ST20 Round 2 Results and reviews

[BoffoYux]

ST20.2 Results
An incredibly strong Round 2 is in the books. After tabulating the judges' rankings, we have a winner. Congratulations to Ironbark for taking first place! One point shy of the top spot is Tunes by LJ in second place, and Also In Blue rounds out the podium at third place.

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See-Man-Ski was unable to provide reviews and rankings this week, in his place we have substitute judge Vom Vorton.

Jeff Walker and Simon Purchase James tie on the elimination threshold, and will thus both be moving on.

The following artists scored below the threshold and are eliminated, but still eligible for shadow reinstatement:

Phlub; Sober; Jerkatorium; thanks, brain; James Young; Yeslessness; The Popped Hearts; chewmeupspitmeout; The Evil Genius Formerly Known As Timmy; Hot Pink Halo; Berni Armstrong; "BucketHat" Bobby Matheson; JW Hanberry; Good Niche Gracious

[BoffoYux]

ST20.2 Reviews and Rankings - Kris

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Berni Armstrong - Sleep

Strong word play with the subject manner
Melody became repetitive which while it may sync with the lyrical message makes it a challenge to actively listen and engage with the song across the length
Good flourishes in the third verse


The Pannacotta Army - Moar

Love the spoken word choice
The words hit with the beat
The one word chorus is in sync and does not feel manufactured
There is force and a positioning behind the song which comes through, it holds attention
The melody uses rhythm well to wrap around the words
Not a fan of the transition shift, it felt separate from the rest of the song


Yeslessness - White Feather

Nice harmony on the first chorus, the choice made with the second chorus around the dissonance did not sync
The mixing means it is a strain to clearly hear the words
The messages of the lyrics and the melody are going somewhere strong together but they are not fully developed yet
Throughout the song some of the choices with the layering were not clean


Bubba & The Ghost of the Kraken - Hideaway

Mixing choices on the first verse did the song a disservice, but the first chorus came back clean
Loving the bridge xylophone-esq pinging and the transition. Really echoed the rhythm of the words that followed for a bit there. Smartly done.
Some ending components of the melody and vocals did not hit as fully matured but over all the song was original and engaging


chewmeupspitmeout - Love Song

Getting some The Smiths circa The Queen is Dead vibes
The interplay between lyrics saying slurring your words then the wrap up of the song being layered off kilter to back that up is a strong choice
Not fully developed, a little off beat.


Stacking Theory - Breathe In and Hold It

Solid floaty layering, clean.
Loving the intersection of lyrics around breath and the choices with the backdrop beats and backdrop that echo the theme. Smart.
Some of the melody at around 1:17 just isn’t as mature as the rest of the song but overall very well composed
Strong slide into the wind down at the end
A little unpredictable but in a good way and engaging way, the song has stickiness and depth


Jeff Walker - Unforgivable

First verse starts off so strong that it raises the bar for the rest of the song, which works for and against the song. It’s hard to carry that level throughout.
Getting a The National + Paul Simon + Merle Haggard with a little Darius Rucker mash up energy, which is a good kind of fusion.
Really strong vocals, great guitar riffs, thoughtful lyrics if more simplistic which is style choice, which are pushed along with the evocative guitar solo-smart choices.
Keeps the listeners attention, and makes the one word chorus seem natural and not like a forced choice


Daniel Sitler - Awkward

Good transition into the intro and first verse
Appreciate the lyrical composition, theme, and layering
Good timing choices with the single word placement in the chorus
The guitar picking with the melody could have added a little more harmony to add to the overall building of the song
Good placement of the words within the music as the song tapers down


The Evil Genius formerly known as Timmy - Maria

The disharmony with Mariaaa vs. the melody comes through well
At 1:26 the song starts to lack clean layering, though that may have been an intentional choice to echo the subject matter of the lyrics it diminishes the overall composition of the song to the listener
The song starts strong but does not end with the maturity of composition that it started with, the overall song therefore feels rushed and abrasive at times and does not intersect with the theme in an engaging way which limits the song’s ability to become a stronger composition


James Young - War

The tune is strong but there are opportunities to use the melody to symbolize the lyrics in different ways that were missed, for instance having the melody as a counterbalance to the subject matter or to have the melody as a bit more emotionally driving
The song is well composed, and the recording choice (if it was a choice) with the vocals to sounds radio-esq is a thoughtful choice to evoke more of a different time though with relevant subject matter.


Single Pint of Failure - Alone

More time to compose the lyrics may have been of benefit, “a list of all the lists” may have had more punch as an opener if the term list had not been mentioned again until the end to tie the song together. Instead the song references itself in a way that becomes a little repetitive.
The mixing prioritizes the reverb which does what otherwise is a good melody a bit of disservice
The vocals at the end were a good choice, but lacked dynamics. When singing in a whisper in the future, consider playing around with singing through different parts of your body (stomach, chest, throat, etc) and changing the tension in your mouth to create some of those dynamics even if you are keeping the sound at a static soft volume.


Tunes By LJ - Capital

Nice swing into the intro, keeping it light, the “ping” is a little far towards the off beat. May have benefited by more time to mature the mixing
Having an upbeat tune as the backdrop to a song challenging capitalism is a great decision to create interest, unfortunately the summary notes wanting to create an uneasiness and the tune doesn’t quite evoke that. There needs to be a bit more of a stealthy disharmony or something to help that vision really shine


Balance Lost - Lost

Starts strong but loses the audience and a bit of that built up interest on the chorus vocals, especially on the “looooooost”. The higher vocalists/vocals layer is not adding to the strength of the song. Even taking those layers out out and adding a musical echo to the staccato “lost” may have been more to the benefit of the song
At 1:49 and 1:55 things fall apart a little, again with the echoing vocals. Curious if the song would hold more interest having blank space to create a sense of being a little lost, on the precipitate and waiting for the next note just to generate a bit of reciprocity with the lyrics.


Hot Pink Halo - Phosphorescence

Subject matter is interesting and the chorus has a lovely haunting quality that the mixing serves, however the same mixing that benefits the chorus does not benefit the verses
The melody could be dropped in volume to better here the precision of lyrics during the verses
Shakiness interacting with notes on some of the verses which unfortunately negatively impacts the listeners engagement with the song


Also In Blue - Please

Opening really grabs attention, a mature way to have an intro
The layering is strong on the chorus and vocals interacted well with each other
It is not quite a “moody pop song” per summary, the subtle moodyness and emotion was not fully realized , so it comes across as backdrop music for a scene in a TV show but perhaps not a main driving song for a scene
The music volume could have been dropped a little for the vocals


Jealous Brother - Oumuamua

“Looping around a brilliant sun” was a great line backed up with great musical choices
The music and lyrics feel a little disconnected, while they flow they are not in conversation with each other which is a missed opportunity
It is giving The Monkey’s and Beach Boy’s but lacks a driving force, and that means the song fades easily into a background instead of inviting the audience in and holding focus


Phlub - Tygart Dam

Bluegrass and narrative songs are critical to our engaging in modern storytelling, and I commend that as a choice for a song
However, to tell a story in a song especially as the tune’s used are typically repetitive as this one is as well (which is expected for this genre), the listener needs a lot of presence and emotion in the vocals. The story needs to come alive with the pain or joy that follows the recounting of the actions and without that the listener checks out.
The song would benefit from maturing, leaving some more space and changing up which words have emphasis on them


Temnere - Deutsch

Translated the words in google translate, and while the joke is appreciated, it would resonate further if it was a metaphor for something. The song itself would have meant more.
The transitions are frequently a beat ahead, unless that was a goal to create a bit of tension, either way the result feels unpolished
The chorus is repetitive in a way that is not satisfying
It’s a good representation of the genre, and a take on Rammstien, but it’s generic as a song


The Popped Hearts - The Second Best Time To Plant A Tree

The key is a little off with the vocals which could have been a choice but the result does not blossom into a welcoming listener experience
Chorus could have benefited from more time, compositionally and for the vocal quality- again interaction with the notes is a little loose
The outro was a solid choice but was not able to fully shine


Mandibles - Désirée

The song is missing a layer or point of interest. It moves forward rather than driving forward.
It feels a little safe, with many aspects of the song becoming predictable, the vocalist is clearly very capable and could potentially make more of a dynamic exchange with the listener.


Governing Dynamics - Predestination

Vocals are overshadowed by other layers, the mixing choices don’t land well
The bass is kind of droning in the beginning especially
Lyrics are in conversation with the music, but not in a way that would lead me to expect them to be treated as equal


Cavedwellers - Owzat! (Dismissed)

Predictable pacing
Clever wordplay at appropriate moments
Good balance between vocals and instruments throughout most of the piece
Clean tones
Good length of guitar solo based on length of song
Overall a little repetitive


thanks, brain - Strange

The mixing doesn’t seem fully matured. The vocals feel overshadowed in the first half.
Fun and lyrically appropriate use of “ghostly sounds”
Good pacing
New layer at 2:15 is good, but is not incorporated smoothly into the rest of the piece. Needs some more work
Enjoyable layering of vocals, but would actually like to hear more of the higher part in the mixing


JW Hanberry - Maladjusted

Vocals are overshadowed by instrumentation
Reminiscent of several genres from the ‘80s
Hard to connect with due to the heavy use of dissonance
Interesting experimentation but does not land with the listener


“BucketHat” Bobby Matheson - Time Enough At Last (Vellichor)

Has a certain cleaned up garage band vibe
Solid mixing/balance between instrumentation and vocals
Guitar solo could have been longer and a little more dynamic (heavy use of reverb limited the clarity) - although it did match the emotion of the song well


Brother Baker feat. Father - Free

Use of harmony is very effective emotionally
Matched the emotion of the lyrics to the instrumentation
Lyrics could use maturing
Very effective use of dynamics, rhythm, and pacing throughout
Recommend considering alternate instruments in places, without changing the melody
Drawn out ending allows the listener to savor the overall experience of the song.


Good Niche Gracious - Katzenfrühstück

Funny concept
Meowing incorporated surprisingly well into the song


Sober - Home

It takes until 1:43 for the yodeling to incorporate successfully into the overall song. Before that point, it sounds more incidental and unexpected.
Additional steel guitar or banjo could help add dynamics to what is otherwise a fairly repetitive instrumentation.


The Alleviators - Sigh

Aimee Mann energy, and parts of the song are shockingly matured for the amount of time provided for this contest
Layering with “sigh” was strong in terms of the layer, the melody and the concept- the right choice for the right lyric
The song has space and dynamics which invite the listener in and hold attention
Hard at parts to hear the lyrics over the music, could benefit from more precise mixing especially since the vocalist has to chops to be featured out in front,
Bridge is predictable but well done, guitar solo emotion syncs well with the overall song drive and melts with the final push on the exit


Siebass - Home

Good emotion in the intro verse, but loses a bit of the emotion when the build continues a beat or two too long
Keeping the same note can be a powerful choice but the dynamics and emotion are not quite sustained. Perhaps could use some more finessing
Good mixing of vocals and instrumentation
Overall solid song


Ironbark - Désolé

Poignant blending of lyrics and instrumentation and feel natural to be a waltz
Lyrics could use workshopping in a few places
Steccato at 2:20ish seems a little rough or unexpected, but blends well after the initial introduction
Very listenable


Jerkatorium - Yeah

Lyrics are a fun reflection on the process, but while the sound isn’t “stale” it is a little repetitive and one note
The vocals are solid, but the song overall lacks an emotional exchange with the listener
Would enjoy more of the experimental instrumental from the ending components to be placed throughout the song


Simon Purchase James - Existe los Regalos

The guitar is so delicate, the lyrics are lovely but I am almost wanting a slightly more gossamer liting sound from the vocals
The vocals are strong as are the lyrics
The Spanish being sung with English spoken word is a captivating touch and elevates the song beyond what otherwise could have been passe due to the repetitive picking. An excellent lesson in the importance how there can be interplay between vocals and a simple melody
The transition to and back from the slower sections to quicker strumming and vocals needs a bit of maturing, not certain the song needed that part.

