(message received from GarageBand.com reviewer)
"hi cody weathers, you don't know me and i don't know you. i reviewed one of yours and you reviewed one of mine.anyways, right now i'm at a crossroads and seeking your opinion before i choose a path. right now, i usually spend 20 minutes or so on each review in order to give the band some critical feedback. But then usually when i get reviews it's only 15 words long and it's some vague platitude with no real meaning. it's something like "cool tune, i like the guitars during certain parts." and that's it. i really can't use that for anything. i would rather someone tell me to redo the chorus or add something that i never thought of.anyways, i wrote you because i usually read your reviews of songs because they are great. and i'm wondering why you continue to produce indepth reviews when it would be so easy just to write down 2 sentences about nothing. i'm sorry i rant too much. let me know what you think."
(my reply)
Wow. You and I should go bowling. Naturally, I share your frustration with at least 50% of the reviews I receive. They remind me of haiku day in third grade with a bunch of grudging 8-year- olds finger-tallying their way through the requisite syllables in hopes of an early recess. I guess that for me, it's a matter of professional pride and the benefit of analysis that keeps me writing critique-style reviews rather than the vague platitudes you mention. If I'm going to do this at all, I want to do it as well as I'm capable of rather than embarass myself with an obvious lack of effort. But more importantly, I've really liked thinking critically about the true roots of my initial reactions to the material I hear, and forcing myself to justify and cite specific examples of problems or strengths. As I continue to listen to these songs, I feel that I'm becoming a stronger producer, and the patterns of my complaint and praise make me think very concretely about how I'll approach my own projects in the future. I hope you keep fighting the good fight. Cody
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Does the dude write about anything besides GarageBand.com?
It's official: in the past year, my daughters have written more songs than me. With the addition of "Babies and Boy Babies" (Babies and boy babies/Bouncing down the sidewalk/If you see a baby here/Turn it to your finger painting" (C)2008, Cara Weathers, all rights reserved) and "Hello" (Hello/Goodbye/Button (C)2008, Hadley Weathers, all rights reserved), the girls have outdistanced me by at least a half-dozen works. And all of their songs have that elusive je ne sais quoi of snappy, catchy infectiousness that makes me simultaneously beam with pride and hang my head in shame.
Meanwhile, I've been chipping away at not one, but two albums for two whole years. Since releasing Least Significant Failures, I've been promising Cat I'd finish up the latest Sunhouse Branch album, Cinema, and simultaneously claiming to Eric that I'd soon be done writing for my own new hard rock album, Haardvark. "What crap give I about thy 'magined toils/Hast not a fool a scepter for his dungslough?" asked my good pal, Billy Shakespeare. Well put, I must admit. Nonetheless, here's the skinny on the dung I'm currently slinging:
CINEMA: This is the second Sunhouse Branch album, a side-project experimental hard-rock album cowritten by Cat Mayhugh and myself. If you like Werner Herzog, odd meter, or confusing backstories, this is a must-listen for 2008ish. Right now, I'm done with the vocals, guitars, drums, and bass for all but two of the songs. This should be release-ready this calendar year.
HAARDVARK: Under tremendous pressure from Eric, I've been nagged into writing my own new hard rock album. I have about 15 songs written, but nothing yet recorded. Cat has, however, made a kick-ass album cover in his current oeuvre, and Eli Castillo (who did the photos and layout for Least Significant Failures) has agreed in principle to take some kick-ass photos of me for the interior. So the album cover is very much on track. The album itself is arguably less so.
Oh crap, I wrote essentially the same optimistic progress report last yearish in Memphis Evans' interview of me ([Part I][Part II]).
