ST17.3 Reviews and Rankings - Guest Judge Brian Gray

This round, our faithful group of judges is joined by the talented tunesmith, loquacious lyricist, and mellifluous melodist, SpinTunes 12 Champion Brian Gray. Brian's rankings will be equally weighted along with the rest of the judging panel. Here's what Brian has to say:

==

Hello!

Hi, I’m Brian. Long-time SpinTuner, but I haven’t been as involved lately as I used to be, so some of you new people may not know me. Not that there’s all that much to know: I make music sometimes, and sometimes I judge music.

When I do judge, I really try to keep the judging to the song itself. Even with respect to the challenge, I generally use that as a gate; once you’re not disqualified, how good is your song? In an ideal world, I’d receive sheet music and chord charts with lyrics written below the notes. But not only is that not realistic, it’s REALLY not realistic to think I can judge a song without knowing the arrangement. So when I give feedback on your production or voice or facility with instruments, I probably didn’t factor that into the ranking. But when I comment on your arrangement, I’m telling you that the arrangement makes me receive the song a certain way, either to its credit or detriment, and that counts.

If you’re interested, here’s the most recent song I wrote. It’s about a school kid who wants to be popular: https://briangray.bandcamp.com/track/popular-table

Rankings:

1. Also in Blue - Mr. Alarm
2. Sober - Until the Page is Torn
3. Jon Porobil - Boomerang (Viv & Hannah) (feat. Mo Ouyang)
4. Ominous Ride - La Minimal
5. Good Guy Sôjàbé - Deified
6. EmKayDeeBee - In Words Drown I
7. Jealous Brother - Dumb muD
8. See-Man-Ski - Never Odd Or Even
9. Vom Vorton - Won't Lovers Revolt Now
10. rackwagon - Backwards in Heels
11. Hot Pink Halo - I Hear The Roar
12. Cavedwellers - Fun E nuF
13. David G. Harrington - Was it a Rat I Saw?
14. The Dutch Widows - A Wapiti

Reviews:

David G. Harrington - Was it a Rat I Saw?

Praise:

• Great use of dynamic range and stereo spectrum; very full production
• I like how you jump out boldly to link the minor and relative major, establishing that you’re playing in this space with the bVII; it’s a fun harmonic place to be

Criticism:

• The verses and chorus are the same
• like “Born in the USA”, so you’re in good company, but this structure carries responsibilities
• The frenetic pace gets exhausting when there’s no let up
• Perhaps in the verses, in addition to cutting the horns and backup vocals, also take the drums down with tighter hi-hat on 16th notes and rimshot snare, introduce a pad (phased?), and use your voice to set a different mood.
• The bridge is too late in the song to serve as a mental break from the repetition
• Just plain too long for its content. 5 minutes is not where you want to land when you’re repeating phrases like “what price are we/you willing to pay” and asking 4 different people if their fame was worth a shorter lifespan.

See-Man-Ski - Never Odd Or Even

Praise:

• Like the 3-4 measure groupings; matches well with the odd-even theme and keeps the listener off-guard
• Nice harmonic space. Are you in Am? Maybe, but then that Em leading to the F begs to differ. Maybe C, and you just don’t resolve to the tonic? Lends the song even more of an unsteady feel. But then you go to C for the chorus, and we get the resolution at a point when the lyrics suggest we shouldn’t have one.
• Good or bad? Is the mismatch intended? The song gives an answer to accompany the resolution, but the answer is itself uncertain.
• Your arrangement and choice of instrumentation is on point, you clearly grasp what needs to provide a percussive effect, what should be a smooth pad, etc. Although…
• I have really good headphones. I can hear that super low beat-3 bass note. Most people probably can’t hear that, might want to think about taking it (or doubling) up an octave.
• Certain parts are clearly default software instruments, but I’m the last person who would have standing to criticize someone for that. Anyway, I’m here to judge your songwriting, not how much money you spent on instruments or your ability to play every instrument in your song personally (nice guitar in the pre-chorus though).

