tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28092310660584590512024-03-18T13:29:05.139-04:00Spintunes ContestThey Write the Songs So You Don't Have ToSpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.comBlogger981125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-13624194940142592002024-03-18T13:28:00.001-04:002024-03-18T13:28:11.911-04:00All-Request Listening Party - tonight at 10 PM EDT21 SpinTunes tournaments mean a lot of great songs - over 1700 songs, in fact! You may have some favorites throughout the years, and tonight is your chance to hear them again.<div><br /></div><div>Tommy G hosts an All-Request Listening Party tonight at 10 pm EDT. Got a favorite song from SpinTunes past? Send your requests to SpinTunesContest@gmail.com and I'll pass them along to Tommy G.</div><div><br /></div><div>Join us <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtiTYJ2PUqA">on YouTube</a> or embedded below. If you've got a request during the Listening Party, drop it in the live chat and Tommy G will do his best to find it for you!</div><div><br /></div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rtiTYJ2PUqA?si=M5jxTS-MZu5Vh6Ua" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-14922398191653944912024-03-15T10:16:00.001-04:002024-03-15T21:00:29.056-04:00What to do while the judges judge?<p>You worked hard on your Round 1 entry, and now you still have a week to wait for the judges' reviews and rankings. In the meantime, maybe you want to keep up your musical momentum. What to do? I've got two suggestions for you: record a cover for the <b>SpinTunes 22 Bonus Round</b>, and/or submit an entry to the <b>1000th Song Fight!</b> </p><p>Keep reading for more info on both options!<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><b>SpinTunes 22 Bonus Round</b></p><p>The SpinTunes 22 Bonus Round officially occurs April 29 - May 5, but there's no reason not to get started early! In the Bonus Round, you don't write new songs; instead you record covers of other people's SpinTunes 22 entries, there's no competition, and everybody wins! So if there was a <a href="https://spintunes.bandcamp.com/album/spintunes-22-round-1">Round 1</a> song that you loved, why not take the time now to put your own spin on it? </p><p>Submit your Bonus Round covers to SpinTunesContest@gmail.com just as you submit your regular entries; be sure to include "Bonus Round" somewhere in the email subject. They'll be accepted any time before the Bonus Round Listening Party on March 6.</p><p><b>1000th Song Fight!</b></p><p>The folks over at <a href="https://songfight.org/">Song Fight!</a> are friends of ours, and many of us, myself included, have been active there over the years. At Song Fight, you're given a song title and have to write and record a song with that title. Unlike SpinTunes' tournament format, Song Fight hosts individual fights on a rolling basis throughout the entire year, so it's easy to participate whenever the timing works out for you individually.</p><p>Right now, Song Fight is celebrating a huge milestone - their <b>1000th</b> (yes, one thousandth) title. They're hoping and planning for a huge turnout for this fight, so whether you're a regular Song Fight participant, used to submit there in the past, have never joined a fight, or have never even <i>heard</i> of Song Fight, now's the time to get in on the fun!</p><p>For the 1000th Song Fight, you have until <b>March 24</b> to write and record a new song titled <b>"A Grand Parade"</b> - visit the <a href="https://songfight.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12617">Song Fight! forum for more info on the fight</a>, and their <a href="https://songfight.org/faq.html">FAQ page for detailed submission instructions</a>.</p>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-37599870093189301592024-03-12T10:12:00.000-04:002024-03-12T10:12:58.107-04:00ST22 Round 1 Album<p>Thanks to everyone who joined in at the Listening Party last night - we had a great time hearing all these Round 1 songs for the first time.</p><p>If you missed the party, never fear - you can stream or download the <a href="https://spintunes.bandcamp.com/album/spintunes-22-round-1">Round 1 album on Bandcamp</a> on in the player embedded below. Our faithful graphic designer Matt Schubbe returns to grace us with cover art - thank you, Matt!</p><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3902056481/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 100%;"><a href="https://spintunes.bandcamp.com/album/spintunes-22-round-1">SpinTunes 22 Round 1 by Spintunes</a></iframe>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-32913267032417475872024-03-11T10:47:00.002-04:002024-03-11T10:53:40.919-04:00ST22.1 Listening Party and Deadline News<p>The Round 1 deadline has passed and we are snowed in with weather-related songs. Congratulations to the 32 contestants who submitted entries by the deadline!</p><p>Running late? Shadow entries have no deadline; submit them when you can and they'll be included on the album and judges will review them as time allows even though they won't be part of the tournament.</p><p>Tommy G hosts a Listening Party tonight at 9 pm EDT - that's your chance to hear these brand-new songs for the first time! Say hello in the live chat and get to know the contestants! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-bnoSoxQxg">Join us on YouTube</a> or embedded below.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v-bnoSoxQxg?si=Se2wNz-muACF7a2Z" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">After the Listening Party, the judges get to work reviewing and ranking the entries. In Round 1, the judging period is two weeks, with judges' reviews and rankings posted on <b>Sunday, March 24</b>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Of the 32 competing entries, 22 will move on to Round 2. Here's the full elimination schedule:</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Round 1:</b> 10 of 32 eliminated, 22 move on to Round 2.</li><li><b>Round 2:</b> 9 of 22 eliminated, 13 move on to Round 3.</li><li><b>Round 3:</b> 9 of 13 eliminated, 4 move on to the Final Round.</li><li><b>Final Round:</b> 3 of 4 eliminated, 1 proclaimed SpinTunes 22 Champion.</li></ul>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-80333331876450890252024-03-03T15:14:00.001-05:002024-03-07T09:51:45.073-05:00SpinTunes 22 - Meet the Contestants<p>The SpinTunes 22 sign-up deadline has passed, the first challenge has been posted, and the contestants have now begun toiling to write and record their Round 1 songs. But who are these brave contestants? 44 artists and bands have a shot at becoming SpinTunes 22 Champion. Continue reading to meet them!<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><b>Berkeley Social Scene</b></p><p><b>Bobby Frank</b></p><p><b>Boffo Yux Dudes<br /></b>BYD is currently a triumpvarant from the Chicago, Boston and LA metro areas, using the internet to cast their vile and nefarious musings upon an unsuspecting world since 1986. At least they think so while they nap on their Lay-z-Boys and try to dream of electric sheep. <br />We're back to astound and amuse you for SpinTunes #22! with our various comrades to attempt to amuse you while being true to our Dr. Demento like, devil may care attitude about current affairs and EZ Cheese on a mock Ritz cracker.<br />Once again, if anyone posts an email to us at boffoyux at gmail.com, we will send you something interesting audiowise if you use the subject line 'Again? You stiffed us again and again the last time'. Maybe I'll send 3 things if we did stiff you. Or I'm just lulling you into a false sense of security... <br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@BoffoYuxDudes">YouTube</a> | <a href="http://www.boffoyux.com/">Website</a> | <a href="http://byd365.wordpress.com/">Blog</a> | <a href="http://boffoyuxdudes.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/BoffoYuxDudes">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/people/Boffo-Yux-Dudes/100063558962977/">Facebook</a></p><p></p><p><b>Brett Glass</b><br />Brett Glass is an inventor, engineer, author, computer hacker, amateur radio operator, composer, and madcap multi-instrumentalist based in Laramie, Wyoming. When he's not climbing roofs and radio towers to provide rural residents with high speed microwave Internet service (he started the first wireless ISP many years ago), he is a frequent performer at bluegrass, science fiction, literary, and comedy music gatherings.</p><p><b>Cairo Braga</b><br />Cairo Braga started making music right after their 12th birthday. Their father gave them a new computer and they discovered an intriguing software called Fruity Loops. This happened in 2002 and since then they've been teaching themself on music, production and overall sound/audio processes. With a boost from their years in college while getting a bachelor's degree in Image & Sound at the Federal University of São Carlos, they are now an independent artist who decided to make it for themself, aiming for self-expression through any art form they can reach and execute. They've been doing FAWM since 2014 but 2024 is their 1st attempt at SpinTunes.<br /><a href="https://linktr.ee/cairobraga">Linktree</a></p><p><b>Cavedwellers</b></p><p><b>Chamomileon</b><br />Hoping to be a band, not a solo project this year.</p><p><b>Cheslain</b><br />Rockstar of my living room, mainly operating in bluesy rocky folky proggy music.<br /><a href="https://haxkvast.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>chewmeupspitmeout</b><br />Hey, I'm Dan from Medway (around 30 miles away from London) and this is my fourth go on the Spintunes merry-go-round. I've been a regular Fawmer (sailingmagpie) and Nur Ein competitor for years. Previously, I released stuff as The Serviettes and I've recently formed a 60s psych/garage rock band called Strobe Light Fist Fight.<br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/theserviettesofficial/">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/6xVBbdEouRTEq2BhBHKLYb?si=mTNal3-IQ3yL4Wzj2-lq4g">Spotify</a></p><p><b>Cybronica</b><br />Cybronica is a veteran of the Spintunes, SongFight!, and Nur Ein competitions. They have competed with multiple groups, most commonly with Mandibles, and have served twice as judge for Spintunes. Excited to jump back in as a competitor, Cybronica is ready to bring it with their classic vocal-focused sound.<br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/cybronica">Instagram</a></p><p><b>▷</b><br />never stop experimenting</p><p><b>dotuXil<br /></b>dee microtones<br />new to lyrics and singing<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@dotuxil">YouTube</a> | <a href="https://dotuxil.bandcamp.com">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>Dream Bells</b><br /><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@dream.bells">TikTok</a></p><p><b>Eric Baer</b><br />I’m a songwriter. I’ve been at it for days!</p><p><b>Eric Novak</b></p><p><b>Falcon Artist</b></p><p><b>Friendly Wolves</b><br />Hailing from South Bend, Indiana, Angelica Frausto and Andrew Corporon create music that mixes the raw intensity of grunge and the sultry subtlety of bossa nova. They have two cats and a toddler.<br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nerdybrownkid/">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://galoshy.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>Giraffes for Wings</b><br />Giraffes for Wings is one English teacher and a little spare time.<br /><a href="http://giraffesforwings.bandcamp.com">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>Glen Raphael</b><br />Glen Raphael is just some guy, you know?<br /><a href="http://glenraphael.bandcamp.com">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>glennny</b></p><p><b>Gorbzilla</b><br />Gorbzilla is getting grey, but is still rocking, and not always in a chair. His day job is waving his arms in front of children with noise makers, but he also spends time playing in a band, reading comic books, and watching bad movies. The Gorbzookies are grown, but Gorbzilla hopes his offspring can contribute to some tunes again soon. <br /><a href="https://gorbzilla.bandcamp.com/track/drowned-in-moonlight">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>Governing Dynamics</b><br />Here once again with my little sad/angry songs and using more fuzz on my guitar than is probably technically necessary.<br /><a href="http://governingdynamics.bandcamp.com">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>Hot Pink Halo</b><br />All chorus all the time.<br /><a href="https://www.crumpart.net">Website</a> | <a href="https://hotpinkhalo.bandcamp.com">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>Hutch</b><br />"bio"? Yes, I'm alive</p><p><b>Ironbark</b><br />I am genuinely delighted every time Peter Lorre comes on screen.<br /><a href="https://debenham.bandcamp.com">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>Jeff Walker</b><br />Four chords & the sometimes complicated truth. Amateur singer-songwriter type with Country/Americana leanings, a Georgia accent and whiskey marinated vocal cords, but too ancient to claim any kind of clever and original artist name. My third go at a Spintunes contest and aspiring to survive at least a round or two.<br /><a href="https://soundcloud.com/jeff-walker-4">Soundcloud</a></p><p><b>Jordan Carroll</b><br />Occasional competitor, back to occasionally compete.</p><p><b>Joy Sitler</b><br />Joy plays a bunch of instruments and writes, records, and performs with Brain Weasels and My Broken Demo Tape. They also perform with My Own Desert Island.</p><p><b>Lucky Witch & the Righteous Ghost</b><br />We have been playing since 2016 and have 3 studio albums out. We do the grungy thing, the twinkly thing, the creepy thing, and the weird thing. Nivs plays guitar and sings, Brookes plays Omnichord and sings, Eric plays bass, and Jay plays drums. We are an acquired taste and a love it or hate it kind of a deal. We're cool with that. Some quotes by other people: "Jefferson Airplane meets the Cramps" and "Kraut rock meets They Might Be Giants". <br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/luckywitch.righteousghost/">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://lwrg.bandcamp.com">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>Menage a Tune</b><br />I like to make up songs and I like to sing.. Sometimes I am fortunate and find a partner who can assist me. I have skipped a few Spintunes, but will try to create something to match the challenges this time! </p><p><b>Ominous Ride</b><br />We are merely hairless apes fiddling with a series of complex devices, trying to make sounds that extract and celebrate our irrevocable self-loathing.<br /><a href="https://ominousride.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>Rob Lyon</b><br />A funny guy that writes silly songs, from the Midwest USA.<br /><a href="http://linktr.ee/roblyonindy">Linktree</a></p><p><b>see-man-ski</b><br />Somehow, don't ask me how, I managed to win spintunes 19. Feel like throwing my hat back in again to see how much of a fluke this actually was. Since ST19 I decided to actually learn piano and have since got my grade 4 in ABRSM. Still can't sight read though, and loath it big time.<br /><a href="https://seemanski.bandcamp.com/track/where-i-belong">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>Sober<br /></b>A Texan in Maine. Upbeat music with depressing lyrics.<br />This will be his fifth time losing the SpinTunes competition.<br /><a href="https://soundcloud.com/jimmy-m-320220632">Soundcloud</a></p><p><b>Stacking Theory</b><br />It's Sad Beach Music all the way down</p><p><b>SunLite<br /></b>SunLite is husband, a father to two wonderful kids (3 and 6 years old) and an elementary music teacher, private instructor for tuba, and works a high school marching band program as an assistant director working primarily with the contras, pit percussion, and the program's sound design team. <br />SunLite has spent most of his time as a bassist in various bands including the styles of hard rock, metal, ska, and alternative and enjoys working with other artists on bringing their work to life. <br /></p><p><b>Temnere</b><br />POWER METAL FROM OK<br /><a href="https://temnere.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>thanks, brain</b><br />thanks, brain is a group of ADHD musicians whose respective brains often doggedly stand in the way of getting things done. thanks, brain.<br /><a href="https://thanksbrain.bandcamp.com">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>The Alleviators<br /></b>Beka (vox/keys) and Travis (guitars of regular and bass variety) have prepared the following statement:<br />Two years ago, we wrote and released a song that could be interpreted as pro-AI. We deeply regret this error and the betrayal of our fellow humans against the looming automated menace. We have taken a seat and are listening and (hopefully) learning. Thank you for your understanding during these trying times.<br /><a href="https://thealleviators.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>The Dutch Widows</b><br />The Dutch Widows is an increasingly baffling attempt to prove something to someone, but what and to who are not clear and are possibly unimportant anyway. Not Dutch and not a widow. <br /><a href="https://thedutchwidows.bandcamp.com/music">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>The Moon Bureau</b><br />shoegazey dreampop vibes</p><p><b>The Pannacotta Army<br /></b>Hi, I’m Tim and I live in Kent in the UK. I used to sing and play in bands years ago but now I make music on my own mostly and put it out on the internet as a hobby under the name The Pannacotta Army. I have a weakness for nice guitars and I own too many. I mainly write on acoustic guitar and though I try not to bind myself to one genre, I do tend to lean towards melodic pop.<br />I’ve entered the last two Spintunes. This one comes straight off the back of a hectic FAWM so I hope I’ll still have some fuel left in the tank. <br /><a href="https://thepannacottaarmy.bandcamp.com/album/hang-ups">Bandcamp</a> | <a href="http://www.songfight.org/artistpage.php?key=pannacotta_army">Song Fight</a></p><p><b>The Popped Hearts</b><br />just me in my basement making noise, have been described among other things as "they might be giants covering blink-182" and "a little pitchy"<br /><a href="https://thepoppedhearts.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a></p><p><b>West of Vine</b><br />Boston-based 4 piece alt-country band, but for purposes of this contest likely a solo affair. Three Chords and The Truth, where "Truth" is an IPA from Rhinegeist Brewing, conveniently found two blocks.... west of Vine Street in Cincinnati.<br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/westofvine">Instagram</a></p><p><b>Winterloper</b><br />Based in the US. Long time listener, first time contestant. Ready to rock n' roll! :)</p>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-87070473612899747432024-03-02T00:01:00.009-05:002024-03-02T00:01:00.135-05:00ST22 Round 1 Challenge<p>Here we are, folks, Round 1 of SpinTunes 22 is officially underway. As is tradition, we'll start things off with a wide-open subject matter challenge that's sure to generate a flurry of ideas. Read on for your Round 1 challenge.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><b>Weather Report: </b>Write and record a song with lyrics about or prominently mentioning <i>weather</i>, either literal or metaphorical: hot, cold, rain, snow, sunshine, clouds, storms, etc., etc., etc.</blockquote></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p><b>Examples: </b> </p></blockquote><ul><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te7bbWBXusk">"Like The Weather"</a> by 10,000 Maniacs</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO28lB1uwp4">"Have You Ever Seen the Rain"</a> by Creedence Clearwater Revival</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5PpCCfhBhY">"Heat Wave"</a> by Irving Berlin</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkOKCWDJ4iA">"Winter Song"</a> by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaEmQJG2HHU">"Tornado"</a> by Little Big Town</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0cAWgTPiwM">"I Can See Clearly Now"</a> by Johnny Nash</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdsJI8Wc2D4">"The Thunder Rolls"</a> by Garth Brooks</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7K5VCCdOEM">"The Wind Cries Mary"</a> by Jimi Hendrix</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km-Nlo5bgCQ">"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"</a> by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne</li></ul><div><b>Submitting Entries:</b><br /><ul><li><b style="background-color: white; color: red;"><i>Your entry must be received by Sunday, March 10, 2024 @ 11:59 PM EDT</i>. </b>Otherwise it'll be posted as a shadow. Received means that it has to appear in my e-mail inbox (<span style="color: #cc0000;">spintunescontest@gmail.com</span>) by the given deadline. I will be going by the time stamp on the e-mail. One minute late is <i>too late</i>.</li></ul><ul><li>You are allowed <i>and encouraged</i> to submit a draft of your song early just in case something horrible happens and you miss the deadline. Then you can add polish to your song and send in a better version closer to the deadline. The last version received prior to the deadline is your official entry. </li></ul><ul><li><b>Lyrics are mandatory</b>. No instrumentals. Having no lyrics will get you disqualified.</li></ul><ul><li><b>SUBMITTING BY EMAIL:</b> Send your file in a format that BandCamp accepts. (.wav or .flac) (at least 16-bit/44.1kHz) Do not send MP3s.</li><ul><li><b>Name your file</b> the song's title + your band name, without punctuation.</li><li><b>The subject line of the e-mail</b> should identify the challenge and your band's name. Something like this would be fine: "ST22R1 - All the Robots".</li><li>Include the song lyrics in the body of the e-mail.</li><li>Include information on anyone that needs credited if you collaborated with someone.</li></ul></ul><ul><li><b>ALTERNATE FILE SHARING OPTIONS: </b>If your file is too big for an email attachment, you may email me a link to where I can download the song. The email still needs to land in my inbox by the deadline.</li><ul><li>If you have a Bandcamp account you can just send me a link to your song if you include all the info I mentioned for emails. Info such as lyrics and song credits can be included in the email or on the song's Bandcamp page. Make sure you have it set as a free download, and have it set so that I don't have to put in an e-mail to download it if you pick this option.</li><li>You may also use a file sharing service such as DropBox, WeTransfer, Google Drive, etc. Include in the email any required information (such as lyrics) that you couldn't include in the file. Make sure I have permission to download the file, and please follow directions so your file doesn't wind up in my spam or trash folder accidentally.</li></ul></ul><ul><li><b>SONG BIOS: </b>In addition to lyrics and any necessary credits, you are welcome to include a "song bio", with any information you feel is useful. This could include your inspiration for the song, citations for any obscure references within the lyrics, an explanation of how your song met the challenge, etc. Some challenges may require you to supply certain info in your song bio. Since the judges are volunteers with lives outside of SpinTunes, song bios can help them zero in on aspects of the song you feel are important. However, if your song requires a multi-paragraph explanation in order to understand and appreciate it, this is probably a sign that it doesn't stand up well on its own, and its ranking may reflect that.</li></ul><b>Side Notes:</b><br /><ul><li>You can send in an entry to SpinTunes 22 without competing. Just tell me it's a "Shadow Song". It will be played at the listening party, but won't be ranked and you might not receive feedback from the judges. Check the <a href="http://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/p/frequently-asked-questions.html" target="_blank">FAQ</a> if you don't know what that means. You can even complete past challenges from previous contests. It's a nice way of playing along if you can't commit to the schedule or you just want to get your feet wet.</li><li>The only other way to get your music played at the listening party is to cover "Today's The Day" by Inverse T. Clown or <a href="https://spintunes.bandcamp.com/track/right-again">"Right Again"</a> by Mandibles.</li></ul><br />Feel free to leave any questions in the comments.</div>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-73570824529253789012024-02-10T15:01:00.001-05:002024-02-10T15:01:00.132-05:00Announcing SpinTunes 22!<p>Hello, everyone! Micah here, excited to announce that SpinTunes 22 will be happening <b>March 2 to May 6, 2024.</b></p><p>SpinTunes is a four-round tournament for songwriters and recording artists. In each round, contestants receive a challenge prompt and have nine days to write and record a brand-new song that meets the challenge. Our panel of judges, all previous SpinTunes contestants, then review and rank all entries on the strength of their songwriting, performance, and production, with the highest-ranked contestants moving on to the next round. The winner of the fourth round earns the title of SpinTunes 22 Champion!</p><p>Below, find links to all the information about the upcoming tournament. We hope you will join us for SpinTunes 22!</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2024/02/spintunes-22-official-rules.html">Official rules</a></li><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2024/02/spintunes-22-schedule.html">Full schedule</a></li><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2024/02/spintunes-22-meet-judges.html">Meet the judges</a></li><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2024/02/spintunes-22-sign-up-form.html">Sign-up form</a></li></ul><p></p>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-28114836218396294012024-02-10T15:00:00.009-05:002024-03-02T08:21:51.291-05:00SpinTunes 22 Sign-Up Form<p>SpinTunes 22 sign-ups are closed!</p><p>If you missed the sign-up window, you are welcome to follow along in the tournament by submitting non-competing shadow entries.</p>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-29617494650092556702024-02-10T15:00:00.008-05:002024-02-13T18:02:23.799-05:00SpinTunes 22 Schedule<span id="docs-internal-guid-a8438eed-7fff-0703-914a-815ac3659c11"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">All times given are in US Eastern Time. Daylight Saving Time begins in the US on March 10. When in doubt, the <a href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/3?cid=c3BpbnR1bmVzY29udGVzdEBnbWFpbC5jb20">SpinTunes Google calendar</a> should list all deadlines in your local time.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read on for the full SpinTunes 22 schedule.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">February 10: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sign-ups open. Sign up <a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2024/02/spintunes-22-sign-up-form.html">here</a></span></li></ul><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Friday March 1:
</span></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">11:59 pm: Sign-ups close</span></li></ul><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
Saturday March 2:</span></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">12:01 am: Round 1 challenge posted</span></li></ul><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunday March 10:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">11:59 pm: Round 1 submission deadline</span></span></li></ul><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Monday March 11:</span></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">9 pm: Round 1 Listening Party hosted by Tommy G at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-bnoSoxQxg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-bnoSoxQxg</a></span></span></li></ul></div><p></p><div><br /></div><div>Monday March 18:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>10 pm: All-request Listening Party hosted by Tommy G at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtiTYJ2PUqA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtiTYJ2PUqA</a></li></ul><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtiTYJ2PUqA"></a></div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtiTYJ2PUqA"></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Saturday March 23:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">12:01 am: Round 2 challenge posted</span></span></li></ul><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunday March 24:</span></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">8:00 pm: Round 1 results posted</span></span></li></ul><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunday March 31: </span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">11:59 pm: Round 2 submission deadline</span></li></ul></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Monday April 1:</span></span></div><div><ul><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">10 pm: Round 2 Listening Party hosted by Tommy G at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wXp3YTV0mk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wXp3YTV0mk</a></span></span></li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Saturday April 6:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><ul><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">12:01 am: Round 3 challenge posted</span></span></li></ul><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunday April 7:</span></span></div><div><ul><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">8:00 pm: Round 2 results posted</span></span></li></ul><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunday April 14: </span></div><div><ul><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">11:59 pm: Round 3 submission deadline</span></li></ul></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Monday April 15:</span></span></div><div><ul><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">10 pm: Round 3 Listening Party hosted by Tommy G at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlXP3ZZvUFE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlXP3ZZvUFE</a></span></span></li></ul><div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Saturday April 20:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><ul><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">12:01 am: Final Round challenge posted</span></span></li></ul><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunday April 21:</span></span></div><div><ul><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">8:00 pm: Round 3 results posted</span></span></li></ul><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunday April 28: </span></div><div><ul><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">11:59 pm: Final Round submission deadline</span></li></ul></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Monday April 29:</span></span></div><div><ul><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">10 pm: Final Round Listening Party hosted by Tommy G at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAbur2OjpLY">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAbur2OjpLY</a></span></span></li></ul><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunday May 5:</span></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">11:59 pm: Final Round voting deadline; Bonus Round submission (soft) deadline</span></span></li></ul><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Monday May 6:</span></span></div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">10 pm: Bonus Round Listening Party and announcement of SpinTunes 22 Champion at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3LOKuaQIAQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3LOKuaQIAQ</a></span></span> </li></ul></div>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-69131102989728271062024-02-10T15:00:00.005-05:002024-02-10T15:00:00.129-05:00SpinTunes 22 Official Rules<p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Welcome to SpinTunes 22. I'm your contest administrator, Micah Sommersmith, and I'm excited to begin a new tournament!</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-7446b7e4-7fff-25cc-7b23-ddda0c848116"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’ve competed before, welcome back! The rules below are essentially the same as in past contests, with minor edits to wording. The schedule change from SpinTunes 21 that extended the Round 1 judging period by one week will be kept in SpinTunes 22.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'll also remind you that there is a </span><a href="http://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/p/suggestion-box.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suggestion Box</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that you can use to submit suggestions for challenges or rule changes at any time. You'll find it in the left-hand sidebar if you're viewing this on a PC.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have any questions about any of the rules, feel free to contact me at SpinTunesContest@gmail.com.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read on for the full rules!<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Signing Up</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To compete, contestants will need to fill out the <a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2023/07/spintunes-21-sign-up-form.html">sign-up form</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by March 1.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Schedule</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The contest begins on March 2, and the <a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2024/02/spintunes-22-schedule.html">full schedule is in its own blog post</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. There will be 4 rounds of competition. At the beginning of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">each round a challenge will be posted on this website. You will then have nine days to write, record & send in your song, which should meet the conditions of the challenge.