Meanwhile, I've been chipping away at not one, but two albums for two whole years. Since releasing Least Significant Failures, I've been promising Cat I'd finish up the latest Sunhouse Branch album, Cinema, and simultaneously claiming to Eric that I'd soon be done writing for my own new hard rock album, Haardvark. "What crap give I about thy 'magined toils/Hast not a fool a scepter for his dungslough?" asked my good pal, Billy Shakespeare. Well put, I must admit. Nonetheless, here's the skinny on the dung I'm currently slinging:
CINEMA: This is the second Sunhouse Branch album, a side-project experimental hard-rock album cowritten by Cat Mayhugh and myself. If you like Werner Herzog, odd meter, or confusing backstories, this is a must-listen for 2008ish. Right now, I'm done with the vocals, guitars, drums, and bass for all but two of the songs. This should be release-ready this calendar year.
HAARDVARK: Under tremendous pressure from Eric, I've been nagged into writing my own new hard rock album. I have about 15 songs written, but nothing yet recorded. Cat has, however, made a kick-ass album cover in his current oeuvre, and Eli Castillo (who did the photos and layout for Least Significant Failures) has agreed in principle to take some kick-ass photos of me for the interior. So the album cover is very much on track. The album itself is arguably less so.
Oh crap, I wrote essentially the same optimistic progress report last yearish in Memphis Evans' interview of me ([Part I][Part II]).
Monday, March 17, 2008
Jonatha Brooke Wants To Be My Friend
I first stumbled across Jonatha Brooke at a listening station in the now-defunct Sound Warehouse chain in Denver in 1995. I played the first few tracks of Plumb and was interested enough to buy the album. This was back when I was still steadfastly clinging to the notion that I didn't need to own a CD player, so I actually bought it on cassette. Incidentally, that embarassing anecdotal display of naive technological anti-savvy has nothing to do with the fact that it has taken me however many years to set up a MySpace page, or my continuing failure to post videos of any kind over on Youth Tube despite the sensible urgings of my technological betters to do so. I am merely convinced that those fads will fade shortly after I bother getting around to it, so you know, two kids, mortgage, why bother? One of these days, I'm going to be so right about that, and that's the day the funny face you're making will tragically freeze that way. Incidentally, financial tip: it looks to me like a good time to buy real estate or REIT shares. In any event, to this day, that remains one of my favorite albums (though now on CD), growing stronger in my mind with each listen, and I've been a big fan of hers ever since.
And amazingly, the very first thing that happened when I set this page up last year was that I received the second most exciting email I've ever gotten, next to the opportunity I seized to help a desperate Nigerian diplomat flee his war-torn country and the certain cruel doom that surely awaited him for but 500 of my hard-earned ruples. "Jonatha Brooke wants to be your friend." I enthusiastically approved her and awaited the first of our many inevitable compadre-to-compadre chit-chats.
Alas, as you already knew at least one paragraph ago, Jonatha was no Nigerian diplomat, and her friendship was not as it first seemed.
Indeed, I got the distinct impression that ours was a one-way relationship, existing only to allow her to inundate me with impersonal marketing posts. Can you imagine?! I know! I can't either! I'm so incredibly indignant, I just may need to utilize an emoticon on this surly occasion! And normally, I'm just like Jon Bon Jovi --a manly chiseled stone of iconless emotions. But not today!
When I first set up this MySpace page, being the naivenik that I am, I imagined that my friends would be MyFriends and that MyNewFriends would be my new friends. Of course, everybody but me understands the difference between "My Friends" and "MyFriends." When I was in elementary school, Chuckie Kapelke was my friend, but surprisingly, my Greatest American Hero lunch box was not immediately full of impersonal advertisements about his new lemonade stand. Then again, that could be because I forgot to thank him for the add.
Well, there were only two sensible options at my disposal: I could either go off the Andy Rooney deep end, bestrew my desk with garbage (or as my wife would say, more garbage), and start in with the non-stop grumbling OR --and you can see it's a big "or"-- I could take this high road I've heard so much about and convert MyFriend into my friend.
So when for just about the first time ever, Jonatha played a show closer to me than Dublin or Amsterdam (apparently her listserv monitor believes that I hail from Dover, not Denver, and now live in Portsmouth, not Portland), the wife and I went down, saw her play, and met her. As you can see, we are clearly actual friends at this point.