[BoffoYux]

ST20.2 Reviews and Rankings - Ian Moore

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This task has been so humbling, ya’ll are sure better at this than me, so I’ve tried to cook up a system to make it possible to rank the disparate songs against each other. I went with a scale of 1 to 10 for 5 criteria:



Music, like did I dig what you came up with overall tunewise for its genre, bonus points for otherworldly or bizarre treatments,

Lyrics: poetry or bawdry, original or hackneyed, memorable or trite,

Performance, did you nail it?,

Production: graded on a curve from a cappella iPhone to a dead room at Electric Lady; tried to see if you maximized your engineering level,

Theme: this one’s tricky, but did you commit to your idea and gestalt that sucker - the most subjective one, I know!



As I went thru these, I wanted to point out that in each criteria, we were somehow trying to bend our minds to think: hey, compared to the absolute best and worst of this batch, where did this song fall, was it a standout for that criteria. At any rate, I found rating them against one another challenging, but what a great listen; these songs will have a life of their own now, hopefully you’ll get to perform them for the people that matter - your fans!



Berni Armstrong - Sleep

I love the assured delivery over the martial drums, it’s magnificent! For us in the back, it was a little relentless, so I did want to mention that, it was awesomely itself. You have a broad voice that fits the material perfectly.

Prod 7, Lyric 4, Perf 6, Music 5, Theme 6, Total 28

I’m not crazy about the descriptiveness in the verses, but love the minor tonality and overall the song works.



The Pannacotta Army - Moar

Oh hell yeah, Hall and Oates beats! Thank you for bringing the melodica to Spintunes, so succulent with that organ!

Prod 8, Lyric 7, Perf 6, Music 5, Theme 7, Total 33

I could just dance this one right out of the club, not sure if you guys use live beats or drums, but the feel is nice and funky, I can’t believe how different this is than “Never Look Back,” it’s a great contrast, give us moar!



Yeslessness - White Feather

This has an amazing 60’s vibe, like opening your mother’s old guitar case; I love the interplay of the voices at the end dancing around with the guitar, it opens up the space of the chorus and it’s just right to the end.

Prod 8, Lyric 6, Perf 8, Music 5, Theme 5, Total 32

You have so much range, this track is very different from My Secret, I can hear a voice or two in common, but it’s a demonstration of your capabilities to pull out like a Buffalo Springfield outtake in under a week, bravo!



Bubba & The Ghost of the Kraken - Hideaway

Oh man, those beachy voices, I wanna remix it with surf guitar!!!

Prod 7, Lyric 9, Perf 7, Music 6, Theme 6, Total 35

You guys have such a neat interplay between your voices and do that character swapping, scene setting great, kinda like in Knock, “so answer the door!”



chewmeupspitmeout - Love Song

A boogie from the outset, it’s like a lost track from the dark leather bars in Chicago; I can see the sweaty crowd pogoeing out the Love Love Love Love Love, then dropping down for the confessional with the infinitish delay on the vocals, it’s nice and dirty pretty - just right!

Prod 6, Lyric 5, Perf 5, Music 5, Theme 7, Total 28

I’m not sure where you locate yourselves genre-wise, I hear echoes of New Order-ey stuff, but that may just be affection for baritones; you have a warm familiarity to your singing that draws the listener.



Stacking Theory - Breathe In and Hold It

Finally, Yeah gets its song! How about that reverse piano to trippy bridge; fucking fantastic! “Am I here forever?” Yeah.

Prod 8, Lyric 8, Perf 6, Music 6, Theme 6, Total 34

“Redact my feelings, keep it tight, when will they come back?” Wow, that’s just great stuff, this whole track is radio ready.



Jeff Walker - Unforgivable

Aw man, your production on your first track blew me away, I couldn’t actually believe it, at least with this one, you can see a few seams, but heck yeah, brother, you’re sure good at this! I really liked the message of this song a lot, we’re mad as hell and people need to hear it!

Prod 7, Lyric 5, Perf 7, Music 5, Theme 5, Total 29

Still killing it on the production, I didn’t instantly fall in love with this one, maybe the mood or something, but it sure sings out - I’m intentionally avoiding looking up any of the participants to try to stay within the criteria of judging and not be intimidated by how “big” folks are - I think there’s a couple of ringers in here that sound like they’ve been around some.



Daniel Sitler - Awkward

This one makes me want to know you better; I felt all that great heart last week, this more stripped down tune still has a groove and the Awkward doesn’t feel the least bit manufactured.

Prod 5, Lyric 7, Perf 6, Music 6, Theme 6, Total 30

Reminds me somewhat of like The Shins, guitar is great and dry and out front, the other instruments providing support are rich and fill out a straightforward song.



The Evil Genius formerly known as Timmy - Maria

This is anthemic and danceable; what a hook! The lyric draws you in nicely, I want to know about these people!

Prod 5, Lyric 7, Perf 6, Music 6, Theme 5, Total 29

I love the “promise to remember” bridge part - it’s a tearjerker within a tearjerker!



James Young - War

I love the feel throughout, great intro and rockin’ chorus, I would never have thought you needed more than one word, with that catchy melody.

Prod 7, Lyric 5, Perf 7, Music 6, Theme 6, Total 31

This song has huge anthem vibes and is part of this week’s pretty political pool - glad the Spintunes world is raising consciousness. I love those big modulated chords and all that single coil magic in there, it just glues everything together great on the track, probably the livest production this week, it’s nice and sparkly up in the highs.



Single Pint of Failure - Alone

Whatever you did to make the voice and everything so up front and prominent is great, I was listening to a bunch of these on a nice system and this track is way more present than most - it’s bursting and sparkly, you can hear every whisper.

Prod 8, Lyric 8, Perf 7, Music 8, Theme 8, Total 39

I think it’s able to feel tossed off, while keeping a groove, it’s easy going down, but that fuzz-out in the middle, whooeey! You make great use of the fat second syllable of Alone so it’s all you need for the song at the end and it’s a list song with no lists; genius!



Tunes By LJ - Capital

Wow, I hope you don’t hate that I hear a little Donald Fagen in there - that break and going into the different feel lead by the bass is such a bop. You’re a great singer, you could always make it as a jazz vocalist/trio!

Prod 7, Lyric 7, Perf 6, Music 8, Theme 8, Total 36



Balance Lost - Lost

You guys are mixing some fantastic elements in there, the jangley guitar and piano parts against the whispery vocals are their own whole vibe! You’re one of the only songs that bounces the one word title off of two voices like that, it’s cool!

Prod 7, Lyric 6, Perf 5, Music 7, Theme 7, Total 32

Maybe not one of your influences, but I hear a little Beta Band in your delivery, I think it’s the smoothness and timbre.



Hot Pink Halo - Phosphorescence

I love the blending vocals on the verses, reminds me of Melanie Martinez, but with a lofi vibe; you have a great, expressive voice and I’ve still got Op Shop in my head!

Prod 6, Lyric 7, Perf 6, Music 6, Theme 5, Total 30

I love the way the music matches the lyric, they’re both luminous and ringing out - the production does a good job highlighting tension building to the chorus.



Also In Blue - Please

Heck yeah, this is another solid track, confident and full of great lines and uncommon, thoughtful phrasing.

Prod 6, Lyric 7, Perf 7, Music 7, Theme 8, Total 35

I keep thinking there’s some ringers in here, this has the confidence of the masters, so it’s great to look for influences and all, but just the sounds you guys are getting are pretty top notch.



Jealous Brother - Oumuamua

Like a tribute song or the theme song to your favorite wacky series, this is instant retropop sensation. Your drummer plays a particular way I like, hard to describe, but like they’re pretty well dressed for a drummer like Charlie Watts. I love the surf/Hawaiian feel and just thank you folks for makin’ a song about our special visitor.

Prod 7, Lyric 8, Perf 7, Music 8, Theme 8, Total 38



Phlub - Tygart Dam

Concrete and Reeebar, I love a good civil engineering hoedown! Your recording of your mandolin is impressive, it really rings out; nice going on ripping some licks!

Prod 5, Lyric 7, Perf 5, Music 5, Theme 5, Total 27

This is some honkytonking jamming going on, no doubt, this song is the closest to the type of music I personally play.



Temnere - Deutsch

Oh yeah, this is a new thing, for sure! I wish I had more metal knowledge, so that I could understand where this fits in that whole world, it’s just great how all those prussian consonants convey the atmospherics.

Prod 7, Lyric 6, Perf 6, Music 8, Theme 7, Total 34

Everybody’s great on this track, it’s a dark dungeon that belongs on an arena stage! Versicht!



The Popped Hearts - The Second Best Time To Plant A Tree

Um, okay, this is going in my biking playlist; done. All of these shouting choruses of Today across the land could actually change a thing or two.

Prod 6, Lyric 7, Perf 7, Music 5, Theme 8, Total 33

My recording or compressed track has some swirly comb filtering nonsense around the one minute mark, like a stereo drum mic polarity issue maybe? It’s mainly in the crash cymbals. I love your fadeout, cuz it’s independent, not like those 70’s LP fades.



Mandibles - Désirée

This song, with its cool riff driven groove ingrained itself in my head from the first listen; it’s timeless!

Prod 6, Lyric 6, Perf 6, Music 8, Theme 6, Total 32

I like this song even more than Time Machine, it feels more straightforward, tho that one was pretty classic from the first listen as well.



Governing Dynamics - Predestination

I love the openness and space you guys are willing to create in this - it rocks but gets above that because of the more processed guitars and the different dynamics you create by adding/subtracting elements throughout the track, it’s clean but not soulless.

Prod 8, Lyric 7, Perf 6, Music 7, Theme 7, Total 35



Cavedwellers - Owzat! (Dismissed)

I would not diss your track, dudes, it goes so many places, whoa! I love the prog bridge, I hear some what, Yes in there? Mott the Hoople? And those wacky acending changes headed for slide time!!!

Prod 8, Lyric 7, Perf 5, Music 7, Theme 7, Total 34

I love the way the confident vocal is undercut by the lyrics, then gets vulnerable, then goes back to powerful - it really gives an effective arc to the track.



thanks, brain - Strange

This song takes me to some great Rockabilly dive bar, with The Cramps or Reverend Horton Heat! Dig the Harpsichord-ey sound too, adds to a generally spooky feel!

Prod 7, Lyric 7, Perf 6, Music 6, Theme 6, Total 32



JW Hanberry - Maladjusted

Your music is bending my brain backwards! You’re right in your message - we’re tuning in and tuning out of the station - preach! We have someone in the midwest named Charlie Parr that your voice reminds me of - big swaggering lines, but a little unhinged and funky!

Prod 7, Lyric 6, Perf 5, Music 7, Theme 6, Total 31

That trippy phaser and cool synth riffs, “we should be cruising along, but we’re way off the track!”



“BucketHat” Bobby Matheson - Time Enough At Last (Vellichor)

I want to just give it to you because I basically fell down a basement bookstore stairway when I was 17 and am still kind of falling - that vellichor was potent! I don’t love the spoken part, its menace doesn’t hit for me, but hell yes, thanks for making your art!

Prod 8, Lyric 5, Perf 5, Music 7, Theme 4, Total 29

It’s weird but I love the darkening guitars and other elements, Time Enough at Last is maybe a great title for the album you’re writing?!?



Brother Baker feat. Father - Free

“A blanket of grey surrounds everything I know,” You folks got some great lines in there, and Free doesn’t sound forced or even repetitive, really - it all connects. How about that bass!? Love the ending too, nice that we drift off into outer space.

Prod 8, Lyric 7, Perf 7, Music 5, Theme 5, Total 32

The two voices in your group are so well suited, like, well, a father and brother - blood harmony? It’s got a great modern rock feel like maybe 30 Seconds to Mars? I just mean the vocal harmonies are big and interesting and that I can hear this on modern alternative stations.



Good Niche Gracious - Katzenfrühstück

OMG, I want to give it to you for the extremely realistic conversations around our kitty house and those beepity boops in the very beginning are a great theme, it’s cool the way it bounces around your voice.

Prod 5, Lyric 6, Perf 6, Music 5, Theme 5, Total 27

For me, the best thing about this song is its commitment - it goes all the way both conceptually and tonewise.