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Five days after you submit your song*, the next challenge will be posted. During these five days, the songs will be played at a listening party, and the judges will vote on them, review them, and prep for the next round.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Immediately following the final round, there will be an optional, non-competitive Bonus Round, during which participants are invited to cover one or more songs by other contestants from the previous four rounds. The Bonus Round will run concurrently with the judging period for the final round, and the contest winner will be announced at the Bonus Round listening party.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>*The Round 1 judging period is extended by one week to allow the judges time to fairly evaluate the largest batch of songs in the tournament.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Judging</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Judges will not compete in the contest, but will be allowed to shadow if they choose. Any shadow on which a judge has collaborated will not be eligible for competition or reinstatement (more on that below).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Judges will collectively determine whether each song met or failed to meet the challenge. Songs that fail to meet the challenge will be disqualified. Songs that met the challenge will be ranked.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each round, the judges will rank all the songs of that round from their favorite to least favorite. Judges will consider all aspects of the entries, including lyrics, music, performance and production, as well as how well the songs met the challenge, but the criteria for ranking is the prerogative of each judge. Usually, trying to "game the system" to appeal to individual judges' prejudices is a fool's errand: your best bet is to make the best version of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">your </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">song that you can make. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Judges' rankings are final.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will not officially rank songs unless one of the judges cannot judge that round. Then I may step in if I cannot find an alternate judge for the round.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Judges will also, to the best of their ability, provide reviews of all competing songs, as will I.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scoring</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scoring is by rank. Each judge will rank the songs from 1 (most favorite) to n (least favorite) Then all judges’ rankings will be combined and the songs will be sorted according to total score (low to high). The winner of the round has the lowest total score.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scoring is not cumulative.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eliminations</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are several ways to be eliminated from the contest:</span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you fail to meet a deadline,</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If your official entry is disqualified for failing to meet the challenge,</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you score is below the elimination cutoff,</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you exhibit poor sportsmanship or aggressive or abusive behavior toward a judge or fellow competitor.</span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The cutoff is determined by the number of competitors at the start of the competition. There will be 4 competitors in the final round. So I'll subtract 4 from the number of competitors in Round One and divide the remainder by 3. That's the number of people who will be eliminated each round. It will not matter how they are eliminated, so even if you don't score well you might get lucky if a lot of people fail to meet the deadline or challenge. That makes it worth your while to submit a song even if you don't think it's good or if the challenge is particularly hard. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">If there is a tie on the elimination threshold, both artists will move through to the next round. In the unlikely event that more than two artists tie on the elimination threshold, I will compare head-to-head rankings to determine who will move on. If there is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">still </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">a tie, the songs will be ranked in the order they were submitted.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If an extra competitor gets through due to a tie on the elimination threshold, then an extra competitor will be eliminated in the subsequent round to get the numbers back in order.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Final Round</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The top-ranked four competitors in Round Three will pass on to the Final Round.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this round, the judges do not vote, although they'll still review the songs. Instead, everyone who submitted a Round 1 entry will be allowed to rank the songs, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with the exception of the final round contestants themselves</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If there is a tie, the judges will vote to break the tie. If there is still a tie, those contestants will celebrate their shared victory.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The winner of the Final Round is the winner of the tournament and earns the title of SpinTunes 22 Champion.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bonus Round</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The optional, non-competitive Bonus Round will occur immediately after, and concurrent to the judging of, the Final Round. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the Bonus Round, competitors will not submit original songs. Instead, participants may choose anyone else's song from a previous round and record their own cover version. Multiple submissions are welcome. Re-imaginings in different styles are very welcome, but substantial changes to lyrics or melody should be made judiciously - the original songwriter should still recognize their song!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although the Bonus Round officially runs the week after the Final Round, you may submit covers anytime during the tournament. For instance, if you want to cover a song from Round One, you may submit your version during, or in the gaps between, Rounds Two, Three or Four. (You've got plenty of time during the judging periods!)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Bonus Round will have its own listening party, one week after the Final Round listening party. After the Bonus Round songs are played, the Final Round (and tournament) winner is revealed and the winning song is played on more time. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prize</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are fortunate enough to win the contest, you will win the admiration and respect of your peers and a Highly Coveted No-Prize.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No trophy. No cash. We might come up with some token, but the real prize is knowing you won, and the music itself. If you need gifts and thousands of fans to motivate you to write songs then this competition ain't for you.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The winner will be invited to be a judge in the next competition.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Challenges</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Challenges can be just about anything: a theme, restrictions, a technical challenge, a mood, a story, a character type, etc. However, challenges will not require specific instrumentation or recording technique: Whether you're a full band with your own studio, or a single person with a ukulele and a voice memo app on your phone, the only barrier to meeting the challenge will be your own ability as a songwriter and performer.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are some basic requirements for all challenges. They won't be listed every time, so here they are:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the purposes of this contest, a "song" is defined as having lyrics and music. Unless specifically stated otherwise, you must include both and both must be newly-composed in response to the challenge.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rap is welcome, but the music must be substantially original. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spoken word is risky, but it might be ok, so long as the music is distinctively original and integral to the piece. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unless specifically requested, instrumentals are not ok.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You must provide written lyrics when you submit your song. Those lyrics must actually appear in the song as performed. Minor deviations are common: people sometimes sing a few words differently from the written lyrics, but you cannot submit an instrumental and a separate lyrics sheet.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You are not required to use the title of the challenge in your lyrics, or as the title of your own song.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hopefully you're forced to do things you've never done before.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The challenges will be chosen or created by myself and the judges before the contest starts. The SpinTunes Suggestion Box has been active for a while now and some of the challenges may be taken from or inspired by suggestions there. You're encouraged to continue submitting suggestions as they come to you.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we choose challenges, the judges and I will make an effort to devise judging criteria. You may get hints when the challenge is posted, so read carefully. Keep in mind that anything you're told to do, you must do, so getting too "clever" with the challenges can be risky. However, anything not spelled out is up to interpretation, and creativity is important. The judges may or may not be forthcoming on what is valuable in their eyes. Make your choices and do your best.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shadows</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SpinTunes is unique in that you're encouraged to play along even if you're not competing. Sometimes it's just fun to try a challenge... sometimes you might want to "test drive" the contest before signing up as a competitor. Or you may have been eliminated in an earlier round, and still want to continue.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can still submit your effort as a "shadow" entry. These unofficial entries will be played at the listening party and will be included in the album, but they will not be ranked. Individual judges may choose to review shadows, but they are not obligated to do so.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shadows don't have to be new. Since they're not ranked, there's no risk in taking more liberties with the challenge. HOWEVER...</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shadow Reinstatements</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">IT IS POSSIBLE TO BE REINSTATED into the competition after having been eliminated. Here's how that works:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If the number of people who submit songs in a round is less than the pre-defined elimination cut-off, I may reinstate a previously eliminated competitor who has provided a "shadow" for the current round. For instance, if there are 8 competitors in Round Three, but only 7 of them submit entries, then I may "promote" a qualifying Round Three shadow from someone who was eliminated in Round Two. This holds true for every round, including the final round.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once promoted, that shadow is judged and ranked on equal footing with all of the other entries from that round. Furthermore, that competitor may move forward in the competition as if they had never been eliminated.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is conceivable that a person who was eliminated in an early round could shadow, be promoted, and win the competition, but only if the shadow they submit meets the challenge.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So SHADOW.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caveats:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shadow entries that are submitted late are not eligible for reinstatement. (Think about it... it would just be immediately DQ'd again.)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your shadow must meet the challenge. Again, I'm not going to promote a shadow that I'm going to have to disqualify.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Only shadows entered by those who were eliminated by rankings may be reinstated. An artist eliminated by disqualification will not be reinstated.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A shadow on which a judge appears as a collaborator will not be reinstated due to conflict of interest. (My advice: if you want to collaborate on a shadow with a judge, it's fine, but enter another shadow minus the judge for safety).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As to which shadows are reinstated, that's at the administrator’s and judges’ discretion. However, significant weighting will be given to those competitors who were ranked highest prior to their elimination.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Submitting Entries</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An entry must be received by the given deadline. Otherwise it will be posted as a shadow, and the competitor will be eliminated (and ineligible for later reinstatement). "Received" means that I must have received a link to the finished song by the given deadline. I will be going by the time stamp on the e-mail in my inbox. PLEASE do not wait until the last hour to send me something. If there is a blackout in your area, your computer crashes, or your dog eats your thumb drive... I will not care. One minute late is too late. Deadlines are given in the US Eastern time zone. The SpinTunes website will have a countdown timer with exactly how much time you have until the deadline, and the </span><a href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/3?cid=c3BpbnR1bmVzY29udGVzdEBnbWFpbC5jb20" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SpinTunes Google calendar</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> will display deadlines in your local time zone.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You are allowed to send in a "safety" draft of your song early just in case something horrible happens and you miss the deadline. Then you can add polish to your song and send in a better version closer to the deadline. If you miss the deadline for the polished version, then the safety version will be used for judging. However, after judging is done, then the polished version will be included in the album.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SUBMITTING BY EMAIL:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Send your file in a format that BandCamp accepts. (.aiff, .wav or .flac) (at least 16-bit/44.1kHz) Do not send MP3s.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Name your file the song's title + your band name, without punctuation. Like this: "Helicopter on Mars - All the Robots.wav"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The subject line of the e-mail should identify the challenge and your band's name. Something like this would be fine: "ST22R1 - All the Robots".</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Include the song lyrics in the body of the e-mail. (remember, no instrumentals)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Include information on anyone that needs credited if you collaborated with someone.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ALTERNATE FILE SHARING OPTIONS:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If your file is too big for an email attachment, you may email me a link to where I can download the song. The email still needs to land in my inbox by the deadline.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have a Bandcamp account you can just send me a link to your song if you include all the info I mentioned for emails. Info such as lyrics and song credits can be included in the email or on the song's Bandcamp page. Make sure you have it set as a free individual track download, and have it set so that I don't have to put in an e-mail to download it if you pick this option.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You may also use a file sharing service such as DropBox, WeTransfer, Google Drive, etc. Include in the email any required information (such as lyrics) that you couldn't include in the file. Make sure I have permission to download the file, and please follow directions so your file doesn't wind up in my spam or trash folder accidentally.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SONG BIOS:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In addition to lyrics and any necessary credits, you are welcome to include a "song bio", with any information you feel is useful. This could include your inspiration for the song, citations for any obscure references within the lyrics, an explanation of how your song met the challenge, etc. Some challenges may require you to supply certain info in your song bio. Since the judges are volunteers with lives outside of SpinTunes, song bios can help them zero in on aspects of the song you feel are important. However, if your song </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">requires</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> a multi-paragraph explanation in order to understand and appreciate it, this is probably a sign that it doesn't stand up well on its own, and its ranking may reflect that.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Song Hosting (the BandCamp Album)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each round I'll be uploading the songs as an album at the </span><a href="https://spintunes.bandcamp.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SpinTunes BandCamp site</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The songs will be set for free download only. BandCamp makes it easy to download songs; you can share one song individually or the album as a whole.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you want to be entered into the contest, you must agree to the following:</span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You allow your song to be on the album and made available to everyone under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license. This license allows us to re-distribute the songs and publish them on our Bandcamp page, but leaves you with all other rights. You retain all commercial ownership of your songs. If additional permissions are required for other purposes, we'll ask you.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You allow your song to be played at the listening party and repeated on the recording of the LP on YouTube. (the license allows this)</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You consent for your song to be considered for a cover version in the Bonus Round, unless you contact me before the Bonus Round </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">explicitly</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> stating that you don't want any cover versions of your song.</span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If not, best of luck to you, but this is not the contest for you.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Listening Party</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tom Giarrosso ("Tommy G") will be hosting the listening party (the "LP") for each round. The link to the Listening Party will be shared when the challenge is posted. This will be live-streamed on YouTube shortly after the submission deadline for each round and will be recorded for replay on demand. The YouTube live chat will be preserved for reply, so don't say anything in the chat you don't want living on in posterity. Recordings may be made accessible through public access channels under the same Creative Commons license.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is your chance to get together with the other competitors in one virtual place while the songs are played for the very first time. SpinTunes is a very supportive community, so come get your ego stroked.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Judge Responsibilities</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before each round, judges will agree on the challenge for that round.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each round, the judges will</span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Weigh in on whether entries failed to meet the challenge. Typically we'll have 48 hours after the songs get posted to do that. I am the final arbiter for disqualifications, so if you don't speak up in that window of time you'll have to live with a decision I make on my own. I typically go with the majority decision of those who speak up.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rank the entries for each round. If a song has been disqualified, it is ranked last, even if you think it shouldn't have been disqualified. If a song has not been disqualified and you think it should have been, you're free to rank it as your conscience dictates. Rankings should reflect your overall opinion of all aspects of the song, including lyrics, music, performance and production.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Review entries each round. Shadow entries don't have to be reviewed, but it would be nice if you found the time. You can type up your review or you can vlog it on YouTube. If you decide to vlog your review on YouTube, it needs to be kept private until after I post the reviews on the blog.</span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Judges are responsible for checking their e-mail, and being generally accessible, especially on deadline nights. Sometimes issues requiring a decision just pop up.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Updates and Results</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All contest updates (new challenges, judges' reviews, scores, etc) will be posted at </span><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">spintunescontest.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and participants will by notified by email. I may also post links to updates on the </span><a href="https://twitter.com/spintunes" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">@SpinTunes Twitter account</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as well as in the private </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/193096107391261/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SpinTunes Facebook group</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and Discord channel and the </span><a href="https://songfight.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=31" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SpinTunes subforum</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of the SongFight forums. If you need permission to get a SongFight forum account or to join the Facebook group or Discord channel, let me know.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Song Sharing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They're your songs. You are allowed to share your songs before the LP. In my opinion the songs will be better if you can go to another musician in this contest, share what you've got and get feedback. So if you want to share with a few friends or fellow competitors before the listening party feel free to do so. Just don't try to get feedback from a judge, or from me, before the submission deadline.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Feel free to use your entries elsewhere, such as FAWM, Song Fight, Nur Ein, etc., keeping in mind the requirement that SpinTunes entries must be original, newly written, and meet the challenge.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Re-recording & Remixes</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes people their song in on time, but then after the deadline wanted to post an updated version onto the album - an improved mix, re-recorded vocal or instrumental tracks, etc.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's fine, but you will be judged by what you turned in before the deadline, which is also what will be played at the LP. Remixes will not be added to the album until after the judging is finished for that round.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So anyone who decides they want to make a better mix of their song, and have it replace the one they sent before...that's fine. Send me the info, and I'll switch the files out. I might not do it instantly, but it will be done. These songs are something you should be proud of, and some people are bugged by not being able to add everything they want in that small window I give them...so hopefully this helps...while still being fair.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the end, album order is determined by how you scored in the round. But until the judges have scored the round, album order is originally determined by submission order.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your order on the album will change if you send in an updated file. Keep in mind that this can be important to tie-breakers!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Multiple Songs</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can enter ONE official entry each round until you are eliminated. There is no limit on how many shadow songs you can enter each round. If you are still in the contest and have multiple songs you wish to enter, you just have to pick of them to be your official entry, while the others are listed as a shadows.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you do submit more than one shadow to a round after you've been eliminated from a previous round, you should indicate which shadow you would have submitted had you been a competitor.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Collaborations are OK. In fact, you're encouraged to collaborate with other competitors. Each band, though, should have a separate email address and a separate contact person.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wrap Up</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I sadly live in the Real World, as do all of you. At times I may be busy with work and other responsibilities. I will enlist the help of judges and a few other trusted members of our community to help out from time to time. Don't be shocked if someone other than myself responds to you via one of the SpinTunes social media outlets. That said, please do contact me at SpinTunesContest@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns about the contest, and I will do my best to be responsive.</span></p><br /></span>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-8561664662992862072024-02-10T15:00:00.004-05:002024-02-10T15:00:00.128-05:00SpinTunes 22 - Meet the Judges<p>I'm excited to introduce you to the SpinTunes 22 judging panel, five talented and thoughtful musicians, all of whom have competed in SpinTunes themselves, and all of whom are excited to hear what you have to offer in Spintunes 22. </p><p>Read on to meet your SpinTunes 22 judges before heading over to the <a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2024/02/spintunes-22-sign-up-form.html">sign-up page</a> to throw your hat in the ring!<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Josh HelfinSiegel (a.k.a. Siebass)</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">(He/Him/That Rat-Bastard)</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBJ9PN9ypPhaj77ahfifEV0aTepb1avEqjYSC8OgQa3KLc11gg9Qh0gy2Z-f-Ut8xu8FKNr0be1ERcwK1JjesdBd0Iq5apD6NzR8nxHrp-8DTFA_qETrZHfwc2gBBg_hHZ_zKwgarWwiKWyvePgQBRVdhNiaV1BER2h4I0Dpd6QyEoktstSi-yBj4/s512/Josh.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBJ9PN9ypPhaj77ahfifEV0aTepb1avEqjYSC8OgQa3KLc11gg9Qh0gy2Z-f-Ut8xu8FKNr0be1ERcwK1JjesdBd0Iq5apD6NzR8nxHrp-8DTFA_qETrZHfwc2gBBg_hHZ_zKwgarWwiKWyvePgQBRVdhNiaV1BER2h4I0Dpd6QyEoktstSi-yBj4/s320/Josh.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>Josh started playing music on the classical guitar when he was nine, hated the lessons, and didn't practice much. Now he's glad he took them. He switched to bass guitar when his younger brother gave him an old bass someone left at his studio that was "broken" (only worked on volume 7 setting) around 2007. The fingerpicking practice from classical guitar made the transition easier. He joined his friend's band, the Vico Cycle, in 2009 or 2010 when they needed a bassist and has been playing in the band ever since. In 2016, his younger brother moved out to Las Vegas to pursue a music production career, and due to those pressures, committed suicide. In 2017, Josh threw himself into music creation and production, partly to carry the torch for his brother, and partly for himself to see if he could. This process started with FAWM.org in 2017 (and each year since), continued and culminated with his first and only album release December 30, 2020, DC Dreamers. The album is a collection of cover songs from local DC artists that influenced his music, including a posthumous collaboration with his late brother. Somewhere along the way he took 6-12 months of drum lessons at School of Rock to become a passable drummer to cover for a flakey drummer in the band, and finally figured out how to play non-terrible lead guitar solos. He found SpinTunes in 2023 thanks to a recommendation on the FAWM forums from DutchWidows, and it has been a fun contest to focus musical energy against challenges and receive helpful feedback from other musicians.</p><p>Josh grew up eating rock music in the 90's, his favs were the Foo Fighters, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the like. He misses new rock music and laments it not being as popular of a genre anymore. He doesn't know much music theory, so forgive him if he misses something you do that is clever or cool with theory. He mostly plays and composes by ear, and does his best from there. At least now he knows how to play more instruments that he doesn't practice enough. He is currently crippled with indecision about whether his next album should be comprised of serious songs, or silly songs for kids performed by his alter-ego, DadBodRadBod. Between work and family, (two kids aged 4 and 6), there's not a lot of time for much else, but I will strive to be fair, objective, and prompt with my reviews.</p><p><a href="http://Siebassmusic.com">Website</a> | <a href="https://siebass.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a> | <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/1Abx1oCVqtmmwSi5elfsCu">Spotify</a> | <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/602h4bW3CvgBv5xueXQdvX">Vico Cycle on Spotify</a> | <a href="https://soundcloud.com/josh-siegel-3">Soundcloud</a></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Phlub</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">(he/him)</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBLOAJVUSi5BK9OSV_VpyWA9yRpDMttUWq2SI0KwbcgprSsnMSM92Jq3w8lf4U3PD98keNVQuKEWPAtZXzlsFP07zNArM8RhyphenhyphendcbCGqA3URfI2Tp2jQkmAyQnvMzz-rx26lWtS7gSxsmhOKpjIP4GID8zitafyP5XFKrco5oia3SSnmoF9kNvCOOl/s5712/phlub.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5712" data-original-width="4284" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBLOAJVUSi5BK9OSV_VpyWA9yRpDMttUWq2SI0KwbcgprSsnMSM92Jq3w8lf4U3PD98keNVQuKEWPAtZXzlsFP07zNArM8RhyphenhyphendcbCGqA3URfI2Tp2jQkmAyQnvMzz-rx26lWtS7gSxsmhOKpjIP4GID8zitafyP5XFKrco5oia3SSnmoF9kNvCOOl/s320/phlub.png" width="240" /></a></div><p>Georgia-based singer/songwriter/sometimes-experimentalist.</p><p> I usually enter my projects as "Phlub" but you can call me Ian cause it's what my driver's license says. I've been entering music contests on the internet since 2006 and while I don't win much, it's always a blast and I treasure the comradery and feedback that comes with the territory! Spintunes is probably my favorite, and after entering it about 4 times with various levels of success, I thought it was a good time to finally give back to the community and serve as a judge!</p><p>I play a lot of instruments, but mostly stuff with strings, stuff with keys, and stuff I can hit with a stick. I can never settle on a genre and I like a whole host of things. Basically, I'm likely to be pleased if your music is original and well executed, kind of pleased if your music is unoriginal but well executed, somewhat pleased if your music is original but poorly executed, and disappointed if you're both unoriginal and poorly done. </p><p>I can't wait to hear what y'all come up with!</p><p>Please don't suck. </p><p><a href="http://phlub.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a> | <a href="http://soundcloud.com/phlebia">Soundcloud</a></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Tunes By LJ - SpinTunes 21 Champion</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">(he/him)</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_tm29iD_01jYxMJ7krIZRA_aSuVxFs9Ob8L050y7xNYd5j2h9DvOitVcCmMs22a3LS7v_yYnLt_QT3WuYMV8wL18VJaN7T139xYELs61YxxSYCfbL9qKQnUI17aHRasUwe0qvh9FiMUxZIqrAgO2rjoUgmoFxjiPJ0yLVNug-f3xiiHLaA2Hd4Cu/s2576/Tunes%20by%20LJ.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2576" data-original-width="1932" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_tm29iD_01jYxMJ7krIZRA_aSuVxFs9Ob8L050y7xNYd5j2h9DvOitVcCmMs22a3LS7v_yYnLt_QT3WuYMV8wL18VJaN7T139xYELs61YxxSYCfbL9qKQnUI17aHRasUwe0qvh9FiMUxZIqrAgO2rjoUgmoFxjiPJ0yLVNug-f3xiiHLaA2Hd4Cu/s320/Tunes%20by%20LJ.