Here are your rankings from Nancy Rost:
Read on for Nancy's reviews!
Falcon Artist - School Bus Driver
The tuning-up and spoken title set this up like an open-mic folk performance, and that expectation is met. There’s a charming simplicity to the theme. Very matter-of-fact delivery. If anything it’s a little too deadpan. I want the description of the children’s sad expressions vs. jolly expressions to sound different musically.. I like the folky chorus. I feel this could have used one more element to make it pop. I did like the little breaks in strumming. I'd like to hear more dynamics and vocal presence.
Wendy Wiseman Fisher - Where the Pumpkins Lie
Great central images. Striking and suspenseful. I like the pause in the beginning. Vivid imagery, including the place names. I like the macabre humor. The call-back to the coffee is a nice touch. I like the use of place names to mark the passage of the 24 hours. Nice dynamics. I would have stripped back some of the instrumental layers except for emphasis (e.g., I’d use the piano arpeggios more sparingly.) I loved the dynamics in the bridge. With a song this long I was wanting more variation in chord progression. Lyrically, I would have liked to know some of the why as well as the how behind this gruesome plot, although the song stands without it.
chewmeupspitmeout - Deja vu, Deja me
The “Groundhog Day” trope is an interesting one to play with for this round’s challenge. The concise lines and snappy rhymes breathe fresh life into it. Fun music, very catchy.. I like the distorted guitar and the bass walkdowns. I really wish the vocal was a bit more upfront to better hear the lyrics. I love the “I am English” bridge! Even more favorite line: “I’m sure this temporal anomaly is just an admin error in chronology”.
Hot Pink Halo - Move Mountains
What an original and compelling take on the passage of a day’s time. Compelling intro. The pedal tone reinforces the depiction of stasis with the modal melodies striving for movement. I love the harmonies in the refrain line, and the harmonies and tensions in general. Nice audible vocals that convey conviction and fatigue. I enjoy the synth textures.This really put me inside the narrator’s mind.
Boo Lee Crosser - Exit Signs
Gripping intro. I enjoy the playfully understated approach to the dire situation. This has a dreamlike surreality. Nice upfront vocal. The arrangement and production keep things moving. I might have liked a bridge in here somewhere to break up some of the repetition in three verses. Nice ending.
SEE/MAN/SKI - The Hermit
Well-played and arranged, with a nice dynamic arc, breathing space, and an expressive performance. I enjoy the piano part and progression a lot. Lyrically, there’s some very nice use of rhyme and other soundcraft. The only thing that gives me pause is that the words sound more like an outsider’s criticism of a hermit than an interior portrait of a hermit’s day. I think it could work as a third-person lyric from a close and frustrated party, like a parent or child. Or it could stay first-person and include more personal insights and less commentary on what they don’t do. Or the music (vocal delivery in particular) could be breezier, more glib.
☀bucket - Nickels to Roll
The spoken sections are very cool. I like the contrast between the monotone melody and the frenetic rhythm. It’s a way of playing with time and the idea of what fills a day. Clever, entertaining, and I like the edge to it. I love the vocal that’s filtered through some cool effects but still very intelligible. Great guitar sounds, almost like tuned percussion. Just great overall production and feel.
This Big Old Endless Sky - It Only Felt like a Minute
Well produced, though I wish I could hear the words better -- especially since I love the personality and attitude of the vocal. Nice alternative-rock feel. The backing vocals are a nice touch. The brevity is witty!
The Pannacotta Army - Leaving LA
A refreshing musical change of pace. I like the wistful feeling of the music. Lovely melody and chord changes. Cool idea to start and end the hours in the dark, makes for some good LA-at-night imagery. The performance and production are stellar.
gammammannn - Just Walk
Delightfully bizarre at first. I like the time shifts. Not an easy listen, despite good production. This grows on me on the second listen -- I can start to hear the structure. The lyrics are hard for my ears/mind to process within all the sonic psychedelia. Some awesome harmonic choices. I did get the feel of the avoidance before reading your liner notes, though, so it comes across emotionally despite my difficulty grasping it intellectually.
