ST 23 Round 4 Reviews

[BoffoYux]

ST23.4 Reviews - Leonie Connellan

Glad I’m not choosing the winner this time. Unless it ends up being a four way tie, which I can totally see happening honestly. There is so little between all these songs that putting them in any kind of order feels like an exercise in randomness. At the end of the day, the winner on my list is the one that surprised me into crying the most.

The Pannacotta Army - Halloween Lullaby
I love this; it’s going straight to the Pool Room (my Halloween playlist that I broadcast to the Trick or Treaters). When I was a kid in Australia, Halloween wasn’t really a thing, which always made me sad because it seemed like such fun (because it is such fun). Now I live in the birthplace of Halloween, I go all in. I like that you’ve gone “magical” with the sounds rather than “scary”, not only because it’s more appropriate for a lullaby, but it actively makes the song better. The lyrics are doing all the heavy lifting for the “scariness”, leaving the song feeling balanced and right. Normally I’d complain about the line “the wardrobe is hiding no undead”, but the grammatical structure there seems to be working for the song in a weird way; it helps make the wardrobe a character as well. The tremolo picking of the mandolin/bouzouki/thing is to die for. I wouldn’t change a thing about this song, and the only reason I’ve ranked it second is Celestial Drift made me cry.

Celestial Drift - In a Quiet Room
Literal frisson on the refrain line. Actual, literal brain buzzing chills. That is why this song is number one. Also real tears. Are there songs I liked better musically this round. Yes. But this is the best song. The delivery on “delicious” is perfect. This is the most simple song I’ve heard from you, but it’s also your best one, hands down, in part because it is “simple”. I think making this probably made you quite uncomfortable, but it was worth it. The rhythm and instrumentation have a distinct Rainbow Connection feel, which honestly could account in part for the emotional reaction I had. I really like the way that the instrumentation is subtle but builds through the song, especially when the glockenspiel comes in after the first refrain. It helps open the song up, while still managing to keep the straightforwardness that it needs.

The Alleviators - The First Watch
Follow my voice, wordless and warm is such a wonderful opening line for a song. I have a migraine today while writing these reviews, and listening to this is very soothing. The instrumentation and the way many of the words are drawn out is relaxing and warm; perfect for a lullaby. I found the tradeoffs with the vocals a little discombobulating on the first listen, but repeats have made it feel more natural. I’ve loved every Alleviators song this Spintunes, so thank you.

Cavedwellers - The Only Way Out
I love the line “your limbs paralyse”, but it’s setting up a different song than the one we get. I feel like it’s one of those great lines that you couldn’t bring yourself to cut because it’s clever. “Limbs paralyse” is the setup for a lighthearted Halloween song, and while this is about death, it’s more than a lighthearted Halloween song. Beautiful vocal performance; it’s mixed in a way that highlights all the little emotional texture. The backing ooo ooo ooo’s are also incredibly lovely. Love that electric guitar. It almost has a violin-type vibe. It’s gotta be an ebow or something along those lines. If I was writing this, I would have made the final line “Is the way”, rather than “is a way”. A subtle difference I know, but it would make that last line feel like an eventuality rather than an invitation.

SHADOWS

I was at a Spoken Word Workshop recently where one of the participants said, “when we write, it’s our shadow speaking”, which is an idea I’ll probably steal from for quite some time, I reckon. Anyway, 13 shadows for round four!!!?!?! This is supposed to be the easy round for us judges! It’s probably definitely all your fault that these are definitely probably being submitted late…

Micah Sommersmith - The Rain on the Rooftop
I love that this is a song that is 100% authentic to you, but also feels like it’s deliberately trolling Chumpy and his God song comments in the podcast from last round. Well done. Thank you for the piano ballad. The pedant in me would like the final line of each verse to start with “As you”, but it also doesn’t actually matter. I think this ends on a suspended piano note, or one that doesn’t resolve, which feels perfect for a song like this, which is all about hope and uncertainty. I’m not sure if you intended it this way, but my instinct is to read the three verses as “I”, then “God” (being) and “God” (exclamation), as in, the “God” in the third verse is not the being, but a literary expression of uncertainty and quietly desperate hope.

The Moon Bureau - Let The Moonlight Carry You Home
I’m a real sucker for songs about the moon, as everybody probably knows at this point. “Unfinished business is tomorrow’s son” is an especially nice line, and a nice play on sun/son. If we were ranking shadows (what a perverse thought!), this would be right there at the top of my list. Beautiful understated vocal delivery. I don’t think that’s a real violin, but I appreciate it all the same. I wish you’d drawn out the last line of the violin and had it fade out underneath the verse. Overall, lovely. Five moons. (Later edit: do I love this so much because it subconsciously reminds me of I Still Call Australia Home by Peter Allen and I am a giant wet?)