Criticism:

• The chorus feels like there’s too much air between words. Maybe more words, maybe just a more legato singing style or a melody that ranges farther afield? Not sure. But you can add harmonies to “odd or even”, then drop out the drums in “It won’t complete you” to highlight the line and give it anticipation for the next verse.
• Also, consider muddying up that last “you” with a less resolved chord like an Am9

rackwagon - Backwards in Heels

Praise:

• Hey, my wife and I recently saw Swing Time! Great film.
• Nice choice on the palindromic rhyme scheme in the verses
• Pretty depressing central theme: dust -> dance -> dust, and the dance isn’t even your own invention. I dig darkness.

Criticism:

• Not a fan of lampshading a metaphor; show don’t tell:
• I’m the heretofore. I’m every girl who runs at twelve for a foot in the door.
• A fair number of the songs in this round fail to separate the chorus from the verse and raise the energy level sufficiently. Sometimes it’s just production (which I’m trying not to judge heavily), and you get about halfway there with the drums and echoing, but for this one I’m thinking the songwriting itself could have done some heavy lifting. That piano transition could so easily have been one that changes key. Maybe you simply jump up to the relative major, or maybe go another, more difficult way.

EmKayDeeBee - In Words Drown I

Praise:

• Mixed triplets among a straight base-4 matrix
• Harmonies so close to being that kind where you can’t even tell which line is the melody. I’ve always liked this, still looking for a song of my own in which to use it.
• Great arrangement and instrumentation, very natural. Almost like you’re from a part of the world where this style of music is easy to find.

Criticism:

• I’ll admit I have no idea what this song is about. It has the aura of one of those songs where once you’re let in on the secret you’re like “oh of course! It all fits together now!” But maybe not? So many of the lyrics were chosen because they’re palindromes (wolf/flow, war/row, etc.). Nonsense? Or sense?
• Ok, I’m back, having read your song bio. It… sort of makes sense now, as much as it possibly could given the nature of the challenge and the limits it imposes on your lyrical expression.

Good Guy Sôjàbé - Deified

Praise:

• Starting strong with that palindrome in the guitar lead-in!
• Amazing lyric construction, pairing up 5 lines and mirroring them like that. And they work!
• I almost never give points for “how well” a song meets the challenge; it either meets it or not, then I judge the songwriting. But you definitely get a multiplier here for degree of difficulty.

Criticism:

• Impressed, but less a fan of the strict word-based mirroring in the “All my giving…” section. At this point the wording gets clunky in a way that’s probably unavoidable with this style. I go back and forth on this, because it’s so damn clever (the second half answers the question posed in the first), but having to dip into Yoda speak to make it work lands awkwardly. It may simply not be possible to do this gracefully.

Vom Vorton - Won't Lovers Revolt Now

Praise:

• Such a tragedy! Why won’t one of them just call?
• Great use of the bridge/break to separate 1st half from 2nd; keeps it from getting tedious
• I appreciate the planning using the ABAB rhyme scheme so that you’d be BABA on the other end and it still rhymes

Criticism:

• Kind of a nitpick, but the drinking line is such a tautology, was there no other way to get it done? I get the mood and meaning, but… I don’t know, like maybe:
• Drinking over impact can impact over-drinking (dunno, that’s not that great either)

Jealous Brother - Dumb muD

Praise:

• Great, authentic feel
• You do a better job than most at creating a new feel for the chorus section, it pops

Criticism:

• Kind of wish you’d explained a bit in your bio; having a difficult time discerning the meaning. In my imagination the bones underneath the home and the dead men who tell no tales are your ancestors, symbolizing a generational rooting to the area, and why the narrator is stuck and can’t leave. But I could be making all of this up to try to sound smart.

Also in Blue - Mr. Alarm

Praise:

• Dude, this is great.
• Other entrants used the structure where the lines go backward in the second half, but they didn’t perform them over a whole new set of music that introduces different modalities but still feels like the same song

Criticism:

• No much to criticize, except perhaps a more consistent message. Is the alarm good things ending? Or is it comfort? I’m trying to decide if the ticking represents my not having to worry about waking up late, or a threat to rob me of my sweet dreams.
• Of course it could be both, and probably that’s the intent, but the true stroke of genius would be when the lines go backwards the meaning changes from one to the other, from the first half of the song to the second.
• I’ve said this in many other reviews here: what I’m thinking of may not even be possible. Just noodle on it for a few more weeks and let me know, k?