Huge Shark - Fine
Gorgeous lead vocal. The shifts from verse into chorus are beautiful. I like the ideas in the lyrics, and the poetic way they are put. The banjo is an especially nice touch. I personally would have liked this one with fewer or no synth strings. The time we have to love is a classic theme and you execute it well.
Good Guy Sôjàbé - Justice Never Sleeps
I immediately like the acoustic-electric alternative rock vibe that’s established. The lead vocal is really nice and I’d love to hear it more upfront in the mix. Lyrically, I’m not sure what attitude this song is taking toward the main character. The words sound critical but the musical treatment seems almost heroic. I had to look up the reference listed in the liner notes.
The Alleviators - Right By You
The shared vocals sound great and really pop. I love the guitar part. Catchy chorus and strong ideas. The sunlight/trees image is a great way to bookend the 24 hours of the song. Great bridge: the instrumental hook and slower rhythm amplify the paradoxical speeds of years and days. The child's voice is a great touch -- I teared up a little -- and the way the “right by you” meaning changes there is lovely. My only quibble is with the phrasing on “vitaMINS”.
David Taro - Rosettina
Strong presence and performance. I like the gospel-inflected piano part, the raspy-soulful vocals, and the chord progression. The chorus has lodged itself in my head -- it’s a great hook and a great name to use. The instrumental bridge is sweet too. The lyrics are well-written, with vivid details and philosophical musings about Rosettina’s life, too, so it’s puzzled me that I’ve had trouble connecting with it when I listen rather than read. I think that for me, the reflective tone of the lyrics doesn’t quite match the peppy feel of the music.
Jealous Brother - A Backpack and Two Sandwiches
Nice vocal melody! The instrumental textures are charming. I love the narrative voice -- so much personality. Lots of well-observed detail. Sounds like a happy story a lot of the time. Of course the ending isn’t; it does also frame the day, though, meeting the round’s challenge. The prosody is off in places - enough it almost seems deliberate? (e.g. “Her tattoos ran all the way down HER leg”, or lines with a few extra syllables wedged in). A sweet-and-sour romp.
Nathan Joe Long - Remember Monangah
Great storytelling. I like the specificity of details such as the time of the tragedy, the ingredients for the birthday cake, and the way they’re integrated into the narrative. The combination of minor key and strong rhythm work well to set the mood, and the softer major-key section is a nice attitude shift. The central riff is very catchy. I would suggest using a pitch-correction plugin for the main vocal, which has a pleasant timbre, but enough out-of-tuneness to challenge me as a listener.
glennny - I Have Until Midnight
Fun punk-pop feel. Good story, with emotion and mystery. I like the way the awareness of the time plays into the story. I like the random distracting details alternating with the task at hand. I wonder what the deadline is for. Divorce papers maybe?
Flintsteel - Tau Zero
This was one of my favorite lyrical takes on the “day in the life” prompt. Great story, with a captivating arc. I’m torn in judging this song because I have a hard time catching the lyrics when I’m not reading them (due to the busy, heavy drums and the relatively quiet vocal in the mix) and the genre’s not really in my wheelhouse.That said, there’s a lot to like in the music. I especially like that the instrumental break goes from reflective to intense. Everything is well-played, and the rolling piano figures are a nice touch. It does feel long (especially in the midst of reviewing 30 songs) and I might recommend taking out some of the instrumental solos.
Bob Voyg - A day in the life of a Mall Santa
Intriguing buildup in the intro. The whispery vocal is pleasant, and that pleasantness makes for a feeling of irony and maybe creepiness from the lyrics. I would not have guessed what this was about without the title, though of course with the title they resonate! I like the range of reflections on the mall-Santa ritual, though the “day in the life” connection is a little loose.
Governing Dynamics - Outtahere
Nice production; I dig the propulsive bass and drums and the soaring guitar lines on the choruses. The story is a bit mysterious, but the sentiment certainly comes through. Some well-written lines, like the one about the alarms. Nice use of night, darkness and the clock to frame the story. The lead vocal has expressive dynamics; a few pitchy notes stood out in contrast to an overall excellent performance.
