SpinTunes #6 Round 4 Reviews: Niveous

First off, I want to thank everyone for having me as a Spintunes judge for a second time. I hope everyone has enjoyed my time here as much as I have. And I give an open invite to come take a shot at the Nur Ein over at Songfight in April. But before that, we have some business to attend to. Now, even though my vote doesn’t count in the final round, I’m here to give reviews of the Mulligan round.

Now, some may complain that it’s just a do-over. There is a really tough challenge laying in this concept. All the musicians put great effort into Round 3. Round 4’s question is what do they have left? Did they throw every bit of creative content in that first song and now when presented with the challenge of writing a second song on the same topic, will they have nothing left to say? In the end, some rose to the challenge, others faltered.

First up, the shadows aka a whole lot of Boffo Yux Dudes. Last round, they shadowed and did two songs- Ballad of the Last of the Hackers and Eat the Whales. Somehow that became three songs plus an appearance on a DJ Rang…Cherry Pi song. Whales went after our society almost as whole, especially the opinionated internet. While Last of the Hackers was a protest song about internet freedom. So, I expected more of the same. What we got was not what I expected. Wireless Head is quite a good song but it’s about overdependence on technology which isn’t one of the previously touched upon topics. Still I’m quite happy with listening to this. Operating System is a little bit Wireless Head and a little bit Last of the Hackers. I don’t know if this truly fulfills the challenge but I think that this could be the start of a hell of a concept album. Add some references to “Feed” by M.T. Anderson and give it a Rush 2112 cover with a computer monitor replacing the starman’s head and I’m set.

Totally off topic, on my jukebox Painkiller’s Execution Ground started playing right after Operating System . It fit right in. Try it out! It’s like a scary interlude to the concept album.

Back on topic. BYD brought their version of Nirvana with Tear it Down… which went along the lines of Eat the Whales. But the song isn’t very enjoyable with its yelling vocals and uninteresting music. Sorry. I really didn’t enjoy that one. Then there’s the Cherry Pi Octo Pi. Did that song relate to a Round 3 song? No. It was just Cherry Pi talking Octopus pie. Now, as much as I enjoy having to think about Cherry Pi’s pie :P , this song was just okay. More style than substance with lots of good ideas but nothing in the song is very thrilling.

Now to the final four. Usually I start off with the bottom song and work my way to the song I think is the winner. Not today. Last week, I said:

"Edric wins. Period. He gets top marks from me across the board. This song was great. Edric’s performance is top notch, rattling off the lyrics with machine gun aggression in some sections. The piano was extremely well played. The story is brilliant. In my eyes, this is the best song that I’ve heard in the 2 SpinTunes I’ve judged."

This week the lyrics aren’t machine gun in their delivery and this isn’t the best song I’ve heard in the 2 SpinTunes I’ve judged- it’s the second. Edric’s  song is so good that I feel like he ran away with the competition.  Edric put out 3 phenomenal songs during this competition and has made me a fan of his work. Well done. I hope he wins. (But the decision falls with the rest of the competitors.)

Speaking of the rest of the competitors, everyone was good in this round. Sure, Edric may have run away with it but that doesn’t mean the other songs lacked merit.

Ross Durand is my second place with Someone’s which showcases some very nice guitar work. It’s a very good story with nice attention to details. The flaw for me was the chorus which was very bland. List songs can get wear you down quick sometimes. That’s what happened here. My favorite part of the song is the bridge because it breaks away from the formula. Ross is a great musician and always top notch. Spintunes 6 is no different. I hope to see him again at Nur Ein. He almost won last year and he could definitely be a contender this year.

MC Ohm-I is my third place song. He struggled a bit with having to do the second twice. Some of the lines felt like a rehash of his round 3 song but If You Were Gay does have some charm to it. I have found myself humming the very catchy kiddie show sounding chorus. Sure, the talk of choking people takes away a bit of the sentiment in the song but it’s a fun tune. Great musical choice and pretty well done. MC Ohm-I has been a pleasant surprise throughout this competition.

Finally RC’s Get Out of My Way. RC has been a solid musician throughout the competition. This just wasn’t a winning song (Neither was MC Ohm-I’s for that matter). It’s a good song with some smartly composed guitar parts but this isn’t the song that gets you across the finish line. It’s a decent deep cut in the middle of an album. It’s not a stand out song but it’s no slapped together crap piece. It’s just outshined in the round.

Thanks again for having me as a judge. Later folks.

For the bean counters
Edric 4
Ross 3
Ohm-I 2
RC 1