Sober - Home

You folks have the finest guitar tones in all of Spintunes, so much great twang and vibrato and just general thicc tube happiness, reminiscent of them folks on the Lucinda records: Murf, Champ, Buddy - those guys. I love the whistlin’ too at the end!

Prod 6, Lyric 7, Perf 7, Music 6, Theme 5, Total 31

We gotta freakin’ do something about those left behind in capitalism’s voracious wake.



The Alleviators - Sigh

Wow! This warms up a room, all that big harmony and letting the song speak out simply; just beautiful! I hear some Waxahatchie sounding stuff, but it’s its own world for sure.

Prod 8, Lyric 8, Perf 7, Music 8, Theme 8, Total 39, so you’re actually tied for my #1 this week.



Siebass - Home

Hell yeah, reminds me of Dawes in a good way! It’s okay, you’ve still got yer punk rawk creds from last week. It’s great to see vulnerability, and there’s that relentless rise in the song that achieves its epic goals, way to go big and get there!

Prod 7, Lyric 6, Perf 5, Music 7, Theme 6, Total 31



Ironbark - Désolé

Oh my, you are from your own genre! This week, we are walking down the Rue Massenet, at the end of a long, sad day in Nice, the darkening sea beckoning us onward.

Prod 7, Lyric 6, Perf 6, Music 7, Theme 7, Total 33

This is just a great, catchy track featuring such distinctive accordion and pizzacato, it really creates a great atmosphere - your school French serves you well says my partner, the Francophile.



Jerkatorium - Yeah

This is so great, we are meta clav arpeggiatin’! All the stuff where you’re doing it and singing about it makes me smile, everybody can just settle down now, this is just everyday life.

Prod 5, Lyric 6, Perf 6, Music 5, Theme 7, Total 29

I love the last minute, it doesn’t feel redundant and gets big without bombast; nice angsty pop I can see sneering over a sweaty crowd at Underworld, between Art Brut and Arctic Monkeys.



Simon Purchase James - Existe los Regalos

Singing about the moon and gifts - so beautiful. This side of your music is fantastic, all the guitar work really, but that double time bridge section is just smokin’!

Prod 7, Lyric 6, Perf 8, Music 7, Theme 6, Total 34

I should tell Mother Tree this is what we’re trying to get out of a guitarist, the whole Segovia meets Tuck Andres thing; sounds way different than that Dylan in the airport basement, very cool!



Mandrake - Magpies [SHADOW]

Okay, you had me at Analogue gloriousness and Corvids.

Prod 5, Lyric 6, Perf 8, Music 5, Theme 7, Total 31

Such cool blending of electronic and naturalistic sounds, it’s 8-bit mechanical madness, you even get a little Modal Zork in there for an extra alien dimension.



Daniel Sitler - Not A Cello (Headphone Warning) [SHADOW]

Hey guys, just wanted to apologize if I wasn’t correct in identifying any instruments last week; this song has a lot of energy and seems like it’s bursting out into the sky!



Night Sky - Lonely Alexander [SHADOW]

That song’s reminiscent of both the great Texas swing bands like Dan Hicks and Texas Playboys as well as like alt pop mainstays B-52’s; nice twanging twang on the gut-steel, and super nicely recorded too; the whole thing sounds real loose and live, like the musicians are in the same room.

Prod 7, Lyrics 5 Music 8 Perf 7 Theme 7 Total 34

where’d you get that Sax , they were on it that day!

[BoffoYux]

ST20.20 Reviews and Rankings - Gray Porter

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Last round was a good crop of songs, this round was another level. I was extremely excited by this challenge and how the different artists would approach it, you did not disappoint. Also super enjoyed how much non-English showed up, always a fan of variety. Fantastic work, Spintunas! General note: I think fading out songs is almost never as compelling as writing a proper ending and this round was no exception. As my old lecturer put it: "fade outs are so wrong and yet at the same time so wrong".

“BucketHat” Bobby Matheson - Time Enough At Last (Vellichor): There's a lovely set of lyrics that evoke the magic of used book shops. There's also a thudding rock song with exciting dynamics and wailing chorus. Unfortunately the latter doesn't evoke the former nor do I think it was supposed to. Velli-core, I guess? It's cute but lacks the emotional impact vellichor could bring.

Also In Blue - Please: That xylophone pattern is so absorbing, strong melody with a resigned verse that lifts to a chorus that goes everywhere. Good set of lyrics, especially liked the turns of phrase in the second verse. Love how the instrumental kicks on in the long outro. Really think this song needed lots of obscenities, though.

Balance Lost - Lost: Dig the deep vocals that leave room for the backing vocals to lift the song in the chorus, really strong melody. The touches of piano and strings gel well with the guitars and strong beat. The lyrics do a great job of evoking a clear scene to set the mood.

Berni Armstrong - Sleep: The seemingly endless sinking in the music perfectly captures drifting off to sleep whilst evoking the threat of the lyrics. The song is too long and the lyrics feel like an info dump at times when they work far better when building character, needs to lose a few sections, liked the harmonies in the last sections and would have liked more.

Brother Baker feat. Father - Free: I think this is the most sensational chorus in the round, those harmonies are to die for. I don't think the production quite captures the power of the drums or guitars which are excellent. Great poetry in the lyrics, needs a little fine tuning to give a slightly clearer interpretation in the bio.

Bubba & The Ghost of the Kraken - Hideaway: Love the dynamics in this one, how the layered rhythms of verse break apart to let the simplicity and relief of the chorus soar. The excellent vocal harmonies power the strong melody, there's a lot of truth and detail in the lyrics. I understand the restraint of the instruments but I felt there was room for more detail to lift the song to the next level.

Cavedwellers - Owzat! (Dismissed): I genuinely don't know how you can write a better song about cricket but I suppose you have another two rounds to prove me wrong. The music is fantastic, love the riff, great progression in the arrangement, catchy chorus but the real triumph is the emotional impact from lyrics that are pure cricket but still connect on a broader emotional level.

chewmeupspitmeout - Love Song: This evokes everything you are aimed for, enjoyed the pop synths and beat, loved the electricity of the guitar, the low drawl of the vocals is a valiant effort which lacks presence. Lyrically the story and lyrics aren't compelling enough, it's not really a song about love so the emphasis of the repetition feels odd.

Daniel Sitler - Awkward: This is an excellent entry. The vocals are earnest and searching as they struggle to define the characters and their relationship. Lovely arrangement that builds only to restrain during the perfectly delivered chorus, the clean guitar is the standout of the backing.

Good Niche Gracious - Katzenfrühstück: The lyrics and chorus are an extremely simple and fun concept. Separately the melody and music are solid with a good variety of synths, the bass is a standout. Together they build a threat during the verse which needs a ridiculous chorus musically to sell the vocals that just isn't there. Switching languages rather than advancing the story is a waste of a verse in a song with so few lyrics.

Governing Dynamics - Predestination: Fantastic mix of timbres, each instrument is distinct and comes together in an awesome soundscape. There is lots of really excellent poetry about predestination in the lyrics but it needs more identity to give them impact. The vocals were good but felt like you were holding back too much.

Hot Pink Halo - Phosphorescence: The music is super cool, the relentless beat with almost slow tremolo sounds like a ticking clock, that theme of fleeting time impossible to hold onto in the lyrics worked well. Not enough of the song bio's explanation is present in the lyrics to justify the chorus word. The melody during the verse and pre-chorus sounds uncertain, like its in the wrong key.

Ironbark - Désolé: This is so fragile and elegant, the lyrics tell a beautiful melancholic story which is delivered wonderfully through an isolated vocal performance. The accordion winds around the guitar with the occasional pizzicato to provide an excellent backing, any more and it would be too much.

James Young - War: The vocal delivery is great, the war cry is powerful, production is fantastic, love that bass especially. I think the lyrics are too general, it's needs more character or story, some stronger imagery to evoke more of an emotional response.

Jealous Brother - Oumuamua: This is a strong melody with a great chorus, there's sparkle in the guitars and backing vocals but could do with a little more progression in the arrangement. I don't think the twin ideas of the Oumuamua as the object of desire and science are ever blended together well enough in the lyrics, "You left a trail too small for me to see" is the smartest line, needed a lot more like that.

Jeff Walker - Unforgivable: Strong beat drives the song, the excellent guitar solo transitions into a mournful cry which helps build the regret present in all elements of the song. Its a powerful choice for the chorus which says everything about what happened without spelling out anything, clever use of language throughout the lyrics.

Jerkatorium - Yeah: This is a cool take on the challenge! I like the whistles and bells, good melody, its a great arrangement, love how it progresses, the backing vocals and lead guitar build to a strong finish. It lacks an emotional punch, if the lyrics were more cynical and bitter it might get there but I think/hope this is in good fun so perhaps the vocals need to be more lively. (Ah, all my anxieties as a judge!)

JW Hanberry - Maladjusted: The glaring synths, the creative effects and build up during the pre chorus all give this track good dynamic range. In the right way the song is jarring to reflect the chorus word which sells it. The chorus itself feels like the weak link, the vocal line is forgettable when it could do with some wild acoustic manipulation to make it unusual and striking.

Mandibles - Désirée: This is a phenomenally creative chorus, excellent choice of name, fantastic harmonies that evoke the singer's obsession. The lyrics grow more damaged and desperate throughout, love the myriad of rhythmic elements in the arrangement, guitar fills develop nicely.

Phlub - Tygart Dam: This is a good story which is way more depressing now that I know it's real. You put the challenge at the heart of the song, the double meaning is effective. Really enjoyed the arrangement, the flourishes in the banjo and mandolin give the song sparkle. Felt a little long, could have told the story in 4 verses rather than 5.

Siebass - Home: Great dynamics in this one, love how the tremolo strings and sparse piano build up with the vocals to the mournful cry of the chorus. I love the ugly details of real life in the lyrics, I think the bridge is particularly strong. Slightly too long overall, too many homes, take 30 seconds out?

Simon Purchase James - Existe los Regalos: The lyrics are wonderful and the Spanish sections are sung beautifully, hanging elegantly over some delightful guitar. Enjoyed the fluid tempo, loved the energy of the bridge. The spoken word English translation sections add nothing* to the song and stretch the track length too much.
(*It's hard because I understand this is essentially an English language contest. For me sticking a translation in the song bio would be fine, I don't even mind Google translating it myself. But do other judges feel the same way? Does a song need to stand on itself? Difficult.)

Single Pint of Failure - Alone: The song does an excellent job of telling this sad story, the regret in the details, some tender vocals in the verse capped with a chorus that makes my heart bleed, beautiful warmth in the backing. I think the song needs to come back around to cement the chorus even though ending on goodbye is also strong.

Sober - Home: This is a committed vocal performance delivering a decent melody with a melancholic chorus. The excellent whistling compliments a strong backing that never feels plodding. The addressee feels unclear, sometimes feels like the audience and sometimes a climate antagonist. Not sure the lyrics specially target "home" even though I know what you mean.

Stacking Theory - Breathe In and Hold It: I think this take on the challenge is interesting but a fine line to walk. There's a lot of good imagery in the lyrics but it is too vague to build anything, the lush chillness of the music reflects well the muted tone of the chorus without delivering a strong impact. Tricky.

Temnere - Deutsch: I laughed so hard when I translated this. This is a mighty vocal performance that sells the German lyrics, love the different voices. The music is powerful but the drums and guitar lack bite in the production, the chorus gives me goosebumps.

thanks, brain - Strange: I love horror so enjoyed how all the audio nods (theremin, organ, screams, etc) worked together to build this spoopy atmosphere. The verses needed something more, more of the vocal variety I could hear you going for. The personification of the singer's love of horror during the last verse is good, the horror references in the first two needed a story to better tie everything together.

The Alleviators - Sigh: I like how confusion of the pretty poetry in the verse simplifies and solidifies on the addressee in the pre-chorus to sell the chorus. It's a beautiful soundscape, lovely vocal harmonies throughout, tidy guitar work over some excellent drums.

