tension of the narrative. That little moment was so good, it was deserving of a bonus point! Haunting melody that I’ve been singing to myself this week whenever I take a sip of cold coffee.
chewmeupspitmeout - Deja vu, Deja me
I will always watch a time loop movie, every time. This one gets a bonus point for that alone. The chorus is super catchy and the guitars drive the whole work forward. Nothing against programmed drums, but I would absolutely love to hear how this would sound with live drums.
Hot Pink Halo - Move Mountains
OK, wow. Move Mountains is full of sparse but lush instrumentation. Every single note, beat, pause, or move seems intentional and necessary to the overall work. The lyrics make me see and feel the scene. Really well done.
Boo Lee Crosser - Exit Signs
I had a hard time with this one. The lyrics didn’t really draw me in and the performance was on the other side of falling apart. Sounded like they were fighting the metronome during the recording and didn’t quite get there. The story lends itself to a little chaos, but it went just beyond.
SEE/MAN/SKI - The Hermit
An interesting twist on both the challenge and the nature of a hermit. I enjoyed a more modern description of a technology minded hermit. The song itself was catchy. I could absolutely imagine teenage me hearing this on Out of Order with Jed the Fish in the 90s as a song to watch.
bucket - Nickles to Roll
Great production. The lyrics were a little simplistic and monotonous, which maybe was the point? But I couldn’t quite tell if they were intended to point out the mundane nature of daily life or a little braggadocious about staying busy and productive. The repetition of the word Busy did work, but I think picking a lane and exploring it more deeply would pay off.
This Big Old Endless Sky - It Only Felt Like a Minute
Ha! I see what you did here. I appreciate the brevity of the song, it did what it needed to do and got out of there. Meta humor is always something I appreciate. The gimmick worked out perfectly on this one.
The Pannacotta Army - Leaving LA
Really strong production and performances on this one. Listening to this is like riding an elevator. Time is passing, you are moving but the core of your being isn’t changing. And the instrumentation resembles Musak which is in great service to the overall vibe. I like riding this elevator.
gammammannn - Just Walk
Hi Gloopy! You get a bonus point for being Gloopy. The retro vibe was there in a modern way; the production on this one was superb. I did think the bridge seemed a little disjointed. I got the purpose, but maybe a key shift or really ramping up the danger aspect could have been the point instead of simply changing up the song? There’s something here that needs to be explored further.
Huge Shark - Fine
Really pretty and a fabulous vocal performance. I enjoyed this on each listen, but the melody was just nondescript enough that I never found myself humming or whistling it to myself later, which is a thing I do constantly. It just needed one more “hook” to fully draw me in.
Good Guy Sôjàbé - Justice Never Sleeps
This was a slow burn that paid off in the end. Judge Dredd almost gets an automatic bonus point, but as much as I love the movies and vibe, I don’t want everyone else in the competition to shoehorn Judge Dredd or Robocob or Jonsey from Alien into every song next round. So this note of appreciation will have to do. But, great job in taking an established world and building your own apartment there.
The Alleviators - Right By You
I’ll admit, the first time I listened, I thought it was a little too positive and sweet. Almost dismissed it. Then, on the third listen when Robin starts singing, a tear rolled down my cheek. Making me cry will always get you a bonus point. The lyrics are incredibly well constructed and the three stories weaving into a portrait of a family was really well done. Can’t say enough good things about the bridge either, really propelled the story forward.
David Taro - Rosettina
Really, really strong production and storytelling, but also wasn’t my thing. I don’t know why, but it wasn’t. Whatever was there just wasn’t clicking for me, which is very likely a “me” problem. I gave strong points on everything except my intangible vibe check, which brought it down a few places.
Jealous Brother - A Backpack and Two Sandwiches
The title of this one seems mismatched with the story it is trying to tell. I think having an intentional title that gives context and meaning to the song is important. The lyrics seemed almost stream of consciousness, which is appropriate to a long train ride, but what happened to the sandwiches? I kept trying to figure that out.