Falcon Artist - Lullaby My Baby Boy
I have spent far too long this week thinking about the Irish pronunciation of “lullaby” thanks to this song. Love the strumming rhythm here, and the slightly Spanish feel to the chords. The melody itself feels like a bit of an afterthought, and the song is very long. I think you could cut it in half and not lose any of the sentiment.

Joshua Enby Drake - Yapping
I love 4’33”. Despite being a musician, John Cage is one of the patron saints of printmakers. What a fantastic artist. I appreciate that you’ve mashed up the whole skit idea with an actual song here, but you could take away the skit part and the music would be totally appropriate and enjoyable, so I’m not 100% sold that the skit part is necessary.

My Broken Demo Tape - Little Prince (Benji’s Lullaby)
I love The Little Prince. One of my souvenir things when I’m on holiday is buying a random musical instrument, but the other thing is buying a local translation of The Little Prince. Very glad to add this song to my collection. The doubled vocal on the “You have much to know” section is wonderful. I could do without the breathing. I get why it’s there, but I’m very much not an ASMR person and found it a little distracting. I’m absolutely certain that your child will love hearing you sing this as they grow up. Congratulations!

SpinTown & Company - Villager Lullaby
Turns out that Halloween lullabies are my jam. Really enjoyed this. I admit, I don’t understand how using AI in any part of the writing process is easier or better than just picking up a pen and doing it yourself. The lines that you’ve used AI for are so run of the mill that I really struggle to see how it’s an advantage. All the clever, good lines that you have in this song are the ones you’ve written, so don’t shortchange yourself or your skills! I particularly like the zombies are lurking, with maybe some drowned, btw.

Stacking Theory - Am I part of the problem (a lullaby for the broken hearted)
Is there anything more soothing and lullaby-like than an electric piano? No, didn’t think so. If I ever have to do a sleep study, I’d like to fall asleep surrounded by at least 10 people playing Rhodes. And some fuzz guitars. (I know it sounds like I’m being facetious. I am not.) I love the idea of a lullaby that you use to sing yourself to sleep; it’s a nice take on the challenge. This one has grown on me a lot over the week. Originally, I’d typed for your other song, “If I had to pick only one Gizo song to love from this round, it would be this one.”, but now I’m not so sure. Nice work finishing on the word “deep”, baby.

ChasRock - Wherever We Go
Moonlight / spoon right. A+
I also love “pull the curtains, that’s the show” and “on the bridge from brain to soul”, but they’re no moonlight / spoon right. Lovely. Could be developed into some big shoe gaze festival with 10 Rhodes and a fuzz guitar and I would also love it, but it’s also perfect as is.

Stacking Theory - Harvest Lullaby
As previously mentioned, I may have cried just reading through the lyrics. I love how short those lyrics are; very appropriate for a lullaby. As someone who is not particularly good at sleeping, I feel the line “uncurl your fist” deep in my heart. The snippets of trumpet layered in are lovely. Great use of the fade out.

cardamom seed - Lullaby for the Lost
There is no way, no way I swear, that whatever you’re saying where you’ve typed “rest your head” is actually that, lol. I hope you’re specifically trolling me here for the Enunciation note last round. Thoroughly enjoyed this, regardless. As much as I’ve enjoyed all the traditional lullaby instruments in everyone else’s songs, it was nice to hear something a bit different with this one.

Hot Pink Halo - Circle Back Around
It’s me, hi. Couldn’t let a whole Spintunes slip by without making at least one shadow. It was Climate Action week here in Ireland, and a friend was running a Spoken Word workshop as part of the council’s Climate Action Festival, so I went along and decided to use it as my hour for getting this song started. When the workshop was over, I didn’t think I had anything substantial bar a title that I liked. Later in the week going through my handwritten ramblings, I cut the title and used a lot of what I’d thought was nonsense word for word. I’m pretty pleased with how this came out in the end, and hope we get some other shadow reviews for purely selfish reasons.

Definitely Not Secretly Glennny - Glennnouement
Love this. Will probably never listen to it again, lol. Thank you for the excessive amount of work you’ve put into this joyous nonsense over the past couple of months. Definitely worth at least five times the official prize money. Props to Micah and Tommy for the special guest appearances!