The end result of all of this hoo-ha is that I've decided not to accept any friends with whom I have had some actual connection. So in looking at my short list of MyBuddies, you can rest assured that each of them represents someone who I think is worth checking out. Or something like that. I don't know. I've been futzing with how to wrap up this stupid blog post for like six months, and I give up. Hooray, I got a C+!!!!
And amazingly, the very first thing that happened when I set this page up last year was that I received the second most exciting email I've ever gotten, next to the opportunity I seized to help a desperate Nigerian diplomat flee his war-torn country and the certain cruel doom that surely awaited him for but 500 of my hard-earned ruples. "Jonatha Brooke wants to be your friend." I enthusiastically approved her and awaited the first of our many inevitable compadre-to-compadre chit-chats.
Alas, as you already knew at least one paragraph ago, Jonatha was no Nigerian diplomat, and her friendship was not as it first seemed.
Indeed, I got the distinct impression that ours was a one-way relationship, existing only to allow her to inundate me with impersonal marketing posts. Can you imagine?! I know! I can't either! I'm so incredibly indignant, I just may need to utilize an emoticon on this surly occasion! And normally, I'm just like Jon Bon Jovi --a manly chiseled stone of iconless emotions. But not today!
When I first set up this MySpace page, being the naivenik that I am, I imagined that my friends would be MyFriends and that MyNewFriends would be my new friends. Of course, everybody but me understands the difference between "My Friends" and "MyFriends." When I was in elementary school, Chuckie Kapelke was my friend, but surprisingly, my Greatest American Hero lunch box was not immediately full of impersonal advertisements about his new lemonade stand. Then again, that could be because I forgot to thank him for the add.
Well, there were only two sensible options at my disposal: I could either go off the Andy Rooney deep end, bestrew my desk with garbage (or as my wife would say, more garbage), and start in with the non-stop grumbling OR --and you can see it's a big "or"-- I could take this high road I've heard so much about and convert MyFriend into my friend.
So when for just about the first time ever, Jonatha played a show closer to me than Dublin or Amsterdam (apparently her listserv monitor believes that I hail from Dover, not Denver, and now live in Portsmouth, not Portland), the wife and I went down, saw her play, and met her. As you can see, we are clearly actual friends at this point.
The end result of all of this hoo-ha is that I've decided not to accept any friends with whom I have had some actual connection. So in looking at my short list of MyBuddies, you can rest assured that each of them represents someone who I think is worth checking out. Or something like that. I don't know. I've been futzing with how to wrap up this stupid blog post for like six months, and I give up. Hooray, I got a C+!!!!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Mad About "Mad About You"
Good news, you faithful readers, you! After two arduous months of review and old-school finaglery, "Mad About You" has made it through to round 2 of the current GarageBand.com contest and been selected as "Track of the Day" for 9/16/07. In layman's terms, this means that among jaded wannabe rockstars like myself, one of my songs has been judged to be definitively not the worst song they've ever heard. Does it get any better than this? I ask you, does it? I tell you it does not. No wait, that sounds sad. It definitely does get better than this, but I remain enthusiastic about this message and my life in general. Seriously, get juiced, this is a big day for us all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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5 recent reviewer picks of mine:
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5 recent reviewer picks of mine:
- Get To You Muzzy Luctin, Hard Rock
- Sirens Dash Reflex, Rock
- Man in the Cold Steph MacLeod, Acoustic (as well as his other songs "Circles" and "Breaking Out")
- Golden Gate Likely Stories, Acoustic Jazz-rock
- Fragile Things The Two-Time Jimmy, Rock
Thursday, July 19, 2007
How to get a 5-star review
Well, today is my lucky day, for I am the proud author of a GarageBand.com Review of the Day. In honor of this glorious occasion, I've decided to update my shiny blog toy. No, Mommy, it is my favorite toy, and you may not sell my blog at our garage sale. I love my blog. See, I'm playing with it right now. Right now, Mommy.