Cavedwellers - Fun E nuF

Praise:

• This song sounds great; the opening chorused guitars in partial counterpoint, the harmonies, excellent production
• The chords and harmonic movement show purpose, progressing from section to section in a way that moves the song forward.

Criticism:

• The actual message of the song just doesn’t land for me. It’s a simple one and appropriate for a song, which I think is why I need to hear it approached sideways. Some other phrase or metaphor that could mean something else but then is revealed to be the main message, that this person (romantic? friend?) is incompatible with the rest of the people in your life. There’s just no hook, from where I sit; it’s too on the nose.

The Dutch Widows - A Wapiti

Praise:

• You draw in the listener immediately with that intro! And leading with forwards/backwards creates an immediate mystery and makes me want to find out where you’re going.

Criticism:

• You decision to cram in as many palindromes as you can is ambitious, but of course you end up with nonsense. Now, a nonsense song can be great, but I think it needs a reason to be nonsense. Weird Al for example did just this, but never said anything about palindromes; he just made a nonsense song sound like Bob Dylan to parody how difficult it is to understand what he’s saying (like verse 3 of “Smells Like Nirvana”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUQDzj6R3p4
• Not that I’m dinging you for not being Weird Al, that would be immensely unfair. Just that there should be some other kind of layering to a song like this

Hot Pink Halo - I Hear The Roar

Praise:

• Brave, maintaining a purely instrumental arrangement for a minute and a half! I wonder if other judges will mark down for this, but I love it!
• The metaphor likewise comes through just fine; there are few words, but why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?

Criticism:

• That said, you should sink into the metaphor more deeply. I feel none of it in the music. Structurally, it could wind through mode and key changes, then unwind to complete the palindrome. Technically, you could reverb it up to make it feel closed in and lost. Don’t limit yourself to telling your story only through lyrics.

Ominous Ride - La Minimal

Praise:

• Your bio is too harsh. Yes, the technical attempt to mirror your words in stanzas stands zero chance of sounding natural. But in your case, and contrary to some other songs here, they sound “song-y”. You know, that not-natural that we’ve been conditioned to hear as valid song lyrics. So good on you, or as good as it could have been given the circumstances.

Criticism:

• The arrangement and chords start to sound droning and lack punch or variety. If this were cooking, it would be a fat-heavy dish like a chili, without acid notes to stab through the fat and brighten it up. Maybe bringing forward the higher guitars and de-fuzzing them somewhat? Not sure, I’m not really an expert here. The stripped down part about 2:30 in with the chorused guitars does some of the work here, but comes in too late. There could have been some of this style at the beginning.

Jon Porobil - Boomerang (Viv & Hannah) (feat. Mo Ouyang)

Praise:

• Excellent depth on the musicality. The guitar voicings as well as the single line of… I want to say some kind of horn? – add 6ths and 7ths and options to the song that do something other than just present the strongest possible resolution to everything. This subtlety contributes very nicely to a nostalgic mood. And the major II to resolve the chorus? What??

Criticism:

• It’s a simple story, a classic one, with music that supports the mood. So I would suggest maybe it’s longer than it needs to be. Four minutes is not too long for a song, but you risk losing your listener. Is there some way to tighten up the lyrics and eliminate a stanza each in the first and second half?

Sober - Until the Page is Torn

Praise:

• Treating the challenge in part as a push to put palindromes in the chord progressions works amazingly with this style of music. It keeps it simple by necessity, but simple is appropriate here because the story is both simple and classic. So many relationships falter, and remembering why and how they started is a natural way to strip down all the bullshit that happened since then.

Criticism:

• No notes! I’m writing this before ranking, so if you don’t end up #1, it won’t be because there was some flaw that I couldn’t get past. It would be because some other song added something special that put it over the top.
• Ok ok, you twisted my arm. How about varying the feel more at the “If sticking to the form” part? That’s a great place to keep your listener engaged by giving them something different, a few lines before you actually do so at “Don’t be afraid”.