Nathan Joe Long - Remember Monangah
Here’s something about me, I’m not that into period pieces. I thought the research that went into this seemed great and the riffs were good throughout, but it didn’t draw me in. I was wondering if it would really pull me in, especially with the ending, but it just didn’t. Again, maybe a “me” problem?
glennny - I Have Until Midnight
Was this written about being a SpinTunes judge and having to get reviews in? Just kidding, I know it isn’t, but the theme of procrastinating a thing that is important and life changing was well portrayed here, but like every Stephen King book I’ve ever read, the ending left me feeling a little cold. I would have liked something to build the urgency as time progressed. I didn’t get that lyrically or musically and feel like that was a missed opportunity.
Flintsteel - Tau Zero
The vibe and concept here really did it for me. Flintsteel transported me to an 80s arcade where i was playing Space Invaders with Dio’s quarters sitting on the bottom of the screen. Totally loved the loophole of both stretching and compressing time in a challenge like this. Kudos.
Bob Voyg - A day in the life of a Mall Santa
Captured that vibe of seeing a grey pile of snow in a parking lot when it is still too far away from Christmas to even start counting down. A little fast and loose with the theme, it felf more like a slice of life than events in a 24 hour period, but close enough! If you don’t know about Jon Solomon’s 25-hour Christmas Marathon on WPRB (and you all should - it is one of the best parts of Christmas) you should absolutely submit this when he starts soliciting new songs to add to his playlist!
Governing Dynamics - Outtahere
I WANTED to love this one, but it needs just a bit more work. The vocal performance was a little flat, another take would have been well worth it. The bass could have been a bit warmer and punchier, and I wanted a full on shoegaze-y wall of sound. The bones are there, but the execution missed by a bit.
OutLyer - HEY ALEXA
Great job playing with the vocals in post. The melody was insanely catchy and everything just worked well with everything else. If the rhyme scheme was a little more complicated/unexpected it might have put this over the top. I also thought the beginning searches should have been foreshadowing to what the “not so good” thing was or how the narrator got away with it. Overall though, really nice work.
Siebass - We Are the Sum of These
Can I get a trigger warning for the alarm clock next time, please? Thank you in advance. I really appreciated the palate cleanser aspect of this one. Captured the monotony of daily life in an upbeat and approachable way. No real notes for improvement, I enjoyed this one quite a bit.
Huey Long's Big Strong Thick Pink Magnum Opus - Asphalt
I typically don’t get into growling vocals like this, but over the course of my listens throughout the day it grew on me more and more. Huh, am I growing as a person? I thought the dragging rhythm towards the end of the song was really effective in propelling the listener to the end of the story.
Möbius Strip Club - Angela
The guitar performance could use a little work. That said, the vocal performance at the end was outstanding. I loved all the descriptive words like “craggy dunes,” “curly hair,” etc. but I was never really pulled into the whole mystery of the story. I think the lyrics could be given another pass to really let the story shine.
Boffo Yux Dudes - Say Hey!
This song transported me to a Saturday morning cartoon. Bright green glass, white picket fences, newspapers flying towards you, the whole nine yards. Nice work lyrically with the Hey/Hay juxtaposition, it works.
Dog Star Pilot - Only Thing
If you are going to put something out with just a vocal performance it had better be transcendent. This was good, and well performed, but needed something else. More traces of violence here with the red stain on the rug? I’m sure there are bits and pieces here that can be worked into something really great.
Fluke Wilson - Tommy Bahama Backfire
The raw demo vibe worked for me here. I liked the story, I would absolutely watch the movie of this song. I think it could be a great vehicle to revive DJ Qualls’ career maybe? Anyone? Ok, I’ll see myself out… Just kidding, I’d like a little more variation in the melody, it was pretty monotone, but the strength of the lyrics propelled it up in my rankings despite that.
Sober - Long Way Round
Very much not my normal vibe, but the production and execution worked really well. The singing vs spoken word thing worked like a charm. I was listening to submissions while I ran out to get McDonalds for my kids and the employee at the drive through actually asked what the song was! So kudos, you earned a new fan.
miscellaneous owl - Don't Look Back
Really loved the intimacy of this recording. The shuffling papers, the immediacy of the recording. The time signature shifts earned a bonus point from me too. They almost didn’t work, but ended up being interesting. That said, I think the lyrics could be more refined, and the recording could be much better. As a demo, this offers a bunch of jumping off points for a more developed work.
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