The Evil Genius formerly known as Timmy - Maria: This song is focused and effective, the synths put in good work, there's a strong beat. The melody is good and the vocals are solid up until the bridge where they get lost, the lyrics in the bridge needed to develop the story or characters more.

The Pannacotta Army - Moar: The arrangement is a fantastic blend, the relentless beat drives the song perfectly and reflects the greed of the lyric's focus. It's a good melody with a catchy chorus, subtle backing vocals lift the lead well. The outro feels drawn out.

The Popped Hearts - The Second Best Time To Plant A Tree: This is a good melody with a triumphant chorus and fun guitar work throughout. The verse lyrics are evocative of another time and the reflection on the two lives of its characters is engaging. I feel like the chorus of 'today' and the title are not realised elsewhere in the song, it never feels like the lyrics explain them.

Tunes By LJ - Capital: This is a smooth groove, liquid gold vocals, like how the instrumentation switches up the dynamics between verse and chorus. The 5/4 absolutely helps achieves that uneasiness you were going for, love an interesting time signature. I love the lack of resolution in the outro.

Yeslessness - White Feather: I like the imagery in the lyrics, I like the characters it portrays in this difficult relationship, the effective guitars blend well with backing vocals. It lacks an emotional edge overall, the music is good but doesn't carry enough of an impact, the lyrics contrast but are too vague, they aren't harsh and soaring enough in equal measure.

Daniel Sitler - Not A Cello (Headphone Warning): Reading the lyrics is very funny, I've had my fair share equipment and instrument nightmares. The audio is horrible as you alright know. Really liked your proper entry so glad you just did this for fun. Unclear what symbol is not showing up in lyrics, kinda curious.

Mandrake - Magpies: Love the music, awesome synth pattern, cool soundscape. I like experimental, progressing is one thing but ultimately you should write the music you like. Spintunes is always going to require more from the lyrics, be more confident in your vocals.

Night Sky - Lonely Alexander: This is such a fun song, I love the riff, the saxophone is sharp, the shift into the bridge adds good variety. Solid story with plenty of vocal flair to give it sparkle, liked the characterization. A few too many Californias, perhaps.

[BoffoYux]

ST20.2 Reviews and Rankings - Substitute Judge Vom Vorton
See-Man-Ski has found himself unable to serve as a judge for this round, but will be back for Round 3. In the meantime, I am grateful to have secured the services of a substitute: Vom Vorton, a regular participant in Song Fight, Nur Ein, SpinTunes and FAWM both on his own and as a member of the duo Vowl Sounds. I'm especially grateful that he could provide us with fair and thoughtful reviews on short notice. Thank you Vom!

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Hello everyone! Vom Vorton here, I’ll be your last-minute Easter Bunny / Spintunes substitute. I’m a little rusty on reviews but I’ll do my best. Not much to report in terms of judging criteria - I split the songs out into four “buckets”, basically positive / mixed (leaning positive) / mixed (leaning negative) / negative and used that as a vague basis for my initial rankings that I then revised as I listened more and wrote. I don’t think there’s any issue with any of the songs meeting the challenge, but whether you managed to make your one-word chorus interesting in the context of a ton of repetitive choruses inevitably ended up affecting my view of the song overall.



Berni Armstrong - Sleep

I’m afraid I’ll be kicking off my reviews with one of the more negative ones - this immediately got on my bad side with that grating, tinny acoustic guitar sound - it sounds like it was recorded direct which I find generally gives an unpleasant tone, but either way it twangs in a way that feels mismatched with the generally smooth and sombre tone of the song. The lyrics are solidly crafted in terms of rhythm and rhyme but it feels like a very “basic wikipedia” summary of What Sleep Is without any real insight or any particularly striking use of language. There are songs this round that turn the one-word chorus into a strength but this isn’t one of them. The harmonies on the final repetition are a good idea to add a little variation, but too little, too late - ultimately I found this song very dull.



The Pannacotta Army - Moar

This is a pleasant listen with a nice kinda melancholy groove, there are some nice subtle variations in the arrangement with the filtered drums, melodica (?) outro etc. The vocal melody feels like it could use a little variation though, or the harmonies could be more of a feature - there’s a feeling that once I’ve heard the first few lines of this song then I’ve heard it all, and that goes for the lyrics too - I don’t get the feeling that this has much to say beyond “greed = bad” and I could use a little wit or specificity to elevate that.



Yeslessness - White Feather

This is unusual and intriguing, I have no idea what the song is about but the lyrics are appealingly mysterious and the layered, hushed vocals work really well - although in places the timing of the layers feels like it could be a little tighter to really make the effect work as well as possible. Nice use of the stereo field to add an extra layer of interest to the choruses, combined with the strong melody this is a strong take on the challenge. There are songs here that gripped me more immediately than this one, but this really grew on me over the course of a few listens.



Bubba & The Ghost of the Kraken - Hideaway

Another really strong take on the challenge, dragging out the first syllable of your One Word and then adding the kinda Beach-Boys-esque harmony on the repeats makes this really stand out. I don’t think the verse works quite as well, I think maybe it’s a mistake to have the octave-doubled vocals right from the very start of each verse when you could introduce it and have more of an interesting build to the chorus.



chewmeupspitmeout - Love Song

Those bright synths and rhythmic guitars on the intro really grabbed my attention. There are a bunch of interesting things going on in this track but I’m not sure they all totally work together - the lower-energy crooned vocal feels like it doesn’t always fit, in particular. It’s fine on the pre-chorus and on the sparser second verse with that big reverb (which is a clever match for the ‘slurred words’) but I feel like you could have switched gears to give a little more energy in other places. The premise of the lyrics is an interesting one although I think it could have used a little more clarity over whether it’s written from the drunken arrogance of the dancefloor or the hangover afterwards as at the moment I feel like it falls somewhere in between.



Stacking Theory - Breathe In and Hold It

The harmonies on your Yeah! chorus are exquisite, this really lifts off in a beautiful way. That got me immediately on the first listen, the meaning of the lyrics hit me when I revisited this and lifted it further. No critique to offer, this is top-tier stuff. This isn’t the yeah you’re waiting for, but it’s a definite YEAH from me.



Jeff Walker - Unforgivable

Solid classic rock sound here with some really nice emotive lead guitar playing. The vocal feels like it’s mixed too high and too dry, it doesn’t blend too well with the instrumental and leaves this feeling a little “karaoke” to me - a shame since everything else about it is so well executed. The lyrics have some poetic word choices and striking images without fully drawing me into the story, but your single-word chorus works well.



Daniel Sitler - Awkward

Really love this one, the lyrics are sharply written and feel personal and specific and the way you build the arrangement works beautifully. I love the way the first verse has a raw, kinda folk-punk feel to it then the pre-chorus shifts into a more elaborate melody in a way that reminds me of Elliott Smith. The way it drops back to the basics for the chorus then layers in that subtle organ (?) as it builds back into the verse, really effective. One of my favourites on first listen and I kept picking up new subtleties on repeat listens, excellent stuff.



The Evil Genius formerly known as Timmy - Maria

I like the lyric quite a bit, big fan of songs that look back on powerful teenage emotions through more mature eyes. The synthpop arrangement is well done but I don’t feel it quite captures the wistfulness of the story - it’s catchy but I feel like a more emotional, swooning treatment would really bring that heightened drama out of the lyrics. It sometimes feels like you’re rushing through the lyrics too, I’m not always looking for songs to be polished to a perfect sheen but it does feel like this one could use a little more work.



James Young - War

This is well executed and the vocal in particular is strong - I like the saturated sound. Good job on the challenge, the melody for the one-word chorus is a memorable hook. The lyrics don’t do a lot for me though, this feels like a song about war that anyone could have written and I wish there was some unique element added to set it apart. Each verse and chorus also feels very samy too, that same march beat and the same dynamics.



Single Pint of Failure - Alone

This has a really enjoyable, effortless-feeling vibe, but for some reason it doesn’t really click with me until the bridge, which is excellent - love that filthy layer of fuzz in the background. Obviously it’s hard not to judge this against the Stacking Theory song which really hits me emotionally in a way this doesn’t, quite. But they’re both very good indeed, and the arrangement and dynamics here are excellent.



Tunes By LJ - Capital

This has such a winning vibe, jazzy and breezy. Love the harmonies and that parping bass under your single-word chorus. The time signature feels very natural, never forced. The way the percussion drops out at the end is effective too, draws the ear to the words which aren’t offering the easy good-vibes that the song might otherwise leave me with.



Balance Lost - Lost

That melancholy chord change on the third line of the verse immediately caught my ear and the layered vocals and ba-ba-bas on the chorus are a great way to elevate the single-word thing - very ‘Near Wild Heaven’. Very ‘Near Wild Heaven’, haha. The lyrics don’t necessarily stand out but they perfectly complement the general vibe. Not much to critique here, I feel like the transition into the bridge is maybe a little awkward, although the transition back out of it again is very lovely indeed.



Hot Pink Halo - Phosphorescence

Excellent chorus, strong falsetto and the choice of a multi-syllable word sets this apart from the many songs that just went with repeating a single syllable. I like the arrangement too, nice use of sparkling keyboard sounds. I’m not as fond of the verses, the melody feels a little tentative and there are breaks in sentences (this time we really…) that feel a little stilted where I want them to flow.



Also In Blue - Please

That piano riff is so catchy, having that in there as the main hook is a clever way to address the limitations of the challenge, and I like you get right in there at the start of the song, I’m immediately looking forward to hearing it again. Really strong, emotional vocal and I love the way each chorus is arranged subtly differently and they get more and more anthemic. This is a great pop song and the short length makes me want to play this several times in a row - one of my favourites.



Jealous Brother - Oumuamua

I wonder if the genesis for this song was finding the most fun single word to sing? It really works, the chorus brings a smile to my face. I like the idea of comparing an interstellar object to a short-lived fling (at least I think that’s what’s going on here) but I’m not sure the lyric quite gets there, the story feels like it needs to fleshed out just a little more. It’s a lot of fun though and the surfy guitars sound great.



Phlub - Tygart Dam

This is very well done, you’ve fit a whole lot of story in here and the lyrics flow really well, full of wit and detail. Very clever, funny choice of word for the chorus. Musically, I’m not too familiar with the genre but this sounds very authentic and the instrumental interludes are well deployed. This wouldn’t necessarily be one of the songs from this round I’d want to hear over and over but I’m going to have to rank it pretty high because I think you set yourself a tricky task and executed it very well!



Temnere - Deutsch

I have a 1600+ day streak on Duolingo for German and I thought this was hilarious. Just the right level of German that I could understand the lyrics without help, and they’re very amusing indeed. Heavy guitars sound good and I really like the dynamics, you know when to leave some space and when to really rock out and it’s very enjoyable. As per the Phlub review above, I’m not sure this one would remain in my rotation quite as long as some other songs this round, but you’ve set out with a particular mission in mind and executed it superbly!



The Popped Hearts - The Second Best Time To Plant A Tree

The verse chords are so extremely Lemonheads-esque and that is an easy route to my heart. Some really fun stuff going on in the lyrics, the explanation of “oaves” in the song notes made me laugh and the “T O D A Why?” bits are charming. I’m strongly genre biased towards this one but after a few listens I did find myself wishing the arrangement and mix were tightened up just a little bit, even if the style of the song makes it very easy to get away with those things - I would say maybe the subtle chorus (?) on the guitar makes it a little muddy in places, the solo could either be a little more interesting or scrapped entirely, and the fade out at the end feels like a bit of a “we forgot to write an ending” afterthought. But this is good fun and I enjoyed it.



Mandibles - Désirée

The layered harmonies on the chorus work beautifully, another song where you’ve found a smart way to fulfill the challenge in a clever and interesting way. The offbeat rhythms in the chorus are really interesting too, but the rest of the song I find pleasant without being particularly memorable - feel like the guitar solo could be a LOT shorter but that might just be personal taste, I also feel like it’d be nice if the arrangement / dynamics swelled to better support the vocals shifting into a higher register before the final chorus.