ST17.3 Reviews and Rankings - Micah Sommersmith

When we proposed the palindrome challenge, we very purposefully offered a wide range of interpretations, hopeful that it would spur your creativity and result in a diverse group of songs.

You did not disappoint. The quality in this round is incredible. Since I don’t have to rank anyone, my reviews are presented in album order.

David G Harrington - Was it a Rat I Saw

You’ve got a solid concept and good lyrics, although your engagement with palindromes appears to be limited to the title hook (my band All the Robots did the same thing, but we’re not in the running).

Your voice is in fine form, and the individual musical elements - the bass, the drums, the horn stabs, etc - are all great, although the energy really does not let up at all from section to section; across nearly 5 minutes it gets wearying. Ease up the intensity on the verses and the bridge so that the chorus can pump us back up.

See-Man-Ski - Never Odd Or Even

Your lyrics are great and your voice is in fine form, controlled and confident while also displaying a lot of emotion.

There are a lot of musical choices I am less fond of. The piano, especially in the beginning before the other instruments come in, feels very stiff: chords hammered on each downbeat with little dynamic variation or expression. When it’s a supporting character within the full band sound, that’s less of a problem but it doesn’t make it much fun to listen to on its own.

There is a lot of empty space in the vocal melody, especially in the chorus: “Life… is never… odd… or even” gets tiring to listen to, especially as it uses that E-D interval so much. The second half of the chorus, where you go higher and display some cool melismas, makes for a welcome change, but more variety in the core melody would be welcome. 

rackwagon - Backwards in Heels

There are some fantastic instrumental choices here - chiefly the guitars, including the crunchy riffs during and after the chorus, and the gated chords on the downbeats in the verses.

The backing vocals are cool in theory, but mostly end up muddying the texture and making the lead vocal more difficult to understand. I’m not sure if that’s an arrangement flaw or a mixing flaw, but it doesn’t quite work.

The lyrics are good, if perhaps a bit oblique. Your point comes across but it takes some work to get there.

EmKayDeeBee - In Words Drown I

Here’s a great example of a cool initial idea - the sort-of palindromic “‘E moored in the lap of a palindrome” - suggesting a specific musical flavor - sea shanty - and I’m glad that you went for it. The fiddle and harp are fantastic, and the melodic and harmonic choices are just right for the style.

“I will say it again / Again it say will I” is a ton of fun to sing along to, if syntactically dubious at best. Your choice to add vocal harmony on this section and the repeating “‘E moored in the lap of a palindrome” is the right one, but I feel like you should go all out with raucous group vocals here. Additionally, the block chords from the pianorgan and the rather stiff snare drum mean that this song doesn’t quite have the rhythmic drive that it should - I think it would benefit a lot from either a strummed string instrument (guitar, mandolin, etc) or more percussion (bodhrain, tambourine, shaker, etc), at least in certain parts.

Good Guy Sôjàbé - Deified

I get the lyrical theme of betrayal by someone held in high regard, but the details are very sketchy. I suppose that’s alright. The line-unit palindromic form of the verses doesn’t seem to add much: each line stands on its own already, so presenting them again in reverse order doesn’t really change their meaning or convey anything new.

The word-unit palindrome of the chorus is a mixed bag: “Riddle this to answer the call / Call the answer to this riddle” is solid; “All my giving, was it wasted? / Wasted it was, giving my all” less so, not helped by the odd vocal phrasing of the last line.

You pull off the musical palindromes with more success; the guitar riffs are catchy and feel natural in both directions; likewise the chord progression of the chorus. The verses and chorus sag a bit, while the bridge feels manic. For me, the energy level never quite settles where it feels like it should be.

Vom Vorton - Won't Lovers Revolt Now

“Won’t lovers revolt now” is a great line, and you do a great job of constructing the song around it, but the delivery of the line itself leaves much to be desired. It could have been a rousing anthemic hook. It could have been a plaintive cry. It could have been an ironic smirk. Or… I guess it could have been four staccato shouts, rhythmically isolated from each other, and isolated from the rest of the song by an extended instrumental section. I won’t tell you that choice is wrong, but it does seem almost calculated to annoy me the most.