OutLyer - HEY ALEXA
I love the concept - it struck me right away as fresh and sort of inevitable. The deadpan humor is clever. The musical atmosphere really fits; it feels shiny and futuristic. The floating bridge was a nice touch. I wanted more of the backstory, or a bit more of a glimpse into the character’s psyche -- although I suppose the POV is necessarily limited by what is said to Alexa!
Siebass - We Are the Sum of These
A creative concept for depicting a day in the life. Is it a kids’ song, sound art, musical theater, or all of these? The interlude with the driver and the bee was well-acted (and yes, relatable). I loved the harmonies at the end. The sung “driving, driving” motives were cool conceptually but felt stark to my ears -- I would have liked more melodic and harmonic interest with that repeated figure.
Huey Long's Big Strong Thick Pink Magnum Opus - Asphalt
Quite an elaborate and nightmarish tale. The vocal approach is very challenging to me as a listener, as are the shifts between the hard-driving sections and the free-rhythm ones, but I respect that these elements reflect the horror contained in the lyrics. Bookending the story in “the blinding light of mid day” was a particularly interesting use of this round’s prompt, turning the symbolism of “light” on its head.
Möbius Strip Club - Angela
Great atmosphere, established via composition and very dramatic performance - I like when this works with a fairly simple arrangement. Catchy chorus for sure. I have several unanswered questions about the plot. The narrator sounds distressed and caring at first, and I worry about the content of that note, but I start getting the sense that there’s something wrong with the narrator. Was this an abusive partner that Angela fled?
Boffo Yux Dudes - Say Hey!
Surprisingly thematic and pleasantly silly. The goodwill overrides the goofiness. I enjoy the little sonic Easter eggs in the backing vocals and such. Light, kid-friendly pop music with some nice happy songcraft.
Dog Star Pilot - Only Thing
Bold choice to sing this solo a cappella! And it totally works. Having driven through Nebraska, the song really captures that feeling. I appreciate the bits of back story and interior life woven in. I like the melody and the touches of bluesiness.
Fluke Wilson - Tommy Bahama Backfire
Good story concept. The opening lyric line is useful in setting the humor and absurdity of the story. I like the initial guitar figure and the way it gives way to energetic strumming. I like the stop at “everything went black”. I like the dramatic use of harmony at “wearing the wrong shirt”. The relationship to the “day in the life” is a little loose, though it’s easy to imagine this could have all happened in 24 hours. It sounds like you were still working out the vocal part; if you polish this, I’d like to hear it with some work on smoothing out mis-stressed syllables such as “put your silVER tongue to rest”, etc.
Sober - Long Way Round
It’s fun to see how many ways there are to look at 24 hours, and this is certainly a different one. I like the energy, the trad-country spoken parts (especially as a novelty in the beginning). Catchy chorus with a great tagline. I like the east-west line, and other quirky details in the lyrics. A cleverly executed slice of life.
miscellaneous owl - Don’t Look Back
I like how the mythical comes alive in the present day, with crust punks and dumpster bagels sitting naturally next to ferrymen and the underground. I can tell the performance is raw (page turns and all) but the emotion feels authentic. The change in the time signature at “Don’t. Look. Back.” enhances a vulnerable, off-balance feeling . The vocal is beautiful; I wish it were more prominent in the mix.
Joy Sitler - Cigarettes and Microgreens [SHADOW]
Love the title and its juxtapositions. “Feeding on a diet of not enough” is one of many great turns of phrase here. The pop-punk approach is enjoyable. I like the dynamics and the chord changeups between sections. The lyrics really put us in the narrator’s head. Nice instrumental break and guitar solo.I like the clean ending.
Vehicles of Beware - Terminal [SHADOW]
Nice piano playing and meditation on a particularity of time. “Connections benign and mundant” indeed. Some sweet turns of chords, and well-wrought rhyme schemes!
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