Governing Dynamics - Predestination

I feel like I almost love this one but something is stopping me from ever quite getting there. The crisp clean guitars over the cloud of fuzz sound good, the vocal has a good vibe, the way the fuzz drops out to give the bass and clean guitar the second verse is a smart choice. It’s a good song that never quite captures my attention like the ones I’ve ranked above it. Best guitar solo of the round though, I reckon?



Cavedwellers - Owzat! (Dismissed)

Really struggled with this one. Admittedly I do not care about cricket in the slightest (yes I am British) but that wouldn’t matter if the melody / arrangement / energy could win me over. None of that really did much for me either, unfortunately - I found this to be competent but dull, it left me completely cold.



thanks, brain - Strange

I feel like this should be right up my street, I like the genre and the concept, but it doesn’t quite grab me - I think it might be the half-time chorus always feeling like a bit of a comedown, where I want high energy. The three verses also feel pretty much identical, feel like there might be an opportunity for that classic trick of dropping out to bass for one verse and then crashing the guitars back in for the chorus. I like the synth harpsichord at the end though, that’s a cool, unusual choice.



JW Hanberry - Maladjusted

The production is cool here, it feels like you’re in full control of all the synths and weird electronic noises you’re using, and it’s effective when the fuzzy guitar riffs kick in. I’m not really sold on the song though, I suspect you’re less interested in conventional hooks than most of the entrants here but I can’t deny that I really wish there was something here that would stick in my head after I’d finished listening.



“BucketHat” Bobby Matheson - Time Enough At Last (Vellichor)

Vellichor is indeed a cool word. I didn’t get much out of this song though, the muffled guitars don’t sound good to me, there’s a lack of variation in the drums (accentuated by the way they start and end independently to the rest of the song), the melody feels over-familiar with a tinny reverb on the vocals that accentuates the sibilance in a way I find really grating (although the vocal is solid otherwise, and you hold that long note very well).



Brother Baker feat. Father - Free

The piano feels really robotic and awkward, which really holds this song back for me - I like most other things about it but then that piano pops back up and pulls me out of the moment. The layered vocals sound great, the mix is really big and punchy and I like the way you change up the chords under the chorus to keep it interesting - but I just can’t get past that piano.



Good Niche Gracious - Katzenfrühstück

It pains me to say this as a devoted cat person and synthesizer fan but I found this very annoying indeed. It even feels like it’s been carefully mixed to make sure the annoying parts are as loud as possible. I did not enjoy listening to it.



Sober - Home

This is a solid country song with some nice twangy guitar and impressive whistling, and I’d be happily ranking it much higher if it wasn’t for one thing, and I’m sure you already know what it is. Every time you do that donkey-bray thing with your voice I have to fight the urge to turn the song off immediately. I’m sure it’s at least partially a taste thing, but to me it sounds awful. Absolute song-wrecker.



The Alleviators - Sigh

Good song, excellent vocal, and “sigh” is an excellent choice of word for this kind of chorus. The drums feel way too punchy and busy for the genre though which holds the song back a little IMO - feels like a mellow indie-pop band have borrowed the drummer from a hard rock band who doesn’t know how to tone it down.



Siebass - Home

Good song, good performance, good mix - but it feels to me like you come right out of the gate already at full intensity on all of those things where more of a build in the vocals and arrangement (and maybe some more dynamics in the mix, which feels very squashed) would have been more effective - especially considering this is one of the longest songs of the round, it feels like the current version gets a little exhausting by the end. Still very good though!



Ironbark - Désolé

Beautifully written and performed, this feels like a song that would be perfectly enjoyable with just guitar and vocals, but the extra instrumental touches are delightful. The lyrics / storytelling are wonderful, and the dual meaning of the title / chorus hits hard.



Jerkatorium - Yeah

This is catchy and fun but I’m really not a fan of the meta lyrics, just a massive turn-off for me. Everything else is good so it’s not a total deal-breaker but certainly makes this song feel extremely disposable in a way I’d rather it didn’t.



Simon Purchase James - Existe los Regalos

Pretty song, the picked guitar and bass make for a lovely subtle arrangement (although I wish the bass was a little less… metallic?) and the vocals are really nice. It’s so long though, and long in a way I don’t really understand - why repeat every section in two languages? It just feels so redundant, and kinda like being talked down to? Even without understanding much Spanish, I can pick up the emotion without needing the translation served up on a plate for me.



Mandrake - Magpies [SHADOW]

Love the bendy, chiptuney synth programming and digital birdsong FX! Wish the vocals weren’t so muffled. This is a fun listen though.



Daniel Sitler - Not A Cello (Headphone Warning) [SHADOW]

Haha, this is wonderfully abrasive. The distortion on the main vocal is gnarly as hell, glad I had the lyrics to read as they’re very funny.



Night Sky - Lonely Alexander [SHADOW]

Really fun! Love the vibe of that bassline - it feels like spy music, but is also weirdly fitting for the story of a lizard - and the organ for the wedding / tragedy section! Some good rhymes in here too.

[BoffoYux]

ST20.2 Reviews and Rankings - Denise Hudson

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Greetings again. Adjustment to the intro, and apologies for these day-lates. I only managed to squeeze out ranks on time yesterday and then had to sleep. It was tech week at my theater and then opening weekend and blahblahblah. I know we are all busy and I am not the only sandwich at the deli counter eyeroll. But I didn’t want to send in reviews unedited and slopsy because they were beyond even my regular level of mess, so these are at least marginally reflective of my Actual Brains. Some of them are probably too short, and some are too long, still. Flarg. Appreciated the shadows more than it shows as well.


Congratulations on a truly excellent round, and for making deadlines. Unlike some people we know…..)!


Now. With time-apologies, here we go!




Berni Armstrong - Sleep
Your strong vocal with real presence around the subject was a good vehicle for your lyrics. You performed earnestly but at times it was a bit rough-edged, and the vocal took on a tinny quality—as did parts of the guitar. The snare drum (and possibly the total mix) was a bit loud for my taste, and that piano could be more present in the mix because I thought that part had a tasteful feel. Chorus was an earworm! It swings nicely around your key and concept. Emotive dynamic in the vocal … and those harmonies at the end are a nice touch—I even wish they’d come in sooner. You made pleasing tempo choices, but at times lyrics could have flowed only slightly better. But nicely emotive quality and storytelling feel with well-chosen words, and I appreciated the exactness of a chord chart too!




The Pannacotta Army - Moar
Lyrics flow nicely and fit the progression well — pairing nicely with harmonies and synth work. The third verse was outstanding! Impactful. Song performed skillfully—smooth and very clean. The initial volume felt strange and then weirdly sucked away when keys and rhythm track came in. I think I wanted a different vocal effect against those synths sometimes—something more air-filled or spacey? Loved harmonies ALWAYS though, and everything about the programming, particularly the ritardando at closing. Lots of satisfying chords and jazzy suspensions—with a smoky feel to it. I felt the song really swished chillfully feel-wise for a song about such an unpleasant sounding person! Elements made their subtle entrances which nicely to the overall texture so you built layers sensitively. Overall a very refined and groovy-sounding mix. Felt chorus not as strong as the verses, somehow and it came off as a tagline in a way. But everything was planned out well rhythmically and timing-wise, great off the back of the verse with that change in pattern.




Yeslessness - White Feather
Rhymes felt at times a bit on the nose, in the beginning—and the feather bit at the beginning I wasn’t super keen on but grew on me with a few repeated listens. Awkward vocal moments in verses with tuning and timing were distracting—but what starts out strange becomes A Signature Song Sound. Then vocal anomalies by the chorus start to really gel— and your later verses have built up into quite a solid vocal atmosphere. In fact, by the end of the song—the whole feel set by the vocals was A Thing. Great interplay of the percussion and picking pattern, the instrumentals, and a pillowy and comfy bass. Beat subdivision changes—good interest. Then how the bridge was handled with vocal variation made things really interesting. Intriguing sound wash sorts of things happening and nice round note to finish with. Rhythm decisions were subtle—with pauses handled judiciously.



Bubba & The Ghost of the Kraken - Hideaway
This has so much of what I like in a song! And I was only weirded out for a millisecond by the chorus before it utterly delighted me (that sounded more back-hand than I meant it urk). Something about your patter at the start reminded me of riding in the car listening to Bare Naked Ladies (comparison ends there). The way you dip into the last half of the chorus word is twitchy and fun. And such strange (yet valid!) register choices for harmonies! I love the decision to sing together throughout, as that vocal line kind of hugs at you. The deep bass drum at precisely the right time in V3/pre-chorus felt great, then the keyboard under a super-catchy chorus followed by a REALLY adorable lick! Pre-chorus progression is compelling and pulls nicely into such a fetching chorus that you’re basically fallen for by the end. And I love a great set of percussive wood sounds! Escalating modulations at the close to a fadeout caused me to laugh the cat off my lap. Yay!



chewmeupspitmeout - Love Song
Jarring distortion. But then your voice comes in, and it really works somehow! What a scene you set! Hilariously clever lyrics. “Saw right through my shirt from top shop” lolz. Great voice and fun references—cinematic-level scene painting. Your rhythm guitar in the chorus is overpowering the idea and the level. I want it to get across more as you did in the second iteration … and at the last, repeat it a time (or three). Vocals are standout in the verses. Bass is absolutely selling it--just scooping the whole thing underneath this glorious snuggly reverb you have going. That snare actually works with things too sometimes … even into the solo, but I do wish you’d kept a backbeat going like when you brought back in the bridge. Also, hold out the last note and do a slow fade! This was a lot of emo fun, and you sold the hell out of it! Because you sold the hell out of it, and it reminded me of some iffy specificities in my life—this hit the Fun button a bit for me.



Stacking Theory - Breathe In and Hold It
I don't know if the bit before on the lyrics sheet was a poem. Now it reads like one. I appreciate this. Reading it like a poem prepares you for the moments that this song is/Are. I can hear this being in a movie. This is very cinematic, and things swirl around you in a sort of blindingly sunny wet jazz wash. I love all the moments of drama. And I WANT to love what you are doing with your breath and using and treating your vocals as an instrument. You seem very perceptive to tone—BUT …almost overly much. What I mean by this is that sometimes you get into the personal space of an eardrum (this is not a volume—or a signal thing) and twitch it around. It's exceptionally sensual in a sort of jarring way. It really works for your subject matter. I loved reading this and feeling this. And maybe hearing this is connective for some people. I just have this weird thing where if it gets too ASMR-ish I start feeling like swirly neck-water and twitchy back fish. Difficult to explain. This review is terrible. I’m so sorry. I have to be really careful getting massages because of the music.




Jeff Walker - Unforgivable
There is more to this arrangement than you might pick up in one listen. Lots of little layers and nuances, and there’s body to it. I wish there were more support like I feel there is in the verses and during early choruses. The chorus doesn’t initially feel as hearty as the verses … and things seem to lose momentum a bit, so I feel a little lost on that warbly note (the note is fine, but the energy sort of leaks away). But I like how the last word of the first chorus is performed—and the reverb on your voice is lovely. Also, the synth work really works. But it feels like your guitar wanted to change keys before that break like it was angry about that last bridge, and you didn’t want to let it go down that way. You sing like you are telling a story and have an easy way about you and a very pleasing voice that is great for this genre! Reiterate: you just have a really good singing voice and your songwriting is precisely the right shape and size. It just needs something to shine through to make it stand out—and my feeling is that it will take more than a week and time to hone this sort of thing in a proper production so you can pore over every aspect and question every word and nuance of a thing that you choose to do and ask yourself if it serves your purpose as a songwriter. You have that technique down already.


Daniel Sitler - Awkward
I enjoyed most everything in this song. “And I don’t know the default.” Such a soul grab—a lines I could really feel! And a chord progression that goes accordingly with this as a concept! This is so evocative of a universal experience. Another sort of song that would do well in film or television placement. Maybe less egg? I will always say this. I fear the egg for some reason—maybe I think its awesome power should be harnessed for good and not cheese-vil and that everyone who chooses The Egg is riding the cusp of Twee. I’m so dark.
Production had a couple of rough edges and some noises here and there—but it was charming. Not sure what to say about some of the panning things done and how they opened up as it developed or if felt right or maybe distracting to me—maybe a bit here and there in headphones… Maybe some fine-tuning? Some development? It is really worthwhile to perfect it, as you have a real gem here which should maybe remain a little homespun in feel. I did tear up a little bit. Liked the use of breathing. The guitar tone was gravy. I don’t want to say much more. Likely have gushed enough. Beautifully done.