The production is, to me, strongly reminiscent of You in Reverse-era Built to Spill, which I enjoy, although like much of that album, this does feel longer than it needs to be (again, that middle instrumental section is mainly to blame). The melodica section is fantastic, as is the lift at the end of the verse stanzas (e.g. on the word “hall”).

Jealous Brother - Dumb muD

The palindromic acrostic is a brilliant idea - exactly what we meant in the challenge when we said “Maybe you'll come up with some form of palindrome we haven't thought of!”

Your palindromic guitar solo and riffs are tasty; it appears you disregarded rhythm as a necessarily repeating element in favor of pitch alone. This is a perfectly valid choice and made these parts feel natural rather than contrived.

The vocals are strong; near the end of the song at 3:16 you jump up on the last repetition of “Cause we’re stuck in the dumb mud” that’s much less controlled than the rest of the vocals.

Also in Blue - Mr. Alarm

This song is just a delight, and a nice display of the more light-hearted end of your emotional range. I love how the beginning of the second half of the lyrics is treated musically as the bridge - there’s a satisfying variation in the music even as the lyrics are repeated.

My only complaints about this are that the acoustic guitar palindromic riff is not quite rhythmically nailed down, and I can hear where it’s been cut-and-pasted; and that I think the organ solo in the middle goes on for just a bit too long.

Cavedwellers - Fun E nuF

I fully expected you to deliver a quality song with this prompt, and on the whole you didn’t disappoint. The rhythmic and melodic palindromes are tasty: natural-sounding enough that you can sit back and enjoy them, with the added bonus of rewarding closer listening. I appreciate the phonetic palindrome of the title, which almost no one else did, as well as the ABCBA rhyme scheme.

The lyrics are mostly perfectly straightforward - maybe even more so than the typical Cavedwellers tune - which makes the letter-unit palindromes stick out as unnatural. “The strap parts in fits and starts” is particularly head-scratching, but even “You jump off the line like a race car” is, I think, not the phrase you would have chosen had you not been trying to shoehorn in more palindromes.

The Dutch Widows - A Wapiti

“I tip away a wapiti” is a really delightful palindrome, and it makes for an exquisite chorus hook. In fact, the melodies throughout the entire song are great, and if one doesn’t pay any attention to the lyrics (which is a perfectly valid way to listen to music), this song is a blast. The vocal delivery is on point, the guitars are tasty, and the arrangement packs a punch.

When you do pay attention to the lyrics, things are less compelling as you realize that there’s very little thematic connective tissue holding it all together. At least it’s consistent, as your non-palindromic lyrics seem to make about as little sense as your palindromic ones. (I really want “Monotony in selflessness / I have neither grace nor experience / Assuming that will make me no braver” to mean something to me, but alas I’m coming up empty.)

Again, the song is very easy to enjoy, but as a songwriter I chafe at the relentlessly nonsensical lyrics. A life in palindromics is mighty but moronic, indeed. Maybe the song was a brilliant meta-commentary on itself all along, in which case the joke is on me.

Hot Pink Halo - I Hear The Roar

A walk through a garden labyrinth is calm and meditative. Theseus’s walk through the Labyrinth of Crete was a matter of life or death. You’ve managed to capture a bit of the feeling of both with your song - the instrumental suggests a compelling balance of turbulence and calm.

I would not have made the connection between palindromes and labyrinths but it’s a brilliant one. I appreciate a set of spare, carefully-chosen lyrics. I want more of a sense of portent at the Minotaur line - it’s the hinge of the whole song and the only line that’s not repeated, but it doesn’t have the sense of a turning point. It could be a more compelling vocal melody, some extra instrumentation, vocal harmony… it feels like something extra there, for the ending of the song to then return from, would drive home the in-and-back feeling of the song.

Ominous Ride - La Minimal

You know how sometimes you’ll see an image online that appears to be a macro photograph of, like, water droplets on skin or something, and you think, “That’s pretty cool”, and then you look at the caption that says “This is a pencil drawing” and you’re like “WHAAAAAAAA…???”? This song is kind of like that.

The trademark Ominous Ride atmospheric production and vocals are on full display here, to great effect. The lyrics don’t seem to mean a whole lot, but they sound natural and flow easily. It all adds up to a great listen. Then you examine the lyrics and notice the palindromic structure of every stanza, and you’re like “WHAAAAAAAA…???”