Some general guidelines on how to get a favorable review from me on GarageBand.com:
Don't worry about style: I try to use Roger Ebert's famous philosophy (paraphrased poorly here) and judge the overall work in the context of what it set out to achieve. Nothing worse than a reviewer who says "I don't like [STYLE], so this didn't really work for me. Everything was too [HALLMARK TRAIT OF STYLE] for my liking."
Everyone starts with a three: I start off with the assumption that the song will be a three-star review. The artist can improve or wither from there.
Singers: I expect singers to hit their notes. Extra credit for emotion. Extra credit for technique. Points off for rhythmic difficulties, particularly for being the weak link in the groove. Most points off for sour pitch.
Groove: I expect the song to be more or less in time. I won't sit there with a metronome checking it, but I shouldn't feel the pulse drag or rush except where by clear design. Extra credit for tightness (everything lines up). Extra credit for nuances of feel (laying back, etc). Extra credit for keeping it tight, but getting creative with it. Points off for misbangs (notes that miss the cue). Points off for rushing and dragging. Maximum points off for dropped beats.
Instruments: I expect everyone to be in tune and have a basic command of their instrument. Extra credit for creativity. Extra credit for interacting well with other instruments. Extra credit for virtuosity. Extra points for building momentum over the arc of the song. Points off for flubs. Points off for noticeably poor technique. Points off for flatline performances that are the same from start to finish.
Writing: This is the most subjective aspect of my review, but I try to be fair and not rely purely on my own preferences. I expect the design to be evident. It doesn't have to fit a template, but I need to sense the mastery of decision-making. Extra points for taking care. Extra points for catchy melodies. Extra points for interesting chord changes. Extra points for perceptive or compelling words. Extra points for surprises. Super extra points if the lyrics, melody, and chords are all clicking. Points off for lyrics that draw attention to their awkwardness. Points off for melodies that cling to one note for lack of trying. Points off for melodies that don't fit the scale of the chords in songs that are otherwise very conventional --those that are likely mistakes or failures to write a typically-tonal melody rather than a band that clearly experiments with polytonality. Points off for songs where neither the lyric nor the music remains interesting for the duration of the song (in my view, at least one thing has to compel the listener to finish the song).
Recording Quality: Although I write about it extensively in my reviews, this aspect matters the least to actual scoring for me. It is, after all, GarageBand.com. Nonetheless, I expect that every song will be listenable. Points off for terrible noise issues. Points off for key elements which are literally inaudible (e.g., the recording is a handheld tape recorder in someone's bedroom, and all I can make out is the guitar because it's right next to the mic and the singer is eight feet away, getting his Norah Jones on....) I don't really give extra credit in this category, except for especially creative recording techniques. I'll give a good review to a terrible recording of a good song and performance. However, I would never give a great-sounding recording of a ho-hum song five stars.
One Star (6% of my reviews): Nothing important is working or something is failing so spectacularly that it doesn't matter what the status of anything else is. Or plagiarism. I give one star for plagiarism. It's one of my kooky rules.
Two Stars (17% of my reviews): One or more big problems or lots of little ones without enough extra credit to offset.
Three Stars (28% of my reviews): The default. An equal mix of small strengths and weaknesses with nothing great enough to elevate it to a four and nothing terrible enough to sink it to a two.
Four Stars (30% of my reviews): I'm very enthusiastic about the song, but there are a couple problems that stand out. Typically, you can't break my four-star barrier on performance alone --the song has to have some merit. But a great song with noticeable performance problems will not get more than four stars from me.
Five Stars (19% of my reviews): Great performance of a great song. Recording quality may be in any tolerable ballpark, by which I mean that home studio efforts qualify so long as they emulate the typical standards and practices of professional recordings (basic stuff). I would accept a live recording, and in theory I would accept a scratch demo, if the artist had positioned everything just right so that the song was clearly audible and the recording didn't get in the way. I have to feel like it has tremendous potential right away to get somebody signed or licensed.