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p>I've been writing songs for as long as I can remember, and dabbled in all sorts of creative projects over the years. These days I'm mostly writing jazzy funky pop music and occasionally releasing it through my band Business Stuff. I came aboard starting with SpinTunes 20 and narrowly took home the gold for SpinTunes 21 last year. I've absolutely loved my time in this community and can't wait to hear another round of original music from all of you. Cheers!</p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/tunesbylj">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/5XI7Sv01EXXKm8Uyr2EFH7">Spotify</a></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Valerie Polichar</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">(she/her)</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2zwIwysbBtKZoIx4JiF5hQFimXOUzpDBcLCx7abWI5NGyqdtioe4S6H81m_rJ4kiCDkdESDSCIGdLuxFSsF9OQKgruijRjtwccmCISiOf56FepH9x331kTU3z3tNvPlYZ-4TsVEwctzLxbkAwY45OcVhLWpirPwL7QKSimTmEJQdjPG7Bt9Y6wc4/s640/Valerie%20March%202023.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2zwIwysbBtKZoIx4JiF5hQFimXOUzpDBcLCx7abWI5NGyqdtioe4S6H81m_rJ4kiCDkdESDSCIGdLuxFSsF9OQKgruijRjtwccmCISiOf56FepH9x331kTU3z3tNvPlYZ-4TsVEwctzLxbkAwY45OcVhLWpirPwL7QKSimTmEJQdjPG7Bt9Y6wc4/s320/Valerie%20March%202023.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p>Valerie has been creating music since childhood, winning several composition contests, and has written over 400 songs as an adult. She records vocal electronica and singer-songwriter music under the moniker “Huge Shark.” Although as a youngster she complained loudly about her ten years of piano and music theory lessons, they’ve come in handy (she is a self-taught vocalist). Also a published writer, Valerie reviews music for British music mag Echoes & Dust, Portland popular culture mag Spectrum Culture, and Canadian pop culture newspaper Orca Sound. As a day job, she is a senior IT director for a large research university — retiring in July! She finds the process of close listening and assessment for review very rewarding, and is honored and excited to serve as a SpinTunes judge.</p><p><a href="https://hugeshark.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hugesharkmusic/">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://sonomu.club/@hugeshark">Mastodon 1</a> | <a href="https://wandering.shop/@hugeshark">Mastodon 2</a> | <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/hugeshark.bsky.social">Bluesky</a></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Zoe Gray</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">(they/she/he)</div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqo_KIhZGvbz_JaL4ZCfT61PCCV7Hr43X9MTfIZsYYcEFFlAw0U6xJCr1o3XKkCofL2zaQBb3niOshOGjnzOB9CSppgejgNfs0CaFg2XffNpIPLnt_Ny70Gu0VG9yCf4vbBkKRxlxzYVyBWWydRp0pyyp4dmJAFq37mL1elYpLtfTrHqJVsB6sFSD/s4032/Zoe.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqo_KIhZGvbz_JaL4ZCfT61PCCV7Hr43X9MTfIZsYYcEFFlAw0U6xJCr1o3XKkCofL2zaQBb3niOshOGjnzOB9CSppgejgNfs0CaFg2XffNpIPLnt_Ny70Gu0VG9yCf4vbBkKRxlxzYVyBWWydRp0pyyp4dmJAFq37mL1elYpLtfTrHqJVsB6sFSD/s320/Zoe.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br />Zoe Gray (they/she/he) is a Brooklyn-based indie pop musician, musical theatre composer, actor, playwright, and director. They are a two-time winner of SpinTunes, having submitted entries into the competition since the age of 11. She has performed original music at Sidewalk Café and Rockwood Music Hall in NYC, World Café Live in Philadelphia, and on the open seas. His musical The Body goes up this summer with Foul Fiend Theatre Troupe, of which he is the co-artistic director. They write music about such things as Dungeons and Dragons, astronaut romances, vampires, queer pirates, and Shakespeare. You can support them via Patreon here: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/zoegray">https://www.patreon.com/zoegray</a>.<p></p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/zoesgray">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/proto.zoe/">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@zoegray3593">YouTube</a></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Micah Sommersmith - SpinTunes Administrator</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">(they/he)</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyV8qmedatyf6bIOCIZusKyOpBEv96TsCQAgG38r_R78RDJRYhC7Bx0mK09SmXhyphenhyphenyimhRG8j7kg8AwQefASyKGmIXxTvdehWcvSI3orCcu-7r7YYNA2ZRheeO1ykX65oKf-oKdZPDxpdwtj7FJ-AFmQHBCDL0MxZA2PrdFhVor_UR0Z5kbN1_Zyh-/s6000/Micah%20Sommersmith%20accordion%20lawn.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyV8qmedatyf6bIOCIZusKyOpBEv96TsCQAgG38r_R78RDJRYhC7Bx0mK09SmXhyphenhyphenyimhRG8j7kg8AwQefASyKGmIXxTvdehWcvSI3orCcu-7r7YYNA2ZRheeO1ykX65oKf-oKdZPDxpdwtj7FJ-AFmQHBCDL0MxZA2PrdFhVor_UR0Z5kbN1_Zyh-/s320/Micah%20Sommersmith%20accordion%20lawn.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p>I've been running SpinTunes since 2021, starting with ST17, and I am so happy to be part of this music-making community! I've also been active in the online music competitions <a href="https://songfight.org/">Song Fight</a> and <a href="https://nure.in/">Nur Ein</a>. I also create crossword puzzles, which have appeared both on <a href="https://crosshare.org/sommersmith">my personal crossword blog</a> and in national newspaper syndication. Offline, I direct a church choir and perform in Northeast Wisconsin with the choir <a href="https://www.newvoiceschoir.org/">NEWVoices</a> and the band <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@mothertreewi">Mother Tree</a>.</p><p>I try to listen widely and generously, and although I'm not an official judge, I try to give feedback each round that meets your music where it is, celebrates what it does well, and offers advice for growth. I can't wait to hear your songs in SpinTunes 22!</p><p><a href="https://micahsommer.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MicahSommersmith/">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://crosshare.org/sommersmith">Crosshare</a></p>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-82505014367504927342023-10-31T11:47:00.000-04:002023-10-31T11:47:51.092-04:00ST21 Final Round and Bonus Round albums<p>The SpinTunes 21 Final Round album has now been reordered to reflect the contestants' rankings. It also features cover art by our faithful graphic designer Matt Schubbe. Download or stream <a href="https://spintunes.bandcamp.com/album/spintunes-21-round-4">the Final Round album on Bandcamp</a> or embedded below.</p><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2159387646/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 100%;"><a href="https://spintunes.bandcamp.com/album/spintunes-21-round-4">SpinTunes 21 Round 4 by Spintunes</a></iframe><p>The Bonus Round is also now on Bandcamp, and it features 10 covers and re-imaginings of SpinTunes 21 songs, with cover art by Mandrake. Download or stream <a href="https://spintunes.bandcamp.com/album/spintunes-21-bonus-round">the Bonus Round album on Bandcamp</a> or embedded below.</p><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3119975874/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 100%;"><a href="https://spintunes.bandcamp.com/album/spintunes-21-bonus-round">SpinTunes 21 Bonus Round by Spintunes</a></iframe><p><br /></p>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-52322897603319807982023-10-30T23:22:00.003-04:002023-10-30T23:25:15.421-04:00ST21 Final Results<p>The votes have been cast and counted. Among four excellent Final Round entries, the voters chose one song to place at the top of the podium. Congratulations to <b>Tunes By LJ</b>, whose song "Watermelon" earns him the title of SpinTunes 21 Champion!</p><p>Read on for the full voting details and links to judges' reviews!<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Here are the contestants' voting results, zoonymized with help from my seven-year-old:</p><p><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="81"></col><col width="69"></col><col width="70"></col><col width="76"></col><col width="72"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tunes By LJ"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: normal;">Tunes By LJ</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Stacking Theory"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: normal;">Stacking Theory</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Dutch Widows"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: normal;">The Dutch Widows</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hot Pink Halo"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: normal;">Hot Pink Halo</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Bear"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Bear</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Eagle"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Eagle</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Elephant"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Elephant</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fox"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Fox</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Giraffe"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Giraffe</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Goldfish"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Goldfish</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hippo"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Hippo</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Lemur"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Lemur</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Pangolin"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Pangolin</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Rabbit"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Rabbit</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Raccoon"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Raccoon</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Squirrel"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Squirrel</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tiger"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Tiger</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Vulture"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Vulture</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Weasel"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Weasel</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Wombat"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Wombat</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Total"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Total</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[-16]C[0]:R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":33}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">33</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[-16]C[0]:R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":35}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">35</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[-16]C[0]:R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":37}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">37</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[-16]C[0]:R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":55}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">55</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Rank"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Rank</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr></tbody></table><p>For the second tournament in a row, the judges' Final Round rankings resulted in a tie for first place; they gave the top spot to <b>Stacking Theory </b>and <b>Tunes By LJ</b>.</p><p><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin></p><google-sheets-html-origin><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="113"></col><col width="74"></col><col width="64"></col><col width="77"></col><col width="68"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Judge"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Judge</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Stacking Theory"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Stacking Theory</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tunes By LJ"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Tunes By LJ</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Dutch Widows"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">The Dutch Widows</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hot Pink Halo"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Hot Pink Halo</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Cybronica"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Cybronica</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"EmKayDeeBee"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">EmKayDeeBee</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Evermind"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Evermind</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Ironbark"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Ironbark</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Jon Porobil"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Jon Porobil</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Total"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Total</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[-5]C[0]:R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[-5]C[0]:R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[-5]C[0]:R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">12</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[-5]C[0]:R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":18}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">18</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Rank"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Rank</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td></tr></tbody></table></google-sheets-html-origin><p>Follow these links to reviews, reviews, reviews!</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2023/10/st21-final-round-reviews-and-rankings_35.html">Cybronica's reviews</a></li><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2023/10/st21-final-round-reviews-and-rankings_43.html">EmKayDeeBee's reviews</a></li><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2023/10/st21-final-round-reviews-and-rankings_30.html">Evermind's reviews</a></li><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2023/10/st21-final-round-reviews-and-rankings.html">Ironbark's reviews</a></li><li>Jon Porobil's reviews (coming soon!)</li><li><a href="https://songfight.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12543">Contestant reviews and discussion on the SongFight forums</a></li></ul><div>Thanks to Tommy G for running the Listening Parties, to Matt Schubbe for providing cover art for Rounds 1-4, to Mandrake for the Bonus Round cover art, and to our fantastic panel of judges. See you in SpinTunes 22!</div><p></p>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-23962375820496782932023-10-30T23:20:00.000-04:002023-10-30T23:20:02.866-04:00ST21 Final Round Reviews and Rankings - Cybronica<p>Rankings from Cybronica:</p><p><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="43"></col><col width="164"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Dutch Widows"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Dutch Widows</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Stacking Theory"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Stacking Theory</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tunes By LJ"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Tunes By LJ</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hot Pink Halo"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Hot Pink Halo</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Read on for Cybronica's reviews!<span></span></b></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>It’s been a great spintunes, and I am so glad to have had the excuse to listen actively to the more than 80 songs composed this time around. Thank you to all the contestants for sharing your art, to my fellow judges for your thoughtful perspectives on the songs, to Tommy for the listening parties, and to Micah for making all this happen! It’s been a blast. Apologies to the shadows this round as I was not able to get you your reviews, but I enjoyed each and every one of your songs. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Stacking Theory - Goodbye Baby</b></p><p>This is a beautiful finale to your ST21 collection. The way you’ve woven your previous three songs into the three first verses is subtle enough that someone who didn’t listen to those songs can still enjoy this one, yet for those of us who did, it’s a tear-jerking easter egg. Maybe it’s just the mood I’m in this week, but the poignancy in this song really shines through, not solely in the lyrics, but in the music as well. That opening is sumptuous; the faded in “ha”s set up an aural expectation of floaty, dreamy, self reflection, and the song delivers. I felt it particularly in the orchestration; the bubbly clav-synth, the gentle pulse of the organ, the drifty bass, and the laid back groove of the drums create a pastel backdrop for the guitars to do their thing. “Sunlight” gives me an ASMR shiver; goooood I love those close vocal harmonies. Speaking of vocal harmonies, I want to say thank you for the beautiful contrary motion in the vocal lines. It’s a fabulous effect, especially when you strip back the rest of the instruments and we get to hear it in all its glory. Well done with the challenge. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Hot Pink Halo - Mimeograph</b></p><p>Gorgeous poetry here. I love how you took the challenge and used it to play with sounds and tenses to achieve variation on a verbal theme: sentences/sense, tell/tale/told, masks/mistakes, etc. I also love the image of “Until the ink runs clear,” subverting the expectation of ‘runs dry.’ It's clever and fun and I love a good subversion of expectations. I really love the couple of bars of intro you have at the start; they are beautiful in a way that matches the poetry of your lyrics. Then, once the song starts in earnest, you go into that jangly, beat heavy chunking rhythm. At first i was put off by it, but am I right in thinking you went in that direction to imitate the sounds of the machines you're singing about (I may have looked up a couple videos to see them in action)? I applaud the direction your'e going in, but I think the execution did not stick the landing. When the full ensemble plays together, the beats are not lining up, like each track is just a little unsure of the beat or what their next note should be. When its just you and one or two instruments, there’s so much space between each note. It’s like, those sections are mostly negative space without definition around the major melodic or rhythmic landmarks of the song. Maybe if there was an ostinato going in the texture, that would hold all the parts together, but as of now they just hang out of context. All in all, the form, composition, and even orchestration make this feel like a 20th century opera aria. Even that flourishy little cadence at the end has a flavor of classical music, and I think if you had a few more weeks to workshop this, it could have really gone somewhere, but right now it feels like a work in progress</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Tunes By LJ - Watermelon</b></p><p>These lyrics are word salad (a word fruit salad?). I’ve sat with them for a long while and I can’t for the life of me figure out what you’re singing about or what’s happening. As far as I can tell, you put on a random word generator and strung together a bunch of nice sounding phrases. And don’t get me wrong- they do sound nice! You’ve done a lot of good stuff with assonance/alliteration/rhyme/phoneme design, and it sounds good as we listen to you sing it. As a person who does not comprehend the words in a song until I’ve listened to it a few dozen times, I enjoyed the music and your singing a great deal. I never would have noticed if I didn’t read the lyrics. But I did read them. Does it mean anything? I kinda feel like it doesn’t. If there is a deeper meaning to your song, I wish you had written a song bio. It would save a lot of angst here. But enough with that- the music is lovely. Like with all the other songs you have, the ensemble is especially tight. The bass is dominant without being domineering, I particularly love the bit on the not-a-chorus with the guitar strumming and the piano coming in with its Ravel-like countermelody. It’s a magical moment every time it comes back around, especially because the bass has been so thoroughly pulled back in the mix, and that really changes up the texture. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Dutch Widows - Finish On A High</b></p><p></p><p>Wow, I really love this song. The music is spot on, has a nice groove, does not plod or go too fast. Pulling apart the panning on lines like “Grief’s an ancient’s despair” is fantastic. So subtle, so unexpected, and it brings attention right back to where you want it, not letting the mind wander. I love the tom heavy drums, but wonder if the drums could be punched up just a tick in the mix. Same for the guitars, which I think blend into the background a bit too much, especially on the solo. It may be that I want a little more volume of drums, and a little less compression on the guitar, because in general it fell like the song wants to be punchier. I agree, the backing vox are really pretty, and you fold them into the texture really nicely. The lyrics are really well done. I don’t think it’s too verbose - you got your whole point across, succeeded in the challenge, and the song is less than 4min to boot. Poetically, I love how you handled the words- a focus on the [aɪ] sound throughout the piece leads us to a more climactic finish on “High” (pun intended). It’s a difficult topic to tackle, and I think you handled it gracefully. </p>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-23169838544417830302023-10-30T23:19:00.002-04:002023-10-30T23:19:56.482-04:00ST21 Final Round Reviews and Rankings - EmKayDeeBeeFinal Round rankings from EmKayDeeBee:<div><br /></div><div><google-sheets-html-origin><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="43"></col><col width="164"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Stacking Theory"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Stacking Theory</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Dutch Widows"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Dutch Widows</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tunes By LJ"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Tunes By LJ</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hot Pink Halo"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Hot Pink Halo</td></tr></tbody></table></google-sheets-html-origin></div><div><br /></div><div>Read on for EmKayDeeBee's reviews!<span><a name='more'></a><div><b>General thoughts…</b></div><div>I am really short on time this week (I am submitting these reviews on Tuesday, the day after the listening party) so I haven’t been able to give the amount of listens I would have liked. And similarly, I haven’t taken handwritten first impressions, then further listening notes, which I then brought together into a cohesive review like I did in the three previous rounds. I am straight to computer on only my fourth or so listen. So these reviews are not as structured nor as balanced (positive – criticism – positive sandwich style) as I would like. Anyways, I’m delighted the four of you are in the final - you deserve to be here, and you have all turned out something special for the occasion. Great job, and thanks to all for entrusting me as one of your judges for Spintunes21, it's been a privilege and a pleasure.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Reviews in order of bandcamp album:</b></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Stacking Theory – Goodbye Baby</b></div><div>I love this! The feeling of connectivity through the whole piece, yet not repeating lyrics. Your music base helps create this. I love the thinness you open with, the gentle drums coming in with the voice, the backing vocals creating a bed to luxuriate in, the build through, the emotion in your voice, the ‘fucking joke’ that fits perfectly (great job!), the textural changes in the sunlight bridge, and later the last verse. Your lyrics tell a heartbreaking story, bloody hell that’s deep. Your line “the rope’s tied short/shorter than the fall” is a masterclass in succinct but beautiful visual creation for the listener. (I’m reminded of the ending of Brave New World…) That said, it sounds like “the rope’s tied sure”, which works too I guess. The ending is musically purposeful, though I wonder at the delivery of the final word ‘baby’ – might it have warranted more emotion? Could your voice have had a different treatment here - reverb/delay… I don’t know what, but something to instil it with a bit more of the moment it depicts?</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hot Pink Halo – Mimeograph</b></div><div>This feels like a stream of consciousness –The melody of your first verse does return for the Connect the dots and later for Try to find the words so it is there, but the nature of your piano playing doesn’t make it feel like a return. I can tell you have had a lot of fun putting this together, and I must say your vocals are lovely here, especially in the “try to find the words” verse. The piano is too high in the mix, so we don’t get to hear your vocals as well as would be good for a final of a songwriting competition. It is lovely to hear a real piano and the atmosphere that creates is pure magic (and the slightly off tuning only adds to the vibe you’re after). I love the way you have written for this challenge a song about machines designed to repeat, so very you. Careful on the sound cutting out before the bridge – the magic place you have put us is lost in that split second of no bass.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Tunes by LJ – Watermelon</b></div><div>This is very much you – your sound, your music preferences, your structure and texture… and why wouldn’t it be? I think I’m just feeling a bit of what I talked about with GFS on round 3 – how much variety would there be if I was listening to an album of your music. (I know, who does that anymore…) In this instance, the ending of Watermelon is almost identical to the start of Beneath You/Over It. I would caution against reverting to your norms too much, much as they serve you well when taken as a song alone. (All that said, the fact that I always know your song without seeing it written means you have made an impact on me.) I’m not a big fan of the regular stop on beat 4 with silent 5 and 6 in the accompanying pitched instruments… using it once and once again later might make a point, using it regularly grates, especially when it lines up with the end of lyric lines. On the positives, the piano is just beautiful in the choruses, as are the bowed strings, and your voice is among my favourites for Spintunes21. I’m not sure I fully get what your song is about – I feel like if I did, I would be applauding all the references. Am I being dim? (I could well be…) The lyrics do seem to tell a story, and they do seem to relate to each other, even if I don’t know what it is. (I’m getting meteor shower / end of the world / with religious overtones type thing?)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Dutch Widows – Finish on a High</b></div><div>I love the last line where your voice goes right up for the “high” – I think I really like men’s voices that take that risk to go higher than their natural comfort zone (see my opening lines to Sober on his round 3 entry!!). You’ve taken quite a subject here, and found a hell of lot to say (that effectively says the same thing). I don’t mind your verbosity in your songs, you generally make it work, but this one could definitely have been shorter overall for me. You do some interesting things with the end of your lines, eg there/hair/square/air – it feels very intentional but I can’t work out what the intention is. You then go on to over articulate the We are capable etc. – it’s a little odd! The night/light endings are spot on - clear and not overdone - and then you do the same interesting end with ‘prayer’. I love your female backing vocals, and that your partner gave you the title; how special to have family involved like this. Your vocal placement overall is grand for me – it feels well balanced, and the way your voice sometimes comes from a different side is effective. Well done.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Shadows:</b></div><div><br /></div><div><b>GFS – Belated Eulogy</b></div><div>Well done for creating a different feel here – this would provide great contrast on your album! You create a superb picture here, and I love the darkness of this. Death can bring someone to life *sigh*. Brilliant. Thank you for opening up this rawness to us, it’s a superb song.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jim Tyrell – A Word</b></div><div>You create your story, make your point – all without repeating words, really impressive. The music is, however, very repetitive. This creates coherency, but with all the spoken word never broken up by singing it is a risky move. You do break it up as you start the final verse, giving us the thinner texture, and letting it all go. Typically me, I’d have considered leaving it on “we hope to have a word” rather than bringing the same music in just to fade out. Your lyrics are clever, I especially like the crow’s ‘murderous refrain’ and ‘Christmastime increasingly resembles Halloween’… And the idea of a corpse wondering if he ever once</div><div>looked like himself. I would have loved something sung in here somewhere, even just as backing vocals.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Micah Sommersmith – Indistinguishable</b></div><div>Another piano song – piano has been the go to instrument this round it seems! And a real piano, played beautifully (love the creaky pedal sound!). I would have considered a higher key for this – I feel like your voice is too low for you to deliver it at your full potential, I’m not totally sold on the vibrato. I like the variety in this piece as you tell the story, whilst holding together well – I especially like the ‘his arm, my wrist’ etc. delivery, really nicely done. And letting the last note ring on a decent length before bringing it to an end. Great job.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Siebass – Shin Spoons</b></div><div>Oh bravo… you capture everyone so well. Does it all coherently sit together, I dunno, but for what you set out to do, well done you, great job! Smile on my face to finish, thank you!</div></span></div>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-17649022881572921592023-10-30T23:19:00.001-04:002023-10-30T23:19:50.048-04:00ST21 Final Round Reviews and Rankings - Evermind<p>Rankings from Evermind:</p><p><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="43"></col><col width="164"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Stacking Theory"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Stacking Theory</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tunes By LJ"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Tunes By LJ</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Dutch Widows"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Dutch Widows</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hot Pink Halo"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Hot Pink Halo</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Read on for Evermind's reviews!<span></span></b></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>The challenge is pretty binary on this one, either you did it or you didn't, and as it turns out, everyone did! As a result, I'm dropping the "challenge" subscore from my rubric for this round (since everyone would have scored the same in that category anyway). However, that doesn't mean the challenge doesn't affect your score: there's a lot of considerations for how to make a good song that are affected by this challenge.</p><p>What I think may be the most difficult thing about this challenge was that without repetition, you can't clue the listener in to the structure of your song with words. You can't really do a proper chorus or even a refrain without repetition, so what do you do? Through-composition? AABA structure? Make a pseudo-chorus where the words sound similar but aren't the same? Make a chorus consisting of entirely exception words? (I'm glad nobody did that last one.)</p><p>Without further ado, let's get to reviews.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Stacking Theory - Goodbye Baby</b></p><p>===</p><p>What a crushing song. I mean that in the best of ways. Some real gut punches lyrically, especially at the end. There's enough raw emotion in these lyrics that I'm actually wondering if you're okay.</p><p>I like that you've chosen to end your final ST21 entry with "baby", the consistent through-thread of all your ST21 songs. It rings very differently, like a spiteful, mocking rebuke of your past self from previous rounds writing love songs and feeling optimistic.</p><p>I like that the intensity of the song changes from moment to moment, there's a lot of different changes throughout the song and it keeps me engaged.</p><p>Some very small timing wrinkles where your guitar strums aren't quite aligned around 1:55-2:05.</p><p>Drums feel kind of muffled and... is the whole kit panned to the left?</p><p>This really does feel like the ending credits to a sad movie.</p><p>Vocals could benefit from a little more compression or volume automation to even out individual sections a little bit.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Hot Pink Halo - Mimeograph</b></p><p>===</p><p>You always have really great concepts for your lyrics. I love that you've chosen to write about old duplicators. I can say with fairly high confidence I've never heard a song about that before.