The Evil Genius formerly known as Timmy - Maria
This made me chair dance in a sort of bittersweet nostalgia—like when you are moved but don’t know how to act. I chortled a bit—pleased I wasn’t the only preteen rebel with a pack of camels stashed deep in a backpack (under my band cummerbund — shocker!) This is a relatable and great story. Rough technique and performance, but you worked well with what you had and chose the suitable instruments, and gave it a retro sound and a comedic feel. It didn’t take itself too seriously—so it came off sounding more polished than it might have. And when I say polished, I mean adult—like Stranger Things meets my mom’s Jane Fonda Workout Video. I really like the singsong delivery, what you did with vocal treatments, and the way you used the drum machine—it didn’t detract. Wish it had a less abrupt cutoff at the end! …didn’t have a clue / promise to remember / guitar lick bits were comedy gold. I do low key wish it hadn’t also made me flip back to how times were not all Lisa Frank for the mini-babes, and that a couple of us did get knocked up and that that’s actually a lot more likely to happen now in my neck of the woods (I live in Texas) but I’m mostly like, fine with this song!




James Young - War
This melody and instrumentation scenario had a really familiar genre feel I can’t quite place. It sounds kind of southwestern to me. Your voice is pretty far back though, and there’s a strange scrapey distortion to it—but the singing is really great and clear. I don’t like the double kick so much before verses—it seems a bit extra particularly with the snare hitting the waltz beats pretty hard. I like the guitars a lot and the chorus is well-conceived. That line “look in the mirror, saw eyes filled with hate” (chilling!) — these are fantastic lyrics that really make you pause and sit with what this song means to me the listener. And what it might mean to you, emotionally. You’re playing a clever long game with your tight ABAB rhyme scheme in the verses. It’s got a cold remote quality to it because of all these jarring and expansive choices you made, and with this chorus arching over everything. The challenge is almost an extra bonus—a lovely way of seeing it fulfilled is to hear a song where this song could and should have come into being made without the challenge at all.




Single Pint of Failure - Alone
I’m really feeling this content as a fully chronic list maker. What an interesting, smooth and yet gritty vocal! Just a hell of a delivery. And the vibe of this was Traveling Wilburys-adjacent with the way you come off phrases in a sort of speak-sing song. I really like the last line of V2 where it could have been the end of the previous sentence—or the start of the next one. I love that sort of lyrical cleverness across the bar, it sounds like polished songwriting. Your subtle descriptions of things and the ways that rhymes are not being forced—that becomes sounds that just feel good at the end of phrases, when the song has started to write itself and you’re not thinking “what rhymes with such and such a word.” I feel like you were in a flow state and writing for your subject. But wow. That guitar distortion is really a lot. And at the end, I wanted it to fade out more cleanly (even though that last word was goodbye). Still I really liked this a lot—and it’s very distinctive, good songwriting hiding under some production issues and some performance choices that maybe could be thought about (not the singing though).




Tunes By LJ - Capital
I feel like you could have held out the last moment just a skitch longer—but that it was the perfect choice to end there. It was dicombobulating, you’re right, the 5/4—but it was also clever and gave it a kind of automaton-shuffly quality that was good for the picking at the part and made it sound busy like the subject matter would want it to be. Piano sound is so evocative—sounded like what a grandparent of a clavinet would be if it were a cash register and also a little piano. This also sounded cinematic and the progression really facilitated the poetry of your lyrics—impressive considering the meter. You did make it longer indeed — 8 times is a lot of times to repeat your chorus line, but you sell it. It’s a tight production. The chorus gets lost sometimes in the instrumental and I can’t hear the last part of the word you’re saying (in one of our cars, in my (not set up properly anymore) studio monitors) — but in buds and my beyerdynamics it was pretty crisp and such a great bass line… like a smooth lava-lamp glooping up into the chorus.




Balance Lost - Lost
Ooooo that fourth verse. This grows and grows on you the more you hear it. Starts out maybe sort of iffy and then builds into a real feel of a thing; and in places the concept is pretty profound and really kind of hits you if you’re a sort of person who also spaces out in this way. The flute sounds are lovely and the interweaving vocals for the chorus get very effective (more so toward the end than in the first appearance of the chorus). A song that improves further into the song—and also improves the more its listened to. The bah-bah-bah at the end really places it into an era except it’s also still modern somehow—possibly the cool sounds you chose. You’re rewarded for making a bit of an investment in it, it has little hidden treasures in it. And that fade left me super satisfied.



Hot Pink Halo - Phosphorescence
I am sorry about your friend. Yes, indeed you do have the right to mine such a thing for material. So say we all, and I am in agreement with the sentiment in this song. You have a tasteful fade leaving a comfy feeling. I liked the particular way in which you would pause for emphasis about 3/4 way through the verses. The way things seemed to breathe. I liked the way the urgency seemed to build. “Pulled through the undertow—your siren song calls in the ebb and the flow.” Really great moment and cool painty lyric. There is an emotional and secret-imparting quality to your vocal that is a good delivery device for the way that you write things, but crucially—you are really clever at programming your sounds to embellish and enhance these artistic choices. It felt nice, even if your experience didn’t. Perhaps making something beautiful from something painful is something of a balm.




Also In Blue - Please
This ended really well. I love the mallets samples, and I also love Spitfire Audio. The pattern got a little frenetic at times I think though. Your singing is really good—especially when you really go for it. I am sure you have been told this before. I want to say something about James Taylor but that is probably SO cringe by this point. Gah. HOWEVER … I feel like these lyrics are pretty subtly spicy. (my desperation is your work of art…) That’s pretty shivery. If this was what you mean by not playing it safe—hear hear! I love this crackle of energy in the particular room this song is in. You made a scenario where one could imagine the heavy overhang of STUFF in the air between the characters in this song. So something someone in a situation could completely identify with = great piece of work. Not exactly a moody modern pop song—but defiantly a modern mood of some sort even if it’s not a moody mood.




Jealous Brother - Oumuamua
I wish those keys had kept going when the band came in, they either dropped out or dropped in volume. I have to be really honest that I was super excited to hear this when I read the title. Then I started reading it, heartily agreed, and started really laughing by the second line. OMG this chorus. I have been singing this ALL week. This should not be surprising since I am still singing “Jellllous BROthrrrrrr.” Man can you write a hook. “I could never trust again …” I die. This might be the ear worm of the century. And what a tasty baseline. I don’t know if I wanted you to finish with “muamua” at the end, or was a little disappointed and just wished you’d stopped and left the “OU!” hanging there, at the end. I think I wished you’d stopped and not put in that last “muamua.” Something to consider? I’m still really torn. Anyway. This is comedy gold, y’all.




Phlub - Tygart Dam
I love those banjos! I feel like I wanted more body to it—maybe some percussion. This could be more robustly produced and put on a comedy album or in a long, three-hour set or something. Very much an 'Alice's Restaurant' level thing. Love the pun — it reminds me of a candy shop near my sister-in-law's old place in a town near Sydney near Warragamba Dam called The Dam Lolly Shop. We wondered if it was still there. While I would generally complain about superfluous words and the odd obvious rhyme choice, in this style of play, the extra adds to the charm, and you come off as clever. I wouldn't mind a bit more space around your voice though. I don’t have a lot to say about the production and making of this, I’m sorry. Not a lot to disagree with here and I feel Well Informed.




Temnere - Deutsch
I’m not sure about using German as a novelty for comedy. I attended a theater workshop with a German, and they got a bit sore at the concept of bad German accents for schtick. But yours were not bad. They were more badass. And sick vamp with the killing synths and that little metallic xylo-voice that comes in is so darkly-cute. So whatever you were doing, it came off pretty metal with your crunchy attitude and your screams and your creepy Choir of the Mosh Temple. I think I am a little jealous of metal keys because I didn’t think of it first. The lyrics don’t read like a song though. Still, this is very, very well produced. Can’t even speak to this genre or this level, unless I’m in on the ground floor I the room. So not much musically critical to say, I’m afraid. Maybe, “Music isn’t a toy to be used lightly,” but it totally is, so carry on then. You could maybe do this at a gig or as a bonus on an album (again would love to know the keyboardist live setup if so). It’s not a hit, but it might be—who knows these days!



The Popped Hearts - The Second Best Time To Plant A Tree
The bass and then the beginning of the song is a bit disorienting. I’m not quite sold on your vocal or the the mix at first. By the time the harmony comes in and you’re hitting chord resolutions I’m into it—I began to appreciate the vibe and feel these lyrics. And really good implementation of the chorus challenge that doesn’t feel like a phone-in. The bridge is awkward and lyrics feel a bit crammed in. It was jarring to be flipped back to my college years talking about “sum bitches.” That brought the times back a bit. With the strumming and the word-cram…it all sat strangely in my ear. The solo is well-played but doesn’t feel like it belongs neatly in the song. Then it gets really good (and tight!) until the ending bit where vocals and layering seem at odds with one another. There are some awkward timings throughout that last half and the backing vocals which started off as an asset become a bit distracting until a fade happens—that is done in the way I like though, and I liked when you talk-sang. I grew to enjoy your distinct vocal with repeated listens, and this song is very tailored to me with the Bible stuff and the conceptual feel of pooling money for snacks.




Mandibles - Désirée
-This sounds like beautiful musical theater, and is absolutely delightful to listen to the signing. It felt like a song that would be really good in a show or production between lovers who were in a space opera about A Noble Quest. It seems an unorthodox combo with the style of guitar that hits in the solo (unless it is, indeed, in space, so I put it there, and then especially with the bass, it made TOTAL sense). So this is played very very well. Produced in a week very impressively, and if cleaned up a bit of noise here and there, could be put with some other tunes into an album about an opera in space. Or maybe I shouldn’t have written this right after a rehearsal of a musical. I’ll try again later.
CH 2. I still think this sounds theatrical. It does need theatrical context—and feels certainly like a genre sort of piece with the style of bass and guitar paired with extremely tuned and clear, fry-free vocals and sumptuous reverb. This feels like the sort of thing they do to give impact in the theater. But it does not necessarily have to happen in space. I like this a lot and probably sound like I’m raving on.




Governing Dynamics - Predestination
This was laid out and labeled really intelligently. Lyrics thoughtful with an impactful first line. Your guitarchestration is always pretty nice. Drums are great. Old school T.N. vocals from you (not in any sort of backward-going way). Melody is a bit conversational–you’re spot on when you change registers and then when you go into chorus then it feels catchier. Use a different, more aggressive reverb, maybe? Absolutely wanted a longer tastier fade-out (as per usual). I feel like it might be a bit noisy?--the recording. Backup vocals and strong playing really sell the chorus–and the clean guitar tone when that comes in like a refreshing bell is always very distinctive. I like that the outro is what it is and wasn’t made a bridge. This is solid and is one of the good ones but not one of those that grabs because you are singing about something truly gut-busting. But it is important and smart.




Cavedwellers - Owzat! (Dismissed)
I just went to the cricket in Melbourne at the cricket grounds there and saw what the fuss was about! I am convinced that I was the reason that Sydney got their win in the last half. They don’t have innings as we know them. It’s strange. Line: “You did me dirty like a Romanov” lolz. These lyrics are really subtle-funny and this is a really clever plot. And the hairy aggressive sounds that you are using are nice melody devices. I’m not sure about the reverb on vocal. That might be the most oppressive thing about the song to me. Your singing is really managing things pretty well–particularly at end of the bridge. The beginning of the song sounds like it’s going to be a song about whining about sports. This feels like the way sports-folks are about each other; having recently gotten a bit into sports here and there, I am really into this sort of feeling. And I really enjoyed the end! Lyrics are balanced tightly as well.




thanks, brain - Strange
I do theater tech (or did for a while) and some sound design and light audio things before I stashed myself on the stage, so a bit of a SXF nerd here. Sweet concept. This is so Monster Mash! I love the mode and the way you scoop under the third and that theremin sound—and the muffled moany BUVox. Great cut-beat in the chorus and how the whole song does the twist. It’s jam-packed full of fun. It’s corny-not-hokey and your vocal does the trick. It’s kind of a character sound you’re putting on that is creepy and rocky horror or something. The lyrics are juicy and descriptive. Love the plot too: “Forever in each others' claws. It really spins a tale from verse to verse and then delivers.
This love is so deranged.” Line before the chorus leads neatly to it. Adams family harpsichord is a delicious touch. I <3 that! All the howls and organs and creepy noises so groovy. Oh—Dammit Janet! Where’s my Wilhelm scream?