Siebass - Goodnight SpinTunes
Well, now I regret not shadowing before Round 4! Lose or winchoons, I'm also glad we have Spinchoons. <3

[BoffoYux]

ST23.4 Reviews - Edric Haleen
My Process:

A little different this time, as I knew my Friday-through-Sunday wasn’t going to be available for SpinTunes-related things. I listened and jotted down initial impressions during the Listening Party. Then on Wednesday, after the beginning-of-the-week busyness and before the onset of the end-of-the-week busyness, I went through just the four official Finalist songs. Sorry to leave everyone who shadowed hanging, but thanks for participating . . . and I hope you had an awesome time!

Scoring Categories:

Met the Challenge (Was the connection clear/strong/tenuous/creative?)

NOTE: The first three definitions I looked up for “lullaby” read as follows:


• a quiet, gentle song sung to send a child to sleep.

• Lullabies are usually soft and soothing tunes; The word lullaby comes from the Middle English lullen, "to lull or soothe," and bye, as in "bye bye."

• a soothing refrain; specifically : a song to quiet children or lull them to sleep.

As judges, we talked about how to present the challenge prior to its release, and we had several versions of language to keep the challenge “on focus.” In the end, though, we decided (and I’ll quote Micah here), “since the wording seems to be obfuscating rather than clarifying, [we’ll] omit it. The challenge will simply be ‘Rest Your Weary Head: Write and record a lullaby.’ We'll let the voting contestants decide how to react to any cleverly subversive entries we may get.”

So, with full awareness of how many challenges I myself “letter-of-the-law”ed, I will be clear that I did look for entries that would help put a child to sleep . . . and if the message was nice but the music was harsh-or-overly-energizing, or if the music was tranquil but the message was distressing or anxiety-raising, that would count against full marks in this category.

Music (Did it serve the song well? Was it interesting/appropriate/evocative/engaging? Did it enhance the story, co-exist with the story, or seem at odds with the story? Note – I imagined what a professional recording might sound like when I assigned actual scores for Music, so participants would not automatically be “penalized” if they didn’t have an abundance of resources at their disposal. But I did add an extra 0.5 if an arrangement went “above-and-beyond,” and/or and extra 0.5 if I felt the music served to significantly enhance the story. A score of “2” should be considered my “expectation” for this category.)

Story (Did it serve the song well? Was it interesting/appropriate/evocative/engaging? Note – I did not judge how strongly it met the challenge when I assigned actual scores for Story; that’s what “Met the Challenge” was for. A score of “2” should be considered my “expectation” for this category.)

Lyric (Did the lyrics still on the melody line well? Did the words-chosen serve the lyric well? Once a metrical pattern was established, was it adhered to throughout the song, or were syllables squooshed-in or left-out across recurrences of similar sections of the lyric? A score of “2” should be considered my “expectation” for this category.)

Rhyme Scheme (Once a rhyme scheme was established, was it adhered to throughout the song, or were rhymes squooshed-in or left-out across recurrences of similar sections of the lyric? Note – I did not penalize for near-rhymes or identities when I assigned actual scores for Rhyme Scheme, but I did award an extra 0.25 points to competitors who rhymed perfectly across an entire rhyme scheme. A score of “3” should be considered my “expectation” for this category.)

My scores/rankings can be viewed in this Google Sheet.

[BoffoYux]

ST23.4 Reviews - ChasRock
Warning: Please don’t listen to the ST RD4 album while operating a motor vehicle or any other large machinery.

It’s been a really long time since I’ve tried to write and record a song by myself in a day, so I took the only free afternoon I had last week to submit a shadow. Boy, that was humbling! I had that classic experience where I wrote, recorded, and mixed everything in the span of several hours, so by the end of the process, none of the sounds made sense anymore.

I don’t hate the song I wrote, but when the round four album was released, I listened to the version I turned in and there’s an annoying, amateurish guitar that I left in when I was trying to create textural layers. It sticks out in a BIG way, especially in mono, which for me completely ruins the whole “go to sleep” vibe. Awesome. That’s awesome.

Maybe someday I’ll re-record or rearrange, but ultimately I’m still glad I made something just to make it because the joy has always been in the process. The only reason I bring any of this up is because I really enjoyed judging this competition and I want to thank all of the artists for being vulnerable and putting a bunch of work into these brilliant little creations, only to have some stranger who is *alright* at songcraft tell them that they mixed a cymbal too loud or whatever. I have no idea who will win, but y’all rock. Micah rocks. ST4ever and thanks for having me.

The Panacotta Army - Halloween Lullaby
I mean, this sounds gorgeous. Consistently, PA has delivered quality performances, both instrumentally and vocally. This one is a little spooky, but it works. The way it’s performed makes me question whether or not there actually are monsters lurking around this hypothetical child’s bedroom. It tells the listener to not be afraid, but when PA says “there are no vampires out there”, the chord structure and delivery make it seem like the vocalist doesn’t necessarily believe that’s true. That said, given the fantastical silliness of the monsters mentioned, I think it really works to the benefit of the song!