</p><p>Vocals are pitchy and rush the beat frequently, adding a sense of anxiety in an otherwise extremely chill song.</p><p>Timing issues throughout the song.</p><p>The background ooohs that come in are very pleasant.</p><p>The sound of the piano feels very soft jazz and it's nice.</p><p>The vocal melody feels aimless.</p><p>Some really wonderful imagery in the lyrics like "A lilac ghost". What a wonderful way to describe a ditto machine.</p><p>The song feels really drawn out. A bump in the tempo might have made a lot of difference, at least according to my subjective tastes.</p><p>I like the ambience added by the vinyl crackle, which suits the topic of outdated copiers.</p><p>This track has no rhythm section until late on in the song and feels incomplete because of it. On top of that, the piano and vocal cadence are very on the downbeats. There's no syncopation, no groove. The whole song feels really rigid and lifeless as a result, in contrast to some previous songs of yours like Shape Shifter.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Tunes by LJ - Watermelon</b></p><p>===</p><p>A bass-forward song can be so nice, and with all the swing this song drips with groove.</p><p>The vocal treatment on the section starting with "Those who know bow their heads to the ground" is really stellar. It sounds like you've either got a really nice sounding exciter or formant booster or maybe you've just layered a tightly synchronized whisper track underneath. That plus the "radio voice" style EQ provides a nice contrast between sections.</p><p>You've chosen to provide sonic consistency between the A and B sections by making the cadence and rhyme of some of the lines consistent with each other in these sections.</p><p>The sibilance is bordering on too hot on this.</p><p>I wish you'd added something to the second B section of the song to bring it up a little more from the first B section.</p><p>It feels like there's something missing from this song structurally. I don't know exactly what, but it's like there's some climax or some conclusion missing.</p><p>It's not quite clear what the concept of this song is. You've made another really great sounding groovy loungey vibey sort of song, but I can't quite find the meaning, and there's no song bio, so my best guess is this is just vibes.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Dutch Widows - Finish on a High</b></p><p>===</p><p>"My other half suggested the title, hoping for something upbeat and positive" - And yet you wrote a song about assisted suicide! Seriously, though, this is something I've thought about a lot. It's a heavy topic but it's a daring and compelling choice of song concept and I appreciate it.</p><p>Vocals are rushed in the intro. Pronunciation is a little mumbly.</p><p>Plucky strings feel cheap. I feel like this is a thing you can lean into and make them sound really synthy and artificial or spend time and/or money getting a really natural sound, but if you're caught in the middle you get an uncanny valley effect that's unpleasant.</p><p>I like the choice to alternate between mono solo vocal and stereo doubled vocals. It makes a really nice contrast.</p><p>The amount of vocal reverb applied in this song would be overkill in a lot of songs but I think it was the right choice for this song. Gives a bit of a spooky gothy atmosphere that matches the lyrics.</p><p>"We are capable and able theoretically" has stresses on weird parts of the words. Some vocal delivery choices I'm not wild about, like making the last word of every line in the stanza starting with "See the signs that were never there" very short and abrupt. It could work if the instrumental followed suit with this delivery but it just continues on as it was. The "else" in "Long to be most anywhere else" comes across like you forgot to say the word earlier. Again, if the instrumentation followed suit it could work.</p><p>Vocals feel too loud.</p><p>Vocal melody feels too simple for the element that's the main focal point of this song.</p><p></p><p>The lyrics feel overly wordy. I think you can be more sparse and it would work in your favor.</p>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-67305164951009720862023-10-30T23:19:00.000-04:002023-10-30T23:19:36.174-04:00ST21 Final Round Reviews and Rankings - Ironbark<p>Your Final Round rankings from SpinTunes 20 Champion Ironbark:</p><p><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="43"></col><col width="164"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tunes By LJ"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Tunes By LJ</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hot Pink Halo"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Hot Pink Halo</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Dutch Widows"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Dutch Widows</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Stacking Theory"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Stacking Theory</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Read on for Ironbark's reviews!</b><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><div>Congratulations to the finalists on four very fine entries. Quite a sombre batch of songs, and unlike last SpinTunes you don't even have a photo of a wintry library to blame. (I was initially planning to outsource this round's voting to my 5-year-old niece, but that would've involved explaining Palestine and euthanasia. We drew some dinosaurs instead.)</div><div><br /></div><div>I thought this was a pretty nifty challenge. It created far fewer weird circumlocutions than I was expecting, just a greater sense of purpose behind each word. Good stuff. I wish I'd had time to give it a spin myself.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cheers to all of you for the music you've shared over the last few weeks. And thanks for putting up with my sleep-deprived ramblings. I'm much happier writing music than writing about music, and I am thoroughly looking forward to having no opinions for a while.</div><div><br /></div><div>But before then, let's crank that handle one last time.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Stacking Theory - Goodbye Baby</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The saddest possible sequel to your round 1 song, unpicking all its hard-won hope. I like how the opening verse mirrors the protagonist's despair with its bare, flat language, all the vividness of life reduced to 'it's so bad'. Satisfying contrary motion in those choral sections, and strong use of dynamics as usual. You're painting with very dark colours here - it's hard to read the 'rope tied shorter than the fall' line as anything but suicidal - but the gentle backing, with those simple warm arpeggios, shows the sun shining on the other side of the window. Like the protagonist, I'd have appreciated more insight into this 'hurt behind the way I feel'. It's like walking in on the final scene of a tragedy, with the chorus lamenting and bodies across the stage, and part of me wants some clue as to how we got here. But maybe it would dilute what you've captured, that moment when the end of a relationship is the end of the world, and nothing else exists. And that final image of the endlessly crashing wave is bloody great. (P.S. The first couple of listens my ear latched onto the word 'voice' and I tried to read this as a song about the referendum, but that didn't really have legs beyond 'we should all give up', which didn't seem very Gizo.)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hot Pink Halo - Mimeograph</b></div><div><br /></div><div>It's a melancholy song about moments of connection fading away to nothing, yet still the most cheerful entry this round by a long chalk. No one (overtly) dies! I love the sepia sound world you've created. The piano, rather than providing a supportive bed for your voice, is mostly off doing its own thing, commenting from the sidelines. In fact, apart from the harmony vocals, there's not really anything trying to hold this show together. But it somehow holds together - the various parts of the song feel like they're orbiting around an invisible centre. It's a really interesting sound. Wonderful images: the mimeograph pushing through the same old mistakes, the overlapping rounded shapes, phantom notes in the sun. Justice dictates that I should write reviews of similar length for every song, but I'm at the point where I'd rather appreciate this for what it is without completely pinning the butterfly down. I like this song a great deal.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Tunes By LJ - Watermelon</b></div><div><br /></div><div>This is an unlikely animal: a slinky, halting groove in 6/8 that's also a poetic meditation on the conflict in Palestine. First of all, hats off for creating something so compassionate out of what has for many (me included) just brought a sense of helplessness. I like how your lyrics collapse history into a single moment, where mazes and bomb shelters and old buried civilisations flow together, all the while keeping your eyes on those in harm's way, born into a generations-old trap with no apparent exit, hoping that this isn't the day the world explodes. And behind all this, the tragic irony that it's the human instinct for faith - the final hope and the last thing to die - that drew these battle lines and keeps the fires burning. That's one reading, at least; the lyrics feel rich enough to support others. Musically, you keep surprising me with how much weight your core musical style can bear without breaking. Delicate, beautiful tinkles of piano to show bombs falling from the sky shouldn't work, but it does. The nature of this round's challenge means you must have thought hard about every word, so bringing Christianity into the equation with 'water turns to wine' feels deliberate. I'm a little torn on that line: I think I see what you're saying, but there's a whole messy story to unpack there, in a song already dense with complicated history. And the song title will probably just confuse anyone unaware of the symbolism. But this is a masterful piece of work, my favourite of the round.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Dutch Widows - Finish On A High</b></div><div><br /></div><div>It always takes me a moment to warm to this song. Then reliably, about halfway through each listen, it all just clicks together, and I'm fully on board until the end. Not sure why that is, though maybe bumping it up just a couple of BPM would bring me on board earlier. Excellent song though. The backing vocals are lovely - kudos to your son and his girlfriend - and the clipped endings you give those '-air' lines add real character. As with last round's song, there are moments where your timing and emphasis make it quite hard for my brain to swallow the meaning of what you're singing, e.g. the 'we are capable' stanza. But your round 1 entry impressed me with how well you fit word to melody, so I'm assuming the slight awkwardness of these later songs is a deliberate choice, and can certainly be justified by the subject matter. Either way, this is the kind of song that easily absorbs any clumsiness, that encompasses the messy compromises and various mundane degradations of being human, that stays honest and clear-eyed and knows when it's time to say goodbye. It's a grim, beautiful and oddly uplifting thing.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>GFS - Belated Eulogy (SHADOW)</b></div><div><br /></div><div>This must have been a hard song to write, but it's your strongest lyric so far, I think. Each verse brings something new and pushes the story forward. That melody box waltz feels like a lament for stolen childhood. There's a strange click in the choruses between beats 2 and 3 that might well be intentional percussion but to me comes across as a clipping problem, and the final chorus, with voices, guitar and treated vox all competing for similar frequencies, could maybe use more presence in the bass as a counterbalance. Otherwise another strong production. Good song.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jim Tyrrell - A Word (SHADOW)</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Impressive variety to your music this contest. I love the sparse, moody backing here, hushed city noir. An updated Inferno, with you as a growling, pissed-off Virgil performing a weary autopsy on the world. I think the hipster stuff will probably date the fastest - hipsterism has largely died out in my neck of the woods already. And that verse is the closest the song comes to punching if not down, then maybe sideways. (Annoying as you find them, those hipsters are fellow victims and will be thrown into the meat grinder along with the rest of us when the capitalist machine deems us no longer useful. Hey, I think I've caught your cynicism!) An enjoyably bitter tour of our modern hell.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Micah Sommersmith - Indistinguishable (SHADOW)</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I've had a while to enjoy the nimble craft of these lyrics. (I can hear Poe's decomposed corpse murmuring his approval.) Excellent now to hear them set to music. There's a nicely brooding quality to the opening stretch and I thoroughly enjoyed all the musical twists in the latter half, with rapid harmonic changes mirroring the narrator's shifts in mood: rousing yourself up into a major key to brave the unknown, then those inventive modulations over lungs and tongues as realisation dawns - very satisfying. Full of drama and musically elegant. It'll be fun to sit down at the piano and figure out exactly what you're doing when I get a moment. Lovely stuff.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Siebass - Shin Spoons (SHADOW)</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Ha ha. Top work. And far better written than it probably needed to be, too: some of these lines are intriguing enough to warrant their own songs. My only complaint is the brevity. Just as I figure out who you're imitating, you're off to the next victim. But that's what the replay button's for. (You realise you've now volunteered to do this every SpinTunes, right?)</div><div><br /></div>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-16168259913513293892023-10-30T15:01:00.005-04:002023-10-30T21:02:19.765-04:00ST20 Bonus Round Listening Party and Champion Announcement<p>Tonight, SpinTunes 21 officially comes to an end with the Bonus Round Listening Party and Champion Announcement. Join us at 10 pm EDT, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n05i1SjmNk">on YouTube</a> or embedded below.</p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7n05i1SjmNk?si=giXuPm9NzojVB_Vg" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>After hearing brand-new covers of SpinTunes 21 songs, we'll discover the identity of the <b>SpinTunes 21 Champion</b>!</div><div><br /></div><div>The following songs will be covered in the Bonus Round, plus any more that arrive before the Listening Party. Who's covering them? You'll have to listen to find out!</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>7278584d-ced3-4d64-80c2-972ab564a757 - Floating Away</li><li>West Of Vine - Come Up On The Front Porch</li><li>Jim Tyrrell - Salt</li><li>Mandrake - Volume</li><li>Tunes By LJ - Modulate Me</li><li>Brain Weasels - Intervention</li><li>Frédéric Gagné - Slump</li><li>Hanky Code - The Bends</li><li>Hot Pink Halo - Shape Shifter</li><li>Stacking Theory - Goodbye Baby</li></ul></div>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-60247405157718584622023-10-23T10:09:00.001-04:002023-10-23T10:09:34.441-04:00ST21 Final Round Listening Party and Deadline News<p>The Final Round deadline has passed! All 4 finalists submitted entries, which you have the opportunity to hear for the first time, along with 3 shadow entries, at tonight's Listening Party hosted by Tommy G. Join us at 10 pm EDT <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ICFRTuA37M">on YouTube</a> or embedded below.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_ICFRTuA37M?si=HZI4tJZro1X6Pr9q" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Remember that in the Final Round, <b>the contestants are the judges!</b> You'll still get reviews from the judging panel as always, but the rankings that count will come from SpinTunes 21 contestants. More information on judging will come later this week.</div>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-72560256753600979862023-10-23T00:20:00.003-04:002023-10-23T00:20:31.885-04:00ST21.3 Reviews and Rankings - Cybronica<p>Here are your rankings from Cybronica:</p><p><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="43"></col><col width="164"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hot Pink Halo"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Hot Pink Halo</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Dutch Widows"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Dutch Widows</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Cavedwellers"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Cavedwellers</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Stacking Theory"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Stacking Theory</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Sober"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Sober</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">6</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Pigfarmer Jr"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Pigfarmer Jr</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">7</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Phlub"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Phlub</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Glennny"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Glennny</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">9</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Jealous Brother"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Jealous Brother</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tunes By LJ"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Tunes By LJ</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">11</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Jim Tyrrell"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Jim Tyrrell</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"GFS"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">GFS</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":13}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">13</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Pannacotta Army"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Pannacotta Army</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Read on for their reviews!<span></span></b></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Let me first say thank you all for waiting so incredibly patiently for the reviews. The last two weeks were a firestorm, and when things got crazy, I had to prioritize family and work. Now that I have time to finally write down all the thoughts I have about the songs from round three, I want to reiterate that I love the creativity and talent everybody has poured into these songs. The most important thing in this is not what I, a stranger on the internet, thinks, but what you, the maker of your art, thinks. I also want to give a huge shout out to the shadows- they were 4 of my favorite songs from the round, so always submit one if you can! It’s amazing what you create when you are not bound to the expectations of others!</p><p>When scoring this one, I relied heavily on the challenge. Not necessarily on how executed it, but whether or not you 1. Made a connection between two things, and 2. Whether or not those two things were actually unrelated to begin with. My observation was that there were songs that did both, songs that did the first, and songs that did neither. </p><p></p><p>Now then… If I had a nickel for every song this round [named Falling Down] [that makes reference to a beloved children’s tv show]:</p><div><span id="docs-internal-guid-84f66047-7fff-a3aa-d301-4b6bf4aee35a"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 189px; overflow: hidden; width: 325px;"><img height="189" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/Dq8ujA8c8NO6MJVJtvKQrrDPbk6tItA3cjUj3HICPOpAldEEgTsyDDdlDapD1dOZgmz2fY1AqCu-wiRXButCGIvWjuLFk4nFIkGQhyYf0jDaZgXxWb4WF62JegIe1HXRTVmbCCFUz-ZeZ2XqcdlNdA" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="325" /></span></span></p></span></div><p><b>Hot Pink Halo - Gold</b></p><p>BRAVA, incredible, bellissima, encore!! there was never any doubt that you would be in my top rankings, and you clinched the highest rank due to the incredible thought you put behind the concept of the songs, the infectious music, and your performance. You have produced three excellent songs this competition, but Gold is the best I’ve ever heard you sing *ever*. Your body is in the music; I can hear it in the way it feel like you are dancing on every beat. You so perfectly use glottal stops to emphasize the melody, and the high ascending lines SOAR. both of these, the glottal stops and the soaring lines, are proof of the breath support you have while singing this song. You can’t get get both of those effects without taping into your abdominals to help control your air. This is exactly what I am looking for at all times, and now that you’ve really unlocked it, I can’t wait to hear what you do with it in future songs. I love how well thought out your concept for this challenge is. Reading your liner notes (thank you, this American didn’t know about either and was delighted to learn) I could tell you had put a LOT of thought into connecting two things that, at a glance, really appear completely disparate. And, even with an essay of backstory, your lyrics were able to capture the essence of connection so there was a line between the two even before I read the back story. And now the music itself- that hook has been stuck in my head for two weeks, and I’m constantly singing it to myself. Did I mention how sweet and beautiful your voice is on this track? Phenomenal. Tasteful key change, love the backing vocals esp in the final chorus. My only criticism, because I have to cast around to find one, is that the enunciation of “nuggets” in the bridge sounded like “maggots” the first few times I heard it. But, like I said, amazing work, my #1 for this round. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Dutch Widows - When The Storm Start To Rise</b></p><p>Another truly phenomenal song. This is *exactly* what I was hoping to get when we were discussing this challenge- songs that were themselves extended metaphors where you think it’s about one thing and then you realize there’s a more intense subtext lurking below. This lyric is a powerhouse, a soul bending representation of something truly awful written with beautifully symbolic imagery. “I can’t fight the storm it’s bigger than me, destructive and elemental / It’s a waste of time like punching holes in rain”- this gets me every time. Then the chorus hits, and those backing vocals are like the whining of high winds against windows threatening to break… these, along with the various parts of the arrangements, so many interconnecting lines, is a great sonic representation of a storm. The bridge is the eye of the storm, and the way the BVs come back in before the rest of the orchestration is like the wind picking back up before you get slammed with rain. It’s artfully done. Then, getting to the deeper layer, those lines that are so interconnected yet still separate (hey, inception!) are like the thoughts that race through your head when you are in a bad situation; it’s the constant back drop of hyper vigilance, flight or freeze, working through the cognitive dissonance of gaslighting, and self gaslighting. I love what you’ve done here. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Cavedwellers - Elevator Pitch</b></p><p>This song was silly and fun and I liked the characters having their own lines that came together at the end to have a new line with a new meaning. Some people questioned whether these could be seen as two different things being brought together; well, I think a low level employee and a c-suite exec can be considered rather separate, and it was satisfying to see the former shoot his shot, even if he missed the mark. As mentioned above, I like the thought put into crafting your lyrics; “The devil’s in the details/I’ve heard that God’s there too,” is a great turn of phrase. I like how you guys really got into character. The jocular, “Well! What's a nice VC like you doing in a place like this?” Is great, and I like how the guitar solo was basically the pitch itself. The VC didn’t like it? No accounting for taste lol. And the call and response at the end was ear candy. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Sober - Cheap Wine and Expensive Beer</b></p><p>Every time I order a miller light in front of a new person i get a shocked pikachu face. I have been told I don’t give off “miller light” vibes, but I have my reasons for liking it, and as you so eloquently put it, “it seems to me the ABV’s enough to round the edges off / Isn’t that the point of all this fuss / It shouldn’t cost a fortune to cut loose.” We may be on opposite sides of the spectrum (though I skip the wine for gin), but appreciate what you’re getting at here. From a high level, I’m not sure fine beer and cheap wine are all that disparate for the purposes of this challenge, but if you zoom into the world of alcohol, I suppose they could seem a world away. Your song was bolstered in my ranks because it’s very pleasing to listen to, and I like what you did lyrically. You have used internal rhyme, alliteration, and assonance to your advantage here, and I like when you turn words on their head, like “it ain’t my meaning to be mean.” Reading off the page, the meter of your lyrics is a bit awkward, but you set them to the music in a way that works. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Stacking Theory - Slowly Disappear</b></p><p>This song warmed up to me over the week or so I listened to it before writing this review. At first, it seemed a bit odd, an avant Garde spoken word piece reminiscent of the twilight zone, but the ripply chords flow really well into the chorus, which is my favorite part of the song. It’s a simple yet powerful melody that resonates in a way that makes me take “hopes and dreams” seriously. I love the doubled vocals in octaves there. Because the octaves are two very different parts of your range, the timbres of exclamatory vs. whispery almost seem to clash, but you bring them together well (hey, challenge inception!). At first glance, I’m tempted to say that this take on the challenge is cliche, but honestly I think you did a great job handling the subject matter in a way that didn’t make it sound trite. Instead of silliness, you have it gravitas, and I applaud that. And I have to say this is a great song to listen to while on a long drive; it gets me in the zone.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Pigfarmer Jr - Falling down</b></p><p>I really like that opening; its reminiscent of the FireFly theme song. The orchestration for this song is well done; the piano, mando(? Not banjo, per your bio?), guitars, bass, drums, and everything are really well balanced in the mix, and you have the right amount of reverb on the vox to nestle it in with all the other instruments. The vox in some of your previous songs have felt a little too high, like their sitting on top of the rest of the music, and I think you’ve cracked it with this song. Really well done. Part of that is also how you deliver the musical line in your voice. There is a very slight shift in how you are singing; its a bit more relaxed into the sound. It might be the compound meter lets you have that calm sway in in your singing. I don’t know how to describe it except like this: You no longer sound like you are trying to prove something with your singing; instead, you are just letting your voice do what it does, and its some of the best singing Ive heard from you. Challenge wise, You have two different things (three, if you count the fact that both the house and the pothole are metaphors for yourself), you connect them, it counts. It’s not my favorite connection in the bunch, but it is better than most, hence your ranking from me. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Phlub - War Dawgs</b></p><p>Ok, this is cute, I really like how you incorporated musical elements from both Bluey and Black Sabbath. It’s clever, and I think you did get the award for having the two most different subjects connected. I’m sure I’d call this a connection as much as an AU Bluey episode, BUT its good enough for government work so you get a pass from me. I like the commitment to the bit by singing in a higher range in the second verse. It’s not something that ever bothered me, even before I read the lyrics or the song bio. Playing with the major/minor in the verse is great. Love how the guitar countermelody dances around those changes. That guitar solo shreds, really love that whiny tone you get on there, almost like a whining pup. And the way the guitar wanders around in its melodies, both in the verse and solo, is great. It’s a little unnerving, in a purposeful way, the way war is not meant to be comfortable, I think. I think maybe I would have used a little less fuzz on the vox in general, or chosen a section to have them considerably cleaner, just to change it up a little, but thats a personal preference. While usually I’m all about having unified timbers, here I think they are a little too unified. So much distortion on everything tires out the ear (or at least my ear), and having a clean instrument or a clean section, would break that up enough to make the fuzz have a little more oomph instead of fading into the background. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Glennny - Platypus</b></p><p>At first I wasn’t quite convinced by your challenge take, but I’ve come around. You’re right, the platypus is a strange connection, even if I think “duck and Otter” are close to begin with; it’s similar to what you did in the cavedwellers song. They may seem in the same category, but when you zoom in on their taxonomy, they really are different. That said, I think lyrically, you lost the focus a bit. The OWCA, while kinda funny, is not necessary for this song. Although now that I’m googling, I see its a phineas and ferb reference, and not something you made up for the song… still, I think you could have stuck with talking about the animals without bringing in the tv show. It kinda muddies the waters. My favorite part of the song is when the inst’s drop out at the end and we get to hear you sing in parts. I still would like less processing on your vocals, cause you have a good a good ear for melody and harmonies, and I’d like to hear them in your more natural voice. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Jealous Brother - Guitar Picks and Nail Clippers</b></p><p>So your two things are… Guitar Picks and Nail Clippers. Ok, those are different. I am, however, not satisfied by how you brought them together. The narrator could have had any two things in their hands when she kicked them out, so there’s not really anything interesting (to me) about how you brought them together. It could have been improved if you found something about the two objects that tied back to your situation (I never would have picked this for myself / Maybe I could have nailed it with somebody else), but instead you just had a list of faults & property damage and a trip to the bar- a classic song story for sure, but its been done. Also, since you had the option to have any two random objects be your final possessions in this world, you as the songwriter could have chosen two objects that were less phonetically awkward to sing. The way you set them (guiTAAAARR PICKS and NAY-el clippers) is not particularly smooth. Again, for how the song was written, you could replace those with any two things and it would not have really changed anything. On the whole, the song is jaunty and would be fun to have playing in the background at a dive bar, and I love the instrumental sections a lot, especially that riff you have repeat like a jumping vinyl. The fun sound wasn’t enough to save you though, especially with all that dead air at the start of the track.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Tunes By LJ - Morning Water</b></p><p>As always, the song sounds sumptuous. I love that sound of the epiano, and the whole ensemble is well mixed, especially those reverse reverb transitions. You have too much processing on the vox, though. An over ambitious pitch correction, and so much compression I lose the shape of your voice. I do love what you did with reverb, especially at the end, but in general, the vox feel almost erased by what you did to it. I can’t hear the lyrics even when I’m specifically listening to them. It’s too smooth. I realize its a smooth Jazz song, but you wen a little far with the vox. As for your ranking, the challenge is where you lost most of your points with me. You connected water with water. Bodily function with bodily function. And that’s just based on the song bio. I never would have gotten that from the lyrics, which, while flowery, full of imagery, and with a good metrical flow, don’t paint much of a cohesive picture. It wasn’t until I read the bio that I saw it was about grief, and the music is… not grieving. The music flows like water, sure, but theres no grief that I hear there. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Jim Tyrrell - Salt</b></p><p>At first I thought you had added the cafe ambience to the song in post, and thought, “that’s an odd choice,” but now I see you added the piano and bass in post to a live recording, which, nice! But the audience chatter is really distracting and makes this song hard to listen to. I’m not sure if the live recording was a choice, or if you didnt have time to do a full take, but I think I would have taken the time to do a new take if I were you. The live recording doesn’t hide the occasional pitchiness in your voice, so if you were worried you’d have to take time to process your vox in a home recording, I say the raw home recording sans chatter would have been a step up. I like the whistle, and the piano is lovely. The piano is really important to this song being listenable. Since it was added later, the clean recording is a relief to the ear. However, that’s a double edged sword, because upon additional listens, the piano is very clearly not of the same recording quality (its better), and is the reason why I originally thought the ambience was added in post. Now, for the challenge: At first i felt you didn’t really tie two unrelated things together. Now, however, allow me to enby-splain your song to you (joke), I think the two disparate thing you brought together were the salt of the ocean and the saltiness of the old man’s (and later the young man’s) disposition. Its a really cool dramatic line to draw, and I really do appreciate it from a song writing standpoint, but I don’t think it quite fit the brief for this round. Still, this is a great song and I would enjoy listening to it at a restaurant during live music night! </p><p><br /></p><p><b>GFS - Falling Down</b></p><p>I love the ear candy in this song, esp that panned reverb bouncing back and forth between my ears. Your singing is lovely, the vocal harmonies are sumptuous, I love the musical direction of the song, but the challenge isn’t there. You link rain with… nothing, as far as I can tell. Elsa with Noah? Someone you made up with a biblical figure? At first I thought it was Elsa from Frozen, but I think I was wrong about that. I just dont think you did the challenge at all. Hey, you got a great song out of it! And I hope you’re doing a shadow for round 4 because I want to hear more from you, but I had to ding you pretty hard for the challenge. Im amazed at how well this song came out given the difficulties you cited in your song bio, and commend you for getting it done. Remote songwriting is always an adventure, and you seem to be doing it while on a european adventure! I will say, I love the message of the song that while you might be one person’s everything while another person can’t stand the thought of you; despite that, you are who you are, you make the make you make on the world regardless of what others think of you. It’s a beautiful sentiment. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Pannacotta Army - Elephant</b></p><p>I reeeeeeaally wich you had written a song bio, because I’m not getting a second thing to connect to the elephant. It took me far too long to realize this was an “elephant in the room” situation, and even by then, I think that phrase is a bit too colloquially in use to say that you are connecting climate change with an elephant. It’s a turn of phrase rather than connecting two things in an interesting and satisfying way. Put it another way, using a common phrase is not interesting or satisfying. That said, oooooh love that groove! The bass line is so good, I love what you are doing there. The bossa nova feel makes me dance in my seat. I like the backing vocals as the punctuation they are. Your singing is sweet, but you pull your punches, so to speak. LIke on the high note of pachyderm, you lose all breath support you had going for it, and the voice just fizzles away, lost in the mix. So, what’s causing this? I think in trying to keep that sweet sound, you are over compensating by making NOTHING loud, keeping everything in head voice. Thing is, head voice (not falsetto, and yes men/AMAB singers have head voice) can be powerful, it can be sweet, and it can be both at the same time. Since these songs are multi tracks, take advantage of the fact that you can sing as supported as you need, and then fix the volume levels in post. Like I always yell at the tv when drag race is doing a singing challenge: You can fix wrong notes and wrong rhythms in post. What you can fix is style and intention- if you’re nervous and unconfident that will come across, and if you let your support fall away, that can’t be fixed with any amount of compression and gain boost. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Hall of Fame</b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Mandrake - River Flow (SHADOW)</b></p><p>Let me first say: You took the feedback on the vocals! And they are way improved! It’s a lot easier to hear this song than your previous two because your voice is much more audible, and you have a lovely singing voice (love that reverby moment at the end). Thank you for sharing it with us! As you get more experience recording and mixing, it will continue to improve, and I hope you have fun in the process of figuring it all out. This song is so sweet, and reading the lyrics made me tear up a bit. You’ve successfully written yet another song that feels like you’re describing a sentiment from my own brain. The music is so lovely, it really does feel like I’m watching a brook babble along in front of me as I stop to rest while on a hike. The ripples of reverby vibraphone synth, the plinks that evoke pebbles at the river bed, and that white noise floosh of sound… its excellently orchestrated. Love the meter changes! Especially that 5/4 in the chorus, makes me want to dance in a blissful way. I also like how you switch between modalities, but I think that picardy third at the end is a bit forced. I realize it might feel de rigeur, but I’ll say to you what my old composition teacher told me about a big C major chord I put at the end of a similarly key’d piece I wrote in college: the final chord makes me take the song less seriously. It’s like you are forcing a joker-face grin ending on something that wants a contented half smile. There’s sadness and loneliness mixed into the music of this song that makes the compliments and happy moments all the more powerful. That final chord kinda feels like toxic positivity wanting to erase any bad or ambiguous feelings. A fade out might work better, like the song is flowing away down the river… </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Siebass - Ambulance</b></p><p>This song is just plain FUN. Love the modal mixture you do. That chunking chord texture, your charismatic spoken word bridge, that tremolo trill in the guitar at the end; I love listening to this song and always looked forward to it on the playlist. The premise is goofy. I have no idea how i’d take this challenge wise if you were in the competition so I’m low key glad i dont have to judge you on it and can just enjoy what you’ve created here. The “We’ve all got legs” section is funny. The whole song is so dramatic and builds and builds to this moment, and you deliver it with such keyed up confident vocals! Ok, so I had promised you some singing tips. First, you sound way better in this song than your second round entry, and its because you are doing some of the things I was going to recommend you do anyway, so good work! Keep at it, and understand you may already know what Im about to say. In Home, you lean on your voice so hard to give it that affected tone, supporting all the sound with the musculature of your neck, squeezing with your throat, and not letting the larynx relax. Long term, this is the strain I am concerned could create a problem like chronic hoarseness. What I recommend is that you use more of your breath to support, shape, and color your voice rather than throat tension. There’re some exercises to do this (see below), but I see also you could put on a persona of a big confident gregarious goofy guy, and that naturally primes you, Siebass, to sing in a more healthy and pleasing way. Now, here are your breath exercises:</p><p>For each of these, expand your rib cage and inhale into your belly. Exhale by pushing in with your abdominals while keeping your ribs expanded.You can put a hand on your belly to make sure youre pulling in with your abs and a hand on your rib cage to make sure you dont collapse.</p><p>1. Straw - Blown: Take a regular straw (not for boba, not a stir stick) and blow a steady stream of air through it. Point it at your hand so you have somatic feedback of how hard you are blowing; you dont want it to sometimes be harder and sometimes softer, just always the same pressure. On your regular deep breath, try to evenly exhale all the air for 4 beats. Then 6 beats, then 8 beats, then 10 and maybe up to 12 beats. Each time you increase the number of beats, make sure you have the air blowing as evenly as possible before moving on to the next.</p><p>2. Unvoiced Fricatives: On a [f], [s], or [θ] (that’s an unvoiced ‘th’ like at the end of ‘math’), blow out an even stream of air. Make the stream of air as even as possible, without any changes in volume. As with the straw, exhale in 4/6/8/etc beats.</p><p>3. Voiced Fricatives: On a pitch that is comfortable in your range, phonate a [v], [z], or [ð] (that’s a voiced ‘th’ like at the start of ‘this’) at a steady rate. Make the sound as even as possible, without any changes in volume or pitch. As with the previous 2, practice using the 4/6/8/etc beats. You can also do some basic warm ups on these voiced fricatives.</p><p>4. Straw - Sung: Take a vocal warm up or the melody of the song you are working on and sing/hum the tune through a regularly sized straw. Make sure as you sing it, the tone is even and the breath is steady. </p><p>Hope this helps!</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Ominous Ride - Willard and Karma (SHADOW)</b></p><p>Man, I love this story. Hey, Chevy Nova in the first act, it’ll go off in the third, right? It is well written and dramatically has a great arc. This is a classic folk rock song. I’m getting Simon & Garfunkle vibes. This is well sung, well played, and mixed well. I expect this song to be on a CD my parents had sitting around as I was growing up. I dont really have many notes, sorry for the scant review… it’s just really good. Love the organ that comes in at the bridge and the different texture it brings with it. I adore how you bring the rest of the band back in for the ending, fading it in like that is brilliant. Those final lines are also brilliant. Great song.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>nightingale's fiddle - Baseball (SHADOW)</b></p><p></p><p>AAUUGGH I LOVE THIS SONG. Your harp playing is so good, so rock and roll. Those alternating chords in the transitions between sections? They make me want to dance! I wanna rock out! Your singing is similarly great. That high note in the verse? That long held note at the end? WOO i love it! You have an amazing singing voice, beautiful and clear and unabashed in your enthusiastic delivery. I love love love your voice here. The bass coming in like that ramps it up, as does that drum machine. You have a great sense of orchestration in this song so that the build into the climax is incredibly satisfying. As I’m sure you know, your biggest drawback in this song is the balance. It is improving from your last entries, but still has a ways to go. If you are recording your vox and harp at the same time with the same mic, I would rec putting the mic way closer to your face because your quieter vocal moments are getting lost. Preferably, I’d love for you to have two mics, one for the harp, one for your voice, or even record them separately (although recording them separately might take away from the thrill of the moment for you, and I wouldn’t want that to be lost). Then, when the bass and drum machine come in, they are waaaay too loud in the mix, and even though they are vital to the texture, I lose more of your voice under the layers. I love this song and hope someday this demo can get the full recording treatment. </p><div><br /></div>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-21348556280752286202023-10-16T16:38:00.002-04:002023-10-16T16:43:11.304-04:00ST21.3 Reviews and Rankings - Jon Porobil<p>Here are your rankings from Jon Porobil!</p><p><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="43"></col><col width="164"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Dutch Widows"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Dutch Widows</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Stacking Theory"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Stacking Theory</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hot Pink Halo"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Hot Pink Halo</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Jim Tyrrell"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Jim Tyrrell</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tunes By LJ"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Tunes By LJ</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">6</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Pigfarmer Jr"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Pigfarmer Jr</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">7</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Glennny"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Glennny</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Phlub"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Phlub</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">9</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Jealous Brother"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Jealous Brother</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Sober"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Sober</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">11</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Pannacotta Army"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Pannacotta Army</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"GFS"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">GFS</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":13}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">13</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Cavedwellers"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Cavedwellers</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Read on for Jon's reviews!<span></span></b></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Hi everyone! Before I begin with the song-by-song reviews, I wanted to make a general statement about the challenge and how it factored into my judging. I’ve made a point of giving competitors the benefit of the doubt and assuming that everyone made at least a good-faith effort to engage the prompt in some way. But this round, there was a bright line between the entries which engaged with the challenge WELL, and the ones which engaged with it in a way that felt perfunctory to me. Unfortunately, this resulted in my assigning low scores to some songs that I felt were otherwise quite good!</p><p>Outside of this contest, your approach to the songwriting prompt won’t matter. If you have a song that’s really working, even if I felt it didn’t succeed at the challenge, I encourage you to continue workshopping it. It feels bad to lose points for that when the song is otherwise strong, and I sympathize with that. But there’s also an intangible quality to a song that engages with the challenge really well, and I wanted to reward those entries. The top six songs in my rankings all engaged with the challenge in interesting and unexpected ways, and I rewarded them accordingly.</p><p>To help clarify my thinking on the challenge and how each song dealt with it, I’ve introduced a small rubric. I didn’t put this down into words until after I had submitted my rankings, but I think it might be a helpful lens for you to understand where my placements were coming from. For each song, I asked:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>What are the two seemingly unlike things?</li><li>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</li><li>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</li><li>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</li><li>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song?</li></ul><p></p><p>It should be noted that these questions were NOT the only (or even most important) measure of a song in my rankings. As always, I also considered overall lyrical quality, arrangement, pacing, performance, and production quality. But the field was pretty tight this round, and so the challenge did turn out to be a big differentiating factor for a lot of entries.</p><p>Now, without further ado…</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Stacking Theory</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">“Slowly Disappear”</div><p></p><p><b>What are the two seemingly unlike things?</b> - Garbage left for pickup in a neighborhood, and the old man’s football career.</p><p><b>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</b> - When presenting the two things side by side, I can see the connection pretty readily, but I wouldn’t have thought to make the connection myself.</p><p><b>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</b> - Absolutely.</p><p><b>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</b> - I think, given the slow burn of the song, we do kind of see it coming. But wow, does your performance SELL this idea.</p><p>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song? - Absolutely, I don’t think this song exists without the challenge.</p><p>*~*~*~*~*</p><p>Your songs in the first two rounds were both pretty short and both left me wanting more, so it’s nice to see you tackle a slow burn and stretch your legs, so to speak. There’s a ton of “room” in this song, both spatially and in time, with the way you pause after some phrases to kind of let them sink in.</p><p>The spoken word delivery in the verses actually strikes me as a bit of a gambit. This could easily have come across overwrought or corny, but you keep the vocal delivery restrained when it needs to be, sometimes poetic, sometimes conversational. I like “His words, not mine,” followed by the crescendo in your voice as you describe your neighbor on the football pitch.</p><p>At the risk of a mixed message, I’ll say that this time I think maybe you let the fuse run a little too long on this slow burn. Not excessively so, but I think you could shorten some of the images in the first verse to make it slightly tighter and get to that first chorus a teeny bit sooner. I like the line “A dusty table that was built for the days when we worshiped CRTs,” but then there are two more lines further clarifying this image, which I don’t think are necessary.</p><p>You included a lot of small details to keep the song sonically interesting throughout. I really like the echoed whispers for additional emphasis and atmosphere, and I especially like the moment at 1:44 when the echo line comes BEFORE the spoken word line. I like the lingering backup vocal at the end of each chorus. I like the tense swelling in the background of the second verse. I like the tambourine that comes in partway through the second instance of the chorus. All these flourishes keep the song from overstaying its welcome even as it nears the five-minute mark. </p><p>And then, when we think the song is done and the point has been made, you sneak in one more short spoken-word section and it hits like a roundhouse punch. Really great work.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Hot Pink Halo</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">“Gold”</div><p></p><p><b>What are the two seemingly unlike things?</b> - Literal gold being mined and golden-fried dim sim.</p><p><b>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</b> - There’s a surface level connection in that we describe certain fried things as golden, but I never would have connected them as strongly as your lyrics do.</p><p><b>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</b> - Yes, you find multiple surprising points of connection.</p><p><b>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</b> - Absolutely.</p><p><b>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song?</b> - Definitely. This song doesn’t exist without the challenge.</p><p>*~*~*~*~*</p><p>While there may be some hiccups in the writing and performance of this idea, I don’t mind saying that it’s the clear standard-bearer when it comes to the challenge. You give us a little history lesson, and those of us who aren’t familiar with Australian chip shops also learned about a new type of food!</p><p>I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the awkward prosody in the line “So the siu mai are deep fried.” I suspect these words could have been made to fit more comfortably into the melody without even needing to be rewritten, but even if you have to tweak some wording to make it work, it’d be worth it to lose this halting cadence. I also don’t think the “Two dimmies with soy sauce please” line works; it’s too conversational when the lyrics are otherwise poetic, and the lines around it make the point just fine even without that line.</p><p>Musically, you’re still hanging out in Andy Partridge-land, and I can’t complain too much about that. I like how adding not one but two new guitar parts in your chorus lifts the energy significantly. And again your chorus is catchy. You keep it simple, just repeating the phrase “I think I found gold” and the word “Gold” over and over, but your meaning is clear and the melody sticks with me. The lush background vocals in the later choruses seals the deal for me.</p><p>Fantastic job, and congratulations on making the finals!</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>GFS</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">“Falling Down”</div><p></p><p><b>What are the two seemingly unlike things?</b> - Um… I think it’s the two characters in the first two verses, Elsa and Noah. (And then your gestures more broadly toward global climate change in the Post-Industrial Era)</p><p><b>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</b> - Kinda? It’s a little shaky because Elsa isn’t familiar to me outside the context of these lyrics, while Noah is. It’s clear from the framing that they’re connected by their relationship to rain.</p><p><b>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</b> - Yes, it draws a contrast between the person who wants more rain and one who wants less rain.</p><p><b>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</b> - It’s subjective, but I think not. From what I can tell, one character is made up for this song and the only character trait you tell us about her is that she wants rain. And the other character is from the Bible, so we know his relationship to rain already. Connecting these two characters by means of their contrasting relationship to rain doesn’t hit very hard because rain is already built-in to how we think about these two people.</p><p><b>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song?</b> - Yes, the song is clearly built around this idea.</p><p>*~*~*~*~*</p><p>So let me get the bad out of the way first. You’ve structured this song as a riddle, but I found that framing facile. A moderately attentive listen to the lyrics leaves no question as to the identity of the “me” here. I had it by the second line, and I think even someone less attentive would probably figure it out by the time we get to Noah’s Ark. So later on in the song, when you sing “Do you know my name?” at the end of the bridge, I was a little taken aback at the implication that anyone might not have gotten it by then. In your song bio, you confirm that you intentionally structured the lyrics in riddle format and even changed the title so as not to give it away.</p><p>My opinion? Just call the song “Rain.” The answer to the riddle isn’t surprising, and I think the guessing-game aspect detracts from the connections in the lyrics anyway. Consider The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil,” which does something similar lyrically - it speaks obliquely about tragedies and even asks “Hope you guess my name,” but I don’t think it hurts the message that the answer to that riddle is right there in the title. In fact, knowing the title actually gives us a helpful angle to understand the verses’ images even on a first listen.</p><p>As per usual, your production is immaculate and clear. The pacing here works well for me, too. The effects chain on your lead vocal in the first verse in particular tickles the sweet spot perfectly. Just barely not too quiet, and the stereo delay gives it a lovely sense of space.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Pannacotta Army</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">“Elephant”</div><p></p><p><b>What are the two seemingly unlike things?</b> - Forgive me if asking this makes me seem dense, but… Are the two things supposed to be global climate change and the proverbial elephant in the room? In the absence of a song bio, this was still my best guess after half a dozen listens.</p><p><b>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</b> - Not really. Climate change and a literal elephant would be a stronger case, but I think it’s clear from the lyrics that you’re referring to it as an “elephant in the room” from the beginning of the song.</p><p><b>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</b> - Kinda. I actually think that “elephant in the room” is the wrong idiom for the point you’re making, but I do understand what you’re trying to say.</p><p><b>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</b> - I think it isn’t.</p><p><b>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song?</b> - Insofar as it’s what the whole song is about, yes.</p><p>*~*~*~*~*</p><p>How about I begin by addressing what I feel is the “elephant in the room” of this song? The idiom “elephant in the room” refers to some glaringly obvious fact or circumstance that the people most impacted refuse to acknowledge, usually in the form of not even talking about it. In my opinion, global climate change isn’t an “elephant in the room.” Your song argues passionately (and - just so we’re clear - correctly!) that we as a society aren’t doing enough to fight it, but I don’t think it’s accurate to say that we’re not talking about it. In fact, you even have that line “We make pretty speeches.” So yeah.</p><p>I also think that this lyrical approach is a bit of a glancing blow off the bow of the challenge. The only connection I could see in your lyrics between the two unrelated things is that idiom, which means the connection isn’t surprising nor satisfying; I’d say it’s barely a connection at all.</p><p>I don’t need to belabor the point about the relevance to the challenge much more. I otherwise enjoyed this song a lot! It’s great to hear something more uptempo and more lavishly arranged from you. The bossa nova percussion makes me smile. I like the electric piano, the conga drums, and your mix is a highlight of the round as it always is. You’re probably the best producer of the bunch here. I’m sorry I didn’t find the lyrics a good match for this round of the competition, but I do think you should do something with this song, put it on an album or publish it as a single. Really nothing else wrong with it, as far as I can see.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Cavedwellers</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">“Elevator Pitch”</div><p></p><p><b>What are the two seemingly unlike things?</b> - Some schmo with an idea and the venture capitalist who has to listen to that idea.</p><p><b>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</b> - It’s a reach, to be honest. These are two people in similar industries, one of whom has an advantageous power imbalance over the other.</p><p><b>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</b> - They meet and have a conversation, so sure.</p><p><b>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</b> - The outcome of their meeting isn’t exactly a “twist,” but the song’s structure makes up for that by blending the choruses together. This was surprising.</p><p><b>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song?</b> - Yes, and the two integrated choruses drive home the point that this is key to the structure of your song.</p><p>*~*~*~*~*</p><p>In terms of music composition and production, there’s not much wrong here. I like the separation between the two voices, which is absolutely critical for later when the two characters meet. I like the electric piano. The mid-tempo rock groove hits me in my comfort zone and nothing sounds out of balance to my ears.</p><p>Where my problems begin is with the lyrics. Your characters speak in vague broad strokes, so I don’t really have a picture of what motivates either of them. Your first character has an idea that he’s passionate about and the chorus makes his goal clear: “Would anybody listen to me?” Okay, that’s a strong motivation.</p><p>Then the second character starts talking about the “details.” Each character only has four short lines to introduce themselves, so I think it does a disservice to your song that the VC’s second line is “I heard that God’s there too.” This line reinforces the point that his first line already made and we still don’t know enough about this person to know where he’s coming from, so I’d have preferred seeing this line establish more about who this character is. In fact, to be honest, without your song bio, I didn’t realize this was supposed to be a VC at all, and I’m not confident I ever would have figured that out myself even with more time. The VC’s next line “Until the content unveils” is phrased awkwardly for the sake of the rhyme, and then follows up with “They’re all a bunch of fools.” Who are a bunch of fools? The devil and God? The VC’s chorus doesn’t clear things up for me at all: “You ask not to carefully explain.” I couldn’t parse this chorus at all. Who’s asking? Explain what? Someone is asking not to explain something? What is it and why?</p><p>Then character 1 sets the scene - it’s in an elevator and he’s not making a good impression. There are lines in this bridge that kind of make me cringe, but I get the sense that he’s supposed to be “cringey,” so I won’t belabor the phrasing in this section. Then he launches into his elevator pitch, which you elide over with a guitar solo. Your guitar playing is fantastic as always, demonstrating not only your proficiency with the technicality of playing the instrument, but also your strong sense of phrasing and melody. However, sometimes in your songs, the guitar solo feels obligatory, and this is one of those times. I think the solo just pads out the song and makes us wait longer for what I think the ultimate point of the song is - the interplay between the two characters.</p><p>First they converse in clipped, elliptical phrase-lets. The VC completes the idea guy’s sentence, but then answers his questions. I feel like the vocal phrasing is too short for these characters to say anything interesting, so we end up with these fragments that don’t feel like conversation at all: “I’m at a loss / No way to win.” The response doesn’t follow from what was said. </p><p>Finally, from that verse, we get a combined chorus: “Would you ask anybody not to listen to me carefully explain?” It’s clever how these two lines are combined into a sentence that at least flows syntactically, but semantically I again have no idea what’s being said. And since it’s both characters this time, I also don’t actually know whose perspective this combined chorus is meant to represent.</p><p>Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the ambition behind this approach to the lyric. Nobody else tried an approach like yours. But ultimately, I think your reach exceeded your grasp, and too many times, the story and meaning behind the lyrics were compromised for the rhyme or the structure. Perhaps now that the competition is over, you can spend more time on this and more meticulously craft the lyrics to suit the story AND the structure.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Phlub</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">“War Dawgs”</div><p></p><p><b>What are the two seemingly unlike things?</b> - A bomb sniffing dog in the military and a character from Bluey.</p><p><b>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</b> - They’re both dogs, but I’ll grant you that I wouldn’t have put them together.</p><p><b>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</b> - Yes.</p><p><b>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</b> - I’ll say yes, but individual judges’ mileage may vary.</p><p><b>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song?</b> - Either half wouldn’t have been enough to hang a song on, so I think you cleared this bar.</p><p>*~*~*~*~*</p><p>I’ll admit, this genre is a little out of my comfort zone, but I tried not to hold that against you in the rankings. You do wear your influences on your sleeve, which I normally don’t mind, but I think I’d have preferred a little less overt similarity to “War Pigs.” Your choices of characters are clever, And the juxtaposition of two anthropomorphized dogs (one of whom is literally a character in a popular children’s cartoon) against the classic-metal backdrop could potentially lead to something fun! The shouted chorus of “Waaaaaaarrrrrrr Dawgs!” strikes me as pretty infectious. So why doesn’t this seem equal to the sum of its parts?</p><p>Well, for starters, I had a really hard time making out your lyrics in verse two. Something is masking important frequencies in your falsetto voice. My instinct says it’s the guitars, but check around. A change in the arrangement in this section could serve not just to create space for your voice, but to also better signify the character change.</p><p>I also think there’s an issue with the bass. I honestly wouldn’t have made a big deal about this except that you wrote in your song bio that there’s an Easter Egg in your bassline. It’s the Bluey theme song, right? I had a really hard time making it out. First of all, transposed into minor and with the pauses removed, the melody loses most of its identifiable characteristics. But then also your guitar is tuned down (there’s that Tommy Iommi influence, right?), and I suppose you were trying to keep the bass and the guitar from masking each other, but the result is that there are long stretches of the song where I can’t really hear the bass at all. Probably wouldn’t have been a big deal if you hadn’t used the bass as your medium for a musical allusion. I think it’d come across more clearly if you increase the treble in your bass. Either turn the treble or presence knobs up, or maybe just go in with an EQ afterwards and give it a boost somewhere between, like, 1.5k and 8k? The catch is that you’d sound less like Sabbath, so maybe it’s just not worth it.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Jim Tyrrell</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">“Salt”</div><p></p><p><b>What are the two seemingly unlike things?