I mean, yes, semantically the lyrics are a brick wall, but syntactically they are gleaming gossamer threads of beauty. It’s a testament to the flexibility of the English language, in which so many words can serve as multiple parts of speech, and changes in word order result in different but equally valid constructions; and it’s a testament to your cleverness in fully taking advantage of these qualities of the language. I mean, the fact that you embedded rhymes in there! And lines like “I trust that all is good” / “What good is all that trust” - “Trust” is a verb and a noun! “Good” is a noun and an adjective! “That” is an adjective and a conjunction! Seriously, people, look at this language we have! Look at what Ominous Ride has done with it!

Jon Porobil - Boomerang (Viv & Hannah) (feat. Mo Ouyang)

I love the story here, how it features the palindromic idea of leaving and returning. This is a great interpretation of the challenge, even if some others went for flashier, more impressive takes.

I love the specific details of the lyrics (Bloomberg News!), and the opening stanzas expertly thread the “appropriate amount of teenage horniness” needle.

I haven’t always loved your higher range singing, but here it’s controlled and confident and it works well for the song. My four-year-old asked if it was a boy or a girl singing, which I offer as a compliment but you can take however you like.

The brass falls into the uncanny valley for me, but otherwise the arrangement is beautiful. The “come back baby back” hook is instantly catchy, and there are lots of other great musical moments throughout. The “boomerang baby” interjections during the fadeout feel out of character with the rest of the song.

The “pool ABBA loop” line is a bit too cute - the song’s story is compelling on its own and its effectiveness is undercut by serving as the setup for an awkward punchline. Sometimes a song outgrows its initial inspiration and needs to leave it behind, and I think this is one of those times.

Sober - Until the Page is Torn

In religious literature, palindromic structures are often used to indicate completeness or permanence. I’m getting something of that sense in this song, which depicts two people weathering some kind of “storm” - amid the uncertainty, the only thing that is certain is the relationship itself - “Cause I'll be here from the end until we begin.” While the details are sketchy, the emotional core is communicated perfectly well through the choice of words, the structure, and the musical choices.

Speaking of musical choices, those palindromic banjo and mandolin riffs are great. They’re not particularly complex, but they are idiomatic to the instruments and the style, making them more pleasant to listen to (and probably more fun to play) than something more purposefully clever would be.

My only real complaint about this song is that there’s some rhythmic uncertainty in the second verse, in places like “It’s all I can think to do / Back to the beginning with you”. It sounds like you conceived the melody to go with the forward verse, and parts of the backward verse feel a bit shoehorned in.

Menage a Tune - Looking For Fairies

This is lovely. The pitch- and tempo-shifted harp still sounds great. The audio samples are used to great effect, and you capture a bittersweet memory. Nice job.

Cybronica - Serenade

I’m a little surprised that no one else attempted the full-song audio palindrome, though after all it is an obscene amount of work, as I’m sure you discovered.

You wisely let your voice take center stage; it’s lovely whereas the synth patches are a bit cheesy. This song is best enjoyed by sitting back and letting the waves wash over you. Very good stuff.

All the Robots - One Megaton

The line “One megaton did not age me, no” was written by Ryan in 2012 for a different wordplay challenge (it ain’t cheatin’ if you ain’t competin’). Ryan wrote the music and lyrics for the whole song. I supplied accordion and lead vocals and encouraged him to steer into the TMBG “Lucky Ball and Chain” vibe. We had fun.

SpinTunes 17 Round 4 Challenge

This is it, the final round! We will soon receive the judges' Round 3 rankings and learn which four of you will qualify for the final round. But remember: if any of those four fail to make the deadline, an eligible shadow can be promoted. So get to work, everyone!

For the past three rounds, you've done some impressive things with words: you've introduced yourselves, you've looked at familiar stories from new angles, and you've twisted words themselves into new and impressive shapes. You've played a lot with words - and you've played with a lot of words.