JW Hanberry - Maladjusted
This is weird. Sort of a “Robot goes to a strange country club at a dentist convention” sort of sound palate. It’s hard to focus on the lyrics with all the nuts and bolts. It’s not technically metering that loud, but it feels louder than it is—so death by synths a little bit. A pounding headache of a beat, but some delicious little sonic bubbles come up to alka-seltz me back into a pretty satisfying chorus—making the point of the challenge the sticking point in this romp of a tune. Your voice has a lot of character. And you are very creative—that’s for sure. This was not like anything I have ever heard before. You obviously love to make statements and productions and have fun when you make your projects. Always do that! I wonder what is going on in that brain! Something really technicolor I bet!




“BucketHat” Bobby Matheson - Time Enough At Last (Vellichor)
Velichor is a beautiful word and a beautiful concept. I feel like you said something backwards there. Not usually a fan of spoken word in songs. In this case, I am. I really like that.
Addressing the melody thing: the melody line is super familiar, I have heard it in two or three other songs that are familiar so it’s probably a sound of an era. I’ll be surprised if at least one other person doesn’t mention Blondie or the Stones.
You seem to be singing against your key though, in a style that is very grungy. Your chorus is a grind against the wind. Evocative of the forgotten and hidden places you’re describing. You’re setting a scene and painting a picture. Your lyrics by themselves are nice poetry. Your song could stand alone and if further produced could also develop. I think it has potential and merit. I think it’s heading in a strong direction, maybe it’s heading in a dirty direction. Maybe it needs to head in a dusty direction. This is just an opinion though—to be taken with a tankard of salt.



Brother Baker feat. Father - Free
Loving the way this builds from a cold, funereal starkness. It’s very good at painting a scene of soul-shock, at least to me, particularly at the start of it. Wishing the drums weren’t QUITE as oppressive. Something about a distortion in the choruses is putting me off. It’s pretty loud and I’m riding the volume. There’s a lot of range in this. But this is a wonderfully dynamic song. A note: I’m not sure if an “intro revisited” is going to seem like a skate of the challenge, and you’re just trying to sneak in a chorus. to people. I don’t think it will. I think you went out of your way—more than just writing it in a bio—it was definitely quite an introduction. Something about the feel of this (not the progression) reminded me of La Folia. The mournful and classic seriousness of it. The static at the end was not a bad discombobulation, but I did wish for a better fade of it.




Good Niche Gracious - Katzenfrühstück
I had to laugh at this because it was annoying and adorable. But it was annoying. I am quite sure that this was done on purpose. There seems to be a thing with German this round. If my cats are German, I do not know it. Disorienting things with panning, probably intended did make me feel a bit like when Lagertha and Starsky (the rulers of My Domicile) are tag-teaming my slumber. Some of the accompaniment you had reminded me of my brothers not letting me have a turn playing ninja gaiden when I was a kid (just dated myself I’m sure). You certainly staged a production. I did enjoy it, and you did thoughtful touches that were appreciated and funny and noticed. And funnier than the German is a simple truth: “Hey you! If you won’t wake up / Then I won’t shut up!” Sometimes a simple truth shouted in a song is a sure hit.


Sober - Home
Well, you got name-dropped, so have you finally been set up for failure? Naaaah, I bet not. I love your swingsy pace—so already thinking this will be different. Vocally, you knuckle down on your subtle indictments and rhetorical questions as though you were pretending your voice was Hank Williams Sr’s violin. Your bio and lyrics are already a thick banana milkshake of sarcasm (yum!) so it was entertaining yet sobering (sorry) to dig in! The arrangement was so tasteful and innocuous and yet genred and smack-upside the head at the same time and I don’t know how you do that! Probably very simple—you can frickkin mix a track and I think this is alchemy sigh. But this time, I didn’t really notice anything but your content and your vocal performance—which was both comical and earnest.
PS. This would have sold gold in a sketch show. I’m music directing this show that just opened — about local politics and so I appreciated the commentary of this.
PPS. A peculiarity about me. Whistling and I don’t get along because I cannot hear it without laughing immaturely and hysterically. So I had to stop the track, almost every time, to stop and almost pick up off the floor. So—content warning for the synesthetic weirdos—there is a TON of jolly, jaunty-assed whistling near the end of this sardonic little number.



The Alleviators - Sigh
GAH what a vocal! I love everything about it and it’s so gentle and soothing and radio-friendly and then I love the chorus in this but something about the high harmony is off-putting. Then I don’t want it repeated so many times. Keyboards are awesome. This is incredibly tasteful. I wish you didn’t have a chorus effect on your vocal in the bridge. I love that sigh. That guitar at the end is so slick but maybe it laid a slight distortion clam that didn’t go with the rest of the chill vibe and you left it sitting there because you’re Edgy? Who knows these things?




Siebass - Home
This song is a tricky read. You have a lot of passion and an obvious vision. From the beginning, I think it is going to be one thing, and then it is another. You will land on a note that I think is going to go a bit wrong and then you will resolve it beautifully with a lot of instrumental support and harmony layering. Or—the opposite—there’s a perfectly beautiful moment and then it gets pulled apart taffy-like and a bit sonically deconstructed. Or the bottom will drop out and a verse will go on and on without a breath. Maybe it’ll be primarily a piano–playing chord inversions until another element comes in to save the day. I know this is being done with intent because each change I hear plainly orchestrated decisions being made. I just don’t happen to have a feeling of agreement with them, but do I have enough appreciation to know it is not a lack of skill or some mistake. Your lyrics and the poetry behind them—love this. The verses don’t keep power for me because you use a similar cadence with rising tones and it starts feeling endless. I get lost somewhat. There were a lot of moments where I just wanted to hear a consistent throughline—your voice being the main focal point around a true north song structure more defined and reined in and a chorus that wasn’t a constant dissonance resolution starting from a pointed dissonance. In the end, your vocal would have been a better finish than continuing on with more—the exposed vocal entry near the end was beautiful. So bottom line, I’m in a bit of aural turmoil during this journey. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing for your purposes—just not my particular cup of tea.




Ironbark - Désolé
This song is an actual thing that happened to me in my life. Well, not literally. It was a smug Sydneysider, and it happened in Austin–and he just désolé-ed me silently. This is so gentle and evocative and like a sad little comedy moment from one of the Pink Panther films. The messy bit at the end was unnecessary and detracted a bit–because it the texture was all so rich and thick. And the arrangement didn’t produced super slickly—but it was clever and tight and it was a funny and droll production.



Jerkatorium - Yeah
That little wobble on the last yeah and your backup vox … lolz. This is cute and funny and y’all are, of course, borderline tight in this. Yes. Your lyrics are clever. Your drums sound so good I wish the fade had been lonnnnnger at the end. You guys always sound like a band full of all my audio-pro ex-boyfriends grrrr. So well done! Got a giggle and a good guffaw and who doesn’t like a good key change? I don’t dig meta but will flip over a bit for it particularly when it sounds like a jaunty gum commercial. Always fun to see contestant references. If you’re ever judging and I manage to write something I will fully stick a clav in it. Your piano passes my muster but that RIDE cymbal! And you really went for it on some of those singing notes. Made it too. I wish for something different about the vocal that would make it match instruments in quality somehow. So challenge is met and achievement unlocked–though in a super On the Nah-ose way, and a key change as well! ha!



Simon Purchase James - Existe los Regalos
This track went up and down the rankings a huge amount a lot for me. In the end, it plummeted because of length and the cold hard fact that it’s in a competition. The Spanish cadence feels nice to listen to and the way it hits on chord changes opens things up freshly and gives the song air and space. I’m iffy on spoken word in songs because I am the sort of person who freaks out during massages with soothing music. Spoken parts make me feel a bit emotionally awkward like I don’t know where to put my brain-hands. But your delivery of the spoken word is earnest, respectful, and cool—without being ridiculous and undermining the message or making it altogether too precious to take seriously. It ACTUALLY all comes off as rather swish and artistic and feels atmospheric and refreshing. I like the tempo change at the end but wish it had happened sooner. This is a very long song for this sort of contest but again—lovely performance and a quite suitable style for live play. It’s very warm and your voice is touching and the playing is beautiful if at times a bit sparse. But the layered guitars are a nice touch and I appreciate your charisma and the obvious emotion (particularly in the last verse).
All I did was describe what I heard here. All the time I had.



Mandrake - Magpies [SHADOW]
A dream state video game about techno birds. Dreamy vocals with a sharp edge that could be forward more.


Daniel Sitler - Not A Cello (Headphone Warning) [SHADOW]
Angerball distortion rant about bigass string-thing. Try hauling six tympani and a marimba six floors but feel your Hatchback Pain.

Night Sky - Lonely Alexander [SHADOW]
Adorable tale with a sassy sax with a detective show strut. Love the BRIDAL refs wish I had more time on these shadows.

[BoffoYux]

ST20.2 Reviews - Micah Sommersmith
My hope was that this round would result in a bunch of catchy chorus hooks, and boy howdy did you deliver. Between travel with my family early in the week and extra church services later in the week, I didn’t have as much time to listen as I would have liked, so it helped how instantly memorable many of these songs were.


Apologies if my reviews are not as thorough as I would have liked due to the aforementioned conflicts.


Berni Armstrong - Sleep

The descending vocal line in the chorus is instantly memorable and satisfying (especially when it’s harmonized in later appearances), but it could use some sort of ornamentation or variation to keep the interest up.


The Pannacotta Army - Moar

The guy speaking in your audio sample has a very distinctive and repetitive cadence to his voice, such that it’s easy to perceive a melody in the spoken passage. The problem is that the melody doesn’t particularly line up rhythmically or harmonically with the rest of the music. And the words the guy is saying are certainly thematically related to the sung lyrics, but the thematic content of the lyrics is perfectly coherent without the sample. In sum, I don’t think the sample adds much to your song and could be excised.


Otherwise, the song is a groovy, pleasant listen, if rather repetitive.



Yeslessness - White Feather


I don’t know what this song is about, but I don’t particularly care, because you’ve so compellingly created an atmosphere and I’m just along for the ride.


I love the vocal layering in general, although my personal bugbear is when consonants don’t line up in homorhythmic vocal parts. There’s a little of that here in places. And there is a general sense of chaos sometimes in the second half of the verses leading into the choruses. Part of this can be solved with some different mixing decisions; whether through EQing, reverb, panning, or some other technique, there are ways to make the lines more distinct so that their overlapping doesn’t just come across as clutter.



Bubba & The Ghost of the Kraken - Hideaway


The hook is absolutely gorgeous and has probably spent more time in my head than anything else this round. The double key change at the end feels gratuitous to me; this may be a knee-jerk reaction due to my experience in church music, where the use of a bump-up key change (or two, or three) to liven up an otherwise ho-hum song is a well-established cliché. Your song is too good for that!



chewmeupspitmeout - Love Song


I love the chucka-chucka guitars and the overall dance-pop feel!


You’ve made an interesting choice in that you know your narrator is not behaving well, but your narrator himself knows it as well. This raises the question of whether he is narrating this from a later time and looking back on the night at the disco, and if so, how does he feel about how he behaved? Is he regretful? Does he want to do better? Has he changed? Because otherwise it’s difficult to square his actions with his own narration of them.