Overall, it’s a little novel, which I tend to think is PA’s achilles heel in this competition, but it set up the fewest barriers for falling asleep. For me, that made it the most effective lullaby from the contestants this round.

Celestial Drift - In a Quiet Room
The concept of this song is really beautiful. The idea of a grown up child singing to a parent is a heart-wrenching, nostalgic subversion of normal lullaby expectations. There’s a melancholic gratefulness to both the point of view and the vocal performance. This is by far my favorite lyrical concept from the contestants this round.

Production-wise, I’m a little less enthused. I like the “rainbow connection” direction of it all, but I’m not fully sold on the acoustic tone and would have preferred a much softer, more intimate, live-mic recording. As it stands, the acoustic has a rubbery

“quarter-inch-plugged-directly-into-the-interface” sound that becomes even more pronounced with the pick that’s being used. I think those choices are too aggressive for this song to effectively lull me into a warm sleep-state, and I’d love to hear a pillowy-soft re-recording of the track.

The Alleviators - The First Watch
Lyrically, there’s so many things about this song that I really enjoy. The idea of creating a safe, comfortable environment for the listener to sleep because somebody is taking the “first watch” is really nice. I also think there’s some top-notch vocal performances, as the Alleviators are hitting their stride when it comes to the way their voices combine. I don’t think it bears too much repetition, but there’s been a lot of growth from Rd1 to the finals and that feels like the purpose of this competition, so great work!

That said, as far as a lullaby goes, this might be the toughest to fall asleep to for a couple of reasons. First of all, it doesn’t really have a sleepy tone. There are drums, a driving bass line, an acoustic guitar that sounds out of tune around the 1:32 second mark and a violin that is constantly falling in and out of tune as well. Overall, the production’s sour moments and driving rhythm are more likely to wake the listener up instead of creating a soft palate for them to fall into.

Cavedwellers - The Only Way Out
I know Panacotta Army wrote a holiday-themed lullaby and I know this song isn’t that, but it does kind of sound like that, right? There’s something very “Hallmark-in-December” about the production. I hope that doesn’t sound like a dig, because it’s not at all. This song uses a really gorgeous soundscape (e-bow!) with an interesting melody, but I could also hear it as the score for a movie about discovering the true meaning of Christmas. The pianos, xylos, and lovely “ooos” that start the second verse bring me to a wintertime holiday headspace, even amongst the first verse’s wiggly island guitar.

Similar to the Alleviators, I think this track would be tough for me to fall asleep to, which might even be the (sick) intention? Sonically, the environment is really lovely, but the lyrics remind me that I have a hard day tomorrow and that gives me anxiety, which in turn keeps me up. This happens over and over. The song continually tells me to fall asleep by putting pressure on what will happen if I don’t fall asleep. “There’s a lot to be done by the light of the sun” and you don’t want to be tired tomorrow, right? Well then, you better fall asleep!

I really enjoy listening to this song as a song, but if I tried to use it as a lullaby, the lyrics would have me tossing and turning.

[BoffoYux]

ST23.4 Reviews - Chumpy, Ryan, and Micah

SpinTunes 23 Champions Chumpy and Ryan discuss the Final Round entries and shadows on their podcast Two Jerks One Vote, where they are joined this time around by SpinTunes administrator Micah Sommersmith. (Coming soon!)

[Chumpy]

The Jerks are back, this time with Micah! Apologies for the delay in getting this out!

Here is the deal:

• Download or point your browser directly at the mp3
• Point your podcast software at the feed
• View the podcast on iTunes

INDEX

• 00:00:00 - Intro Song
• 00:01:00 - Beginning blather
• 00:06:24 - The Pannacotta Army
• 00:15:39 - Celestial Drift
• 00:26:05 - The Alleviators
• 00:34:23 - Cavedwellers
• 00:44:18 - Micah Sommersmith
• 00:48:37 - The Moon Bureau
• 00:53:55 - Falcon Artist
• 00:58:24 - Joshua Enby Drake
• 01:01:25 - My Broken Demo Tape
• 01:08:14 - SpinTown & Company
• 01:14:24 - Stacking Theory
• 01:18:05 - ChasRock
• 01:20:49 - Stacking Theory Redux
• 01:23:38 - cardamom seed
• 01:29:24 - Hot Pink Halo
• 01:32:28 - Definitely Not Secretly Glennny
• 01:35:21 - Siebass
• 01:41:55 - End-of-podcast blather