But a true craftsperson can achieve just as much with a small handful of tools as with a wide array. When Dr. Seuss was challenged to write a children’s book using only 50 words, the resulting masterpiece was Green Eggs and Ham. If you’re half the wordsmith he was, you should get by just fine using half the words. Right?

Here's your Final Round challenge:

Icosapentalogia: Write a song whose lyrics contain no more than 25 unique words. Each of your ≤ 25 words may be repeated any number of times in any order. Different forms of the same root word count as different words (“run”, “runs”, “ran” and “running” are four different words). Homonym pairs may be counted as a single word as long as both the spelling and pronunciation are identical.

Examples include: 

• “Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime” by the Korgis      
• “Fix Me, Jesus” - traditional Black spiritual 
• “Fly, Robin, Fly” by Silver Convention
• “Hallelujah!” from Messiah by GF Handel 
• “I Don’t Think I’m in Love” by Micah Sommersmith
• “Minimum Wage” by They Might Be Giants
• “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” by Pete Seeger and Joe Hickerson

 

If you include an image to be used as cover art for your track, I'll include it on the Bandcamp album. Otherwise, I'll use the artist photo or logo you sent me when you signed up. Bandcamp album art must be 1400x1400 pixels or larger. I'll crop and re-size it as best I can. If you didn't send me anything, the album art will be displayed.

Also, please remember that the fantastic folks at SongFight have opened a SpinTunes subforum on their message boards. So go there, sign up, and take a look around. SongFight happens year 'round. Music is universal... the more the better.

Submitting Entries:

• Your entry must be received by Sunday, April 25th, 2020 @ 11:59 PM EDT. Otherwise it'll be posted as a shadow. Received means that it has to appear in my e-mail inbox (spintunescontest@gmail.com) by the given deadline. I will be going by the time stamp on the e-mail. One minute late is too late.
• You are allowed and encouraged 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. 
• Lyrics are mandatory. No instrumentals. Having no lyrics will get you disqualified.
• Name your file the your band name + the song's title, but without spaces & punctuation.
• Subject of the e-mail should be the title of the Challenge & your band's name. (e.g. "Icosapentalogia - All the Robots") (The title of your song is whatever you want it to be)
• Include information on anyone that should be credited for collaboration. Remember, collaborations are OK, even among competitors. You must write your song, but if you want to use another vocalist or musicians, do so. Use the Facebook and SongFight forums!
• If you have a BandCamp account, you can just send me a link to your song on BandCamp if you include all the info I mentioned above. Make sure you have it set as a free download. THIS IS THE BEST FILE SHARING OPTION!
• Other file sharing options if you need them: Sound Cloud (set to download a format BandCamp is ok with) & Drop Box. Please send an e-mail as I already stated, but with the download link if you need one of these services. 
• If you're using something other than Bandcamp, It's best if you send your file in a format that Bandcamp accepts (.aiff, .wav or .flac, at least 16-bit/44.1kHz) You can find the specific requirements for Bandcamp files HERE.
• If you send me an MP3, I will attempt to convert it for you. But be warned... I will be strapped for time, and I will post whatever Audacity spits out of the conversion. So if you picked the wrong sample rate, your dulcet tones may wind up sounding like termites or chipmunks or random static. And that is what will be judged. So please... save and submit your files in the right format. 

Side Notes:

• You are allowed to send in a little background about your song. We encourage and appreciate "song bios". You don't have to do it, but if you want to write a couple sentences about your song I'll post it on the BandCamp page for people to see. I'll even link to longer blog posts if you want to explain your song on your blog. Some judges will read this extra info, but they aren't required to.
• You can send in an entry to SpinTunes 17 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 FAQ 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.
• The only other way to get your music played at the LP is to cover "Today's The Day" by Inverse T. Clown.

Feel free to leave any questions in the comments.

JoCo Virtual Cruise Panel - Promptly Challenged

Promptly Challenged: Writing Songs Inspired by a Challenge Prompt
Panel discussion of Singer/Songwriters talking shop on creating music for internet competitions inspired by a Challenge or Prompt. SpinTunes #17 will be the test case. 

Hosted by the JoCo Virtual Cruise - Wednesday, April 14, 9:30 pm EDT. Archived on YouTube here.