Five of my favorite five-star reviews:
Some general guidelines on how to get a favorable review from me on GarageBand.com:
Don't worry about style: I try to use Roger Ebert's famous philosophy (paraphrased poorly here) and judge the overall work in the context of what it set out to achieve. Nothing worse than a reviewer who says "I don't like [STYLE], so this didn't really work for me. Everything was too [HALLMARK TRAIT OF STYLE] for my liking."
Everyone starts with a three: I start off with the assumption that the song will be a three-star review. The artist can improve or wither from there.
Singers: I expect singers to hit their notes. Extra credit for emotion. Extra credit for technique. Points off for rhythmic difficulties, particularly for being the weak link in the groove. Most points off for sour pitch.
Groove: I expect the song to be more or less in time. I won't sit there with a metronome checking it, but I shouldn't feel the pulse drag or rush except where by clear design. Extra credit for tightness (everything lines up). Extra credit for nuances of feel (laying back, etc). Extra credit for keeping it tight, but getting creative with it. Points off for misbangs (notes that miss the cue). Points off for rushing and dragging. Maximum points off for dropped beats.
Instruments: I expect everyone to be in tune and have a basic command of their instrument. Extra credit for creativity. Extra credit for interacting well with other instruments. Extra credit for virtuosity. Extra points for building momentum over the arc of the song. Points off for flubs. Points off for noticeably poor technique. Points off for flatline performances that are the same from start to finish.
Writing: This is the most subjective aspect of my review, but I try to be fair and not rely purely on my own preferences. I expect the design to be evident. It doesn't have to fit a template, but I need to sense the mastery of decision-making. Extra points for taking care. Extra points for catchy melodies. Extra points for interesting chord changes. Extra points for perceptive or compelling words. Extra points for surprises. Super extra points if the lyrics, melody, and chords are all clicking. Points off for lyrics that draw attention to their awkwardness. Points off for melodies that cling to one note for lack of trying. Points off for melodies that don't fit the scale of the chords in songs that are otherwise very conventional --those that are likely mistakes or failures to write a typically-tonal melody rather than a band that clearly experiments with polytonality. Points off for songs where neither the lyric nor the music remains interesting for the duration of the song (in my view, at least one thing has to compel the listener to finish the song).
Recording Quality: Although I write about it extensively in my reviews, this aspect matters the least to actual scoring for me. It is, after all, GarageBand.com. Nonetheless, I expect that every song will be listenable. Points off for terrible noise issues. Points off for key elements which are literally inaudible (e.g., the recording is a handheld tape recorder in someone's bedroom, and all I can make out is the guitar because it's right next to the mic and the singer is eight feet away, getting his Norah Jones on....) I don't really give extra credit in this category, except for especially creative recording techniques. I'll give a good review to a terrible recording of a good song and performance. However, I would never give a great-sounding recording of a ho-hum song five stars.
One Star (6% of my reviews): Nothing important is working or something is failing so spectacularly that it doesn't matter what the status of anything else is. Or plagiarism. I give one star for plagiarism. It's one of my kooky rules.
Two Stars (17% of my reviews): One or more big problems or lots of little ones without enough extra credit to offset.
Three Stars (28% of my reviews): The default. An equal mix of small strengths and weaknesses with nothing great enough to elevate it to a four and nothing terrible enough to sink it to a two.
Four Stars (30% of my reviews): I'm very enthusiastic about the song, but there are a couple problems that stand out. Typically, you can't break my four-star barrier on performance alone --the song has to have some merit. But a great song with noticeable performance problems will not get more than four stars from me.
Five Stars (19% of my reviews): Great performance of a great song. Recording quality may be in any tolerable ballpark, by which I mean that home studio efforts qualify so long as they emulate the typical standards and practices of professional recordings (basic stuff). I would accept a live recording, and in theory I would accept a scratch demo, if the artist had positioned everything just right so that the song was clearly audible and the recording didn't get in the way. I have to feel like it has tremendous potential right away to get somebody signed or licensed.
Five of my favorite five-star reviews:
- A little grit on something great
- Rousing and feral
- Tight, tight, aaaaaaaaannnd tight
- Interesting to the last
- Laying way back
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Is it really a battle of wits if you're beating down some sort of abusive Czech ELIZA?