</b> - Admiral Byrne and the narrator Jim. Bonus: Salt in the sea and salted earth.</p><p><b>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</b> - They’re both fictional characters introduced at the same time in this song, but they’re introduced via contrast. One is a venerable admiral, and the other is a young man who wants to recruit. So yes, I’ll give it to you.</p><p><b>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</b> - The connection is drawn mostly in contrasts and then the incidental biographical ways their two paths cross. Okay, this dog will hunt.</p><p><b>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</b> - It’s not really surprising to me, but yes, it sure is satisfying.</p><p><b>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song?</b> - Yes, definitely.</p><p>*~*~*~*~*</p><p>To be honest, I don’t have much to say on this. I think you have the best lyrics of the round. Perhaps not the best angle on the challenge, but not a bad one. You keep your narrative clear and your language concise. The speech at the end echoes the Admiral’s dismissal of your narrator, and that sends chills down my spine.</p><p>But.</p><p>BUT.</p><p>C’mon, do I even need to say it? You know this recording is pants. The restaurant patrons are louder than your own voice. Time crunch, I get it. If this had gotten a proper studio treatment - or at least a better recording from the mixing board - I certainly would have ranked it higher and you might have made the finals. Hell, the fact that I had you in fifth place despite the low-quality recording speaks to just how good I think the song is.</p><p>I think it would have been worth losing the piano and maybe even the tinwhistle as well, if you had only been able to get a clean guitar performance in a quieter room. But the song really is fantastically written, and I hope I get to hear either a live version of it in person or a higher-fidelity recording of it some time soon.</p><p>(And if it makes you feel any better, I tried the same thing during Nur Ein XVII, and it got me eliminated too: <a href="https://nure.in/titles/DD2C16E481D5A4EC486A35E00118FC4B">https://nure.in/titles/DD2C16E481D5A4EC486A35E00118FC4B</a> )</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Dutch Widows</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">“When The Storm Starts to Rise”</div><p></p><p><b>What are the two seemingly unlike things?</b> - A thunderstorm and an abusive partner</p><p><b>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</b> - The connection is pretty clear once posited, but yes.</p><p><b>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</b> - Absolutely.</p><p><b>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</b> - It’s complicated… But short answer yes.</p><p><b>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song?</b> - Definitely.</p><p>*~*~*~*~*</p><p>And the award for most pleasant surprise of the round goes to… THE DUTCH WIDOWS! After two rounds of low-key mixes with somewhat sleepy vocal performances, this time you shot the moon, giving us a dramatic and urgent-sounding performance about someone in real danger. The fear is palpable. You fake us out after that spoken-word line at the end of the first verse, leading into a second verse instead of the chorus. That fakeout works too, drawing out the tension. I love the line, “It’s a waste of time, like punching holes in rain.” I caught the nod to Jim Tyrrell, but you recontextualized the image in a way that transforms the act from futile to desperate.</p><p>Then that chorus! Several things happen in your mix that give the chorus a big energy boost. Another register gets added to the voice (I can’t tell whether you’ve just raised your double up by an octave or added a third layer, but either way it has a lot of energy and space). The rhythm guitars get louder. You add in the “Ahhh” background vocals. I think the snare is also louder? And most importantly, you stretch your voice and it works!</p><p>You’ve doubled your vocal for most of the song (and tripled in the choruses?), which I think helped make your performance clearer. I also think you sound more natural in the higher register of the chorus, which is actually higher than either of your first two songs ever got.</p><p>By the way, thank you for writing up a song bio that clarified your comparison because, admittedly, it flew over my head on the first listen. I’m pretty sure I would have gotten there eventually, but on a compressed judging schedule, the cheat sheet helped.</p><p>You were ranked #1 on my list this round. Congratulations for the well-deserved round win! But the song isn’t perfect, so let me rapid-fire through some suggestions. First, I think the drum part, particularly the snare, is a little overcompressed. This might be a quality baked into the samples you used, but if you have any control over the compression, consider easing up on the threshold or the attack time? I also think the background vocals in the chorus would work better if they sounded a bit less present in the mix. Consider adding a longer reverb to the background vocals, or possibly overcompressing them to make them sound more tamped down. If you do it right, they’ll blend better into the musical bed instead of poking out like conspicuous elements.</p><p>Overall though, this is both a dramatic improvement from your last couple rounds and a really compelling piece in its own right, and you have every reason to be proud of your win.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Glennny</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">“Platypus”</div><p></p><p><b>What are the two seemingly unlike things?</b> - A duck and an otter… And a (cartoon?) platypus.</p><p><b>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</b> - The song’s title kind of gives the game away, but yes.</p><p><b>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</b> - Kinda. The existence of the platypus is itself proof of a connection, but I’m not sure the song does much else to demonstrate that these two have anything to do with each other.</p><p><b>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</b> - I think it could have been, but the way it’s presented here isn’t.</p><p><b>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song?</b> - Probably.</p><p>*~*~*~*~*</p><p>There’s a (capital-C) Classical quality to your lyrical structure. Thesis, antithesis, synthesis. Verse 1: Duck. Verse 2: Otter, seemingly unrelated to duck, but… Verse 3: Platypus, the merging of duck and otter! I can see the promise in this idea, but ultimately it doesn’t click with me.</p><p>You seem to have a strong idea of what it means to be like a duck. The person you’re singing to is outwardly calm while working hard, like a duck appears calm despite paddling under the water’s surface. Even so, you packed the verse with too many allusions and wordplay lines. “Some call you a quack,” all right. “Problems are Duck Soup” is more of a reach. And was “paddle like the Dickens” a sly gesture toward Scrooge McDuck? </p><p>Anyway, the identity of the otter for the purposes of this song is less clear to me. This person has “closed their ears” to you, which I assume is germane to an otter’s anatomy, but “got the best of me” could be anything, and the couplet “I think you lost the touch / somewhere in the early aughts” left me mystified.</p><p>Since it was never really clear to me what you meant by the otter verse, I think that dulled the impact of the third verse in which the qualities of the duck and the otter are blended. I don’t necessarily mind that you brought Perry into it, but by this point I’ve long since lost the thread. And the OWCA is a real mouthful of an acronym to fit into your lyrics.</p><p>It also never clicked for me what “Why did it ever make sense to play?” means. To be honest, on my first couple of listens, I thought you were saying “Why did it ever make sense to pray?” which turned out to be a major red herring, leading me to thoughts of how the platypus might be used to prove or disprove God. That wasn’t at all where you were going with that. </p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Pigfarmer Jr</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">“Falling Down”</div><p></p><p><b>What are the two seemingly unlike things? </b>- A building falling into disrepair and a pothole.</p><p><b>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</b> - Not really. They’re both clearly symbols of disrepair and both could be found on a city street.</p><p><b>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</b> - Only in that the narrator feels like both.</p><p><b>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</b> - I think not.</p><p><b>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song?</b> - I’m afraid not. Either “I feel like a pothole” or “I feel like an old building” could both be enough to carry a song on their own, and I didn’t feel that drawing the connection enhanced either.</p><p>*~*~*~*~*</p><p>The straightforwardness of your idea leaves me without much to say. As you may have guessed from above, I don’t think this is a strong take on the challenge. “I feel like this thing and I also feel like this other thing” technically meets the requirements, but I don’t think the connection told us anything new about either object or the narrator, and the song would probably have been better if it had stuck to one or the other.</p><p>From an arrangement standpoint, your voice is sitting better in the mix than the previous two weeks, but now it’s occupying the same space as the piano, leading me to wonder whether the song would work better with either a less prominent piano part, or no piano at all? Worth a try.</p><p>Comparing yourself to iconic symbols of urban decay is one thing, but when you get to the line “No woman I know would live in this house,” I think you’ve crossed the line into unappealing self-pity; I’d recommend re-working that if you want to revisit this song.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Tunes by LJ</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">“Morning Water”</div><p></p><p><b>What are the two seemingly unlike things?</b> - So, at first I thought it was the falling of rainwater and the gradual onset of consciousness upon waking up. But nope, apparently it’s a contrast in the ways that water enters and leaves the body, so the two unlike things are… wait, no. Wait wait wait. Does that mean this song is about… Tears and pee?</p><p><b>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</b> - I’m still too flabbergasted by the explanation, so I guess I have to say “yes” to this one.</p><p><b>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</b> - Indeed it does.</p><p><b>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</b> - Very surprising, yes.</p><p><b>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song?</b> - I think probably yes, but the lyrics are overall quite vague and impressionistic, so it’s hard to be conclusive.</p><p>*~*~*~*~*</p><p>Sonically, your song goes down sweet and smooth, like soft-serve ice cream. Frankly, you’ve not yet convinced me that you’re not actually Matt Johnson from Jamiroquai recording under an assumed name, but that’s neither here nor there. I like the quiet reverie in your lyrics, and the subtle momentum that comes from the musical elements like that barely-audible kick and the reverse swells, culminating in the counterintuitively climactic moment in the chorus when the instruments all drop out to make way for that vocal harmony.</p><p>I’m of two minds about the lyrics. First off, I do appreciate the subtle, imagistic approach, not being too literal or explicit about what you’re singing about. However, for the purposes of this contest, the sparseness of your lyrics made it difficult for me to identify how you met the challenge. Your song bio helped, but I don’t think I heard in the song itself enough evidence to support the explanation you provided. For instance, I’m pretty confident I never would have heard the difference between “morning water” and “mourning water,” had I not read the song bio. Perhaps you could have nodded to that in the title to make it clearer?</p><p>I can see the potential in the idea of “water entering and exiting the body.” But from the lyrics as they stand, I mostly only get water exiting the body. The one line you include which gestures to the idea of drinking is “And yesterday's indulgence running out.” I get why you’d want to keep things vague and impressionistic, but there might be an elegant way to suggest the drinking image slightly more directly? The contrast you allude to in the song bio is interesting and could be compelling, but I just don’t see enough of it in the lyrics themselves.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Jealous Brother</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">“Guitar Picks and Nail Clippers”</div><p></p><p><b>What are the two seemingly unlike things?</b> - Guitar picks and nail clippers, duh.</p><p><b>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</b> - Sure</p><p><b>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</b> - Not really. The connection is that they’re apparently the only two things left that the narrator owns after being dumped? This seems hyperbolic and not a very strong connection anyway. They’re only “connected” insofar as you refer to them as a duo in your fictional narrative.</p><p><b>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</b> - It’s an unusual juxtaposition, but I don’t think the song does anything more surprising than simply putting the two things together in a sentence, and I didn’t find that juxtaposition satisfying.</p><p><b>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song? </b>- It’s the title, so I guess so!</p><p>*~*~*~*~*</p><p>Okay, yes, I get it, country song sob story. My critique is not oblivious to the fact that that’s a genre convention with a deep tradition. But the conceit of the lyrics, tying together guitar picks and nail clippers as “The only things I own,” rattles awkwardly to me. Surely it’s hyperbole; you must own something else besides those two things. If I’m meant to take it literally, then the girlfriend’s reaction reads as extreme to the point of cartoonishness. It’s silly and not in a way that I think makes the song fun, just logistically confusing. And if it’s not literal, if it is indeed hyperbole, then the supposed connection between guitar picks and nail clippers isn’t really much of a connection at all, is it?</p><p>So I try to make the best of it and engage the song on its own merits, but I’m still stumbling. This narrator is a selfish partner and a slob, and the song finds him homeless and penniless. However, the sweetness in your vocal delivery belies that awfulness. I wanted to hear more grit in the voice, more ragged instrumentation. That’s a little off-brand for you, but your trademark tightness isn’t serving the material here.</p><p>Line by line, you did include a lot of smart barbs. I liked “I heard we had a fight,” which is so subtle I didn’t even catch it the first few listens. Nice little discovery on repeat. I also found the couplet “I never did the simple things / And when I did, I did ‘em wrong” really satisfying. </p><p>Ultimately, I chafed at the logic of this song and how it butted up against the prompt, and that ended up costing you in my rankings. It was a good run! Better luck next time.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Sober</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">“Cheap Wine and Expensive Beer”</div><p></p><p><b>What are the two seemingly unlike things?</b> - Cheap wine and expensive beer</p><p><b>Outside the context of the song, do these two things appear to be unrelated?</b> - You work to draw the contrast, but no, I didn’t think they felt “unrelated” to me.</p><p><b>Does the song make a strong case for the connection between the two?</b> - I’m leaning towards no. Your lyrics are introspective, filled with your personal musings on your attitude toward the cost of alcohol, but I don’t think you draw a connection between them any stronger than the one I would have assumed from the title alone.</p><p><b>Is that connection surprising or satisfying?</b> - You make a meal out of these musings, but I don’t think it’s surprising or satisfying, no.</p><p><b>Does that connection enhance or otherwise “make” the song?</b> - Yes.</p><p>*~*~*~*~*</p><p>Well, given how much you complained about the time crunch you were under, I expected something quite a bit rougher. Your “band” is tight, especially considering the loose time signature, flipping freely between 4/4 and 3/4. And everything sounded well balanced to my ears, for the most part. The lead vocal was a bit too present at points, but that’s far from the worst mixing sin you could commit.</p><p>Where the lack of time really shows is in the lyrics. They have a disorganized stream-of-consciousness quality to them that I think contributes to why the song kind of goes in one ear and out the other for me. Like I’m listening to the brainstorming session for a song, but not the finished lyrics. I feel like the germ of this idea is a strong one, and with more time you could have crafted it into something more concise and impactful.</p><p></p><p>Even if you had done that, though, I still think it would have been a pretty tenuous take on the challenge. For my money, wine and beer (even cheap wine and expensive beer) aren’t unlike enough for any connection between them to be surprising and satisfying. But don’t let that stop you from trying to revise the song. The idea has legs!</p><div><br /></div>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-20777561337726360892023-10-15T23:46:00.004-04:002023-10-23T00:37:45.700-04:00ST21 Round 3 Results<p>The votes are in from our judges, and here's something exciting: For all four of the highest-ranked contestants, this is their first time making their way to the Final Round! There's only one Round 3 winner, though; after five tournaments worth of consistently respectable showings, <b style="text-align: center;">The Dutch Widows </b><span style="text-align: center;">take their first victory!</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Hot Pink Halo</b> couldn't <i>quite </i>manifest gold with her song, and will have to settle for silver. But she gets to share the medal with her identically-scoring BFF <b>Stacking Theory</b>. As smooth as ever, <b>Tunes By LJ </b>slides into fourth place.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Read on for the full results!<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin></p><p><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="50"></col><col width="147"></col><col width="47"></col><col width="51"></col><col width="47"></col><col width="42"></col><col width="40"></col><col width="60"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Rank"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Rank</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Artist"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Artist</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Cyb"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Cyb</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"MKDB"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">MKDB</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Ever"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Ever</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Iron"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Iron</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"JP"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">JP</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Total"}" style="background-color: #bdbdbd; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Total</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Dutch Widows"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">The Dutch Widows</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #73bf84; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #73bf84; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="background-color: #ffd666; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">7</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #73bf84; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[0]C[-5]:R[0]C[-1])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":14}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">14</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Stacking Theory"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Stacking Theory</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #abc878; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #8fc47e; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="background-color: #e3d16c; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">6</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #8fc47e; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #73bf84; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[0]C[-5]:R[0]C[-1])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":18}" style="background-color: #74bf84; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">18</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hot Pink Halo"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Hot Pink Halo</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #abc878; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">9</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #8fc47e; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[0]C[-5]:R[0]C[-1])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":18}" style="background-color: #74bf84; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">18</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tunes By LJ"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Tunes By LJ</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="background-color: #f3a96c; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #57bb8a; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="background-color: #ffd666; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">7</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">5</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[0]C[-5]:R[0]C[-1])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":24}" style="background-color: #a0c67b; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">24</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Jim Tyrrell"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Jim Tyrrell</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11}" style="background-color: #ef9b6e; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">11</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="background-color: #e3d16c; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">6</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #8fc47e; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">9</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #abc878; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[0]C[-5]:R[0]C[-1])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":33}" style="background-color: #e1d16d; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">33</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">6</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Cavedwellers"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Cavedwellers</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #8fc47e; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11}" style="background-color: #ef9b6e; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">11</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #abc878; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":13}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">13</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[0]C[-5]:R[0]C[-1])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":36}" style="background-color: #f7d468; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">36</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">7</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Glennny"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Glennny</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="background-color: #fbc768; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="background-color: #fbc768; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="background-color: #fbc768; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="background-color: #e3d16c; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">6</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="background-color: #ffd666; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">7</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[0]C[-5]:R[0]C[-1])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":37}" style="background-color: #ffd666; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">37</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Phlub"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Phlub</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="background-color: #ffd666; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">7</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">9</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #73bf84; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":13}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">13</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="background-color: #fbc768; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[0]C[-5]:R[0]C[-1])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":39}" style="background-color: #fdcc67; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">39</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">9</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Sober"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Sober</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="background-color: #f3a96c; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="background-color: #f3a96c; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="background-color: #f3a96c; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[0]C[-5]:R[0]C[-1])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":40}" style="background-color: #fbc768; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">40</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Pannacotta Army"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">The Pannacotta Army</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":13}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">13</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11}" style="background-color: #ef9b6e; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">11</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #abc878; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="background-color: #c7cd72; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11}" style="background-color: #ef9b6e; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">11</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[0]C[-5]:R[0]C[-1])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":44}" style="background-color: #f6b46b; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">44</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">11</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Pigfarmer Jr"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Pigfarmer Jr</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="background-color: #e3d16c; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">6</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="background-color: #eb8b70; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">12</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":13}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">13</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="background-color: #fbc768; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="background-color: #e3d16c; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">6</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[0]C[-5]:R[0]C[-1])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":45}" style="background-color: #f4ae6b; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">45</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Jealous Brother"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Jealous Brother</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">9</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":13}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">13</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="background-color: #f3a96c; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11}" style="background-color: #ef9b6e; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">11</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9}" style="background-color: #f7b96a; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">9</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[0]C[-5]:R[0]C[-1])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":52}" style="background-color: #eb8b70; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">52</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":13}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">13</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"GFS"}" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">GFS</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="background-color: #eb8b70; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">12</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="background-color: #ffd666; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">7</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="background-color: #eb8b70; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">12</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="background-color: #eb8b70; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">12</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="background-color: #eb8b70; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">12</td><td data-sheets-formula="=SUM(R[0]C[-5]:R[0]C[-1])" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":55}" style="background-color: #e67c73; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">55</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The following artists have scored below the threshold and have been eliminated, but who knows - even in the Final Round, shadow reinstatement could be a possibility!</p><p></p><ul><li><b>Jim Tyrrell</b></li><li><b>Cavedwellers</b></li><li><b>Glennny</b></li><li><b>Phlub</b></li><li><b>Sober</b></li><li><b>The Pannacotta Army</b></li><li><b>Pigfarmer Jr</b></li><li><b>Jealous Brother</b></li><li><b>GFS</b></li></ul><div>Reviews! Reviews! Reviews!</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2023/10/st213-reviews-and-rankings-cybronica.html">Cybronica's reviews and rankings</a></li><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2023/10/st213-reviews-and-rankings-emkaydeebee.html">EmKayDeeBee's reviews and rankings</a></li><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2023/10/st213-reviews-and-rankings-evermind.html">Evermind's reviews and rankings</a></li><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2023/10/st213-reviews-and-rankings-ironbark.html">Ironbark's reviews and rankings</a></li><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2023/10/st213-reviews-and-rankings-jon-porobil.html">Jon Porobil's reviews and rankings</a></li><li><a href="https://spintunescontest.blogspot.com/2023/10/st213-reviews-micah-sommersmith.html">Micah Sommersmith's reviews</a></li><li><a href="https://songfight.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12538">Participant reviews and discussion on the SongFight message boards</a></li></ul></div>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-86416841048666831152023-10-15T23:45:00.006-04:002023-10-23T00:40:33.432-04:00ST21.3 Reviews and Rankings - Ironbark<p>Here are your rankings from SpinTunes 20 Champion Ironbark:</p><p><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="43"></col><col width="164"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hot Pink Halo"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Hot Pink Halo</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Dutch Widows"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Dutch Widows</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Stacking Theory"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Stacking Theory</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Cavedwellers"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Cavedwellers</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Pannacotta Army"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Pannacotta Army</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">6</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Glennny"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Glennny</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">7</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tunes By LJ"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Tunes By LJ</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Pigfarmer Jr"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Pigfarmer Jr</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">9</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Jim Tyrrell"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Jim Tyrrell</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Sober"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Sober</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">11</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Jealous Brother"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Jealous Brother</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"GFS"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">GFS</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":13}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">13</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Phlub"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Phlub</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Read on for Ironbark's reviews!