Round 4 reviews and discussion

[ross]

Well, mine is in. listening party is Tuesday, I assume there won't be any no-shows.

[ross]

Listening party is in the past. Four good songs, pins and needles.....

[thechocolatechips]

I just sent my rankings in:

#1 Ross Durand --- overcame my genre bias - nice song.

#2 Mariah Mercedes --- points off for the production. nice singing and some nice melodies in there but overall didn't quite gel.

#3 Governing Dynamics --- i liked the instrumental part but the vocals/melody not as much. if my vote was based entirely on the instrumental this would have easily been #1 for me.

#4 Edric Haleen --- didn't overcome my genre bias.

[rc]

Before going into reviews, I just want to say that all four of these songs are worthy entries, and as far as rating them, the distance between #1 and #4 is minute. The judgments I made are based on little things, the picking of nits, in a way I'm not entirely comfortable with. But that's the task before us, so here goes nothing...

I am also not going to comment in any way about the theme for this - all have met it IMO, such as it is. If you said the picture inspired to write a song about an old car you used to own because it had sand in the radiator, who am I to say that's not valid?

Governing Dynamics - Houses
A classic sounding song in the best sort of way, for some reason it puts me in mind of late Camper Van Beethoven, which is a very cool thing to be put in mind of. And it carries the strongest message of the four, which it put across in a way that's clever and not strident or annoying. The vocal wanders around pitch at times, in a way that mostly works stylistically. What did bug me a little, though, was the rushed feel and odd emphases in part of the chorus, which, because it was the chorus, bugged me a little bit twice. But all in all, quality stuff and greatly enjoyed.

Mariah Mercedes - Footprints
Enjoyed reading the bio, and I think you made the right decision, though you gotta be careful hanging out with musicians. A lot of them are egotistical jerks. (Not to say that we all don't have a little ego going for us.) Try to find the ones who aren't, or else they'll paradiddle and solo all over the quiet parts of your songs. The only reason I'm still gigging at my advanced age is that I found some guys to play with who aren't a pain to be around, personally or musically.

Structurally, this kind of meanders, but not in a bad way. It's hypnotically carried along by the sparse backing and your voice(s), which, as I've said before, is just great. The lyrics are nice, suggesting the story without headbutting you with it. Compositionally it's pretty slight, but such things can still be carried by charm and production. Charm, you've got plenty of, but production lets you down. The song doesn't quite get out of the mud and off the ground. The things is, the parts you've played and the vocal layering... your instincts are all very good. I think what you have right here could be remixed into something more arresting. Regardless, it's clearly the most personal of the four songs, and stands out in that way from the others. Well done! Work on mixing.

Edric Haleen - My Friend
My first instinct was to mark this down as a novelty song, and not take it seriously. That, of course, is utterly not fair, as well as being stupid on my part - half the stuff I write wouldn't be worthy of consideration either. Which maybe it shouldn't be... Secondly, once you listen to it a second or third time, you quit worrying about stupid crap and just get swept away by the melody and the spirited performance. Special emphasis for me on the piano, which is perfectly in tune with the theatricality of the vocal (you probably get that a lot). Because it would totally sound weird if it didn't. And I'm glad that the orchestration was dispensed with here - the orchestrations I've heard you do before were nicely written and thought out, but the synth sounds themselves had a cheese factor that took me out of the song. I'd far rather hear the glorious piano. But that's just me. I really have nothing to criticize here. Even the SpinTunes shoutout... I'm just jealous I didn't think of it first.

Ross Durand - When The Tide Comes In
I ain't askeered of no folk music, and this is well-executed folk rock. While I'm not sure it's Biblically correct, "Hubris is the original sin" is a great line, and the whole thing kind of echoes the theme of Governing Dynamics' track with an even lighter hand. You won't even realize there was a message until you get home later and start humming it in your head... Again, I really don't have much to criticize here. Nice, uplifting in its own sort of way, and a joy to listen to.

At this point, I'm down to Edric vs. Ross for the win, and I honestly haven't decided. Guess I'll have to decide tonight.

[ross]

Hmm, only 12 of 29 eligible voters? Can't help but wonder if that skews things. Anyone recall what the voter turnout has been like in the past?