The alternative is to not give your narrator that self-awareness, but you still have to figure out a way to tip off the listener about how you, the author, feel. In Round 1 I think that The Evil Genius Formerly Known As Timmy did this pretty well with “Monkey Videos”, but it may not have been evident to all listeners. It’s a fine line to walk, and the risk is that the artist themself comes off as looking like a jerk, but I think it makes for a more interesting song.



Stacking Theory - Breathe In and Hold It


Gorgeous song although it took a number of listens to make an impression on me. The opening two-note loop sounds like breathing in and out… but the title is “Breathe in and hold it”! A very silly nit to pick? Perhaps!



Jeff Walker - Unforgivable


I’m a Jeff Walker fan. Sonically, this song doesn’t quite grab me as strongly as your Round 1 song, but I like hearing the grittier, more electric sound, contrasting with the acoustic loveliness of “Try Again”.


The lyrics do a good job portraying the hope, horror, and disillusionment of the Vietnam generation. The weariness of your vocal suits the song perfectly; I could imagine an angrier, more abrasive version of this song (in fact, maybe CCR already recorded it), but as it is you sound too tired to be angry. Heartbreaking.



Daniel Sitler - Awkward

A summery indie jam with great lyrics about young love and the trouble that results when the lovers aren’t quite in the same place. You don’t exactly spell it out explicitly, but I’m assuming that one person is more comfortable openly claiming a queer identity than the other. (Side note: I’m sure there are lots of songs on this topic, but for me the one that immediately comes to mind is “Boyfriend” by Tegan and Sara, which is just a brilliant, brilliant song.)


My wife heard this song early in the judging period and said it was “from the Kimwa Dawson school”, which I don’t think is wrong, and I also don’t think is an insult.


Your voice has sort of a dark, closed-off quality that I don’t have the vocal expertise to really comment on intelligently, but in general I find it easier to listen to when your vocals are layered vs. when you just have a single vocal line - e.g. at 0:41 I think you have a doubled vocal up the octave, or maybe just singing with a brighter tone, and it lends the whole song more energy.



The Evil Genius formerly known as Timmy - Maria


Love the dance beat and the stuttering synth in the chorus. The electric guitar that comes in briefly in the bridge is tasty and I’d have been happy to hear more of that.


I enjoyed hearing the extended phrase and borrowed chord under “pornographic detail.” You have a gift for choosing specific details: faded jeans, Camels. I wouldn’t have minded even more. I’m not exactly sure what “never forget” means in this context; the general idea seems to be that in middle school you think this is the most important time of your life and that you’ll remember it forever, whereas the reality when you grow up is very different. But in that case, why the details about your memories of Maria?


The vocal rhythm on “I promised to remember” in the bridge is awkwardly crammed in. I don’t know what you were going for, but it may have been better to cut out the repeated “remember” so that you can sing “I promised to remember you” over the length of two lines without the clutter.



James Young - War


This title hook is extremely strong. Both your lead vocal and the guitar solo are fantastic; in fact, the expressive performance of both plus the slight distortion on your vocal meant that for the first few notes I thought the guitar solo was an anguished, wordless continuation of the vocal line. A really cool effect!


The verses feel samey throughout: the snare hits monotonously on beats two and three when a more rhythmically-involved marching military-style snare line would have been more engaging and also appropriate to the subject matter. And it’s nice to hear the bass play its little fill when between the vocal lines, but it’s the same figure every time so the engagement doesn’t last.



Single Pint of Failure - Alone


The contrary motion of the harmony parts in the chorus is gorgeous. Musically, the verses drag as each verse is essentially the exact same melodic line repeated four times. Aside from that chorus harmony, the highlight of the song is the lyrics, and what heartbreaking lyrics they are.



Tunes By LJ - Capital


Usually the chorus is the most exciting, high-energy part of the song, the part that makes you get up and move. In your entry here, though, you’ve made each chorus feel like a resting place, a respite from the off-kilter bustle of the verses. It works!


The contrast in tone between the lyrics and music feels very intentional, and also works in the song’s favor. On the whole, this song is a collection of individually risky decisions that add up to something that somehow feels effortless and just right. Great work.



Balance Lost - Lost


Gorgeous interplay between the multiple melodic guitar lines. Nice evocative lyrics that suit the mood of the music.


The high voice singing “Lost” during the chorus sounds nice and reverb-y but the sound stops immediately upon articulating the /t/ of the word “lost”, with no tail whatsoever - it makes for a disorientingly artificial effect.



Hot Pink Halo - Phosphorescence


I love the choral sound of the chorus but it feels like you’re trying to troll specifically me with the wash of /s/ consonants. Surely you know how I feel about this!



Also In Blue - Please


My struggle with this song, which I am better able to reconcile on some listens than others, is that I get one vibe from the anguished lyrics and the tense, busy drumming, and a different vibe from the chill piano and the creamy vocal performance. Every individual element is well done, but I want it to feel more cohesive than it does.



Jealous Brother - Oumuamua


Sonically, this song is fantastic. Great hook, great production, great borrowed chord on the "dust bunny" line. Nothing to complain about from me!


Lyrically, I'm all about space stuff as a metaphor for interpersonal stuff (see also Vowl Sounds' "Cassini"), but the metaphor is not super clear here. If it's not a metaphor, it's not clear what it all means either: Oumuamua has betrayed you somehow, but how, exactly? What were your expectations for this space rock, and how did it not fulfill them? Did you think it was an alien spacecraft? Were you hoping it would take you away from the solar system? On the whole the lyrics are vaguely evocative but don't add up to anything coherent for me.



Phlub - Tygart Dam


Move the setting to Canada and I’d swear you’ve unearthed a long-lost Stompin’ Tom Connors song here. This is a solid country ballad. I have just a few complaints about the lyrics: you spend a lot of words describing the dam project, and the accident feels like an afterthought. ("There was an accident" is the most boring, prosaic way you could possibly tell me that there was an accident.) Also: "She hung her head forward" - nobody says this because nobody would think she hung her head in any other direction, plus "forward" makes for too many syllables to fit the line anyway!



Temnere - Deutsch


This feels like a song where familiarity with and fondness for the artist referenced goes a long way toward appreciating the song in front of you. As for me, I don’t think I’ve ever listened to Rammstein; I believe the pastiche is well-done, but this entry doesn’t play to a lot of your personal strengths the way most of your entries do.



The Popped Hearts - The Second Best Time To Plant A Tree


Great garage rock sound. The judges might take issue with you layering additional lyrics over the last chorus, but that's not my problem - absent the limitations of the challenge it's a great effect.


The "loaves and fishes" / "oaves and bitches" couplet is great (I'm always here for reviving no-longer-productive grammatical rules), but the vocal rhythm is extremely cluttered and awkward. And "I fucked around and found out" feels very 2020s to me, making it an odd phrase to include in a song soaked in 90s references.



Mandibles - Désirée


You know that I don't contribute to the rankings, right? You've picked the wrong reviewer to pander to, but what a successful job you did of it. The melodies are exactly the kind I would write if I could write better melodies, the vocal interplay is sublime, and the song as a whole sits in a beautifully ambiguous spot somewhere in the middle of Philip Tagg's axiomatic triangle (if anyone gets this reference it'll be you folks).



Governing Dynamics - Predestination


That guitar solo is real good! I also love that, whether it’s actually a single take or not, it segues smoothly into the chorus riff - too often a guitar solo feels like it appears out of nowhere and then disappears back into nowhere, rather than being one section of a guitar part that is integrated into the song as a whole. In general, you do a good job of creating soundscapes in which the elements all feel like they belong together, although that does mean that individual elements are often more difficult to recall later.



Cavedwellers - Owzat! (Dismissed)


Okay, I’ve been trying to understand the scenario here with my non-existent knowledge of cricket. The narrator is behaving in a manner officially outside the strict rules but within the conventional norms, and the other player calls him out on it, much to the narrator’s frustration? Is that the extremely general idea?


My struggle is that sports like soccer, football, and basketball are easy to understand on a very basic conceptual level: you’re fighting over a treasure, trying to get it to your fort and stop the other team from getting it to their fort. The simplicity of this framework makes the stakes easy to understand and therefore easy to refer to in song. With cricket, my unfamiliarity with not only the specific rules but the underlying conceptual framework itself means that it’s hard for me to grasp the stakes in the song.


The chorus is hella catchy, though.



thanks, brain - Strange


This succeeds brilliantly at what you're aiming for - the sound effects, the vocal delivery on the chorus, it's all fantastic. And the romance element keeps it from coming off as one-note.



JW Hanberry - Maladjusted


An impressively dizzying array of sounds bombard the listener here. The restless turning over of sounds reminds me of some of They Might Be Giants’ early songs - unfortunately some of the ones I’m most likely to skip on re-listening. The inventiveness in the production is appealing but I’d like it to be married to a stronger vocal melody; as it is, the vocal doesn’t leave a strong impression after listening and there is so much going on in the production that no single element leaves a strong impression either.



“BucketHat” Bobby Matheson - Time Enough At Last (Vellichor)


The drums right off the bat make a good first impression, and overall the high-energy rocking sound is pretty engaging, but it seems to be extremely at odds with the lyrics. This genre is not at all what I would associate with the wistful nostalgia and mystery of old bookstores.



Brother Baker feat. Father - Free


The piano sounds fantastic in the sparse, dissonant intro, but when the full band comes in, the piano lines somehow sound both robotic and clumsy. Generally speaking, I don’t think piano is a strong instrument for monophonic lead lines; those melodic lines might come across a lot more successfully as a synth or electric guitar.


Otherwise, this is all fantastic. The energy is similar to your round 1 entry but things are a lot tighter and more professional sounding, especially the huge vocal moments.



Good Niche Gracious - Katzenfrühstück


The layers of synth lines sound pretty great. The drums still need to be louder! The vocals are playful but don’t have the energy of “Cold War Master”; also, in “Cold War Master” the lyrics had some layers to them, in that you delayed the reveal that you’re singing about a snowball fight, not an actual war. Here, the lyrics are one layer deep, which would be fine if the topic were something more compelling than a cat wanting to be fed.



Sober - Home


The wordless falsetto in the chorus is perfectly controlled and pure, which leads me to believe that the rasp on the yodel in verses is an entirely aesthetic choice, and I’m completely baffled as to why you made it. You do something similar on “Leave the Ladder” in SpinTunes 18, but there it’s supported by the high energy of the music and the urgency of the lyric - it sounded like an actual gasp of desperation and it worked. Here, the tempo is sedate, the music is sardonic, and the lyrics, despite the subject matter, are clinical and detached. The yodel is completely out of place and doesn’t serve the song at all.



The Alleviators - Sigh


There's a lot to like here but I keep getting tripped up by the juxtaposition of the airy, dreamy vocals and the cluttered, frenetic drumming in the chorus and especially the prechorus. Pick a lane, please!



Siebass - Home


The piano/orchestra arrangement is a nice change, but the songwriting betrays your pop-punk origins - I think that’s a I-V-vi-IV chord progression throughout the entire song, or close to it? The sound I think you’re going for begs for more variation.



Ironbark - Désolé


A gorgeous song that took a few listens to work on me, unlike “Privilege” which won my heart over immediately. Here of course the heartbreak is played straight, and to great effect.


It seems like you favor a limited sonic palette for each song, which you establish early on and stick to. Here, it's acoustic guitar, organ, and accordion right hand. Were I recording this song, I would be tempted to add snare, left hand accordion oom-pah-pahs, and probably a bunch of other unnecessary stuff to at least some of the choruses. Your restraint is a testament to your confidence in your own skills as a songwriter.



Jerkatorium - Yeah


New podcast theme song perhaps? It’s fun, the hook is catchy, and there’s plenty of charm, but it feels like Jerkatorium on autopilot.



Simon Purchase James - Existe los Regalos


Really lovely guitar playing. The lyrics soar in sung Spanish and land with a thud in the literal, unrhymed spoken English translation. I think you’re doing like a Pete Seeger thing that would make more sense in a live setting, but when we’re listening with the lyrics and translation in front of us, it just makes the song stretch on twice as long as it needs to be, and means that the switch-up to the more energetic section with the strummed guitar feels like an afterthought.