<span></span></b></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Tough challenge to rank. Judging is always subjective to some degree, but 'unexpected yet satisfying' will of course mean something different to all of us. I haven't tried to hide that in my reviews. In a couple of cases, I even go out of my way to explain where my subjectivity's coming from. That might be frustrating for some but, with a bit of luck, five people being subjective balances into something resembling fairness. As always, feel free to hate me if I've done you wrong.</p><p>That said, I didn't go too hard on anyone for not mindreading my personal interpretation of the challenge, so long as a fair attempt was made. (But then, 'fair attempt' is pretty subjective too. Ah well.)</p><p>P.S. Some great shadows this round.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Stacking Theory - Slowly Disappear</b></p><p>I've noticed in previous rounds that the longer songs tend to move down my rankings due to repeated listening and growing impatience, so I took this off the tracklist after three or four spins. It has really stuck with me. It's such a sad, unflinching song, but there's a sort of rueful, hard-won triumph to those choruses that makes me look for an upside. Dreams shed to give new ones room to grow, lost things laid to rest. Or maybe just a celebration of what might have been. Great song, really nails the challenge.</p><p>I also admire how you manage to maintain a sombre mood while tucking in little moments of colour and humour, like the hushed deadpan voices singing 'dedicated seat'.</p><p>I remember when the entire suburb used to put its hard waste out on the same day, and we'd all go strolling down the street for a stickybeak, seeing if any old dreams could find a new home. Then they switched to individual pickup with those big stickers saying you'll be fined if you take anything. After listening to your song, that feels kind of symbolic.</p><p><i>Challenge met?</i></p><p>Write and record a song (yep) about two seemingly unrelated subjects (yep). Connect them in an unexpected yet satisfying way (yep).</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Hot Pink Halo - Gold</b></p><p>What a chorus. It's a wonder. Rising up in the dark, hopeful but a little fragile. Oddly melancholy too, or maybe that's me projecting. I'm writing these reviews the day after yet another kick in the teeth for indigenous Australia, and it's got me thinking about this weird, messed-up country built on murder and theft. I suspect our latest dismal saga was in the end less about racism and more about some white guy in Canberra wanting to score a quick symbolic win without putting in the hard work and preparation required for real change, but there's no getting past the fact we're pretty good at racism here. (Half my friends grew up with random blokes on the train telling them to fuck off back to China.) Which is why I'm so grateful for this song, which stares all that darkness in the face and builds something light and defiant, a reminder of shared history and shared humanity. Holding up the humble dim sim as a symbol of the good things that can come when cultures crash together and intertwine until it's all a glorious, inextricable mess. A great response to the challenge, and just what I needed right now.</p><p>There are things you could fix up: the energy of the drums feels a bit out of place, the verses run out of puff before the chorus, as though you're still testing where the melody goes, and Andy Partridge would shake his head at the way you dismount from the bridge. But I don't care. However I end up ranking it, this is the song that meant the most to me this round.</p><p>(Still prefer a good potato cake, though.)</p><p><i>Challenge met?</i></p><p>Write and record a song (yep) about two seemingly unrelated subjects (yep). Connect them in an unexpected yet satisfying way (yep!).</p><p><br /></p><p><b>GFS - Falling Down</b></p><p>I like how you embody the rain here, from the slow patient drips to those little washes of stuttered percussion. The rain provides a strong through-line, though it's very unclear to me which parts of the song relate to the challenge. (I can see a few possibilities if I squint.) Like Siebass, you seem to have taken it as a prompt for a riddle song, and it works much better on those terms. The pivot from rain to climate change comes out of the blue, but I like how you repurpose the 'falling down' line. There's a recurring theme of tested faith that doesn't quite connect the dots for me; perhaps it lands differently for a religious audience. I'm not sure the song delivers a very coherent message overall (some people get no rain, some people get too much, and rain is also climate change) but it generally works from moment to moment.</p><p>Your entries are always very well arranged and produced, which leaves me with little to offer on that front. So let me say something obviously stupid: I'd find your songs more moving if you didn't try so hard to move me. I'm talking in particular about that hushed intensity you adopt for your verse vocals (in all your songs so far), exaggerating your vocal fry and closing out lines with strong vibrato. (You generally open up into a more natural tone for your choruses.) It's skilled singing, and this deliberately theatrical style is a quick route to the heart of things, but I'm going to try to make the case for naturalism here. If you milk every line for maximum emotional effect, you can end up flattening the song, removing light and shade. It can also strip out nuance and ambiguity, telling the listener what to feel rather than trusting them to find their own meaning. Not every line needs to be cupped gently in the hand like a Fabergé egg. For me, it creates a slightly uncanny, alien effect, like someone maintaining direct, unblinking eye contact throughout an entire conversation. To be clear, what you're doing is great; I'd just be curious to hear you in a more casual register sometime, keeping the emotion as a background to your singing rather than acting it out. Opening a window and letting a bit of air in, if that makes sense.</p><p>(All of this cuts both ways, of course: you'd no doubt find my singing uncomfortably deadpan and lacking in emotion!)</p><p><i>Challenge met?</i></p><p>Write and record a song (yep) about two seemingly unrelated subjects (Elsa and Noah? Rain and climate change? Rain and god?). Connect them in an unexpected yet satisfying way (not really?). </p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Pannacotta Army - Elephant</b></p><p>We've tried rational argument, we've tried anger. Let's try... what is this, bossa nova? Maybe you'll get the climate message through if we're all sipping cocktails and nodding our heads. This is a superb arrangement. Beautifully silky bassline, great chord changes, gentle despair, slightly narcotised mood, everything clear in the mix but nothing shouting for attention. Love it.</p><p>I've docked you points for boring challenge reasons - there isn't much substance to the connection beyond that 'elephant in the room' figure of speech, and apart from the pleasing 'pachyderm' rhyme, you don't make anything of the elephant's elephant-ness - but I can't find fault with the music. Delightful stuff, toe-tapping our way to oblivion.</p><p>(The other elephant in the room is when are you and Tunes by LJ going to collaborate? The combined smoothness would probably retroactively uninvent velcro.)</p><p><i>Challenge met?</i></p><p>Write and record a song (yep) about two seemingly unrelated subjects (yep). Connect them in an unexpected yet satisfying way (sort of!). </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Cavedwellers - Elevator Pitch</b></p><p>After two songs pointing out the link between modern capitalism and the death of our planet, we have this breezy little number about a VC being mildly inconvenienced. Interesting whiplash. It's like Gordon Gekko hopping on stage for a tight five after a Greta Thunberg lecture.</p><p>It's more nuanced than that, of course, but I never became hugely invested in the story here. The arrangement and performance, on the other hand, are excellent. Easily my favourite Cavedwellers track so far. Great balance between the guitars and Rhodes, and the whole song hangs together really well. The lyrics could do with a tweak or two to fit the meter more smoothly, e.g. 'content unveils', and the 'panacea' line would probably flow better without the 'perfect' (and 'perfect panacea' is pretty much a tautology anyway). </p><p>I don't know if you really engage with the challenge on a story level - a VC and someone wooing a VC aren't exactly unrelated, nor is the outcome unexpected - but you certainly do musically. I got quite excited when I first cottoned on to what you were planning: the two deliberately stilted choruses are going to combine into a fluent duet that puts a new spin on everything! What a great idea. I was ready to pop the champagne. Except it doesn't fully land, I think. 'Would you ask anybody not to listen carefully to me explain?' just about hangs together syntactically, but it only sort of means something if you squint. You're so close, though. A bit of redrafting to make that interwoven finale a slam-dunk (and an honest-to-god functional sentence), and I'd be far more forgiving of awkward phrasing in the earlier choruses. Am I being unfairly tough on you here? Absolutely, but you invite it a little: if you call a trick shot, you'd best land it. Anyway, I'll keep the champagne on ice for now and crack open one of Sober's fancy beers. Still a mighty fine song.</p><p><i>Challenge met?</i></p><p>Write and record a song (yep) about two seemingly unrelated (eh) subjects. Connect them in an unexpected yet satisfying way (very nearly!). </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Phlub - War Dawgs</b></p><p>Impressive musicianship. I like the tone on those insistent high Ds on the guitar, and the guitar melody during the verses. You've really nailed the sound of a hard rock band in full flight. Maybe too well, for me. I get the feeling you enjoy being a musical chameleon, and I love that, you're tremendously skilled at it. But I prefer it when you subvert or put a unique spin on the thing you're mimicking. Basically, I'd prefer more of Phlub, and less of Phlub meticulously and impressively recreating something I can find elsewhere.</p><p>I guess you're saving the subversion here for the lyrics, but I'm one of the few Australians who isn't fluent in Bluey, so the big twist barely registered. And the Aussie connection ended up adding a layer of unintentional clutter to the song for me. We're a very war-proud country with a decent gift for jingoism - Anzac Day is (along with the Grand Final) the closest Australia comes to religious observance - while being pretty good at not caring about our soldiers as humans. (My father used to help out vets with their PTSD.) And we've just had a long trial exposing how Australia's most decorated and prominent soldier was responsible for murdering civilians and other war crimes during his time in Afghanistan. Anyway, Australia and war: it's complicated. With all that sitting on my shoulder, I don't have any appetite for this old 'war is hardcore and big riffs and kinda cool, man!' trope, dogs or not. And it doesn't help that I really love dogs and once read how war dogs used to come home deeply disturbed and were routinely put down. (Maybe things are better these days.)</p><p>None of which is a dig on you, and I certainly don't think I need a song about cartoon dog PTSD. This is all just a long-winded, joy-sucking way to say I come to your song with exactly the wrong sort of baggage to enjoy it for what it is. It's fun song with solid riffs! Woof!</p><p><i>Challenge met?</i></p><p>Write and record a song (yep) about two seemingly unrelated subjects (sure). Connect them in an unexpected yet satisfying way (only if you know Bluey). </p><p>(P.S. Reading this a week later, I sound so preachy and judgmental. 'War is bad' - good insight, mate. For the record, I don't think anything's taboo in songwriting, and if I hadn't been knocking out these reviews right after watching a pretty bleak report on what's happening in the Middle East, I'd have probably taken your song in the right spirit, or at least spared you the lecture. Anyway, a weirdly disproportionate response to a song about a cartoon dog. Sorry.)</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Jim Tyrrell - Salt</b></p><p>Nothing wrong with a live recording, but I have to salute you for finding the noisiest possible place in the room to leave the mic. At times I can almost hear some music through the chit-chat!</p><p>There's been a lamentable lack of folk music this SpinTunes, so I'm grateful for this. Good robust arrangement, with the guitar, piano and recorder/tin whistle all given their due. A really pleasant song, and a story well told. I think you could perhaps mix it up a little - with so many verses, you should probably be varying or ornamenting the vocal melody slightly as the song goes on - but that nice suspended chord after every second verse goes a long way to keeping it fresh. If there's a weakness to the story, it's that the narrator and the Admiral have no relationship beyond that brief exchange in verse 2, so the enduring link between them seems slightly forced.</p><p>I don't know how well this meets the challenge. I like it much better taken on its own terms: a neat tale of parallel lives and revenge served cold, with a nicely withering epitaph to put a button on it. In that light, it's a great song. The bootleg quality of the recording is a problem though, and keeps the listener at a distance. I have no doubt I'd have ranked this higher if you'd had time to get a cleaner take.</p><p><i>Challenge met?</i></p><p>Write and record a song (yep) about two seemingly unrelated subjects (not really?). Connect them in an unexpected yet satisfying way (hmm). </p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Dutch Widows - When The Storm Start To Rise</b></p><p>I think this is great. Nicely idiosyncratic instrumentation that builds into a really satisfying whole. The Leslie guitar, the little woody percussion bits, the slightly fake (but somehow perfect) pump organ thing: it all blends into something very compelling. And the storm metaphor is deftly handled, in a way that rings true not just for domestic violence, but for all sorts of traumatic situations. Really strong stuff.</p><p>If I've got a (minor) criticism of this song, it's the occasional lumpiness of the lyrics. The meaning is always good (and psychologically acute), but the words themselves sometimes struggle to fit. Take the opening line, for instance. 'Quicker than I can deal with' isn't a phrase that wants to be said, and it doesn't work well on the tongue. And there's a slight wordiness to the chorus that stops the images from staying in my head. With a couple of exceptions ('punching holes in rain', 'keep my head down now'), the lyrics feel like they've been thrown on top of the music without much regard for rhythm or sound. That could well be your intention, a way of capturing the dry, cloth-mouthed panic the narrator's feeling. If so, no worries, I can respect that.</p><p><i>Challenge met?</i></p><p>Write and record a song (yep) about two seemingly unrelated subjects (yep). Connect them in an unexpected yet satisfying way (yep). </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Glennny - Platypus</b></p><p>That's twice in a row you've won me over with doo doo harmonies less than 15 seconds into a song. I think I'm a cheap date. I'm really enjoying your songs this SpinTunes: strong pop instincts, great guitar work, and an impressive level of craft. The only thing I'm not wild about here is the key change into the 'why' section. It has the same abruptness as Cavedwellers last round, and doesn't feel organic to the song. Yeah, this is a song about splicing animals, but I'd prefer an actual modulation here, even if it's just a single-beat transitional chord or a few lead-in notes to prepare the way. And the bridge section feels slightly unanchored, maybe.</p><p>The platypus is an inspired response to the challenge (and one of the best animals on the planet). Not sure you cash that in as much as you could. The first two verses, with the narrator pointing out someone's similarities to duck and otter, act as a quick, effective character study and a portrait of a relationship growing apart. But then the two combine into a platypus and it doesn't really alter anything. Or maybe there's some deeper meaning with the Phineas & Herb connection - I don't know the show. A little unsatisfying. (Did you know the platypus has venomous spurs on its hind legs? That would've mixed things up a bit.) Anyway, doesn't get in the way of me enjoying the song, which is filled with your usual great guitar lines and well-judged sonic touches. (Good drums too.)</p><p><i>Challenge met?</i></p><p>Write and record a song (yep) about two seemingly unrelated subjects (yep). Connect them in an unexpected yet satisfying way (yes and no?). </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Pigfarmer Jr - Falling Down</b></p><p>The 6/8 works really well - there's a stirring melancholy warmth here, and it's a good match for the clear, stoic way you sing the defeatist lyrics. And I really like the weight that the piano brings to the sound. The lyrics are solid, could maybe use a few tweaks (e.g. to get rid of that 'crumbling' repetition, and to find a different word for 'busted' in verse two - you're already using it in the chorus). The stately pace of the song means that by the time we hit the final word of the chorus we've almost forgotten what it was meant to rhyme with. (Especially in the final chorus, where you're rhyming with a word from way back before the bridge.) Might be worth just rhyming the second and final lines of the chorus, rather than reaching back to the verse.</p><p>I realise the challenge asked for two subjects, but I think you could have cut either the pothole or the house - the satisfying connection you're making here is between you and a crumbling object, not between the hole and the house. This would have allowed you to focus on one simile rather than repeat the same sentiments for two. You're pretty much riffing on a single thought for the entire song, though the bridge does bring in a new angle.</p><p>I think all your arrangement choices are sound, except one. The noodly ukulele(?) part is a very strange choice. I'm all for mixing things up, but I have to admit that yanks me right out of the moment every time. It's like a gatecrasher from another song with an entirely different mood. Tip that guy into a pothole!</p><p><i>Challenge met?</i></p><p>Write and record a song (yep) about two seemingly unrelated subjects (maybe not the ones you intended). Connect them in an unexpected yet satisfying way (not unexpected, but reasonably satisfying).</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Tunes By LJ - Morning Water</b></p><p>Once again, gorgeous sound. Love those verse vocal melody lines. The cross sticks are a bit too loud on my headphones, but otherwise it's your trademark silky smoothness. I'd be tempted to say too smooth - the music is so untroubled and pleasant that attention can wander away from the lyrics - but then that great chorus hook comes along and pulls things into focus, with those shifting chords lighting up the vocals from different angles. Great stuff.</p><p>I'd say the wordplay on 'morning/mourning' exists more on the page than in the ear. I didn't even cotton on until I finally pulled out the lyric sheet, and while that makes the challenge aspect a bit murky, I think the song survives well without the double meaning. The shifting moods of the water imagery come through regardless.</p><p>I have a very specific and unusual difficulty with this song: some part of my brain is stubbornly interpreting the phrase 'morning water flow' as the piss you take on waking up. (You nod to this in your song bio, so I know I'm not going crazy here.) That alone would be fine, but much of the song is about drinking the morning flow, so every time I listen I have to fight past the image of someone filling up that piss goblet and drinking their own urine. Again, not off-limits for a song, but possibly not the mood you were going for. (And hard to unsee once you've seen it!)</p><p><i>Challenge met?</i></p><p>Write and record a song (yep) about two seemingly unrelated subjects (yep, if you detect the homophone). Connect them in an unexpected yet satisfying way (again, only if you read the lyrics). </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Jealous Brother - Guitar Picks and Nail Clippers</b></p><p>It doesn't get more country than being turfed out by your gal. You're treading familiar ground here, but you're so chipper and charming about it, and I like the idea of someone so intent on a love song that they barely notice or care about their relationship falling to pieces. Strong arrangement as usual. I'm not always receptive to guitar solos, but this one's a doozy. All that's missing is a round of applause from the audience - you know, like David Rawlings gets in 'I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll'.</p><p>I remember Jealous Brother taking more stylistic risks in SpinTunes 20, so it's possible I've been a bit hard on you for staying firmly in a country-rock comfort zone this time around. But you know what? It's a great-sounding comfort zone, and you always find ways to add little quirks to a well-trodden genre, like the catchy slide hook that opens the song. I don't know if your entry really fulfils this round's challenge, but it's a ripper.</p><p><i>Challenge met?</i></p><p>Write and record a song (yep) about two seemingly unrelated subjects (debatable). Connect them in an unexpected yet satisfying way (nope, the only connection is the one made in the opening line). </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Sober - Cheap Wine and Expensive Beer</b></p><p>I love that in an hour or two you can chuck out a song that most of us would need a full day to make. And the only sign it's a rush job is a little less presence to the mix, maybe. Fun lyrics with a nice easy wit. Great bounce to the verses, and I really like that chorus melody, slowly descending and loosening its belt.</p><p>So yeah, it's a solid song. I haven't heard a song of yours I don't enjoy. But this one's really skirting the edges of the challenge, as I'm sure you'd admit. Now those poor judges have to decide where to stick you on those damn rankings they probably dread making. Man, sure wouldn't want to be one of them judges right about now.</p><p><i>Challenge met?</i></p><p>Write and record a song (yep) about two seemingly unrelated (nope, very much related) subjects. Connect them in an unexpected yet satisfying way (nope, not really what the song's trying to do). </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Mandrake - River Flow (SHADOW)</b></p><p>First of all, these are your best-sounding vocals yet. The extra detail in the higher frequencies lets far more life come through. Hooray. (You might want to look into getting a better mic at some point down the road - sounds like your current one isn't catching the very highest frequencies, and no EQ can remedy that - but it's no longer a pressing problem.) And your singing keeps improving - you get a nice tender tone in your lower register during the verses. Some off-pitch moments on the higher notes, but nothing too bad. I like the delicate, dreamy mood you evoke here. White noise for the lapping waves, and water droplet synths. Good stuff.</p><p>I think you could take more of an interest in selecting words whose shape and sound support the vocal melody. Your lyrics often feel as though you're just roughing out the basic idea you wish to convey, without regard for meter or rhythm. (You hang a lampshade on it here with the line about language not being built for your joy, but it holds true for your other songs.) This could be the downside of working purely within a DAW: it's a lot easier to match sound to melody when you're strumming on a guitar or noodling on a piano. Maybe you just need to hold the melody clearly in your head when you're composing lyrics. (Or maybe you're aiming for a sort of artless effect.)</p><p>I realise I spend the bulk of these reviews talking about things you could do better, rather than things you do well. You clearly have talent, I'm just keen to see you unlock it all!</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Siebass - Ambulance (SHADOW)</b></p><p>Your maths teacher probably wants to have a word with you about your interpretation of 'two subjects', but this is a blast. Great arrangement and mix, lovely strutting vocal. And then 'we've all got legs!' delivered as a horror reveal. I'm a sucker for full commitment to a goofy idea. No notes, carry on. (That cod-British 'why it's legs, innit?' at the end pleases me greatly, more than it probably should.)</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Ominous Ride - Willard and Karma (SHADOW)</b></p><p>This is a real feat of storytelling. A lot of moving parts, but you always keep the action clear and memorable, and the way things intersect late in the song is very deftly and satisfyingly handled. You make it all look easy, but this is impressive craft. When you introduced someone called Karma I thought that was going to be the entire twist, but she's just the neat little bow on a very well told story.</p><p>I enjoyed all your arrangement and performance choices too. Those single-note backing harmonies, the little 'oh no', the switch to funereal organ. Excellent work all around.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>nightingale's fiddle - Baseball (SHADOW)</b></p><p>This is a delight. The core connection between baseball and songwriting is handled lightly and well. (I picked up some of the sport references but I'm sure there were many more I missed.) But hang on, it's also a song about holding on to a romance. But hang on hang on, it's also a winningly dry (and slightly self-flagellatory) review of your own SpinTunes journey. All without making a big deal of it. Excellently paced song with a strong, slow build and some lovely vocal moments. As you pass third base and those snares kick in, the crowd's cheering you home.</p><p>I've really enjoyed the variety you've shown in your entries, and I'd have ranked this one high. Once you get a better handle on recording and multitracking you'll be unstoppable. So no, we haven't remotely given up on you. In fact, I'm looking forward to you coming back to smash a few home runs in SpinTunes 22.</p><div><br /></div>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-59052113774490953812023-10-15T23:45:00.005-04:002023-10-15T23:45:53.359-04:00ST21.3 Reviews and Rankings - EmKayDeeBee<p>Here are your rankings from EmKayDeeBee:</p><p><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="43"></col><col width="164"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tunes By LJ"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Tunes By LJ</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Dutch Widows"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Dutch Widows</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Stacking Theory"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Stacking Theory</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hot Pink Halo"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Hot Pink Halo</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Cavedwellers"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Cavedwellers</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">6</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Jim Tyrrell"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Jim Tyrrell</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">7</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"GFS"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">GFS</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Glennny"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Glennny</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">9</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Phlub"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Phlub</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Sober"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Sober</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">11</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Pannacotta Army"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Pannacotta Army</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Pigfarmer Jr"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Pigfarmer Jr</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":13}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">13</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Jealous Brother"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Jealous Brother</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Read on for EmKayDeeBee's reviews!<span></span></b></p><a name='more'></a><span id="docs-internal-guid-25b97c40-7fff-ec6e-23cf-2f0af6f2a248"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>General thoughts:</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This round is hard to judge, and awfully subjective. I listened first without any bios in front of me and noted my first impressions, including what I thought the unrelated subjects might be. Then I listened many more times with the bios and lyrics. Here’s what I ended up doing…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I have grouped your entries into songs that I felt:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">a) genuinely connected two ‘seemingly unrelated subjects’ (my top 4)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">b) the subjects were kind of unrelated, but much more open to debate - if I only got the ‘seemingly unrelated’ because it was in the bio, but the song itself treated them as related then you’re in here too (but you were very nearly in the the c list…) (my middle 5)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">c) either didn’t connect two actually unrelated subjects at all, or didn’t create any meaningful/interesting connection between the two things and perhaps didn’t give the listener anything to discover… if your song is based on ‘this is like that’ then that to me was more of an analogy/comparison, not an ‘unexpected yet satisfying’ connection… and if you didn’t give a bio and I couldn’t fathom anything beyond these summations to move you up a level, you’re also here (my bottom 4)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Within those groups, it was then more about how interestingly any connection is made and how well done I think the song is overall. As this is the last time I will be ranking you, I also looked back over the previous two rounds to see how much you have taken on advice given. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A slight side note, but very relevant: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It is interesting how much focus and discussion is given to production – I see in the chats online that some participants feel judges may be too biased to a well-produced song, and yet so many of your reviews for each other focus on exactly this element. I work (among other areas) as a music teacher, and I want to reward the merits of the work done at whatever level you are at (please note, for eg, that all four of this round’s shadows were above the cut-off threshold in my last ranking). All that said, once other things are equal (eg, I’ve put you into group a, b or c above) then the factors that will play into your actual position will include how well you’ve put the song together, in all that means, including the balance of sound and anything clever you’ve done technically that enhances the story you are telling (which, to be fair, is about where my level of production understanding is at).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Anyway, what I’m really getting at is, this round has been a sod to judge. All each of us can do is stick to our values and our own take on things, and speak honestly here. Thank goodness there are five judges…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">First, the shadows, in the order they appear on bandcamp:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Mandrake: River Flow</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This is a really satisfying piece, a joy to listen to – I could absolutely listen on repeat! Well done on the production improvements, so great to hear your voice, and I love the more overtly sung parts (at the end of the choruses). The water theme and the movement in the music is well matched. I like the compliments and river flow items within the lyrics, though you use ‘feels like’ which doesn’t quite achieve what I hoped from the challenge brief (connecting in an unexpected yet satisfying way).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Siebass: Ambulance</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I love the vocal commitment here, brilliant! Your performance is fun, keeps the interest. I wish I could have made out more of the lyrics without needing to read them to fully get what was going on. (I did not get it on listening without the song bio.) I love your guitar part, and the spoken Miss Muffet is hilarious. Once I did get the riddle, it is so clever (and Ambulance as a title was a great choice). Basically, bravo, you met the challenge brilliantly and created a fantastically delivered, fun to listen to, catchy song – you would have been in my top selection of the round. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Ominous Ride: Willard and Karma</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Another shadow song that does brilliantly with the brief, that would have been in my top selection. You tell a superb story, and the way you bring the two separate characters together is a hugely pleasing and satisfying surprise (not for Willard, but hey). The way you have Karma involved is fantastic. The performance is well paced, you make the long verses work, you have clear vocals. The bridge is welcome when it comes, and you could perhaps have done more with the vocal treatment (more variety) and some of the rhyming is amusing/cheesy (eg. easy – policey). A little pitchiness here and there and careful on some diction (ri-[ch] – hi-[tch]). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>nightingale’s fiddle: Baseball </b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You have lovely clear lines on your harp line (hard to achieve such cleaness on bass strings, so well done for that). You have varied vocals (though not balanced well with the harp position), and well done for exploring out of your comfort zone with other sounds being involved. The initial thumpy drum works okay, (others will talk more on production here) but then the sounds that sound like editing clicks are really uncomfortable. I like the topic matter (I haven’t given up on you yet ;) ) and you do well at combining baseball and songwriting as two unconnected things – you did well with the brief. I like the hard endings on the repeated ends of lines (yet/it). The ‘over head and heels’ is interesting – it might be good to have it used the expected way at least once, scanning-wise that might have had to be ‘head over my heels’ but that would have been enough to then make the change a nice nod – something to keep the listener’s attention - rather than just how it is each time.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And now my reviews for Round 3, in ascending order…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>13 – Jealous Brother: Guitar Picks and Nail Clippers</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As I listened and wondered what the two seemingly unrelated items were, I couldn’t quite believe it was just the title items. You tell your story, but there is no subtlety, no ‘a-ha’ moment for the listener, no unexpected yet satisfying connection. Your production is fine, as is the performance – if it weren’t an entry for this particular challenge, it would be a grand song. That said, your instrumental is just the same melody we’ve already heard, and it’s long, but I do like the ending. You have returned to your round 1 style of upbeat music with darker story. Regarding having taken on board any previous advice, three separate judges have commented on your silence at the beginning of songs, and yet you have done it again. A fix that would very nearly take less time to sort than you make us listen to nothing for. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>12 – Pigfarmer Jr: Falling Down</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I’m afraid I don’t feel the ‘seemingly unrelated’ enough – from your bio you say the two things are a pot hole and a falling down building, but these are effectively both structures that are failing. Then both verses start with “I feel like” which means that the potential connection you are making between yourself and these things are just comparisons/analogy. I like the emotion in your voice and I really like what you do with the bridge. This song has a lot of repetition within it. I get that one structure is crumbling and the other is busted and that’s informed your chorus, but we end up hearing the word ‘crumbling’ six times in this song (you use it twice in each chorus!) and that starts to wear thin. I would still love to hear some backing vocals in one of your songs for greater variety and keeping the interest of the listener. Your production is always well balanced to me and I never have to strain to understand you, thank you.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>11 – The Pannacotta Army: Elephant</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I really like the cool chilled groove you have here (is it samba-esque?), and the music generally is well thought through – you keep it interesting with a good balance between busyness and space. I feel like we are hearing your own sound here, and the diction is good throughout, thank you. I think you could have created this feeling of two different subjects by doing more with the elephant before you made it clear it was being ‘the elephant in the room’. But as he’s immediately invisible, there’s nowhere for this to go other than for it be a way of describing how little is being done about global warming. I do like the burn/pachyderm rhyme, that’s clever and fun, and overall a great song, just didn’t do enough with the challenge for me.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>10 – Sober: Cheap Wine and Expensive Beer</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This is the song I have found myself singing at random moments throughout the week. I absolutely melt into your delivery of ‘cheap beer’ – those high vocals and gravel in your voice does something to my knees!! However, there are then some tuning issues in many other parts of the song (eg ends of the verses). I know you got it in just before the cut-off so no doubt if you’d had more time you’d have done more takes to nail this. I had to look up some of the abbreviations – being non-American I didn’t get the Hannaford/HEB references without. I really like the scrunchy chord on ‘sommelier’ and the music choice under Millar/Lonestar to reinforce your points. So, after all this, why are you tenth? I’m afraid I don’t see how alcohol and alcohol are unrelated, and cheap/expensive is also just a scale. As with Jealous Brother, your two items are also your title, leaving nothing for the listener to glean.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>9 – Phlub – War Dawgs</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You were so very nearly in my bottom section, but I can see what you’ve done. I was hoping for the songs in this round to deliver to me, the listener, two seemingly unrelated subjects, and for the unexpected yet satisfying connection to unravel/appear during the song. What I can see you have done is chosen two seemingly unrelated subjects, found a way to connect them, then written a song that you feel is satisfying. Do you get where I’m coming from? So to me as listener, I am listening to a father-dog write to his son-dog, and his son reply – quite literally, two relations writing to each other. And I can tell from your bio how chuffed you are with what you’ve done, and I hate to pour water over it. (I have genuinely agonised over placing you!) I like your driving intro, the nod to the Bluey theme tune with your darker version in the bass line, and I kinda like the heavy production as it fits the war-theme. I do struggle to hear your vocals clearly with the fx you have used – I needed to see the words to get what was going on. The instrumental is too long for me. The howling ‘you’ is cool though. (Re the bass line btw, have you watched “His Dark Materials” [Philip Pullman]? – google tells me it may be available on HBO over there. The theme tune when it aired on BBC over here was music by Lorne Balfe, and the bass line on brass is very reminiscent of what you do here. You might like it!)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>8 – Glennny: Platypus</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">First off, I love Phineus and Ferb, and Perry is such a fab character – are the backing bahs/dos a nod to his theme? (Thinking over your other songs, you are fond of a backing ‘do do do’!) This song does clever things, though I needed to read the bio to get what was going on, and then I find myself wishing you hadn’t named it Platypus as it all then becomes quite obvious... I found the “why” parts a confusing addition that doesn’t quite fit musically – is it meant to be a question to the creator? The soaring guitar in the instrumental is fabulous, though I wonder what purpose it fulfils in the song itself – does it add to the story at all? (See my review of Cavedweller’s below for an example of this done well.) Some of the lyrics are shoe-horned in, and you even add some extra words in your singing, eg. I got a feeling THAT I can’t dissuade, which throws the line off for me and makes it awkward. I do like your delivery of ‘noble platypus’.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>7 – GFS: Falling Down </b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This starts in exactly the same key as your round 2 song, and uses the same main note for your opening vocals. When you couple this with your distinctive style it can start to feel a little bit samey. I put you first in round 1 not least because I loved your sound. This is the same sound, but now it’s not new to me. It may be to do with how far forward you place your vocal or the choice of instrumentation, or maybe the structure of your presentation. Definitely something to think about when you’re putting an album together – how will you keep your listener switched on and paying attention? I do like your sound, that’s a big part of why you’re here in seventh. Regarding the challenge, I would argue that the amount of rain (drought/flood) is a scale, as I argued that Sober’s scale of cheap to expensive alcohol is. The reason you are in my mid-section and not in the bottom is because you have the verse on falling profits, which in my non-guided listen I thought was one of your unrelated subjects, with the connection being how corporations want to ignore global warming. That to me is the stronger way to meet the brief.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>6 – Jim Tyrrell – Salt</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lovely storytelling here. I presume that you gave us a song based on a live performance due to time constraints, though are the piano and pennywhistle added after? I quite like the live element, though in an ideal world where time allowed I would have taken us away from it as you took us on the different journeys so we could really travel away, maybe bringing it back in for the very end. Your delivery is excellent, and no doubt fed off having a live audience, especially in the last couple of verses. Your song bio says that the two unrelated subjects are the lives of the two men who diverge and return. I get it, but it doesn’t quite work enough for me as two unrelated people given the way they are connected. I can see that it’s arguable though. I loved the way it was titled salt and the way you used the idea of how salty the individuals are. To me, on my first listen, that was the unrelated subjects connected in an unexpected and satisfying way. The salt of being at sea, and the nature (saltiness) of each man. So, because I got that from it, I am pleased to be able to rank you higher than my system otherwise would have.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>5 – Cavedwellers: Elevator Pitch</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So I got it on the first listen, though it was on repeated listens that I fully appreciated the cleverness of how you have put this together. Are two people who work in the same company really unrelated subjects however? I’m not sure, but I do like how you’ve given them this meeting place in the lift and after finding the lyric spacing weird in the choruses, the combination in the review is fantastic, I mean, like WOW. You clever thing you. You get the different vocal quality for the different characters, but I would have panned verse 2 vocals more to the right so they are in the same position as you have them later on in the wrap and review. The instrumental with that gorgeous dirty guitar solo really adds to story (as the pitch presumably happens then) – this is a superb structural choice. So overall, bravo. On my first, non-bio-reading listen, I briefly wondered if there was a split personality thing going on here, and *that* would have worked excellently as a non-related subject, where we initially think it’s two separate people meeting and talking but it’s actually all one person. Once I realised - which I did before the song ended – that it was definitely two separate people, (but not unrelated enough for my liking) I found myself having to rank you lower than I would otherwise have liked.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And so my top 4, for meeting the brief of connecting two seemingly unrelated subjects so well…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>4 – Hot Pink Halo</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A fantastic combination, I got it without your bio, though the finer details added more to it of course. You have an atmospheric start, and I love your vocals as you hit the high golds (I feel like this is the first time I’m truly hearing you SING sing, and I would like more of this version of you over the clipped sung-spoken delivery). I like how you build through this piece, with the additional layers in later choruses culminating in adding the male backing vocals, which given the story really adds something over and above textural variety. There is some pitchiness in your verses which I would like ironed out, but well done with working on your ends of words, I so appreciate hearing the full word of ‘bright’ (and for what it’s worth, despite how laboured it may have felt to you, it comes over really naturally in the song and adds so much to it). Production-wise, there are better done songs here, but you hit the brief so well that you get my fourth slot, with bells on.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>3 – Stacking Theory: Slowly Disappear</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I love the delivery of this (though your spoken verses are loooooong and on repeated listens the song starts to feel too loooooooong too… it does take you 2 minutes before we get sung lead-vocals; if this song had more singing in it, I think I would have ranked you even higher). I really like the layered vocals in the chorus, and kudos for working on the ends of your words – waste, street… fantastic! As I said for HPH above, it works, it doesn’t feel forced, and I’m so appreciative of your taking advice on board and acting on it. The build through the second verse, and the way you deliver the lines so that they flow – it’s excellent. I really want the spoken lines to feel truly like prose, but then some rhymes sneak in at the end of lines and they kinda jar (okay/play). That said, the subtler mid sentence ones (praise/days) are a good touch. I love the long and different ways you sing ‘disappear’, where your backing vocal continues on longer than the lead, it’s really effective, and your ending of the whole song fits the story well. I haven’t heard of ‘hard’ rubbish before, though I get it, and I really like the way you connect it to the dreams we might have that also slowly disappear. Bravo, well done.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>2 – The Dutch Widows: When The Storm Starts To Rise</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What a brilliant answer to the brief, and I got it without reading the bio, including your nod to Jim Tyrrell’s round 1 song, great job! There’s a vulnerability to your voice (especially in the bridge) that is really touching given the subject matter. I love the way this builds, and the way you end it (with an almost a capella final chorus, YES!) – you’ve worked hard on your textural variety and it’s a joy to hear. Be slightly careful with the added thunder rumbles – the mix isn’t quite right with them, they’re too prominent, and I would have liked the final notes to continue reverberating over the final thunder roll. Be careful too with your diction on the ends of words, and you just get away with your vocal positioning in the mix here (you’ve moved it back a bit again, don’t lose the confidence in your vocal ability to be more to the fore, it got a little muddy in places here). One final question, what is the backing vocal saying behind the chorus? (It is three distinctive sounds so it sounds like it should be a word, but there’s no hard sound so then it doesn’t… it somehow ends up detracting as I give it too much attention trying to work it out.)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>1 – Tunes by LJ: Morning Water</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Wow, this is a beautiful response that really moved me. It did need your song bio to get the full impact (to realise the morning/mourning change), but the combination of morning ablutions and the grief induced night-time drinking is not only clever, it’s also touching. I like the sparse intro and the way this builds and I love the transition into the chorus. The layered vocals are beautiful. Please pay more attention to your diction (not something I’ve mentioned to you before, but really noticeable here), eg ‘nourishmen[t]’, goble[t]… and the chorus really sounds like you are singing ‘fall’ not ‘flow’. I love the different treatments you give to each ‘flow’ in the chorus, which I hear especially well on headphones (though without them, I only noticed it on the fourth line each time), and the hint of water trickling is a lovely subtle touch. Generally, the production has been given such attention here, but I do question the drums – they do not have the naturalness that so much else here does and it makes them stand out uncomfortably. A small gripe in an otherwise brilliant song.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span><p></p>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2809231066058459051.post-12693236735594861512023-10-15T23:45:00.003-04:002023-10-15T23:45:33.269-04:00ST21.3 Reviews and Rankings - Evermind<p>Here are rankings from Evermind:</p><p><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="43"></col><col width="164"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tunes By LJ"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Tunes By LJ</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Phlub"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Phlub</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Jim Tyrrell"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Jim Tyrrell</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Pannacotta Army"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Pannacotta Army</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Sober"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Sober</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">6</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Stacking Theory"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Stacking Theory</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">7</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"The Dutch Widows"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">The Dutch Widows</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Glennny"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Glennny</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">9</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hot Pink Halo"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Hot Pink Halo</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Jealous Brother"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Jealous Brother</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">11</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Cavedwellers"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Cavedwellers</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"GFS"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">GFS</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":13}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">13</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Pigfarmer Jr"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Pigfarmer Jr</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Read on for Evermind's reviews!<span></span></b></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><b>General Advice:</b></p><p>Bass guitar treatment - My favorite technique for keeping the dynamic sound of a bass guitar while keeping the low end intact at all times is to use a multiband compressor (such as the free ReaXComp in the ReaPlugs package) to compress everything below 125-200Hz aggressively (adjust crossover freq to where there are only bass notes, no fret noise or pick or pluck sounds, 8:1 ratio is a good starting point) and then apply much lighter compression to everything above the low end (somewhere between 1.5:1 and 4:1 depending on how much you want the bass guitar to feature in the song) so you get all the character of the bass guitar and it feels dynamic without the low end ever dropping out.</p><p>---</p><p><b>Stacking Theory - Slowly Disappear</b></p><p>I like the concept you've chosen, relating trash on the sidewalk to growing old and discouraged. It's a universal struggle, everyone ages, very relatable.</p><p>The song is very minimalist, a very on-grid instrumental with spoken word; we go almost two minutes before we get anything more than one chord every two bars and beat poet style poetry. We have some ear candy periodically to keep us going before we get to anything with real substance but not enough to keep my interest. I think this song might be a lot better paced if you gave the tempo a big bump, but you might lose the melancholy feel of it.</p><p>some really great bits of lyric like this one: "that was built for the days that we worshipped CRTs / a clean line defines where the screen used to be"</p><p>You could have compressed or limited the vocals a little more, sometimes they get a bit loud suddenly and it's jarring.</p><p>Sound treament wise, the piano seems a bit artificial and it takes away from what wants to be a more intimate feeling song. I can highly recommend grabbing a copy of "Isolation Piano - Tubes and Tape" from Pianobook for free, along with the free sampler engine DecentSampler. You might also try treating the piano with something like a subtle filter LFO or phaser or flanger to make it feel more dynamic. You might also try some saturation, like with the wonderful and free ChowTapeModel.</p><p>---</p><p><b>Hot Pink Halo - Gold</b></p><p>Your concept is exactly the sort of thing I had hoped to see out of this challenge. Two things that I could not even venture a guess at connecting without your explanation; after the explanation, it makes perfect sense why they're connected. Moreover, you've made a compelling statement about how those bigoted against immigrants often benefit from the culture and labor of those immigrants.</p><p>The vocal cadence is very centered around downbeats. Everything hits the downbeats, and when there's a lot of syllables to get through, you use the offbeats too, but it's very much four-on-the-floor for the whole song, it feels very static and devoid of groove.</p><p>Lots of pitchiness and timing issues with the vocals.</p><p>Buzzy fret noise from the bass, such as at 0:58. If you're pressing your finger halfway between two frets, you have to exert a lot more force to get the string to solidly contact the fret. If you are right behind the fret (as in, slightly off the fret toward the headstock but finger not touching the fret) you can exert enough pressure to keep the string from bouncing off the fret and making that buzzy sitar-like sound with far less effort.</p><p>Bass guitar kind of disappears from the mix at times. See General Advice section for fixing this.</p><p>---</p><p><b>GFS - Falling Down</b></p><p>The concept of rain personified is a kind of interesting one, but incorporating all challenges cumulatively as well is ambitious!</p><p>I can see that you wrote verses 1 and 2 to follow a common form and rhyme scheme, but then you abandon those in verse 3.</p><p>This seems to maybe follow the same pop formula as Vertical Vision, but it doesn't suit this song as well; for instance, the overly breathy and vibrato vocals with heavy use of vocal fry feel overly dramatic for this song.</p><p>The hi-hat rolls feel extremely chaotically panned, I find it distracting. I don't mind the trappings of trap music in pop, though, that juxtaposition is kind of cool. Maybe slow the autopanner down a bit.</p><p>Audio dropouts at 1:20 and 2:01, this can happen during rendering when your CPU is overstressed (which from your song bio sounds like it was the case). I think I remember you run a studio so you probably already know this and this is an artifact of rushing to meet the deadline, but in case you don't (and for the benefit of others who may read this) bouncing tracks with lots of plugins to a new track and muting or taking the original track offline should drastically reduce the CPU usage and help prevent dropouts like these from occurring. You can also reduce your CPU usage by using effects buses (may be called "aux" or "send" effects in your choice of DAW) instead of an instance of the same plugin on multiple tracks (may be called "insert" effects).</p><p>I don't see how this song fulfills this round's challenge at all.</p><p>---</p><p><b>Pannacotta Army - Elephant</b></p><p>The "elephant in the room" is a pretty common idiom, so I'm not wild about this take on the challenge, not exactly "unexpected". Going back to our conversation about the challenge, I think if you told me climate change is like an elephant I could put two and two together. You've made an earnest attempt at tackling the challenge, though, so you get *some* points for the challenge.</p><p>Your bossa nova esque style suits the subject matter of people being extremely casual and lackadaisical about climate change as well as just being fun and enjoyable.</p><p>HUUUUUGE smile EQ on this, low end and high end are both overly hot but especially the low end. This makes the shaker and some sibilances stand out a really significant amount.</p><p>Vocal delivery and arrangement are great for the bossa nova esque style you have going.</p><p>Performance is great, everything is timed and tuned properly.</p><p>---</p><p><b>Cavedwellers - Elevator Pitch</b></p><p>My best guess at how you attempted to meet the challenge is to have two vocal parts that fit together to form one by the end of the song. I don't think that an engineer with an idea and a venture capitalist are unrelated, and I don't think the merged parts actually make any sense together. I'll give you a point for the idea though.</p><p>Before I listened to this the second or third time, I didn't get that there were two different chorus parts that merge in the end. I don't think either part is particularly satisfying or memorable by itself, and we spend a good bit of time getting to the combined version as it's the final double chorus. You've also sacrificed the repetition that contributes to the hookiness of a hook by making it so the chorus section is not repetitious until the double chorus at the end. I don't honestly have a good suggestion for how you could have done this idea more justice.</p><p>Guitars are too loud and drums too quiet.</p><p>----</p><p><b>Phlub - War Dawgs</b></p><p>I like that you've chosen to juxtapose two things, rather than draw some kind of logical connection between them. I didn't expect a sort of idea mashup for the challenge but it's cool.</p><p>I think there's a lot to unpack about dogs being trained for active combat scenarios, and what we get here seems to approach commentary, mentioning some pretty intense and scary things like finding IEDs and dead bodies, and kind of glosses over them. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be its own commentary, but it kind of ends up being default positive and comes across like propaganda.</p><p>Shades of The White Stripes in the guitar solo.</p><p>Kick drum is anemic and in my left ear. Don't make me tap the "bass instruments go in the center" sign.</p><p>The vocal delivery is great. Stellar. Really really works. So is the guitar tone.</p><p>Mixing is boomy. Too much low end.</p><p>---</p><p><b>Jim Tyrrell - Salt</b></p><p>Two peoples' lives diverging and meeting again is not really "unrelated" since they started out linked, and remained linked (considering he ended up in your narrator's songs).</p><p>Still, the story is compelling and I like the bit about nothing growing where the admiral was buried because of how much salt is in him. It's a great bit of lyric.</p><p>Everything is distant and buried in room noise, which I'm sure you already know. Sounds like a single source in a noisy room, and if that's all you had to work with for this round, I get it.</p><p>According to your song bio, you took a live recorded song and layered onto it in a more controlled environment, but this is tough because you're stuck with the sound of the space you recorded in reverb-wise, especially if your mic was not up close and personal with the instruments. Layering on tracks recorded in a different space is a tough ask: things are just going to sound like they're in a different space.</p><p>Performance wise, this all sounds good, everything is on time and it sounds like it was a good show.</p><p>---</p><p><b>Dutch Widows - When the Storm Starts to Rise</b></p><p>Storms and domestic violence are relatively unrelated things, though their connection is not exactly unexpected, even if you haven't heard "garth brooks' the thunder rolls" which already made this connection.</p><p>I like that your arrangement changes as you return to previous sections, bringing the overall energy up as we go along.</p><p>I'm not wild about some of the pacing of the lines, it often feels rushed because you've got such dense lyrics you're trying to fit into the lines, like "I'm so helpless if nobody else can hear".</p><p>The hook and the countermelody are super satisfying.</p><p>The tremolo is maybe a little too deep. I'm getting Cri-i-i-i-mson and Clo-o-o-o-ve-e-e-er.</p><p>Your vocal delivery is underwhelming on the more intense parts; a song about such an intense and stressful topic demands a bit more energy and emotion than we are getting.</p><p>The vocals are pitchy at times.</p><p>The low strings (cello?) have too much low end to be panned to the sides as they are. they also sound a bit nasal, which may be the sample library you used or may be EQ treatment. It also feels kind of artificial for some reason I can't put my finger on.</p><p>The rumbly thunder sfx throughout the song muddy everything up. They should fade out quicker, or be ducked out of the way of the actual song.</p><p>There are "pumping and breathing" artifacts from overzealous compression or limiting, noticeable especially around 0:58 - 1:05.</p><p>---</p><p><b>Glennny - Platypus</b></p><p>A platypus is really only one thing, but a duck and a beaver are two things that are sort of connected via platypus, so sure, why not?</p><p>Some lyrical choices seem made solely to make rhymes that are perfect or close to perfect at the cost of making sense, like "some call you a quack" and "I've got a feeling I can't dissuade".</p><p>One of the "do do do"s at 0:13 sounds off-key and at 0:17 they are off-time. Time stretching or punch n roll recording might help, or you can turn to a tool like Vocalign or Reaper's ReaPack's Align Tracks. </p><p>Bass guitar kind of disappears from the mix at times. See General Advice section for fixing this.</p><p>---</p><p><b>pfjr - falling down</b></p><p>I wouldn't have guessed the connection between the pothole and the house but the connection you've drawn feels somewhat tenuous.</p><p>Feels a little too tell and not enough show, lines like "Tired of feeling used and abused / I'm crumbling away at the edges" pale in comparison to much stronger lines like "No woman I know would live in this house"</p><p>Audio stutter at :26.</p><p>From :35 to :42 or so the panned acoustic guitars aren't well aligned and it's distracting.</p><p>Kick drum feels anemic, there's not much weight to it.</p><p>You've got a bit of waver in your vocal delivery. Considering it's a song about metaphorically falling apart that's not terrible, but you don't really *sound* like you're falling apart other than that, so it doesn't come across as intentional.</p><p>---</p><p><b>Tunes by LJ - Morning Water</b></p><p>Water moving through the body and processing grief are pretty unexpected to relate to one another, and it works.</p><p>The smoothest song involving peeing that I've ever heard.</p><p>You mention in your song bio that your lyrics are meant to convey a vibe primarily, but there is definitely progression here. Water in the morning, booze at night, urinate the next morning, we go somewhere!</p><p>I award you Highest Dynamic Range. You're not afraid to have quiet sections, and your chill style allows you a lot of room for that.</p><p>The performance and production is mostly immaculate but that sidestick sticks out really far and some of the plosives in the vocal stacks don't quite hit at the same time. Not enough to ding you any points, but worth mentioning.</p><p>---</p><p><b>Sober - Cheap Wine and Expensive Beer</b></p><p>Reminds me a lot of your song Kintsugi from a few Spintunes back, though with enough differences that it is its own song.</p><p>I don't think wine and beer are at all unrelated, but you have at least connected and compared the two things, so you get a point in the challenge category.</p><p>I think the choruses are strong, but the verses kinda feel like you're reiterating the sentiment of the chorus in more words while clarifying you don't mean any offense to the people who like cheap beer (a real concern in the country music crowd to be fair) or expensive wine. I think there's more to be explained about why you (or at least your song's narrator) thinks expensive beer is worth it but expensive wine isn't.</p><p>All that said, it's an enjoyable song and drinking songs aren't really designed to be complex masterpieces with deep and nuanced sentiments. They're meant to be fun and easy to sing loudly and drunkenly when the chorus comes along, and your chorus nails that.</p><p>---</p><p><b>Jealous Brother - Guitar Picks and Nail Clippers</b></p><p>I personally relate guitar picks and nail clippers (the guitarist for my band in high school used nail clippers to trim guitar strings and ruined all the nail clippers in my house) but I think it's fair to say the average person would not likely see much of a relation between those two things and I am judging accordingly.</p><p>However, I don't think you've really connected the two in any significant way. If I swap out "nail clippers" for something else like "paper clips" nothing is lost from the song. While there's one line of the song where it is mentioned that the narrator's wife complains that the narrator never cuts his nails, I'm not seeing a connection to anything from that.</p><p>I like how you illustrate some details in subtle ways, like "I heard we had a fight".</p><p></p><p>I like the structure of the song and the little instrumental in-betweeners. Some good contrast and dynamic range between sections.</p>SpinTunes Contesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323426356442346223noreply@blogger.com0