My Review:
Ripping off Annie Lennox ("Always and Forever" Minus0)
Well, to start off, the entire first verse plagiarizes Annie Lennox's "Legend In My Living Room" (second verse) word for word (see http://www.80smusiclyrics.com/songs/Legend_In_My_Living_Room.htm). And it's not as if it's a cover, somehow ignorantly violating GarageBand.com policy --these are stolen lyrics misappropriated into some terrible listless spiral. Do I really have to go on? Even were it not for this offensive outright theft, this song has got problems. The singer is wandering in a haze and the melody has no center. The backup vocals are out of phase. There's no dynamic shape to this extended dramatic whisper. In a normal review, I might mention that the chord changes show some potential, but given the exposed crooked moral compass, who knows where those really came from. Can these guys write at all?
From the "band"
Yes......... we can write...and its not rip off you moron!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And my reply:
Actually, what you've done is the very definition of "rip off." As I very specifically cite in my review, you STOLE words from an Annie Lennox song and tried to pass them as YOURS, copyright 2007 Z. Mesic and everything. I have reported you for doing so to the administrators of this site, and since your action is a clear-cut violation not only of copyright law, but also the specific policies of GarageBand, I'd be shocked if your account didn't get revoked.
And what's worse, not only did you steal the words, but you wasted the theft in a terrible song. I'm normally very civil in my reviews, but in your particular case, I have absolutely no qualms about lambasting you and your ethics.
Reading back over your email, it occurs to me that maybe I'm just talking over your head. Let me try it in your own brilliant writing style:
No......... you can't write...and it's rip off you thief!!!!!!!!!!!
His reply:
ha ha ha ha............
you're so funny....looser!!!!!!!!!!!
And mine:
Glat to se yu hafent losed yur sens if humir. Lern tu spel, insidintli. Kent weet fur yu tu skwez in de lest werd. I espeshally luv how yu dunt feal ani ned to defind ur yoos uf somun eles werds or efen iknelege it hapind et al. Praps ur difins cud bi det yu sikikli chaniled hur unwitenlee. Wed yur witt, yoo jes mit git of der huk!
And finally:
POPUSI MI KURAC!!!!
NOW WHAT THE HELL JUST DID I SAY TO YOU...
WELL, IF YOU'RE SMRAT ENOUGH YOU'LL FIND OUT!!!!AGAIN LOOSER!!!
Or maybe just one more from me:
zloděj (thief)
Ripping off Annie Lennox ("Always and Forever" Minus0)
Well, to start off, the entire first verse plagiarizes Annie Lennox's "Legend In My Living Room" (second verse) word for word (see http://www.80smusiclyrics.com/songs/Legend_In_My_Living_Room.htm). And it's not as if it's a cover, somehow ignorantly violating GarageBand.com policy --these are stolen lyrics misappropriated into some terrible listless spiral. Do I really have to go on? Even were it not for this offensive outright theft, this song has got problems. The singer is wandering in a haze and the melody has no center. The backup vocals are out of phase. There's no dynamic shape to this extended dramatic whisper. In a normal review, I might mention that the chord changes show some potential, but given the exposed crooked moral compass, who knows where those really came from. Can these guys write at all?
From the "band"
Yes......... we can write...and its not rip off you moron!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And my reply:
Actually, what you've done is the very definition of "rip off." As I very specifically cite in my review, you STOLE words from an Annie Lennox song and tried to pass them as YOURS, copyright 2007 Z. Mesic and everything. I have reported you for doing so to the administrators of this site, and since your action is a clear-cut violation not only of copyright law, but also the specific policies of GarageBand, I'd be shocked if your account didn't get revoked.
And what's worse, not only did you steal the words, but you wasted the theft in a terrible song. I'm normally very civil in my reviews, but in your particular case, I have absolutely no qualms about lambasting you and your ethics.