Panelists:

Micah Sommersmith has been writing songs since middle school. He won the SpinTunes 14 tournament in 2018 and somehow has now found himself running the dang thing. His other musical activities include choral singing, directing church music, and giving educational programs on global accordion genres.

Listen to Micah's song "Chariot Ride", a shadow entry from SpinTunes 16 Round 1.

Ryan Finholm makes songs and music videos as a founding member of the bands Jerkatorium, Matchy Matchy, Hanky Code, and All The Robots.  Jerkatorium won SpinTunes 13.  If Jerkatorium can do it then you can too; you should give it a try.

Listen to "Center Square" by Jerkatorium, from SpinTunes 13 Round 1.

Brian Gray is a venerable, vunerable gentlebeing who has performed numerous JoCo Cruise concerts, won and judged SpinTunes contests, and also does a mean song about pie. The pie was not amused, and court action is pending.

Listen to Brian's song "Popular Table".

Zoe Gray is a 20 year old singer-songwriter, actress, author, and playwright. She is the winner of SpinTunes #15 and Champion Vs Shadows #1. The daughter and occasional collaborator of SpinTunes champion Brian Gray, Zoe is currently in New York studying drama at NYU Tisch. Areas of interest include homoerotic longing, the occult, and Shakespeare.

Listen to Zoe's song "My Typewriter and Me" from SpinTunes 15 Round 4.

Allan Morgan is a bon vivant and man about town. He's produced hundreds of tunes under the Pop Machine and Boffo Yux Dudes monikers, is a featured player in the new sketch comedy group "Talk to the Ham". Just don't talk to him about swiss cheese. You have been warned.

Listen to "Bully for You" by Boffo Yux Dudes, from SpinTunes 12 Round 1.

Tom Giarrosso has been hosting listening parties for internet music competitions for the last decade. A founding member of the comedy troupe 'Boffo Yux Dudes', he has annoyed hundreds of artists with his request for them to participate in panel discussions. This is no exception.  

SpinTunes 17 Round 3 Songs

Thanks to everyone who joined us at last night's Listening Party, and thanks to Tommy G as always for hosting!

The songs are live now at Bandcamp: hear them all at https://spintunes.bandcamp.com/album/spintunes-17-round-3 or embedded below!

Our delightfully serpentine album art is by Matt Schubbe!

Upcoming schedule:

• Now: Judging commences
• Saturday April 17:
  • 12:01 am Eastern - Final Round challenge posted
  • 4:00 pm Eastern - Round 3 Judges' Reviews and Rankings due.
  • 8:00 pm Eastern - Round 3 Results posted here.

SpinTunes 17 Round 3 Listening Party

Your week of crafting palindromes has come to an end. 12 of 14 entrants submitted by the deadline, leaving two open spots for eligible shadows to fill. Welcome back to the competition, David G Harrington and Hot Pink Halo!

The 14 official entries in Round 3, as well as our shadow entries, will all be played at the Listening Party tonight at 9 pm EDT, hosted by our faithful Tommy G. Drop in, join the chat, and hear the premiere of your and your fellow contestants' songs!

https://youtu.be/qFuoEKxBiEo

SpinTunes 17 Round 2 RESULTS

The Round 2 results are in, and the man who impressed the judges in Round 1 has done it again. Is this unprecedented in SpinTunes history? Maybe, but I don't have time to look it up. Either way, it's impressive. For the second time in a row, the round is won by Sober!

Cavedwellers snagged second place, and Also in Blue repeated last round's performance as well, finishing third again.

The following artists ranked below the cutoff and have been eliminated. Any of them who submit shadow entries for Round 3 will be eligible for shadow reinstatement if a qualifying competitor fails to meet the deadline:

• Boy on the Wall
• David G Harrington
• Melody Klein
• Governing Dynamics
• Lucky Witch & the Righteous Ghost
• Keen Observer
• Dented Bento
• Night Sky
• Hot Pink Halo
• Regis Michelena

Below are the full rankings:

• Guest Judge Dave Leigh's reviews and rankings
• Cybronica's reviews and rankings
• Denise Hudson's rankings
• Jocko Homomorphism's reviews and rankings
• Wil Whalen's reviews and rankings