WAIL. IAAC.
Why so many long songs? Did people feel they had breathing room since there were less people still in the game?
Adam Adamant – This is almost exactly twice as it needs to be. That said, it’s a catchy enough little fellah. All the different little synth bits are great and enliven the song but they take far too long to arrive. Fr’instance I was going oh I’d like some BVs in the chorus – why wait for c. 4 mins to do them? Contract to survive.
AAD – I really like the image of that opening couplet and the reggae-ish mood. The arrangement is cool all the way through. A minute and a half too long, probably, but I like it. Of course singing “you can’t stay awake” at any point after the four minute mark is kind of asking of trouble
BGM – ¾ is always creepy. More reggae? I am not complaining but so far the title seems to have encouraged long songs and people channelling their inner Sting with more or less success. This is very pretty without being an earworm, at least not after two listens. Last line is lovely in execution.
Boffo Yux Dudes – not a bad little track, but the thinking behind the words I find a little lazy. Of course humour is subjective but it seems a waste of a reasonable groove to throw away on “comedy” voices – it’s not like what you’re saying is funny per se. Oh and the track starts getting a little old around the “two time moment”.
Chocolate Chips – Now generally I am one for stripping down arrangements – so take what I am going to say with a pitcher of salt – I am not sure it’s not the drums/percussion that are spoiling this for me – they introduce a rigidness to this which goes against the pretty melody and strummin’. The solo comes at the right time, but maybe a little electric piano would sound better?
Chris Coggett – this is very well done. A little flat perhaps (in terms of the performance, not out of tune) – doesn’t grab me by the ballookas and swing me round. Which was and probably never be your intention. A quick, serious question – what does “Islands take a long long time to finally reveal what they hold and what they truly are” mean, exactly? It’s a slightly jarring phrase, when sung out loud. Do they really? And what do they reveal – that they are islands, and they hold grass and people, and hills and stuff? Cos a quick ride with a helicopter over any given island on day 1 would reveal all that. I digress, naturalich, which means I am not moved by your song one way or the other.
DJ Ranger Den – though the stops/starts aren’t as pronounced as in some of the other songs, and I actually think more stabbing punctuations, lasting for longer, might improve the overall dynamic, I like this very much. More vague Weil, please.
FBF – fucking hippy
I do like the radio song very much, and said as much to my co-judges, however I don’t like the sigh that follows it for some reason. Anyway, my ears have problems assimilating different time signatures so the verses are throwing me a little – but they sound great. The Bowie fronting Yes chorus is surprisingly pleasing on the ears. And unlike most prog, it doesn’t outstay its welcome by four and a half hours. I know where I’m putting this in my rankings.
GJ – *so* quiet! A surprisingly mellow take – “downtown” springs into mind for some reason more to do with me than the song. Little sprinkles of “Needles and Pins” as well. This would be a lovely 60s pop song if it had the decency to stop a minute earlier. Bring those interweaving harmonies in earlier. That was the loveliest part for me.
Gooey - This is not bad.The vocals are fine, until the key change, when they go more than a bit wobbly. I misheard “angels” as “Asians” and I thought uh-oh, here we go! The lyric doesn’t hit my ‘engage’ button, though I do like the last line. Not bad. Oh I said that already. I guess I must mean it.
Jon Eric – oh, this is all over the place! The vocals are sitting pretty loud / exposed in the mix and it makes them sound more OTT than they are, oddly. I don’t like the tripling in the main chorus, though the “Worst .. someone like me” line is great. Like the synths going on. What it is that sound at 4.11 that sounds like your neighbour knocking on the wall to tell you to turn it down? The a capella breakdown at the end doesn’t feel like it wants to be part of the rest of the song. The scope / ambition is impressive, the realisation less so. I really thought / hoped it was over at 5.11 This may have been said already but the various sections aren’t linking together well enough (of course due in part to the stop/start challenge) – and that shows up at the end when they all collide like a mass pile up on the motorway involving four tour-buses coming from different directions.
MG – The nerd-y talky / rappy bit is a little awkwardly phrased at times – the xylophone keys under the second verse are a nice touch. Nah, I don’t like that chorus, though “not free / cable TV” lines are quite cool. The fade-out on “volume” is not an idea that works all that well for me. When you don’t do it later on the cohesion of the chorus melody holds together better. The mix is good. Um ...
Merisan – oh, lovely. I think I prefer the verses, melodically, to the choruses. I just think they’re more striking. That said, the choruses do have those lovely harmonies. Maybe the accordion should go more jazz hands under all the choruses - the last one is just getting towards where I want it to start, in terms of flutter and tweet. Overall the accordion is subdued in the mix, which is a reasonable artistic choice, but I think you could get away with a cheesier, more upfront approach to accentuate the natural pleasantness of the tune itself.
Oystercatcher – awesome tune. Throwaway lyrics that i don’t need to hear again and vocal performance akin to Jack Black doing Iron Maiden. But it really is an awesome tune. It needs to finish sharp at 2.12. You have impressed me by making a 2 minute 40 song seem too long, but I guess when you only have 1 and a half minutes of (albeit amazing) music ...
Ross – I like hearing you on piano. Is that Steve tootin’ in the background or your good self? I want to like the descending motif chorus more than I actually do. I am not hearing clearly enough where the melody and the chords link together - although when the electric kicks in it improves immeasurably. Overall, not a bad song.
Sausage – who made you, obviously. The guitar could have a fatter sound, not louder just fuller. Bass as well, actually. Or possibly the vocals are just a tad loud in the mix. The “band” seems to be playing at the very back of my speakers’ auditorium while the vocalist is leaning into camera. Cute solo.
Snappy & Floyd – this is great until roughly 4 mins, where it kind of loses its way. Should have ended then. There’s some good phrases in here though I am not following the flow clearly. Once again there’s lots of interesting stuff going on in the backing track but minus points for not knowing when too much of a good thing kicks in (at 4 minutes then definitely at the door opening section, which is overlong, uninteresting and undoes a lot of the good work before then.)
Wreckdom – cute opening leads to slight disappointment at the bluesy swing of the verse. Still sounding like Sausage Boy (TM). I like the elastic band twang break downs. Chorus is OK, sounds better than it probably is in contrast to the standard rocky blues verse. “The lord don’t know and the devil may care” is a good line. Good lord, I know I keep going on about this for no benefit to anyone, but that is sausage boy phrasing. It just is. Hmmmm, that was OK, far from my favourite Wreckdom though.
WSA – I’m not sure your intro works as an intro, it’s more like a stripped down solo. Though some nice BVs in there. That’s a great guitar chord progression. The rest of it is like Sabbath beats off the Incredible String Band while a glee watches excitedly. Which may be your thing (as you made it) but ain’t for me. That chord chug is saving the song. One third of this song I like. I hate to say it but I find this indulgent except whenever you’re working around that chug (like it’s awesome when it clicks together coming into 4 mins) – but as well played as they are the duelling guitars is a no for me. Too much of that. Soz.
