Spintunes Round 2 Reviews

Juggling time signatures is hard work!

My thoughts on the songs for the Spintunes Round 2 challenge –

The songs can be heard HERE

The Offhand Band – Another Universe
This track surprised me. The off key presentation of the vocals distracted me at first, but as I stuck with it, the song grew into a very complex opus.  I liked the interplay between the 2/4 and 3/4 time sig. The Piano coming back in at 3:00 to the end brings it full circle. As Dave Leigh mentioned previously, I’d love to hear how this would turn out with a vocal track.

Jenny Katz – Miss You
Jenny’s scatting’ to a Jazzy tune about missing a partner.  A happy bouncy tune that sneaks in 3 different time sigs.

JoAnn Abbot – Life
JoAnn was another pleasant surprise this round. I know she’s just starting to create songs, and she’s progressed to playing her own instruments this track. The song about the passage of life flowed well.

Edric Haleen – Love
You can say a lot about Edric, and boring isn’t the E. Man. This one he’s channeling Mike Lombardo’s piano, with all the emotion and feigns of love and the trademark Edric sustained note. Very well done. Got my vote.

Sara Parsons – A Little Time
Sara has a velvet voice and a soft demeanor that sneaks up on you, and before you know it, you’re sucked into her songs. This is a lament about wanting to make a connection, and self worth issues keeping connection at bay. A Solid entry.

Caleb Hines – Insomniac Lullaby
Caleb has been pushing the envelope with his latest songs. The use of Time Sig. between the sleepy and non sleepy voice worked well.  The edginess came out in the 5/8ths segments.

Governing Dynamics – Eleyna Dreams
Travis brings out the guitars for this dreamy grunge tune with lots of imagery.  The time sig worked well to draw the parts together.

Emperor Gum – Smoulder
Another song that takes a while to build into something interesting.  I give points for trying to do a song about a 17th century pyromaniac in love, but I couldn’t quite get into the music.

Gorbzilla – Than Infinity
Gorby is joined in this tune with his family members sining an ode to Mom. Upbeat, happy, and genuine fun. You can tell they had a hoot making this one. Got my vote.

Ross Durand – Waltz with the Devil
Dylan meets Consumerism. Some cleaver lyrics in a protest song format.

Steve Durand – Rara Avis
Very offbeat Jazz song with a 60’s flair. When the Zabba Zabbas came in, I started looking for the GoGo dancers. Another that didn’t quite hit the mark, but points for pushing the theme.

Charlie McCarron – Sleep On It
You hit all the technical requirements, but the song didn’t really say anything or move me. It had a Loudon Wainwright III feel, but needed more oomph to it.

Kevin Savino-Riker – Here At The Door
Progressive Rock at it’s best. A Rush feel with an art house beat.

Heather Miller – Bullseye
A love song about pool, finding love playing pool, and how fate move us in different ways.

Godz Poodlz – Identities Assumed
The Poodlz work the spy scene with this little Peter Gunn themed ditty on two stealthy agents.

Denise Hudson – Flex Time
Funky beatnik poet song. This cries out for a bass to join the sexual tension.

“BucketHat” Bobby Matheson – Space Pirates
Bobby creates a space sea chanty about technological pirates. Fun and jaunty. The accordion builds the Time sig perfectly to a pirate crescendo. Got my vote.

Dr. Lindyke – Minutes And Hours
Dave take the time sig theme to a logical conclusion, with time itself being the focus of the song. Very interesting that he took the same melody and played with how it sounds via the different time sigs. Would have gotten a vote if not a shadow.

Tags: spintunes music