Reading back over your email, it occurs to me that maybe I'm just talking over your head. Let me try it in your own brilliant writing style:
No......... you can't write...and it's rip off you thief!!!!!!!!!!!
His reply:
ha ha ha ha............
you're so funny....looser!!!!!!!!!!!
And mine:
Glat to se yu hafent losed yur sens if humir. Lern tu spel, insidintli. Kent weet fur yu tu skwez in de lest werd. I espeshally luv how yu dunt feal ani ned to defind ur yoos uf somun eles werds or efen iknelege it hapind et al. Praps ur difins cud bi det yu sikikli chaniled hur unwitenlee. Wed yur witt, yoo jes mit git of der huk!
And finally:
POPUSI MI KURAC!!!!
NOW WHAT THE HELL JUST DID I SAY TO YOU...
WELL, IF YOU'RE SMRAT ENOUGH YOU'LL FIND OUT!!!!AGAIN LOOSER!!!
Or maybe just one more from me:
zloděj (thief)
Friday, June 15, 2007
Listening to [Blank]
Recently, my friend Siri made me wise to the hipster phenomenon known as GarageBand.com. Because that's how I do it over here in the marketing department --I adopt a philosophy of many foreign words, laissez-faire, zen, holistic, bibbity-bobbity-boo. You get the point. Just as I still have no idea how to blog, I remain doggedly convinced that the internet is comprised of BBS Dungeons & Dragons games played on message boards (in Tokyo, John Fried hopefully just wet himself --THE SHAME!). Anyhoo, I count on you, my fan(s), to appraise me of the marketing potential of this, the international net. Now pardon me while I adjust my monacle and de-scuff my bowler.
The toll for having my songs posted on said website is that I must review fifteen pairs of songs (you know.... 30) for each song that I wish to submit into contests and the review queue. Needless to say, I have been reviewing pairs of songs by the Winchester bushel. Only 5 stones of pairs of songs more and I'll have all four and a half pairs of songs I uploaded entered into the contest!
The GarageBand review process is straightforward: I listen to the song, draft a short review, give the song a 1-5 star rating, and pick which member of the pair I preferred. Most songs are decent, but not great, and my ratings seem to fall into a normal bell curve.
I've been primarily reviewing either acoustic or hard rock tracks, and here are the best songs I've heard in each category (in no particular order). You can consider this my stamp of approval.
Hard Rock:
Acoustic:
So this blog won't really let me plug those into the "Listening To" blank, but you and I will know the truth --I'm on GarageBand.com, reviewing away.
Feel free to remember that my CD is downloadable from iTunes for 5 pairs of dollars, and it is --by many standards-- a fine choice to fill in the "Listening To" blank. If it lets you.
The toll for having my songs posted on said website is that I must review fifteen pairs of songs (you know.... 30) for each song that I wish to submit into contests and the review queue. Needless to say, I have been reviewing pairs of songs by the Winchester bushel. Only 5 stones of pairs of songs more and I'll have all four and a half pairs of songs I uploaded entered into the contest!
The GarageBand review process is straightforward: I listen to the song, draft a short review, give the song a 1-5 star rating, and pick which member of the pair I preferred. Most songs are decent, but not great, and my ratings seem to fall into a normal bell curve.
I've been primarily reviewing either acoustic or hard rock tracks, and here are the best songs I've heard in each category (in no particular order). You can consider this my stamp of approval.
Hard Rock:
- "Down" Ground Mower
- "In Your Wake" Bipolar
- "Reanea" Rejn
- "The Bitter End" 17th Parallel
Acoustic:
- "Wish I Was Here" John Pippus
- "Rain" Minor Prophet
- "Petals" Debra Fitzsimmons
- "Tears on Tarmac" Dusty Colours
So this blog won't really let me plug those into the "Listening To" blank, but you and I will know the truth --I'm on GarageBand.com, reviewing away.
Feel free to remember that my CD is downloadable from iTunes for 5 pairs of dollars, and it is --by many standards-- a fine choice to fill in the "Listening To" blank. If it lets you.
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